ah ah ah ah, this is dw live from burly victory in the philippines for a journalist under threats with, with, with a call to quit snowball laurie. it's maria theresa,

anti rap le news outlet of tax evasion. charge is widely seen as politically motivated. also coming up prosecutor's investigating a major, you corruption scandal, strike a deal with a key suspect. the former you lawmaker antonio, said it will reveal details of the alleged bribes paid, and the parties involved. class, hong kong, braces for a rush of vaccine tourists from mainland china seeking weston, emron aid, coven vaccine, that are not available on the mainland. ah, i'm glad else as well come to the program. a court in the philippines has acquitted the journalist, maria theresa, and her online news outlet wrap off tax evasion charges. reza was joined winner of the noble piece price 2 years ago,

but globally recognized reporting on her nation's violent anti drug campaign made an enemy of former president rodrigo detach. it's not the end of the war for nobel prize winner maria reza, but she has won a significant battle. speaking outside court, she struggled to hold back tears black to day fax when truth, when justice wins. major emotional alum for ressa co founded the online new side wrapper and used it to expose philippines. president rodrigo, to tat a's, alleged abuse of power and growing authoritarianism. due tatty tried to discredit. rap le ressa says he weaponized the philippines judicial system against her and her

associates left the 59 year old has been battling a series of cases filed due to her vocal criticism of the former president. these charges, as you know, were politically motivated. they were incredible to us a brazen abuse of power and meant to stop journalists from doing their jobs. she still faces 3 other criminal cases, including a cyber libel conviction currently on appeal for which she could be sentenced to nearly 7 years in prison. and for more on that court case, i spoke with our correspondent girl motus in the jakarta. no, it's a certainly a step in the direction that this is a victory for the freedom of press in general in the philippines. and that is what

maria theresa has argued for a long time that this, these charges have been a politically motivated, is what she said. and so she called it a victory for truth. she says, rebelar is a 100 percent independent and 100 percent owned by a filipinos, despite the fact that there is money coming in from outside. but her lawyer also made clear today that this is also good news for other companies. because any other decision or by the court would have had a serious repercussions for companies and businesses in the philippines that are seeking financial support from abroad again. or what about the state of freedom of the press in the philippines? well, it's very clear, freedom of press in the philippines, it was one of the strongest. one of the fruit was one of the freest media at that changed under former president, i do tend to wear the traditional media really came under fire. now, with current president, a fed and under marcus junior,

that hasn't exactly changed. the number of outlets were closed down, but it also hasn't been exactly enforced. and now many critics off the markers government in the philippines say that is because marcus doesn't have to do that. he was swept into power by a social media campaign, a booster critic say a by a troll network. that has now really serious political power in the philippines because they have prime access to the presidential palace. when i report it on the inauguration of foreign markers junior in the philippines, i could experience that firsthand because what happened is at the inauguration, the traditional media was really shut out. we didn't get any information while some floors on the internet where fat with prime information. and so it is the sort of a more subtle erosion of press freedom that the philippines are currently experiencing. now maria, or as her face is 3 more criminal proceedings, or what can you tell us about that and what's next for her and her magazine.

exactly the last time i visited her the wrapper office in manila and was just after the election campaign. and that is when they were officially shut down. now they appealed against that decision and pledged to continue their work. and that is what they're doing to the present day. but what they're appealing against now is this one shot on order. and there's another 2 cases related to tax evasion. so the battle continues and the future of replica was founded in 2012 very much remains on certain bit of scale matters that in jakarta. thank you. bill a former e will omega implicated in a corruption scandal that's in golf. the european parliament has agreed to cooperate with. investigators, belgium prosecutor say, former m e p. antonio pansy has agreed to work with the authorities in exchange for reduced sentence is in detention and brussels. and he's one of 4 people with linked

to the parliament under investigations. they are all charged with participating in the activities of a criminal organization, money laundering, and corruption. and the shock runs deep in the parliament even just weeks after the corruption scandal surrounding the event. vice president kylie became public, did abuse external phenomena reports. they are back at work in strasburg, but not back to business. as usual. the corruption scandal dabbed as katara gate continues to royal de european parliament, threatening to undermine the very credibility of the institution. a lot of damage has been done to the parliament due to that corruption case. but of course it's corruption. it's a crime or so justice, the belgium and european justice will make their job. whenever you meet people, they ask you about to corruption, please. and not about to political work. and i think this is sir,

a big damage or in the repetition, in the work of more than 700 members. in december, belgium, police raided homes and officers of incumbent and former members of the parliament, bags of cash were found for people among them. eva cailee, one of the parliament's vice presidents were arrested. they have been accused of taking bribes in exchange for favours for cattle and morocco, accusations the countries deny heidi hotel is a finished politician. and as kaylee used to be vice president of the european parliament, she did not fit very well into the opinions of her. her other social democratic colleagues in the bureau of the european parliament where we were colleagues so that i could observe that them, she had her own way. some questions about if she had some sort of private interest, maybe sometimes went through my head, rightly as a consequence of this candle,

the parliament's president robert are met. sola has proposed new rules against corruption, including better control of who has access to the chamber and its members safe. emmy peas would also have to declare their assets and who they meet. when discussing legislation, a good start says daniel point who is representing german greens. but he points out that the problem was never elac of rules is lots of the rules we have are good to the member states. we have reasonably high standards of transparency and integrity in the new institutions. but we also need to enforce them. and for that we need an independent body to check on on ethics rules. would an independent body do the trick? there are different proposals on the table with some members of the european parliament warning that freedom of their mandate needs to be protected too. but given the seriousness of the accusations, most hearsay now is the time for action to restore the trust lost in this candle.

are brussels beer chief allison phenomena, father with 40 johns, is now from stars with alexandra. what more can you tell us about the deal that ponds erie a has got? what was his role in the scandal? well, the former italian member of the european parliament is a central figure in the whole case. and he has struck a plea, deal with prosecutors to exchange information for a reduced sentence and turn. the prosecutors are hoping that he could share essential, crucial information for the ongoing investigation into whether foreign countries such as katara or morocco, a tried to illegally influence the parliament's decisions. according to his lawyer, he already admitted to have participated in a criminal organization. he already admitted to be one of the leaders of this organization and to have bribed people. and he,

according to belgian reports in the media, already said that he has that he had given 120000 euros to another lawmaker and incumbent member of the european parliament mark tara bella. this lawmaker is already under investigation and the prosecutors already asked for his immunity to be lifted. however, the whole case, the whole new development is of course a bombshell because everyone here is waiting for new details to emerge. and of course, the question on your mind is whether there are some lawmakers here in strasbourg, who are getting nervous about that our target has caused a shadow of the open session of the parliament. but it's not the only order of business. what else is on the agenda to data the blocks foreign policy is on the agenda. and here in particular, of course,

russia's war on ukraine with lawmakers expected to approve a non biting resolution that would called for the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute a war crimes allegedly committed by a russia in ukraine. ukraine has been calling for such a special tribunal for months now. and there is a growing support for this idea. also a fund ally and the european commission president who is also here today is to one of the supporters or the german foreign minister. babcock, for instance, and such a tribunal would be needed to prosecute alleged war crimes committed allegedly by russia. because the international crime at court cannot be active here because russia is not a member of this court. are both spiritually. san fernando reported from strasburg federalists of let's have a look now at some or headlines from around the world. emergency crews in the

ukrainian city of to the prose, say they've ended the search for victims of a russian missile strike on an apartment building. 45 people are confirmed dead. the bombing on the weekend was one of the was deadliest single strikes against civilians. police and peru and anti government demonstrators had clashed in the capital. lima demonstrated calling for the resignation of the countries president deny boulevard. who has seen weeks of anti government protested half left dozens of people dead. a republican state house candidate in new mexico has been arrested in connection with a series of shootings. albuquerque police alleged that 39 year old solomon pena, 8 for men to shoot at the home of 4 state officials. all democrats, please say they have also evidence that penny fired some shots over speculation

that you as president joe biden might run for a 2nd term, but he is facing mounting problems on top of the classified documents scandal. the new republican majority in congress is on the attack d. w. correspondence show, the occasional tells us why the latest political theater in washington could have global repercussions. ah, do biden's very own classified documents, scandal continues to unravel into political drama, classified material next year corvette. what were you thinking? in his defense? the u. s. president keeps repeating this one from 9. people know i take classified documents, classroom material seriously. the timing couldn't be worse, biden is expected soon to declare that he'll run for a 2nd term as president this scandal office political ammunition to republicans who now leave the house of representatives. they see attacking biden as their top

priority. and vow that incorporation would come at a high price. so plenty of political drama in washington. so far business is useful, but it could affect the rest of the world as well. the pressure on by it and, and the republicans vowing to own the advance their own agenda is going to affect how the u. s. acts or doesn't act abroad in the spotlight. ukraine. much of what we see from the far right is political theater. but there are going to be attempts to cut a to ukraine, which would be a, a great miscalculation. we want to help the ukranian people and pushed back against russia. but we want to make sure that we're spending r u. s. tax dollars. well, our partners in europe really need to step up and make sure that they're carrying their weight, ah, carrying some of the load with the ukraine. the huge support, the u. s. has sent to ukraine so far has somewhat sand of america's global

influence, but a stronger opposition at home will weaken biden's ability to act, and others may have to pick up the slack. i think that the biting administration has not opportunity had the luxury to focus abroad for the last 2 years. they'll have to shift their focus to more domestic issues. and how i've made that very soon, do biden could see his ability to act internationally limited by the political vassals, back home. by default, this means europe would have to take more responsibility, ready or not? the president of the european commission has promised that support for ukraine will continue for as long as it's needed addressing the world's economic form. and the swiss result of davos was a founder line, told the gathered political and business leaders that europe took less than a year to free itself from what she called a dangerous addiction to russian energy dress. follow that of ukraine's 1st lady, alaina's, alaska, the ukraine. how sin diverse,

the horrors of war made visible with photos, videos, installations and presentations during the international business gathering. ukraine and the russian war of aggression are dominating the summit alongside the major issue of climate change. our generation has reached patrolling point conform to try truly existential problems. i'm a change expert tradition of neutral nuclear possible incidence or even more extreme poverty and bias. the ukranian 1st lady has come to deb was to speak out on behalf of her country and to draw attention to the dramatic situation in ukraine yet seats, which of the 60, how does the world expect to reach climate neutrality shipper if it can't even stop the burning down of howl ukrainian cities. this is what russia does with its

artillery miss isles. iranian drowns. it is. you all know that russian aggression was never intended to stop at ukrainian borders, sees this war, copper, grass, and ignite a wider crisis if ukraine loses, if show hazard, never rushes. aggression is driving. you appear nations to help you. crane you commission president earth lavonda lion outline massive support from the european union. we were current with ukraine on any topic that is helping the economy. we have for example, there security lanes. 60 percent of the grain of ukraine has been exported via these rules are violent through the european union are all, for example, we have a synchronized, our, an energy grit electricity grid with the ukrainians. so we're doing everything to keep the economy up and running, to support financially,

to support militarily and of course morale. but the war in ukraine has fan the flames of energy and food crises. the question now dominating this year's world economic forum is what more can be done about it. and i have some more world news stories in brief for you. brazil's president luther, the silver, has removed from duty, 40 troops guarding the presidential residence, in the aftermath of the storming of government buildings. on january act. last suggested that some security force members were complicit in, allowing the mob of jebel scenario supporters to attack the building. the climate active as great a tune birth is among a number of demonstrators who have been detained in the west. german village of routes of thought she was later released to embark, took part in protest against expansion of an open pit coal mines in the air.

a french nun believed to have been the world's oldest person, has died aged 118. silicon don't. who took the name sister on play when she joined a catholic order in 1944 was born on february 11th. 19 o. 4 died in her sleep on tuesday at a nursing home into law. in tokyo, the high court has upheld the not guilty verdicts previously handed down to 3 former executives over their role in the 2011 fukushima nuclear disaster. a lower court had previously cleared the 3 executives of the tokyo, electric power company of negligence over the disaster that unfolded at the focus him a nuclear power plant following an earthquake. and it's an army. it is the only criminal case to have arisen from the tragedy, the world's worst nuclear disaster, since channel. now the journalist is only a block of follows events for us in tokyo. and earlier i asked her how she expects

this verdict to be received in japan. to be honest, i don't really expect much at all, and i don't think there will be much media echo. i'll be on the kind of brief news flips, so to speak. and i think that will be more or less it's. i think the media will report it as it is that duty and then those people will forget about it quite quickly except of course for the groups that still fight against nuclear power. but compared to the general population, they're really just, unfortunately a really small, small group outside of the circle. so i don't really expect much of a media echo beek reset, to be honest. so if both of government and the former tapco executives happen declared not guilty, it who bears responsibility for the focus shima disaster, does anyone bear responsibility for it? yeah, that's a good question. and i think they've been trying to kind of deflect responsibility

to scientists saying, well, you know, who can really tell whether the predictions are accurate or not? i mean, there's also history in japan. these sorts of incidents are, quote, cases have been dragged on for decades. and i wonder if we'll ever get a sort of definite answer to this question. so what does this say this verb, this repeated not guilty verdict. what does it say about the relationship between industry or the government and maybe even the judiciary in japan? i think we can see quite clearly that there is still a very strong relationship among these groups and the nuclear village as it's called, is very strong in japan. i mean, we've seen that despite all that's happened, we've seen reactor restarts and all that. and what surprises me is that people seem to forget that even like tokyo was really,

really close to disaster and only escaped through sheer luck, i would say. and despite all that, people seem to want to put the whole thing behind and, and the nuclear village, as i said, is still strong and is becoming stronger again. so yeah, that's the situation, you know, journalists, dunlab laska in tokyo for us. thank you. you're welcome to china an hour just grappling with a surge in cove 19 infections that have overwhelmed it's health system. part of the problem is that people in mainland china currently have no access to foreign made m r n. a vaccines proven effective against the disease, but now that beijing has lifted pandemic restrictions. chinese travelers are free to visit hong kong where these vaccines are indeed available. the city is now bracing for an influx of vaccine tourists. melon chinese who have wanted to be

emma lives with m r n a co, the fac scenes, and now at long last amount in hong kong, jojo lee was among the 1st batch of recipients in this private clinic, is also the 1st foreign taxi she has had these depend amick hand one a may our database know by violent marino vaccine in maine and china and statistics showed that by valid m r and a vaccines provide greater protection against infection and severe illness. i guess it's also a best take it for myself today, but you know how that by getting an m r n each out while some possible and to china, we are open to support us. and in particular, to hong kong. mr. power made a trip from san gen, ourselves and city, neighboring hong kong. on the 1st day of the border re opening. the 64 year old had already had 2 shots of china's domestic vaccine sine ofac. but he helps by own text by vaillant booster shots will protect him against to current outbreak. corner show

omega people at my age in china, got a worried about getting infected soccer. oh, they go, i'm more constant and german and american medicine because because it's developed with a different technology, what a 3 i'm drinking. he also showed me a, for many of my friends who took inactivated chinese vaccines were infected in though you're kyra cove, it's vaccines are free for hong kong residence. but travelers have to pay $240.00 to $360.00 us dollars to private medical groups for one m r and they cove it by valan shots. nevertheless, many mainland chinese c. a trip to hong kong, as worthwhile and hong kong private clinics. and hospitals expect a growing demand. these medical center is preparing to inoculate up to a 1000 people per day. after receiving hundreds of inquiries, not only from individuals, but also travel agencies. there are a lot of people got infection recently in the last few weeks or last

a month or 2. they cannot get this check, which is a booster. those immediately, they have to wait for at least 3 months. so we expect as low increase a number in the next few weeks or 2 months. and then there might be a peak coming on in march or april. the city is expected to be the top destination of chinese vaccine tourism. and have some breaking news just coming in a helicopter crash new kindergarten and apartment block in the ukrainian town of bro body. north east of the capital cheese. officials have confirmed that at least 16 people have been killed, including 2 children. it is not yet clear what caused that crash, and we'll have more on this story as it comes in it was c d, w. c. as a reminder of our top story, the court in the philippines has acquitted. journalist, mary,

i santa online news outlet wrapped lot of taxi beijing chops. under the former detective switch breast elbows they joined, went up all the nobel peace prize 2 years ago. about her globally recognized reporting on the texas violent and drug. i made a target of his regime that's it from me and the news team don't go ab coming up next, the growing market for solar power in india, that's on eco and after a short break and we'll still forget to get more news analysis on our website dw, the office in berlin. ah ah, with

who we can. it's clean, flexible, and the most affordable renewable energy on the market. solar power with an average

of $300.00 sunny days each year. india has tremendous solar potential is working. it's fully understood by everybody. what is the potential that we have on our hands? but as usual, there were both pros and cons. eco, india. next on d. w. a treacherous journey into the heart of darkness. jonas travels from finland to cambodia. his mission to find out what caused the death of a good friend. he documents his search with a camera. the result, a gripping record of his desperate pursuit of the truth, lost boys. in 45 minutes on d, w. o.

an excuse of interview with donnie dionne director of the yard wash him holocaust memorial. you vowed that you would never visit germany. what are your expectations? we have to think together how the continued to keep the flame of it all opposed to remembrance, alive. now he's visiting germany for the very 1st time. the exclusive interview with donnie. dia said a lie at $2315.00. you see on d w. ah ah today on eco india, we are staring at the sun and advances in harnessing it as a reliable source of energy.