brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, venezuelans taking to ththe streets to demand ththat president nicolas maduro give up power. waving flags and calling for free elections, protesters ratcheting up the pressure on the president. we will take you live to caracas for the latest. also coming up, it may look like a winter wonderland, but the life-threatening freeze gripping the american midwest is colder than even in antarctica. it has literally f frozen daily life for tens of millions of pepeople. and not budging on brexit.

britain's parliament votes to send prime minister theresa may back to brussels for more negotiations, but the eu insisting talks cannot be reopened. and he is a refugee soccer player who has been detained for more than 60 days in thailand. hakeem al-araibi is from bahrain and fears he will be tortured or even killed if he is sent back. tonight, efforts to free him are gathering pace. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and around the world, welcome. tonight, venezuela's political standoff is deepening and it is moving back onto the streets. in just the last few hours, people across the country have been leaving their homes and their workplaces to join protests against president

nicolas maduro. they are calling on the armed forces to allow humanitarian aid into the country and to abandon the president. the walkout was called by opposition leader and the self-proclaimed interim president, juan guaido.. reporter: "they cannot take away our right to protest," these venezuelans in the capital caracas chant. they are referring to the government of president nicolas maduro. this is one of the protesters. she's the wife of a prominent opposition leader who has been in jail for four years. she told dw it was time for a new government. >> stop maduro, the usurper. the transition to have free and fair elections. this is why we are protesting. everybody is working together for this. reporter: she and many of these protesters are supporting juan guaido, who proclaimed himself

interim president last week, and the country's chief prosecutor has opened an investigation into his challenge for power. >> i am not underestimating the threat of jail and i do not want it to be understood like that. very responsibly, i say there is nothing new coming from a regime that does not answer to the venezuelan people's needs. their only response is persecution. reporter: venezuelan authorities are accusing them of helping foreign countries like the u.s. to interfere in internal mamatters. washington r recognizes guaiai's claim to lead venezuela. on wednesday, presidident donald trump phoned him to reiterate his support. for his part, president maduro tried to convince americicans tt intervention would backfkfire on them. >> i calall upon your conscienc. i call upon your solidarity. be aware of the truth. we must not allow a second vietnam to happen,n, this time n latin america.

if the u.s. intervenes it will be worse for them than vietnam. reporter: according to a russian news agency, maduro has offered to negotiate with the opposition in an attempt to regain support domestically. but talks are not what these protesters want. >> our people, all the people of venezuela support juan guaido. listen. reporter: their demand is clear. maduro must go. brent: all right. let's take the story now to oscar schlenker, he is our correspondent in the venezuelan capipital caracas. good evening to you, oscar. so, we see those protests are happening right where you are. is this a clear symbol that more pressure is building for maduro to step down? oscar: well, we have seen this before in 2014 and 2017. walkouts today went peacefully, they gathered many support.

and everyone was back home after the protests. we have seen this organized protest strategy during the 2017 protests, and are effective at showing that the opposition protest can be peaceful. now, on saturday the opposition has called on a mass demonstration and the government's response was to organize a mass march as well. clashes with armed forces are expected from those protests, which will happen in the evening from communities which protested the food and medicine shortages. so also, looting can be a detonator for repression. we are seeeeing that thehere are definite pressure points in society that are asking for maduro t to step down. brent: oscar, we understand that the self-proclaimed interim president juan guaido is joining those street protests. why isn't the government, why aren't authorities detaining him and arresting him to prevent him from being in pupublic? oscar: t that is a queuestion tt

we have asked ourselves in the past w week,ececause in other instances and with other political leaders of t the opposition, they havave been put in jail when pressure rises forr the gogovernmentnt. but juan guaido has something under his sleeve, and that is that the u.s. has threatened the venezuelan government, run by maduro, that they will do proportionate actions if any harm comes to juan guaido. we have already seen that in the economic arena with the sanctions, and that will defininitely hurt maduro's government's popocketbook when t comes to seeking a alliances a d support from his government. brent: you mentioned the united states. there is also a russian component here. we have got russian media reports that president maduro is now offering to talk to the opposition in the country. what do you make of that? oscar: the opposition has sasaid that they will not fall under

any more false -- we have seen at least three open and very plilicized attempmpts o talk, , talks between the governrnment and the opposition, memediated by the vaticacan and spain, and that have failed because the government has failed to hold up to their end of the bargagain, which is to change the electoral councncil n venezuela and hold freree and fr elections, and to allow humanitarian aid in the country. and that i is what people are protesting tododay, to let humanitarian aid in the country. brent: a very fluid situation again this evening in venezuzue. our correspondent oscar schlenker on the story for us in caracas. oscar, thank you. now a little bit north, where america's midwest is in the grip of a life-threatening deep-freeze that's known as the polar vortex. take a look right here. this is lake michigan in

chicago. weather colder right now than antarctica has grounded flights, it's disrupted travel, and it's brought life to a standstill for tens of millions of people. the polar vortex is a mass of freezing air that normally spins around the north pole in winter, but this time it slipped southwards into the united states. reporteritit is onof t the cocoldest blasts o of arctic a n recent memory. tens of millions of people across the midwest and eastern states are shivering through freezing winds and record low temperatures. some parts of the states are thought to be colder than the arctic circle right now. it is definitely not the best time to be outside. wind chills in the negative double digits are dangerous. the extreme cold can cause frostbite in a matter of minutes. and slippery roads continue to cause accidents. hundreds of flights have been canceled. schools are closed, and workers

have been told to stay home. americans will have to endure similar temperatures over the next few days, because the cold air mass shows no sign of moving on jut yet. brent: it is even cold to look at. all right, for more on the situation in the midwest, we want to go now to adam roberts who is joining us from the epicenter of this vortex, chicago. he is the midwest correspondent for "the economist." good evening, good afternoon to you, adam. so, how cold is it right now? have you been outside today? adam: it is bitterly c cold. i had d a very short walk this afternrnoon. ju h himst to postst a letter. -- just to post a letter. i can tell you in about five minutes of walking down my own streets, i came back really frozen solid and desperate to get something warm inside me. it was a really bitter afternoon walk. brent: you were able to do something earlier today, you put it on twitter. we want to show it to our

viewers, an exextraordinary vid. you put this online. let's run that. i think it will illustrate -- you go outside and what is that, is that a mug of water? adam: it is boiling water. i boiled a cattle -- kettle and took it outside. brent: you threw it up into the air and it immediately froze. adam: it is a remarkable thing. obviously it is risky to have boiling water fall on you. but when it hits the dense and obviouslsly very, very cold air, it was -27 degegrees this momor, it instantly vaporizes. so, most of it turns into steam. brent: i mean, that is simply amazing, and it speaks to how dangerous this is. we understand that meteorologists have been saying that you can get frostbite, exposed skin within a matter of minutes if you go outside. so, what are people doing then in an effort to try and go about a normrmal day's actitiviti?

adam: well, the obvious reaction agagainst frostbite is y c cover up. if you do go outsiside you see people with goggles and scarves around theiriraces and every patch h of their skikin is cove. but there are other dangers. if you inhale such cold air deeplyntnto your lunungs you can cause e damage to yoyour lungs s wewell. so the general advice that everyone has been given here is if you can stay inside, do not go outside. so even the short walk that i took is bebeing discouraraged, d certainlnly for the yoyoung, for children, for the elderly, they are just staying indoors, and that makes a lot of sense. brent: yeah, makes a lot of sense. and there are reports that some people have didied as a result f this weather. what d do you know about that? adam: yeah, there haveve been se reportrts of deaths today and in the last few days. car crashes because of the slipperyry conditions s for dri, bubut also expososure. if you are o outside with the wrong clothing and you are caught outside, locked out of your house, for example, the risk of dying rather quickly is great. and there have been n reports nt

just in chicago, but in the wider midwest, of perhaps eight people today who have died. brent: i mean, this is happening in the midwest. the epicenter is chicago. and we have to tell people around the world that chicago really is the transport hub for the u.s. midwest. and when something like this happens it causes all kinds of travel headaches, doesn't it? adam: it has. and so already this week we had heavy snowfall on monday and that led to the cancellation of many hundred, i think over 1000 flights at o'hare airport, which is one of the busiest airports in the world. amtrak, the railway company, has canceled trains in and out of chicago today and i think tomorrow. the local rail provider, the metro and overland rail which servrves the city, has also canceleled various services. so, in terms of getting work done, getting freight shipped, getting passengers to and fro, it has become a lot harder for people to go about their

business for thehese crucial da. brent:t: definitely. adam roberts with "the economist" joining us tonight from a very, very bitterly cold chicago. adam, we appreciate your time, and d please do ststay warm. thanank you. adam: thank you. brent: here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world. german police have arrested three suspected islamic extremists on suspicion of planting a bomb attack. the men, who are iraqi refugees, were detained near the danish border and they had not yet chosen a target. schools in the thai capital bangkok have closed as authorities struggle to contain choking air pollution. the city has been shrouded in a toxic haze for weeks. efforts to seed rain clouds and to regulate truck traffic have failed to clear the air. officials are urging residents to curb the use of incense and fireworks when they celebrate next week's lunar new year. lawyers defending the mexican

drug lord known as el chapo have rested their case e in his trial in the u.s. after calling just one witness. joaquin guzman's brief defense followed a prosecution case lasting almost three months. the leader of the sinaloa cartel is accused of trafficking massive amounts of cocaine, heroin, and other drugs into the u.s. the unit statates and d china he begun a new round of trade talks in washington, the latest effort to resolve a trade dispute that has disrupted business around the globe. the u.s. accuses china of industrial espionage and of unfairly using state subsidies. back here in europe, britain and the european union appear to be headed for a brexit blockade. british lawmakers last night voted to send the prime minister back to brussels to reopen talks on the terms of the u.k.'s withdrawl from the eu. at issue is that so-called irish backstop.

that is the plan to avoid a hard border between northern ireland, which is part of the u.k., and the republic of ireland. but since that british decision, eu leaders have been making it crystal-clear that the deal and the backstop will not be changed. reporter: in a surprise move defying agreements already made with the eu, british lawmakers gave the prime minister a mandate to return to the negotiating table. parliamentarians narrowly passed a government-backed amendment to renegotiate the controversial irish backstop. it buys may some time, but the challenges remain clear. >> there is limited appetite for such a change in the eu and negotiating it will not be easy. but in contrast to a fortnight ago, this house has made it clear what it needs to approve a withdrawal agreement. reporter: may's chances of achieving that appear slim. the eu says the backstop, a plan to avoid a hard border between

northern ireland and the republic of ireland, is not up for renegotiation. eu leader jean-claude juncker warned that the vote in the british parliament to demand changes had increased the risk of a no-deal brexit. >> the withdrawal agreement remains the best and only deal possible. the european union said so in november. we said so in december. we said so after the first meaningful vote in the commons in january. the debate and votes in the house of commons yesterday do not change that. the withdrawal agreement will not be renegotiated. reporter: with the eu's brexit negotiator also defending the existing deal, theresa may is poised to travel to brussels in what could be mission impossible. she may come back with nothing new to offer parliament, which means brexit goes back to square one. again. brent: so, how to solve the

problem of the irish backstop? we put that question to the irish lawmaker mairead mcguinness in brussels. she is the vice president of the european parliament. reporter: are there any alternatives to the backstop? is it right now just about who will blink first? >> i think the worry we have is that we went through a long negotiation and i'm sure alternative arrangements were looked at and obviously were not going to work. what is on the table in the withdrawal agreement is something that will work, this insurance policy so we do not have a hard border. it also protects the single market. so i think there is a little bit of bewilderment here in brussels because we are trying to understand fully what the house of commons really wants. the idea of reopening the backstop, coming from theresa may herself is rather strange because only some days ago she was selling this withdrawal agreement as the only option, the best option we had and a very good deal for the united

kingdom. and now she has had to reverse and change her mind. i think that is very difficult politically. from a european perspective, i chaired the debate on brexit before coming to speak with you. we are at a loss really to understand how we can make progress, because we spent a long time negotiating with the british and we accepted a lot of their proposals, specifically around the backstop. so i do not know what the alternative arrangements are. reporter: we are inching closer and closer to this deadline on march 30 and the eu is unwilling to make any concessions. there is no wiggle room whatsoever. we might have a hard brexit. we might have a hard border, which is something that you want to prevent in the first place with the backstop. >> at the moment let's be very cold and blunt about it. if nothing changes in the united kingdom, then their law states they will leave at that day at the end of march and it is a hard brexit. none of us want that, nor the u.k. i don't think would relish the outcome of that. and therefore there are the consequences then, as you put it, would we have a hard border. again, if you go bacack to where

geogography and history has brought us to on the island of ireland, the british prime minister has said on every occasion that she does not want to see a hard border on the island of ireland. so i think there is no point in us threatening each other with "if you do not do this, this will happen." i think maturity of politics has got to say, "this is not a war." some of the language coming from the hard brexiteers sounds like it is a war. i heard one for example, boris johnson say this is a victory to the united kingdom when he referenced the vote last night in the house of commons. that is what you talk about when you talk about war. but we are not at war, we are in negotiations. we are close partners today. the u.k. is still part of the european union, and will leave, i have no doubt about that. we have to find a way of allowing the u.k. to leave in a good way, and that we have this strong relationship. and right now, intellectually this is quite a difficult issue to get our heads around. but the worst thing we could do is worry ourselves about there will be a hard border or this will end in chaos.

you know, if political realities bite, then i think there is a way to be found to make progress. it is absolutely vital that the european union states clearly today that the withdrawal agreement was negotiated with and by the united kingdom taking on board their issues. and i suppose we're scratching our heads as to how and what else the united kingdom thinks will work better than what the prime minister herself proposed. brent: now to uganda, where there is growing criticism of the social media tax introduced last july. the latest figures suggested that the number of internet subscribers in the east african country, that number has dropped by more than three million since the tax was introduced. there are also concerns that the tax is being used to control access to social media. all right, let's get the background story on this. joining me here at the big table is alex forrest whiting. let's start, alex, with the background to this tax. how did we get here? alex: the ugandan parliment introduced it at the behest of

president museveni. it followed a number of criticisms he had made about social media. an open letter was sent out to residents in uganda telling them about this tax. in that letter he wrote, social media chatting is a luxury by those who are enjoying themselves or those who are malicious. so, it gives a pretty good idea exactly what he thinks about it, plus it will also give his government more money. brent: how does this tax work? i mean, how do they get the money? alex: basically it focuses on what are called over the top services, ott. those can be anything from receiving a phone call over the internet, to social media companies like facebook, whatsapp, instagram. and each person who uses it has to pay 200 ugandan shillings a day, right around five cents in terms of euros. they also have to pay a 1% tax on that payment transaction itself. now, that does not sound like a huge amount of money, but for many people, they do not earn very much.

and the african technology consulting company called policy has carried out their own research, and they said that around 40% of people that they spoke to were paying about 6% of their monthly pay just on this tax alone, which just gives you an idea of how much it is costing ugandans. brent: so it is expensive. what has been the reaction? alex: there was a lot of protest at the time. that has died down, or it appears to on the surface, but actually people are still very angry. and i have been in touch with some ugandans on social media today. one said the social media tax makes it difficult to communicate with loved ones. people are only online when they finally manage to pay the tax, which is periodic. others are getting around that tax by using a virtual private network, or a vpn. and andrew wrote to me, in my opinion, this tax is nothing but a political move to try to gag or at least punish the most critical segment, the educated middle class.

i will protest this tax for as long as i am able to. now, according to the government's own communications commission, the number of users has dropped by three million. that was between september and october. so, it would be even fewer users now. brent: it sounds like a good way to create a society of internet haves and have nots. all right. alex forrest whiting, alex, as always we appreciate it. tonight, there are renewed efforts to free a soccer player from a prison in thailand. hakeem al-araibi faces extradition back to his home country bahrain, and he does not want to go home. he was arrested more than two months ago in bangkok where he was spending his honeymoon. now, it is important to note here that hakeem al-araibi fled his home as a refugee to australia back in 2014, and he asked for asylum there. he claims that he had been falsely imprisoned and that he had been tortured in his home country.

reporter: more than 60 days after first being detained in thailand, hakeem al-araibi remains in limbo, separated from his wife, unable to return to his adopted country australia, and his job as a professional footballer. >> i did not do anything. reporter: a 10-year prison sentence awaits al-araibi if he is extradited to bahrain, even though he was playing in a televised football match when the alleged crime to place. activists have been tirelessly advocating for his release, with former footballer craig foster meeting with fifa and thai officials this week. >> bahahrain only inin the lastw days h have escalated this issue and clearlrly stated their intention in a brazen question to contravene e the internatioil human rights of hakeem al-araibi. reporter: on tuesday, the asian football confederation weighed into the issue, asking thailand's prime minister in an

open letter to ensure mr. al-araibi is returned safely to austria. governing body fifa has also called for the player's release. >> we agree that this has now become an emergency situation. weant t to see prorogress along with fifa this week given the immediacy of the situation, and we continue to call for thailand and to the p pme minister, pray it to release hakeem immediately and uphold his international human rights. reporter: with al-araibi having spent two months in detention, foster said he wants the case resolved before friday. brent: sports news now, austrian marcel hirscher has stamped his authority on alpine skiing's ninth race yet again. his victory in the spectacle, which takes place in his own country, means he is likely to win his eighth overall world cup title this year.

reporter: the lights were on in austria, and the home favorite, marcel hirscher, who was already leading after his first run, had one objective -- to win his 10th victory of the season. and he had some 50,000 fans behind him. the austrian, who is the current giant slalom and combined champion, managed the fastest time, 1.21 seconds ahead of french man alexis pinturault. >> it was a perfect run. it was so crazy to ski. this year's crowd was amazing once again. thank yoyou for another incredie race. repoporter: it was hirsches s 6h world cup win. keeping him atop the season's standings. he is also a clear favorite for the biannual world championships coming up next month. brent: here's a reminder of the top stories that we are following for you. people across venezuela protesting today against

president nicolas maduro. demonstrations were called by opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president juan guaido. european union leaders are insisting that the brexit deal that they made with the united kingdom cannot be renegotiated. that is despite british prime minister theresa may's winning a parliamentary mandate to do so last night. after a short break i will be back to take you through "the day." tonight, the deep freeze of a generation in the u.s. midwest. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

on fronts twenty full. watching my comparison for us twenty four the headlines this hour. but the protests in venezuela as nicolas maduro pulls out elections before twenty twenty five this is washington. to hand over control of venezuela assets to selelf p proclaimemed prt one white oak. the u. k. and the e. u. lockcked in n a standoff ovr brbricks it's one day off to theresa may want backing a petition piece to amend. totool agreement european leaders say it once again land not open to further negotiations. andd t the deep freeze comeo the midwest millions of people across the united states. dealing with temperatures as low as minus