berlin. tonight, donald trump trial again. the former president's second impeachment trial has begun in the u.s. senate. mckay's and says he is guilty of inciting the violent siege last month. republicans calling it unconstitutional. also coming up, the united nations condemns police violence against protesters in myanmar. a fourth day of demonstrations sees tens of thousands defined

water cannons and tear gas. and world health organization scientists fail to of your cut -- failed to uncover the coronavirus what they say it probably jumped to humans from an animal. lighting up the sky over dubai to celebrate the first arab interplanetary project a acecraft called hope enters orbit around mars on a mission led by women scientists. i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all of you around the world, welcome. we start tonight any the u.s. where history is being written again in washington, d.c. donald trump's second senate impeachment trial is underway at the capital. >> is a court of impeachment --

brent: senator patrick lee of vermont brought down the gavel and kicked off the proceedings targeting the former president. democrats and some republicans accuse trump of inciting last month the riot at the capitol building that left five people dead. trump has said he is not to blame for the violence. his legal team insists the trial is unconstitutional. as the trial began, leading democrats wasted little time in making the case for convicting the former president. let's hear some of those arguments from chuck schumer and house impeachment managers jamie raskin. >> it is our solemn constitutional duty to conduct a fair and honest impeachment trial of the charges against former president trump. the greatest charges ever brought -- the gravest charges ever brought to a president of the added states. -- of the added states. >> the president of the red states is forbidden to commit

high crimes and misdemeanors at any point he is in office. indeed, that is one specific reason the impeachment conviction and disqualification powers exist, to protect us against presidents who try to overrun the power of the people in their elections and replace the rule of law with the rule of mobs. brent: let's go now to the u.s. capitol and a washington, d.c.. our correspondent is standing by. the trial has started. the arguments of the house impeachment managers are being laid out. what is their line of attack? >> they started off with some video footage from the violent insurrection. that edited together with some strong quotes of donald trump, some damaging material. there were some emotional moments when the lead impeachment manager was moved to tears, literally cried when he

described the people that lost their lives here. five people died during the insurrection. the focus was on laying out the facts and the democrats argue that donald trump can be held responsible for the riot that took place at the capital. the actions and the weeks leading up to it, his baseless claims of voter fraud and then later inciting this violent mob. afterwards, also the failure to stop it. he did not really condemn what happened here. the democrats trying to paint the bigger picture and to put things in context here as they begin the first day of the impeachment trial. brent: we know mr. trump's lawyers are calling this entire trial unconstitutional. on what basis? >> they are trying to question the legitimacy of this trial. they say donald trump is no

longer president of the united states. therefore he cannot be impeached. trying to make the case the whole trial is unconstitutional. they do really it seems try to hide behind the single one technical question here in trying to avoid the real question that this trial isabel and that is about what kind of damage this insurrection has done to democracy, to the american democracy. democrats call this insurrection a coup attempt. brent: we are looking at live pictures inside the u.s. senate chamber of this trial. the one person that we are not expecting to see at all is donald trump, right? >> that is right. the democrats would have liked him to be here. they invited him to be questioned. they invited him for a testimony under oath. as you know, donald trump has a special relationship with the truth and it is no big surprise his lawyers neglected that

information -- that invitation. also he is banned on social media so he will not play any part in this physically. he will always be at the center of this trial. brent: we know a conviction would require two thirds senate majority. is that anywhere close to being likely? >> it is not likely at this point before the trial has really started. we know some republicans will vote to impeach donald trump. we are seeing a shift from the first impeachment trial where congress voted along party lines. this will not be the case anymore. in order for donald trump to be impeached, it needs to thirds and that means 17 republican congressman would have to support the impeachment trial and that is unlikely to be the case. the democrats want to hold republicans accountable and to make a move for the history books and for the records as

they are also eyeing the midterm elections. brent: oliver sallet at the u.s. capitol on the first day of the second impeachment trial of former president donald trump. thank you. here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. u.s. investigators say the pilot in the helicopter crash that killed basketball star kobe bryant may have broken safety rules by flying through cloud cover. bryant, his daughter and seven others were killed and helicopter went down in january of last year near los angeles. police in haiti have fired tear gas at protesters demonstrating near the presidential palace in port-au-prince. tensions have been rising over who should be the country's legitimate leader. opposition politicians say the current president's term has expired and they have named their own interim head of state. the government has accused the

opposition of an accounting -- of an attempted coup. a court in hong kong has refused bail for publisher jimmy live. he was arrested in december during a crackdown on pro-democracy activists protesting against chinese influence. scientists from the world health organization have wrapped up an investigation in china into the origins of the coronavirus without identifying the source. they found the virus was probably jumped from bats to humans via an intermediary species, but they did not identify that. they also said it was extremely unlikely the virus was leaked from a chinese lab. >> the stated goal of the world health organization's wuhan mission was to identify the origins of the coronavirus. a mission they were not able to

accomplish. >> the sars-cov-2 may have originated from zoo not a transmission, but the reservoir hosts remain to be identified. >> all the work that has been done on the virus and trying to identify its origin continue to point toward a natural reservoir of this virus and similar viruses in bat populatn. >> it was here in wuhan over a year ago the world's first cases of the novel coronavirus were reported. the city of 10 million went on a hard locked for 76ays. only bare essentials were let into the city. this market believed to be the ground zero for where the virus was spread was closed down. testing samples were taken and it was fenced off. wuhan's hospitals were swamped

with patients and the images of the deadly disease traveled around the world. about a year later, who experts arrived in wuhan as well as scientific challenges. they faced diplomatic ones. fears from the west that china might try to whitewash results and fears from beijing mission might be politicized. scientists spent two weeks in quarantine, leaving two more for fieldwork including visits to the wuhan seafood market and the virological institute. despite not accomplishing the main goal, experts say they were able to all but eliminate a controversial theory the virus had come from a laboratory in wuhan. >> the findings suggest the laboratory incidents hypothesis is extremely unlikely and to explain an introduction of the virus into the human population. >> the most pressing question,

identifying the intermediary species remains a work in progress. brent: let's take a look at the other developments in this pandemic. german chancellor angela merkel says she wants to extend the country's current coronavirus lockdown until march. her government will leave -- will meet with the 16 states tomorrow to decide on lengthening the shutdown. greece's prime minister has announced a full lockdown for athens. beginning thursday, schools and all nonessential shops will have to close. russia has issued updated statistics on coronavirus related deaths. more than 162,000 people died last year of covid-19. that is much higher than previously reported. protesters in myanmar had staged a fourth day of demonstrations against the military coup that ousted the civilian government

last week. security forces have responded with water cannon and tear gas and there are reports of police firing rubber bullets and live ammunition. the national league for democracy says the army has rated its headquarters. -- has raided its headquarters. >> a ban on gatherings has not deterred them. here in the, police fired water cannon at protesters rallying for their freedom. th are demding a return to democracy and t release of the elected leader. from the capital to mandalay. a week of the luke perry rule in myanmar has triggered a groundswell of demonstrations right across the nation. everywhere, the same demand. >> i will only go to university when the leader is released.

i have no plans to go under this military government. >> it is not only support for one party or one leader. these demands for democracy run far. >> we are very glad the protests are happening in the entire country. we will fight until we win. >> there are signs the tide is turning among authorities. this video posted on social media appears to show a policeman shaking the hand of a protester before they open up the barricades designed to hold protesters back. until now, the protests have been largely peaceful. this video being circulated shows a woman being shot by police. in his first tv address to the nation, the new military leader sought to justify the coup,

repeatg allegations of fraud in last year's election. >> we are investigating the responsible authorities regarding voter fraud. >> he promised fresh elections but gave no timeline for when they might be held. the comments have done nothing to quell the action -- the anger and defiance of these protesters who say it is too little too late. they want the army out and say compromises is no longer an option. brent: for more, i am joined by and a roberts. she is directive -- is direct to executive of the burma campaign. it is good to have you on the program. you last visited me in mar in 2019. you are in contact with activists. in your opinion, do these protests have the hallmark of the national uprising? >> yes, they do. the scale and size of the demonstrations that are taking

place across the country is incredible. we have seen not just in capitals but thousands of people in all areas across the country and not just the demonstrations we have been seeing pictures of. there is also a campaign of civil disobedience. there is a growing boycott of military products in the country as well. it is really growing and it shows the outrage and ger of peop across th country at this military coup and their determination not to return to military dictatorship. brent: protesters are calling for the release of aung san suu kyi. we know outside of the country, her reputation has been somewhat tarnished in the last year or so. what does she represent to the people of myanmar? >> it depends. for many people in burma, she remains incredibly popular. her party won a bigger victory

in the election in november last year. however, she is also -- he has also disappointed -- she has also do disappointed people in ethnic areas where they continue to suffer abuses. where she has not lead a government that has respected human rights. so i think it is a mixed record. she still has a lot of support within the country. i think these protests are not just about aung san suu kyi. people do not want to return to the broken hybrid democracy we had before this coup. the military never really gave up their power. people want genuine democracy and genuine justice. brent: the military never really gave up its power. did you see any way of resolving this crisis with the military that is going to be in a peaceful way? >> it is very worrying. we see today the police and

military step up resistance to the protests. we have seen some violent putdowns of protesters. we are very worried about what will happen next. we know this is a military that is incredibly brutal and has never hesitated in the past to use violence to put down demonstrations against their power. brent: and a roberts, executive director of the burma campaign u.k. we appreciate your time and your insights tonight. thank you. >> thank you. brent: six month ago, belarus' disputed elections led to widespread protest. more than 30,000 people have been arrested in the brutal crackdown. despite this, protests show no signs of abating. a prominent belarusian athlete like olympic basketball player

jelena jo jahnke are among those pushing for changed. she was jailed for 15 days for taking part in the protest. she spoke to us from athens where she now plays in from where she supports the protest movement. >> before i am an athlete, i am a human being. i have a right to raise my opinion, to not agree with something. me being an athlete, it was time for me to -- i used my platform and my voice on all those terrifying events that happen. i could not be quiet. there was no other option for me. when we united together, we knew there was a chance that we are

not an exception. the government can use us to show other athletes, to show people that anyone can be in jail. my father dropped me off at the airport. somebody touts me on the shoulder. when i turned around, it was two policeman. they said they are there to arrest me for participating in protest. on my second day there, they have taken everything from us. they have taken mattresses. the only place you can sit is on the bench. they turn off our hot water. our toil was n flushing. the 15 days i was there, they ver took us to take a shower. they did not release me. they put me in a car. the only way i relaxed when i got out of the car when i hugged

my mom and my dad and i could breathe a little bit. we are more than just athletes and i love that. this is more than just a game. i using what i have learned and trying to apply it. if you would have told me i am going to be arrested or spent time in jail i would be like, no way. i do not regret anything that has happened to me. throughout my career, i learned you have to look at the positives that shape your life to move forward. this is what i am doing. brent: that was a belarusian olympic basketball player. the crackdown in belarus still provoking debate and outrage in germany. this weekend, german chancellor angela merkel had this message for president lukashenko. >> we are calling on the political leadership to immediately end their repressi

acts and release political prisoners. we call on you to respect the rights of your citizens to free expression of opinion. germany and the european union will continue to hold accountable all those responsible for the ongoing human rights violations in belarus as we have demonstrated with the round of e.u. sanctions. brent: the chancellor also announced details of the action plan for building up civil society in belarus. it is aimed at providing active support for the opposition. this will include offering refuge for activists and offering treatment to traumatized torture victims. there is also a plan for scholarship programs for young professionals and independent journalists. a space probe called hope launched by the united arab emirates has entered orbit around mars. it is the first of three spacecraft that are scheduled to reach the red planet this month.

the project led by women scientists is the first arab interplanetary mission. >> it took 15 minutes for the signal to reach earth that the mission had been a success. [applause] the probe, hope, is orbiting mars after a 500 million kilometers journey. the orbiter had to fire its main engines for 27 minutes in a high-stakesaneuver that slowed down the craft enough to be caught inars'rbit. the probe will n circle t planet, collecting data about its atmosphere. the mission's priority is research, but it is also part of a push to diversify the economy of the united arab emirates. oil reserves are dwindling and time is of the essence.

the uae is expanding into the fields of science and technology. sarah is leading the mission. 34-year-old is one of 70 women on the team that developed the probe. the uae government provided $200 million of funding for the project. >> this has allowed our researchers and our future scientists to a point where they are able to work with the global science community in short amount of time since we started the mission seven years ago. >> the probe's safe arrival puts the uae in the company of five space agencies that have pulled off a successful mars mission. brent: for more now, let's go to keith. he is in astrobiologist and a former nasa engineer. it is good to see you again. last week, you were talking about the billionaire space race. we have the first successful

arab interplanetary project. >> i think everybody is thrilled. certaiy the folks at the uae are thrilled. you can see there is a lot of enthussm for this being not just the first but one of many missions they intend to accomplish as part of a national initiative to bring more of a technology focus to their economy. brent: is everyone happy or we talking about more competition, especially when we are talking about trying to do more research or even to reach mars in the near future? >> i get this question a lot. is this a new space race? if you look at this mission, this is collaboration. the spacecraft was built in colorado. the university of colorado, university of california berkeley were involved. it was launched on a japanese cket. the deep space tracking system has been listening in. you see this a lot with missions these days.

it is not just one country. the uae recently signed the artemis accords, which is something the u.s. has put forth in its mission to go back to the moon. yes, you are competing. you want to be better than the other guys, but it is a very collaborative competition we see these days. brent: we have three countries that are trying to get to the red planet. we have the u.s., china and the uae. what makes mars so attractive right now to these space agencies? >> they often say mars a's hard, but everybody seems to want t go to mars. the mars perseverance a rover and its helicopter will arrive on the 18th. this happens every 20 months or so. it is the way the planets orbit the sun. in many ways, it is very much like earth. in many ways, it is not like earth. of all the places we can get too easily, it has the greatest possibility of being a place where there once may have been

life. it is easy to get to and it is interesting. interest breeds more interest. we'lle seeing more missions and not fewer entity years to come. brent: it seems like we are forgetting the moosometimes. >> we have not forgotten the moon. brent: it is so close. thank yo here is a reminder of the top story we are following for you. the second impeachment trial of former u.s. president donald trump has begun in the senate in washington, d.c. trump is accused of inciting the deadly riot at the u.s. capitol on january 6. democrats say they have overwhelming evidence to prove trump's guilt. the united nations has condemned police violence against protesters in myanmar. opponents are refusing to back down. a fourth day of demonstrations has seen tens of thousands

defying water cannon and teargas. you are watching dw news. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. we will have complete coverage of the first day of the second impeachment trial of donald trump shared we will be right back. ♪ [o fvfvfvfvfvfvfvfvfvfvfv■

>> here are the stories making world headlines. it is day one of the impeachment trial of donald trump in washington. house managers and attorneys for the former president argue over whether it is constitutional to try a president in the senate after he has left office. in myanmar, police raid the party headquarters of ousted leader aung san suu kyi. meanme, protests have turned violent as demonstrators refused to back down following a military coup last week. team of experts from the world health organization has