berlin. tonight, a plea of guilty. a man is sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of a maltese journalist. she was a reporter who exposed corruption. her killing a rock the island nation, sparking protests that led to the resignation of the prime minister. another setback for the european union's vaccination rollout. astrazeneca over reportedly miss

its vaccindeliveryarget date yet again. we will get reaction from brussels. plus strike a deal. and a massive cleanup operation underway in israel after an oil spill covered much of the country's mediterranean coastline leaving and a thick tar. -- leaving it in thick tar. ♪ i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs inli the united states and around the world, welcome. her murder four years ago sparked international outrage. in of the three men accused of murdering the maltese journalist has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. it came after he unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty and admitted all the charges against

him. she had been exposing corruption in the country's political and business elite when she died in a car bomb attack. her murder sparked angry protest and led to the resignation of the country's prime minister. three new suspects were arrested on tuesday on suspicion of supplying the bomb that killed her. for more, let's go to keith in multiperiod he has been covering this story since it first broke. we really cannot say this murder case is close to being solved with today's prison sentence, can we? >> no, definitely not. what w solved today as we now know for certain who committed the actual assassination, but what the peoplere asking is who has commissioned the crime?

who wanted her murdered? let's not forget, she used to investigate corruption involving businessmen and politicians. so far, there have been no politicians charged over the murder. people here say it is hard to believe there was absolutely not any political involvement of the government of the day in relation to this case. brent: we know that she was murdered because her reporting exposed corruption at the highest levels in malta, which happens to be where you work as a journalist. what has it done to the profession of journalism? does it make you feel lessafe whenou're tryg to work on a story? >>this point in time, yes. there is a degree of apprehension. there is also some concern you do not even trust your own sources because there have been incidents and they have been

reported, honest journalists have been misguided by their sources to deflect from certain cases. apart from being apprehensive of touching certain issues, there is also the need to be extremely careful who you speak to because sometimes people might have vested interests in order to delay certain investigations. this thing happened in the following weeks of the murder when there have been certain -- who tried to delay the investigation and shifted away from politicians. we do not kw for sure if politicians have been involved. brent: the danger is certainly still there for journalists. keith joining us from malta tonight. we appreciate your time and your reporting. thank you. let's turn now to some of the other stories that are making headlines this hour.

thousands are protesting in georgia's capital against the detention of the main opposition leader. the demonstration began a few hours after police stormed the headquarters of the united national movement and attained -- and detained -- he denies all wrongdoing. hong kong's chief executive has backed a bill that will bar anyone seen as being the loyal -- seen as being disloyal to beijing from elected office. it will require counselors to pledge allegiance to hong kong as a special region of china. opposition voices in hong kong have increasingly been silenced following last year's mass protests. ure three weeks after it seized power. e european union has warned it is preparing sanctions and the u.s. has penalized two generals.

protests have continued to swell despite the protest -- despite the killing of three demonstrators. astrazeneca will reportedly deliver less than half of the vaccines it promised the european union in the second quarter of this year. the drugmaker is supposed to provide 180 million doses to the e.u. b the end of june. it has already missed first quarter commitments due to production problems. the shortfall will likely hit their ability to hit their target of vaccinating adults by the summer. let's go to the barbara -- to barbara. we know the contracts signed between the european union and astrazeneca had enough holes in them you could say and looked like swiss cheese. the news today should not surprise us. >> it may be not surprising us but it is still dismaying

because the european union had built its hold vaccine -- its hold vaccine strategy on the contracts. the contract was moderna and the contract in particular was astrazeneca because they over promised as we now see vastly. talking about swiss cheese in the contract, some of these holes have been filled. we know the first presumption that the british contract had been signed earlier than the one of the e.u. was not true because we now got to see it. we also know there are concrete delivery volumes, figures in that contract. until the end of the summer and until the end of june, they should have delivered 300 million doses to the e.u. they will probably not manage to deliver half of that. that is a low for the european

union. brent: what is the problem here? why can't they deliver? >> the problem is many fold. the problem largely comes from the supply chain. they can in some instances not get the basic materials they need to produce this vaccine. they have problems with bottling and filling and delivery. and the plans they are using to make the vaccine simply cannot be scaled or could not be scaled up quickly enough to produce those huge doses. astrazeneca signed a contract and promised something that it now cannot deliver and that is very bad news for the e.u. and it throws a light on the company . everybody is asking, why are they doing that? why did they do that? why are they not trying to be

more realistic? brent: it is news that affects all of us living in the european union. what is it going to do to the target of vaccinating at least 70% of the population by the end of the smeumr? >> politically of course, this is a disaster. the european governments promised their citizens, we will get these vaccinations to you. there will be light at the end of the corunna crisis tunnel. and now this light might come so much later. maybe in the third or the fourth quarter of the year. everything will be pushed back because astrazeneca is not the only company not delivering. moderna has masive problems with production. pfizer beyond tech too. for european governments, this is bad news. we will have a virtual summit on thursday and friday. the european leaders will be talking about this. they cannot really make things better.

they will have to scale back their promises to european citizens. brent: disturbing and disappointing at the same time. barber with the latest in brussels. -- barbara with the latest in brussels. better news for the united states. vaccine supplies should surge in the coming weeks. pfizer, moderna and johnson & johnson say they can provide enough vaccines to fully inoculate 100 30 million people by the end of march. sick of has received its first shipment of russia's sputnik be vaccine. senior citizens in mexico city's poor communities will be the first to get the shots. the former czech president and coronavirus skeptic has fallen ill with covid-19. the czech republic has one of the highest per capita infection rates in the world. facebook has agreed to lift a

news blackout for australian users after reaching a compromise with the australian government. facebook blocked all news leaks after australia proposed new rules to make social networks pay for media content on their platforms. this tussle is being closely watched by other countries who are considering taking on big tech. >> the great unfriending began last week when facebook users in australia could no longer see or share news on the platform. australian news content could not be shared abroad either. the reason, a proposed new law by the australian government that would require social media companies facebook and google to pay if news content from local publishers appeared on their platforms. in australia, many users were unhappy with the move. >> i think it is ridiculous. news should be available to everybody, especially the good stuff for the true stuff from the journalists.

>> australia's government saying it is trying to ensure a fair deal for local news media. many have been struggling in the digital age and are in only a small share of revenue from online advertisers. facebook had argued the proposed law was unfair because the company directs more traffic to australian new sites than news media directs toward facebook. google initially threatened to remove its search engine from australia. instead, it started to make deals with a number of local media companies to pay them for their content. facebook has now agreed to follow suit after reaching a compromise with the australian government. digital firms will not be forced to pay for media content if they have negotiated commercial agreements that will help to sustain the australian news industry.

canberra is happy with the outcome. >> facebook has committed to entering into good faith negotiations with australian news media businesses in seeking to reach agreements to pay for content. >> with the deal making headlines around the world, it could become a global template for news media survival in the digital age. brent: for more, i am joined by our reporter. good evening to you. the tone we are hearing is a lot different from what we heard last week from the australian government. how did facebook and the government end up he today? >> what happened was this proposed law was going to force platforms like facebook and google to pay for a lot of the content that publishers have on their platforms. the platforms where the publishers have been saying

facebook and google have been using their content and not paying them for it. you have also got critics in australia saying this legislation was being pushed through the parliament in australia because of publishers such as rupert murdoch's lose court. there was an interest for them they are the largest number of newspapers of australia. this is what facebook are claiming. facebook said they were being forced to pay for content, which this content was actually helping these publishers because it was on those platforms which have a lot of reach with regards to audiences. brent: last week when facebook blocked these news leaks to all users in australia, have we been able to measure, do we know what impact that had?

>> it was really interesting because it was quite clear and within 24 hours, we were already seeing the impact. in those 24 hours, overall traffic to australian news sites actually plummeted. it fell dramatically. the question that we have to ask ourselves at this point is, whether facebook is actually more important for those publishers than the other way around. brent: ok. the latest tonight on the apparent turnaround between facebook and the australian government. thank you. let's take a look at some other headlines. linda thomas-greenfield will become the united states new ambassador to the united nations. u.s. senators voted to confirm president joe biden's nomination for the job. the vote reflected the bite in a

administration's wish to reengage with the u.n.. the u.s. congress is hearing testimony from former capital security officials about the massive law failures in the storming of the capital on january 6. officials blamed the failures on poor intelligence and a slow response to back him as a violent mob stormed the capital. a u.s. watchdog has confirmed iran has begun enriching uranium up to 20% purity. the iaea a says -- says the stockpile is 14 times over the limit listed in the 2015 nuclear deal. curbs on inspections by the nuclear watchdog came into force today. the french actor is under investigation for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting a young actress in 2018.

the paris prosecutor's office says he was charged in december after authorities reopened a case. the actor is among france's best-known and most controversial stars. to israel now and in ecological disaster. -- and an ecological disaster. a massive oil spill has hit most of israel' mediterranean shoreline. shas caused extensive damage to wildlife. our dw correspondant reports the cleanup could take months, maybe years. >> it is a meticulous task. clumps of tar. volunteers and soldiers are cleaning the beaches by hand. the oil spill has been described as one of the rst environmental disasters in decades. it has affected more than 170 kilometers of shoreline. >> tons of crudeil reached the

beaches of israel from the south to the north and crucial ecological systems have been affected. these are beaches where people bathe. they are nature reserves. animals and plants living in the water have been affected and some have died. >> the tar was detected after a heavy winter storm last week. the cause of the oil spill most likely from a ship off the coast is currently being investigated. the case has been put under a controversial media gag order. environmental activists have called the disaster a wake-up call for the government to put in better environmental protections in place. this group is out at sea to help with locating oil remanence in the water. the overall impact on marine life are still being assessed. for some, it is too late like

this turtle found over the weekend. >> we have here a small brown turtle and you can see what the tar did to it. look at the extent of this disaster. a small turtle that was recently born. >> authorities s the cleanup operation could take a long time. volunteers are determined to do their part in the cleanup effort. >> i think it is important that every is rarely who usually enjoys the beach and nature, it is important we all come together and help in this mission. it is a part of us. >> for now, the affected beaches have been closed to the public for an indefinite time. brent: affordable housing.

it can be difficult to find in big cities around the world. think of new york or paris. in berlin, average rental prices tend to be lower, but that is more a description of the past, not the present. one reason is the lack of social housing. the stock of cheap rental homes for people in need is highest in the u.k. followed by france. it is relatively small in germany. germany even is worse than the united states. coupled with other factors like gentrification and an overall lack of residential buildings, this makes it hard for his families, -- for families, students and single parents to find a home th can aord in berlin. >> i am a teacher and i am looking for an apartment in berlin but i cannot find one. >> she does not want to give her full name. she has lived in her berlin apartment for 17 years. her landlord has recently ven her notice.

he wants to use the apartment himself. she has spent 7 -- has spent countless hours looking for an apartment online ever since. >> this one here would be affordable. >> she is a freelancer and can only pay between three and 400 euros a month. there is stiff competition for such affordable housing. >> i applied to view around 200 apartments. i was invited to two viewings. i would have loved to have rented either of the apartments. unfortunately, they did not work out. i was not lucky enough to win the lottery. >> and it is a lottery. around 300 people apply for each vacant apartment. >> it gets so bad thai cannot sleep. and when i ask myself where i

will be in five years, i do not have an answer. i do not know what will happen. >> new housing is being built just around the corner from her current home. buthey are clearly not building affordable apartments. >> i do not think i could afford these sort of leased condos. unfortunately, this segment is more expensive than what i am actually looking for. >> new and older buildings charged twice as much rent as she can afford. property experts say this on affordable housing trend is not likely to change anytime soon. >> there are tenants who do not care how much they pay because their company is paying. or because they have come from abroad and they are used to a completely different rental structure or even from a different part of germany where the rent is higher anyway. they'll must do not care how much they have to pay in berlin

-- they almost do not care how much they have to pay in berlin. >> there are urban housing providers to counter this. they cannot keep pace with developers. red tape is causing years of delay to government construction projects. she can only hope things will imove. >> affordable housing has to be created in citcenters. otherwise, people with average incomes will no longer be able to live there. >> who has to go and who can stay? for more and more berlin renters, this has become an urgent issue. brent: the golf superstar tiger woods has been hospitalized after being involved in a single car accident. here he is seen winning the masters tournament in 2019. he had to be extricated from his vehicle. his agent says he i undergoing surgery after suffering multiple leinjuries.

the vehicle sustained major damage. woods was the sole occupant in the vehicle. soccer news now. germany are one of the favorites for next summer's women's european championship in england. they got off to a good start with a win over belgium on sunday. on wednesday, they renew one of the fiercest rivalries against the netherlands. >> winter is finally drawing to an end and the german national team is starting to feel full of the joys of spring. five players based in the u.k. and na france have had to stay away because of pandemic restrictions. >> i am very happy with how things have gone this week. we have had a lot of fun and have enjoyed being on the pitch. i hope we will take this with us into the game. after the victory against belgium, a tougher opponent

awaits. the coach is not focused on short-term results or local libraries. >> it is not a ballet rivalry. quite the opposite. i think this tournament is a good sign for others we can play football again. some countries have had to cancel their games. >> in any case, this is a germany team full of confidence after an unbeaten qualifying campaign. >> would have the highest expectations of ourselves -- we have the highest expectations of ourselves. our goal is to compete for the title in england. we will give everything this year to develop as a team. >> the pandemic is not making those preparations easy. but friendly tournaments like this week are pviding something of a testnd those tests would come much tougher

than the netherlands. brent: in the champions league, marking a return to the knockout phase of the elite club competition on wednesday night. up against premier league leaders manchester city. cityecorded their eighth straight victory over the weekend. the match will take place in hungary instead of germany. snow and ice have been causing serious suffering for parts of the united states in recent days but the recent freeze can also bring great beauty. parts of the famous niagara fallsrozen over, creating huge abstract ice formations. the main current rushing down through the ice. the fall span the border between canada and the united states. they have a vertical drop of more than 50 meters.

here is a reminder of the top stories we are following for you. none of three men accused of killing a maltese journalist -- one of three men accused of killing a maltese journalist has pleaded guilty to murder. her death sparked international outrage and protest that forced the prime minister to resign. you're watching dw news live from berlin. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around. we will be right back.

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