phil: this is dw news live from berlin. calling for urgent action against myanmar's military junta. >> there is a lot of evidence, striking evidence, that crimes against humanityre being committed as we speak. phil: tom andrew says the crimes include murder, torture, and forced disappearances. another mass of duction in nigeria. gunmen kidnapped teenagers in

the northwest. police are working with the army to track them down. more bad news for germans wanting to return to normal life. the country's health minister warns of tough weeks ahead, with slow progress on vaccinations and infections on the increase. and football's biggest tournament faces major allegations. within 6000 migrant workers are reported to have died as they built a stadium for the 2020 world cup in qatar, prompting at least one supplier to forgo involvement. phil: i'm phil gayle. welcome to the program. protesters have returned to myanmar streets repeating their calls for a return to democracy, despite the threat of violence from security forces. in a moment we will hear from the u.n.'s independent human

rights investigator for myanmar. he believes the military's actions amount to crimes against humanity. first, we will look at how the violence is driving some police officers to flee the country rather than continue to be part of the crackdown against their own ople. reporter: demonstrations like these have become routine throughout the country. every day, protesters for pd hard work of rebuilding protective barriers. they have no option but to flee when they are yet again broken down by security forces. yet there are those within the security forces who disagree with the junta's brutality. the british broadcasting corporion has interviewed police officers who fled across the border into india after refusing to carry out military orders. they're among the first

defectors to share eyewitness accounts of what is happening myanmar. -- in myanmar. "as protests were taking place, my boss ordered us to fire the crowd. i refused to shoot them. i said i would rather side with the people. later i told him i was going to visit my family. that's when i ran away. the military is becoming more and more brutal." so far the protesters have refused to be silenced. they are still taking to the streets demanding the return of democracy to their country. phil: the u.n.'s special rapporteur for human rights in myanmar is tom andrews. he told dw why he believes the country's military is can many crimes against humanity. >> crimes against humanity are widespread, they are systematic,

they are done against the civilian population, they are done knowingly. if you look at the brutality that we are seeing every single day, they are indeed widespread. 70 people have been killed in 28 different communities around the country. you see a command and control clearly being evidenced by the fact that the brutality is very systematic, very much along the same lines no matter where they are ourring in the country. people are being mowed down. there are over 2000 arbitrary detentions and counting throughout myanmar. these are not being committed against combatants. they are being committed against peaceful protesters. the only offense is to work peacefully toward the restoration of democracy and a future that does not include this military junta. for all of those reasons, there is a lot of evidence, i think

striking evidence, that crimes against humanity are being committed as we speak. phil: human special rubber tour on human rights -- rapporteur on human rights in myanmar, tom andrews. now to nigeria, where gunmen have kidnapped dozens of students. security forces were able to rescue 180 students and staff, but 30 students are still missing. it is the fourth kidnapping from a nigerian school in september. reporter: anoer nigerian school bearing the scars of a kidnapping. authorities say a large group of gunmen carried out the abduction on thursday night at this forestry college. students and staff were taken hostage. 180 people were rescued after the military fought with the kidnappers. but 30 people are still unaccounted for. >> the mitary, t police, and otheagencies are working

around-the-clock. we are met with parents of the affected students. we informed them of what really happened. reporter: some of the rescued students suffered injuries and have been taken to hospital. this attack is the fourth of its kind since december in nigeria, where bandits use it as a way to make money or push for the release of jailed members from their groups. security forces say they are conducting an operation to find the missing students. phil: a dw correspondent in nigeria to us what hthinks these kidnappings are still happening. reporter: multiple problems. on top of it is growing insecurity, displaying the weight insecurity has taken part in nigeria. secondly from the government side, the government seems not to be doing enough because this is not the first te we have

had this kind of kidnapping. this school is supposed to be protecteby now, theask forc in nigeria, because when you see a problem, there is need for you to take a kind of precautionary action to be more or les proactive in terms of precting the schools, and we are not seeing that. number three, there is an argument going, are we going to use complete force to bring an end to this armed banditry? do we give them amnesty? some governors say, yes. but the governor is in the forefront where among the people who are saying no, we should use force to fight these bandits. finally, they are saying they have been neglected. bad governors did not do enough for them. that is it. phil: we will take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world. the u.s. the city of minneapolis has agreed to pay the family of

george floyd 27 million dollars to settle a civil lawsuit over his debt. mr. floyd was killed while in police custody in may, sparking global protests about racial injustice. former police officer derek shachauvin is on trial for his murder, with jury selection underway. germany says it will use the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine sa despite other european countries putting it temporarily halt on its use. the announcement follows reports of a blood clot in those who have received vaccine. no known link to the drug has been established with astrazeneca insists the drug is safe. an epidemiologist and public health expert in berlin has his assessment about the possible risks of this vaccine. >> one also has to understand that this clotting also

occurs without the drug, and this is nothing unusual. let's say if we take it to an extreme level, give all the vaccinations would cause clotting, we would have seen it right away. this is not e case. the question is is there anything with some of the vaccinesor a specific batch under investigation? the answer right now is what i know right now does not look likehis is t cause. we also need to understand that the disease covid obviously also induces clotting of the body. the risk is much higher. phil: germany's health minister is telling people to prepare for challenging weeks ahead as the country's coronavirus caseload and started to rise again good

meanwhile, the country's vaccination program means disappointingly slow, with progress only expected to pick up in april. public anger over the government's failing management of the pandemic is increasing ahead of several key elections. reporter: as covid-19 cases in germany rise, authorities are once again emphasizing the seriousness of the situation. "we will have to brace ourselves for some very challenging weeks in which we will continue to try to balance the necessary public health measures against the normality we are all desperate to return to." "i share the concern of the country's public health institute. " " the pandemic is not over yet. we are running a marathon with the last third, and that is known to be especially hard, not least because there is now a race against the variants."

the worsening situation comes at the same time as frustration grows over a slow vaccination rollout that has been marked by supply shortages and leaden bureaucracy. and there is also corruption scandal involving several conservative mps. three members of angela merkel's parliamentary party have resigned in the past week over allegations that they misused their positions to make money. they face allegations they lobbied for companies to get supply contracts for coronavirus, face masks. he said his firm received 250 euros for the such help ita thorough lawmaker said he would resign after reports he helped contacts in azerbaijan with procurement. >> that short period of time, so

many cases have emerged. the leadership of the conservatives is not show whether the list is completed or whether further cases will emerge. reporter: the mask scandal has threatened public trust in the conservative party, and the timing of the scandal is especially bad, with regional elections taking place on sunday. the votes in the states will be the first of seven elections in germany this year that will culminate in a general election in september. phil: the european union has begun a pilot project in a small town in austria to determine whether the biontech/pfizer vaccine works against the south african variant of coronavirus. the region has been particularly hard-hit by this strain. the eu has shipped thousands of

doses of the vaccine. this report is from a town where tens of thousands of people are being allowed to jump the vaccination q. -- queue. reporter: simon is relieved to get this message, confirmation he will get vaccinated on saturday. >> i'm very happy to help especially science get insight into the coronavirus, about the vaccines. reporter: his friend did not get any appointment for a simple reason. >> he's in my district and i mean another district, and regional and religious -- that is unlucky for me. reporter: the district received 1000 doses of the biontech-pfizer vaccine allocated by the european union to stem the spread of the south african variant here. you must be a resident to receive the jabs. the mayor here hopes this is a chance to restore the region's image. "as an important region for

tourism and we want to be attractive again for all those who want to go on vacation. we want to operate in a secure way-- offer it in a secure way." if it benefits, hopefully the whole state including the capital, in dire need of tourists, too, with easter just around the corner. that is the hope of the governor, who wants to spread some good news. "we are noticing a decrease of the south african variant. we had 193 active positive cases . now we have 47." complete eradication of the variant is the goal. only nobody knows how effective the biontech/pfizer vaccine will be. a medical university will monitor the plan, turning it into a real world test. "we want to see how many people get infected despite vaccination

over six months, and how many still need to go to hospital or will die. " his team will analyze information provided by residents, giving physical data and medical conditions for at least 5000 people need to contribute to the study to give valid results. these people are the first to get this vaccine under this extraordinary plan. 60,000 people are eligible, and over 70% of them have registered. there are sighs of relief from those who have gotten there first jab today, hoping that soon they can return to a level of normality in their lives. because currently nothing is normal here. once you are here, you can only leave with a negative corona test. phil: take a look at some more development in this pandemic, starting in italy, but the government has approved plans to

put half the country under a total lockdown because of a surge in cases. schools, shops, and restaurants will close on monday. kenya's president has extended the overnight curfew for 60 days as the east african nation deals with a third wave of infections. she they -- chile is on track to vaccinate 80% of its population by june, one of the fastest campaigns in the world. israel has been making swift progress in its covid vaccination campaign. it has the highest vaccination rate in the world, but that is only for its own population and not palestinians living in the west bank and gaza strip. this week the governor -- government doubted two internationacriminal this is him and began immunizing palestinian laborers who work in the country. reporter: a vaccination center between the west bank town of bethlehem and jerusalem post he, only palesnians holding a permit to live in israel or in

settlements are vaccinated by israeli authorities. as a young person and palestinian worker, i can take the vaccine. at t same time, i think of my father and mother who didn't get it yet. i will feel better when all of my family members have been vaccinated." israel aims to vaccinate about 100,000 workers who cross over from the occupied west bank to israel every day. the country has faced criticism abroad and at home for not providing vaccines to more of the palestinian population. "israel's interest is clear in order to open the economy and return to normal, we need everyone who is moving around inside israeli borders to be vaccinated and safe." but in the israeli-occupied west bank, ordinary people still waiting for a broader vaccination role about the there are only a few files to administer to her fellow medical

colleagues. the moderna vaccines were part of ane-time delivery by israel. a small amount, but still seen as a relief for those having to al closely with patients. "we as doctors andurses are on the frontline. i wish that everybody would get vaccinated like this so we will be protected and have the capability to move on and fight the disease." the palestinian authority says it as procured vaccines from different companies, but it has come under public racism for delays in delivery. in february, 10,000 doses of the sputnik vaccinerrived from the russian government. vaccines through the covax program providing vaccines for lower income countries are also expected. "the situation here is deteriorating in palestine, but also in several countries ound the world as a result of the late arrival of the vaccines."

"the discrepancy in administering the vaccines does not bode well in bringing the end of the pandemic any closer." about 2000 doses of the sputnik vaccines were sent to the hamas- controlled gaza strip after israel approved the transfer. the blockaded territory also received about 60,000 vaccine doses from the united arab emirates, full population of 2 million. and it's crucial -- infection rates in the west bankave sort in recent weeks. in this private hospital on the outskirts,edical staff have seen a sharp influx of series covid-19 casesj attributed to virus variants. "until 15 days ago, the corona ward was half-empty and we were emptying the department. suddenly huge numbers started coming to the hospital. all of a sudden the hospital became full."

restrictions were tightened once again in the west bank recently. a curfew on weekends and at night was already in place to curb the pandemic, while the way for more vaccines continues. phil: preparations for the football world cup to be held in qatar in 2022 are in full swing, but allegations of human rights abuses have dogged organizers with media reports claiming more than 6500 migrant workers have died on construction projects. that is prompted one dutch comedy which has traditionally supplied pitches for big tournaments to boycott the event. reporter: grass grown in the netherlands is used in football stadiums around the world. organizers of the 2022 world cup hope to play. but the compa has pulled out of negotiations, pointing to the staggering number of fatalities among workers in the run-up to the tournament. the reason?

a report in "the guardian" newspaper shows 6500 migrant workers have died in qatar over the last 10 years, most of them in south asia. but the death toll could be higher. reports from the philippines and kenya were not included in the "guardian's" report. officials come there were only a handful of deaths in world cup construction sites, which includes roads and transportation projects. there are arod 2 million foreign workers in qatar. most of them come from south asian countries, but some hail from african nations like kenya. human rights organizations have criticized the working conditions, and despite w laws in qatar, they say the conditions are still poor. phil: let's look at this closer with janelle from dw business. why have they only taken this decision now? >> the trigger seems to have been the "guardian" repor tracking the number of deaths

since qatar one hosting rights for the games. the company was quoted saying that this is a lucrative contract in the millions, but some things are more important than money. although this would have been crystallizing for them for a while, they say they visited qatar a few times and saw that some of the construction crew were not wearing proper protective clothing, pointing to a low safety standard, and construction sites are very dangerous places to work. things can fall on you. you can get electrocuted, so on. 6500 dead migrant workers, that points to a certain kind of carelessness twins lives of people in dangerous jobs come and that is the point where the company said this is untenable for us. they have this other point where they said that they referred to low-quality norms in qatar over the handling and transport of the product they were meant to deliver for the stadiums. those things taken together

caused them to boycott the games from being the first major supplier to do so. phil: how reliable is that death toll? reporter: 2 million people were hired in qatar from other countries in order to work on various projects linked to the games. as such, that would make it seem like the 6500 figure is quite a low ceiling figure. just to review on top of seven stadiums that they built, they are building airport roads and a new public transport system and hotels and so on. figures from the guardian only come from five countries -- bangladesh, nepal, pakistan, india, and sri lanka. other countries are also a major -- major exporters, shall we say, of foreign workers for qatar, the philippines being one of them. i knew plenty of people who went to qatar after we left school.

case in point, the new airport that i mentioned, exceed 5% of the construction crew is filipino. -- 65% of the construction crew is filipino. hard to imagine there isn't a single death case there. qatar says it except the fatalities, but it is in line with what you would expect, but it comes to such an event. on the other hand, it doesn't help that these debts are often listed as deaths due to natural causes, due to acute respiratory or heart failure often listed without the benefit of non-topsy . that makes it easy to dodge accountability. phil: does it look like other companies will join the boycott? reporter: the closer we get to the gains and the more the public becomes aware of the migrant workers issues in qatar, we are going to see increased scrutiny on companies. some of them might decide campbell pr is important, others might make another calculus.

phil: thank you. for centuries, two giant buddhas have stood watch over afghanistan's bamiyan valley until the taliban decided they were at odds with eric's dream interpretation of islamic law in order to the demolition. 20 years ago the world watched in horror as these monuments fell victim to a series of explosions. today the valley is a unesco world heritage site, and there is debate over whether to rebuild the statues or leave the giant alcoves empty as a reminder of their destruction. reporter: he is a bike mechanic. his workshop once boasted a direct view of the famous buddhist statues. he was unwittingly involved in their tragic fate. "i am sad and disappointed that our statues have been destroyed, and they still haven't been reconstructed. that is hard for people here.

the statues are part of a unesco world heritage site. we want them rebuilt, and soon." the taliban forced him to drill holes into the rock for the explosives that would destroy the ancient staes. the monument stated from the sixth century they were once the world's tallest statues of the standing to, awe-inspiring symbols of buddhist philosophy. the islamist taliban destroyed them in march 2001. now the afghan government controls the area. abdul also has a special connection to the site. he is responsible for the safekeeping of fragments of the figures. construction workers stopped due to a lack of funds. that is the reason the ministry for information and culture and unesco are working to secure donations so the work can we start next year. his biggest fear is that the taliban will take control again and put an end to reconstruction efforts.

phil: i will leave you with new works by a french artist who uses sound and graphs as his canvas. he has taken biodegradable paint to three continents, painting these giant linked hands. here is the latest from berlin. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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anchor: you are watching france 24. i am julia kim. italy announces tough new restrictions for most of the country after a fresh surge in coronavirus cases. rome and milan the latest cities to be declared red zones. the benefits outweigh the risks. that is the message from leading health bodies on concerns over the astrazeneca vaccine. it comes as a growing number of countries suspend their rollout of the jab. standing up to china. the united