berlin. hoping to save the summer vacation season from the pandemic. the european union unveils plans to welcome tourists. national vaccination programs are speeding up. europe's borders could be open to travelers in time for the summer holidays. a dramatically different scene in india. hospitals are making an emergency appeals for oxygen as

the health care system crumbles. plus, german police shut down one of the world's biggest child sex abuse platforms. more than 400,000 people. members of the dknet network name to bo town. european reporter sounding an alarm about a tax on press freedom. they say they are increasing and that you should do more to defend journalists. i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all of you around the world, welcome. european holidays could be back on the agenda for foreign visitors this summer. the e.u. executive body outlined the plans to open europe's borders but only for travelers who have been fully vaccinated with an e.u. approved vaccine.

it is hoped the proposal will boost europe's troubled or is him sector, but it still needs approval from all 27 member states. >> after months of gloomy pandemic news in brussels, finally some calls for optimism at an e.u. conference. >> to take into account the progress of vaccination campaigns and elements in the epidemiological situation worldwide. >> europe's attractions back in but visitors are likely to encounter different rules in different countries. france will begin relaxing nightly curfews this month, reopen cultural sites and allow cafes, bars and restaurants to offer outdoor service. in germany, overnight hotel stays for tourists are currently forbidden and no data has been set for reopening in person dining.

in many places, a nighttime curfew remains n effect in some destinations are off-limits first nonresidents. some countries that depend heavily on tourism are pushing for a full reopening in time for the summer. to help things along, greece has advocated developing digital proof travelers have been vaccinated or tested negative for coronavirus. on a continent where many countries are slow to digitize, some worry this proposal could delay rather than hasten their holiday in the sun. brent: let's get more from our very own reporter in brussels. good evening to you. tell us more about who will be allowed to enter the e.u. ts summer >> you have two categories of people. one category we all know. it entails seven countries including australia. countries with a low infection rate. secondly, we have a new category. that is ople who have received

the last recommended dose of an e.u. authorized vaccine. people who have been fully vaccinated. in most cases, that means two jabs of a vaccine and a. of one to two weeks until the vacce takes effect. at is what the commission recommends to member states. they can also bring their children, but they will have to be provided a pcr tests. brent: will these be binding across the e.u. or will be have a situation where some countries make up their own roles? >> the e.u. is a couple of states who cooperate and that is also what they hope to achieve to facilitate travel to have a one le that applies for everyone. if member states choose to opt out, they are free to so. rather a lot of member states

like agrees where the tourism industry is really important who already say we already apply these measures. if you are vaccinated, you can come and spend your holidays. brent: we undstand this propal would have an emergency brake mechanism. >> if situations occur like in ina where you have a double mutant or the vus is particularly strong, all of it could shut down. there will be an e.u. agency that gives a warning signal. member states can decide if they want to follow that recommendation. brent: this is early may. can we be sure this will be in place in time for the summer vacation season? >> that is what that you you commission hopes. ambassadors are meeting this week. end of may, member states will decide to there is a green certificate coming where the idea is they will facilitate

this and it will be made available to foreigners who intend to spend their vacation in the e.u. brent: we hope for the best. thank you. germany is planning to ease restrictions for people who have been fully vaccinated or people who have recovered from the coronavirus. those people will be exempt from some of the toughest pandemic measures including nighttime curfews and limits on personal contact. the parliament is expected to approve the new rules this week but only 8% of people fully vaccinated. the plan is controversial. >> for months, germans have been told to stay at home. public life has been heavily restricted. it has been a long and bleak winter. with the vaccination campaign picking up speed, a debate about lifting restrictions for those who are fully vaccinated as begun. >> since easter, we have been

saying based on expert recommendations that people who have been vaccinated will have equal rights to those who have just tested negative. >> in some german states, vaccinated people can already access services that are open to those with a negative test. at the moment with the country in lockdown, that means they can go to the hairdressers and a few other shops. further exceptions are also being discussed. being able to meet more people in private and an exemption from nighttime curfews in many areas, giving some people their rights back before restrictions are lifted for everyone is controversial. in intensive care nurse confronted everyone -- confronted the health minister. >> i donned her stand how we can be promising privileges when we have not been able to offer everyone a vaccine. we should only be talking about privileges once every german has the opportunity to get

vaccinated. >> others disagree. and they say people had an fully vaccinated do not pose a significant risk of infections sure they should the able to live their lives without restrictions. >> i think it is a question of constitutional necessity to basically allow those people's freedom to be taken back because otherwise, the restrictions would be disproportionate. >> however, this debate may be short-lived. if germany's vaccination campaign continues at its current pace, it may not take long before a lot of the population has been vaccinated and can live a much for your life. brent: to india now with the coronavirus crisis remains the worst in the world. india's vaccination campaign is slow due to vaccine shortfalls. the health care system is struggling with a huge surge of coronavirus infections now approaching 20 million.

hospitals are appealing for emergency supplies as they run out of oxygen to treat severely ill patients. >> there is no room for these patients at this hospital. instead, they are made to wait outside and left hoping the oxygen supply will hold out. as ambulances queue at hospitals, other means of transport are taking on a crucial role. trains are india's lifeblood. tracks hauling freight and people across the country's vast landmass like arteries. today, they also offer a lifeline. this locomotive pose precious cargo, oxygen headed to the worst hit areas. india's railroads have been drafted into the country's emergency response in other ways. >> the train coaches have been converted into isolation words. there is a separate coach for

the doctors. there are two oxygen cylinders in each coach and we have set up nine air coolers. sprinklers on the ceiling control the temperature. 16 patients can be accommodated in each coach and sanitation waste disposal arrangements have been made. >> ingenuity and improvisation are doing their bit to stem the rising tide of coronavirus death. but it is not enough to shield the government from anger over its failure to prevent this deadly second wave of the pandemic. the backlash was felt last week when the prime minister's party unexpectedly lost an important state election. much like the surge in infections, this is not what he had in mind when he declared the end of the pandemic at political rallies all over india. after this miscalculation, his political fortunes may be linked

to the coronavirus more closely than ever. brent: earlier, we spoke with our delhi bureau chief of the allegations made my scientific advisors there pandemic warnings were ignored by the government. >> if you ask them if they ignored scientific evidence, they will say they did not. they set up a consortium to investigate if there were any new deadly variants of the virus which could pose a threat to national health. these scientists say they gave their findings to the government in march. five of them have come out and said nothing was done and asked why, one scientist said it is our job to give the evidence. policymaking is the responsibility of the government, basically implying hard science did not drive policymaking as much as it

should have. brent: that was our bureau chief reporting. let's talk -- let's take a look at some of the other headlines. u.s. secretary of state anthony boykin has said the u.s. once stable -- u.s. wants stable relations with russia. secretary blinken said the u.s. will respond if moscow acts recklessly or aggressively. the funeral for andrew brown, a black man shot and killed by police deputies has been held in north carolina. attorneys for his family called his death unjustifiable. they are demanding the release of the body cam footage of the shooting. thousands of residents along kyrgyzstan's border with tajikistan have been returning to damaged homes days after being forced to flee from clashes. a cease-fire appears to be holding now.

young activists in myanmar have staged nationwide rallies calling for others to join them in spring revolution. witnesses say security forces shot and killed several demonstrators. it has been three months since the military seized power. here in germany, police have shut down a major internet platform that shared images of children being sexually abused. officials say the darknet site was one of the biggest in the world and had been operating since 2019. the investigation found images of severe sexual abuse including toddler's. several suspects are already in police custody. >> the website is now off-line. until recently, more than 400,000 members met up on this platform to share illegal images of young boys being abused. after a lengthy investigation,

three main suspects were arrested and a fourth is now in custody. authorities shut the platform down. >> all four men were arrested on suspicion of criminal activity. they are being charged with conspiracy and publishing pornographic content. three of them are accused of being the administrators. the fourth is suspected of being the most active platform member and having made over 3500 posts. >> whether the men themselves committed abuse is unclear. this can only be determined after the data has been analyzed. even though the raid was successful, germany's federal police know the investigation must continue. >> when you have such a large system and cut off its head, we were only eliminating the current administrators. the member still exist pit we have to assume a similar site will resurface. that does not stop us from continuing to prosecute those responsible. >> the offenders face prison

sentences of six months to 10 years. state prosecutors believe the suspects will receive multiple years behind bars. brent: my colleague is joining me now. she has been looking into this story. we are trying to get our heads around the numbers here. more than 400,000 people were involved in this. members of this network. how significant is this? >> it is a major bust for german investigators. 400,000 members of this platform. they shared sexual abuse material of children on this platform around the world appeared this is huge. to put it into perspective, we had another platform that german investigators took down a couple years ago in 2017. it was around 110,000 accounts. it is four times as big and

investigators are saying it is one of the biggest child sexual abuse platforms ever. brent: do we know how the investigation worked? help police were able to find what was lying on and find the people involved? >> we do not know much yes but it is hard to investigate on the dark web because one thing you have to know is it is another part of the internet. it is a part that is only accessible for a specific software that allows users to stay anonymous. this makes it really hard for investigators to track down the criminals behind it. that is why we have seen this international cooperation. what investigators do is they basically infiltrate these platforms so they chat with users on the platform. they try to find out any information they can to locate the criminals behind it. brent: we were talking today.

most of us would not know how to get on the dark web. the people who have done that, even if they were not the ringleaders, these 400,000, should they be expecting the police to knocking -- to be knocking at their door soon? >> as i mentioned, it is hard with the anonymity for investigators. i have looked at one of the forms. the one that was taken down in 2017. people are actually talking about how to evade the law. how to stay anonymous and using encryption. they actually know that investigators are after them. brent: tough work indeed. good to have you on the story. thank you. today is world press freedom day. reporters without borders is calling on the european union to do more to protect journalists in europe. their annual report says

journalists around the world are finding it increasingly difficult to investigate and report on sensitive stories and europe is no exception. >> independent media almost completely dismantled. >> the european union missed the opportunity to come in and intervene. >> regional journalists in poland in distress. >> i cannot imagine having someone to tell me what i am allowed to write about and what i cannot write about. >> female reporters in slovenia facing verbal attacks. >> everyday, we are called such debts and attacks >> according to reporters without borders, the media situation in the e.u. is deteriorating. they strongly criticized the lack of action in defending the freedom of the press. in poland, the diverse media landscape is under threat. we visit radio 357 in warsaw, an

independent station broadcast over the internet. it is run by some very experienced journalists. he worked for for them for three decades until he was fired. >> it was our bosses, the program directors. they would tell us what topics to cover and what topics not to cover. it was our supervisors who were our sensors. >> this woman was not fired. she resigned from her job. last year, the regional newspaper was bought by the state run oil refiner. >> i think they will want to have reports showing them in a positive light. there will be national elections in poland in three years. regional newspapers are very well suited to spreading their

message. >> since the injustice party came to power, the government brought public broadcasters under its control. it has used state advertising to favor loyal outlets. in the world press freedom index, the country is at position 64, down 46 places in six years, but the government says the low ranking is politically motivated. >> i think poland as an example of how things should be when it comes to free media and criticism of the government cared everyone has the great to -- the right to criticize and make use of it. brent: she has a new -- >> she has a new job at a internet

platform. the takeover was put on hold. she is worried. >> press freedom is certainly key when it comes to democracy in poland. if this freedom vanishes, there will be consequences. >> a problem well known in brussels. the e.u. commission says they are concerned but cannot do much about it. >> if we don't have sufficiently strong legislation which will protect the media, so it is not so easy to take decisive action. >> journalists in poland want to fight for their independence just like their colleagues in hungary or slovenia. they also say they need to see more action from brussels to defend media freedom in the european union. brent: marking world press freedom day, dw has awarded its freedom of each award to a nigerian investigative reporter.

starting at an early age, he stood up for -- he stood up for women's rights and called out injustices when she saw them shared her reporting on sex trafficking almost cost her her life. sheays it iher mission to give a voice to the voiceless using the power of the written word. i spoke with her a short while ago and i asked her what has kept her going despite the trauma of rape and witnessing murder that came with her investigations. >> i would say that what has kept me -- what has allowed me to moven i would say is plastic under my tooth. hope. i am a very hopeful rson. to become at some poin i did --

other traumatic experiences i have difficulty talking about. when i look at t women, the children around m, throwg in the towel bemes very difficult because i kp tellin myself if i decide to stop now, there will bether peoe there for the women dhildren,ut how do i continue contra beauty to a better -- continue ctributing to a bettesociety? i ha to encourage myself to keep moving. there are many women, many women. that keeps me going. brent: you can see the entire interview next on the day. that starts in about eight minutes. one of germany's most popular tourist destinations of reopens of this month.

an island in the north sea is welcoming visitors. it is a test to see whether vacations can be safe despite the pandemic. hotels and restaurants are happy to have the business back. some locals fear the return of tourism could put them at risk. >> hello and welcome. please register with the app. now you are booked. great. do you have your test results? on your phone. data collector and test checker. this restaurant owner can only admit guests who have checked in with a contact tracing up and can provide negative coronavirus tests. >> it is a good feeling. we are back. we are here for our guests. of course, there are many requirements we have to fulfill. it has taken a lot of work. >> i don't think we are more

likely to get infected here than at home because we are being cautious and following all the hygiene rules. the tests of us a sense of security. -- give us a sense of security. >> visitors need a negative test no more than a day old to go to a restaurant and two days to stay in a hotel room. some residents think the testing strategy alone is not enough here the 18,000 full-time residents share the island with 62,000 beds for taurus and 14,000 vacation homes. >> how will they keep track of second homeowners when they rent out their places to friends and family? how do we know those people will also be tested? no one asked any of us doctors here for our opinion. they should have waited at least

two months before letting in taurus set -- lay in tourists so people who live here and work your can reach herd immunity. they should not have started until then. >> a normal temperature in vaccination record. the requirements to stay at a hotel. guests with two jabs do not need to show a negative test. >> we have had so many lockdowns. i am using this as a getaway from the day-to-day stress. it is important because we want to get back to normal. >> for hotel owners, the situation is anything but normal. >> i want to get back to work. i want to put up guest for the night. i enjoyed it and i also have to get back to making an income. everyone is looking at us to see what happens. if we make any mistakes, they will point the finger. if it works, we are trail blazers. >> eager to get out of the house

after more than a year of restrictions, germans will be watching to see if it is safe to go on holiday. brent: from the coast to the coliseum. visitors to rome's coliseum will get a gladiators view from a new retractable stage. a hh-tech floor will give taurus a clear picture of what it was like when people fell to the death. you are watching dw news. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around. we will be right back. ♪ li♪

>> france -- modi, as india reports over 300 new -- 200,000 new cases. the indian army called in to help, to. as many as 30 people are feared dead in suspected jihadist attack booking a faster. we will talk live to our correspondent. german prosecutors say they have busted one of the world