berlin. the mother of a detained television activist pleads with authorities to save her son. also on the program, big ruling against big oil. a dutch court orders oil company shell to drastically cutts oil

and emissions. drastic and locations for oil companies around the world -- this could have drastic implications for oil companies around the world. as migrants on spain's canary islands risk their lives to reach the mainland, a new law aims to change that and the situation for thousands of others arriving from northern africa. ♪ welcome to the program. several members of the united nations security council have condemned the belarusian government for its forced grounding of a passenger jet.

the belarusian leader has defended his decision to force the plane to land in order to arrest a journalist. his parents have appealed to the international community to help rescue their son, who they say has been tortured. >> the parents must have watched this clip thousands of times. looking at the video of their son's alleged confession, they are convinced it was forced. >> i know my son very well. we and our friends and relatives have clearly seen there are bruises on his face that are covered with makeup. that the bridge of his nose is hurt. it looks like his nose is broken. >> knowing respond -- knowing

our son, i can say with confidence he will never admit his guilt because first of all, he has not taken part in mass disturbances and has never organized them. >> world, please stand up and help. i'm urging you because they will kill him. they will kill him. >> the 26-year-old belarusian came into lukashenko's crosshairs for his work as a popular -- on a popular antigovernment social media channel. he said he helped organize mass protests after lukashenko claimed victory in last year's disputed presidential election. supporters are convinced his confession was made under duress. the same goes for this supposed confession from his girlfriend in a video that emerged tuesday. they were both arrested on tuesday after their flight was intercepted by a belarusian military jet and forced to land

in minsk. the incident sparked international outrage. the eu slapped sanctions on minsk, and the u.s. is considering doing the same. belarusian leader alexander lukashenko lashed out in response. >> as we predicted, our ill wishers from outside the country and from inside the country changed their methods of attack on the state. they have crossed many red lines and have abandoned common sense and human morals. this is not information warfare anymore. this is modern hybrid warfare. we must do everything we can to prevent it from becoming a real war. lukashenko denies the plane was diverted in order to make the arrest, claiming the move was a necessary response to a bomb threat. the belarusian opposition now say they are prepared to stage new protests and hoping

international pressure will help keep the activists safe. gerhard: visiting fellow at the european council on foreign relations jones is not. as someone who used to work for the television government, how surprised are you by lukashenko's defiance? >> this is an important question. i think everything we thought that was impossible every time during the political crisis has proven to become possible again. gerhard: you have said the lukashenko's defiance is proof that he is under more pressure than ever and that he has effectively backed himself into a corner. how so?

>> he is under pressure from inside. he is not only into -- illegitimate internationally but internally. the protest mood is very, very high, and also, he is under pressure from moscow, which wants more control over the country, and lukashenko opposes this. gerhard: is vladimir putin not the staunch ally of lukashenko? >> belarus depends on russia, but also russia depends on belarus because they have invested money in the regime and they are supporting each other, but russia wants more control, and lukashenko wants to keep his absolute power. they support each other, but what is happening on the ground is what is important. russia wants to do monetize the

power in belarus, to have infrastructure for political influence. until now, we don't have political structure, no political party that can be supported by russia. this means if lukashenko had been overthrown during a political crisis, russia would lose much of his influence. that's why they are supporting him. the same way they are trying to crease this dependence and form some horizontal lines that they can influence. lukashenko opposes this strategy. gerhard:s. the eu has sanctioned his regime for years. is the eu partly to blame for the situation because it has not been tough enough on him? >> not for sure, not. the problem is the regime.

you cannot blame anyone because of that. if you talk about the possibility to influence him, we should understand that independently with what strategy we play, engagement or sanctioning the regime, they don't work when lukashenko is threatened. the engagement period always ends with elections, not because the eu engaged poorly, no, because after the elections, you always see palestinians in the cotry, and lukashenko wants to have control. the eu once again has to come back to sanctions policies, and

it happened like that after previous investigations. now, after 2020, it has happened once again. gerhard: family members of the arrested journalist have claimed his confession was forced, and some even claim torture. >> we cannot know. in belarus, right now, there are claims people are tortured in prison, but i do not have any information to prove it. gerhard: thank you very much. time now to take a look at some of the other stories making

headlines at this hour. eight people have been killed in a mass shooting in san jose, california, authorities say. the suspect died at the scene. dozens of people are missing in northwest nigeria after an overloaded boat ferrying 200 passengers sank. the boat had left central niger state and was headed to kenya state when it sank, officials say. a rescue operation is under way. so far, only 40 survivors and one dead body have been recovered. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken has held talks with the egyptian presidentn the wake of the israel-gaza conflict. they discussed last week's cease-fire and a possible long-term solution toward hostility.

in a historic ruling, a court in the netherlands has ordered royal dutch shell to reduce carbon emissions by 45 percent by the year 2030. it has stated, the judge said shell is responsible for its own carbon emissions and those of its suppliers. it is the first time the company has been legally obliged to align its policies with the paris climate accords. legal action could be taken against other energy companies around the world. show says it already has plans to drastically reduce its reserve and might consider appealing the case. >> the verdict is disappointing. we are working hard to become a net zero energy company. thousands of people at shell are working hard on that any -- every day.

we are investing millions in that. and the fact that now we are moving in the right direction, we are being asked to speed this up, we will have to study this and see if we have any other options. gerhard: were drawn by the men who played a role in this case. you wrote that restricting show's oil and gas admissions would play a role in reducing globalarbon emissions. how significant a role wou it play? >> it is significant because of how important shell is as an oil and gas producer. as you mentioned, theyre already making strides 2d carbonized, but they are not going fast enough. what this does is says that they and every other producer needs to go faster because those

producers do have the skills -- companies like shello have the skills to help bring about lower carbon energy transmission, and that is what they should be doing, and they are required to do that as of this ruling. gerhard: how much of a difference would thisake? >> we would have to look at the specific numbers of how much shelf produces, but all oil and gas production needs to wind down globally to meet the goals of the paris climate agreement. 45% duction in the next decade, as you said, is in line with those targets. with the court ruling said is show is not -- they cannot do this alone, of course,ut that does not absolve them from doing their part. gerhard: she'll essentially argue that if it does not produce the oil, someone else ll. isn't that a valid argument? >> no, it's not a val

argument. it has been one of the main subjectsf my research. the economic literature is pretty car. if you stop proding oil in one part of the world,ot all of that oil gets produced by another producer. there is an efft on overall consumption. that was the subject of my letter to the court. the court rejected the idea of what they called perfect substitution, and i hope that helps create a precedent for other cases around the world. gerhard: do you think this will mean the price of petroleum products will go up for consumers? >> i do. not by much. this ruling is saying that shell essentially needs to wind down oil and gas production pretty quickly over the next few years, over the next decade, and they can put that capital and innotion into other parts of

their busiss, other parts of their energy transition and energy challenge, so i do not see any downside for consumers on this. i see only upside because eryone needs help the air and a livable climate, and this ruling means shell will have to do the part in helping make that future realized. gerhard: thank you for your insights. >> thank you. gerhard: syrians have been voting in a presidential election that is all but certain to hand a fourth term to bashar al-assad. it is's second election since the start of a civil war 10 years ago that has killed and displaced hundreds of thousands. it has been widely dismissed as a sham. president assad basis two challengers and voting has been greatly restricted. >> already celebrated as the winner, and on the surface, it

looks like just another election. but few here hold doubt about who will be the winner. >> we came here today because this is about our future. we camto say that we are free to choose who represents us, so we can fill this beautiful country together. >> opposition and western powers are calling the elections a farce. the man seen outside of syria as a brutal dictator is defined to international critics. he had this response. the mobilization we have seen in recent weeks is a clear response to western criticism of the elections. i say to the west, your opinions have zero value, and you are worth 10 times less. in reality, not many voices will be heard.

only residents of areas under government can vote in the country that has the largest number of displaced people in the world. those in rebel held districts are excluded, and the autonomous kurdish regions in the north are not participating. instead, here in rebel held idlib, this is what they made of the election -- massive turn against assad. he is seen here as a war criminal, and no one would ever accept his rule again. "today, 10 years after the syrian revolution, we have come out to tell the criminal syrian regime and the murderous russians that the elections are illegitimate. bashar al-assad will face a trial, and instead of ruling, he will end up in the dustbin of history.

-- of history." after a decade, the syrian war has left nearly half a million people dead and half of the country displaced. for bashar al-assad, this is a victory, but one paid for with tremendous suffering. gerhard: for analysis, we talked to the head of the middle east division at a german think tank. how much support really is there for bashar al-assad in the country? >> he has displaced half the population anyway and only two unknown competitors were admitted. that tells us something. he is popular enough to win among his very reduced audience, and therefore, it is very difficult to judge. what we have seen today is just

another show. gerhard: but there are no surprises. he will definitely win this election, will he? >> definitely. the television services, the army have put up images saying our only choice is bashar. gerhard: assad has promised to use his next term after these so-called elections to rebuild the country, but he cannot do that on his own. he will need help. >> he already promised earlier that he would reconstruct the country, and syrians have been paying a reconstruction tax for years now, but they have not seen this cheerio i. he has not invested in aiding the economy, so it is difficult

to see what would happen. where will reconstruction money go? when should we believe those infrastructure changes are coming? gerhard: assad has ruled with the help of russia and iran. how much does his personal fate depend on their support? >> he continues to depend on them. he would not have won the war without them. this has been a hindrance for him. it has been a hindrance for russians to move ahead with the political process. they suprt him for winng the war and have not shown any attempt to support him in reconstruction and are not sending military aid. gerhard: do you think the western approach to the syrian government needs to change?

>> we do not have any indication that a change would improve things in syria, because reconstruction depends on assad's will to do it. why should we believe that a western change of policy would help? on the contrary, humanitarian d has to promised her first do no harm, and by sending money to this corrupt regime, we will possibly support human rights violations. gerhard: half the population has been displaced by the war. millions have fled. >> we can see in the numbers, even the statistics are difficult, most of those who have fled are in certain populations, so the demographic balance has shifted toward

minorities. he has emptied the count from people he deemed as not loyal, and i think at changes a lot. in the northern areas, thkurds d arabs have been displaced, so demographic change is something that will affect society for years to come. gerhard: thank you. >> thank you very much. gerhard: here are some more new stories in brief. volley -- bali's president and military -- president and prime minister were arreste and have

resigned. south africa's former president, jacob zuma, has pleaded not guilty to corruption charges related to a billion-dollar arms deal dating back to the 1990's. he's accused of sending annual payments -- receiving annual payments from a french arms maker, and in return, authorities say he granted the company freedom from scrutiny. nthe incident happened on the italian alps on sunday. last year, almost 23,000 migrants from north africa reached the canary islands, and thousands more arrived, but campaigners say the island has

become a migrant prison because spain does not move them. >> they are not looking for drugs for cnterfeit cigarettes. they are checking for people. african migrants trying to get to the spanish mainland. they are looking for young men like this one, can't on camera by a harbor worker. truckdriver raphael makes some final checks himself. it was just a few weeks ago that he caught a stowaway on board. flex two were here and two more further back. i had to call my boss because they had broken the seal. if i had had the refrigeration system on, they would have arrived frozen to death. >> the stowaways have already made it from africa to the northern canaries.

most of the tens of thousands who take this route want to go further, to the spanish mainland , more than 1000 kilometers further north. the spanish authorities have done all they can to prevent that route from becoming an established one. many migrants stuck on the canaries in -- are in limbo. me risk their lives to leave. it takes about two days to get from here to the spanish mainland, a long time to hide in a truck. perts warn that people could die on the routes, butxperts -- but migrants know of the risks. >> authoties recently busted a major network operating from hairdressers. trying to speak with the police about this is frustrating. just before the interview, a

woman effectively tells her children not to answer my most interesting questions. she offers advice to migrants in front of the police station, telling them to fill out forms -- helping them to fill out forms. "i get no help from the government. they are just a in big centers on the island. people say they can help charge money. it starts at 700 euros, but i have heard of one person paying 3000." >> this ruling says preventing migrants from leaving the canaries is not allowed. "you cannot simply turn a whole region into a prison, and the court has made that absolutely clear. in an expedited hearing, the court said the police have to stop blocking the migrants.

-- migrants. the ruling should reduce the number of young men risking their lives on trucks just to get from one part of spain to another. gerhard: stargazers across the pacific rim have been enjoying a heavenly treat. the first total lunar eclipse for two years. this was the view from sydney harbour bridge during a rare superblock. -- super blood moon, which astronomers say is a once in a decade site. i leave you with the view from california's griffith observatory where the skies are a little bit rowdy. -- a little bit cloudy. ♪

>> welcome to life in paris. these are the headlines. france slaps new quarantine regulations on visitors from britain. a steep increase in cases of indian variant of covid-19 especially in northern england. the belarus president says he acted within the law when he diverted a passenger jet to arrest a dissident journalist. the eu is calling for the release.