from her land. tonight, how the rich and powerful avoid paying taxes. opening a box of dirty secrets known as the pandora papers. the finger pointing at world leaders in the tax havens where they keep wealth hidden. also tonight, social media hit i worldwide outages. facebook, whatsapp and instagram. what has gone wrong?

we try to get answers from the u.s. west coast. and a nobel prize for california scientists who unlocked the human sense of touch. but no award for the researchers is behind the covid-19 vaccines. ♪ to our viewers watching on pbs in the u.s. and all of you around the world, welcome. tonight, the biggest ever datalink data leak exposing how those keep their wealth offshore. hidden from the taxman. the trove of data result a global offshore economy inhabited by billionaires, celebrities and political leaders. the goal is the same -- keep wealth hidden and avoid paying

taxes. some of the practices are legal and others raising eyebrows. reporter: this property in france has become a headache for the czechoslovakian prime minister. he did not buy the château directly but set up three offshore shell companies for the transaction. he is suspected of concealing cash flows. >> i declared everything accurately. the only purpose of these false accusations is to influence the election. reporter: there is a notably large number of politicians and the data set, more than 330, including current heads of state , former british prime minister and -- tony blair his wife are expected of avoiding taxes on the real estate deal, which they deny. vladimir putin and others have also invested, although vladimir

putin has criticized this as unpatriotic shall countries -- shell countries are not inherently illegal but the anonymity helps conceal illicit transactions. >> in our investigations, unfortunately there was really a legal financial context. for the most part, it was criminal activity or tax evasion. reporter: in response to the pandora papers, a spokesman for the german government called for stronger international action against financial crime. anchor: as they have done following previous data leaks exposing offshore tax avoiding, political leaders promising action. white house says its existing infrastructure plan will crackdown on tax dodging corporations. european politicians say they also have plans to address the problem. we have more. reporter: here in the european

parliament, an easy piece has dissented for the session this week. we have heard calls for the eu to step up its involvement in dealing with tax avoidance after the pandora papers leaked . one of the leaders joins me here, he's also the chair of the sub many on tax at hers. -- tax matters. what is your reaction to the pandora papers? >> this is not the first leak, still shocked to see politicians, bankers, celebrities rub shoulders or shoulder with criminals and frauds. so the underworld seems to serve the upper world and i find it shocking. reporter: what measures does the eu have at its disposal to sort this out? >> many actions can be taken, it

requires political will. it starts with transparency. we need to know who owns what. that is under the heading of beneficial owner. the second thing is shell companies, why do we allow this? and the third thing is put stricter demands on offshore tax havens. there is a blacklist of tax havens which is a shambles but could potentially be an effective instrument. the british virgin islands, bermuda or any other place, we can do it if we want to, but we need the political will. reporter: there is also -- we've had a string of leaks like this. do you think citizens are frustrated? do you think they feel politicians are doing enough to prevent it? >> yes, i am impatient too and

wanted done today, that it will not be done today and it takes time. but with public pressure and political pressure, it will change. i see progress in that sense and i remain optimistic. reporter: thank you for joining us. anchor: that was the chair of the european union parliament's committee on taxes with our reporter. if you are having problems connecting to social media, you are not alone. major outages have hit facebook and the other apps it owns, including instagram and whatsapp. facebook says services have gone off-line for users across the globe. it did not give any details about what caused the problem. it is not known how many users are affected, but tracking websites logged tens of thousands of reports and complaints worldwide. for more, i am joined by david

in los angeles, mobile editor at tech radar, a publication focused on technology. this is not the first time facebook, instagram and whatsapp have experienced outages. how significant is this one? david: glad to be here. it may not behe first time but it is the longest, generally they are cleared up in early minutes, but we are going on two or three hours. anchor: any idea what is behind this? david: early reports rule out any sort of hacker attack. it looks like a network issue. at fst it was thought to be a dns issue, n we are wondering if it is a border gateway protocol issue. the routes that networks connect with each other to take traffic from one site to another arson plea gone. they disappeared early this --

to another are simply gone. they disappeared early this morning. anchor: this is not the only crisis facebook is dealing with right now, it whistleblower has leaked internal documents accusing the company of choosing profit over the safety of users. do you think there is a possible connection between that and what we are seeing right now? david: i severely doubt it but it is an outrageous coincidence and something people are paying attention to. unfortunately it means facebook cannot even talk back to us about whether this is an issue or not. their status pages even down so they can't respond to whether this is something related, which we don't think it is. anchor: let me ask you about this whistleblower who was supposed to testify tomorrow in washington. these accusations are some of the most damming we have had -- damning we have had against

facebook. she said the company knews and knows that some of its platforms, including instagram, are hurting its users. david: umhmm. that something that eryone w uses febook products should be awe of, especially since facebook's entire strategy is to expand more, and what it knows about whatt is doing to its users, b thiss a different thing from what is going on right now. anchor: what is facebook saying about these accusations? obviously the entire world's attention will be focused tomorrow on capitol hill and on facebook. david: it has been pretty quiet about it. i would not be surprised, facebook usually has a very pat, dampened response to these allegations and usually apologes. i would expect a big, vague apology from facebook, saying it

will do better. anchor: ok, david, we appreciate your time and insights. thank you. david: thank you. anchor: here is a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. thousands of people have rallied in georgia, calling for the real -- the release of the former presidents. he was arrested friday after returning to georgia from exile to support the opposition in local elections. he led a reformist government from 2004 through 2013, and his supporters say charges he abused his office are politically motivated. the operator of the controversial nord stream 2 pipeline from russia to germany has started filling it with natural gas. when it is operational, it will supply 26 million households. it was completed last month. the nord stream 2 has a strained german relations with the u.s. and ukraine and raised fears about energy independence on

russia. army truck drivers have begun delivering fuel to gas stations across written. a lack of -- across the u.k. a lack of drivers has triggered panic buying. it is likely to have a limited impact. tens of thousands more drivers are needed in the u.k. the chinese real estate giant evergrande abruptly halted trading of its stock today as it struggles under a mountain of debt. if the company collapses, he could have a knock on effect on china's entire economy. it is expected to raise more than $5 billion by selling off most of its properties division. reporter: there is a complete standstill on ever grande's construction sites. workers have left, many are not sure how much more when they will get paid. there might be an end in sight for the real estate developers crisis that has shaken investor confidence for weeks.

evergrande is selling a majority stake in his property management unit for more than five dollars, bringing in much needed cash to carry on. -- $5 million, bringing in much needed cash to carry on. >> the goal is to separate it into three separate units and as the government to provide enough money for the group to complete the projects on hand so it can sell the completed projects to the buyers and the buyers can pay evergrande, who in turn will payoff contractors. so this is as far as the chinese government is concerned, the best way forward. and of course and doing so, i think some creditors will be hurt. mostly overseas creditors. reporter: these creditors have known for a while their investment is at risk.

still, another trading week begins with the markets worrying about possible contagion and the fallout for china's entire economy. anchor: you are watching dw news. still to come, badcasting under the taliban. we meet and afghan radio talkshow host who has had to change her clothes just to stay on the air. that is coming up in a moment. two california scientists have on the nobel prize in medicine for their work on temperature in touch in the human body. it is a surprise choice, many in the scientific community say they were expecting the award to go to the researchers who developed the vaccines against covid-19. reporter: these scientists ll go down in history further work on the human nervous system. together, they solved a mystery in biology, demonstrating how temperature and pressure are converted into electrical signals i the nervous system.

>> i think it is exciting. it concerns one of our senses, and we know how important it is to sense our surroundings for survival. this is absolutely crucial for us to survive. we on theommittee and assembly found this to be incredibly exciting. reporter: david worked with a compound found in chile peppers that causes a burning sensation. he used it to identify a sensor in the nerve endings in the skin that response to heat. -- responds to heat. >> it goes in-depth to explain what most of us take for granted. we all know we touch things hot and cold, we e chile peprs and mental t we often don't think about -- and menthol, but we often don't think about

that means. i think people think about it differently because they realize there is a precise mechanism by which this works, is not an ethereal process. reporter: he was inspired by seeing bottles of chile sauce anthe supermarket. his partner looked at pressure. this could affect up to 2 billion people worldwide. anchor: many women in afghanistan decided to become journalist. until august, about 700 were working in the industry. since the taliban took power, the number is less than 100. now women are barely seen in public with many journalists staying at home or even hiding. we have been talking to one female journalist in kabul who has been resisting the pressure to give up her career.

reporter: a woman's voice on the airwaves. in today's afghanistan, no longer a given. in several provinces, it is already a thing of the past. here in kabul, she spends an hour talking to listeners of her phone in show. >> [speaking foreign language] reporter: a format familiar to listeners the world over, but the taliban takeover has not passed without trace. >> we can't laugh like for on air, we cannot joke with our audience the way we used to. the whole program isn't as free. i've even had to change my clothes. reporter: indian dance music has

been replaced by religious three citations, and it is left is low-key and mostly sung by men. this without the taliban authorities having to give instructions, they didn't have to. this radio stations management most afghan media are already doing everything they cannot to draw undue attention. with all of the restrictions imposed, she still believes she can do the job she set out to do? >> often people cannot share what they have in their hearts with the people around them so they call the radio and share their thoughts with a presenter. they feel like they are talking to the host, but actually they are talking to the whole community. reporter: she tells us several of her female colleagues from this station have already left the country in recent weeks, fearing for their personal safety. >> i am not scared doing my job.

what i am scared about is the media as a whole falling silent. for us as women, the future is unclear. will we be able to get an education or go to work? i think we need to take risks, to struggle. afghan women will not get their rights without a struggle. in the end, we will achieve our rights. it is not impossible. reporter: that is something she discovered in her own family. as the first woman to work outside the home, let alone in journalism, she had years of disapproval to deal with. her family did not want to be associated with a public persona. now they are proud of her and the relatives that once criticized her choices now come to her for advice on how to find their own daughters jobs. anchor: our correspondent joins

me now from kabul. nick, the journalist you just interviewed, she said she is taking a risk, she said women have to take the risk in this struggle. how much of a risk? issue risking her job just by talking to you -- is she risking her job just by talking to you? nick: it is important to remember that yes she was able to give us the interview, but the radio station she worked out -- worked at did not want to be named or even for us to film their logo, and even the sound engineer did not want to be filmed. she is taking a risk but she thinks it is worth taking and she thinks she can judge the ramifications of what she is doing. but it is not easy, as the figures have shown. the majority of female journalists in afghanistan have thrown in the towel in recent weeks. anchor: how dangerous is that now for women to protest and public?

nick: any protest is dangerous in today's afghanistan. we saw a few protests in the early days after the taliban takeover in mid-august, and a lot of violence used against male protesters and harassment against female protesters. and ultimately, family pressure. families telling women in their midst that they are putting everyone at risk by going out and drawing attention to themselves. even the radio station toning down its outt in advance of any tictac from the taliban. -- dictate from the taliban. so these women are lying low and trying to not draw attention. anchor: have you seen women moving around the city or has the landscape changed since the taliban took over the capital city? nick: you do still see women in kabul, in groups, not

necessarily accompanied by male relatives, as was the case under the taliban in the 1990's, but they are wearing face coverings, not all wearing the burqa, about 50% are. others wear headscarves. but kabul is not the whole country. other regions, we are getting reports of women with much greater difficulties for what they are wearing, pressure to give up jobs, thrown off airwaves completely. and so provinces, there are no female voices allowed anymore. and those we speak to in kabul, they believe it is a matter of time. for now, with the taliban unable to sort of the economy and international aid missing and not making sure people are fed in kabul, they are waiting for the economic situation to improve before they impose the more oconee and social measures. -- more draconian social measures. so no security for the women here, the relatively open

situation right now, a limbo between the old situation and new, and they are expecting worse to come. anchor: nick connolly reporting from kabul. thank you. here is a look at some other stories making news around the world. so-called islamic state has claimed responsibility for sunday's explosion in kabul. the blast killed several civilians at a mosque during a funeral for a taliban officials mother. the state run news agency says taliban forces arrested several is members monday. the u.n. has found crimes against humanity in libya. it includes a torture and sexual violence against those in detention centers. they say all sides in libya's decade leah -- long conflict are guilty of human rights violations. internet services and northern india have been suspended after

at least eight people died in protest against agricultural reforms. farmers union's essay a car carrying a government minister drove into protesters, killing four people. a more -- a mob then reportedly killed the driver and three others. our next-door it comes to us from scotland -- our next story comes to us from scotland, we meet an 80-year-old man finding solace at a difficult time in his life. he is leaving a valley of personal darkness by climbing a mountain. make that mountains. reporter: one step at a time, nick gardner is climbing out of a dark place. >> my wife got alzheimer's for years ago and when i could not look after her two years ago, i had to get a challenge to refocus my life. and it had to be a challenge that would last sometime. reporter: his challenge was to

climb all to hundred 82 of scotland's mountains above 3000 feet in 1200 days. so far he has completed 177. >> during this climbing, i was able to refocus to some extent. i had to find something of this type, otherwise i would've had until problems, mental health problems. reporter: in hor of his wife janet, he is raisingoney for the royal osteoporosis society and alzheimer's scotland, to charities that have -- two charities that have helped her. using social media with the help of his family, he records his progress. he has raised more than 30,000 pounds.

it keeps him going toward each summit. >> once i arrived, it is immediate. any other problems seem to disappear into insignificance. reporter: one mountain at a time. anchor: the governing body of mens tennis has launched an investigation into domestic abuse allegations against olympic to dish -- tennis champion alexanders vera. -- zverev. he was accused of abuse by his former girlfriend, which he denies. the atp says we have a

responsibility to address the allegations. in football, a player has been appointed the new -- a person has been appointed the new coach of a struggling team. he led luster to a shock when in 2016. he has been in charge of a number of clubs. he is their 14th coach and less than a decade. here is a reminder of the top stories we are following, a massive data leak has revealed the secret financial dealings of some of the world's richest and most powerful people. the pandora papers showed how world leaders, business tycoons and celebrities use tax havens to hide wealth. and social media users around the world have been experiencing edger outages. facebook, instagram and whatsapp have been down. it is not known what caused the problems. facebook says it is working to restore services. you are watching dw news from

berlin. after the break, i will take you through the day. tonight, exposed in the pandora papers, how the rich and powerful avoid paying taxes. we will be right back. ♪

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