this is g.w. news coming to you live from berlin questions mount after new zealand's volcanic eruption but at least 5 dead 8 missing and dozens severely injured people are asking why the government allowed tours to visit the site in the 1st place also coming up after landmark talks in paris the leaders of russia and ukraine agree to implement a cease fire and exchange prisoners but their 1st face to face encounter also exposes deep divisions plus taking to the streets to fight for human rights says many countries around the world mark human rights day we ask how important it is to

make your voice heard and. hello i'm terry martin welcome to the program police in new zealand are investigating the deaths of at least 5 tourists in monday's ball can make a russian the threat level was raised last week prompting questions about whether tour groups should have been allowed to visit the destination off new zealand's north island 8 people are still missing and presumed dead after the eruption dozens have suffered severe burns. after disaster struck for caare island russell clark was one of the 1st responder the paramedics flew in on a helicopter from auckland what he saw when he arrived was shocking. it was just it was just blanketed in a shit was it was quite. response there was

a helicopter on the wall and it did it all sleeping there at the time. was that's right it lights were off it. it was monday afternoon local time when the volcano erupted at 47 people were on the island at the time some made a narrow escape but others some missing with little hope of finding them alive. the scale of this tragedy it's devastating police and defense force personnel have undertaken a number of ereal reconnaissance flights over the island since the eruption however no signs of life have been detected. scientists have noted an uptick in volcanic activity on the island in recent weeks now the new zealand police have set their loans and investigation into the matter. if there's anyone criminally responsible for the deaths and injuries. so we're just going to have to

work through the evidence talk to people and conduct the investigation the question to be answered why were people allowed so close to a disaster apparently waiting to happen. or joining us now from auckland new zealand is journalist chris of power and chris a police have now lost an investigation into the deaths at the volcano what exactly are they looking into. actually earlier they backtracked police have stepped back from their position saying that a communal criminal investigation has been launched into the circumstances behind the white island eruption in a press statement police set to correct an earlier statement it is too early to confirm whether there will also be a criminal investigation police confirmed that they were investigating the death of individuals on the on behalf of the coroner in parallel with the work safe new zealand investigation so it worked safe musial and is the workplace health and

safety regulator and administrator here and they will be investigating and considering all of the relevant work health and safety issues surrounding this tragic event although it wasn't mentioned will be charge or investigation investigated in this case terry what more is known about the people who are still missing. police already are also mentioned that the surveillance photos of the island show twice believed to be 6 bodies which were covered in ash. based on the effects of the eruption on the bodies they mentioned the recovery operation will need to be and built with expert skill and care it was confirmed that there were $47.00 people in total on friday when the eruption happened. 38 of them were from the proves ovation of the seas 2 are from the u.k. or from germany 24 from australia and others from new zealand china malaysia and

united states currently 31 victims are in the hospital and all burn units across the country corrupt the are in full capacity so how is the government in new zealand responding to this because we've been hearing quite a bit from the prime minister. yeah prime minister just an arguer and told parliament that there are questions which must be asked about the eruption and those questions must be answered she revealed that police and work state would be issuing statements that the police backtracked earlier but yet arthur and also made comments during her official statement to parliament that there was no damage to new zealand's got past that he would brace those impacted by this tragedy. chris thank you very much for bringing us up to date there that was journalist chris of paramita in auckland new zealand. the leaders of russia and ukraine

have agreed to implement a cease fire in eastern ukraine the conflict is centered in the dawn boss region of ukraine which is currently held by russia backed separatists well at talks in paris the 2 sides have agreed to several steps and easing tensions they've agreed to release in exchange all detainees by the end of the year to disengage military forces in 3 regions in eastern ukraine and to hold more talks in 4 months to check on the progress of the ceasefire but the meeting in paris brokered by germany and france has left many issues unresolved the 2 leaders made separate announcements at the end of the talks there's a little this was a meeting was long and difficult but the mood was rather positive that's the truth and i really want to emphasize that point. we will continue the discussions in 4 months and see the results of what we've achieved. this is certainly an important

step towards deescalating the situation in eastern ukraine as well as easing tensions. you know our correspondent nick conley is in paris he covered the talks there between the russian and ukrainian leaders nick the russian ukrainian leaders have agreed to a prisoner swap and say they will implement a cease fire how significant are these developments good morning terry well there wasn't some kind of big bang some kind of general resolution to this conflict and i think it was unrealistic to expect that just the personal chemistry getting those top leaders at the table together would somehow suspend the normal laws of political gravity that didn't happen but i think these humanitarian measures these measures aimed at good will bring prisoners back in time for the news holiday and also trying to achieve a stable ceasefire something that's been tried over a dozen times in the past years and it's never really held more than

a few days if that is really if that really comes to comes into force and actually is seen on the ground that will be a huge step forward for people on the ground in donbass for the civilians and a step towards making life more bearable for millions of people and this is the 1st time that these 2 leaders have met nick you mentioned chemistry do you think the change in chemistry between the chemistry between russia and ukraine will change under this new ukrainian president. well definitely volume essentially has been putting in a lot of legwork even to make this meeting happen and showings of the open to discuss things directly one to one with president putin they saw each other yes a one to one for the 1st time as part of this big summit with the president of france and the german chancellor i think the expectations were a little high that somehow seeing into each other's eyes they could somehow really deal with all the problems that have been dogging this conflict for years that didn't happen but they were pointedly polite about each other they were clear that

they would see each other again at a summit early next year but that didn't stop the fact that at the press conference the end you had very symbolically putin zelinsky at opposite ends of the table with merkel macall between them i don't think we're going to see one to one discussions in terms of summits in the future that this european mediation will be needed in the future too and zelinsky notably unhappy about the way putin was describing what had been discussed so tensions their willingness to agree to disagree and still go about things where some progress is possible what if things go from here expect to see any more momentum in the drive to bring peace to eastern ukraine. well the summit planned for the next year puts pressure on everyone further down the political hierarchy to re deliver on these promises to make sure there's something to talk about when they meet again so that really is

a clear indication that there is going to be continued pressure to move forward i think looking more broadly this isn't just about this is about how russia relates to its backyard as it were russia thinks that it has the rights to involve itself in these to have a say over what happens in neighboring countries that's something that ukraine rejects so even if the situation is resolved that isn't going away that basic conflict is there but they've been voices from kiev this morning people saying that actually this might not be the worst way about going about things making things easier for civilians on the ground getting humanitarian solutions to make people's lives easier and then talking some of these bigger issues to the medium to long term while people can get back to some kind of normalcy. as nic conley there in paris thank you so much. here's a round up now of other stories making headlines around the world today lawmakers in india have passed controversial legislation that will grant citizenship to

religious minorities from neighboring countries but not muslims the law would create a legal pathway to indian nationality on the basis of religion for the 1st time the bill proposes granting citizenship to non muslims who arrived from bangladesh pakistan and afghanistan before 2015. in the u.s. house democrats are doing bail 2 articles of impeachment against president donald trump they are abuse of power and obstruction of congress the democrats are pushing ahead with formal charges saying the president put u.s. elections and security at risk by asking ukraine to investigate his rival democrat presidential hopeful joe biden. and in madrid the un climate conference is expected to step up a gear as high level delegates begin to arrive nations are locked in crunch to go on how to bring about a drastic reduction in global emissions of greenhouse gases. it all straight authorities have issued warnings of dangerous fire conditions that temperatures

rise across large parts of the country already ravaged by bushfires in sydney australia as largest city usually unmistakeable structures such as the harbor bridge and the opera house are blanketed in a cloud of thick smoke weather forecasters expect situation will get worse with temperatures predicted to soar above 40 degrees celsius. mental officials say the conditions in sydney over the last months been unprecedented the hot weather combined with gusty winds are making every day life a struggle for people across the state of new soil south wales. is desperate and helpless least before the ruins of their lives 4 weeks ago a bushfire barne through. cruise home taking everything the couple see the knew it was a risk zone but is far from normal they're angry at their government for not

seeking climate change seriously it just makes me bloody angry because. they were saying this is going to happen this is going to happen it's going to happen here and now that it's happened like the last day and politicians are told about this the scientists have been talking about for bloody about. climate change are not. deeply divided just a few miles farther north from our property smaller fires are blazing in the forest bushfires are normal for australia but large parts of the country have been suffering from drought for years so fires can spread in no time this fire burning back through forests it's but 2 weeks before something that is not really been seen in the past for this is an unexpected thing that the fires are doing now which is making a lot of people nervous people and creatures like australia's national animal.

they've become the unintended symbol of these bushfires at this hospital help is on hand since the pictures of paul's went viral the hospital has received nearly 1000000 euros indonesians. are particularly vulnerable in the flames says the clinical director. koala strategy was always to go higher in the trees and bear in mind before humans came along the trees were huge when when europeans 1st time here it was messy messy of trees everywhere they will go so i could go right at the top and the sky floods never count. the headquarters of the largest volunteer fire fighting group in the world a new south wales inspector ben shepherd shows us the many fires in the region. hot season has only just begun. and already we've seen $2000000.00 take days but

on an average season we would tend to say probably right about 252300000 picked is . not a real prospect and we follow as the landscape he's going to be along the track the season. christmas is coming but for some us trillions this year will not be one to cheer. it was a reaction to the tragedy of the 2nd world war on this day the 10th of december $948.00 the united nations adopted the universal declaration of human rights today many countries around the world are marking the occasion in a moment we'll talk to someone whose job it is to make sure human rights are respected and to call governments to account but 1st a look at efforts by young people around the globe to make their voices heard and fight for what they see as their rights. kankar.

bogota. beirut all around the world young people taking to the streets saying no more business as usual. this you tube or in moscow arrested for organizing protests this past summer that included tens of thousands of demonstrators many of them fed up youths judging you don't look young people want. dialogue with the government but they don't have the means for creating change that civilized countries have like fair elections. so the only option that remains is to take to the streets those that your people are protesting because they want change you didn't quit at the most of the men but i took a huge human rights are very much and coached upon in our country and that's because the people themselves have allowed their voices to be ignored. up certain your. local youth part of

a global trend young people standing up for human rights in countries that are run by what they see as out of touch old elites. hong kong ers are demanding more democracy and respect for basic freedoms. and i joined the protest years i think it's important to fight for your rights. if you're just complacent and you don't. stand up for your rights and your beliefs then they'll get taken away without you realizing when they're. the same in iraq. and sudan. and colombia young people insisting the government respond to people's needs we have human rights here in colombia but not for everybody the higher your status the more rights you have if you're at the bottom you have none. in lebanon they're protesting against sexual violence and government corruption one young woman expressed frustration the protests were necessary at all. it's sad that we we

as humans these rights it's our rights in each country we need to have them and it's sad that we are protesting for something that it's our own but that's all . different places one message young people aware of human rights and of what they're missing they just hope that the authorities listen. before it's too late joining us now in the studio is do crow she's head of politics and activism unit of n.s.t. international here in germany thanks for being with us this morning that your organization documents human rights abuses globally how important you think it is that people get out into the streets as we just saw in our report and demand that their human rights be respected. we think it's very important that they do we have seen that 2019 marked really the year of the protest and we've seen a lot of political changes through protesting they still care for example we've

just had the example of sudan but in many other countries in eastern european countries we have experience that people go and protest against the government because it's corrupt and they crying out for their rights and we think the duty of states is to guarantee that people can go and protest and can assemble and associate to projects press the rights they demand for and i were marking the universal declaration of human rights anniversary what makes the document so significant and what impact has it had since it was introduced nearly 50 years ago yeah i think i mean it is the universal declaration which was decided upon after world war 2 where the world really lived in in pieces and it is there to make sure that we live in peace and in human dignity and out of the human rights out of the universal declaration many comments came out which have binding elements and also

in many national legislations the rights were entrenched so it is still really really important and we should make sure that we don't erode that that we don't talk it weak and make it weak and out of it many institutions came like the human rights council which guarantees you know that the right governments make sure that they stick to the rights so we still think it's a very very it's the crucial the basis for human rights protection what do you see as the biggest obstacles to assuring that human rights are respected around the world well more and more governments try to erode human rights standards and try to weaken the institutions which should make sure that the human rights are implemented we have seen that for example in egypt the situation worsens we have seen also in russia we have there. people go on the streets as well young people but the government. in trenches greatest repressions we have seen in iraq that people killed for going on the street so i think the problem is that states do not

make sure that rights are protected and we miss more and more an international outcry for the protection of human rights and obviously we have in many even germany the german government tries to speak to other countries to make sure the rights protected but when it comes then to business interests and trade interests and also interests of security and also migration control is one issue then we don't see a coherent approach and we need a coherent and also consistent approach that human rights have been talked about and being demanded for you to do crow from the standard national thank you so much . in other news there have been protests by both pro and anti government demonstrators in algeria ahead of a controversial presidential election on thursday anti-government protesters say the election will not be fair cheerier has experienced months of unrest since the

last president was ousted from power in february. chile's air force says a military plane with 38 people on board has disappeared while flying to a base in an arctic up the hercules c 130 cargo plane had departed from the southern city a point to ariana's operators lost control with the aircraft a little over an hour after takeoff. and thousands have been left homeless in madagascar after a cycloid bell not unleashed heavy flooding the national disaster agency says the full extent of the damage is not yet clear authorities have declared a state of emergency in 2 parts of the on. the world anti-doping agency wada has banned russia from taking part in international sporting competitions for 4 years that includes the upcoming tokyo olympics in 2020

the beijing winter games in 2022 and the football world cup in qatar in 2022 water ruled that russia should be punished for manipulating laboratory data planting fake evidence and deleting files linked to polls of doping tests it could have helped identify drug she's. for pakistan cricket or jump shot has pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe other players into spot fixing and initially he himself was the target of bribery but then acted as a go between encouraging others to cheat in pakistan super league matches the 30 year old was banned from the sport for 10 years in august last year and now admitted his crime in a trial in england who represented pakistan over 60 times changed his original not guilty plea during the trial and will be sentenced in february.

things are getting cuter and cuter at the berlin zoo right now twin baby pandas born in august may their long awaited public debut on monday with keeper is revealing the little bundles of fur our boys are the result of what's dubbed china's panda diplomacy beijing allowed their paris to come to germany in 2017 but the zoo is keeping politics out of the little one's name. it's a rast size media professionals in rapture as they were invited to meet these 2 baby giant pandas 100 days after they were born. according to chinese tradition that's when babies should be named. the 2 boys who were the property of the chinese state man juan and mang shan which means fulfill the dream and desire dream.

like china pursues panda diplomacy to deepen trusting bonds with other countries and perhaps and hans its own image. some wags in berlin suggested the babies should be named hong kong to draw attention to the struggle for democracy in the semi autonomous region. the i suppose it's a nice idea to solidarity with another democracy movement see i think would be a good idea. that would be funny but obviously the chinese would never accept that . the chinese ambassador to germany was not amused by the suggestion this talk. does is out it's absurd. and that's that. the little fellows are the 1st to be born in tallinn they're set to meet the public early next year. just

a reminder of the top stories we're following for you here today on d w news police in new zealand are launching an investigation into the deaths of at least 5 tourists in monday's volcanic eruption the threat level was raised last week prompting questions about whether tour groups should have been allowed to visit the popular destination of new zealand's north island. and the leaders of russia and ukraine have agreed to a cease fire in eastern ukraine as part of efforts to end the 5 year conflict there it was one of a number of steps agreed by ukrainian president lot of selenski and his russian counterpart vladimir putin at a meeting brokered by french and german leaders. never get you can get all the latest news and information on the go just download from google play or from the apple store that will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as. pushed out of keisha shredded breaking news also used a d.w.i. to send us photos and videos. are watching d.w.

news live from berlin coming up next close up this time focusing on climate change and how many people are just ignoring it i'm sorry martin stay with us so i'll be back talking next hour.

to. save the planet not mine john couey porter davi john shand says it's strange we have to do something. the climate crisis is threatening our very existence. many germans would agree but are they prepared to change their habits. and humanity the same. close up next on.

news coalition government made up of the christian democrats and social democrats has been in constant crisis from the start. missing resignations most of trust her struggles and election dead against. you take a look inside the government in germany diminishing coalition in 45 minutes on d. w. . bush head of flings this is you love all speaking welcome to the show with the ding dong xoai and concerts with the mistress guests. rocking sounds.

denning credible location. welcome to night. every week on c.w. . people it's serious. it's the 11th hour our planet is threatening to burn up. in the 100 years or grows gone for decades scientists have been warning of the dangers of climate change with very little response from the west case scenario has come to pass through we're burning fossil fuels at an alarming case it was a new field of a scale a series of to.