this is news life south africa's former president faces trial jacob zuma is to face charges of fraud racketeering and money laundering the chief prosecutor believes there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution we will have the latest from capetown also coming up french president a manual mccrone calls for a clear ambitious roadmap for dui reforms by june he's hoping for support from german chancellor angela merkel and british foreign secretary boris johnson says it

is likely that russian president vladimir putin personally ordered the nerve agent attack on a former spy in britain. plus despite years of controversy the niger delta is nigeria is still one of the most polluted regions in the world in a new report amnesty international accuses oil giants shell and me of first bonding to boil spills to slowly we will look at why so little progress seems to have been made. and michelangelo's frescoes in the sistine chapel are brought to life in a new high tech extravaganza even the vatican museum approaches. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program south africa's chief prosecutor has announced that he is charging former president jacob zuma with corruption the blue . early a.n.c.

party forced zuma to resign as head of state last month after gives of corruption related scandal he will now be prosecuted on a variety of corruption charges including fraud racketeering and money laundering the charges stem from a multi-billion dollar government arms purchase in the late one nine hundred ninety s. when zuma was deputy president. and for more let's bring in journalist alice van gelder who is following that story for us from cape town bookham to you alice you know political big man like zuma they rarely have their day in court. how much of a surprise is it that charges are being brought against him now. well these are actually were charges that were already on the table in two thousand and nine and that seems to cross security i actually decided to abandon the case because he said that he thought that it investigators had a political agenda according to the prosecutor and then it might have been the case that the allegations were brought against zuma because whom i had to be ambition is

to become the president and they were just playing and working and. the supreme last year in a set that's totally irrelevant it's only relevant if they are political and he has to in the s.p. countable put it so it's not a surprise that that it's reinstated today it's kind of part of a longer process that was already going on and this is a move that the opposition that many people in south africa have been waiting for given that what is the mood in the country today. definitely i think a lot of people in lot of south africans they're saying finally finally he is facing his day in court and of course there is also the feeling that it is not possible because as soon as no longer the president because there is a new president in town circle run across so that's very much anti corruption so even as i'm saying that this is a case that that's being been lingering for a long time there is this is a kind of a confirmation that maybe there is a new wind in south africa because even though the prosecutor decided to reinstate

these charges he used to be a friend of his it why now he said ok actually i have to prosecute him so it's actually the five people you believe are actually happy that said that he needs to to go to courts it's interesting to see how those alliances have shifted so much especially with public perception. at stake here we also know that south africa's new president so from a post that has vowed to tackle corruption is this the start of keeping that promise yes one you already kind of start to. look. to presence here that management people that are allegedly corrupt and he's already changing management there i think we're definitely going to see more inquiries as well about the corruption of zuma and he had more corrupt relationships as you said is this case goes back to the ninety's but there's been scandals off the scandal so i definitely think that we are going to see more of this alice van gelder in cape

town thank you german chancellor angela merkel is in paris for talks with her french counterpart among well mccall just days after securing her fourth term as german leader merkel has been giving president mccone to discuss their reform plans for the european union america's difficulties in forming a coalition have delayed franco german talks on deeper european integration but the leaders said today that they will prepare a road map for reforming the e.u. and the eurozone in time for in june you know something. let's cross over now to paris where our correspondent max of mine a standing by for us and max you know it has been just four days since merkel secured her fourth term as german leader and she's already in paris to discuss you reforms with mccraw does this make her priorities clear there it's kind of a tradition that the german chancellor makes his first visit to france at least

mexico has made a tradition of that because if you look at it france is not only the most important ally of germany in the european union but in the whole world so that's not a surprise but of course there is sort of a hidden message here and it didn't became unhidden where she talked of course she knows that in money remark all had to wait a long time for an answer from the germans on his proposals on the reform for example of the euro zone it's been six almost six months since michael initially tried to form a german government and she said as much here in paris she said we know you've been waiting a long time but listen germany is open for business again yeah and she talked a lot about the importance of that alliance max and i actually just want to play for our viewers what exactly she had to say and then get your reaction there after your voice gets to my if we want to find a common pawn in the history of franco german relations hog was going on a school for a should have always brought success we don't always share the same opinion but

throughout history germany and france have achieved a lot together we are intent i am intent on reaching our goals and i believe we will do that the cities and those goals are ambitious but it's just ones aren't they max just walk us through on what they're hoping to achieve going forward. figuring out how a common a silent system could work in the european union that is the most divisive issue in the european union at the moment but they will have to overcome it because it's caused huge problems for the established parties just lately the telling elections more than fifty percent of the voters voted for populist parties that's a huge danger for the whole european union money way michael said as much then you have the eurozone reform very much call for example once an old eurozone budget he wants a euro zone finance minister that's something that the germans don't necessarily want so it will be difficult to find a compromise here but you know all of this was

a little overshadowed here today by taking a stand on what happened in the u.k. and i'm not talking about brags that i'm talking about the poisoning of a former russian spy on british soil something that has outraged politicians not only in the european union but worldwide and i'm michael and michael said that tonight they would also work on a common response to russia in this to find out how they how they would react and we know that they have signed that common declaration condemning that attempted murder also with the united states and with the u.k. as well so will be interesting to see how things develop there but i want to get back a little bit more to to their efforts within the e.u. itself because you know there reform has been approached with skepticism from some other smaller members of the bloc who have at times said that their voices are not heard at least not with the same strength of france and germany how much of a fight to they have going at. yeah that's

a classic as soon as france and germany you know joining their forces you have a lot of smaller countries who say but listen we're still here too and that happened for example just today with the dutch prime minister who said don't forget about us but you also have to keep in mind that germany and france represent different parts of the european union and usually countries like the netherlands that i just quoted fall in line with germany while the southern countries fall in line with france so if france and germany are on the same page if they find their accordance somehow then usually it doesn't take so much more for the rest of the european union to agree on what they agreed on max man with the latest from paris thanks max. i've got a quick check now of some other stories making news around the world and independent monitoring group says that russian air strikes have killed at least forty six people in eastern huta this as more civilians flee the rebel held areas outside of the capital damascus and russia says that more than four thousand people

have left so far today russia and syria launched an offensive on the region almost four weeks ago. north korea's foreign minister reagan ho has extended his unannounced visit to sweden for a second day the visit is prompting speculation that he may be laying the groundwork for a summit between u.s. president donald trump and north korea's kim jong un sweden has been mentioned as a possible venue for the meeting between the two leaders. in the west bank two israeli soldiers have been killed and at least two others injured in a car ramming attack by palestinian israeli army did not confirm the deaths but said that the attacker had been arrested and taken to the hospital the incident came as palestinians protested across the region to mark one hundred days since washington recognized as israel's capital. another salvo in the standoff between russia and western allies over the poisoning of

a former old double agent former double agent rather in britain british foreign secretary boris johnson has said that it was likely that russian president vladimir putin personally ordered the nerve agent attack on surface cripple and his daughter here's what he had to say all quarrel is with putin is criminal and with his decision and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of of the u.k. on the streets of europe for the first time since the second world war that is that is why we are at odds with russia. and a kremlin spokesperson has called that statement by boris johnson shockingly on forgiveable moscow continues to deny any involvement in the intended murders it says that it has launched its own investigation on friday russian foreign minister sergei have left profit cues to britain of violating international law by expelling russian diplomats and threatening further punitive measures he said moscow was

preparing to expel british diplomats from russia in turn he also wished the scribbles a quick recovery so that light could be shed on what exactly happened. so for more let's bring in anthony please now he's director of the center for security and intelligence studies at the university of buckingham in the u.k. welcome to you anthony thanks for joining us as we've just heard here britain expelling twenty three diplomats moscow retaliating opening its own investigation into the poisoning what could the next escalations be because it seems as if we're on a trajectory here. it's looking more serious today a more serious this evening following the intervention while foreign secretary forrest johnson you reported where he said it was overwhelmingly likely that president putin had himself ordered the nerve agent attack on the former that's what he was russian spy said gays creep and indeed on his daughter.

involving up to five hundred people as collateral in schools rape that ovo well mainly likely to have personally ordered this attack that finger being pointed at president putin combined with the very strong language used by nato secretary general yan stoltenberg in the united kingdom where he said what happened in sewell's really the sunday before last was part of a pattern of reckless action by the russian government that's very serious and that's a language that serious talk i mean we have seen that really across the board among western allies but you know russia for its part let's look into the argument that it is making because it continues to deny any involvement arguing that they would not do so especially so close to sunday's election how do you see that line of

thinking i mean is this a valid argument that needs to be considered. i don't think so i think part of the trouble i'm in the present crisis is that what the russian leadership saying there's no relationship actually to the real world in which diplomacy has to take place people may remember that they accused juries of may when she made her first statement in parliament of acting like a circus clown that's simply denying they even understand what the british are talking about they say well a britain which is share its secret intelligence assessments with russia they might be prepared to work to get no state would do that as if the f.s.b. or the f.b.i. would share its assessments with the united kingdom government this is ludicrous it bears no relationship to reality now your earlier question as to whether this would

harm putin the argument being that the last thing he wants before the election is the first bit of the election is a quarrel with the west i would query that i think russia has become so removed from the reality of relationships with the west you know we depend on each other such a lot it isn't the soviet union any longer but russia is big taken on a course that is so far removed from being able to have a possible peaceful dialogue with the west that there must be real concern that putin feels that if he can demonstrate to the russian people that the west wants to attack it that it wants to interfere with the national use unity of the russian state he will gain right electorally i mean that's the issue and of course

we don't want a president putin who's able to say after the election my power my democratic so. i think for me comes on the basis that the west wants to cut throat actually nobody is interested in that position of a victim is a pretty strong one it allows him also to to counter the west quite strongly ahead of the election professor anthony glees thanks so much for joining us this evening with that perspective as we mentioned you're the director of the center for security and intelligence studies we appreciate it. and in related news british police have started a murder probe involving another russian exile in the u.k. they say that nikolai cough who was found dead at his london home earlier this week died from compression to the neck but they say that as yet there is still no evidence of a link to the attempted murder of this cripples. you're watching t.w. news still to come on the program outrage in brazil over the murder of a popular politician in rio de janeiro tens of thousands of people taking to the

streets to protest the outspoken critic of police violence was gunned down by unnoticed. and amnesty international accuses oil giant shell and any other spawning to oil spills in the niger delta too slowly we will look at why so little progress seems to have been made despite years of controversy. but in the meantime christophe kober is here to talk a little bit more about donald trump's tariffs certain u.s. imports still being avoided but you know europe is taking some measures to counter potentially the fallout here its rights or we get to that in a second and there is no time to waste for that matter a week from now these increased tariffs on u.s. imports of steel and aluminum are said to come into effect not germany's new economy minister will travel to washington this weekend for negotiations the e.u. trade commissioner will follow on tuesday and to give them just that extra bit of

leverage for the top c.e.o. fishel half a list of u.s. produced items that could face taxation should the united states introduce new tariffs. the u.s. economic hit list is pages long and includes american favorites like corn peanut butter whiskey tobacco jeans and motorcycles products worth in total two point eight billion euros in annual trade says brussels the list as a reaction to u.s. president donald trump announced tariffs on steel and aluminum that the european union says flies in the face of evil u.s. relations. with the tariffs that the united states has imposed are against these principles of the world trade organization and they want to change or solve these problems by discussion if possible. which is why germany's new economics minister paid to it maya is traveling to washington on sunday followed by e.u. trade commissioner cecilia mines through both hope they can convince u.s.

officials to exempt european products from trump's terrace now for more let's bring in brussels correspondent barbara valle barbara the german economy minister will travel to washington on sunday the e.u. trade commissioner will follow on tuesday how likely is it that these last minute efforts to a vote to avert increased terrorist will be successful. not very likely christopher because there has been a paper circulated by the european commission is secret paper but of course most papers here get leaked one way or the other where it's where it says that everybody who's flying to washington these days led to go of all hope more or less so don't really believe that you can change things to friday but get ready to sort of get into the action and start thinking about the countermeasures and that's why we now have the concrete list off the table just across the board of american production and produce bought it targeted of course because if one looks at it more closely is

some states where there are republican governors and senators in place but there's a strong republican majority somehow get a bit more of this than others let go of all hope certainly not the brightest of prospects there what does this tell us for the e.u. summit that's taking place at the end of next week. it's very high this this issue of the trade war the looming trade war was donald trump and the united states a very high on the agenda because as it happens and that really is sheer coincidence and friday the summit will still be going on it's beginning thursday evening so this will be like the first things that heads of state and government talk about want to do how to react they are very unified at the moment because everybody understands that you have all everything to lose if you would sort of get divided up and play into trump you know sort of accepting maybe an exception here

for somebody or an extension there for somebody else so we stay together say the europeans and we just really have to sort of link arms stay strong and the terrorists will be go the terrorists will go into will get into force in ninety days after the w t o has been know to find to notify the europeans say we are going to play according to the rules strictly correspondent barbara vessel and brussels thank you. it is not just the e.u. word but china as well the most influential business lobbying group in the united states has warned president trump against imposing tariffs on chinese goods chamber of commerce president thomas donohue such measures could eventually hurt u.s. consumers and the economy his remarks come after reports start to donald trump is considering slapping tariffs on up to sixty billion dollars worth of chinese imports. and now to rio de janeiro where tensions are running high after the death

of a popular local politician sara we're talking here about an execution style murder kristoff the murder of a city councilor in rio de janeiro in fact it has sparked huge protests mirelle franco was known as an outspoken critic of police brutality the un and amnesty international have demanded a thorough investigation into her death. a community in mourning mariel franco was of beacon of hope for the poor in marginalized of rio. black female and lesbian she was a rarity in brazil's political scene franco rose from the slums to become a leading voice against police violence which disproportionately affects the black population a powerful voice now silenced the day after her killing a thousand sick to the streets to protest her violent death and demand answers.

they killed my friend. they killed our colleague. but if they think that it will make us rich treats they are wrong. i'm so busy downtown shit imo so it feels like they're trying to remove our voices the voices of all the black women in this country. franco was gunned down in her car late on wednesday evening she was shot in the head four times by two unknown assailants her driver was also killed her press officer injured. shortly before franco spoke at an event encouraging black women to enter politics it was the last time she championed one of her many causes brazil's president has publicly condemned her killing. two. in. the murder of council member mario

driver is unacceptable that you see like other such nations that happened in rio de janeiro before you know it's an attack against the rule of law. at their sign against prosy or. many in brazil believe franco was assassinated for her political act. a day earlier she blamed the police for the death of a young male in a fog. so branco was also a vocal critic of the president's decision to put the military in charge of security in rio and was part of a committee investigating military abuses as grief turns to anger the question on everyone's mind is who killed mary out franco. went out to nigeria where the niger delta is one of the world's most polluted regions in the one nine hundred fifty s. or oil was discovered and production began but since then oil spills have caused

extensive environmental damage and a report amnesty international has accused the oil majors shell and he of responding to the spills to slowly did as west africa correspondent adrienne creech reports. this is a common sight in the niger delta. for neighboring communities on oil spills are a catastrophe for the international oil companies. in shells pipeline network alone there's been more than one thousand oil spill since two thousand and eleven according to amnesty international. out of it out this is. all it takes on average seven days tourists. on what occasion various occasions. tourists.

could not because. it is too. far but they. could other communities. illegally the companies must responds to spills within twenty four hours that's why amnesty is calling for more grist exemptions. cheryl has described the accusations in the statement as force and without merit and claims that the majority of bills are caused by sabotage and theft. in which criminal gangs try to extract their share of the oil wealth. sixty years ago oil production started in nigeria's niger delta since then some people became extremely rich but the majority of the one hundred eighty million nigerians did not benefit most people in the region consider the oil wealth rather a curse than a blessing a u.n. study says that it will take at least thirty years and more than one billion u.s.

dollars to eliminate the environmental damages. you're watching news still to come on the program crimea and russia now election the national vote takes place exactly four years after the disputed regions an extension we will find out how it helped putin to find his presidency. and michelangelo's frescoes in the sistine chapel are brought to life in a new high tech extravaganza even the vatican museum approves we'll take a look. at all that morning few minutes time you're watching the. cut cut. cut. cut cut. cut cut cut cut cut cut cut.

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lead leading neuroscientists are researching ways to replicate the human brain the lead androids are taking over physical labor the book human brain is deciphered. lead. you mean george record official conscious news or the number one item on the market going to do the cooking tonight you're pointing to. the transfer of the human mind into an overcharge the successful immortality is really reach. your trunks remember you were to me but it's read to plan it and will make should be rewarded. factory starting march twenty fourth on g.w. . welcome

back you're with g.w. news i'm sarah kelly in berlin our top stories south africa's chief prosecutor has said that he will charge former president jacob zuma with fraud racketeering and money laundering presidency was marred by accusations of corruption and he was forced out of office last month. and british foreign secretary boris johnson has accused russian president vladimir putin of personally ordering the poisoning of a former double agent in a british city britain had previously said only that the nerve agent originated in russia. and let's get more now on that story we are joined by conservative m.p. tom toucan hot the chairman of the parliament's foreign affairs committee he joins us from tonbridge a town in the south of england this evening thanks so much for being with us tom good to be with you now as we just heard earlier today foreign secretary boris johnson basically saying here that it is likely that the russian president vladimir putin personally ordered this poisoning does this attempted murder go to the top of

russian politics what information points to that. well look i haven't seen it classified dossiers that the foreign secretary has because i represent i chair a parliamentary committee not a government one but i think it's very unlikely that a weapon of this power and potential hazard could possibly be authorized by anyone except to the very most senior levels so it's it would seem very surprising that a chemical that could it were misused for example on moscow metro could kill hundreds would be able to be to fall into the wrong hands because as we know russia has got many internal divisions and the gang violence that is so prevalent in not just in moscow but in many other towns and the spate of islamic extremism that they are facing in the south means that they're extremely careful about the arms that they that they control particularly chemical weapons and of course their nuclear

arsenal ok in the meantime we've heard reports that your government is considering targeting russian tycoons in britain possibly seizing their assets are you. i believe that is exactly what the government's going to do the prime minister set this out in parliament on monday and she was absolutely right as our own wednesday and she was absolutely right to do so because the reality is that too much money has been moving through the united kingdom that is coming from russia and has been stolen from the russian people this is a regime as we know that has made its money by effectively stealing off the russian people stealing their assets in mostly in the petrochemical industry but in others as well and shipping them abroad and it's completely unacceptable sometimes money has been delayed what can we say that action. well i said i would be surprised if you won't already seeing the work being done by the financial authorities new nike

came to him and we cooperation with i know the german and french authorities and others across europe including the dutch and and even the swiss have been in conversation with us so i would be surprised if we were beginning to see a collective action coming white suit what sort of assets are you prepared to see is are we talking about real estate here we're talking a bank accounts what specifically i think if you are. used to the way that the u.k. justice system works any assets that are held by. criminals or criminal organizations are liable to sanction and seizure so unexplained well as can be used they usually use for petty criminals and after all what we're really talking about here are petty criminals they're just rather successful petty criminals who stole and off the russian people may well find that their assets are no longer in their control i'm an expert that we spoke with out there today on highlighted something

that i'd like to bring to your attention basically saying that many of the top oligarchy within russia they've they've been forced to keep their money within the country and that those who would be living in britain would most likely give the people who are critical or are potentially even oppose the regime are you worried that that if you do take these measures to as seize assets that you might early in a those who most support your criticism of russia. no not terry because we will be targeting very carefully i'm sure the government will be working to make sure that the targeting is done very carefully and it's simply not true to say that government money russian government money is it where all those the support the putin regime have kept their money in russia putin himself has got billions of dollars in accounts around the world often through third parties including for example his cellist who has got billions of dollars of assets which is much more than a famous recording artist like for example elton john has got so seems rather

surprising but not unknown cellist has managed to make so much money and there are many others including putin's own family who have got billions of dollars hidden in places like the netherlands and switzerland tom briefly before we go our british police announcing earlier today that they have launched a murder investigation into the death of a london based russian businessman nick like the craft i'd like to ask you what do you make of that an untimely co-incidence. oh well i don't know whether it's not time to go is the nz or part of a part of the same it's a but it certainly it certainly echoes doesn't it that we've got a pattern of russian violence and we're talking about the united kingdom at the moment of course because of the dramatic piece of aggression in salzburg that could of course have killed hundreds of people thank god it didn't but we've seen this all over all over europe and and possibly further afield and we've certainly seen the attempted murder of prime minister only a year or so ago we've seen the invasion of ukraine the murder of hundreds of dosh

and other citizens in the russian attack on the mh seventeen and even today as we're talking we're seeing russia supporting the use of chemical weapons and bombing of civilians by the hazard regime so we're seeing a very hostile very road russian regime that is using violence as a state policy and is using murder as a as a means of influencing outcomes british conservative m.p. tom to have had chairman of the parliament's foreign affairs committee thank you so much for joining us this evening thank you for. a while has bee mentioned as we discussed there russia goes to the polls this weekend on a big anniversary vladimir putin's got march eighteenth circled on his calendar as he looks set to cruise to a victory it was on the same day four years ago that russia annexed to the crimean peninsula from ukraine but all but a handful of countries have declared that annexation illegal for president putin it

is a symbol of russian identity and national strength our ukraine correspondent nicholas connelly went to crimea to find out how people there feel about the attic station anniversary and how they are likely to vote in the presidential election. forty meters tall the soldier in salem ornament towers above sebastopol. a potent reminder of the city's place in soviet military history. even when sebastopol became part of independent ukraine russia's black sea fleet stayed put. when russia annexed crimea in twenty fourteen not even its closest allies recognized moscow's ownership of the region. but the locals like activist drawn over all that doesn't matter crimea and russia she says share a common identity we definitely all great just die of relief it was about returning home before i didn't have a country i could be proud of when the olympics were on i always supported russia

when it came to reading my child bedtime stories the stories were russian ones which i told my kids about russian history russian size that's what i know. back in twenty fourteen the west responded with economic sanctions just took place. international companies left and mcdonald's became peace. and more importantly most banks left to. sanctions mean the international cards are not accepted in crimea and it's not possible to withdraw cash. it's the same story with foreign mobile phones crossing into crimea means losing signal. but beyond the sanctions what else has changed for people in sebastopol it's not an easy question to answer talking to people in crimea you soon realize that many who don't agree with the government line think twice before discussing politics and with good reason questioning the legitimacy of russia's control the region public carriage and up to

five years my life became a lot easier than you and i live the same life i lived before not much has changed for me i feel right. she says meaning life has changed. and we have more certainty was. one thing you called listen sebastopol the upcoming presidential elections at every turn post says remind people of the future to vote. yes but i'm certain that no i just turned eighteen and voting for my first time and voting is a big deal for me. national your city i hope that my generation makes the right choice is the only one more in my opinion that's fighting near that a marriage to ten here is what's in it in this wonderful country there's no point in going to vote. even russia's cosmonauts have been enlisted to get people to the polling stations. one group that's less likely than others to follow that call of

crimea's muslim ta-ta minority persecuted by soviet authorities and deported to central asia in the one nine hundred forty. the crimean tatars were only allowed to return home after the end of communism. since twenty four team rational thirty's have banned the mage lease the tata communities ruling body and closed the tartar language t.v. channel. but this conflict is also about land instead of financial compensation for their deployed taishan under ukraine the tatas received a legal entitlement to plots of land to build homes these types of families say russian authorities and now renee known that commitment. there also it pains to make clear that they don't want to talk politics just about their homes and their rights. watch out now they're threatening that they'll bring in the bulldozers and pull down our homeless. people are in despair afraid of ending up on the street i

mean here we held hunger strikes but local media don't cover them what you will show me to feel organized even a small protest with a few banners they put you in jail for ten days. now the head of our group here fatso he was arrested i thought it was from them. as the evening draws in downtown sebastopol crime story. true to form putin keeps everyone guessing i wait. for what will be an appearance just a few minutes. from what you're saying you give us all thanks to your decision i'm a vast appalled and crimea i have returned home to our common home to your mother russia but i see. i on sunday russia in crimea go to polls today it is no coincidence coming as it does for you today this russian expediency law was really twenty years since it first became president vladimir putin will now

be hoping the memory of those in the events is enough to bring people to the ballot boxes despite the fact that many see the election as a political issue. here in sebastopol those memories of twenty four still very much alive what's less clear is where the crimea still has the same emotional across the length and breadth of russia's ten times. and of course such a big factor in these elections is always the economy christoph has more on that that's right sara the russian economy has gone through some pretty rough times in recent years political sanctions by the united states and the european union have hit the country and they have to decline in commodity prices it's taken a big bite out of the federal budget but lately the economy has been growing again that's also thanks to a recovery of oil and gas prices nevertheless many people's credit for the upswing goals of the kremlin. this engine production plant in the russian city of

specializes in military machinery among its most important customers is the russian government and it has the money the economy grew by one point five percent last year. positions like someone will suffer just economic growth is mostly down to the recovery in the global economy and the associated recovery in the price of commodities like oil and natural gas rhythm. rather is highly reliant on income from oil and gas forty to fifty percent of flows directly into the russian government coffers in this instance a lot more from the sale of commodities than it does from taxes on a few mail or says more to for coffee some of that money is spent on military hardware over the past few years russian military spending has climbed significantly but experts say that most case intervention in syria's civil war doesn't account for much of the total military expenditure. on top if you type stuff up or we look at the amount of fuel consumed estimate the cost of stuff and

the cost of aircraft carrier deployment that i would come to around three billion euros off you know that's about two percent of the defense budget over the past three years and it's a pretty that's. one russian president vladimir putin visited the plant back in january he wanted the tempo increased the military hardware is not just punishing russian forces but being exported to china and latin america but britain also outlined plans to increase civilian production of power station top lines for example. that's a stable defense orders will have peaked and will have to ensure that these fans remain busy and we believe. that these modern plants are utilized to that capacity . measurably must tell you. economists say the country has recovered from the sanctions placed by the west on russia after the annexation of crimea. and at two percent inflation is that it's lowest since the collapse of the soviet union. but

here in germany siemens has raised over four billion euros in an initial public offering of its healthy nears met to take business the market launch was one of germany's biggest in recent years but nevertheless fell below expectations cements priced shares lower than previously planned the sale as part of seaman c.e.o. joe k.'s of major retooling of europe's top internet company. the mood was buoyant as help the new shares start to trading siemens is reinventing itself for the future and spinning off an encore businesses is part of its strategy. siemens is probably best known for gas turbans and power plants. but c.e.o. joe kayser like into his company to a giant tanker ship that he wants to turn into a fast moving fleet the how the near-side p.o.

is only the latest move into that direction siemens is also in the process of finalizing the merger off its rail division but francis sought stone last april that combined its renewable energy unit but spanish wind turbine make it to mesa. these spinoffs alone dressers to buy targeted chairs in specialized companies instead of a diversified conglomerate it's also easier for individual businesses to cut costs in health in years case saving an expected two hundred fourteen million euros. the stock offering was one of germany's biggest in recent years siemens hopes to small the ships in its fleet will maneuver easier and grow faster. expected sarah now and the suffering brought by drought in east africa and we're heading to a story now being scorched the area by a drought that has brought twenty million people to the brink of famine it has

withered crops and killed livestock triggering one of the region's worst food crises in decades the german government has just approved fifteen million euros to help hard hit communities the money will fund to aid in the horn of africa for families forced to leave their homes in search of food and water to w. visited dolo in the somalia if you order. it's early morning in dollar a small town and somalia these women are waiting to receive aid for themselves and best sick children they all came here around a year ago when the drought was at its worst and shepherds were losing their livestock. you know how much all you need in houses we need jobs and schools for our older children actually we need everything i have all gone but all of that most of us survive and the relatives give us so far not all of us have received support from aid groups as well as they do help. with. the aid groups are struggling to

cope with the number of families that keep arriving but funds from germany and now set to bolster this project jointly run by unicef and the world food programme. has examined and treat malnourished children. the project also teaches mothers how to protect their babies from illness and money attrition through breastfeeding. refugees registered digitally in order to get long term aid with a kind of debit cards the women can pick up food items you. know we have assistance in a livelihood a move to shows for the no child abroad touch on the serious all of the we have the housing. but the livelihoods of the somalian cattle drovers have been destroyed thousands of animals starved or died of thirst during last year's drought only very few made it to the refugee camp and dollar with their own as it's the first time these doesn't nomads and living with other people have and many have never worked

in a town before all. over the house and on about bias about our life is marked by hardship and the struggle for survival or we have nowhere to go back to me we don't have a proper life here but we can't move anywhere else because we don't have any money . who who were that lament obama getting richer out is heating the country more and more often the money from germany will last for three years but it won't help the council drivers return to that she dish in a way of life. now we're going to have to some football news on the draw up for the champions league quarter finals has taken place in switzerland and there are some great match ups ahead barcelona the twenty fifteen champions will face its own side roma germany's byron munich were paired with severe fuel ventus will take on hold israel madrid in a repeat of last year's final reale are going for a third straight title and liverpool will meet manchester city in an all english

match up the first legs will be played in the first week of a. tools . of their new musical has celebrated in the bureau in rome it is called universal judgment michelangelo secrets to this challenge the work brings together art music dancing acrobatics and laser technology and to find out about this ultra high production. which looks absolutely incredible. i am joined here at the studio by peter cave in his chair to tell us all about it i mean you know the sistine chapel is really the star of the shelter isn't it michelangelo of course you know michelangelo who was commissioned in fifteen zero eight by the pope julius the second to paint the ceiling of the sistine chapel on

the first week out of that michelangelo was actually intimidated by the sheer scope to see it sheer immensity of the challenge but he then went for it and he built famously a scaffold up to the roof of the sistine chapel it would go up there for over a period of four years imagine working for four years on the project and there are two stories there of this that is the story that he would lie down and paint like that so that's the story that he would paint with his neck craned his neck bend like that either way it was very painful for his back very bad for his back and it was a tortured time but what came out of it is the creation of adam you remember this yeah but if you are there is this is not easy for home to exist certainly one of those familiar images in the whole history of humanity in the whole history of sound more remarkable still twenty five years after completing that one masterpiece and the other works as well on the ceiling he came back and created the last judgment on the back wall on the altar wall of the of the chapel so it's remarkable stuff an incredible heroic story that's the backdrop to the musical let's have

a look at a little bit more of the look of a look at the musical to see what they made of all that. it's the sistine chapel as you've never seen it before. the fully immersive show tells the story of michelangelo and his masterpiece frescoes the work is the result of an unlikely merger between the vatican museum musician sting and michael ballack a director and producer famed for his over the top spectacles see a more different there and i believe she must be that this is a beautiful challenge and i am really excited because this is a very important day for me. spectacularly in this is a powerful show more than a quick and intense it was because of a wonderful show being sold as a show in which technology blends in with art over the these groups around in history that really got us it's something that we wanted to establish a. very strong emotional trajectory it's already

a more diverse. micheline jewellers painting of the sistine chapel is considered a cornerstone of hi renee sounds. as if sculpture could be carved from paint with the body as protagonist after five hundred years the stunning frescoes a still breathtaking. mark about a just ten point six million dollars production features actors dances acrobats huge state of the are projections light shows and surround sound it might be asked whether respect to collect this kind described as octane meant tells more about the present than the past director louis helbeck sees the work as an opportunity to connect. the lack of palestinian ecological michelangelo painted something exceptional on the

sistine chapel with the last judgment but like the portal he painted it was live a hundred years ago that i'm color and this portal is still active that they were a portal of knowledge and awareness that put in am i and what humanity is look at monita it gives us the possibility to look at different times the vatican i'll tell you a. verse or judgment. in the secrets of the sistine chapel runs for at least at the moratorium continues on it in rome. and peter and i are already planning to get our tickets it sounds around to see i mean this incredible work. i mean this is really his brainchild the impresario he's quite a character who made a name for himself being in charge of the ceremonies of the olympic games from children in two thousand and six through to rio in two thousand and sixteen and then the high tech bombastic affairs all of them and no wonder then that the

technology described here for the musical is immersive two hundred seventy degrees three d. projections and that will have the critics to say look this is more like walt disney's and it's high art and he said what is wrong with walt disney the man was a genius so he's happy with. the also he said something else that was interesting that i noted he said we want to use that relate to the younger generations who've grown up with playstation that go to the movies in three d. and watch netflix books are on the other hand distracted away from their wonderful artistic patrimony so it's a man with a mission well i use all those. after a short break we'll be joined by my colleague. here.

on.

the ledge european stars deliver a rousing performance of the bruises. on the rock the beat the band ponting leave you to follow. the voice of no region singer see vegetarian placement in fifteen minutes on. rushes to your code for how much freedom of expression fairly modest. travels through russia before the election the famous the poor and the rich those who support the cause of the times who follows him and investigative journalists. our series this week's news. makes your smart t.v. even smaller the good news for small towns. watching lost for you want

to own up to date. extraordinary. decide what song the first sunday at the w. . it's all happening coach of the floor linked to news from africa the moral code or links to exceptional stories and discussions canyonlands comes the tipping program tonight from germany is a sleazy town i would say. the deputy comes to africa join us on facebook w. .

this is the. road map for

a new reform. so will that be. is that also on the program. britain's foreign secretary says it's likely that's a russian president vladimir putin personally. i'm a former spy. i'm listing international accuses shall and the office.