respect. this is news coming to you live from berlin a criminal or rescue worker that's what a court will decide in a trial under way for a man who says he saved thousands of syrians fleeing wall. streeters want to put him behind bars for people smuggling we go live to the courthouse and les paul also coming up. hezbollah looks poised to make major gains in lebanon selection

unofficial results show the militant group and its allies winning more than half the seats it's being seen as a victory for hezbollah iran. and the man who's held power in russia for nearly two decades today. get sworn in six more years of mass protests over the weekend. is inauguration. hello i'm terry martin welcome to the program a trial is underway on the greek island of les pauls for dean prosecutors accuse him of people trafficking and say he's a criminal but he started a charity in twenty fifteen to help those fleeing the syrian war and says he saved thousands of lives we'll talk to the correspondent covering the trial in just

a moment but first this report. by many he's seen as a hero in two thousand and fifteen. an intrapreneur from denmark decided to change his life. i saw the picture of i go like shocked to this after i was sitting on the plane on the way through. the photo of the three year old syrian boy made global headlines lying dead on the beach after drowning in the mediterranean the european migrant traces was at its peak and with around three thousand people arriving each day the greek island of less sparse was a hotspot. i was actually in the water have my body was in the water and i looked back and i saw all the refugees like all people like children women. and i wanted to scream i really want to scream and

cry in this very moment i was the worst to help how come if there is nobody here. and then like from that changed my life. at first all teams thought he'd go help for a week but one week quickly turned into five months. he assembled a crew of other volunteers they called themselves team humanity and bought a rescue boat funded by donations. the group worked day and night helping migrants make the treacherous landing on a last pass at its closest point the crossing from turkey to greece it's only ten kilometers but the overcrowded boats regularly sank i'm calling because going to say i'm a child the mio. police come in. and take a child i don't know what to do it's a little girl and they saying to me yeah keep let her be there we're coming in for like twenty one twenty four hours. it was

a twelve year old girl she lost her life in the sea. so. me and my team would dig graves. for six hours. very good family if you bury children and there is something wrong with this world . and it's something profitable on. one january night everything changed the greek coast guard arrested team humanity at sea for and it felt like a betrayal many times are going to helping cause guard because their boat couldn't rescue people it was people in the water for a lot of people in the water and the way it was so big that i put my life in danger to rescue them greek authorities accused deen of people smuggling if you stand guilty he faces life in prison. rights groups say the case is politically motivated to discourage small boats from setting sail for europe. for human life

and has for work. for saving life saving children. one day going to get them running who knows is going to be running. a report from d.w. is mariel. mariel joins us now from lesbo she's there covering the trial prosecutors in los accuse dean of people trafficking tell us more about the charges he's facing. yes so the allegations against selema deen and his crew actually changed in the last two years of the course since he was arrested in two thousand and sixteen so first the greek authorities accused him of smuggling refugees from turkey to greece over the border but then one year in eight months nature could actually seventeen could actually

prove the fact that he didn't press the button so there was a g.p.s. location a phone of his crew members proving that she didn't trust about us and then delegation changed from smuggling refugees to the attempts of smuggling refugees. you spoke to him before he went into the court how is he going about defending himself. well he's basically saying what did i do wrong i saved human lives i safe effigies and the sea and also i did nothing hidden hidden and yeah everybody knew what i was doing so the coast guard also the police everyone knew what was going on and also he had parked and registered his boat. for his rescue boat that barge by donations and it was parked next to frontex. it was everything perfectly clear and also he said that the coast guards at some point when the refugee crisis was very

heavy there were three thousand people arriving each day and they were even asking him if he could help him with this because they didn't have enough manpower and unfolds. many people said witnesses told me by the way yesterday i met them all to tell us about those witnesses what have they been so. yes i saw yesterday i went to the north of the island there where all the boats arrived during twenty fifteen twenty sixteen and i'm mad sheep farmer and a restaurant on a and actually many other people on the way that new team humanity in use and his crew and and when i asked them what do you remember and what did you do it they were like yeah i of course rescued so many people here we also provided food from the restaurant and we helped as much as we could we don't understand he's a local hero we don't understand why he's now on trial. mario thank you very much for bringing us up to date. reporting from les boss.

preliminary results in lebanon's parliamentary elections suggest the shiite militant group hezbollah is poised to make major gains the iran backed group and its allies looks set to secure a majority though the country's power sharing system will require them to govern with a sunni prime minister that looks set to be saad hariri the western backed front runner after the country's first parliamentary vote in nearly a decade. the results may not have been out but that didn't stop hezbollah supporters laying claim to victory preliminary results now show the radical shiite group and its allies making gains in the first elections in almost a decade he appears set to win a narrow majority. turnout was disappointing with less than half the electorate lining up to vote for the war in neighboring syria security concerns and

disagreements between rival parliamentary blocs delayed the vote until now many voters are deeply frustrated. with had enough of clans that have ruled us for fifty years. but nothing's changed. and he had to lebanon's prime minister looks set to be reelected billionaire businessman fan hariri heads up a coalition campaigning for votes from sunnis and moderates he's under some pressure is companies are floundering and many resent his cooperation with hezbollah. the anti israel group divides voters preliminary results suggest it's most better reponse have also done well it has been less as only it has the answers to lebanon's problems. we are going through difficult times military success and hezbollah are particularly needed without hezbollah we also have terrorists in this

country and there are a few g. crisis similar to dance of syria and iraq a. new protest parties are hoping to challenge the political elite some in lebanon are sick of corruption and divisive religious politics but it seems unlikely that there are enough of them to challenge the overall outcome. of the story let's cross over the bench she's in beirut she's director of the highly both foundations middle east office there thanks for joining us this morning the projections show that hezbollah and its allies are set to win over half the seats in parliament why have they done so well in this election. well you know they have been able to mobilize in a much better way than there are plans and mobilizing that is not only convincing voters by what they have to offer that it also tight here is social control over their own rights records tighter social control over their electorate will tell us more about

this election in general and iran's influence in the region because they are very closely allied with hezbollah and they are and they're for think if this also is kind of a reflection of the overall regional situation where iran at the moment seems to be so much stronger than saudi arabia that are these votaries certainly did not look into that angle so that it's very important what happens to masticate they want is a lot of represent their interests and so some of the problems so they don't have that much of the foreign policy protection that we might read into it. eleven on has a very complex voting system there's a power sharing agreement that stipulates that a sunni holds the office of prime minister that means we can still see incumbent saad hariri return to power how will that sit with the other players in lebanon's power matrix like saudi arabia well you know. china's

first song or maybe i'm limited to the of course went to power here lebanon as well an influence politics and they're savvy it is their best bet they might not be their preferred choice me because he's not as strong as for example his father was and still he's in there and life here and i think it we'll also see that we continue with that because it is difficult enough to point to solution where we could have a president he could happen parliament and prime ministers might be to think well lebanese media have raised league ations of vote buying in this election how free and fair was the election. well in comparison with other states i think you have a significant a control here of elections in terms of being free and fair but of course at what they were just all their remarks at the service the carting vote buying we guarding . being regarding also

a company though to use into the election booth so yes it has that and then spent i think we are not dissing an election in which one hearty had more influence on it so to use than the other in terms of writing them into thanks so much for bringing us up to date been to show there in beirut she heads up the middle east office of the birth foundation that's associated with germany's green party thank you very much. now let's look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today why didn't trump's new lawyer rudy giuliani says trump could defy a subpoena to testify in the special counsel's russia investigation speaking after a chaotic first week on the job giuliani also does his own statements about trump's payment of hush money to adult film star stormy daniels after trump criticized him for quote not having his tax strength desired. and then british foreign minister boris strong is urging the united states to continue backing the nuclear deal with

iran and he says it would be a mistake to walk away from it at this time johnson is in washington for talks with the trumpet ministration ahead of the may twelfth deadline for the president to decide whether or not to pull out of the accord. and a lot of peer blood amir is set to begin a fourth term as russian president today but his immunology ration has been overshadowed by mouse arrests and allegations of police brutality during two days of protests against him at the weekend more than fifteen hundred people were detained including opposition leader alexei know bonnie. well staying in russia monaco is here with a closer look at the russian economy yes and putin has big plans for the russian economy he's beginning his fourth term in the kremlin with promises to revitalize the country's economy he wants to contrast us poverty rates in half i do want to

invest in infrastructure health and housing well right now the russian economy isn't doing all that bad really growth is expected to reach one point seven percent this year that's according to a well to bank forecasts investors say resurgent oil prices are bolstering the economy despite moscow being squeezed by western sanctions but risks remain. russian president vladimir putin can point to a number of positive economic developments during his time in power inflation has been kept low public debt to all while the standard of living has increased but he says there's more to be done in the war for. oil structural problems and make sure our economy grows faster we need new sources of growth production needs to become more efficient business need to be modernized we need new technology in manufacturing. so more so than men looked at no. one area where new

technology is already in use is in russia's oil and gas industry the energy sector is hugely important for the country's economy accounting for almost sixty percent of exports in other areas though russia struggles to compete on the global market as in the past several years the government's focused on promoting major industries some would say to the neglect of small to medium enterprises government spending has risen to seventy percent of g.d.p. . this big gold rush made it possible to put painful but necessary reforms on ice reforms are always associated with risks because they lead to a temporary drop in the standard of living in the. german investors appear willing to do business in russia many of them are bringing new technology with them too there are challenges though. ones eat does your nothing for a mansion remains an obstacle here in russia but not as much as it was ten to

fifteen years ago corruption has slipped down the ranks to place for five in terms of disruption to business this is definitely a very positive trend the biggest problem is too much red tape and a lack of financing what is your. doctor wouldn't be feeling to finance your own borrowing money is still expensive in russia the banking sector has been in crisis mode for years bush's military operations abroad in places that just syria are also expensive money for modernizing infrastructure at home remains scarce. as russians celebrate the arrival of spring analysts are wondering what putin will do to foster a new era of economic growth. let's talk a bit about this now joining me here in the studio is fuck a tire from the association of german chambers of industry and commerce good to have you with us so from the german business perspective what is the state of the

russian economy right now the mood among german investors has risen reasonably we have more than five thousand german companies very active in russia after yes three four years of an economic slump the mood is much better and economic growth is back in term and investors are investing ok so what is this growth actually coming from what we've heard that the world bank expects russia to grow one point seven percent this year despite those ongoing and now even a new round of sanctions are the having any impact at all. first of all we have a relaxation in gas and oil prices and russia is very dependent on the commodities so for far the recovery is really as the ground on this recovery of commodities second is russia has improved in the ease of

doing business in the index of the world bank by eighty ranks now it ranks by around about thirty fifth rank and that means a really improvement so there is an improvement in red tape and there is an improvement in establishing a business so things are bit better than previously so so clearly the business perspective is very separate from the political perspective here i mean we have a putin now a fourth term in the kremlin he wants to as he says himself revitalize the russian economy if you gave him some advice what would you say has to be on top of his to do list first of all the german and the international business related to russia was really affected by the sanctions of the european sanctions the u.s. sanctions and now we have an sharpening of the u.s. sanctions again so this brings really worries to german business and this is due to

a concentration of russian business to some oligarchs which is still the case so there need to be a more decentralization of the russian economy to other business people open up the business break up not only concentrated to oligarchs and the second is research and development and education you don't have a middle stand as a means for this is due to a lack of productivity although the labor the workers are really stick to their companies we miss productivity and for that we need for instance vocational education and training all right sis for the trial from the association of german chambers of commerce and industry thank you so much for being in the studio today. now it might be best known for nest cuffy the world's top selling instant coffee but now swiss foods joined nestle is teaming up with coffee chain starbucks nestle

sets to pay starbucks more than seven billion dollars to form a global coffee alliance that will allow it to market starbucks products outside to the american companies coffee shop starbucks hopes this will boost its food and coffee products which already generated around two billion dollars in annual sales and nestle expects the deal to strengthen its position in the north american market . now one year after a month where mark calls a landslide victory in the french presidential election the country's trade unions are up in arms over the weekend thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of paris to protest against my calls sweeping reforms of the protest is the latest in a series of large demonstrations against my call was all the holes of everything from the education system to the state rail operator of course trick shouldn with various groups. economists say emmanuel mccall has changed more in twelve

months than his predecessors did in years despite heavy resistance he has managed to implement reforms pushing for more flexibility in france's rigid job market. and now his changes are beginning to bear fruit unemployment has fallen by half a percent since he took office. this year the french statistics piero expects the economy to post its highest growth in eleven years. speaking at the world economic forum back in january mccall appeared confident about france's position in the world ladies and gentlemen my my my first missy he said france is back france is back it's a call for europe. his pledge to support young entrepreneurs is being fulfilled with ten billion euros worth of funding towards innovation and the results are visible the number of startups has increased by double digits since mcauliffe

selection foreign investors are showing interest again having previously long avoided friends. the image of france has changed a lot globally when you go abroad you talk about emmanuel my kong whether it's in germany or the united states. well you know this is a very great from what we saw in the past. friends is perceived more positively by investors body that. back home once friends to become a nation of startups but only time will tell how many companies survive without the government support but the improving economy hasn't translated into popularity for the president one survey showed sixty percent of the public are unhappy with their government trade unions have paralyzed public transport with strikes in response to plans to cut benefits at france's heavily indebted state railways mccollum's

intention to end early retirement for new hires has been met with particular resistance. but so far the president has vowed to press on with his reforms. are right for goodness need to finance that's interesting because there is a change in the setup now only recently terry we've got some big changes afoot in the news league tell you about right now i'm not back will join or to an additional door in the bundesliga next season after sealing their promotion from germany's second division they won two nil ins on housing food leapfrog dusseldorf at the top of the table the two will meet on the final day of the season to decide which team goes up as champions. they'd already got their hands on a burden is a legal spot next season now the question for fortunate dusseldorf could they make that fans even proud by wrapping up in the title. despite being happy to defend

it was vicious keel who looked the more likely to lead at the break but while they couldn't dent disability in san how's the nuremberg did i know baron is reacting bass to big goalkeepers perry i as it stood at halftime nuremberg fans were happier disapproves laughed nervously checked schools on the times scales were tipped briefly back in their favor to be turned around and pretty tight from back within reach. but kiel equalised moments later the back heel followed by not making the sweet finish by marvin jokes that go with secure his sights pay off price as well as nurenberg back in the trying seats they sped away with a second goal in san hausen. i see my coach finishing off the counter they had won first in the bundesliga confirmed the final win so not only securing a return to the top flight for the first time since twenty fourteen but also with

a shot at the title the hostess of doffing a winner takes all clash next weekend sparks will fly. english champions manchester city finally got their hands on the premier league trophy on sunday after a dull than it in the top flight but coach pep guardiola has struck a cautious no to head of next season the champagne flowed this despite city being held to a goal is draw at home under against others feel that they already sealed the title back in mid april emphasize the difficulty of winning alone defending the premier league crown it's look this you know when you were a lot of games so does the next he's already done for because those were the video . we would be a little bit relaxed and you have to be focused you want to maintain what we have done this isn't and that is that is the. that is the point but help us understand his game for example how difficult would be next season. in moto

g.p. defending champion marc marc has delighted the home fans by winning the spanish grand prix on sunday but he had a little help from his title rivals three of them including championship leader andrea. collided with eight laps to go three were forced to take the race. out on his own for an easy victory this was his second race win in a row it's at the top of the standings. before we go just a reminder the top story we're following for you here today on the news early results in lebanon's parliamentary elections indicate the shiite militant group hezbollah and its allies will secure a majority but they'll have to share power with the sunni prime minister as required by the country's sectarian power sharing rules set to meet western backed broader. thanks for.

congregations to what i'm used to i only know intercom fashion all protestants and catholics worship under one roof in some parts of germany. centuries but it isn't always peace not uncommon everywhere challenge and an opportunity in one in two confessional churches in germany to find united.

next on t.w. . global inequality. what does inequality mean in a globally connected well. rome to the media play. join the discussion and how do you want to digest and as a global media forum twenty eight to. enter the conflict zone confronting the powerful have been challenging those in power asking tough questions demanding answers. as comforts intensify i'll be meeting with key players on the ground in the senses of our cutting through the rhetoric holding the fossil fuel of. the conflict. the. conflict zone confronting the powerful song t.w. . israel seventy years to displace two nations

that owns over one homeland featured in i want to program. one rabin and a girlfriend agreed on peace but an assassin put an end to that dream and the returning to the history of the disposed to hold still funding for the homeland of israel seventeen years may twelfth on d w of all broadcast times online. a church with two pastors. fight skop on on the right is a catholic priest christiane teeter on the left is a protestant minister. who is. this one to find see you in this church next zero. if you

put it like that i'd say zero there's much more uniting us than anything that could divide us.