social media is critical to everything and thousands of. people. on the street and they are women who want to change a good moral. digital. stores marketing. to w. low oil prices and heavy sanctions have taken a bite out of russia's economy in recent years as has questionable policy making normal russians have been feeling the pinch will break down some of the country's economic problems and some areas of opportunity. and it's foldable but is it affordable samsung launches a smartphone that converts into a mini tablet or consumers ready for its have to price tag. i'm stephen beard sambolin thanks for joining us economy ministers from germany and

russia are set to meet today in berlin with lobbyists and industry figures for a conference on economic relations between the two nations overshadowing the events are that you use new sanctions on moscow announced following russia's latest escalation and its conflict with ukraine a further eight individuals will be added to the list of those subject subject to asset freezes and travel bans now a survey conducted by moscow's economic development ministry claims sanctions imposed by a range of countries cost russia some five point seven billion euros last year the e.u. restrictions alone accounted for over one third of that number us sanctions came in at nearly one and a half billion euros with ukraine's restrictions the third most substantial the survey showed that the heaviest impact was on russia's metallurgist farming and chemical sectors. earlier i asked our moscow correspondent erin tilton what was likely to be top of the agenda for this economic conference in berlin well that's

certainly going to be the north stream two pipeline which is currently be constructed between russia and northern germany and if you remember that's of course a pipeline designed to transit russian national gas to the federal public of germany of course germany needs that if it's going to see its climate goals through its pivot away from coal and also run the russian side and gas of course its most major adam exports to its only real product that has actually had some success on the world market so of course it's going to be of critical importance for both countries. there what has been worse for the russian economy is that the sanctions or is it the low oil prices. it's certainly been some of the chaos we've been seeing in commodity markets in the most recent years i mean you have to remember russia is and for all intents and purposes a petrol state fifty nine percent of its economy is actually the federal budget i mean is based upon the sales of a moil and gas to the rest of the world so it's really been hit hard by some of the turbulence we've seen over the commodity markets in the recent years but of course

the sanctions have also played their part you know for years they've been saying that sanctions weren't really that big of a deal that they could muscle through them but we finally saw the prime minister dmitry medvedev recently at a conference in sochi and that that they had had an effect as well so basically it's been kind of a one two punch that would really kind of put them on the back foot has been the low oil prices but the sanctions certainly haven't helped either and what the russians themselves believe that they believe their problems are caused by external factors such as the oil prices such as the sanctions where they look and they see policy missteps by the russian government. i do think it's kind of more directed toward seen it as kind of you know a home grown problem in recent years we've seen popularity numbers decline i mean there's still very good compared to most american politicians but they're still low for his presidency only around sixty percent of russians say they currently support him and that has to do a lot with some of the economic troubles they're going through you have to realize real wages have been stagnant or declining in many regions of russia for the last

five years at the same time prices are going up and consumer spending is dropping off and this really left a lot of people that i've talked to with the feeling that you know that they're trying having to pay for some of the misadventures both economically and politically of the central government here in moscow and as one person actually put it to me he said that your average russian has had to tighten their economic belt so much that it's starting to believe so i really do think most russians kind of direct their eye are towards moscow in this question. until joining us from moscow thanks very inside arun samsung has unveiled its latest range of smartphones including one that folds out into a tablet but the price tag is already raising eyebrows have a look. it was launched like something straight out of the space age. samson's new galaxy phone which comes with a price tag that some might say he's astronomical. and he wants one it's going to

cost you just short of two thousand dollars but the galaxy hold you cannot powerful smartphone and a revolutionary tablet all in a single premium package when the device opens up your world does too with a massive seven point three inch infinity flex display that transforms the fold into a tap. the price tag will surprise so much to samsung except that the cost of its s nine range of the country to to lower than expected sales in two thousand dollars will also only get you to four g. model in a five more expensive five deviation is planned. sometimes task will be to prove that it's worth it there's going to have to be some use out if samsung can feel it all and create you spell you through a whistle to gratian and application software integration i think this foldable

phone will not only find buyers but it'll encourage you to lend to the smartphone into the new era. a new era and perhaps a new approach for samsung galaxy fold costs more than the most expensive iphone from that traditionally more pricey competitor that the other end of the price spectrum chinese manufacturers have stolen a chunk of the market. some some hopes to lead the way with its versatile product and its betting that consumers are ready to open their wallets that's why. and for more on this we're joined now by our financial correspondent frank first daniel cope so daniel is this new phone an expensive gimmick or is it a real revolution in the smartphone market. i mean see even i guess we can clearly see a trend when you talk about phones on the one hand they're getting bigger and bigger i remember ten or fifteen years ago when i had one of my first phones a nokia phone and how proud i was because it was so small and the phones are

getting more and more expensive i mean two thousand u.s. dollars that's a prize for a very very good tablet or even a laptop so that's the other side of course not many customers will in fact pay this amount of two thousand u.s. dollars usually when you sign up contract with a cell phone company you get quite some discounts well we have to remember that the trend has been also changing how you actually use your phone today it's all about online content all about videos and the first reaction that i'm actually getting are quite positive because this big screen is going to be very interesting for asked for ties and companies i don't believe that this is really going to be a game changer but we do expect at least for a short time quite of boom again in the cell phone market which of course is a very competitive one ok now it's daniel stay with us as we take

a look at something else that could move markets britain's credit rating is under threat thanks to brags that the pound falling on news that ratings agency fitch could slash the u.k. surprise double a rating fitch warns no deal brags it could hit the economy hard it compares the potential impact to the recession in the early one nine hundred ninety s. when british g.d.p. shrank for nearly two years. now back to daniel could this news get any traction as the markets wake up today. well trading here in frankfurt is for assad at about thirty minutes ago and we don't see a reaction happening here at the trading floor today in fact yesterday we have a new high off of the year so far and it seems that this trend is going to continue here at least and frankly don't we take a look over to the united kingdom the footsie one hundred they are slightly in the red this morning the market there is down with about zero point three per cent at

the moment and yes when you talk to analysts here this news was actually not a really a surprise for them because i mean we're now about five weeks away from brics it and everything at this point is still not clear what's at the end is really going to happen this of course gives also the economy a quite some uncertainty so investors here in frankfurt were not really surprised about this latest development so five weeks ago in the brics rollercoaster we'll see what that brings daniel koch joining us from frankfurt thank you daniel as always how much should a kilogram of bananas cost depends on whom us the cheaper the better for consumers in the supermarkets that supply them but the farmers in the export as representing them say they need livable wages now germany's development minister says the government might need to play a role. in that last fall german supermarket chain only said it plum to cut the price it was willing to pay for

a creative manana supply from ecuador from eight to seven euros. resisted the move. they had already been struggling financially plus ecuador has a statutory minimum sell price for exported bananas. the ecuadorians have now stopped supplying hourly. meanwhile berlin has called on german companies to ensure fair pricing and production conditions called it was acknowledged that customers need to get the message across. if not we'll have to introduce binding rules on social standards no child labor decent living wages for the plantation workers and basically ecological standards called august second on standards a lot of supermarkets are showing the way forward it will be such as legal and eating. and they want to see others joining them on the on but on those and see these and be. complying with those social standards comes at

a price however and it's that price that the farmers in ecuador are demanding the country is the world's largest exporter of bananas its main markets are the e.u. especially germany and russia. at the same time cocoa and coffee producers are also suffering under similar pressure in twenty seventeen the global price of cocoa beans collapsed and has struggled to recover since. in order to remain competitive many producers resort to recruiting child workers. and speaking of ecuador the country has reached an agreement for more than ten billion dollars in loans from various global agencies the financing was announced during a public broadcast by president lyndon moreno it includes more than four billion from the international monetary fund and a further loan from the world bank ecuador had more or less broken ties with the organizations under the previous president c.e.o.

rafael correa their main skepticism of the i.m.f. in the country where austerity policies imposed by the fund are blamed for economic hardship. and that's it for me in the business team here in berlin you can always find out more about these and other stories by going to our website www dot com slash business i'm stephen beardsley as always thanks for watching.

birth. home two of species. a home worth saving. given those are big changes and most start with small steps global indios tell stories of credence people and innovative projects around the world. like music poetry clinics used green energy solutions and reforestation. crooned interactive content teaching the next generation of

fundamental to attention. using all channels available to people to change connection and were determined to build something here for the next generation globally as the environment series of global three thousand on t.w. and online. hello and a very warm welcome to arts and culture i'm david leavitt's coming up on this edition the history of the female body in advertising yes sex sells but your eight hours of an exhibition here in berlin are asking should it. and we're off to italy where a delicious focaccia recipe or give you a taste of a bell pie is a beautiful country. but first it's

a very special year for the netherlands two thousand and nineteen is rembrandt's year marking the three hundred fiftieth anniversary of the great touch painter's death and amsterdam's rights museum is pulling out all the stops for the artist whose prolific seventeenth century self portraits some say laid the groundwork for what we see today on social media. selfie with rembrandt the old monster of self portraits tourists paying almost to an artist they see as something of a role model i've been to his house and to do. and i've seen in many of his paintings you can see himself in the back and it's very funny because he was kind of the inventor of selfies. take a loss is a nice memory of a holiday family together with a great artist behind us. i think i have to thank the.