this is g w news live from berlin tonight the french president trying to make the yellow vests for testers stop seeing red and hold on to his job in the process manual macro and builds a list of reforms in response to months of yellow best protests that have challenged his authority he's willing to cut taxes but he's also making demands on

french workers also coming up joe biden hits the campaign trail to become the next u.s. president the former u.s. vice president warning the soul of the nation is at stake if donald trump wins another term but can bite him in the controversy over his own past first. i'm burnt off it's good to have you with us the president of france has laid out a raft of reforms after months of yellow vest protests protests that have put his authority in question in a bid to restore order to the country tonight pledge to cut income tax for the middle class and to make it easier to hold referendums on some issues but he also says there will be no tolerance for violent protests here's more of what he had to

say. we will be loyal to you today above all public order must return it's essential that we come together. but i don't want the actions of some people to eclipse the just demands that were put forward at the start of this movement and that we're broadly supported if you. are join me here at the big table as my colleague in montreal that shots she's been covering this street and she's been covering the yellow vest for just force now for quite some time it's good to see you again so the french president he said he's willing to cut income taxes what else well yes i think he's talk tonight was quite significant is the first time he holds a press conference on domestic matters we know he's not a fan of the exercise he doesn't like tennis rights and he's been answering questions for the whole for most of the of the evening and what's interesting is that yes he promised he would tax because he actually acknowledged the end of s. movement by saying by by calling it a movement and he also said he had learned

a lot about him that there is those think six months of protest so defined french people as a children of enlightenment which is very much for ness as they say in french he likes to use is tens of phrase that you know these children you know what it meant to did he say that he acknowledged that their demands are valid. yes i know he acknowledged that the men's however he's unapologetic on his politics he's going to carry on the reforms he has so say that he believed in elected officials and he believed in did legitimacy of people in charge to carry out those reforms so yes he acknowledges that he meant that he's carrying carrying on as he was doing for two years and you know we've seen these these images here of the protests will the overs that he's making tonight will they be enough to send the yellow best protesters home for good well the problem with

a man by cries out he's very good at such speeches he's very good at making promises and that's what he was elected that's why sixty percent of the french people actually. voted for him but now his popularity rate is at thirty percent because people do not trust him anymore and he acknowledged single parents people with disability people living in group a areas pension easy said he would do something for pensions with that be enough he has been completely deaf to doze demands for two years and he's running he's looking ahead full twenty twenty twenty two for he was like did wright's men date exactly so he's trying to you know mend the house be done so exactly what about his relationship with the german chancellor angela merkel he was asked about that and he admitted things have not been as good as maybe they should he did acknowledge that and he used to at the time in their lives he also conceded discrepancy discrepancies particularly on the

scenes of pranks it climate saying he said however that the confrontations with the german chancellor where faith for a tie and so it is room for improvement in those relations let me let's see what happens all right in my goes off as always thank you thank you. here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world french forensic specialists have entered notre dame cathedral for the first time to gather evidence on the cause of last week's blaze the fire devastated the roof and destroyed the spire of these centuries old gothic masterpiece police are treating the fire as an accident tens of thousands of sudanese protesters have gathered outside army headquarters in the capital khartoum their so-called million strong march is intended to turn up the heat on the ruling military council on wednesday the military and protest leaders agreed to form a joint committee to pave the way to civilian rule. more than seventy protesters

are injured after a moroccan police use water cannon and but tons to break up a teacher's protest in the capital thousands of taken into the streets of robots on wednesday to protest their employment terms. or former u.s. vice president joe biden has officially announced he is running for the white house in two thousand and twenty ending months of speculation biden made the announcement on twitter saying that the soul of the nation is at stake with donald trump's bid for reelection the seventy six year old joins an already crowded field of at least nineteen other democratic hopefuls competing for their party's nomination biden is the most experienced of the democratic candidates he served as president obama's vice president for eight years and he has been a senator since the nineteen seventies the call for new peace plan. for more on

this is go to washington our correspondent all over salad is on the story for us good evening to you oliver so we've got joe biden announcement bringing the field of democratic candidates up to twenty now do we know why did biden decide to join the race and is he joining kind of late. well brandon his video announcement today he said that the american values would be at stake and that will be the reason why he's running now he also said that the crucial moment when he decided to run was back in two thousand and seventeen when at a far right protest in a child that's villa counter a demonstrator counter protester died and donald trump at the time refused to condemn these neo nazi protesters joe biden really focused his video announcement on these events and said that was the moment when he decided to run to avoid another term of donald trump literally but of course there is more behind than that

. joe biden has been dubbed like something like the eternal candidate for about four decades almost she ran in one nine hundred eighty eight he ran again in two thousand and eight almost ran in two thousand and sixteen but then made way for hillary clinton this time around will be different though because he was already in paul's came out as the most popular of all candidates even before officially announcing his spirits so now he will certainly also make the case that he's the most likely one to defeat donald trump in twenty twenty years certainly has the advantage particularly because everyone in the united states knows him or work you know uses his name how does biden's bid change the competition in the calculus of that competition. well we're witnessing a very interesting moment drive now in the run up to the primary election so the whole party the democratic party shifted to the left we have a record number all fall for candidates running minorities a representative

a lot of female candidates many candidates are young also but joe biden is not enough that he's seventy six years old a white old man if you will and live yet is a very popular figure in politics he's either considered something like an elder statesman or an old school politician that has passed his time so boaters will have to see where they see themselves when they support him but the crucial point here is that he's got credibility on long blue collar voters and that can be crucial this time around it's a very good point in his political record some people have said is a living record of hell the democratic party itself has evolved over the last fifty years so all over we've got joe biden against john would trump would that be the choice that americans would look forward to on election day what do you hear. potentially yes i mean it'll be interesting because he will not be an easy opobo

none for donald trump donald trump has been trying to paint the democratic like a bunch of radical socialist and that would probably not work with joe biden he considers himself rather a moderate politician a centrist stance and he's got great chances. you know especially because of that he's got great chances to get support in the industrial midwestern regions of the united states so if you speak to voters the air of democratic voters who supported trump in two thousand and sixteen they would actually tell you that really depends on who is running hillary clinton back at the time was a hate figure but joe biden is not too joe biden is really able to speak at eye level with the working class that can make the difference but first of all of course he has to win the primaries next year that's right the nomination actually for joe biden a bigger battle than it actually winning on election day we'll have to see oversell

in washington is always over thank you. sri lanka has lowered the death toll in the easter sunday attacks down by around one hundred officials now say that two hundred fifty three lives were lost the health ministry blaming the discrepancy on a calculation error but this comes after the defense secretary resigned following intelligence and security lapses ahead of sunday's devastating attacks there have been further arrests of people who may have been involved in the suicide bombings police have appealed to the public for information on a further six suspects. but one bitter legacy of the bombings in sri lanka has been an upsurge of violence against refugees from other countries both christian and muslim as a use. reports of people who fled violence in their own countries find themselves

targeted once again. natasha fled to sri lanka from caucus time four years ago. she left her home country with three young children and her husband because they were persecuted for being christian. her husband bears burn marks to prove it. but i'm a gamble where she ended up she could practice her feet freely last sunday she applied hair on her hands and feet to get ready for easter then the blasts hit. mob descended on her neighborhood of pakistani refugees attacking homes and threatening reprisals even going on how many years the landlord told us not to return don't even return to your not safe here save yourselves and leave we can't offer you any protection but we're also a christian we're also grief stricken because our brothers and sisters were killed in this blast but we can't do anything mother and her lark we're now natasha and

over one hundred other refugees are hiding out in the parking garage of this police station women men children christians and muslims of dance and boxed. the all male one similarity they are not treating can. give a job as a little one if you cannot imagine how they behaved after the blasts sixty six hours of people came into my house and attacked us. our landlady said i cannot protect you it will be better if you leave. according to refugee rights activists over twelve hundred people have been displaced from their home since the attack. they have taken shelter in mosques and police stations refugees in the course to the city of nic gamble include minority him of the muslims and christians fleeing persecution in pakistan and afghans fleeing insecurity in their own country now however they are all being threatened and displeased because locals

view all the foreigners with suspicion activists have begged georgia's armed civilians for help but to norway that already life as a diffuse tree lunker is extremely challenging and they cannot work so they undergo a lot to be patient due to this because the children and children for. many years to school. and people cannot work build it and to build professional people jobs and we don't working you know. precious by latasha mrs pakistan she's also grateful for her life entry lanka but for now home is this parking garage. and she doesn't know when back by the end. of the top stories that we're following for you french president. has presented his long awaited reforms in a bid to quell months of widespread protests in the country the yellow best

movement is demanding more income inequality saying that favors the rich and former vice president joe biden has hit the campaign trail. of his seat for u.s. president he joins a democratic field he also faces questions about his own past. next a special program e.u. elections and why they matter to africa i'll be back at the top of the hour with more world news followed by the day. of the protests for the. full swing. of the last plenary session of this particular european parliament because we'll have a new one. and the result that election is going to be closely monitored in africa this is a continent after all at chez years of

a complex relationship with europe e.u. elections. to africa next d.w. .