oh. this is news live from berlin a still under lockdown the churches around the world celebrate the holy day with no congregation in rome pope francis holds his easter vigil in emptiness and painters worshippers worldwide swap church pews for live streams on the council hard also on the program stay at home over the easter weekend that's what germany's president told his country in a rare televised address frank cultish time said the crisis demands of solidarity and the best of society plans made to champion

a mountain biker in france who's helping out his community cheering lockdown he's back on his bike to provide a personal delivery service and shopping for anyone who needs it. i'm rebecca riches welcome to the program christians around the world are celebrating a stir on the lockdown as global health authorities struggle to contain the spread of the corona virus pope francis held mass on the 8th of the holy holy holiday in a largely empty some pages pacific or in rome the pope described the service as a message of hope urging the faithful not to give in to their fears of the virus the pontiff will give his face to someday blessing with fewer than 20 people present churches worldwide are also holding a sister of a says with no congregation. well throughout the day we'll be speaking to our

correspondents around the world about in the time of coronavirus and we begin with ana santos in manila and thanks for joining me you can hear the bells ringing there behind the still predominantly catholic country the nature is a very significant holiday how is it there this year. yes easter is that time for food and family to coronavirus or will the night just come tell them to celebrate from a distance as you can see the church behind me there are bells tolling now for one of the you know massive that are going on today normally you would have running continuously throughout mr sunday kind of like a movie on most people are now celebrating or hearing from the comfort of their own home like my mother 75 years old has been performing her religious obligations by our lives to mark out since the start of this lockdown. and when used to seeing

religious rituals playing out every easter in the philippines such as so fragile nation and what's happening to these traditions this year. as a bit of background edition of stuff like these are usually personal this side of 10 or to give gratitude for an answer very or now some rituals of self flagellation are so elaborate like for example the reenactment of the suspects and of prize there's so elaborate so flamboyant that they draw in thousands of tourists now rituals i'm not level of those that are strictly for have this however that stopped it was for walking there or down south flags and they've been in their whole or in smaller groups in their neighborhoods. we're seeing pictures of it. so many filipinos would also be normally visiting family during beings to weekend you mentioned your mom at home live streaming celebrations and how are people there

dealing with the lockdown. definitely easter is though you know the long weekend gives you a time to go back to your hometown while you know some time of these have been able to bridge the digital divide by teaching even the older members of the family enough tech skills to jump on a zoom call and you know get together virtually not all families are as lucky this character i met is housing 45 construction workers who lost their jobs after the last larry they tried to go back home to their families but after new days of walking home and be with their families again so it's just another stark reminder that 9 can infect all of us but we are experiencing its impact in very different ways definitely a very different case to this day to be a correspondent on a sentence in manila thank you very much. for turkey has made

a decisive move to try to slow the spread of covert 19 from midnight friday some 31 cities have been put in a temporary lockdown the decision came so swiftly that many were caught on a way leading to confusion and panic. taksim square at the heart of istanbul completely deserted it's an extremely rare sight in a lively city with some 16000000 residents and the strict lockdown will remain in place for the entire weekend all shops even supermarkets are fed to close only pharmacies and buy curries are allowed to make deliveries the lockdown came into force on friday night just 2 hours after it was announced in many places long queues formed quickly outside shops videos posted online showed scenes of turmoil in some markets panic buying customers crammed into close contact many people clearly angry about being given little or no notice of the shutdown by the

government that was also criticism from istanbul's me. on twitter he wrote that the measures also took him by surprise. it would have been much better if the government had coordinated with us we're sad that this happened the way it did i ask all citizens to please remain calm. turkey is currently seeing a sharp rise in the number of covert 19 infections latest figures show some 4800 new cases daily the hope is that the shutdown will slow its spread. let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news this hour the u.s. has overtaken italy is the country with the highest confirmed number of corona coronavirus deaths president donald trump has said he wants to reopen america public health experts insist it's too early to think about easing restrictions that have closed businesses. inmates demanding face masks and better health care have

rioted at a jail in bolivia police moved in after prisoners climbed onto the roof in the city of waterloo the government says inmates on minor charges will be released to control an outbreak of corona virus in the prison simple system. brazil has reported the 1st case of covert 9 tain in the city of god a slum which inspired the film of the same name you know support workers have been disinfecting the streets of the crowded favela home to almost a quarter of the population of rio de janeiro. and north korea is pledging tough and measures to protect its population from the virus officials have repeatedly insisted the country has not so it's not so far saying any cases but far medical experts are skeptical given the high number of infections in neighboring nations. here in germany the president has urged people to come together during the coronavirus pandemic frank walter steinmeier asked germans to

stick to the restrictions even as spring weather over easter makes socializing outdoors more tempting than ever stylised tavi address also looked beyond germany to the global response to the pandemic now it is upon the me that this pandemic is not a war. nations do not stand against other nations soldiers against soldiers rather this is a test of our humanity it is bringing out both the best and the worst in people so . let us show each other the best and. and let us show that in europe as well. come germany cannot emerge stronger and fit from this crisis if our neighbors are not strong and fit as well. it is not without reason that this blue flag is standing here. 30 years after german unity 75 years after the end of the war we germans are not merely asked to show solidarity we are obliged to do so too for

foolish that. for more i'm joined by d.w. political correspondent kate brady kate hi we heard they're urging solidarity between nations what does he mean by that and what's germany's role. well germany certainly plays a huge role in their response not least of all here in your report germany is indeed the largest economy and we've slowly seen germany take a less nationalistic approach to its response to current virus something that we saw among many e.u. member states initially with border closures and bans and limitations also been initially put in place when it came to the exports of medical protective gear but we are now seeing of course germany taken many patients from neighboring a new member states into its intensive care units of course germany luckily hasn't been quite as badly hit by coronavirus as some other states and on top of that we

also saw the finance ministers come to agreement this week on a huge financial aid package which aims not only to question the economic impact of the coronavirus now during the crisis but also in the aftermath so of course as we have formed in my ear how germany and especially how germany in the e.u. reacts and responds right now will very much affect the future of the european union after the coronavirus and of course particularly when it comes to the success and survival of the eurozone as well. and we've also heard chancellor angela merkel address the public several times on this topic and when she's the one with the power to make decisions why did president john much use to give this address this weekend. well it very much comes down to the fact that it is east as this weekend and like in many places around the world easter is a huge religious festival here in germany but also it's something that's steeped in

tradition it's a long weekend when people would usually be taking a long weekend away or visiting family and friends spending time with loved ones which is something that is simply not possible this weekend unless of course you are living with the relatives and friends and so the temptation is there as you can see behind me we're set to have a glorious day of sunny spring weather here in berlin at least and the temptation to go out and maybe start to let your guard down and be a little more irresponsible when it comes to practice and social distancing is certainly that right now although there has been some moments of cautious optimism in germany this week the last thing germany wants right now is the peak or rather. increase a sudden increase a spike should i say in a coronavirus cases. political correspondent kate brady thanks very much for the update. taiwan is one of the few areas of the world where

professional sports are resuming amid the coronavirus pandemic its baseball league season began on saturday with no sense watching there was a very different atmosphere robot drama some down of b. to china trust brothers stadium while cardboard cutouts of fans replaced the real thing as the club tried to give the players at least a small flavor of the match stakes perience. in france has been under lockdown for almost 4 weeks and for the country's elderly population going out to buy food can be difficult or even deadly but in one rural area a champion mountain biker is gearing up to lend a helping hand. devotion mountains in eastern front i'm a chair mountain bike world champion rider christophe beck taff calls the area home and since francis coronavirus lockdown he's been providing a delivery service to his community. we know we.

have received food orders over the phone which from those in need especially the elderly once the order is taken he gets ready to hit the road as soon as possible all of the video of this with the advantage is that by using an electric bike i can take forest trails and paths to go as quickly as possible to see isolated and vulnerable people. france's lockdown came into effect on march 17th and since then only essential services like stores selling food have been allowed remain open the 1st stop today for batavia is the local bakery. bread in tow but his back on his bike cutting through the mountain tracks to drop off his 1st delivery to 2 elderly women. christine and janette are delighted with the home delivery of fresh great. so that's out there not all people

need to be looked after my mother still kicks in she needs bread and fresh projects he's already stopped by before we often need something from the bakery. there's not much time to chat krzysztof needs to get going to his next delivery and with no end in sight for now to francis lock down the service he provides will no doubt keep him busy and fit. now before we go we want to show you some incredible pictures from indonesia where the anika track of how volcano has erupted spewing a column of ash 500 meters into the sky closed circuit t.v. captured images of lava flares overnight scientists say is the longest eruption since the one in 2018 that triggered a tsunami along the coast of sumatra in java killing 430 people no casualties have been reported in the slightest eruption. watching date over the news

live from berlin more news at the top of the hour and remember you can stay up to date on our web site that's d.w. dot com and you can follow us on twitter and instagram to add day w e s m a backer it is thanks for watching. stan for. language courses. video for you. anytime anywhere. w.