this is. an apology to italy for europe's lack of some of the starts of the corona virus outbreak e.u. commission president. admits the bloc failed to help when italians were most in need. must follow also on the program i'm going to announce is a cautious relaxation of some of germany's locked down destructions but more people

expect to live with the coronavirus for months. the waiver of us continues when millions of americans fighting for benefits in the past week take your life to . octets a quarantine maaco the russian facebook group is recruiting pets fatness household crops to leave much of the classics. i'm sure to the program the e.u. commission president the line has admitted that the bloc was unprepared when the coronavirus pandemic hit on that it failed to help basically when it needed it most with 21000 deaths a culvert 19 is it it's really hard to been any other european country road has expressed dismay of the even. initial response european countries were slow to send

medical aid some even ban the export of vital medical supplies addressing the european parliament in brussels the commission president apologized and said the block to now has to come together as never before to fight the pandemic yes it is true that no one was really ready for this. it is also true that too many were not there on time when italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning and yes for that it is right that europe as a whole offers a heartfelt apology but saying sorry only counts for something if it changes behavior and the truth is true that it did not take long before everyone realized that we must protect each other to protect ourselves and the truth is that europe has now become the world's beating heart of solidarity d.w.

that richard walker joins us now from brussels welcome richard so was the lion apologizing for mistakes made by the commission by the block by individual countries or just everyone. well i think it really was something of a collective statement of apology phil certainly because i think there are really 2 levels to these 2 aspects of this is as you were just mentioning earlier there was the one aspect of individual countries kind of going it alone in the early stages of the crisis shutting down borders in uncoordinated ways not helping out with that crucial equipment that italy really needed in the early days of the pandemic when it wasn't ready for what was hitting it in northern italy there and on the one side but also on the other side this as a whole the system not recognizing just what a danger this pandemic would be so i think all of that is equally important in front alliance message here but it is something that she has hammered home

a few times over the last few weeks but i think she's now beginning to look to the future because one of the biggest challenges to european solidarity is coming up how are they going to find the money for a huge economic sort of reconstruction plan a marshall plan even that they're calling it to pull the european economy out of the crisis once the outbreak is finally beginning to ever way and italy will be right at the center of that as well because it isn't just have a problem with the virus it also has a problem with a huge amount of debt so getting it on board in negotiations around how to fund that recovery is going to be really important i think was love underlined will be quite happy that luigi pretty mio the italian foreign minister has welcomed these words from her today to dublin correspondent richard walker brussels now lawmakers search for a common approach to the crisis germany is preparing for a gradual loosening of its lockdown some schools and small shops will open in the next couple of weeks physical distancing measures will remain chancellor merkel

said german efforts to contain the outbreak had been partially successful but the situation remains fragile. it's been 3 weeks since chancellor angela merkel announced the initial restrictions on contact now they're being largely extended social distancing rules will remain in place until may 3rd groups will remain limited to 2 people and at least 1.5 metres must be kept from others from may 4th the schools will gradually reopen 1st for school leavers in primary and secondary education day care will remain shut religious gatherings will also remain banned while major events including germany's beloved football will be called off until august 31st. meanwhile restaurants cafes theatres cinemas and music venues will keep their shutters down only shops up to $800.00 metres squared can reopen from monday facemasks are also

being recommended in shops and on transport announcing the amended restrictions chancellor angela merkel warned against complacency. what we've achieved is an interim success no more no less and i emphasise it is a fragile interim success this is now determined our deliberations that should be no rushing forward even if it's with the best intentions we have to understand that as long as there's no vaccine we have to live with the virus. to become in the. controls along germany's land borders with its neighbors in the schengen free travel zone will also remain in place for another 20 days. so how do people in berlin feel about the new measures. i'm not surprised and i assume that it will continue on like this. dress it's ok easing the restrictions is more

difficult than the shutdown it's like being on a diet when you're strict it's ok but the moment you start loosening the rules is when the danger starts. looking for the bars and the clubs again. for now germany will continue keeping its distance. well here's a look at some other stories making news around the world french president emanuel macro has joined the g 7 leaders in a video conference to discuss the response to the pandemic the meeting was convened by u.s. president donald trump and it's the 2nd time g 7 meeting has taken place this way. police in australia have arrested 3 people at an immigration detention center in sydney after they refused to end the rooftop protest detainees are angry that the government has refused to release them from the center joining the pandemic i'm denied their request to be tested for cough and 19. the i.m.f.

says that their asia pacific region will experience 0 percent growth this year the 1st time since the 1960 s. massive falls in industrial pretty major supply chain disruption and a huge collapse in demand from her in north america have been felt across the continent since the beginning of the year. kenya and its capital nairobi where about 2 and a half 1000000 people live in cramped conditions in urban slums many children belong on schools for their meals but they're not closed food banks are rare in kenya so some businesses and n.g.o.s a quarter of the public for donations of money food and goods for those in need the w's sell an eco reports. with the arrival of the coronavirus in kenya a young group of volunteers set up an initiative to distribute food to those who can't stock up together with community activists they now do reckon with runs in

poorer neighborhoods around nairobi and. we get light on donations from the public so we get donations and then we buy food in bulk. and repack them in smaller relief box which we call sanitation and food packs so in the packs there's like 2 killers of flour $500.00 drums of beans red beans there's a 500 grams of sugar and so. the mother islam houses over 200000 people many here don't have running water sanitation entire families live in single room shacks and social distancing is a luxury they can't afford. rachel-marie kylee a community activist lives here and knows who needs the food most of the elderly the sick and orphans are priorities even so everyone here feels the effects of the economic downturn. most even some of the members yeah. they can't afford now the fight between the 2 groups and that they can't afford to get to sleep and

then some of the employers. in the past 2 weeks a number of initiatives have come up online asking people to donate food or money to poor households the good thing is that people can donate money via their mobile phones from the safety of their home in case of a lockdown this might be the best way of reaching those and meet. government hasn't reached people here not even the funds for the elderly and orphans rachel says that with the support of private initiatives they have helped 400 households. the volunteers know it's only a drop in the ocean but at least it's a start. in the united states the corona pandemic is disproportionately affecting africans american and african americans in some states and cities black americans make up the majority of virus even though the make of a minority of the population correspondents jeff and simmons went to a hospital in washington d.c. to find out.

this is how far we are allowed to follow doctors and nurses to one of 2 intensive care units at howard university hospital. this medical center in washington d.c. has been serving the african-american community in the city for 150 years. on in short. on their. employer. other. health here in washington and elsewhere across the country high quality primary and preemptive care can often be absent an affordable in poor neighborhoods and communities the lack of access to healthy food sources is another factor that accounts for the stark difference in

numbers of cope with 19 related deaths in predominantly african-american and white communities this is dr wendy she spent years researching the root causes and impact of what she says are systemic inequities on predominantly african-american in a minority. she's not surprised that black americans are impacted by covert 19 and a disproportionately higher rate. free. you have a higher dose higher proportion of individuals with hypertension diabetes with obesity these things that are the leading causes of death in the country and the chronic disease leading chronic diseases in this country it's not surprising that. individuals that are already have that higher proportion of those immuno compromised diseases. at the higher. one of the most economically and socially deprived areas in the district of columbia table a nonprofit organization that serves underprivileged communities is based here

providing healthy food and offers education healthy food choices among other things for many residents of. disparately hard by the coronavirus the work carried out. here is critical this is if there's only 2 grocery stores in this neighborhood and there's a lot of people that don't have resources to either get there or shop there so we came here because we knew that this is where the food resources were needed as well as the education giving families healthy food choices they normally can't afford is perhaps just a band-aid right now but many hope that america's coronavirus crisis could finally trigger real policy change that aims at making underprivileged communities healthier more affluent and with that more resilient to a public health crisis in the future. so let's take a closer look at this with. him executive director of international he joins us

from madrid welcome to you so you have seen these reports about the usa and indeed elsewhere do you see this is a problem of race all prophesy. it's a problem often equality actually what we call these the inequality fire because on the one side we can all be in fact the army although it is much different the banding where you live if you leave your mother or house people if you leave the refugee camp off one for every 260 this is what needs what makes completely different where you are away conflict so we call it in inequality. ok so does this mean then given given that this is all about inequality do communities and countries that have less should they just expect to be hit harder.

definitely they should expect to be hit harder because they have their health systems actually a sox fan we are working in the side of bringing in expanding our clean water can possibly descend into hygiene cheats because they said way or is strengthening the health systems of those countries but then we are advocating for a health rescue plan 160000000000 for 85 countries urgent plan to expand its health about possible to face the growth of iras as we are facing it in germany or in spain in countries like the uk. or is this so we should be x. expecting and asking for signs for their cancellation so bad they can strengthen urgent we know how they were health systems to go on. sir if this health rescue plan does not happen around the world. as countries emerge from their

lockdowns do you expect to see that this disparity between rich and poor nations and communities to actually get worse. it will get worse actually we are further down some estimates on what may happen in the quarter and or our estimate says that if we simply sit next to go work these crises may bring 500000000 people into poverty in the coming year so that's one decade but in the fight against poverty some gushy can countries we're going to think it's mark so we have to. put action in the short term with the health systems as i was saying but thinking that we've human longer term and economic recovery plan that is for all because we can have to face this crisis also with a sense of humanity of so you go and also a sense of in part it's in our own interest of all humanity to face it together

that's why we're asking for about rescuing the economics of it because if you don't have a safety net you can't cope with it well we wish you well thank you for joining us on her so many airfare from oxfam international well today we're seeing fresh evidence of the pandemics economic toll of jobless claims in the united states of risen dramatically again more than 5000000 people apply for unemployment benefits and the last week that brings the total jobs lost in the past month to almost 22000000 the highest spike in unemployment in u.s. history many businesses across the country remain closed in a bid to prevent the spread of the pandemic. data blue financial correspondent in new york is yes quarter welcome yes how's the usa coping with this huge spike in claims. well the

agencies are clearly overwhelmed i did talk to some people who were waiting for hours on their telephone line to get connected so a lot of people are just giving up at this point and not filing for claims meaning that the unofficial numbers probably are even much higher we also heard today that the small business rescue fund that got started a couple of weeks ago in the amount of $350000000000.00 actually ran out of money as of today there is some fight in congress to restart a new package in the amount of roughly $250000000000.00 but those are clearly pretty grim figures and all the jobs that we created in the past 10 years after the financial crisis all got wiped out just within one month will that president trump is expected later to announce plans to reopen the economy so what should we expect

. well what we're hearing and what we're estimating is that us president on a drum seems to believe that roughly $29.00 states might slowly start reopening their economies by may 1st thought was that the next month but there's also some constitutional fight going on who actually can decide when to open the economies is that the u.s. presidential candidate cited or are it the governors of the states who have lost their work and the last thing and clearly it will depend state by state which economies can slowly start to reopen california for example could be it's not such state while here in new york i guess it will take a bit longer before we can slowly reopen more of the businesses you might see in the background besides the food shops basically everything still is locked down here at least in new york city. quarter in new york thank you.

so here's a quick round of some other coronavirus developments around the world a number of infections has now topped 2000000 the majority of cases are in europe and more than a quarter in the united states russia has postponed victory day celebrations due to take place on the 9th of may the event which normally features a large military parade in red square would have marked the 75th anniversary of the soviet union's defeat of nazi germany the governor of the u.s. state of north dakota has issued guidelines for lifting its lockdown as early as the 1st of may a statement said new procedures would be developed for a gradual safe reopening and britain's health minister says it is too early to ease the country's partial lockdown the statement comes as a cover of 19 the hospital deaths in the u.k. approach to 14000. well life in china is gradually returning to normal after the victim lifting lockdowns there for the crisis seems to be

influencing people shop a wave of negative press coverage has focused on the country's so-called wet markets as the virus is believed to have originated from one event is a concern that this is scaring customers away. unloading the catch of the day and we'll have this is the epicenter of the corona virus pandemic sweeping the globe experts say the virus originated in this market apart from fresh meat and seafood it also sold wild animals such as bats thought to be the source of the disease. and seafood market remains closed most markets have now reopened to the dismay of international health experts and politicians. many locals are less worried. so you talk i think it's ok to go to the seafood market this virus won't affect our eating habits because it's a special case and there is

a lot we don't know for instance we haven't confirmed that it comes from the you nancy food market we have eaten wild animals for thousands of years but they may have had some problems during processing so we should be more careful with that by cooking them more in checking if they're fresh and different to. the markets or a traditional and affordable way of shopping in china and customers are returning. oh we're going to talk it's a similar to supermarkets so it's relatively safe they're going to still go around and if it's unsafe because supermarkets are more expensive still vendors complain that business is slow as many shoppers now prefer more expensive hygienic supermarkets as some return to the markets for affordable food others fear getting more than they fog and for. so take a look at some other stories making news around the world bangladesh says it's rescue nearly 400 starving a hinge of refugees we've been interesting at sea island over crowded fishing for

weeks officials say they were trying to reach malaysia at least 2 dozen people died during the voyage. ukrainian forces and russian backed separatists in eastern ukraine of exchanged more than 30 prisoners a captured during the 6 year war in the region the swap is part of a deal struck last year that aims to end the conflict which has claimed more than 13000 lives. south korea's ruling party as well resulting victory in the country's general election the left leaning democratic party and the satellite party a woman 180 of the 300 seats voter turnout was the highest for 30 years despite strict coronavirus can take measures. israel's president has asked the country's parliament to for. a government of the parliament speaker benny gantz and prime minister benjamin netanyahu missed a deadline to reach a unity deal the country could now face its 4th election in

a year. but with all the state home orders in effect around the world a lots of us are getting highly creative using the time to produce and reproduce works of art so here's a look at what one russian facebook group is doing. fly into a painting for me or bad. or sink into the tragedy of malays ophelia the thing greediness from your kitchen. from edward monk to michelangelo social media users are giving classics a quarantine make over. the russian facebook group is. isolation started as a challenge between friends and moscow just a few weeks later it has nearly half a 1000000 members from all over the world. no one expected such a huge reaction that's for sure the group grew so quickly right away people are really taking time for this going through our books looking at the websites of

international museums to find the right picture for themselves and their families through. the roof of the group a simple isa classic like this leonardo da vinci painting take the photo at home and use props that you happen to have lying around in quarantine photoshop is not allowed. to shoot just when i decided to take part in the art heist lation project because i'm sick of my cat and she's sick of me. over the barrier why do i take part in this project because it is uniquely wildly joyful and it gives everyone positive emotions it gives you a break from the difficult situation we are on and. use this. many of the recreate are a spontaneous thing but some people have been so in customs and getting the whole family involved including that pets.

now there are around 2000 new posts every day according to the page administrative each one is a glimpse into how self isolation can sometimes open up new draws or draw as to creativity. isolation to an artist in isolation a banksy the identity of the world's most mysterious street artist may be top secret but he's just given fans i read glimpse of his private life he's revealed his latest work in lock down rats on the loose in his bedroom in his bathroom people opposing the pictures on instagram he wrote my wife hates it when i work from home routes are a common theme in his work and are often betrayed causing mayhem a banksy can fetch of millions of dollars at auction. for his reminder of top story this hour the e.u.

commission president has apologized to me so late for the lack of european support during the initial weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. and that admitted the block had not been for the outbreak and said that it must now be cooperation. from the world views of the top of the hour more around the clock of course on the website the w. i'm good. equal

opportunities for everyone regardless of ethnicity or parents unfortunately for many migrants in germany that may be a distant dream. many companies are trying to make their application process is more inclusive but does that really help against discrimination.

made in germany. on d w. n during the conflict zones year after year the war in yemen goes on with no apparent end in sight but who's really trying to stop it so far just this week here in munich is the country's foreign minister mohammed abdullah al muhajir must come to thousands of civilian casualties can be enormous human suffering full beam from the face of conflicts of the day. in 60 minutes on t.w. . odd it's a deadly serious. and a whim of nature. motivates a slave and threatens to release 6

greed. desire. that drives out. into the city dangerous. why are we greedy. we go in search of answers in a documentary film. starts may 20 t.w. . what's it take to be a successful let's see a good education for sure good not pleasing looks it can do any harm if you're well spoken to.