this is g w news live from berlin tonight europe struggling to find one voice in its recovery plan from the economic shock of the pandemic with the crisis hammering europe's economies eve leaders have made progress towards establishing a joint rescue fund but deep divisions remain over a longer term strategy also coming up tonight seeing the 1st case of its kind in the world 2 syrians accused of torture are going on trial here in germany just just be delivered a world away and german football's top brass signed off on

a plan to restart the country's put this league season in may but not everyone wants a pick off in the middle of a pandemic plus we talk to the british fund raising phenomenon captain tom borg he is 99 years old he fought and survived. and now he's telling people that they can survive this crisis to. change. one bit which will blow up in the garage the some of the. i'm bringing viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome to europe and the pandemics economic costs european union leaders have. move closer today to an agreement on

funding a joint recovery fund for the period after the coronavirus pandemic the 27 e.u. leaders met in a video conference call today a diplomatic sources say that they agreed to ask the european commission to work out the details of the common support recovery plan this is the 4th time that the leaders have met since the virus outbreak began in italy. were e.u. chief ursula fund ally and she took part in that summit today she warned that all you countries need to see a steady recovery or risk deepening the divisions within europe by the pandemic no certainly no borders and is blind to nationalities some countries are certainly hit harder than others and unless unless we act decisively and collectively the recovery will not be symmetric and divergencies between member states will

increase or let's take the story out of brussels and speak with chief international editor richard walker getting me to you richard so how do e.u. leaders after this meeting today how do they plan to tackle this huge problem. well we are a few baby steps closer to an answer on that brain but we're still not quite there basically all that 27 e.u. leaders managed to agree on so far is the really broad strokes of what they want to happen they have agreed that they want to have a big recovery fund that is designed to help countries recover their economies once the really intense phase of this pandemic is behind us and to try and smooth out inequalities and how they are able to recover from the really profound economic shock and also thirdly that this fund will have some relationship

to the e.u.'s overall budget for the next 7 years which is also something that has to be worked out so there are those agreements spurred the detail of all of that is totally open how big should this fund be the numbers range from the hundreds of billions up to one and a half trillion euros there's no clarity yet on how big that fund should be where should the money come from not clear how should the money be dispersed should it be given out in grants or should it be given out in loans also not clear so those aren't exactly just like legally detailed questions that still have to work out they are absolutely fundamental so what the 27 e.u. leaders have now said is it's over to the president of the european commission it was a lot on the line who we just saw there over to her to try and work out those details and that does mean that in the next few weeks some kind of plan is going to emerge from that with this huge scope still for disagreement on what those parameters are

the disagreements are what about this controversial topic sharing the debt burden here in europe in the form of corona bonds does that topic still remain. here blue here for the northern european countries. and that's right i mean corona bans this kind of harks back to a decade ago and the discussions about euro bonds cheering the euro debt crisis doesn't it and back at that time it was germany and other countries in northern europe that were very much against the idea of pooling liability for debt within the e.u. that really hasn't changed those countries remain dead set against and it seems that they've managed to fend that off so the debate is moving a little bit on from that it seems and the bigger disagreements are really centered around what kind of funding is going to come out of any fund that does eventually emerge will it be in the form of loans will it be in the form of grants and we've seen in the aftermath of this meeting all of the e.u.

leaders all spinning their versions of what's going to happen for instance austria's prime minister in italian italy's prime minister absolutely on divergently opposite ends of the spectrum on that key question so it seems that that is now the battleground loans or grants right richard walker with analysis tonight in brussels richard thank you for german chancellor angela merkel she has also voiced her support for a joint recovery fund even if that means that germany will have to dig deeper into its own pockets today she stressed that solidarity will benefit germans as well. that's the difficulty for germany it means we have to expect high a contribution as for the e.u.'s next budget. it's clear we need some kind of financial instrument recovery plan put on when we can refund the recovery fund and i want to be very clear here the collective response is also in germany is

interest are there was the german chancellor speaking today let's bring in our chief political correspondent belinda crane she is in berlin good evening to you melinda you know we've heard it many times we were talking about these corroded euro bonds germany and the northern european countries they've always been labeled the bad guys by southern european countries did the chancellor good day did she appear to be on the defensive a little. no absolutely not and she spoke in a press conference just after the end of this video conference summit and seemed pretty satisfied and she described the atmosphere as very positive very friendly and said that there was absolute agreement that together the e.u. member countries must find a way forward i think in part this lack of defensiveness is because this morning to some degree she went on the office if she managed to get herself out of

the corner that sometimes germany quiets that getting backed into as an ac she said very clearly we know we must port more money on the table germany only does well when the rest of the e.u. does well and then she made this very clear statement in her remarks to the parliament this morning saying we will be increasing our contribution to the e.u. budget significantly until now germany has insisted that the number was one percent of g.d.p. and that's what it would stay at that what they contribute to the budget now she made it very clear it is going to be significantly higher than that and this essentially is part of this this solution that is not a carone up on solution but that would increase the commission capacity and i think it that way she feels that she is now part of the solution rather than a problem all right our chief political correspondent linda crane well linda thank

you. well here's a look now at some of the latest developments in the corona virus pandemic the global death toll from code 19 has now surpassed 187000 that's according to johns hopkins university the number of global cases is approaching 3000000 scientists have britain's oxford university have started clinical trials of a potential 1000 vaccine it's the latest in a growing number of european efforts aimed at developing a vaccine dubai has allowed cafes restaurants and shopping malls to reopen but they're being limited to operating at 30 percent of their normal capacity and the us state of california recorded 150 deaths from the corona virus on wednesday the highest single day death toll so far the virus has claimed almost 1500 lives in the country's most populous state in new york the death toll is more than 15000

votes wagon has reopened one of its german production plants as the country's all important car industry tries to get back on the road it comes as fellow car maker posted an 80 percent plunge in 1st quarter operating profits are itself restarted machines at its mercedes plants this week but as the figures show the return to work is by no means business as usual. workers trickle through the gates of dime was rushed out to plant after 4 weeks of coronavirus closure just a few steps into their workplace status reminded that these aren't normal times however mask or no mask many of glad to be back in 05 early return to everyday life hopefully everyone is healthy and we're glad the business is running again and we can get back to work with of your. folks fog and staff of

also being getting back on the job on thursday v.w. reopened this plant in slovakia and its factory in the east in germantown and. its other sites will follow soon. b.m.w. is the last of the german giants to reawaken it hopes to open idled plants next month. the return of workers to production lines like a dime liz engine factory in stuttgart is crucial not just for the car makers themselves and the showrooms they supply is also essential for the rest of the supply chain which is keen to get back to making parts and making money if but the return to work is being approached with caution. as a bit of other sorts is that the protection of our employees is our number one priority with a focus on keeping distance anywhere we can guarantee a metre and a half between employees workers are required to wear face masks he says it's

a musket. there are strict ins apply to both work and dressed with socially distant break time is the order of the day. the caret of ours pandemic has changed the rules of the game but this week has seen the return of a key engine of the german economy. or coronavirus lockdowns have disrupted supply chains around the world especially in manufacturing countries such as bangladesh where closed factories have left workers jobless and struggling to survive. despite the lockdown thousands of seamstresses from the textile factories in dhaka have taken to the streets they are hungry and they are angry the government has instructed textile companies to keep paying wages to work has joined the closures but many factory owners won't comply. you know that they're going to somebody of course was scared of catching a virus away protesting anyway we have nothing else families are suffering we're

risking our lives here because we're hungry and that's worse than the coronavirus some of them do want to get my ear. bangladesh has the 2nd largest textile industry in the world normally and bobby long gone once in dhaka the sinister says crowd together here at the beginning of their shifts but now only a handful of work is allowed in to maintain the building. nearly 20000 employees and now on forced to leave the textile industry in bangladesh earns more than 30000000000 euros in revenue a year and has helped the country emerge from the list of the world's poorest nations. but the lock down isn't the only reason for the production hoped. customers don't stop placing orders soon we're going to have a big problem if we're not allowed to manufacture and deliver our wares that's another problem we paid our workers in march and we'll pay them in april to but we

have to take out loans to do it. people are starving the government is distributing food but there's not enough to go around experts fear the coronavirus could set emerging countries back 20 years that's why the textile industry is appealing for help from the west. look if you're going to be this perfect is to cancel the order in this situation so definitely we asked them to reconsider disease shoot and they did shoot day. and they would be other ways. other ways to an industrial would be collapsed it's the synthesis who suffer most the a wage is often only amount to $100.00 euros a month as long as that's not being paid and continue to protest despite the lockdown. well here's a look now at the other stories making headlines around the world the staff at a barcelona hospital distributed roses and books to cope with 1000 patients today

they were celebrating sight short of the loneliest patron saint today is the day when people traditionally exchange roses and books in catalonia but the coronavirus has made that tradition impossible for many people. gold has risen to a 7 year high price as investors look for a safe haven people in thailand have been among those selling jewelry with the precious metal briefly trading today at more than 1750 dollars and now its concerns are growing for indigenous tribes in brazil's amazon region hard hit by the corona virus the city of my knowledge says digging mass graves to handle around 100 burials a day now that's 3 times the usual number local officials are pleading for federal aid but the presidential your bills and oral his government is playing down the threat. all right back to germany now for

a different story the trial of 2 suspected members in syria's secret police opened today in the german city of copeland's the men face charges of murder torture and sexual assault that they allegedly committed in a damascus prison back in 2011 in 2012. or using universal jurisdiction walls to try the 2 suspects here in this country they entered germany as asylum seekers reports now on one woman's hope that the trial will bring justice for her son and a warning some viewers may find some of the images in this story disturbed. mario lives in a berlin suburb it seems it to like but this syrian woman is part of a europe wide hunt to catch criminal secret service agents from her country like many others merriam son i hum was systematically tortured the young medical student had spoken up for human rights and called for president bashar assad to step down

now 8 years after his death his mother is seeking justice. i want the culprits to be brought to justice from the accomplices all the way up to assad these people i was possible for stealing our children's blood could kill me them. more than 26000 pictures of torture victims were smuggled out of her tour in syria by a courageous former police photographer his code name caesar the photos could help convict torturers and murderers. human rights lawyer mohsen doubt we survived torture in syria now living in germany he's pressing charges against his former tormentors including anwar as a former senior member of the syrian secret service and more are is charged with crimes against humanity murder and rape. this is a fit of stone it will be a thought this is the 1st time there is a spectacle of them to judge and we have picked

a suspect and the size of. the state of. we don't have it in syria. bill wiley is investigating syrian torturers used to hunt war criminals as he went prosecutor and worked on cases. from the former yugoslavia and the wanton genocide he knows that without a peeper trail it's difficult to bring culprits to justice. that's why these state documents smuggled out of syria are so valuable. what you have in this room are materials generated by the security intelligence structures of syria the military structures of syria and the party or political structures of syria at the top level and at the government. at qwest they also shed light on suspected torturers such as anwar are widely believed at least

a dozen former senior agents remain undetected in europe. 100 hopes that not only the killers of her son will be brought to justice but also others living in hiding for her the hunt has just begun. or germany is the latest country to allow the testing of a possible coronavirus vaccine on humans but not everyone is hoping for success despite the pandemic and vaccine sentiment continues to thrive within a minority of people around the world it's a movement that's been growing in recent years fueled partly by a long discredited study linking the measles vaccine to all tism in children experts warn that people's resistance to a covert 1000 vaccine when it eventually becomes available could undermine efforts to eradicate the virus. that would be

a force in area right there was going to be reported publicly he's been looking into this story for us good evening to you pablo so let's get this straight now is the corona virus pandemic is it leading anti vax or did to change their opinion about vaccines. well brad i think what's interesting is if you look at countries that have a particularly we'll say high numbers of people who actually don't trust back seems a michaelmas a surprise to some people that in fact is in france but we've actually seen is that the number of people actually willing to say they get a vaccine for the corona virus has actually increased and the same is the case for the u.k. there's been a slight increase in studies that have been carried out actually recently in the number of people waiting to get a vaccine when it does become available in the future but you know experts are still warning that this fight the fact that there is some sort of shift it with regarding the vaccine there are many people who are still adamant that they

wouldn't get it in fact there are some well known faces out there even coming out publicly and saying that they wouldn't get a vaccine the most famous will say would be to tennis star novak djokovic also you don't need to look too far online to find groups out there saying that they will not be getting the vaccine for a number of reasons either for health reasons or also because they just simply don't want the vaccine so you know there are plenty of conspiracy theories as well out there over the coronavirus why it started and what the vaccine will mean i want all the money that's being pumped into it but you know it's going to be hard for administrations to convince people and when it does eventually happen you know it's a good point i saw an interview last night with the mayor of las vegas in the u.s. and she said that everyone has the corona virus and she said most people are doing fine so you know you've got to work around that type of thinking as well when we do get a vaccine how our health officials are how are they planning to deal with this type of skepticism. well you know it's really hard to know yet because 1st and foremost

let's not forget we don't actually have a coronavirus vaccine at the moment but we can sort of almost 3 am type some countries are going to act the best of course is here in germany brant where we are at the moment let's not forget that last year a little was introduced here over measles making me feel that the measles vaccine compulsory for children who wanted to attend school and day care centers and so we could perhaps see something similar taking place another interesting quandary to take a look at is actually it's me of course let's not forget the worst hit country in europe and among the worst in the world and they actually have people within their member their parliament fact who are actually anti vacs or so you know interesting times to see how it all pans out all right our very own public holiness on the story for us here in berlin tonight a public thank you our sports news now bundesliga clubs and the german football league met today they say that they hope to officially restart the bundesliga season on may 9th albeit in stadiums but that of course depends on getting

government approval it would mark the 1st return of a major european football league during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. the german football league wants to restart the bundesliga season with games behind closed doors and they have a powerful motive broadcasters have agreed to pay out around 300000000 euros in t.v. money if the season resumes. due to a new toll from thanks to the agreement the $36.00 1st and 2nd division clubs will be assured the money they need until june the 30th said. it would be a lifeline for cash strapped clubs like cologne. i just wanted to give yourself to. it was important used today a lot of clubs have money problems and making partial payments now and payments in full when play resumes would send an important message.

games without spectators may be the only way to stem the financial damage during the coronavirus pandemic. season doesn't resume or it stops again such mechanisms would ensure the money is repaid. that would threaten the survival of a number of clubs and it would jeopardize the livelihood of around 56000 people who work in german professional football. in the u.k. there is perhaps no one more admired right now then this gentleman here captain tom moore while britain battles the pandemic the 99 year old war 2 veteran well he's been busy raising more than 32000000 euros for the country's health care system and the donations they are still pouring in you know you had a chance to speak with captain we're one week shy of his 100th birthday

100 laps of the garden for $1000.00 pounds that was captain tom morris plan to raise money to support workers in britain's national health service but in the process he won the hearts of many around the world and fossa passed his fundraising target by millions of pounds speaking to d.w. alongside his daughter the world war 2 veteran expressed his delight at the achievement. an amazing amount of money as we rode soon so it's a short time almost like the clauses there is only good one went to the source i think those are. the coronavirus pandemic has strained britain's public health service the n.h.s. and expose shortages in equipment for frontline staff that's why tom moore took up his challenge we said initially that the money would be far and the n.h.s.

charities and that money would be used to support it all sorts of things then this crisis so things like knocks start sleeping and i've seen what i can find the towards and crying i have and looking after mental health so that money is really being put to good use. having fought in world war 2 the army veteran turned celebrity had words of hope for today's generation. good throughout the world. quote was all new people. there is no normal you son. but i would say to everyone things will get better there's no doubt that wrongdoers will be rolled out onto the ground so the son who. tom moore turns 100 next week physical distancing measures mean there will be

a big party at his home in bedford but nothing will stop the many well wishers who be cheering him on from a far. and we hope to speak with captain tom moore next week and wish him an early happy birthday on the eve of his big centennial stay tuned well after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day stick around we'll be right back.

passionate drama competition drive marketing numbers atmosphere fight that's happening in childish love hate money. fans crime stats and. all. this because we sort. of. kick off on you tube joining us. they were abducted by the nazis and taken to germany to be raised as citizens of the army. during world war 2 thousands of polish children.

even today many of them don't know their real parents well. they've lived with this trauma for decades it's. telling children the kidnapping campaign of nazi germany starts april 28th. there is more than an ocean between germany and the u.s. in the coronavirus pandemic president trump wants to fast track america's return to normal every day he tries to bypass the science and the doctors but the 10s of thousands who have died well they get in the way chancellor angela merkel she fears that her country is moving too fast rushing out of the.