this is news live from berlin tonight in germany a carefully calculated gamble as the walk down is lifted a little more than chancellor merkel says that museums galleries places of worship in children's playgrounds will reopen under certain conditions but all events with large crowds remain banned until the end of august also coming up tonight police in germany carry out raids across the country after the government bans all hezbollah activities and classifies the islamist group as a terrorist organisation. i'm

off it's good to have you with us we start tonight with germany's chancellor performing a delicate balancing act easing some walk down restrictions but warning that they could be reimposed if the rate of infection increases again museums galleries places of worship and children's playgrounds are being allowed to reopen but sports fans will be disappointed major events such as professional football matches remain banned until the end of august. chancellor angela merkel defended a step by step approach as she outlined details of the latest easing of restrictions in germany following a virtual meeting with the 16 state premiers it's been the 1st i'm strongly convinced we can best work in the interest of business but also of social contacts if we focus on taking small steps towards allowing more contacts but if we don't

have to take steps back and that's why we have to stay careful and have to adhere to measures of hygiene. under the new rules religious gatherings are allowed again provided hygiene and distancing requirements are met in churches synagogues and mosques visits to zoos museums and memorials will also be possible again under the same requirements intensive care units and hospitals will start receiving non-code that 1000 patients again and playgrounds can reopen as early as this week. but 2 decisions were postponed for now one should germany's blunder sleekest soccer league resume its season with games behind closed doors and to just which requirements need to be met before schools and child care facilities can reopen gradually. said it was important to get a clear idea of the impact of the fast depp's to ease the lockdown 2 weeks ago

before deciding on the next steps and that will happen next wednesday. morning political correspondent hans brunches on the story for us here in berlin. and so what do today's decisions what do they tell us about well where we are right now here in germany. i think we have to see that what. again and again today was that she wants to on the side of caution she wants to do this carefully she wants to do the slowly she wants to measure it she referred several times to the scientists and their advice that has been given in this crisis she feels it's absolutely necessary to lift certain restrictions and then to wait 2 weeks and measure whether those. lifting of restrictions allows the virus to spread more quickly and if that is not the case any then will further restrictions be

lifted. at the same time the lifting the easing threat with the side of today as zoos botanical gardens playgrounds those kinds of things in a sense are on schedule they are not within this rhythm of 2 weeks. every 2 weeks deciding on a new or new measures but people felt the politicians involved felt that the areas where these restrictions were lifted on not really of great consequence for society as a whole and for the spread of the virus that's why these restrictions were lifted today it's interesting the german chancellor today she's she said shoot the messenger in other words you know she was trying to protect the scientists who sometimes have messages that the public would not like to hear give us a sense of the balancing act that the chancellor and regional leaders have to perform here. well obviously they are under a lot of pressure on the pressure from business and industry there on the pressure from the population there and the pressure from parents who've had to spend weeks

behind closed doors with their children and have needs relief from that strays from that strain business reason needs financial relief there are millions of people in germany who are not doing any money at the moment so the precious are intense are sylvia and it is against the background of these pressures that i'm going on defending her very careful have very measured measures in order to basically say if we do there's slowly step by step but with certainty in the end we will be more quickly at i'll go of a normal society than if we had to take back reimposed restrictions if the virus spreads too quickly. is definitely not what anyone wants the one spot on the story for us tonight here in berlin once thank you britain remains in lockdown almost 27000 people have died from 19 in the country but prime minister boris johnson

he says that the country is now past the peak of the pandemic his government has come under fire for the way it has responded to the pandemic but tonight she insisted that the country has so far succeeded in its 1st and most important task avoiding the tragedy that engulfed other parts of the world. the british government hasn't yet made its target of 100000 tests per day something boris johnson had to concede at his 1st press conference since recovering from covert 19 i'm not going to minimize the logistical problems we've faced in getting the right protective gear to the right people at the right time both in the n.h.s. and in care homes the situation is particularly bad in care and nursing harms a majority of nursing staff have yet to be tested for the virus there is a tsunami. yes that way that we probably may have

been and it's a little it should be applied testing also lost area. forest johnson says he'll release a comprehensive lock down exit strategy in the days to come so i will be setting out a comprehensive plan next week to explain how we can get our economy moving. britain now has europe's 2nd highest kovac 19 death toll. here is a brief look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world russia's prime minister has tested positive for the coronavirus russian state media say the 54 year old will now enter self isolation the 1st deputy prime minister andre but will be his temporary stand in they've been driving jams of up to 30 kilometers at the border between kenya and uganda because of mandatory coronavirus testing the controls were introduced after several kenyan truck drivers

tested positive drivers say that they have been waiting in the backups now for day in libya's civil war rebel leader khalifa haftar has announced a cease fire for the muslim holy month of ramadan the statement follows international calls for a truce but the country's internationally recognized government says its forces will keep fighting they say they don't trust have tory upholding the proposal. germany has banned the iran backed hezbollah group and declared it a terrorist organization of the movies in addition 282000 13 european union ban on hezbollah's military faction and now includes all activities by the groups political wing hezbollah is a shiite military and political group based in lebanon early this morning german police took action against suspected supporters in 5 german towns and cities. early morning rids with dozens of police and special forces in cities across

germany police searched mosques associations and private residences collecting evidence to be used for investigations into hezbollah's activities. in searching for locations here in berlin annoyed her and following the ban on his blog b aim is to find out if there's a connection between these locations and hezbollah the organization which is now outlaw. hezbollah doesn't have an official presence in germany but a network of associations is thought to provide financial support and deliver propaganda for the group while the group's military arm is classified as a terrorist organisation in the entire you most countries haven't banned its political wing on thursday germany moved to do just that. it said it could not tolerate hezbollah's anti israel positions does it make clear that these are members of peace pati and nothing more then just because it is an

anti semites people who not only call into question his right to exist bought also openly call for its destruction of. questions regarding hezbollah's operations in germany aren't new in december the in the saga adopted a motion urging the government to outlaw all of hezbollah's activities in the country. hezbollah supporters have repeatedly brandished the group's flag and used anti israeli slogans at rallies the ban now allows 0 forwards to outlaw the use of hezbollah symbols at gatherings and on publications and the group's acis can now be confiscated. israel in the us have welcomed germany's move to completely outlaw hezbollah the no hope that other european countries will follow suit. suggestions that injecting disinfectant can help. to conspiracy theories linking the pandemic to 5 g.

mobile phone networks there's been. steering this crisis now with a new fact checking website where it's been set up to combat some of the wilder stories appearing on social media sites and those stories or while my colleague alex force winds and joins us now to talk about these stories and tell us 1st of all about this new site well it's called if it's a chicken and it's an end in free fact checking site that has been set up in response to some of the misinformation and disinformation that has emerged over the coronavirus now the platform allows people to send a message. that they think might be untrue to fact check those fact checkers will then investigate. decide is that content true as it falls or is it perhaps a little bit unfair and i spent to one of the co-founders the british politician

damian collins and explains that people should if they are unsure about such thing content think very carefully wanting to. know if you will come to the cold be proven is. that this is a really serious issue if people call back what they're saying with facts don't spread them into something that caught yet be established whether that is a full stereo or uncertain period a host salted or what she was at the shed at. how do these stop people from sure it's a good question because this stuff is prolific but what the the site is doing is it's launched it so so own social media campaign it's called isolate the lives so whether it's claims that disinfectant can 1000 something that apparently even the us president donald trump has suggested over whether it's something else the advice is don't let it spread a bit damian collins wants to go even further and to make it a criminal offense to knowingly and maliciously spread disinformation about the

virus and he says that even those in power should be included in that. if a bully busy. is sharing information that is false it could lead to a whole lot should be cooler and indeed twitter i think today was a message just for the president of brazil was good to see the whole could leave to go home but the bus was full it's absolutely a shit you know that could have terrible consequences for a couple of presidents in north and south america and what about the social media sites who are hosting all of this fake news yeah exactly and damian collins as she spent many years in the u.k. are trying to push for more regulation of their social media sites such as facebook and also making sure that they take responsibility for what they're hosting and he says that although some of them have done better during this crisis he still thinks that they need to be held liable if not dissin from ation is not removed he's also said he thinks it's crucial that the key networks that it just distributing the

stuff off found and they all stopped because if that doesn't happen then this battle will never be won yes it's not a good thing when people are drinking disinfectants in any political situation as always thank you. captain tom moore the british world war 2 veteran who raised millions for britain's national health service has been promoted to the rank of colonel on this his 100th birthday captain tom gained the label acclaim global acclaim after completing a record breaking charity walk around his own garden britain's royal air force flew world war 2 planes over the centenarians home in central england in his on. every birthday captain or should i say colonel tom here's a reminder the top story we're following for you germany's chancellor angela merkel has announced an easing of the walk to galleries and children's playgrounds are to be allowed to reopen under certain conditions major events such as sports matches

and concerts will be banned until the end of august as you're watching. is up next with a charged up v.w. business report stick around to be right back. that 77 percent. are younger than 60. that's me and me and you. and you know what it's time old boy says. the 77 percent he told. you this is. 77 percent this weekend on d w.