deep into the german culture of looking at the stereotype quirk if you think the future of the country that i don't. hear you did so you ridiculous grammar there you go it's all about their new primary job join me from the german front d.w. post. this is g.w. news africa on the program today thought stolen from africans nigeria is banning bronzes are among the aussie facts nutritive by colonialists some of them will be sent to pieces at a new museum that officially opened in berlin today but nigeria once these objects back. and needs emmanuel is actually a professional soccer player but he's had to switch trains just surviving the pandemic zimbabwe's football league's not been able to bring players back to the pitch.

hello i'm kristie wonder it's good to have your company a huge new museum housing thousands of aussie affects from africa asia and oceania is opening here in berlin today it has been years in the making but it's inauguration is being overshadowed by an increasingly heated debate on news that ought that's because among the items say to be displayed at the museum known as the home form the benny bronzes they all sculptures and metal clocks stolen from the bridge by the british in 8097 from the kingdom of been in and what is now stage in southern nigeria and sold to a number of western countries they're viewed as some of africa's gracious treasures and cause all growing for the german government to return them who want to try to tell an old just. here they belong here they said they were made we would know the

purpose of the truth why would move them and the person demanding the return of the burning bronze as is nigeria's ambassador to germany his excellence use of took us into a letter to the german government making the demand he joins me now to talk about this welcome to news africa ambassador why do you feel so strongly about the return of a sculpture why is it so important to get them back to nigeria it's a continuation of name jurist position since independence nigeria has been consistently orly for the return or. stolen cultural properties which included in bronze is in ruins is if there are works as well as not terror to read and. to doing their advocacy right and

a message of these culture is there considered sacred to people in nigeria just how does it feel knowing that if these people who revere these for what they are once a see them they've got to travel all the way say your truth of the matter is giorgio who people cannot see them 200000000 nigerians out of there are probably just a handful of people who have the ability to view such properties and we have a very useful relation or a feel that it would go a long way towards are assisting. us to understand our history our culture but you can only in a situation where. we were. projected to be the rest of his beautiful. and laid. out his ambassador the truth is i mean you've

said it yourself that this is something you've been calling for since independence it's been about 8 years since you wrote that letter to the german government how do you feel about the response that nigeria's been getting do you feel like this do hear that the germans are dragging their feet about this well the fact of the matter is we have not received a response yet a year later and what do you make of the best of our knowledge well it's quite strewn corporate because as you know there was seas represent countries in the states in other countries and or communication and we needed from that and was within the country being communicated so. we would have expected some sort of ambassador yes you haven't been given a response ambassador you've taken the issue to twitter going public about what is

normally done through private diplomatic channels i just wonder if you're confident or perhaps how confident you are that you're going to be successful in your push to get these artifacts back. well this is an idea whose time is right you know this. is all over the world and it's tied directly to colonial legacy and particularly in germany the home of the you know infamous world in conference in 885 and you have to remember that the sacking or you name the didn't musta or how couldn't 12 years after the president conference were 897 so it's directly vicious and to display such so in other words. in berlin where the conference took place is.

you know it gives the feeling of a sort of in your face for lack of a better phrase all right that's nigeria's ambassador to germany is excellent c.e.o.'s of to that thank you. now the zimbabwe's soccer players have been off the pitch since the start of the 19 pandemic without their weekly wages most of them have had to find other means to make ends meet as privileged reports from harare 24 year old emmanuel mandarin is no ordinary vehicle mechanic emmanuel is a professional soccer player it is zimbabwe's top flight. football club but here he is fixing to supplement his income shook up players in the country have been hit hard by the suspension of the league ju 219 they can hardly survive.

whose. i'm not getting those things and move those students to be. so to setting new belts off exam questions usually when we get those we can survive. until the next kid but at the moment. we're only gearing thank salaries. at this speech emanuel and others are training but there are no make cheese to play clubs had resumed training in anticipation of starting the league it's all or no simpering is playing football so the more mean it's almost a season that we have lost and so many of which in me says that i have lost you know maybe if i was to play this was going to be to play with in a better job in which you are in the top. government cleared the resumption

of the league under the bubble regulations but football administrators insist that the concept is expensive and unsustainable now the league may only return in march 2021 this empty stadium is a reflection of the zimbabwe premium show colleague football or 3 does seem not to be sure about the corbett 19 regulations to implement so that the league may resume again football players and fans are the biggest losers at these rough grounds in the capital harare somebody township social soccer his feud in the vacuum left by the professional league. soccer fans gather each weekend to enjoy games though they are disappointed by the suspension of the premier league is

not good really see the food will be played is there are. some there is playing south africa's playing but right now in zimbabwe look pretty premier super league experience are so much across town as soccer academy is training youngsters who hope to 10 professional trainers are hoping reason will prevail for the return of the premier sokolich our football has suffered enough is not a joke let's try to make sure we make a decision said of football to make sure beginning of the football should be seen benefited more than even his knowledge is keeping the clash. the personality clashes and not helping professional players like emmanuel monday around the training is or they can do for now is they wait for competitive games to resume.

the war says of the republic of congo are home to about 5 out of 7 of the world's protected species of seed that makes the country beisel to stopping the extinction of these endangered animals the group. is playing a key role in helping the sea turtles of ice i this sea turtle is unable to move exhausted after being caught in fishing net. job for gotta find some of them almost every day. to form a fisherman has been working alongside marine conservation organization rena tura for more than 10 years now. every morning forgot to patrols this area called project indian in order to free accidentally trapped turtles were after noting the turtles details the hopes of getting back to its natural habitat the atlantic ocean but fishing nets are not the only danger he says.

a lot when the turtles come to the coast to lay eggs the poachers take the eggs by doing so they're killing off the species and it all disappear as brother 2 to provide a protected space for a growing turtles hatcheries have been set up along the coast and while tara is also working on educating youngsters about the environment its staff give lessons in local schools. the plastic back suffocate the sea turtle since ring the tourist creation the local total population is estimated to be on the rise according to direct an attorney me and sequel in 2001 the sea turtles became fully protected in congo she says. but now the next achievement for the association will be the designation of as a marine protected area whatever it is it is a very important area for

a marine turtles it is a very rich area and giving it this protected area status will ultimately improve the protection of the species i mean you obviously don't want to call philip on that if one of. the congolese coastline is an important breeding and feeding site 5 of the 7 protected species of sea turtles in the world come here each year. well that is it for now for being is africa today based or to check on the stories on dot com forward slash africa we're also on facebook and on twitter now as always we're keen to know what you think about the stories that we covered here on the program and the stories that you think that we should be covering let's talk among social media twitter is my favorite medium. it's. about.

our. culture. hair. superfood. large style your.

every journey begins with the 1st step and every language with the 1st word published in the. rico is in germany to learn german and why not with him simple online on your mobile and free shop d w z e learning course nikos speak german. he's germany's greatest musical genius recognizable around the world no one and only beethoven and for his 250th anniversary year he's had a pretty raw deal. but the good news is the beethoven year like most other things has been properly extended so we can give him

a proper celebration welcome to arts and culture where beethoven is of course our man of the hour but there's some other big news. the low awaited opening of what was once prussian royal palace rebuilt and repurposed. museum complex. the coronavirus pandemic has indeed wreaked havoc with so many cultural events in 2020 and after multiple delays the homebush form opens just in time for germany's 2nd major lockdown which means it's had to resort to a live stream the vast and hugely expensive complex adds a new element to berlin's already unique museum landscape and before we talk about it in detail let's look at the side of how it came to be. it could be europe's most hotly debated construction project. at the heart of brooklyn looks like a palace from 3 sides with historically modern eastern facade named after the

explorers and scholars. visit. the building combines baroque details with cold functional winds. that's a lot for him it isn't a palace it's a radical new building that recalls the historic berlin palace because parliament decided it would it's a nod to history. blast from the past the original palace was a residence to the german kaiser. world war 2 bombs left it badly damaged and in 1950 the communist east german government demolished what was left in its place they built the palace of the republic part legislature part cultural center. to east and west germany were unified the german government decided to get rid of the palace of the republic but the plan sparked protests it was so controversial that the government allowed

a 2 year reprieve the gutted structure became an exhibition and performance space for berlin's album dark. and then came the demolition crew. meanwhile the bitter fight continued over how to rebuild berlin a modern city of tomorrow or a reminder of a baroque past in 2002 germany's parliament chose the latter. 30 feet italian architect frank costello won the competition with his hybrid design. the us in the us and off the new palace is a unique combination of the old and the new which compliment each other harmoniously. but again. it was another 7 years before the foundation stone was laid. almost full on the whole board forum is the result of wide public debate at least in terms of its layout and

that's why the 1st thing one can experience there even amid these coronavirus conditions is that this building and its historic aesthetic gives berlin back its old center point. a new old central landmark so to speak but what's inside traces of history and not much more for the moment that set to change in 2021. is the collections of the ethnological museums that are to be housed here come with their own issues colonialism colonial ality some $20000.00 objects from around the world will be on display here but how did they get to germany in the 1st place where they bought or looted the home forum has opened new public debate about germany's colonial past a chapter of history the country is just now starting to fully examine. a nod to history as we heard there as complicated and layered as that can be here in the

german capital melissa holroyd is joining me once again that melissa this is been such a huge project 7 years obviously in construction and it wants to be so many different things but it seems that really the conversation in recent weeks has centered on this issue of looted art yet just as we saw there these 20000 artifacts of really the sticking point from the ethnological museum and the asian art collection we have to remember that the discussion surrounding the who for is decades old now it was in 2002 that the blunders time gave that stamp of approval for the building to be constructed and june that time this discourse has changed radically so then the issues surrounding the dubious provenance of the circumstances under which objects were obtained during colonial era times was not really part of of the mainstream discourse and that these calls have got much louder to return the goods that were and they were obtained under colonial reigns the critics of this critics

of whom form really see this place is a reinvention of the royal colonial past we have to remember that the building itself is modeled on the horns on palace and they were the instigators of german colonialism is complete with the cross at the top it's largely been rebuilt after this palace which i think was also a bit controversial now what's the response to all these calls going to be obviously going forward you know there has been or has been quite a response so how that plays out really remains to be seen but germany's culture minister monica groucho's has said that the colonial past of germany is really a blind spot for germany and that any conversation surrounding these artifacts that were acquired during germany's colonial era that that will be done transparently and that if things were unfairly of time then they will be returned to her and it's difficult to imagine what was not unfairly obtained when you know. this colonial you know versus what i'm saying here in itself you know that's going to be

a difficult thing to judge and it's also difficult to then trying to each and every single object of course yeah it seems that the real work i mean here it is finally open the real work is just beginning so we have all of this space we have this center for debate what is it that people are actually going to be able to see in 2021 if we when we can finally go to the movie theater we can finally get out of here there is a lot to see there's going to be there's going to be collections for asia there's also a palace cellar which looks at the history of the actual building itself the history of the building itself is an exhibition on berkeley in which has a look at history there's an exhibition on the history of the 800 years of the history of germany as well covering 800 years of that there are also there's also going to be a video panorama project numerous video projects as well as discussions and people who really asked and invited to ask about you know asked about asked about the

artworks there are a lot to you know question needs things as well it's not just going to be just going to be one way there's a lot of discussions that are going to be coming and that is definitely the idea behind the entire place and all that of course when we can finally get through the door hopefully sooner than later in 2021 when this pandemic is under control thanks very much for bringing that to us melissa home right. well i wish i had a drum roll for this next one because it's 250 years ago that nutrition beethoven was born and once really exactly sure of the date but he was baptized on december 17th and so that's the date we recognize a countless concerts and events for this beethoven anniversary year have been pushed off into 2021 and nowhere are they happier about that than in his birthplace . it was in this house that the musical geniuses life began today beethoven's birthplace is a museum with an exhibition charting the composer's biography it also displays the

instruments he played. the beethoven house is a place of pilgrimage for beethoven lovers including british russian composer gabriel perkoff here of grandson of composer sergei prokofiev. to wear and tear on this piano reveals beethoven's suffering as hearing grew worse the composer bangs the keys harder and harder to hear anything at all. it's believed beethoven was almost fully deaf long before he wrote his 9th symphony. documentary beethoven's 9th symphony for the world looks at the works global impact and why it speaks to people across cultures. it's one of the w.c. 3 beethoven documentaries released this year. many different routes coming off his legacy in some way or another particularly in the drawn over that he brought to

classical music he opened up to this more personal shoot an aspect to music. in the documentary has already won several international prizes. in another d.w. documentary french horn play. sara willis asks how a world without beethoven would sound she talks to musicians of all styles about the composer's far reaching influence including the german rock band scorpions they say there's beethoven were alive today he'd be playing catchy riffs on the electric guitar. servants 5th paved the way for riffs like this one and scorpions rocky like a hurricane. jethro told locomotive breath.

an idea that is that is repeated very often as a repeating motif which then tends to be shortened to risk did did use that idea develops that idea of that. in a world turned upside down by the coronavirus it was a tumultuous beethoven year for john noir meyer's beethoven project concert went on and on the world environment day in june d.w. premiered the sound of nature documentary inspired by beethoven's pastoral symphony . of the pandemic many festivities have now been rescheduled for next year including the beethoven fest and the composer's hometown of bon time so the celebrations continue until beethoven's 251st birthday next december. lots of birthday cake and you can of course watch those

documentaries on our you tube channel classical music and a world without beethoven is also available on amazon prime well now of course it's a roll over beethoven very appropriately from the man who said it 1st because x. beatles or paul mccartney has a new album out. the 78 year old put his own personal spin on the coronavirus lock down turning it into a rock down during which he wrote recorded and produced mccartney 3 and so i will leave you with a teaser of that new album and until next time off you nose in from us here in berlin and be sure to stay safe by. own your home. page the reasons for you know our troops will leave your blood for users choice alright we'll do it oh. i love making music so we're interested in movies go.

i have to choose to so be new for frank was a loser. when. we want. to.

enter the conflict zone with sarah kelly more than 2 years ago ethiopian prime minister abi ahmed road to power with a wave of hope but now he's waived the military offensive on forces in the northern t.t.y. region my guest this week from addis ababa exotica brought up ethiopian minister for democratization. the peaceful future his prime minister promised conflicts of. 90 minutes on d. w. . how does the virus spread. why do we panic and when will all of this. just 3 of the topics covered in the weekly radio show is called spectrum if you like and the information on the clone a virus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcast you can also find us and dot com slash science . were set. to go beyond the obvious.

a missile that. as we take on the world. we're all about the stories that matter to you from doing what ever is. not running out of touch w. made for mines. prize and i'm game did you know that 17 trillion land on the moves on killed worldwide so that we can include but it's not just be on the old shuttle suffering it's the environment we live on a journey to find ways out of the movement if you want to know how one cliff to a pretty i'm hopeless changed anything he says listen to our podcast on the green.

this is newsnight from the guilty verdicts in. trial a court finds 14 people guilty of aiding the islamist militants behind the 2015 terrorist attacks on the magazine and. also on the program record numbers of deaths in germany as the country goes into heart lockdown schools and businesses closed for at least 3 and a half weeks as the daily death toll tops 950. and it's all in the researchers in australia find the kangaroos can't communicate with humans by using

games to point and ask for help. i'm phil gayle welcome to the program a court in the french capital has found 14 men guilty of assisting in the 2015 sharlee abdo and jewish supermarket attacks by wearing court were accomplices of the attackers who were killed in shootouts with police 6 years ago 2 brothers attacked the paris offices of satirical newspaper shirley have killing 12 people and 11 more in the parent retaliation for the publication of cartoons depicting the muslim prophet muhammad shortly after 5 more people including shoppers as a jewish supermarket in the city were killed by a close friend of the attack as both incidents were connected to the islamic

militant groups al qaeda and islamic state in the killing sparked global demonstrations calling for freedom of speech. we get more from d.w. correspondent elise lewis inside the justice in paris so welcome lisa let's start with the verdicts did the prosecutors get what they were looking for. well they didn't get exactly what they were looking for because there have been asking for longer prison terms however the judges decided to find all of the cues guilty and they actually issued a very balanced verdict say to say because not all of the accused were found to be linked to terrorism activities some only actually found guilty for necessary of crime and the judges want to show that they really took into account each situation of each of the accused now victims have been saying here after the verdict that

they were happy relieved that this court case was finally over some of the lawyers have been saying that they were quite pleased with the verdict one lawyer just told me that he would certainly appeal against it and this trial was hugely symbolic. absolutely it was symbolic on several levels 1st of all obviously this is the reply by the state government with a functioning justice system to a series of brutal terror attacks this trial also gave a platform to victims and to survivors of the attacks to families to show their pain to explain who these people who got injured or killed during these horrible attacks were and to kind of pay tribute to them and it was also an occasion for sally a door for the cartoonist and the journalists working for that magazine and also the lawyer that is that was representing them to show that freedom of speech is

really an important value in this country and that it will stay an important value in france suddenly from saw more terrorist attacks since you're a presenter micro responded by posing to curb radical islam how today's verdict is likely to feed into the public debate about provoked. well this verdict says that france has what it takes to it was it what its knees actually has the legal tools to apply to terra times it goes to the bottom of what happened the justice system can take charge of those who attack to help the attackers in this case obviously and that maybe that maybe no more legal to needed or least that's what some people might see in this verdict really because there has been a debate really about the response by the government to the recent terror attacks and some are criticizing that the government is cracking down too strongly and thus

may be stigmatizing muslims in this country and that the government should actually backtrack on that line ok thank you lisa in paris. germany's disease control agency says the number of carbon 19 deaths in the last 24 hour reporting period has risen to a wreck or 952 you know has been carried the country went into a strict lockdown in an attempt to stop in section rates are rising further over the christmas holiday. the 1st day of germany's tougher lock down all non-essential shops are shuttered at one of the busiest times of the year just before christmas one of berlin's most famous shopping streets is almost empty a strange sight at this time of the year. it's very unusual if the present me a bit but i tell myself it's only this year next year it will be better again. it doesn't really bother me we've got all our christmas presents already and i think

you can also celebrate christmas a little more modestly it's a time when everything is a little quieter anyway the latest after christmas so it's ok with me. which is why . we just have to learn other forms of social contact that's the way it has to be because the number of deaths is so high. that. the new lockdown came as germany reached a somber new record the highest court in $1000.00 death toll since the start of the pandemic in some areas hospitals are nearing capacity and health experts say cases could continue to rise over the next couple of weeks some respite could be brought by the vaccine its approval in europe appears only days away but speaking in parliament on wednesday chancellor angela merkel said the vaccine will not automatically end coronavirus measures including wearing face masks. must be part

of this will soon need to wear masks people may not have symptoms at all or symptoms may be milder for those who have been vaccinated and it's not known whether the virus can be passed on to others this needs more research and therefore wearing masks will still be necessary. germany's new lockdown which includes the closure of schools is meant to say in place until january 10th but health experts and politicians have warned that if the situation does not improve significantly they remain for longer. or let's take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world will start in japan where prosecutors have charged a man with murder and arson attack on an animation studio shinji is accused of setting the coyote imation building on fire killing 36 people and injuring dozens more he claims the studio stole his work. people living in the path of a super storm set to hit fiji have been warned to secure their properties or flee

to the nearest emergency shelters or thors is a warning that cycler yasi is strong enough to room buildings. you commission president as you are fond alliance says there's been some progress on a trade deal with britain she told the european parliament the next few days would be crucial remaining sticking points are fair competition in the e.u. market and fishing rights for e.u. vessels in the u.k. ward says. a year's announced plans to revamp its cyber security regulations days after data on a new coronavirus vaccine was hacked a financial markets and healthcare infrastructures with the blocks top priority is brussels also wants to bolster its sanctions response to cyber security breaches. the european parliament has awarded its sachar of prize for freedom of thought to the better russi an opposition movement its leader that lana to kind of skier accepted the award on the ruthless behalf describing it as an important marker of

the fight for freedom in the country as she's been living in exile since denouncing the results of organists presidential election opposition supporters have demonstrated on the streets of the capital minsk every week since the election result was enough. despite a clampdown on international journalists calmly as being to minsk to meet a young woman who's been protesting since the movement began. this much just coming out to march on sundays is this much a part of everyday life that's having breakfast with our neighborhood just won't keep quiet it's here that you finally get to meet the neighbors. to the church. for all the demonstrative good humor fear is never very far away in minsk most people here don't want to be recognized you know you create a film where in the mosques one person who is willing to take that risk is media 20 she's only ever known one leader at xander. was. back in

august we felt the change was really close it felt like it was in breach of just a day or 2 more and everything would change. for months later we're not where we wanted to be. and there. was. police emerge out of on mark plans scattering the marches in all directions dozens of smaller demonstrations in parallel across the capital means making the police and that much harder for the hundreds of protesters still routinely arrested each week and the stakes are rising in the courts and out of a harsher sentences. the fear only really hits you when you get home and read about everything that's happened that day online. i always carry a set of instructions with me that tell you what to do and who to call in case you were arrested. eventually the protesters recruited continue this time without the

help of modern technology so often in protest days and the government switched off mobile phone networks. the reaction to their protest from the locals is overwhelming. we got really lucky one time the police were using stun grenades we got hit by some shrapnel there was nowhere to hide and all we could do was no can people's doors. we moved from house to house and eventually there are about 30 of us hiding in one woman's house she looked after us and wouldn't let us risk leaving the house unless we had a lift to pick us up. but not everyone is as impressed. as the march reaches its conclusion the question is as ever how to get home without getting arrested. really feels like we've changed as a country ever happens now that can't be reversed. but. no

one can say with any certainty how long these protests will continue or what they might still achieve before most of these young protesting giving up doesn't seem to be an option. but report from correspondent nick conley also sent this assessment of the state of play in. atlanta. and of prize. the government's attempt to end these protests by jailing in exile and opposition leaders has failed and ordinary russians have proved capable of organizing their own protests even without their leaders. today sahar a prize for belarus opposition movement is a welcome gesture a sign that europe is paying attention to what's happening on the streets but nothing more than that certainly won't do much to enable protesters to turn the tables on alexander lukashenko is repressive regime opposition leader. is losing patience she's made it clear in recent weeks that warm words are no longer enough.

position now expects europe to get tough with. sanctions against a few dozen top officials won't do it they say europe needs to make looks think oh pay for them presidents repression against his own people by imposing tough economic sanctions that will deprive his regime of the very funds it needs to pay its own right police. they commonly now any dog owner will tell you that their pet can communicate with them even if they can't talk turns out the same is true for kangaroos new research shows the marsupials are capable of kinds of behaviors and previously noted in animals that have been domesticated for hundreds of years. this is not a scam let's get you. the can review. that scene from the hit australian television series skippy the bush conquering all

about a highly intelligent crime solving must so you peel research just now and save a show you might not be as fictional as 1st thought they gave kangaroos for wildlife parks a sealed box containing food when feruz can get inside most of them looked to a human for help and much to our surprise they did show the case here and the case alternations that are usually associated with domestic animals so it shows that this effect of trying to deliberately communicate with a human is never really restricted to the usual domestic species that we know it means kandor is joining other animals like dogs cats and horses in being able to communicate with humans. and of course the little towns experiment so task itself is quite simplistic but nevertheless it was important important to carry it out of a wild species are truly wise species like a ruse australia has

a complicated relationship with the kangaroo with many people considering them pests is hopeful findings could change the image of one of the symbols of a strain. more world news at the top of the hour next here on d w business update with emphasis of the day. what secrets lie behind us want. to discover new adventures in 360 degree. and explore fascinating world heritage sites. t.w. world heritage $36.00 to get the maps now. you're going to on official estimates more than 1200000 venezuelans live in colombia legally and illegally.