1st group to. ensure that it was. in support. of. the real world. this is g.w. news africa on the program today i thought stolen from africans nigeria's many in bronzes are among the artifacts looted by colonialists some of them will be centerpieces that a new museum that officially opened in berlin today but nigeria once these objects back. and meets 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 that art that's because among the items say to be displayed at the museum known as the home board for the benny bronzes they are sculptures and metal clocks stolen from the bridge by the british in 897 from the kingdom off binion and what is now in southern nigeria and sold to a number of western countries they're viewed as some of africa's gracious treasures and calls are growing for the german government to return them you want to try to tell him of his. things here they belong here they said they were made and we'd

know the purpose through the why we made them and now the person demanding the return of the burning bronze is nigeria's ambassador to germany his ex and in the 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 and why do you feel so strongly about the written off 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 the bronze is in ruins is if there are quirks as well as the not terrible to read and. to doing that what is right and

a message in these sculpture is there considered sacred to people in nigeria just how does it feel knowing that if these people who are via 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 can not see them 200000000 nigerians are also probably just a handful of people who have the ability to view such properties and we have a very delicious feel that it would go a long way towards assisting. us to understand our history our culture particularly in a situation where. we were. projected to be the rest of his beautiful. and late. ambassador to 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 ideas 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 while it's quotes through corporate puts you because as you know we'll see these represent countries in other states in other countries. or your communication. from the embassy within the country being communicated so. we would have expected some sort of an ambassador yet you haven't been given a response and best of a you've taken that you see 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 awesome facts back. well this is an idea whose time is right you know this idea. 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 organ in the building musta or how current 12 years after the present conference right 897 or is there really this is that and to display such stolen art works. in berlin where the conference took place is.

you know it gives the feeling of a sort of in your face a lack of a better phrase all right that's nigeria's ambassador to germany is excellent cæsar to that thank you. now zimbabwe's soccer players have been off the pitch since the start of the covered 1000 pandemic without their weekly wages most of them have had to find other means to make ends meet as privileged reports from harare printed for year emmanuel money is no ordinary vehicle mechanic emmanuel is a professional soccer player it is in published 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 to 19 they can hardly survive.

don't pick who is. i'm not getting. those who moved those stories to be. so to suck to me it's more fiction a chance usually when we get those we can survive. until the next but at the moment . we're only and salaries. at this speech emanuel and others are training but they are no make cheese to play clubs had resumed training in anticipation of starting the league so all or no simpering up is playing football so the more mean it's almost a season that we have lost in so many of which uniques is lost you know maybe for us to play they say we're going to to play where they're in the better so they tell

you in their top player government cleared the resumption of the league under the bubble regulations but football administrator has insisted that the concept is expensive and unsustainable now the league may only retain in march 2021 this empty stadium is a reflection of the zimbabwe premier shall colleague football or thirty's seem not to be sure about the corvids $1000.00 regulations to implemented 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 in seeing the food will be not played mr rudd says some there is playing south africa's playing but right now in zimbabwe playing premier super league its pains are so much across town as soccer academy is training youngsters who hope to 10 professional trainers out hoping reason will prevail for the return of the premier sokolich our football has suffered enough is not a joke this side to make sure we make a decision said of football to make sure beginning of the football should be seen benefited more than anything this knowledge is keeping the clash. the personality clashes are 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 oss the republic of congo are home to about 5 out of 7 of the world's protected species of seat that makes the country beisel to stopping the extinction of these endangered animals conservation groups arena tour is playing a key role in helping the sea turtles survive i this sea turtle is an able to move exhausted after being caught in fishing that. joffrey gotta find some of them almost every day. the form of fishermen has been working alongside the marine conservation organization arena tour for more than 10 years now. every morning forgot to patrols this area called project indian in order to free accidentally trap turtles after noting the turtles details 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 will disappear whether to to provide a protected space for a growing turtles hatcheries have been set up along the coast and one. in the torah is also working on educating youngsters about the environment its staff give listeners local schools. the plastic bags suffocate the sea turtle since ring a tourist creation the local turtle population is estimated to be on the rise according to direct an attorney me and sequel in 2001 the sea turtles became fully protected and combos she says. 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 know if you don't want to call philip on that if 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 if an alpha is africa today be sure to check out our of the stories on dot com forward slash 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.

to. lose.

'd 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 that beethoven here 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. 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 a vast and judicially expensive complex adds a new element to already a 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 berlin looks like a palace from 3 sides with modern eastern facade named after the explorers and

scholars and visit. the building combines baroque details with cold functional winds. that's almost the whole board form 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. and 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 sus 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. to meet italian architect frank costello won the competition with his hybrid design . the loft the new palace is a unique combination of the old and the new which compliment each other harmoniously . on use it again. it was another 7 years before the foundation stone was laid that's 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. didn't get. a new. you 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. 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 forum has open 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 and really the sticking point from the ethnological museum and the asian art collection we have to remember that did the discussion surrounding the who for is decades old now it was in 2002 to get that stamp of approval for the building to be constructed and doing that time this discourse has changed radically so then the issues surrounding the dubious provenance how 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 whole palace and they were the instigators of germany it is complete with the cross. at the top it's being 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 has been quite a response so how that plays out really remains to be seen but germany's culture minister monica group has 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 but that will be done transparently and that is things were unfairly of tank than they will be returned and it's difficult to imagine what was not unfairly obtained when you know this colonial era versus other ones fair in itself you know that's going to be a difficult thing to judge and it's also difficult to then trace each and every

single object of course yet 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 see if we can finally get out of here there is a lot to say there's going to be there's going to be 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 berlin's history and 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 or luck to you know question news 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 drunk roll for this next one because it's 250 years ago that notice from 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 recognise the account was concerts and events for this beethoven anniversary year have been pushed off into 2021 and nowhere are they happier about that then 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 per coffey 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. the 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 d w c 3 beethoven documentaries released this year. many different routes drawn over that he brought us to classical music he opened up this more personal schubert

aspect to music. the documentary has already won several international prizes. in another d.w. documentary french horn player sara willis asks how a world without beethoven would see. 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. a servant's 5th paved the way for riffs like this one and scorpions rocky like a hurricane. jethro toles locomotive breath. an idea that is that is repeated very often as

a repeating motif which then tends to be shortened to wrist. did use that idea develops that idea of the thought that. in a world turned upside down by the coronavirus it was a tumultuous beethoven here 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 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 and 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 sir paul mccartney has a new album out the 78 year old put his own personal spin on the coronavirus. it's locked 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 a few dozen from us here in berlin and be sure to stay safe. around. go home. to the future of the beatles you know our juice will reach a good part of our users so it's all right we're going to grow to. love making music so we're sure just didn't want to go. i have to choose to do so for funk was music. where.

we form a monsoon. would. enter the conflict zone research kelly more than 2 years ago ethiopian prime minister abi ahmed road to power with

a wave of hope but now he's waged the military offensive on forces in the northern t.d.y. region my guest this week from addis ababa exotica brought up ethiopian minister for democratization where's the peaceful future his prime minister promised conflict. in 30 minutes on d w. in these challenging times it's especially important to us the issue of happy and healthy. the current of ours has kept us apart from family and friends always. easy to feel loved but especially during this holiday season we go g w we're here with you we will keep you informed all up on some other night you we're all in this together we wish you happy holidays merry christmas everyone of

a very merry christmas season merry christmas and stay safe happy holidays everyone's happy holidays to europe you see behind me same land insists it. i. am. the sunshine for in the dark. was fantasy. i am glad. to see. the end. of the sequence. starts december 26th. up.

the bad . this is. a verdict in france's charlie. 14 people guilty of aiding the islamist militants in the 2015 tax on the situation magazine and the jewish supermarket also coming up. numbers of deaths here in germany as the country.