tend to say. oh. this is going to try. to. storms december 25th. oh. i'll be your mama beats. both if you didn't have you spoken to you feed right like how could you say this with 100 percent more than 2 years ago ethiopian prime minister abi ahmed wrote to power on a wave of hope for peace and democracy in the longer oppressive country but now he has waged a military offensive on forces in the northern tier every chip sparking a humanitarian crisis my guest this week from addis ababa is i think a broad minister for democratization where's the peaceful future his prime minister

promised. ministers not to go abroad welcome to conflict zone thank you very much sunni and last year prime minister abi hakim it was awarded the nobel peace prize and in his acceptance speech he said the following war is the epitome of hell i know because i have been there and back i've seen brothers slaughtering brothers older men and women children trembling in terror now fast forward one year later he's led a military offensive against the t.p.o. left group in the northern region of thousands are feared dead has he led ethiopia into the hells of war that he described one year ago motoko. is a model of peace. you know he has the conditions. peace needs your support immunity to some country because as he said he is going to

search or do such difficult times so he is his believes one piece is informed by his own personal experience from the good cop car you know it is not our stories to go to war we left no stone unturned to settle the difference that we had with libya if the people left chose to give evie or suno to belive was a great writing force him ocracy is very our line element 40 perry he pointed his the use to say this is by the muzzle of the illegal weapons so nama other i will write that of the difference so dialogue and discussion didn't live gave tours to game i was the for peace. here and here.

and we will talk about how you got here and in fact but for now i would like to just focus on the situation on the ground because the u.n. and n.g.o.s they say that there is an urgent need right now for independent monitoring of the human rights situation after the international n.g.o.s mysie international brought to the world's attention the massacre in my car drop they say the following that there are possibly hundreds of civilians stabbed hacked to death with knives machetes the u.n. says that if a party to this conflict was involved it would constitute a war crime again this is an international ngo that brought this incident to the world's attention would it not be advisable to have an independent international investigation and monitoring of what is happening right now and gray on the ground that those of us were waiting for some was that a. lot. more money is

gone you know we have. human to human to human rights commission but the former you model it was that it. is the resume me if i was as good as in the loop he has his years of immunity which means bloggers london and he can consult with reebok. and i suspect that's this constant is coming from the deeply held convictions or it comes from northern ministers there are a multitude it's 30 minutes of issues that are out there. who impartially investigate human rights. issues i think that the issue that is is being brought up is not that that africans can administer it it's that you are one of the parties to the conflict in fact and your government's response in fact to those calls for international investigations has been and i'm quoting here we do not need

a babysitter we will invite assistance only if the government feels that it had failed to investigate again you're one of the parties to the conflict that doesn't sound like transparent say that one. investigation is not the us it is an independent human rights commission led by don't even look at who was just 2 years down the line. which what i think he's resuming of as good as any. so i don't think anyone from a minister international or what it was would be better to. look at this could ability and his investigative part so you have every report you for asking any question i would like you to go and read his is in this edition so just in case you have questions. you said your bluff and believing that we. don't even look at him he's human rights commission. is going to let's look at some of these allegations

more deeply and i'd just like to take you through them. for example they claim that your forces have been party to the violence refugees who have made it to sudan they also echo those claims for example c.n.n. spent a number of days interviewing refugees who were crossing over the border and to sit down and they describe to the following the ethiopian army entering in. to a town telling civilians they are safe then the soldiers leave and other armed groups such as the amara militia and the fun know aligned with the ethiopian army arrive. there are concerns that this is descending into an ethnic conflict the conflict in tikrit i. is the final being brought in to finish the to grier's as one refugee described. him hundreds indians lived together for thousands of years we'll have our army next it's going to get our people off to you

know have been coming out in months in mass something in one common goal who. are our special. descent it is a live special apart. cross team that administrative elimination of that ability if you looked into degraded so the my heart went to my heart our special forces did it instead of themselves do you acknowledge the presence of the final because a spokesperson for example for your government at 1st denied the existence of the final militia but then confusingly acknowledged that the militia of the un horror region were engaged to the extent of securing border towns between the 2 regions and you have refugees describing this this fear of this force are they there are more in them had only just to be going. on was it used to be used group is not anywhere in puter. it is a modest speech of modern english just gives it away just on us without cut budget

to be a live. military establishment and them they were forced to be. them and killing anyone in fact we had to rescue. people. which was booked so they can also use them whatever the reporter more than 2 years so that is not the only thing he could use rather. than there is no what is going to be true since . this is not even a civil war but in the summer let's look at another claim because you say that it's a law and order operation as you've just articulated right now but there is growing fear that the conflict in fact is drawing in regional actors for example eritrea and could impact regional stability of the us cites the following they say that they are aware of credible reports of the eritrean military involvement in te gras and that they view this as a grave development as we mentioned earlier prime minister he made peace with

eritrea that is part of what won him the nobel peace prize are they now an ally that has helped you fight your military offensive. you know loneliness that he. has been weakened. in keeping you skipping missions. was a problem of dealing with you know so she's i'm so torn and there is but so say that will become a good book and. i can issue to 100 person terms in one of them one can sometimes get out of it him out of his open in what i'm wondering though how you can assure and 100 percent terms when the americans say that they have satellite images they say intercepted communications anecdotal reports from the region also add to that we know eritrea for example just for contacts is a country that has long face accusations of large scale human rights abuses and there are about 100000 eritrean refugees that are located in tikrit so there's

a lot at stake here the united nations says the following. over the last month we have received an overwhelming number of disturbing reports from eritrean refugees into grave being killed being abducted being forcibly returned to eritrea and if confirmed these actions would constitute a major of violations of international law these are horrifying reports can you not guarantee their safety and how could you say this with 100 percent we are the sum of the largest. global we are known for hosting the refugees with all due respect that is that is very loud in room commission if you know if it is our. real technical or you're there or if there is no it in our or putting in together so there is no way what is it implicit is television coming attack. refugees if

that was the case would have been the 1st to stand against it and then soon make sure that our the messages are safe that is very wrong that is there for submission you know we still believe go on one of our because we're better than ever even though it was one of the reason behind her i'm still with you of the home now it is being abused cemented into our leaders running for the levers or having our safe. mr minister i'd just like to bring it back to the actions of your government though because your government says that it's returning in fact eritrean refugees that have fled in the northern region of to gripe human rights watch says that it's unacceptable the u.n. calls those reports alarming. so you're essentially returning people that fled in fear many of them fled went to the capital they are afraid of being exposed to eritrean violence how do you explain that to the world amid amid these reports amid

these fierce from these refugees we can only really anything was a consultant of the refuse to go is no safe route they can. live with. you guys it's you do you know so you move with you should stay in the compound in a certain delimits this. will be. singular and they are to save lives once they've been saved will come to me that's what it is and it's not being you don't force. it in government believes in consultation with. its beliefs but if you just respect that and did your mother suspected so that's not all magicians remember in the manner you say that it's a safe and stable situation about we have reports of 4 aid workers that have been killed a u.n. security team seeking access here in eritrea and camp for refugees was also shot at by here forces. that doesn't look good how is it possible that a u.n.

team could not be coordinated in the region are or are you afraid of where you are afraid of what they might see. if you're if you happen to read the assessment issued by the road if you look at this commission just look at it over 2 days ago they have a holy. this is a technical problem. for sophos removables so it's implicit we are building bridges roads. we have started still it's listen. we have established and we can connectivity we're going to eat and. look at it it's. a region from this joined up so as you said the international new community of mr minister is not convinced of that the un says that we have reports that the fighting continues between federal forces and the t p l f and affiliated on the leisure on gold because they describe the situation

as worrying as volatile as spiraling out of control with an appalling impact on civilians ultimately i just like to bring it back to the fact that abi has he has pursued a military solution to this conflict ultimately while your international allies on the continent and beyond have expressed a lot of concern they have called for dialogue there was an african union delegation actually in the capital that was reportedly not even allowed to meet with the t.p.o. laugh by your government is that your understanding of more democracy blocking dialogue why not talk. ok. one thing i'm talking to you from are this. weather in are we have it was in the ice on the ground well what's up and we're talking before man been in public and i'm telling you you're a safe and i think it's good to do so they go. because we're

ords because us troops this is just a lot you know protracted if loud information that you are getting which does not in any way explain what is going on on the ground yellow can only happen between 2 reasonable parties. for the past year and half is ravin begin to believe to come to the table and settle out because that is not the assessment by the way of of others who are following the situation because you came to power promising democracy promising peace after decades of repressive wrong but in their transition chatham house says the following about the lack of inclusion has angered the opposition groups with whom the government has had little genuine dialogue could you have done more to bring the country together for a more inclusive dialogue from the very beginning could all the bloodshed have been avoided this government was able to broker

a deal with it and solve the problem was a longstanding one who would not do the kids we can with korea we can do it with our brothers. we don't have a problem this government you cannot. accuse this government of lacking the culture of the iraq this government is all about democracy reform and doubt but even if he's not used to least we're going to talk about it don't worry if you're not me i want to believe it's very important for us to believe killed our soldiers i seriously do believe killed women in uniform i did a sleep. which government will towards you will your government will u.s. government will you get german government so. i don't mock heaviest actions cannot be occupies or minister the international crisis group mr minister the international crisis group says the following that this conflict runs the risk of ripping the state asunder the t.p.o.

left as a valley into fight on there are reports of clashes continuing on the ground experts say we're seeing the beginning of a drawn out insurgency and yet your government is declaring victory you're saying that you have the situation under control after the offensive on the kelly your prime minister even said that that no citizen was killed is in your declaration of victory premature amid all of those assessments. reports will look wrong we know what is happening out there we simply know there's an 100. and up him some pretty much. the war is over but mr minister. it is not just the region of t. grow that is a concern ethnically motivated and intercommunal violence have been on the rise there have been reports of about $150.00 fatal clashes in the past year some of

those instead it incidents have estimates of hundreds killed millions have been internally displaced and now the united nations is warning of a heightened risk of genocide war crimes ethnic cleansing crimes against humanity when you look more broadly at the rest of your country are you on the brink of a potential genocide does the state run the risk of breaking up are you the next you can slavia that's a very negative report you'll get which is also bargains that look we have more than a century removed making you consider what your p.r. is rather for the hottest i mean it's just it has paid a lot to make it so that it once ordered to. the resort that he'll be are is is more than ever it in the collapse models of ice it was into the wind of 40 years ago so you just don't deny we had meeting in town there just was. no

none of them out. but. they used me and living a 2nd life so this does not the president does not fix the ground that is not the situation that is described by international n.g.o.s amnesty international reports for example that your security forces are part of the mob and they say for example 6 in the region is your only excuse in the region of a romeo for example this is obvious political base they quote the carrying out of extrajudicial executions arbitrary arrests of detention torture other forms of ill treatment forced evictions destruction of property human rights violations serious accusations they've called on your government to do more to stop it where's the action. you know if you took a. 100. and most of europe there is. some. sort of disease on the western part.

now i was there to submitted it if you number if you see the situation or years ago they were both part of the writing group now the committee has rejected them it is a community use of inciting against people we can look at in extrajudicial killings they need to leave for good use to and have use or go clause a chapter of us i'd like to move on now to democracy because you're the minister for democratization as we mentioned in the beginning you've delayed the general election this was your 1st real shot at democracy after decades of oppressive rule now opposition political parties mainly from these ethnic erroneous strongholds they say they're being intimidated amnesty describes the following the crackdown on dissenting political views ahead of general elections the leading opposition figure has even been jailed how legitimate and democratic can your election really being

made what is being described as a crackdown. it is not our lives religion is a national look. in the locals and you are the most critical personnel and it's the person and. you know it is you to get 90 more than 50 countries. leads you to listen to it you could be 90. not an exception to what i was asking me to spot you mr minister i'm asking you this question because you have somebody who was detained and jailed because he has a critical view of your prime minister are the ahmed or at least reportedly that's why he says that he was detained in fact there seems to be little appetite to tolerate criticism even abroad i'd like to bring you to another case and this is one of the u.k. based academic who was among those who actually nominated adi for his peace prize he learned through reports apparently on ethiopia state broadcaster that police had

accused him of quote using international media to destroy the country in response to his critical interviews that he has done on international media is this what opponents of your government can a suspect expect in the country he says he fears going back to the country he thinks there's a significant risk of him being detained. you know those who say look we're the ones based in what's the mood. there but what we have you know more than that i mean people who would have been to come to your view we have lived exactly we have got to be to know exactly section. how you know just new york moving freely whereas using oracle's. parties to come together jalen just a solution we have for us winning or losing his election is equally equally significant. loses the election will be the saddest part of who accepts that atoms

or to a competitive election in hand over power mr minister how about press freedom and your country the international federation of journalists reports the following a wave of arrests against journalists covering the ongoing conflict in the teeth they say that since november 7th at least 6 journalists have been arrested on unknown charges the ethiopian human rights commission has expressed concern there's also reports that the government has repeatedly cut off the internet journalists barred from traveling to teague right to cover this all this election that that they to gran's had back in september a new law criminalizing hate speech apparently has a provision that can be used as a lock up peaceful dissidents is that how you define democracy isn't freedom of the press the central pillar you know if you're going to have a committed himself to. eat in ethiopia. you're to notice he's in prison because of the goodness of sex. john noticed your managed to come up and to call me

to crank on his individual capacity more than once for you cannot believe someone from criminal prosecution just because you say your not your journalism is not an immunity to. run away from a counter it just comes out of there as does france nationals a lot mr minister briefly before we go your a lot but ask me if you typically have cats in the me there is a carrier security coming up with you released abuse ago showing you can little fishes well how does a minister mr minister you've cut the internet before another regions that briefly before i go i just like to ask you where is the spirit of madame or the spirit of coming together and synergy that abi described that he promised the country when he took office in this conversation we've talked about ethnic violence a military offensive in the north concerns that you are backsliding on security and democracy is this the best that you can offer our offer ethiopia where's the

synergy that was promised are we not when we're going to be talks about this. is deeply it is easy if he has a deep connection and he took his support to a peaceful country. as you know joseph. he didn't put it out of its. will remain to go if europeans are united more than ever if you're going to have here more than ever we had a challenge posed by that he believed that it was that became a roadblock and it wanted us stock from the king was a lot of democracy this is what what has happened was stupid if gone if your peers will be united more than you but if you're willing because it gives of democracy and democracy more going to rip and your viewers will be able to help will be able to hold the most peaceful the most the morgan minister election. commission

ministers out about how we have to leave it there thank you for joining us on conflicts. so you think you've. observed. the be.

able. to the point. clear position the been traditional perspectives of the but as the year draws to a close politicians everywhere are struggling to bring the pandemic under control but some are slipping behind our citizens paying for governments mistakes that's our topic on to the point at the bottom of the toilet the books on the w.

. every journey begins with the 1st. stamp and every language of the 1st word i look into the coax in germany. why not form listening. to suffer in simple our mind on your mobile and free. w.'s of course speak german may be seen. in the other way of climate change. as soon. as today how for the future. for. the melting. click to.

this is the news of live from hundreds of boys in nigeria are free after being kidnapped by militants their abduction last week from a school prompted public anger and fresh demands to better protect the country's children. also coming up french president has tested positive for covert 19 he's now isolating but there are concerns about all those he had contact with recently including a number of european leaders. physically and emotionally abused you

speak with 2 german gymnast who say they were bullied and mistreated. and good to have you with us we begin with some breaking news officials in nigeria say more than 300 school boys kidnapped last week have been released the boys were abducted from a government school in the northwest state of the hottest group boko claimed responsibility for the kidnapping however officials have cast doubt on that plane. causing the state governor spoke just a short while ago they use it. all . the way. from the forest any. 'd

more will. 'd we. let's get more now from our correspondent in lagos' nigeria florida cora has more for us on what's going on down there now the governor there saying unharmed the boys are what more do we know about their condition well as you heard from the interview we don't really have much detail with regards to recondition of the boys what we know is that currently on we bought kathy a nasty where the ricky dropped from to be reunited with their families parents and . this is the huge sigh of relief to the whole country. how much more do we know about what led up to this release of the boys.

so what we know is that. this was a joint effort between the police the army and the. security agencies in negotiating the release. of these boys. has claimed responsibility for kidnapping this boys however the authorities and even the local people still insist that the kidnap was not. that this was. the work in the area of course the band these have been trying to play a. while now so many people are very fair to their muscle groups over. what regardless of who did the kidnaps i think the highlight of the woman's right now is that these boys have been. indeed now and these boys have been

releases of course not the 1st time there's been a mass abduction of children remember those girls just last year what's been the public reaction to all of this yet another kidnapping of so many children had there been political fallout. i would say that this has been a very emotional moment for the country just a lot of shock a lot of disbelief like. it's enough that students are kidnapped in mass was in your lifetime book to see that happen twice very soon then you begin to risk questions of kerry because i mean it's one thing to keep not one person but where hundreds of students are being kidnapped. raises questions of security of every single person regardless of where you leave whether

you live in the north north east of the northwest where. terrorist groups are busy busy thriving yeah definitely reasons that question and then a lot of people have been very very frustrated. and yes that's what you hear when you talk to you know for. sure fair for us in laos thank you very much french president a man you're mccrone has tested positive for the corona virus the president's office says it's highly likely that mccrone caught the virus and a european council summit last week his diagnosis is fuelling alarm and exactly be among europe's leaders many of them have close contact with micro to at that summit he also hosted spain and portugal as leaders in paris last week and they're both now in quarantine. an affectionate squeeze that's how french president emanuel not

home greeted officials and heads of government last week at the e.u. summit and how he welcomed portuguese prime minister antonio costa to the elysee palace on wednesday. but now that michael has tested positive for the coronavirus those close contacts may wish they dodge his warm embrace. it was last night the president started to experience symptoms indicative of covert 19 immediately isolated and took a p.c.r. test the results of which confirm that he is positive for coke in $1000.00. cinnabon as for everyone who test positive in this country contact tracing began immediately in order to identify the president's close contacts. back home symptoms are mild he attended this meeting virtually from isolation but the positive test has abandoned both his agenda and the agenda of european politics

as the u.k. and the e.u. attempt to negotiate a breaks a trade deal before the end of the year. a growing list of european leaders who met with my call are now working from home working that is unless they become seriously ill. in paris there was little surprise at the president's misfortune. so yeah it's serious it affects everyone so no there's no reason to blame him. if it's obvious given his job that this would happen so it doesn't surprise me you know that but i probably didn't respect the social distancing rules. michael joins a long list of world leaders who have caught the virus and just over a week before the e.u. was hoping to begin vaccinations. ellis take a look at some other stories making news british prime minister boris johnson says a trade deal with the european union is looking highly unlikely he's been in discussions with the european commission president or so the. who says overcoming

remaining differences will be a huge challenge the european parliament has set a sunday deadline for an agreement. the king of sweden says his country has failed in its handling of the corona virus. stuff whose role is largely ceremonial made the rare criticism during an annual television appearance sweden's pandemic policy has left measures largely voluntary and it's been blamed for a high death toll among the elderly. bitcoin has risen to yet another record high topping $23000.00 u.s. dollars the value of the virtual currency has rocketed this year and could be a boon for platforms like coin base which applied on thursday to go public and be the 1st big american crypto exchange to list on the stock market. now to a controversy in golfing german gymnastics eagle magazine reported recently on allegations

of bullying and mistreatment by a female coach in the city of cabinets he has been speaking with 2 former elite gymnast who say the problem is much wider than previously thought. gymnastics. for many is their love of the sport hatch disappear. aged 10 and primed for big things between this move to an elite training center near cologne when their performance is dicks they say they were called fat and lazy by their coach that's slim's the front is the worst thing was when he said he wouldn't come to competitions with us because we were embarrassing him when you're 14 or 15 you need a coach who supports you no matter how badly he always let us down just before the competition saying you're to have a you're embarrassed i'm a. mess on one occasion injuring a balls exercise naomi said she was purposely dropped on her head to teach her

a lesson before had he pushed me 2 or 3 times to go down lower but i knew he wasn't holding me properly that's why i didn't go lower and then i did under pressure but he let go of me and said there you see what. they complained to the local gymnastics association but say they weren't taken seriously or believed and makes a field day with the problem with devastating affects on their development is another thing that i still remember when i was 14 i just didn't want to wear my gym outfit anymore i always thought everything about me was wrong how i look where i come from what i do how i talk who i am so it really hurt me as a person back then and also when it has an issue. in a statement to the local association the right nischelle turner said it was quite surprised by the allegations adding the r.c.b. takes the allegations raised very seriously and will clarify the facts as soon as

possible. at the time naomi and repeat were given 3 options either put up with the coach quit the sport or if they ended up doing move to the olympic training center in paris earlier this month problems there were uncovered by the sheiko magazine a dozen other gymnasts accused the head coach in chemists gabriella fraser of bullying them and. making them train through injury naomi and ruby say pain killers and injections were handed out freely without prescriptions and without the knowledge of athlete's parents but the twins felt they couldn't speak up because of the baggage they'd come with. by it because we were always told we were annoying a we were the problem we didn't want to be a nuisance we just wanted to show we were actually hardworking and so that's why we didn't mention a lot of things. went on all this big. freebie

that acceptance came at a price and she was forced to ignore her constant back pain with one coach telling her it was just 3 competition. even and she would often tell me i was imagining the pain in my back but i didn't know the difference between so muscles and real pain that went on for a year and a half and at some point i believed i was imagining it that's one of those not if it wasn't her imagination though ruby having been denied access to her mit scans would eventually need an operation. fraser who's been suspended pending an investigation has called all the allegations baseless and says she never overstepped the mark it was her strong denials that prompted naomi and ruby to tell their story. stating that we can definitely confirm these baseless allegations that the other girls have made. 2 or 3 of them are with us in canada and we witnessed how badly they were treated like we can easily say it's not baseless. and they

convince us that. these days the twins only compete in the national the no longer dreaming of international success but at least now they can perform again with a smile on their faces. russian president vladimir putin has used his anyone news conference in moscow to praise the national health care system and a virtual gathering dominated by the pandemic flu and also laughed off accusations that the kremlin was behind the poisoning of opposition leader alexina vali. this year's news conference with the russian president was a socially distance video encounter with journalists spread out through several rooms across russia. each reporter held up a sign bearing their news outlets name or the subject they wanted to ask about the

coronavirus pandemic dominated the 1st hour. and. not one single health system in the world was prepared for the pandemic we've analyzed and we found that our system is the most effective. you know the rate of infection in russia is high at the moment but much lower than in the u.s. for example however doubts of been raised whether the figures reflect reality well the middle one journalist asked whether the president had himself been vaccinated. in responded by saying that russia's vaccination program was taking place in stages and his turn had not yet come he was also asked about the poison attack on russian opposition leader alexina valmy. he's not work in english who cares about him if we had wanted to poison him then we would have completed the job. the kremlin has vehemently denied any involvement in the poisoning. but this week the

investigative group telling cass released a report alleging the russian secret service agents had been tracking the lead in the days leading up to the attack. you're watching every news live from berlin to be news africa is up next won't want to miss it thanks very much. where i come from we have to fight for a foreign press that was born and raised in a military dictatorship and just want to be a shadow and a few newspapers on official information as a journalist and have more of the strength of many cat interest on their problems are all was this a cord to the social inequality a lack of the freedom of the press. corruption work on the farm to stay silent when

it comes to the fans and the humans on the scene or my 2 folds who have decided to put their trust in us. my name is jane person i work a d w. this is state of the news africa on the program today concert and grows for the millions of people still console ethiopia's northern region off to the right some age has begun arriving but agencies say they're still not being allowed to reach people they know in need and that the situation there is critical. just last week at the high end the scenes of a new film being produced in cameroon the producers say peace is the message.

hello i'm kristie wonder it's good to have your company international aid agencies all sounding the along. over the situation in the northern ethiopian region off to gripe they were allowed to deliver some supplies at the start of the week but they say they need full humanitarian access to the region if they are to save lives the fear is that millions of people into did not have enough to eat or drink and that the area is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster following the recent conflict there not scenes of thousands have fled the hostilities into gras i as we've reported many of them are now in so done and they are also in dire need. the owner of the refugee camp in sudan one of several camps scattered along sudan's border to ethiopia the feeling out with people fleeing the conflict in the neighboring region

. and. we were in the house have a refugee camp and then we came here we've been here for a week there aren't enough tents or enough water and we're exposed to the sun most of the time. the u.n. says aid groups are struggling to care for the influx of refugees the remoteness of the camps is also a problem. in the 1st 2 weeks they took care of us but after that no one came again a truck comes with food twice a day but other than that there's nothing they haven't even registered as yet. the refugees torn between the threat of violence into grime and the grim reality of the camp. thanks be to god i'm with my daughters here who take care of me there's nothing here to make me happy as

a refugee and this isn't to laugh at all but thanks to the lord at least i'm here with my daughters. refugees continue to pour into the camps in sudan despite ethiopia's prime minister ahmed declaring victory in 2 grime more than 2 weeks ago those at the camp hope they can soon return. meanwhile in to grind baby starting to trickle in the 1st trucks arrive carrying red cross medical supplies earlier this week you would stay with her. father read for us but we. know it is the most. awkward. for days and in every way but millions into grime remain out of reach of aid as the conflict leaves hunger in its wake. with little formal i'm now joined by the

ethiopian american author and. to her new novel the shadow king was shortlisted for the book of prize the books about cities invasion of ethiopia in 1935 welcome to news africa i do want to begin by asking me about the current conflicts in your country. the u.n. said that the world just watching the i'm folding off a full scale humanitarian crisis how does that make you feel. well. you know this is spent really it's a distressing. it's been a distressing event to watch this from a fire. to know that. there are entire groups of people that are being left destitute that people's hopes and dreams for their families are being destroyed and people themselves are dying. it's

been a horrible month. and you know the fact that the world is watching. it feels like this is also a part of this war a part of everything that has been happening in 202030 year is. first nation your latest novel the shadow teen set us more about your using the fiction to tell the story of how ethiopians for the italians during the invasion. you know i have i was interested in looking at what war can tell us about human beings the human condition what war can review know about our fears our love our ambitions our dreams the war that took place in 1935 when italy invaded ironically italy invaded and around the region that is being that is at in conflict

today's so i have been looking at what's happening in 2020 and thinking very much about the way the war was fought on the same grounds in 1935. now the main protagonist in the shadow king is a woman the other main characters are also women why was this important for you to do. i wanted to think about the fact that when we speak about war and when we speak of conflict we imagine men we imagine soldiers as men and yet women and girls are directly affected by ruler and in ethiopia in 1935 they understood that and they went to the front lines in order to have their own say in the way that their country and their future went and i wanted to portray that because we don't talk enough about the active role of women and in in war. the books to release it is city early to tell us why you're particularly looking

forward to that. well. i've done so much research in italy it's this this history is italian history but it's also history that most of italy either doesn't know about or feels very uncomfortable in addressing and i welcome the conversations that will happen there and i am eager to join the dialogue that has been started by other italians already this is a history that was supposed to be forgotten. muscle violence that invasion in 1035 is a strong theme in the mill in the novel do you think that ethiopia has healed from that do you think it will heal from the conflict that's currently raging. if you mean has not healed from 935 ethiopia had not had a chance to to talk about that history italy has never apologized for the

human crimes against humanity that they enacted on europeans at that time in 1935 there was a war fought in ethiopia in 1974 and there was a revolution that came some of those people who live in 35 had to contend with revolution in 74974 to 2000 you know to 2020 people have those memories too so what we're seeing is a ring of memory and pain and trauma and violence and we haven't dealt with it yet that's the many guests ethiopian american writer and author of the shadow king thank you mustn't. stay with ethiopia for a moment to gripe is also the focus of the conflict zone this week we just want to show you what the country's minister of democratization told us they were killed when she put it to him that the war was not over mr minister the international crisis group says the following but this conflict runs the risk of ripping the

state asunder the tepee a life as a valley into fight on there are reports of clashes continuing on the ground experts say we're seeing the beginning of a drawn out insurgency and yet your government is declaring victory you're saying that you have the situation under control after the offensive on the kelly your prime minister even said that that no citizen was killed is in your declaration of victory premature amid all of those assessments. reports a little graham we know what. we. know there's an. and him some pretty much. the war is over but you can see more of that interview here on day 930 u.t.c. or watch dot com forward slash conflicts.

now the women you see behind me are part of a film crew in cameroon that happens to be the country's only all female production crew the women of go bus productions have taken their place in the country's male dominated film industry their latest project is a demand for peace in cameroon which is being torn apart by conflict and crisis plays a young reports from there one day. we one piece a group of all female female. issues in a unique film calling for peace. they want to see an end to disappoint this conflict raging in the country's west and. the team is led by to. making films for nearly 5 years.

because we've been through the very very. young. 2020 has been on especially bloody year in the english speaking regions of cameroon this. piece. to reach the war in factions. the protagonist of the film. on the streets. i'm interested in taking part in this project. the women with. the project is promoting peace in our country. with the. peace still seems far off. in the. super just militias in the west. people are being killed in the

conflict which began in 2016. divisions have intensified in the country. is not easy. to say love to have. had. some of. this is very plain. in the end though was a lot of this it was really what are we going to do was like you have to vote and somebody at the desk of the government to go on food. read we out we are hoping the young women through the one day a film to be as inclusive as possible be allies began looking at the footage for yourself funded project she was a kid she didn't piece of focus of videos people from different backgrounds of florida volunteered to be part of it may be the reason of these blackouts will

bring renewed hope. now that's a phone i certainly would love to watch that is it for now be sure to check out our other stories on deeds up the dot com forward to slash africa we're also on facebook and on twitter where you can send us your views and comments about the content we cover and the content we should be i want to end with a 7 i'll see you next time a bite. to the point of strong opinions clear positions of international perspectives. as the year draws to a close politicians everywhere are struggling to bring the pandemic under control but so are slipping behind our citizens paying for governments mistakes that's our topic on to the point. to the point. to 60 minutes on. what secrets lie behind small.

discover new adventures in the 360 degree. and explore fascinating world heritage sites. world heritage 360 get me out now to. record highs of a new york stock exchange. despite the growing of unemployed americans traders are optimistic about something. europe finally wakes up to the importance of bathrooms for electric cars joining the race against china to power the future of mobility. and. fails to destroy christmas from mexico city of. big as your business the number of americans applying for unemployment benefits

rose again last week 288-5000 the highest since september and worse than expected resurgence of rotavirus patiences disrupt a business and threatens an economic recovery the pandemic is seeing many states limit the size of gatherings and close or reduce the hours of restaurants stores and other businesses that triggering a new wave of layoffs. that hopes is still high on wall street that congress will soon. $900000000000.00 recovery package. he's in new york. is that what is buying boeing stocks rallied today. you know so as you might see so the 1st the winter storm just pos new york my son got a virtual a snow day so so far far to the good you course if you look at the job market clearly the trend is not really our friend here for

a couple of weeks now the situation actually worse and sold that the stock market was up might be due to the hopes that we might get an aid package but then we also shouldn't forget the fit meeting that we had on wednesday when fed chairman jerome powell reiterated that interest rates will remain close to 0 for at least the next 2 to 3 years so there is an enormous liquidity flooding the market and basically everything is up so did it mention stock prices on your records that was true for the s. and p. $500.00 and for the nuts that composite the jones is just high as shy of a new all time high but also gold oil prices or because everything is up at the moment as far as the unemployed time is running out though isn't it. it clearly is running out i mean 1st of all on saturday spending bill is going to

expire so it will be crucial to get a new spending bill passed and what members of congress try to do is that they do both possible new spending bill and a new aid package at the same time time wise that might not be possible so there is talk in congress that actually they might come up with a short term spending bill so that they can get a bit more time but if you do talk about the labor market actually the day after christmas there will be unemployment benefits expiring for $12000000.00 americans so yes time is running out and it would be crucial to get something done it was then the next week how likely that is i really don't know i mean we've been here for weeks and months so much talk about hope that they pick it will come and it never actually materialize so let's wait and see if this time is different white

see approach there from your correspondent thank you. the u.s. dollar global beating on thursday it plunged to a new 2 and a half year low against the major currencies the euro hit $1.23 in asian trading before giving up some of those gains china as you want also moved higher against the dull and soon levels not reached since june 28th analysts expect that win back to weaken even further in the coming days. the strength of the euro is a double edged sword for europe on the one hand it points to the fact that investors are quite confident that the european economy will recover even as many countries here are heading into are now in new walk down to combat their coronavirus on the other hand it raises the risk of deflation in europe that's been a big concern as the euro strengthens that means imports are getting cheaper at the same time it will also raise pressure on european exploiters whose products are going to get more expensive for europe's trading partners the european industrial

sector and export in sector has been one of the one bright spots in the economy the strength of the euro is not going to be welcomed by many of these acts supporters and export dependent economies. now to some of the other business stories making news bitcoin has risen to another record high topping $23000.00 u.s. dollars the value of the virtual currency has rocketed this year it could be a boon for platforms like client base it applied on thursday to go public it would be the 1st big american crypto exchange to list on the market. the european union has extended fishing quotas for stock shared with britain for the 1st 3 months of next year goshi it is is still working on a long term deal as part of break the talks one of the reasons for the quotas is to prevent certain species from being over fish. and europe's court of justice as deems the written devices used by for its illegal

a coming to use the technology to cheat on emissions tests french prosecutors said be deceived by is of its diesel vehicles. the electric vehicle sector has moved into the fast lane a fleet of startups has gone public this year as the man for lithium ion batteries picks up the coke consultancy mckinsey says annual global demand for the batteries is 282 gigawatt hours in a decade it could be well over 2 and a half 1000 as growth of more than 800 percent or right now the sector is dominated by one country china 100 of the world's 140 battery plants its largest producer has a 3rd of the market followed by a few more asian manufacturers from japan and south korea but where does that leave europe well it's trying to play catch up you got an exclusive interview for this

next report with the european commissioner for strategic foresight as well as the c.e.o. of scandinavia thought. in sweetens forest something is taking shape which many say is decisive for the economic future of europe politically my own battery plant startup north pole plans large scale battery production here to supply european automotive giants like fox are going b.m.w. found a pita carlson used to be tesla's purchasing director now he's taking on asia's powerful competitors. in a very green way it's definitely a challenge i mean we're we're fighting against these lords large corporations. we do it with very very strong skills and with speed and that you know my experience from from my days at tesla is that you come a long way if you have the right people and you work with a sense of urgency and it's certainly urgent europe of all places home to the world's largest car makers has barely any automobile battery production and the

battery makes up a 3rd of a car's value the e.u. has been asleep at the wheel now it's responding with billions of euros in economic development aid 30 years ago but 3 production system in europe was nonexistent and i think it was very clear that we will very sore no not import only the batteries but the fee want to change the course we will very soon be importing electric cars so it would be really a danger for the whole european car industry. not fold once mass production here to begin in 2021 and the further plant is in the planning stage other companies are also lining up for a piece of the action the e.u. to be self-sufficient in battery production in 5 years time we or in. this transformation or revolution the way you like to look at it and it's very very exciting and it's also exciting to see europe taking a leading role here where china has been kind of dominant up to now but that europe

is really taking a lead a position. from battery importer to export or in only a few years. right now the sector is still very much a lot of work in progress. coronavirus isn't stopping mexicans from celebrating christmas with the traditional concept he. has a ministry says some 16000000 plants have been sold across the country there were fears sales would fall many producers were worried about their future and 9 months ago when the planting season began and the pandemic hit. mariella espinosa has been growing and selling pot seti has for many years but this year has been her most challenging year to date the pandemic has given her so many obstacles to overcome but now she's almost managed to sell all of her christmas eve flowers. becoming thankfully we're about to run out of our projects.

but the pandemic did affect us because we planted less than we usually do but primarily because the producer did not deliver the seeds in full and then we thought we wouldn't be able to sell all the projects. we're about to finish. mario his family is just one of 200000 in mexico city whose livelihood depends on flowers the city council has supported them by providing around 40000000 euros in aid this year. but this year growth in and on them because if they have a good economy it won't stop that activity and the activity gets preserved lucky that's it but if. the plan says he is an indigenous mexican flower the plants association with christmas began in 16th century mexico the star shaped leaf pattern is said to symbolize the star of bethlehem. for the producers who depend on

a sale to make ends meet the importance is threefold economic religious and cultural it's become a universal i'd calm of this time of year. and make a broader christmas visit i'll see you again very soon.

i think in everything challenging 1st and i make a. song much different culture. and they're challenging for him. to so i think it was worth it for me to come to germany. i got my license to work as a swimming instructor. in our 2 children wanted us to swim fast to. what's

your story take part sheriff on info migrants dot. in the far north. beyond the inhabitable world. it's lonely. barren. and breathtakingly beautiful the arctic powerful expanse of bitter cold. cone and the sound of global warming. to the journey around the north pole meet profiteers and talk with people experiencing a changing environment or the ice disappears earlier and it keeps retreating the case years the last years have been smelting russia. makes it harder which makes

it. our future depends on what happens here in one of the most fragile ecosystems on earth. northern lights with the arctic circle starts december 21st on w. . bush greetings and welcome from the german capital where the city signature berlin international film festival is set to probably go virtual for 2021 we'll find out more and also in the pipeline. controversial swiss director mueller tackles the injustices all of the modern world with a film that asks the question if jesus were alive today what would he preach. and german sculptor software uses trees for his visual ruminations on the veins of

temporality transformation and the transience of life and art. speculation was rife but now it's official berlin's international film festival one of europe's big 3 alongside the venice and cannes film festival will be quite different next year the belly nollywood which just managed to squeeze in its 2020 addition last february just prior to the 1st corona lockdown had been hoping to hold an in person event in february as planned but now the new lockdown measures here in germany have forced them to come up with a plan b. for its 71st edition. so to get the lowdown on just what that plan b. will look like our film experts got roxboro joins me from bomb hello scott glad to see you there's been a lot of speculation over how the belly nala will handle the festival next year

what can you tell us about the plans for 2021. yeah. there are still some details to have been officially announced by the belly nala but i think we can give the sort of the general outline of what looks like is going to happen next year basically sort of 2 main parts of the festival the main competition which is where the the big films that premier at the berlin festival and the film market which is where the films are new films are being bought and sold by people in the film industry those will happen but they're going to go online only and they're probably going to happen a bit later so instead of late february as was planned they're going to go into early march. otherwise what's going to seems like what's going to happen with the belly now is they're going to move the rest of the festival in a sort of stripped down version to the summer and have a in person festival but much much later in the early summer when hopefully the

worst of the pandemic will be behind us and people actually be able to go back into the theaters again ok now how just briefly how do you think this will affect the film industry. the industry itself i don't think will mind at all they've gotten used to doing things virtually there was a film market in cannes that was all virtual there's one last month in los angeles that was all virtual the film industry itself doesn't really have a problem with this they got the custom to it and i think they've adjusted very well to doing things only online to doing zoo meetings like like the rest of us and obviously a lot less travel as a result now it's a bit of a late reckoning for berlin scott as the largest public festival in the world you were in cannes and in venice in their very reduced versions with those strict safety measures in place how do you see the future of the film festival circuit itself in the belly nala in particular. yeah this is up against a real challenge here because as you said they were lucky earlier this year to come in just before the 1st lockdown in europe berlin lives from its audience it's the

world's largest public of film festival and having a sort of stripped down version like happened in cannes or like when it happened in venice really isn't the same thing it's only a sort of a temporary fix i can't i can't see. moving on permanently it would change the festival entirely and change the spirit of the film festival so i can only see next year is being a temporary fix and everyone is hoping that when the pandemic is over things will go back to normal and will have full theatres in berlin and that we can get back into the cinemas thanks very much scott ross perot in bonn for that update and stay safe there scott. and staying with film another person taking covert restrictions very seriously is hollywood star tom cruise who blasted workers for breaking distancing rules on the set of the mission impossible 7 currently filming around cruz was furious all his efforts to keep the filming going during the pandemic

could be at risk using multiple explosives and threatening to fire anyone who put other people's jobs on the line. well he's been called the world's most controversial film and theatre director a man to challenge any taboo when you know how was invited to italy's european capital of culture mattera in 29000 to stage a production he ran with it in the place where a pair of any and mel gibson made their own milestone films on the passion of christ he wondered whose cause would jesus take on in the 21st century well the new gospel is a hybrid film project that seeks some answers. to. the new gospel presents jesus as

a modern day migrant played by evolve. in real life suddenly moved from cameroon to italy as a student but i did a picking tomatoes organize a strike that drew international attention to the exploitation of far more cars for director mido how the perfect man to play jesus. jesus for me jesus had to have more than just acting skills i wanted to bring the bible to life in this way with these contradictions that's how i decided on even a black jesus from cameroon an activist who advocates for farm laborers. together we made a movie that's both about jesus and a kind of modern jesus tale that's his campaign against exploitation against the mafia. for years hundreds of thousands of

migrants have been systematically exploited on italian farms were created from refugee camps as illegal harvest workers for pitiful pay the mafia takes a cut. from the film you've also knew you were to. burns to the farms and finds his disciples in the fight for fair work conditions. filmed in the region around the team began a real life campaign called the revolt for dignity that organized real protests. the many call knowing that you might be called plenty there is nothing. left but they did. vote for dignity as a kind of umbrella organization that we founded together with. together it's about 30 organizations that fight to protect refugees farm workers and sex workers against the mafia and big companies. and try to give them the dignified living and

working conditions. but already they've created affordable housing fair trade production and sell from distribution businesses for which it is still campaigning. and the film is a careful mix of reality and professional actors the new gospel is not a history film or a faithful adaptation of the bible but a tale for our times with parallels to the life of jesus does this theme of this film that's also the subject of our film it's not by chance that jesus gets crucified if he doesn't end up the big winner what's crucial is how we transform his weakness through solidarity that's what our movie's about the power of solidarity. brings the bible into the 21st century. topical highly political. humanity and it

just world. very moving work there from you know how and speaking of humanity it's the intersection of the natural and the manmade worlds that occupy. german artist. and in these uncertain times to say the least a look at his often quirky musings on the theme of transience is somehow for i declare relevant. a tree changing colors with the seasons that's what it looks like but there's more than meets the eye it's also a sculpture. this is an impulse the very archetype of a tree and narrow leave ash when the leaves fell i collected them and painted them green again then i reattached them to the tree with cable ties and. if it gets a sickly it's about stopping the passage of time about bypassing audit that's why

it's called anti autumn and helps to maintain compares to all of the hunting helps . trees as a symbol of impermanence imo teach me outside it's time for keeps returning to 8 years ago he installed these spinning trees and a berlin museum over time the leaves slowly ground to dust. through outside stuff as career the forests of his childhood in southern germany have stayed with him that's where he made some of his 1st artworks all the time to buy this work is called vide ports or forest sweet but i made it in the forest behind my father's farm. i grew up in the countryside so for me nature and the forest are something very familiar and important. it's even more important to me the longer i live in the city. a tree as

a rocket. a street light as a shooting star. is tough as artistic happenings have a certain pleading humor to. she repurpose is familiar objects she or truck tires tied in knots become floating clouds. it isn't in avoidance this here is a model for the cloud sculpture i'm going to cast in bronze and. it's basically a motorcycle or moped tires now that they're put together they're a sculpture but i think the northeast kind of cloud good stands for lightness but also for gravity and avoid. the it. as i was taught for and his assistants have kept producing work throughout the pandemic even as exhibition after exhibition has been canceled. the major theme of his work her

man's impermanence. and we'll finish off with a resounding happy birthday beethoven germany's most famous composer was baptized 250 years ago on thursday the tributes half of course global but this particular one from wednesday night in his birthplace but on merits a list and so with that it's just from us here in berlin stay safe. by. the be

. glad. of. the be . submitted.

to the point from the beginning clear position the international perspective subpar as the year draws to a close politicians everywhere are struggling to bring the pandemic under control but some are slipping behind our citizens paying for government's mistakes that's our topic on to the point the back to deploy the that's the bit in the book on w. . do we really know our past. or are our recollections just a memory. images in our mind change and have a life of their own. the latest in brain research one memory sometimes placed. in 75 minutes

w. . how does a virus spread. why do we panic and when will all this. computer through the topics covered in the weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like any information on the coronavirus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcasts you can also find us at d.f.w. dot com look for it slash science. we're all set. to go beyond the obvious. we're me live. as we take on the world. we're all about the stories that matter to you what about something to hide seem to be shifting what ever

it takes people are running out. of economic. exchange burton i know that w. . made for mines. this is g.w. news and these are our top stories officials in nigeria say that more than 300 school boys kidnapped last week have been released the students were abducted from a government school. the northwest state of the state's governor says most of the boys are now free. french president. isolating after testing positive for covert 19 his office says it's highly likely he called the virus at a european summit span.