when a pro-government journalist and politician and milk look of was appointed last year to head bulger in national t.v. all the critical voices were silenced so with the nova broadcasting group new owners came in investigative journalists were fired you clearly have no interest in a press that holds your politicians to account to you i wouldn't agree with this as well because in one of the most popular shows on the get a national television distracted for example was one of the main leaders of the opposition and one of the main leaders of the protests and actually every single day that a protest and on the whole get a national television and people can free to express what they think about the government and what they think about the media you know get in yes but don't investigate them don't hold them to account for corruption earlier this year reporters without borders accused your government of trying to intimidate journalists it said they've been subjected to a series of verbal attacks and threats by very senior officials since the beginning of february they talked about the prosecutor general the speaker of the national

assembly why this constant intimidation is your government afraid of the truth do you do you see me being afraid of the truth we do understand that there are a lot of problems and that we need to do a lot in the fight about that option and they sound very little about it and they've done very little about it in the time that this party has been in power very little 1000 the divisions 1003 divisions the 1st senior government officials you say that this is a little and how many say to that is and how many centers are many people who have been sentenced now do you think that in the final major crime and also no major government official has been said they think that in the fight in the fight against corruption we don't receive. such wars that we see now at the moment given the fight against corruption is not only something that in this is that a thing of the government. mr you you belittle and insult journalists during a press conference in sofia on february 4th your prime minister likened reporters

especially female reporters to turkeys and many grotesquely tried to mock them by making sounds imitating the way turkeys gobble is that how you respect the free press in your country our prime minister just isn't specifics in chief language and he didn't meant still be able to any of the journalists any disrespect i don't think that this is a serious accusation about that about lack of freedom of press well this is your country is ranked 100 and 11th in the world press freedom in the next the lowest ranking of any you member country and way lower than countries like ethiopia kenya and angola you're not ashamed that you score so low on these key indicators for democracy like free press. and very much a story for the fact that the getting continues to be with the negative coverage you know of the foreign media but i do believe that if we are really object if we

are going to see that light again as i mentioned to you before is not so black and white 60 percent of the outage in bulgaria is negative about the government every journalist at least 3 supposed to talk about the government banned the use of social media in the country is really enormous including the consumption of internet media and internet media is very very critical about that minister what's of particular concern is your human rights record in bulgaria and the impression that fundamental neagle safeguards for citizens appear to be missing at the end of 2017 the un committee against torture reported that the or thirty's often fail to inform arrested people of their rights in criminal proceedings that actively discouraged by manipulation threats and ill treatment from accessing those rights what's more in excess of 70 percent of detainees don't have access to

a lawyer when those criminal trials begin and some don't even have a lawyer at any stage in those criminal proceedings to say any of that strike you as fair and what kind of state are you running where you permit things like that to go on. ministry of justice in the area and also the other institutions that are supposed to be thought what about these problems they are working very hard on this as the minister of labor the minister of social policy and in charge for people with disabilities people with mental get and also elderly people and for example in the public $1000.00 crisis. but yet it has many it still is that the life of most of the of the people who have been now at the moment is not they care center city centers or people with disability with people with dementia out of 60000 people who can't be in these centers only for example and if or when you're not on her return a thought my question was about the lack of legal representation for people in your

justice system it's a pretty shocking lack or 70 percent of detainees don't have access to a lawyer when those criminal trials begin i don't know about this figure us but i can tell you that this you don't you read the report at international report size you ok let's need surgery to disfigure because that i'll ever get a lot of lawyers in the area that also is. this case is the committee against torture said the one in every 3 people detained in your police stations are subjected to abuse there which may be they say of such severity as to month to torture a main through beating handcuffing to immovable objects and the use of truncheons i thought all this stuff was supposed to end when the communists left it doesn't seem to have ended at all you seem to perpetuate this kind of treatment and i'm wondering war as i still think that this is very much an exaggerated and it's not exactly true you can also see that you're exactly you where is lying about you now

the un doesn't know what they're talking about human rights council committee against torture they don't know what they're talking about they don't talk to people they don't do research they simply make all this up to them and you do not believe the geopolitical interests sometimes when we are talking about the area and international image about the getting a feel one has no interest in making up stories about you. full stop and no interest whatsoever i'm sorry but you can always dull facts from certain cases and you can always say that this is the system but the system is not like this and i can tell you this as a person police already 47 years in bulgaria and what that means 16 years old and the coming a spell and i can tell you that there is tremendous improvement from 1998 until today well since you're in charge of social care and people with mental disabilities let me draw your attention to another report which came from the un

committee against torture which is particularly shocking because it involves the excessive use of medication and chemical restraints on people on inmates and the forcible administering of intrusive and irreversible psychiatric treatment and therapies such as neuroleptic drugs without any attempt to gain consent from the people who are subjected to these treatment this is going on in your mental institution and frankly it's inhuman isn't it how do you permit that this report is particularly with this report i am not aware of it or its about it concerns free particular institutions these institutions will be closed and all the people in this institution will be displaced into will then yes then there is the close when will they be closed they will last until the end of this month we are working already on that and together with the philosophy of the general we started that edition of all the institutions for mental it is of the devil people and if we see that there are other it's just like this all the other institutions will be well

how about how you know because there is no independent monitoring another fact brought up by the committee against torture you have no independent special monitoring mechanism for mental health institutions we're working very closely with the not governmental organizations sense from the 1st of september we have established the mage's young polity of social services i would let you point out that due to. the europeans only that it isn't due to our politics and the moment you both get you there are no institutions for children with mental disability and we are just at in the process of the institutionalization where all the people with mental disability as well minister is pretty shocking you've been in the for 10 years and you still have these institutions which administer forcible forcibly administer intrusive and irreversible psychiatric treatment and therapies such as neuroleptic drugs another trick which the communist authorities used to do on people on dissidents and people who didn't agree with them this is been going on

for 10 years and you tell me your only now getting round to doing something about it why why have you let this happen for so long we last 3 terms of you this prime minister and this party in power and nothing was done about it last night it was in the minister level as social policy was 25 years ago then we get more than 50000 children in institutions now we have not more than a 2500 children that are being i'm not talking about children i'm talking about every has and then look how long it took us to the process of the institutionalization and to say today that we don't have any more institutions for children now is that the process for elderly people and for people with mental disabilities and i am confident that in between 5 to 7 years we're going to and this is between 5 and 7 years at the time of your country's accession you promise to respect and govern according to the values of the european union those included human dignity freedom democracy equality rule of law respect for human rights

things that still do not pertain and are still not respected in your various institutions like prisons where people are being mistreated and like these mental institutions where you've acknowledged that the mistreatment is still continuing i wouldn't agree with you that they don't respect these they're yours because i don't i don't see that this is a problem of the whole system yes that's the case in which we don't see these values respected and in this case this we act immediately and severely. all right their needs are thank you very much for being with us.

thanks.

sean. wow monsters from nigeria here that's what nollywood response to. come. authentic. cut and successful beyond belief. all of this is the way we do it. would. in 15 minutes on d w. one continent. 700000000 people.

with their own personal stories. europe. explore every day life for. what europeans fear and what they hope for. some good spot underwrote. in the 90 minutes on d w. i think is everything challenging 1st and i make a muslim. so much different culture between here and there challenging for every. consumer is the same thing your was worth it for me to come to germany.

i got my license to work as a swimming instructor here to share knowledge to children not adults just one of us toughest. what's your story take part cherish on info migrants dot. com. a story of prejudice and propaganda. they were called the rhineland basterds. their mothers were tried sleeping in the occupied drying land their father's soldiers from the french colony. in a. pride and racism. documentary examines the few traces that remain of their existence. of g.w.

above. the boy. this is. the post of grace the trade deal is signed into u.k. dole person and the european union states the ceiling they have drawn out divorce just i was before the u.k. called off essential ties with the continent also coming up a. deadly explosions ripped through yemen's aid an airport the likely target of a plane carrying the country's newly formed unity government. and a global tribute to a musical genius. versus

a bra on the wall joining forces in a san abrasion off movie fun base opened old to nature the pause for. hello i'm christine one goal welcome to the program later to. the united kingdom will leave the customs union and single market bring to a final end its membership off the european union the u.k. will then trade goods with the $27.00 members of the block and a new treaty agreed last week with brussels british prime minister boris johnson signed the treaty and it is now part of british all when the u.k. completes its transition phase of midnight central european time it will draw the curtain on the almost 5 decades of membership of the e.u.

let's have a look at some of the changes that come into force when britain exits the e.u. customs union and single markets now british and e.u. citizens will have to apply for a visa if they want to work in each other's territory or live there for longer than 90 days britain wanted tariffs and quotas free access to the single market and it got it but there is now a mechanism where tariffs could tarrasque could be imposed if the e.u. in the future. or if the u.k. while the diverges from the stand it's now northern ireland remains part of the e.u. single market and customs union so goods and animals in training there from the rest of the u.k. will be subjected to checks and paperwork and i'm now joined by clinton peel he's associate fellow for a bit with the european president at chatham house he's joining us from london good to see you quentin so do british people think they got

a good deal. now all they did have been the latest opinion poll that i've seen says that only 17 percent of the british people think it's a good deal something like 21 percent think it's a bad deal and found that most people either think they don't know all they just don't yap i think there is a real exhaustion about this process with the british people even though they don't think it's a good deal rather more than half of them wanted it to be approved nonetheless clinton the prime minister by chance and say that the u.k. war and main pot now with the e.u. its best ally i think he said will be the best of friends at some point what kind of relationship is a slate debate i think it's going to be pretty bumpy at least for the beginning until until this whole thing settles down. it's been

a fairly poisonous negotiating process for the last 9 months and before that most of the people in various johnson's government have a track record of saying very rude things about the european union so i don't think it is going to be easy there's an awful lot that remains still to be done this deal deals with goods trade and says ok they'll be tariff and quota 3 there's practically nothing in that about services trade which is far more important to britain so there's an enormous amount actually still to be organized. setbacks it's a add to the growing independence movement in scotland how can say and people in britain about this. i think that's going to become the biggest you now know is just will the united kingdom hold together as a union having left the european union the scottish people voted very

clearly well over 60 percent to remain in the european union and now the scottish national party which voted absolutely clearly yesterday against this deal they're going to win i'm pretty certain the next elections in scotland and demand another referendum boris johnson is going to try and resist it so that's one pressure on the union but the other one is in northern ireland because as you said in your introduction there's going to be a new effective border between northern ireland and the rest of britain nor the nile it is in future going to be in many ways closer to the republican than it is to the rest of the united kingdom and that's i think he's going to raise a lot of new tensions there as well all right that's clinton pale state of chatham house in london thank you thank you. let's take a look at some of the international stories on kong media tycoon and democracy have

the kids jimmy lie has been ordered back to jail after the city's highest court sided with a request to deny him bail why was granted bail by a low of course last week he is one of the highest profile figures charged and a new security rules imposed by beijing in june. in the u.s. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has blocked a version on whether to boost covert 1000 relief checks to americans the move defies president donald trump's poor to raise the amount from 600 to 2000 dollars the proposal to increase aid passed with a bipartisan majority in the house. more than 10 people are missing after a landslide struck in the weekend village of drum north of oslo authorities evacuated some 700 residents off to the early morning disaster which left at least 10 injured

emergency services also searching for survivors and securing homes teetering on the edge of the crater left by the slide. at these 22 people have been killed and dozens wounded in an attack at aden international airport in yemen the blasts went off just as members of the new unity government returned from saudi arabia so far no group has claimed responsibility the original blast was followed by a mother explosion near the presidential palace several hours later. it was meant to be a moment to celebrate. the newly formed power sharing cabinet disembarking u.a.e. backed southern separatists joining forces with the saudi backed internationally recognized government but then. several explosions rocked the airport authorities say a volley of ballistic missiles were fired by the unity government common rival iran back to the rebels witnesses described hearing sporadic gunfire soon after.

hours later another explosion was reported near the presidential palace in aden. and this was a cowardly terrorist attack. the government is in aden to stay. and to exercise its duties and operations with the strong will of our people who. are acts of terror will not stop forces from doing our work. with. the ministers have all been reported safe after the attack they were returning from the saudi capital where they had been sworn in as part of a new power sharing agreement the 2 science have for what's been called a civil war within a civil war but after months of armed conflict a peace deal was implemented and focus was redirected on a joint front against the who thinks who sees the country's capital sanaa in 2014

plunging the country into an ongoing civil war. while no one has claimed responsibility for the attack at aden a force of blame has fallen on the iran backed rebels this power in yemen is threatened by the new government alliance. chancellor angela merkel has called on germans to help beat the pandemic by sticking to the rules in the weeks and months ahead in her final new year's address merkel said that germany had faced quote hard times but that there was hope inside now that vaccinations have started she said 2020 had been the most challenging year of her day caves and the hoth as chancellor and that the country had never longed for a new year the way it is now medical is to just step down before the next election in september. after a year defined by coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns people around the world are eager to show 2020 of the dole preparations are underway to bring in the new

but it's evident celebrations will be a lot more muted this evening. praying for good fortune the shamans in peru made offerings for a healthy 2021 of the ritual is an annual tradition one that is the for tickler important this year. for ok. back times square in new york city preparations are under way for another important tradition for more than a century people have flocked to the city that never sleeps on new year's eve this year will be quite different times square will be closed to the public as the countdown to 2021 goes virtual. you know you will see less people here in times square we're going to have more hope than ever because we cannot wait for 2021 the light is at the end of the tunnel and here we are filled with out the mood of the.

celebrations will also be subdued across the atlantic in germany after the government banned the sale of fireworks even though existing stockpiles can still be lit some are looking forward to the prospect of a quieter new year's eve. as we had to do new fire lighting firecrackers i never liked them so i'm not very sad about it doesn't exist on national it's understandable that you can sit down together and have a drink think 3 i'm not opposed to it british this is better that way there's dozens right now. famous concert halls used to playing to sold out crowds will be performing with out audiences this new year's eve. the show will go on virtually as people look forward to a fresh start. the pandemic postponed many events planned this year to mark the

250th anniversary of livy and beethoven's birth but the documentary on the possible project can be viewed online it invited musicians worldwide stu creates their own compositions inspired by symphony number 6 entitled the sound of nature it's an homage to the natural world and the p. for climate protection. symphony number 6 in f. major beethoven's hand to nature. i do believe music has an enormous power and i think nature has an even greater power projects that bring those 2 together are a great great opportunity for mankind to rethink where we are what we are more which are all the documentary sound of nature spans 5 continents and showcases musicians with wide ranging musical styles the works created especially for the project all inspired by beethoven's pastoral symphony in iceland in india.

as well as ethiopia. in the. colombia. west. and the strange. the project is not to stick love letter to our planet as a composer i do feel strongly linked to composers of the past. i'm incredibly inspired by what some are like beethoven a tray ved it sort of drives me for sure. the love of music and nature unite us all but today most open and beethoven's time there's the will to save nature climate protection is of primary importance.

nature is a reflection of ourselves what we're doing to the to the planet is what we're doing to ourselves we took a lot of the oil. the sound of nature and now to the beauty in this world to me sick and to the proof that the spirit of beethoven lives on. and there was. indeed evan is up next as doxil find out more about that movie making powerhouse in nigeria nollywood more news and updates you can visit our website you can follow us on social media as well were at the news i was even got myself back at the top of the album when music headlines for and speak at sing it about.

2 love. beyond. all of the stories that matter to. us. whatever it takes. a running nut. job. made for mines.

lagos nigeria home of africa's biggest film industry. in terms of production output it's considered the 2nd largest in the world after india bought ahead of hollywood. a new york times article published in 2002 coins the industry's popular name. nollywood became popular through a certain type of film shot with digital cameras telling stories based on the dreams and fears of nigerian society distributed in bulk on street markets. never what's in those over 60 movies come out in the markets today a new nollywood is emerging it generates an annual turnover of over $500000000.00 u.s. dollars and produces the superstars of the african continent the majority are also

going to lose problem i think. with glitz and drama the industry outshines its humble origins in an ordinary electronics market we started this business we outsourced them in this business to get in the market and they came in and. mount st vendors continue to lay claim to nollywood a new breed of investor has entered the business. now the last we were earning around $30000.00 a month that was totally ok and then this american comes along and says your business is worth $9000000.00 make something of it it's an industry on steroids and make up that type. of singing with entertainment was huge it's a jungle out here what is what it was a jungle america it was a jungle child out there they don't when india was becoming all the way he's becoming you know this in methods to the madness our girl go out there to compete

on the world stage that's when the wood is good. plan. the industry was born here in lagos. the african metropolis has a population of over 14000000. it's a city that promises much but demands even more.

lagos proles over a series of islands all connected to the mainland by a network of concrete bridges. urban development can't keep up with its exploding population. of only. 2 thirds go. around 2 thirds of lagos ians live in slum areas like here in the cocoa a community built on stilts between lagos island and the mainland. the economy depends on trade through lagos is industrial homes.

crude oil is nigeria's economic lifeblood it accounts for much of its federal revenues. deny jungle meant. they have been telling us right from when the danger to land is in this toy money for the country they want to focus on it in because they know that they cannot rely heavily on oil revenue and the revenue that they can where they can game one if only from the that the main industry by to fulfill. culture journalist who sign it has been reporting on nollywood for over 20 years he's particularly interested in the generation that started the business you need to know your past to know where you're headed in the future you need to know those who lead the foundation what with their visions what we're trying to prove what we're doing things that they wanted to achieve you know with the industry. a film released in 1992 marks the birth of nollywood. living in bondage was

a significant drop in the whole mix of films that were made at that time. it tells the story of andy an unemployed man whose debts drive him to despair. he meets an old friend there introduces him to a world of luxury. and his desire to join the club of the rich and beautiful draws him into an occult brotherhood. and. the price of membership is high. and he is confronted with

a moral issue. in the end he chooses the money over his wife. shortly after her death and the now rich marries another woman. despite the material comfort and his life takes a turn for the last. man . his wife's ghost returns to haunt and terrorize him and he eventually goes insane. the only source of

hope left for andy is jesus christ. living in bondage to find one of the most important nollywood chartreuse the get rich quick film it's narrative structure has a strong message of christian faith which remains a standard element of nigerian films today. oh. 0000000000000 yeah. oh yeah. the movie about andy's rise and fall became a commercial hit sold as a v.h.s. tape in street markets. today the hub of this distribution system is located in an electronics market in the western part of lagos. these 2 men belong to a task force of the market traders association a kind of substitute police force that patrols the vast labyrinth of

a larger market. nollywood occupies its own section of the market so. production and distribution of the films are managed by this. same people the mafia traders also nollywood movie producers. the associations chairman is samuel and that can't do it otherwise known as magnetic link was on the board is out to get on this market going to 90 percent of the contents are not made up in other words that means the implant on top i love more so forth you're not about we started this business we are so often in this business that you would be just the next guy is in the days to come i thought i know. you saw in too much money safe anywhere i've been down this long not england was shot my 9 minutes that led to

a reform school is over 60 movies spam out in the markets just like they did the business used in limits of movies yes i do want to use to do. many long long breath you know more are given it seems like it's all down to our bread at our own 5 long breath i had to wear a new rig there yes. that. is the most important but not the only market for some pretty used films in nigeria the total number of films produced in nigeria is a long time. so we need 3 boards up in all of bodies to go for scores of that is why it is operated once you send it out all fixed up. for quite some time this was the only method of distribution.

but that changed in 2010 when 2 men with a bold business idea arrived in bangkok's. one of them was german investor boston gotten. it since i'm a. the 1st time i was in the a lot of market there were many white people there everyone looks at you as if to say what are you doing here. since i went up to one of the nollywood guys selling video c.d.'s it was a small market booth everyone was hot and sweating. his english wasn't easy for me to understand. i wanted to buy the rights for some of his films but i didn't know if he really owned the rise sheerly he said it was hard for me to figure out what was going on i hadn't spent much time in nigeria it was still unfamiliar to me and i trust this guy or not i didn't have such a clear feeling but i thought no fun. the initiative behind the venture came from a friend of qantas jason

a british citizen with nigerian roots who had the idea to distribute nollywood films through you tube got to raise the initial capital on the london stock exchange after completing a degree in economics as a derivatives trader for the oil company british petroleum and standish to those who know when things finally got going and we bought our 1st 100 films they were really cheap because people weren't so internet savvy at the time. we acquired $100.00 films for $10000.00 and put them online and food we made $2000.00 a day. we thought wow. we're going to make a lot of dough in just 5 days we recovered our investment and thought let's buy more. when i was still working on the trading floor so i asked a few of my buddies there if they were interested in getting into the film business and nigeria. they said sure we're in. the not life and we need to gather another

$200000.00 and went on a serious shopping spree. so the move is a just business initially he was surprised by the popularity. a sharp contrast for the producers. who know exactly why their films are so successful. welcome welcome welcome welcome. says the producer of a popular film about sheen a rambo in the most successful film in the history of the world yes in the history of the making in the in the market this is the most successful film. the movie is based on the legend of. a criminal sent to have carried out a series of spectacular robberies in the 1990 s. his name pays homage to the hollywood action classic starring sylvester stallone.

is a member. of this country and he does this new pinnacle because of the sham he. offered on believing that penetrate into his body. in the film supernatural powers come from a magical snake. nollywood films often make use of the vast treasure of west african oral tradition. sound and moving images give new life to well known narratives and make them magic appear. for you to make money you must think of these don't just think of good movies alone

. all fake love the one we hear from. it was well by them the person if he has on the movies here and that one is involved he most want to see that 1st. christianity is also a strong source of inspiration for michael and he often develops scientists based on compelling stories from the old testament 5 i think. it does a giant here and there's a small defeat here on earth and i was told ok everybody would love to get it there's a put i'm going to going to see the john so when you just make david just go to giant and and kill him is not most of you i love the giant.