over a 7 day period if infection numbers begin to spike then the measures will quickly be reversed however contact restrictions between households will be slightly eased as of next week the reopening strategy also focuses on vaccinations and mass testing jabs will soon be available at many family doctors to try and boost vaccination numbers starting next monday people in germany will get access to one free rapid test a week merkel said the regional leaders understood the public's desire for normalcy but stressed optimism shouldn't come without caution when you think the old go to our job now to make sure that the next steps we take are smart ones the steps should allow us to open up a bit more but at the same time they should set us back months in this pandemic. with the elections looming and public pressure growing regional leaders want to curb restrictions quickly but they also want to avoid having to potentially return

to yet another lockdown. so what does that exactly mean our political correspondent nina is standing by to shed some light on that nina is this the much awaited change of strategy. well it is a change of strategy whether this is the end of the whole debate and the entire crisis that's a completely different matter of course the new more contagious varian's already make up about 50 percent of new infections here and the infection numbers have started rising again even though germany has been in lockdown for 3 months here and if you add to that sluggish start to vaccination process and a complete lack of testing strategies so far you've got a situation where many people have been losing patients and they've become very vocal in their criticism of the government's handling of this crisis and they say simply extending the locked down ever and ever again is not going to work anymore

and i'm glad medical had wanted to allow opening up of areas only if the number of new infections was very low but now she's been overruled by the 16 leaders of the federal stays here who say we can cope with slightly higher infection figures and open up carefully if we step up vaccination and testing massive yet the same time so in practical terms. what does it mean for people like you and me for average people around. i just had to bring this chart with me because it is a very german thing to do of course we've got a 5 step plan but to be honest with you it is very difficult to understand even for people like us who deal with topics like these on a daily basis and so basically the new rules of this 5 step plan are you need to know just where your local area stands in terms of new infections and depending on that figure your regional government will then decide just which areas can reopen when so him berlin for example will be lower $100.00 new infections per 100000

people in one week and that means that our regional government can allow for museums to open from next week onward for example if they have a clear hygiene concept and then we need to wait 2 weeks and see whether the numbers a stable and then berlin can open theaters and allow for outdoor dining with negative test result etc and so on but it is very difficult to understand frankly and the opposition is slamming the crisis management and communication of the government as a total disaster and it is true that the info on this chart for example is not available in languages other than german yet for example well it's incredibly confusing who are people reacting. it depends who you ask and 1st the rules are very hard to understand and the opposition are extremely vocal in their criticism they're calling on young spawn the health minister to resign for a matter of reasons and many observers slam it as a slap in the face fungal americal the chancellor has had to cave in to pressure

from those who've wanted to open up for a long time but then we asked people in the streets here in berlin today and you have to say that many of them do see the conflict that the government is finding itself in the pressure is there to open up but at the same time there's the real risk of running into the 3rd wave which is also what top fire ologists of warning that this decision to open up gradually is the beginning of the 3rd wave that might hit me hard so briefly what about the vaccination drama what we heard about the local g.p.'s that will be allowed to do the vaccinations in their practices from the end of the month some say better late than never and then there was some good news today that astra zeneca will also be recommended officially for people who are older than 65 also here in germany and that will then hopefully help ease the supply constraints which have led to this very slow vaccine rollout in this country . our political correspondent. thank you nina

and i have some other stories making headlines around the world police in sweden say they are investigating a possible terrorism motive after 8 people were wounded in a stabbing rampage the suspected attacker was shot and arrested by police following the incident in the southern town that london police say they did not have any prior to mention about an attack that. the european union says a unilateral move by britain to extend the grace period for border checks between northern ireland and the rest of the u.k. is a breach of international law the u.s. strictly legal action saying the extension violates the terms of the brakes a deal. the international criminal court has opened a probe into alleged war crimes committed in the palestinian territories since 2015 investigation will target both the israeli military and the palestinian militant group hamas comes after the i.c.c. ruled last month that it have your station over territories occupied by israel

including the west bank and the gaza strip. united nations human rights chief has called on me amal security forces to hold crackdown on peaceful protesters and release those unlawfully detained it comes after the bloodiest day since the military coup began last month a total of 38 people were killed on wednesday as people gathered across the country to bury and mourn the victims the mistresses continued pro-democracy protests leaders from a small. yesterday she was a protester today perception carries her body through the streets of mandalay carlson a 19 year old university student shot in the head during a protest against the military on wednesday. at her funeral relatives surrounded her open coffin as mourners passed by paying their respects all singing revolutionary songs and chanting anti can slow down. a green emboldened

protesters have returned to the streets of me in march with a clear understanding of what's at stake they know their defiance of the military coup could cost them their lives and all of the obama we don't want anything from them we just demand that our mother and censored she is back and the power is on the people sans we don't want the military ruling the country that's why we're protesting and i'm also ready to die instead of others when soldiers come back again at the minimum. and i don't think the military to his rant up its response with a show of force scrambling fighter jets to make several low a. altitude passes over mandalay. with both sides unwilling to back down meehan maher remains on a razor's edge. over him and termed as

a journalist covering the violent crackdown and joins us from young on approach this is a back on the streets in several cities is the situation there escalating again today. yeah so we haven't seen the sort of violence that we saw yesterday today although we do see that protesters are out with even more but it's and the barricades that they have been constructing all week long have gotten more and more sophisticated as these have gone on and the bear is that we're seeing today are even more ordered by they've been using sandbags as well as very large shopping types to have been left out on the streets because both the coup and the m.r.c. situation we're told bit. and it's unclear when and why security forces choose to use just the sort of deadly force that we saw yesterday as well as on sunday well the u.n. special envoy has called wednesday the bloodiest day since the military junta

overthrew the elected government why the intensification of violence that you also just described. so if we look at the numbers of people being killed and where they're being killed you can see that there's a concentration in places like mandalay yet. and mentally i'm on your i have declared themselves. cities who are not accountable to military regime and many houses and yet also declare themselves to be self minister and so it's quite likely that the military is focusing the majority of their force in these areas because they are the ones showing the most public and systematic resistance to military rule. but so far the appears to be ignoring international condemnations and sanctions what more do protesters a need to end support from the international community. protestors have been calling for global arms embargo on myanmar as well as on all nation states around

the world to not legitimize the 5 ensuring that if they are speaking with the military council that they only speak with them in order to try and facilitate those she will let the government and not work with too as in these i was proposing just 2 weeks ago. to a new election in that year and so it's actually to withdraw any sort of legitimacy from the military council. journalist as a mentor and thank you very much for joining us today. it is one of the world's most spectacular displays of political theater china's annual national people's congress starts on friday the delegates welcomed president xi jinping in a ceremonial event today congress largely rubber stamps decisions already made by the communist party elite does give some indication of where china is headed the

country's leadership uses the meeting as an opportunity to roll out some of its most important new look. red flags are flying on tiananmen square head of the most important event on china's political calendar this year's national people's congress takes on a special significance as a coincides with the centenary of the founding of the communist party. it's been a big year for china the only major economy to grow during the pandemic delegates are expected to approve its 5 year plan a blueprint to expand the middle class which already counts $400000000.00 people. it's quick rebound from the coronavirus means china couldn't see america as the world's largest economy by 2030 so so the economic nerds are going to be looking much more us where the economy years in terms of momentum through 2021 year over year. but it's going to be you know it's good growth. that will get

around 7 or 8 percent would be my guess. president xi jinping will aim to keep the focus on national pride innovation and self-sufficiency in the run up to the congress he launched a major propaganda campaign to claim poverty in rural china with over. the congress will also move to quash any criticism of the communist party china wants to tighten its grip further in hong kong the high profile trials of hong kong democracy activists has brought attention to beijing's crackdown in the territory it wants to ensure hong kong is firmly under the control of what the party calls chinese patriots. we've already seen some very difficult days recently and on kong and over the past few months use in again and again and n.b.c. beijing his comment to be so he set rules and change the laws if they don't action and i think it will be very all eyes will be there to see is the n.p.c.

yet this thing going to be getting more laws which are going to direct him and all kong i'm reducing the role of on kong own people running all the congress also gives an insight into china's defense budget last year military spending fell to its lowest in 3 decades it was rising international tensions especially over taiwan but also over the south china sea could see the congress approving more money for the armed forces this year let's bring in our reporter cliff coonan who is monitoring the annual event in china for us and filed that report that we've just seen cliff aside from celebrating itself or can we expect from china's national people's congress. well i think we can expect a lot of unanimous opposing a choreographed applause and we can expect. a lot of this political theater that we're talking about earlier a lot of red. on the other hand it is the only way to be out of finding out the

direction the communist party sees china going so it does provide a kind of an insight into things and with that in mind looking out. we'll be looking at the 5 year plan which will give some indication of the economy in particular and where china sees itself going in that way and we can also maybe expect something more in hong kong which has been much in the news of late because of the national security lot of beijing imposed on that on the territory and given that it's such a high profile event i think there could be some sort of steering patriotic message to make sure that. people in hong kong know what's expected of them from from their communist party. if it stays with us for a moment beijing says it has succeeded in eradicating extreme poverty by 2021 but things are not always a clear cut are they let's take

a look at what farmers in some of the impoverished rural counties have to say. another bumper crop for me geology his orange business has blossomed over the past few years as soon that he can now afford a brick house a sign of wealth in a rural county in central china. he says all of this was made possible by government assistance. from gumball the ledge of socialist and the government were very helpful in poverty alleviation where they were not to develop the orchards. which had a south main source of income here and they supported it well i can earn 4 to 5000 euros a year right now that's a lot harder for. me is the shine. example of china's go to eradicate extreme poverty by 2021. in 2014 president xi jinping announced release tragedies to aid the poor government officials went door to door to assess household income and

provided aid. now beijing says it's achieved its target. george and barbara almost 100000000 rural impoverished population have been lifted out of poverty in one journalist show for which initiate the hazardous task of eradicating absolute poverty trunks all are you creating another incredible. surrogate. but some critics say she's official version isn't the full story they say his government set the poverty threshold to low here in biology in some farmers who have officially expat party still struggle with says his harvest has not improved despite government aid to diversify his crops. i have 2 sons who go outside to others when they're free but as they can earn some

money to sustain a living i'm nearly 70 and my wife is over 65 we cannot work like this living in such a poor shape. leo and his family of 5 wish to move to a better home like others they know but for now they have to stay in this wooden house which does little to keep them warm the 67 year old still hopes that one day his farm will bring them the wealth he has long wished for. like so have a contrary reports from 2 farmers that are what are we to believe that. well i think what you're seeing here is the difference between a political campaign and on an economic policy. and politics and economics are very mixed up in china with the communist party's policies on things like poverty i think what you see is huge and pain making a statement and there's no way that statement that target is not going to be met so in real terms people have gotten have gotten better off in china but if you got

someone earning your of 50 a day and suddenly there are only 2 euros a day it doesn't necessary it means they're less core but they're still in a place in many ways so i think that's really what you're seeing here is a kind of it's much more of a political campaign going on. and i think that he'll them sort know as china if it softens up to you being the 2nd biggest economy in the world and the only the only major one that's actually grew during the pandemic if we sort of get a wide angle picture of what i mean implications on the world stage for its competitors namely the u.s. . well i think am the broader picture from the onset of the campaign is there has been growth in the economy and the economy has been growing very strongly it's the only economy to major economy to grow during the pandemic and it's been flexing its economic muscle of late a loss because the u.s.

is being flagging as no and europe has assigned a comprehensive agreement and investment agreement with china because it desperately needs chinese imports so certainly it's in a very strong economic place i'm putting that against what's happening in america where. they're still very much dealing with the pandemic and it means that what we have is a kind of a systemic struggle here and that china is def me trying to take advantage of the relative weakness of the u.s. right now and to build up and this is the defining relationship in global geopolitics between the u.s. and china and i think that there's a lot of issues that are coming coming forward now we've had issues like the labor camps and she jiang where the u.s. is late recently labeled as genocide and you've also had the situation on kong and other areas where china's human rights records are being criticized by the u.s.

so this systemic battle is really going to be the one that we're watching now and i think. and a lot of that systemic bottle the weapon will be economy and trade because the chinese have got this economic muscle now and the u.s. needs to get its economy going indeed the rest of the world needs to get the economy going now once this pandemic is finally behind us so i think that's what we're looking at now in the years going forward. cliff atoning from d.w. business and our resident china russia thank you cliff. now that's a look at some other world news space x. is the latest unmanned rocket exploded just minutes after landing the test was initially declared a triumph with a starship s n 10 for you the space company's only successful vertical landing but shortly afterwards it burst into flames the prototype rockets are being developed to carry people to the moon and later to mars israel's environment protection minister has

accused iran of links to a catastrophic oil spill off the israeli coast spill as one of the country's worst ever if a logical disasters israel says it's found the ship responsible for the slick and is calling it environmental terrorism there has been no immediate comment from iran . buckingham palace says prince philip has undergone a successful heart procedure the 99 year old has been to queen elizabeth the 2nd as been in hospital for more than 2 weeks the palace says he was treated for preexisting condition and will remain in hospital to a huge prate. now berlin's international film festival often showcases documentaries which thanks largely to streaming services moved from a more nice offering right into the mainstream on the festivals thursday we're taking a closer look at 2 films in particular. and

this is opened. ok we're having some technical problems that are just waiting for by the residents on me what to do next i think that's it for now you're up to date not fully slightly up next his focus on europe so stay on for that and remember there's always a lot more news and stories about business news and current affairs on r.t.w. news up and also on the website e.w. dot com and do follow us on social media we're on instagram and on the twitter. handle is absent d w news on get out also as in the end thanks for once. oh

boy.

good. game trafficking and brute force in the netherlands 16 drug dealers are now on trial it is the largest criminal charges. and involves the kind of violence that the netherlands has never seen. at the heart of the issue lies one.

truly controls the country some can see the world. next on g.w. . into the conflict zone to sebastien. the world health organization is on the fall from douglas and so is. so loose ends with during the pandemic my guess is we should go to make this the european leaders are going to call the w.h.o. comes clean guess who knows asians somebody's got to stand up for the joy well it needs to. conflict zones. in 60 minutes. forced to listen to. their bodies.

the history of the slave trade africa's history. the greed for power and profit plummeted and entire context to chaos and violence. this is the journey back into the history of slavery. our documentary series slavery routes starts march 10th on the d w. a low and welcome to focus on europe with me liz show glad to have your company today recently german authorities seized the largest haul of cocaine ever found in the country the drugs were discovered in containers at the port of palm book they were

hidden in tins that were supposed to contain walls filler but when officials cans the cargo they found a total of 16 tons of co-pay. apparently the officers had been tipped off by sources in the netherlands this doesn't come as much of a surprise given that the country is a major gateway for drug smuggling to europe but now dutch authorities wants to take serious action and some high profile drug lords have been charged in one of the biggest trials ever in the country defense lawyer. is familiar with the drug scene and he knows a lot about the brutal world of his clients. scarred to streeter's defense lawyers public prosecutors and judges arrive at the heavily fortified courthouse some of the most kept their identity hidden because of death threats they're working on one of the biggest criminal cases in dutch history.

centered on the. reader one time. police have offered 100000 euro for information about his whereabouts he was one of europe's most wanted fugitives until his arrest in dubai 16 ordered to fund and are now on trial with em. it's about vast sums of money in the drug trade and on president acts of gangland of violence and about whether the state has it under control for instance there was a herd that was caught off and was found in front of a seashell large. lawyers are being murdered or sometimes over feeling like they put some inspiration from what they see in. numerous shootings and attacks on torch song and have been linked to these underworld figures but who are they and how could they become so powerful. this building in history i'm so damn houses vito sugarless office the attorney defends individual standing trial for murder and drug

trafficking some of his clients belong to the so-called democracy mafia whose members often have moroccan roots grandmas they take over in those neighborhoods and they show the boss there and people listen to them and they see if i commit a murder i can also drive a nice mercedes and also have a nice watch and also have 4 women and champagne bottles in the club. for cocaine trade is highly lucrative each day some $40000.00 containers arrive at rotterdam's a vast port only a fraction of them are checked criminals have infiltrated the ports system. last year an estimated 600 tons of the drug often hidden among bananas and other fruit shipments arrived here cocaine worth of least 50000000000 euros reached europe via the ports of antwerp and rotterdam with that amount of cocaine a lot of money comes in and people get rich very fast and if someone is absurd and

has for him out of 500000000 to his dispose and. hire hit men to do as he pleases it undermines the whole government structure. the mafia bribes officials and business figures and its influence doesn't and there. on one occasion a cocaine shipment was concealed in a pineapple consignment small as well as if you have someone in the harbor who knows where it went there is who can check the computer someone who picks it up with the truck you also have to have the right paper so everything allows it has to fit perfectly you know. the cocaine delivery hidden among the pineapples was intercepted but most shipments go undetected and demand for the drug is growing that's why more and more criminal networks want a piece of the pie. last summer at least downs

a major blow for the mafia. for weeks investigators have been reading criminals encrypted chat messages. when the operation risk feel exposed europol agent struck. seizing weapons drugs and arresting suspects all over europe. authorities even found a torture chamber with a repurposed dentist chair. vito successfully defended one individual accused of accessory to murder his legal skills have gained him a strong reputation in gangland circles sugarless has arranged for us to meet one of his clients who wishes to conceal his identity the man won't talk to us about the ongoing trial of the you want to break him not to give up a little younger generation needs to consider the kinds of problems they could face what will they do with all the money it would necessarily keep you alive and what's

the point of all those expensive toys when you're dead in a coffin or that barricade both in against the man says he now has a car dealership and a few other businesses as he puts it we ask why he defends suspected criminals i know how to feel because i used to be one of those children back in the days when i went to school. people also tried to stop me to go to the gymnasium sometimes you don't get the same opportunities. in a different way the police and the prosecutor's office like to describe. public prosecutors have called the crime network a well oiled killing machine says the state wants to prove it is not succumbing to narco gangs but the cocaine shipments keep pouring in the trial in amsterdam looks set to go on for some time accuse gang leader tacky as much prosecutors during the to hunt down a life sentence meanwhile others have already taken his place in the underworld.

this woman was a pioneer her name is valentino. and in 1953 she became the 1st woman to travel to space her successful mission made her a role model for women everywhere her achievement was also a symbol of gender equality in her home country but almost 60 years later they are many jobs that women in russia are officially banned from doing because they are allegedly too dangerous for example it is an adult was not allowed to drive a subway train but this year things changed. women are finally in the driving seat and are pushing full speed ahead on gender equality in the russian capital. is doing her dream job as a metro driver she started working at the moscow metro almost 18 years ago at the time she didn't know that women couldn't legally drive the subway trains now they

finally can and the rena says for her it was worth the wait. yeah exactly. i used to send planes with the boy my father was a pilot i'd like technical stuff because i was little so why the metro somehow it drew me in the fact that it's underground i guess it's like flying but under the ground. before every shift irina gives the metro train she'll be driving a once over she looks for damage and vandalism and checks that all the fire extinguishers are where they should be a moment of calm before the empty cars fill up with commuters again irina has a lot of experience dealing with passengers she worked as a station guard on the platform for years now as a driver she tries to get a sense of each individual metro train her connection to the train she's driving feels almost spiritual to her. in russia people say the way

a ship sails depends on what name you give it. train like a person and i think each train has a soul to. want to train i drove her to me. most of the math. the feeling of driving the metro it's like i feel happiness. i'm happy when i'm driving . the rena is proud to be one of the 1st 12 female metro drivers after all the moscow subway is legendary its construction began in the 1930 s. at the time the soviet government wanted to build a palace for the people for commuting workers and it shows. in the 1980 s. the government banned women from the driver's seat of these trains they said the metro is too deep underground too loud and too dark to be safe for women and they said the constant vibration from the trains could damage women so-called child

bearing function. a new generation brought new trains and a drive for change though it's not quite a u.-turn for now women drivers are only being deployed in the most modern trains and only on the field line which runs over ground for part of its route and that's just by the fact the women have the exact same training as their male counterparts according to them we don't differentiate between women and men through training program all the metro drivers need to know which at the base of course they are still the 1st women themselves this metro line is less busy with the volume of passengers isn't quite as high. because this line runs mainly overground it is less of a health risk than the most. the moscow metro has been celebrating its new generation of women drivers they even released a limited edition barbie for the occasion admittedly not the most clear cut symbol for gender equality their advertisements for the dolls in the subway itself you can

be who you want to be is the slogan but for women in russia that's still not quite true. metal manufacturing like the work in this is still off limits to women mining and drilling on an oil rig are also considered men's work $100.00 jobs are still banned for women the list of found jobs. was initially introduced after the 2nd world war to drive up the birth rate this year the russian government published an updated list but lawmakers in the country are still driven by traditional family values and deep seated patriarchal attitudes. nears no. women with care here. just the existence of jobs and hard labor are still seen as men's work in our society there were also women and mothers. so providing for and taking care of their health and their reproductive functions is important.

that is why we used recommendations from doctors to determine factors that are harmful to women at work. that it. is on her way to work she does her commute there on the metro to mixing with the other passengers ahead of her shift. i think the moment will come when the government allows women to carry out the band professions i'm sure they are working on it to ratify. the bans must be in place for a reason the government is taking care of women. i would tell other women to keep believing and keep hoping and that dream will come true to you. no matter who you want to become everything is possible. already has her dream job and the next group of women will start training to become drivers soon but outside of these metro tunnels gender equality is still a long way away. it is paving the way for others and

her new job is much better paying than many jobs normally done by women in russia. home schooling is pretty challenging for many parents during the cold at 19 pandemic how do you come up with ideas to motivate and keep kids busy nathan jones was faced with that same question only that his case is special lives in the u.k. with his son noah the 12 year old boy has a physical disability is bound to a wheelchair and he can't speak so his father designed an art project that has turned noah into quite a celebrity he now goes by the nickname background bob. these are the one expired international artists in collaboration with background bob that's 12 year old noah and his father nathan. oh i suffers from cerebral palsy and

epilepsy he's unable to speak but he hand paints with nathan's help. the 2 of them create backgrounds and other artists then add their designs. nathan explains that it all began last year to give nell us something to do during the lockdown. we went out to the carriage and smoke our order and we just started entering your coke or not. just your friends not all america shopped out just a bit found the will collaborate with you. and by the end of the 1st day i think you are just really involved and it just grew from there they began sending that colorful backgrounds out across the world and a whole load of artwork returned from spain australia colombia and many other countries. no one loves getting post that

isn't from his doc says that a little out in background always become the new name of. the hour iraq for his school background although. it knows all of the attention. no i need help coordinating his movements but he communicates what he wants very open and change the colors so i hold out true colors on which one he. looks back musing i gazing is the color. of the paper if and when he worked his magic song goes only cobwebs and doesn't. retard forged can't you read nicely and then also goes on to slink off and i guess everywhere. background up with an instant success on social media there was even a real life exhibition the family can hardly keep up with the demand for backgrounds and now the book has come out to showcase the works the next step is to

auction off the artworks with the proceeds going to hospitals and clinics when no one gets his treatment.