your own mind. made for minds. this is news live from berlin pope francis arrives in iraq for their 1st ever visit to the country the pontiff it is urging iraq's twiddling number of christians to state courts and help rebuild after years of war and persecution. also on the show a year after coronavirus forced china into shocked it's setting off plans to bounce

back the country shifted its focus from fighting the virus to longer term economic goals beijing also outlines electoral reforms that will tighten its grip on hong kong. activists and tell us they are prepared to die for democracy as another protester is reported dead in the city of mandalay more than 50 demonstrators have been killed since the military coup began. and the gold back goes to we'll tell you which film has won the top prize at the ballet knowledge international film festival. as well come to the program pope francis has arrived in baghdad at the start of a historic 4 day tour of iraq it's the 1st time the pope has ever visited the

country the 84 year old head of the catholic church touched down in the capital an hour ago there are heightened fears. as over security at the nationwide coronavirus curfew francis will meet with political and religious leaders and visit the former islamic state stronghold mosul counter-terror measures have been beefed up after a spate of rocket and suicide bomb attacks in recent weeks. before this historic visit i'm not joined by d.w. religious affairs analyst mohsin gawked monson why is the pope visiting the country now being the main interest of the vatican these 2 should lie on and on a conflict immune situation for the christian community which has been essentially eclipsed by a sort of whole series of other crisis does that have got your international attention so you know much in the usual way that this pope travels to places to

highlight in each room he's doing better known in iraq where you know the christian community has been under enormous pressure for the last few years i mean in a region that has been in constant conflict for the better part of 2025 year 20 years for 20 years and the numbers of the community have been told from 1400000 believe verse or faithful to will somewhere in there either of 250000 or so on these pictures we're seeing many people welcoming france is in baghdad today and the pub also wants to celebrate a mass with thousands of believers during a worldwide pandemic is that considered to be a good idea. well there's been a lot of criticism bed i think that what we're seeing in this images is precisely the problem. that you know vatican press to some degree swept aside which is the idea that you know even with the best of intentions governments cannot really offer

full control of crowds and essentially when you have something of this magnitude and which is to face the 1st visit of the pope to you know a country that has been to some degree being political as an isolation and only based on the current health crisis obviously you're bound you have a lot of people circulating and you know we burn a little capacity to control them so. they're used to the concerned her concern obviously that you know particularly the mass which good at tracked thousands of people this coming sunday in the north of the country could really become a super spreader event but you know the vatican takes the position that it's important to be out there with the people and this is the way in which they're trying to fulfill that what they see as their mission. martin stay with us the country is home to some of the oldest continuous christian communities in the well but the numbers of christians have dropped dramatically in recent years before we

come back to martin let's have a look at their history in the country. the katter cost church sits on the nineveh plain in iraq home to some of the earliest christian settlements centuries before islam established itself across the middle east. over time iraq became home to one of the world's most diverse christian communities featuring catholic how they in armenian orthodox protestant as well as other branches of christianity. then politicised we are sending a message to the pope and to the world that we are here to do that now while we are christians that are remaining on our land that our roots are here so that it is impossible to leave the homeland that embraced us let's see if that makes it must go to joe hockey is so. there were as many as an estimated 1400000 christians in the country at the start of the iraq war in 2003 sectarian conflict drove most of

them away in 2014 the so-called islamic state started targeting christians driving hundreds of thousands of them from their homes those who remain belong to many different branches of the faith. there's a crisis of instability our future is completely uncertain our faith has always saved us so far during the islamic state regime and the countless attacks on churches homes and villages it has helped us in iraq and it will continue to do so now through this phase and we love our country and are rooted here but if the situation keeps getting worse we may have to leave. the pope's visit is supposed to send a message of support but he'll also meet with the head of iraq's shiite muslim community sending a different message that the different faiths can get along. so much as

we heard the report many different variants of christianity that in iraq what does what role does the head of the catholic church really playful all those different christians in iraq today. well i mean every one of these every one of these denominations has been basically under enormous pressure so i mean on the one hand even though we can talk about different communities and different different denominations you know for essentially the forces that have been bingeing regularly over the ease of christian practice in iraq of course what they see as mostly just grist christians. what that means is that the pull coming to the area is not really just sort of something that will be sort of the standing of got the legs in the region or in the country but it will actually go beyond that and i think that it can be reckoned seen as presenting the case for the christian

community as a whole i think that for this vatican the question of into really just relations specially with with the muslim world has been very very important. and i think that in the conditions in which a christian community finds itself these gains obviously new new relevance did of his religious affairs analyst martin got that thank you martin it will. one year ago much of china was shut down to help contain the spread of coronavirus now the country has the pandemic largely under control and it's taking steps to get its economy back on track around $3000.00 delegates are attending the biggest event on china's political calendar the national people's congress over the course of the next week they'll be rubber stamping legislation prepared by the communist party elite setting china's political priorities for the next 5 years.

china lays out its plans for this year as it emerges from the pandemic at the top of the agenda the economy and hong kong china was the only major economy to see growth last year the nation is bouncing back things to its strong response to cope at 19 not raising warrants there is much work to be done. as the coronavirus continues to spread around the world instability and uncertainty are mounting on the international landscape and the global economy continues to face grave challenges domestically there are still weak links in our works to control covert 19 the foundation for achieving our country's economic recovery needs to be further consolidated barriers to consumer spending remain and investment growth lack sustainability. and. china's economic growth

target may be modest yet their plans for hong kong are anything but beijing wants to overhaul the territories electoral system citing loopholes and defects in the current system. comes in need but. wait measures must be taken to improve the election system of the hong kong special administrative region eliminate hidden dangers and risks in the systems and mechanisms and ensure that patriots are the main body of hong kong people administering hong kong. the china also announced it will boost defense spending by nearly 7 percent. there were other sound parliament is also expected to discuss environmental issues and social development over the next week. police in mia mom have opened fire on protesters in mandalay local media are reporting that one person has been killed

and young gone police appeared to use tear gas to disperse groups of antique demonstrators protests have intensified in several cities after 38 people were killed on wednesday united states has tightened export controls on myanmar faces move to sanction the military juntas deadly crackdown the un security council is due to hold talks on the crisis later today. where pro-democracy activists things are suddenly he is joining me now from young gone again demonstrations have been broken up by police one person was killed how did you experience today's protests. today you know even outside the group that crackdown right nice and military over different places you know many young still going out in protest in the daily so we've been protesting for he already we're not missing any single day so i'm at the same time today we've been

hearing one person was dart in mentally but in the end all my buddies yari i've been hearing different stand ready you know bones and not bones own you know still in the morning even today even right now i can hear them and still i've been here all that i'm louder attending out of the protester at the same time on the streets there was this really seems on broken despite the increasingly violent crackdown what's driving you and other members of the movement to keep going. there are many things that drives out keep going and the 1st thing is we can't rick's our shootout with with the crew you know with the military taken over the whole country that's the main thing and the 2nd thing is we are doing and then there are all that movement call c.d.n. civil disobedience movement so many civilians go south and moving so much air and

police the air dry mean the movement they have defecting the military and the police station so we are also making sure we could tap at the same time so why we keep the pressure out on the streets we hope we want to save them safe these civil servants from getting to rest at the police and military so this is the 1st and 2nd thing as you know we've been living and the military move over 6 decades in the past decades and decades and we were and there we were in that democratic transition that made me and the military draft a constitution and we work together a way about that and now we can't wait any longer to fight for a real democracy the nation so i think now all of us are asking our time risking all life on a daily basis to ensure we can have and you must be jewish and for the federal democratic nation so we heard about the u.n. security council talk about myanmar and the crisis that today international press the pressure on the junta is growing do you and your fellow protesters feel the

quickly supported internationally. you know myanmar is being on the news international news for so many year you can you still remember the roots are prices that in 4 years ago you know all about even before that in minority we'd be shunted our head out about the civil war going on the the brutality off the military soft for so many years i don't think they have done and now and the u.s. security council and all of the international community are already in follow what they should be doing for so many years by the so many is used in our resources so i think it is now or never so a u.n. security council messed up the scientists right now what to do because we've been suffering from the same military for so many years already in. protest activist things are surely you thank you very much for your time and are some of the other

stories making headlines around the world this hour in senegal police clashed with student protesters in the capital of the car police official said one person was killed it follows the detention of opposition leader whose mansong call on wednesday the rest has triggered the worst on rest seen in the west african country in years. authorities in new zealand have downgraded tsunami warning and told sounds of people they can return to their homes they have issued an evacuation alert after a series of powerful earthquakes off the country's northeastern coast. zoo in the sun jiggle how does vaccinated several of its great apes for the coronavirus after a troop of coriolis and its a farley became infected the world's 1st non-human primates to be vaccinated against kobe the apes with season experimenting salt designed especially for animals. german court has

blocked germany's domestic intelligence agency from monitoring the activities of the far right a.f.d. party yeah after you all turn to for germany it is the largest opposition party in the german parliament on wednesday several media outlets reported that germany's federal office for the protection of the constitution i drooled that the f.t. was suspected of right wing extremism and therefore be monitored but today a court in cologne decided that surveillance of the f.t. has to be suspended for now if you took ongoing legal challenge. on this i'm now joined by our political correspondent you know hands and you know how did the court arrive at that ruling and what does it mean the court says that they have all reason to believe that the domestic intelligence agency did not attend to the agreement to stay silent on its plans to put the entire party under surveillance or

that it did not do everything in its power to prevent details from the procedure from getting out and it added that the fact that details of the plan to put the entire under surveillance were apparently leaked to the press and that that amounts to a severe intervention in equal chances that all political parties have by law in this country so an even playing field if you will and it's true that because the case has not been closed in that court proceedings there have been this agreement that the agency would not publish any information on it we reported on that 2 days ago and when we did we always added this piece of information that we would not get official confirmation from the agency but it was clear that somebody within the agency leaked it to the press well the federal elections coming up in september of course which was as to the importance of this decision what does this verdict then means for the d. is it is it a victory for them. this news does look like a big success for the f.t.

a partial success which is why this story is such a big deal in the party chairman morton has already joked that we're dealing with a secret service that can't keep secrets and that will of course go down well with a 50 voters and there are many within gave the who are now saying that the move by the intelligence agency is politically motivated and the agency does on certain minister from the conservatives but is officially independent so that is of course going to feed into conspiracy theories justified or not and i spoke to an interior affairs expert who said it would also look politically motivated if the agency had had all this proof that the f.d.a. is right wing extremists and then they would have kept that information to themselves until after the elections so the news is out but ultimately it will be up to independent judges to decide whether the entire if the party is now officially classified right wing extremist or not and if you look at the party's voters many of the core voters are not deterred by racist sexist right wing

extremist statements that many party officials have been making in the public. or respondent as a thank you nina. now there's been widespread criticism of germany's decision to extend its coronavirus shutdown until the end of this month's chancellor angela merkel met with state leaders on wednesday and agreed to a very cautious reopening strategy the plan also includes measures to make rapid testing more widely available and to speed up the vaccine rollout so far germany has lagged behind many of its european neighbors in getting available doses into people's arms our chief political editor michel cousineau filed this report on how the country has arrived at this point i'm going to america has just resourceful to strategy on corona trying a new daunting balance in the face of a 3rd wave. it's good that we are taking steps to open up but they

must not set us back in our fight against the pandemic a drastic departure from her strategy so far which saw a lockdown after lockdown when infections rose the chancellor and her health minister yen span under pressure businesses are struggling and public opinion is shifting over the past year angela merkel has used lockdowns as her prime tool to keep covert at bay now growing frustration at the slow rollout of the vaccination program here in germany is mixing with lockdown fatigue and many are beginning to ask whether angle americal still has the right approach when the chancellor 1st directly address the nation on covert right at the beginning of the crisis she vowed that her government with think on its feet these are standard this is a dynamic situation and we will continue to learn as we go along so we can change course and react with other instruments in any time. biotech pfizer came up with

that instrument everyone wanted the 1st market ready vaccine but germany and the you had vaccinated just over 5 percent of their people by the time israel celebrated vaccinating almost its entire population taking the european way may have prevented an e.u. meltdown but it was painfully slow to look of course the vaccination effort was slow to get going. it's only now that germany is adding rapid test centers and home testing to its pandemic strategy months after austria merkel's new approach of opening up as mutations go pace is the wrong move says the opposition. i don't think that the measures which are taken between regional leaders and chancellor merkel yesterday will fit those u.s. situation and i think we are heading right into a 3rd wave overall support for the government's coronas strategy is still solid at

around 50 percent but it used to be more than 70 within 12 months i'm going to machall went from being europe's coronal leadership champion who managed to flatten the curve to a chancellor increasingly on the defensive over these coming weeks and months her legacy may be rewritten of a corona. the better knowledge has awarded its top prizes on the closing day of the film festival the movie bad luck banging or looney pawn won the golden bear for best picture tells the story of a high school teacher who sextape ends up online. test me again mind you my to the best performance gong went to martin egad for. the 1st time the valley knowledge has handed out a gender neutral prop prize in place of the best actor and best actor best actress

categories the winners will be presented their wards at a ceremony in june because of the many fans in the let's hear more about this from scott rock spread from the culture scott what can you tell us about that winning film and was it a surprise. yes for me it was a big surprise bad luck banging or loony porn was probably the best title in competition this year but i really doubt it was the best film it is as you say a story of a schoolteacher in romania who gets embroiled in a sex scandal when a sex tape with her husband is posted online and goes viral causing a lot of problems but is actually a really an absurdist drama it's sort of a social satire about about political corruption about hypocrisy but it's the interesting thing about it and maybe the reason why one is it was shot under lockdown in romania and all the cast members and all the crew are wearing masks all

the time so there's a very bizarre look to the film because every actor has a has a as a virus protection mask on. it wasn't it's i think a very scattershot movie the humor is all over the place definitely not for everyone but maybe the jury thought this film really represents where movies are right now in the midst of this corona crisis so it's always about the other witness . well i'm your man maria act of one the 1st gender neutral best leading performance award for this film she's phenomenal misha plays a german scientist relationship wary and she is given a robot an android played by dan stevens of downton abbey fame who's programmed to satisfy her every need fortunately things don't work out as planned and they end up in couples therapy is quite fun sort of saif i take on the screwball comedy from a german director morea shot at one of my favorite films of this year and i'd also like to mention a documentary that got

a special jury award today it is called have bachmann and his class and it's sort of a fly on the wall documentary looking at a german class with a majority of migrant. student body very very touching really moving documentary that was again one of my favorites of this year's got to know so overall how did this 1st complete the online berlin film festival go. yeah in terms of the movies i thought it was quite good i didn't agree with the jury's picks but i almost never do they never call me they never listen but in terms of the actual movie shown i thought it was very very good of course it was very strange to be watching all of them you know on my couch at home and not having a real interaction or being an actual theater but we hope berlin is planning to have an actual physical festival in june in berlin and we hope we'll be able to see these movies again on the big screen as they were intended let's hope so scott ross

perot always a pleasure thank you very much for joining us. we've just got time for a look at some winter sports scenes extreme winter sports scene from the eastern swiss alps where women and men a customs to catch ocean winds and riding ocean waves tried snow instead the athletes came together a spot of something called the x. project there was no real problem social distancing there as most of them. anyway the extreme sports and food snow windsurfing speed riding snowboarding and of course of course and snow kiting. it looks like tremendous fun you're watching. is a reminder of the top story we're following for you pope francis has arrived in iraq for a historic 4 day visit it's the 1st ever papal tour of the country the pontiff says

he felt so make the trip a number of christians in iraq has collapsed after years of persecution and religious violence. and that's it from me and. at the top of the hour don't go away though up next our health in good shape and remember to check out. at a web site e.w. dot com for more news.

to. be in good shape. in every stall to need support 8 hours of sleep or a day or ensure people feel tired worn down during the day didn't take any juice in pills or dreams. i might be lose those behind it. stay alert take

it crawling fatigue serious. neck d.w. . and you know years years reagan knew you and how last year's german chancellor will bring you an angle or a map or as you've never heard her before a surprise to so good god that is possible who is magical really what moves her and what also who talk to people who follows her along the way i admire those and critics alike how is the world's most powerful woman shaping her legacy joining us from eccles la stops. d.t. you know that 77 percent of market are younger than 35. that's me and me and you. and you know what time of voices

100. 77 percent. mark up. from one point to flash from the top this is where. the bulk of the 77 percent. this week g.w. . this is in good shape coming up. long coded why some people suffer chronic fatigue after contracting the new coronavirus. energy drinks like caffeine and sugar filled pick me up so are so dangerous. and from dawn to dusk why sleep is important for our

health. hello and welcome to in good shape due to the pandemic things are really busy here busier than normal no wonder that my staff and i are very tired by the end of the day but even before the outbreak of covert 19 many of my patients have been complaining about chronic fatigue there's so much demand and much stress in modern life which may disrupt your sleep and every adult needs about 8 hours of sleep per day ok as a workaholic or as a party goer you might say it's a waste of time but rest assured it's not. as the sun sets orange and red wavelengths of light activate cells in our retina and a minute 10 in levels in our bodies rise melatonin is the sleep hormone. it makes us drowsy. our responses get slower. and

we tend to start to feel a little shivery. our brains now turn inwards. high frequency brain waves give way to slower ones. we relax. shortly after falling asleep gross hormones reach peak levels. it's time for a bit of our in our muscles regenerate skin and hair grow and wounds heal. and in our brain a bit of spring cleaning gets underway. all the information that we have acquired during the day is that into temporary storage in significant memories of them deleted. only the important ones are transferred into more permanent

storage. then things start to hot up. parts of the cerebral cortex awaken out of deep sleep it's time for the rem phase we begin to have dreams extremely vivid ones our blood pressure and heart rate rise . cognitive centers are offline our dreams help us to process our emotional experiences. a lot. of their alternative cycles of deep sleep and rem phases during the hours to follow. the depths of night metabolism and body temperature are is low as they go. the people who aren't asleep have to contend with feelings of trouncing us and the danger of accidents which is particularly high at that point. as morning approaches the stress hormone cortisol takes over again our sleep gets

nighttime. it's best not to jump out of bed immediately. not all areas of our brain wake up simple tenuously. from. our failings can be keener than our minds at this time if the day. that sometimes the most important insights of the day come to us before we get out of bed. if you're constantly tired this might be a sign of disturbed sleep or simply not enough sleep are you constantly under stress or the pressure because this makes you tired as well so be sure to take some time out and do some sponsored exercise especially outside in the sunlight because this synchronizes you're in the clock to run things up follow our next report this might help to blow away that nasty cloud of fatigue. it begins with

a drink. anything that contains caffeine can destroy sleep so from the afternoon on words it's best to switch to caffeine free option. how about a glass of wine in the evening that should make you sleepy but is that really true we are sick sleep expert dr samir little well. it might help you falling asleep but ask for the sleep quality it will ruin your quality it will cut off your deep sleep and your rem cycles you dream sleep and it will all. also improve snoring and even sleep apnea meaning stopping breathing at night so be careful consuming alcohol specially in the evening laptops cell phones and other electronic devices are omnipresent these days many people even take them to bed but the artificial like the image disturbs our sleep patterns once they send out light to

our retina to our eyes and that light suppresses smell a tone and the hormone and she says the way from sleeping that's why it's better to balance the trick devices from the bedroom that also means using a good old analog alarm clock we also sleep better when the bedroom is well aired and at a comfortable temperature. our bodies love routine having a relaxing cup of tea in the evening in pleading a good book but not on the tablet can help prepare you for an ice night's sleep. even as adults we can find rituals in the evening that we do every day in the same way like reading a book or making it she. can be a ritual in itself and you know putting a night gown on and going to to see that helps even adults and if you still can't get to sleep don't stare at the clock that will keep you awake even longer it's

better to try relaxation techniques for example trying to be living your whole day in your mind in reverse that will make your brain tired. too complicated tried listening to soothing music or thinking of a time when you really felt really relaxed and before you know it you'll be sleeping like a baby. if you are constantly tired. you need only prone to making mistakes or accidents but you're prone to internal diseases as well like diabetes or hypertension or are you taking drugs against migraines or hypertension then be sure to discuss your medication with your doctor but whatever you do don't take energy boosting pills or drinks because they're very very harmful. endless insurance laser

sharp focus and the ability to party all night long energy drinks promise performance enhancement for the mind and the body. but they also increase the risk of serious side effects for our health. excessive consumption of energy drinks can lead to a rapid heartbeat nausea sweating and sleeplessness. the temporary energy boost they provide is due to a mix of various additives. chief among them caffeine the amino acid taurean and vitamin b. when combined their effect is more intense than any cup of coffee. the crucial difference with these drinks is that they can change a huge number of additives that can enhance the effect of the caffeine and that increases the risk for the heart. and anything over 3 milligrams per kilo

bodyweight is risky someone who weighs 50 kilos and consumes 2 small cans of an energy drink has already exceeded their daily limit. especially dangerous as young people making the strings an intricate part of their lives and thinking they can't perform properly without them. and that danger is magnified when people consume the drinks during all night parties. pick me up subject our cardiovascular system to considerable stress especially in combination with alcohol. both alcohol and caffeine raise our pulses. at hours of dancing to the mix and the heart will struggle to keep pace. and my heart rhythm consultations i repeatedly see patients with atrial fibrillation and another cardiac arrhythmias due to excessive consumption of energy drinks and all

night partying if you hire more commonly we see patients in emergency wards reporting increased heart rate headaches and sleeping disorders. the combination of active ingredients is more harmful for the heart than caffeine on its own in one study test subjects who had consumed one liter of such a drink and subsequently saw a higher increase in blood pressure than those who had only been given caffeine. there was also a significant change in an important electrocardiogram reading what's called the key interval. among patients who have electrical work to see how that catchy interval prolongation watch and lead to fatal cardiac arrhythmias. and that risk is exacerbated by a lot of people not even being aware that they have a heart condition. at the same time the substances contained in energy drinks mean that regular consumption can damage organs.

in addition to dangerous effects for the heart the drinks also have a high vitamin b 3 content for example which poses a risk to the liver and that risk is especially higher among people with preexisting liver disease or when the drink is combined with alcohol. and as if all that wasn't unsettling anough energy drinks also contain huge quantities of sugar in many cases even more than in sodas and fruit juices. such high consumption of energy drinks can also. contribute to excessive weight gain and increase your risk of diabetes. debilitating fatigue is a common symptom in infections which makes absolute sense because our immune system wants to give us time to fight the disease and to recuperate in. this is

a very long ongoing situation and experts say that you have to take time don't exercise don't do sports most importantly listen to what your body says chronic fatigue is not the only long term consequence of a coronavirus infection. life just hasn't been the same physio one virus since his corona virus infection even the slightest physical exertion leaves him exhausted and 5 months later his recovery remains frustratingly slow see mine used to do a lot of sport but not anymore. done here at knife point but the few weeks ago i was out on a very slow one luxury walk with a friend but even that was so strenuously that i struggled to make it back home and up the stairs of soft opted for the next 2 days i was still so exhausted from that stroll that i couldn't do anything. that fatigue is one of the aftereffects of

a cave in $1000.00 infection is the mom's doctor diagnosed lung damage but also found something else. the exhaustion symptoms also fit another illness chronic fatigue syndrome or any c.f.s. . the i'm trying the reading difficulties caused like damage to the all the all in the lungs can be explained by sars to. what we just as for the chronic exhaustion i can't say right now whether it's connected to the coronavirus or it's a stand alone symptom in any case it. something we were unsure about which is where a neurologist has to come in. finding a neurologist who is familiar with fatigue and the symptoms it causes is easier said than done. what's gas information there is on the condition is contradictory research on the subject is still in its infancy. and in many cases there is no

medical treatment available. in austria a neurologist michelle has considerable experience with fatigue syndrome over the last few months he's had patients on an almost daily basis reporting such symptoms after recovering from a corona virus infection that's not only a mystery right now is why these people are constantly exhausted at 1st glance there's no explanation for these damaged organs and that's where we see an overlap with these long covert cases with any c.f.s. . it's alarming because with the high absolute number of infections we're likely to be seeing a very large number of people developing chronic problems after a corona virus infection. chronic fatigue is clearly a problem that needs urgently addressing now more than ever. as

perverse as it may sound coronavirus presents a huge opportunity in that regard it highlights the fact that post-viral fatigue is very real and not something you can ignore because of the sheer number of people affected that in turn reaches hopes for people who've been suffering from post viral fatigue for decades there is hope that researchers will now be able to gain new insights that can be applied to other viral infections to. jump to begin to get heart towards those affected to avoid too much physical exertion in many cases it leads if anything to a worsening of symptoms seem on by. hopes his own body will be able to beat the exhaustion one day soon as it might be some time until the medical world gets to the bottom of the enigma. chronic fatigue after kovac 19 has shed some light onto a group of patients which have been alone for many years pretty much alone suffering from any c.f.s.

chronic fatigue syndrome effected patients are literally does able by this disease powerless to lead a normal life.