and on demand. learn which courses. in the lore you'll. be aware. of that is due to be news and recount on the program today the very real threat facing africa's independence conservationists have warned that some species of the giant mammals are a step away from extinction coaching is the name of it. and we will bring you the story behind the giant presuppose that has been painted on this beach in beneath.

hello i'm christine wonder why it's good to have you have any africa's in offense in trouble and humans ought to blame conservationists say increased poaching and that also habitats have devastated innocent populations across the continent now 50 years ago africa was home to one and a half 1000000 in offense today there are just 415000 of them that's a decline of 2 the now the forest elephants which mostly occupied the tropical forests off waste in central africa have been listed as critically endangered and the savannah in offense which roam all over sub-saharan africa but almost be found in southern africa have been listed as endangered now i'll be asking a leading observation of what can be done to reverse the trend off to this report. gentle giants under threat yet again leading experts are racing the alarm too

little is done to save the african elephant one reason is the environment where the elephants live its strength king the african population is growing fast and so are the cities across the continent this leaves less space for the animals to roam but experts point to one single factor for its decline poaching. the solution is not in catching the branches but the lines in this. there's so many criminal words that are responsible. and i bring out of africa. even. the. new and more detailed research into the african elephant also shows that not all african elephants are the same as previously thought scientists say there's a difference between the west african species the forest elephant. and

the savannah elephant that lives elsewhere on the continent the 2 species had previously been group as one and classified as vulnerable but by categorizing them as 2 they have found a disturbing picture the population of the savannah elephant drop but at least 60 percent in the past 50 years but the numbers for the forest elephants drop by over 80 percent the international union for conservation of nature there are you c.n. says is now critically endangered. it's more vulnerable to portion because of the kind of area where it inhabits a mysterious i think it is that you find armed militia groups hiding it is that unfortunates can find really difficult to go in and and then for small so the fear that these animals could become extinct is very real.

and for more on the story we've invited dr paul accountable onto the program she's an award winning wildlife conservation estate in kenya where she leaves the hands of our innocence campaign which aims to restore kenyan leadership in elephant conservation welcome to the program at home but in your own words how bad is the situation is that threats of extinction a real reality for africa's innocence. absolutely africa's elephants have been declining now continuously for several decades so long as we continue on this path downward there is a real risk and don't forget animals don't just decline slowly slowly over time they reach a point where they reach a threshold and then populations can completely collapse and blink out we're seeing this happening already in west africa where many populations have already disappeared completely ok so so this is this is very daunting and poaching is one

of the reasons why we're losing so many in offense according to this report that's just come up why always struggling in africa to protect these animals. i think we shouldn't just look at africa as the problem continent where the poaching is taking place the poaching this taking place because there is demand for ivory in other countries particularly in asia and the far east so the longer there is demand for these products then the price of these products are very high there will be poaching there will be corruption there will be disruption of the normal force meant facilities to my country kenya for example there is a fantastic level of law enforcement on the ground there's very little pushing ticking please but kenya continues to be a conduit of ivory coming out of central and other parts of africa through our country and out through our borders it's very difficult for the continent to crack down on this kind of crime happening over the entire continent just because of the

demand for products in one of 2 places we need to address the demand as a major part of this campaign dux a cold war there is a bad on the global trade of ivory countries like zimbabwe and botswana say they have too many elephants in their territories and they've been calling for that band to be lifted they say that the trade of ivory the legal trade of ivory will also give them the money that they need to invest in conservation to look after the offense as you say has been done in kenya could that be a solution lies in the trade of ivory. well we're the reason why we're in a crisis today is because of what those countries did in 20200829 that is when they actually did sell their ivory to china and japan promising that those funds would be used to protect africa's opens well i'm sorry it didn't happen instead africa's elephants are being pushed to the brink of extinction it is not

a solution it's never been a solution and it's time we got a little bit more creative about where we get the money to support elephant conservation it doesn't have to come from the killing of animals and the sale of their key so dr campbell what do you then suggest should be done what immediate action needs to be taken. oh it's really exciting the opportunities that there are for saving elephants in africa 1st many of our elephant populations are cross boundary elephants for example in southern kenya between tanzania and kenya you have these huge populations of elephants between morrow and serengeti and also in the amber surly and down in the south in tanzania in in their protected areas so here is an opportunity for the region to work together for the countries to support each other and to protect open populations on an ecosystem level and i'll give you an example of the challenges we're facing today it's not just poaching but in southern kenya at the foot of mount kilimanjaro there are important elephant

corridors that allow elephants to move between protected areas in kenya elephants must move from under 30 to solve the eco system which is 200 kilometers away and in between that is a land which is a matrix of people who do pastoralism but increasingly agricultural development is taking up that space today what we need is proper engagement with african governments to better manage how the land is going to be used where the protected areas are going to be and how they'll be connected to each other to prevent this conflict between agriculture and wildlife areas for animals like elephants and i do think this is possible and i think it's an important part the solution it has to be done you know really quickly that starts a pollock a when they're talking to us there that is very much for that. let's take a look at some other stories making news across the continent now more than 1000

people are homeless after a fire gutted one of the biggest snubs in the sierra leonean caps in freetown no one was reported killed in the blaze but around 400 homes have been destroyed. in investigation the force of the fire which broke out on wednesday. and experts in africa are warning of a vaccine you'll have the access to chavez the director of the africa center for disease control and prevention that's dr john saul said he hoped the wisdom would prevail as the whole of humanity would lose if such a conflict which he is going to. use and people get the one last time to pay their respects to tanzania's former president john the food before a burial service in he's village of chatto. was one of africa's most prominent kovac 19th skeptics the government say he died of heart failure the critics in the

age he succumbed to complications from covert 1000. now the french artist save as to create the world's largest human chain off interlaced hands reaching around the globe. his aim is to create a symbol that bridges people and cultures through his ot his latest creation was recently unveiled at a special location in west africa. not the usual canvas but a sandy beach in been named the project is titled beyond walls and the brainchild of french artist. also known simply as c.p. he's made it his trademark to produce giant outdoor artworks in unusual places but all with a purpose he says he's creating paintings with a human chain of hands around the globe which carries

a universal message of friendship and togetherness. and then most of them i always say i really believe that only together can humanity respond to the different challenges that has to overcome and it was from this conviction that this project was born c.p.h. creations are done with biodegradable paint so there is no pollution his project started a few years ago in paris and has since traveled around the world to 10 cities from berlin to walk at duke to istanbul and cape town before arriving here in gong v. and we die places tragically marked by the african slave trade. for the image to be striking one must find in a static and also a story the 2 histories are gone we are unfortunately you know my opinion marked by the period of slavery but there are also sites that are incredible in terms of a suspect and i'm in there so i thought it was a good mix that would create something special like

a. song there is also the fact that he cites the meaning that we have touched to it i believe also allows us to raise the profile of the region and the country and i think that this is interesting for the local people. see peace message of friendship and togetherness seems to resonate with the people here in. the artwork of tatas that it is necessary to be united to go hand in hand and to love one's neighbor. god advocates these values and that is why we accepted this work. it's a beautiful home. where we knew. a lot and love the woman is doing well has a positive repercussions for us the tough and people because it will help our community as well as the village of gone the newsroom. after almost 2 years c.p. has visited 3 continents and spray painted $37.00 pairs of hands on nearly 80000 square meters of land. isn't that just standing well

that is it for our program today be sure to check out of the stories that's on these at the top harmful at slash africa we're always interested to know what you think about the stories that we cover here on the program in the stories that we should be also on facebook and on twitter at the let me can see you next time write . down the download. people have to say 1st to us. that's right stories reporter every weekend on. the tumbling dice and i ask him to turn his or dealing with a new unit and i killed many civilians in the irish coming including my father one

thing as i was a student because i wanted to build a life for myself lactase totally but suddenly life became mellish kind of zob. providing insights global news that matters d. w. for mines. welcome to arts and culture on this edition an artist puts a contemporary spin on old portraits by this objects faces. and an architect and travel lover turned baker manages to combine all 3 of her passions. but 1st beethoven famously said that music can change the world that's nowhere more evident than in a new exhibition at the german history museum in bone it charts the course of

popular music through germany's post-war history and highlights how over the years its co-existed with influenced politics. the music is history the 1980s were political a young german woman encapsulated what people were feeling. different than most in that side this was the time when the big question of whether nuclear weapons should be stationed in germany was at the for a question that didn't only interest young people in germany i mean his antiwar song $99.00 red balloons was an earworm for many all around the world. you know it was an overnight sensation. in the 1950s germany tapped its feet to you ask rock'n'roll music from the likes of elvis presley. and bill haley.

the music captured the sight geist the music was kanchi too but 1st and foremost it captured a way of life you'd hear a great song then you'd go out and buy the record and listen to it and play it the next part. of. the 96 days of rock and revolution german concerts by the beatles and the rolling stones often got a little out of hand. punk rock arrived in the 1970 s. . rules of the german roost. lindenberg ventured into east west politics in the eighty's the west german rockers got to perform in communist east germany. did us rock musician

bruce springsteen his 988 gig in east berlin was the biggest concert in the other germany's 40 year history. to add to the agent germany had the crazy idea that if we let the big question in a concert that would satisfy our young people and help us control them. the idea was doomed to failure the burden wall fell in november $989.00 and $1.00 song became the end of german reunification. down. and for a trip down memory lane my colleague adrian kennedy is in the studio with me and

ambitious exhibition adrian so what does popular music tell us about german history well a recurring topic is of course german unity we had. been able to put on a one off concert in east germany in 1903 but they're off to he was not allowed back and he had to wait until after the wall fell to fulfill his dream of a form of eastern germany an emotional show in the leipsic in 1990 is part of the exhibition and we heard nina's famous antiwar anthem that that presented a new face of germany to the world it did. also a year earlier nicole had had a surprise victory in the your vision song contest with a little piece i remember it quite well because it was number one in the u.k. during the falklands war but these 2 songs to kind of a stamp edition new idea of the german as amused me can stop sandal

wearing peaceniks and do you think that those songs played a big role in changing germany's international image where they at least reflected the change that was going on. up until then most people's only encounter with german port had been craft a very different image of the job to check in a crowd rather cold emotion and although we have to remember that in the music of. of craftwork it's quite sentimental and has a lot of warmth at its core right and adrian i had that it was an encounter with music that actually brought you to ballad yes i was inspired by a. noise about. this was a west berlin band that made music with cement mixes pneumatic drills and metal pipes the concert was dubbed the best gig since the crucifix haitian crucifix crucifixion story and it really quite blew my mind and prompted me to jump on

a bus and get over to west building to find out what was going on and we're very glad you did and the rest as they say is music and history thank you very much my colleague adrian kennedy thank you some other news now brazil's christ the redeemer statue is getting a facelift ahead of its 90th anniversary celebrations in october dozens of engineers architects and geologists are scaling it 38 meters to remove rust and replace weakened rocks before the pandemic some 2000000 people visited the statue every year. scotland's aberdeen university is to become the 1st institution to return a benning bronze sculpture to nigeria the university said the work depicting a king was a quiet in reprehensible circumstances. just destroyed by any city in the late 19th century losing sales of treasures from the palace the move raises pressure on other

establishments including the british museum to follow suit. well dozens of german museums still have been in bronze as to the culture minister monica cletus has called a special summit to discuss restitution and we'll have more on germany's role in looted african arts next week here on arts and culture. now to an artist who takes what's gone before and really interprets it painter for her hair mass has a love of the old masters and their portraits he's particularly interested in the clues they offer about their subjects and the times they lived in and he's found a unique way to reveal their secrets. europe's museums are filled with paintings like leaves the rich and famous of centuries past. portraits painted to exude high status

and noble character. artist foca hammers looks to portraits of the past for inspiration. he takes the paintings of old masters and reworks them digitally with one big twist. the subject faces our veil and. cameras presents them in a way that modern viewers can't so easily ignore. countries or who. can break down the hurdle to these works if you just had a humorous aspect which at the same time highlights important features of the image without overwhelming it. by masking

hammers ams to unmask he takes elements already present in the works and multiplies them and the idea is to exaggerate visual codes already built into the paintings codes that people at the time would have understood but that viewers today need help decoding. voluminous wigs for instance one stood for great wealth for the ham a satirizes the conventions of past era us masking the actual faces helps to refocus the attention. in the midst of. immunity by removing this individuality the faces and blocking our access to them as. it's almost as if we were standing in front of the painting and holding one hand to it so we can concentrate more on the areas of. gun so the incredible diversity of these pictures revealed becomes far more pronounced when i take away the faces in the.

hammers has been creating these hidden portraits now for around a decade last year he began posting them on instagram and became a global sensation perhaps because so many of us can relate to wearing masks. maria trott's chi as studied architecture in moscow in paris in 2012 she discovered baking and it became a passion now she mixes her fields of interest making desserts that look and even taste like famous landmarks. the skyline of copenhagen the eiffel tower in paris the sydney opera house these edible works of art are the creations of maria trotsky. yeah i'm primarily interested in the

artistic aspect it's a kind of performance for. her copenhagen berlin cake is especially elaborate and took 3 days to complete it's made of short crust pastry with nuts chocolate sponge without flour coffee mousse and a grassy glaze made from salted caramel the optical highlight is the chocolate skyline. what's important is that the landmarks of his host cities are recognizable and will allow time and water though it was a special request from a customer who loved both european capitals. and the big version of st basil's cathedral of her hometown moscow was up course must the shape of a cake is just as essential to her as its taste each recalls the flavors of the respective country was a was where moscow tastes like the typically eastern european blend of spices but combined with something light and fluffy like the butter cream it doesn't seem to bother her that her artistic creations end up being devoured. when they are that's

the most important part of the taste is everything. and i didn't leave a slice for me oh well you can find more on all those stories on our website that's d w dot com slash culture and as venice celebrates its 1601st day i'll leave you with just at the very days la traviata sung by francesca dato at last in each opera house the same venue of its 853 premiere from the whole team from arts and culture in berlin i've even dad she. yeah. man man.

yeah. boy. oh boy.

africa 2 young visionaries both with a dream. joe no john i graduate so you can the social innovation that got any talent to come here to land how to turn their ideas into successful businesses i never knew that's what i'm doing this big i am now i spoke the solution in my country could come from god. 30 minutes tante w. . 9 gemini with john w. . at any time any place easy names. have at the back of the class. to sing along to see this to come from super let's. put. interactive exercises. everything is online

and interactive benjamin to frame 50 w. . more than a 1000 years ago europe witnesses a huge construction boom. christianity islam established itself. both religious and secular leaders to display their power. to trace mcguinness. and create the tallest biggest and most beautiful structures. the stone masons from builders architects compete with each other. this is how massive churches are created. contrast to the feel good. story. on g.w. .

the book . play. this is do we know whose life for certain back in the suez canal operators fail in their latest bid to refloat a stranded cargo ship diggers it dredges and has boats have been trying to flee the vessel for days on visit ships are now stuck in a maritime trap. jam causing a major headache for global trade also coming up the wars we've yet to german health officials sound the alarm over the country's current covert 19 surge they warn it could prove deadly year and in previous years.