those are always the same core to the social inequality a lack of the freedom of the press. corruption work on the floor to stay silent when it comes to the found something humans on seeing a right to fold who have decided to put their trust in us. my name is johnny carson and i work with. this news africa on the program today a long fog pulled the form of orient president is a free man judges at the i.c.c. have rejected a bid to reinstate charges of war crimes against him bankroll was cleared of those charges off to retrial in 2019 but his freedom was pending today's decision so what next for the 75 year old. and to the sexual minority of even the recognition

uganda is trance gender people say they live in constant fear they want a war it seems to help end the discrimination they face. hello i'm christine will go it's good to have your company the international criminal court has upheld the acquittal of former ivory coast president. was acquitted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity and 2019 at the time the i.c.c. judges said the prosecution had failed to prove the case of his alleged role in the post election violence in 200-2011 all 3 people died in that fight it's also best president of the ivory coast from the year 2012 is a racist in 2000. and 11. and at the

table with me is tell me a logical from the news too and pat this for the for us to have you tell me so how significant is this really well this is hugely significant and it brings to an end a long running case at the international criminal court that came off the back of this deadly political crisis that you mentioned. laurent gbagbo the former president and his call accused to play good day who was his former youth minister who had both been accused of spearheading or being behind the political violence they were both present at the courts hearing the charges on the court rejected the appeal of the prosecutor and confirmed the decision of the trial chamber which dismissed the case against them in 2019 and as you mentioned in that case the judges found the charges weak and said there was no evidence that these 2 men ordered or to pot in the violence against civilians now one key thing to note

though is that for many people who lost loved ones in that violence and a much feel like there is still no justice for those responsible exactly now remind us of what happened back in 2010 in the ivory coast that led to this trial well so you in 2010 you had the elections presidential elections which the lecturer all commission said allison ouattara who's the current president won and laurent gbagbo lost but will refuse to step down he held on to apollo and water as forces militia loyal to him you know came and tried to fight to take power right and that led to clashes between forces loyal to the man but those forces in there fighting also attacked u.n. property that tat. they attacked west african immigrants as well and so that sort of spiraled out of control eventually a combination of watches forces the u.n. and french troops go. the hand they found by going his hiding place in his bunk of

the arrested him and eventually he was taken to the hague but this is after more than 3000 people have died and more than a 1000000 had fled their homes so what happens now to all about will he has all his freedoms restored well since his acquittal in 2019 bubble has been in belgium it's likely that he'll return home to the average coast of the current president alassane ouattara has reached out a sort of olive branch extended all of branch and even given him a diplomatic passport in his status as formal presidency is likely that he will go back home. the thing though is that a lot of people feel that because he's still so population from his time abroad he might again pose a political threat to the current government so it's not clear if that will remain political 0 could escalate into something else considering he did try to run for the elections that have just passed in october not one other key things are to keep

in mind is that he faces a potential 20 year jail term he was sentenced in absentia because these forces loot said local branch of the west african central bank so it remains to be seen whether he'll serve that or whether he'll be acquitted from that as a sort of token gesture so that peace can can prevail right to me as if it thank you for that. and it's a look now at some of the stories making news across the continent a military units tried to see it tried to seize the presidential palace in the capital me i mean early on wednesday in an attempted coup but the government said it was pushed back and that order has been restored to hostilities just days before the historic inauguration of mohammed muslim as president. and was a defense ministry has deployed more troops to the town of how much you try to regain control of the area following an attack by islamists that's all dozens killed last week tens of thousands of people are also fits to have been displaced

off to the insurgents invaded by the towns. that. today the global community of transgender people is marking the international transgender day off visibility in the western world the us for example transgender visibility said to be at an all time high in politics in media and in sports in africa though it is a different picture now in uganda transgender activists all calling for the authorities to recognize their community they say transgender people often have to live in fear. beyond sea she has been coded costs for being a trans woman prone to sneeze she has been assaulted on the wrist stooge. when how father lunt about how trans women students who rejected hard. i didn't have any belonging i didn't have a good feeling loved i felt because they said i'm an outcast and they said because

in my life in my local language they say which means like you were there for is to me go to something so all the other things that made me feel like oh i am not human those are the things i wanted me to take my life. from formulae rejection to community insults. how moves carefully as she house also experienced violence there's a day when i got aboard the right guy i told him to drive me from. you know and he drove me to mucky india where he took me in a group of boys talked me. into photos and live in cairo and he founded the transgender equality uganda in nonprofit organization to help troubled trans women some of them secret few jobs the organizations bring he says but even here i really cannot guarantee vs safety. the local come into people do not know why so it's still a challenge so we have being advised by the local the local it does that we should

also have dialogue with the local it with the local community members and. the raiser to get to know who we are so that we live together a moment. since uganda's president signed the anti homosexuality act in 2014 uganda has been widely branded host for the l g b t q i people courage you once thought to change today i would love to see a band that understands differently and expirations that for example to understand trends like when i want to go to say that i'm female of the on my agenda they should put female very united nations as repeatedly up huge to the ugandan government to uphold the rights of sexual minorities but many ugandans including some members of parliament and really just leaders think people from such groups should not be treated as equals. and i'm now joined by

a williams he is the founder and executive director of transnational uganda it's an advocacy group for trance gender people not a couple is a transgender man and he joins me from palo welcome to news africa a powerful we have just seen the experience of a transgender woman in uganda what has been your experience as a transgender man. and there is a saddle a bus another c. has been a challenging but also very rewarding because we're leaving the search it to try to catch a living environment teaches use release of able to fix and it teaches you so many means and ways of supply of will add of course being able to maneuver through that environment that environment and has been really. created for our.

own use intentions to write about especially in advance and also into when to be to make decisions to be honest and even as i mentioned that person has been the most traumatizing and most difficult kind of experience and mentors really be some of them into a bt and individual needs to be able to call exist also to comparable changes and also take up opportunities in the community but also be able to be committed as a citizen as well as an individual you imagine they didn't miss the cherry addition . you know being trans you only see it for who you are you want what you capable people you look at imagine didn't who are unable to have sex with you and what is a parliament what does it get the right or the opportunities he has whether that be villages and you can have and what is it that he's going we're going to be to the broader society being the only major that. actually i'd say i want to come in there

because you say that people view transgender people as gay and that is problematic why is that a problem. being that i was in a bus and i'm up in mosul in a flutter that we can actually hold a lot of clothes many course and mad men density but you find the sinners against us and we are only being level or seen who we have sex with beyond who need it. and for me and i don't believe that is very wrong in saying. we always go to bed as opposed to seeing the individual english is a huge element that really comes to the laws or wishes of the country a lot of them actually developed oil specifically mentioned it hadn't occurred to me to question those answers abroad but he managed most of the tanks as well as a you study trojan us because that you simply visibly see him and a lot of lives in expression or the aware of mannerism and expression right it's an

unbelievable for anyone to turn in their minds. today as is the international trysts in their day of visibility as could you just tell audience why it is important for for people in the transgender community to have that visibility. and the funny visibility means a lot it means that we have will to walk it if not and that says to set this up east it means that i'm able to actually abscesses any social services election or creation employment but honestly level what is in the city makes us makes it impossible reservations in a bus and this is going to a space and that's the suburbs the mayor is in the mix is there because of need to but it's really in decision making process a lot of places all right that's a powerful williams talking to us there thank you. and that's it for today's program be sure to check out the story is on. full edge sash africa

we're also on facebook and on twitter where we'd love to hear from you about the stories of recovering here on the program and the stories that you would like to see us having actual next time have a wonderful evening but. what secrets lie behind small. discover new adventures in the 360 degree. to explore fascinating. world heritage 360 good clean up now. it was kind of famous like

a bunch of the queen because i want to see of germany with me the last few years have been quite overrides the only. other in it i'm a hermit when it comes to gemma because on the whole so in the us virgin is perhaps a bigger guns a new hobby of mine i'm going to recruit i love to be in the news and there are pros in their account but when you feed him altogether they're realizing to cope with this the noble way of never say are you ready to me because i haven't been very me right to secure it. priceless art and artifacts stolen from west africa will european museums return them that's coming up on arts and culture and later on the show transgender visibility day with more trans people now in the spotlight we'll meet a brave woman who came out before the rest. and a german city with 1700 years of jewish history reveals some unique archaeological

finds. but 1st thousands of plaques and sculptures known as the bin in bronze as once filled the royal palace and the kingdom of big name present day nigeria then europeans invaded africa the british military sacked to the palace and took the bronze with them for over a century now the been in bronze and have been displayed in european museums and through them many europeans have come to appreciate african art but now the pressure is mounting for museums to return them including 2 dozen museums here in germany. have been mean bronzes have come to symbolize art looted from africa debate over their restitution has gone on for years now the matter has gained momentum in germany foreign minister heikal mass has called for them to be returned culture minister money as once a conference ended finding a solution is this

a turning point. what's happening is something sensational you could even call it a paradigm shift suddenly the restitution to africa of precious objects from africa is no problem at all anymore and that's something really new and it's electrifying the restitution is will happen i'm convinced of it. i mean bronzes were meant to be displayed in berlin's new humblest farm in a few months time. as the heart of the ethnological collection the pression cultural heritage foundation which currently holds the bronzes doesn't want to give up that idea completely. optimistically so i'm optimistic that the original objects can still be displayed here some could be returned and some could remain here so there could be a continual exchange of items on loan and it was always clear that the context in which they were acquired the context of injustice would be explained and the fact is that in $897.00 in the kingdom of benny in british colonial forces looted

$4000.00 brown sculptures in a raid germany 1100 of the stolen goods. there's blood on these objects so do trophies from the colonial era really belong in an exhibition in the heart of berlin in few music can be seen in many museums around the world the been in bronze those are exceptional art and when they came to europe they highlighted a completely new image of africa as a continent steeped in history and culture they've been in bronzer of course part of the cultural history of nigeria and been in but they've also become global. nigerian authorities take a different view the new museum is planned there where the brands are to be displayed as the country's legal property. during.

the bronzes are legacy of colonial conquest french historian benedict savoir is one of the most important voices when it comes to blooded art her research has revealed that for decades museums have deliberately covered up the provenance of their collections and hindered investigations in christie thinking it's obvious the. museum directors tried to put off having to take action before they retired and simply passed the problem on to the next generation which is us now it's clear that we cannot and must not burden the next generation with this we have to act in east london there are still no definitive decisions but in general tendency is becoming clear in germany calls for restitution of the binion bronzes are growing louder both within the public and among politicians as here when we were in africa the

culture minister of the republic of bin ian said he didn't think there would ever be any restitution and if it did happen it would be as important as the fall of the berlin wall and i think we've reached a kind of cultural fall of the wall. in mollified by. canadian film star elliott page made headlines a few months ago when he came out as transgender being openly publicly trans is still far from the norm but transfer people are becoming noticeably more visible in t.v. film and fashion and to mark this international transgender day of visibility we met up again with a brave pioneer of trans visibility here in germany. they're all by itself playing what you believe they're all. you identified as girl boy. meets boy we'll call you a girl later if you want. what i really hope is that people realize that we're

human and we're not like some exotic species we have human emotions that's what matters transgender people have perhaps never been as visible in western society as in recent years. the new. series documentaries and films are increasingly portraying trans people. and shows like the us series pose for not only telling trans stories but also casting trans actors some of whom have since become stars. but for ordinary people who don't have the protection that fame provides living openly as trans can still require courage. and that is even more the case in the 1990 s. when michelle meyer from southern germany dared to make herself visible she hopes to serve as a role model. to the pits open mention to me there are so many people who have the same problem i do who would like to go down the same path but don't know where to

turn or what they should do they hide themselves just as i had myself for years too afraid of coming out so i thought that was the opportunity to say people tolerate us we're human beings just like everyone else yes or yes we're thinking also mention b. and then all. we 1st met michel back in 1994 a few years after she want to hear a contest in the varian town of by a white. people country i'm transsexual which means that i've altered my body to fit my sense of myself as a woman one of the decisive point is that i was crowned miss by a white on 1991 when i was still a man but was decent i don't know i'm on. michelle was assigned male it hurts before having jen. her confirmation surgery she took part in the beauty pageant in milan she outed herself as transgender after her victory that was considered a scandal back that. we met up with her again

29 years later how does she look back on that time line. up the family it was very difficult at the time to survive as a transgender or gay or lesbian person especially by white a small but very in town that was taboo of course it was really bad with all the threats i got death threats phone calls wrong and. michelle was happy to see how things have changed since she 1st came out. with guns and explorer and i have to honestly say that after i came out things got a bit better in terms of tolerance i'd say that after about 5 to 7 years people got more tolerable because there was a phase of education that t.v. shows and newspapers got much better at explaining and showing why a person is transgender why they're gay or why they're lesbian the way hope concept played with this. but there is still

a long way to go when it comes to transgender equality and civil rights but there has been a liberalization of western society since the 1990 s. especially in the business of beauty where michelle meyer started out today there are a number of transgender models who are proudly out and visible. well germany is celebrating 1700 years of german jewish history germany's earliest known jewish resident a man named isaac webb 1700 years ago in the city of cologne today cologne is building a new jewish museum and the building incorporates some fascinating archaeological remains. it's still a construction site but right here in the heart of cologne a new museum for the city's jewish history is being built once complete it will

present the results of a decades long archaeological excavations in the city. of art here the great thing about working on these archaeological excavations is that it's incredibly complex here injured roman history meets medieval history meets jewish history sometimes these things are so closely related that they can't really be separated here you can see the semicircular arch of a roman portico facade and right in front of it there are the cellar walls of a medieval jewish hospital on. this new dish and all the time. historical documents show that jews have lived in cologne since roman antiquity in the year 321 emperor constantine decreed that jews would be allowed to hold public office in what was then called colonia agrippina. in the middle ages cologne became home to the largest jewish community north of the alps but throughout history jews continued to be discriminated against and used as scapegoats during an

outbreak of the plague in $1349.00 they were accused of poisoning the wells in the pub gram night of august 23rd of that year an angry mob set the jewish quarter on fire and killed or banished its roughly $800.00 inhabitants. archeologists continue to uncover historical evidence of jewish life from back then. their stand for i know we're standing in front of a once in a lifetime archaeological sensation a hebrew inscription which reads this is the window through which the bodily waste can be removed. the latrine pit is on the other side of this wall underneath the yard of the synagogue which must not be contaminated by excrement one of our industry and of. or the construction work there remains of the synagogue and the ritual bath the mics are covered up. but photos and virtual reconstructions show what the jewish house of worship would have looked like. this

partially restored oil lamp would have been lit at the start of show. and animal bones bear witness to a kosher diet. archaeologists also discovered a sketch on a slate presumably done by a child caricaturing their teacher. another one is believed to have served as a lecture. you can see a name and then a small letter after it these are really small sums of money that someone really received or game it's a fascinating look into the lives of the people who lived here into what happened here in cologne a couple of metres from me hundreds of years ago. in fairbanks. form and. these are the treasures that will come alive for visitors on a 650 meter long path through the city's history right on top of where one of europe's most important jewish communities once stood the impressive museum

building will cover an area of over $6000.00 square metres and will be named make one its opening as planned for 2024. well that's it for this arts and culture for more news including stories about jewish life and history here in germany on facebook and twitter just look for. thanks for watching.

entered the conflict zone the government of sri lanka has been strongly criticized the un human rights council which warned them insincere regimes situation in the country and the increase marginalize ation of minorities my guest this week is john after all i'm a huge secretary just 3 lanka's foreign ministry physically johns of the government who take the criticism seriously i'm still something about the conflicts the for 90 minutes phone d w. w all. people have to say matters to us. that's why i listen to their stories. reporter every

weekend on d w. i am. presented drama competition 5 marketing number. 5 that's hard and traditional. money. fans crimes via spam and funds only. because we love football. because. kick off on you tube joining us. frank food. international gateway to the best connection self in road and rail. located in the heart of europe you are connected to the whole world. experienced outstanding shopping and done all 1st and try our services. biala guest

trends food airport city managed by from a bought. this is g.w. news a live from berlin astra zeneca is a vaccine benefits outweigh the risks says that he used drugs regulator the medical body confirms it hasn't identified any caught risk linked to age this follows a germany's move to halt the use of astra zeneca in younger people the head of germany's vaccination committee tells us the decision was necessary despite risking

a further a loss of trust in the job also coming up on the show after a trial a lasting a decade ivory coast a former president is now a free man as the international criminal court upholds his acquittal for crimes against humanity for victims say now no one is being held responsible for the atrocities. oh i'm kyra traits and a very warm welcome to the show. europe's a drugs regulator has reiterated that the benefits of astra zeneca as corona virus vaccine outweigh any possible risks the medical body said it had not. yet identified any blood any blood clot risk factors associated with age the investigations are still ongoing and this comes after countries including germany halted the use of astra zeneca as krone virus vaccine for people under the age of

60 new concerns over unusual blood clots in a small number of patients led to the suspension going to hear from the head of germany's vaccination committee in just a moment but 1st we have this report. more bad news for germany's troubled vaccine rollout the government says it has made a tough but necessary decision. i believe that taking everything into account this is the path we need to follow in order to provide confidence in astra zeneca. earlier berlin's shockey take a hospital decided as a precaution to halt vaccination of its staff members with astra zeneca a decision is expected in april over how to proceed with those who have already received their 1st dose. citizens can rely on the fact

that substances permitted in germany are meticulously monitored the results are transparent and openly discussed. only those aged over 60 can now get the s. resent it has shot for people in berlin the decision has further eroded trust in the vaccine. as resent occur i'm not convinced at all there's been so much negative news. i don't know about astra zeneca i would consider it although there's been a back and forth now those over 60 can take it. and i don't want that vaccine i have an issue with my lungs and i don't want that when i'm waiting until may 14th that's when i have my appointment for the biotech shot all i want to make any other vaccine is. this latest blow to germany sluggish inoculation campaign follows new guidelines from the national vaccine commission.

and from a regulatory authority is that younger women but also men are suffering from severe cerebral vein thrombosis. and have died from a consequence of. the number exceeds what we would normally expect i thought age. we conclude that it has to be related to the vaccine therefore we have to act. without and most. of the almost $4000000.00 doses of astra zeneca will arrive in germany next month but another dent to public confidence in the vaccine means using them up could prove difficult. and earlier i spoke to tomas americans the chairman of the german standing committee on a vaccination i asked him if he thought his committee's recommendations have damaged overall trust in the vaccine even more. i cannot exclude that but on the

other hand it does it could be clear to the people in germany that we really monitoring every risk and that we react when there is an obvious risk and as i just said since the list was not only seen in our countries and since who risk has been observed in different countries and different countries reacted to this information it's a different completely story from the ficus of the vaccine does doesn't. as not to be mixed up with the frequency of civic si the church is still very good but we don't want to give the vaccine regularly. age group of people under 60 years of age so that's your recommendation but the european medicines agency issued a statement today where they have reiterated that the vaccines benefits outweigh the risks and he said specifically that they did not find

a specific age risk for the astra zeneca vaccine of course they are planning more consultations to come so why is germany not following best recommendation because we have our own there is solid they turned this far and i must say that we are not aware of how monitoring is performed in the european countries since one of the problems we have and having this very clear signal in germany we have to react for the general population not about not at all happy about this decision you can believe me but the couldn't act in a different way in the moment what of what about the u.k. for example where there vaccination campaign is done almost exclusively with the astra zeneca vaccine i mean why does the u.k. government continue to rely on astra zeneca on the one hand where germany is seeing these issues of blood clots. to be honest i'm not really

a aware of the real data from the u.k. we do know that the u.k. and contrast to germany started x. in aiding the very old people so those then they went down through the age groups from starting from the very old one and we also we did not see this kind of side effect in the older people to turn in the next and they did i'm not aware really of the numbers of young people of our critical in. the u.k. the other thing is that we heard from the u.k. . colleagues that they are at the moment evaluating the. let's say the messages of outside of sates or going to wait for the singhs will develop in grade 3 and will probably as securely do the

very interest of the data from the u.k. but again this is really interfere the data we have. then we should see to it for now that astra zeneca has been made unavailable for a lot of the population of germany i mean are there going to be any other vaccines in the pipeline that will be approved and can be used in germany's vaccine rollout . yes we are waiting for the johns the vans and we've seen as you know which is already approved. and will it will start using this folk scene in the very near future in april we will now have other vaccine doses from. our in the embassy in that our announcement will come and we are still waiting for as of it since to be approved so hopefully. we will

continue our in a zation campaign and i have to add that our. actualized recommendation that has no difference in the vaccines available just shifting vailable vaccines to one age group to the other bridge and in other words we have still the same amount of fixin's available and very much old so that we will not have major delays overall pixelation paid i had to mismatch and chairman of the german standing committee on vaccination thank you so much for kind of discipline and. thank you. let's turn our attention now to some other developments in the corona virus pandemic brazil has recorded a nother a daily record in covert 1000 deaths with 300-2780 people dying in 24

hours brazil currently accounts for around a quarter of all deaths worldwide on any given day meanwhile biotech pfizer says a study showed that its vaccine was 100 percent effective in told between the ages of 12 and 15 the company says it will aim to get shots to teens before the next school year starts and china says there is no basis to accusations it did not share data with researchers looking into the origins of the virus the world health organization has accused beijing of not giving it scientists full access to available information. we take a look now at some other stories making headlines around the world the jailed a kremlin critic aleksei novotny has announced he is going on hunger strike this follows a demand by and of on these doctors that the dissidents receive immediate medical treatment for a severe back complaint of on a has been detained at a penal camp a since of february he survived a near fatal poison attack last august. myanmar's military has been carrying out

air strikes on its own citizens forcing thousands to flee their homes and seek medical treatment in neighboring thailand daily protests demanding the restoration of democracy face an increasingly brutal crackdown more than 500 civilians have been killed since the start of at the very. end on an italian navy captain working at the defense ministry has allegedly been caught selling documents to a russian official in response italy has expelled the 2 russian diplomats the navy captain has been arrested and russia's ambassador has been summoned to italy's foreign ministry the kremlin says it hopes bilateral ties will not be damaged over the affair. well appeals judges at the international criminal courts have upheld to be acquittal of ivory coast's former president on charges of involvement in deadly post-election violence laurent gbagbo was acquitted it 2 years ago along with

a former youth minister charlotte they good day they were accused of responsibility for crimes including murder rape and persecution following disputed elections and 2010 but the judges in the hague said prosecutors failed to prove their case today's ruling ends the proceedings against both men. and we are now joined by jim warmington a human rights watch a senior researcher in the africa division jim so good to have you with us how was it possible for this acquittal to take place. yeah well so it was accused of crimes against humanity in relation to the 201011 post-election crisis in. which which came after the 2010 presidential elections and led to the deaths of $3000.00 people in really brutal violence and include people being burnt alive in the streets and widespread sexual violence and the challenge with the case against. as is often the case is finding the way to connect the awful

events that happened in could you walk to the home by who was that the president the outgoing president at the time and he was also to commander of the armed forces that fought on his side of the conflict and so the challenge for the prosecution in this case was to show the ways in which what happened at a street level the killings that happened on the streets were connected to the home by bush as commander and president and what the judges are essentially saying in this case is that they they didn't the prosecution didn't manage to do that they didn't manage to show how backed by was connected to what foot soldiers were doing on the streets and the fact that they were unable to show this connection in the view of the appeals court and how much of a setback is this ruling for future trials coming before the i.c.c. . i mean we see each case is different and in this case in the investigations i think were difficult partly because

a lot of time had now it's been 10 years since the post-election crisis and partly because finding that connection between a sitting president and commander and what happens at a local level requires you to kind of have insider witnesses perhaps people who defected from the back very regime who could talk about how that regime worked in a circle is really like and the prosecution never really had those witnesses or witnesses who were able to speak frankly but at the same time it's also true that this is a real setback for the i.c.c. prosecution and the i.c.c. is in the midst of a review to assess how it functions across the whole court courts including the prosecution in this case hopefully is going to give more thought and more fodder to people who think the prosecution they care about how it investigates these kinds of complex cases. and human rights watch thank you so much for that update. and keith. and before we go a kayaker in chile has accomplished something that has never been done before and

landed the 1st ever double kick flip over a waterfall. he started with a 25 kilometer descend to down a snowy volcano before entering the region's lush forests at the icing on the cake was still to come topped it off by nailing the world's 1st a double quick flip in a kayak over a waterfall and a spaniard nailed it on his 1st attempt. that's all for me for now brant off will be with you at the top of the hour thanks for joining us. enjoy. refugees are being turned away. from the government we're not here to demonstrate it.