and send us your story you are trying always to understand this new culture. you are nothing very little or nothing to you want to become a citizen. migrants your platform for reliable information. this is africa on the program today. the format 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 buckle was cleared of those charges after 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 for recognition uganda's trance gender people say they live in constant fear they wanted warrantees to help into the discrimination they faced.

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 $29.00 teams at the time the i.c.c. judges said the prosecution had failed to prove the case of his alleged role in the post in action by lance in 20102011 all 3 people died in that trial it's all served as president of the ivory coast from the year 2012 is a racist in 2011. and at the table with me is told me or let it go from d.w. news to unpack this further for us. good 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 a 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 court's 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 mention 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 every month feel like there's still no justice for those responsible exactly now remind us of what happened back in $20000.00 in the ivory coast that

led to this trial well so you in 2010 you had the elections presidential elections which the lecturer all commissions said allison ouattara who's the current president won and loren will last 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 and that led to clashes between forces loyal to either man but those forces in there fighting old so 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 watchers forces the u.n. and french troops got the upper hand they found by going his hiding place in his bunker the arrested him and eventually he was taken to the hague but this is after more than 3000 ppi. bill had died and more than

a 1000000 had fled their homes so what happens now to know about bill 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 soon so 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 former president say it's 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 is not clear if that will remain political oh 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 tony as evan 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 asia's capital me a me 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 as president. and was a big 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 is that. today the global community of transgender people is marking the international transgender day off

visibility in the western world the u.s. for example transgender visibility is said to be at an all time high in politics and 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 called the costs for being a trans woman prone to sneeze she has been assaulted on the wrist stuart. when how father lunt about how trans women students who rejected hard. i didn't have any belonging i didn't have i didn't feel loved i failed because they said i'm an outcast and they said because in the my lai in my local language they say which means like you are deaf or is 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 original calculates how moves carefully as she house also experienced violence there is a day when i got aboard the right guy i told him to drive me from technical you know and he drove me to mocking the way he took when a group of boys will talk to me. in 2011 currently founded the transgender equality uganda in nonprofit organization to help troubled trans women some of them secret few jobs the organizations premisses but even here i ruined you cannot guarantee vs safety. the local community 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 all 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 in memory. says uganda's president signed the anti homosexuality act in 2014 uganda has been widely branded hostile 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 different jeanette's christians that for example gondar that i understand trends like when i want to go to say that i'm female they on my agenda they should put female the united nations has repeatedly appealed 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 transnet for your kind it's

an advocacy group for trance gender people not a pickle is a transgender man and he joins me from atlanta 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. gristle and several of us another city has been a challenging but it was all they were doing because we're living in such 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 adults plus being able to maneuver through the environment and environment as has been really and created from my own use intuitions to read but especially in exams and also to. be to make decisions to be honest and even understand that person has been the most traumatizing and

what's difficult kind of experience and mentors really really some of them into a bt and individual bt to be able to call exist also to comparable changes and also to couple the changes in the community but also be able to be made as a citizen as well as an individual you imagine they didn't miss the cherry titian. in you know being trans you only see it for who you are you want what you capable people who look at magic didn't who are unable to have sex with you and what is about william and what does it give the writer the opportunity to the as what are the privileges really going to have and what is it that he's going we're going to be to the broader society that you might be in view and they did that to actually say i want to come in there because you say that at people view transcended 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 close medical course and mad men density but to find the sinners against us and we are only being leveled or seen who we have sex with beyond who identify as and for me and i don't loyally that is very wrong in sin. we always go to bed as opposed to seeing the individual in the light is a huge element in it when you constitute the laws are what he says and the country a lot of them actually developed oil specifically michigan to be to question those answers abroad but he managed most of the tanks as well as they use to be a trojan us because they're using the. because of the engine 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 transgender day of visibility as

could you just tell audience why it is important for for people in the transgender community to have that visibility. for me visibility means a lot it means that i have walked the walk and if not and that's a certain subbies it means that i'm able to actually abscesses any social services . election creation employment but honestly level what his ability makes us makes it impossible reservations in a bus and this is going to space and that's the substance is in the mix is there it will sort of lead to but it's really in decision making process a lot of places all right that's a whole williams talking to us there thank you. and that's when the leave it for today's program be sure to check out the stories on. full edge slash africa we're also on facebook and on twitter the way we'd love to hear from you about the stories of our coverage here on the program and the stories that you

would like to see ask of me and tell me it's time for a wonderful evening. staying up to date don't miss our highlights. program. w dot com hearts. the amount of cost it is increasing every dream drama working on a. holiday destinations and drowning in custom might. be. different here your exclusive one tons of plastic waste. is

the way. to roll into these interests like a. good morning to. w. made for minds. 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 and 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 is once filled the royal palace and the kingdom of binny in 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 binion bronzes 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 named 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 mouse has called for them to be returned culture minister money could pose once a conference aimed at finding a solution is this a turning point. this is what's happening is something sensational you could even call it a paradigm shift suddenly the restitution to africa 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 so many more bronzes were meant to be displayed in berlin's new home but 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. optimistic also 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 but the fact is that any $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 bronze or 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. as. well.

the bronzes are legacy of colonial conquest french historian benedicts of law is one of the most important voices when it comes to looted art her research has revealed that for decades museums have deliberately covered up the provenance of their collections and hindered investigations. it's obvious that museum directors tried to put off having to take action before they retired and simply passed the problem on to the next generation which has us now it's clear that we cannot and must not burden the next generation with this we have to act in the midst 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 yet nothing come to when we were in africa the culture minister of the republic of been 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 transferrable 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 applying what you believe her. you identified. that we both will 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 emotion that's what matters transgender people have perhaps never been as visible in western society as

in recent years. that. 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 was 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 poor sophie mentioned 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 but they hide themselves just as i had myself for years too afraid of coming out all 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 mentioned the unknown all. we 1st met michel back in 1994 a few years after she want to hear a contrast in the varian town of by a white. people in context then i'm transsexual which means that i've altered my body to fit my sense of myself as a woman the decisive point is that i was crowned miss by a white and 1991 when i was still a man with a decent i don't know i'm on. michelle was assigned male and birth before having jen. there confirmation surgery she took part in the beauty pageant the one she outed herself as transgender after her victory that was considered a scandal after. 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 he was really bad with all the threats i got death threats phone calls for a while. michelle was happy to see how things have changed since she 1st came out. with guns and exploring 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 tolerant 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 gaining why they're lesbian but what the hope concert for all of 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. i. mean . well germany is celebrating 1700 years of german jewish history germany's earliest known jewish resident a man named isaac we had 1700 years ago in the city of cologne so that 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. there are right 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 the television nutritionals entire. 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 program 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. the name 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 well underneath the yard of the synagogue which must not be contaminated by excrement. or the construction work there are means 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 letter. 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 meters from me hundreds of years ago. in fear 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 square meters and will be named make one its opening is planned for 2024. marking calendars well that's it for this

arts and culture for more news including stories about jewish life and history here in germany us on facebook and twitter. culture. thanks for watching.

one continent. 700000000 people. all with their own personal stories. we explore every day life for. what europeans fear and what they hope for. some good spot in the world. in 30 minutes on d w. every journey begins with the 1st step and every language the 1st word emotional coaxing germany to come. why not come with him for am. soft it's simple online on your mobile and free.

d.w. zealand in course cause free german made easy. crime fighter back africa's most successful radio dramas. since the stories focus on hate speech prevention and sustainable local production. are available online and of course you can share and discuss on africa's facebook page and other social media platforms. and fighters to name now. for the. former doesn't. include.

well but yes. the industry is controlling your thoughts the great books of the 20th century. present a hoax is. raising the world. starts mr w. . this is news and these are our top stories u.s. president joe biden has unveiled an infrastructure plan worth 2 trillion dollars the spending package will help repair roads and bridges as well as improve the quality of drinking water biden said the plan will also create jobs and help tackle the climate crisis. france has extended its coronavirus lockdown for one month to prevent a 3rd wave president.