and i was the pain propre days after my review. crashed and i would spend my life time in 5 people who mockers in china. were not being very. straight jackets on leisure again is facing a difference fate critics see and i don't massive cracknell being carried out by gauging these times on this most liberal and democratic city hong kong in the wake of anti-government protest here an age this was hostile organizing and attending and authorizes and that's really it was over a 1000000 people took part just one of the few without violent clashes every one of the defendants are high profile figures apart from media tycoon she knew i or our family lawmakers icons of the opposition movement like martin lee who is know this father after all this issue of the charges carries a maximum 5 year jail term their rights are everything right this case is just the tip of the iceberg was over $10000.00 others are vested for the church is the 1st

verdict among the 9 charges for which he's on trial beijing's reasonably close weeping national security law and his overhaul of the city is that to a system intensify the fear. all denies hong kong's tenement morning vigil every year calling for an end to china's one party rule for decades and that had to make him a prime target and beijing security this year he will likely be absent for the very 1st time in this era in a way that going to joe's part of the struggle now i would convert my by saying that this is already. a blessing for me i would only have to go to jail after 40 years of activism in hong kong. but i'm ready to pay the price and ready to face it having witnessed hong kong's decades long struggle the 64 year old activist is not optimistic but he believes that his success says will continue to

fight for democracy and to define really you've reached a call. to some other news now france will close down schools for 3 weeks to fight a rapid spread in corona virus cases president warned the country risks losing control of the pandemic if action is not taken france's parliament is currently debating the new measures include a nationwide curfew and a one month ban on domestic travel now the infection rate is surging in france with almost $60000.00 new cases reported in the past day. intensive care units in hospitals all over france are running out of free beds at this medical center an hour north of paris their i.c.u. is full and they've been forced to add temporary beds to cope.

feel this wave hitting us hard and we're hanging on people need to be warned that they should not gather we had a mother and her son die at the same time in 2 different intensive care rooms all because of a family gathering it's unbearable for us it's a very difficult situation to manage. spring weather has drawn people on to the streets despite the dramatic surge in covert 1000 cases images like these led medical experts to demand stricter measures and the government responded schools and non-essential shops will close and domestic travel is banned. present in a normal crime pleaded for cooperation. in the coming months each one of us must make an extra effort this is what i ask of us collectively this evening. mccraw also promised to increase the number of i.c.u. beds from the current 7000 to more than 10000. and to speed up the sluggish

vaccination program across the country unlike his european neighbors mccrone didn't tighten restrictions when numbers dramatically increased in january. the latest lockdown will be in place for at least a month mccraw hopes to reopen some cultural venues even restaurants and cafes by mid may. the u.n. special envoy for me and maher has warned of a possible civil war in the country following clashes between the army and ethnic minority insurgents christina shiner bergner expressed concerns over an imminent bloodbath and condemned the arrest of on armed protesters since the military staged a coup 2 months ago crowds have gathered gaily defying the regime's violent crackdown in which more than $535.00 people have died in neighboring thailand has called for an end to the violence and germany's foreign ministry is advise and its

citizens in me and maher to leith. let's talk more about the situation in myanmar right now with david he is an activist and he's joining us from the city of mandalay and we're not using david's full name in order to protect his identity david we mentioned the violence has been escalating for weeks now what more can you tell us about what you have been observing on the ground where you are. oh. i just happen to be able lawyers are this often do 2 or 3 pm and what i saw was astonishing and quite surprising because the holy bible wasn't protesting they were just money their own business and military force sneaked in from different alleys and started shooting randomly and so far i've heard that 5 people were shot death and one for sent died in my hands it happened around

3 pm so yes that's the western part of the city and across the seaview there's also means that that kind of random shooting and it looks like. they are trying to. know not just cracking down the protest i bet you're going to have to meet everyone in the city so that we will stall. and then raising all voices. ok so you're saying essentially the military is using indiscriminate force this is something they continue to deny a we saw the united nations warning that me and maher might be on the brink of a civil war is it. i i believe so because so with this kind of oppression from the military and and continuous effort from forces it is very highly likely that there will be a civil war you know months time and i would like to you know f. shield to the united nations to do something about it because we could see

a lot of sanctions coming from the u.k. them to the united states and that's it and i'll tell you a few countries but they hasn't been any new form sanctions coming from that you ran or when it's just i and i know it will take time but this is a very delicate moment where a single meeting or a single decision can see a country not to be like syria which has been going on the civil war for 10 years or or a country in which really it's wives and democracy and i think this is really a critical moment ok so you're pulling for a more immediate support from the international community what about the situation in myanmar with activists i mean at this point what would it take to be able to possibly resolve this crisis is there any avenue for example for for dialogue or for talks. all military regime has. negotiated with anyone else and in there are going to be press conferences

the repeated the or make false evidence and you know try to or try to get rid of the winning party. elected government so i i don't think there is a way to find a dialogue except our china is willing to help because i think the military. is really gets into china and china has all what to do you know get it between them and try to find a way to open a dialogue with the international community as well as a legally elected government this year ph we'll have to leave it there activist david speaking at to us from mandalay thank you very much. let's get a round of now of some other headlines from around the world the libyan coast guard has intercepted a boat carrying dozens of migrants local authorities say the raft had capsized

libya is a major route for migrants seeking a better life in europe aid agencies say many of them face human rights violations and poor living conditions while held in detention centers. the united nations is warning of a humanitarian crisis in mozambique in the wake of a militant attack hundreds of people are still trying to flee the town of palma after the so-called islamic state to gain control of the northern town last week that 4 people including a child had been killed in a shooting at an office building in orange county orange county california 2 others including the suspect were wounded is the 3rd deadly mass shooting in the united states in the last 2 weeks. u.s. president joe biden has unveiled a 2 trillion dollar infrastructure plan biden called it a once in a generation investment that would allow the united states to outstrip china on the world's economic stage react. 50 years people

back and say this was the. future. posing. as one time capital investment of roughly 2 trillion dollars and. spread largely over 8 years. generated story job growth historical economic growth no business is to compete to create more revenues well. now the stimulus package would modernize 32000 kilometers of road while repairing thousands more bridges it would see the construction of half a 1000000 charging stations to accommodate the ever growing number of electric vehicles and it seeks to boost the return of industry to the u.s. from asia for example by investing in chip production let's get some analysis on this now with boris form on his a professor of politics at bard college shear in berlin hi porus it's good to see

you so we're talking about a 2 trillion dollar plan to upgrade infrastructure and to overhaul infrastructure from everything i'm from bridges to water systems but republicans are calling this a recipe for stagnation and decline why is that. well i mean this kind of reaction is not surprising given the last 5 decades of the market less affair rhetoric so i am not i'm not really shocked by this kind of analysis what's interesting though is that infrastructure is mostly or happens to be one of those issues where sometimes bipartisan discussions at least happen hillary clinton made a suggestion when she ran for president trump donald trump was also in the wincing a big infrastructure package that never happened but at least rhetorically there is some openness and some opening also on the side of the republicans so who knows maybe there might be some individual republicans but i think the polarization is deep and probably of the democrats will have to will have to be very disciplined to

get this through let's talk about how this plan works because the administration just passed a massive pandemic aid package so where exactly is the money for this infrastructure plan going to come from well i mean this is the interesting part which is taxes on the rich and on corporations and of course there will be some resistance on their part as well this is also in part a way to repeal. parts of the trumpet legislation parts of the trump took a tax cut and biden has been emphasizing again and again that tax deal at the time was mostly benefiting the rich so you know he's he's trying to make a working class argument how much of this package do you think that he can push through without the support of republicans and what might he have to do to get some republicans on his side. well i don't know i mean he's been trying to reach out

on the right conservative media people have been emphasizing that this was mostly a gesture which wasn't meant seriously it's true that politicization as i said is deep and probably he won't get much support by republicans and he will probably also use the same strategy as at the time with the with the earlier package you mentioned so he's going to use the budget reconciliation procedure which means this cannot be filibustered he'll be able to do it with just $5050.00 votes in the senate but he can't afford to lose a single vote and he can't afford to lose more than 3 votes in the in the house of representatives so it's going to be tough yeah it's going to be very tight that we should say that both of biden's predecessors donald trump and barack obama they made big pledges on and for structure investment and they failed to deliver deliver so do you think that joe biden's administration can do any better. it's interesting that china is also part of the discussion and the competition with china and when

we look at the 250 years of history of the u.s. every time major infrastructure was built it was either at the moment of war mostly at a moment of war civil war cold war the the new deal era and the the world war and mostly it was done with cheap labor even with slave labor so the conditions under which this happens are under immense competition so to to kind of muster the political will that is needed to build this kind of infrastructure needs exceptional situations i'm not sure of the pandemic is exceptional enough boris from one professor of politics at bard college cher and berlin thank you so much for that analysis thank you. now in the u.k. more than 30000000 people have received their 1st coded 19 vaccine but not everyone there is eager to roll up their sleeves skepticism is especially widespread among minorities even though they've been harder hit by the virus racial inequalities have led to deep mistrust between these minority groups and institutions. reports

now from a district in north london where she met one man who was part of the campaign to fight vaccines skepticism the district of brenda north london is one of the poorest in the u.k. and it's one of the areas most affected by cope with 19 here it's even more important that as many people as possible get vaccinated longtime resident and me johnny is committed to making this happen. we can see you know people on. the north shore who turns out who told through how in a way that i think helped the pandemic has exposed longstanding health inequalities in the u.k. the government has now located 20000000 pounds to tackle this so-called community jump ians are targeting those that are hard to reach with phone help lines well placed programs and just chatting on the streets. to meet johnny assert himself the task of reducing mistrust of the government and the

authorities and dispelling myths about vaccination. is just another tool to control people in the progress maybe some heard about microchips in the home to pull through but more. you know. who else why should we listen to anybody watching listen to anybody now especially given that no recent was before conversations with locals reveal their suspicion. i do not want it. is not going to do me no good rather to kill me or i'm high risk and i'm not having enough i don't want to know they're tested it on human beings and that's not right that's why i am that they could. do to me johnny can get some passes by to talk to him but it's difficult to

convince those who flat out reject the idea of getting the job british health authorities have to launch a social media campaigns to combat conspiracy theories and vaccination myths and. the language we use the messenger we use and the message and i think out of all of those probably the messenger maybe one of the most important one if it's a trusted community member someone they know someone they can relate to someone who looks like them someone who sees the same language as them. it's more easy to build a rapport and to understand what they're saying also i can vaccinate. johnny doesn't simply ignore the argument that the vaccine could have side effects he puts it into perspective saying millions of people have had no major complications and the side scientific studies so i can't impose my opinions on the parkinson health and so i want to dance at my word for it is a place you can go no you really got your source of information his mama been

trying to balance me on this. to me johnny was at least able to convince his own mother to change her mind. india has expanded its vaccination drive to include everyone above 45 years of age already health workers have administered more than 64000000 doses yet the high numbers are only a small portion of the country's population a recent surge in new infections has raised questions about why india is lagging behind on its vaccination goals. has more. than this electrical supply shop in delhi once took up all of the time. now he spends some of it on one until book helping those affected by the time that mick while in a bush drink away from corbett 19 cases are always keeps a protective gear handy in his car in case a patient needs to be rushed to the hospital. he believes his destiny is in god's

hands and his fear of the good will not by a student keep him from helping those in need but so far his fear of infection has not managed to overcome his doubts about the black sea or of soon to see the real people who have been virtually after going through the required. that's really important they were not. actually there march of course picked. it up poster person but then the exhibition vortex edition is drink why were the 1st to know i don't know is a very good vaccine development typically takes us. and he does not feel comfortable getting the vaccine that is michelle so quickly he believes many others in india also prefer to be in march. and the low turnouts and lack of long queues attacks in mission centers seem to be proving him. india's lagging behind its acceleration targets which could be riots the country has now made the vaccine

available to everyone above the age of 45 another reason could be to count all vaccine beast in a meeting with state leaders india's prime minister mary into more the emphasized the need to stop the least of vaccine doses. we must take the problem of lack seem very serious. every bax invested it's also a waste of someone's right to vaccination we cannot destroy someone's rights. from me putting it to predation to see high rates of vaccines being wasted part of the problem lies in the parish ability of the vaccines each vaccine vial has tender. and once opened they must be used up within 4 hours if 10 people do not show up within that period. the remaining doses must be started. on. max a nation centers like this one see that as simple ways to counter based we only open

the bible when we have them be waiting to be vaccinated as some people call the friends we call those who are disturbed but couldn't get a vaccine that we would make sure we have enough. people under $45.00 and not officially in the job but it's not an occupation. a divided on whether they would take the job then that the incomes. people might each can't keep waiting for the vaccine we can also get covered we should all get vaccinated as soon as possible but. we are younger dog and i'm going 5 i'm fit so there's no need to go to work. once is comes into that the. going in. for now the government is hoping for a big surge in the number of vaccinations and has put its exports on hold a stop raise indeed infections me just cause a shift in due in india as vaccines. sports

now in football north macedonia stunned germany 21 in a world cup 2022 qualifier in duisburg midfielder as you must scored the winning goal late in the 2nd half that ended germany's 18 match winning streak in world cup qualifiers it was also the germans final competitive game before the summer's european championship. there are less than 4 months ago before the rescheduled tokyo lympics but there are growing concerns over staging the games in japan the olympic torch is currently touring through the country with strict hygiene protocols in place but the governor of osaka has now said he does not want to host the relay in his city and mid rise in coronavirus cases he has suggested that this upcoming leg of the event be cancelled or held without crowds around 10000 runners are participating in the nationwide tour.

a kayaker has accomplished something that has never been done before set aside from spain land of the 1st ever double kick flip over a waterfall. i started here with a 25 kilometer descent down a snowy volcano before entering lush forests he then talked it off by nailing the world's 1st double kick flip in a kayak and he nailed it on his 1st attempt. or let's get a reminder now of our top story the hong kong court has found 7 high profile democracy but activists guilty of unlawful assembly during anti-government protests $29.00 chief sentencing of the group will take place at a later date but they could face up to 5 years in prison. coming up next our show focus on europe takes us to sweden to discover new clues about the

sinking of a ferry and we find out why france it is auctioning off a growing number of historic buildings that's coming up on focus on europe in just a moment stay tuned.

one continent. 700000000 people. with their own personal stories. europe. explored every day life for. what europeans fear and what they hope

for. some can stay on the earth. next on d w. enter the conflict zone the government to sri lanka has been strongly criticized the un human rights council which warned them into a raging situation in the country and the crease marginalise ation of minorities my guest this week is giant mouth column a he said. but she just goes. is there any chance of those who take the criticism seriously something about the conflict. in 60 minutes. let's get right to the.

warming doesn't do very. well yet. the industry is controlling your thoughts the great books of the 20th century. the present day hoaxes. praising the. course of a 3rd. hello everyone and welcome to focus on europe we're going to start today with a new development in a story about europe's most tragic maritime disaster since world war 2 the sinking of a large ferry in the baltic sea in northern europe that caused the deaths of over 850

people the m.s.s. stony out was on its way from estonia to sweden in september of 1994 when it sank in the middle of the night only a few people were rescued the commission that investigated the incident suspected that the ship's bow hatch had broken away during a storm. but there are doubts about that official report with family members and some survivors repeatedly calling for new research into the disaster recently a swedish documentary filmmaker answered their call henrich efforts and went to the site of the accident and lowered an underwater camera all the way down to the wreckage and there he found something unexpected. in september 2019 journalist henrik efforts and his team center very to examine the

wreck of the m.s.s. . on the floor of the baltic sea he captured these images of an enormous hole ripped in the hollow for me to slung. it's completely dented in. my view coleman and steve as we navigated along the starboard side we were stunned . you know the damage was so extensive. we couldn't fit it all into one shot from the most it just kept going and going and one of exhibits of excess i'll never forget the sight of your grandma through. hendrick was researching for his for the coming documentary after speaking with survivors an expert says he concluded the whole must have been created by some outside force perhaps by a collision the case behind the sinking of the ferry a stone here he said deserved to be reinvestigated from us we had up to the one thing the ship started listing sooner than the investigating committee had presumed . to go i mean there is

a considerable 14 minute discrepancy. because most of them and witnesses also saw water under the car dark for member to them so it was leaking in from somewhere from. the m.s.s. stoniest sign on september 28th 1994 on his way from tallinn to stockholm when the water 1st entered the ship the passengers were all asleep. only a few survived and were rescued from the icy cold baltic sea 852 lives were lost that night the mystery surrounding the star news fate remains unresolved to this day. official records claim the bow hatch came off causing boards to rush into the car deck and sink the ferry victim to listen but in the documentary witnesses say they saw something else the war planes they know what. they're seeing on t.v.

i saw something white. it was several meters large. or a 100 or so and i could see it moving from left to right so that's the waves went crashing over it or. last a year and soon lost his daughter in the disaster he now hopes investigations will be reopened. the documents ever since the documentary was released to the come hopeful most of it on a more careful investigation might look into what really transpired. how could something so terrible even happen for the for. who we still don't know and we don't believe the investigators report for one second and threw in the poor folks the sunken ships lies in international waters and nearly all bordering countries have prohibited dives to let the desert holt's rest in peace but not germany so hendrik if it's

a refused the german ship to reach the sunken hull and film what he discovered death. of a shark or scum of the all of we scan the ship from a distance it resolves on those who don't we never went inside the ship them. we placed great importance on ethical conduct and don't feel we've committed any crimes or to his 50 each has now indeed cause the case to be reopened sweden finland and estate have declared a dive as planned this summer then they could finally shed light on the most serious single maritime incident in history of post-war europe. henrik everett's and has also had to defend his research in court but the good news is that those efforts appear to have paid off as estonia is now planning to contribute $3000000.00 euros to the renewed investigation of the incident on to france now where the government coffers are a bit light at the moment to make ends meet it has recently started to quote

unquote sell the family silver in this case state owned real estate which includes some pretty spectacular castles and even monasteries now that doesn't mean you can just buy the palace of versailles yet but other culturally and historically valuable properties around it are up for grabs. the world famous palace sell for saeed is a glorious example of francisco school heritage built in the 17th century it was the principal residence of louis the 14th known as the sun king. located on a nearby street this lesser known building served as the office of france's minister of culture though as part of the 1st side complex the french state simply sold it off in a play of they stuck a for sale sign on it and added a cell phone number anybody could call i can you would it's as if they were making an ordinary sale. but they were selling off one of the king's public office

buildings. preservation is surely in the cause is outrage that france is cultural heritage is being snapped up by investors during louis the 14th day this bill the inverse i even housed the mona lisa yet the new buyer turned is former picture gallery into dull apartments this conversion he says has completely destroyed the build his character even though they put in new floors and shot the space up into separate rooms marring the overall impression well off held it up in our eyes it's truly a scandal. and it's no isolated case either across france the state is engaging in real estate agents to sell away its historical buildings as it lacks the funds to maintain them itself. this former prefecture has changed hands as has this old hospital such sales brought some 500000000 euros to the state's coffers in 2019.

regional and local governments are also dispose you know their agricultural airlines the former shot used to clone here history belonged to the city of paris which used it as a sanatorium mill was being auctioned off for 3000000 euros to an investor from bordeaux the man who brokered the deal thinks the state did the right thing not only are money's tight and loans are expensive. before few of the buildings are news and have no political significance sued if it's easier to sell them off than he used to be. to facilitate sales many public entities are putting old buildings up for auction online though it's not enough just to place the highest bid buyers must also to clear what they intend to do with the buildings says the corona pandemic emptied the public purse business for auction houses like

these has been booming with a doctor and we're experiencing strong growth and expect to sell even more real estate in the coming months only working in. place julia cause has no problem with buildings that have no historical value being sold off but he says the state shouldn't part with treasures like this honey lodge in the woods of st close but despite his warnings forest manager is now seeking a buyer as the lodge is in desperate need of repair also but you want the should hold on to the pavilion and make it accessible to the public if it's a perfect destination for people taking walks in the forest that. you could open up a restaurant here all that they could or should films more. still some residents offer a sign. don't seem to concerned who the buildings belong to as long as they're in good shape but more wishful so i think it's ok to sell the buildings i don't know

if the government has enough money to maintain no what else but one in which you could even if wished the buildings full of parts they hadn't seen the quality of the renovations by private firms i say let them do it but if it were to affect the wing of the palace the 1st sayat self i'd be wiring 8 julie because thinks it's better to lease the buildings this one for a side is being turned into a luxury hotel with a restaurant run by star chef a lot because i think it's a good solution you. know we won't have access to it for a few generations yet and i still don't know but in 99 years the state will get its building back in good shape it won't get the money no one the renovations would have paid for by a private company but it did i would know i did begin bombing and that's important because france is historic buildings aren't just a financial burden they're valuable pieces of cultural heritage they need to be

preserved for future generations here in europe the skiing and snowboarding season is just about over but for most ski resorts it never actually began the coronavirus pandemic meant that on the alpine slopes like in the southern part of germany the operators endured a winter season that was an absolute financial disaster on ahead luck runs a cabin in the mountains which means she still has bills and employees that she has to pay she's doing her best to find a solution but isn't sure if it will actually work guests at the town in her to enjoy a splendid view of gummidge patton. and in winter when the weather's nice the place is normally packed but this winter is anything but normal it cuts off feel pretty helpless and don't think things will get better anytime soon. ana is trying to get by offering food and drinks to go. you know we still have to pay our running

expenses power bills insurance policies cash systems after months in lockdown she's tentatively reopening for the 1st time with just a couple of dishes after all she has to keep her cook busy somehow now that she can only hope some guests will find their way up the mountain and get so i'm scared we're not going to make it so i'm worried what's to become of us and how we will manage if things don't start picking up against. conrad and megan's bag of us stores faces the same fears. he bought brand new skew equipment to sell and rent out so this year has been tough. he says just saw this season we spent about $210000.00 euros on inventory alone that's not counting the money we spent on renovation or construction or anything else and each day the season doesn't start it becomes less and less likely that we will be able to sell

the items we may end up with a complete loss. for lost their. conrad a ginsburg has been running the ski school for 25 years normally it can keep up to $180.00 seasonal workers busy at a time but how are things now during the pandemic shift. it's tough thing so there's a lot at stake what can i say. you sort of leave in long we've been working all our lives please turn it off turn it off please. have you gotten seen or heard from for these we'll see if we ever receive financial assistance from the state for now we're just getting by on chipping away at our pension funds

very heavily see is the only way for us to pay our bills. and if there isn't. a ton in her the 1st day welcoming back hiker's is coming to an end. on a headline is taking stock slack business was slow we had some of this it is fewer than expected we might just have broken even at least she can pay the cook. on a made a childhood dream come true when she opened ton in her. but now her money is running out. first but all the government takes we are going to promised hasn't arrived we're anxious for that to be distributed so we can hold on to our employees . otherwise they risk losing their jobs. conrad a ginsburg now faces a grave task before the pandemic he was planning

a new rental center nearby. the work there is nearly finished but today he has bad news for the workers. it's not through the 50 schools who are there the next big hurdle that we have to find a way to pay you what you finish your work we have to but we haven't earned a thing since april 2020. 1 conrad would be happy to offer skin classes to keep learning money. just like other professions in germany. frankly if we don't understand hairdressers for example or in close contact with their clients but we're not allowed to give one on one outdoor lessons that's difficult to accept. normally conrad and his instructors would be teaching hundreds of children cross country skiing at the local ice stadium. but without

clients him i have to close his business for good. thanks.