drey speaking to. create the tallest biggest and the most beautiful structures this is how massive churches were created. consciousness at the drills starts april 12th on d. w. . the price for resistance 9 veteran activists and lawmakers in hong kong have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 18 months for participating in mass anti-government protests nearly 2 years ago. now punish the region's most prominent pro-democracy campaigners including media tycoon jimmy lie and martin lee known as hong kong's father of democracy the convictions are a blow to the pro-democracy movement in hong kong which is facing an unrelenting crackdown by beijing and hong kong authorities i'm michael okwu in berlin this is

the day. it is a better day for all the. people who have fought for so many. good luck to see the. rule of. law was 5.3. 0. tell you. i'm going to push your. son to go to beijing we should not give up people probably. time but. what they're telling promise us no one. also coming up a change of power in communist cuba for the 1st time in 6 decades the country's

president will no longer be someone named castro but will they hand over usher in the change many people are hoping for. the whole people a chance to people have their say we're going through a time when it has to be china and not just in my finite moment and. to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome kong which was once one of the few outposts of democracy in asia is a little less free tonight some of the city's most outspoken pro-democracy campaigners are paying the price for standing up to maine. and china's increasing power over the territory accords handed down sentences to 10 protest leaders over their role in mass demonstrations 2 years ago little by little beijing has been clamping down on freedom of expression in hong kong despite assurances it would respect the former british colonies autonomy when china took control in 1907 new

security laws make it increasingly dangerous to speak out in defiance of beijing but despite a brutal crackdown remaining anti-government activists say they haven't given up hope was they've just been handed a sentence for participating in protests yet they are still calling for hong kong as freedoms was media tycoon jimmy lie was among those sent to jail for produce a fighting in huge pro-democracy protests back in 2019. he received a sentence of 14 months. current thinking. oh. no but there are many more times probably more people would get off. getting a little girl that fell. 3050. 4 of those convicted were given suspended sentences including 82 year old former

lawmaker martin lee and felt a statesman of the pro-democracy movement. the convictions are employed to the pro-democracy movement in hong kong which is facing a strong crackdown by beijing and hong kong authorities. cannot think of the civil human rights front is very very disappointed by the sentencing today it creates a chilling effect that makes us citizens afraid of speaking up it also makes the society gradually lose a rational patient and peaceful voice to communicate with the government so you're fair warning. massive protests swept hong kong organized $29.00 tane they began as a reaction to an extradition bill allowing people to be transferred to mainland china and then activists a feed opposition leaders could be sent to china now they are being prosecuted at harm. despite the sentences activists say they won't back down in the fight for

freedoms for hong kong but it's getting tougher and tougher to stand up for democracy in the city. to talk more about the situation in hong kong we're joined now by glacier quarreling an activist from hong kong who's currently living here in berlin she is the founder of the n g o keyboard front line which monitors privacy security on the internet welcome glacier tell us more about your story why did you decide to leave hong kong. and others have been hometown and 20 trying to get primary election from a trip to iraq but then as i have been working on lobbying and international advocacy agitator home and and extensively in germany and i feel like if i want to continue to work and speaking at her home then i will have to leave home very soon in order to be saved so i flat how come and late july journeys you on one hand

continue my studies if your ph d. not here and on the other hand he's working on it for the. ok you know i can't help but wonder whether the sentences handed down will have a chilling effect on activists is the pro-democracy movement in hong kong now a lost cause. i'd say it's not a lot lost cause and. to a certain extent did create a little chilling effect this is handy but on the other hand it is actually making the citizens more angry because the government seems to believe that if they can house or figueres and force them and to foster them into exile or actually put them behind bars then there will be no one's out to organize anything with the city but that's actually not true because the movement may 19th is actually a leaderless and that means there's no one who can decide after all ha ha what are they going to do and what do they want to do to force is more difficult for persistence have been a systematic level you won't see

a fair election so you won't see even a formal political participation a lot of resistance is happening on a local and civil society not just last week because the government crackdown on the shah that was very outspoken at that movement thousands of citizens are lining up and trying to sort of just just show support and say the movement is not dying out what is changing it's 4 minutes into something that was last week to cope with war related to their daily lives each citizens so the movement's not dying down it's not a lost cause so bear with me while i go through what you might describe as a litany of woes since the protests ended last year china has expelled opposition lawmakers from the legislature beijing has new rules in place to give it effective control over how the legislature and the region's chief executive are selected and the new security law his mate political dissent effectively impossible what do you say to observers who might argue hong kong is now effectively authoritarian a north or tarion state. i cannot actually provide any comparable to what

i did just that systematically hans's and is obviously a compromise and there has yet to be anything that can be done to reverse those changes at this time but that doesn't mean that resistance cannot happen after acceptance and holler sly sample there are people trying to preserve. cantonese there are people who are trying to preserve a ha ha local time hang in there are actually a lot of things going on and myself also sad to look and but you are right there. isn't any thing there is happening on and with and like the whole system because they have already blocked all routes of entering that they resisted it's not just about political system there are other things that could be done but at this point i do see what you mean there is that space that we can express ourselves really are dying down and it's has been stringing and i do feel very concerned about that

that's up to us so much of a similar vein in it's outside of hong kong and we will be the one who will be continuing talking about how come that's what is clear is that the local leaders are and in the mainland government on china. or showing real resolve how worried are you for your activist friends back home i am extremely worried about them a lot of them that i have been friends with i have worked with are already put behind us i joshua won't let it go and so on course i'm very concerned and every day when you turn on the phone the freezing you wary of and i'm going to see someone being arrested and seeing someone i know that i fuss this is a very real situation for all of the activists in. western countries clearly you have criticised china's clampdown on hong kong what more should those countries be doing. i think in the country seelye hong kong freedom and hong kong system has

been compromised and they are it in practice if you provide hong kong is like a state program like that and u.k. provided congress with you know can 80 and can he candidates make canada and australia have provided some service a power promised i think the european union or germany can follow suit if it's right and safety for commerce who are in need of that glacier if you and i speak again about hong kong 10 years from now what will you be saying about how much it's changed. i'd say i never i somehow expected things to be very bad in hong kong 10 years from like 10 years ago but i never thought it would happen so i'd say a lot of things have changed hong kong least not the place that i was following lloyd if you don't was being deprived. freedom of speech is no law and therefore you know it's m.p.'s got impeached for projects that hong kong has a very famous for and not allowed anymore just like date all of the thinkers have

being sentenced and tom guilty because carrying out a piece of process and how come you organisation of course is called a keyboard front line how much do you fear that your activities are being monitored by the chinese. and chinese monitor is happening since a long time ago because the legal system in hong kong do not provide enough protection for data privacy and there is no law that can provide effective check and balance the answer so i believe that a lot of the our activities are being monitored by the chinese and the chinese government or the comment to say i have recently block some of the websites to be accessed from hong kong as i consider to be silencing national security and that's why the howard government decided to block them and other to prohibit people to access those information. understood personal level what is it that you're feeling right now is it anger is it sadness is it fear i don't see

it's 1st change and more more more frustration that i'm feeling because i feel like i'm not doing enough and i don't have enough. however or knowledge to know how do i stop things are turning out worse but i still feel that i was very much encouraged by the courage of the activists in home no address from joshua early all it take your southward to incentives to date has a show that stayed up ha ha hours who will continue to fight for what's right so i'd say it's being very much more to say and they seem happy frustrations. glacier originally from hong kong now living here in berlin and the founders keyboard frontline really appreciate your time thank you very much.

now to another place in southeast asia where democracy is being rolled back and that's miramar opponents of the military regime say they have formed an interim unity government including representatives from the country's ethnic minorities this as the u.n. human rights chief has warned the situation in miramar could be spiraling to a full blown syria style conflict more than $700.00 people have been killed since the military took power in a coup in february and since then its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters has only grown stronger. these are the lengths myanmar's military will go. to crackdown on dissenting voices. this video from social media shows the moments a prominent protest leader is deliberately rammed his motorbike. was arrested by armed men after trying to flee the incident with friends saying

they now fear for his safety. security forces have used increasingly violent tactics to quell the movement the u.n. says there are echoes of the civil war in syria. there too we saw peaceful protests met with unnecessary and clearly disproportionate force the state's brutal persistent repression of its own people led to some individuals taking up arms followed by a downward and rapidly expanding spiral of violence all across the country. despite the risk to their lives protesters have been trying to keep up the pressure on the military regime the spilled red paint symbolizes the blood of. activists say at least 700 people have been killed since protests began in february . i normally at the moment people in myanmar would be celebrating can jam

new year holiday but not this year. it's important for young people to rebel against a dictator we can't be happy now as long as we live under this dictatorship our future is lost. the protesters aren't giving up but neither it seems is the military. cuba today is beginning a historic transition the country is communist party is meeting to choose its new leader and for the 1st time since the 1959 revolution his last name won't be castro castro took over the party leadership from his brother fidel the $26.00 party congress was the last time they appeared in public together the 89 year old. bank today hand over the top leadership post to president. communists have launched. some reforms including expanding internet access but the country's economy has

continued to struggle with shortages of even basic items most cubans have never known a time when anyone other than a castro was in power here's what some cubans are saying about the prospect of change no idea how proud i shouldn't leave now times are bad and every day gets worse and i am a bone you know the whole of young people a chance and the people have their say we're going through a time where that has to be changed and not just in what i'm finite moment and. this party meeting is a great opportunity to implement the plans that raul castro announced back in 2000 and that yes which would never carry a day if they're all going yes it was just time to free up the country to set people free and to live cubans 20 least their creative potential of getting at the you were both in terms of their opinions you already found their livelihoods good i

mean to wear out that no one can really earn a living here without having to resort to crime. to discuss their changes at the top in cuba we're joined now by jorge dwane he's the director of the cuba research institute at florida international university in miami welcome jorge how big a transition for cuba is this weekend's communist party congress. well on the one hand we've already heard gus dur announced formally today that he's going to step down and that there will be a new secretary of the cuban communist party beginning on monday on the other hand there's a subtle more subtle transition which is the transition from an older generation the so-called historic generation that built the cuban revolution to a younger a revolutionary generation that was born after $959.00 and that's really what's

with the congress it's not about what many cubans say they are hoping for change are they likely to get it change has already started some of these changes have been very difficult for every day cuba such as the unification of the monetary system which had long been recommended by experts on the cuban economy but unfortunately that has created inflation rising cost of living and just hunger among many cubans who are having a very difficult time on the other hand there still is need for more reform or he says the so-called non state sector of the economy the private sector in which people work for themselves needs to to grow because of the limitations of the state employment and the current economic crisis and so cuba's i think they're hoping that some of the. things will continue to take place and that short run life will be better for them. well the economy continues to be the

biggest problem for many cubans help give our international viewers a sense of what living standards are like in cuba right now today. well people are completely comparing the current situation with the so-called special period in the 1990 s. after the disappearance of the soviet union which of course the main trade partner for cuba and the reports of those ears those who lived there are terrible people lost 20 pounds and had trouble moving from one place to another that was the fuel that was no electricity and so compared to that terrible period 30 years ago it seems that a lot of those things are coming back so again most especially the lack of food on the table and the lack of other basic resources for dating life salaries are extreme you know living conditions all sorts from you know there rationing of food

continues and does not support people's. cities and then finally another recent impact has been the playing in the tourist industry as a result of the closing down of borders because of the coronavirus pandemic and then the reduction in remittances and the money that cuban americans and people around the world sent or rather this all the overall it's really a very dire economic situation one issue that continues to hamper cuba's economy is u.s. sanctions of course the white house wares astra earlier today about the biden ministrations stance toward cuba have a listen support for democracy and human rights will be at the core of our efforts through empowering and caring the cuban people to term in their own future cuba policy shift our additional steps is currently not among the president's top foreign policy priorities for it doesn't sound like cubans can hope for much change

from washington soon how much is the u.s. embargo hampering the island's development after all these decades. well it's not just the embargo it's also the tightening of the embargo on the previous administration by president trump and i think a lot of these measures are definitely hurting just every every day life and even citizens regardless of their political opinions so for instance the closing down remit is this which again was something that the ministration did last year the. retirement of the main transfer company western union no really has left the houses literally thousands of cuban families without money to spend on their basic necessities ok unfortunately the official is very afraid we don't have much more time we have to leave it there so sorry to interrupt you as jorge dwane

from florida international university in miami many many thanks thank you. britain's royals are getting ready to bid farewell tomorrow to the family patriarch the queen's husband prince philip who died at the age of 99 last week since then preparations for the carefully planned funeral have been in full swing at windsor castle with millions expected to tune in to watch the event on t.v. but the actual ceremony itself will be a small family affair. mourners won't be lining the streets of windsor on such a day when the british royal family gathers to pay their final respects to prince philip the public has been asked to respect pandemic restrictions and stay away. a steady stream of people have been coming to lay flowers outside windsor castle ahead of the ok asian. he's been part of our lives

or the whites throughout life. to the queen and that's a way feel sorry for to tomorrow be a massive loss massive his family out for the public in general. everywhere not seen him around with the many move. there. the plans for philip's funeral have been in place for many years and were personally approved by both the chook on the queen they include a modified land rover that will carry his coffin designed in collaboration with philip himself the hearse has been repainted in the shade of green used for many military land rovers. more than $700.00 military personnel will take part in the funeral and they've been rehearsing their roles the juke was a world war 2 veteran and the ceremony will pay tribute to his lifelong ties to the

military philip gave up a distinguished career in the royal navy when he married the queen. coronavirus restrictions mean that only 30 mourners will be allowed inside st george's chapel wearing masks and social distancing the queen will sit alone we really have to avoid judging from anything external. she's the queen she will behave with the extraordinary dignity and extraordinary courage that she always does. and at the same time she is saying farewell to someone to who she was married for 73 years. i think. that must be

a very very profound thing and in any produce only. a farewell to a decades long love story on the husband the queen once called her strength and stay. finally her us healthcare worker on the front line of the grown a virus crisis received the surprise of her life this week when a package arrived from one of her idols oh my god oh my god. i can't read you something privately and says dear brit i wanted to write she would personally thank you for serving on the front lines of this pandemic and for being brave enough to put yourself in danger to others i am so inspired by your passion for helping in caring for patients and i was so touched that you mentioned liking my music recently i sent you some crazy some cozy clothes for when you're off duty i'll be thinking about you and forever grateful love taylor. pretty thomason received the gift box and

a handwritten note after she told a local newspaper that she listened to taylor swift music to wind down from her job thomas and said she was touched by the pop star's jester. well the day is almost done but the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter and. i'm michael locust have a great time at. the be. sued.

by you ready for some great news i'm christine one blond guy i'm glad you like it you know what the problem in the dean of the news offered up michel tackles the issues shaping the above i want more time to hop into still talk to all of the tram stop talk to you what's making the hittites and what's behind it the way on the streets to keep in the forms on the inside. africa. on 30 minutes w.

. mcauley. few more into the planet's. teaching. still keep on the greens holocaust and to me it's clear to me. such are. the solutions are out there. join me for a deep dive into the green transformation for me. for the months. until i was front of my dignity 77 percent takes on modern slavery shining a light on the feet of them in a nigerian women can easily fog seem that one man where suspect and force going to cross it to shape their stories must be told why she forced me into think straight. and excretion edition of the 77 percent stuart's able 17th on t w. who

. was all the more. than a fluke the 1st real war isn't. in those walls smaller. to news poll workers rules. there's no use no love word for the wicked. doesn't understand the real world gives the verb or her girl. a parents knew. her couldn't sleep. her current form.

news live from berlin and a teenage gunman kills 8 victims in a matter of minutes flags are lowered at u.s. government buildings after the latest mass shooting this time in a fed ex facility in indianapolis president biden says congress 1st now toughen gun owner background check. punishment for their resistance hong kong's pro-democracy leaders are sentenced and some will serve more than a year in jail for joining mass demonstrations against china's tightening grip on

the charitable. and a show of confidence anglo-american old gets her 1st covert 1000 shot and received astra zeneca germany's chancellor says she's delighted to take the vaccine and urge others to do the same. i'm like it's good to have you with us u.s. president joe biden has repeated calls for congress to pass gun restrictions after another mass shooting biden has called gun violence in the u.s. an epidemic the president ordered flags to be lowered at the white house and other government buildings in honor of the 8 people who were killed at a fed ex depot in indianapolis on thursday. the attacker was a former fed ex employee after killing 8 people and wounding several others he also

. shot himself dead police are still searching for motive it's also emerged the f.b.i. had questioned the shooter last year. it was shortly after 11 pm on thursday night when the police were called out to the indianapolis airports roads were closed and much of the airport placed into lockdown police said offices responded as quickly as they could but they arrived to light at the fed ex building morning. received a call reference shots fired to that location as officers who responded the. way they arrived to an active shooter incident. at that location. primary information at this time is that the alleged shooter has taken his own life here at the scene. police say 8 people were killed suffering injuries consistent with gunshot wounds 5 others were taken to hospital one is said to be in

a critical condition. witnesses at the scene say they saw a man far in what they thought was an automatic fire i. saw a man with a submachine gun of some sort an automatic rifle and he was firing at hope and he opened and i immediately ducked down and got scared as day broke police was still collecting evidence trying to identify the 19 year old shooter's motive last night in a doubtless was revisited by the scourge of gun violence that has killed far too many in our community and in our country although we will learn more about this case in the coming days. and in the coming weeks no piece of information will restore the lives that were taken. this is the latest in a spate of mass shootings in the u.s.

after a period of relative calm during the coronavirus pandemic and it's already prompted renewed calls for stricter gun controls. president joe biden has already expressed concerns about the rise in gun violence let's get the latest from. morning carol you know what can we expect to hear from the president. while michael what we have seen a string go from mass shootings this year let me just go through it 1st the gun man firing of bullets that's in the air around atlanta georgia then a shooting in a grocery story in boulder colorado home shorting in iraq hill that is in south carolina now again as you mentioned a lone gunman who murdered people and one that several more you know a president biden order to the facts of the lowered at half staff at the white house in public buildings and and ground to military posts and embassies and this

happens only 2 weeks after he gave such an order because of the shootings in atlanta and boulder president biden has talked several times about a cruel fate for families that has become too normal in the united states and he will probably say it's too similar words at this time he also said again that of gun violence is an epidemic in the united states and he will probably add that they have to act now to save lives that is also something he has been saying several times but that is not an easy task in this country where the 2nd amendment the right to carry guns in the u.s. is still so popular it's just endless what does he want to do about the increasing number of shootings across the u.s. . well some still

hope that president biden might appalling to a person specially for this single issue. guns are similar to the one he picked up on the issue of climate change climate crisis but earlier today a white house spokeswoman jen psaki reject to this suggestion arguing that the main impediment for addressing the crisis are the congressional republicans and not a lack of will in the white house. well the president has other things to worry about as well russia expels chained u.s. diplomats in response to u.s. sanctions what's behind that yes yesterday we heard about these sanctions that president biden announced several sanctions against russia to you to the election interference in the tiny tiny presidential election in favor of republican candidate donald trump also due to the cyber have waynes that allowed them to spy on more than $200.00 companies worldwide

and also due to the increasing military presence of russian military in crimea these were mainly economic sanctions backed president biden also expelled 10 diplomats from washington d.c. and new york they have now less than 30 days to leave the country and this is now russia's response without a clear diplomatic as collation michael. kerry more reporting from washington thanks as always thank you. let's take a look at other stories making headlines around the world japanese prime minister yoshihiko day suga has become the 1st leader to hold face to face talks with us president joe biden the one day summit is focusing on an increasingly assertive china 5 g. technology and climate change are also on the agenda. the leaders of germany france and ukraine have called on russia to pull its troops back from the ukrainian border volodymyr selenski net and then reading that call in paris and angle and mikel

joined by video link selenski called for summit involving all 4 nations. role castro is standing down as head of cuba's communist party the move brings an end to the leadership of castro and his brother fidel they ruled cuba for more than 6 decades raul castro says he's handing off to a younger generation. while some of hong kong's most prominent pro-democracy campaigners have learned the price of standing up to china's increasing power a court has handed down sentences on $10.00 protest leaders over mass demonstrations 2 years ago despite their crackdown remaining anti-government activists say they haven't given up hope i may have just been handed a sentence for participating in protests yet they are still calling for hong kong as freedoms was the media tycoon jimmy law i was among those sent to

jail to produce a painting in huge pro-democracy protests back in 2019. he received a sentence of 14 months. to get it right on top of him you know but there are many more. more people off of that in that i don't know that to tell. you that even if. 4 of the. as convicted were given suspended sentences including 82 year old former lawmaker martin lee and felder statesman of the pro-democracy movement. the convictions are a blow to the pro-democracy movement in hong kong which is facing a strong crackdown by beijing and hong kong authorities. cannot lead of the civil human rights front is very very disappointed by the sentencing today it creates

a chilling effect that makes us citizens afraid of speaking up it also makes the society gradually lose a rational patient and peaceful voice to communicate with the government oh yes there were. massive protests swept hong kong organized 29 tain they began as a reaction to an extradition bill allowing people to be transferred to mainland china and then activists feed opposition leaders could be sent to china now they are being prosecuted at harm. despite the sentences activists say they won't back down in the fight for freedoms for hong kong but it's getting tougher and tougher to stand up for democracy in the city. well germany is seeing its highest rising growing a virus cases since january 1 of the main reasons is the slow pace of vaccinations fewer than one in 5 germans has been given of 1st dose but the vaccination drive has picked up speed in recent days among those getting

a 1st jab was chancellor angela merkel her office released this image of her stamp vaccination document the 66 year old was given the astra zeneca vaccine and said she was delighted. political correspondent simon young joins us now simon i imagine chancellor merkel receiving an asteroid might be a much needed shot in the arm for germany's vaccination drive. well indeed issues of things moving forward but probably you could say it also shows how slowly them moving forward as you say angle of medical 66 years of age she's only just become eligible now to get this show up she's had it today and she didn't make a big deal out of it she didn't make a media moment out of it there have been no pictures released of her actually getting the vaccine always seen as what you just saw there the the sort of vaccine

booklet that belongs to angela merkel so anyway yes the vaccination is moving forward but still not as quickly as some say it needs to indeed the debate about stricter measures is still ongoing of course let's hear what chancellor merkel had to say in parliament them enough but i have seen more not the kind of if we've learned a lesson 13 months into the pandemic it's this. that's a virus doesn't forgive any half heartedness it only makes things worse. the virus doesn't forgive hesitation it just makes everything last longer. the virus doesn't accept any negotiations it understands only one language the language of determination medical making her case there are we going to see german lawmakers finally taking the steps that public health officials and doctors are pleading for . well i think this

a bit of legislation is going to go through in the end there have been quite stuff all given it's about it in parliament because you know there's a lot of focus on imposing really tough and unusual things such as night time cookies here that so something has got a lot of people up in arms it's already happening indeed from saturday night for instance the 1st nighttime curfew since the 2nd world war all being imposed in the city of cologne so you know these are measures that really do go to people's personal freedoms but medical experts say it is needed because many of them say we are in the middle of a 3rd wave already so i expect the talking will go on and probably not so the end of next week will this legislation be passed off and there may even be a court challenges to it after that but a lot of people say this is the kind of thing that's needed to get a grip on the situation here in germany you know we should mention we have seen

glimmers of hope this week with vaccinations finally kicking into gear will this be enough simon to break the 3rd wave. yeah well that's the big question and i think a lot will depend on the role of variants there are more dangerous more infectious variants around some of which apparently can cause more serious disease and maybe some of the vaccines aren't. ready to get it get it to meet that challenge if you like but nonetheless vaccination clearly is still very important 20000000 doses have now been issued here in germany still only 18.5 percent of the population that's had even one dose so there's still quite a long way to go so that most of 70 or 80 percent which makes puts what's needed political correspondent simon young simon thanks as always. you're watching the

news live from berlin d w business news is up next with my colleague rob watts and don't forget you can get all the latest news and headlines on our web site that's the w dot com or followers on twitter and instagram at the news i'm michael okwu thanks so much for watching. lol and the. people have to say matters to us. that's why most into their stories. reporter every weekend on d w. and you hear me now oh yes we're going to tell you and how it all 50 years germantown flat when we bring you an angle

a man as you've never had to have before surprised himself with what is possible who is medical really what moves and want. to talk to people who are on the way maurice and critics want to join us from apple's last stop. economic growth like it's never seen before china's g.d.p. let's showing the 1st quarter of the year that's compared to the depths of it other than corona virus outbreak last year so we'll assess the actual extent of china's recovery. to south africa facing more travel restrictions around the world than any other country well look at the damage on the nation's tourism sector. vaccinations still running down. in germany meet the germans choosing to fly to

russia to secure a job. this is the doing business of robots in berlin welcome to the program. beijing says china's economy grew by a record 18.3 percent between january and march compared with the same period a year ago as large as those of the absolutely dire 1st quarter 2020 when china battled its own corona virus outbreak but analysts say the figure nevertheless shows the chinese economy continues to game a bit. from busy construction sites to car production lines humming with activity and porch light quango brimming with cargo ready for the world new data has given fresh optimism to hopes that china has the wind in sales the economy expanded by more than 18 percent in q one compared to the same period last year when the coronavirus 1st hit but when compared to the final quarter of

2020 the growth was a disappointing 0.6 percent official said the country was on a steve path but that business confidence had not fully recovered in $88.00 or in the 1st quarter of this year the trend of economic recovery has continued of course the pandemic continues to spread the international environment remains complex and serious yet the foundation of domestic economic recovery is not solid enough some sectors and businesses are experiencing a number of difficulties. that the statistics office also announced that the urban unemployment rate fell slightly in march testament to the success of jobs fairs like this one and perhaps a further sign that the world's 2nd largest economy has rebound quickly from the global pandemic. from the world's 2nd biggest economy let's cross to our

correspondent in the world's biggest economy is going to joins us from new york so are the 2 global economic giants now sending to full strength there clearly it's a similar picture here in the united states i'm standing here in brooklyn and as you might see the store so open the economy is speeding up we just got some latest figures on consumer confidence here shortly before the weekend and that hit the highest level in about 13 months or since the pandemic began and for the united states being a country that is driven with so consumption it's always a good sign is for people keep buying you know we also got some new of figures on the labor market just some updates actually $49.00 of the 50 states here in the united states created jobs in march and only only alaska actually saw a decline in payroll so clearly all of that is helping that we're also seeing some pretty decent growth in the united states. it's funny that it's not actually that

long since the us was struggling with the pandemic and the 10 as a you know as recently as january is it's now truly out of the woods. well at the moment that's what most economists believe that actually we could even see a boom phase for the next to 2 years or so i guess what we shouldn't forget is that a lot of the growth is so i would call it to market fishel where we had the u.s. government is throwing about 5 trillion dollars on this crisis at the end of the day that's all it takes payers money we also have the federal reserve for keeping interest rates and also that it's much easier for some companies to so wife if they can get money more or less for nothing and what we also shouldn't forget is a crisis usually comes for a corner where you don't expect it so everybody seems to be very upbeat at the

moment it also reflects in the prices at the stock market we hit another record high was the dow jones industrial average cheer on friday we just finished the 4th consecutive weeks of gains but as i said there could be a crisis and also the recovery is on even there's still some parts of the country some parts of the population that are still could struggling quite a bit. and scotto joining us from the streets of new york thanks for the update. now south africa's struggling tourism industry is in dire straits with the country subjects and more coronavirus travel restrictions than any other nation in the world following one of the hottest covered 1000 lockdowns on the planet the country was then hit by the imagine south a highly infectious colored 19 berry and now foreign tourism to south africa has been all but wiped out. all alone in the african bush safari operator nico iraq's most relies on foreign tourists at his 2000 hectare game farm north of your

highness burg. only vehicle will be fun to have people from all over to all the problems europe asia 'd even as far as mongolia people are coming to enjoy the game there are sea night sure but sun was ok but by doing that travel restrictions nobody is coming the coven $1000.00 pandemics last visitor numbers by over 95 percent and the tourists won't be returning anytime soon because of the more contagious covert 19 strain which emerged in south africa at the end of last year travel to and from the country is now either restricted or completely prohibited by $120.00 nations the situation could lead to the end of many south african companies in the tourism sector so africa's got video labels of ball at the end i don't play went into it is it was one of those indices that can really make a difference unfortunately

a lot of lost yet it is taking him back on to it isn't in south africa and the travel restrictions this year on the wrist of the wall the muscle to research tool is really putting the final nail in the coffin off to his men south africa. so where toes famous vilakazi street where nelson mandela once lived is usually swamped with foreign visitors. businesses here are turning to locals amid bankruptcies and closures. before corporate this place was buzzing with falling tallest fluking day in day out 7 days a week 247365 so after chipped in the business went down but slowly slowly with the main focus on domestic tourism slowed through the business picking up but notice before but while this strategy is working for some it's not really an option for most tour operators whose business models rely on foreign tourists.

it's pretty but i mean just for stuff we have to let go 50 percent of the stuff my share fees during the cleaning out just to keep busy hopefully it will turn around real good tourists again. if not i don't know what's plan b with the ongoing travel restrictions a reversal of south africa's tourist industry collapse isn't in sight and we've been speaking to south africa's tourism minister a local by bonnie she said south africans themselves will play a big role in helping the sector through demick to give back some time back to. what tourism sector and that's why we have appealed to many of us to reposition their ports and also to the if somebody falls into this now and the mists in the meantime getting to misty why do we keep getting terrorist of like it. now at some of the other global business stories making the news turkey central bank has banned

the use of crypto currency is to just pick coins for purchases citing transaction risks include a lack of regulation and supervision and possible use for illegal purposes the bank says payment comes at a time when the liver and lungs weaken inflation stubbornly high. australian court has found google guilty of breaking the law over its collection of personal use the data the judge found the tech firm misled android users about the way their location information was being gathered australia's consumer watchdog is seeking financial compensation. and here in germany the coronavirus vaccine rollout is picking up pace but it has been slow to get going as a result some germans have been looking elsewhere to get the japs including to russia. a tiny needle prick and a covert 1000 facts sputnik v enters heintz bloodstream. is certified as being highly efficacious pinker now is one of several germans who pay 2000 euros

for a vaccination vacation his wife is also getting a dose of sputnik v. . just as there is. a few great i didn't even feel the job. it also means we can look forward to being able to travel again in future israel has said it will open up to people who've been vaccinated. the 2 departed from frankfurt today go. there among the 1st 18 tourists who booked a 4 day trip to moscow. their return at the beginning of may for a 2nd job. but you can't count on getting a vaccination in the near future in germany to be honest i think we're being sensible the more people are vaccinated the sooner we recharge immunity to treat it . the media are out in force to meet the would be vaccine knees russia's government is happy too it wants sputnik v. to be a top. export 60 countries of certified for use the european union is more hesitant

to have been raised about its efficacy so the kremlin could see vaccine tourism as good publicity. there's no tour operator world visitor welcomes the business or yeah. sure operator we at least have work for some of our stuff and generate some revenues we otherwise wouldn't have done for russia it's your and solves a couple of german problems as well. sputnik v. is available to all russian citizens free of charge but only 30 percent of them are interested a quick straw poll shows many welcome the fact that germans are coming to moscow for their shots. if they've got problems of vaccines in germany they should come here i don't think it's bad. they should come to russia where the best. with them let them have their vaccinations are vaccine is very good. group even

though sputnik feed isn't even certified yet the next few weeks will see quite a few more vaccine vacationers like pink you know heading to moscow visitors says bookings are surging. so for me in the business team here in berlin a great we can't. tell you ready for summer break i'm pristine when dealing. with the problem you don't use africa. the issues shaping the. car with more time to buy into all the time stuff. what's making the hittites and what's behind the way on the streets to keep you in the grip on the inside d w news in africa. to

go beyond. a man. as we take on the world. we're all about the stories that matter to. us what every 6 months following. the law. will be on fire made for muslims. look closely. listen carefully. this soon. to be good. old fashioned. discover the.

subscribe to believe documentary on. this is the end of the news africa coming up in the program what's behind muslim based insurgency oluseyi jihad as fights as we read it and all of them was on the tal tomei last fall may be planning their next moves it's raising fears upon knoblock bottom. line they just chopped off one hussein's head for no reason right before iowa is the stuff everyone have to watch. so they fled to and i love our correspondents managed to access the volatile region where we just.