>> hello, and welcome to "global 3000," your weekly update on the global issues behind the headlines. here's what we have coming up for you over the next half-hour. cubans respond to changes in relations with the u.s.. a new anti-terror law in saudi arabia has human rights activists worried, and a national park in brazil wants to protect an endangered species. as europe fears the cold war revival of the ukraine, the united states is easing sanctions against cuba.

president barack obama justified this spectacular shift in policy with the simple recognition that if the policy has not worked for half a century, it's probably time to change it. while many cubans hope for a much-needed economic boost, critics fear this will all just be about cash rather than new freedoms. our reporter went to havana to find out. >> etian is in his element. the rhymes just fall into place. the 26-year-old hip-hop or -- hip-hopper is popular with cuban youth. when it comes to the state, he is more tolerated than appreciated. "free your mind" -- that's his motto and a sticker on the computer he uses to write his lyrics. etian hopes it is the dawn of a new era now that the united states is reaching out its hands. >> this isn't just an opportunity for cubans, it is

also a chance for the americans and for the entire world. it shows it's possible to resolve issues. >> etian is located on thea, hoo 130,000 people living in socialist style housing surrounded by palm trees. life is led at a gentle pace here. it's even a little boring. there's not much on offer for young people. no cinemas, no theaters, and no internet. >> young people in cuba hope they will be able to travel more. they hope they will be able to go online. they want to get to know different countries and learn about other cultures. it would be good if more people visited our country. i hope more americans come. >> this is the old town of havana, 170 kilometers from here to the u.s. coast. there was a time when this was the focal point of the cold war, but history moved on while cuba stuck to a socialist model which is slowly but surely decaying.

housing, education, and health care are available almost free of charge. a month's worth of coupons are usually used up in two weeks. tomatoes and meet our luxury items. officially, the shortages are blamed on the u.s. trade embargo. >> the embargo makes life in cuba tough. it weakens our country. there are shortages of medicine, food. >> socialism or death, the motto of the revolution. for decades, the united states has enforce the trade embargo in an effort to bring cuban communism to its knees. havana estimates that has cost more than 830 billion euros, a figure that can't be verified.

but the castro's for always proud of their resistance to the powerful u.s. without the enemy, a part of their identity would be lost. >> the distant relationship -- this new relationship between cuba and the u.s. has unsettled a lot of people. you were always well prepared for an american attack. what we are not prepared for his coexistence. but i think we will manage, because to be honest, americans aren't worse than anyone else. >> alejandra ferras is not pleased with recent developments. he's 94. 60 years ago he fought for the revolution alongside his hero fidel castro. all his life he has loved socialism and hated americans. he doesn't believe a new age is dawning. >> we know our friends, but we know our enemies to. and our revolutionary leader che d this to say about our enemies. you can't trust the yankees one little bit. they are all liars.

>> the old comrades meet up once a year. they have set up this museum to the revolution in a courtyard. they talk about the glory days and how they miss their old enemy. >> obama and the u.s. government still want to destroy the revolution, but in a different way, from within. that makes the situation harder. >> despite its pride, cuba needs u.s. dollars. the economic situation is strained. an end to the embargo would pump millions into the country. when president raul castro announced the new partnersp with t u.s., he called it a triumph of socialism. he wants more trade with america, but no political change. elizardo sanchez knows this all too well. he's one of the country's most prominent human rights activists.

since the rapprochement is announced the castro regime has detained more than 50 dissidents. they wanted to demonstrate in havana for more freedom. >> it's a clear warning from the government. they're still not prepared to respect human rights and allow a free society. >> there are no private boats in havana harbor. the government does not want them. it is worried that unhappy cubans would use them to escape. but large ships dock here, and soon they could be bringing american tourists. rolando certainly hope so. he belongs to the small group of entrepreneurs in cuba. he has four rooms he rents out, and even though he has to give a portion of the income to the state, it is still worth it, he says. the former class enemy and his dollars are welcome.

>> we still don't have the infrastructure to accommodate lots of tourists, but to prevent the loss of any income, the state allows private businessmen like me to operate. >> etian is giving a concert this evening. he sings of freedom and hope, and of lust for life. he is singing about a cuba which does not yet exist. the country wants to open up without abandoning its old rally cries. it's a bit like dancing while standing still. >> saudi arabia's new ruler has acted fast in changing the top personnel in his security apparatus. he takes over during testing times. voices calng f more civil rights are getting louder, and the threat from i.s. is that the country's doorstep. saudi arabia has invested a lot to strengthen its borders with iraq.

inside the country, riyadh hopes to rein in terrorists through new legislation. >> barbed wire to combat terrorism. a fence with radar and cameras, running 836 kilometers from kuwait to jordan. saudi arabia has closed its northern border. on the other side, iraq. the terrorist group calling itself islamic state controls large areas there. we are traveling with saudi border guards. in early january, i.s. terrorists tried to cross the border here. you have been asked not to film people's faces. the men don't want to be recognized by i.s. supporters. approaching enemies can be spotted quickly. in the january incident, the

terrorists were all killed. but three border guards died too. >> we desperately need international cooperation to put these extremists in their place and neutralize them. there is no room for sympathy, no mercy for this group which is spilling the blood of innocents. >> saudi arabian police proudly show us their anti-terror units. their training for deployment in saudi cities. the northern border may be closed, but i.s. supporters could well be in the country already. the four killed at the border in january were all saudis. it is thought to and a half thousand saudi's are fighting for i.s.

>> it looks like a gift for children. you open it -- >> a few items in the terrorist arsenal. bombs hidden in gift boxes or in books. islamist terror groups like i.s. or al-nusra use what they call martyrs, suicide bombers outfitted with explosive jackets. >> you see nothing. he would be covered like this. we can dismount it and we can dispose the actual device. we have the cave ability of disabling the device if he's willing to surrender. >> but it usually ends like this . >> that face lotion would happen over here around us -- explosion would happen over here around us. >> riyadh, the capital of a contradictory country. for decades saudis have financed islamists around the world. today saudi arabia is a partner in the war against islamic state terrorism.

western living standards side-by-side with ultraconservative islam with public beheadings. women are denied the most a six civil rights, like driving a car. >> women have been challenging this then on driving for a long time. or they have campaigned for human rights. and some have paid a high price. we are going to meet a woman who has never minced her words and her struggle for more freedom. but in recent months she has become very anxious. because saudi arabia introduced new anti-terror laws. they are being applied to extremists, but also to civil rights activists. and then some have been very careful about showing their faces when they speak openly. this activists wants us to distort her voice so she can't be recognized.

she says you can be accused of terrorism for simply writing a tweet. two activists were brought before an antiterrorism court for driving a car. she says the law is so wide reaching than almost anyone can be accused of terrorism and that it is a danger for human rights. 1000 lashes and 10 years' im prisonment was the sentence handed down to blogger raif badawi. in saudi arabia the call for freedom of expression is fairly seen as a threat to national security. the activists goes on to say that people must be allowed to speak and become politically active. or one day they will turn to guns. there's no other solution. religion and politics are closely linked in saudi arabia.

the royal family supports a very strict interpretation of islam. in return, spiritual leaders do not question the supremacy of the king. ahmed seif el dim is among the most influential legal scholars in saudi arabia. he says that because saudi arabia is surrounded by war and conflict, people need to agree that terrorist to rise up against the authorities must fail. -- who rise up against the authorities must fail. >> obviously, they are adding fuel to the fire. they're not going to get anywhere. governments have the power, the arms, the strength. you cannot fight a government. there is no way we can keep this place safe and put out the fires around us, except if we put our hands with our leaders and work to find solutions rather than create more trouble.

>> so unity is a civil duty. criticism undesired. the activist says that power has been the reserve of just one man for far too long. she says lots of people want change, they want to shape things, and if there are no concessions to young people who want to participate, then things will get ugly. saudi arabia is isolating itself from extremists outside its borders and from political change within. human rights activists are viewed as enemies of the state, all in the name of the war against terror. >> more than half of all saudis are under the age of 25, a new generation that is unlikely to refrain from sharing its opinions online. brazil is a country unfazed by contradictions. its rapid economic of elements created a new middle class. brazil's natural resources

continue to fuel this development, but now even rain forests that once seemed endless are running out of steam. 120 million people live in the atlantic forest. parts of that make up the pau brazil national park. their the race is on to protect a dwindling natural heritage. check the hoses and other equipment. part director fabio faraco is managing the exercise. the group regularly participates in emergency training in order to be ready if there's ever a real forest fire. the fire brigade is made of a people living in nearby villages, mostly farmers and laborers who work in forrester protection during the hot summer months. we are in the northeast of

brazil, in the pau brazil national park. there's a rich variety of nature here, vastly different ecosystems thriving side-by-side. one is the mussununga forest. >> mussununga is a knee -- is a unique habitat here in southern bahia. it's characterized by sandy soils. the ground is very loose and the trees have to adapt to that. the trees aren't that close together. more light enters the forest, as do other plant species, like millions or orchids -- bromel iads or orchids. >> the part director says vanilla can also be found here. its fruit is the precious vanilla pod. many plants and trees have adapted to their environment in very special ways.

>> this is the paraju, a tree quite common to this region. in mussununga it had to adapt to the sandy soils. to keep stable, it has developed wide roots which supported on the surface. -- support it on the surface. >> the name of the national park, pau brazil, comes from a tree species, also known as brazilwood. centuries ago, the portuguese chopped down the trees to extract its red admits. it was such an important raw material back then that the country was named after it. the brazilwood is almost extinct now. it only exists in the national park, where large specimens like this are a sensation. >> botanists estimate this tree is between 500 and 600 years old. it's a very old tree. it reminds us of the past.

>> the pau brazil grows very slowly. these small trees already 30 to 40 years old. they grow close to the adult tree. when that dies, the younger trees compete for their place in the sun. the way the pau brasil reproduces can only be observed here in the national park. >> forests like this have a history going back thousands of years. people weren't there to write it down. i wish we would understand the urgent need to care for and protect this heritage so it isn't forgotten. it's a lot older than the nation or an idea or ideology. we should come together to retain this heritage. it belongs to us all. >> visitors used to have to adhere to some strict rules.

rosen paths which existed before the national park was created and now being opened -- are now being open to the public. the part director regularly invites groups to explore parts of the national park. bicycles play an important role. cyclists have to learn a few rules, but then 38 kilometers of psychopaths are open for them to use. -- cycle paths are open for them to use. that is 2% of the total area of the park. >> a caninana, a non-venomous snake.

the group soon calms down. >> its 28 degrees here at the moment. but if we were on the beach or on a normal road, it would be 40 or 45 degrees. it is the middle of the summer, the hottest time of the year. but the climate in the forest is very mild. it is just priceless. you can easily understand why the climate is so messed up in other places. it's because the forest's are disappearing. >> another group of visitors comes the same day. they are representatives of the brazilian environment ministry and germany's giz development agency.

they talk with the director about integrating nearby private nature reserves into the national park. >> there are lots of individual nature reserves which are very close to each other, and they allow us to set up ecological corridors. it's important to retain the biodiversity. it allows animals to roam. that guarantees genetic variety. >> and pau brasil national park itself benefits from working with the private reserves. >> this means everything to me. it's a huge joy to be able to do this work and to fight for it so that my son, the next generation, will also be able to see the forest.

the forest shows us that the world is not just consist of cities. it is made up of colors and sounds. it feels alive. >> the park will be open to the public later this year. for the load -- latest, follow dw global ideas. then there are some things that are harder to fit into a twet, like showing global guests around her living room. today we pay a visit to ramesh ojha in kathmandu.

>> come in. you're most welcome. >> when i come home, i play with my children. i help them do their homework, and sometimes we watch tv if there's power. i bought this tv eight years ago at the market. >> which are your favorite tv cartoons? >> "tom and jerry."

tom is the cat, and jerry the mouse. >> this is my favorite dress. my brother bought it for me to wear to a party. i like it because the color of the dress is my favorite color. >> here are some pictures of my daughter and me. here is my mother and grandmother and there is my best friend. the picture of my mother is the most important to me. she passed away a long time ago

and this reminds me of her. >> we buy things when we can. we have to think about our children's education. it's not easy, but we're moving forward step-by-step. >> bye bye. >> and that is all we have time for on this edition. you can find a lot more information online at dw.de /global3000. we are back next week, same time, same place. until then, thanks for watching and bye bye. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> memphis, tennessee... it has been written if music were religion, then memphis would be jerusalem, and sun studio its most sacred shrine. you are here. ♪ hanging around >> we are toy soldiers from philadelphia, pennsylvania. i'm ron gallies, lead singing, guitar. >> i'm mack, i play lead guitar. we have don on drums, luke on piano and bill on base. >>