brian: a warm welcome to the "journal," coming to you live from dw here in berlin. anchor: great to have you along. here is what is coming up in the next 30 minutes. as ken young mourns the students killed -- as kenya mourns the students killed in the attack, the government launches strikes against jihadists in neighboring somalia. brian: the people of yemen face more shortages of food and water as fighting and more airstrikes continue. anchor: an indonesian court has rejected a last-ditch appeal by two australian death row convicts.

we begin our broadcast in the horn of africa, where kenya has launched retaliatory airstrikes against somalia. brian: the kenyan government is saying that the country's war planes have described two al-shabaab -- have destroyed two al-shabaab camps in response to the attack on the kenyan university last week. anchor: this as the nation is still reeling from the attack that saw islamists belonging to al-shabaab going on at killing streak, singling out christian students before gunning them down. brian: we will be going live to our correspondent in kenya for the latest, where security forces have vowed to track down those responsible for the killings. reporter: families are waiting and hoping. they want to know for certain if their loved ones are among the victims. >>e bodies is not good. it is very bad. some of them are decomposing at

a very high rate. it is not a very good sight. reporter: anger is growing among the residents of garissa. the al-shabaab militants killed 148 people when they attacked the university in the town. many say the government's response has not been enough. locals told us the security is bad. they blame the government as they don't into be doing their job. "we don't want any problems. we want garissa and all of kenya to be safe." on monday, the kenyan military launched airstrikes against the islamists across the border. the military says they destroyed two militant camps in the somali province. al-shabaab denies they were hit. in northern kenya, there are loud calls for international help. local politicians are distancing themselves from islamists. >> murderous criminals purporting to profess our faith of islam have committed these

heinous -- this heinous act. to disassociate ourselves -- we want to disassociate ourselves and our islamic faith from the actions of these demented monsters. reporter: flags are flying at half mast across the country. kenya is holding three days of national mourning to honor the victims. brian: for the very latest on this story let's go live to the kenyan capital. we are joined by our correspondent. first off, can you tell us more about the airstrikes? have they been successful in reducing the militants' capacity for military action? reporter: well, that is still in discussion in kenya. the military says yes, strikes have been successful. they have been rating several camps. two of them -- they have been ratingiding -- raiding several

camps. two of them have been destroyed. they have raided a stronghold. al-shabaab is denying that. there are eyewitnesses that, on the one side they say no military have been killed. others are saying that two camps were destroyed. it is not very clear how many people and if any have been killed. brian: there has been a lot of criticism inside kenya of the kenyan government and its failure to take on al-shabaab. will this airstrike go a bit of a ways in addressing some of that criticism? reporter: it might. there have been a lot of critics . the government did not react. they were hours later than journalists in the recep when the attack took -- in garissa

when the attack took place. now they are trying to show they are taking more security measures. they are patrolling much more often in the streets. there are armed guards. they are trying to show that they are reacting. these strikes could soft and the critics -- could soften the critics. brian: our critics expecting the government to increase airstrikes to conduct more -- are critics expecting the government to increase airstrikes, to conduct more airstrikes against al-shabaab? reporter: why did garissa need to happen for them to react like this now? others are hoping that they will not stop, that they will destroy all of the al-shabaab camps along the border. they are not only at these strongholds. they are much more. the border is 700 kilometers

long. there are much more. they are very divided about that. brian: some very good questions about what the government is doing about kenya's islamist insurgency. our correspondent live from nairobi. laila: next, to the deepening humanitarian crisis in yemen which, after two weeks of saudi-led her strikes against houthi rebels, the red cross is now struggling to deliver -- saudi-led airstrikes against houthi rebels, the red cross is now struggling to deliver humanitarian aid. brian: the duties -- the who these have been fighting for weeks -- the houthis have been fighting for weeks now. eight agencies are fearing the worst -- aid agencies are fearing the worst. reporter: smoke hangs over the capital. almost two weeks -- for almost two weeks, the area has been

attacked. >> the coalition forces are targeting them, as we have been for the past few days. there is consistent support for the strikes from tribes in and around aden. at the moment, they are heading towards aden to support their honorable brothers and defend the city. reporter: in aden, the fighting between the houthi and supporters of abed mansour hadi 's government continues. many's -- many of the airstrikes have hit residential areas. meanwhile, supplies are running out. food and water are in short supply, and many key roads in the city have been cut off. after major delays, two red cross convoys have arrived in aden. the operation leader says the situation is dire. in a tweet he called the city

"a ghost town." "inhabitants are nowhere to be seen." those who can have fled the city. at the international airport in sonoma -- sanaa, foreigners are waiting to catch flights home, but many others are not so lucky. as the strikes continue, the red cross says it needs better access to the country to deliver more aid and to prevent a humanitarian disaster. laila: now two australian nationals were -- who are currently on death row in indonesia have run out of appeals. they were denied clemency by the court in indonesia, the only authority left that could have commuted that sentence. brian: andrew chan and myuran sukumaran face execution by a firing squad for some of the going -- for smuggling heroin out of indonesia. reporter: it was behind these

walls of the convicts' hopes for a reprieve were dealt another hefty blow. the court ruled that they do not have the right to challenge the president's decision to reject their plea for clemency. the state says the two men have now exhausted all legal options. but their defense lawyers are not backing down. >> of course i am not satisfied with the judgment today. but we have to respect what the court has decided. but it is not stopping us to give our conscious effort. we are about to file a constitutional appeal. reporter: they were convicted of heading an infamous drug gang. they now face death by firing squad. the group report trying to

smuggle some eight kilograms of heroin into australia. thousands have taken part in protests in australia, calling for a lighter sentence. the government has made appeals to the indonesian authorities all without success. prosecutors in indonesia say the country's tough drug laws are well-known and they say that they need to follow through with the harsh penalties to the rent for the offenses -- to prevent further offenses. in january, six people including five foreigners, were executed for drug offenses in indonesia. they were shocked by firing squad at a prison -- they were shot by firing squad at the prison. the execution date for the pair has not been established, but it is thought it could be as soon as this month. brian: here in europe, greece is continuing to dominate the headlines. athens has been working to allay

fears about its solvency, saying that it does indeed have the cash to repay the 450 million euro debt installment coming up on thursday. laila: indeed. the greek finance minister yanis varoufakis, has reassured imf chief christine lagarde that athens will meet its commitments to its lenders. reporter: some members of the greek government had warned athens would not be able to repay its debt to the imf on time, but after an informal meeting with the head of the organization, finance minister yanis varoufakis was confident. yanis varoufakis: the greek government always fulfills its obligation to all its lenders and that is what we will always continue to do. reporter: in february, greece and its lenders had agreed to extend the international bailout program by four months, but the creditors suspended the payment

of the remaining 7.2 billion euros, demanding first concrete reform plans from athens. spain has begun to crawl out of its own economic tailspin, including its own eu multibillion-dollar bailout to prop up its banks. the spanish prime minister has a few words of advice for athens. rajoy: we have gradually built up our credibility. if you stand by your commitments, then it will start to pay off. reporter: for spain, the payoff is now apparent. the country's economy is now growing after years of stagnation. in march, the number of unemployed dropped by more than 60,000. brian: india has taken a step towards ending the rising told in human -- rising toll in human life from air pollution which has been tied to hundreds of thousands of deaths in that country every year. laila: the government says the nation's booming economy continues to extract an unacceptable toll on the environment and on human life.

the first step is to inform people of the quality of the air where they live and work. reporter: prime minister narendra modi launched a new air quality index at an environmental conference in new delhi. the index will monitor air quality levels in 10 major cities. modi blamed modern lifestyles for the rising global pollution. prime minister modi: we won't succeed until we focus on the way we live. and until we get the rest of the world to focus on that, too. but it has been difficult trying to convince developed nations to do that. reporter: the world health organization says air pollution in india causes around 620,000 premature deaths each year. one problem is cars. more and more indians own one.

many choose diesel over gasoline to save money. but without expensive filters the exhaust releases dangerous particles into the air. another big polluter is industry. experts say in missions run factories are at dangerous levels -- say in nation -- experts say emissions from factories are at dangerous levels. as a part of the new initiative 20 electronic displays have been installed to provide real-time information to new delhi's 16 million residents. critics say that's not enough. they want tough legislation to put real curbs on pollution. brian: another country that is struggling with pollution as it becomes richer is china. workers there want a bigger piece of the pie. when we come back after the break, workers rights in china. laila: we will also go to ukraine, where the battle for mariupol is heating up.

don't go anywhere.

brian: thanks so much for being with us. ukraine's conflict with pro-russian separatists in the east of the country continues to take a real toll on that country's fragile economy. laila: since the beginning of the year, the value of the local currency has fallen by around 50%. in march, the government received a $5 billion treanch e -- tranche of aid from the imf. it pledged to bailout the country to the tune of some $17.5 billion. and, of course, there has also been no let-up in the violence and bloodshed in eastern ukraine, which erupted a year ago this week and which has also claimed some 6000 lives in the region. brian: and new casualties have been putting further strains on the tenuous cease-fire that was struck about two months ago.

large parts of eastern ukraine remain under separatist control. laila: kiev is warning that the separatists could be on the verge to try and capture the strategically important port city of mariupol. brian: our correspondent filed this report from there for us. reporter: these soldiers are a vital part of mariupol's defense. they belong to the volunteer battalion fighting on behalf of the ukrainian government. with funding from private donors , they are better trained and equipped than the regular army. the government in kiev has come to depend on their expertise. >> we are heavily fortified here. we can hold on until reinforcements arrive. reporter: the two sides still exchange fire almost daily from the frontline. pro-government forces are now getting ready for that fight to come closer. these are new positions and

freshly dug trenches just a few kilometers east of the city. the troops here are busy shoring up the defenses. this battalion patrolled the area surrounding its power base of mary opel -- this battalion patrols the area surrounding its power base of mariupol. >> if you listen to russian propaganda, then the main criticism is about our unit. that's because we are not hiding. the majority of our troops are nationalists and patriotic. reporter: if the ukrainian government wants to keep this city, it may not have a choice about who else rejected -- who helps protect it. mariupol has already changed hands several times. it remains vulnerable to rebel attack. >> our enemies want to retake the city because it is a big industrial center, the biggest seaport on the coast. it is important to both the ukrainian and russian side. if there will be a fight for it, it will be a heavy fight, and we

are definitely not going to retreat. reporter: certainly soldiers here fear a rebel offensive will come soon regardless of the cease-fire. there may come a time when the power of this battalion with extremist tendencies becomes a political headache for the poroshenko government, but, for now, ukraine -- ukrainian forces are likely to be glad to have these soldiers on their side. brian: as the two -- laila: as the two sides become more entrenched is there a way out of the crisis? we are joined by a professor of eastern european history at yale university. he has been tracking developments in ukraine. first of all, thank you taking the time to speak with us. let's start off with mariupol. do you think pro-russian rebels are about to launch an offensive to try and capture it? >> i can't read their minds, but

there are three or four things that are very worrying. the first is that the leadership in the kremlin has been talking for almost a year now about the need for a bridge between russia and moldova which is a non-nato country which neighbors ukraine. that would mean going all the way across the south of ukraine. separately -- the separatists themselves in their own press draw of the image of their separatist republic as including mariupol and indeed the entire south of ukraine. third, strategically, cutting off ukraine from the black sea would be cutting it off from its ability to export foodstuffs which would be a crippling blow to its economy. since part of the russian idea is to -- something like that might be in the works. laila: you been quoted as saying the -- you have been quoted as saying the ukrainian crisis is not about ukraine, it is about europe. could you flush -- flesh that out for us? >> that's not so much my opinion

as it is a restatement of what russian authorities themselves say. the comfort inn ukraine began with the russian invasion of crimea, content -- the conflict in ukraine began with the russian invasion of crimea. there is an ideological campaign against the european union itself. it begins in 2013, when the russian leadership begin to describe the you. only in your -- the european union as an adverse -- adversary. after a year in ukraine, it is best to see the role in that war as supporting separatism, supporting client states inside the eu, supporting the far right and the populist right inside the eu. the long game is to weaken the european union, to see if it can be made to fall apart, so that russia can deal with individual nationstates, rather than with a larger coherent entity. laila: does the current cease-fire deal a truce in name only?

is it worth the paper it was written on? >> these things are certainly worth trying. i think the way to understand what is happening is, it's a challenge for the european union and its leading member states such as france and germany. therefore, it is appropriate for the prime minister of germany or the president of france or leaders of other european member states to try to negotiate these deals. but the fact that they cannot work, the fact that the russian side, even in the truce does not accept responsibility for what it has done, that is a lesson to be learned. all in all this is a challenge for the european union. it can't really be solved in ukraine, since the russian effort is not only directed against ukraine. it is directed at the european union. we will see whether the european union can decide what's important for itself. laila: in the past couple of days, kiev has launched its own high-profile war on corruption. can president poroshenko shake

off the mighty oligarchs' influcenence in his country? -- influence in his country? is this anticorruption sweep a sign of how far ukraine has come? >> the biggest problem in ukraine is the rule of law. when russia invades ukraine, that in effect is a counterrevolution. what ukrainians wanted a year ago and they demonstrated was the rule of law. when russia invades, then ukraine has to respond with what it's got, and it's got oligarchy. that hinders the attempt to bring the people who control the ukrainan economy under the rule of law. what we are seeing now is a test of whether the poroshenko government is establishing its own vertical power or whether the poroshenko government is going to try to bring other oligarchs under their control. if they can, in the long term, they are going to win the war, not just militarily, but

politically. ultimately, the conflict between russia and europe is about the prule of law. ukraine is a testing ground. laila: thank you very much for sharing your insights with us. very interesting. brian: other news now -- they are the engine driving the world's second-largest economy. we are talking about the millions of migrant factory workers in china. they are now demanding their fair share in that country's economic success. laila: a new generation of labor activists is rising up, ready to take on state sanctioned labor unions and factory managers to fight for their rights. reporter: these cuts and bruises are the result of clashes between workers and the police who tried to stop them from striking. the workers at this handbag factory in southern china have been protesting against poor conditions. >> the factory cut our salary, refused to pay our social insurance contributions and

housing subsidies, and wouldn't give us any days off. we wanted to negotiate with them, but they refused, and so we went on strike. reporter: more and more of china's 168 million workers have been moved to industrial centers and have started demanding their rights. the number of strikes has been doubling each year. an employment lawyer says there were about 1000 last year. >> in my view, the most significant achievement of chinese labor law has been to enhance workers' awareness of their legal rights. the law sets standards so workers know what their rights are, even though there are problems with making sure those rights are respected. reporter: since 2009, chinese law has guaranteed a minimum wage and holiday rights. workers can also take part in wage negotiations but there are still frequent violations and

strikes are regularly broken up. now, protesters are becoming more organized and more cases are ending up in court. brian: crime and corruption, a violent islamist insurgency, and an unreliable power grid -- all good reasons for investors to stay away from nigeria in the past few months. laila: but after successful elections at the end of march, africa's biggest accompanist -- biggest economy is again looking very attractive. many nigerians hope that the president-elect will help accelerate the country's petroleum dependent economy. this report from nigeria. reporter: after being delayed for hours, the delivery has finally reached the town. cattle traders -- this cattle trader is relieved that all the animals are healthy. the journey from the northeast is not easy. since the islamist boko haram

insurgency began, army checkpoints have become common on the roads. trucks stopped waiting are bad business. >> each transport goes through more than 10 army checkpoints. we have to pay bribes everywhere, at each one of them. during goodluck jonathan's term, corruption got worse. i hope that things will be different under the new president. brian: that's all we have time for. thanks so much for joining us. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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♪ damien: welcome to focus on europe, bringing you the best personal stories behind the headlines. i am damion mcginnis. and on today's program in

britain, all eyes on trafalgar square. in norway, isolating and islamist extremist. and in belgium, smoking through a legal loophole. despite an official cease-fire there is still no sign of peace in ukraine. fighting between kiev forces and pro-russian separatists hasn't ended. as a