anchor: hello and welcome this is "d.w. news" live from berlin. is the focus of europe's migration crisis shifting from greece to italy? the italian coast guard rescues nearly 900 migrants from the water of the mediterranean. officials believe they were at sea for the best part of the week, many of them accompanied minors. also on this program, a top hezbollah military commander is killed in a blast near the syrian capitol damascus. it's a huge blow to the lebanese shiite group, we're getting more from our correspondent in the region. and brazil's new leader calls

for trust and vows to revive the economy with suspended president awaiting impeachment, the interim leader appoints a new cabinet, all male and all white and promises to unite the country. my name is christopher springer, good to have you with us. hundreds of migrants arrived in italy earlier today. it's the first time that there were more refugees arriving in italy compared to greece. the italian coast guard conducting a series of sea rescue operations in the past 24 hours alone. the route from north africa to italy, a lengthier and far more dangerous one than the route between greece and turkey. there is another difference, most of those rescued aren't flees the war in syria. many are trying to escape

poverty in subsahara africa instead. >> a rescue on the high seas, an 8 month pregnant somali woman was on a fishing boat. she was transferred to a nearby cruise ship where doctors decided to airlift her to cicily. a day later, she is in an italian hospital stable but with a fracture in the pelvis area. she is calm and the fetus is doing well, but we need another month to have a delivery in ideal conditions. the somali woman was more than 1,000 people to arrive in italy in the last two days. most who arrive come from sub-saharan africa, but syrians have also been registered. recent efforts to block illegal travel have led to a sharp drop in migrants using the eastern route through turkey and

greece. the numbers using this much more dangerous crossing are increasing. >> the new route from egypt is open, it's a long route. it's very risky and what we are worried about is that so many phundreds of refugees and migrants are very much at risk of being adrift for days at high sea in the mediterranean. >> as the weather improves going into summer, the numbers of people risking the crossing from north africa are likely to go up. even with fewer migrants and refugees arriving via the balance can route, europe and the people trying to reach its shores face testing times. >> flasho is the spokesperson of the international organization for migration in italy. he joins us now on the line from rome. obviously some syrians arriving in cicily on those boats, where are most of the migrants that

have been arriving in cicily from? >> well, actually just one arrived today so the news that there were some arriving to cicily yesterday was actually a false alarm. the majority of migrants arriving to italy from libya and from egypt are coming from africa, all of africa, sudan, but not from the middle east. there has not been any ship from greece to italy, the flows to italy are the same as last year. >> do you expect that flow of migrants arriving to italy to remain constant or to increase? >> well, for the moment the same arrivals of last year, we have 31,000 arrivals so far, more or less the same as in 2015, the same period of the year. it's very difficult to make a

prediction because it depends on the situation and the political instability and affects the arrival and the departure from the country. we think that for the moment, we cannot make a prediction. we know that the balance can route can close and there are millions of refugees in turkey and many of them probably, well, some of them, not many of them, many of them wanted to go to greece, now the route is closed. they could try to find another route, but actually it's very difficult if they will be able to do it and where they will be headed to. >> if the influx of migrants does grow, though, is italy going to be able to cope? >> well, for the moment, yes. italy has a long experience in dealing with migrants by sea.

it carries excellent work at sea and exceptional operations. of course, if the numbers stay more or less the same, it can increase a little bit but i don't think that we will have an increase or arrival such as the one experienced by greece last year, but in that case, of course, italy cannot cope with this kind of emergency all alone. they would need be helped by the european union as a whole. for the moment, there is no evidence that this will happen. >> flasho from the international organization for migration in italy, many thanks for that. >> thank you. >> now germany has taken another step towards controlling the number of asylum seekers it accepts. lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, the bundestag passing a bill that declares nigeria, morocco and tunisia as safe countries of organizinment

under this law, migrants from those countries will be sent home for quickly if their application fails. the proposal goes to the upper house for approval. pro asylum groups and opposition parties have condemned the bill saying it violates human rights. the lebanese shiite group hezbollah is mourning a top military commander killed this week in an explosion in the syrian capitol damascus. thousands of hezbollah supporters turning out for the funeral in southern beirut on friday. he was instrumental in preserving syrian president's hold on power. he is the highest ranking hezbollah leader to be killed since the group became involved in syria's civil war. we're going to get more on that story from correspondent martin jay who joins us on the line now from beirut. martin, how big a blow is this death for hezbollah and how

might it affect hezbollah's campaign in syria? >> i think it's a considerable blow. you have to remember he was a commander, number one or certainly up there with the number one commander running the syrian campaign. also in lebanon, not to mention the previous campaigns that the commander has been attributed to. a true figure, i think a pillar certainly and hezbollah officials are telling me they are deeply saddened by his loss. the second question are implications to the loss are twofold. one, the campaign within syria, probably going to see a certain setback to some extent. let's not forget when hezbollah joined in 2013, it was a game changer for the asaad regime and put them in a much stronger

position. the bigger picture geopoliticalcally, the talks between the last year or so between israel and hezbollah about a new war, a new conflict between those two groups, that looks now as that could be stoked up even greater with the death. >> and, martin, are we any closer to knowing who was behind the killing? >> well, there are a great many assumptions, christopher. all day long, the israeli air strikes and the reason why they're saying that is because traditionally in the last few months when other hezbollah commanders have been assassinated, it's been that way. they didn't know if it was an air strike or didn't know for sure if it was israel. we'll be looking at the revelations that hezbollah will come up in the next fewer -- few hours, that's the

information i have been getting. >> thank you for the background. brazil has a new interim government after the senate voted to suspend the president. the senate has a maximum of 180 days to decide whether to remove her from office permanently, that's in the framework of an impeachment trial. in the meantime, the interim president has installed a new cabinet. he has pledged to unite the country. most observers, however, are skeptical. >> the first day of administration including the signing in of his new cabinet, all male and all white. many in brazil, one of south america's most diverse nations, this is being seen as a major mark against the new government, another the fact that half a dozen of new ministers including the president himself are themselves implicated in corruption scandals. opponents also point to the fact that brazil has shifted to the right overnight without an

election. he hasn't delayed in implementing new business friendly policies and vowing to boost growth. >> i maintain with absolute conviction that it's necessary to risk brazil's credibility both intentionally and both internationally. -- internally and internationally. >> in an effort to apiece the left, tamir has promised to maintain popular welfare programs implemented by his spread is soor. the new cost saving measures include a smaller cabinet. for some, austerity is just what brazil needs. let's see what is going to happen now. i hope that he can fix all of the damage done to our country. others, however, are angry. on thursday night, thousands took to the streets to protest his appointment and to rally

against the impeachment process which ousted his spread is soor. she herself has not minced words about the impeachment. she has denied charges that she has doctored accounts during her re-election campaign and described her removal from office as a coup. in spite of the senate's decision, no one here is planning on giving up the fight, least of all the president herself. what is at stake in the impeachment process isn't just my mandate, what is in play is respect for the ballot box, the sovereign will of the brazilian people and the constitution. she is now suspended for up to 180 days pending a trial in the senate. >> moving on to u.s. politics now which had a european outing today. the global convention of u.s. democrats abroad held right here in berlin, there was plenty to discuss, how to

confront republican frontrunner donald trump, for instance, who has just about wrapped up his party nomination and of course the ongoing battle between democratic frontrunner hillary clinton and her resilient rival bernie sanders. >> it looks like america and sounds like america, but we're actually at the headquarters of germany's social democratic party as the democrats abroad get together for their global convention. there are 13 delegates up for grabs in the overwhelming majority are for the so-called democratic socialist bernie sanders. bernie's older brother larry says that's not surprising. >> his policies, domestic policies in particular free up universal health care, paid leave from work for various reasons are very close to what people experience in european countries. >> most of those present though pretty certain hillary clinton will get the nomination. they can live with that as long as the democrats stay in power.

the conventions german host gave praise to obama's achievements over the last seven years. >> you have achieved as democrats in the last year and you can be very proud of that. >> but there is one person threatening to spoil the party, donald trump. could a populist billionaire really become president of the united states of america? >> for me as well, it is a wonder that someone who has so many characteristics of a narcissistic karn normal barker could come this far. >> it would be the worst thing in the world. i might not ever want to go back to the united states. i might just stay in mexico and that would be hard because my family is in the states. >> when it comes down to it, most are sure that clinton will win the election in november even if the democrats abroad are throwing their wait behind sanders for now giving them nine of their 11 delegates.

>> you're watching "d.w. news" in berlin. still to come, a museum in moscow that is helping russians come to turns one of the darkest chapters in their nation's history. all that, plenty more coming up in just a minute's time. please stay with us.

>> the d.w. media center, see it live. find it again. hear more of it. discover it. video and audio, podcasts and language courses. in the d.w. media center at mediacenter.dw.com. >> welcome back with "d.w. news" in berlin. our top stories at the moment, the italian coast guard says it has rescued up to 1,000 migrants from several boats in the mediterranean over the last two days. the vessels set sail from egypt and libya. officials say that most of the people on the boats were from subis a haran africa rather than from syria. and the shiite militant group hezbollah is mourning the death of its top military commander who was killed in what's defined as a huge blast near damascus airport. hezbollah leaders say they have

a good indication of who is responsible, but aren't yet pointing the finger of blame. now our next story deals with the legacy of an ideology responsible for millions of deaths, soviet communism. a new state museum opened last year in moscow that sheds light joseph stalin and his reign of terror in the 1930's and 1940's. many disappeared to the labor camps and our moscow labor chief is looking at how far the museum can go to helping russians come to terms with their past. >> millions of citizens were killed during stalin's regime. the museum tells some of their stories. they're the kind of accounts that aren't welcome in putin's russia because they tarnish the shining image of russia's past that people are so keen to

promote. >> even my friends, young people are asking why are you doing this? this is about criminals. when i hear that, i think they're exactly the kind of people who need this museum. >> you won't find this man in the museum. according to his great niece he was denounced, apparently in an act of revenge. he was killed in the gulag three months after his arrest in 1937. photographs and archival records have helped her piece together part of his story, but she won't find any personal documents from her family in the new gulag museum. >> there is a big memory gap in my family history. until now, it's been filled with stories passed down from

generation to generation, but i want the real documents so i don't drift into some fantasy world of speculation about my family. >> she is not alone. most of stalin's victims were never rebounded. the new gulag museum doesn't do much to change that. it's interactive exhibits do deal with more recent soviet history and highlight the communist party responsibility. the role of joseph stalin as a perpetrator is not clearly addressed and neither is that of the repressive soviet regime that up to the 1960's sent many of its citizens to labor camps. >> focusing on the stalin period, the museum doesn't include the persecution of dissidents after stalin's death, the tragic inherent of the soviet dictator.

they have been trying to downplay stalin's crimes focusing more on the role in the soviet world war ii victory over nazi germany. >> perhaps it's unrealistic to expect anything different with new russian patriottism. once again, anyone questioning the status quo risks being punished. >> javier is with us now with the latest business news including news, javier, that apple has been on a shopping spree in china? >> an interesting strategic move in china. apple is taking its money on the road. it's invested $1 billion in chinese app didi as it battles uber for market share in china. didi has 300 million passengers registered and over 11 million rides a day. apple wants to boost its presence in ace's biggest market and has planned to enter the automotive sector.

tymoshenko cook told chinese media that through investing in didi, apple wants to learn about special segments in the chinese market. let's go to new york for insight on that story with our finance correspondent. good to see you. so what do you think apple hopes from this investment? >> a lot of speculation going on on wall street what tymoshenko cook tries to achieve for himself. he pointed out this investment might help to learn more about the chinese market, especially about transportation and maybe also the car industry than apple itself was working quite a bit to its driverless cars. maybe that could be an option to push that forward even more and then there is also some speculation that apple might try to implement apple pay even

further. one thing is for sure, $1 billion, for us it's a lot of money. for apple, not so much. they're sitting on roughly $230 billion in cash, so $1 billion doesn't matter that much, at least to apple. >> we know the iphone is not selling that well, but on the other hand, we have some good news of a turnaround in retail, right? >> yeah, that came a little bit as a surprise. for days we have seen some of the big retailers, gap, macy's or jcpenney lowering their expectations quite a bit. those stocks all week long got hammered quite a bit. all of a sudden on friday, we got the strong retail sales report, they increased around 1.3% in april that was the strongest reading of the strongest increase in more than a year. their reason why we have a weak showing with some of the

classical retailers is the brick and mortar companies are having a tough time to sell their stuff in the stores. online, that's the big story. amazon profit quite a bit from that trend. >> some good news at the end of the week. thank you very much and have a good weekend. just this week, german carmaker found itself in the midst of an emission scandal. now it seems it's american parent general motors has its own problem. it has halted the sale of 60,000 s.u.v.s in the u.s. because the gas mileage listed on the window stickers was overstated. the company said the environmental protection agency estimated mileage on the stickers is one to two miles per gallon too high. the problem affects some 2016 models by chevrolet, g.m.c. and buick. german companies continue to scale back their investments in

britain in the first quarter of this year. this follows a dramatic drop in investment of 40% last year. more proof that corporate germany is becoming increasingly uneasy about a potential brexit in the next month's referendum on e.u. membership. >> the hour of truth is approaching in britain. evidence is mounting that people outside the country think that leaving the european union is a bad idea. data released from germany's central bank shows investment by german companies into britain dropped by 6% in the first quarter. german industry lobby says this is because a british e.u. exit would involve severe uncertainty and economic risks. i.m.f. director was in london friday underscoring what she called significant downside risks of a brexit. >> should it drop and external financing follow an exit vote,

for example, this would imply a significant depreciation of the sterling and large contractions of investment and consumption implying lower output, low growth, and higher domestic prices. >> will the warnings from outside be enough to keep britain within the e.u.? britains go to the polls on june 23 to show their true colors. that's all from business, now it's back to christopher for some sports news. >> that's right, not very good news, i'm afraid, javier, at least 15 russian medal winners from the 2014 winter olympics may have been involved in doping. that's the allegation made by the former head of the russian laboratory that handled urine samles at the time. that man was removed from his job last year and he has since moved to the united states. this is the whistleblower, the former head of russia's anti-doping laboratory.

he told the "new york times" that he and members of russia service replaced sam manies with clean ones months earlier. affecting are cross-country skier and a bobsledder. both athletes deny the allegations. i have never met this person because i was involved in the training process and preparations for the olympics. these accusations are impossible to prove. >> i think this is some political game. everyone is against our country because it's one of the strongest in the world and i think you'll agree with me. >> in response to the article, russia sports minister said that the revelations were "a continuation of the information attack on russian sport."

russia won the most gold medals at the 2014 games. >> we're going to take a short break in a little while, before that, a quick reminder of our top story. the italian coast guard says it has rescued up to 1,000 migrants from several boats in the mediterranean over the last two days. the vessels setting sail from egypt and libya. officials say most of the people in those boats are from subsaharn africa rather than syria. you're watching "d.w. news" in berlin. do stay with us.

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