>> this is "dw news" from berlin. tonight, a report connecting your smartphone to child labor. children working to mine coal balls. amnesty international calling on tech companies around the world to stop exploiting children.

also controversial new laws from warsaw and the former eu justice commissioner, vivian redding, says she is worried about the future of polish democracy. >> i'm very worried. the independent judiciary is the basis of the rule of law. >> china has not been this slow and a quarter of a century. china records its slowest growth rate in 25 years areas -- in 25 years. i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. we begin with congo's cobol children. amnesty international says children as young as seven are beings and in two minds to --

about -- into mines to mine cobalt. congo is the source of about half the world fills up like it -- half the world pressd's supply. sometimes they go 50 meters underground without the most basic protective gear. united nations estimates 40,000 children work in mines in the congo. reporter: they sometimes use only their bare hands to dig the soil in some of these hands along to children as young as seven, working in the minds, producing more than half of the world's colbalt. it is dangerous work. 40,0 childreunder thage of 15 work in the mines.

the young ones breathe in the dust, their hands covered in blood. smartphones, tablets, laptops, and many other products require lithium ion batteries to make them run. cobalt is necessary in these batteries. consumers and manufacturers share responsibility and the demand for the mineral. the what companies to take responsibility for what goes into making their products. brent: we want to pull and mark from amnesty international in london. he is one of the authors of that report. good to see you. are you saying that companies like apple, ibm, and the like, are they knowingly using cobalt

mined by children to manufacture our gadgets? guest: good evening. no, the problem is they simply do not know where the cobalt in their product comes from. our research shows there is a high risk it could come from the mines where the children are working or where adults are working. and what amnesty international is saying is this is not good enough. companies have a to trace all of the raw materials to ensure that there aren't any human rights abuses at any stage in their supply chains. brent: can they do that? i know you are calling on them to trace back every component they use. is that feasible logistically? can it be done. guest: we were able to identify

at least seven steps between the children risking their lives to mind the cobalt, not going to school because they are working, seven steps between them and the companies you named -- which include electronics firms, but also vehicle manufacturers like daimler and vw. the companies' responses were, of course, we do not tolerate child labor. but they only go back two steps. it should be possible for them to go back as well. brent: all right, we have to wrap it up there. thank you very much. guest: thank you. brent: an explosive court case is about to start in nigeria. a former national security adviser accused of stealing money earmarked to fund the fight against islamist terrorism. a jury has resolved to defeat

boko haram under security, and a president who promised voters he would crack down on corruption is getting his first major test in the court of public opinion. our correspondent reports from the capital of abuja. reporter: this man at the center of the trial -- the security adviser to former president goodluck jonathan. he is alleged to have embezzled more than $2 billion, money for the fight against the terror group boko haram. now the new government is looking into the irregularities. >> it and amounts to something you can tangibly see on the ground. and they tell you, we can't see anything, what is that amount? they need to ask questions. what happened?

reporter: according to local media reports, part of the money was paid out to other politicians. for days, we attempted to get in touch with those accused, but all declined to be interviewed. but then he agrees. he received 460,000 euros to support the former governing party from campaign. he divvied it out to local politicians. normal behavior in nigeria, he says. >> you will see people, no matter how good they are, no matter the ideology, how much are you going to give them question like that is where the corruption starts. reporter: hdenieshat t monecame from him, but the two are reported to have a close relationship. >> is there a relationship?

>> oh, yeah, i don't have any business seeing as such -- i have never contracted his service. reporter: the other accused of been released on bail. now nigerians are waiting for the case to be brought to trial in february. >> many nigerians believe the arms scandal is only the tip of the iceberg. following up on this will be one of the major challenges for the president and nigeria for law enforcement agencies. brent: here in germany, it is terrorism back to the future. police on the hunt or three former members of a 1970's left wing organization. the left weighing -- the left-wing faction carried out several deadly attacks in the 1970's and 1980's or it now dna

from members as been linked to robberies that took place just last year. investigators are wondering if the raf is back in business. reporter: despite a platitude of witnesses to the robbery near the northern german town of women, no -- of bremen, no arrests have been made. in june of last year, a van transporting cash was blocked by this vehicle. inside, two men partially masked and one woman. the group fired shots, but the attempted robbery failed. according to public broadcaster ndr, investigators found dna at the scene. their dna was also found at the scene of an attack on a prison in hessen. >> they are not doing this to make a statement. they are purely a criminal gang now without political

motivation. they simply need money. reporter: money that is sorely needed now that the group is pushing 60. the dna was linked to a robbery in 1999 where one million german marks disappeared. the same dna found at a scene of the attempted robbery of an armored car. brent: i asked our correspondent does that mean the aria group is armed after all of these years question mark >> no, it does not. the group did a officially disbanded 1998. the three people in question, the three suspects did remain at large, but in fact, the armed robberies with which they are charged after to have absolutely no terrorist background. prosecutors say there is no indication they were acting as members of the terrorist group and they said, rather it must be

assumed the crime was to finance the underground. although they are members of the third-generation, they are getting on in years, ranging from late 40's to mid 60's. they have been underground for years. they do not have a lot of legitimate job options or skills. perhaps no wonder they have attempted to commit robbery. it should be noted that both of these attacks on armed money vehicles did fail. brent: melinda crane reporting there. poland's prime minister and has defended her country's new-media and judicial laws before the parliament. this comes on the heels of a probe. in strasburg, she chided the eu for its investigation. she said the moves should not be

labeled as a threat to democracy. her government has been criticized for reforms that allow more leeway in the appointment of state run media and high court justices. >> sitting here with a former member of the eu commission. thank you for coming. how worried are you about the situation in poland? >> i'm very worried. the independence of the judiciary is the basis of the rule of law and the rule of law is the basis of democracy. if they try to control the judiciary, things will go very badly. reporter: when you are commissioner for justice, you had to tackle similar situations or hungary. were you really lacking in a rule of law mechanism? is thatomething thareally works ois it just somethg,

you know, anher thin oner? -- another thi on paper >> when we had similar problems with poland in hungary there was no mechanism at all. there has never been a light between europe and the rule of law, immigration in the member states, so i had to invent everything and it was on the basis of the experiences i have lived through -- that i created in 2014 the mechanism, hoping that it will be used so quickly. and i was very much astonished that it was needed to be used very quickly and for poland -- no one could have ever thought poland would be the one to destabilize the rule of law. reporter: listening to the polish prime ministers speaking here today, and also members of parliament, one gets the

impression the mechanism is already working. do you share that impression? i share thaimpressi. iave the feeng that everybody -- poland and the european parliament and the commission --ried to downplay the situation so that the debate , the discussion on what has gone wrong can be led in a quiet way. th constitutional court is not independent anymore. this has to be done quietly. now also the venice commission, the high-level judges, has been asked to give s advice. i think we are going the right direction and i hope everyone can keep cool until the problem is really soft and it needs to be solved. >> i have the impression that the polish prime minister dispelled your doubts a little bit.

or do you think that they will walk the walk after talking the talk? reporter: let's see- >> let's see. it is the beginning of a change of view, it is the beginning of proposals the commission is going to do. it's better to have this debate, to have this dialogue in a quiet mood, trying to solve the problem and then to eliminate the problem. reporter: thank you very much for talking to us. brent: we are going to take a short break. when we come back, more news. stay with us.

brent: welcome back. you are with "dw news" live from berlin. our top story -- an amnesty international group work says the children are mining the mineral cobalt, which is used in smartphones and other high-end electronics. they are calling on manufacturers to stamp out the practice. now to china. that country's president, xi

jinping, is making his first visit to the middle east to bolster trade ties as the chinese economy falters. he begins in saudi arabia. he will also visit egypt and iran. tensions between tehran and saudi arabia are running high after thes saudis cut off diplomatic ties. egypt hopes that they could return to the days of the silk road with china extending its influence into the middle east. reporter: problems in china, another reason why the chinese president has set his sights on the middle east. beijing is interested in expanding relations, and cooperation, especially in the areas of energy and infrastructure. but china, with its huge power demand, the most important

trading partner is saudi arabia. another important partner is egypt, where china is expected to invest heavily in infrastructure projects. business relations between iran and china are already very close. china provides industrial facilities and machines while china exports -- while iran exports materials to its biggest trading partner. many countries in the middle east see the new silk road as a potential benefit. they hope that beijing's and investment will bring more stability and development to the entire region. brent: and we end that story about china's faltering gdp -- it has some long legs. reporter: the numbers are out of there quite disappointing, prince. in 2015, economic growth in china slipped juice seen --

slipped to 6.9%. it is the slowest growth in the quarter of a century. this is a major concern for investors, especially those betting on high commodity prices. let's look at those. due to slowing demand from china, the price of iron ore has dropped from 103 -- $133 to $40, and if we look at crude oil, that dropped from 100 evan dollars per barrel -- $107 per barrel to -- do in part to the chinese slowdown. many analysts warned the great chinese success story may be coming to an end. >> he needs a job. his signboard says drilling, knocking down walls, doing

chores. he has been waiting for hours, just like his fellow migrant workers. they are feeling the pension from a slowing economy. -- they are feeling the pinch from a slowing econoy. >> we wait on the road. if someone calls us to work, we work. i am working less than last year. reporter: the reason is a sharp decline in new construction projects. after a boom building roads, railroad tracks, factories, apartment buildings, china has used more cement in the last 10 years than the united states did in the last century. at the shanghai stock exchange, many retail investors are disappointed property companies are not growing as fast as they used to. the stock market crash sent shock around the world.

>> china is transitioning from an old system to a new way of doing things. traditional industries are big while new emerging sectors are small. emerging industries cannot make up for the slowdown international business. so the overall economy is facing downward pressure. reporter: some investors warned of a global crisis as china struggles to find a new growth model. >> the international monetary fund is downgrading its forecast for global economic growth. it says that the global economy will grow by three point -- 3.4 percent this year. weakening in the developing world has led to lower it dictations. >> it is above all emerging economies sputtering, in this case to a halt.

brazil is suffering the most. the international monetary fund expects brazil's economy to shrink, not grow, in the coming year. even countries that are growing are running out of steam. th grew less than 7% in 2016 -- 2015. the slowest in a quarter century. >> they could encounter rough patches where growth slows more than expected, directly affecting trading partners while disturbing foreign exchanges an asset markets worldwide. >> demand is weak, sending price south. producer profits have evaporated, causing the imf to cut their prognosis on countries like russia and saudi arabia. >> 360 days he year the little skiing town of diverse, switzerland -- davos,

switzerland is a sleepy place. but then the global economic forum. it is meant to be a place where business leaders take a stab at solving world problems, but it's also a great place to show off. leading politicians, ceo's, hollywood stars, even the queen of jordan are there, and you know what that means. tons of work for the swiss security forces. reporter: switzerland has practically turned davos into a fortress. thousands of soldiers and police officers deployed to protect delicates at this meeting of the world economic forum. attendees are concerned. >> i think people are more worried this year than last year. they're worried about terrorism. the impact of isis.

but also very worried about china d the financial volatility of china and the impact that is having across the world. reporter: that mix has skittish investors on edge, and so the sentiment over the global economic outlook has been affected. davos is the place to look at the economic future and there's plenty of food for thought. at least until the weekend, this town will remain in lockdown. >> hollywood stars are among the guests. after leonardo dicaprio has showed up, the winner of a crystal award for his leadership in tackling the climate crisis. in his speech, he sent a clear message to world leaders. this is what he had to say. leonardo dicaprio: we can simply not afford to let the worker greed of the coal, oil, and gas

industries to determine the future of humanity. [applause] those entities with a financial interest in preserving this destructive system have denied and even covered up the evidence of our changing climate. you know better. the world knows better. history will claim -- will place the blame for this devastation squarely at their feet. >> so much for the business news. that is all for me for now. now back to brent and it's time for sports. brent: thank you very much. yes trillion open, big results to talk about. -- the australian open, big results to talk about. the spaniard lost to his compatriot fernando masako. as the sport attempts to move on

from the fixing allegations. reporter: rafa nadal is not what he was. his injury and fall from grace shows no sign of ending. back to the drawing board. another well-known name crashed out in the first round. venus williams was beaten in straight sets. venus has not reached a grand slam singles final since 2008. the women's draw has been blown wide open early on. the chinese qualifier was expected to be thrashed the second seed, but the world number 133, nicknamed serena at home, had other ideas, and trounced the romanian 6-4, 6-3. brent: a reminder of our top

stories. in amnesty international report says that children as young as seven are mining cobalt. the group is calling a manufacturers to step up the practice. chinese president xi jinping is trying to bolster trade ties in the middle east. his visit begins and saudi arabia. he will also visit egypt and iran. figures show china's slowest growth in a quarter of a century. your up-to-date with "dw news." thanks for the company. we will see you again at the top of the hour. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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catherine: thank you very much for being with us. you are watching live from paris. 19,000 civilians killed in just under two years. done tofor more to be protect ordinary people there. a new unity government for libya, but can it bring together warring factions? weekend'sects in the that the attack in burkina faso