berlin. the military backs president maduro in his fight for the survival. this is behind him -- the army's weight is behind the embattled president. after a controversial election, because a reconciliation of promises to free all political prisoners.

and growing up behind bars. >> i don't want him to think that his mother is abandoning him. he doesn't understand that she is locked up. >> the turkish children are only with their mothers on the weekends. manyf their mothers have been imprisoned for political reasons. helena: i am helena humphrey, glad you could join me. nicolas maduro has won the backing of the military in the standoff with the opposition leader. the chief of the armed forces accused juan guaido of causing a coup. russia is standing behind him.

in his latest speech, he thanked moscow for its support. >> russia gives its full support to the legitimate government. they support is for the peace and sovereignty of venezuela. he told me, president maduro, you can count on the unwavering support of russia. now, more than ever, we will be working on bilateral projects to further develop venezuela. helena: dw's oscar is there. bring us up toto the latest. oscar: the protest b begins -- contininues even today in these parts of the country. we have been monitoring the protests. they were decentralized.

they were spread out through the different c crisis that we are living in venezuela. they are trying to unify political protest. e largest ones we have seen in recentnt history were yesterday. protests are likely to rise if the political conflict continues. there have been 320 eight detained and 60 people dead. if the conflict persists, we will see a rise in the summer. helena: we understand that nicolas maduro has appeared in public as presesident. to whahat extent does he s still have supupport in the cocountry? >> he called on a nightlong vigil to protect the palace. he went to a place that could fit less people. his followers were leading the concentration.

his approval ratings are not good. it is evident with the protests that we are saved that the traditional government is strong. with the economic crisis, it is impossible for nicolas maduro to keep up with this. helena: the military has thrown its weight behind maduro, what does thatt mean? >> he is populular within n theh rankings of the mililitary. therere is evidence of corrurupn like no o other country. high ranking officials have political and economic interests. questions have been raised about an announcement that was made through twitter yesterday. a lot of interest is being put into middle and low ranking

officials in the military. all of this could change within a couple of days. we are in the middle of a dramatic standoff. we will have to see what happens after the 72 hours go by. helena: thank you, oscar. in the last couple of hours, u.s. secretary of state, mike pompeo has delivered remarks on venezuela. here is our correspondent in washshington, my. -- maya. maya: this is a triumph for the trump administration. they took a very hardline against maduro from the moment that he came into office. we heard a doubling down of what we heard president trump saying.

mike pompeo was supported the new president. -- supporting the new president. he denounced authoritarian regimes around the world. he said that the u.s. is going to be pledging u.s. dollars and a. he called maduro an illegitimate president. helena: russia has warned the united states against intervening in venezuela. presumably, washington is not looking at military intervention at this stage. >> we heard trump come out in the evening and say that all options were on the tabable and that while he was pointedly asked about military options, he

said that the military options are never rolled out. while i don't think that the u.s. will be rushing into a military confrontation, they are pushing forward the agenda. helena: good to talk to. thank you. let's bring you up-to-date on other stores. pope francis is in panama. to have brought 150,000 people from around the globe to panama. he spoke out against corruption and urged public officials to live simple, honest and transparent lives. the ukraine has sentenced former president viktor yanukovych to present for treason. you can see that he opened the door to russia's annenexation of crimea in eastern ukraine.

he fled to russia. vincent van gogh's most famous painting, flowers will no longer be in this m museum inin amster. after examining it, the museum says the work is not fit to travel. it is one ofof several versionsf the painting produced by victor van gogh in the late 19th century. the democratic republic of congo has a new president. he was one into office a short time ago in front of thousands of supporters. he used his inaugural space to call for reconciliation and plans to release all political business. he was in power for 18 years. although the election was marred by allegations of fraud, it is the first peaceful transition of power in congo as the country was given independence in 1960.

let's bring in olivia. we understand that the president has followed up his copper reckons -- coall -- call for reconciliation with action. olivia: he said he wanted to unite the congo against hate and tribalism and build the country. it remains to be seen. strong promises, it is an exciting start. helena: who is felix? >> he is the son of his father was a charismatic politician and one of the founding members of the party. he died two years ago in belgium. his body is still languishing in a morgue in brussels. the government at the time

feared that bringing it back could spark an uprising because he w was so popular. his son went into exile with his mother and siblings at the edge of 22. his father was an active politician at the time. he has spent a lot of his time in belgium. his critics mightt say that t he doesn't have a huge amount of managerial experience. he has not held high positions.. we will see. helena: clarify this point. he actually left his own inauguration for a time. >> he had to step up the stage for a short time. people were wondering what wass

wrong with him.. it wasas an extremely hot day. there was speculation that he was wearing a bulletproof vest that was too tight for him. then he came back on and fininished his speech. it was a dramatic moment. helena: that is interesting. his opponent s says he was cheating -- chcheated out ofof e electionon. he accusused his oppononent off making a backroom m deal. will his supportrters respepecta new presidident's? -- president.. > they extendnded the vote according to lead to data. there hasn't been a a huge wavef protests. there hasn't been much action.

i think people are excited to have a change of regime. helena: that was olivia. thank you. turkey is currently holding about 700 children in prison. that is according to human rights groups after their mothers were convicted on political grounds. one of these children is this 2-year-old. his mother is a jailed kurdish activist. they will travel to the city to look at the children living behind bars on the experieience freedom. >> saturday is the day that the father's pickup their children at the gates of prison. he takes his two-year-old son home every weekend. the top has already gotten used to leaving his mother behind -- the toddler has already gotten

used to living his mother behind. she was active to an opposition party with links to the kurds. that was enough to get her a four-year sentence. >> we can just be glad the jail is not that far away. we can pick the children up now and again. >> he has joined up with other fathers whose wives are doing time for political offenses. >> in my wife's case, it was because of social media comments. she was sentenced on terrorist propaganda charges. her lawyer said that statements like that should not be liable to prosecution but they changed the laws. >> as a result of the new antiterrorism laws, they are sharing this block in a cell with a dozen other inmates.

she only has a small concrete prison yard to play in. he wants to play like a normal child for a few hours. he will have to get through two years like this. >> i don't want him to think that his mother is abandoning him. she does not understand that she is -- he does not understand that she is locked up. can only hope that he isis not traumatized. >> over 700 small children are thought to be living with their mothers in turkish prisons. the figure comes from t the few nongovernmental organizations being able to work with the affected families. they said that for the state, these children don't exist. >> the prison personnel are not at all qualified to respond to the needs of small children. the government cannot even tell us which children have -- which

present have children in them and how many. -- which prison have childldrenn them and how many. >> the separation is always hard. he is worried what will be in store for their son and who his wife and child will have to share their cell with. >> they are at the mercy of their cellmate's tolerance. they might complain if he cries at night. 15 women sleep in one cell. things like that tend to you. -- haunt you. >> he does not want his son to see that he is worried. they say goodbye at the gates. >> come, we are going to mama. >> behinind the gate, his father

has to hand him over to a guard once again. >> parts of australia have a record-breaking heatwave. they beat and 80 your record. -- an 80 year record. some h hded to a watering hole with a cooli promise. >> free beer when the temperatures topped a certain temperature. that is what the hotel promised and they delivered. they sold 700 liters in two hours. then the pub ran dry. elsewhere in the south australian capital, people were doing whwhat theyy could to stay hydrated. >> i just sweated my entire body weweht.

i had about six frozen drinks. i have worked this morning but because of the heat, we packed up pretty easily. it is killerer heat. > i tried to drink water from the fountain. it is boiling, it was hurting my mouth. >> for most, this is the besest way to beat the heat. whether it be for people at the swimming hole or animalsls at te zoo. helena: germany is hosting the world championships in a sport that many in the english speaking world may not be familiar with. that is handball. excitement is building here in germany in the semi final clash against norway. >> this is the main train station in the northern city of kiel.

fans turned out in droves to watch this on the big screen. they have little doubt about who will win the tournament. >> the guys are great. they are playing brilliantly. >> the tournament is usually popular in germany. more people have been followingg the german gameses on tv. >> what is important for us is that we don't reach the normal handball fans. we want everyone in the country talking about the team. >> the last game against spain was covertly sold out. 20,000 fans packed of the arena to see germany narrowly secure victory and top their group. quest that was amazing. really fantastic. the atmosphere was electric. so many people were screaming and shouting, it was brilliant. >> the handball party would continue in kiel.

as i hoping that germany -- fans are hoping that germany can win again. helena: stephen is here to talk about pratchett --brexit. >> we are talking about the arrow industry. this is what is divorce -- britain's divorce from the eu could do this firm. if a no dealbreaker takes place, the aircraft manufacturers could -- >> britain is threatenining to destroy a century of research and development. if there is a no deal brexit, we will have to make potentially very harmful decisions. >> decisions about workers. 11,500 word for airbus in

britain. they don't the wings here. britiaain counts many in the sector that are in danger from brexit. >> don''t listenen to the brexit eers' madness. we will always be here. they are wrong. there are plenty of countries who would love to build the wings for airbus. >> they are actually a success story. the cross-border operation between g germany, france, spain andd briritain has produced a globally successful aircraft manufacturer. great britain is on its way to insignificance according to the airbus ceo. he says that the blame lies with the politicians. >> it is a disgrace. more than two years after the

2016 referendum, b businesses ae still unable to plan properly for the future. we, along with many of our peers have repeatedly called for clarity. we have no idea what is really going on. >> a grim outlook therefrom a major employer in the u.k. aerospace industry. this look at another side of that sector. our correspondent is in davos. he caught up with alice. considering that international cooperation is pretty key in space, he is asking how they will get along. alice: space is an international endeavor. that will always remain the case. we work through the european space agency to support a lot of collaboration with the rest of europe. we cooperate internationally on the safety of the operating

environment. that is increasingly important. i think we will continue strong international partnerships in the space sector. >> how would that work if the european space agency changes? >> we will remain partners. member states are making commitments to new programs. you may know that the last such meeting was in the back end of 2016. we already had a referendum votes. we were the number one subscriber to all of the european space agency's application programs. >> you have been talking to leaders about many possible solutions that we cannot even think of if we don't know the space area. can you give me an example of how you're working here? >> it is incredible, the applicability of space technology. in the u.k., we are very proud to have an international

partnership program. we are working with 29 different developing countries, tackling 10 different sustainable development goals. to give you an example of what that might look like, we have an amazing project with vietnam. it is using that unique vantage point of space to give you a really widescale perspective, to look at water levels. we can link that information on the water levels with mosquito outbreaks and we can link the mosquito outbreaks with this. yoyou get a predictive capabiliy with truly dangerorous diseasesn the world. it is phenomenal. >> let's talk about the actors in space. we also have private companies offering up tourism in recent years. is there a challenge, considering that nobody really on space? -- owns space?

>> yes, that is a challenge. we are seeing this interesting trend where you have an increasing number of entrepreneurs. characters like jeff bezos, elon musk running their own space programs. we have to cooperate and make sure that we will follow the same rules. i am working in particular with the world economic forum on an initiative that is industry led, to demonstrate that best practice for rules in space. >> thank you, alice. >> that was howbeit in -- javier in davos for us. >> he was appointed as the new chairman today. the move follows the removal of carlos ghosn. this has rocked the french carmaker.

he will become chairman immediately. the deputy chief executive will take over the other role as ceo. he now faces the task of soothing relations with the japanese partner and resuming talks on a new clclient structu. over in frankfurt, the european central bank announced that it would hold interest rates at historic lows. government in frankfurt filed this report. >> if there was any hope in germany for an ecb rate hike, all hope has evaporated. mario dhragi said that when the markets placed the first rate hike in 2020, it shows they have understood over reaction. some complicated what was said by the ecb president. no rate hike by the ecb in 2019.

the latest consumer prprice inflatioion data as s well as wr economomic growth in the eurozoe seems to not allow it. the weaker growth was underlined again this thursday by several purchasing managers. mainly from the german manufacturing sector where this index has fallen below 50 points. that is the level indicating a contraction of the sector of the german economy. >> that was conrad. here is a reminder of the top stories we are following for you. street violence took place between opposition and security forces. venezuela's powerful military said that it would stand behind president maduro. they claimed juan guaido staged a coup.

this man was just inaugurated as the democratic president of congo. he called for reconciliation and promised to free all political prisoners. you are watching dw news from berlin. stay tuned and you can always follow us online at dw.com and dw.com/business. thank you for watching dw. i am steven beardsley, in berlin.

. yeah but it's use welcome to live from paris will use an analysis. i'm margot in these are the headlines. republican plan to end the partial shutdown of the government in the uniteted states has failed in the senate. we want a democrat one is facing. equally. as soon as the prospect. analysis to come. the caracas stalemate then as well has two presidents this this lady up stufuff. one liabilities marley supported by washington