brent: this is dw news cannot live from berlin. tonight, but french president tries to make the yellow vests protesters stop seeing red and want to his job at the same time. emmanuel macron unveils a list of reforms in response to months of yellow vests protests. protests that a challenges authority. is going to cut taxes, but is also making demands on french workers. also coming up, joe biden hits the campaign trail to bececome e next u.s. presidident. the e former u.s. vice presiden,

reporting that the soul of ththe nation is s at stake i in donald trump p wins a second term. trump reacted with a tweet, calling biden, "sleepy joe." vladimir putin and kim jong-un toast their new friendship. can russia do what the u.s. has -- has not? persuade north korea to abandon its nuclear arms. i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs and the u.s. and all around the world, welcome. the president of france today presented reforms, hoping that they will and months of yellow vests protests. protests which have challenged his authority. in a bid to restore order to the country, i is pledging to cut income taxes for the middle class and make it easier to hold referendums. he also says there will be no

tolerance for a repeat of the violent protests of recent months. >> today, above all, public order must return. it is essential that we come together. i don't want the actions of some people to eclipse the just demands put forward at the start of this movement and that were broadly supported. brent: joined here is my colleague. she has been covering the yellow vests protests for some time. the french president, you say he is willing to cut income taxes, what else? >> he -- his talk was significant. it's the first time he has held a press conference automatic matters. he doesn't like journalists much. he has been answering questions. what is interesting is that, he promised he would offer tax cuts.

he acknowledged the yellow vests movements by saying it's a movement, and saying he had learned a lot by himself -- about himself during the six months of protests. he also defined the french people as children of enlightenment, which is very marcocron-esque. brent: did he say that he and knowledge -- acknowledged their demands are valid? >> yes and no. he acknowledged the demands, but he is unapologetic on his politics. he will still carry on the forms. he said he -- reforms. he said he believed in elected officials and the legitimacy of the people in charge to carry out reforms. he knowledged the demands, but he is carrying on as he has been doing. brent: we see these images of the protests. will the offers he is making tonight be enough to send the

yellow vests protesters home for good? >> the problem with emmanuel macron is that he is very good at such speeches. hehe is good at making promises. that's whwhy he wasas elected. that is why 62% of the french people voted for him. now, his popularity rate is at 30%. it will do not trust him anymore. he knowledged single parents, people with disabilities, people living in rural areas, also pensioners, he said he would use of the car pensions. would that be enough? he is the death to those demands. -- deaf to those demands. he is looking forward to 2022. he is trying to mend how things have been done so far. brent: how about his relationship with angela merkel? he admitted things have not been as good as they should be. >> edenic knowledge that.

use the terminology -- he did acknowledge that. he used the term "d iscrepancies," that was on brexit and climate change. he said that the conversations with a german canceler were for improvement. brent: here are some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world. france friends of specialists have entered notre dame cathedral for the first time together to gather evidence of last week's blaze. they desestroyed the roooof ande spire of the centuries old topic masterpiece. they are treating the fire as an accident. more than 70 protests are injured after moroccan place used water cannon and batons to break up a teachers protest in the capital. thousands have taken to the speeds -- streets of robots on wednesday to protest their

employment terms. former nissan boss carlos ghosn has left jail after a tokyo court upheld a decision to grant him bail. he has been released, paying $4.5 million. he was granted bail in march, but rearrested in april. he faces for chaharges relatingo financial misconduct, but denies any wrongdoing. former u.s. vice president joe biden has officially announced he is running for the white house in 2020. biden made the announcement on twitter, saying that the soul of the nation is at stake, with donald trump's did for reelection. the 76-year-old joins an already crowded field of 19 other democratic hopefuls competing for their party's nomination. biden is the most experienced of the democratic candidates. he served as president obama's rise president for eight years, and has been a u.s. senator since the 1970's. more -- for more on this, it's

good to oliver salad. good evening to you. we have joe biden's announcement of bringing the field of democratic candidates up to 20 now. do we know why biden decided to join the race and is he joining late? oliver: this video announcement today, he said that the american values would be at stake and that that would be the reason why he is running now. he also said that the crucial moment when he decided to run was back in 2017, when at a far right protests, in charlottesville, a counter demonstrator died and donald trump at the time refused to condemn the neo-nazi protests. joe biden had focused is video announcement on these events and said that was the moment when he had decided to run to avoid and other term of donald trump. there is more behind that.

joe biden has been dubbed something like the maternal candidate for four decades. he ran -- eternal candidate for four decades. he ran in 19 98, 2008, and almost ran in 2016, but made the way for kelly y clinton. this year will be different. the polls came out as the most popular of all candidates, befofore officialllly announcin. he will certainly make the case that he is the most likely one to the fee donald trump. brent: he certainly has the starting advantage, particularly because everyone in the u.s. knows him. how does biden's bid change the competition? oliver: we are witnessing an interesting moment right now. the whole party, shifted to the left. we have a record number of candidates running.

minorities are represented. a lot of female candidates. many candidates are young. joe biden is none of that. he is 76 years old. he is a white old man, if you will. yet, he is a popular figure in politics. is considered an elder statesman or an old-school politician that is passed his time. voters will have to see for themselves whether they support them. the crucial point is that he has credibility along blue-collar voters. that can be crucial this time around. brent: that's a good point. in his political record, some people have said, is a living record of how the democratic party has evolved over the last 50 years. we have joe biden against donald trump. would that be a choice that americans would look forward to? oliver: potentially.

it will be interesting, because he will not be an easy opponent for donald trump. donald trump has been trying to paint the democratic party like a bunch of radical socialists. that would probably not work with joe biden. he considers himself a moderate politician. a centrist. he has it -- a great chance, especially because of that, he is a great chance to get support in the industrial midwestern regions of the u.s. if you speak to voters there, democratic voters, who supported trump in 2016, they would tell you, it depends on who is running. hillary clinton at the time was a hate figure. joe biden is not. he is able to speak with the working class. that can make a difference -- difference. he has to win the primary. brent: that's right. the nomination could be a bigger battle than winning on election day.

we will have to see. thank you, oliver. the leaders of russia and north korea have wrapped up their first face-to-face meeting. vladimir putin and kim jong-un discussed issues like security on the korean peninsula and pyongyang's controversial weapons program. it follows donald trump's failed efforts to persuade him to getet rid of his nuclear arsenal at a summit two months ago. reporter: it was their first ever face-to-face meeting. russia's vladimir putin and kim jong-un, the body language suggested it was set to go well. talks took place on an island off the pacific coast near vladivostok and went on for two hours. statements after the meeting did not give away any substantial news. >> we spoke about the situation on the korean peninsula.

we exchanged views on what needs to be done, so that we can improve the situation in the future. >> we discussed the korean peninsula and the regional political situation, which has garnered the urgent attention of the world. we help the discussions on strategic ways to pursue stability and the regional political situation and don matters of -- on matters of managing the situation. reporter: later in a press conference, putin revealed how he expected to play a further domestic role. >> chairman kim jong-un asked us to inform americans about his position. about the questions he has in relation to the processes that are happening on the korean peninsula and everything that is happening around these processes. reporter: the summit has offered putin a chance to push russia's agenda of opposing u.s. influence. north korea's talks with

president trump on the country's nuclear arsenal broke down without a deal in february. brent: sri lanka has lowered the death toll in those easter sunday attacks, down by a hundred. police now say 253 lives were lost. the health ministry blamed the discrepancy on a calculation error. this comes after the defense secretary resigned following intelligence and security lapses ahead of the devastating attacks. there have been further arrests of people who may have been involved in the suicide bombings. sri lankan police have appealed to the public for information on a further six suspects. one bitter legacy of the bombings incher lockup has been an upsurge of violence against refugees from other countries, both christian and muslim. as our reporter reports, people who fled violence in their own countries find themselves targeted once again. reporter: natasha fled to sri

lanka from pakistan for years ago. she left her home country with three young children and her husband. they were persecuted for being christian. her husband bears burn marks to prove it. in -- where she ended up, she coululd practice her faith free. last sunday, she applied had not on her body to-- hennah to get ready for easter. then, the bombs hit. >> the landlord told us not to return. don't even return, you're not safe here. save yourselves and leave. we can't offer you any protection. we are also christian and grease chicken, because our brothers and sisters were killed in this class. we can't do anything. reporter: now, natasha and 100s

-- hundreds of other refugees are hiding out in the parking garage of his playstation. christians and muslims, they all bear one similarity. they're not sri lankan. brent: you cannot - -->> you cannot imagine how they behaved after the blast. scores of people came into my house and attacked us. our landlady said, i cannot protect you. it would be better if you leave. reporter: according to refugee rights activisists, over 1200 people have been displaced from their homes since the attacks. they have taken shelter in mosques and police stations. refugees in the coat -- include christians and mususlims fleeing prosecution -- persecution in pakistan, and fling security in our own country. now, there being threatened and displaced, because locals view

all foreigners was supposed -- suspicion. activists have played -- begged for help. already, life as a refugee in sri lanka is extremely challenging. >> they cannot work. they undergo a lot of trouble because of this. for many years, the children cannot go to school. people cannot work. they have left their jobs and come here, without working, they are bringing great honor. reporter: natasha mixes pakistan. she -- mrs. pakistan. she is also grateful for her life in sri lanka. for now, her life is in this parking garage. she will know when that will end. brent: crowds have converged on harming dutch army headquarters in khartoum, demanding civilian rule. the protesters say they are answering calls for a million strong march to demand the new military government step aside.

sudan's military council took power earlier this month after deposing longtime president omar al-bashir. reporter: they have come from far and wide to take part in a million strong march. opposition groups are relying on their strongest weapon, the power of the street. they demand the military steps aside. >> we want civilian rule. it is as simple as that. >> there should be jobs for everyone. we had to get this country back on track. reporter: the protesters are trying to keep up pressure where it counts, outside army headquarters in khartoum. last night, three controversial members of the military council stepped down. the concession to the opposition. the military says the two sides already agree on many points. a joint committee has been put into place to work out unresolved issues. the opposition remains

skeptical. >> the goals of the revolution are not negotiable. we are determined to implement them in full. we are only discussing how to reach these goals. reporter: distrust runs deep after 30 years of dictatorship. the protesters say it will stay here until their demands are met. brent: talks between germany's two biggest lenders, deutsche bank and commerce bank, have ended in failure. the decision to ditch the talks reopen speculation over the future of the two banks, banks that have struggled to recover from the global financial crisis over one decade ago. reporter: berlin wanted it to happen, but that wasn't enough to unite the two german giants. >> we as deutsche bank said for the beginning, we would only go into this merger if it makes economic sense. if it is beneficial for shareholders and the stakeholders. this was not given here after

deep conversations and talks with commerzbank. we came to the conclusion that if we put chances and risks against each other, that we should stop the talks about this merger now. reporter: the government's hopes of the two banks combining to greater -- to be a national chicken for the finance sector have proven out of reach. deutsche bank and commerzbank have concluded the benefits would be out weighed by the risks, the recession costs and the capital requirements. the ball struggled since the global financial crisis, with the german states still owning more than 15% of commerzbank. the argument for merging, would be that theyey would cut costs r the hair and taxpayers. but combining to troubled banks would create one larger troubled bank. after month and a half of talks, those troubles haven't gone away. now they will have to get to work to find separate solutions.

brent: a new poll shows that more than half of germans feel hostility toward asylum seekers. that is one of the key findings of a study by that -- and it comes despite falling numbers of migrants and refugees arriving in germany. the funny -- the study finds little difference between older and younger people, while the issue of migration, but it did the term in a clear fault line between when used to be east and west germany. reporter: this is the eastern german city, scenes of xenophobic riots last year were beamed around the world. this year, a study finds people around germany are deeply unsettled around jerk -- about refugees. as in previous years, nearly 2000 people were surveyed. the finding show attitudes toward refugees are increasingly hostile. in 2011, a few is before close

to one million refugees arrived in germany, less than half of respondents had negative views about migrants in general. that number dropped in 2014, but today, it is higher than ever. over half of those surveyed look down on migrants and refugees. >> i sense of fear has taken hold in the past two years. that is what we are seeing in people's attitudes. it might be an explanation for the growth of anti-migrant sentiments. reporter: researchers say nazi terms have entered mainstream discourse and germans are becoming more skeptical toward the media and state. almost half of the respondents believe secret groups influence political decision-making. about one third believe politicians are the puppets of other groups. nearly one quarter says politicians and journalists are colluding. belief in conspiracy theories seems to be growing.

>> i can definitely confirm this. i often hear my friends saying things like that. >> they play with people's beliefs. a kernel of truth is probably there, but then they exaggerated and it does rose more popular. that is dangerous. reporter: despite the skepticism toward the german government, the study shows clear support for dedemocracy.y. a strong majority also supports the european union. it is the tolerance of refugees that has decreased. brent: let's bring in our political correspondent. he has been looking at the study. is it as bad as this study says? is the political center in germany, has been lost? >> this is a rather dramatic title of this study indeed. it is -- the study got attention. some of the findings are quite

alarming. for instance, we see that the number of germans who say that they are in support of democracy , but at the same time say, minority rights are something bad or something we need to abolish. at the same time, we can see there is a rising mistrust of state institutions and a growing feeling of powerlessness among the people. many people here in germany have the belief that they can't change anything, even if they live in a democratic state. there's also good news here. the study says that the majority of germans still believe in democracies. the more permit title of the study one of them times are getting rough, but it's not quite as bad as you would think. brent: the majority says they support the european union and democracy. at the same time, xenophobia is on the rise. how do those two things go together? >> sounds contradicting at first.

the researchers of this study say this is clear evidence that extremist views have entered the political center of this country. that they have become more socially acceptable within german society. they say that nearly everybody here in germany says they are and support for democracy, but at the same time, these values are not filled with light. one third of the people who have been asked for the survey say that the concept of equal rights should be abolished if it is in the national interest. the researchers call this a modern-day cherry picking. one picks the values that suits one best, while denying these values to others. for instance, minorities. brent: another finding, which speaks to us, is people believe that politics and people in the

media like us are controlled by dark forces. how do we explain that? how do we tell people that is not true? rupert: this is one of the rather dramatic findings of the study. it means that people who believe in conspiracy theories also believe in their own powerlessness. they believe in some super powerful enemy, for instance, jews, islam, or the media, or the critical elite, so it is all about prejudice and creating enemies. this is the dramatic finding of the survey. people don't feel like they are part of the democratic discourse anymore. brent: those are some disturbing -- disturbing numbers. thank you. two german football. buyer -- bremen streams in the second -- semi final 0-- bayern

dashed bremen's dreams in the semi final round of the german cup. bayern looks set for an easy victory following goals from robert lewandowski and thomas miller. but bremen scored two goals in two minutes. that was until a suspect penalty call involving the video assistant led to an 80th minute winner. the bremen coa was angry at thech decision, but was magnanimous in defeat. >> it's really brutal. i think that nine times out of 10, a r referent ululd not givee that penaltyty. if i had to make that call, i wouldn't have made that whistle -- both the whistle. but buyer deserved to win. -- bayern deserved to win. brent: french president emmanuel macron has presenteded his refos

to quell widespread protests. the yellow vests movement is debating more incoming quality saying that he there's the risk. -- rich. joe biden hits the campaign trail after announcingg his cacandidacy for your president,e joined a credit democratic field. you're watching dw news cannot live from berlin. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around for that. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

. if you were to live from paris offers twenty four understanding here the headlines. tax cuts for the middle class is a freeze on school and hospital closures and debates to make france more meritocratic. president emmanuel macron lays out his response t to the yelllw vest movement. during a two hour press conference. in the united states former vice president joe biden officially launches his bid for the prpresidency in. twenty twenty eight track of almomost full right hand man sas a second trump said would harm. the very soul of the nation. and fragmentation and kim jong un wrapped up their first joint summit the two met on an island off the coast of russia's far east