anchor: austria starts lifting its lockdown measures. smsmall shops reopening doors. some shops up and running again in italy. gupta has t the -- details. emmanuel macron extends franan's lockdown for a month. he says there should be enougugh maskss and tests by then, restaurants and bars remain closed. momoscow wararns there could bea shortage soon. we have an update on the russian

government's handling of this crisis. hello and thanks for joining us here on france 24. thousandnds of shops have reoped in austria,, including diy stors and gardening centers. austrians still urged to stay at home as much as possible. austria introduced a lockdown a month ago. he has reported 14,000 cases of covid-19 and more than 360 deaths. in italy, where the virus has claimed more than 20,000 lives, the lockdown is starting to be eased. some shops open for business again at head of the plalanned general lifting of restrictions in early may. for the latest, i spspoke to sea gupta, our correspondent in rome. hada: the prime minister said that certain activity could reopen, things like workshops and stationary shops, as well as

stores for children and newborns, so families can get the items they need. this is despite the fact that the lockdown, as you mentioned, has been extended until may 3. it is impacting differently in different regions. -- in rome,year these openings will not happen until april 20, to give the shops enough time to prepare their staff with the masks, , ands, hand sanitizer clear demarcations for social distancing within the shops. in the region of lombardy and mpagnia, the ca region around naples that is hardest hit, and of the bookshops arare allowed to o op, only children's clothing stores. regions. in different in some places, you can go beyondnd 200 meterss in order to

exercise. people are taking this cautiously. schools are not expected to reopen until september. claire: no easing of the coronavirus lockdown in france. monday, the president announced it would be extended until may 11. the epidemic is not yet under control, adding that schools would reopen little by little. dealing with the pandemic, including the lack of masks and equipment. he said by may 11, anyone with symptoms should be able to get tested. joined by a guest from the university in paris. expectations were high befefore the national address, before the start of the coronavirus crisis. about half the country was watching. what they wanted to know was how much longer this would go on, whether or not to wear masks, many questions. do you think macron managed to

strike the right tone and give clear explanations for why more weeks of lockdown are needed? guest: i think the speech was marked by a tone of huhumility. mccrone gave responses, noted severalnd times there had been failings in dealing w with the pandemic, and particulararly the lacack of equipment. found humility. on the other aspect, which is to give to the french very precise answers, w we have got one prece 11 --, which is that may wewe will be filled d up untntiy 11. but therere are many questionsns where the e response is not the. there is the question of reopening the schools -- infant

schools, primary schools, secondary schools. he said we will not be ready. but since this morning, there are many questioions asked by teteachers, and also by the parents, about the security, the safety of the children if they may 11. claire: we are going g to have o reinvent ourselves. he said he would have to do ththat. what did you make of that comment? what did you think macron was saying about leadershihip to ths crisis? guest: it is true that that small sentence is probably onene of the main sentences. you know that since the yellow protests, macron has tried to find the new macron.

step in the mandadate -- we e are expecting to know wt exacactly is t the new emmanuel macron.. that certrtainly thee case emmanuel macron at the end of the crisis is going to thatnicate to the cririsis makes him a different person, a different president. it is not easy to convince the electorate that you have changed who you are when you are the exact same. thate: it is interesting you say the electorate, because the first roround of local elections was held not long ago, and the goverernment has been criticized for that. do think macron may be should have mentioned that in the speech? maybe shohould have mentioned that in the speech? guest: we know thahat organizing the e first round of the electin was a misistake, not only for te

safety and the health aspect, but also a personal mistake. -- a p political mistatake. we don''t know whehen there wile the second rouound of the local elelection. i think that probably macron regrets that. claire: macron did not just talk about france, interesting to note. he talked about europe, which is important to this president, and the wish to make europe stronger. do you think this crisis has created deeper divisions? we have seen tensions over solidarity measures. just: -- guest: europe makes advancements and new steps through crisisis. cecertainly it will be the case that after the crisis there will be some new direction,

particularly in harmonizing or coordinating in a much better organizeway we have the european union. time, i think it is quite a long run. macron tries to convince the french and the other europeans that there is no contradiction between national sovereignty and european sovereignty. mentions this. the crisis has also shown some negative signs in eurorope -- a lack off coordination, a lack of common response to the crisis. i'm pretty sure that emmanuel macron, after the crisis, would like to deliver the message that we should go further. claire: thank you for taking the time to talk to us, bruno.

moscow,a's capital, officials have warned there might be a hospital bed s shorte in the coming weeks, and covid-19 is affecting more and more partsts of the country. the govevernment has reported me than 21,000 cases, 117 deaths. douglas herbert joined me now. after weeks of assuring russians thatat they had everything undnr control,l, senior russian officials right up to vladimir putin himself are now conceding that the pandemic is getting worse. why is it taking so long to come to grips with the gravity of this crisis?s? reporter: to put it simply, in the early stages of the crisis, the tone of ththe kremlin and russia's top leadersrs was o onf supreme confidence and assurance that russia basically had noththing to wororry about. they were ready to tackle thisis virus. was that russssia seeeemed

to defy y the laws of f coronavs gravityy, ththat this wasas mosa europepean and asian p phenomen, that it was western european coununtries sufferining. russia seemed somehow impervious to the coronavirus, if you looked at official statistics. until late march, if you looked at those government tallies, there were fewer than n 100 cas, confirmed cases, reported today. took ststeps including shutting off travel to china in the early phases of the crisis. russia was pretty good on the testing, although it was unclear how reliable some of the testing was, and with the contact tract -- tracking. these practitices datedd back to ththe soviet e era. there was a sense passed on to the russians that this was not something that was going to affect us in nearly the same way as it is affecting western europe and other countries beyond russia's borders. the town has abruptly changed. in a videoconference with top health officials on monday, he

was basically saying that the situation is changing practically every day, and unfortunatelely not for thee better. "wewehihimself used t the words have espececially nothining to g about.t." we haveve problems he. the virus is entering a complex phase. were wawarning that hospitals w were nearing g breag poinint capacityty. russia's health system still not totally reformemed. also reachching breaking point. there are circulatating images n ambmbulances onon one highway liliterallyy cleararing- toueuing up bumpeper-to-bumpepr deliver patients to hospitals. it is the leadersrship waking up belatetedly. therere are over 21,000 confirmd d dead, russia, with 1 170 alalthough r russia has onlyly e 1.4 million tests, which is a

relatively high rate of testing. claire: moscow has been hard hit the cacapital is in pretetty tit lolockdown. it is the situauation beyeyond momoscow? douglas: you are right. moscow has b been the highest t. russia, almomost one in 10 russians live inin moscocow. the greater moscow region, over 50 million people. it is expected that moscow would be hard-hit. this virus has been spreading. when we talk aboutut regions, we are not talking about puny little towns and villages. hadadtersburg, , as of today, 120 0 one new cacases in the pa4 hours. cityrussia's third lalargest . you have a city y out in siberi. nothing is immune. russia hasas 82 regions. practically all of them have been affected. the official government statistics report region byy regigion how many numbers. you hear a far easterern r regi.

you u hear dagestan, the caucuss -- c caucausus. about 15, 20re cases, you wonder how many -- how much underreportiting that . carriers are beingng has beeeen units wiwith peoplple who were t wrought in f for covid reasonsn, and theyey are beingng housed ie same units. in s some cases, patientnts have gone missing. they h have just left the hospspital, potentiaial carrier. we have no idea who is walking around as a potential cararrier, how many official cases there are. we suspect it is a lot higher than what you are hearing officially. where would those of us under lockdown be at the moment without movies, right? that is an industry feeling the heat because of covid-19. producuctions shutting down from one day to the next. some holland -- hollywood people

putting their free time to good use, as our team in los angeles found out. reporter: the stars on hollywood boboulevard have been deserted. the historic chinese theater, closed indndefinitely, symbol oa $100 billion industry that basically shut down overnight. sharon has been an editor in hollywood for more than 15 years. she worked on successful shows like breaking bad and mr. robot. inin mid-february, she was hired as an editor for a neww series n a streaming platformrm. cutting two of ththose episododes. on friday, marchch 13, that is basically the daday hollywoooodt down.. we aresically said, done. everybody clear out your editing room. reporter: from postproduction to actors, more than 300,000 people have lost jobs.

the superhero costumes have been rereplaced with packages for volunteers to make masks out of fabric, supplied to hospitals in the area. >> i think it was in the collective consciousness. there were people who had stopped working because all the shows shut down. i think everybody realized that they needed a purpose in this time, and they needed to do what they could, use their skills to help people. reporter: not only is filling in hohollywood shut down, but the release of dozens of films has been postponed or canceled, many shifting to o on-demand broadcasting, which is much less profitable. by the end of may, hollywood is expected to lose $20 billion. from filming to the way movies are watched, everything g will e changing. it is impossible to predict how it will all end up. claire:: thanks for watching. stay tuned and take care.

♪ ♪ >> are you already at the floor? i will be right there. morning, she starts the day by checking in on all her shops. is it going today? have you sold ananything yet? yvetteter: 42-yearar-old runs a multimillion dollar business. she became successful thanks to this vibrantly colored and intricicately colored fabricic a popopular prirint,

material inn africa that has alo become populular in the western world. >> it is a luxury product. this piece costs 100 euros. both from africa are very expensive. handles all her international exports from her store in the capital. wax print in africa is not just a fashion statement. become a way has for women to carry their message into the world. most loincloths have a particular meaning. it can be related to the family, or current political and social affairs. the theme of this one is jealousy. you see them looking at each other? rivalrymetaphor for the that can exist between two wives in an african household.

here, you have the ungrateful man. you can give him everything, absolutely everything,g, and yet he will always go see elsewhere. reporter: yvette learneded everything t there is to know about the wax print industry with her mother. in t togo, waxax print tradede s become a tradition passed on from one generatation of women o the other. it hasas even given rise to onef the most significant success stories in africa. anettes are women who made a true fortune through the wax print trade. shop is also a family business, run by a 25-year-old.

>> take a look at this swatch. this is good quality. >> can you selell it to me for $45,000 -- 445,000? >> alright, 45,000.. reporter: she grew up with wax print family and was handed the secrets of the industry byby her mother and her grandndmother, wo ststill keeps s and i on the --n eye on t the shop. the businesswoman nenever misses an opportutunity to tatake visis on the tour of the family museum set up o on the second f floor. to t tell their ststory, marargt flips into her traditional wax print garment. >> i dedicatated this part of te museum to my mother. here, she is in front of her shop. and here we are, the two of us, in front of the store. people really admired her.

reporter: margaret's mother was one of several prosperous in togo in the 1970's. the key to their success -- unparalleled business acumen that quickly made them the only wax fabric dealers in west africa. we have very fond memories. the money was flowing. you see it was the good life baback then. reporter: these women traders became the first millionaires on thee continent, a strong symbol. they favored the nickname of benz girls, because of the mercedes-benz some o of them drove. standings my mother, proud in front of her benz she is. the e first one to support a be. my mother loved what was beautiful.

the most solid car at the time was the mercedes-benz. reporter: there are dozens of families like margaret's from togo. from the 1970's to the 1980's, the women swiftly rose to promised and -- to prominence, with luxury homes. on the sidelines of the success stories, smaller businesses sprung up, and wax fabric became a driving force of the togoan economy. prints are bright recognized across the world as quintessentially african. they were originally forged by african companies attempting to reproduce traditional japanese patterns -- javanese patterns. when it failed to take off in africa.ey movoved it to

one company started mass-producing it. , the fabric can be found on the most prestigious runways worldwide. top wax print seller in europe and africa -- in 2014, the company declared a turnover of nearly 300 million euros. vlisco.ryone knows it is the most famous brand in africa. starting vlisco is the point of the adventure. in the 1970's, several bold businesswomen signed an exclusive a agreement with thiss dutch brand, because it is the only reseller of wax prints throughout west africa. the mananager of the brancnch in togo said they helped lift an entitire country. women story started with who were buying fabric that they

would resell in togo. in the economic crisis hit ghana in the 1950's, is this moved to togo, and thesese very knowledgdgeable womemen took ovr the industry and made it extraordinary. it h helped the cicity a lot. they were very appreciated. that is what made them successful. reporter: the coordinination d d not last. by the end of the 1990's, the west african currency was devalued by 50%. customomers turned to low-cost alternatives and new competitors entered the market. , chineselater counterfeit products have flooded shops. one person has been a fashion designer in the capital for four years. he s says he has become accustod

to buying counterfeit products on the market. >> heree is the fabric for address. it is a dress that was ordered by one of my clients. the chinese fabric hasas become a hit in togo. one e of its greatest assets -- unbeatable prices. >> onene full piecece o of vlilo fabric can cost 60,000. but for that price you can purchase 10 pieces of fabric here. that way, you can feel your whole wardrobe. reporter: the fabric is 10 times cheaper, and the designs and colors look the e same as thee authentic dutch wax prints. patternsthe same because the chinese are copying ththe original vlisco pattetern. sometitimes, they even write it is on the fabric, but

not. it is made by chinese. reporter: chinese companies do not print their patterns on real wax. use a much more basic printing technique. on the others t tone, he is meeting his mentor in his workshop. she is an influential designer who has launched her own fashion. over the years, she has become accustomed to seseeing cheap asn counterfeits in every store. >> when you look at the colors, you may think it is thehe same thing, when you touch it and when you wear it, you can feel the difference. dutch wax print is flexible and soft. this fabric is harder, and does not fafall the same way. brands arehinese looking to purposely deceiveve

consumers. >> straight away when you see the label, you can see it is not labeled "real dutch wax." wax," wax put "little with something next to it. reporter: little dutchman is chinese? >> it is counterfeit. that is not dutch, not even a little bit. these proroducts are prohibited in togo, and the company vlisco has been increasing efforts to have them banned. faced with this foreign, low-cost competition, the w wax print tradade has had to r reint giving a new generation of women entrepreneurs known as the net 00 -- nanettes. one is the daughter of a nanabin

matriarch. >> lets unfold it. have you had a look? reporter: but she has another vision of how she wants to run her business. brand and designs

man: it looks like something out of a fairy tale and its characters are desperate to live happily ever after. man 2: the soviet occupation is not so far away at the moment. it's far away for our children. mann: pint-sizezed estonia has shakeken off dictatorship ad built a high-tech economy that's the o