>> this is dw news live from berlin. germany announcingng the first steps to reopening its economy and lifting the lockdown. >> we e have to understand thats

long as there is no vaccine, we have to live with the virus. >> chancellor angela merkel says shops and stores will start business again. social distancing will remain. the world health organization defending itself after president trump freezes u.s. funding. >> had the who done its job, it could have been contained with very little death. >> who says it did issue strong and timely warnings that the president ignored. and the flames of notre dame exactly onone year sisince fire almomost razed the cathedral in paris. restoration work has slowed. how it used to look and how it will look once again.

♪ brent: i am. to our viewers on pbs, in the united states, and around the world, welcome. germany is about to take the first step to reopen its economy. beginning next monday, stores and shops will be back in business. chancellor angela merkel described the country's success against coronavirus pandemic as being very fragile with little room for mistakes. she stressed that any further reduction or relaxation of restrictions will depend on the rate of new infections. >> it has been three weeks since chancellor angela merkel announced new restrictions on contact. social distancing rules will remain in place until may 3. groups will remain limited to two people and at least 1.5 meters must be kept from others.

from m may 4, schools will gradually reopen. daycare will remain shut. religious gatherings will also remain banned. major events including germany's beloved football will be called off until august 31. restaurants, cafes, cinemas, and music venues will keep their shutters down. only shops up to 800 meters square will be reopened monday. face masks are also recommended. announcing the amended restrictions, chancellor angela merkel warned against complacency. >> what we've achieved is interim success. i emphahasize it is a fragile interirim success. this is now determined our deliberations that there should be no rushing forward even if it is with the best intentions. as long as t there's no vaccine,

we have to live with the virus. controls along germany's land borders with its neighbors in the free travel zone will also remain in place. for now, germany will continue keeping its distance. the curve may be lessening, but the government it seems is taking things slow. brent: furthermore, let's bring in simon young. good evening to you. we know that there is a lot of pressure, there was a lot of pressure on the government to do something. was today's announcement a surprise to you at all? >> i think they have gone a bit further and sounded a bit more clearly that this is the beginning of the way back to some kind of normal life after the coronavirus.

in herer many years as chancell, angelala merkel tends toward caution anyway. i think thee scientists continue to urge caution in dealing with this pandemic. as was being said today, even if there is some easing of restrictions now, there could be bad news at some point in the next few months. i suppose i'm not entirely surprised that we are seeing a cautious approach. brent: the government is recommending that people where face masks if they take public transportation and also when they go shopping. but they are not making it mandatory. why is it not mandatory if the government thinks is so important that it should be recommended? >> you can always have a debate about whether you can actually

impose and force people to carry out measures of these kinds. people say it is pretty intrusive, having to wear this covering at all times in public. on the other hand, neighboring austria has introduced that for public transport and supermarkets. i think some people are saying they couldn't have required people to do it because we know that obtaining this kind of equipment is difficult during the crisis. some people have been making their own masks, but it is difficult to make them available to everybody who might need them. brent: simon, is this a decision that is valid for the entire country? we know germany is a federal country and there are 16 states. are we going to see the same rules everywhere? >> the rules and

recommendations, the plan and the approach, is the same for the whole country. the actual implementation will vary. schools will start opening at the beginning of may. bavaria and some other places may not open until a week or two after that. there will be slight differences in the implementation of some of these new rules. but i think the attempt today was to get a unified response from all of germany. brent: simon young on the story in berlin, thank you. as germany begins to slowly reopen schools, it could find some guidance by looking north. today denmark started easing its lockdown by reopening primary schools and daycare centers. denmark has seen more than 6000 infections and more than 300 deaths. scientists point out that

children are the least affected by the virirus. >> it is back to school for seven-year-old astor from copenhagen. rule one, hand sanitizer before going in. many parents are worriried schos are reopening too soon. the difficult transition is for parents. we have to hand over our childrenen. that goes against our r instincs as parents to protect our children. denmark is reopening primary schools up to year five under strict conditions. there has to be at least two meters between desks in classrooms. many are simply too smallll for that. we've split most classes into three grououps. that basically means we need threree times s as many staff, o we'veve brought i in allll our

teachers and some extra ones as well. not all s schools arere ready. some will reopen in the next few days. denmark has a schedule for getting back to normal. the government wants to bring forward its plans to get other areas of daily life going again. politicians will have to work out which ones. brent: here's a quick round up of some other developments around the world. the number of confirmed infections has passed 2 million, with more than 130,000 reported deaths. the who warns the world has not yet seen the peak of the outbreak. new york's governor issued a statewide order to wear face coverings in most public places. the retail giant amazon says it may stop all services in france after a court ordered it to only deliver essential products and

to improve worker protections. the g20 has agreed to suspend debt payments from the world's poorest countries until the end of the year to free up money to combat the pandemic. there's been international condemnation of u.s. president donald trump's decision to freeze u.s. funding of the world health organization. trump, who has been under fire for his handling of the pandemic , is accusing the agency of failing in its response to the outbreak. the who is defending itself, saying it issued strong and timely warnings. >> the who failed in its basic duty to save lives, those were the words of president trump as he announced a freeze on funding. >> today i'm instructing my administration to halt funding

of the world health organization while a review is conducted. the united states has a duty to insist on full accountability. >> trump has repeatedly criticized the who, this time claiming its bias towards china is responsible for the virus' rapid spread to other parts of the world. >> had the who done its job to get medical experts into china to assess the situation on the ground and to call out china's lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source with very little death. >> trump says the roughly 400 million dollars in annual contributions will be paused. the decision drew a sharp rebuke from the german foreign minister, who tweeted -- >> blaming doesn't help. we should work together closely against covid-19.

one of the best investments is to strengthen the u.n., especially the underfunded who. >> bill gates called the move dangerous. the u.s. is the worst affected country in the world, with more recorded cases and deaths than anywhere else. trump's handling of the pandemic has been widely criticized and his opponents say this latest announcement is nothing more than a deflection tactic. brent: lots of international reactions to trump's decision. today, a former prime minister calling for a strong global response told dw news what hee thininks of ththe movove by the. prpresident. >> donald trump s signed a communiqueue that he wasas prest at the meetingng when thehey sad they w would strengthen the mamandate, theyey would increase fundining for disastster respon, they would help deal with

problems facing developing countries. this is n not only analogical sp by the president, it is an act of self-harm. to protect ourselves, we have to act glglobally. if this disease h has a second r third round in africa or thehe developing world and then c coms back to o the u.s., wee will beo blame for notot helping those countries that the who iss supportingng. brent: that was the former u.k. prime minister speaking with us earlier today. here's a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. new zealand prime minister says she and other officials will take a 20% pay cut. she said it was a symbolic acknowledgment of the struggles new zealanders are facing.

frontline staff will not be affected. france's defense ministry says a third of the nearly 2000 sailors on board its aircraft carrier and escort vessels have tested positive for coronavirus. the carrier was o ordered back o port after an outbreak on board. africa has confirmed more than 16,000 covid-19 cases and almost 900 deaths and those numbers are rising in all but two countries on the continent. many countries have taken steps to prevent the spread, such as closing borders and mass gatherings. since measures are often difficult to enforce, people often live close together. our next report looks at the situation in one community in kenya. >> life goes on in africa's biggest slum in the kenyan

capital, nairobi. for now at least. people here have so far been spared the full force of the virus. on april 15, just over 200 infections and nine deaths were recorded in the entire country. but given developments elsewhere, many are afraid of what is to come and worry what measures they can take to prevent the worst. some residents say locking down the population in a place like this is not an option as it could lead to starvation or worse. >> they can't take the risk. they can't risk the people in this slum, and then violence considering in the surrounding neighborhoods. that will spark violence in the

rest of the slums and it will be a cataclysmic event. >> that risk is already real. this was the scene just a few days ago as thousands scrambled to get food aid after restrictions imposed because of the virus made it more difficult for poor people to go out to make a living. this points to the size of the challenge facing the government in other countries, where people live in densely populated areas. >> [indiscernible] to me the most important thing is people changing their behaviors. >> local charities are taking initiative by providing sanitizer and encouraging citizens to wash their hands.

the hope is that they can prevent the virus from spreading in the first place, as impacts from outbreak here would be devastating. not just for this community but for the rest of the country. brent: he survived the war and the virus, a veteran of world war ii has beaten the odds to become the oldest person so far to recover from the virus. the man tested positive and went to the hospital after developing pneumonia, but was discharged just two weeks later. [applause] > at 99 years old, he may hae thought he had seen his last. the world war ii veteran has had many grueling battles, but none as satisfying as this. >> winning this battle was bigger than winning the war. >> entering hospital at the end

of march, his chances of survival were slim, but doctors say it was his life in the military that helped him defeat the coronavirus in the end. >> we were very apprehensive. he surprisingly recovered. i want to congratulate the medical team for looking out for my health. they are allll great. >> he shares this victory with the team of medics who treated him. their triumph, a moment of hope in a dark chapter. brent: finally, breweries in belgium have started offering delivery service for people who miss being able to buy a plate in their local restaurant or bar. drinkers say it is a way to support local businesses. take a look.

>> this isn't an urgent medical delivery, but it could cheer up someone board at home. to keep their business alive, half a dozen microbreweries in brussels are encouraging people to buy online, chargrging arorod 50 for a case of bottles, delivery included. >> i think it is very helpful to have deliveries. not only because we consume products, but because the companies can sell the products, have some profit now. >> -- who runs the brewery says they used to mainly sell their beer to bars and restaurants. but those were ordered to close almost a month ago. >> in one day, we lost 95% of our clients.

so this was a really huge hit to us. we are in direct second line. >> his colleagues decided to start brewing again, which they had stopped since the beginning of the lockdown. at least there is now something to be cheerful about when you are stuck in quarantine. >> brent: some of the other stories making had lines around the world, the first flight carrying unaccompanied children has arrived in luxembourg. a number of european countries have agreed to help children resettle. germany says it will take in 50. activists have criticized e.u. governments for not accepting more. police in germany have arrested four suspected members of the islamic state militant group believed to have been planning deadly attacks in the country. all four are from tragic extent.

sudan has been marking a year since the overthrow of its dictator. there were high hopes that the nation would overcome 30 years of corruption and economic decline, but those hopes are a long way from being fulfilled. the country is also dealing with swarms of locusts eating the crops and the coronavirus pandemic. >> it was a moment of relief and euphoria. apapril 11, 2019. protesters in sudan'n's capital celebrate the removal of the dictator. the months they had risked their lives on the streets had not been in vain. it was there i met a

phototographer in the middle e f the revolution. >> my pictures are for the comiming generationsns. the experience of the people in my photo should not be forgotten. >> it was a time of violence. authorities often attacked the prototesters. >> t the government hass to brbg justicee to the p people that d. we are alilive because of them. everything that hahappened is becaususe they sacrificed their lives. >> their families have not yet seen prosecutions. i asked thehe prime minister abt this issue back in february. >> the constitution is guiding this with h a very clear undertrtaking that we establblih investigation committee.

>> a new government was sworn in in august. after a transititional deal was struck between civilians and the military. al bashir is in prison for corruption while his former ruling party has been dissolved. sudanese officials have suggested they might even turn him over to the international criminal court for trial over alleged war crimes, yet sudan's economy is still dire and attempts to prove things are hindered by the country''s contininued presence on the list of u.s. state sponsors of terrorism. many have moved abroad in search of a job. mohammed now lives and w works n the e united arab ememirates. >> i wananted to stay in my country wiwith my familily but e were very littlele opportunitie.

this is a time when sudan needs us. >> he might not be able to be at home to mark the anniversary, but the heady days of hope will be etched in their memory a lifetime. brent: back here in europe, in paris, one year ago today the cathedral of notre dame was badly damaged by a fire that was thought to be started by an i head of the works completion, to films about the cathedral have been released, one shot before the disaster, the other afterwards, both enhanced by virtual realitity. >> notre dame cathedral,, a symbol of paris in flames. the images from april 2019

saddened the world. filmmakers chloe and victotor hd been shooting a documentary on the world famous landmark just weeks before the fire. >> the day after the fire, we realized that our i images are f extremely great value. we captured a moment in history that will be able to pass on to the public. everyone who ever visited has a special memory of notre dame. >> they combined fofootage from before t the inferno with newly shot material to make a a sececd documentary.y. the images of the current cathedral's interior are the only ones of their kind. >> these images are indeed special because they were shot

from virtual reality with very high resolution and in 3d. that produces one image for the left eye and one for the right, which gives the illusion of depth. >> with a vr headset, people can immerse themselves in the world of notre dame for 16 minutes. motion sensors allow them to move through and explore the structure independently. such an experience in actual reality is no longer possible. notre dame is closed to the public. >> it is a tourist landmark that each year drew millions of visitors. this is a monument of importance to the history of france. it w was i important to put that across in a film. >> thehe makers s of rebuilding notre d dame acquired a rare permit to film inside the damaged cathedral, but in some spots only one member of the team was allowed.

crumbling walls and lead contamination posed too great a hazard. chloe is delighted that she managed to be in the right place at the right time with the right technology. brent: workers at notre dame have marked this anniversary and uploaded the work of france's frontline health workers by ringing the cathedral's great bell. let's have a listen. [bell tolls] sounds that survived the blaze and a pandemic. this is dw news live from berlin. after a short break, i'll be around to take you through the day. ♪

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