>> this is "dw news" live from berlin. punished for speaking out. hong kong activists sentenced, some will serve more than a year in jail for mass demonstrations against china's tightening grip on the territory. also coming up -- "this violence must end," so says the u.s. vice president after eight people are

killed in a mass shooting. and angela merkel gets her first covid-19 shot and receives astrazeneca. the german chancellor says she is happy to take the shot and urges others to do the same. also, in mozambique, more than 500,000 people have fled attacks. our team reports from the island where people are seeking shelter. to our viewers on pbs in the u.s. and to all of you around the world, it's good to have you without. 10 of hong kong's most prominent democracy campaigners have been sentenced for taking part in antigovernment protests. media tycoon jimmy lai will

serve 14 months in prison for unauthorized assembly. 82-year-old martin lee got an 11-month suspended sentence. almost 1.7 million people took part in pro-democracy marches two years ago. our correspondent describes what happened as the activist was sentence. >> right after the judge announced sentences on all 10 defendants, the courtroom burst into loud chance of protest slogans -- loud chants of protest slogans. many showed up to support the defendants and to protest the sentence, which they think is unjust. although many of the defendants i have spoken to over the

previous weeks, they say they welcome the jail time, but still, at the moment they were sentenced, they chanted slogans inside the courtroom and insisted there's nothing criminal to organize and attend an unauthorized assembly. it was a peaceful one, although without permission from police. they insist this is legitimate civil disobedience. michael: so what does the future of hong kong's pro-democracy movement look like? phoebe asked one of the defendants. >> a silver metal awarded for his political work was something this former lawmaker felt proud of, but 12 years later, it seems to represent a hong kong that has been lost.

>> china is my country and hong kong is my home. >> one of 10 defendants found guilty of attending or organizing marches in 2019 during massive antigovernment protests. many opposition icons this generation now sentenced for the first time. this just the first of six charges against the 73-year-old who has taught at the university of hong kong for decades. in court, he was the only defendant to read out his submission in person. >> to civil disobedience, i pled guilty, but i don't feel remorse because i don't think i have done anything wrong, so i don't

mitigate my case. imprisonment will not be a surprise to me. >> he calls himself a moderate who hope for democracy under chinese rule, but that has not happened. before hong kong's handover, they set up a democratic party and were among the first lawmakers directly elected to voice dissent in the chamber and pave the way for hong kong's party politics. w the national security law and a political overhaul are making it difficult. >> we have managed over the past feyears, so this is a big retreat of docracy in hong kong.

i think it is a big question. >> the fight of his generation may soon become history, but he doesn't think that efforts will have been in vain. >> hong ng history is so full of struggles, but i will never disengage myself from politics. democracy is not just about party politics but also how it affects our ways of living. we insist on a rational and peaceful approach, and i think this is the way to solve the problem in the long run. >> he believes democratic values are now deeply rooted in hong kong's culture. his fight is not over yet. michael: we can tell you that the former chairman of the hong kong democratic party featured

in that report has been given a suspended sentence. he still faces five other charges. let's take a look now at some of the other stories making headlines at this hour. raul castro is standing down as the head of cuba's communist party. he and his brother fidel ruled cuba for more than six decades, a raul castro says he is handing off to a younger generation. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov says muska -- moscow will tell 10 u.s. diplomats to leave in retaliation for the u.s. expulsion of russian diplomats. the japanese prime minister has become the first leader to hold face-to-face talks with u.s. president joe biden. vice president harris welcomed him to the white house and -- to

the white house. an increasingly assertive china is likely to be the focus. bodycam footage was released of the moment a chinese police officer shot and killed a 13-year-old boy. the police said the teenager had a gun. a lawyer for the boy's family said he had complied with demands to show his hands when he was shot. president joe biden has ordered flags on all u.s. government buildings to be lowered after a gunman killed eight people. the attack at a fedex depot in indianapolis was carried out by a former employee. he also shot himself. the rampage has called for -- the rampage has resulted in new calls for tighter gun control. >> it was sholy after 11:00 p.m. thursday ght when police were called out to the indianapolis airport. roads were closed and much of the airport placed under lockdown.

police said officers responded as quickly as they could, but they arrived too late to the fedex building. >> we received a call or shots fired to that location. officers arrivedo an active shooter incident at that location. the information i'm learning at this time is that the alleged shooter has taken his own life the scene. >> police say eight people were killed, suffering injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. five others were taken to hospital, one said to be in critical condition. witnesses at the scene said they saw a man firing what they thought was an automatic firearm. >> saw a man with a submachine gun of some sort, an automatic rifle. he was firing in the open. i immediately ducked down and got scared. >> as day broke, police were

still collecting evidence, trying to identify the 19-year-old shooter's motive. >> last night, indianapolis was revisited by the scourge of gun violence that has killed far too many in our community and in our country. although we will learn more about this case in the coming days and weeks, no piece of information will restore the lives that were taken. >> this is the latest in a spate of mass shootings in the u.s. after a. of relative calm -- a period of relative calm during the coronavirus. it has already cost renewed calls for stricter gun control. michael: the world health organization says around the world, cases of coronavirus are

rising at alarming rates. sharp increases have been seen in countries which have so far escaped wide outbreaks. >> around the world, cases and deaths are continuing to increase at alarming rates. globally, the rate has nearly doubled over the past two months. this is approaching the highest rate we have seen so far during the pandemic. michael: germany is seeing its highest rise in coronavirus cases since january. one of the main reasons is the slow pace of vaccinations. but the vaccination drive has picked up speed in recent days. chancellor merkel's office released this image of her receiving the astrazeneca vaccine. she said she was delighted. simon young joins us now.

i imagine chancellor merkel receiving an astrazeneca jab might be a much-needed shot in the arm for germany's vaccination drive. >> indeed. it shows things are moving forward, but probably, you could also say it shows how slowly they are moving forward. angela merkel, 66 years of age has only just become eligible to get this shot. she has had it today, and she did not make a big deal out of it. she did not make a media moment out of it. there have been no pictures released of her actually getting the job. what we saw was the sort of vaccine booklet that belongs to merkel. anyway, the vaccination is moving forward but still not as quickly as some say it needs to.

michael: indeed. the debate about stricter measures is still ongoing. >> if we have learned a lesson 13 months into the pandemic, it is this -- the virus does not forgive any haveeartedness. it only makes things worse. the virus doesn't forgive hesitation. it just makes everything last longer. the virus does not accept any negotiations. it understands only one language -- the language of determination. michael: merkel making her case there. will we see german lawmakers finally taking the steps that public health officials and doctors are pleading for? >> i think this legislation is going to go through in the end. there's a focus on imposing tough and unusual things such as nighttime curfews here.

that is something that's got a lot of people up in arms. it is already happening, indeed, from saturday night, for instance, first nighttime curfew since the second world war being imposed on the city of cologne. medical experts say it is needed because many say we are in the middle of a third wave already. i expect the talking will go on and probably not until the end of next week will this legislation be passed off, and there may even beat court challenges to it after that, but a lot of people say this is the kind of thing needed to get a grip on the situation in germany. michael: we should mention we have seen numerous of hope this week. will this be enough to break the third wave? simon: that's the big question. i think a lot will depend on the role of variants. there are more dangerous, more

and exist variants around, some of which apparently can cause more serious diseases. maybe some of the vaccines are not ready to meet that challenge, if you like, but nonetheless, vaccination is still very important. 20,000 doses have been issued in germany, still over 18.5% of the population has had at least one dose. michael: thanks as always. as coronavirus cases arise here in germany, medical workers are warning that intensive care units are pushed to the brink. our reporter visited a berlin hospital that is close to capacity. >> we are at the intensive care unit in a berlin hospital.

half of the tients suffer from covid-19. the doctor and his team have their has full. >> you can see there is an increase. at the moment, we are not yet in a situation that brings us to the edge of what it can do, but if we know - but we know that if the numbers continue to rise, we could certainly have problems. >> in recent weeks, the number of covid patients in german i see you's has been rising sharply. by now, the peak of the second wave of the pandemic has almost been reached. the workload of staff continues to grow.

now in its third wave, it is particularly noticeable that patients are getting more seriously ill, and they are ill for longer. also, they need a lot of care. that means the situation is really challenging and scary for us. but it is not just the year increase in covid cases that worries the team. the patients' health is deteriorating faster. >> the average age is younger compared to the first and second waves. we do not really have any patients over 80 years old anymore. they are almost nonexistent. >> to what extent german hospital capacities are reached varies greatly from reason --

region to region. one thing that will help -- vaccinions. >> we will not get out of this without vaccines. they are very important. each and every one must take this pandemic seriously and do theipart to make us get out of this as quickly as possible. if the number of covid patients continues to rise, other important treatments would have to be postponed. in some areas of germany, th is already the case, a situation many doctors agree is serious. michael: now to some other developments in the pandemic. germany has removed the united kingdom from its list of travel destinations where travelers need to quarantine upon arrival.

restaurants and bars will be back in business next week. i lean highlighting now some of the other stories making news around the world at this hour. leaders of germany, france, and ukraine have called on russia to pull troops back from the ukrainian border. vladimira saloon ski met emmanuel macron. he called for a summit involving all four nations. >> iran said it had begun enriching uranium at 60%, the highest level it has achieved so are. the process takes closer to the time needed to produce a nuclear weapon. the united nations is warning that conditions are worsening as a result of the conflict in the northern ethiopian region of tigre. the united nations says people have begun to die of hunger and sexual violence is still being

used as a weapon of war. the united nations is morning of an escalating humanitarian crisis in mozambique. thousands have been forced from their homes by islamist militias. many more face food shortages. >> from the islands of -- from the air, the islands of mozambique's northern coast look like paradise. on the ground, the flood of refugees has more than doubled its population in the last few months. the united nations aid mission is not able to eat everyone. >> we've been here since 7:00 in the morning and haven't gotten anything. now they tell us they are all out, but they wrote down our

names? what should i do now? >> she was lucky enough to receive something rice, flour, corn, and cooking oil. the villagers have nowhere to go. then the attackers came a third time. >> they just chopped off one person's head for no reason right before our eyes. everyone has to watch, even the children. >> now murray lives in a hut with her three children. she has adopted another child who had lost his parents on the way here. >> the next day, we started for the neighboring island.

the island's government administrator helps with distributing food tt is critical for survival here. >>fó without this food, we have been in a crisis. almost all the refugees are from the main lens. they are farmers. >> about 4000 peop lived on these islands before the insurgency. now it is more than 10,000 people with thousands of displaced people leaving the mainlandnd coming here in the pa months lookinfor a safe place to stay, just at ts is not exactly a safe place. >> last year, terrorists attacked the island, killing two villagers. they are worried about more attacks. most feel helpless against the terrorists, and so far, not a

single soldier has been stationed here on the island. michael: final preparations are under way for the funeral of prince philip, the husband of queen elizabeth. i son, prince edward and his wife viewed flowers outside the chapel where the funeral will take place. only 30 will attend due to coronavirus restrictions. queen elizabeth ii and prince philip on a 2015 state visit to germany. it was their fifth such trip, but they were still greeted enthusiastically. some traveled hundreds of kilometers to catch a glimpse of the royal couple. >> we had to do it, and i'm very glad we did. they embody certain values-

tradition, pride, and friendship between england and germany. the queen is something special. when she is in germany, you have to be there. the british royal family is very popular in germany. royal weddings are broadcast live on television and millions watch. during state visits, republicans become royalists, at least temporarily. >> people can project a lot onto the entire royal family because it is so present in the media, but at the same time, the royals personally want as little as possible to be known about them. many find the tradition, the glamour, the ceremony fascating. the castles, the titles. but most germans don't want their own monarchy, abolished along time ago, back, but germans are nonetheless very interested in the glitz and glamour of other royal houses

around europe. >> it is a safe kind of excitement, to support foreign monarchies like this. you can easily get involved via the media. in the past, via print media and recently via digital media. it is very accessible. >> prince philip's death also touched the hearts of many germans. the newspapers run emotional coverage the day after he died. chancellor merkel praised his integrity, his dedication to duty, and his friendship with germany. prince philip had a special connection to germany. his parents were german nobility, and he spent part of his childhood in germany. prince philip had an infamous sense of humor that often cross the boundaries of political correctness. >> i only know that the queen

use to ask him when he was traveling, where did you put your foot in it this te? where's the next thing we will read about you doing something unbelievable? everyone was aware that he would make a few faux pas, but that was always see by the family as just a bit ofun. but he always understood that his role is secondary to the queen's. with loyalty, diligence, and wit, prince philip earned respect during his 73 years of marriage to queen elizabeth from subjects in the united kingdom d from royal fans inermany. michael: zoo keepers in havana, cuba, are celebrating the birth of four bengal titled -- bengal tiger cubs. white tigers are a genetic

variation of bengal tigers, which are usually orange. numbers in the wild have dwindled in recent years due to poaching, deforestation, and hunting. here's a reminder of the top story we are following at this hour -- several of hong kong's most prominent democracy campaigners have been sentenced over antigovernment protests. media tycoon jimmy lai has been sentenced for 14 months. and the 82-year-old father of democracy has been given a deferred sentence. i will be back in a moment for "the day." he to see you then.

anchor: ukraine's president pushes for a four-way summit with russia, france and germany as paris and berlin call on moscow to pull its troops out of eastern ukraine. russia starts counter sanctions on on the u.s. a day after the u.s. imposes sanctions for what it calls russia's role on undermining democracy. protesters and ethnic minorities, opponents of the myanmar military junta come together to form a national