Be matching the classics. Welcome to the program you Commission President going to fund a lot and says they block was not prepared for the coronavirus pandemic when it broke out she also admitted the e. U. Failed to help when it needed help most of the death toll of more than 21000 called in 19 states and the hotter than any other country in europe and rome has expressed dismay over the use initial response european nations were initially slow to send medical aid and some even blocked the export of much needed personal protective equipment speaking in brussels most fund the law and offered an apology but said the e. U. Has not come together as never before to fight the pandemic. Yes it is true that no one was really ready for this it is also true that too many were not there on time when italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning and yes for that it is right that europe as a whole offers a heartfelt apology but saying sorry only counts for something if it changes behavior and the truth is true that it did not take long before everyone realized that we must protect each other to protect ourselves and the truth is that europe has now become the worlds beating heart of solidarity. At the double users of walker joins us now from brussels welcome richard so was this found a lie and apologizing for mistakes made by the commission by the block by individual countries or just everyone. Well i think it really was something of a collective statement of apology phil certainly because i think there are really 2 levels to this 2 aspects of this is as you were just mentioning earlier there was the one aspect of individual countries kind of going it alone in the early stages of the crisis shutting down borders in uncoordinated ways not helping out with that crucial equipment that italy really needed in the early days of the pandemic when it wasnt ready for what was hitting it in northern italy had on the one side but also on the other side is as a whole the system not recognizing just what a danger this pandemic will be so i think all of that is equally important in his love for the Alliance Message here but it is something that she has hammered home a few times over the last few weeks but i think shes now beginning to look to the future because one of the Biggest Challenges to European Solidarity is coming up how are they going to find the money for a huge economic sort of reconstruction plan a Marshall Plan even that theyre calling it to pull the european economy out of the crisis once the outbreak is finally beginning to ebb away and italy will be right at the center of that as well because it isnt just have a problem with the virus it also has a problem with a huge amount of debt so getting it on board in negotiations or how to fund that recovery is going to be really important i think was love wonderland will be quite happy that luigi pretty mio the Italian Foreign minister has welcomed these words from her today and im sort of on the line and made statements to the European Parliament but the chamber was almost empty so how is the parliament functioning during this crisis. We were all having to get used to all places of work shops everywhere really kind of adjusting to this new normal hopefully temporary new normal and european polish no different you saw in the fridge is there very few parliamentarians there was of underline not wearing a mask but she was wearing the little thin plastic gloves that she gave her dress and most of parliamentarians taking part in the in the days of vents remotely including voting but was quite interesting is the Voting System has been improvised for this is really still a little bit clunky essentially they get a voting slip each parliamentarian email to them they printed out they take where they want to vote they sign it they scan it and they send it back so i think its not necessarily at the stage of the future of Digital Democracy that we probably want to get to one day but it is a message from the e. U. Parliament were still here were relevant we matter in this crisis Richard Walker in brussels thank you well well see you lawmakers a common approach germanys preparing for a gradual loosening of its lockdown some schools and small shops will open in the next couple of weeks physical distancing measures will remain chancellor merkel said german efforts to contain the outbreak have been partially successful but the situation remains fragile its been 3 weeks since chancellor Angela Merkel announced the initial restrictions on contact now theyre being largely extended social distancing rules will remain in place until may 3rd groups will remain limited to 2 people and at least 1. 5 meters must be kept from others from me for the schools will gradually reopen 1st for School Leavers in primary and secondary education day care will remain shut religious gatherings will also remain banned while major events including germanys beloved football will be called off until august 31st. Meanwhile restaurants cafes theaters cinemas and music venues will keep their shutters down only shops up to 800 meter square can reopen from monday facemasks are also being recommended in shops and on transport announcing the amended restrictions chancellor Angela Merkel warned against complacency. What weve achieved is an interim success no more no less and i emphasise it is a fragile interim success this is now determined our deliberations that should be no rushing forward even if its with the best intentions we have to understand that as long as theres no vaccine we have to live with the virus. Thats kind to me become in the. Interest of. Controls along germanys land borders with its neighbors in the schengen free travel zone will also remain in place for another 20 days. So how do people in berlin feel about the new measures. Im not surprised and i assume that it will continue on like this. Dress its ok easing the restrictions is more difficult than the shutdown its like being on a diet when youre strict its ok but the moment you start loosening the rules is when the danger starts. Your problem but definitely im looking for the bars in the public. For now germany will continue keeping its distance. Lets take a quick look at some more of coronavirus developments around the world the number of infections is now topped 2000000 the majority of cases are in europe a movement of course are in the United States the World Health Organization has warned europe against easing pandemic restrictions too quickly its european director said that despite small positive signals the continent is still heavily affected with case number still rising in many countries the governor of the u. S. State of north dakota has issued guidelines for the to its lockdown as early as the 1st of may a statement said new procedures would be developed for a gradual a safe reopening and Britains Health minister says its too early to ease that countrys a partial lockdown announces covered 9000 hospital deaths in the u. K. Past the 13000 mark. Now some other stories making news around the world will start in bangladesh it says its rescued nearly 400. 00 staff in the hinge of refugees have been shifted at sea in an overcrowded fishing boat for weeks Officials Say they were trying to reach a militia at least 2 dozen people died during the villages during the voyage. Ukrainian forces and russia backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine of exchange more than 30 prisoners captured during the 6 year war in the region the swap is part of a deal struck last year the times to end the conflict which has claimed more than 13000 lives. South koreas ruling party has won a bizarre ending victory in the countrys general election the left leaning Democratic Party on the Satellite Party won 180 of the 300 since voter turnout was the highest for 13 years despite strict coronavirus containment measures. Israels president has tasked the countrys parliament with forming a government after speaker betty gansett Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu mr deadline to be a unity deal the country could now face its 4th election in a. Flood of Business News and the i. M. F. Is predicting that the Asia Pacific Region but experience 0 percent growth this year the 1st time since 1960 is the downturn of course is because of the massive economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic their latest report warns that the impact on asia will be severe across the board and unprecedented massive drops in industrial and retail activity a major supply Chain Disruption and a dramatic collapse in demand from europe and north america have been felt across the continent since the start of the year. Now volkswagen says it will not meet its current 2 year forecasts also because of the pandemic the german carmakers to 1st quarter profits tumbled more than 80 percent to 9. 100000000 euros he was restarting production in stages and plans to reopen its facilities in the german city of. The slovak capital bratislava next week. The jobless claims in the United States have risen dramatically again more than 5000000. 00 people apply for Unemployment Benefits in the last week that brings the total jobs lost in the past month dollars 22000000 the highest spike in unemployment in u. S. History many businesses across the country remain closed in a bid to prevent the spread of the pandemic. The United States is not the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic which is disproportionately affecting African Americans in some states and cities are black americans make up the majority of deaths from the virus even though theyre the minority of the population the w. Correspondent Stephan Siemens that went to a hospital in washington d. C. To find out. This is how far we are allowed to follow doctors and nurses to one of 2 intensive care units at Howard University hospital. This Medical Center in washington d. C. Has been serving the Africanamerican Community in the city for over 150 years. For. Help. On in short. On their. Employer. Other this proportionate. Health here in washington and elsewhere across the country high quality primary and preemptive care can often be absent and on affordable in poor neighborhoods and communities the lack of access to healthy food sources is another factor that accounts for the stark difference in numbers. 1000 related deaths in predominantly africanamerican and White Communities this is dr wendy she spent years researching the root causes and impact of what she says are systemic inequities on predominantly africanamerican and minority. Shes not surprised that black americans are impacted by covert 19 and a disproportionately higher rate. 3. You have a higher dose higher proportion of individuals with hypertension diabetes with obesity these things that are the leading causes of death in the country and the chronic leading chronic diseases in this country its not surprising that individuals that are already had that higher proportion of those immunocompromised diseases would be at the higher end of the total. And one of the most economically and socially deprived areas in the District Of Columbia table a Nonprofit Organization that serves underprivileged communities is based here providing healthy food and offers education healthy food choices among other things for many residents of. Despair at the heart by the coronavirus the work carried out by volunteers is critical this is if theres only 2 Grocery Stores in this neighborhood and theres a lot of people that dont have the resources to either get there or shop there so we came here because we knew that this is where the food resources were needed as well as the education giving families healthy food choices they normally cant afford is perhaps just a bandaid right now but many hope that americas Coronavirus Crisis could finally trigger real policy change that aims at making underprivileged communities healthier more affluent and with that more resilient to a Public Health crisis in the future. So lets take a closer look at this with. Him executive director of international he joins us from the trade welcome to day so you have seen these reports about the u. S. And indeed elsewhere do you see this is a problem race poverty. Its a problem often equality actually what we call these the inequality violence because on the one side we can all be in fact the older is much if for the depending on where you eat if you leave your mother or her people if youre leaving a refugee camp you off one for every 260 this is what needs what makes completely different where you are where you come from so we call it in inequality. Ok so does this mean that given given that this is all about inequality do communities and countries that have less should they just expect to be hit harder. Definitely they should expect to be hit harder because they have their Health Systems you actually are socks from your working in the side of bringing expanding our clean water can possibly the sanitation the hygiene cheats because thats where you will see this range in the Health Systems of those countries but definitely we are advocating for a health rescue plan 160000000000 for 85 countries urgent plan to expand its health about possible to face the growth of iris as we are facing it in germany or in spain in countries like the uk. Or is this so we should be x. Expecting and asking for signs for their cancellation so they can strengthen urgently there are Health Systems to go with. Certain 5th this health rescue plan does not happen around the world. As countries emerge from their lockdowns do you expect to see that this disparity between rich and poor nations and communities to actually get worse. It will get worse actually we are certain on some estimates on what may happen in the quarter and our estimate says that if we simply sit next to go work these crises may bring 500000000 people into poverty in the coming year so thats one take 8 back in the fight think things over the some graphic in countries will go even to spock so we have to. Put action in the short term with the Health Systems as i was saying but being in the need of human longer term and economic Recovery Plan that is for all because we can have to say yes this crisis also with a sense of humanity of sonia gandhi and also in terms of in part its in our film interest of all humanity. To get her thats why were asking her about rescuing the economics of it because if you dont have a safety net you cant cope with it well we wish you well thank you for joining us on her say maria fowler from oxfam international. Thanks. Now to kenya and its capital nairobi where 60 percent of the population about 2 and a half 1000000 have been crammed conditions in urban slums but he children rely on schools for their meals but these are now closed and food banks for the poor and homeless are rare in kenya so some businesses and n. G. O. S are calling on people to donate money food and goods for those in the w. Cellar an echo reports. With their arrival of the coronavirus in kenya a young group of volunteers set up an initiative to distribute food to those who cant stock up together with Community Activists they now do recognize that runs in poorer neighborhoods around nairobi and consuming. We rely on donations from the public so we get donations and then we buy food in bulk. And report them in smaller relief which we need to show them food parks so in the parks theres like 2 kilos of flour 500 grams of beans great beans 500 grams of sugar and. A mother islam house is over 200000 people many here dont have Running Water sanitation entire families live in single room shacks and social distancing is a luxury they cant afford. The Community Activist lives here and knows who needs the food most of the elderly the sick and orphans are priorities even so everyone here feels the effects of the economic downturn. Most even family members yeah. They cant afford now. They cant afford to get to and then some of the employers. In the past 2 weeks a number of initiatives have come up online asking people to donate food or money to poor households the good thing is that people can donate money via their mobile phones from the safety of their home in case of a lockdown this might be the best way of reaching those in need. Government aid hasnt reached the people here not even the funds for the elderly and orphans rachel says that with the support of private initiatives they have helped 400 households. The volunteers know its only a drop in the ocean but at least its a start. But life in china is gradually of resorting to the lifting of rock downs for the crisis seems to be influencing where peoples shock wave of negative press coverage has focused on the countrys socalled wet markets as the virus is believed to have originated from all of the vendors a concern that thats scaring customers away. Unloading the catch of the day and well have the city was the epicenter of the corona virus pandemic sweeping the globe experts say the virus originated in this wet market apart from fresh meat and seafood it also sold wild animals such as bats thought to be the source of the disease. While the Seafood Market remains closed most markets have now reopened to the dismay of International Health experts and politicians. Many locals are less worried. To talk i think its ok to go to the Seafood Market this virus wont affect our eating habits because its a special case and there is a lot we dont know for instance we havent confirmed that it comes from the you nancy food market we have eaten wild animals for thousands of years you know what they may have had some problems during processing so we should be more careful with that by cooking them more in checking if theyre fresh and different gail to help. The markets or a traditional and affordable way of shopping in china and customers are returning. Oh well heres where carcass is similar to supermarkets so its relatively safe and well so go and if its unsafe because supermarkets are more expensive still vendors complain that business is slow as many shoppers now prefer more expensive but hygienic supermarkets as some return to the markets for affordable food others fear getting more than theyve bargained for. Scientists around the world are racing to find vaccines and treatments for covered 19 but success is likely to be 18 months away so heres a look at the work being done by a team at the University Hospital in reagans back here in germany. This bad contains a possible cure for covert 19 its plasma donated by a person who was infected with the coronavirus but has now recovered this means he also has the antibodies produced by the body to fight the virus youre going to have the antibodies that the patients for attack and destroy the virus thats why thats the only possible specific treatment for the virus that we have. In the hard problem. The doctors at the University Hospital in reagans book have been working with these past meditation for 10 days hundreds of people who have recovered to volunteer that they take up to 5 donations per day. The samples are checked with an Antibody Test developed especially for cove igniting. Im very optimistic and we have found donors who have substantial amounts of neutralizing antibodies in their blood and weve already injected this into the 1st patients here and reagans book. More than 40 patients have been treated with the antibody plasma since last week all critical or serious cases so far no side effects have been observed in reagans book but they have recorded the 1st successes the parameters or signs of the infection improve after a few days. The theory ferritin is one of the parameters that falls relatively quickly and if the patients still have a viral load so still have the virus in them then we can see the decreases disappears completely really pushed. This means people who have now recovered from the virus can help those who are sick and possibly also save lives. There with all the stay at home orders in effect around the world to some people are getting creative using their time to produce and reproduce works about heres a look at what one russian Facebook Group is doing. Fly into a painting from your beds. Or sink into the tragedy of malays ophelia the thing greedy and its from your kitchen. From edvard monk to michelangelo social media users are giving out classics a quarantine make over. The russian Facebook Group is there is a. Isolation started as a challenge between friends in moscow just a few weeks later it has nearly half a 1000000 members from all over the world. No one expected such a huge reaction thats for sure the group grew so quickly right away people are really taking time for this going through our books looking. The websites of International Museums to find the right picture for themselves and their families christened you. The rules of the group a simple hes a classic like this Leonardo Da Vinci painting take the photo at home and use props that you happen to have lying around in quarantine photoshop is not allowed. Generation just when i decided to take part in the altai salacious project because im sick of my cat and shes sick of me. We have kids who are part of a prayer why i take part in this project because it is uniquely wildly joyful and it gives everyone positive emotion and it gives you a break from the difficult situation we are all and. For lucy just. Used to say many of the recreate ins are a spontaneous thing but some people have been so in customs and getting the whole family involved including that perhaps. Now there are around 2000 new posts every day according to the page administrators each one is a glimpse into how self isolation can sometimes open up new doors or draws to creativity. Is remind of a top story now the e. U. Commission president has apologized to italy for the lack of their european support during the initial weeks of the corona virus pandemic version of on the land line admitted the blockade being unprepared and said there must not be able cooperation. More world news for you at the top of the hour in the meantime of course as always the web site is t w dot com of the day. When others give up. Natalia keeps on fighting. Many russian mothers are in similar situations. Their sons have run afoul of the countrys arbitrary justice our only hope is protest. And shes not a law. Abiding citizen of the guy next on t w a. World. To go beyond the obvious. But also that. As we take on the world. Were all about the stories that matter to you. Contradict what ever it takes. To live out the. Meat for minds like. Oh. My gorgeous love was. For the russians so. The stakes. Are so many different walks of life. Some are pumping. Oddly trying to follow. Street car tips for a cd or even one during the morning delusion the mush 4 inches. From your lips of the law their final resting place the russian t. W. Documentary. Hello and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin in Vladimir Putins russia a russia that tolerates little in the way of protest and those who do have the courage to take part in demonstrations such as this rally last summer are increasingly branded as extremists who then face the full force of global