Either thanks for joining us here with your global news update this is art. And lets begin with the latest figures on the covert 1000 pandemic there are now more than 2400000 confirmed cases worldwide around 165000 people have lost their lives the majority of those in europe and the United States and 633000 people have recovered from the virus. Lets turn 1st to germany which is starting to lift its month long lockdown after declaring the corona Virus Outbreak under control the economy minister has warned that the measures could be reinstated if the situation deteriorates starting from monday shops in some regions are allowed to open schools and restaurants remain closed in berlin the restrictions of cause widespread frustration with some people taking to the streets into all of the reports. Germanys minister for Economic Affairs coming out and saying that showed people stick to those social distancing protocols that are still in place even if they are being eased then germany could well perhaps avoid a 2nd lockdown he said essentially as long as people dont go running around like headless chickens and immediately back out onto the streets trying to live their lives as they were something would be ok thats not washing with some of them on saturday here and we saw a group of well around 250 people demonstrating against what the current measures that have been put in place and where they see the government here in germany taking us as we try and battle against coronavirus without a year im here to stand up for my fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution and when a right to demonstrate is taken away and we cannot raise our voices against injustice that makes us take to the streets out of basically just the spread of the virus isnt that bad but the measures that have been introduced arent reasonably good still our politicians go down the same route and say look down remains in place perhaps right until they have a vaccine the monitoring app is voluntary but well see how it goes of the spike those people being unhappy with whats being done we are seeing an easing of some of the restrictions here in germany from monday some shops that are under 800 square meters will be allowed to gradually open that will be with restrictions on how many people can enter the store there will also be hygiene standards that need to be met when looking to schools. Well were looking at the 4th of may for the moment that its funded and the constant review could well be changed in the future and some states though have said they may be on a different timetable and no way is this going to be a national. Timetable its laid out for when germany will be reopened market soda whos the head of the state of bavaria has said that his state may well work on a different timeline the message from the government though from the Central Government here in berlin is this isnt the return to how things were the germans will have to adhere to some more restrictions some more social distancing some more on t. Corona measures otherwise well things could go right back to square one kind of go into the city in fits their new guarantees of the infection could keep you know theyre also risks and when we take the small steps towards opening up we must keep an eye on the impacts and more the means for the whole system and almost for matters of health the statistics were looking at here in germany is around 150000 confirmed cases of corona virus with around 5000 people sadly housing died from the virus its a much better ratio than most other european nations its a much better ratio than much of the comparable nations of a similar Socio Economic background what thats been put down to a lot of is the amount of hospitals in germany the amount of hospital beds available the amount of protective equipment available for those working in those hospital environment and the amount of testing that has been carried out here in germany when it comes to the economy though while some are a little more concerned we are expecting perhaps a contract sion of around 10 percent in the German Economy for the 2nd quarter of 2020 what were hearing from the finance minister all f. Scholtz though is. That perhaps things could be a little bit improved and couldnt be it could be a little better than that showed the economy kick on in the 2nd half of 2020 however the minister for Economic Affairs peter out myers a little less optimistic than his coalition colleague saying that times are tough and people need to be prepared for that the. German economy is in a more serious situation than anything weve seen since the war including any financial crisis not only are companies suffering losses theyre fighting for survival our hope is that with the help that weve provided we will be able to get through the toughest period of the pandemic so that we can avoid job losses and bankruptcies all the latest from the World Health Organization is to those countries like germany that are starting to lift some of their coronavirus restrictions saying that people shouldnt think of this as a end to this situation that they should think of this as the next phase of whats happening in that pretty much echoes what we heard from chancellor Angela Merkel when she addressed the german people on t. V. Earlier this month when she said essentially there wont be an end to this or return to normality until we have a vaccine that works this isnt the end of the story when it comes to corona its certainly not even the beginning of the end of the story it could well be the beginning of the next chapter when it comes to how to many deals with it. We spoke with neurosurgeon Mohammed Aris who said that most European Countries arent yet ready to lift their containment measures. I dont think the majority of countries in europe has peaked regarding the spread of the infection of course we should continue being disciplined in every single country in order to be able to achieve positive results all over europe the most important thing in our life is health and only then follows the economy and other things however every single case should be looked at individually if the infection rate continues to decrease we can slowly carefully start launching the economy step by step of course it makes sense to take necessary precautionary measures in those federal states that are affected the most for example in bavaria the Movement Restrictions have been extended taking into account the infection rate there it makes total sense to me. The french government is facing some tough questions as to why it allowed last months local elections to go ahead despite the pandemic around that time several elderly regional officials including town theres contracted the virus and passed away the council official in a suburb of paris is now accusing the government of putting people at risk. Dot com might you feel strong the virus 69 and was taken to hospital for 10 days because of the contagion that most likely took place on election day the government is responsible putting so many people in so many cities at risk with restaurants and all Leisure Facilities be closed shortly before election day is something i can hardly understand why did they send us to vote just days before the national lockdown. The 1st round of local elections was held on march the 15th about 7 weeks after the 1st covert 19 case was detected in france and by that time schools and restaurants had already been closed as part of containment measures 2nd round of voting was later postponed no new date is yet been announced the money has admitted allowing the vote to go ahead back in march was the wrong decision. If the science counsellor told me the keeping municipal elections would endanger french Peoples Health i would not have kept them i take full responsibility for the decision i had no one the country to think that there was manipulation that people could say i found an excuse not to organize and. Again release the safety rules on election day were widely disregard it. The bottled insult an illegal some of the polling stations had no medical gloves there was sanitized the job the rules were often ignored there were lots of people particularly during the vote count 2 people sitting on each side of the table when they should be just one social distancing was less than a meter that led to a lot of stuff contracting the virus in vineyard still sent and across the country and we also like to protect ourselves we felt that we were risk of being the 1st to contract the virus. The u. S. Death toll from covert 19 has now soared by almost 2000 in just the past 24 hours to reach 40000. 00 in total is by far the highest figure in the world and Public Opinion is divided over president Donald Trumps handling of the crisis in new york a group of protesters doesnt fake bodybags outside trump tower and help plan cards with the message trump calls death the city has borne the brunt of the pandemic with nearly 14000 fatalities in americas south the midwest theres been plenty of support shown for the president and his demands to reopen the economy and his jaclyn who has more. All americans just like everyone else in the world are facing an indiscriminate and powerful enemy is invisible enemy is tough mart and its a vicious but true to form the only thing uniting people in the us is disagreeing on how to handle this threat trump and co have a task force churning out daily briefings which people either love or hate to pens on who you ask and the country split about 5050. 00 when it comes to the administrations overall handling of the outbreak will come as little surprise to many that those numbers fall pretty neatly along party lines you know while all the top brass in d. C. Keep repeating that this is no time for politics and name calling before doing just that lives are at stake this is not a time for name calling or playing politics i want to remind everyone. Here in our Nations Capital especially in congress that this is not the time for politics and less partisan investigations have already done extraordinary damage to our country in recent years by clashes are confined to capitol hill in new york city the place hit hardest by the pandemic doctors nurses and ordinary citizens have been protesting against trumps policies is completely incompetent at his job he tries to pretend like its a 980 s. Boardroom and its not you do not gamble with peoples lives that is morally bankrupt all of these things that lead to more deficit here and more illnesses and more economic damage if it wasnt for the truck thats raging it wouldnt be anywhere near this bad so for many of the president s not done enough but on the other side of that coin are the hundreds of people protesting in states like nevada wisconsin and minnesota calling for an end to stay at home orders and giving trump a gold star already like you know her status we have right now where her neighbor courtney responsibility for iraq and i need to tell us how to take a life right right right right right now are hiring ok. Are using our Constitutional Rights and were falling under a dictatorship and thats not harassment trump being trump you want to head and tweeted out a rallying cry of a liberation from lockdowns and a number of those states that it already seen protests and that led to a slew of criticism that the president is fanning the flames of unrest in his own country not that they needed any help trump defended himself saying particular states have gone too far and then threw in some comments about the 2nd amendment for good measure because a gun debate was what this pandemic was really missing but i think some things are too tough and if you look at some of the states you just mentioned it its too tough not only relative to this but what theyve done in virginia with respect to the 2nd amendment is just a horrible thing they do a horrible thing the governor and all that on. He further ruffled the feathers of a number of governors who are already pushing back against trump they have an american president to encourage people to violate the law i cant remember any time during my time in america where we have seen such a thing this is a such as schizophrenia the president of the United States has the authority to do what the president has the authority to do which is very powerful he does not have total a 3rd his proclamation is that he would be king thats what a king is a king has told us some already that statement cannot state a tweet coming from our president to liberate virginia i would just simply say that as the governor of the commonwealth of virginia along with his staff is fighting a biological war i do not have time to involve myself in twitter wars so everyone continues to become even more diehard and their opinions like the government should be handling it but without taking away our freedoms theres on the federal aid being sent to states that need it but how dare you cut back on help to Foreign Countries we should all stay inside and less we dont want to send out free money but not before times name is on it and then theres those carefree floridians who couldnt care less about any of that as long as they can finally hit the beach again which they did in massive crowds the 2nd they were reopened so much for social distancing guys it seems to have become political because of the contradiction you know any time president takes a certain course of action the political left wants to basically stand opposed to it in that creates and best tours you know these sort of divisions in america well i hope that it does in time to unite the nation it will be nice to finally see that but unfortunately i think the United States to that point right now because of their so much of a mis direction in so much Bad Information this disseminated by the mainstream media. Its going to be next to impossible to ever really have 6 a country that united in that way i think that the 2 party system has really polarized of the country in terms of politics and its going to take a long series of political moderate coming out in taking power before we ever really see a united little cold room america. To brazil now where the curve in 1000. 00 death toll is approaching 2 and a half 1000 which is the highest figure in latin america and the president s handling of the outbreak has proved highly controversial it over the weekend major cities saw protests in support of joy ableson r. And against local curfews. Had sent his Health Minister for demanding tougher measures the president himself has resisted any form of shutdown and repeatedly downplayed the dangers that the virus so restrictions on movement in brazil have been forced at a purely local level the farming of the Health Minister that prompted a mixed reaction. Working to care for them so i see this is an ordinary process and government the Health Minister was out of step with the policies being led by the president and i think he got caught up in all the hype as a minister he has to be accountable for his actions and the same goes for anyone in Public Office or things just dont work with a couple of the other we still trust the outgoing Health Minister and we hope that the new minister can build on what is done. When you look at the situation the government is in now its going to be difficult to change anything or make any progress i dont see that this move will make any difference because of all the corruption in the government most narrow said ministration is corrupt. In the brazilian city of man hours hospitals have been overloaded with covert 19 patients videos have been posted online and broadcast on national t. V. Showing dead bodies in hospital wards alongside living patients still fighting for their survival those images of cause widespread shock and anger but despite the rising death toll in brazil president also narrow says that the country most push to reopen its economy. Just view the i know life is priceless but the economy and employment must return to normal. Brazilian journalist brain altman says that president johnson are always prioritizing the interests of big business over those of public health. Those 2 letter es subordinate to the same name these. Books of the things the beginning those groups are again so show isolation because they dont want either to stop the abuse or all of his that count visions measures to fanatic also makes what counts and believe that criticizing social isolation hes going to be helped by new who had fear to get without joel and income he wants to think these are good to meet with the current if i was trying to use. Self hes not worried about peoples lives hes not worried about hell. Its just come for you this hour scientists in the United Kingdom of questioned whether the corona virus actually originated from the chinese city of the full story after the break. Called the 19 pandemic not only sees much of the world in lockdown but it is also devastation economies pandemic has been painful recovery from it maybe even more painful is it all asians fault. The world is driven by. One person. No dares thinks. We should ask. Join me every thursday on the alex salmond sure ill be speaking to a guest of the world of politics or business im sure business ill see you there. Welcome back a team of researchers led by a Cambridge University geneticist is claiming the coded 19 outbreak did not start in the chinese city as is widely believed the scientists analyzed the genetic material of the corona virus traced its mutations and they found 3 distinct variants of covert 19 the final one those being its final human efficient form we spoke to the geneticists behind the research. We have identified 3 major variants of the corona virus and the original type according to a comparison with the bat coronavirus is a type that is found in china at moderate frequencies but surprisingly not at High Frequency and where b. Is the major type and then you have a c. Type which then occurs outside china mainly so the 8 hope is more common at the early stage of the outbreak in other parts of china but not not in hand which was a bit of a surprise to us. Since the virus appeared various conspiracy theories of appeared online and in the media one popular version is that the virus was produced in a lump and institute a viral ag. Donald trump himself recently said that that idea makes sense to months of accusations the lab has broken silence and responded to the claims. As people who carry out viral studies we clearly know what kind of research is going on in the institute and how the institute manages viruses and samples there is no way this virus came from us i think the picture up to now has seen that the fish market in or the wildlife market in was the source of the pandemic and this is based on the observation of the 1st 42 patients i think nearly half had had contact with this fish market but its not the earliest patients i think our results could be taken to imply that we might have to look further than for the source of the hour or so for the outside in china that would be what i would look for the start of the spread. Of the corona virus lockdowns for millions of people around the world to stay at home it might keep them safe from infection but there are other risks that theyll have to deal with as nicky aaron explains. With billions of people around the world is now in some kind of looked down there is growing concern that the psychological toll of such measures could prompt a new Global Crisis a Mental Health one if we see it coming and we start thinking about it earlier and we start thinking about how well you can tackle that most effectively weve got a very good chances of mitigating and this is. A huge Health Crisis which is going to hand in but its not just on physical health as weve heard so much about in recent weeks but also i think Mental Health in the weeks and months to come psychologists now say that people are increasingly seeking support ass colona virus forces them to stay home theres probably been about a 50 percent increase in the number of people looking for talking terror since the since carting started in ireland anyway and its because people are at home and people are out of time to think people are worried about the future because the covert people are worried about their jobs their relationships you know people are worried about the world is going to be like after this is ended for some the impact has been stronger than for others laura has been living with agra phobia for almost 5 years and her lowest point even the thought of stepping outside of her front door would trigger an exam is he attack she has managed to overcome her fears over the years but with the order for people to stay indoors lauras now facing losing much if not all of her progress the avoidance behavior is they can creep up on you if you dont keep on top of them so because now im not able to go out and practice going in states market going out so we are going to like i cant keep doing those things so i am quite worried and i already know that i have started to feel anxious about the thought of going out and so im worried that im going to slip back into they behave. Well i just dont feel comfortable going out social distancing has been highlighted is vital to halt the spread of covert 19 but for those with Mental Health issues from depression to conditions like anorexia its exacerbating an already stressful scenario in the u. K. A spike in the number of Mental Health incidents including suicides were reported to police in the 1st 2 weeks of lockdown and its warned this trend could continue well in the states one of the countrys largest suicide crisis hotlines saw a 75. 00 fold increase in calls in the past month the prospects that the reaction to the corona virus could be as deadly as the disease itself paints a grim forecast and the distress is made worse by the uncertainty of how long the lockdown will last its difficult that we dont howl and point because ultimately people know when something is going to stop if you think of a prison or you know seders you were on story or on naval ships or people who were at the space station they know when its going to be over for them they know when their end point you know if they know when or when whole uses of course that are available to you have a routine use exercise when you you know speak to people through social media and i dont know really just take this is not Richard Energy to stay low safe and i dont you know just wait it out i suppose. Running up some other world news in brief for you 1st a gunman disguised as a Police Officer has killed 16 people in canada it is the countrys worst ever mass shooting the massacre occurred in a small town in nova scotia on sunday police initially announced that they had arrested a 51 year old male suspect but later said that he had died the motive for the shooting is not yet known. Israelis have held a rally against Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu while observing social distancing and yahoos under criminal. Meant in 3 Corruption Cases 2000 activists wearing face masks standing at least 2 metres apart called for his resignation and accuse the Prime Minister of using the pandemic and the lock down to strengthen his power. And finally at least registered 433. 00 deaths from covert 19 in the last 24 hours the country has europes highest death toll the figures have been in steady decline for several weeks and officials believe that the outbreak has now peaked some italian cities are starting to plan for life after the lockdown then is considering whether to permanently restrict visitor numbers to allow the city to be better maintained appreciate staying with us are an r. T. S. We keep you up to date on the pandemic viral website social Media Channels our live broadcast from studios in moscow london and washington d. C. Stay informed stay with r. T. Thats. Designed to not. Just to. Show. You some more. You put its not just one cuts. So there is too stupid. To. Do it just. Seems wrong well lets just dont all. Let me. Get to shape out just a concept thats ok and in detroit equals betrayal. When so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. Im after times when youre watching going underground the whole team here hope youre all safe were away until wednesday the 22nd of april but in the meantime were screening some of your favorite episodes of the u. S. So far coming up in this show are you comfortably numb close to 10 years since collateral murder revealed nato nations indiscriminate targeting of journalists and civilians former pink floyd front man what youll waters as the British Government persecuting wiki leaks founder Julian Assange plus agreed in an industry exposed by wiki leaks as London Fashion week shuts down its glamorous facade we talked to steve coogan and Michael Winterbottom about their satire on capitalism featuring the last ever on screen performance of u. K. Celebrity Caroline Flack all this or more coming up in todays going underground but 1st ahead of next weeks hearings on the trial of Julian Assange weve still heard nothing from u. K. Labor leadership contenders in defense of the wiki leaks publisher but one candidate for Deputy Richard bergen has been speaking out going underground fine ahmed caught up with him. And its important that we speak out against the extradition of Julian Assange you could end up