As the curfew came into force more than 30 cities across the country are affected. China has recorded an uptick in imported infections of coronavirus now africans living there say theyre being a victim and harassed on the streets as chinese officials accuse them of spreading the virus. Im Claire Richardson welcome to the show we begin here in germany where the federal president will shortly speak to the german people in a rare televised address Frank Walter Steinmeier will urge the country to show solidarity against the coronavirus pandemic and while many germans are off work for the long easter weekend he will ask them to do their part and stay at home we can now listen it to an excerpt of that prerecorded speech. Now it is a pond immuno this pandemic is not a war. Nations do not stand against other nations soldiers against soldiers rather this is a test of our humanity it is bringing out both the best and the worst in people and let us show each other the best in us and let us show that in europe as well. Come germany cannot emerge stronger and fit from this crisis if our neighbors are not strong and fit as well. It is not without reason that this blue flag is standing here. 30 years after german unity 75 years after the end of the war we germans are not merely asked to show solidarity we are obliged to do so of listed well for more im joined by d. W. Political correspondent hans brandt urging solidarity from germany to other European Countries do we know in concrete terms what mr meyer means by that. Well i think you can interpret his reference to the war rhetoric rejecting the war rhetoric as a kind of criticism of donald trump in the United States of other european leaders such as the french president a man who in the core who have been using this kind of bellicose language. Is also responding to the fact that here in europe the 1st response to the corona crisis was a very nationalistic one a nationalistic impulse borders were closed the export of medical equipment was prohibited here in germany as well and he sees that as the wrong way of dealing with this crisis hes calling for concrete solidarity for instance there are hundreds of patients from italy and france covered 9000 patients being treated in germany but hes also i think referring to a much higher level in this discussion within the European Union as a very acrimonious debate going on about how the rebuilding of the yukon and me in europe can be financed and germany as the richest country in europe is very much in the focus of this discussion and there to sign my i think is calling for solidarity what chancellor Angela Merkel has addressed the public several times on this topic and she is the one with the power to make decisions why is president steinmeyer choosing to give best interest now. Yes indeed it is a very rare occasion its hardly happened ever before partly it has to do with the function that the president has and German Society his function basically is to talk to talk to people to talk of the system of the society to meet people to shake hands as it were all of that is not possible now and corona times and i think theres also a sense of a bit of a religious impulse playing a role here steinmeyer is a practicing christian and i think hes appealing to other christians that under these circumstances that cannot meet in their congregations that have to stay at within the easter holidays in the east. Weekend a lot of people would like to go outside to meet the spring as it were to enjoy the springtime and hes calling for discipline for people to remain inside thats right we heard steinmeyer urging the public to show solidarity and play their part by staying home so how are germans coping with this crisis. I think one person things have been going pretty well in germany so far the social distancing has worked well even though the restrictions here in germany are not as strong as severe as they are in other countries in europe one is allowed to go out on the streets in pairs of 2 people and people have been sticking to that but everyone has been saying the proof comes this week and comes of these people stick to these rules and all then there is a chance of things being relaxed within the foreseeable future. Political correspondent thank you for that well now lets take a look at some more coronavirus news that is taking place around the world aid organizations have begun distributing facemasks and information in yemen to the country recorded its 1st case of cove in 19 on friday aid organizations are alarmed at a possible widespread outbreak in the country describing it as a nightmare scenario in a country already suffering from one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises. Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has extended a nationwide lockdown by 2 more weeks to slow the spread of the corona virus it was due to end next tuesday so far the number of deaths and infections has remained relatively low but there are fears a surge would overwhelm the Nations Health care system. Well in an effort to slow the spread of covert 900 in turkey the government has imposed a lockdown for some 31 cities across the country the measure came into effect on friday nights at midnight as expected to remain in place for 48 hours the quake implementation of the shutdown took many by surprise and caused confusion in many cities including ankara and istanbul. Taksim square at the heart of istanbul completely deserted its an extremely rare signs in a lively city with some 16000000 residents and the Strict Lockdown will remain in place for the entire weekend. Even supermarkets have had to close only pharmacies and bakeries are allowed to make deliveries the lockdown came into force on friday night just 2 hours after it was announced in many places long queues formed quickly outside shops videos posted online showed scenes of turmoil in some markets panic buying customers crammed into close contact many people clearly angry about being given little or no notice of the shutdown by the government that was also criticism from istanbuls mir. On twitter he wrote that the measures also took him by surprise. It would have been much better if the government had coordinated with us were sad that this happened the where did i ask all citizens to please remain calm. Turkey is currently seeing a sharp rise in the number of covered 19 infections latest figures show some 4800 new cases daily the hope is that the shutdown will slow its spread. China has reported a slight increase in new corona virus infections with 46 new cases identified chinese Officials Say the vast majority of new infections are being imported by people arriving from abroad and thats led to reports of foreigners in china being abused and harassed particularly those from african countries Foreign Ministers from across africa have demanded answers from china the head of the African Union commission it myself ikechi tweeted that he had summoned the Chinese Ambassador to express his concern videos shared on social media reported the show African People being harassed by Chinese Police after being evicted from their accommodation. Well the reporter joel daraya has been following these reports for us joel what kind of abuse are we talking about here these reports are coming out from the city of joy which is a Large Industrial city which is home to a community of people from Africa Business people as well as students now they are reporting that they have been a victim from their homes and from hotels and are being forced to live on the streets and while on the streets they say theyre being harassed by Police Telling them to leave the city the american consulate in guangzhou has put out a warning saying that African People are being refused service and restaurants and shops and University Students who are studying there african University Students say that they are being subject to repeated testing and placed in quarantine even though they havent actually left china any time recently and as we know what happens offline is amplified online and were seeing racist abuse spread across chinese social media sites so what would you say is behind us a legit uptick in racism that were saying well in the past week officials from ground 0 reported around 100 new cases of the coronavirus and a small number of them about 16 were people from african countries now chinese officials have been very eager to stress that the majority of new cases these days are circle in. Says growth from outside and that unfortunately has led to foreign news being seen as potential carries even though the majority of people who are coming back and testing positive are actually chinese nationals returning from abroad so what does china have to say about all of this so the Chinese Foreign ministry has acknowledged that there have been what its called misunderstandings with people from the African Community and it says it has instructed local officials to improve their processes china has been really keen to try and build links with africa during this process it sent lots of medical supplies and doctors to dozens of countries to help with outbreaks there so this whole spat threatens to undo a lot of diplomacy we should also remember that at the start of the corona Virus Outbreak it was people of asian origin who were targeted around the world for abuse and attacks and unfortunately were seeing that continue today as well so it seems like the corona virus brings with it the spread of races and so lets hope we see an end to both diseases child all right thank you so much for that analysis well lets get you all the latest developments on the corona virus the u. S. Has overtaken italy for the highest death toll in the world from 19 experts say at least 18860 people have died from the pandemic in the u. S. And more than half a 1000000 cases have been detected the Chinese Government has stopped the export of ventilators masks and other supplies to fight 19 until Customs Officials perform quality inspections on each shipment and spain is getting ready to ease restrictions as the number of deaths fall meaning some a socalled nonessential workers can return on monday this after the World Health Organization warned against the lifting lockdown measures too soon more than 100 australians and New Zealanders left eye on a chartered flight after being stranded for 2 weeks aboard a virus infected cruise ship. Well taiwan is one of the few areas of the world in which professional sports is resuming amid the coronavirus pandemic after twice being postponed its professional Baseball League season that began on saturday but with games being played with no fans there is an atmosphere with a difference. From ours and out of being at the China Trust Brothers stadium while cardboard cutouts of fans replace the real thing as the club tries to give the players at least a small flavor of the match day experience baseball is hugely popular in east asia but unlike taiwan south korea and japan have not yet set a date for resumption of play. Was the virus a lockdown continues their audience is missing out on cultural events and artists are also missing performing for their public dancers at the make theatre in St Petersburg are no exception but theyve put together a homespun performance for us all. 2 thank. You. And were going to leave you for now with some incredible pictures from indonesia where the i know krakatau volcano has erupted spewing a column of ash 500 meters into the sky closed circuit t. V. Captured images of lava flares over night Scientists Say its the longest eruption a since the one in 2018 that triggered a tsunami along the coasts of sumatra and java killing 430 people but no casualties have been reported in the latest eruption. If youre watching news from berlin remember you can get the latest headlines on a. Or on our website. And you can follow us on twitter and instagram too. Richard just focus on the hate speech color of her mention of sustainable charcoal production the soul of a sows are Available Online and of course you can share and discuss on africas Facebook Page and other social media platforms 800 fighters 2 news