A pandemic causing a return to traditional gender roles with women taking on the lions share of house work and home schooling we take a look at the situation here in germany. And along with the pandemic east africa battles a plague of locusts the insects are devastating crops across the region so experts warn the 2nd wave of the year poses and unprecedented growth if you put security. Im serious oh my god thats good to have you with us across Europe Countries have begun easing the coronavirus restrictions even as fears remain of a possible 2nd wave of infections now were bringing you updates from germany the u. K. And france where millions headed back to work after 2 months under one of europes toughest lockdowns most shops have reopened and people can now leave their homes. Without carrying a sign declaration as to why theyre on the streets what france has been hit hard by the corona virus thats killed more than 26000 people the worlds 5th highest death toll. For weeks now pariss main landmarks have been quiet. Silenced by a virus thats wreaked havoc across france. Since march the 17th people ordered to stay home. Lockdown rules further tightened at the beginning of april when all Outdoor Activities in paris were banned. But still the number of deaths from corona virus continued to rise. Health care workers on the front line among the dead. Tonight our country has reached a symbolic and particularly painful mile start with more than 20000. 00 deaths. As the growing need for food banks is shown the lockdown has also highlighted frances inequalities. In mid april civil unrest broke out in paris is northern suburbs over claims that police were using heavy handed tactics against minorities. The economy has also been hit hard by the knock down. France is officially in recession with its biggest contraction since the end of the 2nd world war. With pressure mounting its no wonder politicians have been so desperate to begin opening up the country once again. Never in the history of our country have we seen this situation not even during the war not during the occupation not during previous. Never never has the country been confined as it is today. With frances president emanuel mark clone is the latest world leader hoping to save his country without costing more lives. And for more on the story we can speak to our correspondent lisa lewis who is standing by in the paris hi lisa good to see you can you explain whats been happening there this morning because not all of the countries opening up in the same way. Well absolutely so france is divided into green zones and red and one red zone is the overseas territory my york where actually no restrictions have been lifted today then theres also the east of france and paris and its region and here in these regions in the red zones public parks and schools remain closed for now whats more in paris actually you need to specify specifics of certificated take public transport young rush hours so that is 3 hours in the morning 3 hours in the afternoon at specific times you need to show that you know half have a reason to take public transport because the good the authorities want to prevent the public transport system from from getting overcrowded at. Least its been 2 long months of life down there you know what is the atmosphere of fear like there today what are people telling you. Well according to a recent poll 2 thirds of the french are quite worried about the lifting of restriction restrictions when you look at what happened in public transport today lots of people stayed at home really you know there are lots of a lot less passenger volume than usually with some exceptions like a lot a line 13 which stops at that metro stop just behind me which takes you know people from suns and the need which is frances poorest department to the center of paris most of these people have to go back to work just to have to make a living but ive been talking to some of those who have gone to work this morning i think its time to go back to work and so i think if. We show. Up in showing all of them wearing mask and convey that but i think it will be fine because it cannot possibly transform this morning for the 1st time since the beginning of the epidemic it was packed. Was that frightening for you to admit but i think its still very risky for the population but costs are rising for companies so we need to go back to work. Harder you. Know im not afraid everything should be fine if people respect the distancing routes i took the metro this morning and people were really cautious. Or at least so we heard you know mixed voices there but the reality is that the economy is expected to contract by at least 8 percent this year and a lot of people want to get back to work so what is the government doing to help them. The government has already put on the table packets of 110000000000 euro as its helping Different Companies that are struggling injecting capital its financing a temporary unemployment and today the minister of economy also said that the government is working on 3 stimulus packages for 3 sectors at the outdoor takes the car industry and the Tourism Sector and the government is also working on a specific stimulus package to get the economy back on track in september theyre hoping that by then the economy will have reopened completely got. Lisa lewis reporting there in paris thank you now across the English Channel british Prime MinisterBoris Johnson is expected to provide more details on his plan to reopen society on sunday he addressed the nation to announce a road map for facing out pandemic restrictions but opposition politicians Union Leaders and business groups are calling for more clarity they say johnson speech only succeeded in sowing confusion. Locked down must continue that was the key message behind Prime MinisterBoris Johnsons address on sunday as he warned the British Public to stay alert. And thanks to you we protected our in h. S. And saved many thousands of lives and so on no you know that it would be madness not to throw away that achievement by allowing a 2nd spike with the government criticized for its slow reaction to the outbreak opposition members describe this update as a mixed message scotland wales and Northern Ireland have set their lockdown rules will remain johnson stressed the importance of maintaining lockdown possible taney asli introducing cautious many steps towards normality and from this wednesday we want to encourage people to take moon even unlimited amounts of director sites you can sit in the sun in your local park you can drive to other destinations at the earliest by june 1st shops would reopen and the younger pupils could head back to schools all this only if infection rates and the number of deaths whats a further decrease we must reverse rapidly the awful it emits in care homes and in the n. H. S. And if were to control this borrows then we must have a world beating system for testing potential victims and for tracing their contacts with the u. K. Continuing to suffer the highest official death toll in europe it faces a long road ahead a return to business as usual maybe many months from now. Well here in germany the corona virus infection rate has risen above the critical value of one that means that every 10 patients are infected in 11 other people on average the countrys Public Health agency says it is too early to draw conclusions that the infection rate needs to be closely monitored this comes after many lock down restrictions have been lifted cafes and restaurants have opened in northern germany and. Formspring weather has brought more people out onto the streets and into parks. And playgrounds across germany have also reopened giving children and parents welcome relief after weeks stuck indoors many families have been struggling to balance the new demands of childcare and home schooling on top of their jobs and some new surveys show it is women who are bearing the brunt of that work at home during the pandemic those findings are raising a question is a crisis and roading important gains in gender equality. Sometimes happiness is simply a trip to a reopened local playground a rare moment of respite from constant crisis mode after 8 weeks of parenting through a pandemic. Mom i can so mom im a mom can you do this mom its not working mommy i want this i want that all i want. Im fair. With daycares and Elementary Schools closed across germany the pandemic has made motherhood and around the clock job again for many moms it means the challenge of managing both the kids and the office at home. During meetings and video conferences shes right there the whole time its very distracting and hard to concentrate on any of us have to whenever i was busy with him i was worrying about work and the things that i couldnt get done you have to manage from work its really difficult 6. Months you just feel torn between child and job. For many women its often the career that suffers between working from home housework helping the kids with their homework and acting in their School Teacher or task that primarily fall on women. Sociologists say that while many men do offer support its women who bear the brunt of unpaid care work. Right now were seeing a real regression in terms of gender equality because we didnt finish the job before corona hit by making sure that boat has hold and paid work a distributed between men and women. Working mom or housewife or both at the same time some worry the pandemic could be reinforcing traditional gender stereotypes were already seeing that women struggle more and that careers as a result of interruptions and part time work this has negative repercussions both in the short and long term. Right now the playground gives these moms a well deserved break but sharing the burden of this crisis requires a more concerted effort from everyone. Well the Coronavirus Crisis has caused heavy job losses across many parts of the German Economy and we have some new numbers from one of the countrys top Economic Research groups about half of all German Hotels and restaurants cut staff and april in the auto sector nearly 40 percent of businesses laid off workers were seeing a similar picture for travel agencies that is despite the Government Spending billions of euros in aid to stem unemployment. 1000 is devastating the global auto market and german car maker volkswagen saw sales in its vital home market fall by 2 thirds in april other European Countries were even worse car sales have almost come to a standstill feet of use hoping to offset to dealership closures in germany with a raft of incentives like financing and leasing deals on the up side car sales are stabilizing the worlds biggest car market china. Lets get more on the story with Chelsea Delaney our financial correspondent is in frankfurt for us i shall say so in Germany Volkswagen sales are down 67 percent but with economies now slowly opening up again is the worst over for you that the v. W. Well this is likely to be the steepest month over month drop for you and for car sales on a whole because in april pretty much every every economy was closed down in europe so Car Dealerships are close factories were closed over the past few weeks we have seen Car Dealerships here in germany reopen for example the automakers are generally getting production back up and running but this is going to be a very very slow path back towards normalisation there is a lot of a lot of questions over what demand its going to look like even with these dealerships open theyve reported that literally no one has been there so d what theyre saying is that its probably going to be a couple months or even longer until the end till we start seeing numbers head back towards normal were seeing volkswagen introducing new sales programs here in germany could a government backed Incentive Program that encourages people to buy cars the next. Well a lot of automakers have been pushing for this Auto Industry hold a Conference Call last week with the government and really push them to introduce some sort of Subsidy ProgramSomething Like a cash for Clunkers Program where you trade in your car and you get some sort of incentives some sort of tax subsidy but there is some pushback to this because germany is obviously trying to reduce emissions theyre trying to really position themselves at the front of green mobility and theres a question of what this would look like what this would mean for the industry and for these climate goals if they do start subsidizing diesel car sales. You can see dillon you reporting for us thank you for that update. Now shanghai disneyland was closed for 3 months now it is the 1st disney park to reopen worldwide albeit under strict conditions the number of visitors allowed is limited they have to buy tickets and now. Yes and are only allowed in if they have an op to date certified get a grant of r. s crisis has hit the disney group hard theme park closures slashing income by 1400000000. 00 in the 1st quarter of this year. Youre watching news still to come on our show mask free only for the horses we report from the track here in berlin as germany becomes the 1st major force racing nation in europe to resume this. Hour lets check in on some other headlines from around the world now Vice President mike pence will return to work after self isolating over the weekend his spokeswoman tested positive for cocaine 1000 on friday 3 members of the white houses Coronavirus Task force are in quarantine after coming into contact with her and says so far tested negative. There have been renewed antigovernment protests in iraq just days after the appointment of new Prime Minister and stuff. Demonstrations against rampant government corruption 1st erupted in the country last year one of al cardenas 1st acts in office was through ordered the release of antigovernment protests protesters from prison. Irans state broadcaster says that a missile launched during a nato Training Exercise killed 19 sailors aboard a rainy and warship the accident wounded more than a dozen others the friendly fire incident was reported near the port of yes and the gulf of oman. Police in hong kong say they arrested more than 200 people in antigovernment protests the pandemic has turned attention away from the citys prodemocracy movement but as the threat from the virus appears to be receding demonstrations are once again moving forward. Theyre back riot police and protesters confront each other inside the hong kong shopping mile i. Stand ups like these all but paralyzed the chinese territory last year restrictions imposed over the virus put an end to the protests earlier this year but these curbs are now slowly easing the government is allowing public gatherings of up to 8 people many more than that were involved here hong kongs prodemocracy protesters have not forgotten that unfinished revolution. Often for how in the midst of the coronavirus the government has imposed restrictions on gatherings and turned it into a crackdown on freedom of assembly. This is a gross violation of human rights. To you how you seem to. Think. They is police should be protecting us and society and instead they are doing the opposite this affects peoples everyday basic rights. Activist sang their protest anthem glory to hong kong a reminder to the authorities that the prodemocracy protesters have not gone away the gradual easing of corona restrictions means more demonstrations unlikely in the coming weeks government opponents are more determined than ever to press their demands. Now to kenya for a 2nd wave of Desert Locusts has descended on east africa estimates indicate that it will be 20 times worse than the swarms that made their way through the region 2 months ago the u. N. Says the locusts present an unprecedented threat to Food Security and livelihoods. This is home for the some blue tribe. And since recently millions of locusts the terrain is difficult but locust trackers working for the u. N. Food in Agriculture Organization only have 2 helicopters locals often go by foot snow my lets talk a locust places to come out of accessible by my old my back so that if we select your host and local folks come to us in the vitalists locust swarms canning golf hectares of land and as they eat their own body weight each day the swarms devour practically everything in their wake the World Bank Warns that the horn of africa could lose more than 7000000000 euros worth of crops crops like moses muchos tomatoes. Really i dont know whether god will send us any angels the truth is that we promise have been totally written off its obvious well be wiped out. Regular rainfall has been contributing to the local population explosion and the cold in 1000 crisis is slowing down the fight against this infestation. This into the businesses that are using. Us. And what you are in front of them and us locked down in 15 transports and then you have these Little Movement of this in the un feeds 20000000 people in the region but is now warning that the number of hungry people could double. And we can speak not to do that you correspondent sell a nickel shes standing by for us in nairobi high seller good to see you tell us more about why were seeing this massive 2nd wave well the main reason is that the 1st wave was in january and december and the main reason for the 2nd wave if that. Is is that the locusts have now bred in kenya and ethiopia where they didnt breed before so the so the 2nd wave of the 20 times bigger and the 1st wave of locusts that we saw and theres an expected theres expected to be a 3rd one which could be even big