Visits theft or is it just just an activist who tried to steal african art form a museum in paris has been fine but he says he was only taking back what rightfully belongs to. God as welcome to the Program European countries have begun imposing new restrictions on public and private life as they struggle to cope with steep rises in corona virus infections the u. K. Which has europes highest pandemic death toll has unveiled a new 3 tier system closing pubs gyms and betting shops in the highest risk areas and the Regional Government in Northern Ireland has just imposed europes harshest 2nd wave lockdown restrictions the Czech Republic. Has already imposed a state of emergency today new restrictions come into place closing all schools bars restaurants and clubs and the netherlands is also returning to past lockdown closing Restaurants Hotels and cafes for 2 weeks. It was what the Hospitality Industry was dreading most a return to lockdown from midnight restaurants bars and cafes in the netherlands must shut their doors for 4 weeks. Masks to will no be mandatory in indoor public spaces the government says it was left with little choice in the face of spiraling infection rates. And heard about how its a hard message and the new rules are going to heart but its the only way because the facts dont lie we have to be stricter on ourselves and stricter on our behavior this thing is a. Good laugh its a similar picture at the forefront of europe 2nd wave in the Czech Republic testing has been ramped up across the country and tighter measures have been enforced as well as the Laser Industries schools will be shut for 3 weeks masks at trans stops no im asked officials conceded they may have relaxed through too quickly in the summer and were not an ability of the i wasnt Strong Enough in the summers and i didnt insist on measures to protect us from the 2nd wave. Meanwhile in France Business owners in the capital through a Cocktail Party protest to draw attention to their plight. Bars are in the middle of a 2 week closure that officials hope which stem the rising number of infections and hasnt and the public is bracing for new restrictions to be announced so you put those who dont know home i dont drive the government least to put in place strong and powerful measures in line with the economic tragedy that were facing here and across france. Governments. Across europe growing infection rates for measures and the inevitable health and Economic Hardship to follow as the haiti for which there are no easy fixes. From prague in the Czech Republic im now joined by viral of his. Shiny he is from the Czech University author a Life Sciences that the Czech Republic was one of the countrys managing actually quite well to keep the pandemic on the control so whats gone wrong now ok to rest her all starts to quickly and people i think that in march of 0 the virus during the summer they. Slow the virus came back and the 2nd wave we chase much stronger than the 1st one but tell us more about the new restrictions and how much public support is that. Ok so according to the nearest directions old school and pops and james should be closed from today including play to school song from small hates to primary schools and the can do gardens and also the pops and so long people are according to my opinion very tired about this because they hope that the situation will be good to during decide on it as it was during the summer. The Cell Research since doesnt have such a big song or as they had during the spring what do you as a viral ijaz say about these new restrictions that have just been brought. Ok i think that the nearest frictions are necessary now we close we made our great chains which we had during the summer to employ samadhi less restrictive measures to control the on that makes and knowledge situation very much out of control and d. C. Restitution has to be down at least for a couple of weeks to get to situation again under the control and to stop the exponential growth of it and now which we can see now and your problem. You said earlier that people in the Czech Republic a are getting tired of these restrictions do you reckon that the exceptions now is big enough so that they can actually work. I hope so and surely if when im going out into the streets of prague and some burning like a public place and i can see the people glaring face mosques every barrier and people are trying to do get a box somewhere that the broader not requiring defaced months early covering mouth and small so they are sometimes covering clean mollified and that they are being damn soso about what they can see during their last few days the situation is Getting Better there is a sucker for. All the Police Across the political spectrum so i hope that the situation will change soon and measures which are being paid in right now where do you think any additional measures that should be taken. There could be additional a hearse if there are smoke going to be any improvement in the next lets say like of then days 2 weeks for example shopping malls are still open so the skin be close there can be some restrictions for the people about leaving their houses and so on but i hope that that wont be necessary. For all of his cheery czerny from prague thank you very much for joining us and. Thank you by now lets have a look now at the curbs already in place in several European Countries spain has a state of emergency in the madrid region to enforce a partial lockdown effects in 4 and a half 1000000 people that masks on are mandatory in all Public Places frances place paris must say and 7 other large cities on the maximum virus closing bars gyms and swimming pools and banning public parties cases are also rising rapidly here in germany since friday night lights restrictions are in effect in the capital berlin bars must now close at 11 pm further hitting berlins famously liberal Nightlife Economy chancellor Angela Merkel will meet leaders of germanys federal states shortly to try and solve the confusion around 16 different sets of rules. The incidence of new coronavirus cases in germany keeps rising every day new cities join the list of risk areas some areas in germany have surpassed the key threshold of 50 infections per 100000 inhabitants over the last 7 days including major cities such as frankfurt berlin munich and cologne as infections climb germany is trying to figure out how to deal with the new upsurge one problem the solutions differ all over the country in berlin for example there are no limitations for travellers from inner german risk areas staying in hotels there is also no obligation to wear masks on the streets. Another city another set of rules in munich travelers from designated risk areas can only stay at a hotel if they show a recent negative covert test and masks are mandatory in some outdoor areas of the city the different rules are making it hard for germans to understand what they can and cannot do in essence no one can really remember this seems to be pointless and i dont think. For a long period of time because more and more cities are going beyond which is. So short sell arms threshold which is in use here so the policy becomes redundant in a couple of weeks anyway. But the end of that chaos might be near the leaders of germanys 16 federal states arrived in berlin and are set to meet with chancellor Angela Merkel for the 1st non Virtual Meeting in months. Some state premiers have already announced they will cling to the accommodation ban while others want to see it dropped the question is will the chancellors personal and in person off the already be enough to unify the positions. That question are right on top chief Political Correspondent melinda crime milena and the chance to wrangle unified nations from 16 regional leaders. I think theres a pretty good chance that she can she is known as a very adept negotiator and on her side is the fact that this is a personal meeting the 1st time that the state leaders have met with the chancellor in person in over 4 months and that usually does increase the likelihood of getting to yes besides that there is a precedent here because at the height of the 1st wave of the virus in april of this this year there was also some wrangling amongst the different federal states and some disagreement about the way to move forward and theyre under the watchful eye of the chancellor the the state premiers did agree and the fact is that a patchwork of rules like the ones we have now can be confusing to people and that in turn can diminish compliance and that is very problematic as infection rates rise so we are seeing some of the most powerful state premiers in particular 2 who have not always agreed on the same approach in the past namely the head of the bavarian State Government and the head of the north rhinewestphalia and State Government now both saying yes we do need unified rules if we want to see unified rules those rules going to be tighter than the current ones. I think its quite likely that some of them will be the government has put together a paper that some people in the press have gotten a look at and it seems that the government will be suggesting more stringent requirements for Wearing Masks in a variety of places as well as more strict limits on social gatherings and restaurant closing times all to come into effect at a threshold of 35. 00 infectious cases per 100000 residents that means such rules if the government gets its way would then be affected most of this countrys major cities since most of them have an infection rate above that at the moment whether they were the state premiers will agree which still remains open the meeting was just getting down and just beginning now and its unclear whether there will be any attempt to roll back that accommodation ban it is being roundly criticised by viral it just and by Economic Experts who say it doesnt do much to decrease the rate of infection but it does strain Testing Capacity and burden the economy so another point of the governments approach apparently that they would like to see put in place is support for businesses that are affected by these restrictions for example restaurants the grain thank you very much. Time now to turn to some of the other stories making headlines around the world today 2 russians and an american have successfully reached the International Space station fastrack flight took just 3 hours half the usual time and its not his last mission on a russian spacecraft the u. S. Now has its own access again with space x. U. S. President Donald Trumps nominee for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court says her religious views will not influence decisions the 2nd day of confirmation hearings so any honey bear the wrong question of the Senate JudiciaryCommittee Personal views on the Supreme Court in a landmark ruling a greek court has handed hefty prison sentences to the leaders of Neo Nazi Group golden dawn leader nikos and several other members were sentenced for running a criminal gang the former Political Party has been linster number of violent crimes. Concerns are growing over the failure of the ceasefire to stop the fighting between our 1000000 and a very forces in the disputed enclave of the god of her about russias urging both sides to observe the truce and end the long running conflict through diplomacy the 2 former soviet republics are blaming each other for breaking an armistice which came into force at the weekend the cathedral of step a knock at a place of worship no longer be true if ripped open and its interior in ruins the church has fallen victim to a conflict that has cost hundreds of lives since it erupted last month the congregation and i praise in a makeshift shelter. But they cannot escape the war. Oh or russians fire was supposed to come into effect last sunday but the shelling continues destruction and death a constant companions. Empty streets after thousands fled stepanek cared the capital of a selfproclaimed republic within azerbaijans formal borders. 30 get off their its very elderly in wheelchairs who have stayed. Its scary and you can even imagine whenever the shelf lives we dont know who its going to hit them but we tremble in a basement what if it hits here again every day we live with this fear but far far from it it was you. On the other side of the front lines are telling the fire is also raining down in the town of teta residents have sought safety in their cellars. Oh. What can you do we have no choice the armenian guns and cannons made us come here we run we fall down we stand up again we get injured and now were here hiding we fall down again and then we hate again what can we do i got injured here here here. I mean yes Prime Minister nico blames azerbaijans ally turkey for the field cease fire he says ankara is looking to expand its influence in the region homos of whats there. Im convinced that for as long as turkeys position remains unchanged as a by young will not stop fighting. Brother Mark Longworth of. Turkey for its part has called on armenia to withdraw from the azerbaijani territory it currently hold so far the International Community has been unable to broker peace talks. With the 2 sides refusing to come to the table peace remains a distant prospect for the people here. In thailand major antigovernment rally has been met with concert demonstrations from supporters of the monarchy scuffles briefly broke out but the 2 sides but mostly kept apart if you Police Presence the prodemocracy protesters are calling for reform to the constitution and the monarchy criticizing the kings traditional is seen as taboo a protest after a momentum over the last few months. Earlier we spoke to journalist money just paired bangkok and we asked him whether most thais are backing he and government protests yeah i believe government critics have significant support in the population it is hard to say that for sure because there are no reliable opinion but if you speak with people here on the streets in bangkok or outside in the countryside there are really many people criticizing the government at the moment especially also because the Prime Minister approach fails to deliver his promise to bring Economic Prosperity to a country at the moment thailand is hot. Really strongly by the Coronavirus Crisis and. Deep recession at the moment millions of people lost their shops and of course that makes many people are fed up with the government and asking for change. And he has been bangkok that. An activist from congo has been fined 2000 euros by a french court for trying to steal an african artifact from a museum in paris your buns a live live streamed his attempts to take a 19th century relic he accuses france and other european nations of plundering the countries they colonized he says they should return the objects they took. Many would call this theft by this activists hes only getting back what was taken away from his people i came to reclaim goods that were stolen from africa during colonization of this video of us live streamed on facebook back in june or west. And for other activists were trying to steal a funerary post from carol nima see him in paris he failed but managed to draw attention to a topic that has recently triggered a heated debate should african art looted during colonialism be returned and if so how and when the congolese baron activists action is needed now on the do you never ask a thief for permission to get back what is still from you and thats what we did we have the right to defend ourselves because we were robbed the fact that our works are on display here means to theft continues to be displayed yes you. Also caused a stir when he tried to steal a piece of art from a dutch museum as well as in the french city of must say some say these acts have to be considered as performances not just theft. Its a different way of saying things that have already been said to many farmers for a long time since african countries gained independence on a diplomatic level in a dialogue between museums and International Corporation events you know what is in the report commissioned by french president emanuel and the art historian said was looted art has to be given back and that up to 90 percent of african artworks are located outside of the continent the care berlin was c. M. Alone has more than 60000 objects taken from africa but according to this lawyer an art lover not all of them are looted he recently published a book on the topic. Some objects have obviously been taken away european states have to give back what was taken in wars but there are also other aspects africans themselves all are too european physically. For bands and his fellow activists its not only about bringing heritage spec home as he calls it he also wants european societies to face the realities of their colonial past take one of the desired goal to reach the biggest possible audience on the one hand are just people in africa but also people in europe adore says says he does not fear possible fines not even prison sentences in his eyes this is about a lot more than just his own destiny. Borden joins us now from brussels marin