this is news coming to you live from berlin. in a closely contested parliamentary election millions of pakistanis are casting ballots after a bitter and divisive election campaign marred by pre-election violence the military is out in force to ensure security but a suicide bomber has already struck outside a polling station we talk truck correspondent. also coming up rescuers in greece are going door to door looking for those missing after wildfires eighty

people dead. a national tragedy as the country observes three days of mourning. and the tour de france frenchman. winstead sixteen after an event in the philippines. welcome baucus on his voting in a general election that's expected to be very close between the two leading parties cricket star turned politician imran khan of the pakistan tehreek e insaf or justice party is up against shahbaz sharif of the pakistan muslim league and he's a brother of former prime minister nawaz sharif who had led the party but he's now in prison convicted of corruption. meanwhile

a suicide bomber has killed at least thirty people outside a polling station in the southwestern city of quechua one official said the attack a blue up there when police stopped him from entering the so-called islamic state came the sponsibility for the attack on the groups and use agency. which is in baluchistan province also saw deadly pre-election violence the military meanwhile is out in force today as millions of pakistanis guss their ballots. armed soldiers like these are some of the roughly three hundred seventy thousand troops deployed across the country not only are they guarding polling centers but are also helping with general security duties. their mission preventing incidents like this from occurring again this was the scene after a suicide bomber targeted the convoy of political candidates in the southwestern province of the looters tom one hundred forty nine people were killed in the attack that took place ten days ago. besides normal security duties

officers have also been given expanded powers they can punish individuals for illegal acts committed inside polling stations. human rights groups are concerned they have already complained of the army's alleged interference in the electoral process. which is in mitigation get it out and all that but n.p. confront that and if it is it then there's one thing that you're booking as the end. of the intimidation of journalists is believed to have served the campaign of this man former cricket star in one count of the movement for justice party the sixty five year old has vowed to track down on corruption. what is budget for we will deliver justice to the masses regardless of them being a hindu or christian or

a sikh regardless of the being poor all from different provinces all from coffee to start sooner or suspect one hero of his closest rival is shahbaz sharif brother of the ousted former prime minister no of us or reef currently in jail on corruption charges. but in the head to head race between khan and sharif this man could prove to be kingmaker below while both it's a diary of the left leaning pakistan people's party son of slain prime minister benazir bhutto he is looking to revive the fortune of his party. some observers have called this election the dirtiest in recent memory but for ordinary people on the street their hopes are far more grounded. the country is economically weak at the moment it is standing at the verge of bankruptcy one thing is sure that whichever government comes it will be faced with

challenges but we hope whatever government comes it will recover pakistan from a fall. from joining me now is the chorus one and only conrad from the pakistani capital islamabad now i mean we've seen that despite the huge military presence this will already be a suicide bomb attack at a polling station what more can you tell us about it. yes i've been talking to turkle journalists on the ground journalists who were actually at the polling station right after the attack happened it seems that this was attacked trying to target a very high ranking security official who was in the police station next door a lot of people have been killed the death toll seems to be rising a journalist who is at the local hospital just told me it's also affecting her to turn out if people are afraid they're staying at home or they're voting as fast as possible and then returning home so this may have an impact on the outcome in at least baluchistan that we've seen a very bitter and divisive election campaign what steps are being taken today to

ensure that the polling is fair and free. well that remains to be seen that usually server teams are out there trying to monitor but the problem isn't actually the polls themselves the problem has been the whole run up to the election and journalists are faced intimidation and threats whenever they've tried to report too much on the pier madeleine i was shabbiest party there's been a lot of shifting in election coverage so i don't think we can say that these elections have been fair or free we also have to consider that pakistan is not an established democracy votes here are bought and sold people vote according to what their village strongmen tells them so it's definitely a different kind of don't vote in process here and i don't think we can say that these elections are free or fair and the winds read the section that the military favors. why. that is

a very big questions we would have loved to put that to the military itself we tried to get interviews we were denied interviews one of the working assumptions here is that the military fell out with no us review but because he's been trying to improve ties with tribal india that is maybe one explanation another explanation is that imran khan is billing himself as an anti corruption politician maybe that also is what the army perf but this is really also guesswork i mean we're trying to connect the dots but as i said we would have loved to put this to the military but we were denied an interview i only conrad in the pakistani capital islamabad thank you for that update. and greece has begun three days of mourning for the victims of the country's worst fire disaster in a decade at least eighty people are confirmed dead and that number is expected to rise the fires broke out monday evening one near the town of commuter around fifty kilometers west of athens another the city's east of the coastal village of marty

the blazes spread through the areas in a matter of minutes leaving behind a grim tone. only a few days ago they carry a celebrated her son's wedding here now she finds herself standing amidst devastation her house her life as she knew it in just a few minutes fire destroyed it or it's only when she returned that the extent of the catastrophe became clear lake area her daughter in law and her grandson only survived thanks to his son he wanted the fire was bearing down on them then you go do you have one of my son called me from work and told me you know run quickly to the harbor we ran to the harbor that's why we survived near the harbor there's a large house that caught fire and that three or four people are thought to have been burnt to death. this family are the only victims so many in marty have lost everything and the death toll is expected to rise many are still missing. help came

too late for a group of twenty six people trapped on a field. after your to looked as though some of the people we found have known each other we have found them in groups of three and four they held on to one another to try to protect themselves it's likely that they were friends or relatives here in operation by the same numbers are they feel like i'm sure in the model. that's illust have been about to open his tavern but then it was consumed by flames within minutes he accuses the authorities are failing his town now he doesn't even know where he'll sleep coming up or five other they tell us all the hotels are full and that we should apply for a place in a container in athens a disaster but should we do we pay back the bank when we owe money and we are the taxpayers the government must help us but surely appreciate your all. the greek government has declared a state of emergency three days of national mourning and has vowed to deliver aid

fast. not overwhelm us because it's now times right to stand together be brave and above all show solidarity. here also send help in the form of planes and firefighters hundreds of firefighters are still battling to control the flames there trying to stop yet more people from losing their belongings or their lives. let me bring you up to date with some other stories making news around the world in laos rescuers are searching for hundreds of people missing after a dam collapsed on monday thousands have been left homeless and nine thousand people are already confirmed dead the dam was still under construction when it collapsed releasing billions of cubic meters of water that submerged several villages in syria at least fifty people have been killed in suicide attacks

targeting the southern city of saida a series of bombings hit the city's marketplace and other targets downtown the attacks are being blamed on the so-called islamic state who are battling government forces in the city. to cycle there was no shortage of drama on tuesday in the tour de france stage sixteen was briefly interrupted by a protest with several riders requiring medical attention farmers tried to block the road with bales of hay police attempting to control the demonstration sprayed several riders the pepper spray by mistake but after a brief delay the race went on. the first peyronie's stage of this year's tour two hundred eighty kilometers took the riders from carcasses to barnyard. after a scrappy beginning a large group formed the front. of the climb to the cold day port a b.s.p.

mountain pass felipe jill bear attack and reached the top first on the descent however he misjudged and went over a low stone wall. after one hundred eighty kilometers to tour its search space as the writers make their last climb of the stage britain's adam gates lead. on his tail was giuliani. less than ten kilometers from the finish line disaster struck yates hit the deck when his final descent giving freshmen julian allophone leap the chance to whiz by and when his second stage of the two. was the two as it were with the president you know a lot of pain in my legs i think everybody but. i cannot believe. for the second time today the overall ranking remains unchanged get right thomas of team sky retains the yellow jersey. the reeses the morale in football is still

causing controversy in germany with pressure growing on the president of the german football federation reinhard grindle to step down jim the star football amazement as the who has turkish roots accused him of racism when he quit the german national team and the federation itself has defended itself against the accusation but grindle has stayed silent reinhart grendel was appointed the german football federation president in two thousand and sixteen brought in as a crisis manager to sort out the chaos left by allegations germany had bought votes to host the two thousand and six world cup. but now another crisis has arisen and this time grendel is at the very heart of the mess it is a love affair. and i just do not see a clear professional handling of the crisis at the moment it doesn't surprise me though because the german football federation is actually full of amateurs. grindle

has been a lawyer and a journalist he also spent fourteen years in the german parliament for angola medicals christian democrats and once said that multiculturalism was a myth comments that would come back to haunt him when ms it is allin jimmy teammate one turkish president richard tayyip erdogan. i believe that both are aware that they have made a mistake i encourage everyone to go easy on them. but at the gym he crashed out of the world cup group stage kringle got tough demanding will issue a statement when it came to the queues dreamed of outright racism grindle is now under pressure ahead of september's vote between germany and turkey over the hosting of euro two thousand and twenty four germans are now wondering if grandel is heading for the exit. it was news coming up ahead

a big disputes heats up at pilots and cabin crew go on strike. the full of the job what will it mean for. that story plus trade talks between the e.u. commission president and the u.s. president that's monica jones coming up shortly. in the war of. earth. home to news of species a home worth saving. which is on those are big changes and most start with small steps global interiors tell stories of creedence people and innovative projects around the world like to use the context.