coverage and reports from islamabad and local. to the union. this is d.w.t. is coming to you live from pakistan is voting in a closely contested parliamentary election millions of pakistanis are counting ballots opera bitter and divisive election campaign that was modified by the military is out in force but a suicide bomber has already struck outside a polling station we talked to our correspondent in islamabad. also coming up.

are going door to door looking for survivors after wildfires left at least eighty people dead the disaster is being poured a national tragedy as a country of. mourning. and of the tour de france a frenchman. winstead sixteen after an eventful day in the. bug a son is voting in a general election which is kills the contests of the two leading parties the cricket start turned politician in don kahn is hoping to become prime minister for the first time his party that the headache insaf or justice party is fighting on an anti corruption platform his main rival. shahbaz sharif the pakistan muslim league

n. he's the brother of former prime minister nawaz sharif who was in prison convicted of corruption the sharifs the military is influencing the outcome of this election as voting began today a suicide bomber killed at least thirty people outside a polling station in the south western city of. and officials said the attacker blew himself up when police stopped him from entering the state came the sponsibility for the attack on the group's agency. which is in baluchistan province also so deadly pre-election violence the military is out in force today as millions of pakistanis go off 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. human rights groups are concerned they have already complained of

the army's alleged interference in the electoral process. with the investigation get it out in all the bucket and be done fund that and if it is it then it isn't looking that you're booking it as the end of. the intimidation of journalists is believed to have served the campaign of this man former cricket star in run count of the movement for justice party the sixty five year old has vowed to track down on corruption. what it says about it all we will deliver justice to the masses regardless of them being a hindu all christian a sikh regardless of the marine corps or from different provinces or from coffee or stock supérieure or somebody who over his closest rival is shahbaz sharif brother of the ousted former prime minister novice or if currently in jail

on corruption charges. but in the head to head race between kannan sharif this man could prove to be kingmaker below why but it's a diary of the left leaning pakistan people's party a 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 short that whichever government comes it will be faced with challenges but we hope whatever government comes it will recover pakistan from a fall. 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 been a suicide bomb attack at a polling station what more can you tell us about it. yes i've been talking to circle 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's at the local hospital just told me it's also affecting voter turnout in parts of 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 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 you really 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 it's journalists have faced intimidation and threats whenever they've tried to report too much on the pier madeleine and i was sure we use 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 voting process here and i don't think we can say that these elections are free fair and the winds are a perception 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 within hours sharif because he's been trying to improve ties with our 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. in the pakistani capital islamabad thank you for that update turning now to greece which is 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 around fifty kilometers west of the capital athens another to the city's east near the coast to the village of marty now the blazes spread through the area in a matter of minutes leaving behind a grim toll. 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 contested people came clear of the lake area her daughter in law and her grandson only survive thanks to his son he wanted the fire was bearing down on them let me go my son called me from work and told me run quickly to the haba we ran to the hop and that's why we survived there's a large house need and a court file and three or four people are thought to have been done to death inside . this family and the only victims so many in marty have lost everything and the death toll is expected to rise many a still missing. us illust had been about to open his tavern but then it was consumed by flames within minutes he accuses the authorities of failing his town now he doesn't even know where he'll sleep. they tell us all the hotels are full

and that we should apply for a place in that container in athens when disaster what should we do we pay back the bank when we are money and we are the taxpayers the government in must help us at all. the greek government has declared a state of emergency three days of national mourning and has followed to deliver aid fast. that every almost no fish sorry must not overwhelm us. because it is now time to fight you know it is to stand together and be bright. and above all to show solidarity. of the european countries have also sent help in the form of planes and firefighters hundreds of them are still battling to control the flames the trying to stop bit more people losing their belongings or their lives.

that may not bring you up to date with some other stories making news around the world in syria at least fifty people have been killed in suicide attacks targeting the southern city of swager a series of bombings hit the city's marketplace and other targets downtown the attacks have been blamed on the so-called islamic state while battling government forces near the city. a mexican editor has been killed at the beach resort of playa del carmen ruben pat was the second journalists from the pioneers to be killed in a month that's reported on crime in the city which is located in an area with a soaring rate of violence due to drug gangs turning now to last in southeast asia where at least nineteen people are known to have died after a hydroelectric dam collapsed on monday following heavy rains the number of deaths naved rise as rescuers continue their search for hundreds of missing villagers in the flooded area thousands needed shelter after the floods swept away their homes

at least seven villages were reportedly submerged the dam was still under construction when it collapsed activists are calling for renewed scrutiny of the government's plans for more hydroelectric projects. drawn by bangkok based correspondent fred explorer fredricka this area is remote and there is a lot of hurdles to rescuing people such as poor weather badly damaged infrastructure what is being done by the government to help the stranded villages villages. well the government sent a lot of rescue personnel to best disaster area the army is operating our. buddies like firefighters and the police are helping of course and also state owned companies are advised to help us will exist because the situation is very very dangerous right now as you've already said thousands southam still need to be rescued they are sitting on the roofs they are sitting on the trees

a lot of people you don't even know where they're actually are so a lot of work still needs to be done there are some other neighboring countries who offered help for example vietnam and thailand they offered to send choppers also south korea all helping this is because a south korean company has been involved in building the dam so there is international help is beginning and there are lots of issues for example food is a big issue a lot of food supplies of the religious has been drowned or became wet so you need to bring a lot of supplies mind to that area and this is difficult because it's very remote so clearly. changing huge difficulties right now and treat it like you do pullups the damage appeared in the hydroelectric dam before the collapse of you know why villages downstream want to evacuate in time. well that's a very very big question right now and right now we have

a difficult difficult. how how things evolve so for example one company that has a c.e.o. then the project they said that the first problems appeared already on friday and the company says the problems appeared on sunday so the disaster happened on monday in both cases you would have a lot of time so you want the willage just to to becky aid the villagers but somehow a lot of willits us didn't couldn't believe they were going to have to care that this is why they are in such a big trouble right now so of course it needs to be investigated why they haven't been want enough maybe they haven't been won seriously enough and all these things need to be reviewed now unfortunately laos is a very strict regime it's a communist agreement where you don't have a free press the opposition is suppressed people have limited rights so that minds are high and that we will susi in the future one day reporter fred explorer thank

you very much for that update. distracting and there was no shortage of drama on tuesday in the tour de france stage sixteen was briefly interrupted by a protest with several inches requiring medical attention farmers tried to block the road with bales of hay police attempting to control the demonstration street said right is with pepper spray by mistake but the risk continued after a brief delay. 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 up front. on the climb to the cold day port a d.s.p. a 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 the tour entered spain as the writers meet their last climb of the stage britain's adam gates lead. on his tail was julie other fully. less than ten kilometers from the finish line disaster struck yates hit the deck on its final descent giving frenchmen giuliano felipe the chance to whiz by in when he second stage of the two. to the two as a. president you know a lot of pain in my legs i think for 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. so who's the finest football off the wall in the world we don't know as yet but the sport's governing body feed far has released a shortlist of nominees for the best award and brazilian naima didn't make the top

ten christiana rinaldo won the accolade the past two years why at this club reigning champions league winners madrid grisha and madrid midfielder look up what rich won the golden ball as the world cups best player and his or phenomenal to a few french well cup champions in the mix including a rising star killed in a bumpy and and twenty eighth month and the winner will be announced on september twenty fourth in london. meanwhile here in germany the racism in football is still causing controversy with russia growing on the president of the german football federation and i'm hot grindle to step down jim the star football a mess and see who has turkish roots accuse him of racism when he quit the german national team this weekend the federation has defended itself against this accusation but grindle himself 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 a reason and this time grendel is at the very heart of the message of fair. 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 imus's. 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 isn't jimmy teammate the one turkish president richard tayyip erdogan. i believe that both are aware

that they have made a mistake i'm courage everyone to go easy on them. but at the gym he crashed out of the world cup group stage grendel got tough demanding issue a statement when it came to the queues drainville of outright racism brindle 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. let me bring you some spectacular pictures from the world of kitesurfing italian add on the cons aledo course a freak gust of wind at the competition off the spit spanish canary island a foot of until he ended up flying for just one nineteen seconds such a long flight is almost unheard of in the sport unfortunately for cons alina he could not follow it up in later rounds and he finished.

wonderful pitches and talking about flying monica is with me and if i were to fly on a holiday i shouldn't take. to today and tomorrow it could be tricky i'm rita and there's a very good reason for that for one ryan air has warned that there might be around three hundred potential job cuts for pilots and capping crew as the carrier plans to cut its doubling based fleet by twenty percent for the winter season after recent strikes heard bookings and that announcement comes us ryan air stuff in four european countries hold a two day strike affecting thousands of holidaymakers empty halls in madrid's but international airport ryanair says it's contacted ninety percent of affected passengers who've been rescheduled on to other flights the strike in spain comes during peak travel season when families are taking advantage of the summer break from school travelers are in

a holding pattern and unsure about when they'll fly. let me took a. they've told us we can expect any kind of surprises i hope there won't be any though. the strike follows disputes over working conditions and pay as living costs increase the large majority of cabin crew don't have a base salary they get paid per flight a situation that unions won't tolerate is the must be in the we're demanding that spanish an e.u. legislations be respected and workers rights we're not asking for money or any outlandish privileges just that the law be respected. the cabin crew walkouts come after ryanair pilot strikes earlier this month with the last one ending yesterday more delays will follow around sixty thousand ground staff in spain announced plans for action in august ryanair as well as with workers are affecting its bottom line the airlines profits tumbled partly due to strikes by employees.

trading in fee chrysler has been suspended after a shift plunged more than ten percent in milan a calm maker reported a big loss in profits just alice it announced the death of its former c.e.o. sets of masculinity a comic as shares already plummeted three days ago after he steps down due to his ill health acumen it took the helm much yet in two thousand and four he was credited with rescuing it from bankruptcy in one of the auto industry's greatest turnarounds he went on to oversee the merger with chrysler of the u s creating the world's seventh biggest carmaker he was sixty six. for more on that let's cross over to our mental fanfan stock exchange danielle cool danielle this is for many reasons a bad day for chrysler. yeah exactly and let me tell you first monica that this news of marchione of passing away just days you know after it was announced that he

would be stepping down has also created some sadness here among traders on the trading floor but not just in the financial world also in italy where he was highly respected and praised by many in general you're right here it is not going through easy times at the moment here at chrysler lord it's fully year targets after the second quarter profits sank by more than thirty five per cent so the trading is suspended at the moment this does not really happen very often that the stock market but with this current situation of profits going down a change in the top management and with really the face off fear passing away this really makes sense from the business perspective that's a lot to handle in one day certainly on a brighter note perhaps possible i believe. presented some decent results. yeah let's call them decent exactly where they came out with fresh numbers today sourced surprisingly better than we already and we thought we have to

remember that the vendor has been in a crisis mode for a long time not in the winning zone a share price that went down just this year by thirty five percent now in the second quarter germany's biggest bank reported an adjusted profit of four hundred one billion billion they would laugh that million and euros but there are still lots of things the lender needs to work on this still the lender is still not productive enough to test been criticized by many a traders also they need to create more synergies also more cost cutting the investment banking division needs to be reformed so even though despite these good news today there is still lots of work to do indeed to be a coupe in frankfurt thank you so much european commission president jiang close is meeting today with u.s. president donald trump at the white house it's a bitch to head off a looming transatlantic trade war but ahead of those talks donald trump renewed his

call for completely free trade the u.s. president fired all this tweet calling on both parties to quote drop all tariffs there is an subsidies that would be finally be called free market and fair trait donald trump writing there on twitter but for now washington is threatening to expand its tariffs to cause us to slapping levies on steel and alum minium the e.u. has responded in kind to get matches has this look at what's at stake. it's a tweet that struck brussels like a thunderbolt great wars are good and easy to win that's the message the american president sent over the atlantic on march first a week later came this announcement today i'm defending america's national security by placing tariffs on foreign imports of steel and aluminum the e.u. managed to get a temporary exemption but china was ready to retaliate when we should one we don't

want a trade war with the us or with any other country but if china's interests are damaged then we'll have to take measures to defend our interests. on april second china announced punitive tariffs on one hundred twenty eight u.s. products while the e.u. still try to convince trump to change its mind. the president president will decide we had an exchange of views on the current state of affairs of the negotiations fund all and we have to deal with common global challenges regarding our freight regarding so important security issues it's impossible to make any trade war but it was all in vain on june first the u.s. also introduced tariffs on european steel an element of the e.u. commission's response came swiftly this is a better day for the word twit and in the next coming hours counterbalancing measures what they can do we are able to do exactly. the same on june twenty second

the e.u. put levies on jeans peanut butter whiskey and motorbikes trump in turn is now considering whether to impose half the levies on european vehicles so can the president of the european commission find an exit door from an all out trade war i asked any you expert i don't think they used to trying to negotiate with mr trump i don't think this is the right time for that and quite frankly i don't think that would help what is important is the fun of the system and tools as they exist and try and point out the obvious naming a trade was a very very damaging younger as no concrete proposal to take to the u.s. his primary goal is to calm tensions with washing for the first time in decades global free trade looks like it's under serious threat it's unsettling unless of course you are convinced that you will just win trade wars aren't so bad.

and here's a reminder of the top stories we're following for you. in pakistan a suicide bomber has killed dozens outside a polling station kreta the attack comes as millions across the country vote in taipei contested parliamentary elections. coming to you live from berlin and how many times have you been told to stop and smell the roses while people in central italy certainly have their chance right now we leave you with these images from natural flower show known as the few wild blossoms transformed the landscape into a sea off color and joy. move

. on. saving money at all costs. consumers hunting for bargains and companies looking to cut costs. prettiness to seen as a virtue but what happens when it becomes stinginess. and how can it harm

companies. made in germany. on t.w. . the smell of freshly cut grass bred out if the oven. sheens. the feel of soft first. train community and into contentment. every sensation becomes more intense. dining in a swiss farm. the romance to sixty minutes of d.w. . iran . wants an isolated thing up there saying now a major power in the middle east. your loans influence continues to grow

politically economically and above all militarily. does iran truly want peace. the countries opponents have their doubts isolate. iran from congress it. starts august attacks on t.w. . by guy money who stole my money on the kind of bank you it was you know some saw no money for room no want to not stay here stay on its.