this is d w news live from for a land the lunar eclipse of the century and it is happening right now it is the night of the blood moon and it is visible across much of the globe we'll find out what is so special about this astronomical event. also coming up migrants making the perilous journey across the mediterranean to europe switch routes now they're heading to spain after italy started turning away and greece's prime minister accepts political responsibility for this week's devastating wildfires

a bitter debate is raging over who was to blame for the tragedy. and. i'm sara kelley welcome to the program people across the world have been watching the longest a lunar eclipse of this century the moon turns this orange color a short while back this was at the point that the moon fell in the earth's shadow after it aligned itself with our planet and the sun this is what is popularly known as the blood moon people across europe asia australia and south america have been able to watch all or parts of this phenomenon which is about to end in just a few minutes. and for more at let's get more now from astronomer he is joining us from stood apart this evening so tell us why the red orange color for the moon can you explain to our viewers how that happens. good evening when

no moon eclipse takes place the earth is exactly between the sun and the moon so you would think that the moon should be in the shadow of the earth but the earth has an atmosphere and the atmosphere of the earth throw some light the light into the shadow so the moon looks threat. and not only is it a beautiful color it is also the longest lunar eclipse of the twenty first century as we mentioned earlier the moon appearing darkest for around one hundred and three minutes why it's so long this time around. that's right it's one hundred and forty minutes this time because the beach of the moon is inclined to what's the orbit of the earth you want to have a movie clips every full moon as you remember it's only two or three years two or

three times a year and now this lunar eclipse the moon ghosts strikes through the shadow of the earth and additionally the earth over the moon is of far away from the office so the lunar eclipse is one out of three minutes long this time. but the experience of the event i mean it really depends on where you are in the world right tell us more about that yes depends where the moon is above your horizon not just ten minutes ago i was outside and had a look at the moon and here in stuttgart it's still twilight the moon is the sky it's bright and you barely could see the moon in the twilight it's deep deep regret and have seen some images from south africa where it's already really dark so there the moon is high in the sky and you can see it in in the rest. the phenomenon is also special for another reason with the red planet mars it's also

visible in the sky near the moon tell us more about that yes ma is the art of planets of the earth be true os the sun in two years as you know the only needs one year so it needs two years to see must at its best but it needs fifteen years to see to her. the smallest distance between the earth and the mosques and after two thousand and three this year mosque is at its closest to the earth and it's just for instance that it's this evening with them moon eclipse takes place and it's closest to us and most is only some decrease away from the eclipse moon now when people hear the word eclipse especially when observing a solar eclipse for example they think about you know those glasses that you have to wear in order to protect your eyes but there are no precautions right if they

want to watch this particular eclipse you know except enough that you don't need only eclipse classes you need them but not your lot to see if you're really good but you don't need a telescope or just your eyes and good you to the south use the horizon you're from germany astronomers spend melter joining us from step dark to where we have all been observing this phenomenon very fascinating indeed some beautiful images that are coming in and we thank you so much for walking us through it and explaining why it's happening and why it's so significant. is the mother news now and there are fewer of them coming but just as many are dying the un's migration agency says that about fifty five thousand migrants have reached european shores across the mediterranean sea so far this year about half the figure for the same period last year but for the fifth straight year at least fifteen hundred migrants have perished in the crossing most migrants used to cross from

libya to italy but since the new italian government started turning them away many switched to spain. the coast of southern spain is within sight. it's the end of a treacherous crossing of the strait of gibraltar. what you're seeing is a group of migrants reaching european soil. and they're among the many who arrive on spanish beaches every year. we don't know where they ended up but we do know they're lucky to be alive. so far this year at least fifteen hundred have died in the mediterranean sea their route to europe too has changed with spain now the preferred entry point we can say is that the first indications we're getting from spanish authorities is that it is the west african. migrants that were most prominent crossing into libya in the past couple of years who seem to be choosing spain as their route now. the number of undocumented migrants arriving to the

spanish coast so far this year is almost as many as the total for twenty seventeen most are rescued at sea and brought to ports like this one in the town of. it's here in the port where they were initially held before being moved to overcrowded immigrant reception centers. in a meeting earlier this week with france's president emanuel micron the spanish prime minister said the e.u. needs to do more if it wants to see a fall in the number of people arriving illegally on its shores in luck will be to feel a little cooperation and development is very important a requirement is to socially politically and economically stabilize the countries of origin of the border protection sure type of dignity and respect for the human rights of migrant people if you know we need to strengthen our cooperation with countries of origin and also with the transit countries those. back in southern

spain it's the end of an exhausting journey for these migrants and the beginning of an uncertain future in the european union. of greece as prime minister alexis tsipras has expect excepted response political responsibility is me for this week's wildfires with killed at least eighty seven. people at a cabinet meeting broadcast live he also said that evidence suggested that the fires had been started deliberately though he didn't know who might have been behind it a bitter debate is raging over the way that the authorities handled the fires and why they failed to order an evacuation. of the paradise lost of africa's eastern shoreline the mediterranean sea claims as blue as ever but on shore so many of the homes and hotels that once stood here are gone. on monday the flames charge through here at sixty kilometers per hour almost everyone fled towards the bache is only the firefighters have the mains to try and resist

the flames often in vying. and this is their first time in thirty years of my service. seeing so much. of it sometimes we come in the course it's something. to stop this investigators say the blaze took just ninety minutes to write down the mountain towards the coast many residents simply had no chance to escape and while monday was extremely hard and we need grace the government suspects the worst fires were no accident. as you've all been informed. of the indications that we have and which authorities in charge are already investigating. lead to the conclusion that arson was behind the deadly fires. the police are also still trying to identify

victims relatives of the missing have been gathering need their forensics lab the agony is compounded by anger at the government which they choose of botching the evacuation of residents one confronted grace's defense minister as he visited victims. no one notified anyone to fire engines didn't come nothing you left just of the mass you have god. with the residents would cheat by monday's blaze we're living in an area known to be prone to fire greeks are now asking why authorities weren't better prepared and watch so many perished. now let's get a quick check of some other stories making news around the world osama bin laden's alleged former bodyguard seen here in a german court is free after a judge ordered his release in tunisia citing a lack of evidence against him he was deported to tunisia earlier this month after

living in germany off and on since one thousand nine hundred seven. israeli police have reopened jerusalem's so mosque following a raid they say that they had been pursuing to use who had thrown rocks during a confrontation with police the mosque also known as the temple mount is holding to jews and muslims. and north korea has handed over the remains of american soldiers killed in the korean war which raged from one thousand nine hundred fifty to one thousand fifty three a u.s. aircraft brought the remains to an air base in south korea the handover follows an agreement an agreement reached by north korean leader kim jong un and us president donald trump at a meeting in singapore in june. the numbers are in and they look good very good over the last quarter the u.s. economy grew at its fastest rate in more than four years and that's positive news for the world's largest economy but analysts say that it's unlikely to be quite as positive as the white house makes it out to be. trump was quick to celebrate the

new figures four point one percent growth from april to june. we are on track to hit the highest annual average growth rate in over thirteen years and i will say this right now and i'll say it strongly as the trade deals come in one by one we're going to go a lot higher than these numbers and these are great numbers trump claims the new quarterly rate is sustainable on the campaign trail he promised annual growth between four and even six percent. his war on obama air regulations was supposed to unshackle the economy his one point five trillion dollar tax cut super charge the new growth but while economists expected a surge from the tax cut this quarter some even predicted five percent if you believe it is sustainable. for one the federal reserve concerned about inflation is expected to raise interest rates several more times this year. businesses also

don't appear to be investing heavily there were also one off events this quarter soybean exports shot up over terror concerns government spending rose in part due to the defense budget. and there are worrying signs housing sales continue to decline wage growth is still weak one thing is sure the u.s. economy is booming at the moment in the long term however question marks linger. the tour de france leader graham thomas has a golden opportunity to claim the biggest prize in road cycling after maintaining his lead through stage nineteen the two hundred kilometer route from loris to the rons was the best chance his rival had to knock him off for his perch for sunday's final stage of thomas was in paris once again. a decisive day so right his head through the pyrenees with everything on the line the first big winner of the state was home favorite julian i love philippe the frenchman now

has an unassailable lead in the race for the king of the mountains title. and the general classification leader garang thomas was under attack throughout slovenian ride of primeau drug ledge raced into contention with a phenomenal performance which saw him cross the finish line in first place. had legs today and. i just really tried a lot of times and finally i went away then on the descent. but thomas was in hot pursuit a final sprint gave him a second place finish extending his lead to more than two minutes. with just a single time trial stage and the procession to paris to go wash when thomas has a first tour de france title within his grasp. and with that you're up to date now on the news i'm sarah kelly in berlin and don't forget the latest news information

that's on our website at the top of the dot com or you can follow us on social media thanks so much for watching and waiting. to. pass on your seat belts. legal. trouble guy.