three thousand. years live from berlin zimbabwe prepares to go to the polls campaigning is winding down as the country holds its first presidential election since the end of the mugabe era but will both be free and fair also coming up. forest fires raging across the northern hemisphere amid the record hot summer flames are engulfing forests and threatening lives in the united states to greece. and people around the world marveled at the longest lunar eclipse to take place this

century we'll show you some of the stunning images of the blood moon. and welcome to the program as i'm bob wins for parent to head to the polls they'll be casting their vote for someone not named robert mugabe for the first time in a generation it's the first election since the former president was ousted from power last year current president emerson and then is running in a tight race against opposition leader nelson chamisa both sides are pushing for every vote before the polls open. asin barclay's presidential race enters the final days both sides are turning out in force rallying and dancing in support of their candidates the zanu p.f. the fancy footwork is all for this man and is and. was once mccarthy's right hand

man with the ominous nickname of the crocodile he took over when the gobby was forced to resign but has enthusiastic backers from his supporters who called him edi that's not that easy i've come voluntarily to support my president. i want to assure him that i've got your vote come monday after my ex and. my president. may. ease off there is simple revive the economy tackle unemployment and attract foreign investment and that seems enough to get the greens dancing on the pitch. again but in the red corner the movement for democratic change is rallying its support and not just with that dance moves there is a show of strength for the forty year old preacher nelson shot means.

that we're going to have gays who are playing this plaza ya i'm going to go food. people out johnston i love going to national because of mine for. everything kerry called for. on the campaign trail chemise have made a few rash promises like bringing the world cup and the lympics to the country and building a high speed train system to controversially chemise is already saying that he has won the election and any other result would prove the poll is rigged whatever his claims analysts say monday's vote will be a close run race with the possibility of a runoff later in september. soaring summer temperatures in many parts of the northern hemisphere have left firefighters battling massive blazes in the united states two firefighters have died after struggling to bring an inferno in northern california under control dozens of homes in the city of reading have gone up in

smoke and the blaze has not yet been contained and europe sweden's largest fire emergency in a century threatens to escalate even further tens of thousands of hectares are still burning the authorities warning that high winds could worsen the situation in the coming hours and in greece there are fires that are being called some of the continent's deadliest in decades and it's causing great anger to a bitter ryle has broken out over who's to blame after ninety people lost their lives charlotte charles impel is there and has this report. just this month this is the place the nothis one school he and his wife lived here on the second fuel now blackened and banned forever scarred by this tragedy he's now joined the growing chorus of voices angered authorities for not doing enough to limit the scale of this design. over the effort of no one kid to notify the residents to leave their

homes. initially we could see the fire far away in the mountains. the little items which the houses in five minutes nobody informed us that we were in danger. he takes me up into his home now filled with memories of the night he had to run to his life with. his calendar still marking the day at the finest this. he tells me that he's happy to be alive. living directly on the beach he and his wife were able to flee to the safety of the sea so many who lived in land once are lucky. enough this is house is one of many buildings hit in mattie built illegally along the waterfront on the night of the fire is buildings like these that block the route the people desperately trying to flee to the safety of the sea walls like this one made access even harder essentially leaving people trapped in lands to bend to their depths if they did

then manage to reach the corridors like this one that go on to the waterfront they often then found that there were no steps leading down on to the beach is known a girl fell to her death just a few meters from hip. people here and now want and says why were these pleas safety violations ignored by the government for now though all authorities can do is assess the damage. enough this is lucky his house is still habitable most of the inspectors say they're doing all they can to help residents like him try and rebuild their lives and kind of all got out the engineer will register the damage and submit the repair estimate to the ministry for approval i want to stress that the state is present we here and we're helping people with them all of us just have a vision to bring the country back to his feet just like alexis our prime minister has said this was the. next overthrows must so nothis doesn't know when he'll be

able to return home but now he can only wait and hope that authorities can provide the support to this community so desperately needs. now some of the other stories making news around the world pope francis has accepted the resignation of cardinal mccarrick one of the most prominent figures in the catholic church and the united states this follows allegations of sexual abuse including one involving an eleven year old boy francis has ordered mccarrick to remain in seclusion and in prayer and told church trial is held. militants in afghanistan have killed at least two people and injured five others in an assault on a training center for midwives nearly seventy people were inside this center in jalalabad when the extremists attacked witnesses heard gunfire and several blasts no group has yet claimed responsibility. a court in egypt has sentenced seventy five people to death including senior members of the outlawed muslim brotherhood

they were charged with security offenses in a mass trial related to a two thousand and thirteen protest that turned violent it's now up to the country's top theological authority to review the ruling though he usually approves the court's decision people in mali go to the polls to elect a president on sunday while in the midst of a security crisis voters in the west african country have been badly hit by violence from islamised militants war except artists drug traffickers and ethnic magellan t's president abraham. is seeking a second five year term and seems likely to get it a former finance minister soon my less you say is challenging him and cush could push the president to a runoff. our report takes us to timbuktu or local fave improve security so they can work on the economy. timbuktu the city in mali is one of

the world's most if destinations but in two thousand and twelve islamist rebels captured the city and subjected it to months of brutality government troops drove them out the next year but today security across the north and center of the country is precarious the government has been unable to assert full control the islamists are on the rise again and that has organizers of sunday's election worried. we hope the next president will finally bring peace so that we can start to develop the city again that. without peace there is no development. in april the airport terminal was severely damaged in an assault that left one un soldier dead. the un's peacekeeping mission in mali has long been regarded as its most dangerous

about a thousand german soldiers take part they're tasked with monitoring the french of peace treaty of twenty fifteen. cannot go outside the city. to kind of. chuck prince patrol inside the city. but would usually go oh say we need to post protection. it's the young people of timbuktu who are among the hardest hit alley niala used to work as a tour guide but now has a hard time making money the tourists simply aren't coming and he says the world has abandoned his city to look through the desert you know what used to living in the middle of that there's no enough to where you can even make a new route of timbuktu to from here to mock the you can do it if you know at least twenty four hours to do it. people here hope a fair election and

a result of people accept will give timbuktu the stability it desperately needs. all right thomas is said to win his first tour de france title after holding onto his lead through the penultimate stage thomas finished third in stage twenty's time trial but still leads the overall standings by just under two minutes traditionally the leader is not attacked during the final stage to say that means barring injury thomas will become the first welshman to win the tour on sunday. and formula one britain's lewis hamilton will start sunday's hungary and grand prix and pole position after finishing ahead of his mercedes teammate valtteri bottas in qualifying hamilton took advantage of what conditions at the hungover o.-ring to speed home in just over one minute thirty five seconds the victory puts him in a commanding position for sunday's main event as he looks to extend his seventeen point lead in the standings hamilton's title rivals sebastian fatso will start in

fourth place. and australia has made history by becoming the first woman to lead a team to victory in the clipper round the world yacht race skipper wendy talk and her serenity coast team won the two thousand and seventeen two thousand and eighteen edition the twelve identical yachts returned to liverpool england nearly a year after leaving for the race which covers forty thousand nautical miles talk edged out another team led by a woman twenty five year old british skipper nicky henderson's crew finished in second place. for people around the world spent half the night with their eyes on the skies getting their fill of the longest total lunar eclipse of the century the shadow of the earth through the moon and to darkness and turned it red mars also put in an appearance and its closest approach to earth in fifteen years. even if it was post bed time everyone came. telescopes in brunei let people

get a little bit closer to the moon. but just looking up to. those with cameras captured the heavenly body on film. in south africa people stopped in the streets. ready for the streets very little. future. for the folk get up to vote but. it was good. are treated right differently to. reground grown. ups is the definitive or different. in egypt outside the city if i were you i'm leaving the artificial lights behind was an effort making. we chose a place far from the city on purpose because the feather away from the city we get the clearer the skies. are good in brazil the beach in rio de janeiro was

a perfect spot to see the moon as well as most nearby. it's a beautiful very beautiful it was great being here and the moon was very beautiful more so with this telescope. it was bad luck for people in mumbai india six clouds left nothing much to see this is a very little gets of the longest eclipse of the century but. there's a very very thick local silvio will be very disappointed. no disappointment for people in greece there luna to live at a picture perfect performance. here in berlin hundreds of thousands of people have been taking part in the city's annual christopher street day parade it's one of europe's biggest game pride events but organizers say it's more than just a street party they call it a political demonstration calling for equal rights for all the event is named after

a new york street where people fought back against police harassment and brutality in one nine hundred sixty nine kickstarting the gay civil rights movement. and watching the news back at the top of the hour with more i'll be quite often in berlin thanks for joining us. iran. wants an isolated theocracy now a major power in the middle east. influence continues to grow politically economically.