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 the both be free and fair we'll get the latest from harare also coming on. forest fires raging across the northern hemisphere amid the record hot summer in northern california firefighters are struggling to contain an inferno that is engulfing forests destroying homes and threatening lives. and people all

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 wayne's prepare to head to the polls they'll be casting their vote for a leader 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 meninga is running in a tight race against opposition leader nelson comings up and both sides are pushing for every vote before the polls open. as zimbabwe'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 his 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 that's not 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 eighty nine down my president. may. ease off there is simple revive the economy tackle on employment 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 shimmies.

with stuff like the. badly burned gays who are bank a class ya we didn't go food he was charging i love going to israel 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. the corresponding entering krishna's in harare and sent this update as campaigning wraps up. without a doubt that we could see the freest and fairest elections in the history of the

country for the first time since two thousand and two the european union was allowed to send election up service also the opposition was allowed to campaign even in rural areas that's despite all these signs of optimism there's also reason for concern will the opposition really accept the results in case the president wins and how will the powerful military react if there indeed will be a change of power. and people in mali go to the polls to elect a president on sunday while the midst of a security crisis voters in the west african country have been badly hit by violence from islamist militants to our accept protests drug traffickers and ethnic major land president abraham. is seeking a second five year term and seems likely to get it the former finance minister some say is challenging him and could push the president to a runoff extreme summer temperatures in many parts of the northern hemisphere have

left firefighters battling massive blazes in the united states to firefighters have died after struggling to bring 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. wow. it's a vision of hell fires swirling at high speed this is reading california at night wildfires raging through the forests and into the suburbs at incredible speed. and this is what they left behind hundreds of homes turned to char and rubble devastation for homeowners. two firefighters have already been killed whilst tackling the flames in california it's an uphill battle. only five percent of the blaze is under control so far current conditions high temperatures and wind are

going nowhere. so we need experienced more and more damaging wildfires more fires that ignite rapidly it's like throwing gas in the warm these type of fires they wrap them they they spread so fast california is used to fires. but over in europe sweden isn't huge places broke out even as far as the arctic north of thirty one conditions could get a lot worse and then. high winds may cause the fires to spread and the thunder is likely to start new fires have also we are still on high alert and ready to fight for any new fires hawg from this craft for them to renew your bet on those. sweden's neighbors have been coming to the support sending people and planes planes sweden has never needed in the past but swedish officials say some of those international volunteers may have to be pulled out so great are the risks elsewhere

in europe like california and europe is facing an unprecedented fire season and firefighters are at their limits. and in greece they'll begin burying the victims of a devastating wildfire near athens this weekend at least eighty eight people lost their lives in infernos being called some of the deadliest europe has seen in decades and the government's handling of the disaster is causing great anger charlotte chiles and pale is in greece and has this report. just yet this is the place the nothis once called home he and his wife lived here on the second fuel now blackened and burned forever scarred by this tragedy he's now joined the growing chorus of voices angered at thirty's to not doing enough to limit the scale of this design could have human level that of the effort of yes no one cared 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 especially. 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 see so many who lived in land once. enough this is house is one of many buildings built illegally along the waterfront on the night of the fire was buildings like these that blocked the route the people desperately trying to flee to the safety of the city walls like this one made access even harder essentially leaving people trapped in lands to bed to the depths if they did then manage to reach the corridos 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 him. people here 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 so nothis is lucky his house is still habitable almost as the inspectors say they're doing all they can to help residents like him try and rebuild their lives the kind of dog that up 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 we're with them all of us just have a vision to bring the country back to his feet just like alexis our prime minister has so much as most people get to. the floors and so messes 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 so now to 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 in the united states this follows allegations of sexual abuse including a case involving an eleven year old boy francis has ordered kerik to remain in seclusion and in prayer until a church trial is held. oh 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 the center in jalalabad when the extremists attacked witnesses heard gunfire and several blasts no group has yet claimed responsibility. tens of thousands of russians have protested against plans to hike the retirement age rallies organized by trade unions and the communist party mobilized people in over a dozen cities across the country president vladimir putin had previously vowed not to raise the age before russians could collect their state pension which hasn't

changed since the stalin years. thomas is set to win his first tour de france title after holding on to 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 this day 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 in pole position after finishing ahead of his mercedes team . in qualifying hamilton circumvented the wet conditions of the ring in his speed hold in just over one minute thirty five seconds to victory puts him in a commanding position for sunday's major event if you look sweet stand seventeen point lead in the standings hamilton's title rivals the bachchan that will start in

fourth place. just really and 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. people around the world spent half the night with their eyes on the skies getting their fill of the longest total owner eclipse of the century the shadow of the earth through the moon into darkness and turned it red mars also put in an appearance and its closest approach to earth and fifteen years. even if it was past bedtime everyone came. telescopes improved night let

people get that little bit closer to the moon. pick just looking up to. those with cameras captured the heavenly body on film. in south africa people stopped in the streets reading with a very long list. so it's a bit up to about what. the book could. trigger it looks very different today reground ground. zero it's just a different different different. in egypt outside the city if i you i'm leaving the artificial lights behind was an effort worth making. them and i'm not certain when we chose a place far from the city on purpose because the feather away from the city we get the clearer the skies. in brazil the beach in rio de janeiro was

a perfect spot to see the moon as well as months nearby. it's beautiful very beautiful it was great being here in the moon was very beautiful more so with this telescope. it was bad luck for people in mumbai india thick clouds left nothing much to see this is a very long it's of the longest eclipse of the century but. monsoon season and how much on the beach at the time they have there is a very very thick local sylvia all very very disappointed. no disappointment for people. increase the there you know to live at a picture perfect to film and. 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 gay pride events 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 gay and trans people fought back against police harassment and brutality in one nine hundred sixty nine kickstarting the l g b t rights movement around the world. are watching the news i'm not a member thanks for joining us. where i come from we have to fight for a free press and was born and raised in a military dictatorship with just one t.v. shadow and if you newspapers with official information as attorneys i have worked on the streets of many characters on that wall those are always the same forward to the social inequality that to the freedom of the press and corruption weak on the fourth just a science.