this is due to every news coming to live from berlin cambodia prepares to go to the polls but the result is already a foregone conclusion of the banning the main opposition parties prime minister hun sen looks set to secure another drummer in office the only real choice voters have is to vote for him or not vote at all also coming up forest fires raging across the northern hemisphere amid the record hot summer in the united states firefighters are struggling to contain and for no that is engulfing forest and storing homes and

threatening lives. and here in berlin thousands turned out for one of europe's biggest day pride gatherings christopher street day. long welcome to the show my name sara harmon it's good to have you with. voters in cambodia are going to the polls on sunday but while there are many different names on the ballot they don't really have a choice after dissolving all the main opposition parties there's no one left to seriously challenge prime minister hun sen he looks set to extend his grip on power which is already lasted more than three decades. cambodia's ruling party has been bringing out the crowds ahead of sunday's election. wherever you go it's difficult not to bump into this man who can send the prime minister and

front runner in the election representing the cambodian people's party or c.p.p. he knows how to work his supporters at this rally and he can also afford to feel relaxed now he faces almost no challenge to extending his thirty three years in power he survived a commuter rouge pushed the country's rural to his side and was able to eliminate his biggest competitor the rival c.n.r. p party because of that and a crackdown on media critics called the election a sham. consignees very afraid. keys brady he's prepared to do anything. to cling to power so he doesn't hesitate to suppress. arrives this will be cambodia six the election since one thousand nine hundred three after decades of war and one cent has made it clear that he wants a big turnout a poor one could be seen as support for the banned opposition party so who in

senate has urged employers to encourage their employees to vote. for anyone who opposes elections destroys the nation and democracy and should not be forgiven. with one cent lacking a serious challenger he seems assured of his seventh straight election as prime minister further securing his name in the history books. extremes are temperatures and many parts the northern hemisphere of last fire fires battling massive places and the united states at least five people have died an inferno is raging through northern california police say over a dozen people in the city of reading are unaccounted for and fires still haven't been contained. 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 tend to char and rubble devastation for homeowners. to 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 every single person that i've talked to so far has made the mention that i don't know why it's doing what it's doing it's burning differently it's burning more aggressive. than it has in years past and i know we say that every year but it's unprecedented california is used to fires. but over in europe sweden isn't this summer huge places broke out even as far as the arctic

north authorities warn conditions could get a lot worse in them winds could cause the fires to spread and lightning is likely to start new fires for so we are still on high alert and ready to fight any new blazes whole hog for them to renew your bet on those. sweden's neighbors have been coming to this 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 other risks elsewhere in europe like california and europe is facing an unprecedented fire season and firefighters are at their limits . here's a look now at 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 as follows allegations of sexual abuse against the cardinal including the case involved an eleven year old boy francis has ordered mccarthy to remain in seclusion and in prayer until the

church trial is held. or as president marching of his car has announced a referendum on planned political and judicial reforms aimed at stamping out corruption reforms include cutting private election funding and introducing a second chamber in congress comes after a phone conversation emerged that appeared to show judges trading favors with businessmen and lawmakers. tens of thousands of russians of protest against plans to hike the country's retirement age rallies organized by trade unions and the communist party mobilize people in over a dozen cities across the country many russians have voice their anger over the fact that this new or tyrant age of sixty five is the same as the life expectancy for russian that. well as people in zimbabwe 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 alstad from power last year current president emerson 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 of 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 e.d. that's not that easy i've come voluntarily to support my president. but i want to assure him that i've got your vote come monday after my ex and eating

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. 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 buying. blood ya we can go food he was chanting i love going to israel because of mine for. everything they're acknowledged. 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 sept. here in berlin thousands gathered for the city's annual christopher street day parade this year was the fortieth time event has been held in the city it's one of europe's biggest gay pride events but it ended early this year organizers canceled some parts of the evening to storm warnings in the german capital. but guys that has been at almost every christopher street day parade he's one of the pioneers of the movement. if you could do it i'm always excited as i was the first time the excitement doesn't stop me. he helped

organize the first event held in one nine hundred seventy nine when nearly five hundred people in west berlin demonstrated for equal rights at the same time public opinion was hostile towards them. but then i found that we got some positive reactions and that was very relieving for me that he gave me courage if. christopher street day is not just a street party it's also political the fight for equal rights and acceptance in germany is far from over campaigners what the constitution amended to protect against discrimination based on sexual identity there are also calls for better education anti gay insults are still widespread in german schools. is intact epaminondas we're not there yet not that there's still a lot of injustice we have to deal with and i think this is a wonderful way of doing that and not about us as going out in developing a show who you are is going to be public and so on people shouldn't like i hate when this is about freedom and not having to hide him or you can be yourself. crime

statistics however show that being yourself can be dangerous in berlin alone there were three hundred twenty four confirmed homophobic attacks last year young reported number will be significantly higher up and going to and tens of thousands of others the fight for justice continues. on the tour de france is coming to a close and it appears we have a new winner here to tell us more about that is the cambridge from good obvious force us ed good to have you in the studio we're still at a stage left to go but it looks like we already know who's going to take it tell us what's going on so it was the second to last stage of course and a final opportunity today for the chasing pack to try and usurp the right thomas at the top of that lee. aboard as any good at all family tell you it's customary at the top of france very strangely that the race leader is never challenged on the final day so all we have to do today was maintain his lead of a second place tom and do milan and as we're about to see the welshman held is no.

the moment current thomas has dreamed of the tour de france title is as good as his thomas produced another excellent display in the penultimate stage he finished the time trial in third place and crucially retained a lead of almost two minutes in the general classification. to do on the biggest stage of all. over three weeks. since a. time trial world champions home to milan won the stage an outcome that keeps the dutchman in second place overall. he finished narrowly ahead of chris froome the four time tour de france champion has had a difficult few weeks but will at least end up on the podium in paris but barring a disaster it's his team sky colleague thomas who will take his crown as the holder of road cycling's most prestigious title. so

thomas looking set for victory there he's competed before but we've never really heard his name in contention to win what do you do right this year where he's always been more of a supporting cyclist that's been his role the team's guys he's played an important role as chris froome has claimed tour de france titles over the past few years his highest ever finish in the past was fifteenth so for many it's a bit of a shock that he's done so well this year but there were signs there for instance in last year's tour he was in second place before he fell off his bike broke his collarbone so although we didn't have the luck last year there was clearly pedigree there and some cycling fans could have expected a good performance from again this year and he also didn't take part in the chiro which is the big italians which happens just before the tour de france all the other cyclists did chris froome for example and it takes a lot out of you. possibly a lot more fresh than the other competitors well and it went right for him and he had a great is a great run all right breast is important to him sky set for its six the win in seven years but they've had

a controversial tour haven't they they have chris froome. the defending champion he's been spotted he's been booed he's actually had physical altercations with fans on the mountainside a lot of people aren't happy with him taking pole he was involved in a big doping allegation and obviously in the cycling is the last poll in which you want to be basically you know accused of doping so he's very bad on his record he was cleared of the allegations but people still aren't happy to see him taking part now away from the cyclists the team manager dave brailsford he had to apologize as well for basically saying the spitting that was happening was all part of french culture so he wasn't very happy of course i mean so it's a french people so it's a great victory again for skype but there have been a few setbacks along the way all right a bit of drama at the tour de france it wouldn't be the same without it that is ed thank you very much for being with us today. almost come to the end of our program and don't forget you can always get your news on the go by downloading our app from

google play or the apple store you'll get access to all the latest news from around the world and be sure to sign up or push notifications so you don't miss any breaking news you can even use the d.w.m. to send us your photos and video. right there i'm sarah harman i'll see you again at the top of the hour from your life and. his doings. sometimes you just have to pump up the volume. on the big guy.