this is d. w. news coming to you live from berlin zimbabwe and some voting in the first elections to take place since the removal of former president robert mugabe last year polling stations have opened the high turnout is expected we'll take you live to the capital harare but also coming up eight people have died in blazes across california and forecasters are warning of yet more hot and dry conditions after an unknown usually early start of the state's piracies and. then go right into the tallest seals victory in the tour de falls becoming the first welshman to win one

of cycling's grand tours we'll bring you the highlights from the final state. hello i'm terry martin thanks for joining us people in zimbabwe are boating in landmark elections is the first time in nearly four decades that the name robert mugabe is absent from the ballot paper the authoritarian former president resigned after pressure from the military last year there are long lines at polling stations as zimbabweans turn out in large numbers to vote the tight race is expected between the two presidential front runners they are mugabe's successor president ever something many god love from the center p.f. party scene voting here and opposition leader nelson show me some a lawyer and pastor after casting their votes most candidates expressed. hope for

a democratic and peaceful election there's no doubt. if they have been appropriate to run a genuine and not to bust a die or a fake one victory said and for the people that people have spoken the people are speaking and it's clear that the vote is a vote for victory of one for freedom i vote for democracy everywhere and i'm a bit. duplicitous will become really was p.c. for me what to do is. moved out of that and the presence of the. it will present. now this landmark election comes just months after a long time leader robert mugabe was ousted by the army mugabe resurfaced on the eve of the election he declared he would vote for opposition leader nelson rather than his former party zenu p.f. but he did encourage zimbabweans to accept the election result regardless of which

party emerges victorious many people hope that the elections will bring a long overdue change to zimbabwe which is suffering from high unemployment and an economy and meltdown d.w. correspondence melanie and increase she sent us this report from harare. and tending our granny without. effort that is something quite extraordinary campaign events like this one organized by the opposition m.d.c. party used to be extremely dangerous brutal crackdowns by the government was commonplace that was would you know. i was beaten up and had to spend three months in hospital i was bedridden and could only eat porridge my back was badly injured and i thought i would never be able to become a father but by god's grace i recovered. because i know. now many are hoping for a fresh start with

a new president the preacher and lawyer nelson chamisa. i was there. was a what it was a lot this is no woman who didn't know what was up. to the past is never far behind in zimbabwe the country's economy has collapsed down by high unemployment hyperinflation and been informed that the legacy of thirty eight years of rule by the party. now is to have them in a tree having now ousted president robert mugabe. and i am not from mom and god why then take over and now at seventy five years old he wants to continue running the country. although he is a former vice president and was part of the very system that brought the country to

the brink of collapse when god promises a break from the book of iraq and news and bob way just like his opponents he likes to portray himself as an advocate for change. tearing his short time in office has opened his country up to foreign investment and planted seeds. great freedom. after. change of heart of the governor and the president he nodded to some positive developments no. time in his life he doesn't have to hide his red opposition shot on the way home to ronnie he can wear it with pride and without fear.

let's go live now to d.w. seder increase troops standing by in the zimbabwean capital harare this is a historic day for zimbabweans what's happening where you are right now. well as you can see behind me it's not that busy anymore as it used to be a few hours ago because most people apparently already voted so many came out as early as four am to start queuing so they would be able to cast their votes in the early morning but just thirty minutes ago with the place where we are right now robert mugabe came to cast his vote the former president who's been running the country for thirty seven years and he came here with a huge crowd of supporters who will bring him here they were cheering for him he walked into the to the room where he could cast his vote took him almost ten minutes to do this do so and then he walked out again and what was interesting people were not only celebrating him the people who were coming with him but they were also shouting songs and a chance for the opposition party for the major opposition party you remember

mugabe had surprisingly called yesterday for his supporters to rather vote for them and not vote for the governing party of the very party that he found it. robert mugabe used to rules in bombay with an iron fist a grin now he's out of power in the ordinary voter himself you just described him. remind us what elections looked like when robert mugabe was still in power. well the way elections under mugabe you always won them and they were always cases of very serious votes intimidations we're talking about violence here people were forced to vote for the governing party the opposition had no chance to campaign freely we've heard it before they were attacked specially in the rural areas this is the first time that those things are not happening i just talked to one young lady who came and she was very happy she said this is an historic day for our country because for the first time i'm coming here and i'm not afraid of any intimidation. understand the opposition are claiming attempts were being made to

interfere with today's vote what more can you tell us about. what we just got the reports that that the opposition candidate said that there were attempts to frustrate his voters especially in those areas that are struggles off the opposition has been very clear and what he means and what we heard so far from election observers there is no reports coming in of any serious cases but we can't say anything we can conclude about that right now because the elections are still ongoing and we have to wait for more information coming in especially also from the rural areas those are the ones where we have been seeing serious issues in the past we're also hearing everything that the zimbabwe electoral commission is saying that two candidates might have violated the law by campaigning after they're caught all time. which candidates could they be could they could that they be the main candidates and what could that mean for these elections. those are very likely the

main candidates and i'll tell you what happened yesterday ex-president mugabe came out it's to make a statement to the press and yesterday was the day when none of the parties was actually allowed to go out and campaign anymore but after mugabe made his statements endorsing the opposition party both of them reacted to the opposition candidate said well he's free to do so but i will not let him be part of any party or into free into a party politics while the president. said well if you're going out now and you're voting for the opposition you basically vote for mugabe and these things of course might have affected some of the voters who were not decided yet and this is exactly what the electoral commission is criticizing a group thinks. are increased there in harare. emergency services in the u.s. are battling wildfires in northern california that killed eight people and destroyed thousands of acres of land tinder dry conditions and very hot temperatures and calls almost twenty wildfires to ignite one of the worst affected

regions is the area around reading city and shasta county police there have confirmed the pirates killed two young children and their great grandmother. neighborhoods reduced to ash and rubble the smell of char still hanging in the air some families in this northern california community had only fifteen minutes to flee. so we just took off and i don't remember exactly what they called it it's almost like a tornado with fire in it and it came over the hill and. it wiped out our house and wiped out our next door neighbor's home. firefighters and emergency personnel have been working around the clock to alert residents before the wildfires reached them in shasta county some thirty eight thousand people have been evacuated so far. but with firefighters struggling to contain the fast moving flames the local fire department cautions that it could be

a while before people can return home we understand how how that feels a lot of us are evacuated as well we want to get you back in and help this community come back together so just know and be patient with us that we are clearing areas and making it safe for you to go home as fast as we can. as officials hope for the best weather forecasters warn it could get even worse the dangerous ongoing heat wave promises more hot and dry conditions that could further feed the flames. let's take a look now at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today well asia's government says it cannot determine with any certainty why flight m h three seventy mysteriously disappeared its official report says the pilot and first officer were well rested and showed no evidence of anxiety or stress malaysian airlines plane carrying two hundred thirty nine people disappeared over the indian ocean in two thousand and fourteen some wreckage has been located but where the

plane came down is still unclear. india has effectively stripped citizenship from four million people in the world eastern state of asop officials say they will be given another chance to produce documents proving their citizenship but if they cannot they could face deportation india claims it wants to root out illegal migrants from neighboring bangladesh but critics say the list is an excuse to target muslim population. and the party of cambodian prime minister's son when sen rather says it has won a landslide victory in disputed elections it claims to have won all the seats in parliament official results will be out next month but rights groups are calling the election a sham after the main opposition party was. prime minister hun sen is the world's longest serving lead. the editor of the new york times says he's met with the

u.s. president or third salutes burka says he told us president don't try to stop labeling journalists enemies of the people because it's putting their lives at risk from denies that he says the press is putting public safety at risk by reporting on the interim government to face. spain has overtaken italy is the most popular destination for migrants crossing from africa after rome put a halt to rescue ships landing at its ports earlier this year according to the international organization for migration almost twenty thousand migrants have arrived in spain so far this year the increase in numbers has put a strain on spain's migration reception facilities. bangs cars caught on the way on the strength of gibraltar over the past few days it's pulled hundreds of migrants from the walshes. since easily began refusing entry to refugee bartz more

and more people have been braving the journey from spain to morocco. spain's interior minister visited rescuers in the country's south on sunday he wants more help from the e.u. . faces a european problem and that's why we need a european solution it's not too much to expect this is something that all too painful same published the previous government mismanaged. the minister says pain has the situation under control but he also announced it will open a new reception center for migrants madrid is preparing for a further increase in the number of migrants crossing from north africa. and the currently we are preparing an emergency plan with budgeted another thirty million euros in assistance that they wish. some fifty thousand migrants are reported to be waiting to head to spying from morocco like these

recent arrivals they want a new life in europe or past a person. spanish dictator francisco franco died four decades ago but his final resting place is still the subject of heated debate in spain his remains are kept in a giant muslim north a mature it known as the valley of the fall and but the site doesn't just pay homage to the former fascist leader it also serves as the tomb of nearly thirty four thousand people fighters who died in the one nine hundred thirty s. on both sides of the spanish civil war now spain's new socialist government wants to exuma general franco's body out of respect for those who died fighting his dictatorship no one knows when this will happen officials have not yet announced a date a reporter norman's three goal traveled to the site neighborhood to meet spaniards in favor of and against franco's and turman he sent us this report.

thousands of come to the valley of the fallen to protest the new government's decision day here to honor the dictator's memory they chant long live spain and franco franco. some are carrying the flag of spain under franco and giving fascist salutes others the more restrained they fear the digging up franco might reopen old wounds it's not going to stop with the new government is bringing on brands to asses scientific instead of solving real problems the problems facing people who are out of work or retired they just stirring up the dust or whatever that. were in the twenty first century and all of these things should be forgotten. dr sylvia navarro cannot forget for her a visit to the family of the fall and reawakens painful memories the remains of more than thirty thousand people killed in the spanish civil war buried here in mass graves one of them as their great uncle. but i mean we need our.

say on this whenever i come here i can't sleep the night before. there as i find it very upsetting. navarro's uncle lies in an unmarked grave while franco is buried in a prominent term inside the monuments church but spain socialist government plans to exude franco's remains that's a positive first step sylvia says. for now frankel your study in the moving franco is important for our democratic culture. but for me it would also be important to remove our relatives from here. that after all the history and the origin of this monument is anything but democratic. then look at the. don't touch the valley this is the t. shirt i could tell this once franco and the album is remember to. at what's known

as the valley of the fallen out of out franco supporter she's all the noise in protests against his ex imation. now the one moment before no one has ever built such an enormous monument they're also almost the enemy i mean the dead opponents i don't want any where would you ever find more reconciliation than that. if. the social anthropology just francisco founder's served on a commission that explored ways for spain to confront its painful past he backs the plan to move franco's remains but i mean this is one of the most important monuments of totalitarian architecture in europe that's exactly how it should be presented it's essential as mannish society and will strengthen our democracy and the market it's unacceptable that a dictator is on it in a percentage that was financed with public money. the relatives of the victims like

sylvia navarro franco's removal can't come soon enough only this can give spain a fresh start she says and she believes spain will only find peace when families can reclaim their loved ones remains. after three tough weeks on the road a friend's sick daring thomas is the new tour de france champion thomas only needed to complete the final stage to ensure victory and secure his maiden tour title he becomes the sixth team sky rider in seven years to win road cycling's top competition. champagne all round for team sky the end of a triumphant somewhat affronts just like in the last three years what's changed though is that when he himself right thomas i'm likely here at the welshman secured his first ever told win after completing the rights of paris on sunday it's customary that the race leader is never challenged on the final stage meaning he

could enjoy himself but competition remains if someone misprints is an exotic place stuff taking the final stage when on the shelves these days. but only eyes were on thomas as he crossed the finish line. joining him on the podium was teammate chris froome the defending champion having finished third. but thomas picturing it was a dream come true you are going to like them because of this race i remember going home from school to watch the ends of that so the trance in the dream was always just to be. the let's talk. so another emphatic win for team sky thanks to the unlikeliest the champions. twenty kite boards have fans at both ends to allow the riders to do spectacular tricks in spain and race in two directions the world championships in this discipline went down to the wire in december italy at the weekend home favorites sophia thomas on the who had been

playing catch up since day one seized the title in a nerve racking final race to win the women's event and germany's florian gruber continued to dominate the men's competition winning his third consecutive title in southern italy. wall street worries from friday are spreading across global markets today guys. that's right and that's despite the u.s. probably publishing solid growth figures but this us economy may be peaking stock exchanges in tokyo shanghai and solar broadly posting declines with european markets following the u.s. lead analysts are skeptical that the record four point one percent g.d.p. growth in the u.s. is sustainable consumer spending and a surge in soybean exports were the main drivers of that surge in quarterly growth companies in china and the e.u. stockpile then ventre is the mid trade war it is. now shed some light on these

developments talk to cast brush he's the chief economist at g. db and joins us now from frankfurt caused those u.s. figures don't seem to impress anyone has u.s. growth really peaked. you know out of the in or not really i think the u.s. can still benefit from the from the tax cuts we got under under president trump and also from the still are out of you know interest rates so i think for two thousand and eighteen the growth picture looks extremely promising for the u.s. economy two thousand and two you might be a different story because then we will see that the stronger dollar the higher interest rates will probably start to bite and to dent that bit of the recovery well is it really all downhill from here are people just really deliberately trying to talk down a strong u.s. economy. think it's more as we we have a very long and positive cycle in the u.s. economy but similar to what we see in in germany almost ten years of continued growth and then obviously it is much easier to predict the next slowdown than

predicting a endless continuation of the current recovery i think there is a bit of talking down the entire story but still don't forget we have the the ongoing trade war we have a relatively strong u.s. dollar we have a central bank which has continuously increased or interest rates we have the tax reforms that mr trump which will peter out next year so there are lots of ingredients in place to say that yes two thousand and nineteen will see a slowdown of the u.s. economy but clearly not a recession. what can we expect from the fed this week. no no action strong words probably also strong words on their intent so that they will that they will give the clear message to financial markets that they are still planning to hike interest rates twice for the until the end of the year i think that we also get a bit of a warning that we had already couple of weeks ago by mr powell namely that

a trade war would it would be harmful to all of us especially the u.s. economy are you confident that a trade war especially between europe and the u.s. has been averted now after the meeting all of you from plausibly on this the no i think especially when it comes to trade we have so much we've heard so many erratic statements coming out of the white house coming out of the u.s. so that i think we have to be extremely cautious it looks much better right now than then we could go but i think we need to be extremely cautious because there is no deal there is no agreement so i'm pretty cautious just mostly them thank you very much. but if a tat war of ties between the us and china is now going to hit the bottom line as b.m.w. the german car maker has been forced to raise prices on its u.v. sold in china it's because b.m.w.

assembles their seabees in the us factory in spartanburg prices on those vehicles will go up by seven percent that's due to the high tariffs that china is imposing on u.s. products since the beginning of july when a factor of more than one hundred thousand vehicles in its u.s. factory last year which were exported to china. one of germany's warmest summers in decades is forcing ventless to harvest their grapes earlier than ever before they'll begin picking on the sixth of august previous record years were two thousand and seven two thousand eleven and two thousand and fourteen back then picking began two days later than this year's get you that the german wine institute says this is the earliest of it has ever measurements taken in the region over a series of decades shows that temperatures have risen every year since one thousand eight hundred. and while german one produces can adapt to make the best of the hot summer german pharma say the lack of rainfall in the northern and eastern parts of

the country is threatening their livelihoods now they're asking for government help to the tune of one billion euros to make up for lost crops. an unseasonably warm and dry spring has sped up and thinned out the grain harvest last year's yield was already down from the five year average this year's is expected to be even lower farmers have been pushing for direct payments for weeks. you know and wendy i also see the urgency for example with the government here in brandenburg first issues to consider calling for an emergency declaration so the farmers can receive direct assistance. going and. group feed says the one billion euros would help operations with more than thirty percent losses from last year he suggested some farmers could even see fifty to seventy percent losses a threat to their very existence on tuesday will appeal to german agricultural minister yulia kirchner seen here at the g.

twenty sure port to the german cabinet the following day signal has already said she's concerned about farmers in the north and east. but not everyone believes financial help is the answer the agricultural policy representative for the social democrats argues that aiding farmers would set a bad precedent for other businesses. and that's all your business is a reminder of the top stories we're following for you here on news going to the polls and landmark elections in zimbabwe these are the first elections to be held since fourmile nieto robert mugabe was deposed by the army last. century updates you're watching t.v. news from more coming out of top of the our heads of all the heads to the information around the clock on the website that's d.w. dot com.

expresses an interview of african art tonight's identity culture and. the story. would most small gatherings. special ops twenty one african and.

the new audi a one is a small compact with you. can be. absolute. no fall is a little compact with great challenge. to calm still fun to. drive . sixty minutes d.w. . iran. wants an isolated theocracy now a major power in the middle east. airlines influence continues to grow politically economically and above all militarily. does

iran truly want peace. the countries of homes out of their towns to isolate. iran from theocracy the current stance of aug fifth on g.w. . welcome to a special edition of art's twenty one. artists from africa are setting the agenda for a continent on the move this is important for alfred to. use africa through a lot of music through a new generation of africans were more interested in the future this guy is. nigeria walk only. the first leg of our african journey takes us by bus.