this is deja vu news live from berlin u.s. lawmakers view what democrats are calling the troubling complaint to launch their congressional impeachment inquiry for the very 1st time members of congress have gained access to the whistleblowers report on president trump's conversation with his ukrainian counterpart now congress will assess if the president abused his power. and migrants packed into overcrowded refugee camps in libya d.w. made survivors who say they were kidnapped and tortured for ransom by the smugglers

they thought would bring them to europe. and in sports will meet the young and talented guy brown an 11 year old girl whose dreaming of skeet boarding glory at the top of the tokyo olympics. i bribed thomas great to have you with us u.s. lawmakers are reviewing a classified whistleblower complaint against president trump that's prompted an impeachment inquiry back complaint cites a phone call between trump and ukraine's president the white house has already released its memo of the call that has set off a firestorm in washington at issue the down from abuse of power by urging ukraine to open a criminal investigation into trump's political rival joe biden and his son. not for the 1st time on a typical day in new york donald trump was forced to defend his conversation with

ukraine's fellow to me as a lenski using a familiar line and the which aren't continues but they're getting hit hard in this which aren't because when they look at the information it's a joke. impeachment that i didn't do it you take a look at that call it was perfect i didn't do it there was no quid pro quo the allegation trump pressured selenski to look into dealings by his political rival joe biden and his son hunter trumpet hoped by releasing this memo of the call the problem would go away but phrases like do us a favor appear to back up the allegation there's no mention of military aid being dependent on an investigation trump discusses corruption crimes involving biden's son he says joe biden quote stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that the man who's unwittingly walked into a political storm had this to say for himself you sure that we had. i think

good phone call it was normal we spoke about many seeing such and they start so i think when you read is that nobody bullshit bush me yes no great. no pressure on selenski may be but the impeachment inquiry launched by democrats has put trump under the microscope. that tact is that the president of the united states. in preach at his constitutional responsibilities has asked a fine government to help him in his political campaign that cannot stand he will be held accountable no one is above the law. the democrats may now be throwing caution to the winds for trump it looks like business as usual as he tries to ride out the latest scandal. let's talk about this more now with heading reka is

a transatlantic relations specialist at the german council for foreign relations i so coming in this morning i loath one of our own we have 2 competing claims being made in washington the democrats saying the president abused his power with this phone call the president saying he was asking. look into corruption allegations for surrounding a vice president's son how do you assess these competing claims i think you should see both separately there might be issues to look at in the case of hunter biden whether it was illegal i don't think so but acting like this was at least not very sensitive because his father was vice president and he was of capitalizing on that but. the real issue is that the president pressed for and very dependent leda to help him in the domestic case against one of his opponents in the coming election and the front runner of the democrats and that is actually a mixing of like the private interests of donald trump and the interests of the

united states that is i think not appropriate and the need to be some investigation on that what it meant it's clear in the phone call he didn't say you won't get any money if you don't do this but when you when you read the very. like humble. and flattering tone that presidents and applied you understand how depending ukraine is on american aid ok and assistance and the that plays out here ok this touches on the issue of america's foreign relations of course with ukraine with its european allies are also working to bolster the ukrainian government of course on the front line with russia how do you see this political battle in the u.s. affecting america's relationship with his friends in europe. all in all it's unclear for the europeans how president trump stands towards russia the

administration has a very tough standing on russia trump is. as well willing in that regard. it is clear though that the europeans don't do enough in the larger context to secure their. allies in europe but also to help ukraine and this is the reason why not only ukraine but other central eastern european countries as well rather look for washington for brussels when it comes to the security and this symmetry is of course now helping helping trump and he's building up a position with eastern europe and he's also picking on the european allies who don't do enough he didn't use the leverage in the phone call and he knows john and there isn't doing anything which isn't quite true because older the negotiation for most of the sanctions we do on russia that's not nothing but. he's using that as live as a leverage if the other europeans were more more up to the task. could use

that ok we have time to talk about how america's adversaries in competitors of you just confrontation in washington would help them further their own goals america being wrapped up again with political issues like this. the point is that the impeachment process mights. undermined the president. even further losing credibility he might look like a lame duck in 2020 and that of course means that he is. in a more difficult position when it comes to press a for pressuring china he has to to like withdrawal from certain certain conflicts where he. might be sensible that american forces are on board so there is of course an opening that bursaries could use but all in all it is not clear yet whether this process actually helps the democrats to undermine the president or whether it helps trump to really support and called it

a witch hunt you see the narrative. already says look we didn't do anything wrong but what the democrats do that might actually help him to win the election 20 talk and we're at the beginning of that process kind of sorting it all out. from the german council on foreign relations thanks very much you're welcome. it's to britain our lawmakers are back to work after the country's highest court ruled parliament suspension was on lawful prime minister boris johnson had ordered that suspension earlier this month and on wednesday he returned to parliament and had to face some very angry m.p.'s. the speaker of the house of commons pretending to oversee m.p.'s many of whom were coiling with rage of the prime ministers a new full suspension of parliament's 1st prime minister to talk about the art imo rather curious like this right course johnson had to do all he could to be have this and this. was. i think they should this was business because

the prime minister dead the opposition to trigger an election accusing them of cowardice now. he's he's actually going to vote no coltrane's in this government is he going to doj a vote of no co-produce in the primaries. in order to escape the goodies over virtually no vote followed instead of cool for accountability the highest court in this land has found the prime minister broke school when he tried to. when he tried to shut down our democratic accountability at a crucial moment in our public life the prime minister should have done the only able thing and resigned. but there's no sign of that for now

the opposition is refusing to agree to an election and celebrex it to lace a kid made with johnson repeating his vow to take the u.k. out of the 31st with or without a deal parliament is locked in stalemates reasonable. just as for a few 1000 of the other stories making the news at this hour in hong kong preparations are under way for a public meeting between embattled leader kerry lamb and 150 members of the community the dialogue will address hong kong's political crisis ongoing now for 4 months but critics doubt that the beijing backed leader will change her stance and concede to protesters demands. all strong earthquake has struck the maluco islands and eastern indonesia killing at least one person person and damaging buildings the 6.5 magnitude tremor was centered northeast of the provincial capital . authorities have not issued a tsunami warning for the region. but there is

a soyuz rocket has docked with the international space station or after blasting off from the baikonur space center in kazakhstan among the new crew story from the united arab emirates is making history by becoming the 1st arab astronaut on the ice us. this is news still to come on our show women in the u.s. state of alabama are weeks away from losing access to an abortion of a last minute appeal against a new state ban on abortion battles. but 1st earlier this month the u.n. high commissioner for refugees issued a plea for countries worldwide to take in refugees stuck in libya now the agency described as migrant center tripoli is severely overcrowded but it is not the only camp libya is a major transit point for migrants who want to reach europe and as the found out from refugees some are being held prisoner and are being tortured by human traffickers and advisory our next report contains footage some may find distressing

. these images were recorded by refugees in different camps in libya they show appalling conditions human rights activists say the images are credible we came into direct contact with 2 refugees by a messaging services they've been interred in a libyan migrant camp for 2 years they talk to us by voice message we change their voices for their own protection. we've been tortured with scared we're suffering and dying from various diseases. we were kidnapped we became victims of violence we're starving people have died our lives are disgusting so we appeal for our voiceless voice to be heard. we are innocent refugees living in a land of hell. are. in using our we speak to refugees who went through this hell.

one of them is 18 years old we call her a mina she was kidnapped while fleeing from somalia and taken to a hidden building in the libyan desert many others die on the journey across the sahara i mean as kidnappers demanded $8000.00 for her release they tortured emina to increase the pressure at parents were forced to listen to it on the phone. the whole way. they changed me up hung me up and tortured me with electric shocks. they tortured men with electric shocks to their genitals and women and with shocks to their press pts until they cried and screamed loudly. they did it so they would get the money faster than how to stand. the torch a systematic many other refugees describe similar methods. about 1600 refugees live in this camp cells of the sahara. they were all rescued from

libya. this man from saddam doesn't want to reveal his true identity either and asks that we call him again he says when he was in prison he will sort the good. people came and bought us like slaves. and they said we let you work and you get money for us. but in the end you didn't give any money. they said you're a slave you're a black man they even woke us up in the middle of the not to torture us you go we'll look. these are horrific stories race here in from refugees inside this. area they've seen and experienced things they're going to have imagined before now here. on the 1st time that life's not easy here to all the hope for the great. many hope to reach europe. we managed to meet someone who profits from the refugees

suffering he calls himself of the occupation migrants model for $500.00 he brings my gran's across the sahara to libya but if they can't pay the driver sell them to torture chambers adela's use understands why they do that. one wasn't at the border they say i spent money on you what am i supposed to do i want my money back and i want to profit on top of that that was when i started torturing people. we often hear refugees say that they're not put off by stories like this the smugglers other only hope and they're prepared to pay any price even if it means risking their lives. mario one of the authors who put the report together is with us now in the stork studio good morning mario morning that was a very moving reports very disturbing 1st firsthand accounts that you found there are people being sold to extortionists who use torture. is there any way to tell

how common this is very difficult to say actually as i just saw the smuggler that we that we have met that we interviewed also in the report he says that sometimes refugees come to his drivers and say you know i don't have any money but i want to travel through this how does the libya i have a friend in libya who will pay for me but then they arrive there and there's no friend so the drivers search for other possibilities to get the money and so they sell them to the to these torture chambers and then they torture the mylan so that they get the ransom from their families back home. but also spoke to myron's told me well that's simply not true i've paid for my travel and i was i ended up in these torture chambers anyway ok what about international investigators getting into libya and looking into all of this i mean these are these are grievous tribes

really against the most vulnerable of people is there any push for police from any agency i'm talking about interpol for example to get into the camps well into now that doesn't happen no such thing as an international investigators getting into these torture chambers because they're all operating in the hit and nobody really knows where exactly they are of course are some known hops smuggle hops where you know ok there are some but there these are private homes sometimes underground so you don't. the refugees who escape from them they don't know where they where. but the international community is aware of the problem they know what's happening in there that they are also aware of what's happening in the libyan detention centers for example the united nations units the are actually are evacuating people from there to meet there but also to europe but there are some other detention centers where nobody's there so everything can happen to them and the reason they're united nations says we're not there is that. they say we don't have access to the

detention centers the government funded detention centers don't let us in but to talk to humanitarian workers from doctors without borders he said we have no problem and getting into these centers we don't know why the united nations are not there so it would be possible for international investigators for interpol for example to to follow the story run it down as he was happening with these extortionists well as i said it's very difficult to to to find them you know libya is a war torn country there's no you know structure of security so it's very difficult i think for for investigators to get any more yes or anyone to do that ok you know there's smugglers that are working the peace of people traffickers or the part of larger networks that these networks they start their work and the home countries of the refugees for example every trails we've done somalia and they've reached to libya or even to italy sometimes they work very professionally they hand over the

migrants at the borders they also viable gangs who kidnap migrants from one group to another but also talk to a guy who worked you know who did this job of transporting migrants through the truth through the sahara desert since decades he says it was a normal job before 2015 when the law was passed and the european union put pressure on the government of new share to close the border of course in order to prevent migration to europe so you can. say in some point the 1st european border to africa is now in the chair ok in human trafficking in smugglers as your next report you'll be looking into that for us as well looking forward yes thank you looking for to see that tomorrow thanks of a very much for coming in. and you can get more stories on migration at our website that stede of you dot com. it's to australia now that country's state of new south wales has voted to decriminalize abortion as the last state in australia to do so

in the u.s. it's a different story campaigners in the state of alabama have succeeded in passing the most restrictive abortion ban in the united states about a pastie anti abortion law in may supporters hope it's a sign of things to come throughout the country but opponents fear women will soon lose access to abortions in alabama. it's 5 am in montgomery alabama and already anti-abortion activists awaiting as the 1st women arrive at the clinic . near raven keeps an eye on what they're doing she manages a feminist community center next door it's her volunteers who escort women into the clinic. there's always anxiety as you never know what could happen you know what kind of things are going to happen on the sidewalk or even you know between patients and the protests. the patients here are terrified of what will happen if

they're recognized they know women and alabama have lost jobs because of abortion that scary and it's already in motion day out there yelling in talking and i can change what are you decided it's just insulting and just makes the day for. the last 3 abortion clinics could close here if pro-choice campaigners failed in their lawsuit aimed at blocking alabama's ban in may it passed restrictive abortion laws that effectively overturned the supreme court ruling that 1st legalized abortion it's to test drove the word but the ultimate goal of it is is to make and born children personage protected by law. lawyer eric johnson wrote alabama's bill he says there are no exceptions to his proposed ban not even in the case of rape so . we're making an argument that the unborn child is a person that america has conceived we would be inconsistent in

a really good organ so she women turned up at this abortion clinic today many were uncertain whether abortion was still possible here but the state law hasn't come into force yet but that doesn't mean the current rules at lax says the clinic sona june as says in fact they've got stricter over the years it's a war on women it's it is a marching for war on women's rights because they not only if they if they do this i see you know their abortion ban on birth control is going to. for now though is no sign that the standoff at the clinic will end soon on one side women seeking help on the other demonstrators determined to make their choice even tougher. we have some sports news now and the buttocks world championships begin in qatar friday its build up has been dominated by allegations of doping new technology means that urine samples from a decade ago can now be retested and positive results have meant unexpected metal

upgrades for a number of athletes. a delayed tribute for christina oberkfell 11 years after the beijing olympics the former javelin thrower has been awarded a silver medal she received her new prize possession at a small ceremony made up mostly of friends and family. her pony and in 2008 russia's maria. was stripped of her silver medal off to retesting of old urine samples or bug fools bronze was given an upgrade that's known to have it wasn't a financial reward which would have been bigger back then cannot be recovered it now has symbolic value which is great. i'm so glad that this has happened after so many years and hopefully it's also a small deterrent for athletes that are still cheating you know. as new methods are used to test old doping samples which are kept up to 10 years after competitions

more athletes are belatedly receiving recognition form a hammer thrower betty hi-lo her swapped her 2012 olympics bronze medal for silver and x. shot put in a dean klein it has had results from international competitions upgraded more than 15 times for administrators the improved detection methods are an important tool in the fight against doping. when we hear this. if we want to improve sports particularly concerning equal opportunities justice and fair play in sporting competitions then there is no alternative to fine mesh control systems. the statement. previously the medal was just simply sent in the mail but the late ceremony for christina oberkfell at least goes some way to making up for her missing the real thing. state boarding will be making its debut as an olympic event in tokyo next summer and one athlete hoping to make history skye brown an 11 year

old british skateboarding prodigy is on track to become the youngest female to compete at the summer olympics and half a century. the sky is the limit for sky brown unlike most pre-teens brown is already an accomplished surfer a t.v. dancing champion and the youngest nike sponsored athlete in the world recently winning a bronze medal from the world skateboarding championships browne's gotten one step closer to her goal making great britain skateboarding team for tokyo 2020 born to a british father and a japanese mother the 11 year old splits her time between southern california and japan we weren't there until. it was to our surprise share. thanks for writing social she said but there's no pressure. as though as

i really. like the programme for if brown qualifies it be more history made by this wunderkind she'll be 12 years in 12 days old when the games begin in july 2020 which would make her think youngest female summer olympian since puerto rican swimmer lee out of the sense in 1968 unlike many other olympic sports skateboarding does not have an age requirement for its athletes. let's get you a quick reminder of our top story this hour u.s. lawmakers are reviewing a classified whistleblower complaint those prompted an impeachment inquiry into president trump congress is investigating whether the president pressed the leader of ukraine for damaging information on political rival joe biden. this is the interview news live from berlin up next the conflict zone it features sam brownback u.s. ambassador for international religious freedom for me brian thomas an entire news

team thanks so much for being here we'll see you again at the top of the hour.

enjoy the conflict zone. confronting the powerful. donald sterling may not be known as a champion of human rights for those one in particular who scored his attention the lights of wishes phrases like this this week his son run by ambassador wilson's emotional religious freedom is donald shown trying to hijack luge and some political purposes conflict so for. the full details free.

farmland has been called ethiopia's green gold the country has an abundant supply and leases it to international paper for giants the government is after high export revenues and the corporations high profit margins but not everyone benefits from the coming business the selling out of a country dead donkeys no hi guys you know 45 minutes on d w. the fall of the berlin wall began long before november 989. using the heroes of eastern europe we talked to those who began the struggle for freedom those who showed personal courage told them no good but most boys go no telephone corporal

morse code that you know you've been in the courtroom we have would go off the wall didn't surprise me i saw it coming 10 years before the flood sure and now somebody . what does it take to change the course of history. raising the iron curtain starts september 30th on d w. we're not a perfect country and we don't claim to be going to see less terrorism if you have more religious freedom of him you know the country that pushes religious. freedom or the united states does who has ever held a ministerial on religious freedom before this one has anybody donald trump may not be known as a champion of human rights but there's one in particular that's caught his attention the right to worship free my guest this week here in washington you sound brownback ambassador for international religious freedom is donald trump trying to hijack religion for political purposes.