this is d.w. news live from berlin the european parliament declares a climate emergency e.u. lawmakers pile the pressure on incoming commission president ursula from the lion to keep her word to make the bloc climate neutral by 2050 also on the program. china condemned the united states for meddling in its domestic affairs after president trump signs a bill supporting hong kong pro-democracy activists beijing promises firm countermeasures. and it was the worst british passport in tragedy in britain the

police chief accused of being responsible for the deaths of $95.00 local football fans in the 1989 hillsborough disaster is cleared of manslaughter. hello i'm told me all logical welcome to the program the european parliament has declared a climate emergency the resolution was passed with a clear majority in strasbourg lawmakers hope the move will send a powerful signal to the un climate summit which starts in madrid next week they also aim to put pressure on the incoming e.u. executive to take a leading role in the global fight against climate change. corresponding dog matters told us that while the climate resolution passed it was. not unanimous

there were some concerns that it could be a sign of panic and that is why. a number of conservative m.p.'s in particular voted against this motion but overall a lot of support for the idea to say it's not just an urgency it is an emergency that is taking place regarding the climate and so europe has become the 1st continent to declare that state of emergency. from wildfires to floods hurricanes to parts river beds scientists say climate change is making itself felt ever more urgently around the world the polar ice caps already melting and raising sea levels . beautiful but endangered greenland ice sheet is melting at record speed raising sea levels across the world global warming could redraw the world map as we know it. when i was a boy there was

a lot of ice. 10 months years sometimes you hear them a. lot in recent years there only 4 to 5 months. in october everything used to be locked in ice but now only in december not before. scientists are on a mission to predict just how much sea levels will rise globally. if it happens at a rate where we're looking at 80 feet of sea level rise at a 50 or a 100 years it's going to have a chip for cities all across the planet cities like alexandria in egypt are spending hundreds of millions of euros to hold back the water. in the netherlands billions of euros are being invested under water management innovations to keep the country above water. rising sea levels are just one

aspect of climate change with the future of the planet at stake activists across the world are demanding radical action from governments while there's still time. china has reacted angrily after u.s. president donald trump signed bills backing hong kong's pro-democracy activists beijing says it will take firm countermeasures against the u.s. for meddling in its domestic affairs they knew to. legislation means they'll be an annual review of the favorable trade status that washington grants hong kong. pro-democracy demonstrators thanking u.s. president donald trump for signing legislation that ensures the u.s. backed democracy in hong kong. there was music in the air including the star-spangled banner. trump a hero. for u.s.

president signed on to hong kong human rights and democracy act that's the remarkable achievement of 'd all the hong kong that with the courage and determination of hong kong as to fight for freedom and democracy it's all because of this trump signed into law an act that says the u.s. will check whether hong kong remains democratic as a prerequisite for keeping hong kong's special trade status the government in beijing is really angry. young sure. is china's hong kong and hong kong affairs are purely chinese internal affairs which i'm going no foreign government or power has the right so when something more than a go. to. beijing says it will use countermeasures if the u.s. continues quote down the wrong path. more on this from d.w. washington correspondent pablo foley. public do we know why the president president

trump signed these bills. told me well you know with president trump it's always very difficult to interpret why decisions are made at a specific moment in time and this would be one of them the president said that he signed it out of respect for president xi jinping of china he said he's done that of respect for china and also for the people of hong kong now it's also been pretty difficult to work out at times one president trumps interpretation of the ongoing protests in hong kong has been you know he said that he's with hong kong at times he's also said that you know the chinese president xi jinping is a great guy now before signing the lol he also expressed a lot of concern about what the implications of signing this would be with regards to this quite delicate situation that the united states and china find themselves

in at the moment with regards to this trade war and the possibility of reaching as some sort of agreement on ending it because it's been pretty ongoing here and you know president trump has been receiving quite a lot of criticism here from all sides over his handling of the situation it was all the likely consequences for the u.s. because of this. well you know as i said you know the president has been seeking some sort of trade deal with china to end this trade war which has been going on and it's been stretching on for far longer than many had hoped here in the u.s. now the chinese government as we saw in the report there is you know pretty angry at this situation and they've threatened counter measures what exactly they are its own clear and they also said that you know the united states they would do that if you know at the united states continue down this what they call the wrong path now we also know that the u.s. ambassador in china was so moved by the chinese government and you know they were

told that the united states should stop interfering in china's internal affairs so you know this can't be good for this delicate relationship between the united states and china and you know the one thing that has come out of it is that the activists there in hong kong have expressed their joy the united states is essentially backing them and has clearly shown their support you know such a showing support for them at the moment ok yes thank you. now to some of the other stories making news around the world. u.s. president donald trump says he's restarted peace talks with the taliban 3 months after ending negotiations the announcement came during a surprise visit to afghanistan where he met with president ashraf ghani and american troops mr trump also said he wants to draw down the number of u.s.

troops in the country. medical sources say iraqi forces have shot dead at least 25 protesters in the southern city of nasiriya as unrest continues to grip the country on wednesday demonstrators set fire to the iranian consulate in the city of najaf outrage over unemployment government corruption and perceived iranian influence have been fueling widespread anti-government protests. the son of a former german diplomat has been in prison in the united states since 1990 yen sir and was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend's parents though he initially admitted his guilt he then retracted his confession and insisted he was innocent despite this he was given 2 life sentences 30 years later he's been released and deported back to germany. this is the state prison in virginia where young serving has been held since 1990 when he was found guilty of 2 counts of 1st degree murder

. this footage is from an interview searing repeatedly requested a pardon but to no avail a former state governor wanted to send him to germany to serve out his sentence but his successor disagreed the german ambassador in washington has welcomed the impending release of severing on parole. want to head to 2000 you could hear the resident of 30 granted mr serene parole on monday he has been many decades almost 3 decades in prison we have always sought to have him released and a very pleased that this goal has now been achieved and so. it's a title. just in 1905 derek and nancy hazen was stabbed to death at their home in virginia they were the parents of servings then girlfriend elizabeth. 2 fled to england when they became suspects they were caught in london and sent back at 1st soaring confessed to the crime but he later retracted his confession he said he'd

wanted to protect his girlfriend and thought that as the son of a german diplomat he enjoyed immunity from prosecution at his trial he insisted he was not the culprit. i'm innocent. the conviction proved controversial the evidence was circumstantial experts including sheriff chip parting say touring was wrongfully convicted later d.n.a. analysis failed to link him to the scene of the crime he's going to locked up at 33 years for a crime that myself and other investigators don't feel like he was there or we don't feel like he was present when the actual murders were committed as he's maintained you know since he went on trial. he's missed his twenty's his thirty's and his forty's so it's time to stand up and go to the junior parole board has called hey some answering his conduct in prison exemplary and said they had served more time to move to be usual under today's law. governor ralph northam has made it clear that he is not pardoning inserting and elizabeth pace and he has many provoke

them on the board's recommendation. you know 2016 documentary the promise churning again asserted his innocence and said he considered himself the victim of his former girlfriend look blatant lies east as it is a looking back to me because i know that i never knew this woman does exist on most of the story she told me were not true thrice as a gun and i don't know who the real elizabeth was. the film's co-director marcus fetzer is pleased searing is being set free. thing for me is that the trials the circumstances the conviction put on not beyond a shadow of a doubt and if there are too many unanswered questions as this keep too few to find him. during a soon to be deported to germany the date has not been announced. the police officer in charge during the $989.00 hillsborough stadium disaster in

england has been found not guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence david duncan filled was match commando when $96.00 liverpool fans were crushed to death inside the stadium the prosecution argued that the 75 year old personal responsibility for what happened on the day after a 7 week trial and field was cleared by a majority of verdict. david duncan phil's acquittal acquittal follows a long campaign for justice by victims they waited 30 years to see criminal charges brought. i hillsborough is the worst stadium disaster in british history 96 liverpool football fans lost their lives falling across the sheffield venue in 1909. in the wake of the tragedy as an entire city grieved off for it is try to falsely blame supporters for overcrowding in the standing terrorists a front page story in the sun newspaper compounded the myth victims' families have

been fighting for justice ever since. kenny darvish a told you about that fateful day they were all for the ground and so. you know we all really went through. and through what we were. never going to. the spiritual in fact police had opened the gate to try to relieve overcrowding outside but a crush then ensued inside an initial inquest said the deaths were accidental meaning criminal charges could not be brought but the families did not give up and kept pushing for a new inquest an independent panel was set up to review the evidence in 2012 it found police had tampered with witness statements a new inquest in 2016 ruled the deaths to be unlawful and police match commander

david duncan failed seen here in the blue jacket was put on trial and charged with manslaughter by gross negligence the verdict ends a saga which shamed the british establishment. you're watching news from berlin stay tuned for africa with like a genuine. thanks for watching. come . on new day adventures of the famous naturalist and explorer. to celebrate alexander from the books from 250. working on the for the discovery. edition board on the.