mean years live from berlin. on the defensive over race relations and policing in the u.s. the u.s. president's top general apologizes for joining him at a church photo op in washington shortly after the area was forcefully cleared of anti-racism protesters also coming up criminal charges in the arctic largest ever all spill more than 20000 tons of fuel leaked into waterways near the world's most northerly greenpeace compares the spillage to the exxon valdez disaster 3 decades

ago in alaska. and as the world health organization sounds a warning on the rapid spread of the corona virus in africa in cameroon political wrangling of how close the fight against the outbreak the government has outlawed the opposition's relief efforts we mean the aid workers would be fine the bat. i'm told me all laddie well welcome to the program the u.s. president donald trump has suffered a setback after another sign of tension between the white house and the pentagon the nation's top general mark milley has publicly apologized for participating in donald trump's photo op last week in washington at a church that had been damaged in the protests calling the move a mistake the event took place moments after troops and police have cleared a path for the president and his entourage. by violent ejecting protesters.

he wanted in washington simon sent us this is testament on how millis statement has been received walt depends on who you ask i think that the form of brass all the old generals and former defense secretaries served under or in his administration who came before him criticizing the president heavily they would be probably very happy now to hear that the. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is apologizing for making an appearance right at this church here on monday last week with the president apologizing for actually showing up in this picture in this photo op which was phoned the beginning ill received from the public even from across the political spectrum why because this place had to be cleared by pro from protesters who protested of course very peacefully here and were forced back

always tear gas and and other tools available to the security forces here however. this apology comes at a time which could be worse for donald trump again i have never ever heard chairman of the chief of staff opposing apologizing for something like that ever before why did he do this because as he said he wants to absolutely avoid that the impression is given to the public to the americans that the military is now. the ball in the political in politics so no politicizing of the military there a political and they want to remain that way. a clearing of protests from lafayette square on june to allow president trump to pose for photo op made waves around the world it was a defining moment scenes associated with. tarion leaders playing out in front of

the white house workers have now started removing the fencing put up around the white house after the incident a barrier that turned into a historic protest space. a symbol of a movement that has become a place to gather to decorate to support the fight for racial equality for days protestors left messages and works of art on the barrier a fence separating the people from the president's. vision you know. the cerebral board is the record this is. the police are a. previous away. with this everything there is a 3rd of it good to look at this is a beautiful thing born from ugly scenes on june 1st president trump ordered lafayette square to be cleared. police national guard and military moved in.

using batons tear gas and pepper balls. the reason trump wanted to walk from the white house and stand outside st john's church bible in hand for a photo op. in protest the maire of washington renamed the area black lives matter plaza today the fences bear fearing the president would order it to be taken down demonstrators moved the works of art across the street. a piece of history that needs to be preserved. stephan simons also took a look at the efforts to save what the blackall as a matter activists see as an important piece of history as the fence the president of the united states had installed a few days ago here around the white house is now dismantle all the artwork all the posters which were pushed against the attached to the fence right away by protesters on now right here. and this is this play off protest art

if you will the protesters say has to be protected that's why they took it off the fence that's why they installed it here and now they're lobbying for the protection of all of this you see here for the future they think and say this is history and needs to be protected. the man of the world's most northerly says he has been charged with criminal negligence over a massive oil spill in siberia tens of thousands of tons of dizzle fuel have leaked into local waterways around norilsk investigators say the meth fails to react quickly enough mentalists comparing the spillage the exxon valdez disaster in alaska in 1909. handing out into a sea of decent oil it's obvious that the water here is utterly polluted. cleanup

crews have been working for days here in siberia their top priorities are to catch the on oil slick with barriers and to pump as much as possible out of the water. but nobody thinks it will be easy. but. it is foolish to say or think that nothing will perish and that what happened will go away without a trace of our workers saw a dead donkey today i myself saw a dead muskrat if a bird lands on a few or if a muskrat swims in few it is definitively condemned to death but. more than 20000 tons of fuel oil spilled from a power plant here in the city of norilsk the facility is said to have been poorly maintained. the water in neighboring lakes was affected. it didn't have to get this bad for days after the spill authorities did nothing until russian president vladimir putin got involved. but he's absolutely but you know why did government

agencies only find out about this 2 days after the fact is are we going to learn about emergency situations from social networks do you have a problem or something. that got things going hundreds of cleanup workers were sent to the region managers at the power plant were arrested and investigation was launched against the mayor of the city of no risk who decimated when you'll stumble the investigation found that the mayor being aware of the amount of fuel spilled from the tank did not take proper measures to respond to the emergency and to deal with its consequences. the mayor is looking at a possible 6 months in prison but the environmental damage is expected to be around for years. brief look at some of the stories making headlines. president donald trump has authorized sanctions against the international criminal court

staff investigating possible u.s. war crimes in afghanistan secretary of state will be able to block assets of court employees and stop them entering the u.s. from bill call it a kangaroo court. germany plans to investigate racism in its police forces a study will look at the use of racial profiling which is supposed to be banned under german law protesters across the world have highlighted police racism following the killing of george floyd in the u.s. . the world health organization was the spread of the corona virus is accelerating in africa it says cases doubled to more than 200000 over the last 18 days south africa is the hardest hit country accounting for a quarter of all cases. to central africa now and the story of how political rivalry and tamron is holding back the fight against the coronavirus after a disputed election the government has banned the opposition's prevention and relief efforts but the party is determined to press ahead news blazing young met

with some of the aid workers defying the baton in cameron's biggest city. these volunteers income room and getting ready to distribute couvade 900 prevision keats. they are not fish much and i call b.s. hansen it ties up the market in douala the country's largest city. cameras opposition leader morris come to critter do going to hook up the sprint or the crew barrows. people are happy to get the equipment but no tory to see otherwise. the government sees these organisations evolve on. the rocks this is their own agendas it is their spots on your wrist and it's time i come for us here it was. says started a program for a month ago alison a dozen people have been arrested across the country. despite their risk who wanted

to disadvantaged communities almost every day. 300000 keets have been donated in over 15 communities through formal. because it comes to mind a senior member of the team says the are not backing down. we are worth reporting you are despite all the outlets are reporting that what is that report somebody my dad has that report you'll see i was i was 13 we have a young mind of this here because. i'm not going back. i'm not continuing only. we are because the need is enormous and we need to do our best so there is no way to stop it. congress interior minister who bundled them as it was not billable on our request for an interview. the new crew know bio's is not police brought in the country we more than 6500 kids these fish must we make composing in april.

2 positions continue to distribute hygiene kits to people who can't afford them. no i am so happy i have spent too much from my little savings to buy hand sanitizer and i don't even have enough money to buy food but i had to struggle to get jail. the government has cracked down on 2 bank accounts useful for a reason now the opposition has to hide its high do so plunks from the police there are growing concerns in thailand for that welfare of thousands of elephants the coronavirus emergency has closed torah sites and many domesticated elephants have been left to fend for themselves some now facing starvation desperate handlers have hit the road with their heads with no place to go but their hometowns in the hills of northern thailand. it's been a long slow journey for this elephant and his handler with tourists and his like

chiang mai now closed because of coronavirus they have no choice but to return home to the hills of northern thailand a wonderful site for these children and an opportunity for the elephants to enjoy then you found freedom. but these animals need food around 300 kilos of plants a day much of the vegetation around here has been cleared for crops and the handlers have no money to buy feed. but. we need help to take care of the animals it's expensive obviously. there's also concern from local villages that the sudden influx of hundreds of elephants. and that swearing conservationists. that some of the elephant make it. into the properties. would probably stop what we call the

sea human plate. before the coronavirus pandemic hit thailand was a popular destination for animal tourism but it was often unregulated and there have been numerous reports of elephant cruelty despite this the handlers known as mahmoud's maintain that tourism is my tool for their survival. i mean that until the last we have tourists and still have jobs then there'd be more money to look off to them. there's hope that once covert 19 is under control animal welfare will improve in thailand for now both handlers and elephants are making the best of a situation that's out of their control. the watching news from berlin remember you can keep updated on these stories and more on our website e.w.

dot com and an instagram and twitter at e.w. news alternate universe you going at the top of the our other with the headlines. where i come from we have to fight for a free press i was born and raised in a military dictatorship but just want to be shadow and a few newspapers when official information as a journalist i have worked on the streets of many can trust and their problems are always the same core to the social inequality a lack of the freedom of the press. go up should we can afford to stay silent.