enter the capital. this is the w.'s lie from pearl in lockdown restrictions re-impose the north west germany following a surge in cases at a slaughterhouse hundreds of thousands of people affected local leaders said that if necessary police would use force to ensure compliance also on the program what the u.s. plans to withdraw troops from germany mean for the future direction of nature we speak with secretary general to get it stopped and passed. under suspension of a popular satirical t.v. show in hong kong fuels fears of a creeping clampdown as china prepared to impose

a new law against dissent. i feel girl welcome to the program a german authorities have ordered new pandemic lockdowns in 2 areas of the northwestern state of north rhine-westphalia at least 1900 workers at a meat packing plant have tested positive for the corona virus the regions covered by these latest restrictions include the district of goods is low and bar and off within 600000 people are now back under lockdown. the districts are good as low and fat and off a back under coronavirus restrictions until the end of june residents in the western german districts can only have contact with their own household just weeks after restrictions were eased schools pubs cafes museums and gyms will all close

again. we will now for the 1st time in germany return the whole region to the locked on the ashes that were in place a few weeks ago. the decision came after more than 1500 workers attorney a slaughterhouse tested positive for 19 die a living conditions are being blamed for the quick spread employees living here moved out just 2 weeks ago. the specific situation with the geographical spread of the locations and also the international nature of the tenuous work force mean that this outbreak is a potentially enormous and they make risk similar cluster infections have also sprung up in housing blocks and getting in in central germany clashes broke out between quarantined residents and police. district has also been affected confining society's most vulnerable to cramped living spaces as

a result of the hotspots have caused the reproduction rate in germany to skyrocket to 2.76 but while the overall number of new cases remains low the robot cock institute for public health ses concern is limited. in our country and if we give the chance to spread then we take this opportunity which we can see in the current outbreaks from. elsewhere in germany the slow return to normalcy can be deceiving with most of the country enjoying the summer weather but the lock down and grew to slow is a reminder that the cove in 1900 mike is far from over with a bumpy ride still ahead. let's turn to dublin correspondent see bill it felt good to slow which is under lockdown welcome i mean what's it like that. well phil the residents of the goodness of the district are quite disappointed to say the least that after weeks of going about daily life as usual

they're now going to be under lockdown again this means that pools playgrounds bars cinemas theaters institutions like these are going to be closed once again this does not mean travel restrictions it just means that people cannot go outside more than 2 people at a time with members of their households and the state premier did ask people even though it's not mandatory to stay home to not leave the region if at all possible. decision was taken. just talk us through what's behind it well the authorities are saying that these are just preventative measures that contrary to reports in the media they still have the situation under control that only a little over 20 cases have been found in the general population so just to remind you there were 1500 cases found but virtually all of these were among workers and their families who belonged to who work at the slaughterhouse turn yes so they say

that they still have the situation under control there's still a lot more tests to be done they're going door to door and trying to test as many people in the group as the region as possible but i think that people seeing this way that this escalated and the way that authorities had put off lockdown until just now it gives them a bad feeling that they don't have the situation under control yes so what have they been telling you about this announcement. yeah we spoke to some people there when the news broke that the lockdown was going to be put in place we were sitting at a coffee shop and we could hear almost a collective sigh of disappointment and here's what they had to say think. that of course this is the right course of action but it's a scandal that mr turn yes would allow this rubbish to happen it could have been stopped sooner yeah. yeah and. it's interesting we were slowly starting to loosen up and now we're having to backtrack because of these let's call them circumstances it's counterproductive for the whole industry but the people in

charge those responsible could have handled this differently it's a shame yes. shot of. 10 years has made fools of us who claims to have tested a staff and told the public that only 2 workers were infected and that was not true and the whole thing with the address is also a scandal in my personal opinion i just wanted to start so he could get rid of illegal and off the books workers that's not what you. want. so i'm in the midst attorney is referred to in that last comment that this is the. meat packing plant this has drawn attention to working conditions in germany said me processing industry so are they likely to change after this. well as you said they refer to him as mr turner's he's from the region and he's responsible for billions of

dollars of revenue and 30 percent of the meat of the pork in germany so you has pretty much a good hold on the market but i think this might be changing that the government is now putting pressure on the turn us meat company to change they've already passed a law that disallows the company from using outsourced labor which means using foreign companies to give them labor that would be cheaper and make the price of meat come down but a lot of pretty are saying that that law isn't going to come into effect until january and we need change now i'm in a safe in there being a felt thank you. thanks bill as you mentioned in passing that separate in a separate development a more covered 19 cases have been reported at another slaughterhouse in germany this is in the villages house and they have bremen according to local officials 23 out of 50 workers there have tested positive for the 1500 employees also to be tested on this to you through some of the other developments in this pandemic

around the world will start with the united states where the government's top infectious disease expert dr anthony fauci says the u.s. is seeing a disturbing surge in infections in several large states including florida and texas addressing congress dr fox who warned that everyone should wear face masks and avoid crowds and british prime minister paris johnson has unveiled a major easing of england's a coronavirus lockdown saying the country has seen a decline in the number of new infections a brazilian federal judge has ordered president jaya both in order to wear a face mask while outdoors in the capital brasilia the president has sought to downplay the crisis despite the rapid spread of the virus in his country and saudi arabia has announced a dramatic scaling back of the annual hosh pilgrimage restricting it to only 1000 pilgrims already in the country. donald trump's decision to pull nearly a 3rd of american troops out of germany is continuing to make waves with

a nato us president confirmed last week that america will cut its military deployments here 225000 reduction of almost 10000 currently germany has the biggest contingent of american troops in here of including important bases for ongoing combat missions the decision is a major concern for nato and not the only challenge facing the alliance. so we asked the secretary general yet schulte of bad weather violence now the needs to look to belive for leadership as the u.s. pursues a more isolationist course the world the needs more german leadership nato needs german leadership we are all in need germany to play an even more important role because of germany's is the largest economy in in europe germany it now has the largest defense budget within the european union the 3rd in nato after not the kingdom and united states so of course the german leadership is something we we

welcome but that's paul all the nato family and that's that's that's been part of a multilateral institution like nato and in uncertain times we need strong institutions like for instance neighboring and germany. is playing. an important role in in a. good style to back now for a look at some other stories making news around the world a powerful earthquake has struck southern mexico triggering a tsunami alert and knocking out power in some areas a magnitude 7.4 event centered on the pacific coast in the state of what local media sadly one person has been killed. russian president vladimir putin has proposed an income tax increase to help cover the costs of the coronavirus pandemic from january wealthy russians will see their tax rate increase from 13 to 15 percent if approved it would be russia's 1st move away from the flat tax rate introduced in 2001. now to hong kong where the chief executive kerry lab

has tried to reassure the island's residents about a controversial new security law to be passed next week saying that she will not pick judges to preside over cases critics are concerned that the law being imposed by china will be used to target dissent will erode the chinese territories democracy they claim the suspension of a popular comedy show is one sign that the political climate is already changing the w's a few become reports. dressing up as and then proceed to knock home hopefully they carry them in attendance of flattering palace munich play the unique is empty hope one of the host of headline the oh this satirical show in the city today the team is framing the final episode the 31 year old program produced by author a hunk host public broadcaster has always been bowed in his criticism of the turret to a stop lead but now it's been suspended due to allocation up insulting the police.

i would do something so high headliner is an indicator of hong kong's liberties if it exists it means the authorities are tolerant enough to accept discerned within public institutions. otherwise it makes clear how the climate has changed in my current. disclosure has intensified concern over hong kong's for remaining freedoms especially when beijing is pushing for a new security law for the city the law what and power hold coals chief executive to designate judges to hear relevant cases states acuity agencies in hong kong what also exercise jurisdiction over a small number of special cases but as to how the law will criminalize suppression and commercial were for enforcers know the intel has been made public so far. never those my call tim a member of china's top legislature dismisses fear office space crimes i was

assured by the beijing leadership. i would be drawn in a way that is balanced so in other words if an individual were to just make a comment and won't constitute an offense if they repeat the same thing in a manner that would cause others to follow. gauging. beliefs then that's a different matter. basically it's the united states and britain. in. the way. so see how also publishes commentaries on the various platforms here's what the media workers will be among the 1st to fall victim to the new low. the biggest threat is that beijing can draw the line arbitrarily it will send

a chilling effect and exacerbate censorship the press will only be able to follow the official narrative as an anti-government movement. it's problematic to have a security law without democracy because there are no checks and balances to the authorities power. what a headline oh well we'll turn to the screen will be subject to a review authorized by the government but as china's new security law looms over the city does she how many others are not optimistic. well that already in sports tennis star novak djokovic has tested positive for cough it 19 the news follows widespread criticism of the serbs decision to host a tennis tournament this month following which 4 players tested positive for the virus the 1st leg of the top in serbia attracted more than 4000 fans and ended with players dancing to god and a nightclub. to cheer up to date i'll have more for you at the top

of the hour in the meantime of course as always the web site that steve w. dot com have a good. combating the corona pandemic. where does research stand. what are scientists learning. background information and news. hour corona update. from the covert 19 special next on deep.