this is news coming to you live from berlin but tons of shareholders opposed all the 9000000000 euro government bail out the airlines largest shareholder says he will back the deal after all but what does the future look like for the company also coming up back under lockdown in good old the mayor slaps germany's biggest meat package for causing a local coronavirus break and warns against europe's system of cheap labor. plus

russians head to the polls today for a controversial vote on constitutional reform that could allow president vladimir putin to stay in power for another 16 years. hello i'm terry martin welcome to the program a big day for one of europe's largest airlines has lived tons of shareholders gathered to vote on a 9000000000 euro rescue package the bailout would see the government the german government take a significant stake in the airline supporters of the deal were boosted on wednesday when lufthansa's largest shareholder hemant revealed he would vote with them the deal could bring live tons of back from the brink of bankruptcy. full of turns of the corona virus pandemic has been a nightmare barely anyone's flying belly anyone's wanted to fly and the outlook's

not much better dances main source of profit is its business class but with video conferencing getting ever more popular and even that's facing an uncertain future solar turns it has agreed a potential government aid package in exchange for a 9000000000 euros in help for german state is expecting a 20 percent stake in the national carrier and it wants an option for a blocking minority of shares empowering it's to veto any attempt to takeover the airline under pressure from the e.u.'s competition watchdog lufthansa will also have to surrender 20 for takeoff and landing slots in frankfurt and munich and there will be job cuts to affecting all departments cabin crew ground staff and pilots its of cities will also be affected german wings has been permanently

grounded austrian airlines euro wings and brussels airlines will also take a hit. lufthansa needs help to get off the ground again but even when i travel properly restarts germany's long time leader will never be as it was. let's get the latest from our financial correspondent chelsea de laney who has the frankfurt airport chelsea i see some protesters have gathered there to show their opposition to what's happening at look times is it clear that the airline shareholders will back this bill today. well the vote hasn't taken place yet so nothing is 100 percent certain but. the change in position of the largest shareholder on wednesday night did really swing swing the vote here if this measure is expected to pass it has a lot of support from the live tons of shareholders but also from employees here and in frankfurt there are hundreds of demonstrators here from the union. who

really want to see this this bailout package passed it's it's obviously going to have some downsides for shareholders and there has been a lot of a lot of concern about what this means for them the stakes of their investments will be diluted when the german government ups its stakes so that's obviously a concern for many there's also a lot of concerns about what kind of influence the german government would have on just making in corporate policy. once this deal goes through but given the other options insolvency bankruptcy everyone really sees this as the lesser of 2 evils. one is the german to go over spending knowing 1000000000 euros to bail out. what will the german taxpayers get for. the german government really isn't approaching this as an investment they aren't really looking to make money off of this but they

really see it as as a way to protect the future of a really crucial company. and a really crucial employer here in germany tons employs about $75000.00 people in germany and it also is really a symbol of the german corporate sector the economy minister pissed off meyer has said that it's the times it's part of the family silver here in germany so there's obviously a big need from an economic perspective and also just as sort of a symbol of germany's economic strength that to say really protect this company ok this bailout government bailout is one thing look terms are also reached a cost cutting deal worth half a 1000000000 euros with its cabin crew union late on wednesday what's the significance of the deal. this is a really crucial agreement between the union and live tons of because the other option would have been for a lift on sort of cut 22000 jobs that would have obviously been really devastating

to a lot of employees so they are going to have to take some cuts in other areas they won't be getting pay raises for the next several years they won't be having a pension match and things like that and that is obviously a blow to out of employees but it's better than losing their jobs entirely and a lot of employees all here also say that they are confident in the future of the companies so they they will have to take some cuts in the next couple of years but for the long term they really hope that that this will make sure that their jobs are still there chelsea thank you so much from the all that was d. w. financial correspondent chelsea delaney at frankfurt airport. while we're waiting for the all important annual meeting about business at lufthansa is going on including investments in new planes e.w. goes along for a test flight and punch up that look told us troubles may be largely of its own making in can't just be blamed on the pandemic but there you go here and we of

course. live tons of pilot. opens the throttle on this airbus a 350 for a test flight in the skies over the toulouse assembly plant. germany's biggest airline placed its order for the modern efficient aircraft some years ago the fact this acceptance flight is taking place during the biggest crisis in love chances history hasn't escaped the pilot's attention. because it's an important signal to my colleagues who are sitting either at home or on short time work these are tough times but it's important to look towards the medium in the long term to see that things do get better and things continue. the a 350 has a catalog price of 300000000 euros and loved ones a specialist a checking every detail.

before the money changes hands and puts the plane through its paces with a series of stomach churning maneuvers transistor actually in the process of reducing the size of its fleet so the purchase of a flashy new jet is the subject of much debate throughout the carrier including its city line subsidiary in munich this aircraft is almost full much to the relief of staff in the cabin and cockpit but it's not enough to overshadow an uncertain future. course it's nerve wracking to see the shareholders holding this vote. with their hope for the best. but still worry about your job. into lose and back on solid ground. aviation analyst. thanks love times as turbulent times are to a large extent homemade and that blaming the pandemic is all too easy. we love our main mistake was to believe that they could get away with relatively

small cash reserves and other airlines have done a better job of that. british airways owner i agee has much more cash and was a lot more profitable if you will to coronavirus crisis look at ryanair and easyjet too which have managed with pretty much no government support. there's a $350.00 has been named after the german city of. but there's no guarantee it will ever carry passengers anywhere full of tonnes of. say look now at some other news stories making headlines around the world today australian flag carrier quantas will cut $6000.00 jobs and slashed costs worth $10000000000.00 u.s. dollars over the next 3 years as it tries to survive the pandemic c.e.o. alan joyce said the airline must shrink to meet lower demand that the cuts would preserve other positions at the company. the german pharmaceutical company bio has agreed to pay almost $11000000000.00 u.s. dollars to settle a lawsuit over the week. since it bought monsanto which manufactures the purposes

but by a has faced numerous lawsuits in the u.s. over claims that the product causes cancer. polish president. has become the 1st foreign leader to visit u.s. president during the coronavirus having shortly before his arrival the us ambassador to poland said the u.s. would be sending more troops there a boost for today who's contesting a presidential election on sunday. the u.s. has recorded its biggest daily increase in cases in coping 1000 cases that is since the pandemic began new infections are climbing sharply in several states including texas florida and arizona shares on wall street plunged on wednesday amid new fears about. here in germany german authorities have reimposed locked in western germany just to have a new virus cluster residents in 2 districts in the state of north rhine-westphalia

again face severe restrictions on movement the new measures follow a coronal. virus outbreak at the slaughterhouse by germany's largest meat package your local leaders tell the other company deserves blame for the public health disaster. this is what it looks like when the coronavirus restrictions are back long lines have formed outside the testing facilities in the district of goo to settle the new restrictions here and in neighboring valen doff took effect at midnight the mass testing follows a huge corona virus outbreak at timmy's slaughterhouse where more than 1500 workers have contracted kovac 19 now some 600000 people are affected by the restrictions good as it was met told d.w. he's furious i grew as a company of turn yes i'm angry with the system behind of it i'm angry with the system must stop stop stop contractors which is totally in the interest in

transparent people had to put up with long waits to get tested. i want to get tested and do my bit to help find out whether we're all infected hearing go to slow or not. we want to travel to be very air on saturday and the condition is to present a negative coronavirus test that's our goal today indeed with some a vacation about to begin officials in popular destinations like various say good as new residents are not welcome and lest they show proof of testing negative for the virus neighboring austria has gone even further targeting germany's most populous state. our neighbor germany with its state of north and this failure has shown how quickly the situation can turn dramatically so we were there for forced to issue a level 5 travel warning for the state or more we hope of course that the situation there will quickly improve and that there won't be

a further spread across germany. to secure it. overall numbers are still many but the latest local outbreaks of causing concern the meat processing industry in particular is under pressure employees living conditions are being blamed for the spread of the virus 23 workers have tested positive at the visa plant gemini's biggest poultry pound where mass testing of every 1000 work has got underway today. so let's catch up on some of the other stories making headlines regarding the coronavirus pandemic india has registered all 17000 new cases its highest ever daily increase the government has called in the army to mannish new treatment facilities in delhi australia's 2nd biggest city melbourne has started the testing blitz in 10 suburbs that have been designated coronavirus hotspots melbourne is the capital of the state of victoria which is

just recorded its highest daily rise in cases since may and in the netherlands the government has announced a significant relaxation of bashers including reopening high schools permitting sports events and with fans and allowing sex workers to resume their trade. africa's 1st clinical trial for coping 1000 vaccine is underway the back scene is being tested by researchers from all a university in johannesburg it's one of more than 140 potential vaccines being developed around the globe usually years of research in development are required to reach the human trials stage but in this case scientists are under enormous pressure to come up with something past 1st shot filled with hope this unemployed young man is taking a risk so that others might benefit. i still live in st. but i.

want to move once food is seen as a. tenement friends and i still want to believe that this is the 1st covert 19 vaccine trial being done on humans on the african continent the vaccine is initially being tested on a small number of people researchers hope it will stimulate their immune systems to produce antibodies against the virus if it participants form part of what is called in the group what we should really read is a small group of individuals we're trying to understand reporting issues with issues safety of a scene especially in terms of what can be common side effects and 2nd she's always working on his problems against the sea. but even if the results are positive the vaccine wouldn't eradicate the virus just slow its spread among the population south africa has been particularly badly hit by the pandemic with more than 100000

confirmed cases the highest in all of africa to make matters worse the country was already slipping into recession before the virus hit now more than 30 percent of people are unemployed. by getting involved in vaccine trials south africa hopes to at least ensure it can get access to an affordable vaccine and not be left waiting at the back of the queue. you're watching g.w. news still to come 70 years after the korean war as 1st shots were fired we meet some koreans who vowed to never reconcile with the enemy next door. polls have opened in russia for a controversial vote that could allow president vladimir putin to stay in office for another 16 years russians are being asked to approve constitutional reforms proposed by putin in january voting at polling stations is underway despite concerns over the spread of the coronavirus the changes would allow putin to run

for another 2 terms as president and make it possible for him to stay in power until 2036. months a massive surprise during the state of the nation address in january russian president vladimir putin stumped the country with his plan for constitutional reform. proposal envisages strengthening the role of the state council as well as expanding powers for parliament and creating new entrants hurdles for presidential candidates the reform would also allow putin to stay in office until 2036 christmases with yours the speed with which the changes were rushed through parliament stump the opposition and much the duma passed 3 foam and the constitutional court also gave green light now the only thing putin needs is the approval of the russian

people. and d.-w. correspondent only sure when is covering the story and joins us now from moscow emily tell us a little more about this vote what's at stake here. well there are a whole there's a whole mix of measures on these in these constitutional amendments a real mix including for example marriage which is now only supposed to be according to these amendments between a man and a woman politicians are not supposed to have dual citizenship according to the amendments and it also is apparently for more accessible medical care that is at least some of the measures that we're seeing on the banners that are all over moscow a lot of them are rather populist but critics say that the kind of essence of what these amendments are about isn't actually really being advertised by the author or

adiz and what that is is that the term limits putin's term limits will be reset by this constitutional amendments that means that he will then be able to run for 2 more terms it doesn't abolish term limits for other politicians in the future but it does of balazs those term limits for him so he'll be able to stay in power till 2036 so essentially you might say that some of these measures that we're seeing are kind of populist wrapping paper for the central measure which keeps puttin in power. is. likely to go into teams favor early. well it has already as we just saw in the piece been passed by lawmakers in the duma but the president has repeatedly insisted including this week again that these

amendments will only pass if the people vote in favor of them so kind of painting himself as the democrat there for the author already i think it's basically not an option for these not these amendments not to pass at this point their main job now is to ensure that the turnout is very high and essentially this is because essentially this is a referendum and a referendum on proven himself and his his numbers in terms of trust have actually been falling in recent months so the authorities have made it very easy to vote in this referendum people can vote on line that we've seen this week the victory day parades which kind of essentially creates a patriotic atmosphere ahead of this vote this week as well announced additional social support measures economic support measures for people kind of creating favorable conditions for people to come out and vote for him but the people that

i've spoken to here in moscow have been surprisingly negative actually about the constitutional amendment saying you know this is all been decided for us and why didn't the author of these just pay us more money and pay us more support during the corona crisis instead of. holding this expensive vote well speaking of the coronavirus crisis it's having an impact on this vote is happening right in the middle of it how is it going into the vote the coburg 19 condemn it. well the head of the collective electoral commission has said that voting will be safer than going to the supermarket and part of that safety net those safety measures is the fact that they've actually spread the vote out over a week so today it's just the 1st day of voting voting will go on until july 1st but critics say that actually some of these measures make it easier for ballot stuffing to happen and the opposition media and monitors have already been

reporting on schemes for online voting so people buying sim cards to vote for pensioners in the place of pensioners and being paid for those votes that's been reported in the media this week so it seems that the pandemic could actually play out in favor of that vote and in favor of a more voting schemes in the worst case scenario and only thank you so much steve moscow correspondent emily short 1. 70 years ago today communist north korea invaded the us but so starting the korean war 3 years of bloody fighting in did in 1953 not with a peace treaty but with a truce meaning that the war is technically still going on and then to tensions between the 2 neighbors remains to this day the latest tensions were sparked when north and north activists in the south begin launching balloons carrying propaganda leaflets over the border urging north koreans to overthrow their leadership as our

next report shows and most of these between the 2 koreas still run deep. after 70 years korean unification still exists only on paper at an anti us protest in seoul we meet a former spy from north korea park he song unmasked in 1962 he spent 27 years in prison and says he's now stuck in south korea a country that is not his home which it i've been here for 58 years officially i'm a resident of south korea but my loyalty lies with north korea the democratic people's republic of korea. parks' family members live in the north if they're still alive if there's one thing he can't abide it's people sending anti north korea flyers over the border. to murder their

lowlifes how is the north supposed to put up with that money. the man sending the flyers is also named park and he's also from north korea but he despises kim jong un's regime and wants it overthrown. the activist has found refuge in south korea but even here he's under constant police surveillance he's seen as a troublemaker and potential target for an attack he agrees to meet us at this playground where he feels it's safe to talk. you know the north koreans need to know that the grandfather of kim jong un and his sister started the korean war that's why i've produced the special brochure for the 70th anniversary i will send it over in the coming days it depends on the wind. one of park's actions in late may prompted the north to escalate pyongyang blew up

an inter korean leader as an office just north of the border to prevent even more trouble the south now wants to stop park's activities to he says he's not afraid of either side. i would consider it an honor to be assassinated by kim jong un himself getting kicked out and a few nights ago park sent his balloon with the brochures northwards but the winds were not favorable and his delivery fell from the sky above south korea. this group of former prisoners from north korea is happy it did park he song a former spy is one of them the men gather at this house in seoul run by kwan or he . the group has 14 members south korea calls them unconverted prisoners even

though all have been out of prison for years. you know we just have i think even those north koreans who are imprisoned after the war and have paid their dues should be treated as prisoners of war and allowed to return to the north. but that's a nonstarter for the south and so the men are left with their memories and their belief that north korea is paradise i'm not i don't regret coming to south korea as a spy for one second sure it cost me my youth but i don't mind. these men were released early from prison that's something that cannot be said about their south korean counterparts in the north. this is t w news just a reminder of the top story we're following for you this hour tons of shareholders will vote today on a 9000000000 euro should bailout package airlines largest stockholder has said he

will back the deal a drop off in air travel during the pandemic has put the company at risk of bankruptcy. and ever get you can always get all the latest news information anytime you want on our website that's the w. dot com you can also follow us on twitter and instagram our handle there at d w news my name is terry martin you'll find me on twitter at t.m. news stream thanks for watching.

enter the conflict zone with tim sebastian. lebanon's hezbollah movement is condemned as a terrorist group by many countries falloon also has a powerful political face with seats in parliament and government my guest this week from beirut is one of its politicians even to moussawi how does the self named

party of god to reconcile its very different activities to all conflict zone last. october. masterman some plastic waste german consumers carefully gather in separate unsafe plastic and there are still the biggest producers of plastic waste in india rather than recycling it they exported why i can't take it at odd looking for clues and when east. germany's problem was plastic. in 45 minutes on t.w. . we know that this is a scary time for. the coronavirus is changing the world changing. so take care of yourself keep your distance. if you can stay at

how we are g.w. for here for you we are working tirelessly to keep you informed on all of our plan . we are all in this to run together and will make it through. do you see you have gone. astray so stay safe please stay safe. things are put in the most of the 4 with the media against hezbollah move being engaged also in far i think that is about really encouraging aggressions money out of companies go. with the american lebanon's hezbollah movement to screen them as a terrorist group by many countries including the u.s. and most arab states but it also has a powerful political face with seats in parliament and government my guest this

week from beirut is one of its politicians musawi how does the self named party of .