tv DW News Deutsche Welle June 25, 2020 5:00pm-5:30pm CEST
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this is news live from berlin decision day for a look tom shareholders vote on a 9000000000 euro government bailout bill thompson's manager say it is make or break day for the company without a deal the airline with its nearly 140000 employees is facing imminent bankruptcy. also coming up workers linked to a corona virus outbreak at a german slaughterhouse called quarantine conditions inhumane. dirty really i feel like a pig like a pig in a small hole. more than 700 people are living behind of these fences
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a forced lockdown that has traps the sick and healthy together. and russians are brave coronavirus spears and head to the polls for a controversial vote on constitutional reform it could allow president vladimir putin to stay in power for another 16 years. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program it is decision day for loved shareholders of the germany germany's flag carrier will begin voting soon on whether to accept a 9000000000 euro rescue package that would make the german government the airlines biggest shareholder now should shareholders reject this deal less tons o. could face insolvency here's how the head of live tons of supervisory board sized up the choice at the beginning of the virtual gathering. yeah you can go to mir we
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don't have any more money. we're currently living off reserves that we set aside during the good years. soon we will have used most of those up. without support and we face insolvency in the coming days the absorbance. we don't have any more money meanwhile business at all of tons a is going on including investments in new airplanes reporter dan hirschfeld hitched a ride on a test flight and finds out that love tons of troubles may be partly of its own making for takeoff here and we of course. would love tons of pilot lucia newman opens the throttle on this airbus a $350.00 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 times is
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history hasn't escaped the pilot's attention. and we think it's an important signal to my colleagues who are sitting either at home or on short term work these are tough times but it's important to look towards the medium and the long term to see that things do get better and things continue. working. the a $350.00 has a catalog price of $300000000.00 euros and love tons of specialists are checking every detail. every word phrase that's just not secure before the money changes hands bullish norman 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
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staff in the cabin and cockpit but it's not enough to overshadow an uncertain future into lose and back on solid ground. aviation analyst yes flatow thanks a lot times as turbulent times now 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. other airlines have done a better job of that british airways owner i agee has much more cash and was a lot more profitable before the coronavirus crisis look at ryanair and easyjet 2 which have managed with pretty much no government support. this a $350.00 has been named after the german city of fribourg but there's no guarantee that it will ever carry passengers anywhere full of tons of sand it's not just in trouble german electronic payment company wire card has filed for bankruptcy amid
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its major accounting scandal wire card processes billions of euros worth of credit card debt transactions every year and now the company is threatened with collapse. it was a historic day at the frankfurt stock exchange and not for the most positive of reasons for the 1st time a company from the elite club of german blue chip stocks the dax is filing for insolvency. wire card shares have plummeted by 98 percent within the past week following the revelation that the company had a gaping 1900000000 euro hole in its books. that news came out after the companies ought to refuse to sign off on its $21000.00 accounts this in turn led to the resignation of wire card c.e.o. marcus brown that prosecutors are now charging brown with market manipulation and tampering with wire cards books he's been released from custody on 5000000 euros bail. the insolvency filing does not automatically mean the end of the company
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though wire card could regain solvent see with the help of outside investors should not emerge the company will be dismantled and creditors paid by the sale of whatever assets wire cart own. shareholders however will come out empty handed. and let's get more we are joined by business reporter rob watts here in the studio rob an astonishing fall from grace and it's hard to overstate really this is a case of a company going from being the darling of the financial tech sector to the dustbin i mean it's just 2 years since they joined the dax 30 index of jimmie's biggest companies displacing traditional banking major spank though with 25000000000 euros now in the space of a week all of that has completely fallen apart we've seen the share price go from 3 figures to one figure today we've seen this sea resign and to be arrested as part of an investigation into accountancy fraud it's hard to overstate what
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a big disaster this is so what is happening at the firm itself right now well this is what we're trying to find out more importantly what's been happening over the past few years is really we've just had a statement from the new young who are carrying out the audit in of cards 29000 accounts they refused to sign off on those last last week and that's what course the share price to collapse they were saying that they couldn't find this 1900000000 euros well the statement that they have published says that they found evidence of clear indications of elaborate fraud at wire cards involving multiple parties around the world so we know prosecutors in germany are looking into this as i mentioned the c.e.o. who resigned on friday has been arrested and boat investigators say they're not just looking at him they're looking at other people within the company so that would be more than just a couple of accounting errors that would actually be a crime in fact if it is indeed proven so so what happens now for wire cart because
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they've they're going to be entering bankruptcy i mean sometimes this is an opportunity for a company to restructure to to come out a little bit stronger on the other end but sometimes this is the beginning of the end so what's the. a likely case scenario for wire card yeah i mean there is always restructuring sure but there's reputational damage that goes take into account but also the business model is potentially falling apart i mean they're in danger of losing their relationship with visa and master card which they need to be able to issue credit cards which is one of the ways they make the money also that clients to whom they provide online payment services appear to be starting to look elsewhere so tough times ahead and this could be the beginning of the end absolutely for a company that was in the german dax rob what's business thank you. let's take a look now at some other news stories from around the world so the health minister
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of the democratic republic of congo has announced the end of it's a bull epidemic calling it the longest most complex and deadliest epidemic in the history of the nation it began in august of 2018 and went on to take more than 2000 lives there more than 300000 people were given experimental vaccines. the european health care regulator has recommended the drug called rem disappear which has been shown in trials to speed the recovery time of cold 19 patients it's the 1st such medicine to gain the agency's go ahead. and indian authorities at city in india with more than $70000.00 cases. you're watching news still to come on the program 70 years after the korean war as 1st shots were fired we will meet some koreans who say we will never reconcile with the enemy next door. and russia's controversial vote on constitutional reform and could allow president goes to stay
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in power for another 16 years. the 1st france and germany have announced that they will increase their financial backing of the world health organization in its fight against the coronavirus berlin said that it would contribute a record half a 1000000000 euros in funding this year that's an additional $41000000.00 to its initial pledge the support comes as a clear political signal and a show of support as the organization has been criticized by the us for its handling of the crisis this is the largest amount of money ever donated by germany to the deaf u h o health minister again sean warned the support also comes with expectations. germany remains a strong supporter and a friend sometimes a critic of friend but the strong friend of the w. h. o. the still ongoing pandemic shows that an interconnected world needs global level
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crisis management we need a strong efficient transparent and accountable w.h.o. today more than ever. and here in germany authorities have reimposed a local lockdowns to stamp out a new virus cluster the outbreak was linked to a slaughterhouse in the state of north rhine-westphalia workers faced poor working conditions that fueled the spread of the virus now many say that their conditions under quarantine are also a humane locked in and desperate 5 days ago these people were placed under quarantine to stop a corona virus outbreak that originated at a local meat processing plant but instead of just ordering the close to $700.00 residents to stay indoors and practice so sial distancing the authorities barricaded them in. i feel like a pig like a pig in a small hole and we have a family we have a former. official say the fence is meant to give residents
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a chance to get fresh air while in isolation but it also means those infected with the coronavirus are quarantining alongside those who tested negative the living conditions inside the building smeg disease control practically impossible. some of the apartments i lived in were very clean but there were exceptions as well it was always very cramped sometimes there were 1012 or even 14 people in a single flat. the 10 year slaughterhouses widely blamed for the outbreak that originated in their local plant and led to the area wide lockdown authorities demand they take full financial responsibility for the crisis the company is currently providing food for their workers trapped behind the fences only a slight relief for a worried community. yet they ask questions of course and i would do that too if
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a fence suddenly appeared around my house for how long we tested negative why should we suffer as well they ask about tanya's and many also ask i don't work attorney as i work somewhere else why am i included to. our budget of chronic but a few maternity job out of our notes moment by concerns that grow louder every day to make the situation more bearable for this neighborhood local authorities are building recreational areas and jason fields but to the hundreds of people feeling like prisoners inside their own homes this gesture is of little consolation let's bring in political correspondent simon young who has more on this story simon we just saw there fences guards essentially stopping people from from leaving this facility why are the quarantine conditions there so different from in other hot spots in germany. sara that's true elsewhere people of been pretty much trusted
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to stick to the rules and only challenged if they don't the explanation for these drastic measures like fences seems to be that slow in this meat plant really are the hot spot in germany for corona virus at the moment more than 2000 people now said to be infected people linked to that meat plant so the local authorities really feel they have to do something and they also say there is a significant risk that some people may just disappear many of them are foreign nationals and might want to leave the country and if they did that that would make the testing and contact tracing that the authorities of started. really very much more difficult and it would increase the risk of the disease spreading to other regions and that's something other states in germany are very worried about places like the very. lower saxony have already imposed quarantines on people arriving
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from low and the neighboring community of foreign doff as some places are making it illegal to offer accommodation to people from there austria has said you know it's issued a travel warning for north rhine-westphalia all of this i think helps you to understand why it's being taken so seriously and the company at the heart of this town yes what do they have to say. well they've been criticized for a long time for allegedly cutting corners in terms of living and working conditions for their workers and that has helped spread the disease well the owner of the company as issued an apology saying he'll do all he can to help people out provide them with food and essential until the quarantine is lifted hopefully at the end of next week you know i would say that there is real concern about conditions in the meat industry and we've seen various plants that have had outbreaks the government
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says it's going to end the reliance on cheap labor in the meat industry in the good news here is that the rate of new infections in goods is low is now only simon young with a view from germany are not the spike in cases at meat processing facilities thank you. for all to spy concerns over the spread of the coronavirus polls have opened in russia for a vote on a number of controversial reforms one of which would allow president vladimir putin to stay in office for another 16 years now putin proposed the constitutional changes back in january other changes talk about improving social benefits and effectively banning same sex marriage. as a massive surprise during the state of the nation address in january russian president vladimir putin stunned the country with his plan for constitutional reform.
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proposal envisages strengthening the role of the state council as well as expanding powers for parliament and creating new entrance hurdles for presidential candidates the reform would also allow putin to stay in office until 2036 christmassy. the speed with which the changes were rushed through parliament stumped the opposition in much the duma passed the reform and the constitutional court also gave green light now the only thing putin needs is the approval of the russian people. and i am joined now by fabio burkhardt from the german institute for international and security affairs he is an expert on eastern europe and russia welcome to the u.n. thank you so much for joining us will putin give the people support. well thanks for having me i think it's early to say i mean it's only the 1st day of
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a prolonged procedure off actually voting and actually did the voting procedure has been specifically tailored for it is a pledge as it's not even a referendum or a vote according to the constitution were. the electoral or good legislation but and i talked rule that many say well actually make it much more harder to assess for service to actually gain each in the in the results of the vote let's have a look at the broader perspective why is this constitutional amendment so important for the future of russia and its role in the world. well generally we know that term limits nimitz they are very important for presidents in democracies and as soon as kind of the the end of the 2nd term approaches the elites and but also the the incumbent they usually tend to get nervous so do
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you they just start to think what we need to do with or the elite needs to do about the kind of the term limit and actually putin said it himself if he didn't kind of start his process not by giving himself the possibility to actually get reelected even once more or even 2 times in $20.00 to $24.00 that would have started uncertainty among among the lead the elite would have started to look for a successor so he argues i need to create stability and that sort of the main backdrop of. the kind of the whole constitutional reform and how about the timing because of course we have run a virus and emic raging around the world why does putin want to push this vote through now. well i mean he has made it very clear from the very beginning that is this is really a crucial. thing for him and he really wants to push this through he was stopped by the virus but nevertheless he had the parade yesterday but he started the vote
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improved process now and obviously the economic impact both of dropping prices for energy resources but also the economic impact of the corona of ours pandemic they tend to be severe his approval ratings are plummeting and we think that in the future it might only get worse so i mean right now all seems to be the right time to cast this kind of sweet spot and for you know you mentioned approval ratings plummet and how bad is that. while currently according to the pentagon pollster we speak about 59 percent of approval for putin so i mean he has seen this kind of a poor redskins before i mean right now it's lowest since this kind of approval has been measured but in the period between 201120144 the crimea and exaggeration he
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has seen pretty low approval ratings and lower sixty's still before the drive not all the it's bad in the sense that the economy is in a much worse state the expectations of the population are much more different people expect some kind of change and they do actually expect. that it will get worse in the in the in the future and the kind of the composition of the approval is different while before like more tended to say ok we really approve of putin right now it's your approval mostly exists consists of basically people saying we don't really have our terms if so basically putin is the best for not. the german institute for international and security affairs thank you. it's 70 years ago today communist north korea backed by china and the soviet union invaded the country south which was allied to the us kicking off the korean war 3 years of bloody fighting ended in 1953 not with a peace treaty but only
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a truce meaning that the war is technically ongoing and animosities between the 2 neighbors continue to this day the latest tensions were sparked when anti north activists in the south began launching balloons carrying propaganda leaflets over the border urging north koreans to overthrow their leadership now as our next report shows animosities between the 2 koreas still wants to. after 70 years korean unification still exists only on paper at an anti-u.s. 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 or should have been here for 58 years of fish really i'm a resident of south korea but my loyalty lies with north korea the democratic people's
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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 the money if they. don't 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. the north
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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 sections in late may prompted the north to escalate. yang 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 parks activities to he says he's not afraid of either side well here's what i would consider it an honor to be assassinated by kim jong un himself. 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
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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 human. the group has 14 members south korea calls them unconverted prisoners even though all have been out of prison for years. we just heard 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. of congo. 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.
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these men were released early from prison that's something that cannot be said about their south korean counterparts in the north. your. well now if you are feeling fit you can head to the eiffel tower in paris which has reopened after its pandemic closure lifts are made out of action because they are considered a health hazard but determined a visitor can climb the stairs that's just under $700.00 steps to the top managers say that they hope to get operations fully back to normal later in the summer but for the time being that magnificent view will take a lot of sweat. a miner our top story here on news of tom's employees are demonstrating against cost cutting measures as shareholders go today on a 9000000000 euro bailout package a drop in air travel during the pandemic has put the company at risk of thanks.
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a meal. lucky for the 2nd season home again. it's the back environment it's still about society it's still about us but all can. on the brink spoke to several leading experts on the fiscal cliff. the crystal ball moving sense. armstrong really. isn't the earth really slices how strong. the government plans to poison us. conspiracy theories spread like wildfire on the internet. and in some transparency fairies can provide comfort in times like reality create another traditional. film about
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knowledge and belief trust and deception. democracy of the global starts joyce 1st on t.w. . hello in a warm welcome to focus on europe i'm peter cop and thanks for joining us these days we are all longing for life to get back to normal while we are gradually moving towards normality in europe the impact of the covered 19 crisis is becoming more and more visible especially when it comes to domestic violence. millions of women have been physically abused by the.
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