am. 50 w. news a live from berlin and the u.s. prepares to mark an independence day like no other with the covert 1000 pandemic overshadowing the 4th of july america faces the challenge of striking a balance between safety and celebration and. also coming up as of this week german women occupy 2 of the e.u.'s most powerful roles spam's riccarton asked that she asked the chancellor is the e.u. in danger of becoming too german plus the mysterious fate of botswana elephants

and investigation is underway into what is killing hundreds of them. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program independence day is approaching in the us usually an occasion for parties and fireworks but with many u.s. states really imposing restrictions among a steep rise in cases this year celebrations may be more muted let's have a look now at data that shows the number of daily do cases from the beginning of the outbreak in the u.s. well after rising steadily as you can see we begin with the curve now flattening cases leveling off and then falling from the end of april until may june but in the last couple of weeks as you can see of new infections have skyrocketed again on

thursday alone more than 55000 new infections were registered. well amid the pandemic events have been scaled back officials are urging caution and both public and private gatherings washington bureau chief ines poll visited a popular beach resort to gauge the mood. for many americans this is the 1st time out of the month and. they are hungry for fun and some. want to celebrate this 4th of july weekend as they normally do. to keep moving on do the fireworks continue normality as much as we can moving back to normalcy is what we'd like to do i think if you take the right precautions there's nothing to be scared they don't want your party to know what you enjoy you know how many thousands in a group when it protests how to deal with the pandemic is highly politicized some fear that the restrictions are taking away their personal freedom of those just seeing the responsible actions. i expect here in our community in maryland.

that these cases are going to people do not socially distance or where they were visiting our beaches i don't think president will do anything i think he will continue to say it's a hoax and not believe in the science that is there so many cases and. this lack of guidance creates a turn them off for business owners between health concerns and remaining competitive. once in the bar and grill in the 5th generation. we want to know where i'm at but if they don't know where i'm at we can tell them where i'm at because it's their right to wear a mask or not i don't feel safe with them and i'm not when i'm at you know that plant where my man. yeah i would rather that where he can make it or you can make it a law that you know that we have to where i'm going to be recommended for our safety and our help then i you know need to make it where you know you get fined

$500.00 if you don't harm. the united states are facing a new record high of who with 19 infections but little would you know here at the boardwalk in ocean city maryland the majority of the people is not wearing a mask they tell us we are here to fun we want to celebrate we are done with this why was the business owners obviously do have a different approach they fear that after the rican they will face a new wave which will lead to a new locked all in and that would bring them to their knees in 2 weeks' time we will know whether the right steps were taken the people celebrated this unprecedented open to life in the responsible way or the worst fears of the next wave. will come true. and let's bring you up to date now with some of the other developments in the corona virus pandemic mexico has reported

a record daily tally of new infections almost 7000 in a single day the number of confirmed coronavirus cases there is approaching 240000 japan the capital tokyo has recorded its highest daily number of new infections however the japanese government has said there is no need to reintroduce a state of emergency and the u.k. government says that from july 10th it will lift its quarantine requirement for people arriving from england from countries including france spain italy and germany. for all meantime in other news with germany holding the e.u.'s rotating presidency for the next 6 months chancellor angela merkel will be working closely with european commission president arcilla funder line her former protege sure it's something of a 1st to german women at the helm of the e.u. but they will have to make sure that the rest of the e.u.'s member states are on board with their agenda chancellor angela merkel and the commission president as

well off on the line know and trust each other but is the rest of the e.u. ok with 2 german to the top and we've got lots of the question to both presidents is a coincidence that 2 very powerful german women lead these negotiations about the recovery fund and you know each other a row is that helpful or is it a hindrance with respect to the other $26.00 they may be afraid of too much germany . that's why we're talking about 2 dedicated europeans that's what's more important here but of course i can't forget my german interests again i find i'm very pleased it's 2 women in germany there has never been a female chancellor before me had europe there's never been a female commission president and in the past to men of always to manage myself now we 2 women have to handle it and i'm confident that we can do it right.

the list of challenges is long combating the impact of the corona crisis tops the agenda for chancellor angela merkel together with french president emmanuel mccaughan she will try and push through the e.u. recovery fund with 750000000000 euros at a summit in 2 weeks' time fund to finance through shared borrowing a majority of german voters support the chancellor and the plan according to a recent poll 59 percent of germans say they are in favor of the e.u. taking on common did to tackle the corona crisis only 35 percent find the plan unacceptable but the corona crisis is not the only topic on german's minds 50 percent of germans think climate protection should top the agenda during germany's 8 year presidency 39 percent say the impact of the coronavirus needs to be tackled and only 7 percent is still concerned with the blocks future relations with the u.k. progress on determining those future relations has been most european officials say

but during the corona crisis the focus has shifted as the chances rise that the u.k. will leave the e.u. with no future deal in december a majority of germans say they want the remaining $27.00 e.u. states to move towards even more integration. and let's get a quick check of some other stories making news this hour elaine maxwell the former girlfriend of the late finance year and convicted pedophile jeffrey epstein has been arrested in the u.s. on sex trafficking charges maxwell is accused of recruiting girls to give epstein massages during which they were pressured into sex maxwell has previously denied any wrongdoing colombian authorities have arrested 8 leftist rebels suspected of involvement in the bombing of a police academy last year in january $21000.00 car bombing in the capital bogota killed $22.00 people the suspects face multiple charges including murder and terrorism. a living i thought of this and hong kong's pro-democracy movement has

left the country shortly after he testified at a u.s. congressional hearing about the draconian security law imposed by china this week nathan law says that staying in hong kong would mean staying silent and confirmed his departure in a tweet he wrote the following so i bade my city farewell i've been my city for a while excuse me as the plane took off the runway i gazed down at the skyline i love so much for the last time he ended with the words glory to hong kong. in the wake of the security laws implementation in the u.k. is leading an effort by western nations to help hong kong residents leave the territory they can last spoke with earlier we asked him about his view on britain offering a pathway to citizenship for hong kong years. but for now they indeed offer something that we couldn't have expected them doing so so i think the national security law

indeed changed and shake the narrative of the world who was on call which i'm going no longer no longer a problem in and that one country today is a blatant lie that the well but what reflects. from the incident that numerous country offering they spoke by phone com people i thought actually hong kong mostly trial of the people they are really good languished using chemical and they have a good working experience. it is also the talent that these countries one i think their national security law indeed in cold. and also a sense of fear to the the people and i think that would definitely harm all call in a. most fundamental way you can last week in with us earlier in addition to the u.k. a number of other western nations are lining up to help millions of hong kong residents leave after the implementation of

a new security law by beijing this week there are signs that australia new zealand canada and the u.s. could follow suit in a direct challenge to china's authority over the territory oh no doubt tensions in hong kong on the rise one day off to beijing implemented its controversial security law the civil liberties hong kong this had been promised to 2047 gone london says beijing is guilty of what is described as a clear and serious violation of a treaty that paved the way for hong kong's handover from britain to china in 1970 and close to 3000000 hong kong residents have been promised a pathway to british citizenship basis for all international relations we make clear mr speaker that if trying to continue down this path we would reach introduce a new route. for those with british national overseas status to enter the u.k. granting them limited need to remain with the ability to live and work in the u.k.

and thereafter to apply for citizenship and that is precisely what we will do to us truly a is contemplating a similar move beijing is demanding both britain and australia stop interfering in what it calls its own internal affairs it also accused london of violating pasta agreements the chinese embassy beijing maintains that the passing of the new security law was necessary to prevent the repetition of violent protests that paralyzed hong kong for months but few on the streets of hong kong buy into that narrative some already say they are ready to accept britain's offer to meet there if possible for dialogue gives us one more way out i still love him come very much but our reapply for the british mission overseas passport 1st and decide whether to stay or leave after the details are confirmed. but not everyone is eligible to apply for citizenship some people will have to stay in hong kong and learn to live

with the new reality. people across the globe are grappling with the coronavirus pandemic another of the world's species is being afflicted with its own sudden wave of unexplained death authorities in botswana are trying to figure out why hundreds of elephants have been found dead in recent months one conservationist says it is alarming because there doesn't seem to be any clear side of what is causing these deaths. the elephants are dying hundreds of carcasses scattered across the beautiful landscape of botswana the cause still a mystery it doesn't seem like they died at the hands of poachers their valuable tusks have not been removed the 2 most likely explanations for their deaths poisoning or disease several elephants were spotted by locals in the area looking weak and disoriented or have difficulty walking whenever they went out there were

they would see more and more old ones. and also. ones who were you know. war heroes you know what about me. and it seemed they were even dying you know very suddenly and some of. those were animals that had fallen down while walking there are more than 130000 elephants in botswana the world's largest population to some they've become a pest with the government saying such high numbers have led to conflicts with humans as they eat farmers' crops last year they became targets again when authorities lifted a 5 year ban on elephant hunting and sparking outrage among conservationists worldwide but today authorities in conservationists alike are focusing on the mysterious deaths they're hoping to find out what's happening so they can stop the elephants dying. that's why. well this is g.w.

news and here's a reminder of the top story that we've been following for you this hour the u.s. has reported a record 55000 new coronavirus cases in a sign that the pandemic is accelerating it comes as the country prepared to make independence day with muted celebrations. that you're up to date i'm sorry kelly in berlin thanks for watching. combating the corona pandemic. where does research stand. what are scientists learning. background information and news. our corona update. from the covert 19 special next on d w.