this is the news live from berlin human rights on trial in turkey. or returns a not guilty verdict for german activists paid a start not to have been charged with membership off a terrorist group in a case that critics say was politically motivated. also on the program a new prime minister from philip tendered his resignation paving the way for manuel mccall to reshuffle his team and push the planets to reinvent his presidency also

on the program. in attempt to goose the more our indian prime minister pays a surprise visit to troops in the region that recently you saw a deadly confrontation with china. and the mysterious fate of elephants an investigation is underway into what's killing hundreds of. us welcome to the program a german human rights activist has been cleared of allegations that he supports a terrorist organization better start now it was detained in july 27th teen and istanbul along with 10 other human rights workers in the arrests triggered a crisis in relations between germany and turkey jordan was not present of course he had been charged with membership of a terrorist group in

a case that critics say was politically motivated. let's go straight. in front of the court. how much of a surprise is that. well this definitely comes as a very negative surprise for the defendants and their supporters who have been waiting here inside and outside court all day for 36 to emerge they had certainly hoped for all 11 human rights defenders to be acquitted but now you can see that this only shows you how relief on the one side disappointment and despair on the other side are often going hand in hand here in turkey you have 7 defendants who were acquitted today of terrorism related charges including german citizen and swedish citizen. but for takesh defendants

sentenced to jail the toughest sentence for each and the sea internationals of former chair person here in turkey 6 years and 3 months i spoke to an amnesty representative here outside court just a little while ago he called the verdict out rages this trial after all had been dragging on for nearly 3 years and amnesty from the very beginning said this is a politically motivated trial all the elected evidence was trumped up there is 0 evidence proving that any of these activists is somehow involved in terrorism related activity well you mentioned. one of the family members of the turkish section of the human rights organization amnesty international he was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in jail this his in particular.

well firstly what does it mean for him paris nearly he does not have to go straight to jail he can appeal and that's what he what amnesty will do now so there is a slight shimmer of hope there still but overall of cause this sends a fatal message to everyone here in turkey who stands up once to stand up for human rights for freedom of expression amnesty international very clearly says that they think turkey's a judiciary is being instrumental eyes politicized to target a positional critical voices to try to silence to silence them there often and this t. says routinely making up these terrorism related charges so overall this is a terrible message resonating here within turkey when it comes to everyone who is trying to stand up for human rights for journalists for lawyers as well you know

han in istanbul thank you. for some of the other stories making headlines around the world another court in turkey has opened the trial of 20 saudi nationals for their role in the 2800 killing of dissident journalist to mark a shock she the saudi consulate in istanbul the suspects are being tried in absentia . officials in turkey say at least 2 people have been killed and more than 70 wounded in an explosion at a fireworks factory in the northwest of the country an estimated 150 workers were in the factory at the time further explosions. efforts to bring the fire under control. terry lane maxwell the former girlfriend of the late financier and convicted paedophile jeffrey epstein has been arrested in the u.s. on sex trafficking charges that's what he's accused of recruiting girls to give obscene massages during which they were then sexually assaulted last 4 hours

previously denied any wrongdoing. germany's parliament has passed a plan to end the country's reliance on coal by 2038 package which was approved by the lower house on friday will provide billions of euros to support energy firms in transitioning to renewables and to coal mining regions where jobs will be lost. but as well an opposition leader one weibo has praised the u.k. ruling that sides with him in a dispute over gold on thursday a judge ruled that since the british government recognizes wydow as well as well as president he controls the country's $1000000000.00 gold reserves stored in london incumbent president nicolas maduro socialist government tried to get its hand on the gold and plans an appeal it's all change at the top of the french government the country's new prime minister has just been named as caustics he was

responsible for coordinating france's reopening strategy after it's grown of i was locked down earlier the previous prime minister it was philip and it in his government's resignation to president in one of the. lives decision to stand down as pave the way for me shuffle which had been widely expected president mccaw promised to chart a new course for the last 2 years of his term that will focus on efforts to relaunch the french economy. let's go straight to paris and bring in correspondent lisa lewis what do we know about the new man who is. he's a 55 year old senior public servant he's also been reelected as mayor of a town in southern france recently in the recent municipal elections and he's been around for quite a while he's been working as advisor at several ministries in the past for example under nicolas sarkozy the conservative former conservative president he was

a deputy secretary general at the elizee howlett so he knows his ways around in the public administration he's also well respected by politicians and public servants he's known to be a trustworthy person someone who's heart rocking easy to work with and as i said quite well known among politicians but not much so amongst the french public does support as prime minister mark the beginning of a change of policy in france. well not really if you look at him he is from the center right party leader could really come in my client came to power 3 years ago saying that he would be running on and he was running on a platform of a center left center right policies so far he's especially put in place center right policies market or untainted reforms and that is kind of the country nation that that way a feeling of presiding over the country now i'm not clear this morning sat in an

interview with regional newspapers that he wanted to give his presidency fresh impetus he was he said he would invest billions of euros in the economy to get the economy back on track he's also promised other reforms the health care reform of reform when it comes to youth unemployment but he also added that he wouldn't completely change course in the last 2 years of his presidency ahead of 2022. the way you describe. seems a bit more like. technocrats and less well known less charismatic does that mean that he's also less of a rival. well absolutely he's he's known to be very discreet as he said earlier he's also a human head the head of the at pase covert strategy here together with now former prime minister feet and during that time he didn't give any interview to the press a tour so in our class certainly put him in the appointed him as a prime minister

a name that this person would really stay discreet and give the president more of the limelight so that in my mouth clarke can sharpen his profile ahead of 2020 so that he yes has a better chance of winning the presidential election again our correspondent lisa lewis in paris thank you the us has reported a record number of new corona virus infections 55000 new covert 19 cases were logged on thursday just as the country gears up for the 4th of july independence day weekend let's look at some data showing daily new cases from the beginning of the outbreak in the u.s. after rising steadily to begin with the curve flattens from the end of april to mid june as the lockdown was jackson's were eased new infections shot up again as the pandemic accelerates independence day events i've been scaled back and officials are urging caution as both public and private gatherings w.'s washington

bureau chief in a sport visited a popular beach resort to gauge the mood that. for many americans this is the 1st time out after a month in lockdown they are hungry for fun and sun 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 of you don't want your party to know what you enjoy yourself but you have you know how many thousands in a group on the protests. how to deal with the pandemic is highly politicized some few that the restrictions are taking away their personal freedom of those just responsible. i expect here in our community here in maryland that because it's tor season now that these cases are going to come back as people do not socially distance or where there are mass while 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 causing so many cases and. this lack of guidance creates a dilemma for business owners between health concerns and remaining competitive. brenda pollack who 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 and i i don't feel safe with them and i'm not when i'm at you know that plant where i'm at. but yeah i would rather that where. you can make it out you could make it a law that you know that we have to wear it to recommend it for our safety and our health. 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 with 19 patients littlewood 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 weekend they will face a new wave which will lead to a new lockdown and that would bring them to their knees in 2 weeks' time we will know whether the right steps were taken if people celebrated this unprecedented growth into life in the responsible way of the worst fears of the next wave. to come true. joined by double reporter william grew cross who's looked a bit deeper into this story william what can we expect this week well that's the big question the public officials and public health officials are worried about just how many people are going to go out beaches barbecue is a mix of

a lot of people have more or less normal independence day to celebrate freedom and they're saying maybe you can celebrate freedom in a different way stay home and sending mixed messages he's going today july 3rd to mount rushmore the famous. monuments to america's great presidents for a fireworks display in the governor there in south dakota said there will be no kinds of restrictions no kinds of social distancing enforced and that's open to the public and tomorrow in july 4th back in washington he wants to have a scaled down in comparison to last year but still quite a large fireworks display at the white house on the national mall of the d.c. city government is absolutely dead set against this but it's federal property they really have very little power over whether people can go or not as many as 7000 people are expected to show up to this massive fireworks display that donald trump is supporting they say they'll be masks but public health officials and many particularly democratic politicians are saying please don't go please be careful how do you explain trump's approach to this crisis is not guided by reason is it

has been very erratic he's now come out and said yes i believe in masks you should wear one if you want it's recommended but not required remember this is a country that put up a fierce fight to have health insurance be required so to be able to be required to wear a mask is another thorn in the side for many americans donald trump and many of his allies get around this question by saying refer to the states as the states issue talk to your governors see what your governors are are requiring are recommending but the problem is these the policies at the state level have been very mixed. red states blue states also regardless of political party there has been just a very confusing amount of mix messaging for americans and to know what exactly to do which which so has a lot of doubt and gives a lot of leeway for people who don't want to follow these rules you have the presidential elections in the u.s. coming up in november what kind of role will trumps the coronavirus crisis play i

mean of course we're still very far from that a lot can happen with the conventions coming up in august we don't know where this virus and other other developments are going to go but it has been has been taking a hit his. ratings are at an all time high for him in the low to mid fifty's depending on what poll you're looking at a new york times sienna college poll was very interesting looking at voters who voted for trump in 201686 percent of according to this poll show they're still going to vote for trump but 14 percent are either uninsured or absolutely not going to vote for donald trump now that may seem like not a huge number but remember the voting margins are so razor thin the united states as we remember from the 2 thirds 2016 election going back further than the 2000 election as george w. bush if you take just a few percentage points here or there that could really tip the election and that's what donald trump really has to be worried about going into november it's going to be an exciting election that's exciting is one way to put it with him to quote thank you very much the e.u.

has approved the use of from disappear and on to a viral drug that's been found effective in the treatment of covert 19 the approval comes off the u.s. decision to buy up global stocks of the drug and all the use is in talks with a company that produces one does appear to tame its own doses with stocks not lindley it's far from certain just how much it will get. it's set to ease symptoms and reduce the length of the illness it might even save lives and easy via was developed to cure a ball are but is now the biggest hope in the fight against colbert 19 but who gets access to the drug the us department of health and human services has bought up 90 percent of u.s. truck make a good production over the next few months. we were not informed by the us government about it and we learnt about it through the media to commissioners now as i said

a few months ago. having discussions we get. to reserve a sufficient number of doses for the e.u. member states. this one of the most profitable pharmaceutical companies worldwide with sales reaching 22000000000 dollars last year the e.u. commission has now approved them dizzier for the e.u. had promised to deliver as soon as approval is granted but since the us government bought up most of their product there is doubt. if words fail and pleading with doesn't work we do have the option to give german and other drug makers a license to produce the drug even without approval for an appropriate field course . and according to the department of health the german government has already bought in stuart enough those are for them dizzy via. time not to bring up to date on some of the other developments in the coronavirus demick japan has confirmed

over 200 new coronavirus cases the highest daily increase in 2 months as fears grow of another wave of infections china has banned meat imports from various processing plants in several countries in the past month as the pandemic hit the world's top meat processes and the u.k. government says that from july 10th it will lift its current in requirement for people arriving in england from countries including france spain italy and germany . india's prime minister narendra modi has made an unannounced visit to a military base in the remote love dock region bordering china the visit comes just weeks after a deadly hunter hunt clash between troops from both countries became their worst confrontation in decades. the surprise top level visit to india's northernmost region prime minister narendra modi toured the indian army's high altitude forward post in the himalayan region of le duc close to where indian and chinese troops

clash just weeks ago for the indian soldiers the visit is a morale booster after they lost 20 comrades in fighting but the visit is also widely viewed as an attempt by modi to project strength in response to what indian see as chinese incursions into their territory not surprisingly china views the visit as an escalation nevertheless india's top diplomat sound optimistic that the problem can be resolved. the 2 fates will continue their meetings what are the military and diplomatic level including under the framework of the blue m.t.c. in the future to resolve the issues to mutual satisfaction. we expect the taney side to sincerely follow up and ensure the expeditious restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas asked for by local agreements and protocols. but

resolving the issue is no small task the disputed border spans nearly 3500 kilometers between ages 2 largest nuclear powers india and china fought a border war 962 and have been trying to settle their border dispute since the early $990.00 s. as yet without success. while humans across the globe are grappling with a coronavirus pandemic another of the world's species is being afflicted with its own sudden wave of unexplained deaths authorities in botswana trying to figure out why hundreds of elephants been found dead in recent months on conservationists is. alarming because there doesn't seem to be any clear sign of what's causing the deaths you might find some of the following images upsetting. 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're about to appear. and it seemed they were even dying you know very suddenly and some of. those were animals that had fallen go 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 our

thirty's lifted a 5 year ban on elephant hunting 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. the death of george floyd in police custody has sparked an ongoing conversation about racial injustice in the united states now fed ex has called on the washington redskins to change its name following pressure from investors the shipping giant is a key sponsor of the n.f.l. franchise and as the naming rights to the stadium the name is seen by many as a racial slur against native americans who have been advocating for change for many years now redskins owner dan snyder has previously said that he refuses to rename the franchise despite the offense its

official nominee has the city's lowest son a joint sports figure champions by a munich sun he has signed a 5 year deal for a fee reported to be around $50000000.00 euros buy and were interested in sunday as early as last year but an injury put everything on hold german winter becomes 3rd signing for the new season. and about the side of better by him and held to a draw by 2nd division higher than i am in the 1st leg of their playoff 2nd leg on monday with the winners getting a spot in the german top flight and the losers having to settle for 2nd tier. florian caulfield for the blame and produce just turning 61 win over cologne last weekend to keep alive the hopes of staying in the long as league or confidence was there for high for the home 1st leg of their play off against 2nd tier hiden time but it was the visitors who had much the better chances in the 1st half maurice

motown string this shot wide for hiding behind who have never been in the wonders league. lackluster braman were mainly reduced to long shots as the rain poured in the 2nd half. and i had nicholas my sunday send off late on. hiding behind continued their strong showing and almost dropped the lead at the deaf routine will be a man. nil nil it's ended hiding behind has a population of less than $50000.00 and will be one of the small these places ever supposed to men's bond as they get same but the dream looks very much on in monday's home leg when 4 times bond as they get champions braman risk only a 2nd ever relegation. while many music festivals around the world have been cancelled this year because of the coronavirus one event belgium managed to find a clever work around the paradise city electronic music festival reinvented itself

to adapt to physical distance rules put in party goes on small boats 8 friends which only $400.00 people attend usually the festival draws around $10000.00 people a day. this is news here's a reminder of our top stories this hour a court in istanbul german human rights activist. charges of membership to terrorist group critics say the case was politically motivated several other activists were jailed. a replacement has been named for french prime minister who resigned earlier paving the way to. the top civil servants of france's exit from its prone a virus. that's it from me i have an update for

you at the top of the hour don't forget meantime you can get all the latest news on our web site. also do follow us on twitter and instagram. gobs of money watching the news. good. good. good. good.

good. good. good. morning illegal an expulsion of some money not a shuttle one keeps hearing about the young man she once for a refugee in aid organization in raisin in the time his border they can die bear and we have no one migrants tell us it's very troubling. she set out to investigate. focusing on europe.

next on d w. good . crime fighters are back. in radio dramas. the stories focus on. prevention. the introduction libertarians are available online and of course you can share and discuss. because facebook and other social media platforms. writers. to take you.

live. live subscribe to. documentary. live live. live hello and welcome to focus on hero show and it's great to have you with us human rights groups are issuing warnings over the humanitarian situation at the border in the mediterranean sea some migrants who try to make the journey by boat from turkey to the country greece tell they were illegally.