this is. from. tons up the pressure the u.s. secretary of state is trying to get. the pipeline. to germany. and the rising tension between the u.s. and china firefighters opposed to a chinese. order to close by president trump the diplomats turning sensitive

documents plus. the risky right they have to. the world of. a 6 2nd video. the hostages were freed the president of the. u.s. secretary of state is visiting to try to persuade him to stop walking the north street to gas pipeline through his waters has just given the go ahead for the work. to get the danes to change their minds. the u.s.

believes that by penguin make germany too dependent on russian gas. last me pompei or want companies working on the project they would be subject to u.s. penalties if they didn't end their involvement. work on the baltic sea gas pipeline north stream 2 is still moving forward albeit slowly the u.s. has threatened sanctions for companies participating in the project so right now there is just one russian ship laying the pipes for the remaining 160 kilometers the pipeline runs parallel to the north stream one pipeline from russia to germany 1200 kilometers across the baltic once complete it will allow russia to supply double the current volume of gas the united states says germany is making itself dependent on russia earlier this month u.s. secretary of state mike pump a.o. warned against continuing to build the pipeline this action puts investments or

other activities that are related to these russian energy export pipelines at risk of u.s. sanctions it's a clear warning to companies aiding and abetting russia's malign influence projects will not be tolerated get out now or risk the consequences germany has rejected the criticism and says sanctions would be contrary to international law now denmark has given permission for additional vessels to work on the last phase of the pipeline within its territorial waters that means work on the project may soon pick up speed angering pompei oh and the white house so how is the german government reacting to this latest u.s. diplomatic offensive against north stream to chief political editor. spoke to german defense minister. system minus north stream is a project that is also being debated among but also nato member states. too there

is concern that germany could become too dependent on russian gas a concern we were able to diffuse but it's also about the concerns and the interests of ukraine and poland which have to be negotiated into the contracts this was in the front when it comes to the u.s. pressure of sanctions and government have the clear position that these are not in accordance with international rules. and the character who conducted that interview joins us now from our politics studio and hillary. isn't just germany's defense minister she's also the chair of chancellor angela merkel so you do your party and a close ally of the chancellor what else did she have to say about the nord stream pipeline. well it's quite clear that the whole question of how countries in the e.u. relate to russia is also an overarching theme of germany's you presidency that is currently taking place and those meetings of defense ministers that come combo or

will be chairing and there she's been talking to many countries who either see a very concrete threats particularly in the east and in the baltic states and other countries that take a different asked you'd want to see more cooperation and here's germany that also against different distance from many e.u. member states is pushing ahead what it took a very long time for under machall to actually accept has a political implication that pipeline between russia and germany germany may be in the right when it comes to international law but with a defunct world trade organization at the moment and those tense relations to what it says is its closest allies across there across the atlantic and washington this still is a very open and a very difficult spot for the don't government to be in that administration in washington has taken a very hard line on the north stream pipeline but with u.s.

presidential elections due in 4 months star do you think mccain other berlin is thinking of just sitting this one out. well i mean it's not for saw who will win those elections they are wide open and the democrats can get to biden may be in the lead for now but still several months off until november and that is a very long time in politics when you are dealing with such a concrete threat congress has a big say in that of course as well and the big question is how much damage will have been done whoever becomes the next president and what forcing those down mr relations can be continued finale this remains an issue would also const back out because that would be conceding to what in the end also other national interests across the atlantic so it's still a very open situation they do have a chief political editor because thank you very much now to some other stories

making news around the world u.s. president donald trump has told americans to wear masks when social distancing is not possible saying face coverings going to have an effect against the coronavirus from press previously don't play the impact of mosques and has been reluctant to wear one himself in public to. the u.s. city of portland oregon has seen further clashes between protesters and federal law enforcement officers sent by president donald trump and empty racism protests the nightly rallies have been held in the area since of death of george floyd in police custody in may. and in a further escalation of tension between the world's 2 biggest economies the united states has ordered china not to close its consulate in houston texas the u.s. state department said it was a necessary measure to protect american intellectual property beijing has called the move a political provocation and

a violation of international norms just all is off to the order was issued firefighters were called to the consulate. bins on fire inside the courtyard at the chinese consulate in houston witnesses said they could smell paper being burned the 1st whiff of a bigger story because this firefighters arrived chinese state media started reporting the u.s. had ordered the consulate to be closed. it's a political provocation unilaterally launched by the u.s. side which seriously violates international law basic norms governing international relations and the bilateral consular agreements between china and the u.s. china strongly condemn such an outrageous move. beat you to it or you what would you be in a statement the u.s. state department said it would not tolerate violations of our sovereignty and

intimidation of our people the u.s. directive comes a day after 2 chinese nationals were charged with hacking said to be working a spice they're accused among other things of trying to steal coronavirus vaccine research and pain targeted intellectual property and confidential business information held by the private sector including covert 19 related treatment testing and back scenes. back in houston this was as close as firefighters could get to the consulate they weren't allowed in chinese officials have 72 hours to get out with china threatening to close u.s. consulates in response. the fire may have been pushed out but the u.s. china relationship is smoldering as much as ever. that's bigger types of baka from the truman national security project in berlin

tyson what more do we know about why the u.s. has taken this step. well clearly this is an escalator tory step on the part of the u.s. and we don't exactly know the reasons they have not the us is not given exact reasons what we do know is the kind of atmospherics around this the u.s. has unsealed a an indictment the department of justice on tuesday involving 2 chinese hackers that have been infiltrating research centers looking into hope it 19 vaccines. the as you mentioned earlier my pump a.o. is doing a trip through europe he was just in the u.k. pushing for other countries to ban walkway so the relationship the tension and ration ship is for a way where this is the diplomatic ties between the 2 countries. there they're extremely fraught right now i think when you look at the kind of global landscape china and the united states are crisscrossing our allies partners pushing for

partners to take a tougher stance because of the the out there the chinese have become quite aggressive here in europe for example with what they're calling a world war your diplomacy pushing. partners to allow walkway for example to take part to participate in 5 g. infrastructure development places like germany. it's quite tense and in the united states this idea of you know a great power conflict with china has has credibility has given credence in a bipartisan way there's a lot of support for this in congress as well do you think that the company ministration is also hardening its position on china given that we are in an election year. well you know there is obviously a political overtone to this the trump campaign has made a point of saying that. trump president trump is tougher on china that joe biden is

soft in china that he was supportive of integrating china into the global trade system for example in the ninety's and early 2000 is that he has a record that doesn't match up well with with trump's record. it's not clear that that's going to work the rhetoric coming out of the biden campaign it's very similar to the trump rhetoric and a lot of the support for toughening sanctions measures in the senate and house which are moving right now banning to talk for example on federal devices that's all coming from the democrats as well as the republicans tyson baka from the truman national security project in berlin thank you so much thank you know books have not been a safe trade in hong kong for several yaz some books such as mysteriously disappeared 5 years ago and turned up a few months later saying they've been hemmed in mainland china now with the tough new security annoying posed by beijing last month a growing number of hong kong all foes of the shows of bookstores are moving their

businesses abroad or censoring the products. publishing books in hong kong hasn't been easy for a while especially when the battle last year's protests for publisher a window the new chinese security law has changed everything about his current project a collection of articles written by thousands of people who took part in the demonstrations right man and his team have been taking a worse and pictures that could. they have even changed her book cover these texts on pages mark some of the so-called to boot. if i can be like a few most of the political slogans were removed such as the popular protest slogan liberate hong kong revolution of our times which has recently been declared illegal here we're also getting to the paragraphs which we advocate are in crisis action but no one can tell us high exactly that red line is drawn not even lawyers it's

the most painful project i've done yet i'll take. the book was to have been published 2 months ago but that still hasn't happened as 5 printers have rejected it because of the sensitivity some ask raymond to change part of the content that rarely happened in the past this repeaters and bookstores also turned it down. beijing's weeping law is not only deterring new publications but it's also affecting older ones jimmy paying a federal publisher who has worked in the industry for over 3 their case has also felt its effects he has suspended further publication after the police asked year to mark 30 of any verse 3 of the timbers work. the remaining copies won't be put on display at book fairs anymore. i think this is the biggest crisis facing the whole industry everyone is anxious we don't want to be revolutionaries but to free speech

and promote knowledge what equality do our citizens have this diversity and enlightening ideologies vanish that's hard to restore once their last. i can make. what's going on in hong kong is more than self censorship at least not written by opposition fighters have been removed from public libraries in order to review what are they breached and the law schools have also been ordered to do the same if any. possibly illegal. a growing number of those publishers and bookstores are moving their business abroad neither jimmy raymond you are ready to quit writing this book is taught to freedom that's what he wants to practice this spike the challenges we face a little you talk it's frustrating but i will try to publish it in hong kong this book itself is a form of resistance the only way to keep the freedom of publication in life is to actually size it here not to abandon the rights we do sound. well i don't endorse

it i handled it but he's in a minority many more people in hong kong observing the situation from the time to fear for now of beijing's clout to speak. that report i did of a correspondent phoebe kong not a story is making news around the world is randy protesters have blocked roads to apollo meant in jerusalem demonstrating against legislation that could grant the government the right to bypass lawmakers to combat the coronavirus that follows a night of protest near the residence of prime minister binyamin netanyahu. south african campaign andrew gainey has died at the age of $95.00 not gaining stood trial but there was a mandela and was imprisoned in the notorious robben island prison for more than a quarter of a century. now you're in europe it's a dilemma many governments are facing what to do with citizens who joined the

so-called islamic state in syria and iraq among them women and children many of them living in kurdish controlled refugee camps their status in limbo european countries are reluctant to bring their citizens back home prefer them to face trial in the region instead but human rights groups say governments should repent tree at their citizens especially the most vulnerable and deal with them on home ground. the biggest group from these french citizens including 400 women and children in our next report we meet and 21 who's fighting to bring his daughter and grandson back to france a quick note the man asked us not to use his real name. on tun is standing his ground the former trade unionist has defended workers' rights his whole life but when 5 years ago is 26 year old daughter suddenly left to join isis

in iraq he had dropped bottom. more. it was my house came tumbling down on top of me. she had always been a good student and we didn't see this thing coming at all her family is ignore steak but she converted to islam without telling us what i told to do you know what you're getting yourself into and who these people are that you're joining he. last year his daughter was captured by the kurds and brought to the whole camp he kept in touch with her until she and her baby born in syria than just 5 weeks ago on one is today saying his face on camera for the 1st time he says he has nothing left to lose and. i don't know exactly what she did but i'm not the judge she should be held accountable for her actions and she has the right. to a fair trial like everyone else that's the difference between a democracy and

a dictatorship we're creating a 2nd going trying to move there and what about my grandson he's 18 months old he's responsible for nothing more. the french government has only repass rated about 30 children from the council and refuses to bring back women and men. are proceeding according to international law people should be judged in the country where they are alleged to have committed crimes we take back young children if and when the mother agrees that we should take charge of them. but this lawyer representing the families of 40 women in the camps says that approach actually goes against international law. the kurdistan doesn't exist so there are no judges anti-s. people are being arbitrarily detained plus their crimes started in front of it i think they are accused of joining a terrorist organization good movement should be judged here and these children are

in mortal danger 300 of them died at al gore than 29000 jews to the living conditions france has an obligation to protect them but since leaving them there to run. france is not the only country reluctant to repatriate its citizens to join the so-called islamic state about 1000 western europeans are still being held in syria and iraq only a few of them have been brought back so far. together with other families on one has gone to court to force the government to bring back his daughter and grandson he believes repatriation is actually in the government's own interests. during a recent attack on one camp the kurds just open the gates and some women escape to join i asked so leaving these people in the cabs is a lot more dangerous than bringing them back we always wonder if they managed to get away there is

a real risk they might commit more attacks here in france or you know he's determined not to lose hope so that one day he can finally meet his grandson. in ukraine a hostage taking incident was resolved in an unusual way a gunman took over a bus with 13 people on board in the western city of lots the gunman threatened them for 12 hours but he released them after president selenski agreed to his bizarre demand to recommend people to watch a film. of insanely sick. ukraine's president recommends people watch a film about animal rights but for those 6 seconds the man in this bus holding hostage is a complaint and surrounded by armed police is arguably the most powerful person in the country. the driver and his passengers were stuck on the bus for over 12 hours

and as the evening approached tensions rose. but they took it to avoid a bloodbath and the president made his video. and he a minus it was obvious for me to take this step which is we if we can do anything without. if we can avoid. these principles i live with that have to. continue. and it worked the hostages were freed within minutes of the video being posted on facebook. and soon the man who had held them at gunpoint and it up like this. through more of the world he's not a balanced person he drew his own world in his head he came up with his revenge on this well formulated some feces. it's good everyone is in another situation the special forces would have killed him thank god everything works out

he's facing a very long prison term. the hostage taker justice has 6 seconds of power and. here are some of the latest developments in the. more than one in 5 people in the indian capital delhi have been infected with the coronavirus according to a new antibody study that would mean more than 6000000 cases have gone undiagnosed in the city the u.s. has agreed to deal with pharmaceutical giant pfizer germany's bio tech $400000000.00 as of a future covert 19 vaccine drug administration plans to make the vaccine available to americans for free meanwhile brazil has approved clinical human trials for the pfizer vaccine brazil has reported 41000 new infections in one day bringing the country to more than 2100000 cases. for latin american girls turning 15 is

a very special. concert the rite of passage into. the court of august pandemic is adding some hurdles to this yes and abrasions but as our next report shows lots of girls in cuba fashionable ways to adapt. schick to safe it's the way to go for young cubans the likes of fia who are celebrating their king thing i knew or 15th birthday during the pen demick. i designed my 15th birthday dress and the mask was very important to me it's a symbol of an important stage in my life which was the pandemic i had to design my face mask to fit the colors of my outfit and it was not just about the combination of colors it was also for security reasons. across latin america turning 15 is seen as a special milestone in a girl's life it's the moment of transition from girlhood into womanhood latinas

often mark continued us with large celebrations including with glamorous photo shoots and d.c. year face masks have become an integral part of their party outfit. for young women this contrast between the mosque and the dress the combination is striking it's a fashion that i think will stay. they take selfies and it's something that's part of the whole show the whole experience of the photo shoot of their. cuba made wearing masks compulsory early on and credits them with helping the island to contain the spread of the virus. but for these girls face masks will also remain a symbol of coming of age as an extraordinary time. from fashionable golds to the story of an electric boy in fact the story of

a teenage footballer in russia who's got to be one of the luckiest people alive i need to look out for the fleeting moment when the blinding lightning flash strikes the pitch at a small moscow stadium that was the flash even. was knocked unconscious is jersey burnt and smoking but 3 weeks later the only evidence of the strike is a bun on someone else is just another close look at the flash shows the stunning power of lightning which somehow spared this steam year old boy. if you want your. top stories at the feast. that's despite having just given the go ahead for the book the 5 russian gas to

germany. and firefighters have been called to the chinese from citizen houston texas the maze came just for the u.s. state department. to close their reports the diplomats sensitive documents the firefighters what. are. you watching. and you can forget you can keep up with the latest news on our website. and instagram after. i'm finished i'll see you in 15 minutes.

world. where everything is connected. all it takes is a school. to set things in motion. a. local hero show how their ideas can change the world.

3000. next on d.w. . in the army of climate change. summit this is. what ideas do they have for their future. d.w. dot com african megacities the meeting. could turn. this is some note story a stubborn rice farmer from thailand. his problem tests. his

credo no chemicals. and he's trying to. step in. check out. some employers. the students are in the past. training successful. such that it starts july 27th. to w. well come to global $3000.00. devastation to zimbabwe last year how is the reconstruction coming along. fake news and hate speech that's also

a feature of social media does this pose a danger to democracy. but 1st we go to the keyboard district of nairobi where the cool.