this is day to be news live from berlin the start of a new era for instance balls highest official. count. the 1st time in more than 80 years the building opens for muslim friday practice we have latest on president carter once controversial decision to change the world famous monument back into the i'm also on the program china orders the closure of america's consulates in the southwestern city of chengdu contamination for the

force closure of china's consulate in houston. germany office incoming holiday makers and travelers free throw virus testing to guard against a 2nd wave of coverage 19. the countdown clock for the turkey of the pics has been reset coconuts are now planning for next summer the coronavirus pandemic is making even the decision to camps. i'm so gal welcome to the program turkey is the higher saffir has hosted muslim friday prayers for the 1st time in more than 80 years the istanbul lombok was built 1500 years ago as a christian cathedral mass before becoming a mosque and then a museum 2 weeks ago president issued a controversial decree returning it to use as a mosque after a court

a no it's museum status. prayers led by a president on a friday that will become unforgettable in turkey thousands of muslims gathered in worship for the 1st time in 86 years. oh the iconic buildings journey through time from orthodox christian cathedral to muslim mosque to museum. for many here and historic wrong has been righted. but only young and old i'm not done. we have been waiting for higher sophia to open as a mosque for decades for decades we said that the chains will break and higher sophia will reopen yeah to me that was friday remained a museum this kind of atmosphere would not have been possible it doesn't mean much

for the people abroad and i think the important thing is what the people of turkey want were happy. as. but everyone critics in turkey see the conversion as a political ploy to score points with his conservative base. and the move has sparked dismay among christian leaders and some western countries that this one time symbol of christian and muslim unity may become a source of religious divide that. 'd has been discussing this decision with turkey's nobel prize winning novelist. so one of the people unhappy with this decision speaking. one reason they are not raising their voices because there is no free speech in turkey to challenge this they are also unfortunately afraid of saying this is. our circle or tradition please let's not change it this is important in the sense that turkish

nation is this thing from this is different this thing from other muslim nations and by the fact that we are secure and the rest of the world knows this every single even if they are if even if they are walking for are the ruling party islamist party are secretly all open the product will be different than other muslim nations saying that like europeans we are sicker and this is their origin ality off turkey now they are taking away that pride of being bought muslim and sickle or similar tediously that was a lot of troops straight to istanbul then we joined the w correspondent dorian germans welcome dorian we know this is a decision to close the presence hearts and what do you think is it more likely to have been motivated by religion or politics. well both president

recently made clear that this was a lifelong dream to convert the ira soft back to a mosque but given the fact that it's taken him nearly 20 years in power to to actually do this it does smell politics this comes at a time when his ruling a k party is a record lows in the opinion polls hit by the economic woes the country is suffering because of covert 19 and the corporate feel of today's event all pointed to galvanizing he's religious and nationalist 13 base one before the friday prayers recited to a koran wearing an islamic skullcap images because all across the country and indeed the try to prison cells were given by the head of turkey's religious authority and the man was carrying a sword now that's a symbol of the conquest of stamboul by 40 men with a conqueror he's an iconic figure not only for the religious but also for turkish nationalists and for all the ceremonies today for repeated references to the

conqueror seen as an icon for the nationalists and thousands and thousands of supporters of all across the country a rallying point to take part in these ceremonies today so it's very much i heard one seeking to galvanize base and prevent a further hemorrhaging of support of his party and so where what does this tell us and about the current religious and political climate. well i think for support of the secular state this will be a very dark day the ira saw fear in many ways is the most important symbol of turkey's conversion to a secular state by the founder of secularism in turkey mystified kemal ataturk is seen as so symbolically important and the fact that it has gone well critics say it's part of a wider trend of undermining secularism within the country now that's a charge tonight by the government but if you look at wider society the change there's a different story the government is increasingly struggling to fill these religious schools which it is massively expanded in recent years and recent studies. do

indicate that the young are increasingly moving away from religion and that is hank i think a factor why there were the main opposition to secular party didn't choose to pick a fight over the conversion of the i saw fear they are focusing on the economy there they see earth one is weak and they see a chance of finally removing him from power big question is now what deserved want to next if he cannot move the agenda away from the economy and the fear is that there will be more controversial and unpredictable steps taken by one in the coming years. corresponded to door hedgers in istanbul thank you. china has ordered the united states to close one of its consulates the foreign ministry has given us officials 72 hours to leave the consulate in the southwestern city of chengdu and this comes after washington told beijing to close its diplomatic mission in houston texas this week relations between the 2 countries are at the nose point for 40 years. it was less a question of if china would retaliate but rather how and the answer is the u.s.

has been told to close its concha lip synching to raising the stakes yet further and this diplomatic standoff. through majority of the current situation in china u.s. relations is not what china wants and the u.s. is completely responsible for all of this. all of this includes the u.s. imposing sanctions on communist party officials and companies linked to the mass detention of weaker and ordering china to shut its mission in houston citing concerns about. the clear act is underway the president even floated the potential to cut diplomatic ties completely. as far as closing additional embassies it's always possible it marks the biggest fallout since richard nixon renewed relations in the seventy's when he extended the 100 friendship. all the more significant then the u.s.

secretary of state would head to the former republican presidential library to all but declare a new cold war with the c.c.p. the kind of engagement we've been pursuing is not brought the kind of change inside of china the president nixon had hoped to induce. the truth is that our policies and those of other free nations resurrected china's failing economy only to see beijing by the international hands that were feeding it. we open our arms to chinese citizens only to see the chinese communist party support our free and open society. back in 2017 when donald trump and she. occasionally sparred over trade no they're even farther apart to me be a long time before they're rolling out the red carpet for each other again. well jeff mooney is the china trade and government affairs consultant he's also a former u.s. diplomat and trade negotiator one of his diplomatic postings was to the u.s.

consulate in chengdu but welcome to d.w. does this consulate have any particular significance it does it's the only american consulate in western china an area that has a population of almost $300000000.00 people there is significant american commercial interests there china has tried to attract u.s. industry to help develop the region which has traditionally been underdeveloped and this is the u.s. consulate that also covers tibet which is an area great interest to the united states and american legislators and american people. and what is china said about the closure is this purely in retaliation for for houston or are they saying that they were spies and all sorts of other things going on then. well the chinese statement accuses the u.s. of all kinds of misdeeds but i don't think it takes a lot of looking to realize this is all about houston and this is interesting

because this is an escalation of the conflict it's already been going on if china had closed the u.s. consulate in rwanda which is the smallest of the u.s. consulates and is already closed because after coronavirus the chinese will not allow the diplomats there to return if it closed that consulate then one consulate from each side would have been closed now you have the chinese that are effectively closing 2 consulates and there's one consulate in from china you're in the u.s. is closed so there is going to be further retaliation and i think china has made a mistake here already so where is the united states likely to go from here then today closing of the consulate or does it does it take some other action. well it all depends on how the u.s. chooses to react you know trump says all the time that when you hit him he'll hit back twice as hard and he has proven to do that in public so he has 2 options one if you keep this in the diplomatic track then i think another consular closure in the u.s. is indeed possible however there are so many issues now in the u.s.

trying to relationship and they are all linked together that it would be very easy for the u.s. to do something in an unrelated area that we can't really predict at this point and so this is this is all coming to a head now this escalation we know that the relationship between that china and the united states has been rocky for some time but why this sudden of what take on the graph is this cynically speaking just about november's election. i think it has a lot to do with that there is a general push in the us in a general consensus frankly to get tough on china the administration has had 4 high level speeches pantos was just the 4th yesterday outlining the grievances with china but this is an election season and there was a true diplomatic rift over the inability for the u.s. to restaff the consulate and move on and so that's why i think this is coming to a head with in terms of the consulate's right now but pumping made clear yesterday

that at least this administration sees this as a long term struggle so frankly that you have extra extensive experience of working in china how do you see this ending i think that well there are 2 courses the election is going to have a lot to do with us if trump is reelected then these kind of aggressive behaviors are going to continue in my greatest fear is an accident an accident something all winds of some ships bumping in the south china sea or something happened there is a history of accidents happening the causing lots of problems within the relationship if biden is elected i think that tension will continue but that we will have all of the emotion and the bluster and and that things will calm down a bit and we will work on the same issues but will work on them in a much more logical and rational way it's very clear very interesting we thank you

for your time jeff. thank you. let's look at some other stories making news around the world goldman sachs has agreed nearly $4000000000.00 settlement with malaysia over a corruption scandal prosecutors allege that banker rangebound sales for the one m. d. be sovereign wealth fund that allowed malaysia's foreman b. to actually bring back to steal billions the verdict in this 1st trial over the affair is expected in coming days. a matter of chicago has ordered the removal of 2 statues of christopher columbus' until further notice the overnight move came the week after protesters trying to topple one of the figures met laurie lightfoot said there would be a review of the appropriateness of all of the city's monuments. thousands of hunger areas have marched in protest against attacks on media freedoms after the perceived muscling of the country's worst read website more than 80 journalists and index h.q. quit in protest of the sacking this week of the website's editor in chief index is

the last of hungry ski independent news outlets. face coverings in our mandatory in shops and takeaway food stores in england as well as other enclosed spaces like transport hubs and shopping centers face coverings already compulsory even close public spaces in many other european countries including to. now be ronnie's warnings of rusting oil tanker in the red sea is an environmental disaster waiting to happen a 45 year old vessel is stocked with more than a 1000000 barrels of crude oil and these floating off the coast of yemen the ships deteriorating and experts are warning that an oil spill could be imminent yemen's ongoing civil war is complicating efforts to extract the oil from the ship. a cruellest ship with explosive cargo is docked off the coast of yemen this is the only current image of the ailing tanker at any moment it could fall apart

potentially spilling $1200000.00 barrels of oil into the red sea. that would cause a natural disaster according to u.n. coordinator lisa grande and it would destroy the fishing capacities in the fishing villages. and. the environment of the roads. many years. if as it was safer has not been properly maintained since the beginning of the war in yemen 5 years ago the cables and valves are rusted and the tanker is leaking for the past 2 years the united nations has asked for a team of experts to be allowed to go on board but permission from the warring parties is pending they are arguing over who gets the profits after the oil on board is sold the north of yemen is controlled by the who the rebels and this tanker lies within the region they control the oil minister blames an alliance led by saudi arabia for the blockade of the mouth of the how do you know if our

maintenance teams attempt to reach the tanker fighter jets will fly over them and attack that's a big problem. an oil spill would also wash up on the shores of who died in a port which is the lifeline for millions of people in northern yemen who are suffering hardship and hunger and are in urgent need of aid. german authorities have confirmed the release of had a mary 1st the german curator who was abducted by iraqi militants this week in a statement foreign minister heiko mass expressed his relief and thanked the iraqi authorities he said that she's now in the care of the german embassy in baghdad as mavis was kidnapped by gunmen on monday from outside her office in the capital the german national is well known in baghdad where she runs an avs program for young iraqis she's also know does not stop outspoken critic of the government it's still not known who was behind the abduction iraqi authorities say they're investigating

. here in germany are offering the free coronavirus testing to incoming travelers all the spot testing will be available for people coming from coffee $1000.00 hotspots people traveling from lower risk areas will be it will also be offered tests but at the barges away from airports it's part of an effort to avoid a 2nd wave of infections. touched down in berlin after a summer holiday far fewer germans the normal yet taking their vacations abroad the joy of returning home is as strong as ever but can people be sure they haven't picked up the coronavirus on their travels. now their health or thor it is in germany have taken the decision to offer free virus testing. the hammer to its cars and had some decide conference and anthony ment in this goes on to the health ministers of the states together at the federal health minister have

today agree that people returning from resort areas should be tested at airports the intent to establish testing facilities and relevant airports secondly they have decided death you want to reach not only doe's coming from risk areas but also from elsewhere so the agree to pay the costs of the testing for travelers. isn't frankfurt germany is largest airport is already offering tests for a free under the new plan people arriving from the 130 countries seen as at risk can be tested directly on arrival checks will also be beefed up at sea ports and on land borders the tests will be voluntary at 1st and people from corona affected areas will continue to be arsed to quarantine at home for 14 days. germans love to travel and they're starting to get the travel bug again but with these tourists arriving from the popular spanish island of new york and be willing to take

a test yourself yes certainly for reasons of personal safety that would be the most important thing you can go all the way thank you sure i'd like to so. if you had to go into quarantine. then i have to go. there again i wouldn't really want to people have responsibility for themselves and people over there are very careful about their behavior. corona infection rates in germany remain low at the moment a big part of keeping it that way after the holiday season will be persuading travelers to take advantage of testing. has been just over 10 years since 21 the young people were killed in a stampede inside a tunnel at a techno parade in western germany in may the trial of 3 people accused of contributing to the tragedy and that without a verdict p.w. has been speaking with the mother of one victim about how a decade later she's still coming to terms with her loss. gabby miller will never

forget the day 10 years ago that changed her life forever. i was out shopping when i heard that some people had died the report said 10 i wondered how 10 people could have died i thought perhaps a truck had tipped over it indeed want it put out though at that moment gabby miller did not yet know that her son christian was among those cute. and i have heard good christians we have i i tried to call christian but it went straight to his voicemail gun that my husband arrived and my brother and his girlfriend when i realized at once that something terrible had happened and i knew christian would not be coming home again money was tight of course the minute hold a call he along with hundreds of thousands of others had gone to the last parade

into spoke on july 24th 2010 to party and listen to music the venue was not an open field but enclosed there was only one access ramp where tunnel and underpasses converged people were streaming in from different directions the crash became so extreme that many had difficulty breathing 21 died 650 more were injured. because john miller was 25 when he died. it was just a mother when you look at how narrow the space was you have to ask yourself how could it ever have been approved you can see at once that it was not suitable for mitt rules. finally in 2017 several workers from the municipality and the events for him were put on trial it became clear that the eventually never have been approved yet the trial ended without judgement this spring that no one was held responsible. as he has with the court

came to the conclusion that despite the terrible consequences the individual good of the 3 defendants was slight because the disaster had more to put causes many different factors contributed to the tragedy by didn't look so that it worked gabby moonlight attended the hearings she feels let down by the judicial system we use on monday. is all mine i find it in comprehensible it is hard to accept for me there has been no closure still i will try to find my way there was no eternity if we fought and hoped all these years and in the end all we got was a slap in the face of the shock and division because. nobody has assumed responsibility for christiane's death 10 years after the tragedy got to move us through hopes she will somehow find peace. of a turkey

a little pigs was supposed to begin in japan today but they've been postponed to next year because of a coronavirus pandemic the decision to delay his cab raise more questions in the house says that it's still not certain whether the games will take place at all without a vaccine and enthusiasm for the event in the host nation was also plummeted. the countdown has been reset on the took your olympic games one more year to go there's no trace of any festivities. but japanese family cuckoo e.-k. who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019 is hoping for the best at tokyo 20 twentieth's plus one in macau right and then go. or even imagine the world in one of the year will be wonderful when they live a curtain over the elim pics and paralympics live in a time with highs and lows and hoping that a sense of normal returns to our daily lives again. there was the thought. out of

their cup they must the it sounds like wishful thinking for some according to a survey only one in 4 japanese supports the upcoming games in 2021 around 70 percent would like to delay them even further or cancel them altogether. we're going to be good but leaks from across the world could come but every country is in a state of emergency and until we find a vaccine that will take time no chance. carter could rush in while we could hold the games without fans but that wouldn't be good for the economy if the games go ahead then we should go all out. international olympic committee president thomas bach and head of the tokyo organizing committee you're she will more you are against the idea of a games without fans a last resort would be to reduce the crowds whatever the case the atmosphere would suffer the japanese technology could fill the void this digital remote control emit sounds of celebrations if enough join in it could create something similar to real

stadium atmosphere. the prototype would serve as a proxy fan in the stadium and was recently tested in japan's professional baseball league. as how kids in tokyo for example get to enjoy a match and sub hole or 830 kilometers away. before you can control the robot and make it clap you know the kids very excited it felt as if you with their life without having to travel to the stadium. but who built olympic venues and stadiums for electronic replacements who invests billions for an olympics light it's a nightmare scenario for japan's government host city tokyo the sponsors the fans and the athletes. we shouldn't expect the pandemic to be under control by next year but if we do manage to hold the top your lympics with the coronavirus around then it should serve as an example

for the next games and other international events. but that wasn't japan's initial goal of the country wanted to show the world that it has reinvented itself it can only hope it gets another shot at showing the world next year at tokyo 2020 plus one. right that's it you're up to date i'll have more for you at the top of the hour in the meantime of course always the website the dublin dot com i'll be back in just a moment with the day looking back after days if that's. all

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of the topics covered in our weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like any information on the coronavirus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcast you can also find us at d.f.w. dot com forum slash science. for the 1st time in more than 80 years this tumbles higher sophia opens for muslim friday prayers so president obama has got what he wants but why is this so important to him i'm phil gayle in berlin and this is the day.