this is where it was. 77 percent this weekend on b.t.w. . this is deja vu news a live shot from berlin escalating tensions between washington and beijing u.s. officials entered the chinese consulate houston texas after forcing it to close on the accusations of espionage china is retaliating shutting down an american consulate in the western city of chengdu also coming up on the show.

the entire sophia hosts muslim friday prayers for the 1st time in more than 80 years we have the latest on the president and a once controversial decision to change the world famous monument back into a mosque. i'm going richards and welcome to the show we begin in the united states where a government order forcing the closure of the chinese consulate in houston texas has taken effect consular staff loaded sacks into a container truck and vehicles left the building as the deadline approached us police fenced off the area while locksmiths forced open the doors to the former consulates it is the latest development in a standoff between the countries over claims of spying the u.s. alleges that chinese agents tried to steal data from medical facilities in. texas

china calls the claims malicious a slander its responded by ordering the u.s. to close its consulate in the southwestern city of chengdu the escalating diplomatic spat comes as relations between the 2 countries are at their lowest point in decades. it was less a question of if china would retaliate but rather how and the answer is here the u.s. has been told to close its conscience in changing to. raising the stakes yet further and this diplomatic standoff. true image of the current situation in china a 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 weekers and ordering china to shut its mission in houston citing concerns about. the clear out is under way the president even floated the potential

to cut diplomatic ties completely. as far as closing additional embassies it's always possible that marks the biggest fall out since richard nixon renewed relations in the seventy's when he extended the 100 friendship. all the more significant then that the u.s. secretary of state would head to the former republican presidents library to all but declare a new cold war with the c.c.p. the kind of engagement we've been pursuing has 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 bite 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 it may be a long time before they're rolling out the red carpet for each other again. well i'm joined now by g.w. stephan simons in washington d.c. good to see you stephan how has the united states reacted to china and almost none of the all very very complacent like is really was expected that the chinese will answer what happened here with their consulate in euston for tit for tat and announce closing over consular u.s. consulate in china that happened now so there was not really a big surprise here in washington everybody had that on the on the radar and it was as you pointed out in this piece which we just saw a question what are they going to do not when are they going to do it or when are they going to do to them how they're going to do this but that it's going to happen

yeah that's fine and nobody that isn't relevant face feathers here in the united states or in in washington for that matter what is there a strategy behind the white house's decision to close the chinese consulate in houston as relations with china hit a low point. well it is if there is a strategy then it's not to make things better with china at the moment is to say that is nowhere on the rise and at least not for me to see are for many many experts who are commented on what just happened here but of course it comes politically speaking at an interesting timing as the president is trying to portray himself as a lauren order man and the sheriff in town towards the inside of the united states as well as to everywhere else in the world so strong and trump now out of patience with china and that is maybe if you want to a political strategy which might benefit him at the end when it comes to november in the presidential elections and that will of course be watched with scrutiny from

around the world as stephens iman's in washington d.c. thank you. turkey's i.s.o. fia has hosted muslim friday prayers for the 1st time in more than 80 years he assemble landmark was built 1500 years ago as a christian cathedral before becoming a mosque and then a museum 2 weeks ago president ed a one inch issued a controversial decree returning it to use as a mosque after a court an old it's a newseum a 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 i see 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 hyacinth here will reopen the young men that was why this is 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. 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 but. well straight to

istanbul where we join d.w. correspondent dorian jones joining what more can you tell us about president everyone's motivation in issuing this decree to turn the i associate back into a mosque. well prison speaking after the friday prayers said that this had been an ambition of his since his youth to convert the eye of sophia back to a mosque. one needs a very religious and pious man but there's a lot of politics behind this move heard one has been in power for nearly 20 years but why now he's taken such a dramatic move it is because his ruling party is suffering very low poll ratings the lowest since the party has been in office and being hit very hard by the economic woes of the country because the covert 19. epidemic now for out the ceremony we use for very powerful in images aimed at rallying not only the religious but the nationalist base heard one recited the koran before the friday

prayers commands and then the prayers and cells carried out by the head of turkey's religious authority who carried all of which is a symbolism all the conquering of istanbul by 14 men made and this is a very important symbol for turkish nationalists who see him as the man that made turkey a great country founding the ottoman empire now on top of that useful is a rallying point for both nationalists some religious people thousands of people came from all across the country to mark this moment a very important rallying point and i think will be looking at this as a point of stopping the flow of the hemorrhaging of support of his party. and the higher so if he is of course a world heritage site could this move have implications for its unesco status. well you know sco has voice could deep concern over this move they said that any major change to the site we needed to be notified and unesco had to sign off on this that didn't happen now that does raise the question that turkey could lose

e.i. sawfish unesco world heritage site something that christians are very keen to avoid it is a very important tourist location it is the most popular site visited by tourists in turkey and it is going to be remaining open to tourists as well as serving as a mosque is unclear whether you know who will go as far to remove its status because i think unesco looking forward will still want to retain some influence over the way it is maintained and use and it would realize if it gave up that status it would have little influence so i think expectation is that some kind of compromise will be reached but there is indeed concern from unesco as is there are for out there with the wider international community thank you very much indeed correspondent. around 3000 protesters have marched through central budapest in support of journalists at hungary's most read news sites index and dot h.-u. dozens of journalists have now resigned in protest over the sacking of its editor in chief earlier this week his dismissal has raised concerns that prime minister

viktor orban is nationalist government is intensifying its efforts to muzzle critical voices. the new site trusted by millions of hungary and is no more so thousands march to the prime minister's office with this message i would say that we are together we believe in free press. we've reached a point now where getting access to real information is in real danger. as well as its very existence. in court about the overall you do she. honestly regardless of the website the reason why i came to demonstrate is that another independent news reporter has fallen victim to the government but i really don't like that and that's why i came i don't think there's any free press left. the protests followed an early a walkout on friday when more than 80 journalists the vast majority of the newsroom

quit index. to tackle for said this to. our editor in chief was fired this week and while i don't want to speak on behalf of all of us for me this was the red line i can't work there anymore. from the point about the phone. before he got sacked editor in chief sampled stall had warned the site was in grave danger after a pro businessman purchase control of the site's ad sales hungary's foreign sex trade denies the government poses a threat to press freedom because well tell me a concrete case when could a journalist in hungary or not write what they thought. index is just the latest of several hunger area news outlets to fall under control of government allies raising fears here that it won't be the last. here in

germany authorities are offering free coronavirus testing to incoming travelers on the spot testing will be available for people coming from covert $1000.00 hotspots people traveling from lower risk areas will also be offered tests but at laboratories away from airports. touched down in berlin after a summer holiday far fewer germans the normal 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 the health authorities in germany have taken the decision to offer free virus testing. the amortized because of the health ministers of the states together with the federal health minister have today greed that people returning from risk areas should be tested at airports we intend to establish testing facilities at relevant airports. secondly we have

decided that we want to reach not only those from risk areas but also those coming from elsewhere so we agreed to pay the costs of the testing for travelers this. isn't in 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 asked to quarantine at home for 14 days germans love to travel and those starting to get the travel bug again but would these tourists arriving from the popular spanish island of new yorker be willing to take a test yes certainly personal safety reasons that would be the most important thing

. we think sure i think so. if you had to go into quarantine. you now have to go. i wouldn't really want to people have responsibility for themselves and people are very careful about their behavior. carona 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. you're watching news thanks for joining us . this story. rice farmer from thailand. is problem. is. no chemicals. his wife thought it was crazy.