this is you don't reduce life for gold in the u.s. slashes troop numbers in germany nearly 12000 soldiers will either be deployed elsewhere in europe or sent back to the u.s. while that carries up president trumps wish to punish germany because he says the country doesn't contribute nearly enough to defense also coming up corona virus infections soar in europe with many people traveling all just as europeans head to the beaches governments are really in cozying restrictions will look at what could lie ahead for europe plus your agrees that the do it for

a 2nd day as they investigate the disappearance of british toddler madeleine mccann the garden is thought to be a link to a man identified as a suspect public order is that the sick and feeling close to one's god while keeping a distance from others the annual hodge pilgrimage one of the world's biggest events which normally draws millions of worshippers begins under tight pandemic restrictions and is drastically scaled down. hard thank you so much for your company everyone will we start this broadcast with breaking news moments ago the united states announced it will withdraw nearly 12000 troops from germany defense secretary mark esper announced them. hoover is part of

a redeployment of forces in europe that he says will strengthen nato as in donald trump previously previously said he intended to take troops out of germany accusing the german government being quote the link went in defense spending here is defense secretary marc esper speaking earlier. the current eucom plan reposition approximately 11900 military personnel from germany from roughly 36000 down 224000 in a manner that will strengthen nato enhanced the deterrence of russia and meet the other principles i set forth of the 11900 nearly 5600 servicemembers we will be repositioned within nato countries and approximately 6400 will return to the united states though many of these or similar units will begin conducting rotational deployments back to your defenses secretary esther speaking of their earlier let's take you now to simon young he is standing right outside the

u.s. embassy here in berlin 1st of all have there been any official reactions to this decision. well i know there's been plenty of critical reaction to this decision for is that snow but what can the defense expert from angela merkel's party who's saying really this goes against the u.s. own strategic interests because germany's important for the u.s. military as a logistical hub for its international operations it's not about defending germany he said and there's been other response previously really in advance of this official announcement for instance the state premiers from the affected parts particular of western germany appealing on members of congress in the united states to block this decision by the trumpet administration so quite a bit of pushback from germany so far obviously this did not come as a surprise that people were expecting this but still how big of

a blow is this for germany. well i think this is a move that really challenges the very heart of the defense relationship between germany and the united states there have been tens of thousands of u.s. troops stationed in western germany since the 2nd world war and of course many germans had looked very positively that day and they seen a u.s. presence as a as a sort of shield against threats from the east from the former soviet union and in today's uncertain world many of them would like that relationship to stay of course there is an economic aspect for the regions which have tens of thousands of people employees directly or indirectly by the u.s. military garrisons and so i think it's something that really since the the the traditional relationship as to whether it really makes nato stronger or

reassures allies which is what the pentagon is saying today well i think a lot of people here in germany will have their doubts and of course in a new world order with a threatening russia as many see it you know a strong u.s. military presence in germany would be welcomed here i think all right sam nunn reporting from outside the u.s. embassy here in berlin thank you for your reporting want to take us now to the u.s. to get a perspective from there i'm joined now by retired u.s. general ben hodges he has served for 3 years as commander of what's called united states army europeans currently the pursing a chair in the strategic studies at the center for european policy analysis sir thank you for being with us i want to get your reaction straight off the bat because you have been quoted as saying that this move is a gift to the kremlin do you stand by that assessment. yeah i do to get

a 30 percent reduction of u.s. capability that's in germany and half of that going back to the states the kremlin did nothing to change its behavior to reduce its aggression and it still occupies crimea still killing ukrainian soldiers every week still occupy as part of georgia is still supports your side regime in syria it's done nothing to change its behavior and yet it gets a gift of a significant u.s. reduction in germany and maybe even more importantly the damage to the german american relationship the most important ally that the united states have in europe is germany in the way this whole thing was done i think damages their relationship and that that is a gift to the grammar and this is of course a sign that to bilateral relations are at

a low point to say the least now as you know u.s. president donald trump obviously was taking aim at germany again moments ago he said at the white house a lot that we spent a lot of money on germany they have been to they have been taking advantage of us this is a very big issue for the president does it enjoy widespread support. well i think look every every president including president obama has been critical of german investment in its own defense and i think most american voters have a hard time understanding why the most prosperous country in europe which is benefited from the protection of nato more than any other country. doesn't doesn't do more in terms of defense spending but says i mean it is that you get this forgive me but the fence spending has has been increased by germany but somehow

that is not appeasing to president trump i mean they have increased their spending . no shooting it but it's still 1.3 some percent in what every country agreed to including germany was to achieve 2 percent of its general defense gross domestic product with defense spending and so still germany can and should do more but set that aside. what we have in germany is not there to protect germany it's there for our benefit ours the united states as well as for the alliance the logistics headquarters and it's actually of a very small number i mean 34000 army and air force that's that's not even half of the stadium or by mutual place football so we're not talking about a lot of people that are there now and ironically the move. some of the moves that were outlined today prosector esper actually are moving capability to belgium in italy in belgium in italy or neither neither of them are anywhere close to 2

percent themself so there's a there's an inconsistency in what the president is saying and what the department is doing think it is fair to go i think we need to do what. what we saw today what you saw was the defense secretary secular and the vice chairman of the joint chiefs doing their best to take a a wrong hit. strategic decision by the white house and they were doing their best to to minimize the damage to nato to deterrence to relationships to retain his and frankly you heard him talk about this is going to take years to do. which i think they were doing their best to take a legal order to make it work and so that's we saw today and that's why so as i understand you correctly it was this largely symbolic. no i did not say it was

symbolic and i'm saying that they took a a decision that was wrong at its core by the white house which and they have a shortcoming you could imagine the arguments and the discussions and disagreements that would have been going on back in washington inside the pentagon and with the white house but at the end of the day the president says we're going to do this and so the department offensiveness ok well here's here's how we're going to do it then and so what you saw today was the concept as a general heightened use a word this is a concept now where you have to develop the plans that's why there are so many unknowns about budgets that's why there are so many unknowns about where will the troops go. and when i do imagine you will see in the next few weeks some very small initial steps to show movement that would be symbolic. i don't know how this will play out the congress has an important role obviously they provide the authorization and the appropriations to actually carry out these

changes. i hope that some of these things can be undone. but you know germany has a role to a relationship has 2 parts in germany. i think we need to think what is your his role within nato now what is the sin travesty germany in european security in the u.s. plans to move so much out have it how does germany see its own strategic role this is the debate that is long overdue in germany how germans view their cheating roaf i'm sure there's going to be a lot of discussion that happening on that topic in that the days coming thank you a so very much as us in general have been hodges that for joining us thank you thank you. going to turn our attention now to the pandemic as corona virus cases

rise in parts of europe governments are really imposing restrictions just as people go on summer holiday like opposite thing for a more coordinated response says national governments act alone to contain the virus. it's high season for tourism in europe parisian terraces are glowing museums are open again vacationers have returned to the beaches. but with the recent rise in corona virus cases in several european hotspots governments are putting the brakes on holiday making the u.k. reimposed a quarantine on travelers from spain after a reported cases there rose by almost 1000 on monday tourists in barcelona were not happy with the news i think you thought they would be the place to live that live on the beach and see where people are so frightened you also know you. know if i want to come again if indeed that i find that very excessive i'm enjoying myself

and i feel safe but they've taken every precaution. to get the outbreak under control madrid imposed a new rule minatory masks in public. and catalonia nightclubs have been forced to close once again. belgium is also struggling with a new spike in cases the city of antwerp reinstated a curfew no one allowed outside between 11 30 pm and 6 am except for essential workers. germany fearing imported infections is requiring travelers from high risk areas to take a coronavirus test upon arrival german authorities are not ruling out the possibility of border closures if outbreaks cannot be contained. and does all the that's the job of politicians and the media to make it clear that the danger is not over when we don't get things right then we'll find ourselves in a 2nd wave which will also have. anomic consequences if that's why we have to be vigilant. it's clear that despite the heat of the summer the virus is not melted

away but many are hoping europe has learned enough from the 1st wave to keep the virus at bay. and i want to tell you now as some of the other stories making news around the world. hong kong authorities are warning the city is on the verge of a large scale corona virus outbreak or they've imposed strict new social distancing measures including the limiting gatherings to 2 people there are reports the government could also perspire legislative council elections due in september blow to pro-democracy campaigners. turkey's parliament has passed a law that gives authorities more power to regulate social media platforms will have to comply with strict conditions or face fines and banned with were directions a law was called for by present much of. opposition lawmakers say it further limits freedom of expression in the country so. emergency crews are tackling

a large fire in the u.s. state of arizona after a freight train derailed a crossing a bridge the bridge at tempe town lake partially collapsed it's not yet clear if there are any injuries. italian media say authorities have arrested more than 20 tunisian fishermen on suspicion of smuggling migrants to the island of lampedusa the men make up the crew of a fishing boat that brought migrants who allegedly paid for the passage to the island. police here in germany are digging up a garden for a 2nd day in a row as part of their investigation into the disappearance of madeleine mccann the british toddler was 3 when she vanished on vacation in portugal 13 years ago police have identified a 43 year old german citizen as a suspect and are investigating him on suspicion of murder. a 13 year

trail has brought them here a garden in hanover germany. investigators may be breaking ground after over a decade of dead ends as they search for madeleine mccann the prime suspect in her case a 43 year old german man he's already in prison serving time for a separate crime. the search for mccann began in 2007 at this holiday resort in the algarve in portugal the 3 year old girl disappeared from her bed while her parents were eating dinner at a nearby restaurant. the mccann's spent 2 years publicizing the case urging authorities to keep looking hoping to find their daughter alive. finally in june a glimmer of hope investigators in times to suspect a german mom who was in the algarve when the con disappeared german authorities however said they were no longer investigating madeleine mccann's disappearance as a missing person case but as

a murder the persistence of her parents has kept this case in the headlines so have the resources both private and public investigators hope they're finally writing the last chapter of this unhappy story. our ideas are so she is standing by next to the garden in hanover where the police excavation continues as we speak . what's happening right now where you are. well the excavation and the investigation continue police officers are here they're using shovels rakes they also have the help of a small bulldozer to start uncovering and digging to see if there's any possible clues to try and find out what has happened to maddie there it's sick in connection with this an accused who is right now in prison and may have had something to do with her disappearance he used to rent a lot over here and sources say that the police were especially interested in this lot because there is supposedly also

a seller there and i can tell you that germany's biggest tabloid newspaper now says that the police have indeed found the seller and i can also say that i saw 3 large containers of materials transported away today the 1st 2 contained construction material stones cut stones possibly used for construction and a lot of concrete and then the 3rd container i saw nonspecific construction items i saw plastic pails i saw hoses and then the police quickly covered up the container with a tarpaulin and then had that transported away also so a lot of things still going on here and over to my right there is a blue police tent who colored police tent where they are also looking at items as specifically and it's going to take a long time i would say yes and what are they hoping to find that will move the investigation forward. they're hoping to find anything that can move this investigation forward where there'd be a document where there would be

a piece of clothing i saw earlier today that a police officer picked up a piece of cloth and ran it into the tent so anything that it can help here i talked to british reporters who are here they told me this is front page news an entire generation grew up with this tragic story about this missing girl and every it is so many people feel for this family and for what happened is so it has a lot of ramifications for people from britain who have been following this story for many years 13 years as a matter of fact and not once has a really strong concrete piece of of of evidence cropped up there hoping that maybe over there there might be an answer and have your reporter our presence there thank you very much. now to the multi 1000000000 euro scandal at the german company wire card top government ministers are being grilled today over what they knew about alleged fraud at the now defunct payment

processing firm finance minister and economy minister peter of myer are taking questions from the parliament's financial committee behind closed doors why are card crashed last month after bosses admitted there was a 1900000000 euro hole in the company's balance sheet. why are card once a golden child of german fin tech now a by word for criminality in 2019 allegations began america in the financial times that executives were cooking the books not only did the authorities turn a blind eye they went after the reporters but the truth is that wire cards dizzying ride was too good to be true. the farm's model was to set up contracts between retailers and credit card issuers banks and online payment systems like pay pal saving retailers time and money. but wire card

never around as much as the safety did for years former c.e.o. marcus brown and at least 2 other managers allegedly manipulated the balance sheets on a massive scale they no stand accused of fraud embezzlement and market manipulation . in the recent us and give the front working together the suspects began negotiations on various loans and with investors well knowing that 1900000000 euros in assets a quarter of the balance sheet did not exist. in function germany and in japan as well as other investors were deceived by these false accounts and provided 3200000000 euros in loans due to wire cards installment see this money is in all probability lost. the money is gone and the firms former chairman is on the run invading justice for years auditors and regulators didn't pay attention to suspicious activity why

a card no public prosecutors are asking themselves how this massive fraud could have remained undetected for so long are the start to get you some answers now when you are a political correspondent is tracking this story for you in enough m.p.'s demanding answers about the wire cart scandal at the bundestag what's been happening there bring us up to speed there is a special finance committee hearing behind closed doors that's taking place this afternoon where the finance minister and the economy minister have to answer questions and lawmakers have said that there are a lot of unanswered questions that need. says because they say the whole scandal risks undermining germany's credibility on the financial markets as a whole so they want to know just who knew what when and who didn't do their jobs properly both on the side of the government but also on the regulatory authorities and you know what could the fallout be for america's government. the scandal is

potentially toxic for the german government because both the finance ministry and the chancery have been in contact with manages off the company all their representatives finance ministry documents show that all of sides the finance minister was informed of misconduct suspicions at wired in february 2019 and still the scandal only broken june this year also i'm glad machall the chancellor travel to china in the autumn last year and she actually promoted wire cards who at the time were trying to gain access to the markets in china so they still has potential implications for the chancellor and for 2 of her most powerful ministers and the lawmakers have already said that if the un says today unsatisfactorily that they will launch a proper parliamentary inquiry which would be a fall wider reaching then today's special hearing and that would be very unwelcome

for the german government because of course germans are going to the polls next year they are indeed i've got 30 seconds up or do you expect to happen next. all of sorts of finance minister has announced that he wants to reform the authority that is in charge of finance regulations baf in and but the lawmakers have said that there are so many unanswered questions that this is probably not the last special hearing of the finance committee or potentially that will launch an inquiry by the board to stop your political correspondent nina hasa reporting for you thank you. next 4 of the biggest names in the global tech are appearing before an antitrust panel of the u.s. congress facebook's mark zuckerberg google c.e.o.'s and dark beach i apple's tim cook and amazon's jeff bezos will all face lawmakers will be questioned about whether or not their platforms are monopolies and have become too powerful and have

stifled competition while the 4 companies have a combined value of more than 5 trillion dollars. in saudi arabia muslim pilgrims have begun the ad he will hide in mecca well normally huge numbers of people travel from all around the world to take part in his arms most important pilgrimage but this year it's taking place on a new much more modest scale. like no other these people are among just 10000 saudi residents allowed to attend the 5 day pilgrimage this year's strictly controlled because of the coronavirus usually over 2000000 people packed together to praise allah before the structure known as the cop. the pandemic has made safety central to the pilgrimage health workers have disinfected the holy site in

mecca and there are strict rules for those attending. they have to be between the ages of 20 and 50 years old with no terminal illnesses and showing no signs of coronavirus the pilgrims have also have to undergo temperature checks and virus tests where wristbands that monitored their movements and quarantine before and after hodge. inconveniences that permit this year's relatively small number of pilgrims to enjoy a possibly once in a lifetime hotch experience. and are right now as the top story that we're tracking for you this hour. the u.s. is pulling almost $12000.00 troops out of germany more than a half to be sent back to the u.s. with the rest of redeployed elsewhere in europe that's under a shake up ordered by persons on the truck. this is due to reduce life from

growing up lipsync pandemic and spiraling unemployment that's on the made in germany in just a moment don't forget you can keep up with the news by going to our web site that's to w dot com or visit us on twitter by using the handle at d w news all the way along herat and i'll be back in a. how

will i pay my ranch more money for. ever more people are facing this reality around the world to cope with 19 pandemic is shattering to millions of lives really scared . in germany the government is reducing the flow but how are things in places where people are struggling to survive. next on d w. every

journey begins with the 1st step and every language but the 1st word can call the coaxing germany to find the. most why not go on with him find. new stuff it's simple our mind on your mobile and free. t.w. zingy learning course. german made easy. oh far more posters from nigeria as a people you know that's what money would stands for the unique. way we weren't going. off center.

court just moving the camera. and successful beyond belief. that not only would this is the way we do it. not only would start august 7th on t.w. . the coronavirus pandemic is not only a threat to our health for many it's a threat to their life a hoods and it doesn't matter whether you live in europe in the united states africa asia people all over the welt having to adjust to a different job market different way alice different works in arias.