this is g w news live from berlin tonight the u.s. announces a partial military withdrawal from germany a 3rd of its troops are being ordered to leave 12000 soldiers will either be posted elsewhere in europe or head back to the u.s. a plan of retribution as trump accuses germany of being a freeloader of nato and not paying its bills also coming up tonight corona virus infections rising again here in europe the government's bringing back those restrictions just as tourism helped begin welcoming back visitors plus are

america's tech giants killing the competition the c.e.o.'s of apple facebook google and amazon defending their companies today in a grilling by u.s. lawmakers and it feeling close to your god while keeping a distance from other is the annual haunch pilgrimage which normally drawls millions of worshippers begins under tight pandemic restrictions and drastically diminished. to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome the united states has unveiled plans to withdraw nearly 12000 troops from germany a 3rd of its military footprint in the country president justifying the move today saying that germany has not been paying enough for its defense and the u.s.

quote did not want to be the suckers any more german leaders are saying that they regret the decision. a historic reduction in the number of american troops stationed in germany even more will be leaving than expected. the u.s. secretary of defense mark asper announced the withdrawal downplaying its significance it is important to note that in nato's 71 year history the size composition and disposition of u.s. forces in europe has changed many times but u.s. president donald trump said the move is meant to send a message to germany where. for. me. this thing but it's not that simple while it's true that the u.s. pays more toward the nato budget than germany the german government has promised to match u.s. contributions beginning next year at 16 percent of the total nato budget.

trump often points out that germany does not meet a nato guideline that all members should spend 2 percent of their economic output on defense germany only spends 1.4 percent but that guideline refers to spending on each country's own military not directly to nato medo members are now seeking answers as to how the new u.s. plan will be carried out and what it will mean for the future of european security there has been pushback from the u.s. congress and analysts say even the pentagon was reluctant to carry out trumps demand for troop withdrawal you can 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 there are about 24000 u.s. troops will remain in germany but some observers worry trumps costly message to its nato allies could weaken the whole alliance. for there speaking at the pentagon

earlier today we have team coverage now of this story with me are our correspondents teri schultz in brussels and simon young here in berlin to both of you good evening simon let me start with you the troop withdrawal it's even bigger than expected so what has been the reaction here in germany. yeah brant the so far the german government i think biting their lives the foreign and defense minister has released a joint statement the seed name saying just that they had taken notes of this decision and that they would be consulting with the affected regions in germany but also with the u.s. government and with nato partners but there has been some sort of disappointed reaction from some politicians for instance the varian state premium or because. he said that this is the wrong decision that it weakens the u.s. and nato in their military interests of bavaria of course in. he's an interested

party here because the u.s. base at graf and in bavaria is the lawyer just over sees us only base in the world and others within the political scene here really quite disappointed pointing out that you know the us presence in germany is known about defending germany primarily it's about the us all operational capability and the logistics base. in the region and around the world which is proven and established here in germany. would be good to you we know political germany does not like this plan what about nato it's a big part of this equation. that's right brant and nato did say to the united states while it was making this plan that it would prefer to see no u.s. troops taken out of europe and secondarily that i mean it's preference was that they

stay in germany. because that's what that's what everyone's used to that's a very a very strong base i think that it could have been worse all 12000 could be headed back to the u.s. which assignment pointed out is not in the u.s. is best interest at all and anyone who knows about how the resources are allocated there in germany much of what station there is is for u.s. interests not to protect europe at all the african headquarters in stuttgart for example so i think that because it was secretary esper he was quite calm he was flanked by the supreme allied commander europe. the announcement of it today is sort of anti-climactic and and nato is getting used to just sort of saying well we could have been worse it's a very good point there are so many variables in this decision so i mean we've gone in the election coming up in their member in the united states and i'm wondering how will this decision impact us german relations moving forward.

well i think this decision strikes at the heart of the relationship between germany and the u.s. you've got to remember there have been tens of thousands of u.s. servicemen and women as stationed here since the 2nd world war and for many people they felt safe because of it to clean western germany of course in the confrontation with the soviet union previously and even now with an unpredictable russia so i think this does sort of change the game is an economic aspect of course tens of thousands of jobs direct and indirectly dependent on the u.s. presence here and i would point out you know the president trump says he's doing this because germany doesn't pay its way and with only 1.33 percent of its g.d.p. going on military spending a lot of these personnel are going to be moved to belgium and italy will accept the figures assailing belgium north point 93 percent italy 1.2 percent both of those

spending less of their g.d.p. on military spending than germany is that's a very good point simon terry is there anyone or any party here that stands to benefit or maybe another president. i haven't heard anyone i spoke with speaking out in favor of this plan or agreeing of course off the record with the u.s. position that this makes nato stronger against russia so i mean maybe belgium will get some extra buildings maybe italy will get a bit more money also having to house the couple of battalions that are being sent there but no allies are not in favor of this they don't buy the argument that nato will be more effective this way but this is a u.s. decision and they don't really have a choice so like i said i think that everyone is looking forward now to seeing exactly how it's implemented and if if there's

a change come november in the white house now this won't happen at all and very good point to results in brussels and simon young in berlin to both of you thank you let's take the story now across the atlantic to our correspondent all over sell it he is covering it for us in washington all over donald trump said today they are not paying their bills so we're reducing the troops it sounds like the motivation of donald trump is to punish germany is that what we're talking about richard boucher. well that is the official reasoning and it really looks like it and of course also president trump is having the electorate on his mind and you just mentioned it we're getting closer to the election here germany has been a very popular scapegoat for president trump getting closer to the election he wants to present some results on the threats that he's made throughout his whole presidency to withdraw all troops if germany continues to come short of the promise 2 percent off the german g.d.p. in a defense budget experts however told us today that the withdrawing these troops would

not punish germany would rather punish the united states and of course nato as a whole and also lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle also called is a gift for the kremlin that the troops were not there to defend germany but rather for deterrence reasons especially looking at russia and that this is not a given anymore especially because the trumpet ministration decided to take a big part of the troops even home back home to the united states you can imagine that the russian president tonight is probably reading this story and smiling what about the the execution of this plan i mean it's going to be very expensive and it's going to take a lot of time will it out west survive the trump administration. that's one of the least the critics are hoping and there are many of them even within the republican party there's a bipartisan group led by a republican lawmaker medrol in the old soul lindsey graham that's one of the

closest allies is among them and they're planning actually to to block that withdrawal which is a complicated process in the end a bill has to be confirmed by both chambers of congress the house and senate so complicated yes but nevertheless experts say a small it's possible for the administration all to withdraw a small portion in germany station troops as of now the total withdrawal of we're talking as we've heard before about $12000.00 american troops that will take longer there are many questions to be answered and then we are getting closer to the election once again so it might be possible that in the end it will be joe biden's call should teach when the election and then of course it's unclear if that's really the end of the story you know it's a very good point is well all of purcell's on the story for us tonight in washington over thank you. now to the pandemic swelling numbers of corona

virus infections have forced some european governments to reimpose those restrictions and then in the middle of summer as countries reopen their tourism hubs to vacation. in a normal year the british city of bath welcomes around $6000000.00 visitors bringing in half a 1000000000 euros this year of course things are much quieter that means british tourists are the focus at this international destination were no worries about 10 days ago on the great line function of discipline or sanford everything fine you start to see the sanitization the hotels the social distancing so only know what to feel comfortable to to travel. so well domestic travelers can enjoy this year's tranquility author already has are putting the brakes on international holiday making britain rheem posed a forced quarantine on travelers from spain after reported cases there rose dramatically on monday at london's heathrow airport they were not happy about the

news will call in or a double test once on arrival the 2nd of 5 days or 8 states or people would stay in quarantine until they had. a test to show that they didn't have the disease and then they would be allowed out only then would otherwise the carrots. to flatten the newly rising curve madrid has now made mask wearing mandatory and public residents seem happy to comply. despoja it's fine because in this way we're protected and we're more responsible that's how it should have been from the beginning with the choice of them disappear. belgium is also struggling with a new spike in cases the city of twerp reinstated a curfew no one is allowed outside between 11 30 pm and 6 am except for essential workers. germany is worried about imported infections so it's requiring travelers

from high risk areas city kovan 19 test upon arrival while many were probably hoping to forget all about the corona virus during their holidays the virus has certainly not forgotten about them. so here's some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world iran's revolutionary guard has tested launching ballistic missiles from underground sites for the very 1st time it's part of a series of military exercises which also included targeting a dummy american aircraft carrier in the strategic strait of hormuz emergency crews are tackling a large fire in the u.s. state of arizona after a freight train derailed crossing a bridge and see the pictures right there the bridge at tempe town lake partially collapsed one person is being reported suffering from smoke inhalation separate is in southern yemen have pledged to abandon self rule in favor of

a peace deal with the u.n. backed government the riyadh agreement was signed in november but has since stoll both sides are part of a saudi led coalition fighting who the rebels in the north german police have finished searching a community guard near the city of hanover as part of their investigation into missing british toddler madeleine mccann it's not yet known if any new evidence was found the piece of land is thought to be connected to a suspect in the case because it was 3 years old when she vanished on vacation in portugal 13 years ago. 4 of america's biggest names in tech have appeared before congress to defend their companies against charges that they have become too powerful and are stifling competition appearing today via video link mark zuckerberg of facebook joined google's sundar pichai and apple's c.e.o. tim cook and amazon boss jeff bezos is all answering questions from members of the

congressional antitrust panel they were grilled on market dominance and a wedge violations of antitrust law pulled out the 1st such committee hearing in 2 decades and talk about that now with you to be business reporter he joins me now from new york good afternoon to you yes we've got the most influential and powerful tech titans in the world what do they even say. well i mean the big question clearly is so if they've gotten too big can turn people off congress if different issues with the different companies but one bottom line is just so if those companies are gotten too powerful that they might be hindering competition and was thought that them all till innovation but maybe we could just a minute listen in what those as you always had to say to some of those accusations . of the 10 most valuable company is a decade ago only 3 still make that list today and if you look at where the top

technology company has come from a decade ago the best majority were american today almost half are chinese we have clarified what we knew and what we do in china for years it's very very limited in nature our ai work in china is limited to a handful of people working on open source projects we don't have a dominant share in any barky or in any product category where we do business it's a business did you personally sign off on the plan to raise prices after amazon unlimited its competition. i don't remember that at all but i remember we we we. we we followed 'd diapers dot com again this is 11 years ago so you're asking a lot of my memory but i believe we followed diapers dot com i can also tell you that clean by 100 percent ok it's fascinating the 1st time that we've ever seen jeff bezos having to answer questions do we know yet why are these 4 c o's

why are they testifying now. well i mean the one thing that i personally do not understand is why microsoft was not part of it because he's the 5th influential tech company here in the united states but actually it's hearing and those investigations there are all this started more than a year ago but joe well it fitting lead now with the pandemic of those companies have gotten even more powerful just look at amazon for instance they have increased their market value by about $500000000000.00 since the beginning of the year and i guess there's no doubt that there are a monopoly like system same here on the play and there but this is the thing that this hearing was not going to make and you know you bring up a good point yes amazon controls much of the retail market in the united states.

what can jeff bezos what can he tell congress to defend his position because he he does control a lot to mean he is the major player. around i mean he tried to be very emotional you know you told story is how his when he was born his mother was 17 year old that he is a self-made man and to me if you look at the overall retail industry that amazon only stands for about one percent of sales and that there is a lot of competition so that's actually how amazon just tried to defend himself. but if you look at the online retail market here in the united states amazon is clear dominating bet with a market share of roughly 50 percent and i think looking at these 4 c.e.o.'s appearing together appearing with social distancing so they're not sitting face to face it seems like a clever play on their part do you think anything's going to really come from the

hearings today. well not immediately but the pressure on those tech giants is clearly increasing from day to day and it is not unthinkable that lawmakers might try to change the laws and was that we might potentially see a break up companies take facebook for instance of facebook but they also bought instagram they bought them what's at google and you tube and so and so on and so forth and so i do believe that both parties for different reasons by the way republicans and democrats fear that those companies have become too dominant that this might not be good for innovation and for a competition so we might see a change last year in the united states not tomorrow but at some point in the future i believe that it's definitely possible there's also the question of how good the companies particularly facebook are for democracy forces for another

congressional hearing. joining us from new york as always thank you. and here's a check now of some of the other stories that are making headlines at this hour the u.s. treasury secretary steve has confirmed that the chinese owned video called tick tock is under review as a potential threat to u.s. national security the administration previously said that it was considering banning the. representative said they couldn't comment on the review process right now 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 bandwidth reductions the wall was called for by president richard pryor barely won it opposition lawmakers say it further limits freedom of expression in the country senior german government ministers were grilled behind closed doors today over what they knew about allegations of fraud at wire cards in june the high flying payment service provider

crashed and burned after bosses admitted there was a 1900000000 euro hole in the company's balance sheet. oberlin as had been getting the chance to experience their new airport 11 years after it was originally supposed to open 11 years starts an army of fake flyers has been trying out the passenger experience ahead of the airport's opening which is scheduled for later this year this is one of $28.00 test days involving thousands of volunteers designed to put this massive airport through its paces ahead of a grand opening in october. if you can flying 2 cars 9115 and a half on one piece of luggage. that actually contains real clothes and. cooled she would need because she's not flying anywhere today many of the testers

were curious to see this trouble for themselves plagued with delays it's become both a national shame and a national joke and we have that story with a sales tax refund have never done not before i think it's an interesting challenge for me today. with work here ongoing the only bargain on offer at duty free is some rubble and a hard hat and the purpose of the test run is to iron out any problems like the lack of moving walkways along the long corridors. bill and i'm staggered that we learned that some things didn't work well with the bulky luggage where we have adopted the procedure we also learned how it works with large masses of people we call it q. management how can you move a larger group of people through a building operating normally what do we get of the border the for nothing could be . this project was flushed launched in 1991 no after a 30 year wait and 6000000000 euros the 1st takeoff is inching closer. are in so

what america now where ecuador's navy has sounded the alarm over a huge fleet of foreign fishing boats off the go up against. chinese fishing trawlers cast their nets every year near the islands which belong to ecuador but this time officials have counted more than $250.00 ships and they say they could irreparably damaged the island's unique marine ecology. the hammerhead shark is one of many endangered species here and the biggest islands his lives might now be even more at risk. it's a fleet of nearly $260.00 fishing vessels mostly chinese has been spotted close to the island's protected zone their presence sparked a debate about how to protect these waters and international maritime law. there is

an urgent need to move far away in strengthening the international agreement known as the high seas treaty that will allow us to reach clear agreements on the responsible management of fisheries and international waters in the tsunami. fears of overfishing are not without good reason in 2017 authorities seized a chinese vessel in the s. marine reserve carrying 300 tons of fish. the delicate ecosystem of the collapse i guess which was an inspiration for charles darwin's theory of evolution is also a unesco world heritage site. now more than ever to play out wildlife that roams these seas is dependent on international protection. in saudi arabia muslim pilgrims have begun the annual harvest in mecca and normally huge numbers of people travel from around the world to take part in islams most

important pilgrimage but this is not a normal year the harvest taking place on a much more modest scale but. like no other. these people are among the few saudi residents allowed to attend the 5 day pilgrimage this year strictly controlled because of the coronavirus usually over $2000000.00 people packed together to praise allah for the structure known as the birth of. the pandemic has made safety central to the pilgrimage health workers have disinfected the holy sites in mecca and there are strict rules for those attending they had to be between the ages of 20 and 50 years old with no terminal illnesses and show no signs of coronavirus but the pilgrims have also had to undergo temperature checks and virus tests where responds

that monitor their movements and corn before and after how much. inconveniences that permit d.c. is relatively small number of pilgrims to enjoy a possibly once in a lifetime experience. you're with g.w. newsline from berlin after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day tonight delinquent germany donald trump says no more freeloading on americans don we'll be right back.

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conflagration the world on fire starts aug 12th on d w we have 200 fighting back in and dance with the baby. there are 36000 u.s. troops stationed here in germany but soon 12000 of them will pack up and leave germany nato republicans and democrats in washington they are all against the move so why the downsizing now if you asked the u.s. defense secretary he'll say this is strategic and investment to better deter russia and china but if you ask donald trump he'll say this is a.