this is deja vu news live from berlin the u.s. slashes its military presence in germany. the u.s. decision to cut troops in germany by a 3rd comes after president trump repeatedly said berlin was quote delinquent on its defense spending we have analysis live from brussels also coming up. u.s. lawmakers grilled the leaders of apple facebook google and amazon in the congress they use the tech giants are killing off the competition and the boos from fits.

and 4 months after the last ball was balanced the n.b.a.'s character gets returned the new season will be held at disney world in florida but will it be a fairy tale slam dunk. i brought down the street have you with us today the united states has unveiled its plans to withdraw nearly 12000 troops from germany a 3rd of its military footprint in the country defense officials say the move is align with addressing new threats from china and russia but president trump has tied the reduction to germany's defense spending. 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 is 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. for. 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 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 of justice 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 trump's costly message to its nato allies could weaken the whole alliance. other news now a global tech giants have been accused by u.s. lawmakers of creating unfair market conditions press competition. 4 of america's biggest names in technology have appeared before congress to answer questions the leaders of the so-called big 4 facebook google apple and amazon deny that they're crushing competitors and acting like cartels. america's tech titans

on the defensive facebook's mark zuckerberg alphabets sundar pichai amazon's jeff bezos and apple's tim cook all face the virtual grilling on capitol hill lawmakers say the c.e.o.'s and their companies are abusing their position and crippling the competition many of the practices used by these companies have harmful economic effects they discourage entrepreneurship destroy jobs high cost and degrade quality simply put they have too much power what for hours these big tech c.e.o.'s addressed allegations including abuse of power data survey lines and political censorship why does google steal content from honest businesses i disagree with that characterization just last week i made many small businesses in fact today we support 1400000 small businesses are supporting over

$385000000000.00 in it on economic activity amazon has nearly 7 times the market share of its closest e-commerce competitor one seller told us that and i quote amazon continues to be the only show in town no matter how angry sellers get they have nowhere else to go so are you saying that these people aren't didn't go when they see that amazon is the only game in town. congresswoman with great respect i do disagree with that i believe that there are a lot of options cooking soccer bergan system there companies aren't invincibles we don't have a dominant share in any market or in any product category where we do business new companies are created all the time all over the world and history shows that if we don't keep innovating someone will replace every company here today and that change can often happen faster than you expect also on this play partisan divide on this

cut to the chase big tax out to get conservatives that's not a suspicion that's not a hunch that's a fact republicans say these companies are unfairly suppressing and censoring conservative opinions and media but democrats say big tech isn't going far enough in cracking down on misinformation and hate speech going back now to a story about the u.s. unveiling its plans to remove its 3rd of its troops 4000 troops from germany to do that we're joined by did abuse terry shoals in brussels where nato has its headquarters to date you terry can you tell us what effect will this withdrawal have on the nato alliance his ability to fulfill its mandate. well let's start off by saying that these are plans so we're not even 100 percent sure this will happen and if you look at the response on capitol hill lawmakers are very much intent on making sure this doesn't happen i mean nobody nobody there seems to think this is

a good idea so if it were to go through what was announced by secretary esper and the supreme allied commander yesterday there would be some capabilities and headquarters moved to belgium here to the supreme allied commanders. operational center down in mons belgium there would also be a couple of battalions moved to italy there maybe more forces moved to poland this morning we've seen the baltic step up and say hey we'd love to get some of those troops i mean made those 1st 1st preference would be that no troops get moved out of germany and that more troops are constantly added to europe but as it stands now they would very much like to see that as many as possible remain here in europe and not go back to the united states ok what about countries like poland the baltic countries you mentioned that they like to see those u.s. troops or imagine alliance members some of them at least would be supporting this.

well again they would like to see no troops moved out of germany and poland has a bilateral deal with the united states that more troops would be coming to poland and i've spoken to to polish diplomats and they would not be happy to see troops taken out of germany and moved to poland they were hoping to get additional forces but that said if they're going to be taken out of germany they would very much like them to be put there along the border with russia the baltic states have long been asking along with poland to have more u.s. troops there on the ground so again if there are going to be more than 5000 pulled out of germany and repositioned in europe of course they'd like to see them along the border with russia. these plans as you mentioned terry still need to be approved by congress but they come as we see new tensions within nato especially between greece and turkey in the mediterranean what's the state of the alliance right. there are always tensions within nato there are also tensions between turkey and france in the mediterranean and these are very big concerns inside the alliance

but of course it makes more tension it makes more sort of unnerved allies when the problems are with the united states that said we knew this was coming president trump made the announcement summarily and this time at least secretary general stoltenberg was sure to point out in his statement yesterday at least the u.s. briefed the allies on monday there was a meeting where the u.s. department of defense laid out what is plans were going to be so that everybody wasn't taken so much by surprise as with the initial announcement i think everyone in nato is hoping that this doesn't come to pass again even secretary esper said you know we might make some moves within weeks but making such huge operational movements like this would take years to complete and much of this remains to be seen based on what happens in november if joe biden wins the presidency it's

completely possible that none of these changes will take place so i think that allies are very much hoping that while this is a plan they hope somebody gets in the way gerri thanks much for that from brussels today. let's get your brief notes on the other stories making the news this hour chinese telecom giant weiwei has become the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones according to the market research company analysis while way over took its main rival samsung in the 2nd quarter of this year analysts say china's early recovery from the pandemic reinvigorated while weighs the mess take market word sells more than 70 percent of its phones. on conflicts of arrested 4 students for alleged offenses under the territory's new national security law they're accused of what authorities call organizing and inciting secession beijing imposed a sweeping security law why the 1st it makes advocating independence

a crime punishable by long prison terms. more an increasing trend of virus infections has led to some european governments reimposing restrictions this comes during the summer vacation season as countries reopen their tourism hubs to vacationers looking to leave their lockdown worries behind them and. 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 we're now learning about 10 days to come the plane fly functional or just confirmed or sad for everything fine you start to see the sanitization the hotels the social distance and so on in a way to feel comfortable to to travel. but while domestic travelers can enjoy this year's tranquility off dorothy's 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 and a 2nd after 5 days or 8 states where people would think quarantine until they had to test to show that they didn't have the disease and then they would be allowed out only that would otherwise be the carrots. to flatten the newly rising curve madrid has now made mass wherein mandatory and public residents seem happy to comply. 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 each other the recipient. belgium is also struggling with a new spike in cases the city of an twerp reinstated

a curfew no one is allowed outside between 11 30 pm and. x a m except for essential workers. germany is worried about imported infections so it's requiring travelers from high risk areas to take a covert 19 test the palmer arrival while many were probably hoping to forget all about the corona virus during their holidays the virus has certainly not forgotten about them. some sports on basketball the n.b.a. season restarts in the u.s. on thursday after being suspended due to the pandemic $22.00 teams will be competing without fans at the disney resort in florida walt disney world is the venue for the n.b.a.'s comeback but like the theme park new hygiene rules have been introduced to keep the coronavirus away basketball fans watching on t.v. could be in for a wild ride over the coming weeks with the season completely reach organized le

bron james of the l.a. lakers is ready to outshine the usual stars of disney but the bio secure environment takes a bit of getting used to. go back now with the ball once it was 20 point you know everything is different you have to be able to adjust but i will be term of phones all during his run i can't afford to have kids and you're checking on my family. you know every single day. making sure you know everything is there will respect you and the uncertainty of which one it will be as was all of the n.b.a.'s return will also address social issues the new orleans pelicans and utah jazz planted neal in a black lives matter protest during the national anthem on thursday's opener. the los angeles lakers among the title favorites could be missing one of their stars antonio davis when the season tips off face of the league le bron james chasing his 4th title in 1st with los angeles might be left carrying the load alone the season

concludes in october it might not be a fairytale season given the he will cause by covert 19 but the n.b.a. hopes its disney adventure can finish in style. that's all we have type work thanks so much for being with us. combating the corona pandemic. where does research stand. what are scientists learning. background information and news. hour carona update. covert 19 special next on d w. what secrets lie behind. discover

new adventures in 360 degree. and explore fascinating world heritage sites. world heritage 360 getting up now. some 660000 people have died so far from covert 19 according to official statistics poor rich young old famous the virus doesn't discriminate. even care as doctors and nurses who were there to help a succumb to the illness. france and spain are among the few countries that held public memorials to honor the dead and whose departure has been especially difficult for loved ones many have not had an opportunity to say goodbye and

thousands have been buried in mass graves. 19 was unexpected and fast changing our lives and the world. how do you grief when bedside visits and funerals. welcome to your night in special here and you knew someone cajones in berlin good to have you with us well normally we're here to talk about the latest vaccine studies or various other approaches to treat 19 but we shouldn't forget the corona virus also kills and so today we want to talk about deaths in times of a pandemic 1st a report from the u.s. . for amanda and gina their grandfather who see it was like a father to them he taught them everything help them become who they are and dido the corona virus one of the many in arizona it was horrible to leave him alone and him knowing we had to leave him alone like what was he going through at that time

knowing that he could have his loved ones there to support him piers basing everything pretty much alone and there's nothing we could do about it. i don't know it's hard but it is very heartbreaking. a situational aster has become all too familiar with even after 38 years in the funeral business the corona pandemic nothing is as it used to be. with these families so many of them haven't been able to be with their loved one at the time of death put into a hospital where they can't visit or into a nursing home where they can no longer see him so many people are dying alone and that emotionally is challenging for families just to know that they can't be there and they can't you know be supportive and so are our challenges our job is to help them kind of deal with that and start to help them. healing grief and that's that's what we do. more than 2500 people have already died in arizona

leaving many hospitals overwhelmed with the sick and the dead. who when we get a death call the hospital will say can you come quickly because our compact we're at capacity we don't have anywhere to put these people they're trying not to get to these mobile units but they actually are so when we go now to a hospital transfer or someone in our care they have to actually have to look and see where the body is is it in the hospital facility or is it out in the mobile facility. it's been a little over a week since they've buried their grandfather amanda and gina still need time to come to terms with their loss but they already have strong feelings about who is to blame they could have handled it a lot better i feel they knew about this from john and they didn't have been i understand prior so the world wouldn't go in panic mode but at the same time look what's going on like what occurred due to them knowing and not doing anything about it and i really do think they could have did a lot more to help

a lot of people and people are still getting sick people are still going to the hospital people are still dying and i don't understand why i just don't and i don't think it's fair to any of us. their feelings are shared by many mourners in america that the lack of leadership from the white house is just as dangerous as the virus itself. so let's talk a bit more about to death lydia humaneness your social professor at the department of psychiatry and forensic medicine at the autonomous university of barcelona and she's also been part of a research team looking into the deaths and mourning process in the times of the corona virus pandemic which you have you with us let me start with the assumption western society tends to ignore the fact that we're mortal has the pandemic changed that yes. yes definitely this is the whole of that on some means that we are responding to

you know that until it arrives but these scripts are asked to make things are going to be life easier now and then he's forcing sourcing and changing our consciousness or our usa you minds are martyrs and those that have been closer to someone in effect. you're ready have meetings change and those that are your own song stupor ceased in this heart and only we have a new challenge is to look at it and. exactly and of course i mean those who've experienced it and we've just seen that also in the reports many couldn't say goodbye to the dying relatives they couldn't even give them a proper burial how big a trauma is that and how do you recover from that. well she is her 1st we should say that. lady has an accident nobody expects that relative will be

and will die and see me too or one of the sas that you didn't just say oh i ought to do it this route start learning process and intensifies for awareness that. nest and makes big money for. you cory the best of many shock to us and those who have floated also shows you are only will need professional help. searching meaning in life and to. make a difference in the situations in dates and especially as this pandemic isn't over yet and it has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives professor please stick around because we would just like to take a look at some numbers here this curve that we see now shows just how many lives were lost within a relatively short period of time it started slowly but then by mid february it became clear that we do have

a problem and by april we counted tens of thousands who died of co with 19 some 6 months into the pandemic some 660000 people lost their lives the highest death toll in the united states followed by brazil britain mexico and italy and as i mentioned that as we all know the pandemic is still on going back to professor human as your in barcelona please tell me we're talking about statistics here but these are people these were lives lost why don't we see more public ceremony warnings the death. well how only because this store showed expressions of sympathy and relief as a collective august come at the end of the tragedy the tragedy of the all there is fear we are conscious that we are all one who are together in them you know of these biotope still in the battle is not yet aware and also because. they are other

countries that this theory in a more severe have of confrontation with the buyers so i think that these can be our one of the points that refrains is situations or who are immense in a state you have got that because we have and the waves but for many other countries we wait in a certain way that this is the art or distress waves or who are too busy and the respect of the. right professor york from the autonomous university of barcelona thank you so much time and thank you for sharing your seat research on deaths and mourning in times of a pandemic with us and you know. well now time for more of your questions over to our science correspondent eric williams. what's happening with the present flu season. this is

a really interesting question that made some headlines after a big wall street journal article on the topic last week don't forget that when it's summer time here in the northern hemisphere it's winter in the southern hemisphere so for the last 5 months there should have been a spike in that in the number of cases of influenza as as flu season ramped up into full swing there but according to the w.h.o. global flu levels have remained astonishingly low for this time of year in many countries south of the equator in some places they drop by by 90 percent compared to average years and actually when you think about it and it probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise of a long with with heavily restricted travel all of the social distancing measures people have been observing to stop the spread of covert 19 are ones that would also

be effective at curbing the spread of flu we've just never used them against the flu before on this kind of a scale. could sophs cove to combine with influenza viruses to create a new strain. usually viruses evolve through a gradual process tauld and to generate drift which sees them slowly mutate as changes occur and their genetic material over time and many replications them what you're talking about is a phenomenon known as auntie genic shift which describes abrupt major changes that can occur for example and some flu viruses when when 2 different strains recombine inside the host to produce a much more deadly pathogen appear. really out of the blue that's what we think for example occurred with the h one n one flu virus that caused

a pandemic back in 2009 unfortunately antigenic shift that leads to the highly infectious new pathogens seems to occur rarely and we're pretty sure it only happens between very closely related pathogens so so something viruses recombine amongst themselves in this way and there's some evidence that that some coronaviruses might do it too but but the 2 different species recombined with each other to create some kind of super bowl. before we start worrying about to the next threat let's deal with the one at hand for people in hong kong this means no more dining in restaurants after a new upsurge in case numbers restaurants have been ordered to hold to dine in service and offer takeaway meals instead and while the threat is real with the use of such says of hong kong harbor well using outdoors may not be the worst way to

spend your lunch break as you see here so many times of a pandemic. that's your $900.00 special for today for me and the team as always thanks for watching. how will i pay my reins. ever more people are facing this reality around the world the cold 19 pandemic is shattering millions of lines have been released. in germany the government is reducing the flow but how are things in places where people are struggling. me. next on t.w. . how

does a virus spread. why do we have it and when we'll all miss them. just 3 of the topics covered in a weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like any information on the crown of virus 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 and conduct foreign slash science. far more clusters from nigeria we are as a people you know that's what normally would stun schools do you meet. windowing. authentic.

course fast moving the camera. and successful beyond belief. that none of this is the way we do it. nollywood starts august 7th on d w. the coronavirus pandemic is not only a threat to our health for many it's a threat to their livelihoods and it doesn't matter whether you live in europe in the united states africa or asia people all over the welts are having to adjust to a different job market different wedding alice different web scenarios.