beethoven 2023rd 250th anniversary year on d. . this is the w. news live from berlin economic growth in europe's biggest economy plunged by more than 10 percent germany has seen the worst economic contraction in the country's modern history we'll go live to frankfurt for the very latest also on the show the u.s. slashes its military presence in germany the decision to cut its troops in a country by a 3rd comes after president trump repeatedly said berlin was delinquent on its

defense spending. plus making the case for a crackdown on big tech u.s. lawmakers press the leaders of apple facebook google and amazon in congress when they choose the tech giants of killing off the competition to boost profits. i'm brian thomas good to have you with us today germany is officially in a deep recession with the economy contract in by 10 point one percent in the last quarter it's the sharpest fall in the country's modern history the figures cover the period during which the country was in its most restrictive lockdown face close borders shut down shops and production halted thousands of work places dealt a severe blow to small businesses and many export dependent industries and europe's

biggest the cup. let's go straight to the financial correspondent chelsea doing he's standing by in frankfurt for us to date you josie what have been some of the reactions to these numbers well it's really just a stunning stunning number to see. broken basically every record for the sharpness and the steepness of a quarterly contraction so it's certainly a bit of a blow people were obviously braced for a big decline obviously given the state of the economy and those in those 3 months people knew that we were going to see a pretty sharp contraction but this was a bit steeper than most investors mr condiments had been expecting 9 percent was really what people had thought it was going to be so 10 percent is a little bit worse than that but there's also a reeses 10 years of economic growth for germany so basically the entire post

financial crisis recovery has just been erased in a single month and that's really a difficult place to germany to be an ok what about the current quarter how was the easing of lockdown measures is that been helping you know it certainly has so this 2nd quarter the numbers we got today it likely will be the worst for germany the economy is expected to balance back and the 3rd quarter the 4th quarter as the economy reopens and as germany has really unveiled a lot of stimulus efforts that should help and we have already seen this reflected and some data things like manufacturing are picking back up carmakers are reporting exports are rising again so we are seeing the early signs of a recovery but given all of the uncertainty about what's going to happen with the krona virus will we see a 2nd waves will things get worse again in the fall there's really a lot of risks to this recovery you know

a lot of variables out there can you give us some perspective what about a comparison with other economies. germany is fairing a lot better than for one in most of the eurozone but also the united states as well so tomorrow we're going to get data from italy and france they're expected to report 15 percent contractions for this quarter the united states is for releasing its g.d.p. data later today it's expected to climb 35 percent they have a slightly different measuring system but clearly germany and all of the stimulus efforts they put in place the money they've spent on this it has helped to question the flow about joseph thanks so much for that from frank for the united states is on bell plans to withdraw some $12000.00 troops in germany that's a 3rd of its military footprint in the country u.s. defense officials say the move is in line with addressing new threats from china russia frozen trumbo 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 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 a good. thing 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 of defense it was 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. let's talk about this more now with our political correspondent thomas sparrow thomas what have been some of the reactions here in berlin. the german government had a brief statement in which it said it simply took note of the decision it would call it in 8 steps but it also said that u.s. plans were not finalized so could still change but if you ask further politicians

and members of parliament here in germany for example that decision has been met with criticism there are those who say that this not only affects negatively the bilateral relationship which is already by the way very strained but it also weakens not only nato but u.s. defense as well very different reaction here in germany came from the left party the left to be welcomed the decision instead it didn't go far enough but except for that reaction most politicians here in germany were actually very critical of the u.s. decision ok look get our viewers up to speed here on the u.s. troop presence function here why are american troops in germany. so on the one hand we have to understand this from a historical perspective the presence of u.s. troops in germany is seen as a key element of the postwar international border and since the fall of the berlin wall those numbers have steadily decreased but germany is still the country in

europe with the highest number of u.s. troops and they play a very significant role they're seen for example as a hub here in germany for u.s. operations in the middle east or in or not fricken particular the ramstein air base that is the biggest military hospital outside continental united states there are 2 commands also stationed here in germany the european command the africa command so they certainly play a very important role it's not only about paying to defend germany operations here are also critically important for the u.s. defense itself ok this relationship the german american relationship is also critical for nato for the entire european transatlantic relationship what does this mean for the german american relationship the withdrawal it is seen as another no point in bilateral relation it's important to stress that this is only one of many issues that have been very difficult between the trumpet ministration on bit of

a government we're talking about trade we're talking about north stream when we're talking about some international treaties there are time and time again problems between both governments and the fact that those troops are being withdrawn or at least that's the plan that the u.s. has presented that means that it's another very difficult moment for that bilateral relationship it is seen also in a way as a punishment here in germany in particular if you can say what donald trump must rest on various occasions that he believes germany is quote delinquent. as ever thomas thanks very much for the. let's get you brief now some of the other stories making the news today the u.s. administration has agreed to gradually withdraw all federal police from the city of portland oregon after weeks of clashes with protesters local authorities have criticized their presence saying it made matters worse washington says the offices are needed to protect federal court buildings. arrested for students for alleged offenses under the territories new national security law

they're accused of what authorities call organizing and inciting secession beijing impose a sweeping security law on july 1st that makes advocating independence a crime punishable by long prison terms. firefighters in brazil are battling blazes and beyond the knowledge of the world's largest tropical what is the number of fires in the region is more than doubled this year compared to 2019 in response of regional government as declared a state of emergency u.s. lawmakers have accused global tech giants of creating unfair market conditions that suppress fair competition. 4 of america's biggest names in technology have appeared before congress to answer questions from and to trust the leaders of facebook google apple and amazon deny that they're crushing competitors and acting like cartels. america's tech titans are 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 a great quality simply put they have too much power for hours these big tech c.e.o.'s addressed allegations including abuse of power data survey links 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 the support of one point $4000000.00 small businesses are supporting over $385000000000.00 and they are 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 say 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 divides and just 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 speach. staying in the u.s. the n.b.a. season restarts thursday after being suspended due to the pandemic but the return we very different from other sports 22 teams will be competing in a bio secure bubble 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 or guys 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. your back now the ball once it is 20 point you know everything is different and be able to adjust but i will be sorry my phones all during his run i can't afford to have to continue to check in or my family. you know every single day. i can sure think there was a rescue 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 plan said neil 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 and 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 of he will cause by covert 19 but the n.b.a. hopes its disney adventure can finish in style. this is the w. don't forget there's always more are social media platforms and at our web site for now though for me brian thomas the entire team. thank so much for. the for. more posters from nigeria that's what nollywood. do. authentic. and successful beyond belief.

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