this is news coming to you live from berlin president trump floats the idea of delaying the u.s. election in november from points to mail in ballots says the reasons saying they will make them better spoke the most fraudulent in history the leaders of both parties say it's beyond his authority also coming up the pandemic puts the brakes on 2 of the world's economic engines the u.s. and germany pose for pork chop sharp declines in the 2nd quarter we look at the fallout hong kong faces not just the 2nd but the 3rd wave of cope with infections

public anger is on the rise over renewed restrictions and the possible delay of upcoming election. hello i'm terry martin thanks for joining us u.s. president has drawn cross party criticism after suggesting a possible delay to the 2020 election trump who currently trails democrat joe biden in opinion polls has no authority to change the date which is set by law all trump later backtracked but continues to push claims that any increase in mail in voting to to the coronavirus pandemic would result in fraud's. even for president trump it was a rapid u. turn to floating the idea of delaying november's election only hours later he was walking it back. i don't want to delay i want to have the election but i also don't

want to have to wait for 3 months and then find out that the ballots are all missing and the election doesn't mean anything earlier on thursday trump tweeted that universal miley in voting would make the 2020 elections the most inaccurate and fraudulent in history he called for the election to be postponed until people can vote securely and safely the suggestion was soundly rejected on both sides of politics democratic speaker of the house nancy pelosi quoted the constitution which gives congress the sole power to set election dates even leading republicans distance themselves. never in the history of the federal elections have we ever not held an election and we should go forward with our election but we should we should have absentee voting but as mass just yelling out ballots without having any checks and balances without people requesting really brings concern in there but no way

should we ever not hold our election on the day that we have. as the coronavirus surges in the us donald trump is doubling down on his attacks on mylan voting despite a lack of evidence to support his claims critics say he merely wants to distract from the pandemic and the economic crisis hurting his bid to stay in the white house let's bring in irwin called here here he is currently with bard college in berlin and he analyzes political affairs for us good to see you and republicans have supported trump on many things but delaying the election is that a bridge too far. that would be such an outrageous attempt to go around the letter of the constitution that there are easier ways to suppress voters . and sort of trusting local parties to close down polling stations are the sorts of things that are being done and attempted so that i think it was simply it was

too obvious and also a clumsy it was just a clumsy sort of remark by trump quite often he speaks before he or his staff thinks and that's why you have to bring these things back as soon as possible to do even less damage during such remarks causes foreign trips repeatedly suggested that mail in ballots are vulnerable to fraud and threaten the legitimacy of the upcoming election what do you make of that argument. it's not a good faith argument that. there's been years decades of experience with absentee voting clearly we are in an unusual times and increase in the scale. probably an order of magnitude is something serious but you know simple things such as making the polling places safer opening up more

voting places having voting boxes where people can just drive by and drop their ballots in all sorts of innovations are possible but aren't being discussed so the fact that all the other things to make voting safe activity and easy activity for voters we're not seeing that so the fact we're not seeing that is just this is smoke and mirrors of the larger voter suppression attempt. critics say that president trump is deliberately trying to undermine confidence in the american political system how robust is that system given the problems facing the country right now. i wish i could be. more optimistic you know the constitution is a remarkable document but you know many things have happened in the mean time such things as political parties they're not explicitly mentioned in the constitution and what we are seeing with you know one party capturing both the executive and one

of the houses of congress can. engineer things that the writers of the constitution did not think of that the power of impeachment. proves to be much harder. then the founding fathers thought it would be so just that is one simple example the gerrymandering the idea that politicians can choose their voters rather than voters choosing their politicians the role of money in voice in public voice and the new media all of these things are differences and the challenges are enormous and right now there's plenty of reason to be concerned and you know the voter turnout that will be the sign whether or not the system will in fact be robust enough to withstand

the shock of pandemic economic crisis and a major failure. in government. thank you for your insights that was called here of bar called. the credit iras pandemic has put the brakes on to the world's economic engines in the u.s. the latest figures show the economy contracted by a stunning 33 percent in the 2nd quarter that's the worst drop on record germany also marked a record 2nd quarter slide wiping out nearly 10 years of economic growth numbers from both countries suggest any recovery will be slow. one ruiz is one of around 18000000 unemployed americans. the 56 year old accountant lost his job at a forklift manufacturer after he contract it covert 19. with no job to go back to he's finding it harder to find work than he had expected. which. many people are

losing their jobs because the companies they work for closed their doors in fact my company closed they said they were not selling and shuttered their warehouses. factories are closing small businesses to americans are tightening their belts and that's cause the country's gross domestic product to drop by a staggering 33 percent last quarter. but it's also worth mentioning that if the u.s. counted g.d.p. like europe does that it would have only fallen by 10 percent making germany's g.d.p. drop during the 2nd quarter slightly worse than the u.s. is. however germany has seen less unemployment. thanks in part to government backed short term work schemes it satisfied the g.d.p. numbers for germany in q 2 are worse than expected but let's be honest we weren't expecting good news in terms of growth the important thing is to put the 2nd quarter behind us and look to the future so everything depends on the course of the corona pandemic. in germany infection rates are on the uptick. around

700 new infections were reported on wednesday. in the u.s. the number is north of 60000. worrying numbers one reads and he doesn't expect the economy to get back on track soon his wife and son work part time but they barely make enough to pay the family's bills. ousmane the other stories making headlines around the world france is the latest country to announce its economy has taken a record hit during the coronavirus pandemic official figures show french g.d.p. slumped by 13.8 percent during the 2nd quarter like many parts of western europe much of france's economy went into lockdown to prevent the spread of covert 19 or spurs in indonesia the world's most populous muslim country held morning prayers to kick off the celebration due to the coronavirus and demick special precautions were

taken the country's religious ministry advised attendees to wear masks and it's here to social distancing moss mosques were also asked to shorten prayer ceremonies . for the world's biggest airline groups have revealed the major financial hits they've taken because of the corona virus outbreak or prince kayleigh has posted a loss of 2600000000 euros for the 2nd quarter of this year when passenger numbers were down 95 percent meanwhile british airways owner i agee lost 1400000000 euros during the same period. media reports say hong kong leader kerry lamb is set to announce the postponement of upcoming legislative council elections by a year of tensions with a comes as hong kong faces not just its 2nd but a 3rd wave of covert 19 infections and as the case count rises so does public anger over the government's handling of the crisis if you don't use phebe call reports from. groups of 2 this is how you're allowed to

hang out with friends in public in hong kong empty tables and chairs are seen at restaurants under the latest ban on dining in only takeaway orders are allowed. so yeah. i agree that we should contribute to fight the virus but it turns out we're the ones to suffer 1st i feel like the government is passing the buck to us with the mill. there has been no lockdown in hong kong the government is trying to keep the financial hub running by not forcing people to work from home as a result it could be no easy task to comply with social distancing rules especially for blue collar workers some have no choice but to finish their meals and rain or shine the backlash has pressured the government to reverse part of the ban in only 2 days now eateries can serve customers during the daytime but only at 50 percent

capacity. here in hong kong where a mosque has been the common practice if it became an opt out break now they are party compulsory in both indoor and outdoor life even if one is in a hot and humid summer there is now it's time. but critics say these stringent measures are not enough to tackle the root cause. i'm afraid there will be more new waves of infection in the future if we don't shut our border. we can do better with exams that we don't need people to have exemptions we need everybody to expose the truth to be born to. it's the most critical wave of infection ever health experts attribute the outbreak to quarantine exemptions which allowed dozens of essential personnel including c. and aircrew to cross the border freely now such exemptions will be tightened but not cancelled. although the number is still far lower than many major cities across

the world the people of hong kong are concerned that it will have a wide ranging impact not only on public health and the economy but also on politics as the upcoming election could be postponed for the 1st time in history. our correspondent phebe kong is covering developments in hong kong for us and joins us now from there now looks likely that hong kong's upcoming election will be postponed is the up tick in corona virus infections enough to justify the. war in the according to various we thought i and the sources we get by the home government is likely to make a fish on our play about the postponement of the election like later on today to be an up you know mission you know you have so they were like i had the worsening run of my mishap and i make up my me reset like we thought it would be by plato in

action but people spoke to the spokesman off the election with bob you not only political and also legal controversy including how the local parliament is going to run if the election is postponed my point here i'm on loan you know i'm like i'm suggesting that will be our year and also specially is especially. sensitive like when it comes to several incumbents lawmakers what does this qualify for running for reelection yesterday so it's not and it's not sure what i think they remain in office on this question the government is likely to resort to the basic life just like to ask it to happen in the office directly if so of course it is going to help their home to government to a point any legal challenge is a local point but it will definitely draw wide ranging from ok. but as you just

mentioned several candidates have been disqualified from running and the upcoming elections joshua walang a well known pro-democracy activists is among them here's what he had to say about it every system continue on and we hope the world can stand with us in the upcoming uphill battle even governments stand for me. they can censor. my qualification to come in and that democracy movement in hong kong and that's the reason they can kill us all. to you what's been the reaction there to authorities banning. other candidates from standing for election. particularly running is that cause only of those independents of course but banned from iraq but this time beijing appears to draw some new red line i have to disqualify candidates not only activists like russia long

a band but also those moderate democrats including some incumbent lawmakers what they call a fight from running for reelection the slow so most of where to stop opposing the new national security law and also but even though some of them just express disagreement with the way i feel and that's me and also the main accusation your intention to be the government proposals in the parliament to have a government and also a so-called so that's the thing for an intervention. by lobbying both of those these kind of like we said a very fake like illegally and it's not clear if you find you know it's just a lot of phone calls that's why some of the opposition and also like also the u.k. government is sometimes like the disqualification. like a british one country 2 systems and again the constitution is all but on the other

hand of course the home of government such an accusation is saying that there is no such a potent issue. to these thanks to it that was a course for the in hong kong. she's a stay at home mom of 2 but in a matter of months she's turned into president alexander lukashenko top election rival overnight mass crowds turned out in the belorussian capital minsk to support opposition leader it's taken off sky on the 37 year old is challenging lucas shank those decades long rule but he accuses the opposition of trying to topple him with foreign assistance. thousands of people thursday evening in minsk they came out to support as you cannot the presidential candidate who is challenging the author of tarion rule 11 xander look. we need change in this

country there is no other solution. we want to be free so that we can work and study. the economic scale yeah entered the race after her husband a prominent blogger was not allowed to run he is now in jail and. i want to become president to restore justice the current president has been in power for 26 years not because the people want it but because he doesn't want to leave. other candidates have also been barred from contesting the election or arrested opposition politician sept even fled to russia president who appears determined to hold on to power this week he visited a police unit during anti protest drills and on wednesday he convened the national security council after special forces arrested $33.00 russian citizens allegedly mercenaries of a military company belong to an associate of russian president vladimir putin

observers say the case may be a pretext to crackdown on the opposition 10 days ahead of the presidential elections. and other news hundreds of protesters have gathered outside israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has official residence in jerusalem to repeat their calls for him to step down and you know who has come under fire for holding office while on trial for corruption and pushing for seemingly anti democratic measures under the guise of combating coronavirus as. some bob noyce government is to pay $3.00 and a half $1000000000.00 to white farmers whose land was seized over 20 years ago analysts say the seizure will wreak havoc on the agriculture sector it's unclear however how the cash strapped country will afford the compensation. a special prosecutor in switzerland has opened a criminal case against fee for president john the infant teen of the charges

relate to secret meetings he helped with the swiss attorney general. in 20162017 in frontier no was reelected president of football's international governing body just last year. this time of year would normally be high travel season in the northern hemisphere for holiday makers seeking sun and adventure but the crowded virus has made this a summer like no other correspondents around the world tell us how the pandemic has changed how people are spending their time off for in times of uncertainty because of covert 19 more than 70 percent of the french have decided to go on vacation in france some of them will stay here in paris where the town hall has allowed restaurants to extend their terraces the city will also be organizing a number of cultural events outside where the risk of contamination is limited due to flight restrictions the city is not as packed with international tourists as in

previous years and parisians making the most of that one friend of mine told me that she would seize the opportunity and having lived here for more than 15 years would finally go and visit what's probably the capital's most famous landmark the eiffel tower for the 1st time. london's trafalgar square is normally teeming with tourists but not this london's attractions like the national gallery have behind the all slowly opening up again and yet londoners for the event have the tanners the rembrandts and the golf mostly to themselves. and almost. a typical picture the beach resort of. a lot of people have. picked the right targets to write a tragedy for the spanish economy 3000000 people. there's also a general obligation to wear a mask every well it's. not

a very pleasant thing. for the degree. these guys seem to enjoy the global crisis the huge kruger national park all for themselves with hardly any tourists in sight since the end of march south africa's borders are closed international flights are not permitted even domestic travel is not allowed only a few davis from the province are allowed to enter the park at the moment and this has a huge negative impact on hundreds of thousands of south africans working in the industry travelling within the country it is possible again. you know. they can behind me is a checkpoint people have to ask if they want to visit a particular. lake. so there are still a lot of inconveniences for tourists and the numbers are considerably lower many people choose to wait. you know correspondents there following the impact of the

pandemic on tourism around the world. now here in berlin coronavirus restrictions still have not been lifted on a past time the city has become known for its night club culture with indoor venues off limits partiers are defining authorities and going underground or rather. a note store viewers this report contains flashing image. berlin is well known for its clubs and raves every year hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the german capital to dance to techno music but the coronavirus has changed all that the clubs have been empty for months now best runs the club the last event here was in march she says there won't be any more until a vaccine is developed. busy in already seen examples of brawn showing that it really doesn't work in south korea they thought they had the pandemic under control because they had hardly any new cases then they opened the clubs and they had their

1st case in a club within the way in which meant that the clubs had to be closed down again and it seems that the longer the pandemic lasts the stronger people surge is to dance for weeks now and there have been illegal rains every saturday night and berlin's house in hyde apart last weekend's gathering was the biggest so far with an estimated 3 to 5000 revelers was one of them we met up with her in the park she preferred not to show her face. just look around you at every football match there are at least 22 people on the field with substitutes you've got up to 30 or 40 people and they were very quick to allow that again. with restrictions but this categorical ban ignores the needs of the party community. there have always been illegal gatherings but current participants do seem to be ignoring the threat of the coronavirus schools a few little i think the problem with

a lot of people is that they can't understand why open air options are not being made available. they don't see an infection risk because there have been numerous large events such as demonstrations with no infections because they're not discovered if you look also it would appear that there is little danger of infection so i guess people saying why not me. legal and if it's not made legal they do it illegally one vote on this initially got caught on just being moms yes i'm fearful. and other club owners have already made a proposal to berlin's respective district authorities to make green spaces available for open air events berlin's politicians have been discussing the idea for months far too long for people like us is coming. for they can't be that hard to just make green spaces available or it's possible to set up a security cordon and some portable toilets people are doing it anyway in the month of an empty fountain fought on the mice no one owns so and. i think most of us

would cooperate if there were an official location that's cordoned off with a limit of say 50 or 100 people and you'd have to wear a mask. the time is running out for legal organized opener events in 2020 there's still august and maybe september after that it will be too cold it's unlikely that there will be a widely available vaccine by then so the clubs will probably have to stay closed the immediate future is not so bright for berlin's ravers. sergio perez has become the 1st formula one driver to test positive for corona virus the racing point driver will miss the british grand prix this weekend formula one made a belated start earlier this month with a strict testing protocol in place the mexican will now quarantine along with his close contacts and one of racing points reserved drivers for esben to terrorists will enter this weekend's rates. just reminder the top story we're following for

you here today on d w news u.s. lawmakers have rejected president all trumps idea to delay the upcoming november election has suggested that increased mail in ballots due to the crowd of virus would lead to fraud result. you're watching news from i'm terry martin c.n.n. .

to the point of strong opinions clear positions of international perspective some. of the united states and china drifting towards the new cold war and with so much at stake what can be done to ensure that the world's 2 most powerful nations don't reach a point of no return find out on to the point. to the point. next

to the t.w. . the protests have been silenced there is now fear and uncertainty on the streets. in hong kong china's new security law has shut down freedom of expression. teachers are threatened with dismissal activists are being arrested for fleeing the country global 3000. and 60 minutes on d w. how does a virus spread. why do we panic and when we'll all be. true just 3 of the topics covered and the weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would

like and new information on the coronavirus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you can get your podcast you can also find us at d.f.w. dot com slash science. relations between the superpower. as china and the united states have hit a new low mutual rivalry in the pacific is becoming more menacing with intense saber rattling on both sides u.s. naval vessels have been staging maneuvers in what they see as a response to chinese expansionism also new american sanctions against the crackdown in hong kong and tit for tat.