this is g w news live from berlin here in germany new coronavirus cases are increasing as children head back to school and schools are reopening their doors for in person learning amid warnings of more and more new infections across the country can children and teachers stay safe and staying in the classroom also coming up tonight a royal runaway spain's former king juan carlos flees the country amid a corruption probe he's accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks from saudi arabia and the u.s. veep stakes entering its final states will have

a closer look at the top contenders vying to become joe biden's vice presidential running mate in november selection. i'm off it's good to have you with us here in germany it's the 1st day back at school for some children and it's happening amid warnings of more and more new coronavirus cases across the country today is the 1st time that schools have reopened here in germany since their closure back in march when the pandemic began but a return to school is not a return to health school used to be. finally back where they wanted to be in the schoolyard with all of their friends for the 1st time in 5 months these children from john franklin primary school in rough stop can play together without a mask and without daring to social distancing rules. even hugs are allowed

although not recommended. and specify it's better now because we're allowed to sit next to each other again and we can see all our friends again where no. one is i i find it great because we can see all of our friends again and also our classmates and teachers. it's even my sister's very 1st day at school so that's really exciting it's all to do this turk. just like this class all 11000000 german pupils are supposed to return to a daily school routine in the next couple of weeks a great relief for their parents as well but playing and learning so close to each other every day comes with a certain risk of infection that to make some teachers uneasy. as of course we're anxious it's not just school it goes beyond that. i'm thinking about

my family my grandmother is $91.00 you don't want to be a carrier plus i have to be extra careful as my child has asked the. passer with coded 1000 infections rising again in germany parents have mixed feelings about the new start to this isn't a given that there's a degree of uncertainty you don't know where people have been on holiday. i'm glad it's starting up again the last 6 months have been exhausting. comes to the. school started normally and i could see the. distancing. keeping the kids at home even longer isn't an option for the school teacher. sure the goal is really important for the children and their families as well i think schools can restart despite the rising cases. for the most part everyone is trying to keep a distance even though some hugs i just inevitable for the kids they hope to be

able to continue their school year as normally as possible. spain's former king juan carlos the 1st says he is leaving the country to live abroad the announcement comes weeks after the 82 year old was accused of corruption in june spain's supreme court opened an investigation into his connections with a high speed rail deal in saudi arabia that followed a report published in a swiss newspaper alleging one carlos had received $100000000.00 in bribes from saudi arabia the former monarch has repeatedly denied the allegations. are for more now is bring in journalist squares in madrid is i mean what's the motivation behind this surprising decision i mean it's not every day that a king or former king just says i'm leaving the country. well it looks like he's almost going on exile but the real reasons i'm probably one of the main reasons is that for making of this pain he's trying to save that institution and the morning

after all these reports that are given very bad press to. to look more narky even less space we also know that it has. a nation of prosecution all 3 teams are ready to try pretty major should they find any wrongdoing after 2014 because. let's remind that the king of his fame has full immunity until he's abdication in 2014 and all these allegations of bribery. and 14 why he wasn't still in office that the prosecutor believes or might you know carry on looking for all the events to 2014 he could be tried in the supreme court do we know where. he's going where. we don't know

we don't know exactly where he's going to relocate relocate but we know there are some recent reports that the former king of spain might have already left the country we don't know where about you know the whereabouts of the king but there's some information as of the moment say in the. mail might have already left the country and if he does if he does do that is that going to save the royal family in spain. well that's a complicated question i would say well this is something that from the thinking all the morning if you were looking you know getting as much. of the former king you know that you say the. institution.

has already. we now know to inherit from the father and. you know. that. was actually a beneficiary of one of the foundations that. created being in switzerland and all the countries so move you know. you know saving or separating the figure of from the. institution as a whole. with the latest from madrid for me thank you thank you very much for here's some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world a new motorway bridge been inaugurated in general if only to replace the bridge that collapsed almost 2 years ago to the day the collapse of the bridge killed 43 people and was one of italy's worst. in decades the new bridge design.

was built in. the former northern i was published in john hume has died at the age of 83 he was awarded the nobel peace prize in 1988 along with david trimble for their efforts to end decades of violence in northern ireland he was a founder and leader of the social democratic and labor party and campaigned for the nonviolent reunification of ireland. and now to the us presidential race the democratic candidate joe biden is expected to announce his choice of a running mate next week in march he committed to choosing a woman as his vice president since then dozens of names have been discussed in a moment we'll speak to our washington correspondent about that but 1st here's a look at the 4 top contenders for the vice presidential position. one person seen as having a good chance of becoming biden's running mate it's come on harris observers say

she takes lots of boxes she's a person of color something seen as crucial given the current ructions over racism in the u.s. . she's also someone the public knows well as having tried to secure the democratic nomination has south before withdrawing to support biden in march. crucially she has a reputation as a fierce and competent debater. her the critics fear there could be a lack of personal chemistry between her and biden something some say could be a drawback for her. senator elizabeth warren is another well known face she too 40 tough campaign to become the democratic nominee. the one she brings experience and is biden is demanding the ability to do the job on day one but her age could work against her some also worry she could alienate republican swing voters by being too progressive and too liberal. then there is senator tommy

duckworth a veteran who lost both legs during the iraq war supporters say her military credentials and her personal narrative may well appeal to conservatives frustrated with trump. as a tie american she's also from an ethnically diverse background and hailing from the midwest something she could also give biden the edge when it comes to battleground states such as michigan but others fear her lack of experience on the national stage could be a disadvantage. but another figure thought to be in contention is former national security adviser susan rice protector of north korea she also served as u.s. ambassador to the u.n. under the obama administration and as such has a wealth of foreign policy expertise including on russia and china at $55.00 she's also relatively young but detractors say one chink in our armor could be that she's never run for public office. so what is the significance of having

a potential female vice president for tens of millions of american women earlier i put that question to our washington bureau chief in this poll. this is so important prime maybe you remember 4 years ago the moment hillary clinton was picked as the candidate of. nomination the democratic nomination day and the mood in the country was so happy for many many women even for those who really didn't like hillary clinton who didn't support of politics but this country is ready for a female president and this v.p. could be the 1st female president after all so it really matters and as i was able to travel the country a little bit the last couple of weeks i also talked to republicans and 2 republican women and they do one female in the oval office after all after all those years

there was you newspoll speaking with me from washington norway has barred cruise ships with more than 100 people on board from stopping in its ports for at least 2 weeks that's after a coronavirus break on a cruise liner in the north of the country infected at least $41.00 passengers and crew it is a setback for the cruise industry which was just beginning to relaunch after the pandemic forced companies to suspend all trips hurtigruten was the 1st cruise line to resume operations back in june now it's facing criticism that it restarted premise surely police are investigating whether breaches of coronavirus regulations led to the at break on the m.s. roald amundsen the ship is now docked in trouble so well local authorities are scrambling to prevent the fires from spreading. then he used to furious he knew the highest priority now is to follow up on those who have tested positive and to prevent the infection. and as we know the disease has

a set an incubation time so it will take a while before we understand the full consequences of going to break call equal sequence. crew and passengers were infected on 2 july cruises between the mainland and to the occupied ago in the arctic circle. both archie's fear the ship may have spread the virus to thousands of tents and villages along waist coast critics say hurtigruten was too slow to inform people after the 1st case was identified the company has admitted mistakes were made a 1st offense they regulate us for them 1st of all we have very sorry for the situation that has occurred we're working intensively with the minister policy together with not an infection control body you. know we general thirty's taking any chances that closing ports to cruise ships for at least 14 days for an industry

already dying billions in revenue the latest outbreak is a major blow as it seeks to persuade passengers that returning to its ships is safe well here's something for you to smile about during britain's coronavirus lockdown a former air force pilot became known for spreading some much needed cheer by drawing him oh geez in the sky well today richard goodwin was back in action this time in the skies over bristol of the city was holding its annual hot air balloon festival into onlookers surprise the balloons were joined by a huge smiley drawn by goodwin's place using of course you see right there the clear blue sky as his canvas. for. you're watching the w. news of next in d.w. business one of the world's most popular apps faces a us ban the trumpet ministration has a security concerns about is

a sale to microsoft the solution. to that and more is coming up next with stephen beard and stick around we'll be right back. injury to full of surprises. alex. thompson is going to be in the footsteps. of. the fleet street. 3 times. to marry a man.