this is d.w. news a live from very land in germany the 1st children to head back to school after the summer holidays as coronavirus cases are on the rise schools are reopening their doors to students amid an increase in infections of cross the country now all eyes are on how children and teachers can stay safe and stay in the classrooms also coming up on the shot of a royal runaway spain's former king juan carlos the 1st to fleece the country amid a corruption probe he's accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks from saudi arabia. and who will join in joe biden in his bid to be to donald trump we'll

have a closer look at the top contenders are vying to become his vice presidential running mate in november's election. i'm claridge's and welcome to the show here in germany it's the 1st day back to school for some children and it comes as new coronavirus cases are on the rise again it's the 1st time the students are going to school full time since march for life in the classroom won't be quite what he used to be a reporter visited one school in the city of rostock to see how they're adjusting. 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 brinkman primary school in rostock can play together without a mask and without daring to social distancing rules. even hugs are allowed

although not recommended. and specify it is better now because we are 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. 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. passer with coded 1000 infections rising again in germany parents have mixed feelings about the new start to. this is a mother do this 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. school started normally and i could see that. distancing. keeping the kids at home even longer isn't an option for the school head teacher. 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 hogs just inevitable for the kids they hope to be able

to continue their school year as normally as possible. well spain's former king juan carlos is a leaving the country to live abroad the announcement comes weeks after the 82 year old was accused of corruption allegedly receiving up to $100000000.00 in bribes from saudi arabia when carlos abdicated in 2014 handing over the crown to his son philippe the 6th some reports in spanish media have suggested that the former monarch has already left the country. the news is rocks by juan carlos a former spanish king is going into exile it's not been announced where he's heading he says he's done so to protect the monarchy from scandal but his decision has outraged many spaniards. this is really bad you should pay the money back. it's a heist you decision he should stay and defend himself in court like the rest of us

or you prosecutors have long been investigating kuan carlos the monarchy is facing accusations he took a kickback from saudi arabia when spanish companies won a contract to build around the way between mecca and medina there the king's former lover critz resigned and is suspected to have received the broad money spanish journalists were given late types with helping to hide the some. the king made a fortune especially in the united arab emirates and the gulf states and also saudi arabia. septic gifts and donations and then he set up an elaborate financial structure to conceal that money. should be about 0 dollars. republicans have been capitalizing on the royal scandal by organizing protests against the royal family they're hoping spaniards have had enough. of the

corruption doesn't just involve a few bad apples demonstrating against the monarchy as a corrupt system of innocent people not a good. pun carlos allegedly continued to finance a lavish lifestyle with the laundered money after he abdicated the throne he could still face charges of the matter but now he's put a little distance between himself and son king philippe and between himself and prosecutors. let's go now to some other stories making news around the world a new motorway bridge has been inaugurated in genoa italy to replace a structure that collapsed almost 2 years ago to the day the collapse of the marandi bridge killed 43 people the new bridge designed by star architect renzo piano was built in near record time. the former northern irish politician in john hume has died at the age of 83 he was awarded the nobel peace prize in 1908

along with david trimble for their efforts to end a decades of violence in northern ireland hugh was a founder and leader of the social democratic and labor party and campaigned for the nonviolent reunification of ireland's. government forces have retaken control of a prison in eastern afghanistan after a prolonged battle with islamic state militants but 300 prisoners are reportedly is still at large the battle began on sunday night after a suicide car bomber targeted the prison where hundreds of i asked members were reportedly being held 29 people were killed. southern california as a 1st major blaze of the fire season is growing it is now burned through over 80 square kilometers of forest east of los angeles thousands of people in nearby have been ordered to evacuate their homes officials say the fires were started by a malfunctioning truck that sent a sparks flying. into the u.s.

presidential race now democratic candidate joe biden is expected to announce his choice of running mates in the next 2 weeks in march he committed to choosing a woman as his vice president since then dozens of names have been floated as possibilities let's take a look now at 4 top contenders for the post. one person seen as having a good chance of becoming biden's running mate he's come on a harris observers say she takes lots of book says 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 what has come in trying to secure the democratic nomination herself before withdrawing to support biden in march. crucially she has a reputation as a fierce and competent debater. however 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 for to tough campaign to become the democratic nominee. that's 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 some think 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. well i'm joined now by did appears in as fall in washington d.c. you know let's take a closer look at these candidates who is seen as having the best chance to become biden's running mate. well i think this is come along. because she's a really experienced politician she has a very interesting family background so her father is an immigrant from to my car her mother is an indian immigrant so she really reaches to 2 minorities and they

will be crucial in this election campaign and she has been a prosecutor really gives her some good points in the cons of the 2 conservative part of the democratic party which have women from a diverse a background of course also ran in the primaries previously what does a biden's choice need to bring to the table to give democrats and the best chances of beating president trump in november. right i mean vice presidential picks have all from being seen as being kind of a strain for the candidate has a weakness this biden it's obviously his age but not only that he is a man so yes he already said that he's going to pick a woman he needs someone who is attractive for the springwater this for those republicans who are just not willing to vote for donald trump one more time he also needs someone who people trust who is able to really guide this country out of this

economic crisis which is just about to stall is this is another really demand after all this person has to be able to reach out to. those democrats who really do have like joe biden so this is really kind of a bigger auditee of the monster this person has to fulfill. you know as paul reporting from washington d.c. let's turn now to norway which has barred a cruise ship with more than 100 people on board from stopping in its ports for at least 2 weeks that's after a coronavirus outbreak on a cruise liner in the north of the country infected at least $41.00 passengers and crew it's a setback for the cruise industry which was a 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 lead to be at break on the m.s. roald amundsen the ship is now docked in tromso where local authorities are scrambling to prevent the virus from spreading further. here's the purity of the highest priority now is to follow up on those who have tested positive and to prevent further infection. and as we know the disease has a certain incubation time so it will take a while before we understand the full consequences of break all equally claims. that this. crew and passengers were infected on to july cruises between the mainland and to the. go in the arctic circle or thora cheese via the ship may have spread the virus to dozens of towns and villages along norway's 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 really let us for them 1st of all we have very sorry for the situation that has occurred we're working intensively with the municipality together with national infection control board. no we general thora taking any chances that closing ports to cruise ships for at least 14 days for an industry already billions in revenue the latest outbreak is a major blow as it seeks to persuade passengers that returning to its ships is safe . let's go now to something to smile about during britain's coronavirus lockdown a former air force pilot became known for spreading some much needed share by drawing a modis in the sky today richard goodwin it was back in action this time over bristol the city was holding its annual hot air balloon festival to onlookers surprise as the balloons were joined by a huge

a smiley drawn by goodwin's plane using the clear blue sky as his canvas. that's your news update at this hour up next to the documentary myanmar and the rohingya murder by design and don't forget you can always get the latest on our website www dot com m.k. richardson in berlin thanks for joining us. forecasters from nigeria does what money would sponsor. authentic. and successful. 7 we would start aug 7th on w.