dot com. 48 hours after the blasts it was the french president who today surveyed the damage and listened to beirut's broken people some cried out for a revolution some called for foreign intervention to topple the government tonight the city that was once called the paris of the middle east is looking to france like never before in french president emmanuel mccrone the lebanese people seem more than just an ally they also see a leader they do not have a leader they so desperately need i'm for golf in berlin this is the day. the usual being there is a political moral economic and financial crisis in lebanon that has been going on for several months several years and it was

a companion we will accompany you on this journey today tomorrow we will be that you know france will never let 11 on down there you don't build up on that we had lebanese we always have hope we want to live our lives nothing will stop us if you met. this should be the start of a new era a new era. also coming up tonight it was 75 years ago when the 1st atomic bomb was dropped the destruction of hiroshima changed the world it left the survivors scarred forever. for me this is not a peace memorial it's a graveyard. when i see people there it's like they're stamping on the heads of my parents and siblings united when i. went to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome we begin the day with

a promise to the people of beirut and a warning to all of lebanon today french president emmanuel microland visited the lebanese capital and surveyed the devastation 2 explosions tuesday in a warehouse in the city's port killed 137 people and left 300000 homeless today mccrone also witnessed another explosion ainger on the streets aimed at the government that people blame for the deadly blasts mccrone listened as students begged him to save them from their own government he heard stories of corruption at the city's very core what he offered was aid and solidarity and a dose of hard reality saying if the country does not assure in true reforms its future will be lost emmanuel was treated like a national hero in beirut while he may feel comfortable wearing the mantle of redeemer here in europe is seemed clear today that he won't he can't take up the

duties of rescuing lebannon from itself. in a city wrecked by the force of 2 is these catastrophic explosion people in beirut are coming together to clean up the debris in the city's streets. but with solidarity and the strong sense of community comes also anger. at the corruption and mismanagement that are seen as causes of the blast and that have plagued the country for decades. should it be incumbent we are no longer able to continue this way in this situation people do not have enough money to continue what they started with the country cannot take it anymore. but you come since we have been fighting for 50 years in order to raise our family in these circumstances that we live in now we're finished we have been working for our

retirement but they finished us. help from abroad is now coming into lebanon on aid and specialized rescue teams from numerous countries french president and also landed in beirut and met with lebanon's president the 1st foreign leader to visit since the explosion lebanon is a former french protectorate and the country still have close ties today. michael and then headed to the damaged neighborhoods of beirut surrounded by crowds of people he listened to the outrage and pleas for help well chance of revolution and the regime sounded all around. oh. my i'm here today i'm going to propose a new political pact this afternoon and i will come back by september 1st and if it has not been obtained i will take responsibility for it this is a political initiative aimed at bringing change to the country a big promise from

a clone of the one that the lebanese people are desperately clinging to. yet we continue our coverage tonight i'm joined here at the big table by my colleague dimeter he me from d.w. arabic theme is as we learned last night from it's good to have you back here with us tonight steve and talk to me about the impact of micron's visit today and his call for an independent investigation let me call it what. the news former minister told me just before i came to your show brant he said this statement including 2 other statements where like a slap on the authorities face lebanese authorities face let's start with this one that you started with the international investigation when your money when michael is demanding for that or asking for that basically is telling the government you are corrupt that i don't trust you i'll bring my own people to investigate too and and also then we would have a good result so basically he's saying i don't trust you you are corrupt that this is the 1st to slap the 2nd step when he told the politicians and he gave

a statement about there should be if political changes and new political reform in the country this will never happen it lives on except with 2 things 1st either there would be like a resignation from the government and 2nd there would be an early election so basically he's asking for it in the 3rd think that he demanded in one of his statements it was really important during the press conference when the journalistic confronted have been told him you're set with hezbollah members. during that meeting that that you did with the political. members and you said you elected them i'm quoting them you're the one who elected them and brought them to the apartment and the government changed that and then as a president i want i'm not going to sit with them so basically you're saying don't elect them next time the last thing one has said about the french. aid he said it's not going to be like a blank check which means there will be conditions and we're going to make sure that this it was not going to fall down fall in the hands of the corrupt people who

ripped politicians but if the political elite in beirut if they are upset with what happened today why did they give the french president this platform today i mean he was received there they have a i mean do they you tell me you know they don't have a choice because we know the influence of friends that live on during their study between both countries together this is 1st 2nd he's one of the biggest countries in europe he has he is the one who was helping liberal not only him all the. french presidents there would have been clear but on by putting together an international conferences in order to give aid and in order to get funds for lebanon to support the economy with exit basically they need it they need to have one and you feel today coming from lebanon and seeing the french president walking through the streets there surveying the damage. well. i will be honest with you i was devastated and sad when i saw the scene it's so sad to see

a foreign. president giving hope to the lebanese people why they don't president he didn't do that or the politician they didn't do that he was helping them without putting the past when order that cases of koran i live i don't know one of the lebanese politicians give that he gave many hopes to them they saw a hope in him and they were thinking that is coming with a solution or at least he's going to tell the government some brain strong messages and to change the whole situation for them it was really sad and which is you can listen to an exchange between a student and the french president to get. i think you know the corruption is unacceptable i'm a student my name is a b. the corruption it's unacceptable and we learn about it at school how it works we're outraged we're shocked i mean a french speaking school they teach us everything that's not happening in this country you know be imo the least a mandate or a verse of everything always politics which is so closed closed in on itself we don't know how to reverse it you have the power to do it please do it was available

going to believe. me didn't you know that still he's asking france to take over force do we know how many people in lebanon would like to see france take control of the country would fall to they would more than 50000 they were petitioned for that and i'll be honest with you i have so many friends they signed that it's not because they want this nobody wants that they're living on they want their freedom and independence for god's sake that fighting for trying now because it's really the frustration that they have it show the anger that they have it's a big message also for the government to imbed us that everybody has a thought it is in front of the french president and also to say that if we would have you know a state like that. more than happy a case would have our rights well at least we would have. a case will trust the state and against the whole thing would be organized would have maybe a good life but it's a way to express the anger i think in my opinion you mentioned has problems the

west was reluctant to help lebanon when the economy began collapsing partly because of hezbollah being a political force in the country now we've got the west stepping in stepping up to the plate this will pull lebannon further towards europe and the us that's exactly what hezbollah syria and iran do not want. well i see it i see it as a struggle for the european right now i ask about this question too when you've been used. at politicians and also to some german experts because hezbollah is a terrorist organization here in germany but how they are going to send all the say today about on you know avoiding hezbollah is a part of this government i am talking about minister off health actually the minister was named by hezbollah so how they are going to deal with distortion how you are going to ignore the situation and i don't recall he said again you elected them don't elect them i kind of deal with them not that he believes president

french president i have to deal with this government i have to ask for conditions and they have to apply what i'm coming back on the 1st of september in order to evaluate what does that mean we have to wait and see what the local investigation is going to say what the international community they are going to say i both if there would be an international investigation or not what hezbollah is going to be in whole this think this is very interesting in the coming days brant we will be watching that and we'll have you back here on the show as you talk about it because i think this story will have some very long legs. with g.w. everything is always we appreciate your time in your insights thank you my pleasure always thank you. for the world is marking the 75th anniversary of the u.s. bombing of hiroshima in japan the 1st atomic attack in august 1905 killed more than 140000 people survivors and families of victims laid wreaths at erosion of peace

memorial park today they also remembered the moment the bomb hit with a bill followed by a minute of silence the ceremonies were scaled back this year because of the global health emergency only a handful of 4 dignitaries attended. a few survivors are still alive today their stories speak of horrors that the world should ensure never happened again. jiro how masoom me is a heap in japanese that means survivor of the bomb. he was exposed to radiation and his mother's womb as she walked around ground 0 and he rose shima looking for his father. but his father had been killed. if we don't speak the bombing will be forgotten as if it had never happened that's why we must keep the history and people's testimonies on record with us. on august 6th 1945 u.s.

president harry truman gave the orders to drop an atomic bomb on the japanese port city of hiroshima. the blast and shock wave instantly killed tens of thousands of people tens of thousands more died from strange new diseases caused by radiation. 3 days later the u.s. dropped a 2nd bomb on the city of nagasaki. truman succeeded in winning a decisive victory over japan and an end to the 2nd world war. but not a painless one the white house and the us military were well aware that their celebrations came at the cost of over 100000 civilian lives here oshima bombing remains to this day the deadliest single act ever perpetrated by humans a few here are still alive to tell their stories how much sumi hopes their memories will live on but that his generation will have been the last to endure such horror . more now let's bring in alex rosen he's in chairman of the german chapter of

international physicians for the prevention of nuclear war mr president good to have you on the show we have lived in a nuclear world now for 75 years is there any reason to believe that the world will ever be free of nuclear bomb. well there's only 2 possibilities as we see it's either we get rid of the bombs or the bombs get rid of us so yes i think there is a very realistic outlook we have managed to ban biological weapons chemical weapons we've managed to eliminate landmines and cluster munitions from the arsenals of even the states that wanted to keep them so yes there is a path international humanitarian law to outlaw want to ban nuclear weapons as well what kind of take me down that path what is a realistic. future where we see the nuclear threat being reduced.

there already is a very large international security architecture in the form of the n.p.t. the nuclear nonproliferation treaty but this treaty itself has proved toothless especially towards the nuclear weapon states which if not adhere to their to their . to actually just arm so what we need now is a new piece of humanitarian law international law that actually prescribes the stigmatization the prohibition and then i lay ssion of nuclear weapons and this is the nuclear ban treaty that was. it was signed by 122 countries 122 u.n. member states in 2017 and which is being ratified by more and more states as we speak even today ireland in nigeria ratified the treaty bringing it closer to the 50 state votes it needs to become part of international humanitarian law and this treaty will go a long way in actually prohibiting and banning nuclear weapons when i ask you in

this world where the geo political situation is very volatile if the u.s. security umbrella over europe were to end what would germany do you would have no choice but to acquire nuclear weapons to protect itself. well i think this is an unrealistic scenario i think the scenario we should rather be talking about is a scenario where the international community the states agree on a clear path of mutual understanding towards a nuclear weapons free world we will not see a situation where one side completely annihilates their nuclear arsenal and expects the other side to do the same what we can hope for and what we can see is a process similar to what we've seen in the disarmament. treaties of the cold war of small pieces of of moving closer to each other showing

that willingness to disarm to. to to come together and i believe that germany can play a role here in actually mitigating between the u.s. on the one hand and russia on the other hand and this is what we need to push for right now here in germany that the german government actually sees the opportunity that the nuclear ban treaty offers how do you take away the incentive to acquire nuclear weapons if you look at north korea for example north korea knows that it hands a nuclear weapon and therefore it will not be attacked by the united states that is power that's leverage how do you take away the incentive for that. well we always get this example of north korea but let's be honest the main danger in the world today is not north korea and its nuclear weapons the main danger still remains the large nuclear arsenals of the us and russia and this is where we need

to start we need to start addressing the problem where it actually is and the main problem is that we have these 2 states who each have a nuclear arsenal large enough to annihilate not just their their cities but all of mankind and these 2 states and their allies need to sit together and actually agree on a path towards nuclear abolition and then believe me the other states will follow because it doesn't matter if you ask north korea or india or pakistan israel russia us all these countries are saying we strive for world free of nuclear weapons but the others have to start the others have to take the 1st step and this is unrealistic we need to take the 1st step together as a world community alex rosen from the international physicians for the prevention of nuclear war mysteries we appreciate your time and your insights tonight thank you thank you.

nuclear weapons pose only one x. essential threat to life on earth if we don't destroy the planet with nuclear bombs and radiation global warming and climate change could still spell humanity's end nowhere is that more evident than at the top and bottom of the world the pope there are melting scientists say the arctic has been warming up for years making the temperature difference between the north pole and the equator smaller and smaller the result what were oceans feeling extreme weather events. he's still wearing a woolly hat but it's no longer really necessary the ice in spitsbergen is melting it's a problem that no weighs most famous poet a researcher kim holleman has long been warning of we are losing the arctic as we know it because of climate change and. this is a forewarning over all the hardship and problems start to spread around the planet

. as the grand melts it gives up its secrets here a mammoth skeleton pulled from the mud in russia's arctic after 10000 years in the permafrost rising temperatures here are delivering riches to some researches. of those thoughts and i'm not a complete skeleton is always a valuable find because the individual bone fragments basically don't hold any information here we know the exact location the origins of the mammoth and that is one specimen. of. the arctic touches russia canada the us and greenland but its demise will affect the whole world. temperatures are rising faster than in the rest of the world particularly in the last few years. as the differences in temperature between the poles and the equator reduced the jet stream

winds which move weather around the globe a sewing dying. the result extreme weather high and low pressure systems remain at the same spot for longer creating floods and it's 12 degrees in spitsbergen might look relaxing but it's 7 degrees warmer than usual and that spells disaster. well let's bring in christina schadler she's a research professor at northern arizona university she's also the lead coordinator of the permafrost carbon network a group set up to address the issue of carbon release from. racine is good to have you on the show i want to start with a recent occurrence tundra fires in russia tell me what's happening there so we have seen increased fire activity in the arctic over her last year is that in particular this summer and this is because temperatures are a lot more men than they usually are and conditions are really dried which. can

enhance wildfires and. increase fire activity is a problem because we saw we've already had fires in the arctic and this is nothing new but right now the fires are much larger and they are more widespread and they're much more intense and if fires are really tense they can burn through the top layer and burn through the organic material which will then degrade from a frost and once you have come across thawing that creates a whole other issue and will it release a lot of carbon emissions to the atmosphere and that's that's what we're going to have right where. is exactly how much profits. yet or at least 2 consecutive years and so right now there is a condition as long as it's cold and conditions are problems then we can keep from across the way east but with an increase in temperatures that changes and what was

the effect that in the release of permafrost carbon are we talking about it celebrating then global warming. exactly that's what we are doing and this is why it also needs to why everyone needs to care about this topic and not just the people that actually live in the arctic so i've personally been in arizona which tends to be really hot and dry in the summer that's right. and so you might think why would i care about arctic temperatures but increasing temperatures in the arctic they cause some frost to fall which will then you know he's mocking has gases to the atmosphere and that more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means we have even more warming and hence it's really an estimation all for climate change what do you say when people say well if we do have this warming effect then that means there is more surface area to plant trees and plants and those those plants them soak up more carbon dioxide so we've solved the problem that would

be a very easy solution which is unfortunately not quite true and it's really not i think the as you just described it but we have observed that plants do take out more carbon dioxide and programmer when they warmer but carbon dioxide is not the warmer temperatures are not the only thing that plants need to grow they also need nutrients they need space to grow and cetera and then we're forgetting that plans for doing this summer but they don't project that winter and microbes are still active in the winter even temperatures are below 0 and so if you're looking at the a no carbon budget you're actually seeing that. microbial decomposition releases more greenhouse gases and plants take them off again during the growing season so right now it doesn't really look like in the long term france will totally evolve a bit about 30 seconds when i ask you do you do you have the technology you need to

measure carbon released because it seems so abstract to the layman. we have bought more patients where we do measure greenhouse gases what we need is more widespread measurements long term measurements and we need results to be available really quickly so that we can observe on and. off thoughts are all right christina shade all from northern arizona university christy we appreciate your time and your insights tonight good lord god of a work thank you. and yeah. well the day is almost done the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter either in the news you can follow me at brant go t.v. and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day we'll see that of.

this woman that is defining the regime. must move has been searching for her husband and son for years both might be victims of syria's secret service now know there's a ray of hope. suspected henchmen of us on our own trial in germany.

on d.w. . cheat me more's. discounted and inexpensive but animals are suffering from environment is crying out. for the new trend healthy eating campaign resource a. price war on the plate just how good is cheap. made in germany. in 60 minutes on t w. william how to being a gun did go southerners with the highest high you know if i had known that the boat would be that small i never would have gone on

a trip to cuba i would not have put myself and my parents in the danger of the bottom of the beam of the foot a beautifully it would. love one son that one of the able to give them i had serious problems on a personal level and i was unable to live there wasn't going to. want to know their story for migrants verified and reliable information for margaret's. hello and welcome to a new edition of focus on europe we begin today's show with a conflict that might be far away from europe geographically but still has a direct impact on our continent witnesses of the syrian war

a tale harrowing stories of arbitrary arrests torture and killings by the syrian secret police.