this is you know we news life for berlin crackdown on the media both lucidity is journalists ahead of sunday's presidential election i didn't know you were porter is sentenced to 10 days in prison grice rupe say several journalists have been arrested the crackdown comes as president alexander lukashenko faces growing public pressure for his failure to act on the cone of virus pandemic also coming up glory for turns to fury anger at lebanon's leadership following the deadly blast that ripped through the capital beirut international donors pledged aid for rebuilding

the demand high level reforms from where that plus health officials in germany continue to sound the alarm but those were a spike in corona virus infections there are now fears returning holidaymakers it's been a virus packed with them just as schools are reopening and the president all trying to issues an executive order telling americans to stop using to talk and china's pigments and messaging service the chapter. on why our thank you so much for your company everyone the country bellaver says getting ready to hold its most hotly contested presidential election in years and there are now clear signs the government is looking to hush up the media. groups say yes several reporters have been arrested including free last. journalist

alexander berkoff who reports for d w it's been sentenced to 10 days in prison and that means will be unable to cover the election president. is facing a wave of dissent over his dismissal of the covert $1000.00 pandemic and his human rights record. and director general peter lim burke expressed concern and irritation about the arrest of alexander berkoff in a letter to the embassy of brothers a here in germany he wrote on behalf of dutch of l a a protest emphatically and in the strongest possible terms against this obvious arbitrary measure by the state it blatantly disregards the internationally acknowledged freedom of the press at the same time a call on your government to investigate this matter immediately well let's get you some more information. tovar from d.w. joining us from bob good to see you're you know 1st of all tell us how is our

colleague doing is he safe secure well unfortunately we haven't been able to conduct an exam to burqas since his era's 2 days ago because his cell phone is constantly switched off but i have talked to jordan is who have been in the courtroom today and they mean that he's holding out well in plans to appeal against the court's decision the court in mughal of convicted him to 10 days in detention facility effective immediately we were indeed able to talk with alexander if you days before his arrest and back then he expressed some concerns that their ability russian authorities would likely not allow any independent reporting on that coming presidential elections now according to human rights groups several journalists have been arrested in the recent days in the run up to this weekend's election what's more behind this. well basically it's part of the in going trend of

belarus heiress and present curators of journalists and other independent voices in the country were there a head of every election last time in 2010 but these year it's especially harsh this preservations are especially harsh and we have seen their message of wave of protests to support deltona tive a presidential candidate invites in belarus. what is going on now is the president and because the cave the scale of support it is experiencing is enormous and obviously the administration of president alexander lukashenko is seeing that the ground is shaking that they're losing the ground and then try to prevent it by all possible means it when i'm going to put you on hold for just a 2nd our moscow bureau chief for your he was shadow has been covering the elections and the roots of the push for change as you have been reporting also a look at that recordable continue our conversation on the other side of it is

if tens of thousands of people have come to the capital minsk in recent days to cheong svetlana. she's turning incumbent president alexander lukashenko and has become of the face of the opposition here. i don't want to be silent anymore i don't want to be afraid are you also tired of staying silent. but. doesn't want to be president in case she wins she has promised to release political prisoners and then call new elections she's campaigning out of solidarity with her husband the popular blogger gave to her who wanted to run for the presidency himself but was not authorized. he had traveled across the country

revealing abuses of power corruption and poverty and was charged with inciting popular unrest has been in jail since may. critics of the regime see him as a political prisoner who is apparently a threat for president lukashenko. to this but is ill this is completely arbitrary in our country we just eliminate the competition a 2nd but i look back in a such as it is where you just thought it's unfair it should be allowed he was jailed over nothing here now they're making him into an enemy of the people it's a dictatorship. navasky isn't alone in challenging local schenkel but to other serious contenders have disappeared from the political stage one of them the former bank of victoria bob i recall has been in prison since june on charges of money laundering and tax fraud. the other of the businessmen valérie it said karl rove left the country

saying he feared for his safety. 3 other candidates have stayed in the presidential race with severe. sharon chan. khan our paths got ya and underrate dimitry and as the old know they have a virtually no chance so for winning but they aren't giving up. on the community in a dictatorship victory doesn't mean bringing an election victory is mobilizing society did change things. so. young believes that the people of bel-air roups are ready for the new chapter you. can show you. can literally feel the unity of my compatriots their self-confidence and pride at finally being a people that is ready for change. i need. this

election on august 9th and we'll show you how much power one of the opposition here really ass president lukashenko has ruled to the country for 26 years and says he's confident of victory. has revealed himself to be a little girl who doesn't know what she's doing. that report there. we know you're still with us so are these elections a foregone conclusion. well it's really hard to predict the outcome of the elections because all the independent polls in the country have been forbidden also this year it will be even harder because all independent observers have been banned from their polling stations so it is already clear that the elections will be artfully transparent but there are still some steps in terms of

developing of their civil society that have been made. even if look at enco wins we have seen their mess of support of alternative candidates and also many young people raise their voices in take to the streets against look. in his administration so that already marks a huge step in the development of. civil society in the country and also it's worth noticing that if you look at infowars we're expecting more protests in the country and we're expecting that they will also be suppressed suppressed in a harsh way you're enough a lot of our recording thank you. come. next to love with our now that country's leadership is facing growing anger of the deadly blasts that have killed more than $150.00 people and injured thousands more shock is turning to fear authorities

responded with force when protesters gathered outside the parliament opponents accuse the government of corruption incompetence and failing to avert an economic meltdown the government has meanwhile open investigation into whether external interference played a role in deadly blasts. earlier our correspondents are you told us more about the protests. they are the last for a day and good and a judgment by 2 models all the protesters old you could protest it since 70 of october 102019 they called themselves they called all these groups to gather to morrow saturday morning. for the day off and good and good judgment judgment for old people is the consistent old the current the current and former governments they believe that they have they don't trust with all these

political system anymore that's why they said they the day to day fed up of what's going on all the corruption that the that made this country a failed state. now it's been a couple of days since those devastating blast has anyone in the government step down resigned i mean what has been the reaction from the leadership. yesterday the minister of justice she tried to visit the district area well one of the most damaged but he says places in downtown better with the president over there they kick out today the minister of education try to have the residents over that area in cleaning their homes also they kicked him out so it's so obvious one you talk about they often get that's true because the citizens are so thank you consistent political leaders what that they are ministers m.p.'s of former or

current. politicians that they don't want to listen to any one of them. t.v. stations. a statement i don't know where to go. that it will cause the stake to spot politicians that's why we can say that the it's going up so using it day by day specially that it seems that the investigation some politicians are trying to move the investigation to say that it's due to an external force or a mistrial ordered you know in another way it's not an accident what all of the evidence all according to my sources in the intelligence agencies and in the. investigations that are taking place at the hard work right now although my sources told me it's obvious that the explosion skew the. story which is in other in other words it's due to corruption the responsibility now and

this and many people are still missing and we understand how the rescue effort yes . according to my sources also. in the investigation team at the hard work told me few moments ago that it's so hard they believe that they can't find any survivors anymore right now all the research all the the dangerous to gauge an old what's the action that they be placed at the artwork there are seeking for human bodies for parts for pieces together pieces together they think that there is no way no chance that they can find any more survivors at the same time until this moment we don't know the number of the missing people we don't have a money 1st or anything that we did that in the mansion or indicate the number of them missing people some of the families are still gathered from the porch bed reports asking for that we lost one and members also the time in total agony is

still for the people in bay we did his best and i.e.d. reporting from the lebanese capital thank you thank you and the devastating blast destroyed much of the capital's vital infrastructure authorities are now worried about maintaining food stocks lebanon relies on important imported wheat and it's only grain silo was obliterated in the explosions. this is where nearly all of lebanon's grain was stored thousands of tons was lost during the explosion there is now less than a month reserve left. i change the pipe problem is also looming the port was the main entry point for food imports now the grains must be rerouted to smaller storage sites. the u.n. screwed agency is scaling up its operations in response before the tragedy there where 1000000 people living in dire condition have lost their job some people are

suffering a lot to with this tragedy we are we think that the snow member will increase and in particular in beirut see itself so we stand ready to provide emergency food as she stands to separate out the lebanese government and to support social protection programs plans to build a 2nd silo out a smaller port were scrapped years ago due to a lack of funding and this isn't that could now prove costly with ships carrying grain already on route to lebannon a plan of action is needed soon. we're talking about some of the other stories making news around the world. in kabul of than present i should he has urged thousands of prominent citizens to decide whether to release $400.00 total prisoners including many who have committed atrocities on the militant group has

demanded their release as a quick. precondition to entering peace talks. residents and tourists have been evacuated from an italian resort at the border with france as a nearby mall draw cleese year threatens to collapse amid a heat wave the heat created a layer of water of around 500 cubic meters of ice under the glass year of the size of the cathedral in milan. a landslide triggered by torrential rains has killed at least 32 workers in kerala south india askew crews are searching for dozens more thought to be buried under debris from across says more than 500 people in india bangladesh and appall have died since the floods began in june. i got some breaking news that we want to tell you about the u.s. has imposed sanctions on hong kong's chief executive terry lamb as well as 10 other

top officials from hong kong and mainland china the u.s. treasury secretary steven minucci and says the sanctions were designed to target those undermining hong kong's autonomy and the move comes weeks after china imposed a new national security law on hong kong which drew international criticism will bring you more on that story as details come in but for now we're going to stay. on the theme of the rocky bilateral relations between the u.s. and china because that bilateral ation trade dispute is maybe moving into the digital world but downs the owner of tick-tock says it will take legal action if it is not treated fairly in the u.s. that after happened after u.s. president donald trump issued an executive order that forces americans to stop using u.s. owned apps to talk and we chat on thursday on the move against tick-tock the world's fastest growing social media site was expected but the ban of we chat was

not. in just 6 weeks those uploading videos like this one to mobile app tick-tock could find themselves on the wrong side of u.s. law. the u.s. has around 100000000 take talk users but not for much longer. on thursday washington issued an executive order banning u.s. transactions but tick-tock parent company the white house believes the app threatens national security saying it allows china's communist party to spy on u.s. citizens try to refute that saying the u.s. is merely upping the ante in the ongoing trade conflict with the u.s. taking national security as an excuse frequently abuses national power and unreasonably suppresses companies of other countries this is an outright hegemonic act china is firmly opposed to it. the controversy centers around this company by dance based in beijing it owns numerous apps including tick tock and residents in

beijing were not happy about the american moves. because i don't agree with this move from the us it restricts the free business growth of tech talk but it also affects those american youth who like tech talk so much. will be in the world but i don't want to use american products any more and i will support the chinese alternatives and economic self and lions reach out what have you that way that. recently u.s. software company microsoft expressed interest in buying tick tock from byte dance the white house says if a u.s. company bought the app the ban could be avoided the u.s. government's executive order also focuses on 10 cent holdings the chinese owner of we chat hugely popular in china the messaging and social media could soon be banned in the united states as well. and joining us now is francona a cyber security expert a very good day sir welcome 1st things 1st in your assessment how safe is it to use

to talk or we chat to talk and we chat are a social media and to be frank i mean risk regards to christine security not many of the other social media apps that we use you know face through google twitter exaction there are there their business model is guarding our president data so they can target it's exceptional. to talk to isn't any more secure or that's why the government doesn't social media upset because 8 so what do you make of the allegations and the accusations that china is spying on people and collecting data. from people who are using these very popular social media apps. yeah look it is possible that that information not once guided by these companies could be used by the chinese government to target our spy on individuals but

likewise the social media after all the social media apps could also be of use and used in that way by other governments like for example we have seen from edward snowden's revelations several years ago that the us government weren't shy of. her free not to present day to be long to individuals through those social media house as well so yes it is possible it is a risk but. i. do wonder is this more a political rather than a cyber security issue that's going on so if i understand correctly you're saying this is just part and parcel whenever you use social media this is a risk a hazard that comes with the territory now the chinese authorities then say listen we're complying with all security standards is that credible. absolutely it's you know we have to take 5 times and take the word and that they

are securing those applications there as they can i'm not aware of any major security one a vision is in those applications and. likewise we're seeing security front pages and other social media apps so. i don't see them as being any better or any worse than any other social media apps that many people are using and we just have to be as individuals and as consumers around and citizens we have to be very wary in careful of how we share our process and lives online using social media apps no matter which country they come from because at the end of day these car companies are making money on our present information on our present data and that's what they try. riding on wise words there at the end thank you so much for joining us. thank you. now here in germany hundreds of students have been sent home from 2 schools in the northern state of mecklenburg weston palmer a yoga teacher and

a student have tested positive for the corona virus in the 1st week of the new school year health officials are now worried about a steady climb in infections the number of new cases nationwide has topped a 1000 for the 2nd consecutive day. summertime and the leavings a.z. . the threat of the coronavirus is waning for many in the country. i don't think about it at all not at all. mine don't have to remember to wear your mask. but when you leave public areas it's easy to forget one child. discipline is falling to the wayside people are letting their guard down because the threat doesn't seem so serious anymore according to the psychologists. the stuff does evil people are at

a point where they think of testing the limits some say maybe i can take my mask off here when it's actually necessary then another person sees that and then there's a snowball effect of not wearing masks least they got them on take on. the numbers are rising germany's public health institute has recorded more than a 1000 coronavirus cases twice this week the highest number of new infections in 3 months officials are growing concerned. in shots being the virus in check is a marathon and a team effort we can only do it together you might see. an increasing number of clusters have emerged there's also the danger of people bringing back the virus from other countries frankfurt airport is offering free voluntary tests and starting this saturday returning to germany from high risk areas will be required to take

a test free of charge if it's taken within 3 days. voiced i am very aware that this is an infringement on personal freedom but i think it's a reasonable one of. those who don't get tested in time face a fine of up to 25000 euros so will there be steep fines for those who don't wear masks or practice social distancing this government official says yes. there are states in germany that already have banned all d's in place and i have the feeling that people are becoming more aware of the importance of wearing masks but if it's necessary then tough penalties should be implemented so you'd care for a summer while trying to contain the virus a balancing act for germany. atsic look now at some more developments in the corona virus pandemic health experts in the u.s. have projected that the number of coronavirus deaths in the u.s.

could reach 300005 december 1st africa's can from coronavirus infections have exceeded 1000000 but experts warn that the true number is most likely much higher because testing rates are low and officials in australia as a hard hit victoria state say the infection rate has been quote relatively flat in the past week after a mandatory mask wearing rules came to effect and the u.k. has added more countries to its quarantine list travelers returning from belgium and dora and the bahamas will now need to self isolate for 14 days. some more breaking news for you know coming in an air india flight from dubai has reportedly crash landed at calcutta airport 1st reports say 191 passengers were on board there is no word yet on casualties so obviously we'll keep monitoring this breaking news story and bring you details as soon as we get them

here watching you w. nears let's remind you know of our top story this hour a day to be reporter has been sentenced to 10 days in prison in bellerose rights groups say journalists are being targeted ahead of sunday's presidential election president alexander lukashenko is facing a wave of dissent over his dismissal of the covert $900.00 pandemic does it for us some level at the top of the out.

there is a big by lismore. bees in the indian. kumar is a. traditional method he wants to protect the native species they are endangered and of course it's so important for the farmers and the ecosystem. to w. . how

does a virus spread. why do we panic and when we'll all this time for just 3 of the topics covered and the weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like and new information on the crown of virus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcast you can also find us at twitter dot com ford slash science. the time and place captured in pictures. images of goes on. to studios archives documents lives in bygone era those. leads to those living today. they are guarding gaza's past

in the parks. a legacy in black and white. much memories start of august 14th on d. w. . every living being in this would need the police to be teached to a place that protects them from any external influences for many of us humans it is a hole in the plant and animal kingdom to get us safe havens these safe havens preserve biodiversity and make sure species can thrive in an eat off climate change .