weeks ago today almost 3000 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in the port of beirut the blast killed scores and left thousands homeless and it was not the boom that people had expected that came today in the form of a verdict a special tribunal convicted a hezbollah militant in the 2005 car bombing assassination of lebanese prime minister rafiq hariri explosive perhaps another shockwave for a shell shocked country definitely i'm print off in berlin this is the day. the attack was an act of terrorism that was designed to spread fear among lebanese population i believe that that tribe you came out with was a result that is satisfying we accept it but let me be wishing for the

truth for 15 years. it's important that we know who killed refuge carry so that people know a hell of a peaceful man was killed. also coming up tonight it has been a century since women in the u.s. won the right to vote an important marker yes but no where near the finish line of voting rights equality. it's a lot to celebrate in terms but also it should. be clear what has to be done and finished. and to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome we begin the day with the bombs that haunt lebannon 2 weeks ago the lebanese capital beirut was rocked by a massive explosion of fertilizers which were improperly stored in the city's poor more than 150 people died 300000 were made homeless we now know that the blast

could have been prevented had the authorities heated ward as people in beirut trying to put their lives back together another blast from the past in 2005 a car bomb detonated next to the convoy of former lebanese prime minister rafik hariri the assassination changed politics forever in lebanon where today a special tribunal at the hague convicted a hezbollah militant for the attack and yet 15 years later after international investigations we still cannot say with certainty who ordered her rear rescaling in a moment i'll ask what today's verdict means for the lebanese people is this justice delayed justice delivered how much does the verdict matter anyway here's our 1st report. a suicide truck bomb blasts ripped through bay ridge some down time stay 2005 an explosion so powerful it was heard and felt

across the city. 22 people lost their lives that day including the targets of the attack. lebanon's former prime minister rafiq hariri it was an assassination that transformed lebannon removing an influential sunny muslim leader and allowing shiite forces led by the militant group hezbollah to come to dominate lebanese political life now over 15 years later a guilty verdict in connection with the killings trial chamber therefore finds mr irish guilty beyond reasonable doubt as a co perpetrator of the intentional homicide of mr rafik hariri the same evidence also establishes beyond reasonable doubt his knowledge and his intention to commit the intentional homicide of 21 of the people the ruling was handed down by a un backed tribunals in the netherlands set up to try those suspected of

involvement in the 2005 attack the judges found there was enough evidence to show saline jimmy helped carry out the bombing he has never been arrested and was tried in absentia 3 other defendants were acquitted. among those present to hear the verdict rafik hariri son sat hariri. your role today because of the special tribunal for lebanon for the 1st time in the history of political assassinations that lebanon has witnessed the lebanese find the truth and for the 1st time most of the tribunal delivered through justice. starts hariri who's also a politician serving as lebanese prime minister until earlier this year said the judge just supported his view that his father was assassinated for his opposition

to syrian interference in lebanon on the role of hezbollah remains murky though the tribe you know found i asked was affiliated with the group it said there was no evidence the hezbollah leadership ordered rifi career is murder. and tonight here at the big table with me is my colleague the w.'s very own debitor he she is the lead anchor on v.w. use arabic service and you are from lebanon ordered mind our viewers that it's good to see you a good thank you not one of the people in beirut tonight one of the. in saying about this verdict basically the 3 when i came out with a verdict that is let's start with that that if that was a case like this fighting for it how did his family that's what that expression minister sadly had he mentioned today but for many lebanese it was a bit disappointing because many questions there were left without answers we don't know to now even after this verdict who planned that top planned this crime this

assassination who organized it who gave the order and who pulled the trigger off that like 13 years of investigation and the national investigation more than $700000000.00 were spent on this. on this process you know as exactly as as a cost and at the end of the day one person is guilty and this person we don't know if he's going to serve any time soon because we don't know if he's still alive or if he that if he is that we don't know if his running somewhere or he is hiding somewhere so many questions left without answers and it feels also like the reaction coming out of lebanon is somewhat muted and you and i were talking earlier that that has all to do with the blasts that have been 2 weeks ago today in the poor that changed everything didn't based on my sources basically there are many communication is going going on now and an agreement is going on now between todd and his people who have allies and also hezbollah with the head of the parliament

who is also on the life of hezbollah in order to calm the things down in the streets and and also one thing is very important to mention brant that now after what happened after the verdict today many bodies they were asking if this is happened after 13 years of international investigation why without asking about. now that international investigation for both ports blast if that is out is going to be one person who's guilty we don't know if he's going out serve any time soon so no let's do it by ourselves thank you so much we're not going to pay a $700000000.00 i mean there's a bit there's a very good only half of it i wouldn't mind the special tribunal today convicted one man a hezbollah militant but they said at the same time the other 3 who were acquitted had no connections to the leadership of his below so you've got a hezbollah militant convicted the others are not connected to hezbollah they're not guilty of that does that does that make a big difference though at this stage not truly maybe the only the only difference that that makes at this stage to answer

a question of brant is maybe one pacifically that i can see that i can see it is at least now we have one name and one face we can relate that to this crime before this is the 1st time everybody has a summation his study whenever it was always in the study and that this it's the 1st time now we have a member in hezbollah who is publicly like responsible for an act of terrorism that's many civilians there would have been killed and also one hiking politicians this is the only positivity that that i can see but is it enough definitely not and if they at this investigation for 13 years and just all this cost that the lebanese space and also the international community in order to get this resolved is that enough for the lebanese i don't think so and this is what they're saying in the street and also in the political scene do you believe that the man who was convicted today do you believe that he's the only person who should be convicted. of course not of course not by me and that crime was huge that's a summation was

a huge as it was based on that investigation i mean at the 1st investigators who came to live on the 1st think when they saw the scene 1st they said there are many it closed if been gone it's right at someone someone high that we don't know who and 30 news they didn't know which of those invites cell phone conversations exactly and also i mean he's one of his a 2 wood and the whole thing is a huge it's big but to plan that's how they planned it who are the players how many players is there on the one prayer or to many also it's one also it's including the questions that they we don't have an answer to what a built the role of hezbollah in lebanon 2 weeks ago when the blast happened in the port we talked about hezbollah there being in the government and the authorities the port authority is not doing their job in this accident could have been prevented now we're talking about a man convicted he was a hezbollah militant i mean regardless of leadership or milledge that hezbollah has

mud on its face well that's what you and me and maybe some of the news that think about it and the international community but not hezbollah because since day one has the less said that you get a festival has on the settlers said i have nothing to do with this tribune i'm i have nothing to do with that result and we don't we don't agree that it would with any it isn't it's going to give us and it's the act of god and related to our enemies his mentioning they wanted states and israel and basically to today there is no answer at all to any comments about through this moment about what happened and in the tribunal court about the decision they didn't say anything about only think that said i'm not going to give you fucked we've got about 45 seconds you're talking every day to the people in lebanon in beirut how are people doing right now i mean i know that aid has come in on the ship. from france i mean how are they now 2 weeks after the blast the same way as we left them 2 weeks ago nothing happened i

mean the international aid that's coming through they've been on definitely but it's not enough that the station is very basic and also the economical situation is really bad and yesterday the health minister announced that it got us a few because of quote oh no i mean health wise and we're going to close the country for 2 weeks because of. nothing happened economically politically and even related. to the society itself nothing happened there's a long way to go to do these very own and deal with turkey with g.w. ever seem as always it's good to have you here it's good to get your valuable insights thank you thank you for having me vent. and the german chancellor angela merkel helped to bring bill roos back from the brink today merkel urged the government in minsk to avoid violence and to start a national dialogue with the political opposition she made the comments in

a phone call with russian president vladimir putin earlier in the day no western leaders consider until america to be the putin whisperer if you will the leader who understands putin's ideas of power politics best. tomorrow the european council will hold a video conference about a reverse i spoke with russian president putin today i once again make clear that there must be freedom of expression the freedom to protest the prisoners must be released under house to be a national dialogue that enables the situation to be resolved peacefully and valerie's who will just does not further tomorrow. the german chancellor angela merkel speaking there now this comes as the standoff between president alexander lukashenko and anti-government protesters in terms a day the one time ruler has been resisting calls to step aside but angry citizens are showing that they are not backing down. there

the pressure on president alexander lukashenko is growing and the resistance is growing bolder. this video shows a heated exchange with striking workers at a truck to factory young men. of. don't worry i will not be here while it is not in my interest but if somebody provokes something here we will sort it out the hard way the phone down. tempers and deliveries are running high on both sides and europe's embattled strongman is facing opposition he isn't in. a nationwide strike was attended by thousands some of whom booed and heckled the president. at one event on monday you can shank i told you what that new elections where possible but only after the country's had a referendum on a new constitution. his critics say it's a bit to buy time. more than a week after the controversial election and he government protests show no sign of

letting up a good thing in the eyes of the country's exiled opposition leader he conveyed words of encouragement from her jailhouse spend in a new video message. husbands are gates asks me to convey his words to you or he and other political prisoners are in jail but also that he asks you to move forward. not just sit back but to do everything to live in this country for life. so. the people who are filling the streets also have the support of many in the international community. tolerating dissent may have to become part of alexander lukashenko this new reality. where the w.c. political. caught up with the german bundestag president both kong choice today she

answered him how germany and europe should deal with the crisis. president leaders are meeting for a special summit on belarus what does europe have to do at this very moment. europe must signal clearly that it won't use everything at its disposal to push for a human rights democracy and non-biological about. to say it's europe doesn't intend the shift of power spears for sheeple that it simply wants to show we have a responsibility towards our neighbors and that is something europe and also now has to clearly demonstrate or at least to mosul bring do you mean sanctions go beyond that. i believe the most important thing is to do all we can and that is something those responsible can decide better than i can increase

the pressure so that there is a nonviolent outcome. because we can all sense that things can no longer continue as they are in belarus now. when a dictator has come to the end of the road it's best to find a way forward without further violence based him and vague. or near by think about it. what does europe have to bear in mind when dealing with us and now after all is within the sphere of influence. as i say it is we need to avoid the misunderstanding that we want to change fee is of influence if we stand up for human rights and nonviolence and democracy that is not directed against anyone and certainly not against russia. which gave marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment to the constitution of the united states the 19th

amendment gave women the right to vote at least the women who were not being excluded from voting by jim crow laws in the us southern states for example and the passage of the 19th amendment marks the culmination of decades back to visit by women white and black who refused to accept the status quo in a world where only men were allowed to rule in politics. a carefree little girl plays beside the declaration of sentiments engraved in stone in seneca falls a small town in new york state where history was written it was here at the seneca falls convention in 1048 that this document was signed a manifesto demanding political economic and moral equality the history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her the

declaration was drafted by elizabeth cady stanton also known as an anti-slavery campaigner but the struggle for women's voting rights was long it was only in 1919 after the us enter world war one that the suffragette movement really took off helped in part by women taking on important work traditionally done by men while they were far away at war. 72 years after the seneca falls convention on august 18th 1920 the 19th amendment to the u.s. constitution was ratified granting women the right to vote but for decades this only applied to white women it wasn't until the 965 civil rights act that racial discrimination was prohibited in voting to this day women and especially women of color are significantly under represented in u.s. politics on the 100 senate verse or e of women's voting rights the democrats face presidential candidate camila harris wants to do better when i think about obviously the centennial and the importance

of acknowledging. the accomplishment but also how recent it is and how much we still have to do to achieve equity when you look at issues like pay equity something that joe biden talks about and we're going to deal with in our ministration. there's a lot to be to celebrate in terms of the accomplishment but also it should motivate us to also be clear eyed about what yet has to be done and the unfinished business former presidential candidate hillary clinton knows firsthand how hard it is for women in american politics despite all the progress. and i still hope especially with camelot on the ticket that the coverage of women running for president or vice president will be less sexist less sensationalist less trivializing i told them that they would just have to you know be ready for that and be able to ride through it even though it's been 100 years since women in the u.s.

gained the right to vote there is still a lot of work to be done to fully achieve women's equality. a lot of work to be done to talk about that i want to bring in christine clarke she's president and executive director of the national lawyers committee for civil rights under law that's one of the most important civil rights organizations in the u.s. advocating for voters' rights chris and it's good to have you on the day they were talking about 100 years since the u.s. introduced women's suffrage and i have to ask this question in the year 2020 is this year's election going to be free and fair. by events well education for sure 100 years and the 19th amendment which gave the franchise to women but point out that african-american black women actually experienced boaters oppression and disenfranchisement for decades the on that.

battle for access to the ballot in our country has been brought and wind characterized by efforts to deny black people and people of color access to the bow for years and sadly in 2020 we continue to see efforts that are targeted at black people and people of color these are efforts to purge people from the registration rolls efforts to shut down holding sites in communities where there is significant numbers of black people and people of color living efforts to make it harder for people to merely register people to about so this struggle for full access to the franchise for all americans is one that continues to persist to this very day you know because you know you're talking about things are happening right now particularly with the u.s. postal service are you encouraged by it reports that we're receiving that claim the u.s. postmaster general will suspend all policy changes that would have calls delays to

mildew mail delayed delivery read is that a that's a positive change isn't it. what small steps forward but postmaster general for the last few months is undertaken devastating actions that have resulted in massive delays in mail all across the country so today's announcement is you know merely words on paper the hard work lies ahead old postmaster general is enjoying accounts of all we need for him to clean up the damage that has been done and we need him to return scanning machines used to sort now we need them to put that the mailboxes that were ripped out of streets we need for him to restore overtime for our whole social worker employees you know he's got to address the damage has been done and bring the postal service that status quo this is

a historic election where the endemic people are having to vote by mail if i'm president in numbers so much work lives ahead to make sure that we are a nation that will be ready yeah that's very important also to knows that there's very little indicators of any type of voter fraud when the postal service is involved in the united states let me ask you about women having the right to vote in the us for a century now that is true but the u.s. still has not voted to put a woman in the white house as president how do you explain that. there is a glass ceiling on opportunity for women especially for black women and women of color and yet every sector we see it in corporate america we see it in terms of people who are leading our higher ed institutions and we see it and all that and political office and. is that represent the highest in our nation so we've got

work to do to make sure that we are a nation governed by people who are flat the growing racial diversity of our country and we've got work to do in terms of the knowledge sharing the voter suppression and i'm going to remain in that we continue along the lines of race and gender in our country i have to ask you we've got about a minute here you know does the vice presidential running mate joe biden call the hearer's she could very well be if they win this year and she could very well be in 2024 presidential candidate she can be the 1st u.s. female president of color. were 4 years away from that possibly is that the progress that you want to see. stuart well meant for there to be a black woman on a presidential ballot for 1st for the 1st time in our nation's history as

a vice president price presidential candidate marks a turning point in our democracy but we also know that there are intense efforts underway to deny equal people of color access to the ballot box and so we've got to continue fighting. and ms harris is can do is a source of hope and inspiration for a black women and black girls across our country who never imagined that they would see someone who looks like them in this position christine clark unfortunately our time is up we appreciate your time in your insights tonight thank you. thank you for having me well the day is almost done the conversation continues online go find us on twitter in the news you can follow me if we're to go off t.v. and don't forget whatever happens between. you that it was.

the 1st. show our house is priceless. but the pandemic has shown what is worse and just money is involved in health care please take a look at the numbers and show examples of how health care and businesses work together so that those profits are. made in germany.

the body. places for more stem the flow rising temperatures from water shortages lem's clearance cuts there's enough funding so flammable material. is on one world going up in smoke the global conflagration the on fire the being 45 minutes on. we know that this is very time for us the coronavirus is changing the world changing. so please take care of yourself keep your distance wash your hands if you can stay at how we do w.

for here for you we are working tirelessly to keep you informed on all of our platforms are all in this. together make it. easier for people. to stay safe stay safe priests stay safe. we've never been so worried about our health the pandemic has shocked us locked us up and change the way we live work and play it's also drawn attention to the vast differences in spending on health care in different countries and in this drawn out crisis with no end in sight resources financial and medical

a stretch to the limit even beyond the.