power plays and the lines is behind the scenes of the final summit. starts august, 5th on d, w. the news . this is the w news coming to life from berlin, while in tears bring hope and a helping hand to the towns in germany, devastated by the worst floods in generations with emergency crews still dealing with life and death situations. citizens are stepping in to fill the gaps. also coming up, some are calling it freedom day public. public opens back costs in england after

the government drops most coretta virus restrictions, but some say it's too much too soon. the south african communities pitch in to help pick up the pieces after last week's deadly riding. as police officers try to reclaim millions of dollars worth of looted goods. ah hello and terry martin. good to have you with us. for days after a torrential rains trigger deadly floods in germany, survivors have turned to the daunting task of rebuilding, but with emergency services still busy looking for bodies and securing vital infrastructure. many residents are left to seek help from volunteers. were sun sausages and fear, it looks like a village fate, but it's not what it seems. this is just a bright time for the volunteers organizing an arduous relief effort. now that the

flood water has subsided. solidarity is the one thing on everyone's mind right now in getting people who are being affected by the floods back on their feet as quickly as possible. people have traveled from name by villages and further to get here to lend a helping hand with the clair up over the weekend, around 200 color and football fans descended on the region and have been distributed around the affected areas. they've been helping locals by rolling up their sleeves to clear debris from homes restaurants and the ruined b hall. cologne, found marco helped organize the effort. and i love. you can't leave people on their own. you just have to help. if it does happen to me that i'd want someone to help. so i think it's great that people are lending and goes around the generous responses stunned locals including this high address to she's had a business here for 12 years that i think there were so many people out there that

you don't even know. i don't even know where they come from around here helping to clear up so much were willing to help. it's wonderful. comp felt short about children. despite all the volunteers, many people have been left wondering why there hasn't been no help from the authorities. yup. and all those at the top are trying to bring order to the chaos, but it's not really working. a lot of help is coming from volunteers and residents showing an awful lot of initiative. but you can't really say that people at the top of helping jobs. it's really all become with so many areas overwhelmed by the floods rescue services say they're at breaking point. this is relative freely i don't lloyd and it's pretty difficult to get help to everyone and we have to prioritize. if we get

a report that someone's still trapped in a building and people with watering that basement and being pushed to the back of the queue on as much work to be done. but many volunteers say they'll stick around long after this weekend or go chef on a fire game. our boss is given monday and tuesday, so we can use the time to finish the job. support the local from a 100 on mentioned to me with many residents still wondering how this disaster could have happened. that help will be much appreciated. was bringing a correspond julie, a sub delhi. now she's in our viola, that's one of the towns worst hit by the floods tell us. it's been 5 days since the flood waters inundated abala and the surrounding region. how are things looking on the ground there? now any news of the dozens of people reported missing. hello, devastation is just astounding. the streets are filled with debris. here here, for example, we have this massive pile of books. this used to be an antiquity store and now

everything is completely destroyed. the ground floor of homes have been completely filled with water and mud. so residents have been trying to clean everything up. they has put all their furniture on the streets. and the problem here is that the streets are quite small, so it is difficult, for example, for big trucks or escalators to come in and take all these things out and bring them to the dump. so it is going to take a few days for the town to be cleaned up, but it's not just the loss of objects of things. it is also the loss of lives. the number of the dead keeps rising up to 116 people dead. and only this region and the authorities expect more casualties to, to emerge. sure, so i came to the region there on sunday she, she visited and talked to residents. tell us that more about what she said on that visit now. well,

the chancellor took stock of the devastation that occurred in this region. she said the german language doesn't have any words that are able to describe the devastation. she also said that she is very much aware that it is going to take a long time for the towns to be cleaned up and rebuilt. and she promised the population that the government is going to be there in the long term to try to support them. she thinks the rescue crews and the many volunteers who came and showed solidarity with the local residents, and they're helping with the clean up. julia, thank you so much. that was julius of dell, either in our by luck. now let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today. phones owned by journalists, human rights activists and politicians have been targeted by government using and is really produced by software. as according to an investigation by several news organizations, a phone malware called pegasus secretly activates microphones,

record records calls and extract photos and messages. the is really company behind the software denies any wrong doing. the latest round piece talks between the african government and the taliban and don't have ended without breakthrough earlier taliban negotiators said they are committed to a political settlement to end decades of war in afghanistan. both sides agreed to continue talks next week. 12000000 people in australia is 2 largest cities are set to stay under covert 19 restrictions for at least the next 5 days. melbourne extended its locked down despite only 16 new cases being reported on monday. the 8 new cases were recorded in sydney, which has entered its 4th week of lockdown. the british government has lifted most corrupt virus restrictions in england in a move that is being heavily criticized by many scientists. the mandate for wearing

masks has been revoked and social distancing. rules have been scrapped. however, london's transport authority is still has a mask mandate in place and many commuters in london, victoria station continued to wear face coverings today. the british government argues that the u. k. is high rated backs and nation will protect the population against all in dangerously ill with the virus. and d. w. correspondents, charlotte chelsea pill join just now from london for more. charlotte, how controversial is this moved by the government to lift pandemic restrictions while the virus is spreading rapidly. has received a lot of criticism from a number of scientists that i have spoken to where they're looking at is those rapidly rising case numbers by the government. so an estimate, england, u. k, could be seeing around a 100000 cases a day. that is a record in the panoramic so far. one leading expert even suggested over the

weekend that it could be 200000 cases a day. and this really is uncharted territory. spring and the question is exactly how many cases can the health service sustain. we know that the u. k. successful vaccination program is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. his nearly 70 percent of the adult population have had both data the vaccine and that definitely has significantly we can the link between cases, hospitalization, and fatalities, but not link has not yet been broken. so is unclear at this stage exactly how many cases all going to lead to problems for the health service. so then the question or the moral ethical question for some of exposing a population young population in particular, who haven't yet had one or both sides of the vaccine to the virus. many outlining the risks of long cove it. and finally, of course, there is the risk that widespread cases could lead to a new variance emerging. so

a lot of concern here, the government grits part is arguing if it doesn't lift these restrictions now, then when will it it saying that it is being aided. not just why the vaccination campaign, but also the summer months, more people mixing outside clothing holidays as well. their argument is this has to be, this is the now essentially it's a good a time as any. okay, so, so we're calling this freedom day. it is controversial. what exactly is and is not changing today in england, charlotte yeah. freedom day because nearly all of the legal restrictions are being lifted. here's what you can see. venue cinema spaces for stadiums, for example, are able to operate that capacity. you've got night clubs opening for the 1st time as well, and very significantly, social distance seeing obligations are coming to an end. so you mentioned just now that face ma, there is no legal obligation in england national obligation to wear faith miles

away. some businesses are deciding to impose a mandate, any way you mentioned the london transport and that was that being one, but it's essentially a lot of people are taking these decisions into their own hands. a number of people that we've seen haven't been wearing mosques over the last few days. so the freedom day here. people now deciding whether that is something that the so the thrill them or whether it's bad shoulder. thank very much. the w charlotte chelsea pillar in london to south africa now which is reeling from the unrest the grip the country. after the jailing of ex president jacob zoom up, the wave of looting and arson was the biggest outbreak of violence in south africa . since the end of a party, the w christine was visited, one of the worst effected areas in the commercial capital. johannesburg were walking into what used to be to here ultimate hardware store. in the township of

alexandra looters planted the shop, leaving nothing for him to salvage. i see the show by growing one, the walk. slowly, slowly, slowly i put this book. one time only to book this book. i don't have money. i make again alexandra for some of the worst of the violence in helping point of view businesses here were said as looters rated, which is bang, grocery, clothing and appliance jobs even dropped as a surgeries. after clearing the shelves, the raiders set fire leaving the building. i guess it's not because of you know, if you guys are people, some of them i did some, i just noticed the pool hungry lowball thing, some of 100. some, some of them are looted. alexandria is home to settle for that because most under privileged people,

their policy has been listened by the code at 1900 pandemic pushing them to desperation. police are now on a mission to recover some of the plunder. so where the sites where part of the recovery operation is taking place, that is a 4th police officer is confiscating some of the items that were looted. and if you look behind, we had the sort of looks like a refuse. it looks like a garbage area. but it's believe that some of the stuff that was listed was actually hidden in places like this. and if you can see the car behind the, some of the things that have been recovered a couch, i see a refrigerator, what looks to be a mattress at the back, the, these all things that the police are now going to take. this is footage of little ran 2nd job with more info with the police stood helpless as people young and old grabbed anything they could carry. it's the worst violence and lorna smith, south africa, has seen since the end of parties 27 years. it has shocked the whole country. more

than 200 people died, most requested sam, p. as they slid from peace. while the unreached was treated by the jailing of the president, his rumor, it was filled by the end and frustration of the court. now communities on lyft to pick up the pieces in a strong show. awfully dorothy local or rarely like a wizard where residents are painting up the ms. lucy, at general. any more, my heart was broken guys, this is last year or this is why by my table, this is where my brothers, it's a work. you know. so now what, what's going to happen with their job? and i do think that i have been here. that's why i'm here to be enough to show them because that's the thing. but the net right back. you know, sondra smith is lift counting his losses. he doesn't know what to do or where to go from here. 25000 soldiers have been deployed into 2 provinces. and while the

situation has calm down for now, their presence here is a reminder that the unrest could easily sierra against you are watching d. w. news from berlin. coming up next to we've got another documentary and our focus on europe's hotels are legendary hotels, the bow re barge in geneva. i'm terry martin. thanks for watching the news and the women in asia. that's me for them all the money and lunch and on the voices. the only way i can be on top is to create my own empire

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