qualification round a task that now may feel more than achievable to these delighted supporters. it was, well that is your news update at this hour coming up next. indeed, over you news asia, chinese tennis star punch wide denies sexual assault claims. were they really just a huge misunderstanding? asked she now claims a story there more in dw, in his asia, with my colleague melissa chan. i'm claire richard bennett. thank you for watching . one of mankind's oldest ambition could be within reach or what is it really is possible to reverse aging researchers and scientists all over the world for in a race against time. the d. n. a molecule though has 28 new different our glasses

. they are peers and rivals with one daily goal to out smart nature. one of the most insightful discoveries in the history of mankind. more life starts february 16th on d, w. ah, you're watching d w news asia coming up today. it's more controversy at the aging olympics this time over chinese tennis star. punish. why is she or isn't she speaking under coercion? we take a closer look at our comments and her big career announcement. and in india, a legend has passed away millions more in the death of bollywood singer a lot. hm. and guess car.

ah, i melissa chan, thanks for joining us. china and sports are under scrutiny once again. tennis star punch, way you may remember her has spoken up at the olympic games in beijing. she had previously accused a high level chinese official of raping her something she subsequently walked back . and ever since there's been fierce debate outside china over whether she's had to do so under duress, punch. why spoke to the french sports newspaper? les, keep with a chinese olympic official in the room and said her allegations of sexual assault against a former official of the chinese communist party was an enormous misunderstanding. sexual assault. she is quoted as responding to pre submitted questions. i never said that any one sexually assaulted me in any way before her accusatory post from

november, 2nd was scrubbed from her verified account on chinese social media. though, screenshots were posted on twitter pong writing, that young girl, li, of the all powerful politburo standing committee had forced her to have sex. despite her refusals, she told like, keep that she is the one who erased the post. in addition to the le keep interview, the international olympic committee announced monday that i o. c, president, thomas bark and others dined with pong on saturday. spokesperson mark adams said the i o. c will not judge whether an investigation on punks. initial allegations is needed. i think we need also to listen to her and we need to her foot to read what she's saying. we've invited to come to europe and we will meet her again. and i think i, i think we can say that we all doing everything we can to make sure that the situation is as it should be at the daily news conference. adams wouldn't say whether i or c officials believe pong, as speaking freely with them,

or under duress, as many experts believe in sports organization, or doing everything to ensure that she is happy. in her interview with le keep pung echoed the chinese government, saying her, quote, romantic problems. her private life should not be mixed with sport and politics. d w is jonathan crane was at the i o. c. press conference in bay, jean. he spoke to us about what olympic organizers are saying about pung situation . in short, not a lot, but that is a story in itself. because pung shrine, once again dominated questions by western media. the daily news briefing in between questions and chinese media, about sporting equipment and athletic competition. pung, swipe as road back on her allegations in this interview with les keep raises just more questions about how free she is actually to speak about her situation. the i see was asked about that in today's briefing, essentially, mark items, the spokesman said re sporting organization. he said it's not for us or you meeting

the much the media to judge her situation. now, thomas, back in his press conference last week, said that the i c would support punish why if she decided to pursue her allegations in the course. the ios is regard, have chinese course. they're probably higher than what most chinese citizens have in their rule of law. well, we also spoke to events on the kosky earlier. he's germany director of human rights watch. part of what makes this story difficult for us as journalists, is that we kind of have to make inferences about what's going on here. since we don't know if pung is speaking freely or not, i ask the halsey whether there's any way to figure out whether she means what she's saying now. not really because as you say, that's the problem. we don't know what's going on there, and we have to assume that whatever punch lie says, no, she would be parroting the communist party propaganda line. and we know from other

cases that people are not free to discuss the problems they have with the government in china. so we have to assume that she's not speaking freely and that we can really belief any word as a 100 percent truth. that's the really tricky thing. how to even prove it one way or the other. now the io c has taken a lot of heat for taking what pang says at face value, do you think those criticisms are valid against the i o. c? absolutely. did i oversee, has made itself a propaganda too often communist party in china, off the chinese government, and without any em urgency, doing so. so i really don't understand why they going so far that they become like was spokes agency off the chinese government. the fact that punctual i

is not allowed to speak freely actually, you know, you, you should mock no organization or no media will actually engage with her now. knowing that she does not speak her mind. yeah, and of course, and there's been some insinuations from the chinese government, a threats of veiled threats for all of the athletes at the olympics, not to break chinese law. and that is very of course, widely open to interpretation. and now, pang now says she's going to retire from the sport. we've seen other high profile chinese walk away from their careers after criticizing the government, i think of in the tech world, jack, mom who is a billionaire and head of ali baba for example. what's your take on what's going on here? again, because we can't independently talk to and nobody can independently speak with

punctual. i really don't know really what's behind that. i mean, that's a pretty interesting coincidence that after all, what happened with her and what was said about her that now suddenly she retired from the world stage. and as you said, it's not the only case in china where this happens online or social media criticism was expressed worldwide. and it's, it's pretty suspicious. and i think the chinese government, it shows also that the chinese government can't really read what the democratic countries understand by doing this. because in democratic countries with twin media, with a free press, you pretty much understand that these kind of statements don't come without pressure in a dictatorship. so in other words, the chinese propaganda machinery is not doing a very good job. you know,

a last question very quickly, sports and politics, sports and human rights. they insist, some people insist that they're separate. what do you think then not separate as we have seen now, was olympics in china as soon as you ground dictatorship, autocratic regime to use or use these huge, made our sports events for the propaganda. you make it political. i will see is responsible for the fact that part of the sports has to come has to come politicize plus sprints is big business and they are also part of the responsibilities like big business has meaning that in there, within the activity in the radius of activity they have to have the obliged to respect human rights. benzyl mccallski. thank you so much for joining us.

ah, millions of people across india and around the world are morning. the death of one of the country's most iconic singers. latin. my gosh. car has died at age 92, after being hospitalized with cobit last month. the bollywood superstar recorded thousands of songs and received dozens of awards in her long career. india has declared 2 days of national morning. this report from d. w. 's team in delhi. the people of mom, by bidding their final farewell to the much loved singer latham and jessica had captured the hearts of millions. with her music. there was an outpouring of grief at use of a death. prime minister nearing the mo, the flew down to pay his last respects at a state funeral with full honors. hollywood, superstar shadow con,

was there from the fin industry, as was cricket at such and then duka. the singers love for cricket was well known. let them engaged because reach, went far beyond the celebrities. a music had become an intrinsic part of people's lives. over the decades, the newspapers were full of headlines, remembering the singer and the legacy, the parliament was adjourned for an hour to honor her memory. the nation is in mourning flags of flying at half mast, and every one we spoke to her and the heart of the captain daily express a great sense of loss at the passing of the nightingale of india. though i'm from told me i've heard a lot of her in the song with your tongue. and it's of course, a great love. the song she has been given as will always remain air we does, and that is something that will never, never leave. i like my own grandmother was to live a great grandmother was of it was so closely associated with it was the thought i

really felt as something has gone from our family, the hand right from our childhood. we have been just hearing her salt. i almost fainted. i mean merlot obligation her ah, has been singing right before i was born in 1955. all my life i been hitting out of melodious old. oh, this was wonderful. earlier songs in a regional fan, she went on to sing thousands more in many languages with india's love for song and dance in the movies. it was left on engage, goes, voice that dominated the from industry. right? she lent a voice to the most glamorous of stars as a play back singer. but in her personal life, she remained unassuming with her girlish charm. let alone jessica won numerous awards from religious leaders to india's high civilian award,

the potted retina, and in 2009, the french legion of honor. let them engage. grove is fondly remembered by fans in india and beyond. the nightingale of india may have gone, but her voice remains immortal. that's it for now, be sure to check out her other stories on d. w dot com, forward slash asia or on facebook and twitter. we leave you with the voice recognized across south asia, the nightingale of india latangelo car. thanks for watching and we'll see you tomorrow. ah. 6 i mean, ah,

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