ah ah ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin to 9 ukraine launch is a long anticipated defensive against russians in the east of the country. keeps as its forces have already broken the 1st line of russian defense. but moscow says that it is thwarting any advances and inflicting heavy casualties. also coming up

tonight deadly clashes walked back, dad's fortified greenville, supporters of iraq's powerful shiite cleric or ta ta l thought or had stormed the government palace after he says that he is quitting politics for good and a scrub attempt at lift off. nasa postponed the launch of its arguments one rocket after encountering engine props. ah, i'm bri. gov to our viewers watching p b s in the united states into all of you around the world. welcome ukraine tonight saying that it has launched a major counter offensive to retake the southern region of hair sewn, which is currently occupied by russian forces. now this much awaited push comes after weeks of preparation. ukraine had been attacking russia's supply routes in an

attempt to isolate forces. they are both sides say that the other has suffered heavy casualties. however, these claims cannot be independently verified. russia captured the city of here. so you may remember early in the war facing little if any ukrainian resistance were just in crop. he is a military analyst and a c o at sibling, which is a strategic advisory firm in the u. k. i asked him earlier, if this is the start of that counter offensive against the russian military, that president zalinski has been signaling. now, for months. here the situation is still confused, as battlefields tend to be i'm but it certainly looks like a much more significant offensive operations. but then we can say it does seem to hold in line with what the president wanted. and of course, there was a, as we discussed before in the program, a timeline,

ukraine of wanting to achieve something in cousin before any referendum could be held by rogers on september. so, ukraine's had this, this group deadline of doing something in, in the region by september. so it does seem to all fall in line with that. and certainly the scale of what we're seeing is much larger than we've seen recently. will. how much of this announcement than would you say is, is backed by the power of western weapons versus this timing pressure on president zelinski to take action? it's a big of all of it. i, you, crane, i think is all the see, make great use of the west weapon donations up to the high mas in the m l arrest broke it systems to disrupt the russians. we've, we've seen that going on intense fight in the region over the last few days. i've also been husbanding a certain amount of equipment. they've been doing a limited amount of pictures we seen today show some of the western supplied all of

us. now car is being used in what appears to be quite a decent combined arms attacked by ukraine. so using tanks, infantry across and had to call to not hillary all together to achieve at least a limited breakthrough in the russian front. as far as we understand it now, policy driven, i'm sick like everything and will ferrell to minutes extension of fiscal ends, but they've pretty sense that there's a need for an operation on the possibility of succeeding in something. and at this time, we have heard today that near the city of here sold along the front lines, ukrainian forces may have found places where they can most easily degrade russian defences. i mean, have you heard anything like this? if it is the case, would this be enough to put any segment of the russian army on the defensive? if you think about the church, the russian army is taken on the fall of need for its about 100 miles wide about 30

miles deep. towards michel, i have an inquiry in the north ukraine. i made a small im, right on that number of weeks ago called into that river, which form of a key part of that battle field. and that seems to be with some of the breakthroughs happening now. that's right in the middle of the russian lines that for the bridge is that russia relies on to reinforce that trip. civil been at least heavily damaged by ukrainian longer range strikes. the russians were lying on pontoons to get across the river, which is very slow, very limited. and so that suddenly in this spot position with a river to that back with limited ability to reinforce, bring forward supplies or indeed move troops back across the river. i'm with ukraine tension making them roads right in the middle of that line. and that puts a very strategic damn at no cost within reach a really important for russia in particular, crime in water supply. so it's an area that the russians can be very, very sensitive about, off the weeks of shelling there and, and effective deep strike operations by ukraine. obviously they've been pretty

degraded. they've been expecting this blow to forward. it remains to be seen how far it will go, but certainly the russians are not in a great position. and we have heard the throughout this conflict that the russian military certainly out guns, the ukrainian military. that said, just last week we had $3000000000.00 in weapons from the united states. additional weapons announced by washington is the ukrainian military, are they emboldened by this? do they know that they are supply lines, if you will, coming from the west are guaranteed it may be in much better shape than the russian side. can say, i think your last points a great one amount. we see that ukraine oversee was an imperative, national survival as played a very good game to support and mobilize lower resources and suddenly seems to built up a force capable of trying an offensive lot. they are at the moment. russia by comparison is trying the same thing and building up what they call in the 3rd army

corps in russia. it's got quite high, great equipment, but very low grade. so just from what we can see so far, say, well rush is trying to bring things forward. they have taken heavy losses. they've got very big systematic issues by comparison. ukraine, i think getting stronger, and i'm sure isn't taking minutes rate for granted, but i certainly making extremely good use of what they're getting with their hand with justin cropped mister crop. as always, we appreciate your time and your insights. thank you. and be with a night, the u. s. government is urging a complete shut down of these upper region nuclear power plant in ukraine, and it has renewed calls for a demilitarized zone to be established around the facility of fighting that area. it has escalated raising concerns about a possible nuclear disaster. a team of experts from the international atomic energy agency are now headed for the plant and are expected to carry out inspection to the next coming days. russian backed officials say radiation levels remain normal,

but people living in the area they've been preparing for the worst. the situation at the separation nuclear power plot has set alarm bells ringing across europe and around the world. now the u ends. nuclear watchdog has dispatched a team of experts to the site lead by agency chief retail grossi. that's that to assess any damage to the plant and inspected security and safety systems when they arrive later this week. in keith some residence welcomed the visit. otherwise i think this is very good news. we certainly don't need another disaster at a nuclear power plant and it wouldn't just be a disaster for ukraine. it would affect all of europe. i still remember channel lighting, but others were more gloomy about what it could achieve. so was he on, if i'm not sure if the russian authorities will reveal the full reality on the ground and if they will really allow the team to improve the situation. sir,

i do not believe that that will be any real results in cities and towns near the power plant. people are already preparing for the worst, and heading to sites like this one, where local authorities are handing out iodine tablets to be taken in the event of a radiation leak. to prevent the manito to particular, it's a preventive and prophylactic measure. you mustn't take the pill when you receive it. it must only be taken after an official notification from the authorities. or we cannot, we started the distribution last week, around 8 and a half 1000 people receive tablets including 2 and a half 1000 children. while hopefully these tablets won't have to be taken. the stand off over europe's biggest nuclear facility remains tense, and moscow continues to reject international calls for a demilitarized zone to avert potential disaster. germany, chancellor o shoulds today announced plans for

a conference to help organize the reconstruction of you. great. the chancellor says that germany will continue to help rebuild ukraine's defense systems. and it will do that for as long as necessary of speaking the day in prague on the future of european union policy. the chancellor expressed support for a proposal by francis president emmanuel macro, which calls for greater political dialogue between the e u. member states. he also promised backing for the extension of the european union to include ukraine, will dove a georgia and the western balkan countries ticklish. the name was length and we aren't taking rushed to the tack on peace in europe lying down. we will not stand idly by and what women men and children being killed and of humble free countries being rubbed off the map and disappearing behind wolves. all i and cut and sneaks of a slowing. we didn't want to go back to the 19th the 20th century with that was of

occupation and totalitarian accesses. on the old alley, europe is united in peace and freedom and is open to all european nations who share our values of yet above all. however, it is an active rejection of imperialism and autocracy as well. but he, w 's, alexander phenomena she is in prague, traveling with the chancellor. and he speeds here and track all of souls cold for greater european sovereignty in the face of nia, imperialist auto, crissy. he once again describe russia's war on ukraine as a turning point for europe, and promised to continue supporting ukraine. he also outlined concrete policy changes that are needed for the european union to be more resilient, secure, and ready to meet future challenges. but many of these ideas, such as more majority voting instead of unanimous decisions,

have been under discussion for years to no avail. so how will germany convince others to support the chancellor's proposals? that remains an open question. and that was only jennifer on the reporting from prague or to iraq. now at least 10 people have died after supporters of influential clerical, todd al solder stormed baghdad. government pallets chaos, erupted inside the cities, fortified green zone. they came after al sauder said that he is quitting politics. now solder supporters have held weeks of protest calling for reform in the country . it has been without a government or a leader since elections last october. i'll thought or is reported as saying he'll go on a hunger strike until the violence in the use of weapons stops. ah,

supporters of finance yuk, lyric, mcdonald's on the reach, but gods, heavy fortified green zone. in india, whom do ministries and embassies the soon over and the government balance and i thought i'd knocked out on a revolution. is selena rocky was it? it's not southwest. no, this isn't a rocky revolution would rock it should be returned to its people with anita dan up . why at yamaha? i let what's your plan? oh my, our demands are to the south parliament and to hold the corrupt to account and we say to a saddler, we will sacrifice for you victory's aus one miss nolan up while you inside. many was seen lounging in meeting rooms used by iraqi heads of state and cooling off in a swimming pool in the garden. they were soon driven out by security forces using deer, gas, and gunshots. the un

mission to iraq, as well as the united states, called on all sides for restraint. the flat up of violence follows months of political deadlock in iraq looked at others movement as this block was the biggest winner in october's election. but he failed to form a government that excluded his. she arrivals close to iran law. moral, marcia, he would you, his lawmakers from parliament in june. what was that? while on my, on buddy, his followers have since been staging a, sitting outside the parliament calling for fresh elections. well, this isn't the 1st time the influential carrick has withdrawn from politics. you thought to know for the cut and deadlock in iraq appears hotter to resolve than in the past. john davison, he is the iraqi bureau chief for reuters news agency in baghdad. he updated be on

the situation. there is very tense now. it extensions us address delighted since looked at also to make an announcement earlier today who was with joy politics since then they've been trashes between his courses and between supporters of on the political groups that are mostly along with iran. and at the moment that there's sporadic gun that's been iraq from time to time this evening. so it's very tents and several people to be killed in the clashes. and or did you see this announcement coming in and did you see the, the violent reaction to it coming? i think many observers didn't necessarily see the announcement of his complete withdrawal from politics coming. i think maybe people were expecting a bit of finance. some stay between these different groups, it had been quite a long time coming, but it had managed to be averted so far. the minute that looked at all sudden

decided to withdraw from politics, effects that kind of just gave the green lights at his supporters to protest in whatever amount of a be so fit in it. talk to me a little bit about his influence in iraqi politics and the fact that he says that he is quitting politics. it has obviously led to a, a vacuum that's being filled with violence right now. i. yeah, he's always been a very influential player in iraqi politics since the u. s. invasion in 2003. his political powers growing in the last few years. he has millions of supporters who are loyal to him and has been able to control them pretty well up till now. they've been quite disciplined in their protests up until this point. and today, the minute that he pulled out, it seemed like it was a bit of a free rule for those people who he called to protest in the 1st place. and we know

that alexander had said that his moves have been against corruption. do we know exactly though, and what does he resigning fraud and well he said there was always a. ready position of being his overarching political leader who doesn't hold any office. so what his resigning from is is any sort of intervention that would a guide the political process or political events in the country supposedly. but also he is, he's done this before. he said that he's not going to participate in politics again, and yet he's led his supporters to participate in elections. again. he retains a lot of power in the states and over certain government ministries. so it's much more of a symbolic move, but it's a move we just had real consequences on the ground. john davis and from reuters, we've agency in baghdad. and john, we appreciate your reporting. thank you. are let's take

a look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world . brazil's main presidential candidates have faced off in the 1st televised debate ahead of october's general election, now incumbent president, shire bull sonata. he accused his once jailed rival, former president luis in oscio la desilva of corruption, luna, who is leading in the polls accused president wilson, arrow of quote, destroying the country and go as president of the marine co has had been handed a 2nd term in office after the countries electoral commission declared his party, the winner of last week's elections. the commission says that the wand ruley in p l . a party won a 51.2 percent majority of the votes. however, fewer than half of anger was registered, voters turned out for the pope d, w. 's, audrey increase, she covered the regulations force. he says, this update. the big question at the moment is how will the opposition re exit?

you said it earlier, they already contested the preliminary results saying their own parallel vote counting came up with other numbers. so now they basically had the chance to react legally. they can 1st complain to the electoral commission and in the 2nd step possibly go to the constitutional courts. but of course they could also ask their supporters to go on the street so far. they have asked them to stay calm, stay at home, and things have been calm, but this could possibly still change when i was in alumni yesterday in the capital . you see there's a lot of tension. a lot of people do want to demonstrate. do want to go on the street that young people told us they have the feeling. the vote was raked and manipulated. and although there is no evidence for, for any vote manipulation during the counting process, the conditions of these elections were not free and fair. just to give you some examples that the state media was actually only exclusively reporting about the governing party, the number of election, a observers was really drastically reduced 1500 election observers for more than 13000 polling stations. and also the electoral commission is not really independent

and still under control of the governments. there was, audrey increased their reporting. the international monetary fund has approved a request from pakistan for an extra $1100000000.00 in bail out funding. the country of struggling with 2 months of devastating monsoon flooding. pakistan's plenty minister says that it might take 5 years to rebuild a recover from this year's historic flood. an international aid has begun to arrive, but many people have already lost everything. drone images reveal the extent of the devastation near pakistan's indus river. the floods have destroyed bridges and washed away many roads, forcing authorities to use boats, military planes, and helicopters to carry out difficult rescue operations. the government says one in 7 pakistani are affected by these floods. that's more than 33000000

people. they're absolutely devastating. i happen to see and nice any destruction or devastation of this scale. i find it very difficult to put into words. the failure allergies that we use to whether it's monsoon, rains, or flooding doesn't quite seem to encapsulate the ongoing devastation and disaster that we're still witnessing. relief efforts are underway across the country. still many flood victims feel abandoned by the government. lot of all a lot of their love. i have a lot of water entered our village. our homes are submerged law and some of our relatives have died. we're not receiving any relief from the government. there's also worry about what still to come monsoon season isn't over yet. more rain and flooding is expected and could leave

a 3rd of the country underwater. well, it is one of the world's most ambitious space programs now says multi $1000000000.00 artemus mission aimed at one day, getting humans back on the moon and eventually to mars. but it has gotten off to a disappointing start. the u. s. space agency was forced to scrub the want of its largest ever rocket to day after a number of technical problems. the next attempt at lift off will probably be friday. the 98 meter rocket and its unmanned capsule, a ryan were left sitting on the launch pad. as the minutes ticked by us, vice president carmella harris had flown in to cape canaveral to witness the lift off of the most powerful rocket ever built by nasa. teresa flocked to nearby locations all keen to get a glimpse of the action. but a whole series of technical problems meant the launch had to be called off. it's

yet another disappointment for the artemus noon program after a series of postpone launches. but nasa says spotting problems is part of the exercise. that is the whole reason for this test flight to stress it and to test it to make sure it's as safe as possible when artemus to, when we put humans in the spacecraft or m. oh ram, ram, or bio with northern whole to century ago landing on the moon captured the imagination of an entire generation. now the human race is looking once again to return to the moon. if all goes well with this test mission, a crude flight could be launched as early as 2020 full. one of the stated ambitions of the art in miss mission is to put the 1st woman unfair person of color on the

moon. it's expected to be astronaut, jessica watkins. i certainly would, would be a jess absolutely thrilled to be able to be a part of the effort to, to go to another planetary surface, whether it be the man or mars, it's the red planet. that's the ultimate goal. that the are to miss mission hopes to 1st build a permanent presence on the moon. it would then use the moon as a breathing ground from mission to mars. but 1st, it has to get its nate and test flight successfully of the launching pad the astro biologist and former nasa employee keith cowan. he told me more about what went wrong today. well, it seems that there's a valve that goes to one of the engines, and when they started to pump the very, very cold, liquid hydrogen through charlie didn't get cold enough ground floor and the system to say, go ahead. you don't want these engines to be warm when you're starting to fire than

you want to be. very cold. 3, the agents were fly but one was not. and unfortunately they just, you know, took some time off. i thought, you know, do we have enough time today? to fix this and the answer was no. so they scrubbed. and were you surprised by this a bit, as a layman watching this i, i heard a lot of people say, you know, 50 years ago we were able to lift off a why do we have engine problems today? i was it the 1st shuttle launch? it went the 2nd time they tried and i work for nasa. i probably tried to see more shuttle launches than i actually saw. and so this isn't unusual. and i actually was giving people 5050 odds today that they would actually launched into something like this would not happen. unfortunately, what happened today. they admitted that, yeah, you know, we could have tested this last time. we did a test, but the last time they did a test, something went wrong. is it? well, we're good enough with that. so, you know, this is not unexpected. it's disappointing. but you know, again, as they say,

it's better to be safe than, sorry, it's better to be safe than, sorry, that's true. and i have a feeling though that this could be one of several dress rehearsals before we have an actual launch. is that a correct assumption? i would not dispute that. some people are calling this the went dress 5, the 4th one having did the previous test. but you know, again, what we're seeing here is a very complex rocket. it's taking a long time to build its cost far too much money. and so here it is. it's all just the ready to go. and i think you probably asked this, but what does this mean? well, here we are looking at rocket that's built out of spare parts left over parts in the shuttle program. and yet 1000 miles to the west. there's a rocket that they make it so cheap that when it blows up they will blooper reel of the. so i think we're at a huge in history where maybe this is the last time we'll see a rocket. that's as complicated. yeah. perhaps we'd like to see this one take off.

maybe we'll be able to do that later this week. keith cowan is always we appreciate your time. thank you. my pleasure. and here's a reminder of the top stories we're following for you. this. our ukraine says that it has launched, it won't get to supported the attempt to retake the southern region of their song. moscow says that it is the warranty, any advances and inflicting heavy casualties. and the international atomic energy agency says a team of experts is headed to these efforts. he a nuclear power plant in ukraine to carry out inspections. later this week, russia and ukraine accused each other of shelling close to the site as fears. grow of a nuclear disaster is a d w news. after a short break, i'll be back to take you through the day. stick around. we will be right back with

with ah ah ah full of power in. ready chung for electric power battery out of service in the interim, but still plenty of power with soon on india's road. second life

faster. already bringing new life to the place. a home in 60 minutes on d. w. o. is the end of the pandemic in sight. we show what he could look like will return to normal and we visit those who are finding it difficult. he sees his successes at noon in our weekly cove, in 19 special every thursday con d. w. departure into the unknown. to day this means

flying to a foreign planet. in the 16th century, it meant being a captain and setting sail to discover a route. a race linked to military interests, a race linked to political and military prestige, but also linked to my financial and adventure full of hardships, dangers and death magellan journey around the world. starting september 7th on d, w. for months ukraine have signal to the world a counter offensive against the russians is coming to day. the military analyst operations along the front line in the south, near the city of here saw the 1st major city last to the russians in this war. are the invaded about to push back the invaders.