quick this is dw news, live from berlin. the opening ceremony just a day away and they are already partying in rio. they been rehearsing the fireworks and song and dance but the russian doping scandal continues to hang over rio. we will get the latest from our correspondents on copacabana beach. the governor of the bank of england says he will take whatever action is necessary to prop up the sagging british economy. the first step, cut the benchmark interest rate to the

lowest level in its 300 year history. and a german winemaking region crowns its new queen, a refugee from syria becomes the local goodwill ambassador. i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. one day to go until the biggest event in the world of sports, the olympic games in rio de janeiro. the excitement is mounting but the russian doping scandal just won't go away. now the president of the ioc says a final ruling will be announced soon on how many russian athletes will be allowed to compete. meanwhile some sporting fans have already been enjoying olympic competition. >> the olympic party has started early. the first competition kicked off on wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony.

a good start after so much uncertainty about the venues being ready in time. >> it's great to see all the changes and the organization that's gone into this. it's wonderful to see brazilians wellpoint -- welcoming people from around the world. >> this chinese fan has spent a long time getting here, by tricycle. he has attended all the olympic games since 2004 and has traveled 170,000 kilometers. i hope it will be a brilliant, pleasant, and successful one. i sincerely wish all the best to brazil. >> the organizers are doing all they can to make sure the opening ceremony goes to plan. there was a fire rehearsal -- fireworks rehearsal on wednesday night. it will be for real on friday.

>> our correspondent oliver moody's covering the olympics for us and is in rio now and joins me. amazing that you are on copacabana beach, drinking some coconut water. is rio ready for the big party? oliver: rio is certainly ready for the big party. not just in the way that the organizers would like, though. we have met lots of people who are excited about the games getting underway, and welcoming lots of visitors from around the world to their beautiful city. on the other hand, obviously all is not well in rio at the moment. there are demonstrations planned for tomorrow, both before and during the opening ceremony. certainly rio is ready but perhaps not just in the way the

ioc and other sports federations would like it. next he we have any more details about the opening ceremony? oliver: we don't know exactly, it's a well-kept secret at the moment, although pele, the sporting icon of brazil, will be carrying the torch. andy murray, the wimbledon champion and the reigning olympic champion for mens tennis will hold the flag for great britain. michael phelps, the swimmer, will be holding the flag for the u.s., so many directly and icons will be on show for the opening ceremonies tomorrow night. >> we can see the beautiful beach behind you there but we cannot forget the reports of the bad water quality in rio,

especially for games in the water, the bad state of accommodations for the athletes, and poor ticket sales. have you seen any of that? oliver: certainly, we should not forget those things either because they are important for brazil as a country. what i can say is that the water , right out in front of our accommodation there is a canal and it stinks, basically. it absolutely stinks. it is kind of indicative of the water quality in brazil. or around rio. aside from that, security has been a big issue. we've seen a lot of armed soldiers, but with all the attacks that have happened, it's necessary at a major event like this. aside from that, zika was a huge worry. we haven't had many problems with mosquitoes.

there are certainly a lot of issues still play -- facing these particular games but not everything is as bad as has been reported. brent: i very own oliver moody on copacabana beach in rio. oliver, thank you very much. to syria now where fighting rages on in the country start -- second-largest city, aleppo. government troops have been advancing on the city and recently in a bid to reclaim territory from rebel forces. that includes militants fighting for so-called islamic state. residents in that the siege city are facing extreme food shortages and russia says it has opened for humanitarian corridor's for people to leave. moscow says they can use the corridor's, three are for civilians and one for fighters to give up their weapons. many residents are not convinced that the corridor's are safe. this report now on a battle that

may prove pivotal in serious five-year civil war. >> there has been incessant artillery fire for two days now as syrian army tanks and soldiers close in on eastern aleppo. they are being supported by russian airstrikes. but again and again, bombs are killing and wounding civilians. including children. a vicious battle is also raging on the perimeter of aleppo. rebels strapped in the eastern part of the city are trying to break out. tuesday, they set up a massive explosive charge under a building belonging to the -- in the cities southeast. the current effort could be the

last chance to establish a supply route into eastern aleppo. russia is accusing the rebels of using poison gas as a weapon. militants from one group which the united states calls the moderate opposition once a toxic substance in a residential area. as a result of this terror attack, seven people were killed and others the victims were evacuated to hospitals. rebels say the people being treated at this hospital were hit by chemical weapons used by or's is backing the aside government. --he assad government. as the siege strikes on, around 250,000 people are still living in the city, and their dire situation could be made worse yet if the united nations cannot convince president bashar

al-assad to sign off on crucial aid deliveries. brent: here's a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. egypt's military says it is kill the head of the sinai branch of the so-called islamic state. he reportedly died in airstrikes . b eye is affiliate has killed hundreds of security personnel during a month-long offensive on egypt's sinai peninsula. libyan government forces have launched fresh attacks against militants of the so-called islamic state in their stronghold in the city of cert. airstrikes at ease the way for the libyan forces this week. germany's foreign minister has warned turkey that it would not be allowed to join the european union if it reintroduced the death penalty in the wake of the

attempted coup last month. note eu state has capital punishment. in germany, they are not the only ones issuing a warning like this. austria has called for into turkey's negotiations to join the eu due to its lack of democratic stance. >> the eu attitude has always been lukewarm at best. now austria wants to make it crystal clear, no chance, given the current circumstances. we would all do well pressing the reset button and thinking about which way this could go. i consider the accession of turkey in the next two years as impossible. the eu commissioner is cautious about issuing these kinds of absolutes. the commission president won't close the door completely but concedes there are still many problems with turkey. turkey in its current state

cannot become a member of the eu, especially if it reintroduces the death penalty, which some are advocating. but they point out shared interests, particularly regarding the migration crisis. telling turkey that from our site, negotiations have ended. turkey agrees and strongly criticized austria's comments. it is very worrying, these comments sound remarkably like those coming from europe's extreme right-wing parties. this will most likely not deter us. he aims to propose the termination of negotiations with turkey. brent: our next report takes us to any in west africa, a country that is seeing an increasing number of young men leaving, headed for europe. we discover that family pressures push many of these men

to risk the dangerous journey north. >> he has been back home with his family for the past six months. but he is not happy. he should've been europe by now, but only had enough funds to get to morocco. he had to return after staying there for two months. the boat trip to spain would have cost 1000 euros, money he didn't have. >> i try to overcome my fear and be brave. i had no other choice but to turn back. my family is bitterly poor. they need my support. in europe, they can at least feed their family and have a decent life. here, poverty rules. >> he got his bachelor's degree

in international law, but has had knows it is finding a job. once in a while the 31-year-old tries to sell used electronic devices. but at the moment, he spends most of his time watching television. his family wants him to do more. we all think he should go, his mother sent him to university and supported him. now it's his turn. he is the eldest son. he should go there and work, should take responsibility and support us. >> many young people sell anything they can to drivers stuck in traffic jams in the capital. it's how they survived. there is no credible figure for the unemployment rate in guinea. he publishes a newspaper with job listings. a few weeks ago he announced on facebook that a hotel was

looking for 200 new staffers. within a brief time, the post received within 28,000 clicks. still, he believes that fleeing to europe is not the right answer for many young people. >> they don't know really what they would get into when they go there. i saw people on the streets of paris and they set on doing nothing, there is to do in paris. i'm going to paris, but paris is not any more paradise. >> he dreams of becoming a real estate agent in his home country, but when he and his friends talk about the current situation, they get angry. first and foremost, at their government. at the end of our visit, he tells us that someone here in the neighborhood can set up a

passage to europe for him, and as soon as he has the money, he will try again. he says he owes it to his family. brent: will take a short break and then come back with business news. we are back in 60 seconds.

brent: you're watching "dw news." just a day to go before the world's biggest festival of sports begins. rio is eager to get the party started and some sports have kicked off before friday's opening ceremony. china is not giving up and it's latest crackdown in the courtroom on dissidents. a prominent human rights lawyer known for bringing cases against the government has been sent to jail for seven years. >> prosecutors say he hired of

testers to disturb the judicial distant and attempted to manipulate public opinion. he issued a confession with statement that contrast sharply with his career until now. quite suddenly the court verdict is a fair one. i will accept the judgment and abide by the law. i feel regret for what i did. i will never appeal to a higher court. place he has often challenge the chinese government. he represented high pro while clients and made an effort to bring unjust cases to an international audience. it's seen as an attempt to silence critics of the party. >> it's a very harsh sentence, certainly, but it is not unpredictable. there was absolutely no chance this was going to be a fair trial. he had been denied at best to defend longer in the over one year he has been in detention. there were confessions on

television already and it was pretty much preordained that he was going to be found guilty, but seven years is a very severe sentence. activists have faces veer crackdown. 300 lawyers and activists have been detained since last year. brent: we know the answer to the question, how low can they go? daniel: i will give you the skinny on this one, it's good news for our rulers, the first cut its benchmark interest rate. the same time it is restarting its bond buying program. the cost of darling was already at an all-time low, .5% -- the cost of darling. now the british economy is shrinking at a faster pace. a new record of only .25%, all

to keep the economy afloat as uncertainty over brexit affect business. the problem is, with rates this low, there is very little room for a move if another crisis hits. >> the bank of england is going on the offensive. they and bill the package to boost the country's economy. bank of england governor mark carney appeared destined for your confident the country could whether the tough times ahead. >> the u.k. will redefine its movement of openness of goods, services, people, and capital. it may prove difficult and many will take time, but the u.k. can handle change. >> alongside the interest rate cut, the bank of england is also reactivating its quantitative easing bond buying program. the bank announced it will pump and extra 70 billion euros into the economy in a bid to stimulate growth which will likely be much needed. the bank of england has also

revised next year's gdp forecast downward to stand at just zero point 8%. the steepest decline in almost two decades. >> as someone who has been watching the rates decision with great interest, he joins us now. what has been the reaction to the bank of england's rates decision there on wall street? >> it was a pretty big change that we saw. everyone expected that interest rates would be cut, but the bank of england also will start a bond buying program for corporate bonds also. that came as a bit of a surprise . we saw an immediate reaction not so much on the stock but on the currency side of the market. the drop was 1.5% in comparison to the u.s. dollar. there has also been some

criticism whenever any central-bank comes up with such extreme measures. people are saying it's not just on the central bankers but especially on the government to do something like fiscal stimulus. so there is some criticism and the reaction was strongest on the currency markets. >> stay there for moment, i want to come back to you in just a second. as you probably know by now, there's a presidential election coming up in the united states. at the same time, voters will be choosing their representatives in congress. candidates have been raising corporate donations for months and even received money from abroad, including germany. let's take a look. foreign entities are prohibited from disturbing cash to u.s. elections but american subsidiaries are not. they are allowed to set a

political action committees to collect contributions for candidates in the u.s., and just look at that number there. they have contributed close to $2 billion to the election campaigns so far. two thirds of that is going to republican candidate. the grand old party traditionally opposes government influence on the economy and is considered more business friendly than democrats. here at the biggest spenders among german companies. >> the political action committee at basf has outspent every other german connected pac in the u.s. election campaign. it's made contributions to 120 congressional candidates so are. basf has given to the majority republicans. a rival firm has spent just over $400,000, most of it also going to republican candidates as well.

t-mobile has taken a more bipartisan approach. concluding just under $300,000 to candidates of both parties, but republicans have cashed in on nearly $200,000 for the nations from german engineering giant siemens. german-based firms have open on congressional as opposed presidential candidates but they do have a clear preference, and it's not for donald trump, who they consider unpredictable. most companies are called by his anti-free-trade rhetoric and german affiliated pacs have contributed only of $2000 to his campaign. >> what are -- what are the motivations behind the donation? >> one point that is pretty important, a lot of this money is actually going to the congressional elections, to

representatives and not the main candidate, hillary clinton or donald trump. quite often not just true for german companies but for a lot of other one companies that tend to give money as far as they can within the regulations, to elected of visual and not candidate. because right now there are more elected republican initials, that explains to a certain degree why more money is blowing towards the republican party. but the companies always want to make sure they have the best on both sides. so aselections, it might balanct a little bit between the two parties. >> money makes the world go round and politics doubly so. how about this for beating the rush-hour traffic? china showing off its

state-of-the-art straddling bus. here is being unveiled and taken for a test drive. the massive bus runs on track and can move more than 300 people at a time. meanwhile, vehicles under two meters can continue driving beneath it. it's not quite finished just yet but the government hopes it will ease traffic jams in the country. >> that's all your business for now. brent has a story he's heard from the grapevine. brent: thank you, daniel. the ancient germantown has crowned its new wine queen. she is a refugee from syria who arrived just a few years ago. she fled war at home to get accustomed to life in germany and now has become an it ambassador for her new hometown. soon she will compete at the national level the title of german wine queen.

>> she's young, 26 years old, and has a winning smile. in other words, everything a wine queen needs. the fact that she has attracted so many photographers surely has to do with her background. she is from area and three years ago she let the double war there and came to germany. now she's combining hearst that is with a political message. >> out like to say thank you to germany for having taken me in. i would also like to say that this is a very beautiful city. also that the people here are wonderful. the vendors noticed the syrian christian when she worked as a translator during a meeting with refugees. now she will represent the wine producers during up to 60 events. in real life, she works for the federal labor office and for the vintners, it was love at first sight. during the first words i spoke

with her, and looked at her and directly stated, i have faith in this lady. then you have to be a little ourageous to say so now.ttle i will ask one of the refugees. quick she arrived at the heart of the german wine culture from the misery of syria within just three years. good news like from the wine queen of syria is something germany could use right now. brent: i'll be back after a short rate. -- short break.

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