captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, july 18: covid cases climb as vaccination rates remain stagnant. in our signature segment: fleeing belarus after a brutal crackdown. ♪ ♪ ♪ and indie rock singer songwriter lucy dacus. next on “pbs newshour weekend.” >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-

smith. the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. the rolind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's rightn front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people.

and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. the steady increase in new coronavirus cases and slow downs in vaccination rates are confronting the biden administration and local governments with new challenges. in los angeles county, masks are again required in public indoor aces. the sheriff there says he will not enforce the rule. asked why everyone needs a mask if 52% of the county's residents are vaccinated, the chair of the county's board of supervisors said it's necessary. >> i would say that it's n punishment, it's prevention. we still have four million people out of ten million that haven't been vaccinated. >> sreenivasan: the centers for disease control and prevention continues to recommend that masks are not necessary for vaccinated people. today the surgeon general defended that decision. >> they gave communities and individuals some flexibility on what to do with masks. now, in areas where there are low numbers of vaccinated people

or where case numbs are rising, it's very reasonable for counties to take more mitigation measures. >> sreenivasan: new cases of the coronavirus are rising nationally with the more contagious delta variant driving many obreaks in areas with low vaccination rates. globally there are now close to 190 million reported cases since the covid-19 pandemic began. "the new york times" reports that the pandemic's epicenter is now in indonesia, where the average number of new cases is more than 48,000 a day. hospitals are overwhelmed and supplies are so low that patients are bringing in their own oxygen tanks. in the united kingdom, prime minister boris johnson is self- isolating after coming in to contact with the country's health secretary who tweeted yesterday that he tested positive for the virus. the u.k. is set to lift covid restrictions tomorrow on what is being called “freedom day”. in tokyo, two olympic athletes staying in the olympic village tested positive for covid-19

officials say the opening ceremonies scheduled for friday will go on as planned. and in saudi arabia, the hajj pilgrimage began with 60,000 vaccinated residents of the country allowed to participate. before the pandemic, as many as 2.5 million muslims from around the world performed the five-day pilgrimage. the death toll in western europe rose to more than 185 after torrential storms and massive floods devastated the region. today more flash flooding in southern and eastern germany killed at least one person. the country's death toll is now more than 155. in western germany, chancellor angela merkel called the flood“" terrifying” and promised government assistance in rebuilding. >> ( translated ): germany is a strong country and we will stand up to this force of nature in the short term, but also in the medium and long term, through policy that pays more regard to nature and the climate than we did in recent years. that will be necessary, too. >> sreenivasan: germany's finance minister said the

country wi provide over $350 million in immediate relief and billions more to repair the damage from the floods. in austria, flash floods hit a town near salzburg last night. no injuries were reported, but nearby areas remaion alert as more rain is expected. dry weather and extreme heat are driving the spread of huge wildfires across the western united states today. in northern california, the tamarack fire just south of lake tahoe, grew quickly last nht. it now covers 32 square miles, threatening the nearby town of markleeville. the rapidly spreading fire-- caused by a lightning strike on july 4-- has forced evacuations and the cancellation of a 103- mile bike ride through the sierra nevada mountains. authorities say that at least three structures have been destroyed in the blaze. the nation's largest wildfire, the bootleg fire in southern oregon, also grew overnight but firefighters have made progress containing it. evacuations are underway in the

largely rural area. meteorologists are warning critically dangerous fire conditions will continue in the region at least through tomorrow. in washingto d.c., last night, a baseball game between the san diegpadres and the washington nationals came to an abrupt stop when gunshots were heard near the stadium. police say tee people were injured in a shooting outside nationals park, causing fans inside to seek cover and evacuate. the game was in the sih inning when the sound of loud pops created confusion and fans started to scramble for cover. some people took refuge in team dugouts, others fled the stadium. announcements urged calm and broadcast a message saying the shots were coming from outside and to stay in the stadium. police said three people were injured in the shooting. two are suspects, the third is a woman who was attending the game, but was outside the stadium. all are expected to recover. more than two dozen people were hospitalized after suffering

from skin irritation and breathing problems from exposure to chemicals at a water park near houston, texas, yesterday. local officials said more than 60 people were decontaminated using water from fire trucks after being exposed to a combination of bleach and sulfuric acid at six flags hurricane harbor splashtown the chemicals are used to clean and maintain the p.h. balance of the water at the park. the exposure occurred at a children's wading pool. authorities say they don't believe the leak was caused intentionally, but the park remains closed as an investigation continues. martine moise, the wife of slain president jovenel moise, returned to haiti late yesterday following her release from a miami hospital. the first lady, who was injured in the july 7 assassination attack, arrived at port-au- prince airport wearing a black bullet proof vest and with her arm in a sling. she was greeted by officials, including interim prime minister claude joseph. joseph is running the country in spite of jovenel moise's announcement, one day before his death, designating politician

ariel henry as prime minister. investigations are ongoing in what is described as a sprawling plot to kill the president involving haitians, haitain- americans and abt two dozen former colombian soldiers. officials announced that the funeral for prime minister moise will be held on friday in the northern city of cap-haitien. martine moise is expected to attend. for the latest national and international news visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: the landslide victory of president alexander lukashenko in belarus last year ushered in his sixth term, and more than a quarter decade of control for the auoritarian leader. claims of a flawed election drew mass demonstrations, with thousands of protestors imprisoned. thousands more have been fleeing to neighboring countries, including poland and lithuania, crossing into the e.u. illegally and with great risk to themselves. newshour weekend special correspondent simon ostrovsky

traveled to lithuania, near the belarusian border, to tell their stories. his reporting is done with support from the pulitzer center. >> reporter: vilnius, lithuania's capital. it's just 20 miles from the border with authoritarian belarus to the east, but this e.u. member state might as well be on another planet. >> ( translated ): okay, here's the plan. you walk down the road and look for a black car. >> reporter: artyom, who's name we've changed, is a smuggler. he helps dissidents wanted by the belarusian rege, over the new iron curtain that surrounds belarus in the aftermath of last year's contested election that led to sweeping protests and a brutal crackdown. >> ( translated ): don't rush so you don't make any noise. you only start running if you see that you are being chased. >> ( translated ): understood. >> ( translated ): okay. >> reporter: today, he's coordinating the escape of two protestors wanted by police who face lengthy prison sentences.

he's allowed newshour weekend to record his remote meeting with one of them, 20-year old dzmitry lisichyk, who's been hiding from the authorities in belarus for over a month. lithuania is now home to over 2,000 political exiles from belarus who've fled the regime, including sviatlana tsikhanouskaya, believed by many to have won a widely contested presidential election last august. an election that her husband had planned to run in, but who was instead arrested ahead othe vote and remains in prison to this day. >> this understanding that my husband is suffering, that thousands of people are being tortured in jail, turns into energy that don't let me stop, and i'm doing what i can on my place, the same as every person in belarus or who is in exile doing what they can. >> reporter: lisichyk, who is accused of organizing partisan activities, hopes to join the ranks of those who are in exile, but he'll have to evade belarusian border patrols and

walk through thick forest in a segment of the border that isn't fenced off first. >> ( translated ): i feel like i have to be composed and careful, but i'm not scared. i'm not about to stick my head in the sand. no good will come out of the fact that i'll land in jail here, or in the ground, or in a wheelchair. >> reporter: belarus' other neighbors have also taken in thousands of refugees over the course of the last year as the regime of alexander lukashenko imprisoned over 550 people who spoke out against an election they believe was rigged in his favor. >> the number of jailed journalists is growing and no journalist can feel safe at the moment being in belarus. >> reporter: press club belarus is a media organization that's fled to pond after its founder yulia slutskaya anthree other staff members were jailed on reports of trumped up tax charges. now it's celebrating its ten year anniversary in exile.

>> ( translated ): we are press club belarus, and unfortunately we are still without yulia. and we really hope that yulia will be able to join us sooner than we think and be able to celebrate this birthday with us. >> reporter: natasha belikova has stepped in as acting director while slutskaya awaits trial. >> currently, 26 journalists are imprisoned in belarus for doing their job. some, like my colleagues, they're awaiting trial to begin. others have already been through trial, like two journalists from belsat, and they have been sentenced to two years of imprisonment for sply doing their job for reporting from a rally. >> reporter: lukashenko has been willing to go to extreme lengths to retain his grip on power. >> ( translated ): our enemies from outside and inside the country havehanged their methods of attacking the state. in the near future we will show

you and society as a whole, everything they have said, including those who have recently been arrested. >> reporter: in may, a commercial passenger jet flying from greece to lithuania w diverted to belarus, after minsk air traffic control reported a possible bomb threat on board. the goal was to arrest this man. his crime? running a popular online chat group that organized protests against lukashenko's regime. like many detainees, he was paraded on state television and forced to make a confession. >> ( translated ): i just hope that... i'll be able to fix everything and ve a normal life. start a family, kids. stop running from something. i'm sorry. >> reporter: a confession that

was presumably coerced, given the bruises on his wrists. but belarusian dissidents are determined to go to lengths that are no less extreme in order to get out of the country. like andrey susha. in the spring of last year the authorities charged him over an online post critical of police ficials and coerced a confession. >> ( translated ): he came under the influence of destructive telegram channels and wrote an offensive comment. >> ( translated ): i apologize for my actions and am remorseful for what i did. >> reporter: he faced up to four years in prison for the charges stemming from the post in which he called a police officer a bastard. but after making his confession, officials added another charge, "threatening police officers," which carries an additional five year maximum sentence. >> ( translated ): i'm a parachutist, i've jumped around 1,300 times. i love aviation and two years ago i purchased this paraglider

and started flying with it, just for fun. >> reporter: susha decided to turn a hobby into an exit plan. >> ( translated ): i decided to run. i flew into lithuania and landed, i walked over to the nearest house and asked them to call the police. they called them out and i said, "that's it, i'm giving myself up, i want asylum." that's how i ended up here. >> reporter: facing a growing migrant crisis on their borders, lithuanian and e.u. officials have been alarmed by what is taking place in belarus, but deputy foreign minister mantas adomenas told newshour weekend his government wasympathetic to the plight of belarusian asylum seekers. >> i cannot condone, but cannot in any way blame them, because, you know, when you're faced with this kind of fury of this mad regime, you will want to get out one way or the other. >> reporter: tsikhanaouskaya, the leader of the opposition movement, told newshour weekend that she was grateful for the sanctions imposed on belarus by the e.u. and the united states,

but urged the international community to do more to help belarusians caught up in the crackdown. >> our end goal is organization of new elections in belarus, free and transparent, under observation of international organizations. but, of course, before this, our task is to release all political prisoners, so this is step by step. we have to put pressure on the regime inside the country, outside the country to start this diag to release political prisoners. >> reporter: remember dzimitry lisych who we saw earlier in a video conference call planning his escape from belarus? we're headed to an undisclosed location just a mile from the belarusian border where he is planning to cross by foot. smugglers on the belarusian side have told us the approximate hour that he's due to depart and we calculate that he should arrive by 1:00 a.m. by 2:00 a.m. we start to worry that something's gone wrong. border patrols on thbelarusian side have been increased due to

the high number of illegal crossings. another nail-biting hour passes. then, finally, he emerges from the darkness. >> ( translated ): greetings! >> reporter: welcome to lithuania! so, this is everything that dmitry brought with him: just one backpack. he's wearing all black clothing, and his entire waist down is wet from walking across a canal to get here to the lithuanian side. now we're just making sure that his documents that he's going to need in order to be able to get asylumere, haven't got wet. soon, a lithuanian border patrol arrives. after equipping dzmitry with p.p.e., he makes his claim for asyl. >> ( translated ): what is the purpose of your arrival here? >> ( translated ): i want political asylum. >> reporter: lisychik's urney has ended, but thousands of other belarusians remain in hiding and more than 500 are being held as political prisoners. without concerted outside

pressure on the regime and its backer, russia, those behind bars are likely to remain there indefinitely and those seeking asylum will only add to europe's growing new migrant crisis. >> sreenivasan: as a young up- and-coming artist, indie rock singer-songwriter lucy dacus has already gained critical acclaim for her albums “no burden” released in 2016, and“ historian” in 2018. with lyrics that have been described as “confessional songwriting,” she's drawn on her own life for inspiration. her latest album, “home video,” released last month, is being called a coming of age memoir of sorts, reflecting on her adolescence with some of her most personal artistic expression so far. newshour weekend's christopher booker has more. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: there is tricky

serenity in the music of lucy dacus. whether singing about her regious ildhood spent in richmond, virginia, or how she is making her way through the broader world today, the calmness of her delivery never seems to waver. >> for a long time i think i was just good talking about people in general, like tropes, and i didn't really find use in talking about myself, or it felt selfish or, like, how could anyone relate to this since it was just my life. i don't want to take up space unless it's meaningful >> reporter: but after three solo albums, her most recent home video was releaselast month and her part in boy genius, the indie-rock super group with artists phoebe bridgers and julien baker, the 26-year-old has emerged as someone who actually has a l of meaningful things to say and a gift for saying them. an ability that in part can be traced to journals she kept as a child. >> i was given my first journal i think in kindergarten, and it has, like, a printed out laminated sign on it that says, like, "this is your diary. you can say whatever you want in

here. all of your thoughts are your own." like, "this is your space and nobody can tell you what to do." it's like, yes, i can do whatever i want! >> reporter: "home video" is an album written largely from entries pulled from these journals. her songs paint vivid scenes of the places she inhabited as a young person, and offer snapshots of how she navigated her youth. is there an order? do you find yourself coming up with a riff first or are you coming up with the lyrics first or doeit change from time to time? >> it's always lyrics and usually lycs and melody at the same time, like i'll be in a walk and just sing to myself and kind of refine. i don't know much about music. i've never taken music classes. i play in, like, an open tuning. so, i just, kind of, find the sounds that i want on the guitar. i don't know what chords i'm playing a lot of the time. i love music, but i don't feel like a musician. the lyrics do reallyatter to

me, the stories matter, so the form is less important. >> reporter: this story first approach has atted a cavalry of attention from critics, calling "home video" a "brilliant coming of age memoir," and others referring to her as one of “rock's best pens.” these songwriting abilities allow her to explore the uncomfortable, the unpleasant, and in the case of her song“ thumbs” the painful-- a song written about an encounter from college when she accompanied a friend as that friend met with her estranged father. ♪ i said, "you don't have to see him, but for whatever reason you ♪ can tell him no." >> reporter: but to label dacus as some dark, brooding songwriter who only peddles in sadness is inaccurate. she is at the core, a young musician working to understand the world refreshing honesty. an honesty coupled with her songwriting pabilities that has endeared dacus to so many, but the accolades and attention seem to have little impact on

that serenity that sits in the center of it all. >> i really like the idea of a song having a more exciting life than me. like, you don't know w wrote hymns most of the time. i love any song that could exist without its writer. >> reporter: why do you think you have that attitude? >> like, why am i able to want to let go like that? because i know i'll have to. so, it's almost like i have to get ready now in order to feel really grateful for anything that happens. i do feel really grateful everyday for where i get to go and what i get to do. that stems from the fact that i realize i don't necessarily deserve it and, like, nobody really does. also, i don't feel the pressure to share everything that i make. so, like, i'll write a bunch of songs that i don't show anybody, and those are for me. and so, when i decide to share a song, it's on purpose.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, a united nations study estimates eight million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year, making plastic and human- generated trash pollution one of the most enormous environmental threats on the planet. but several companies are now tackling the problem with relatively small robotic vehicles that can sweep up garbage from the world's waters. newshour weekend's ivette feliciano has the story. >> reporter: it's remote controlled, just over two feet long, and enjoys a diet of plastic bags, bottles, and-- let's just say it-- garbag meet the jellyfish-bot. >> ( translated ): i came up with the idea because i've been diving underwater since i was little, and i've always seen areas that areuite dirty. i've always seen manual methods,

people carrying nets to llect trash, and i've told myself, "i have a doctorate in unrwater robotics," and when i finished my doctorate i thought, "why not make this quite tedious and thankless work of collecting trash easier?" >> reporter: the trash- collecting robot vessel is now clearing debris in more than a dozen french ports and in several other countries. >> ( translated ): to collect tras you have to do something as simple as possible, because otherwise, if we put complicated mechanisms, it can get blocked, and things get stuck in the system. we designed the robot with a slide mechanism that goes towards a net, so we fill up the net, we take back the net, and that's the end of it. >> reporter: the electric, radio-controlled vessel can get about 21 gallons of waste in its net. the jellyfish-bot is one of several trash collecting robots desied for use on the water. this one-- called fred-- is being developed in san diego, and the waste shark is at work in the netherlands. e goal is still to get human beings to use less plastic and keep trash out of the oceans.

in the meantime, the robotic trash collectors are doing their part. >> sreenivasan: that's all for thistion of “pbs newshour weekend.” for the latest news updates visit pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo- smith. the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. the rosalind p. walter foundation.

koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not ms what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.

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