sarah: this is "dw news," live from berlin. deadly wildfires in greece. a firefighter describing a scene of horror. >> they were in groups of f thre anfofour. it looked like they were friends and families who tried to protect themselves. sarah: at least 74 people die as fast-moving fires get close to the capital, triggering a national emergency. we will bring you the latest from athens. also coming up, pakistan deploys

troops to polling stations on the eve of national elections. but will they protect or intimidate? pakistan's military is accused of trying to influence the election and of attacking press freedom. plus, more fallout from the resignation from the german national football team. he has been training with the english h league team arsenalals the turkish preredent expresses admitition f the p player. we will take a look at his relationship with the sponsors. ♪ sarah: i'm sarah kelly. welcome to the program. thanks for j joining us. greece has declared a state of emergency as wildfires fanned by strong winds raced through the residential areas around the capital athens. the official death toll has

risen to at least 74 and almost 200 injured. the government has declared threree days of national mournig and asked the european union for assistance. reporter: the day after disaster struck. survivors returned to their properties to begin the cleanup. there homes may be wrecked, but still they know they are the lucky ones. >> the fire was just 50 meters away. we grabbed our dogs and ran. >> the fire was chasing us. those who managed to leave in time, did so. the person behind me did not make it. the fire took him. reporter: in other parts, emergency workers went about the gruesome task of recovering the remains

. -- the remainsnsf those who perished. 26 bodies s were found in n a coururtyard in a villa. >> thehey were in grououps of te and four. it looked like they were friends and families who tried to protect themselves. reporter: it is not yet clear how many more the fast-moving fire trapped on monday night. authorities expect the death toll to climb further. many survivors only found safety by the sea. the coast guard and other boats evacuated nearly 700 people. another 19 survivors and six bodies were found floaoang off ee coast. by tuesday, the fires near athens were under control and teens were working to put t out the last hotspots. officials warn new blazes could erupt at any time. sarah: dw correspondent jannis

joins us now on the line from athens. i would like to begin by asking you, why was it that these fires developed so quickly that people could not escape them? jannis: well, probably because on tuesday we had quite unusual weather conditions here in athens. ththat is, on the one hand, high temperatures above 35 to 40 degrees celsius. and on the other hand, unusually strong and unpredictable wind. so, things were steadily changing and very quickly. sarah: givenen those challenging conditions, i would like to ask you how the authorities have been coping. we know for example, greece has experienced wildfires before but it seems this time around the conditions are different. jannis: well, it is not an easy task. first, many regions in greece do

not have a plan n r protectition against fire. secondly, the fire department is understaffed. unfortunately in recent years there have been additional cuts to essential public services due to the financial crisis in greece. and tuesday there were simply too many flames at the same time. to sum up, it's a very complex situation to cope with. sarah: a lot of people questioning, asking what has caused this situation. the prime minister suggested some of the blazes, that they might have been started by arsonists. can you tell us a little bit more about that claim and whether there might be any validity there? jannis: he might have a point. when you have so many flames at the same time, so many fires breaking out in a very short period of time, some just before sunset, which means fire that planes cannot operate.

well, then you really do suspect an arson attack. it is ththe same story every ye. but we have to say so far no one was convicted of arson. so it remamains to be prproved. sarah: greece meanwhile askiking the e european uninion for assistance. efforts already underway there, aren't they? jannis: yes, i think help from the european union is a good idea. as has already been said, there have been cuts to public services due to the crisis, and many greeks are holding the european union responsible for that. or international lenders in general. the eu commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management will visit greece. this is a good decision. he comes from cyprus, he speaks the language, he knows everybody here in athens. sarah: we heard in the report people in that town suffering the greatest of this tragedy. images there of families, loved ones huddled together.

they recovered those bodies there. what is the latest on the situation in that right now? jannis: local officials have taken over. the government has sent over 150 engineers who are searching and inspecting every house in the region. probably the death toll will rise in the next hours. there are more than 20 persons still missing in the town. meanwhile, many volunteers are also coming. they are collecting food and other supplies for those in need, and they are also helping the local authorities in order to find missing persons. sarah: jannis with the very latest on this developing story joining us from athens. thank you so much. now let's get a quick check of some other stories making news around the world. in laos, hundreds of people are

missing and several are feared dead after a hydroelectric dam collapsed, releasing five billion cubic meters of water. it happened in the country's southeast. more than 6000 people are reported to be homeless after a number of villages flooded. israel has shot down a syrian fighter jet. israeli military says it fired two missiles after the plane strayed into its airspace. serious disputes this, saying the plane was conducting operations against jihadists in southern syria. the mayor in a mexican state says t the bodies of 35 men and five women have been discovered. most are unidentified, all or have believed to have died between 2016 and 2018, mainly of violent causes. they have the highest rate of drug t trafficking and violencen mexico. as concerns among the u.k.

population -- leaving the european union without account creek deal. brexit minister has given assurances there will be adequate supplies of food. meanwhile, prime minister theresa may is announcededhe will psosonally lead all future negotiations. pakistan is deploying troops to polling stations as it prepares for national elections on wednesday. the government says that the soldiers are necessary to ensure that the vote is free and fair, but critics say the military is backing former cricketer imran khan for prime minister, and that troops are there to boost his chances. journalists who report on khan's main rivals say they face intimidation. dw correspondent naomi conrad has been speaking to them about the challenges of covering both sides of the campaign. naomi: in pakistan's second-largest city, election campaigning is in full swing.

but behind the scenes, many fear strings are being pulled to favor one candidate, imran khan. his party, the pti, is in a neck and neck race with the pakistani muslim league, run by one of the country's most high-profile politicians, nawaz sharif. sharif angered the military with his attempts to improve relations with pakistan's archrival india and rein in army support of islamists. earlier this month he was jailed on corruption charges. and now journalists are bearing the brunt of the standoff. those who dadare to openlyly criticize the pti or appear to support nawaz sharif risk the wrath of the security agencies. >> if you u speak for ththe l-nn any waway, even in a balalanced

manner, there is going to be trouble brewing somewhere down the line. previously, like i said, there were certain areas you could not speak about it. itit was never about polititical paparties, notot to this extent. you just reporort in a balalancd mannerer. now here, they are at it, they are after you. this is really startling to many of the editors, but we are kind of rrrrying on.n. someme of us arere really, realy struggling. naomi: m many of her colleagues have rececved intimimidating cas and threats on social media, and journalists know all too well which stories editors are too afraid to run. but on the record, few dare to point their finger. >> welell, i will take the safet route out of this, ok? the internrnational hun n rights organizations and local human rights organizations have

repeatedly called out the military for d dng this, and the mililitary would mean intelligie agencies associated with the military. human rights organizations, i am quoting them on this, they fear they have too much power over the civil government, the democratic government, and they often wield this power to get their way. i think that''s it. i don't want to speak more about this. just to be on the safe side. naomi: in pakistan, the generals have always pulled the political strings and dictated the red lines s that joualalists crossst their own peril. but t talk to human n rights activists and they agree the degree of meddlili in this elecection iunprprecedented.d. >> the military has a record of interfering in each and every election that t has been held in pakiststan.

this is part of an attempt to regulate everything. naomi: we wanted to coconfront e military with the accusations, but our interview rerequests wee turned down. in the past, the generals have dedenied any involvement in pakistani politics. and with the ptiti and pml-n nek and neck, the outcomome of the elections is far from certain. sarah: now we are going to head to germany, where the number of people who reject the legitimacy of the government has sharply increased over the past 18 months according to germany's domestic intelligence agency. in its annual report it reports on various groups but focuses especially on the so-called rice burger movement. they refuse to accept the boundaries and laws of postwar germany and often clash with officials and police. reporter: for the so-called rice burger movement, today's

germany's does not exist. they only recognized a nazi-era germany. that is why they refuse to pay taxes or fines. the movement was long considered insignificant, but it is now on the german government's watchlist. they published a report that classifies them as subversive and extreme right. >> we have identified 900 to 950 people from them as right-wing extremists. we regard many as people who reject the constitutional order. reporter: the scene is growing, partly because of the internet. this has g government officials worried. in 2017, the government counted 16,500 rice burger members, 6500 more than the previous year.

a political analyst has been watching the movement for many years. >> the problem with this scene is it has a strong a attractiono weaponons. they aspire to assert with weapons the sovereignty of ththe supposedly still existing german reich, or a self-determined state. in the past, weapons have been found in this seen time and again. reporter: in october 2017, a rice burger member shot a police man and injured three other officers. the movement was suddenly in the public eye. since then, government authorities, too, have had their eye on the movement, especially on its weapons. >> last year security officials seized a large number of weapons and ammunition. and since november 2016, by working together with state

weapons authorities, around 450 weapons permits were withdrawn. reporter:: security experts are concerned by the report's list of groups beyond the movement in what seems to be a growing number of people in germany joining them. sarah: turkish president recep tayyip erdogan has praised mesut ozil's decision to resign from germany's national football team. the star midfielder made the announcement over the weekend. ozil was heavily criticized in may for being photographed with the turkish president during the country's referendum campaign, but he says criticism quickly turned into what he calls racism and disrespect. from the public and the media. a street in turkey's capital ankara has already been named in eyes -- renamed in his honor. president erdogan told reporters he respectededzil's decision.

have a lisisten. >> i would likike to expre m my adadmiration a and my respect to him. it is on except both the youngg man who has given his all for the german nationanal team shoud be treated that such -- with such a gracious fashion because of his religious beliefs. sarah: his resignation has also raised the -- questions about the behaviors of his sponsors. helena: of course those accusations of racism extending to the sponsors, namely mercedes-benz, a name spot -- a main sponsor of the german national team. ozil says they dropped him from their car campaign after photographs with him and erdogan were published. rip city's is reportetey examining those clalaims, but ol 's largest sponsor announced it

will continue their real the -- relationship with him despite the controversy. we're joined here by a professor at the university of hamburg with a specialization in sports economics. thank you ray much for joining us. -- thank you very much for joining us. in the week of resignation of ozil, there are questions about his sponsors. do you think this case could change sponsorship in sports? >> it could change. sponsors always have the opportunity to choose between even sponsoring like olympic games or world cups, or individual sponsoring. now there is a new dimension. there is a political risk with individuals. it could be in the future, sponsors will look for even sponsoring. helena: do you really think that is the case?

let's be honest about anyone in the public eye, there is always the potential they could stir criticism or controversy. so why should this be different now in the case of ozil? >> at least in germany we did not have such prominent cases were as always were intervened in politics. whatever you do in politics you have people who a are in favor f it and people who are against it, and that is a risk for sponsors. we didn't used to have it such an extreme case. helena: but it is likely to continue. we are living in a digital media age. should these companies reconcile themselves with that? do you think they are going to start saying, ok, every individual is too risky? wolfgang: no, they will continue. but again, they have a choice. i could imagine that when they have a choice, prices for event sponsoring will increase and

prices for individual sponsors will lower. helena: if you turn this case around i think we have started to come to the conversation now that nationality, identity are complex, and we need to recognize that. couldn't this then be an opportunity for large companies with a lot of money to forced to that understanding, that this case has shown that we need to understand? wolfgang: definitely. earlier there was a case, he took a chance of his multinational background. i think he might have had more sponsorships than others just because he was so, let's say, multinational. now they see there is risk as well. so they will try to figure out whether the personality -- helena: we have been talking a lot about this ozil case, but over the years we've seen various european footballer say, when i play well i am german or

french. if i have a bad day, i am very much labeled as the immigrant. as a sports economist, have you seen other cases where people have not benefited from such lucrative contracts because of their backgrounds? wolfgang: well, there are no hard figures about it. it is a multinational firm, they want to sell its cars not only in western european countries, but hispanic countries as well. muslim people in germany as well. i think he will have a very hard time to discriminate against people with muslim backgrounds. they will not do it. helena: all right. wolfgang, professor with a specialization in sports economics. thank you for sharing your insights. the u.s. senate will fork out $14 billion in emergency relief for american farmers hurt by president trump's trade dispute with other nations. we plan, which would use direct

assistance programs already in a place, when going to affect this summer. farmers have been hit hard by counter-tariffs from m the eu ad china which came in response to tariffs raised by trump, who famously tweeted that trade wars are easy to win. let's check in with our financial correspondent jens korte. jens, $12 billion. will that be enough to shield the agricultural industry? jens: it is a start but it might not do the trick. the u.s. agricultural indndustry is the one industry that probably got hit hardest so far from the ongoing trade dispute with countries like china, mexico and canada, and the agricultural industry is one of the few industries that actually is running a trade surplus, meaning exports were tha -- more

than it imports. last year it was a good $21 billion. donald trump on tuesday also announced that farmers should be patient in the long run they should be the big winners from the trade policy of the white house. as for now, obviously, farmers need to get support from washington. helena: we should point out as well that shares in washing machine company whirlpool have been down 14% on tuesday. they were a proponent of stricter trade controls on its industry but it doesn't seem to be working out quite how it hoped, does it? jens: it is a very interesting development, because whirlpool earlier this year was pushing hard, the white house to impose tariffs on impoports from washes and dryers, especially from asia. well, washington did so, so now we have those tariffs.

what whirlpool did not expect was that the white house would also impose tariffs on steel and aluminum, meaning at the end, that the cost of whirlpool par 5 hard -- are far higher than a couple months ago. oil prices are also affecting the numbers. the company disappointed big-time with their earnings report. they also learned -- lowered their forecasts and the stock got hammered. so you could say be careful what you wish for. helena: thank you, jens. ivanka trump is shutting down her namesake fashion brand. the move comes a year after she entered the white house as an unpaid adviser. employees were told about the shutdown today. shshares for the brarand grew ar the 2016 election, but the label

has faced criticism for its proximity to the president. reports say i ivanka trump had contemplated the closure in recent months. she is said to be frustrated by restrictions she placed on the company in order to avoid conflicts of interest while serving in the white house. back to sarah for a day of compulsive viewing for the two were to france. sarah: there was no shortage of drama. on tuesday in th e tour, the frenchman won the second longest stage. the road to victory after the british rider crashed with just seven kilometers remaining before the finish line. reporter: the first stage of this year's tour took the rider from carcassonne to -- a large group formed up front. for the climb to the mountain pass, phillipe attacked and

reached the top first. on the dissent, he misjudged and went over a low wall. after 180 kilometers, the tour entered spain. as they made their last climb, british rider led. less than 10 kilometers from the finish line, disaster struck. he hit the deck, giving the frenchman the chance to whiz by and win his second stage of the tour. >> today was a crazy day. a lot of pain in my legs. i think for everybody. but i cannot believe i'm winning for the second time. reporter: the overall ranking remains unchanged. sarah: it is a natural spectacle

reminisent of an impressionist painting. in central italy, wildflowers have burst into bloom, turning the fields into vibrant works of art. the mixture of poppies, corn flowers and daisies grorow, helping to prop up the fragile plant. the breathtaking landscape draws tourists to the region every year. and with that, you are up-to-date on dw news. i am sarah kelly in berlin. thank you so much for watching. don't forget, you can follow us on social media. hope to see you again soon. have a great day. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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