from berlin. i hurricane described as extremely dangerous hits florida. hurricane michael is moviving in land from the gulf coast winds up to 2050 kilometers per hour. auththorities tell half a millin to leave. the storm still takes many by surprise. trump ways in on the missing saudi journalist and theorieies about him are multiplying.

life on death row. facing execution experience isolation and torture during their final days. this is the focus of this year's world day against the death penalty. phil: welcome to agree. but begin with a storm that forecasters have described as extremely dangerous, wreaking havoc in florida. officials are warning of a life-threatening storm surge and have urged half a million people to move to higher ground. hurricane michael is rated category 4 and is said to be most powerful hurricane to ever hit the regigion. >> hurricane michael reached and speeds of neaearly 250 kilometes per hour as it made landfall in florida. governor rick scott reiterated warnings of the storms danger as it blew in from the gulf of

mexico. >> hurricane is a deadly storm. this is the worst storm the florida panhandle has seen in 100 years. wewe can rebuild your house, but we cannot rebuild your life. >> four and 2000 floridians were totold to get out of harm's way. ur meter floodwaters t toppling trees and blowing off roofs are only some of the hazards. panama city beach is s under orders t to evacuate, but not everyone w was taking the mornig of unimaginable damage seriously before the hurricane s struck. >> i just hunkered down. we have beenen through so many storms that t the media sometims gets things crazy and people jump and run and they should do thatat but we have just beeeen through so many that w we are comftatable stayining, so arere going to. we have got enough food and generator gas, so we will be fine. beate: now, it is too late to be

the affected regions. a number of famililies made itio some of thee roughly 50 emergeny shelters just in time. phil: let's get more from correspondent nicholas schneider joins us. how are people preparing f for michael's arrival? nicholas: t thank you for havin. it is s more baseded on locatato in the florida panhandle, we see the majorority of the impacact coming in from the categegory 4. the evacuatition z zones are ded mandatory, versus the evacacuatn zones throughohout georgia and e carorolinas. wewe are showingng two different types of p preparations. this storm is moving very quickly anand we''re seeing evacuation toward the west, the majoririty of people inland are staying.g. phil: what preparations are authorities making? ninicholas: thanks to president

donald trump in this regard, we started to have federal and state preparations being not only prepared and having a state of emergency declared. federaral and state response tes are definitely gearing up to get ready to respond and get to people as quickly as possible. for now, we are staying in the western states trying to seek shelter then be able to get back and help as much as p possible. phil: how is the e hurricane expepected to p progress? nikolas: it is a fast-moving storm, expected to die down as it moves inland and d oser to the caliber -- the carolinas, which was recently affected by hurricane florence. hopefully, it dies down quickly before making more impact inland and getting back over that area that was affected a few weeks

ago. if god is willing, we will be able to get through the storm pretty quickly. phil: forecasters are predicting this could move across central georgia later. tell us about preparations there. nikolas: georgia, since is not so much on the coast, hurricanes die down significantly by the time they go into georgia. the majority of residents and preparations are much more relaxed, especially compared to ththe florida panhanandle. this is one ofof thehe first tis they have seen something this catastrophic coming their way, so we hope they are prepared in that state and federal response teams are able to get to georgia as quicklyly as possible.. philil: thank you for joining u, nikolas snyder in miami, florida. president donald trump says he has spoken with saudi's on what he called the highest level to

demand access to the mystery of we cannot let this happen to reporters, to anybody, he said. the journalist has not been seen since you went into the saudi consulatate a week ago. some say they bebelieve he was rdereded. >> this image obtained by turkish mediaia allegegedly shos the journalist walking into the saudi consulate, the last time anyone saw him. eight days have passed and there are no traces of his whereabouts. turkish officials say they believe a saudi hit squad killed him. before his disappearance, he worked for the washington post during a self-impoposed exile in the u.s.. he wrote columns criticizing saudi's new w rollers. -- rulers.

they say that the u.s. new about plans to capture theheir former colleague. donald trump causes a serious situation and said he wants to get to the bottom of it. meanwhile, saudi arabia remains silent as they lifted cctv images ran on news shows provide. it has yet to prove its claim that he left the consulate by a backdoor. phil: let's get more this from ever correspondent in istanbul and washington. let's start with jordan -- with dorian jones. he disappeared one week ago with no trace o of him, what is going on? dorian: turkishututhoritieses he been ramamping up their vestigatation. they havave strong leads. they believe the tensision is focusing on this so-calleled 15 member legends have a hit team, which arrived the d day before e went to ththe consulate and in e evening of his disapaparance, they left the country on p prive

jets. thee turkish authohorities claim they have identified at least eight of the team, they are believed to be linked to saudi intelllligence. one hasas forensic c skills andt has led toto speculation that he could've been ininvolved in dismemberiring the b body and tt being taken out t in one of f te saudi consulate's black vans that left in a convoy of six vehicles. itit hasas emerged that most ofe staff of b because letet, inclug all the turkisish citizens were asked to leave the building before h his arrival. this is fueleling furthe speculatioion that foul plplay s appaparent. saudi ofofficials are insisistig there isis no evidence linking them to his disisappearance and say they will have no idea what happened to him. phil: jamal has been a u.s. resident, yet it to the u.s. administration a while talk about this. why? >> that is an

point. as you said, we have reports that trump has spoken to a senior saudi official. it was unclear if that was the prince, although there are reports that other members of the trump administration did speak directly with the prince or a bear today. when president trump was asked about this, he seemed to try to pass the buck, saying i don't know more than anyone else. i hope this will simply resolve itself. no president trump likes to brag on reporters --rag on reporters and turkey and saudi arabia do not have the greatest track record when it comes to press freedom. it seems likes of -- it seems like something that trump wanted to keep off of his plate, especially given the diplomatic tricking us between the countries. phil: talk us through the conflicting dramatic nods tying the three countries.

-- knots tying the three countries. maya: trump is not on friendly terms with the president of turkey, due to several factors including an american pastor being held under house arrest in turkey, increased terrorist on turkish aluminum and steel, which erdogan is blaming in part for the current turkish economic crisis and the crash of the lira. they are not getting along, but trump is being forced to take everyone's side again -- erd ogan's side against the government. we have to remember that reality was the first country that trump visited when he became president on his first the poetic tour. he chose to go to reality and not alter what work mexico city, which would be a more traditional choice. trump has been trying to draw himself closer to saudi arabia various reasons, fairly be fight

against isis but this puts trump in a difficult position, having to somewhat side against someone he wants to see as an ally in favor of someone he is not getting along with. phil: in a simple, talk us through the theories turkish authorities are working g th and how credible they are. doririan: tururkish aututhoritie twtwo scenarios.s. one is thatat they belelieve hes killed when hehe went in t the consatate. a tutuish officicial has said ty believe this jouournalist was killed witithin two hours of beg in the building and his body was dismembered. there are reports that the turkisish security forces coulde looking at sewers under thehe nsulate for human remains evidence. the second scenario is he was somehow disabled, then smuggggld out anany van and rendered bacteria atthe for has been held. there are elelements of turkey's pro-government media t that are putting forwaward this claim, bt it hasas to be said that as this

investigation continues to deepen and the background of this so-called saudi hit team, the belief is that he has been killed. that in some way his body has been dispodd of and that is what the background briefings of turkish officials continues to be pushing. phil: dorian jones in istanbul, my in washington -- maya in washington, thank you.u. turkey's coast guard is seararching for 25 migrants bebelieved to bebe missing after their boat capsizezeand sank. eight bodies h have been recocovered. prosecutors in peru had detained in opposition leader as part of an investigation into money laundering, you are looking now at video of testimony onene year ago i in front of the parliamentary inquiry into alleged political contributions

from a brazilian construction firm. at least 55 people were killed in western kenya when ththeir bs went off the road and rolled down an embankment. 16 people survived. police say the bus was not licensed to opoperate at night d that its owner is facing charges. more than 50 countries around the world still use the death penalty, the human rights groups say people sentenced to death are subjected to dehumanizing treatment and torture. on the 16th world day against death penalty today, we look at the conditions facing convicts in their final days. >> the 16th person to be executed in the u.s. this year, his death by lethal injection was recorded in meticulous detail. >> he turned his head left and mouth several words to a number of witnesses, including the

words i love you. at 1025 and p.m. he said that, he started b breathingng heavil, then at 10:39, the curtain went down. the process took about 15 minutes total. >> he had been sentenced toto death as a 22-year-old for the murder of two taxi drivers. he spent 38 years in prison awaiting his execution. it was put off seven times. there are currently more than 2700 inmates on death row in the u.s.. they typically spend more than a decade in prison before they are executed. during this time, they are generally isolated from other prisoners, excluded from prison programs, and restricted in terms of visitation and exercise, spending as many as 23 hours a day alone in their cells.

the united states is the only western country to still uphold the death penalty. last year, 23 people were executed. but execution numbers in the u.s. are declining and they pale in comparison to some other countries. among the 56 countries who still have the death penalty and use it, iran, saudi arabia, iraq, and pakistan top the table. the country with the most executions is china. chinese authorities don't release any figures regarding the death penalty. television images like these of a former police chief being sentencedd to death for murder and bribery last year are extremelrare. most trials happened behind closed doors and authorities maintain secrecy over the number of people sentenced to death. amnesty international estimates that the number of death penalty

is in china is in the thousands. thatat wouldld be no c china exd more peoplple last year than all the cocountries in the world put together. in contrast to the u.s., the time a prisoner spends in jail before execution is often only a few months. conditions for deborah prisoners are often inhumane. some are shackled to the wall and tortured. amnesty international has cited reports of prisoners being executed without being able to say goodbye to their families. phil: let's talk to christina roth, senior program director at and misty internationals criminal justice program. your organization advocates for the abolition of the death penalty. why? >> thank you for having me on. we believe in full scale

abolition of the death penalty. there is no question that it is the ultimate denial of human rights and cruel and inhumane treatment of an individual. it raises to the level of a violation of right to life and pending on the case, it may violate what trial rights could look like. phil: if states don't execute their murderers and rapists, what should they do with them? >> that is an interesting question. it is up to the state to decide, but we don't believe the death penalty serves as a realistic deterrent to those particular crimes or any crime. it is not a punishment that as we've seen in the u.s. keeps crimes were happening. if you look at the 19 states in the u.s. that no longer have a death penalty, their murder rates are lower than those that do. we don't believe that this particular punishment will solve that problem or bring any respite. phil: amnesty believes, don't

kill them, do something else, but you decide. how has your message gone out to the united states, which still, as you are saying, execute people? kristina: i'm sorry, could you say that one more time? phil: how has the trump administration reacted to your overtures? kristina: well, the president has expressed some opinions about the death penalty in his tenure. earlier this year, he cannot with the statement that he believed in an effort to fight the open crisis that the death penalty should be used for those involved in trafficking opioids if it results in an individual's death. however, we would oppose that. there are statetes that have the ability to do that, although it does not appear to be a tool that is being used. i made the comparison earlier with murder. not only is that an extreme

punishment for someone involved with drug trafficking in other countries that also use that, like malaysia, i don't believe it serves as a relevant deterrent and it is an extreme punishment for such a crime. phil: briefly, there are countries that execute children, which i think will surprise and lots of people. kristina: unfortunately, iran is at the top of that list coming to mind. this year on world day against the death penalty, amnesty is advocating on behalf of an individual who was just 15 years old when he was sentenced to death. he has been on death row for 14 years and has had six different execution dates of which he has survived. you have to think about the sort of anxiety that causes one to never know when their death is coming and to experience such a large fraction of their life on death row. phil: thank you for joining us, kristina roth from amnesty

international. hannah: they're going to start by going over to wall street for our financial correspondent is standing by. we have seen the markets are severely down, heavy selling in the wednesday section. where is it going wrong? jens: it was really a pretty rough day on wall street and we haven't seen anything like that much since the brexit vote two years ago. blue chips down by more than 800 points that close and that was in one trading week. we have lost 1300 points. there was the dow jones industrial average, nasdaq has been down 4%. investors are getting nervous about the upcoming earnings season. especially, regarding the outlook for u.s. companies to

have a couple of factors going on, a higher dollar, higher interest rates, that makes that more expensive. we have tariffs on steel and aluminum that could please section costs. have a slowdown of the chinese economy. there are a couple of factors going on in that is starting to make investors feel quite nervous. helena: there has also been a white house statement. what has come out of that? jens: there has hardly been any president in the history of the united states who was so focused on the stock market as trump is and in the past couple months, he always showed the chart of the dow jones to prove how great the u.s. economy is doing. what we do know is the president has been briefed today on the movements of the stock market and we will be hearing from eight a house that they are not concerned at this point.

they are talking about a corruption -- a correction in an overall bullish market, the the economy will remain strong ahead. that, for certain, will be the big question. is it just a brief nosebleed, is it just a small correction within the market or other bigger forces on their way? we also have a close look at how the market opens thursday. helena: our financial correspondent, jens coulter in -- korte in new york. negotiations in luxembourg exposed a rift between eastern and western europe, germany backed by eastern states fears they resisted a higher 40% cut, which the european parliament voted in favor of last week. luxembourg, the netherlands and the nordic states have pushed for more ambitious reductions. >> the german automobile

industry is furious. they say the target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 35% is unrealistic. unfulfilling will, according to the vda automotive industry association. they say manufacturers have served -- have exhausted all availablble technology.. nono jobs in the industry are in danger. in the negotiations, some countries like ireland suggested removing -- reducing carbon dioxide emissions by half. and easy demand with no domestic auto industry. responding to the news, angela merkel adopted a conciciliatory tone. >> it is good at there is an agreement, because if there hadn't been one, the european auto industry would not have had any certainty. that would not have sent a good signal all in all, so it is a justifiable result..

the stricter the target, the greater the pressure to produce cars with lowered emissions, but as of yet, german manufacturers don't have much to offer in the field and don't have much time to catch up. helena: as we just heard, german carmakers unsurprisingly not very happy about the new reduction in emissions targets. we caught up with the president of the german association of the automotive industry of berlin a short while ago. jelena: you call these goals over ambitious, would you say it is incumbent on industryry to be able to achieve these goals? >> in this timeframe, a reduction n down to 35%, that is too much and it needs a framework that really works, especially when it comes to charging points. 75% of all charging points in

europe are in only four countries of 28. jelena: don't these cuts have to be ambitious in order to have an effect? >> that is true and we are for ambitious goals. that is for sure, but they have toto be feasible and they have o be achievable. then it works. if they are not going to be achieved, we are going to achieve climate control. jelena: chancellor angela merkel has said these targets are defensible. do you see any benefits to the deal? >> i see a good benefit for us, because the german automotive industry is leading when it comes to alternative fuels, alternative powertrains, electro-mobility. we're spending 40 billion euross in t the next four years, triple the product line we arare offering, and we are already the market leader in europe. jelena: wasn't it germany that wanteded to make surure these cs were not as severe? >> yes, because germany is

convinced and i am convinced that we need a balance. the balance of climate control on one hand and on feasibility of reduction of co2 and the introduction of election mobility. jelena: thank you very much. helena: the world trade organization has issued a dire warning for the world economy if the u.s. and china continue to escalate their trade conflict. they preredict a full-blown trae war between n the two superpowes could cucut world tradede volumy over 17%, leading to analyst 2% contraction in world relativity. that is likely to have repercussions for people everywhere, not just the u.s. and china. wto members complained that there w were few signs of the to countries were making progress at the negotiating table. just a reminder, the top stories were falling out.

a hurricane described as extreme the dangers has hit florida. hurricane michael is heading inland from the gulf coast with winds up to 250 miles -- kilometers per hour. u.s. president donald trump say his h he has demanded answers fm top saudi officials in the case of the missing saudi journalist. jamal has not been seen since he entered the saudi consulate more than one week ago. you are watching dw news from berlin. i am helena humphrey. we have plenty more coming up the top of the hour. you can get the latest on our website, dw.com. thanks for your company and see you soon. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] .

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