brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. she wants to be the european union's next leader. can she convince the powers that be in brussels? germany's ursula von der leyen meets opposition lawmakers as she campaigns to become european commission president. but her victory is not a sure thing. we will ask why. also coming up, it has happenend again. angela merkel is seen trembling in public for the third time in

a month, fueling concerns over the german chancellor's health. and algae in the world's ocean. there is more and more, and that is a problem. we will find out why and look at some of the areas most affected. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all around the world, welcome. she wants the top job in the european union and she is now campaigning at full throttle. germany's defense minister ursula von der leyen is on a charm offensive in brussels in her quest to become european union commission president. on her agenda, fighting climate change and improving cooperation among europe's armies. reporter: it is ursula von der leyen's first public appearance as nominee for the eu commission

presidency, the european union's top job. her priority is to speak with mep's first to clarify her standing and gauge the mood. she is meeting with european social democrats who are critical of von der leyen, a conservative. >> she was specific on some issues but in other areas she stayed quite vague, so that was definitely not the end of our discussions. reporter: von der leyen needs 374 parliamentary votes to get the job. it is not clear how much support she will get from social democrats, greens, and business-friendly parties. she can rely on the 182 votes from her own group, the epp, and possibly the european conservatives and reformists, or ecr. critics are hinging their decision on her stance on climate policy, rescue for migrants at sea, and the parliament's right of initiative. >> i am convinced she is a

passionate european, but in some of her statements she was still quite unclear. she will have to deliver more by next week. reporter: von der leyen has little time to engage in further talks. the outcome of the secret ballot is hard to predict. brent: for more on this i'm joined by our correspondent in brussels tonight. good evening to you, max. we know ursula von der leyen was not the first or even the second choice for the job. so the question is, can she win over the skeptical mep's? max: what i can tell you is she has been trying very hard. she has been touring the groups for the last two days and she also showed she is trying to emphasize she is a true european responding to the m.e.p. questions in english, german and french. but it is not clear if she will get a majority in parliament, the majority that she needs to

get the job. because many are unhappy with having to vote on a surprise candidate, plus the european greens announced this evening that, as a whole group, they would not vote for her because she was too vague or did not go far enough on issues like rule of law and climate. brent: that is a big blow to her chances. talk about the biggest concerns that members of the european parliament have concerning her nomination. max: some argue that she is not experienced enough on a european level. other mep's say they simply do not know her well enough, they dodo not know whwh she standndsr on a eururopean levevel. and many are unhappy with how the lead candidate process was killed in the european council, because essentially every party had their lead candidate who is campaigning, who was running for this office, and ursula von der leyen was never one of them.

brent: that is a very important point to make there. i am wondering what happens if she does not win this nomination, if she does not become president of the commission. max: if ursula von der leyen by the end of this week or perhaps the beginning of next week senses that she does not have enough votes, enough mep's to back her, she could drag out the process with the help of political groups like the ecr who support her in the parliament, and she could perhaps drag out the process and the vote would not take place next week, but after summer break in september. then there is only one chance. parliament can only vote on ursula von der leyen once. if she does not get these votes, then the heads of state, the european council will have to stick their heads together and come together for another summit and come up with a new name. and as we know from experience, this could take some time.

brent: that is indeed the case. max zander on the story for us tonight in brussels. thank you very much. there are new worries tonight about the health of angela merkelel after the german chancellor was seen yet again trembling in public. it is the third time that she has been seen on camera in this condition in the past month. you can see it right here. this latest incident occurred as the chancellor stood outside with finland's visiting prime minister today. they were watching military honors to welcome his arrival. you can see her clenching her fists there. let's bring in our political correspondent, emmanuelle chaze. people are asking more and more questions. it is three times now. and they are asking, is she suffering from a medical condition? emmanuelle: there is something going on and we do not have the answer as to what exactly it is. this is the third occurrence.

months ago there was a case during the ukrainian president's visit and angela merkel shook in front of the camera for the first time. then a few days later again, she could not blame that on the heat that time as she had done the first time around. she had another episode, a trembling episode. and now we have heard from a source close to the government that the third shaking could actually be down to the psychological pressure that she would have not to tremble after the first two occurrences. brent: psychosomatic. emmanuelle: let's listen to what angela merkel has toto say about her condition. >> i am fine. i have recently said that i am working through what happened during the military honors for the visit by the ukrainian president. this process is clearly not finished yet, but there is progress and i have to live with this for a while. but i am very well and you do not need to worry about me. brent: ok, so she says she is

working through something and we don't need to worry. i mean, is that answer going to suffice for the public? emmanuelle: we know here in germany there is not a culture of, can i say, voyeurism into the house officials. also germans are very reluctant to peek into the personal lives of their leaders and that is very much respected here in germany. the press is being quiet about this condition and that explanation does suffice for the time being. of course it brings up the question as to whether or not angela merkel is still fit as a chancellor, but apparently this first explanation when she says that she is doing fine and that she can go through her schedule as usual, she has proven so far. apparently this explanation suffices. brent: that is a good point. she has not canceled any appointments so far. our political correspondent emmanuelle chaze, thank you. a court here in germany has sentenced a former asylum-seeker

from iraq to life in prison for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl. this case prompted a public outcry because the suspect should have been deported after his asylum application was rejected. instead he was allowed to stay in the country, and that is when he became a murderer. reporter: life imprisonment for 22-year-old ali bashar. that is the toughest sentencnce allowed under german law. the judge said he has shown neither compassion nor remorse. for susanna's mother, this made it even harder. >> on the one hand, i am grateful for the verdict. he cannot do anything to any girl or anyone else anymore. but on the other hand, it still does not bring my daughter back. reporter: in may last year, bashar raped and murdered susanna. two weeks passed before any trace of her body was found. acting on a tip from another

migrant who had been living with bashar, police discovered susanna's corpse next to a railway track in a hole covered with dirt and branches. the rejected asylum-seeker and his family fled to northern iraq, but he was arrested there and handed over to g german authoritities. he confessed to killing susanna but denied raping her. susanna's father said he was shocked by bashar's unrepentant misogynistic remarks, as were others at the trial. >> the perpetrator showed no remorse, empathy, or understanding that he could have done something wrong. that this was really a crime. and as the presiding judge also put it, the perpetrator tried to blame others, implying the girl was promiscuous and her death was her own fault and that he was not guilty at all. reporter: far right-wing groups have seized on the case, saying it shows the govererent's

migratation policy has had disastrous consequences. authorities had denied bashar's request of asylum and said he was supposed to have been deported long ago. but because of the severity of the crimes, the court ruled he will never qualify for early release from prison. ali bashar faces another trial on charges of raping an 11-year-old girl. brent: here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world. an airstrike on a syrian hospital in the rebel stronghold of idlib has killed six people. and now the hospital is out of order. that is according to the white helmets activist group. fighting in syria's northwest has ground on while the government negotiates with the united nations over a possible peace process. algeria has placed the country's former industry minister under arrest for corruption.n. he is the latatest senior officl to be detained and madade ongoig investigations after mass

protests began earlier this year. prosecution n of corrupt officis has been achieved demand of demonstrators. the united states wants to build a military alliance to safeguard the strategic waters off iran and yemen. the u.s. says it aims to guarantee navigation in the strait of hormuz and bab al-mandab, both crucial trade routes. this comes amid an escalation of tensions between washington n ad tehran. the u.s. rapper nikki mininaj canceled a concert in saudi arabia. she saiaid she wanted to send a single - -- symbol of solidarity to the kingdom. she was supposed to headline the world festival next week but backed down after widespread criticism over saudi arabia's human rights record. britain's ambassador to the united states, kim darroch, has resigned just days after confidential memos branding donald trump's administration as

inept, were leaked. his resignation comes after trump hit back, calling darroch a pompous fool, and british prime minister theresa may foolish when she backed the diplomat. scientists are sounding the alarm about the growth of algae in the world's oceans. a huge mass of algae has just been located off the coast of south america. sometimes it is toxic and kills wildlife like dolphins and turtles. seaweed is another form of algae, and it is starting to take a toll on tourists. reporter: the caribbean and he go for mexican are tourism magnets, boasting sun, sandy beaches, and crystal clear water. but this picture is being disrupted by an unwelcome visitor. like here at a beach in mexico which now looks like this. sarcasm -- sargassum is

disrupting the sensitive ecosystem. the seaweed can reach a length of up to 16 meters, growing up to 10 centimeters a day. it does more than upset the local tourism industry. according to a recent university of south florida study, alglgae growth hasas reached an intercontinental level. since 2011, the sprawling plant has spread to more and more parts of the atlantic ocean. last year at 20 million ton carpet of algae stretched all the way from africa to central america. what has caused this explosive spreread? >> one aspect is the rising temperatures of the oceans. so, global warming supports the growth. the second aspect is an abundance of nutrients. these algae can double their mass within 11 days if they have access to enough nutrients. due to the deforestation of the amazon jungle, huge amounts of nutrient-rich soil are washed away into the oceans. reporter: several luxury resorts

send -- spend hundreds of thousands of euros a year cleaning their beaches. once algae reaches land, it decomposes, creating a pungent odor. >> everyry year r it is differet but there seems to be more algle as the yeaears go by. cleaeaning it up with a huge strarain on local authoritieses. >> to be honest, this stuff affects alall activity on the beach.h. you are expecting to find a clean, sandy beach, but instead find it covered analogy. reporter: what is worse is the effect on marine life. see turtles, for example, cannot make it to the beach through the thick algae, meaning they can no longer lay there eggs there, a serious threat to an already endangered species. brent: tonight there are reports that a chinese anticorruption activist who campaigned to force public officials to disclose their wealth has been arrested and charged with promoting terrorism.

his arrest last week in beijing came as china clamps down on communist party critics. what prompted his arrest is unclear. it is unusual for chinese human rights activists to be accused of terrorism. his wife says she fears her husband will receive a lengthy prison sentence. with more, here is ouour corrrrespondent in beijijing. reporter: he is a dissident who has previously focused on official corruption. he is part of a movement of citizens that sprang up in t the beginning g of this decacade whe maininly focusing on government issues and human rights issues. he has disappeared in 2014 a and was sentenced to two years in jail that time. aftetebeing releleased he refusd tohutt up. he has been detained again just prior to the 30 year anniversary of the tiananmen crackdown which

was earlier this year i in june, and has didisappeared since the. he has been charged with propagating extremism m and terrororism. that is aery severe charnd one that has rarely been n usedn dissidents before. he might face many years inn jal and the charge indicates that we may be seeing another severe crackdown on dissidents here in china. brent: as the saying goes, haters are gonna hate. nowhere is this truer than on twitter. for most people the solution is simple -- block them. but for u.s. president donald trump, a new court ruling means there may be no escaping the haters. maya shwayder is here now to talk about that. so what is this ruling all about? maya: this case upholds an earlier ruling which says trump is not allowed to block twitter users because it violates the right to free speech which is enshrined in the u.s. constitution. he had previously blocked seven users who had been critical of his policies. when you block someone on twitter, for those who do not

know, it means you cannot scan their tweets, you cannot message them, you cannot interact with their profile at all. the judge basically made the point that this digital space is a new kind of modern townhall where people come to express themselves. and by blocking users specifically for their political views, trump is shutting them out of this public forum discussion. brent: he uses twitter to announce policy, right? maya: absolutely. brent: so what are the arguments then that are coming from the trump camp? maya: trump's lawyers basically said that the @real donald trump account that we all know is not his official account, rather it is a personal account. they tried to draw a parallel between trump owning a house and owning a personal twitter account, saying if he chooses to conduct government business in his personal properties, it doesn't suddenly make it government property. and that same logic should apply to social media accounts. now, we do know, it is worth ting that president trump has anfficial presidential twitter acunt, @potus, which stands

foat president of the united states. this account, as we can see, has less than half of the followers of his personal account, and really, it is just re-tweeting statements he makes from that personal account. so now his personal twitter feed, which as you mentioned, he uses to announce major policies, promote his legislativeve agend, has now been ruled as an extension of his presidency whether he likes it or not. brent: the court's rationale here is that trump is a public figure, obviously, and twitter is a public forum, therefore trump cannot keep people from exercising their first amendment rights to free speech. i mean, it sounds like it could have consequences for a lot of people, not only the u.s. president. maya: we are looking at a very interesting legal precedent. and we are already seeing other cases pop up, including alexandria ocasio-cortez. she has been accused of blocking members of the conservative media on twitter.

we have a tweet from the former democratic new york assembly man who says he is exploring filing a suit against her and for other plaintiffs because she blocked him on twitter. and we have a second tweet from a republican -- this is what you see if alexandria ocasio-cortez has blocked you. we have a a second tweet froroma republican running for congress bringing up exactly this issue. he has filed a lawsusuit against aoc for blocking him on twitter. trump is not allowed to block people on twitter. will these standards apply equally? stay tuned to find out, he writes. it is yet to be seen how this will play out, but this is a new standard set by the trump case as to how social media plays a role in public policy discussions. brent: it certainly elevates the position of twitter as well. maya: absolutely. brent: amazing. maya, thank you. new york city was in full party mode today as the u.s. national soccer team came to town with the greatest trophy in the game,

the world cup. the team made its way through the canyon-like streets of new york's financial district where the great and the good have been celebrated in tickertape parades for more than a century. the u.s. team beat the netherlands in the world cup finals sunday. they have been heralded as game-changers for the way they pushed themselves and for their stance on equal pay in sports. dw reporter benjamin gruber was at the parade in new york. he had this to say about the team's achievements. benjamin: new york welcomes the u.s. soccer team. an historic moment for the four-time world champions not only for their performance on the field also their actions off the field. for many fans this team has become a symbol for the fight against discrimination that we still see in women's soccer and also for the fight for equal

pay. brent: from soccer to tennis. at wimbledon, where the men's semifinal lineup is complete. topsy novak djokovic beat david goffin to storm into the final four where he will face -- second seed roger federer is also into the next round after a grueling force that match after nishikori. he has his sights set on the ninth wimbledon title but first he will have to get past rafael nadal in a mouthwatering semifinal clash. there was no stopping the spaniard wednesday as he thrashed the american straight sets. new zealand are in the cricket world cup final after beating india by 18 runs wednesday. india went into bat needing just 240 runs to win. but a nightmare start saw them lose a flood of early wickets. three batsmen had fallen for

just five runs. later on, he did his best to get the win, but was called out as india failed to reach their target. new zealand head into their second consecutive final, where they will face either australia or england on sunday. in cycling, he won the fifth stage of the tour de france. the three-time world champion sprinted to the finish to claim his first stage win at this year's tour despite losing time at the top of the standings. he retains the yellow jersey heading into stage six thursday. a new art show has opened at london's modern art gallery and its creator, a danish-icelandic artist, hopes to provide a feast for the senses.

you will not just see his art, you will also feel, smell, and taste it. he was previously best known for his giant blazing sun which drew more than 2 million visitors there 16 years ago. reporter: being lost in the fog, or being confronted with changing colors. visitors to here can go on a bizarre journey experiencing themselves and environments anew. how our perceptions interpret nature and elements are part of the show by the danish-icelandic, merlin-based art star who is highly paid and makes a few demands of his audience. >> sometimes going to a museum can be hard work. it is not like going to the supermarket. we are here to question ourselves and to see ourselves in the context of the wider world.

reporter: the exhibition is called "in real life" and it shows a few decades of his work where natural spectacles, like moss, or rain that only falls inside the window not outside, have been a constant feature. in 2003, he inspired more than 2 million visitors with a sun made of light bulbs and mirrors. it became a huge public sunbathing along. he had achieved his goal. >> how can we meet without immediately becoming polarized? how do we create a public space where we do not all have to be the same to share it? often you think that someone else is completely different from you, but it is not good to want to be alone. reporter: his installations make sense when you realize they bring people together, and they are interesting and colorful,

too. the artist also s says people he to come together t to fight climatee crisis. he has already brought the idea of climate change directly to european cities with melteded blblocks of ice from greenland. at the end of last year he even put some right in front of the tate so people could see for themselves how beautiful and fragagile the glaciers are. >> he thinks thahat sometimes te climate emergency is commununicated only in a discoue of fear and wantsts the change o discourse of enjoyment and love. what do i love about the world and why should i care about it? reporter: his art today also revolves around scientific findings. but it is not enough for him that people just marvel at nature's beauty. they should finally act to stop climate change and save their environment. brent: here is a reminder of the top stories that we are following for you. ursula von der leyen is seeking

to win backing for her nomination to the european union commission presidency. meeting opposition lawmakers today, she says if elected she will focus on the rule of law, climate change, and improving european defense cooperation. and germany's chancellor has been seen shaking in public again, the third time she has been seen this white in public in a month, sparking concerns about her health. but angela merkel says she feels just fine. you're watching "dw news." after a short break i will be back to take you through "the day." stick around for that. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its captiocontntent and accucuracy. visit ncicap.org]

. in livive fromom paris our correspondents from around the world keep you up to date. yeah the host of the party. to people at the top. the best day of the day at two nd take.. welcome back to frarance and you find son of chante these the main headlines at this hour. the u. k. ambassador to washington who is being in fact you can't agency session this wednesday. the wall and diplomatic adviser to a menund michaelel met with officials in iran. in a bid to salvage the nuclear deal and ease tensions. was a coming up here in front live from paris counsel american missiles and upn