brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, the consequences of violent protest. chile says it will not be able to h host two major global summits. chile's president is struggling to resolve major unrest. he says the cup 25 summit and the apec summit cannot take place in this country. and the damnging response to the grenfell tower fire.

and a crowd in kathmandu celebrates the return of the mountain climber who scaled 14 of the world's tallest mountain feeds in record-breaking time. brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all around the world, welcome. tonight chile has called off two international summits in a new setback for embattled president sebastian piñera. he says he needs to focus on restoring calm to the country which has seen days of deadly protests. 18 people have died in the unrest. new venues have to be found for the cop25 climate summit and for the apec trade summit, which was

scheduled to bring together world leaders including u.s. president donald trump and china's president xi jinping. reporter: for days, chile's capital, santiago, has resembled a war zone. protesters throwing rocks and stones at police. they responding in kind with water cannon, teargas, and more. it is against ththis backdrop tt chile's embattled president has taken a decision he must regret. to cancel hosting not one, but two upcoming international summits. >> we deeply lamented the problems in the inconvenience that this decision will have on abc as well as -- apec as well as for the cop25 summit.

as president of all chileans, i have to always put the problems and interests of the chileans, their necessities, and their hopes first. reporter: president piñera has already replaced a third of his cabinet in his latest attempt to quell l the unrest. but chileans continue to take to the streets. up to a million marching against inequality, poor public services, and a struggling economy. few are bothered by the decision not to host either the apec summit in november or the u.n. climate meeting a month later. >> it's true, these kinds of summits bring some benefits, but as long as there are no laws or no constitution to distribute

the benefits, it is fine to cancel them. reporter: and so the mass protests go on as chileans demand what they see as a brighter and fairer future. brent: for more now, let's go to santiago, where correspondent john bartlett is standing by. good evening to you, john. this is quite a climbdown for the chileans government. a few days ago the president was insisting that these two high-profile events had to take place, and then this u-turn. john: yeah, i think it is interesting. the more you let it percolate and think about what the decision means, ththe more it makes sense. when you look from the security point of view, it is not safe at the moment. it is the last day you would want to be sending world leaders. from that point of view it makes

sense. you are right, it is a huge climbdown. their other way of looking at it is the public relations side of things, where a journalist asked questions of the world leader who come to the apec or the cop25 what they thought of this situation on the ground. they would be unlikely to give a favorable answer from the chile and government point of view. this is still dramatic when you look at the number of people who put the preparations in place and volunteers and things they have had to do to hold out the event. brent: it is dramatic to say that it is not safe to have people around the world coming to chile. what is driving these protests in the violence that seemingly dodo not want toto stop? jojohn: yeah, i don't have any doubt that the delay in -- chilean government would have

enabled the hold the event. i don't know if it is too dangerous to do that overall, but it seems at the situation on the streets is prpretty despera. i was out last night and the demands are still the same. people are basically looking at these entrenched social economic inequalities and wanting a kind of systemic change from which is harder to come by. it has coalesced into a call for a new constitution. there is a movement from the opposition to have a plebiscite pr a assembly or some kind of constitutiononal process.. itit is difficult at the moment. and whetether a new constitution is viable anyway is two different things. those are the main concerns. most of them c can be rooted in the constitution to some extent. brent: correspondent john bartlett joining us from santiago. john, thank you. now to the middle east.

syria's civil war has been raging for 8 years, despite numerous initiatives aimed at ending the conflict. one promising proposal that could pave the way to peace is underway in geneva. delegates from the syrian government, opposition, and civil society have started talks on a new constitution. it is hoped that the process can build trust among the warring factions and create a solid foundation for future peace deal. reporter: it is the first time that the main rivals in syria's civil war have met to discuss a new constitution. representatives of the assad government, opposition groups, and civil society have gathered in geneva for talks led by geir pederson. he describes it as an historic moment. >> the fact that you are here today sitting together face-to-face, ready to start a dialogue and negotiations, is i believe a powerful sign of hope for syrians everywhere. reporter: the talks are backed

by russia and are aimed at finding a political settlement after eight and a half years of civil war. although some kurds are involved, a political delegation from the syrian democratic forces was excluded. the assad government's chief representative expressed guarded optimism. >> this is the starting point for a political process to solve the crisis that has ravaged our homeland. reporter: composition and some civil society groups are advocating a constitution would would include a division of power and would be for all syrians and including those living in exile. >> victory in syria means achieving justice and peace, not winning the war. reporter: no one is expecting the talks to be easy. political analysts asked whether the assad government will be able to make concessions after recent military gains. brent: here are the other stories making headlines around

the world. turkish president erdogan has condemned the u.s. resolution that recognizes the mass killings of armenians by ottoman forces during world war i as genocide. he says turkey does not recognize the vote, calling it worthless. the u.s. house of representatives is calling for sanctions against turkey f for s military incncursi i into syria. in camerin, -- camameroon, a at leasast 42 people have died in a landslide. the landslide hit t monday following mass downwnpours that flflooded the ararea. the governor of the province says many of the homes were built in an unsafe area and that several people have been rescued. the german government has drawn up new proposals to get tougher on online hate speech. it follows a spike in far-right attacks including the murder of a politician and the attempt by heavily armed man to start the synagogue earlier this month.

-- storm is synagogue this month. the government says there is a connection between violent ideas spread on the internet and violent acts carried out in real life. reporter: hate speech a challenge around the world and across the web that germany is taking seriously. the country has reason to, with officials pointing to one case out of may. the murder of a local politician shot dead earlier this year allegedly for his pro-immigrant stance by suspect found at far right links. he is believed to have carried out the crime alone, but officials believe the hate-filled web platforms he was part of gave him the push to do so. that makes online speech more dangerous than equivalent statements made in real life. >> it carries a different way to depending on whether you are insulted at a bar where only you and a few other people here it, or if it is online, where everybody in the world hears it. reporter: the proposals agreed

to by angela merkekel's cabinet include giviving authorities moe power to control, investigate, and prosecute extremists online. that would go bond legislation passed in 2017 which compelsls internet companies to delete or block certain types o of conten. now they have to report it to german law enforcement. politicians have been in office for over a a year on how to tighteten regulations. -- been at odds for over year on how to 10 regulations. they say that far-right violence has given them newfound awareness. "i can't say it enough, our eyes are fully open. it is imperative we step up our efforts to confront far right terrorism and extremism anti-semitism, because we have not view thisis in the same ways islamist terror and other things." now it is up to the bundestag to

turn the proposal into law. they will have to figure out how to enforce new rules against multinational committees and enhance law-enforcement oversight of online hate speech. brent: i'm joined by our chief political correspondent melinda crane. germany already has legislation in place that puts the burden on internet companies to delete or block offensive content. are these new and more stringent measures going to take online hate speech? melinda: well, primarily by requiring the same online platforms to go a step further and to report any content that is either inciting violence containing death threats or otherwise part of the general category known as hate speech. and they would also require the online platforms to disclose offenders' ip addresses. that is a significant step further.

beyond that, there were a number of other measures introduced as well, including the establishment of a new hate- crime unit in the security authority and also increased funding for deradicalization and prevention as well as protection of local politicians, and tighter gun control measures. brent: how is this being received? these new proposals, are they popular? melinda: well, there is commendation both from civil society groups, ngos, and from some members of the opposition saying this is necessary step in the right direction, but that mild praise is mixed with a lot of concern about whether this goes far enough and also about the feasibility of implementation, particularly when it comes to holding the online platforms to account. brent: and how can the authorities ensure that social-media platforms are going to cooperate?

melinda: well, that's the central issue. obviously by imposing fines, german law does already impose fines on companies that don't take hate speech down when they encounter it. the opposition is saying any fines that are imposed are not large enough and don't contain strict enough measures. and the fact is, it will be very, very difficult for authorities to oversee to what degree the online platforms are complying. let's say they do comply. again, a huge burden on the authorities, which presumably would be swamped with various notifications that they would have to pursue, and many, many experts say the authorities absolutely are not equipped to comply with the likely mass of notifications they would then receive. in the past, we know that

platforms like facebook have taken some measures to comply with german law, and they were very quick to say that they plan to process any request from the authorities in germany much more quickly than in the past. that being said, in the past they have taken up to a month to process such requests. there is a lot of room for improvement here. brent: melinda crane on the story for us here in berlin. melinda, thank you. you are watching "dw news." coming up, after 39 people died inin a trailer near london, we asked is the business of people smuggling moving? we see how easy it can be to ship secret human cargo. that is coming up in just a moment. it is a damning find into the investigation in the grenfell tower fire in london. investigators said the emergency response had serious shortcomings.

72 people died in the apartment blaze two years ago. the report only covers the emergency response, which the judge-led inquiry says had systemic failures and was gravely inadequate. our london correspondent has more. reporter: grenfell tower in flames. the fire lasted all night. people jumped out of the windows in a desperate attempt to flee the blaze. joe delaney near that lived nearby and film that all. he says the fire can get in because the key didn't fit and he seemed over well. >> it was just chaos. you could see that they felt like this was urgent. they piled in at once. some of them went inn even without a breathing apparatus on. some of them didn't have helmets. reporter: joe delaney provided

his video to the inquiry. he says he wants to see the people responsible for the safety lapses brought to account . >> that is just getting inside the tower i want people in handcuffs, people in courtrooms, people in jail cells. i don't want people in print, where it says what they have done wrong, because what use is that? >> the inquiry has had a catalog of failings that led to the fire spreading uncontrollably, such as fire lifts for the emergency services networking, and that the building itself did not comply with fire-safety regulations. any criminal convictions that the residents here so desperately want to see are not expected anytime soon. they can only come out of a separate investigation that is being led by the police. ththe inquiry report criticizes the fire brigade for a series of

bad decisions on the night of the fire, with disastrous consequences. but many people blame the local counsel. they said complaints made before the fire were ignored and they didn't feel safe. >> the flats were totally neglected for decades. they had intention to sell it, and they were probably waiting to phase us all out. spend minimal money on it and gave it minimal attention to it because it was minimal worth at the time, as were we. in the context of cuts, in the context of privatization, in the context of demechanician, and in the context -- deregulation, and in the context of residence of housing mappings into. repoporter: they want to see the faulults of grenfell tower remedied in other buildings to avoid a repeat of the disaster. brent: the discovery last week of 39 bodies in a truck trailer

near london has turned a spotlight on security and european ports. that is where millions of tons of freight pass every week. most of the victims reportedly came from vietnam, and their journey to the u.k. took them through the belgian port of zeebrugge. questions are being raised about security procedures there. dw's reporters pick up the story from there. reporter: it is the end of a long workday. truckers prepared to spend the night near seaburg up -- zeeb rugge port. they have been on edge since last week when 39 bodies were found in the truck that passed through here. they're worried of smugglers could use their containers to send migrants to the u.k. without their knowing. a trucker claims it happened to one of his colleagues. >six people got inside his truc?-- six people got inside his truck? >> yeah, yeah.

problem. reporter: this hasn't happened to you? >> no. reporter: he shows us the seal he attaches to the back of each container he moves. the back door cannot be opened without destroying the bolt. still, the gadget isn't foolproof. others told us that smugglers can always get around the security measures. as truckers settle in for the night, dockworkers continue to load the next ship bound for the u.k. it is hard not to wonder whether one of these containers might be full of people. zeebrugge is one of the busiest trucking container ports in the world, with 40 million tons of goods passing through annually. security is tight, but authorities say that with so many containers coming and going, it is impossible to make sure that humans are not being smuggled across these waters to england. every truck delivering a container to the dock must pass

through this kind of control port. officialtake several photos of the truck as well as the driver and the license plate. they checked the photos, but no one checks the seals. that is up to the shipping companies. only one out of every 100 trucks is x-rayed to check the cargo. the harbormaster says the port auththority cannot havave an overviewew of what the trucks ae carrying. with zeebrugge's budget and personnel, that would create massive delays, he says. >> it is good if you were able to scan every single container. is it only the responsibility of the port, or is the whole chain of logistic events involved in this? reporter: i asked if he believed there were ways to stop the human smuggling and t the deaths that often result. >> i think, first of all, we should do everything that is possible to avoid deaths. but of course we are dealing with criminal activity. criminal activity, they are always one step ahead,

unfortunately. if you have controls in the port, they will move somewhere else. brent: the local and national polilice declined to comment o n the role in forcing security and zeebrugge. for now it seems that smugglers will continue to operate using this port as a key point in the clandestine and sometimes deadly industry. brent: russians are remembering the thousands of people killed in stalinist purges in the 1930's. course to the chinese border, our correspondent met a man who discovered chilling evidence of those killings in his own back garden. reporter: "look at this whole -- hole here," he says. >> i wanted to extend my house what i was diggingng the hole fr the f foundations i found one skull, than a second, third,

and so on. reporter: he has 10 sacks of human bones in his garden. a government commission says they date back to a mass grave in the 1930's. he lives with his family in the far east of russia. the city on the chinese border saw mass executions during the stalinist purges, a period known by people as the great terror. at the same time, a thousand kilometers away, the people of moscow a remembering the victims of that terror. they tell the stories of their fathers and uncles, ran fathers and great uncles--grandfathers and great uncles, the stories of their families persecuted by stalin between 1936 and 1938 as supposed enemies of the regime. "my grandfather was arrested and tortured," says this woman.

"they knocked his teeth out." "he was 7676ers old.d. restst in peace--76 years old. rest in peace." 1.5 million soviet citizens were arrested in only two years. half of them were killed. this ceremony is part of a national event instigated the human rights organization memorial 12 years ago. >> i'm happy that a lot t of people have come here, especially young russians, to remember the terror of the soviet regime. we should never forget our terrrrible history. reporter: many see the fact that the commemoration is taking place in front of the headquarters of the russian secret service, the fsb, as symbolic. critics of russian president vladimir putin, a former head of the fsb, fear a return to o the autocratic government.

>> three years ago we were accused of being foreign agents, but we kept on anyway b becausea lot of people depend on us. that is most important. reporter: he has repeatedly asked to the authorities for help in dealing with the remains in his garden. > i've asked them for the pat year. they say they don't have the money or the staff. the only thing they promised was to come and pick up the remains, but only after i have dug them out myself. reporter: a small local undertaker's business has helped was at the burial of a small liberal the victims. --small number of the victims. when he complains they have been very and -- buried anonymously and without dignity.

brent: from below the ground to above, a mountain climber in nepal has made a triumphant return in kathmandu. he broke the previous record by more than, get this, seven years. reporter: back on solid ground. he received a rock star's welcome on his return to kathmandu on wednesday. the nepali climbers scaled all of the world's mountain peaks in just 189 days, a record-breaking feat which required enormous sacrifice. >> i gave a lot of money for this project. i had to sell my house. this was the project where nobody believed it could be done. when i first started talking about this, people were making joke out of me. reporter: his expedition began in april, taking in everest and

12 otherer deaeath-defying clims before culminating at the summit ofof china's mountain on tueses. >> as i said, there was no greed in this project. there was no selfishness in this project. the project was never about the risk. it was truly about the human endeavor. reporter: while happy to have completed the challenge, he won't be celebrating too long, and plans to return to work as a mountaineering guide in the next few days will some folks, it seems, cannot get enough of the highlight. brent: you must have good lungs. after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day." [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

area will be live. in la in just a moment . welcome back let's go straight to california because firefighters that are currently battling and mu fost movining blaze which is threatening amongst other things the ronald reagan presidential library in the los angeles area well nearby homes have been evacuated as fire crews raced to protect the area from fast moving flames. which are being made all the more unpredictable because of powerful gusts of wind. another fire the los angeles there is burning