>> as the country continues to battle covid-19, the french government is meeting a representative of the nation's health care workers along with unions as employees call for an increase in salaries. andhe chief a aide traveled 400 withometers in contradiction the travel orders. they are now calling for a full investigation. and banning all flights in brazil after covid-19 explodeses in latin america''ss longest -- largrgest economy.

hello, welcome back to the france 24 mood -- newsroom. the e government's it's down wih health-care workers and union reprpresentatives to discuss the future of the nation's health care system. this as employees call for a rise in salaries. , cases and france are significantly less than the european average. many abandoned their careers becaususe of low pay. >> an overhaul of the french health system is in the cards at this meeting that will take place via videoconference for health reasons. participantsve 300 from the hospital and health sector as well as government .fficials

president macron listening to the many complaints of health care workers who say they are the victims of chronic underfunding. that they are the victims of budget cuts dating back decades. france has seen this is a very good health system. they say that the cuts are starting to show. they are really at a stretch with the coronavirus pandemic and now they need more money. they want pay raises. they are demananng a 300 euro a month pay raise. is 28 out of 32 they need to be brought up to the european average. doctors and nurses would be allowed to go over the 35 hour minimum. these will be tough talks

between the various health sector unionons and the government. >> as you have pointed out, these issues are not new. but the pandemic has brought them to the four. .- fore >> going back to 2019, we saw sporadic walkouts and trikes -- and strikes. visits have that doubled the last 20 years. we haves and months, had doctors and people working in emergency care saying they cannot cope, but the system is about to collapse. --s is malaise felt below before the coronavirus pandemic. but it has brought things into sharp focus. the french government mobilized

the army, setting up field hospitals in one of the worst affected areas. they want to use it more widely during the more long-term future. british prime minister boris johnson has defended his chief aide dominic cummings that traveled while the country was in lockdown. it left him with no alternative but to make the 400 kilometers trip. it is an insult. catherine has more. >> pressure is mounting on boris johnson to fire h his senior

advisor for violating lockdown rules. while the country was effectively under house arrest, cummings drove with his family 400 kilometers from london to the north of england. and there are new allegations in havesh media that he may violated the lockdown more than once. >> he hahasn't cacalled for a an investigation. >> thehe prime minister has come to cummings defense, saying that he understood why he did it. >> he has acted responsibly, legally, and with integrity. and with the aim of stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives.

quelled the voices calling for resignation. >> if you wish to apply a wide commonsensnse set of rules, you can do it. it is ridiculous and it has to stop. is standing by his man, resisting calls to sack cummings. >> we are following an explosion of infections, brazil having the second highest number of cases. this is the latin american region. >> the mexican tradition of celebrating the dead continues. wiwith the number of deaths

spiraling, latin america has become the epicenter of the world's battle a against the coronavirus. is the second most affected country in the region after brazil. work isparamedics, the dominated by coronavirus related calls. >> [speaking foreign language] >> not far behind is peru. nine weeks later the country is still grappling with the ever-increasing death toll. to aid in the e fight agagainste virus, the country's defense minister announced that peru will be stepping up to deal with the current influx of coronavirus patients. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> the pandemic has been worsened by underfunded hospitals, struggling economies and impoverished communities. while the health care system is under immense strain. the lockdown has taken a harsh economic toll in the poorest parts of the population. >> covid-19 news in japan as shinto of a has shifted aid to combat the virus. about 16,600 confirmed cases and avoiding theoo far -- overtaking iran to

become one of the 1 10 worst hit i inns, close to 7000 cases 24 hours taking the total to more than 138,000. this is allowing some domestic air travel to resume. lockdown measures will finally be eased for people in madrid and barcelona today. cities will the two be able to meet in groups of up to 10 people. masks are already compulsory in buildings and on streets. now south carolina was among the first of the american states to lift some restrictions back in april. as a result, locals can get a haircut, eat at a restaurant. tourists are still missing,

making a rebound even harder for a city such as charleston where tourism is a crucial part of the economy. reporter: this is one of f the oldest plantations in the u.s. after a two-month coronavirus shutdown, the gardens have just reopened t to the public. >> and it is wonderful. thank you so much. reporter: every year, 700,000 visitors stroll ththrough the gardenens of the magnolia plantation. the director expects that number to be cut by three and believes the road to recovery wiwill be a long one. people is the deal for to start traveling nationally and d internationally. we tookk a $4 million n hit i in those two o months.

reporter:: charleston county's numbers seem encncouraging, but the economic impact is still devastating. >> the rate of increase has been declining now. at the shutdown has had a trying to getact back open. the city's economy is heavily dependent on t tourists. the owner is relieved to be allowed to reopen, but worried that restrictions will make it harder to recover. >> [speaking foreign language]

reporter: a second wave of virus coupled with the lockdown would be fatal to the american dream. >> five years after the volkswagen diesel emissions scandal became public, the german federal court has passed a binding compensation claim. it was modified to appear less polluting. and in a bit of good news, the french tourism sector is looking for a breath of fresh air and some greenery. they are trying to explore the country.

>> they have rarely seen this level of excitement. with escape from the capital. >> [speaking foreign language] >> just a short walk from the villages the areas main draw. near the forest, an opportunity to get back to nature. >> this is paradise for the impressionist.

reopened. museum just this is the head of the local tourist office. he is delighted with the influx of visitors, a lifeline for the hotel sector. >> [speaking foreign language] >> this local guesthouse is occupied. they will have to wait a little longer before they are allowed to go out to eat. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> the surrounding area is open for the quick return of foreign tourists. >> please stay with us on france 24. >> hello, and welcome to the interview here on france 24. my guess is among the rear lyrical artists to have raised stages o of the paris opera, the met in new york, and headlining at the jazz festival, lending her talents to the world of musical theater. barbara hendricks has not only used her voice in the service of the superlatives musicalal care, she has also been a staunch defender of human rights watch in her role as ambassador to the high commissioner for refugees. she joins us now to tell us more

about the concert shshe is givig for that very cause. barbara hendrix, thank you for joining us. >> how are you? >> you are preparing for an online concert staged in stockholm, called the road to freedom. you will see that as your fellow , that show will be live-streamed. is that a huge part of your life, defending the rirights of refugeeses? why is this couourt so imimportt riright now? >> refugees find themselves among the most vulnerable i i -- vulnerable parts of f our socie. waterave little access to , soap, and social distatancings almost impmpossible. i have been thinking since being in confinement, this is how refugees feel all the time.

they are wondering when kids will go to school again. when w will we start a a normal life? they have been forced to f flee wars. maybe pepeople can feel a lilite bit what it t might feel like to be a r refugee. to realize how they are really menaced by covid-19. to mind martin luther king's only road to freedom. it i is something of an i influe here in america, i believe. they played an important role during that moment. it w would not have happened

without the many unknown women who facilitated that movement. parks, butss of there were other women. diane mash, daisy y bates, mary lou humummer. m message i is one of lovove and solidarity. i have seen so many exampmples f people being generous and helping others during this pandemic.. that it gives me e great faith whwhen things calm down andnd we ablele to get backck to normamai think ththat we will look at lie a little bit differently. o outl value more anand reach to those that are close to us and our neighbors.

so when this concert, i will be quotes.ite a few cannot reduce h hate or get rid of hate. only l love can do t that. alive at a time when the jim crow laws of segregatitn were put in place. he said it was like being a refugee in your own country. did you believe that you would go on to be one of the world's most famous opera singers and you would see a black man elected president of your country? >> i didn't. i was mostly focucused on mathematics and physics. i wawas singing in a choir. and i knew that mumusic wawas gg toto be rtrt of my life e all oy life.

i loved it. i loved singing. itit is not even partrt of my dreamsms. so it cameme about because i h e a talent. that talent and i followed it. that is what m made me give up e scscience. i did not know a black man would become president. it i is one of the great milestones in american history. but there have been n so many setbacks to what was gained by the movement of martin luther king, the gutting of the voting rights bill that was done some years ago. diedre were manyy people who

trying t to help people inin mississippi register too vote. wewe have takeken many steps fod and d some steps back. but we must keep up the fight. martinin luther king said if you can't fly, run. if you can't run, walk. if you can't walk, crawl. but do whatever you need to do to keep moving forward. but the fight, you never give up. freedom i is not given. it is earned. i believeve that. see t the when i , weuality of this pandemic see that we have a lot of work to do. and we will keep doing that work

because i see examples of love and generosity all around us. love always wins in the end. >> u.n. agencies have worked, knowing that these people will bring visibility to their work. the platforms are much more limited. you campaigned against apartheid as a guest editor of vogue magazine in the 1980's. but now a social media, everybody seems to have a platform. is there a danger that the key messages are getting lost here? i plaororms are p pretty specific.. i came to social media quite late. judge other people's work. i think the most important things for me was to be able to get thee messasage across.

means i have to keeeep the noise about my own life quiet becacause there is so littlele e given. it i is very important and sometimes a very complicated message. differenttuatioions are the world over. by abuseusually caused of rights. the solutions are always political. that makes it quite complicated to get the message across. movedi mentioned, you between an operatic classical repertoire to the world of blues and jazz which is perhaps closer to american musical traditions. can you tell l us more about eclecticism and how you recognize -- reconcile this in the musisical world? music.e, music is i don't have any divisions.

growing up, i would inquire in school. so we sang jazz, we sang bok. mozart. did wast opera that we where i played a boy. there were no divisions between the music that we sang. it was just music. therere is j just that feelingnt music, that openness andd curiosity. ways.are two different

i grew up in america and i carried those routes very deeply. roots very deepeply. i spent most of my life in europe. to carryvery blessed those culturures in me. in the end, we a are all africa. we have access to so much culturure. the value of art in n our livess ththat it can access bebecause t conversation.ng i i feel rich being able to spek ababout the classical one and te jazz. me, they haveto

been able to share music with others. beingr concert is streamed with no live audience, but an international virtual crowd. the audience is coming to terms with the new normal. in germany, they staged a classical concert with social distancing. some directors are refusing to go ahead with socially distance performances or rehearsals. artshink the performing are going to have to adapt to make significant changes? or are they going to sit this one out? are adapting.g. there are mamany musicians that fromiguring out concerts their homes a and from their own ststudios. i think we are going to have too listen to the scientists and not take thehe risks too soon. we have gone thrhrough times off

war and i think the arts may come out. will go b back to sitting in has and hugging each other.

man: donald trump has become the first u.s. president to officially recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. woman: it is a controversial and politically risky move. man: ...a wall of flames. man 2: fears that this could create further tension. woman: fears it could spark a new uprising in the middle east. crawford: hello. i'm alex crawford in jerusalem and this is "hotspots." tonight, we're gonna take you behind the scenes of some of the world's biggest and hardest-hitting stories. we get caught up in the violence in and around jerusalem and the west bank. man: the level of anger was intense. crawford: we're on the scene as zimbabwe's military topples its longtime dictor