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berlin. in the race to become the next german chancellor, there may just be a new front runner. and he's from bavaria. today, german chancellor angela merkel held a public get together with the leader of both area and that has much of germany and europe asking, is he the one? also coming up tonight, france

celebrates bastille day, the coronavirus version. a scaled-down ceremony was held in paris paying tribute to the nation's health care workers.. and ravaged byby decades off conflict, somalia's capital is confronting the e coronavirus.s. we will tell you who is keeping people safe in mogadishu. plus, we have been here before. in california, bars, restaurants, and places of worship are shut down again over a new surge in the coronavirus. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers watching on pb set -- pbs in the united states and around the world, welcome. we start tonight with a get together that has big political overtones. german chancellor angela merkel

was down south and bavaria to attend a cabinet meeting of the state government. she was invited by bavaria state premier. that has political observers abuzz. they say the meeting might have been something of a job interview to decide if he would be a good candidate to secede miracle. >> the bavarian palace, a beautiful and rather unusual backdrop for the meeting of the bavarian state premier markus soder, and angela merkel. the relationship between the two has not always been this cordial. >> it was a wonderful day. >> the day started with a picture ask ken welell orchestrated boat trip to the island, much more fillable than a more convenient helicopter flight would have been. that was followed by a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, the pair asassembling a region with a crn

prince. angela merkel does not want to comment on the question on everyone's lips. >> concerning the issue with my successor, i want to observe a certain restraint which means i will not comment on the question in any way. reporter: more than half of german -- half think markus soder he would be great. soder definitely turned this into a complement and says it is all thanks to the chancellor. >> the fact that germany got through this crisis better than other countries is down to the influence and leadership of the chancellor. reporter: angela merkel's trip to bavaria was a display of harmony. pictures like these certainly will not hurt bavaria's state premier on the road to a possible candidacy for the chancellorship. brent: let's take this story to our correspondent.

she is covering the story a in berlin. good evening. the last time i saw the german chancellor republic without scenery, i think she was meeting with the french president macron. i think before that, it was barack obama. the other u.s. president. this is not what we expect from miracle, is it? melinda: no. those pictures were practically idyllic. the fact is though that she is not the person who chose those rather romantic settings. it was her host. that however makes this meeting even more notablble, because the fact is this is the same politician who in 2018, made it clear during the election campaign that he did not need a visit from the chancellor because he had another chancellor coming. that was the more conservative chancellor of austria. this was at a time when these two so-called sister parties, chancellor merkel's christian

democrats and the bavarian social, crisped in social union, when they were barely on speaking terms. . that has all changed. in part because markus soder has moved more toward the middle of the political spectrum and distance himself from the white rating -- right-wing populism. but also because the two of them are winners, and winners love other winners. both of them emerged from the corunna crisis looking quite strong in the. public opinion because in health and everything else was second. brent: when you look at those pictures from today, it looks like it could have been a job interview, or even looks like it could have been a first date. can we say tonight that markus soder is angela -- angela merkel's handpicked successor? melinda: no, we cannot say that. she made that very clear today,

saying she was not going to be anointing a successor and passing over another question that tried it drill deeper on that. she had a handpicked successor. that was the current defense minister. that didn't work out too well. i think she is going to be very careful to play her cards close to her chest. brent: what are you hearing from your sources and bavaria? how likely is soder to throw in his name into the ring? melinda: the name is in the ring anyway. he often says oh, his places and bavaria and that is where he wants to stay. but at the same time, he says things like, i can't help the fact that people are talking about me. i think what is going on is a wait and see game where he wants to see whether the party, the christian democrats and the christian social unit, whether they stay strong in the polls. if so, i think he likely will become the candidate. if not, he may decide to wait

another 4, 5 years and then try his chances. brent: we will see. our correspondent melinda crane on the story for us in berlin. thank you. from bavaria to berlin. german chancellor merkel switched her attempted -- or attention from domestic to international politics. she welcomed the spanish prime minister and the german capital a few days ahead of the important european union summit. warning that time is running out to reach a deal on the eu's budget as well as a coronavirus recovery fund for europe. she says germany will push for a compromise agreement at the summit this weekend. she says that spain will do all it can to make that deal happen. in france, millions of people have been celebrating bastille day, the country's national holiday, only this year, it is taking place under the shadow of the coronavirus. public celebrations have been canceled or scaled back to keep the virus in check.

in the capital paris, for the first time since 1945, authorities have canceled the traditional parade along the shop's daily is a. instead, france's leader paid a tribute to the doctors and nurses on the front line of the coronavirus crisis. reporter: an emotional message of thanks for france's health care workers. normally, it is the day france marks the birth of its republic with military pomp and marching soldiers. this year's bastille day honor to the central workers on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic. and it is not just tributes. president macron has already promised 8 billion euros to fund pay rises for existing nunurses and care workers, and to hire more. but that is too little, too late for the thousands of protesters a few kilometers away. many health workers are angry it took a pandemic to draw attention to years of cost cuts that have put health services

under pressure. >> first of all, we are not heroes. we save lives. this day is on entering the military. i no longer have confidence, not in my country, not in my present -- president, not in justice. >> a cry of alarm has been sounded in emergency rooms with some closing. maternity wards are closing. although we need them. reporter: normally, crowds would fill the streets to watch the official celebrations. but members of the public were not allowed to attend. instead, family members of medical workers who died fighting the pandemic point president macron to watch a smaller r military displplay. physically distance troops war face masks. that is one health measure the president wants to expand. >> in the next weeks, i would like masks to be compulsory in all closed public spaces.

we're doing it already on public transport and it works. reporter: in a bastille day, tv interview, macron acknowledged the reinfection rate was rising. he announcnced plans to reopenel schools in september under conditions as normal as possible. as france celebrates a national day that was far from normal, esessential workerers hope ththe tention ththe p pandemic has brought them will bring better pay and conditions too. brent: we have a look at the other stories making headlines around the world. the united nations says tens of thousands of migrants, mostly ethiopians, are stranded in yemen due to coronavirus restrictions. at least 14,500 of them have been bused or trucked to cities such as my reap amid accusations that they contribute to the spread of infection. many have been forced to camp out in abandoned buildings. going maxwell has been denied

bail afterer pleading not guilty to sex crime charges linked to alleged dealings with her former associate jeffrey epstein. u.s. prosecutors say maxwell is a flight risk.k. she is accusused of helping the late epstein recruit and sexually abuse young girls. one e third of b bgladesh isis ununderwater a after somome o oe heaviest mononsoon rains in a decade.. officials say that close to 1.5 million people in the north of the country have either been marooned by the flooding orr forced to flee their homes. rivers are expected to rise further in the coming days. five years ago today, a landmark deal to rein in iran's nuclear program was signed, but now the deal is almost worthless. the agreements show that they would limit their activities in return for the lifting of economic sanctions. in 2018, the u.s. pulled out of the deal whihich had been signgd with germany, france, china,

russia and the u.k. the u.n. nuclear watchdog says iran has already tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since then. for more tonight, i'm joined by the foundation for defense of democracies, a think tank and registered lobby organization in the u.s.. he joins me from washington. you have been a vocal supporter of trump's campaign of maximum pressure on iran. has that policy resulted in a maximum response from iran, not being iran n wanting ev m more o have a a nuclear b bom >> great to be with you. i'm a a supporterer of the polif enenactments off pressurure. they have only seldom m saint -- changed ititsecurity p policy ad it has only changed i its secury policy and the 41 years.. when cononfronted with maximum presessure. a good case study is the end of

the iran-iraq war. as it rerelates to the nuclear deal, trump is still seeeeking a bigger, broader, bteter deal. maximumum pressure is yet to dedeliver irananians to the tab. let's not fororget the sanctions have been in place now foror ovr a yeyear, yearr and a h half. they have had thehe macroecononc impactct that is much greater tn the past generation decadede of multililateral sanctctns. to me, it is more a question o f when they may come to the table, not if tehran comes to the table. brent: let's talk about what we have seen in the last couple of years. we have seen hawks in the administration, john bolton who has been pushing for a military confrontation with iran, but donald trump has resisted d tha. hahas that beeeen a disappointm? benham: i think a military confrontntation of the u.s. woud force upon iran would be a grgrs miststake. even responding to ironic -- iranian over to military x

collation with strikes on iranian territory would also o e a mistakeke. what would not be a mistake woululd be using forcece judiciy to iranianan de-escalation.. that wouldld merit the usese of force. i think iraq is an exampmple, te persian gulf is an example, sysyria is an exexample where ee use of f force is possible, responsisibly and jujudiciously. i think right now too start a conflict whichch the administraration is not lookingo start wouldld be imporortant. i don'n't think john bolton, t e clear in those instances he hadd a disagreement with ththe presidenent, was looking t to initiatete a conflict. i think he was looking to respond to iranian escalation. i believe it was in response to the downing of the american drone. brent: i was just thinking of the quote from mr. bolton where he said that we should bomb the you know what out of them. let me ask you,, looooking forw, to the u.s. presesidential election. what will a victory for biden, what will that mean for u.s. policy in iran?

benham: a joe biden administration w what had - -- d have to be carefeful. there would be a temptation to reverse 180 from president trump and rejoin v various multilaterl agreements, be it arms-controlol oror environonmental things thae trump p administration has left. but to do it for domestic polilitics would lead will --- uld leave e one clear winner. the clear winner would be the islamic public of iran. . a unilateral embrace of thehe jcpoa, while iranian bad behaviorss increasing, would ononly reward that bad behavavi. and f forget that amemerica wors best when itit has its partner behindnd it, as part of aa concerted series ofof escalating pressure. i think if there is a biden administration, they n need to rebuild the coalition, they need to capitalize on the track -- from the t time that trump took, and had this maximum pressure campaign, and yields the

prospects of relief to get first a change in behavior by iran. brent: let me ask you, we have 30 seconds. what can the united states bring to the table to convince its european partners to change their stance on the iranian nucleaear deal? they have not changed it the last five yrs.. benham: the most important p pty that i t thinkill slowlyly chane europe'ss view is n not even the uniteded states, it t will be te inteternationall energy. you have seen a coarsening of their position on iran because iranan is not jusust in violatif the jcpoa. they a are in violation of other agreements.. it is this new reporting since march, where they could deliver a bridging of the transatlantic gap betweenen, europe andnd amea and perhaps multilateral lies the pressure or get more multilateral support for bigger, broader, better deaeal. brent: benham ben taleblu from the foundation for defense of democracies joining us tonight from washington, we appreciate your time and insights tonight. thank you. benham: pleasure.

thank you. brent: the trial of someone who is accused of crimes against humanity has begun. head of the islamic police in timbuktu in west africa. prosecutors allege he was responsible for torture, rape and sexual slavery. it is claimed that he was a key member of ansar deep, with links to al qaeda which ruled timbuktu from april 2012 and january 2013. our west africa correspondent sent us this assessment of the case. reporter: torture, , rape, sexul slavery. some of the most brutal acts off war crimes a and crimes against humanity. these are just some of the charges wrought forward against him who is being tried it today at the icc. now the man himself, an alleged

member of an extremist group from 2012 until early 2013, this man says the charges are not serious enough to be dealt with at a global court. witnesses say the man was not only a member, but a defective chief of the islamic police that enforced a system of fear under the very strict law. he is not thehe first suspect to be tried at this court. a former member has been sentenced to nine years in prison in 201616. this trial may take longer for pragmatic reasons. due to the global p pandemic, certain witnesses cannot travel. the entirire case may onlnly leo a short note i in west africa. let alone in a country which is currently in the midst of a turmoil and violent up peoplple against the governmentnt. ss protests for weeks,

demanding the resisignation of e prpresident, the man who hasas n in office since e 2013. but so far, was not able to effectctively contain the violee in the country and bring terrorism and interethnic violence to a halt. brent: fanny facsar there reporting. mogadishu, the capital of somalia in east africa, is a city that has been ravaged i wore like so many other places around the world. it is facing another enemy, the coronavirus. the country is financially broke and its health services are struggling. private companies are joining forces with the government to ensure public safety. dw's edris reports on a telecom company ringback service that is helping to raise awareness of covid-19.. edris: he's listening to a ringback tune from the front

service provider. it tells people how t to stop te spread of the coronavirus. >> "in depth" -- >> a lot of awareness campaigngns have been done by or people. we have taken their advice such as handwashing.. we are taking all of the advice toto stay safe. edris: the city ravaged byby conflict is now fighting an invisible enemy. as the country struggles to control the coronavirus outbreak, the private sector seems to have takeken a lead in spreading awareness. the company behind the idea is somamalia's s largesmobilele ph. it says it has proven n to bee useful in a country where people often lack access to information. >> this pandemic, corona, affected somalia parts, we will take a very crucial step and we

decided to take apart and how we could increase awareness of the somalian peoeople. they don't have access to tv's. the most efficient tool to spread awarenessss, it could be the mobile pack. idris: it does come with challenges as the recommendations often contradict the somalia waway of life. >> they help each other, they greet each other, they are so friendly. but what we have tried so far,, whetherr they live in remote areas, or in n towns and cities.

they now know what is corona. idris: many people still have a difficult time adhering to the advice due to the nature. but she does all she can. >> h here a at the b biness plas challenging. we are s still trying to follow their advice. we are not using gloveve but we arare keepinpepeoplepart.. and regularly washing our hands. idris: small gestures, but it can go a long way to stop the pandemic. brent: now to north america. california's governor tonight is ordering thousands of businesses to shut down yet again. restaurants, bars and places of worship in america's most populous state are closed following a new surge and covid-19 cases. this includes los angeles and san francisco. reporter: bacack to square e on. california shuts down most of its public life for the second time.

back in march, it was the first u.s. state to impose a strict stay-at-home order, even closing down its beaches, parks. and campsites. . now that more is known about how the virus is transmitted, the state has shifted its policy, allowing outdoor activities to continue while clolosing most indoor facilities. >> today, we are announcing additional statewide actions as it relates to our stay-at-home order here in the state of california. we are now effectively -- rather effective today, requiring all counties to close their indoor activities. their indoor operations. reporter: the governor is acting on the fact that new covid-19 cases in this state have surpassed 8000 a day. or than twice as many as a month ago. this could soon overburden hospitals in rural parts of california. beyond the bars and restaurants, the governor has also called for the closing of jim's, hair

salons,. even those lucky enough to work in an area where businesses like these remain open don't know for how long. >> if we don't make no money to pay the rent, the -- the landlord will shut us down. everybody has a problem. and also, we don't have income, and then the families have a problem too. with more than seven point five sarah: five sarah: million californians already filing for unemployment benefits since the pandemic hit, the latest shutdown could mean the final blow for countless livelihoods. brent: here are some of the other main developments in the global coronavirus crisis. germany has issued a warning against all non-essential travel to luxembourg amid a recent spike in cases there. in the u.k., it will be mandatory to wear face masks or facial coverings in all stores beginning july 24. violators who are called could

be fined up to 100 pounds. thailand has tightened its quarantine requirements for foreign diplomats. that is after two infected foreigners were allowed in the country sparking fears of a second outbreak. while his identity remains unknown, his artwork is far from it. british street artist banksy's style and dark humor has made him into one of the world's most famous graffiti artists. he released a video showing his newest artwork painted in a london subway train and commenting on the world's respon to the coronavirus pandemic. reporter: banksy presented his new work in an n online video. it was done on the london underground. it was titled "if you don't mask, you don't get." banksy usually targets public

places and combines street art techniques with topical themes. people on the train at the time may not have known what was going on, but probably would have guessed his message with -- was coronavirus related. banksy's pieces are often sold for large sums of money, leading many online to joke that this artwork may have just madade ths train one of london's most expensive. brent: a moment you don't often see in the game a doubletweener. into shouts between the legs. watch this. first you have germanyny's tommy hoskin the white, manages it without hurting himself. thenen the player of italyly get dodone as well. a small socially distance crowd cheered, and aroundd the first match of f the exhibitionon tournaments. woiw. --wow.

this is dw news. here is a reminder of our top story at this hour. german chancellor angela merkel has made a trip to bavaria to meet with the states leader, markus soder. it is feeling speculation that soder might be a candidate to succeed merkel as the german chancellor. you are watching dw news from berlin. after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day." tonight, 5g, china, and the new cold war between beijing and washington. we will be right back. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]