berlin. new charges against top executives. state prosecutors arrest three former board members including former ceo marcus brown. investigators say the one time blue-chip company faked its earnings over the past five years. also on the p program, firefifighters called tohihina's consulate in houston, texas as washington ordered its closure, citing concerns s over u.s.s.

intellectual property. were diplomats burning sensitive documents? the women and children stranded by the collapse of the so-called islamic state. many of them are european citizens. we hear from a frenchman trying to bring his daughter and grandson home. underprivileged children in the form of dance. we meet a ballet teacher in nigeria who is offering free lessons. some of his students say dancing has changed their lives. ♪ phil: i'm phil gayle. welcome to the program. german prosecutors say they have arrested the former chief executive and two board members of the payments processor, wire card, as part of investigations into alleged fraud.. marcus brown and two other board members were detained in munich. they are suspected of faking income to inflate the balance

sheet. wire card went bankrupt after revealing a nearly -- a nearly 2 billion euro hole. it has triggered criticism of germany's financial oversight. stephen from dw business can tell us more. do these arrests give us a fuller picture on what is going on? >> they do. just to go back, the 2 billion euros that was unaccounted for, that happened to a company that became a tech darling for germany. one of the few companies that succeeded and went to the top. then it went insolvent. now, it is seen as nothing. it is a comp located system of fraud behind it. that is what prosecutors are going -- are trying to fish out. the forormer chief financial officer was arrested. marcus brown was arrested again. that expands the arrests took four top executives.

that includes the head of a two by partner firm. the amount of fraud amounts to 3.2 billion euros from bank loans to investors who lost according to this fraud. the allegation that the fraud goes back to 2015 and all of those arrested today new about it. third, that marcus brown, there was a strong suggestion that marcus brown is being pretrade by witnesses as the center of everything. that he ran a straight hierarchy that included pledges of loyalty and that -- it did not mate -- did not say mastermind, that is what you can construe. phil: a famous german company. i am assuming there is lots of political fallout. >> absolutely. baffin is a dame many have not heard of -- a name many have not heard of. it is in charge of relating banks and markets to make sure they run properly andnd companis do not deceive investors.

clearly wire card falls within its purview. they have tataken a lot of heat. the finance minister, one of the highest positions in germany, is coming under considerable pressure. he will be questioned next week for his involvement or his knowledge of what was going on with wire card. and the economy minister who also has some oversight of business within germany. those two are going to get some difficult questions. phil: investors, we are talking about billions going missing. does that mean investors have lost lots of money? >> it does. that stock was up 104 euros bebefore the fall. now it is worth almost nothing. they have lost they are suing. the question is what they can get if they win. those suits and began even before the company declared insolvency as it was revealed there was wrongdoing in the company. interestingly, there are lawsuits against the auditing firm that signed off on the books. this has prompted a real review

or is going to prompt a review of the auditing system within gegermany. phil: thank you. that -- let's look at another escalation between the world's two biggest economies. the united states has ordered china to closets consulate in houston, texas. the state department said it was a necessary move to protect the economy. beijing cause a violation of international laws. hours after the order was issued, firefigighters were cald to t the consulate. >> bins on fire inside the courtyard at the chinese consulate in houston. witnesses said they could smell paper being burned. the first with of a bigger story. as firefighters arrived, chinese state media started reporting ththe u.s. hadad ordered the consulate to be closed. >> it is a political provocation unilaterally launched by the

u.s. side, which sereriously viviolates internanational law, basic norms governing international relationonin the bilalateral consulate agreements between china and the u.s. . chinina s strongly condemns sucn ououtrageous move. >> speaking in denmark, the u.s. secretary of state said china had stolen intellectual property. >> we are setting out clear expectations for how the chinese communist party is going to behave and when they do not, we are going to t take actctions tt protecect our security and also protect our economy and jobs. that is the actions you are seeing taken by president trump. we will continue to engage in those. >> the u.s. directive comes a day after two chinese nationals were charged with hacking. said to be working as spies, they are accused of trying to steal coronavirus vaccine research. >> campaign targeted

intellectual property and confidential business information held by the private sector including covid-19 treatment, testing and vaccines. >> back in houston, this was as close as firirefighters coululdt to the consulate. they wernonot allowedd in. chinese officials have 72 hours to get out with china threatening to close u.s. consulates in response. the fire may have been put out, but the u.s.-china relationship is smoldering as much as ever. phil: let's take a closer look with demetri, who is a cyber policy and security expert. he joins us from washington. welcome to dw. we just hired the u.s. homeland security chief justifying the closure of the consulate by talking about the private information and intellectual property that was in danger. aside from the covid hacking, do

you have any idea what else was in dananger? >> comingg to you from washington, d.d.c., which i is a very polarized town n on every issue. there is one issue on w which there isis almost universal consensus. that is thatat china is no longr a friend of the united s states. republicans and democrats agree we need a mumuch tougher line visit ththe china. -- vis-a-vis chihina. it is becaususe of a wide rangef thingsgs china has done or peperceived to o the nine stete. one is i intellectuaual property theft. stealing propertyy from western companies and getting it theheir domeststic sector toto create behemoths like h huawei. but t then, we have other issue. what the chinese are doing withh

the south china sea and the militarization o of the islanan. human r rights abuses with regas to the uigighurs and thehe law y passed in hong kong. that is s causing g a lot of c n ththere. and for the chubb administration, one of the most critical t things is the -- for the trumpet administration, one of the most balanced -- most article things as the balance in the relationship s should phil: that is the general background. but what we have seen over the years is america taking china to task over the sorts of things you have taken. the idea of closing a consulate just like that seems quite a jump. what do you think is behind that? >> i think this actionn is one n a long lisist of actioions the govevernment is kiking v-a-v-vis china. it started with h the trade wart the beginning of the t trump admiministration.. it continued with indictmenents that were unveiled y yesterday against cyber criminals operated by chinese intelligence

servicices. now takaking action against the consululate. i am told that cononsulate wasas critical t to the chinesese intelligence services to perpetetrate espionage, both national security and e economic espionage against the united states. it is not surprising the u.s. government would take this action. phil: what to they think was going on in the houston consulatate that was not going n elsewhere? >> t the chinese intntelligence services are very aggressive at recruiting both chininese nationals as well as americans born in ththis c cntry to facicilitate intellectual prproy theft and conduct intelellectual espionage. you have a lot of oil wells and gas firms the chinese are interested in stealing ininllectual property from. medical research that is being conducted. it is one of the top spots where they can conduct that espionage appeared phil: good talking to you. demetri from silverado policy

accelerator. we will take a look at some of the other stories making news around the. . world firefighters in greece are battling to control a fire. authorities say they have had to evacuate a settlement because the blalaze was moving toward a military camp for explosives were being stored. south africa -- a south africa anti-apartheid campaigner has died. he took it -- he stood trial alongside nelson mandela. hungary's largest independent new site has fired the editor in chief. it has increased concerns about curbing media freedoms. a month ago, he warned that the independence without risk after a businessman had contained -- had gained significant control

over the funding. lots of european governments are facing this same problem. what to do with men, women and children who left t to join the islamic state of syria and iraq. european countries are reluctant to bring them home, preferring them to face trial in the region. human rights groups say governments should repatriate their citizens, especially the most vulnerable and deal with them domestically. the biggest group are french citizens who include 400 women and children. lisa louis has been to meet antoine was fighting to bring his daughter and granddaughter back to france. he asked us not to use his real name. >> he has used -- he is used to standing had ground. he has defended workers rights his whole life. 15 years ago, his 26-year-old daughter suddenly left to join isis, he had dropped bottom. >> it was as if my house came

tumbling down on top of me. she had always been a good student. we did not see this thing coming at all. our family is agnostic. she had converted to islam without telling us. i told her, do you know what you are yourself into and who these people are you are joining? >> last year, his daughter was captured by the kurds and brought to a camp. he kept in touch with her until she and her baby finished five weeks ago. he is showing his face on camera for the first time. he says he has nothing left to lose. >> i do not know exactly what she did. i am not her judge. she should be held accountable for her actions. she has the right to a fair trial like everyone else. that is the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship. we are creating a second guantanamo. what about my grandson? he is 18 months old.

he is responsible for nothing. >> the french government has so far only repatriated about 30 children from the camps and refuses to bring back women and men. >> we are proceeding according to international law. people should be judged in the country where they are alleged to have committed their crimes. we take back young children if and when the mother agrees that we should take charge of them. >> but this lawyer representing the families of 40 women says that approach goes against international law. >> there are no judges. people are being arbitrarily detained. plus, their crimes started in france. they are accused of joining a terrorist organization and should be judged here. these children are in mortal danger. 300 of them died in 2019 due to

the bad living conditions. france has an obligation to protect them but is leaving them to rot. >> france as not the only country reluctant to repatriate its citizens who left to join islamic state. about 1000 western europeans are still being heheld in syria anad iraq. only a few of them have been brought back so far. together with other families, antoine has gone to court to force the government to bring back his daughter and grandson. he believes repatriation is in the government's own interest. >> during a recent attack on one camp, the kurds opened the gates and some women escaped to join i.s. leaving these people in the camps is a lot more dangerous than bringing them back. if they managed to get away, there is a risk they might commit more attacks in france. >> he is determined not to lose hope so that one day, he can

finally meet his grandson. phil: hong kong's trade has not been safe for years. . and number of bookselers disappeared and then reappeared, saying they had been held in mainland china. with a tough new security law posed by beijing, a growing number of hong kong authors, publishers and bookstores are moving their businesses abroad for censoring their products. >> publishing books in hong kong while.e. . this publisher, the new chinese security law has changed everything about his project. a collection of articles written by thousands of people who took part in the demonstrations. raymond and his team have been taking pictures that could cross a line. they have even chahanged the bok cover. these texts mark some of the taboos. >> most of the political slogans

were removed such as the popular protest slogan, liberate hong kong, revolution of our times, which has been declared illegal. we also diluted the part that may advocate or imply secession. no one can tell us how the red line is drawn. not even lowers -- not even lawyers. it is the most painful project i have done. >> the book was to have been published two months ago. that still has not happened as five printers have rejected it because of the sensitivity. some asked him to change part of the content. that rarely happened in the past. distributors and bookstores also turned it down. beijing's law is not only deterring publications, but it is also affecting older ones. a veteran publisher who has worked in the industry for three decades has also felt the effects.

he has suspended further publication of a book released last yeaear to mark the 30th anniversrsary of the tiananmen square crackdown. the remaining companies -- there many copies will not be on displayat book fairs anymore. >> this is the biggest crisis facing the industry. everyone is anxious. we do not want to be revolutionaries but to uphold free speech and promote knowledge. . what quality do our citizens have if diversity and enlightening ideologies vanish? that is hard to restore once they are lost. >> what is going on in hong kong is more than self-censorship. opposition figures have been removed from public libraries. schools have been ordered to do the same if any textbook is seen as possibly illegal. a growing number of hong kong authors, publishers and bookstores are moving their businesses abroad. neither jimmy nor ray meant are ready to quit.

raymond's book is called to freedrom. -- to freedom. >> it is frustratingng. i will try to publish it in hong kong. this punk is a form of resistance. the only way -- visit book is a form average -- this book is a form of resistance. >> but he is in the minority. anymore people in hong kong are observing the situation from the sidelines. fearful of beijing's -- phil: let's take a look at some of the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic should 15 million people have been infected worldwide according to johns hopkins university. united states, brazil and india have recorded the highest number of cases. the world health organization says a vaccine against the virus is not likely to be available until early 2020 11 -- 2021.

who says people are unlikely to be vaccinated before the start of next year. the brazilian president is still testing positive two weeks after confirming he was ill. he has been isolating at home for the last 15 days. he is continuing to show symptoms. for latin american girls, turning 15 is a special birthday. it is known as a quintanilla. the coronavirus pandemic is adding some hurdles to this year's celebrations. lots of girls in cuba are finding fashionable ways to adapt. >> it is the way to go for young cubans like sophia who are celebrating their 15th birthday during the pandemic. >> i designed my 15th birthday dress and the mask was important to me. it is a symbol of an important

stage in my life, which was the pandemic. i had to design my face mask to fit the colors of my outfit and it was not just about the combination of colors. was also for security reasons. >> across latin america, turning 15 is seen as a special milestone in a girl's life. it is the moment of transition from girlhood to womanhood. latinos mark the birthdays with large celebrations. this year, f face mask have bece an integral part of the party outfit. >> for young women, this contrast between the mask and the dress the combination, is striking. it is a fashion i think will stay. they take selfies. it is something that is part of the whole show, the whole experience of the photo shoot. >> cuba made wearing masks compulsory early on and credits

them with helping the island to contain the spread of the virus. but for these girls, face mask will also remain a symbol of coming-of-age at an extraordinary time. phil: now to nigeria where more than half of the population lives in poverty. for many people, accessing food and water are a priority. a ballet teacher says children also need food for their souls. he offers free dancing lessons. one of his students as an 18-year-old. our correspondent met her and found out how dancing is changing her life. >> not much light, no ventilators, little space. eight families live in this housing complex. today starts early. without breakfast but with daily chores. the 18-year-old shares 10 square

memeters with her m mother and younger sister. she is trying to help her family by putting her own needsds on hohold. >> life for me nowow is very difficult and tough because sometimes, i need sometetng. we do not have enough money. i have to keep it to myself, not to tell my mom and stuff like that.. >> schools are closed due to the pandemic. when her mom -- her mom is in an elementaryry school teacher. she has to stay at home without a salary and is struggling to provide for her daughters. >> s supposed to be taking good care of them. anything they want from me,e, im supppposed to be g giving them.. >> outside meansns -- one of the poor neighborhoooods. some girlsls slighted the prostitutution to make money and sosome boys become criminals. she grew up here.

she is looking for a different path through ballet. this is the same neighborhood, but it feels like a different world. >> are you guys ready? what we will be doing -- a very simple combination today. >> a class of 12 students trains in this makeshift dance room twice a week. some are as young as six. a self-taught professional dancer is teaching them for free to keep them off the streets. >> some of them are not going to become professional dancers. we know that. the training can be applied in any area of your life. >> she was one of his first students in 2017. she says it is never too late to start with ballet. not even for me, in my 30's. lilike this? >> yes. you go -- and [laughter]

>> dancing she says, helps her cope with her daily struggleles. >> when i come to dance, i can leave everything behind. dance makes me feel happy and makes me express my feelings. it is how i feel i dance. just forget about the past. >> the stage, improvised. the streets. the contrast could not be bigger. for some, it is a welcome distraction. others are skeptical. >> they feel that -- lifting legs up and lower area will be seen. it is not like that. >> the date is not end here. after ballet, she learns to sew at the shop.p. learning a trade that may finance her studies. she keeps about -- keeps

studying ballet while she is selling. >> i am doing my thing. ime. forget a about everybobody. i know w what i want from mysel. >> s she may never dance on the big g international stages, tt dancing gigives her strength. something she needs to overcome the difficulties she faces. phil: a group of high profile names have invested in the funding of a new los angeles football team for the 2022 national women's soccer league. investors include serena williams and her husband. a hollywood actress, natalie portman, and a dozen former u.s. women's national footballers. the team does not have a name yet. the ownership group is called angel city. california currently has no women's soccer league teams. remarkable video has emerged showing how two french children escaped a blaze in a tower block in a southeastern city.

one brother, then the nexext plunged at least 13 meters into ththe arms of residence below. -- residents below. the children are three and 10 years old. they were treated for smoke inhalation. two of the people who caught them reportedly suffered broken bones. you're watching dw news live from berlin. will be back with the day. we will have world news at the top of the hour. see you shortly.

see at two am et. controversy over the presence of federal agents facing but civil justice in portland oregon. that resident john popped up please request for the city matt winston pulled out because to a correspondent in a moment. violence flares s in iran. the german woman that's made the party sit up and take notice hello movies. i'll send to o the iraqi baghdad she was. almost for aa hundred million doseses f vaccine still not get clinically