berlin. a leader under pressure, the embattled president of belarus turns to russia for help. protests continue in the capital despite a crackdown. 20 journalists among those detained including adw correspondent. jerk -- a dw correspondent. germany promising an increase of restrictions. the chances of travelers returning from -- a ban on large public events is being extended

until the end of the year. a city on edge after unrest over the police shooting of a black man. wisconsin's attorney general made public the name of the officer who shot jacob blake seven times in the back. ♪ i'm brent goff. to our viewers in pbs in the u.s. and around the world, welcome. vladimir putin says the leader of belarus has turned to moscow for help. he says his counterpart alexander lukashenko has asked him to prepare a russian law enforcrcement contingent to be sent to belarus if necessary. police have arrested dozens of antigovernment protesters. 20 journalists have been detained. among those is a dw correspondent. >> day 19 of the protests

against the belarusian president saw dozens of women stand in the chain of solidarity to highlight another last point of the police crackdown. the showdown, they were in minsk where tensions are running high the night before. security forces arrested around 50 people. when dozens of others sought refuge inside this church, police locked them in. president lukashenko is both trying to exert control by his own means and secure the support of his long-term ally, vladimir putin. >> he would like us to provide him with appropriate assistance. i said russia would fulfill all of its obligations. >> the words match those of the joint security treaty between the countries but not the rousing words of unqualified support the belarusian dictator was looking for.

>> it will only be used when extremist elements using political slogans as cover c crs a certaiain boundary and statart armemed robbery, setting fire to cars, houses, banks, trying to seize government buildings and administrative holdings. so mr. lukashenko's regime is isolated from europe and waiting for russia, who are not willing to intervene while the protests remain peaceful. brent: let's bring in nick connolly, following the story in minsk. good evening to you. we understand police in belarus have detained dozens of people who have been protesting peacefully in the center of minsk. is this part of a further crackdown we are seeing? >> good evening.

alexander lukashenko had promised that this week would see the government showing who was in charge. people had until the weekend to make up their mind, then he would put an end to this challenge to his role that seems now to be happening. the protests were relatively small by the standards of the last few days and weeks, making it easier for the government to come in and arrest those people, having less people to protect and relative peace. but they will not allow journalists to cover these arrests. people are being told on the square if they were to record and film these arrests, they would be taken and detained. brent: we understand the police have detained 20 journalists. one of them is a colleague of ours from the russian desk. >> so alexander has been in the

city for several hours. we are not able to reach her. her phone is not available. that is standard practice when people are taken in. there was a document check, phones taken away and then based on what people are saying coming out, the journalists are forced to show what phones they have on their phones, forced to delete. those who refuse to open their phones, to get the passwords needed to see what is on those phones, they are given the option to spend the night in custody, or there has been talk of police officers threatening to destroy technology, saying they would drop the camera or some other way to make sure it doesn't go out. brent:t: vladimir putin has vowd military support for the government of lukashenko. this is what lukashenko has been hoping what happened. >> not quite.

it is a two-edged sword. this would make it easier for lukashenko to clamp down on these protests, 200, 300,000 people out in the streets, something unthinkable a few weeks ago. russia has been looking to pull belarus even tighter into its embrace. lukashenko is trying to resist that, to avoid losing russian sovereignty in becoming a region of russia. he will have to pay a price, and that could be belarus being drawn into where it is less of a sovereign state and more of a region of a bigger russia. brent: nick connolly with the latest from the capital of belarus. thank you. germany is increasing efforts to start -- stop what is looking like the virus creep. the number -- coronavirus creep. the numbers in the country not

seen since april. the german chancellor announced tougher measures. travelers returning from high risk areas will have to quarantine for five days. a big events band is being extended until the end of the year. people wearing the face mask -- breaking the rules on wearing a face mask will be fined. >> it took 5.5 hours to reach agreement. the rules for travel to high risk countries will be tightened , stricker quarantine and no more compensation for the time of quarantine. >> we urge all of those returning from travel to comply with the quarantine obligations and those also meet the responsibility towards fellow citizens. those that travel to designated risk areas is to be avoided whenever possible. germany has navigated the pandemic fairly well, but the number of new daily cases has

been rising since july. worrying with the prospect of the upcoming flu u season. >> for the fact we are facing a winter that can't be calculated from a current point of view only don't know what affects the flu and other illnesses will have, the numbers are too early, too high so our goal must be to bring down the numbers and avoid a second lockdown. the political leaders agreed on a minimum fine for those who don't wear fast masks -- face masks. people returning from low risk countries won't be offffered fre testing, but testing capacities will be expanded. >> every infection detected early is a gain. every infection that is not recognized is a problem and everyone who gets a negative test result is a danger. >>he governments are also

extending a ban n on major evens such as concerts or sports until the end of the year. the premiers and the chancellor could not reach an agreement on a limited people attending private facilities. brent: let's go over to our chief political officer. we knew going into this meeting the number of new infections is getting worse. was the message after the meeting that there is still time to stop this from becoming bad? >> yes, and most of all the message was now is the time to not ignore the corona threat but to take action. quite clearly we see a shift for the government no longer wants to rely on the responsibility of individuals, which it has done successfully in the past. it now wants some checks in place to check on those people traveling back from high risk

zones to take tests and to stay in quarantine until they have the all clear. they are alreaeady required to o that now but clearly the government wants to clamp down and stop what is coronavirus creep. i have cycled back into the office. people out in the park, closer than the 1.5 meters required distance. brent: we have been seeing that for quite some time here in the capital. fines will be slapped on people caught not wearing face masks in stores and on public transport. is this because police -- pleas for cooperation are falling on deaf ears? >> it is because the fines are varied across the country. in some states there were none at all. in some, they are above the minimum 50 euros. if you are traveling on a train

across several states, depending on where you were, that moment in time could vary. this is a simple across germany you have to cover mouth and nose, that is a national requirements with the exception of saxony which refuses to follow suit. we are back into a different phase again where there is an attempt to coordinate from berlin. brent: germany has been successful in managing this because the public has agreed with the government's's policies, but not everyone agrees. a restrictions protest planned for this weekend, that protest has been and. -- has been banned. will it work? >> the hashtag trending today was storm berlin, telling people to show up. a colleague of mine was at those protests a couple of weeks ago

where we saw people not wearing face masks and getting aggressive towards journalists. this was the big health and safety concern, and it is being debated in germany whether that plays into the hands of conspiracy theorists who expect the state behind the corona legend or whether there is this real public health threat and that it needs to be avoided for the safety of everybodody involved. hot debates here. brent: the anti-coronavirus restrictions sentiment, do we know what is feeding it would work is it coronavirus fatigue? >> it could be a bit of that but i would say most likely, we have not seen the kind of scenes we saw in italy early on, that the threat hasn't hit home with many people ironically because germany has been fairly

successful at avoiding this becoming a full-blown pandemic across the country. brent: i want to go back to what you said about high risk areas. there used to be a 14 day requirement for those returning, replaced by mandatory tests at airports. that is being replaced with the quarantine requirements. do we know why the back-and-forth? >> you are still required to stay at home until you have the all clear. the difference now is people need to think hard about being checked up upon. there will be probes checking whether people actually stay at home. there is not a massive change in the requirement. what the government is trying to do is get people to think hard and pay for their own tests if they travel into high risk areas against the advice of the government. brent: germany is not close to

real posing anything like a lockdown -- re-imposing anything like a lockdown. what is the chance germany is becoming a victim of its own success? >> i would contest the premier of bavaria who spoke of a second lockdown. germany has not seen the kind of lockdown we have seen in france and parts of spain and britain. there was always more freedom of movement here. it is a clear indicator we are dealing in perceptions as much as fact. the fight the german government is fighting, that coronavirus continues to be perceived as the threat that it is. brent: our chief political correspondent, thank you. here is a look at the other stories making headlines around the world. the spokesperson for russian opposition leader alexei navalny

says she is not optimistic about a recovery area he remains in a -- a recovery. he remains in a coma. he was airlifted to berlin a week ago. german doctors say he was poisoned, findings the kremlin has disputed. western leaders have called for a transparent investigation. unesco will seek millions of dollars to help rebuild beirut. although the august 4 explosion was centered on the porch, they say 160 schools were damaged or destroyed. they want funds to rebuild beirut's cultural heritage. rising floodwaters in sudan have left dozens dead and homes destroyed. the homes have been submerged and starting to encroach on the capital of khartoum.m. heheavy wind -- rain has been swelling the blue nile river to record levels. in south africa violent clashes

between protesters and police have arrested in johannesburg. demonstrators are expressing anger over the killing of a 16-year-old boy allegedly shot by the police in the city on wednesday. several officers have been injured. to the united states where the city of kenosha, wisconsin remains on edge in the aftermath of a police shooting of a black man. 29-year-old jacob blake was shot seven times in the back as he tried to enter his suv where his three sons were sitting. the name of the officer who shot it was a public amid criticizing -- criticism that the investigation is secretive and slow. >> wednesday saw another quite a protests, but demonstrations stayed peaceful, the day after the fatal shootings of two people. >> treat this as a space of sacredness, a space of

community. > on wednesday, police in illinois arrested a 17-year-old in connection with the shooting. he was part of a self-styled private militia. video shows the gun. at the repepublican national convention, mike pence said the violence must end. > too many heroes have died defending our freedom to see americans strike each h other down. we w will have l law and order n the streets of this country for every american of every race and creed and color. >> that line got plenty of applause but did little to appease many in kenosha. the milwaukee bucks basketball team reviewed - -- refused to py a scheduled game, and others followed suit. >> we demand the officers be held accountable. >> federal authorities are

investigating the circumstances of the shooting. brent: for more now, we want to bring in our washington bureau chief who is covering the story from there. there are several partly contradicting reports coming forward on the events that led to this shooting area what do we know? -- this shooting. what do we know? >> it is not clear if there was only one shooting. some say there were three different shootings. we know 17-year-old young man was able to cross the state border with an open carry long gun that he was k killing two people on the streets, that he is a trump supporter, he was taking part of his rallies. that is what he is posting on his own facebook pages. there is proof he is one of those people who say when the

police is not able to protect our suburbs, we have to do that ourselves. brent: we heard last night mike pence calling for an end to americans killing americans, return to law and order. is that the language that could be an election winner in the current climate? >> before this incident, i would have said clearly yes, this is what many, many people want to hear. after we learned those who support trump and mike pence himself, those themselves start shooting and killing people out there. i don't know if this message will reach the swing voters. it will be approved the trump supporters but both besides the republicans -- the sides have tried to get those who are undecided. i don't know if mike pence

really reached out to them with these words. brent: tonight the republican national convention ends with the u.s. president officially accepting the nomination. what has been the convention and the party's message so far? >> it was quite interesting to see how many african-americans, speakers from other minorities kind of shaped the last three days of the republican conventions. one of the highlights was the first lady melania trump who gave a soft speech reaching out to the crucial group of female suburban women. that was kind of the last three days. tonight we will see a harsher rhetoric and trump definitely won't present him as a soft leader. brent: thank you. as we reported, the nba has

confirmed it has postponed thursday's lay up series after players protested the police shooting of jacob blake in wisconsin. this comes after the milwaukee bucks boycotted their playoff game against the orlando magic on wednesday. the nba says it hopes to resume games on friday or saturday. >> the milwaukee bucks left officials confused when they did not show up for their playoff game against the orlando magic. the team leader explained what had driven them to boycott the game. they are demanding racial justice and accountability afafr the police shooting of jacob blake. >> when we take the court and represent milwaukee and wisconsin,n, we are expected to play at a high level and hold each other accountable. we hold ourselves to that standard, , d we are demanding the same from lawmakers and law enforcement. >> players across the league

showed their support. the nba postponed all playoff series games wednesday and thursday. this had a ripple effect on u.s. sports. major league baseball and soccer canceled some of their games. even tennis star naomi osaka announced she would not play in her semifinal match in the western and southern open to protest the continued genocide of black people at the hands of the police. the only other time players boycotted in the a game was back in 1961 when one player b bill russell and his boston celtics teammates set out to protest racial injustice. nba players are taking a stand. the latest protest in the nation , summer of racial reckoning. brent: rescue efforts are getting underway in louisiana. it was battered by the most

powerful storm to come onshore in that state for more than 100 years. for people have been reported killed after hurricane laura hit louisiana and texas with wind gusting at 240 kilometers an hour. >> hurricane laura made landfall as a category four storm. ravaging through the southern states of the u.s. now thousandnds of homes in texs and louisiana are submerged in water. and many others are severely damaged. hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate, but some reviews to leave, planning to endure the storm in elevated homes. there are fears people may be trapped under the wreckage.

rescuers have to wait for the wind to die down before searching for survivors. president trump says he is planning to visit the affected gulf coast, but not immediately. >> i was going to texas, louisiana, maybe a arkansas. spoke toto the governor, it will bebe in good shape, but they wil need help. now it turned out we got a little bit lucky. it was big and powerful but it passed quickly. everything is on schedule. we will probably be going saturday or sunday. >> i would encourage people to keep the people of louisiana and texas and are can, where you have signed an emergency declaration as the storm moves north, keep them in your prayers. also keep in mind organizations like the red cross letter on the ground providing assistance and

support to all of the efforts for families. >> forecasters have warned of a continued risk to lives as the storm moves inland, deeper into louisiana although it is weaker. a a chemical fire in the lake charles area of louisiana has broken out. emergegency crews are tackling t and the governor has warned people in the area to shelter. the federal ememergency managemt agency says resources arare in place to help restore services to affected areas in the weeks and months ahead. brent: some sports news with manchester united, one midfielder testing positive for the coronavirus. he will have to go into quarantine for 14 days. he has been withdrawn from the france squad for the nations league matches.

he could be back for manchester united's first game of the new english premier league season against crystal palace september 19. here's a reminder of the top stories we are following, police in the belarusian capital have addressed it dozens of -- arrested dozens of antigovernment protesters as pressure grows. a number of journalists are being held. among them is a dw correspondent. angela merkel has announced tougher measures to control the number of coronavirus cases. travelers returning will have to quarantine and people floating the rules on wearing a face mask will be fined. you can always get dw news on the go. download our app from google play or the app store. it will give you access to the latest news from around the world and push notifications, and if you are part of a news story, use the app to send us

photos and videos of what is happening. you are watching dw news. thank you for the company. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. i will be right back. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

russia ready to deploy law enforcement back up if b belarus requested better putin's pledge followed by a fresh crackdown in minsk on pro democracy demonstrators. at least four killed in louisiana'siercest stotorms and a hundred and fifty years hurrrricane laura weakens to a tropical storm but not before wreaeaking havoc triggering a fire at a chemical plant. mandatory face masks in paris and its closest suburbs from friday eight am the government warns of the increasing covered cases