from berlin. donald trump pushing for a return to work. his personal physician says he has been free of covid-19 symptoms for 24 hours. there is doubt over whether he is fit enough to continue his campaign. also on the program, hopes for a break in the fighting in the disputed region of nagorno. citizens flee azerbaijan.

a landmark court verdict. numbers of greece's far-right golden dawn party found guilty of running a criminal organization. and to women when -- two women when the 2020 prize in nova chemistry. the women were recognized for what the academy called rewriting the code of life. ♪ ♪ phil: i'm phil gayle. welcome to the program. donald trump's personal physician says the u.s. president has been free of covid symptoms at least 24 hours. mr. trump is back at work in the oval office after being hospitalized with the virus last week. since his return to the white house monday, he's been making his presence felt on social

media, with tweets criticizing his democratic rivals and floating false figures about the pandemic. the vice presidential candidates are preparing to debate tonight. on joe biden's campaign, the historic town of gettysburg. reporter: the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the u.s. civil war. mr. biden: thank you for being here. reporter: used as the backdrop for joe biden's call for unity. mr. biden: thank you. today once again we are a house divided. but that, my friends, can no longer be. we are facing too many crises. we have too much work to do. we have two bright a future -- too bright a futuree to have a ship wrecked on t the shoals of anger, hate, and division. reporterer: but his presidential opponent appeaears to delight in

division. donald trump may still be recovering from covid-19, he has refused to let that stop play. in a series of tweets about talks with democrats over coronavirus, relief legislation, the president declared, "i have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election." u.s. stocks fell sharply on that bombshell. hours later, trump appppeared to roback a bitit, -- row back a bit, demanding congress provide cash for the airline industry and handouts to help struggling americans. it all adds to a sense of chaos in the white house. trump's team trying to keep his reelection campaign on track while the coronavirus continues to spread. senior advisor and chief speechwriter stephen miller just

the latest to test positive. trump continues to play down the virus, even after his three days in hospital. joe biden says he won't debate the president if he is stillll infectcted. mr. biden: well, i think if he still has c covid, we should not debate. reporter:: trump insists their face-to-face next week will go ahead. division even here. and yet the show goes on. phil: straight to washington, where we join maya shwayder. where are we on the state of the president's health? what do we know? what don't we? maia: that is an excellent question. we know he is back in the white house. and according to his doctors, he is working perfectly fine. he has no symptoms. this whole ordeal, not just the past day or so, but throughout

the weekend when he was in the hospital, really has been to show strength, to show he is working through it, continuing his work. it is not a big deal, he has got it under control, and everything is going to be just fine. even the show we saw when he returned to the white house with the lights and the c cameras,, takingng off his mask on the balcony, was really to show that he is back and everything is going to be fifine. of course, there arere big questions a as to the reliabiliy ofof the i information coming of the white house. let's reremember this is s an administrationon that has not bn forthcoming, and sometimes extremely inaccurate with the type of information they put out about the presidenent's health d the risks of covid throughout this pandemic. now we have to sit back and think, well, what really can we surmise? no his doctor, when he was released from the hospital, said he might not be out of the woods yet. he refused to say when the president's last negative test was. we heard from the new york times that the president is not being tested every day. phil: let's move on to tonight's

debate. given the state of the president's health, tonight's vice presidential debate is likely to be watched particularly closely. what do vice president mike pence and democratic nominee, the have to achieve tonight? -- nominee kamala harris have to achieve tonight? maya: they have to make themselves look good, parties look good, and candidates look good. mike pence is a career politician, very smooth, often seen as the antidote to trump. he is there to smooth over the president's rough edges, especially after the rough debate that happened last week. harris has a trickier task. she has to try to paean a lot of the failings of the -- to pin a lot of the failings of the trump administration on mike pence, and many of those will be covid.

mike pence is the head of the covid response. the candidates are elderly. donald trump is 74. joe biden is 77. if biden and harris were to win the election in november, a lot of people are looking at harris as a president and weighting of sorts, so there is going to be pressure on her to deliver her signature prosecutorial style we have seen a lot in the senate. phil: thank you, maya shwayder, in washington. we take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world. the former police officer charged with the murder of george floyd has been released from prison on bail after posting a million dollar bond. george floyd died in may after showing -- after derek chauvin pressed his knee against his neck. the u.k. parliament has voted in favor of significantly reducing greenhouse gases by 2030. lawmakers agreed a 60% cut across the block, compared to 1990 levels.

this will have huge invocations for all sectors. it still needs the approval of e.u. members states. in kurdistan, -- kyrgyzstan, the country slips deeper into chaos a day after opposition protesters stormed government buildings, forcing the prime minister to quit and the parliamentary election to be annulled. at least three distinct groups have now attempted to claim leadership of the country. azerbaijan's foreign minister is due to meet international mediators in the conflict with armenia, as deadly fighting over a breakaway region enters a second week. azerbaijani officials said the minister would hold talks with diplomats in france, russia, and the united states during a working visit to geneva on thursday. days of fighting have left hundreds dead, and civilians have died. reporter: the remains of a supermarket in the capital.

it was in and say it was destroyed by a zero forces -- it was destroyed by military forces. both sides are unrepentant. "we will beat them. we have 100,000 people. they have millions. but believe me." yet another explosion. everyone flees to the seller. -- the cellar. quickly, quickly, shouts a french journalist. many have shot -- have sought shelter here since the conflict began. "we don't sleep. we are being terrorized. we sit here without power, without water, with no toilet. it is cold. i begged the world to give us peace." cicivilians s are sufferering oe others. in azerbaijan's second-largest city, there are dead and

wounded, b the authoritarian prpresident sees no room for compromise. "azerbaijan won't allow anyone to conquer it. it is aziri t territory. we musus take itt back, andnd we wiwill take it back." azerbaijan has international law on its side and is supported by turkey. the armenians say the golden karabakh has been their land for centuries. the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people over the years has turned the area into a powder keg. armenia is making threats of its own. "if azerbaijan's military leaders believe they can attack settlements, then the defenense forces will react immediately, with severe consequences for azerbaijan."

the conflict shows no sign of easing. russia, considered an ally of armenia, but with ties to both warring parties. phil: let's explore this further with the assistant to the president of azerbaijan, the president's head of foreign policy affairs. welcome to dw. we know your foreign minister will meet with mediators in geneva. whatat do you want to o come ouf this? >> armenia's militatary occupupn agaiainst my cntntry oururs for seveveral years. you have another escalation by the armenian side. the country is existing in azerbaijan cities. this includes the second-b-biggt

city. as we go through h the conflict resolution p process, azerbaijan supports this process, but the process lasts for 3 30 years. people are suffering frorom the mililitary occupation ofof armea and want to go to theheir homes. our expectatatn from that meetining -- we should reredoube the efforts. we should have substantial t tas .. first,t, the occupation must an. armenian armrmed forces mustst withdraw from the sovereieign territories of azezerbaijan. we should feel thahat people in azerbaijan are safe and secure. phil: you go into this with preconditions. yoyou accuse the other side of hahaving bomb civilians. both sides in this conflict have been accused by outside observers of bombing civilian targets. part of the military campaign in

the border back -- in the border , ethnic armenians have been driven out. many people look at this and presume that this has been the inintention of your governrnmenl alonong. >> actually, that hahas not been the case. azerbaijan peoplpl are suffeferg undeder this occupation. imagine that for 30 years ararmenia occupupd with the most notorious ethnic cleansing. azerbaijan is not going to enter a negotiation process without a precondition. phil: excuse me for interrupting, but you laid out your preconditions in your first answer, the occupation, thehere must b be a withdrawal of troop, and then youou will go into the meeting, with preconditions. >> it is not a precondition. it is a demand. it is prescrcribed and reaeaffid as the united nations coconflict resolutions.

we demand immediate, unconditionall, and fullll withdrawalal of armenian troops from azerbaijan. the armenian prime minister p pt conditions. the defensnse minister does not depict himself as an engine of his military doctrine. i will remind him that he said new territories and new wars. it is offensive military doctrine. the armenian side should answer. and azerbaijani civilians were subject to e ethnic cleansing. we also have 500,000 winning. in just two hours, 2 2000 artilly piecess landed. there are heavy missiles, sysystems with cluster a ammuni. phil: i will hope to get more

from those t talks inn the comig days. for now, we thank you for joining us. the assistant to the president of azerbaijan. according greece has found leaders of the far-right golden dawn party guilty of operating a criminal organization. the group is greece's third-largest political party, and its leaders now face between five and 15 years in prison. the group's supporters is convicted of the murder of an antifascist rapper in 2013. outside the court, scuffles broke out between police and antifascist protesters awaiting the verdict. [applause] reporter: a roar of applause outside the courthouse where the far-right golden dawn party was just declared a criminal group. thousands of antifascist protesters have gathered here to await the verdict in a trial that lasted over five years and saw almost 17 defendants.

for the greek people's conscience, golden dawn is a criminal organization, and will end up where it deserves -- in the garbage can of history, as is appropriate after the battles waged by the people and this country. cheering erupted into clashes with the police, who deployed tear gas and water cannons after some protesters threw stones and molotov cocktails. inside the courthouse, the judges declare several -- seven of the party's former lawmakers guilty of leading a criminal organization. others were convicted of taking part in it. the court also found a supporter of golden dawn guilty of killing a left-wing rapper. the greek prime minister expressed his satisfaction with the verdict. >> as prime minister, i consciously refrain from commenting on court decisions.

as areek c citizen, however, i share the universal satisfaction for the recognition of golden dawn's criminal character. reporter: golden dawn was founded in the 1980's as an obscure neo-nazi organization. it rose to prominence during the greek financial crisis, entering parliament i in 2012 as s the third-largest party. the group is strongly anti-migrant and anti-muslim, and its members have been accused of carrying out acts of violence against minorities. at the wind has changed. last year, golden dawn failed to win a single seat in parliament. now, after being dubbed a criminal group, its political aspirations may have come to an end. phil: the united kingdom says it stands with germany and france after they said they will propose e.u. sanctions against russian officials and others over the appointment of kremlin critic alexey navalny. the prosecutor released a statement with his french

counterpart, saying russia has provided no credible explanation. mr. navalny spent just over a month and a berlin hospital after being medically evacuated to germany after falling ill on a flight in russia. we get more from simon young. welcome, simon. what form are these sanctions likely to take? simon: germany and france say they believe that it is clear beyond doubt that russia had a role in the poisoning of alexey navalny, and that is why, because russia is not assisting in the investigation, they say it is time to move to sanctions. they are going to be putting names to their fellow e.u. member states in the next few days, they say. those will be names, a handful of individuals we believe, of people who, because of their official function, is the way it is being worded, are believed to have responsibility for the crime. they also named an institution,

some kind of government body involved in the production of the novichok poison. these are going to be concrete, targeted sanctions. phil: relations between russia and the e.u. are already strained. how will the sanctions go into those? simon: they will make it worse and more difficult for european countries to work together with russia. there are many would like to have russia as a partner. it is an important source of energy, an important player in syria, libya, and in the azerbaijan conflict, as we have seen. it is difficult to work with russia when you have got these assassination attempts -- navalny, skripal. you have the occupation of crimea, russian support of lukashenko. hacking attacks on the german parliament. a lot of things that are irritating to say the least.

it has made working together with russia very difficult. i think that explains why the attitudes in berlin toward moscow are hardening. we have also heard a response from moscow this evening. they are accusing germany and france of leading an anti-russia coalition within the european union. it is pretty clear relations are strained more perhaps than they have been n for a while. phil: political correspondent simon young, thank you. russian independent media have come under increasing pressure over recent years. journalists say to connie and rules and intimidation make it difficult to do their jobs. take the case of jelena slovenia, the editor of a news website. the day after her home was raided by police, she took her protest to police headquarters, with tragic consequences. [applause] emily: a death that sent shockwaves through the city and

russia. hundreds of mourners came out to remember the journalist who lit herself on fire here last week. she equals freedom of speech, this sign reads. at h her public memorial servic, anyone who wanted could say a few words in the journalist's honor. irina, sorry we did not save you, did not keep yoyou safe. svetlana worked with irina's love in a - irina slavina. she worked in a country where media censorship is commonplace. svetlana: it is hard to approach the authorities and ask questions now, but irina always asked. she asked uncomfortable questions. you could not appease her.

she upset p.r. officers because she did not try to safeguard anyone's reputation. she always collected the facts to reveal a full picture of thievery, corruption, and human rights violations. emily: her supportrters say slslavina was under near kevin constant pressure by the authorities. she had to pay several finds for her work at the independent media outlet she founded. this before her self immolation, security forces searched her home over a case against opposition activists. alexei's home was searched on the same day. the opposition politician things authorities wanted to silence irina slavina. >> i think she definitely meant her death to be a political act -- a final political act. it was a final attempt to get through to people. she seems to have felt the classical tools she had -- or media outlet, her facebook page -- that was not enough.

she did not get the reaction she wanted. emily: the governor of the region has expressed his condolences for slavina's death and promised a full investigation into its circumstances. meanwhile, the bench where she lit herself on fire outside a police building has become an improvised memorial to the independent journalist. phil: the winners of the prestigious nobel prize in chemistry have been announced in stockholm. this year, it goes jointly to jennifer doudna from the u.s. and emmanuelle charpentier for their work on gene editing. dw visited professor charpenentr a couple of years ago in her lap to find out about her work. reporter: it was a groundbreaking discovery. eight years ago, emmanuelle and

jennifer found a way to rewrite the code of life, dna. now, the scientists have been recognized for their breakthrough, with the nobel chemistry prize. emmamanuelle: i feel extremely honored to receive this highest recognition from swededen. it is a great discovery and i am vevery happy to be one of the pioneers of this discovery. reporter: the scientists figured out how bacteria defend themselves against invading viruses. in the process, they discovered that this natural mechanism can be used as a tool to modify dna. the result was the crisper -- c rispr genome scissors. a simple, quick, and precise tool to change the genome. here is howow it works. the scissors are actually a

protein which is given a kind of search term. for example, "agc." in this simple find model, our dna is made up of lots of different combinations of codes like these. this scissor proroin scans a copy of f the dna, and when it s found the search word, the scissors are activated, and they cut the section out. then, a different section of dna can be inserted. emmanuelle: what i think is really the most interesting g ad fascinating about this d discovy is that you dig into nature, you try to undersrstand natural mechanisms of life, , d you endd up deciphering mechanisms that for the purpose of biology. reporter: the genome scscissors are alreready being used by plat researarchers to create a higher-yieldining strarain of c, as well as mushrooms that stay fresh for longer.

and nonallergenic peanuts. the discoveryry has sparkeded hd ethicacal debates about the manipulation o of nature. but t there is no doubtbt abouts potetential. in t the future, it could also e harnessed to t treat cancer r or other genetic diseases. phil: around 200 police officers have raided the offices of the german football association and the homes of current and former officials, on suspicion of tax evasion. six people are suspected of falsely declaring advertising income at a football stadium as asset management, leading to an evasion of 4.7 million euros in taxes. authorities have not named any suspects. let me remind you of our top stories this hour. donald trump's doctor says the u.s. president has been free of covid-19 symptoms for at least 24 hours. mr. trump returned to the white house monday and has been criticizing his democratic

rivals on twitter. as the u.s. election campaign heats up, vice president mike pence and democratic nominee kamala harris prepare to debate in a few hours. there have been scuffles outside a court in athens as it found the leaders of the countries far-right golden dawn party guilty of running a criminal organization. the verdict follows a marathon five-year trial. the defendants face up to 15 years in prison. that is it. you are up-to-date. more world news at the top of the hour. a closer look at today's events in "the day." ♪ ♪



what's welcome to live from paris world news, analysis from france 24. the u.s. vice presidential candidateses will face-off in jt a few hours' time. we have a special program here at france 24. mike pence versus kamala harris. analysis coming up shortly. france accuses turkey this wednesday of military involvement on the side of azerbaijan. the