♪ >> this is dw news live from berlin. police in hong kong arrest a prominent activist on th anniversary of the tiananmen square massacre. she is known for organizing thousands of people to remember the 1989 violence in beijing. ew spoke with her shortly before her arrest. also on the program -- dw spoke with her shortly before her arrest. also on the program, senior german clergyman offers his resignation.

he says he shares spots ability for what he called the catastrophe of sexual abuse by clerics over decades. in mexico faces what is likely to be its largest ever election sunday, with deadly attacks on nearly 90 politicians in recent years, many wondering who is really in charge. ♪ phil: i'm phil gayle. welcome. today marks the anniversary of beijing's 1989 tiananmen square massacre. authorities in hong kong have banned in any agile -- an annual vigil for the second year. despite this, thousands did gather at victoria park. thousands of police gathered across the city. reporter: a light, to remember lives lost, snuffed out just

moments later. but the resistance upon congers -- of hong kongers is proving more difficult to extinguish. authorities have banned vigil to honor victims of the tiananmen square massacre for the second year in a row. they cited restrictions on mass gatherings, although football games and other eves have resumed. but neither the band nor the threat of a five-year prison sentence has deterred people from turning out in the streets. hundreds carry lighters or sidelights from their mobile phones. >> we were being very peaceful. we only let-upandles t commemate. but they are accusing us of

violating so many different laws. it is in abuse of their power to detain everyone and to silence everyone. lauren: noticeably absent this year was a vigil organizer who was arrested by plainclothes police her alleged crime? promoting unauthorized assembly. weeks ahead of the 22nd anniversary of the tiananmen square uprising, the organization hong kong alliance led by the women began promoting the commemoration. ciao at the time -- chow at the time i its importance. >> it has gone beyond a remembrance of tiananmen. it goes to the heart of what hong kong is, whether we still have a fight in our heart, whether we are still resistant, whether we can still preserve our freedoms by our own actions. lauren: it is a question protesters are asking themselves . faced with an intense crackdown

from beijing, fighting for democracy is getting harder. phil: i asked the chair of the china delegation whether his organization is doing enough to counter abuses i china. >> it is not sufficient. and everything we are doing as activists, as parliamentarians, that businesses are doing in disassociating themselves with present practices, is not sufficient because the authoritarian nature so overwhelminglytrong that we have to do more. but i am glad that there are these efforts. i am glad that there is an official position. i am glad that people have organized online vigils to commemorate, and to make sure everybody understands that the democratic spirit cannot be killed. phil: what is top of your list?

what more should the eu do about its dealings with china? what is a thing that is missing as far as you are concerned? >> well, that is a wide range. let me focusn hong kong. i would advocate, as the european parliament has done in the past, that we shod align with other like-mied countries and create an informal hong kong contact group of countries that want to alert international public opinion to what is going on in hong kong. phil: so you form a contact group, you tell the world. the world knows. what more should the eu as an entity do? >> i was not finished. just let me continue. i would add, the contact group

is not just a superficial thing. it means that we demonstrate that we take that as a pertinent issue, not just for the past, but also for the future. that means we take on the obligation to return to the topic, to raise it in international forums and multilateral events. that is something that diplomatically carries weight. in addition to that, we should offer more opportunities for people from hong kong that do not want to live under the oppression, to take advantage of lifeboat mechanisms to give them a safe harbor. in addition, we should put human rights sanctions on some individuals in hong kong that stand out asnk administrators of

authoritarian oppression, as the european or lit does argued in the past. that would be carrie lam. phil: thank you, reinhard b utikofer. let's take a look at other stories making news. in nigeria, the government suspended twitter indefinitely after the social media giant remove opposed from the president -- removed a post from the president that threatened to punish secessionists. the government said it acted because twitter activities were capable of undermining nigeria's exisnce. greece has begun vaccinating pele on the 80 and islands. greece has been criticized for being slow to vaccinate refugees

in crowded camps. the father of a detained belarusian activist has joint key figures in the opposition movement in saying that his son appeared on state tv under severe duress. the activist and his girlfriend have been in detention since may 23, with the flight was forced to land in an area germany's most senior catholic cleric offered his resignation to pope francis. cardinal reinhard knox says he shares responsbility for the catastrophe of abuse at the catholic church. he admitted to institutional failures as well as systemic shortcomings. the cardinal has been a leading voice and calls for church reform. his resignation comes just two weeks after the pope a review of several sex abuse scandals within the catholic church in germany. initial investigations have decades of cover-up by clergy.

here is cardinal marx speaking with the press today. >> for me, this is about taking joint responsibility for what happened inside the church, a place which is supposed to provide space for healing, hope and confidence. and the horror about the fact that inside our churches, this amount of sexual abuse took place. phil: let's talk more about this with dw religious affairs correspondent martin gatt. i found the cleric's comments slightly cryptic. what is he saying he did or failed to do, or is he saying he tried to do something in the catholic church stopped him? i don't understand what he is getting at. martin: the point that is being made is that a serious attempt was made and i think the reference was very clearly made by marx to what is now known as

a path, democratizing the german catholic church byringin in people to have conversations in bringi other gups that were discussing, for instance, women inlergy, the blessing of homosexual couples, and so on. backlash from the ultraconservative side of the church, particularly among people like raymond burke in some sense is part of the same ideological alignment with the bishop of cologne, and was quite strong. i think what you are seeing now specifically with marks --marx saying that this is a way for him to take responsibility for what has happened is something that should be read as necessary steps for taking responsibility for what the church has done, which as he puts it, is not just a matter of administration and

protocol, but it is really a matter of essentially systemic failures of the organization as such. the question he is posing is, should other people be following suit and getting out of of the church for their failures? phil: we know that the catholic church has this problem with the way it has dealt sexual abuse. barely a year goes by where another abuse doesn't come to light. so is the resignation of this senior cardinal within germany -- explained to us how big a deal this is? is this a big deal, or just another step in this long road of an enormous organization mishandling abuse? martin: this is a very big deal. if you're not following chuh politics, this inot a hoehold name. but nonetheless, what is absolutely clear is that a

stretch of the german church politics which actually stand beyond germany. they have a matter -- germany, they have a massive footprint on vatican politics, really fits that marks group -- really hits the marx group against anoth group at is accused of fighting informaon from the vatican about sexual abuse over several years, he has been called upon to resign and has come under incredible criticism. but now, marx has pushed for massiv reform in the crch, particularly the german church, has said the church needs to make amends and whatever the church is doing is not enough, seems to be a very clear signal to what you would expect people to be doing and very likely is also a statement that he cannot really stay in the same kind of political context, which is the

top of the churchrarchy, when people like others are still operating there. of course, this is an interpretation, but the signs are actuly very strong. phil: thank you for that, dw religious correspondent martin gatt. more of today' is top stories, g-7 health ministers have met in prison for talks about covid-19, during which they agreed to increase ordination in order to prevent future threats and pandemics. but there were no new commitments to speed up vaccine deliveries to poor countries. the mating also focused on global health security and digital health clinical trials. russian president vladimir putin says the first line of the nord stream 2 gas pipeline to germany has been late. speaking at an economic performance hp's burke, he disputed the assertion pressure was unconcerned by climate change. he said moscow supported the paris climate record -- a court

-- accord. facebook has suspended donald trump until at least 2023. the oversight board upheld its block on the former u.s. president which was imposed following january's riot at the u.s. capitol, over concern his posts incited the violence. almost 100 million mexicans are expected to vote sunday in the biggest election in the country's history. the midterms will see elections of 500 deputies to congress as well as governors and mayors. voting takes place against a background of political violence that includes murder. almost 90 politicians or candidates have been killed since last september. reporter: it was while traveling along this road that a woman was murdered. she had been hoping to represent the town in south mexico in upcoming elections, but in march, she withdrew from the race because of increased

threats. two days later, she was assassinated. her husband had already been murdered in 2015. and yet, that had not put her off politics. she always said, he who owes nothing fears nothing. since last september, almost 90 politicians, including many who were due to stand it sunday's elections, have been killed. and there have been numerous other assassination attempts. a mayoral candidate, gil yarmo valencia -- guillermo valencia, as always accompanied by bodyguards after an attempt on his life. >> changes your life. you have to ride in an armored

car. you have to be careful because you don't know what is going to happen. reporter: the finger is being poind out ornized crime gangs, including drug cartels. in many municipalities, elections are increasingly a game of life and death, which think is a fundamental problem of what is happening in mexic it can't be that as a candidate, you run in an election thinking you are going to die. mexico's president, and raise manuel lopez obrador, -- president is fighting his own battles. although he is not up for be election, many in his political party, morena r. election will decide whether he and his allies keep their two thirds majority in the lower house of congress. the president is popular, but his administration has been

criticized for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and the mexican economy is also struggling. it is crime, though, that is still top of voter concerns, illustrated yet again in an election campaign beset by violence, something that the loved ones of yvonne gallegos know all too well. phil: let's take a close look at this with journalist sandra vice , joining us southwest of mexico city. why hasn't the government been able to prevent so much deadly violence? >> well, he actually promised to replace the cartels with a strategy called hacks, not dollars. but he wasn't able to deliver. he has had a controversial handling of violence. he has militarized the security office that is fighting money launring paired but on the

other hand, he dismantled important institutions in the justice system, for instance, an independentrosecutor's office. so his critics say he hasn't any to your strategy at all. phil: so how much are these midterms being seen as a referendum on president obrador and his handling of the pandemic? >>exico's president didn't take the pandemic seriously at the beginning. he never ordered strict nationwide lockdowns, so mexico has had a really high death toll. and then he bought in the early stage many vaccines, so mexico was able to start vaccinations as early as december. up until now, 25% of the elderly have received the vaccine and surveys sho those people are very gratel to his administration and are prone to vote for morena. so his strategy finally hasn't backfired at him. phil: so mexico is often

portrayed as a country that is in the pay of the drugs cartels, with an infrastructure, a legal infrastructure that doesn't work and indeed is corrupt. and yet, they are expecting record numbers of people to turn out to vote for mayors and people in parliament. why is that? sandra: we will see if there are record ms is turning out to vote for him, butsually, mexico's parties are very well organize they have a good machine and are really able to take voters out on election day. this is quite a tradition in mexico. so probably we will see a big mobilization by the parties on election day, on sunday. phil: what sort of future are the cabinets promisi mexicans? sandra: the president is defending his two thirds majority in congress at hopes to

win over some of the 15 governorships to coinue his program, a mixture of socialistic and social democratic paternalism. and critics want to at least hinder him fm advancing on what they think is a dangerous and authoritarian restoration, and a setback for mexico's democracy appeared si think the fight between those two visions is likely to continue after the elections. phil: good talking to you, thank you, sandra weiss. this is dw news, live from berlin. still to come, we take you to munich, one of the host cities for next week's european football championships. it has been confirmed 14,000 fans will be allowed to attend each of the much-anticipated matches. ♪ first though, i drop in coronavirus cases and

long-awaited warmer temperatures the residents of germany' is r out in -- are out in force -- germany's capital are out in force. berliners are really feeling the joy. reporter: summer has arrived at along with the sunshine, berliners are able to enjoy some freedoms again, like a dip in an outdoor pool, a staple of summertime fun. after months of restrictions, there is a sense that things are finally looking up. >> i feel very happy. it is my birthday tomorrow and i feel like it is a present to me. >> the weather is great. two go swimming with the kids again, that is fantastic. >> easing restrictions is always great. you can see everywhere that people are out and about enjoying the weather, kids are having fun here. i really hope things are really going to get better now. reporter: at the figures

reflected that optimism. over the last few weeks, the infection rate has been steadily declining in germany and is now well under 50 per 100,000 per week nationwide. that is a threshold under which many of the restrictions that were introduced in november and december of last year can be loosened again. from today, even indoor facilities such as gyms are opening again. in november last year, gyms had to shut and move classes online. now, time to pump iron again. unless fully vaccinated, members have to present covid test and stick to strict hygiene and distancing rules. >> it really is a great feeling today. i didn't think i would be that emotional, but i really am. it is fantastic and i am really happy to see all our members, and watch them train again. >> the atmosphere is great, and

after seven long months, our team of trainers can finally work together again. that is great. reporter: restaurants can once again welcome their guests indoors after outdoor dining reopened two weeks ago. experts warned the pandemic is far from open and that in autumn, new variants may cause another surge of infections in germany. but for now, while the sun is out and the beer is cool, worries over a fourth wave have been pushed to the back of most people's minds. phil: authorities in munich say 40,000 fans will be allowed to attend each of the matches of football's european championships which began on friday. the european city is one of 11 hosts for the pan-european tournament and until not refused to deliver numbers. dw to munich to take a closer

look. reporter: munich, one of the postponed hosts. europa wanted all 12 cities to guarantee fans could attend matches. dublin bought out. ill bow was replaced by seville and the bavarian capital was last to confirm its participation. >> munich -- munich cap discussing for a while but eventually gave the green light for four matches here. let's take you inside one of the venues. fans arriving at the alley on iance arena will undergo strict hygiene controls. wandering in like this won't be possible unmatched a speed this is germany's second-biggest stadium, the exterior covered with nearly 3000 inflated panels , it is the first stadium in the world with a full color-changing facade. usually, this is the home of the german munich champions that

moved here 2005. germany will be playing all group matches in this stadium, which under normal circumstances can host over 70,000 people. but during the euros, it will be even a quarter full. l. the city eased restrictions it may come a meeting beer gardens like this one are open again. how do locals feel about welcoming fans? >> i think it is good. football isn't the same without fans. it is boring. >> the measures are so secure that there is no need to worry. people fear the work -- people follow the rules because they are used to them by now. >> these euros seem to be a bit cursed. the case numbers are so unpredictable, we can just hope that a few fans will be there. reporter: as europe gears up for a cross continental tournament,

fans will hope the only surises the experience wilbe on the football bench.@@ phil: in formula one, organizers confirmed the singapore grand prix has been canceled because of the coronavirus restrictions, for a second year in a row. the race was due to take place in october at the marina bay street circus. it is the latest in a string of grand prix to fall victim to the pandemic. recently, the canadian grand prix was held up because of covid-19 concerns, as was its replacement in turkey. here is a quick reminder of our top stories before we go. police and hong kong have arrested a prominent pro-democracy activist on the 32nd anniversary of china's tiananmen squar crackdown. the woman is known for leading a vigil on this date for the victims of the massacre. ♪

germany's most senior cleric offered his resignation to pope francis. munich cardinal reinhard marx said he wanted to share responsibility for what he called the catastrophe of sexual abuse by the catholic church. he is a leading voice in calling for church reforms. ♪ that is it, you are up-to-date. more world news at the top of the hour. back in a few moments to take you through the big events of the day on "the day." good day. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

gç?ç?ç?ç?o■o■ñ■ç■ç■ç■ 24

and france 24.com. >> it is 10:00 p.m. in different -- in the french capital. hong kong marks the 32nd anniversary of the tiananmen square massacre in beijing. hundreds gathered despite a ban on the vigil by authorities. easing summer travel restrictions, france will welcome vaccinated tourist from the ninth of june. a color-coded system will determine which visitors have to present a negative coping test and quarantine. quench, client -- the french telecom giant