berlin. another close call with death, but obamacare survives again. for the third time, the u.s. supreme court dismisses a republican led attempt to kill the affordable health care act. millions will keep their health care coverage. also coming up, china's crackdown on hong kong. now journalists appear to be beijing's target. the editorial staff at a pro-democracy newspaper were arrested.

china celebrating as three of its astronauts dock at the new space station. it marks another challenge by china to u.s. dominance in outer space. with a second wave of coronavirus infections declining, will vaccine hesitancy hinder is into -- hinder india's attempts to keep a third way that bay? -- third way at bay? it is good to have you with us. the u.s. supreme court has dismissed a republican-led attempt to kill what is known as obamacare. the decision means affordable health insurance for tens of millions of americans will remain in tact. the justices ruled a 7-2 tt texas and 17 other states did not have standing in a the case.

republicans have made numerous unsuccessful attempts to strike down the obama era health care law since it was passed in 2010. let's go over to washington. our correspondent is following this for us. this is a big story. how significant is this ruling? >> it is a big deal. president biden already reacted and welcomed the decision of the supreme court, which is not a big surprise because it has been one of the most prestigious projects of the obama administration that brought health care, health insurance to 31 million americans. donald trump in his term put it high on his agenda trying to get rid of it. the republicans have already's -- have always argued it is too expensive, it is an individual decision. the democrats have always been saying they want to protect low income families, that it is unfair if they don't have

insurance. the republican states including texas took this the supreme court. in particular, suing a penalty that americans had to pay when they were not insured. the supreme court said those states don't have the legal standing. brent: this is not the first time the court has rebuffed republican attacks on obamacare. >> not at all. this is the third time. there has been a first attempt in 2012 followed by another one in 2015 and just today, the third one, the third decision to keep it in place. it has always been a different legal reasoning. the ultimate goal was always to take obamacare down. the first time was a close decision. one conservative justice, john

roberts, cited with the liberals. now it is a lot more clearer. it has been 7-2. although donald trump appointed three conservative judges, we have a highly conservative supreme court that voted in favor of obamacare. it is a clear decision. brent: as they say, in baseball, three strikes and you're out. is this the final word on the affordable health care act? >> it is still u.s. politics and not sports. for now, you are right. it looks like it is done at least for this attempt. the gop will certainly circle back and tried again. with every verdict, the hurtle will be a bit higher. they will find -- they will have to find new legal reasoning to come up with a new case and bring this to the supreme court. it will not get easier. the law itself is getting more and more popular.

31 million americans have obamacare. there will be more resistance coming from voters as well. brent: the latest tonight in washington. thank you. china's crackdown on hong kong has intensified. 500 police officers raided the newsroom of the pro-democracy newspaper apple daily this running and arrested five executives. authorities include -- authorities accuse the paper of breaching the national security law imposed by beijing. >> a crackdown on journalists in broad daylight. hong kong police raided the offices of the pro-democracy newspaper apple daily and arrested several executives including the editor-in-chief at their homes. officials accused journalists of being involved in an illegal conspiracy. although not a sret one. their transgressions relate to their public support for sanctions on china. >> are investigations found

through apple daily's newspaper, an online platform, there were around 30 articles in chinese and english, which requested foreign countries and institutions to impose sanctions on hong kong and china dating back to 2019. at a press conference, hong kong's security chief warned other journalists not to defend those arrested. >> it is your choice whether you will count them as part of you who go about your journalistic work lawfully and properly. >> apple daily belongs to the media conglomerate of jimmy li who was the first high-profile hong konger to be arrested by beijing.

apple daily has provided extensive coverage of the crackdown. as of thursday evening, its website was up and running. the staff published an editorial reassuring their readers that, though we are facing a sweeping clampdown on our publication, the staff will hold fast to our duties faithfully and press on to the end to see the arrival of don. -- of dawn. brent: phoebe kong in hong kong says the autrity authorizes police to remove journalistic materials. >> the very first targeting media coverage of the national security law. what makes it more exceptional is police were given -- to seize materials for investigation, raising further concerns of the erosion of press freedom in hong kong. although authorities tried to reassure the public it has nothing to do with press

freedom, it accused the apple daily newspaper of publishing thousands of online and printed articles calling for international sanctions against china and hong kong dating back to 2019. people are getting more fearful that the uncertain redline is going to impact all walks of life in hong kong after a year of implementation of the sweeping legislation. brent: tom grundy is editor-in-chief of the hong kong free press. i asked him about apple dailies next steps after their assets were frozen and their equipment seized. >> they want to say the show goes on. for them to put out apron addition tonight is quite symbolic and important because it is not particularly make money. they shut down the taiwanese print edition days ago. with it being the last pro-democracy daily in hong kong, they are going to be putting out half a million copies overnight.

we have a staff member to witness this. the way hong kongers tend to respond is to wipe the shelves of the apple daily in the morning in lieu of there being any protests at the morni -- at the moment. this is one way hong kongers found way to express their support and discontent. for them, the show goe on and for readerstheyave said they will buy apple daily even if it is blank. brent: let's take a look at some the other stories making headlines. french prosecutors have requested a six-month jail term for former president nicholas >> z. he is in trial in paris for illegal campaigning financing. he denies massive overspending on his failed 2012 reelection bid. it is alleged he and his party spent double the amount allowed and tried to hide the cost.

police say a man and a woman have been killed in a shooting in western germany. officers have caught the local man believed to be the gunman. authorities say the circumstances of the shooting are still unclear. an investigation has begun in india after a baby girl was found alive in a box floating on the ganges river. the box contained horoscope giving the date and time of her birth and her name, the hindu name for the holy river. doctors estimate she is one month old. in ivory coast, the former has flown back home after being acquitted of war crimes at the international criminal court. he was forced from power in 2011 after a month long conflict sparked by his refusal to accept electoral defeat. he spent a decade in exile.

a chinese spacecraft carrying three people has docked successfully with the new space station. they blasted off six hours earlier to take part in three-month mission to set up experiments and prepare for a series of spacewalks. this latest mission is considered a significant step forward in establishing beijing as a major player in outer space. >> and other success for china's space program. the rocket blasts off to dock with the country new space station. for the next three months, the crew will live in module slightly larger than a city bus, carrying out experiments, going on spacewalks and preparing the station for completion next year. china's space agency will be monitoring the astronauts to see how they handle the time away from earth. >> the three-month mission is a long-term human crewed space

flight. it takes time to adapt to the weightlessness. they will also have to cope with an environment filled with noise and vibration. it will be uncomfortable and the effect will have a cumulative impact over time. >> china's space program is mostly homegrown. the united states congress forbade nasa from cooperating with china 10 years ago. it cited concerns over the chinese space program's secretive nature and the connections to the military. the international space station launched in 1998 has hosted astronauts from over a dozen different nations. for china, it is off-limits. beijing'sesponse? will bud one oselves. while the iss reaches the end of its life span, china plans to complete its station by next year. when it does, it will be in a

position to decide who can come aboard. >> at this stage in construction, we are not yet considering for an astronaut participation. foreign astronauts are going to enter the space station one day. there are a number of countries that have expressed a kia -- a desire to do that and we will be open to it in the future. >> while there is still work to be done on the space station, china is already looking ahead to its next project, a proposed lunar base it is planning together with russia. brent: echlin earth, i am joined by a former nasa employee and now editor of the website, nasa watch.com. it is good to see you again. how significant of an achievement is this for china's space program? >> up until now, only two nations, the u.s. and russia, have large space stations in orbit. now china have -- china has

joined the club, that is a singular accomplishment. it is a big deal. the interesting thing about this is the international space station has bn up there for 20 years. i helped design it in the 1990's. a lot of it is based on a technology that has been around for a while. china's space nation -- space station was designed and built in the 21st century. it has got some capabilities that may allowt to continue operating after the international space station has been retired. brent: is that what is going to happen? >> i think the international space station will be extended. there will be tanked -- they will be plans to attach something to the international space station and detach so you would have two of them. do the road, y will see there will be a lot more collaboration, cooperation than competition. brent: it sounds like you are

saying there is not going to be more of this 21st century space race that is often talked about. >> it is interesting. the international space station has been in operation for 29 years. the united states, russia, europe, japan and other nations have been working peacefully. our president, russia's president have been having words. we are arguing with them on a lot of things but in space, it has been calm. with a few minor exceptions, everyone has gotten along well. i take the viewpoint you do something like this in space and it works this well, maybe doing these things can teach as a little bit about how to get along with each other back on earth. brent: i am thinking maybe 10 or 15 years into the future. we know the americans want to go to the moon in the next decade. are there possibilities for more cooperation here? there are.

when i was growing up in the 1960's, there was a song everyone is gointo the moon. israel has gone there. india has gone there. cha has gone there. now private companies want to go there. if anything, the ability to prevent somebody or compete somebody out of this activity is going to become less and less possible as different paies become involved. brent: as always, good to talk with you. we appreciate your time and your insights tonight. thank you. india's second wave of coronavirus infections appears to be winning. the focus now is on vaccinating as many people as possible to prevent a third wave. the government wants to inoculate all adults by the end of the year. there may not be enough vaccines. if that were not challenging enough, vaccine hesitancy among parts of the population is

making matters even worse. >> it is their turn to get vaccinated. and these young residents in the north indian state have been eagerly waiting for it. after a month of low vaccine availability, supply is finally catching up with the demand. officials say online slots in the small city are booked quickly and allowing off-line registrations in june has improved access even further. doctors believe india's massive second we could have erased vaccine hesitancy. >> people are more alert now. they could also be driven by fear as they have seen the horrors of the coronavirus. after the second wave, people are scrambling to get vaccinated. they say, please vaccinate us we definitelyant protection from

this virus. i believe vaccine hesitancy is negligible. >> in a village 20 kilometers from the hospital, these men painted a very different picture. only two of them have been vaccinated because they volunteered in the vaccine trials. even they do not feel confident about the benefits of the vaccine. in the last two months, more than 50 people have died in this village. these men say it was not the coronavirus that killed them but fear. several suffered fevers but recovered at home. they believe only those who go to hospitals died. without a real threat, they say a vaccine that does not even guarantee protection does not make sense. >> every three months, there is a new vaccine. the government needs to tell us why we should get it. what are the benefits? they are failing to give us information. >> even doctors have died after

vaccinations. there was a vaccine they recalled. now they are saying plasma therapy is not useful. they keep state -- they keep changing theirtand. >> in the village, they are not afraid. the air is clean here. the problem is in the city becausof the air. it is not the villagers. >> the villagers' local health center. earlier, only 600 people have been vaccinated. supplies are limited. there is not a rush anywhere. it is all the more reason the few who do show up stand out. this man traveled here to get his father his second dose. he snapped up his first dose as soon as it became available. he is booking -- he is looking out to book a slot for his wife. he says there is no need to fear. >> any people worry about fevers

after the vaccine. my father had one. i got it as well. i had no side effects at all. everyone must get it. >> he may be a lone voice here right now but he is emphatic. he tells everyone around him the vaccine can save lives. indiis slowly solving its supply crisis. but it may face anphill battle against skepticism to prevent a crisis of demand as well. brent: let's get you up-to-date on some of the other developments. officials in indonesia say more than 350 vaccinated doctors have contracted covid-19 and dozens have been hospitalized. almost all were inoculated with china's sinovac jab. greece has become the third e.u. country to get a green light for the recovery and resilience plan. here in germany, the government has announced it will reopen

borders later this month to non-e.u. nationals who have been vaccinated against covid-19. that includes the u.s.. in football, denmark's christian eriksson will have a defibrillator faded after he suffered a cardiac arrest during his country opening game on saturday. his teammates fell to a 2-1 defeat against belgium. a goal and an assist after coming on as a substitute, canceling out denmark's early opening goal. joining me here at the big table to talk about jen -- talk about denmark's match is dave. before we talk about the football, let's talk about christian erickson. did his teammates and fans have a message for him? >> they certainly did. it was one of the most emotional

resident matches. both teams agreed to pause play and have a round of applause as teams and fans cheering him on and letting him know the entire stadium and all of denmark had his back. i think it was one of the more spirited moments we have seen so far in the tournament. despite the emotion, denmark could not get a result. how did the match play out? >> this intensity really carried on to the pitch in the beginning moments of the match. denmark looked great. they were fired up. they scored a goal two minutes into the game. you would not have blamed them for looking a bit shellshocked. have had what is truly a harrowing past couple days. it is not easy to get back to the game. they came out very strong. belgium struggled a bit. they put on kevin at halftime. he pulled the strings for them. he assisted on their opening goal and scored a beautiful

winter himself -- need for winner himself. belgium came out with the wind. brent: where did the two teams stand? does denmark have any chance of progressing? >> denmark are winless. they are in a tough spot. in this tournament, third place teams do have a chance. on monday, they will face russia. they can get through. for elgin, they are cruising through into the round of 16 -- for belgium, they are cruising through into the round of 16. brent: in the first of today's euro 2020 matches, ukraine kept their hopes of qualifying from the group stage alive with a win over north macedonia. doubling their lead before halftime. north macedonia pulled a goal back but ukraine held on to take

three points. in tennis, women's world number two naomi osaka has pulled out of the upcoming grand slam in wimbledon in order to spend time with friends and family. she recently said she has struggled with anxiety and depression after she withdrew from the french open. her agent says she will be ready to return to the court in time for the olympics, which take place in her home country, japan. in tennis, nadal has pulled out of littleton and the tokyo olympics any and effort he says is to prolong his career. known as the king of clay, he shares the all-time record of 20 grand slam victories in men's singles. the spaniard lost in last week's french open semifinal. he says he needs more time to recover between tournaments. wimbledon starts on june 28. with tokyo 2020 step to start at the end of the month, athletes

like quintero are hoping to make their mark. the 24-year-old fencer managed to qualify despite the economic and coronavirus crisis at his country. he is hoping to bring a gold medal back to venezuela. >> venezuelan housing quintero, -- venezuelan jose quintero won his place on the fencing team in april. >> my goal was always tokyo. i prepared a lot for that. >> venezuela's only won two gold medals at the olympics. possibly a good omen is the fact that a fellow fencer won venezuela's first gold medal after 44 years of coming up

short. that recent success gives him hope heading to tokyo. >> i think it was very important. it shows all of us here in latin america it is possible to win a gold medal. if you work hard, you can win a gold medal. i also have my eyes on an olympic medal. >> if he does win gold, he will be the only second latin american fencer to win olympic gold in more than a century. brent: there is a reminder of the top story we are working on. the u.s. supreme court has dismissed a republican-led challenge to obamacare. the decision maintains affordable health insurance for tens of millions of americans. editorial staff at the pro-democracy newspaper apple daily have been arrested in a massive police raid. hong kong authorities accusing

them of colluding with foreign powers and violating the new national security law. you are watching dw news. after a short wait, i will be back to take you through the day. tonight, the biden-putin summit. did it work? did it change the russian president? i will ask right after this. ♪

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>> hello and welcome back to the france 24 newsroom. crowds packed the streets to welcome their former president home. after two years, he says he is glad to return to the ivory coast with the current leader there hoping for reconciliation. who will be chosen to succeed iran's president? turn out friday is