>> last month, the u.n. imposed fresh sanctions on belarus after a passenger plane -- and arrested him. lukashenko has no intention of backing down.

>> if something that we will close our borders with poland, lithuania, latvia, and ukraine and become a camp for people fleeing afghanistan, iraq, and others, they are mistaken. we won't hold anyone, they are not coming to us, but to the enlightened, warm, and cozy europe. de-escalation does not appear to be an option for lukashenko just yet. >> for more on the situation, let's go to the head of the belarus office. he joins me from the lithuanian capital. let me ask you, this surge of migrants from belarus into lutheran -- lithuania, is this an intentional provocation being orchestrated by schenkel? -- lukashenko?

>> yes, it seems so. he has announced a threat to flood europe with migrants and drugs. what we see at the moment is very much this. belarus is withdrawing from the agreement. the border protector sysm that had been working well over the past years. he hasaid clearly it is a lack of resources now that belus cannot afford to keep these people. it is seen as a counter rule to the european sanctions. >> what do we know about these large numbers of people crossing the border from ella into lithuania? -- from belarus intoithuania? >> what we hear from the

lithuanian border guards is that these pele are mostly from the near middle ea. many iraqis, many claim to be students coming from africa who say they were expelled from their schools after the fee for tuition was raised and they were then brought to the border. it is a mixture of people that have now arrived to live within -- lithuania. >> the eu has promised solidarity. what kind of assistance is lithuania experiencing -- expecting? >> this is not a lithuanian problem, but something for the whole of theu. they are expecting leadership and a solidarity. lithuanians themselves manifested solidarity to the other lithuanian countries. --

i would say i is not about relocation at the moment, so much as assistance for the protection of the border. there have been deployments of officers from an agency. there is a discussion going on at the moment whether there is a need to build a wall or fence. about 700 kilometers, only 100 kilometers are safeguarded by offense. there is discussion about whether there would be a need for european assistance on infrastructure measures. >> the belarusian opposition leader is in lithuania continuing her fight against lukashenko. how much support is there for her in lithuania now? >> support is substantial, both from the state side and from the

wi -- wi the weenie and peop. -- lithuian people. the ministe oforeign affairs said we would rather see hell freeze than lithuania develop -- deliver that women to the authorities. we will see lithuanians deliver diplomatic status to her office. also, the population manifests a lot of solarity. you see the flags and man windows. people identify in lithuania. they remember in 30 years, -- 30 years ago, they went through a similar struggle and if they have solidarity with this and they also see that freedom and peace can only work if the whole region is at peace and has freedom, so they pport the movement and the people o are here working on freedom for belarus.

>> weppreciate your time and insight. thank you. we are now to south america where health authorities are battling a rise in coronavirus infections. the region has the highest death rate in the world. still his suffer the most fatalities, with more than one million deaths. that is followed by mexico where more than 230,000 people have died. peru has reported or the 200,000 deaths. we report tonight from peru where the new an variant -- variant of the virus has left them really. >> in peru, people are putting their hopes and vaccination, but progress is slow. only 15% of peruvians have received at least one dose. one of the worst rates in latin america. for health workers on the ground, it is better than nothing.

>> we feel optimistic, because people react well to vaccination in peru. in fact, younger people like everything to go faster so they can get vaccinated soon. although commerce has reopened after a nine-month quarantine, strict safety measures remain in place. authorities have mandated using double face masks to enter stores and shopping centers. face shields are widely used and handwashing facilities have been installed in the streets. it has not been enough. peru has the highest per capita death rate in the world. >> the doses arrived too late. the management of the pandemic is a complete disgrace, especially for the previous president.

now, at least the vaccine has arrived. the last two big infections in peru have coincided with a political crisis that left massive demonstrations. the first was in november when political instability led to three presidents in one week. the second wave of protests is happening rit now. the reason, a controversial presidential election. one of the candidates cried fraud while the other claimed there is a plan to steal his victory. supporters from both sides have taken to the streets. according to some experts, these demonstrations could cause arrived -- could cse rise in the infection curve. the greatest effort must be done to vaccinate the populatio and to start negotiating fm now on new generations of vaccines for the new variants that may appear. this is the most effective

measure, and we have been slow in doing so. on average, peru administers about 350,000 vaccines every week. low figure for a country of more than 33 million. authorities are promised that the process will accelerate. the government forecast estimates that the eligible population will be immunized by the end of 2021. >> let's bring in our correspondent who you just saw in the report. he is in bogota tonight. your report paints a grim picture. how is peru's health system holding up? >> the peruvian health system is going through a difficult time, because in addition to these figures of new infection, and the arrival of new variants, peru is going through a major political crisis that has led

thousands of people to take to the streets in protest. we have new cases increasing, new variants arriving in the country, and massive demonstrations. those are conditions very favorable for a new wave. this had to be understood in the context of a country which, even before the pandemic, had a week system. the outlook for peru is not bright. >> people blame peru's political instability on the dire situation we are saying now. sites promising to speed of the vaccination drive, what is the government doing to keep these infection numbers fa? >> the government -- what are they doing to keep the infection numbers at bait? >> peru is going through a huge political crisis. today marks one month since the presidential election was held

and we still don't know who won the election. that is why thousands of people have taken to the streets. the government right now is very concentrated trying to keep this crisis under control. that is why all hopes are placed on vaccination. united states donated 2 million doses to peru, and it will allow the country to accelerate the vaccination process, but also last weekend four oxygen plants arrived to peru. it shows the government is also preparing for a worse scenario. >> we know that a number of these new affections -- infections are being caused by the lambda variant. how worried are people about that? >> the scientific community and the people are very worried about the lambda variant, because it appears to be dangerous and its effect in the

region could be devastating. there are too many reasons to song -- sound the alarm bells. number one, most of the population of latin america need to go out to work. even if new lockdowns were decreed, people would still go out to work because there are few grants offered by the government to the population. if they don't work, they don't eat. the second reason is that in latin america, health systems even before the pandemic were already precarious. the truth is that one year after the outbreak of the coronavirus, latin america health systems are not ready to face this crisis. >> the latest on the situation in peru tonight, it is not a pretty picture. the united states has said $2

million of the moderna vaccine to vietnam. president biden has pledged to donate doses to countries facing shortages. fully vaccinated people will no longer need to isolate upon arrival. luxembourg's prime minister is in the hospital tonight after contracting covid-19. he had only been partially vaccinated when he became infected. let's look at some of the other stories aching news. a number of countries have closed their consulate in northern afghanistan after recent gains made by the taliban. the taliban have overrun most districts in the province. lebanon's caretaker prime minister warned that his country is days away from a social explosion as the country spirals

into a depression. few shortages are leading to social unrest. he is calling on the international community for help. iran hasccused iael of carrying out sabotage attacks at a nuclear facility last month. government says it was an attempt by israeli leadership to derail talks aimed at reviving that run nuclear deal with world pors. iran acknowledges the attack caused minor structural damage. south africans have to wait until the end of the week to learn the fate of their former president. he is appealing a 15 month present -- prison sentence for failing to appear before a corruption panel. the judge will give his ruling this coming friday. the 79-year-old has asked hundreds of supporters around his home to protest peacefully. it is not clear whether he will face arrest if he does not hand

himself in. we have this update now. our correspondent has been following developments in the court. >> the judge of this court has said that he is going to announce his ruling on friday morning. basically, the lawyers snt the better part of today making the case as tohy this court should even be hearing this case. the issue being that this is a lower court and effectively he is asking this court to overrule a decision taken by the supreme court. we heard everything about his health condition, his age, and he feels like a prison sentence in the heart of the pandemic is ntamount ta death sentence. there were also lawyers opposing the applications who went on to say that of course the court who gave him the sentence was well

aware of his age, health conditions, a the prison conditions. it was a day of a lot of arguments being made. the judge will hand down the ruling on friday morning. that is an interesting place we find ourselves in, because the ministers deadline to find him and a correction facility arrives on wednesday. this court is only going to announce its decision friday morning. the minister of police is going to find himself in contempt of an order from the constitutional court. it is not clear if the police are going to make sure he is behind bars by midnight tomorrow, or theater going to wait for friday. what the police have said is that they don't want scenario where there isn't -- there is an escalation of violence. police are treading softly this.

it will be interesting to see how they are going to get to him if they are forced to have to go and arrest him from his home, because his supporters have made it clear they will not let it happen without a fight. >> five people involved in one of germany's biggest child sex abuse rings going to prison in a case that shocked the country. the gang drugged and raped children sometimes for days on end in a summer house in a western city. dozens of other suspects are still on trial. >> the main defendant and three accomplices were hoping for more lenient sentences, but the judge acted on the state attorney's recommendations. even his mother was given a prison sentence on the grounds that she was an accessory to the crime. according to the court, she owned the property and new about the crimes.

it was in this house that the investigators found huge amounts of incriminating data. he filmed his criminal activities. he contacted other pedophiles online, and offered them access to his victim, now age 11. he used this van to travel throughout germany and meet other men who sometimes offered up their own children as further victims of the other pedophiles. the specialist saved these images on servers and shared them with his network. investigators have logged 1400 recordings that are serving as proof. 53 perpetrators have been identified. >> we have mountains of data. that's why i think not only the police, but also politicians and society have to discuss if we will keep chasing problems like this, or if we can find new approaches to data protection,

because child protection needs to come first. as well as the 11-year-old boy, police believe there are 29 more victims in this case. >> let's look at other stories making headlines. canada has appointed its first indigenous governor general. she will become queen elizabeth's representative at a time when canada is grappling with its past treatment of native peoples. she is the first indigenous canadian to hold the position in 154 years. search crews have found the wreckage of a plane. officials say all 28 people are now presumed dead. the plane is thought to have crashed as it was planning to land in poor visibility. police in hong kong say they have uncovered a bombing plot.

they arrested nine people on suspension of terrorism. six of those detained are high school students. beijing imposed security law one year ago. north korea is stepping up pandemic prevention measures. kim jong-un issuing a cryptic statement last week criticizing senior officials for their handling of the crisis. pyongyang has not confirmed any covid-19 cases. lgbtq campaigners have been forced to cancel georgia's first gay pride march. organizers called off the parade after protesters attacked journalists and activists. opposition politicians are blaming the government for encouraging violence and failing to protect lgbtq people. >> what was meant to be a march for dignity instead turned into a march of violence. when ultranationalist far-right

protesters took to the streets in an anti-lgbt rally. a mob ransacked the offices of the local pride organization and attacked activists and journalists. politicians in georgia are blaming the government for encouraging violence. maybe there are many responsible people, but when the violence is ultimately -- openly announced, the ultimate responsibility is the government. the interior ministry was not prepared enough to prevent this violence. the green light to this violence was given by the prime minister's shameful and unlawful statement made in the morning. these are the words that many considered responsible for inciting the violence. >> today's lgbt march presents

confrontation. the majority of our population considers today's rally unacceptable, which is why i do not think it should be held on the avenue. >> what happened next caused international uproar. police were quickly overwhelmed by the masses. pride activists were forced to flee when demonstrators started throwing objects at them. some orthodox clerics were also among the protests. the conservative orthodox church, a powerful force in georgia, is largely opposed to lgbt rights. it called on supporters to gather for a public prayer on monday against the pride march. georgia decriminalized

homosexuality into thousand, but not everyone has accepted that. >> sports news now, at wimbledon , the winner reached her fourth final. she won the first set in 30 minutes. the champion is willing to reach her third final is going to meet one of the australians in the semifinals. earlier, a second seed moved into the semifinals after beating the player from tunisia. the belarusian one the match and will face the former number one in the world in the next round. formula one australian grand prix has been canceled for the

second consecutive year. last year's race in march was scratched. this year's contest was shifted from its usual season-opening spot to late november, but all formula one fans will have to wait until next year, as will motorbike fans because octobers gp has also been canceled. the con film festival -- cannes film festival has reopened. an american director, spike lee heads the jury. he is the first black leader of the judges. the first film on the agenda is a musical by a french director. you are watching dw news. our top story this hour, tensions are rising between belarus and the eu.

belarus threatening to block exports heading for russia. over migrants who are streaming across the border. you are watching dw news live from berlin. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. coming up, unanswered questions on both sides of the atlantic. ♪

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♪ >> welcome to live from paris. world news and analysis from "france 24." these are the world news headlines. the cannes film festival opens. we'll bring you a run through of the films and analysis of this year's jury headed by spike lee. the most, how can i put it, female friendly jury ever. in the news, a political rival of alexander lukashenko jailed for fraud, a verdict desib