>> this is dw news, live from berlin. a farewell visit to the united states. angela merkel is with u.s. president joe biden at the white house for dinner and talks. we will be going live to their joint news conference in washington. also coming out, at least 15 people in western germany are dead in some of the worst flooding in decades. hundreds of homes are washed away or in ruins. over and out dutch crime

reporter has died. he was gunned down on a street in amsterdam. we will take a look at the legacy left behind by the best-known journalist in the netherlands. south africa takes stock of the damage after a week of looting and violence. i am brent goff, jr viewers in pbs and the united states and olivia around the world, welcome. we begin tonight with a beginning of the end of sorts. angela merkel is meeting with joe biden as part of her farewell visit to the united states. this is their last plan to talks before merkel steps down before german elections in september.

we will find out more in their joint news conference. we will go to that live as soon as it begins. we have team coverage of chancellor merkel's team. let's talk about the importance of merkel being in washington and saying goodbye. >> she has been very clear, this is a working visit and she is there to talk about real issues. there are some complicated issues on the table. we saw a very warm greeting from joe biden as she arrived in the white house. all of us from ever her first trip to washington after donald trump was in the oval office.

we will be seeing the contrast there. a very warm handshake. he more or less refused to shake her hand during that visit. there are some controversial issues outstanding. i don't expect we will hear any solutions to these, any real compromises and i think joe biden is pragmatic enough to know that she only has two more months in office and is not really in a position to commit on these difficult points like the north stream pipeline with russia o a waiver of patents on vaccines. this is a complicated issue. biden has been saying there needs to be a waiver on these patents. the chancellor has been very firm about the fact that she thinks -- brent: the nordstrom pipeline

connects russia to germany. she says it is about another way of getting natural gas to germany. she has always tried to separate geopolitics from business deals. they will not talk about it because she won't be chancellor in a few months. >> will they resolve it? most likely not. that is the crux of the issue. whether this pipeline will remove the little bit of leverage the ukraine still has vis-à-vis russia by allowing russia to divert its gastric to germany and thereby -- gas

straight to germany, it is pretty odd timing this week. that she is there just as vladimir putin has issued his historical interpretation of ukraine's status. that ukraine has no right to be an independent country at all but should be a part of russia. you can believe the discussion will not be an easy one. biden is against this. for angela merkel, it is a blend of energy policy, energy security for germany but also her very steadfast belief that it is important to keep lines of communication open. that includes china as well. that will also be on the agenda. i don't think we're going to see her conciliate. brent: the critics of angela merkel have said that she has

been too soft on china. they .25 g technology for example and not being willy-nilly with this. is that going to change what she has left? is the german approach to china going to be changed? >> it is shifting already. if you look at statements by the business community, in germany, the clear position paper, they are saying china is a strategic rival. we are hearing some of the candidates for chancellor, especially the green party candidates say it is the end of soft on china but will the chancellor herself change in these last two months? no. i don't think she will abandon that position that they need to look for middle paths to pushback where perspective is needed but also to look for operation where possible and she said that again this week,

saying we have to work with china on climate. china is the biggest market for germany. far more important for german exporters than it is for u.s. exporters. i don't think we will see a real meeting of the minds on china either at this meeting. brent: it doesn't have to be anyway because of the personality of angela merkel. she is incredible popular in the united states. >> biden said at the time of the g7 meeting that she is the head of state he admires the most. he is following in the footsteps of the man for whom he served as vice president, barack obama who said chancellor merkel had become a friend and the person he would go to when he needed advice. i think that may be a little bit of what this visit is almost about.

climate, relations with russia, stabilizing democracies and just having the kind of exchange these two leaders, both of them a long time in power, they know each other well. i think they will have a lot to say to each other. >> angela merkel has been called the prudent whisperer. when barack obama was president, she was considered his window into the kremlin. when she is gone, who will washington have to see into the mind of vladimir putin? >> some former chancellors in germany should. he is discredited to a great degree in terms of relations with russia. certainly, there are others in the social democratic party in

germany that would be putting forth the view that we must work with russia and that we can't simply dig in and declare a new cold war with russia or with china. there will be enough interlocutors on that going forward but we have heard the green party chancellor candidate. they are not leading in the polls at the moment but they are very likely to be part of the next government. they said they need to see germany get much tougher on russia and china. brent: the image angela merkel has in the unit states, she is seen as a product of the end of the cold war. she had grown up in east germany and became the chancellor of the united germany. with her leading power, does that mark an inflection point in history in any way do you think? >> certainly it will changed

transatlantic relations. she is someone who has seen four presidents and she has got along very well with three of them. george bush paid tribute to her again this week in an interview with dw in which he just heaped on the praise and definitely her background as an east german, the fact that she grew up in communist east germany and was able to transcend that and be such a strong democrat. that is part of what americans respect but i think more than anything else, they respect the principled leadership for which she was awarded an honorary degree today at johns hopkins university. they said she was a beacon of principled leadership for the world as a whole and if you look at polls, the p research institute in the u.s. did a survey looking at angela merkel

and joe biden's popularity in the one. in many places, angela merkel is remo pularop than joe biden although he is etprty popular f.mshielf. she had the bac okinng average of 77% of people and that is certainly the case in the u.s. because she is seen as the not donald trump, a principled democrat who speaks the truth. that was part of the reason johns hopkins gave her this award for her speaking of the truth during the pandemic. brent:nd a shes al iso a physicist and scientist. maybe the world needs a little bit more of that right now. it is always great to have you. thank you. rehe in germany, severe storms have triggered some of the worst flooding in decades. two people have died, including two firefighters. hundredsf o thousands of homes are without power. >> sweeping away anything in

their path, these floodwaters have claimed homes and lives across western germany. emergency crews are trying to locate dozens of missing residents, some were trapped on rooftops as th water inundated their homes. rescue efforts are hindered by roads that have been ripped apart, raging floodwaters and debris. the german army has been deployed, clearing paths through the mud. >> you can see here that there is mud everywhere in the houses. the bridge there collapsed. there is water over it. further down, even houses have floated away. this is guaranteed to take 10 years to recover. it is just horrible now.

these have been the worst affected. the fugly -- floodgates had to be reopened as it threatened to burst. the unusually intense rainfall was called by warm and cool air mixing. germany's chancellor, angela merkel expressed her sympathies fr washington where she is on her last visit before stepping down as the german leader. >> i am shocked by the reports that are reaching me from the places that are now completely underwater in which people have rescued themselves in a situation of great need onto the rooms of their houses and hopefully will also be rescued. i mourn for those who have lost their lives in this catastrophe. we don't know the number yet but there will be many. some in the basements of their houses, some as firefighters trying to bring others to safety. my deepest sympathy goes out to their families.

>> as the weather clears and most of the hard-hit areas, some residents have joined the cleanup efforts, salvaging whatever they can from their devastated homes. brent: kate is in the town here in western germany. she has more on the flooding. >> i am here on bellport time. there is debris all around me as you can see and there are the rescue efforts that have been going on throughout the entire day today. there have been police and rescue workers. there has been people driving heavy machinery, trying to clear so of the debris off the road. basely, there has been lots of villages as well sat around all day waiting for information to find out what happened to their homes and loved ones. there has been at these people who have been found dead in this village. they found one person earlier in

the day and ty have jus reported that they have found another person. i spoke to people earlier today and they were telling me about their impossible stories, that they knew this was gng to happen and that there would be some flooding and they had some warning from the authorities. they said they had no idea it could possibly be this bad. >> that was kate reporting there. earlier we spoke with heidi. she lives in one of the areas that have been hit by the floods. she described what she experienced when the floodwaters swept through her street on monday night. >> last evening, shortly before dark, the pice and the firemen came and they were yelling to theeople, we had already heard sirens but they were yelling to the people to leave their houses. i live on the second floor and they were saying we were

supposed to leave as well. nobody had time to react. within two minutes, the street was covered. had we left, we would have been swept away. we watched the whole night the water levels rose and rose. at least 1.5 meters. two americans would be about 4.5 feet or five feet. cars, trees, gas tanks, propane tanks floating down the street. today is cleanup day. brent: that was heidi nowak they're describing the floods. the flooding is causing devastation in neighboring belgium and the netherlands. authorities in the belgian city of liege have said the banks could soon overflow. at least four people have died in the flooding in belgium.

the dutch providence of lynn borg has been hard-hit. authorities have been sent to help with evacuation and flood defenses. peter jeffries -- defriese was killed. he was known for his reporting on the criminal underworld in the netherlands. how are the netherlands acting toward the death of peter de v ries. >> people have been gathering.

they are here to pay their respects, there is a really powerful he still atmoserphe righnow. a number of people veha been ocoming t deliver flowers, dine at the site where he was shot with five gunshots, that was nine days ago. right here in central amsterdam just after he had given a report on dutch television. he died in a hospital not too far from here. his family released a statement saying he had fought hard but had succumb and lots his battle to those injuries. this is a massive case in the netherlands. it has shocked everybody. the dutch prime minister responded to the news of his death and said it was almost incompetent civil that this had happened in their country. brent: what more do we know about the suspects and the motives in the shooting? jack: two suspects were arrested

in the hay shortly after the shooting nine days ago. this was a polish national of 35 years old and delano g. a dutch national, 35 years old. they are do to remain in custody for two more weeks. we don't know too much more about the case just now. the prosecutors are continuing their investigation. people here are very concerned about exactly what happened and they are very keen having spoken to a number of people already, they are very keen that justice is delivered in this case. peter de vries is a beloved journalist here. he exposed the criminal underworld, he dug out corruption. all in order to try to bring those perpetrators to justice and achieved a lot of success in

doing that over a career that has spanned decades. brent: what is happening here? is this becoming a power struggle between dutch authorities and organized crime in the netherlands? jack: this is one of the big concerns because he was very connected and a very close confidant and a key witness of the drugs trial. does prosecutors have said this is a merciless person who was willing to do whatever his gang needs to do to get their way. the dutch federation of journalistslready saithey are very sure that that gang was connected to his murder. the federal justice minister has lached ainvestigation as to why somebody like peter de vries who was so connected and involved in some of these very

complicated and dangerous cases did not have stronger security and was allowed to be shot in the center of amsterdam. brent: that was jack in amsterdam. thank you. the south african government is sending in an extra 25,000 soldiers to help curb unrest after days of looting. violence has begun to subside, allowing the cleanup to begin. more than 70 people have died in supply chains -- and supply chains across the country for food and fuel have been disrupted. christina sent us this report from johannes berg. >> i am in a shopping mall in alexander township. this is in johannesburg. this is one of the last malls standing in this particular township. throughout the day, members of the alexander community have been coming along to do their shopping here. it has already been monitored really well.

you had soldiers patrolling at the area. there is some panic buying happening right here as people fear they are not going to have access to food and other essentials in the coming days. this is one of e malls that was left unscathed and it has been protected by a number of officials. yoare going to see members of this national defense patrolling the area, basically just touching base to see that everything still remains calm and in order. give us a sense of how much longer you feel that you guys are going to be out here for. >> we are going to be here for some time. as long as there is looting and painting of warehouses, we will still be here. >> their presence is making it possible for a shop like this one behind me to stay open at this time because the threat level is still very much alive

here. brent: how dangerous is it in pakistan being a woman? according to one politician it depends on what she wears. women sexually assaulted in pakistan are often accused of provoking their attackers. the prime minister has been criticized for victim shaming. last month he told an interviewer that if a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the man unless they are robots. earlier, he urged women to wear a veil, saying that it is so there is no temptation in society. activists say his comments reinforce the idea that women provoke sexual assault and that men cannot control themselves. they say attitudes need to change. >> houma is getting ready to go out. that usually means putting on

some makeup and a nice dress. no big deal but wearing an outfit like that is a pretty bold step in pakistan. more and more women are following suit. >> there is nothing that makes me more happy than seeing women being with they a and breaking stereotypes. if one woman decides to do that, that changes the fate of entire generations. >> the generation of women fighting for human rights. an interview on fresh protests. he said that wearing a veil would stop men being drawn into temptation, implying wen were at fault or actual violence. his marks caused uproar among rights activists. >> i think he has discriminated here and put all the blame and burden over women's dress. that is not fair. he should have addressed men as

well. i think that was totally unfair for the women of pakistan. >> many women in pakistan have already experienced sexual violence, including our guest. when she was just six years old, her parents left her alone with a male friend of the family. she trusted him but she abused -- she trusted him but he abused that trust. >> most of these experiences come at an age like this. >> she wants to convince other women to speak openly about sexual violence. she says it is the only way to bring about change. she believes her generation can achieve a lot. she is calling for the same rights for everyone. >> when we are a collective voice,e make a difference. we don't need to be ashamed that it happened to us.

the burden of proof, the shame lies with t ones who do that. this is something i think protests are making a years difference with in pakistan. >> pakistan's women still have a long way to go. >> let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. the european union's top court has ruled that employers can force a ban on religious symbols in the workplace but the step must be justified and it has to apply to all religions equally. the case centers around two muslim women in germany who were suspended for wearing headscarves. there have been protests in the capital, beirut. this failure comes as the country is mired in its worst economic csis in decades.

turkey is marking the fifth anniversary of a failed military coup, 250 people died and thousands were injured when a military faction tried to as to the president. the sweeping political crackdown and mass arrests followed. you are watching dw news. we are covering angela merkel's final visit to washington as the german chancellor. we are waiting for a joint news conference between president joe biden and the german chancellor. we have to say goodbye to some viewers watching us on the pbs channels in the u.s.. for the rest of our viewers, we will go live to that press conference as soon as it begins. german chancellor angela merkel is in washington on a farewell visit to the united states. she and president joe biden held wide-ranging talks today covering climate change, the pandemic and global security.

the two leaders are do to give a joint news conference shortly and we are going to cross over live to that at the white house as soon it begins.

■■■■■■■ >> heavy rain in europe proves

fatal.vy rain in europe proves at least 58 people have been killed in the flooding in germany. belgium, too, has been hit with the city of liege underwater. poland and hungary at loggerheads with brussels. and the cannes film festival building climax this weekend. our. olivia salazar joins us