from berlin. tonight, turmoil in tunisia. the arab world's only democracy in crisis after the president fires the prime minister and suspends parliament. the president's supporters celebrated in the streets, blaming the former prime minister's party for corruption, high unemployment, and a lack of coronavirus vaccines. but the president's opponents say this is nothing but a coup. also coming up tonight. >> it was just a new wave.

brent: spiraling out of control. covid-19 cases and deaths are rising fast in africa, fueled by the delta variant. and the white house says still no european tourists allowed in the u.s. biden's coronavirus team keeps the travel ban in place as a precaution against the spread of new covid-19 variants. and on day three of tokyo 2020, another historic victory for the host nation. japan in the new olympic sport of skateboarding. momiji nishiya becomes the second youngest gold medalist ever. ♪ i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome.

tunisia's president kais saied has ordered a nighttime curfew and has banned the gathering of more than three people in public. this comes after clashes erupted in the capital tunis after his decision to sack the prime minister and suspend parliament. critics warning of a power grab, but the president says his move presents the will of the people. he has been under pressure in recent weeks following nationwide protests under -- over the government handling of the coronavirus crisis. reporter: protesters gather outside the gates of parliament in tunis. inside the grounds, security forces and military keep watch. the night before, tunisia's president sacked the prime minister and suspended parliament for 30 days. supporters and critics of the move clashed on the streets. >> this conflict will lead to blood flowing. people are hitting and hurting

each other. it has come to violence. but why? reporter: people took to the streets to celebrate when the news broke. many are furious about the actions of their politicians. protesters point to the worsening covid-19 situation and the country's deepening economic woes. president kais saied met with protesters on the streets. and in a televised address, he said the move was completely legal, and in accordance with article 80 of the constitution, he could suspend parliament. much of the outrage is directed at the moderate islamist party. the party's chairman, also the parliament's speaker, tried but failed to access the parliament grounds. he called the dismissal of the government a coup. it's unclear how the police and the unions will respond amid tunisia's worst crisis since the arab spring of 2011. brent: for more now i am joined by rabeb aloui, she's a radio

journalist based in tunis. it is good to have you on the program. i want to ask you, we are seeing right now the president urging people to remain calm. at the same time, he is ordering a curfew. so, how volatile is the situation tonight? rabeb: let's say tonight it is calm compared to this morning, because in the morning we saw tensions between the protesters who are against kais saied's decisions and are the supporters of the first side. on the other side we have the protesters who are with president kais saied's announcement. compared to this morning, the situation is calm, especially after president kais saied met with the national organizations. after this meeting, he delivered a reassuring message that he will not slip back into a

dictatorship and he will respect freedom of the press and that he will respect the right of the people. at the same time, as you said, he announced a presidential decree to put a curfew starting from today until august 27 from 7:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. i would describe the situation is calm and better than this morning. brent: but what happens moving forward, though? because now we have got a president who is claiming to basically have power for himself. and we don't have parliament. we don't have a prime minister. so, how is this not going to go from being a democracy into some type of authoritarian government? rabeb: well, some people, especially political parties, the majority parties in the parliament, are afraid of, let's say, the beginning of a

dictatorship. but at the same time, president kais saied a few hours ago in a speech, he delivered this reassuring message that he will not step back into a dictatorship and he even said that for the people who described his action as a coup, they said they must revise their constitutional lessons. the situation now is a little bit complicated, especially for the political parties. so many statements who are condemning this action. but at the same time, the national organization, like the labor union, is supporting kais saied. so, now you have two parties, from the political parties who were mostly against president kais saied, and on the other hand i think mannational organizations like the labor union are supporting kais saied

today with this decision. brent: trust is definitely a big issue here. and i guess people will have to have trust in the president moving forward based on what he is saying. rabeb aloui, we appreciate your reporting tonight. thank you. rabeb: thank you. brent: lebanon is policed to get a new prime minister. former premier najib mikati has won the support of most political parties to form a new parliament. parliamentary consultant, consultations are currently underway. it comes as lebanon faces its worst energy crisis in decades. the government has imposed long power cuts across the nation to conserve dwindling reserves of fuel. reporter: he contemplates the day ahead. this once-busy taxi driver now spends most of his time waiting. he has been a driver for seven years, he tells me. but since the country's increasing fuel crisis, just filling the tank can take up half his day.

>> sometimes we wait like, two or three hours, and when we arrive at the station, they say there is no gas. reporter: last year's port explosion destroyed many of beirut's gas stations. manythers have been forced to close because they simply don't have any fuel to sell. the few that have it often have to ration to accommodate the never-ending queues. meanwhile, a partial lifting of fuel subsidies has seen e cost of petrol nearly double in recent weeks. simple daily tasks are now much harder here in lebanon. we've been pretty lucky today. the jet arrived early and only had to wait about one hour. but even since we have been here, the line continues to grow and grow, and so too does the wait. by the afternoon, one hour quickly turns into three or four. back home, the wait continues. power has been out for hours,

and the generators, which also rely on fuel, can barely run the basic appliances. it's hurdles like these that make the family think of a better life outside of lebanon. >> my son next year will be in university. i told h to choose something you can work outside lebanon and choose a major you can use outside, not in lebanon. reporter: a choice many are now facing as finding work at home becomes nearly impossible. for others, even having a job is no longer cost effective. jihad's wife was forced to quit hers after record-breaking inflation meant the cost of getting there was higher than her salary. >> just to work as a nurse, she worked seven years in the hospital. but now she quit and came back home. reporter: her experience is shared by many women in the

country who have been particularly hard-hit by lebanon's economic crisis. the u.n. estimates that as many as 100,000 have been forced to leave their jobs since the crisis began. with the workday now over, jihad may be running on empty, but his determination is all the fuel he needs. brent: here's a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. u.s. president biden says the u.s. combat mission in iraq will conclude by the end of this year. he sealed the agreement with iraq's prime minister at the oval office today. biden says american forces will still help to train the iraqi army, but resist with any insurgents of any islamic state military groups. thousands are fleeing fighting in afghanistan. kandahar is one of many areas where taliban insurgents are fighting for control.

the united nations says civilian deaths have surged since may and could reach record levels this year. russia's internet regulator has blocked the website of kremlin critic alexei navalny. a court ruling last month declared navalny's organization to be extremist, effectively outlawing it. navalny is serving a prison sentence for parole violations which he says are politically motivated. dozens of other websites linked to navalny have also been blocked. canada has sworn in its first indigenous governor general, mary simon. she is a former broadcast journalist, diplomat, and advocate of indigenous rights. she welcomed the appointment as a step towards reconciliation. it comes amid fresh revelations of the appalling treatment of indigenous communities in canada that have shocked the country. covid-19 has triggered a surge in deaths in africa, with health authorities unable to contain its spread.

the world health organization says the delta variant of the virus is to blame, particularly in south africa, which was seeing nearly 20,000 new daily cases earlier this month. south african president cyril ramaphosa announced that some coronavirus restrictions would be lifted now that case numbers have started to decline again. but the country's health care system is still under severe stress, as dw's christine mhundwa reports tonight from johannesburg. christine: the graves are still fresh. people laid to rest here have not been gone long. the third wave of covid-19 in south africa has been the grim reaper theountry was not ready for. all of the graves here -- and there are hundreds of them -- were dug in the la few wks in the months of je and july. most of thpeople buried here

are victims of covid-19. the managers of this burial estate say they have been conducting up to 10 funerals a day. at this dialysis clinic in the western part of johannesburg, the beds in this ward are unusually empty. >> this is a busy center. we close around 7:00 or 8:00, but as of late we are closing at 2:00 because a lot of people have succumbed to the virus. unfortunately, because our patients were immunocompromised, we lost quite a lot of them. when you look around you realize, wow, so many people are gone. christine: south africa's health care system has been overwhelmed, as the delta variant, first detected in india, has dominated new infections here. many sick people have been turned away from hostals. >> a lot of hospitals are struggling. we ended up getting calls at the dialysis cter, which is not actual suppod to deal with covid people. getting calls from people all

over johannesburg asking us to assist with oxygen, including our own patients. so we tried to assist those we could but we literally could not assist everybody. so what we did then is that we are giving oxygen to those who are litally gasping for air. christine: frontline health care workers have not been spared. she works at a public psychiatry hospital. she's just recovered from covid-19, but some of her peers have not been as lucky. >> a lot of health-care workers have passed on. a lot. a lot have needed long-term hospitalizations. i, myself, contracted covid at some point. luckily, mine was not so severe. i was able to take care of my symptoms at home. others were not so lucky. the third wave came. it was like a tsunami wave. christine: the third wave has been south africa's darkest hour yet in the coronavus pandemic. and in a country with so much porty already, the measures are having a devastating

economic impact. brent: no change for now on entry restrictions into the u.s. for travelers from abroad. the u.s. is keeping all restrictions in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus delta variant. even though the european union has opened up travel to passengers from the u.s. who are vaccinated or test negative, washington has not reciprocated. the u.s. them only -- only makes exceptions for citizens, students, and some professionals. its latest travel advisors warned against travel to spain and portugal, two popular destinations for american tourists. our correspondent stefan simons is on that story for us tonight. the european union opened up to travelers from the u.s. a month ago. but there has been no quid pro quo here. why is the u.s. not reciprocating? stefan: well, i think if the

biden white house and their administration wanted to reciprocate, and it looked like this was the plan when chancellor merkel was here a week or so ago, that has changed. none of this will be happening. this is because of the delta variant. that is the key phrase here, and the key reason. the uptick in infections here is through the roof. 61% in just one week compared to last week. 51,000 cases in one week. that, the underlying problem, is we only have 49% of people in the united states are fully vaccinated. that's according to the experts in the biden administration. not enough. delta is rising, it is a major concern. there will not be any travel. nobody comes in. and that is the word for now. brent: that means foreign tourism to the u.s. has

effectively been zero now for months. i mean, the u.s. travel industry, for example, they must be desperate at this point. stefan: yeah, you are absolutely right. i was just in las vegas for another story, and as you know, las vegas is relying on tourists. in 2019, they had 42 one million visitors, most of them international tourists. that of course is not the case anymore and will not be the case until maybe october or even the end of the year. nobody knows. and it hurts the industry. adherence -- it hurts airlines, hotels. the industry, the travel industry here specifically the airlines, have pressured the white house to lift the restrictions. but as you see, they are not successful. why? the biden administration says because they have the gold standard of guidance here, and that is the cdc. the cdc and mr. fauci says it is

not a good idea to lift resections. brent: dr. fauci also said yesterday the country is quote, going in the wrong direction. what is it that worries him? stefan: the infection rates. the infection rates and hospitalization rates. the problem is half the population in america, mostly perhaps the conservative part of the population in america, is not vaccinated. not fully vaccinated, or partially vaccinated. there is where the problem is. the delta variant is specifically aggressive and wreaks havoc in unvaccinated population segments. in the southern states, mississippi, alabama, florida is the number one state in the u.s. with rising infection rate numbers. this is what dr. fauci means by going in the wrong direction. i think everybody thought: was mostly over for the united

states. -- thought covid was mostly over for the united states. but he always warned do not take this lightly. and here we go. there is a new debate about new mandates for mask wearing. brent: we thought it would be a different summer than it is, that is for sure. stefan simons in washington, thank you. germany is discussing measures to curb a resurgence in infection rates. politicians are hoping to avoid another lot down through mass vaccinations. but should those who refuse to get the vaccine, should they face restrictions, or would that essentially mean that vaccines have become mandatory? this is a debate that is intensifying, especially among those campaigning for germany's upcoming national elections. reporter: it's a debate that divides germany. as the country braces for a fourthave of the pandemic, there are growing calls to limit the freedoms of the unvaccinated. health experts of the governing

coalition have expressed their support for the idea. the opposition greens, and their chancellor candidate too, expect a distinction will be made between those who have been vaccinated and those who have not. >> the most important thing is to continue financing mobile vaccination teams so they can offer vaccinations to everyone. and after that, we can talk about vaccinated people doing some things that others can't. reporter: germans are split over the issue. >> i have now had one jab and will have the second one. i did it because i was afraid i would not have the same opportunities as others. >> well, i am in favor of people being urged to get vaccinated so i can feel safe. >> there's a fear there that maybe it will affect their health conditions, but maybe that is not realistic, maybe

that is not scientifically proven, maybe that is a phobia within the mind. i don't know. but i know if you take away a person's right to choose, then we're not a democracy. >> certainly it is not really very fair, but i think it will happen. at the latest, when the weather turns bad again. reporter: armin laschet, the conservatives candidate, looking to succeed chancellor angela merkel, does not want to decide on the issue before september's national electio. >> so far, we have had the rule requiring testing, proof of recovery, or vaccination, and that is enough. if the vaccination rate is still too low in the autumn, we will have to rethink our strategy, but not now. reporter: not all medical experts agree. and with currently only half of all germans fully vaccinated and the coronavirus infection rate on the rise, the debate is unlikely to be over soon.

brent: i am joined now by a professor of medical ethics at oxford university. we know that being unvaccinated is not only a health risk for yourself but also to others. so, is it unethical for people to demand the right to remain unvaccinated? guest: well, i think there is a strong ethical reason for people to be vaccinated for the sake of others. we have a personal reason to take the vaccine to protect ourselves, but people have the right to choose to take a risk for their own health. but they don't have the right to take risks with other people's health. the reason we have had all these restrictions to prevent spread of the virus. and of course if some people are at higher risk of spreading because they are not vaccinated, they are not immune, it is only fair that they will be subject to those restrictions.

brent: how can health care workers and people working in nursing homes argue that they have a right to not be vaccinated? we have heard that in france but also in the united states. dominic: so, in terms of vaccine mandates, the strongest ethical case is for those who work with patients who are very vulnerable. because of course we can think about the rights of the health care workers. but what about the rhts of the patients they don't get to choose. who cares for them? in many patients in hospital, in waves of coronavirus, have gone into hospital with another illness and then can -- and then developed coronavirus. as a consequence of catching the virus from health care workers. health care workers have a strong ethical obligation to get vaccinated. this is a safe and extremely effective vaccine.

and if they have not been vaccinated, then their employers may say, look, we cannot have you working with patients who are vulnerable. you may have to work in a different area. you may need to take leave. or you may need to stop working for us. brent: professor, what do you think this discussion, the fact that we are having this discussion, what does it tell us about the state of humanity at the moment when it comes to thinking of the welfare of others and our level of empathy that we have in reserve? is it a negative picture that you are seeing? dominic: i don't think it's a negative picture. i think people have been through this pandemic concern for others in their community, for their family, and for themselves. they have been trying to make sense of what has been a very

scary change to their own lives, to the lives of their community. i think the most difficult situation are those who are firmly opposed to getting vaccinated and following the rules. of course they are free to do so but there are consequences of our choices. and those consequences might mean people cannot do all the things they want to do. because they pose a risk of spreading infection. brent: yeah. consequences is the important word there. professor dominic wilkinson joining us tonight from oxford university. we appreciate your insights tonight. thank you. day three of the olympics. more golden moments with a teenage japanese skateboarder and a slovenian nba star among those grabbing the headlines. but organizers now have to deal

with yet another problem beyond their control, as a tropical storm moves in. reporter: the tokyo olympics have withstood a pandemic and wave. now -- a heatwave. now they must survive a typhoon. yet locals are upbeat. >> the waves are always like this when a typhoon comes, but they often become better when the typhoon has gone. i hope that happens. reporter: riding a wave of goodwill was japanese 13-year-old momiji nishiya. she won the first ever gold in women's history skateboarding and became the second youngest champion in olympics history. in basketball, nba star luka doncic delivered a performance for the ages. the dallas mavericks player scored 48 points, as his slovenia team brushed aside argentina. in the pool, britain defended

his 100 meter brushstroke gold, although he finished short of his own record. australia took the top prize in the 100 meter freestyle. she beat the favorite katie ledecky of the usa, who found there was no 6th olympic gold at the end of the tokyo rainbow. with the tropical storm forecast to make landfall tuesday afternoon tokyo time, competitors who have coped admirably with adversity thus far must brace themselves for more disruption. brent: after a short break i will be back to take you through the day the day." stick around. will be right back. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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♪ >> stations of a accusations of a coup are rejected by tunisia's prime minister. a curfew has been imposed. tmore than three people are banned from gathering in public. lebanon's new prime minister has been appointed by the president. he gave up his longer -- to form a cabinet. 14 million people -- 40 mlion people have one jab against covid.