berlin. in ecuador, more than 100 people dead in prison riots. countries president clearing a state of emergency. what is happening inside the prison is unclear. families are trying to find out if their loved ones inside are still alive. 400 police officers and soldiers deployed to restore order. one of the year of house arrest for former french president nicholas starr cozy. he was found guilty today of

spending nearly twice the legal limit on his failed 2012 presidential campaign. it could be one of the last nazi trials in germany appeared a 96-year-old woman was supposed to face charges in connection with 11,000 concentration camp deaths but she was a no-show. also on the program, flights tell lipoma have resumed but the volcano is as active as ever as the river of lava empties into the atlantic. experts say the eruption on the spanish island could last weeks, maybe months. i'm brent goff peered to our viewers watching on pbs in the united states and nola view around the world, welcome. we begin in ecuador where more than 100 people have been killed

in the country's deadliest ever prison riots. the president has declared a state of emergency and deployed 400 police and soldiers to the prison near the city of guayaquil. sartre -- authorities say it the violence started when rival gangs clashed appeared what is happening inside the prison remains unclear tonight. >> gun battles rage among inmates of ecuador's largest prison as members of rival gangs clash. there are reports of explosions and a number of beheadings. an out-of-control situation that has forced the government to respond. >> the ecuadorian government will act. we must act. the first decision we have made is to declare a state of emergency in ecuador's ja system.

>> the families of inmates at the prison in ecuador's largest city have been waiting anxiously for the fate of their loved ones. >> i am very upset because my son is in the prison. it has been painful for me. there are many dead and many people have been wounded here i don't know of my son is ok or not. >> this is not the first time ecuador has witnessed prison violence. in the past, there have been riots and deaths. the scale of the clashes this time is like no other in ecuador's history. >> when we visit the prison, they search us thoroughly. they even make us undress. i don't know how all the weapons are getting in. everyone inside is armed. everyone. >> corrupt prison guards have been blamed for allowing arms to enter the prison.

one serious issue among many in an overcrowded and antiquated prison system the president of ecuador has pledged to overhaul. brent: joining us is stephan. it is good to have you on the program. the reports we are getting are terrifying and we understand they still don't know what is going on inside the prison tiered are authorities in ecuador able to cope with this kind of violence? >> we see that it is very difficult for them to do this. this is warfare between groups, organized gangs and the government is something, the prison administration system is something of a bystander that is clearly overwhelmed with the situation. brent: we understand that this began with two rival gangs who were at war inside the prison.

why has this been allowed to fester and to happen? >> there has been a pattern of violence that has emerged from late november when a gang leader was murdered in a shopping mall. since then, the struggle between two rival gangs has triggered three major riots. one in february that killed 80 prisoners. one somewhat smaller in july with 20. now this even more horrific event. this is not just an occurrence. this has happened in other major prisons in the country. two other prisons in the country. there has been a gradual escalation.

it seems to be the spillover of rival mexican gangs in ecuador for control of drug routes. and there have been negligence. there has been historic negligence of previous administrations in guaranteeing control of the prisons. in theory the government is responsible for the livelihoods of people. it has not been able to do so. brent: are you saying what we are looking at is a situation with the drug cartels in mexico having reach all the way into ecuador, in the prisons? that would explain the smuggling of weapons and drugs into the prisons. >> yes. on one hand, there is a serious deficiency. a lack of guards from prison to

prison. just a fraction of what guards should be -- well-trained guards should be in prison and the reality. corruption on one hand exists even with serious government efforts to control the situation. which explains how these weapons and cell phones and other things that are prohibited can be put inside the prisons. the new prison director who has been in office for two days yesterday said that there have been a number of searches but it seems to be that weapons have been bunker deep inside out of reach of normal investigations and so that also explains part of how these things could happen over and over again. i would like to mention that prison officials have been murdered when they have tried to

impose changes in the last few years. to put it mildly, carrot and stick position by international drug cartels who are able to bribe but also to murder officials if they don't comply with their wishes. brent: it is a shocking story. the latest tonight. we appreciate your reporting. >> thank you very much. brent:brent: embarrassment may be the harshest punishment for nicholas are cozy. today, a court sentenced him to one year in prison to be served at home. the court found him guilty of illegal campaign financing during his failed reelection bid in 2012. this is the second guilty verdict this year. his attorney says he will appeal this ruling. he remains influential but is likely to keep a low profile in next year's presidential election.

let's bring in our correspondent. she is following the story for us in paris. tell is about this case. why was he convicted? was it because he lied about what he was spending? >> what happened was they were over spending 16 million euros too much. almost twice as much as they were allowed to. in this trial, about a dozen other people have been convicted to different sentences and the judges thought it could not be shown that the former psident knew every detail about the overspending during the campaign. it was unlikely he did not see the red ags. several times people send him notes saying are we spending too much money? at this point, the former president decided to schedule more meetings and to spend even more money and the judges

thought he should have stopped at that time. brent: he was able to avoid a prison sentence, but this has to be incredibly embarrassing for the former french president to be told he has to serve out a sentence at home. >> absolutely. as you said, it is the second guilty verdict within a year. in march this year, judges decided he had offered favors to a senior judge and convicted him to three years in prison, two years of which would be a suspended prison sentence. for that verdict he would also spend one year with an electronic tag at home. it is highly embarrassing for him as you said to he says these are political decisions, which is obviously a slippery slope for a former president to say in democratic country. that can undermine trust in the

judiciary, which is difficult to rebuild again. brent: what about his influence in france? we have an election coming up in france next year. is he expected to play a role at all? >> if you look at the the latest polls from a few months ago amongst franc only a third of the french have a positive opinion. on the right, many people still look up to him. you can tell by the reaction to today's product. many politicians from the center right came out to say we support you and we are here for you. it seems that he is highly regarded among right-wing politicians and even though it is expected that he will not play a very active role in the upcoming campaign for the next presidential election in april

2022, many people will try to get his support for their bid to run for president here in france. brent: our correspondent with the latest from paris. as always, thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. a british police officer who murdered a 33-year-old woman has been sentenced to life in prison. she was killed as she walked home in london last march. the murder triggered protests against police. the taliban in kabul firing guns to disperse a protest by women demanding education rates. the women were outside a government school: for access to education not to be politicized. ethiopia is expelling seven

united nations officials at accuses of meddling in domestic affairs. the u.n. says it is shocked. the ethiopian government is under growing international pressure over its blockade of the war torn tigre region. it has accused humanitarian workers of supporting antigovernment forces. germany's political parties are facing tough talks with five days following the elections. two very different government coalitions look possible. the most likely coalition is a left-leaning one led by the social democrats including the greens and the business friendly ftp. if the ftp play hardball, they could force a coalition with the conservatives and greens. that would look a little different. >> who is talking to whom and what kind of governing coalition will emerge in the end? these are the questions on the

minds of every politician in the german capital right now. at the conservative party headquarters, the decision was taken to pursue a governing coalition. after a heated debate, the party agreed to enter talks with the democrats and the greens. >> of course we are going into these talks with an openness to other positions because we want to build ridges. because it is important this country is run well and heads into a sustainable future. >> green party began the day by confirming the leadership of their parliamentary group. they have accepted the city to enter talks. >> we have made it very clear we are willing to talk to everyone. we assume our affinity with the spd will be greater than with others. >> the mandate from voters is all genuine democrats talk to each other and then make a decision.

>> the social democrats for their part will first speak with the ftp on sunday followed by the greens. yes pdr bidding everything on this potential coalition. >> we want to talk soon about whether we can form a government. we believe this can succeed considering the great challenges we're facing and that is why there is no plan b nor any thinking abo alternatives. >> the exploratory talks are picking up speed. now does time for the parties to sound out will become their new political allies and who will lead the next government of germany. brent: what could be the last nazi trial in germany took an unexpected turn today. a 96-year-old woman who was a secretary at a death camp during the 1940's was do to stand trial but she failed to appear in court. she has been charged with more than 11,000 counts of accessory to murder.

her absence at the court led to the police issuing a warrant for her arrest. she was fnd a fewours lat. prosecutors say she assisted in the operation of the death camp during world war ii. our correspondent spent the day at the court where the trail was taking place. we asked her to bring us up to speed. >> as you said, they have found her. she left the care home where she lives in a taxi and disappeared for a few hours. the police found her. the whole trial has been postponed to the 19th of october. when asked, the court issued a statement that this attempted flight, will have no consequence whatsoever on the final verdict. nonetheless, for many of the

co-plaintiffs, for many of the victims and descendant of victims, this attended flight is a signal and this is what one of the lawyers had to say to me when i asked him how he felt about that. >> as representatives of the victims, we are outraged the accused is trying to evade trial. it makes clear she aims to make a mockery of our system of justice and she does not feel bound by the law in germany. >> she was 18 when she started working at the camp in 1943. she was a private secretary to the commander, issuing statements. basically writing down his correspondence, which included execution orders and lists of deportees. she was never convicted or tried for any of these actions and she has always repeatedly said she

had no awareness of what was going on inside the camp. until today. she wrote a letter two weeks ago to the judge saying she did not want to appear in front of a court. to find out more about what it was like at the time, i talked with someone who was roughly the same age, was there at the same time but on the other side of the fence. being here is still a miracle for him. he is one of the last survivors. the 93-year-old regularly travels from israel to germany to tell his story of how he spent his teenage years in concentration camps. today he is visiting a memorial in munich. born a with a wienie in jewish family in 1928, he was 19. he and his family were sent to

the jewish ghetto. three years later they were deported to the german concentration camp in what is today poland. >> when we were brought, we were still halfway normal. we were dressed in our own clothes. until then, we lived with our family in the ghetto even though we were locked up. in the camp, we began to feel we were no longer a family. >>'s mother and little brother were deported to auschwitz and killed in july 1944. at this time, a german woman was also at the camp. she was roughly the same age and serving as a secretary to the commander. the now 96-year-old woman faces charges of being accessory to murder in more than 11,000 cases. she said she did not know what went on below her office window. she has declined to join the

trial as coplaintiff. >> i cannot understand why they are bothering that lady. i don't know what she did or what she didn't do. they would not take less inmates into the office to she how she -- to see how she worked. if she did anything wrong or committed a crime, why did they wait until today? >> he now sees germany as a second home. he says he might follow the trial but he will invest his energy in bearing witness. brent: these crimes were committed more than 75 years ago so why did it take so long to bring this case to work -- to court? here's our correspondent again. >> i think that is the question many are asking. the short in your is a change in

legislation that took place in 2011. now working in a concentration camp any time makes you part of the nazi killing machine and thus she and many other small fishes are going to be tried. the broader question is why did it take the german justice so long to try these people? made management na -- mid nazis, why did it take so long to find the perpetrators? that is the question the german society will have to ask itself over and over again as we see these last trials taking place. brent: we will have more on this trial coming up later. scientists on la palma are monitoring the air for toxic gases being released as lava empties into the atlantic. the reaction is sending acidic

vapor into the air. winds are carrying the gases out to see but the locals are worried that situation could change. >> the steaming lava makes for an impressive spectacle. people are being warned to keep their distance. since wednesday night, lava with a temperature of 1000 degrees celsius has been flowing into the sea. the good news is the plumes of toxic grasses -- toxic gases created have so far been flowing out to sea. experts remain vigilant. >> the gases will have to be monitored. we have to bear in mind each liter of seawater contains 35 grams of sodium chloride. large quantities are forming hcl. >> the curfew remains in place in several locations. there is growing concern because the wind that has been fanning

the toxic steam out to see has weakened. residents have been urged to stay indoors. >> i cannot smell anything and i don't feel any different. the ash is annoying. >> many of the banana plantations key to the economy of the canary islands have been destroyed. the lava has blocked access to the plantations that remain. >> it is a total disaster. yesterday we could water the plants. it is the same today. we have to drive almost halfway around the island to get to work right now we have no other choice. >> the love of that is still spewing from the volcano has engulfed around 470 hectares of land and destroyed nearly 800 houses. as the level starts to cool, it is creating new land. the island has already grown by

about 10 actors. -- 10 hectors. brent: our correspondent is only la palma. >> it is here behind me where the lava is meeting the sea. residents close to the area in a perimeter of 3.5 kilometers are currently confined to their homes. they are advised not to leave their houses, to seal their doors and windows and to wait for more information coming from scientists and local 30's. it is this level we see coming in right here that has been making its way from the volcano for over a week now, destroying more than 815 buildings. the path of destruction. we got a taste of that earlier. we were trying out a different position and it started hailing down small volcanic pebbles that were coming up at us.

it was a very interesting situation to say the least but he gives you an idea of how dangerous it can be the closer you get to this volcano. some locals said the volcano is like a monster and destroyed everything in its way. this monster may ramble on for a few weeks or even a few months. brent: one of the biggest events since the start of the pandemic has opened in dubai. nearly 200 countries are taking part in expo 2020, which was delayed for a year because of the pandemic. dubai hopes the 6 billion euro fare will attract new business. the european parliament has urged countries not to take part citing human rights abuses in dubai and the government's use of spyware. critics question how many workers fell ill with covid-19 during construction of the best

expo site -- the vast expo site. in surfing, a hawaiian has scored a perfect 10 to triumph at the surf ranch classic in california. the ranch is 100 miles from the sea and uses a wave machine. the 22-year-old is a two time world champion. a frenchman won the men's competition. here is a reminder of the top stories we are following. ecuador has declared a state of emergency in the prison system after mass violence between rival gangs in the country's largest prison claimed more than 100 lives. reinforcements have been sent to the prison to bring the situation under control. france former president has been

handed a one-year prison term to be served at home wearing an electronic bracelet. the court said he spent almost twice the legal amount on his 2012 reelection campaign. in 87-year-old -- a 97-year-old german woman accused of being as an accessory -- accused of being an accessory to a nazi death camp failed to appear at her trial today. after a short break, we'll be back to take you through the day. stick around. we will be right back. ♪

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