>> researchers in the u.s. announced a breakthrough in nuclear fusion. scientists in california say this is the right step toward a future with clean, limitless energy. flash flood bring devastation to the congolese capital. residents wake up to heavy rain, landslides and sequels that have left many more missing.

the european parliament works overwhelmingly to dance vote overwhelmingly to strip one of its leaders of her power. she was corrupted. i am brent goff. to our viewers watching in pbs and united states and all of you rather well, welcome. the united states has announced a significant breakthrough in the west for nuclear fusion energy. for the first time ever, a fusion experiment has produced more energy than it needed to be in. the technological success was six decades in the making. scientists hope that one day it can make an inexhaustible source

of clean energy. but it may be years before fusion is ready for the world's power grid. >> until now, it has been the stuff of science fiction. researchers in the u.s. say they have now managed to produce a net energy gain during a nuclear fusion experiment. this promotion video giving a sense of how this groundbreaking moment might have looked using 192 high-powered laser beams, re-creating the process that powers the sun and other stars. no wonder there was applause as the u.s. energy secretary announced the news. >> is the first time it has ever been done in a loratory. anywhere in the world. simply put, this is one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century. this milestone moves us one

siificant step closer to the possibility of zero carbon abundant energy power in our society. here isow they ma it happen. it produced more energy than the leaders -- lasers had deposited. about two megajoules and, three gajoules out. the energy production took less time than it takes light to travel 1 inch. kind of fast. >> as the world looks to move away from fossil fuels like al

and oil,ou can -- clear fusion can be critical. it can be scaled but that is not to be decades away. more work to be done. we could see nuclear fusion power in the globe. this is from the u.s. national ignition facility. i asked them whether this advance can be compared to the wright brothers's first flight back in 1903. >> thank you for having me. i think this was it to be honest. we are witnessing history. that is how i feel. this was a breakthrough moment for science. this has been the holy grail for sciences over the last 50 years. we have known how this works for about a hundred years now. we were not able to do this in a

lab and it is the result of thousands of people working across the world on this. making advances in engineering and understanding the science behind it that makes all this possible today. it is incredible accomplishment. >> what happened? how did you end up producing more energy than was needed to start the reaction customer >> -- reaction? >> infusion come you take adams and smash them together very hard. it needs to be very hot to do that. if you do it hard enough, they end up sticking together. what happens is you create a heavier adam. the weight of that atom is actually lighter than the sum of its parts. by einstein's equation, ems -- e equals mc squared, that difference is released as energy.

you can do this in the lab fairly easily. it is not complicated but what is hard to do is to make this a self sustaining process where the energy released by this reaction has other reactions. >> that is the next step. taking what has been achieved now and sizing it for our economy. taking what you have been able to do and putting it into dimensions of what we consider to be normal for a power grid. how far away our way from being able to do that? how long before we can turn on the light using fusion? >> that is a difficult question and i am sure that you will hear different numbers.

it will be longer than three years. the first step is to demonstrate it. we have done this with laser technology. it is potentially 30 years old. there are much more advanced capabilities today. i think it is absolutely in the realm of possibility to see a bible prototype in the next 10 years. >> when i hear you say optimization, that makes me think of all types of startups who think they can cash in on this and exhilarate -- accelerate the development. >> i think that is true. we have seen tremendous interest .

it was not a break giving it. people get really interested. >> i think you will have a lot of support. the faster you succeed, the faster we will all succeed. thank you very much and congratulations again. >> thank you very much, it has been a pleasure. >> at least 50 people have been killed in congo by floods and landslides. heavy rains the capital have swept away homes, major roads including a key supply route are submerged tonight. much of the destruction affects properties that were built without permission. police are warning that the death toll will probably rise.

>> it happened before sunrise. according to residency in a shantytown here outside. an unexpected flashlight and then the ground gave way, burying homes or causing them to cave in. >> the neighbors wall fell on us . the others died on the spot right next to us. >> by the morning, an entire segment of this major road has disappeared. several people were buried in the debris. in some cases, entire families were killed when their homes collapsed. i find it hard to bear. i have no strength to bury the dead bodies. perhaps the congolese government will be able to provide without. many saw their possessions swept

away in the raging water. >> i wanted to say to the authorities if they are watching this, we are congolese, we have lived here for a long time and now our houses are washed away. i don't know where to go with the children. i have been a widow since 2015 and now my house is gone with the rain. i can't find one of my children. i am a poor woman and i don't know where to go. i have lost almost everything. i only have the clothes i am wearing. >> this is one of africa's largest cities. it is growing rapidly. many new residents live in shacks. there are calls for the congolese government to invest in infrastructure to make these neighborhoods safer as climate change makes disasters like these more frequent, claiming evermore lives. >> our correspondent is covering the story in nigeria. i asked him about the skill of this disaster.

>> lots of governors, they are still measuring the scale, that is the big problem. this is quit a populated district in the capital of dr congo. the events have caused floods which are destroying properties and homes, we have seen erosion of roads. landslides, including sinkholes in the capital. the damage is not just humanitarian but property costs as well. >> you are talking about tremendous damage to the infrastructure. that is what we are seeing here.

>> the prime minister has given a statement and the other governors also visit to see how much scale. many are coming from social media and the posted about the kind of damage. there has been little talk about how people can be rescued or held. it's basic, these are muddy waters. these are flash floods destroying homes and rendering people basically homeless. there is very little coming out of the capital right now. >> this is one of africa's fastest growing cities. does that make it even more vulnerable to extreme weather? >> yes.

>> let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. the motion was rejected with the help of lawmakers from the president's ruling. a report last month suggested that the president had illegally hidden nearly $600,000 at his private ranch. a french court has convicted eight people over the 2016 truck attack in the city of nice.

they were jailed for eight years over the atrocity. 86 people were killed. really 500 injured. the european union has agreed to grant bosnia candidate status. the move paves the way for the balkan nation to join the eu. >> the european parliament has voted to remove some of it -- remove its vice president from office. they are being held on corruption charges linked to the gulf state of qatar. she has denied allegations of corruption. the scandal threatens to undermine the investigations into several european union countries. she has lost her vice presidential position. she remains a member of the

parliament. >> we will not leave any stone unturned. i cannot predict where this will go. but what i can say -- this is a general point of view after our initial findings, the story will not stop here. >> barbara is in strasburg covering this story. i asked her early whether removing kylie from office will be enough to deflect criticism of the european parliament. >> absolutely.

this is the beginning. what else could they do? they needed to kick her out as quickly as possible in order to distance themselves from her. of course, authorities are carrying on their investigation. more offices have been sealed today. our laptops and phones have been taken in. more details are emerging. the total sum is in play here and it is now adding up to around 1.5 one million. they have a following for several weeks and even months. the details have not yet emerged about the conversations between the accused and other people.

we are talking about the leaders of the political groups. the groups being relatively careful at this moment, sort of subdued because everybody is afraid that the bomb might land in their own field. >> are there indications that bunkers go off anytime soon? are we talking about other names of lawmakers possibly being implicated here? >> other lawmakers might be implicated. it was not only the people we already know. for instance, the vice president of the european commission was

asked today because he was so incredibly pro-qatar. he was throwing himself into the breach. everybody here. this is a time when this trust with lawmakers begins. everybody looks at the old statements of others. this is just opening the

floodgates. >> this is being called the biggest corruption scandal in the european parliament. whatever comes out of this, the optics are certainly bad. how much damage is being done to the credibility of the eu? >> the damage is horrible. as one lawmaker said, trust comes slowly and it rides out on a galloping horse. it can't be repaired very quickly if at all. this will take months if not years. also, the infighting between parliamentarians, it begins because the voices now come from the far right and the socialists are accusing conservatives and saying why did you take the moral high ground?

how dare you question mark now your implicated in this corruption scandal and you show your true colors. we are not going to listen to you anymore. trust within the house is eroded and the decent political matters within the house are being eroded and outside. what does this look like? it looks like a corrupt place. nobody looks at that. it is just a handful of people. for the european parliament, this whole story is a disaster. >> as always, thank you, barbara. you are watching dw news. still to come, avatar returning to the big screen. this time with the way of water. diving into one families plan to save themselves. the dangerous paradise of pandora. we will have a sneak peek in just a moment. but first, the collapsed

credentialing platform ftx -- the collapsed sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency world and beyond. sam bankman-fried was arrested today in the bahamas on a string of charges. prosecutors alleged he deceived customers and investors to enrich himself as well as others. he was detained just hours before he was scheduled to testify before a u.s. congressional midi about this disaster. but that did not happen. i want to bring in stephen ehrlich now. it is good to have you with a. i want to make sure i have this corrected. you interviewed sam bankman-fried this week and he was reportedly prepared to testify before a u.s. congressional committee today, before the arrest took place. is that direct? >> -- corrected? it -- that correct?

>> yes. i ierview him for about one hour in what i believe to be his final interview as a free frequent sometime. >> you interviewed him and he was not sitting there with his attorneys. now we can assume his willingness to be so candid with people, that is over. what was the impression you got from him? was he aware of the gravity of events that he was at the helm of? >> interesting question. hard to tell. sometimes when you start hearing numbers like $32 billion which was the highest valuation based on its fundraising round, it is abstract -- abstracted from reality.

he kept saying it w about the customer at the same time, there are se indicatis that was aware of the jeopardy. when i asked why he resigned, he suggested he was getting pressure frolegal counsel. itas indicated that if he resigned, it might make things a little bit easier. he was ready to testify. he putogether about 18 pages of testimony. i think he understood the legal jeopardy was in. at the same time, he has always been a master at using the craft to build his image. >> based on what you heard in

interviews you conducted, do you think the authorities made a mistake in arresting him when they did? they're n going to be able to hear his testimony in front of committee today. it is just the current ceo john ray there. i think there is some benefit to hearing it testify. he has been very public. he has given more than a dozen interviews. in many cases he gets asked of the same question. he keeps giving the same swers. li ion't have access to the data.

ly unsatisfying answers. all of this because of the legal jeopardy i am sure that he knew he was in. >> these come back and talk with us again. >> it has been more than a decade since avatar smashed box office records. the follow-up to james cameron's tale here. >> it is nearly 15 years since jake sullivan became his avatar and joined the tribe. he and nate erie are now parents.

they must learn new skills to survive. >> teach them our ways. >> in avatar, the way of water, after zoe saldana and sam worthington reprised their roles as need thierry and jake. >> stepping back into playing this character is special to me. i learned so much about her. i give so much of myself to her. getting to revisit her, to reincarnate her, it just feels like it is the gift that keeps on giving. >> fans have waited 13 years for this equal. the first film used pioneering motion capture technology to

reproduce the actor's every movement. a feat of engineering that took years to develop. the cast even learned diving for their underwater scenes. it was a huge technical challenge for writer-director james cameron. >> it is more complicated, more characters. the movie is called the way of water. we had to figure out the way of water to make it absolutely seamless. that is part of the dreamlike wonder. >> after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around, we will be right back.

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>> it is 10:00 p.m. in the french capital, here are the stories making headlines. argentina beats pro -- croatia with the star, messi, one step closer to making his world cup dreams come true. one more final matchup in qatar, french and morocco. we go to sam harding in doha institute,n just a moment. the sentences for a defendants in their roles in a terrorist attack i2016 that killed 86 people. the sentences range from two to 18 years in prison.