from berlin. chinese foreign minister qin gang is removed from his post. he has not been seen in public for more than a month, sparking a storm of speculation about rivalries and an alleged extramarital affair. also, residents of the ukrainian port of odessa struggled to rebuild after repeated russian airstrikes. moscow has increased its attack on the city since pulling out of the u.n. brokered green deal.

and a new report warns the extreme heat waves currently scorching the u.s., europe, and china will be virtually impossible without human caused climate change. ♪ i'm nicole frolich. to those of you joining us on pbs in the united states and all our viewers around the world, welcome. china's foreign minister qin gang has been removed from office. seen here with u.s. secretary of state antony blinken earlier this year, has been absent for public duties for more than a month. chinese state media made the announcement on tuesday evening, saying he had been written -- been replaced by his predecessor in the role. the announcement gave no reason for his removal. all trays of qin is being

removed from the foreign ministry website. earlier i spoke to a senior analyst with the eurasia group focuses on u.s. china relations, and i asked him if this is a sign of a political purge. >> there is a lot of speculation and rumors swirling around. but what we do know, as we speak in real time, images of qin gang are being removed from the website, references to his previous activities are being scrubbed. so it suggests there is political infighting going on. nicole: qin was seen as many as a rising star and he did not mince his words when talking about china's relations with the west. in kicking him out, did president xi move a threat to his own power? -- remove a threat to his own power? ali: there's a lot of speculation. one assertion that has been made is that the speed of qin gang

assent rankled some of his more senior colleagues. certainly there were personal frictions between them. i think some personal animus at work, political motivation at work. but now, wang yi will be overseeing not only the substance of foreign policy but also its implementation. he's a much better known entity diplomatically. he will also be more challenging for the u.s. you mentioned the meeting between the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken and his recent visits to beijing. it's noticeable his meetings with qin gang ere -- were warmer. wang yi is a more prominent entity but a more challenging interlocutor for the u.s. nicole: it has been a challenging time for diplomacy in china recently. how will this change, impact

relations now, do you think? ali: i don't think this is going to have a significant impact on u.s. china relations. i think the relationship broadly has been competitive and will remain competitive in a range of domains. i think what we might see is perhaps a little more of the return to china's assertive diplomacy. wong he is known sometimes as wolf warrior diplomacy, more abrasive. we have seen that on display with his interactions with u.s. counterparts and we might see a return to that kind of style of diplomacy not only with the u.s. but the west more broadly. nicole: so you don't think the communication between the two superpowers is going to improve with this change at the top? ali: i don't think that it will improve. i think it will remain contentious. what i will say is wang yi, he's a much better known

interlocutor. many of the top level officials in the national security and foreign policy establishment of the u.s. interact with him regularly in recent years. keep in mind that before resuming his position he had served in it. so expect strain communication but perhaps more continuity coming from china. nicole: let's talk continuity because it is something president xi certainly values and something he wants to project towards the outside. getting rid of qin gang after less than one year in the post after him being missing, basically, for about a month, what does that say about the inner workings of the palace? what is happening there? ali: exactly as you said, those inner workings have been mysterious for a long time with

the outside world and i think with xi jinping's increasing centralization of power those inner workings are going to become more mysterious. china gave no official reason for qin gang's departure. there are any number of rumors swirling around the reasons for his departure. i think that what we see is a shroud of mystery around the inner workings of china's domestic governance, china's political system. and again, growing concentration of authority not only in xi jinping, but in foreign policy authority in long the. --wang yi. nicole: ali wyne, thank you so much for your analysis. people in the ukrainian city of odessa are rebuilding after days of russian missile strikes. moscow has launched numerous attacks since ending a deal allowing the safe export of ukrainian grain. russia maintains it's targeting military info structure.

ukraine says that is impossible, given that homes, grain stores, and much love historic sites have all been hit. reporter: odessa's unesco protection status has done little to spare it from russia's attacks. strikes on the city's historic center have shattered homes and lives. >> i'm completely broken, as is my apartment. most importantly, there was no military infrastructure here. it's a fact, only civilians. reporter: the port city was a vital export route under the green deal between moscow and kyiv, but it was bombarded with missiles after russia pulled out of the pact more than a week ago. these ruins are the aftermath of attacks that began within hours of the deal ending, and have barely stopped. >> it's a pity. i drive through places that were destroyed and i know.

not one of those places were military targets. they were just peaceful people living there. shops, supermarkets, a theater, a church. reporter: among the holy sites hit is the transfiguration cathedral. restored after being destroyed by stalin, only to be broken again. the u.n. raising concerns about the conflict's threat to historic sites. >> the secretary-general is concerned about the threat this war increasingly poses to ukrainian culture and heritage. since february 24, 2022, unesco has verified damage to 270 cultural sites in ukraine. reporter: russia denies it hit the cathedral, instead claiming ukrainian forces. odessa ends are already picking up the pieces of their city, even as they brace for further attacks. nicole: here's a quick look at

some other news from around the world. the u.n. says it has begun removing more than one million barrels of oil from a decaying tanker off the coast of yemen. maintenance has been pause for eight years because of the war there. the u.n. says the operation is necessary to avoid a possibly catastrophic oil spill. a loading ramp from the ns is tony which sank nearly 30 years ago has been recovered from the seabed for investigation. some 852 people lost their lives when the ferry sank, making it one of the deadliest shipwrecks of the last century. investigators hope to shed more light on the cause of the tragedy. russia's lower house of parliament has voted to raise the maximum conscription age for men from 27 to 30 years old. the law also bans conscripts from even the country after they have received a draft notice. the changes come as moscow faces persistent problems on the front

of ukraine. a plane battling wildfires in greece has crashed, killing both of the pilots. the accident happened on greece's second largest island. greece has been hit by days of scorching heat fueling dozens of wildfires. the holiday islands of rhodes are also among the worst hit areas with thousands of tourists and residents being forced to flee. the greek prime minister has said his country is on the front lines of climate change. the deadly heat waves gripping north america, europe, and china would be virtually impossible without human-induced climate change, according to a new study from an international team of scientists at the world whether attribution initiative. this month's extreme heat is worsening droughts and other extreme weather events. reporter: across the world, climate change is being felt like never before. record-breaking temperatures and unprecedented rains are unleashing devastation on humans

and nature alike. algeria is battling to contain an inferno which has already killed dozens of people. the fire is ravaging forests and olive groves. thousands of families have already been evacuated from their homes. those who make it back off and returned to find nothing left. >> all my life, you can see here . there's nothing anymore. the house is gone. >> i have never seen anything like this before in my life. the fire was spreading so quickly. it surrounded us. a tree nearby was on fire. the house next door, too. i carried my kids and escaped with my neighbor.

reporter: fanned by strong winds, the blaze has now spread to neighboring tunisia, forcing the closure of two border crossings. halfway across the mediterranean in sicily, an airport was shut down overnight as fires burned around its perimeter. while southern italy is a flame under the unrelenting heat, the north is grappling with storms and torrential rain. over the weekend, a tornado ripped across milan. videos posted on social media showed a dramatic hailstorm, followed by an icy torrent swarming through the waterlogged streets of a nearby town. two women were killed, crushed by falling trees. >> at first i thought it was a

simple thunderstorm. i looked outside, and the sky was all white. it was an apocalyptic scene. reporter: thousands of kilometers away in india, record monsoon rains have caused roads to cave in and -- while india is they loosed, the caribbean is smoldering. the heat is made worse by the persistent lack of rain. scientists expect the world climate to become even more unpredictable and the immediate reduction of emissions is the only viable solution. but until that happens, scenes like these are only going to become the new normal. nicole: israel is bracing for mass strikes and protests one

day after parliament passed a crucial part of the government's judicial reform program. the vote triggered mass protests that saw police use water cannon against demonstrators blocking a highway in tel aviv. protesters were also out in force in jerusalem. the vote followed months of rallies i campaigners who say the reforms undermine the country's democracy. the government says the changes are necessary to correct an imbalance of power that allows courts to excessively interfere in its decisions. israeli army reservists have been some of the most vocal opponents of the reforms. many now say they will refuse to be called up to serve. dw correspondent tania kramer spoke to one of them of the reservist movement brothers in arms. tania: why is this judicial overhaul so problematic being a reservist? >> first of all, it is the most important thing for israeli people. when we are talking about these protests.

as i am away saying, 75 years in the history of a country is not more than one page in a history book. what we've been doing in the last six months is fighting to change the face of israeli society, trying to change the relations between the judiciary and the government and the parliament. it's something we cannot compete with. what we are doing now is reservists, and it's quite obvious for us that we will be in the front line every time that our country calls us for real wars against our enemies. it was obvious we will leave everything, our family, our life, and we will go to fight for our country. we never imagined that one day we would have to go and to fight inside for our freedom, liberty, and our democracy. so the reservists are so

motivated, and we are so anxious to defend our country. that is what we are doing in the last six months, walking in the streets, demonstrating, protesting, so many activities. we're quite sure that we are going to win this long struggle. nicole: a brussels court has convicted six men of murder with the terrorist motive for their part in the 2016 bombing attacks in brussels. another two were found guilty of membership in a terrorist organization. the trial was the biggest in belgium legal history, spanning over seven months. 32 people died in the bombings at brussels airport in the belgian capital. the so-called islamic state claimed responsibility for the attacks back then. reporter: the immediate aftermath at brussels international airport where 16 people died in the first of three bombings that day, including at the train station and in a subway. chaos, as smoke-filled the departure all. the roof caved in. bodies all around.

people from almost a dozen countries died in the attacks, an assault on the heart of the european union. a massive search for the suspects followed. the so-called islamic state claimed responsibility. authorities eventually arrested 10 men and charged them with murder, attempted murder, and membership in a terrorist group. the trial lasted seven months before prosecutors wrapped up their arguments. the jury begin deliberating earlier this month. since then, the jurors have been working towards a verdict under high-security in an undisclosed location. sentencing is expected to take weeks, with a final decision not expected until september. nicole: after months of searching, policein kenya are still recovering bodies of numbers of a starvation called who died. investigators have also found more than 400 victims in fear

there could be hundreds more. many of those already recovered from the grout w -- ground were children. the pastor who convinced them they would meet jesus if they starved themselves to death is in police custody awaiting trial. dw met one member of the cult who fled before it was too late. reporter: she's rebuilding her life after a close brush with death. she was an occult and eastern kenya, on track to starve her children and herself in a bid to meet jesus. it all started with worries about vaccines and concerns a new government i.d. card was collecting too much information. >> during the corona period, the preacher told us we need to go live in the wilderness. he said the government i.d. cards would come and that everyone needed to be careful, since the chips were people. so the gospel started creeping into me. but my husband had already

bought into the narrative of the conspiracies. reporter: they moved to this forested area, where they and other families built houses and started famine. what little news they got from outside was alarming. >> we were told that people were being given government i.d. cards. there were forced vaccinations out there. but the preacher told us to continue farming. he even encouraged us to plant banana plantations, which would help us survive longer. reporter: [indiscernible] >> one lady told everyone that we were running out of time. there was no time to continue farming. it was time to fast, pray, and eventually meet jesus. so the message came that we needed to force the kids to start fasting. reporter: at first, they just

fasted during the day, but then her husband said they should not eat again. >> i asked him how the kids would fast if there was food inside the house. he said the kids needed to fast, and that they would eat once they died and met jesus. reporter: she discovered that when her husband without -- was out during the day, he was burying people who would starved themselves to death. those bodies, authorities are still digging up. she had a crisis of faith. >> so i decided to go pray for a whole week. that is when i felt i was going to die. that's when i said i would talk to my husband and tell him, these prayers were meant to kill us, not to take us to jesus. and there was no difference with people who hang themselves, i

told him. i was not willing to go on. my husband told me that i was wasting time, and that the kids would be wayward, and that they would be forcefully injected with vaccines, and once injected, it would be a direct ticket to hell. reporter: she left for her parents' village. her husband stayed in the village, where she heard he died. her children were taken away, but they are live. >> when my kids left here they were very thin and malnourished. i have not seen them since they were taken to foster care. reporter: she's found a job at a vegetable farm in the village. she says she is doing much better than when she first arrived. >> my face looked so pale. i've actually regained my health. i was malnourished. i was so thin, my clothes did not fit.

i even had sunken eyes. reporter: she is rebuilding her life, waiting to get her children back and start her life away from self-inflicted hunger. nicole: the world economy is losing steam due in part to the continued fight against inflation. a bleak picture is painted about how the rising cost of borrowing is affecting individuals as well as businesses. >> the growing signs of global activity is losing momentum. interest rates are in contractionary territory. this is weighing down activity, slowing the growth of credit to the nonfinancial sector, increasing household's and firm's interest payments, and putting pressure on estate markets. in the u.s., savings from the pandemic which helped households whether the cost-of-living crisis, are all but depleted. in china, the recovery shows

signs of losing steam while they are continued concerns about the property sector. nicole: our reporter spoke to deputy director in the research department at the imf. she asked her what effect china's faltering recovery is having on the rest of the world. >> when it comes to the fight against inflation, we do have a reduction in our forecast for inflation for this year globally. this is almost entirely accounted by china. the fact that in china like the rest of the world, inflation is actually much lower. so that is also an interesting fact, i would say. again, we need to really differentiate in terms of what is happening with inflation in different parts of the world, and maybe the most stark example of difference is china. reporter: you also highlighted in the world economic outlook the risks of geo economic

fragmentation, of the world hiding off into economic blocks. what kind of blocks are relook at and how close are we to fragmentation? >> a whole spectrum of scenarios. a world in which there are different blocks and they really do not trade with each other or do not interact, or much milder fragmentation scenarios where there are just terriers to trade and to foreign investment and such. we have tried to quantify some of these effects and to think about what it means. our sense was that in the most extreme, severe fragmentation scenario -- so we could be talking about a loss of output at the global level of up to 7% in the medium-term, that would be a very bad thing for the global economy. reporter: thank you very much, deputy director of the international monetary fund.

thank you for your insights. >> thank you very much. nicole: some news from the women's world cup. in group a, new zealand could not continue their winning ways against the philippines. they looked primed to advance but the philippines defeated the host, 1-0. reporter: new zealand were looking to build off their first ever world cup match victory in their opener. the more seasoned side were shocked early, when the philippines scored in the 24th minute. >> i just be lined it because i wanted to celebrate with everyone. hopefully my teammates were behind me. ok, just keep up and celebrate with everyone. it took everyone to get to this point. reporter: the philippines had luck on their side after a new zealand goal was called back due to offside. and they had their goalkeeper

olivia mcdaniel, the player of the match made key stops in the historic win. >> immediate joy. shout out to serena for putting that goal in, because if not we would have stayed 0-0 the entire game. but we got our three points and not much more he can ask for. it will go as far as we can take it. we will do everything in our power to go as far as we can. this is just the start and we have way more work to do going forward. reporter: the philippine stunned the so that stadium and their opponents to become the first of the eight debutante nations to record a victory at the tournament. nicole: in group h, colombia past south korea 2-0 to open the ir campaign in australia. an 18-year-old who overcame cancer three years ago doubled colombia's lead. she was also named player of the match in but was only colombia's

second ever world cup victory. colombia meets germany next on sunday. a reminder of the top story we are following for you. china has removed foreign minister qin gang from office. chinese state media say he has been replaced by his predecessor juan the but gave no reason for his removal. you can always get dw news on the go. just download our app and that will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for any breaking news. stay with us. after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day." hope to see you there. bye-bye. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> tragedy in greece as a plan dousing wildfires precious, killing both pilots and a third man -- a plane dousing wildfires crashes, killing both pilots, and a third man is burned to death on that same island.