thomas sparrows turn with us thomas why are these trials still happening so many years later and why haven't we seen more of them. that germany took too long to react too long to come to terms with that past and it has been indeed a very difficult process here in germany how the country grips with the with its past that reckoning with the past has been a difficult sometimes very painful process and one of the reasons has to do with the what i mentioned already that 2011 verdict with change the way that german prosecutors dealt with these kinds of issues since then there have been a few more cases german media reporting for example that there are i think there are around 30 cases similar cases now under way but this just shows how difficult the process has been in germany in the last few decades but also how important it is also for the future this is not only about trying to understand the past it's also about trying to send a message because it's becoming more important than ever also given current developments here in germany to try understand what happened in the past and how it c

and for more on this trial let's bring in political correspondent thomas sparrow who is in baghdad bergner hala where that trial is taking place thomas walk us through what happened on day one and what we can expect going forward. this is a trial sort of that is being watched closely here in germany but also internationally and that was absolutely clear from the 1st day of the proceedings it was the 1st opportunity for those attending the trial among them many of the coke plaintiffs on their relatives to hear directly from the alleged perpetrator about their own his guy but also his his motives it was also an opportunity for people outside of the court to protest to commemorate the victims not only of the attack in holly but also of right wing violence in germany in the last few decades i actually spoke off the 1st day of proceedings to one of the co plaintiffs who said that certainly off to hearing what the alleged perpetrator had to say he did not belong in the job and he did not belong and doesn't fire to here but at the same time they said it was a difficult day for coke plaintiffs aba

for him to be a political correspondent thomas sparrow who is joining us from baghdad burg which is near hollow where the trial is taking place good morning to you thomas walk us through what happened on day one and what we can expect as the trial continues saw today juan was the 1st opportunity for those in attendance including many of the coke plaintiffs some of the people who were actually in the synagogue at the time their relatives to he had directly from the alleged perpetrator not only about his life and his interests but also about his motivations and how dot day in october 2019 actually happened from his point of view i actually spoke to one of the co plaintiffs yes today's proceedings and she said that such a person the alleged perpetrator does not belong in germany that it was a hard day for many of those in attendance but also a day where they had i mean mishal sense of closure it was also an initial day for many people here outside the court to remember the victims not only over the holiday attack but also of right wing violence in germany there was a protest here throughout

and we are joined now by political correspondent thomas sparrow who is in magnet to birth near hala where the trial has just started welcome to you thomas it's the 1st day of the trial what can we expect to happen. it is indeed sort of the 1st day of this trial which is being described as a very important trial from a political perspective here in germany proceedings will start today and will last until the 14th of october although obviously that depends on how the process develops in this 1st day one of the most important elements will be the reading of the indictment that's one of the key elements of the beginning of the trial here in germany and this is a trial that's being followed very closely not only here in this country but also internationally there is a big international media presence here in the city of mark diversion proceedings are also going to be interpreted into various languages including english or russian so this gives you an idea of why this trial heat here in the german city of martin burke is particularly relevant not only for german people but also internationally

the wus thomas sparrow is following this for us this morning good morning to you thomas and how is this set to work in practice and does this affect all border crossings land sea and air this test and mandatory element of it has been extremely controversial in germany in the last few days in particular because it was seen as an encroachment on the rights of people returning home and that's where the government here in germany had been very careful in trying to decide how exactly they could carry that out they came to the conclusion that they could only guarantee that proportionality if they did it with these countries and regions deemed high risk those are countries and regions deemed high risk by germany's public health is secured over coffee institute and that affects most countries outside of the european union this measure this compulsory measure will start in the next few days and it will mostly be in when people come back to germany for example in airports but for example above area in the southern part of germany has also announced that he will carry out certain tests in. borders

as thomas sparrow reporting for us from mike to work thank you very much. a german woman has been kidnapped by an identified gunman in iraq helen mavis was reportedly abducted on monday outside her office in the capital baghdad where she runs an arts collective for young iraqi artists mavis was born in berlin and has lived in baghdad for years friends said she had feared for her safety due to involvement in protests there rocky interior ministry says it has directed security forces to step up their efforts to find the german national. and earlier i spoke to discuss our some in baghdad she's an artist and a close friend of helen mavis i asked when she last spoke to her friend. the last time i spoke to hello was maybe 10 days ago. she participated in the ork for it the assassinated friend dr chapman hashimi and as the harrier she joined this walk and she called me and she was like afraid and. she. doesn't feel good and ask me what you think might happen in future. i told her that you have to care and this is this like every day it's the same message to ation.

let's talk about this more now with our political correspondent thomas sparrow thomas what have been some of the reactions here in berlin. the german government had a brief statement in which it said it simply took note of the decision it would call it in 8 steps but it also said that u.s. plans were not finalized so could still change but if you ask further politicians and members of parliament here in germany for example that decision has been met with criticism there are those who say that this not only affects negatively the bilateral relationship which is already by the way very strained but it also weakens not only nato but u.s. defense as well very different reaction here in germany came from the left party the left to be welcomed the decision instead it didn't go far enough but except for that reaction most politicians here in germany were actually very critical of the u.s. decision ok look get our viewers up to speed here on the u.s. troop presence function here why are american troops in germany. so on the one hand we have to understand this from a historical perspective th

thomas sparrow for more thomas what's the political significance of this verdict. there as you mentioned already one of the key elements of this verdict the fact that this is one of probably the last cases of the type that we're going to see in germany bruno he was 17 at the time and that's why this took place at a youth court and one of the key elements is again his age now the fact that this is one of the last cases of the type but there are more elements that explain why this is important it has to do with a 2011 a verdict in a separate case that was seen as a precedent back then the old german prosecutors were actually focused on trying to find concrete evidence attached to specific crimes and back to 1011 verdict so that you could also convict people as accessory to murder and nazi crimes basically as being part of the nazi machine and this is what happened right now in this case as well there's lots more to talk about thomas but 1st let's have a quick look at who bruno di is and the crimes he has been convicted of bruno these conviction is for crimes that too

as for going correspondent thomas sparrow who's on the story for us so thomas tell us a little bit more about her release and whether or not it is indeed fully confirmed . from the german perspective here in germany this hasn't been confirmed by german officials we're still waiting to hear for example from the german foreign ministry maybe they are waiting to actually talk to her 1st before releasing any kind of information the only source that we have here in germany comes from michele moon to failing to the minister of state for international culture the german foreign ministry on social media she greeted the release and also stressed the important work of the crisis team of the german foreign ministry that actually helped to carry about this this release or at least that was working hand in hand with iraqi authorities to try and bring this about what do we know about the diplomatic efforts tell us a lot of more about those thomas because they've been under way since this abduction took place there were efforts on the on the one hand by some of her friends in fact she's seen as an imp

did i ever use a thomas sparrows falling this forest or a thomas how would germany respond to this possible 2nd wave and would we see broad lockdowns again were would they be more localized the head of germany's public health institute did not confirm whether this was the beginning of a 2nd wave but he did stress that he was very worried about recent developments in germany in particular referring to several small regional outbreaks and he stressed that it was not necessarily job one phenomenon but something that is also seen in other parts of the world he specifically focused also on the situation in other european countries and when it comes to dealing with these issues what germany wants to avoid above all is a general lockdown an overall lockdown at once or deal with these issues locally and regionally that was something that was agreed on some months ago between the federal and regional governments and that's why when you see these local or regional outbreaks it is being handled they have being handled specifically by regional or local authorities the overall goal is to prevent a gener

lockdown would be imposed is still unclear for more i'm joined now by did a political correspondent thomas sparrow thomas what more can you tell us about this latest outbreak in bavaria i mean how concerned are authorities. well thirty's are certainly concerned not only about this outbreak in bavaria but in general about these kinds of outbreaks is not the 1st outbreak we see which involves season 0 workers or immigrant workers we had for example previous cases in meat processing centers in western germany which were also matter of concern and now we have this case in bavaria which you describe are not such they say is indeed beer or something that can sons authorities in the particular case of area some of the measures that have already been announced include increasing fines when some of the measures violated or it also in creating means increasing the number of tests that are carried out those are specific measures that have been imposed in bavaria but as i say this is also seen here in germany as something that goes beyond but various something that also affects all of the other types of estab

to doubles thomas sparrow is following this for us thomas what do you have for us so this was 1st reported by a local newspaper in the city of hanover and then. to john one media by local prosecutors there are certain elements that they did reveal so for example that that's taking place that there's an excavator that's also being used that police will continue taking that in other words that it's not finalized what is still not known from this particular search is why exactly they are in this i don't mind although it has been reported that the suspect spent some time in hanover starting in 2007 so those are key questions that still remain when it comes to the suspect the suspect is in prison in the city of keely in northern germany for drug related offenses and he was actually revealed to be the prime suspect of this madeleine mccann case a few weeks ago especially after a german television program that deals with real crime investigations and since then obviously this case has attracted particular attention not only in the english speaking world where it already attracts a lot of attentio

kidnapped by militants earlier in this week for more let's bring in our political correspondent thomas sparrow who is standing by for us now thomas has her release been confirmed but it was confirmed by one of her friends by an activist and obviously you mentioned as well iraqi sources that confirmed news it hasn't been officially confirmed by german offloads they have probably waiting to have direct contact with her before releasing a statement or any other information we however did hear from one of the german officials from the foreign ministry the state minister for international culture i mean she had moved to failing who greeted obviously the release and obviously also the work that has been done by the german foreign minister by the german foreign ministry to try and come get about this this release tell us a little bit more about those diplomatic efforts that have been taking place since the abduction well some of her friends had also put pressure on north to increase their efforts the german foreign ministry had a crisis team trying to also called in aid with iraqi officials in partic

this is why this case is also understood as a president when it comes to these kinds of events thomas sparrow joining us from back to burn as day 2 of this trial begins thank you thomas. well u.s. president donald trump has made a shift in rhetoric over the coronavirus crisis in his 1st pandemic briefing in nearly 3 months trump told reporters that the virus will probably get worse before it gets better noting quote a concerning rise in cases in southern u.s. states he was previously refusing to acknowledge that there is a problem now trump has been reluctant to wear a mask himself in public also change that stance on facial coverings by encouraging americans to wear them have a listen. america's youth will act responsibly and we're asking everybody that when you are not able to socially distance wear a mask get them is whether you like the mask or not they have an impact they'll have an effect and we need everything we can get. and correspondent stefan simons is in washington d.c. he has more about the possible motivations behind president trump restarting coronavirus briefings absolutely ap

thomas sparrow who's following the story welcome terms of what is expected to happen in court tomorrow. tomorrow is the beginning of a process that is being watched very carefully not only here in germany but also internationally elie earlier today phil we attended a press conference at the courthouse right behind where i'm standing and a precisely there it was explained that there will be a lot of interest from abroad and one concrete example in order to explain this is that the process will be for example interpreted into various languages including english or russian the process will begin by reading the indictment and that will be followed by various process days it is expected the process will end in october although it could also be extended depending on how the process develops and why has this trial attracted so much attention this the events in how they were described as anti-semitic as racists as far right extremist and this is a problem that is growing here in germany in fact it was described as the main threat to german security by the german interior minister and this give

internationally important as well and now the trial is set to begin tomorrow on the story for us thomas sparrow there thank you. alternatives other news now in the midst of the coronavirus and them more than 500 staff at the largest hospital in the lebanese capital beirut have been laid off it is just one of the many dire consequences of the country's worst economic crisis since the civil war 3 decades ago lebanon's economy is on the verge of complete collapse the local currency has lost more than 80 percent of its value on the black market food prices have skyrocketed moving lebanese from all walks of life unable to put food on the table if the trend continues the government warns that 60 percent of the population could fall into poverty by the end of 2020. but this dire situation is anything but a surprise. lebanon is the 3rd most indebted country in the world by g.d.p. its economy has been in freefall for years. recently the government failed to make a $1200000000.00 payment for foreign bonds the 1st such default in lebanon's history. of government mismanagement and corruption are rampant. o

europe so it is definitely a very important move here in germany and political correspondent thomas sparrow thank you terms here of the northern hemisphere holiday makers are normally seeking sun and adventure during this time of year but the corona virus has made this a summer like no other spawns around the world tell us how the pandemic has changed how people are spending their time off. in times of uncertainty because of covert 19 more than 70 percent of the french have decided to go on vacation in france some of them will stay here in paris where the town hall has allowed restaurants to extend their terraces the city will also be organizing a number of cultural events outside where the risk of contamination is limited due to flight restrictions the city is not as packed with international tourists as in previous years and parisians making the most of that one friend of mine told me that she would seize the opportunity and having lived here for more than 15 years would finally go and visit what's probably the capital's most famous landmark the eiffel tower for the 1st time. london's tra

authorities regarding this release and you're on the story for us you'll be following it as it comes in thomas sparrow thank you so much for your reporting. in the meantime let's turn to some other news now china has ordered the u.s. to close one of its consulates in a tit for tat fratelli ation the foreign ministry has given officials 72 hours to leave the consulate in the southwestern city of chengdu it comes after washington told beijing to shut its diplomatic mission in houston texas earlier this week on tuesday the u.s. accused 2 chinese nationals of attempting to steal clothes 1000 eckstein research relations between the powers are at their lowest in 40 years. and journalist mathias bolinger is standing by for us with the view from beijing mathias what more can you tell us. that's pretty much what we know china has ordered the closure of the consulate in chengdu this is one of 5 consulates the u.s. has in the chinese mainland and this was expected 2 days ago the u.s. surprised china by ordering the closure of the consulate in houston and this is now the response that china has 2 days later for i

let's bring in our political correspondent on a sparrow thomas all of the reactions to his role here in germany. we heard from the german government in particular from the german foreign and defense ministries they said they take note of the decision they're going to further discuss how that is going to be implemented but they also stressed in a brief statement that those plans by the united states and north to get finalized so they could see changes other politicians for example members of parliament have been very critical of the decision they see on the 100 decision as weakening the bilateral relations bilateral relations are already strained between the united states and germany and they also see at the same time that this is the wrong signal that this could weaken on the 180 by they could also weaken the united states as well in particular the united states' security. can you tell us why are american troops here in germany anyway. well they are obviously a remnant or a legacy of the cold war they're seen as a very important element of the postwar international order numbers were