museum back into a mosque the willing and nelda $934.00 government decree that turned the unesco world heritage site and is that bull's most iconic landmark into a museum but turkish president rajapaksa one push to restore its status as a mosque he said that international pressure to keep it a museum was a violation of turkey's national sovereignty the russian orthodox church has called the move on acceptable. let's go to istanbul where did jones is standing by for us hi dorian tell us more about what's behind this decision. well president heard one has been flirting with his idea ever since he came to power in the early 20 years ago but why now well the church economy is in deep trouble very very badly hit by the cove in 1000 epidemic and i think this move is seen as very much trying to try to change the conversation given the fact the polls indicate he's ruling a.k.p. is at record lows albeit it still the main party it is hemorrhaging votes out of alarming rate according to one supporters so this is very much seen as consolidating both his religious but his nationalist base as well and that's

building to celebrate built in the 6th century as an orthodox christian church it's now a unesco world heritage site greek and agreed. in the russian orthodox church have criticised the church and united states and unesco previously argued against any alteration to its status. or present threat of time to want to dress the country not long after the court ruling saying the doors of fear will be open to muslims and no muslims and prayers will start later this month year mint dirt 10 rules we will perform friday prayers all together on july 24th 2020. hindsight fear to worshipping. straight to to istanbul where we joined the dublin correspondent dorian jones welcome dorian so 1st prayers in 2 weeks why is this rededication so important for the president well his speech he made it very clear that this conversion back to a mosque is a central poltroons for muslims in turkey and also much about reclaiming turkey's national identity he talked he crow 1st much to sultan man met the man who conquered constantinople and converted the our software into a most quoted in the man's poetry a figure that is v

i also feel is part of the unesco world heritage which forms the stumbles famous skyline it's been a museum since 1935. there are many in church and turkey stays by a sufi as should be open to worship for both christians and muslims and your thoughts christian church is concerned that the transformation the former for over 8 years wolf we drove in was really bizarre boiled mediums of relations around the world and the us will feel relieved reads this is a vital us and the word used is embraced the worst really thrive to these 2 war. president trajectory fired on say as i also feel i can function like the nearby blue mosque often today the prayers and tourists at the same time we can talk about in turkey a muslim country we are free to worship anywhere we want no one has any say on it. petitions were signed by the church to support the conversion but there are a poignant you do a lot of work you know this is a blow to our tourism i believe is not good for turkey upon a marginal point sophia to a mosque is a popular discussion in turkey and has support from the public along with the na

sawfish unesco world heritage site something that christians are very keen to avoid it is a very important tourist location it is the most popular site visited by tourists in turkey and it is going to be remaining open to tourists as well as serving as a mosque is unclear whether you know who will go as far to remove its status because i think unesco looking forward will still want to retain some influence over the way it is maintained and use and it would realize if it gave up that status it would have little influence so i think expectation is that some kind of compromise will be reached but there is indeed concern from unesco as is there are for out there with the wider international community thank you very much indeed correspondent. around 3000 protesters have marched through central budapest in support of journalists at hungary's most read news sites index and dot h.-u. dozens of journalists have now resigned in protest over the sacking of its editor in chief earlier this week his dismissal has raised concerns that prime minister viktor orban is nationalist government is intensifying

bowls most iconic buildings should become a mosque again the centuries old highest severe is a unesco world heritage site that has been a church a mosque and is now a museum turkish nationalist groups are demanding that it be open for islamic prayers and critics say the building has become a political instrument for turkish president. empires have fallen religions have been replaced the city itself has changed names but the dome of the high yes the fia has withstood his old built in the 6th century as a byzantine church it was for centuries the world's largest christian cathedral almost a millennium later it was converted into an islamic mosque during the awesome an empire. but in the 1930 s. it was turned into a museum under the founder of the modern turkish republic as a took a symbol of the new secular state inclusive of all religions. since then it has been a meeting point of many faiths but held by none a place where the pope's and presidents have come to pay their respects and marvel at the architecture of. the religion is a tool for president rich a type of on he has overseen prayers in the m

the we didn't cation let's take a look at the legacy of the unesco world heritage site. empires have fallen religions have been replaced the city itself has changed names but the dome of the higher sophia has restored it all built in the 6th century as a byzantine church it was for centuries the world's largest christian cathedral almost a millennium later it was converted into an islamic mosque during the ottoman empire . in the 1930 s. it was turned into a museum under the founder of the modern turkish republic ataturk a symbol of the new secular state inclusive of all religions. since then it has been a meeting point of many faiths but held by none a place where pope's and presidents have come to pay their respects and marvel at the architecture. the religion is a tool for president rich type of on he has overseen prayers in the museum and raised its status at local election rallies. i also feel he says over the divinity as you know they converted the higher sophia from a mosque to a museum a while ago. now we hope to be able to call it a mosque again after the electi

by the highest sophia is of course a world heritage site could this move have implications for its unesco status. well you know sco has voice could deep concern over this move they said that any major change to the site we needed to be notified and unesco had to sign off on this that didn't happen now that does raise the question of turkey could lose the i saw fish unesco world heritage site something that seems very keen to avoid it is a very important tourist location it is the most popular site visited by tourists in turkey and it is going to be remaining open to tourists as well as serving as a mosque is unclear whether unesco will go as far to remove its status because i think unesco looking forward will still want to retain some influence over the way it is maintained and use and it would realize if it gave up that status it would have little influence so i think the expectation is that some kind of compromise will be reached but there was indeed concern from unesco as is there are the wider international community thank you very much indeed of your correspondent. around 3000 protes

a court ruling on friday revoked the monument status as a museum clearing the way for the unesco world heritage sites to be reopened for muslim worship it's a decision that has drawn international condemnation. a meeting point of many faiths for almost a century now in less than a fortnight the iconic higher sophia will once more 1st only islamic prayers. over the issue of deciding the purpose of hyacinth is about the suffering rites of turkey opening higher saffir to prayers with a new regulation is just about turkey exercising its sovereign rights. or your only cause the longer you were at it the announcement was met with celebrations outside the historic building especially among nationalist groups. we are very happy god bless those who opened it and it should have been opened before we were waiting for this. you have i'm shaking with excitement this is an incredible event i don't know what to say i just want to cry. these lot of them it's a dream we've had since we were kids there was an injustice our constitutional council has addressed that in justice i am deeply grateful to them higher s

sophia in istanbul 10 be conferred from a museum backed into a mosque the $1500.00 a year old unesco world heritage site was originally a christian basilica there's concern that it's conversion back into a mosque could so division. for all russians have approved changes to the constitution that allow president vladimir putin to run for 2 more terms in office a few observers have been surprised by the results of the weeklong vote election officials say almost 80 percent backed the proposals that were put forward by putin opposition leader alexina vali has slammed the result as a huge lie that did not reflect public opinion. president vladimir putin was probably the only person who came to this moscow polling station without a mask it was the last day of the nationwide vote the kremlin even declared a bank holiday so that as many people as possible could take part in the constitutional reform had already been formally approved by the country's national and regional parliament puton turn to a public vote to validate the move the amendments and shrine many popular social changes including regular pensi

galactic guests which was an inspiration for charles darwin's theory of evolution is also a unesco world heritage sites. now more than ever the plethora of wildlife that roams these seas is dependent on international protection . a man has gone on trial here in germany on charges of murder and attempted murder after attacking a synagogue back in october 2900 he tried to enter the synagogue in the city of hama where people were celebrating your. it killed 2 people and it was only thanks to the security door that further loss of life was prevented all that damage door has now been replaced by the same man who built your original. carpenter thomas hopes this is a job he never has to do again 10 years ago every jewish community hired him to build a door and last november it's withstood multiple gunshots saved by the dogs resistance call it a miracle thomas teela spent 18 hours working on a new door in his carpentry shop. i'm aware of how important this story is that's why i'm paying even more attention than usual to all of the details. of. the attack left him in shock he doesn't want to imagine what

the unesco world heritage site in istanbul has been a place of worship for both christians and muslimsriday, a turkish court annulled its museum status and president erdogan decreed muslims will be allowed to pray there again. a fire has broken out on a us navy amphibious assault warship moored at san diego naval base, injuring at least 18 sailors. an explosion was reported on board the uss bonhomme richard after the fire started. the head of the san diego fire service said the blaze could burn for days. the warship was docked at the base for scheduled maintenance and about 160 crew were on board. a day after disney world reopened in america, florida has registered a record 15,300 new coronavirus cases in a single day. that's around a quarter of all us daily infections in a state with just 7% of the country's population. the us is the worst—affected country in the world with another 66,000 infections reported on saturday. as our north america correspondent peter bowes explains, the situation in the us is getting worse by the day. yes, this is a sudden surge in florida, and you mention,

galactic guess which was an inspiration for charles darwin's theory of evolution is also a unesco world heritage site. now more than ever the plethora of wildlife that roams these seas is dependent on international protection . in saudi arabia muslim pilgrims have begun the annual hard america well normally huge numbers of people traveled from all around the world to take part in the islams most important pilgrimage but this year it's taking place on much more modest scale but. like no other. these people are among the few saudi residents allowed to attend the 5 day pilgrimage this year strictly controlled because of the coronavirus. usually over $2000000.00 people packed together to praise allah for the structure known as the comma of the above. the pandemic has made safety central to the pilgrimage health workers have disinfected the holy site in mecca and there are strict rules for those attending. they had to be between the ages of 20 and 50 years old with no terminal illnesses and show no signs of coronavirus. the pilgrims have also had to undergo temperature checks and virus tests where re

world heritage committee and we deeply regret that this was taken without any discussion. more regarding that status, because this has been a world heritage site. what happens now from your position as unescotinue to have that designation now that it is a mosque? first of all, we need to establish or reestablish a dialogue, and recall on the turkish authorities to restore the dialogue. scholars shared their concerns over several letters for the discussion, and regrettably, this decision has been taken without this consultation, because this is the purpose of unesco and of world heritage sites. bring people together around universal values. and this is what we work for and what should be back on the table. when it comes to some of the nuances of this decision, we can consider for instance some of the original byzantine iconography that is within the museum, now mosque. but will happen to icons like those? that is why we need a dialogue, because we don't know, and when the turkish authorities decided and asked for the world heritage committee to consider this splendid monument as a world heritage site, it agreed to abide to a certain number of obligations, under international laws, and these

that didn't happen now that does raise the question that turkey could lose the i saw fish unesco world heritage site something that seems very keen to avoid it is a very important tourist location it is most popular site visited by tourists in turkey and it is going to be remaining open to tourists as well as serving as a mosque is unclear whether unesco will go as far to remove its status because i think unesco looking forward will still want to retain some influence over the way it is maintained and use and it would realize if it gave up that status it would have little influence so i think the expectation is that some kind of compromise will be reached but there was indeed concern from. the wider international community thank you very much indeed of your correspondent dorian jones in istanbul . well german authorities are offering a free coronavirus testing to incoming travelers on the spot testing will be available for people coming from covert $1000.00 hotspots people traveling from lower risk areas will also be offered tests but at laboratories away from airports as part of an effort to a

iconic hires afia in istanbul can be converted from a museum back into a mosque a 1500 year old unesco world heritage site was originally a christian basilica there's concern that it's conversion back into a mosque could so division. in india the number of confirmed corona virus infections has now topped 600000 but the government is striking back at critics who say it hasn't done enough to fight the pandemic it has introduced a revamped strategy to curb the spread of the virus and use money or a child really brings us this report from the worst hit city the capital dili. a massive door to do so the exercise has been launched in delhi for its entire population of about 20000000 residents. the state government is aiming to record the health details of each and every household to deal with the spread of. the move has come after weeks of scrambling for measures by the state and the national government to avoid a major health care disaster in the capital city which has now become the worst hit in the country even the government is nor you know short of war. so i'm a little scared but regard to who. earlie

on the face of its commits turkey's obligation as signatory two unesco conventions related to the hagia sophia is a world heritagegnatory to the unesco convention cannot make medications to world heritage sites without submitting the proper proposal to unesco, which would need to be reviewed, and turkey has not done that's, and they have already, evenin done that's, and they have already, even in the last two weeks since the announcement was made, made changes to the internal structure, which limits the outstanding universal value of the site. so that's the first major concern. and are you also reading this as a move by turkey away from being a secular state ? turkey away from being a secular state? certainly. president erdogan has used very very deliberate civilizational language to describe why it is that they made this decision. he has used the language of conquest, he has deliberately defined the decision as the reconquest of the church the beeson teen orthodox cathedral, the mosque and then the museum. he says that this is a reconquest of the mosque, both in terms of the minority populations in turkey, but m

collapse i guess which was an inspiration for charles darwin's theory of evolution is also a unesco world heritage sites. now more than ever the plethora of wildlife that roams these seas is dependent on international protection . it's to mecca now where muslim pilgrims have begun the annual harsh pilgrimage in neck in saudi arabia. was going to have had it was because of the coronavirus this year's gathering is being limited strictly limited to just 10000 people that's a tiny fraction of the more than 2000000 usually travels around the world to attend what's considered islams most important. our brian thomas for the entire team thanks so much for being. a meal and i'm good welcome to the 2nd season of on the fence. the planet on the brink of disaster we did long in-depth interview experts about one question how to change that.

the unesco world heritage site is home to the world's largest population of one-horned rhinos, 16 ofhich have died in floods. reporter: one-horned rhinos gather on artificially built highlands in kaziranga national park. the park is of underwater. staterains in the assam have killed over 100 animals. >> many wild animals have gone to the hills looking for food. the highland grass. it is not enough. annualds are an occurrence during the monsoon season, but they are becoming more severe. is human induced. there are so many dams. is not only home to the world's biggest population of the one-horned rhino, but other species including elephants and tigers. has builtrnment artificial highlands for the animals, but they are concerned it will turn into a drier habitat in the long run, making it unsuitable for wildlife. say manycials also animals prefer to leave the reserve for natural highlands. conservationists suggest clearing paths to allow them to move to the hills during floods so they do not have to cross the national highway. >> there are many things in the highlands. disoriented becau

in the late 18th century by the duke of and how death's out this landscape park has been a unesco world heritage site since 2000. this. screen statue of otto the great isn't marketable the city's 1200 years old the oldest on the album. it's striking landmark is its could be draw an early example of gothic architecture in germany the cathedral contains the choom of off to the 1st emperor of the holy roman empire. from here it's a 100 kilometers down river to the next destination. my 1st stop is a clue shit a so-called stork village in northwestern brandenburg every year more than 30 breeding pairs hatch and raise their young here this year it was over $100.00. and i want to know why so many come here that's why i'm meeting up with yoden have found he grew up by the elbow and works as a ranger. work on the wiring in the locals love the stork so much they invest a lot of effort into making the storks feel at home each year dumping it in starting of it but you miss out on the it's not just the locals who love storks storks bring good luck. baby you bring up when babies there's a reason for that. in

with museums closed the scenery is marvelous so much so that museum island was declared a unesco world heritage site in 1909. brillant museums are always worth a visit but if you're in corona you prefer to remain outdoors or splendor of open air art on display if you're up for some of the city's famous street art check out this next report that takes us around some of the city's most colorful spots. the ideal place to appreciate street art is the east side gallery almost 100 works along a length of 1.4 kilometers there's open air gallery also happens to be the longest surviving stretch of the battle in war. but all works big and small may be seen on many other walls around town in many of them the coronavirus is atop. the mala park and the prince our bank district provides street artists with a launch sufis to work with. documents open in 3 to one of the street artists. well the word distance out in big white paper strips both. a puppy look and printed figures on them that are distanced from each other some see it going on under the. street talk responds quickly to current social topics this ar

prayers for the first time since turkish authorities ruled it could be re the 1500 --year-old unesco world heritagewas originally cilt as an orthodox entry door -- cathedral, thverted to a museum. urit'sng back to a mosque is not without controversy. >> a large crowd witnessing history. his grand cathedral turned mosque, turned museum, turned mosque once again a place for worship. a moment of huge national and religious ride. >> our 86 years of longing ends today. we have been waiting for the opening of hagia shia for a long time. court decision, w are going toe have friday prayers at hagia sophia. >> we are witnessing history today. today is the day hagia sophia returns to its origin. >> a moment of triumph, too, or turkey's president. a day to putno ec challenges and the coronavirus to one side. his supporters compare him to the sultan that captured constantinople in 1453 and claim thisat byzantinedral for islam. for the president's critics, it part of a worrying trend. >>is thi symbolic act of reversing the turn towd western and secularism, establishing the fact that turkey defends the right of

after the fall of the ottoman empire not turkey's highest court ordered the conversion of the unesco world heritage site back to a mosque earlier this month president supported the switch which angered christian religious leaders and politicians around the world let's bring in sin and blow who's live from istanbul outside the high gas sophia friday prayers i believe are about to begin. soon him i can hear them right behind you there in just a few minutes i understand just set the scene for us for us and tell us about the atmosphere on this very important day in istanbul. for the writing prayer and the. inside the building was. very. very ambitious the last. player. many of those people here. who are here. for boys. and. waiting. for many. because this claim servants and national assessments of the international trade have been saying that the shall i also have changed is shall be and i assume the hash out or phrase that was somewhat sicko especially in the 19 eighties and before and now they are happy to hear that. they actually are is the ism has the most back again by the way i'm only using while

monastery a unesco world heritage site. 2 is out there squat they used wants to stiffen the monks church callers it's very easy there's more on the left over. to make swift as it goes. when the monastery was secularized over 185 years ago a sugar manufacturer bought up the tart recipe and began making them and his nearby shop. it's been selling the original pa station ever since. the introduced the picture which many a typical portuguese sweeps were invented in an almost drizzling it is one in which there was you know our names since the 19th century people from all over have come here to see belum tower and the monastery along with the graves of explorer basco to gama. and no visit to this part of portugal is complete without triphosphate. donovan you come. i've been coming here with my girlfriend for you is like with these tons of something special so creamy and the crossed is so unique amongst the different i gotta love recommendations for colleagues or friends we came here from the north just to bring some back for our friends. the custard needs to be filled into the trays quickly so

building to celebrate a built in the 6th century as an orthodox christian church it's now unesco world heritage site greece and the russian orthodox church strongly criticize the change while the united states and the nest go also expressed regret at the alterations of its status. empires have fallen religions have been replaced the city itself has changed names but the dome of the high yes the fia has withstood it all built in the 6th century as a byzantine church it was for centuries the world's largest christian cathedral almost a millennium later it was converted into an islamic mosque during the awesome an empire. but in the 1930 s. it was turned into a museum under the founder of the modern turkish republic ataturk a symbol of the new secular state inclusive of all religions since then it has been a meeting point of many faiths but held by none a place where pope's and presidents have come to pay their respects and marvel at the architecture. the religion is a tool for president red chip type of on he has overseen prayers in the museum and raised its status at local election rallies. i al

building to celebrate a built in the 6th century as an orthodox christian church it's now a unesco world heritage site greece and the russian orthodox church strongly criticize the change while the united states and unesco have also expressed regret at the alterations of its status. empires have fallen religions have been replaced the city itself has changed names but the dome of the high yes the fia has withstood it all built in the 6th century as a byzantine church it was for centuries the world's largest christian cathedral almost a millennium later it was converted into an islamic mosque during the awesome an empire but in the 1930 s. it was turned into a museum under the founder of the modern turkish republic ataturk a symbol of the new secular state inclusive of all religions. since then it has been a meeting point of many faiths but held by no on a place where pope's and presidents have come to pay their respects and marvel at the architecture of. the religion is a tool for president richard type of on he has overseen prayers in the museum and raised its status at local election rallies. i