Provide free coronavirus testing to travelers arriving from abroad they have decided that if you want to reach not only goes coming from risk areas but also from elsewhere so be agreed to pay the cost of this thing for travelers. Well for 1st time in more than 80 years istanbuls highest affair has opened for muslim friday prayers it follows a controversial decree turkish president regift type to turn the former museum back into a mosque president irvine was one of hundreds of invited guests originally a christian cathedral the building has stood at the heart of istanbul for 1500 years. President erda one personally began friday prayers with a recitation from the koran this is the 1st time muslim friday prayers have been held in the highest sophia for 86 years. Just 2 weeks ago turkeys highest Administrative Court canceled the building status as a museum and then ordered it to be used as a mosque despite covert 1000 thousands of believers began gathering outside the istanbul landmark last night starting for us its a symbol of islam or rather the i associate symbolizes the victory of islam over christianity so you want thanks to our revered president trichet type heir to juan and more importantly i think god we can finally pray here again. Of the. Critics say the transformation of pius sophia takes the country one step further away from a secular church. And they say everyone is using this to score points with conservative voters and distract from domestic political problems Harsh Criticism also came from many Church Figures among them pope francis and turkeys Orthodox Christian neighbor greece you know sco is concerned whether the world Cultural Heritage status of the highest sophia will be endangered. Well lets take a closer look at this with most to kill her is a turkish writer and senior fellow at the cato Institutes Center for global liberty and prosperity he joins us from washington welcome to t. W. With your intelligence id like to quote you back to yourself this is your opinion piece in the New York Times this week in which he said if we muslims really want to revive something from the past lets focus on the model initiated by the prophet and implemented by. Means no shrine should be converted over reconverted old villages traditions should be respected and the magnanimity of tolerance should overcome the patternist of supremacism which is a lovely sentiment so now that this has happened i wonder what you think is it an islamic to convert the highest back into a mosque. Thank you for your kind words and its a pleasure to be on the show if her disappearance was just a mosque and it was converted by a secular government to not alter a terry way into a museum and it was being reverted today i would have no problem with it nobody should have any problem with it and im happy that you know muslims are feeling emotionally you know and which today by praying there but the problem is i disappear was not be able to as a mosque was built as a christian cathedral served as a computer or that instantiates before being a mosque so chris is a history there as well and in the piece at that you quoted the article i wrote for a New York Times i looked into the islamic. Wanted on this i mean was it right to convert i guess over here in the 15th century from any stomach point to because some people might think that muslims came and converted all the churches which is not true if you go to in the history of the middle east you will see that muslim conquerors did not convert actually in any churches thats why in jerusalem there are Historic Churches like their church of holy simple grab various sacred purposes muslims didnt touch those and because there is nothing in the koran we justify the conversion of churches into master synagogues there is nothing in the practice of the prophet mohammed but then most of us started to justify conversion to some extent and i explained that this was imperial policy it did not come from the koran or the prophet but imperial all see all the time which was normal for the few moments entry everybody was doing that but its not a value that we should live by its a day therefore i believe that if i go sophia was being reopened the right thing to do with be to reopen for muslim worship but also a christian as well he could share a building right unfortunately thats not the movie that is underneath in turkey today ok thats thats clear lets hear from the ad turkish Nobel Laureates or one panel. But im surprised by the fact that opposition here is not challenging it why because they are acting and thinking that this is a very popular decision unfortunately if a popular decision stuff akio what sense do you get the political opposition to war indeed a support for this move. It is true i mean that opposition parties didnt speak strongly against some of them actually supporting the move because it isnt there is an islamic sentiment behind it and there is a National Sentiment behind it also because of some of the misuses of secularism in turkey today its not very popular to defend a secular past and again that because there were some mistakes and secularism and sometimes bending headscarves which was wrong or bending islamic institutions some excesses of secularism gave a bad name to the term and i think thats why even the Main Opposition Party cant say much but defected there is a majority opinion in a country shouldnt be a reason to. Disregard a minority and if that logic holds its will not be good for muslims in the west or in india or in other countries that muslims have concerns that they are trying to their temples their mosques can be a threat ok so whats different about thought and what do you think the base move tells us about the sort of country turkey is or is becoming. Turkey is certainly all is opening a new chapter there and thats been going on for 2 decades right now this cycle or past of ataturks legacy is being sidelined to some extent and out on is opening a new chapter and again im somebody that who has criticised some aspects of the secular past as well because it was secular but not very liberal or democratic but unfortunately we are seeing in reverse we are seeing a hinge on when you heard religious conservatives which used to be the underclass in the old turkey are now becoming the new masters are known as their new saviors and that is becoming the new turkey rest people like me would like to see and work through the list of turkey where secular people can be as secular they want and conservatives can but they can share the country not instead of dominating every space in our christian minority can also feel honored and i think have a soviet should have been revived in such a spirit unfortunately that is not the spirit today there is a lot of combination of religion and nationalism and present i dont want to searching on that but we should not forget the present out on is now even facing a position from some religious parties not on haggis ok but on other issues or like corruption or authoritarianism and i did thats precisely one reason he wanted to use a symbol as major as i guess ok right now to rally the conservatives once again behind an interesting thank you for joining us on Moustapha Aqil from the Cato Institute thanks for having me. Meanwhile president early one says he will crack down on websites and social Media Channels he regards as immoral is a k. Parties planning new regulations that would force platforms to remove content on request at the Video Streaming Service netflix is also under pressure its halted production of a turkey series which was going to include a gay character as netflix was getting ready to film it was told by turkeys media regulated to cut the gay character rather than comply netflix decided to drop the whole project platforms be required to hold a license to operate in turkey since late last year. From critics say this represents a new level of censorship and intolerance into the debris reporter joel dont roy has been following a welcome joe so lets start with the netflix decision to they see this as them complying with turkish authorities all resisting them well some say that theyre resisting because they cancel production instead of censoring it but thats a kind of selfcensorship in itself and it shows that netflix is more interested in keeping its 1500000 turkish customers than picking a fight with the government netflix is regulated in turkey by the radio and Television Supreme council and the head of that body a few months ago warn netflix that he would not tolerate any showers that violate what he calls turkeys National Values well fast forward to the pos reka netflix was getting ready to film its new production called if only and the screenwriter said that it contained a garecht a character who is described as being gay although no physical intimacy was actually to be portrayed nevertheless the screenwriter says the regulators demanded that this character be cut or they would not give the necessary commissions to film and instead of doing that netflix canceled the production entirely so its homosexuality illegal in turkey no its not under sexuality is legal but the gay Rights Groups there say that the situation has been deteriorating in recent years for example the Istanbul Pride has been canceled or has been not given permission to operate since 2015 well earlier we spoke to turkish based journalist keenan theres that shop and hes been following turkish government censorship he says that l g b t q i groups in turkey feel that ive been pretty betrayed by netflix but that hes not surprised we can have a listen to what he had to say. So well i think the correct thing to do would be in to push back at the pressure from the turkish government and if possible to pull out in one state perhaps i also dont quite expect the country dont quite expect the corporations goal is to maximize its profits to build the ethical position 1st so what does this mean for the effects well netflix operates a very diverse catalog in most countries in fact its even got a whole category for for gay shows for example ru pauls drag race and queer eye and in fact some of those shows can actually be seen in turkey on netflix at the moment its just that it seems like the regulators have drawn the line at allowing a production of a turkish show with a turkish character depicted as being gay we shouldnt really be surprised though because the netflix cofounder Reed Hastings has previously said that he is in the entertainment business and its not his job to speak truth to power weve seen this happen in other countries as well Netflix India has signed an agreement to not screen content that would disrespect the National Flag and actually lets be balanced here even netflix germany limits its content the film night of the living dead which is a zombie horror film is not on netflix germany following a complaint from a German Office for Child Protection so what we see here is netflix is a business and it will do what it needs to to stay in business wherever it operates doubly reporter joel dole wrote thank you. For. The authorities here in germany are offering free coronavirus testing to incoming travelers on the spot testing will be available for people arriving from coffee at 19 hotspots people coming from a lower risk areas will also be able to test but away from their its part of the country a void a 2nd wave of infections. Touched down in berlin after a Summer Holiday far fewer germans the normal taking their vacations abroad the joy of returning home is as strong as ever but can people be sure they havent picked up the corona virus on their travels. Now their health or storage is in germany have taken the decision to offer free virus testing. The amortise because of this a conference and anthony goes on to its own Health Ministers of the states to get the federal Health Minister have today agreed that people returning from Research Areas should be tested at airports the intent to establish Testing Facilities relevant airports i think employee we have decided that if you want to reach not only does coming from risk areas but also from elsewhere so we agreed to pay the cost of this thing for travelers. Who defies and in Frankfurt Germany is largest airport is already offering tests for a free under the new plan people arriving from the 130 countries seen as at risk can be tested directly on arrival checks will also be beefed up at sea ports and on land borders the tests will be voluntary at 1st and people from corona affected areas will continue to be arsed to quarantine at home for 14 days. Germans love to travel and theyre starting to get the travel bug again these tourists arriving from the popular spanish yorka be willing to take a test. Certainly for reasons of personal safety that would be the most important thing. You had to go into. Did i have to go. I wouldnt really want to have responsibility for themselves and people over there are very careful about their behavior. Corona infection rates in germany remain low at the moment a big part of keeping it that way after the Holiday Season will be persuading travelers to take advantage of testing. Those very present signed a memorandum aimed at preventing migrants in the u. S. Illegally from being counted when congressional voting districts are being drawn up and this drew immediate fire from census experts and lawyers and democrats who question its legality and whether its actually enforceable if enacted the plan is likely to benefit mr Trumps Republican Party by giving more voting power to areas less likely to vote for democrats its the latest in the battle for votes in november selections the president has also denounced postal votes saying it would lead to the most corrupt election in u. S. History well those comments to rebuke from facebook and twitter who labeled the post misleading and democrats are also warning that us states deliberately make voting more difficult for certain sections of the electorate or hear from a Voting Rights campaign in a minute 1st this report. Its images like these which highlight the challenges faced by some people simply trying to exercise their right to vote long lines of people in georgia trying to cast their ballot in primary elections in june this year there were reports of problems across the state with predominantly black areas experiencing the worst of those problems this time the issue was Voting Machines installed after widespread complaints of Voter Suppression in 2018 elections which saw a democrat now lose the race for governor i dont think it was. An act on accident i think it was intentional and sometimes people try to separate support suppressed votes a lot of people left a lot of people had to go to work and were discouraged there was misinformation about whether or not to fill out a provisional ballot or an actual ballot you know that information was confusing and i think thats the purpose to confuse us georgia is a key state this year its been an uncontested republican stronghold for 2 decades but polls show it could swing in the president ial election and the states 2 Republican Senate says can no longer be counted as safe. Gloria jerry Brown Marshall is professor of constitutional law at John Jay College of criminal justice in new york shes written numerous books and articles on civil rights issues and the law including the Voting Rights war the n. W. C. Play in the ongoing struggle for justice and she joins us from new york city. Welcome to day w. Lets start with the presence of a memorandum what is wrong with only counting people who are legitimately in the country. Well the United States is head Illegal Immigrants since the country was founded for one and those people have always been counted in the population to determine the number of people who will be represented in our congress in the u. S. House of representatives but also this issue is one that the administration is trying to get around a u. S. Supreme Court Decision a recent decision said that this since this questions could not include whether or not someone is a citizen and so that was struck down as unconstitutional so now donald trump has figured out another way to try to exclude people who are in the country illegally but people can be in the country illegally that doesnt mean theyre going to vote but that means that they are theyre being counted in the population to know how many people were in the country thats the u. S. Since this is supposed to count every 10 years and how its other advantageous to the president. Well i think for one hes using this as an issue is to say that these people who are here illegally are trying to vote the 2nd it gives a certain number of of the population in particular urban areas and higher number then would be in Rural Communities there are his strong hold and so he wants to cut the number of people in the population that cuts the number of services it counterfeit credit for number of people who are representing that district in the u. S. Congress and so it will give political power to the republicans because the republican strongholds are in places that dont have the highest populations right now and actually theyre losing population as people move into the cities and so theyre trying to target Illegal Immigrants there because with this population increase in urban areas a base novembers election is shaping up to be quite an ugly affair have do you think that the other going to be free and fair. I know we can if the president has already said its not going to be free and fair this is a man who has used any means within his power as executive power more executive orders that come from this president than any other hes like a king in office and may have said a desperate if nothing else he hasnt said that if he loses he would even leave office so hes already told people that hes going to have their pain millions of dollars to have something a little bit above a thug who are who will be paid to watch over watch over the polls to make sure that the elections are run accurately these are regular people out in the world who are being paid to get rid of her afraid of being you know intimidating to the regular voter we already know that there has been russian influence in our election in 2016 and russian influence is continue to be a part of this lecture and he has not announced that it all as a matter of fact hes welcomed russian influence instead it was a joke hes been impeached and that has not stopped him from continuing to act in these very corrupt ways so this is not going to be a Fair Election has not been fair for people of color since this weve been able to vote in this country and the concern is that this country thats tries to set a standard for democracy has fallen so low that its were trying to fight for democracy in our own montresor this is no longer Guiding Light on the hill at all for democracy i want to i want to talk about various examples of people calling for the suppression in just a moment but 1st with the current the coronavirus pandemic a battle of the United States a has to be losing in quite a big way do you think the pandemic is likely to affect the way that the election is run and one. Oh its an affection affect elections here i mean around the world but is the fact elections here in 3 ways want people are afraid to go to public spaces just to go to the Grocery Store so to stand in line with 4 and wait to vote is going to be a hardship there are people who have already contracted the virus in the last election while they were in these public spaces secondly we have mail in ballots but thats been a disaster so far not a disaster way down approx mix of it is aster because been denounced so often by the republicans and conservatives and people have not really received information on how to use now in balance when theyre supposed to be due in and in the last election the melon ballots took so long to be counted it was beeks after the election that we finally found the winners and then even then it was contested and i certainly there is this the sense of you know people are not going to delay elections we have primary elections because we have a federal system and we have a statewide system a local system so elections are going on all the time and people dont know when to vote they dont know how to vote and they dont know what mechanism should be there for them to vote in a government is not healthy because the federal government is not going to help people know how to exercise their rights the Republican Party is it which is extraordinary if a different story like this move us on a bit because i want to want to talk about Voter Suppression by which i made efforts to prevent evitable voters from exercising that right to vote to do believe that Voter Suppression is going on in the United States. Voter suppression has been going on the United States for centuries and its particularly harsh in the Africanamerican Community because the black voters can decide the outcome of a president ial election and this is been since the 800. 00 s. The Voter Suppression back then was murder literacy tests grandfather clauses all tax is a mechanism you can find undermine the black vote in america the Voter Suppression now is broken to Voting Machines not enough Voting Machines confusing ballots all of these things because democrats have higher population numbers than republicans but republicans have more strategies in place to mount a campaign of Voter Suppression they can actually have the win an election unfairly and was people are off this is almost impossible of course even if theyre found to be in office illegally theyre not going to be removed from office they wait for the next election to make changes so you know theres Voter Suppression taking here its very interesting its an issue that i think well return to in the future for now that professor gloria j. Brown marshall from John Jay College of criminal justice thank you thank you. Well days almost done but the conversation continues online join us on twitter i have it on steve w. News or you can follow me out. Of a good to. Go. To the point shaun opinions clear positions international perspectives. After 4 nights of heated negotiation with the leaders reached agreement on the 750000000000 euro recovery package its being hailed as historic in principle will it prove so in practice find out onto the path. To the point. Next to come to w. Passionate drama competition 5 marketing numbers at least here at home by the time and technician. Money millionaire fans primes 5 spanish and. Only. Because we love football. Come. To golf on youtube. Those are the friends she wanted to be with you she said she was 3 year war would you wish it was the one your belief among the figures to you or are they enemies will you still see most of the future you with a computer through which you could just use regular hes going to give me my debit card for russia donald trump implied in your were 2 part documentary analyzes the difficult relationship between russia and the west and between their president s how does their rivalry and their dangerous mutual admiration affect the rest of the world to some bullies trump and putin starts august 3rd on d w. Its being hailed as a Pivotal Moment for europe e. U. Leaders agreement on a 750000000000 euro carona recovery package after a marathon 4 nights of heated negotiations the leaders struck a deal to provide 390000000000 euros in crowns and another 360 in low interest loans to Member States hardest hit by the pandemic it will be financed by collective borrowing a paradigm shift for the e. U. Will the deal hold the euro zone together or have Member States simply papered over