British welcome to the dublin news airshow glad you could join us we begin in sri lanka where did less than 24 was some 16200000 eligible voters will have a chance to elect a new parliament the vote which was delayed twice due to the cone of out of spend demick is seen as a test for st long cuz constitutional democracy if the party of president. Wins a 2 toed majority in the new parliament it would allow it to bring changes to the constitution changes that would give greater powers to his office and the frontrunner in the polls is the president s own brother. Campaigning in times of covert 19 was kept to a minimum in sri lanka but that did not dampen the excitement of my hindu rajapaksa supporters rajapaksa the current Prime Minister is the favorite in the vote hes also the brother of the president whose work he highly praised. I think it we dont have to explain what would have happened if president rajapaksa had not let the battle against the covert pandemic bring. My handle rajapaksa was appointed Prime Minister only days after his younger brother got up bya became president last november the rajapakse as have long been one of the countrys most powerful families Mahinda Rajapaksa was already once president and many sri lankans praised him because he ended the long civil war but there were also accusations of austerity tarion ism nepotism and corruption. Then came last years Easter Sunday bombings in which more than 260 people were killed in islamist attacks the attacks made many sri lankans want to return to the rajapaksa familys sinhalese nationalist and buddhist agenda. Hardly a year after the attacks rajapaksa was elected president now he and his brother are planning a major constitutional reform if as expected they come out ahead in the vote. Critics say the right to pack says want to tighten their grip on power by getting rid of independent bodies that curb the power of the president but the opposition has not given up. Any really we will definitely form a government with a heart that understands the wishes of the common man and find solutions for the problems faced by the people. Recently. Analysts have little doubt that the rajapaksa us will win the question is whether they will get the big majority they need to implement their desired reforms. Joining me now from melbourne is a month hes a researcher at australias c. Q. University i want to thank you so much for joining us now the ruling party wants to win our 2 thirds majority to make changes to the constitution what are these changes and why are they sort of oughtnt i. Well the changes have not been made clear i mean we havent had an announcement still detailing what these changes are the speculation is that some of the changes are in that probably undoing the amendments that were brought about the. 19th amendment in 2050 and the likelihood of. The 19th amendment leave imposed term limits for the presidency so there could be an emitting lifting of those coming its also the. Amendment also introduced. Commissions and the appointment of members of those commissions where the president ial power was decreased so that i would that these commissions the appointment of these commissions. The president s hold on the commissions might be reduced would also be taken out and i think why they have. To do that would imply that they will give more hold on power but its a very presidency to push ahead with what he sees as their development and other work and also there is a lot of emphasis on security and the feeling at least among the ruling party is that you need a strong presidency to make sure that the security in the country is not jeopardized but what this accounts for you it comes at what cost i mean just lets look at the past few months under president khatami on our departure i mean he has created 7 task forces for example that i mean he comprised of sinhalese military and Police Officials i mean is there a danger that trunk area slowly sliding into mage order tyrion rule. Well it actually depends whit from which side youre looking at this now with the easter tax there was a demand within the country especially the tender age other dissing other community for of far more Stronger Security leadership and president rajapaksa as big 3 was based on that and he hasnt done anything that he did not pledge to do when he campaigned for the presidency but on the other hand what we are seeing is all those who are the question of. The. More wider freedoms that the country gained. With the 2015 election where i saw the right to information act being produced press freedom increasing and at least some of investigations being. Looking into crimes and other violations that took place during the war so in that way yes that is this sense that there is that in fact im interested of the public sphere in st unca but whether that ease not the popular choice i think the general is still out on that what exactly is at stake for for a long time these elections. Well i think what really is at stake is the decision whether the country was far as you said more secure video there or loan media the idea that Public Administration all the country looks at uni what was there in the last 5 years they are there is more serious freedoms but also working out in terms of the president and the Prime Minister not getting along so i think thats the choice that trying to the people right now believe in there for the time being but thanks so much for joining us our month of out our research at australia seek university. Now back in 2017 a report from the u. S. Based Nonprofit OrganizationFreedom House warned that controls over religion in china were intensifying since she jinping as you did issue of the communist party now it appears these controls are getting worse from the imprisonment of up to a 1000000 ethnic was the weaker zinj injuring 2 churches being shuttered most religious minorities in the country are facing the heat the latest victim is a well known statue of the buddha in central china. Is a devout buddhist view is not his real name hes afraid of repercussions in his hometown of. Buddhists have come under pressure from the government since they started protesting against the destruction of a buddhist site on the outskirts of the city 3 faced statue of wind in the data of mercy in chinese buddhism is being demolished. Suddenly the government plans to set you off they are doing works inside. But they have not told anyone about the reasons for the destruction its left us buddhist and those who worship the goddess one even inside and outside china quite bewildered. The 3 faced kuan yin and religious and monastery were built in 2002 when a company donated the giant statue to the Buddhist Community made of white jade it quickly became famous. I am trying to get a look at the site the statue is located in a mountainous region about an hours drive from the city center. The decision to build the statue here in these mountains was not a coincidence goodison has a long history of. This area is Something Like the cradle of chinese buddhism many of the buddhist classics with 1st translated from sanskrit into chinese in monasteries located in this area as we approach the statue we see security guards posted at the roadside stopping and taking pictures of the demolition is tricked really prohibited the government does not want these images to spread on social media we can only film out of the car window. It is unclear how far the demolition has already gone activists have written to the government and complained on social media to save the statue which is necessary asians as far away as malaysia have protested against its demolition but to no avail. Sheehan is an ancient capital of china tourists from all over the world come to see its Historic Sites including its buddhist heritage but in recent years the government has pushed for a revival of communist ideology even inside Datsun Temple the world famous buddhist heritage site the sign reminds visitors to a poet socialist values. Its not only buddhism but also christianity and islam the Chinese Government is putting immense pressure on religions buddhism is treated more leniently because the government considers it to be more in line with their norms but ive witnessed myself the pressure theyre putting on buddhist temples and that activity is increasing. Temples have been forced to cancel religious events monasteries have had some of their buildings demolished experts estimate that this 3 faced buddha is just one of up to 800 statues that have been destroyed in recent years. By material thats it for today be sure to check out other stories on did other dot com. On facebook and twitter believe you know what some scenes from the philippine capital today which is back in lockdown after an alarming sad. Case is stay at home orders and are in place metro manila and surrounding provinces with tens of millions of people ordered to stay home unless they need to go out to buy essential goods or exercise. For me with these images thank you so much for watching and please take care of itself. Combating the corona pandemic. Where does research stand. What are scientists learning. Background information and news. Hour corona. 19 special next on d w. Climate change. This is. What i do yesterday picher. D. W. Dot com African American city. Tour. I. These beaches on the Spanish Island of the pizza are usually fit to bursting with sun seekers from all over europe but this year there are just a handful of visitors to these golden sands bar terraces and shops. The pandemic has hit the island hard like many other places across the globe the people of it pizza need the income from Summer Holiday makers to make it through the year you are not going to see on the an english of bush a moment things were going well during high season we had 141516 workers. Recently we had 5 but im not sure how many would remain but right now we are 2 more but almost no shot i mean most. Of the new one World Tourism Organization estimates that this year could see earnings from International Tourism collapsed by 80 percent in as many as 120000000 jobs could be lost. In the tourism sector. Welcome to the ws code 900 special im joined on thank you for joining us we all feel like we need a break from the coronavirus but going on vacation during a pandemic is far from straightforward that is if its even possible is it ok to jet off for the family and where do you go the rules are changing quickly depending on what you decide in the past few days the french city of nice has made facemasks compulsory in public areas