With it as a challenge to its authority. Im british welcome to the dr news asia 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 to spend them it is seen as a test for straight on cuz constitutional democracy if the party of president. Wins a 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 hinder 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. But. I think it we dont have to explain what would have happened if president rajapaksa had not let the battle against the covert pandemic being. My handle rajapaksa was appointed Prime Minister only days after his younger brother but 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 and. 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. The year after the attacks the 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 pass says one 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. On it are going to be 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 and. 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 secure university another thank you so much for joining us now the ruling party wants to win or to tell the majority to make changes to the constitution what are these changes and why are they so important. Well the changes have not been made clear i mean we havent had an announcement as to 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 knew 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. 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 example next but what this accounts for you it comes at what cost i mean just last look at the past few months under president khatami our departure i mean he has created some task forces for example that are mainly comprised of sinhalese military and Police Officials i mean is there a danger that 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 tree 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 as some blends of investigations been. Looking into crimes and other violations that took place during the walk so in that way yes that is this sense that there is that in fact im interested of the publics fear in sri lanka 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 lonely to do the idea that Public Administration all the country looks at continuing what was there in the last 5 years where there is more serious freedoms but also tell us 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 will even there for the time being but thanks so much for joining us a month about 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 muslim weekers and 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. Youll meet a music 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 one year in the data of mercy in chinese buddhism is being demolished. Suddenly the government finds the statue 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 mean inside and outside china quite bewildered. The 3 faced kuan yin and the adjacent monastery were built in 2002 when a company donated a 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 it isnt has a long history. This area is Something Like the cradle of chinese orders and 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 strictly 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 with the stars to see asians as far away as malaysia have protested against its demolition but to no avail. Shion 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 assigned reminds visitors to a poet socialist values. Its not only buddhist 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 the 3 face is just one of up to 800 statues that have been destroyed in loosened use. By materials but thats it for today be sure to check out our other stories on did other dot com votes. On facebook and twitter believe you know what some scenes from the philippine capital today which is back in lockdown after. This case is stay at home orders are now 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. Behavior with these images thank you so much for watching and please take that as off. Im free to any thats surprising. Since its. All the rage. In. The fleet street. Preacher. I didnt want. To marry much like. Good guys it was. Germany. Making nice where exactly. It was fun having our no laws our culture history their. Travel extremely worth of it. Welcome to arts and culture it takes some pretty extraordinary measures these days to put on a concert safely here in europe where the coronavirus is somewhat contained at least for now organizers are trying out all kinds of methods will they change the way we attend performances that question coming up on the show and. Stories untold nonwhite non male and queer voices in american art finally getting their fair dos. And a part of the former border between east and west berlin now covered in youve got it coronavirus graffiti. But 1st off for months now musicians have been Live Streaming from their living rooms their bedrooms madonna even addressed fans from her bath tub but when and how will we get back to real in person concerts right now in large parts of the world its completely unthinkable but here in europe in some places people are already doing it here are some of the ways how. This is probably the easiest way to feel safe and keep your distance get out into nature the audience