Vote for joe biden like our lives depended on. The 1st ever Virtual Convention culminates on thursday with bidens nomination as Donald Trumps brain challenger and november plus alcohol and tobacco go back on sale in south africa as the government uses coronavirus restrictions that saw curbs on most economic life. Im sara kelly welcome to the program there has been a 9th night of protests in the belle of capital calling for president Alexander Lukashenko to step down thats despite signs from shango that he may be prepared to hold fresh elections under certain conditions but following his controversial reelection last week and after 26 years under his rule many citizens want change now. Demonstrators demand liberty for the Political Prisoners and arrested protesters after 9 days of unprecedented protests calling on president Alexander Lukashenko to resign. And workers across the country joined a nationwide strike called by the opposition. To go away chanted factory workers at the president who had come to shore up support in an exchange with a worker has said new elections were possible but only after the country holds a referendum so. President should not make decisions as a result of pressure the president must find a compromise exactly thats how. We need to approve a new constitution so the opposition wont be against it it needs to be approved in a referendum because our previous constitution was approved in a referendum and based on the new constitution and if you want it we will show you elections for the Parliament Presidency and local government bodies. New and Fair Elections are what the opposition leaders spittle on a chicken off sky now in exile lithuania campaigned for. The unprepared to take responsibility and act as the nations leader cheering this period so the country settles down and gets back to normality so that we can release all Political Prisoners and prepare a Legal Framework and conditions to hold another round of president ial elections in the shortest time possible. And. As the internal pressure grows so too does international concern. That. The e. U. Is planning an emergency summit. About valerie so when state the block is already making a list of people who will face sanctions for the violence that followed the disputed elections in bella ruse striking workers joining determined protesters in calling for the leader to go. And sure when it is following developments she joins us now emily as we heard there 9 nights of protest against go the pressure is high whats at stake at the moment well i think in a way the future of the political future of other acts on the little question go is at stake and as you say pressure on him has been growing and continues to grow yesterday we saw protesters marching to several prisons in minsk and demanding the release of Political Prisoners and of some of the people who were arrested during the protests they gathered there and more and more workers from state enterprises are joining protests and are joining strikes as well including enterprises that really make up key sectors of the television economy and yesterday also state t. V. One state t. V. Channel joined those strikes so these are really groups that were traditionally loyal to the question co and it seems that even support within those groups is crumbling yesterday we spoke to some workers at a factory and even they were shouting at him to leave and for his part you know in reply to all of that said on monday that he would be ready to hold new elections and hand over power after a constitutional referendum do people believe him. Well the main demand of protesters still is for luka shanku to leave and of course what hes been saying isnt very credible considering the fact that yesterday alone in the during the day he said that there would only be new elections over his dead body and then later on he said thing about about there only being new elections after constitutional reforms its not really clear what exactly that would mean but it does seem that the opposition is prepared for dialogue one of. Those close allies maria told d. W. That the opposition would even be open to dialogue with luka shango if necessary and meanwhile has gotten together kind of a board of people to coordinate the transfer of power so it looks like the opposition is preparing for some sort of talks and even look i may have some kind of a role and not i mean time on the International Level is claiming that russia says that it will support. The u. S. And the e. U. Officials there are saying that russia should stay out of it so tell us a little bit more about that tension. Well the west wants russia to stay out of it and russia clearly wants the west to stay out of it they very much see being kind of part of their sphere of influence and on on the weekend we saw the russian side even offering military support if necessary to i think that was a very clear signal to the west to kind of stay out. Is seen as a key ally here in russia and also as kind of a buffer zone between russia and nato allies and i think even russia now knows that. It has kind of lost legitimacy in the past few days and that if he stayed if they did prop him up he would be a weak leader so im sure that the kremlin is looking around for other options after all even the opposition here even the opposition in rather knows that russia is a key partner that russia is an important country for the economy and that they will want to keep it that way so it could be that if there are talks at least thats what people in the media here are saying that russia could be some sort of a mediator in those talks that could reflect the thinking in the kremlin as well that they want to mediate the future of. Thank you. And as the position of the veteran belarus leader begins to increasingly untenable here in germany some past and present leaders say that they are seeing echoes of their own countrys history playing out on the streets of. On the left east germany in 1909 on the right 2020 in germany where memory of peaceful revolution is only 3 decades old comparisons are being drawn between the protests in belarus and those in the g. D. R. Which eventually led to the fall of the berlin wall the deciding factor will be what russian president Vladimir Putin does whether he supports Alexander Lukashenko on the regime or whether he has the wisdom and intelligence of the former soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and says thats no good we have to give up this country enable democracy and enable a new partnership between russia and belarus. And. Some german papers are already calling the protests the beginning of the end of the dictatorship but what that might look like is the question occupying the minds of political leaders in berlin. I appeal to president look to see dialogue not to use violence but to use dialogue and state. Your you know appeal to the better Russian Military not to use violence against its own people. The people of this stricken but proud country deserve our solidarity and support. Germany has repeatedly criticized allegedly rigged election win as well as the violence used against protesters but politically it remains courses with all eyes in europe anxiously observing moscow in the meantime solidarity in terms of sanctions will be the focus of the e. U. s emergency summit on wednesday. As your dorset. Age you have to make it is very very clear especially the germany new Council Presidency that is not the elected president of belarus these elections were massively manipulated. And at the same time make it very clear that the sanctions will directly affect lucas. We are the people was a key slogan of the demonstrators in the g. D. R. Calling for democracy now more than 30 years later some protesters are demanding that they get to determine the future direction of their country. And now a look at some of the other stories making news around the world this hour chinas southwestern special on its havanese has issued its highest ever flood alert for the areas along the Yangtze River tens of thousands of people have had to flee their homes after days of heavy rain Authorities Say this years rainfall has been the highest since Record Keeping began in 1961. Several mortar shells have struck the Afghan Capital kabul on the countrys Independence Day no injuries were reported and so far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack it comes as the Afghan Government and the taliban prepare to start peace talks. German foreign minister heikal mobs has paid a surprise visit to libya berlin has been trying to broker peace in the country mired in the civil rights since 2011 boss called the recent wall infighting a deceptive call and warns that outside powers are still sending arms to. To the United States where the Democratic Party has kicked off its 4 day Virtual Convention aimed at further solidifying support for its president ial candidate joe biden the event is normally packed with crowds of this year its been held over mostly because of the coronavirus the convention will see the democrats formally choose biden to take on donald trump in a. Member former president ial candidate Bernie Sanders was among those to give his indorsement to joe biden saying that he could help unify it divided country lets take a listen to him and some of the other speakers joe biden will and the hate and the vision trump has created he will stop the demonization of immigrants the coddling of white nationalists the racist or whistling the religious bigotry and the ugly attacks on women im a lifelong republican but that attachment holds 2nd place to my responsibility to my country thats why ive chosen to appear at this convention what we do know is that we can do better and what weve been seeing today for sure and i know that joe biden with his experience and his wisdom it is decency can bring us together to help us find that better way we have to vote for joe biden in numbers that cannot be ignored because right now folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting it closing down polling places in minority neighborhoods there purging voter rolls theyre sending people out to intimidate voters and theyre lying about the security of our ballots these tactics are not new. But this is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning just some of the highlights there of day one of the Democratic National convention kroft is following this very unusual convention theres a lot of firsts here namely the fact that it is a Virtual Convention and weve just heard from Michelle Obama she was really the highlight of day one wasnt she i mean for democrats she definitely hit all the right notes she is extremely popular not only among democrats and she occupies a very interesting position because as 1st lady she was a quasi political position of course not an elected position but the 1st lady has developed into a position all of its own with its own agenda its own staff and she was able to see firsthand what it means to be president and what it takes to be president and she said very clearly donald trump doesnt have what it takes to be president and that kind of message really hits a note hits a chord with. As i said not just democrats but many people who respect her especially women of both parties there were other strong case we saw Bernie Sanders a fierce opponent of joe biden quite ideologically different in many different in many ways but Bernie Sanders saying you got to vote for joe biden appealing to his further left supporters say you need to vote for joe biden this is not a joke theres not a time for kidding around so a lot of strong messages we also saw from republicans as well who are fed up with with donald trump so democrats they will be pleased with their 1st day i mean this is the moment where everyone comes together and rallies behind the party its really a big opportunity to rally that support to talk with us about the challenges of the format now because obviously were not seeing the typical big venture in you know where there are a lot of people where balloons are dropping confetti is in the air Hillary Clinton in the mike arena for example yeah exactly it is a very interesting format its a big experiment if it works this. Could be the way the conventions happen in the future if it doesnt theyll be a lot of jokes to be said theyll be a lot of joking around no matter what but still very popular i was following a couple of the online live streams with just thousands of people following adding their own comments in a way harnessing the internet and social media it actually makes it a more interactive experience for many people it allows many diehard democrats many partisans people you know average voters get to feel like theyre part of the action in a way because theyre watching online theyre able to comment they feel that theyre involved in a way that they couldnt if they were fit if the event was physically taking place in milwaukee that its only for delegates and really party Party Members in so much as that so well see how this works so far there werent any huge problems today its a lot of different streams coming in from a lot of different places some pretty recorded some live its definitely a big technical hurdle and well see if the democrats can handle it this week and republicans have a shot next week you just believe there is that that jump in support in the polls following these conventions but talk with us about the bottom line yeah what does it mean for the elections what does it mean for november which is still months away that bump comes as a result of 4 days of wall to wall Media Coverage most of it positive this week for the democrats next week for donald trump the republicans because that is the new story is this convention a hyper partisan event the long term effect im convinced that conventions have an election historically not so great hard to make a case that it really impacts peoples opinions or change peoples opinions minds the convention is about rallying the troops preaching to the choir and getting getting them to open their wallets and that is the big point is fundraising coming out of the convention with a lot of money in your back pocket that you can go on to conduct your campaign and go on to hopefully win. Crufts with the latest on the Democratic National convention which kicked off last night in the United States thank you thanks youre watching news still to come on the program prevented from working and on able to pay rent how the pandemic has pushed one in 10 of mexico citys 10 its out of their homes. But 1st south africa which imposed one of the worlds strictest coronavirus lockdowns 5 months ago has become easing its restrictions today that includes allowing alcohol and cigarettes sales again and the reopening of restaurants schools will open in phases starting next week South Africans are also allowed to visit family and friends again for the 1st time since march with nearly 600000 infections south africa has more than half of all coronavirus cases in africa. Lets get more from t. W. Correspondent Adrienne Krishna is in cape town and following the story for us so how are people there feeling about the sweeping relaxation of lockdown measures. Well sarah i am in front of one of the Liquor Stores in capetown at the moment you can see few people are still queuing before they open there was a long line of people waiting to get in and many of them of course where happy those i talked to said well it didnt really make sense to have this band they said it was Still Available both alcohol and cigarettes on the black market they just have to spend more money for it but i was also quite surprised that some people in the line here told me that they could understand the government that they introduced this rule because the peak was there was the 1st peak of the pandemic and the hospitals have seen so many trauma admissions so many car accident and this was exactly the reason why the government decided to reintroduce for 2nd time this ban on alcohol sales to keep the hospitals empty to make sure that the doctors and nurses have time to take care on 1000 patients rather so then therefore adriaan how confident are the authorities that the outbreak is now under control. Well i mean the numbers look quite promising at the moment a few weeks back we had infection rates of about 10000 a day now were down to less than 5000 new infections every day the recovery rate stands at 80 percent and also theres a very low death rates here much lower than originally expected so these are promising numbers on the other hand were really not sure if these numbers reflect the reality because up until now in Public Health care institutions youre not able to get a test unless you older than 55 years or you have comorbidities so it is likely that the real number is much higher than the ones that we see officially and the authorities still have a long way to go to get things fixed the Health Care System was not really overwhelmed as expected but theres still a lot to do it has been neglected for years and years and also the Contract Tracing is a massive problem here it seems that the authorities are not following really out on all the context of its 19th patients and this is. Something they need to walk on in the next weeks because if you develop just already warning that the seconds waif might be coming theyre looking at other countries where when they open bar like weve seen here at the moment then the numbers are likely to go up again and its impacting not only Peoples Health their way of life but of course also the economy and we know that that the Unemployment Rate increased over 30 percent in the 1st quarter talked with us about now the easing of restrictions and the impact that that is likely to have on an economic basis. Well i mean of course give businesses some answer brief theyre very happy about the restaurants in particular that they can now so ill call again they say the major part of their income comes from from the sales of alcohol but of course things will not get back to normal that foster people here are expecting the Unemployment Rates to raise above 50 percent in the next rate which is of course shocking for this country and that is it already has seen such a huge amount of inequality so there are really some tough months ahead and there are still some measures in place some of its a lockdown measures that are impacting the economy for example the borders are still closed International Flights are not possible in a city like capetown this is a disaster that heavily relies on international tourism. Increase joining us from cape town thank you. Mexico has the 3rd highest number of confirmed to cope with 1000 cases in latin america some 525000 for many residents in the capital this Health Crisis is quickly becoming a housing crisis as well shortage of work and unable to pay rent nearly one in 10 of the citys tenants have been forced from their homes activists say that the government needs to do more to help. Fashion designer is last hasnt been able to pay his rent since april because of the corona crisis his landlord gave him 5 months to leave his home work space where hes lived for 18 years he had to accept or face a forced eviction its a situation hes increasingly witnessed in this neighborhood of the historic city center. Were i was worried because i saw others being evicted there used to be print shops on the ground floor they were involved in a lawsuit. In the opinion then one day the Police Showed up on the very day that Legal Protection ended they were evicted by the police over. A survey by the Habitat International coalition shows that more than 10 percent of mexico citys tenants have been forced from their homes during the pandemic 61 percent say they wont be able to pay their rent in the coming months. A neighborhood platform led by searcher gonzalez has proposed a rent law to stop a victuals during the pandemic and instead find solutions. In the. Every year mexico city sees more than 3000. 00 of actions an estimated 20 to 30 percent of these are carried out in violation of basic legal requirements. The government must stop treating tenants like commodities and it should set rent price limits. Of the most. To mitigate the effects of the pandemic the Mexican Government is promoting alternatives aimed at helping homeowners buy or sell property and its also subsidizing new construction but the measures exclude 15 percent of mexican households the 2500000 people who are tenants the capital is weighing a reform that would ban evictions in cases where no rental contract exists but as the citys head of urban planning admits no concrete steps are being taken to protect tenants. Most of. This is Financial Aid so that people can pay their rent but there are no specific measures to protect tenants. Because. Your group is you we urgently need to draft a new law that protects everyones rights in equal measure by making them whenever they chose to cover. The right to housing made even harder to insure by the corona crisis. Well meantime in some sports news for you now tonights Champions League semifinal between r. V. Leipsic and Parson Sherman is a battle of 2 german coaches with a long history of leipzig xiu leonardos men once upon a time was under the tutelage of pariss coach thomas 2 novels men never imagined he would be competing against an old friend. The protege faces off against the mentor. You leonardos man was about to abandon his life in football after injuries brought his playing career to an end but thomas too has his reserve team convinced him to stay on as a scout to try to be mentored youre not going through that im really happy i made that decision but i could not have foreseen that one day id be coaching against tom is in a Champions League semifinal. But he will be on tuesday night when not goes monnin rb leipzig lock horns with 210. 00 per. The huge challenge for the young coach and this we saw against an led to go were a team that can create goal chances against europes best i count p. S. G. Among its peers United Health now goes mine is known for exploiting an opponents weaknesses now its time to see if he can do that to the man who gave him his big break. The commander of the top story were following for you here on. Protesters have remained on the streets for a 99 in the calibers in capital minutes despite president alexander the shinto entity that could be open to the bold and new elections and sharing power but he said 1st there would have to be a referendum on the constitution. And that youre up to date on that unit is coming up next spains fight with the coronavirus that is on close up im sorry kelly and for lent thanks for watching take care and. Country in the pandemic shadow. Spains difficult path to a new normal. From total marks down. To the 1st easing of restrictions then the return of tourists and all of the consequences for. Spains fight with a coronavirus commercial. Next d. W. These assault rifles should not be subject to an arms my track known cause the illegal to mexico above. Is always seem to find ways to get around the German Government at some point by the believe someone else wants bombs in the street. In the talks. In 45 minutes on d w. Did beethoven invent chances to dig deep to do. What he believed to. Be the romance of stolen beethoven. And of course the subconscious always. Coming to south with one of the biggest composers of all time i cant begin to imagine a world class horn player centralist on a musical journey of discovery. 2 without. A start september 16th on g. W. My yoke is be a mile the party goes on just like before no mosques no districts. In the german and British Party areas of the island the police have had to intervene and the images cause outbreaks in spain or on some days of the 900. 00 people