Intelligence officials accuse or read in russia trying to meddle in the Upcoming Elections saying tehran and moscow accessed Voter Registration details and they say irans behind threatening emails sent to american phone use. And could stick trash becomes part of life underwater an animated movie with a fresh take on the problem plastic pollution makes a splash this years student screwed. Hello im terry martin good to have you with us germany is again reporting a Record Number of corona virus infections the Robert Koch Institute for Disease Control has recorded more than 11000 daily cases the man responsible for her. The pandemic German Health minister announce wednesday that he himself has tested positive for 19 strict social distancing measures during captain meetings means other ministers will not quarantine this government spokesman said well authorities in the southern german state very are warning of even tighter restrictions if infection rates continue to rise one area in the region was already put into law on tuesday. Nearest trick sions are now in place in the diary and town of but the. Schools in kindergarden are closed and leaving ones house is only permitted with a valid reason the town has registered over 260. 00 cases per 100000 inhabitants as numbers of rise alarmingly everywhere across but the area state premier marcus zuda proposed a new set of restrictions which should come into force if infections do not drop under the new rules restaurants would have to close at 9 pm and events could host a maximum of 50 people is also suggested to introduce mandatory current Virus Testing for commuters travelling from hotspots abroad. Looked on as we dont want a new lock down but it could end up being the last resort this is why i think its better to act sooner and more softly than later and more radical by lease across germany dozens of cities are seeing a surge in infections according to the countrys Health Institute the average incidence rate has reached above 51. 00 cases or 100000 inhabitants. In north trying to scale up more than 2 thirds of the population live in areas with high infection rates a reason for the state to sharpen the mask rules in schools. Pretty shoot from monday on where its students in 5th grade and beyond we have to wear a face mask also during class and while at their desks. This way the state hopes to keep schools open for is the longest possible. Or more now lets cross over to our Political Correspondent husband hans as we just heard there infections across the country have now exceeded the red line set by the government what consequences will that have well it has no immediate consequences for in the 1st instance it just means that germany as a whole in germanys own terms would not be regarded as a hotspot a high risk area and if it was a foreign country germans would be warned against traveling to that country but here in germany of course the immediate consequences are restricted to the various local Authority Areas in other words they are no restrictions at the moment yet being imposed on germany as a whole the country is trying to be a lot more details a lot more controlled about how this infection about the response infections and what controls i impose as we just heard there are certain areas of germany where the infection rate is a lot higher than elsewhere and then those areas local lockdowns have already been imposed in other areas further restrictions that are being considered so all of these measures all of these red lines really are in some sense arbitrary but they are regarded as the lines that are necessary so that you can then decide at what stage to tighten the rules. In the spring germany was hailed for its management of the pandemic now technically all of germany is a hot spot what went wrong. Well i think in the spring obviously what we had was a national locked on a very very heavy measure something that is not being considered at the moment and now as a result of the developments in recent months the way the has been fine people have been outside they have been. Had the feeling after the spring that the virus was under control so they were like relaxing the personal controls and now we have the way to getting worse again at the same time people are still being relaxed about being gathering in close bases having parties and so on so one has to try and get people to be more controlled about their personal behavior thats what the measures are trying to do at the moment and one is trying to impose as i say a lot more local local control restrictions in various areas ok you say the country is not considering a nationwide lockdown at this point so what can we expect moving forward. I think what we can expect is more local lock dollars what everyone is trying to avoid is shutting down the entire German Economy again because we obviously know that the effects of that are disastrous for the economy for the country as a whole so one is trying to impose restrictions on a more localized level shutting down certain tolerance or certain areas and hoping to get control over virus investment. Thank you very much that was deemed to be a Political Correspondent. So you look at some of the other developments in the pandemic ireland is locking down for a 2nd time the 1st european country to do so nonessential businesses will close and bars and Restaurants Limited to take away service that lockdown is planned for 6 weeks infections in the Czech Republic continue to rise steeply with just under 15000 new cases the country has seen a 2nd daily record high and oxford universities say their vaccine trial will continue despite the death of a volunteer in brazil regulators say there are no concerns about the safety of the brazilian trial. The Thai Government has rolled back an emergency decree banning protests in the capital bangkok it had been put in place in an effort to cool antigovernment demonstrations that have been going on for weeks but the measures failed to discourage tens of thousands of demonstrators from turning out for daily protests around major bangkok intersections demonstrators are demanding the thai premiers resignation and reforms to the monarchy. Well for more lets bring in philip sure well from bangkok east asia correspondent for the british newspaper the sunday times thanks for being with us philip the protesters say lifting the state of emergency is not enough what sort of concessions are they looking for from the government. Yeah i mean this is quite as you can if you dont back down by the by the Prime Minister he has repealed this order just a week after it was introduced posed it to try and end these protests and every government move to try and crack down as only for the galvanize the protesters but that basic demands are unchanged and they were that if all this decree was put in place that demanding the resignation of the of the Prime Minister his government which they say was came to power in an unfair and rigged election last year that demanding a Major Overhaul of the constitution that was drafted under the previous ruling junk. Which kind of governs how politics is run in this country and most contentiously that calling for reforms to their own family always demands a sense that theyre all being sent post last night the protests are on the streets again and they held up a johnson. Resignation letter which that for cripes the Prime Minister general prayuth which which they read out and they invited him to sign it ok so the demands are clear dozens of protesters including leaders of the movement were arrested earlier during the crackdown whats likely to become of them. Yeah and its interesting i met last night the young female protester who read out that Resignation Letter as they call it fully Prime Minister she was subsequently arrested in a cafe a couple of hours later around midnight those leaders many of them are now released on bail some of those who made the most explosive demands about their old family are still being held they will face possibly quite a long and complicated Legal Process and given that the government here has failed to clamp down on the protester either riot police all through the decree it may be that this sort of war of attrition through the courts of trying to prosecute these leaders will be the next move but the for the of on protesters whove taken a lead from hong kong on this have said youre only does now this is a leaderless protest you can arrest certain high profile figures but youre not going to be able to arrest a soul and that is not going to end up protests that part of the demonstrations are focusing on the royal family and thats really unprecedented in thailand what what if anything are we hearing from the royal family on all of this. Yes that the palace to comment on on you know Current Events and Current Affairs and were not hearing anything and thats to be expected it is indeed unprecedented the royal family is protected by some very strict as my just say laws and this is being considered to boot to even discuss their role in politics their military influence and their Financial Affairs and how the students have broken that to cross that line the king did say last week in a meeting. With some former communist rebels who interestingly once were fighting the royal family in the facts of the cold war he did say we need people in this country to love the monarchy and to love this institution but you wont expect him to make a direct comment im sorry for everybody here thats the great unknown what is the what is you know what were all the reviews from the palace for one that philip thanks very much for bringing us up to date there that was journalist Philip Cheryl in bangkok thank you. Just a quick summary of some of the other headlines today thousands of colombians have marched in bogota to protest the governments social and economic policies Police Violence and the killing of human rights activists and also decried the rise of poverty caused by the coronavirus pandemic marches are the latest in a sporadic series of protests which began last year. At a Memorial Service in paris french president Emanuel Michael has paid tribute to the history teacher headed by an islamist last friday. Party was killed after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students in a debate on freedom of discretion by calling called the teacher a quiet hero slayed by cowards. In the us the maker of the prescription painkiller oxy contin will plead guilty to federal charges as part of an 8000000000. 00 settlement produce pharma is accused of criminal conduct related to the distribution of the drug which has been linked to more than 470000 deaths in the u. S. With just 2 weeks to go before the u. S. President ial election intelligence officials believe they read and russia have interfered in the upcoming vote they can use a read of being behind recent intimidating emails targeting American Voters in multiple states they also stated that tehran in moscow obtained Voter Registration details with the goal of altering the vote democratic voters at least 4 battleground states received emails that threatened quote we will come after you if the recipients didnt vote for president donald trump. In washington she give us more details about the accusations groups from iran and russia got their hands on Voter Registration data they use that information the iranian groups did to send these threatening emails as you mentioned and as you said in those emails that said vote for President Trump or else now these emails were actually signed by the group the proud boys this is the White Supremacist Group some of our viewers might remember that the president refused to denounce in the 1st televised debate and this is a group that does support the president but that was a false flag there is a lot of information we dont know at this point to tell you what that is thats crucial we dont know which groups were behind this we dont know if Voter Registration databases themselves were accessed because that would also be a really key here and we dont know what the intent was the f. B. I. Director said the intent was clearly to hurt President Trump but if you think about it if democrats were intimidated from going to the polls and perhaps didnt cast their ballots that certainly would hurt shoebite and so we are hoping for more information to be revealed in the coming days. There well the f. B. I. Announcement came as campaigning enters its final stage of head of the upcoming vote president was cheered by supporters in the battleground state of North Carolina democrats meanwhile brought out their biggest store to stump for biden. Hello philadelphia. Sheers and hans for former u. S. President barack obama at a drive in rally as he hit the campaign trail for joe biden the democratic nominee and his promise president obama didnt mince words when it came to current president donald trump. I get that this president wants full credit for the economy here now. And 0 blame for the pandemic. But you know what the job doesnt work there i want to eating at the television doesnt fix things. Obama highlighted by his contribution to his own presidency and he urged voters to show up we cant be complacent i dont care about the polls there are all bunch of polls last time didnt work out because all those folks stayed at home and got lazy and complacent not this time not in this election. In some places that has been easier said than done as early voting started many people waited in line for hours and some counties reported blackouts at voting sites or faulty mail in ballots still a record 42000000 americans have cost early ballots already according to the u. S. Elections project. At a Campaign Event in the battleground state of North CarolinaPresident Trump rallied his supporters and painted a dystopian picture of the u. S. Under joe biden Sleepy Joe Biden is a bit control of his party overture socialist car meters marxs and leftwing extremist. And theyre filled with hatred then the grange most voters have already made up their minds but the 2nd and last president ial debate on thursday night is the last chance to win over the undecided. Early on wednesday President Trump showed his discontent at the choice of topics for debate and the decision to mute microphones to avoid interruptions after a chaotic 1st debate i think the. Biggest heard so far. About our. Very. First. Her parents occurred by. Terms commons perhaps setting the tone for his final sparring match with his challenger. Now to nigeria where the security situation in the countrys largest city lagos appears to be deteriorating with reports of buildings on fire roadblocks and protesters to following a curfew to demonstrate on the city streets the other arrests follows the crackdown on protesters in lagos on tuesday and see International Says at least 12 people were killed by gunshots at 2 gatherings. More shots fired at protesters and this despite the global outrage following tuesday shooting of peaceful demonstrators in nigerias most populous city Lagos Military forces had reacted to protest as defying a curfew by telling the street lights off and shooting into the crowd killing and wounding thousands. You know those who got along will be going to now we have to live as i said before. We. Know what all these families. Received a little time of what you can already see what everybody getting me through the. Protests has spiraled dramatically over the past few weeks they were initially triggered by anger at Police Brutality especially at abuses carried out by in the tory. Anti robbery squad saw as but beyond the problem of Police Violence nigerias youths are calling for sweeping changes and to systemic corruption and widespread unemployment we do it so why not please why dont you while trying to walk on the last couple of days of violence have made waves beyond nigerias borders demonstrations of support by the large Nigerian Diaspora were held in london and south africa on wednesday. Numerous stars have also begun speaking out. For you. So people. You have more support for quiet any more so what is going on back with me nigeria. I was in and your government got into the water. It is in sending military to the streets. On protests thats as some buildings including a television station in lagos lay in flames nigeria remains a tinderbox of deep economic and social grievances. Pope francis has said that he supports Civil Union Laws to protect the rights of same sex couples this breaks from the vaticans traditional position on the issue the pope made the comment in a new documentary about him titled francesco which premiered on wednesday at the rome Film Festival and the film also tackles other controversial issues such as racism Climate Change sexual abuse and relations between christians muslims and jews. Believe. Hes got more on this from our religious Affairs Analyst martin got good to see you margin how big a deal are these comments by pope francis regarding same sex civil unions. Theyre momentous and i think that looking at the International Press gives you a very clear sense of how sort of how big a full story this is i mean just to put it into perspective the head of the vatican the pope has come out in favor of gay civil unions you know just just itself i mean and ive been looking at this story now for 24 hours or so its still its still pretty pretty remarkable i mean its a must have massive change in the vatican position in relation to gay rights so a sea change in the vatican on this issue what kind of reaction has there been from say the more conservative parts of the Catholic Church the reaction has been really pretty easy. You know we have heard isolated voices from Latin America Africa europe but its really the American Public right wing which is very closely tied with the political project of the Republican Party and very much aligned with the political agenda of the even jellicoe owed in the u. S. Which in a way puts it much more in line with it in sort of a certain space of American Culture wars that really with questions of theological positioning and religion politics. Has basically taking a very very aggressive stance essentially the nuns in the pope announcing the position us on take out the lake and pointing out that the pope has no right to you know to indoors something that the bishop of baltimore put it plainly immoral that referring to gave him a sexual relations ok it should be noted of course that the pope has not sanctioned gay marriage within the church were talking about civil unions here is something outside of the churchs purview is that still a bridge too far for the vatican Martin Church sanctioned gay marriage. Look i think that this bull pests showing that there is no breach too far i think that what hes learned to keep in mind to some degree in american numbers are actually quite interesting to some degree the pope is really just gushing out we would socially intuitions. Got the leaks already have so i mean 6 out of 10 catholics in the u. S. Are said poll to believe that actually gay rights should be protected the spite of what we hear from you know catholic conservative media so you know a sense i think that the focus really following the church and its basis rather than the other way around its very clear that this is a position that but ago you had us he was bishop in when the site is he came out in favor of civil unions so though he never made the statement as a boat and now we have it on the table so this really nice sort of a very big change for in these course anything that you know there question of gay marriage might not be too far off although its something that would require more agreement we do in the vatican lines martin thank you very much for your analysis that was martin gallic our religious Affairs Analyst for. So how far can Plastic Waste become a part of underwater life thats the question swiss director Pascal Shelby set out to explore in his short movie the beauty its an imaginative take on one of the most pressing issues facing our planets plastic pollution now shell has won a student oscar for the animation work which he created as part of his final thesis at one of germanys top film schools. Takes us on a journey into the depths of the unchained forget about watch a little longer. And you realize its no documentary but a parable hes been about pollution. Good sized starring characters made of Plastic Waste than just. The basic concept was to tell the story poetically and with irony by all the videos you see featuring distressed whales and turtles are so shocking and somebody i have the feeling weve become emotionally immune. Filming and pays production took a year and a half. The characters like the pufferfish made a couple wrap. Of this school of fish made of flip flops where digitally animated and later integrated into night action under which a footage. I think the concept only works if it looks realistic if it makes you believe that thats really a moonie all made of a car tire that just swam by. Shelbys photo realistic and what a fantasy invites us to suspend our disbelief and dive into a world in which nature. She and waste deal with police in the entering into a supernatural symbiosis but the film doesnt spare us the harsh reality. Ends with a look at the ever growing forest of synthetic mackies thats gradually suffocating operations and everything that lives in them. To be seen as right for the one accolades the International Student oscar propels pasko show bullies are an appeal to save the seeds into the running for the best animated short in the main oscars competition. Just reminder the top story were following for you here today on d w news germany has reported a Record Number of daily corona virus infections with more than 11000 new cases reported on thursday Health Minister he is isolating at home after testing positive for 19. Youre watching t. V. News from berlin focus on europe is up next thanks for watching. But hes passed his final exam. Brags it is training friends and languages Family Business like many english sheep farmers their business depends on european expertise without a Free Trade Agreement with the e. U. That could soon all be over and just like the future of farmers in their seat and the time he used to tell. Focus on europe. Next on d w. Entered the conflict zone fronting the powerful more than 2 years ago the new government in armenia came to power in a socalled velvet revolution with the hope of fundamental democratic reforms my guest this week from iran is armenian foreign minister star of macguffin kanya how much responsibility does armenia facts for the conflict escalation conflicts. In 60 minutes on. What secrets lie behind games what. Discover new adventures in 360 degree. And explore fascinating World Heritage sites. T. W. World heritage 360 getting out now. Literature invites us to see people in particular that i like to see some as fine grown up her. Right. To work with. The books on you to. Thank you we. Thank you. Well come to focus on europe its great to have your company today the 2nd coronavirus wave has arrived war and more European Countries are reporting Record Numbers of infections and this has led to fresh car fuel lockdowns and National States of emergencies but small country of belgium has one of the highest infection rates in