They want to break up the nra once and for all. And fast, free, but not optional. Germany is making coronavirus tests mandatory for all people entering the country from designated hotspots. New infections here are increasing, now at their highest level in three months. Brent on brent goff. To our viewers on pbs and all around the world and the united states, welcome. The message to beirut today you are not alone. Help is on the way. Macron pledged to spearhead a donors conference to rebuild the city, but said there will be no blank checks, demanding political leaders begin real reform before it is too late. In a city racked in a city racked by the force of tuesdays catastrophic explosion, people in beirut are coming together to clean up the debris in the city streets. But with solidarity and a strong sense of Community Comes also anger. Atat the c corruption and mismanagement that are seen as causes of the blast, and thatat have plagued the country for decades. We are no longer able to continue this way. In this situation, people do n t have enough money y to continue what they started. The country cannot take it anymore. Wewe have been fighting for 50 years in order to raise our family in the circumststances tt we live in. Now we are finished. We have been working for our retirement, but they finished us. Help from abroad is now coming into lebanon. Aid from numerous countries. Fred president Emmanuel Macron also landed in beirut and met with lebanons president , the first foreign leader to visit since the explosion. Lebanon is a former french protectorate and the countries still have close ties today. Macron then headed to the damaged neighborhoods of beirut, surrounded by crowds of people he listened to these for help, while calls for a change in regime sounded all around. I i am here today. I will propose a new political pack this afternoon and come back by september 1. If it has not been maintained, i will take responsibility for it. Later in the evening, macron announced the launch of an International Conference in the coming days, with the aim of raising funds to support beieir. Brent t we want to go to beirut now, bassel aridi is on the story for us. Emmanuel macron, he looked and sounded like the leader lebanon does not have at thee moment. T. What did you m make of hisis vit today . Basassel that t is how it loed. First t of allll, he visited onf the mamain districtsts in banonn which was s complely d damaged. It was one o othe placeses completely damaged by the explosion, one of the old traditional areas in downtown beirut. During his visit, he met people, shook hands with some of them, and some others. This visit is specific for this area, the lebanese look at it as a chance to make the world listen to them, to make their sounds he rubble hearable, because the whole world can hear their sounds. They believe france is a [indiscernible] for lebanon. They look to france in such a way, so they believe this is a chance to make friends listen to them france listen to them. That is why they say they do not need the regime anymore. They are fed up with this regime, the system, the corrupted politicians. They need to get rid of all of them. Duduring his visit, they shout revovolution, a a say t they e susure they wawant to t rid ofol of their [inaudible] macron says he is s here to stsd by the lebanese peoplple, notote lebanese politician regime or political parties. Brent macron anannounced that frfrance will organizee a g glol conference i in the next few das to raise money for lebanon, but he made it clear that the money will be channeled dictlyly to the people, not the e politicia. Cannot happen . Is that alal can that happen . Is that realistic . Bassel itts debatable, this issue, but he madee it clear r t lebanon is in urgent need of reforms, for political reforms, moral reforms, financial and economic, and asked for reforms in the banking sector, which was one of the main sectors in lebanon. He says this sector should be transparent. On the top of the list of reforms, he says the electricity should be on the top of that. The Electricity Sector costs the lebanese government more than 45 billion in 20 years, and it is an ailing condition and becomes worse day byay. The financiaialid on talalked about,t, it is conditioned byy these reforms. He made it clear when he met all the polilitical parties and mpsn the frenench palace inin lebans frenchch embassy, he made it clr that this money, these reforms would not reach lebanon until a reforms wewere applied. He will nonot take a blanknk ch. Brent dws bassel aridi on the story for us in beirut. Thank you very much. Social media is helping organize on the ground aid donations in lebanon and is looking at the outpouring of solidarity we are seeing from around the world. Rebecca ritters is looking into that. She is here at the big table with me. Lebanon is already a country in crisis, now it is a country in desperation. How are they being helped . Rebecca we cannot stress what a bad situation lebanon was in before this disaster, but a lot of grassroots organizations were already operating in the country, organizations that can now mobilize and expense to incorporate people who were affected by the explosion. One example is an organization helping Vulnerable People throughout the economic crisis and the coronavirus crisis, mainly handing out food packages but lots of other things as well. They are expanding their operations and turning every bit of Available Space warehouse, shop space, into sleeping quarters for the people that were made homeless. I am watching them on instagram. They are doing amazing stuff, but one out of many. Anotother thing i h have seenen popping up u under the hashtag ourhomesareopen is this map, some 300,000 people believed to have been rendered homeless, so that is a useful resource. Outside of these coordinated organizations, people in beirut are literally taking to the streets with brooms and shovels to clean up debris. It is grassroots at the most basic level, isnt it . Brent what about the larger ngos . How have their efforts been evolving . Rebecca most of them are operating in lebanon, but the Lebanese Red Cross is the countrys mainline ngo, if you like. They are also the main provider of ambulances in the country, but they were grossly underfunded. They have ramped up Fundraising Efforts and streamlined their donations, advertising here on their twitter, to make it easier for people to donate. They are calling for blood donations, but donations of all kind helps as well. Brent what about the International Community . Rebecca the International Community is shocked, expressing solidarity from all over the globe, we are seeing an outpouring of support. People have been really affected by this disaster. I used to live in lebanon. I have had people texting me from all over the world, saying how are your friends in lebanon . What the country really needs is money to rebuild, money in the form of international donations. Pledges have been rolling in, perhaps not as quickly as people might like, but now Emmanuel Macron has announced that donor conference. While it is extremely appreciated of course, people in lebanon simply dont trust that money is going to go where it is needed. Many accuse the government of corruption and in this video here, we see Emmanuel Macron when he was there today, visiting the country, he was walking through the devastated area the woman is yelling in french, but she is saying, please dont give any money to our corrupt government. We cannot handle it anymore. To which macron replies, i know. Dont worry. Im going to help people, not the government. It will be very important in the weeks and months ahead that this money that will be rolling into lebanon finds its way to where it is most needed, accountability here will be key. Brent and its understandable that a lot of people are doubtful about the money reaching the people who needed. We will see. Rebecca, as always, thank you. Here are some of the stories making headlines around the world. Japan has marked the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of hiroshima. A bell told in the city to mark the moment the bomb hit, followed by moment of silence. Ununr the thousands of people didied from thee bombing and its aftereffectsts. Flooding in n sudan has killeled hundreds of peoplendnd dame huhundre of homemes. Many a areas nearr the capital e underwater. The u. N. Says nearly 50,000 people have been affected. Twitter briefly blocked president Donald Trumps official Campaign Account today because of a tweet containing misinformation about covid19. The tweet incorrectly claims that children are almost immune to thehe virus. Trumps campaign appears to have removed that tweet. Staying in the u. S. , the state of new york has filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the National Rifle association. Thats the countrys most powerful gun lobby. A separate lawsuit against the group has been filed in washington, d. C. New York State Attorney general Leticia James announced the charges at a press conference a short time ago. The lawsuit accuses top nra executives of corruption, including using millions of dollarars of an arraray funds to finance lavish lifestyles of nra funds to finance lavish lifestyles. The nra calls this a baseless attack on the right to keep and bear arms. For more, im joined by our Washington Bureau chief, inas poll ines pole. What are they aiming to achieve with these lawsuits . They basically want to prove that no organization is above the law, saying that the nras influence has become so powerful that they went kind of unchecked over decades, allowing the top management to funnel millions in their own pockekets, paying for trips to africa, safarisis with their wives, trips to the bahamas, paying for planes, a planes, cars, expensive food they say it is time to dissolve the National Rifle association. Brent we know how powerful that lobby is. How likely will the nra the dissolve . Rebecca they are very they are very powerful and deeply, deeply rooted into politics, but this comes at a time when that might change. Many americans are tired of the ongoing gun violations. They are tired of seeing schoolkids killed in mass shootings. Some states could really put out more restrictive laws, so maybe this comes at a moment when things really, really might change. Brent what about the leadership at the nra . Have we seen a response from them . Sure. What do we expect in . They downplay it, saying this is all a political stand, coming less than three months ahead of the election, it is just Like Fighting the second amendment, which allows americans to own and bear guns. They got the backing of the president , who they have been supportive of from the very beginning. Donald trump reacted immediately, saying the nra shouould get registered in texas to lead a Beautiful Life there. Brent our Washington Bureau chief is with us tonight. Ines, thank you. Here in germany amid signs of the second wave of the coronavirus, authorities are making tests mandatory for travelers arriving from designated high risk areas. It comes as schools begin reopening after summer break, and fears that more people on the move are spreading the virus. The countrys Health Minister says the tests are essential to maintain public safety. From saturday onwards, travelers returning from highrisk areas to germany will have to have a valid corona test in their pockets, or except being tested on the ground for free. I am very aware that this infringes on the freedom of the individual, but i believe it is a reasonable infringement. This is about more than just a publication for individuals who return from holiday. In my view, this follows from our duty as a society to look after one another and protect each other. The list of high risk areas is updated regularly. Most countries around the world are on the list. In the eu, the spanish region of catalonia and its beaches, as well as luxembourg considered high risk by germany. At the belgian but a belgian region was also recently put on the list bececause of rising infections there. German authorities are worried about the virus being brought back to germany, but there is also a real risk of people becoming negligent and spreading the virus at home, according to the minister. On wednesday, germany recorded more than 1000 daily new infections, the highest number in three months. The new rules, as School Holidays strolled to an end in many german regions. I think the concepts are convincing. They are convincing because they follow the model of opening schools and kindergartens again. That has been one of the last challenges for many months in germany. Parents and children alike, when schools and kindergartens were closed. From next monday, pupils and germanys most populous region will go back to school. Other states have already started. This will be yet another test for just how effective germanys anticorona measures really are. Brent mandatory tests. To talk about that, i am joined by Political Correspondent simon young. These tests are mandatory. What happens if someone is returning from a hotspot area says no, i dont want to take the test . Simon these new mandatory tests are in addition to the existing rule, which says anyone returning from these regions and countries identified as high risk of coronavirus, they have to produce a negative corona test or indeed go in 14 day quarantine. In a sense, this is just beefing up that regime and making sure that people do actually have the tests and can produce the results that they are required to produce. There might be some opposition to it. We have seen people here complaining about what they perceive as the governments heavy handedneness in dealing wh corona, but there are some find potentially behind this for people who refuse, and it is also worth saying that the tests are free, so that should help some people decide to have the test when it is asked for. Brent a test would be better for a twoweek quarantine, in any case. Germany seem to have this virus under control, simon, but cases are now rising again. Makes you wonder, is germany a victim of its early success . Simon it may be, in the sense that there may have been in recent weeks, as is opened up again, there may have in a bit of overconfidence from some people. We have seen groups of young people partying in berlin and other cities, and also we have seen these demos where people are saying you know, it all goes to far and we should not be locked down in this way. It might be that people have not really felt the effects of the disease here in germany, which could account for carelessness. One of the reasons the numbers have started to spike again above 1000, the level not seenn since may, is partly because they are doing a lot more testing over the last couple of weeks, and that is meaning they are finding more people that have been touched by the disease. Brent how likely is it going to be that we see another major locked down here in germany . Simon the government is saying it is doing everything it can to avoid that. We have schools opening up this week and next week, and that could be a significant events. The government is certainly worried about the potential for the disease spreading their. I think the governments approach has been to get people to stay alert, but not to have them under a permanent state of alarm, and by common consent, most germans, according to polls, say they are behind the measures at the moment still, and the effort is to avoid that serious second lockdown. Brent simon young on the story for us tonight here in berlin. Simon, thank you. Lets take a look now at some of the other developments in the coronavirus pandemic. Germanys hospitals say their facilities are well prepared for a potential second wave of the coronavirus. Hospitals say they also have better stockpiles of protective acquittance and at the beginning of the year. Infections are surging in france once again, the country has reported nearly 1700 new cases in the span of 24 hours. Thats the highest number since may. Italy is threatening to ban europes biggest airliner for flouting covid19 guidelines. Italian aviation Authorities Say social distancing rules were not being observed on ryanair flights. The World Health Organization says a growing number of those contracting coronavirus worldwide are young people. Statistics show 15 of those getting sick are aged between 15 and 24. All right, heres a look at some ofof the other stories t that ae making news this hour. The australian state of victoria has reported a record rising covid19 cases and deaths, even after posing a strict imposing a strict new lockdown. The state mp urging people to stick together and not to panic buy. He said meet reduction meat production would be slowed down due to the virus. This would have been day 14 of the olympic games. They have been postponed until next year because of the coronavirus pandemic. After a wash and a brush up, the rings will be back in december. Polands president andrzej duda has struck a conciliatory tone at his swearingin ceremony for a second term, but many of his critics are not buying it. Following his narrow victory, opposition lawmakers and even some of his predecessors broke with tradition by boycotting the inauguration. Duda pledges to respect all polls, but many in the Lgbt Community in the country, who came under attack during his campaign, are weighing their options. Back in charge. With 51 of the runoff vote, it was enough for andrzej duda to secure another five years as polands head of state. He campaigned on a platform of tradition, family and religion. Duda made International Headlines during the election, criticized for his increasingly antilgbt rhetoric. He labeled the promotion of gay rights a new form of communist indoctrination, which he sees as undermining polish shall use. Polish values. While the criticisms varied, the message of those who did attend was obvious. His support within the chamber, though, was also clear. An independent aligned with the ruling warring justice party, some feel his adoption of their rightwing politics has left the country at odds with the european union. For some, dudas victory was enough for them to reevaluate. This man and his partner chose to leave and start a new life in spain, a country that, unlike poland, allows samesex couples to marry and adopt children. I want to fight for equality and poland, even though i am here now. I was also kind of afraid that people that greeted me or watch me or whwhatever, they will feel kind of disappointed thatat i am leaving. That it will send a message like i am giving up. I dont. I just have to come you know, make decisions for myself. For now, the pair enjoy the freedom that poland couldnt offer them. Brent sports news now, germanys has been the rangers to reach the quarterfinals. Played in the last 16 second leg after speculation he is moving to chelsea. The leader hose and won 10 behind closed doors. The competition was suspended for four months due to the coronavirus. Saville beat roma in a single leg game on neutral turf. Frederick berg facing bottle now. Englands wolves are also playing olympianos. The london marathons mass run scheduled for october 4 has been canceled. Only elite runners will take part in the prestigious event using a small, multilap course inside a london park. Thousands of amateur runners normally raise money for charity in the race, which in previous years has taken a ro across a route across the british capital. To italy now, and an emotional reunion for a sixyearold stowaway. [applause] brent the little boys back safely in his mothers arms after traveling unaccompanied to italy in a fishing boat to reunite with his family. Originally from the ivory coast, the boy had been staying with a family acquaintance in libya when his mother and siblings left for italy five months ago. The red cross says he was located on a ferry that has been used to quarantine migrants. We like the happy ending. You are watching dw news. Heres a reminder of the top story we are following for you tonight. French president Emmanuel Macron has pledged aid to beirut during a visit to lebanons devastated capital. He insisted there must also be change from the countrys political leaders, echoing the demands of angry citizens who accuse their government of corruption. Youre watching dw news from berlin. After a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. Tonight, we will take a look at the french president in beirut