Force closure of chinas consulate in houston. Germany Office Incoming holiday makers and travelers free throw Virus Testing to guard against a 2nd wave of coverage 19. The countdown clock for the turkey of the pics has been reset coconuts are now planning for next summer the coronavirus pandemic is making even the decision to camps. Im so gal welcome to the Program Turkey is the higher saffir has hosted muslim friday prayers for the 1st time in more than 80 years the istanbul lombok was built 1500 years ago as a christian cathedral mass before becoming a mosque and then a museum 2 weeks ago president issued a controversial decree returning it to use as a mosque after a court a no its museum status. Prayers led by a president on a friday that will become unforgettable in turkey thousands of muslims gathered in worship for the 1st time in 86 years. Oh the iconic buildings journey through time from Orthodox Christian cathedral to muslim mosque to museum. For many here and historic wrong has been righted. But only young and old im not done. We have been waiting for higher sophia to open as a mosque for decades for decades we said that the chains will break and higher sophia will reopen yeah to me that was friday remained a museum this kind of atmosphere would not have been possible it doesnt mean much for the people abroad and i think the important thing is what the people of turkey want were happy. As. But everyone critics in turkey see the conversion as a political ploy to score points with his conservative base. And the move has sparked dismay among christian leaders and some western countries that this one time symbol of christian and muslim unity may become a source of religious divide that. d has been discussing this decision with turkeys Nobel Prize Winning novelist. So one of the people unhappy with this decision speaking. One reason they are not raising their voices because there is no free speech in turkey to challenge this they are also unfortunately afraid of saying this is. Our circle or tradition please lets not change it this is important in the sense that turkish nation is this thing from this is different this thing from other muslim nations and by the fact that we are secure and the rest of the world knows this every single even if they are if even if they are walking for are the ruling party Islamist Party are secretly all open the product will be different than other muslim nations saying that like europeans we are sicker and this is their origin ality off turkey now they are taking away that pride of being bought muslim and sickle or similar tediously that was a lot of troops straight to istanbul then we joined the w correspondent dorian germans welcome dorian we know this is a decision to close the presence hearts and what do you think is it more likely to have been motivated by religion or politics. Well both president recently made clear that this was a lifelong dream to convert the ira soft back to a mosque but given the fact that its taken him nearly 20 years in power to to actually do this it does smell politics this comes at a time when his ruling a k party is a record lows in the opinion polls hit by the economic woes the country is suffering because of covert 19 and the corporate feel of todays event all pointed to galvanizing hes religious and nationalist 13 base one before the friday prayers recited to a koran wearing an islamic skullcap images because all across the country and indeed the try to prison cells were given by the head of turkeys religious authority and the man was carrying a sword now thats a symbol of the conquest of stamboul by 40 men with a conqueror hes an iconic figure not only for the religious but also for turkish nationalists and for all the ceremonies today for repeated references to the conqueror seen as an icon for the nationalists and thousands and thousands of supporters of all across the country a rallying point to take part in these ceremonies today so its very much i heard one seeking to galvanize base and prevent a further hemorrhaging of support of his party and so where what does this tell us and about the current religious and political climate. Well i think for support of the secular state this will be a very dark day the ira saw fear in many ways is the most important symbol of turkeys conversion to a secular state by the founder of secularism in turkey mystified kemal ataturk is seen as so symbolically important and the fact that it has gone well critics say its part of a wider trend of undermining secularism within the country now thats a charge tonight by the government but if you look at Wider Society the change theres a different story the government is increasingly struggling to fill these religious schools which it is massively expanded in recent years and recent studies. Do indicate that the young are increasingly moving away from religion and that is hank i think a factor why there were the main opposition to Secular Party didnt choose to pick a fight over the conversion of the i saw fear they are focusing on the economy there they see earth one is weak and they see a chance of finally removing him from power big question is now what deserved want to next if he cannot move the agenda away from the economy and the fear is that there will be more controversial and unpredictable steps taken by one in the coming years. Corresponded to door hedgers in istanbul thank you. China has ordered the United States to close one of its consulates the Foreign Ministry has given us officials 72 hours to leave the consulate in the southwestern city of chengdu and this comes after washington told beijing to close its Diplomatic Mission in Houston Texas this week relations between the 2 countries are at the nose point for 40 years. It was less a question of if china would retaliate but rather how and the answer is the u. S. Has been told to close its concha lip synching to raising the stakes yet further and this diplomatic standoff. Through majority of the Current Situation in china u. S. Relations is not what china wants and the u. S. Is completely responsible for all of this. All of this includes the u. S. Imposing sanctions on communist Party Officials and companies linked to the mass detention of weaker and ordering china to shut its mission in houston citing concerns about. The clear act is underway the president even floated the potential to cut diplomatic ties completely. As far as closing additional embassies its always possible it marks the biggest fallout since Richard Nixon renewed relations in the seventys when he extended the 100 friendship. All the more significant then the u. S. Secretary of state would head to the former republican president ial library to all but declare a new cold war with the c. C. P. The kind of engagement weve been pursuing is not brought the kind of change inside of china the president nixon had hoped to induce. The truth is that our policies and those of other free nations resurrected chinas failing economy only to see beijing by the International Hands that were feeding it. We open our arms to chinese citizens only to see the Chinese CommunistParty Support our free and open society. Back in 2017 when donald trump and she. Occasionally sparred over trade no theyre even farther apart to me be a long time before theyre rolling out the red carpet for each other again. Well jeff mooney is the china trade and Government Affairs consultant hes also a former u. S. Diplomat and trade negotiator one of his diplomatic postings was to the u. S. Consulate in chengdu but welcome to d. W. Does this consulate have any particular significance it does its the only american consulate in western china an area that has a population of almost 300000000. 00 people there is significant american commercial interests there china has tried to attract u. S. Industry to help develop the region which has traditionally been underdeveloped and this is the u. S. Consulate that also covers tibet which is an area great interest to the United States and american legislators and american people. And what is china said about the closure is this purely in retaliation for for houston or are they saying that they were spies and all sorts of other things going on then. Well the chinese statement accuses the u. S. Of all kinds of misdeeds but i dont think it takes a lot of looking to realize this is all about houston and this is interesting because this is an escalation of the conflict its already been going on if china had closed the u. S. Consulate in rwanda which is the smallest of the u. S. Consulates and is already closed because after coronavirus the chinese will not allow the diplomats there to return if it closed that consulate then one consulate from each side would have been closed now you have the chinese that are effectively closing 2 consulates and theres one consulate in from china youre in the u. S. Is closed so there is going to be further retaliation and i think china has made a mistake here already so where is the United States likely to go from here then today closing of the consulate or does it does it take some other action. Well it all depends on how the u. S. Chooses to react you know trump says all the time that when you hit him hell hit back twice as hard and he has proven to do that in public so he has 2 options one if you keep this in the diplomatic track then i think another consular closure in the u. S. Is indeed possible however there are so many issues now in the u. S. Trying to relationship and they are all linked together that it would be very easy for the u. S. To do something in an unrelated area that we cant really predict at this point and so this is this is all coming to a head now this escalation we know that the relationship between that china and the United States has been rocky for some time but why this sudden of what take on the graph is this cynically speaking just about novembers election. I think it has a lot to do with that there is a general push in the us in a general consensus frankly to get tough on china the administration has had 4 high level speeches pantos was just the 4th yesterday outlining the grievances with china but this is an election season and there was a true diplomatic rift over the inability for the u. S. To restaff the consulate and move on and so thats why i think this is coming to a head with in terms of the consulates right now but pumping made clear yesterday that at least this administration sees this as a long term struggle so frankly that you have extra extensive experience of working in china how do you see this ending i think that well there are 2 courses the election is going to have a lot to do with us if trump is reelected then these kind of aggressive behaviors are going to continue in my greatest fear is an accident an accident something all winds of some ships bumping in the South China Sea or something happened there is a history of accidents happening the causing lots of problems within the relationship if biden is elected i think that tension will continue but that we will have all of the emotion and the bluster and and that things will calm down a bit and we will work on the same issues but will work on them in a much more logical and rational way its very clear very interesting we thank you for your time jeff. Thank you. Lets look at some other stories making news around the world Goldman Sachs has agreed nearly 4000000000. 00 settlement with malaysia over a Corruption Scandal prosecutors allege that banker rangebound sales for the one m. D. Be Sovereign Wealth Fund that allowed malaysias foreman b. To actually bring back to steal billions the verdict in this 1st trial over the affair is expected in coming days. A matter of chicago has ordered the removal of 2 statues of Christopher Columbus until further notice the overnight move came the week after protesters trying to topple one of the figures met Laurie Lightfoot said there would be a review of the appropriateness of all of the citys monuments. Thousands of hunger areas have marched in protest against attacks on media freedoms after the perceived muscling of the countrys worst read website more than 80 journalists and index h. Q. Quit in protest of the sacking this week of the websites editor in chief index is the last of hungry ski independent news outlets. Face coverings in our mandatory in shops and takeaway food stores in england as well as other enclosed spaces like transport hubs and Shopping Centers face coverings already compulsory even close public spaces in many other European Countries including to. Now be ronnies warnings of rusting oil tanker in the red sea is an environmental disaster waiting to happen a 45 year old vessel is stocked with more than a 1000000 barrels of crude oil and these floating off the coast of yemen the ships deteriorating and experts are warning that an oil spill could be imminent yemens ongoing civil war is complicating efforts to extract the oil from the ship. A cruellest ship with explosive cargo is docked off the coast of yemen this is the only current image of the ailing tanker at any moment it could fall apart potentially spilling 1200000. 00 barrels of oil into the red sea. That would cause a Natural Disaster according to u. N. Coordinator lisa grande and it would destroy the fishing capacities in the fishing villages. And. The environment of the roads. Many years. If as it was safer has not been properly maintained since the beginning of the war in yemen 5 years ago the cables and valves are rusted and the tanker is leaking for the past 2 years the United Nations has asked for a team of experts to be allowed to go on board but permission from the warring parties is pending they are arguing over who gets the profits after the oil on board is sold the north of yemen is controlled by the who the rebels and this tanker lies within the region they control the oil minister blames an alliance led by saudi arabia for the blockade of the mouth of the how do you know if our maintenance teams attempt to reach the tanker fighter jets will fly over them and attack thats a big problem. An oil spill would also wash up on the shores of who died in a port which is the lifeline for millions of people in northern yemen who are suffering hardship and hunger and are in urgent need of aid. German authorities have confirmed the release of had a mary 1st the german curator who was abducted by iraqi militants this week in a Statement Foreign minister heiko mass expressed his relief and thanked the iraqi authorities he said that shes now in the care of the German Embassy in baghdad as mavis was kidnapped by gunmen on monday from outside her office in the capital the German National is well known in baghdad where she runs an avs program for young iraqis shes also know does not stop outspoken critic of the government its still not known who was behind the abduction iraqi Authorities Say theyre investigating. Here in germany are offering the free coronaVirus Testing to incoming travelers all the spot testing will be available for people coming from coffee 1000. 00 hotspots people traveling from lower risk areas will be it will also be offered tests but at the barges away from airports its part of an effort to avoid a 2nd wave of infections. Touched down in berlin after a Summer Holiday far fewer germans the normal yet taking their vacations abroad the joy of returning home is as strong as ever but can people be sure they havent picked up the coronavirus on their travels. Now their health or thor it is in germany have taken the decision to offer free Virus Testing. The hammer to its cars and had some decide conference and anthony ment in this goes on to the Health Ministers of the states together at the federal Health Minister have today agree that people returning from resort areas should be tested at airports the intent to establish Testing Facilities and relevant airports secondly they have decided death you want to reach not only does coming from risk areas but also from elsewhere so the agree to pay the costs of the testing for travelers. Isnt Frankfurt Germany is largest airport is already offering tests for a free under the new plan people arriving from the 130 countries seen as at risk can be tested directly on arrival checks will also be beefed up at sea ports and on land borders the tests will be voluntary at 1st and people from corona affected areas will continue to be arsed to quarantine at home for 14 days. Germans love to travel and theyre starting to get the travel bug again but with these tourists arriving from the popular Spanish Island of new york and be willing to take a test yourself yes certainly for reasons of personal safety that would be the most important thing you can go all the way thank you sure id like to so. If you had to go into quarantine. Then i have to go. There again i wouldnt really want to people have responsibility for themselves and people over there are very careful about their behavior. Corona infection rates in germany remain low at the moment a big part of keeping it that way after the Holiday Season will be persuading travelers to take advantage of testing. Has been just over 10 years since 21 the young people were killed in a stampede inside a