War leaders but not all americans are ready to denounce this chapter of history. And born during lockdown with her parents far away after weeks of separation this surrogate baby in ukraine finally meets her family but many others still face a long wait. Im sumi so much going to thank you for joining us russian investigators have charged a city mayor with criminal negligence over the arctics largest ever oil spill they suspect the mayor of didnt do enough to contain the discharge of more than 20000. 00 tons of fuel into water waterways through the worlds northernmost city last month investigators say that local cleanup efforts were too limited and too slow experts are now predicting the disaster could take years to contain and cost at least 150000000. 00. Lets bring in was Emily Sherwin in moscow for more on this story hi emily how serious are these charges. Well these charges certainly are serious criminal negligence is quite an accusation and of course this case is very high profile putin himself got involved when the news broke he went on t. V. Publicly chiding the head of the plant. Or the person the company that runs the plant Norilsk Nickel so the fact that the president himself got involved declared a state of emergency it was clear that heads would have to roll including on the political level and there actually have been several other detentions in the case as well including the head of the plants do we have a full picture about what happened here what caused the still. Well the author already have announced that they have an initial theory which is that the concrete foundations that kind of were underneath the fuel reservoir that they collapsed and caused the spill now we dont know why those concrete foundations collapsed at the owner of the plant on the one hand says that that could be because of permafrost underneath the plants which was melting due to Global Global warming perhaps and that that could have caused the foundations to sink down and the author already is on the other hand have said that the foundations themselves in the Oil Reservoir were perhaps not in Good Condition and that that could have caused could have could have caused the spill and really how our cleanup efforts going. Well around the week ago putin announced a state of a state of a National State of emergency which means that extra forces are involved in the cleanup operation and according to media reports teams are working around the clock there but the spill has already contaminated kind of the surrounding soil huge swathes of it and also the nearby river and the nearby lake and the concern now is that the spill could also get into another bigger river which flows north including into the arctic ocean and of course off the already have said that this cleanup could take years. Sure when reporting in moscow thank you in the wake of nationwide protests pressure is building across the u. S. To read Public Places of controversial historic statues in recent days protesters have taken matters into their own hands several monuments are proslavery figures have been toppled the removal of racist symbols joins a list of reforms demanded by demonstrators in the wake of the death of george floyd but not all americans are ready to listen to the pleas for change no matter the pain that prompted them. Walking with the burden of grief came to washington so everybody can board. Brother of george floyd joining protests minutes after addressing the United States congress. When you watch your big brother who do look up to your whole entire you lie di da big your boys mom. Im tired im tired of. Pain you feel when you watch Something Like that on a charge and make the necessary changes then make Law Enforcement the solution and not the problem. Protests continue across the United States with many demonstrators now directing their anger towards controversial relics of u. S. History. Statues of confederate leaders in the Southern States are being toppled or beheaded these men fought for the slave Holding States in americas civil war and for many they evoke a deeply racist past the highest ranking democrat nancy pelosi now pressuring for statues of these men to be removed from the halls of congress. The Confederate Flag is also being reevaluated to sport competition as announcing a ban on the flag at its events it came after the u. S. Navy put in place a similar ban. Military bases with the names of confederate lead is also in the spotlight with demands for them to be renamed. President donald trump disagrees his press secretary read out his social media post on the matter my administration will not even consider the renaming of these magnificent and fabled military installations our history as the greatest nation in the world will not be tampered with respect our military by with protests showing no signs of slowing it seems that americans will not only have to think about reform for the future but consider a debate about how the country looks back at its past. Lets check in on some other stories from around the world amazon is Banning Police use of its facial Recognition Program for the next year the technology has been shown to misidentify people with darker skin the move comes amid growing calls for Police Reform in the wake of the Police Killing of george floyd. The number of koran a virus cases recorded in the u. S. Has topped 2000000 Johns HopkinsUniversity Says new infections are on the rise and at least 19 states the u. S. Has more cases than any other country in the world. And says it employs 26000 more people than needed hinting at possible job cuts the german carrier has been massively affected by the coronavirus pandemic tons of pilots have offered to take a 45 percent pay cut to help alleviate the situation. German chancellor Angela Merkel and chinese the Prime Minister likud chong have held a Video Conference summit to discuss the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic the talks continue to come amid continuing criticism of chinas information policy following the outbreak now both leaders you see here during merkels last visit to china in september were also expected to address how business relations between the 2 countries will shape Recovery Efforts in the wake of the pentatonic. Lets bring in our chief Political Editor michelle or consumer for more on this story hi michelle good to see you so coronavirus pandemic and business ties were on the agenda is that what this Video Conference was really about. Yes at the same time it was also very much about the optics this is a very high level meeting although only by a Video Conference but it happens after machall whose country durban he will take over the e. U. Presidency at the mid of this year counseled what was supposed to be a landmark e. U. China summit in september the main reason given was once again coronado at the same time since 2014 the e. U. Has been trying to forge an investment deal with china it is the use 2nd most important trading partner and of course we see theres mounting tensions between the United States and china and the e. U. Wants to avoid getting torn between those 2 poles in a potentially bipolar international future now all very complex stuff but certainly we can expect to see some kind of response coming out of washington we heard earlier on in the program in washington considers itself or the birth of the u. S. Considers itself as the greatest nation in the world so does china incidentally and that leaves merkel in the middle trying to negotiate with the e. U. Stands but we know that china has been criticized for the way to handle this coronavirus pandemic the information it did and did not release there been calls for a clearer stance towards hong kong as well so how much can germany push back on these points. Well it does to a certain degree but it tries to do so under the e. U. Flag the e. U. Has come out and said whats happening in hong kong is clearly violating International Law and im going to marco herself wouldnt go further than citing hong kong as an example how close the e. U. How close germany is to you the United States to that western value order and that of course raises the question how learn how brussels will now have a gate between those 2 different views and those 2 business forces the United States and china in the next months but also the next years and decades to come an open question the e. U. Presidency of dummy will have to address did have used chief Political Editor michel because and i think you ukraine is one of the few countries in the world where surrogacy is affordable and easy to arrange but pandemic lockdowns have prevented dozens of parents from joining their newborn children the long wait has been painful for couples but potentially disastrous for their Childrens Development some families have finally managed to be united our correspondent nic connelly met one such family. One month and 3 days late brutally spent together. And youre older so traveled more than 10000 kilometers by car through continent in lockdown to finally meet their daughter. And she still has to get used to us she doesnt know who we are. Their daughter spent her 1st month with a carer in an apartment her parents only able to see her on a screen. You know the so sad we were crying just seeing her pictures and unable to do anything for her you just feel so helpless all you can do is wait. As their daughters birth came and went and with no into lockdown in sight or pull out and your elders could do was scour the ukrainian press with the help of a translation app on the lookout for some sign of hope neither the Spanish Government nor the Ukrainian Embassy could help when they read that ukraines human rights on woman had promised help parents into the country and those jumped in their car to drive the 3600 kilometers from their home in madrid to kiev. And then 1st trip was a live in the dark we didnt know what wed encounter at the borders on route they received a long hoped for permission to enter ukraine yeah i cried when he received this i didnt think a piece of paper could make this happy. But it wasnt enough and he was not the czechs and were just 500 kilometers from kiev then they told us no we just couldnt take it anymore they were missing just one document enough for them to be turned back at the Ukrainian Border returning home to madrid with the only option without their baby a week later they were back at the ukrainian frontier after 7000 kilometer round trip to madrid and back this time with the right documents and they were finally allowed into the country other parents have been less fortunate separated from their children but you can greater distances and still unable to enter ukraine how many babies are still without their parents no one can say with any confidence. That you know weve lost months of our daughters life. That was super important you know. Who. It was actually a month or 3 days to leave the felt like a year spanish must sound strange to her she doesnt want to sleep she just wants to listen to us. And now shes im only sleep. Well. This journey to becoming a family like any other is not yet over to register their daughters birth in spain will probably still have to go to court in spain as in many other European Countries surrogacy is really ogradys i dont know the legal or illegal immigrant of ours lockdown which is the 1st of many obstacles on that path. Sports now and footballs german cup semifinals a bar and you dont have set up a chance for a 2nd straight double the season so the possibility of winning both the cup and the wonderfully are defeated im tough time for it to reach the final event paris that scored 14 minutes in but biron needed robert 2nd half goal to win it to one of the leaders byron will play leverkusen for the german cup title next month. And before we go a rare video of whats thought to be the Worlds Largest green turtle colony tens of thousands of turtles have been filmed nesting on an island or the Great Barrier reef for the 1st time researchers are using drones to count the green turtles on grain island the worlds biggest colony of the endangered species and theyve discovered that in underestimating numbers by more than 50 percent. Thats your news update will be back at the top of the next hour with more news thank you for watching g. W. Combating the corona pandemic. Where does research stand. What are scientists learning. Background information and news. Hour carona updates. From the covert 19 special next on d w