Thousands of british travelers cut short their holidays and scramble to get home from france before new quarantine rules come into effect in just a few hours. And celebrating one of germanys best arthouse filmmakers. A new documentary takes the legendary director out from behind the camera and puts him in the limelight. Im phil gayle. Welcome to the program. Crowds reported to be in the tens of thousands have taken to the streets of belarus capital minsk in another display of anger over the Violent Police crackdown against peaceful protesters. Authorities have released some of the 7000 People Police detained over the past week, and many report having been beaten and tortured in custody. Demonstrators have been joined by factory workers once considered loyal to president lukashenko. Their defiance is growing. Crowds of protesters are on the streets of minsk for a sixth straight day. There chanting and their chants and banners outside parliament echoing across the city, and the protests are not limited to the capital. In other towns and cities, protesters have come out carrying white flowers, one of the symbols of this push for change. In factories like this plant that makes trucks, workers walked off the job, united with demonstrators in their calls for president lukashenko to step down. The workers are protesting for the e election result to be an d. We want new elections and the resignation of the incumbent illegitimate president. People reject this president. We dont need him. We are looking forward to changes, we really are. The day before yesterday when the internet was switched back on, i cried when i saw the brutalities having that happening in this country. I cried because belarus stood up. Its fascism. President lukashenko is grappling with the biggest chalallenge to his 26year rule. He warned striking workers their actions would benefitit business interests and ignored their calls for resignation. Our position is clear during the difficult times of the pandemic, we did not pressure anyone to work. We are not forcing anyone. If people want to work, theres work. If a person d does not want to work, we wont drag him kicking and screaming. Speaking from lithuania where she has beeeen in exile since tuesday, andnd opposition leaear called for peaceful rallies across the country. And with large crowds on the streets on friday night, its clear the movement is growing in strength. Lets go straight to minsk and join a journalist on the line. How has the day been . It has been very peaceful. I have been driving around the city when people left the area of the city with a parliament is. There were immense crowds throughout the day. They started coming out of the blue, actually. They went on this full strike, and many people joined, many people from different areas. They are still gathehering in various neighborhoods all over the city, and all these gatherings well organized near where i am at the moment. People are bringing flowers andd remembering a person who was killed this week in minsk, so it has been peaceful so far. Phil we are seeing reports of police have been joined protesters. There are different moods among police officers. They read the news and hear about police brutality, so they have been officiated with this brutal response, but otherwise, departments of the interioior minister have a different reputation. I think it is kind of divided here. Phil we a are getting that. I want t to talk aboutt s some e protesters who have been released today from police custody. They say they have been b beaten and tortured. What sort of reaction has there been to their stories . People came out recently in the past days to the streets because of this police brutality. Many people cried. Many women, they just dont understand why this is happening. People just now learned here whats happened to them. There are so many stories about people who were badly injured, badly beaten. It is just very outrageous, and people react well, very scared, but at the same time they are shocked. Everybody here in minsk, there were banners all around the city stop brutality, stop violence. Phil leaving it there. Thank you so much. Lets get more on this from a belarus important political scientist who specializes in Eastern Europe and joins us from berlin. Welcome to dw. Mass protests altered by strikes at stateowned factories. Is president lukasashenko facing his might and moment . His might die in his m aiaidan momoment . If f you mean that he might e removed,d, i think yes, but we should also not compare this with the historic damages. We seeee people are 90 peacefu, even after the level of violence we have obobserved over the last three nights, people aretill trying to say they want peace. They do not want any confrontatioion with the statet, and they dont actually they are not expecting anything but thee resigning of the president. Therees also no o geopololitie. Pollutions do not want every gang literacycy and belarussians dont want a reunion with russia. They are demanding specicial Police Enforcers out of town. They are demanding release o of political prisoners. The last protests took part in the 1990s phil forgive me for interrupting. Time is short. In the wider political context, you said the eu is talking about sanctions, the u. S. Is talking about sanctions. Where does russia sit in all this . Thats onone of the Big Questions now. President putin already congratulated lukashenko young before the official results were announced. Ththere are no o signs of any kd ofof possible confrontation. This group of mercenaries were already sent back to russia, and as far as we have been informed, Russian State Television has already begun to tell about the strikes which was not the couple of case which was not the case a couple of days ago. It is important russia does not get this feeling it got when we had the ukraine crisis. I think mamay be some k kind of possible dialogue within society could take place with the participatation of the European Union and also russia. Phil thank you for that. Now to afghanistan where authorities are freeing 400 more taliban prisoners. The release of governmentheld prisoners has been a key talent taliban demand before holding peace talks. This controversial move includes insurgents convivicted of attacs on france. Their last few minutes behind bars one more sigigture froro the pririson management a and ty are freeee. Ththese are the firstt prisoners allowed to leave this prison near kabul. They are serious prisoners, terrorists, and murderers, and it seems they have memorized what they are supposed to say on camera. I am m a member of the talibn and was imprisosoned bebecause f murder. I wish for a longterm ceceasefire andnd peace. Ththe president ordered my relee. Im part of the taliban and was sentenced because of murder and kidnappingng. I want peaeace. I thankk g god and i wish h a peaceful life fofor all muslims. Some of those released were convicted of beieing involved dn the truck bomb attack on the germanan embassy in kabul in 20. That day, over 15150 people were killed and more than 400 were wounded. This woman lost her father during the attack. She does not understand why the government is releasing the terrorists responsible for killing her father ininstead d f ensuring they y are punished for thei crimes. Myy m message to my faththes murderers is we do not forgive you. To the govovernment, i sayay wel never forget that you are letting ththese terrorists go. The government could have given them the death sentence. Why arent yoyou doing that . Many are skeptical they will now turn their back on violence and campaign for peace in wartorn afghanistan. Phil democratic president ial hopeful joe biden and Vice President ial contender Kamala Harris have signed the documents necessary to certify their nominations. Biden selected harris as his running mate this week, the first black k Vice President shl nominate in u. S. History. The United Nations says the death toll from lasteekss mamassive explolosion in thee lebanese capapital b beirut hass risen to nearly 180. The blast has affected operations at two dozen hospitals and clinics in the city and damaged schools used by 50,000 students. Last month, there was global condemnation of the trump administrations plan to revoke recess for foreign students attending universities but offer only online courses. Washington later withdrew the proposal. Germany was one of the critics and now faces accusations of hypocrisy after it emerged that many foreign students will not now receive visas if there courseses are exclusively onlin. Not long ago, around nine thousand german students in the United States were threatened with expulsion the reason . The universities had switched to online c courses becausese of te corona pandemic. Gegermanys Education Minister s outraged. But now it has emerged the German Government is taking similar action in relation to foreign students here. I think it is ababsurd and strange. The Education Minister and foreign minister need to make changes. International students and scientists should not be facing hurdles because of stupid bureaucracy. In this crisisis, International Exchange is especially important. At the moment, germany is only issuing visas to students who can prove they are required to attend the university. Authorities say foreign students do not need to enter the country for online studies. Critics of the policy say this is a double standard, given their response to u. S. Action, but the government in berlin points out that noneuropean students already living in germany will not be expelled from the country. It is not the case that students and researchers who already have a residence permit or valid visa for germany will be expelled just because their course of study has moved online. If they are in the country, they may stay. The federal association of foreign students knows the problem well. It has received several emails from desperate international students. A Spokesman Says this problem can be overcome. They dont have any strict rule. One can cocome to germany i ifer she hass a negative corona repot. You can go into the embassy and submit your file and you will get a visa. Studying overseas is not only about attending lectures and seminars. Getting to know the conscience of the people as part of it, but in the time of corona, that aspect seems forgotten. Phil thousands of u. K. Residence on holiday in france are rushing home before new quarantine rules come into effect on saturday. This follows a jump in new coronavirus infections. Its one of many restrictions being implement and ask europe grapples with a new spike in infections thats being blamed in part on summer travel. Rushing to get back home with just over 24 hours warning, the u. K. Announced a mandatory 14day quarantinine for those returning from france. That sent u. K. Residents dashing for french airports, fair reports, and train stations with many connections sold out. Long lines of cars queued to get across the border in time. For many travelers, the new quarantine measure announced by Prime MinisterBoris Johnson is puzzling. I would rather he had done it in regions of france rather than the whole of france shut down. I would rather we looked at t te bigger picture. I think thehere must be bettr ways to handle it, but i understand and respect why it is important to do it. It seems bizarre that we can go home today and not be obliged to quarantine, but tomorrow it is different. In a similar move, germany has declared the whole of spain, with the exception of the canary islands, a highrisk region. Those returning from spain will have to be tested for the virus or go into quarantine. The country has seen cases rising for weeks. The government hasas now introduced new measures like closing nightclubs and prohibiting spoke smoking in Public Places to try to curb the spread. I want to make clelear that what we are going through now is not what it was in march or april. In terms of pressure on the hospitals, the situation iss totally different, but we cannot allow an increase in cases, so we are taking these measures today. New measures and restrs are being introduced in many countries across europe as the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb across the continent. Infections have not yet reached the level seen at the height of the pandemic, but concerns are growing that the seeds are being planted for a major resurgence. Phil a term in Biotech Companies had to go public on the nasdaq in just a few hours. Analysts estimate it could raise as much as 200 50,000. It has been drawing investor attention because it is working on a vaccinegainst coronaviru it says most of the money will go on more research. The company has been working o n treatments for lung cancer,r, yellow fever, and fibrosis. We get more from our Business Correspondent in new york. Welcome. How much of a boost is this . Clearly, who doesnt need to hundred Million Dollars . The ipo has been very successful. Im standing here in front of nasdaq where trading started here on friday and the stock went up by a good 250 , meaning the stock price has more than tripled, but its clear the company will need even more money to get the D Development f a vaccine going. Phil german media reports they want to work with other partners. Who are the likely contenders . Its really wide open. The company was saying that they will neeeed a p partner for distribution and also if the vaccine is successful, to massproduce it. By the way, if i saw correctly, they are also teaming up with tesla when it comes to the production site, but its very open, and theres also speculation which other pharmaceuticical company o or investor might hop on b board in the future. Phil a search for a vaccine is certainly like a modernday space race. How are they doing . It is in the early stageges. They just got the thumbs up for phase one. Other companies are a bit further advanced in phase three trials. They are really early on in the game. Phil other Biotech Companies have already gone public to try to raise cash for vaccine research. What sort of difference does that make . Well, i mean, hundreds of millions of dollars. A lot of the competitors got sometimes billions of dollars from governments to develop a vaccine, and that may also sold for billions of dollars a vaccine if successful, so clearly, it is crucial to get these investors money, and thats why they have decided to go public, to just be more powerful and speed up the process. Phil thank you for that. One of the worlds worlds best known film directors celebrating his 75th birthday. A new documentary looks at his contribution to the arthouse film movement. A portrait of inventors in the style of avon vendors movie. The dodocumentntary sent the direrector t to the locatition e of his bestknown documentary films. Each shot could be an outtake. We started on this journey without knowing exactly what would happen. We actually shot in the way wenders makes hisov every film is an adventurere. He starts shshooting with actors on the camera not knowing where the story will end. Wenderss is fascinated by the idea of america, the wild west, the wideopen spaces, and the endless search for the american dream. What he does beaeautifully is putt together images with sounud and light and music that once you see them, they stay with you forever. In the late 1990s, he reinvented himself as a documentary filmmaker. It was a perfect fit to his improvisational style. When a Vista Social Club sparked a renaisissance in cuban style music buenaa Vista Social Club spark a renaissance in cuban style music. His tribute to this dance choreographer was groundbreaking. Shot in 3d, the film gave the audience the direct experience of life performance. Live performance. Salt of the earth, a portion of photographer Sebastian Salgado was just as powerful. Wenders received Oscar Nominations for all three. His other passion is photography. The director is a digital film pioneer, but his photos are analog only. His pictures are exhibited around the world. Last year, wenders turned his lifes work into a monumental installation at the grand palais in paris. In wings of desire, a san angel gazes down on a divided berlin. His movies are like paintings , but why are they modern classics . I think because they are a portrait. Wenders has made indelible images for the screen and inspired a new generation of filmmakers. Phil this is dw news live from berlin. Heres a reminder of our top story this hour. Factory workers in belarus join workers on the streets of minsk to demand an end to the violent crackdown on opposition. Dont forget, you can always get dw news on the go. Just download our app from google play or the app store. And if you are part of a new story, you can also use the app to send us photos and videos. That is it. You are uptodate. I will have more world news for you at the top of the hour and look back at weeks of big stories coming up next in the day. Huge crowds take to the streets of the belarussian capital once again angry at that president s controversial reelection and angry and a Police Crackdown on the oppositioion. To talks the s agreed to impose fresh sanctions. From space tribute to six of its nationals killed in a gun attack in najaf on sunday as the coffins of those aid workers were flown home Prime MinisterJohn Kristick said that killers will be relentlessly tracked down and brought to justice. And by plane train call old folks british holidaymakers