bialik gassed. managed by from. this is d. w. news live from berlin the number of cases of the coronavirus in china increases the world health organization says all countries now need to be on alert we find out about the extraordinary steps being taken to prevent the spread of the epidemic. also coming up under america's new plan for the middle east peace this village is supposed to be the capital of a future palestinian state we hear from residents who call the idea

a nightmare. plus time to say goodbye. was. a rare moment of emotion in the european parliament after lawmakers vote to confirm the u.k.'s departure from the e.u. on friday and why bracks it is fuelling an increasingly heated debate about independence for scotland our correspondent travel to edinburgh to assess the mood . i'm sumi so much it's good to have you with us the world health organization is meeting today to decide whether the spread of the coronavirus amounts to a global health emergency 7800 people are now infected worldwide the vast majority of them in china the number killed there by. the virus has had 170. in many

parts of china this is the new normal very few people on the streets and the usually crowded public transport system all but empty like here in shanghai. every passenger is stopped. and every passenger is screened for signs of the coronavirus. high quality i think it's fine temperature was taken both getting on an office to a mass public health emergency. one week after these drastic measures were introduced the numbers of infected still keep climbing up people are anxious they prefer to stay at home and not to go out on the streets or wear a mask when they go out on the streets this here is a major tourist destination usually this area is quite busy with people walking around having snacks sightseeing now people prefer staying at home nobody really

knows whether the measures the government has taken will be able to contain the virus so people are taking their own measures of precaution and that means minimizing social contact as much as they can elsewhere a lack of basic necessities and information are eroding confidence in the all thirty's in hong kong people have been queuing since 2 am hoping to buy face masks warning the home can government should do like macos and say every resident can only buy 10 pieces that way every single hong kong person could have a face mask to wear right how was the money you how doubt your momma. as a 2nd planeload of repatriated japanese nationals touchdown in tokyo because some to wonder what this type of that break could look like if it happened during the olympics here in july. we might take it as a wake up call for us to take precautions against an outbreak like this especially

to what the impacts little i am like yes to plan is naive i think japan should step up meshes. and in south korea the government is building a containment facility for those infected people here feel for their safety. at the end of what they get voted out the governor and minister should come here and try to find a point of compromise. what are they doing of bringing troops here are we to battle this is such nonsense. they're really hiding a motive here would you do it. in south korea as in many other countries some residents feel the government's response to the crisis has lacked the apparent intensity and clarity of china's. by let's get some analysis on the story now we can speak to just in jones from the university of reading in england good to have you here on d w i would ask you about the raft of measures that we've seen countries take to try to contain this outbreak multiple countries evacuating their citizens from affected

areas we see in china shutting down or locking down entire cities is this the right approach to stop this from spreading. it's the right approach at the current time time will tell whether or not it's been effective in either stopping or slowing the progress of the virus i think as the numbers concern you to rise it looks increasingly likely likely that this will become a pandemic and will eventually spread around the world. we've seen as you said this is reading we see in 1st cases reported in the philippines in india these are densely populated countries and how worrying is that to you if we look at the efforts now to try to contain the spread of. yes it is worrying for 2 distinct reasons one is as you say these are very dense populations so the opportunity for transmission among people is much higher than it would be in a low population density country but in addition to that these are areas of the

world which also have quite a high burden over a spirit tree disease particularly things like tb and until the virus gets there we really don't know what to expect and sons of the severity of the infection in those target populations. when you said this could become a pandemic how dangerous is this virus in comparison to other diseases other outbreaks we've seen like sars in 2003 for example. it's certainly lost much less in serious than sause the case fatality rate for saws was around about 10 percent currently this is running around 2 percent that is still pretty high you would up that number it would be almost like the spanish influenza or the early part of last century however if it's true that there are many more infected people than the confirmed cases then the actual fatality rate is somewhat lower than that and more like a seasonal influenza which perhaps could be coped with more easily by the existing

health resources. the world health organization is set to decide today whether they should declare this a global health emergency should they do so i mean what would that change. you know whether they should do so or not depends on them and the data that they have at hand which i don't have i would guess perhaps that on this occasion they didn't on the last occasion but on this occasion they will consider a sick local health emergency there's been sufficient spread internationally i think and what that would do is just mobilize more resources which alerts various countries boundaries and maybe alert healthcare systems that they need to put mitigation processes in place all right in jones speaking to us from the university of reading in england thank you for your insight. meanwhile a cruise ship is on lockdown off the coast of italy over 2 suspected cases of the

coronavirus on board more than $6000.00 people are on this vessel which is now at a port near rome local health authorities say samples have been taken from a chinese couple and sent for testing one of them was showing symptoms of a fever. let's get a round of now of some of the other stories making news around the world police in india have arrested a man who fired a shot during citizenship protests in new delhi wounding one person the incident occurred outside a university where protesters have been gathering the new law has sparked widespread demonstrations in india where critics say it discriminates against muslims. the white house is seeking to block the publication of a book by former u.s. national security advisor john bolton saying it contains top secret information the book reportedly alleged that the us president demanded ukraine investigate a political rival in exchange for military aid that could undermine trump's defense in his impeachment trial. and germany's biggest lender georgia bank has posted

a loss of 5700000000 euros for 2019 it's the bank's 5th annual loss in a row and its 2nd worst result ever bank says the loss was driven by the costs of a massive restructuring program. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has arrived in moscow for talks with russian president vladimir putin and the 2 leaders are expected to discuss u.s. president trump's controversial peace plan for israelis and palestinians the plan would give israel the green light to annex parts of the contentious west bank it also grants israel virtually all of east jerusalem which palestinians want to claim as the capital of any future state the u.s. plan is widely seen as supportive of israeli goals in the region while ignoring the key demands of palestinians let's get more on the story now. standing by in moscow covering this for us hi yuri do you have any indication of what russia's position is on this proposed peace plan. well the kremlin has many times expressed

its concerns to that washington species deal my had to blow up the region especially given the fact that the united states would be doing everything on its own from the russian point of view but ever since that the us plan plan for israel was published the reactions from moscow have become more cosas russian foreign minister lavrov for example has expressed his of course traditional fiesta that the united states was trying to solve all problems in one fell swoop but at the same time it's interesting mr lavrov also sad that it would be necessary to consider the reaction of what he called baila stein's arab friends of the arab league for example as well as all of the international mediators in the conflict like the u.s. and russia as he has and the e.u. and does that sumi sounds like russia is prepared for coordination and pushing for peace in the middle east how much influence does president putin have on the

israeli prime minister. i think that any oust meeting with putin today is more of a symbolic step it will likely not actually change down the house policies in any way but the meeting will be a nice political bonus for to tell you how to show off to his voters as well as it to the united states despite the fact that mr netanyahu is a frequent visitor to russia despite the fact that the 2 countries closely coordinated their military actions in the middle east including in syria when it comes to the israeli palestinian peace process has been always emphasizing that he's positioned would be independent from moscow for example israel has refused moscow's repeated offers to host and meeting between mr mr yahoo and palestinian president mahmoud abbas and russia after all for they meet putin visit is very welcome for all the same reason as for the israeli prime minister the russian president has a chance to play his favorite role as it peacemaker and mediator at least this time

maybe more symbolically. did he use your reset a reporting for us from moscow thank you very much. well let's take a closer look at one of the controversial suggestions that's outlined in trump's middle east plan the future of jerusalem it's a city with many names that's known as hebrew in arabic and for many simply as the holy city jerusalem hosts religious sites that are key to islam to judaism and christianity and it carries huge religious emotional and political significance for both israelis and palestinians and both sides claim the city as their capital many analysts believe that solving the jerusalem question is key to any future peace deal in the region previous plans have called for a shared city with east jerusalem becoming the capital of a future palestinian state but trump has a different vision he already recognized as the capital of israel in 2017 and his

plan effectively hands over control of the whole city to the jewish state what would be left for the palestinians is a potential capital on the eastern outskirts of jerusalem likely in a village called. this concrete wall blocks the view of the real dome of the rock for people living behind it in. israel built the wall in the early 2000 at the height of the 2nd palestinian intifada. or since then has been cut off from jerusalem this is one of the few spots in a dense can see jerusalem's old city just 2 kilometers away. this part of his village but he dismisses trumps proposal to make it the capital of a future palestinian state with these is.

the mayor says it was discussed as a possible capital back in the 1990 s. when there was hope of peace and no walls yasser arafat's even commissioned this building for a future parliament. today i would use his poor. there are few jobs for young people. the only bright spot is the i could see university. the school has a solid reputation and some 14000 young people from across the west bank a study here mahmoud an m r are both studying medicine exams are coming up but right now it's trumps peace plan that's on everyone's mind. either but the you have. been i think there's always the possibility of a compromise even in this conflict. but it shouldn't be the palestinians who are always having to make concessions. this has been al that for generations of you

can't just give it up. but the students are also critical of their own leaders they say of course trump is only concerned about israel's well being but they say it's also not right that there haven't been any direct talks between israel and the palestinians since 2014 and there is only one other 2 pieces fall in that if negotiations and if the land welcome to the new capital of palestine that's the tongue in cheek greeting at the bob shop they say here that humor is more useful than hope and that no palestinian was really expecting peace from a plan put forward by donald trump. be given there is only one basis for legitimate peace talks and independent international committing. under trump's plan this border wall would separate the 2 capitals the us president calls it a vision people here call it a nightmare. tomorrow the u.k.

will officially leave the european union and that will kick off an 11 month transition period of tough trade talks britain will stay in the e.u.'s economic framework until the end of this year while the 2 sides try to thrash other trade deal despite the british government's vow to get an agreement before that a transition period ends the e.u. says the time span is too short very chaotic no deal exits. the final vote after nearly 4 years european lawmakers overwhelmingly back breaks it happening this coming friday for the architects of the u.k.'s departure from the e.u. it can't come soon enough i mean well it's no exam like i know you're going to miss this i know you want to burn our national flags but we're going to wave goodbye i will look forward in the future to working with you i was so brave. if you disobey the ruses you get cut off could we please remove the flags.

but not all the british a b.p.'s in the chamber are happy to be leaving i hold in my heart the knowledge that one day i will be back in this chamber celebrating our return to the house of europe thank you for. what was a sad day for many here oppose brags that the european commission president reiterated that the u.k. e.u. relationship is far from over i want to use the words of the famous british poet george eliot she said. only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love we will always love you and we will never be far long live europe look the the. the. the. i.

was the. the an emotional day in the european parliament before breaks it comes into force that and the beginning of the transition period with the many more negotiations that lie ahead. let's go right to london. is standing by for us there. so the u.k. is set to leave the european union finally tomorrow what are some of the reactions that you've been hearing there. well literary actions are very divided here in the u.k. of course this is cause for celebration including the government who will project a countdown clock on the walls of downing street counting down to the time when the u.k. is leaving the european union and it will be. held in parliament square around parliament by those that wanted to leave the european union all along

a commemorative coin is even issued to celebrate that momentous occasion the u.k. being the 1st country to leave the european union and of course on the other hand you have those that have been very invested in the european project all along in the european union and that are really really devastated that this is finally about to happen and i've also talked to people here on the streets which i who i had to remind rex it was actually happening so i think some parts of the country have already moved on from this saga well it's definitely not the end of the braggs it's because this is not the start of what will be tossed trade talks with the european union and the u.k. so what are some of the biggest hurdles that lie ahead. well boris johnson and his government are painting this picture of a global prosperous britain after breck's it and in reality nobody really knows what's in store for this country because tomorrow is just a symbolic day the u.k.

yes leaving the european union but then a transition period will follow so legally everything stays the same pretty much until the end of 2020 and this is the biggest problem that the u.k. and the e.u. will be facing in those negotiations the tough time table they only have a year to negotiate renegotiate decades of relationships between the countries on all the number of issues the financial sector for example just being one of them and that will be really really tough to make it happen in time and if they can find an agreement by the end of 2020 well then the u.k. is facing a now the so-called cliff 8 adds leaving on w t o terms to so really time is ticking for both sides well there's another hurdle at home in the u.k. a bragg's that's also sparked renewed calls for in scotland for independence let's take a look at that now do they're going to want to find out how strongly scots feel about leaving the e.u. . here

in the capital more than 70 percent voted to remain in the e.u. . as did most members of the wild once. these hockey winter i'll to a swim is a staunch supporters of europe and the few is that scotland is being dragged out of the e.u. . nerd feeling that we're being torn out of the e.u. . without her consent tree and it's horrible but this is what you saw england and. yes give us aren't. pendency can we can look after ourselves one solution for scotland would be to leave the united kingdom and then rejoin the e.u.'s a separate nation but scots have been favored independence in the past. the last

independence referendum in scotland so the remain side when comfortably with a vote share of 55 percent and even today opinion polls don't show a sustained majority for independence the nationalist hope that this will change once britain leaves the e.u. and that will persuade a majority of scots to go their own way. the s.n.p. is scotland's leading political party it's calling for open borders with england scotland's top trading partner as well as an independent scotland rejoining the e.u. if you do we have had a lot of extremely generous and friendly overtures from other european governments saying that if things pilot britain leaves the european union and scotland takes political control of the sort of affairs then scotland would be welcome in the european union but that would require a new referendum on scottish independence something the conservative government in

london is keen to avoid. that referendum was a once in a lifetime once in a generation event that happened only 5 years ago rather than spending time as politicians going over and over having referendum after a from them after referendum well i don't see any but the scottish nationalists are not about to back down the protesters in glasgow have renewed calls for independence. the conservative government may have a majority in the union parliament westminster but its mandate stops at the scottish border it's a challenge for the prime minister and the challenge for the conservative government every time they say no a few more people of scotland say yes. a strong will and plenty of stamina that's what the scottish nationalists need to push their course forward perhaps the winter swimming can provide some inspiration. are at such

a letter we saw there are a lot of voices of frustration in scotland so how much of a threat does briggs it pose to u.k. unity. well very much so i believe i've been talking to people all over the country in different regions such as northern ireland and wales and scotland people but you get the sense that those calls for independence are really simmering among the each of these regions by where the population parts of the population just want to stay a part of the european union so this issue doesn't seem to be resolved any time soon just because the u.k. is now finally leaving and boris johnson knows himself that this is the threat he will hold a speech tomorrow night mocking the bricks a day also calling for unity. that has caused and he will call for an end to these divisions but one thing is for certain he will have a very tough job at hand in the next months and years to come as these calls for

independence especially in scotland will grow stronger we belief all right thank you. reporting there for us from london. now to some more news from around the world the australian state of new south wales has announced an inquiry into the bush fires that are still raging across the country new south wales has been the worst affected by the blazes the inquiry will look at the state's response to the fires and whether climate change played a role. and authorities in the u.s. say they have discovered the longest ever drug smuggling tunnel at the border with mexico the tunnel ran for more than a kilometer and contained an elevator rail track and a ventilator system it will now be filled in with concrete as required by u.s. law. now anticipation is already growing for this year's 70th edition of the film festival it all starts on february 20th and preparations are

well underway in the german capital it will be the 1st festival under the direction of the new pads carlos and her recent big hundreds of movies from around the world will be screened including the italian drama hidden away the film is one of 18 eligible to win the coveted golden bear a little. reminder now of our top story here on d w the world health organization will decide today whether the corona virus outbreak amounts to a global health emergency some 7800 people are now infected with the virus worldwide the vast majority of them in china 170 people have died there from the virus. well don't forget you can always get the news on the go download or out from google play or from the app store that will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for any breaking news and if you're part of

a news story you can also use the devil you have to send us all your photos and videos of what is happening where you are. due to the news asia with melissa chan is coming up next day too. if. the footman.

to. greenland is melting and the buying craze has already begun the melting of the ice sheet in the country has exposed a valuable land china and the us are already there and new companies are being sent out. to the tatas is this a consequence of climate change a threat or an opportunity. on the world. in 60 minutes on d w. m skill that the my work not hard and in the end is a me you are not allowed to stay here anymore we will send you back. are you

familiar with this. with the smugglers were liars. what's your story. 'd 'd on what numbers of the women especially of victims of the. part and send us your story we are trying always to understand this new culture. you are another visitor another yet you want to become a citizen. in for migrants your platform for reliable information. in the art of climate change. or soon 6. months or 3. years today how far future.

d.w. dot com for the city. could turn. the people of the world over w. on facebook and twitter us up to date and in touch follow us. you're watching news asia coming up the arrest of the young leader of a pakistani rights movement has stirred more anger against the country's military we'll take a closer look plus. the best of india and john display at the india art there will give you no peak at what the show has to offer. and why the film.