on d.w. . this is news coming to you live from berlin anger in china over the whistleblower who 1st reported the corona virus outbreak leave when young has now died of the virus provoking a wave of online mourning and anger towards the chinese government over its treatment of the doctor who some see as a hero. also coming up germany's chancellor going to head to angola and oil rich country struggling under corruption and extreme poverty president tells us about the opportunities he hopes for.

a low and terry martin welcome to the program the doctor who 1st alerted authorities to the corona virus has died of the disease his death has been widely mourned and has fueled anger at the government's initial cover up of the epidemic the credit virus has now killed more than 600 people and infected at least 31000 in china. dr levy when liang is dead 5 weeks ago on the 30th of december he noticed a virus similar to saws a kill a chinese virus from 2 decades ago he posted a warning on the we both group for fellow doctors 3 days later the 3rd of january he was reprimanded by officials and forced to sign an apology who had shut down its food and wildlife market the origin of the virus on the same day but then officials

delayed a citywide lockdown and the virus spread weeks later the city announced the virus and the official lockdown came according to statistics that was too late the virus is now rapidly spreading through china although it stabilized in other countries and the virus is killing people dr lee one of many in life he sparked a national conversation about freedom of speech in china and in death he's become a national hero. oh there she said to him that i deeply regret his death and feel very sad we need to see if his death can change anything and i hope he did not die in vain and that i'm sure. at all hot china says it's now effectively dealing with the spread of the virus. he says she's in ping emphasize that since the outbreak of the corona virus the chinese government and its people have been making great

efforts in fighting the epidemic. but many people feel otherwise for them dr lee's story shows that chinese officials priorities are about control and political self-preservation. well for more on this i'm joined by correspondent r.t.s. bellinger in beijing mathias tell us more about this doctor who has died. he will young was an ophthalmologist in a hospital in washington and in the end of december beginning of january he noticed an unusual amount of patients who had been seeing something that seemed to be a viral pneumonia now we know it is the novel coronavirus he talked about it in a chat group of fellow doctors and was reprimanded by the police and told not to talk about it anymore he sometimes called now

a whistleblower but he didn't even go public with this he talked with follow fellow colleagues and he was punished for that 3 weeks later the government had to admit that this pneumonia is far wider spread than anybody would have thought and that it's in its attempts to cover it up had allowed it to spread and then we have this massive lockdown of many places in china these massive inconveniences for everybody and this fear of a new disease that hits everybody this is what makes his story so touching to people here well there is a lot of interest in the story of the hundreds of people that have died from this virus now why is this one particular doctor's death getting so much attention. this stock does that seems to galvanize all emotions that have been built up with

people here in china i see on social media we chat moments that is something similar to facebook everybody literally everybody posting about his death no matter whether these are people who work in government institutions or whether these are people who are critical of the government who support the government who are educated who are less educated this touches everybody because this virus of course concerns everybody and his story is very much something that people can identify with he seems to have been a regular guy a father whose wife is pregnant with that 2nd child who went to work who saw something that he thought he should warn others about he did warn others about he was right but instead he was reprimanded by the government is warning was not listened to and this is why everybody is in this situation he is something like

a macho off how the government has handled this coronavirus and his we know that authorities in china do have a tight grip on information flows do people there trust that their government will tell them what they need to know about this epidemic. this death and the reactions to it show that people do not trust the government he has said the truth the government has lied this is what stirs up the emotions now we can see lots of posts about him on social media the government is not able or not willing to censor everything but it carefully sends us everything that turns this death into outright criticism of the government you cannot post on chinese social media phrases like the government owes him an apology or freedom of speech

would have prevented this crisis but he is thank you very much that was corresponding mathias in beijing. well as the credit by a spread the race is all to find a cure or a vaccine the world health organization is convening an international research conference next week to identify promising drug and vaccine projects to be fast tracked for development one company here in germany is hoping that its research receives the w h o's backing. the pressure to produce a vaccine for the novel coronavirus is high and given the worldwide competition time is of the essence in the german city of tubing in the cure of that company has been awarded about 7000000 euros thanks to a vaccine initiative the german government and investors like bill gates the fund is also backing companies in the us and australia they have taken. trials will tell us which technology is most effective we're glad other companies have different approaches to deal with this virus. we're relying on our technology.

here's the difference with current vaccinations it's the weekend virus that's injected after which the human body develops antibodies to fight it the german researchers one of the bypasses the virus their process aims to get the human body to simulate just a crucial part of the corona virus in order to protect itself against it. she took from the list of so i'm assuming the 1st clinical trials with vaccines for the new coronavirus can be launched this year including in germany. but approving a vaccine could take years so it may come online too late for the current epidemic . now as some of the other stories making news around the world today a german state premier says he's prepared to step down a day after his election with the help of the far right alternative for germany party thomas kelly from the business friendly free democrats won the vote in the

eastern state of truth 3 chance i got a medical call the election unforgivable. in iowa the democratic party has declared pete buthe church the winner of the state's caucuses monday's contest was the 1st to choose the democratic candidate running against president donald trump in november selection the vote was hit by technical problems and delays due to church narrowly defeated senator bernie sanders. thousands of orthodox servants have gathered in cities across malta nigro to protest against the new religious more demonstrations have picked up steam since the government. since the law was passed at the end of december the orthodox church believes the law quickly to the seizure of its properties something the government the nines. and australia's fire ravaged east coast has welcomed its heaviest rainfall in nearly 20 years the downpour has helped douse some of the country's devastating bushfires and brought relief for

farmers battling a prolonged droughts but the rain has also calls flooding and a risk of landslides. rescuers in spain are searching for 2 people after a landslides build across a highway in the basque region 2 missing are thought to be buried under the rubble police have deployed sniffer dogs and a mountain rescue unit to help with the search. german chancellor angela merkel is heading to angola in southern africa for trade talks with president bush while lawrence it's the 2nd leg of a 3 day tour of the region which began in south africa machall is being accompanied by business a delegation of business leaders she is expected to show her support for and fight against corruption. interviewed president head of the german chancellor. you visited germany in 2018 and now the german chancellor chancellor merkel will be

coming here what are you expecting of visits noirish. we have great expectations for this visit. given that the relations between angola and germany have always been good. and now on february the 7th we hope to sign you cooperation agreements with germany and. for us you have been trying to or to persuade the german government to sell warships and because of the german opposition that did not happen we understand that last time when you were in berlin you were very optimistic that you could reach a conclusion what is the status at the moment. we're still interested provided that we get financing guarantees from germany as maritime safety is important to us about the body of our countries here in the gulf of guinea because. you know recently this region has been threatened by maritime piracy. but people tell your money that you. know your economy is struggling because of the law of

price you're trying to divert there's a fire the economy but you're also trying to privatise state business some people are skeptical that this will draw bias from outside the usual elites because they are the ones who have the money to invest in it how are you trying to avoid that move. we will take the necessary precautions in the process of privatizing the big companies. they're going to put in these muslim if you could. that doesn't mean exchanging one a league for another by means of the same so-called regime it if capital accumulation as happened with the current elites. somebody even. was that way as elites. we want to create elites every country has elite. but they must work honestly and what they do in an honest way. going out in the form that can see them biting but. they must be capable of creating jobs without

using public funds. no one is against elites we're just against the way the current elites became rich in an illicit way that needs to be make clear if you have these few quid the german chancellor is coming to visit with a business delegation that we ask in the end what is your message to the business world where she meant everything german investment is welcoming on gold. we're doing our part we're creating a better business environment and i go that day after day. all my vision due to one of the measures is precisely fighting corruption so the foreign investment in angola is safe. and well that that's what there is guaranteed return and if it happens everyone will win. the foreign investors will win and my country will win and go to will win. in the playground around more. the

town of italy paid tribute to the late american basketball star kobe bryant yes he was bryant's childhood home in the mid 1980 s. and where he played basketball as a youngster fans filled a sports hall in the central italian town and celebrated bryant head of a local championship game both teams wore kobe bryant shirts and his jersey numbers to honor his legacy and the los angeles lakers star's jersey was hoisted to the rafters alongside other basket ball club legends the mayor of intends to name a street after bryant as soon as there is an opportunity. and just a quick reminder of the top story we're following for you here today on d w news the doctor who 1st of the world to the corona virus has succumbed to the disease the death. of young has provoked a wave of online mourning and anger towards the government over its treatment of

the doctor who some see it has a you're. watching news from berlin coming up next our documentary film series reports on the children who grew up in china's cultural revolution in 1960 he's. getting it all the latest news information around the clock dot com i'm terry martin thanks watch. it's all happening. surely news from africa the world your link to exceptional stories and discussions continue and welcome to the program tonight from fun. easy to our website dedicated comes to africa join us on facebook w africa.