philip in the science of bias starts may 20th on d w. this is g w news why but from berlin tonight the coronavirus the sick and the starving a warning that the pandemic could cause famine of biblical proportions. millions of civilians living in conflict including many women and children face being pushed in the breaker story basin with the specter of famine very real and dangerous possibility so what if anything can the un's world food programme do also

coming up with humans in lockdown the outside world once again belongs to birds and beasts it's a new scene for filmmakers to capture is it anything new for the environment which we humans abuse plus the global race for a cool one a virus vaccine the german company wins approval to start the country's 1st clinical tests on humans. i'm burnt off it's good to have you with us a virus that could make us sick and leave us hungry tonight the u.n. world food program is sounding the alarm over food shortages caused by the coronavirus endemic saying we could soon see famines of biblical proportions the w.f. piece says there are already 800000000 people without. enough to eat and the pandemic

could force a $130000000.00 more to the brink of starvation by the end of this year for. families in south sudan trying to ward off the latest invasion chris south threatening to destroy what crops they have left in a country where hunger response of davie life after years of civil war the majority of south sudanese are already in a state of food crisis now things look set to get even worse last year we had to feed 5000000 people due to fighting and flooding already in 2020 we've had locust invasions and now there is the covert 19 plan demick which we predict could almost double the people in the queue hunger by the end of 2020 across the world and those numbers are shocking were all told the rate of the hunger endemic and it destroyed 130000000 people. could be pushed to the breaking story based by the end

of 2020 that's a total of $265000000.00 people. government don't downs are taking that told in brazil it's estimated that up to 40000000 informal one appears have been dragged into extreme poverty handouts here in rio de janeiro are keeping people fed. others on doing whatever they can to survive. that might be defeated me honestly it's very difficult with selling food in order to survive my daughter annoying me we're out of work and we're doing this selling food and benefits to. focalize ations like the un's world food programme ah pleading for more funds but with so many countries now battling for economic survival plus a lack of global leadership the fear is that

a humanitarian catastrophe could be closer than ever if you. will from a viral pandemic to a hunger pandemic i'm joined tonight by the world food program's bettina luscher she is the organization's chief spokeswoman here in germany the team it's good to see you why will millions more people go hungry because of the coronavirus connect the dots for us. see look what's happening all around the world look what's happening in western countries and then multiply that by also what and you see what it can eric turmoil is happening around the world. you know so many people are losing their jobs and our concern is that our data have found that the number of acutely hungry people could go out to more than a quarter 1000000000 people why is that because the virus is going around the globe

blag a tsunami of suffering men women and children that we have especially concerned about those that are in refugee camps really very very close to each other how do you do social distancing in a refugee camp so we're working on that but the single that also really worries us as we this year is the world food program have to feed $100000000.00 people without us they would die and we urgently need funds to do this job to feed those 100000000 people who are already suffering from conflicts and wars and climate change and everything now on top of that is the coronavirus and this will make everything much much worse between how is the funding situation for the world food program your funding source is it isn't stable. well we have to beg for every dollar and every euro and we're doing that as we speak and that's why my voice was in the u.n. security council you know we not only we need to act today and the world food

program doesn't only just do the food assistance we also need money for order just a response we take care of the horse humanitarian community we will aid some $120.00 countries we are chartering ships we're chartering planes were flying in aid workers we're flying in nurses doctors masks ventilators we're building a field hospital it's all of that needs to be paid for to and that has to happen now it cannot happen in a month it has to happen today tomorrow this week and for that we need $350000000.00 and so far we have received just a quarter of that we know that many humanitarian issues they're being neglected to be honest with you as the world deals with this pandemic what is your message to world governments tonight. this time we are all in this this is not a crisis somewhere over there now for somewhere over there very very far away this

is affecting all of us and we are all staying home we're all trying to help each other but if you live in africa how in the middle east in a war zone you have you don't have the luxury is that we have and if we do not help that i know there will be how do you go pandemic and that is such a horrible never before seen situation there is our very natural self interest to help our neighbors they are suffering much more than we do if we don't help them the pandemic will get out of control and the virus will come right back at us so we have to stand together the world needs to stand together thank you this never before. seen spokesperson here in berlin with the world food program but you know thank you thank you friend. here's a look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world

the british government says 759 people have died from 19 in u.k. hospitals today the official total death toll now stands at more than $18000.00 but the country's financial times newspaper alleges that the government has under counted it puts the figure at more than double at $40000.00 flash flooding in the yemeni city of aden has left at least 14 people dead dozens injured many streets have been blocked buildings destroyed by mud and debris the country's already struggling with the effects of years of conflict and cholera outbreaks. as worldwide 1000 cases surged past 2 and a half 1000000 the race to develop a vaccine is more urgent than ever today the german drugs for. one approval to begin the country's 1st human clinical trials of a possible vaccine there are currently dozens of potential candidates in development here in europe china and in the u.s. but health officials say it will still be months before

a vaccine is ready for. the german firm bio and is working on what it hopes will be the 1st vaccine for covert 19 an important step would be human clinical trials these have now been given the go ahead by the federal bank scene regulatory body the palm beach institute the trials will be the 1st in germany. with this authorization we will conduct the 5th clinical trial worldwide to develop a vaccine and this is indeed a milestone does the sun and my. bio and techno perform trials the 4 different versions of its vaccine candidate on 200 healthy test subjects between the ages of 18 and 55 in the coming months and the hope of developing an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus germany's health minister says safety is key. and one thing is very important after all this is an injection so say. he must be the top priority in austin was the active substance in the vaccine will contain the

pathogens genetic material the human body will then create proteins with it against which the immune system will form antibodies the principal bio and tech already uses. we use this for a vaccine therapy for can say the whole project has now been redirected. the timetable clinical trials will start at the end of april 1st results are expected at the beginning of july if positive trials would be expanded to thousands of subjects in the fall and winter the company hopes to develop a covert $1000.00 vaccine this year but experts say 2021 is more realistic. i think it's reasonable to expect a vaccine in the 1st half of next year which has been approved by the authorities and is widely available with the vaccine doesn't just have to be tested it also has to be available to the general population not just in germany but also worldwide.

and effective vaccine is one great hope to end the coronavirus pandemic. have a look now at some of the other coronavirus news the world health organization says most countries remain unprepared to effectively fight the corona virus and it's warning quote we have a long way to go the european union says air travel will need social distancing in airports and on board planes when air travel reopens the european commission or present a set of guidelines next month south africa plans to deploy more than $70000.00 additional troops to reinforce its strict walk down that's in place until at least the end of the month and the u.s. state of missouri has filed a lawsuit against china saying beijing tried to cover up the danger posed by the corona by. its. well today is the 50th anniversary of earth day a milestone deserving global attention except that this year nearly half of the

world's population is under walk down restrictions with humans stuck inside wildlife is returning and staking claim to suddenly silent and deserted streets our next report takes us to the colombian capital bogota or filmmakers are introducing the locals the humans to the neighbors they've never realize they've always had the empty city as a testing ground for some of bogota its inhabitants many people seem to forget that the colombian capital is surrounded by mountains grasslands and wetlands using their cell phones several people have captured images of wild animals they never knew lived close by wildlife is closing in on the city a phenomenon explained by jorge molina an ecologist university. the presence of wild animals didn't used to be very noticeable in the city and they were close to the city in the eastern mountains. but as human activity slows down

these wild animals are sensing the chance to extend their range a bit. documentary filmmakers carlos wrinkle and on 100 counter and launch their massive project on ema follow now and have collected the wildlife footage the message this habitat is for everyone you know in this case has a crucial function the main idea is to think of a future where people get used to observing and filming wildlife that's now closer to their home in their backyards and on the balconies so they can learn about it. just a few days after it was launched an emo fallen to garner the support of 8 institutions and the active participation of influential locals who feel that the project helps people stop and think. we inhabit the same territory as a species we arrived much later than many of the wild animals that live for us we're not the center of the universe you know it's almost instantly. most of the people

capture the images from their windows but some use drones to film the changes in the city without leaving their homes. this means it's important for us to be aware that we're not the only ones living in this area that there are many living beings they're always there even if we can't see them they respect us so we should respect them. keep. all the footage captured for has the same objective to use the lockdown as a tool for learning about our shared habitat. all the coronavirus lockdown in india is having one positive side effect plummeting air pollution levels in the capital delhi just take a look at these before and after pictures of this is what one of the city's famous landmarks looked like back in november 29 scene and this is what it looks like today to see the difference you can even see the india gate from quite

a bit away back then the chance usually the city's roads are choked with vehicles experts say the dramatic changes largely down to the short drop in traffic and more that the improvement is likely. to be short but. unfortunately. this is the news in berlin that stephen beard my colleague is going to be up next with our business news stick around we'll be right back. the global corona tracers you can find more information online at e.w. dot com and on t.w. social media channels. india. how can a country's economy grow in harmony its people.