despite coming from a new family, the pop star wants to become president. jesus, god, there's a credible story. bob, you wrote december tell a joke. you're watching news asia coming up today. it is seminal t.v. series shatters taboos in pakistan and sparks a conservative backlash follows a ladies' detective, agency exacting revenge on cheating, husbands. conservatives slam the series as immoral, but the series creator, say pakistan, is a country living in denial. and then my clubs are packed, the party is on. this is 2020 in beijing. coronavirus fears have largely subsided in china's capital. instead, there's every reason to celebrate plus lockdown boredom in the philippines grows,

demand for house plants, creating a new cash crop for vendors. i'm melissa chan. welcome to news asia. thank you for joining us. a hot new television series filmed in pakistan has upset conservatives sensitive topics like forced marriage abuse and homosexuality featured prominently into the plotlines. we'll talk to our correspondent about how producers bypassed censors to get their creative vision to audiences. but 1st, here's a look at the show. you won't see on pakistani airwaves that a future for women and an underground detective agency that catches cheating husbands

. this new feminist drama has sparked outrage in conservative pakistan means which is in a male dominated society. not every woman would dare to be one, says some watching lanny who played the main role in the series. as it is in our society, woman is not supposed to have another main actress. took a role in the series because the story is in line with her beliefs. i want people to know just to stand in addition to its depiction of independent women,

the series also explores other undiscussed problems in pakistan, such as scale relationships and sexual exploitation. taboo topics i kinder wanted to just hold a mirror up to be honest. i wanted to be able to give what i wrote boy. so i could give to a voice as i've not heard before. which is could only be released because it was being streamed on an international on demand video platform. even so, authorities managed to censor the show by asking the platform to take it down for pakistani audiences. the series was only restored following much criticism of the ban. jilani says the drama just reflects the country's reality to be able to tell the truth and not a lot of people are comfortable with that. if you put it up in front of them and of their society,

it makes them uncomfortable because over so many now they've done it getting to the root of problems and breaking the taboo with the series and jelani are determined to stand up for those who dare to be true, rails joining us. how are pakistanis watching the series because it looks like the television authority got involved, but the show is on an indian streaming platform. hi melissa. so the show is being shown on an indian online streaming rep site, the 5 and the 5 actually claims funny authorities asked them to take the show off if a pakistani vs a little bits of negotiations the show was made available again. but it seems like a likely that pakistanis would be it would be difficult for pakistanis to continue watch this show. as just recently, the state bank of pakistan has issued an order to all banks in pakistan,

asking them to halt all trade guy for humans to all online streaming websites, including the fife. now what the government be able to stop production of the program since it's filmed in pakistan, it's difficult to stop the production of the program because it's not produced for pakistani t.v. channels nor week with this. online c.d.'s would have strict fences ship rules that exist in pakistan for broadcast on pakistani t.v. channels. i think the bigger problem here is the censorship because it is becoming a heavily censored society, especially under the leadership of pakistan's prime minister imran hond. there's, there's a bend perception that there's this culture of pushing for strict cultural religious of values. and there's this, there's any, any content that the government of pakistan finds that bentley indecent or in water, they try to ban it by that it's banning of for some time last month or banning of

dating website and back it's done. so tell us more about what makes this show controversial. so melissa, go short, duchess, stop it, such as mad it don't rape incest. different section orientations, forced marriages. all of these issues, i think it's in pakistan. and by this, it is a fight the find it very difficult and very uncomfortable talking about such issues . but i think that this show has also become more controversial because it shows strong female characters, powerful women who came across such abusive situations. but instead of coming to the pressure and instead of becoming victims, fight back and get themselves out of these abusive situations. so i think sure has become controversial not only because of their dad with topics just talking about it, but also how women that able to fight and get out of these kind of situations and fight the ticket system and to fight the male dominance that exists in pakistan

very quickly, what's your take on the show's pretrial of women? so there are different. got it does for instance, there's a woman who's been shown as someone who drinks, who smokes, and who was abusive language. don't believe opposite of how bach is on the woman. i portrayed in t.v. dramas, but the reality is that these kind of them in existence, pakistan, there's also a story of a young woman from slums of good archie who aspires to become a boxer who also has feelings for a young man which is completely unacceptable to her guns a bit defied, but she's done in the course of events. and there are different stories such as if a gay man who's apparently in a happy marriage, but god be who he is because it's not acceptable in pakistan. so it is these kind of da picks, for instance, there's also thought it a woman who murders her husband because he tries to rape his own daughter. so these are difficult topics, complicated issues and suburb called them exaggerated. and do you think the

existence, pakistan banished javid? thank you so much for speaking with us through it. thank you for a lot of us here in germany and elsewhere, life has been pretty different in 2020 and covert numbers continue to either rise or stay pretty high around the world, which means a tough winter ahead for many except for a few standout countries. earlier this week, we looked at democratic taiwan. this time we look at authoritarian china. it's where the coronavirus emerged, but you wouldn't know it, judging by, well, how normal life is there? it's the weekend. and people are flocking to beijing's party district most to put the pandemic behind them. and mask wearing has never been out of the ordinary. here . we head to a busy beijing club and inside it's packed among the clubbers,

just one person is wearing a mask. and there's no sign of any one social distancing. that's because the city of 20000000 reported its last infection 14 weeks ago. and because back then everyone followed the rules out of respect, but also fear of the author, terry, and regime china's garment. i think there's a good or bad they can, they call troll armor. many people say you don't go out our way. don't go out. but in germany they say you don't go out if you don't listen because you think that you have the freedom. right? that's a problem. the vast majority of chinese didn't question the government's orders. and now there's some pride that their country is fairing so well. the weekend is over and it's 6 o'clock in the morning. the chen family has invited us to breakfast. they didn't step outside their property during the 1st 7 weeks of the

pandemic. not because they weren't allowed to, but because they felt safer staying inside, just like most beijing residents. these are the videos. the mother sent us of homeschooling, which lasted from the end of january until the end of august. her son didn't go to school for 8 months, shrunk, shrunk. chen is now taking 8 year old dzhokhar to school. she tells us that he didn't complain. once during his time at home and that she looks back on that time fondly want to run, i shouldn't. it was a lovely time of year. i could see what he was learning. and i had the chance to check up and see where his weaknesses lay. in his joke, i will keep his mask on the whole day outside in the playground and in the classroom. part of the battle against the pandemic includes the constant

checking of data. some phones are traced and health apps like this one have become a fact of life without the official ok, you're not allowed in. and when you do get in, you still have to get your temperature taken. here. additional surveillance is the price of the return to normality. the new normal elsewhere around the world means lots more people at home with time on their hands. do you know anyone who has gotten into gardening ever since the pandemic? i do, and it's a global phenomenon. many people under lockdown has discovered this new hobby. take the philippines, for instance, get them while you can because greenest a new black in the philippines, better get over. a so-called planned make has swept a country as coronavirus restrictions have confined many to their homes. you know,

to be going to be good to go. i want your plans as part of my daily routine in the morning rocket, but i know my mom about it's a stress relief when you see new strutting among the lot of us about the garden increase started when beautiful pictures of backyards and balconies full of delicate plants flooded social media, but the sudden demand has raised concerns over planned poaching. protected species have been stolen and posted for sale online. authorities have now started to approach her reserves to stop the fs. legitimate sellers say demand for even commonplace plants has sort of got all the hype about all plant prices have skyrocketed itself $4.00 to $5.00 times higher. now during depend on make that doesn't seem to bore the potential customers for them. these pretty stressed kilis a worth every penny. that's it for now we leave you now with

a look at life in places across china these days. thank you for watching. have a good weekend and goodbye to the fight against the corona virus. pandemic has the rate of infection been developing. what does the latest research say? information and context around a virus update. on t.w. cards, her culture. her hair

superfood, stylish lifestyle during 10 kuroda vaccine candidates are now in late stage trials. the world is celebrating . what could be the breakthrough in fighting covert 19. pharmaceutical companies are also cheering. the public sector is invested billions more in development, but it's the private sector that will rake in the cash. under existing agreements, they control the price and get the profits. from a firm say that's fair, development is expensive, and time consuming and results are not guaranteed. it's

a gamble for governments to which are reserving millions of doses of vaccine they hope will work. still, other coronaviruses could come along. vaccines could become big pharma as new cash cow. well, of the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies, only 4 had special vaccine units last year. now everyone is getting in on the act, which is great, but they using our money and can charge what they want. $1.00 of our guests this week said some developers promise to only charge the cost price. it could even be cheaper than the flu vaccine. let's see what happens. it's a race everyone wants to win. whoever makes the 1st successful covert $900.00 also stands to make a fortune on a virus vaccine, or potentially blockbuster product. we are talking billions of dollars in revenue.

parts of the funding for the vaccine research is public money, but the profits stay in private hands. if the companies can secure exclusive licenses to have vaccines and ultimately decide on a price because they have a monopoly on the pavement, i have the student the race to find the vaccine is in full swing and 2 german companies are among the leaders in the field i'm biotech in mind which this week announced promising early results from its phase 3 clinical trial. both are working, on back scenes using messenger r.n.a., m r n a vaccines take a snippet of the corona virus is genome to begin a defensive response. without exposing it to the actual virus. and more n a essentially teaches the body to fight a dummy of the virus to help make it immune research into this technology's mean going on for 20 years and involve billions in public money and private investment.

but developing vaccines is highly risky. an active ingredient or vaccine candidate can fail any stage in clinical trials because of a lack of efficacy or safety issues. that means developing treatments has major development and financial risks which is why pharma companies turn to public funding. this is then distributed by groups like the coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations, safety, which is co-founding, development of several covert $900.00 vaccine candidates. but is a main focus of this cooperation with safety is to produce a vaccine as quickly as possible and get to the people to hope. for example, the commercial side is secondary for now, instead of intrigue long. although vaccine development is co funded companies and licenses and distribution to guns push to move based on this,

they relax the rules that would have ensured that safety retains intellectual property rights, uninsured. a vaccine that is affordable for everyone, and widely accessible of pharmaceutical companies stand to make huge profits if they succeed in coming up with a vaccine based product successfully comes onto the market, opens the door to a flood of similar vaccines and active ingredients. great opportunities. if not, also public funding could earn billions for private firms. the fear is biotech companies can name their price for access to this powerful pandemic fighting weapon . a professor of public economics, massimo florio joins us. do you have a problem with public funds being used to develop a vaccine for this corona virus?

in the, in the current emergency obama care or any problem? i think there is absolutely no alternative to disburse such fancy new hold. their governments would be able to negotiate on prices and the conditions, but they don't think there are alternatives. the issue is where we are going the next time and the governments are in a bad negotiating position, aren't they? i mean, they're giving these big companies frame rein they, they can do what they want and when they do develop the vaccine in their price. this is why i say that this is important for the future, not not to be stuck in the years in this negotiating position. and they have the governments possibly by a coalition of go. it's the research and development capacity in the private firms, of course are about making a buck. but is that one of the reasons why we want ready for this outbreak?

yes, i think so. the problem is there is no government heritage entirely indeed to the private pharma industry, the reserves envelopment of the gains that jensen and or diseases. but here are the reason in risk of disconnection, of misalignment between the public health agenda and the try to determine if you are a pharma company, a manager or a pharma kompany. you have investors financial, merciless, and you are listed in stock exchange in character. sure. your results in the short so you are less interested in the, in the longer term and which are less profitable than the others. i think

we need something else or to protect ourselves in the future. so with that, disconnects with us and with our health, it is that way, a doctor who developed a vaccine for size, they year after the pandemic, which was caused by a strain of corona virus, didn't get the funding for clinical trials. yes, there is a testimony of a professor of this us congress rather revealing example about the fact that after the 1st 30 or pieces of erased related to corner violence, that was neither he and his team were working on that the data stream and the ac. they had to the have never been able to get funding

because of the coronavirus and in general, all the research on the viruses. one can be optics are resistant to short stories, but organs resistance, blood to be optics is not really the focus of the leak of the movie tron. so we need something else. we need a mechanisms. the measure is not on the priorities of financial mess. we need a mechanism, these are the only priorities of public that we need a long run perspective. just summing up really briefly. obviously didn't change anything. will this outbreak change something? well, i think so because the, the al aren't the, aren't there swear they're even 20 years, a group for some reason the there aren't nearly as

were in certain places and not such a global global factor. so i do think that there will be a change. the european union will step in the areas some dance that you can try instead in because unfortunately, the extra consensus is that this is not going to be the last time that we experience these kind of problems. important point to finish on my side of audio. thank you very much for joining us. thank you very much. and if you've got a question about vaccines or anything related to the coronavirus, write to us on how you treat channel to help his science correspondent eric williams will look into it. how could we solve the issue of the messenger r.n.a. vaccine, cold chain at a reasonable cost?

i heard it was make it of 80 degrees celsius. if the interim results on a ficus, e from the candidate vaccine made by biotech and pfizer, hold up to scrutiny and, and if it clears hurdles involving safety by the end of november as hoat, those are our 2 big then some countries could approve it quickly. maybe even by the end of the year, by then the companies say they have already produced enough doses to vaccinate between 15 and 20000000 people and they should have production capacity for over a 1000000000 more in 2021. manufacturing infrastructure has been set up in parallel with the trials to speed, the whole process up. but as you say, there's a big hurdle to overcome with this particular vaccine, which is that it has to be kept in extremely cold temperatures. under minus 70 degrees celsius to remain stable for any length of time and, and that will be expensive. the logistics of it was always going to be

a nightmare. i mean, every step of the cold chain and the delivery process has to be, is foolproof. as you can make it and you have to train people to work with stuff at temperatures that i'm fazer, has even been building special containers or for keeping its doses that cold. the good news is that they don't spoil instantly after throwing, but they also keep at normal refrigerator temperatures for around 5 days, which makes the task maybe slightly less impossible. but don't forget, there are many other vaccines going through late stage trials that might also prove safe and effective. and some of them are based on other platforms with, with formulations that don't have to be kept at temperatures that low or anywhere close to it. and with luck, one or more of them will prove safe and effective 2 can be used in places that don't have high tech cold chain infrastructure.

derek williams, there i've been for that wraps up a full week of coverage on a possible vaccine. also the week that we saw the 1st big breakthrough in developing want for any other developments on the virus, go to our website, e.w. dot com slash code 91

click, and suddenly there is light on all of india's religions are connected to the cooler clean. it still does not do this summer lamp can close the gap and why not life? it feeds on every roof is affordable and has an extra income in the morning to 90 minutes on w. w's talk show, strong,

clear positions from international 1st to every week. we get to the point on our current topic the controversial commitment to the book, to the point shut up, gone d, w. look, i'm not laughing at the germans because sometimes i am, but most are laughing with me, but i don't think deep into the german culture of new jersey will take this grandma . yeah. it's all about who they know. i'm right. so join me for me to get the bungee jump on people looking for her. there are many answers. there are many resumes

and there are many alternatives to make up your mind to the book made for minds. underpressure methodist diplomat who always gets straight to the point the good to institutes outgoing director. we look at his final year in office and his in career naming. the last cultural diplomat starts nov 16th on d w.

and the u.n. says the situation in ethiopia could be spiraling out of control. the warnings conflict in the country's northern region intensifies with government troops making gains. an amnesty international saying a large number of civilians have been massacred by local forces. it's also coming up.