going to. boil thomas it starts to simple so. this is d w news live from berlin germany's partial lockdown extended into 2021 german chancellor angela merkel says the infection right remains too high current restrictions will now stay in place until at least january 10th though they'll be loosened for christmas in many parts of the country. plus a dire warning for our planet that if they do use waging war or make sure the zoo's

suicidal nature of always strikes. and he's already doing so we'll go in force and fury. u.n. secretary general antonio terrace world leaders to make 2021 a year of fighting climate change. and decay architect of the european union dies from close at 19 for my french president developing this congress to late let us drink the 19 seventies and lay the foundation for europe's single currency. i'm rebecca rich's welcome to the program german chancellor angela merkel has confirmed that a partial lockdown to tackle the coronavirus will remain. in place until at least

early january michael said infection rates are still too high to consider reopening bars restaurants james or other leisure facilities germany's being hit much harder by the 2nd wave of the virus this week saw a record for the highest number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic restrictions on get togethers will be loosened over christmas a move public health experts warn will have fatal consequences. winter's coming and german chancellor angela merkel warned it could be a long one. person in the movie had already made clear in november that unless there were significant changes for the better it was highly likely that the measures in place until december 20th would be extended and that's what we've now agreed to do so than not i got a mixed. with the record daily death toll reported on wednesday the partial lockdown has done little to turn the tide here in germany. if i do so because land

is the question is whether we leave the country in this state of half sleep or if we decide it's some point to introduce significantly tougher measures we'll see how efficient the measures currently in place are. for now the restrictions will remain in place until january 10th. for the vendors here billons famous christmas market this is not the season to be jolly as visitors will only be allowed to buy their more wine insisting sausages to go. with you we need to ask ourselves what to do we don't know what will happen it's not really a christmas market just a few stands this far i was there last year before i flew back to each of the it was wonderful i think it's a real shame that there's nothing to see here i'm really sorry. that. restaurants and bars had to close when the partial lockdown was introduced in november many are now looking to take out orders and loyal customers to stay afloat it's got to be

since fair it's a bit difficult at the moment of course but we're doing our best. we're open for take outs with new offers on a regular customer support us we'll see how long it lasts but i really hope this situation and. for many the promise of a vaccine has offered a glimmer of hope. but until then many worry it's going to be a long and lonely christmas. let's go straight to d.w. political correspondent thomas a sparrow thomas yesterday in germany reported a record of 487 deaths today they were 479 2nd highest death toll so far what does that say about the 2nd wave here in germany. it essentially says rebecca that the 2nd wave is hitting germany very hard indeed and that the lockdown light as it has been called has not yet delivered the results that authorities had

expected you have over 22000 new cases in the last 24 hours you have over 1300 deaths this week so far so yes there may be initial signs the numbers are going down yes they may be initial signs that the exponential great growth has been stopped but yet the situation remains very serious and this explains why angela merkel and the 16 regional leaders decided to extend this partial lockdown until the beginning of january. tell us does that mean that people are not following the rules so what seems to be the problem there why while the numbers remaining so high essentially it's being described as a diffuse situation where you don't have one specific hotspot in one specific place but where the incidence of new coronavirus cases is high in most parts of the country if you look for example at the german map you will clearly see that it's basically red in most parts of the country and this shows how difficult it is for

authorities to also track and trace new infection under merkel had said a few weeks ago that it was very difficult in fact for german authorities to track most infections so this gives you an idea also of how big the challenge is another issue altogether is where the health system is being overwhelmed there are already hospitals saying that they can't receive more patients and it is certainly a very big challenge indeed for german authorities and one that has german authorities very concerned all right thomas aspera speaking to us from our berlin studio thank you. british prime minister of bars johnson says vulnerable groups in the country will be vaccinated against the corona virus from next week the u.k. on wednesday became the 1st country in the world to authorize a vaccine developed by biotech pfizer the u.s. and the 8 you are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks a doses of the vaccine will initially be in store supply raising the question of

who should be top of the queue to receive it. everyone in the world who wants to get vaccinated against kovan 1000 should be able to at least that's the idea but demand for the vaccine is likely to be much greater than the initial supply now governments must decide who comes 1st and who must wait most agree that fair distribution should take place independent of a country or individual's ability to pay in britain an independent commission has developed a multi-step plan according to the key factors of infection risk and age residents and employees in nursing homes take 1st priority next in line are those over 80 years old and then health care professionals. then high risk adults under 65 can take their turn followed by seniors over 65 next are adults considered to have a medium level of risk once everyone over 50 has been vaccinated the rest of the population can take their turn on the most important thing is to make sure that we get people as many people as possible starting with the most vulnerable in those

who work in the front line of the n.h.s. vaccination effectively in countries with federal states like germany or the us the decision will be left to individual states the u.s. advisory commission recommends that residents of nursing homes and health care workers be vaccinated 1st germany is also working to create a system of prioritizing vaccinations chancellor angela merkel says above all it won't be mandated month with. nobody will be forced vaccinated this is a voluntary decision fog of the of a question of who will be vaccinated 1st is being discussed with the vaccination commission with the leopold dean academy of science and with the ethics commission . but i think i can already reveal this much 1st and foremost of course we have nurses doctors and people in high risk groups who. only after 60 to 70 percent of people have become immune to the virus will the pandemic

be considered defeated and reaching that point worldwide will still take time. all right let's take a look at some of the upper stories making headlines around the world farmers in india and not budging as they continue their blockade of roads into the capital delhi tens of thousands of protesting agger agricultural reforms that they say will make them vulnerable to exploitation by big corporations prime minister narendra modi insists the laws were designed to benefit simonds. hong kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activists jimmy line has been charged with fraud and detained until his next court hearing in april the court refused to grant live bail over a charge that his. anti-government newspaper violated the lease terms of its offices the decision comes a day after the jailing of 3 prominent pro-democracy campaign ads. at least 5 people are reported dead in thailand after monsoon rains triggered flash floods in the south of the country officials say 9 provinces have been hit by

a week of heavy rain and storms affecting more than a quarter of 1000000 people flood warnings remain in place amid forecasts of more heavy rain. the united nations is urging world leaders to make 2021 the year they commit to fighting climate change it comes as new reports highlight the severe weather that broke records around the world this year the u.n. says the coronavirus pandemic presents a chance to hit the reset button and do the work needed to save the planet from devastating temperature increases. heat waves droughts. wildfires. from flooding 2020 has been yet another year of extreme weather. ecosystems like the great barrier reef in australia. or monarch butterfly

biosphere reserve in mexico are under threat this year is on course to become the 2nd toughest on record after 2016 and the u.n. secretary general sent out a dire warning humanity is waging war on nature the zs suicidal nature always strikes back and he's already doing so force and feuding. biodiversity collapsing when 1000000 species at its risk of extinction eco systems are these appearing before our eyes there's the wetlands are being lost every year most 10000000 tonnes of forests oceans are overfished and. according to the world meteorological organization greenhouse gas concentrations climbed to a new record in 2019 have risen so far this year despite an expected drop in emissions she took over $1000.00 knockdowns. tourism hunting fishing and livestock

grazing are playing a role in the crisis. less visible was an increase in marine heat to record levels. more than 80 percent of the world's oceans experienced a heatwave. the shrinking of the ice caps and bleaching of carl reefs are just some of the impacts. the change in the arctic is what. would group a gram of system just new for instance is. really his fear so anything changes the arctic 30 or so we're going to solve. there is a glimmer of hope though more than 100 countries have promised that 52050000 be carbon neutral and vicious new targets are being proposed for a un conference next year. former french president validate this tunnel has

died at the age of 94 from complications linked to covert 19 he led france from 974-2981 spearheading a social revolution away from catholic conservatism he also worked closely with germany to pave the way for the european union of today german foreign minister high command says pay tribute to the former president saying he was a great frenchman and a great european. he was hailed as a modernizer and a champion of european integration in the 1970 s. former french president just got to stand helped lay the groundwork for the european union born in what was then french occupied germany she scuffed was just a teenager when he joined a french resistance group in occupied paris in the 2nd world war. he went on to be elected president in 1974 at the age of $4081.00 of france's youngest posts will

lead as. a very good i know that today marks a new era for french politics. fred you are pretty small. that's a for juvenile and change for france. during his 2nd years in power the center right statesman helped modernize french society he legalized abortion and allowed divorce by mutual consent in spite of face opposition from the catholic church. for that but he also pushed to liberalize france's economy and as a strong advocate of technology he was seen as the father of the country's high speed train network. discover was committed to the european ideal and forged a close relationship with former west german chancellor helmut schmidt together

they laid the foundations for the euro single currency and turned their dream of a more integrated europe into reality. you're watching news stay tuned now for the doc film coming up operational right get out alpha's will be here at the top of the hour with more news headlines in the meantime you can always stay up to date on a website that state of the dot com i'm rebecca reaches in. it . could go to parliament. despite coming from a new family the pop star wants to become president of the challenges you've got to see. to boost.