breathtakingly beautiful. the arctic you can. really take a journey around the north pole profiteers and talk with people experiencing that changing environment through the ice disappears earlier and it keeps retreating our future depends on what happens here. in the right place within the arctic circle sports december 21st g.w. . time is running out to get a break the trade deal both sides say that days are less secure an agreement but that they remain far apart now the u.k. has wrapped up a disagreement over trade in northern ireland could it help unlock a deal in brussels. also on the show germany begins to tight restrictions as pandemic deaths rise and new infections continue to search that means retailers

could soon be closing their doors. and vaccinations against the coronavirus are underway to meet the german companies keeping those who say that ultra low temperatures. welcome to the show because they in berlin will there be a way out of the brags that dead luck oh boris johnson is in brussels today in search of a last minute trade deal with the e.u. on tuesday the british prime minister said both sides remain a long way apart however they have solved one tricky issue that of the land border between northern ireland which is part of the u.k. and their public of ireland an e.u. member state and when the break the transition period ends in 2 and a half weeks northern ireland will remain part of the european single market and customs union thus avoiding a hard border between it and the republic. instead border controls will be present between northern ireland and the rest of the u.k. meaning britain will have to relinquish economic control over part of its territory

in other words after months of dispute on the issue the e.u. appears to have gotten what it wanted. naaman is our brussels bureau chief and she joins us for more on this. this agreement on northern ireland's and trade there will it have any impact on the ongoing negotiations for a larger trade deal well it's definitely a positive sign and good news for all for the republic of file and for care and the european union it doesn't have anything to do directly with the trade negotiations between the european union and the u.k. but it can create problems of momentum there to help improve the atmosphere in the talks and also help restore trust and confidence there are some politicians hidden brussels and of course in ireland saying that it might be a sign that boris johnson government is in the deal making commute but there are also some warning that in the end he can use this one agreement as an excuse to say

now we showed good will but the european union is not willing to compromise so we are walking away from the negotiating table that's also still possible. many observers are mentioning level playing fields idea of the level playing field between goods and services on both sides as one of the issues sticking out he explain what that is and why it's so important. well that's crucial for the european union to make sure that companies in the e.u. and british companies are playing by the same rules that is why brussels is saying we need a shared set of regulations and still regulations and standards and if there are any problem we have to be able to impose tariffs for example about the u.k. is saying fine we are ready now it's to weaken the existing standards but we are a sovereign country and we want to have our own rules and standards and that is why we left the european union so this issue is really at the heart of the trade

negotiations and we will see if there is enough political will to agree on this issue all right alexandra phenomena brussels bureau chief thank you very much we go over to germany now were chancellor chancellor angela merkel voice support on wednesday for new retail closures across the country to fight rising cova 1000 injection numbers but only after christmas now there's a growing consensus across germany that the past week's partial lockdown which have left schools and small shops open isn't working some states are already tightening restrictions young among stand shoppin kemet says still open but only just next week the eastern state of saxony will toughen up its lockdown regulations and that means almost all retailers will have to close been puzzling with lou i'm stunned because we've been so punished already know christmas markets tighter regulations

and now having to close a week before christmas and of all to to mom and they'll stay shot until january the 10th as well schools and kindergartens here in sanctioning. gemini's national academy of sciences is calling for the tough measures it wants all schools country to be closed from monday and for people to work from home where of a possible instead of the traditional holiday season it says public life should be put on hold economist came months who was involved in drawing up the regulations and believes the time to act is now and be in the fifty's and in fact to invite if we don't shut down the infection rate will continue to rise and that will mean having to enforce tough and on the last thing restrictions in january to look down as an investment in the economy so that come january or february will be able to relax restrictions. time is pressing germany only has a finite number of intensive care beds 80 percent of which are currently occupied

hospital still for reaching breaking point. all right let's bring in our financial correspondent in frankfurt chelsea delaney. our investors in frankfurt starting to factor in the possibility of more lock downs. they haven't really moved up these warnings so far as you can see behind me of the dax is up about one percent today that's after chancellor merkel gave this really impassioned speech warning that we really must move we must strengthen the lockdown she says this could be the last christmas many people have with their grandparents traders for now seem to be brushing this off we have seen some states as you mention some federal states and germany are ready to tighten restrictions but there isn't an agreement right now at a federal level to strengthen the lock down and so i think investors are still a bit optimistic that that the economy won't be helped by much stronger aloft on

but given the number of cases given the increasing load on hospitals there it does seem to be more and more momentum pushing towards a stronger lock down in the future. no in the same speech the medical also defended the amount of borrowing that her government has done to help fight the affects of the pandemic we know that more borrowing is on the way to germany afford it. germany certainly can be came into the crowd a virus crisis very with a very very solid budget that's after years of being very frugal and sticking to the so-called black 0 balanced budget approach so they came into this very strong germany has really put a lot of money on the table to combat that you cannot make affects of this virus offering more help for businesses offering help for for people who have lost their jobs but we still have seen actually debt costs for germany actually go lower

because there's so much demand right now among investors 1st safe assets that chairman government bonds are one of those safe assets so they have a lot of flexibility they can continue to borrow money but this is becoming more and more controversial a lot of politicians here in germany say that continuing to borrow money would be a burden for the future but on the other hand of course there would be a burden for people right now if germany doesn't spend more money to offset the virus them. all right charles delaney with us from frankfurt thank you very much. and now to some of the other business stories making headlines the white house was unveiled a $1000000000.00 stimulus proposal it's an attempt to break a months long log jam over new aid for the coronavirus stricken u.s. economy time is running out as the current aid package expires on december 26th some 12000000 people could then lose jobless benefits. tesla is planning to raise

$5000000000.00 in a fresh sale of its shares the news comes just a few weeks ahead of the car companies listing on the s. and p. $500.00 index which will drive up demand for it stuck. well the 1st covert $1000.00 vaccines have been greenlighted for use and more approvals are blithely on the way now distributors are in the spotlight will have to start moving drugs within hours of each approval but some vaccines need to be transported and stored extremely low temperatures to german companies are at the forefront of keeping them cold safe and effective. with clothes like the few could survive at the north pole but the man bracing himself for freezing temperatures is here in germany still it's as cold as the north pole here. the temperature in this container is an arctic minus 70 degree celsius. low temperatures like that are the specialty of the german company vacuum. founder

and c.e.o. joachim kuhn builds thermal containers in boxes thanks to their special insulation these containers developed to preserve the newly developed covert 1000 rank scenes can't keep the maksim viable for 5 to 10 days when all are containers and boxes work like a giant thermos bottle is all we have vacuum super insulation in the walls then we'll use either a cold storage or a warm storage material inside with 5 to 10 days' time we can land anywhere in the world even at difficult destinations like in africa or latin america to go to line . whether the size of a shoe box or a full size shipping container the insulated plastic walls are jam packed with german know how. guarantees that it will remain cold enough inside even if the container is sweltering outside under the african sun. a container like this one full of vaccine is definitely

worth millions but if they transport the vaccine in its pure form yet the value of one of these containers can go up to 100000000 all contained on again with the enormous demand for these containers and boxes workers here at the factory are putting in extra shifts even during the christmas holidays months of it's not the whole world is watching and we're doing our best to get everything done perfectly so that we can help people that would make us happy. just a 90 minute drive away shut glosson minds is working at high speed aiming to get the vaccines around the world as fast as possible these glass vials can handle the extreme cold without a problem but years of experience are needed to produce them. and this is a so-called silicate glass the glass has the special property that none of it defuses into the drug simply put the drug doesn't get contaminated by

a comment and folks like me might want shots has 600 active production lines around the world the company is not expecting any production bottlenecks. construction continues at the vacuum factory additional machinery will be arriving in a few weeks it's needed to produce smaller cooling boxes according to a recent study some $15000000.00 of them will be needed worldwide. and that's it for me in the business. to find us a lot of. business also on facebook and twitter i'm steve swash of.

the fight against the corona virus pandemic. has the rate of infection been developing what does the latest research. information and contacts. virus update come. on t w. the in the. us.

the through the it was. for. this. was. the secrets which starts to see the chinese. fever and difficulty breathing are both knowing some to lose that can arise from a covert 19 infection some people suffer long bit where they have extreme fatigue and cognitive difficulties but doctors are still finding out why it could be that the virus moves through the nervous system of people it infects that's what new

research suggests. and that's research we're going to be looking into later with an expert who studied the neurological impact of coded 900 on patients but 1st let's zoom out what happens to the human body when infected by the corona virus we know much more about that now than we did at the beginning of the pandemic take a look. it's not just coughing and sneezing that are dangerous but also speaking and singing tiny droplets and with the virus float invisibly through the air and are inhaled coronaviruses can reach the mucous membranes in the fold and nestle in there this is the beginning of the infection. then the symptoms but those aren't that unusual for most people they might feel like a normal cold. runny nose a cough for taking a few high fever it can all be better than other things as

a loss of taste. most infected people around 80 percent have mild symptoms which go away after a few days. by this point our immune system has successfully fought a virus that is like this in a lot of cases with bacteria and viruses when you only know a few cases there's a serious infection occurred fixer wood but corona viruses can multiply fast spreading from the for old to the lungs. and that's how they can infect lung cells until pneumonia sets in. when i mean she had to be ammonia occurs it means the gas exchange is disrupted where oxygen absorption takes place and so the patient needs supplementary oxygen that's by definition is a vehicle of a case that needs to be treated in hospital and can't last beyond. the body is supplied by oxygen via the lungs entering the blood stream by the your lie to the blood vessels and then it is distributed to the rest of the body complications can

occur when the coronavirus settles in the space between the palminteri of your life and the blood vessels that colds inflammation the distance to the blood vessels then becomes greater and oxygen intake is more difficult. when organs are deprived of oxygen breathing is labored and then respiratory muscles are quickly exhausted especially in the elderly that's when the lungs need help with a ventilator. but that can prevent the situation from worsening in some cases. inflammation in the lungs increasingly hinders gas exchange. through it is the gate from the cells. and even with the supports and not enough oxygen and just the body then an external machine must take over the function of the lungs the so-called akmal and reaches the blood outside the body with oxygen and then returns

it into the body but not without complications. it isn't free from complications you can have leading complications and many more so this is really a therapy that you use when your back is up against the wall and only in special facilities but it can be a life saving therapy. but the situation can escalate even further the immune system then becomes the main problem triggering a massive implementation as a reaction. we need an immune response to actually fight the virus successfully with a new system can react so strongly that it ends up creating a bigger problem than the virus itself. of yours and fix on. defense compounds flood the entire body immune cells attack them in a world of blood vessel they become weak fluid leaks into the tissue and is deficient in the 2nd literally system your gums no longer sufficiently supplied

with blood. but while most cases my old recuperating phase can cause some concentration problems exhaustion and muscular weakness and that tends to be more severe than in other infections. we usually see the post-college syndrome in the younger people who are seriously ill with cough it at all because they can't seem to get back on their feet to god you're really exhausted and can hardly get out on their own. so we have to toss outlets who can't even manage to climb a staircase without being short of the threat of. progression to severe cases is now less common than during the 1st wave of the coronavirus pandemic this could be due to mask usage it may contribute to a smaller amount of the infection in the air making the disease less deadly.

now there is the long term effects of cove it on your body and that can include the impact on the brain to help us understand this better frank happen or is joining us now he is the head of the neuro. pathology department at berlin shabba tate university hospital welcome to you frank now there is increasing evidence that sars cove to it not only affects the respiratory tract but it can also impact the central nervous system what is the likelihood of that happening. well we know from what one 3rd of the co 1000 cases that they do suffer from neurological problems and this was basically the reason for our study where we are actually so how is the distribution of the virus in the brain and secondly how does it get into the brain now one 3rd of coronavirus patients that is a significant proportion means it's definitely worth looking into how sars co 2 enters and invades the nervous system what can you tell us about that. whether we

knew that there is a virus of course within the all factory macos or so to macos or layout and be method our nose this is where we do it is walking so we knew this is a kind of potential port of entry and we know from our other viruses that they use it in the cranial nerves for example the old factory nerves to climb up to the brain and this is what we test and we took basically regions from the roles of tori macos up and we took different parts of the nerves and we looked into their respective connections in the brain and indeed we found with different methods that the virus currently uses the old faction the old sensory nerves to get into the brain what does this mean in terms of long term damage what do we know about that. well this is of course a difficult question i mean we looked at the very severe cases that died from codes

and 90 and these hats at different times and durations of the disease and of course it is difficult to as you or even anticipate what's going to happen if there is a longer period of of time of the virus in the brain which in say is the divac of the virus gets into the brain and then may deceive you a day or even to regions which are very sensitive for our body functions is of course something that we have to take into account when we make a diagnosis when we think about treatments and the fact that there is this high incidence of neurological problems i mean sort of currently that many of the covert patients am half the virus within the brain but do you know if there is a way to prevent that from happening. well of course right now not what

we did is just to diagnose or to make this a diagnostic approach to learn how to entries and this kind of is to be done trojan in medicine and in life sciences research we 1st have to understand what kind of cost cade's are used for example in this case or from an anxious agent to learn about the potential bottlenecks to the know where to interfere majorana when we have something attached to all the virus thank you very much frank has never had the neuro pathology department at berlin's charité a diversity hospital thank you very much for your insights today and now we've come to that part of the show devoted to one of the your ascent in questions about the current virus our science correspondent garrick williams has an answer. which cole but 19 diagnostics are most useful from an epidemiological point of view

. there are basically 3 types of diagnostics that play useful but different roles in the fight against covert 19 and the 1st 2 are for determining whether someone has the disease or not the gold standard for doing that is what's called a poly res chain reaction or p.c.r. test and it works by amplifying tiny amounts of any viral genetic material available in a sample up to levels where it can be detected although no test is 100 percent reliable and p.c.r. tests are very accurate on the downside they're also slow and fairly expensive which is a drawback when numbers of cases are rising rapidly the 2nd class of detection diagnostics called antigen tests work by detecting viral proteins directly antigen tests are cheaper and they can deliver a result in minutes but they're also less accurate than p.c.r. tests which is a particular problem when it comes to what are called

a false negative results that's when people actually have the virus but because the test says they don't they don't isolate still the speed and low cost make antigen tests important tools and scenarios where infections are spiking and and a lot of people need to be tested quickly and they can often be performed on site so samples don't have to be sent off to specialized labs the 3rd diagnostic in the cove in $1000.00 pandemic that's playing an important role is what's called a serial logical test generally called an antibody test which detects proteins called antibodies that form in the body as part of the immune response they can tell doctors if someone was infected at least in the recent past syria logical tests also play a key role. in vaccine development since they can show whether a candidate is having the effects that we was which is to prompt the immune system

to produce antibodies. now do you have a question for derek just send an e-mail to feedback dot english at e.w. dot com and type expert in the subject line or leave a comment on our you tube channel with the hash tag ask derek that's all from us thank you for watching goodbye and stay safe.

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a lot of hot air. made in germany. become 30 minutes on t w. eco africa. they have a bad reputation but they take a cheap role in the ecosystem. which is a very much important in cleaning up the environment to call them neutrons and to take up many species are endangered the project to kenya seeks to protect the on lumps govern jobs that means above all talking to local people eco africa. 90 minutes on d w. w's crime fighters are back to africa's most successful radio drama series continues this season for stories focus on hate speech cholera prevention and sustainable

chocolate production. all of a sow's are available online and of course you can share and discuss on africa's facebook page and other social media platforms. crime fighters tune in now. on neil and on games did you know that 17 trillion land on the moves or killed worldwide so that we can think of but it's not just be a little subtle suffering it's the environment we went on a journey to find ways out in the ignition if you want to know how a way to lift up the priest i'm hopeless of change stuff as we think is listen to our podcast on the green m's.

this is deja vu news live from berlin german chancellor angela merkel warns the country is at a crisis point in aware of emotional clique urges the public to accept limits that will save lives from the coronavirus but can german leaders get people behind a total lockdown during the holidays as health experts are insisting. also coming up after calls for more transparent reporting turkey reveals its coronavirus

situation is much worse than previously thought our correspondent has more.