ologist and director of the sherry institute of public health here in berlin toby yes thank you for joining us robert cock institute is saying that the infection numbers are alarming do you agree how worrying are these numbers. these numbers are absolutely alarming i mean we see these numbers in space and weeks in germany so while the lockdown light was able to flatten the curve the numbers don't go down the health care system is on its limits we're seeing these numbers not really being affected by anything we do right now so we definitely have to acknowledge these numbers are absolutely alarming and we see the virus spreading very widely among the elderly as well to b.s. why is that why is there such a spread in this part of the population. i think there's a very diffuse situation in germany also including now the elderly holds including the nurses homes and other institutions so this is really alarming so not just the number but also the age group that is affected right now. you mentioned lockdown

like there has been some frustration with a leading lawmakers here for taking this kind of piecemeal approach revisiting measures regularly and also not deciding to go with a tougher lockdown do you think that was a mistake. i think it was a mistake at the beginning because we tried really to flatten the curve and then to hope that the numbers will go down so we flatten the curve that's happened but the numbers didn't go down and we know this since weeks that we should have acted now and really increased the measures and we definitely have to do it now and not wait until after christmas this will be too late because the number of infections mean that in 2 or 3 weeks we see the hospital again being filled with new patients and the i.c.u. been filled with new patients so we have to act now because the health care system is on its limits you say we have to act now what exactly should be done what do you recommend. i recommend to conduct a hard lockdowns really close down as much as possible recommend that people stay

home over the christmas holidays otherwise we see the same thing as with thanksgiving in the united states with the peak about 2 weeks after thanksgiving that the numbers will increase we cannot afford it and the numbers go up again or that we have another exponential rate of the numbers. there is as it can see of course to lock down over christmas because it is such an important holiday for so many people to spend time with their family so what is your message to people to germans in particular why it is important to go into lockdown right now i very much understand that people would like to see families of the same is true for me i would love to see my family but it's just not possible this year so i really recommend people stay home and doing as much online as possible and to limit travel this not just seeing the family but also traveling across germany which will be an issue because of the broad spread and they brought infections in a way to right now and i'm going. to be escorted director of the institute of public health here in berlin thank you so much for sharing your insights with us

thanks for having me feel well with those numbers still very high here in germany didn't you went out onto the streets of berlin to find out what kind of holiday celebrations people are planning this year. i think i go back to when i would not see them maybe. or maybe just being in the same room that's really hard you know being really you know the man it was and i've decided not to visit my grandparents i think it's better to make an effort to keep them safe. it's not about how it feels it feels terrible for everyone we have to get this under control somehow. my daughter will only come for a short period of time we have to accept that i hope this won't be my last christmas. when we had to buy enough. meanwhile the pentagon that continues to tear across the u.s. health officials there reported more than $3000.00 new deaths on wednesday the

highest single daily toll hospitals are overwhelmed at states across the country south dakota is one of the hardest hit states it has a positivity rate of more than 43 percent of those test is all over solid traffic there to find out how it has become an unlikely hotspot. south dakota one of america's least populated states but yet the virus has spiraled out of control here like nowhere else in the u.s. . in the city of sue false a mask mandate was put in place recently without sanctions many citizens remain defiant i think it's a good idea that people wear masks but some people balk at the idea of being told to do so think with some of the shut downs are doing and the picking and choosing that they're doing is making it very difficult for a lot of businesses like most of the people nowadays like even ehlers or not wearing masks but i think it's for the best like there's happy. south dakota now

sees the highest hospitalisation rate of the u.s. and there is no relief in sight here at the very make cannon hospital the intensive care unit is at capacity patients are dying from cold but on a daily basis is putting a big strain on nurses and doctors who are increasingly overwhelmed by the amount of patients they're seeing every day. adam schroeder is one of them he and his colleagues are working 12 hour shifts trying to save those who are at the brink of death. a task which comes with the personal toll we deal with a lot of dying right now unfortunately not everybody is recovering how we'd like. it's a little harder every day people are coming in typically requiring much oxygen a lot of them end up getting a breathing tube. and from there you know it's just a battle for their life you talk to their families we do that's one of the tougher

things right now is especially for code patients we're not allowing visitors so. talking with families on a daily basis updating him on what we're doing and how the patients doing that's a really big thing right now i kind of see and understand his weekly press conference mayor paul 10 hakan of the republican party updates his community about the latest developments the mayor has been criticized over his handling of the pandemic has its place with a mass murder why is it such a challenge for you to convince your sentence. in this part of the country i think there's a fierce independence a lot of people have made the mistake of calling a cowboy country at one point and people didn't appreciate that but the point of that term meaning we're independent we don't like people telling us what to do. christina bjorkman wishes for more government action against the pandemic and i

told her she lost her husband to call that 19 after a 30 day long struggle at the hospital for morning. when. she says his death could have been avoided with stricter rules. the whole mask mandate got political and should've never been political and should have been a medical thing. and i think it just got so blown out of proportion and i think maybe it came from our president. he started it. like christina bjorkman is pinning her hopes low on the president elect and a nationwide mask mandate one suit takes office before them for thousands more could die from cold at 19 in south dakota and the rest of the united states. today marks human rights day and this year it is no surprise that the united

nations theme for the annual occasion is linked to the coronavirus the focus is on rebuilding a better world by ensuring that human rights are central in the recovery process the social and economic toll of the pandemic has hit the poorest members of society hardest inequality and discrimination on multiple levels have been exposed some governments have also used the pandemic to curtail basic rights. for more on this we're joined from geneva by kenneth roth he's the executive director of human rights watch ken thank you for joining us here in d w as we mentioned the pandemic has certainly exposed inequalities in many countries across the world and you have talked about how it's important to respect human rights of that is the best public health strategy where have you seen this borne out i mean what examples of that have you seen working during the pandemic. first i think you're correct to point out that the the penn democrats really spotlighted the social and economic divide poor people have less access to health care they

tend to be the front line workers who cannot work from home and so they're more exposed to the virus and they also tend to suffer more when there are lockdowns the economy has stopped and that's why you need a strong social safety net to pull them through periods like this but we've seen many governments you know cite the pandemic as a great opportunity for them to entrench their power they claim you know i'm the dictator i can solve this better than anybody else and so good example of how that tends to work is i say egypt's president sisi who. has really crushed any dissent in the country he's been arresting doctors who criticize how he responds to the pentatonic in the meantime he's spending gobs of money on the military and egypt's hospitals are decrepit and you see this pattern over and over in europe you see it with hungary and prime minister orbán who also sees dictatorial powers citing the pandemic and now as you know fighting with i'm going medical to try to maintain european union subsidies even as he flouts the basic values in the rule of

law and which the european union has built so you're saying there's a risk that some countries are or governments are using this pandemic as an excuse to censor more to curtail rights what about a country like germany where there is a movement here against lockdown measures becomes because some people say that their rights are being trampled on do they have a point. but if you look at international human rights law it allows proportionate reasonable limits on say the rights to travel on the right to assemble in public for legitimate public health or public safety reasons and so you know i think if people are entitled to protest against a lockdown it's important to respect that right at the same time the government is entitled to curtail our ability to travel our delivery due to congregate as in this case a very appropriate response to a very severe public health threat and can last question what opportunities do you

think the pendant make give us gives us to promote more human rights i think we've learned you know 1st of all that we need to strengthen the right of access to health care and we need to i mean sure that there is a strong social safety net but it also really reinforces the importance of just basic right to freedom of expression as in freedom to criticize one ever meant as a critical aspect of public health if you will if we look at how the pandemic began it was the fact that china censors doctors in groupon for 3 weeks they were trying to alert us to human to human transmission and beijing was saying no no no although all the cases are just linked to the market and that 3 week delay before finally china shut down to han millions of people fled to honduran that period about $3500.00 a day went internationally and that's how we have a global pandemic so it shows the importance of free speech of fighting censorship as an essential element of any public health strategy we'll have to leave it there

kenneth roth executive director of human rights watch thank you for joining us. and you're watching the news still to come on our show germany brokers a compromise with cold and hungry over the european union's budget billions and coronaviruses coverage funds could soon be on the plane. back in just a moment but 1st let's get a quick roundup of some other stories making headlines around the world u.s. president elect joe biden has nominated retired army general lloyd austin to be as defense secretary is confirmed he would be the 1st african-american to lead the pentagon but he faces resistance from some democrats who have a preference for civilian control of the military. meanwhile the president elect's son hunter biden has confirmed his tax affairs are under federal investigation president donald trump is often accused hunter biden of corrupt dealings in ukraine trumps early for the pursuit of these allegations resulted in his own pietschmann

after he pressured the ukrainian president to investigate hunter biden's work in the country with. authorities in the spanish city of bus alone say at least 2 people have died in a fire at an abandoned warehouse occupied by homeless migrants witnesses said more than 150 people may have been sleeping inside the building when the blaze broke out the cause of the fire is unclear. and the gunners electoral commission says president not a coup for i don't know has won a 2nd term in office officials say he won over 51 percent of the vote putting ahead of his predecessor and old rival john muhammad the results follow a contentious poll which led to widespread protests and violence. from a dispute over the european union's budget and coronavirus relief fund appears to be over poland and hungary have blocked the passage of the nearly 2 trillion euro package over a clause linking funding to respect for the rule of law brussels accuses both

governments of rolling back democratic freedoms but a seasoned crisis manager apparently stepped in to find a compromise. it was them against the rest of the. polish prime minister much feel small and his home garion counterpart the tell all bought. both opposed to clause linking the release of e.u. funds to the rule of law and we know bush won yet we say arrest sounding ok got to all the mechanisms that punish us just like naughty children which treaty hold in another member states and european union with an equally in the price will go through when you're going to pay for. a power move that put a lot at stake specifically the carefully crafted 1.8 trillion europe package on the blocks future fine insists that includes a trillion euro e.u. budget for the next 70 years and a 750000000000 euro rescue fund to boost ailing european economies something vital for member states hit hardest by the pandemic like. hungary and poland have

repeatedly been called out for rolling back democratic freedoms that had vowed to veto the entire budget a crucial test for the e.u. who does what we must be determined very vigilant very committed but now it looks like a last ditch attempt by the german chancellor to resolve the issue has succeeded just in time for the new budget to kick in from next year with the current of our spend their make far from over. and we can speak now to our brussels bureau chief alexander phenomena high aleksandr it's good to see you can you explain this to us why are hungry and poland so opposed to this mechanism that links money to rule of law. hungary in poland described this mechanism as political and slaves meant and radical. limitation of sovereignty there argued that the only purpose of this mechanism is to force them to bow to demand such as legalizing gay marriage

or accepting migrants this is of course not the case here because the purpose of this mechanism is to make sure that you funds are not going to be misused but it's also true that poland and hungary have been under investigation for backsliding on democratic standards the rule of law or fundamental rights so when the mechanism is in place they could be in trouble because if there are any breach of the rule of law there are funds could be reduced with the qualified majority of e.u. governments ok now there is this last ditch effort for a compromise that seems possibly to be at hand will it work well we expect you leaders to approve this compromise because yesterday the u.s. ambassadors already talked about that and they seem to be quite positive front and center of this compromise promised mechanism would only go into action after

the european court of justice has ruled on its legality so this is a concession to hungary and poland and there are concerns but it's also it's likely to delay the whole mechanism by year or so but it means that there is no change in substance that's why germany is hoping that even countries like the never and who have been fighting for the rule of law will be able eventually to approve this compromise so what happens next will this mechanism be implemented. well if improved it will be implemented eventually with a delay as i said but we are already hearing from politicians in the parliament that there are happy with that that they think it's a victory for the 1st time the european union will have such

a mechanism and they also say that hungry and poland have lost our brussels bureau chief alexander from down there in brussels thank you. oh britain and the e.u. have been given themselves until sunday to decide if their brakes at the gauche asians are worth continuing a 3 hour dinner on wednesday seen as a last ditch attempt failed to bring the 2 sides any closer to a trade deal the british prime minister travel to brussels after an earlier phone call between him and the e.u. chief failed to break the deadlock disagreements over fishing rights business competition pools and policing are keeping the parties from hashing out a deal a break that a transition period expires on december 31st. on wednesday boris johnson told the british parliament he thinks there was quote a good deal still there to be done however he went on to say that he would not accept any agreement at any cost i must tell the house that our friends are currently our crews in the e.u.

are currently insisting good if they pass a new rule in the future. with which we in this country do don't compile don't follow suit then they will be automatic right mr speaker to to punish us and to retaliate and secondly they're saying that the u.k. should be the only country in the world not to have control over its fishing waters and i don't believe it's because it goes in terms that any prime minister of this country should act let's go right to london our correspondent burgomaster standing by outside parliament highback it so it does not seem that we got that breakthrough that many had hoped for. i know them are just pretty downbeat so it wasn't a jolly of cre christmas get together where differences can be result it's really about 2 principles it seems to be at that opposing and where they don't find

a way forward this on one hand is the principle of force jones and move up through was one of the leading threats to tears in the country he says it's all about also ministry in a way what's the point of red states if we need to align ourselves almost into. his would interpret this to e.u. principles and on the other hand states the european union where the integrity of the single market is one of the really fundamental principles of the union and they are afraid that the u.k. could in the future be this competitive on the doorstep and could undermined the the standards of the european union and at the same time have very close access to the single market say so they are afraid of that and at the moment it doesn't seem that there can be some some technical solution because negotiators have really tried to following on this point of principle have to find some sort of way forward and it hasn't been possible and now there's

a new deadline which is sunday is what the leaders have said it's going to be the final deadline and then well then a decision is supposed to be made and what's the feeling there in london how much pressure is there on the government to avoid a no deal. boris johnson is probably putting himself under a lot of pressure we know that his cabinet is full of bread tears of people who really fought alongside him for breaks it's a referendum that they quite narrow to be a one on the other hand there are back benches here in parliament here behind me and there are rumors that so much telling the prime minister you toast if you're giving in too much these are the hardliners in the conservative party on the other and of course. there are a business interest country knowing that it would read to me that doesn't have a deal with the european union is going to hit a chord on the real barry very hard country we know for example that the cars trains at the warning that the mass production of calls could be wiped out be

a 1000000 jobs. than really has a very very severe decision to make. for good mass reporting for us from london thank you so much throw a space x. test launch on wednesday complete with the highest and most elaborate slike yet for its prototype starship rocket the spacecraft nearly reached its goal altitude of 12 kilometers but engineers still have a few kinks to work out before their planned mission to mars and back. every. picture perfect starred for starship number 8 the rocket is the most ambitious space x. test yet in the company's audacious quest to make human travel to mars possible. it climbed for several kilometers before leveling off its slick stainless steel hull glinting in the sun. after 4 minutes and 45 seconds of flight

the starship switched off its engines and began its descent. but just as a flawless journey seemed within reach the ship was engulfed in a ball of flames. and. despite this dramatic finale the test is considered a success by space x. the company believes that the data collected will help to develop a spaceship capable of reaching deep into the universe space expounder even musk was enthusiastic tweeting mars here we come. there will be more tests soon here and the texan desert construction of starship number 9 is almost complete. ok let's get a quick recap of our top stories at this hour the head of germany's public health institute says the country's corona virus infection rate has taken a worrying turn he urged tighter controls to prevent another exponential rise

germany's daily case count has had a new record high of more than 23000. and the e.u. and u.k. have set a sunday deadline to decide if talks on a post breaks a trade deal are worth continuing meanwhile the e.u. has proposed contingency measures to protect air and road travel in the case. movement. food. cooked food is going to.

cut. our losses and montenegro beside. brutal crimes are commonplace in the west backcountry. the network of drug lords a biased legal system and corrupt politicians are responsible for moving trying to surround mosques and goosed. next often doubling up. into the conflict zone between sebastian job i move take the white house

next door with his party feet divided other democrats really celebrated my guest this week from washington is democratic congresswoman debbie dingell is spiking the mountain with a vision only struggle simply to control his policy clearly i jus crises a little trouble early for her conflicts the 5060 minutes to digital. boring. i. miss the sun for an arc. and to see. the. same.

trip to. see the. slums december 25th. the. a warm welcome to this week's edition of focus on europe thanks for joining us today more and more migrants are hoping to reach the u.k. now because they fear exit deal may make it tougher to enter the country dreams of a better life are leaving them to embark on the risky journey from france across the british channel some are getting on tiny boats using shovels as paddles their

goal is to reach the wide cliffs of the english coast the coast guard often has to help migrants in this stress because the crossing is so dangerous. most migrants are aware of how risky it is to cross the english channel they know they may drown in the icy water and yet 100 still set out from the french port city of cully in hopes of reversing the british city of dover now authorities and friends are stepping up efforts to prevent my ones from making this dangerous journey it's a daily cat and mouse game between the migrants and the french police. the. french police are on patrol in a life search for items that migrants might have hidden during the journey before crossing to britain and they struck lucky 3 backpacks with personal belongings. were brought up to you and an outboard for your for comfort you know

a few meters further visiting the. property body in a support function of this is the boat it's still very new that's current together it's not heavy the police beat to refugees to the scene they wanted to leave the same night it's more than 40 kilometers across the icy cold sea to the english port of dover. and probably have prevented a crossing that could have ended in a fatal disaster. much too small and the engine is not strong enough by far the most likely they would have capsized. 90 french policemen a financed by the british government to come on the coast did mission is to prevent ritchie cheese from reaching british soil. something more i mean this is probably

a gasoline come mr. it must have been lying here for a long time with. our no grew up here he knows the beaches like the back of the st. louis stover is over there. i wouldn't venture a to see this weather. further out the waves are 3 to 4 metres high. it's a dangerous passage narrow with huge container ships and tankers. a few weeks ago an entire kurdish family drowned in the seine it wasn't an isolated incident nevertheless several 1000 refugees afoot to have made it to britain this year. many more refugees are prepared to risk their lives they come from example from eritrea in around. most of them have enjoyed enormous

hardships and paid smugglers a fortune to get this far they see the police as a threat. this young man will call him abdullah is a refugee he tells us he comes from sudan he was persecuted and therefore fled to germany where he studied computer science but his asylum application was rejected they didn't believe his story. to germany at the university in seguin and still i'm not allowed to work i'm not allowed to do anything and nothing makes sense anymore . otto wants to apply for asylum in britain he's already tried to cross the english channel by boat but the police caught it it was a traumatic experience. yes they were very aggressive the french police were very aggressive. when you try crossing by boat what exactly are the police beat me

twice. the refugees aren't allowed to leave but they are welcome to stay either several people tell us that the task force used tear gas and destroy their tents again and again pitch is a daily police arrest meant that a refugee posted online. now after wants to hide in a truck and reached britain via the channel tunnel a safe attrit them by boat. but later the police find a refugee with sniffer dogs giving up is out of the question for abdo he will try again. though persecuted by the police the refugees a supported by aid organizations. works the utopia $56.00 which distributes clothes to refugees he's convinced of the controls lead to nothing. awarded on the controls only results in the refugees taking greater and greater risks and more

of them and of drowning are the more the refugees are afraid of the police so they get into an adequate boat night sometimes the weather is bad but they try their luck anyway no matter how many gendarmes they use the number of refugees who want to go to britain does not decrease. a flu shot crossing in the eyes of the refugees a final chance for a better life. we accompanied assured us that their unit behaved correctly. you're a job we do it with a tough hand but we remain humane our goal is to save lives. and we asked what's the solution for the refugees the police have no answer they say it's not their responsibility and so the gain of hide and seek continues in the genes the calumny. have you ever asked yourself where the material for the clothes

you're wearing comes from well the cotton maybe from turkey it's the leading cotton supplier in europe and it also has a booming textile industry but the demand for fast fashion iran the world's may be forcing turkish children to work on cotton farms although the turkish government says it has officially banned child labor each harvest season tens of thousands of miners have to toil away and the scorching heat. the sun is so hot stings. but's 10 year olds feel like picks the cotton tirelessly. while elsewhere other children her age play or go to school civilian or siblings have to work in the field with their parents and relatives. we asked civility whether she ever had any free time well after breakfast my father says come on let's go and work and in the afternoon my mother tells me to look up to my younger sister.

she was upset when we asked if she ever had any free time to play. and that is 12 years old. he's been driving a tractor since he was 10. he says that he enjoys that the picking cotton is tough . every year he works in the fields for up to 2 months. that's how long the harvesting takes. and during this time he and the other children don't go to school. we pick cotton from 6 in the morning to 6 at night when the sun the whole time it's always the same and the same for all my friends. so. it's mamet's dreams of a better future. he wants to be a policeman all i want to have a steady income and i want my children to have

a better life than me. civilities mother also works in the fields with the children. she told us that she is not happy that her daughters have to pick cotton. clothes we want our children to go to school we want to offer them a good lives. but we don't have any choice we have to make cotton what can we do if we don't worry we don't have any money for. all of them so that shouldn't stop. the families who work here come from villages as far as 50 kilometers away during the harvest they live in tents. every fall tens of thousands of children work to help their families get through the winter even though child labor is officially banned in turkey. but there is no social welfare to.

the owner of the land rama zone and knows the children are not supposed to work or families can leave their children anywhere they come from separate the one of you. should have no alternative but to stay with their families they should go to school but who will take care of them so they're here to do in the harvest they have fetch water for the. families are paid per kilo of cotton $0.08 per kilo seville i can pick about 20 kilos per day. that's one euro 60. jugful professor said that's bennett has been conducting research into seasonal workers for years. he was cautious when we asked who was responsible for the fact that up to $50000.00 children work in the fields for several months each year. everyone knows the situation because of the corona virus pandemic or sybil i should

be in front of a computer receiving online lessons but she's doing something different and the economic situation doesn't allow her to do anything else even if she wanted to wouldn't there's no computer those responsible are the key players in our society. does everyone know the mark yes well anything be done you know. or you. know sell surveillance 12 year old sister when she's finished picking cotton she helps to wash laundry. she also works the whole day remember the mocks the. student getting i don't want to be here. i want to go to school. but it's hard to earn a living i think school lessons are much nicer. i'd rather go to school and work

here. for mother does not think that her children are very good future prospects i think children's future looks like their parents went on the big going to be working in the fields too. long day in the cotton fields come to an end so if you lie a nurse i'll sit by the fire for a while. maybe nurse ponders over her fate before she can only dream of a better future. this is what's a proper english garden looks like impeccably kept great design a feast for the eyes but now there is that initiative in eastern england which encourages landowners to let go of this perfect large family to them is one of the founders of the project called wild beasts he is returning 20 per cent of his

family estates to nature meaning wild animals and plants can grow and thrive as they want some of his neighbors are a bit skeptical of the idea but at least the animals love their new found freedom. of these large black says they are called and learned to dig around in the ground almost anywhere on the summit lake mistakes in the east of england thousands of secret weapon of sorts for the station and found some late. very very efficient you can you can afford to have quite a pig's. for quite a short time to get the to. the ground to a lot open space for new seeds and build some leighton's a state spans over 20 square kilometers in t. calls the mansion home and the jason park provides space for all the animals to roam freely far from the stereotypical english moon to stay tonight is allowing

nature to completely reclaim on one 5th of his property. his father also ran a farm out of the conventional source where it would have been unthinkable for cows and pigs to wander right up to the doorstep had always been very keen on. nature and so wanting to do things better my dad particularly found it very frustrating he had a sort of almost a victorian hangover of tightness. and we clashed a bit on that. last summer leighton's pigs are slaughtered but at the same time they also help conserve nature by lending crazy biodiversity to the forest a phone species had run rampant pay for centuries and the piece of meat to keep it in check. in order to. you know stimulate the soil so that the seabed the floor seabed underneath. we need to disrupt brucker that they will be here as soon as they've completed their task the peaks have to leech of forest

again if you just have pigs you'll only have this and that's the disaster of a different kind so you know one has a control so rewarding is is a great term but in that sense it's farming so we're going to try to the balance right between different species to try and get the perfect sort of habitats to get the most biodiverse environment. but also leighton and those who share his convictions try to win over their neighbors most nearby farm and ask him to hold off the origin resist change at restaurants particularly traditional farmers and rewarding staff and i think mean that in that perspective it's always seen as a fad you know i mean to say. that there's not there's a lot of people that are breaking on that.