going to ford. this is g.w. news live from berlin that germany's cases of coal that 19 soared to another record high the country's disease control agency today reports new delhi infections of nearly 30000 it is warning germans to reduce their social contact dramatically or face tougher restrictions also coming up the european union agrees on an ambitious

new goal of the fight against climate change after all night talks the clock decides to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent that target by the end of this decade but does that go far enough. to toss accusations of racist abuse at berlin's prestigious ballet this black dancer says her skin color made it impossible to set one instructor's vision of ballerina perfection now she's out of a job. i'm sumi so much going to it's good to have you with us here in germany the latest coronavirus numbers show a dramatic spike in new cases over the past day the country has it a new high of nearly 30000 cases and 598 people have died the highest daily total yet weeks of partial lockdown haven't slowed the spread of infection anough

much tougher restrictions seemed almost inevitable now with political momentum building for a harder lock down over the holidays. with only 2 weeks to go until christmas the looming question across germany is will a hard lock down come before or after the holidays. at its weekly briefing on wednesday germany's robert costa institute said it was alarmed and that it was bracing for a significant increase in case numbers. the difference or going to a shrink literally to figure in the photo meeting contraption exponential growth put into our story. the situation is especially problematic in assisted living facilities according to german authorities residents of nursing homes are at more risk than ever. currently we're seeing double the amount of outbreaks in assisted living facilities than in spring and every outbreak affects a lot of people and are tough in. several german states are now considering

tightening the measures already in place berlin's government is considering closing all non-essential retail before christmas the busiest period of the year winter break may be extended and schools could return to distance learning. below but i believe these 2 and a half 3 weeks will give us plenty of opportunities regarding disease control. state leaders are now hoping to set out a coordinated plan in a meeting with chancellor angela merkel. you get a moment of fun also if you miss the gathering looks likely to take place on sunday . we were very interested in getting together as quickly as possible in order to rapidly gain clarity about the path our country will follow us to open door at one point they're cute in light of recent developments religious services over the holidays are also being scrutinized. then i would if there is

a possibility of a religious gathering endangering lives i'll be the 1st to call things off. the so-called most wonderful time of the year now marked by deep concerns a new lockdown in germany isn't a matter of if but rather when. juliet deli is following the latest on the story for us hi julia received a new high of nearly 30000 cases and 598 people died in one day these numbers are alarming so what political reactions have there been today we have seen many more voices within germany's political circles call for tougher restrictions to happen soon the economy minister paid the ultimate set of figures show that the rise and cases now returning to an exponential level and that politicians in germany should act now on the same line interior minister who said. a lockdown cannot wait until christmas to be implemented and that the only chance

that there is for cases to be brought down significantly is to go into lockdown right away we've also seen the state of by them britain victim back in the south of the country announced today that it will go into lockdown starting right after christmas so julia what does this mean is it inevitable that we will see a lockdown in all german states it looks very likely that we will see a large tougher lockdown coming into effect this weekend in the next few days german chancellor angela merkel is expected to meet with the 16 state premiers to try to agree on a nationwide common approach the question is when the tougher restrictions will come into place and whether immediately or right after christmas we've seen man can make an impassioned plea in germany's parliament on wednesday calling for restrictions to be implemented right away and her government ministers seem to be

supporting her view some of the state leaders would like to wait until after christmas so we will have to see what is the cited in the next few days. julia delhi for us thank you. and let's get some more perspective now with dr toby escorts he is an epidemiologist and the director of the cherry tate institute of public health here in berlin good to have you back on the show 1st of all what do you make of these numbers. the numbers are alarming as we have already discussed yesterday the numbers are high since days and weeks and we have to decide now to go into a hard lockdown now we cannot afford to wait after christmas people are seeing family members if you travel across the country see your family members members you put people at risk you put people at risk to get sick you could people at risk eventually dying we cannot afford this the numbers are far too high the hospitals

are full and we know that 3 to 4 weeks after the cases that are infected now will appear in the hospitals so there is even a rise in numbers in the hospitals this is dramatically high we have to act now when we spoke yesterday the head of the robert cock institute warned that we could see exponential growth again have we already reached that point the point is not whether we see an exponential growth in a few days or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow the numbers are too high it is not a discussion whether we see the exponential growth or not we needs to acknowledge the numbers are too high already why are we seeing such high numbers and what is the biggest source of transmission right now. it's a diffuse infectious. thing going on right now in germany where many things are happening often you don't even realize that you are infected and where you go and who you are putting at risk so we cannot say says pacific city situation or they

are specific hotspots or clusters this is a diffuse affection situation right now so we have to act and it's not possible to really plea and say people please stay home keep your distance is obviously not working if we take a look at why germany has gotten into the situation the country fared comparatively well during that 1st wave that the pandemic do you think that there was a false sense of security that has contributed to the spike that we're seeing now well we have to understand as you say that germany got lucky and we made it quite well through the 1st wave and then the summer months the warm weather helped as well so now obviously that was not enough we started with a light lockdown germany never had a hard lockdown where we actually are forced to stay home and now we're facing a situation where the numbers are dramatically high so we definitely have to act now and we're seeing more than siva 100 people dying a day and yet there still hasn't been a decision made on a tough lockdown the next political meeting is supposed to happen as we heard this

weekend do you think action has been taken quickly enough. and we discussing since many days we know since reeks that's where we're facing a potential risk of having numbers that a hospital or for that the health care system is in danger and so i don't know why we're still discussing we having we have reached this point already so we need to act now to be escorted epidemiologist director of the sherry tate institute of public health thank you so much thanks for having. well germany still has a long way to head for a vaccine european regulators will meet just before the new year to decide if the biotech pfizer vaccine is ready for mass distribution but the government is already planning the epic task of how to deliver that vaccine across the country with some disputes already over distribution data abuse tests of alter reports. berlin

was well known for its rock concerts and techno parties now its latest to house one of 6 specks the nation centers and berlin so far there isn't much to see but everything is scheduled to be ready by mid december project manager pomus convinced things were from smoothly. through this time the process we allow 4 minutes for each person to get in take of their coats sit down and roll up their sleeves then the vaccination team comes in they disinfect inject and put some cause on the wound the last step is the documentation that say here the vaccinated people will then be looked after by doctors and nurses the patient doesn't have to pay their health insurance covers the costs 1st the elderly will be vaccinated then medical personnel than everyone else right now more than 300 of such backs the nation centers are being billed throughout germany the government hopes this system will

simplify logistics and make it possible to vaccinate millions of people in the shortest possible time people probably won't be able to get the jab from their family doctor until spring time before that they will have to go to the center. i think you have to wait for hours at the vaccination center thousands of people will be. if not don't care whether i get vaccinated at my family doctor or the vaccination center would have you also i would prefer going to our family doctor because they know about my medical history and will take any risks into account. doctors ability katzenstein agrees she was one of the 1st 1000000000 family doctors who specialized in treating cold that 900 patients vaccinating people as part of her daily routine when it comes to cope at 19 she says she should be allowed to vaccinate and her own practice is. pixilation as a matter of trust it's important to know the patient because every patient directs

differently to unknown risks i think the general partitioner is best equipped to advise each patient in making a decision about the peron of buyer's vaccination she believes she and other family doctors in germany can handle the vaccination campaign in the pendant i thought. in my opinion the vaccinations and those were probably not necessary if france can vaccinate its population using family doctors only why can't germany or. germany has opted to fix the nation centers it's a bit of cuts and shine argues that the best possible consultation to roads one go next in one thing as much of the population as possible as quickly as possible. let's check in on some other headlines from around the world hong kong media says democracy activist jimmy lie has been charged under the controversial new security law he's accused of colluding with foreign forces and in danger in national

security lies the most high profile person yet to be charged under the new law police say he will face the charges in court on saturday. thousands of pro and anti abortion activists have rallied outside the argentine congress and by no side is as lawmakers debate a bill to legalize abortion the legislation is being pushed by president i'll bet the fed none this if the bill clears both chambers of congress it would make argentina the 1st major latin american nation to decriminalize abortion. the trump administration has allowed the execution of death row inmate to brandon bernard it was the 1st federal execution during a presidential transition in 130 years and the 9th since president trump restarted federal executions after a 17 year hiatus his administration plans to rush through another 4 before his term ends next month. now european union leader. as have reached a hard fought deal to make dramatic cuts to the block's greenhouse gas emissions

after all night talks the member states agreed to reduce emissions by 55 percent by the end of the decade you counsel president sean michel tweeted that it would make europe the leader in the fight against climate change now the new target aims to put the e.u. on track to reach net 0 emissions by 2050 and sets expectations high for a u.n. climate meeting this weekend. let's bring in our brussels bureau chief alexander phenomenon with more on this story hi alexander what more can you tell us about this agreement. this agreement reached at this morning it's very significant because it will make it possible for the european union to be the 1st carbon free continent by a 2050 as you have just mentioned it also adds marriage to europe's claim that it is leading the world in the global fight against climate change the goal of

reducing emissions by at least 55 percent by the end of the next decade with put forward by the european commission and into was definitely more ambitious than the initial plan of 40 percent for some member states it was to him bishes and then of course the huge success for the german e.u. council presidency that all your member states are now on board however we also have to add that not everyone will be happy the european parliament certainly not members of the european parliament would like the u. leaders to go further and to take bolder climate action what about on the other side and of the climate debate how did the e.u. manage to convince member states that are more reliant for example on coal energy. you know we're talking here about hungary czech republic and poland they were open to their plan saying they would need more help to clean up their economies in

particular it seems that poland was blocking the plan until this morning and. give up its blockade being assured that it's not going to be left alone with the financial burden i think that what swung the momentum in the end with the agreement on the long awaited budgets and the cove it's a recovery fund launch a large amounts of this a package are designed to be spends to boost green economy and to help those countries struggling with the green transition our proposals bureau chief alexander phenomena reporting thank you. and let's get some more perspective on the story now we have jennifer morgan with us she's the executive director of greenpeace international in amsterdam jennifer thank you so much for joining us here and 1st of all i want to get your reaction on this side deal just reached in the european union do these targets go far enough. no they don't go far enough i think it's important to recognize that we're in

a climate emergency right now and that every single percentage count what the e.u. agreed today is not commensurate with its historical responsibility or what the finance is telling us we need the european parliament asked for something at 60 percent of a reduction greenpeace has been asking and pushing for a 65 percent reduction and i think it's important to know that with what the u.s. already has in place it would get to a 46 percent reduction so it's not historic it's incremental and it's not a world leader response to what's needed at this moment of crisis unfortunately what about the objections from member states like hungary and poland that do rely heavily upon coal energy and find this is already a too ambitious goal what is your message to these member states. my message to them is that there is a much better future out there that their people are demanding for right now in

a clean energy system in a clean energy system and one that is based on wind from the offshore of the northern coast of poland that one that's based on on efficiency and that this is the way the world is moving right now and if they want to be part of that economy moving forward this is this is the way to go coal is no longer you know a modern energy we're moving into something that's much more affordable clean and healthy for people jennifer tomorrow is the 5 year anniversary of the paris agreement on climate change where do we stand now from a global perspective. from a global perspective i think it's important to note that we have an alive vibrant international agreement where countries are working together where the defeat of a climate denier in the united states can breed more life into that and where we've seen countries coming forward with the long term targets to go to 0 emissions but

we're also seeing that we're far away from what is needed we we see that we've had an increase of storms of fires i mean just think about this last year and what people have experienced and that the ambition to keep to shift away from the fossil fuel economy and to protect our forests is not yet great enough we need more action we need a response to the movements around the world that are commanded really the scale and the speed. that is commensurate with what scientists are saying so do you think that the targets that were agreed upon 5 years ago can still be reached. yes absolutely i think that you know it was clear when the paris agreement was was done when we all celebrated in paris that those targets even then weren't adequate that countries are moving forward many of those will meet their targets it's

possible to still stay below that 1.5 degrees target that is so important for the survival of people and nature around the world but we need to theft and war we need to make sure that green recover that recovery packages are green that we're not continuing to put millions or billions into the fossil fuel and that industry this is the moment to shift much more fundamentally and really speak to the heart of that paris agreement which is that 1.5 degrees c. goal which is really about the lives of people all around the world jennifer morgan the secular director of green peace international thank you for joining us sir. thank you turning now to a crisis in the world of ballet it is a profession that demands perfection but some dancers say they're made to feel they'll never be good enough because of their skin color the 1st black woman to join berlin's renowned stops by the it says that that was her experience the french dancer has now gone public with her story after she found out the company was not

going to renew her contract. to the legend of the white swan for ballet dancer chloe lopez gomez swan lake is no longer just a fairy tale. for skin as white as swan's feathers some european companies have dancers and how do their bodies lopez says the training director at berlin state ballet told her she would need extra pound. this specially mistress come to me and she told me not you will have to put on your skin after a very lonely and very sad that's unfortunately no one was able to protect me inside this is to to show. lopez gomez says the company directors eventually told her she didn't have to powder herself white but did nothing to stop the racist remarks were not that gomez joined the shots by let in 20 teen she became its 1st ever black female dancer soon she realized the ballet mistress had

a problem with her skin color and. she was sometimes like just come out like chloe you're not online and we can only see you because you're black or you're not musical and we can only see you because you are black and during the rehearsal i got there she was giving some white bad that's we were supposed to put into our heads and one came so much wrong she told me i cannot give it to you because it's a very white and you are black and she laughed in my face. the interim artistic director says the decision to not renew the dancers contract had nothing to do with lopez comesa skin color and that she preferred to handle the matter internally. this is hydropower computes yet it's this week that's just very complicated so i don't want to comment on that i learned through the media that fear is apparently an issue here it's just too much. but i also know other voices from the

ensemble who say they've never experienced such an open atmosphere as here in the state ballet starts by the way lopez gomez has now received support from the world's most famous black ballerina misty copeland the principal dancer at american ballet theater praised her courage on instagram copeland has long been vocal about racism and ballet last year she posted this image from russia's bolshoi calling them out for using blackface berlin state ballet is now planning a new code of conduct and says it must do more to fight racism chloé lopez gomez says it's not enough. to me still bad he said to fire me but i have to regret that he didn't take any action regarding this is barely mistress who discriminates me because she is still working at the stats like nothing happened. chloe lopez says she was fired on that ballet mistress's recommendation she's now hired a lawyer and plans to take legal action. well

life is a dull for many domestic workers in hong kong often cook and clean 6 days a week many are filipino migrants who have sacrificed their lives back home for higher wages but sunday is their day off to do what they want one group has decided they want to be winners. right. now and. well drilled and athletic they look like they could be a professional team before these filipino women crickets and all the rituals that go with it is a hobby for their rare day off on a sunday. it's a chance to one mind after a week cooking and cleaning for households in hong kong. it's very relaxing but notes my day they're. worth while so it's good

to listen to old distance travel around you know everything not just focusing on what you do let's. back home in the philippines basketball or baseball or a sport typically captures the imagination of sports fans the s.e.c. divas are working on changing that they're a breath of fresh air in hong kong's cricket scene which is rooted in its british colonial past in the now on the run of luck to years because of done so much good now getting better and they did a learning lot of cricket in skills and under 2 he's discovered to know how to play cricket more and better. not that this group need much teaching now they've won their league twice and their own been since a fog this season maybe even provided most of the prayers for a newly created philippines national team.

looking the girls are you know really into was the film that we focused on lying to say certain sports. and be deprived of guidance and close to you know the support from people all once was still going to all of us. have it all the while they continue to rack up the runs scoring for success a welcome break from into a job. let's get a reminder now of our top stories here on d w germany has seen a dramatic spike in corona virus cases for the past 24 hours a new record of nearly 30000 cases was reported and another 598 people have died from covert 9 calls are growing for a tougher lock down during the holidays to curb infections. and european union leaders agreed on dramatic cuts to the loss of greenhouse gas emissions following

all my talks in brussels the member states agreed to reduce emissions 55 percent by the end of this decade. coming up next on d w business and stephen beardsley looks at the economic fallout from the growing of ours here in germany thank you for watching.

true the point shawn opinion is clear positions international perspectives. following terrorist attacks this fall french president jacques rogge wants to crack down on radical islamists will they succeed in stopping the cycle of violence or further divide the country played out on to the point. to the point.

of the film 60 minutes on t w. people knocking for an economy. there are many answers. there are many reasons. and there are many alternatives to. make up your own mind the book. made for minds. is for me. is for you to. be truthful as for help.

beethoven. beethoven is for the. beethoven is for us. is for ribs beethoven 202250th anniversary here on deal here. new coronavirus cases soar in germany raising the likelihood of a wider more serious lockdowns across the nation with major consequences for businesses and employers look at what it might mean for europe's largest economy. also on the show as breaks the trade talks go on without agreement britain's farmers wonder whether they'll still be in business 3 weeks for.