this is g.w. news live from berlin tonight on the eve of germany's next walk down the question when will vaccinations begin here the country's health minister says he's confident the body on tech pfizer vaccine will be approved before christmas european regulators are under pressure to approve the vaccine also coming up sterilized against their will tortured for speaking their mother tongue an exclusive report inside china's reeducation camps where repression of leaders and other muslim minorities is a given and he's making

a list and checking it twice and taking no chances before his big not even santa claus follows pandemic protocol says he welcomes visitors to his hole near the north pole. i'm going to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome germany is just hours away now from the start of a new law corona virus infections here continue to surge code that 19 deaths are at record highs schools and non-essential businesses will close beginning tomorrow leaving shoppers today scrambling to buy last minute christmas gifts but there is good news for anyone whose biggest holiday wish is a coven vaccine the year. medicines agency has brought forward

a meeting at which is expected to approve the vaccine developed by biotech and. there's always a surge of people at christmas time hunting for last minute gifts and this year it has come earlier than usual in germany on wednesday the stores will close as the country enters a tough lockdown but even if not everyone finds what they're looking for a welcome christmas present may be coming to people here soon germans are waiting for the 1st corona virus vaccines to be approved the problem is so far not even the health minister knows when that will happen and national authorities are supporting the european authorities to the best of their ability the goal is to secure approval before christmas. germans have watched vaccines rolled out in the u.k. in the u.s. but the decision here is to wait until a drug is approved by the european medicines agency that approval was originally

not gee before the end of the year now the signs are it will come next week. if it gets approved by the 23rd of december then together with the producer we will try and allow for a rapid delivery to the federal states and the federal states can then deliver it to their vaccination centers i'm expecting vaccinations to start seem to 4 days afterwards at the latest. start. mass immunize ation centers are currently being equipped millions of doses of vaccine are on order those with heightened risk of infection will be invited 1st the elderly as well as health care workers but the question of priority is controversial. many people wanted as quickly as possible but that isn't enough at least in the beginning so that's why we need clear and transparent priorities the

vaccine is being kept under key and lock and it's very highly protected the vaccine these coming to germany but unlike with father christmas himself nobody can yet be sure when to expect it. so let's take this now to barbara visa she's in brussels for us tonight good evening to you barbara the european medical agency has moved the date of a vaccine approval forward by a week but the u.k. the u.s. canada they've already started their vaccination role well why is your taking so much longer. europe is taking longer print because the other countries great britain and canada and the u.s. have authorized so-called emergency authorization that is a totally different cattle because it what that means is that the the liability for the vaccine and for effects or damages it could bring

rests with the state and not was the was the firm that produces it is so that is a completely different thing and now the european union has tried to stay together here from the beginning on and has said we really value the safety of our citizens above the speed of this also raise asian process and the made the the agency in amsterdam does does a more thorough job than probably some other countries they look at more data they look more intensely into possible side effects for instance in great britain some cases of problems was elegy sufferers came up and how safe is it for people under 18 how safe is it for people over 80 are there enough persons in the tests were there enough persons in the to screw up so all these really needs to be researched into and that is what they're doing and that takes normally a bit longer than normal process like this would take

a year or even more. course still leaves a lot of dealt to the difference of a few weeks is really going to make a big difference when it comes to determining how dangerous or help save these vaccines are we know that germany has put pressure on the european medical agency to expedite its approval did that have an impact on their decision. we can't have a problem prove it but it is extremely unlikely because if this is a political decision they germany wanted it now i mean internationally to see the pictures of people getting the vaccine 1st in britain and now in the united states somehow created to impatiens and created the feeling particularly in parts of the press that germans would miss out on this and the argument was the no this was invented here in germany how why are we so late was getting the vaccine and of course that is not true because it is distributed proportionately among all

european countries. this was a political decision to end this right here and to just speed it up as much as possible and coming as a christmas present as christmas present now writes the w.'s barber visa look the latest tonight in brussels barbers always think you. were during the 1st wave of the pandemic germany was praised for keeping infection numbers relatively low we know now that the virus would eventually put germany in its place but there have been exceptions the southern german city of tubing had stuck to a simple formula when it comes to protecting society's most vulnerable members and that formula has worked to be used to research has this report just under 100 senior citizens live at this care home and to being in southern germany and they're all highly vulnerable to the corona virus to keep infection out visitors including reporters like me must follow strict rules on hygiene and in recent weeks visit us have also been able to take advantage of

a free on site coronavirus test especially trained carrot takes the swap in just a few seconds. at the moment they carry out 30 to 40 tests a day but that number is growing a few minutes later you get the result and can go ahead with your visit. the town council pays for the testing programme and despite the overall increase no one was tested positive for weeks that's a big relief for the managers and residents alike. it means we can say that after a negative test visiting can go ahead. it's crucial for the wellbeing of the residents to keep up context we know that it is good psychological stress on many of them when visiting had to stop early in the year. and it's not just in care

homes but also in the rest of the town that extra measures are being taken to protect the elderly segregated shopping times helps senior citizens to avoid contact with others subsidised taxis and free masks are also available for those in high risk groups that's a deliberate strategy they may have my came in for criticism at the start of the pandemic for speaking out in a way that many saw as a just the town has since spent how familial euro's protecting its elderly people. as a mathematician i looked at the figures and even in april it was clear that people of a 70 were most at risk of dying so we had to take action to protect them and that would also stop the intensive care unit from becoming overloaded. the strategy seems to be working so far and older people say they appreciate this preferential treatment . i think in my view them with not of course everyone has to take responsibility

for themselves but in general i think that the measures that have been taken absolutely right she didn't fall into good and. to my mind it's all being done very well i used the transport service when i need to. make more of a target is a must burden i'm wearing this mask that mr palmer sent me in the post i keep it in the chorus of that i don't forget it it's a good president that the sec even to older people and the $800.00 loiter a few hours later a couple of senior citizens to get tested positive one of them in the care home we would sit it earlier so going into the strict national lockdown is something both us it is residents and it's mayor except us necessary because we aren't perfect to being in and we didn't manage to improve our contact tracing either so if there's got to be a lock down it's got to be the same everywhere otherwise everyone would just come here to do their shopping it's got to be a lockdown that applies to everyone is to. the town has also come up with its own

christmas plans instead of having festive market stalls they're setting up a testing station where everyone can get a free test before they go and visit their family over the holidays. are let's take a look at some of the other developments in the pandemic a study in spain has found that one in 10 people has been infected with the coronavirus a national survey examining the presence of antibodies showed that almost $5000000.00 spaniards have contracted the virus so far the world health organization says that it is in talks with pfizer and mcgurn a about including their coronavirus vaccines for poor countries at affordable prices the w.h.o. backed kovacs initiative aims to ensure equitable access to covert 1000 back scenes around the world and top u.s. public health expert dr anthony fauci has called for president elect joe biden to be vaccinated as soon as possible in the interest of national security he said that

vice president elect harris should also get the vaccine. our let's take a look at some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world u.s. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has congratulated joe biden on his election win in a speech on the senate floor the republican leader ended weeks of silence over president donald trump's defeat it came a day after the electoral college officially confirmed by victory dozens of police officers have been injured in clashes with anti lock down protesters in ukraine demonstrators gathered in key to rally against recently announced coronavirus restrictions non-essential businesses gyms in schools will be shut from the 8th of january in an attempt to curb the spread of the by its. british and european union negotiated are reportedly making some progress in their post breaks in negotiations germany's e.u. ambassador says

a trade deal could be possible by the end of the week that again she asian stalled last week with a deal looking increasingly unlikely the u.k. transition period out of the european common market ends on the 31st of december. critics have called it a 21st century genocide china's so-called reeducation of more than 1000000 we and other muslim minorities. have just been dealt a blow by the international criminal court it has rejected calls to investigate beijing for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity china maintains that its goal is to really educate people and steer them away from islam as extremism but muslim minorities say beijing is trying to wipe out every trace of their identities we have this exclusive report tonight. seeds of a family outing with 000000 ad hom her husband to us when john and the little

daughter by are in turkey a safe location for now. that food was 0 and normal life is still far away she says she does not feel safe and. the month that the cold i still wake up from nightmares in which i see myself in a chinese internment camp again. the images and memories of the interrogations of the beatings and the things they did to him and their haunt me i then feel sick for a few days and i can't sleep i argue with my family i even think about hurting myself. in 201700000000 han was arrested in soon junk china's westernmost region she's an ethnic azar born in china and was living in kazakhstan at the time on a trip back to china she was detained by police and then hope for a year in several reeducation camps. although they tortured us they had cameras everywhere you were not allowed to pause scratch your head or cry if they saw that

they would force you want to a metal chair they would make you sit there for 12 hours 24 hours you were tied to the chair and if you tried to move it would get tighter then they make you repeat chinese words that you didn't know if you forgot them they used electroshock device on your head. back in kazakhstan her family did not know where she was at the same time authorities in china suddenly started to detain large numbers of the region's muslim minorities i traveled to the region to see for myself middle school number 4 of our county was one of the counts she had been to in 2018 a high wall was built around the school and shacks were built in the courtyard today the school is back to what it was china has defended the facilities as the creation of training centers and declared that by 2019 all trainees had graduated but 0 as also told is that many off of former inmates would later transfer to

regular prison on the outskirts of 2 more officers. there are now 5 policemen follow in. a prison with watchtowers and another camp where both built in 2017 when the campaign against ethnic minorities took off all staff left. the one town if you film here we will have to take measures against you in this place is a state secret. we 0 was told she was detained because she had been to kazakhstan that was seen as a sign of being disloyal to china more and more service now calling what is happening in the region could genocide after reports of forced birth controls the releasing. in the camp was 0 recalls the inmates were administered injections of an unknown substance. for local county after the injection some woman stopped

having their periods those who still had it were given one pad they had to use it for 2 or 3 days if their period would come it would come if not not we stopped being ashamed about it at some point we didn't stop thinking of home most of us had stopped crying by then when i meet will. 0 is one of the lucky ones she was finally allowed to leave after her husband had complained to her and cars are still she has no news from her relatives in the region. all right we want to bring in our own zoomer ty arkin she is with the world we go to congress in montreal in canada ms arc it is good to have you on the program is the international community doing what it should be doing enough to protect the we girls and other minorities in china i think it's fair to say that there's been alive public awareness in the recent years about the leverage and say that there's not

a lot of concrete actions to address that were genocide such actions are implementing sanctions tied to sanctions and officials or entities change entities who are responsible for this genocide it is also pushing for an independent mission finding mission to go on the ground and really assess the situation whether it is the u.n. delegation or the e.u. that leason ready also means protecting we are refugees asylum seekers who are stranded in 30 countries and also not deployed in them back to china where they are facing and imminent threats where they are secretly he. throws in ancient camps but it also means that he's had this responsibility it's not that means little and meaningful legislation to address or for slavery as well i'd like to get your reaction to the news today of the i.c.c.

is decision not to investigate accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity against china. i think pretty big community has comes out as a huge disappointment because the community has been looking for some sort of a calorie or some justice in the recent years and he hasn't found any and but it does not come across as a surprise because because a change of government is not part of that is not an injury to the whole kernel court so i think there's no surprise there and this is why and independent people strike you know was soundless in september to address the specific question of genocide and examine whether it is genocide crimes against humanity or not and i think at this point this will be a very useful at people's tribunals for states to then. base their decisions were and their future actions on the da coming at judgement there's

a new report that came out today in claims that the chinese government is forcing ethnic minorities to pick cotton in the province of sheen john now you have said you've been quoted as saying that virtually the entire clothing industry is potentially implicated what should the entire clothing industry do. i think it's very simple it is to start with acknowledging the care and climate in the region and it used to be stunning that we were beaten. and know that. operating any business in the region right now given the character of the atrocities the chinese government is carrying out is practically impossible to even respect the un guiding principles on business and human rights so i think businesses have very responsibly to respect their own set of principles which often claims that they

don't tolerate for slavery then they have to act and showing it and it's more this we have a very specific and simple to manage it's just starting with signing the culture of action that was equal wishing to and we were forced labor over the summer. ok zoomer thai are going to be the world we're congress joining us from montreal canada ms org and we appreciate your time in your insights tonight thank you thank you. same sex couples will not be adopting children in hungary as part of the new. legislation approved by the hungary in parliament a change to the area constitution also states that a person's sex is determined at birth and cannot be altered it's the latest push by prime minister big door bonds for this party to implement more socially conservative policies in the country joining me here in the studio to discuss this is my colleague public for the. breakdown this latest round of. the

measures in hungary for slate you just mentioned a few of them of course the main one is essentially that it prevents gay couples from adopting now because it's very it's very clear in that it states that essentially a parent their parents need to be a man and a woman now up until now. members members of the community could actually adopt because they could do it as single parents and then of course if they were in relationships because also in hungary there is actually no gay marriage permitted also so it complicated matters even further for them so now it's adding another layer another sort of difficulty for members of the community to actually be able to adopt children at the moment they can actually add do it as singles a single people but once again needs to be approved by the parliament is there anything then that members of the o.g.t.t.

community of hungary can do to stop these measures well obviously there have been you know. by activists they're incredibly angry it's another example of how at their rights are being taken away from them being at protests online we've seen protests from activist groups and it's just another step forward by viktor orban fidesz party in taking away these rights now earlier on actually today i spoke to thomas dumbass he is an activist there in hungary and he's incredibly angry particularly with europe because he feels that europe should do a lot more so let's hear what he what he had to say. of course these aren't difficult are big some of them are the. mandate of the competence of the numbers it's not the e.u. but you see a systematic undermining rule of law democratic principles of human rights then you cannot just focus and say all this or that provision is not in line with the right

it's not what you have to see that what you share and the book which is very true i think with the great legal framework under it would never be able to do one thing. before joining the e.u. when the e.u. was insistent on how to do these laws and the democratic principle of law and human rights in place and then recently joined the e.u. is not doing anything. that these basic principles so we think it is very important for the e.u. to not focus on the individual pieces of legislation but also on the broader picture and see what's happening in hungary the undermining. the principles look the way we were right so very strong words there brand by thomas dumb boss of what is going on and what the feeling is in hungary now another aspect that he was talking about to me and which isn't in that at that snippet there is that he was saying that they are going to try and fight this through the constitutional court in hungary for he says can be a long process so until then the rights of l.g.b. team members in in hungary is going to be very difficult and many of his friends he

said that already emigrated yeah and you know there are sandals inside the country now talk the country was hungry and connections but that's a different story bob thank you. well he's making a list and he's checking it twice it is that time of year when children visit santa claus to tell him their christmas wishes normally children sit on santa's lap but that is not socially this and like so many other things this year that's had to change because of the coronavirus pandemic luckily for those who are making the trek to santa his village in finland near the arctic circle the man in red has everything under control take a look. it's unusually quiet and sanchez believes at this time of the year the little town in the arctic circle is usually bustling with people but not even the magical enclave is exempt from the pandemics global consequences.

in times of uncertainty for old and young st nick has a reassuring message we all have to be very nice and we have to follow all public health recommendations and social distance. we all got front new ways to beat going to meet our friends and relatives i'd love for hugs. and santa leads by example greeting those who have made the trip to his village through plexiglass sporting math and pacifiers traditions or reinvented here in the arctic circle after all staying in good graces with santa takes commitment. regular visitor here i've been trying to get off the notice for years. for those unable to come see father christmas personally the elves at the post office are working overtime to make sure all wishes are granted and as rudolph and his herd started

warming up for their big trip around the globe santa has one last word of advice. be nice to each other christmas is coming soon. that's right now ali or nice santa claus is coming to town after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day stick around we'll be right back.

to. the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. how has the rate of infection been developing. measures are being taken. what does the latest research say. information and context.

the coronavirus of data the co the special monday to friday on w. in the far north. beyond the inhabitable world. it's lonely. barren. and breathtakingly beautiful the arctic our full expanse of bitter cold. and the sound of global warming. to the journey around the north pole dancing at the changing environment of the ice disappears earlier and it keeps retreating ha shish the last years have been smelling roughie. meat profiteers and talk with people experience

makes it hard let's face it. our future depends on what happens here in one of the most fragile ecosystems on earth. northern lights place within the arctic circle starts december 21st w. tomorrow a hard lock down begins here in germany no christmas shopping little if any christmas gatherings no new year's fireworks all because the coronavirus.