big news live from berlin the outgoing u.s. president backs down and signs a huge coronavirus relief bill donald trump has led me to millions of cash strapped americans will get government payments albeit delayed we'll have more on why trump changed his tune. and a warning for critics of china's coronavirus narrative citizen journalist branded a troublemaker for reporting on the who are now pays the price for speaking out. also with vaccinations underway in countries around the world we take a look back at the trail of

a killer virus from mobile home market to lock downs nearly everywhere overflowing intensive care units of course lives lost. and welcome to the program. u.s. president donald trump has signed into law a $900000000000.00 coronavirus relief package that would deliver money directly to businesses and individual taxpayers the president retreated from his threat to veto the bill and from his demand that congress increase stimulus checks from $600.00 per adult to 2000 that's something democrats pushed for and his own republican party opposed the delay of almost a week has meant that unemployment benefits lapsed for millions of people and even threatened a government shutdown. go over to our correspondent in

washington oliver going to have you with us this relief package has been a long time coming what is in it exactly and for whom. so we're talking about a more than 2 trillion dollar. u.s. dollar relief package william $900000000000.00 u.s. dollars in direct aid and $1.00 trillion to fund government agencies a large amounts of money in the 2nd relief package since the pandemic began so mostly that money is used to provide financial support for businesses for unemployed individuals as well as for families and then every religious person would receive $600.00 u.s. dollars in direct payments and that will most probably take another 2 weeks according to export for the experts for the treasury department to pay that money out to the receive remember donald trump and as you just mentioned also don't call

for 2000 u.s. dollars in direct aid and refused to sign the bills that bill for long periods of time and it seems very much like he has not accomplished anything on that and except sewing a lot of uncertainty here in the united states and as you know donald trump's been all over the place on for or against more money for corona aid and relief what made him finally change course and signed the bill. well there's just a couple weeks left in his presidency and of course he does not want to be the one the culprit in fact for millions of americans ending up without food ending up without being able to pay their bills and to make ends meet of course he rather wants to be the one you know calling for more aid and that's exactly what he did and now congress has to vote on this 2000 u.s. dollars proposal that all trump made and the democratic controlled house of representatives will certainly or very likely support that idea ironically of

course because it's not donald trump's party and then the house will send this bill to the republican controlled senate and this is where the again with the republicans have the majority in the bill will very likely fail there but donald trump in the end will be able to say i tried and congress denied it and funny you mention the republican controlled senate because that could change coming up based on the battleground state of georgia it's holding its runoff election for 2 senate seats next week the democrats need to hold both of those seats are scuse me when both those seats if they want to control the senate and you were down there in georgia following one of those democrats hoping to become the next senator for georgia let's have a look stay by stand by while we have a look at your report. all i is are on him the 33 year old democratic hopeful and a major challenge. because

it's a race georgian senate candidate john also if must win for the democrats to win control of congress the stakes are high and so are his goals and this is about. jobs and justice for. establishing health care is a human right in the united states investing in clean and renewable and. to create jobs and solve the environmental crisis passing a new civil rights act to secure equal justice for all regardless of the race these priorities require us to win these 2 senate races so that we can enact legislation in the public interest that. political centrist john asaf has built his campaign on joe biden's message of unity many supporters believe he has a bright future i think this is history in the one thing i think in my lifetime i

will see john r. suffer as president of the united states john asked if i think it's representative of the future of america and i think those the senator that he is that he is opposing represents the old america a lot of those are working hand in a way to as where they can afford health care but i do feel like when you're in an apt if they feel the a look out for the runoff is a big corporate unity full democratic hopeful john also in his attempt to unseat the republican incumbent david per june but the runnels remain a neck and neck race in georgia has been a republican stronghold for decades until now so who knows the fate of the biden presidency lies in his hands the free testing and vaccination for every american in a recent campaign ads by going to appeal directly to george and voters let me be clear i need raphael warnock and john also in the united states senate to get this

done. their folks in congress threaten to do everything in the power to block our efforts. in a suburban new savannah democratic activists julius hall is volunteering to convince voters to cast their ballots. voter turnout might decide this runoff especially among african-americans you know on. campus and they are trying to get there by the get out and vote. we got you on our list as a democrat we've been behind so long. in this country. and so when you get a sense of you're own the raz and things are happening where we are there is some inclusion and then you get a clown that takes office for 4 years which is donald trump now we get rid of him and we feel like we can over again. the pressure is mounting on john also if in the final days of his campaign but his supporters keep dreaming of his victory. and back with all of our solid in the studio he's in

washington all over you were down there in georgia we just saw you met the candidate you met a supporters but george a very republican state but a week to go to this election how are also its chances looking. well william it looks like a very close election perhaps of the likes of the presidential election or even closer but there's certainly something that has changed since november and that is donald trump of course lost the presidential the presidential election and with that also he lost a lot of momentum he's certainly not on the ballot in georgia but he's still representing the republican party and he's still campaigning down there by the way next week so in an effort to help his candidates down there donald trump discredited the election as you know repeatedly called it rick and that resonated with many american voters now the big question is can the republican candidates on the ground down there in georgia still mobilize the voters given that the his very

own party or their very own party holds the election rigged adding to that is another problem one of the 2 candidates kelly lefler of the republican party again even called for boycotting that election she's now back pedaling actually she's saying go out to gold bugs she certainly has a credibility issue there david perdue the other republican candidate had a particularly poor campaign so that's all not in the favor of the republican candidates but again the quote the polls if you look at them right now they look very close like a razor thin if at all and it will all come down to voter turn out in the end all over if both democrats can't win in georgia what does that mean for biden. well for biden this is not only about a of course a senate run all of this is about the success of his presidency really because in order for him to be able to govern successfully in to undo many of donald trump's

policies which of course has been part of his campaign he called it the battle for the soul of america in order to be able to do so he needs control of the senate that's the 2nd chamber of the u.s. legislature now if he doesn't win those 2 seats he won't won't have control even one seat would not be enough and so there's a lot of stake here and the republicans will of very likely up struck all his attempts to undo president trump's policies sal in washington thank you very much chinese citizen journalist john has been sentenced to 4 years in prison for reporting on who has covert 19 outbreak during the early months of the pandemic john was detained in may after posting videos criticizing the government's response lawyers for the 37 year old saying she's been on a hunger strike and is in poor health. police pushing journalists back

outside the court building for yet another journalist was being sentenced for years behind bars for citizen journalists. the charges picking quarrels and provoking trouble john has been imprisoned since may she went on a hunger strike and her lawyers claim she was force fed through a nasal tube. after i explained to her what kind of punishment she could expect she was determined to follow through with her hunger strike come what may i reminded her of the risks but she said she knew in her heart what she was doing was right. during the lockdown and john john put up critical posts on twitter and you tube both blocked by the chinese government reports dealt with everyday problems in hospitals and official corruption. john john is one of several citizen journalists who ran afoul of the authorities in. this way from but there are many similar cases

of human rights abuses in china you never hear from these people again some are allowed to go home others disappear john john is the only one to actually end up in court. the government has reacted harshly to any criticism of its handling of the coronavirus outbreak it appears determined to stop journalists like john john from muddying the official message that its response was both swift and effective let's turn now to some other stories making headlines bangladesh is relocating a 2nd group of orange of muslims from an overcrowded refugee camp to an isolated island in the bay of bengal about 1500 people who fled persecution of myanmar are expected on the island on tuesday the facility can hold up 210-0000 people. 700 fishermen are feared dead after a russian trawler capsized and sunk during a storm in the barents sea officials said 2 people had been rescued by a passing vessel shown in the harbor but hopes of finding more survivors in the

freezing waters are fading. european markets jumped on monday with germany's dax reaching a record high it comes after a slew of good news for investors opposed to trade deal the stimulus package in the u.s. and the distribution of the corona virus vaccine. thousands of people have now received beyond pfizer vaccine across the european union which began a coordinated vaccine rollout on sunday but supplies are limited in member states are prioritizing medical staff nursing home workers and the elderly that's putting a growing pressure on the german government to ensure quicker production of the vaccine. the country is set to receive 1300000 doses of the vaccine before year's end that's according to the german health ministry but it's minister says mass production can't hope it happen overnight. i mean they just that some people have the impression that vaccine production one of the most complicated and challenging

fields in the pharmaceutical industry could just simply be wrapped up and will in the coming weeks just stop producing extra vaccine doses elsewhere in germany or europe to do this preparations need to be made those preparations are under way and our goal is to soon be producing additional vaccine in coordination with my own site so that derek williams as for our science desk and he's with me now he's been covering the penn demick. daily covert 1000 special for most of 2021 they're good to have you with us what do you make of the political response to the pandemic. well that's that's kind of a pretty broad question isn't it i mean i think it depends on the country that you live in different countries have reacted in different ways in the u.s. for example i think there's a pretty broad consensus that things have been pretty catastrophic in terms of communication from the government here in germany i think government gets

a much better report card in other countries that have done especially well take new wheat new zealand for example geographical factors that have certainly played a role of being an island but really that would have made much less of a difference if the communication from on high from the government had not been as clear as it was in general i would say that clear communication from the government and from politicians has really played a key role and in in saying whether or not they've dealt with this virus well or not if the public feels sort of honestly informed and they know what the plan is then they're more likely to stick to the rules that will help prevent the spread of the virus so stay with us for a 2nd because today is exactly one year since china 1st inform the world health organization that cases of what they were saying no monia with an unknown cause had been reported in the city of homs so let's have

a look at just how far the world has come since that moment the epicenter of a global disaster the wu hand went to market in january 2020 had met at least sealed off but it was too late. the novel coronavirus had already spread to humans from animals sold here setting off a deadly pandemic the 1st coded 1000 death was recorded in wu han on january 11th a month later the disease had killed more people in china than the sars outbreak in 2003. with hospitals overflowing a city of 11000000 went into through lockdown drastic social distancing measures a low china to contain the virus but by no the pandemic had long spread beyond its borders with europe becoming the next hot spot by the end of march italy had overtaken china as the worst hit country in the city of bear

the army was called in to cart off the coffins of those who perished in the hospitals when emergency wards ran out of ventilators doctors had to choose who wish to live or to die. on a from 9th a grim milestone 100000 corporate 1000 deaths worldwide 2 days later the us registered the most coronavirus deaths in any country status it maintained for the rest of the year in new york bodies piled up in a marriage in sea storage outside hospitals here too there were no longer able to cope with the caseload as a lockdown sought to bring down spiraling infection rates the city that never sleeps ground to a halt. the spread slowed over the summer but that did not stop the global corporate 19 death toll from reaching 1000000 in september since then colder weather has driven a result of the virus as the numbers keep rising the world is pinning its hopes on

newly developed vaccines to wrest control back from the virus. but with doses limited it will be months yet before the global immunization drive really takes off . airplanes back with us now when was it clear to you just how dangerous and dramatic a situation the world was facing. well the tend to make or this disease hit my radar last january 6th but it did really become kind of for me personally a full on obsession really and south and south everywhere but there were a couple of key warning signs i think for me you really have an absolute fundamental one was was when they said that human to human transmission was possible that was that was a really scary moment and mid january and that was followed by these high ostomates of the reproduction number are are not which meant that it was. some experts were

guessing that it was pretty highly infectious so. at the latest i would say that by the time it had italy and march i knew that this was going to be something that was here to stay for a while so in your in your special there's a popular segment where viewers get to ask their questions how of those questions changed as the pandemic has changed. well at the beginning the questions were all really pretty basic and they were and they were kind of driven by fear they were they were hiding questions so so how do how do i protect myself or maybe you can kind of get it from from from the water from the water supply they were short they were limited and i was able to answer 2 or 3 per day but but over time as people as we've learned more and more about this virus and about this pandemic they've the questions have become more complex so so now there are there are things like how do messenger r.n.a.

vaccines work which obviously just take more time to answer so i'm only answering one a day now and because the interesting questions are simply too short too too complex to answer really and half a minute can you give us a quick snapshot of what you see for the year to come. what i see for the year to come on and feeling at this point pretty optimistic i haven't always felt that way i've made a bet with a colleague that i'm probably going to lose that i'm that i'm going to be get my 1st vaccination by the end of march here and in germany of course it depends on where you live how positive you feel but i have great hopes that i might be able to take a vacation at least here in europe by the summer i think we'll all be. crossing our fingers for that there william has been covering a covert 19 for d. w. for us thanks very much thank you. watching u.w. news still to come it started as just a way to pass the time in lockdown now it's

a successful board game that's become of the family business. and in the air quality index of the world's most polluted cities is top of the list the capital of kyrgyzstan has a population of around a 1000000 people and for many years the winter months have seen it choked with smog as people use coal to heat their homes since coal is cheap changing to a less polluting fuel won't be easy especially now that the coronavirus pandemic is battering the country's economy and only sure one reports. coal is selling like hotcakes in the freezing cold winter temperatures in the city of bishkek average at minus 6 degrees celsius coal is an essential good because homes on the outskirts aren't connected to the city's central heating network. by

a lot of these bags sometimes 20 at once as you can see there are private houses all around here and they all heat with coal. that. made headlines several times in december for being the number one most polluted city in international air quality ratings but people here say the smog is a problem every year in the winter. and it's just. it's like this when you leave the city the sky is clear. and i think this is because of the negligence of the government no one is monitoring the situation and the smog is a direct consequence of that. i think it's just far it's definitely because of the winter do you really think it's pollution we were to visit their. lies in a valley and smog covers it like a lid kit it is authorities admit they don't know the. exact source of the pollution the country's prime minister recently said this mainly coal powered

heating plant could be behind up to 20 percent of the emissions he ordered the government to look into switching to gas. for now though air quality sensors in the city show the air is hazardous to people's health the concentration of cancerous particles is several times higher than the norm here in the center you can sometimes even smell the smog it smells burnt and city authorities say that the air quality is so bad that people should actually be wearing masks like this one. but environmental activists feel authorities are all talk and no action they're protesting against the city's latest planning document they say new buildings are blocking the wind and locking the smog inside the city. the plan is only in the interest of the construction lobby the building companies and big all of dark. and other countries they would have declared an emergency situation by now but here

they just pretend nothing's happening. but for now local environmental inspectors are stuck in forcing existing norms today they're checking the quality of the coal used to heat the boiler at this local school even many government institutions are still heated with coal. regular people will keep eating with coal because it's the most cost effective we can ban the use of coal in the winter people have to live they have to cook. once everyone has access to a gas connection and to an affordable electricity supply there simply won't be small here anymore. but kyrgyzstan's gas provider raised prices this year and the coronavirus has hit the country's cash strapped economy hard so for now the move away from cold and from this layer of smaug feels far off . now during germany's 1st lockdown in spring 4 young sisters and these biden

decided to make the most of the situation by developing a board game and it's now become a best seller what started off as a corky idea to kill some time as quickly turned into a flourishing family business. a common pastime under lockdown but this is a special game adapted to special times. for the school and we developed the coronavirus game while at home under lockdown we heard in the media and saw in nearby supermarkets how everyone was panic buying that really shocked us all. so to come to grips with the whole situation we invented a board game. the players compete to buy all the groceries on a shopping list for an elderly neighbor hurdles including countering the virus which

sends you into porn teen or finding that hoarders have already snapped up all the soap and toilet paper. their basic principle solidarity. sisters incorporated various elements they were seeing on the news about the pandemic. we heard about the balcony concerts in italy and turned that into a playing card to. when their father saw what they came up with he hired an artist to design the cards board and the box. because the game has been so popular it's been quite a challenge for our family based operation like packing and posting 500 games within a very short period from. the demand from all over germany has been massive. thanks

to the sisters' ingenuity families stuck at home during germany's 2nd lockdown now have a new fun way to make time fly. and. this is g.w. news up next our program a global $3000.00 including a look at indigenous communities in colombia finding a way to forge the future back with more news at the top the hour until then check out our website e.w. dot com and follow us on instagram and twitter and you get your news morning with cruft thanks very much for watching.

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is the latest research so. information and context. with special monday to friday. welcome to global free 1000. in colombia the indigenous me sank people have set up a school to protect their traditions and then natural environment. in india a village commune.