this is to give you news live from berlin a long journey for corona virus in the u.k. a country hits a new record of with 850000 daily infections piling more pressure onto its over stretched health service also on the program killed for doing their job to dozens of journalists around the world murdered for exposing corruption organized crime and environmental degradation. and he shook up the fashion world with his

futuristic creations and turned his name into a lucrative global brand french designer. has died at the age of $98.00. welcome to the program public health officials in the u.k. say the government needs to take decisive action to bring down 19 infections new cases jump from a record 41000 on monday to more than 53000 on tuesday despite tougher structure in place across much of the country hospitals are already treating more covert 19 patients than at the peak of the pandemic in april and the numbers forecast to climb even higher in the coming weeks. joins me for more he's just with the lancaster university and england dr moneer tell us through what is

just so difficult to bring these cases down in the united kingdom i think major emphasis at the moment is really to bring the number down and we knew that this time of the year is particularly notorious for the infectious diseases because this is the longest time for holidays and a lot of celebrations going on intermingling of the families and getting into the winter meaning that less went elation and so on so these are really fueling in the number of cases and on top of every. just agreed we have a new variant which is more transmissible and today that indicate that 56 percent higher transmissibility has been reported for this new variant so altogether is really a favor able to ration for the virus to carry on in fact into people over because we still have 80 percent of the people that thought susceptible to infection so the

prospect isn't unfortunately not that good can you give us a picture of the strain that the national health service is under right now across the country. well if we don't really look onto the couldn't we know that 62 percent of the infections are belonging to this new variant and this new variant is carrying $23.00 mutations compared to the older strain and out of those 20 mutation 3 of them are very critical of despite what we're doing and now since the announcement last week by and of course we have done some of the analysis but in the scientific communities i need to hear that those mutation in the spike but routine is allowing the virus to stick to our cells more strongly and therefore this new variant is more feature in replication and therefore higher widest load in the infected person so more higher. more and keep it off the virus in the body mean we're close miss ability and that's all it is taking the whole population on to the

knee so if you can translate that to us non-doctors non viral just out there how worried should we be about that variant. well if we look on truly couldn't dad there is no evidence that this new variant would have a higher or severe form of the disease so that is really good and we also know that this probably would not impact on 2 of the vaccine after casey so that is also very good don't we think that if we are worried about is it still some stability so if if the person is in fact at this is really likely going to transmit disinfection to the nearby person so trust me civility is meaning basic and that we really have more infections and more infections mean more hospitalization and more hospital. i mean unfortunately more fatalities so ultimately it will take a bigger toll on to the human house so that's the one we are standing at the moment what would you say to government officials and public health officials what needs to be done to get this under control they're keeping new tears being put in place

or are we looking towards here 567 where does this end. i think the important thing here is that we are having one of the key bases 2020 percent more inspections and as you described higher number of inspection than ever been the corded bit in this and damage so this means certainly something we need to be done we can't simply ignore that hugh looking on to the future perspective and i can assure you that the number of cases we are having on the 1 dollar coming out of the christmas and festive season because those will be coming later so what all the number will increase significantly so this mean either we have to significantly roll out the vaccine as quickly as possible as logically as possible and also move on to have 5 that mean we have to put the whole country. on a very strict restrictions and on that the schools along with the universities to we'll you block the country in the bay that the movement is top and the number of

inspection go down because until we don't really do that meaning that we will certainly not have a bit on this pandemic in near future dr mohamad moneer joining us from lancaster university thank you very much for those insights thank you very much really for having me u.s. president elect harris has been given the coded 1000 vaccine live on television. the incoming biden administration is aiming to boost confidence and vaccinations president elect joe biden got his 1st shot live on t.v. last week he takes office in 3 weeks and plans to make tackling a pandemic his top priority. let's look at some of the other developments in the pandemic belarusan argentina have become the 1st countries outside russia to launch mass vaccination campaigns using the sputnik vivax scene the shot still has not

completed late stage trials that would ensure its safety and efficacy thailand is offering 2 year work permits to undocumented migrant workers the government hopes the move will help curb the spread of covert 19 by encouraging migrants to access testing and health care and the e.u. has called for the immediate release of a chinese citizen journalist who was jailed for reporting on the early outbreak of the pandemic and. was handed a 4 year term jail term on monday it's been around a year since the 1st coronavirus cases were reported by officials in the chinese city of war on the pen demick is now largely under control in china but stories are emerging of how people have paid the price for beijing's alleged lack of transparency over covert 19 reports now on a chinese man who says he's angry with the government for not releasing more information at the time the 1st 200 cases were recorded. it is almost as if nothing

had ever happened here life is back to normal in the city where the corona virus 1st emerged china has brought infection rates down to almost 0 in an exuberant exhibition the communist party celebrates victory in what it calls its war on the epidemic with tributes to soldiers and medics who work themselves to exhaustion during the outbreak but 1st and foremost the party celebrates self and the general secretary xi jinping was hailed as the man who led the country to victory. this is hala china wants people to see its reaction to the disease and how many people do see it indeed but there are other voices in this city. john high is one of them he is on his way to the municipal government. but isn't this the people's government taking pictures is not allowed. to look at

the country by means of i think they should change their name from the people's government of one hand to the bureaucrats government of on one hand. john hi normally lives in the southern city of shenzhen but returned home to 100 in january when his father broke his hip the elderly man received free treatment at a military hospital this was where he caught cold it and later died. john rice says his father would still be alive if the authorities in one hand had not covered up the early stages of the outbreak he is trying to file a case in court against the government. for the well. i've been very upset since i came back to work. he is also i'm sad and angry in the same time. that's my current state of mind. inch.

on the floor that i can't stand all this propaganda about the achievements in the fight against because video was just what out of all the people who thought the innocent people who lift this world have never been paid proper respect. but few people to speak publicly about their grievances many others appear to have put the experience behind them night life is back on the streets especially young people enjoy their newly returned free was. one of many places in the woods 'd to struggle with a pandemic the city where it all began isn't. let's take a look at some other stories making headlines bangladesh has started moving a 2nd group of a range of muslim refugees to the offshore island of basilan child rights groups have voiced opposition concerned about the compounds of vulnerability to floods the united nations has urged the government not to force anyone to go. tens of

thousands of protesters in nepal have called for the ouster of prime minister kaja process at a rally in come on do they urged him to reverse his decision to dissolve parliament the protest was organized by a splinter group of the governing communist party. lawmakers in the u.s. house of representatives have voted overwhelmingly to override president donald trump a veto of a defense funding bill they've also voted to increase pandemic relief to $2000.00 per adult that moves debate to the republican controlled senate which is split on whether to approve further pandemic relief. at least 50 journalists and other media workers have been killed in connection with their work in the last year that's according to the latest annual report from reporters without borders the watchdog group says most of these journalists lost their lives in countries that aren't at war and were often in 10. generally targeted for trying to expose crime

and corruption. in mexico a country with one of the world's highest murder rates and the worst part journalists the country has been plagued by violence related to drugs gangs for years. the danger faced by reporters trying to investigate poses a threat to democracy in the world's largest spanish speaking nation. people are afraid that information will be linked and that organized crime will track us down because we revealed something or reported something that we should not have. reporters without borders says 8 journalists were killed in mexico and 2020 more than in any other country iraq afghanistan pakistan and india also reported several journalist deaths during the past year. one of the killings in afghanistan happened earlier this month gunmen shot dead a female t.v. anchor as she left her home in the east of the country. and was also

a campaigner for the rights of women and children. reporters without borders says 2020 also saw the 1st execution of a journalist in 3 decades. an exiled iranian journalist living in europe was kidnapped last year during a trip to iraq to run convicted and executed him over his online reporting of anti-government protests in 2017. and 2020 also brought with it a new threat the coronavirus pandemic reporters without borders says it is impossible to know how many journalists were exposed while going about their work the organizations as at least 3 reporters died after contracting the virus. for more on this let's bring in laura karl's and she is a journalist and the director of the think tank the americas program which is a networking hub for democracy and human rights welcome to the program could you

1st give us an idea of what it's like to be a working journalist in mexico. where it's very different than what people think of as a war zone and they note that mexico has the worst rate of assassination for journalists including countries are at war that are at war but you have to take into account that mexico is in a way at war ever since they launched the drug war there has been a struggle for territorial can for territorial control in many parts of the country and this means that as a journalist it can look like a normal city street but you don't understand the underlying dynamics well the rules of what can be reported on or not reported on and in fact it turns out that they officials and government officials are the culprits of the majority of the attacks on journalists which have increased 45 percent between last year and this year the opposite of what was promised by

a government that said that it would make protection of journalists and human rights a priority what is the connection between safety for journalists and safety for the general population. again it's difficult to know exactly what to do but what we have seen is that the mechanisms of protection which include escorts and the series of mechanisms that worked out both in mexico and on the international level have not worked at all 2 of the assassinations were actually people that had protective measures and so it's been a real challenge to try to figure out how you do protect yourself in this environment but part of it has to do with 1st of all attacking impunity because 99 percent of cases of attacks and assassinations of journalists have not been brought to justice this sense a message clearly to organized crime and to corrupt government officials that it's ok to knock off journalist whose reporting is becoming an annoyance to your

businesses or to your interests when that message goes out it just makes the problem become ever worse the other part of it has to do with being a woman journalist was seen in many cases where there's a rise in attacks on women journalists although they're not the majority of assassinations the national women's rights defenders network of which i'm a member has reported 5 $132.00 attacks on women journalists just this year and that's nearly half of all attacks on women human rights defenders so it's becoming an even more hostile environment for women reporters as well which often have a gender violence component to the cons of threats and attacks they receive so we're winding down 2020 looking towards 2021 do you see any hope for for the situation improving. it's vital that the government begin to take on these cases and to resolve them there was a negotiation that the 2 percent of the cases should be resolved

a year that's nothing and yet we're still not seeing movement in that area by resolving the cases and not just the hitmen but the masterminds behind these assassinations and attacks they send out a different message that in fact this will not be tolerated within the country the other part of it has to do with changing the government's rhetoric torture alyssum in general the president has taken on an adversarial relationship with journalists considering them in convenience rather than an ally in creating a transition to democracy in mexico again this sense out of generalized message in society that attacks and even killings of journalists will not be dealt with as a priority within the government so there needs to be a complete change in attitude and in the public representation of the vital role of journalists in mexico as well as beginning to find ways to vent down the

generalized level of violence in the country our calls and speaking to us from mexico city thank you for your work let's hope for a peaceful or peaceful time in the year to come. thank you. a powerful earthquake has struck central croatia killing at least 5 people including a young girl and injuring many others the epicenter was 50 kilometers southeast of the capital's a grab with tremors felt in neighboring countries. as the dust settles a dramatic rescue. one of many. people across kuwait show were caught off guard by the massive earthquake and. suffered the consequences. hardest hit was the town of patricia. residents are rattled and distressed. the army and rescue workers spent hours searching for people trapped under the debris from collapsed roofs and entire

buildings it is the 2nd earthquake in as many days on monday a $5.00 quake already hit the region moreover this is the 3rd massive earthquake in kuwait this year. but this year is ending just as it began we are experiencing a very similar situation here as after the earthquake in march in zagreb because we are putting all of the state services that the citizens disposal of the army and the national guard are on duty in both of the hardest hit towns katrina and sees that will alert you with you know you're supposed. to series of aftershocks lead residents to spend most of the day outside too fearful to remain indoors. these nursing home residents were evacuated and forced to brave the cold hard those huddled on the streets not an ideal situation in times of corona. but for

those still in shock is seemingly favre option. legendary french fashion designer pierre cardon has died at the age of 98 and started making waves in the 1950 s. revolutionizing the industry with his futuristic looks he was also a commercial innovator producing ready to wear collections and licensing his name worldwide along before it was in vogue to do so. dan presented his extravagant creations on international catwalks for over 6 decades the paris designer was one of the most innovative and productive fashion designers in the world. i've been working professionally for 60 years and i've created over 4000 dresses and i never sold the originals. born in italy in 1022 pietro cut dini emigrated with his family to france by the 1940 s.

he changed his name to p.r. card done and was one of the most ambitious young designers in paris by 947 he was working for dior and just 3 years later he went solo surprising the fashion world with his creativity. he was known for his generous collars and geometric designs. the designer modeled his men's collection himself the beatles commissioned him to design matching suits for them can dance fashion was considered revolutionary catching the fun of the 1960 s. . and. when they went public with many people hated my work at that time they found my dresses strange too provocative like this where you could see. naked breasts from 1959 on the must of also made high fashion available to the masses don is considered the founder of print up or take bringing exclusive paris fashions to

department stores around the world he became one of the richest men in france and launched hotels decorated in his own distinctive style. even in his mid eighty's cutdown didn't consider retiring the role of i think i'll continue to work until i die as long as i don't get too much or in the tism and can still walk and think then i'll carry on i can't imagine my life any other way i have everything a man could want. he echoed down once said his favorite item of clothing is when he creates for a life that does not yet exist the world of tomorrow. let's get more on the life and times of p.r. card dollar for that i'm joined by david leavitt's from our culture desk hi david so it's been a long time since he saw fame in the fifty's in the sixty's why does p.r. cut off still matter to us now well he was such

a formative figure back in the thirty's in the sixty's the stars were winding up to wear his clothes and he dressed elizabeth to dress john who he was also involved with by the way and he also dressed the beatles in the net roots style jackets without collars without look has nothing really to distract from their mockery. and they brought that style to the west so he was really he was a designer with an enormous star power or whose designs when we ship the era you can say if the beatles still influenced today involves us today and certainly so does he what made his design stand out from his contemporaries. well i like older more conventional designers blake corrosion back in the 1950 s. who were trying to accentuate the body she wasn't interested in the form of the body he saw it more as something to put his designs on top of like sculptures he

actually likened. the body to water and his sculptures were a glass of water so it was really. people had to wear his designs spirit weren't designs that were made eccentric the natural body and there were also quite a sexual they were uni sex which was really unique for the time and he was a really high in the air at this space age look so much so actually that now eventually asked him to design a real suit for astronauts a while and you know that that just leaves us that to the next question which is he was quite the businessman wasn't he how did that go down with his peers. will he was very honest he was very honest that he wanted to make a lot of money and he knew that designing incredibly expensive one of a kind dresses wasn't the most profitable for him so he made his designs available to the masses now back in the 1950 s.

you couldn't just go into a top paris fashion house and buy something off the rack he made that possible he was also a big change of license and if if there was any product teacher put his name i'm not just socks and ties but haykel jars frying pans mineral water she would do it and he was also one of the 1st major western designers to go into china in the 1970 s. when it opened up so a man who really saw opportunity and seized it looking good while saving some money i guess that is like a say thanks david love it's very much. new york's iconic times square attracts all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons one of them is the annual good riddance day just before new year's out with the old in with the new and after the year we've been through doing just that is all the more cathartic so here's how a few new yorkers are sending 2020 packed. my i say

very pretty good bye to the year of 2020. 2020 once all the dozen people in new york gathered to celebrate the unofficial good riddance day when they say goodbye to the things they don't want to take into the new year. old let's say good riddance to the coronavirus drop throwing them into an oversized paper shredder all those sentiments are so much more strong in 2020 because people really want to say good riddance to a lot of the difficulty in the pain and the isolation of the last year and they also see the light of the home at the end of the tunnel the vaccine the sense that maybe in the future finally the houses of broadway will be and the theaters will be able to be full. also at times where people are aiming to look forward instead of back at what they want to shred. to participating in a wishing wall writing down their hopes and dreams for 2021.

i did wish for hopefully called it a go in at the end of the cure and then we can go back to traveling and having fun and really doing things that my family and i least healthy for all the words that would help for all the in my family and all the family there. that kind of it doesn't depend if you think humanity my family they love the pottery barn i want to see them are not there i wish for abundance and happiness for everyone else around . times square in new york is normally a hot spot for celebrations on new year's eve but with the coronavirus still keeping people up on. celebrations to ring in 2021 will be much more subdued. that's it for this hour more the top c.n.n. .

it's an ancient dream to build a pecial motion machine in scotland that dream might soon become reality scientists they're all working on an unmanned aerial vehicle that can move forward without an engine. that could be used as a satellite for telecommunications. but how one of us decide what.

to do. next on t.w.a. . the story of prejudice and propaganda. they were called the rhineland bastards born after the 1st world war. he was an illegitimate child and there were many of them. from. their mothers or germans living in the occupied drying land their father's soldiers from the french colonies from. the photos and keyes afeard human children had a hard time and because they were a reminder of the german defeat. they grew up in a climate of national pride and racism. the european population felt that it was

important to be white and to stay right by supply. exclusion and contempt culminated in forced sterilization under the nazis for. this documentary examines the few traces that remain of their existence we call them the truth. storage january 11th on d. w. . you. know who any to consumption rises every year many people's biological rhythms are no longer in sync with day and night but more with us official light what does that mean for us energy demands also to peace in natural resources renewable energies could help more if they were more efficient one idea is to use lenses to focus on not more precisely on the solar cells in the panel.

welcome to tomorrow today.