you look at the fact that. this is state of the news live from berlin the e.u. and china opening markets brussels and beijing seal an investment deal after 7 years of talks but is the e.u. putting business before human rights also coming up deadly explosions ripped through givens adding the airport to lock the target a plane carrying the country's newly formed unity government. and signed and sealed you can prime minister bars johnson and e.u. leaders put this signatures to the post brings a trade. american

held welcome to the program the european union has struck a controversy 0 investment deal with china they use has high yield the accord saying it will give european companies better access to chinese markets but critics say those economic benefits come at the expense of human rights. for 7 years european union representatives have been haggling with china at the negotiating table the results were presented at a joint 1st show press conference. market access for both sides will be improved a level playing field means that chinese state owned enterprises will no longer be given preferential treatment through subsidies and for the 1st time china commits to following environmental climate social as well as occupational health and safety standards but when it comes to those standards chinese president xi jinping made

only vague promises in the agreement china has imprisoned up to $1000000.00 readers in labor and reeducation camps and shing shang province she has promised to sign a convention against forced labor but no date has been set and sanctions haven't been discussed even take promises around market access haven't been convincing what the remove the stories concerning to the chinese companies that they amasis the european market which deal with. the problem is the other way around it's about that yes it's the european companies to the chinese market which has always 'd been more closed in terms of investment because of the way that china entered into the world trade organization as if the rupee economy was special rights even though there have been some breakthroughs concerning competition both sides are not yet on equal footing so they were most likely to meet more often around the negotiating

table in the coming years. or at let's bring in sufi richardson the china director of human rights watch so i think welcome from the opposition i wonder what did you see what do you worry between the lines of this tried to you. well i think there are 2 variables here that should make everyone quite skeptical and the 1st is that the chinese government is just devoid of credibility when it comes to commitments not just her and human rights but around issues of trade or even security and this is a government that regularly signs binding international agreements and then ignores them but i think the other variable is that there is very strong evidence the use of force labor in. europe that has been acknowledged by the e.u. and member state governments and there's almost no ability to do the kind of due diligence that's necessary to check on that problem and so what's at this minute really has to wonder why anybody believes that beijing will pursue any sorts of

reforms are forced labor or other issues in good faith and so does that then speak to the reason why wasn't the e.u. firm with china in terms of a solid commitment to a deadline to improve human and worker rights well i think there are a lot of variables at stake there and let's recall that one of the european parliament which is which is taking a very strong stand on a number of human rights and she is in china still has to ratify the deal but you know even if you look back at the last 10 years of reports by the e.u. chamber of commerce in china you know what you would see is report after report after report complaining about all of the ways in which the chinese government violates the rules that have already been agreed upon and so again it's very hard to see how this new deal will somehow be magically different. so if you've raised the point that the deal still needs to be ratified in the european parliament does that mean there is still the chance of meaningful improvements to be made to the

deal. well either one hopes so either meaningful improvements or a much more honest conversation about what the e.u. really does value we've heard a lot of discussion the last couple of days about you know the news values and how they're reflected in this deal and i just struggle to see how the e.u. can both condemn the existence of forced labor in china and then sign a deal with the chinese government that doesn't solve those problems 1st that should be foundational if you know the e.u. and europeans really care that the clothes they're wearing were made by forced labor so if you've richardson china director of human rights watch thanks so much. at least 22 people have been killed and dozens wounded in an attack on the international airport in yemen the blast went off just as members of the new unity government returned from saudi arabia so far no group has claimed responsibility

the original blast was then followed by another explosion near the presidential palace several hours later. it was meant to be a moment to celebrate. a newly formed government disembarking de unity a symbol of the promise to end yemen's long civil war. instead chaos. guess who explosions shortly after the planes arrival broke to the airport a local security source says more time shells landed on the bullet hole. witnesses described hearing sporadic gunfire soon off so. hours later another explosion was reported be the presidential palace. other who moved in this was a cowardly terrorist attack. the government is in auditing to stay and to exercise

its duties and operations with the strong will of our people. the acts of terror will not stop us from doing our work. immediately or the good will of the ministers have all been reported safe after the attack they were returning from the saudi capital where they had been sworn in as part of a cabinet reshuffle that reshuffle so yemen's internationally recognized government and southern separatists from a power sharing cabinet their aim is to forge a joint front against iran backed the rebels who seized the country's capital and much of the north in 2014 plunging the country into an ongoing civil war. while no one has claimed responsibility for the explosions that airport blame has fallen on the hussein his power in yemen is threatened by the new government alliance. ok let's take a look now at some of the other international stories syria's state news agency

says at least 20 people were killed in an attack on a bus militants reportedly ambush the vehicle on a highway about 50 kilometers southwest of the city of the war unconfirmed reports say the bus was carrying syrian soldiers. senate has approved a law legalizing abortion the new legislation permits abortions until the 14th week of pregnancy and by the cases of rape or when the mother's life is in danger a landmark bill was met with strong opposition from religious leaders including pope francis. at least 11 people are still missing following a major landslide in norway police say they'll continue this search of a not despite treacherous conditions the wall of earth crushed and buried homes in the town of us north of. the services trying to secure those buildings lyfe standing. between has surged to a new record high of almost $29000.00 the value of the critter currency has

quadrupled this year as investors hedge against u.s. dollar weakness and the risk of inflation. well in another landmark deal british prime minister bars johnson has signed off on the brakes a trade agreement between the european union and the united kingdom that he used top officials earlier put their signatures to the accord which goes into force on new year's day. you could get the impression that british prime minister just wanted to sign it as quickly as possible. after putting his name to the more than $1000.00 pages of complicated legal language parse johnson seemed upbeat. good thank you very much everybody that i wanted wouldn't understand. the treaty that i just saw the end is a new beginning i think the beginning of what will be a wonderful relationship between the u.k. and britain bought this in the. book with us today not the 10 year it

is but. i mean the question you ask yourself is if i was really. serious. in this deal this country. to get their heads around a document like this members of parliament would usually require months but the british know our house pushed it through and just half a day $52173.00 voted against the deal which i fish really puts an end to years of break that negotiations were going to become a friendly neighbor the best friend and ally the e.u. could have working hand in glove when ever our values and interests coincide while fulfilling the sobering wish of the british people to live under their own laws but it comes at a price and pains from northern ireland and scotland voiced their concerns that the

unity of the united kingdom was now under threat the opposition labor party agreed to the deal largely because it didn't have a choice a figure is better than no deal adopted preventing this deal made immediate tariffs and quotas with the e.u. which will push up prices and drive businesses to the wall will make huge gaps in security fees huge leaders put been named to the deal earlier on wednesday fit was then flown by the royal air force to britain to be signed. but with many aspects of the deal not yet final the saga is not over yet. a correspondent in london mass has more on what exactly the post breaks the deal means for the u.k. johnson has signed the brakes a deal that he has reached with the e.u. and parliament had its roots in the however many critics of this process in

parliament are saying that practically it's not enough so the m.p.'s only had a few hours to debate this really complex agreement with the european union and given the fact that the great city isn't always ringback promised that breaks it was all about taking back control and giving control to the u.k. parliament many parliamentarians were very frustrated that they only had a few hours to look into this agreement however the deal is done and boris johnson obviously is celebrating the fact that he accomplished taking the u.k. out of the european union that there is more sovereignty free or for example the european court of justice critics are saying that he is not clear about the trade offs that he's not explaining to the country that yes there is more certainty but economically there are trade offs and even though there is a deal a trade deal with the e.u. that there will be extra trade barriers for example for manufacturers there'll be much more paperwork when they want to deal with the european customers or clients

and that boris johnson and his breaks of tears have never made it clear and obviously on a day like this they are not talking about it either. at mass in london that woman while britain has become the 1st country to authorize the coronavirus vaccine developed by astra zeneca and oxford university it comes as the u.k. battles a surge in new coded 19 cases this latest vaccine is cheaper and easier to transport than the biotech pfizer and modern aversions but trial data suggests it's not as effective there is also uncertainty about the best dosage dr john campbell is an independent health analyst based in the u.k. earlier we asked him how important this new vaccine it's this new vaccine is the best news we've had in the pandemic it is going to change the situation entirely now in the united kingdom we're going to start a mass rollout of this vaccine from the 4th of january we're going to be

vaccinating a 1000000 people a week from that point and that's only go to build up as the logistics and infrastructure develops and as well as that what we're going to do is we're going to give one dose of this vaccine and then wait a full 3 months before we get the 2nd dose so that means an awful lot of people are going to start to get a fairly good level been unity straightaway without waiting for the 2nd dose and of course it also means we can vaccinate many more people so it really is going to change the situation in the united kingdom and in time in europe. that was dr john campbell in the u.k. well meanwhile germany has registered more than a 1000 coronavirus there in a single 24 hour period it's the highest toll since the pandemic begun. public health officials say that's partly because of the delay in reporting of the christmas holidays but new cases have been high throughout the same specially among the elderly it's feared the number of deadly deaths could climb even higher in coming weeks. that's it for me for now i'll be back with more news headlines at the

top of the hour you can always visit our web site dot com for more at any time and you can follow us on social media channels as well the handle is at the w. news coming up next on. news africa. house in drama competition rival marketing numbers atmosphere fight at sac intuition love hate money. fans friends fans spam and fans all. on you tube joining us. children to come to terms. one giant problem.

in. 5 legal cases including a feeling that i'm getting. how will climate change affect us and our children. w dot com slash water. putting lipstick on a pig krrish critics bash a historic investment pact between the e.u. and china it aims to rebalance economic ties but opponents say it misses the mark on chinese labor rights. the pandemic has created i have and have not economy those reefs multiplied their wealth in those truth being sidelined. and it took a deadly explosion to reveal the hazardous materials at the port of beirut finally a company's called into the hopper of that toxic. bin fizzling place to business

the european union and china have struck a deal on a comprehensive investment agreement it comes up to 7 years of talks the e.u. hails the accord as a major win for automakers and other european companies seeking to do business with beijing but critics accuse brussels of ignoring human rights concerns and risking a rift with washington the deal still has to be finalized and ratified a process that could take several months i asked for more for his take on the deal he's director of the asia and china program at the european council on foreign relations a pad european think tank. i think it's business rather than critics it's a product of the trade and it's a product of the german presidency by chancellor merkel who prioritize really. the industry issues and maybe that should be right for investment the of the only problem is and in china everything is political nothing is purely economy so my

main worry when i look at the supposed draft of the deed nobody has the final text by the way and even today it's not the final text but he dares to be written in one a look at i worry about what's the section make it isn't what's the very thick ation mechanism there are lots of restrictions put on by the chinese side and you know depending on the depending on the capacity and a lot of accent of the mystic euro and we know what that is in china very did so on arbitration mechanism in fact what passes as arbitration is often a top level review by both parties meaning the e.u. and china an eventual difficulties which means a process that should be legal and straightforward runs the risk of being very political one way or another will tell me more about that because only. because an

illegal mechanism is something that if it is extremely important in this sort of investment deal i mean look at examples like tech talk t.j. i while away said teenie all of these chinese companies that have caused a lot of controversy and tense relations between the us and the e.u. what's going to happen. on the one hand there's nothing to prevent either the e.u. or china from performing a so-called investment screening according to their rules and therefore forbidding an investment on national security grounds or something that passes national security or because their rumps that's the positive side is that the hand of the e.u. is not hampered by the deed but what i worry about is how do you solve quire else in the implementation in the implementation of actual investment you don't see a court of arbitration and international court of arbitration you see

a lot of recourse again to the dumbest close of both parties and to even to a negotiation on top there is going to be a review mechanism twice a year for example about this but to me it's not a legal process and as such it's a dangerous process to manage the safety the security and the investment and that should concern investors whatever the opening looks like it is at the beginning of the crisis economists told us to look forward to a v. shaped recovery on the bounce back as quick as i felt well it's turned out to be a little trickier than that adolescents are now calling it a case shaped recovery the divergence of 2 legs of that k. one moving up one down. the crisis has become a day the struggle for hosting a pumice from bolivia she relies on handouts to feed her family. what is this

is a pandemic my children and i have had to go back to living on the streets. just like millions of others around the world. covered 1000 appended our lives and plunged the world into suffering and grief poverty inequality and hunger are rising jobs are disappearing and depths are mounting. but the coronavirus isn't stopping the rich from getting richer record stock exchange highs this week highlight the widening wealth gap tesla shares rose 700 percent this year big tech got even bigger while countless small businesses went bust. and have not economy so who are among those that are the haves and those are people who are benefiting from the strong housing market record low mortgage interest rates a booming stock market which really disproportionately benefits the wealthy and those who are the have nots or those that have already been sidelined or lost

income those who would be working in leisure and hospitality ours in restaurants retail the list goes on economists say a great reset is needed that will require a total rethink of how we do business the united nations secretary-general has urged the world to make next year a year of healing healing from the impact of a deadly vitals healing broken economies and societies healing the visions and starting to heal the planet that must be our new year's resolution for 2021 well over to our longtime wall street correspondent he's in new york for us yes can you explain this rapidly widening wealth gap because i thought governments al governments were doing something about it. well i mean this problem has so many layers but let's look at a few points here i mean 1st of all the widening of there were already started in the mid eighty's and it has not changed the tests increased no matter if the

president was clinton bush or obama and the frustration with washington grew and that's probably also one of many reasons why donald trump for so kind often anti establishment guy got voted for president 4 years ago and one problem that we for instance also have their unions hardly exists anymore so there's no pressure on big companies for instance to increase wages and then as you did mention the stock market to play the stock market when you need money so it's clearly the wealthy profiting and what we've seen in the past couple of months so many parts of the economy are still in the meanwhile wall street is reaching one time high after another so making the rich even richer so yes is there any sign that once this crisis passes things could change. well i mean there's always hope but specially in the past couple of not just months but also 8 years but let's

just look at the pandemic washington through billions or trillions of dollars at the problem so the debts that we're seeing here in the united states be it on a government letter of level let it be on a on a personal and a household level is just huge and to make systemic changes you do need money and so i just wonder where this money is supposed to come from and then also i mean the administration that just got elected the new administration coming in general is not necessarily the most a progressive one so let's wait and see how bold those actions will be for me by the way that will be the last report of 2020 and i would just would say see you on the other side if they're not here at the movie theater early in the spring and i couldn't imagine how long it would take to actually get to the other sites or happy new year oh my goodness i thought that was just the new year's eve that tragic

story in itself yes quarter for the new york. it's this is massive explosion in the port of beirut claimed $190.00 lives and injured thousands more it was waiting to happen corrupt officials allowed highly poisonous liquids to be stored in rusty containers at the harbor for decades now and from abroad is taking on the task to clean up the place. but there's a dangerous surprise in every container some of them have been stored at beirut harbor for up to 20 years there's no paperwork and no one knows who they belong to let alone what's inside the contents are jumping out now forming noxious puddles the german company combi lift is now working to clean up the harbors toxic legacy. list very very important for us that we have an overview of the whole and to make test of the different kind of substances because it's not a complete elated over saying so if you mix some things and it could be that with

a blast in. sulphuric and hydrochloric acid acetone and now banned pesticide methyl bromide are just some of the chemicals they've found here in the bay report authority wants to get rid of the containers as quickly as possible but it's not easy. to structurally they cannot sustain their lot inside the containers and the content is falling apart we cannot leave that we can transport them. all in all there are 52 toxic containers here. in a cordoned off area of the port the dangerous liquids are pumped into special takes which are then shipped to germany for recycling. it's a costly process which the lebanese port can't afford but in association of lebanese and german businessmen brokered a deal. we tried to squeeze through here mark simone.

to. 3000000 euro. which is was city born $6000000.00 this was the lowest we could do. in systems of. casey who is the president of the. board. he said look. for a. copy lift is paying the initial cost itself while the port authority tries to secure a grant from the european union to stump up the remaining $1600000.00 but to rid the bore in dangerous and destructive chemicals that's a price worth paying. before we go a look at how far the world of robotics has come engineers of boston dynamics have been planning this 2020 farewell party for you this isn't computer generated it's

the real thing and these guys aren't just good dancers but remote inspection and sensing and become extremely flexible and accurate in their every move even on the dance floor japan's high end a recently snapped up there now makes the company over a. conflict . you don't hear a lot about in your fees the. days but some more than 2 months fall gary compulsed finance you corruption and the government demonstrations my guest this week from south korea is the need for such about minister labor and social policy by the she continues a southern adjustment that's mistreating its most vulnerable people in violation of its human rights over again conflicts. on.

the jack polish becoming a mushroom a 1000000 and. one in 3 u.s. citizens bets on the big one dreaming about a life of luxury. but memories good enough insults broke out of people cope with unexpected well. jack a poem that could save the most. in 45 minutes long w. . young moroccan emigrants. they know the police will stop them. they know that the road is not a solution. they know their flight could be fatal. but going back he's not an option. he's one i'm on and probably are stuck in the

spanish border area along side other young people there waiting for a chance that will probably never come. shattered dreams starts january 18th on d w. where is the government going to get the message and resign we're getting a lot of different a message just stepped on the boat this is your government afraid of the truth the you've seen me being a bit of the book we do understand that there are a lot of problems you don't hear a lot about today in europe these days but for more than 2 months fall garia can both finance a corruption and see government demonstrations for 7 years in a.