their mothers were germans living in the occupied drying land their father's soldiers from the french colony losing. hope in a climate of national pride and racism. enough. mentary examines the few traces that remain of their existence. storage january 11th. this is news and these are our top stories vote counting is underway in the u.s. state of georgia where the results of runoff elections will determine which party controls the u.s. senate democrats need to win both seats in order to take effective control of the chamber and boost president elect joe biden's chances of carrying out his agenda.

german chancellor angela merkel has announced an extension to the country's coronavirus lockdown until the end of january and introduced tougher restrictions on public life germany recorded more than 900 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hour period toughening of restrictions in december. venezuela's new parliament has met for its 1st session with president nicolas maduro in almost complete control of the national assembly his united socialist party won more than 92 percent of seats a month ago after the opposition parties led by boycotted the elections they plan to maintain a parallel parliament. this is g.w. news from berlin follow us on twitter and instagram d w news or visit our website w dot com.

another day another political storm gathering of the united states as republicans and democrats throw money at the crucial georgia runoff and trump diehards promise to object to congress the electoral college presidential result these may be the dying days of his presidency but donald trump is refusing to go quietly i'm phil and this is the day. that this election. one more. sherry. you know that 2 elections i won. we won 3 times.

georgia voters have never had more power than you have today i want georgia voters to feel that our. electoral college. we're going. to get. tough germany extends its coverage down to the end of january but will it be enough to slow down the infection right. we are very very close to the limit at some hospitals. and that's prompted us to agree on more far reaching measures. welcome to the day we begin in georgia where 2 runoff elections will decide who controls the u.s. senate and therefore who controls joe biden's presidential agenda over the next 4 years if mr biden's democrats win both seats then senate will be split 5050 with

vice president coming. as i type break double child's republicans need only to retain one seat to preserve their senate majority those seats are currently held by republicans back in november no time does it reach the 50 percent of votes needed to win outright. has been out on the streets in georgia talking to people who are aware of the importance of this knife edge vote this is why i think right now we go . and get to know even who you vote for not vote for all the violence. for minorities and for black so we've got to make it right and the only way to make it right is by voting i think in this particular election it's about balance. the 3 branches of government. that's what's really. i think about. no government and complete complete control. well latest polls indicate 2 very close races more

than 3000000 georgians have already cast early ballots so today's turnout will be the w.'s in this poll center stage from a voting station in atlanta it is here in georgia where the fate of joe biden's presidency will be out to mentally decided today because it is this election that will decide who controls the senate if the republicans keep the majority it will be hard for biden to presume his political agenda as it is very likely that the republicans will block all of this bills to undermine the success there is a lot at stake in the southern states so no wonder that a lot of money actually more than half a $1000000000.00 has been spent on campaigning over the last 2 months the biggest challenge for both parties is to get people out to vote again after an exhausting presidential election by the end of the day it will come down to who can model weighed more people to go out and cast their ballot the polls will close at 7 local

time but it is well possible that it might take days before we have the results because everybody is expecting a razor thin outcome and there is fear that we might experience violence later because the united states still has a president who is obviously not able to accept the democratic process unless he is the winner as poll reporting well with so much riding on these votes the u.s. president and president elect arrived in georgia on monday to bring up the vote joe biden joining the democratic candidates in the state capital and told voters what was at stake the power the power is learning in your hands unlike any time in my career one state one state can chart the course not just for the next 4 years for the next generation. donald trump also held

a rally but mainly use the event to air his grievances about his that defeat last november his appearance came amidst another political storm over tape compensation which he said he was pressuring georgian officials to find votes and reverse joe biden's victory in the state of monday's rally he repeated his baseless claims of election from. georgia by the way there's no way we lost your just this. 1000 rigged election so we're still fighting it and you'll see what's going to happen the radical democrats are trying to capture georgia's senate seat so they can wield unchecked unrestrained absolute power over every aspect of your life. role and west as a u.s. author and political commentator he's currently vice president and director of government studies at the brookings institution is most recent book is divided politics divide the nation hyper conflict in the trump era and welcome to day w.

let's start with georgia how close do you expect this result to be. georgia's very close certainly the early voting for the risk democrats but the people who are voting today actually are much more likely to be republicans so i think the one big unanswered question is what impact the trump this is from yesterday will have on the election as well as the truck from call which basically attempted to undermine democracy will that trend or some of those key suburban voters those republicans are going to need in order to curious interests and if it's that close in such of such a volatile political atmosphere what happens when we get the result it's contested day and contested in contested did well what do you expecting to happen. well americans are more divided now i think than any time since the civil war of 150

years ago so liberals and conservatives are going to have very different interpretations trump will continue to basically say his election was stolen this election was stolen because of the heavy emphasis on mail ballots there's no evidence that there was a ballot fraud but you know america is just highly polarized right now the media system reinforces that social media exposes people to extreme rhetoric aren't either side so it's a very challenging time in the united states right now. i don't top of that we have a number of republican congressmen and women who say they will object to certify the electoral college vote what effect is that likely to have it's not going to have an effect in terms of the actual outcome i mean joe biden is going to be inaugurated 2 weeks from now he will be the next president he's putting together his administration it's a really good team and a team that's going to be reaching out to european allies but you know it's very

disappointing as someone who studies of politics to see republicans treat the constitution as a piece of paper as opposed to a secret document that undergirds democracy this is an anti democracy attack on their part there's no evidence of ballot fraud there's been dozens of lawsuits that have been heard in various. courts around the country including judges appointed by a dollar trump all of them have basically said there was no ballot fraud so yeah you know his whole divided politics divided nation hyper conflict in the trump era does the trump era end with joe biden's inauguration in 2 weeks. the sad thing is that trump ism is likely to outlast trump himself even though the president is going to be leaving office quite shortly the underlying conditions that enabled him still are going to be there and that the high level of income

inequality that we face the large geographic disparities my colleagues have refused analysis and found only 15 percent of american counties generate more than 70 percent of our g.d.p. so much of america is being left behind they're upset those are the people who supported trout and they're still going to be not doing well economically are still going to be disappointed and they're looking for people to blame and trump and other people like him are basically going to be appealing to those individuals even after trying for self leaves office it was what we now have a situation is where we have this this volatile political situation that you have outlined that and one wonders where normal now is because you have a u.s. president who has openly boasted about his ability to sexually assault women who was appointed family members to keep positions in his administration an administration that separated children from their families and lost track of them so with joe biden's inauguration does politics go back to normal in quotes all old

has that needle been shifted to fonda to bounce back. well it certainly has been a crazy time the last 4 years the united states i mean my lifetime i've never seen anything of what we have endured during the trump presidency but the good news is there is trump the cheek in america i mean trouble clearly has some people who are supporting him and will continue to support him no matter what he does but keep in mind joe biden won this election by more than 7000000 votes suburban voters who traditionally have leaned republican rejected donald trump so i'm actually optimistic about 2021 even though we're probably never going to return to the way things were 4 years ago i do believe we are going to have a period of much greater stability far less chaos there'll be more predictability in terms of american foreign policy which i'm sure our european allies will

appreciate and joe biden is going to put a very high if this is on rebuilding those foreign policy relationships that the united states needs so given the stress testing that the last 4 years has provided i wonder where you are on this have the constitution's checks and balances prove themselves to be fit for purpose. actually i am impressed with the number of republicans who have stepped up just in the last few weeks to really secure american democracy i mean you're absolutely right our democracy has been tested and we actually came very close to a much worse outcome than what we're going to face of this year but in the end there were state and local election officials all across the country that up helped democracy there were republicans who confronted donald trump there are a increasing number of republican senators who are basically saying anough isn't

enough and are not tolerating his efforts to overturn this election so i think from that standpoint it's encouraging news the system did hold it certainly was tested but i do believe american democracy will continue and endure well into the future well and my optimism thank you so much for joining us and darrell and wes from the brookings institution. in the final weeks and months of his presidency donald trump has been conspicuously absent from his presidential duties but has managed to spend a lot of time on the golf course is now speculation that he might skip joe biden's you know gratian on the 20th of january and travel to his golf resort in western scotland well today scotland's 1st minister nicolas sturgeon poured cold water on those rumors you know we're not allowing people to come into scotland for. with an

essential purpose right now and that would apply to him just as applies to anybody else and come into play golf is not what i would consider to be and central purpose . lets him told now german chancellor angela merkel and the country's regional leaders have agreed to extend and tough when they come for bone of the country's coronavirus lockdown until at least the end of january new measures include limiting nonessential travel for residents of hard hit areas all over the country the lockdown had been due to end next week but officials are alarmed at the country's high numbers of infections and deaths occur at measures keeping nonessential shops schools and services closed have been in place since mid december. said the family to curb the spread of infection in germany had left her with no other choice and to tighten contact rules for the book that we call on all citizens to reduce their contacts to others to an absolute minimum and in an

extension of the country strictures on private gatherings people will only be allowed to meet those from their own household plus one other person from another household i know better than most that even know. that's a significant reduction from the contrary a 5 people from 2 households wholesale there are muslim because of regarding the previously agreed strategy on what happens in areas with more than $200.00 factions per 100000 inhabitants. we've decided on a further possible measure which is limiting people's movement to a radius of 15 kilometers from the home unless they have a compelling reason to do otherwise these are of course doctor's appointments or places of employment which must be visited tourist day trips in particular are not compelling reasons to get kind interesting point. let's hear more from the dubious chief political editor i mean him. today's decisions or this

clearly signals that the government believes that there are still yet worse times to come i'm going back or also stressed that the data was a bit shaky that they had to decide on and that there were grave concerns particular king towards britain where this new strain of the virus is far more contagious than the corona strain that is currently seen mostly in germany so big concerns looking into the future and that's why this goes beyond those appeals we saw before christmas that there now will be also illegal measures in place essentially forcing people to give up those contacts restricting even more how many people can gather only one guest can come round for tea basically visiting one family and also once again the appeal to that already stricken economy here to employers to let people work from home in 3 weeks there will be the next gathering

and clearly it's not being ruled out that we could see yet more restrictions put in place. it can occur for parts of britain where i have a prime minister barak's jobs and has a knowledge that people across the u.k. are making another huge sacrifice as a new knockdown takes effect people in england are under a stat home order that will last for at least 6 weeks scotland wales and northern ireland are also imposing a tough measures now this comes as the u.k. because more than 60000 new coronavirus cases in a day. 5 days into the new year brits woke up with a covert hangover the. streets once bustling now all but to serve as a few highly contagious period of the virus has wreaked havoc throughout the country forcing england into its 2nd strict lockdown since the start of the pen demick. you may only leave home for limited reasons permitted in law

such as too short for essentials to work if you absolutely cannot work from home to exercise to seek medical assistance such as getting a copy test or to skate domestic abuse. for many to swallow but most agree there is no where the cure as england has seen a 50 percent jump in covered hospitalizations since christmas day. my view i think it's something that needs to be done to. people take responsibility for themselves then ultimately i suppose this government has responsibly. yeah i definitely think it was the right decision today. i just hope that everyone. again. the opposition is calling on the government to provide the 8 needed for those affected. by the parents

support in the coming days because the schools are shot businesses will support because they won't be able to operate that package needs to be put in place as soon as possible because compliance needs clear messaging but also support for people to make sure that they comply in wales where patients were among the 1st to receive the u.k. 2nd approved vaccine produced by astra zeneca tough luck measures have been in place since the 20th of december. before johnson's announcement scotland's 1st minister nicolas sturgeon imposed similar restrictions while north and ireland's executive is expected to follow suit. british hospitals now have more code in 1000 patients than at the height of the. with resources slow and stuff overwhelmed the prime minister warns the coming weeks could be the hardest yet. let's see how we got here and where we go from here we'll take

a broader look at the situation with a mission he's a senior scholar at the jones hope consent to full health security welcome back to d.w. dr we're talking on a day when germany's followed a number of other western countries in intensifying and extending its lock down the lights of measures failed politicians generally too cautious about imposing severe restrictions or perhaps only acting when they appear to have no other choice i think and in many cases what we find our politicians are being reactive and you have to remember that lock downs are in evidence of a policy of failure because if you can test trace and isolate countries like taiwan have done you don't have to do lock downs but clearly we see countries including in the united states where we see we kind of go up and down where we have cases go up and then they have a lock down they go down but then nothing is done in between there's no public health infrastructure built there is no test trace isolate capacity there's no home testing all of that doesn't occur and then cases inevitably go up you have to

remember this virus is here it's with us so we have to come up with a sustainable approach and not usually trying to do blanket things temporarily and then not fixing the problem in the same thing repeating the same mistake over and over again it's a part of the german approach seems to be to try and get infection numbers down so that they can reimpose they test and trace system. put that back in place but we got the good news we got the vaccines and then we had the worst news we got the skyrocketing infections and death rates and now more virulent mutations so that there seems to be sort of psycho never to will cycle to this. right and i think it's not surprising when you look at this virus that we know that coronaviruses can transmit efficiently and now we're about a year into this pandemic so i think it's really not the case that this is the only tool that politicians can run for is it is a lockdown i think you have to ask what did they do all of these these 12 months why isn't there test trace isolate capacity in many countries this was all

predictable we knew that this was going to continue to plague us and i think many countries thought magically that this would go away or that they would be able to control it but a virus like this is unforgiving and if you don't have the public health infrastructure to keep cases to a manageable level if you don't have enough contact tracers if you don't scale up x. nation facet of this same cycle will continue to repeat itself over and over again and it is not sustainable so let's let's see about let's talk about the lessons learned because one has to wonder what do you think is the biggest lesson that we need to take from this pandemic in order to prepare or prevent the next it's being proactive this virus appear in china it was discovered in china december 31st 2019 and most of the world gave the virus a major head start at least until february or march before they started to act if you give a virus that has a sufficient transmission capacity that level of a head start you're going to have undetected change the transmission that put your

hospitals into crisis so you have to act very rapidly when a new virus is identified to make sure you have hospitals fortified that you have tests that you will start vaccine development that you have enough personal protective equipment no country really did that except for a few asian countries and i think that's the lesson is that if you don't follow tried and true principles of pandemic preparedness you will be hit hard and you can't we can't let this happen with the next pandemic we have to move into action very quickly with targeted public health interventions and so the lessons been thank you for talking to us dr doctor a belgian from the jones hope consent for health security. away from the pandemic talks on the future of afghanistan a 2 to resume this week stakeholders who include the afghan government and the taliban are trying to and decades of conflict with the desire for a peace deal hasn't holton the violence instead there's been a string of killings across afghanistan targeting the educated elite judges doctors

and journalists and t.v. biloela may 1 who was gunned down last month. miller ghouls wife was murdered by the taliban years ago now their daughter has also been killed malala my wife and was one of the few female journalists in afghanistan until she was shot dead last month in cold blood. she was brutally murdered for no reason at all her only crime was that she spoke the truth and fought against injustice she gave her life because she wanted to help other women in particular. malala was an anchor at the afghan news station any cas her boss zalmai latif he remembers her as a fearless broadcaster on the day of her death she was shared joke to present the morning show. with colleagues who are waiting for

her in the studio at some point a call came telling us she was dead. it was tragic we all started crying and couldn't understand who would do such a thing to malala. and. her father shows us where his daughter and her driver were killed by unidentified gunmen attacks like this are growing more frequent in afghanistan and 2020 more than 10 journalists were killed malala former boss is concerned about this constant threat. of course this puts a lot of pressure on us it was tricks our reporting we expect the government to take necessary security measures so we as journalists can once again report freely in the country and in the future. the.

funeral was well attended. there are many here who fear the recent uptick in violence against journalists and intellectuals were far the silence civil society. rather the malala just wanted one thing peace in afghanistan she was so happy when the peace negotiations with the taliban started and she was so sure that everything would finally get better once she told me that she was ready to die for peace no she's dead but there is still no peace. as legacy hangs over afghanistan a defiant reminder of the victims of violence and the peace for which the fault. and that was that day as ever they conversation continues online on twitter at. news of a good. music

can change lives these children from mexico are just learning that. their lives sell over shadowed by poverty and family problems but any point to

stress they can leave that all outside and find hope for the future 3 times a. task. africa. south africa both. energy the initiative. the 4th environmental. generally katrina energy from florida and hydro how far. is always energy. africa. 60 minutes on w. i think it's everything challenging 1st of a muslim. so much different culture between here and there so challenging for

everything. some of the same i think it was worth it for me to come to germany. i got my license to work as a swimming instructor here in our 2 children wanted us to swim faster just. what's your story take part cherish on in for migrants caught next. welcome to global 3000. take a listen to this sounds like these are inspiring young mexicans sweet check out an exciting orchestral project in india some women and taking radical steps to stop

their menstrual cycle from work reasons. and like many countries the gambia has a trash problem but one woman is getting a handle on it and proving there is potential in waste. climate change affects everyone regardless of gender yet women are the main losers when it comes to its affects. 70 percent of all people living below the poverty line are women and the poor are hardest hit by droughts extreme weather and bad harvest. when drinking water supplies run dry it's typically women and girls who have to walk long distances to fetch water and that means missing work or school. when harvests of bad men are usually the ones to leave home to look for work elsewhere leaving their families behind in some places when there's not enough food to go around it's not uncommon to exchange

a daughter for some livestock but does all this mean that women are powerless no in the gambia we met a woman helping both the environment and the many women around. walking woman is so enjoyable because the real one is woman. committed in any development in the war. really under the thumb of the arab world in the. and they never said it was you know for stability. he said to see zeid has been called the gammy as queen of plastic recycling before you get firewood today it did not accommodate if you have to walk maybe one and

a half to get to kilometers before you get to the forest behalf maybe 10 stick that you can use for one meal you know it's to close off your time the real people get to get access to the chapel what do with this one is the absence wherever you are importantly. if you don't have a record these are true is the founder of the ngo women's initiative the gambia it's found a way to produce fuel per cuts from the shells of peanuts or ground nuts. that can grow nuts or the gambia as main cash crop and export product left to decay the shells produce c.-o. too and methane so 1st there crushed them slowly burned. who knows it them well. we're here for our families we come every morning to this place to earn as much as we can for them a little so they've allowed us to pay the school fees and school materials like

when i get up in the morning at 6 to come here they're up to 500 other women here. their families wouldn't survive without this job really good at the group he was in was there with a look at me with them is that. one of africa's smallest countries the gambia is drowning and garbage if you stop them from using plastic or using very difficult because to be in there you know kind of a development water everybody go to the supermarket and buy things i mean we believe that we think. that we can use point into something and for that one people . why do you come with these and how do you do it is just about trial when people thinking about problems when you think you've got brains behind you think about them. at a landfill near c size village these women are collecting discarded glass plastic and leftover fabric dumped by local seamstresses if you know what to look for there are rich pickings to be had. moran says high as one of the twos 1st partners she

remembers that there was something mitchell skepticism about the project and the idea of women gaining financial independence. when i started in 1907 my family thought i was crazy. as a young married woman i was expected to get up in the morning and cook food for my husband in the kitchen but my family and my husband had to watch me heading off to the dumping ground they told me i wasn't a good wife they expected me to be home with my husband. they had no idea what i was up to better the good. at this time of year there's not much growing and the central river region gets over 40 degrees celsius and the rains won't come for another 6 months but people still need to earn a living. it was a good trip for the members of the community and i never blame them for that

because that's the mission and does the culture that we're living in what i always say it is false the idea one who. is about the situation that we're living and what feels a man leading is not a problem what women will today they have a right to eat because they are contributing. member of the recycling center in the village of and you know where is that we see zajac comes from was the 1st and the gambia. she employed just 5 women to begin with they would collect and clean up old plastic bags and then weave them into new ones today up to 20000 people across the country working with or for her and geo. they produce briquettes soap bags jewelry and toys some of the best selling items are purses made from reclaimed plastic. rebuttable.

i'm going through them paul before he said to came along all we knew how to do is cook. now we have skills that allow us to earn our own money. village banks look after the money earned by the women's groups around the country so it does not disappear into their household spending. we want to empower them to want to clean them on economy how little that they have so one is from the seal of deposit if you just $100.00 you have to sit back and tell us how much you want to do want to do whatever happens you have to put some money into here because we are planning for tomorrow. when you said who says i was growing up this area was covered with mahogany and acacia trees . deforestation and climate change have transformed the landscape into an area.

we have fired the woman be able to do for us i'm quite pleased we're cooking and there is not a placement for the problem that you are struggling with that is why we. let me. like. any. process that. can use at that time. funded by donations the women's initiative also started a project called the forest the future. water from a well irrigates the newly planted seedlings. along with indigenous trees like mahogany the women are growing mango and coconut trees the saplings are still in the tree nursery but will eventually be distributed across the country you want to make a change. be 100 percent sure that it will never be overnight and then you have to have an expectation that if it is 100 people living within your area $75.00.

that's for you let everybody tried to make sure that whatever you are. let it be. and it is helping. striving for equality inspiring others on our facebook channel d.w. women you'll find stories about women who are helping others lead self-determined lives. d.w. women gives a voice to the women of our world. i'm ashamed. i was told i was dirty. i thought i might bleed to death. for a lot of young women the 1st menstruation is a frightening experience and in many societies prejudice and alienation make matters worse in some countries around home for all girls school when they're

having their period and expensive sanitary products and poor hygiene conditions mean it's common for women not to work when menstruating either which has a financial impact on earnings sometimes menstruation even threatens livelihoods and women turn to drastic measures to stop it. is a sugarcane harvester she's only 34 but already she's physically barely able to perform the work 8 years ago she had a hysterectomy to stop or periods she couldn't afford to miss a day or 2 of work whenever she was menstruating but the surgery left her with serious health problems. how would that play i'm in constant pain i have to take medication every day my whole body hurts my back my head my legs everything hurts. fieldworkers in india earn very little and none as little

as the cane cutters in harvest season they work every day for 6 months running and make the equivalent of just $700.00 euros in total they have to work hard because the landowners bank on 3 harvests per field percy's and thief women stay home when their menstruating the contractors who hired them make them pay a penalty. 3 of these cane cutters have had hysterectomies to make sure that they could work as much as possible. but i left when i still got my period there'd be 4 days a month when i couldn't work 10 euros would be taken off my wage every day in the long term that was more than i could afford with the bride no. ship in car and lives in a village in rural central india where few women are educated over 10 percent of the women here have had their uterus removed in neighboring villages the figure is closer to 50 percent hygiene is bad

a doctor advised her to have the hysterectomy to reduce the risk of infection but he didn't mention the potential side effects which range from hormonal fluctuations to osteoporosis. he told me i would suffer less i had my uterus removed because i thought it would make everything better but in the last 7 or 8 years i've been in constant pain. never went to school she was married at 14 and had her 1st child at 16. is her 2nd son he began working when he was 13 and he's 16 now. well she went into debt to pay for her surgery basically the doctor who performed the operation and her boss have both benefited from her decision but it's brought her nothing but suffering with them and i think i must have the operation cost $700.00 euros i didn't have that kind of money my boss gave me an advance to pay for it and i had

to pay it off he made me pay interest. 3 percent a month i was paying it off for 3 years you don't get. a few kilometers away in the nearest town where meeting the head of the cane cutter contractors he also runs a small office for financial services. he tells us that he has around 300000 cane cutters under contract across the state he also says he advises women not to undergo the surgery. but that some contractors may have a different view. but it's possible that some of them forced the women into it i can't comment on that but even so i'm sure is only a few. and i thought i might add that the layout of. the sugar industry is a bedrock of the maharashtra economy employing nearly $25000000.00 people producers

pay some $250000000.00 euros in tax every year that's why the authorities have little interest in looking into the high rate of hysterectomies among sugar cane cutters and investigative committee was set up but was soon disbanded. so. that statement angers women's rights activist money should talk lee who is part of the investigative committee last year the public health department revealed that $84000.00 hysterectomies were performed in one district alone but the report was simply filed away. but they got it when get by says that a new local authorities have the information they were taken aback by the shocked

response and now they want to cover it up. if suddenly the number fell 213000 cases and now supposedly it's just 1300 yards out of. there that's a woody. doesn't expect the state to do anything about her plight she hopes that when her son marries he'll tell his wife not to have a hysterectomy and she says that if she knew then what she knows now she'd never of had the operation. they break the gender barrier in sports give heroine a voice. and help others become more independent. in our impact series we meet entrepreneurs human rights activists and bloggers fighting injustice and to be in their society.