this is news coming to you live from u.s. president joe biden announces sweeping new measures to combat the copas 19 crisis and he says the pandemic is a national emergency and must be treated as such but he also has a warning things are going to get worse before they get better also coming up tougher travel restrictions could be on the way in europe as the continent struggles to contain new variants of the corona virus but should those who've been vaccinated be given special privileges. and india has started vaccinating its

population against cope with 19 of rollout has been slowed as the government struggles to counter misinformation concerns are raised about safety of a home grown that c. o m terry martin good to have you with us u.s. president joe biden has unveiled a new plan to tackle his country's kovac 19 emergency announcing the measures on his 1st full day in power he said drastic action is needed it will include tightening rules on wearing masks in public testing will be stepped up and travelers to the u.s. will have to test negative and quarantine on arrival biden also wants to speed up the vaccination program he's warning though that the pandemic will get worse in the coming weeks with the death toll likely to rise from 400002 half

a 1000000 next month. taking charge of bringing the pandemic under control. this next one is keeping workers. do their. it day into his new job president biden signed a raft of executive orders to ramp up the federal response to the coronavirus for the past year we could the federal government to act with the urgency and focus and coordination we needed and we have seen the tragic cost of that failure. over 400 people have their died in the u.s. on biden warns the toll is likely to rise to half a 1000000 in february but he hopes the strategy he's putting in place will eventually save many lives is in good hands here our national strategy is comprehensive it's based on science not politics it's based on truth not in this

detail our plan starts with gresson safe and effective vaccination campaign to meet our goal of administering 100000000 shots and our 1st 100 days in office we're on day one this will be one of the greatest operational challenges our nation has ever undertaken. the us is currently administering almost a 1000000 doses a day but the road lives has been rocky and several states have complained of scarce supplies. biden is deploying the defense production up to help faxing manufacturers increase production he's also implementing measures to improve distribution and after being effectively banished from trumpet ministration briefings the nation's top infectious diseases doctor is back in effect she says he feels liberates at the science can speak. he's optimistic faxon's can suppress the

virus despite the very end submerging just if we get 70 to 85 percent of the country vaccinated let's say by the end of the summer middle of the cinema i believe by the trial we get to the 4 we will be approaching a degree of normality suddenly perfectly normal but one that i think will take a lot of pressure off the american public. the message from the biden administration is clear hope is on the horizon but it will still take many months to overcome the pandemic and the devastation it has rolled. here's a look at some other developments in the pandemic around the world and germany's public health body the robert call institute says more than 50000 people in germany have now died from corona virus the number of people dying by suicide in japan has risen for the 1st time in over a decade as the pandemic reverses years of progress combat in highest suicide rate

japan's health ministry says women and children in particular are taking their lives at higher rates and in spain the easing of travel restrictions over christmas to allow families to get together caused a huge spike in infections intensive care admissions have increased by 60 percent in the last 2 weeks european leaders have been discussing their next moves in the fight against cove in 19 they are now strongly discouraging people from travelling across the continent for non-essential trips and have warned that tougher restrictions could be decided in the coming days meeting in a virtual summit leaders from the 27 member states also discuss creating a common standard for vaccine certificates but they have delayed talks about any possible easing of travel restrictions for those who have already been vaccinated. well let's cross over to our correspondent mathias. modest rather in brussels gail

it is cross border travel in europe about to become even more difficult on the question of nonessential travel is of course a real problem here for your leaders everyone pretty much agrees that they do want to discourage people from doing on the necessary trips and possibly introducing the virus into a country that has been working hard to bring down numbers and then reintroducing that virus now the big question is of course how do you do that without interfering into the trade that is taking place on europe's internal market where borders are open and need to be open in order for business to flow smoothly across those borders and outright border the border stocks have been or a border closures for for this travel has been. not been agreed by leaders space for instance the belgians prime minister asked for that because they said

they simply cannot guarantee then that business travel will be smooth so the e.u. commission will work out a suggestion how it can be dealt with for the moment it's just the plea by your leaders to discourage travel for instance france asks you to be tested before you can enter from. many europeans gheorghiu are feel the very just very frustrated about the rollout of code 19 banks and nations they feel it's been too slow can we expect leaders to do anything about that to accelerate the rollout. of the rollout of facts it is of course something that is within the jurisdiction of member states they are responsible that you bought the vaccines for everyone now your member states have to distribute them but there's everyone agrees that this has to be go faster and there's a number of creative ideas for instance the next of vaccine that is in line to be approved by the european medical agencies the astra zeneca and there has been the

idea that maybe that vaccine can already be distributed to member states so that once the european medical agency gives the green light it would be right there to be other vaccinated the big concern always when it comes to these questions is what he leaders have is skepticism by vaccination skepticism and they don't want to fuel that they want to make sure that the european medical agency is not just an institution that rubber stamps something and a stand that the leaders are on the same page pretty much about issuing common standards standard vaccine certain vaccination certificates for cover 19 will those who have such certificates enjoy privileges that others will not regarding travel for example what we don't know yet your leaders wanted to be clear they do want that's a difficult they do want a vaccination pass if you want but for the moment they said this passes only there

so that there is a common standard so that every member 20 all the $27.00 member states recognize each other's vaccination passes if them in the future this will also be a tool to make travel more easy is clearly an option but the leaders didn't want to commit to that as yet garrett thank you very much for filling us in matters there in brussels. so look at some other stories making headlines around the world today u.s. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell wants to push back the start of donald trump's impeachment trial to february that would give the former president more time to prepare house democrats have signaled they want to move ahead quickly with the trial saying trump must be held accountable for his role in capital in the capitol building attack. the central african republic has declared a state of emergency for the next 15 days dorothy's are trying to reign in

political violence across the country since last month's presidential election tens of thousands of people fearing for their safety have fled to neighboring countries . google says it will block its internet search engine in australia if it's forced to pay news organizations for their content google's representatives poke at a parliamentary hearing into new regulations intended to make tech chinese pay publishers for using news. australia's prime minister said he would not respond to google's threat. and japan has dismissed a report claiming its government has privately concluded the 2021 tokyo olympics will have to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic a british newspaper reported that japan's focus was now on securing the games for tokyo in the next available year 2032020 of events was initially postponed 10 months ago and is set to open on july 23rd.

india has begun vaccinating its population of 1300000000 people frontline health workers are among the 1st up the offer of the job but the rollout has been slow with less than 60 percent of the target being met so far government says one reason is a mistrust of back scenes that's being fueled by misinformation on social media some people are also concerned that one of the vaccines was a. before phase 3 trials were completed. near a child already has this reports. put 37 year old. it's a big day today she's going to get her 4th of the 1000 vaccine. giteau has been working as a nurse at a private hospital in delhi put 3 years and has been a health worker for over 20 years now as a health worker during the pandemic she has been worried about the safety of her

family against the virus. i have to take care of 20 that there are little children in our family and i was concerned about their health i had to stay in a separate room keep my clothes and shoes separately maintain proper hygiene constantly used sanitizers i had to take care of the smallest. detail is one of the 1st in line in the country to receive the vaccine for the widest. india is in the middle of what is being called the boys' largest 1000 immunization program. in the 1st round of the vaccine rollout the government aims to vaccinate about putting 1000000 health workers and other frontline. vaccine for far have been given images the use approved by the countries. the oxford astra zeneca. in india and vaccine and indigenous vaccine developed by part of biotech. but as the country

takes a crucial step towards battling the pandemic many concerns loom large there are questions being raised on core vaccine getting approval from him going to targeting without its efficacy data in place as its 50 trials are still underway some experts say that this is a break from established protocol and could lead to a death trust among people who however there's no clear consensus on this issue in the medical community doctor in there as john a leading that's a knowledge of it says the approval to call vaccine has been given relying on the data of immunogenicity and safety. he says such image and see government approvals are not uncommon in unusual circumstances where. mass is a massive have. to accept. to come in the transfer should then the. communication know should not be confusing to people

even though there are actual voices regarding the image and see approval many working in the health care sector are confident that vaccination is the right step to take. this is a highly contagious disease so it was important for the back of the mission to start. that is now almost through the man be treated the minute observation period or specks a nation she said she has started feeling more secure against the corona virus and is eagerly awaiting the 2nd dose. for more on india's vaccination drive i'm joined now by my levy i solar she's a public health professional and works with the all india drug action network thanks for being with us this morning this i sort of now the vaccination campaign has been underway for a week what's your assessment of the rolled out so far. so i think we've been hearing reports of some hesitancy on the part of health care workers who are

supposed to be vaccinated in this 1st phase as we just heard from your ground report one of the vaccines which is part of the biotech school vaccine was approved without the efficacy data because there was a study being connected in the phase 3 trial that is underway however in granting the approval for this vaccine the regulator had to in was certain safeguards and it comes with a variety of conditions so for example the use of the vaccine because that informed consent to stake and that there is a close follow up and monitoring off the volunteer force back sedation and also provision of medical management and compensation in case of any adverse events it does seem that perhaps also because health care will cause our own group that me have a higher level of medical literacy it's possible that the absence of data on efficacy and the extra procedures that have been followed in this case might have caused some things i mean ok so many indians talking about anxiety many indians are are

have distrust about their government to help them especially when it comes to public health matters how much of a role is dissent from asian misinformation playing in this skepticism. i think at the moment in the current scenario the government is doing a lot to try to issue communication to encourage healthcare workers to come and take the vaccine however that communication has had limitations so for example the government is not in a position to vouch for the efficacy of either of the vaccine so that's him institute's vaccine because of the regimen under which it's being rolled out to mean get when off 80 on what because he estimates the move was granted and of course part of biotech sexy and so the focus is now shifted to saying that these vaccines are safe however the procedures for investigating any sorts of adverse events following immunization on want to lead out thank you and that would also be

a cause of damaging public confidence you have axioms ok can you say to new tell me what your prediction is for the goal of reaching 300000000 backs of nations by the 2nd half of the year do you think that's realistic briefly say it's a quite an ambitious plan that the government has embarked on and of course this has happened with a lot of preparation india has some experience in ma sex in the nation given that we have a vast routine immunization so is that a yes or a no just just wondering i think we i think we're just only started and we haven't yet run into a lot of trouble except of course the fact of low uptake of the vaccines ok it's to have to be seen. believe me i saw a lot of the all india drug action network in delhi thank you very much. live in on this extending its nationwide lockdown by 2 weeks of desperate effort to find

a steep to fight a steep rise in deaths residents are not even allowed to out to shop for groceries a financial collapse and last august's devastating blast in the capital k bay route have already brought the health system to its knees. police and security forces patrol the streets in beirut. their job to enforce the 24 hour curfew that being imposed across lebanon. anyone leaving home must have permission which this driver doesn't appear to have. the internal security forces have been deployed to make sure the lorries followed in that citizens stay at home especially because of the rise in recent days of the number of dead and of those infected. it seems everything here

is closed. even grocery shops lebanon is relying on delivery services which is hurting businesses like this bakery. delivery because we can only deliver our production has fallen by 25 to 30 percent when lock down is over our production will improve but because we're relying on the delivery service it's fallen and inflation is more than 30 percent. rickety and believe. the country is already in the middle of another storm as it tries to deal with the crippling economic and financial crisis. and now thanks to a growing covert 1000 cases it's facing another catastrophe the health care emergency. red cross volunteers are stepping in to try to help hospitals cope.

just. hospital. and so for at least another 2 weeks it's up to police and security services to force people to stay have to fight the coronavirus. russia is facing a growing problem with garbage the country produces around $60000000.00 tons of trash each year but very little of it is recycled environmentalist organizations say more than 90 percent is dumped in landfill sites often close to town and villages activists say these not only produce a horrible smell they also in danger the health of nearby residents as d.w. as your ear shattering reports some russians are becoming increasingly desperate. it's as big as $45.00 soccer fields and this is just one of dozens of garbage dumps

on the outskirts of moscow residents say just a few years ago the pit was still deep in the ground now it's a hill and the garbage piles up the health problems due to the dump just a few 100 meters from the village of. home town the mother of 2 says that some days the smell from the side was so bad she couldn't even open the windows and the kids jaroslava and where often sick fantasy of a finally had enough she and her children moved to clean and several kilometers away . the little ones were constantly sick one day there. he attrition told me your children have rattling sounds in their lungs i didn't think about it for very long before starting to look for an apartment for us here and clean later after we moved

we went to the same doctor surprise surprise the lung rattling had disappeared how did that happen simple we moved away. busy few families fate is no isolated incident. is one of russia's most pressing concerns only 6 percent of the country's gabaa use either processed or incinerate that is the rest is simply dumped environmentalist who are in the slant full sites around moscow in particular a ticking time bomb i rarely conforming to safety standards but they pull you to the soil the ground water and to the air. readings taken by the state civil protection agency show the area surrounding our lakes and skip it is also contaminated 3 years ago storage is found to that hydrogen sulfide levels were $25.00 times of the acceptable amount. but nothing has been done to protect

a local residence. it was mother is another of those affected the 67 year old's house is dangerously close to the dump but unlike her daughter she says she can't know. where would i go who would i sell my home to with that horrible smell outside who cares about someone like me and how would i even get by in the city my pension is $190.00 euro's per month but i'd have to pay $130.00 euros for a one room apartment. as you deceive and to the other residents have tried to be to do to stand up for their rights in cold but to no avail. but that's what's at the i don't know how much longer we can fight against the system there aren't that many of us and we feel desperately helpless. meanwhile the mountain of rubbish keeps growing and to there are plans to expand to

the. now to greece horn olympics sailors testimony has forced people to confront issues of sexual abuse sophia toro has accused a senior sports official of sexually assaulting her her testimony has sparked shock and anger and help others just because. when sophie effect it's already carried greece's flag of the 2016 rio olympics it was reward for her years long service to sailing she'd won a gold medal at her home games in athens in 2004 but even then she was carrying a dark secrets now she's testified to a prosecutor about her abuse at the hands of a senior greek sailing official in 1998. i hope on this occasion other women and people who have experienced sexual abuse will come forward

so that our society will be more healthy and we are no longer be afraid. beckett's or testimony is a watershed moment in greece initial denials by the greek sailing federation sparked a backlash in a country where sexual harassment is considered to be beckett's already revealed her abuse during an online conference last week saying the official had performed a quote lewd act in front of her. i told him no i repeated that i did not want to go further he joked saying it was nothing he was telling me he would stop if i didn't want to but whatever i said didn't make him stop when he finished and got off me l.f. crying and ashamed because. since beck authorities revelations many more women from sports and other walks of life have come forward with their own stories of abuse and greece's president south remeeting earlier this week has

praised beckett's already for her courage in speaking out. austria where 4 young flyers have taken on the world's most notorious downhill ski run in winning suits and parachutes just days before the on income races they. dropped out of a helicopter 2 and a half kilometers above gets through and executed a world 1st flight sweeping down the course known as the they reach speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour take a look. just reminder the top story we're following for you here today on deja vu nears u.s. president joe biden has unveiled his administration's strategy to combat the coronavirus pandemic the measures include ramping up vaccinations and testing

americans will be required to wear masks on most forms of transport and travelers flying to the u.s. will need to be tested on and quarantine on iraq. as it for me coming up next to the point which is focusing on. this.

to the point sean opinions clear positions international perspectives. the us has a new president who's promising to heal the country's divisions while simultaneously moving up the pace to reverse the policies of his predecessor after the trumps wrecking ball and joe biden fix america find out on time to point.

us to the next part of g.w. . again day in the middle of the week closed out the 1st half of the season. labor costs and down dog their 1st win by james. shugg lost against columbia. to a bitter 1st half of the season. 60 minutes on d w. how does a virus spread. why do we panic and when will all be. true just 3 of the topics covered and the weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would

like and the information on the crown of virus. any other science topic you should really check out our podcast so you can get it wherever you can get your podcast you can also find us at w dot com one slash science fair. in. the united states has a new president sworn in during a ceremony that was a mix of familiar tradition and extraordinary precaution and normally joe biden's oath would have been witnessed by tens of thousands but due to the jewels threats of the pandemic and extremist violence security forces made up the biggest crowd at the capitol outgoing president trump.