this is d.w. news live from berlin germany bans travel from countries hardest hit by new variants of the corona virus the government says it has no other choice to prevent a surge in new infections also on the program italy's president gives the country's squabbling parties 4 days to form a new call listened to or will dissolve parliament we'll get the latest from rome.

i'm married to evanston welcome germany is imposing a travel ban on countries most affected by new coronavirus variance the measure came into effect just hours ago and will remain until at least the 17th of february berlin says the restrictions are necessary to prevent a surge in new infections. the fear of new coronavirus mutations is real in germany it's also one of the main concerns for german authorities to prevent them from spreading fast in the country the government has now announced new travel restrictions the interior ministry has imposed an entry ban until the 17th of february for travelers from countries that are particularly affected by them brazil

arland portugal south africa the u.k. listened to and it's one teeny mutations have not hit germany as hard as other countries but already a hospital in berlin was forced to halt admissions after several cases were fond of the mutation 1st discovered in britain and health officials are stressing that the situation could deteriorate the moose and other different roles we have to assume that if the more contagious variants continue to break in this country they will lead to even more cases in the near future and the situation will probably get worse we must work together to prevent. doesn't come to us mistaken modes of thinking that the travel ban is seen as a step in that direction but it is still unclear how effective it could be for more let's bring in de w.'s political correspondent times france hans hello to you so we've been hearing the last couple of days that the incidence of coronavirus in

germany has in fact now fallen below 100 per 100000 residents that's in a 7 day period for the 1st time in months so why is the government imposing this travel ban now. well the answer is fear fear of these new mutations of the virus that were discovered in brazil and south africa and in great britain we've just heard how effective hotel infectious these these variants are they are said to cause explosions of infections for instance in portugal before that in ireland but also in great britain and germany is very very scared that the success that it has had in the last few weeks with bringing down the infection rate is endangered by these new variants that's why these travel restrictions have been imposed now but we have to say this is in addition to travel restrictions that have been in place for weeks already everyone knows how difficult international travel

has been in the last couple of months and that is also the case for travels between germany and the rest of the world so these restrictions simply are on top of the restrictions that have been in existence already but they are the most severe that are possible preventing or prohibiting travel between these 2 countries between germany and these in fact 7 countries at the moment all right hynes what does this mean for people who in fact have to travel on a regular basis between germany and one of the affected countries either to do business or to visit their family members or are they barred as well. yes indeed they are very very few exceptions to this people of german origin or rather german citizens and people who are residents in germany are a lot of travel into germany. reasons such as regular travel between countries that have been prohibited and germany are not allowed the exceptions concerned medical

emergencies and emergencies in the families that are such as a death in the family exceptions there are also for. commercial travel for people who organize transport in other words road transports and those kind of things to keep the supply chains going but regular travel for personal or business reasons is prohibited but we should mention that this is a unilateral german ban but hasn't brussels been trying to discourage this yes indeed there have been attempts to make took to get to rules that you unified across the european union the interior ministers ministers met this week to try and do that there it was not successful and so various countries in germany of in europe have been imposing their own bands germany but also francis just decided not

to allow any travel outside the european union. has imposed a complete ban on tourists travel for its citizens and we also see this in other countries in canada for instance which was closed on travel to the south this week so these kind of travel bans are widespread at the moment everyone is afraid of these new variants of the virus get away as political correspondent hans franz thank you so much. well meanwhile the european union has approved astra zeneca coronavirus vaccine it's hoped the 3rd shot will boost sluggish vaccination efforts across the block but brussels is already accusing astra zeneca of slow deliveries and violating its sales contract the drug maker says it's working hard to overcome production problems that it's deal with the e.u. requires it to make its best efforts to supply vaccines with no clear delivery

timeline or exact copy of the contract has now been made public. this contract is at the heart of an ongoing feud between the european commission and purchased swedish pharma company astra zeneca over the laysan vixie in deliveries the e.u. has made the contract public but many of the crucial parts have been blacked out by astra zeneca a scandal so members of the european parliament. you're simply not it's up to the pharmaceutical companies which gets a lot of your mom. i'm not really. it's those who although. last week astra zeneca shocked e.u. states by announcing significant delays in its big scene deliveries to the bloc especially because the e.u. has paid hundreds of millions of fewer stupid because projection and because

supplies to the u.k. do not face the same shortages the dispute prompted the e.u. should introduce a scheme to monitor vaccine experts but the e.u. commission emphasizes this is not an expert ban we are not in competition or in a race against any country the only race we are in is against this virus this comes as the block is facing criticism for its slow vaccine rollout so it is days are relieved that the vaccine has been recommended for use in the block this spider difficulties with astra zeneca it's a 3rd vaccine to gain approval but. let's get a quick check now some other news from around the world the brother in several allies of kremlin critic aleksandr wali have been put under house arrest for allegedly violating coronavirus restrictions by calling for people to join protests the court decision comes ahead of new rallies planned for sunday authorities have warned protesters could face charges of mass unrest. portugal's parliament has

voted to legalize euthanasia the bill passed by a large majority allows assisted suicide for terminally ill patients the bill still requires the approval of the conservative president if he signs it into law or chicle will become the 4th e.u. country to legalize euthanasia. to italy now where president sergio month that island has tasked a parliamentary leader to carry out further talks to try to form a new government no better if the fico leader of the parliament's lower house has until tuesday to determine whether the parties that formed the previous ruling coalition are willing to come together again in new government the political crisis was triggered this month when a small coalition partner withdrew its support of the government of prime minister just to pick on tape. from or we can speak to journalist sima

gupta who joins us from rome hello to use sima so how likely is it that we will see a quick formation of a governing coalition that the president is of course hoping for can we be hopeful . well that's what is the hopeful for he believes this collapse coalition can actually be reviewed and revived which is why he's given this mandate to are a bit of fico the speaker of the lower house to try to mediate between these parties it's going to be interesting to see how fico is going to meet the need in his own 5 star movement because a faction within the party has already said they're open to the idea of working with matteo renzi he's the leader of that small party that supports while faction within the party is sent they want nothing to do with renzi so he's going to have to mediate his own party but at the same time talking to the center left democratic party and so lots of negotiation a lot so if the horse trading perhaps in

a lot of discussion until tuesday when he will report that but for now much to relish at least seems convinced that it is a possibility all right and what if he's wrong what if these talks do not work out as planned or what would happen next well at the moment a lot of issues still to be resolved who could be a possible prime minister perhaps giuseppe conti a good perhaps mr fieger himself perhaps another think a technocrat but yes if they do not come up with a solution the president will then possibly go back to consultations once again to try and find some kind of new coalition and if that doesn't work all together that's the last possible option which is really the option of last resort and that is to dissolve parliament and go towards elections and of course most don't want that to happen because of course it is very much dealing with a pandemic right now just as other countries in the world are. indeed seamless so

how is all of this political uncertainty impacting italy's response to the coronavirus pandemic are they being distracted too much. exactly i think that's exactly what my self was pointing to when you mention that each city is being severely tested in terms of economic health as well as well as a social emergencies the words he used right now with the pandemic that cases are down with respect to that peak it was back in november but daily you are still seeing hundreds of deaths now is almost 88000 deaths due to cold at 19 as well as a vaccination program that started off well enough but now is the scene delays like many other european countries may need a government at the helm to deal with all these various issues and so that's really what not to realize hoping for in asking mr speaker to mediate and perhaps come up

with a solution time is clearly not on the side of the italians this issue seen a go to enter own way appreciate your reporting. all right you're a sucker now and stood guard hosted mines and the vendors leaders friday night match the home team wore rainbow striped jerseys in support of diversity on and off the pitch it took strict guard 55 minutes to get on the scoreboard sasha colliders took the centering pass to head it in stuttgart went on to win it 2 nil. a loss for it are the surprise team this season and could even move into 2nd place this weekend if results go their way one of their key players is germany international. he told w that dealing with a lifetime of prejudice has made him a better player. for spurs wheedler back who is in the form of his life he scored

the winner in last weekend's one no wouldn't buy a leverkusen it sent the wolves to fall from the borders league. my the right wing back also made his 1st germany appearance in november the 22 year old is of congolese descent and says proving racist wrong helped drive him as a young player. my father told me all the time you have to do more than the y. plans you have to work more you have to perform better than the other players this is always so my hats since i'm young kid being like make it tougher on the present . who was nicknamed the live when young the misspelling of the surname of former germany and bruce you don't win star. in 2018 he made it's official. my father was a big fan. from collins who led also for the national team is german

and my friends call me needless since i'm a young kid and so i said to myself meatless my name and i put it also in my past so it's not a 100 percent clear that i'm german and. he has certainly made a name for himself in german football another strong showing against freiburg this weekend could see both back you and his voice backside reaching new heights. here of the days and did i leave i married i haven't seen from me and the entire team in berlin thanks for watching. children to come to see. one giant problem and we are in no mood to see. a legally changing the lady feeling asking. how will climate change affect us and our children.

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