the creation of our solar system with our planet is a bit like winning the lottery there was an. earth. stortford you were. w. w news and these are our top stories european countries of the united states are among those who have condemned the military coup in myanmar the country's armed forces seized control of the country and detained de facto leader aung sun suu kyi and several other senior civilian officials the military accuses the government of failing to act on claims of voter fraud and last november's election. german chancellor angela merkel and state leaders met with vaccine manufacturers to

discuss how to improve the country's covert 19 immunization program rollout has been slow in germany as availability of covert vaccines lags behind what authorities expected pharmaceutical companies use the occasion to announce plans to increase vaccine production. delegates from libya began a 5 day meeting on monday in geneva to choose an interim government for the north african country elections have been scheduled for the end of the year the libyan political dialogue forum is being mediated by the united nations and aims to select transitional leaders by friday the c.w. news from berlin you can follow us on twitter and instagram at d w news or visit our website. or. in the u.k. 12 percent of the population has been vaccinated against the corona virus that

includes all nursing in care homes in the country all one of the that makes the u.k. fast in rolling out vaccinations the fastest among major nations plus the european union and the pace here in the e.u. is painfully slow 2 percent of the french 2 and a half percent of germans have been vaccinated and it's already said you where i'm burnt off in berlin this is the day. basically the special they really are and we've all heard about it seem to be one of our patterns in england it's important for the people of every country to understand just getting the facts and we want as many australians facts and i did as quickly as possible this public will continue to unless we do it at the same time what we need now is

a supreme national focus on maximizing the supply of our scenes even if it feels like it's not in your interest. just to get those people vaccinated you've got the country. also coming up sick and tired of the walk down we'll take you to the netherlands where the resistance against the restrictions has turned violent the rioting and the looting here in the netherlands has stopped for now but boarded up shops like these service a constant reminder that the threat isn't over yet ok there is a problem as i say there is a prone to fires is there and it is a problem but the rules are to have a. but to our viewers on p.b.s. of the united states and all around the world welcome we begin the day caught in europe's vaccine war that is how some are describing the mixture of envy and animosity felt in varying degrees on both sides of the english channel tonight the

u.k. full steam ahead with its coronavirus vaccination and the e.u. with a vaccination train that has barely left the station for months continental europe watched as the pandemic pummeled the u.k. more than 100000 people there have died from cope at 19 national sorrow has come along with national speed among the large countries rolling al backs the nation programs the u.k. ranks number one here in the e.u. slow approval of the vaccines was followed by a supply shock the amount of vaccines being delivered dramatically smaller than expected here in germany where the 1st approved vaccine was developed the public mood has turned so sour that the health minister is not ruling out allowing vaccines from russia or china today german chancellor angela merkel convened a summit with the country's regional leaders a vaccination crisis some. ok so you're not sitting here peon union decided against

emergency approval we know that britain approved astra zeneca within 24 hours this is about trust i think there were good reasons for the e.u. to stick to the approval by the european medicines agency which is not an emergency approval but to preliminary approval it has a different quality. in the 28. and finally the european union negotiated for a very long time because of questions of liability to put the entire liability on the side of the e.u. and not to the manufacturers take some responsibility was a good decision by the european commission and a support the fact that there were long discussions about liability because if something were to happen it would be of major significance here in germany and in europe which none of them a home for you know appears in enough and is there let's pull in our political correspondent so i'm young he's been following this story for years so i mean we

had a vaccination crisis summit do we have a vaccination crisis solution to not. what we've got a range of solutions brains and that's laws leigh because the government and the regional leaders who was speaking in this video conference today they say that germany should be able to put into circulation around 3 $122000000.00 doses of vaccine this year and that would be enough for the chancellor to fulfill have promise of offering vaccine to all adult germans by the end of the some of us decided by the 21st of september so there's a lot of positive noises being made at the chance to remember lynn tonight saying that 2 new vaccines the johnson and johnson cure back substances are also expected to come on on strain the government saying of course there's lots of problems and painful weeks ahead because right now there isn't enough vaccine for everybody in

germany who's waiting to get it but they're putting some money up to help. the manufacturers ramp up production and also to provide the regional states with that certainty and reliability of supply the vaccines they were purchased by the european union the e.u. has directed the entire back to nation program so far so why hold a german banks a nation some. you know well my understanding is that the european commission was represented at this event some of its people were being detained but i think actually this summit was not about looking for what problems there have been in the process up to now it was really about looking for what is the way forward in the german context and politically it's really sensitive because some people are feeling bad of course vaccines are the way out of this pandemic that the way out of

lockdowns the way back to school for kids and so on so politically the politicians don't want a repeat in future of the delays we're seeing that yeah that's very true i'm to take a listen to what the chancellor said this evening to reassure the public take a listen then on the 1000 c.m. from what the manufacturers told us today we can say that by the end of the 3rd quarter or by the end of the summer every citizen in germany will have been offered a vaccine stuff and in for a new book the most. so i mean how credible is this explanation do you think going to be with the german public. well i think this is what people are waiting for as i say there are there are difficulties it's an extremely complex process producing vaccines and the supply chains are incredibly complex involving a substances that have to be produced in the e.u. that leave the e.u.

then returned to the e.u. and some of that was what the vaccine manufacturers who were also part of this conference today were explaining to the politicians but the angle a miracle said the government will put as much money as is needed to help them you know ramp up production and to deal with problems where they arise they also for instance want to make sure that when there is a lot of vaccine available they'll be able that people will be able to use it because you also need syringes you need bottles you need to refrigeration and other infrastructure so there are all these kind of if you like low level problems and then the chancellor and the other leaders we're dealing with today and i suppose it's it is about promoting confidence in the structures and they're saying a few more weeks really until the 2nd quarter we won't see really enough vaccine

for all the people who've been told to expect some here in germany so i mean steam by the russians they may be coming and they may be bringing back scenes germany's health minister has not ruled out using russian and chinese vaccines to stop the supply shortage saying if the vaccines are approved in the european union germany should use them no matter where they come from russia's sputnik 5 is already in use in a number of countries cars like stan started its vaccination drive today top health officials were the 1st to get the sputnik shocks russia says if sputnik is approved in europe it can supply the european union with 100000000 doses in the 2nd. corder . simon to be clear here if germany were to distribute the russian vaccine it would set germany apart from other major industrialized countries and show the world that it was not capable of producing its own vaccine

well are they talking about a european approval process so i suppose it would be such vaccines would then potentially be used elsewhere as well i think politicians have been up front from the start the process of generating vaccines isn't it an international co-operative process and it's science led so if substances get the medical approvals and they will the safeguards have been observed there's no reason why they couldn't begins to having said that as i mentioned that the politicians today were really suggesting that you know germany will have the capacity it doesn't right now but it's ramping up massively and will soon be able to offer vaccines to all adults across the country w. so i mean young with the latest tonight here in berlin simon as always thank you.

well the anger over the slow vaccination rollout here in europe it is rational and it's reasonable science was able to develop numerous effective vaccines at lightning speed a medical miracle so the thinking goes the world should be able to get that miracle the vaccine from the web to people's arms quickly the 1st ration here in europe is surpassed only by fear the corona virus claimed more lives in january than in any month in the pandemic so far in the u.k. the number of coded deaths you see it right there 100000 last month the number of british civilians who were killed during the entire 2nd world war was 30000 less january was also the month when variants of the virus became what researchers are calling a game changer there's the british variant there's the south african varia and the brazilian variant now we don't know how many there are but we knew we do know that

the variants are more contagious and perhaps more deadly the one european country where the viral variant appears to be getting the upper hand is portugal during one week in january the country had more infections and deaths per $100000.00 people that any country in the world for trickles viral monitoring agency predicting the british are very it will be responsible for 60 percent of all coded $1000.00 cases in the nation this month and despite these dangers despite the slow road out of vaccinations the calls for an end to lock downs are only getting louder. sounder takes us to the netherlands where protests against coronavirus restrictions have become violent. don't mistake this for a festival this is a protest that each of the participants showed up with their very own men. which there is no virus you cannot stop the spread of an iris it's impossible so i find

that the measures that the government takes a disproportionate it's not a matter of that we deny coronado but we think there's a different way. it's going too far at the moment the one thing that unites them is their discontent with how the dutch government is handling coronavirus for the 3rd time now this an authorized event has drawn different groups of people to the museum plain square and amsterdam police presence is high this afternoon and with reason. a week ago cities across the netherlands were overrun by protesters rioters attacked police said vehicles on fire and broke into shops 3 nights in a row a 9 o'clock curfew that was put in place by the government on january 23rd is believed to have triggered the protests the rioting and the looting here in the netherlands has stopped for now but boarded up shops like these serve as a constant reminder that the threat isn't over yet violent episodes like these

shouldn't necessarily come as a surprise sociologist jacqueline french tackling book tells us we have like a little bit a little bit and then this closed and then that close and then sports was not allowed anymore and so on and but that was never never a full package it might well be that eventually. people got extremely fucked up with it by the by the curfew being on top of it and you know in the netherlands freedom is a big thing. this man is worried about his freedoms as well. as one of the initiators of the protests that museum plane but because of last week's violence he's not participating today to underline his peaceful intentions he asked to meet us at the national monument for the victims of world war 2 the rules are too heavy for the problem ok there is a problem as i say there is a growing of fibrous is there and it is a problem but the rules are too heavy 14000 deaths people means

0.08 percent and if you see the problems we're having in the whole country. shops are dying it's terrible for everybody. and supporters want to see restrictions rolled back and they're good to government leave office following the elections in march. but with a majority of dutch people still in favor of both the government and its pandemic strategy this seems very unlikely to me to. across town riot police have cleared the square this protest might be over but the next one will follow suit. for. among other things it says the united states is taking over. in this difficult. is that perhaps a message. think it's a message to all countries in the region and countries to you know

will be asked to respond or to consider what the appropriate response will be in reaction to the events that happened over the past couple of days. well me and maher woke to the news today that the military and seizing control of the country the move followed a landslide win by the country's civilian leader aung sun suu g.'s party and then the election in november that the military claims was marred by fraud the takeover was announced in a statement aired on a military own television station suchi has urged her supporters to not accept this and to protests against this coup. as you just heard there the white house offering condemnation of last night's military coup in me and maher and threatening sanctions against the country this is the 1st foreign policy flash point for the biden administration after 4 years of donald trump how much

credibility does america have in the world when it preaches democracy and the rule of law let's pull in jonathan katz now from the german marshall fund in washington d.c. jonathan served as adviser at the u.s. state department and he was a foreign policy and visor on capitol hill johnson is going to have you back on the show the united states as you know has condemned the military coup in me and more president biden is reportedly threatening sanctions economic sanctions there one thing how much of a moral force the does the u.s. have at the moment. well i think 1st and foremost the new administration president biden has has come out quickly to condemn what's taken place in burma let's not forget it was the obama administration with vice president biden that help move burma forward democratically several years ago so there's a lot of history and experience with the u.s.

working with the current government force in the current government that's actually now jailed and so i think this administration is moving very quickly want to express its concerns and then expressing what options might be on the table if those that have been locked up are not release so i think there really quickly of course the issue of a president trump this the situation in burma looks an awful lot like you saw in the u.s. election where you had a free and fair election and then you had somebody trying to say this in this case it's the military and burma that it wasn't legitimate election so this new administration is doing the right thing we should have to allies and partners in the region and saying that it's going to stand up for democracy and this is critical early on in this administration to draw a lot of the sand on this type of an issue the leader of mia more on song suchi she is a nobel peace laureate she once enjoyed tremendous goodwill in the international community

she doesn't have bent to lean on now does she. well i think you know we could debate whether or not the engagement over the last 4 years particularly the united states and others has been at the right level with her government obviously concerns about the writing about treatment and hubert rice should have been on the top of the list of concerns but right now what we're talking about is an election that took place. several weeks back in november what looked like a free and fair democratic election and in this case the military coming in and locking those people up because they don't like to result and what you have now is a diplomatic standoff in crisis there are wires u.s. attention but that of our european partners and issues partners and of course there is a china factor involved in this as well let me take you now for me a more to russia we've got the detainment in the imprisonment of crim ling critical

like seeing the ball and talk to me about what if anything the buy did ministration can do to pressure president vladimir putin here. well they're ready you know and the 1st conversation that the president biden had with mr putin he put the no volley issue right on the table saying that he needs to be released this is a sea change from literally literally 2 weeks ago when president trouble wouldn't even raise this issue with his counterpart so what you're saying is increase u.s. political pressure there certainly the threat of sanctions if he's not released but there's also concerns longer term concerns about how mr putin is going to go about duma lections this year real concerns about fraud and so i think this administration may be looking at potentially targeting russians close too close to mr coote for sanctions. that list is not exhaustive mr deval me and his people just

within the last day produce a list of those that could be sanctionable i'm not saying that the u.s. should do this but it may be something that they should consider will talk to me let me pick up on this the stark difference that we're seeing now in terms of the u.s. state department the u.s. secretary of state and of course the white house reaction to these 2 crises compared to what we experienced when donald trump was president. i mean it's really night and day and you're seeing the u.s. under under president by his leadership under secretary of state like it moved very quickly to address these challenges previously you wouldn't see a direct reaction from president trump particularly to anything related to mr putin he stepped back and played in fact in many cases what what democrats or republicans felt was was the wrong role so i think there's a lot of people applauding this immediate effort to address these challenges and i

get said you know this is sort of like trying to hide this ad and key issues that the u.s. is back on the global stage that we're going to be leading on these issues and i think the conversation that president biden had with mr putin really laid out the marker particularly about interference in the united states whether we're talking about cyber issues whether we're talking about interference in elections but the president but it also raise ukraine and number of key issues of concern to the united states directly so i think it's a new day you know i think that it's a new administration but i think that the message that said to moscow to the united states particularly this president is up to stead for interference and for their efforts to harm u.s. interests both in the united states and globally you know the difference and certainly remarkable to say the least john think outs with the german marshall fund joining us tonight from washington d.c. jump in we appreciate your time and your insights thank you. so good to see.

britain has begun offering citizens of hong kong a fast track to u.k. citizenship the move comes in response to china's controversial national security law and beijing's crackdown on protesters on congress with british national overseas standards and their close family members are eligible for the visa but his d.w. charlotte tells until reports for some the path to a new future in the u.k. remains an elusive one up until last summer looms wife and his 2 young children have never set foot in england now they've left their jobs their home and their loved ones back in hong kong to start a new life here in the u.k. . apparently they support a communist. they will if. that means i have to lift my mother but i have no choice i have no choice because of my children i have to raise

them i have to let them know the truth they do have the right to live better. long says he's long been concerned about democratic freedoms in hong kong but it was beijing's decision last year to impose a sweeping national security law which proved the final straw. but we don't have freedom to speak we are just asking for something we already we should have we we are having before was doc to think there is no future in hong kong hundreds of thousands of hong kong as are expected to follow you and his family of the next few years is a leap of faith made possible by new u.k. visa scheme it's open to those born before the british handover of hong kong to china in 1907 as well as their dependence you know if is some 5000000 hong kong as a pathway to citizenship. following it's a lifeline but the true test is still to come activists say there isn't enough

infrastructure in place to support the arrivals and questions remain if the integration officials admit this is a work in progress clearly there are going to be some challenges there's a lot of work going on to make sure all of the essential things are in place around housing around how to settle and integrate and you know if children will get children in schools that some things are everything you would expect in terms of and i you bring people to settle china has slammed these are all for accusing the british government of meddling in internal offense while others in the u.k. say the scheme doesn't go far enough i welcome the government in providing a safe lifeboat to many hong kong ors but i do feel that those who are not eligible like me are a bit left out of the scheme douglas is active in the pro-democracy movement he fled hong kong after the security deal was introduced like many activists he was born after $997.00 and isn't eligible for the visa without his parents here alone

his savings are running out and now so too this is tourist visa he'll soon have to leave the u.k. but with the travel restrictions in place around the world he and others like him a finding that doors a family closed. as we always say during protests no matter we go up or down we go together i hope that those who are eligible for be a know will think about those who are not and bear in mind that some are still struggling to find a safe place to settle. well the day is almost gone to come so she continues online every member no matter what happens between now and bit of tomorrow is another day we'll see you then every book.

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