because they don't want to risk a sudden spike in new infection numbers of course so this is sort of the ground that they're going to meet in and at the same time uncle americal and the state premiers are going to discuss just when this 1st reopening steps can be taken so the draft paper that we've seen that is the basis for discussion says that the lockdown will continue till the 14th of month of march now this can of course still be shaken up but then we're expecting a long debate as well about just which infection rates need to be reached in order for the states to reopen gradually everybody agrees that schools and kindergartens need to come 1st and there the draft paper says that that will be up to the regional leaders to decide ok if those surveys are really decisive day in terms of those measures you know you know also there is a bit of a debate going on in the country right now we mentioned that america is meeting with the 16 leaders of the german federal states because there's

a federal system in place in the country lots of debate about how effective that structure has been when it comes to officiant concrete and streamlined action phyllis and there. well there can be no doubt that germany did do very well in the 1st wave a year ago and that was largely due to its federal structure because of course local clusters of new infections could be targeted locally without dragging unaffected regions into a lockdown and so it's important to remind everybody that angle americal can't really decide very much in this regard it is up to the 16 federal states to make those decisions but of course in the vaccine rollout that started in december this federal structure has now added to the process being very complicated very slow there's a lot of criticism and also of course there's always the risk of neighboring cities that belong to 2 different political districts having completely different rules once the whole reopening process starts so if you take the example of had dresses

that might open already on the 1st of march if they open in one district with low infection numbers and then everybody from a neighboring district where the numbers are higher but the headdresses are not open drives over then there is of course the risk that they take the virus with them again so this complicated set of rules does not allow for a unified approach really and that is our doing to the current corona fatigue that is growing here in germany nina has in berlin thank you. think a look at some other developments in the pandemic to nuke over 1000 variants have been identified in england one of them a variant of concern the u.k. government advisors say they're also have similarities to the variants found in south africa and brazil south africa is restarting its vaccination campaign using doses from johnson and johnson after the astra zeneca vaccine was found to be less effective against a new variant that has spread in the country and south korea says that it will

greenlight the astra zeneca vaccine for all people including those over the age of $65.00 it is the 1st vaccine to be granted approval in the country. now despite the development of a variety of effective vaccines many people are of course still going to catch the virus so researchers have been working on finding an effective treatment that stops people from developing severe symptoms or dying of the disease here's a look at some of the most promising medications so far you may know the name hydroxy chloroquine it was often uttered by former us president donald trump who had hoped it could help win the fight against copa 19 say he was a let's see if it works it might and it might not i happen to feel good about it but who knows but science disagreed with that feeling after studies showed that the decades old anti-malarial drug was ineffective against the new virus u.s. authorities revoked its emergency use authorization. now

a year into the pandemic researchers are getting a clearer picture of what works and what doesn't back to trump and this time a success story. when the president himself ended up in the hospital with covert 19 he was given a drug cocktail made by the company regenerate. trump quickly recovered and became a walking advertisement for the treatment. the region cove to treatment uses artificial antibodies that bind to a virus cells and prevent them from replicating. so far studies have shown promising results now the german government has ordered 200000 doses of antibody treatments from a general on and competitor lilly at a price of around $2000.00 per dose. another promising prospect interferon beta it's a protein produced by the body when it gets an infection and early findings suggest that when it's inhaled by an infected person it could keep 80 percent of

hospitalized patients off the ventilator. and this rare sea animal off the coast of spain has become an unlikely source of hope a substance extracted from it is being used to create a drug called put to depths and or applet in which can slow the spread of the corona virus in the human body and early studies show it to be 30 times more effective than the ones hyped are and as of year. one problem all of these treatments are expensive and will likely only be available in the world's wealthier countries demand for widely available drugs like ivermectin has surged in latin america and subsaharan africa ivermectin is an inexpensive anti parasite drug but scientists warn its effectiveness is still in doubt some doctors in developing nations are instead putting their hopes in affordable steroids treatments like decks and methods but for the world health organization the focus is still clear vaccinate enough of the world's population over the next year to put the pandemic

behind us. and i am joined now by ralph hunka from the german association of research based pharmaceutical companies he is one of the leading experts when it comes to therapeutic medicines against kovan 1000 thank you so much for joining us we were just hearing there about some promising new medications for people who are already in infected but just to be clear here these are treatments that can help to ease symptoms but none of them actually wipe out kovac 19 is that correct. well one of those mad sons is capable of just switching off the disease so to speak but they can actually do more than just kill sometimes so several ones of them really address the viruses directly by prevent them from multiplying and so they may give the body the upper hand to fight off the disease ok so so then given what you're saying there tell us is there an affordable and easy to use

pill or any other innovative game changer when it comes to medication and development right now that you're especially enthusiastic about. well there are more than 300 different medicines in valuation at the moment and various stages of development some of them are already tried tested with patients of us on the look forward to stage and we see some good interim results which lead those 2 to think that we can say you improvements within the next time of year but if there are some who may be in a combination can really guarantee kind of. hailing within 3 days we don't know at the moment why is it so important to continue work on these kind of medications i mean why not put all available resources right now into

getting more vaccines for example. well it will take time till everybody got a vaccination who wanted to have it we will also have many people who chose not to have a vaccination and of goals we have patients or people who cannot get vaccinated right now like other lessons on children since of the roxanne's on alt approved for them and will not pay for several months and of coals the virus is likely to stay with us even the pandemic is over so there will always be people who need treatment and so we have to develop them. now one thing that we have to mention all of these medications that are in development already on the market that they haven't in common is that they're very expensive there's been a lot of talk about providing equitable access to vaccines and treatments including

through the kovacs program do you think that the same should be done to to a greater extent when we're talking about medication as well. well in last september a number of pharma companies and the bill and melinda gates foundation together published a statement where they set they will actively work for equitable axis so the prices we see now need not be the prices we will see later so at the moment all those mansell's are in evaluations and we have not large capacity is to manufacture them and we have not had negotiations between for example the e.u. and the companies we have not seen or it is possible when more companies join the manufacturing network so. we will see and it's too early to

say how expensive those medicines will be in the end thank you so much from the german association of research based pharmaceutical companies we really appreciate it far from and here are some more stories making headlines around the world the president of the european commission has acknowledged failing in the blocks fight against the coronavirus arcilla fund a lie and says that the e.u. was late with its approval and rollout of vaccines but she defended the overall strategy of trying to keep the pandemic with a unified plan for all 27 member nations. security forces in israel have clashed with hundreds of old troll orthodox jews protesting against lockdown restrictions police used water cannon to disperse the crowd public anger is building canst the ultra orthodox community which has continued to hold large weddings and funerals. if you will italy's mchale salvini says that his right wing

party is prepared to back a new government led by mario draghi support from solving a is crucial to druggies and to become prime minister after just have a contest step down at the end of january. we will rescue workers in india are still searching for dozens of people trapped inside of a tunnel 3 days after and police are collapsed and set off a massive flood more than 170 people are missing over 30 bodies have been found so far. one that we had to the united states where senators have voted to proceed with a full impeachment trial against donald trump the senate was largely divided along party lines in backing the democrats' argument that the trial is indeed constitutional the former president stands accused of inciting the storm of the capitol storming of the capitol that left 5 people dead early last month. in this

poll 56 the 44 a clear decision in a divided chamber donald trump will face a 2nd impeachment trial. pursued with a trial the senate vote affirmed that the trial was constitutional. stop the steel. to make their case the democratic prosecutor showed a video as evidence of trumped firing up his supporters to head of the storming of the capitol on january 6th you can vote fraud and through it breaks up everything doesn't it when you catch somebody in a fraud you're allowed to go by very different rules you ask with a high crime and misdemeanor is under our constitution that's a high crime and misdemeanor. and head of the vote republicans had argued that trump could not be convicted once out of office this was dismissed by the

prosecution. their argument is that if you commit an impeachable offense in your last few weeks in office you do it with constitutional impunity you get away with it. so we're columns and lawyers also resorted to video arguing that the trial was politically motivated and divisive. on the impeachment trial which about yes i would vote yes i would but i would go. with this trial you will open up new and bigger wounds across the nation for a great many americans see this process for exactly what it is a chance by a group of partisan politicians seeking to eliminate donald trump from the american political scene. in a congress still reeling from last month's events it is partisan politics that makes it very unlikely the prosecution will get the 2 thirds majority required in the senate to convict trump. soldiers and me anwar have raided the party

headquarters of detained the leader aung sang suu kyi the international community has voiced its growing concern as myanmar's military tightens its grip on power and steps up its violent response to nationwide protests many demonstrators remain defiant they have returned to the streets for a 5th day to demand the reversal of the military coup and the release of their elected leaders. it looks like a simple quirky demonstration. but this group of young protesters and gang gone a risking their lives. are a new name for this is a protest idea from the young generation we are always thinking about how to be more creative because we need international attention when i die the group remains on the target off to choose days of violence in which police fired rubber bullets and water cannons the protesters the military leaders who staged

a coup on february 1st have declared such trolleys illegal there were also reports of large army an issue being fired. that. killed at least 2 people critically injured. but again under armor the now we say that the military is taking brutal action against us. but when young people will leave the protests through various groups in every place for a way. to see america demonstrate as a calling for an end to the military genter and freedom for the nation's elected leader and sunset she and her allies they are also calling for a new constitution and more democratic freedoms they cause has attracted international support. with the u.s. and u.n. condemning the use of force we repeat our calls for the military to relinquish power restore democratically elected government release those detained and lift all

telecommunication restrictions in to refrain from violence having gauge with. india do us strongly here and discuss this you do a shoot just today with the chinese foreign minister. we all agree on the need to create responses the military justified their coup by claiming widespread voter fraud in the november polls which saw a landslide victory for searching the claims were not supported by man mas' election commission a curfew under strict rules on gatherings have been put in place but they are yet to prevent fresh protests from breaking out across the country. and i'm joined now from young gone by a pro democracy activist who for security reasons will run remain anonymous we'll call her sue thank you so much for joining us here and as we've mentioned that this is now the 5th day of protests it seems to be a little bit more peaceful and calm and yesterday what have you been seeing and

what is the mood as you've been experiencing at. ok i was at the protests for 4 days and i've seen the videos of that 1000 years so i'm female protester who was shot in the head by the police and maybe don't cover the city of mark she was wearing a red t. shirt just standing there in the group at the station and not actually crossing the barrier gates or not doing something against the police they were previously using the water cannons. and now the realistic but it didn't stop the protesters from doing what they are doing such as banking the possum pens at 8 pm and protests on the streets joining by tens of thousands of people by shouting out loud what they want and hold in a slogans such as you know reach out military coup release the detained political leaders we deserve democracy is a truck despite the coroner virus despite the new laura fanning from gathering more

than 5 people and having that got us as a not so the protesters even more like creative with their own designs as you said earlier to get the attention not only from the locals but also from the international commission for the help of creative and we understand also very young many of the protesters in their twenty's and thirty's you individuals such as yourself is it mainly the younger generation that's concerned about democracy and neon marren is taking out to the streets and you know perhaps you can tell us why that might be. well for me i was not adverse before but i'm always interested in politics and history so i roughly know about what we were facing really such as about the constitution the power of the military and the you know of a law and of a lot of areas of the nation during 5 years range of and the deep but i have to say that i'm not a strong and of the supporter. and

a current pride that is not about the fight between energy and the military it isn't really about the right and the wrong according to law and it's about the fight between a public who want justice for the government actually voted and you know due to ship so well we are doing all we can do we want to us what help from the international governments and organizations like you know as you can see even the u.n. children's hour so it will be in this so even the end as then the importance of it so. thank you so much for telling us a little bit more about those efforts and also you know the call to action that you have for international organizations the international community to joining us from young gong you appreciate it. thank you. some football news for you now german side byron munich is one victory away from making history said to play of the field club world cup final on thursday byard could become the only the only the 2nd club ever to win all 6 messick in international titles in

a single campaign. hons the flick has almost done it all by the number one club in the world one a handful of titles in 2020 everything from the bundesliga to the champions league the visually became part of byron silverware collection that season now in qatar bahrain have one more title to go winning everything plus the fifa club world cup is tantamount to football perfection it's only been done once before back in 2009 by barcelona. winning the final am at the club world cup could be the cherry on top. with all of the titles we've won. and then win this additional one. maybe at 1st you don't think about it that much and that also but in the end when you know only one team has won 6 titles in

a season is on the south and you have the chance to be the 2nd team it's a chance to make football history for us and i've been chasing history robert levin dosti fief is reigning football there of the year has scored $27.00 goals this season and he helped by and reach their 1st fifa club world cup final since 2013 success with a charity to the dream season hons he flicks already had it by on in his 1st season in charge. to the south korean capital now where efforts are being made to rein in the number of covert 1000 cases among its pet population seoul is offering free testing for any animals owned by people themselves infected with the coronavirus the effort to test and quarantine pets comes just weeks after a kitten in seoul became south korea's 1st confirmed case of an animal with covert 19. this is no ordinary trip to the veterinarian

health care workers made a house call to test this dog for the corona virus. after some coaxing the animal emerged from its cannell for a series of swabs. as of monday house pets can be tested free of charge if they meet their requirements. for those. dogs and cats that came into contact with the confirmed patient can apply for testing that if it's determined that there are symptoms you can contact the animal department and a team of health care workers will visit your home to collect the sample from 2 to get into. pets who test positive must remain in isolation for 14 days at home. around the world other animals including zoo gorillas and mink have tested positive for cove at 19. the officials here aren't taking any

chances after months of rising cases the numbers in south korea are now on the decline restrictions are slowly being eased and the 1st vaccine has been approved in the country. other local governments plan to follow in saul's footsteps to ensure these 4 legged friends are also free to roam. and now to another animal tale of sorts during the pandemic zoom conferences have become the norm replacing in person meetings but that doesn't mean everyone understands exactly how it works like in a courtroom video in which a us lawyer struggles through a filter from his image have a look at things. you might want to own where to find out the number george i can hear you i think it's a filter and then as you go out of. her she's trying to.

all of. us are here a lot of outsmart a molecule out. tape of the cat showed up to the quarter of a coming up next sunday that new news that is due to your news asia with my colleague jane i'm sorry kelly in berlin thank you so much for watching take care.

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information on the coronavirus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you can get your podcast you can also find us at. science. this is the doctor coming up today questions then on throws. a temperature to even try and up the probing view of the court all know by those serious fuzzy investigations on need of a team member tells us why determining its fleet of all bridges could remain a big question mark plus. grounded by the president of malaysian office alexis is appointed as logged on restrictions to the famous line dancers bringing to the new year. i mean it's done.