this into context for us. it was pretty much yes we can speech saying that yes germany could beat the pandemic and that it could be led into a brighter future and there are many many thoughts that she was now departing from that initial prospect that there could be an easing of restrictions if germany hits that magic figure of 50 or below infections or 100000 people within the space of 7 days that's just been lowered to 35 and a new system is now effectively in place which allows for very reasonable openings so germany now has a new corona formula but in the absence of large scale vaccination it still hasn't reached that light at the end of the tunnel and with me here is now a green m.p. . i would just like to bring you in on this because you yourself are a medical doctor and what do you make of that machall speech which didn't address

europe all working with the broader world but didn't it well i think it would be really necessary to come now to strategy where we see europe as a unique place together and take measures which are. more harmonized between all the countries because we will not be successful in the fight against corporate 19 if you like all the countries follow their old rules and old strategies we need to come together and. right now chancellor merkel didn't address that point which would be necessary especially if we want to keep our borders open now you are from the opposition so what would you like to see would you like to see more of a locked down even deeper look down than right now or is your emphasis morna perspective out of this through my opinion we have 2 problems on the one side there

is a lack of discipline when it comes to measure a switch. already are in place so people don't follow the rules as much as it would be necessary to happen like in fact when it comes for example to a mosque wearing. workplace and also to reduce mobility which is one of the reasons why we still have high numbers compared to other countries and another thing i think. would be important to give the people perspective and one thing what. we need is a plan which has like a unique risks where we have different levels which where we know what kind of action needs to be taken at what level of the pen done and now you also trained in international clinics you also trained favorite for instance in lebanon where does the german approach. what seen a success of

a stretching their own health system of rest of the world well i think and porton point is that we have to and to focus in the discussion about the pandemic only on a national level when it comes to the number of vaccine available to the international community we really have to take responsibility over here in germany not only for german citizens or europe but also for the rest of the world and have to. really scale up the production. for example the pfizer vaccine which is produced actually over here in germany and which would help the rest of the world would be foster in the production of that special vaccine just briefly how satisfied are you with action taking the e.u. itself has admitted that it's failing to deliver well we are not fast enough and

i'm very. cern's that we really. focus on backs you know is the magic bullet and leave all the other strategies a bit behind so when it comes to my opinion we need to be more disciplined we need to be more united as a team as europe together and we need to be faster ok thank you very much and with that voice from the opposition green party in the german parliament back to you. and that was his chief political editor michelle are speaking from the german parliament there will angle americal spoke of her concern about the emergence of increasingly contagious coronavirus variance u.k. experts say that the variance 1st detected in southern england is likely to become the world's most dominant strain and response the u.k. is now sending up to 10 percent of positive covert $1000.00 tests on 2 labs to check for virus mutations it's part of a growing effort to catch the more contagious new strains before they take hold.

in the global fight against co that 19 is mutations that are preventing the next great challenge and here in the u.k. authorities are taking another fight directly into people's homes the idea that they're doing do is to do the testing in areas where he needs nations have been found to go to identify cases before they have a chance to spread. it was just one case of the south african variants found here in this community that launched this door to door testing scheme but the concern is that one case could just be the tip of the iceberg ordinarily only a small amount of positive tests to scream 2 mutations meaning that when they all found authorities here a cracking down hard it's things to genome sequencing that authorities can pinpoint where to look the u.k. is the world leader in sequencing analyzing 10 percent of positive covert samples for the emergence of new variants in tell us who the team with the. ukase pivot 19

genomics to 14 is responsible for almost half the world's poor by sequencing. work that will continue to prove crucial as more mutations emerge i don't think we've seen the full spectrum of mutations that could arise so the very common in england at the moment 117 that's very good at spreading but actually what i'm looking for very carefully is mutations going into that variant that also impact on immunity and that's what starts to worry me considerably and that is what we're seeing in the in the u.k. but no population is immune to take this that's why professor peacock says genome sequencing needs to become a global priority without comprehensive international screening it's feared new more dangerous variants to take hold putting vaccine programmes at risk mutations will be in the 4 corners of the year and there'll be lots that we don't know about that would be quite concerned if we did know about now the reason that support of

all of us is because some of these variants are actually going to lead to a challenge in terms of immunization now that is really critical as we go forward we need to know what the virus is doing so that we can keep up with that same development work is already being done to modify that seems to protect against existing variants. professor paul heath is the chief investigator at the u.k.'s novak spanx in trial he says he's confident sequencing can help manufacturers keep ahead of mutations one of the 3 vaccine technologies or. in the production of 19 vaccines are very oppression and lexapro and so it's entirely possible that modified vaccines will emerge very quickly from. their print vaccine manufacturers and vaccines will likely have to

adapt in the meantime identifying and isolating mutations will be an invaluable tool in the catamounts game between vaccines and variants. and here are some more stories now making headlines around the world and president alexander lukashenko says that he defeated a foreign blitzkrieg to overthrow him a longtime leader made the remarks at a 2 day convention in minsk the opposition has been holding weekly protest since his just futile election win last august lucas shango says that external and not internal forces are driving the protest. the wife of jailed kremlin critic alexina volley has reportedly flown to germany from russia according to german news magazine deshpande. flew from moscow to frankfurt on wednesday last week her husband was sentenced to nearly 3 years in jail for violating his probation probation after he was poisoned in siberia. u.s.

president joe biden has spoken to chinese president xi jinping for the 1st time since taking office she warns of that a confrontation would be a disaster for both nations biden says that his administration will counter china's growing global influence earlier biden had announced plans for a pentagon task force to review u.s. security strategy regarding china. and the u.s. house democrats have wrapped up their 1st full day of arguments at donald trump's 2nd impeachment trial the former president is accused of inciting a riot at the capitol building in which 5 people died last month prosecutors unveiled chilling new video of the violent mob raking into the building and the subsequent chaos. on the 2nd day of the impeachment trial democratic prosecutors wasted little time to make their case. they used security camera footage to reconstruct in painstaking detail how the rioters worked their way into the inner

sanctum of u.s. democracy coming within touching distance of the politicians inside. as the riders reached the top of the stairs they were within 100 feet of where the vice president was sheltering with his family and they were just a feet away from one of the doors to this chamber where many of you remained at that time. you can see the vice president pence and his family quickly moved down the stairs the vice president turns around briefly as he's headed down. other footage leaves little doubt about the mob's violent intent. with. recordings of police radio calls show how the embattled officers lost control of the situation. who are doing their. job or

you know. well what our troops here know you're up there. were pretty certain girl. we knew someone you work up when i was growing up we were . the rioters did finally manage to breach the senate floor prosecutors say they acted at donald trump's behest was this was not a coincidence none of this was donald trump over many months cultivated violence praised it and then when he saw the violence his supporters were capable of he channeled it to his big wild historic event democrats hope these dramatic images will convince some of their republican counterparts to vote to convict the former president. with millions of americans

watching the televised proceedings the intensity of the prosecutor's arguments has reverberated far beyond the senate chamber. now pressure is building on neon marist cool leaders after u.s. president joe biden announced a new sanctions against the military regime that seized power a week ago ivan also repeated demands for the generals to give up power and free civilian leaders meanwhile the close aide of ousted leader aung sang suu cheese has been detained keogh tent sway was among those taken into custody in a new wave of arrests overnight protesters remain defiant and are increasingly creative tactics using them to make their demands. dressed in furry animal suits and risking their lives. these groups of young protesters and young go on a challenging the coup leaders with humor their protest tactics which is slogans with pop culture references i knew from my own mom. and the most generations it's

a good idea from our generation said where l g b t groups and cosplay is and where wearing costumes and trying to get international attention on twitter people from other countries have noticed it was going to be a lot. to gain attention and support abroad younger generations are using both social media and lessons learned from protesters in neighboring hong kong and toil and. wear in crowns and ball gowns thank you for going shirtless like these members of a bodybuilding club people are showing their opposition to the coup thank you demonstrators are calling for an end to the military dictatorship and freedom for the nation's elected leader own son suchi and her allies they also wanted a new constitution on

a return to democratic freedoms the groups remained on deterred off to choose days violence. security forces declared the rallies illegal trenching peaceful protesters with water cannons there are reports that police fired large rounds to disperse some marches. the teenage protester was shot and critically injured. a banner shows the injured 19 year olds and demonstrators know their actions could risk a stronger crackdown from the authorities here but i mean yes we are ready to give our lives if they're trying to threaten on on protesters we have nothing except our own bodies we are peacefully protesting but i was. told we don't want to live under the military rules we want freedom. a curfew and restrictions on gatherings have been put in place but they have not

stopped fresh protests from breaking out across the country. now one of saudi arabia's most vocal women's rights activists has been released after nearly 3 years in prison lou jane are hot who was arrested in 2018 allegedly for violating saudi counterterrorism laws rights organizations say that the charges are unfounded and politically motivated who openly advocated for women's rights to drive and for an end to the country's male guardianship system that restricts women's movements her imprisonment drew international condemnation. and for more let's bring in dave dobbyn a reporter i.e. by him this is joining us now i also you know we know that now women are allowed to drive in saudi arabia so just walk us through the grounds that authorities were using to justify her arrest and her jailing in the 1st place. while the saudi authorities accuse

a very serious offenses as you said you know spying for foreign countries i'm paraphrasing and conspiring to. you know bring down the saudi. regime and you know these are all it's important to remember that these are all accusations that have not been taken seriously on the international arena this you know these are largely seen as as you mentioned politically motivated. charges and while her release is now seen as a positive move and welcome by by many it's important to remember that it doesn't really mean freedom for jane she's banned from travel she's not allowed to leave the country and she's been released under a suspended sentence which means that she could be back in prison any time for perceived criminal activities if the saudi authorities did that appropriate there's a lot of there's been a lot of international pressure we have to mention to to for her release we

understand that some of it might be connected actually to the incoming biden administration tell us a little bit more about that. indeed international condemnation has a company diskettes from the beginning i think an important aspect is also just how ferociously her family has stood by her and campaign throughout these 3 years a sustained campaign always making sure that the world knew about jane's you know conditions in prison but as for president joe biden he has even before being elected promised to be tougher on authoritarian regimes in the middle east more than his predecessor donald trump donald trump was notoriously easy on saudi crown prince mohammed bin simon you know in the aftermath of the murder of. the saudi journalists in the saudi embassy consulate part in in in turkey so there's definitely a connection there i think we're also going to be seeing

a string of releases in the middle east. you know journalists activists etc but i think you know it's an unfortunate situation because you really have lives and freedoms as people in the middle east dependent on how people in the united states vote and i think a lot of activists and a lot of journalists and a lot of people in the middle east would like to see a more sustained approach to human rights from the new u.s. president and not just a piecemeal approach of you know intense pressure for the release of one or the other individual individuals because by and large the united states government and the united states run policy has been supplied to the region in egypt for example. as avraham thank you paris some more stories making headlines around the world china says that it's t. on a when one probe has successfully entered mars' us all of it nearly 7 months after its launch the spacecraft will aim to complete and one full orbit around mars

before attempting to land on the red planet that marks a key milestone in china's mars exploration program. a faction of nepal's ruling party has organized a march into the capital cup on do opposing the prime minister's decision to dissolve parliament the nepal communist party is locked in a bitter battle between allies of the prime minister and critics within the party. 2 men and a woman have been rescued after 33 days on a deserted caribbean island the trio says they survived by even coconuts they were stranded after their boat capsized in the bahamas the u.s. coast guard rescued them after spotting the group during a routine air patrol earlier this week. well as lunar new year approaches a traditional market in taipei is taking on special significance it's the only lunar new year market where hong kong or as in taiwan are free to purchase and sell

political merchandise it was something quite common back home in hong kong but things have changed drastically since beijing's heavy handed crackdown in the city . the smile of hong kong dame some walk through this taipei alley this is the chinese new year mark told hong kong or us who have gone into exile the wrong home 1. 100 home calm people can give a taste of home to encourage them to support each other as we struggle to survive in a foreign a latin culture this is the 1st lunar new year many hong kong that's in taiwan now spending away from home most of them are stuck here because of the pandemic and the political turmoil back home. before beijing imposed this national security law last year you can frequently find political merchandise into chinese syria markets across hong kong now that tradition can only be continued in democratic

taiwan. free hong kong revolution now these slogans have been banned in hong kong how ironic is it that we can still chant them as much as be like in taiwan why has hong kong become like that. go along with. all the booths year our yellow ribbon stores indicating their support for the pro-democracy movement in hong kong some so products made by hong kong designers some of the revenue will flow to needy hong kong as in taiwan. the market attracts a few 101st it has mostly hong kong students and university in taiwan they are the whole the whole dalai. lama we've been studying here for many years we never had such hong kong peoples gatherings before we used to be scattered across different schools but because of the pro-democracy movement and the political upheaval we

gather together and spread the word that you'll be arrested if you speak up in hong kong only. guess you are as well as that are they to be honest we can experience firsthand what happened in hong kong we feel more or less guilty we come here today as a group of guilty hong kong years hoping to do something or simply to support each other. you know at the high. tens of thousands of hong kong as have already fled their hometown in fear of beijing's crackdown by those now overseas are trying hard to keep their traditions alive. this event has a spiritual meaning there are things we can no longer do in hong kong that we can still do elsewhere in the world we can't stop what we're doing because of the oppression we must keep going wherever we are. these hong kong don't know when they can go home go home it's always send their hearts. some

sports news now out of japan mori president of the tokyo 2026 organizing committee is set to step down on friday the 83 year old mori made sexist remarks about female board members during a meeting which set off a firestorm in the media initially he refused to step down but after nearly $400.00 volunteers quit the games earlier this week tokyo organizers revisited more his position as president according to sources a replacement has already been found. while the tampa bay buccaneers football team have celebrated their victory in sunday's to propel with a parade in their hometown fans and players they took to the water and in a flotilla of boats sailed down the hills fall river in tampa thousands of supporters lined the riverbank to cheer on their heroes now city officials asked these attendee used to wear masks and socially distance but unfortunately their

request was largely ignored. you're watching the news focus on europe is coming up next there's always more in a website d.w. dot com you can also follow us on social media at t w news i'm sarah kelly thanks for watching.

because. they're crammed into overcrowded cellars under eighteen's you main conditions. in russia thousands of nirvana supporters have been arrested on so many that jails in and around moscow are 1st in at the scene on tiers are providing aid to the jailed demonstrators because the prisons are coleman and food is in short supply some goods under a. new condo building. into the

conflict zone with tim sebastian for years now the government of bangladesh is being criticized around the world foods human rights record my guest this week from back eyes gallery's me foreign affairs advisor to the country's prime minister well real hard to stop denying the truth about the repression babe inflicted and clean up their act conflicts of folks in 60 minutes to. young german. and jewish. i'm jewish so was. does that mean in daily life. and at school isn't the solution. given a special status is completely normal. to this day don't know why it's wrong. thing

about anti-semitism. even teenagers 11 stories. based on jewish. german and jewish starts february 22nd on d w. very well welcome to focus on europe with me liz show things are not calming down in russia ever since the arrest of kremlin critic alex a not volley people have been taking to the streets across the country the response from the authorities has been violence and intimidation security officials have arrested thousands critics are condemning the acts which they say are targeting not

only opposition politicians but anyone who dares to protest. just recently a russian opposition leader. was sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison and many of his supporters have also found themselves behind bars with jails overcrowded some protesters have been brought to a detention center outside the capital moscow friends and relatives often have to wait for hours outside in the bitter cold to bring the prisoners basic supplies. it's minus 15 degrees celsius and herman has been on his feet since 6 am. he's one of dozens of people waiting to give parcels to the inmates of the soccer over the tension center. berman is here for his flatmates fiddler. she was sentenced to 5 days for participating in anti-government protests in moscow. believe

collected warm to use here's a sweater that blankets. you even knew for friends of in a trying to cover up with. underwear t. shirts and gloves just in case. thing is just terrible to see them brought to tears . my friends and there. were over 7000 people have been arrested since the protests began the police have been especially brutal in moscow and st petersburg they've even taken people away who had nothing to do with the protests just because they happened to be in the area. not just for this group of young people had to sit in a freezing police van for 7 hours they were told there wasn't enough space in the jails for them. these images show conditions and the son of a detention center near moscow overcrowded cells inmates having to share the bare metal beds there's an open latrine right there in the room of it permits flatmates

spent lots but also had to endure these conditions. after 5 days spent lana is released she's relieved to be back at home with herman in their kitchen. she says she was unable to contact the outside world during her incarceration and was overjoyed to receive herman's parcel. we suspected our friends were standing behind the fence. that we worried about them . we thought they might be worse off than we were at least we were inside and not out in the cold. the thought that i had one was that looking out for me helped a lot. she shows us a video from when she was arrested she and other protesters were standing in front of the jail where opposition activists alexina vuln the was being detained the

police surrounded them and arrested them one by one. so it could be someone close to. here for was kidnapped. even if he arrested a legal basis it was totally unacceptable from a humanitarian viewpoint. law abiding citizens respect our constitution not doing anything is prohibited and suddenly this happen on top of that we're told it's right. it's wrong simply awful svetlana tells us she didn't get anything to eat for the 1st 3 days after her arrest because she was taken from one police station to the next and nobody felt responsible and. she was so tense the whole time that she's only just begun to realize how inhumane the situation was. she chess. at 1st i thought i would leave the child to get everything.

but now i'm becoming aware of things in retrospect. i'm wondering why we were treated with so little respect. and i keep thinking about how and he made this whole system is just like i thought that the shiny and. she like many other protesters herman and said lama did not take to the streets only because not only was arrested they were demonstrating against the current political system more generally. these. young people have to have a different russia to live in russia where we have the freedom to decide our future has. the story to cut the rush into the system where the powerful rake in the cash and then try to tell us how to behave this system is wrong and. right now. many of the sahar all the detainees have now been released and they

think much the same way many want to take to the streets again to protest against the system. for years the e.u. has had a tense relationship with vladimir putin but the russian president has often been unfazed by appeals from brussels right now there are calls from germany to hit putin where it hurts the economy some and activists are demanding an end to the construction of the controversial pipeline nord stream to it's supposed to transport natural gas from russia to the german town of mean through the baltic sea axel forte is the mayor there men at the moment he and other residents are caught in the political tug of war between moscow and berlin. this is where north stream 2 ends the 2500 kilometer pipeline is said to run from russia through the baltic sea to the coast from one is supposed to look mean in northeastern germany at the

german and the infrastructure facility with its massive pipes and heavy duty safety valves has been ready to go since the summer of 2020. but look means may or acts of forked this where at the pipeline might never be operational it's been difficult about i'm firmly convinced that we that is germany and europe as a whole still need the natural gas from nord stream. we've begun shutting down nuclear power plants and are phasing out lignite coal but until the time when we are able to power everything by renewable energy germany and europe's energy needs have to be met so i see natural gas from pipelines like nordstrom's as indispensable. some 150 kilometers of pipeline have yet to be laid on the baltic sea bed but controversy surrounding the project is stalling progress it concerns the supplier russia and may prove to be north stream tos and doing. even

before opposition activists alexina of on his arrest many were calling for a halt to the construction as a means to exert political pressure on russia's president putin in a mean there's a different view. is it right to tie a case like for example to a project like nord stream to it or should it be considered in isolation. especially when the facts at least as i understand them aren't so clear as to warrant sanctions against the russian government. if in the whole i find the vuln east case is reported by media very much from the point of view. and the arguments of russia's government get brushed aside or disregarded. mean and russia have a long history in the 1960 s. the soviets but the biggest nuclear power plant here and what was then is germany many of its employees were russian and they lived here. their mark remains in the

community to this day. means beaches are largely deserted these days only a few locals are outside and they share much the same view. about me is not important but no stream is full of iraq. can we afford to throw millions or even billions to the witness they are all to find some kind of compromise so i think the pipeline has to be completed. only one man we spoke to was more critical. reason the longer they were only a dependable partner for as long as it was good for them not because of the nuts and i was for leadership that i wouldn't do this project for political reasons was a mishmash. the baltic sea gas pipelines have become a bone of global contention pitting russia against the united states both have natural gas to sell to europe and want a strategic edge the u.s.

has threatened sanctions against germany should europeans opt to use only the cheaper impression natural gas. prices from the local trade association sees natural gas imports as a purely economic issue he says politics should stay out of it. is good for one moment on the board or do you need gas suppliers make their bags and whoever offers the best price and the best service will win the tender contract and the deal is made a customer decides that sanctions represent your. the people of the mean don't want their home to become a stage for world politics but tend to side with what is familiar is this also there is no denying that we don't want to give up our close ties to russia or. we have a past with russia and that past wasn't all that bad it's only flicked down at the beach locals are also happy to receive other russian and points.

whiskey or vodka i'm used to vodka but whisky is not bad. now actually i'd rather choose. one or our side it's vodka no question whatever the spirit of choice many here would toast the day when natural gas flows from russia to look mean. they just want freedom and a better life the weaker is are an ethnic minority in china most are muslims and they are facing persecution in their home country at least 1000000 are being held in so-called reeducation camps some have given reports of forced labor and even rape and torture $50000.00 weekers have fled to turkey. cheek is one of them up until recently she thought the country was a safe haven that welcomed her and others but now many are afraid that they may be deported. was her father her uncle her grandfather

paul for shame secret chics family was arrested in china because their weakness. in iraq on the night of that little market for weeks shamsi has been joining protests in front of the chinese consulate in istanbul. everyone here has missing relatives everyone here hopes for a sign of life. using didn't deserve that much i think these photos are all we have we are not dangerous we just want our families back their own letter that but i don't understand why they are not being released and why nobody talks to us maybe they are afraid of us or afraid of the truth that you know years that may come close to a lot. 5000 files are piled up in this car 5000 disappeared week is shamsi and the other demonstrators have tried many times to

hand the documents over to the chinese consulate but they have not been admitted not today either. at age 15 shamsi it came to east on board she grew up in sheen junk the home of the muslim league a minority in china the father wanted her to go to high school in turkey now she is studying she wants to be a nurse. shamsi has not had contact with her family for years a friend of her mother's who also lives here in istanbul is the only connection to her old life. the name of being a girl from what i know my father was arrested in may 2017 and taken to an internment camp and shin junge for reeducation as the chinese authorities call it i think he's in a terrible situation. see many videos on social media where we gives

a force to labor in the camps and in the factories one of these people could be my father all of the. stories like shamsi is can be heard by the dozen in the streets of the 18 born in the istanbul district is the center of the exiled we get community in turkey i but now they're saying tree seems to be at risk turkey could soon ratify its extradition treaty with china many we guess who used to feel safe here are now afraid to. useful for america for example he works as a cook in a wig or restaurant the thought of possible deportations war easy and even more than all the economic problems brought by the coronavirus crisis. to look good there so if turkey sends us back to china they will put us in jail forever or shoot us dead. lawyer our dean

represents many weaker refugees he has a fake folder with extradition requests from china there have been no deportation so far as his ag in but pressure from beijing is growing. especially during the coronavirus pandemic chinese investments have become very important for turkey's troubled economy 2 major chinese mobile phone companies have recently announced that they want to invest here and to be relies on the chinese made vaccine i think china uses all of that to exert pressure on turkey. with. chinese capital has become increasingly important for the turkish economy in recent years comport for example one of the country's largest container terminals is now majority owned by a chinese consulate so is istanbul's fulton celebrates.