getting to live. around the world more than 300000000 people are seeking to. live us a life because no one should have to sleep play make up your own mind. w. . made for mines. this is due to produce a shock coming out today. across. a sudden increase in corona virus infections has taken the by surprise despite a good record of exhibitions we asked the country's deputy health minister why that is plus. a journalist is arrested for trying to report on the government's handling of the pandemic we asked is the government trying to muzzle the press. and in

hong kong how releasing animals into the wild for good luck is proving anything but lucky for the animals themselves. i british benedict welcome to news glad you could join us one of the world's most exclusive holiday destinations the maldives is now grappling with the surgeon cause of 1000 cases nearly 1400 new cases were recorded by the island nation on tuesday. a record high that's compared with less than 100 daily cases reported just one month ago last week the maldives decided to temporarily ban travel from several south asian countries as the region faces a massive 2nd wave tourists from other countries with a negative p.c.r. test may still visit the maldives as famed resorts but they are not allowed contact

with the local population. and joining me for more now is the minister of state for held in the maldives and acting director general of health services dr sharma thank you for your time dr what is behind this sudden surge in corona virus infections in the maldives. thank you very much. we are in the process of evaluating this sudden surge there are a number of factors we believe is responsible for the current surge one. there are new variants that we are we are concerned about and currently we are. investigation which we're in there are and also recently. because of from a darn and a lot of movements have been happening in you know we. the measures are

a little bit relaxed for areas reasons so that may have had. influence on that so for us of for. the actual cause for the 3rd wave that we have. is not entirely clear but what we noticed from january at the beginning of coffee after a year we have out at 20 percent increase in cases recently so we had the numbers up as you know roughly we have a population of 600000 people and a bit more and every day we have 140-2500 case that's been posted right now so we have introduced some measures to control this situation right you talked about variants is the vitally circulating indian variant one of the

variants are looking at. well we you know if you're being. close neighbor any effect in india we will obviously be cautious on that so we have not we have not identified any particular period we from time to time we do send well genomic sequencing motives don't have the capacity to analyze and. vary and so we do the p.c.r. testing and when we suspect we sense so we are currently waiting. for that information but we. regulate should and the way we're working we are assuming that there is a possibility that we may have variants of indian variants in our community and may be responsible for this surge what do you where are you with the status of

vaccinations i mean last we heard roughly 60 percent of the population had received at least one shot of a vaccine i'm wondering if you think that this is a vaccine resistant variant of dealing with. well you're right we are actually very fortunate to have a large number of our population neutered in fact and as usual population 6769 percent is facts in nature but 1st those over 33 percent is vaccinated. the 2nd those completed the vaccination we don't actually believe that there is resistance but you know that actual data remain to be seen we believe. the search easier to do with more of movement happening within the maltese. as well as that additional variants might be circulating in the population but there is no if

it gets to show that you know the vaccines are ineffective to. the new cases what we have actually seen is also the cases that are being admitted to hospitals. that the people are more severe is the people who people who hasn't had the vaccination that you know there is protection and the people there are less severe when they get the disease that if those who have had vaccination and those who have died majority of them have not received the vaccination right dr sharma here the minister of state for health for the maldives thank you so much for your time thank you very much a pleasure. police embargoed their show but arrested a prominent journalist for allegedly illegally or training information on the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic but those you know islam was

arrested for allegedly photographing documents related to the government's purchase of vaccines islam is well known for investigative reporting on the country's health sector she's been charged with the colonial official secrets act which carries with it percentage of up to 14 years imprisonment or even death. of other muslims from the has been following developments for us and he joins me now for more out of other aussie not islam has been charged with illegally taking photographs of certain documents does the government have a point though today's time has been working as an investigative reporter for us in buying up this as he works at that day you put on a newspaper the most influential daily in the us how this in country islam was that the minister of health on monday to do her job as a journalist she elegantly used her cell phone we don't buy me she wanted to photograph some documents that related to global warming negotiations to buy a cauldron of ideas vaccines well she was there equity into

a global mint obviously well as you know she has been at a stand on charges of a brit seeing a call you know that our office has 6 act later on the day we get is it possible did but 90 that act was in it did in 1203 to prohibit taking photographs of sensitive estate documents we don't do your permission but it has really been used in the past experts think islam should not be punished under the act for carrying out duties as a journalist as how to elicit actions do not force and that's not it has the abolishing press been able to report on the government's handling of the koran about to spend their make freely. not really that some groups say a government crackdown on the media has intensified to do to induct i don't know why just prices in bangladesh earlier this month in newark best human rights watch st bangladeshi journalist are risking arbitrary at is daughter shot and harassment

under it widely used to does it all security act it said at least $247.00 journalist only put it is subject to at harassment and intimidation by estate office shells and other if we did we took the government input into going to journalists and rights groups often complain about that does it does a good act which limits press freedom the low odds in it did if you go to fight against fake news by the warding off it is fake and its provisions abroad more than $900.00 cases are filed under the act with nearly $1000.00 people charged and $350.00 detained many of them journalists. is the press in by these being muzzled by the government yes that's what expose think some of the news papers have published editorials to the 70 about how does he feel secure gak has limited investigative reporting on quote option in voting being high level officials the media has opted for self-censorship to keep themselves safe that

added stuff religion islam was sold only create more fear among the journalists in the country out of i don't islam thank you very much for that. countries and territories in the region today i'm marking the birth of gotham but the founder of but this i'm in hong kong some devotees of observe the day by releasing captive animals into the wild a practice known as mercy billie's but this believe it brings good fortune but conservationists see a different side the practice has become a money making venture for pet stalls and the animals often either don't survive in the new involvement or they've negatively alter the call the. the hunt is on. to capture and save this turtle. she's a red eared slider turtle one of the lucky ones captured alive for resettlement

she's one of thousands of creatures that rescuers pull from both natural and very unnatural settings this one near a drainage outlet didn't make it. quite a thing it's not suitable for these turtles to live in places like these catch water drains or ponds because they're not a local hong kong species if they were kept by humans as pets they won't be able to hunt in the wild they won't be able to catch the food they need and then they'll starve to death or depending on the weather they might freeze or die from the heat . can make you fall but only. on and on this rescue group tries to save and nursed back to health tortoises left to fend for themselves in the wild. that after many were sold at pet stores that cater to buddhists especially around buddha's birthday celebration the 8th day of the 4th month in the chinese lunar

calendar. they believe the so-called mercy release of turtles lobsters clams or any confined animal will bring good karma forgetting or perhaps ignoring natural laws of cause and effect most serious has has potentially multiple different different risks that it puts our ecosystems to potential disease bacteria or virus parasites from other countries from from the collection source or getting done without screening or without sort of consideration of of the public health risk as well the hong kong buddhist association says it doesn't condone releasing animals and admits some inappropriate practices had caused physical harm to animals and threaten the environmental balance. the intense maybe to do good bringing good fortune to oneself the outcome not so good fortune for the beings supposedly receiving mercy

in mercy releases. and that's of a there's of course born a website. asia we leave you today with pictures from south korea where people have been marking blood type day at temples across the country windsor to morrow about. the fate of against the coronavirus pandemic. as the rate of infection in developing what does the latest research say. information and contacts the coronavirus up to. 19 special. on t w. s code.

tons of species. an expedition. looking to dispose of the subjects. of. the field come from a research team to the pacific to decode the language of. storage consumers on w. . where old dreaming of taking off overseas again. but what really awaits us. experts say when travel restrictions ease customs queues will be longer than ever. well this is one just be flipping through passports test results and vaccinations

a typical it's to check. cruise ships and hotels will take a tough line to. the industry will have to adapt to new hygiene measures like touchless toilets. and it could all mean high a ticket prices. before the pandemic venice was overrun with tourists residents want to burst rex's careful what you wish for now the streets of waterways are empty the city depends on tourism. on the reports on how ben is the king to strike a balance as it reopens for business. he gondola ride is probably the most romantic experience you can have here in venice even for veteran. rory moved up or so when we take someone with a story we try to make them live the dream routes all year he is one of the city's roughly $600.00 s. usually carlotta would do 3 tours

a day but the pen demick has practically run him out of business. from october to now i've only done one run this city just came out of a lockdown but said marks we are still eerily quiet the world famous remains closed during the week. before the pandemic streets were packed with tourists from all over the world $20000000.00 visitors each year brought money but also changed the face of the city over the years venice became almost entirely dependent on tourism and the pandemic with its travel restrictions and lock downs for the labor of the issue these cafe is here once popular tourist destinations are not closed due to a lack of customers but now there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel though nobody really knows how exactly and when tourism will restart. some have hopes that a new start will bring changes that was otto is an activist with finesse yet dot com the group installed this counter in the window of

a pharmacy. to help publicize the declining number of residents 50965 the actual number of people citizens living today here in venice that's 30 people less than a week before over tourism has been driving people out of the city but the problem is more complicated than that then itself suffered from the fact that the lack of tourism was also a lot of. work for many many people and therefore this is what we we are experiencing now. it's a very strange situation we don't want too much tourism because it would suffocate the place but at the same time we can't live without tourism in a place where everyone lives off tourism one way or another it is difficult to find a balance this city's tourism councillor says that the situation is not unique to

venice but rather venice is in need of a unique solution that's yeah no nest on its venice has not been sold out in a derogatory sense all tourist cities have experienced the last few years in the absence of very well super tech certain segments of the city. however it would be essential to obtain special laws for cities such as venice and florence to be able to balance out the relationship between 20 wrists and venetians. even if the army as a 1st step this city has begun to closely monitor visitor numbers starting next year tourists will have to pay a fee to enter the city but more it's a clue to mrs what some people consider the bad old days and. i would also go back to what it was like to her years ago with a few less people maybe but it wasn't

a massacre like they were saying didn't. sustainable. you know the debate over the future of tourism in venice is far from over but for now most people here cannot wait for visitors to return. stevens joins us from outside states will go to the science in a moment but 1st wave of these borders is going to reopen not just the tourists of course but people who haven't seen their families in such a long time i haven't seen my parents in australia for 2 and a half years so officials that i are sorry spacing borders to open up in october 2021 unfortunate isn't borne out in australia or it's expected not to be until mid 2022 that's a big weight yeah i know it's a bit better and in europe so some countries like poland already open with exceptions like need vaccinations some countries like denmark is planning to open fully on the 26th of june variants of complicating this

a little bit so israel was planning to open up at the end of may now it's looking like i'll be pushed back to the end of june but still you know quite soon so there's hope but i mean even if we can't should we be going and seeing our loved ones it's a bit of a moral question it's really complicated one is that i haven't seen my family for a long time i there and i've been thinking about it a lot in terms of the pandemic the things we have to think about the vaccination rates we have to think about new variance we have to think about the new infection rates in that country and then also there's the border question and it depends on the restrictions of the country you're coming from both of the country are going to i find it quite interesting reading about what flights are doing so flights haven't i felt system that's used in. operating theaters and it cleans the athletics to 40 times an hour some of them. people go in to me seat in the middle of the aisle. and they disinfect the playing the bridge between flights so it's yeah it's kind.

complicated but that's why we have governments and public health authorities to give us the indications at the end of the day it sounds like we're not going to return to normalcy when it comes to travel it's going to be a different experience yeah i think it's going to be so different you know experts are going to experts are saying that much like 911 completely trains the travel industry in terms of security this is what it's going to be like now for health you know your health is going to be as important as a ticket or as passport we're going to see an explosion in technology and apps that share our health data but there's going to be questions that come along with that many public health experts are calling for mass to be mandatory on flights this doesn't have to be a completely bad thing you know a lot of us have been on holiday and then got there and you've caught something of the fly and it's you know it's your holiday and your dad and so you know maybe there's hope what about what the sign says what does that shed a light on it or do any of these or how it's going to work out yeah so there was a study in the lancet journal published at the beginning of this year and i looked

at the impact of travel restrictions on the import rates of coded and what it found was that blanket complete travel restrictions only really benefit the spread of the virus in the mid to scenarios so number one is if you've got a very very low case load in that country so new zealand would be a good example. number 2 is if if cases in your country are growing and it's about to tip into exponential the authors also noted that the new variance was something to consider if you want to keep new variant out and that's when they can be useful but they really caught on governments to make kind of tailored approaches to different countries and to use the most up to date data and it's helpful to us as well to know that in the epidemiological times. it's not just a case of become travel anywhere at any point during the pandemic you know sometimes you can in the right in the right circumstances it's about different people stevens things becoming. so the world slowly opening up again i've managed

to book a little trip to the greek islands fingers crossed the countries are up again tourism accounts for about a 5th of greece's national output travelers will need a negative test all proof of vaccination and they'll have to fill out a passenger locator form so no quarantine arrival which is a good thing and tourists are also back in washington d.c. it had some of the toughest and coated regulations it's reopening highlights the nation's steady transition back to normality but the tourism sector does continue to struggle. a great question today in the travel industry from one of our huge abuses saints and scholars a letter to eric williams take care that. is it ethical to insist that the vaccine is mandatory for travel. i'm no expert on ethics but i'd like to explore this anyway as it's rapidly turning into

a very big issue decisions are already being made by governments and businesses and universities you name it about whether or not to grant privileges or impose restrictions on things like travel based on vaccination status the 1st point to make i think is that all major health authorities are advising people who can be vaccinated to get backs unaided as a way to protect yourself but also as a way to protect others and and that 2nd part is the real ethical crux by choosing not to get banks unaided you could potentially catch and pass on a deadly disease to other people so seriously simplified and boiled down this question becomes kind of a classic faceoff between an individual's right to choose what's best for them and what expert authorities say is best for all of us. currently complicating the

picture is that both individual nations and the global community are still divided into haves and have nots is it fair to grant those lucky enough to have gotten the shot privileges like the ability to travel when when they're denied to those who are still waiting for one it's a tough question it's certainly not fair but for me at least it seems justifiable things should get more clear cut in a year or 2 i think once everyone has had an opportunity to get back summated because there we have precedence many places already have vaccine requirements for for other diseases if you want to travel from germany to a tropical country for example where certain pathogens are endemic you have to get

vaccinated against them in advance period and nobody complains one way or the other regardless of the ethical aspects i think most countries will at least impose covert 19 vaccine related restrictions on people who are crossing their borders many have already done so. i'm hoping to get my 2nd shot before that little trip to grace thanks for watching stay safe and see again 6.

20000. 00 or not too well oh. what about assuring economists dead. that change in thinking is changing the economy to create something new. for.

economics magazine maybe enjoying. the 90 minutes w. . in the army of climate change. good summation to 6. months to. if you. want to do years do they have the future. g.w. dot com african american cities for the meeting to get. a clue cutter. and you hear me know yes yes we can hear you and how last year's german chancellor when you bring your uncle out machall as you've never had to have before surprised yourself with what is possible who is magical really what moves her and want to also talk to people who followed her along the way admirers and critics alike how

is the world's most powerful woman shaping her legacy joining us from echols last august. who. was of the mormon. church. because you know war isn't love the. endos all those smaller. loonies on the nose. there's no use in the lovable good for the wicked. doesn't grow your word gives me the book or heard the. arguments new. heard closely. the currents.

this is the revenues life for a girl in the ceasefire diplomacy germany hopes to send its foreign minister to the mideast to help mediate an end to the fighting between israel and palestinian militants well as the conflict rages on for a tense day in deafening humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in gaza the u.s. warns now more than $50000.00 palestinians are displaced also coming up on the

border crisis strain times between spain and rocco after thousands of people many of them children.