you know, whether boosting is required in the same way as with other vaccines and when, so i think those are questions that need to be urgently on such as we understand its value overall in terms of global vaccine equity isn't what we need right now. vaccine, that is specifically a targeting, alma kron so i don't think that in itself is sufficient. i mean, the thing is we've had about a new way to every 3 to 6 months. and unless we able to slow down the evolution devised by containing transmission, it's very, very likely that will be faced with a new variant in another 6 months or so. so what we need is monte valence vaccines that hit multiple radians, as well as other measures to slow down transmission so that we can actually slow down the rate of evolution of the virus. we're not faced with a new, radiant every time we develop and at the vaccine against the previous video. and what is the most important metric right now? i mean, we're talking about our micron being very contagious and spreads very easily.

should we be paying attention to the number of infections or the number of hospitalizations? what do you look at? so i think the rate of spread is going to be the most important determining factor for you for impact when you have a meeting that spreading or doubling every 2 days. that's faster than anybody we've seen so far. it doesn't matter in some ways how severe it is because the impact will mostly be determined by the number of people infected. so even if a big aunt is less of yeah, that just buys you a few days, given cases are doubling every 2 days. so, you know, given on a crown is spreading very, very rapidly, it has very, very high potential for population, in fact, an old wyoming health care services. so we need to really act early because we are on back sort of curve of exponential spread. and we already see what's happening the you can't denmark and we need to preempt that in other parts of europe. and dr . a final thought from you, of course, a lot of people are hoping to see loved ones during this festive season. what's your message for to those people for those people?

i think my message would be in a crisis. i think there's a real possibility that many people across europe will not have emergency care available to them in january. the way things are headed and the on the cron bade will spread in other parts of europe as it has been in denmark and, and the u. k. admiralty, similar crisis. so if you can't just hunker down for christmas, and you can have social contact with people later on, because this is sort of an unfair and price is most of us can't, can't even say what the predicted anti impact is going to be. but it's not worth taking the risk, dr. deep to your good assign the epidemiologist at the queen mary university and london. doctor, thank you so much for answering our questions. while our deliveries of the new were novak's vaccine are expected to start within weeks, just as your battles. a surge in infections from the army kron variant or many countries are tightening travel restrictions. benevolence has imposed a strict log down, closing non essential shops, restaurants,

and other public places until at least mid january. it's a big blow for businesses hoping for a christmas boost to w. corresponded christine, while reports from amsterdam christmas is already over at this local market in amsterdam. so this was supposed to be a christmas market, people spinning the day here buying. also. christmas festivity treats like lu via and cetera. but as you can see within hours, everything's been taken down. one gentleman i spoke to the fact he's right behind me. he wouldn't come on camera, but he's fuming, he's raging. he spent the last 2 weeks preparing for this. and basically, the celebrations are over before they've even begun after the holidays were canceled. last year, this christmas was supposed to be different. but the new restrictions which mean no shopping or restaurant training or the surprised gift nobody wanted. and

even the outdoor national favorite past time has been put on ice. yeah, the restrictions makes it again impossible to, to operate of the ring for this year. last year we close. so for this year we finally had a year, but unity to open up again. and to, to make the losses of last year to, to make it a little bit more profitable. hopefully, we don't have much to look forward to the next couple of weeks because we can't really go for her. it's not just the locals, the cities, visitors are also losing out on amsterdam, must see and do favorites wherever we are here from florida. and we were going to go to the museum, we are going to go the and frank house. unfortunately, it's all closed. so we have to improvise and walk around and look at everything. so the dutch government said the measures were avoidable as cove at 19 infections thought among the population. the new variant oma crime,

which was 1st reported here 3 weeks ago, is expected to be the dominant variant before the end of this year. oh, oblique outlook that some are still trying to keep the festive chair. dark time to the moment here. hold on. and while trying to do is to tear people a little bit up, wish them a merry christmas and make the make some loss on the faces. ah, let me tell you now about the other developments in this pandemic. israel has bound travel to the united states, germany, and 8 other countries. due to the spread of the alma kron variant. the measures will come into force at midnight on tuesday. meanwhile, the world economic forum, the annual gathering of business and political leaders in the swiss mountain resort of davos, has been respond until summer and south african president sarah ram opposed has

returned to work after testing positive for the virus and completing a week of isolation. is going up to speed with said the other stories in the headlines right now. in the philippines, the death toll from typhoon right has risen to almost 400 dozens more are still missing. entire communities have been leveled many are without power, water or food. the army has been called in to help. hundreds of thousands have been displaced with the typhoon triggering landslides and flash floods. gabrielle bridge has been elected chillies, youngest presidents, after a polarizing election, supporters of the former student activists, celebrated in the capitol. santiago, butch ran on a platform in support of public education, health care and equal rights for indigenous and l. g. b t q people. his opponents far right? ultraconservative was the antonio coast conceded defeat. russia has

ordered 2 german diplomats to leave the country in a tit for tat spots. with berlin last week, germany expelled to russian diplomats. after a court ruled moscow ordered the killing of a chechen exile in berlin. germany says the latest expulsions will further strain bilateral relations well now to the conflict in ethiopia where the to grind people's liberation front has announced it will be withdrawing from several regions . they had captured the head of the to grey forces, claimed the move was a step toward peace. if yoga has been fighting a civil war for more than a year, now, forces from the to grey region have been battling government troops in a conflict that has drawn in neighboring eritrea as well, while both sides are accused of committing atrocities. meanwhile, tens of thousands of civilians have died and millions have lost their homes. access for journalists has been very limited,

but our corresponded visit at the government controlled. i'm horror, our region embedded with local authorities. from there, maria griff nicholas go, filed this report on the people caught in the crossfire. this is all that is left of i you. but hans house to it. it was demolished by artillery fire, wendy tube, in army, and to grand forces clashed in the area. yet i'm obama norman, hey, this is where the table was a whole. it's all broken now. you know, look at it. it was a nice house. it was beautiful and wonderful, but she had an a 4 is 29 days. well, to grand rebels occupied her village on their way to the capitol hill about it and what we feared for our lives. we didn't know if they were going to kill us. we had children with us, we were scared or whatever. i was with my neighbors at night it was very cold and the conflict has not stayed civilians him and his village resident was

a 21. people were killed by a romal antiquarian, rebel yawning. but in law mckuddle in this mass grave, we buried 4 people per whole that they weren't soldiers yet. they were honest civilians. local people buried them. we collected the bodies after they left and there were some bodies which the high unit had started to eat. so hundreds of thousands of people had fled the violins, my me to bill at shoe and her children sought refuge in this makeshift camp in debit of at hun. but she says it lacks everything valid as another child. there is nothing to eat, we have children, and there are no clothes. people left their homes without their belongings. if we're being told it's safe to go back. but what do we have to go back to? they burn down our houses. it's not just people's homes. public infrastructure has also been destroyed. this hospital in dessie was heavily looted and could, i could, i could throw a weird antibiotics here and now we have nothing around here. we had medicine to

treat hypertension, mental health issues. yeah. moment i hook the hospital was a referral center for 8000000 people that we thought were going all this waste material. you see here they did through their below. this is trasha that but among they're also medicines which we could have used to take home without got the a millisecond. but madonna can in know people in m herrera already had difficulty accessing food. a lot of the war has made that worse. the un says armed men and local communities looted 8 warehouses such as this one. and the government accuses to grand forces of disrupting the harvest. canada that came on the crops from its shore and ready to be harvested. so they destroyed them muttering the crops it had been harvested, but also those that hadn't been collected yet. there was no one who loved without a global jermel. the conflict has affected everything. these people and i'm her, are the ones we can see in the neighboring to gray region. a great humanitarian

crisis is also unfolding, but no one is allowed to go there and report on it that report there from did of use maria girth. nicholas go and am hora where the announce withdrawal of to gray and fighters is now raising hopes of a possible ceasefire. with government forces chat chinese tennis star punch, why has apparently retracted her sexual assault allegations in an interview with a single port chinese language newspaper pon said she had never accused any one of abuse. and this despite a social media post back in november in which she said a former chinese official, forced her into having sex pong now says her post was misunderstood. but the women's tennis association, which suspended all tournaments in china earlier this month, says it's concerned about her ability to communicate freely it's renewed, it's call for a transparent investigation. now if you think you've tried everything to shake off the cold weather blues,

switzerland might have something for you while the annual christmas. how brings together the thick skin to take a dip in the icy cold waters of lake geneva? the painful splash from a bucket is just the beginning. the contestant then have to take a plunge and swim 100 meters to the finish line. while this year's events saw a record, 3000 people strip down, jump into the 7 degrees celsius. like that's point 4 degrees fahrenheit for you. brace else. thank you for spending this part of your day with us up. next is business news and off the at the top with people in trucks injured when trying to free the city center. more and more refugees are being turned away. families played on the tax in syria for these correct only with people fleeing screened

around $200.00 people around the world. more than 300000000 people are seeking refuge. yes. why? because no one should have to flee. make up your own mind. d. w. made for mines. ah, ah, another blow for the independence of one of asia's biggest financial hobbs, pro beijing parties, sweep legislative elections in hong kong that all but shut out opposition. candidates. as a deep chill on the islands, democracy continues. could the latest events give pause to international investors?

also on the show, turkey says it wants to boost its trade and influence in africa, even as an economic crisis rages at home. and as if there weren't supply problems enough in europe at the moment, an outbreak of bird flew is threatening a holiday. stable germany for walking to the show. i'm student beardsley, in berlin. hong kong selection resulted in the expected pro beijing outcome and plenty of outside criticism. approaches of candidates dominated the legislative elections and a vote that independent observers widely condemned on democratic only 30 percent of the population turned out to cast their vote. a record low participation, hong kong government had jailed scores of democrats who wanted to run in the hong kong legislative election and its force, others into exile. human rights groups say that most people stayed away from the voting booths to constantly boycott the election in a show of their discontent. steve song is director of the so us china institute. he

joins me now from london for more. steve, good to have you on the show. these are widely expected results given what was coming in the days before this election. is there any likelihood that they'll give more pause to businesses and investors operating in hong kong? it may be counter intuitive. i think the chances that it is no the international banking, financial services and investors communities will try to ignore the undemocratic elections in hong kong. they are used to operating in non democratic and rounds. so de wootton is in their stride and try to focus more on what hong kong still has an independent tradition. to what extent as beijing care about hong kong reputation as a hub for international investment. oh, beijing dust care,

a lot of bo ah, hong clones status as a global financial center and china's reputation globally. but the way how she jumping does it, is that she campaigns were like to put jack in his music to correct interpretation of what hong kong east and what chinese policy eas wondered then let people decide wanting ease. and anybody who disagree with him were being billed as antique china, and therefore not should to functioned in uncle to what extent does china fundamentally need those companies in hong kong to make it a success? it's learned a lot of or basically forced a lot of chinese companies to come back to the island and do their i p o 's there to bring their capital there. do they still fundamentally need that outside capital, or are they hoping to build up more domestic capital?

they still need steam to national capital. they still want them. but hong kong, since the problems started about 2 years ago, has not really suffered so much as a financial center because of the wider lessening relationship between china and the united states. means that a lot of chinese companies that were listed in new york we listing in hong kong which keep hong kong status as a global financial center, relatively strong. in spite of all the problems that have been created, the chinese government is quite happy with that. and they think that this would you provide a basis for home to function as a global financial center moving forward that we may change in the international community. but unlike any change in china, all right, steve, song, director of the so us china institute speaking following those controversial elections in hong kong. thank you. you're welcome. and let's go now

to some of the other global business stories making headlines. police in india have released dozens who had been detained, falling protests that a fox con plans hundreds had taken to the street. the workers had to be hospitalized last week due to food poisoning. it's the 2nd instance of unrest and apple suppliers factory this year. deutsche bank j, p. morgan and other internationals are switching to a monday through friday work week in the united arab emirates, starting with the new year. that's as the country itself is aligning its official work with global markets and moving away from the traditional sunni muslim schedule of a sunday through thursday work week toilet paper. is that to become more expensive? swedish company, s a t, one of the world's biggest producers of consumer tissue. says that it's preparing to hi gets prices on paper hygiene products up to 20 percent. in reaction of storing costs of raw materials and energy or turkey is courting

african countries as an alternative partner to europe or china. and with a measure of success. for the 3rd time, this past weekend, a partnership summit brought african leaders to estimable to explore possible opportunities. tice between turkey and many african countries are already close. and if the turkish foreign minister gets his way, those ties will be even closer still, was a rim. his intimacy be looked at cal camera, we would like to walk together on the path for development and welfare and enhance our cooperation in the future was i bet i bet you rick, is really him is a get a jet as your mike is. jewel, turkey already has a presence in africa whether building hospitals, school saw streets, or offering capital and technology. trade volumes between turkey and africa have increased nearly fivefold between 232020.

a turkish president avalon visited several african countries in october, took his footprint on the continent, has gotten bigger than those of most european countries in just a short period of time. that's according to the head of the un economic commission for africa, or a muscle for money was sued as an after expert with the conservative turkish thank tank. the institute for strategic thinking. thank you for joining me on the show. what do wider trade relations with africa bring turkey a country that right now is facing a very acute inflation crisis at home o . c. thank you for having me. first of all, let me start saying that africa is very important for texas ball and in the sense that it's going to allow tricky to place it's a major player in the world speech beyond the threshold or regional, you know,

a power. and the 2nd thing is that the turkish economic situation is currently facing some downturn. but still, that would be an opportunity, according to the turkish presidents for african countries to be able to be able to buy a new products from turkey due to the low currency. so this in a sense, will allow tricky to boost. it was african continent knowing that african economies, and mostly the middle class is having low income. so tricky will now be very good. exporting countries towards african nations. all right, that's a very rosy picture in a very dire situation there in turkey, given the falling rates of the lira. but perhaps that would be good for those who are selling to the country. what sectors in turkey can benefit the most stand to benefit the most from trade with africa?

well 1st of all, we can say for sure that the construction sector is one of the things that is really, really important in relationship, but also other sectors than just the text on industries. but also the defense industries. right now the thing is tell as one of the countries that have a good technology in terms of drone technology anyway. and we have seen in the recent days and weeks, many countries trying to seal deals with the turkish, a government in order to purchase drone. we have example to be fuel. here we have example nigeria, urine, public. recently, we have a deal with one target private firms to buy a. all right, mr. money, masoud with the think tank. the institute for strategic thinking, excuse me, thanks very much for joining us. lovely or

shift gears a little bit, go to germany. ross goose is a traditional holiday dish in the country. but this year there's a problem. bird flu is raging on the viruses even been found in wild birds in some parts of germany. and that's threatening to take a holiday staple off the table. ah, under normal circumstances, they should be out grazing. but in a growing number of german counties, these are restricted to their barnes these days. like here in lower saxony, it's a precautionary measure due to the bird flew. now it is tough born as plenty to worry about each day. in martin them on every morning when i opened the barn door, there's dead animals or there's some other kind of problem. it's so stressful to live with this fear all the time. to leave. early of this year, 2500 keys had to be called at or farm as many were infected. the state only compensates for a fraction of the enormous cost and minimum. if the animals have to be called again,

then i'll probably have to quit. i can't lose that much money cheerfully. when i it is top one has rebuilt her flock. many of her keys have already been slaughtered and put into the deep freeze. to day, a merchant from berlin picks up 200 of them. all of them are already sold. german christmas ease are in high demand, and supply is limited due to the bird flew. those who want to roast goose must order early and get a bit lucky. according to the poultry association. christina, i ask everyone who wants to christmas goose can half one, but most are frozen or fresh and some are from eastern europe and they're not as humanely treated there. as here in germany, and it'll be daughter a christmas goose costs up to 30 percent more. this year about 16 euro per kilo such as here at hanover's farmers market. but that doesn't stop most customers from buying one. yes and he thought he much snake,

but when i do with an i gladly pay more for its deaf and line of implies carnation . almost as for most of all, it has to taste good and be cost effective. and it's not unimportant that the animals are kept properly. this is better to join the join vista, the on skipped. we'll definitely have a goose drumstick. it's just the 2 of us. we used to be 6 and back then we'd have a whole restore. christmas dinner them off done often by $930.00. it seems despite recent difficulties, a christmas goose will very soon beyond many plates once again. ah. or at his reminder of the top business story were falling for you at this hour on kong takes another step towards begging. as pro chinese candidates score wins in an election that many have deemed on democratic business, climbed in the city seen as further deteriorating. right. that's

our show we back later in the day with more in the meantime, you can find out more about these and other stories online at d, w dot com slash business were also on youtube. under the dw news channel, checks on facebook as well. for me and the business team here, berlin, washing ah ah, ah. to sheer alan born socialists construct homo sophia to cross was an ideal in the soviet union. millions were educated, according to this archetype. after the collapse of the eastern bloc,

if disappeared, or did it almost soviet to cause a soviet state of mind in 45 minutes on d. w. they went today with the love and banning thing that way. i'm not going to have to watch my own car and everyone with later holes and every single day getting are you ready to meet the driver? can join me right. just do it on d, w. mm hm. they said it, i've been years a show coming up to date, chinese dental stuff on choices. she'd never came. she was raped by a senior chinese politician. so is that the final definitive was on her education? not quite the women's tennis association remains. i'm convinced and that have been a c needs of events that have.