they invade our private lives to surveillance. hidden, opaque, secretive works through woods vague. it doesn't matter. the only criteria is what we'll hook people up. we shed light on the opaque worlds who's behind the benefits. and why are they a threat to us? all opaque worlds starts january 5th on d w ah, this is d w news. and these are our top stories. people have been chewing up to get tested in washington as the i'm a crohn corona, vars variant spreads rapidly in the united states authorities. they say it's now the dominant strain accounting for almost 3 quarters of all new us infections. a

week ago, it was only 12 percent the european union's medicines regulator has approved a new to run a virus vaccine made by us company. novak's trials data indicates that it's very effective against older corona virus variance, but it's not known how it will perform against omicron. vax uses more traditional technology raising hopes it can convince people who are hesitant about newer m. r. an age eps. in the philippines, the death toll from typhoon bry has risen to 375 with doesn't still missing. the military has been called in to help as entire communities were leveled and many more left without electricity, water, or food. hundreds of thousands have been displaced and the typhoon has triggered landslides and flash floods. this is dw news from berlin. you can get

a lot more at our website to be found a d, w dot com. ah, i had of sundays run off a chillies presidential election looked like it was a neck and neck race pitting an older far right candidate. sort of a former german nazi soldier against a young left winger allied with the communist party. and the historic turn out 100 left is to gabriel burridge. a resounding with i'm fil gail. this is the day. ah, i guarantee that i will be a president who cares the democracy and does not risk it was made so much progress . now we will move forward i will firmly fight against the privileges of a few. if we don't, you know, we expect peace, we expect unity and above all,

we expect social policy and i work every day. but the quality of the children and family is also on the day a month ago, chinese tennis superstar parish re talk to social media alleging that she'd been raped by a senior chinese politician. now in shanghai, she's given a very different account. so well, 1st and foremost i must emphasize all i have never said or wrote about any one sexually assaulting me since she did she. oh, that's a very important point. welcome to the day i chilion have elected a new president after an awful polarizing election campaign. the victor left us to

gabrielle borage. she is a 35 year old former student activist when a residing 56 percent of the vote. defeating his far right rival. jose antonio cast by a wide margin than expected polishes victory promises a shift towards walk. progressive policies and a generational change, ah, historic and jubilant victory with 35 year old gabrielle butch chile now has it's youngest ever president. he was helped to vote the barricade to take to the stage and recognized the people who have put him in power. the left wing, former student leader, had tapped into their anger at the country's economic model, and the inequality it has brought to when 56 percent of the vote. what do you see? and i guarantee that i will be a president who cares for democracy and does not risk it. who listens more than he

speaks, seeks unity and attends to the needs of the people daily. i will firmly fight against the privileges of a few. and i work every day for the quality of the chile and family here, like, you know, for me, his promises range from protecting the environment to tackling chillies, private pension system. and his followers are full of hope. a legal, i mean i had placed in, in the history of shirley, shirley, a national center, most of it was made so much progress. now we will move forward with social rights and continue to advance. and finally, against the far right, we're going to like them. c with a high though to turn out bridge squarely beat the far right candidate, jose antonio cast that cast was dignified in his defeat. middle, you get or said accredited, that hurrying i want to do is congratulate gabrielle borage. he deserves all of our

respect. you unfairly many children's trust him and we hope he will lead a good government going and in a ways we can get with our legitimate differences. we want to help our nation that more said when i bought the battle about the that night though, belongs to porridge, who harolds a new political dawn for chile? australia to santiago did chalet where we joined the w reporter benjamin, alvaro said, grew but welcome ben. so this presidential runner brought out a historic vote. what was it that made so many people a want to vote it wasn't historic, voted was a record vote. it was the highest voter turnout since voting is not mandatory anymore. in chile, it was even higher than for the referendum off the new constitution. a big reason for why so many people went out and had to the streets. is that the, the options and opinions and the ideas that both candidates

a so m. burridge on the left wing and also cos anthony cost the far right candidate have are opposite when it comes to many things and they were appealed by the ideas of copper and borage. when it comes to increasing air rights of women when it comes to including and the indigenous population, also similar ideas that are being treated in this constitutional assembly that were more appealed by his ideas. and that's what they went out. of course, when they only had 2 options, it was not the 1st case in the 1st round when they had 6 candidates who wanted to become jill as next president. right? so, so what are the top 2 things and, and the president elects and tre. so what's most important for debra boys? something that has been repeated over the past month is reducing inequality. if we look at sheila, one percent of the population has earned more than 25 percent of the worth of a chile. when we look, it's a really, really big difference. it chilly is not a poor country, but there is a very big difference when it comes to

a small part of the population that has a lot of money. and the big part of the population who don't have that much. and that's what he wants to reform, the health system, the pension system, they do cation system. he also wants to look at climate change in chile, in regions that have a lot of problems with that. so he has many plans for his presidency that will start in march of next year. and it all sounds you, you went to release her welfare education, pensions that all sounds really expensive and he was painted as sort of a radical communist in quite a vicious campaign. so how does he convince the rich not to take that money and run, but rob is to stay and invest quite a vicious campaign. you said it was a toxic campaign that we have, and the far i'd candidate always attacked gabriel. burridge calling him from the fall left you to the support of the communist party, even though he has different stands than the chilean communist party when it comes,

for example, to nicaragua, to venezuela. that's nothing new. the campaign and calling some one common is not only in chiller, but also in latin america. when we look at what it does it mean to vote for a left wing candidate? it's not new. in the past presidential campaign, he called the left wing candidate the they said that if he won the presidency, sheila will become chilly, swell as always, pointing to was direction saying that if there is the left when candidate it, sheila will become either any cut out well venezuela, but of course the markets have reacted and there are a lot of companies who are not so sure about all these changes and oldest reforms and that will come so he will try with to see with the message. and of course, what's important is that an are not the promises that he made during this campaign, but the actions that if he will be able also to fulfill this promise. yes, let's talk about that then because right, he's got the job now. now he has to, to, to put his campaign, his a, his election platform through congress. water is ties

a to the path is in congress and how, how amenable is congress like we should be to his agenda? of course, congress is important for the president. he has no clue majority in both chambers, so he will need to find agreements, not only with him, he's in the left wing parties, but across the political spectrum. he has to see how he can people, for his ideas, formed the lecturing parties. there are divisions, there was a lot of fighting also during the campaign so we will have to see and will be outgoing. president told him as an advice, it's not the same thing being a candidate and being a president. so he has to see if he can fulfill this idea, especially now with a country that has been struck by the co 19 pandemic. and of course, the economic situation in schiller also, well maybe not let him with to concede and to succeed with the plans that he has on mind right now we're, we are, we saw very gracious confession speech from murph jose antonio cast despite this

vicious campaign. so how does a president burridge now stop chilion politics and society becoming hugely divided? that's very important. he has had a unified approach. he said that his talk with, with sampling of gas with a, the fall right candidate, the conceded and that talk with the conservative president, he met him in the lamb on in the presidential palace. today's that it's very important. and that's quite incredible. if we think that poles close at 6 pm local time and less than 2 hours later, he had a talk with the outgoing president and also with the other candidates. so that of course shows how important this democratic process is. and that he also thinks that it's important now to be the president of every one. and she'll and not just for those who voted for him. okay, thank you for that. benjamin alvarez gruber reporting from santiago to cha.

ah, just over a month ago, chinese tennis, a superstar peng way, a claim she'd been raped by china's former vice premier john gully. her allegations came a detailed post from her account on chinese social media part waiver. now she is denying that any sexual assaults took place late. the statement was made during an interview with the singapore based chinese newspaper. chinese language newspaper pen was apparently in shanghai promoting next year's winter olympics in beijing is a click of the video that emerge from that exchange. for 1st and foremost, i must emphasize i have never said or wrote about anyone sexually assaulting me. she did, she, that's a very important point. it's a very interesting when you consider the wording of that to denial. she says she denies saying or writing about

a sexual assault. very roundabout way of denying that an assault actually took place. she could simply have said no, there was no sexual assault or comments the latest in a series of events that appear to down play, the initial allegations she made in november to do nothing to see here. come, fly now says she never wrote a social media post accusing form of vice premier jungle lee of sexual assault. it's the latest doubling down to avoid a potential public relations fiasco for china's ruling communist party footage of pung, posted by a state media reporter on twitter shows, who with former envy, a basketball star yell mean? yeah. was probably the most recognizable chinese sports though overseas, and the member of the communist party is top advisory body, singapore, leon hoods. i'll ball chinese language newspaper, rent, video of pung in full, petro, it gob. a china logo on her jacket and a red t shirt, bearing the characters for china. the newspapers report

a aspen for clarifications about her allegations. and this is what pung said, oh, when we were on the way, bo post. that's my personal issue. i think, you know, i know there are many misunderstandings, 3, but there is no distorted interpretation. they seem to be no distorted interpretations when pung, initially made the post in november. but then it was quickly scrub from the chinese web, but not before screenshots were posted on twitter. setting off a global outcry, she disappeared off to the accusation, and there were concerns for her safety. she reappeared at a tennis tournament in beijing weeks later with the message that she was safe and well. the international olympic committee supported the official version and held a video chat with punk some 3 weeks after the initial posting. it remains confident

that she is fine, and her stuck to its message despite criticism. we all are her. we're having the same impression and her that her. we could not to feel her being under under pressure. the i see was accused of staging a publicity stunt as calls grow to boycott. next years, winter games in beijing. and the women's tennis association remains unconvinced. c e o steve simon said in good conscience, i don't see how i can ask our athletes to compete. there, when punctuate is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault. there still no comment from jungle lee or the communist party hierarchy about the accusations, nor any expected, but for now repeated claims that nothing happened. and that ponies find being greeted mostly skepticism. let's explore this, refer jato wang who is

a senior china research, a full human rights watch. she joins us at from new york. welcome to d w. m. if publish wife says she's fine and she didn't. and she didn't say all right, what we all thought she'd said and written shouldn't we believe her? just let her get on with a life? i don't think so. i don't think we should have believed the interview because the chinese government has done this so many times. before to so many people, they forcibly disappear somebody, they don't like. what is that human rights? lawyer, activist, celebrity, obedient near them, make them reappear, or some videos seen there. i'm doing great. don't worry about me. or i confess to this crime. these had been played out many times before. polish ice case just fits into this historical pattern. that's why we shouldn't believe it. and so what is your concern about? so what do you think has happened or might be happening too?

well, i believe she's under surveillance. she on to harassment, she's be watched by the government. not only her people around her must be, you know, watched by the government. the government is dressed when you her with some kind of message and tell her to say, what did they want her to say? again, this has been played in many times before. some of those people went on tv to say, you know, i confess to my prime eventually left the china. they said, you know, i didn't want to say that, i don't know, i was tortured. so i have to say that, so what would satisfy you that punctuate is actually safe. where i think, you know, is closer, wants to leave china, let her to leave china. you know, then she will have some freedom to say what she wants to say at least to her physical pra, simply would it be guaranteed. oh, on the other hand, if the chinese really wants to prove that he's, oh wow, she's all fine. that is stop centering tonight, let everybody discuss the issue. oh lastly, you know, had initially large,

exceptional thought and again his lunch, a fair and, and investigation into this alisha. okay. well, that would be quite a, quite a change if china worked to watch the launch a fair and transparent investigation to western eyes of the chinese government's efforts to quell the international interest and criticism. in this case, it looks clumsy. we have but the hostage videos is i've seen them described and, and now this so it, because it's so clumsy, one wonders, what will, what are they trying to to, to achieve? do they really expect us to believe this? well, i think that's what they wanted to do and they are out of, you know, since friday and who walks up because the rest of the worry is not convinced about this, but i think that's what they try to do on the, on it, it does said then, you know, they're still insulated on a standard that the rest of the road doesn't work. you know, as the chinese government, as they can use media environmental works. you know,

there are independent voices, the media. there are ways of verifying information that the, the government is completely foreign to that kind of environment that they don't know how to convince the rest of the world. right? ok, so the united states and others have announced a diplomatic boycotts of the, the winter olympics. i should that we go further. well, i think this is the 1st step to show that we don't want it to be used as a political to, to legitimize your human rights abuses, to validate your governance model. we don't want it to be part of that, but that's the 1st step in the u. s. government, and in many european governments should do more than that. i mean, the u. s. government just passed a law to prevent a forced labor product from china on entering the country. i think of many other governments you do the same also, there should be thank more sense again, is the trend is companies who are in a complicity,

human rights violations. yes. that's the 1st step. one needs to be done. thank you so much for joining us. that's very clear. yeah. show one from a human rights watch. thank you. thank you for having ah, europe is battling a certain infections from the only croner variance of corona virus in many countries. timing trouble restrictions in response. the netherlands is imposed to strict lockdown 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. as the w correspondent, christine manuel reports from amsterdam christmas is already over at this local market in amsterdam. so this was supposed to be a christmas market. people spending the day buying also. christmas passivity treats like lou, 5 cetera, but as you can see within hours,

if we've 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's spent the last 2 weeks preparing for this. and basically the st abrasions 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 surprise gift nobody wanted. and even the outdoor national favorite pastime 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 the opportunity 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 for, you know, 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're going to go the and frank house. unfortunately, it's all closed. so we have to improvise and walk around and look at everything. the dutch government said the measures were unavoidable, as cove at 19 infections for 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. but some are still trying to keep the festive chair. it's dark times at the moment here. hold on. and what i'm 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.

the pan damage, also casting a shadow over foot bull with numerous fixtures postponed to the weekend because of a certain cove in 19 cases in the u. k. despite this english premier league clubs have agreed to continue to play the games that have been scheduled for over the coming holiday period. the cove at 19 pandemic is taking its toll on premier league football. only 4 matches out of 10 were played over the weekend because teams didn't have enough healthy players. and other clubs like chelsea wanted to postpone their games. but we're not allowed to buy the league. we were just worried about the safety of players. the players were concerned about their health because we had several causative cory tests in several for in consecutive days. and that was it.

but at a meeting with league officials on monday, collab executives rejected the idea of postponing the round of fixtures scheduled for over the coming festive season. coaches who want to break now have no choice. we have no idea what will happen be was we will do tests, we will continue to test on a daily basis. and we will go to training like we did for now the games must go on . but that could change if the british government imposed further pandemic restrictions or tom joy from dw sport can tell us more. he joins us from campbell in the u. k. welcome tom. initially there had been talk of a fire breaker pausing games from the 28th of december to try and ease the pressure on premise ship squads. so what happened at today's meeting? well, today's meeting saw the 20 premier league clubs come together to try and work our way through the current chaos. and one of the options on the table,

as you mentioned, was the circuit breaker to pause a couple of the upcoming games. there are very many now comes to i according to the current schedule, to play 3 times between the 26th and the 26th of december. so boxing day of course . and the 3rd of january, one of the suggestions was to give each club just one of those match days off. another suggestion was of course to postpone totally, but that is the nuclear option to really nobody wants to go near. and of course, the, all the clubs have elected for is to carry on it carrying on where possible in an ad hoc way. because of course, further coded interruptions can't be ruled out. and given how many games had to be postponed on the most recent weekend, it seems very likely that that might continue to occur over the christmas period. right. so how contentious if this decision, some managers and coaches wanted to pause, but they've been overruled. yeah,

absolutely. now one of the managers who wanted a pause as we heard there in the report was thomas took the chelsea coach. he was fuming that chelsea were required to play after a number of cobra cases in there. scored on the weekend you saw has also been vocally critical of the english premier leagues christmas scheduling anyway for a very long time. he's often been of the opinion and very publicly days too much. and of course at the moment is also very concerned about coded. but the decision has been taken to press on where possible, like i said, and of course, one of the major factors in making that decision is that the schedule is tight wherever the clubs look. so of course christmas is about every busy, busy period. but many clubs are playing in international competitions. there are 2 other domestic competitions happening, of course, parallel to the premier league in the u. k. for a lot of these teams. so, you know, even if the clubs give themselves a little bit of free room now postpone one game for a bit of a while, it's going to have to be played at some point. and i think that's part of the

reason why they've just chosen to try and get through this as soon as possible across get it to very briefly give us an idea of how badly english football is been hit by the pandemic tone yet. well, i mean if it's of course causing chaos, the fact that we're talking about this means that the issue is very serious. i was on my way in towards aston villa against burnley on saturday just recently in that game was cooled off with just 2 hours to go until kick off. so you can imagine how sort of erratic the situation is at the moment. the real difficulty for clubs, for clay is for fans, particularly who are often traveling very long distances to attend games, is that there's no predictability. but this isn't the 1st time that cobit has caused chaos, even in football, and it's unlikely to be the last. so this could be a conversation that because at some point in the near future, ok, thank you for that. tom, tom, joy, dw sport and that, that's it for another the week the conversation continues on line. of course,

you'll find this on twitter either at the w news or you can follow up with with or sharing the secrets of traditional construction with a new generation. ah, what is impossible in big cities can be realized in rural areas.

more and more families are opting for the traditional techniques to sustainable construction. pico india next on d. w. oh, beautiful. and christine. so cultural, a remote island off the horn of africa. an unusual part of human, untouched by the civil war, discovered by just a few tourists, the forgotten paradise. so kootenai kluso. in 60 minutes on d. w o. in the landscape,

a reflection of a turbulent history. the cities, the mosaic of different people and languages. iran's mountains reveal unparalleled beauty as well. yeah, the scenery is magnificent, but people are warm enough with zeroes exceptionally ah, a special look at a special country. iran from above. starts december 27th on d. w. cities a home to more than half of the people living on our planet to do these urban centers face

a host of pressure from the demands on infrastructure by growing populations to the risks of climate change on eco in the afternoon. we discover solutions to enhance the quality of life in our changing cities. hello and welcome. some of that i call the oasis i'm standing in, belies the reality, and on me, my is one of the many cities that seen unprecedented growth, accompanied by a building boom. cement has long shaped a built in bottom it, but it has an enormous carbon footprint. in thought of green alternative, still engineers and thumbing like a rescuing, almost forgotten traditional know how i ring in gun up at the berlin. it appears to be a village like any other in india's coming. none to state the young have all left.

only the elderly demean custodians of local knowledge, including the reason which religious once been to their homes. are you or have you ever made but i used to watch my father make them so your father had crawford them used to killing to make them yes. oh, construction engineers out of in manhattan and parrot, but as of the money m one to tap into this ancient knowledge. they have visited more than 40 villages around them. and i do in recent years, investigating the old techniques and building materials either community bollinger rather than allowing the, the used to be only one or 2 masons for regional local people who work together on the hill american. so any one or what if you knew the entire process, how a mud mixture should be and how to choose to model what to add to the lime and it's consistency and about grouping and flow to them. we interviewed elderly people in each region and benefited from their knowledge on the way is another lady and

reopening $7070.00 at all storm meas, in kina trojan is one of the last of his kind. he's building a house 650 square meters in india. in villa coin in the old style, divide to the line makes to lend the plaster fat and she's in the business for 50 years. he's delighted to share the secret of traditional construction with a new generation of windows. one of the houses in my village used to be on the, in the city. they can build a structure like this, but we had mud was a line. and i know this is, my dad went off, seemingly wondering i have been minority and had a balance of money and have been building with natural materials for the last 3 years. thinks like my balance not are january. i shall go use in construction for

centuries to bind line blast. what reading that of it? i'm going to go home. shoes, local material, local soil. luckily, sources for a lot of only then easy district does not impact whitening the little body for me off modern construction methods that amongst the more racial energy than the most, every year global cement production tops for 1000000 tons and manufacturing requires extremely high temperatures. the production of a single image, 700 kilograms of carbon dioxide. in addition, toxic chemicals in construction materials, both health has put into a t. t wants to change her family from all that. she contacted the maneuver and put a little bit of money to build her and always staying holiday home in the countryside. again, the natural foaming. i'll be wanted

a lazy the organic farming because we wanted to provide good for our number one to 49. and since the wanted a house to stay in, when we came out here to be taught by no, not necessarily the vocal 70 year old twins van bye and sat to begun love to play at their country home in bed on dry. the walls are quoted with 5 layers of line plaster that allowed the house to breathe. this natural material keeps the house cool in summer and warm during winter. the trundle for souls from reclaimed wood market leader and her husband have a dodge among a growing number of middle income house owners who have opted for green building materials out of in one. all right and seen doesn't just use traditional techniques and material to build new houses. they've come in your school for restoration work to on properties like this one near by. the little symbol i me elevator. this is

a 90 year old building that we have done with tape on the original vote was a month. it was 1.5 feet which they had gotten 7 layer lane blasting. benita, i don't mean to maneuver and but a little bit of money and have already completed numerous sustainable projects, mainly in rural areas including schools. depending on model and workmanship, building was surprised at around $3000.00 b. 's or $35.00 euros was square meter. by contrast, a convention house costs less than half that. well, it doesn't regret the investment. she believes it's already paying dividends in a cleaner, more sustainable environment for her children. now, bangkok and maybe half a world to be but boldface the threat of drowning. the dream is systems can't cope

with flooding, caused by climate change. a water management model devised or done sitting into relatable sponges, could help both stay and try thailand's capital city, bangkok had been hit especially hard by climate change. the city is only one meter above sea level, which keeps rising at a rate of 5 millimeters per year. scientists predict that the city could be under water by the year 2050. alex face is a graffiti artist and parent who's worried about the future of his home. some stretches of land have already started thinking, for example, around the sandwich in temple only 20 kilometer south of bangkok. the ocean moved to the land the last 30 years. so the local people need to move to house that image, mutual community and there was a village in a school here once,

but when the area was flooded, residence left and the school was moved inland. teens the template now like an island that during flooding is surrounded by the sea bella phenomena in continent. and today with our non here you see to make concrete oh, here the dam to try protect the temple, but i feel fine. not stable. and is tracy is due to be the road here. germany recently experienced a climate change induced disaster. the summer of 2021 saw the worst flooding here in a century. nearly 200 people were killed and many remained. unaccounted for. damage costs were in the billions, the incredibly dry summers created soil that was so parched it couldn't absorb enough water. but drainage systems are also hitting their limits like here in berlin. heavy rainfall overwhelmed the infrastructure, leaving it unable to handle the massive volumes of water. this causes basements,

low lying building entrances and subway tunnels, to flood engineer canons, zika from berlin, city, water management design, so called decentralized rainwater management. like most cities, berlin has a sewer system, but it can't always cope. event is expanding act message because heavy rainfall has increased. the waste water systems can no longer drain that volume of water from i . factory map light on this continent pensive, and that's when you get out of fly on a lease that's own huh. oh, and large volumes of surface rough water, the collection low lying areas in banking dash baptism in to help tackle the problem. berlin aims to become a sponged city. the idea is to capture rainwater, like a sponge, seaters and, and board. and then it can be drawn into the soil buffer house that's good for the water supply and has all the benefits, like ab and greenery and climate that came out. and yes, a house to prevent flooding. oodles tamma. since 2017,

every new housing development in berlin has been built according to the sponge concept. a pioneering example is this residential area, and se berlin? yes. the fatigue woods. i can, ma'am. he, you can see the vast green re on the rooftops. that's one way that rainwater is captured and from the iris evaporates look a higher mavita had done that as much as 90 percent of rainwater can be captured. in this way, run off water flows through pipes into special drainage basins. there are also low lying flower beds paid areas that are not sealed, and gaps in the curves that allow water to pass. but only about 4 percent of berlin's rooftops have plants like this. the sponge city is still in its early phases. back in bangkok, the city also wants to tackle flooding with green rooftops, like in berlin. it hopes to use them for temporary water storage. so the rainwater can be put to good use. that's just one of many ways to give nature

a chance in concrete jungles. more importantly, it's an attempt to prevent catastrophic flooding in the future. i think they can do that, but we need t when every one, les, hey, wake up and see what's gonna happen. and we need to fix it. to get cities have a near insatiable appetite for energy. the sun offers huge potential to meet their demands, but solar power storage is still riddled with problems. a team of scientists in europe says it's developed technology that's cheap, effective, and could ultimately help the world reach its climate goals. we checked out their pilot project in spin safety 1st. these engineers are getting ready to scale. a steep reactor here in the spanish city of seville. it's at the heart of

a pilot project that is now in its final phase one that holds the promise of a new method to store solar energy. we get that. okay, better without that, we need to be careful. that's why we switch off the solar field before we go up how to get him a lot of heat of their equals 14 sons. we get fried up her today. check out there. he is giving his colleague, hunter schumer, her tour. it's the german engineers 1st visit to the plant. he's one of the numerous researchers who developed the reactors components in institutes across europe. but the pandemic prevented them from traveling to the side to install them . despite the obstacles they believed this plant could be a milestone in the quest to store solar power. at the base, calcium carbonate is fed into the reactor or cal finer. the chemical compound consists primarily of limestone tests here have shown it can store solar energy. the method is now ready for more extensive trials though some processes still need

to be optimized good dash yamaha reports a minor era back to his colleague and germany. mohammed usa is an export for thermo chemical reactors, but was unable to accompany him on his trip. where the boilers, v identified the glorified glitter. are we not reach their goal mike, them? temperature. the 2 engineers have designed the power blocks and the plans conversion technology. the project is a matter close to muhammad you. shes hard, he experienced the severe effects of climate change 1st hand in his home country, bangladesh. one of the principal visits i live there, she is because you can't go out any more. today you have nothing but an interminably long summer. summer does not ended ball. i wish it only but has relents for a few weeks in july, but the winter has disappeared. a future faced by countries worldwide. it's what's

driving warm at usa and is team to find sustainable storage methods for renewable energy funded by the you. the project has devised a method that relies on a chemical reaction process. panels sent solar energy to the mirrors on top of the reactor. together they produce temperatures of up to $950.00 degrees celsius. that heat causes the calcium carbonate to break up into calcium oxide and c o 2. these components can be stored for a long time and reused for further reaction processes to obtain energy. when ever need it. ah says again, if we want to develop energy storage systems on a big global scale, we need abundance stable, nontoxic and affordable materials. and calcium carbonate means all these requirements live over a you currently,

it has few competitors. solar energy accounts for one 3rd of the electricity generated from renewables in the u. it's the fastest growing source, but when the sunlight vanishes, there are hardly options to make it available at a later time as needed. the most widespread solution is battery storage. in the west of spain, energy giant, a better allah use us, lithium. i am batteries. is the blender bundle for this solar park and it's storage system will provide energy to $20000.00 homes every year and will avoid the emission of $12000.00 tons of c o 2 and the and bad it is the site manager over. so the parks construction, the install system, stores excess power that can be fed back into the grid when it is needed. the lithium batteries are locked away in these racks. we will not allow to film them on the inside. within 3 hours, the batteries are fully charged. the energy is then used over the course of the day at times when there is higher demand or no sun con grandma said unable guarded it,

but these are times of expansion. and the discovery of new storage technologies in bo, a but and technologies are developing at a farsi hayes royal him and then also were involved with that. so we'll have more storage systems in the near future and on the market on an industrial level and, and medically yes. and anyway, industrial, the batteries on the store power for limited time. and lithium is also in high demand for other green technologies. he carol tucker, tate, he is convinced that lithium will soon be rendered obsolete by his team's method that uses limestone to store solar power. raggedy, i believe you're all magnificat lithium batteries and magnificent who have great potential very high performance out i being like under you have in lithia, but lithium is an extremely limited resource, can only be found in very few locations in the world. i mean thing that for he, on it will look at her. the engineers hope that their storage method will be trialed at a real plant in the next 3 years. if successful,

their innovation could be brought to market by on one was during renewable energy is the most important step in the fight against climate change. whom do i want to do with them and the clock is ticking, capturing the power of the sun is set to be a key step on the path to success. singapore is warming up faster than the rest of the world. and climate change isn't the only reason. it's densely built. and wadman traps heat and air conditioning only compounds the problem. the need to keep cool has prompted the city to embrace innovative green solutions. ah, it's hot and humid in singapore all year round in temperatures reached $32.00 degrees and above deeper and it's really easy to stack inside the small maritsa

refreshing 20 degrees demolished school by to raul's largest on the ground air conditioner located at 25 meters below ground is the district cooling, netbook, the 2nd of its kind and sink down here, water is chilled and piped out to 27 buildings to keep them cool. the show size of the plant makes it so efficient. with the ship, lincoln the chief up to 40 percent in terms of energy savings. this is equivalent to powering 23003 room apartments for you. so this energy saved and also translate into carbon savings, which you saw reduction or removing $10000.00 cos oxy up all routes every year. but this is how conventional air conditioning looks like. and singapore is

a back alley, in a historic part of the city, with hundreds of air conditioners. each machine is powered by fossil fuel and releases waste heat into the alleys and out to the city. it's a vicious cycle with global warming and he traits living without acquisition. it is tough, but more air conditioners, more waste heat meter, to the environment. samples founding prime minister, the coin you want, c cat, the air conditioner to greatest invention of the 20th century. corneo wanted to mixing a ball of very hospitable and very comfortable for or you know, american investors, we jokingly call it little america. and every building is fully i condition. what were sacrificed, taking to ask what a development of architecture suitable for the local climate. so when the weather

is good, we should be able to open up the building. when the weather is hot and humid, we close it switch on the corner, so you so optional use of a condition rather been an absolute necessity. the challenge lou tropical architects is how do you desire a building like that? now some tropical skyscrapers have been built. this hotel is one example the i used to my idea, an architect from the cooling of our research project explains. this building uses of practical greenery that cover it's almost the entire face out of the building. and by having the figuration around the building, it can reduce the surface temperature. in fact, in our study, we found out that by having at least 23rd vertical greenery in front of your building, if carried yourself as temperature by 5 degrees celsius sample. as new as public

housing project, kona is where many solutions come together with district cooling party powered by to sun electric vehicles, charging stations, bicycle names, urban farms, and we'll talk gardens. this is a look into what singapore could be like in the future. a more sustainable city adapted to its climate change challenges. noisy and polluting traffic besets are cities like of clique. what would they look like if bicycles were given the right to flick, we met a german designer who dare to dream. these kind of nations shows what the halston plants and hamburg would look like. if all the cars and traffic signs were gone, making room for trees and grass. it could be a square of paradise for cyclists and pedestrians. but it actually looks like

this, much to the displeasure of hamburg graphic designer yon kaminsky. he would like to see fundamental changes, which is why he began making animations of how he believed streets should be been on, flung out of quicksilver, getting the project got started with the beginning of the cobit pandemic, marson, which i looked around and thought of, i don't want to just sit and wait for the changes we need, like i want to contribute. read august i and as a visual designer, i can change urban spaces up or before and on. young kaminsky thinks gray streets and dreary squares should be transformed around the world. or at least in animations to start like here in new york city. and in belgium's capital rustles and germany's capital berlin. the graphic designer launch

social media accounts under the name utopia. for bicyclist. as paul may up plots was followed. we need more space for bikes and more bicycles so that their genius can take effect for some follicle, their low emissions. so i didn't take up little space compared to other modes of transportation plots and for like, and can be used for many things on us as soon as auto ions at spot. young kaminsky vision is already reality in germany's neighbor, the netherlands, for example, in the countries 4th largest city group traced where $125000.00 people cycle daily, whatever the, whether that's more than a 3rd of the city's population. chris brantley works for a network that advocates greater use of bicycles. he spends much of his time on the frame bush the most heavily traveled, bicycle packed in the netherlands. it used to be

a multi lane road with traffic like the one is found in all cities. unfortunately, a lot of cities cycling is still just for the fit and the brave and the really risk taller and people that are willing to rub shoulders with motor vehicles. but that's not the vast majority of people who live in that city they want. ah, to be able to tune outs and, and just enjoy their can you and, and when you provide safe sagat separated space for cycling, you're going to track more of those, those casual users. in 2019 the world's biggest parking garage for bicycles opened and you thrashed displays. tell cyclists of any spaces are free up to 12500 bike riders can park here right next to the main station. in fact, the country has become known for its bike, friendly and aesthetically pleasing solutions, such as the toughness skimmers bridge, which passes over the roof of a school and connects to neighborhoods is just so much more convenient to travel

around the city on a bike. it's so much quicker and more fun. hamburg is still far from being a cyclists paradise. but young kaminsky hopes to at least bring attention to urban mobility questions. daughters does is false pressure by pushing forward. i'm creating opportunities for debate worse. so one way or the other, i'm provoking some kind of rethinking of the issue. and also numbers of young kaminsky hopes his utopias. monk remained purely digital and that not only hamburg, but metropolis is like paris will become bicycle paradise's, much like the ones he designs and animates cars completely gone and only bicycles on our streets. i'm not so sure about that turning to reality it. but it is true let we will need new and innovative vessel thing to, to deal with problems of the future. especially with 2 out of every 3 people

expected to live in cities by 2050, according to the un aaliyah with that and see you again next week from all of us in india and germany. good bye. and thanks for watching. ah ah ah, with

who she is beautiful. and christie in the so called a remote island off the horn of africa. an unusual part of human,

i'm touched by the civil war, discovered by just a few tourists. the forgotten paradise. so cool. so 30 minutes on d, w a pulse has a beginning of a story that moves us and takes us along for the ride. it's all about the perspective. culture information is either you news ah g w player from mine's a house, a view of the weather where i come from that all that glitters is go. it's just like with chinese food that measure where i am all with your minds. me a code after indicates of living in germany,

chinese food is one of the things i missed the most. but by taking a step back, i see thing a little differently. now. men in foot processing, the regulations that exist, the other part of the world haven't been implemented in china to leave a lot of china april, wondering if their food safety. but if people have arrived to learn, oh it's really is. this is a job journalism. how i see it, and that's why i love my job. because i tried to do exactly this every day. my name is adding to and i work at d. w. ah, the fight against the corona virus pandemic. how has the rate of infection developing? what measures are being taken?

what does the latest research say? information and context with carina virus update that goes into teams special monday to friday on d w. ah, ah ah, ah, this is d w. news coming to you live from berlin. ami cron becomes the dominant corona by restrain in the us people line up to get tested in washington. as authorities say the highly contagious new variant. now accounts for almost 3 quarters of all new infections. also in the program.