shed light on the opaque world who's behind benefits and why are they a threat to whistle o peak wolf starts january 5th on d w. ah ah ah, this is dw news alive from berlin, as the oem across very inter braces across the globe policy makers here in germany are plotting their response to the fresh wave. they're expected to impose contact restrictions, even on the fully vaccinated, and those recovered from coven 19. also coming up on the show in the u. s. o.

micron has become the dominant corona virus variant. people line up to get tested in washington as authority say the highly contagious new variant. now accounts for almost 3 quarters of all new infections. plus, poland draws our plans, requiring doctors to reports all pregnancies to the state activist. call it the further step to control women's bodies in a country where nearly all abortions are already banned. plus no contact restrictions would be frigid. waters of late geneva has some hardy folks out in pre christmas. ah hello, i'm claire richardson. thanks so much for joining us. the omicron corona virus variant is spreading rapidly just as people around the world prepare for the end of your holidays. the world health organization is calling on people to consider the

risk they may be taking. w h o director general tedra. deborah said, there is now clear evidence that omicron is more contagious than any other version of the virus so far. and he warned that holiday festivities would in many places, drive infections and lead to more death. all of ours are seek of this bundle. all of us want to spend time with friends and family, but uneven cancelled is better than a life cancelled. it's better to cancel now and celebrate later zahn to celebrate the now and grieve later. and as the oma kron variant races across the globe policy makers here in germany are plotting their next steps to tackle a fresh wave. a range of measures are on the table, including limiting social contacts, even for those fully vaccinated or recovered from covered 90. preparing for alma

kron, germany is rushing to get a vaccine booster shot to its critical workers like these firefighters in hamburg before the new cove. in 1900 varian becomes dominant. here, while daily cases are thinking across the country, experts warn the dreaded wave could arrive just after christmas, emf and nationalists explanation. it's a rapid exponential increase. i talked about if you take the conservative estimate that cases double every 3 days, or what scientists and britain are recording every 2 days. and if you only need a pocket calculator to see that that extremely fast is bombs. and while vaccines are the 1st line of defense, germany's government is preparing new restrictions for as early as next week, even for the fully vaccinated. like just enough not fight that we will have further restrictions on private contacts. so we're well prepared for the spread of the new virus mutation, all over europe has them all hers a huge,

wild and novel house fighter. what the new curves will look like is unclear. that still needs to be discussed with the leaders of germany states. but it seems, everything is on the table, is global, then the speech dated by the if experts predictions are confirmed. and what we're seeing in neighboring countries continues be allied. and we can't rule out a general lockdown, including everything from businesses to education, to private gatherings, yet mismatched reason. for starters, that will likely mean cancelled new year's eve parties. and those making fitness resolutions for 2022 might have to postpone hitting the gym until the alma chron waive is over. so let's go now to our chief political correspondent, melinda crane, in berlin. linda, so far we haven't seen a surge in new cases here in germany is if the calm before the omicron storm that's certainly what it looks like. indeed, cases have been receding in comparison to the high levels that were reached in

november. but essentially what we're seeing is the 4th wave largely caused by delta receding, but on the chron has already set foot in germany. a 5th wave is in the offing and fears are growing. that on the crime could in fact become the dominant variant here as soon as late january or early february, since as you know, it's far more infectious than previous variance. so a new expert panel, this advising the german government that recently came into office says that if the spread of omicron continues at the rate that's been, that's been going so far, a significant part of the population will fall sick. and experts say that ultimately could be in as many as a $100000.00 new cases per day. and this expert group is also warning that there is a very high risk even for fully vaccinated people, as well as those who have recovered from coven 19. they're calling this a whole new dimension of depend on it. and the german government is preparing new measures to combat the next wave. what sort of restrictions are we looking at?

well, the authorities will be meeting today, federal and state authorities and the government has ruled out a strict lock down ahead of christmas. but with concern rising, that medical facilities could be overwhelmed and essential services interrupted. there is agreement to that new stricter measures are needed and these are likely to include according to a draft paper that, that the politicians will be discussing limits on private gatherings. 10 people at most, starting on tuesday, december 28th latest. and regardless of whether those gatherings are indoors or outdoors, guests at any gatherings must have been vaccinated, unvaccinated people can meet at most to other people. and here in berlin, for example, a beloved new year's destination bars and clubs will certainly be closed and large gatherings also prohibited. and despite the emergence of this new variance that we

know spreads like wildfire, there is still a vocal minority against restrictions, isn't there? there? absolutely is, and in fact are on monday evening, about 17000 people and 20 cities protested against vaccine mandates and restrictions with nearly 10000 people attending an unauthorized event in ra, stuck in the eastern part of the country. and in fact, most of those demonstrations were in germany's east, and in that row stock protests, there were some scuffles between demonstrators and the police. and this, despite the fact that it's precisely in the eastern area of the country, that intensive care units are already stretched to the limits carrying for unvaccinated cove at patients. melinda, germany's new government was born in a just 2 weeks ago. this was be quite a stress test for chandler schultz and the new health minister. absolutely it is.

the new health minister does not have a lot of experience holding the reins of government. however, he is a very renowned epidemiologist in this country and he has made it clear that the country does need to brace not only for intensive care, beds being a stretch to capacity, but also for potential interruptions to essential services, like fire brigades, water, electricity, as people fall ill, so certainly a very drastic need for emergency planning going forward. and the government getting a somewhat late start on that. melinda crane. thanks as always for your reporting. when the united states omicron is now at the dominant variant by far accounting for 73 percent of all infections. and just a week ago the figure was at 12 percent in new york virus cases are surging just

ahead of holiday season gatherings. oh oh oh, 0 one huh. oh, this is just a test. new year's eve in times square has not come early by the on the chrome wave has hit the us sooner than many experts expected nearby and new yorkers line up to get tested with christmas just days away and cases surging. many are worried. definitely feels like that 1st wave of the pandemic without anxiety, all these long lines are on the city. people getting tested, exams are getting cancelled for people in grad school like myself. so i kind of feel like that really part of the content we didn't really know was happening. i think we've all been affected as a new yorker, we're targeting every single promotion that we can um got double vax boosted regular testing. i am planning to charge for the holidays, but depending on the result of this test, i'll probably stay put in your back. americas took pandemic advisor. anthony found

she though, had a hopeful message for those worried about the holidays in you can go the extra mile and get tested before you have a family gathering or a group go test the day before or the day of getting together, but vaccinated and boosted people one of the family members of vaccinated should feel very comfortable in getting together and enjoying a holiday meal or a holiday get together. i president joe biden plans to address the rapid rise in corona virus case as later on tuesday. but he's already made it clear with some of the blame lies for those who choose to remain and vaccinated. he'll issue a stark warning and make clear and vaccinate individuals will continue to drive hospitalizations and deaths. that is not trying to scare people or maybe it is trying to make clear to people in the country what the risks are here of not being vaccinated. despite the worsening situation in times square,

some people were still in a festive mood. thought this might be the last time new yorkers see these lights in person. the mass still hasn't decided if new year's celebrations here. we'll go ahead. and earlier we spoke with the professor peter and hong from the university of california, san francisco, and he explained how oma cron cases in the united states have skyrocketed within a week. this virus is speeding ahead and forward like no other variant before. and if you think about 2 weeks ago was one percent. so it tells us really 2 things. first of all, that probably genomic sequencing lags what the cases really are in the community. and secondly, once you get enough people infected in a community, it's like little kern, a virus bombs going off, the increase is really exponential. it started off in the east coast really because of a lot of contact with the u. k. and with southern african countries,

there are direct lights from dr. berg, for example, to new york, new jersey, d. c. it's not as prevalent maybe in california yet, although it's increasing authorizations are not that high compared to the east coast, but it's spreading westward. so i see a big sweep, i see a potentially unprepared hospital systems for this deluge. so let's take a closer look. now, at some other developments in this pandemic, if zealand has postponed opening its borders and the concerns over the oma crohn variant, quarantine of free travel is now possible for new zealanders only from the end of february onwards. and in australia, infection rates have surged with the state of new south wales reporting 3000 new cases on tuesday alone. that the australian government has been reluctant to impose your restrictions. and european union has approved the use of the nova vax vaccine and people aged 18 and older. the european medicines agency said data shows the

vaccine has an efficacy of around 90 percent. and we can bring you up to speed with some of the other stories making headlines around the world. in the philippines, the death toll from typhoon roy has risen to 375, with dozens of people still missing. the military has been called in to help as entire communities were levels and many more left without electricity, water, or fruit. hundreds of thousands have been displaced and the typhoon has triggered landslides and flashed flights. japan has executed prisoners for the 1st time in 2 years. the 3 inmates were put to death at the tokyo detention house and had been convicted of multiple murders. there is wide support for capital punishment among the people in japan, despite criticism from human rights groups. russia has ordered 2 german diplomats to leave the country in a tit for tat route with berlin. last week in germany, expelled to russian diplomats of re court ruled moscow had ordered the killing of

a chechen exile in berlin. and germany says the latest expulsions will further stream bilateral relations and in ethiopia, the t gr, i people's liberation front, the t p l f says it will withdraw from several regions it had captured in the last few months. the withdrawal could mark a turning point and a possible step towards a cease fire after 13 months of brutal war. ethiopian government says that tpl f announcement is a cover up tactic, or it's recent military setbacks. if yoga has been engaged in civil war for over a year, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions on both sides. in this conflict, have been accused of atrocities with reports of rape and gender based violence being used against girls as young as sex. that yield in human rights commission has launched an investigation and their commissioner for women's and children's rights is miss graham gassett,

who joins me now from i disobey bye. thank you so much for taking the time to come onto the show. what have your investigations found? thank you very much, claire and as non to a many, we have launch it a joint investigation with the un office of the high commissioner in their covering in the early days off the conflict which already disclosed. i'm different forms of gender based violence including sexual violence like rape, sexual all enslavement pregnancy on in the like. i'm committed against our women and girls, but also our further investigations in other parts of the country that are affected by the conflict such as the i'm her region are also shown similar findings and warning patterns. all gender rates, violence being committed by different parties involved in the conflict.

i what are the effects of such a gender based violence as so we have seen break as, as one of the prominent forms of gender based finance. but also, as i've said, 6 different forms of sexual assault forces, pregnancy enslavement and an old. so be beyond the section of finance that i have not to. we have seen also the gender impacts of other violations. for example, a how much the lack of access to basic services have affected, particularly and disproportionate. the women and girls are from access to sexual report active hell's too old. so i access to different support for survivors of gender based whiteness because of destruction, of different forms of infrastructure that were in place. and so our reports,

any and our investigation has a given particular attention to this gender dimension of the conflict throughout the different pieces. and recently, also following the withdrawn with the piano forces, we are gaining more access to parts zachary oak height and we are deploying an investigation mission that would be in probing into also that gender dimensions of conflict. and i think so few more about that as well. if i may just jump in because it's not just the tpl off that is preventing access. we know the government has been boring at journalists and other external observers from certain areas of the country. how can your commission, or indeed any international team of investigators actually guarantee impartiality under these conditions it is indeed a very important question and unfortunately it is unimportant element of human

rights investigation. and as you can imagine, it's difficult to guarantee 100 percent impartiality. when you work in a very politically polarized context, but i mean, what we can be called is about our working methods and how based we try. we try our base by employing a very qualified investigation team that is trained with trained on metrics into human rights investigations. and we are using also internationally accept that human rights investigation methodology. and we are from time to time on reflecting on our working makers and also our, our teams engagement in, in december again. so yes, we hear critiques from different par parties about our work. and it's natural to have questions about the personality of such process and we acknowledge and we understand. but we do our base also to employ when we do appreciate your work in

into this important topic, we are going to have to leave the interview there. i'm afraid, but my guess at commissioner for women and children's rights at the independent yoke in human rights commission. thanks so much again for coming on the show you going to go to poland now which has one of the strictest abortion laws in europe. bending the procedure in all but a few cases. now, the government wants to go even further by creating a legal register of all pregnancies. use alexander phenomena reports on an issue that often pits individual women against hospitals and police. claudio castillo, 26 years old entrepreneur. earlier this year she decided to and an unwanted pregnancy, using abortion pills. she ordered on the internet for one looked with ala. i went to a hospital just to confirm that i am not pregnant anymore. oh, i was. but once they are, i was brutally examined,

though on the doctor didn't providing any medical information. instead, she scared me saying the state prosecutor needed to know that she would report me to the authorities of others. washy, jonathan's washing despite poland sneered. total ban on abortion. women who terminate pregnancies cannot be prosecuted under polish law. that however, didn't prevent the police from interrogating her. a. claudia coast oak tells me, oh sam. okay, says look what we asked and they wanted to know how the pills were delivered out what the package looked like. so i'm hoping i had to give them the names of all my friends who knew i had an abortion not no idea what that was for help. also. last year, a court ruled that abortion in poland is only permitted in cases of rape or incest . or when the mother's life is threatened, thousands took to the streets in protest with the intact until nina vandals come with one of them, is the reproductive rights activist says that the results of the new law, amounts to torture is found on the horse. it means that polish women are forced to

carry pregnancy with fetuses that have no rain that have no call if they are in distance outside of their body. we have legal har hart failures. it's just impossible to describe how it feels like to be a woman in poland today. as of january, the government also plans to introduce a centralized register we're pregnancies and miscarriages are reported. pro choice activists fear this data base could be used to cause legal problems for women who use abortion pills or find other ways to an to pregnancy, pos shit or chefs. key is the gynecologist in which he says the concerns about the register are justified. as the data is available anyway, but he also says he is fed up with the issue being politicized in poland, if jelly bush with her we as doctors would like to be left alone by politicians. we want them to stop using us for their purposes or both sides of doing it. pure shit

or chef ski fears the restrictive abortion the rules in poland will have floss, think consequences. first could be the boys who they shows that there are women with who now are afraid to get pregnant, which is a joe day think, what am i going to do when i find out my thetis has an illness or gene damage your school. so that's why they decide not to get pregnant at all, says that there's the lack of mothers against natal examinations because they fear the results above a wrinkle. but the debate in poland continues with pro life activists demanding father restrictions and criminal charges against people selling abortion pills. the activists who sell the pills or any money on that. and this is what we want to stop . we want to stop this business of ah, business of death. you could say claudia could still cannot come to terms with what's going on in poland. she's hoping for a political change soon. otherwise,

she says she is going to leave the country and she has lung several women who do travel outside of poland seeking abortions in other countries. for more on that i am now at joined by as is annette. jew bonds, you worked for a non profit organization called a church, a basha which assists women to cross the border and get an abortion here in germany . welcome to the show. i will ask you, 1st of all, what your organization doesn't exactly what this assistance looks like. our group is an informal feminist collective that actually exists for the last 5 years. and so since 2014, we are approaching people from plants with unwanted pregnancies in accessing abortion in germany. and this year alone, our collective support that over 300 people from poland in accessing abortion in

german. and is that an increase in the number of people you're seeing after? abortion laws have been tightened in poland. yes, definitely each and every attempt to it's hard to strengthen the already very restrictive abortion and actually translate in a dramatic increase in the number of people seeking abortion. and it's true that many people in poland are indeed afraid to get pregnant at the moment. but we also see a radical increasing the number of those who received the 1st prenatal results and decided not to wait for her their results and simply go for an abortion and travel to have an abortion abroad. and we've heard that the government wants to create a legal register of all pregnancies. how would that affect your work? well, we'll definitely affect the life of people in poland because this will mean that

they will be simply afraid to not only good at the moment, but also to contact doctors in those situations. and as every a change in the abortion law, we will expect that this will translate into more people having abortion. we are prepared for this situation. now in november, a 30 year old woman died in poland after doctors they're held off, terminating her pregnancy, even though the fetus would not survive because they were afraid of breaking the law. that led to massive protests across the country. do you think that's having an impact on government decision making as well? we as feminist activists supporting people in access to our abortion, see that each and every change again translates not only into a more people having abortions but more people learning about options and access to abortion. and also protesting d m t, abortion legislation. so we see also how the reception or public perception of

abortion changes and how more and more people actually become more pro abortion in this context. which also translates into more people learning about, about their rights and their options. and just 3 weeks ago on the 1st of december, the parliament actually debated a further law that criminalized abortion even more. and this was rejected even by the ruling parties of the parties that we expect that this is to an extent, a response to the problems that slide for the streets of war. so, but this registry of pregnancy actually looks like a burden to the pro choice and the anti choice organizations. so they reject that the low farther criminalizing abortion. but now they are giving this, this new law, which actually also can be considered gender based violence. and,

and get it all done as you by mailing press. thank you so much for that update. we really appreciate you coming on d w. thank you so much for your time. just before we go, if you think you've tried everything to shake off the cold weather blues, switzerland's might have something for you. the annual christmas copper brings together the thick skins to take a dip in the icy cold waters of lake geneva. the people's flash from a bucket is just the beginning. the contestants then have to take the plunge and swim 100 meters to the finish line. it's years a record, 3000 people strip down and jump into the 7 degrees celsius lake. thanks for watching. ah ah ah ah

ah ah ah ah ah ah ah, the beginning of the story moves us and takes us a lot for the ride. it's all about the perspective.

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your platform for reliable information how long does i or an eternity time it can be measured precisely, and yet each person experiences it differently as if there are different forms of type, type of phenomena. a dimension and illusion. about time starts december 31st on d, w y, a big tact meets big government. the e u is moving to rain in tack giants, but can it's long harm reached them at a verse. also on the show, the world by the tech event is due to return.