question and a message is clear to from the government that making reports and doing and covering new story will have some criminal results. you may be charged that you may be anymore that your freedom, whatever. so it's not easy to say that i'm not afraid of the situation. the rate on stand news is the latest move in a space of crackdowns under beijing's opaque national security law. this address for me is said to detect a national security crime under the national security law in june. hong kong lodge is pro democracy paper. the apple daily was also rated and forced to close. it's founded jimmy lie, was recently sentenced to 13 months in jail. but withstand news gone? and moll journalist detained the grip on hung comes free press. grows ever tighter

or for more on this, let's bring in cedric albany. he is head of the east asia bureau of reporters without borders and joined us from a ty pay. if obviously you monitor press freedom in the region that includes hong kong. tell us why stand news was important and what is closure means. western news was one of their last remaining independence, middle in hong kong. it's, i should, down i represents, i tend to be close or from residence because this was one of their last chinese language media that hong kong residents could rely on. you know, that 6 months ago, the uncle executive, that he's nothing more than the minion of the bitching regime has assassinated. exactly the same way, was the same modus operandi up on duty, which was a symbol of press freedom in hong kong. and now the s. s united and other media,

which also was a symbol of press freedom. so hong kong authorities accuse stand news of, of inciting hatred and undermining national security. what do you make of these allegations? and his accusations are totally ridiculous. stand dues was an independent generalist news website that was founded in 2014 and that was quite popular in hong kong. it covered the chinese politics society. and it's probably the only thing that i'm going with or is this could reproach them, is to stand for the values of democracy, human rights, freedom, the rule of law and justice. and indeed they reported information without fearing censorship. and this has become a crime in china and now even in the territory of hong kong. so apple dues daily has been shut down. stan,

news is now been shut down with all of this happening. where do you see hong kong press freedom headed? well, there's a very, very green prospect. unfortunately, the chinese regime has shown many times. it's determination to suppress freedom of the breast. freedom of information in hong kong, just like it has done in the rest of the theory to re, china has now become the number one enemy of press freedom in the world. it is not only a threats full to chinese people, but also to democracies. and it's very important that the world would react. i knew it's christmas, i knew it's new year, but the world has to react has to show shina. it's these approval, you'll need to go. so coming in china, it's the right moment for the road for the world to react. cedric, i'll be on the head of the east asia bureau of reporters without borders. thank you very much for talking with us. thank you. scott round up now some of the other

stories making headlines around the world. south africans are holding vigils in honor of and here part a hero. archbishop desmond tutu who died on sunday at age 90 a. to do home in johannesburg. so with our district prayers are being held in flowers, laid. the city of cape town hosts a special tribute in his honor later today or than a 100 towns and cities in brazil's northeastern stay. the boss have declared a state of emergency due to massive flooding. weeks of heavy rain has killed at least 20 people and injured hundreds more meteorologist say it's the most rainbow has received in over 32 years. the daily average of corona virus cases in the us in the past week has surged to record high over 258000. last time the figure passed, the quarter 1000000 mark was back in january. the only cranberry it now makes up nearly 60 percent of us cases. states in the northeast have been the hardest hit.

recently. france has recorded over 200000 covert 19 cases in a 24 hour period. that's a new french and european daily record. the over kron variance of the current of viruses, past becoming dominant in europe. britain, italy in portugal, have also or announced a record number of new infections. in poland, authority say, nearly 800 deaths were recorded in one day. the highest number so far, 3 quarters of those who died were unvaccinated. germany is seeing a dip in its official infection rates, but health minister called out of buses. the actual number of new cases in germany is likely to be about 2 or 3 times higher than reported of more on the curb in 1900 situation in germany. let's speak to dr. young sans. he's the general secretary of the german society, the intensive and emergency medicine. thanks for being with us. dr. young since

germany is surrounded on all sides by countries with soaring infection rates. is this country due for a rude awakening to yes. hello, good morning. i thing at this point in time we cannot provide any reliable data on the proportion of the amo from the very end in germany. this is also do like a lot of on health minister said due to the previous public holidays. here. the reports are always clearly delayed, how ever it can be assumed. i think that the on the can very and will certainly dominate in january like in the other countries like great britain like an all way like denmark like portugal. and this means that like, and other countries named con greece, we can expect significant number of infections and currently 10000 infections

with the on the chrome veterans have been reported. here we are recording daily growth rate of almost 50 percent, for one cannot speak of the rude awakening at the moment. okay, so the picture doesn't look that rosy already. how are german intensive care units holding up to the surgeon, infections? and this is a very good question at the moment, 4170 patients. we've covered nonsense currently being treated in intensive care units. thus, the situation is currently, i think, definitely manageable at the moment level of this, we are, of course, very concerned with that with increasing infection from the on the can varian and high number of infections following the occupancy of hospitals and intensive care units will also increase again, unfortunately, the hospitalization rates reported from other countries with the american very and dominant is lower compared to previous wave. nevertheless,

infections among employers can lead to bottlenecks in the staff and thus increased the bird even more of a young sense. thank you very much. i thank you. russia has tightened restrictions for foreign residents and visitors. planning long term stays under the new law. foreigners living in russia or visitors aiming to stay for longer than 3 months will be tested for a list of conditions, including coven, 19 h, ivy. syphilis, tuberculosis, leprosy, and drug addiction. several multinational corporations operating in the country have criticized the new regulars of more were joy now by journalist felix light in moscow. felix, what's the idea behind tightening these medical checks for foreigners? well, to be quite frank, there's been some confusion since this draft law was published. it's due to go into

effect just with the new year and, you know, it was, it was kind of a sweeping decision because health checks have always been part of the russian migration process for those seeking gas pump residency permits. but, but to extend it to this extent is it was quite extraordinary because not only do we have sort of a century old, foreigners minus diplomats and tourists covered. but we also have children from the age of 6 being covenant, to remind the views that entails children of 6 being tested for sexually transmitted diseases, which obviously, you know, seems rather ridiculous. and in general though, i think this, this almost seems as though it, it came almost by accident to, to cover most foreign. his head, this seems to me and many others to be aimed primarily at rushes that have large population of centralization and caucasian migrant workers. in more recently, we've seen quite a sort of a, a ton in sort of negative rhetoric from the kremlin with regard to migrate migrant population, especially in moscow. i need to church of to employ more russian workers. so it may

be relate to that, but to be quite frank, this is a very a on transparent system and we simply don't know the precise motivations for this little being forced to undergo extensive health checks. as you've described a repeatedly doesn't sound very appealing. what will this mean for those affected? well, i certainly think many in this sort of european and north american bob's work is in moscow hops reconsidering that positions. here are the german russian chamber of commerce has been very, very active in lobbying against the decisions. and just today are they said they'd secured sort of clarification in a slight sort of weakening of some of the. but i think certainly from many sort of big european companies, which even despite the, the substantial decline in economic links between the, between america and russia since the annexation of crimea in 2014, in the imposition sanctions right to that, that have restored sort of the retained i should say that there economic needs to

russia, that does seem to be a reassessment of those things. you know, a bit to sort of move our staff away from russia and perhaps to sort of more russet . why is it was that that representations it because this is obesity, you know, not a particularly attractive proposition for many managers and specialists who might be tempted by jobs in russia at the moment. ok, so foreign corporations, obviously i don't appreciate this, but how is the announcement going down among the russian population itself? is there a broad support among the people in russia for this move? i mean, i think, you know, you can't really remove this from the broader context of, of where russia is at the moment. you know, there are any numbers of problems in russia right now for inflation through to political repression. and you're to be quite honest the of migrant workers, whether that's from central asia or from europe on not at the top of anyone's agenda in moscow. the friend said, this is very much a sort of annex patch issue as it was felix. thank you so much to journalist felix

light there in moscow. you're watching dw news, just reminder the top story we're following for you this our hong kong, independent news out that stand news says it's closing after its offices were rated and assets are frozen, police arrested 7 people and confiscated evidence is the latest blow to the free press in hong kong. you're watching dw news from berlin. business news is next with rob watts. i'm terry martin. thanks for what? tooth with her. being alive and on demand. hon gas in language courses with video and audio. any

time. anywhere. the d w media center. ah, linda, oh, what people have to say matters to us. and that's why we listen to their stories. reporter every weekend on d. w. a. oh, the big switch off begins. germany is set to shut down 3 of its nuclear power plants by the end of this year is it aims for a total phase out by the end of 20. 22 will look at what it means for europe. the

germans are looking elsewhere for that new year. pyrotechnics as authorities again by the sale of works some or even crossing thought is to get the state of your business on robots in berlin. welcome to the program. germany is saying a good bye to nuclear power reactors. representing almost half the country's nuclear capacity, ought you to be shut down? by the end of this year, the remainder we switched off during the course of 2022. it could be seen as the worst possible time to do it with your battling and energy crisis. but the big switch off is being met with glee from anti atomic activists. ah, these protestors are making their voices heard and have been doing so for decades outside a nuclear power plant in northern germany for over 35 years now. activists have been meeting up once a month to call for the reactor to be shut down. today is the 425th meeting and the

final time that they'll be here breathing the elements. that's because the brock to off nuclear power plant, one of the most controversial in germany, will be decommissioned at the end of the year for a pastor in protest. co founder hans cont vanna. it's a day of mixed feelings. as you have each kid is mainly a sense of relieve that the nuclear power plant is, find the history of what we never imagined back then that we'd have to hold out for . so long's, that's about on the 2011 fukushima nuclear disaster prompted germany to declare a nuclear phase out by the end of 2022. but many countries continue to rely on nuclear power of this promotional phil made by the french nuclear industry depicts it as clean and above all climate friendly. a line of argument also favored by the countries president, yet dondo the subject to achieve our objectives, in particular carbon neutrality by 2050. and we will for the 1st time in decades

relaunched the construction of nuclear reactors in our country. and on the clippy, greenhouse gas emissions are lower than those from fossil fuels. but compared to wind or solar power, nuclear energy production is far more expensive. it's really clear those countries around the world that a most intensely committed to civil nuclear power. ah, i the countries with nuclear weapons, all countries really de monster bay kane, on nuclear weapons. the reactor will be shut down, but the radioactive waste will remain in storage there for decades to come. there's still no permanent disposal site anywhere in the world, which is why the activists plan to continue their fight. not to understand what the nuclear phase out means for germany. let's just take a look at the countries energy mix. so in 2020 it was renewable energy sources like wind, solar, biomass, and hydro,

that hurt increased to provide 43.8 percent of germany's energy. coal is the 2nd most important source with leg nights and hard coast, applying almost a quarter of the electricity. here the german government is actually, i mean, to close all of its coal plants by 2038 as it reduces carbon emissions. gas fired power stations provided 16 point, one percent of germany's electricity in 2020. and then comes nuclear power plants which generated 11.3 percent. that is obviously about change with all germany is reactors, g to be switched off by the end of 2022. so the world is watching germany's energy transition as it aims to switch off sources currently providing almost 40 percent of its electricity. that's nuclear and co critic say that doing it too soon could lead to blackouts, especially when it's dark and there's no wind blowing. they suggest keeping nuclear

power plants running as a stable source of energy. will i be speaking to michael schneider, who is lead author of the world nuclear industry status report and an opponent of nuclear power? i asked him if, given europe's current energy shortage. this was the worst possible time to be switching off nuclear energy sources. well, you know, i mean, the german nuclear pays out has been in the making for a long time. it's decades that the german society has been discussing the issue by the way that the term like in a given that which now has been integrated into the, the english language like energy transition dates from 980. and you know, as soon as 1986, when the channel bo disaster started happen to took place, there were in germany had actually published in germany,

there were 20 nuclear phase out scenarios published. so there's a long exercise of thinking and designing this, this nuclear phase out. so what is happening now is, is just the consequence of these latest decisions that are now 10 years old. so there was a long period of preparation for that. and let's face it, it's, it's been a phenomenal investment security. you can, you know, imagine you can invest into other electricity generating technologies, knowing that 4000 megawatts will switch off by the end of the year. that's a phenomenal investment security that doesn't exist the same way in other countries . that's something we need to ban. i may talk about when that when we talk about the switch off of the nuclear power, is the environmental impact on the fact that germany's renewable sources aren't quite ready to make up for what's going to be lacking from the the nuclear switch

off is this actually a bad move for the environment, given the nuclear, given that germany will be using coal to make up that loss. no that's, that's the miss. and that's what the problem, you know, the, the, the reduction in nuclear out bit output of the past 10 years has been compensated for twice over by the increase in renewable energy sources. so it's, it's a myth that actually, that has less lead to more coal. no, it's actually well in the coming years highway it says, except that it will mean there is more coal and late night being burnt to make up for the loss of nuclear power over the next few years. because wind and sun are not ready to fill that gap or no, it's actually not true. i mean, there is a very clear pathway now in order to double up the speed of implementation

of renewable energy sources. and in fact, the new coalition has a target for 2032 to phase out a coal. it differently from what was said earlier. so to bring it further closer to a now a, originally it was 2038 and have 520-3080 percent of renewables in the electricity mix. so in fact, what we have in europe is that especially france is, is worried about the nuclear phase out because germany and belgium, the 2 nuclear phase, our countries have actually saved the french grid in the last week when that some ometer dropped below, it was below 0 so which we actually have a quite unique situation where nuclear friends is depending on the

nuclear phase out countries in order to stabilize its grid. we do have this unusual situation that we in europe where we have germany in one hand facing out and france, if anything wanting that to be more nuclear power plants across europe. why do we have that enormous difference? well, you see in france there has been always the, the a mis of lag on us young. you know, that, that france can only be as powerful and as radiating in the world with nuclear weapons and with nuclear power. and, and frankly, france has always used the nuclear technology, whether on the military side, on the civil side as geopolitical tool. so don't forget, there is now a presidential election coming up for france to take, you know, with the presidency in the european union at 1st of january. so there's alliance

buildings. so again, once again in france, uses a nuclear power is a geopolitical tool. so but on the other hand, don't forget that the new nuclear power plants that the president has been talking about. we're talking of a grid connection between 204-2050. so which is sort of a bit late for the environment and it's a bit late for, you know, changing the, the situation firms are, are generating sources or thank you very much for your time, michael snyder. i do appreciate you giving us so much of it. that's michael schneider from the world nuclear industry status report on date of your business. as take a look at some of the other global business stories making use more details, it emerged av chinese right hailing giant dds plans to d list from new york and re list on the hong kong stock exchange. reuters is quoting 2 sources, same company plans to use a mechanism that allow it to list without raising capital or issuing new stock

listing by introduction, as it now would allow holders of its u. s. chairs to gradually transfer them. now usually fireworks make new year's eve in germany, a noisy and colorful a fab. this year for the 2nd year in a row german authorities battling the only con corona virus. parents have decided to ban the sale of them. however, some determined germans are getting around the restrictions by crossing international borders. ah, he is. even berlin typically goes off with a bang. but the 201920 took over was different in a suburban street in the midst of crowds of revelers. and huge explosion from a home made bomb, hundreds of thousands of euros of damage. scores of people injured for berlin's authorities. it was the cracker that broke the camel's back. then,

with the onset of the pandemic, authorities feared the usual stream of wounded would overwhelm hospitals, already groaning under the load of covered cases. and national ban was put in place . but germans just want to have fun via plus and get an event. despite everything we want to celebrate the new year last year, it couldn't happen. therefore we're happy that it's possible this year in germany, we're not allowed to buy fire crackers, but we are allowed to set them off. up then decide. so many germans are making a pilgrimage across the border into denmark to buy their fireworks ha humble. they come from hamburg, hanover blaming, rostock, dusseldorf. purveyors of pyrotechnics had been worried about their economic plight . as denmark prepares for a more subdued and new year's celebration than usual, but now business is booming. your highly valued german customers have helped safe does it?

so that's been nice. hemmings in estimates that this year german customers account for 65 percent of the shops turn over. so it looks like, even though the brandenburg gate party is strictly no spectators, nightclubs will be closed and all indoor venues will be off limits to the un vexed germans will still be able to make some noise to welcome in the new that's all for a man the business same here in berlin from all from us do had to our website d dot com slash business. you can also find is only do we use youtube channel and facebook with they're important to the economy is huge. but getting hold of them is often a dirty business. critical commodities make us mobile, make our smartphones smart. how can today's global hunger for lithium cobalt

and more the satisfied made in german w with ah ah ah ah ah.