the omar variant is putting the healthcare systems around the world to the test. vaccination campaigns are accelerating while restrictions are intensifying once again. but are these measures enough to stop the spread of omicron, fax data and reports in a weekly coping 19 special? every thursday on d w ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin and omicron tidal wave hated for europe. the world health organization predicts that half of europe population could become infected

with the contagious corona virus variant. by the end of this winter. also coming up a special report, the u. s. military's notorious guantanamo by prison. 20 years after the 1st prisoner arrived, that promises to shop the camp down are still being broken. will speak to a former special envoy, full guantanamo closure on to you as president obama in just a moment. ah, i'm jarrett ray, thank you very much for your company. we start the shy with the dye, a warning from the world health organization and europe's pandemic future. the w, i joy predicts that over half of all europeans will become infected with the army kron variant of the corona virus. by the end of the winter, he is what the w i chose europe director hands crew good had to say 50 of the

50 countries in europe and central asia have no reported cases of ami chrome. it is quickly becoming the dominant virus in western europe. and this know spreading into the balkans at this rate, the institute for health metrics and evaluation forecasts that more than 50 percent of the population in region will be infected with micron in the next $6.00 to $80.00. let's go to washington d. c and speak to epidemiologist, doctor eric phi golding, doctor, it's great to have you back on t w with her today that more than half of europeans will likely get infected with on the chrome in the next 6 to 8 weeks. what should people here do with a stipend like that? do they just need to sit back and accept the inevitable? why think,

sitting back and doing nothing is actually really risky. what they need to go out and get the booster. what they need to do is where and 95 for f, a p 2 f, a t p 3 mass. what they need to do is ventilate their building, their schools, your office, with the need to do a disinfect, the air anywhere the gather with filters. what they need to do is test and prepared to test and in potentially, according teen, if others around them are positive, what they need to do is stop transmission. because even if it's slightly milder, which is not miles or by that much, the overwhelming exponential increase was sick and, and then more people are hostile, as we've seen k, the us and even south africa where south africa is already running 30 percent excess. that over their normal $3000.00 excess per week in the last 4

we. so december got is what is the head of overwhelming hospitals and therefore if you have other conditions, you don't want to get sick. so the best way is to slow transmission as much as you can and stay safe. interest mentioned, there will be many, many more people in hospitals. what's that going to mean for health systems here in europe? i think it's going to overwhelm health systems in europe. just like your grooming completely overwhelming health systems and hospitals in the u. s. i think people do or have been misled by the it's mild of misinformation too much. it's only slightly milder, but it's been show increase will definitely send way more people to the hospital. if you have to go to hospital for a car accident, a heart attack stroke, cancer, you may not get the chair that you need because the hospitals are full. and therefore other diseases may also access. and this is why, you know,

not getting infected and we're at least spreading out pure fraction to a longer period is so much important, the flattening the curve we talked about in 2020. we have to do that again. world many other people will be hurt, not just code. absolutely, it's a very serious wanting their epidemiologist. doctor eric 5 will dig in washington d. c. thank you very much for your time. let's get a round up of some other world headlines now. the united nations is appealing for $5000000000.00 in i to save millions of afghans from starvation. since the taliban take over last summer, most countries have caught their funding to afghanistan. that's plunge the country into humanitarian crisis. conditions have made been made worse by a long drought and the arrival of winter. a man accused of setting fire to south africa's parliament building in cape town has been charged with terrorism.

officials say the suspect was arrested at the scene with explosives. he denies the charges. critics claim he's being being made a scapegoat to cover security failing the fire on january. the 2nd caused extensive damage to the building, the light american author and civil rights activists. maya angelou has become the 1st black woman to feature on a us coin. the new quote, a dollar depicts angelou with arms raised and a bird in flight, but behind her images, inspired by her poetry, miss angela died in 2014, at the age of 86 or 20 years ago. the 1st prisoners arrived in guantanamo by. this is the detention cam set up by the us following the 911 attacks and the insuring invasion of afghanistan, nuclear breach of human rights. most prisoners were held indefinitely without trial . d. w is all of a salad, went to the us naval base on guantanamo and says,

and the camp and, and the camp some say has come to symbolize one of the biggest us moral failings in the so called war on terror. ah guantanamo, located in a tropical paradise. but the u. s. naval base in cuba stands for human rights abuses and torture mohammed to old slaw. he was held cheerful, 14 years, suspected of involvement in the $911.00 attacks, but never charged for a crime. he was brutally tortured and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder until today, 34 nights ago i woke up and i was shaking. so skin because i saw my, my jacket on the door and i thought it was someone coming to get in. and it took me a very long time. some time i wake up, i cannot breathe defense council, anthony natalie represents an alleged al qaeda terrorist who arrived here in 2006.

and since then has been waiting for his trial. guantanamo has been seen internationally as a stain on american history. so where does that place here put the united states? we're ashamed that everything that made this country one that we could say was a free country that had equal justice for all has abandoned all of that. and that sat, it said, and i, i don't know how we're going to be able to recover. montana mill was built after the $911.00 attacks us government aimed for a forceful and rapid response. united states will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts. in the war on terror, america and its allies invaded afghanistan. the u. s. naval base at guantanamo bay served as a prison for a ledge war criminals, and tara suspects

a place where the constitution of the united states does not exist ever since. it was opened. busy human rights activists argue guantanamo is where the u. s. lost its moral authority, the place of torture and double standards, that is mostly of limits for a camera. but there's also another side of guantanamo a place where 6000 inhabitants try to go about their everyday lives. in a bizarre contrast to the infamous prison residential areas resembled small town america. some normalcy in a place. full of contradictions. ready, you get more, delivers the soundtrack for guantanamo, and she is get most voice. i get my hello. hello. well bowman to your morning show with the day candles otherwise. 6 1 is petty, i'm the analyst for trials in the prison are not part of their coverage. a, it's not really part of like the culture here. you now that's i another side of the base. here on this side, we have a whole different type of operations going here. the new school allows its students

somewhat of a normal childhood, 5 kilometers from the notorious torture prison. good. okay, what are some other things that you know about native that's actually the message that went, that may sent to the whole world. they said there are 2 kinds of people in this world. people who don't deserve a little bit of law, muslim young people, and people who deserve little out of almost 800 former detainees. 39 are still incarcerated in guantanamo only to have been convicted of a crime. cliff sloan is an american diplomat who served as a special envoy for guantanamo closure. under the former us president barack obama . earlier we asked him what the biggest obstacles are in shutting down the prison. the obstacles that have come up with guantanamo closure, our political opposition,

that is irrational, and that based on sac and some legal obstacles, it based on was unwisely passed by congress. but having said that, there is no reason that we cannot move forward with closing guantanamo. and actually it's important to note that we made a lot of progress. when i became special envoy for guantanamo closure, there were a $166.00 people remaining at one time. when president obama left office, there were 41 and as we just heard, there are 39 now. and the reason i emphasized that is because sometimes there's fatalism in a sense of defeat and we absolutely can and must move forward aggressively and moving the remaining people out of guantanamo it can be done despite any obstacles. former us special envoy cliffs flying there. while european union scientists have released the harrowing new report showing that the last 7 years were the hottest on record. germany's new government wants to set an example of how

to fight global warming and has set some lofty climate protection goals. but the countries, 1st economy and climate minister says so far, not so good more renewables, less fossil fuel. and at the same time, more electricity generation overall, in the coming years, germany will need to change how it has itself. the man at the helm of germany is super ministry for the climate and the economy says he knows how it can be done. it's just what we're setting out to do is extremely ambitious, but achievable. if everyone works together, we can do this for the colonel. there have been other we can do this moments in recent german politics. but the scale of the challenge identified by her back is as he put it gigantic business to municipally. in the next few years, we must become more efficient and faster the pace of change and the consistency

needs to increase. basically, we need to be 3 times better than we are now. in all areas, why am i in one huge task is to increase the amount of wind generated power in the makes. the target is to use 2 percent of germany's land area for on shore wind. currently only a quarter of that is available. in some cases, the problem is nimby ism, people often say turbines are fine in principle, but not if they mother landscape where they live. solar energy to is to be ramped up panels will be required on all new commercial buildings and on most homes as well when there is no wind and no sun. germany needs another solution in a transition phase. that will be natural gas and in long term hydrogen. now we are focusing on whitman and a solar, but in the 2030. so we need huge amounts of green hydrogen for our industry of

our power plants we have and now running on natural gas than switching over to hydrogen. the government will fast track change by both easing planning rules and providing financial incentives. climate activists can see positive things in the plan, but worn. there will be more today. we need to end cold in the year 2030 by the latest. and this can only be done if the capacities for renewable energy are significantly increased. and for this package that was presented today is the very 1st step, but the energy sector is only one of the sectors where we need to catch up and german climate politics. we need cindy and the emergency packages also for the sector of agriculture, and also been a team. in many ways, robert ha, bank carries the hopes that have brought germany's new government into office, combining concern for the planet with care for the countries industry. the minister says we can do it, and he also knows that what the charts and projections show right now is how

difficult the transformation will be. this doesn't get from the moment. and just before we go, a pink dolphin has been seen air born of a columbia. columbia's armed forces helped a rescue team transport of pink river dolphin, trapped in a shallow river in the east of the country. in a 20 day operation, the army joined conservationists and veterinarians to captured the aquatic mammal and air lift it to a larger tributary of the orinoco river. up next on the w e. the world bank issues the stock warning about the global economy this year with chelsea. delaney in business don't go away with every day.