♪ >> this is dw news live from berlin. the information of what scientists have been saying for weeks -- the world health coronavirus is now a pandemic. meeting the virus is global. covid-19 has killed 4000 people but the who says it is possible to reduce the number of new infections. also coming up, a giant of hollywood will spend the rest of his life behind bars. former producer harvey weinstein

sentenced to 23 years in prison. >> this is wh justice looks likea. 20 plus three years sentence. >> weinstein was convicted of rape and sex assault in a case that marked a major turning point. and returning to the scene of a crime. we'll hear from a survivor of france's worst terror attack and find out how she copes with the trauma five yeyears latater. and dw catches up with the research ship that has been addressed in the arctic for months on a mission t to learn momore about how climatehangnges affecting our planet. ♪ i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs and all

around the world, welcome. it is now official. the world health organization today announced that it now regards the spread of the new coronavirus as a pandemic, meaning it is an epidemic on a far greater geographic scale that affects a large number of people. the who had resisted calling the fire is a pandemic until now. but it's director general today said the spread of covid-19 across more than 100 countries means the virus requires a new label. >> we're deeply concerned both by the alarming levels fof -- of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of in action. we have formed the assessment that covid-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. brent: that was the head of the who. while that announcement was being made in geneva, italy

announced that the death told her -- from the virus has risen to 827. ireland and sweden reported their first fatalities today. iran says of further 62 people in that country have died bringing the death toll there to 354. infection rates are increasing across the world. the united states is now reporting more than 1000 confirmed cases. here in germany chancellor angela merkel has warned that up to 70% of the german population could contract the coronavirus. as the country boardeded its thd death -- reported its third e-- death, the chancellor said that the country must do everything possible to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed. she is open to scrapping her country's strict spending rules to help her government fight the spread of the virus.

merkel called on people to show solidarity with the elderly and people suffering with pre-existing conditions, which will make them more likely to be affected more severely by the virus. >> being aware of this fact and aware of the fact that there are vulnerable groups of the population, people with existing illnesses, older people who can have a more serious case of this fires if they catch it -- of this virus if they catch it, means we need to ensure health i system not be overwhelmed but we deal with the options we have to ensure we slow down this spread of this disease. and this is why all of the measures we are putting into place are crucial because they gain us time. brent: that was the german chancellor angela merkel speaking. i want to pouull in simon youngn berlin.

good evening to you. the sobering statistic came today from the chancellor, 70% of germans will probably contract this virus. run us through the chancellor's other points today. simon: as you heard that the chancellor recognizing that the coronavirus is here to stay. the government is directing its efforts to responding to medical need and to delaying the spread and the chancellor says that germany is well-placed to do that, that they will do whatever it takes, whatever is necessary, and you know, measures are in hand. she offered some practical tips. saying sometimes it is better to smile and look people in eye rather than shake hands and she was also saying she understands if people feel they need to buy extra provisions but she was not encouraging panic buying. that we have seen in some places . it is all about response and an appropriate response, a measure of call -0-- calm but a

recognition that this virus is going to spread. brent: what does this mean in terms of daily life in germany? simon: the health minister today was calling for, again for large gatherings more than 1000 people to be called off. he said people do not really need to go to football stadiums or to clubs or concert. he's calling on people voluntarily, it has to be said, the step away from those events. some regional states around germany have already canceled such events. we've seen the first bundesliga soccer matches taking place in stadiums empty of spectators and more of those are going to be going ahead. we've also seen today the first member of parliament, an fdp bundestag member has been diagnosed with coronavirus. he and his staff have been putting quarantine. as in other countries you are

seeing the effects of this virus. brent: and not everyone in germany is convinced the authorities are doing such a good job with dealing with this. we're going to talk about that in just a moment but first we have this report on the coronavirus here in berlin. reporter: the dome of the reichstag, normally teeming with visitors. now deserted. the coronavirus has arrived in germany's capital. it's beginning to pose a serious dilemma for many. like at this private school where an employee tested positive at the weekend. initially berlin's health office did not order the school to be closed, leaving the head to inform parents of the situation. >> to leave the decision up to us to, to say we recommend this or that but not to take the responsibility, that is left to us. we have a duty of care, but we have a duty to remain calm. reporter: by tuesday afternoon

the health office had ordered the school to close for two weeks but the case shows that clear guidelines are still lacking over exactly how to respond to new infections. on the street, opinion is divided. >> i'm old and i'm sick. they keep saying only the old and sick die. >> more than 20,000 people die from the flu every year and nobody talks about that. with corona they are making this huge fuss. reporter: there are now six public testing points in berlin. so far, only those with the most common signs of infection are being tested. this patient has just returned from asia. >> germany needs to take an example from south korea and they've tested everyone. they don't think about it, they test to ever wants to do it. their infections are going down now. it looks like they have come over the problems. reporter: concerns are growing

over the impact on the economy. officials are trying to a lay fears. -- allay fears. >> we don't want any businesses in germany to be forced into insolvency because of the corona epidemic. it is possible no jobob should e lost as a result of it -- if possible. reporter: rules around short time work and then relaxed and financial aid has been agreed. the government has pledged one billion euros to fight the outbreak. berlin is not one of the worst affected regions in germany but many feel it is time to get prepared. brent: that is a picture of the situation in berlin, simon. we know the world health organization today declared the coronavirus outbreak of pandemic. is that going to affect the german government's response in any way? simon: i think it just underlines how serious this

coronavirus is and how seriously it's being taken but the german government's response remains to take measures appropriately and to watch the situation. the health minister was saying it is not a good idea to close the borders, as some countries have talked about doing. there is no need to test everybody arriving at airports. that doesn't have much of an effect. as we saw in that report, just declaring, closing schools across the country, the health minister says that is not a good idea. i t could put more pressure on emerges it workers who rely on schools to look after their children. the message at the moment is avoid large gatherings and keep washing your hands. brent: keep washing your hands. simon, thank you. for all the latest on the coronavirus including information about what to do if you think that you might be infected, you can visit our website, dw.com.

here's a brief look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. india's government has placed strong action against the perpetrators of hindu-muslim violence that left 50 people dead. opposition lawmakers demand and an inquiry and the resignation of the country's interior minister over police failures. in late february rival muslim and hindu mobs clashed. israeli forces have shot dead a palestinian teenager during clashes in the west bank. the 15 died after being shot in the head -- the 15-year-old died. the army said it was responding to a violent ride in a palestinian town. japan has been paying tribute to the victims of the 2011 fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. a powerful earthquake and then tsunami killeded 18,000 people. this year's ceremony was

relatively small because of the coronavirus. outbreak. he is going to jail. the former movie producer harvey weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sex assault. the center was close to the maximum term of 29 years sought by prosecutors. -- the sentence was close to the maximum. the announcement was greeted by cheers by women outside the courthouse where harvey weinstein was sentenced. [cheering] reporter: for harvey once these accusers it is now what few thought was possible. gloria allred says justice has been done for her clientss. >> this is what justice looks like. 20 plus three years sentence handed down by judge burke this

morning. reporter: the disgraced movie mogul faced his final appearance in the same courtroom where he was convicted of rape and sex assault against two women. since his conviction the former head of miramax underwent heart surgery, arriving at court in a wheelchair. weinstein's asked the judge to take his poor health as well as his age and young children into account. and was scathing of the outcome. >> we all know that sentence that was just handed down by this court was obscene, that number was obnoxious. there are murderess who will get out of court faster than harvey weinstein will. that number spoke to the pressure of movements and the public. reporter: harvey weinstein denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers plan to appeal. prosecutors have sought a

lengthy sentence given the former produces abuse, spanning four decades, and lack of free morse. -- and lack of remorse. >> she said i've never felt vengeful and going into this i did not feel anger. i just felt sad. sad for myself, sad for everyone he hurt and even felt sad for him for having done this to himself but i have observed an in different, a lack of remorse. reporter: it seemed like this -- the final scene in harvey weinstein's fall from grace but the drama is far from over. harvey weinstein faces further charges in los angeles for rape and sex assault. that could bring a maximum sentence of 28 years. brent: also in the united states bernie sanders has dashed speculation that he might end his campaign for the presidential nomination after a

series of defeats in the primaries against his rival joe biden. speaking to reporters on wednesday, sanders confirmed he will remain in the race despite pressure to withdraw for the sake of party unity. he said he police the majority of americans support his progressive agenda, butr a -- arbut are voting for biden becae they believe he has the best chance of defeating donald trump. >> while our campaign has won the ideological debate, we are losing the debate over electability. i cannot tell you how many people are camping has -- our campaign has spoken to and said and i quote "i like what your campaign stands for. i agree with what your campaign stands for, but i'm going to vote for joe biden because i think joe is the best candidate to defeat donald trump." brent: for more i am joined by

our correspondent in washington. good evening. we heard bernie sanders they're talking about i guess the issue of electability. what makes his statement today so extraordinary? >> brent, did you hear that ever from anybody else in the campaign, trying to get into an official office, using the word losing, losing? bernie sanders did something really smart and he proved himself to be someone who has a spine. he eight knowledge -- he acknowledged as a realist what the problem is of his campaign, and that is people all across the country, independents, and democrats, and the majority think that joe biden is the better pick to get donald trump out of the white house come november. he does stick it to joe biden.

so he is still to find. and that was the surprise in this statement. nobody had this in the books. everybody thought he may drop out now because he has unfavorable numbers. he can't win in terms of delegates unless he is winning every state from now on, and that is not going to happen. brent: he was being very honest today and i guess that says something about how cynical the world is when we are surprised by candidates being honest. what about what we saw yesterday, the second super tuesday? we saw bernie sanders again with a poor performance. what impact will that have on biden's campaign? >> well, sanders remains, since he said he is staying on and at leased for a debate on -- at least for a debate on sunday, televised across the country. it is a foreign -- a thorn in biden's side, because biden has

now, the campaign has focus again on prepping their candidate to battle verbally and discourse on sunday against bernie sanders. this takes effort and resources and the biden campaign would love nothing more than morph with the sanders campaign and the infrastructure and the data they have collected about supporters, etc. yeah, it is not, well, it is going to be still work for joe biden to fight off sanders. he would have loved that to be finished. brent: if bernie sanders were to give up his campaign in a week or two, there would be a lot to do among democrats, right? when you think about it, there are so much division within the party. >> oh, yeah, absolutely you are right. you see this is where joe biden comes in. this is what his point is. now is the time to unify a, our party and b, the country.

this is what people expect from as they call him uncle joe to deliver on this one. this has to be postponed. we will see if sanders sticks this out for much longer and at the end it will probably be biden. then focusing on getting donald trump out of the white house. brent: all right. the latest on the biden-sanders competition from washington. thank you. today, europe remembered its victims of terrorism. a commemoration was held in paris to pay tribute to those lost in terror attacks, including the attacks on november 13, 2015. on that day islamic state militants struck the national sports stadium in the frech capital-- the french capital and the bataclan music club. 130 people were killed. lisa louis met one of the survivors.

lisa: returning to the bataclan is an active resistance. itit was inside that s s survivd onone of france's worst terror attacks, the massacre was part of a series of assaults across paris in which 131 people died. >> [speaking french] >> i get knots in my stomach when i come here. quite soon afterwards i started coming back to the bataclan. it is like a pilgrimage. i'm remembering the dead and reminding myself how lucky i am. reporter: she survived the assault on hard. so it seemed. shortly afterward she developed what many other victims of terror attacks suffer, post to manage stress disorder -- or ptsd. >> at first i was in denial about the symptoms. then i developed so-called

hypervigilance, noises like doors slamming shut or balo loons bursting scared me. i imagined hearing sirens. and i blamed myself for being alive. as if the others had to die so that i could live. it felt like i was going crazy. reporter: her family and friends were struggling to understand what she was going through and katrine felt and capable of putting her feelings into words so she found another method to express them. >> i channeled all my suffering into my drawings. it is a great relief. it is like a catharsis. i want people to understand how i was suffering from this invisible injury. this huge millstone stands for all the symptoms of my ptsd. reporter: but she realized her drawings could do more than just help her alone. thats why she decided to put

them in a book. >> my fellow survivors said my drawings showed exactly what they were going through. they took them to their relatives and friends and that helps them reconnect with their loved ones. i think my drawings could also help other survivors of terrorism or people suffering other trauma around the world. reporter: katrine has published a second book, which includes drawings of ordinary problems. that is her way of getting back to some sort of normal life. but the attack changed her forever. >> it's like i'm a new katherine now. the old m e is dead. i have no time to lose. i want to live life to my fullest. my second book is a symbol of my new life. i want to develop my art further. reporter: katrine will also keep

returning to the bataclan. she is determined not to give in to the fear. brent: it is the biggest arctic expedition of all time. the research -- ship polar star set off in september and is halfway through its year long journey. hundreds of researchers are trying to work out how ice, water and the atmosphere interaction. the ship set out from northern norway and the liberal he got itself stuck and frozen into the ice -- deliberately. dw has been trtracking the exexpeditions progress. reporter:: stuck in the ice in the total darkness of f the polr night, the international expedition is sururveying the arctctic for a whohole yr. the region is crucial to the globe.

while they are there, the scientists literally go with the flow ofhe ice drift. team leader marcus rex made a brief trip back on land and shared his experiences. >> it's fascinatating when you turn off thehe ship's engines ad let it freeze into the ice, it suddenly goes silenent. before, the shipp was always moving, breakiking through ice. anand then all movemement stopp. it can be a bit s scary. reporter: the scientists inststalled at usual reseah -- around the ship. 100 tons s of equipment, kilometers of cables and measurement stations with the range of 50 kilometers. the team measures more than 100 different aspects of the climate. for example, the composition of the atmosphere or of clouds.

they want to understand the so-calalled new arctic under the influence of climate change. their first observations show that the ice is fragile. >> the first one we fix. ok? for the second one. >> i expected us to get there to look for an ice flow that was thick enouough. that was d difficult to find itt then i expected there would d be shifts in the ice but not to the extent that we experienced. onone of the most t impressive moments wawas when i was calledo come on deck because a huge installation of different estimates moved past the -- of different instruments moved past the ship. i really would not have expected there t to be such strong dynam. reporter: underneath the ice, a

diving robot gathers data. the arctic is full of life. cod are caught on camera. evenen a seal. after half of year -- of darkness, the day now.. the sun will nonot set untill september and in the arctic if will awaken. >> during the phase that is coming we want t to stutudy howe ecosystem reacacts to thretuturn of the ligight. how fast willllhe explosision of life happen, that alalways stars in the arctic when sun comes back after winter? which species willl eat which? at is the e sequence o of l lif? that is what will characterize the next part of the expedition. rereporter: until september, the research vesessel and itits team ll d drift togher r with the ice

over the arctic ocean to better understand this region that is so crucial to our whole planet. brent: you're watching dw news. i'll be back to take you through the day. to night the german chancellor and her statistics about coronavirus. plus, a veteran of the obama campaigngn joins me to talk abot the joe biden-bernie sanders bribery. -- rivalry. we'll be right back.

what about you watching i comparison front twenty four the headlines this hour. the coronavirus out declared a global pandemic virus now present in more than one hundred countries the world health organizatation delivivs its assesessment criticizing soe governments political alarming in action. the disgraced hollywood film producer harvey weinstein jails the twenty three years for rape and sexual assault addressing the court he says he is trying to be a better person. and then he saw the staying in the race for the democratic party's nomination the reference. suffered a string of losses against former vice president joe biden