>> the u.k. list quarantine roasted dozens of countries, paving the way for british holidaymakers to jet off to the sun and tourists to come back to london. we will speak with a correspondent and moments. poland's presidential race is on a knife edge. the two are neck and neck in the polls on this final day of campaigning.

thanks for joining us. you're watching france 24. the united states set another global coronavirus record with 60,000 new cases recorded in a single day. over the past two weeks, infections have spiked in almost every state, and americans are increasingly divided over the reopening of schools and businesses. in florida, the number ofof peoe dying from the disease doubled to 120 in 24 hours. health care workers there say they fear being overwhelmed. our correspondent has more. >> witith an additional 9000 new cases reported thursday, more than 1% % of the population of florida has been infecected with the e novel coronavirus. hospitals are, being stretched to the limits. nenearly half of ththe intensive care units are 90%0% and one in five of them are at capacity. >> and all honestyty, we don'tt

fefeel like we are moving anywhe positive in the right directioi. we felt t od for a while, were able to close down the covovid u , we had all o of the covidd patits in n one floor, and ththn ththis game and we had to open p a second floloor, then a third flfloor, now a f fourth and fifh floor. we don't see it getting any better. > floririda governor ron dess blamed the surge in cases on a backlog of testing, suggesting those that don't show symptoms should not have to self-isolate. >> part of the problems, when the tests takake a long time to get around, if you are a symptomatic, what are you supposed to do, wait? symptomatic, you need to know whether you have coronavirus or something else. >> the republican governor has been widely criticized for his response to the epidemic and refused to close the state

speeches for holiday in march waiting untch, april for a lododown. the meases were eased a month ter and ough thetate mains a long wayff from flattening the curve, there is no masask order in place. forrnor ron desantis push students to return to school as normal in august. is liftinin coronaviruss quarantine restrictions for dozens of countries, including italy, france, and greece. travelers arriving from 60 countries in overseas territories from british -- british overseas territories. and the visitors are welcomed back in london and elsewhere. for more, we go to our correspondent in london. an addict, after being cooped up for months, -- b benedict, after being cooooped up for months,s,n

we expect a break? >> s simple answer is yes. yoyou can jet off if you are h e in the u.k., a and you can jet n if you are, in many countries,, 75 countries, and british overseas territories. that i is indeed good news. no more cooking up, at least for those from the 75 countries and british overseas territories. a word of warning, the u.k. is made up of four nations and scotland is still requiring pultlte to travel -- people traveling from spain to orenstein. basisically, if you want to doue chececk your, go into the forein has changedsite that its advice today on serbia. it says people are no longer allowing travelelers to return withthout quarantining. there are people already under quarantine whethther they y are

brits or from other countrieses, and if they are alreaeady quarantining here, they must finish that period of quarantine. that is essential, or they could incur a 1000 pound fine, which is considerable. possibly if they don't respect that, jail time. scotland from friday has made face coverings mandatory in shops. there is somewhat of a fine line that is not true everywhere, but if you want to be safe, particularly on public transport, wear a face covering. peopleare arriving -- arriving in scotland will stilll face quauarantine rules. thisis is importrtant f for pe's mental health, family plans, travel plans, and definitely a good direction of travel, so to speak. >> what about the tourists coming the other way? could this be a lififeline for e u.k. enonomy? >> absolutely.

and a much-needed lifeline. the aviation n industry has takn a huge hit. certainly this islsland was s vy isolated.. the worstoll, one of world rankings as far as deaeats from coronavirus, , officially over 44,4,000 in hospitals and care homes, plus you can add to 25,000,000 because of excess deaths compared to previous years. by theuch-needed aviation industry, hospitality industry, and tourism industry. that's with the reopening of gyms, outdoor and indoor, swimming p pool, outdoor pools certainly come a leisure park is really what is wanted. what is unknown is if the confidence will be there to jet in to britain or out of britain.

it is not known how many people here in the u.k. will be having cation. asian -- stay we will have to wait and see what people do. >> happy holidays to you. our correspondent in london. hong kong is closing a all schos from monday after spiking cases there. locallyorded 34 transmitted cases on thursday, the highest tally in three months. a public high schools are closed in january and were grgraduallyy reopened for may. new classes have emerged in recent days, prompting authorities to take -- c cases have emerged in recent days, prompting authorities to take action. janine annie as says i ithe video that she will remain in quarantine for 14 days before taking another test. she is ththe second south amerin president in a matter of days to test positive after brazil's

bolsonaro announced his test. jamess has more on the health crisis in bolivia and impacts area -- impacts. these workers were let go from their jobobs two months ag. they still hope they will be rehired, but theirir former bobs says the health crisisis means there is no longer any demand for their products. [crowd chanting] >> [speaking foreign language] the company o offered them redundancy payayouts, but thehe workers s just want their jobs back. they are not the onlnly ones. 52 p people were let go by the construction company technopoor, due to unforeseen circumstances. faced witith rising unemploymen,

the govevernment has promised a stimulus package. >> [speaking foreign language] >> critics say the package does not go far enough, adding no one yet knows what the long-term impact of the pandemic will be. >> [speaking foreign language] [car honking] bank has forecasted the bolivian economy will contract by 5.9%, a steep drop only two m months before the cocountry goes to the polls in presidentitial election. >> the world heaealth organizatn warned coronavirus i is not undr

controll in many places around the world. the organization's special coronavirus envoy, david navarro, h s spoke with mark.. >> i''m extremely worriried because, as i look at the nunumbers of new cases reported, they are climbing rapidly, acceleratiting, and accecerating all over t the world. so, my worry is the c continued spread. my hope is that governments everywhere, together with theier people, can s suppress outbreaks asuiuickly as possible before they become enormous. john: you -- >> you can catch the i interview at 9:00 paris time tonight. this is the last day in campaigning in poland ahead of the vote.

the challenger is currently the mayor of warsaw. the two men are not can then and it is to put -- our neck and neck and it is to close a call. >> this farmer, living in southeastern poland, is a typical supporter of the president and his campaign promise to boost social aid. >> [speaking foreign language] >> sure vase showow voters -- surveys show voters who elected him stillll support him and the values he promoted. the first-round vote in his childhood village. >> [speaking foreign language]

>>'s rival has also tried to woo conservative voters but the warsaw mayor is a liberal with strongholds in poland's major city. >> [speaking foreign language] >> the far-right got 7% of the first-round vote. to get those votes in the runoff, he promised a tough and andher abortion law attacked the lgbt community, bowing a constitutional amendment to bar same-sex couples from adopting, hoping to , his share of that vote

opponent says he is against gay adoptions, triggering criticism from a part of the left. >> elections are u underway in singapore withth a vote paying expected -- with a vote expected. senior citizens where the first to cast ballots as part of strict safety measures to stop the coronavirus. andle ask to wear masks gloves. it is the first election in southeast asia since the outbreak again. action party dominated politics since 1959 when his fatherer became the first prprie minister. -- of the country. five months ago, the entire board of the cesar academy, the french equivalent of the oscars, resisigned amid accucusations of sexism. they have now announced plans to improve gender parity, a move that comes during a turbulent year for the institution. >> feminists face-off against

police late february in paris, protesters trying to enter the theater where the awards were being held. one of the main reasons for protesters anger, the 12 nominations for roman polanski. the director is accused of sexual assault and rape, and has been wanted for statutory rape in the u.s. since the 1970's. another driving force behind the rallies, the revelations of an actress. a few months before the award ceremony, she accused a number -- another director of sexually abusing her while she was underage. the revelation sparked a national debate on sexual assault in french cinema. following calls for profound structural change, the academy announced new reforms, including gender parity in all decision-making chambers. the presididency will bebe shary a woman and man, and to address criticisms of nepotism and lack of transparency, the board of

directors will be elected by the academy's general assembly and limited to two terms of two years. far shorter than the 17 years served by the president before stepping down in februaryry. those elececons are set to be held by september. >> that is it from the e newsrom thisis hour. stay with us. much more to come on france 24. ♪ ♪ >> hello, you are watching talking europe on france 24. i'm catherine nicholson, in brussels with united states

ambassador to belgium who is also currently acting u.s. representative to the european union, after his predecessor fired by president trump after testifying in the impeachment trial earlier this year. thank you for havingng us. >> thank youou for having me. >> as you mention -- as i mentioned, gordon sondland was fired from the job after giving his testimony he would follow the president's orders to avoid a quid pro quo with ukraine. do you see ukraine as part of your remit in this job? >> my job is to work with the european union and uniteted states, and to build bridges and strerengthen our already strong relationship. >> specifically on ukraine, are you intending to have any involvement with the administration on that? at the moment, the dominant topic is covid-19. recently, it is impacting americans righght now.

the european union recommending u.s. travelers are not yet allowed to come into the eu unless they are residents here. werere you surprprised at that decision? >> not at all. i had conversations with various officials in the european union about when and if -- not if, when we are going to open our borders. the real issue is safety. make sure the europeaeans are se and americans are safe. currently, the europeans are further along on the disease then theyou will united states is. i'm sure there will be more exceptions to the rule, more travel back and forth, but on an exception basis for a while, until the disease gets under control. >> is the u.s. government talking to individual eu states on a bilateral basis about so-called air bridges for

example, to allowed travel to and from specific couountrie? >> clearly, the european union will make the decision on a bilateral basis. authoritytes have the and responsibility. right now, our conversatations have continued at the european union level, not at the bilateral state level. >> looking at tourism, it t is a mamassive sue in europe, the covid-19 travel situation. 9 million people from three euroropean countries from the united states in 2019, potentially a lot of tourism revenue, low infection rates in germany and france. is that something that could be considered air bridges? >> i don't know exactly how it will be resolved. ways --ld love to see two two way traffic and t two way tourism. the issue gets to be, how do we keep our citizens safe?

ist is what washington focused on, and obviously the european union is as well. >> i would like to talk about a drug that has been in the news, believed to cut recovery times for covid-19 patients, remdesivir. there has been condemnation in europe that the u.s. is buying up all of the drug for the next three month. one complaint from european scientists is that europeans contributed to testing and developments. america first is also applying to h human health. >> we are ananxious to make sure everybody has the benefit of the european and american technology. we are working closely with the european union to make sure not only remdesivir but the various vaccines under development will be available and plentntiful whn they finally come to market. months,the next three only remdesivir for the united states? >> i believe what is happening

is they are creating more production right now, so there will be supplies for europe as well. >> there is s still something ununclear from eararlier this yr regarding vavaccines. was talk k the u.s. admiministrationon tried to take over a german company that produces vaccinenes. did that happen? >> my understanding is that they are -- that is fakeke news. the company r repeated that news whereverer it came from. some of our mutual enemies have not been kind us during this infection. >> meaning? >> russia, disininformation frfm rurussia, this information from china in particular has been lant vera lind than -- viri more than the virus itself. many cases since the beginning have been wrong, and they havave been t c creatn of both russia and china. >> and you believe the story

about karabakh -- >> i i don't know where it as ce from. the company has repudiated it. whether it was a misunderstanding or fake news, the reality is that it is not true. >> it comes at a time of -- a time of trade tensions between the u.s. and eu. the eu trade commissioner a couple days ago s spoke about the numbmber of national investigations launched by the u.s.. he suggested they are politically motivated rather than based on genuine, national security concerns. what do you make of that accusation? >> we have been working and trying to have a trade agreement with the european union almost since -- certainly since i had gotten here. in 201018, i remember conversations that took place at the white house. and they are ongoing. hopefully, we will see some proof from those conversations

sometime between now and the end of the year. >> the wto is considering a counter complaint for u.s. support against boeing. this could report to retaliatory tariffs. one might ask w with this back-and-forth going on for some time, why not at all these disputes? >> what a wonderful idea, but it takes two o people to settle th. my guess i is that they will get settled. they will get settled hopefully in a comprehensive fashion, but there are a wide variety of issues that we agree on, and let's focus on some of those as opposed to the few issues that bus apart. >> for example, you believe the aerospace dispute will be settled at some point? >> there are two issues, one is the boeing i issue and the airbrush issue. the airbus issue has been -- issue. the airbus issue has been adjudicated.

there might be an opportunity to use those to trade issues to settle themselves, or their mate those two trade i issues to settle themselves. >> -- >> you never want to have disputes, but let's not forget we have $1.3 trillion worth of tray that takes place every year between the united statates and europe. it is incredibly important. we havave 15 million jobs splitn both sides. they are dependent upon this trade. and italy, when you look at the amount of issues and the size of the trtrsactions involved in the disputute, it is dwarfed by the 1.3 trillion dollars of business we do o together. > moving onto another issue, u.s. troops stationed in europe specifically germany where there is a great number base, there was an issue to pull out troops

from germany. can you t tell us what the strategy is about the relocation? >> this is not pulling out, it is redistribution. we are constantly looking at how to best optimize the defensive europe -- defense of europe. we have an ironclad guarantee of europe's defense which we will not violate. >> is there a problem stationed in germany -- problem with them stationed in germany? >> the question is how to best use those troops. looking at the model two to five years ago when the troops were put there, it may not necessarily be appropriate today.y. the question is, whatever disagreement or whatever issue that comes to the forward, troops are required, where should they be best coming from? that evaluation and analysis is being done now. the department of defense, the united states congress will make a decision with our allies, and

we will find out about the same time. >> just on the motivation for it, a pentagon spokesman s said the move will strengthen nato and reassure the united states' allies. coordinatorantic for angela merkel said the decision was completely unacceptable, and no one in washington have forewarned germany before it was announced to the world. there is a suspicion this is about punishing germany for not meeting its spending commitments. >> i think the defense department spokesperson was much more eloquent. >> you don't believe it is to do with punishing? >> absolutely not. we are not in the position of punishing our allies. this is how best to defend europe. >> there has been pushed back in the last couplee d ds from eu allies, france and germany, about the u.s.-backcked transfer of israel to annex palestinian territory in line with the trump administrationon's middle east plan, considering this pusushbak

anand other -- plan. considering this pushbhback, is the administration stitill backg the plan? >> let's remember the plan, a vevehicle to begin negotiation. this proemem has exixisted since 1948 and will not go away. it won't go away until the parties negotiatated. >> there is an accusation that the e plan is counterproductive and prevents the parties from sitting at the table by not respecting the borders. >> they haven't been terribly successful up until now, have they? i would argue what we need to have is a freshsh subject for discussion, and that is what the president hahas given. >> the four states i mentioned, including france and germany, said if the plan goes ahead, it would have consequences to their relalations with israel. does that concern you? >> israel will have to take into account whatever consequences there might be as thehelook towards what their actions will

be. what is most important is that the parties sit down and negotiate. i don't know if it is terribly helpful to have france and germany threatening israel before the fact.t. the point of the plan

helen: in westetern civilizatio, we have this idea of an artist. it's about a 600-year-old idea. this person is almost always considered a white man, and he is a genius, and he will do