[beating drums rhythmically] >> m berlin. here in the german capital, a clash of people, politics and the police over the coronavirus. police use water cannons to push back thousands of demonstrators. they were protesting against a new law extending government powers to impose coronavirus restrictions. the indian capit ofal delhi bottles another spike of coronavirus cases. we will meet the front-line workers doing one of the hardest

jobs there is every day. u.s. president orders u.s. troops to come home from afghanistan. the move is drawing fire from america's nato allies including germany. plus, two fatal crashes kept it grounded for two years. after months of scrutiny, the boeing 737 max has been cleared to fly again. ♪ i'm brent goff. to our viewers in pbs in the united states and around the world, welcome shade we begin with politics and the pandemic. lawmakers in berlin have voted to give the german government new powers allowing it to introduce restrictions to tackle the coronavirus. the german president signed the bill into law this evening. it takes effect tomorrow. thousands of demonstrators took to the streets today to protest

as politicians debated the legislation. >> water cannon and pepper spray deployed by paris -- by police to disperse demonstrators. thousands gather near the german parliament building. many in the crowd not wearing masks or maintaining social distancing. they were protesting against coronavirus restrictions, which they see as a violation of their civil rights. >> in my opinion, the restrictions are disproportionate. surely it should have been possible to come up with other measures that do not cause so much suffering. >> i am here for my children and my grandchildren. i will not allow their freedom to be taken away. >> while police clashed with protesters outside, lawmakers inside parliament were largely in agreement and approved a new infection protection law. the law is meant to put the

government's response to the coronavirus on a stronger legal footing. previous legislation only listed broad general provisions and did not foresee the severity of the pandemic or the specific restrictions needed to write in. this left local courts overturning some of the measures. the new law defines more concretely which restrictions can be introduced including mandatory face masks, limited social contacts and restaurant closures. the health minister defended the measures and criticized those protesting against them. >> to be allowed, to be against it, even to deny the obvious, all that is possible and must be possible in a free and open country, but those who are loud are far from being right and certainly not in the majority. >> this did not deter the demonstrators outside despite polls showing they are in the

minority. a ration survey found 56% of germans believe the restrictions are justified and some actually want even stricter measures. brent: for more, we want to go to our political correspondent. he is on the story for us in berlin. we know we are talking about a minority in germany but a loud nine already. what kind of people were at today's protest? >> different kinds of people. many of them very angry as we saw there. some of them throwing bottles or stones at police who responded with water cannon. these are a different sorts of groups. you have some anti-xers, you have corona skeptics, you have some conspiracy theorists and people with connections to the far right. many other people saying they are worried about what they see as an erosion of civil liberties

, but all in all, it was a pretty noisy and agitated and at times aggressive afternoon in central berlin. brent: is that their main objection here with this new legislation that personal freedoms are being eroded? >> i have the impression that a lot of the protesters on the streets were not particularly focused on the legislation being discussed. a short distance away in parliament. what they are mainly protesting about is the corona measures in general. they oppose the distancing rules, the rules on wearing masks and the lockdowns and they say that those are, that the government is taking away their freedoms. i think it is worth saying that some of those ideas were echoed in the parliamentary debate. had opposition parties and not just the far right by the way saying things like the government was having itself

carte blanche to impose unlimited measures or accusing the government of imposing unprecedented curbs on people's freedom. there is a crossover from this mood in the street to the way this issue is being talked about at a political level. brent: do we know what the government's next step is in fighting this virus? >> we know there will be another top level meeting with the chancellor and regional state leaders next week. the big question will be, will the current locked down germany be extended, will it be toughened up? we know the infection numbers have improved in the last couple of weeks since lockdown begin but maybe they have not improved quite enough yet. some of the measures agreed in this new legislation today point towards compensation that can be

provided to people who have been affected by lockdowns into 2021, going through to march and beyond. that gives you some sense the government is ready if they decide they need to extend the restrictions currently in place. brent: simon young on the story for us in berlin. thank you. fighting a pandemic is difficult politically not only in germany. governments are struggling to balance public health, personal freedoms, health care systems at their limit and weekend economies. i am joined by the professor of health management and policy at georgetown university. these corona restrictions, they are not popular anyway. isn't there an automatic conflict between public health policies and personal freedoms? >> i think that is a false choice i think people need to understand and i think our

political leaders perhaps have not done as good a job as they could have in explaining these restrictions however severe they may appear to be are necessary to keep people alive and to restore our economy. and that in the long run, this will benefit everyone in society. i think the particular challenge we face in the knighted states is even in a mall restrictions like requirements to wear masks in public have become so politicized and therefore polarizing that it is almost a political statement in some parts of the country if you are wearing a mask, but we know we can return pple to closer to normal lives if we adopt some of these restrictions and i think now that we have vaccines truly on the horizon, recognizing this is for a short time will make a big difference. brent: across the globe, you

still have groups that do not believe the virus exists and they do not believe in its dangers. how do you approach these people? >> i think that is a big challee. to some degree, we have been hurt by the politicized asian of this by many political leaders across t world. i think it also comes at a time where there is so much distrust of expertise, so much distrust of science and so much distrust of government officials that this can be hard to overcome. i am not sure in the context of this crisis alone we can do that but what i do know is in the united states as we see higher rates of infection, as we see more people getting sick and dying, some of that skepticism about the nature of this disease goes away. it is a tragic way to overcome that attitude but that is the reality. >> there is very good news out this week. we have two promising vaccines.

pfizer and biotech saying they are going to asfor emergency approval by the fda in the u.s. are you concerned that once first vaccination is given and that becomes the story, are you concerned people will drop any attempt at social distancing and wearing face masks? the things we have now to prevent infections? >> i think that is a very legitimate concern. but i also think the opposite will also be true, that we can tell people, hold on, hang on until you get the vaccine because it is for a limited time. have rea challenges about making sure we can produce enough vaccine. that is going to take time. he sure it is equitably distributed within countries and across the world. but ultimately, this does shorten the time horizon. brent: professor of health management and policy at george washington university.

we appreciate your time and your insights tonight. thank you and stay healthy. >> thank you. let's take a look at brent: some of the other developments in the pandemic. the united states has reported some of its highest daily coronavirus related death toll since may. the u.s. food and drug administration has approved the first covid-19 home testing kit. it provides results within 30 minutes. south australia has imposed a six stay locked down sudden outbreak ended what had been a long period with no new infections. japan has seen its biggest rise in new daily cases as preparations begin for next summer's olympic games. now to india where that capital is considering plans to reintroduce some lockdown measures following festive gatherings and a drop in temperatures. the nation as a whole is bracing

for a spike in new infections. residents in delhi have already seen the numbers go up. dw meets those on the frontline in the city's battle with covid-19. >> the day is just beginning. he knows it will be a long one. he counted 15 bodies in the morning. then he left the board at the largest covid-19 hospital where he works. he will spend all day at this crematorium. he will help cremate the body safely and ensure people suffering the shock of losing a family member to the coronavirus have proper protective gear. as they say their last goodbyes. for the last week, he has been running in toys the number of bodies. delhi is experiencing its third spike in covid-19 cases with close to 100 deaths every day.

he was assigned to the mortuary after many workers before him quit. overwhelmed by the number of corpses coming in. >> i had to -- [indiscernible] i had to summon all my courage. of course i was scared. i have never seen anything like it in my life. i have never seen so many bodies. >> still, he soldiers on. he said someone has to. here at the hospital, delhi's largest coronavirusacility, the spike is evident. the severity of the cases has also risen. as many more seek admission. while this hospital still has a high number of designated coronavirus beds available, they only have a handful of free ventilators. intensive care units and icu beds left. this after icu beds at this facility have quadrupled during the pandemic.

authorities are confident things are under control, but they are also bracing for more cases. >> more and more people are coming out of their homes. so we have to [indcernible this is because of the festival time. a large number of people are in the markets, the malls, picture halls and social gathering. >> the authorities are mapping out ways to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed. with daily cases in delhi crossing the 8000 mark, the national government has stepped in. authorities plan to sniff it can we ramp up testing, increase the number of icu beds and deploy emergency health care forces. elsewhere in delhi, the morgue and the -- are starkly different worlds. >> there is no need to worry. cases are going up. they will keep rising even

during a shutdown. people go out anyway. it will not make a difference. >> if we take some pcautions, it becomes easy for us. >> back at the crematorium, he strongly disagrees. his is the kind of work that makes him winds when he sees the market overthrowing and people crowded on the streets. memories of the lockdown may be fitting for those out and about, but he is still afraid to come close to his three young daughters and his aging mother. but, he is not giving up. lockdown fatigue is not an option. it is only when the pandemic ends that he can truly go home. brent: the pandemic in india. once take a look at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world. thousands have been marching through central warsaw protesting moves to tighten poland's abortion law.

last month, the court handed down a ruling that would impose a near total ban on abortions. that ruling has yet to go into effect. thousands of antigovernment protesters gathered in bangkok. demonstrators want the prime minister to step down and they want curbs on the power of the monarchy. chaotic protests a day earlier left more than 50 people injured. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo is holding talks in jerusalem. he is weeding -- he is meeting with the israeli prime minister and the bahrain foreign minister. the two countries have agreed to normalize their relations under a u.s. backed deal. with just two months left in office, u.s. president donald trump has caused international alarm by ordering a sharp reduction in american troop numbers in afghanistan and iraq. by mid january, numbers will be cut to two and a half thousand

u.s. soldiers in each country as trump makes told -- makes -- as trump looks to make good on his campaign promise to end what he calls america's endless wars. >> soon, there will be fewer u.s. soldiers on the streets of kabul as the pentagon prepares to reduce its presence in afghanistan even further. american soldiers have been deployed here since 2001, helping stabilize the country after overthrowing taliban rule but suffering over 2000 deaths. over time, their numbers have waned. now outgoing president donald trump wants to reduce them to a skeleton force. that is raising fears among afghans over the future security of their country. >> in my opinion, the withdrawal of foreign troops from afghanistan will cause the taliban to escalate their violence across the country. and it will also cause women to

suffer more. >> when u.s. forces withdraw from afghanistan, it will create a power vacuum and the taliban will escalate the violence in a bid to seize more political power in afghanistan. >> as u.s. troop numbers have fallen, extremist have gained in strength. this attack on kabul university earlier this month killed 22 people. it was claimed by the so-called islamic state, chaz emerged as a rival to the taliban. the taliban themselves have stepped up attacks on security forces and civilians, violating an agreement therefore saw the withdrawal of all u.s. soldiers by may of next year. speaking in the afghan parliament, the acting afghan defense minister played down the move. >> first of all, i do not have a

sense that anyone is leaving. there might be ups and downs in numbers bute are not worried about it. we are ready to defend afghanistan independently. >> but many world leaders are concerned. nato chief -- the nato chief has warned of a potentially high price of premature pullouts and germany's foreign minister cost and against -- foreign minister cautioned against problems of making talks with the taliban. >> it is especially important to us that the progress we have achieved is not thrown into jeopardy by hasty actions. that is why we are concerned about what the u.s. announcement could mean for the continuation of peace talks in afghanistan. in iraq, the u.s. military present was greatly reduced after the defeat of isis. as u.s. soldiers head home, they

could risk leaving the field to america's enemies. so brent: what is the impact of this move on nato? i want to bring in a former nato staffer. it is good to have you on this show. let me ask you, why is nato so worried about a reduction in u.s. troops in afghanistan? what will nato have to do if there are fewer u.s. troops there? >> let me start by saying something basic. i think these announcements by the still u.s. president are irresponsible. he seems to want to depart leaving torch to earth behind him and to fulfill promises to his voters without regards to losses is just not acceptable. for nato, it was clear from the outset that we would go into afghanistan together and that we will leave together and in close

consultation. for instance, defense secretary esper was against it. therefore he was sent ay and puppets were installed ithe mod. a general cause this astoundingly foolish. a republican majority leader in the senate says it is against american interests and you quoted secretary stoltenberg. brent: let me just ask you -- was there no consultation between the united states and nato about this decision to withdraw u.s. troops? >> to my knowledge, not at all. there were sufficient warnings in informal discussions and some of it you said already. it will strengthen the taliban

eventually also al qaeda and the irs. -- and thes. it will weaken the position. it will damage the fulfillment of the missions of the allied -- of the united states because they depend on u.s. capabilities like air support, helicopter transport and so on. withdraw and reduction without close consultation and joint planning is something impossible. i do not think this was at all consulted like the announcement to withdraw u.s. troops and installations from germany. the only reason was to punish germany for not paying enough for defense. brent: i have about 20 seconds.

you think president-elect joe biden will be able to repair any of this damage in the alliance? >> i hope so very much. i also hopen afghistan somebody welch -- somebody will stop trump are the experts in the military will slow down the implementation of his decision so that damage can be limited. brent: we appreciate your time and your insights tonight. thank you. >> thank you. brent: the u.s. federal aviation authority has cleared boeing 737 max to fly again provided the aircraft's are fitted with software upgrades and pilots are given special training. the planes were grouted last year -- were grouted last year. both accidents were caused by faults in the flight control system. the 20 month grounding is the longest in aviation history.

with me here at the big table is my colleague from dw business. what does this mean? they are clear to fly again. does that mean we will be seeing 737 max's on the tarmac soon? >> there is still a bit of progress that needs to be made. what the faa has done is rescind the grounding. what needs to happen is the faa needs to approve the return to service of the fleets of all 59 of the u.s. airlines that want to use that plane and for them to get that approval, the airlines are going to have to work with boeing to make sure each of the planes has software updates they need, the pilots have the extra training. even then, the faa says it is going to check every single one of the 400 or so aircraft it will be taking back to the sks. the aim is for boeing to have

this plane back in the air b the end of december. it is loong like that could happen. american airlines has scheduled a 737 max on its route between miami and new york to begin on the 29th of december. just in time for that. brent: it all sounds good, but what about passengers? are people going to want to fly on these planes? >> the faa has said it would not be saying this plane is safe if we did not think it met the standards. the head of the faa said i put my family in one of these tomorrow. he says he is 100% confident in the safety. there has been criticism on the timing of this. the families of the 340 six people who died in the crashes, they say it is being rushed. they want there to be an extra sensor on this anti-stall system that has been blamed the crashes. they want there to be three sensors on there. that is not going to happen for a couple of years.

people are going to need persuading to get back into this. brent: we know this approval applies just to the united states. when is it likely to beef -- to fly again outside of the u.s.? >> here in europe, last month, the leading aviation regulator here, which is the regulator for the european union said we are happy with the aircraft. the stage they have got it too and they will be happy to approve it. they have indicated that could come soon. the faa has to be the first authority. brent: were you surprised the europeans were ready to clear the way before the americans? >> it is a bit of a surprise but the faa has got some reputational damage to repair. the last thing it wants to be seen to be doing is rushing it. another group has got in ahead of them. it is quite a big deal. the extraordinary thing is the europeans, the chinese, the brazilians are all carrying out

their own assessments. in the past, the faa saying so would have been enough. brent: there you see the credibility loss right there. you very much. you're watching dw news. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around. we will be right back. ♪

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anchor: you are watching life from paris. u.s. secretary of state mike pao arrives in israel as he continues his farewell tour of europe and the middle east. his plans to visit an israeli settlement have angered palestinians. troops continue their march on the tigray regional s thousands of troops flee toward sudan. some good news on the pandemic front in france. the number of patients in the hospital and intensive care have