>> this is dw news live from berlin. julian assange avoids extradition to the united states. supporters celebrate as a british judge finds fault with the case saying extradition would be oppressive because of the mental harm it would cause. also on the program -- iran says it has resumed uranium enrichment, and has reached 20%,

well beyond the threshold set by the 2015 nuclear deal, and donald trump on tape, trying to change a reelection -- an election result. president trump: there's nothing wrong with saying you have recalculated. >> president trump presses a top official in the state of georgia to find the votes. president trump still refuses to concede the election. i am phil gayle. welcome to the program. a court in london has ruled wikileaks founder julian assange cannot be extradited to tenant states to face espionage charges as this would be oppressive and damages mental health. mr. assange, who is an australian citizen, could face up to 175 years in jail if the u.s. successfully appeals. his lawyers have applied for him

to be released on bail. meanwhile, mexico has granted him political asylum. >> with news trickling out of the courtroom came chance of celebration -- the static that after 10 years of legal fights they finally had some form of victory. >> this protects him from extradition in the united kingdom, but it does not contact them from extradition elsewhere around the world. it is time for the united states to shut down this extraordinary prosecution which has massive free speech implications. >> -- the team with low expectations. his fiancee called on donald trump to pardon the father of her two children. >> as long as julian has to and/or suffering and isolation as a non-convicted prisoner, and as long as our children continue

to be bereft of their fathers long and -- love and affection, we cannot celebrate. we will celebrate the day he comes home. >> inside the courtroom, the judge dismissed most of assange's defense, but conceded his mental health was such that to extradite him would be oppressive. this lengthy legal battle began with a video that shocked the world -- assange released classified footage of u.s. apache helicopters killing u.s. -- iraqi civilians and journalists. julian: it will shape an understanding of what the past six years has been like. >> the u.s. accused him and wikileaks agreement and any combatants. through the past decade, through thick and thin, assange always maintained he was a journalist. the saga is not over yet.

the u.s. government has said it will appeal today's decision. phil: let's take a closer look with rebecca vincent, director of international campaigns at reporters without borders. welcome to dw. this is an odd sort of victory. julian assange what are the next redhead even in mental -- better mental health. rebecca: absolutely, and while we are relieved he will not be extradited, which is good news for mr. assange and his family, the rest of the decision we heard was quite concerning -- the substantive points found overwhelming in the prosecution's favor. she rejected key aspects of the defense, including points that we from the believe with reporters without borders, such that the case is politically motivated and that it centers on journalism. we were disappointed because that means the door has been

left open for possible, similar prosecutions of other publishers, journalists, and sources. phil: what is it about this case that concerns you, because we must all over the law, even journalists. becca: the question with journalists is always if something is in the public interest's defense. had he been sent to the u.s. to face trial, he would have been unable to defend himself, as would any other publisher, journalist, or source that would be persecuted under those -- prosecuted under those -- that justice. when you look at the substance of this case, really, not all of the misperceptions about mr. assange, the things that have happened in the year since, but what has been considered exhibition proceedings, he did not break the law in any way the u.s. government sufficiently proved.

we have monetary the entire proceedings including a week of legal arguments in february and the four weeks of evidence heard in september, and so far we have not seen any credible evidence from the u.s. government for the vast majority of the accusations it makes against mr. assange. phil: you say the u.s. government has not proved its case, but surely that is what it court case is for. rebecca: well, not if a court case is political. that was one element we were disappointed in, a judge dismissed and that because it was politically motivated. we firmly are believed he was targeted for his contributions to journalism, for publishing information in the public interest that exposed were crimes and other illegal behavior by the u.s. government. political defense is meant to be a bar to extradition to the uva -- u.k. and that is one aspect of which we disagree. that in another itself should have been enough to stop them from being extradited. phil: if, as the u.s. government

contends, the revelations are putting lives at risk, someone should be accountable to that. rebecca: that is one area the u.s. government failed to prove -- that in 10 years -- they have not shown a single person that has been harmed as a result of the publication of the leaked documents. in 10 years, with the vast resources the u.s. government has put into pursuing mr. assange, had there been credible evidce, theyould have submitted it the court for scrutiny, but they did not. quite the contrary. we heard in september evidence from those who -- the publication of the leaked documents helped to their own human rights cases. there was one case of a torture victim -- someone that had been the result of mistaken identity had been rendered and tortured by u.s. forces. this is the sort of information

that was exposed. it is these acts that should be prosecuted, not the publication of the documents themselves. phil: thank you for joining us. rebecca vincent from reporters without borders. to the u.k., where the chief medical officer's has warned that without new measures there is a material risk of the health system being overwhelmed in the next 21 days. with that in mind, prime minister boris johnson is currently addressing a press conference in london in which he is expected to outline a return to nationwide covid-19 restrictions, but they too include school closures and business closures and work from home orders for all but essential workers. we will update you on those exact details very shortly. meanwhile, the first immunization is with the newly approved astrazeneca covid-19 brexit began in the u.k. today, with its developers handling their product as cheaper and easier to distribute than the alternatives.

the shop was developed in cooperation with oxford university, and multinational pharmaceutical company, astrazeneca. >> a milestone for britain as it became the first country to administer the oxford-astrazeneca vaccine. it comes as britain struggles with a surgeon coronavirus infections, including a highly contagious variant. this 82-year-old was first in the queue for the job. --ab. brian: the vaccine means everything to me -- to my mind it is the only way of getting back to normal life. this virus is terrible, isn't it? >> that iwas a proud moment for this oxford alumnus who was next in line. >> it is wonderful, and it is good to be able to tell all the

people who watch or hear this that it is good. go away and get it done as quickly as you can. >> britain has called it a scientific triumph -- the shot is less expensive and easier to store than other covid-19 vaccines. but some are proceeding with caution. it has yet to be approved by the eu and france says that it is an efficient. dw spoke with a barela just in the u.k. uses information has not been made available. >> the data made available is only belonging to the government and is not publicly available. there is a -- the first dose given it is around 70% efficacy and with a second dose,round 80% efficacy. that is something that we have no seen the data. we do not know how efficacious it would be, particularly after

the first dose. >> the european medical agency has said it is unlikely the astrazeneca vaccine will be approved for the eu in january. >> -- phil: here in germany, the chancellor, angela merkel will meet state premiers to considering -- consider extending lockdown provisions as infection rates remain high across the country. schools are currently closed because of the lockdown that was due to end next week. parents are bracing for the likelihood of yet more home-based virtual learning. >> monday was meant to be the first day back at school after the christmas holidays, but classrooms across germany remained empty. most students saw their vacation time extended until january 10, while others attended classes virtually. calls are growing across the country for schools to be closed to longer or to open partially. in berlin, opinions on the matter very.

>> i have two children myself -- one in high school and one in elementary school. i think schools should remain closed a little longer, even though it is difficult for us parents. >> perhaps we can find some balance with some learning at home and others allowed to be in school. i think that as long as the lockdown stays in place, and i expect that it will be extended, children should stay at home. >> hope for a return to normal lives with the vaccine. germany has so far administered almost 266,000 jobs, but the government is coming under pressure. the vaccination program has been criticized for being slow and chaotic. the man who coordinated the construction of the berlin vaccination centers says he would like to see more doses available. >> we clearly don't have enough vaccines for all vaccination centers to be operational.

my hope for my expectation is that we will have a lot of vaccine doses soon. on the one hand, it was also good to be able to phase in the vaccination centers one after the other, but a few initial problems are to be expected. germany is still under lockdown and will remain so for at least another week. chancellor angela merkel will meet with state premiers to decide on a way forward. new cases and deaths have remained high over the holiday and says the situation is very difficult. >> let's take a look at some of the other stories making news. -- s one central africa's election. he has acute more than -- a boats. it was mired by court nader

offenses by rebel groups to try to disrupt the event. a separate body has been found after a hillside collapsed. the search for 10 million -- 10 missing people began after the earth gave way and several homes slid into a pit. saudi arabia is planning to open its air, sea, and land borders with qatar -- the first step toward ending a diplomatic crisis that has deeply divided u.s. allies in the region. the lifting of the embargo paves the way for the ruler to attend the summit of leaders in saudi arabia. iran says it has resumed enriching uranium of 220%, well beyond the threshold set by the 2013 -- 2015 nuclear deal. in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, the deal required to rent to limit production. since president trump withdrew

from the given, to ron has violated the implementations. it coincides with -- efforts by joe biden to rescue the 2015 deal. we will take a closer look at this with an expert at the quincy institute for responsible statecraft, a washington-based think tank. does the latest breach of the 2015 deal matter that it appes to be dead? trista: i don't think it is that. i think there is a decent chance for it to come back on track once biden becomes president later this month, but this reduction of karen's obligation -- i ran's obligation is

problematic. certainly stockpiling -- but at the same time, it is an easily reversible decision. the iranians can very easily stop doing this and easily ship out whatever small amounts they may have enriched to that level and the iranians have indicated that is what they intend to do if the u.s., under biden, comes back into the deal without any preconditions. so, to a certain except this may have been posturing vis-a-vis the biden administration. i am sure they are not happy about it, but this could become much worse if the biden administration does not go back into the deal because then this will be a trend rather than an instance. phil: yesterday was the anniversary of the u.s. drone strike that killed the iranian cello many. how much you think those factors

influenced the moves? >> i think they are connected. there's been criticism and an argument that the government has not responded to many of these different measures by the trump administration that e iranians view as highly provocative, such as the assassination of solemani. their argument is the romney government restraints has invited further attacks, so it could have been a move that is primarily driven by domestic ran and politics. a measure like this, in order to appease those voices, while at the same time not provide the trump administraon with a pretext to escalate matters further and certainly not to drag us toward a military confrontation. phil: what does vice president biden have to offer to assure it around since president trump has

seemed to show the u.s. where doesn't mean anything. trista: he is seeking compliance for compliance -- meaning the u.s. goes into the dealnd so do iranians. there are critical questions. the united states has not -- is not particularly good or efficient when it comes to sanctions relief. it is good at imposing sanctions. lifting sanctions have been a different matter altogether. the iranians are suspicious of what biden will do but i personally think the biden team has been clear signal and their intent to go into the deal. after that, they want to go to negotiations on a set of

different issues. >> thank you for jonas. a recording has emerged of donald trump apparently pressuring a state election official to change the outcome of the november vote in georgia. "the washington post" has released audio of a phone call in which president trump expresses his frustration of what he calls voting irregularities and then tells the georgia secretary of state dean is to find more votes. well, president trump's democratic rival, president-elect joe biden won the state of georgia by a slim margin. >> www.dw.de months after -- two months after his election defeat, donald trump is still open to reverse the verdict. the president has long refused to concede the race, and now there is evidence trump pressure georgia's top election official to alter the state's results.

president trump: look, all i want to do is this -- i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state. the people of georgia are angry. the people of the country are angry, and there is nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you every calculated "in good shape -- recalculated. secretary raffensperger: the challenge you have is that the data you have is wrong. trump has said he could face persecution for refusing to cooperate. esident trump: you know what theyid and you are not reporting it appeared that is a criminal offse or you cannot let that happen. that is a big risk to yoand to ryan -- your lawyer. that is a big risk. >> trumps comments juice with indignation from the incoming

administration. vice president-elect harris: have you all heard about that recorded conversation? well, it was yes, certainly, the voice of desperation -- most certainly that, and it was a bald faced, bold abuse of power by the president of the united states. >> news comes at a crucial moment for the state of georgia and the nation. on tuesday, millions of georgians will cast ballots in two runoff elections that could decide which party controls the u.s. senate, with polls showing a close race, and trump's comments could have an impact on the eventual outcome of those contests. phil: let's pick this up with mary ziegler, a legal historian and professor of law at florida state university. welcome to dw.

the call lasted about an hour. as far as you can tell, has president trump done anything illegal in trying to pressure brad raffensperger in this way? mary: arguably yes. i think there are four laws, total, both federal and state that trump arguably violated. whether a prosecutor could prove that beyond the exclusion of any reasonable doubt is a different question because some of the laws require that trump intended to invalidate the election, knowing that he would be overturning a democratic result rather than buying into some of the conspiracy three c has been trafficking on us airways. i certainly think there is a strong case to be made that president trump violated both federal law and georgia state law in trying to overturn the election in this way. phil: if that case was made, what sort of consequences when he face? mary: these are, for the most

part, federally statutes -- federal statutes. they would involve prison time and that would depend on what a jury would believe in what specific facts can be proven, but these are not misdemeanors -- these are not minor charges. they would carry a prison sentence. phil: if this were to go to court, who would need to bring an action? mary: united states you would need to have a federal prosecutor, so if after joe biden begins his term, whether he would appoint to lead the justice department -- we don' kn that would be, those prosecutors would have to decide to bring charges, and similarly, if we are looking at georgia state law on erturning elections, we would be looking to see what prosecutors in the state would do. phil: i was going to say, given that so much of what the president does is unprecedented,

what you think is likely to happen? mary: i think the biggest obstacle in many ways to the prosecution of trump the aunt what i was saying about not being able to read his mind is it is seen as undemocratic, especially for federal officials to prosecute a former president. that is one of the things that made trump's original "lock her up" chants that he popularized unseemly, and on one hand it remains clear he violated the law, but on the other hand, someone like joe biden promising a conciliatory, reaching across the isle presidency -- criminal prosecutions of trunk, italy says the federal level might read as politically risky. there are a lot of different factors. there are a lot of things that

will weigh in to whether there are committed charges from this phone call or not. phil: thank you for weighing in. sports, and in football, we will start with the bundesliga on sunday. -- was back from injury, but it was not well who got dortmund going. the swiss defender benefited from a corner. he later scored when he burst through to get his first bundesliga goal since may. and by run munich avoided -- byron munich avoided embarrassing -- and best defensive 17th-ranked team in the league. they rally to regain the top spot. >> on paper, it should have been a routine victory, but for the eighth time in a row, biden --

byron conceded first. he thought he had been fouled in the buildup, but the goal stood. just before halftime, they doubled the lead as they were left unmarked. but the record champions bounced back. a header got them back in the game, then -- level the scores after drifting inside from the wing, with defenders allowing him time to set up the shot. three more goals followed, the pick of which was the effort to seal the 5-2 and result. byron reclaims the top spot, while months -- mainz, still second from bottom, were left to rue their wasted lead. phil: just a quick update on the address the u.k. prime minister

boris johnson has been giving since we have been on air. he has ordered an nationwide locked on for a line until the middle of february to combat a fast-spreading the new version of the coronavirus. he said the countries that a critical moment with cases rising rapidly in every part of the country. i will have more news at the top of the hour. stay tuned. i will be back in a moment with "the day," with more analysis of the top stories, and you can always get the latest on our website around the clock on dw.com. have a great day. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible f its ption content and accuracy. sit ncicap.org]

for a new

addition on france 24. >> hello, and welcome back. the time is now 10:00 p.m. here in paris, and these are the latest world headlines for you at this hour. the stakes are high in georgia, as the u.s. state gears up for two senate run up -- runoff votes. in a sign of just how crucial it will be for the balance of power in capitol hill, both donald trump and joe biden are holding rallies on the grounds. we will have more from our correspondent in the state capital, atlanta. the british prime minister announces a new england-wide lockdown till at least mid-february.