>> this is "dw news" live from berlin. the eu doubles its vaccination order from biontech-pfizer, securing half of its global output, 300 million doses. also, germany records its highest one-day coronavirus death toll. growing calls for donald trump's removal from the white house

before the end of his term in two weeks. experts say last year was one of the hottest on record and warned the need for action on global warming is more urgent than ever. ♪ i'm phil gayle. welcome to the program. the european union has struck a deal with drug companies biontech and pfizer for an extra 3 million doses of the covid-19 vaccine, nearly half the wsmpany's global production. brussels has come under fire for securing insufficient stocks of the vaccine and for the slow pace of vaccines. european commission leader urszula von der leyen -- urszula -- ursula von der leyen says the

addition is welcome. >> this will allow us to double the amount of doses of biontech-pfizer. phil: meanwhile, an official at germany's health ministry says the government has made preliminary deals for an extra 15 million vaccine doses in the summer, urgently needed to help bring infections under control. >> a quick temperature check, and then the shipment is good to go. here in eastern germany, more of pfizer-biontech's coronavirus vaccine is arriving, but that has not silenced critics of the government's handling of the vaccine rollout.

too little vaccine, confusing registration processes, and a slow vaccination timetable. the list of complaints is long, but the german government is standing by its program, and at this vaccination center in western germany, recipients say the wait was worth it. >> to me, it is like winning the lottery. my children did not allow me to leave the house. i had to stay home all the time. >> despite the bumpy rollout, there could be some relief in sight with the possible approval of a third vaccine by month and -- month-end. phil: let's get more from dw political correspondent simon young. was this order already on the cards, or has it been prompted by criticism? simon: i think negotiations have been ongoing, but, clearly,

there is a real sense of urgency around the eu, around the world, i think, about the situation as far as vaccines. vaccines really are the answer to this pandemic as most people see it, so there's urgency. of course, there has also been criticism, as you mentioned, in germany of the rollout of the vaccines. particularly, the health minister has been under fire. a lot of states are unhappy at the speed of progress and the way the process has been handled, so there are difficulties, but i think, looking at the sort of real-world situation, experts worry we are about to see a big spike following the christmas and new year holiday period. the urgency to get hold of these vaccines is definitely at a maximum at the moment. that's why it is obviously great

news that the eu has got 300 million more doses. they now say they have enough to vaccinate 80% of the eu population. phil: meanwhile, germany has done its own side deal outside the eu purchasing bloc. how is it justifying that side deal while simultaneously encouraging eu solidarity? simon: the health minister under fire for that. they are trying to play it down a little bit. the health ministry spokesman did say any extra doses ordered by germany will not be to the disadvantage of other eu members. that is important because eu rules do in fact prevent individual member states from conducting their own separate

negotiations to get hold of vaccine. it is an important sort of political hot potato as far as the health administration is concerned. phil: how is germany's health system coping? is this new stricter lockdown having the desired effect? simon: i think there have been problems with people following the rules. looking at mobile phone data, they suggest people over the holidays have been moving around a lot less. even private meetings between just a few people really do accelerate the spread of the disease, which is why we have new restrictions in place, schools closed for a bit longer. a lot of measures in place to try to turn this situation around nationally. phil: thank you for that. let's take a look at some of the

other developments in this pandemic. the mayor of london has declared a major incident on the same day the u.k. declared its highest daily death toll since the start of the pandemic. the british capital is now out of control. china has sealed off two cities south of beijing to stem the biggest outbreak for months. people are banned from leaving in the cities with combined populations of nearly 20 million. denmark says it will restrict travel from all countries and advise against travel until the 20th of january. only people with negative tests will be allowed into the country. the suspected mastermind of the 2002 bali bombings that killed more than 200 people has been released from an indonesian prison. authorities say he will enter a de-radicalization program.

spain is struggling with snowfalls t seen for decades after storm philomena brought bitter weather to the iberian peninsula. the spanish weath agency deribes the situation as exceptiona and liky histor. elon musk has been named the richest man in the world. bloomberg says the rising share price of his electric car company tesla means he has overtaken jeff bezos. bloomberg calculates musk is worth $188 billion. a woman has died after being attacked by a shark off new zealand. rescue crews say she was brought out of the water alive but died later of multiple leg injuries. fatal shark attacks around new zealand are rare.

u.s. president donald trump says he will not attend the inauguration of his successor joe biden this month. pressure for an early end to his term is growing. house speaker nancy pelosi has told lawmakers how democrats plan to introduce articles of impeachment against president should he fail to resign immediately. she encouraged vice president mike pence to invoke the 25th amendment and declare donald trump unfit for office. mike pence has indicated he is unwilling to do this. the trump-pentz -- the trump-pence presidency started controversially and is ending the same way. >> donald trump claimed that more people saw him sworn in then any other president in u.s. history, later clarifying that he was including those watching at home. team trump claimed a new term

for the phenomenon -- alternative facts. with another term -- fake news -- trump attacked the mainstream media. >> it's a whole hoax, and you know who is playing into the hoax? people like you and the fake news media we have in this country. i say in many cases the corrupt media because you are corrupt. >> at the same time, he turned to broadcasters who supported him like fox news and breitbart news. it also helped that most grassroots republicans accepted trump as he granted their wishes with lower taxes and appointed conservative leaning federal judges. the republican establishment stood behind trump after democratic rivals impeached him. >> it appears that the most rushed, least thorough, and most unfair impeachment inquiry in

modern history is about to wind down. >> trump took advantage of the frustration of his supporters after eight years of obama. securing their support, he made clear just how confident he felt before his 2016 election. >> i could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody, and i would not lose any voters, ok? it's, like, incredible. >> he also faced criticism for not taking a stance against extremists. >> i think there's blame on both sides. you look at both sides. i think there's blame on both sides, and i have no doubt about it. >> trump's call to make america great again and keep it rate energized -- keep it great energized supporters, who viewed themselves as getting their country back. trump's allies played along. >> there will be a smooth

transition to a second trump administration. >> trump's son set on thursday the republicans should look at the message being sent by supporters in washington. >> patriots! this isn't their republican party anymore! this is donald trump's republican party! >> with moves to remove trump from office, his opponents hope he may finally reap what he has sown. phil: the european union says it will help fund accommodations for thousands of migrants in bosnia-herzegovina. 3.5 million euros person to alleviate completely unacceptable conditions. bosnia borders croatia where human rights groups say migrants often suffer rough encounters

with police, allegations croatian authorities denied. the migrants are estimated to be mostly from afghanistan or syria. many were that homeless when i camp was evacuated on december 23 after bosnian authorities failed to prepare it for winter. the army has set up tents, but ngo's say more permanent shelter is needed. >> he is angry, and he's not the only one who feels that with -- that way. clinics that are suffering here. >> he tells us he left pakistani-controlled kashmir two years ago. now he is right at the doorstep of the european union. most here have the same goal -- entering the eu.

he has tried several times to enter croatia but says he was always violently pushed back by border guards. >> we are human beings. we have family. we are not criminal, not terrorists. we don't have a gun. >> he is stuck in this camp which made headlines just before christmas. one of the camps cleared and then burned down. since then, most here have had to fend for themselves. some are collecting rainwater to drink. >> we are not allowed to enter this camp. police told us they are just following new instructions from the government, but they could not explain to us what crimes are being committed inside. >> the mayor says the national

government and eu share the blame. >> so much money has been spent in the eu on the migrant crisis, but we have been dealing with our own money, our own resources . the european union should treat the migrant crisis as a european problem, as a global problem. >> the eu says it is helping, for example, by form -- funding a refugee shelter, but after repeated protests, it was closed down in september and replaced. some residents are still gathering here every day because they fear the migrants could move back in. >> three yearswe are suffering . they don't want to stay in bosnia. they just want to go to the border in europe.

dear europe, open the border and take them. >> this is whamany are hoping for. for now, they have to cope with the little they have. phil: the central asian republican of kurdistan will choose a president and a new system of government this weekend. the acting president as a populist who serve jail time for hostagetaking. opponents fear authoritarian rule for the small country. [chanting] >> they shout that they do not want an emperor. protesters have been out on the streets every sunday, even in

the freezing cold. like many here, this feminist activist and artist says she is defending democracy. she thinks if they pass, controversial changes -- the constitutional changes the president has proposed could threaten basic rights. >> i have the impression he is creating a constitution that allows him to stay in power for life. he just needs a throne now. these people are not politicians. they are just criminal groups, people who come to power not to develop the country but to enrich themselves and get more power. >> the favorite to win the presidential race seems to sense that people want a new beginning. campaign ads show him as a reformer fighting corruption. he swept power in october becoming active president. until then, he had been serving

a prison sentence his supporters say was politically motivated. during the recent revolution, protesters stormed the white house, the seat of the government, and not for the first time. there have been three revolutions here in the past 15 years, and peoples's impatience is only growing. especially since the coronavirus pandemic has hit kurdistan -- kurdistan -- kyrgyzstan's cash-strapped economy especially hard. >> we want one president. we used to have one, and the country lives. there will not be any more corruption or mafia or criminal structures. >> every year, things get worse and worse.

yes, the president changes, but nothing actually changes here. >> and other people are hoping for a better future and that the upcoming elections and referendum will bring the right sort of change. phil: last year mark -- last year matched 2016 as the hottest on with extreme weather events likely to become more intense and more frequ temperatures rise, scientists say the need for action is more urgent than ever. >> fires eat up large swaths of australian bush land. areas left tinder dry by drought. dozens of people and millions of animals died in the blazes at the turn of last year. but these images were no peculiarity in 2020. month after month, other parts

have burned or melted in record-breaking heat. the cumulative effects of human-made climate change. >> the state of the planet is broken. humanity is waging war on nature. this is suicidal. >> the pandemic lockdowns caused a temporary dip in greenhouse emissions, but that did not stop 2020 becoming the hottest year on record, tied with 2016. scientists are calling on governments and corporations to slash in missions to have any chance of meeting the goals of the paris climate agreement aimed at avoiding catastrophic climate change -- scientists are calling on governments and corporations to slash emissions.

with extreme weather events likely to become more intense and more frequent as temperatures rise, the need for action is more urgent than ever. experts say the crisis caused by the global pandemic presents a rare opportunity for countries to rebuild their economies to work for all of nature, not just humans. phil: we take a closer look at this with the head of climate science at climate analytics and lead climate researcher at berlin's humboldt university. barely a week seems to go by without another scientist issuing a dire climate warning. you must feel like you are banging your head against a wall, like no one is listening. >> i would say it is a challenging message to send.

i can see how the world is listening and waking up. you saw in the previous clip the united nations secretary-general talking about the climate emerncy the planet is facing. the state of the planet is getting ever more dire, but at the same time, i think there is a good awareness of the issu and the critical need for action is growing at the same time. >> the awareness is already there. there cannot be one amongst us, certainly amongst our decision-makers, who is not aware of that. i wonder, where do you look in the world and see people taking this issue seriously? see governments and decision-makers taking this seriously? >> if you look at the current

emission targets, we will be heading towards a more than three-degree world, but we have seen promising signs of major economies around e world committing themselves to reaching lower emissions including the european union, south korea, and china, and with the change in the u.s. administration going forward this year, there is also an expectation the biden administration will set a net zero target. we are setting ourselves on the path towards decarbonization. if we will manage to do so quick enough in order to really achieve the goals is an open question, but, certainly, there are hopeful messages in ter of at least the long term goal setting up policymakers.

phil: one of the dire warnings is global emissions of co2 could hit an all-time high this spring. what are the implications of that, briefly, if you will? >> the implications of global emissions hitting all-time highs are basicallyhe climate change is continuing. with co2 emissions in the atmosphere accumulating over time causing climate change, that is exactly in line with expectations. although the covid crisis might have led to a record downturn in emissions, emissions are nowhere near zero and therefore continue to increase and accumulate in the atmosphere, and it sends a clear message to us all. phil: thank you for joining us. african penguins were once abundant.

they are now classified as endangered as their population decline rapidly. researchers plan to start a new breeding colony by releasing scores of chicks at a nature preserve. >> curious and charismatic, this is the only species of penguin that breeds on this continent. the african penguin was once south africa's most abundant seabird. in the 1920's, there were more than one million pairs, but when humans started taking their eggs for food, t human population plunged. researchers are working to reverse that. key to their strategy are these dummy penguins. they emit penguin calls to attract real ones on shore. so far, success has been limited, but researchers are hopeful. >> it has been done for other seabird species around the world . possibly the most successful and

famous example is the puffin off the east coast of the u.s. they also use decoys and release chicks at the site, and they eventually got a very big, thriving economy. >> the aim is to develop a new colony where the penguins will be safe from predators. penguins settled here briefly in the mid to thousands, but praying leopards meant they were soon forced to leave. researchers plan to introduce hundreds of hand raised african penguins here. phil: germany is known for rich arts scene, but with the lockdown, many cultural institutions are closed. many he found creative ways to bring people out on the streets, using projections, video and open air where people can space out safely. project creators hope to share more exhibit installations in the coming weeks. time to remind you of our top

story -- the european commission has reached a deal with drugmakers pfizer and biontech to double its order of the covid vaccine. 300 million more doses and securing nearly half of the two firms' global output this year. more world news at the top of the hour. i will be back in a moment to take you through the big stories of the day on "the day." ♪

♪ >> hello and welcome back to the program. the time is now 10:00 p.m. here in paris and these -- these are the latest headlines for you this hour. he's promptsing a smooth transition but it's one that will come with a break with tradition. the u.s. president says he won't be attending joe biden's inauguration, this as democrats continues too push for donald trump's impeachment. paramedics under pressure, hospitals running out of beds and a scrires said to be out of control. the mayor of london declares a major incident in the british capital as the code covid infectioat