from berlin. worrying news from the u.k. prime minister boris johnson says the very end the pandemic could be deadlier as more as -- prime minister boris johnson says the variant of the pandemic could be deadlier as well as more transmissible.

the americans' last remaining arms deal with russia has just two weeks ago until it expires, president biden says he wants to extend it for five years. i'm phil gayle. welcome to the program. we begin in the u.k. with disturbing news about new coronavirus variant that was first detected there. the british prime minister says there is evidence that as well as spreading faster, the variant is also more deadly. he appeared alongside his top scientific advisor. >> must inform you that in addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears there is some evidence that the new variant that was first identified in london and the southeast, may be associated

with a higher degree of mortality. >> if you took somebody in their 60's, a man in their 60's, the average risk is that for 1000 people who got infected, roughly 10 would be expected to unfortunately die of the virus. with the new variant, for 1000 people infected, roughly 13 or 14 people might be expected. phil: straight to london. how does this finding affect the government's response? >> the prime minister was obviously asked at this press conference if this means there need to be a for restrictions, but the answer for the moment is no. the prime minister says that already we are in quite a severe lockdown. only essential travel is allowed, schools are closed, but we know from data that there is

actually more ability -- people are traveling more -- around more than in the first lockdown, so i think this debate as to if there need to be more restrictions or tougher enforcement by the police, for example, more fines, tougher fines, if this has to be the case -- i think these questions will continue to be asked. phil: even before boris johnson's statement, the eu was considering a travel ban people entering the u.k. how is this likely to hit the u.k.? >> obviously not very good news for the u.k.. however, also here there is a debate as to how britain can protect itself from other new variants. for example, in south africa, there is a debate as to if a variant there might be less susceptible to vaccine.

the u.k.'s position is also that here we have quite a successful vaccination program. over 7% of the population have already be vaccinated, so u.k. is also looking to the future and hoping this will be successful. also there has to be more restriction. it is a debate that is being had everywhere at the moment. phil: what response has there been so far? >> i think people are quite worried because not only is there the possibility that the virus is quite deadly, but we know it is me easily transmissible. if you walk around wary i'm in london, the streets are pretty empty,o people are taking it seriously -- if you walk around where i am in london.

i think people are definitely worried about the state of the affairs, especially when you also look at the hospitals that are at capacity or maybe even overwhelmed in parts of london and the southeast. it is a severe situation in the u.k. at the moment. phil: thank you for that. the new coronavirus variant also appears to be causing chaos in ireland. many coworkers are struggling with a third spike in infections that followed the christmas holidays. the country's death rate is now at its highest since the ndemic began. >> with hospital capacities at the brink of collapse and soaring numbers of new covid-19 infections, ireland is breaking all the records. >> the third wave we experienced at the moment is much worse than the first. >> two months ago, ireland was seen as a role model for europe,

but all thathanged over christmas. >> they open up the restaurants, and they allowed households to mix. it looks like they were a bit too hasty loosening the restrictions, i guess. >> numbers began skyrocketing, jumping from roughly 300 cases per day in november to roughly 8000 in november. >> somehow covid got into the house and everyone contracted covid, so our worst nightmare kind of came to fruition. >> like so many others, patrick queen burns' family christmas went wrong. he was shocked by how hard covid hit him. >> i had severe temperature, headaches, hallucinations, and i woke up at one stage with, like,

stabbing pains in my chest and stomach, which was so scary. i never, never get sick, and to have this happen to me was really frightening. >> ireland's third wave came around the same time the new, more contagious variant of the virus was detected in the u.k. >> w don't think it played a big part in the massive increase . before christmas, it was in ireland, but it was not a big thing, but since christmas, we now have a virus that can spread with 50% greater efficiency. the irish government is mulling tighter restrictions and an even tighter lockdown, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

>> the most challenging year of my career, having a vaccine available now is a real positive start to 2020 one, and, hopefully, we can move forward slowly. >> but for too many, slowly will not be enough. authorities estimated ireland, with its population of 5 million, could lose 1000 people to covid-19. phil: here's a look at some other aspects -- astrazeneca has told the european commission it will not be able to deliver the requested amount of vaccine and blames production difficulty. the organizer of a secret wedding attended by 400 people could face a fine of 500 euros. in belgium is to face a been in

and out of the country until march starting next week. police will enforce it at borders. saturday is the first anniversary of the world's first coronavirus lockdown in china. authorities locked down the city of wuhan and the surrounding hubei province as the death toll skyrocketed. it worked -- the number of cases dropped significantly. since then, china has experienced localized outbreaks with mass testing and lockdowns. here is more on how the city cope. >> a city of more than 10 million people locked down, main thoroughfares shut. traffic diverted. except for bare essentials, nothing and no one allowed out or in. the market believed to be ground

zero from where the virus spread, was closed to customers, testing samples taken, then fenced off. wuhan's hospitals became swamped with patients. people began seein the images of sickness and mortality. the death toll climbing to single, to double, two triple digits and higher. people in the street teetered between optimism and fatalism. >> i'm not too worried. i take precautions when i go out anyway. masks and so on must be worn. if the illness finds us, there's just nothing we can do. >> as officials work to contain the virus, they also work to contain information about it. this wuhan doctor was reprimanded by police for sounding the alarm about a then unknown disease. he died weeks later from the virus, but his whistleblowing forced more transparency about china's efforts to contain the outbreak. wuhan's lockdown lasted 76 days.

phil: wuhan is a very different place today, back to a new normal with people out on the streets and going about their business. we asked residents how life has changed since the lockdown. >> the country has put a lot of effort into fighting the pandemic, especially here in wuhan. shutting down a whole city affects people's lives a lot, and wuhan did it. that's great. it is fantastic that wuhan recovered from the pandemic. people keep wearing masks. even when it was hot in the summer, people were wearing them. it's great the people of wuhan are so cooperative. look, you don't feel that this is a happy place. it's very good. look how lively the city is.

everything is ok now. i just hope we can take our masks off soon. phil: our correspondent was in wuhan in july after the lockdown was lifted. he describes the measures china took in the city and what has happened since. >> not only did china at the time shut off wuhan and the neighboring regions, it also locked up citizens of wuhan inside their homes for several months. they were only allowed to leave their he with special permission. eventually, these hard measures paid off, and the virus was eliminated in wuhan and most of china. however, a year later, the chinese government was still alert about the virus. there are occasional flareups, and when this happens, china enacts equally harsh measures. the recent outbreak around beijing shows how china is reacting. a few hundred cases were enough to shut off entire regions with more than 20 million people from the rest of the country.

phil: we look now at some of the other stories making headlines today. funerals have taken place for 32 victims of two suicide bombings in a rack's capital. services were held in the early hours of friday. so-called islamic state claimed responsibility for the explosions. it is the deadliest attack on baghdad for three years. a spokeswoman for jailed kremlin critic alexey navalny has been sentenced to nine days in jail after calling for protest in support. authorities in china say it will ta at least 15 more days to reach a group of gold miners trapped underground. they have delivered food and medicine to some of the men who have been trapped for 11 days following an explosion. one man is known to have died.

donald trump's impeachment trial and his role in the u.s. capitol right could begin as early as next week. house speaker nancy pelosi plans to send the article of impeachment against the former president to the senate on monday. mr. trump has been in florida since joe biden's inauguration on wednesday. joe biden says he wants to extend america's last remaining nuclear arms control deal with russia. the current dl was sigd back in 2020 -- 2010 and caps the number of weapons each country can deploy. it is due to expire in february. the conlon has welcomed the announcement and says it is waiting to see the details of the u.s. proposal -- the kremlin has welcomed the announcement. we get more on this from moscow with a russian defense analyst. welcome to dw. how is the kremlin likely to respond to the idea of a

five-year extension? >> one thing is saying russia wants an extension of the treaty as it was foreseen. this extension does not require ratification in the american senate, which was always questionable with the american split senate. moscow wants the treaty to be extended with donald trump, and that is a bit of a problem. there is a problem with trust. there is no trust right now at all between moscow and russia and everyone in russia expects relations willet worse and worse and wse, that there will be new sanctns, and this treaty is a bright spot on a very gloomy picture. it is just one pie of paper

that is going toe kind of separating the two nuclear superpowers from yet a even more serus confrontaon, and that makes the extension and the condition of the treaty very tricky. phil: i'm intrigued -- how does this work then? does joe biden call president putin and say, "yeah, another five years?" "ok."\ "o" or does he look r concessions? >> if there's concessions, it has to go to ratification. the one-time extension for five years was invoked previously to bypass the ratifation process in the american senate whic

requires a 2/3 majorit right now, they basically have to exchange diplomatic notes and th is it. it is a one-time extension. it has to be extended as it is. phil: you touched on this gently in your first answer. if this deal is not renewed, why does that matter? what is the "or else" in this? >> nhing much immediate will change, but there is a probl. there's a problem of russian superiority in strategical warheads, so-called tactical warheads, because the united ates have dismantled almost everything since the cold war and russia did not. russia right now, putin has bn

boasting about the super new weapons that are intercontinental in nature but are not included in this treaty. that is a problem, but the main problem is lack of trust. the treaty will not supplement the total lack of trust between the two new sickly or powers. phil: that's very clear. thank you for joining us in moscow. >> thank you. phil: meanwhile, russia is facing a growing problem with garbage. the country produces about 16 million tons of it each year. very little is recycled. environmental organizations say within 90% is dumped in landfill sites often closed to towns and villages -- often close to towns and villages. >> this pit is as big as 45 soccer fields and is just one of dozens of garbage dumps in the

outskirts of moscow. residents say just a few years ago, thpit was still deep underground. now it is more of a hill. the dump lies just a few hundred meters from a village. this mother of two says some days the smell was so bad she could not even open the windows, and her kids were often sick. she and her children moved to a city several kilometers away when she finally had enough. >> the little ones were constantly sick. one day, there pediatrician told me the children had rattling sounds in their lungs. i did not think of it very long. later after we moved, we went to

the same doctor. surprise, surprise -- the long-rattling disappeared. how did that happen? simple, we moved away. >> the family's fate is no isolated incident. waste removal is one of russia's most pressing concerns. only 6% of the country's garbage is either processed or incinerated. the rest is simply dumped. environmentalists worn -- warn these landfill sites are a ticking time bomb. in addition to eyesores, they soil the ground water air. readings taken from the sides show the area surrounding is also contaminated. authorities warned that hydrogen sulfide levels were 25 times the acceptable amount, but nothing

has been done to protect residents. yulia's mother is another of those affected. her house is dangerously close to the dump, but unlike her daughter, she says she cannot move. >> where what i go? who would i sell my home to with that horrible smell outside? who cares about someone like me? how would i get by in the city? my pension is 190 euros per month, but i would have to pay 130 euros for a one-room apartment. >> yulia and other residents have tried repeatedly to step up for their rights in court, but to no avail. >> i don't know how much longer we can fight against the system. there are not that many of us, and we feel desperately helpless. >> meanwhile, the mountain of rubbish keeps growing, and there

are plans to expand. phil: you're watching "dw news" life from berlin. so to come, we roll back the years is the oldest olympian talks us through her incredible journey. first, google has said it will block its search engine in australia unless the government backs down over a new-media code which would force the tech company to pay for news content. the code proposed by the government aims to make google and facebook pay australian median companies for using content from their sites. the government has responded to google by saying they will not respond to threats. >> australian news outlets want google to pay them a fee or face a hefty fine for publishing their content in its search engine. a corresponding law was drafted in december. google says that is unacceptable, and it retaliated at a hearing before the australian senate.

>> the principle of unrestricted linking this fundamental research. coupled with the unmanageable financial and operational risk, if this version were to become more, it would give us no real choice but to stop making google search available in australia. >> this would be the first time google had pulled out of an entire continent, but australia is not taking it lying down. >> australia makes rules for what can be done in australia. it starts in parliament and is done by our government. people who want to work with that in australia, you are very welcome, but we do not respond to threats. >> google has a lot to lose. if australia goes ahead with its demands, other countries could follow. europe has long posed a challenge for the company.

after months of wrangling with french publishers, google finally agreed a payment framework for including their content. phil: a hungarian superstar won 10 metals, five of them gold, and she has given dw an exclusive like -- exclusive look into her life in budapest. she has overcome great danger and so remained dedicated to the sport she loves. >> she enjoys dedicating a book recently published on her life to those who ask. her life has been anything but easy. her jewish ancestry saw her forced off of her gymnastics team in 1940 one due to anti-semitic laws. germany occupied hungary in

1944. she survived a holocaust, but many of her family, including her father, did not. she won her first olympic gold in helsinki in 1942 and four years later in melbourne. >> the gold medal not mean a lot to me. i just love gymnastics. what do people get out of winning gold? >> around her home are reminders of the past, photos of her beloved parents, recognition from the state of israel and from the hungarian prime minister. and the meaningless metals -- medals? those she keeps tucked away in a plastic bag.

>> we did not do sport to win medals. we did it because we loved it. the reason gymnastics was so valuable was because i could see the world for free because if i had had to pay, i would never have seen it. >> while she gets ready for a walk, her son explains what it is like to have a mother with such amazing sporting credentials. >> it took me time to realize how exceptional her path and her life was, still is. she is much more famous in the last 10 years than in the earlier 40 years because she became the most achieved jewish female athlete, the longest

living olympic champion. >> when the soviet union invaded hungary, she was in melbourne for the olympics. she received political asylum in melbourne before emigrating to israel. now she is back in budapest, the city of her birth. her extraordinary life has come full circle. phil: and that is it. you are up to date on world news at the top of the hour. up next, we take you through the big stories of the day on "the day."

anchor: hello, you are watching princeton before with me, thomas waterhouse. here are the headlines. it could be more deadly. british governments say certain evidence suggests the new variant of covid-19 is more dangerous. prime minister boris johnson makes it clear that both vaccines being rolled out there are still effective. with the coronavirus still present, the e.u. strongly urges the residents of its member states to avoid all non-essential travel. the governments in brussels and helsinki