brent: this is "dw news" live from berlin. tonight, bad blood between the european union and a major coronavirus vaccine maker. astrazeneca says it is cutting back vexing deliveries to the eu, where the vaccine role it has been slow at best. we will be talking about the rollout across the eu. resigning with then i on rebuilding. italy's prime minister is set to step down with his government in

crisis. when observers expect he will be back. plus, the u.s. senate receiving that article of impeachment against donald trump, which accuses him of inciting the storming of the u.s. capitol. we will gauge the mood and see if it makes sense to impeach an ex-president. plus, what to do about russia? the european union decides on nothing for now after russian critic alexey navalny and thousands of his supporters. ♪ i am brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. we begin with europe's coronavirus vaccine shot, the european union today lashing out at vaccine maker astrazeneca, accusing it of not delivering

what it promised, vowing to blunt exports, and the company says it will dramatically reduce its covid-19 vaccine deliveries to europe. the shortfall comes as all 27 eu countries deal with heavy criticism over a slow vaccine rollout, and across the channel, britain is having more success getting its citizens inoculated. reporter: for these british newlyweds, a sense of hope and relief. jeff and his 86-year-old wife, jenny, got married in august. now, they are getting vaccinated against covid-19. jeff: i think the vaccines are marvelous. >> i think it is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. ben: the couple received the astrazeneca vaccine, one of three vaccines approved for use in the u.k. written is on course to inoculate more than 80% of

adults by the end of summer. by contrast, the eu as a whole would reach only 15% at its current pace. later this week, eu regulators are expected to approve the astrazeneca vaccine, which is cheaper and easier to distribute that its competitors. but hopes for a quick rollout have hit a snag. on friday come astrazeneca said it was cutting its agreed-upon vaccine deliveries to the european union by some 60%, prompting dismay and criticism. >> the european union wants the ordered and pre-financed doses delivered as soon as possible, and we want to the contract to be fully fulfilled. the european union wants to know exactly which doses have been produced whereby astrazeneca so far and if they have been delivered. ben: astrazeneca has blamed the cut of reduction problems at a

plant in belgium, but the eu commissioner has called the drugmaker's assertions unsatisfactory. the goal is to vaccinate 70% of adults by summer. brent: the german health minister is pointing at the pharmaceutical companies. he told our chief political editor that he wants to see fairer treatment of the european union by drugmakers. reporter: will you now ask the european union to implement a registry for the export of vaccine outside the european union? mr. spahn: it would be good if they needed a license to export vaccines so that we can monitor which vaccine leaves the european union after having being produced or bottled in europe. it does not mean a prohibition of exports but that there at

least needs to be a registration, and that will happen in many cases that it is approved. we do not want to keep everything to ourselves, but we want things to be fair, so when there are supply problems, the impact is felt by everyone, not just the european union. this is an area where we are somewhat uncertain right now whether the problems are evenly distributed. reporter: the united states is following an america-first policy, assuring that each u.s. citizen gets vaccinated before those exports take place. does the eu now want to follow an eu-first strategy? >> no, i am talking about a fair share, that we receive a fair share of what we financed. after all, in almost all contracts that the european union negotiated, we invested hundreds of millions of euros in

advance so that production capacities could be established, so it is not a matter of being first. it is a matter of being fair. that is the point. but, of course, we, as europe, as the european union, as the german federal government always stressed that we are also thinking about the supply of vaccines to the rest of the world. in the end, we are developing vaccines here in europe, in germany, for the whole world. it is our goal that others, too, can profit as soon as possible, but one thing remains true. i cannot tell german and eu citizens that vaccines produced in europe are available all over the world but not in europe. reporter: minister spahn, thank you for the interview. brent: i enjoyed by the deputy director of the virologist institute here in berlin. dr., it is good to have you on

the show. we just heard the minister. there are calling for a fair distribution of vaccines. we know that biontech, pfizer, and astrazeneca, they announced delays and cuts in the number of doses that they are delivering to europe. what is the explanation? has the you over promised, or have the vaccine manufacturers over promised? dr.: frankly speaking, i think enough vaccine doses have been ordered during the summertime last year, and at that point, nobody, not even experts, could anticipate which vaccine would be successful, so the government has made deals with several companies that are using different vaccine blood forms, and that is a good strategy you from my point of view, so i think it is really a matter of production and of delivery that

makes problems right now. brent: would we be seeing this supply shot, supply shortfall, if the vaccine manufacturers, if they were delivering the amounts that they agreed to initially? dr.: i think if they could deliver what they promised, then we would have not had such problems. i thi, and it has been pointed up before, that it is very important to vaccinate people very fast, because we now have a variant of coronavirus that is for sure passed on from one individual to another individual much easier than the variant before, that we have seen before. yes, we need the vaccines, and we need to have better and increased capacity to produce those vaccines. but that is also not very easy.

it is not very easy to increase capacity for production of vaccines because we have certain standards, like good manufacturing practice, and that means that you have to have a establish those production plans. it takes time, several weeks, and that is a problem right now. brent: you mentioned these virus variants. today, moderna said that it's vaccine will probably provide protection against the new variants if there is a booster injection offered. what do you think about that? is that going to work? dr.: i think so. at that point, i think we would not have the problems with the vaccines we have observed so

far. as was pointed out, the variant from the united kingdom is still covered by the vaccine available now. the variant from south africa is probably also covered. but there is a minor decrease in efficacy, with the neutralizing antibodies not so well binding to the new variant from south africa. still, i think there will be no problem and that we will be safe, be on the safe side, so far, but in the long run, yes. there might be a requirement that we have to adapt the vaccines to possible new variants that might happen. brent: ok, professor from the virologist institute at the berlin hospital, professor, we appreciate your time and your insights tonight. thank you. dr.: a pleasure. brent: italy's prime minister giuseppe conte is planning to

resign tomorrow get his government has been in crisis after ministers were pulled from the cabinet earlier this month. now, political observers believe that after his resignation, conte will try to form a new government that will have broader parliamentary support. all right, for more now from rome is our journalist. it is good to see you, seema. do we know what is behind conte's resignation? after all, he won two votes of confidence last week. rerter: it was absent a majority and quite clear, but in the senate, it was just about relative majority, so it was clear even then that he was going to struggle to enact any of hisolicy agendas to pass any legislation, and to pass any possible vote, it was clear that

this decision came come his resignation on tuesday morning -- he thought it was supposed to be a vote in parliament this week on the annual report of the justice system. it is clear that he, perhaps, thought that was not goi to pass, and a failure in a possible vote affected his decision to resign or hand his resignation in. brent: this political shakeup, how responsible is this for a country that is in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic? reporter: absutely. this is a cntry that up until now has lo more than 85,000 lives to covid-19. it is dealing with increases in the number of hospitalizations as wel as admissions to the intensive care units. the country is isevere lockdown in certain parts and with very clr restrictions in the rest of the country at a vaccination program that we do

understand asell is suffering from delays in supply, so there are lots of issues to deal with. clearly, this came about because the former prime minier and leader of the small party made that decision t remove its support from the government, creating this crisis situation, and he haseen widely cticized,ut clearly now, mr. conte had to make that decision when he said he did not have the support in order to hand in hiresignation. brent: what do you see happening after conte's resignation tomorr? will he be able to bld a more stable government? reporter: that really is the burning question at this ment. what we do know is he is scheduled to have a cabinet meeting to tell them of this decision, that he will head up to the presidential palace and meet with the president and hands in his resignation.

then, we will see what happens. will the president then give him the possible mandate to create this broader coalition for a third round of conte, or will he after consultation with the different parties bend towards a different figure, another local leader, or perhaps a technocrat, and another possible option is elections, but that is appearing very unlikely, because, of course, with the situation the country is facing, it will be very howard -- hard to carry out an election, so we will have to see in the next day or two whether to see conte come back in for a whole other government. brent: lots of questions to be answered. reporter seema grouped out reporting from rome, thank you. -- seema gupta, thank you.

picked up by a ship, migrants from sub-saharan africa. we understand that many are unaccompanied children. the ship crew says it was a huge relief for them when they were given permission to drop. reporter: the ocean viking in sicily, the latest rescue voyage behind it. after being tested for covid-19, the survivors begin to disembark. their voyage aboard ocean viking began with these rubber dinghies, passengers had left their homes in guinea and the sudan. despite the transport, they were still in for an unpleasant trip. sunday was very difficult with bad weather and rough seas. people get seasick, especially children. 165 children, to be exact, many of them unaccompanied. three pregnant women were also on board. ocean viking turn to a tally and

authorities after calls to libyan officials went unheeded. after a tense weight, it was finally given clearance to dock in sicily. now, the migrants have to be patient once more. migrants are held in a center. for everyone else, it is back aboard another ship, where a period of one tina waits. brent: -- where a period of quarantine awaits. brent: a singer toward -- turn politician has been unable to leave his home after elections which was in favor of the incumbent president. lawyers insisted that the state should comply and remove the soldiers immediately, but hours after the verdict, the blockade near the opposition leader's residence remained in place. our two reporter repor fm the scene. reporter: less than one

kilometer from the home. now, a court ordered the police and the military to vacate his home, but just behind me a few meters, the military told us we could not go past that point, s the police are obliged to comply with the court. but you can see that the court order has yet to be fully implemented. brent: our two reporter from uganda. of the european union, an announcement of going to moscow to press the criminal on the rest of russian distant -- dissident alexey navalny. eu ministers debated europe's response to navalny and efforts against his supporters. he is facing 3.5 years in prison

for breaching the conditions of a suspending sentence while he was recovering here in germany from a near fatal poisoning. after today's meeting, they outline the eu critical stance on the treatment of navalny and his supporters. >> the crackdown of supporters, the council considered it completely unacceptable, condemned mass detentions, and the police brutality, and we call for the release of mr. navalny and those detained. i have the intention of visiting moscow with a long-lasting invitation from minister lavrov. it will take place in the first

week of february. brent: alright, let's go to our brussels bureau chief. good evening. we have got the european union doing two things. sending him to moscow and holding off on any sanctions against russia right now. why? reporter: according to the german foreign minister, the eu foreign minister wants to wait and see what happens in legal proceedings against alexei navalny. he was sentenced to 30 days of pretrial detention, and the eu is apparently hoping that he will be released, and now the minister will travel to further pressure the kremlin, and i am told by a diplomat that if navalny is not coming out of jail soon, new, fresh sanctions against russia will be on the table again. brent: we understand that the

baltic states, latvia and estonia, that they are calling for harsher sanctions against russia. this response coming from the european union, is it a united one? reporter: i think eu foreign ministers managed to speak with one voice, condemning the crackdown on peaceful protesters in russia this weekend and urging the kremlin to immediately release mr. navalny. however, you are right. the baltic states were pushing for new sanctions. however, i am told that other member states were in favor of a more cautious approach, among them also germany. i think the thinking behind that is that new sanctions right now would do more harm than good to navalny's case. brent: you were talking about the german foreign minister and his reaction to this. could we see germany reconsidering the nordstrom to

pipeline, which would bring natural gas to europe, or is there still support? reporter: german chancellor angela merkel said she did not change her mind about the project. but there is a growing criticism in germany, and there have been sanctions threatened against companies participating in this project, and they voted to stop construction of the pipeline, so it remains to be seen if the project is going to be completed, but as for now, the german government still supports it. brent: all right. our brussels bureau chief, alexander, thank you. china has hit back at a european union resolution condemning its crackdown on the hong kong democracy activists, calling it

gross interference in its governance of the city. but for one activist here in berlin, the eu actions have been much too mild in the face of the harsh treatment of protesters in hong kong. reporter: today is a big day for the activist in berlin. in a few hours, german mp's will be discussing the petition that has been signed by thousands of people. how are you feeling? >> i am very nervous, because it will be the first time i am speaking in front of parliamentary leaders, and it will be about hong kong. i am nervous today. reporter: what will germany do? what are you calling for? what are the actions you are expecting? >> we are calling for sanctions against human rhts allegations that happened in hong kong and china. we are also asking for the government to call off the investment deal with china,

because that would damage germany''s commitment to values. what porter: she says the reaction has been week. they have criticized the policies, but this activist would like more. inside parliament, a short speech and a discussion of the crisis with mp's. the current situation in hong kong is dramatic, and it is getting worse day by day. basic freedoms, human rights are being deliberately and systematically destroyed by beijing. the passing of the national security law has unfortunately confirmed all of the fears that existed, even the so-called loyal opposition now under attack. one could not help but feel tha beijing does not want any opposition in hong kong. a foreign ministry official is also there and defends the government reaction. following a franco german initiative, member states that have extradition treaties with hong kong, including us, have

suspended these extradition treaties. more when the hearing is over. so no decision was expected today. how did it go? >> i think the hearing generally went well. i made all of the points i wanted to make an the first place, and the parliamentary members did express support towards hong kong, the government still gave official answers without promising action. reporter: she is aware that many of her demands will not be met, but she says all change begins with recognition and discussion. brent: in a few hours, the u.s. house of representatives is due to send the article of impeachment against former president donald trump over to the u.s. senate. now, that will trigger preparations for an impeachment trial beginning in two weeks. the trial will be the first faced by a president after leaving office. trump is charged with and

setting the attack on the u.s. on january 6 by a violent mob of his supporters. trump first faced impeachment back in 2019 over his attempt to pressure ukraine for personal political gains. but the republican-led senate at the time acquitted him. well, earlier, i spoke to our washington bureau chief and asked her about this unusual situation, a trial to remove a president when the president is no longer in office. ines: we have to keep in mind that the whole trump presidency has been strange, so there is not much president over the last couple of weeks, especially on this january 6, so the u.s. never has impeached a president twice, and they have never had to face an insurrection in modern politics, but many democrats really have the feeling they have no choice but

to make an example of a president that challenges the democratic process, that has held this nation together for centuries. brent: that was our bureau chief in washington reporting there. in american football, veteran quarterback tom brady is tainting the tampa bay buccaneers to the first super bowl in nearly 20 years. brady, who is now 43, threw 3 touchdown passes. they will face the defending champions, the kansas city chiefs, in the super bowl in two weeks. this will be brady's 10th super bowl appearance, an achieveme even he did not expect. tom: you know, it is hard to envision. this is goal, b at the same time, it is week to week. we are at 7-5, 7 games ago not feelg great. we felt like we need find our

rhythm, and we played four great games, and after that, it was just all bonus. it is a team sport, football, and it takes everybody, and everybody plays a role. i am proud of this whole team and am just blessed to be a part of it. brent: the amazing tom brady they're going to another super bowl. after a break, the eu coronavirus vaccine supply shock. who is to blame? we will be right back. ♪ ♪

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the 200 france 24 correspondence from around the world. these are our headlines. francis says it is ending a development of the covid-19 vaccine with u.s. pharmaceutical company merck. this comes as the french government appears to be moving close to implementing a third lockdown. the u.s., democrats are set to send the impeachment charge against donald trump to the senate beginning on the eighth of february. . more on that later on on the show. turkey and greece resumed talks in the -- and addressing longtime maritime disputes. we will hear more from our reporter. ♪