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. ♪

james: thanks for watching "france 24." here in france, the world-famous pastor institute has ended one of its main covid-19 vaccine trials. the lad had partnered with the u.s. pharmaceutical company merck for the project. the trial was based on an existing measles vaccine, but it did not produce the hoped-for results as our reporter explains. reporter: another stumbling block in france in response to the covid-19 pandemic after five months of observation and analysis, that pasteur institute has concluded its major vaccine project is not good enough to put on the market. in these first human trials, the prospective vaccine was well tolerated but produced immune responses that were inferior to those observed in people who had

recovered naturallyobserved in d vaccines. together, with u.s. drugmaker merck, the french lab used an existing measles job as the basis of a potential covid vaccine. an experiment that failed to live up to expectations. >> [speaking foreign language] reporter: the poor results are a major blow for france as it has been trailing behind the u.s., the u.k., and germany in the vote -- in the global vaccine race. all the more disappointing as the pasteur institute was founded in 1888 by louis pasteur and south. the scientist known as the father of modern-day vaccines. the lab does have two other vaccine projects up its sleeve, including a nasal spray. french pharmaceutical giant sanofi announced last month it will not be ready before the end of the year.

james: there with france already under a nationwide 6:00 p.m. curfew, tension has turned to a third national lockdown. various ministers have said nothing is off the table. the police say pallas has said no decision will be taken before wednesday. if there is another lockdown, what could look down? fraser jackson takes a closer look. reporter: will it look strict like last spring, with a deserted sport -- deserted streets and shops? were more relaxed like in autumn? the french government is weighing its options for a third lockdown which some say is inevitable. one of their chief concerns, the economy. >> [speaking foreign language] reporter: something a third lockdown would resemble with people not able to venture further than one kilometer from their home and non-essential

shops closed. the country is under a 6:00 p.m. current -- curfew which is aided -- which has aided in slowing down the virus. several ministers say should that not be ough, another lockdown is inevitable. france's cases have been rising steadily since the end of november. it is currently averaging more than 18,000 new infections a day, much higher than the 5000 hoped by macron in december. hospital admissions are abated. on the 19th of january, when he 5500 people were hospitalized, of which almost 3000 were admitted into intensive care. the government is likely concerned about the economic impact another lockdown would have, according to their own figures, it could cost over 15 billion euros per month. to keep parents at work, it is not expected that schools will close anytime soon. james: the eu has lashed out at astrazeneca, accusing them of failing to deliver covid-19 vaccine causes -- doses it had

promised. this despite astrazeneca getting funding to accelerate vaccine production. the company is expected to get eu medical approval on friday. the shortfall combined with hiccups in the delivery of the pfizer biotech shots is putting member states under pressure. the eu was already facing criticism for a slow vaccine rollout. the italian prime minister giuseppe conta© plans to offer his resignation on tuesy. he survived two confidence votes last week but lost his majority in the senate. this after the defection of a centrist ally. for more, we spoke to someone in rome. >> he intends to hand in his resignation. he will be having a cabinet meeting on tuesday morning to inform his cabinet of his december -- his decision after which he will head to the presidential palace and meet with the president and hand in his resignation.

then the ball really lands in the president's court. it is up to him to decide what to do next. he will hold consultations with all of the parties involved and then he will make the decision as to whether to hand another mandate to giuseppe conta©, whether he will create another

altogether. or figure, someone within the political parties that are currently in place, in parliament, or perhaps even a technical government run by a person that is considered a well respected person that can take on the reins of running the day-to-day government. the third possible option is he might throw it to a new election. that means dissolving parliament and calling for new elections. most believe this third option is not the one he is heading towards, because of course, right now, in the situation that the countries dealing with, the pandemic, the last thing you need is an election. the last thing you n the virus. there are sectio while the rest of the country is still dealing with very severe restrictions. and on top of that, we have seen increases in the admissions to hospital, as well as into the intensive care units. really, dealing with the virus at the same time all this instability can't help. many italians quite dumbfounded by this, but understand that just at bay con -- that giuseppe conte has made this decision. james: the neighboring nato members are at odds over claims to waters and energy rights, airspace, and the status of some islands. for more, our reporter. good evening. what came out of that meeting?

jasper: nothing, basically. the two ses made no progress towards resolving their differences. th have discussed the issues setting up a mechanism toas conduct intensive negiations on t maritime borders. the talks lasted four hours. the only thing agreed on was the ne meetingould be in athens. there was a cynical view ahead of these talks, but the talks were being held merely to impress irdarties that greece, which seeks eu support, wanted to show that it made a generate -- a genuine effort towards settling its arguments with turkey diplomats and that turkey wanted to sw that it beeved idiplomacy to impress president joe biden ahead of the nato summiin brussels next

month. and to impress the europeans ahead of the eu summit in march. and the lack of progress today does lend weight to this cynical view. james: ok, two nato allies supposedly on the surface of things. ancient neighboring power. can you bring our viewers up to speed with the broader historical context? jasper: i think the primary issue here is the facthat the sea borders between turkey and greece have never been agreed on. this has been a quarrel between -- that s been going on between them for about 100 years, but it has become more important recently with the discovery of deposits onatural gas on the mediterranean seabed. turkey has a very long coastline. but greece owns most of the islands just off that coaline. so if a deposit of natural gas is found near an island, does it

belong to greece odoes it belong to turkey? because the deposit is on turkey's continental shelf. th is a difficult problem to resolve. greece a turkey have no choice . are they going to continue as they did last year, sending rival energy survey ships act by warships, and last year, a turkh ship collided with a greek ship. or are they going to get down to the heart business of negotiating? each side making compromises. but coming to a settlement that will ultimately be to the befit of both sides. the second issue is that of migrants and refugees. turkey and greece together

constitute what you might call the southeastern gateway. they attract migrants and refugees. turkey has 4 million syrians and iraqi refugees. when the two countries don't cooperate, tragedies happen. boatloads of migrants and both couries get a bad press. turkey wants to update the migrant agreement that it foraged with greece in 2015. there are big advantages to such cooperations. james: jasper mortimer, thank you for that. now to the u.s. next where democrats are set to send the impeachment charge against donald trump to the senate. a growing number of republicans say they are opposed to the proceedings which are set to begin the week of february 8. sharon gaffney has more. >> please welcome. reporter: denounced from all sides in the wake of the storming of the u.s. capitol, democrats are hoping republican anger over the riot will translate into a conviction of donald trump and a separate vote to bar the former president from ever holding office again. they are sending the impeachment charge alleging incitement of insurrection to the senate for a

reading on monday night. sen. schumer: then on the 26th, members will be sworn in to sit for the trial. remember, the senators are jurors. reporter: a growing number of those republican senators say they are opposed to the proceedings. they are rallying to trump's defense like they did last year during his first impeachment trial. sen. rubio:, first of all, i think the trial is stupid. we already have a flaming fire in this country and it is like taking gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire. reporter: some of public and critics of trump have been voicing their support for the proceedings. mitt romney set -- said the president had fired up the crowd on january 6 and encouraged them to march on the capital. sen. romney: i think it is clear over the last year or so, there has been an effort to corrupt the election in the united states and it was done by president -- not done by president biden, but by president trump. reporter: president trump became the first u.s. president to be impeached twice after the house of representatives voted to

charge him with incitement of insurrection. it seems unlikely he will be convicted. for that to happen, 17 republican senators would need to be -- need to vote with democrats and it is unclear if that number can be reached. 10 republicans sided with the democrats. days after leaving office, trump is set to be plotting revenge against those he says betrayed him, including liz cheney, the third highest ranking republican in the house. . the senate trial is due to begin during the week of february 8. james: earlier we spoke to frank:, author of "high crimes and misdemeanors, the history of misdemeanors in the age of donald trump." he told us why republicans are opposed to the proceedings. let's take a look. frank: they have realized, or they have retained their realization that a distressingly large fraction of the republican electol base remains attracted to, loyal to president trump, and those same people represent

the senators own electoral base and they are concerned those may be coming up for election again soon, they are concerned with some sort of challenge from the right in the primary elections. i think there are other considerations as well. they are concerned about the wrath of the right-wing media complex that has supported mr. trump for so long. and i think there is another factor here, sort of a more personal one. the truth of the matter is that the charges, although they focus on the events of january 6 a e riot and invasion of the capitol, the real charges is the attempt by donald trump, beginning after the election, and culminating on january 6, to overturn the results of a free, fair, honest election. to try to use the powers of his office, persuasion, corruption, and in the end, the power of the law to install himself as

honestly, as an unelected autocrat. the problem, the psychological problem in many ways for republican senators may be that during that two month period, when the big lie that the election had been stolen was building in force, so that it culminated in a mob outside of the capitol, too many of the republicans abetted that lie, or craven lee refused to say anything. to vote to convicted donald trump for these charges is to

force them to a reckoning for their own responsibility. and is not surpring perhaps that some of them are unwilling to face that. james: u.s. president joe biden is making good on one of his promises, to overturn a trump ban on transgender people serving in the u.s. military. the new executive order immediately prohibits any servicemember from being forced out on the basis of their identity. reporter: with the stroke of a pen, transgender people can once again serve in the u.s. military. president joe biden repealing donald trump's than. -- ban. pres. biden: all qualified americans to serve the country in uniform, a personnel, if qualified in every other way, can serve in the government. reporter: trump famously announced his decision in a series of tweets back in july, 2017, which caught the pentagon leadership and then defense secretary james mattis off guard. a month later, the order was made official in a presidential memo. but the ban was quickly blocked by federal courts. it made its way to the supreme court where the band was finally upheld in 2019. under the ban, transgender

personnel already serving were allowed to continue but new recruits were barred. biden's executive order will prevent service members from being discharged or denied reenlistment based on their gender identity. it will also order the pentagon to begin the process of allowing transgender servicemembers to serve openly. according to department of defense data analyzed by the ngo palm center, there were 8980 active-duty transgender troops in 2019. james: next, we look at what is the biggest french tv show of the moment. it is a modern take on the famous fictional character. a gentleman thief created in the 20th century. the latest remake is an action-packed heist, a robin hood meets james bond meets ocean's eleven. some critics say while the show is fun, the writing is too predictable.

>> you underestimated me. >> didn't look at me. you saw me. but you didn't really look. reporter: it is a timeless story about family and revenge, set in contemporary paris. it is netflix's latest hit and the first french production to debut in the u.s. >> we grounded it something very contemporary. we wanted to show paris as it is, the monuments but also the suburbs. it was important to show paris in its entirety. we didn't wanted to look like a postcard. reporter: he plays a thief who is inspired by fictional care lupin. a charismatic con man and a master of disguise. >> lupin lupin i think is the ideal character for an actor. you can do anything with them. you can be dramatic, lighthearted. he's charming, he's clever. there's action. reporter: the enthusiasm for the

series has revived interest in the original lupin books. the author first invented the character in 1905. publisher -- a publisher says in two weeks, they have sold what they usually print in one year. >> is fascinating for us publishers to see these readers who are passionate about a character who was almost 100 years old. since the first lupin books were published a century ago. reporter: expect the unexpected in this modern twist on a french classic. netflix france's latest production brings together action, sleek scenes and unrealistic getaways. of the writing may be predictable, it is already a hit on the small spirit -- small strip -- smallscreen. 70 million people around the world will have watched lupin in the first month of its release. >> the handcuff might. >> now you do.

james: it is time for business with kate moody. the rollout of covid-19 vaccines we are talking about in france, you have a new report about the cost of an equal distribution of those. kate: that phenomenon that is being called vaccine nationalism, which sees more developed richer nations get access to vaccines before developing economies do. that poses a moral, ethical quandary which many organizations are trying to address. it could come at us -- at a huge cost. it underscores the degree to which the global economy is connected and interdependent. . in the most extreme scenario, which would seek poor nations left out of the vaccine rollout in 2021, the report says the global economy would suffer losses over $9 trillion. half of that would be shouldered by the richest countries despite benefiting from the vaccine. the report highlights the funding gap of over $27 billion to ensure equal distribution,

and says it would generate returns of up to 166 percent of that investment if met. the icc told me this report should give governments the impetus to support those programs. take a listen. >> a crazy notion that in order to support the equal distribution, it somehow is an act of charity by rich countries to poor countries is nonsense. it is absolutely in the economic common sense to do so. for example, if you look at the stimulus packages running around, if you want to ensure there is impact, you have to make certain those supply chains are operating and the economies are operating in developed countries which are out of the reach of access to the vaccine. otherwise you have a direct line back not to wall street or elsewhere, it goes straight to the main street and the service workers in france, and restaurants and cafes, in tting togeer bits and pieces in order to make supply chains operate, they -- their suffering will be exacerbated.

kate: the labor division says more than a quarter of a billion jobs were lost in 20 because of the pandemic. . women and minorities have hit -- been hit especially hard. claire rush reports. reporter: an unprecedented disruption of global labor markets. the international labor organization details just how big a toll the pandemic has taken on the job market. >> this has been the most severe crisis in the world of work since the great depression. its impact is growth -- is far greater than that of the global financial crisis of 2009. reporter: according to the report, some 255 million full-time jobs were lost last year. four times the number lost in the 2009 financial crisis. as a result, the global unemployment rate hovers around 6.5%, representing a total of 220 million people. among the hardest hit, young

workers. among 15 to 24-year-olds, employment losses stood at 8.7%, compared to just 3.7% for adults. prompting the ilo to warn of an all too real risk of a lost generation. such figures highlight the uneven impact the crisis has had on workers, particularly women. more likely to care for children amid school closures, women are also more likely to work in the hardest hit sectors of the economy, such as the hospitality and service industries. global vaccination drives have raised hopes for reining in the pandemic. the ilo warns the prospects for a recovery of the global labor market this year are slow, and even an uncertain. kate: let's look on the trading action. a lowe's -- a lower close for the indices. losses of over 1.5% for the paris count in the frankfort dacs. a volatile day on wall street. the s&p 500 and the nasdaq

rallying to close higher. the tech heavy nasdaq outpacing the others, up .7%. lots of earnings this week coming from heavyweights like mcdonald's, and boeing. moving onto to the days other headlines. google employees around the world are forming a union alliance, attempts to unionize have grabbed headlines, where they formed a labor union earlier this year. google has said it will open its u.s. facilities to be used as vaccination sites. the american movie theater chain amc has pushed back the threat of bankruptcy raising over $900 million in funding since mid-december. amc is the world's largest cinema operator, but has seen many of its thousands of screens shuttered because of the pandemic. they reported a net loss of $3.6 billion in the first nine months of 2020. the online retailer boo-hoo has bought the debit and brand for

62 million euros, but it will be closing those 124 stores across the u.k. it had been seeking a buyer. the online giant has confirmed it it -- it's in talks to rescue the brands under the arcadia group, including the high street staple stop shop. for the first time in four decades, budweiser will not be running an ad during the super bowl. the beer giant's parent company said it would be using that money they would have spent on tv ads to raise awareness of the benefits of getting a covid-19

vacc running ads in the final showdown of the american football season is a time-honored tradition for many companies, which can spend millions of dollars on the highly awaited commercials. coke, pepsi and hyundai have pulled out of this year's lineup, but they said it was a marketing and business decision. they did not confirm what those savings would be spent on. cbs reportedly selling 32nd slot this year for some $5.5 million. the super bowl, big moneymaker. a big sport event. kicking off on the eighth of february. james: same day as trump's impeachment trial. there will be lots of tv entertainment. kate: something to look out for. a quick break for the weather. we will be back with more news.

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amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> this moment in our union is not about left, right or centrist. it should not be about republicans and democrats. even what we saw happened the capital two weeks ago is the result of a long history of politics of division, that were cynically name