>> you're watching live from paris it is 10:00 here in paris, here are our headlines. disagreement between the european union and drugmaker astrazeneca has intensified did this amidst a shortfall in vaccine supply. more on that coming up at the top of the show. france moves closer to a herd lockdown as the government says current restrictions including a six clock curfew are not allowed -- enough. new beginnings at the u.s. state department as a new leader takes over at the helm, we will get

what that signals for foreign policy coming up. thanks for watching friends -- france 24. we start with ongoing concerns about the eu's vaccine supplies. astrazeneca says it can only deliver 25% of promised vaccines applies in the first quarter of this year. the ceo says it originally aimed to deliver 80 million doses to the eu in the first quarter, but that this was a goal, not a firm commitment. the company said last week it can only deliver 31 million doses due to a production glitch at a plant in belgium. brussels has rejected that astrazeneca explanation for the delays. for all of the details, we have more.

>> tensions grew again between astrazeneca and the european union on wednesday. the vaccine producer warned it would only deliver a quarter of the expected 80 million doses for the first three months of this year claiming production issues at its factory in belgium, this has infuriated brussels and it's plan to vaccinate 70% of adults by august. >> the 27 states are united that astrazeneca needs to deliver on its commitments. i call on astrazeneca to engage fully, to rebuild trust, to provide complete information, and to live up to its contractual, societal, and moral obligations. >> in an interview with an italian newspaper, the ceo of astrazeneca said delivery figures were targets and not firm commitments.

the eu, however, rejected this and called on the drugmaker to publish the contract. there are also questions over where europe's doses will come from. they say vaccines made for the eu were made in four laps on the continent, but brussels argues the company had committed to providing doses from two plants in the u.k. the eu has signed deals for six different vaccines but so far regulators have only authorized one made by pfizer and another by moderna. >> it is expected authorities could impose a national lockdown in france in the coming weeks. this comes as data shows a 6:00 curfew has not been effective enough. the french president is expected to make a decision on this from saturday onward. our correspondent has more. >> it has been nearly two weeks since authorities in france

imposed a nationwide 6:00 curfew in order to stop the number of coronavirus cases from spiraling out of control, but with hospital admissions increasing, it seems the curfew has not been enough. >> [speaking foreign language] >> several scientific experts have sounded the alarm calling for stricter measures to be taken. this is the more contagious and deadly are very -- as the more contagious variant threatens european soil. france could see a return to a stricter lockdown like the one imposed in march of last year ich forc all nonessential shops to close their doors and that students had to continue

education from home. or the government may choose a softer option which would allow schools to stay open like last autumn. among french people, the threat of another national lockdown is taking a toll on morale that is already low. >> [speaking foreign language] >> [speaking foreign language] >> the final decision on whether to impose a national lockdown or not will depend on the data recorded over the coming days. >> the united kingdom on wednesday recorded its second-highest daily death toll since the start of the pandemic as the government battled to speed up vaccination delivery. with the highly transmissible new variant surging, the prime minister boris johnson has shuttered the economy and is rushing the country to make vaccines faster.

after four years of donald trump's america first foreign policy, that upended previous orthodoxies and partnerships, a new team has taken a presence in the state department. the new top diplomat has vowed to rebuild foreign service and rely on expertise. we are joined by our diplomatic editor in the studio. can we expect a more tip a medic approach to diplomacy, but fill in the details. >> that's right, i think the main thing he was trying to get a product -- across was that the rest of the world is hungry to work with the u.s. again. he said he had been on the phone today with many foreign counterparts and that they were looking forward to the u.s. being back at the table. that was the expression he used.

he struck that new tone one would expect from the biden administration as a contrast to the trump years, but on the actual policy, i do not think we got the sense of any major ruptures from the trump years except on climate change which of course has been a big focus of u.s. announcement. when you look at some of the most thorny relationships between the u.s. and other countries, i did not get the sense things were going to move very fast. for example, on iran the u.s. is playing hardball saying if you want to go forward with the nuclear deal, if you want to revive the nuclear deal, it is up to you, the iranians to first come back to full compliance. the iranian government's take on that was why, we we were not the ones that pulled out?

just because there is a change in administration, suddenly they have to jump back to something else. i am not sure that will go down very well in iran -- tehran. i am also interested that he talked about the abraham accords which is the israeli-arab normalization progress -- process. he was essentially praising trump's record on that without mentioning trump by name and saying he was hoping that can be built on in the months and years ahead. the word palestinian did not feature a single time, i thought that was quite interesting. on other big issues, it was a very cautious, middle-of-the-road, diplomatic approach to illustrate -- bless listening -- let's listen to what he said about china. >> the relationship between the united states and china is arguably the most important relationship we have in the world going forward.

it's going to shape a lot of the future that we all live. increasingly, that relationship has some adversarial aspects to it, competitive ones, and also still has cooperative ones. the cooperative ones are areas where it is in our mutual interest. >> so he is saying that china is an adversary but also a country the u.s. can and should work together with, that is not a huge change from what trump -- is it -- >> a surprising degree of continuity at this point. >> i think so, i do not think trump would have said it like that but in trump's actions you would have seen something quite similar to what he had just outlined when it comes to china. i think what one gets from this conference is that the u.s. is reviewing a lot of its foreign policies on russia, he was very noncommittal. he said we are looking at a lot

of different things, we are reviewing this and that. i think on yemen as well, a similar mission best -- message, he pointed the finger at -- but also the saudi's and the united arab emirates. >> thank you for those insights to those antony blinken contents. in january 2000 11, hordes of demonstrators flocked to cairo's square to protest corruption and inequality, but 10 years later that hope and promise of that movement is dissipating. over the past 10 years, the government has cracked down on -- and largely demolished egypt's informal housing settlements. residents often only have one day to pack and leave and are often relocated to faraway towns on the periphery of the capital city, we -- our reporters in cairo sent us this report. >> until 2018, he and his family

lived in this working-class neighborhood. these ruins are all that is left is his own -- of his home. >> the front door was here, but there is nothing left. they came and first most of the other sides, then they said, leave quickly. tomorrow, or the day after we will demolish the rest. >> over just a few years, the egyptian government destroyed entire neighborhoods. forcibly removing tens of thousands of inhabitants. as a form of compensation, he was relocated at a residence an hour away from his job, but the commute was too expensive forcing him to find another solution. >> now i stay here to save money, i only go home once a week. >> he now lives above his workshop. he had protested inequality on

cairo's square in 2011, he looks back on it with bitterness some 10 years later insisting the current government is increasingly corrupt. >> the poorest people suffer most from the current situation. many people are responsible for this. they do not care about us. and they are the ones with the power to do something. >> over the past few years, local organizations have stepped their efforts to prevent the demolition of informal housing settlements. in vain, at least for now. >> yemen was also hit by revolution 10 years ago, on monday, joe biden's government suspended its sanctions on yemen rebels for a few months. the classification as a terrorist group is disputed by humanitarian organizations.

crisis and conflict have less -- left country desolate reserving -- resulting in one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world. we now cross to our deputy country director for yemen, thank you for talking to us this evening on france 24. we have been looking all this week about the situation in countries where there was revolution 10 years ago and i think affected by the arab spring movement. i think the conditions day today have not necessarily improved on the economic level in most of these situations. but in yemen, it is a humanitarian catastrophe. can you give us a sense of where things stand? >> right now all i can say is the situation is as bad as it has ever been. certainly since the conflict began, the situation has only gone from bad to worse. in yemen, a couple months ago,

warning cries started to behold -- heard about a -- center and that was before these sanctions and the designations the rebels as terrorists by the u.s. government. where we stand now is really bleak. 11 million people are currently experiencing high and emergency levels of malnutrition and that expected to deteriorate further er the next six months increasing to about 16 million people. >> for viewers who do not have a clear understanding of what has been happening, can you take this briefly through -- break down the last 10 years so you have the revolution 10 years ago and then in 2015, the saudi led incursion which was essentially backed by the u.s., so a proxy war between the u.s. and iran. you had the revolution, that in 2015, and where we are now. >> wright, where we are now is a

very complicated situation where there are lots of international influences in the region. the organization against the sanctions taken by the u.s. government -- >> iranian backed. >> that's correct, they are the defective administration for the northern half of the country where around 70% of the population live. even in the south which is currently admintered by the internationally recognized government led by -- even in the south, there are splinter groups including the southern transitional council. there is conflict within these groups. there is multiple overlapping conflicts with many groups.

>> with the new u.s. administration, antony blinken has said that u.s. funding for arms -- or u.s. arms sales to saudi arabia shall be stopped or did that is set this -- to change the picture significantly because that means the u.s. -- the conflict is set to shift, is that correct? >> that would be the hope. anything that will contribute to a resolution to this conflict is obviously going to lead to positive humanitarian outcomes. what the population of yemen needs ultimately is peace. >> we can certainly only hope that will emerge for the population, thank you for those insights. country director for yemen action against hunger, thank you. >today marks the 76th anniversay

of the liberation of the auschwitz concentration camp. around 6 million jews were killed during the war in nazi occupied europe, an estimated 180,000 holocaust survivors now live in israel. any live in isolation, that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. our correspondent has the story. >> being greeted with a smile and a plate of hot food. every day, she looks forward to this moment. she is 93 and a holocaust survivor. >> thanks to the ngo, i have a roof over my head. i eat, i have clothes, and everything i need. >> in the israeli port city, and ngo has been providing assistance to holocaust survivors for over two decades.

giving out food and other essentials. now, amid the pandemic, their work has become even more crucial. the foundation has set up a round-the-clock helpline making daily calls to some 3500 people. >> we ask them how they are doing, if they need food or medical equipment. we provide cooked meals and ambulances for those who need to get vaccinated. >> the phone calls can also bring comfort. the fear of death and of lacking basic goods to survive can trigger painful memories of the war. holocaust survivors are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus which has claimed the lives of 900 of them in israel. more than 5000 have tested positive for the virus. back in march of last year, and 88-year-old holocaust survivor became the first person to die of covid-19 in israel.

a grim symbol and a reminder that those who experience the unthinkable will soon no longer be able to tell their stories. >> catch up on our headlines on france 34 and a disagreement between the eu and astrazeneca has intensified amidst a shortfall in vaccine supply forecast for the first quarter of this year. france moves closer to a lockdown as the government says the current restrictions are not enough to contain the spread of coronavirus. it is new beginnings at the u.s. state department as antony blinken takes over the home and signals a more diplomatic approach to foreign policy in the u.s. time now for business with kate moody and we are starting with the reversal of a fine for paris city hall which has been deemed to feminist. >> yeah and very proudly so according to the mayor, but this starts back in december. paris was fined 90,000 euros for having appointed a group of

managers made up of 69% women back into thousand 18. legislation on the public sector caps appointment at 60% of one gender. at the time a month ago, the mayor embraced of the violation and observers mocked it as ridiculous. today the public service minister announced to the find was being revoked, they say the money will go to a hotline which supports victims of domestic violence and that she would not stop fighting for more female representation at the top of politics and business. >> without unwillingness and -- unwillingness to give in and determination, we will not break the guy ceiling -- glass ceiling. >> that about-face comes as france marks the 10 year anniversary of a law that requires gender quotas on corporate boards. the log requires publicly traded companies or those with more than 250 employees have at least

40% women on their boards. in the latest data, women now make up just under 45% of the board positions of companies traded on the market. but only one of those has a female ceo. safety authorities in the european union and u.k. have given the green light for the modified version of boeing 737 max plane to take to the skies again. the fleet was grounded after a second deadly accident which left many dead in indonesia and ethiopia. boeing still faces an uphill battle to regain passenger confidence as claire rush explains. >> we have reached a significant milestone on a long road. the words of the european union aviation safety agency has improved -- approved the revamped boeing 737 max to resume flights in europe. in a statement, they say boeing had respondent to the man's on

software updates, maintenance checks, and crew training. requirements that must be met for each individual plane before returning to service. u.k. regulatory agency quickly followed suit. the approvals come after a nearly two year safety crisis, the model was ground in march 2019 after two separate crashes killed 346 people. investigators determined the cause of the crashes was a faulty flight control system. they have mandated the system be certified and will require pilots to undergo special training. critics, including a group representing the families of victims of the eighth -- ethiopian airlines crash say the eu green light comes too soon. >> this was predictable, but we believe it is premature, untimely, and dangerous. >> the 737 max has already resumed service in brazil, mexico, canada, and the u.s.. but many consumers are still

concerned that the model is unsafe. public trust issues also come from boeing's close ties to the federal aviation administration. they have been criticized for insufficient oversight of the aerospace giant, distrusted that could continue to taint brand -- the brand. >> meanwhile boeing has reported record losses of nearly $12 billion. fourth quarter revenue was 15% lower than the year before, it was dragged down in part by a decision to delay the launch of its triple seven plane. that jet will not enter service until at least late 2023. >internal problems have been commanded and the manufacturer has announced 30,000 job cuts. boeing shares tumbled around 4% today. that brings us to look at the day's trading action, boeing drags down overall trading throughout the day, but losses really accelerated in the last hour or so.

the dow jones shedding over 600 points for its worst single day since october. the s&p 500 and as -- nasdaq down well over 2.5%. we saw major losses between one and 1.8% in european indices. shares of astrazeneca dropped over 2% in london. the pharmaceutical giant is expiring with the european union over delays of deliveries of its covid-19 vaccine. russells has accused it of breaching its contract. the biggest mover on wall street this week is a video game store many people have never even heard of. shares of game stop have more than doubled this wednesday for the third session in a row raising concerns about market instability. trading was halted briefly and the top securities regulator in the u.s. has suggested it should be frozen for the next month or so. analysts say the company along with amc entertainment are being promoted by amateur day traders in online chat rooms, they say

it is a sign the market is overvalued and such speculative behavior could boil over and impa the broader's dock market -- stock market. the u.s. federal reserve has said it will keep in traced rates near record lows and -- meeting for the first time since joe biden took office, america's central bank said the economic recovery would depend on the pandemic and most importantly, the pace of vaccinations. the fed chief said he could boost aid if needed, but for now it appeared just right. he said the outlook for maine's highly uncertain, especially the falter -- faltering labor market and underscored the great hardship being experienced by millions of americans. in recent months, he has incurred -- encouraged lawmakers to improve fiscal stamos, the biden white house has approved a -- proposed a $1.9 trillion package which needs to be passed by congress, not a done deal. >> thanks for the business

update, quick break for the weather, we will be back. ♪ ♪

01/27/21 01/27/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: we need to open a promise to america to every american, and that means we need to make the issue of racial equity not just an issue for any one department of government, it has to be the business of the whole of government. amy: president biden issues four executive orders to promote racial equity from phasing out

private federal prisons to combatho