♪ >> this is "dw news" live from berlin. tonight, or government overthrown, not aung san suu kyi could go to prison. the ousted civilian leaders accused of illegally importing walkie-talkie radios. also coming, portugal welcomes german military medics arriving

to help battle the coronavirus crisis. portugal's health care system has been ovehelmeds infections spiral out of control. and the vaccine that does more than protect people from covid-19. the astrazeneca shot may also help stop the virus from spreading. and a new united nations report says modern agriculture is the biggest killer of biodiversity and that changing the way we eat is key to saving the planet's wildlife. i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs and the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. police in myanmar formally charged aung san suu kyi, a step that could lead to prison time. authorities say she imported

walkie-talkies and they were found inside her home. if convicted, she could face up to two years in prison. a national campaign of civil disobedience has been brewing since this week's military coup. protesting medical workers say they will not work for the military regime, wearing red ribbons to signal their defiance. >> acts of defiance too noisy to ignore. major demonstrations against the military for now have not taken place. earlier in the day, health workers at hospitals across myanmar wore red or black ribbons and refused to deal with any nonemergency work. much of the civil disobedience is being organized online. this activist is onef the driving forces behind the campaign.

>> young people in myanmar, we have digital power. we have digital devices and digital space. have be using this since day one since the first few hours that we are opposing the military agenda. >> a heavy military presence is on full display. here in the capital, tanks and soldiers room. an 11-member hunter -- junta has been appointed. the whereabouts of myanmar's ousted leaders, including aung san suu kyi, are unclear. several charges have been brought against her, including possession of unlawful communication device the military claim the region -- the reason for the q -- the

reason for the coup were allegations of corruption in the election. "considering we've had democracy, peace, the national cease-fire agreement and a well-managed system today with covid-19, this is not good at all for the citizens." despite international condemnation and open disobedience, myanmar's military appears determined to undo the course of the country's path to change. brent: for more, i'm joined by a researcher on myanmar from amnesty international. it's good to have you on the program. amnesty says this is an ominous omen. what are your fears for the people the tonight.

>> beyond the political crackdown, we are concerned about civil rights as well as the humanitarian situation in the cotry. we are not sure what the story is yet with access under the military. brent: we understand world leaders have condemned the military's actions. what can the international community do at this point? what do you expect them to do? >> we are hoping we ll see strong action. the u.n. security council convened yesterday and failed to come out with a statement. we hope to see something stronger than that. we are calling for icc referral for the entire country. these are strong circumstances warranting a serious response. brent: amnesty is calling for the release of aung san suu kyi. she is a difficult figure now,

though, isn't she? she has presided over human rights abuses in myanmar. >> that's right, but it is, as you say, a very complicated situation. given these experience charges -- given these experience -- given these spurious charges and what appears to be her baseless attention, we are calling for her release. brent: what we've seen in the last two years has been diminished severely regarding human rights. do you think this coup would have been possible if aung san suu kyi had lived up to

expectations? >> it is impossible to say. at amnesty, our position was her image has been tarnished internationally, but the country is more than just one person. it is 50-on million people, and that is something the international community has to think about. brent: we appreciate your time and your insights tonight. thank you. a team of german military medical staff has traveled to portugal to help the country in its battle in the third wave of the covid virus. hospitals across portugal have been overwhelmed by one of the world' wst covid-19 outbreaks. >> the much-anticipated aid on arrival. doctors will remain in portugal for the next few weeks to help get the coronavirus under

control. an advance team was in the country already to assess the situation. "i have just sent a message to my german colleagues to thank them for their support, and i have already received a reply from them. they wrote, that's what friends are for." and help is desperately needed. intensive care units across the country are completely full. portuguese media are reporting their patients are spending hours in ambulances before they can get to hospitals. many portuguese were relieved to hear help was comg from abroad. the situation is really bad. also every little bit counts. "of course, it is ju a drop in the ocean at the moment. we definitely need more help, but it shows how good it is to

part of europe." portugal has been shut down since mid-january. nevertheless, infection rates remain high. the arrival of the german medical team, many commentators emphasize germany as the first country to send help. doctors and nurses will start working tomorrow already. they are intending to put local staff here in hospitals. a further delivery of medical supplies from germany is expected to arrive soon, and other european countries, including austria and spain, have also promised to provide support. brent: a new study suggests the oxford-astrazeneca vaccine could prevent people from spreading the coronavirus. their research is the first to show the vaccine stopping transmission of the virus in addition to protecting against covid-19. a new study says vaccine could

cut transmission by 2/3. scientists also found that a single shot could provide a high level of protection lasting up to 12 weeks. more than 10 million britons have been vaccinated against the virus. >> this oxford report is very good news. it backs the strategy that we have taken, and it shows the world that the oxford vaccine works effectively, and the really good news embedded in it is that it not just reduces hospitalizations -- there were no people in this part of the trial who were hospitalized with cobit after getting the oxford job -- jab -- but it also reduces the number of people who have covid at all, even asimple medically -- even a

symptomatically, by 2/three. brent: we are talking about the vaccine that protects against covid-19 and protects against spreading the coronavirus. this sounds almost too good to be true. is it? >> i think it is to a certain extent. there's no doubt that it stops you actually getting infected, then it will stop you as an individual spreading that infectn on, but the crucial thing we have to remember is it only does that about 2/3 of the time, so there is still a substantial proportion of people who can still ter the vaccine get the infection and potentially spread it on. a couple of weeks ago, we published a paper looking at the available data then, which is still applicable, and our

conclusi was that although will g a long way toward reducing transmission, it will not be sufficient in itself -- and indeed, no vaccine will be sufficient in themselves -- to reduce the r value to less than one. with most of the vaccines we are using it the moment with reasonable estimates of how likely they are to b taken in vaccine coverage, i don't think we are at all looking at anything close to being able to stop transmission immunities. brent: do we know why some people do have this reaction with the vaccine that it stops transmission and some people do not? what's the difference between the person who does stop transmission and the person who does not? >> i think there are all sorts of reasons, and i don't tnk we really understand that at the moment, but no vaccine is 100%

effecte. all thvaccines we have got at the moment are very good at stopping severe disease, and some, like the pfizer-ontech vaccine, is good stopping even mild symptoms, but we don't know -- r the oxford-astrazeneca vaccine, we don't know if these other vaccines stop transmission as well. it's reassuring, but -- sorry? brent: if i could just ask you, just imagine if everyone in the u.k. were to be it -- be vaccinated tonight, would w be able to say that we have conquered this pandemic? >> certainly for a time, y. i don't think any of us expect that we will any time soon come to a point where the coronavirus is eradicated from the world. the world health organization

says that is unlikely to be achievable, and they are right. the thing is, we've got to come to terms with this virus and live with it, and we will. the role of the vaccine primarily is to stop people getting severely ill, having to be taken into hospital, and dying. that is primarily what we want from all of vaccines. we would have to vaccinate prettyuch everyone on the planet regularly to ensure we have any chance eradicating the virus, and that is just not going to happen, and it probably does not matter because in 10 or 20 years' time, covid will still be around, but it probably won't be causing anywhere near the number of severe cases, and for most ous, itill probably just be a mild infection of the nose and throat. brent: i think there are a lot of people hoping that will happen sooner rather than later.

>> certainly me as well. brent: we appreciate your time and insights tonight. thank you. israel has vaccinated a greater proportion of its population against coronavirus than any other country, but the number of new infections is still high, and the cabinet is deciding on opening the country friday or extending the current lockdown yet again. authorities say they are determined to contain the spread of the virus while immunizing as many people as possible. senior citizens are among those suffering most. >> it has been a rather long year for ruth. since the outbreak of the coronavirus last year, the 88-year-old has been mostly confined to her ft. the internet has been her source of ctact with family and

friends. but since a week ago, there has en new hope. she received her first vaccine shot. >> i'm very excited seeing people in person. we are excited, but it really hit hard not to e people. >> is a step forward, but she is still very cautious. a large majority is the most vulnerable population over 70 has received their second vaccine shot. for now, that does not mean any extra privileges. while israel's rapid vaccination drive made headlines, the country had to extend its lockdown once again to tackle the third wave of the pandemic. >> we have the variants -- the south african variant and the los angeles variant, the british variant, which is dominant cuently.

the disease is spreading pretty quickly. yet, the vacnes are spreading quickly as well. we are erasinghe virus with the vaccine. >> at a large hospital in the center of the country, doctors and nurses worked tirelessly to cope with the constant flow of patients in serious condition. january has been the deadliest month yet of the pandemic. "all of my colleagues, doctors, and nurses, see a lot of patients here, critical cases and at younger ages. a few hundred meters from the covid-19 ward, it's mostly young people waiting for their vaccination. last week, people over 35 work called up to get their first job -- their first jab.

9 million citizens have received at least their first vaccine dose. these citizens are on their way to a local shopping center. what might seem ordinary has becomepecial. ruth has not been here since march of last year. >> strange. very strange. very strange. i hope in a coupl of weeks, i will ginto the store and take care of stuff. no it is a wle different experience for me. >> amid the uncertainty, she hopes that at some point, she will be able to see family and friends, once the effects of the vaccination drive kicked in. brent: that we wish for everybody. here's a look at some of the other developments in the coronavirus pandemic. worldwide air travel fell by 2/3 last year because of travel restrictions. the industry is warning that new

virus variants will hit prospects for any recovery this year. people across britain have called on captain tom moore, the veteran who raised millions for healthcare services -- he died at the age of 100. the former european central bank chief, mario draghi, has agreed to try to form a new government of national unity his home country italy. the governing coalition collapsed last month after a spreader party reduced support. druggie -- mario druggie is widely credited with saving the eurozone during the financial crisis. britain has asked the european union to extend the brexiteer race period until the year 2023 according to the bbc. this comes after thrts were

made again port staff and checks at the border were suspended. the extension pertains to checks for goods coming from northern ireland the rest of the u.k. new recommendations came into effect after brexit was implemented. hysteria -- that is how russian foreign minister sergei lavrov describes the international outcry over the jailing of opposition leader alexey navalny. the kremlin has defended the actions against protesters who took to the streets. security forces arrested more than 1400 demonstrators. navalny was sentenced to prison for violating his parole while he was in a coma recovering from a poison attack. >> sharp criticism is the world found out alexey navalny was going to prison. germany condemned navalny's jailing and the police's

treatment of protesters. the german government and chancellor personally call for the release of mr. navalny. the kremlin, meanwhile, defended the way the case have been handled. >> the hysteria we have heard over the trial process for the navalny case, is, of course, off the scale. >> navalny had remained defiant in court on tuesday and insisted his jailing would not deter his supporters. "all of these officers and this cage -- it's not a show of strength. it is a display of witnesses. they are weak." later, police arrested hundreds of navalny supporters who have come to show

their solidarity. as night fell on moscow, the protests grew, but so did the presence of police in riot gear and the arrests. the next day, muscovites expressed mixed feelings about what had happened to navalny. >> i think there were reasons he was on trial. there are protesters, but that's true in any country. if he violated the law, they were right to arrest him. >> there's no justice. that's why if you say too much concerning navalny, you will end up in court, too. navalny's attorneys say they will appear the court ruling -- appeal the court ruling to the council of europe. brent: a day after the international atomic energy agency confirmed iran continues to violate terms of the nuclear deal and two days after the u.s.

secretary of state warned of iran being only weeks away from a nuclear bomb, israel's foreign minister says israel will do whatever it takes to defend itself. >> are you telling me that israel would go ahead and strike on iran without signoff from the united states, that you would do it on your own without consulting the u.s.? >> again, i do not and cannot predict what is going to happen. i hope the permanent members of the security council states will be much more determined and resolved than ever before and will not change the regime of the sanctions initiated by the trump administration and put

pressure on iran to change its behavior. if there will be a new agreement, that will endange the very existence of the state of israel, what do you think they are going to do? pray? no, we are going to defend ourselves. rent: a message there from israel to the new u.s. administration. you can see the full contents of the interview online. plant and animal species are dying out tens if not hundreds of times faster than the average we have seen over the past 10 years. that's according to a new ewing report published today. the culprit, no surprise -- it's us. the way we eat is largely to blame. >> stealthy and solitary, cheetahs may not be the biggest

of all the big cats, but reaching speeds up to 100 30 kilometers per hour to catch their prey, but despite their speed, their numbers are falling. almost 7000 of the animals can still be found in the wild, most in sub-saharan africa, down from 100,000 just over a century ago. like many other animals found across the world, their population is threatened. >> the most important part is the habitat loss. most of these species rely on a particular habitat. >> farming and agriculture are a major driver of habitat loss and a threat to more than 85% of the 28,000 species at risk of extinction according to a new report released wednesday together with animal welfare organization compassion in world

farming, and britishhink tank chattel house. at the heart of the issue isn't agriculture industry which as toroduce evermore food at ever lower costs. to battle biodiversity loss, humans would have to lower their intake of meat, reducing the need for more land, and significantly cut our food waste, say authors of the report. changing our global food system may be an uphill battle, but saving biodiversity is paramount, say experts. >> this bird is a link in a value chain. almost all thepecies depd on

each other. the balance of life on ear dependon diversity. >> destrtion of ecosystems and habitats will not only develop -- accelerate biodiversity loss, say authors of the rort, but also threaten our ability to sustain human populations. brent: you are watching "dw news" life from berlin. after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day." myanmar and russia -- the first stress test of biden's foreign policy. we will be right back. ♪

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♪ >> welcome to live in paris from france 24. these are the world news headlines. world condemnation of the military coup in myanmar. generals reveal their charge against the de facto president aung san suu kyi. it is possession of illegal imported walkie-talkies. mario draghi is called to form a new government in italy. the former of the european central bank is tasked with getting the country to the rest