♪ brent: this is dw news live from berlin. tonight, germany's chancellor defending the longer lockdown. angela merkel said viral mutations had made extending the national lockdown a must. also coming up, uth aica past -- uth africa's president promising that millions of doses of the vaccine are on the way

despite the highly contagious variant of the virus. and free in saudi arabia. an activist thanks u.s. president joe biden for helping secure her release from prison. venezuelans are crossing the border into neighboring columbia on foot. how long will they stay? perhaps 10 years. i'm brent goff, to our viewers on pbs in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. today, chancellor angela merkel admitted to failings in the government's handling of the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak. she told parliament the government had not been careful or fast enough. opposition members jeered as she

defendedhe decision to extend the national lockdown. and local businesses across the country are furious. >> germany's streets will remain empty and its stores closed for another three long weeks at least. while infection rates keep falling, dangerous mutations remain. the lockdown will be extended. those despairing over the pandemic headache can go -- bad pandemic hair can go to the salon. schools will be reopening in february. the government has set an ambitious new target for the seven day infection rate. angela merkel told parliament that while people are exhausted by pandemic restrictions, this is no time to be opening up again. the research is still ongoing, but we shouldn't doubt the assessments of many in germany

and abroad. all three mutations are more aggressive and significantly more contagious than the original virus. merkel and the stay premieres haggled over the next steps long into wednesday evening. merkel would have preferred more caution on schools and preschools reopening. as she has done before, she sought to remind the public of the thousands of lives the pandemic has ended in germany. well over 60,000 people have now died. they are mothers, fathers, children, friends who we can no longer protect. morning them ways on our minds when we make decisions -- mourni ng them weighs on our minds as

we make decisions. we have gone from masters of the pandemic last spring to europe's vaccination stragglers today. our vaccination centers have been empty for weeks. millions of citizens stuck in cues for hours on end and -- que ues for hours on end and you say nothing has gone wrong? even though hair salons will be reopening in a few weeks, they will be subject to strict measures. brent: angela merkel still enjoys broad public support for this lockdown, but berliners we have been speaking to say the longer it goes on, the harder it gets. >> i would love to go out and go to a cafe, a museum, visit friends, talk freely, visit somewhere just to get out of my

apartment. >> there are real problems at the moment, especially young people with depression. it's really tough because all the counseling centers are closed. we will have to stick it out and see what comes. it has to be over by summer at the latest, or even spring. >> i am enjoying time with my child. >> i have nothing to do, but the state is supporting us. it's like a long vacation, really. a strange long vacation. brent: a long vacation, indeed. following the chancellor's speech to parliament today, our chief political editor discussed germany's lockdown strategy with one of the country's leading public health experts, who also happens to be a member of the german parliament for the

chancellor's coalition partner, the spd. >> can germany beat this pandemic alone? >> indeed, it is impossible for us to beat this pandemic alone. we are in this together. we all want to defeat covid, particularly the mutants and variants. europe is becoming more and more important with this new wave of mutations. >> what has to happen now? >> it is extremely regrettable to say the least that europe, in my personal opinion, failed to deliver the vaccine and there was too much focus on supporting research and too little on getting the vaccine available. much too little focus on

production. with the vaccine, europe was somewhat defeated. this will not be the only opportunity fors with the vaccine. we have to be much quicker in europe. we have to deliver the old vaccine to those who have not been vaccinated at all, but at the same time, we have to be able to deliver the second round, the booster round, to protect against dangerous mutations like the ones coming from south africa and brazil. >> so, is the imminent threat of another wave and public patience

is wearing thin. how are you balancing that out? >> we have to explain thoroughly that we have to get a good grip on the crisis. if we do that, it's an investment for the next couple of months, a real investment for the next couple of months. if we deliver in the next three or four weeks, we will be in a position to really control the next couple of months until the summer when the vaccination is gearing up. >> thank you very much. brent: thailand hopes to vaccinate one million people who are most vulnerable to the virus by may. a mass vaccination plan is planned for june with 10 million thais being inoculated every month.

the community says it is in talks with johnson & johnson to secure more doses for the continent. and ireland plans to extend its lockdown until april. a relaxation of restrictions over christmas lead to an increase in new infections. here are the stories making headlines around the world. china's broadcasting regulator says it has banned bbc world news, saying it violated guidelines by airing a report on the country's uighur minority. it pulled a broadcasting license after concluding it was controlled by the chinese communist party. democratic impeachment managers and trump's lawyers each have 16 hours to make their case before the senate. wednesday's proceedings featured dramatic video footage showing just how close some lawmakers came to being physically attacked by the rioters.

the president of belarus says he has defeated a foreign blitzkrieg to overthrow him. the hard-line leader announced -- denounced six months of protest against his rule as a rebellion fueled outside the country and that the election -- said the election was rigged. south africa's president says he has secured millions of doses of a vaccine to fight the highly contagious coronavirus variants that i dominant in the country. the immunization program will start in the coming weeks, beginning with health-care workers. he made the announcement in his annual address, in which he also promised measures to revive the economy and to tackle unemployment. more news from our correspondent in cape town. adrian, south africa is the

african country hardest hit by this pandemic and one of the more dangerous variants was identified there. what did the president have to say about this distinction? >> he focused on the vaccination program that the government says it is working on. a few weeks ago, there was a l of pressure on the government because it did not seem to have any plan. last week, the first batch of the astrazeneca vaccine arrived, one million doses. there were lots of celebrations. the president reived the delivery himself. then a new study came out that said the astrazeneca vaccine is not efficient against the new variant. so they aounced they are putting these units in storage and are waiting for the johnson & johnson vaccine, 80,000 doses

will arrive next week. then the vaccination pgram will begin. health workers will be the first ones but the second phase, nobody knows when this will start and that affects the broader population. brent: what about the economy? does he plan to rescue the economy from the damage of this pandemic? >> economic recovery was the biggest part of his speech. it is a disaster. every third person here i unemployed. if you go to a random hardware ore, in front you will see dozens of people offering their services, day laborers trying to make money to survive. that is an indication. the president listed the government interventions they came up with they have pumped a lot of money in, but the question is, how much money do they still have?

there are some indications showing the government is broke. people are waiting for a new speech to see how bad the economic damage really is. brent: do you think the president will be able to survive all of this politically? >> his ratings in south africa are que high. the problem is his own party. there is one faction aligned to the former president. there are thoseacing corruption allegations. and on the others, someone trying to reform his party. jacob zuma, the former president, is supposed to show up and testify in a state commission he set up to investigate the corruption that happened under his watch. he is refusing to go.

if he doesn't show up, the commission could request that he be arrested. brent: thank you for joining us from cape town, south africa. now to south america, people are starving and the economy is practically nothing, causing nearly 2 million venezuelans to flee to neighboring columbia. they may stay up to 10 years, but it is becoming harder to seek refuge there. nicolas maduro has sealed venezuela's borders, blaming the pandemic. the colombian city of bogota was once the biggest crossing point between the two countries. our correspondent has been talking to some of the people trying to cross the border. >> this is just one of the illegal trails that connect venezuela to columbia. with the border close due to the pandemic -- colombia.

with the border closed due to the pandemic, it is tough to cross. roads like this are where venezuelans try to escape poverty. others, like this 81-year-old, go back and forth between the two countries several times a week, illegally so. he is: be income about his family lives in venice with -- he is colombian, but his family lives in venezuela. my wife is in vezuela because herother is vy ill, so i ve to go from here to there even tugh it is illegal, because family is family. and to bring the grandchildren something to eat. venezuelan migrants in columbia get help from a foundation established six years ago. every day, it offers free meals.

volunteers do the best they can. sometimes they only have enoug for a bowl of pridge, but the migrants are grateful for the nourishment. venezuelans arrive like survivors of warven though there is no war on. many of them have high rates of malnutrition. there are children who have not even received their first vaccination. here we help them, but the situation getting worse every day. border closures do not stop migrants. the organization of american states forecasts that in 2020 1, 1 point 4 million venezuelans will enter -- 2021, one point 4 million venezuelans will enter columbia. this family has alrea arrived on foot. they are traveling with a baby girl, but they prefer that to living in poverty in venezuela.

sleeping indoors is not easy. one has to stay away because the other tries to sleep. sometimes you eat. sometimes you don't, but you are living under the same conditions in venezuela. there are still many days of walking ahead for these venezuelans. main -- meanwhile, others arrive via illegal trails. police are watching, so they turn around. for them, the journey is far from over. brent: the family of a saudi women's rights activist has thanked president joe biden for helping to secure her release from prison. she spent nearly three years behind bars after campaigning for women to have the right to drive. biden has described her release has the right thing to do. >> she is at home. this is the caption her sister posted on a screen shot of her

first video call after her release from prison. but the 31-year-old is not free. she will not be allowed to lead -- leave saudi arabia for another five years. because of the injustice she has suffered, she plans to sue, says her sister. >> she has a conditional release. what we want now is real justice . >> back in 2014, she used videos like this to call for an end to the ban on women driving in saudi arabia. she also stood up for women's rights abroad and criticized the legal system in her own country. in 2018, she was kidnapped and imprisoned for allegedly attempting to destabilize the kingdom. u.s. joe biden welcomed her release. earlier, he had announced a tougher stance against saudi

arabia because of human rights violations. >> she was a powerful advocate for women's rights and this was the right thing to do. >> over the past few years, the crown prince has granted women more freedoms. they are allowed to found companies without the consent of their guardians and the ban on driving has been lifted. but many women are still arrested for standing up for their rights or for criticizing the royal family. brent: i am joined by an ejection american author who has covered the middle east and women -- an egyptian american author who has covered the middle east and women's rights therfor many years. is this a victory for saudi women? >> absolutely. i want everyone to remember that the courage of this woman and

all women who came together in may of 2017, their collective courage is the reasothe ban on driving has been lifted. and loujain was such a liability to the saudi regime thathey preferred to release her and banned her from traveling so that she would not can -- continue getting terrible publicity for them around the world. she terrifies authoritarians like the saudi royal family. brent: her sister thanked president joe biden for her release. how big of a role did the u.s. administration play, compared to the trump administration? >> i think it's really important

to remember that the trump administration was not an aberration, it was a continuation of decades of corrupt u.s. policy toward saudi arabia by which the united states bought billions of dollars worth of oil and sold the saudi's billions of dollars worth of weapons. trump was just more obvious about it. now, they can say whatever they want about their sisters release, but i think it's important to not consider that this is any different unless and until we see a real change, for example, that they u.s. administration stops selling weapons to saudi arabia which are used to commit more crimes in the area, that the u.s. administration demands the release of all the other women who were imprisoned along with loujain al-hathloul, the 11 who are still on trial, and that we

remember women are not a bargaining chip, so that men can throw loujain al-hathloul across the table to joe biden and say here you go, let's start a new page. brent: what about the crown prince? could he use this release as a pr win because his rutationn the world is certainly not the best. >> absolutely. thiss such crucial point. mohammed bin salman, and bs as he is known, has -- mbs as he is known, has portrayed himself as a champion of women and too many western media outlets have allowed him to be portrayed as such. we know that all of this is because of feminists and women's

rights activists, but he wants people to think it is a gift from him. we cannot allow him to use this as pr. we also have to remember that this is the man who ordered the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. do not let him get away with using this to burnish his terrible image. brent: we appreciate your time and insights. thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines at this hour. u.s. president joe biden@@ has spoken to chinese president xi jinping and warne that confrontation would be a disaster for both countries. biden has said the u.s. will counter china's global influence. earlier, biden called for a pentagon task force regarding -- to review the u.s. strategy with

china. one of ousted leaders aung san suu kyi's closest aides was arrested in a wave of arrests. a faction of the ruling party has marched through kathmandu to oppose the prime minister's decision to dissolve parliament. the party is suffering internal battles between allies of the prime minister and critics within the party. some sports out of japan. the president of the tokyo 2020 olympics organizing committee is stepping down tomorrow, friday. the 83-year-old made a sexist remark that women talk too much

during a japanese olympic committee meeting earlier this month. after some 400 workers quit their volunteer posts with the games earlier this week, organizers revisited his position as president. they say a replacement has already been found. in a sparkling new chapter in the story of germany's most decorated club, the bundesliga champions edged out mexico to win the fifa world cup and make a clean sweep of all six major trophies they can win in a year. barcelona in 2009 was the only other club to do that. >> right out of the starting blocks, the tigres show they had every intention of battling. it remained a physical affair throughout. neither team giving ground easily. byron finally appeared to go up

in the 18th minute, only to have the goal disallowed by the video assistant referee. leroy had a great first half chance but rattled the crossbar in the first half and ended -- crossbar, and the first ended scoreless. banging the ball in. an assistant referee immediately called offsides. video replay, with the match on the line, overruled. the goal was good on the cross. 1-0, and that's how it would stay. bayern munich, club world champions and winners of an historic sex six cups. brent: the awards industry continues to grapple with the pandemic. the academy of arts and sciences says the oscars will be live in

a person from multiple locations. the decision to decentralize the ceremony is aimed at promoting public health. you are watching dw news live. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. coming up, the pandemic and what to do about mutations. we will be right back. ♪

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inference report -- france 24.com. >> you're watching france 24 live from paris, here are the stories making world headlines. impeachment managers wrap up their case against donald trump by saying he showed no remorse for inciting a deadly insurrection at the u.s. capitol , they also argued that he could incite further violence even out of office. if he is not convicted by the senate. our washington correspondent is standing by with the latest. new u.s. sanctions against the military regime in myanmar, 10 current former officials -- current and former officials targeted by the biden administration amid the wake of the coup last week.