thomas: hello. you're watching france 24, and these are the latest headlines. former president donald trump's lawyers tell the senate he did not order the riots which left five people dead at the u.s. capitol. mario draghi formally accepts the italian president's offer to become the next prime minister. the former head of the european

central bank will be sworn into office this saturday with a mix of technocrats from his broad coalition making of his cabinet. myanmar's army chief calls for harmony as tens of thousands continue to stomp through the streets in aer at the takeover. lawmakers are pressing the united nations to investigate alleged human rights violations. ♪ you cannot incite what was going to happen anyway -- that's what one of donald trump's lawyers has told the senate as they tried to show that the former president played no role in encouraging supporters to attack the capital last month and that

the republican's impeachment trial in general is no more than a witchhunt. >> not only is this impeachment case preposterously wrong on the facts, no matter much -- no matter how much heat and emotion is injected by the opposition, it is also plainly unconstitutional. this unprecedented effort is not about democrats opposing political violence. it is about democrats trying to disqualify their political opposition. thomas: with more, let's bring in our correspondent. democrats want to this stage to be rather -- republicans wanted this stage to be rather short and sweet, but their line of defense has been rather focused.

>> they wanted to prove their -- democrats wanted to prove there was a direct link between donald trump's words and the violence on capitol hill. for the defense team, there is no link. donald trump did not incite violence or intend the violence to happen. part of their argument is even the most fiery words spoken by a political elite -- by a political leader including "fight like hell" cannot be blamed for violence. for that, they used a mash-up of clips of lawmakers using the

word "fight" in different ways in putting forth a comparison of what happened during the summer when you had protests at times turning violent after the death of george floyd, when you had a lot of democrats who were in a way explaining or excusing the violence, and the defense team tried to use democrats' words against them to show that this was simply how politicians spoke, and therefore if democrats were allowed to use the word right, so was donald trump, and this should not be used against him. above all, this political speech , those words are protected by the first amendment. that was their main argument, that anything donald trump said was protected by the first amendment and therefore donald trump should not have been impeached and should not be

convicted for incitement to insurrection. thomas: where do we go from here? what is next in this impeachment saga? >> the q&a portion of the trial has just begun. senators are allowed to ask questions. they write them on a piece of paper and hand them to the president of the senate who reads them out loud. whichever side has been questioned -- or both -- can answer the question. senators have up to four hours to do those questions and answers, but they are not expected to use all four hours of this q&a portion, and that really shows you that both sides are eager to go as fast as possible. they feel they have both laid out their case, and they really want to get this process closed as fast as possible, so you have the q&a, and then you have this unknown about if there will be

witnesses or new documents subpoenaed for the senate. it is unlikely to happen. it looks like neither democrats nor republicans want that. after that, we will have closing arguments for the impeachment managers and donald trump's defense, and then that crucial vote on convicting or acquitting donald trump. a vote that we're expecting could even happen by tomorrow, by the end of saturday, or at the latest, on sunday, but it's looking like it is going much faster than initially predicted. thomas: thank you very much. an update for you now on how france is faring in its battle against the coronavirus. the health minister headed east this friday to a region where authorities are pushing for a localized lockdown to contain the spread of new and highly contagious variants of the

virus. officials say those variants account for between 4% or -- between 4% and 5% of all new cases in the country. after a string of worrying side effects, several hospitals in the western region of brittany have stopped administering the vaccine from astrazeneca. >> 20 nurses have received the first doses of the astrazeneca vaccine, and many contracted flulike symptoms. >> [speaking french] >> the seriousness of the side effects surprised the nurses, and some are worried about getting their second dose.

>> [speaking french] >> the unexpected illnesses have disrupted the department and made the head of the hospital think twic >> [speaking french] >> in brittany, several hospitals have suspended vaccinations. in france, 149 cases of flulike side effects from theaccine have been reported so far. >> [speaking french] >> thursday evening, the health products safety agency published a recommendation on its website. >> in this context, in order to

limit the potential risk of disrupting health service functions, it is recommended to stagger the vaccinations of staff. >> 10,000 nurses have already received their first doses. the batch in question is also being used in 21 other european countries, apparently without similar problems. thomas: consultations and wrangling have borne fruit in italy. the former head of the european central bank has been asked by the president to be the next prime minister to hopefully steal the -- steer the country out of the doldrums and t covid crisis. mario draghi's cabinet will be sworn into office this saturday. let's go to our correspondent and rome -- in rome who is following the latest developments. this is a new prime minister who has some rather broad support. >> yes, he does. clearly, mario draghi forming

the 67th government since world war ii here in italy, and it is really across the board. he took about 10 days, two rounds of consultations before coming together with this. clearly, he does have those numbers, a broad parliamentary majority. what you are seeing now, officials deciding to work together. you have the largest party in parliament deciding to get on board together with representatives of former prime minister silvio berlusconi's party. this is a party they have sworn in the past not to have anything to do with, but they have decided to go ahead and approve

members of the party. it actually comes down to confidence votes that are expected next week in parliament, but that sai even if there are members who oppose, mr. druggie does have the numbers in parliament. some 60% of people support the idea of a government led by the former ecb president. that means his support surpasses that of even the previous prime minister, giuseppe conte. thomas: just who has made mario draghi's final cuts, and more importantly, perhaps, what challenges do they face? >> as you mentioned, only about eight ministers are womeout of the 23-memberabinet that has been put forward, but it is interesting to note there are 15

politicians as opposed to eight technocratic figures. you have a technocrat that has been put in this position and that's not the first time this has happened in italy, but in this case, mario draghi has picked political figures. it is also imrtant to not that there icontinuity. you have the health minister, a key figure dealing with the pandemic, continuing his role, but also the interior minister, foreign minister, as well as the culture minister the same as in the previous cabinet. you are seeing theeturn of some key figures that we may remember from berlusconi's government that have come to cabinet posions for the lead party as well as the centerleft democratic party. it is interesting to note that you've got scientists -- a physicist that will be leading a new ministry, the ministry of ecological transition, as it has been dubbed, looking at issues

of the environment, as well as a key figure of the economy being taken by the bank of italy. ts of technocrats, but clrly they are having to deal with the dual issues of the health crisis and the vaccination program that really needs to be kicked off in a big way as well as the financial situation, bearing in mind that the country is receiving more than 200 billion euros from the european union in terms of recovery funds to deal with the economic impact of the pandemic. lots at stake here, but mario draghi -- clearly many believe he is the right man to do with this crisis. thomas: thank you very much. moving on, already at post-cold war lowe's, but relations could -- they are already a post-cold

war -- they are already at post-cold war lows, but relations between italy and russia could sink even lower. the 47 members of the united nations' human rights council have adopted a resolution without a vote which demands the restoration of the elected government in myanmar and the immediate release of all persons detained. this as a military takeover continues to attract huge crowds of demonstrators for this friday's protests, the biggest to date. >> a message of defiance aimed at me's military leaders. -- myanmar's military leaders. hundreds of thousands of people are thought to have heated calls

to demonstrate across the country. they are determined to show they are not afraid. >> [speaking foreign-language] >> [speaking foreign language] >> in the southeast of myanmar, a tense standoff between police and protesters turned chaotic. that as the united nations said live rounds may also have been used against protesters. >> there's photographic evidence that myanmar secury forces used live ammunition against protesters. >> a letter sent by hundreds of

lawmakers sent to the united nations human rights council called for the investigation of human rights abuses. >> since february 2021, grave human rights violations have been committed. >> calls now to target military leaders themselves, but it is still unclear which way china or russia would cast their vote. thomas: turning now to business headlines. we have catherine bennett from our business desk. starting with the latest news on the u.k. economy with figures showing a shocking decline. >> that's right. the u.k. is in its largest economic slump on record. to put it in perspective, it is the worst collapse since 1709, due to the double rally of the covid-19 pandemic and brexit,

which dragged down household spending and business spending in the country. this is the u.k. experience is the highest covid-19 death toll europe. >> it twice as deep as the rgest annual fall on record according to -- it is twice as deep as the largest nus fall on record according to new figures -- it is twice as deep as the largest annual fall on record according to new figures. >> it is definitely in line to slightly better than projections, and employment performance is better than most of our international peers. >> however, the figures are start whichever way you cut them. data from the bank of england indicates the worst economic contraction in over 300 years

with only the bank of russia coming close. it is mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen nonessential businesses shuttered and the population driven into repeated lockdowns. despite a slight rebound in the fourth quarter, the nation's departure from the eu has also had a corrosive effect on the economy, leaving the country worse off than other industrialized nations. the government is facing the highest amount of debt since world war ii, but it has prevented mass unemployment with the finance ministry set to unveil new jobs in the economy next month. catherine: in the u.s., economic inequality is getting worse. americans are earning the same amount in wages as they did before the start of the pandemic, even though in that time, 829 million americans lost their jobs. last year, people in the u.s.

earned 9.66 trillion dollars in wages and salaries. as the crisis deepened, the number dipped, but then recovered by december where it reached $9.7 trillion. it shows that people with more precarious jobs -- shiftwork, part-time work, and low-paying jobs -- the ones who suffered the most during the pandemic. of the 10 million jobs lost during the crisis, almost half of them were in low-paying sectors like hospitality and entertainment, but that has made a dent in -- but data shows the wages of high income earners have remained steady or increased. the dow jones closed up 0.09% while the s&p 500 and nasdaq closed up .5% after said -- setting record highs in the previous session.

european stocks also entered -- ended higher. the footsie closed up 1%. the cac around -- the ftse closed up 1%. a dating app with a feminist slap has turned a ceo into a billionaire. bumble launched its ipo this week to great fanfare. that turned its boss into the world's youngest self-made female billionaire. >> i would like to thank the remarkable women who paved the way for bumble in public markets. by supporting and championing each other, we can break down barriers for the next generation of women and other marginalized communities. we cannot wait to cheer them on. catherine: out of 559 companies to go public in the past year, only three, including bumble, work founded by women.

according to the bloomberg indian -- according to the bloomberg index, self-made -- we talk about inequality in salaries, there's still a vast gender gap even at the top of the world's richest list. even if you are rich, you are still struck by gender parity. thomas: indeed. thank you very much. today's focus report is dedicated to france's race to protect the nation from covid-19. the pharmaceutical companies that were once leading the pack when it comes to vaccine development are now trailing. that means the focus has shifted

to one little startup. >> a year into the global pandemic, all hopes of seeing a french maid vaccine against covid-19 are on this firm, a franco austrian biotech based in western france. it's vaccine candidate uses the traditional technology already used against the flu. >> we decided to usehe virus to complement other technologies developed including mrna, life vaccines, and viral vector vaccines. we chose this technology because it is well known and safe. it can be used for pregnant women, children, and elderly people. >> but there's a catch -- once approved, the first doses will

not be delivered to france or europe but to the u.k. the first country to have support the project. >> the u.k. was the first to show interest in our vaccine because they believed in the technology. it is also because of some of our production lines are in scotland. naturally, they were interested in boosting that factory and quickly made a financial offer. what is missing in france and europe are sizable venture capital firms. we would need to have 20 to 30 funds like in the united states to take risks and fund the last stages of political trials so that biotech companies can go all the way, remain independent and make sure their products hit the market. >> a situation that has already pushed some of the most brilliant fridge scientists to move abroad, like the head of the u.s. biotech moderna. lack of investment is not the only force slowing innovation.

>> for decades in france, politicians from across the board have asked pharmaceutical companies to pay for a huge part of the country'seficit related to national health insurance. this forces companies to find cheaper ways to manufacture eir products in ireland, scotland, or further outside the country like india. there is already a brain drain, and now we are letting our industrial know-how escape us as well. it's dreadful. >> several weeks ago, france's pasteur institute decided to drop its most promising candidate based on the measles vaccine because of its lack of efficacy. the institute said bad luck was to blame. >> a number of technologies are global pandemic. the midst of a

some will beffective. others will not. the lack of effectiveness of vaccines can be linked to a design of the antigen. maybe our design was different from others. maybe it was not right. >> the pasteur institute is criticized for having made a safe that instead of favoring partnerships with startups specializing in cutting edge technologies. it also suffers from structural weakness when it comes to clinical trials. in specialized research, it lacks preclinical capabilities. >> we can ask ourselves why modernity started clinical trials in mah 2020, why we only started in august. oxford, for instance, had manufacturing facilities, so they don't have to rely on another company, meaning they

can move forward faster. >> the pastor institute is still working on two other vaccine projects -- the pasteur institut the french pharmaceutical company had come under criticism last may after announcing the u.s. would get first access to their future vaccine, this after the french firm secured a $2.1 billion grant from u.s. federal agency barda. they announced a delay in their program, but they are to restart face two of their clinical trial -- phase two of their clinical trial. >> t race to develop a vaccine is not over. first, we need to vaccinate the entireorld population. we need to develop more affordable vacnes for countries that cannot buy them d make sure they can be transported easily. the second issue is the fact

that new variant strains are appearing. >> pfizer and moderna are confident they will -- confident they will be able to update their vaccine to resist these new variant strains. it's looking more like a marathon than a sprint. thomas: it's time for a break from "live from paris" here on france 24.

02/12/21 02/12/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. if you don't find this a high crime and misdemeanor today, you have set a new terrible standard for presidential misconduct in the united states of america. amy: democratic house impeachment managers urge senators to convict donald trump

as they wrap up their opening