berlin. germany loses 100,000 people to covid-19 and hospitals are struggling to care for patients as the country sees another record number of new infections. sounding the alarm. scientists in south africa say they found a new covid-19 variant with a high number of mutations, which could bypass our immune response. a controversial new leader for

the world crime-fighting body interpol. nmr body general is elected even though he is accused of torture in faces criminal complaints in multiple countries. beatles feds, get ready to get back. -- beatles fans, get ready to get back. ♪ a new series reveals never before seen footage from the band's final weeks together, casting light on why the fab four broke up at the top of their game. ♪ welcome to the program. we begin here in germany where covid-19 deaths have exceeded 100,000. in just a few weeks, the situation has taken a turn for the worse with germany being one of 14 countries to reach that figure.

the death rate hit a peak last winter and fell away during summer. three weeks ago, infections and fatalities began to rise sharply once again. health authorities say hospitals are facing an acute overload and some patients are being transferred to other regions to ease the strain in the hardest hit ars. each day brings a record number of new infections. germany's outgoing chancellor acknowledged the significance of the milestone earlier today. >> it is of course a very bad day -- a very sad today when we mourn 100,000 covid-19 victims. unfortunately, we are losing more than 300 people each day to the virus. that correlates with the number of infections. we know how many people on average do not survive this disease. >> let's bring in the dw political correspondent.

let's start with the coronavirus. what is the new government going to do to tackle this growing fourth wave? >> olaf scholz, incoming government in waiting is very clear the pandemic is the first thing they are going to have to deal with. in this worsening situation around germany with the health care system really under pressure and patients fighting for their lives, being transferred to hospitals around germany where there are free beds available. a really serious situation. they will have to get on top of it quickly when they come into power, which might not be for another two weeks. olaf scholz saying he is going to set up a special crisis committee to deal with covid bringing together experts in the different government departments within the chancellery. under his direct supervision.

it will have top priority. chancellor merkel saying she is ready to support that now during the transition to start setting that up. all this amid the discussions in germany about the possibility of compulsory vaccinations. the new government will definitely want to look at that in the case of old people's homes and care homes and tickle settings. they are not so sure. they will look at the tighter restrictions introduced in germany last week in couple of weeks and make decisions going forward. it will be the first headache for them to face. >> the first major challenge for the new government did it does not really exist yet. -- government but it does not really exist yet. the green party started to approve the coalition deal but they seem to have hit some roadblocks. >>. the green party were launching the process today by which they are going to ask their

membership, 125,000 members whether they support the plant coalition. we expect that will be and nodded through because there is a lot of green content. they also wanted to announce who is going to get the various green run ministries any the new government because they want the members to sign off on that. there are clearly some battles within the party. a name that has been mentioned is a former leader of the party. the southwest is one of the real green strongholds. he has turkish roots. all the people say he would be an ideal foreign minister at least in the cabinet. what are we seeing -- what we are seeing is an old-fashioned power struggle. it is a battle between the idealistic and the more pragmatist wings of the green party. that is coming a day after this new government presenting itself as something new saying it wanted to do politics differently and work for the

better. it does not look good. it shows a green party in something of a disarray. they would need to talk about these personnel questions for another few hours. if it goes on for too long, it could delay the introduction of the new government. we cannot really afford that in pandemic times. >> thanks for this. scientists in south africa are warning of a new strain of covid-19. the variant, which is yet to be named, appears to have a high number of mutations and that is of concern because there is a possibility it could be able to evade our immune response and the even more transmissible. south africa has called for an emergency meeting of the world health organization to discuss this new variant. will go directly to our dw correspondent in cape town. how concerned are scientists about this new variant?

>> local scienst here today held a press briefing and they say they are very concerned mainly because of an unusual constellation of mutations in this new variant. the new variant was discovered -- has more than 30 mutations. if you discover -- if you compare to the beta variant, discovered in south africa a year ago. that only has three mutations. this is a reason for concern because that could possibly mean the virus uld spread easier to people. it could evade the immune response. the big question is are the current vaccines protecting against the new variant? so far, only 22 cases recorded. more testing will happen. we will have more details. scientists indicated they are optimistic the current vaccines that are available at this point are also helping with this new mutation when it comes to protecting against severe disease. >> south africa is battling an increase in infections.

is there any relation to this new variant? >> very unlikely because scientists warned of a fourth wave to com between december and january many weeks ago what we clearly see now is the number of casesncreasing. we have seen 1200 new infections. earlier this month, we had about 100 new infections. there is a fourth wave coming. it is still too early to tell if it is related. it is summer here. summer is starting in south africa so people are hoping t fourth wave will not be as bad as previous waves. ings are slowly getting back to normal here for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic tourists are back in ce town. life is slowly getting back to normal so people are a bit worried they are hoping summer will help not making the fourth wave as bad. >> the delta variant is the one top of most people's minds. could it be that this variant

could be added to the world health organization's list of variants of concern? >> i is quite likely to happen. people here are very scared about the consequences. i mentioned it earlier when the beta advair -- beta varit was discovered in south africa, it was labeled the south african variant although it was never proven it originated from south africa. it was just detected here. same thing with the current variant. the consequences were terrible for the economy. tourists went down big time. it was a big hit for the economy and south africa is still recovering. theres a massive unemployment cris. there is a potty -- a poverty isis. in other variant, that is very bad. that will bring more restrictions. that could be a big problem for south africa once again . >> reporting from cape town.

thank you. let's look at the other stores we are following. russian authorities have caught up -- have called off a search for miners trapped underground after an explosion of a coal mine in siberia. the death toll has risen to 52 including rescue workers. more than 200 people were brought to safety. bangladesh has sent a further -- refugees to the bay of bengal. the government began transporting people a year ago and says the island can accommodate 100,000 inhabitants. pope francis is in lebanon where he met with prime minister -- the prime minister and promised to help the country rise up from difficult economic times. the pope offered diplomatic support for lebanon, which has not recovered from a devastating financial collapse in 2019.

uber drivers blocked a main road in the heart of brussels protesting a court decision that will ban their services in the e.u. capital. the court ruled private individuals could not offer taxi services and the ridesharing company says it will cease operation starting friday. the french government says it is increasing patrols in the english channel after 27 people including women and children died in the rough waters as they tried to reach the united kingdom by boat could. -- by boat. the incident has led london and paris to blame each other for the deaths. our correspondent spoke with people hoping to cross the channel. >> he left iraq six weeks ago having traveled through turkey, greece, serbia and austria, he has paid thousands of euros to get to france. he hopes he will soon make it to the u.k..

>> i have problems in iraq. i have no idea where my close family are. the only people have left our relatives in britain so i am going there. >> he is one of hundreds of men, women and children stuck in makeshift camps up and down the coast, which are regularly destroyed by french police. many of them, us asking about it was the first time they had heard of the 27 people who drowned. people are charged 5000 euros by smugglers if they successfully cross the 31 kilometers straight to britain. on top of these waters being dirty and treacherous, this is also the busiest shipping channel in the world. until now, that has not prevented people from boarding flimsy boats and trying to make their way to the u.k. over 25,000 people have survived the crossing this year.

at a nearby center which coordinates aid support for the refugees, they say e.u. rules which stipulate a person must apply for asylum in the first country they enter our contributing to the situation. >> they cannot apply for asylum in france. this is their last chance is -- >> this part of the coast has been the front line of the battle between the u.k. and france on this issue since the calais jungle camp sprung up in 2015. the deaths at sea have returned focus. the crisis has never been put out. >> the world crime-fighting body interpol has elected a controversial new president. the m roddy general has been elected every three rounds of voting. human rights groups accuse him of being involved in torture and arbitrary detentions. he is facing committal complaints in five countries including france where interpol

is headquartered. some of those say he self -- they suffered under his watch. >> alee was imprisoned in the united arab emirates for 20 days. the trauma lasts forever. he was arrested and tortured he says for wearing a qatar shirt at a football match. >> my teeth fell down because of punch. i have been stuck inside prison to i was lucky to survive. interrogated days and nights. handcuffed facing the wall. it was a tough timfor me. >> matthew has a similar story. the brit was in the united arab emirates researching his phd when he was detained. he was accused of spying and held in solitary confinement for nearly seven months. >> they forced a cocktail of

medication on me, which was like tranquilizer medication to keep me calm and sleeping. they threatened me with physical violence. it is all very unsettling. i tried to commit suicide a few months later. >> both of them blame this man for their ordeal. he is the inspector general at the uae interior ministry and as such, he is also responsible for what happens inside the countries prisons. they want him to be tried in court. instead, he just became the new head of interpol. >> there is no reasonable conclusion to suggest that him or anyone from the uae should be anywhere near the interpol presidency because they do not abid by the standards of international justice and accountability.

>> interpol met in his temple this week to elect a new president. it is the world's largest police organization. 190 five member states commit to coordinating cross-border searches for criminals. if interpol issues a written notice, an international arrest warrant, there is at least in theory barely a spot on earth where the subject can rest easy. there were several candidates for the top job with the organization elected him. the uae categorically rejects the accusations leveled against him. interpol did not respond to the specific allegations. they sent us this written statement. >> it is the general assembly interpol's governing body which elects members of the executive committee. it would be inappropriate for the general secretariat to comment on any of the candidates. >> a lawyer represents them to

he filed a criminal complaint in turkey. >> we are saying the right decision would be to open a case and arrest him for these crimes. where there is sufficient evidence, look to prosecute those crimes under universal jurisdiction. >> this is what they hope for. the idea that men in whom they see their torturer becomes the world's leading police officer is unbearable to them. >> let's get some reaction on this story. i'm joined by the legal director for the ngo fair trial. welcome to the show. the new president received two thirds of the vote to become the new head of interpol. can you help us understand how this could happen given all the controversy around him? >> the first thing to bear in mind is that the role of the president of interpol is largely

a ceremonial role. a largely symbolic role in that they have no real influence over the day-toay operations of the organization. it is very difficult to speculate how exactly the individuals elected given that there is no transparency whatsoever regarding the process of elections and there is no meaningful scrutiny of the candidates for the presidency. it is up to speculation how it is that he was elected into this role. >> you say it is mostly a ceremonial position but critics are still worried he is taking on such a prime position within the agency and potentially authoritarian governments could have greater influence. are you concerned about that? >> as i mentioned, the

day-to-day organizations -- day-to-day operations at the organization rests with the secretary-general. at the same time, i do sympathize fully with the concerns that are being expressed. given that this is a largely ceremonial role. appearances do matter greatly. at a time when interpol is trying as much as it can to improve its systems to demonstrate its commitment to human rights and physical neutrality, it sends the wrong message. we have to remember this as an individual who was being accused of torture. this is an international crime. we are right to be questioning this decision. how can the leader of the world's police be someone who is being accused of an international crime especially

after having experienced another individual having- there was a previous president of interpol who was arrested for corruption charges. it definitely sends the wrong message that interpol member countries are indifferent to these human rights abuses. it is something we need to be concerned about. >> i do want to ask you, there have and reports of interpol being misused in the past. his new event -- this new appointment is not the only cause for concern. what is your organization doing? >> that faraz has been working for many years to document the abuse of interpol and red notices, which are alerts used by countries to track down fugitives for the purpose of an arrest or an extradition.

unfortunately, these tools in many cases become tools for exporting persecution. we found many pple who are subject to red notices are political dissidents. that is becoming an increasing problem now that syria has regained access to the red notice system, which puts thousands of refugees and people in exile at serious risk. >> the legal director at fair trial. we appreciate it. marine scientists have witnessed a spectacular phenomenon at australia's great barrier reef. billions of baby corals in the making. the corals are fertilizing their offspring by releasing spohn into the specific ocean off the coast of queensland. it is an extraordinary event that lasts for t or three days. take a look.

>> it is a resurction many feared they might neve see. the spning of new le in australia's fast coral reefs. scientists are witnessing an explosion of coral fertilization. the reef releasing's berm and eggs into the ocean to reproduce. the coral normally procreates a sexuly wh incidents like this a rarity marine biology. the event is expected to last two to three days and a marine scientist described it as a where occurrence and the largest sexual event on the planet to >> the bait barrier has such a unique text to great barrier has such a unique ecosystem. it is still a unique event. from a, the best way to explain it, there is nothing else like it on the planet. >> the reef network has suffered

from several enormous bleaching events. a process of losing its color and vitality owing to unusual high ocean temperature. only 32% of australia's great barrier reef remains unaffected by bleaching. bu scientists are cautiously optimistic that this rebirth is a sign the coral is healing. >> to the italian city of naples where football fans are paying tribute to their hero one year after his passing. a bronze statue has been unveiled to celebrate football legend diego mayor donna who led the city's team to two league titles. he is idolized in the southern italian city. a year after his death, the near life-size figure was placed in front of the stadium that nell bears his name. -- that now bears his name. fans of the beatles wilbe

disappointed. ♪ a new documentary chricling the weeks leading uto their final impromptu public concert is available online. the long anticipated three-part series promises hours of unseen footage and aims to put a more positive spin on the famous breakup. ♪ let's bring in scott. they are not going to be disappointed. is that right? ? i don't think anybody who loves the beatles or even those vaguely interested will be disappointed by this documentary series. even if you are not a beetle maniac and don't have to binge watch the series, just the

inside look peter jackson gives with this footage -- this recovered footage of more than 60 hou of film footage based on the 21 days that were put together in a studio to make the album b. it is such anncredible inside look at the beatles that i'd think anyone would be impressed. it is almost as if you create a reality tv series starring the beatles. it is such an in-depth look at them in this key point of their creative lives. >> so many hours of never before seen footage. for diehard fans, what are they going to find out they did not already know before? >> as you mentioned, this documentary is a correction of the documentary the footage was

shot four. it pretrade the making of this album as a toxic moment. this documentary series is a correction to that because it does show discord and hence that things are not well with paul, john, george and ringo but it gives a more subtle view of their creative process and dives deep into showing how the beatles made their music and showing the collective genius that was created when these four guys got into a room and started jamming. it is an incredible look at the special chemistry that me the beatles so incredible. anyone who is not a fan should take a look at thiand understand why everyone else is so crazy. >> this material has been hidden for decades. what took soong? >> it was sort of forgotten. it was laying at apple studios. until peter jackson happened to visit the studio and ask them what about all that footage shot

for that documentary 50 years ago? where is it? he was amazed by what he saw an convinced apple to let him -- get into it and make this documentary series. it is all down to peter jackson and his own beatles obsession. >> thank you very much, scott. you are watching dw news. i will take you through the day in just a moment. stay with us. ♪

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mark: welcome to "live from paris," both news and analysis from france 24. the worst ever micro-disaster of the french coast. 27 drowned after setting off in a rough dinghy trying to cross one of the busiest stretches in the world. a new announcement from the fridge health minister is there are another 30,000 cases of covid announced this thursday.