>> welcome to "live from paris," world news analysis on france 24. i'm mark owen. these are the top stories. in germany, compulsory vaccination considered for february with world leaders considering omicron the main forward to recovery. the outgoing chancellor recalled her younger days.

the u.s. steps up its rhetoric morning pressure over its military presence at the eastern ukraine border. in moscow, equipment spokesperson says conflict there is probable despite washington's words. this is "live from paris." thank you very much for being with us. germany is banning those who are not vaccinated from bars, restaurants, shops, and sports facilities. authorities say they are taking these drastic steps to try to ease the next wave of covid-19 infection. angela merkel, germany's mother figure and outgoing chancellor, has called it an act of passion and solidarity.

joe biden has uniled a winter plan against covid-19 as a second case of the new variant has been identified. the u.s. president is urging more people to seek vaccination against omicron. 40 million americans have had a booster. 100 million more are eligible but have yet to take up the jab. >> the omicron variant, we have just two cases reported here in the united states, but as i explained on monday, this new variant is cause for concern but not panic. we know there will be cases of omicron in the united states, and it is here, but we have the best tools, the best vaccines in the world, the best scientists. we are going to fight this with science and speed, not chaos.

mark: germany taking what looks like drastic action, basically banning people from public life effectively if they don't get vaccination. what health organizations as the omicron variant has been found in 24 countries across the world. in south africa where omicron was first identified, infections are rising quickly, though it is worth noting at a far lower level than figures we are seeing right now in europe where, of course, the delta variant is still prevalent. >> and omicron outbreak at a christmas party in norway. cases of community spread in iceland, india, and u.k. this new variant is already in every corner of the globe. scientists say it will not be long before omicron overtakes delta. >> there will be some time before omicron establishes

itself in france and europe in general. we at the scientific council estimate it will be dominant more or less by the beginning of 2022. >> the eu health agency says omicron is believed to be more contagious than previous strains. the various is also believed to be responsible for the recent surge in cases in south africa. >> we believe that vaccines will stall and protect against disease. >> the focus is on preparing for battle to limit omicron's impact. the united states is launching and urging -- an urgent testing and booster campaign. germany placing heavy restrictions on the unvaccinated and considering a nationwide vaccine mandate. the who is boosting efforts in

south africa. >> we're mobilizing $12 million to support vaccinations in countries across the region for the next three months. >> health officials say there is no cause for panic and that the best offense against omicron remains vaccination, social distancing, and frequen testing. mark: let's broaden our analysis. we are joined by an epidemiologist at the university of applied sciences in hamburg. thanks for being with us. germany effectively forcing out of public life, it seems, the unvaccinated. do you think this is the right thing to do? >> it is on approach, it is a nextstep in trying to limit the spread of the virus as we are in a very difficult situation with lots and lots of cases being reported every day for the last several weeks now.

mark: there is a political angle to this, a scientific angle to this, and i'm not trying to push you into a political assessment but rather a scientific assessment, which is what we really value from you. in terms of germany's decision to keep unvaccinated people from bars, restaurants can the -- bars, restaurants, and the like, is that the right thing to do? >> this is an important question. from a scientific, epidemiological point of view, there are questions about if this is strong enough. these are steps that would have been very useful some months ago , but now with this enormous wave of cases at the moment, they might be not even strong enough. >> that kind of follows on what the world health organization has been saying regarding cancellation of flights in and out of southern africa,

basically closing down of things like air travel will not stop omicron from crossing borders, will it? >> no, it is only there to buy us some time so we are there to -- so we are able to prepare a little bit better. but we are not able to stop it from coming here and spreading here. mark: do you mind if i ask you about joe biden's plan? 40 million have had a booster jab in the united states. 100 million are eligible and have not taken up the opportunity. would you urge them to do so, to actually go and get a booster jab? is that the best thing they can do? >> there are two things to do -- get vaccinated and get a booster jab and the second is lower your contacts. in the winter season, the spread of the virus is much stronger than other parts of the year.

mark: it is something people do not want to hear -- you cannot go out, you cannot socialize, you cannot go to christmas parties, you cannot get together. it kind of brings back what happened last year. it transpired the conservative government were holding their own parties behind closed doors. i will not ask you to comment on that, but what i am going to ask you to comment on is the situation regarding africa. whilst the rest -- whilst the west is getting a booster, africa is still largely unvaccinated, and this also will play into this problem going forward with omicron. >> yes, and this is certainly also causing a lot of problems in western countries because the more the virus can spread, the easier it can mutate and the faster it can come back like a boomerang like we are seeing at the moment. mark: so to come full circle back to germany.

germany has had a low vaccination object. why is that? do you think this will change with new variant? >> this is a very complex question. lots of factors influencing this. mistrust in government in some parts of eastern germany and so on, and with the new decisions, thgovernnt at the moment is trying everything to convince people to come up and get vaccinated. that is one of the things we can actively really do to stop the spread. mark: thank you very much indeed for sharing your analysis here on france 24. an analyst at the university of applied sciences in hamburg. thank you very much indeed for joining us. next, angela merkel bidding farewell to public office, leader -- leaving to the sound

of a song by the godmother of german punk. when burkle lived in east germany, she said the -- merkel lived in east germany, and she said the song reminded her of her younger days. >> standing here in front of your today, i feel humility and gravity above all. humility before the office that i was allowed to exercise for so long, and gratitude for the trust i was allowed to experience. i was always aware that trust is the most important asset in politics. this is anything but self-evident, and for that, i thank you from the bottom of my heart. mark: angela merkel, outgoing german chancellor, reflecting on her time in office. she leaves officially today. russia and the united states are

on a collision course over a border conflict in ukraine. a special meeting in sweden between u.s. secretary of state antony blinken and russian foreign minister sergei lavrov, strong warning for russia to stay away from ukraine, blinken waing if russia decides to pursue conflict with ukraine, there will be serious consequences, adding that the best way to avoid a crisis is diplomacy. they reply coming from moscow, the kremlin spokesperson saying the probability of conflict remains high. let's hear from both lavrov and blinken. >> they still seek to escalate the situation along our borders, and nato refuses to work with us on easing tensions. we propose specific measures in this regard, and the military potential in eastern europe and

close to russian borders is increasing. every day, we hear statements, vociferous statements with threats against russia, which, of course, reflects the oecd. >> ukraine is in no way a threat to russia. the only threat is that of renewed russian aggression toward ukraine. it is now on russia to de-escalate the current tensions by reversing the recent troop buildup, returning forces to normal, and refraining from further attempts to destabilize ukraine. mark: pope francis is urging unity as europe faces an influx of refugees and migrants are the pontiff spoke on a major mediteanean isla, the site

of many seeking safety. francis is the second pope to visit the advent of cyprus after benedict xvi. france's center-right party are a step closer to their presidential nomination. they now face off in a second vote, the results of which will be announced on saturday. >> in a vote restricted to card-carrying party members, the hardline candidate came out on top. tough on immigration and nationalistic, he believes he is the man to reverse what he perceives to be france's decline.

>> i wanted this campaign to be about reality, the reality of a country in the process of being downgraded, in decline and about clarity in our alliances. we will never ally with macron, and about being brave enough to break from the past. >> the second round starts this friday. the paris regional president represents the historic party line -- economically liberal but still tough when it comes to executive rule. >> for several months now, i have been traveling across france, and i have noticed an irrepressible urge for pride, for order, but also for justice and freedom. i feel backed by the french citizens who demand respect, truth, and action. >> she has already received the backing of the three eliminated first round candidates, but whoever comes out victorious at the end of the second round

saturday will have to unify a party divided between hardliners and moderates and still scarred by the first-round exit of its candidate in 2017. mark: tennis stars have thrown their support behind a move to suspend tournaments in china. the olympic chief said thursday they held a second video call with her, expressing enduring serious doubts about the safety of a player who accused the former chinese leader of sexual assault and has not been seen since. archaeologists in peru working on a site in the outskirts of the capital, lima. it is believed to be between 8000 and 102 years old, and surprisingly, it was bound with rope. the remains are believed to be

of a man 18 to 20 years old who was hung. the dig site about 24 kilometers east of lima. >> we think this is a person who came here for commercial purposes because this was a large urban center. the materials he was buried with indicate he was a person involved with agriculture. the remains of maize and other agricultural products have been found as well as some guinea pigs. smart: -- mark: the u.s. once again facing a shut. >> congress now has until midnight on friday to approve another spending bill. leaders of both parties say they

have reached another short-term deal which would fund federal agencies through mid-february and avert a partial shutdown this weekend. the bill does need to be voted through both houses of congress and signed into law. separately, lawmakers will also have to reach an agreement on the government's borrowing limit. e treasury department says it ll tas defaultinon or around december 15 if the debt ceiling is not lifted or suspended. another volatile session for global markets. wall street has rebounded from wednesday's late selloff. the dow jones adding 600 points at the close. singapore-based app grab made its debut on the nasdaq. shares actually slumped 20% on its first day of trading. the ride hailing app and delivery company has been valued at around $40 billion. the major european indices closed lower. oil prices did rise today as opec and russia decided to keep to their agreed schedule on the

release of crude oil. china has taken a step towards returning the bowen -- boeing 737 max to operation there. the 73 seven max fleet was grounded around the world in 2019 i'll two deadly crashes involving -- grounded around the world in 2019 after two deadly crashes in which 246 people died. finance minister resigned overnight, one of the few top officials to publicly disagree with president erdogan's unorthodox and increasingly heavy-handed policies. erdogan has ordered a series of interest rate cuts, despite soaring inflation. economists generally agree that higher interest rates help to stabilize inflation by

encouraging consumers to save rather than spend. the new prime minister said he agreed with erdogan's mission of the economy and would not try to change course. jasper mortimer said the turkish public is increasingly fed up with spiraling prices. >> what erdogan hopes is that by keeping -- pushing interest rates down, he will generate growth, stimulate exports, factories will expand and employ more people. he will create jobs. unemployment is more than 4 million at the moment. however, his plan may not work out. turkey imports more than it exports. manufacturers will not be able to import the new machines, the new raw materials that they need to expand because the lira has fallen so low. when elections are held in 18 months' time, voters may not be

thinking of the jobs that have been created, but the price rises they have suffered. >> authorities in scotland have encouraged people to work from home where possible as the omicron variant of covid-19 continues to spread, but many employers have been trying to tempt workers back to the office in recent months as nick rushworth explains. >> to get staff back in the office, it is an option some employers have taken. this company, an investment firm, is offering drama classes. other companies are offering office parties with beer and food laid out. this company, a consultancy firm, is offering 1200 euros per employee forll its staff to return to staff -- to return to the office two or three days per week. >> our leadership gave us a token spot bonus to get back to the office.

>> initiatives to potentially buy a bicycle to travel to the office, so, yes, very much welcome. >> some staff who adopted dogs during the lockdown. >> give him kind of consistent attention throughout the day and also bring him in to work where he is with other dogs was such a relief. to know that i'm also saving on dog walkers and stuff like that is such a relief. quick these employees are getting tips from a nutritionist, and the canteen is more like a trendy restaurant. >> absolutely delicious. over here, we have chefs working in our kitchen on some lovely, nutritious food. >> employees have come back to the firm for at least one day a

week. some are asking for more. mark: yes, i would bring the doctor work. of course i would. any time you have a dog at work, it is a far happier place. >> and noisier. mark: yes, but happier. a bit of chaos, wouldn't it? thank you very much indeed. kate moody there with the business. there we go. are we truthing or are we faking , that's the question? the company now called meta-that used to be called facebook. >> facebook's metta published a threat report yesterday where they removed 700 accounts worldwide. they blocked a network of users using fake profiles to mislead people. one example in their report, 141

facebook pages in the gaza strip home to the how muscat. these groups would post things favoring hamas. aware of any israeli activity anyway. what stands out is the support they are finding on the belarus and polish migrant crisis. they found the belarusian kg d used fake accounts to purposely insight tension. they were posing as journalists or activists using artificial intelligence, and some examples of their posts here, of videos of alleged polish border guards using force against migrants, or this picture to the left of a

migrant inciting people to demonstrate. all in all, very worrying coordinated efforts from official organization to push certain political agendas on social media. mark: you open social media and find everybody everywhere has an agenda. we have seen on our channel polish border guards using water cannon, so that's not quite as far from the mark as other things that perhaps are. >> what is important here was what account it came from. it was from accounts that were using, for example, artificial intelligence to post this. if it came from a fake account, that is when they would delete these posts. mark: the observer seem has reported on a similar issue. you dealt with that one. what was the airline ceo hit in

the face with something earlier today. did i imagine that? >> he was hit in the face with a pie on twitter. the ceo of qantas being hit in the face with a pie during a briefing. the #that goes with it, no mandatory vaccines right here, so let's take a closer look. >> since i've been here to announce the -- [beep] i don't know what that was about. excuse me. i might take a break for a second and clean up. mark: if it is real or fake, it is still funny getting hit in the face with a pie. what was that about? >> it is being miss captioned. it has been shared various times

on socl media, but it was actually video from 2017. it occurred in retaliation to s views on same-sex marriage, so the clip made various headlines on cnn business insider as well, but we have had many examples of this where people are posting videos out of context to spread also narratives on vaccination, which is a hot topic right now. mark: so he was pied because he was a bigot, not because of his covid policies. >> he supported same-sex marriage. mark: we got to the bottom of that. mark: thank you for throwing some light. more to come here live from paris.

12/02/21 12/02/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> arguing the constitution's silence and therefore neutral on abortions, in other words, the constitution is neither pro-life or pro-choice, believes for the issue of the people perhaps congress to resolve and the democratic process. is that accurate? >> we are