>> this is dw news. live from berlin. germany reports its first omicron related death. this is one of 3000 confirmed cases of the new variant. also on the program, while many african countries struggle to get their hands on vaccines, authorities and nigeria can't

get them into arms. a put in uses his 17th annual press conference for pete's demands that nato will not allow ukraine to join. commemorating protesters killed by chinese troops. this culture tells dw he plans to respond. -- protester tells dw how he plans to respond. so far, the country has confirmed more than 3000 cases of the new variant. the number of new omicron

infections jumped by 25%. u.k. health authorities are reported -- have reported a record 20,000 coronavirus cases. the new variant may result in 50 have an 70% fewer hospitalizations than delta. let's look at this with dr. mohammed. however liable is this data? >> we all have a modeling debt. the people who have been infected with omicron have been compared with what has been the situation with the delta variant and based on that it was concluded that the severity of the diseases -- disease is very low.

but there is a caveat in that most of the data collected from people who are young, 40 years old, that is where omicron has been a lot. brent: mild is an interesting word. i wonder if you might worry that this news might cause people to take it less serioly. >> i think that is my major worry out of this data. we don't have that information at the moment. even if it is proven to be

lighter -- people having unknown vulnerabilities, they might have a different outcome. i think that moving forward, we have to be really cautious. brent: the world health organization has argued against rich countries offering third or fourth shots while much of the world population has yet to get there first. >> giving the virus more opportunity to spread.

these are in unvaccinated people. not on boosted people. >> where are you on boosters? >> i think we cannot emphasize enough how important it io distribu the vaccine because until we immunize people in that country, the possibility of this variant is to mute it more and more. that is where we are living on this -- in this pandemic. we have to think about as a global scale.

they need to be given doses at the same time. brent: as people go into holidays at this time of year, what is your advice on how to best keep safe and stay healthy? >> we see that ocron is very good at spreading within the community. that means we have to be extremely cautious. you need to have rapid testing. if you are negative, go and meet your family. keep your circulation low and keep your rooms ventilated. >> the spread of the omicron variant has governments around the world spreading -- struggling to vaccinate people -- scrambling to vaccinate as many people as possible.

authorities in nigeria just had to throw away more than one million doses. >> this is not just any waste. these boxes contain out of date vaccine files that have been fully immunized over half a million people. >> some covid-19 doses donated by wealthy countries were close to the end of their shelf life. >> we are cognizant of the fact that there are a lot of other challenges that we would have to overcome. >> nigeria has been experiencing a spike in infections. officials have set a target of

fully vaccinating 55 million of the over 200 million citizens before february of next year. before that, trust in the vaccination campaign is key. >> so far, less than 4% of nigeria's addled population has been fully vaccinated. the only way to avoid a repeat of these images is to get jabs in arms as quickly as possible. >> in the city of minneapolis, kim potter has been found guilty of manslaughter. this is in a case that has reopened racial divisions where

george floyd was killed. >> on the charge of manslaughter well committing a misdemeanor, we find the defendant guilty. >> this decision was made by the jury after three days of deliberation. they were convicted of first and second-degree manslaughter. she claimed that she shot mr. wright while axing up her firearm with her taser. we will bring you more stories making headlines around the world. several western countries have condemned the use of sexual violence as a weapon and demanded as an independent investigation to be carried out.

mr. mazzuca was tried in his accident -- absence and has been describing president assad' s paragraph -- sayid's paragraph as a coup. >> this novelist, playwright and essayist were -- was not for her descriptions of the counterculture in the 1960's. has much to do more to resettle thousands of local staff left in afghanistan in the country fell to the taliban. she says she wants to reduce red tape and reopen evacuation routes to help about 15,000 people leave the country.

vladimir putin is trying to make sure that nato does not require ukraine to join the alliance. he accused nato of encroaching on what moscow sees as its sphere of influence. >> tensions between the kremlin and the u.s. are stretched almost to a breaking point but there was no strain on vladimir putin's face when he opened his annual press conference. he blamed the situation on what he sees as ukrainian hostilities and reiterated his support for pro-russian separatists. >> we are told the ukrainian government is preparing an operation and warned us not to get involved and defend those people. >> he also blasted nato saying

that the military alliance was forcing his hand by encroaching on russia's borders. >> not one is to the east is what we were told in the 1990's area what happened? we were duped. brazenly duped. there were five waves of nato expansion. we did not come to the borders of the u.s., u.k., you came to us. >> with talks between russia and the u.s. planned for early next year, russia said the ball is in washingt's court. >> welcome to dw. does president putin really believe the west is threatening russia? >> i think he understands there

are no people inttions vis-à-vis russia. while ukraine might not become a nato member, western military help will actually still be available to ukraine and that is of course something that defense planners in russia could pay attention to. hence the escalation. now when president biden has fered prudent to discuss these things, he has widened the agenda to include everything he is bitter about including nato allotmenand all the things he mentioned today -- enlargement and all the things he mentioned today. >> do you not eect him to invade ukraine?

>> i dnot butany other experts do. we are all guessing. none of us kws what will happ. miliry experts will tell you that the buildup is serious. it is much more profound than what we saw in the spring. it was done much more correctly. i think it is political with the madness, also in terms of domestic politics. the truth is none of us really knows. we are all guessing. >> is ukraine a prize that russian husbands andons would be allowed to shed blood for? >> i don't think so. this would not be a popular theme for the russian society. i think the kremlin ought to know about it. they keep a keen eye on public opinion.

crimea was popular but that was a swift takeover of up -- a piece of land that has immense emotional value for mey in russia. the rest of ukraine has none of these qualities. that is e aspect that makes me think an attack is not so likely. >> authorities in hong kong have removed a statue commemorating the people who died in the tiananmen square protests. the sculptor has called to the said date. >> it was known as a pillar of shame. it stood on the campus of hong kong university for over two decades. but this chilling memorial to those who died in tiananmen square has been removed by the

authorities. as many as 10,000 people were killed in the bloody crackdown on democracy protests on june 4, 1989. it is an event that has been wiped from chinese history on the mainland. and as beijing discards the symbol of remembrance, many think that hong kong has also been forced to erase dark chapters in china's history. >> i do think people expect this thing we are having in the university. the most freedom of expression or freedom of speech. they try to become the first one to remove every part of history inside the campus. >> the design was clear about what he thinks it means for democracy. -- designer was clear that what he thinks in means for

democracy. >> this is -- this seems as a last man standing thing. this is a sad day for me and democracy in hong kong. >> the removal came just days after hong kong's first election since the introduction of a sweeping national security law. 89 out of 90 seats were won by pro establishment candidates. in the system where only those loyal to beijing are permitted to run. the university said that not removing the statute would pose legal risks. but it is an act to silence dissent and the freedom seldom enjoyed by those in hong kong. >> brazil has made progress in eradicating hunger over the recent decade but last few years have seen increased in the

number of people who don't have enough to eat. this christmas, many rely on donations to put food on the table. >> going to if avella with only 100 donated food packages on hand. to support some of the poorest through the christmas days ahead. >> many families are out of work and collect paper in cans for cash. but that is not often enough. deciding who receives what is difficult. in rio alone, this aid organization's christmas without hunger campaign will be distributing over 300 tons of donated food. the demand is on the rise says daniel. >> we as a society must help.

>> in 2014, brazil was on track to be hunger next to an ambitious social policy, the country was removed from the global hunger report. but in 2016, the right wing conservative government cut funding. then the pandemic came and valeria lost her job. >> below -- before corona i had a job and a salary but not anymore. over 20 million brazilians have suffered from hunger, double the amount since 2018. malaria has not been able to buy meat for weeks. -- valeria has not been able to

buy meat for weeks. >> this is all i have. >> she does not receive government support. state it was only increased before the elections to win votes. things are hardly better for her neighbor. >> i will show you. i received all of this as a donation. it is all we have. erica cannot afford to buy yogurt for her children. will she have food for christmas? >> i don't know if we will have anything to eat unless someone donates food. brazil is one of the world's largest food exporters but millions in the country don't know where they will be getting their next meal. the government is missed prioritizing according to daniel. >> 90% of the agricultural products in brazil are soybeans

and corn. but our staple crops like rice and beans account for only 10% of the acreage. it is a political decision. >> so they continue on trying to at least relieve hunger a little bit at christmas. >> to the while waters of madagascar and an even wilder story. a rescue team was forced to save himself after his helicopter crashed into the sea. they survived the impact but there miraculous part was still to come. they swam for 12 hours to safety. >> fishermen who sit out before dawn spotted someone in the water, exhausted and still in his whit uniform the attic ask our police minister recorded a message. >> i am alive and well.

in 24 hours i can be back at work. i am not injured but very cold. i am thankful to the people of mambo for saving my life and taking care of me. the fishermen brought the 57-year-old safely back to shore after he spent 12 hours at sea. another survivor and air force mechanic managed to swim the entire way to the beach. the body of one other man in the helicopter has been recovered but the pilot remains missing and is presumed dead. authorities say the cause of the helicopter crash has yet to be established. the minister says something suddenly destabilized the helicopter, potentially causing it to go down. >>ur mission was over. we saw the accident and we were about to go home but like all accidents, something unexpected happened.

our helicopter may have been caught in a gust of wind or something and fell. the helicopter was one of two taking part in a search and rescue operation after a small cargo ship sank on monday. an official said the ship was overloaded from carrying too many people. >> in football, the english premier league has postponed two more matches. the ripple verse leads and hampton versus watford will not take place on boxing day as scheduled. the premier league has now postponed 12 games because of covid in the last two weeks. ancil keefer has devoted much of his work to the atrocities committed by the nazis during world war ii. in a new exhibition of large-scale works in paris, he focuses on the german language poet and his suffering during

the holocaust. >> lines of verse scribbled in chalk on paintings next to a bunker. everywhere is a dedication to the post that used in verse two process is members of the holocaust is a personal hero. >> i thought i could write a poem out there. i think this guy is like a big slate. most of all, i wanted the audience to concentrate on him but not the painter. >> the pieces are dark but also shed light on war, persecution and death. the elements include straw, textiles and stones. national socialism and the importance of never forgetting. these are reoccurring themes for

keefer. the show is a wake-up call for europe. >> we have to be careful because what is in our past or what we think is in our past could very easily happen again. >> common ground rather than confrontation, learning from german history. how does that play out in france? >> it grabs you. the exhibitions very intense. the large-scale pieces is very magical and complements everything very well. i was very moved. this shows the strength of the bond between the two countries. >> i bought a book by the poet. it would have been even more moving if the verse written on the paintings had been translated. visitors even get a glimpse of the studio and his materials ranging from shards to ash.

the paintings are on wheels, easily movable from one place to the next. everything is fluid including the artist's creative process. >> i am always frantic because my pictures are works of progress. i'm am constantly reworking them but apart from that i am generally cheerful. >> works in progress they may be but this exhibition makes a lasting impression. >> you're are watching dw news live from berlin. here is a reminder of the top story. germany has recorded its first omicron related death and recorded over 3000 cases of the new variant as omicron infections surged more than 25% in a single day. it is expect it to become the dominican -- dominant variant in the next couple of days. take a look at how cities around

the world have dressed up for christmas. it is all about the lights. lots and lots of them. have a good day.

ed during the tiananmen square massacre in 1989. thanks for joining us here on "friend -- here on france 24. france has just recorded its highest number of daily cases during the pandemic. the number of deaths is also climbed. president macron has placed his hopes on a vaccine booster campaign to contain this fifth wave and is hoping to pass a law next week that would make vaccination a requirement for social outings. let's listen in to france's health minister. >> is the delta wave starts to subside, the omicron wave