berlin. record numbers of covid-19 cases in many countries as the omicron variant becomes dominant in europe. germany's health minister warns his numbers could be much higher than reported. also coming up, another other independent voice in hong kong is silenced. website stand news says it is closing down after police raided it and seized assets.

and caught on tape, a syrian family hit by a u.s. drone strike while driving their car. a child passenger who barely survived captured the attack on video. ♪ i'm william wilk croft, welcome to the program, including our pbs viewers. the omicron variant is causing skyrocketing rates of covid-19 infections in countries all around the world. french authorities reported more than 200,000 infections in a single day, a new french and european record. italy and portugal have also announced record numbers of new cases. in poland, authorities recorded nearly 800 deaths in a single day, the highest number for that eastern european country.

three quarters of the deaths were reportedly unvaccinated people. here in germany, the official rates have dropped, but the health minister is skeptical we are seeing the true numbers. he says they could be two to three times as high. and the director general of the world health organization saying he is extremely worried about the massive spike in cases driven by a simultaneous spread of both delta and omicron variants. >> right now, delta and omicron are between threats that are iving up cases to record numbers. which again, they are leading to spikes in hospitalizations and deaths. i am highly concerned that omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases. >> we have just heard that coronavirus infections in france have hit a record high.

i asked emmanuel shea's what's being done to slow the spread of the virus. >> new measures to limit out social interaction and pple working from home will become mandatory three days a week, ideally four days when possible, wherever that can be implemented. it is no longer optional. indoor events will be limited to 2000 people and 5000 people outside. this includes sports, cultural events, but there will not be any cancellations of politica meetings. this is quite significant, as france is gearing up for the next presidential election in april. people will also be forbidden to stand inside restaurants, bars, cafés, with many professionals asking how these can be at first feasible, and then checked? there will also be a use of

mandatory ffp two masks being studied by the government, and a maxine model -- vaccine model certificate for places of socialization. >> we also heard that here in germany, the health minister thinks that the numbers are a lot higher than what we are seeing. what is behind the underreporting? >> there are simply not enough medical personnel during the festive season in germany to test all the people and communicate the results to the authorities. there is a staffed shortage in the system, and it shows not only when we talk about testing, with officials warning a collapse of the health care infrastructure in the coming weeks could well take place here if the number of infections among medical personnel also increases explanation of a -- increases exponentially. >> omicron cases, we can assume

they are higher than they are right now. they will be going up in the next couple of weeks. does that mean we will be seeing a lot in germany? >> before the new wave of infections and the possible coming wave of infections, omicron, the government had promised there would be no new general lockdown, but we see at a local scale, curfews are being implemented and for the unvaccinated in the worst affected districts. so yes, governments have used mandatory vaccines, vaccine certificates to access all public spaces, but experts see a lockdown as something that should be on the --. it is something austria and the netherlands already read lamented, reinstated. >> our correspondent with the latest round europe on the pandemic. thank you very much. let's have a look at other

development of the pandemic. the united states shattered its previous high, cuba plans to give booster shots to its entire populations in january to prevent severe illness from the omicron variant, and here in germany, the international development minister says the country plans to donate 75 million more doses of coronavirus vaccines to poor countries next year. in gaza, health officials say they are bracing for difficult days ahead after detecting the omicron variant there earlier this week. the palestinian territory has limited testing capacity and other medical resources, and a vaccination rate under 30%. 2 million gazans live in tight, often unhygienic quarters and under restriction from israeli and egyptian neighbors, as well as their own government, which many islamic countries consider terrorists.

>> patients started arriving at this hospital in southern gaza in august. this doctor is now as worried as he was back then. the first cases of the omicron variant have been detected in gaza. >> we are very afraid of this new wave and new variant. we are afraid it will overwhelm us. there are 50 intensive >> care beds in his hospital, more than any others, but the covid ward is lacking in key supplies. there is little protective equipment, not even n95 masks for the staff. but the patients are happy to get treatment here. >> thank you, doctor. many thanks. >> this 80-year-old woman is unvaccinated. the blood levels in her -- the oxygen levels in her blood have chopped again. >> whenever i go into her room,

i disinfect my hands. they wash the floor every few hours. they are trying their best. >> but many in gaza believe that despite their best efforts, omicron will not be able to be contained, including the ruling hamas party. they say without international aid for their health care system, it could end in disaster in gaza. the former health minister is warning it is now a race against time, a race that could hardly be won. >> south africa is holding vigils following the death of apartheid rival archbishop desmond tutu. the bells will sound for 10 minutes each day until the nobel peace laureate's funeral at the cathedral on january 1. a day after russian authorities ordered the closure of russia's

most prominent rights group, memorial international, it shut down its sister organization, the human rights center. it has campaign for the rights of political prisoners in russia , for others. the human court of human rights, which russia is subject to, has urged moscow to suspend the decision. this comes after eight organizations called for a vote to be rescued. the country's security ministry said it would push the vessel back into international waters. the overcrowded boat has a damaged engine and has been drifting for days off indonesia's northern coast. one of hong kong's last independent news outlets says it is folding up after being rated and having its assets frozen. hong kong police searched the offices of stand news earlier,

arresting seven people and removing evidence. at the latest low to -- latest blow to the chinese territories shrinking free press. >> police had a warrant under a national security law enacted last year to seize journalistic materials. they arrested seven people, including the current and former editor-in-chief of stand news, and popstar turned democracy activist denise hope, a former board member. he had seen what was coming back in june. >> i think the situation in the message is clear from the government, that making reports and telling stories will have a criminal result.

you will be charged, -- >> pro authority figures in hong kong see stand news as a threat, saying they incite hatred towards the hong kong judicial system, inciting people to use violence and instigating people to disobey the law or legal orders. hong kong's largest pro-democracy paper, the apple daily, was rated and forced to close in june. -- raided and forced to close in june. jim ely was sentenced to 13 months in jail. chinese communist party is shutting down all free press in hong kong the snuff out the last vestiges of democracy in the

former british territory. >> let's get more on the situation from someone who knows it well, steve vines, a journalist and broadcaster who lived and worked in hong kong for more than three decades. he joins us now from london. thanks for joining us. let's start with your experience there. what role did stand news play in the media landscape? >> stand news played in a very important role, a chinese language outlets. it was one of the two remaining independent news outlets with any form of mass information. it provided a large source of information to a large swath of the hong kong population. the conventional media, the traditional newspapers have largely come under the control of the government directly or indirectly, so it is ly online outlets that only perform some kind of independent function.

there are two main ones in the chinese language and one in the english language. stand news is possibly the most famous of those three. >> with its closure, what does that mean for people there who try to get free access to media? how do they go about getting it now? >> well, that's a very reasonable question. to say, there are a couple of other independent media organizations still standing. the question everyone has been asking today, actually they have been asking for longer than today, is how long they will survive. other than that, because hong kong still has an open internet, unlike mainland china, a lot of the information people in hong kong get is informally through whatsapp groups, through other social media, and there are indeed other online media outlets which have not been

closed down, either because they operate from overseas or they are too small for the authorities to have targeted them at this stage. so there is actually access to more information in hong kong than there is on the chinese mainland, but that area of freedom of expression is being closed literally by the day. >> a little bit of hope you seem to be expressing their -- so much has happened in hong kong over the past many months. do you see any going back, now that mainland authorities can exert so mu influence over the territory? >> well, who knows? the fact of the matter is, after any of these actions, and there have been very consistent numbers of action rolling back the frontiers of freedom of expression, people say, surely, surely they can't be finding new targets. surely that's enough. but it seems that the

authorities in beijing, which control all of this, the local authorities merely do what they are told, the local authorities in beijing have an insatiable appetite for the control of dissemination of information. if they want to do what many people suspect they want to do, which is create a situation in hong kong which is the same as the mainland, where you have a highly controlled internet, no free press whatsoever, outside state controlled media, there is a space for more action to be taken in hong kong. >> all right. steve vines, we will have to leave it there, but thank you for painting us that picture. today's battlefields are evermore under the eye of unmanned drones, which are often controlled promotions away. they have become a weapon of choice for countries like the united states, as they are seen as keeping troops out of harm's way and performing precision

strikes. but civilians can get caught up in the violence, and one recent incident in syria shows just that. a warning, this report contains images you may find disturbing. >> they somehow managed to survive. first the attacks on their village, then the escape from syria's assad regime, and now a drone attack targeting a suspected al qaeda fighter. the family was in their car behind the suspect, on the way to vit grandparents. the children were in the backseat. this simple farming family is what the army calls collateral damage. >> my entire family was wounded. my son and i were hurt very badly. and we don't have a car anymore. we have nothing left. >> the mother, five team, needs to go back to the hospital, but

is terrified of the journey. her infection cannot be treated at home. >> i don't know how to describe my feelings. i can see the pain suffered by my wife, my son, my daughter's. my -- makhmoud's legs and head, i haven't eaten in four days. >> the grandparents live here. it is also a hideout for al qaeda fighters. the motorcyclist in the blue jacket was the drone attacks target, a u.s. soldier on the others of the world pressed a button. at that moment, the father decided to overtake the motorbike.

[explosion] [yelling] [speaking non-english language] >> somehow, the 10-year-old survived. he was taken to idlib, 35 kilometers away, for emergency surgery. he was in a coma for three days. part of his skull is missing. a few days later, the father returned to the side of the attack. he finds parts of his car. >> we were drinking fruit juice. we were happy. on the way home. the children were having fun. all of a sudden, this happiness turned into a bloodbath. screams, we all screamed. i did what i could, and help

came. i remember that. >> this is how a family outing ended. the global coalition against islamic state flew more than 300 drone missions in northern syria this year alone. this one happened to be filmed. >> and s 2021 draws to a close, dw news is looking back at some of our more notable boards from the year. one of them, how militaries are exempt from international agreements on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. teri schultz reports. >> there is a dirty little secret every country is keeping, except it's not that little. in many cases, a nation are its biggest limit or of greenhouse gases, but how big is secret. that's allowed under both the kyoto and paris climate agreements, both deals exempting

military forces, paste on the fact that adversaries could use the strategy based on emissions data. but any emissions plan must include these hidn figures. >> the cost is huge and they've goa huge supply chain, so it will make a difference whetr or not they arenvolved in the in mission reduction targets. >> this is one of the groups that has just created a website tracking what little has been voluntarily revealed about military emissions. the united states has significant underreporting, but the cost of war project estimates the u.s. armed forces mitt more than many industrialized countries, including sweden or portugal. she hopes the more the website publishes, the more the public will push for action.

>> more needs to be done and our targets need to be set. >> the european union's net zero plan does not mention or mitigate military emissions, but these days, many countries militaries are increasingly forced to fight natural disasters. stoltenberg is the first native chief to appear at a climate summit. he insisted that leaders agree in june to the first step. >> a framework and mapping structure to count emissions. >> the former estonian minister is skeptical that allied governments share stoltenberg's enthusiasm. >> i don't think it is possible, because then i think we should be sure that adversity would do the same thing. russia, china would not consider that as a priority.

>> but this nato member disagrees and is crafting a plan to help present at the summit next year. >> it is to see whether we cannot come up with technological solutions. yes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to help our forces operate in what will be a more difficult weather environment. >> he says there is growing interest in china and russia about how armed forces can battle climate change, as the world worries together over shared ecosystems such as the arctic, concerned environmentalists and military strategists might finally be converging, but there is a long way to go in the time we have to get there is almos up. >> the british government might ban imports of foie gras, taking the media delicacy off

its menu and swapping it for a vegan version that the chef is calling faux gras. >> it looks just like foie gras, but no birds were harmed in the making of this pate. >> it does not taste of torture, which is the core ingredient of the real foie gras, and not this one. >> the liver used for making real foie gras is considered a luxury ingredient, but it is fattened by force-feeding the birds. the substitute foie gras is made with mushrooms, lentils and spices. beetroot is added so the pate looks like the real thing. >> if you put the right amounts, it becomes just like foie gras. >> it's almost unheard of for a french celebrity chef to turn his back on foie gras. the dish was one of the top sellers in his restaurant. but he became a target for

animal rights activists. eventually, they convinced him to change. >> i decided i still needed to be a french chef. i still need to do gastronomic food, but i need to remove all the ingredients. we started fresh. >> this food writer is also in favor of eating less meat. still, he's is not sure about the invitation pate. >> it definitely doesn't resemble foie gras. maybe in terms of the texture a little bit, but not the flavor on it. not the finish on it. it hasn't got that fatting this or richness. >> a restaurant is undeterred. he has now become an influenc ial campaigner. some critics see double standards.

>> get rid of an elite, french, foreign luxury product and say that you are making a point around animal welfare. but if you really wanted to make a point around animal welfare, what you would do is address the way chickens are being farmed, intensively farmed, the way pork is being intensively farmed. >> all the same, his change of heart is paying off. he is fully booked for the next month. >> hopefully he will inspire other restaurants to do the same, and other chefs who will put their creative juices into this and come up with a plant-based creation that we cannot live without. >> that's good news for ducks and geese, and find by this food writer too -- as long as chefs don't start passing off substitutes as the real thing. why not just call it mushroom pate? >> that's a good question.

but le's turn to sports. the u.s. is mourning the loss of nfl legend hn madden. he won the super bowl as head coach with the oakland raiders in 1977 and became one of america's best-known tv sports announcers. the third act of his career was to attaching his name to one of the best known sports video games of all time, madden nfl. and iron munich is cooperating with the probe into the club's alleged violations of minimum-wage laws in germany. several current and former bosses are under investigation overpayment in the club academy. court -- coaches said they worked more than the recommended number of hours without an increase in pay. that's give you a quick reminder

of the top stories you are following. omicron is fast becoming the dominant coronavirus variant in europe, leading to a new surge in infections. france, britain, italy, ireland, portugal, and the netherlands have announced a record number of cases. and stand news says it is closing after its offices were raided and assets frozen. it's the latest blow to the latest logically press in hong kong. you are watching dw news, "made in germany" is up next. arrays for critical raw materials. on william glue coughed, we will have more soon.

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>> more than 200-8000 new cases of covid in france over the past when he for hours -- over the past 24 hours. face masks in paris will be obligatory on friday. the court of human rights is urging russia to suspend its decision to shut down a group.