but spain and austria are keen not to shut their slopes entirely. austria has just announced that ski slopes will open for domestic use on 24th of december. hotels a nd restau ra nts will stay closed though until the 7th of january. it's also announced a quarantine until tenth january for people coming from countries with more than 100 cases per 100,000 people in the past two weeks — this includes germany and italy. let's speak to bethany bell who is with us in vienna. bethany, given that these resorts were at the heart of the early days of the pandemic, what is the argument for taking the chance to keep them open? well, if you have to look at the details of this. austria has said that the ski slopes will be open, but hotels and restau ra nts slopes will be open, but hotels and restaurants will be closed until at least the 7th of january and also

austria's government says the measures are necessary to prevent returning nationals or tourists from bringing the virus into the country where the rate of infection remains worryingly high. it's likely to be a tough season ahead for the region of to roll which usually earns most of its income from holiday makers. all right i've got to check now some of the other stories making headlines around the world. a u.s. federal judge has fully restored to the obama era immigration program known as doc on the program provides work permits to some young undocumented immigrants and shields them from deportation and it's the 2nd time a u.s. court has overruled the trumpet ministrations moves to cancel the scheme. each evening goshi it or michel barnier and his the u.k. counterpart to have agreed to cause me go sheesh and oppose the brakes a trade deal that's after a week of intense talks ended in stalemate the negotiators will now step back while politicians decide if several major differences can be overcome the time is running out to reach an agreement breaks a transition period ends on decembe

austria's government says the measures are necessary to prevent returning nationals or tourists from bringing the virus into the country adding the rate of infection remains far too high and. it seems like a tough season ahead for the region of where most of the revenue comes from holiday makers. let's get a check now some of the other stories making news this hour. a u.s. federal judge has fully restored to the obama era immigration program known as. the program provides work permits to young undocumented immigrants and shield them from deportation it's the 2nd time that a u.s. court has overruled the trumpet ministrations moves to cancel the scheme. even chief negotiator michel barnier and his new k. counterparts have agreed to all those negotiations on the proposed break the trade deal that's after a week of intense talks ended in stalemate the negotiators will now step back while politicians decide if several major differences can be overcome the time is running out to reach an agreement gregg's a transition period and on the 31st of december. japan's space agency says it's. to p

a lot of people from outside to live in austria and work in austria for example from western bargain's from germany from other parts of europe and to take chances little bit afraid that a lot of people for example orthodox people go back to serbia of tool festivities of regenerate 6 and come back and bring back fresh infections there for he recommends everybody australians as well as foreigners living in austria to stay put their bowl here in austria don't go to see your neighbors don't go to see your relatives just stable so that we prevent an overthrow in the i.c.u. and certainly going to be a different christmas the fund has in vienna thank you very much. and a 2nd covert 9 tain vaccine has been authorized for emergency use in the united states millions of doses of them a dern a vaccine are expected to be added to the massive american vaccination program which began this week with health care workers older people in long term care facilities are next in line for the jabs the approval comes one week after the u.s. food and drug administration authorized the vaccine developed by bio a

a lot of people from outside to live in austria and work in austria for example from western balkans from germany from other parts of europe and to take chances little bit afraid that a lot of people for example orthodox people go back to serbia of july festivities of regenerate 6 and come back and bring back fresh infections 0 he recommends everybody austrians as well as foreigners living in austria to stay put their bowl here in austria don't go to see your neighbors don't go to see your relatives in just a hole so that we prevent an overthrow in the i.c.u. and certainly going to be a different christmas the fund has in vienna thank you very much. second covert 9 tain vaccine has been authorized for emergency use in the united states millions of doses of the vaccine are expected to be added to the massive american vaccination program which began this week with health care workers older people in long term care facilities next in line the approval comes one week after the u.s. food and drug administration authorized a vaccine developed by violent tech and pfizer. and here's a look n

a lot of people from outside to live in austria and work in austria for example from western balkans from germany from other parts of europe and to take chances little bit afraid that a lot of people for example orthodox people go back to serbia of tool chest of richie's of regenerate 6 and come back and bring back fresh infections there for he recommends everybody australians as well as foreigners living in austria to stay put in their own year in austria don't go to see your neighbors don't go to see your relatives just stable so that we prevent an overthrow in the i.c.u. and certainly going to be a different christmas this year klaus pumpers in vienna thank you very much. a 2nd covert 9 tame vaccine has been authorized for emergency use in the united states millions of doses of a dern a vaccine are expected to be added to the massive american vaccination program which began this week with health care workers older people in long term care facilities next in line the approval comes one week after the u.s. food and drug administration authorized a vaccine developed by biotech and pf

first of all we should be aware everybody who wants to enter austria from today on has to go into care in time for 10 days he can test himself free up to 5 days but you're still going to get to a state care in time for at least 5 days if not 10 days 2nd on. the 26 of december or so the 2nd day of christmas everything is suspended again all shops are closed for terrace and restaurants are closed already now but in all shops besides troops taurus trauma season drugstores very closed no museums are a liberal up to 17 so generally austrians are afraid that the i.c.u. was to be overloaded so that close they received down again so it lockdown in austria well sounds like a lot of measures are being taken let me ask you a multi-billion dollar question as regards the ski industry switzerland your country's neighbors letting local authorities aside and whether to open a ski lift what is austria deciding. the same the local authorities can decide whether they open or not and say we'll open area heard yesterday from the lot. as you're going to approach you're already out all the local people in th

austria's government says the measures are necessary to prevent returning nationals or tourists from bringing the virus into the country where the rate of infection remains worryingly high it's likely to be a tough season ahead for the region have to roll which usually arms most of its income from holiday make is. that highlight some of the other stories making news at this hour. at least 18 people have died after a carbon monoxide leak in a coal mine in chongqing southwest china state media reports that one person was pulled out alive so authorities are investigating the cause of the disaster which happened as workers were dismantling equipment inside. the new chief negotiator michel barnier and his u.k. counterpart say they've been unable to reach agreement on several key issues after a week of intense talks on a post brics a trade deal british prime minister boris johnson and european commission president versa fund a line will hold talks by phone later today. the u.s. federal court has fully restored the obama era immigration program known as dhaka the program provides work permi

a lot of talk about austria's skiing season as well. yes.s and the ski lifts to open on christmas eve, but there are a lot of tough restrictions around them, and basically... and there are also quarantines for anybody coming from abroad, so basically skiing will really only be possible for people who are local or who live close enough to go for a day trip to the slopes. the hotels will remain shut until the 18th of january. restaurants will stay shut, so there's nowhere for people to stay. if you're coming from abroad, you'd have to quarantine for ten days, so really skiing is something very much for locals over christmas. and local areas will have the option to open or close those areas as they feel like. italy will also into a nationwide lockdown over most of christmas and new year. prime minister giuseppe conte has ordered bars, restaurants and nonessential shops are to close for two set periods to prevent a fresh surge in cases. shops will still be able to open for a few days between christmas and new year. the announcement ended days of

i'm in vienna the capital of austria the historic old town is a unesco world heritage site. it's highlights include st stephen's cathedral and the imperial palace. i'm in vienna today for a very special reason and 2020 music lovers around the world are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the from beatle vince birth. who was born and born but spent most of his life in vienna. he lived here for over 3 decades and wrote his masterpieces today i want to see how visible loopy from beethoven still is in vienna what makes the city so attractive to musicians and why was beethoven so restless i mean during his time here he moved on average once a year as you can see have a lot of questions that need answering one day in vienna following the footsteps of the great beethoven. off course we will also give you an overview of the sights to see in vienna. and the killing there is special for which the city is famous. in addition we will show you how big this being honored in his native. one of the top addresses for music lovers in vienna it's the sound museum how still music it's all abou

austria's current a virus infection rate is lower than many of its neighbors but there are fears that could change support. your claim that since we are not an island and have people coming in from other countries we should prepare ourselves for the possibility of exponential growth at any time. sweden's infection rate on the other hand has been surging for 2 months the nordic country never imposed a full lockdown relying instead on voluntary social distancing but with case numbers going up non-essential public facilities like pools and libraries were closed and for the 1st time the government is recommending residents wear masks on public transport yet the measures remain lax compared to germany and austria very serious look look down for example. for the long run because people would not put up with that switzerland too is headed for lockdown as restaurants are set to close next week the swiss government has urged people to stay inside but his left at least one decision to local authorities whether to open ski lifts this year ski is will have to add covert 19 to the long list of alp

they get austria and the german speaking world but also internationally. the grave of all it is also popular with german speaking visiting his. golf course i want to know where do fish from beatle fans greets you died at the age of 56 and 1827. to. become what it would be to have this funeral have been like and i let you read it to be pompous some 20000 people have come to his funeral he was much loved at the time so 20000 people accompanied him on his final journey. at the end of my journey and be told his footsteps and i want to combine something that is typical of you and that's associated with beatles here in coffee home one of us oldest coffee houses both beatles at mozart gave small concerts there's no music today but i have a typical austrian suite ditch the kaiser. been talking certainly left his mark on piano you can follow his footsteps from his numerous apartments to the great concert halls where he was celebrated as a composer if you do so he will get an intimate look at who this man was as an artist but also as a person and of course you get a

i'm in vienna the capital of austria they're storing all talent is a unesco world heritage site. it's highlights include st stephen's cathedral and the imperial palace. i'm in vienna today for a very special reason and 2020 music lovers around the world are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the from beatle vince birth. was born and born but spent most of his life in vienna. he lived here for over 3 decades and wrote his masterpieces today i want to see how visible loot before beethoven still is in vienna what. makes the city so attractive to musicians and why was. this i mean during his time here he moved on average once a year as you can see have a lot of questions that need answering one day in vienna following the footsteps of the right. of course we will also give you an overview of the sights to see in vienna. and the killing there is special for which the city is famous. in addition we will show you how big this being on earth in his native. one of the top addresses for music lovers in vienna is the sound museum how still music it's all about the sounds and noises and th

it isn't just a all the fans can come to austria.gland when they play the ashes in australia. it is a celebration of the history of the game with so many travelling there to make it a pilgrimage of sorts when you are there on boxing day with 91,000 people. it is everything for us, but the travel restrictions will mean that people can come to australia and can have that huge australian stadium filled. it is those crowds we're waiting to see come back, 0lly. so many events next year depend on them — the ryder cup, the solheim cup, wimbledon, and the small matter of england against scotland at wembley at euro 2020. the date for your diary, the 18th of june for that one at wimbley. keeping everything cross, joe, many thanks for a much better year hopefully. that's all from sportsday. 0ur our final sportsday 0urfinal sportsday of our final sportsday of the year. happy new year. next on the bbc news channel, it's the travel show. let's be honest, it hasn't been the best year for travel. but amid the gloom, we've still found moments of insp

it's hugely important for austria.pressure... a lot of them had put a lot of thought about putting ways of keeping distance, to make sure people wore masks on key to ski lifts, but the infection rates in austria and across so much of europe are just too high at the moment. the government says that they will make sure that these places stay shut until the second week of january, and they could open them then if the infection rates allow. now, austria is just about to come out of a very strict lockdown on the 7th of december of people pretty much staying at home as much as possible and shops are going to reopen on the 7th of december. children will start going back to school again, but restau ra nts going back to school again, but restaurants in the whole of the country are going to stay shut and the ski resorts crucially too. the hope is that if the country can keep infection rates down and not to have lots of people crossing borders number then they might be able to open things up injanuary. bethany, thank you very muc

austria's government says the measures are necessary to prevent returning nationals or tourists from bringing the virus into the country where the rate of infection remains worryingly high it's likely to be a tough season ahead for the region of to roll which usually earns most of its income from holiday makers. we're joined now by d.d.p. reporter david shinnecock who's not only reporter but a ski instructor as well so welcome david all these measures in austria in french are they necessary in your view are they appropriate and then michael yes i think we have to say they are we know that at the beginning of the pandemic back in january and february ski resorts in particular became known as super spreaders the most famous tasting in austria in school partly as you mentioned earlier because of the party scene associated with skiing but also if you think about the infrastructure skiing involves. things that are quite confined like cable cars and mountain railways which i think have to be considered pretty risky in sums of social distancing i mean you know what would be the alternative

on december the 24th 1818 the young priest yosef was sent out for open golf austria to visit his friend from screwball. and together they wanted to set his poem which dylan knocked silent night to music. he needed to him to perform at the christmas mass in his parish that same night. at the time gruber was a teacher organised and sacristan and on store for a small community of sound spoke. he was expecting his friends who are arrived by the early evening bounty knew how long and arduous the journey was in winter. the 2 friends both musicians did not take long to find the right melody to accompany moore's contemplated words. it is only a simple composition without any special meaning gruber wrote in his diary. that enough christmas 1818. on christmas eve $1818.00 a time marked by bitter poverty and need the original german version of silent night holy night it was less 1st song during christmas mass an open door of by the 2 friends to the sound of a guitar line because of. this road only it was intended to be a song of peace and hope in the difficult years after the napoleonic wars or ma

austria will follow suit just after christmas non-essential businesses will close on december 26th. austria's current virus infection rate is lower than many of its neighbors but there are a fee is that could change. your current means lucy since we are not an island and have people coming in from other countries we should prepare ourselves for the possibility of exponential growth at any time. sweden's infection rate on the other hand has been surging for 2 months the nordic country never imposed a full lockdown relying instead on voluntary social distancing but with case numbers going up non-essential public facilities like pools and libraries will close and for the 1st time the government is recommending residents wear masks on public transport yet the measures remain lax compared to germany and austria very serious look look down for example. in the long run because people would not put up with switzerland to is headed for lockdown as restaurants are set to close next week this whisk of men has urged people to stay inside but his left at least one decision to local authorities w

austria's second hard lockdown ended just 11 days ago.t hard lockdown was that they did manage to bring down the infected fingers quite a lot, from 9000 or so in november to about 300,000 at the moment, but there are concerns that is too high —— 3000 at the moment. there is pressure on hospitals here. and hers but a lot of expectation here that some thing like this would happen. now, the government has said there will be another hard lockdown from boxing day onwards and it is going to be coupled with these mass tests, and they are trying to incentivize people to take the mass tests three weeks into january, and also they have got plans to regularly test teachers, people like hairdressers, anybody who works closely with other people will, in january be tested very regularly from now on. the chancellor, austria's leader, has said that he hopes life can return to something like normal by the summer, but he warned that there were hard months ahead. yes, bethany, i understand the last mass testing was not particularly well received, so as you

austria was hit by heavy snow over the weekend.n monday firefighters were clearing blocked roads and fixing broken power lines. some schools have been closed while others have been completely closed off. locke the authorities believe there is a high risk of avalanches and landslides from higher areas. people in parts of france a serbia had damaging winds as well. these strong winds and heavy snowfall will persist in the alpines italy and the balkans for the next couple of days. you may see up to 80 centimeters of additional snowfall in parts of austria and rainfall may reach 50 millimeters. there is a possibility of flash flooding. >>> rainfall will increase in rome as we go into tuesday evening and wet weather will persist in lisbon and madrid as another low pressure system approaches. >>> people in the western united states are dealing with dry conditions. critical fire weather will be seen in california. but some relief will arrive in these areas as we go into mid-week. a little moisture from the pacific will push inland and pro

around 1820 life in austria is terrel region was as hard as it was across the rest of europe and the alpine winters were particularly harsh mountain dwellers only left the house when necessary and it took them hours to get down into the valley the musical rhino siblings lived in the tula tal valley and it was this family quartet that helped spread silent night. in the winter of 822 and preference heroes of austria and russia czar alexander the 1st were residing if you can castle one evening the wryness siblings were hired to entertain the guests. silent night was among the songs they performed. our. hour. the last trees cast was so taken by their performance that theirs are invited them to visit russia. as a result the siblings began a tour across europe. a am. i am new. orleans. they performed on recommendation in many european cities up to 1839. they even sang for england's king george the 4th in windsor castle. i. heard. that same year the wryness siblings traveled to the united states after what must have been a difficult crossing of the atlantic they arrived in new york just bef

i'm in vienna the capital of austria historic old town is a unesco world heritage site. it's highlights include st stephen's cathedral and the imperial palace. i'm in vienna today for a very special reason. and 2020 music lovers around the world are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the fish from beethoven's birth. he was born and born but spent most of his life in vienna. he lived here for over 3 decades and wrote his masterpieces today i want to see how visible loopy from beethoven still is in vienna what makes the city so attractive to musicians and why was beethoven so restless i mean during his time here he moved on average once a year as you can see have a lot of questions that need answering one day in vienna following the footsteps of the great. off course we will give you an overview of the sights to see in vienna. and the kill in their respect for which the city is famous. in addition we will show you how big this being on earth in his native. one of the top addresses for music lovers in vienna is the sound museum how still music it's all about the sounds an

it's a similar scene in romania and in austria too they're planning for a lucrative season but public health experts say the short term gains could come with long term pain the real issues are going to come at airports. tour buses taking people to and from ski resorts ski lifts and places where peepin points in the skiing sort of experience. the kind of experience many will miss the sheer pristine conditions on germany's mountains but no skiers like france and italy the government has shut winter resorts until january 10th in an effort to avoid a spike in corporate 19 cases the decision will cost billions in lost revenue. we fear that the restrictions would cover the holiday season and it's very painful because one 3rd of our town norburn winter is made during the christmas holidays i attack one fear. the shutdown does have its supporters. it's very nice saw rare. for some intrepid climbers a chance to have germany's tallest peak to yourself too good to miss. meanwhile figures published on wednesday put unemployment in the eurozone at 8.4 percent that's a whole percentage point higher

correspondent: austria's second hard lockdown ended just 11 days ago. the result of the hard lockdown was that they did manage to bring down infection figures quite a lot, from 9000 or so in november two under 3000 at the moment. but there are concerns tt that is still too high, that there is pressure on hospitals here, and there has been a lot of expectation here that something like this would happen. now, the government said there will be another hard lockdown from boxing day onwards. and it is going to be coupled with these mass tests. and they are tying to incentivize people to take mass tests three weeks into january. and also, they've got plans to regularly test teachers, people like hairdressers, anybody who works closely with other people will in january be tested very regularly, from now on. the chanclor, the austrian leader, has said he hopes life can return to something like normal by the summer, but he warned there were hard months ahead. anchor: last time, the mass testing wasn't particularly well received. as you said, and incentive. a lot

it's a similar scene in romania and in austria too they're planning for a lucrative season but public health experts say the short term gains could come with long term pain the real issues are going to come at airports. tour buses taking people to and from ski resorts ski lifts and places where people points in the skiing sort of experience. the kind of experience many will miss this year pristine conditions on germany's mountains but no skiers like france and italy the government has shut winter resorts until january 10th in an effort to avoid a spike in corporate 19 cases the decision will cost billions in lost revenue. before we fear that the restrictions would cover the holiday season and it's very painful because one 3rd of our time over in winter is made during the christmas holidays by attacking fear of entire. the shutdown does have its supporters. it's very nice saw rare for some intrepid climbers a chance to have germany's tallest peak to yourself too good to miss. all right not a bad view they're well grounded since march 29th teen the 1st boeing 737 max planes are ready to

it's a similar scene in romania and in austria too they're planning for a lucrative season but public health experts say the short term gains could come with long term pain the real issues are going to come at airports. tour buses taking people to and from ski resorts ski lifts and places where peepin checkpoints in the skiing sort of experience. the kind of experience many will miss this year pristine conditions on germany's mountains but no skiers like france and italy the government has shut winter resorts until january 10th in an effort to avoid a spike in corporate 1000 cases the decision will cost billions in lost revenue. we fear that the restrictions would cover the holiday season and it's very painful because one 3rd of our turnover in winter is made during the christmas holidays i attack one fear the entire. the shutdown does have it supporters ya thier it's very nice saw rare. for some intrepid climbers a chance to have germany's tallest peak to yourself too good to miss. because published today puts unemployment in the eurozone at 8.4 percent of the whole percentage point

it's a similar scene in romania and in austria too they're planning for a lucrative season but public health experts say the short term gains could come with long term pain if the real issues are going to come at airports. tour buses taking people to and from ski resorts ski lifts and places where people points in the skiing sort of experience. the kind of experience many will miss this year pristine conditions on germany's mountains but no skiers like france and italy the government has shut winter resorts until january 10th in an effort to avoid a spike in corporate 1000 cases the decision will cost billions in lost revenue. we fear that the restrictions would cover the holiday season and it's very painful because one 3rd of our time norburn winter is made during the christmas holidays by attack when fear of entire. the shutdown does have its supporters your theory it's very nice saw rare. for some intrepid climbers a chance to have germany's tallest peak to yourself too good to miss. because published today puts unemployment in the eurozone at 8.4 percent of the whole percentage po

austria has introduced restrictions making it difficult for foreign tourists to visit ski resorts the government will keep hotels closed to tourists until january 6th and visitors from high risk areas will have to quarantine for at least 5 days and then test negative for the coronavirus but locals will still be allowed. many in the austrian province of to fall were hoping the slopes would stay open to tourists despite the coronavirus pandemic but even though austria rejected calls from across europe to close its slopes completely the government there has now effectively closed it for foreign tourists. if you haven't flown in before the holiday period we will start with a very strict immigration program this means that anyone entering austria will have to spend 10 days in quarantine with the possibility of cutting it short of 5 days by testing negative income on the list of risk areas austria's biggest neighbor germany this means the ski regions will likely miss out on millions of euros in tourism revenue it's a grim end to a year that was going well for the industry all things conside

it's a very wealthy family in austria. her name was bertha. bertha and the youngest son they fell in love actually. and the mother when i have it because she was highly educated and well mannered. and so she responds to this ad that alford had put in the newspaper and show she got the job. highly qualified. they have a lot of great conversations. and alford of course. she was beautiful and smart and funny and they have great conversations and he quickly fell in love. when she discovered this he wanted something more than she told them i'm sorry i can't say. i'm actually in love with someone else. so she left. she went back to austria and married the sun they were like rejected from the family and it was like ten years before they were able to move back to the family estate. they stayed in touch over the years and they were like best friends. he never stopped loving her. what is interesting here is that she was one of the pioneers in the cost of peace. she organized all these conferences. she wrote a book that was a bestseller at the time. that

. * on december the 24th 1818 the young priest yosef more sent out from all the austria to visit his friend france group. and together they wanted to set his poem which knocked silent night to music. he needed to him to perform at the christmas mass in his parish that same night. at the time gruber was a teacher organised and sacristan and alms door for a small community north of sound spoke. he was expecting his friends were arrived by the early evening but he knew how long and arduous the journey was in winter. the 2 friends both musicians did not take long to find the right melody to accompany moore's contemplated what. it is only a simple composition without any special meaning gruber wrote in his diary and. christmas 1818. on christmas eve $1818.00 a time marked by bitter poverty and neato the original german version of silent night holy night is less 1st song during christmas mass an open door of 2 friends to the sound of a guitar began because of. this road only it was intended to be a song of peace and hope in the difficult years after the napoleonic wars or mass water time f

in austria, the first person to beb tunnel.st person to be b vaccinated was an 84—year—old woman who said she wa nted 84—year—old woman who said she wanted to do it, because she wanted to meet with her children, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren and her great grandchildren without having to worry. austria's leader was there watch her being vaccinated. he called it a game—changer. in the italy, the leaderer of italy said it was a day that would never be forgotten. in italy it was a 29—year—old nurse who was first to be vaccinated, who said she believed it was the beginning of the end of pandemic. we are seeing this picture in the eu where they're vaccinating people in care homes, medical staff, but ina people in care homes, medical staff, but in a couple of countries, political leaders were among those getting the first jabs. political leaders were among those getting the firstjabs. the czech prime minister was the first person to get the jab there and the greek prime minister was among the first to be vaccinated and

five people have been arrested in austria and two others in germany.ith the goal of attacking society, democracy and basic freedoms. italy has now seen more coronavirus— related deaths than anywhere else in europe. 64,036 deaths have been recorded, slightly worse than the uk. the italian government has imposed tight restrictions over the christmas holiday period, affecting travel between the regions. people also won't be allowed to leave their home towns on key dates, including christmas day. germany is facing the prospect of tougher restrictions from the middle of next week, as the country's reported covid—19 death toll continues to rise. chancellor angela merkel and state leaders are due to hold talks on the situation on sunday. reports say they'll consider ordering shops, schools and day care centres to close from wednesday. dozens of people have been arrested as tensions boiled over on the streets of paris, demonstrators rallying against a proposed security law for a third weekend. opponents argue the bill, part of which aims to regulate people's a

five people have been arrested in austria and to others in germany.e goal of attacking society, democracy and basic freedoms. aruna iyengar, bbc news. italy has now seen more coronavirus— related deaths than anywhere else in europe. 64,036 deaths have been recorded — slightly worse than the uk. the italian government has imposed tight restrictions over the christmas holiday period, affecting travel between the regions. people also won't be allowed to leave their home towns on key dates, including christmas day. germany is facing the prospect of tougher restrictions from the middle of next week, as the country's reported covid—19 death toll continues to rise. the pioneering black country music star, charley pride, has died from coronavirus complications. he was 86. in the 1970's charley pride became the best selling performer for rca records after elvis presley. he was inducted to the country music hall of fame in 2000. singer dolly parton said she was heartbroken at the news, and called him one of her oldest and dearest friends. elamin abdelmahmoud is

it was like he was campaigning in austria for socialism or something like that. that's when i became a big fan of nixon, and of course, when he came into office and became president, i became an even bigger fan of his because i saw the action. also what was amazing was he saw so many things in people's issues rather than as a political issue. so i was a fan and always hung around. i went to the nixon library and then they invited me to come to this event. i went there for the first time. i actually met president nixon and we hung out together, and i remember that he took me into his office down there, and we were talking about policy and about i told him i was a big fan of his and why i thought his policies and beliefs were so much up my alley. then he said to me, you know, you are very particular about policies and politics. you should run for governor. so he was actually the first one that proposed the idea to me, which was really interesting because he said, you are fantastic. then we had a great conversation, took some pictures with some of the comedians, and

around 1820 life in austria is terrell region was as hard as it was across the rest of europe and the alpine winters were particularly harsh mountain dwellers only left the house when necessary and it took them hours to get down into the valley the musical reiner siblings lived in the 2 little valley and it was this family quartet that helped spread silent night. in the winter of 822 and preference here was of advanced korea and russia czar alexander the 1st were residing if you can castle one evening the rhine a siblings were hired to entertain the guests. silent night was among the songs they performed. our. the alliance trees cast was so taken by their performance that there's i invited them to visit russia. as a result the siblings began a tour across europe was carrying. out a new. they performed on recommendation in many european cities up to 1839. they even sang for england's kin george the 4th in windsor castle. i. think. that same year the wryness siblings traveled to the united states after what must have been a difficult crossing of the atlantic they arrived in new york jus

switzerland and austria have refused to close resource for the holidays. >> no ski holidays in francer abroad, a message on which the prime minister insisted again on wednesday. >> [speaking foreign language] >> [speaking foreign language] >> [speaking foreign language] >> french authorities announced last week that ski resorts would open for christmas but that lifts would remain closed until january at least. a position mirrored the likes of germany and italy, but not by all european countries. switzerland, for instance, said it's ski resorts will remain open, despite pressure to come up with an agreement on the issue. others like austria have opted for middle ground, opening resorts but closing hotels and restaurants, in order to limit the flow of tourists. ski resorts are seen as breeding grounds for covid-19, and french authorities fear vacation goers could bring the virus back with them. the decision to conduct random checks at the border also came amid growing pressure by french ski resort operators who worry they will lose out on business to foreign competition. >> germany has

i'm in vienna the capital of austria historic old town is a unesco world heritage site. it's highlights include st stephen's cathedral and the imperial palace. i'm in vienna today for a very special reason and 2020 music lovers around the world are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the from beatle vince birth. who was born and born but spent most of his life in vienna. he lived here for over 3 decades and wrote his masterpieces today i want to see how visible loopy from beethoven still is in vienna what makes this city so attractive to musicians and why was the beatles in so restless i mean during his time here he moved on average once a year as you can see have a lot of questions that need answering one day in vienna following the footsteps of the great. off course we will also give you an overview of the sights to see in vienna. and the killing there is specialty for which the city is famous. in addition we will show you how big this being honored in his native. one of the top addresses for music lovers in vienna it's the sound museum housed it was eek it's all abou

on december the 24th 1818 the young priest yourself was sent out from open golf austria to visit his friend france group. and together they wanted to set his poem which dylan knocked a silent night to music. he needed to him to perform at the christmas mass in his parish that same night. at the time gruber was a teacher organised and sacristan and alms door for a small community north of sounds fork. he was expecting his friends who are arrived by the early evening but he knew how long and arduous the journey was in winter. the 2 friends both musicians did not take long to find the right melody to accompany moore's contemplated what. it is only a simple composition without any special meaning gruber wrote in his diary. via nothing christmas 1818. on christmas eve $1818.00 a time marked by bitter poverty and need the original german version of silent night holy night it was less 1st song during christmas mass in opened off by the 2 friends to the sound of a guitar plant on. this road only it was intended to be a song of peace and hope in the difficult years after the napoleonic wars.

i'm in vienna the capital of austria historic old town is a unesco world heritage site. it's highlights include st stephen's cathedral and the imperial palace. i'm in vienna today for a very special reason and 2020 music lovers around the world are celebrating the 250th anniversary of lucy from beethoven's birth. who was born and born but spent most of his life in vienna. he lived here for over 3 decades and wrote his masterpieces today i want to see how visible loopy from beethoven still is in vienna what makes the. cities so attractive to musicians and why was the beatles in so restless i mean during his time here he moved on average once a year as you can see have a lot of questions that need answering one day in vienna following the footsteps of the great people from. off course we will give you an overview of the sights to see in vienna. and the killing there is specialties for which the city is famous. in addition we will show you how big this being on earth in his native. one of the top addresses for music lovers in vienna is the sound museum how still music it's

in addition, we have here in austria, 1 more than00 deaths -- more tha 100 deaths due to corona every, something that chancellor underscored when a few hours ago he made a public announcement about this new lockdown. he says this absolutely necessary to ensure that despite the success ringing those numbers down, that the death rate, far too high, does not contin like that. and that the threat to the ovwhelming of hospitals and the health system, he said, that needs to recede as well. so, quite some surprised and en shock here at these new measures paired but for the government, they are the only way forward. >> and secondly, there is a rather unusual system that is about to come in the new year where you are, which could grant greater freedoms to those people who take part in. -- in it. tell us more about that? >> that's right. the hard lockdown is two-tiered, it is due to last one month overall. but one week before that month is thrgh, shops, restaurants, even cultural venues, will be allowed to open, to people who have tesd negative. that is to say, people who have participated in a

i'm actually in love with someone else and then -- she left and went back to austria and married the son of the family, and they were like rejected from the family and took ten years before they were able to move back to the family estate, but she and alfred stayed in touch over the years and they were like best friends, and he never stopped loving her, it was very clear that he was married and they were just friends. but what is interesting here is that she was one of the pioneers in the peace -- the cause of peace and organized all these conferences, she wrote a book that was a best seller at the time called "lay down your arms." she was really up front, like, this is like unheard of, woman, strong, a writer, an activist, and she did all these wonderful things and she and alfred had a lot of conversations about what was the best road to peace. how do we get a better world? create a better world? and so she really influenced him, and so what -- i write about this in book as well, that i interpret his peace prize as his final declaration of love to her, and it's really quite sad beca

so he went to austria. there he put an ad in the newspaper a main newspaper seeking for personal secretary. but really he was looking for a wife. so this young woman, she was a countess. she was from a noble family. their family did not have a lot of money and she had to work for a living. because of her education and status she became the governess or nanny for a very wealthy family in austria. i'm so name was bertha. and bertha and the youngest son of this family they fell in love actually. and of course the mother will not have it. because she was not fit to marry her son. she was poor. although she was highly educated and well mannered. and so she forced bertha to respond to this ad that alfred had put in the newspaper. and so she got the job. she was highly qualified. she got the job was very intelligent. they had a lot of great conversations. and alford of course, she was beautiful, she was smart, and funny. and they had great conversations. he quickly fell in love. when she discovers this, that he wa