Gets a little taller after himalayan nations agreed on new measurements. Im rebecca it has welcome to the program here in germany the countrys regional governments are considering imposing a total lockdown over the christmas and new year period the countrys National Academy of sciences is recommending the Holiday Season be used for a to wake full lockdown to rein in high infection rates the eastern state of saxony has already taken steps in this direction and bavaria is expected to follow the various state premier monk assert it has asked lawmakers to approve strict measures including the closing of stores from christmas to january 10th mating between the federal and state. Governments last week concluded that individual states can unilaterally impose stricter measures. And the new political reporter is with me from our parliamentary studio 3 a thanks for joining me hard luck to definitely looking inevitable in germany do we know when the country is likely to do a full shutdown we dont know exactly when that might happen we still dont know if it will happen the plans for christmas had already been defined about 2 weeks ago when chancellor Angela Merkel and the state leaders had met last time and they were met to meet again after christmas on january 4th to reevaluate the situation in the country with the coronavirus now calls are coming from all sides of the different sides to. Come together before the Christmas Holidays and to decide on further restrictions now even the German Academy of sciences called for nationwide common rules that are the same for all states we now see some states going it alone so have to see whether there will be an agreement as you say a couple of states going it alone very unsexy already announcing tighter measures why are the other states lagging behind. Well we have to consider that varia and saxony especially at the moment have quite a high incidence of coronavirus cases well above what the alarm limit that was set in terms of. Coronavirus cases and therefore it is understandable that they now want to toughen the restrictions in other states especially recently in the north of the country cases have been lower therefore the need for restrictions was not considered. Important and now were also seeing these states. Coming up with ideas of maybe introducing some more limitations so we will have to see whether again a common a common concept will be created or whether everyone will go or go along with their own rules on christmas is obviously an important holiday for millions of people across the world but how important is this Christmas Celebration for the german population and why is it seems so controversial to impose a lockdown over this period christmas is definitely important here in germany is an occasion for families and friends to get together it is a time to enjoy some time off from the busy life that many people lead but it is also the most important religious holiday in the country and therefore it is difficult to ask the population to refrain from spending time together weve seen polls last week saying that a majority of germans would like to see loosening zz over christmas stories a little different for new years eve were actually over 70 percent of about 70 percent of germans would not like to see restrictions loose and write your lives handling speaking to us from parliamentary studios thanks very much. Hospitals all over germany have sound of the alarm as their intensive care units rate dangerously high limits germany is now ranked 2nd in europe for both new cases and new deaths currently between 70 to 90 percent of i. C. U. Beds in germany are full and the staff tasked with keeping constant watch over those patients nearing exhaustion. For 3 years has been the head of the intensive care unit at the College Towns hospital in berlin there are 10 patients currently in his ward half of them are suffering from a corona virus infection the others have severe heart or lung diseases with this number of people his i. C. U. Would has reached its limits no more patients can be admitted. Visitors one of the situation is difficult because were constantly under pressure that means the staff is under stress on the long term basis enough and we have the problem that we cannot provide the necessary kind of care to other patients whove arrived at accident and emergency. Operations. So far these 28000 intensive care beds have helped to keep the countrys death toll rather to low during the pandemic that could change the number of i. C. U. Patients further increase over the winter months. We can expect the influenza season to begin and patients with already damaged lungs are admitted to intensive care or to begin at that number to the number of covered 1000 cases and then theres a real risk of serious bottlenecks forming a very quickly him because according to him in. This map shows the current occupation of german hospitals around the country many of them are colored orange or red as theyre reaching back a passage the limits especially in densely Populated Areas thats often take. Says theres a shortage of people not equipment he has to they can beds fully equipped but with nobody to stop them but hospitals have little or no money to hire more staff as luck would have operations had to be postponed to keep the ward available for corona virus patients and that will keep time of them but doing 20 to 30 percent fewer surgeries and last year that means we and other hospitals are currently generating a major financial deficit and that despite the extra challenge that comes from taking care of all the culvert patients or similar for the underground some corporate suit. To keep hospitals afloat financially the German Government helped out with extra funding the clinic says that money ran out in september for now he and his team are hoping for more money so that they can give their help to everyone who needs it. And i cross the atlantic nearly every state in the us has reported surges in corona virus cases just as a vaccine appears days away from getting the go ahead president onil trump and his successor joe biden have both towns had their plans for launching a mass vaccination Vaccination Program but friction between the political rivals threatens to complicate the rollout across and nation already brought to its knees by the pandemic. Had an event celebrating operation warp speed trump credited his administration with producing vaccines more rapidly than has ever been done before today were on the verge of another american medical miracle and thats what people are saying people that arent necessarily big fans of donald trump are saying with the alike. This is one of the greatest miracles in the history of modern day medicine he said that the food and Drug Administration would likely authorize the buy and take Pfizer Vaccine within days and the maternal vaccine soon after. Officials from bidens Transition Team who will oversee the bulk of the vaccination rollout were not invited instead biden held his own parallel event he introduced his new Pandemic Response team and laid out his Top Priorities for the start of his tenure maskey vaccinations open in schools these are the 3 key goals from our 1st 100 days like trump biden made promises about getting americans back summated quickly. This team will help get at the latest at the last 100000000 covert 19 vaccine at least 100000000 covert vaccine shots into the arms of the American People in the 1st 100 days 100000000 shots in the 1st 100 days but biden warned that without funding from Congress Backs in nation efforts could quickly stall. But developing a vaccine is only one Herculean Task distributing it is another Herculean Task he also said that getting kids back to school was a major priority and that hed mandate a mask requirement in federal buildings and on Public Transportation on day one of taking office my 1st 100 days well and the covert 19 virus i cant promise that but im absolutely convinced that in 100 days we can change the course of the disease and change life in america for the better. Both sides of the aisle appear to be throwing their weight behind what could soon become the biggest vaccination effort in the nations history. Lets take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world now the u. S. Supreme court has rejected an effort to overturn the results of the president ial election in the state of pennsylvania it signals that the nations highest court which includes 3 judges appointed by President Trump may not go along with his efforts to overturn his defeat in last months election. U. S. Vehicle make a test has been told to suspend forest clearing for a new german factory after environmentalists won an injunction over threats to the habitats of indigenous european lizards and snakes a court will now examine the concerns raised before issuing a final decision. British Prime Minister baraks johnson and e. U. Chief will hold talks in brussels later today as they make a last minute push for a post brics a trade deal it comes after months of deadlocked negotiations between officials both sides have warned the chances of reaching an agreement by a year end deadline are slim. Music fans in new york and around the world have been remembering the form of beatles thing at john lennon on the 40th anniversary of his death the British Legend was shot dead by a gunman in december 980 while walking home with his wife lennon is remembered for hits including the antiwar anthem imagine. Mount everest on the border between china and the pole is already the worlds highest paid but now its even taller well officially at least up to now the 2 countries have differed on whether to include the snowcapped on top of the mountain in the measurements after both countries sent teams of surveyors there finally reached an agreement ending years of debate. Chum a long saga mata mt everest the worlds highest peak is known by several names and now its reaching even greater heights. East. To the world. Is a 1848. 86 meters. Thats 86 centimeters higher than was previously recorded when the 7 natural wonders of the world ever straddles both nepal and china but the 2 countries have long disagreed on its height so each sent out teams of surveyors to scale the summit the multiyear effort to measure the legendary mountain wasnt easy teams endure it extreme weather conditions and a strenuous climb to come to calculations that both katmandu and beijing can now agree. We have to respect anything that becomes bigger the encrease and high it is a source of huge prize for nepal and her people so its a big deal. Pride comes from conquering the mountain but also from keeping the quest local. In the past measurement of the mountain all the instruments and equipment used by china were imported from abroad but this time china used its own equipment and withstood the test of the extremely harsh environment there were concerns of the 2015 earthquake that killed nearly 9000 people had also caused the mountain to shrink but those fears are gone at 8848. 806 meters it stands even taller than previously imagined. Sports now paris sidelines a Champions League game with. The here was abandoned after players left the field in protest having a key. Used a match official of using racist language the incident happened in the 1st half with the game at mill mill a member of istanbuls Coaching Staff was sent off after which players reacted to the 4th officials choice words the game will now be played on wednesday with different referees the turkish side were out of contention for the last 16 but p. S. G. Can finish 1st or 2nd in the group. Youre watching news day chain now for date of the business with my colleague statement b its late ill be back with more News Headlines for you at the top of the out in the meantime as always our web site didnt have any dot com im Rebecca Richards in berlin thanks very much for watching. Their. Corn exchange break is it sex. Happiness increase book. For your. Smart or for free