A day after backing an arms embargo on Libya European Union leaders are now debating a military mission in the war torn country plus could sexism be making the gap between rich and poor wider with more of the worlds wealth in fewer and fewer hands a new report warns its women in developing countries who are paying the highest price. Im off its good to have you with us we begin tonight in china where concerns are growing over the rapid spread of the deadly coronavirus so far the virus has been blamed for 3 deaths in the central city of hung with some 200. 00 more people already reported ill Health Officials now say that the virus is capable of being spread from person to person and it comes at a time when millions are traveling across the country ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. In wu han infected patients are treated in isolation wards authorities have confirmed over 200 cases of coronavirus symptoms include fever and difficulty breathing 3 patients have died but say most are not seriously ill Health Authorities believe the outbreak originated at this now closed market in new hand which salt fish and wild Animals Research is that Imperial College london suspects the rate of infection may be much higher than the official figures they estimate that could be 1723. 00 cases in New Hampshire beijing says its taking the situation seriously. Regarding our measures to prevent the epidemic spreading i can say that the government is now checking everybody who leaves the city. Who hands train stations have been equipped with detectors to screen passengers for fever and medical personnel on standby neighboring countries have also introduced checks at apple its for cases of the virus have been detected in people travelling from to size korea thailand and japan 3 u. S. Airports are also screening passengers but there have been no confirmed cases so far. Im joined here by professor viewer hes president of the robert costa institute here in berlin professor good to have you on the program let me ask you should people be worried about how quickly this virus is spreading actually have to say 1st of all id like to think you got to give me opportunity to talk about this virus here you know there are 2 other viruses that are very similar to this virus so we know a lot about the virus i will remind you of 2000 to 2003. Resorts this highly similar to this virus so we alert on alert but actually we know how to handle it we know how we can contain it and therefore i think that. Who should be on alert they should be really. Stay safe and they should really know what to do and this is the most important thing for us to deliver this message to the people the chinese authorities they are saying that this outbreak is controllable he believes im sure i believe and why shouldnt you know in 2002 there were 3 Different Things to today 1st of all the virus was fully unknown secondly the chinese authorities didnt report properly to the world and thirdly they didnt have that huge capacity in public of efficiency so these are 3 major advances over the last 15 years or so and even under these circumstances some 15 years ago we were able to control costs so why shouldnt we be able to control this new wires and we know now that it can be trans emitted from human to human help how do you best in control this virus from spreading if you know that simple you know contact in crowds can spread the virus easily or 1st of all we dont have all the data that we already can fully jaci on the streets mission wary but from what we know today is that some 220 cases are there and we know that most of the cases have been infected on a market with putatively by contact to animals to certain animals and we know that the number of cases creating between people is really small and from what we know today is that there needs to be a very intensive contact between people to get infected so actually the transmission rate doesnt seem to be too high ok you say intensive contact and were coming in china right before the Lunar New Year were talking about the 10s of millions of people traveling across the country the trains in the country are all going to be full is that a perfect storm for spreading a virus. Clearly this is not a perfect situation to control an outbreak however authorities are really hard working on it they put in exit screening to my knowledge some 300 points they are challenging people taking temperature so theres a chance to pick up those people who are actually infected and they have put in place a lot of control measures and again id like to mention that they really report nicely on the situation so the whole world is looking at it and just taking control and supporting well enough its good to hear that positive news from you thats for sure professor it looks ill be there with the rubber caulk institute here in early it as really we appreciate your time tonight thank you thank you. Well heres some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world china says it will introduce a ban on plastic bags in major cities and single use straws in restaurants by the end of the year authorities are trying to control plastic pollution and aim to cut the amount of waste in landfills by the year 2025 at least 3 protesters were killed in the iraqi capital baghdad after Security Forces used tear gas and live ammunition on antigovernment demonstrations another protester was reportedly killed during demonstrations in karbala or testers are demanding sweeping political reforms and an end to corruption. And in ethiopia at least 10 people died dozens more were injured when a spectator stand collapsed at a festival the wood structure gave way during the Orthodox Christian celebration of epiphany in the city of gondar several 1000 ethiopians and tourists were commemorating the baptism of jesus. In brussels European UnionForeign Ministers have discussed the results of this weekends libya conference that was held here in berlin they have made no decision jet over involvement in the war torn country now e. U. Foreign policy chief is if the rail will lead further talks before the ministers next meeting in february burrell proposed restarting the European Unions sofia Naval Operation to rescue migrants in the mediterranean and that operation was halted due to a dispute over the distribution of refugees in europe brussels says it will not take steps to monitor a cease fire in libya and till the warring factions have established a stable troops. Well as part of this weekends a peace summit in berlin both sides in libyas conflict agreed to nominate a 5 Member Committee to monitor the countrys fragile cease fire many ordinary libyans however are viewing recent peace efforts with skepticism after 9 years of conflict and with fresh clashes being reported early on monday around tripoli many libyans know firsthand just how fleeting peace and stability can be. Life goes on in tripoli despite renewed assaults around the capital the high level summit in berlin has made no big promises a prime minister. Who leads the un backed government from tripoli acknowledged a resistance to negotiate from our side weve nominated 5 people and they are now waiting to meet their 5 counterparts but on an individual front we have passed this point and rejected the possibility of sitting down with the other side the other side as forces loyal to. Who controls Eastern Libya a military commission made up of 5 representatives from each side is meant to hammer out a lasting truce many libyans are skeptical. Conference can be successful if both parties that head to the. Cease fire will prevent bloodshed in the country. Libyans need to sit down together and solve the problems. They. Have with the most important thing is that there is consensus amongst libyans and this. And that had there was no need for conference what has. Been your consideration is necessary to country. With fighting ongoing and a path to peace uncertain a wide gap persists between talks in europe and action on the ground. A new report by oxfam says that the worlds billionaires have more wealth than the poorest 4600000000 people combined and the charity says that women are the ones who are most disadvantaged these are unbelievable numbers oxfams inequality report says that 22. 00 of the worlds richest men have more money in assets than all the women in africa each day women and girls across the world put in 12500000000 hours of paid work whether its cooking cleaning or looking after children and the elderly now. That work is worth almost 11 trillion dollars a year to the Global Economy that is unpaid 11000000000. 00 now such a wife is the reality for many women in india were cultural expectations prevent many of them from getting a job but several women are trying to change that. It doesnt pay much but this is how ect helps to support for with siblings and to mother like many 21 year olds she has big plans. To has already finished a course in sewing technology and shes been attending training sessions with this youth and Employability Service to help her get a better page job. And that was that i am determined to work ive had a very difficult life ive had problems with my family and other problems too but ive never accepted defeat i want to help my siblings build their careers if i get a good job my mother doesnt need to work as a maid and other peoples homes anymore i know i will succeed. Many more women across india are pursuing further education but less than a quarter of those eligible to walk have jobs or are even seeking employment concerns about safety and transport some of the reasons why families as well as employers dont want women working men is easy for one thing bosses dont have to worry about them getting home before its dark thats been a problem pinky kemarre has faced she travels nearly 2 hours from have village just to get to work and sometimes she has to leave early in order to get home while its still light but shes already broken it to brew by becoming the 1st woman in her family to have an office job even if she had to fight to get it so ive struggled a lot i wasnt allowed to work i have problems with the family but i feel very good about my 1st job im learning a lot im enjoying it so much having. Many women like pinky also struggle to walk. Or shes got them from when a woman tries to work the family stops or they dont let her progress they think shell go out she could do anything dont let her out shell dishonor us they dont trust her. Theres nothing in thought and worry about their safety when they go places will they return safely will someone harass them on the way will they be in danger we have to worry about all these things. So many barriers for women including ekta but still they persevere. Your resilience and perseverance joining me now from toronto is allison holder she is the director of Advocacy Organization equal measures 2030 it focuses on gender issues or why else is going to have you on the show i mean these numbers are are staggering we just saw in that report there are 2 women who are bucking the trend its 2 women if you will against all odds i mean what has to change to stop this growing inequality huge inequality for women around the world. Great thanks for having me well what i think are really interesting is we looked at 2 women from india but what equal measures 2030 found we released an index back in june and we found that no country has reached gender equality and so this problem of the burden of unpaid or low paid care work is something that we should all recognize from every single one of our countries women are propping up families theyre propping up companies and theyre propping up countries and i think that something really profound to reflect every country struggles and what we found is that every country even those that we would think of as being gender equal so even including germany for example have more to do getting women into power getting women into those top tech and Science Research jobs ensuring Womens Health all of those things are challenges every country faces and we see that when it comes to womens unpaid care but in your report says 40 percent of the worlds women live in countries that have sailed in gender equality and what does that mean with the that these countries have sailed. So weve assessed down 129. 00 countries around the world at all Different Levels of gender equality and we found that if huge number of countries including those that inhabit 40 percent of women and girls inhabit are failing on gender equality we measured acute range of issues Health Education violence Climate Change and countries all have more to do we found particularly countries that are facing conflict and fragility have a lot more to do on gender equality and we found similarly that the richest countries have more to do and i think when we look at the oxfam report and the fact that women are pushed into the lowest paid jobs women are consigned to the sectors that are least valued that is underlying gender discrimination behind that and thats what our index showed. You know this week the worlds Public Policy elites are meeting in davos switzerland for the World Economic forum if you could meet with the top level there and they could grant your wish what would be the 1st thing on your list for them to do to improve the situation. So with that question i want them to think differently about care work so we think of care work as being a cost and we cant afford it we cant invest in social care because we have to construct bridges and buildings but in Fact Research shows that actually if you spent 2 percent of g. D. P. On the care sector you create twice as many jobs as you would in construction that is a crucial thing for both the governments and the private sector in davos to consider this year think of care as an investment and investment in decent jobs particularly for women id also like them to tomorrow commit to bring in place quotas to get women in positions of power because we know when they are that theyre more likely to legislate and come up with policies that solve these kind of problems and i want them to talk to women get womens organizations around the table they know the problems that the women on the frontlines are most facing and its just hard to imagine that the lawmakers and policy makers are not aware of this i mean wherever you go around the world you have the same thing people are living longer the role of care takers is growing and most of the caretakers in the world are women and theyre not being paid or they get low pay for that i mean this is a huge problem thats getting bigger by the day well just look at the way we count whether our countries are succeeding or failing we cant g. D. P. Do we take into account that unpaid care work the thing that makes Everything Else work that keeps people healthy that gets them educated that makes the whole system function but we dont even count it and so i think theres a very basic starting point which is lets get the data so we know how much they care work women are doing and the burden they think they face and its a great start to see this but we dont have that data across the board for both countries and we need it and then lets get people not talking about care as a cost or a drain or a negative aspect but in a Real Investment in making people happier and healthier and in creating decent well paid jobs yeah good advice maybe a recalibration of some moral compass is would help as well allison holder of equal measures 2030 allison we appreciate your time tonight thank you thanks for having me. Well now to the United States in a tense situation in the state of virginia thousands of progun activists are staging a massive rally in the state capital urging lawmakers to abandon plans for stricter gun control democrats promise to tighten Gun Legislation after they gained control of the state legislature back in november but their proposed package of controls has infuriated gun rights campaign. Progun campaign is gather in richmond every january but this year they are here in fog greater numbers with new reason to rally for that cause will make his image in iraq pushing forward with a package of gun control legislation including universal background checks a ban on assault style rifles and a limit of 100. 00 gun purchase per month gun rights supporters a furious are all of these rights are god given no one can take them away we have a right to defend ourselves and our families. So were here to let them know that they can take our rights away we dont need the government telling us where our rights are are not there our government does not take away our rights. And if the government keep pushing us like his Democrat Friends then you go to say a 2nd revolution in america like the 1st revolution where people get shot. By law if a possible violence prompted governor valve northam to ban weapons on the capital crimes and declare a temporary state of imagine sci. Fi is fueled by the memory of shot that spill in 2017 when a white supremacist attending a rally drove his car into an antiracism protest and killed to. A nice kept some gun control activists away from planned kind of protests with all of the threats and all of the terribly violent rhetoric thats going on right now our main goal is not to engage with going to extremists today were really here to be present in the legislature to make our voices heard to underscore a majority but also to underscore the more urgency that we have as our generation and undo it affected by gun violence. Figures show 29000. 00 was the worst year on record for Mass Shootings in the United States the total number of people fatally shot also increased last year according to data from gun violence a nonprofit that tracks shootings. And these activists insist guns on the