A 3rd time this week plus rival demonstrators face off in the thai capital over antigovernment protests in controversial calls for curbs on the powers of the king. Also coming up theft or justice and activists has been fined 2000 euros for trying to take an african artifact from a paris museum he says he was only taking back what rightfully belongs to africa. Im burnt off to all of you joining us on p. B. S. In the United States and all around the world welcome across europe tonight the number of the new Coronavirus Infections is surging and now so are the number of new restrictions to stop that search here in germany the government is preparing new measures to rein in rising infection rates the heads of germanys federal states have been hammering out the details of the chance so im going to miss. Here in berlin for the past several hours that meeting is still going on as we speak. Or lets go straight to our Political Correspondent kate brady shes covering that meeting you know i ask you what i asked you know were good do we know what is taking them so long well if you look at the very basics of why its taken so long this comes down to the fact that germany has this federal system so you have the 16 state premiers meeting with machall today now going into the into the night as well here and so they all have ideas and things that they want to see implemented and things that they dont and so so far during the pandemic the state premiers have largely had their own control over what happens in the state in accordance with what the rates of new cases are at the time but just to give you an idea of some of the frustration thats going on that behind those doors tonight seems that these state premiers might be getting more than they bargained for and the merkel has so for porsches lee said it was she was warning the state premiers that what has been agreed upon today so far simply isnt enough that it isnt tough enough and that with these new measures that have been agreed upon today the state premiers on merkel could indeed find themselves back in one closer in another 2 weeks in another 2 weeks drawing to him a new deal what sort of restrictions or weak specd in the chancellor to be able to announce tonight. So things that weve heard leaked so far will be further restrictions on private celebrations both at home and in public rented rooms and we could also see more restrictions on exactly or rather requirements of masks where and when mask will be required and also a curfew and 11 pm curfew on bars and restaurants and all of those would depend on the number of new daily case of the on the number of new cases reported in a specific town or region within the past 7 days and we knew keep that the number of defections in this country the number is increasing which brings is ever closer to a National Walk to help likely is it that thats what were going to see well the point of this meeting today is to avoid a exactly that and of course as merkel is meeting with the state premiers today they will of course be very much aware of whats going on in neighboring friends in the new very strict rules that have been announced there and that is exactly what they want to avoid in the kinds of numbers the rate of new day of the cases i exactly what wants to be what mack wants avoid here in germany and so she is putting that pressure on state premiers to act now i think its unlikely that well see a much surprise turnaround and some very strict new measure an ounce this evening here in germany but shes made it very clear that she was see a united response from the 16 state premiers right to abuse kate brady by the way just tonight here in berlin thank you. Well its easier your situation in france is well the president and his reimposed a Public Health state of emergency saying that france is in quote a worrying situation when it comes to the coronavirus al break in a televised interview the president announced that paris and 8 other cities will have a 9 pm curfew he stressed that the virus is not out of control but he warned that the Health Care System has little capacity left to deal with the pandemic it comes as french authorities reported over 20000 new Coronavirus Infections for the 3rd time in a week are the scourge now in tunis a louis she is covering this for us in terror good evening to you lisa so france has declared the Public Health state of emergency overcovered 19 what exactly does that mean on the ground while out actually just means that the government or local governments can impose these can or nationwide. Now thats obviously something that frons just as germany at once to prevent from happening thats why the government has now decided to impose that curfew in several cities just like here in paris so if i want to go out after 9 oclock at night i need to have a good the right reason as the president put it the government is also recommending for people to only meet up with about 6 people to you know if they meet us home or in the street they should limit that circle of friends to 6 paper but the government has sat in the past that they cant really impose that massive measure its a recommendation but thats really the president really wants to appeal to the common sense of the people here to limit the spread of the virus and the curfew is part of that measure really rightly so stand by for just a moment these measures they come as many are still struggling to recover from the impact of the 1st coronavirus wave in free absence take a look. Theres not a lot going on in this paris restaurant today because of the coronavirus pandemic hardly any guests are stopping by always pick through the agony where were following all the rules but the tourists are still staying away its very complicated. To turn over has dropped by 50 to 60 percent on people. The French Economy is suffering from the coronavirus in the 2nd financial quarter the Gross Domestic Product fell by 13. 8 percent and the drone play were expecting the economy to shrink by 9 percent in france in 2020 thats gigantic and this is despite high Government Spending its meet the unemployment will continue to rise in the future. Almost 23000 new infections were reported within the last 24 hours in the greater paris area over 40 percent of the intensive care beds are already occupied by coronavirus patients. The pressure is growing and we still have to take care of the other patients while we might reach the limits of the system soon im very concerned about what will happen in the next few weeks or. The government will now implement more coronavirus restrictions in response yet lisa let me pick up on intensive care patients i understand the number of french i. C. U. Patients for corona virus earlier this week surpassed the peak that we saw back in may now if we are dealing with that already in october that doesnt bode well for the coming fall in winter in terms of the Health Care System in france being able to deal with it. Absolutely youre right and thats what the president was insisting on in the interview tonight he was saying you know our intensive care units are also our ready starting to be stretched and we need to really bring down the spread of the virus also because the situation is actually now worse than in march in that now in march actually ever only basically paris and surroundings concerned and they used to france now the virus is spread across the country so whereas earlier in the young the 1st Lockdown Health workers doctors nurses could come to the concerned regions and help out now this is no longer possible because there are needed across france and the president has said we really need to limit the spread of the virus otherwise our system is really going to crack under the amount of patients and it needs to deal with you know we walked over i know the no one in france wants to see that after the 1st walk down the experience do you think that were looking at. Playing a role here in the spirit of the virus absolutely were already looking at that obviously many people here are complaining about the fact that you have to wear masks almost everywhere like in paris you have to wear them outside on public transport at work but actually thats also one of the reasons the virus has been spreading a lot more over the past few weeks because once people get home at night many of them take up the mosques meet up with friends and family and thats where the spreads take place really the government is now insisting that people really need to stick together to to win this fight against the virus the president has said that this will go on at least until mid 2020 run by the police that the country can make this and that they should all stand together and win this fight so to say the right to use the zulus with allegiance to like repairers which thank you. Heres a look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world a warning that germanys economy is widely to be hit harder by the coronavirus pandemic than previously thought forecasts now are that the economy will shrink by 5. 4 percent in 2020 in a landmark ruling a greek court has handed long prison sentences to the leaders of Neo Nazi Group golden dawn the groups leader nikos smee kahlo the coals and several other members were sentenced for wanting a criminal gain the former Political Party has been linked to a number of violent crimes. Heavy rain and flooding has killed at least 15 people in Southern India these images are from the city of dera bud where police say 25 centimeters of rain fell in one day authorities have been using boats to evacuate residents from low lying parts of the city. In thailand thousands of prodemocracy demonstrators have set up camp outside the Prime Ministers Office as protests escalate they are calling for reform of the constitution and more controversially of the monarchy itself in thailand criticism of the king is traditionally seen as taboo and its even punishable by law. Valid to remain outside the Government House until their demands are met thousands of prodemocracy demonstrators are demanding the Prime Minister resign this is the latest in a series of antigovernment rallies that started in july the crowds want to complete government overhaul that includes fresh elections and a new constitution but many also are pushing for a less powerful monarchy a move that is raise the political temperature and cost further divisions. I think royal supporters are out here because they love the country but were out here because we love the country as well i want to win but i dont know how everyone seems to have the same goal but i dont know how much we can do. That. Earlier scuffles broke out between protesters and supporters of the marquis thailands royal family is backed by the military but still enjoys support of many but they came as less popular than his father who died in 2016 the kings motorcade being met with chants and with the 3 fingers salute would have been unthinkable in earlier times the gesture has become a prodemocracy symbol borrowed from the hunger games films about a dystopian totalitarian regime. Demanding reform of the monarchy would have been unheard of just a few years ago but many now question the kings extravagant lifestyle hes been absent for most of the Coronavirus Crisis spending months in a german alpine retreat with an entourage of 20 women. Criticizing the royals has long been off limits in thailand due to harsh defamation laws now a new generation of young protesters is breaking that taboo. And so my concerns are growing over the failure of a cease fire to stop the fighting between the forces of armenia and azerbaijan in the disputed on klav of Nagorno Karabakh russia is urging both sides to observe the truce and to end the conflict through diplomacy the 2 former soviet republics blame each other for breaking an armistice that came into force over the weekend for the cathedral of stepan ocket a place of worship no longer. In truth ripped open and its interior in ruins the church has fallen victim to a conflict that has cost hundreds of lives since it erupted last month the congregation and i praise in a makeshift shelter but they cannot escape the war. Of or a cease fire was supposed to come into effect last sunday but the shelling continues destruction and death a constant companions empty streets after thousands fled stepanek at the capital of a selfproclaimed republic within azerbaijans formal borders. 30 get after it would only in wheelchairs who have stayed. Its scary and you can even imagine whenever the shelf lives we dont know who its going to hit but we tremble in a basement what if it hits here again every day we live with this fear. From if it was you. On the other side of the front lines are telling the fire is also raining down in the town of terror to residents have sought safety in their cellars. Well. What can you do we have no choice the armenian guns in cannons made us come here we run we fall dont we stand up again we get injured and now were here hiding we fall down again and then we hate again what can we do i got injured here here here. I mean as Prime Minister nico blames azerbaijans ally turkey for the field cease fire he says ankara is looking to expand its influence in the region home was of out there. Im convinced that for as long as turkeys position remains unchanged as a by young will not stop fighting. Well the mongols. Tuckey for its part has called on armenia to withdraw from territory it currently holds so far the International Community has been unable to broker peace talks. With the 2 sides refusing to come to the table peace remains a distant prospect for the people here. But here are more of the days top stories day all Day European Union has reportedly agreed to same 6 Russian Security officials over the poisoning of russian Opposition Leader alexei never all that the asset freezes and travel bans are to be implemented within days russia has threatened to hit back with a similar blacklist the vatican has opened its 1st known trial against clergy accused of sex abuse one priest is accused of molesting an altar boy in the vaticans youth similary between 2007 in 2012 another priest is accused of covering up the crimes the batek and started investigating only after the victim went public in 2017. 2 russians and an american have successfully reached the International Space station the fastrack flight took just 3 hours thats half the usual time its nasas last mission on a russian spacecraft the u. S. Now has its own access with. Space x. Corporation. Scientists are warning that australias Great Barrier reef is disappearing at an alarming rate a new study has confirmed that at least half of the corals of the World Heritage site have died over the past 25 years researchers say Climate Change is irreversibly destroying the underwater ecosystem. Israel and lebanon have begun talks on settling a long running dispute over their maritime border the 2 sides held a brief meeting on wednesday described by lebanons chief negotiator as the 1st step on a 1000 mile journey the 2 sides are still technically at war but its hoped the negotiations will clear the way for Gas Exploration. The Mediterranean Sea off the coast between israel and lebanon these are contested waters both countries have long been locked in dispute over where the maritime border lies behind the scenes negotiations have gone on for several years now israel and lebanon have agreed on a framework to hold indirect talks backed by the us to settle the issue. That. The United States intend to put all of its effort with the 2 concerned parties to have great a positive and constructive atmosphere between them to preserve the talks and end them successfully as soon as possible oh my. God. In the past decade israel has been exploring its own offshore gas fears south of the disputed area. The dispute is about a relatively small triangle shaped area with each side claiming their part as exclusive economic zone. The last full scale conflict between israel and lebanon was in 2006 but there have been many incidents since between israel and the new guineas shiite militant Group Hezbollah parts of the countrys land border the blue line is also disputed im standing here the Hassani Cross crossing which is most of the time closed its along the blue line a line that was democratic by the un and the year 2000 after the israeli withdrawal technically both countries lebanon and israel are still at war and they have no diplomatic relations the talks are highly sensitive neither country sees resolving the maritime border as a step towards a wider peace agreement. Israel realistically doesnt look at it as a peace talk although those. Potential for discussing security arrangements and the lebanese are very busy denying that he does hand is anything to do with normalization or peacemaking its all business though they say an agreement on the maritime border could pave the way to more Gas Exploration a potential economic benefit for both countries. And activists from congo has been fined 2000 euros by a french court for trying to steal an african artifact from a museum in paris zulu dions a live stream his attempt to remove a 19th century relic he accuses france and other European Countries of plundering the places they colonized he says that they should return the objects that they took. Many would call this theft but this activists hes only getting back what was taken away from his people i came to reclaim goods that were stolen from africa during colonization of this video of us live streamed on facebook back in june or west. For other activists were trying to steal a funerary post from ca