Im rebecca richs welcome to the Program German chancellor Angela Merkel has confirmed that a partial lockdown to tackle the corona virus will remain in place until at least early january michael said infection rates are still too high to consider reopening bars restaurants james and other Leisure Facilities terminals being hit much harder by the 2nd wave of the virus this week saw a record for the highest number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic restrictions on get togethers will be loosened over christmas a move Public Health experts warn will have fatal consequences. In germany to situation looks bleak with regards to the pandemic after a month of the socalled lights lock down. From the c. U. We still have to go to go back to a 7 day incidence rate of under 50 cases per 100000 inhabitants and on average were very far from it. And do wish not before i was a Buddhist Monk the question is whether we leave the country in this state of half sleep or if we decide at some point to introduce significantly tougher measures with see how efficient the measures currently in place are constructed youve looked. Into heart of belin hi chad plats is usually bursting with visitors at this time of the year they come from all over the world to enjoy mulled wine a sausage at one of germanys 3 towers and Christmas Markets the demeter pandemic little from the magical atmosphere of christmas remains days here. We need to ask ourselves what to do we dont know what will happen its not really a Christmas Market just a few stands if. I was there last year before i flew back to each of the it was wonderful i think its a real shame that theres nothing to really sorry. That their lives restaurants and bars had to close when the lights lock down was introduced but now we saw to take away orders and survive thanks to regular and loyal customers. This is not only sincere it is a bit difficult to moment of course but we doing our best we open for takeaways was new offers and no regular Customer Support something we see how long it last i heard the situation and soon from of the long as for short for both both and in the. Chancellor Angela Merkel had warned time and again that germans would face a long and difficult winter and we saw the uncertainty to entities that winter has arrived. Lets go straight to d. W. Political correspondent thomas a sparrow thomas yesterday germany reported a record of 487 deaths today they were 479 2nd highest death toll so far what does that say about the 2nd wave here in germany it essentially says rebecca that the 2nd wave is hitting germany very hard indeed and that the lockdown light as it has been cold has not yet delivered the results that authorities had expected you have over 22000 new cases in the last 24 hours you have over 1300 deaths this week so far so yes there may be initial signs the numbers are going down yes they may be initial signs that the exponential great growth has been stopped but yet the situation remains very serious and this explains why Angela Merkel and the 16 regional leaders decided to extend this partial lockdown until the beginning of january. Thomas does that mean that people are not following the were also what seems to be the problem there why it while the numbers remaining so high. Essentially its being described as a diffuse situation where you dont have one specific hot spot in one specific place but where the incidence of new coronavirus cases is high in most parts of the country if you look for example at the german map you will clearly see that its basically red in most parts of the country and this shows how difficult it is for authorities to also track and trace new infections under the mobile had said a few weeks ago that it was very difficult in fact for German Authorities to track most infections so this gives you an idea also of how big the challenge is another issue altogether is where the Health System is being overwhelmed there are already hospitals saying that they cant receive more patience and it is such only a very big challenge indeed for German Authorities and one that has German Authorities very concerned all right tell us now stay with us i do want to come back to you but 1st lets take a look at this report on who could or should be 1st in line in those countries pushing to roll out a Vaccine Program as soon as possible. Everyone in the world who wants to get vaccinated against kovan 1000 should be able to at least thats the idea but demand for the vaccine is likely to be much greater than the initial supply now governments must decide who comes 1st and who must wait most agree that Fair Distribution should take place independent of a country or individuals ability to pay in britain an independent commission has developed a multistep plan according to the key factors of infection risk and age residents and employees in Nursing Homes take 1st priority next in line are those over 80 years old and then Health Care Professionals then high risk adults under 65 can take their turn followed by seniors over 65. The most important thing is to make sure that we get people as many peoples possible starting with the most vulnerable and those who work in the front line of the n. H. S. Vaccination effectively in countries with federal states like germany or the us the decision will be left to individual states the u. S. Advisory Commission Recommends that residents of Nursing Homes and Health Care Workers be vaccinated 1st germany is also working to create a system of prioritizing vaccinations chancellor Angela Merkel says above all it wont be mandated month with. Nobody will be forced to vaccinated this is a voluntary decision fog of you have a question of who will be vaccinated 1st is being discussed with the Vaccination Commission with the leopold dean academy of science and with the ethics commission. Country but i think i can already revealed this much 1st and foremost of course we have nurses doctors and people in high risk groups who. Only after 60 to 70 percent of people have become immune to the virus will the pandemic be considered defeated and reaching that point worldwide will still take time. Right tell us so we had chancellor merkel in that report saying that the 1st in line should be of course nurses doctors and high risk groups what more can you tell us about the program here in germany. I can tell you 2 elements very quickly very shortly on the one hand the fact that they have prioritized who will come 1st and how that will be distributed so high risk groups Health Care Workers and people in socalled relevant professions so basically professions that are important to maintain public life like teachers or Police Officers and 2nd that they will be distributed mainly through very Big Regional Centers so around 60 Regional Centers and just to give you an idea of the size here in berlin for example one of them will be in a disused airport terminal then based on those centers you will then have the vaccine distributed among the german Population Based on that priority that i have just told you all right tell us a sparrow speaking to us from our Berlin Studio thank you the United Nations is a World Leaders to make 2020 the year they commit to fighting Climate Change it comes as new reports highlight the Severe Weather that broke records around the world this year u. N. Says the coronavirus pandemic presents a chance to hit the reset button and do the work needed to save the planet from devastating temperature increases. Heat waves droughts. Wildfires. And flooding 2020 has been yet another year of extreme weather. Ecosystems like the Great Barrier reef in australia. Or Monarch ButterflyBiosphere Reserve in mexico are under threat this year is on course to become the 2nd hottest on record after 2016 and the u. N. Secretary general sent out a dire warning humanity is waging war on nature the zs suicidal nature always tried spec and it is already doing so well go in force and few. Biodiversity collapsing when 1000000 species on its risk of extinction eco systems are these appearing before our eyes theres the wetlands are being lost every year most 10000000 times and forests oceans are overfished and shocking. According to the World Meteorological organization Greenhouse Gas concentrations climbed to a new record in 2019 and have risen so far this year despite an expected drop in emissions to cope with 19 knockdowns. Tourism Hunting Fishing and livestock grazing are playing a role in the crisis. Less visible was an increase in marine heat to record levels. More than 80 percent of the worlds oceans experienced a heatwave. The shrinking of the ice caps and bleaching of carl reefs are just some of the impacts. The changes we are it is not a religion or bits of wood group or a gram of system just new for instance is were. We were going to reduce fear so even if it changes the earth to a 3rd or so were going there observe. There is a glimmer of hope though more than 100 countries have promised up by 2050 philby Carbon Neutral vicious new targets are being proposed for a u. N. Conference next year. Ok lets turn to some of the other stories making news around the world this hour lawmakers in israel of passed a preliminary bill to dissolve parliament bringing the country closer to its 4th National Election in just 2 years Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu has called for unity with his governing Party Partner benny gantz who supports the bill. And the u. N. Has reached an agreement with a theo to allow aid into government controlled areas of the region for weeks the un has been warning of a possible humanitarian crisis due to the conflict between the government and take the rebel forces tens of thousands of civilians have already fled the fighting into neighboring sudan. When he was a european dreama a lady who promoted the vision of a unified continent until the end of his long life former french president valid countess toe has died at the age of 94 from complications linked to covert 9 tame shes contest led france from 1974 to 1981 spearheading a social revolution away from catholic conservatism he also worked closely with germany to pave the way for the euro pain union of today. He was hailed as a modernization and a champion of european integration in the 1970 s. Former french president just got a star helped lay the groundwork for the European Union born in what was then french occupied germany she scar was just a teenager when he joins a French Resistance group in occupied paris in the 2nd world war. He went on to be elected president in 1974 at the age of 4081. 00 of frances youngest postwar lead as. Good i know that today marks a new era for french politics. You are pretty small. Thats it for juvenile and change for france. During his 7 years in power the center right statesman helped modernize French Society he legalized abortion and allowed divorce by Mutual Consent in spite of fierce opposition from the catholic church. To that but he also pushed to liberalize frances economy and as a strong advocate of technology he was seen as the father of the countrys high speed train network. She was committed to the european ideal and forged a close relationship with former west german chancellor Helmut Schmidt together they laid the foundations for the euro single currency and turned their dream of a more integrated europe into reality. You know watching data 1000000 years did any business with Steven Beardsley is up after a short break time forget you can always stay up to date on our web site thats dot com ill be back with more News Headlines at the top of the hour thanks for watching