demonstrates a storm, the mass offices and the country's biggest city, and the state of emergency is declared as protests. flash across the former soviet republic. also on the program, germany, you foreign minister takes her 1st trip to washington since taking office talks with her u. s. counterparts are expected to focus on tensions with russia. with us the united states, tops of 1000000 new corona virus infections in that day. president biden makes another appeal please. he's please get vaccinated. now. the surgeon cases raises concerns over disruptions to public life, but the president says the army tron very it poses the biggest threat to the unvaccinated outrage in australia. a star novak jock of it is granted special permission to play at the open, despite the silence on his vaccination status. ah, i'm fil gail. welcome to the program. protesters of stone, the government offices in kazakhstan, lodge, a city al matty and set fire to sun. the violence follows days of mass demonstrations of a searching fuel prices, billing for calm the countries present casem germonti took. i have to spoke of deaths and injuries sustained in the protest and said he would act forcefully to end the unrest. thousands of protesters venting the fury at the government. a rare sight in the authoritarian ex soviet republic. for 4 days. these people have been taking to the streets. protest started in the remote oil hub of gentlemen. but they quickly spread 2 other cities after the government announced an end to price caps on fuel. now the unrest appears to be spiraling and hitting the country's largest city. amity, in particular, protest is a calling for white or political changes. police have deployed in numbers in a bid to curb the unrest your job. but t a guests and stun grenades have done little to dissuade protesters. neither have hundreds of arrests, nor the imposition of a curfew and movement restrictions on several regions. cassock president cuts him, jamal took, i have had 2nd the government and moved to reinstate price controls in response. but with protests escalating, the president has vowed to hold firm america glo august because the head of state and from today, the president of the security council, i intend to act as tough as possible. stillborn yet no matter what. yeah, i will stay in the cafeteria. catholics don's authoritarian government usually tolerates little real opposition. but this time the protesters anger seems to have caught the authorities off guard. i gary mer to la, you can, nova is an independent journalist from kazakhstan. she joins us from prague. welcome to d. w. what are you hearing from your contacts in the country? thank you for having me right now. i, i do not hear much from my friends or acquaintance almighty, at least because the internet has been repeatedly blocked entire country. and i'm not sure whether the internet is working now, but i can see for sure that what's up and other messengers have been unavailable since yesterday. and people who are texting me on this messengers are doing so through vpn. and that's the situation with people on the ground. ok, so internet blocks. and the only way to get into it traffic out is to pretend that you're somewhere else in the world. what is the background to these disturbances if it's really about the price of fuel? this is definitely not about this one particular thing because the situation, political, economic and social situation and then has not been improving the last few years. and i think that after we had changed the president in 2019, the people were promised change and real political reforms. but in reality we did not happen. and in fact, they became even more repressive. and i think that 2 people got really angry and spike in oil prices was just the last job. and i myself was in marty just 2 days ago. and i witnessed the very high inflation and people's struggling economically saving money even for groceries. so i think that the people's desperation is what we see now, although there are some people who become really violent and now we have seen total care of at least you know, marty because my friends or sources lead to a have seen that the cars are turned upside down in the city, the government buildings are on fire and there have been a tax on some hospitals and some ambulance machines and also on journalists because some of the tv preventers, for example, they were evacuated from the buildings because the protesters entered and destroyed their equipment right, and tell us about the state of the, the government now who is in charge because the government was either resigned or it was sat. so let's start there. did they, did they step down where they fired? i think it was more that they were attacked because president a guy today in the morning asset that basically the government is to blame for all of this situation. and we, we had to address to the nation. and he said, the president said that he will act very harshly now because he has become the head of the security council, which is a very important title in complex done, which is another bias with holding before recently. and now we don't know where another bias is. but these title basically means that now can control the situation with security both internally and externally. and we have seen some of the changes in the power structure already and to kyle has promised the real political reform. once again, we don't know whether we're coming to reality, but the situation is still ongoing, so it's hard to predict what will happen in the next few hours. ok, thank you for that. thanks for joining us. i get him tonight over i was take a look at some more stories making news around the world will start in japan. where it says that north korea appears to have launched a ballistic missile into the sea of japan. by minister for mucous sheeta expressed regret. but north korea still launching missiles towards his country. united nations resolutions ban young from testing ballistic missile b, $100.00 hostages in nigeria have been free 2 months after they were abducted police say hostages, which included women and children were released unconditionally armed gangs in the country often kidnapped for ransom. canada is to pay $30000000000.00 us dollars in compensation to indigenous children taken from their families and human rights tribunal found that officials did discriminate over decades against the indigenous population. around $55000.00 children should benefit $40000000000.00. a german foreign minister analynn a bareback is in washington on her 1st trip to the u. s. since taking office to meet us secretary of state antony blinker talks, it will include strained relations between russia, west, the theater russian troop build up on exported with you crate is in preparation for invasion. climate change is also on the agenda to last max in december at the g 7 summit in the u. k. the w's at washington bureau chief in this poll is following that meeting for us at welcome. it is so what a germany's priorities for today's meeting. i was at the mall yesterday, fill here in washington to talk with people about the general sick storming, but also about the new government. and it was quite interesting. nobody has ever heard of an alina babel. even chancellor shawls is not known very well. everybody knows america, so the 1st goal really will be to make the new government known and to kind of gain the trust which are under mattel achieved over the last 16 years. right. and how are transatlantic relations looking at the moment as his 1st year of jo biden's presidency restored the u. s. german relationship? well, it's certainly a matter of perspective fall under the previous administration. under the trump administration. it was absolutely worse with tension running very high for the, for actually just forced trade years and now was biden, under the biden administration. the expectations were high, but there are a lot of disputes that have not been resolved. and there has been more a political turmoil, then one probably would have expected so disagreements on handling the chinese government for example. or you mentioned russia, then there is not room to after all there is covered and even the gun is done. withdrawal have hindered the return of the relationship to its former level, but as we are seeing today, there is dialogue and that we did not see under the trump administration. let's just pick out one of the elements that you listed there, but the nord stream, a to gas pipeline. this is the pipeline that takes russian gas a to germany. this has been a particular sticking point between the 2 countries. for an a for the last 2 presidents. absolutely, and it will be very interesting to see what comes from the meeting today. the u. s . has opposed this pipeline from the very beginning, as you just said. also, former presidents have opposed this pipeline. they have taken a pretty strict stance on it, but as for now they have never taken action that could these stabilize the u as german relationship. and that might change because there are actually rumblings that congress is threatening to sanction anyone, even germany involved with the project. so the new government really mean they have kind of a blank slate here, but they will have to start from there. and really, well that will be tough negotiations. let's put it that way. i thank you for that. is that it is poll in washington. so you near us, our president biden is appealing to all americans to get vaccinated after the rest . it recorded more than a 1000000 new coverage. 19 infections in a day that a war is about how fast spreading omicron variant could impact the unvaccinated and the countries health care system. in texas as largest children's hospital, grayson was struggling to breathe. he's just 4 months old and has contracted cobit 19. is really skinny, so i just hump day, you know, he's able to get better. his mother. gov yell thinks that the youngest of her 3 children was infected at a family christmas gathering way. i will talk to him in like a little maybe voice. i think to him i key thing like he likes e. grayson is only one of some 70 children currently being treated here for covered 19 chart. the way in the past 2 weeks, covered admissions have quadrupled here. most of the children are unvaccinated. the bar for resilience just keeps moving. you think that i know how we could do this again and then we keep doing it again. they don't have much of a choice. coven. 19 numbers continue to rise, and not just in texas. nationwide some 1000000 new infections worry ported over 24 hour period. more than 95 percent are being attributed to the omicron varied growing numbers of americans are critical of president jo biden's response. a shortage of testing capacity is just one of the problems confronting the white house. if you're vaccinated and boosted, you are highly protect it. and i'll be concerned about i'm a crown, but don't be alarmed. but more and more vaccinated americans are worried and are calling for schools to be closed, at least until the latest wave has passed. but new york's new mayor opposes that idea. we can't continue to stop our children from developing socially and academically and a support that they need. so we have to learn how to live with co it and live with co would cove it with a safe way staff at the texas childrens hospital say they expect the situation to become even more critical in the coming weeks. even if omicron usually results unless severe cases than previous variance. the problem is that with so many children and adults infected, even if the percent percent hospitalization rate is lower, we're still we could see more children hospitalized over a very short period of time. so that certainly puts a strain on our health care resources. healthcare workers are hoping by religious are right when they say, oh, micron will pass its peak by the end of the month. i to south africa where it seems the only cron corona virus or variant is on its way out without the feared surgeon hospitalizations and deaths as case numbers. drop officials have loosened corona virus restriction, so they say there is still reason to be cautious. i was just over 6 weeks ago on the 24th of november when the world's 1st our case of omicron was announced. south africa's new case numbers shot up peaking at a 127000 in mid december daily infections and dropped by a 3rd in the week leading up to christmas. and they've been falling ever since. on new year's eve, the government lifted a light night to curfew. the authorities say armstrong is still a threat. well, hannah has is a medical doctor and public health registrar at south africa university of cape town. i asked her if she was encouraged by this news. he does our announced her soft go down. okay. sam his and emissions as well. so, and we're still watching it all very closely. but at the moment it does seem very reassuring what you think is behind this. why have numbers dropped at despite relatively loose restrictions? well, with all and surgery, we seen increasing in obviously case numbers have to go down at some point and it appears we're on a crown, be much more transmissible than at the variance. and this whole process is having a lot faster. and, and so we saw a very rapid increase of case in november, december. and now we received a return medicaid started to go down. right. and the world, of course, has been holding its breath watching the south africa experience. i should the rest of the world now be encouraged by what's happened there or other factors particular for south africa that might have helped oh, so it's quite difficult to see because obviously each country has their own experience of covered. and the situation with africa is, is, you know, it's very particular on a couple of things. firstly, we've had 3 large ways before which is given us quite a lot of em protection. and we, and we've had a very large delta driven wave. and in june, july, the other thing is that, you know, it's difficult in austin with over crowding people reliant and having transport not able to work remotely. so it's been difficult for us to contain and to contain that there were some other countries might have a different experience. and then also at the same time it is summer and people can gather more outdoors and, but in the same time it is also the festive season and the christmas and new year's holiday and have all the holidays at the moment. so it's, it's untangling, all these different bits and pieces is really quite complicated and we're still trying to unravel and rebel all of it. but i do still think it is in the dark coming out of south africa at the moment is quite reassuring. right now there is another, another variant on the radar b r i h u, which was identified in france back in november. is this is this, should we be worried about this, or is this just corona virus doing what viruses do? and just changing and mutating. and i think it is really too early to say, obviously we aren't, we will expect viruses to mutate and to continue to mutate. and the real question is, what these mutations, what the, the real world implications of these mutations will be. and what it will mean for, and disease guarantee for vaccination. and, and so if we to any, to say how things are going these with these would be variance. ok, thank you so much for joining us, dr. dr. hannah jose are from the university of kato, you austria's prime minister, says teddy star, no bag dock of which must prove that he has a medical exemption to play in the australian open. or he'll be on the next plane home. the well number one intends to defend his title in melbourne this month and his previously refused to reveal his vaccinations. status is world number one, air, defending australian, open champion. novak joker, which giving special treatment or not people in melbourne are demanding answers. now that job in the public and the vax, a person who really has advocated against it. hell those, you know, prominent tournaments last summer where kind of the picked up kind of it himself. he's the one that gets medical exemption it's, it's not come down. well, at all, prime minister scott morrison applied some pressure, making it clear, the joke of itchy one will be treated like everyone else. he must provide acceptable proof that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, am and to be able to access the same travel arrangements is felipe expedited travels. so we'll white his presentation and what evidence he provides to support that. if that evidence is insufficient, then he won't be treated any different to any one else and he'll be on the next flight, not. so there should be no special rules that i, that joke which at all. just maybe there's nothing to see here. all stray an open organizer say joke of which had been given no special favor during the process to receive his exemption. they're not allowed to reveal the details of joke of inches exemption application, but they urge the serve to reveal why it was approved, if only to call public outrage a front president, a manual macro has presented to his agenda for his country's 6 month presidency of the european union, he says he wants to boost the blocks roll on the world stage, but how much can he achieve? what obstacles is he likely to face? the w brussels correspondent christine would report. i've arrived in paris today because france has taken over the presidency of the european union and for the next 6 months. the agenda for europe, if you want to call it that will be set here in paris. what's clear is that the french president of ano micron has big ambitions for europe. he wants 0, in his own words, to be more powerful in the world. in the heart of paris, the countries most recognizable monument now wears a circle of stars to mark the e. u. presidency france last held 13 years ago. the position gives the french more influence over the future of the european union. a more capable europe with its own army is paris is top most ambition. it's referred to as strategic autonomy. what that means is a more suffering, more independent europe, particularly when it comes to the issue of defense. do you feel that your needs to be more stronger? well, i'm not sure that that's a good idea, but i, i, even, i, i think that we are, we depend too much on the united states now or so. i believe we will be taken more seriously by other countries. if we had a european army before we have an army, let's have a union. frances agenda for the union also includes relaxing rules to allow e u. countries to borrow more money to finance big infrastructure projects and trying to bring the block to consensus on the long standing thought. is you off migration? in december, emanuel con, summed up the goal of francis e u presidency. this way is ridiculous, hoopa said, you know, we need to move from being a europe of corporation in cycle borders to power europe and the world's fully silver must have a free to make its choices and most of its destiny. they met with us on this stuff, but microns own destiny isn't question. france is holding a presidential election in april. if he doesn't get reelected, he can see his plans for europe through. so the pandemic has hit many cities hard in the past. urban centers in decline, sometimes managed to rebrand themselves by focusing on culture. that's why the european union has named 3 cities, european capitals of culture this year. the title comes with funding to put on a year of events and aims to put places like luxembourg s, sir, as that on the cultural map. ah, a former steel mill in ash 6 years ago, production here closed down. now the industrial ruin is to become a culture factory, a venue for dance and street art installations tied . yo han started work on this piece long before the official program for the european capital of culture was finalized and gone to familiar. yeah, my whole family worked here a working class family. so this means a lot to me and also this, this morbid thing going on here. i like the way everything is decaying again, this is ash 2022 will involve the entire region. the iron and steel industry extended across the border. and so does the cultural project. 19 municipalities are involved 11 in luxembourg and 8 in france. ah, if i am dick, we really want everyone to participate every community, no matter how small we think they're all important. they each have an exciting history and cultural heritage. and of course we want to build it and illustrate it together. oh, falling on, tighten. ash bellville is a showcase for successful structural change. the old blast furnaces have been integrated into a modern neighborhood. startups, high tech, and the university are part of it. a few kilometers away in odon latisha, in france, things worked out less well. those looking for jobs had to luxembourg, but the cultural project is a ray of hope. so visually will be good for our young people if culture comes, if they provide work and careers because there's nothing else here lawyer. the mind just outside the village closed in 1997. nicholas got too low and his friends are now re opening up their grandfather's mind. i and or hear now their mining a rich vein of culture. they are restoring machinery and plan to open a restaurant and an escape room project. nicholas's grandfather came from italy in ensemble. this pit is a symbol of our immigrant culture. it was the immigrants who made us what we are to day. and we owe that diversity to the mining and steel industries. yours when cold and steal a booming people from many countries came here to work, creating a unique, historical mix of cultures. jason, very, it's great ish is a beautiful city. they also say it's the most diversity in luxembourg. it, the multicultural, heart of europe will soon be beating in this border region. this is, did our winners lie front burner is remind our top story at this hour. processes of storm government offices in catholic sounds, largest city, the unprecedented violence in our mathy broke out during the 4th day of mass demonstrations over surging fuel prices in the energy rich former soviet republic. this is the w coming up next in the news. asia, after a lifetime of jihad, how will the young taliban fighters make the transition to peace in afghanistan? and re look at the difficulties of staffing again with almost nothing for afghan soon fled to taliban take. what is the job? has those stories more? the w stager, a just a moment i'll have more will use of the top of the good with ah ah ah, she is box latest successor. oh, undress night said the new canter of lights. it's world famous quire, the tamani corps. o mom, it's a chance to lead a classical music tradition into a new era. and for the swiss choir director, it's a lifelong dream come true. 6 in 60 minutes, d, w. every journey begins with the 1st step and every language with the 1st word. look. niko is in germany to learn german with why not learn with him. with the chef, it's simple online on your mo bile and free t w e learning course. nico speak, german made easy. ah, hello guys, this is the 77 percent the platform with, you know, or this channel. we are not afraid to have delicate topic. africa. population is growing. and young people clearly have the solution, the future, a 77 percent now every weekend on d w. ah, you're watching b. w. news, asia coming up and it all you've known is war. is it possible to adjust to a life of peace, young taliban fighters.