Manufacturer of the drug supplies. Portugal hospitals continue to bow under the pressure of the virus and intensive care unit harder to find. Some of the sick have been airlifted off the mainland. The french Prime Minister has told the country there is still a chance to avoid another nationwide lockdown. He says the coronavirus outbake is still worrying and while a third lockdown is off the table for now at least, further restrictions are being ushered. 23,000 new infections confirmed in the past 24 hours. Our duty is to do all we can to avoid another lockdown. And in the coming days, will be decisive. We must remain very vigilant. But having confidence that at every step, it is our collective and individual efforts that will pay off. For more on what was announced in that press Conference Im joined by International Affairs editor. There will be no third lockdown for now at least for people in france. People watching that speech at home may be breathing a sigh of relief and may not have been breathing. The uncertainty has not been lifted. The french government has put forward various senior figures this week to talk to media and short of all these different remarks by the Health Minister by president macrons Spokes Person and now the Prime Minister is we still dont know if we are going to have a National Lockdown or not. So i think the general communication from the sort of the messaging, i should say, has been pretty confusing this week. These different senior figures in government have been putting emphasis on different things. The Prime Minister was a little bit more hopeful overall in his than the Health Minister who spoke earlier in the week but we still dont know what we are going to get. The Prime Minister seemed to be saying, we still have a few days for all these efforts to potentially pay off but it is not clear what that means. In a broad irpolitical sense, tom, we havent had a clear sense from the government what it is its longterm plan. There is, generally among much of the french public, a feeling that whenever any of these restrictions are lifted again, the virus should start circulating again and the restrictions are put back in place. Its a neverending cycle. When will it end. And the longterm way out has not been answered by any gornment officials this week. As we know the problems with the vaccines are just beginning. So not really a clear sense of hope. When it comes to the nitty gritty what is about to change here in france. What did he announce . I think perhaps the most tangible change for every day life is going to be in terms of shopping because nonessential shops are going to be closed. So things that dont sell food and also shops above a certain surface area there is too much mixing. The other aspect which probably affects fewer french people but probably more affecting those that have links abroad and foreigners who live is the question of borders. Lets listen to the french miss ter. All the rivals inside to france from outside the e. U. And departures from france outside the e. U. Are to be prohibited. This will apply from midnight on sunday. The negative p. C. R. Test will be necessary for anyone arisk into france from other e. U. Countries, apart from crossborder workers. Apart from the question of borders, the other things he said really were reiterating previous government messages. He said Remote Working is encouraged and going to talk to Industry Association to get more people to work from home and also talked about ramping up the tests alert, protect system. We have been promised that nearly a year ago and here be are possibly facing a third confinement. The rest of what he said is pretty much standard fare. But still, i have to emphasize, there is a question of a possible third confinement still hanging over everyones heads. There wont be one in the next few days, but who knows what president macron will say. He may speak this weekend or next. Moving on, a t vaccine has been added to europes arsenal of drugs in its fight against covid19. The drug developed by astrazeneca has been rubber stamped this friday for use on those aged over 18 across the block. Like its come tore pfizer, astrazeneca is delaying delays because of hiccups and the contract signed in august to get the manufacturer to respect that deal. We have more. A green light for the vaccine that is at the center between its Maker Astrazeneca and the e. U. We have three vaccines and recommended for approval against a disease that we did not know one year ago. None of them is perfect. None of them is a magic wand on its own. Approval comes after e. U. Is urging to speed it up. Brussels has a security deal for 400 million astrazeneca shots to be delivered. But production problems have left the drug maker saying it will only be provide a fraction of that amount. The European Commission has published a redacted contract accusing of renegging on its commitments and wants the facility in the u. K. For the supplies to be sent to europe. The commission will use all legal means even olympicing exports to make sure that astrazeneca meets its obligations. U. K. Is running far ahead on vaccinations and has given 7. 5 Million People their first shot and secured 100 million astrazeneca doses, the Prime Minister is refusing to be drawn in. We are confident nrp our supplies, we are confident in our contract. On friday the British Government said it would not discuss contractual matters. Might not be as strong as its competitors but you only need one dose. Johnson and johnson says that at the trials in eight different countries, its longawaited drug is proven to be 66 effective in preventing serious illness and said to be 85 effective. In the next few days it will be submitting a request in several countries to get emergency use approval. Portugal has announced a slight drop in covid deaths. The Health Ministry says 13,200 more cases have been confirmed and 278 more people have died there. The countrys Hospital System is now being pushed to breaking point with 806 people in intensive care leaving 44 beds available on the mainland. The islands of madeira have stepped in to help from patients from the over stretched hospitals in lisbon and airlifted to a clinic there where 157 beds are free. List lets listen to what the capital residents have been saying. [speaking foreign language] the District Court in the russian capital has maced several allies of the jailed kremlin critic under house arrest until march 23. The detained include the opposition figureheads brother and head of his Moscow Office as authorities investigate the alleged violation of covid19 regulations during last weeks large wave of pronavalny rallies. The Prosecutor Generals Office has should warnings that the Prosecutor Office could Face Criminal Charges if those marries turn violent. How the Tiny Community has come out to support the critic. In the small headquarters are watching the january 23 demonstration. These activists could never have imagined a rally of this. On the edge of the uro mountains, people took to the streets in support of the jailed figure braving temperatures and a ban on public gatherings. [speaking foreign language. ] for many residents here, it was the first protest. Until now musician hoose always kept tight of politics but her anger has been building up for some time. [speaking foreign language] it units people from towns across the country not previously known for antikremlin protests. First time locals came out enmasse. Both struggle to predict what could happen next. More demonstrations are planned. To a sense of little square books which have taught many of us what it means to be sad, greedy. They are celebrating their 50th birthday this year with fans asking to vote to join the club. The Little Miss Group will have to wait another 10 years before they get their golden jubilee. Imagine the rowdiest 50th possible miss busy, mr. Greedy and all their friends. Their creator isnt around today toll celebrate but thanks to adam, he picks up his fathers pens and pains. Half a centu after it first began, sparked by a childs curiosity. My dad asked one of those impossible question, what does it look like . And that will set in motion the thoughts in his mind if you could personify it, you could personify another emotional characteristic. Kids still relate to the books in a similar way. They are based a little bit of us, our emotions and cower perception the idea that we need to be on this. The books have played an Important Role during lockdown. Help children understand how they feel. Mr. Grumpy will show more angry andowo deal wi it. In a funny and amusing way. 2021, the characters are superstars and 250 million copies sold in 30 countries around the world. Time now for business and we have Katherine Bennett with us in the studio and looking at the gamestop saga and push the stocks of a struggling video Games Company managed to coordinate an unprecedented short squeeze where hedge funds are experiencing a loss because of these retail traders. This whole situation has been painted as a david and go lie agget and called revenge of the geeks where the little man is ganging up on the men on wall street and listen to one investor who put his money on gamestop. I first started seeing commotion around redditt talking about gamestop and a hedge fund and i tught it was interesting because you saw the common man fighting ainst wall street. And so i put some money in the stock around 85 out of just principle and i thought it was come call. It is the regular joe versus wall street and when i put int i lik being part oft and thato, is shared amongst a lot of people. Where are these athome traders are making enormous gains and use online trading platforms. One such platform is the app robinhood. So much i has taken steps to shore up its financial position. It has raised more than 1 billion from its current investors and credit lines from banks. There wa a short suspension of trading in terms of the shortselling war and that caused and engineers from investors and they are are saying they are trying to protect wall street. Currently gain stock holders are only allowed to buy a single share. It expanded its list of restricted stocks. We spoke to a u. S. Based analyst and explained how platforms are set to profit from this market manipulation. Robinhood was the number one app on the app store. But what the irony of the whole thing is that robinhood portrays themselves as the small investor tool. However, how robinhood, 100 of their revenue comes from them selling their data to wall street. Its not t trader or small investor, its actually wall reet. When people think its free, itsot free. There is a complicated interest there and this episode is going to shed light on that whole transfer of funds. And frankly, this should not be the case. Lets look atwal street is behaving in trading. Investors see speculation in trading. 113 at the start of the session but halted due to volatility. When trading resumed, the close was up. The dow jones had its worst week since october falling over 2 . The nasdaq and s p slid to 2 . In europe stocks closed as investors kept an eye on those in those events. Volatility in equity markets is being seen in crypto concerns. Musk changed it to one simple word bitcoin and it jumped to 20 . The trading of robinhood because of what it called extraordinary market conditions. One Extraordinary Movement in cript toe currency. Additional coin that was inspired by a meme. And over 600 going into the top 10 currencies. Investing in a dog bitcoin . How much is it worth . Still not enough to be investing. Thank you very much. Todays focus report takes us out on the beat here in france. Efforts are already under way to reform the way the countrys police force is operated with officers in the spotlight for their alleged heavy handedness. We have filmed this next report in the community on the western edge of paris. Visible from a distance, mere presence could be enough to cause a stir. We followed these officers, a town to the west of paris classified as sensitive by authorities. Evening shopping streets like these, officers are targeted by residents. [speaking foreign language] some locals have difficulty trusting officers. [speaking foreign language] a tense atmosphere. These youngsters say they dread police checks. [speaking foreign language] the lack of trust on both sides. And the officers know they can be physically intimidated when they step into certain neighborhoods. [speaking foreign language] at times unwelcomed, but sometimes praised, especially for their efforts to combat gang violence. This man was almost stabbed to death and was saved by this very officer. [speaking foreign language] but he still has mixed feelings towards the police. [speaking foreign language] despite the hostility by some of the younger residents, all isnt lost as officers are still able to communicate with the p different scenario. There are no patrols, no interaction th locals and neverending battle between the youth and the police. A local mediator takes us to meet with some of the residents and say they are often intimidated and man handled by the officers and asked to remain anonymous because of reprisals. [speaking foreign language] a lack of trust sometimes leads to violence in the neighborhoods whereesentment is arrive. [speaking foreign language] for the time being, a longterm solution still seems a distance away. That brings the first 30 minutes of the program to an end. I will be back after the break with another round of world news. Stay tuned to france 24. We are talking about the women who are reshaping our world. World. 01 29 21 01 29 21 [captioning made possible by democracy now ] amy from new york, this is democracnow my name is paiurray and myieldf concenation has been h and rice. Myhole pernal hiory has been a suggle to mt standas of exclence in soety which has beedominate the ias thalacks we inrent inferiotohites andomen we inhently feri to