Plus the Champions League group stage gets underway on tuesday evening and put to sleep the leaders like city post turkish champion sebastian shakier the german side will be keen to make home advantage count against the club from istanbul. Im sorry kelly walked into the program at the number of confirmed corona virus cases worldwide has passed 40000000 with well over 1000000 deaths the u. S. Brazil and india are reporting the highest numbers europe also facing a surge in cope with 19 infections with record daily highs in many countries heres a look at how the situation has evolved here on march 1st this year Health Departments across europe registered for hug. And one new cases testing of course was limited so actual numbers could have been much higher but you can see a clear trend of rising infections here in the spring peaking at the end of april early may by then most of europe was in lockdown and you can see the impact of that with new infections dropping to a low point in made july but since then numbers have been creeping up again as we can see at the very end of that line since august on friday more than 137000 cases were registered across europe now one of the European Countries struggling to cope with the pandemic is belgium hospital admissions of coronavirus patients there have doubled in the past week and the government is warning the situation is worse than at the beginning of the pen demick in march. There were long queues in brussels on monday people lined up socially distanced to get tested for corona virus belgium has recorded more than 700 fractions per 100000 people over the past 14 days the 2nd highest right in europe many have had their 1st brush with the virus and now they want to be sure that theyre not infected. You know. If someone close to me tested positive so i want to get tested to be sure i dont have any symptoms but better to be safe than sorry. With such a high rate of infection belgium authorities implemented a raft of new measures on monday. People have been ordered to work from home were of a possible and social contacts outside of the harm should be limited to one. Alcohol sales a band after 8 pm and a curfew is being enforced from midnight until 5 am. Cafes bars and restaurants will be closed for a month. Many hospitality workers are frustrated with the return to some of the harsh measures experienced earlier in the year. Were going to have you know its like the 1st time its catastrophic we would just have to try and survive weve had some state aid and that something its better than nothing but well see. But belgian Officials Say the measures are absolutely necessary the countrys Health Minister says the Health System could soon be overwhelmed by infections and warned of the coming to nami of cases many doctors share his concerns. The sky is more or less blue but we can see a huge wave is about to arrive its inevitable authorities hope the drastic set of measures will have a quick impact they say theyll review the results in 2 weeks time. And for more lets bring in our very own they are mattis who is joining us from brussels why has belgium been hit so hard. Well sarah a big issue here is of course the word mortality rate the 3rd highest in the world but to explain that you need to understand the broad criteria that belgium uses to get to these numbers and the reason is that only 50 percent of the cases are actually confirmed caray corona cases the other ones of possible cases that have not been confirmed whether coronavirus tested the reason is that in the 1st wave of the pandemic here in belgium the country was so hard hits that they wanted an easy way to to count deaths and that is why they installed the system that now makes the numbers of the death rate look really bad on the other hand youre right of course numbers here i stream the high with belgium having a small population extremely high numbers 2 possible explanations one is that the tracking system has been rather weak its not been running smoothly a corona app has only been installed in the past 2 weeks and another thing is testing and thats not running smooth to be either i had one test where of waited 5 days in order to get the results back and we have to acknowledge and mention that it is not just belgium that is saying this uptick it is also the broader year given that dark how are restrictions being balanced with principles of Free Movement across the block. Id say the u. S doing much better than in the 1st wave a lot of more coordination is going on a traffic light system has been introduced so the e. U. Member states agreed that they do not want to restrict Free Movement within the for the visa free travel area of europe if youre traveling from a green area to another green area now that at the moment the city isnt much the case with a lot of orange and red on the map now with the in these cases its still not clear entirely its not going to come theres no common standard for you Member States how to handle this so it really depends on the National State to decide whether or how long you should go into current on what tests you need in order to travel to the neighboring country or to another human the state and even all of that where the solidarity stand right now in the block i mean has covert been more of a strain or or a unite or id say the lesson is well learn from the forest corona wife the waif that hits europe so nobody wants to go back to traffic jams and medical products being blocked going to another e. U. Member states so when you look at it from a broader picture of the e. U. Not being a nation state but brother being an organisation i think the level of cooperation you see on the regional level is i would say its above the monks the best in the world so there is quite a bit of courting nation now when it comes for instance to buying or ordering mutual of vaccines that are then can be handed out but also when it comes to research and Hospital Corporation so quite a push at the moment from the European Commission in order to be in a good position to face the 2nd wave matzos with a view from brussels thank you. Well another victim of the global coronavirus pandemic has been freedom of press in many countries journalists have been harassed and arrested for reporting on the spread of the virus in some cases governments have introduced laws punishing those who share information that doesnt support the official line muzzling the press can also endanger public health. Behind the mosque of corona virus censorship spreads journalists around the world have come under attack for reporting on the pandemic it started in china where citizen journalists dared to deviate from the official narrative. Images of overstretched hospitals in. Viruses right in front of me chinas criminal prosecutors are behind me im not afraid of death do you think im afraid if you come in this party of china or pas well. Chang she should wear disappeared in february and was only seen again by friends in September Fung been another reporter remains missing he had released secret videos of corona virus victims. She. Reporters without borders has documented coronavirus coverage restrictions in nearly half of all u. N. Member states those who were jailed or at risk of infection. Al jazeera journalist mohammad more near died in july from coronavirus after being arrested in egypt as did reporters. Jailed for documenting corruption in saudi arabia the deliberate targeting of the press has worried the United NationsHuman Rights Commission all across the world cup in 1000 is also being instrumental lies to limit peoples rights to speak to express opinion and to participate in making decisions that affect their lives in the Russian Federation china kosovo many other countries i know reports of threats and intimidation against journalist brokers and civic activist particularly at the local level with the apparent aim of this courage in criticism of the old for this response is to call it 19. At a time when information can save lives press repression can fuel the pandemic. And lets get more on this we are joined by errol under he is joining us from istanbul a journalist and a representative of Reporters Without Borders in turkey welcome to the program and thank you so much for joining us well as we just heard there there are reports of some governments around the world attacking journalists for reporting on the coronavirus even jailing them what are you seeing. I think the policy in turkey talk to very rightly when some shifting option luckily reporter where. I read that in the 1st line and then theyre very meanly covering and trying to raise. About. 90. To the turkish authorities preferred to monaco lies. The day and and the coverage of. The 19 Mainstream Media rescreened from covering the critical voices and just the minister of have himself was. Made for person today we understand that its not enough to create Awareness Among the society the government complain of a lack of Awareness Among the society but. This government has done Everything Possible to reach to arrest rick critical voices when they argue thats the case this corner by risque. Was more than what is revealed by all pressure ok so youre observing the restriction of critical voices you say there how do you see that impacting Public Awareness about. The 2 gates its very difficult to explain to people that 7 months later they have. Their wish to lower risk of. Gaining themselves. And many many. Of these. O. P. Shall return are not convincing people to take the most mentions today and. Was established to stream media it was forbidden almost forbidden to read to financial crisis or social challenges that the score now viruses are producing on the society and but we are we have. T. V. Shows we have. Good. Forensic expert. Doctors but not critical voices to to. The research to social challenges thank you so much for joining us to tell us more about that errol and joining us from Reporters Without Borders from istanbul. First heres a look at some other developments in the corona virus pandemic the World Health Organization has linked to rising case numbers in the Northern Hemisphere to a failure to quarantine people exposed to the virus its called for more consistency in enforcing self isolation measures ireland is reactivating its highest level of restrictions from wednesday on words bars and restaurants will only be able to serve take away and people will have to stay within 5 kilometers of their home for all but essential purposes schools however are allowed to stay open and india has posted its lowest number of daily cases in nearly 3 months infections have been decreasing since the peak in september 5th lets get a check of some other stories making news around the world the United Arab Emirates and israel have signed a series of accords in tel aviv thats the 1st ever government delegation from the u. A. E. Arrives on israeli soil last month the u. A. E. And barring became the 1st arab gulf states to establish formal ties with israel in a deal brokered by the u. S. Firefighters in the u. S. State of colorado are battling the states one of the states largest wildfires on record new blazes continue to erupt across the drought stricken state and have destroyed 26 homes Authorities Say that the burning is happening at an unusually early time of the year in a period where it should be snowing. The u. S. Supreme court has ruled that the state of pennsylvania can count some mail in ballots for up to 3 days after polling day even if they dont have a clear postmark the ruling is a blow to republicans who had sought to nullify such ballots and it could prove consequential with pennsylvania one of the most critical swing states in the election. Thousands of Indigenous People have taken to the streets of colombias capital bogota the protesters are demanding and. And to the spiraling virus in their home which ends in the southwest of the country they also oppose the governments social and economic policies. Youre watching. The program with a pandemic will it spell the end of berlins fabled nightlife many people think the partys over. But 1st police in france have searched dozens of homes belonging to suspected islamist militants the raids are linked to last weeks killing of a teacher in a paris suburb samuel pate had used cartoons of the muslim Prophet Muhammad in a lesson about freedom of expression in moms were among the people who turned out to pay their respects outside of the school where he worked. Fronts held a minutes silence for slain teachers some you know party on monday 3 days after the islamist attack people continue to mourn. Crisis meetings went late into the night in paris on sunday the result of officials decided to authorize dozens of rides on properties beginning at 6 am on monday among them a proposal to Aid Organization charity investigators say at least 80 complaints against the spread of hatred on the internet have been filed since the teachers murder. We have a clear message there would not be a minutes respond for the enemies of the republic be put is in need of a peek. The French InteriorMinistry Says its currently investigating around 8000. 00 active islamists men such as abdelhakim said 3 a radical islamist who has long been known to police launched an Online Hate Campaign against the murdered teacher and is now in police custody. You are his friend she moms expressed their sorrow on monday and clearly distanced themselves from the attack president to mine your receive the family of the murdered teacher of the el is a president ial palace meanwhile the Police Investigation into the killing continues. All thailands government is seeking to block the messaging app telegram in an attempt to prevent antigovernment protesters from organizing authorities have also shut down Media Outlets that have reported on demonstrations calling for thailands Prime Minister to resign protesters also want reform of thailands monarchy which is protected from criticism by stricter laws. Thousands of protesters were once again back on the streets of bangkok monday evening despite a ban on public gatherings of more than 4 people in the capital we believe you can but the government needs to know is that i was the 1st for them its not as if. People have shown their power and its massive everyones out here with the same goal and determination. The crowds give the 3 thing good salute that has become the symbol of their movement they remain undeterred despite the arrest of their leaders and warnings from the authorities now the government appears to be changing tack seeking to restrict Media Coverage police are threatening to shut down a number of time Media Outlets that have been covering the protests life. As darkness falls the protestors create a sea of lights using their mobile phone flashlights the student led movement largely uses the messaging app. Telegram to organize rallies at short notice and recruit support now authorities are moving to have the app blocked. The protesters are calling for democratic reform and want their political leaders to resign especially Prime Minister prodi. The former army chief seized power in a military coup in 2014 hes now agreed to a special session of parliament to discuss the protests. The government has been trying to compromise as much as we can were just asking people not to do any wrong and not to destroy the government or other peoples property and especially to avoid all violence. Added that his government must protect the monarchy referencing the prodemocracy movements demands for change when it comes to how the royal family operates that thats challenging or to believe in thai society where the king has traditionally been revered almost like a day 80 criticizing the king can lead to hefty penalties the government but also many conservative tinys oppose efforts to reform the monarchy. But the protesters have filed to continue their stand with more gatherings planned all over the country. Pakistani Customs Officials have seized 74. 00 falcons during raids against smugglers in the Southern City of karachi the birds all belonging to endangered species were illegally trafficked from afghanistan and were destined to be sold for high prices in arab countries. Dozens of endangered falcons their heads hidden under leather hoods smuggled for the status they confer police said these birds were being taken from afghanistan to arab states when pakistani Customs Officials got word they swooped down on an upscale neighborhood in the port city of karachi 2 people were arrested traffickers catch feltons in the mountainous area along pakistans border with afghanistan they sell them to rich buyers in the gulf states there the birds are trained to hunt a prestige purchase for the privileged few. That there are 74. 00 birds in total we estimate their value at around 200000000. 00 rupees thats well over a 1000000. 00 after the paperwork is completed the birds are supposed to be released back into their natural habitat. To football now and the Champions League group stage starts on tuesday night among the matches germanys rb leipzig hosted by sheiks a pair of istanbul leipzig reached the tournament semifinals last season and despite losing their star striker in the summer they have started the Current Campaign with a bang. He has every reason to