revealing eco friendly solutions to combat threats to our planet. on al-jazeera american drug jived murder seeks a burgeoning approval for its covert, 90 vaccine from health regulations in the us and europe other income. but al, this is al jazeera, large for dawn, also coming up a double blow for donald trump's attempts to overturn his election defeat 2 more states certify, joe biden. as the with a different section of the brazilian rain forest hits a 12 year high government figures, reveal the scale of destruction under president and ethiopia's. prime minister

dismisses accusations that civilians were killed in operations against 2 great forces. the 2nd u.s. drug maker has announced it's asking regulators there and the european union for emergency approval for its covert 900 vaccine data says its final trial results confirm its more than 94 percent effective. it's, a week behind visor fueling hopes. the u.s., at least, could have to approve vaccines by the end of the year. that is, public health experts say the country should be preparing for a surge in cases after thanksgiving weekend. where the u.s. health secretary says this. if everything goes to plan federal approval for vaccines could be granted in the coming weeks. with pfizer, we have the f.d.a. announced an advisory committee for december the 10th. and if everything is on track, everything proves out what,

what it appears to be. we could be looking at approval within days after that. madonna's basically one week behind that. and general perna has said from operation work speed that will ship within 24 hours of f.d.a. authorization. so we could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people's arms before christmas. own fisher has more on this from the white house. well, they're hoping their own $20000000.00 vaccinations might be available in the run up to the end of the year. no, the priority would obviously be health care workers. then you're talking about nursing homes, not just the residents, but also the staff are working there and then frontline workers getting the vaccine . me seem relatively easy when it comes to the next stage, which is of course, getting the vaccine to people and getting it into people's arms. and already we're seeing from one government watchdog saying that 17 states believe that there could be greatly or completely concerned about supply. so they may well have the vaccine,

but the difficulty might be that they don't have the needles to inject it, or they don't have the syringes to inject it. so all of these logistical problems have to be addressed before people can start saying, well, this is good news. they're hoping december 21st might be the day that we start seeing people being vaccinated, which is an incredible amount of time given that the vaccine really only started to get public awareness back in march. so you're talking about $45.00 times quicker than any vaccine in medical history. so that is quite incredible. but of course there's a big job to be done after that. so 20000000 in the initial stages. and then the drug companies are hoping that somewhere between 500000000 and 1000000000 people will be vaccinated in 2021. it's a hope, it's, a realistic hope they think. but there's still a long way to go. in the u.s., battleground states, arizona and wisconsin have become the latest to certify joe biden's election,

victory john campaign, and republican party had challenge the arizona results in court. trump is expected to continue appealing the results. meanwhile, president elect joe biden is moving ahead with his transition to the white house, received his 1st daily security briefing and unveiled his picks for several key economic positions. biden has nominated former federal reserve chair janet yellen to the post of treasury secretary and wally emmel, who be the 1st black deputy treasury secretary. let's go live now to kristen salumi, who's in wilmington, delaware, kristen, so 1st, arizona, now wisconsin confirming the results showing biden as the winner. a double whammy. really for president trump. yes, the certification process is typically just a formality, but since president has continued to cast doubts on the results in these states, in particular, the announcement that these 2 states,

arizona and wisconsin have certified their winning to joe biden. it just takes on added significance. president trump won both of these states in 2016, now know that he lost to arizona just over 10000 votes. arizona was even a tighter race. i'm sorry. arizona was just over 10000 votes and wisconsin was 26000 votes, but again, significant since he won those states in 2016, he and his legal team continue to act as if the results are still under dispute. and we do expect more legal challenges to come in wisconsin. those are to bend to county wide recounts that were paid for by the trunk team and more legal challenges are expected there in arizona. they have 5 days to contest the results. remember in the united states, every state is a little bit different. so things happen

a little bit differently in arizona. the president's personal attorney, rudy giuliani, was in the state today meeting with certain republican state lawmakers looking for what they hope to find more evidence of fraud again. so far that hasn't showed up. and in fact, the republican governor of the state doocy was on hand for the certification announcement today, and he is on the record as saying that there's been no evidence of fraud in arizona . so this is an important step for joe biden. and the transition, speaking of important steps, joe biden has also unveiled his economic team, as we mentioned, a real mix of well known faces janet yellen, and also people say it sort of more progress. what does this team say about how he plans to approach an economic recovery post? well, the team with 4 women including janet yellen and the 1st african-american to

serve as deputy treasury secretary, if the nomination is confirmed really speaks to the diversity that joe biden was promising for america and ministration. that looks more like the country that it serves, says that things like raising the wages and increasing inequality are going to be very important to this economic team. janet yellen, herself, has tweeted about restoring the american dream for all of americans. but she is walking into this position in a very challenging environment. the u.s. economic outlook right now is not strong. we know that over 12000000, americans are still unemployed, and many of them are set to lose their unemployment benefits at the end of the year . because the 1st stimulus package has run out and there's been no agreement on

a 2nd stimulus package, that's something that janet yellen will have to deal with. we're also seeing job growth slowing here in the united states. it picked up over the summer businesses were reopening. now there's this 2nd surge in some places, it's the 1st surge, but this increasing numbers of covert infections around the country that are again hampering the economic recovery here and throw into the mix that we have a divided congress in the united states. janet yellen is no stranger to challenging economic situations. she served under president obama in 2008 after the financial crisis then, and helped lead the united states out of that crisis. but the difference was, democrats control both the house and the senate in congress. now the senate is, could go to the democrats, there's a 2 tested election that will be settled in january,

even if the democrats get it. it'll be a narrow lead. and lots and lots of compromises will have to be made to bring these 2 parties that are so far apart together on a 2nd stimulus bill to help the u.s. economy. thanks so much for that. kristen's will be there live from wilmington, delaware, brazil's amazon rain forest is disappearing at an alarming rate. deforestation surging to a 12 year high official government data for 2020, shows the rainforest lost 11000 square kilometers of vegetation. a 10 percent increase on last year. scientists say the amazon has suffered losses and an acceleration rate since diable, so not all became president in 2019. years encourage the expansion of agricultural and mining activities in the rainforest. the increase is being blamed on forest fires, used to clear land for farming and logging. amazon is the world's largest rain forest and it's billions of trees store immense amounts of carbon needed to moderate global temperatures. the rep of the sea is live for us in bogota,

in neighboring colombia asunder. how is this lot of news likely to go down with president jaya both n r o given what we've seen from him in the past when pressed on the since you were deforestation? well, president, we haven't heard from bad phase of them yet. but we heard from him is that by sprays you've been to presenting these numbers as try to spin them in its favor. essentially saying that the truth is that these numbers are not as bad as they could have been, because the increase is being lower than the previous year. when deforestation had risen to 84 percent. and he said that this is the consequences of the fact that this season to send the military in to control deforestation in the amazon is

starting to bear fruit. this decision came after international outcry on what was happening in the amazon coming in, particularly from the leaders of many european countries. now environmentalist in brazil door saying that this is not true and that what has happened in the last couple of years in the amazon is absolutely devastating that made it absolutely clear since the beginning of this price. you then see that there is watch the amazon was going to be open to gays and development. you might also remember that is the environmental minister. caught on camera in may essentially suggesting that the government should use the health crises of the 19 as that the struction for environmental protection. and there's no doubt that both policies have done just

that they have cut 25 percent from their main environmental protection agency funds. and he also pushed for more mining more agriculture in the amazon that were going to have to see more pressure will come internationally. and that could change things in brazil. some observers are saying that, for example, the election of joe biden in the us by the help given the fact that he has had a strong position when it comes to climate change. but so far, both sinatras been adamant that he will not change his policy and that he believes that more development in the amazon might help to rise that region from poverty. the area of deforestation is larger than the land mass of jamaica. i mean,

it's really hard to fathom. i'm wondering if we get a bit more specific can if you can hear me, if we have, we have alexander. yes, we have us under. is it specific policies from both sonata, which have gotten us to this point, or is it ok if you can repeat the question? no problem. ok, now you can hear me. is it both or not as specific policies which have gotten the amazon to this point, or is it more the defunding of agencies which would have issued protection it's probably a mix of both of you for a station of the amazon is not only happening in brazil it's also happening on the peruvian side, it's happening here in colombia, but it's clear that cattle, ranchers and law are just land grabbers in brazil have, are feeling emboldened by what the president, both so narrow has been saying by his policy is to go on deeper into

the forest, they feel that they have a right to clear the forest, and this is what we've been seeing for the last couple of years. and now showing in these official numbers and these satellite pictures that are clearly showing the devastation ssion in the region. ok, thank you for that. there live from bogota. still to come here on al-jazeera. the mystery surrounding the assassination of iran's top nuclear scientist continues, as he's laid to rest, tested on mass before the christmas break. here diverse cities across the u.k. take on president to grow the virus measures. students return home to their families.

hello the cold air will come to show itself rather significantly in the next 2 or 3 days 1st of all this massive cloud up here, which means on the warm side drains going offshore and the cold turkey. and it will bring some star briefly as far south as georgia, but more concentrated, lays up in the that will further dos, be honest, west virginia, northwards and that car will edge towards the east coast snow for a time. then the turks, it is colder. there are breaks of snow over the rockies, but nothing significant here. but if you follow the wind direction, cross florida than he or notice that cold of the water is generated yet again, pretty heavy rain, stormy conditions. i think quite possible up through texas to oklahoma in the backwash here is also more snow for the texas panhandle. that's something we need to probably watch by the middle of the week. and as that cold front, the one that gives you the rain in the east coast comes out through cuba towards mexico and billie's out to be significant rain, particularly on this lower end and over a grand that doesn't need any more potential flooding. the seasonal rains existing,

concentrating over costa rica and little less over panama, in the caribbean. this time the tend to get daily showers for the time being, they're largely absent. these explosions were not an act of war. these nuclear bombs were experiments by the soviet union to the kazakh people. you lived in the vicinity. the motives might be little difference. rewind, silent on al-jazeera. rule the you are her world.

watching al-jazeera, a minder of our top stories. this al gore struck. megabit. daughter is seeking approval from american and european regulators for emergency use of its growth virus vaccine. cases are still rising steadily across the u.s. with 139 pounds of new infections confirmed on sunday. the battleground states of ours order and wisconsin are the latest to certify joe biden's election victory. donald trump is expected to continue fighting. it was all deforestation and brazil's amazon region has surged to a 12 year high. the area of land destroyed is sharply increased since president jaya, both an out of came to power 2018 and relaxed environmental regulations. paolo

is the retired founding director of the brazil institute at the woodrow wilson center. he joins us now live from washington d.c. via skype. thank you for your time. what are the specific failures from president diable sonando that have brought brazil to this point? if indeed you think the blame should be put at his feet. how's it got to this point to this level of deforestation? well, the, it's a complete abdication from policies that have been built in brazil over decades since the famous real 92 un conference on environment that resume hosted. that marked a shift in brazilian attitude towards this issue and has no produced much progress. deforestation has declined in brazil through most

of the 1st decade of this century, part of the 2nd decade, but for witness to mossad, we have a presidency amend that negates the existence of climate change and believes that, you know, is a show's criticism of bernie, that of the forest of misuse of our value of bull assets. net natural assets is all a conspiracy against brazil. it is a typical all die type of conspiracy theory and well, you know, brazil i think will be a very heavy price for that from european countries. maybe even from the new administration here. yeah. and that will get to the political fallout in

a moment. i want to ask you, one of the not and argument is that by increasing industry in the rain forest, it will improve the lives of people who call it home for all brazilians. but also for the people who live there, how does that work? and what's the response been of people, the people of brazil. yeah, it doesn't work. we all know in brazil that what works in brazil and has worked for a while, is that you have to develop the, the region and not only the amazon, but in a way that preserves its major assets, rich environmental assets, sets and innovates. but this is a language that is foreign aid to mr. bolton out of he does not understand that you cannot allow unregulated

exploration of, of this area. and. 'd you know, he will have to because this somehow that brazil must in order to claim its sovereignty over the amazon over its territory. it must show today international community obviously that it can handle it. brazil has signed a number of international agreements and conventions in that regard. and will now be facing the pressure from those countries, partners off brazil that one brazil to develop and to develop in a way that is beneficial to itself to the rest of the world and does not impair development in brazil, it is a hoax to say that you know,

prohibiting developing development in damages on its gone eco, with brazil's interest to economic growth. we can do both and the same time we must do both at the same time. and there is a growing number of resident actors in businesses in there continue in energy. oh community in the political community that you look, that believing that mass search. and it's a matter now to it's a work that has started already. do you know this brazilians 1st and then the international community that this work can be done and will be done? i guess the health of the world's depends on it, doesn't it? thank you so much for your time. we appreciate it. you're welcome. the u.s. secretary of state has called the ethiopian prime minister to push for an end to

fighting in the north and to great britain. prime minister told ethiopia's parliament federal forces are in full control of the regional capital kelly. however, the to great people's liberation front says, fighting is still going on. rights groups concerned about the risk of civilian casualties. met insists not a single civilian has been noticed. that another important part of getting at the, not the most important, every target has been signed and approved. the house can see that every missile launched is backed by a signature of authority. 99 percent of them hit their targets and 99 percent of them didn't have collateral. no country's army can show this kind of performance. our army is disciplined and victorious. you will destroy mckelway and so on. the regulator is ours. it was build with our own resources. we are not going to destroy it, not even a single person was affected by the operation. welcome webb has more now from

nairobi in neighboring kenya. the government has said that its forces of control will live to grey regions ever since it took the regional capital city of may. kelly on saturday, prime minister ahmed has told members of parliament that the government forces didn't kill a single civilian in their operations. the t.l.'s leaders are contradicting these claims. they say that many civilians were killed in government asteroids, something that the government denies, and the t p l. s. leaders have also said that they shot down one of those military planes that they've taken back one of the towns within the vicinity of mckelway and also that they're fighting on all fronts. the prime minister spoke person refuted these claims as delusional, but without journalists or humanitarian workers having much access to the region, athol and with the phone lines in the internet, cut off very difficult to verify any of these claims. but the red cross has said that in the city of macquarie,

about 80 percent of the people in the hospitals have trauma injuries. they didn't say how the people got those injuries. but they did say that there's a serious shortage of medical supplies needed to treat them a little. so a shortage of body bags are kind of like $500.00 to $5.00 missiles at 3 french military camps in northern mali, the bases, seminar, car, car, one kid after hit within hours of each other. in a rare coordination attack, no casualties were reported. the u.n. base next to the camp in quito was damaged french forces killed the military leader of al qaida is north africa wing. 3 weeks ago. iran's top nuclear scientist has been laid to rest in tehran, often factories, and it was assassinated on friday. a large funeral service was held in the capital, tehran honoring him around the leaders are blaming israel for the killing and a valve to retaliate. your doctor not handed you. we're all gathered here next to one another before the body of our beloved martyr and valid

to him that we will be more cohesive, more resolved, and our determination to continue down your path will be stronger. we will continue down the path of advancement of this nation with greater speed and strength. turkey has time to grow virus restrictions after a record number of deaths for the 8th consecutive day. 188 people have died in the last 24 hours. 4 lockdowns will be imposed on the weekend and curfews will be imposed on week days. the turkish medical association says hospitals are stretched to capacity. 8 prisoners in a sri lankan jail have died after guards opened fire during a riot of a rise in corona, virus infections. more than 70 inmates in 2 guards were injured at the facility on the outskirts of colombo. more than $1200.00 prisoners and guards have tested positive for the virus across the country. a mask rotavirus testing is taking place at universities across the u.k.

. thousands of students are being checked before they go home for their winter break. turn a hole is that one of the university testing centers in leicester. prolific virus spreaders in the autumn students across england and wales are now being tested on mass before heading home for christmas. in september, when students return from the summer break, tens of thousands were forced to isolate, often in cramped halls of residence. learning went online and many questioned what they were paying fees for. pure anxiety. like throughout the whole situation because we were so unaware of what was going on. so it's nice that we can now regularly check whether we're all like a war or had faded from diversity of accounting for every measure. fairytale, just so i don't spread it if i have a backlog of evidence from before. the problem to montfort university in leicester is one of more than 130 taking part in mass testing 1st. the self administered swab

test, then a lateral flow test and a result within an hour students are asked to take a 2nd test 3 days later with positive cases forced to isolate, while others head home to their families. there are concerns about the reliability of these tests. the government has admitted as much in fact, in these non lab conditions or makeshift testing center, as many as one in 5 cases may be inaccurate. clinicians are keen to emphasise that a negative test isn't a green light, and that is the message that we have really keen to get across that this is not a free pass when students go haim. at christmas they will be mixing with their relatives mixing with friends from different universities, possibly save their ability to spread the virus if they are not following the government's guidelines is quite large. and of course there's the hope that an end is in sight. it's quite likely we will have to have something like this to anybody

and they can return to university also in security. when we get to the next round and round the easter period a lot. and on the progress of the virus, things might be with the rollout of the vaccine. a vaccine may take many months to roll out across the population. in the meantime, an imperfect system of this perhaps, but an important one. jonah, how al-jazeera lester. a top fashion retailer has become one of the u.k.'s biggest corporate casualties of the pandemic. the arcadia group, which owns dozens of fashion brands, including top shop, has filed for bankruptcy. there's been no announcement of store closures, or layoffs, spas, an estimated $13000.00. jobs at the company are at risk. u.k. economy is suffering its worst recession in more than 300 years. france's government has dropped a controversial draft law that would restrict the publishing of images of police. the bill sponsored large protests on saturday, fueled by anger, over

a video of police beating a black man in paris. critics of the all say it could prevent such incidents from being exposed. a new version of the bill will be submitted. oh, an elephant dubbed the loneliest in the world has finally arrived at his new home with the help of an entertainment i call. the plight of cava, the only elephant in islamabad, pakistan drew global attention now after a fund raising campaign, he's been flown to a new life at a wildlife sanctuary. and cambodia and carven had a v.i.p. greeting on the tarmac from sheer singer has been a leading supporter of the lonely elephant campaign. this is al jazeera.