that matter to you. down to 0. the air the earth the ara in. the u.s. record its deadliest day yet with the coronavirus claiming another 2804 lives on iran becomes the latest country to pass a 1000000 current of arson cases. our intake of this is out as era live from london also coming up why britain is quick approval of the pfizer vaccine is drawing criticism from both the us and the e.u. . reports bangladesh is coercing thousands of bringing the refugees into moving to a remote island that's prone to flooding. and hong kong media tycoon jimmy lie is

denied bail and a former lawmaker fee's into exile in the latest blows to the city's pro-democracy movement. and a really good beginning with the coronavirus crisis and the growing list of countries reporting soaring infection rates and deaths governments around the world are struggling to contain a new wave of cases in the worst affected country in the united states 2804 deaths were recorded on wednesday america is close to passing 14000000 cases in total italy has hit a new record with 993 deaths in one day that's higher than the peak of fatalities in the 1st wave in the middle east infections of surprised 1000000 in iran the country is reported almost 50000 deaths as governments race to approve vaccines the

united nations and global health officials have warned against fast tracking the process itself to the u.k. authorized use of the pfizer biotech vaccine on wednesday and as fears of vaccine misinformation grow social media giant facebook and instagram say they'll start removing posts with false claims. well united states continues to report to more than $200000.00 infections every day that they could they just record number of deaths in one day takes the country's total to more than 274000 the centers for disease control and prevention says fatalities could reach 450005 february the u.s. is also struggling with hospitalized patients with 100000 patients were admitted in the last 24 hours. going on trial in white house correspondent can be how could so can be quite a severe situation with. yeah it's expected to get worse to dr anthony found the top infectious disease specialist saying that he expects surge

upon surge the c.d.c. or centers for disease control saying that the next 3 months could be among the worst or most difficult in u.s. public health history what americans are bracing for is the fact that it's known that there will likely be an uptick in infections as well as deaths given the fact that many americans did not listen to the public health officials warnings over the thanksgiving holiday and as a result traveled and so the seeds of an increased outbreak have been planted all across the united states there is some optimism of course knowing that by the end of the year it's likely that a vaccine will be approved emergency authorization for pfizer as well as mcdermott but it's just going to be a drop in the bucket some $40000000.00 doses this is a population of 330000000 and of course you need not one but 2 of these inoculations in order for it to be mostly effective in fact as the united states is

continuing its process of certifying these drugs to be safe to use for inoculation dogs here at the fact of the top infectious disease specialist again very critical of the u.k. and its approval that has come this week in fact he said that there is accused. the u.k. of basically taking the drug company pfizer is data and accepting it without scrutinizing it so this is a pretty steep criticism he says that this cutting corners could lead to skepticism in the safety of the drugs having said that there's already some skepticism here in the united states that this is happening a little bit too quickly and that's why we know that the former president's brok obama bill clinton as well as george w. bush all say when it's their turn to get this vaccine they'll be getting it on camera in order to reinsure reassure the public that the science is safe and keeping their reports they supply a code train for transporting the vaccine has been hacked what more do we know about. yeah the department of homeland security adding its voice in an alert that

was originally issued by i.b.m. essentially what we know about these vaccines is they have to be stored at extremely cold temperatures hence the name cold chain supply what we know is that there has been a hacking or spearfishing campaign that's been going back as early as september 2 officials executives in those involved in the supply chain out of this cold storage for the vaccines it's an attempt to get people to turn over their passwords and of course this leads to a concern about the safety and integrity of the vaccine supply so a lot of concern about this what we do know is that the cyber security executive seem to think that this is a nation state that is behind this given the fact that there is an intimate knowledge of the cold storage supply chain or rather cold chain so this is something that's extremely concerning here in the united states as officials are trying to reassure the public that everything is safe this is only adding to the

anxieties can be how can i thank you very much. well we heard from kimberly the u.k. is coming in for some criticism for approving the pfizer job so quickly let's get more on this from out there across money barclays administrator so this bit of a roué over the quick approval from the u.k. tell us about that yeah well the race to develop a vaccine is essentially entering a new phase the face through to approve it to regulate it and the united kingdom on wednesday became the 1st country to give the seal of approval to the bio and tech pfizer vaccine and a rollout will soon happen as early as next week but the speed in which the british regulator has done that has raised some eyebrows in the e.u. and the united states a difference of opinion appears to be emerging and there are some concerns already that this could undermine confidence in the vaccine before the vaccine i process internationally has even begun years more and that. hope is housed in a belgian factory where millions of doses of the vaccine developed by german

scientists from bahrain take and the u.s. pharmaceutical giant pfizer are being made. the u.k.'s leading the race to roll out the drug after its independent regulator gave the vaccine emergency approval on wednesday the 1st doses will arrive in britain within days i will thank the scientists the british government's call the approval a triumph for science but it's also being framed as a political win for a government keen to prove that britain can operate nimbly outside the e.u. is what one government minister had to say about the roll out did the fact that britain is in the process of one has brics it did did that mean we got the vaccination world 1st ahead of the us in the e.u. yes or no do you believe secular state well i just reckon we've got the very best people in this country and we've got the best bed equal regulators much better than the french have much better than the belgians have much better than the americans and that doesn't surprise me at all because we are much better country than every

single one of the british approvals led to grumbles from regulators in other countries is being called hasty by the e.u. the bloc insists its approach is more thorough nevertheless this shouldn't turn into a competition said one official at a time when experts are trying to build global confidence in a successful vaccine we are definitely not in the game of comparing regulators across countries nor in commenting on claims as to who is better and this is not a football competition we're talking about the life and health a few people the u.k.'s also ruffled feathers in the us with corona virus c primo dr antony foushee claiming the u.k. regulator hasn't been careful enough on wednesday the british regulator said strict standards had been met to assure the vaccine safety and effectiveness but the government said it could be months before the doses reach those most in need the world health organizations asked british scientists to share their. findings the un body which acts as a benchmark for other countries is eager to approve

a vaccine as soon as possible there are concerns it could take months for developing countries to get one we need to develop more vaccines we should stop we need more than these 3 or 4 we need to increase production we need to pull the price down we need we'd love a $1.00 vaccine because the all of the actually is so far 2 doses so the innovation is a finished we need the research to continue we need everyone to support our research the british regulator says that strict standards have been met to assure the vaccine safety and effectiveness the rollouts being cautiously welcomed in the u.k. but the rights to regulates expose rifts between scientists undermining international efforts to prove it safe and ready for use. a need while there's all this focus on the facts instill some alarming numbers of deaths in europe and to cure it let's not forget the crisis is still unfolding which is why the british prime minister boyce johnson has urged people to continue showing discipline in following the restrictions particularly over the christmas period some alarming

figures out of the u.k. the death toll here is exceeded 60000 of course the u.k. death toll one of the highest anywhere in the world after a new death toll recording of $414.00 and also some more figures out of italy it's only as recorded its highest daily death toll from corona virus throughout the entire pandemic a death toll of 993 the closest to it was to that figure was back in march when the death toll in the 24 hour period was 969 this is despite having a strict lockdown during the 1st wave despite more targeted lock downs that focused on regions and it's only also street closures of bars and restaurants and other businesses that lead to demonstrations and violent clashes between business owners and police the thora season it's only warns that more restrictions could be announced soon covering the christmas period so it's not over yet definitely need

barca thank you very much indeed thank you to health authorities in iran have detected more than 1000000 coronaviruses coronavirus cases since the outbreak began it's the only nation in the middle east to cross that threshold the virus is reported to have killed almost 50000 people across iran but the health minister says the actual number of deaths is probably much higher strictures remain in place across most of the country but some measures will be relaxed in the capital from saturday said begun in tehran and has more on the latest restrictions. many people weren't tested and some people died before a covert test could be carried out now figures are coming down slowly slowly since the country introduced this partial lockdown so with the new infections daily new infections of around 13000 down from 14000 in the daily death toll come down to mid 300 to what it was last month the highest there had ever seen over 400 now these new restrictions mean that non-essential businesses are closed that restaurants and

cafes are serving takeaways only and private vehicles are banned from the roads from 9 pm till 4 am in the morning if they're found to be out on the streets they face a financial penalty but also mosques and religious places have been closed and that's quite significant because iran is an islamic republic facemasks a compulsory both inside and outside in public spaces and government offices have either closed or working with minimum stuff now this partial lockdown is set to expire on friday night some places could be extended or some restrictions depending on what category they fall into now iran has blamed us sanctions for stopping them and restricting their fight against the pandemic also at the start of this pandemic around march this year iran wanted billions of dollars from the international monetary fund that was refused again iran blamed the united states in fact today foreign minister jihads reef has been speaking and he said the united states has

reached an economic war against iran that's cost many lives and said that they were able to purchase medicines to deal with patients. take a look at the situation in some other countries where infections and deaths related turkey has been averaging around 30000 new daily cases for the past week and reported 187 deaths on thursday russia detected more than 28000 new infections and there were 554 deaths in uneasy reported a record 8369 daily caseload it has the highest number of infections and deaths in southeast asia and hungry has just recorded 182 virus related deaths its highest daily death toll since the outbreak began the u.n. general assembly is holding a special session on the pandemic a strongly worded opening statement so should general antonio terror's emphasize the need for a united response for the 1st time since $145.00 entire world is confronted by

a common threat to god of this of a nationality at the city or face the world us organization provided factual information and scientific guidance that should have been the basis for a court of the native global response unfortunately many of these recommendations were not followed and in some situations there was a rejection affects. and ignore those of the ivans. and when countries go in their own direction of dividers goes in every night action still to come this half hour why a central african republic is former president francois but he has been stopped from running again. and half a 1000000 students tackle the most important day in the academic calendar during a different type of exam season.

how much of your feeling something of a wintry blast at the moment lots of cold air in place right across the continent some nasty weather too into central areas across italy and across into the balkans quite an intense area of low pressure has seen a fair bit a snow over the past 24 to 48 hours and a fair bit more as we go on through the next couple of days as well actually this is crisis central chrysler where a way into has well and truly set in as you can see and there is more snow in the forecast and as we go through the next day old say heaviest snow will come back into the outs as we go on through saturday a bit of a breast bite there for the balkans at this stage more heavy showers that's that western side of the mediterranean look at the temperatures struggling to get 76 and 7 degrees across western powers cold air will continue to dive its way across the british isles sliding down into france and all the parts of spain and portugal as

we go through the next day or 2 and that cold air also affecting parts of africa with one or 2 showers lapping into the shores of the mediterranean will possibly record also seeing some west weather central areas so we'll see somewhat dry weather and you'll see a few showers down towards the gulf of guinea with the usual showers all the way to the ethiopian highlands. and. 958 charles de gaulle made a famous speech in algeria create music in tanzania. but take a don't hold back the tide of algerian independence o.-p. france's colonies in africa and the pacific. in the final episode of the series al-jazeera explores how the long and bitter fight for the french empire still resonates today blood and tears french to colonize ation on al-jazeera. what. to do to.

the old. from out of the top stories are not a 0 coronavirus cases a surging across the world with the worst affected country the us reporting 2804 deaths on wednesday its highest one day death toll yet it's also recorded 200000 infections every day. italy has also recorded its highest daily death toll from groan of ours with 993 fatalities in the last 24 hours while iran has become the 1st country in the middle east to report 1000000 infections and facebook and instagram say they'll start removing posts with false claims about growing a virus vaccines the u.s. and e.u. have also criticized the u.k.

saying british regulators approved a vaccine too quickly as concerns grow over a global lack of confidence in vaccination efforts. if you've been security forces reportedly blocked refugees from fleeing the country 45000 people have fled the conflict in ethiopia's northern region from eastern sudan but sudanese troops have told the associated press news agency that ethiopian forces stopped refugees from crossing the border early on thursday thousands of people are thought to have died after the prime minister ordered a military campaign against the grain fighters last month new footage has been released from inside t.v. or a it appears to be from the military and shows life seemingly returning to normal because of a month long communications blackout al-jazeera is unable to verify these pictures the united nations says it's reached a deal with ethiopian officials to allow aid into the region. the top court in the central african republic has ruled that former president bush is

a can't stand for reelection a 74 year old plan to run against president 1st. later this month the court said bush he said did not satisfy the good morality requirement of candidates because of an international warrant and un sanctions against him former leaders accused of murder torture and supporting groups guilty of war crimes because following the story from the how cynical. the judges of the constitutional court say he's in breach of article $103.00 of the constitution which says that in order to be candidate for this election you have to have good morals and you have to have a clean criminal record judges believe that he has neither of course he is wanted by the government of bunk who says that he incited hatred funded armed groups as well as accusing him of torture during the 2013 crisis where we saw christian and christian militia groups closely also known as close to forswear busy

. fighting against the what is known as the anti select armed groups and so not only that the united nations security council have also put him on a list because they believe they accuse him of funding armed groups now he is not supposed to be in the country the government bank you were looking for him and he mysteriously appeared just weeks before the presidential election so this this this announcement that he is not legible or this election comes as no surprise and of course it paves the way for president who does the favorite for this election to really make his way forward for a 2nd mandate. u.s. president donald trump has declined to say whether he still has confidence in attorney general bill barr the department of justice chief earlier said there was no sign of major fraud in last month's election if he thought in our.

history that. in a number of weeks from now they should be looking at all of this fraud this is not so well he thought it was this is not civil this is criminal serve this is very bad criminals. france is threatening to close dozens of mosques flagged as security risks as the government ramps up efforts to combat what it calls extremist behavior as many as $76.00 mosques are being investigated the country is also deported dozens of undocumented migrants suspected of radical links comes after 3 separate attacks in october including the beheading of a teacher who showed his students caricature is of the prophet mohammed yet. there are in some concentrated areas places of worship which are clearly until republican were in moms are followed by the intelligence services and where the discourse runs counter to our values such as equality between men and women and the

semitism and hatred against france. only after course your share them with a look at each time at the mosque i'm not sure that the solutions are here the reality is there is work to do in reaction hating people radicalization also takes place a lot on social media we must think about an islam on social media which is more visible in fighting lies that are being spread. hundreds of protesters have blocked streets in armenia's capital yerevan as they keep up their calls for prime minister nicole question and to resign several were detained by police they say pressure on young betrayed the country over a cease fire deal reached with azerbaijan last month the deal handed as a version territorial gains to stop fighting in the disputed nagorno-karabakh region. aide workers say thousands of rigging the refugees have been coerced into moving to a remote island off bangladesh which is prone to flooding. buses

carrying hundreds of people left the camps in cox's bazaar bound for the island of passion char nearly 1000000 rangar it muslims have been living in squalid camps in southeast bangladesh after fleeing violence in myanmar they're refusing to return without guarantees for their safety and rights from a child is in cox's bizzare says many refugees are concerned about a lack of facilities on the island. why suddenly take 100000 people to isolated island which is 50 kilometer coast of bangladesh which is prone to. tidal waves the government will say we spend 218000000 with built on barking and there's clusters of villages in shelters and hospitals although there are school missing which is one of the primary. reasons the rowing a record years are really concerned about because there's no formal education either in the camp or in that island now talking to a lot of their own many of them said they're really not interested despite having

all the infrastructure facilities the government said they'll be farming they'll be domesticated animals that could be the livestock farming they could go fishing and other stuff they said they feel comfortable here because they can visit camp to camp their extended families here close to their homeland you can see the several kilometers away behind me is myanmar there's a sense of belonging here even the regional people here speak their dialogue they can communicate more or less in the same language so that sense of belonging a psychological factor they don't want to be isolated far away in a coastal island which they don't know much about but the government is the charm and they're going to take place by probably will take months to relocate the 100000 people in that island is artesian hong kong are intensifying that crackdown on dissent. beijing critique and media tycoon jimmy lie has been denied bail after being charged with fraud and another high profile. has left the city saying he'll

seek. to pick up on reports from hong kong. a news room that's once again at the center of the day's news as the apple daily goes to press the detention of the tabloids founder will be making the headlines on thursday jimmy lyon 2 of his media companies executives appeared in court to face charges of the illegal use of an office space in the paper's headquarters the court ruled that jimmy lie was a flight risk and denied bail he could remain behind bars until the next hearing in april the 73 year old is one of hong kong's most high profile democracy activists a businessman with a net worth of around a $1000000000.00 he has 6 cases against him mostly related to his support for anti-government protests with his close ties to the united states he has lobbied for support for hong kong's pro-democracy movement prompting beijing to label him a traitor in august lie was arrested for collusion with foreign forces

a violation of the national security law which was imposed by beijing just a month before around $200.00 police stormed his next digital media complex the raid on the apple daily news room live streamed across the city the apple daily as hong kong's biggest pro-democracy newspaper reported widely on last year's anti-government protests and despite coming under pressure it has continued to be critical of not only hong kong's government but also of beijing lies detention came just a day after 3 pro-democracy activist joshua long agnus chauhan ivan lam started jail terms of 1310 and 7 months respectively. more than 10000 people have been arrested for protest related activities since last year demonstrations on the streets of loyalists. people are now keeping their heads they're very worried about these developments former legislative counselor ted hurry is the latest to go into exile

on thursday while on a business trip to denmark he faces 9 criminal charges including offenses related to last year's protests the apple daily newspaper has called it one of the saddest days in their 25 year history but sent out a statement of valuing to continue to monitor the government and keep up the fight for democracy even in the absence of their boss if you go palin our desire hong kong south korea takes its national college entrance exam very seriously and the current rush pandemic has done little to change that hundreds of thousands of students are taking the test this year including some who are in hospital with kevin 19 brother brian reports from seoul. it's the most important day in the academic calendar and it's being held under tough coded 19 restrictions as south korea fights through a 3rd wave of the pandemic. it's in stark contrast to what is traditionally a celebration that brings everyone together in

a society obsessed with academic achievement. younger pupils and family members normally throng the schools as the students arrive for the exam. police provide escorts for those running late and even flight departure times are adjusted so planes don't disturb exam takers. this year all students are carefully checked while distancing measures are being strictly observed for examinees and invigilators alike. special evening classes known as cram schools which are normally busy preparing students ahead of the exam have mostly suspended operations as part of the government's efforts to ensure safety. and i urge all people including examinees to follow the prevention rules in your daily lives what hasn't changed is just how important this day is in the lives of students and their

families this exam will determine which college they get into and so influence their career paths afterwards it doesn't get much bigger temples across south korea families have been praying for exam success but also probably for their children to stay safe special arrangements have been made for infected students to take the exam in hospital and south korea's president has being seeing for himself special centers set up for students who are self isolating on. that i had various concerns but today looking at the preparations i am somewhat relieved. because over the covert 1900 ration is now worse than we 1st planned for this day already under incredible exam pressure students this year have the added concerns of the pandemic to stress over rob mcbride al-jazeera sole china's lunar mission has lifted off

from the moon and is heading back to earth it's finished collecting rock samples in the 1st moon retrieval mission in more than 40 years the chinese spacecraft has also been mapping the moon's surface and using ground penetrating radar to search for minerals and water. are mounted on the top stories on ours there are corona virus cases surging across the world with the worst affected country the us reporting $2804.00 deaths on wednesday its highest daily death toll yet it's also recording more than 200000 infections every day and for the 1st time more than 100900 patients are in hospital committee how it has more dr anthony fauci the top infectious disease specialist saying.