and it's. out on the street down to the viewfinder latin america series now this is. a vaccine collaboration develop esteem up the better protection while the u.s. is told to expect daily death tolls in the thousands for at least 2 more months. oh i maryam namazie in london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up on the program the european union agrees to get tougher on climate action but moral member nations are happy with the plan. 5 life sentences for a man convicted of murdering a former lebanese prime minister but it's unlikely 11 see the inside of

a jail cell. celebrations in anger as a landmark abortion bill takes a step closer to becoming law in argentina. well the approval for the u.s. rollout of the pfizer biotech coronavirus vaccine appears to be imminent and it can't come soon enough as the world's worst affected countries trying to grapple with the death toll growing at a staggering rate more than $2700.00 fatalities were reported on thursday a top u.s. health official expects that pace to continue for the next 2 or 3 months with daily death tolls equivalent to $911.00 and pole harbor traumatic events that reshape the country for decades and infection rates are growing as well america has recorded more than 210000 cases every day on average this week meanwhile here in europe calls are growing for tougher knock down measures in germany as the country reports

record rises in infections and deaths switzerland is forcing restaurants and bars to close the close early while wales might go back into lockdown off the christmas the deal baba begins our coverage. across the united states they're getting ready to vaccinate people against covered 19 it's a matter of urgency with the daily death toll reaching 3000 this week and hospital struggling the food and drug administration is set to approve emergency use of a phase a biotech vaccine within days and vulnerable people could actually get the job by early next week as we know accident more and more people we will ultimately maybe by mid year next year when the 20 wanted sheep herd immunity. perhaps 75 percent of people vaccinated this shutdown and and a pandemic well late in 2021 in another big move u.k. and russian scientists to teaming up to study whether combining 2 vaccines office

better protection trials in russia will evolve adults getting both the sputnik v. vaccine reported to be 90 percent effective and the astra zeneca vaccine developed with the university of oxford with average efficacy reported at around 70 percent it's almost like cross training in athletics where 2 different sports can make you a better athlete so rather than giving them the 1st dose and a booster dose of the same vaccine maybe giving different types of vaccine for the 1st and 2nd doses might give you a stronger or more durable immune response but there are new setbacks to france's sanofi and britain's got so smith kline say their vaccine won't be ready now until the end of next year after interim results showed a low immune response in older people the vaccine was set to provide almost a 3rd of callbacks doses that's the global vaccine purchasing facility which many of the poorest countries are relying on and australia's council production of a domestic vaccine off the trials showed it could lead to false positive tests for

a choice fixing the problem could take another year this is one of 4 vaccines the government there has ordered it's still planning to start vaccinations next march insisting its success in stopping coronavirus spreading means it doesn't need to rush we're aware of what is happening in other states and another. nations around the world we have a front row seat frankly is as dai goes through that and work through any potential issues that arise in europe the u.k. has a head start on tuesday this 91 year old became the 1st person anywhere to get the pfizer biotech vaccination as part of a mass rollout it was manufactured in belgium which plans to start vaccinations in early january other nations are set to follow once there's a green light from the european union of. sponsors whether that will happen within the same hour with $27.00 member states that the needle is injected everywhere at the same time i'm not sure but we want to do this in a very coordinated fashion and show that everyone has the same kind of access

meanwhile health experts and campaigners are urging wealthy nations to make sure the world's poorest citizens have access to vaccines if and when they're ready ready barbara al-jazeera. well mike hanna joins us live now from washington how close is the f.d.a. to approving that pfizer biotech vaccine like and how are people there going to get access to it. well now that the independent experts have given the go ahead we are expecting an announcement from the food and drug administration at any time following that announcement health experts say it will take some 24 hours to rollout the vaccine to the various parts of the united states however this being a weekend that may take a little bit longer the white house has put immense pressure on the f.d.a. in the course of the day the chief of staff phoning the head of the f.d.a. and threaten him with dismissal if he doesn't announce emergency use authorization by the end of this day so certainly

a lot of pressure from the white house but what happens then once the approval is given the vaccine begins to roll out pfizer says it has some $20000000.00 doses that it will be able to move immediately that's enough to treat $10000000.00 people remembering that 2 injections of each drug need to be given 3 weeks apart now in new york state for example the governor there saying that he expects 180000 doses by sunday or monday that will allow him to inoculate some 70000 people but that is going to be problems with the rollout it is not being controlled by the federal government by the central government essentially every single state is deciding how the vaccine is going to be distributed the governor of each state will decide the priorities of who is going to get the vaccine 1st most governors will be guided by the advice from the centers for disease control which has recommended that the 1st people to get the vaccine are health care workers the next

lot of people in the system living environments and then. workers. essential workers that some $80000000.00 people fall within the scat agree so the basic actual what happens on the ground is going to be left to the governors in each state to decide thanks very much from washington mike hanna. now european leaders of hamad out a deal to tackle the climate crisis often after another sleepless night of tough negotiations the european union is saying it's going to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent over the next decade and it's promised nearly $670000000000.00 to help countries in industries that are dependent on coal to transition to greener energy and global emissions are expected to drop by $2600000000.00 tons this year that's

a record 7 percent but only because the well shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic in fact the united nations is saying the emissions must full by 7.6 percent every year by 2030 to stop temperatures rising by more than one and a half to greece celsius fullbright new reports now on how to find the agreed on that deal in brussels. the e.u. would prioritize sorting out the 70 ad budgets and so they punted the negotiations over the climate deal into the evening and as a result it went way into the night in fact it was around 6 am when they finally decided to agree a deal largely because i know a magical the german chancellor of germany holding the presidency of the european council for this 6 month period said it would be a disaster if they couldn't come to an agreement on the eve of the 5th anniversary of the paris agreement now what basically happened is that poland fell into line polish the polish economy is heavily reliant on coal some 3 quarters of the

electricity generated in poland is from burning coal and the industry employs around 100000 strongly unionized workers so i'm hearing that the polish prime minister said look you've got to give me a deal to protect our economy otherwise i'm going to lose my job when i go back to warsaw although shell michele the president of the european council didn't say what kind what the exact concessions were i can tell you will poland was looking for and that is for economic concessions economic protections and also for the level of emissions cuts to be associated with the g.d.p. of each country so although the european union is going to go for 55 percent as a bloc it's clear that some countries will probably not meet 55 percent and others will have to exceed 55 percent if that's a reach that 55 percent average as i say michel very relieved and happy that a deal was done it's hugely symbolic it's hugely important for the planet as well

don't forget but it was a long night. or come back as the chairman of a 3 g. 3rd generation environmentalist and a think tank specializing in the political economics of climate change he told me earlier that he welcomes the latest initiative from the european union but thinks the free market now has the biggest role to play in combating climate change the really important thing to remember is it's not now it's not just governments that are paying a lot of attention to this we've really seen as the central bankers are not involved they're rewriting the rules by which our capital is allocated because climate change poses such a big risk to the economy and i think what will keep countries driving forward is not so much constraints from some enforcement mechanism but the fact that capital is going to pursue the opportunity side of dealing with climate change very vigorously and countries that don't actually get their policy frameworks in place will find themselves missing out economically on the opportunities of the future

now and all the stories we're following turkey is criticizing the european union's plans to expand sanctions targeting its drilling operations in the eastern mediterranean e.u. has agreed to widen a sanctions list of technician divisions and companies involved in the gas exploration drilling in waters that are contested by greece elitists a sends a strong message but turkey describes the move as biased and unlawful. now one of the men found guilty over the murder of lebanon's former prime minister has been sentenced to 5 life tons slowly my ash was tried and sentenced in absentia he was found to have played a leading role in the filming that killed 21 of those in 2005 his sentence was handed down by the special tribunal for life and based in the netherlands saying the holder has more from beirut. so this is the sentencing the guilty verdict was handed down in august the trial well it was held in absentia the man who was found

guilty is still on the run so some will say well this is an important the judicial decision justice is incomplete but the bottom line is this the tribunals does not have any enforcement mechanism and cannot in any way force the lebanese government to hand over. to face justice in fact hezbollah which has really downplayed the importance of the tribunals saying that this tribunal is politically motivated and that we're not concerned with its verdict has repeatedly said that they will not hand over. yet and they're in control of political power their armed wing is much stronger than the state that if any security agency attempts to arrest silly my yes it could trigger conflict so many will say justice is still incomplete others will say well we believe that he's just a low level operative and that the tribunals should have gone after those who

actually gave the green light for. to carry out an execute such an intricate operation of the court the tribunal is not allowed to try countries or groups but they indirectly implicated hezbollah when they said sally is affiliated with with the group. ethiopia's government says it's returning eritrean refugees to camps in the northern territory region they fled to the capital addis ababa during fighting integrate between local forces and federal government soldiers the u.n. says their return to to grace so soon is absolutely unacceptable but ethiopia insists they will be safe there at 96000 eritrean refugees registered in ethiopia most live in 2 gray such borders eritrea. still ahead for you on the program one of the wiles biggest energy companies is accused of deliberately causing oil spills with the knowledge of the dutch government. why critics have gone as new free public schooling program say it's driving students to cry.

for. the last few days is saying some very wet weather pushing into northwest impossible starting the fall off a 2nd tropical lead to i ving in just to the southwest of broome there so some very heavy rain coming through here and will be the cases because through the next couple of days but i want to draw your attention to the other side of the country where we've got high pressure in charge around our high these on shore wind say fading in some very heavy showers developing area of low pressure actually pushing into the northeast of new south wales southern parts of queensland and that is likely to bring some river flooding and some flash flooding as we go through the next couple days out on the high tides the king ties respecting and that is going to cause widespread disruption why from here down towards the southeast stories

about the hates temperatures getting up to 36 celsius there in adelaide with that interior and warm enough in melbourne around 30 celsius now if you find it a little on the gray side there for new zealand on the crisis to. japan we have got some cooler air making its way in across northern parts of china over the next set of the hobbit minus 12 celsius struggling to get to 5 or 6 in beijing and in seoul and then worse as temperatures plunging very close to freezing if not below freezing over the next with some wet and wintry weather for the korean peninsula. we've been doing it with the money that it's boring we bring you the stories in development the dramatically changing the world we live in seen as congress is debating a bill seeking to raise billions of dollars for the super rich poor families kate odd by them counting the cost on al-jazeera.

revealing eco friendly solutions to comeback threats to our planet on al-jazeera. the. a come back and look at the headlines now in the united states more than 2700 people died of covert 19 on thursday and officials are warning that the daily death toll could continue for 2 or 3 months in europe tougher lockdown measures are being called for as countries report record rises in both infections and deaths. european union leaders have agreed to cut carbon emissions by at least 55 percent by the end

of the decade the reduction compared to $990.00 levels is a step up from the previous goal of 40 percent and the hezbollah a fugitive convicted in the assassination of lebanon's former prime minister a 5th of the ri-ri has been given 5 life terms silly my ash was sentenced in absentia by a special tribunal in the netherlands. we're always stories we're following an egyptian security officer allegedly hired an informant to track an italian student before he was kidnapped and tortured that's according to judicial sources al-jazeera has obtained footage that appears to be from a camera worn by that informant while he phones kind of their kemal right after he followed the student judea regina. security forces then allegedly search with genies house and took photographs of his belongings but johnny was found dead on the outskirts of the egyptian capital cairo 4 years ago italian prosecutors believe kemal is one of 4 egyptian officials involved in the murder but authorities have

denied any involvement massimo garro is an italian m.p. and member of a parliamentary committee investigating the killing he says italians demand justice of a chinese mudda and accused egypt's government of carrying out thousands of human rights violations we want justice for a citizen who has been killed in tortured in such a terrible way we have an explanation but with him we want to ask justice and that aspect of human rights for thousands of it or daughters and sons of egypt will disappear every day and we know very well that these appearing at a faster rate by doing be able barker's you so busy i think our stand could be meaningful also for those of course in the balkans see you monday it's injustice in egypt. politicians in argentina have taken a major step towards legalizing abortion a bill was approved in the lower house of congress after more than 20 hours of debate but it's expected to face more resistance in the senate president alberto

finance has made women's rights a central tenet of his government tries about reports now from buenos aires. a much awaited vote this is the beginning of the end of a battle this women have been fighting for a very long time the legalization of abortion in this mostly catholic country. congress passed the bill by 131 vote 217 it now goes to the senate and i only has it up when we all head up here in 2018 we were disappointed because we lost in the senate but we hope this time it will be different it's a right that we deserve to save women's lives was activists gather outside congress abortion is a divisive issue in argentina although a large sector of society wants to cede legalized others do not want to see the bill turned into law. pope francis is from argentina and can influence how

politicians vote. the plaster in front of congress was separated by a fence and security forces were there to prevent violence between those in favor of abortion and those against a 1000000 of you in afghanistan. in the midst of a pandemic we are invited to discuss a bill in just 10 days inn express bill tell me of this is not genocide when they don't want to show what an abortion is this is it and they don't want to show it they're hiding the truth we're not foolish people in 2018 the bill was approved in congress but failed to pass the senate. women rights groups say thousands of private abortions are already happening in argentina and women are suffering because of it. was overblown out of her work like a from the abortion comes up i grew up my mother grandmother for the mother of 5 you know her 6 government over abortion that i was ok like her like not

burden free not that i'm lucky man or a hard world. he says that argentina's abortion legislation could set a precedent in the region when he was our primary slow only of the country she never knew john arcudi beg to have the happy she was there 10 back in the fifty's it happened again i would have to be a millionaire been in mexico i would say our food pantry has nothing to do marriage and here's where we finally maybe communication i got a question i hope you have a very exciting opportunity to listen. to the government says they would like to see the vote in the senate before the year's end. this women say they'll be here again to see the bill turned into law and women gain the rights they have long demanded but he said will win the hightest. and bays in the netherlands are demanding an investigation into the relationship between the country's embassies

and multinationals like oil giant shell a dutch documentary called shells hell reveals the employees of royal dutch shell it deliberately causing oil leaks in one area with the knowledge of the dutch embassy staff also reports on this now from the hey. oil spill set for luther deny to doubt the for decades and all among the world's largest spills goals and serious help no widespread and fly in mental disaster while royal dutch shell has long blamed grinnell gangs for guarding the leaks this documentary shown on dutch television claims the child employees are paid in poor local youth to sabotage the pipes to then make money themselves from the clean up. we. have interviews with a number of ex members of these gangs and also. people that worked for safety company of shell and employees of shell so 3 different sources that gave us information of how they were involved in causing

oil spills and subsequently profiting from the clean up of the oil spills but this footage shot in 2018 during a visit of the dutch ambassador shows that he promised the local community he would discuss the deliberate leaks which shell and the government in the hague will be going into my brigade shall become one of aggregate showing teach that out a bit by shouting at the use of bringing back her family vacuum you heard me say one you wanted to say and i heard you loud and clear and. soon after the ambassador was removed from his post for leaking confidential information about attacks investigation to shelf the dutch foreign ministry says that because of this remove all the information about the deliberate spill snafu rage them such m.p.t. find this hard to believe. we should make it very clear that the government is

always always independent and also needs to be in that position to be able to hold companies who are not following the rules accountable and how can you hold a company accountable if you are really close friends parliament members or filed a motion to demand an independent investigation into possible collusion between the embassies and dutch multinationals like shall royal dutch shell has been taken to court here in the hague for its contribution to global warming but now the largest company in the netherlands is under fire again this time for its role in large oil spills in nigeria and for legibly covering this up chad has declined always quest to respond on camera but that sound of the following written response. shall petroleum development company of nigeria does not have any formal report of named staff members in full in pipeline vandalism with sabotage is established to

clean up contract it's not awarded to contractors from the host community to make sure multinationals like shell can be held accountable for the damage they do in other countries like nigeria friends of the earth are urging the government to regulate these companies to comply with law back in the netherlands steps last an al-jazeera the hague president elect joe biden is introduce more key picks for his administration several of them of veterans of the obama white house susan rice has been tapped the director of white house domestic policy council she served as president barack obama's national security adviser and u.n. ambassador rice is expected to have wide ranging sway of the incoming administration's approach to immigration health care and racial inequality. the u.s. military has released video of an ass strike in somalia that it says killed 8 members of bob it was one of 2 strikes on thursday in the south the u.s.

says it targeted specialist explosive devices and the group that launched 45 such attacks in mogadishu since 2018 u.s. president onil trump says he's withdrawing most forces from somalia by the middle of january well now to india doctors there are going on strike after traditional medical practitioners were granted permission to perform in surgeries about a 1000000 doctors are withdrawing non-essential a non-code related care in protest last month the government allowed i have heard the doctors to be trained to perform more than 50 general surgeries india's medical association is condemning what it calls a retrograde step of mixing modern and traditional medicines a prominent hong kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist jimmy lie is been charged under a controversial security law the 1000000000 a newspaper owner is accused of colluding with foreign forces and in danger a national security law is the highest profile person charged under the law which has been widely criticized by rights groups since being brought in 6 months ago is

already in jail after being denied bail on a separate charge. now improvements in gone as public high school system have led to declining enrollment and closures of many private schools or school grades are improving many students are spending months or waiting lists to secure a place critics are saying this is causing a rise in social problems with young people now turning to drugs and prostitution on that interest reports from other pong just outside ghana's capital accra. after 3 months or 2 these students are back and last among them many who transferred from private schools after the government declared education free in public high schools had not been dad's most students were in school now linda had the opportunity to be school and the teachers of what combat's stressful the idea best to cope with this is 10. the school year has changed from

one of terms to a university semester system but when the schools have struggled to accommodate all the students who apply for places that means while some students attend classes for months others are forced to stay who i'm with that. is that it all has and has 2 children in junior school. the truth and implementation the problem every parent is worried about of those who don't want to wear black when you pay for i think their mug of government. is about $500.00 a mug. for about $500.00. but if today you are your child they've been a rule on for your future and then even if the child comes back you don't have to spend another 47500 cities to pay for. said it was concerned that with a lot of free time on their hands many students cultivated bad habits including

drug abuse smoking and prostitution. private schools where once the exclusive preserve of middle and upper class commands but there's been a bus exodus to public schools for free education and most of the private. schools in gonna have to close down because most parents are interested in this free free thing the government argues that improvements in the performance of high school graduates is evidence that the hard school system works but critics say it is running private schools out of business and creating other social problems. for many parents who struggle to find the money to pay high school fees the free education program is a huge relief however they urge the government to address the social problems cost what students have to spend months or 2 waiting to secure a place in class comedy grease al-jazeera or to play god

now russian authorities are investigating the mysterious deaths of nearly 300 endangered seals the bodies have been washing up on the shores of the caspian sea in the region of dagestan russia's fisheries agency says it could be because of an infectious disease but also what they call external reasons. just a quick look at the headlines this hour now before we go on in the united states more than 2700 people died of covert 19 on thursday with officials warning that daily toll could continue for 2 or 3 months america has recorded more than 210000 cases every day on average this week meanwhile in europe tougher knock down measures are being called for as countries report record rises in infection rates and deaths in all the headlines european union leaders of agree to cause.