al jazeera. where am. i. here as attorney general william barr is resigning of attention with president trumbo over his baseless claims of election fraud. joe biden formally secures a majority as members of the electoral college vote to verify the presidential poll outcome. the whole raman you're watching al-jazeera live my headquarters here in doha coming

up in the next 30 minutes a massive covert 19 vaccination campaign is underway in the u.s. on the day the death toll surpassed 300000 in the worst affected nation. also saudi arabia says a boat laden with explosives targeted an oil tanker in the port city of jeddah. and thousands of people gather in chile and argentina to witness a rare solar eclipse. welcome to the program we begin with breaking news coming out of the us where the attorney general william barr is resigning amid donald trump psyche's ations that he hasn't done enough to investigate the president's false claims of election fraud well donald trump made the announcement on twitter saying that he had just met with barr and that his relationship with the attorney general had always been a good one trump said was planning to step down just before christmas let's get

more on this now for she has returned to our correspondent he's standing by wilmington delaware this news just coming out in the last half hour shihab has been a good relationship between the 2 but the last few weeks have been quite fraught. right aren't we we should always remember when we talk about william barr this wasn't the 1st time he's been attorney general he was attorney general under george h.w. bush the 1st bush and even then we knew there was a great believer in presidential executive authority and he advised bush on all sorts of things which certainly historians now in a lot of people then said were pretty pretty legally dodgy iran contra of the invasion of panama or whatever but he's always been a man who believed in the power of the presidency and under trump he was very much taking up that role once again as congress was subpoenaing trump and all the investigations that were under way it was always he said look frankly you can ignore congress so therefore this is a very good for like that

a great deal whether this is because of any particular affection for trump i'm not sure that's clear this was something that we always knew william believed in. let's but didn't do and now we have to sort of piece things together a little bit from trump's tweets from. the reports we've had from the white house over the last few weeks for example what he didn't do off to the election for donald trump was go out fighting saying wait a 2nd there's been enormous election fraud and the d.o.j. has to investigate in fact said after relative period of silence actually there wasn't any evidence of election fraud that you can imagine that kind of gone down terribly well with donald trump and then just in the last few days it was announced in some rather well placed will street journal articles which seem to be single source you can you can decide where they were getting this information from the william bell how to in fact. kept quiet the issue of d.o.j. investigation into one to bite him during the election so as not to influence the

election and to biden long been accused of using his position as the former vice president now president elect joe biden some to make a huge amount of money on the reports are everywhere those reports came out just before the election democrats the biden campaign was able to say oh this is all just russian propaganda it turns out there was a d.o.j. investigation into hunter biden but he didn't make it public you know but james komi before the trump election he did make it very plain that there was a vested d.o.j. investigation to hillary clinton but didn't do that for trump for him to pardon so we got all sorts of out of durtal reports though saying that trump simply wasn't happy trump himself tweeted out the bar had made mistakes about by not releasing the information that a deejay investigation is underway into him to biden but now we get all the sweetness and light what would have been released in the last half an hour by donald trump is the letter. i wrote to trump which is cool you win a brilliant president and you've been under enormous attack and then we have joe we

have donald trump's tweet saying that we've always had a great relationship so what are we just piecing the bits together it's all very circumstantial but it is interesting that bar has decided he just couldn't go on with his in his position any longer and he's going to leave before before christmas and i'm sure just a relationship indeed it is i'm sure we'll get more on this as the i was because we another thing that trouble be keeping an eye on with of course these final hurdles concerning the next president legal arguments and the like since the election in november i mean we've seen the electors now process continue does this process of the electors now voting to draw a line under who is really the next president of the usa it was weird actually the trump tweeted out the the resignation of william bud just as california had pushed joe biden over to 70 in the electoral college so we know we are talking about something else i guess but. it doesn't quite it's true

officially under the constitution joe biden is the president elect but there's still january 6 all these electoral college votes now being sent by mail to congress where they will be counted and certified by congress and there have been rumblings that some republicans in the house want to make one last symbolic stand at the moment we haven't heard whether trump is getting behind that symbolic sign if he gets behind that then it will be an amazing and amazingly dramatic moment but right now we don't know whether he will but right now so what's interesting is it's not really the reality but the narrative that's important for the for donald trump it would seem so does narrative though that trump was stolen the election was stolen from donald trump will continue for a bit longer it will now move to congress that would be you know potentially so that would be more grist for this narrative donald trump all day has been tweeting about fraud and he said on fox news on sunday that he intends to continue the legal fight it's not clear what he's up to there because it is it is effectively it is

effectively over but we do know is trump has all this power and he's determined to flex his power he got 73000000 votes we don't know his pals there's a report in politico that he does no self no plans but he wants to keep all options open and he wants to be part of the conversation so whatever happened today in the electoral college that's not it's not over yet indeed it's not turf for the moment she had written see that thanks for joining us from wilmington in delaware. let's cross over to barton ill is elector in washington d.c. who cast her ballot on monday by day she's a nursing director at the washington hospital center and chairs that the city's board of nursing joins me now live from washington d.c. good to have you with us on the program and thanks for joining us on al-jazeera what was the process that you actually had to undertake today just talk it through for our international audience. so he'll thank you so much for having me this at the noon it was a very exciting at process today we we at 3 other in that tours met at the

washington convention center we were introduced by the d.c. current private chair charles wilson we cast our ballots the ballots were then certified our mayor mayor muriel bowzer we then happy marks from our secretary ken bassett we then had a wonderful speech from mr actor eddie cloud the chair of the princeton university african-american studies department we also heard that dynamic honorable eleanor holmes norton from the u.s. house of representatives representing washington d.c. president and it was an amazing day obviously a part of a historic moment in history in any normal election year some might say this part of the process may have gone unnoticed by the american public about see even the international audience as well how have you sort of soul to how have you felt about sort of the gaze of public attention considering all of the flora around this particular election. so help her it was an absolute honor to always vote

at american citizen number one i think during this year particularly 2020 is the year the nerves in the midwife i am a nurse 20 twentieth's are also the year we celebrate the women's suffrage movement i am a woman 2020 unfortunately as a year of where we had many strike and death around the cook at 19 at him to make the vibrant that is happening and ravaging our entire world and so as a proud line worker i'm excited to be able to participate that process and also i'm a graduate of howard university so as a woman in the black you know i'm excited to be able to have cast a ballot for the very 1st african-american woman will hold one of the highest seats in our nation a politician as you just said you know he's on the nursing fraternity but you do have political views like any other citizen of the usa and how concerned are you as a citizen about the way politics politics in this election has been played out it's been very divisive among wonders whether it can ever be healed and how long it will

take. excellent question and i want to also add to that i am a mother of a black sun and so healing our nation that ensuring that we have an opportunity for all of our citizens to be able to live in a wonderful democratic society which america is i think after this election and even during the see that coral process it's important that we do unite and that we do heal and that we understand a 100 percent that every citizen matters every single person regardless of your race color or creed or your social economic status or where your zip code is where you live and i want to ensure and i hope it is my prayer that even after to day that we cannot put our republic back to sleep that we have to make sure that all of us nurses other persons that are working have to make sure that every single person even though you're out of politician you have to participate in our democratic process well it's good to have your time miltie clogged up neil thanks very much

for joining us live on al-jazeera thank you so much. early voting has also begun in the usa of georgia for 2 races that will decide who controls the country senate democrats need to win both to gain control of the upper chamber republicans have long dominated in the southern states but president elect joe biden's when the last month has boyd democratic hopes either way the outcome on january the 5th will heavily influence baden's ability to carry out his campaign promises. the number 1900 teletubbies in the united states has surpassed 300000 on the day the biggest vaccination campaign in the country's history got under way a new york intensive care nurse who was treated some of the sickest coated 900 patients for months was the 1st to get the vaccine made by the pfizer biotech companies regulators approved it last week and almost 3000000 doses have been

shipped across the united states. it didn't make it any different from take it any other back. to our own i would like to thank you for the rant workers that are in my heart will be doing your job and then all over the world. i. hope and feel hopeful that they. really. feel that way and. medical workers and elderly turn home residents are prioritize during the roll out and white house stuff won't be among the 1st people to be inoculated president trump says he isn't sure jule to take that scene yet but says he'll do so in the appropriate amount of time over the last 2 weeks more than 2500 coronavirus deaths are being reported every day on both wednesday and saturday the daily death toll was above 3000

let's get more on this cross over to our cause but patty culhane is standing by in washington d.c. and patty really a huge day saw the u.s. population medical personnel and politicians when it comes to the vaccine actually being administered tower's the process unfolded troublefree. so far we haven't had any reports that there's been any sort of pick ups but it is early and there are a lot of steps to this vaccine don't forget that it has to be kept altar cold storage so that means the 1st shipments are going to the biggest hospitals that have that sort of cold storage capability but it is it's a huge day because it is the 1st time we are being able to see that this could possibly end this is how it ends it is happening though a really horrible day as you mentioned more than 300000 dead because of covert in this country now i think at the beginning of this if you had told any health expert that that would be the death toll at this point they would have said that is an abject failure we don't see any signs that those numbers are going to go down what

we've seen in the last couple of weeks is they're just rising every day exponentially and what this is is because of the thanksgiving giving holiday health officials told people do not leave i know you're tired of this but don't go outside of your immediate family have dinner there go and zoom to talk to each other that way but what we saw instead was tens of millions of americans traveled they went to their relatives homes they ate inside houses unmasked and so what they said was going to happen is exactly what's happening now we're seeing hospitals being overrun in one state they've actually been said that they can do basically give out the care as needed a ration it to some doctors deciding who gets treatment who doesn't who get sent home a 3rd of all americans live in places where their hospitals are nearing capacity and they're intensive care bed units and so what we're seeing now is experts say look this is bad don't make it worse do not travel over the upcoming christmas holiday because that would just be

a surge on top of the surge and we could start to see hospitals collapse whether or not americans will listen doesn't seem clear this is an issue that has become highly politicized in this country where you see people saying not only will they not not see their relatives but they're not going to wear a mask in public so. experts say look this is great news this is a great day people watching fed ex trucks and planes flying this vaccine on live television so there is a sense of excitement but there's also a sense of dread because it is so so and it's likely just going to get so much worse for the update thanks very much particle in that force in washington d.c. let's cross to jennifer bill clinton to standing by outside the cedars sinai medical center in los angeles good to have you with a huge day for the hospital and it starts where you are and perhaps some relief as well. so much relieved

to hell with this vaccine arriving at so many facilities around california and the west along with this blustery fall whether there is hope in the here and that is as we cross the threshold that 100000 deaths a year in the united states but we have some other numbers to tell you 636 that's the number of pre-determined destinations for these boxes of vaccine they're going the next couple of days 145 as early as today the rest by wednesday and another number 2900000 doses being distributed to those people who are caring for the very sick and those people who are in long term health care facilities the most vulnerable. are we getting a bit. of hope at 19. as we know it is still far away and there is light at the end of the tunnel but the tunnel is long it is dark and yet as we heard talk

a minute ago thanksgiving holiday holidays coming up as well. whether americans will heed to call to stay home and not visit relatives will have to wait and see but at this point. the case numbers have been rising the hospitalizations have been rising and hospitals like this one behind me here lost their lives are in the verge of running out of personnel and feds to care for the very sick so he'll jennifer bill clinton thanks so much for joining us from los angeles thank you. canadians have also started receiving the fires a biotech vaccine with 30000 doses expected to arrive this week the 1st batch has been sent to the provinces on tarion quebec both of which have borne the brunt of the country's are break health care workers and care home residents are being prioritized up to 80 percent of all krone virus deaths were recorded in care facilities a little florida is of the provinces to impose more restrictions as a 2nd wave sweeps the country there's increasing pressure on europe's drug

regulators to give the green light to the coronavirus vaccine to stop the exponential rise in cases across the continent want to make it easier to compare the rate of infection between countries we look at how many cases are being reported perhaps 100000 people this was a situation 2 months ago lots of that dark red color shows you high rates of infection but look at it now nearly the whole continent is dark red the european center for disease control has listed anything more than 120 cases 100000 as critical every country except finland norway ireland and iceland are on the highest level serbia georgia croatia and lithuania have the highest infection rates the turkey russia germany italy and the united kingdom have reported the most cases in the past 14 days with turkey recording more than 400000 infections well earlier the netherlands followed germany and announced

a new nationwide lockdown because of the surge in cases and meanwhile millions of people in london are also set to be placed under tougher restrictions as jonah hill reports. london's festive preparations dealt a blow to the capital moving to tighter restrictions that will ban households from mixing and see the hospitality sector shut down again the health secretary warns that a new variant of the virus might in part be behind fast rising infection rates the medical advice that we have is that it is highly unlikely that this new variant impinged the vaccine and the impact of the vaccine but we will know that in the coming days and weeks as the vaccine is as the new strand is cultured. london joins much of the rest of the country under tier 3 restrictions a government plan to relax these measures for a few days over christmas itself is fueling fears of

a 3rd wave in the new year there have to do what they have to do it's a shame that things have been left to the last minute this is something that in. the u.k. is far from alone in europe to the christmas lights signal festive cheer but there's not a lot of it about french hotel and restaurant workers in paris protested for the right to work their industry shut since the end of october and won't reopen until late in january. in italy the government is debating tougher measures after an easing of restrictions saw shoppers pouring onto the streets on the weekend the country overtook britain to become the european nation with the highest official death toll more than 64 and a half 1000 italians have died. no such debate in germany set to go back into lockdown on wednesday with the closure of non-essential shops and schools until january the 10th in the netherlands they're about to do the same. we have

600 deaths a day that's no joke i mean i'm 65 and i'm healthy touch wood but i'd like to stay that way and so now we all have to. with drop it even though that's not what i want . in the u.k. the rollout of the pfizer vaccine continues the 1st country in europe to do so a flurry of excitement in recent weeks suggested the pen demick was nearly over christmas besieged by new restrictions proves it's not jonah al jazeera. has reopened after an oil tanker was hit by a boat laden with explosives the kingdom has described the incident. as a terrorist attack alexey o'brien reports. the blast rocked the singapore flagged oil tanker just after midnight causing a fire and sending smoke billowing into the sky the b.w. rhein was parked up in jeddah as poss its owner have near says all 22 sailors on

board escaped unhurt. saudi owned media reported that 2 small boats with same before the explosion. it's the latest in a string of attacks on saudi arabia's energy sector mainly claimed by who the rebels from across the border in yemen just 3 weeks ago the who fired a missile which struck a petroleum plant in jeddah damaging a fuel storage tank the who things have been escalating the cross border strikes to pile the pressure on the kingdom this one is just seems to be just another one of these attacks against you know a targets which are very vital for saudi arabia you know as the greatest exporter of oil in the world you know that in the bubble among them straight in the waters of the red sea absolutely crucially important for the oil price and the livery of the big millions of barrels of oil every every day so if you make this unsafe that will have an impact on saudi arabia security and that is a very very high target and that increases the urgency for saudi arabia to do

something about this yemen conflict. the distance between yemen's shores and the port of jeddah makes it difficult but not impossible for the huth east to send 2 small boats filled with explosives more than 600 kilometers to launch such an attack it could also have been carried out by domestic operators who often don't claim responsibility for several days so far no group has said it was behind monday's blast which saudi arabia's described as a terrorist attack there have been several violent incidents in the country this year last month in jeddah a bomb exploded at a non muslim symmetry injuring several people this is a very tricky actions don't buy buy buy. you know groups or states order order order groups supported by states of course they don't you don't find any evidence and normally no one will say i have done this and this thing's basically you know

me situation for now maritime authorities are urging vessels in the area to exercise extreme caution alexia brian al jazeera russia has denied allegations it was behind a cyber attack on u.s. government agencies and the full scope of the breach is unclear but hackers are believed to have monitored e-mails of the treasury commerce and homeland security departments the u.s. national security council says it's investigating the attacks that may have continued for several months the u.s. says impose sanctions on turkey over its purchase of a russian missile defense system increasing tension between the 2 nato allies the us had already removed turkey from its f. 35 jet program because of the deal now turkey bought the russian s 400 ground to air defense system last year and insists it poses no threat to nato present one can then the sanctions targeting turkey's weapons procurements sector i need. not look

from our nato ally the united states we expect support in our battle against terrorist organizations and forces they have plans for a region of not thinking that we are never country that chases after conflict with tensions with its neighbors or any other kind we are fighting for the prosperity of our entire region and the world of course but this situation does not mean we will remain silent against our rights laws and sovereignity look you've been trampled just like we don't want anyone's rights we will not allow anyone to take our right either. the u.s. has officially remove sudan from its state sponsors of terrorism list the trumpet ministration approved the movers a side deal to sudan's normalization deal with israel in october washington and khartoum signed an agreement to restore the country's sovereign immunity meaning that it cannot be sued in american courts prime minister hun doc said this development is a game changer for sudan in russia and. it also entails opening sudan up for

investment for a long time we have said that we are a rich country we don't need donations and gifts removing us from this list is a game changer really it helps create a different and new atmosphere the u.s. has formally accused iran for the 1st time of direct involvement in the disappearance and the probable death of a former f.b.i. agent bob levinson vanished under mysterious circumstances while on a mission in the iranian island of kish 13 years ago now the treasury department announced it's imposing sanctions on 2 high ranking iranian intelligence agents the trumpet ministration is urging the incoming president to make the release of at least 3 americans held in iran a priority. federal police force says extra investigators have been deployed to help find hundreds of missing school boys they were taken on friday night when gunmen stormed a state boarding school in the town of concur in the northwestern could see the

state the state itself and its governor says 333 students are unaccounted for while the nigerian president's office says at least 10 boys were abducted parents of the missing students staged protests demanding the return of their children present muhammadu buhari has been criticized for not visiting the school even though he's currently visiting his home state of can't see the. leaders of 5 or southern african nations are failed to find a solution to the escalating violence in northern mozambique which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people united nations says attacks by fighters linked i still have forced 400002 flee their homes of groups that we covered all guardo province briefly seized key towns wanting to set up a caliphate the region is home to a multi-billion dollar natural gas project ivory coast incumbent president alassane ouattara has been sworn in for a 3rd term he's taking office after october's disputed election in which several

opposition leaders were arrested on charges of sedition they argued that were taras the term is a breach of a constitutional 2 term limit but tara what are his supporters maintain that a revision in 2016 allowed him to run again for 2 minutes crowbars concerns were eclipsed in argentina and chile tourists gathered to cheer on this year's only total solar eclipse star gazers were they wouldn't see much of it because of the cloudy skies but the weather cleared up just in time and as our latin america to lucy and even reports from santiago there's a bit of a wait for the next one. for the 2nd time in 6 months the moon passed over the sun in the southern hemisphere creating a stunning spectacle it turns day into night. unfortunately for residents and tens of thousands of visitors and astronomers who traveled to southern chile that i would call me a region the weather clouded over would be hoped would be

a pretty clear view eclipse is never cease to amaze especially astronomers they study the sun's corona which drives solar winds and can produce alterations in the cycles of the earth why is it just important to be able to see the corona better. or. we cannot forget that the sun is really the last see in just solar system so if you turn. the lights on here. we. will die in less than a week in the capital santiago will only 80 percent of the moon could be seen covering the sun well this is about as good as it's going to get i can still see a sliver of the sun peeking through but you can still see some light out here but it's darker than it was just a half an hour ago at high noon there are no clouds in the sky it was boiling hot and now it feels much much colder. residents who come to see and feel the same

things were not disappointed. this gives you a different energy it's an extraordinary sight a privilege. in 2024 another token solar eclipse will pass through mexico and parts of the united states but it won't be another one in this exact place for another 400 years to see in human al-jazeera something out. there watching al-jazeera with me so rob a reminder of our top stories the u.s. attorney general william barr is resigning a bit donald trump's accusations that he hasn't done enough to investigate the president's faults claims of election fraud he leave his post just before christmas she have a chance he has more on william bars resignation from wilmington delaware what he didn't do.