levasseur talk about just good hardworking people that want to live the american dream like our ancestors these are hindu refugees are terrified that they may be forced to return to me and mark. intensive care units are running out of beds in several u.s. states as regulators move closer to approving a 2nd of a $1000.00 vaccine. a strict coronavirus measures come into force in germany pressure mounts on european regulators to approve a vaccine quickly. down in jordan this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up sara. and we will control the senate. president elect joe biden campaigns in georgia in a bid to boost the democrats and one of rice's crucial control of the upper chamber

. thought it months the whole system will be under severe pressure from pool with patients concerns the health system in afghanistan will be unable to cope and that an increase in severe cases of coronavirus. we begin in the u.s. where the hospital system is being strained to breaking point by covered 900 patients intensive care units have completely run out of room in at least one state mississippi even as vaccines are being distributed major cities like los angeles are also being overwhelmed and doctors are warning the worst is yet to come is rob reynolds 5 in california and across the u.s. the coded $900.00 numbers are staggering in los angeles county population 10000000 there were fewer than 100 intensive care unit beds available on tuesday in some areas like the central valley and counties east of los angeles there are 0 i.c.u.

beds left more people will die because the whole. statewide more than 42000 cases of culvert 19 were reported on monday. day breaking all previous single day records were still in the tunnel going through the most challenging and difficult search we've experienced since the beginning of this pandemic most of the state is under a stay at home order still public officials pleaded with people to wear masks and socially distance. we just had to order $5000.00 additional body bags they just purchased for the state that should be sobering after more than 300000 deaths nationwide millions of doses of pfizer's vaccine are now being distributed around the country with medical workers at the front of the line more encouraging news came from the u.s. food and drug administration which found moderna vaccine candidate to be 94 percent

effective emergency f.d.a. authorization for the vaccine is expected by the end of the week a new poll shows 71 percent of the u.s. population wants to get vaccinated right away that's an 8 percent increase from september widespread vaccine acceptance is essential to combat in the virus vaccine rollout also costs money congress is still working on multi-billion dollar covert relief legislation but they're not there yet no matter how long it takes will be here until we get a codebook the country's top infectious disease expert dr anthony fauci recommended that president elect joe biden who is 78 years old and vice president elect kamel harris get vaccinated right away in the interests of national security we want him fully protected as he enters into the presidency in january so that would be my

strong recommendation biden said he'd take that advice why do i go out now to the public. much of the ongoing nationwide search is attributed to virus exposure during travel and family gatherings over the a thanksgiving holiday last month with hanukkah underway and christmas coming next week doctors are begging americans to stay home and stay safe rob reynolds al-jazeera los angeles streets in brazil have been teeming with christmas shoppers despite a recent surge in coronavirus and. ns and deaths this was a scene in the biggest city sao paolo latest figures show the daily number of virus deaths passing 900 for the 1st time in 3 months and both origins are concerned there could be another spike after the holiday season. south korea has recorded its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day a little over 1000 new infections were reported on wednesday is the 2nd time the

tally has topped a 1000 in 3 days the highest daily count since the pandemic began britain's prime minister is under pressure to reconsider plans to ease coronavirus restrictions over christmas and the current measures up to 3 households will be allowed to mix over the 5 day festive season an urgent review was cool 4 of the 2 leading medical journals warned the decision to relax the rules was rash and could cost many lives decisions expected by the end of the week. tougher restrictions have come into force in the british capital and a whole as the latest from london. tonight we've been spiraling rates of infection around the london area under southeast in some places infection rates doubling in 7 days we're told that there is this particularly virulent variant of the virus that's been identified in part responsible for that fast uptick in infections and then this rather in congress situation where the government is lifting all

restrictions for a 5 day period over christmas to allow families to get together in their homes to mix together and it sparked real concern about what comes down the line beyond christmas possibly a 3rd wave in january maybe even a 3rd lockdown real criticism aimed at the government not least on tuesday from 2. preeminent medical journals in this country both internationally respected that have issued a very rare joint editorial warning the government of what is at stake here saying simply that if people do get together people will die most likely elderly relatives predicting that the caseload for the national health service after christmas will be 40 times higher than it was at the beginning of the 2nd lockdown back in the autumn and urging the government not to blunder it says into another era so lots of these voices now aimed at the government urging change that it sounds like there might be some tweaks in the offing the government and the other nations of the u.k. discussing the possibility of tweaking these rules and one minister earlier on in

the day admitting that look all coronavirus measures are under review all the time . several nations in europe are facing tough choices in their fight against the virus cases are surging ahead of christmas with fears that increased travel could accelerate the spread but new restrictions will hit businesses that the past 24 hours has also brought new hope that vaccines could be administered in several countries as soon as next week that in baba reports now from brussels. in brussels they're dreaming of a busy christmas shops reopened in belgium on tuesday despite a recent rise in covered 19 cases but bars and restaurants have to stay closed shop keepers here in belgium are hoping to make the most of the reopening but with daily covered 19 infections roys ing and the reproduction rated almost one the government is not ruling out bringing in new restrictions at the end of this week. over the border in the netherlands they've gone into

a 5 week lockdown closing all non-essential shops as well as schools prime minister insists that rising infection rates make it essential to in his words bite through this very sour apple before things get better. it's totally understandable the numbers afghan at this wasn't done the consequences cannot be neglected. or locked down is not really dissolution of a strict enforcement law compulsory facemask even the coronavirus at and shopping malls the temperature should be checked but there's new hope at the prospect of mass vaccinations across europe after pressure from the german government the european union's regulate free body is set to approve the pfizer biotech vaccine next monday ursula von der lion president of the european commission tweeted i welcome the e m a bringing forward its meeting to discuss the pfizer buy on take vaccine before christmas likely that the 1st europeans will be vaccinated before the end of 2020.

germany hopes of vaccinate up to $4000000.00 citizens by the end of the year but with hundreds still dying from the corona virus every day it's bringing international looked down on wednesday. in france they've lifted a lot down but they're bringing in a nighttime curfew and bars and restaurants remain closed tuesday so members of the cultural industries protests angry that places like museums and theaters and also allowed to open number 3 to the huge numbers of cinemas in theaters that will close its catastrophic person will no longer be the culture city it was before the lockdown. yeah. you can't say one sector is essential and another is not there's no evidence of clusters in theaters and cinemas now the governments are voicing people to quarantine before meeting up at christmas because. of positive scientific can't sleep and i view that as reasonable if you can self confine for 8 days before christmas if you can it's not possible for everyone across europe the message from

governments is the same please be careful over christmas so the new year can be a better one knitting barber al-jazeera brussels. u.s. president elect joe biden has traveled to the state of georgia to campaign for the 2 democratic candidates in a runoff vote that will determine control of the senate comes a day after his presidential win was verified by the electoral college the republicans have a narrow majority in the upper chamber and the democrats need to win both races in january to flip control a white house correspondent kimberly health at reports now from atlanta. to me he won the southern state of georgia in november narrowly with just 12000 votes that's why us president elect joe biden is back you voted as if your life depended on it well guess right. now are you going to have to do it again come january 5th by the need his democratic party to pick up 2 georgia senate seats in next month's runoff

election republicans hold the seats currently by if democrats when they take control of the senate and the u.s. congress on health care and voting rights on criminal justice racial justice and climate change when your show march done so much that could make 'd the lives of people of georgia and the whole country was so much better a win in the senate means biden will be able to push through policy without resistance from republican senate majority leader mitch mcconnell who for the 1st time ignalina biden's win. after the country's electoral college on monday certified the vote result the electoral college. vote. so today i want to congratulate president elect joe biden but even as members of his own republican party are now congratulating biden on his victory president

donald trump refuses to concede the white house press secretary insists the vote result is still not final the president is still involved in ongoing litigation related to the election polls show dozens of congressional republicans support trump's unproven claims of election fraud and trump's refusal to concede to biden is worrying some georgia voters if this leave united states somebody have to be big enough if they think it's over. you know but this is hard and unfortunately that's the way we are in the world today or choose hope over fear knowing his agenda is on the line biden is promising voters he'll make history with his diverse cabinet the latest expected announcement former democratic presidential candidate. as biden's transportation secretary. will be the 1st senate confirmed openly gay cabinet member if his nomination succeeds there's no limit to america's future

but there will be a limit on the number of people that commit so by the grace of god. have. mercy on. us but. the law. can't rule it out i'll consider at the. time for a short break here in al-jazeera when we come back a faction of the armed group but koran says it was behind the abduction of hundreds of schoolchildren in northern nigeria. scientists try to row the antarctic ice but it's in a collision course with the island of south georgia or the stylist. winter came into the u.s. and canada fairly quickly he's gone south quite

a long way south temperature wise at least so loud some snow to come some ice this is icicles formed in the subzero air on the shores of lake superior in wisconsin such a stretch of the air is still cold even if the waves aren't big anymore if you look at this temperature regime from north to south these are low temperatures even for this time of the about 4 degrees below normal in new orleans but you know we're talking about not getting above freezing in the midwest and increasing that's the case in new england new york at the moment 4 degrees in the sun these are for this snow is gathering once again heading towards arkansas so it's going to give another few centimeters i would have thought the same time of the pacific seaboard the big storm is expanding bringing those in the cascades the rockies rain near the coast but the same time as snow starts to rebuild itself that looks like a pretty big winter storm potential again in new england more than we've had so far new york shows it the temperature dropping down you've got 1st of all snow then

snow with a roll wind accompanied on friday plus 2 to minus 4 out in the sunshine what a lovely picture and there it is disappearing out into the atlantic during thursday . but. so proud of whom in the city a city with a drug problem. in a neighborhood concealing the by trafficking giulio transforms despair into ok giving children the truth can reclaim their street and its will. on the street fog of the goo find a latin america series now this is. welcome

back if you come out of our top stories here on al-jazeera health experts and parts of the usa hospitals are being strained to breaking point as coronavirus cases continue to surge a pfizer vaccine is now being distributed across the country with a 2nd expected to be approved this week. several nations in europe are still deciding whether to ease or tighten restrictions ahead of the end of year holiday period health experts say lock downs are needed to curb increased travel and a surge in cases and others a warning will come at the cost of businesses and us president elect joe biden has been campaigning for democrats in the state of georgia head of to run of elections next month if the republicans win either contest that meant tame power in the senate allowing them to block biden's legislative agenda. australia is launching

a formal appeal to the world trade organization of a china's decision to impose huge tariffs on its barley in may beijing imposed 5 years of duties on the grain effectively stopping a $1000000000.00 trade in its tracks the 2 countries have been a growing trade disputes in south australia called for an investigation into the origins of the corona virus pandemic. fijians are bracing for the arrival of a category 5 storm tropical cyclone yasi is expected to last the islands with gusts of up to 280 kilometers an hour the prime minister is urging fijians to prepare for possible evacuations tropical cyclone yasi is now open waters between fiji and one or 2 we expected to move towards us from tomorrow we should all prepare now for heavy rain there are doing slowly mandation and flooding across the country. a faction of the armed group boko haram has claimed responsibility for the

abduction of hundreds of school boys in northern nigeria students were taken on friday from a boarding school in can senior state there are concerns the government hasn't been forthcoming about the real number of boys abducted it says it's negotiating with what they call armed bandits well the parents of the missing boys have staged protests demanding the return of the students who have not been we want government to risk your children because they have the capacity to do so but their actions are slow because it is not their children that are involved in the incident they put us in the situation now parents and grandparents are in absolute confusion they've stopped us from having peace of mind we are totally sad. about it receives more now from a brutal. we understand that the group has been on the move since that day or since the night they were taken from can kind of and they've been moving from one forest to the other climbing rocks in mountains according to witnesses who escaped the must subduction what they're telling the media with the telling government

officials and kids in the state so it's difficult to say exactly where they're although there are rumors that they've been moved from in a state deep into the forest in some from a state where over the last 7 years we have seen how. security has deteriorated with bandits attacking communities and displacing hundreds of villages and. rendering a lot of people homeless and usually we were told that only a few dozen students were abducted the need later turned out that they were more the governor of kut in austin was talking about 333 and now witnesses are even claiming that the number is much higher than that because the school had more than 800 boarding students and on the night of the abduction on the following the following morning after the night of the abduction more than 200 students were reportedly rescued or have come back to school before the school was finally shut

so if you had more than 800 students in a school and only 200 have come back then definitely more than 500 are left and accounted for book quite i mean saying that it's holding more than 520 of them if that is clarified or doctors confirmed then suddenly this will be the most the biggest abduction since this conflict or the book quite a crisis began 11 years ago. guinea's president alpha condé has been sworn in for a 3rd term the 86 year old one almost 60 percent of his election his opponents say the poll was rigged and accuse condé of violating the constitution by running for another term in the knesset reports in dakar in senegal. for this shopkeeper indycar the presidential inauguration of alpha condé is another step back for democracy in his home country guinea with the football the looks concert as he wants is the head of guinea's constitutional court praise the 86 year

old president's eagerness to take on a 3rd term he says he's not duped and has kept a tally of all that has gone wrong since con they came to power 10 years ago from tweaking the constitution to allow him to stay in power to rampant corruption in arresting opponents in a country rich in minerals like gold and bauxite most canadians are trapped in poverty this says condé is failing his people at the beginning we thought they would bring us hope but he has shown us this recall is he has disappointed us he doesn't respect the constitution and he exercises control of everything people are scared of him either getting arrested or killed. after his victory was announced in october the military fired live bullets at protesters and went house to house detaining mostly people from the full army ethnic group to support opposition candidates sitting down in jell-o. he believes condé rigged to the elections and says he won the vote the inauguration is taking place as protests are being held gather during the ceremony are number of

aging african heads of state who like condé have changed their country's constitution to stay in power. outside of. our young african migrants from various friends speaking african countries all of them share this common feeling that they've left behind nations led by presidents clinging on to power robbing their nations of wealth and leaving young people without jobs. and the space and freedom to express their political views at a car's museum of black civilization the activist from across the continent have gathered to warn of a dangerous trend of civil liberties being stifled and governments muffling democracy and freedom of expression among those taking part is jello an outspoken critic of condi called his government has issued an international arrest warrant against him you need to. call and i view this because we have seen the missions to

use the global cornell fire as pandemic as an excuse to the strict individual and collective freedoms of cities and bonding protest when these do not suit governments this pandemic is benefiting autocratic regimes. the borders between guinea and senegal are closed but is unable to return home to his family and with the inauguration of alpha condé he fears there will be more trouble ahead nicholas hawke al-jazeera the car. truck denniston now where there are concerns a spike in corona virus cases could put the country's fragile health system under strain the exact number of cases in the country is unclear and many afghans are finding it too expensive to protect themselves from the virus for your country for you reports now from kabul. less than a month ago these beds were empty but since then footage obtained by al-jazeera from inside afghanistan's only covered hospital in kabul shows the beds are quickly

filling up doctors say as winter sets in and respiratory diseases flare up coronavirus patients needing treatment in hospital will increase. this hospital has capacity for only 120 patients with the patients in hallways or any other rooms that will increase the number of beds to 150 we do not have any other space and we cannot put beds on the streets many officials and diplomats say the official tallies are seriously undercounted and there's no reliable data to give a clear picture of the pandemic in afghanistan the country has received millions of dollars in aid to manage the pandemic but a lack of testing and knowledge about the virus especially outside the afghan capital remains a big problem forcing many people to seek help in kabul. my mom was sick and cause the doctors there were not able to get a diagnosis for her her health was getting worse by the day when her breathing got

really bad we came to this hospital when we got the results of the covert test that was positive. there's no social distancing in afghanistan and barely anyone wears a mask many afghans believe the koran a virus doesn't exist here what if there was coronavirus i could have been infected as i'm in contact with hundreds of people every day here and i'm not but there is another reason why afghans do not follow the government's recommendations to take protective measures sanitizers and masks are available almost everywhere yet many afghans can not afford to buy them with most living on less than $1.50 a day spending event $0.10 for one single use. is too much. deficit of also increased according to the ministry of public health because afghans did not axes the health care they need to curb the spread of the virus

during the winter wedding holes will be shot while universities have already been closed our prediction is that for 8 months the whole system will be under severe pressure from patients so that's why we have even though we have doubled the number of beds the are increasing the beds more but we are the are prepared for that but let's see what happens nothing is predictable with the coalwood the government says millions of dollars in international aid have been pledged to help of ghana stand deliver the car on a virus vaccine in the next 7 months initially for 20 percent of the population yet it managing depend demick has been a big struggle vaccinating afghans could be an even bigger one fairly a conduit for al-jazeera. cuba has dismissed a u.s. government report linking a high powered microwaves to a series of health incidents suffered by american diplomats in the capital of honor

between 20162018 dozens of us embassy staff reported symptoms including hearing loss headaches and for teeth a pattern consistent with mild brain injuries the u.s. is directed radio frequency is the most plausible explanation for what's been dubbed the havana syndrome but scientists in cuba say there's no evidence of that. an expedition to a forest region in the bolivian hundreds was found 20 new species and rediscovered 4 that were thought to be extinct among the discoveries of the limitation of frog 10 millimeters in length it's one of the world's smallest amphibians and this is the devil lied frog which was observed for the 1st and only time 20 years ago i was found living here in large numbers and then placed so the discoveries so close to bolivia's capital of pars prove the success of conservation efforts. now a team of british scientists is heading to the south atlantic to investigate a massive iceberg the size of

a small country it's drifting towards the island of south georgia they'll be assessing potential damage to the region's delicate ecosystem tunnel sharma reports now from one is ours. the ice berg know it is a 68 a is one of the biggest ever recorded more than 4000 square meters it broke away from the antarctic last in the sea ice shelf in 2017 and is drifting toward south georgia at about 20 kilometers a day actually massive in terms of icebergs mostly icebergs when they're in the open ocean they tend to break our and go into smaller icebergs this one remarkably as remained intact and that is still even more remarkable because it's got quite a shallow keel is not very thick so we expected to break apart a 68 day is about 200 meters thick and one theory is that the iceberg will run aground when it reaches the continental shelf around the island the challenge facing the team is to assess the impact something so huge might have on the

vulnerable south atlantic ecosystem so something the size of luxembourg is going to be a massive impact on an island like south georgia which isn't that much bigger than luxemburg so. the ice berg is formed from glacier ice and as it melts to release billions of tons of freshwater into the sea potentially devastating krill plankton . another species low on the food chain that in turn could threaten the diverse ward life on the island. it's one of the most pristine places in the world with the ocean of at its most of all that's the problem the scientists will employ to reporting submarines to measure the temperature salinity and levels of phytoplankton in the water around the iceberg collect and study animals in the water you just you know say well it doesn't just if we don't protect the oceans these kind of events will become increasingly frequent and the impact it reversible

greenpeace and others have long been warning of the effects of climate change but say the threat presented by this enormous iceberg is one that cannot be ignored. and they're all just era one osiris. time for a quick check of the headlines here on al-jazeera health experts in parts of the united states hospitals are being strained to breaking point coronavirus cases continue to surge a pfizer vaccine is now being distributed across the country with a 2nd expected to be approved this week robert oulds has more now from los angeles the system is really approaching its breaking point very quickly the numbers in california and across the united states are staggering 42000 new cases of covert 19 report reported.