in 2010 al-jazeera access to north korea to investigate the alleged use of biological warfare by the us during the korean. rewind revisits dirty little secrets on al-jazeera. intensive care units are running out of beds in several u.s. states as regulators move closer to putting a 2nd of a $1000.00 vaccine. down jordan this is out 0 live from doha also coming up a stricter coronavirus measures come into force in germany pressure mounts on the european regulators to approve a vaccine quickly. and we will control the senate. president

elect joe biden campaigns in georgia in a bid to boost the democrats and senate runoff races crucial for control of the upper chamber. and the escalation in australia is growing trade route with china congress to ask the world trade organization to investigate chinese tariffs. we begin in the u.s. where the hospital system is being strained to breaking point by code 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 such as los angeles are also being overwhelmed and doctors are warning the worst is yet to come is rob reynolds. in california and across the u.s. the coded 900 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 hope is that. statewide more than 42000 cases of covert 19 were reported on monday breaking all previous single day records we're 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. you are 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 corona virus infections and deaths well this was the scene in the biggest city south paolo latest figures show the daily number of corona virus deaths asked $900.00 for the 1st time in 3 months and with origins are concerned there could be another spike after the holiday season. south korea has recorded its

highest number of virus cases in a single day a little over 1000 new infections were reported on wednesday the 2nd time the tally is 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 the christmas period under current measures up to 3 households will be allowed to mix over the 5 day festive season and urgent review was cool for up to 2 leading medical journals warned the decision to relax the rules was rash and would cost many lives a decision is expected by the end of the week when a lot tougher restrictions have come into force in the british capital journal how has the latest from london. tonight we've been spiraling rates of infection around the london area and the southeast it's 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 for 7 nations in europe are facing tough choices and their fight against the coronavirus cases are surging ahead to the christmas period with fears that increased travel could accelerate the spread but new restrictions will hit businesses in the past 24 hours has also brought new hope that vaccines could be administered in several countries as soon as next week and in barbara ports 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 coverage 19 infections roi easing 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 mark router 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 of afghan if 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 is 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 biotech vaccine before

christmas likely that the 1st europeans will be vaccinated before the end of 2020. germany hopes to 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 lockdown on wednesday and. 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 protest angry that places like museums and theaters are not allowed to open non-truth you know 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 they have it backwards you can't say one sector is essential and another is not there's no evidence of clusters in theatres and sentiments now the governments are voicing people to quarantine before meeting up at christmas because he controls budgets and scientific can't sleep saying 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 neck total college republicans have a narrow majority in the upper chamber and democrats need to win both races in january to flip control our white house correspondent kimberly hellcat reports now from atlanta. he won the southern state of georgia in november narrowly with just 12000 votes that's why us president elect joe biden is back your voters as if your life depended on it well guess what. now you're going to have to do it again come january 5th by the need to democratic party to pick up 2 georgia

senate seats in next month's runoff election republicans hold the seats currently but if democrats win they take control of the senate and the u.s. congress on health care and voting rights on criminal justice racial justice on climate change when your show march darner saw more secure makes '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 biden's will. 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 to say it's it 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 troops by the grace. of . god but. the law. can't rule it out i'll consider it left by the official break here now to 0 when we come back queen look at the challenges facing the un's new envoys to the peace efforts and to long one in conflicts in the middle east and scientists trying to rove antarctic ice that in a collision course with the island of south georgia or not stay with us.

time from all story weather for the event it's already affected turkey has been flooding as a result this is the picture on wednesday a sort of circulation and underneath the city name say you've got one doctor would suggest a period of potentially heavy rain followed through by showers the focus for gaza city shows that it's a gusty westerly in the showers or wednesday when the wind dies in the showers eventually go about trying to get to friday the temp is on the face of it aren't affected but without the sunshine i think it will feel pretty rogering wednesday thursday we'll see the showers freddy's through iraq and then catch the iranian mountains i think we'll see significant snow here as things improve at least the point of view of the sky scape further west and that's the bigger improvement on friday elsewhere a quiet looking picture was temperatures in the twenty's we've got used to that now . the seasonal rain in southern africa is concentrating i think in western parts of zambia eastern angola so over the uk providing a delta you got some significant rain which is to be expected it's also

a good looking rainy season so far and in this forecast falls in bob way at least central mozambique and probably malawi this is representing botswana thunderstorms for 3 days and johannesburg and not far away. but. we've never had a president who has literally for 4 or 5 years repeatedly attacked our democracy. you know mostly limited with financially i don't have a narrative i have a question here hitting every where people can get treated and just feel sure even further join me richelle carey and up front is my guest from around the world take the hot seat and we debate the week's top stories in pressing issues here on al-jazeera.

welcome back if you come out of our top stories here on al-jazeera health experts in parts of the united states say hospitals are being strained to breaking point as coronavirus cases continue to search 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 but 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 ahead of $21.00 up elections next month if the republicans win either contest at 19 in the senate allowing them

to block biden's legislative agenda. now australia is launching a formal appeal to the world trade organization of a china's decision to impose huge tariffs on its bali in may beijing imposed 5 years of duties on the grain effectively stopping a $1000000000.00 trade in its tracks 2 countries have been in a growing trade disputes in australia call for an investigation into the origins of the corona virus pandemic let's bring in peter mccawley he's an associate professor at the australian national university joins us via skype from canberra peter good to have you with us look this is just the latest move in tensions between china and australia let me ask you though how much disagreement is there between both countries. well there's quite sharp disagreement now the political temperature has been rising for a 3 or 4 years and there's really escalation on both sides. australia. straighter really. prompted

a good deal of anger in china by taking china to the world health organization appealing to the world health organization over the code virus for more han and since then it is escalated further with a range of trade measures it's not just bali it's tourists it's wine it's call even lobster sugar so it's quite sharp now between the 2 countries and i don't know what's going to happen certainly china is not going to back away and it looks straight is not going to back down either yet as you say peter in addition to slapping tariffs on wine timber and meat china is also threatened to ban coal and that's a big problem for australia because coal and iron ore are australia's most lucrative exports out there correct correct the the the coal issue has been in the pipeline for a little while now but it now seems clear just in the last 24 hours or so that china is imposing curbs on unco the really big issue down the track is iron ore body it

looks as if china does not have many alternatives suppliers but basically by simply the situation is fairly difficult fairly shop on both sides and how is all of this affecting australia's farmers and produces i mean the bali industry for instance says look we're set to lose of a 2 and a half $1000000000.00 in lost revenue over the next 5 years that's massive. yes look they told me they're divided on one hand of course exporters and it's not just bali but all exporting sectors are concerned on the other hand the australian government is playing the security card the australian government is saying this is a matter of national security and therefore everybody must tell you the law and so the economic sector is divided there's almost a split between exporters on one hand and people who stress military and security

aspects on the other there's quite a divide and people just briefly what sort of response then they would like to see both from beijing and more importantly from the. welly the trouble with this bali w t i lied to me is that it will take a long time it would normally take well library year possibly 2 years so in a way the appeal to the w.t. always more symbolic than actually having any immediate effect it is really just australia digging its heels in and sending yet another signal to china on the chinese side i think they will they will they won't gain much as i say this is just will go on for a long time this w.t.r. like i'm just a final thought to you peter before you go australia is currently seeking new trade deals with britain and the european union presumably that could be seen as a clever way of lessening its dependence on exports to china yes that's correct australia is now looking very actively to diversify markets but of course that will

take time as well there is there's no easy solution to this situation peter mccourty great to get your thoughts thanks for talking to al jazeera thank you now if she ends up bracing for the arrival of a category 5 storm tropical cyclone yasi is expected to last the islands with gusts of up to 290 kilometers an hour the prime minister in the country to the path of 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 them edging rains coastal inundation and flooding across the country. a faction of the armed group boko haram has claimed responsibility of the abduction of hundreds of school boys in northern nigeria the students were taken on friday from a boarding school in katsina state there are concerns the government hasn't been

forthcoming about the real number of boys abducted it says it's negotiating the what they're calling bandits for the parents of the missing children have staged protests demanding the return of the students find that they now we want government to risk your children because they have the capacity to do so but their actions are snow because it is not their children that are involved in the incident they put us in the situation not parents and grandparents absolute confusion they've stopped us from having peace of mind we are totally said was a lead as a journalist and security analyst he says the kidnapped boys will most likely be used to recruitment purposes and not as a valid and chip for the government. we're getting to see but are making an incursion into niger as not the west in a very big and a dangerous way just because this is also happening in cups in a state at a time the president was visiting his home state so the talk all the question here around now is why and all boys school is that but warren is trying to recruit

more members. its force because as it stands at the moment they still boys. that have returned were not truly rescued i couldnt of parents and very talented those were the ones who ran into the bushes they had every turn and numbering about 200 at the moment so that the worry it now is that they're long that these young boys are in the hands of god or on the sleeve now the chances of getting them rescued that. isn't looking good for the country but war and has now you know inflated his army but haven't these young ones that well or to maybe be radicalized and sold a different brand or far really just had it set which is not in tandem with that

innocent fish. facebook says it's uncovered a rival french and russian this information campaigns ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in central african republic this month the social media giant says it's the 1st time it's seen such a direct battle by competing foreign states on its platform france and russia are akim to us their influence in the region almost 500 accounts and pages related to the campaigns have been suspended. the u.n. security council has approved new envoys to lead peace efforts and to long term conflicts in the middle east will focus on bringing palestinians and israelis back to the negotiating table and holding elections in libya christensen he reports. warning factions in libya may have agreed to a ceasefire. but the scars from nearly a decade of violence are everywhere and a plan to hold nationwide elections in just over a year reached recently in tunis hangs in the balance implementing it will be the challenge of the un's new envoy to libya luckily nicolay malott who served as one

of europe's youngest foreign ministers and bulgaria is used to difficult assignments this is him talking to al-jazeera about his last post as the secretary general's special coordinator and drusilla there is no middle east peace process so i don't think either of these radio the palestinian side. for the various different reasons are in a position to actually currently engage in meaningful negotiations that role of middle east envoy will now be filled by a veteran norwegian diplomat tor venice la and once again the task will be bringing palestinian and israelis back to the negotiating table in an attempt to revive the un's long stated goal of a 2 state solution it has taken months for secretary general antonio good terrorist to fill the top position in libya due to conflicting concerns on the security council the united states in particular wanted changes to the way the operation is

managed there the process highlights the challenges in a country where the stakes are high for international actors as well as the local people. the complications of appointing special representatives. sometimes is not directly linked to their portfolio. other things are at play here russia has accused the us of unnecessarily delaying the appointment while the us has accused russia of violating the arms embargo and fomenting violence but the security council agrees on some things that it was who the council reaffirmed the our commitment to sort of admitting independence and territorial integrity and national unity of libya which brings us to the new envoy's 1st task force in a recent agreement to remove all foreign forces from the country by january christian salumi al jazeera the united nations. now

a prominent italian writer in the form of government officials say they'll return france's top award protesting the decision to grant the same to egyptian president a bill fattah el-sisi the writer corrado guess on that in his liaison to the french embassy in rome sisi was given the award last week despite human rights concerns over the case of a tele and student junior guinea in 2016 italian prosecutors blame egyptian security officials for torturing and killing him. an expedition to a forest region in the bolivian andes as found 20 new species and rediscovered 4 that were thought to be extinct among the discoveries of the ellipse frog 10 millimeters in length it's one of the world's smallest amphibians and this is the devil live from which is and for the 1st and only time 20 years ago was found living there in large numbers by mentally say the discoveries so close to the capital prove the success of conservation efforts fail. 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 assessing potential damage to the region's delicate ecosystem reports now from one is ours. the iceberg now has a 68 a it's 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 and is actually massive in terms of icebergs mostly icebergs when they're in the open ocean they tend to break our current or 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'd 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 lots of bird is going to be a massive impact on an island like south georgia which isn't that much bigger than luxemburg so. the iceberg is formed from glacier ice and as it melts to release billions of tons of freshwater into the sea potentially devastating krill photo plankton and other species low on the food chain that in turn could threaten the diverse ward life on the island there's another lot of matter. it's one of the most pristine pieces in the world with the ocean a foreigner at its most of the world that's the problem. the scientists will employ 2 robotic submarines to measure the temperature salinity and levels of phytoplankton in the water around the iceberg they also collect and study animals

in the water you can see no say was it wasn't just him and 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. by type a quick check of the headlines here on al-jazeera health experts and parts of the united states say 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 runnels 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 reports reported on monday in california that broke all.