al-jazeera. context this is. storytelling around the biggest issues. we have to do usually do with. governments in europe struggle to balance a major holiday season with protecting people against coronavirus. welcome i'm peter w. watching al-jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha also coming up. wins the bid to host the 2030 asian games. 15 students kidnapped by boko haram in nigeria have been rescued despite reports the president says he is not negotiating

with the armed groups. and south korea receives a special designation from unesco over its lenten festival. the world health organization says the corona virus pandemic could worsen in europe early next year right now several e.u. countries including the netherlands and germany are struggling to contain rising numbers of infections and deaths too in the u.k. london and the surrounding areas have entered the highest level of restrictions the prime minister boris johnson wants to relax rules over the christmas holiday season scientists say the plan will cost lives germany has entered its 1st day of an emergency lockdown with limits on most christmas gatherings and events to at the same time a record daily death toll was recorded with more than 950 people losing their lives

let's begin in the u.k. journal how is standing by for us in london so jonah we have heard from boris johnson the u.k. prime minister in the last half hour or so what was he saying. well it's clear now that the rules as you suggested there the relaxation of the restrictions over christmas for a 5 day period from the 23rd to the 27th will go ahead there had been a great deal of pressure building on boris johnson particularly to revise or scrap those that relaxation in the face of rising infection rates particularly in the south in the south east here in london. which has just gone into to 3 restrictions warnings from the scientific and medical community that a relaxation of christmas would increase the number of deaths increase the number of hospitalizations potentially lead to a 3rd wave in january the prime minister had held his ground earlier in the day the 4 devolved nations of the u.k. they have their own powers over health issues of course had decided that they would

keep that broad idea even place they felt it was too late to punish people essentially before christmas but would issue individual guidance about how those rules should be observed and so we saw wales and scotland earlier issuing much stricter guidance about how the rules should be observed that these ideas of of 3 families meeting for 5 days didn't necessarily be what every single person did and that if you could get away with less that would be a good idea in bars johnson has just followed suit in a press conference saying the situation is now much worse than it was when we made these rules we're asking you to exercise extreme levels of personal responsibility what he's saying is a smaller christmas is a safer christmas a shorter christmas one day together perhaps not 5 is a safer christmas avoid seeing your elderly relatives if you possibly can until the vaccine has taken effect avoid traveling from low infected areas to high infected areas or vice versa and so there is this guidance as i said christmas though not

canceled boris johnson didn't want to be seen as the prime minister who was going to revoke that at this point in time but much stricter guidance applies. thank you very much jonah correspondent in london. well let's turn our attention to other parts of europe the daily number 19 infections in the netherlands has now hit a new record there have been more than 11000 cases in the last 24 hours it's day 2 of a strict 5 week lockdown and schools have closed and only essential businesses are allowed to operate the country has recorded almost 650000 cases and more than 10000 virus related deaths and the barkers following the situation and a new lockdown in germany to hear reports now for us from brussels. many people see this as a necessary step others are treating this rather reluctantly particularly all the businesses that were hoping to recoup some of the lost profits ahead of christmas we believe that there is some wiggle room though on christmas eve and christmas day

and the day after allowing a certain limited number of family members to meet but nevertheless this is pretty much the tightest restrictions that the german government could implement or across the country's 16 different federal states primarily primarily because the numbers have been going in the wrong direction for some time for at least 11 days in a row the death toll has been above 400 deaths today and now with this sudden surge 952 deaths in a 24 hour period the number is somewhat skewed by the late arrival of some data from saxony nevertheless though there has concerned an awful lot of people close to the german government including scientific advisors who say the 1st lockdown help to reduce contact between people in the country by 40 percent they need it to be closer to 60 percent for it really to have a lasting effect but germany isn't the only country to be implementing this tight lockdown the netherlands also begins

a 5 week increase in restrictions there including the closure of schools and nurseries too after reporting an increase in $11000.00 infections. in the world's 3rd worst affected country the government has announced plans to buy billions of dollars worth of covert 19 vaccines brazil's president. held a news conference to outline his outline immunization after facing mounting condemnation over a lack of vaccine planning has been more than 180000 deaths nearly 7000000 cases there. gaza's government is appealing for medical supplies to help contain the coronavirus break the gaza strip has reported a new record of 935 new cases in the last 24 hours the recent spike is for the straining the health system after more than a decade of israeli blockade restrictions have been tightened and doctors say the rate of infection could soon become uncontrollable south korea is preparing to implement its toughest virus measures and yet on wednesday in south korea reported

a record daily number of infections with more than 1000 cases nigerian security forces have rescued at least 15 students kidnapped in the northern states of katsina hundreds were taken on friday from a boarding school in concord a city the government's being accused of not being open about the number of children who've been abducted it is also denied reports isn't a good thing with the kidnappers a faction of the armed group boko her arm has now claimed responsibility and interests reports now from. the return of 15 more students are greeted with a relieved by communities in and cuts in the state however the emergence of these students is still shrouded in mystery a lot of people are saying a lot of some reports are saying that the millet to rescue them however a lot of witnesses are talking about how the children escaped their abductors and made it to safety now some parents are maintaining vigilant governments that can be

school insisting that they will be there they will continue to be there until the government and all the authorities rescue their children and return them to their parents safely now there are concerns in the old west in nigeria after the claim bible koran that it's holding more than $520.00 of these students abducted last friday many communities are now concerned that boko haram has expanded its area of operations far away from its traditional power base in northeastern nigeria now to the north idea northwest and now i think to the existing problems of banditry and kidnappings that have displaced many communities in that area meanwhile the kids in the state government insist that it's not negotiating with the abductors of the children of the school children. unicef says more than 2000000 children have been cut off from humanitarian assistance in ethiopia's t. great region fighting broke out there last month when the prime minister ordered a military offensive against local forces thousands of people have been killed the

european union is reportedly delaying a nearly $110000000.00 aid package to ethiopia over the crisis in te corrie has been announced the 2030 asian games will be held in doha the cattery capital was revealed as the venue by the olympic council of asia was named as host of the 2034 games compromise agreed between canada and saudi arabia the games of the 2nd biggest multi-sport event after the olympics. 'd the. achievement wasn't made just today but is the result of 16 years of hard work who are proud of this historical moment today we have won the bid for 2030 and it's no surprise to his state of the arts reports facilities and experience in hosting world class events. al-jazeera and the richardson has more. it's a victory really for doha in qatar as a long term commitment to its sporting infrastructure i mean it's hard of course

not to see the geopolitics of this situation with saudi arabia being part of the blockade that's been imposed on cattle but i think this is slightly more nuanced and perhaps slightly more straightforward than that qatar has vast experience of hosting huge sporting events it started really in 2006 when it hosted the asian games for the 1st time it's remodeled its national stadium and everything really is in place so really host an asian games and since then last year we saw the world athletics championships hosted here in doha and of course the big one coming around the corner the football world cup and that has resulted in even more investments in training facilities in transport facilities for fans and media so it's already there and the scale of this event is hard to understate it is the 2nd biggest multi-sport event after the olympics it will involve $10000.00 plus athletes and the olympics the limbic association both regional level and the international level

by thomas back is at pains to stress that it doesn't want to overburden hosting countries and at the moment cats are in a position where pretty much tomorrow it could host these asian games has to be said that riyadh and saudi arabia are also moving in that direction they are starting to host big sporting events be it a formula one race next year they've hosted big boxing matches in the last few months as well but in terms of hosting multi sports events with large numbers international athletes it isn't quite there yet so this compromise is being required by saudi arabia will be given that extra few years to prepare for the 2034 asian games. the turkish president. says u.s. sanctions won't stop his country building up its defenses these sanctions have been imposed over its acquisition of russian defense systems instead of one says it's a hostile stance by the u.s. against a nato ally but added the problems created can be overcome. the u.s. treasury has named switzerland and yet nom as currency manipulators and put 10

other nations onto a watch list as part of a mechanism aimed at stopping countries from gaining unfair trade advantages the department says through until june the 2 countries intervened in currency markets to prevent effective balance of payment adjustments switzerland denies the allegation vietnam's trade ministry declined to comment the designation does not trigger special negotiations now if the issues cannot be resolved the u.s. could impose economic sanctions still to come on this program for you verdicts are being handed down in the shall you have to trial in france where we live in paris. and the refugees and migrants are entering violence and deplorable conditions near the bosnia croatia border. but. it remains exceedingly cold in the korean peninsula northern china and to

some degree japan but that's tempered by the amount of snow that's falling yes it isn't quite as cold when it snows normally that suits still true for honshu and for crowded but less of the next equally temperatures though not rising considerably won't be quite as below average as they have been they've been $4.00 to $8.00 degrees below average there maybe $3.00 to $7.00 per average voter we get to friday but in hong kong things are warming up the cold air is underneath the grey skies in central china probably a little bit of rain were to places that will feel cold there. last the rainy season continues in indonesia surprising the air quality in bangkok has dropped moderate to unhealthy is on the border and it's helped by the fact that the northeast monsoon of course is good clean air but it stopped to cleese strongbow time it gets to that part of thailand is inherent in the showers in vietnam you'll notice i mentioned of course further south pretty well and nothing is going to

change the widespread fog in northern india even this little bit of cloud here but the rain has come back to tamil nadu to sri lanka and to kerala the southern part of india. but the joint africa's largest trade and investment and rwanda enter african trade track gives me access to more than 1100 exhibitors 10000 visitors in bias and more than 5000 conference delegates from more than $55.00 countries participate in trade and investment deals with $40000000000.00 u.s. dollars as business and government come together to explore business and networking opportunities at the international exhibition boat to african export import bank and their premium partners the i.d.f. 2021 transforming africa.

welcome if joining a show what you know jazeera coming from your top stories the u.k. prime minister boris johnson resisting pressure to scrap a planned easing of coronavirus restrictions over christmas to medical journal so the decision will could cost many lives the world health organization says the coronavirus pandemic could worsen in europe early next year when incomes are several e.u. countries including the netherlands and germany already struggling to contain rising numbers of infections and the death toll. and it's been announced today the 2030 asian games will be held in doha the country capital was revealed as the venue by the olympic council of asia ria was named as the host of the 2034 games. for exhibiting handed down in the charlotte trial in france 14 people have been

accused of helping the attackers at least 17 people were killed over 3 days in 2015 the assault began with the killing of 12 people at the satirical magazine which published cartoons of the prophet mohammed it was followed by the killing of a policewoman and an attack on a jewish supermarket the gunmen were killed by the police is outside the court natasha what's gone on in the past hour since your last update. well the judge here at the court in paris has been reading out some of the verdicts says so far he has found at least 12 out of the 14 that he is guilty of crimes including being accomplices to these 3 gunmen who carried out the attacks in germany 2015 in paris 2 of the main accomplices one alley cat who is accused of helping to provide some weapons and just tickles the port to the gunman at the

jewish supermarket amedee coulibaly and also. houston of being an accomplice hired boumediene. who is the wife of amity coulibaly again the attacker that you're a supermarket she actually fled from shortly after the attacks and he is actually in absentia she's being tried in absentia he has also been found to be one of the main accomplices that we still have to wait to hear what the sentences will be but what we understand is that they could be anywhere between 5 years and life in prison and thanks very much natasha reporting live from paris. high level talks to salvage the 2015 iran nuclear deal have been announced today foreign ministers from iran russia china germany and the u.k. will convene next week iran's supreme leader has appeared for the 1st time in weeks to suggest the u.s. will remain hostile to iran despite the change in presidency in washington and sentiments echoed by the iranian president hassan rouhani. iran.

i tell our people if this pressure persists it is from an individual that unfortunately still has a few weeks to go he has been the united states is most lawless president and hopefully he is leaving we are not excited about mr biden taking office but we are very happy to see trump go he committed so many crimes he's a murder a terrorist he even causes problems when he wants to buy a vaccine he's a man without humanity or moral principles we are very happy that this arrogant man who wasn't committed to any pledges has been toppled. the coronavirus pandemic has hit latin america harder than any other region around the world but one countries avoided the worst of it the spites severe economic problems cuba has managed to keep infections consistently under control in america disillusion human explains they've done it. dr mark that dallas runs the plaza of the revolution polyclinic

and knows just about everyone in the neighborhood every day she makes the rounds to check on covert $1000.00 suspects who've been quarantined would be one of the. especially those who come from abroad like florida resident. upon landing in cuba she was given a cold 1000 test then she and her entire family were put under strict lockdown with a doctor checks on them every day on the 1st day she got a 2nd test and now dr galavis has come to tell her she's in the clear online persona i'm impressed that despite cuba's few resources they've been able to control this pandemic so well also the people are very aware of what's going on and what they have to do. with a population of 12000000 cuba has had fewer than 10000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and fewer than 140 deaths this secret is in the weather the same detail to block by block organizational control that the state uses for political

purposes is also an effective tool for confronting everything from natural catastrophes to pandemics a. lot of i'm convinced that the organization of our society has been vital in confronting the virus and controlling it an organized society with active participation of its citizens has given cuba the success it's had dr old had amassed says the results of clinical trials for a cuban vaccine against cold 19 look promising but not the meanwhile dr galavis and her colleagues continue keeping close tabs on every possible carrier benefit because you know numbers we assign one person of each quarantine family to go out and get essential is under strict protocol this is one of the ways we prevent the transmission of the epidemic at a moment but it's been so effective that roxana that doral that's who lives in miami says she flew to cuba last week to stay with. relatives in havana because she feels much safer than in the united states you see in human al-jazeera. a

coroner has determined that air pollution did play a role in the death of a 9 year old girl from southeast london it's the 1st legal case of its kind in britain and possibly the world delicacy deborah died of an acute asthma attack in 2013 the coroner ruled that unlawful levels of pollution exacerbated her condition and did contribute to her death. aid workers are pushing for better care and shelter for a few g.'s migrants stranded near the bosnia croatia border bosnian officials are meeting later to discuss what to do as temperatures plunge on camp may need to be closed because it hasn't been made safe for winter even though international funding is available tony berkeley reports from the leaker. it's not a prison it's a camp and for these migrants and refugees the former the real warehouse in velika katyusha ignore them is a staging post on their journey to the promised land europe some have spent years

getting to this point my dream is that their life. living condition good people. everything. good living style good working. conditions here are basic but they have heat shelter and clean water they are lucky these men from algeria not they have no electricity no water no proper heating all of them have tried and failed to cross the border into croatia and failure comes with a price this man shows the bruises on his legs he says were caused by croatian police who robbed him and then sent him back barefoot is a mystery get to france and beatings not to tear it in the. n.f.l. on there is nothing for me and i'll derian the algerian government does nothing for its people i'm 40 years old i have nothing i've looked for work there but there is not just the danish refugee council says that in october alone they recorded 189

claims of extreme violence by croatian police against the migrants and refugees but there's been no investigation so far hundreds more migrants are scattered in woodlands throughout the area these are the most basic of shelters made by men mostly from afghanistan pakistan and bangladesh they moved here when the bosnia authorities closed their camp in be half. 2 months ago because of local opposition european union any country like this candy this man says he's tried 10 times to cross the border and spent nearly $15000.00 in trying since he left his home 2 years ago he says he wants to go anywhere in the european union anywhere is good he says the winter is coming in in northern bosnia there is snow and temperatures can drop well below freezing survival will be difficult boss he has been split about what to do about the problem in the worse is that in some communitarian crisis you don't have enough money so you cannot take care of everyone else here defending is

not an issue we have the funding to take care of those people in proper centers but simply because of the lack of political decision making we actually cannot take care of them in a way that we should the sad irony that in a country that was so dependent on international aid and assistance during the war but apparently not the same kind of humanity is being shown to people who simply want a better life but this never ending problem is leading to a growing anti migrant feeling here but 1st migrants and refugees were helped 2 years on and some feel differently but only problem are with them it out causing problems that upsetting locals they're breaking to put i have a policy is an apartment in this 3 them play is god go go there is enough international aid agencies have been providing basic supplies in sleeping bags but they describe it as the very minimum needed to some this will be just another migrant story to have been so many others it will be one of the arduous journey is taken by those who are trying to escape poverty and hardship and make

a better life in the woods and abandoned buildings in northern bosnia a better life looks a long way away tony berkeley al-jazeera the liquor clear dushka. the opposition movement has been awarded the european union sucker off prize for human rights they've been protesting against the government since a disputed election in august alexey o'brien reports law on cleve. xavier malisse in a socially distanced european parliament svetlana taken off sky or the face of the protest movement collects the issues any award for defending human rights that we are not alone she had to day beside as thousands of tourists sans who inspire us give us strength and hope. until a few months ago she was a teacher with no political ambitions. when her husband an opposition candidate was

jailed ahead of august's presidential election she vowed to continue his campaign stepping up to challenge a man often described as europe's last dictator alexander lukashenko who's been in power for 26 years the european union's called the vote neither free nor fair president lukashenko was sworn in for a 6th term and taken a skier was forced into exile. 6 hundreds of thousands of people began protesting week after week calling his victory illegitimate and demanding he leave office. you to me see everything was said. over the past few months you have shown the world what it means not to give up you have defended your rights and you have not given up the struggle despite the pain the suffering and the fear. bella rose's summer of discontent is extending into the winter protesters braving freezing temperatures and refusing to give up the air with their war cry long live bella rose

was. and the using a new tactic to evade the security forces holding smaller rallies away from the central city gathering in dispersing sometimes within minutes it's been described as an underground resistance organized in secret chats on social media. these crowds chant i'm going out the last words of a fellow protester as he left his house and men sc he died after being beaten by police was the european union sanctioned luka shanker for what international monitors described as massive systemic rights abuses the ticking of scalia says more actions needed we call the euro to be brave in their decision and support the people of bill arose now. said he'll step down after a new constitution is agreed but hasn't said when opposition protesters say they'll

stay on the streets until he's gone the next year brian al jazeera. south korea's lantern festival has been honored by unesco with a special designation for intentional cultural heritage the lantern festival is an event to celebrate the birthday of but it was among $25.00 applicants to receive the honor from the united nations bright has more from so. it's an annual event eagerly anticipated across south korea held around borders birthday tracing its origins back more than a 1000 years the festival symbolizes the enlightenment of mines through borders wisdom but coming in spring it is also a celebration of life that all koreans can share in this year's event was scaled back because of the pandemic. this reflects the philosophy of buddhism that we care about people normally large crowds gather to see the illuminated floats that often

reflect current events recent improvements in into korean relations that lead to joint a limb picked teams and the possibility of reestablishing rail services between north and south were celebrated last year to kuwait to tear this year's festival with the goal of peace on the korean peninsula and the world by overcoming conflicts with buddhist spirit of mercy 2 years ago south korea's buddhist temples were recognised by unesco for their contribution to the heritage of humanity for the cementing buddhism's role in the fabric of south korean society. the law total enter a festival represents traditional culture that has been practiced by the korean people for a long time and has also played a leading role in promoting korea to the world south korea's bed to have this festival included on the year nasco list emphasizes it's important beyond religious

boundaries and coming during 'd a winter dominated by the global pandemic lengthens for many here are reminded of the promise. of future springs to come robert bride al-jazeera soul. 20 new species for thought to be extinct have been found in the bolivian andes the leap frog is among them as one of the world's smallest amphibians and the devil live frog was also found in large numbers and it was last observed 20 years ago. it'll be here in doha your top stories from al jazeera britain's prime minister boris johnson is resisting pressure to scrap a planned easing of coronavirus restrictions over christmas mr johnston says strict rules will be relaxed for 5 days so families can be together the smaller christmas is going to be safer.