we live in argentina as congress is debating a bill seeking to raise billions of dollars for the super rich poor families hit hard by counting the cost on al-jazeera. award winning documentary from around the world. on al-jazeera. nigerian authorities say 344 schoolboys kidnapped 6 days ago been released and are on their way home we'll be live in katsina state with the latest. on our intake of this is al jazeera live from london also coming up french president in one year mark or test positive for cocaine 19 sending more world

leaders into self isolation. that it may putin laughs off an investigation blaming russian agents for poisoning alexander valley saying if they had he would be dead. and 10 years after a fruit seller set himself on fire triggering what became known as the arab spring tunisians are still protesting. we begin with our breaking news out of nigeria the governor of katsina state says 344 school boys kidnapped by an armed group 6 days ago have been released and are on their way home the boys were taken when gunmen raided their school in cannes carra in nigeria's north west last friday. on thursday protesters rallied in the town furious at the government's handling of

the case and a faction of the armed group boko haram released a proof of life video of what it said were some of the kidnapped boys in the video which honors or has chose not to broadcast the boys urged the military to stay away because he is state governor says it's not yet clear if all of the school boys have been released have so far. given 304 d. . schoolchildren later on we also understand 4 have joined so we have to leave 344. children that are on their way to cousin and now this is it they have surrendered or that is with them so find out. patents where the still some left like i said even the figure we get was not to stick because who are looking to do in city 32400 and now we have gotten 344 so exactly about tomorrow

let's go to our correspondent in katsina state to ahmed interest so tell us more about the release. well this followed days of negotiations between intermediaries on behalf of the state government and the abducted of the school children we know from day one they have been some action on the part of the military and the captives of the students but then as the governor stated there was an intervention period where it was fear that there could be casualties on the part of the students so there was a cease fire in the laterally declared by officials worried about collateral damage so that provided and i've been in for negotiations so the negotiations have been going on for 4 days now and now we're hearing that the boys are on their way to

cuts in a state if we could see them in the next few hours or so. early on when we came live with the governor some 34 hours ago he was hopeful beat that the release is imminent but we were not sure until after you stepped away from our cameras and then he called back to say the good news is the boys are on their way home so what we understand right now is that immediately they will be escorted by the military to cuts in the state they are leaving them for a state or they have left their location is up for a stay down on their way yet we expect them to be probably in the next 34 hours it could be more it could be less because of the situation but we understand that they're coming here on the heavy security from immediately on arrival do be taken to a camp while they will be housed and have physicians and nurses to look after them for a while and then their parents will be brought in to meet them finally we also understand that president mohammad a boy heidi who earlier on expressed happiness about the news of the release of the

children maybe meet them before he departs for a budget tomorrow he's been vacationing is in that's in a state for nearly a week now it was actually on that he arrived kids in a state that the abduction took place tell me the parents must be hugely relieved to be had a chance to speak to them about. absolutely earlier today when we drove in from qana where we overnighted the yes today we drove straight to where we met some parents what we met one whose child escaped on saturday and made it home on sunday but he was in a bad shape right now he's fighting for his life he has sickle cell anaemia and they treated him in hospital but he's not in the very good. the doctors are his parents to take him back or now with the other parent we spoke to didn't see these child he said he s. the government asked them to be a little bit more patient but he said whatever the government was doing was not

working and i believe by the time you get to the news i spoke to the parent earlier on one of the parents the or the father of the sick john and i informed him how would he feel if i tell him that the children on their way back home he bust out crying and he said if this is what do you tell me is true i'm going to pass this information to the person you spoke to earlier before we discussed the condition of my boy i said please tell him we've got news that the children are on their way home we're not sure right now not to raise these expectations or but tell him that that is the information we hear they are elated and i understand that there's been some kind of celebration but tempered with caution in. the abduction took place lauren. thank you very much indeed. security analyst from the think tank for politico he says nigeria's government

needs to be transparent about how it secured the boy's release. what's not clear is what did the government give in return because the does it it is to show that in ministry would we give them money was there an exchange of combatants or release of combatants rather or bought on to we nor did it need to think we still have to keep proving because it's very important to know if ways the government has used back john knows to negotiate we the book are on terrorists because it's very it's good to have stored information and in public knowledge initially people talk it was by bonded because bonded bonded and criminal gangs are not operating cults in. the states in not in not with anger but we needed there was a confirmation form. with a little book our own it became very clear that book at least how do you route to

play in this recent kidnapping without they did it themselves or the outsource the kidnapping to bandits that's still not clear but are we know for sure that book is behind these attacks. the french president in modern macor has become the latest world leader to test positive for 19 a virus that infected more than 74000000 people he's still working but will quarantine for 7 days because office says it's very likely that he contract it at an e.u. summit a week ago he's also hosted several leaders in paris this week promises of spain portugal and belgium are among those now forced to self isolate. in the u.s. regulators are discussing emergency approval for the madonna vaccine and approved it in fact a day after the country set new records for deaths and infections a 2nd wave is now spreading through parts of west central and south africa health

officials warn that cooler weather and pandemic fatigue could see cases surge and almost a year after the corona virus was 1st reported the world health organization says china has given its permission to go to one to investigate its origins just about to in paris has more on president like horse diagnosis. well the french president looked tired but relaxed as he hosted a video called friends with several charities the meeting came only hours after the release a palace announced that emanuel macro had tested positive for the covert 19 the 42 year old leader plans to keep working during his 7 days of isolation but he will not. quit he will on his appointments but with even more caution than is usually safe for the president since the start of the pandemic in public micro was a face mask and takes precautions but at times he has failed to social distance.

he's attended a number of offense in the past week including an e.u. summit he also met several european leaders in paris including portugal's prime minister and tony acosta and spanish premier pedro sanchez who are now self isolating in france the prime minister and micros wife bridges are in quarantine several members of the government and president's party up being tested it is clear that the message from the me is that it is who says that as usual unless michael's condition deteriorates he were not followed throughout his isolation there is that this doesn't change anything and. it's not a big deal that's what there is is trying to say but they're not saying what are the symptoms that said the president as we know that he was tested after showing symptoms and and we don't know where those symptoms are the french government has lifted some lockdown restrictions but reimposed a nighttime curfew as the country continues to battle the pandemic michael's

diagnosis is a sobering reminder that anyone can be infected. al-jazeera paris. the king of sweden says his country has failed in its handling of the pandemic the nation has been criticized by some for its unorthodox approach relying more on guidelines and never imposing a full lockdown sweden has reported almost 350000 cases and nearly 7900 deaths almost 8 times the number of deaths in neighboring denmark. the real figure put simply i think that we have failed many people have died and that is horrible that is something we can all sympathize with that we haven't been able to help them and it is very sad terribly sad it's the swedish people who suffered enormously under difficult circumstances it's frightening to talk about it the

united states has passed 17000000 confirmed coronavirus cases adding a 1000000 new infections in just the past 5 days it just a day after the country set new records for daily infections and deaths 3656 fatalities were confirmed on wednesday and more than 247000 new infections an expert panel to the u.s. food and drug administration has met and has decided to recommend emergency approval of the maternal vaccine white house correspondent can be help it joins us live so we can believe that some progress now on the on least one more vaccine being approved. yeah roughly a week after the approval of the vaccine by pfizer which is already being injected into the arms of millions of americans now there is hope that a 2nd vaccine made by the durga will soon be doing the same what we understand is that in the last few moments the f.d.a. advisory panel has voted 20 in favor of just one abstaining to recommend to the

f.d.a. commissioner of us the food and drug administration that this be something that should be approved so we understand that that approval could come from the f.d.a. chief as early as friday then we know the c.d.c. director will also weigh in we expect that's going to happen over the weekend and that things are on track for that to happen so that the distribution of this vaccine could begin as early as monday now what we know is that already standing by about 50000000 doses what this means is that at least 25 a mare 1000000 americans will get this vaccine as early as monday and again the groups that are receiving this vaccine the front line health care workers as well as those in care homes nursing homes who of course have been so hard hit by coated 1000 particularly when it comes to the deaths and in terms of the numbers which kind of parts of the country doing having the hardest time. well what

we're seeing across the board is the numbers have spiked and we expected this because millions of americans traveled for the thanksgiving holiday even as public health officials said please don't please stay home people were told to wear masks indoors at family gatherings weeks suspect that millions of americans didn't do that and now the united states is breaking records it doesn't want to break it surpassed 17000000 cases hitting record highs as of yesterday just daily high in terms of the number of deaths 3600 almost and the concern is that these hospitals are being filled to capacity and the other big concern is that there's another major holiday looming the christmas new year's week it tends to be one that most americans celebrate for and don't work and travel long distances to spend with their family so the hope is that many will be seeing the spike and will be

discouraged from doing so we've also got public information adverts that are playing on the airwaves including one from the former new jersey governor chris christie who went to the white house removed his mask and spent 7 days in an intensive care unit really fighting for his life at one point because of coke at 19 he's now saying wear a mask it cuts your risk by at least 50 percent and he's hoping that others will follow the advice that he did not heed and initially and now is warning others to try and save lives to me how can i thank you very much indeed. still to come this hoffa evacuations ordered is one of those powerful cyclamens in fiji's history hammers the pacific island and. i'm roving 1st to walk in. to find out why even inhabitants of these ancient villages are fighting to protect their heritage.

places so we have got some quality weather now coming into that east the side of australia but still looking a little lively up around the top and up towards darwin more heavy showers coming through here high pressure just around the south keeping things reasonably quiet we want to see showers across the southern half of australia but nothing too much to speak of somewhat whether you notice just on the other side of the great dividing range as we go on through friday some showers there over towards sydney for a time will cool through sas day showers day pushed back up towards the gold coast but hopefully not as heavy as we've seen recently and you see that just a little further inland not a little system swirling away up towards darwin as we go on through this weekend and some lesser weather also pushing over towards new zealand then beyond that of

course we do have. this is yasser now pushing its way across ficci thankfully moving pretty quickly in around 20 kilometers per hour winds in the process of a sink down and diving further south which is because it's recess day into sunday things should quieten down nicely a lot of heavy rain coming through here over the next couple of days for japan well the stories about the snow we've seen snow across the northern half of japan over the past few days and there's yet more in the forecast. for. the co. president is threatening one of singapore's most beloved traditions its famous straight story the fragile used one when east investigates focused to innovate. on al-jazeera.

al-jazeera. every. armada top stories he has era the governor of nigeria's katsina state has told al-jazeera that 344 kidnapped school boys have been released and will be home soon and here is government has been negotiating with what is described as armed bandits since the boys were taken from their boarding school 6 days ago. the french president emanuel records become the latest world leader to test positive for covert 19 he's still working but will quarantine for 7 days several other european

leaders have also entered isolation after recent contact with michael. and the united states has pos 17000000 confirmed coronavirus cases a day after it reported a record 3656 new deaths. that they may putin says he's happy to take russia's coronavirus vaccine and has dismissed allegations that he ordered the poisoning of opposition figure an explainer volley the russian president was speaking at his annual news conference which was held at his private residence in moscow because of the pandemic so we're going to go has more. the annual presidential press conference with a marked difference it is always a marathon event last in close to 2 hours with relatively few surprises from his home in the suburbs of moscow president vladimir putin fielded questions from all over the country his thoughts on current issues foremost the pandemic and whether he'd been given the russian vaccine sputnik v.

which is yet to meet international approval standards. to look at the vaccine as they go into civilian circulation are currently provided for citizens in a certain age range and vaccines have not yet reach people like me but i'm a fairly law abiding person i listen to the recommendations of our specialists so i haven't had the shot yet but i will absolutely do it as soon as it becomes possible there were also questions over the attempted assassination of his opponent alex inevitably while refusing to use novell needs name putting dismissed allegations that he had been poisoned with a nerve agent and that orders to do so came straight from the top. if someone had wanted to poison him they would have finished him off his wife address me and i gave the commander right away to let him go to germany for treatment when it came to talking about the incoming u.s. president joe biden he acknowledged his hopes of a reset in u.s. russia relations in donald trump he had

a counterpart to empathize with his played nationalist strongman sentiments yet 4 years on after donald trump's victory putin once again denied that russian hackers had ever meddled in the 2016 u.s. elections. didn't help the current us president to get elected and didn't meddle in the internal affairs of this great country this is speculation and an excuse to spoil relations between russia and the united states it is an excuse to dispute the election of the current president of the united states that was actually caused by internal political issues also promised serious investment in the pro moscow control donbass region of eastern ukraine with an expensive task usually funded by oil and gas sales but low prices have in recent years constrained moscow's ability to make money that way sinegal al jazeera the us is expected to announce charges against

a new suspect in the $988.00 lockerbie bombing a libyan intelligence officer identified as. is accused of making the bomb that blew up the pan am plane as it flew over scotland 270 people were killed most of the victims were americans the u.s. is seeking the extradition of massoud from libya the european parliament has voted against imposing sanctions targeting egypt's government. but their resolution did raise concerns over egypt's human rights record among other topics it condemned the kidnapping torture and killing of italian research a junior at a journey in cairo in 2016 the e.u. parliament president says the bloc should stand with the egyptian people not its government which is led by a president of his fighters sisi. exactly 10 years ago mohammed bouazizi a fruit seller in tunisia set himself on fire after

a local official confiscated his barrow is act of despair inspired a wave of demonstrations across the arab world known as the arab spring populations rose up demanding democracy but as smith reports from city where it all began and where many say life was better better before the revolution. mohamed boise's protest is commemorated every year in his hometown but this time there weren't many people here to see it in previous years this place would have been packed the locals have stayed away in protest because they say it is more deprived than it was 10 years ago 2 reasons why people haven't come the 1st is coronavirus the 2nd is that people are rang gree promises of a new hospital a university and a bigger vegetable market haven't materialized but they've been on paper since 2011 with the official ceremony over the protesters moved in. memorial became the

platform. and why should i celebrate i didn't get anything from that it was in the last 10 years what is there to celebrate maybe life was better before. i want to scream at the government if you do not have any plans to develop the city please leave c. the will seat is marginalized. cafes are full of men with little to do and little illegal migration from tunis here to europe has increased 4 fold in the last 12 months. and i went to spain in 2014 why because there are no opportunities here i work daily from. 15 do you know $6.00 it's not enough for cigarettes and coffee in spain. it makes a difference but i got arrested and sent back. in 20 turn they were shouting with one voice the people want to fall of the regime today the demands are more wide

ranging. there are people demanding their constitutional right to work is almost graduates wanting jobs that match their qualifications lawyers demanding a justice system free from corruption. this is the only official commemoration in tunisia of the protest by muhammad who is easy that sets off to jasmine revolution that sparked demonstrations across this region 10 years on for me arab spring and the complaints we've heard today about no jobs lack of opportunity and rising prices could be heard and perhaps any town and any street in the middle east bernard smith al-jazeera city visit. whole villages have reportedly been flattened in fiji when it was hit by what was expected to be the worst storm in its recorded history the government declared a state of emergency and a 14 hour national curfew a site on yes a hit coastal areas will 95 percent of the population was in its direct path but

there are new reports yet of any casualties yes as 250 kilometer an hour winds make it significantly more powerful in the previous west so i can. we are expecting storm surges of 60 meters if you reside in coastlines please evacuate now move your family to higher ground members of the public to take the necessary measures to ensure that the lives of individuals and families are prepared. dozens of united nations world heritage sites that have been damaged by warfare or neglect or at risk of losing their status in the 3rd of our 5 part series on you know endangered list we visit the ancient fortress villages high in the mountains of western georgia robin 1st you walk or reports on a story of uncontrolled tourism and failed restoration. oh i. have the. mayor. for centuries

these defensive towers protected and preserved this fund the community of. the cluster of villages has world heritage status but these extraordinary medieval architecture is steadily collapsing. mosts family tower was damaged in an avalanche he says the old thirty's promised to repair it. help they have a king or. some to hold on boats we were celebrating a religious holiday and the tower collapsed thank god nobody was hurt but the studies thing is i have a teach collapsed with it that we're going to. that heritage has outstanding value to humanity as defined by unesco before the pandemic it brought tourism vital income but tourism brought unregulated developments like it's towers

which goodies valley is eroding this neighborhood is emblematic of the problems facing. you can see that breeze block extension over there completely out of keeping with its surroundings this ancient family home has been almost destroyed after a tower collapsed and that's how it's being rebuilt by the government but locals tell me that the quality of the work pales in comparison to the majestic craftsmanship of their ancestors. george's heritage agency admits the work has been in authentic but it also blames locals for illegal construction have sun rights campaigners say the responsibility for protecting this unique culture must be shared and is in danger and he definitely

needs the attention of the state no one else is responsible for our material cultural and spiritual heritage it's the responsibility of the country and its people until then sons are taking matters into their own hands. 5 years tower contains family heirlooms dating back 8 generations he lost patience waiting for experts to protect the building from collapse so he did the repairs himself the. only appears frozen in time and in reality it is falling apart without a plan that by the government for this community its uniqueness may not survive another generation of. robin 1st year walkout al-jazeera. and the next part of the series will be in senegal's near kolar coba pock and 2 unique species of wildlife but its world heritage status is also under threat well

join those patrolling to protect it from 10 g.m.t. on friday carried out here. and children in the world's largest refugee camp now have a brand new pair friends nor and as these are the 1st running the muppets designed by the makers of the us children series sesame street a part of the charitable play to learn program bringing educational videos to disadvantaged children worldwide over 400000 ringer children are housed in refugee camps in bangladesh after their families fled persecution in neighboring me and maher. armada top stories are now jazeera the governor of nigeria's northern katsina state has told our jazeera that all 344 kidnapped school boys are being released and will be home soon and here is government has been negotiating with what it described as

armed bandits since the boys were taken from their boarding school 6 days ago a faction of the armed group boko haram has claimed response of.