2nd of a 2 part epic tale of a remarkable family. the father the son and the jihad. on al-jazeera the. new strain of corona virus in the u.k. forces millions of people to be placed under a strict lockdown just before christmas. all of them are kyle this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up with more than 1300000 confirmed cases mexico brings in new restrictions and an attempt to limit covert 19. u.s. president donald trump contradicts his secretary of state over the impact of a vast cyber security breach. and election unrest in the central african republic

the former president is accused of attempting a coup u.n. peacekeepers are on a higher. emergency talks in the u.k. about a new strain of coronavirus have led to a further tightening of restrictions a higher tier of lockdown is now in effect across london and southeast england where a viral mutation is responsible for a surge in cases that's filling up hospital wards the government is also backtracking on easing restrictions for the christmas holidays the chief medical officer for england chris witty says the mutated strain is up to 70 percent water measurable than the original so it's not thought to be more deadly and vaccines should still be effective rich allan's has this report. for days scientists and opposition politicians have been saying it's the government shouldn't be letting so

many english households mick's over christmas on saturday boris johnson relented it is with a very heavy heart i must tell you we cannot continue with christmas those plans. a new coronavirus variance with spreading alarmingly in london and the southeast he said adding that the world health organization had been alerted to the mutant strain it's 70 percent more transmissible and a new 4th tier of restrictions is needed residents in those areas miss stay at home apart from limited exemptions set out in law non-essential retail indoor gyms and leisure facilities and personal care services was close individuals can only meet one person from another household in an outdoor public space. just days ago boris johnson mocked his opposition rival kier starmer for questioning why restrictions were being eased for christmas and if he really is going to press ahead with this

can he tell us what's the assessment and has it been done of the impact that it will have on infection rates and increase pressure on the n.h.s. what's the impact. mr speaker we should have the guts just to say what he really wants to do which is to cancel the plans people have made and trying to cancel christmas that's really that's what i think that's what he's driving at this is bigger. london has gone from tear to tear for a no family christmas in just 4 days in parts of england in lower it is allowing 3 households to mix for 5 days is being reduced to just christmas day itself scotland's 1st minister says her country is allowing only one day of mixing to and is essentially pulling up the drawbridge if you had people travelling to join you for christmas from in sweden the u.k. at that will no longer be permitted equally it will no longer be permitted for any advise to travel anywhere in the rest of the u.k.

for christmas we simply cannot take the risk of this stream travelling from different parts of the. party it's not just the united kingdom other european countries are tightening restrictions too among them italy has announced a new national lockdown over most of the holidays it's a lead germany france and 5 other e.u. states are coordinating the start of their covert vaccinations it's this italy's prime minister says that signals the nightmare is about to end rory chalons al-jazeera london. nash as distinguished professor of epidemiology at the city university of new york school of public health he says new strains will not alter vaccination plans warnings to be learned about the mutation. i don't think it changes the changes the role of the vaccine by any beings the new vaccines are protective against all of the sars. 2 strains that are in circulation now some of which have also mutated from the original strain and so we don't have any reason to

think that this mutation will allow the virus to evade the new vaccines on the i for want to be really waiting for my opportunity to be vaccinated one day soon i think we don't know yet we it's not as i said it's not uncommon for viruses to mutate during pandemic spread sometimes these mutations change the virus behavior they can become more or less transmissible more or less virulent or you. know cause more or less likely to cause severe symptoms usually not both of these things at once and a new advantage and one of these attributes usually comes at the expense of the other but i don't think we know the details yet and there's a lot more to learn and it's great that the u.k. is looking so closely and monitoring these aspects of the virus it's really important to make these quotes estimates really quickly. and so hopefully we'll be knowing more in the next few days. thousands of people in mexico's capsule have ignored orders to return to lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus the streets

of mexico city appear to be business as usual on saturday despite orders for all but essential services to close new restrictions will be in place for 3 weeks but aren't being strictly policed mexico has recorded more than 1300000 infections and around 117000 deaths well benita hazmat out as a professor at the national autonomous university of mexico he says many people simply can't afford to follow instructions the program in mexico is many people is very poor and they have the jokes in the street and they were with as many promise to control these in the streets this is the big problem to. use for their mexico city may your. the people don't respect the rules because of the kind of surveillance issue because. people don't have formal salaries don't have good salaries they have to go to the streets to sell things things in the mexican

economy constructor is british and then the european or the u.s. conditions and the people cannot come for many days because of these these look down if only 14 or 15 days and they were and cannot put more more of their ace the job down and in january they will open again the districts. colombia has made deals with pharmaceutical companies pfizer and astra zeneca to provide 20000000 doses of vaccines in 2021 the 1st 4000000 doses could arrive in february this is the country passes a death toll of 40000 and the number of infections on the rise once again. its usefulness might be debatable but some business owners in columbus capital are going to the extreme of mass spraying this infected people to control the spread of corona as crowds strong malls and streets for the holiday season.

health officials are also worried cases of up in recent weeks. stepped up their testing campaigns in parks treats and. service. people have totally lowered their guard a seat among my friends and this is very worrying the news on t.v. and i fear what's been happening in europe and the us will be even worse here if we don't protect ourselves. just surpassed 40001000 deaths and on friday reached a new record for daily confirmed cases as people gather in increasing numbers ahead of the christmas holidays intensive care units are again reaching full capacity in a number of provinces' from. a year in local authorities are announcing new restrictions on restaurants and bars and imposing curfews but there's a silver lining the government has announced a deal with pharmaceutical companies pfizer and astra zeneca to provide

$20000000.00 doses of coby in 1000 vaccines in 2021 another 20000000 could arrive through the kovacs mechanism geared toward helping less wealthy countries. our goals as designed with kovacs and the pharmaceutical companies is that for the 1st weeks of 2021 we will be starting the process of mass vaccination. but despite the optimistic and. the plan is to back soon it only 2000000 people in the 1st trimester of next year starting with health care workers and those with preexisting conditions were true mass vaccination still far away some medical experts believe the country remains ill prepared to face many more months of new cases in. many regions already in an alarming situation and a health system with very limited capacity it's true that there's been an increase in a number of i.c.e.'s in the country from 530211000 but that doesn't mean that we're

able to attend more patients that these new units have been fitted properly we lack provision medicines and doctors the government should return to more drastic restrictive measures. for now many more interested in celebrating the season and their liberties while the lasts even if the hangover could be deadly. violent protests of broken. major hike in university tuition fees police used tear gas to disperse crowds in the capital beirut seasons responded by throwing bottles and objects a protest follows a decision by some university surprised on the new dollar exchange rate which will see truffle. cilla has had on al-jazeera we had a gambling city of macau as it marks 21 is a return to chinese control. and has been to me is that since an uprising in sudan

meant the removal of its presence have all the share of the streets still filled with protesters. that the weather is looking pretty quiet across the middle east at the moment we've got some bits of shabby rain just pushing across a little cloud here and will slide its way over towards afghanistan kabul 8 degrees celsius but notice some spots of rain there into central iran up towards the coca says want to show is just fine filtering their way if it was on media much of the middle east as i said doesn't fine and dry you might just catch a shower just around the southern end of the red save time here in qatar cools off to be just now high that around $22.00 celsius on monday pleasant sunshine nevertheless the sunshine that stretches way down into one mold in parts of

ethiopia because some showers just around the whole of africa having said that in the usual rash of showers through the heart of africa some big downpours a possibility of around pushing over towards cameroon and those showers extending their way down to a good part of angola some wet weather to just around the rift valley of course the the sun not too far from its lowest point south of course the winter solstice just a few days away and the showers along the spells of right night stand there way down across the botswana into the north as far south africa wetter weather from the baby pushing for the south. we've never had a president who has literally for 4 or 5 years repeatedly attacked our democracy. blew through lerner to everything that you i don't have

a narrative i have a question you're getting there where you're treated you just feel sure even through the join me richelle carey and up front as my guest from around the world take a hot seat and we debate the week's top stories and pressing issues here on al-jazeera . to me. there again you're watching out as there has a reminder of our top stories this hour british prime minister boris johnson has announced new restrictions in london and southeast england non-essential shops silence and indoor venues are closing governments also backtracked on easing some restrictions for the christmas holiday. the tough new rules are in response to the discovery of

a new strain of corona virus that's up to 70 percent more infections fuelling the spike in england's hospitalization rate is not for 5 to be deadlier than the original. and thousands of people in mexico's capsule have ignored orders to return to logs and to curb the spread of coronavirus the streets of mexico city appear to be business as usual on saturday despite orders for all essential services to close . u.s. president donald trump has contradicted his own secretary of state saying the hacking of 6 government departments is under control. and it's pretty clear that russian hackers are behind the cyber attack believed to be the worst in american history trump has hinted that china could be behind what's being described by paul some politicians as a declaration of war america war. president donald trump has weighed in on what's seen as the biggest ever cyber espionage attack against washington downplaying it and the kremlin's involvement in the hacking he says the cyber hug

is far greater in what he called fake news media than an actuality i have been fully briefed and everything is well under control russia russia russia is the priority chant when anything happens because lame stream is for mostly financial reasons petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be china it to me speaking on a radio show mike pompei who said it was clear russia was involved. very significant effort. thank you very curious but now we can say pretty clearly it was the russians the release of the security. the full extent of the cyber attack is still emerging but at least 6 u.s. government departments have been infiltrated. among them the agency that manages nuclear weapons however they've said the arsenal security hasn't been compromised.

the hack began as early as march and targeted widely used software made by solar winds the texas based company says up to 18000 customers downloaded compromised software updates which allowed hackers to spy on e-mail exchanges i think the damage is going to be. potentially worse i suppose or no longer. seems to be. attackers are interested in information it's not wrong they're not trying to block or. religious merinos it's the system some members of congress are demanding answers from president trump national security is the number one challenge the number one responsibility of a government is to protect our people. every government agency is compromised our national security is compromised. i'm disappointed that he is not bringing the

government together to respond to it and the threat is far from over experts saying many more systems may be compromised without anyone knowing and the only way to be sure and it is clean is for it to be bent down to the ground and rebuilt a marriage or 3. president elect joe biden has rolled out his environment and energy team ushering in some governmental firsts and includes the 1st black male to head the environmental protection agency a renewable power advocate to lead the department of energy and the u.s. is 1st of a native american cabinet secretary. has been nominated to be the interior secretary the 1st indigenous person to serve in the role that looks after tribal lands and vast parts of the native wilderness. voting is underway in thailand's 1st local elections since the 2014 military coup tens of millions of people are expected to participate in the polls for regional representatives well these elections are not

expected to have much impact on national politics the vote could gauge how influential recent anti-government protests have been private john approaches a political analyst and economist at. english online news websites he joins us live via skype from bangkok good to have you with us i mean people must be pretty excited to be able to return to the democratic process but nervous about coven so what's the turnout likely to be or it's proving to be well except little problems which is somewhat caught on just now hugely affected by one of the new infections we still believe all 7 provinces thought turn out to be high and that simply because the local people did not have a chance to thought since the whole lot of elections since the coup in 2000 and court and so how significant are they how much power are they voting for these

regional representatives to have. well it's still the same my uncle or you know systemically my entire law you know because in on me and it's a problem to accept bangkok are the governors are pointed by the national government here in bangkok but what don't boarding for today is for what they call the chip executive of the provincial administrators organization that will have more power but it's a hard way the pollution because they have to deal with a sense not only appointed governor nonetheless but. say my our internal colonial system when it comes to all of the so sometimes so how might these elections actually be a barometer of the popularity and indeed the effects of those ongoing protests in bangkok which are antigovernment calling for more democratic means that so now the

key issue that we will find out copley later tonight or tomorrow it will so the law lecture it will sort of indicate to guard the popularity of the last either the government or the government so this is also a surrogate. call if you like about what i know the law call stock or the government still or not ok private rajon approach will keep an eye on the results later as they come as in a few hours time the moment thanks very much for joining us if you. and the cow is marking the 21st anniversary of its return to china from portuguese control the gambling help like hong kong is a political experiment that began in the late 1990 s. when china reclaimed both territories from western claim. but unlike hong kong

macao has embraced paintings tightening grip and over chose to make a part and takes a look at the casino capital and how it became a model for china's one country 2 systems policy. this is a tale of 2 cities macau a former portuguese colony now a casino powerhouse the other hong kong a former british colony and an international financial center both returned to chinese rule in the late 1990 s. . but while hong kong pushed back against beijing's tightening control in the following years that with little opposition in macau macau has a large population with very strong mainland chinese attachment emotion the politically and culturally haven't set that in the reason years there are a minority of young people in macau who tend to support western style democracy and one of those is 29 year old sulu sue an opposition member of my cows legislative

assembly who says gaining support for the fight for democracy is an uphill battle. china. started. while the british in hong kong instilled the idea of democracy in their final years the portuguese largely recognised china's sovereignty over macau. mainland china is crucial for the city's economy bestowing favorable policies boosting tourism and building major infrastructure projects like the $20000000000.00 hong kong macau zhu highbridge perhaps this is the most tangible symbol of the communist party's push

to integrate hong kong and macau into mainland china when it was launched 2 years ago it became the 1st physical link between the 2 former colonies and set them up for the next phase of unification the greater bay area development plan it's part of beijing's efforts to knit hong kong macau and southern chinese cities into a tech. some more. and i'll ask for it to. do this let me went to. china. to. china's leaders sheeting paying called macau a shining example of the one country 2 systems policy one that beijing says hong kong outspoken people could learn from difficult poland 0 hong kong demonstrations

are still taking place in sudan's capital 2 years after the uprising that led to the removal of president omar al bashir since his removal little has really changed with millions of sudanese having to enjoy a wrecked economy and limited government services have a morgan reports. on the 2nd anniversary of sudan's revolution which led to the overthrow of longtime president already bashir thousands sports in the streets of the capital and other states some came out to voice support for the 15 month old transitional government others to voice anger at the economic and political developments. i'm proud of the revolution i think our revolution has come a long way and that the sudanese have learnt a lot politically and have learned to be their own decision makers have assumed things that haven't been achieved but the revolution is far from over. your way here to demand the end of the transitional partnership and to demand justice this government has killed the revolution and not improve the economy we don't want the

partnership and we don't want the economic plans for the country. the revolution was sparked by a rise in bread prices fuel shortages as well as rising inflation hundreds of protesters were killed before the military overthrew president bashir in april trying to 19 a power sharing agreement between the military and the forces of freedom and change coalition which represents the protest movement was signed months later that brought the current transitional government to power many had hoped that demonstration would bring the change demanded but inflation is now 5 times higher than it was when the revolution started politically a legislative council is yet to be formed and justice and accountability for those killed in the revolution are yet to be achieved but that ministration was able to achieve some demands. the former ruling party has been dismantled and lost have been passed giving more rights to the sudanese people and i said 10 to 7 years so that is now off the u.s.

list of state sponsored terrorism some years after the revolution they say they are yet to have a deep impact on the lives of many people in the country. the new ruling coalition says the challenges they face now are not of their making calling them the legacy of the former government how much nude a move on the shoes of justice in the comic improvement has been slow but all the economic woes are because of the economic policies of the past 30 years of the former ruling party you're only now living an ideal in with the consequences so there are challenges that the government faces but it's also making achievements and it's starting to gradually show us man makes de took part in the protests in time to 18 and 2019 he lost his hand when a stun grenade exploded. i want to better living conditions access to better education health care all that didn't happen this government failed i blame the military component in the government over one they don't want the revolution to succeed and that's what's happened and there's no change no improvement such as

protest puts more pressure on the government to meet the demands made during the revolution protesters say they won't give up on their. until there are fulfilled people morgan al-jazeera. yes actually general antonio terrace has called on armed groups in central african republic to put down their weapons peacekeepers were deployed ahead of the december 27th elections a number of armed groups have banded together to form an alliance president fast and. has been accused of planning electoral fraud to secure a 2nd term. has covered the situation in central african republic extensively he gave us this update from senegal. we know that 11 armed groups some of the signature of this statement against the president essentially have started deploying their troops have called on armed groups to head towards the capital bangui and as a result the 12000 strong un peacekeeping force have taken position on main

arteries leading to the capital so has been deployed the central african republic army that was trained by the russians that is out in the port to try to stop any of these forces from entering the capital just one week before this much anticipated presidential election so why are they all marching towards the capital simply because they say the president is not respecting the agreement that they had signed in 2001000 in khartoum which was in effect to give these armed groups leaders a position in government but also funds so that they could disarms remember these armed groups have control over large territories i mean we're talking about central african republic is the size of france there are some of these armed groups that have control of areas that are the size of wales or scotland and that's what's at stake in this election to try to reestablish the rule of law in the government in places where it has retreated but also come to help to these millions of central

african republic people who population that have seen little of their government helping them a former state governor in mexico has been shot dead and one of the highest profile killings since the war on drugs began 14 years ago aristophanes son devoutness shot in the back of the restaurant in a restaurant bathroom in the state of jalisco his 5 year term as governor which ended in 2018 was overshadowed by the rise of the hollis new generation. is struggling to taint raging violence across the country which so much as reach an all time high of 4000 last year. apple has placed one of his i phone contractors on probation after a major concerns over the way employees are being treated at one of its indian factories where the with strong factory in southern qana attack a stage riser last week after many of the paid calls and millions of dollars worth

of losses. the taiwanese owned company which assembles one of its i phone models will not be awarded any new business until it complies with its code of conduct. the world's 1st underwater tunnel and roundabouts in the atlantic ocean has opened in the faroe islands this is the largest infrastructure project to date in the north atlantic territorial cut travel times between the capital torch of torch of and other areas it took 3 years to build and is around 11 kilometers long at its deepest 187 meters below the seabed the territory of pharaoh islands as part of denmark. deal with al jazeera these are our top stories british prime minister boris johnson has announced new restrictions in london and southeast england non-essential shops salans and indoor venue's a closing.