batteries. rewind broken dream the boeing 787 on al-jazeera. the. south korea puts hof its population under increased restrictions as the country battles a surgeon coronavirus cases. out of there on the stasi attain this is al jazeera live from also coming up. importantly we're going to ship. it in a way. that respects u.s. congressional leaders reach a deal on a $900000000000.00 coronavirus relief package the 2nd biggest economic stimulus in u.s. history. poland joins a growing list of countries to ban flights with the u.k.

over its fears of a new strain of car that 19. and a 0 click dozens of al jazeera journalists reportedly targeted in a phone attack using sophisticated spy when. we begin in south korea where the government has just imposed its toughest restrictions yet to come out a rise in corona virus infections all public out the rings of more than 4 people will now be banned in seoul as well as several neighboring provinces that affects hof of the country's population south korean health authorities say that they are now running out of hospital beds because of a record spike there in new cases in the united states congressional leaders have agreed on a $900000000000.00 relief package for millions of americans they also extended federal funding to prevent a government shutdown and there's also growing concern over a new strain. one of the crane a virus that's emerged in the u.k.

hong kong and poland have joined a growing list of countries now suspending transport links with bresson england's health minister has warned that this new strain is out of control and stage time orders are now in place and parts of the country robert pride reports with more from seoul. the new restrictions will limit private gatherings to just 4 people and they're being introduced ahead of the year and holiday season. to know we will not be able to overcome the crisis unless we reduce cluster infections being spread through private gatherings of family members colleagues and friends often praised for its handling of the coronavirus the government is worried about pandemic fatigue setting in unlike previous waves which were concentrated in specific areas or groups this surge is happening across the country with hospitals becoming stretched and. at the moment our medical response in providing extra beds and

assigning patients efficiently it's a slow compared to the increasing numbers of patients we are dealing with temporary centers have also been set up offering free testing which tens of thousands of people have taken up being increased testing has been running for a week and is due to go on into the new year it's already turned up several 100 people who didn't know they were infected and didn't have a connection with any known cases it's hoped these measures will avoid a complete shutdown of businesses with the government's vaccination campaign not starting until the spring that time table decided upon when the infection rate was much lower now being widely criticized the bride al-jazeera soul and as i was just saying u.s. congressional leaders have also agreed on a $900000000000.00 coronavirus relief package how does a caster has more on that for us from washington d.c. . nearly at the finish line congress has now given itself until midnight tuesday

to finalize the deals both parties say are already in place we can find a report what our nation needed to hear for a very long time. more help is on the way this bill is a good bill tonight is a good night but it is not the end of this story it is not the end of the job anyone who thinks this bill is enough does not know what's going on in america hospitals are full more than 300000 people are dead and 8000000 americans have slipped into poverty since may the coburg relief bill would deliver checks of 600 dollars to most people and extend unemployment benefits through mid march it would also give more loans to small businesses and offer rental assistance to families on the brink of a vixen what i'm excited about in this bill and it is really the democratic

difference is what it does for america's working families. as we see food lines all over the country it was the our legislation that had the initiative for food for nutrition for our children in school and lee and nash seniors as well as america's working families the deal totals $900000000000.00 it is the 2nd biggest economic stimulus in u.s. history only surpassed by the 1st covert relief bill that was passed earlier this year congress is expected to approve on monday and president trump is expected to sign back scenes are also urgently moving across the country modernity is the 2nd vaccine to gain government approval in the u.s. about 6000000 doses have been dispatched to hospitals. we are very confident that by june anyone in america who wants to have

a vaccine will have that opportunity but only 20000000 doses are available before the end of the year not nearly enough to cover all the frontline and social workers and people over 75 who are next in line for shots that means states must decide who to protect 1st as more governors issue restrictions to limit americans movements over the holidays how did you castro al-jazeera washington with a new strain of the current a virus that's emerged in the u.k. has sparked concerns across the e.u. and beyond with many countries isolating themselves from bresson dr priya something of an infectious disease a specialist at the mayo clinic in the us she explains what we know as her father about this mutated strain. we know that there are a couple of hotspots in the world where this chain is becoming more prevalent one is the u.k. and the other is sucking africa and what we don't know for sure is where there are

not clearly this virus has become more transmissible because of this new strain or whether there are cases and they're catching more of the mutated strain because there are just so many more cases in these in these parts of the world we also don't know for sure that the virus causes more severe disease or exactly the vaccine will be active against the strain i think that's the good names if we start seeing a lot of cases in people who've been vaccinated that would be a signal that perhaps this mutation has made the vaccine less effective but until we have enough people vaccinated we're not going to know that for sure i think we need to do something in these hotspots to contain the virus and the more people there are the one with the virus the harder it is to contain so a lot of lockdowns or travel restrictions i think will help slow the spread where

the benefits of the you know the risks to people of the economic fallout can this remains to be seen i think that it's worth the time being until we know i'm no more . will flop down some type of distraction is a good idea speaking of lockdown in saudi arabia has suspended all international flights for a week now judy that new strain of the coronavirus that's matched in the u.k. the travel ban also applies to land and sea borders and the government has wanted anyone who has returned from or passed through a european country over the past 3 months to get tested immediately the kingdom has also begun to roll out the pfizer biotech vaccine. now doctors in kenya have joined other public health care workers on a nationwide strike they want better protection and more effective equipment for treating private 19 nurses and other health care workers began protesting earlier this month saying they won't stop until their demands are met by the government has

warned they'll be sacked if they don't return to work well that speaks to nothing where he joins us now from the kenyan capital nairobi just how widespread is this industrial action that we're seeing and is it affecting health care provision here . the nationwide strike in the health care usually in say that they defectively close public health care. he went on strike 2 weeks ago because of course without notice it is difficult for the doctors to do anything at all now with no public. sector doctors working that means that the health care available is private and only available to those who can afford it the doctor demanding he said protective equipment they want better and more protective equipment as well as pay for compensation paid for injuries there with the demanding medical insurance now threaten strike has been going on for about 8 months they haven't made any progress so that's why the doctors say they're now joining in the strike not and they're also in so many allegations around widespread government corruption especially when

it comes to providing protective gear in this pandemic has any of that been addressed in kenya. when 19 with 1st detected here in kenya back in march the government promptly introduced lockdown measures and the lockdown of course intended to give. health authorities time to prepare their response to healthcare activists said this time wasn't really used to prepare but was instead used to misuse millions of dollars of public health funds that were meant for the covert response dealings were among the allegations dealing protective equipment inappropriate allocation of tenders and so when the lockdown measures were eventually lifted there's cause the virus inevitably spread across the country and they found a situation where a lot of these public health facilities the medics complaining they don't have the p.p.a. even in some cases anyone with coded symptoms that's always been down from public

health facilities because the medical workers there are willing to take the risk of trying to treat them. on monday with all the latest for us from nairobi thanks so much happened. still ahead here on al-jazeera. growing anger in northern nigeria where the threat from. crippling agricultural. past a dangerous business why owners of liquor stores in iraq are now living in fear. once again the atlantic sending a spear of war when weather to the way of northern europe massacre that is quite large and it will have quite a large effect as you can see it's quite complex system but basically we're talking about a nose of warmish air heading in this direction and for around it there's going to be cloud wind and rain so it's going to affect the british isles fronts those in

parts of spain is going to head up towards scandinavia comes of against this still rather stationary cold air in western russia east year but even that's not as cold as it was with those single figures there are a few snow showers around the black sea so to get them as well maybe belgariad basically it's dull quiet weather but this rain give us some parts which was so sudden will produce some flooding and that's particularly true as temperatures rise now the warmish bit will go through here i think so some of the particularly warm in scandinavia those honest kozik could be but if you take someone like vienna it is temperatures up to about 10 even more than that by midweek and the average is time is for snorri a cold place so there's going to be a considerable saw which isn't a particularly good sing for sounds much rain still fairly wet at least for a day and that rails for dancer libya and tunisia where equally it has been quite wet.

we've never had a president who has literally for 45 years repeatedly attacked our democracy. you loose your letter it isn't playing it for you i don't have a narrative i have a question you're hitting their brain where people can't get treated and even further join me richelle carey on upfront is my guest from around the world take the hot seat and we debate the week's top stories in pressing issues here on our just here. the in. the the in. over you're watching al-jazeera let's remind you of our top stories here this hour

south korea's capital has imposed tough new coronavirus measures as it struggles to contain a rise in new infections gatherings of more than 4 people are now banned in seoul and to neighboring beach and hospital capacity for critical cases has to be doubled by the end of this year. congressional leaders in the u.s. have reached a deal on a $900000000000.19 relief package from millions of americans this comes as deliveries of the madonna vaccine have now begun across the country. and a growing number of countries are banning or restricting travel to and from the united kingdom they're trying to stop the spread of a more contagious strain of the current virus identified in parts of the u.k. . well the british transport minister has told truck drivers to stay away from ports in the south of the country after france closed its borders afraid from the u.k. it's in response to fears over this new strain of the current virus there now other european countries have banned air travel from bresson are allowing the transport

of goods british ports have been struggling to deal with a scramble to deliver exports before the end of the brics a transitional period albright said talks are set to continue after the latest headlines passed with little progress the sides are an impasse over european fishing rights in u.k. waters and other issues where a challenge has moved from london. that's only just heard was another breaks a deadline whooshing past sunday was supposed to be the crunch day with the e.u. saying that if a deal had been reached by the end of the day wouldn't give the e.u. parliament and nuff time to ratify before the transition period ended on december the 31st well u.k. government source says that teams have been negotiating throughout the day and are expected to continue tomorrow that monday talks remain difficult and significant differences remain we continue to explore every routes to a deal that is in line with the fundamental principles we brought into the

negotiations the truth is that that e.u. deadline never really was was a reality there is the possibility that member states can agree a deal in principle and then ratify it at some later date that doesn't mean of course that a deal is going to happen both sides have dug their heels in with big difference is remaining over fishing rights and the level playing field but this weekend there have been some things which perhaps the sharpening mines in london there have been pictures on british t.v. of lorries backed up the motorway for kilometers from channel ports because of companies stockpiling things ahead of a possible no deal in january a foretaste perhaps of chaos to come if there is no deal the french also have just said because of this new strain of coded that there is no child will from the u.k. into france including travel linked to the transport of goods. now the japanese

government has approved a record $52000000000.00 defense budget so counter what it perceives as growing threats from china and north korea and the 9th straight increase mount military spending it covers development costs for longer range missiles and stealth fighters prime minister yoshihiko suga says it's aimed at protecting japan in an increasingly tense region at least $100.00 people have been arrested during anti-government protests in the better russian capital on sunday mass demonstrations began 4 months ago over the reelection of longtime president alexander lukashenko his opponents say the vote was fraudulent organizers recently changed their tactics by splitting up into smaller groups to make it harder for security forces to target protesters now preliminary results are out in the 1st election and 12 years in the bosnian town of last stop they show that most votes have been cost for the parties that have left that ethnically divided town without a council since 2012 the bosnia party's fierce rivals

a coalition of multi-ethnic moderate parties now looks to have won enough votes to play kingmaker the constitutional court ordered the city to change discriminatory election rules back in 2008 but both bosniak and parties disagreed on that process attacks and kidnappings by armed groups are crippling farming and other economic activities in northwest nigeria it's estimated that output there has dropped by as much as 60 percent other just reports from katsina states where hundreds of schoolchildren were recently abducted. in north western nigeria where armed bandits rule free most barrios regularly vent hardly a deep passes without an attack going to bullets somewhere that leaves either dead or injured and those taken hostage entire villages have been sacked crippling local economies and social activities. if you. spent

well over 6 years in terms of trying to control this the loss among our farmers that cannot access their farms the loss of what you booze the loss of cattle the loss of means of livelihood people who cannot access their farms the quantum is there to imagine it has negatively. impacted on the lives of our people the violence that began as a localized conflict between farmers and cattle herders in just one area has now escalated to a full blown crisis affecting the whole region and beyond. the recent abduction of hundreds of school children by those the government describes as band it underlines the worsening security situation in northwest nigeria. many pharmacy have been forced to leave their land after being unable to pay off their armed groups to find

a farmer who complained about paying $2.00 to $20.00 heck that's what this is cutie they cannot be able to fund their farms and it under small power most who are about to go to bed last 2 to be up to 5 hectares there where earth will be in post to abandon their land and be inside the town this to take a food again the insecurity the cattle herders association says nearly every member has had some animal story line here but cattle market there are only a few animals on display raids by armed bandits have depleted stocks and potential buyers are staying away and in the grain section of the market it's a similar picture the northwest is nigeria's main grain and cereal producing region the fighting here sparked fears of food shortages in the months ahead. with attacks now growing in number and sophistication reassuring words from the central

government of our little comfort to those facing such violence and the misery brings how many degrees al-jazeera northwest nigeria. somalia and kenya have a grave to hold talks to restore diplomatic ties to east african leaders held an emergency summit in djibouti iraq or somalia cut ties with kenya on tuesday kucing it of meddling in its internal affairs leaders of the regional bloc egads say dealing with this dispute as a priority monitor has more for us from tbilisi. officials of the regional organization calling the summit a success they hailed as a breakthrough an agreement between the kenyan and somali leaders to hold talks and resolve the dispute through dialogue the dispute between kenya and somalia dominated talks of the summit and president smiling again of djibouti the ethiopian prime minister. of played

a crucial role 1st of all meeting the 2 leaders separately and then later on as the day went on bringing them together in the same room so they have face to face talks on its side it's there they agreed to commit to talks between them. on of the african union most of the hamad in his address to the regional leaders said the dispute between kenya and somalia was undermining the folds to fight al shabaab of the african peacekeeping mission in somalia. which kenya contributes files on soft troops kenya also plays host to hundreds of thousands of somali refugees and husband who sial in efforts to find peace in somalia in the past kenya has always denied that it's interfering in the in tunnel mud of somalia and other issues that were discussed include the present war in ethiopia between the federal government. to grow regional administration something that the government says it's

up 100 and the leaders who are governed here in djibouti today pledged to assist the prime minister of the met in. dealing with the import the humility and the situation both resulted from the war. now spyware sold by an israeli private teligent has been used to hack the phones of dozens of al jazeera journalists that's according to citizen labora such as the university of toronto the digital security watchdog says the unprecedented cyber attack is likely to have been ordered by saudi arabia and the united arab emirates investigators say mobile phones were infiltrated with malicious code switch then uploaded a cell into foreign service my colleague nick clark spoke to bill mock sac he's the lead author of this report and also a senior research fellow at the university of toronto citizen lad he says it's difficult to guard against this type of hack which can happen without the user

taking any action at all. certainly our research methodology here at the citizen lab when we track this sort of spyware is typically that we ask journalists dissidents members of civil society to keep an eye out for any sort of suspicious messages suspicious links suspicion attachments and trying to avoid clicking on them but also fording them to us and so we can potentially get a copy of a spyware but in this case with the 0 click exploit not only does the target not really have a chance to notice or prevent the hacking but we as researchers are sometimes robbed of the opportunity to identify additional targets and additional victims so we think that the targets that we have disclosed the 36 targets at al-jazeera are simply the tip of the iceberg of a much larger global campaign but also raises questions as a same not least about the the parent vulnerability of a life friends yeah well it's interesting you know if you think about your phone i'm sure you're constantly getting notifications and things popping up and this is

all caused by code which is running continuously on the phone and processing essentially arbitrary messages from the internet and i think that vendors need to do more to try an audit this code to make sure it's 3 of bodes for your vulnerabilities and 3 of issues and i think to apple's credit you know in iowa us 14 in the newer version they added we understand some mitigations that would hopefully prevent this sort of this sort of hacking in the future and i think that other companies would be wise to also audit their code bases and put in similar sorts of mitigations to prevent this the 0 click hacking while staying with hacking u.s. politicians have spoken out against president on trying this response to a cyber attack there that's believed to be the west and american history 40 organizations for targeted by hat as including several government agencies here as secretary of state my compass said it was pretty clear that russia was behind the hacking which moscow denies present did that china can be responsible. and they

apparently didn't think that we would respond in a very aggressive way and i think all those things have to be addressed i think we have to be much more serious about our cyber capabilities often siv and defensive and i think we have to rethink about that at the department of defense as well as or other agencies and i think we have to have a very clear eyed approach to how we deal with russia going forward this demands a response and the response you'd expect to occur would be a cyber response i don't know if we have the capacity to do that in a way that would be. of the same scale or even greater scale than what russia has applied to us but this is something we have to address as soon as possible now iraq's security officials say at least 8 rockets have struck baghdad's heavily fortified green zone they say the u.s. embassy was the intended target of sunday's attack and a rocket system set up to defend the embassy is said to have groups and most of those rockets. on staying in iraq the government there is investigating a rise in attacks on shops selling alcohol in the capital baghdad and east one

person has been killed christians say they're being targeted and they're calling for better protection reports from the iraqi capital. he works in the small liquor store in central baghdad every month he sends the money he earns to his family of tame who live near mosul in northern iraq but every day he lives in fear in recent weeks many shops selling alcohol in the capital have been targeted in bomb attacks and one shop owner was shot dead in a drive by shooting. this mobile phone footage reportedly shows a group of men ran a 2nd a store in baghdad no one has claimed responsibility for any of the attacks and no one has been brought to justice. everyone is afraid they don't know if the meeting that backs customers are scared to come to shop for the money for me and my family i have a life in the policeman is protecting me. the same and consumption of alcohol is

not illegal in iraq but shops like these which are popular with the christian and u.c.d. communities and secular muslims who drink alcohol need a special license the consumption of alcohol in public is illegal in this muslim majority country but its availability is seen by many as a testament to iraq's tolerance towards ethnic and religious minorities there are signs that may be changing this man who is a christian but didn't want to be identified tells us no one was injured when a booby trapped hand grenade exploded at the entrance to his shop we respect all the religions and syncs in iraq he tells me why can't we be respected to the police say that they are investigating the attacks but they have closed many shops like this one which they say were operating without the necessary license in order to sell alcohol. it's fair to say though the attacks of course. an increasing

resentment especially among the religious minority communities in baghdad. the owner is christian he has been threatened many times people from certain political parties have extorted money from him for keeping our eyes on the road in case they place bombs but there is little security on the streets they have been small protests by youth groups against the sale of alcohol in baghdad but many analysts are concerned about iran's growing influence in iraq and they believe those responsible for the attacks may be supported by powerful iran backed groups that they say are increasingly dominating iraq's security and political infrastructure and they are looking to put pressure on the iraqi prime minister. and these attacks are aimed at making me look weak in front of political opposition that have big funding and powerful media behind them especially before the election next year they want to show that the prime minister and government are feeling in

their security measures. he says many of his fellow drink shop owners are too afraid to open their businesses he has no idea why the attack started or when they will stop chance traffic al-jazeera baghdad. and this is al jazeera and these are the headlines south korea's capital has imposed tough new coronavirus measures as it struggles to contain a rising new infections gatherings of more than 4 people in seoul and to neighboring regions and hospital capacity for critical cases is to be doubled by the end of this year from the pride has the latest for us from sell these measures will come into force 2 days from now and it will limit private gatherings of people either indoors or outdoors to basically 4 people and no more than that these are the toughest restrictions that we've seen being ports.