join us as we assess the changes in the political landscape of the middle east and north africa. on al-jazeera. pick. you're watching the news hour live from headquarters and. coming up in the next 60 minutes i mean you tainted strain of coded appends travel plans food deliveries and financial markets only days before christmas the latest crisis began in the u.k. but has quickly led to border closures and new travel restrictions stretching far beyond europe. the turmoil comes as the european union is on the verge of giving its 1st approval to occur the virus vaccine on the other side of the world south

korea it's half its population under increased restrictions as the country battles a surge and coronavirus case it's. the golden foot awarded a lifetime achievement. welcome to the news our concerns are growing rolled wide over a mutated strain of corona virus that's emerged in the u.k. british scientists said on wednesday the strain is more contagious than previous ones and is responsible for a surge of infections in and around london it took a few days before governments around the world reacted to the news but when they did the action was swift take a look the netherlands announced a flight ban around midday on sunday within hours more than

a dozen countries also said they're either cutting or severely restricting travel links with the u.k. but these bans varied enormously so france's border closure a slated to last for only 48 hours but that can be extended germany meanwhile will review its travel ban on december 31st well gary aholt it all slights until the end of january. saudi arabia went even further suspending all international flights for a week not just those to and from the u.k. but the world's worst the country that's the united states has taken no measure so far and approach some state officials are criticizing and they are governor andrew cuomo says even if the u.s. decides to stop flights it's too little too late we've got correspondents all over the story step fast and standing by for us announce a dancer bring you the latest on the race for vaccines in europe bernard smith is in paris with more on those border closers but 1st we'll go over to maidstone that's in kent with rory chalons rory a huge logistical challenges ahead as

a result of the border closures. here and i think a psychological one as well i have to say that today monday the u.k. feels more lonely and isolated place than it did just yesterday we were on our way down to dover to see what's going on there we've stopped off on the motorway to speak to you that's the m 20 that you can see up behind me which links london with the coastal poor folks and now further on down that road i don't know if you can see but there are already actually signs up for washing those yellow sign saying that routes to france closed further on down the roads lorry drivers passenger car drivers will find that parts of this motorway junctions of it are closed off and it's going to be very difficult to actually get down to the coast at all now what does this mean for the u.k. what it means the. transport of freight across into france is severely impeded at

the moment only unaccompanied freight is being allowed through that. containers and lorries that don't actually have anyone accompanying them any person any person there so that's going to put lots of businesses which are already trying to deal with the possible onset of a no. deal breaks it in a very very serious position when it comes to supplying themselves and supplying the country with things like fruit food now the government says that yes we will get through this but it's certainly a very potent mind sharpener as the crunch talks or bricks it go in so their final hours perhaps final days what will this mean for the for the chance of a deal don't know yet but there are people who are saying look this is a serious situation and this means that the u.k. should be asking for an extension of the transition period which ends at the end of the month and rory what is the reaction inside the u.k.

on this sudden closer as in the swift action that's been taken. yeah well i mean the government is doing things like getting fields in kent set up to cope with the huge numbers of backed up lorries are expected in the kens area which is this part of the country the part of the country have that has the channel the channel ports there is also the closure of flights there's the closure of the channel tunnel this was a difficult weekend anyway lots of companies were already trying to stockpile goods in advance of a potential no deal bret's it so we had seen already over the weekend lots and lots of pictures on british t.v. of queues of lorries backed up from the channel ports anyway so this is essentially

another serious impact on top of what was already a logistically very challenging few days all right terrific you very much thank you for that update from maidstone that's in the u.k. let's now find out what's going on in france and that's where bernard smith is joining us from from paris france bernard banning all travel from the u.k. for 48 hours from midnight on sunday and other e.u. countries as well are putting their own bans in place what can you tell us. yeah france introduce this 48 hour as a stopgap measure there's an e.u. meeting going on at the moment virtually between e.u. ministers to try and make some have some sort of coordinated response to deal with this new a more virulent form of the corona virus has been detected in the u.k. so france has done this france put this 48 hour ban on wow to see if the european wide decision can be made france's european affairs secretary says that he hopes after the 48 hours to organize trips for people who are in the u.k.

who want to come back to france for christmas he hopes that it's going to be possible mainly french citizens living in the u.k. who might want to come back for the christmas holidays but he's told them in the interim to get themselves of p.c.r. test the code test because that will almost certainly be a requirement of anybody coming from the u.k. to france after this 48 hour period is over should also say that france's health minister livy of iran says that this new more virulent strain has not been detected in france but it's quite possible that it's already in circulation doing all right bernard thank you very much for that update from paris let's not brands that fossil she is joining us from amsterdam and i say you're right in front of the european medicines agency so i'm going to ask you about the vaccines in a moment step but 1st just give us a sense of just how worried you countries are about this new strain of virus.

the rain there are extreme the worries in the netherlands so with one case detected of this mutation but many here say this is just the tip of the iceberg because in most cases when these tests are being done there's no sequencing as they call it being done to find out what's the genetic code of the virus so there is a prediction here that many more cases of this mutate to the virus are going around and then that medland but also in many other countries in the european union and the netherlands as you sat is one of the birth to actually close the borders with the u.k. until the 1st of january already so they made a very firm decision here to make sure that it's not going to spread any more from the u.k. but many also say it's already too late because it's it's it's here already and it's been here probably for a couple of weeks already and maybe longer and step what can you tell us about the latest on the vaccine authorization do we expect any sort of movement today because we understand there is an e.u. meeting on vaccines. there isn't

a lot of impatience here in europe of course after the u.k. and the united states and canada and other countries have been the vaccinating people already and nobody in the e.u. has been vaccinated so they are waiting for we eagerly here for this decision of the european medicines agency which is holding its meeting a days earlier than the initially had announced because germany was pressuring the agency to start doing this meeting earlier the vaccine by impact by so faxing has of course been mostly produced inside germany so the germans were getting very frustrated they couldn't stop vaccinating so now we are expecting a decision in 4 hours from now there will be a virtual press conference by the agency the agency has stressed that their procedure here in europe for all the 27 member states is more thorough and more based on avodah instead of what happened in the u.k. a week or 2 ago so they say if we only approve this vaccine if we can assure that

the evidence shows that the deficiency and of the effect more from that any side effect there is a lot of progress or the specially here in the netherlands but also in other countries about these side effects this around 40 percent of people who i said they don't want to be vaccinated so that's why governments here in europe are very keen to show that this approval process has been thorough so that's why they have taken a bit more time to come up with this approval which we expect later today ok except we'll leave you for now but we'll cross back to a little later in the day thank you very much for the time being stuff us and reporting from amsterdam let's now bring in which the bottom line he's the managing director for europe at eurasia group he's joining us from london thanks very much for your time with us on the news hour so these travel bans that haven't been imposed by a number of countries on the u.k. are they quicker this time around when they were earlier in the or in the year with

china or is it too late for these bands to actually be really effective. i know that very they've moved very quickly that u.k. site has moved quite quickly to implement t.f. 4 which is a de facto national lockdown for parts of the country london in the southeast and you've seen the reaction across the rypien you need primarily to introduce travel bans and certainly with regard. to in france also laurie blockages on the ferries as well to stop up to a transports as well and i think this is driven by their concern frankly the potency of this new strain and the impact that could have both politically and on the play of course of course on how the population if it's not contained even though and of the world health organization itself does not actually recommend such action when it comes to cutting try ties with air travel in particular so is there a sense that the countries can be overreacting on some level perhaps but i think

one has to just think about the situation politically across the your opinion that's been fighting the 1st wave then the 2nd and now the risk of a 3rd wave until the vaccine is fully rolled out so i think that's just a big concern frankly governments that type populations of the t. and the last thing they want is to be dealing with the mutant strain of the virus and so the vaccinations are rolled out so i think it's driven by what's happened over the course of this year in the risks this a new strain called is going forward and for that reason governments are being extremely risk averse. what do you expect to happen later today because we understand that you bass are as will be holding a crisis meeting in brussels on the travel restrictions to the u.k. so do you think that meeting will result in fewer restrictions or more restrictions and perhaps a more coordinated response. yes i think more restrictions and more coordinates it

so more european level as you said a meeting is currently taking place and i think on the back of that some of the more unilateral measures that we see member states moving by themselves will likely happen in a slightly more coordinated fashion on the year case by the committee is convening late it's a day as well and i suspect also here on the u.k. side they will be looking to so we're bilaterally with member states as well as with the european commission in brussels to implement action going for them when they were mentioning the political impact just a moments ago let me ask you about the financial and economic impact on the u.k. . stocks tumbling the pound dropping what do you think is going to happen there what's your outlook i mean the big question i think is whether there is any into play with what's happening now on covidien bret's as 11 $1011.00 days left till the end of the year the government has been clear they're not going to request an extension to the transition there's a question as to whether or not a deal can be done and i think if you just think about the outlook you've got

christmas is being counseled a new strain of cove a risk if a no if your frets and in 10 days time i think all of those pressures are effectively creating the perfect storm but already have 2 very strong legs as of the weekend now there's a 3rd leg that's been introduced and i think that's what's driving a lot of the concern on the u.k. side of you is that deal will still likely be done deal is done i think will come together in the next few days be brought to 5 between christmas and new year if a deal is not done and then i suspect boris johnson the very very last moment and by this i mean 2930 the december may ask for an extension to the transition i don't think he'll do today but you know 6789 days from today if it's clear they can get an agreement on the substance maybe about point at the very last moment bill agree to want to prevent the cap if no deal back to the end of the right to most of our hon thank you we thank you very much for your time and speaking to us from london. now in south korea the capital seoul and its neighboring provinces the toughest

restrictions yet have been introduced there to try to contain a surge in corona virus infections the country is battling a 3rd wave of the virus with around a 1000 new cases every day rob mcbride reports from saw. the new restrictions will limit private gatherings to just 4 people and they're being introduced ahead of the year end 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 of 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 sole. the mutated strain of corona virus that's emerged in the u.k. has sparked concerns across the e.u. as you've been hearing with many countries isolating themselves from britain and dr priya sampath kumar is an infectious diseases specialist at the maya clinic in the u.s. she explains what we know so far about the 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 something 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 flyers causes more severe disease or exact the vaccine will be effective against the strain i think that's the good games if we start seeing a lot of cases in people who've been vaccinated i would be a signal that perhaps this mutation has made the vaccine less effective of but until we have enough people that's needed 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 with the with the virus the harder it is to contain so all of lockdowns or troubled restrictions i think will help slow the spread where the benefits all flee you know the risks to people of the economic fallout from this remains to be seen i think that is where the time being until we know i'm no more are some type of lockdown some type of restriction is a good idea points from our head on the al jazeera news hour including there in the middle of a pandemic but we'll hear why kenya doctors and nurses say very have got no choice but to go on strike there is 0 quake harker dozens of al jazeera journalists reportedly targeted in a foreign attack using sophisticated spyware and coming up in support later on the news hour we've got action from every stop diversion has to take a side face off. but

1st the round of unofficial talks to discuss the future of the 25th in iran nuclear deal is underway foreign ministers from iran russia china germany and the u.k. are holding a virtual meeting the deal to lift sanctions in exchange for limits to iran's nuclear program unraveled after the u.s. pulled out and $28.00 seen let's get an update from sources jobar issues joining us from tehran so what are the officials hoping to get out of this meeting or so. well this is the 1st time the foreign ministers will we meeting since the united states since iran actually reduced its compliance to the nuclear agreement in may of 2019 the last time these foreign ministers were together was in september of 2013 in new york so there's a lot for them to discuss not only the steps iran has taken to reduce its commitment but also the recent bill that was passed in parliament in the iran which

ensures that the country's nuclear agency will reduce compliance with the i.a.e.a. the additional protocols that they have signed up to voluntarily so those are some of the things that will be on the agenda but also there's a very important meeting it's a bi annual meeting held at the united nations security council on tuesday where the council will discuss compliance with the resolution that in shrines the oil as it is known so there's a lot for these foreign ministers to go over as since they haven't met for a while there's also the issue of everything that's happened in this time period over the past 2 years there is the issue of iran reducing its commitments and also the united states sanctions that have been imposed on iran the head of the i.a.e.a. who is in charge of policing this nuclear agreement rafael grossi has been speaking over the past week and he said that it's actually impossible for the incoming by.

an administration to go back to the nuclear deal as it stands now because going back to square one doesn't exist anymore that's where one is no longer and reality things have changed both within iran and also on the international level that a lot of diplomatic things have taken place since the agreement was signed in 2015 the director of the i.a.e.a. suggested that the only move way to move forward is to have an agreement within the agreement there's a lot of logistical issues that need to be sorted out on a political level before the 2050 nuclear deal can be completely revived so there is a sense of the iranian side that there won't be any negotiations under the terms of the remits itself the essence of the agreement is not offered renegotiation but there is hope as president hassan rouhani has said that the incoming biden administration will have some kind of understanding that the sanctions have to be lifted before iran can go back to compliance and the i.a.e.a. director has said that that is the only way to ensure nuclear security on the

global scale because it's very very important that this nuclear deal stay put as it stands but there has to be minor tweaks to it in the weeks ahead are of course i thank you very much for that update from to iran. rwanda has sent additional troops to the central african republic will act as a protection force for rwandan soldiers serving on a un peacekeeping mission the defense ministry says the peacekeepers have come under attack from rebels backed by former central african republic president francois. violence has been escalating ahead of planned elections doctors in kenya have joined other public health care workers on a nationwide strike they want better protection more effective equipment for treating kovan 1000 patients nurses and other half care workers began protesting earlier this month saying they won't stop until their demands are met but the government's warned they will be sacked if they don't return to work. joining us

from nairobi so what are their demands malcolm and how widespread is this action. has. started after 8 months of talks with your failed 2 weeks ago he started striking with me are the leader of the canyon national. park knackered what are the demands of. the demands of the doubt the very best and one of the big demand is that another the money for. jordan's government you did not have major when they think they have to take care of their own make a business we have got on fund raising they make the big 4 call it simplistic. life insurance when we our colleagues day their lives that. depend as i lived behind they have no one to complain that for them so that the young children that are left behind. them go to school when they're living let me just ask you how many of your

colleagues have died we have lost is up to 29 nothing. and all those to 9 massive we have a hard to raise fund raise to make the medical cost medical bills as. there is not in a for. almost compensation from from the government. we used to have. which was taken away with a view of establishing a comprehensive medical cover the lawyers are going to have live life insurance but the medical laws have been taken on the group like ensuring there's not that comprehensive medical cover is more that the government has said the striking health authorities should stop paying striking medical workers and their jobs should be. what he said what is important is that it is better for you not to go what can lose that job done to go on because you cannot have not predicting quick meant and when you fall sick you cannot afford your own services that you are

giving to the kenyan people it is a very reckless demand from that come to think that in judging this done to do it you got to kind of interested in the language. of the government and we have made very good progress in fact is that they we were supposed to have an agreement already done to them and the government had given us a particular office that we wanted to look at them on time but when we went for the meeting. i had made an announcement that all striking not another headline should be fired and let me just ask you about the corruption there's been corruption scandals around kenya's response that affected the safety of doctors and nurses there but i took some of this. while you can a medical supplies that is charged with that is the ability of supplying protective equipment is holding up to 6100000000 or one of the protective equipment that those who could mend i'm not bitching has facilities the country because of corruption those procurement of those protective equipment was so rude in practices

now we how much agency is there in the country investigating that but i'm just kind of outcomes that we have here is the we have the national assembly we have the senate all of them all these of the i will. there's the idea though you know it's getting comes and it means that for that there's $651000000001.00 of these cannot be released because they're going to send 'd over evidence and their whole canyon's going to you know stuff on days like that's going to go to supper billows of taxpayers' money is a road. which why do we cannot access the bus not protect the goodman this is how corruption is so similar in this country that you can't even steal from the time this deal from the what is supposed to protect us and in time protect the country it is so simple and we condemn this act of corruption not unlike the government this point of government to take. even i get a condition where this caught up doctors are taken to the courts they must face the full force of the law what would you say now to kenyans who have to are seeking

treatment and if they can't afford private health care services and now they can't get them publicly because of the strike what would you say to them my advice to going on the steps health very well take supplements when you feel you need medical care about the medical attention at this point. because facilities because there is no guess that is going on in all things in kenya about from one to you got ahead of us so i cannot imagine or thank you very much that was. the secretary general of the kenya national nurses union thank you. very much let's get a check on the weather now with rob. well gone past the solstice they're officially in summer so it should be warm and sunny shouldn't it well this is a particularly wet summer i have to say for australia with wet weather all way from the kimberley down through the middle is out of springs for you widespread shallow flooding and then towards the bottom right hand corner now the december rain

averages and he's $38.00 millimeters so is nor where they so obviously we've had 46 so far and there is more to come significant shower scene lighty be reviewed through northern territory going offshore in new south wales sydney sees the sun return for that circulation induces no i'm sure wind with cloud and rain for melbourne a disappointing summer so far for victoria so melbourne the back 18 degrees or so in the forecast alice springs gives you showers on tuesday wednesday and thursday temperatures well below the average 34 switch and about 22 members also below average that's the same extreme but i say that is disappointing 3 days of thunder storms or showers and probably quite breezy with it now let me take you through wednesday where new south wales sees the sunshine come out melbourne sees it return but look at the corona in perth for the breeze out the interior up to pretty help search you know and that's well above the average rob thank you very much was the lead on the al jazeera news hour a dangerous business why owners of

a letter store in iraq are living in fear plus how escaping covert in the city it led to bringing christmas that showed rent in rio de janeiro slums and in sports venues ice hockey fans have been waiting for details coming up later in the program . frank assessments you've got colleagues on the ground in the canaries what is the situation there is only one doctor and one nurse or $2200.00 people informed opinions how big does foreign policy they get in the early stages of a bi ministration he comes into office for the. huge about foreign policy experience in-depth analysis of the day's global headlines how will a place like you live get the backseat when there's no money at all the rest of rich countries are fighting for inside story on al-jazeera there is no channel that covers world news like we do as

a roaming correspondent i am constantly on the go covering topics from politics to conflict is left to environmental issues the scale of this camp is like nothing you've ever seen access to health care all we want to know is how do these things affect people we revisit places in states even when they're no international headlights. al-jazeera really invests in that and that's a privilege as a journalist. again you're with the news hour on al-jazeera here the top stories 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 mutation of corona virus identified in the u.k. that's believed to may be more contagious the european union is expected to approve its 1st coronavirus vaccine later on monday as infections continue to climb rapidly in parts of the continent and in south korea the government imposing its toughest restrictions yet affecting hof of the population foreign ministers from iran and russia china germany and the u.k. are holding a virtual meeting to discuss the future of the 2015 iran nuclear deal the agreement to lift sanctions in exchange for a limit to iran's nuclear program on raw mode after the u.s. pulled out in 2018. spyware sold by an israeli private intelligence for him has been used to hack the phones of dozens of al jazeera journalists that's according to citizen lab researchers at 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 and vesta gaiters say mobile phones were infiltrated with malicious codes which uploaded data onto foreign servers let's now speak to. an al jazeera investigative journalist he's joining us from doha tom and thanks for your time so this alleged hack was discovered after you launched an investigation with citizen lab talk us through what you discovered and what prompted that investigation thank you the. yes we started this investigation last january it wasn't an easy one it was very complicated we put forth that we are using in our investigation a broader mahaffey of them tip of the us back on monitoring and tracking incorporation with the we'll known canadian citizen lab we brought this phone after we received threats on this phone from different numbers unknown numbers and through even different applications threatening us to hack our phones after

sensitive issues we were investigating it was a program we bought this phone and we start to investigate this issue in july last july in 1000 of july we received an urgent call from cities a lab saying that our phone has been hacked and in terms of time the interesting point here during the this in this hacking just came after we published a story in july and investigation a program on the story of the we'll known indian investor and businessman be a shitty who has who are 6 came from you he had a scandal there and we has been hacked through this by this phone after we had our phone has been had immediately after we published this investigation and they threw this form we called in this investigation we called and marty official

barty's and none of fishel bodies are from this phone to give them the right offer blood on our investigation and be our shitty story and the other interesting buoyant in this there in that it has been hacked by a technique and the spy work we'll known by word is called biggest as a technique 0 click because through the timing of observing and tracking our phone we didn't to click on any suspicious link but by this. technique you don't need to click on any suspicious link they managed to hurt our phones by a 0 click technique based on the city's a love interest a geisha and the searches you simply allegation is that this could have been ordered by saudi arabia and the united arab emirates i mean how was that conclusion reached and how do you go about discovering that this is based on then fist a geisha and the searches and the database and analysts is of citizen love who they discovered 1st 1st the biggest by were in 2016 and the full of different cases

and they are specialized in this in this field and we follow through follow with them with their interesting geishas and that are based on the comparison with other . took place before. very important point in this hurting that wasn't just our phone in the program we'll have the other device but we discovered the same technique and the same as my work has been used to hurt and on the other 36 leagues in the new to work so it was a come bin and it was a different ways of hurting and different targets and different numbers and phones idea of what is the message you think behind the hacking and what do you think is the impact on journalists like yourself and the other 36 colleagues that al-jazeera when they are hacked and when private information is effectively weaponized. simply

we doing our professional work we are journalists we are investigating different issues is this is the reason or justification to be the prize to be had and the other think that the aftermath and the consequences of this hacking is very dangerous they are they are controlling good fun they can access any application they can control the cameras and they can listen to the meetings that everything by because we booked this phone tracking and observe ation we managed to discover this in its time and to avoid any leaking of our informations and our important information regarding our work and other cases we investigating in this investigation we investigate the case of a journalist based in london she discovered after at least 8 to 9 months so for 9 months they managed to hack and swung her phones and all of the content of her

phones so it's very dangerous in some cases we have journalists have been disability after being hacked and on the phones we have jonah's have been killed and we have a case of a journalist have been arrested the consequence is very dangerous and its evolution of human rights and it's a crime against journalism we were investigating a story that to expose it to the audience right and in the end unfortunately we moved to be a victim ok cameron that's how we thank you very much for speaking to us thank you . our u.s. congressional leaders have agreed on $100000000000.00 coronavirus relief package they extended federal funding to give themselves more time to finalize the deal and prevent a government shutdown or kastor reports 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 final 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 and 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 essential 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 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 an empty rocket system set up to defend the u.s. embassy is said to have thwarted most of the rockets and staying in iraq the government is investigating a rise in attacks on shops selling alcohol in the capital baghdad at least one person has been killed christians say they are being targeted and are calling for better protection charles stratford reports from baghdad. he works in the small liquor store in central baghdad every month he sends the money he earns to his family of 10 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 who was later everyone is afraid that tax custom of the scared to come in the shop is only for the money for me and my family i have a life in the police when it's protecting me. the same consumption of alcohol is not illegal in iraq but shops like these which are popular with the christian uneasy 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 sinks 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 that the attacks of caused an increasing resentment especially among the religious minority communities in baghdad. the owner's 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 coffee 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 off feeling in their security measures. he says many have his fellow drink shop owners are too afraid to open their businesses he has no idea why the attacks started or when they will stop. baghdad attacks and kidnappings by armed groups are crippling farmer farming and other economic activities in northwest nigeria it's estimated

output has dropped by as much as 60 percent. reports from katsina where hundreds of schoolchildren were recently abducted. in north western nigeria where armed bandits room free mosque barrios are regularly event hardly a day passes without an attack on a village 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 towns of trying to control this the loss of money hours by a family that cannot access their farms the loss of what you booze the loss of cotton the loss of means of livelihood people who cannot accept their farms the quantum is better 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 bandits 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 can pump about $10.00 to $20.00 heck that's what this is cutie dickon would be able to fund their farms and it wondered. who are about to. go to bed last 2 to be up to 5 hectares there where earth would be important 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 comedy drees al-jazeera northwest nigeria the pandemic is making an already bad situation worse in brazil slums amid record unemployment levels on the recession people who are already poor are growing increasingly desperate yet as monica reports an activist and rio de janeiro's fellows as

ensuring that hundreds of children still get to celebrate christmas. in the middle of the couvade 19 pandemic when the national parks were closed locals in rio de janeiro started looking for hidden friends far from the crowded beaches. they discovered mountain paths overlooking some of reals most breathtaking science . the entry to the forest is to the bob good morning a slum named after the last hanging gardens of the ancient city of babylon. activist. sub this is an opportunity to help people living you're facing poverty recession and record 14 percent unemployment. when hundreds of people suddenly started showing up looking for our secluded trails we decided to

train local guides to steer visitors from then it's not just about getting lost it's about taking the wrong way and walking into a shoe talk between drug dealers fighting for territory. now i didn't lose hope in santa claus find his way to the neighborhood giving 200 children the chance of celebrating a christmas their families cannot afford. like many years sabrina lost her job during the pandemic she says she's lucky to be working as a guide for a booming slum tour business and also as one of his santa's helpers. besides unemployment there's inflation prices of stable goods have doubled or tripled we have to fight a new battle each day. sponsors helped by the food in presence the children were divided in 3 color coded groups to avoid overcrowding but keeping them socially distant proved to be almost impossible to get we almost canceled the party but then

thought it over in the midst of so much death and misery is a chance for young ones to celebrate life. because she used to work in a restaurant by the beach which has reopened but she's staying at home because her one year old son has chronic bronchitis her only source of income is the government's monthly $60.00 financially and that will probably end long before the vaccine arrives when i come in my mom if the government cancels the handouts at the end of the year i'll have no choice but to get a job any job no matter the risk brazil has the world's 2nd largest number of kuvin 1000 related deaths and fictions are once again spiking especially in rio de janeiro people year say they hold the vaccine will reach the babilonia slum before next year's christmas but they are also realistic they say pharmaceutical companies are much like santa claus will start distributing vaccines in the richer countries

of the north and take a very long time before reaching the poor neighborhoods of south america monica and not give al-jazeera to rio de janeiro or up on the news hour sports there's tiger was in the sun or in action on the golf course peter storrie just moments they would. play . play. play. play. play.

play. the toughest part says hi peter regular rain football star has the honor and elder

has added yet another honor to he's collection the event is forward picked up a golden foot award a lifetime achievement accolade created in 2334 by fans via the internet interesting legally and all messi has never won the prize with an elbow joining the ranks of previous winners such as roberta badger ronald denio and samuel eto and it's hard to argue against the 35 year old spot among them but has had a glittering club career winning top division crowns in england spain and italy and the champions league 5 times he's even had success at international level having won the european championship and you a for nations league with portugal the ballon d'or one of football's most prestigious individual honors has also gone through an elder on 5 occasions. but it's a good honor it's something that i i suspect so when when they. you know this award it's if you see. this awards the legends out there receive this

award they're very important so i'm glad. to receive this award at the 1st one in my and my museum and i'm so happy roman road of going level on points of the top of the leader with 30 rivals atlético. beat a bar 31 away on sunday it was their 4th league win in a room they have however played 2 games more than atletico who lead them on goal difference. we controlled overall game and that's part of football of course we're very happy with our victory and we keep winning and carry on we have to rest up and think on our next game now police have crashed to their 2nd straight defeat you need city's top division 1st placed side to miss the chance to finish this round of games in the top 4 as they went down to no on sunday against a lot c.-o. who are now 8th in the table chito immobile

a and luis alberto schooling the goals for the road. tottenham of also slum to a 2nd league defeat in a row jersey marine years team went down at home to know against leicester city who now leapfrog them in the table the foxes have moved up to 2nd place while spurs drop down to 5th i'm frustrated when i lose but it is not like there is. there is a target that cannot be achieved our target is to win the next match and the result of the previous matches they don't interfere in our target for the next match the next match we want to win like we want you to win today. manchester united are up to 3rd just a point behind leicester that's after a $62.00 win over leeds scott mccartney and bruno fernandez both schooled 2 goals each for the 1st time since 2008 the new england patriots will not play in the n.f.l.

playoffs the patriots were beaten $2212.00 by the miami dolphins on sunday it means they recalled run of 11 consecutive playoff appearances will come to an end and with 8 defeats it means they cannot finish with a winning record of the season either as a result of fall just one year short of dallas cowboys' record of 20 straight winning seasons patriots old boy tom brady ladies new team the tampa bay buccaneers to a 3127 win over the atlanta falcons for their 9th win of the campaign or the new york jets picked up their 1st win of the season at the 14th time of asking with a $2320.00 win over the los angeles rams the new n.h.l. season will begin on january 13th and will consist of a shortened $56.00 game regular season because of the coronavirus the league and players union agreed to a deal on sunday that will see the stanley cup playoffs conclude in july that will allow the following season to start at its usual time in october the most recent n.h.l. season was interrupted by covert 19 it was eventually completed in bio secure bubbles

in canada women's world number one golfer jean young coeds powered away to victory at the c.m.e. group 2 a championship coated in fine style 2 on sunday a south korean shot an impressive final round 6 under par 66 to finish 5 strokes clear of hannah green and say young kim and just for good measure her finish with a birdie on the final hope it's a 7th career out p.g.a. tour title for the 25 year old. tiger woods and his 11 year old son charlie had the support of many going into the final round of the p.m.c. championship but it was not to be for the woods do young charlie certainly caught the eye for the striking similarity swinging ways to that of its famous father and it's not just the swing take a look at the way he punches the air in celebration and we've certainly seen that somewhere before you go that they were not able to win the event but inevitably they were comparisons between the youngster any when he was the same age

well i don't think that i've done anything different than how i was raised with my dad and. this and joy and and join the experience of being out there together and you know we didn't. and we'll finish with some pictures for you from a kite boarding competition in spain gran canaria was the venue for open european championships strong winds helped the competitors reach speeds of nearly 75 kilometers per hour france's 2. 1 of the men's open the vision the overall title of the women's when it was britain's aldridge boarding will be included at the olympic games in 2024 in paris. that's all the sports news from will be here again with more ok we'll see you later peter thank you very much sir for that and thanks for watching the news hour on al-jazeera now stanzi as we were just a moment we'll have much more of the day's news and all the top stories coming up

just there with al jazeera. following 2 fatal crashes and the past year bowen decided to brown the brand new 7 through 7 max but this wasn't the 1st time that grounded a new craft back in 2013 the 77 dreamliner back into trouble when a battery caught fire but is out of the us investigative unit discovered there was more to the problem than just smoking batteries. rewind broken during the boeing 787 on al-jazeera. the new delhi take advantage of the relatively clean

air after weeks of toxic small stopped people from venturing outside institutions including harvard say air pollution is leading to more severe cases of the coronavirus and more deaths from it and nowhere and india is situation worse than daddy but not. of q. says auto record by desperate situation of the indian government set up a new commission to monitor sources of pollution across 5 known for d. the state's health experts and bob mentioned this and been warning for months that the easing of the lockdown would lead to an increase in pollution and the impact that would have on those because of the 19. obvious reason france. these are my grandparents. these are my parents and this is mean. by them both isis and the us are. the 2nd of a 2 part epic tale of

a remarkable simon. the father the son and the jihad. on al-jazeera. a mutation strain of the coronavirus up ends travel plans for deliveries and financial markets only days before christmas. i know that i missed all the attain this is al jazeera life and also coming up this latest crisis began in the u.k. but has quickly led to border closures and new travel restrictions stretching far beyond here. the time oil comes out the european union is on the verge of giving its 1st approval to a coronavirus vaccine. and on the.