can divide 2 part epic tale of remarkable. the father the son and the jihad. to my own 20. a mutation strain of the coronavirus up ends travel plans food 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 appear on a virus vaccine. and on the other side of the well south korea puts off of its

population on the increased prescriptions as that country bottles this in case it's . called concerns are growing wild wide mutated variant of the corona virus in the u.k. british scientists said on wednesday the strain is more contagious than previous ones and is responsible for it for a surge of infections in and around london now it took a few days before governments around the world reacted to this news but when they did the action was swift the netherlands announced a flight ban around midday on sunday within al is more than a dozen countries followed the cussing will severely restricting travel links with the u.k. but these bans vary enormously now france has shut its border to britain for 48 hours although that can be extended and germany will review its travel ban on december 31st saudi arabia has gone even further suspend. all international flights

for a week and not just those to and from the u.k. but the world's west had country the united states has taken no measures so far an approach that some state officials are criticizing all we've got steadfast in standing by for us in amsterdam to bring you all the latest on the race for vaccines bennett smith is in paris with more on those border close as for us but 1st let's go to maidstone in kent with laurie chalons where it does seem that there's a bit of a nest developing but the french suggesting that this may ease up soon. yet is certainly a match just because you know it will very much do until the real mess comes along and actually that real mess is just around the corner with no deal brecht's it looming i think the u.k. at the moment is feeling more lonely more isolated and more atomized than i can remember in my lifetime and that's saying something considering the state of 2020 this is the m 20 motorway it's one of the arteries coming out of london heading

down towards the the channel ports you might be able to see yellow flashing light just up there saying. to france closed now when truckers and lorry drivers get further down this motorway they will find much of it is shut down to access into the economy she gets to the so the channel ports are told we have a situation where you know we've got christmas coming up. much of london in the southeast is cut off from the rest of the country you have the u.k. now cut off from much of europe and real questions about whether the u.k. can adequately supply itself with the things it needs like food and i'm other supplies the government of the moment is saying that it doesn't have an immediate problem and the french are saying that they would like to get this resolved in the coming hours by establishing new sanitary protocols but we don't know yet what that means who are you mentioned. britain being the most isolated it's been in your

lifetime i imagine brits are feeling very isolated themselves given the restrictions in the lead up to christmas how is everyone coping over. well i think with grim humor at the moment if you go online and on twitter or whatever you'll find countless meetings over christmas being councils you know and islands up directed islands that you can get off but behind that humor there is genuine concern at the moment this is not actually impacting on what they are but i mean by this i mean the the the closure of over transport links to the front so actually impacting on the supply of food or or or supplies parts it could do over the coming days and if that happens then the mood i think will turn very sour indeed i think it's it's certainly playing into the fear of brick sets and what that means for the for the new year and there are people nicholas sturgeon the 1st minister of

scotland for example who is saying look this is a real crisis that. and in a crisis what you have to do is offer more time in the u.k. should go to europe and say that the brits had to go she ation should be given more time by extending the transition period but they haven't done anything like that yet or a challenge that in maidstone and kent keeping an eye on all that logistical chaos for us thanks very much for a while let's now get the perspective from the other side of the english channel ben and smith is in paris for us but how is france and the rest of europe viewing all of this as it plays out. well france has imposed this 48 hour travel ban between france in the united kingdom that includes passengers and freight and it's dumb while europe tries to come to some sort of coordinated response to this new mutation that's been discovered in the u.k. france hopes that in the next coming hours it europe minister of industry minister

said they hoped in they'll be sanitary protocols agreed in the coming hours to allow the resumption of traffic flows with the u.k. and the european affairs minister clamor bone he said that he hopes it'll be possible for french people living in london or living in the u.k. to come back to france for christmas after this 48 hour period is over but they should get themselves a p.c.r. covert test in the interim because he says that will surely be one of the requirements before you can come back into france should also say though that this need since this new strain the french health minister says it hasn't been detected here in france but it could well already behave because of course the people travelling back and forth from continental europe to the u.k. before this ban was put in place of course and it does appear to be popping up around the world bennett smith there for us in the french capital thanks very much bennett. step vasant joins me now from amsterdam where the european medicines

agency is counting meeting to discuss vaccine approvals step i guess the big question that everyone wants to know the answer to is when at when will the e.u. see a vaccine actually being rolled out. exactly in around 3 hours from now we will find out we hope to hear the approval by the european medicine agency that happening in meeting here 8 days earlier than initially well supplants because of the pressure coming from germany and other european countries hundreds of millions of europeans are eagerly waiting for this vaccine while europe is going through this very serious. kum to weight off infections there has been this delay because u.k. of course and the u.s. and canada and other countries have been vaccinated already with this by intact fly so in fact sea but the european agency said we are doing a more thorough really and we are basing our decision on more effort and so if we have a good decision it's legally biting it's

a thorough decision you can be sure that effect is safe and i have to say this because a lot of people here in europe especially also in the netherlands a very reluctant to be vaccinated and very worried about the hasty procedures they're worried about side effects so that's why the european union has taken its time but as soon as the approval comes at the european union we'll have an awful recession probably 3 days from now which means that the rollout can start and the countries like germany and france are eager to start already fractionating on sunday the netherlands are a bit behind with a couple of weeks out to come to these also following through but they want to have to score donated strategy to vaccinate 450000000 people here in the european union which will be the largest vaccination campaign since a long time here in the in europe or a very big job indeed step fastened they keeping an eye on the european medicines agency meeting for us leaving you with the latest on that on out there thanks to.

well as i was saying earlier across the wild in south korea the capital seoul and its neighboring provinces the toughest restrictions yet have been introduced to try to contain an uptick in corona virus infections that the country is battling a surge of the virus with around a 1000 new cases every day probably fried reports from still. the new restrictions will limit private gatherings to just 4 people and they're being introduced ahead of the year end holiday season how drop from your 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 sole. well still ahead here on al-jazeera as 0 click dozens of al jazeera journalists reportedly targeted in a phone attack using sophisticated spy away. plus how escaping climate in the city

led to bringing christmas to children in rio de janiero strong. ok stop snowing that extreme cold that brought huge amounts of snow to japan almost has gone nice not as extreme as it was clearly it is subzero in fact a foster can harbor but not by many degrees and the wind direction has not changed or eased so if anything it a few showers of rain on the coast of honshu this martin do something that was saw the avalanche risk will be high western honshu in parts of our current but the most part it's just slightly less cold now there is still a corridor that the form of the cold air is enhanced the rain over taiwan and in southern china a lot to get i think encroaching cloud and rain which won't do much good for hong

kong the forecast for hong kong was a disappointing ones 3 days of breezy weather the rain carries on till thursday evening about 18 degrees could do better about $21.00 this time here would be nice to feel as it would be in furnaces and you might get it briefly in the middle the day but the whole of northern india if you're living outside this is the wrong time of the year for it is foggy and it's cold wouldn't a low single figures by not this doesn't really tell the whole story but the weather remains quite in northern india the only rain is just simply catching the far side or more likely it's in sri lanka. frank assessments you've got colleagues on the ground in the canaries what is the situation there's only one doctor and one nurse for $2200.00 people informed opinions how big does foreign policy figure in the early stages of a bi ministration he comes into office with a huge amount of foreign policy experience in-depth analysis of the day's global

headlines how will a place like good luck get the back seat when there's no money at all the rest of rich countries are fighting for an inside story on al-jazeera. the a. slogan and let's remind you of our top stories this hour a growing number of countries are banning or restricting travel to and from the united kingdom in trying to stop the spread of a mutation of the corona virus that's been identified in the u.k. it's also believed to be more contagious. the european union is expected to approve its fast corona virus vaccine later on monday as infections continue to climb

rapidly in parts of the continent and in south korea the government there is imposing its toughest restrictions yet affecting half of the population. was even saying this mutated strain of the corona virus that's emerged in the u.k. has sparked concerns across the e.u. many countries isolation ourselves from bresson dr frist some is an infectious disease a specialist at the mayo clinic in the us she explains just what we know so far about this ferry and. 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 virus causes more severe disease or exact the vaccine

will be active against the strain i think that's the good news 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 outweigh the you know the risks to people of the economic fallout from this remains to be seen i think that it's worth the time being until we know him no more. will flop down some type of distraction is a good day the. round of unofficial talks to discuss the future of the 25th and

ironically day out is underway foreign ministers from iran russia china germany and the u.k. are holding about 20 thing the deal to lift sanctions in exchange for limits to iran's nuclear program unraveled after the u.s. pulled out back in 2018 our correspondent also job ari has more from tehran. the last time these foreign ministers were together was in september of 2013 in new york so there is 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 iran which ensures that the country's nuclear agency will reduce compliance with 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 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 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 equipment 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 director has said that that is

the only way to ensure nuclear security on the global scale. spyware sold by an israeli private intelligence family has been used to hack the phones of dozens of al jazeera journalists that's according to sources and blabber 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 codes which then uploaded deshaun to foreign service. mashal as an al jazeera investigative journalist he explained that with the help of citizen lab his team began monitoring their phones after receiving threats this hacking just came after we published a story in july an interest again on the story of the will norton indian investor and businessman b r city who has who are the from you after

a scandal there in this investigation we called mahratti official both of these are none of these are from this phone to give them the right offer blood on our interest to give the story and the other interesting buoyant in this that it has been hurt by a technique and the spy work we'll known by word is called biggest was a technique 0 click because through the timing of observing the tracking our phone we didn't to click on any suspicious link but by this technique you didn't need to click on any suspicious link they managed to hurt our phones click technique based on the citizen love investigation and the searches we discovered the same technique and the same is by word has been used to hurt and on the other 36 colleagues in the new to work so it was a come bin and it was

a different ways of perking and different targets and different numbers and phones . when u.s. congressional leaders have agreed on a $900000000000.00 coronavirus relief package they also extended federal funding to give themselves more time to finalize the deal and prevent a government shutdown how does your cast your 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 find a report on 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 different 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 15 years 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 backseat 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 your castro al-jazeera washington. stargazers are being treated to a once in a lifetime celestial event as jupiter and saturn make their closest alignment since

the 17th century the 2 largest planets in our solar system have been inching closer together since september culminating in what's known as the great conjunction well they do pass one another every 20 years or so as they circle the sun jupiter and saturn haven't been this closely aligned in the night sky for centuries well let's go to tony chang who is in charge young people are watching this event at the 2nd largest observatory in thailand tony it does feel like a rather special night what should people be expecting to see. well for the 1st time if you look to the south worse that should be seen in most places around the globe if you look up to the southwest belt of 15 degree angle you can see with the naked eye the 2 planets coming together and they appear as one star the last time this happened was in $1623.00 but astronomers think that this may be what is referred to in the bible as the star of bethlehem or the or the

christmas star because of an occurrence in 7 b.c. astronomers we were with us them being caught we're getting very excited we were able to see it with the naked eye but you get a much better view looking through a telescope and you they were saying i could see it myself that you could see the rings of saturn but it is as you say you were it's not just a once in a lifetime occasion it's once in 7 lifetimes the next time is it's going to be as bright as this is in 400 years so if you get a chance head out in the night and see if you can spot that absolutely we will be doing that all around the hour the tiny chang there and as an observatory in thailand keeping an eye on the night sky for us thanks so much. on our returning to the corona virus pandemic and doctors in kenya have joined other public health care workers they're on a nationwide strike they want better protection and more effective equipment for treating covert 19 nurses and other health care workers began protesting earlier

this month saying they won't stop until their demands are met and the government has warned they'll be sacked if they don't return to whack. well the pandemic is already making a bad situation west and brazil slums amid record unemployment levels and the recession those already facing poverty are growing increasingly desperate yet as one again have reports an activist in rio de janeiro's for vallas is ensuring that hundreds of children will still get to celebrate christmas. in the middle of the couvade 19 pandemic when national parks were closed locals in rio de janeiro started looking for hidden trails far from the crowded beaches. they discovered mountain paths overlooking some of real's most breathtaking science. the entry to the forest is through the bubbly 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 runs back i mean 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 hope the vaccine will reach the babi morning asylum before next year's christmas but they're 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 point neighborhoods of south america monica. all just sirrah the rio de janeiro. wasn't good news and after almost a century a restored wetland in north east zambia is once again home to cheetahs 3 of the cats were relocated from south africa and released into the bank where when a wetlands changes haven't been seen in the pot for decades due to the poaching of habitat loss but it's hoped that their reintroduction will help the dwindling

numbers around 7000 to exist in the wilds. don't forget you can always find much more on our website including all the latest on that new series had strain of the current virus and all the chaos that's causing that's al-jazeera dot com. this is al-jazeera and these are the headlines 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 the krajina virus identified in the u.k. that's believed may be more contagious or a challenge the latest from maidstone and can't we have a situation where you know we've got christmas coming up much of london in the southeast is cut off from the rest of the country you have the u.k. now cut off from much of europe and real questions about whether the u.k.

can adequately supply itself with the things that leads like food and other supplies the government of the moment is saying that it doesn't have an immediate problem and the french are saying that they would like to get this resolved in the coming hours by establishing new sanitary protocols we don't know yet what that means on the continent the european union is expected to approve its 1st coronavirus vaccine later on monday as infections continue to climb rapidly and on the other side of the wild in south korea the government there is imposing its toughest restrictions yet affecting half of the population from the bride has more from sell. these measures will come into force 2 days from now when it will limit private gatherings of people either indoors or outdoors to basically 4 people and no more than that these at least toughest restrictions that we've seen being put in place there obviously being put in place now because there's a real concern about family gatherings full.