that policy from the government to reduce emissions without this situation and they get worse. flights canceled and borders closed the u.k. becomes increasingly isolated as dozens of countries scramble to prevent the spread of a contagious strain of the coronavirus. alarms the whole romany watching al-jazeera live my headquarters here in doha coming up in the next 30 minutes health regulators in europe approve the pfizer vaccine for distribution but warn it won't be the silver bullet to end the pandemic. on the other side of the world south korea puts half its population into increased restrictions as the country battles a surge in coronavirus cases. and

a so-called plan a trick kiss as jupiter and saturn get the closest in 400 years. into the program more countries are shutting their doors to the united kingdom due to a mutated strain of corona virus that's been identified british scientists say the strain is more contagious than previously thought although it's not believed to be more deadly but that didn't stop governments around the world from taking swift action response to the news russia india and hong kong are the latest to join the growing list of nations banning flights from the u.k. the move came after some of britain's closest allies including germany italy and france imposed similar bans saudi arabia oman in kuwait went even further suspending all international flights not just those 2 and. from britain these

border closures mean that trading across the u.k. has effectively ground to hold trucks carrying essential goods to and from mainland europe are stuck because ferry ports are shut and tunnels won't let them through one of the u.k.'s largest supermarket chains is warning that if this continues they may run out of food to sell especially items with a short shelf life concerns over the mutated strain also said european stocks tumbling when markets opened earlier on monday wiping billions of dollars in value off british companies all of this comes as the u.k. teeters on the edge of a new deal breaks it with less than 10 days left for both sides to reach a trade deal let's cross over to london now and speak to a chorus but i said baggies are standing by us a travel bans into europe impacting on road rail and air links on both sides of the channel it's not really looking good at all for the u.k. and for its neighbors. not all or around 30 countries now stopping u.k. flights coming in u.k. passengers the 20 over 20000000 people in the u.k.

are under this tier 4 which is essentially a lockdown all non-essential businesses are closed and that warning from supermarkets saying that if this continues that they stocks could be affected now the government has told people not to panic buy that carry on as normal but it's difficult to see how people will do that considering the situation if you look at those cues that go back for miles and miles as francis closed the border to the united kingdom the people of very concerned and especially since the u.k. government announced that news about the fast spreading new strain of the virus but that virus has been present in the u.k. since september but now it's believed that virus is around 70 percent more infectious and that it's accounting for a considerable number of new infections in the u.k. now yesterday there were 30 of over 35000 new infections now that's double what it

was 7 days previously now we know that our stance and promised surprise johnson is heading the cobra meeting which is a decision making meeting that takes place with as a high level meeting that takes place that time of crisis and we expect to hear from him later book currently around 20000000 people essentially in the lock down and travel even in and out of scotland for example is banned and people not really allowed to leave the country for the thanks very much as a bag for a son in london new said thank. well let's take a closer look at the 30 or so countries and territories which have imposed bans all restrictions on the u.k. transport well the list includes european neighbors like friends island and germany as well as places further afield like hong kong israel and chile the band last for a minimum of 48 hours up to the end of january next year and in the past few hours spain and portugal of also suspended flights from the u.k.

except for spanish nationals and residents chalons is following developments from dover in southern england where traffic is gridlocked we have seen throughout this weekend actually going into monday pictures on british t.v. lorries backed up from the channel ports all the way up the motorways for many many kilometers now that was happening already before this travel ban was brought in by many european countries and it was happening because british companies in anticipation of a possible no deal brecht's it at the end of the month were starting to stockpile and get themselves as ready as they could possibly be then you add on top of it this new announcement from the french and from other european countries but the french particularly because it's them that are stops the transportation of. the company freight across the channel that has meant there is even more gridlock on

the roads now and big questions over whether the u.k. can supply itself with food and medicines of course that it needs over the coming days now the government grant shapps the transport secretary says that there isn't an acute problem now but of course if this goes on for many more days there might well be a. meanwhile the european medicines agency have given the green light to the current virus vaccine developed by pfizer and biotech the decision comes weeks after the shot was 1st authorized in britain and the us we know a lot more about this disease now than we knew 10 months ago even more than we knew that 3 months ago but we're still there is still new information coming in and this needs to be fully assess back seeing alone will not be the silver bullet that will allow us to return to normal life but the authorization of this 1st vaccine is definitely

a major step in the right direction and an indication that 2021 can be brighter than 2020 starbucks and he's covering this for us from the european medicines agency announced at our. there was a lot of pressure for at least 450000000 people here in the european union to get this vaccine as soon as possible but despite the pressure on this by the fact that they actually moved this meeting 8 days forward on the pressure from germany they sat the whole the station was based on science there was no political consideration that's why all the 27 member states have waited for this approval what happens next is that in the next few days profitably by wednesday there will be this so-called marketing authorization coming from the european commission which means that the rollout can start then the fact scene will travel to all the countries in the european union but some are way ahead of us in the appropriateness of for example

germany has put up these large vaccination santas already they want to start on sunday already france has the same planning but other countries like the nat'l as they don't have to infrastructure nor are there i t. in order because just needs to be a properly prepared everyone needs to vaccine so everyone needs to be registered and followed very carefully so it needs a lot of for preparations and some countries to we haven't done that yet so it will be a huge operation 1st the medical personnel will be inoculated that elderly people that some a common strategy here in the whole of europe the out of people like the healthy people will only be inoculated probably only by may june july so this whole operation will would at least take a month or even more. in south korea the capital seoul and its neighboring provinces the toughest restrictions yet have been introduced to try to contain a surge in corona virus infections but the country is battling a 3rd wave of the virus for the round

a 1000 new cases every day but what bright has more from seoul. 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 in 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 rob mcbride al-jazeera sole. 32 years after a bomb attack took down a jet over lockerbie scotland the u.s. justice department has charged a new suspect the department accuses mohammad masood of making the bomb that blew up the pan am flight 103 in 1988 masood is a former libyan intelligence officer he reportedly is in custody in libya now the u.s. wants to extradite him 270 people were killed in the attack most of them americans

elevation the very latest on this breaking story how surprised should we be at this announcement allan. well the justice department here in the united states say that they continue to cooperate with their colleagues in the united kingdom and they pursue any lead that is given to them they say that this man was arrested in libya and during the interview when he was being accused of bomb making there it became clear that he may have been involved in the lockerbie bombing they passed that information to the scottish police in the 1st instance and then to the apartment of justice and the department of justice has no made the decision to charge him with terrorism related offenses given that he's in custody in libya at the moment the americans are pretty confident that they'll be able to extradite him and say that he should be able to face justice here in the united states and it's interesting to know that 3 people know in total have been charged with the bombing at lockerbie famously that guy here he was convicted by a special hearing of

a scottish court which was held in the netherlands he was released on medical grounds in 2009 and died in libya in 2012 also a charge next to him was for fema no it is alleged that mcgrath he and khalifa fhimah did together to take down the bomber the plane over lockerbie but when the charges were dismissed against khalifa fhimah many people thought that the conspiracy charges against mcgrath also failed and the guy he maintained his innocence he's dying day of course the americans are saying that this bomb was created in a store in malta mcgrath on his deathbed said he swore that he'd never actually been in that store there are others who have lost relatives at lockerbie who suggest that the libyans were never behind this jim swire famously lost his daughter and has campaigned for 32 years for justice says that the u.s. and the u.k.

governments have hidden the truth that it was actually the iranians behind the bombing and that they should be truthful with us and the. other members who lost family members on this day 32 years ago who see that the american should not be using this day to make political capital that they didn't have to pick the anniversary and go into so much detail particularly about the scattering of the fragments of the bombs but as far as the united states are concerned there is no escape from justice they have named this man as the bomb maker behind it they taking down of that flight over lockerbie 32 years ago and they are convinced he will be extradited and will face justice in an american court and officials in washington d.c. thank you but still ahead here on al-jazeera a 0 click hack dozens of al jazeera journalists reportedly targeted in a phone attack using sophisticated spyware.

there's loads of snow the ground as you know in japan but it's stopped falling the wind has edged off its changed direction if anything you'll get a risk for avalanche because the rain showers are allowed to come in and temperatures are rising stars cause it was in the north east of china nor indeed in central china where the sun has come out further south not quite the same with the tilt in this general flow you've got more of an onshore breeze for southern china which means hong kong's weather will be as good as you might like 3 days of cloudy weather some sunshine coming out by the end of the week now if you want to see of course jupiter and saturn tonight you want clear skies they won't be everywhere as they certainly not be very much visible in malaysia and indonesia and this massive cloud here the tropical depression giving flood risk likely for it's really for the it now both the east and the south it will disperse or the next day or so the same

story exists in northern india and northern pakistan actually persistent fog which means it gets pretty cold every woman's up by day that says briefly 21 degrees in very nasty way down to 6 to 7 so if you live on the streets it is cold and there's no real change the next day or so the focus of the delhi confirms much the same 3 days of fog. what is that they've been doing with the money the little boy we bring you the stories and developments that are rapidly changing the world we live in argentina's congress is debating a bill seeking to raise billions of dollars for the super rich poor families hit hard by the damage counting the cost on al-jazeera. we know what's happening you know we generally know how to get there they feel that others cannot fire is this

going on the way they can tell the story isn't what can make a difference. talk about you want to launch is a reminder of our top stories a growing list of countries is banning all restricting flights from the u.k. as a mutated strain of the corona virus spreads spain and portugal are the latest to join the group of around 30 nations also european union health regulators have approved the last 1st coronavirus vaccine developed by pfizer. it now goes to the european commission for confirmation before it can be delivered across all the member states and 32 years after a bomb attack took down a jet over lockerbie scotland the u.s.

justice department has charged a new suspect the department plays to charges in our board. for making the bomb that blew up the pan a jet in 1988. more now the growing concerns about of mutated strain of krona viruses emerged in the u.k. victoria b. looks at what's being discussed on social media. there is plenty of reaction online the hashtags to for u.k. lockdown and heathrow are among those that have been trending closures and travel restrictions resulted in chaotic scenes at london's heathrow airport one uses shed this video of queues outside one of the terminals as more countries and now nst flight bans here's what some passengers had to say. it's not a lot of people travelling obviously it's kind of weird it's actually a little bit easier to get. the restrictions on travels a lot harder stuff to see family basically i have been here last year the

same here as a visitor and. i'm. confused at this time we've given out i'm here at one point in december security situation is totally different it's hard time. it was a similar picture at some pancras railway station in london one user tweeting that in their opinion eurostar social distancing was a joke business is that expose seafood across the continent all sounding the alarm bells about the impact of cave in 1000 and bricks it suggesting they may not survive much longer many people in the u.k. have been criticizing prime minister boris johnson's response to the pandemic with some even questioning the new strain bought in one of his most recent tweets johnson said it was his duty to take the difficult decisions to protect people in the u.k. . 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're being targeted so they're calling for

better protection which has more 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 running the 2nd the store in baghdad no one has claimed responsibility for any of the attacks and no one has been brought to justice a lot of later this everyone's afraid we don't know who's committing these attacks customers are scared to come to the shop and this is the only source of money for me and my family. the same in consumption of alcohol is not illegal in iraq but shops like these which a 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 toward his ethnic and religious minorities. there are signs that may be changing this man who's 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 though that 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 there 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 failing 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 attack started or when they

will stop. baghdad a round of an official talks to discuss the future of the 2015 iran nuclear deal has wrapped up at the virtual meeting foreign ministers from iran russia china germany and the u.k. as well as the e.u. committed to working towards the full implementation of the agreement the deal to lift sanctions in exchange for limits to iran's nuclear program unraveled after the u.s. pulled out in 2018 also jabari has more from the iranian capital. the foreign ministers met virtually and held the meeting for just over an hour this is the 1st time that the remaining signatories to the nuclear agreement of 2015 that their foreign ministers have met since september of 2018 there's a lot to discuss since the united states withdrew from the deal in may of 2013 and since iran started reducing its compliance to the nuclear agreement the communique

that was issued after this meeting as stated that all parties remain committed to it and they want to do everything they can to preserve it and that they are open and remain positive to the possibility of the united states returning to the nuclear agreement there is hope that the incoming biden administration will return to this deal but as the director of the i stated last week raphael grossi has said that to expect the u.s. to just return to the 2015 nuclear deal to go back to square one would be unrealistic because square one does not exist anymore the reality on the ground both in iran's nuclear program and in the region is very different now than it was in 2015 he suggested that it needs to be an agreement within an agreement to try and facilitate how all parties could go back to that deal iran for its part has said that they will not renegotiate the steel the parliament has passed a law saying that they will give a grace period of 2 months early february for the parties remaining parties of the

deal to lift some of the sanctions other was iran will go ahead and reduce its compliance to the eye and also increase its enrichment to 20 percent for now there is some hope and indications that the u.s. administration of president elect joe biden will return to this deal and there is preparations being ongoing for that possibility there's also a bi annual meeting at the united nations security council on choose. they were they will discuss compliance to the nuclear idea all parties maintain that they are committed to preserving this deal. spyware sold by an israeli private intelligence firm 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 investigators say mobile

phones were infiltrated with malicious code which uploaded data on to foreign servers tamir and ima sharlee is an al-jazeera investigative journalist 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 investigation a program on the story of the we'll known indian investor and businessman b r city who has who are 6 came from you after a scandal there in this investigation we called and marty official barty's and none of these are from this phone to give them the right of blood on our investigation and be our city story and the other interesting point in this hacking that has been hurt by a technique and a spy work we'll known by what is called biggest 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 site is a lab investigation and there are 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 network so it was a campaign and it was a different ways of hurting and different targets and different numbers and phones doctors in kenya have joined other public health care workers on a nationwide strike they want better protection or more effective equipment for treating curried 19 nurses and other health care workers began protesting earlier this month saying they won't stop until the demands are met but the government warned that they'll be sacked if they don't return to work. 2 men have been found

guilty of killing 39 vietnamese migrants who suffocated in a lorry trailer while they were being smuggled into britain the lorries driver and the man described as the ringleader of the smuggling gang were convicted of manslaughter 2 others were found guilty of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration the bodies were discovered in october last year. the 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 tony chain joined astronomers on the outskirts of the thai capital bangkok. gathering on a bridge on the outskirts of bangkok gazing at the sky but it's not the sunset people have come to see these amateur astronomers want to catch a glimpse of the great conjunction a celestial event that happens approximately only every 20 years. we will see very

bright stars jupiter is originally very bright but when saturn is near will be even brighter together. this year have extra special the 2 planets are coming even closer together than usual the last time this happened was in $1623.00 but trying to see it is hard bangkok like most cities suffers from significant light pollution the light of the glimmering stars is blocked out by the glare of the bustling city . that's why the stargazers as they're known on social media. have set up an exhibition of the stars at night as seen from thailand spectacular views and seen by most city dwellers and concert on thinks that after the trials of 2020 there may be a message written in the skies that we have suffered sadness distress worry and tension from karena virus since the beginning of the year but at the end of this year we

look up and see a bright sky and it will give us hope that can keep us moving forward astronomers believe that the star of bethlehem or christmas star is actually the great conjunction that occurred in the year 7 b.c. and when it was last this bright galileo the man considered to be the father of astronomy was still alive although he makes no record of having seen it but for the astronomers of today it presents a unique opportunity. this time the great conjunction happened true or 3 months after saturn and jupiter came close to the earth so that makes them look brighter you'll be able to see the great conjunction until the night of the 23rd and if you miss it it will come around again in 2040. if you want to see this bright you can have to wait another 400 years with everyone on this planet trying to stay socially distant because of coronavirus other planets are managing to get closer together to al-jazeera church on cell thailand. and you can follow all of the stories that

we're covering on our website at al-jazeera dot com it's updated throughout the day our top story the obviously u.k. concerns over the new strain of coronavirus. your child is there with the whole romney a reminder of our top stories that growing list of countries is banning or restricting flights from the u.k. as a mutated strain of the current virus spreads spain and portugal are the latest to join the group of around 30 nations talks are underway to establish health protocols so free it can resume between the u.k. and the rest of europe in london around 30 countries now stopping u.k. flights coming in passengers the 20 over 20000000 people in the u.k. are under this tier 4 which is essentially locked down all non-essential businesses are closed and that warning from supermarket.