countries across the middle east a decade on from the 1st uprising we'll look at the legacy of the revolution. join us as we assess the changes in the political landscape the middle east and north africa. on al-jazeera. shutting the door in britain more countries close their borders to try to stop a new strain of the virus but the u.k. economy is set to suffer. international friends and partners i want to say very firmly that we understand your concern. and aren't tale of this is al jazeera live from london also coming up europe approves the use of the pfizer vaccine the 1st doses could be given in a matter of days. one in the u.s. it's economic health that's the focus but will congress passed

a $900000000000.00 relief bill. and it wants in every 400 years a close pass in space and it's part of the christmas story. follow a new and more contagious strain of corona virus that spreading across the united kingdom has now seen the country cut off from much of the rest of the world it comes as the medicines regulator approved the pfizer biotech vaccine for use across the 27 member states where the 1st dose is set to be given out on sunday. meanwhile south korea has banned gatherings of more than 5 people in the capital seoul as government tries to control what it has described as an explosive surge in infections and back here in the u.k. prime minister barak's johnson says about half a 1000000 people have now been vaccinated but 25 of the 27 e.u.

nations have introduced travel bans from the u.k. johnson saying he is working with france to resolve the border closures it's vital 1st to stress that these delays which are only occurring at dover only affect human handled freight and that is only 20 percent of the total arriving or departing arriving from or departing to the european continent which means the vast majority of food medicines and other supplies are coming and going as normal. those directions brought in my france in particular have brought much of the case congo trade to hope trucks carrying essential goods and projects to and from france and are stranded at close to ferry ports and tunnels for a chance reports from dover. the cold waters of the english channel rarely see more of a barrier. is usually one of the busiest ports in the world but the u.k.

is now cut off from much of the country's scared by the u.k.'s infectious new covert strain have imposed travel bans france has also banned the transport of accompanied freight this is the result kilometer after kilometer of stranded lorries and drivers not knowing when they'll make it home i have 3 children why. they need me to cram for christmas christmas in poland is a very special holiday it's a bind with religion and. traditional. dates. for polish people it's very hard to be away on christmas. so this situation. cost me. on the day of the sea front a line of fans with remains not knowing when they'll make you know we've been

waiting on that we don't have in no one need to spend money you know one things like that we want because we waiting we sleeping in the car you know we want everybody to be war i think for the british this compounds the sense of unease already brought on by tough new coronavirus restrictions and the effect of cancellation of family christmas celebrations for millions in recent memory the u.k. has never felt so isolated sided lonely so atomized with people cut off from each other and now with a new child. people cut off from much of the rest of the world and this is perhaps just a small force a story of what might be coming if the united kingdom cannot reach a deal with its european partners by the end of the year the government says food and medicine supplies are sufficient for now but there are warnings from the food industry that some fresh products might run out in days good start start moving

again to retell and al-jazeera. and there is as a bait joins me in the studio so the promise is trying to reassure people has as that worked it may not have worked because although he came out and he tried to reassure people that everything is under control will people be turning on the news they'll seeing those shoes of lorries in dover they'll be seeing increasing number of countries are banning flights from the u.k. and the warning from supermarkets that produce could be running low if the situation continues as well as queues in supermarkets around the country now people are beginning to panic slightly although the government has said for people to go out and shop as normal looking at the news i'm not sure he's actually convinced people if you look at what's taking place in london and the southeast over 20000000 people are going to tier 4 which is essentially a lock down and just days before prime minister abbas johnson had to cancel christmas would be inhumane days later that's exactly what he's done

internationally the u.k. has been talking about this new strain and as a result an increasing number of countries have started to ban flies from the u.k. has any more information emerged about this new strain and how it might be but we know that it was 1st identified in the united kingdom back in september now we also know that about 60 percent of the new infections here in london the capital have been from that new strain it's it's more it's easier to catch but it does isn't doesn't seem to be more deadly and it doesn't seem to have any the vaccine doesn't seem to be less effective. against it so currently what we've been told is it's easier to catch it's passing through the population quicker but it's not more deadly other than that we know that the united kingdom has shared the information with the world health organization and is talking to european partners in other countries as a big thank you very much. well e.u. member states are preparing to roll out the pfizer biotech coronavirus vaccine

after it was given the green light by regulators approval by the european medicines agency follows similar moves by both britain and the us countries including france germany and italy so they'll begin mass faction vaccinations as soon as sunday we know a lot more about this disease now than we knew 10 months ago even more than we knew 3 months ago but we're still there is still new information coming in and this needs to be fully assess back seems alone will not be the silver bullet that will allow us to return to normal life but the authorize ation of this 1st vaccine is definitely a major step in the right direction and an indication that 2021 can be brighter than 2020 step bason has more from amsterdam on how the vaccination program will work. there was a lot of pressure for 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 considerations 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 netherlands they don't have to infrastructure nor are there i in order because this needs to be 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 templi 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 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 my 8 months or even more and one of the most visible faces of the white house coronavirus response has been criticized for breaking her own guidance dr deborah brooks travel to a vacation property with members of her family from 2 other households on the day after thanksgiving she advised americans to remain vigilant and celebrate a holiday only within their immediate household she insists the visit was to have property was to prepare it for sale not to celebrate thanksgiving. millions of

americans could start receiving pandemic relief payments from the beginning of next week it's after congressional leaders approved a $900000000000.00 relief bill but it still needs to be voted on fisher is at the white house for so will the money come through. well there's going to be a delay because they've had trouble uploading the bill on to the computer system to allow everyone to read it here's the bill it's. about $5000.00 pages long but it's taken them this long to get it all together when asked what was causing the problem we were told well is 2020 so that's the sort of thing you can expect is it going to go through well in the house almost certainly it will get the votes that it needs to say that vote might be delayed because of the technical issues they've had getting up there just had real difficulty in making sure that everyone is able to read and with 5000 pages there's a number of members of congress who are saying that they want to at least trying get the detail of what's in there the committees have been circulating the main

talking points for each of the things that they would cover so you can understand why this might slow down now want to go through the house it will go to the senate if there is no problem then i should go through straight away but here's the difficulty a couple of senators are already saying that they have issues with the bill george holy who's a republican is saying that there's a real problem with the way that this final text has been drawn up with the leaders of both the house and the senate getting together from both parties to talk about it and ron paul another republican senator from kentucky he says look there might be an issue because he's what he did about the deficit and so he thinks that this will blow up america's debt quite considerably so he might have an issue with it that my old delete things if that actually happens then mitch mcconnell who's the leader of the republicans in the senate will have to introduce a couple of procedural issues that will then make sure that the vote will happen but it will be not a couple of days down the line but everyone is hoping that they'll be enough

goodwill in both the senate and the house of representatives that this can actually get voted on and sorted by the end of monday and if that's the case allan what will it mean in practical terms here to americans. well for anyone under $70000.00 a year it means that they will get a $600.00 check so for a family of 4 for example with 2 children they would get $2400.00 but there is money there too for schools and colleges there's money for employers who've been struggling to pay wages because obviously a lot of the cases they're not selling their goods or if it's a hospitality industry they're not getting people through the door there's money there too for the hospitality industry for transport for the airlines for real companies local metro services as well there's 20000000000 dollars for corona virus vaccinations that for people who don't have insurance then money will be made available to make sure that that can be bought so the won't miss so on the

opportunity of being vaccinated $20000000000.00 as well for corona virus tracing and also for testing too so there's a lot of money there for for small organizations for ordinary people but there's money there too for companies know the democrats didn't get quite as much as they wanted the republicans they're spending slightly more than they wanted as so it's a kind of mixture of the 2 that means people say that it's good politics everyone walks away not happy with what is there but $900000000000.00 it's a huge fillip but clearly people in the senate and the house where we have the pressure that was on them it's taken them 9 months to come up with a deal and if they'd gone off for the christmas holiday without reaching a deal then the political fallout been quite severe for many of them but as you've you've said steve mitchell who's the treasury secretary believes that the checks could well start going out next week so perhaps good news for the beginning of the

new year for many people but of course 1st of all it's got to get through the house and the senate in the coming hours alan fischer thank you very much. tough new restrictions have been imposed in the south korean capital seoul and neighboring provinces to try to contain surging coronavirus cases gatherings of all 4 people have been banned over the end of year holiday period health officials say the country is in the middle of its 3rd wave of the virus with around a 1000 new cases per day bride reports. the new restrictions will limit private gatherings to just 4 people and are being introduced ahead of the year end holiday season how to talk to no we will not be able to overcome the crisis unless we reduce cluster infections being spread through private gatherings of family members colleagues and friends often praised for its handling of the coronavirus the government is worried about pandemic fatigue setting in unlike previous waves

which were concentrated in specific areas or groups this surge is happening across the country with hospitals becoming stretched and. at the moment our medical response in providing extra beds and assigning patients efficiently it's a slow compared to the increasing numbers of patients we are dealing with temporary centers have also been set up offering free testing which tens of thousands of people have taken up being increased testing has been running for a week and is due to go on into the new year it's already turned up several 100 people who didn't know they were infected and didn't have a connection with any known cases it's hoped these measures will avoid a complete shutdown of businesses with the government's vaccination campaign not starting until the spring that time table decided upon when the infection rate was much lower now being widely criticized the bride al-jazeera soul. still to come

on al-jazeera returning to the table parties to the iran nuclear deal get ready to welcome back a biden led united states. the unexpected u.s. credit are 6. story a cherokee nation can hand them a check. but . it's about to get mild wet and windy again for northern europe yet another finger quarter wide finger is in cities so from the atlantic it's going to be this area here where temperatures rise quite rapidly from low single figures to the teens in some places pretty mild this time the year there is still cold air around even sklansky the new 6 degrees and you'll probably find the outside quite cold but to be honest this is a very mild sparrow and it carries on in that vein was rain significant i think for parts of france a low countries and

a swirl of cloud there or swirl of wind suggesting an area of low pressure so temporarily stormy but vienna represents that models for which disappears by friday christmas day could even be some snow in vienna and this not very likely in london but temperatures do drop down to around the 5 mark with the sunlight during friday just 2 examples now we have had store we were there in the med recently it's just a bit sherry now in the central med certainly there's a warning out for parts of southern if they matter right now that might happen in libya come tuesday or is no mines today as a transfer the south otherwise it's looking fine not particularly warm in current 20 or 21 degrees with on shore breeze but funnily enough that is average and for about an average 90. from fossil fuels to modern day renewables as societies develop the energy demands

increase requiring innovative solutions to meet such demands as a global power development of investment company nebraska power is uniquely positioned to deliver against these demands we provide business growth promote social economic benefits and provide innovative safe and environmentally sound energy solutions for future generations the breastpin pioneering future energy. one of the top stories here on al-jazeera the u.k. is being increasingly cut off from the rest of the world over a highly contagious strain of a grown a virus spreading there a growing number of countries have imposed travel bans or restrictions including

almost all of the e.u. . e.u. member states are preparing to roll up the pfizer biotech coronavirus vaccine after it was given the green light by regulators countries including germany austria and italy say they'll begin inoculations as soon as sunday. millions of americans could start receiving pandemic relief payments from the beginning next week rational leaders have approved a $900000000000.00 stimulus package and it's expected to be voted on by the house shortly. the reigning parties to the iran nuclear deal say they're preparing for the u.s. to join them and the president elect joe biden in a virtual meeting the remaining signatories committed to work towards full implementation of the deal to lift sanctions in exchange for limits to iran's nuclear program unraveled in 2018 october withdrew the u.s. incoming president joe biden says he will rejoin if iran resumes strict compliance

. barry has more from the iranian capital tehran. the foreign ministers met virtually and held a 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 and there is preparations be ongoing for that possibility there's also a bi annual meeting at the united nations security council on tuesday where they will discuss compliance to the nuclear deal all parties maintain that they are

committed to preserving this deal russia's worst concerns about the unfolding political unrest in central african republic violence has escalated in the capital bangui ahead of weekend elections rebels backed by former president francois busy accused of attempting to stage a coup they ca our government says russia and rwanda have sent in hundreds of troops with russia providing military support to the former french colony since 2018 doctors in kenya have joined other public health care workers in a nationwide strike they want better protection and more effective equipment for treating the coronavirus nurses and other health care workers began protesting earlier this month saying they won't stop until their demands are met but the government warned they'll be sacked if they don't return to work. 32 years after a bomb brought down a jet over lockerbie scotland the u.s.

justice department has charged a new suspect ability to mohamed massoud is accused of making the bomb that blew up the pan american plane in 198-8270 people were killed most of them americans the u.s. is requesting masood be extradited from libya where he lives the united states has filed criminal charges against a 3rd conspirator. masood keer. for his role in the bombing of pan am flight $103.00 but there be no mistake. no amount of time or distance will stop the united states and our scottish partners from pursuing justice in this case 2 men have been found guilty of the deaths of $39.00 vietnamese migrants whose bodies were found in the back of a lorry near london last year both the driver and a man described as the smuggling gangs ring made it look convicted of manslaughter

the enemy's men women and children suffocated in the sealed container as they were being smuggled into britain. and want us community has had remarkable success at keeping the pandemic in check the cherokee native american nation in the state of oklahoma has 140000 residents but just 55 coronavirus deaths were brunell's looks at how it responded to the outbreak. in fighting the worst public health crisis in a century how did a relatively small self-governing native american nation with limited resources succeed so well while the wealthiest most technologically advanced nation on earth failed so miserably there's no simple answer rather a series of timely decisions we started early on with a task force and we actually started meeting in march to develop a multi-disciplinary plan to how we were going to take care of our citizens and and

to those that depend on us for health care the oklahoma based tribes health care system marshalled resources and coordinated with other tribal departments to focus on cove it gave us the ability to be a little more proactive and start working on problems before those problems became became crisis unlike the us as a whole the cherokees spent decades investing in high quality health care for all their citizens. we have a philosophy at the cherokee nation that people just ought to have access to healthcare unlike president donald trump cherokee principal chief chuck hoskin relied on scientific advisors and didn't try to downplay the pandemic i think it's important for political leadership to be honest and straightforward with people tell people what the dangers are you don't get anywhere by trying to quote avoid panic by not telling people how serious an infectious disease is tribal government

worker derek van became ill in june when i got to the clinic they were ready and willing to give me a test right there on the spot having he tested positive as he quarantined at home health care workers constantly monitored vans condition i trusted that they knew everything about my case then has now fully recovered other native american nations like the navajo have fared far worse and have lost many lives to coven. oh the circulation medical staff was excellent i think it was a plus care that sense of trust is key with us modeling those examples i think that's created a level of trust that's been able to get those things accomplished in a very easy manner chief hoskin wore a mask and stressed the need for social distancing even this statue of cherokee national hero sequoia was fitted with a mask meanwhile the governor of oklahoma tweeted a picture of himself and his kids dining masculists in

a crowded restaurant the state of oklahoma still can't get its act together with a mass mandate we've been here since may with the mask and the cherokee people and their leaders have set an example for the nation it's about competence and caring and it works rob reynolds al-jazeera. the maze defacto ruda and a private bank in luxembourg have been accused of trying to plot economic downfall but news says it seen e-mails documents and legal filings between mohammed bin zayed and don't have a land it suggests a plan to attack financial markets intruding depleting its foreign exchange reserves reportedly hatched shortly after the u.a.e. saudi arabia egypt and behind imposed a blockade on gaza might have alarmed denies the allegations. one of thailand's most well known actresses is facing charges for allegedly

defaming the country's powerful monarchy interior chair and who are known better by her nickname side has been open about supporting and funding a student led democracy movement one of their goals is to reform the monarchy thailand has strict laws against criticism of the king and queen in which an individual can face up to 15 years in prison. stargazers are being treated to a once in a lifetime celestial event as jupiter and saturn make their closest alignment since the 17th century our solar system's 2 largest planets have been moving closer together since september culminating in what's known as the great conjunction and event thought to have caused the biblical star of bethlehem 20 change warned astronomers on the outskirts of the 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 a very bright star that 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 and from occurring a 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 lost this bright galileo the man considered to be the father of astronomy was still alive although he makes no record of having seen it before 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. right we're going to 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. al-jazeera touch on some thailand. from next year china will allow international researches to use its radio telescope the only instrument of its kind in the world a 500 meter wide telescope searches for signals from stars galaxies and other life forms it took 5 years to construct and cost almost $170000000.00. i'm out of the top stories on our air the u.k. is being increasingly cut off from the rest of the world over a highly contagious strain of the corona virus spreading there a growing list of countries have imposed travel bans or restrictions including almost all of the e.u. the british prime minister boris johnson says he's working with the french president to review cross border freight travel which has also been blocked.