further inland west side of brazil northern parts of believe it or peru where it is wanted 'd. u.s. politicians votes on a massive coronavirus relief package as the total number of infections passes $18000000.00. dollars on the ground this is out 0 and live from doha coming up facing isolation more countries shut their borders to the u.k. over fears of a mutated strain of covert 19. sends troops to the central african republic amid an increase in violence ahead of this week's elections. and ending extreme poverty we look at whether china's $1000000000.00 plan has worked.

so now after months of political gridlock millions of americans could start receiving pandemic relief checks beginning next week politicians right now are voting on a $900000000000.00 stimulus package aimed at helping businesses and families this is the scene that struck she was there on the floor of the house of representatives has taken months of negotiations between the 2 sides to finalize the agreement and this comes as california's governor has warns there are no intensive care beds in 2 regions home to nearly 30000000 people it's likely that stay at home or those will be extended and the total number of infections in the united states has now passed 18000000 the number of deaths is almost 832-0000 ok let's join the castro who's standing by for us in washington d.c. and said tell us about that vote we just saw the house representatives. the vote is ongoing but that's not the end of the process as it. no it isn't these are the last

few members of the house we are seeing now voting on this massive funding bill it is very likely to pass there has the numbers already now it's just nice to have this vote finalized but that's only the 1st part of this 3 part process nic that needs to unfold before the strike of midnight in washington because from here this bill will go on to the senate for its members to vote and then on to the white house where president is expected to sign this legislation into law why in this midnight deadline well that is when funding for the federal government is set to run out and this bill very importantly provides government money to keep it open until september of next year for the federal government that is but of course where 0 in on this $900000000000.00 for cove it will leave which is in itself already the 2nd largest economic stimulus that the u.s. government has ever passed it includes $600.00 checks for most americans it would

extend unemployment benefits through the middle of march also offer rental assistance and nutrition assistance and money for continued back scene distribution all elements that are sorely needed to days and particularly as as you've mentioned now that the u.s. has surpassed 18000000 cases it is been a royal process to get to this point is that how desperate all people across the border states if you get this through. well that's right this holiday season has really been a sad one for people because come december 31st many families are staring at a fiction otis's in the face this bill if it passes as it is expected to will delay even actions further by expanding the addiction moratorium not only that but 8000000 americans since may have fallen into poverty according to researchers and

we know that close to 20000000 americans are unemployed some of those jobs have come back but with more cases soaring more lockdowns being announced it is only expected for the economic conditions to worsen which is very bad news not only for families but also for small business owners cap of whom were surveyed saying that if things continue as they are they will have to shutter their businesses permanently within a year but these votes tonight also the expected signature of president trump on this $900000000000.00 kovac relief bill with certainly lighten the pressure the economic pressure that businesses and american families are facing already thanks to the heart of a customer there washington d.c. . who's a political analyst and all through the wall he says this deal is important for people right across the united states. this is

a major lifeline that millions upon millions of americans have been waiting for for months now and of course this is something that certainly needed to get done for the american people as economists across the globe are showing a major slowdown of the u.s. economy but more importantly politically this is something that both key speakers key leaders in washington had to get done we do know that the democratic caucus in the house of representatives has been going quite anxious with speaker pelosi to cut a deal with treasury secretary steve. and we now know that with the georgia runoff just only a matter weeks away that mitch mcconnell had to get something that his 2 incumbent senators could run on in the lead up to that election so clearly this was a that the timing was right for all sides to make a deal it wasn't what either side wanted it but it's what the american people needed particularly at this time but yes president elect joe biden has received his

1st dose of the funds a bunch coronavirus vaccine he's one of a growing list of high profile people being publicly vaccinated it's an effort to encourage confidence in covert 19 vaccines biden says he wants to see at least 100000000 doses of minister during his 1st 100 days in office i'm doing this to demonstrate that people should be compared 'd want to available 'd to take the vaccine there's nothing to worry 'd about i'm looking forward to the 2nd shot so is joe she senator sherrod really are today i hope people listen to all the experts from a doctor from tucson talking about the need to wear a mask during this christmas and new year's holidays were mass socially distance and and if you don't have to travel don't travel. well a growing number of countries are shutting their borders to flights and travelers from the united kingdom more than 40 countries have imposed restrictions on growing

concerns every week tainted strain of the virus the british government has moved to reassure its citizens it's working to ensure freight including food supplies will not be affected so where has more now from london. here's a few chore to just prompting many to stock up on supplies u.k. flights banned from dozens of countries but prime minister johnson is trying to reassure everyone that everything is under control hoping to have the situation resolved after speak to france's president emmanuel macron it's very very important . not just for the peoples of iraq but it's also totally realistic we have every reason to be extremely hopeful about this country's ability to bounce back next year from. your side on the streets on the borders is a very different picture anything to be hopeful about britain has never faced such a challenge the announcement by the government of

a new more transmissible strain of the covert virus has concerned france europe and many other countries the new variant was identified in the u.k. in september and by last week it accounted for more than 60 percent of coverage 1000 cases in london thought to be about 40 to 70 percent more transmissible but scientists say it doesn't appear to be more deadly and there's no evidence to suggest that the new vaccine will be less effective against it. variants of the virus have also been identified in spain belgium strain yeah italy the netherlands and south africa instead of infecting one or 2 people when you're talking or breathing near them infecting 3 or 4 ok so this seems to be how the process spreading further and faster so it's not spreading a different way it's just as more of it spreading to more people who are near. johnson says he hopes freight transport issues will be resolved soon and he's working with his european partners to find a solution yet there are only 10 days left for the u.k.

deadline to leave europe totally this still no trade deal the disruption the u.k. is experiencing now a possible a prelude of what's to come if they leave europe without a deal i said baik al-jazeera london. hong kong is one of the countries imposing restrictions on flights from the u.k. people who spent more than 2 hours just 2 hours in the u.k. in the past fortnight will be banned from boarding flights to hong kong and that includes the city's residents devika pollan is standing by at hong kong's airport right now and joins us so this float by quite a significant but just how much will impact hong kong says travel is limited in the pandemic anywhere. that's right nick i mean given the pandemic flights have been restricted and fewer people have been traveling but the flights between hong kong and the u.k. have been relatively robust for instance about 5000 people landed here from the

u.k. in this past month alone that would be at least a flight or 2 flights a day by various carriers if you look at the board behind me you can see so far one that was expected to land today has been cancelled 2 others managed to slip through and the passengers from those flights will now have to do 3 weeks of quarantine instead of the normal 2 weeks now so they're taking it very seriously just the health secretary has said that this is the most stringent measures they have taken and it's unprecedented this kind of a flight ban and particularly it is significant against the u.k. because there is hong kong has quite the relationship with the u.k. for instance thousands of students were expected to come back many students go to the u.k. to study were expected to come back for the christmas period and stay on in hong kong personally due to the lock downs in the u.k. now they're all stranded in the u.k. and to put this into perspective according to the health bureau here 20 percent of

all imported cases into hong kong since the start of the pandemic are from the u.k. and this is part of the reason why these on president and measures have been taken and hong kong is also the 1st city in asia to impose such restrictions right clearly hong kong just does not want to take any chances this time round. absolutely hong kong as well as other countries are still going through their 1st and 2nd waves as hong kong's 4th waves we've seen on again off again lockdowns we've seen government put in incredibly stringent measures and then lift them for this week with next wave to come into place and this is said to be the most serious wave mainly due to this winter season and all to do due to the fact that many of the clusters these new clusters cannot be traced so that is a huge problem in such events city like hong kong so restaurants bars any nightlife shuts down at 6 o'clock in the evening here so hair salons any entertainment any

leisure activities also are not allowed social distancing is down to 2 people only allowed to gather here or they could be heavily fined everyone has to wear mosques or they will be fined and also this has had a massive impact on hong kong's economy so as we've just heard the government's passed through a budget of around $1000000000.00 for relief for all these businesses that have been affected throughout this year. ok that's the situation all going to be good politics well still ahead here in alexandra europe approves the use of the pfizer vaccine the 1st patients could be given in a matter of days. 32 years on the united states charges a libyan man with building the boat in the boat on a pan am flight every lockerbie. well

you know how much snow fell you've seen the pictures this is for japan the breeze is dropped off it's changed direction it's the rain showers so if anything that remaining snaps and on the high ground it haunts you and or kreider could be an avalanche risk but the rain in these showers on the coast beyond that it's not his cows it was the sun is out during the day after a long cold and frosty night but of a change further south in grand isle folksong hong kong there's more cloud more rain wind direction has changed so it's disappointing for next 3 days this is not a typhoon is not even a tropical cycle you know it is a tropical depression so don't be too worried by it but it will boost the rain in vietnam there will be some flooding for it it will go around the corner probably just touching parts of thailand in fact in a similar fairly wet by the time we get to the end of wednesday or thursday i'd like to say there's a sort of disturbance in northern india but there isn't even the south there's not

much roy sri lanka will get some of mr lee but the northern plains of india and northern pakistan are covered in fog smorgon cities and it's cold by night and there is no significant change as new delhi shows. an invitation to bear witness to that life or face. the high. the trials and tribulations the ceilings and everyday miracles the injustices little finds the tests of character and the past week to witness documentaries with a delicate touch on al-jazeera. better

get you what she had 0 her mind of our top stories this hour and politicians in the united states are voting to finalize a $900000000000.10 package to help businesses and families they have until the end of the day on monday to vote on the deal prevent a government shutdown number of coronavirus cases in the u.s. has now gone past the 18000000 mark. more than 40 countries have closed their borders to flights to travelers from the u.k. due to concerns every mutated strain of the virus the british government says it's working to ensure that freight including food supplies will not be affected. the world health organization chief has addressed the latest coronavirus mutation in a press conference he said the vaccine will also work against the more contagious

strain viruses mutate over time that's natural and expected the u.k. has reported that this new virus and transmits more easily but there is no evidence so far that it's more likely to cause severe diseases or mortality w 2 is working with scientists to understand how this genetic changes are fact how the virus behaves the bottom line is that we need to suppress transmission of all side of scope to viruses as quickly as we can the more we allow it to spread the more opportunity to has to change. cut to the 1st shipments of the pfizer biotech corona virus vaccine has arrived in the capital doha ready for distribution the elderly those with chronic diseases front line workers will be 1st in line once the rollout begins it's been described as the largest vaccination program ever lost in

the country. member states preparing to roll out the pfizer biotech drugs you know after it was given the green light by regulates is france germany and it's nice say they will begin math vaccinations as soon as sunday the european medicine agency says it's highly likely the vaccine will also work against a new variant of the virus that is spreading in the u.k. as we've been hearing we know a lot more about this disease now than we knew 10 months ago even more than we knew it 3 months ago but we're still there is still new information coming in and this needs to be fully assess back sings alone will not be the silver bullet that it will allow us to return to 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. the president of central african republic has criticized groups behind an escalation in violence ahead of this week's election tension has been

rising in the run up to the december 27th vote has sent troops to the country to help deal with the fighting the government accuse rebels backed by the former president france what would you say of attempting to stage a coup. we deplore what we condemn is that the people instead of entering the process so that we can have peace a democratic framework now that we've regained constitutional order we must maintain that order for democracy in the country but unfortunately there are some who are engaged in piles of violence that the people condemn and that we condemn. russia has also voiced concerns about the unfolding political unrest catherine soyuz in the capital bangui and has more on the security situation. if this stays to the general election here in the central african republic and we're seeing some pay that sees a page politicians trying to sell that agenda ahead of that election but while people in florida about here the topic was the security situation outside. people

particularly want to find the place in the west where we. call you from calling themselves a ph change and saying frightening too much to belong to you saying that they do they want a sensational government without president or. that both that both groups have been met with force by the central the central african and me also hard from the russian government that has stated has exploited more troops to try and quell that situation in the west russia's influence is particularly growing with the country stayed to be parole president was there a would also say to be leaning more towards russia then we have the french who have also had a strong presence here all these countries with vast quantities of call and economic

interest in coming back to the election we've been talking to opposition leaders within that they want these elections postponed until the factory to situation around the country is resolved but i've also spoken to some professional who are saying that is most an option. sees me lose much to central africa director for human rights watch he says violence has become a negotiating tool in the central african republic. the fact is that the cia are it's just facing chronic instability in this is this predates 2013 in the recent crisis. in the last few years the last 8 years we've seen 13 peace deals come and go this peace deal that was negotiated in 29 is just the latest iteration in what are broadly failed attempts at peace deals and what that means is that outside the city outside bomb you which really is the central african republic main hope

you're seeing civilians just continue to be targeted continue to be preyed upon by this by this morass of different armed groups so even if we are able to get through you know stumble through a vote on december 27th i don't think that's going to translate into real stability outside of the only way we're really going to see stability bunky that i base this is someone who's been watching the c.a.r. of the last 10 years is if our commanders are actually held accountable for what they do what they're seeing now time and time again is that false what was easy is just showing this once again is that it pays to get arms it pays to build up a true base and it pays to prey on civilians and take towns in the c.a.r. because that's what gets you to the negotiating table 32 years after bowman took down them be in scotland the u.s. justice department is charged with a new suspect former libyan intelligence officer. masood is accused of

making the bomb blew up the poem plane in 190-8270 people were killed most of them were americans the u.s. is requesting that mehsud be extradited from libya where he is in custody the united states has filed criminal charges against the 3rd conspirator. sued keer. for his role in the bombing of pan am flight 103. let 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 the u.a.e. is defending to a router and a private bank in luxembourg have been accused of trying to plot causes economic downfall bloomberg news has seen emails documents and legal filings between mohamed bin side and bank havilland it suggests a plan to attack carter's financial markets including depleting its foreign

exchange reserves the idea was reportedly hatched shortly after the u.a.e. saudi arabia egypt and bahrain imposed a blockade on gaza but have aligned denies the allegations the u.n. special coordinator for the middle east is warning the prospects of a 2 state solution for palestine is fading and you know it made the comments injuring his last briefing on monday 19 the situation has gone from bad to worse zeros kristen salumi sent us this report from the u.n. . but it was a 1st at the united nations a moroccan ambassador celebrating hanukkah with his israeli counterpart morocco is one of 4 arab nations to reestablish diplomatic relations with israel the deal was brokered by the united states. for decades the prevailing assumption was that the world would only see nor was it normalized in international relations with israel following a resolution of the israeli palestinian dispute but we have proven this assumption

wrong while the u.s. took credit in the security council outgoing middle east special coordinator nicholai lab not noted the situation has gone from bad to worse for most palestinians despite an 8 month pas in the building of illegal jewish settlements in the occupied territories israel's destruction of palestinian homes for lacking permits that are rarely granted escalated by 70 percent with plans to build in areas seen as crucial to a future palestinian state advancing i do believe in a 2 state solution although every day we see a. chance of its realization shrinking i do believe that it is possible and it is possible in a way that recognizes the legitimate historic. rights both israelis and palestinians alike. an exchange from morocco normalizing ties with israel the united states recognize morocco sovereignty over the western sahara region and

separatists there with whom the united nations had also been engaging in peace negotiations many here in the international community see these unilateral moves by the united states as undermining longstanding norms in international agreements it was 4 years ago that the security council passed resolution 2334 calling settlement expansion a flagrant violation of international law what was significant about it was that it was the 1st one and it was 10 years to do so the 1st 1980 to talk about. the united states which each of those resolutions abstained and that's what was significant about it but there's nothing controversial in you in the actual resolution while president elect joe biden has promised to return to international agreements many living under occupation have to wonder what difference if any at all it will make for them kristen salumi al jazeera the united nations 2

men have been found guilty of manslaughter over the deaths of $39.00 vietnamese migrants the group of migrants suffocated in the lorry trailer while they were being smuggled into britain the bodies were discovered in october last year 1 of the men convicted was the driver of the vehicle while the other has been described as the ringleader of a smuggling guide a 2 others had already been found guilty of being involved. a kosovo's highest court has ruled a june parliamentary vote that have elected a new government was illegal the government led by the center right the democratic league of course where it was elected by 61 deputies in the balkan countries 120 c. an't after the previous government was dismissed the constitutional court of course fair is calling on the country's president to hold a new vote if found the poll was illegal because an m.p. who made the decisive vote had been convicted of fraud china's leaders say the country has eradicated extreme poverty over the past 5 years the communist

party spent billions of dollars and dispatched thousands of officials to help rural households but critics question the sustainability of the program claiming that millions are at risk of falling back into hardship katrina year reports now from chain county and you can see province. lawton county in china's south is known for its mountains its rivers and its poverty. it was among those one struggling to get by living in this dilapidated house she struggled to raise enough money to send her 2 children to school. but she says thanks to the chinese government her life has been transformed she's been given a new harmon town and left this old farmhouse behind this is how. to live in crumbling buildings built about 50 years ago without any water or electricity this area is also deep in the mountains and far away for many essential

services including hospitals during the past 5 years millions of people in rural china have been relocated to apartment buildings in upgraded townships here almost everything is new including the roads and schools. in 2018. my son told me that he doesn't want to go back to the old house again it was dark and dirty and had many rats they say our new home is clean and bright beijing has spent more than 20000000000 dollars this year to meet president xi jinping deadline of eradicating extreme poverty nationwide by the end of 2020 communist party officials say they've succeeded so. people used to have a few options. it was hard to find jobs outside of farming good health care and education. now they basically live in the same conditions as people in the quality of life has

a improved but not everyone has benefited some have been able to adjust to life in the towns others say they've been forced to relocate analysts have also questioned the sustainability of the program millions of risk falling back into poverty poverty line. many people. it's temporary is short term spells and those kinds of people have very very different kinds of needs others for whom he is a chronic strains a policy implement the policy response to those different states needs to be just. as his life is better not easier. by factory involves working 12 hours a day with only 2 days off. but the sacrifice she says is worth it she's making the most of the new opportunities in the heart take children might have better ones katrina al-jazeera not on county china

a volcano on hawaii's big island has erupted in a cloud of steam and ash thousands of meters into the air the eruption lasted an hour and was triggered by a new lava flow interacting with a pool of water inside the crater more than 180000 people live on the island which experienced a magnitude 4.4 earthquake shortly afterwards. there are i'd like to recover the headlines here on out there and politicians in the u.s. house of representatives have just passed a $900000000000.00 with $1000.00 relief package now faces a vote in the senate it comes as the number of coronavirus cases in the u.s. passed the 18000000 mark us president elect joe biden has received his 1st dose of the pfizer biotech coronavirus vaccine is one of a growing list of high profile people being publicly vaccinated biden says he wants to see at least 100000000 doses administered during his.