as congress debates it will seek to raise billions of dollars from the super rich families to. come to. iraq. think. the u.s. congress approves a massive coronavirus relief package as the country's total number of infections passes 18000000 and the most populous us state california is running out of intensive care beds as kobe had 19 surges. hello there or a car this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up facing isolation more countries shut their borders to the u.k. of affairs of a mutated strain of coven 19. south korea to limit private gatherings and shut down

tourist spots nationwide to contain a spike in infections. and ending extreme poverty we take a look at where the china's $1000000000.00 plan has worked. here is congress has voted to pass a massive spending bill that includes nearly a trillion dollars in covert $900.00. and money to keep the federal government running through september the senate approved the measure in the past hour after an earlier vote by the house of representatives president trump as expected signed it into law the millions of americans the help can't come soon enough castro reports. after months of partisan stalemate congress finally passed a code in $1000.00 really built totaling $900000000000.00 it includes direct

payment of $600.00 to most americans unemployment benefits into march and food and rental assistance. it's far from perfect i haven't met perfect legislation since coming to washington i wish we could have done even more but i'm pleased we have done as well as we could have done people like 79 year old harold valentine can expect to see government checks as early as next week he says he could use it for groceries but it's not enough for the christmas gifts he'd like to send his grandkids i'm not going to have that much pride to say i don't want it i need it. this is a definite without a need here. it is worse it is getting worse more than $20000000.00 americans are receiving unemployment benefits with an additional $885000.00 applying for aid during the 1st week of december then there are the 3 to 7000000 americans who lost jobs but never got unemployment benefits because of problems

processing their applications researchers say some 8000000 people when they do u.s. have fallen into poverty since may and half of all small business owners say if things continue as they are they'll be forced to close permanently within a year and general you know it's been very difficult to get a you know for us for our business as well as for our staff definitely starting to feel like there's no light at the end of the tunnel this food pantry in washington has been delivering up to a 1000 bags of groceries a day to struggling families every little bit helps the communities we serve and so you know a $600.00 stimulus payment. for something that is i've heard people who go in this pandemic have actually lost relatives and they've had to use some of their own money for some of the barrel expenses. as the number of kobe 900 cases in the u.s. surpasses 18000000 the government is racing to deliver 20000000 doses of vaccine by

the 1st week of january to save lives and the economy about to receive its own injection of stimulus to save livelihoods and as can live now to heidi and washington and heidi midnight deadline as paul says trump signed the spending bill into noir. well we are expecting that he has however we're still waiting for confirmation from the white house the president not planning on doing this in a public manner however the midnight deadline as you said has passed and it would have brought shutdown of the federal government if this hadn't all occurred by the last minute ultimately we saw the margins in the senate passing $91.00 to $7.00 for this massive spending bill which is the 2nd biggest economic stimulus passed in the u.s. history but certainly this money doesn't feel like much for those like mr ballen

time who i spoke with who are really waiting for this whole thing to be over there waiting for the vaccine they're waiting for the economy to rebound for businesses to reopen president alive joe biden saying today too that this massive bill alone is only a down payment that when he comes to office in about a month's time he plans on asking congress for more money for assistance ok many thanks for the update from washington d.c. . we're going to stay in the u.s. and the governor of california says there are no more intensive care beds in 2 regions including los angeles county over 10000000 people at least 4 hospitals are facing the prospect of having to limit lifesaving care to adam richards is a senior technical advisor at community partners international he says the virus is surging to very worrying levels. in the united states and around the world over

12000 pieces today remain loyal to 630 almost 635000 the beginning. if the 6 people died in l.a. today celeste to guess every hour that much is that a racial or ethnic the spirit of this is to go connect with it are tremendous fear so you're more likely to die of it if you're for people who are the poorest neighbor mortality rates were high. you know so like you know here there's very few i.c.u. beds. they will for anybody who says implications for the care others folks who come here are now should have been you know otherwise needed up stairs in the i.c.u. . or did in the emergency room they're physically located taken care of by the were busy wronged nurses and that in turn back the new patients were trying to get in to

receive it was waiting patiently some of your doctor seeing patients inside. are really doing the best. one can maintain in the usa has had remarkable success and keeping the pandemic in check the cherokee native american nation in the state about the whole of has 140005 the many 57 people have died of the virus reynolds' hopeful. 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 that we have a philosophy the cherokee nation that people just ought to have access to health care 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. 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 cohabit how the turkey mission 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 a mask mandate the cherokee people and their leaders have set an example for the nation it's about competence and caring and it works robert oulds al-jazeera. and growing number of countries that want us to flight some travelers from the u.k. more than 40 countries have imposed restrictions on growing concerns over a mutated strain of the virus but the government has moved to reassure it's working to ensure the phrase including food supplies won't be affected i said but he has moved from london. here's a future to disk prompting many to stock up on supplies u.k. flights banned from dozens of countries but prime minister burst 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. side on the streets on the borders is a very different picture anything to be hopeful about 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 $1000.00 cases in london thought to be about 40 percent more transmissible but scientists say it doesn't appear to be more deadly and there is 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

a strain 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 spreading to more people who are. johnson says he hopes for a transport issues will be resolved soon and he's working with his european partners to find a solution yet they 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. so has hair on al-jazeera thailand to begin mass testing after its largest single outbreak yet was detected at a seafood market will be live in bangkok. on pole recent denmark where the culling

of millions of mink due to a covert 19 outbreak has left the industry on its knees the government facing questions over its conduct of the costs. well compared to the last week or so with is cotton down to some degree there is more breeze picking up in the eastern med that will affect the levant they lost lot of sunday weather is just turned into light snow in eastern turkey which will cross by job and eventually get to northern iraq in the gaza strip the chance to shout increases in late on tuesday into wednesday you've got 3 days of sort of weather i think as the breeze picks up showers as far north as lebanon as well and maybe some through northern iraq but is that is to pick up here in the western side of iran

the high ground where the snow shows of mud even get to turn around once more everywhere further south the breeze drops their heart gets a little warmer $24.00 degrees apart from fish out on the red sea coast it is of course dry and not especially warm and not especially cold we see the movement in the heaviest rains in southern africa this swirl of cloud here might hint it where they have gone they certainly went into new maybe a sudden go to the development i think on tuesday will be in south africa so that's a proper circulation for very low pressure they'll be flooding from this if not in porters with an a bit coast in east london where you got a wind increasing at least 2 days of big showers. in the poorest suburbs of 3 european cities community tensions often reveal a sharp cultural divide but they feel they have no future in our sideline discrimination is their real problem in brussels al-jazeera world meet some of

those struggling with racism radicalization and life on the margins of the droit told this young man away from this at an early stage the other face in europe on al-jazeera. oh again what you want is there as a reminder of our top stories this hour the u.s. congress has passed a $900000000000.00 stimulus package to help american businesses and families struggling during the pandemic comes as the number of recorded coronavirus cases exceeds 18000000. the governor of california says there are new more intensive care

beds in 2 regions including los angeles county home to over 10000000 people at least 4 hospitals are facing the prospect of having to limit lifesaving. and more than 40 countries have closed their borders to flights and travelers from the u.k. due to concerns over a mutated strain of the virus but his government says it's working to ensure freight including food supplies won't be affected. south korea is to limit gatherings to 4 people nationwide starting from christmas eve and new restrictions will the toughest yet will be in place for at least 10 days as the country tries to contain a surge in corona virus infections the country is battling a 3rd wave of the virus with around $1000.00 new cases every day ski resorts and other major tourist spots will also be shut down but bryant has the details from the capital seoul. it was only monday that the authorities in the greater seoul area announced tougher restrictions home to around half of south korea's population

and choose day these tougher restrictions are going to be put in place across south korea and it comes as we've seen this bill let 3rd wave produce around up to 1000 new cases a day we've also had another grim milestone of setting a record for the number of deaths from covert 924 now these numbers might not seem large by comparison to other parts of the world but when you consider where south korea was even up to just a few weeks ago it seemed to be have this under control to have it beat so it is very concerning for the authorities there the worry is that when we get into this holiday period that they really want to try to deter people from having large gatherings so we are seeing a strong recommendation from the government that people do not meet in groups of private gatherings of 5 or more people now it's only a recommendation but it is a very strong one and in fact restaurants have been told they're not allowed to take any bookings of groups of 5 or more also we're seeing restrictions on for

example hotels are only allowed to have 50 percent occupancy possibly a bigger measure with a closure of ski resorts ski resorts are normally very busy at this time of year just getting into the winter season they have now been told to close again and we've also had to announce the national parks will also be closed at this time of year it is normal for families to go out and see sunsets and sunrises over the new year period well those 2 will be closed and all these measures in place through to the 1st week of january. thailand has had to begin testing around 40000 people in the country's largest single outbreak yet was attacked in a seafood market some 1000 cases have been reported amongst migrant workers in the seafood industry and somewhat sad home province just over 30 kilometers southwest of the thai capital that's going to he's live in a market in bangkok for us so tell me how is the government responded to this

outbreak. well as you just mentioned the soon incorporating mass testing we've also seen in this market here health officials going through speaking to the market traders particularly the seafood traders checking whether they've been down to some of the circle on what kind of contact they've heard they're also doing more testing they're targeting migrant workers communities the places where they work the places where they live they're very keen to get a hold of this we've just heard from the health authorities how the marigot the latest increase in daily transmissions up to 427 might sound relatively small but if you consider here in thailand we've been going for months and months with 0 local transmission it's a very big jump but it means the cluster centered on the seafood market is more than 1000 cases now most of the transmissions do seem to originate from that market

but i think what's disturbing you sure it is is that they are seeing more and more in other places in the year to year in buying for even a couple of pinching my and that's a real concern so they want to get on top of what we heard the prime minister yesterday saying he's waiting to assess the situation over the next week but if things do continue to worsen he might even consider putting the country back into lockdown and what people in bangkok think about all this because as you said thailand's been relatively successful in tackling cave at 19. it has and i think people here are very concerned we think many people here assume that there was no local transmission within the last month we've seen a few isolated cases which appear to have come from across the border. those who spread government again is trying to show up and they seem to be coming thick and fast at the moment but it's

a real worry for people who are just picking to some char used runs the fish store behind me. not only see concerned about his health because he goes and buys his fish down in my heart but his customers have dropped off by 7080 percent and i think that's the real problem time and made enormous sacrifices tourist industry is effectively being shut down for the last my months but that's the price they paid to maintain their health if we see this. really. some momentum will be for nothing. and definitely worth keeping on the situation there in thailand tony thanks for the update from bangkok. now hackers broke into systems used by top u.s. treasury officials during a massive cyber attack on multiple government agencies and may have sold essential cripps keys that's according to a senior democratic senator is as dozens of e-mails were accessed and of congress briefed by u.s. intelligence as well as section state might pompei it and attorney general bill

barr all blaming russia. microsoft and google have joined facebook legal challenge against israeli cyber surveillance from n.s.a. briefed by the companies to a u.s. court says the firm's hacking tools a powerful and dangerous facebook sued and so over claims it exposes a loophole in facebook and what's up allowing it's put more than 1400 people worldwide under surveillance early on sunday it was revealed that spyware sold by n.s.a. was used to hack the phones of dozens of al jazeera journalists. canada has pledged to give $70000000.00 to the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees to help tackle its worst ever financial crisis the agency has been struggling to run operations after the u.s. cut contributions money from canada will be distributed over 3 years and will go towards running schools and providing health services to more than $5000000.00 palestinians. the president of central african republic has criticized groups

behind an escalation in violence ahead of elections on sunday tensions been running high in the run up to the december 27th vote. troops of the country to help deal with the fighting the government accuse rebels backed by former president. 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 all of the democracy in the country but unfortunately there are some who are engaged in piles of violence that the people condemn and that we condemn. mink breeding has been temporarily banned in denmark 17000000 of the animals have now being cult following fears that curve in 1000 outbreaks on farms could spread to humans and as paul rees reports the impact on farmers could last much longer than any ban. prices up what's likely to be one of the

last shipments of mink pelts to leave the farm his father started nearly 40 years ago the rest of their herds are among the millions of minks that the danish government ordered to be slaughtered after a mutation of covert $98.00 was found in the animals. it could mean the country's main industry the largest in the world disappears altogether. so apartment. farming is a lifestyle they made in march you get kids in april and then you watch them grow and get this beautiful fur here that's hard for me to live without but i'll have to learn to farm has begun the color of the country $17000000.00 strong mink population last month when a strain of corona virus called cluster 5 spread from the animals to humans they were told to continue even when it was found that the mutation had probably died out weeks earlier and that the government had lacked the legal authority to order the cole in the 1st place 2 months ago this farm had more than 25000 minks housed

in these buildings now like in more than a 1000 other farms across denmark it's totally. on monday the government finally passed its order into law and the banned mink farming until december 2021 but undress and peta say it's already too late to save the industry which until now accounted for 40 percent of the world's milk production denmark's mink was also the most expensive bringing in an estimated $1000000000.00 a year i don't see any future of farming in denmark because all they. know of course. saying that is. that we don't have this industry anymore. what will happen is that. this industry will move. china. russia where they don't have this organization as we have in europe that's already seems to be happening with. chinese mink farm is saying they are ramping up

production to take advantage of a surge in milk prices caused by the danish crisis animal welfare groups don't believe that's a reason to protect the industry. if some. posters that live completely alone with a large territory it's not ok for minks to live in poor conditions here just because they could be worse off it's you don't think there should be mix and then one of. the crisis that the danes have labeled the mink saga doesn't end here some of the animals buried in mass graves after the cold started have risen to the surface due to the effects of decomposition and or thirty's for groundwater and lakes could have been contaminated by the rotting bodies as a commission looks into the handling of the affair farmers are demanding up to $4000000000.00 in compensation saying that businesses were buried along with the banks pull reese al-jazeera jutland denmark. china's leaders

say the country has a right a case in extreme poverty now over the past 5 years come as possible spend billions of dollars and dispatched thousands of officials to help rural households question the sustainability of the program teeming millions are at risk of falling back into hardship training reports from county and province. lawton county in china south is known for its mountains its rivers and its poverty . 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. 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. 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 an 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 saying millions of risk falling back into prophecy poverty line. people. it's temporary is short term and those kinds of people have very very different kinds of needs others for whom are already answered. 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 her children might have better ones katrina new al-jazeera county china. a volcano on hawaii's big island has

erupted shooting a cloud of steam and ash thousands of meters into the air eruption of lasted an hour and this triggered by a new lava flow interacting with a pool of water inside the crater 180000 people live on the island which experienced a magnitude 4.4 earthquake shortly afterwards. though with al-jazeera these are our top stories the u.s. congress has passed a 900000000000 dollars stimulus package to help american businesses and families struggling join the pandemic it comes as the number of recorded coronavirus cases exceeds 18000000 castro has more from washington this is the 2nd biggest economic stimulus ever passed.