west is turning a blind eye. man made on the waste trail on al-jazeera. al jazeera. you're watching the news hour live from the headquarters and. coming up in the next 60 minutes the border closures mounts as the u.k. looks for a way out of the travel crisis sparked by a new strain of the coronavirus the u.s. congress approves a 900000000000 dollar coronavirus relief package as the country's total number of infections process. the situation is especially dire in california the governor says america's most populous state desperately needs medical stuff and has

run out of care about. and another new variant of the corona virus surges in south africa leading many countries to suspend flights from their. schools football's governing body launches a criminal case against former president. using him of mismanaging the. museum. welcome to the news hour as coronavirus infection surge around the globe there are new concerns over a mutated versions of the virus and one has led to a growing number of countries to shut their doors to the u.k. the w.h.o. says it will need to discuss ways to counter that particular variants so british scientists say the strain is more contagious but doesn't appear more dangerous than previous ones more than 40 countries have banned travel to and from the u.k.

it's also causing chaos for trade to take a look with trucks carrying essential goods stuck on both sides of the channel border and the british prime minister says he's in talks with friends to resume free travel and food and medicine and supplies won't be affected. it's very can 1st to stress these delays which are only occurring at dover only affect human handled freight which means the vast majority of food medicines and other supplies are coming and going as needed it's very very important. not just for people who's in the wrong but it's also taking a realistic we have every reason to be extremely hopeful about this country's ability to bounce back next year from cape it or another country facing isolation as south africa health officials say a resurgence is being driven by a variant that's different to that in the u.k.

the situation's also getting worse over an asia taiwan reporting its 1st locally transmitted case in 8 months that's ended what's believed to be the longest period without a domestic infection for any country and over in thailand a large cluster of cases has now prompted off already is to start testing $40000.00 people but there is some hope in the world's worst hit country the u.s. congress has approved a 900000000000 dollar emergency stimulus package if the president signs it off then millions of americans could receive much needed relief payments next week warn all that's in a moment on the news but 1st swe go to the u.k. where trucks carrying essential goods are stranded for a challenge sent us this report from dover. the cold waters of the english channel have rarely seems 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 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 wife. and 10 days they need me to have for christmas christmas in poland is a very special holiday that's a bind with religion and the. traditional. way. for polish people it's very hard to be away on christmas. so this situation. cost me. better on the day of a sea front a line of vans with rumanians not knowing when they'll make it home we've been waiting on that we don't have in a one need to spend money on things like that we want because we waiting we

sleeping in the car you know we want everybody to be war right 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 travel ban people cut off from much of the rest of the world and this is perhaps just a small force a star 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 if goodstein start moving again soon rory chalons al-jazeera dover. well we'll be on the other side of that

border sorely in paris with bert's med but 1st let's stay in dover and get the latest from paul brown and paul what do you seeing today in dover how much of a backlog is there. at the entrance of the port of on the journey here this morning brought me down through kent on basically every approach road to this port city of port town every lay by every car park every truck stop is absolutely jam packed with low res unable to go anywhere at all to stay where they offer the time being it's clear that there are hundreds and hundreds potentially even a couple 1000 rays that odd stuck on able to move at the port behind me the security guards here there's a place and i'll get some the cameraman just to spend just a little bit to my right you can see that that they are every now and again letting a lorry through but i checked with them just a few minutes ago and they said that was just on the company and freight that was

going in to be delivered to be dropped off go without a driver across the channel to be picked up at the other side so there is a very small trickle of freight crossing but not with the drive as attached to it essentially from the other side of the thing we won't spin around because the trucks have stopped rolling now but for the last 10 to 15 minutes i've seen a steady stream of lorries coming from france in today of us it's clear that lorries are arriving i've seen lorries from france italy spain ireland as well a lot of them bringing fresh produce we had concerns about the possible shortages of fresh produce but they are still some of them arriving here it's not a total blanket ban that direction but closure right got it in and call the home secretary said earlier that discussions were indeed underway between the u.k. and france to find a resolution to the border closer so where are we with those discussions and how is all of this playing out a little. we in the u.k.

. it's it's it's creating a huge amounts of anguish at a particularly anguished time it's a huge backdrop to this of course is breakfast which is due to happen in just less than 10 days about a week from now you've also got christmas of course the introduction of for a new level of restrictions that the government's introduced a very short notice just before christmas and is effectively meant that for around $17000000.00 people in britain they are going to be restricted to staying within the households and not having visits as many people describe as christmas is said essentially being counseled talks pretty patel the home secretary was doing the rounds of the of the broadcast today is this morning she's not exactly party to those talks that that's the foreign office and the prime minister's office who will be discussing the situation with france it appears that what the french are keen to have is some kind of testing regime put into place very quickly so that the drivers

who are stuck here can get tested quickly can be proved to be either positive or negative and those who are negative get to get the rights across the channel back into france but there are concerns about exactly how realistic that is in the time scale with 3 days away from christmas reported to have a closes on christmas day usually so i mean is that a time to put in place that kind of testing infrastructure in order to be able to make that possible big question marks about that ok paula let you go and i thank you very much for that update from dover in the u.k. let's now cross over to the other side of the border and speak to burn it's meant he's joining us from paris and and bernard you know almost every member state has nonstop travel from the u k. yes been attempts certainly from the french side to find some sort of coordinated european way to manage this outbreak of the new strain of the coronavirus that's been discovered in the u.k. where halfway through france's 48 hour ban on arrivals from the u.k.

passengers and freight. friends imposed this ban in the interim to see if there would be a coordinated your speed in european response we haven't had any indication that there will be one yet in fact throughout this corona virus. outbreak since really the nearly beginning of the year european countries have pretty much looked after their own borders on this some of demanded testing others haven't some of demanded quarantine others haven't so no indication there would be a coordinated response as yet to what's coming out of the u.k. france itself has advised people who are currently in the u.k. hoping to come back to france for christmas holidays that while they're waiting for the borders to reopen they should get themselves a p.c.r. test because that will the french say probably be a requirement of people coming from the u.k. as paul mentioned though those lorry drivers waiting to come to france that has to be some way of testing them and getting the results through before they're allowed

over so we're still waiting really here for more information and that hasn't been anything new really on this so far today during our right we'll cross back to you a little later burnett's meth reporting from paris thank you. on some more head on the al-jazeera news hour including over in the u.s. the president elect joe biden gets vaccinated on camera as he promises renewed action on covert once he takes office to accusations and send any we'll find out what's behind rising tensions in the central african republic and tokyo's olympic costs balloon as the coronavirus adds almost $3000000000.00 to what is already the most expensive summer games in history peter we'll have all the details coming up in sports.

we'll take you over to the u.s. where a stimulus bill was signed overnights by congress to help out families suffering from the coronavirus hide is ok has more from washington d.c. majority leader 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 just 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 you 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. 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 $3.00 to $7000000.00 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 6 $100.00 stimulus payment. for something these 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. castro al-jazeera washington so this coded 1000 relief deal is the 2nd reached in the u.s. the 1st was the sweeping cares act signed into law in march it was the largest stimulus package in american history a 2.2 trillion dollars that's 10 percent of the country's g.d.p. it was unprecedented in size and scope but some benefits including

a boost to weekly unemployment and months ago let's bring in scott lucas is a professor of american and canadian studies at the university of birmingham he's joining us from there thanks for your time with us on the news hour so does the stimulus bill go far enough to help american families. no i think republicans and democrats he acknowledged that it's only an interim measure and present like joe biden has that one of the priorities when he takes office in january 20th is to get a broader measure the reason for that is that although this provides for the renewal of unemployment benefits it does so with for a short period of time although it provides for loans to small businesses it does only cover some businesses you'll need more as the economy tries to come out of the pandemic and it doesn't deal with important issues such as aid to states and communities who are facing budget true crises because they're having to spend quite a bit to deal with a crisis as well yeah ok so we know what's in it i mean what more can you tell us

about what's not and it's and what you would like to see. well i think the key thing that what's not in it is because of a compromise which is on the one hand the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell or you're with the most important person there washington right now said no aid to states no aid to cities there's a trope of much republicans that these democratic states and cities they're to blame for all the problems and mcconnell was playing politics with that so no wait in the interim measure on the other hand mcconnell wanted to provide liability protection for businesses who might face lawsuits from workers over being exposed to coronavirus and democrats said no you can't give businesses carte blanche of unity from being irresponsible he's backed down on that that was the key compromise excluding those 2 provisions but doesn't mention a moment ago i don't think you can go through 2021 and not do something to deal with the states and communities which of course is where the pandemic is being felt on a day to day basis and that's got lucas as we've been reporting this and this bill

is passed after months of stalemates you know and for our international viewers who might be wondering are scratching their heads well why has it taken so long in the midst of a pandemic then how would you explain the stalemates. 2 words mitch mcconnell the house passed a bill which provided for 3.3 trillion in relief in loans in assistance to americans in unemployment benefits back in may but mitch mcconnell held out against even putting that on the senate floor before the november 3rd a lot and after the election while donald trump was challenging the outcome mcconnell continued to hold out against it why did mitch mcconnell shift within the past 2 weeks well one donald trump is it appearing more desperate and did mcconnell distance himself from not and 2 republicans were telling mcconnell this failure to pass any type of package is hurting us including in the 2 efforts by the

republicans to hold on to senate seats in georgia which votes in 2 weeks' time rates and you're mentioning the president elect just a moment ago i mean the house speaker nancy pelosi said this she called the bill a 1st step towards giving the incoming president elect joe biden the resources needed to cross the virus is it just the resources or is this kind of a gift that's been given to joe biden i mean he must be relieved that this has been passed before he takes on the presidency was it beyond politics a lot of people are relieved that something has been done because as your correspondent noted people heard people have lost their jobs people are struggling just to get food but if you want to talk politics here if this is a gift it's a gift that expires very soon after christmas we need to be honest here by march there will be a need for further government assistance while you have the vaccine rollout to try to stem the pandemic and then the critical choice becomes we know the budget ministration will push for this type of help on the front line will become to work

with them or will he play politics and try to obstruct them so gift right now but you know what christmas will last for one day right ok we'll have to see what happens then we thank you scott lucas as always for joining us on al-jazeera thank you. now in the u.s. state of california health officials say they're looking for thousands more medical staff as the region runs out of intensive care beds and people to manage them so the state governor says there are no more intensive care beds in 2 regions including los angeles county which is home to over 10000000 people at least 4 hospitals are facing the prospect of having to limit lifesaving care dr adam richards is a senior technical advisor at community partners international he says the virus is surging to very worrying levels. around the world 12000 pieces today will roll to 630 almost 635000 since the beginning. 6 people died in the late today you still have to

guess. you know every hour that much is a racial ethnic the spirit of this if you go in equities are tremendous fear so you're more likely. that if you're poor. poorest neighborhoods where what you are is for. those folks in the wealthier you know. what is the. you know here on the ground always there's very few i guess you that you know they will for anybody who says implications that they care other. folks who come here and how we should have been you know otherwise it up stairs and they. were good in the urgency of their physically located in taken care of by the words the wrong. nurse. and that is turn back the new patients we're trying to get it we're seeing it was waiting their patients some of your doctor seeing patients inside.

what are really doing about becoming. i mean as president elect has received his 1st dose of the pfizer biotech to run a virus vaccine he's one of a growing list of high profile people being publicly vaccinated it's all part of an effort to encourage confidence and cover 1000 vaccines biden says he wants to see if least 100000000 doses administered during his 1st 100 days in office. doing this to demonstrate that people should be compared 'd when it's available 'd to take the vaccine there's nothing to worry 'd about i'm looking forward to the 2nd shot so we still see tighter shot earlier today i hope people listened to all the experts dr francis on talking about the need to wear masks during this christmas and new year's holidays wear masks socially distance and and if you don't

have to travel don't travel she had a chance he has more from wilmington in delaware some of them perplexed the president from his failure to take more credit for operation walk speed the project that has created several vaccines to fight covered in record time it was notable that the president elect did pay tribute to the current administration as he received his vaccine and as he attempted to act as an example for the nation it news stations are some credit he's off the ground operation work speak i also think that. it's worth saying that this is a great hope of doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared 'd when it's available 'd to take the vaccine there's nothing to worry about the president elect has announced an ambitious set of targets for us 1st 100 days in office 1st he will ask all americans to mosque up for that 1st 100 days he hopes that all schools will reopen within that 1st 100 days and he has pledged 100000000 doses of

the vaccine will be administered in that 1st 100 days though that may need more money from congress procurement and distribution and bats by no means guaranteed. canada's most populous province is implementing new measures from saturday affecting 14000000 people on terio is in the grip of a 2nd wave of corona virus infections recording 2000 new cases a day for the past week restrictions will be imposed on the north for 2 weeks and for nearly a month in the south schools will close non-essential services will be limited and gatherings restrict. the presidents of central african republic has criticized those behind an escalation in violence ahead of next week's election tension has been rising in the run up to the december 27th vote for. troops in the country to help deal with the fighting the government has accused rebels backed by the former president françois of attempting

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 parts of violence that the people condemn and that we condemn russia has also voiced concerns about the unfolding political unrest happened stories in the capital with 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 done to head of that and that's about what people out there who are it about here the topic was the security situation outside . people particularly wanting to find the place to. the west where we are going to help. of course use them calling themselves a p to

a bill to change and saying frightening to much to belong he's saying that they do they want a sensational government without president or. who would dare out that both that both groups have been met with or by the central central african agni also hot from the russian government that has stated has deployed 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 interests and coming back to the election we've been talking to opposition leaders was saying that they want the selections postponed until the security situation

around the country is resolved but i've also spoken to some additional who are saying that is most an option more details are emerging about a major cyber security breach of u.s. government agencies which washington blames on russian hackers one democratic senator has revealed that encryption keys were stolen and dozens of e-mails access at the treasury department the hacking there started in july cyber experts think the overall operation started months earlier when malicious code was hidden in software updates on government computers. the from the information i have. you know i agree with secretary pompei owes assessment it's certainly appears to be the russians but i'm not going to discuss beyond their tech giants microsoft and google have joined facebook's legal challenge against israeli cyber surveillance firm n.s.o. a brief by the companies to a u.s. court describes the firm's hacking tools as powerful and dangerous last year

facebook sued n.s.o. over claims that exploited a loophole in what's up allowing it to spy on more than 1400 people worldwide and it was revealed on sunday that spyware sold by n.s.o. was used to hack the phones of dozens of al jazeera journalists in prison doctors or 5 people killed in an explosion in the afghan capital local police say 4 doctors and one other person were killed when a bomb attached to the car they were traveling in detonated 7 others were injured in the blast let's get a check on the weather now here's rob. hello every few days there we've had this tropical depression it's been no more than that wandering around the south china sea heading west was towards the end nam it's produced a lot of rain but not for many people so this is the spratly islands and southwest we've had probably the month's worth in the last 4 days as this is the influence of so that's what you could expect to fall on its way through any sudden vietnam that

gets it 1st the circulation is not strong enough to really keep the name and follow it even by this time it's heading this direction so for sudden thailand it looks pretty wet but how you get to says another this is unusual for this time of the year the rainy season the size licensed but a thunderstorm rather fear i think than of late in australia the opposite we've had the wettest day in 8 years in new south wales significant rain in the northwest down through northern territory there's more rain to come in northern territory as you can see this representative but it's much drier much sun you're in new south wales and queensland still has what it was either thames up in sydney coming up in melbourne but it's disappointing we are talking about some here took about 90 degrees in melbourne the rain continues in the 4 showers through queensland and all this time perth is probably about the hottest place at $39.00. still ahead on the al-jazeera news hour finding extreme pot ending extreme poverty excuse me we'll look at whether china's multi-billion dollar plan is working plus

a bleak forecast from a top u.n. official on prospects for a 2 state solution for palestine and in sport the n.b.a. could soon expand to more than the current 30 teams peter will explain in sports. from fossil fuels to modern day renewable as societies develop the energy demands increase requiring innovative solutions to meet such to mounds as a global power developed into the basement company nebraska power is uniquely positioned to deliver against the state we provide business growth promote social economic benefits and provide innovative safe and firemen to sound energy solutions for future generations the breastpin pioneering future energy. the silence has been the. belief this.

is one of scandinavia some largest iron ore deposits. and it's driving a wedge between those seeking wealth. and those defending their way of life. a witness documentary on a. rule. or oil or. low. the janjaweed the al jazeera news hour here are the top stories more than 40 countries have closed their borders to flights on travelers from the u.k. due to concerns over a new strain of the virus. that will need to discuss ways to counter the more

infection. the u.s. congress has passed a 900000000000 dollars stimulus package to help businesses and families struggling during the pandemic comes as the number of recorded coronavirus cases exceeds 8000000 and the president of the central african republic has condemned rebel groups responsible for violence ahead of the elections they're due to take place on sunday he says they should instead take part in the democratic process. so let's go back to our top story and those border closures that have left the u.k. largely isolated from the outside world but how 'd much of that is driven by medical science and how much is actually politics to get some perspective with caroline who's the c.e.o. of the center for european policy studies he's joining us from brussels via skype thanks for your time with us so where do you stand on this side of the argument is everything that's happening in the u.k. now due to covert or is it wrecks it in politics.

i think it's if not the same but i would rather think it's governance because the benefit story is more a story for specialists like us of course people see the lorries and the pictures up there or isn't and in the us but overall people in europe are much more concerned about all that you see distorting for example and money to be guns used today about the availability of klaxons or not to know which is that it's not the whole so i would imagine that it's mostly driven by i would say panic can and the fear about that will be even more calm before we have the facts on the control. on the other hand the e.u. has on this whatever you adopt the rules in case that is not we're going to months with the brits by the end of this year dual ensure safe for example air travel over that period and all the rules so i think personally it is essentially related to the contour does this is another variant of the virus which

we don't know or know exactly what at this moment and we don't have it under control act how how much do you think is the u.k. isolated right now as a result of all of this. of course again we don't know we have heard that story is that it's i mean december virus marks where is it in northern italy or has a person from sort of country in the netherlands we don't know and that's that's a problem let's say which you have a moment but what i see from your perspective on just what i found rather tragic and the final days you i mean that you are still a member of that you will because they believe at the end of this mom's that we still do not have a european level of form of crisis coordination how to react to these kind of events we've not seen just for the last 10 months since basically february march when the go over the crisis started the countries react in this part of order to describe this is we continue to see that today and that we do not know exactly what

this is of course that is your emotions you go around because they want to they want to get ahead of the curve this time around and that's why they acted quickly and swiftly i do not think at this morally a particular set that we really do not know what is going on i mean on the other hand we have also that star intensity not this body and less than journalists it on the previous hour and so we don't know and this for me the main concern is that we don't have a structure in place to react in an adequate number of yours a whole to what is going on ok so let me ask you then about the crisis talks going on because the british and french are in talks right now about restarting at least some of the traffic on the border what do you anticipate to happen there i didn't do it will reopen it because i mean one of the reasons why we shouldn't be doing this to the u.k. is that it affects many european citizens which are coming back from new york and for christmas so why would we be harping e.u. citizens not at this moment i do not think look at our business the main reason the

main reason is simply we do not know what is going on so are you optimistic than that something will come out of this meeting. i didna to be able to reopen it and that's why do you not also read the yesterday because it also turned so many business. i mean her to be charter stuck at the border in the u.k. indulge her and in other places to take a ferry and to go back to europe so i think they will find a solution and they will just an act even more tighter control on what who is going over. where the person is coming from what is being shipped across etc obviously there is a huge uncertainty right now going on in the u.k. as our reporter put it there is christmas there is the current virus there is rex that looming right around the corner and i know you're speaking to us from brussels but give me your perspective on how you think the u.k. government is managing this fallout and is this something that boris johnson can survive i don't know does is difficult to say that's also why these discussions

with you are so complicated and i do not personally believe that they are being held up at the moment only by officially she would miss much broader issues as you were saying and which basically maybe at some stage or boris johnson doesn't it just well may have to do with his survival and yeah but what we have at the moment is basically a perfect storm that the man who campaigned on to give that money back to the national health service maybe not all basically eventually being held back or being day in away from his position because of health problems within the u.k. but these are things which are unforeseeable which are a year ago or 2 years it got 4 years ago when actually. took place were unforeseeable but it's very tragic even dramatic that this is raul. basing the u.k. prime minister in such dramatic circumstances carolina we thank you very much for

speaking to us from brussels and giving us your time thank you. thank you. now south africa struggling to contain a surge in new cases health officials say it's being driven by a different code 19 variant from the mutated strain in the u.k. the virus is now spreading faster than when the pandemic 1st began several countries have halted air travel to and from south africa. has more from johannesburg. scientists say they still studying this new strain the data collected so far suggests that it's spreading fast and they also same could be responsible for the 2nd wave of the country is currently experiencing some of the countries getting on average just under 10000 new infections a day is been identified in. the eastern cape province and the garden that's where you get the cape town area for example where lots of tourists usually flock to at this time of year this is another blow to the tourism industry you've got this new strain and then the flight bans and so that because tourism industry has survived

pretty much to some of the people coming in from the u.k. europe middle east asia and other parts of the world so now these businesses are now feeling another pressure as well for example you go to province you find in a place called st lucia a very popular tourist resort they're saying that they have had more than 50 percent of cancellations because of this you go to durban a lot of hospitals all of the hotels are closed coming the javelins the media the big hotel chains are also shut and lots of people are losing out of work as well and this is the time of the year when people are in the face of mood many people come to south africa for tourism and now they're saying that people would who are hoping to make some kind of money this time around those hopes have not been dashed and south korea is banning gatherings of more than 5 people starting from christmas eve the restrictions will be in place for at least 10 days in the country tries to contain a surgeon infections about a 1000 new cases are being reported daily ski resorts and other major tourist spots

will also be shut robert wright has more from seoul. it was only monday that the all storage fees in the greater seoul area announced tougher restrictions but home to around half of south korea's population choose day the tougher restrictions are going to be put in place across south korea and it comes as we've seen this 3rd wave produce around up to a 1000 you. 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 close and all these measures in place through to the 1st week of january taiwan has reported its 1st locally transmitted coronavirus case in 8 months ending what's thought to be the world's longest period without any domestic infection tyrone's containment measures have been hailed as some of the

most effective it's confirmed only $766.00 cases this year. the u.a.e. is the fact a ruler and a private bank have been accused of trying to plots economic downfall bloomberg news says correspondence between. bank that suggests plans to attack financial markets and deplete its foreign exchange reserves the idea was reportedly . 2017 bank. the allegations. the director of policy analysis of the arab center for research and policy studies he says there had already been signs the united arab emirates was trying to sabotage economy. we all know that by fall of 2017 actually then i got him and it's was trying actually to put more pressure on qatar on order to borrow a tool. that their team demands that had been put forward by the people creating

countries when actually resisted at the very beginning so the plan was to try and undermine katanas economy and i also. don't mind because he that in fact 1000000000 of dollars thank to support. the qatari so as i said it's not a big surprise for most of us here. that we have now been ops more like evidence by that leaking of the bite that they made as it leaked actually. and reported by bloomberg at the time they were willing to was all sort of actions in order to force got the tucson data including military action in fact i was surprised to hear at that time that a meal of kuwait that it a middle of kuwait during the famous. conference with president drum in september

of 2017 he said that we managed to actually took that event that military action against against got out of so when that it was good after that that the countries maybe they not out of it but it was like actually to put more pressure on the economy i mean it wasn't really a big a big big surprise for anybody here the un's outgoing special coordinator for the middle east is warning the prospect of a 2 state solution for palestine is fading nicholai one of made the comment during his last briefing on monday saying the situation has gone from bad to worse al-jazeera as krisna salumi reports from the un. on the. problem well it was a 1st step the united nations a moroccan basad are celebrating. konica 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 norm was normalized in international relations with israel following a resolution of the israeli palestinian dispute but we have proven this is sumption wrong while the u.s. took credit in the security council outgoing middle east special coordinator nickel i'm alive 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 that it's a state solution although every day we see a chance of. realization frankly i do believe that it is still possible and it is possible that we didn't recognize the legitimacy of the story. writes

both israelis and palestinians alike. and 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 one since 1980 to talk about. the united states which shows such a solution is abstained and that's what was significant about it but there's nothing controversial new 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 the u.s. justice department has charged a new suspect 32 years after a bomb attack took down an airliner over lockerbie in scotland former libyan intelligence officer mohamad is accused of making the bomb that blew up the pan am plane in 198-8270 people were killed most of them americans the u.s. is requesting mr would be extradited from libya where he is currently in custody the united states has filed criminal charges against a 3rd conspirator. 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 china's leaders say the country has eradicated extreme poverty over the past 5 years the communist party had spent billions of dollars and dispatch thousands of officials to help rural households but critics question the sustainability of that program and say millions of people are at risk of falling back into hardship katrina you reports from. enjoying the 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 really 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 saying millions of risk falling back into poverty poverty line. people is trans is temporary is short term spells and those kinds of people have very very different kinds of needs than others for whom already is a chronic experience a policy implement the policy response to those different states needs to be different and. his life is better but 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. still ahead on the. new record later. coming up in sports.

thank you very football's governing body fever has filed a criminal complaint against its former president. over the finances of its museum in zurich favor its suspect criminal mismanagement the museum which was

a pet project of a black has opened in 2016 off the $140000000.00 was. bent on refurbishing it that it had also signed a contract with the building's owners which requires pfieffer to pay $360000000.00 in rain tonsil 2045 the 84 year old is already a suspect into criminal proceedings in switzerland into how he spent fief as money as president is always maintained he is innocent. there are missing could make history later if he scores for barcelona against row of a dollar in la liga the argentine star is on $643.00 goals for the catalan club one more and he'll eclipse the record he holds with pele of most goals for one club for barcelona who set forth in the league a 3rd win in 4 league games is also much needed the season in the english premier league chelsea have moved up to furthur after a win over west ham striker tami abraham scored 2 late goals as they bounced back

from 2 defeats and are just a point behind 4th placed everton now to a big game in the us the conqueror for champions league final takes place in florida later with 2 teams battling to make history but surgeon as if he will take on to get a say in orlando they're the 1st major league soccer club to be 3 mexican teams on route to the final and will hope to make that 4 later they can also be the 1st team from m.l.a. it's to lift the trophy if they win. just an excitement for being in a final push on. people how we play football and for competing against the great team that's the only part we were thinking around. you know when you're a player and you get a chance to be in a final special. mexican opponents to get into their 4th champions league final but have never won the trophy either figures have scored the most goals of any team in this year's competition with 13 but they could be without 2 of the big

players on grey peers as a fiery injury and. has a muscle strain they missed monday's training session and face a late for the 1st test on tuesday before a decision can be made on their inclusion in the t.v. . tokyo has delayed olympic games will cost almost $3000000000.00 more than originally expected because of the coronavirus pandemic the games were postponed for a year because of the outbreak on tuesday organizers announced a new budget of 15 point $4000000000.00 up 22 percent in the last year or the japanese government orders have indicated the costs could be much higher at least $25000000000.00 games were already said to be the most expensive summer olympics on record they have the committee says it's important that they do go ahead i welcome the 2 are not there yet we have 7 months until the opening of the games perspiring mint of the games was unprecedented and we have been working closely with all people who are involved we need to hold the olympics as

a symbol of overcoming the coronavirus and to have the olympic flame lit at the stadium that's the mission we need to for thoughts as the new n.b.a. season prepares to perform sees that the league's commissioner says it could expand from its current 30 teams commissioner adam silver the coronavirus brought about a shock drop in revenue expansion could help boost the league's income india has not added a new team since 2002 when the charlotte b'sobcats joined they've since become the hornets the teens when we playing in a bubble the season instead of they will be traveling between games but service is the n.b.a. has an extensive safety plan in place. we've made as you know sea changes to the schedule to travel changes to help reduce the chances of an incident but you know we keep the answers we have a lot of plans in the drawer and we'll just see i think you know we're we're we're going to go we're going to go forward and you know are we have as i said apparently a company internet but but i i don't know i want to make sure everyone understands

that safety and health of our players and all just it's our number one priority and of any time we feel that being jeopardized we will stop le bron james on the defending champions los angeles lakers will be in action on the opening night they will be up against their l.a. rivals the clippers at 35 years of age james says he is mindful of taking care of his body to make sure he does not wear himself out. this into my body my would summarize at that point. you know i just listen to this was about. to be very smart we are america. you know we're not and. we want to get better every day and be. all of these me if i line up well i'll listen to my body australia not only going to the 2nd cricket test against india in melbourne of the 100 series lead but they tosk is also a little easier that's because the indians will be without their captain very out kohli for the remainder of the 4 match series kohli is on paternity leave and in

another blow fast burn him how much sammy has been ruled out of the 2nd test straight old india for a record low 36 in the 1st test to win comfortably inside 3 days i think it's important to keep moving forward. look at. yourself individually what you could have done better. which i think is important after any game with the bat well lloyd or you die and. you reflect and you say what you can do in the next game or the rest of the games for the series. to have an impact. ok we'll leave it there for now i'll be here again in a couple of hours with another sports news update company then all right look before it's all those words updates peter thank you very much for the time being and by the way you can always had online for all the latest sports news and all the latest top stories at al-jazeera dot com thanks for watching the news hour with you in just a moment with more news right here on al-jazeera see about to see later like.

3 jobs and now i only have one but i'm soo providing for my family. the 1st time i was admitted to hospital i didn't show any signs of m.s. . and all that but my opinion and i have become very positive and stop thinking about the negative sides from. al-jazeera while he is from living with them in egypt. this underwater treasure is

a risk of disappearing juice a coral bleaching caused by rising temperatures when we think about the great strain the area its cultural heritage. and the tourism industry based bands this we lose instantly if we have another bleaching event of the magnitude if this continues they just will not be the opportunity for the currents to recover in between those major. scientists supporting full strong climate policy from the government to reduce emissions without this situation and they get worse. in december 2019 the 1st coronavirus case was reported in china within months some local outbreak became a global pandemic one year on weak salmon the devastation caused by cold the ninety's. with more than a 1000000 fatalities and economies crippled vaccines now offer hope of protection

from the virus but how long will it take for the world to recover the corona virus and then the special coverage on. the border closures mount as the u.k. looks for a way out of a travel crisis sparked by mutated strain of the corona virus. live there i missed on the table says al jazeera live from doha also coming up the u.s. congress approves a $900000000000.00 coronavirus relief package as the country's total number of infections passes $18000000.00. and another new variant of the credit are surges in south africa leading many countries also to suspend flight.