that is desperately needed central african republic elections on al-jazeera. it really is a disgrace us president donald trump slams the massive coronavirus stimulus bill passed by congress suggesting he won't sign unless more relief money is given to people. and issues 15 more pardons including for private military contractors convicted for a 2007 massacre in baghdad's. around or a kyle this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. a masquerade

a virus testing program to get underway for stranded truck drivers as france eases its border restrictions with the u.k. . and of course election in 2 years in israel after the fractious ruling coalition failed to get the budget approved by parliament. yes president donald trump is suggesting he will not sign a massive groan of r.'s relief bill unless it's amended by congress and a twitter video called the bill a disgrace he said he's asking congress to raise stimulus payments to individual americans from $2600.00 to $2000.00 and $900000000000.00 relief bill was passed by the house and the senate on monday. i'm also asking congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver

a covert relief package and maybe that administrator should will be me. as in washington d.c. she says there was no indication of the president's apparent. that's not normal washington for you just yesterday when this bill was careening toward its final vote much celebrated as a bipartisan achievement after months of stalemate well the white house message was that president trump was on board so for this message to be uploaded on twitter less than 24 hours later is really a shock to all parties involved democrats and republicans now president trump is saying that he wants these checks to americans to be increased from the current 602-2000 he wants that list of what he calls. on relevant and unnecessary items to be removed from this bill that includes assistance to foreign

nations as well as everything from helping wildlife management to the arts this is a president who has championed his america 1st approach so on the foreign assistance front that comes as no surprise but for him to kind of lobbed this wrench into the process right now as americans are waiting for these desperately needed checks even having them promised by trump's own treasury secretary just the day before that these checks would be in the mail by next week well that is not going to happen and that is a disappointment to americans as well as a shock to the members of congress chris adelson is this is a professor of government at the american university he says it's hard to know what the president will end up doing. the white house had said the president would sign this bill. i'm sure senator mcconnell is furious about this the republican leader of the senate. donald trump is saying he wants more money to go out that's what the

democrats want so speaker pelosi she's thrilled with that i think one important thing though to watch as this president is so mercurial he changes so quickly will he stick with this i don't know he said it tonight will he say tomorrow i don't know that he might not actually veto the legislation i think it's important to wait and see this is an outburst we've seen it before and sometimes that doesn't mean anything if he does he threaten many things he hasn't done but assuming he did feel to it congress could override his veto by 2 thirds majorities in both chambers and they they have the votes as of now to do that would that change maybe but we don't know but the 1st thing i would say is will he actually veto it he's saying he well i don't know but it's important also note this is been a really extraordinary night the president also issued pardons for several people who are political supporters and associates of his during his campaign in 2016 and pardoned several guards for work crimes massacre civilians including apparently a 9 year old boy it's pretty pretty difficult stuff so it's been

a lot to digest in terms of legislation the relief bill i think it's important to wait and see and will the president really stick with this or not he may but he may not. just before donald trump made the declaration on the stimulus bill the white house and now its presidential pardons for 15 more people they include george papadopoulos and alex found as one who pleaded guilty to join the investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 presidential elections also on the list 2 former republican congressman sentence for corruption who are the earliest to endorse kansas city in 20164 others on the list were contractors who work for the controversial private security firm formerly known as blackwater which is they were convicted for a 2007 massacre in baghdad that killed more than a dozen iraqi civilians including 2 children incident caused an international for over the use of private security personnel in a war zone all 4 were serving long prison sentences they own fresco is the former

deputy assistant attorney general in the u.s. department of justice he says trump is using his partner power to try to discredit inquiries into his administration's conduct. at the moment it seems like president trump is saying that he's going to be leaving the white house and he had felt that a lot of his term was dealt with with the russian best occasion that he was going to pardon everybody involved with the russians that's the geisha in his mind he felt that he was an illegitimate investigator and so in order for him to sort of square the circle he's going to pardon everybody who got think if within the russian investigators him and then with regard to both the blackwater and the rational of the border patrol part and all of those are out in space that he is looking out for them and that he views the justice system as an unfair or iraq slumpy justices that he's trying to correct by using the pardon power one of the

complicated factors that our country had or the united states our country tried to really keep enclave has been won out if you commit atrocities on the battlefield that that's going to be something that's going to be accountable because we want to we go out in the world create allies and not create incidents that create people who are enemies of the united states and so that's what those convictions or out but this president not just on this occasion but on prior part of the cage and has been very lenient toward people who commit crimes in the battlefield and this is yet another example of that because he believes that if you're serving the united states that you have to do whatever you have to do 'd in order to serve the united states and he's not going to 2nd guess what what a person they even if it violates u.s. law. health officials in the u.s. a rolled up their sleeves to receive a crown of virus vaccine in an effort to inspire public confidence top infectious

disease expert dr anthony found she received the job he was joined by the health secretary and the head of the national institutes of health they were given the madonna vaccine which only received emergency approval from regulators last week she says most americans should be able to access the vaccine by the middle of next year we're seeing now is the culmination of years of research which have led to a phenomenon that has truly been unprecedented and that is to go from the realization that would deal with a new pathogen a virus that was described in january of this year less than one year later to have vaccines that are growing into the arms of so many people including myself and so i consider. to be part of this process mexico will start rolling out. vaccinations on thursday a day after the country receives its 1st batch of pfizer biotech vaccines. recorded

more than 1300000 cases of the virus and at least 119000 deaths the 4th highest in the world but the government says the real number of infected people is likely to be much higher. france has eased border restrictions with the u.k. ending a ban aimed at stopping the spread of a mutated strain of corona virus european residents will be able to cross provided they've recently tested negative for covert 19 much of europe has closed its borders to the u.k. this week train travel and cargo transport into chaos of truck drivers have been stranded in southern england as paul brennan reports. along the main 82 road into dover the queue was continuous the u.k. government estimated some 1500 lorries had been stranded but to drive around the approach roads to the porter revealed many many more than that parked up and waiting for news use eventually came with the blockade would be lifted but only for

those with proof of a negative code test that is no use at all to the thousands of drivers whose hopes of reaching home for christmas and now gone and now it's. this initial trauma here to go home for we have. almost 2 dozen myers if it's above the $45.00 followers to drive north of. no sleep just right. now we can make it. if covert testing is to be the precondition for reopening the border with france that presents an enormous logistical challenge for the u.k. or forces there are now thousands of truck and van drivers parked up in labor eyes all across the county of kent and getting the testing to them or them to the testing is going to be an enormous task and all this just days before christmas this german businessman was just minutes away from boarding his ferry when the blockade came into force yes through castle freedom so if i had been 10 minutes

earlier i would be now on the other side and be safe and at home for christmas with my family he's resigned to the possibility that he'll spend christmas stuck in dover but he says the u.k. or forty's have been totally inadequate down there their public toilets which are not open for the drivers they should be open i think that's what you had the coffee or tea to the drivers immediately government short do something and they should do it immediately. the airfield at manston in kent has been made a temporary lorry park for the hundreds of vehicles here are again just a section of the true scale of the problem and a. scarcity of food in some of 3 facilities is also creating tensions the member of parliament for denver brings france for this crisis i just think the way in which french government reacted was just really on helpful i mean that you can the french government the whole agenda st the ferry industry they've what's handing the love over the last 8 few months since chance since the virus started to make sure that

it's managed and i think that's what should have happened here. as night fell in dover the rain iraq and the driver staged a blockade of their own. many of these truckers and van drivers now facing the 3rd night stranded here tempers are clearly starting to fray they were occupied the roundabout which is here at the entrance to the port behind me they've blocked the traffic there is a long snaking line of lorries and not direction the police are trying to restore order but for the moment they're not being successful. in the park. my children my. daughter is crying for me to go through reinforcements restore order and the situation remains tense. al-jazeera dover. still ahead here on al-jazeera antarctica records its 1st cases of coronavirus virtually uninhabited ice covered landmass has now been affected by

that. and why the u.s. government says so in retellings on whom are every employee crisis. i don't show breezes developing again throughout the levant comes forward on the red sea it is the problem showers in eritrea western side of saudi arabia parts of eastern sudan as well in next day or so and of course the shouts a likely that's true gaza israel for lebanon as well focus to jerusalem is just 3012 degrees but showers next couple of days and possibly quite gusty ones i don't think is the potential for flash floods we have an air around sea valley for galilee for example further inland the showers spread into iraq they look fairly

light but of a sham all falling down what looks like a lot of showers here it's about rainy in cata but there is early friday in the breeze picks up again $23.00 sunny degrees it's iran that gets most of this weather the rain or snow it might stir again in tehran itself during the 830 or early friday southern africa has been active recently weather wise typically 50 or 60 millimeter showers in the middle of south africa that's gathering into a sort of frontal zone and move east was at least you know lives thunderstorms leaving behind drawing weather for some botswana and a good part of south africa the trough itself goes into southern mozambique drops the temperature brings in thunderstorms. ok calm and make sure you're not hyping the situation be part of the debate my main characters are women when no topic is off the table there was in the last allow

child marriage to happen legally easer basically archaic walls ballots often legitimize the legal one is pedophile. online jumping to the comment section and he changed to be part of the discussion this stream on out is there a. new law. of the earth. hello again you're watching al-jazeera has a reminder of our top stories this hour u.s. president donald trump has demanded congress make changes to a $900000000000.00 coronavirus relief bill called the legislation a disgrace his demands include increasing the stimulus payments to people. and

drums pardon 15 more people including 4 former contractors for the private security firm for me known as blackwater had been serving long sentences for the 2007 massacre of more than a dozen iraqi civilians in baghdad. and france says ease borders tractions with the u.k. it and aimed at stopping the spread of a more contagious strain of corona virus europeans with proof of a negative coded 19 test it will be able to cross. israel will be holding its 4th election in 2 years after the collapse of its coalition between prime minister benjamin netanyahu and wyvil benny gantz parliament has dissolved after failing to meet a deadline to pass the budget snap elections will be held in march next year the upcoming corruption trial of the prime minister is at the center of the discord of dance and faction of netanyahu is likud could party has also recently broken away. you of unfortunately who are unable to find enough common ground to prevent another

round of elections and enable the 23rd can assert and its members to exercise the mandate given to us who are all go to face a difficult to listen campaign and i call on each and every one of us and each and every israeli citizen to refrain from exacerbating tensions and we are against elections that are wrong decision by the un by party but if an election is forced upon us i promise you that we've event. in mass or as in west jerusalem she says this latest development comes down to the power sharing agreement between us and yahoo and dance under that agreement and yahoo and guns were supposed to rotate in the cheek of prime minister but one thing that needed to happen was that for this budget to back to pass the guns would have taken over the seat of prime minister in november of 2021 but the only way for netanyahu to have held onto the seat prime minister was to delay that vote as much as possible

and as many have predicted that is exactly what has happened and israelis will have to go back to the polls in just a few months waxman is the director of the u.c.l.a. unison saran as are a incentive for israel studies he says this election will look very different from the 3 polls already hells during the past 2 years. the timing doesn't suit who he wanted to go to elections but he wanted to go to elections sometime next after the coronavirus come under control in as well and hopefully the israeli economy has recovered somewhat so the timing of this election most likely to take place now a march 23rd is something that doesn't suit you and something that he was trying to avoid at all costs he's certainly very weak much weaker than he has been politically for a long time not only because he faces this looming corruption trial but also because his weight is really widely believed he's mishandled the pandemic suffering economically as a result of that and of course donald trump are no longer be in the white house by

that time so some of the factors that have allowed him to have prevailed in the past. in addition he also faces challenges from the like this talk and so it's going to be harder for him to to patrol his allies his why was this kind of leftist as he likes to do in the past but it dances absolutely dan i think he's really lost 'd or his supporting his party may not even pass the electoral threshold so the real libel this time lag isn't going to come from the center left over from a number of challenges on the white particularly from get on. a good. local why it is popular we could go to zan on the right in general and i can challenge netanyahu from the light that something that i think will be a real real risk in that yahoo entering this election united nations investigators have handed the security council evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity

and mali. the security forces are implicated in the report which documents crimes as far back as 2012 that's when separatists in northern mali launched an offensive ethnic rivalries and violence have since spread to other regions including neighboring became a fossil. praising uganda the rest of the leading human rights lawyer weeks before presidential elections nicholas o.p.o. previously represented by the wind seen as the main challenger to president hu 70 a tweet from bobby winds account says apia had been investigating the killings of protesters last month police accuse him of money laundering and other malicious acts. rebel groups in central african republic have reportedly seized the country's 4th largest city as they continue the push towards the capsule bungie tension has been rising in the run up to the 27th election. troops well as russia says it sent 300 military instruct the government's request government accused rebels backed by

a former president. of attempting a coup catherine soyuz in the capital with more. we've been speaking to officials from the un peacekeeping mission here in central african republic and that telling us that they have been able to push back this rebel movement remember this is a group that was formed over the weekend the calling themselves the patriots for change it's a group of kids we are the country's main groups and they started advancing on to the copy told calling for among other things government without president. of the u.n. . in the west where this is a rebellion has stock said they've been able to contain the situation in some towns and villages but in many other areas it remains very fluid indeed because we also have groups outside of this main. that are causing trouble so in the same

area we also have other. troops we have a russian. also carrying out operations against this grouping they are the russians and the londons are not under the un mandate that means that they are able to use more force. signed the country. and. our government allowing them to use force and to contain the situation to make sure that this election is not disrupted in any way corona virus has now spread to every constant on the globe off the 36 cases of a. discovered a research center station on the antarctic peninsula health officials say the people infected have been isolated under being closely monitored traceable reports from. it's one of the most remote regions in the world antarctica

and has been covert free until now. the 1st cases of covert 1000 were reported earlier this week at a chilean military research base. those tests show that 36 men tested positive for 1926 were army personnel and 10 work civilians from a contract company who were doing scheduled maintenance work at the antarctic a base. number and that of the. base located in the chilean sector of antartica it is one of the 13 bases operates on the white continent. with all the exposure there is extreme it can have a physiological effect on people because of isolation in changes at a light several components that can act as a muse because of the work they do there. the $36.00 men are reportedly healthy but under quarantine in the southern chilean city of daddy now. but colvin 19 continues to spread elsewhere in latin america increasing pressure on governments to find

medicines and vaccines fast chile announced it will start vaccinations next week mexico and argentina in the next few days. most countries in the region will begin with a pfizer vaccine but argentina has other plans for now there's lots of anxiety among latin american government to start vaccinating the population as soon as possible because there's fears of a 2nd wave already in 2021 argentina's government for example announced that russia sputnik vaccine is expected in the next few days and that a vaccination campaign is expected to begin as soon as noble. hell bent. argentina signed a deal for 10000000 doses with russia but there's very little information yet about sport and possible side effects so many people are skeptical about taking it. seriously. there's not

a lot of information on the russian vaccine you don't know if they had 11 poles. urgent point authorities may have a report but we haven't seen it is probably ok but the government has failed to communicate that effectively. over 1000 has had devastating effects in latin america's economy and health care systems. it has now reached what many call the end of the world as the virus continues to spread a vaccine is the one chance governments have to make it stop. current virus cases are surging in russia with nearly $29000.00 new infections confirmed in 24 hours the country's death toll is now selling at around 52000 this month russia began inoculating frontline health workers with its own sputnik the coronavirus vaccine more than 200000 people have received it so far.

south korea has recorded one of its highest daily rises in corona virus infections as it prepares to roll out nationwide restrictions to contain a surge in cases the country recorded always 1100 new cases the 2nd highest number since the pandemic began from thursday gatherings will be limited to 4 people last resorts major tourist spots and national parks will close. the u.k. and the e.u. still trying to hammer out a trade deal in brussels a block sprites that negotiated has been briefing member states on the latest progress several deadlines have already passed but the ukase exit takes effect at the end of the month the main obstacle to the trade deal centers around e.u. fishing quotas in bush's waters. even in the final push. during the day you feel relieved. i would continue to work. with remember like no. thank you thank you very much for. the big says

behind the issue of fishing rights are a number of concerns. time is running the fishing industry seems to be a major sticking point that's because currently e.u. member states have access to british waters now after brics in the u.k. wants to change that you can't just change the quote to that the e.u. countries get the debate is where the about the number of the quarter where what figure it should be but also it's about the transition period before changes come in they don't seem to be agreeing on those but the final point that's really seems to be a sticking point is any retaliatory action from the e.u. so if in future in the future the u.k. changes those fishing quoters they don't want any retaliatory action from the e.u. in the fishing industry or otherwise to complicate matters further the majority of fish caught by british fisherman exported to the e.u. and the majority of fish consumed by people in britain are imported so both the

u.k. and the e.u. are trying to protect their fishing industries. here is justice department is targeting wal-mart for billions of dollars in damages accusing it of helping fuel the opioid crisis the civil lawsuit accuses pharmacists of selling addictive painkillers whilst ignoring invalid and suspicious prescriptions almost half a 1000000 people have died of overdoses from prescription drugs in the u.s. in the last 2 decades or bought as the country's largest retailer william solomon is the chief executive officer of the accreditation council for medical affairs he thinks wal-mart has been trying to avoid responsibility for its role in the crisis . wal-mart itself that actually gets the o.j. preemptively before they were sued by the ministration and you know there are arguments that look this should be really something that the d.a. should be handling this is something bad is really the responsibility 'd of the physicians who are licensed to prescribe these products so you know it's

a question of you know who really here is willing to count ability right it's it's one group tossing the the responsibility to the next and i think it has to stop i think ultimately we need to ask ourselves whether it's wal-mart whether it's pharmaceutical companies one of the processes that please do ensure that the information i goes out to patients to health care providers is accurate is ethical isn't checked wal-mart is just one player in this game right the physicians definitely clear will pharmaceutical companies play a role and we saw that the chairman of doing a settlement last week with the government right they settled for $8000000000.00 they admitted that they could have done things better but it that they had misled the public and you know when you think about the size of a company like her do her size of wal-mart have right 5000 pharmacies in the u.s. it's a huge impact i mean it's you talking hundreds and thousands and millions of lives

affected in the u.s. and abroad and it's just it's preposterous to think that for all these used under current system of the process and no one was aware or knows where. you can find much more on all our stories on our web site the address there at the bottom of your screens at al-jazeera dot com. this is al-jazeera these are our top stories this hour u.s. president donald trump is demanding congress make changes to a landmark coronavirus relief bill called the legislation a disgrace his demands include raising the stimulus payments to individuals from $600.00 to $2000.00 the bill was passed by the house and the senate on monday heidi castro has more from washington d.c. i think there are many extraneous items that are.