grants now say they are essential to control the virus and receive messages on the scene that we are you know so i was a nurse back home what i am doing is not all that different you might actually helping others. this new variant is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further the strain of corona virus suspected a few spike in cases in south africa has now been detected in the u.k. . along macleod this is out 0 live from doha also coming up time is running out for brits at trade deal but there are hints of progress. president trump vetoes the annual us defense policy bill stuck up a showdown with congress. iraq calls on us president trump to reconsider pardoning

4 military contractors convicted of killing civilians in fact that. we start with ethiopia where more than 100 people have been killed in an attack in a western ethiopia region where ethnic tensions have been escalating that's according to the ethiopian human rights commission and the international you talk took place in the region of benny schenkel gomers international says dozens of people are still unaccounted for this comes a day after the prime minister met visited the area calling for peace and for unity following several deadly incidents in recent months in a tweet he said enemies were trying to divide ethiopia along ethnic and religious lines no group has claimed responsibility. elsewhere in the country government troops have been fighting the decry people's liberation front in the north into a growing region since the beginning of november it's raised fears of

a security vacuum in other areas of the country elections june next year have for the raised tensions over land and power from us toward to the lawyer and researcher who previously worked with ethiopia's attorney general's office on legal and justice reform efforts and she says that rest of polyps of ethiopia could experience fighting because of the redeployment of military to the to grow into that is a fair amount of people have right now because that yoke and human rights commission which you just quoted is the one that came up with the most i guess comprehensive information on this to date and it has saved that attack started when the federal troops that were stationed to guard the community. actually withdraw yesterday on tuesday so they would go to escort federal officials where their invention will and date or prime minister and regional officials were there but they didn't exactly say that with the prime minister at the army with an escort thanks so it is the military that would go and created this vacuum that led to the massacre that we

just learned it's a huge problem i mean you we've been hearing this for more than a month now and to grind but. have been bowling or more than 2 years now gratian movement in reno attacks. you know are going on and also parts of army out where it's an ethnic minority i've been to in addition attacks against the government or so their ethnic conflicts in ethiopia have been persistent and there has to be a you know conference of solution for all of that. they're not going to be contained by a man like you in the government and i think. there have been confrontations between police and frustrated truck drivers stranded at the english port of dover several thousands are still waiting for coronavirus tests arrive many have no food water or indeed access to sanitation france lifted the blockade it imposed on

arrivals from the u.k. 24 hours ago all through different coronavirus train was discovered and only those who tested negative are being allowed into ferries brennan reports now from dover. facing a 4th night trapped in their vehicles and unable to depart for cal a. frustration and anger led one group or drive us to briefly blockade inbound freight arriving from france there was a confrontation at the police trying to clear the road a demonstrator lay down in front of one of the lorries. speak to the drivers and time and again the lack of information is what's really causing tempest a flat and i don't know what's going on the police will tell you what's going on all they want to move from are on the ball to let these people follow them blindly no no no no no it. should be bustling now instead it is ghostly shut down by the impact of the new variant of covert in the u.k.

the french ban on arrivals and on wednesday morning but the condition of travel is possession of a negative test and getting one of them while trapped in a queue like this is impossible testing is available at the temporary lorry pocket mountain airfield which now has nearly $4000.00 trucks and their drivers parked on the site is on a desolate windswept hilltop 20 miles away from the port at dover. the sound being carried on the wind is the sound of the drivers inside this field blowing their horns is an expression of frustration and misery this field is a truly desolate place to have the prospect of spending. christmas. manston is the government's primary holding area it was designed to cope with any disruption that might have been caused by breck's it from the accounts of those parked here and now

it is failing its 1st real test their toilets but it's a dirty not working. we have no food we have no water yesterday. or got food but it was just something. and we don't know when we. can get home from that airport here too there were confrontations with police 2 people detained as frustration led to scuffles again the lack of information and organization have left the drive is desperate for the government says testing has begun manston but not enough we have today sitting and then now they say yes we don't have to. because we're stuck on the way. yeah the current. is blocked. have one way here.

and we don't know. the u.k. government says it will take a few days to clear the backlog of vehicles christmas for many here is going to be a deeply miserable experience paul brennan al-jazeera over. large parts of england to be put on the even tougher coded 1000 restrictions from saturday is a more contagious variant of the virus spread further new infections are risen by 57 percent in the past week and more people are currently in hospital any other point since april united kingdom is also facing the threats of another corona virus mutation from people who've arrived from south africa flights from that country have now been cancelled. we are quarantining cases and close contacts of cases found here in the u.k. 2nd we're placing immediate restrictions on travel from south africa and finally and most importantly anyone in the u.k.

who has been in south africa in the past fortnight and anyone who is a close contact of someone who's been in south africa in the last fortnight must quarantine immediately italy is coronavirus death toll is past 70000 with attorneys preparing for a new nationwide lockdown over christmas bereaved families have now launched legal action against local and national authorities over the pandemic a group of around $500.00 relatives of covert $1000.00 victims say they're seeking $122000000.00 in damages they've launched the suit against prime minister to separate county the health minister and the governor of lombardi the united states has suffered its 2nd deadliest day of the pandemic with more than $3400.00 deaths on tuesday and more than 195000 new cases were also recorded across the country pharmaceutical giant pfizer has announced it will supply the u.s. with 100000000 more covert 19 vaccine doses that by july. that

makes goes just received the 1st shipments of the pfizer buying tech vaccine it is the 1st country in latin america to have a vaccine ready to roll out but it's battling a shop price infections that has overwhelming hospitals don't hold reports from mexico city. it's what everyone in mexico wants for christmas. and the one from pfizer has now finally arrived. as the phrase goes good things are vive in small quantities we have the privilege today of being one of the 1st countries in the world with a vaccine supply to be handed out next year i mexico is the 1st country in latin america to get the vaccine. but for many people it won't be available till the middle of next year and meanwhile the country's in big trouble. mexico city's hospitals rule but with very few ventilators left. there are queues outside

shops selling oxygen tanks monica aves travel from another city desperate to get one like many people she's taking care of an infected relative at home. we've come from to kneecap there's no oxygen there we went to 2 places but they didn't have any till tomorrow and i need it for today because my patient my dad can't go without oxygen. mixteco never really got the cases down after the 1st wave and now there's more than ever the crowds in mexico city center throughout december haven't helped. the government just reluctantly declared a red alert for the capital and its suburbs closing non-essential businesses but a lot of people think the authorities the clerk for the cup so much too late there's been questions over their attitude towards a pandemic from the beginning the mets come president. and the covert so really

wear masks and they've been accused repeatedly of not imposing timely and strict enough lockdowns ok let's tell you that i don't know but the government has a powerful counter-argument mexico has more than 60000000 poor people stopping them from working could leave them destitute especially since federal authorities haven't brought out a comprehensive plan on szell plan to help them. but he it gussie is selling face masks in the street she says there's no way she could stay home place not be in them and. of course not be ashamed to hold out my hand and say help me that's why i'm here i get $7.00 a day even if it's just to buy tortillas few instead the government's to try and make sure that when people do get sick there's always a bed for them. now for the 1st time it looks like that strategy could fail although there were no queues waiting outside at the 6 hospitals that our team

visited emits crew city this week all of which were full health experts say that could change this january john homan al-jazeera mexico city after 9 months of negotiations there are signs that the e.u. and the u.k. are edging closer to agreeing on a post breaks a trade deal talks between the 2 sides they continued later wednesday as it tried to hammer out the final details that the barber is following developments from london. well the negotiators were face to face in brussels on wednesday and as they continued there were. briefings anonymous briefings by e.u. officials to reporters saying that the talks were in their final stages although it wasn't exactly clear how long it would take for the draft text to be looked at an approved by the political leaders of course boris johnson the prime minister and under law in the european commission president have actually taken over leadership of the process since monday they've been in constant telephone contact now what's

being removed is that a draft text will be shown to the envoys of the member states in brussels and to the british cabinet as quickly as possible for them to have a look at and then to go through it and check that everything's ok legally as well so it could take a little bit of time if in fact a deal is reached no it just on wednesday a member of the u.k. cabinet was saying that there was still serious differences over not just fishing rights in terms of what percentage of the catch in british waters e.u. fleets should get and when that should change but also in terms he said of the level playing field rules for ensuring fair competition which has proved a trickier issue fishing of course only represents a small fraction of the more than $600000000000.00. of goods traded between the e.u. and the u.k. every year so i think really both sides have been longing to avoid

a no deal scenario and also the kind of disruption at ports that we've seen just in the last day or so so if there is a deal then it's clear that there has been compromise the french are saying the u.k. have given ground on fishing that's not clear that mace take some time to come out we're looking at probably provisional application of a deal that means that it will come into effect on the 1st of january pending ratification from the european parliament because this timescale now is simply too short for them. still ahead here on al-jazeera. i'm hardly tossing in south africa's going to tell province where a mining dispute has divided relatives and neighbors some locals believe an activist was murdered because of it we'll keep watching to find out more. leaders of an opposition coalition sweet to victory in indian administered kashmir the 1st election since the last autonomy we'll hear their demands.

for. siberia about to blow again blow the cold air across the sea of japan to was shapin itself the e.c. feel like the snow much is cast the edge or at least the smallest islands just off the edge of of south korea but really we're talking about the western slopes of honshu once more a half to one metre snow seems likely through right and that's an unstable base avalanche risk will be hard here but if you're over land it's just cold sunny by day cold by the long night that stretches all were down to size coast of china virtually bone dry a little bit a cloud of rain maybe in the far west up in sichuan is rather more catherine oversee it and towards the tropics there remains that tropical depression just cool fast of vietnam is on its way to southern thailand for thursday to really be the

rain seems likely flooding movie quite likely here such that it's a good rainy season taking a step back from the intensity i think for thursday and friday yet more range developing in the southern philippines very little rain moment in the forecast for india a little bit catching some catching sri lanka a hint refuse showers maybe in the far north of a need to flee in the foothills of the himalayas showing up surprisingly in the delhi forecast. i had 3 jobs and now i only have one but i'm still providing for my family. the 1st time i was admitted to hospital i didn't show any signs of m.s. . at all that but my opinion women have become very past and stop thinking about the negative sides and. get on al-jazeera while.

living with them in egypt. however you want yard 0 or money about top stories this hour and gunmen have attacked a town in western ethiopia possibly killing more than $100.00 people the attack happened in the british angle is reason and since national says dozens are still unaccounted for the group claims that. the u.k. is now facing the threat of 2 coronavirus variants after detecting another potentially more infectious strain in 2 people who travel from south africa has bought all flights from the country. after 9 months of negotiations there are signs

the e.u. and u.k. are edging closer to agreement on a piece breaks a trade deal talks between the 2 sides continued late on wednesday to try to sort out the final details. president told trump has vetoed the country's annual defense spending bill both the house and senate had overwhelmingly approved the legislation which so far has been routinely passed every year it's been out shepparton she's live for us from washington d.c. and she had told trump flight had telegraphed that this would happen and today was the deadline he had to veto it vetoed by by december the 21st he said look he was going to pass it for several reasons including a provision that was inserted in the bill that would slow 'd roll the withdrawal of u.s. troops from afghanistan that he had ordered there was also objections from donald trump to the provisions which were going to rename several u.s. military bases that are currently named after confederate generals and thirdly

don't trumpet decided that the national defense authorization act was a place for reform of section $230.00 of the communications decency act this is the provision in the communications decency act to give us companies like facebook and twitter legal protections so that if someone on twitter says something particularly inflammatory twitter or facebook won't be prosecuted trump has been fighting to have that reform joe biden's been trying to have that reform democrats want that reforms despite the debate about freedom of speech that might ensue but trump decided the n.d.a. was the place for it and let's not invest so he he has vetoed it it looks like right well this that the congress will override the veto the house of representatives are meeting on monday the senate is expected to meet on tuesday this was. passed by an overwhelming majority in both houses even if a lot of republicans feel they have to vote because of his power of the base it does look like this this veto will be overturned and all the while village up

issuing a stark warning to their own. it was interesting yeah just the last few hours we got a tweet which was a change from the usual tweets about the rigged election and donald trump's words this time it was about a foreign policy our embassy in baghdad got hit sunday by several rockets 3 rockets failed to launch guess where they were from iran now we hear chatter of additional attacks against americans in iraq some friendly health advice to iran if one american is killed i will hold iran responsible think it over he said and clearly that's that sounds terribly medicine and we should look when we look at the substance of that that is basically just a restatement of american policy in iraq or anywhere that if an american is killed then the u.s. will respond but in the context of the general unease that we're hearing. into the last few days there were reports from from the pentagon that some what what what was an easy about donald trump's behavior about what he might be thinking about doing in the event but he was talking about perhaps bombing the natanz nuclear

facility in iran and he was talked out of it bye bye bye bye foreign policy aides it just adds to that general sense of unease these reports of his erratic behavior as we go into it all traumas last 27 days in the white house. thanks that several times there in washington d.c. iraq's foreign ministry is urging president don't jump to reconsider a set of presidential pardons granted clemency for 15 people including for military contracts is convicted of shooting dead 14 civilians in iraq in 2007 the men were serving long prison sentences for an instant which caused international outrage charles traffic reports now from baghdad and speaks to a man injured in that attack. the lumia to him was shot by an american could tractor on what has been described as one of the darkest days of u.s. involvement in iraq inside the ok i was on a bus when the shooting started heavy fire came towards us i felt the 1st bullet

hit my leg as i scrambled off but i kept running towards the bus station then i got hit again when i stopped i was hit a 3rd time i felt like the bones of my leg had exploded i fell down and started to crawl there was utter chaos people were terrified trying to save themselves. this video was filmed after the attack 14 iraqis including 2 children were killed and at least 20 others injured when a heavily armed convoys of contractors with the american security company blackwater opened fire at a busy intersection in the capital baghdad the company set up by a former u.s. navy seal in the late 1990 s. sent hundreds of former soldiers to iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 u.s. led invasion blackwater was paid hundreds of millions of dollars by the u.s. state department to protect visiting dignitaries the company said its men started shooting during the 2007 incident in baghdad in self defense but that was

eventually proven not to be the case in a u.s. court of law. for years many iraqis saw the events that unfolded here on this square on september the 6th 2007 as an example of how america fought they could do what it wanted in iraq to never be called to account so they were relieved in 2014 when a u.s. federal court sentenced for blackwater employees to live including one life sentence the pardoning of those 4 men a by president trump for the victims at least means that justice has still not been done. but that base lawyer has son job and his son suffered multiple gunshot wounds as they crouched in a car both miraculously survived. to make a bit of paper to make a meal or when i heard about trump's decision i was shocked and disappointed we are the victims and those men are the murderers i thought the us justice system was

independent but it seems justice is affected by us politics trumps decision is another example of his failures in his policy towards arabs and the middle east. up delineator hema shares those thoughts he flicks through old pictures of himself in hospital after operations to save his leg oh no us they missed those men that shot me don't represent america trump doesn't represent all american people either he represents an x. for himself one iraqis assessment of the us and its leadership from a man whose life was changed forever 13 years ago john strafford al-jazeera baghdad a small village in rural south africa is caught up in a dispute over the expansion of a mine is dividing friends and neighbors increasing businesses against traditions and the environment now tensions have been heightened by the killing and the activist permits has more from cause and. no one has lived in this

house since he was murdered in october the 65 year old environmental activist had opposed the expansion of oneness of africa's largest open coal mines in puzzling natal province her grandson told the police 2 men came to the gate at night and asked for time to drink one of the guy's eyes where they don't know they don't so can you guys call the dogs for us so is the boys we're holding their dogs the guys 2 guys or whatever they came in and then they had their shots. in there he said to me we had another shot and then realized that. it's the current spending right now we need to the next door. some of those in favor of the mines expansion have condemned the killing saying bay and the mine owners had nothing to do with it to me it was merely. work. must

be arrested criminal act those people must just be honest. and let the law takes its course because it's not going to help. try that case in the public domain. officials at the some telecom mind say it's struggling and on the verge of closing down that's why it needs to find a new ground to keep operating they say if they don't they'll have to fire someone this is where the coal mine plans to expand to about 5 kilometers from the original location most families have accepted a compensation deal and agreed to be relocated but some are adamant they're not going anywhere some families live very close to where the mine is operating and have been here for generations it's where their ancestors are buried activists blame the mine for damaging the environment and people's homes and livelihoods and some people say they should be compensated with

a man state believe reflect the value of the mine to its owners only way we can stop the money that's why we will certainly during the middle of the building. because we know they're doing. silly but they're not because of one player who went to the community they are claims and counterclaims about wife who was killed and he did it until their arm says mine officials say they'll push on with expansion plans and those refusing to move so they'll carry on doing everything they can to stop that from happening. al-jazeera in south africa. there's been some breaking news now more presidential pardons the president of the trump has pardoned charles cushion of the real estate developer and father of trump's son in law jared krishna also his associate roger stone import man of ford among the 26 people pardoned today it's a child's commissioner roger stone and paul manifold all among the 26 people

pardoned today given presidential pardons by donald trump. a coalition of indian administered kashmir leaders has won a majority of seats in local elections being prime minister narendra modi's party the election is the 1st since the indian government revoked the region's autonomy last year the winning coalition wants autonomy to be reinstated the tory can be as its real. salmond celebrates with his supporters the former marriage srinagar one to constituencies in kashmir as capital he stood as a candidate for the anti modi opposition coalition car alliance this is the 1st election i have because we were not allowed to campaign we were not allowed to meet people we were not allowed to talk to people we were not given proper security missions to hold rallies. these local elections were the 1st since new delhi strip the autonomy of indian administered kashmir last year effectively an exciting parts of the disputed territory india's decision to revoke self rule in the majority

muslim populated region caused anger and many kashmiris say they used these elections to make their voices heard the good car alliance 110 of the 290 contested seats. but members of india's governing hindu nationalist b j p say that also celebrating the party won 74 seats making it the single largest winner. do you believe. this is a victory for the b j p i believe it is because of the popularity of prime minister narendra modi in our towns and villages the people have faith in our prime minister and i believe in the future we will witness development the people who wanted to spread communism have failed. but the good car alliance says the election results show majority of people want the region special status to be restored to be j.p. says the results vindicate the 2019 constitutional changes. they did. government

has said uniformity in rules and governance will bring development but many kashmiris insist the region must have its autonomy and right to determine its future victoria gayton be al jazeera. so this is undeserved these are the top stories in the reminder of our breaking news about more pardons issued by president donald trump think lou that charles cushnie the real estate developer and father of trump's a son in law jared krishna also pardons a long time associate roger sterling and his sentence had been commuted but he's now been pardoned and also a former campaign manager from he was also his former campaign manager in 2016 pulled money for 26 people have been pardoned today. gunmen have attacked a town in western ethiopia reportedly killing more than $100.00.