to bring you more award winning documentary and light on air and online. this is al-jazeera. hello there i however he did in 2 out with the al-jazeera news are covering up for you in the next 60 minutes the way to continue this foreign announcements on a bricks a deal as e.u. and british leaders finalize the details chaos at the u.k. border thousands of truckers are waiting for coronavirus says a new door for to try and get home in time for christmas if european troops killed dozens blamed for an ethnic massacre in the west as they tried to crush the

regional conflicts in the tikrit region to the north. and the man convicted spree killing wall street journalist daniel pearl is set free by a pakistani courts. i'm scott either in bangkok thailand often described as the venice of the east many of the 10000000 people here use the waterways to get around but the boats are big polluters so the city is putting greener version of what. i'm sort of all those sports parents tantrum and facts almost to shallow as their head coach for months after guiding them to the champions league final. where we begin with the last minute negotiations on breaks it down to subpoenas growing in the u.k. as prime minister boris johnson is expected to soon and i know agreements on a trade deal with the european union he's reportedly been on the phone with

european commission president ursula von the alliance to seal the final details it sees. side sub in the group on access to fishing waters well britain's parliament suggest a week to ratify any deal before they leave trade rules by the end of the year we've got reporters covering this story from both sides of the channel bernard smith will bring as e.u. reaction from paris and just a moment spent let's begin with the acid big he joins us live from london as of no official word yet on when the steel will happen but supposedly one has been done. while we are hearing that 1st a hearing that is very close than we were hearing that it was imminent and that was before the sun came up this morning and it's 6 hours later understood here still waiting for word on whether that deal has been done now we understand that this

trying to work out the final details around the fisheries that the fisheries is important to the u.k. even though it makes it only a fraction of the u.k. economy less than one percent but what we believe is being discussed is the reduction in quarters no jew e.u. member states $27.00 of them have access to british waters and i'd like to fish under you rules nafta presage that's going to change in a debate it's been going on about how much stock how much to quote as will be reduced by the u.k. wanted to reduce by a considerable margin the e.u. wasn't agreeing they wanted different they want to a different number we believe around 40 or 50 percent but that's one of the debates the other debate is whether in the future if the u.k. changes those quotas there would be a new talent reaction by the e.u. put in tariffs on on the u.k. fish companies complicate matters further the majority of fish caught by british fisherman is exported to the e.u. and the majority of fish consumed by british people inside the u.k.

is in is important so this is all very complicated you still don't have a deal. time is running out they only have until the 31st of december out and will also bristle way to go on know the details and of course it will be picked over a juke or spirit but once that deal is announced what happens next. in the country of origin. what will we hear it could be 2000 pages so that's going to be presented to parliament areas here they could sit next week or sooner straight after christmas and then they would have to vote on that they have to have it ratified by the 31st of december at least from the u.k. side of it but if you look at their papers here they are already calling this a victory some sort of victory that the u.k. has won and virus johnson has delivered this deal but over 17000000 people voted in this country to leave the e.u. so bridge doesn't doesn't just have to convince his own party has to convince

pollard but also the people that voted for it are they going to think or are they going to believe that this is a good deal that this is actually the successor that the u.k. government will make out that it was ok as a bag there live from london i said thank you let's get some reaction now from front spaniards smith joins us live from paris bernard what have you been hearing from officials on your side of the channel. well we know it is all down to fishing as assad said and specifically what types of fish and who can catch them and when and how many it's down to whether how much solves some deals and herring e.u. fish or fisherman can catch in u.k. waters fishing is as emotionally important here in france and in denmark and in the netherlands as it is in the u.k. it makes up just a tiny proportion of the french economy 1.6 percent of french g.d.p.

is reliant on fishing and agriculture and forestry but the fishing lobby is very powerful here there is that strong emotional connection as strong an emotional connection as the u.k. has so the french do not want to be seen to be giving too much away to the british neither do the dutch neither do the danes so it is all down to that but it's very important more important perhaps for the british and the european union that there is ultimately a deal 47 percent of u.k. exports come to the european union 8 percent of e.u. exports come back to the u.k. so while both sides i will be more pain on the u.k. side if there's no deal reached both sides do want to deal because both will suffer consequences on trade flows if there isn't a deal are cave bears worth a life of paris bernard thank you so what happens once the go ceases reach

a final agreements both sides will need to get any detail ratified by their respective parliaments the deal is finalized by both sides trades and should continue much as before with the e.u. getting tarot free access to the european single market but a customs border will be erected between the mainland and northern ireland aspirants of a previous agreement it's avoids hard boards or on the islands of violence that sets last. some 6 years and freedom of movements will end the u.k. implements any points based immigration system pointers will be required to check that e.u. citizens are eligible to work or face penalties well let's get more on this now from alex the writer he's the director of the center for press studies at the university of birmingham good so have you with us on the news or we're going to hear a lot about the fish and intricacies of trading and the very complex details that

this deal hinges on but i'd like some white in the school pie what exactly will this trade deal mean for people who live both in the e.u. and in the u.k. will we see any noticeable differences from the 1st of january assuming that a deal is struck. thanks so yes we like to recommend birmingham city university but in terms of the wider implications. this is a basic free trade deal which in it comes up as we expect you know it's essentially a deal to have 0 tariffs and 0 quotas on goods. straight away that excludes the very center of you take on in the form or services in terms of the wider implications for individuals let's pick some up 3 examples here you no longer be covered by the european health insurance card so if you are each a citizen traveling to the e.u. and you fall ill you will need to ensure that you have insurance. you will no

longer be able to usual you can driver's license and just have it apply in france if you need. to all intents and purposes it looks like you have have an international driver's permit if you want to take it out on the ferry to france all of a if we go to digital in telecommunications if you use your mobile phone in the way you can generate a 1st of the u.k. government has as stated that they cannot guarantee that mobile phone companies will not reintroduce start or running charges so that there are some examples there of have life will change because you'll go through the money a counter at passport control which which may be a bore and risks parents or not but that there will be noticeable differences for individuals if you then turn your attention to the supermarkets the fact that this deal should it come off as we expect will only essentially eliminate tariffs means that you will still have nontariff trade barriers in place in the form of companies

having to do customs decorations on both sides of the border wholly as having a context content subject istana few checks for animal products for example these things will cause delays and that cost a business so comes general a 1st regardless of deal or no deal consumers may notice some difference with the envelop bilious some produce that might be particularly present for fresh produce you know tomatoes or broccoli to come but they have a limited shelf life and if there's any delays at talent over for example. that may affect the utility of those things going available because you can't store them in a warehouse ok the time to sign i mean what are a television business some people will argue that these things will will eventually be irony that there are likely to be some bumps on the roods but do you think that that. we say that it's all in the u.k. but for countries in europe are there are people prepared for this because we talk

about the enter cases but in terms of the hard details of getting ready up and running from the 1st of january 2021 do you get a sense that people across the e.u. 27 and the u.k. are ready for these changes. in any answer that limited fashion i do get the impression of people across the e.u. countries are more prepared for this. clearly trade between the u.k. met a year affects some parts of the e.u. more than others you know notably germany with manufacturing for example above all other areas it's far less so that an obvious problem if you take a country like spain the links with the most important form of tourism so the spanish government of course spain being raped very ably large on tourism and still want to welcome you to visitors but i mean in terms of overall preparedness the misspend message in this for months but circumstances are going to be different for individual businesses and sectors and the other thing we need to remember of course is that we but it all suffered under the impact of the 19 for a lot of businesses you know what they would spend time doing preparing projects to

the extent that they could see what an agreement a lot would look like was put to one side because i happen to tackle covered 19 so that's what a lot of them to think in case there could be a rough few months ahead great to get your thoughts so thank you so much for joining us on the news hour that's alex the writer director of the sensor back studies at birmingham city university. my friend is sending 10000 cool the test to the u.k. in a bid to help clear sizes of truck drivers stranded by new coronavirus order restrictions for drivers of being piled up for days in the english ports of dover they were cut off after france closed the border in response to the discovery of a new more infectious strain of the fire as well they're waiting on coronavirus tests they can cross into france let's cross i'd see challenge is life for as.

rory just high balances the situation that. moment i say there are places in the world that move faster than traffic on the streets of dover at the moment this road here has been pretty much gridlocked for the few hours that we've been here trucks moving very very slowly down towards the ports and this is repeated on many many streets into an hour over and back up into cans we know that for days there are in thousands and thousands of trucks parked on lay by is that roundabouts and petrol stations even in an airfield that has been commandeered hold 4000 trucks the backlog is starting to slowly move but it is reliance on the availability of tests and we has been speaking to a german guy he's trying to get. to hamburg who's been filling us in on the various

stages of the journey that he's made this morning at 4 o'clock he drove out to gatwick airport so they can get a test go to test came back down said that's it over got to the front of the queue was then told is tess was no goods and he had to do another one so he didn't other one then he managed to get on to the ferry the ferry he described as being a half. which he attributed to the fact that they're on our test to get to the truck drivers and people are other people wanted to make the journey he's now on the ferry and is about to embark and he's hoping to make it back for christmas but there are probably a good many truckers who won't be able to do that they're still stuck here so severely shambolic korea has to be said when i learned that france is sending 10000 tests to the u.k. to help clear this backlog given the lorries and the and the delays that you're seeing on the ground there what do you think the chances are that most of these

truck drivers will get home with time for christmas. well i think many of them what i mean it's already christmas eve in many parts of europe christmas eve is the main day of celebration so if you're still stuck in dover and it is christmas eve there's very little chance that you're going to make it home to see a family on the the main celebration day there will be some who get back but you know we understand that there are thousands and thousands of these people still parked up on motorway verges still finding convenient places to go to the loo wondering whether they're going to get mail from i'm wondering when they can get tested and when they can get down to the poor itself you know that itself is gridlocked the police of shots off many of the roads controlling traffic very tightly and it is going to be

a long time before this is. a scene similar scenes before because this is a pinch points and much of the trade of goods and produce that comes in and out of the k. and at various points that have been shut down 6 cetera over the last few years but i think is on a slightly different scale and of course it is a foretaste of what might happen if we do understand that a deal is imminent but if this all falls over at the last minute and there is no deal then this kind of scenario could be the future for britain at the beginning of 2021. and that many will not look forward to every challenge there live from dover every thank. but as far as he was still ahead on this new siren quizzing favors for friends and allies donald trump reverse the sentences against

his former campaign manager and his son in laws dad. and south korea and what's toughest measures yet to contain a with 19. the might not even be halfway through the season but the italian title race is already heating up we'll have all of the football action for you later in the program. the at. the end if europeans prime minister i'll be a herd's has deployed military forces to an area where a gunman killed $100.00 people local media reporting that the army's killed $42.00 armed men in the western region of benish and google moons from a serbia most had visited the area the day before the attacks he called for peace and unity and several deadly attacks between ethnic groups in recent months well the attacks are separate from the ongoing conflicts in ethiopia's northern to grow

a region the u.n. says it remains concerned about ongoing fighting vera and the lack of humanitarian access to the area the conflict has raised fears of a security vacuum in other parts of the country well let's take a deeper look at this conflicts in many shango good moods borders sudan and south sudan and as one of ethiopia's 9 regional states fighting there has been ongoing since 28 scene where various ethnic groups in the region of fought with supporters of the aroma liberation front violence has displaced tens of thousands of people over the past 2 years malcolm webb has been monitoring the story for us he says this latest violence calls victims belong to various ethnic minorities to flee. area. for more than 100 people were killed in the attack that happened dawn on wednesday and survivors of said the attackers set people's homes on fire and

then shot men women and children dead many of them as they were running away some of the survivors told rights group amnesty international that the attackers were armed members of the good news community down the good news is the largest ethnic group in that area and they said that the victims belong to the mara romo and the ethnic groups who are minorities in that area is the latest in a succession of waves of ethnically targeted violence that have happened in that region since september prime minister ahmed as he said earlier today said he'd sent troops to try and quell the violence and state affiliated t.v. had reported that federal troops were killed 42 of the men who were involved in the massacre we haven't been able to verify that the local officials also said that those government troops had recovered weapons including bows and arrows from the armed men who were allegedly responsible for this attack. here is president donald

trump position to another series of pardons granted clemency to 26 people including 2016 campaign chairman for its and his long time friend and adviser were just stone you also pardoned charles the father of the son and lot jarrett's she had tons of reports from washington d.c. . do you swear the testimony you are about to give should be the truth this set of pardons includes more figures swept up in the investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 election robert muller and his own words quote did not find that the trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with the russian government and quote but several in the trump campaigns all but were convicted as a result of their conduct during the investigation all for unrelated crimes that were dug up as part of the increased scrutiny both a true performer trunk campaign chairman paul man afore he was convicted of obstructing the russian investigation but also several counts of bank tax fraud

related to his political consulting work for the ukrainian government before he joined the trump campaign. for some other force pardon confirms a suspicion they had during the russian meddling investigation democratic congressman adam schiff tweeting during the murder investigation trump's lawyer floated a patent amount of what amount of fault withdrew his cooperation with prosecutors lied was convicted and then trump praised him for not ratting trump's public now completes the corrupt scheme nola's until the bitter end it was a witch hunt there's no question about that longtime political operative and friend of donald trump roger stone who was also convicted of lying to congress and to my ledger in the russian investigation his 40 month sentence had already been commuted by donald trump in july the father of don't trump son in law jarrett is also on the list charles kushner was given a 2 year sentence for tax evasion witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions you notoriously filmed his brother in law with a prostitute and then sent the tape to his sister in an attempt to prevent her from

cooperating with prosecutors had long been an expectation that in the last days of his presidency dole truck would pardon those he felt showed him loyalty during the rush for investigation it has nothing to do with the merits of the individuals who are being pardoned and everything to do with whether or not donald trump wants to show the. special favor based on whether or not they have been loyal to him or whether or not they have a special connection to him as in the case of jared kush nurse father it is being used as a political tool in this case which was precisely what it was never meant to be also as expected trump vetoed the national defense authorization act the 740000000000 dollar legislation passed by congress the funds defense spending. president crumpet objected to provisions designed to slow down the withdrawal of u.s. troops from afghanistan and the renaming of u.s.

military bases currently named off the confederate generals the president also called for the insertion of a provision removing legal protections for into the companies into the m.d.a. however both the house and senate are expected to meet next week to override the presidential veto. the al-jazeera washington a pakistani court says ordered the release of the man vic since killing u.s. journalist daniel pearl in 2002. his being freed file an appeal is under way earlier this year the high court overturned his murder charge that was challenge by pearl's family their appeal will be heard it's an early january was a reporter for the wall street journal let's get more from. the journalist and author of taliban militant islam or oil and fundamentalism in central asia he joins us by skype from the horror in pakistan with us why do you think he's being freed before this appeal is being held. well you know anderson happened before and

there's been this running battle between the same government and the federal government and the same high court the same high court frequently issued creating orders that daniel pearl should be free and that is being counted monday by the government which imposed another lockdown my people who will be in this this battle going on has not sent me anywhere or. will actually be freed although the same night court is taking a very odd line because the government think the government has been ignoring its orders we have to see whether it is actually going to be free and it really is a tree is going to lead to i think extremely negative consequences for pakistan we do that at the moment desperately seeking. clarity it's part of an i.m.f. program its economy even dies and in 3 years freedom you're allowed to wander

around the country to be the reaction from the western donor he's going to be extremely negative. that it would be what message do you think this sends though but just about the pakistani just a situation that these these tensions between the governments and the judicial system but also to the security situation in pakistan if this if this man he's been convicted of the crime is allowed to walk free. yes absolutely i mean you know he's considering hero by extremists and by the terrorist groups are just. part of the time you can iran how can i says and he's a star i mean he's got a movie star. look about him almost you know and he's very highly rated and this is obviously extremely dangerous behind me in jail since.

who. but the fact is that you know he's still prevent. a great danger to the stability of the country and also his reputation abroad and. how do you see this playing out do you think the financial interests of the governments if we get if western donors are threatening to withhold aids do you think that with results and. being being brought back into custody it i t. see this playing out. well there must be very serious internal middle she ations going on in this drama between the government the intelligence agencies the military. and of course if this case is sent up to the supreme court in islamabad it's quite likely that he would be jailed again the problem is that he's being he's being rejected now for several years on 90 day detention order which

is not exactly what he you know you'd be convicted of murdering daniel. and. and he's been sentenced to 18 years in jail. but you know his actual hearing and being carried out on a on a had not basis or a 90 day tension or now the question is i mean every 90 days we have in this crisis you know the same bike or freezing the government tries to block it or issues an appeal against freeing him and usually wins. planes are now this time around it's the rift between the government and the courts and the intelligence agencies is quite large i'm. nobody really knows whether we'll actually see the light of day outside jail capita she said joining us from lahore thank you. at

least 20 people have tight ass reports carrying migrant sank of the coast of china zia those on board for thought to be trying to reach the italian island of lampedusa the vessel capsized jenison coast guard officials say 5 people were rescued and looking for 20 others at least $45.00 people were on board the ports. qatar has informed the un security council the behind fighter jets violated it saves space it relates to an incident on december 9th behave as one of 4 nations along with saudi arabia egypt and the u.a.e. that have imposed a blockade on carter since $2817.00 talks to resolve the crisis and reports its have made progress in recent weeks mushrooms wavy is the director of the gulf studies center in qatar university he says despite the progress towards resolving the blockade of qatar developments like these must be monitored there are some

obstacles there are some parties one but just to see because the relation knowable there is sort of the termination maybe but what about the time before hello to the actions and the statements in the last few days indicated that there's a move from behind to be more towards riyadh and it seems also to yarnell sending messages to doha that will be our talks the uk talks on behalf of the other 3 countries including egypt so it seems there is sort of communication this is very clear to doha that you know it's still your. embassy and so i was will join all accused there will have this impact on an equal situation having said that we have to maintain to keep to keep our eye on developments it's time for the weather yes rob another winter storm is blowing through the u.s. currently going through the midwest and the satellite picture but he did go in

further west to look for cirrus site of a snow shower coming across fairly rapidly this is northern colorado a more familiar picture of north dakota the dakotas and minnesota both have blizzard warnings out recently and so it's just a typical wintry scene just yet another one if you like. now that is the storm so ahead of it is quite warm weather behind it is where the cold tucks it and that contrasts that line there is where we've had some pretty active sunder storms so it was one of the potential on the mega to go eastwards during later part of thursday and friday the bench to go offshore being followed eventually by that cold push and a bit of snow but there will be probably a gap between the 2 on the pacific sea borderless as storm is unfolding with snow inland and rain actually forming surface low down to san francisco quite possibly on christmas day but the picture further east in new york is a disappointing looking one for friday 60 degrees so it's mild it's raining and it

will be windy that does go through saturday and sunday it will be sunny days for virtually all of the u.s. but cold still to come on the news our women in central african republic call for pace as rebels create chaos in the one up selections we'll have all the latest for you. bastards as break and iraq after the biggest currency devaluation since the fall of saddam hussein. and in sports a look at qatar as shen aeration amazing projects as the country prepares to host the verbal world cup 2020 team. teaching you can watch al-jazeera english streaming live on ikechi channel. plus thousands of our programs award winning documentary and in-depth news reports.

subscribe to eugene forward slash al-jazeera english. 3 jobs and now i only have one but i'm soo providing for my family. the 1st time i was admitted to hospital that i didn't show any signs of i miss. a lot but at about my opinion the women have become very positive and stop thinking about the negative sides of farmers just want to get on al-jazeera while he is from the us living with m. and s. in egypt. we understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the world so no matter what you see when you believe the news and current affairs that matter to you. the moon. told.

this is al-jazeera a quick reminder all of the top stories for you this hour there are signs the trade agreements between the e.u. and the u.k. will shortly be announced u.k. permissable is johnson is reportedly finalizing details e.u. readers live on the ryan jones is expected to hold a new court news conference in the next few hours for us to send in 10000 covert tests of the u.k. in a bid to help clear thousands of truck drivers stranded by new coronavirus border restrictions freight drivers piled up for days after france temporarily closed the border. and ethiopia's prime minister of the ahmed's has destroyed the military forces so western region gone and killed 100 people maybe visited the area a day before the attacks to urge peace and unity between ethnic groups. the

new restrictions have come into force across south korea as the country tries to control the pandemic cheering the holiday periods the nation has been recording around 1000 new cases day of mcbride reports from seoul. having won international recognition for its handling of the pandemic and setting standards for testing and tracing south korea and their struggles to contain this 3rd wave it seems earlier successes may have bred complacency compounded by pandemic fatigue when the details. an overconfidence had growing in many people's minds and you lowered their guard when you were relatively successful in dealing with the 1st and 2nd operates and one international praise for each in south korea's 3rd biggest city in jan jan hana ram is one of a team of traces who are working around the clock what makes this surge so hard to control is how widespread it is often to go out of control you cannot have what i

saw all the new confirmed cases and daily b.g. a magickal survey i thought wow this is really getting out of control ski resorts are now being closed and private gathering severely restricted in size the ice skating rink that would normally occupy the space in front of seoul city hall nonexistent this year seoul has its christmas tree as usual but not the normal ceremony for switching on its lights that was held online just one of the many seasonal traditions south korea is having to forgo this year families would normally visit beaches or national parks to see the 1st sunrise of the new year many of those have been closed by a government increasingly concerned by what that new year will bring from a pandemic it thought it had under control robin pride al-jazeera sold. women in central african republican say should demonstration on the campus so ahead

of sunday's presidential and legislative elections they march calling for peaceful and secure routes sanctions have flared in the past week with rebels capturing a large tire known choose to come from so i was not that consistent bunky. with the most straight can say that they are marching for they say that they want a peaceful election they blame their rebellion they bring their rebel groups have formed this boy list on and are threatening to advance 2 words long awaited this a rebel movement called pay chunk of change for the lot of a problem in the countryside with the last where they are fighting with other international while the u.n. and government forces of the women are marching to the u.n. headquarters and they say that they want to be able to exercise their right to vote and what's very interesting is the flags that they've been carrying many of

them a car and you know flags from regional can choose but most interesting there's a lot of people carrying russian flags it just goes to show from bolo for this country we have a lot of countries foreign countries the russians have been deploying the military advisers have been. giving aid military aid to this country with the president's advice an opossum all security made up of russia and the london have also sent troops. the french who also have a very strong hold in this country so this seems to be a little soft power a lot of people i'm talking to say. they the interest in the natural resources we have these countries are rich in gold and you renny em and diamonds and swallow. but it's important to take note that while all this is going on the political

dynamics the geopolitics the scramble for resources these women central africa south are saying that they do not feel that they in control of their country they want their country and the thing they just want people to be able to peacefully vote for their leader that they want. iraq's governments recently devalued the local currency the iraqi dinar by more than 20 percent is the biggest currency devaluation against the dollar since the fall of saddam hussein in 2003 prices of everyday goods and services of suddenly skyrocketed feeling fear and anger stratford has this report from baghdad. yeah. for more than a year a theory abraham has been coming to protest in central baghdad to demand better services political reform and an end to what he says has been decades of government corruption and mismanagement but he's here today because like many iraqis he is

shocked and angry about the government's recent devaluation of the iraqi deano against the dollar by more than 20 percent. stand by the government's action i will affect evenly lose almost quarter of myself because i'm paid in dino's the finest minister says it won't affect us how we'll it's not. the government said it had to devalue iraq's current sea because of a collapse in the oil prices brought on by a slump in global energy demands due to the coronavirus pandemic this devaluation is the biggest since the fall of saddam hussein in 2003 and experts are saying it means the already abysmal economic situation for millions of iraqis could get even worse. this is back don's usually bustling wholesale market but it's been very quiet since the devaluation of the dino the collapse in iraq's industrial and

food producing sectors in recent decades means most food and domestic products are imported from neighboring countries especially turkey and iran but china do not have. a boat goods the old dollar price and now we have to sell the devalued price so i have to put my prices aprile lose a lot of money it hits every day people the hardest and there are no jobs because we don't have a comma so think is in charge this means shopkeepers have had no choice but to suddenly put their prices up too i'm going to go out and i still haven't received my give a month fanchon and even when i do it it will be much less all the prices have suddenly increased of course it is affecting steadily even before the current see devaluation the world bank predicted and shop a rise in poverty in iraq almost 90 percent of iraqi government revenue comes from oil but plummeting prices have caused a cash crisis. public sector has tripled in size to more than 4000000 employees

since 2003. delays in payment of government salaries and the lack of private sector jobs have fueled the protests. hundreds of people have been killed in the crackdown no one has been called to account for the deaths it is the disaster is that the vaster for the middle class the lower class but not the top class obviously but the main reason is corruption corruption is the one because there are other oil producing countries that are not affected as iraq is of course iraq's oil in dollars so they don't get affected but the people are getting their salaries in there and so instead of ripping off the budget they're ripping off the shelf and that means more financial hardship for iraqis and potentially full civil and political wrist. baghdad. palestinian christians are preparing to go ahead with christmas celebrations in bethlehem despite

a surge and covert cases in the occupied west bank this facilities midnight mass or sensors on the church of the nativity were christians say jesus was born but they'll be broadcast online will take place with a physical congregation joining us now from bethlehem is a hymn and these are bethlehem appears to be gearing up for a very different christmas this year. indeed than you can see behind me the manger square is almost empty this is a place that is usually filled with pilgrims from all over the world that want to spend their personal see in the place where it where it all started in bethlehem now in this city the 1st cases of the coronavirus have appeared were recorded in march that it cued a stop in tourism and this is really affected the place that i think it depends on tourism and joining me here today to talk about this is the minister of tourism mrs

rowland can you give us an idea on the losses that palestine has incurred due to the corona virus and that. you know that. was the 1st sector to be affected by covered 90 m. and b. . so smart this year until the end of the year is a around $1500000000.00 us dollars and of course if the pandemic continues 2021 who will have more and more losses. if you if we want to give an estimate when this is expected the tourism sector is expected to pick up again do we do we have an idea when we're going to be hosting more from the world in general is this it will be the last sucked into the cupboard whether here in palestine or over the world this very much depends on the backs. hopefully it will be soon but personally i don't think the tourism will take before summer 20 point one however

the question about the palestinian authority ability to help and aid people who are suffering because of the pandemic a lot of businesses have been shut down and we know that rich countries were able to give some aid to the people have you been able to do that we will actually we try to help a little bit but you know we're a country under occupation and we've been facing financial problems not only this year but specially this year so rude not to compensate. be told in fact 3rd the way we should help but of course the we did our best and we prayed for them as much as possible question how do you feel you've been a minister for years now and every day that person to see if it was filled with people how does this seem make you feel well this is really you know this is the 1st time ever i see. you not only from tourists from all over the word

but from. who could not come from the governor. governor thank you so much mrs my and as you can see the manger square is empty most of the events have been called off this evening and we are expecting a midnight mass with a very limited number of people in kenny's abraham there live for us in bethlehem thank you needa. one of the world's largest sea commerce companies is under investigation china beijing is accusing on the barber of one publicity behavior yes another blow for the company's founder jack ma government regulators attempt to rein in his expanding business empire sara kark reports from hong kong. he has a net worth of around $50000000000.00 and is china's 2nd richest man jack meyer is also the founder of the e-commerce giant alibaba which regulators have accused of

using monopolistic tactics they have been signaling for quite some charm changes are what they do not walk at least an essence control of market share is filled by 8 percent when stock markets opened the investigation as part of a wider government crackdown on china's booming internet space it's also yet another setback for the alibaba group which planned a jewel listing of us and company last month regulators said it didn't meet disclosure requirements and the i.p.o. was shelved 2 days before its market debut. as we all know it's already the largest online payment service provider in mill in china and still have a lot room to grow most of the mainland dating use traffic part and they don't use cash anymore they simply use cell phones to pay everything not only apparel not only that you know the fastest but even they buy a car they don't use a mobile phone and group is the crown jewel in the early barber empire the listing

was expected to raise as much as $37000000000.00 that would have made it the world's largest i.p.o. since all giant saudi aramco listed last december the largest i.p.o. today is i believe the saudi arabia oil company which is just a couple of years ago at 28000000000. and sister company alibaba went public in 2014 listing on the new york stock exchange in a $25000000000.00 flight this time the company chose the domestic market in china for its debut but the mega float is on hold for now this latest investigation is part of the government's escalating scrutiny of jack expanding empire and represents heightened tensions between chinese president xi jinping and the billionaire in a state but the company says it will comply with the regulators requests its executives are expected to be summoned in coming days sarah clarke al-jazeera hong kong. thailand's capital is notorious for its traffic and pollution including

owners waterways now the government is looking to make one port pillar method of transport greener and much quieter scott heiler has more. fishing out his front door like he has for the last 40 years amarin it needs your mom lives in a community of houses built on stilts lining the edge of bangkok's busiest can now . while the fishing might be convenient the steady increase of commuter boats rushing by has become unbearable he says but there's some relief on the way a switch to electric boats. on the back of the electric fence will generate less noise i want of the people so much that the. bangkok was once described as the venice of the east and many of the 10000000 people here still use its waterways to get around. and the boats used to carry them are noisy big polluters putting toxins in the water and into the air. so the city government has launched

a quieter and greener alternative a 3 month electric boat pilot program right in the center of the capital 8 boats to start and so far they're carrying a 1000 passengers a day so while it takes 4 hours at the pier to fully charge the batteries to run the twin engines for the boat these solar panels provide the power for the instruments and the lights on the vessel of course the biggest challenge is changing people's minds we have to encourage them to switch from private to public transportation boats are a good option because of the history traffic so the introduction of electric boats can help both congestion and reduce pollution the boats and most of the components are manufactured here in thailand only the motors in the batteries are imported there is hope that the indigenous industry will expand so one day the vessels will be 100 percent thai as the d.v.d. is a kind of. initiated the next step to encourage people.

even the government itself to the most seriously think about how the even electric vehicles because it didn't use the the next generation full full environmental friendly times but asian so while the government hopes that the program is successful and that the fossil fuel powered boats are on the way out could be getting some good news his canal is set to be the next phase for the electric boats and that will allow him to fish in peace and relative quiet it's got harder al-jazeera bangkok. it's time for the sport here some are lots going on french champions paris sandra man of sac thomas to hylas the head coach the german have been in charge for 2 and a half years and guided p.s.t. to the champions league final last season he's also won 2 the titles as well as the coupe de france and could lead to hurley's p.s.g. with a club in the round of 16 in the champions league a one point off the top spot in the french top division well joining us now in form

is former paris paris and. it is there why do you think this decision has come about and does it even surprise you but not that it doesn't surprise me you know 1st of all we must say that you know that almost under the regime of probably somebody who wants to be terrorists you're about i went to the champions to find out it's just another season now and i don't see what on the reserve was alone on the board especially in the month because they're not going to see a lot of charity the risk of any want to put money in iraq and then he wants some quitters but you're not a british artist so that's what the problem. then you know thomas was a complete need for them to mention that in the newspaper and t.v. and and that's when you know that you know they are tired and by then we were not extrude in the league not cruising because even though our real pre-season still

all that you're not really sure about so that's why they decided. to do well there are reports that but it is in line to be named p.s.g. boss do you think he's the right man. or yours or a crime is already mine because he's got the experience now and that in the probably. more if you're grateful or sentimental and how obscure he was great he was the cut and there and he's got the great idea the plan you know we like that's an alice and sam is that you're against and there is always a want to play expensive or not and this is very important when the part of the family that you can create relation with the ones to find it was no novels a sporting director or was the president so are you certain that it's a perfect month. at the mall and in those a city in those the pardoner in that if you look at the you know the attitude that you that he has to have. i think a person from up on the really how to. well i mean regardless have a comes in at p.s.g.

do they have the play is capable of winning the champions league this season do you think i know there is many teams you know when i look ringback at i am in it a little more they can be slightly above all a licensed but that. once you have a better and was firm and harmony in the team of course ice unmarketable of of joy in it you know this early in the bucket of that book great players that once we are the name are not and then but there but i think generally book will unlock a buyer and there are a deeper than person under more than that once you have the test of clarity champions league final last year you just once you are to be by him and was not this you would think you will that and we got there everybody and of course in the eighty's to win it thanks a lot therefore my at the s.t. player thanks. well the start of the next football world cup in council is now less than 2 years away that's what i'm in itself a loss less than a month organizers hope its benefits will be felt thank you and the richardson

reports. ahead of the 2022 world cup the ongoing transformation of cattles landscape is hard to miss but organizers will the impact of this event to be felt far beyond the country's borders. the generation amazing project is helping to build football facilities and train coaches in deprived communities all over the world and it already has a decade of work to its name. went to a new generation amazing started in 2010 almost 10 years ago now. the 1st thing that we did was we built a football pitch in a refugee camp in the region so we looked at jordan lebanon obviously those are the areas that were being affected with threat of the refugee problem you know populations coming in and then based on that kind of wanted to expand or sort of impact. this some of football's biggest names have got involved to spread the message and share their expertise including australia's all time leading scorer tim

cahill who played at 4 world cups so really generation amazing is the legacy i really want to target education and grassroots this is how i started at 16 you know it's very difficult for me to get my opportunity from and to even play in a world cup to be honest with you so i feel privileged to be in this position so far the generation amazing project has reach more than half a 1000000 people in 5 different continents bit in haiti rwanda or back here in katz all the central things of inclusive it see and gender equality remain the same as a kid terry girl i love playing football but i don't feel like i am given the opportunity to play it here without being judged by my community or people in general so i really wanted to like find a solution for that and. the situation and allow other girls like me to play football here and guitar i think the world cup will be

a great platform for that sort of change because for those who do not necessarily. are aware of what qatar stands for what the world cup is yet to bring or like programs like generation amazing i think it will allow them to see different sides and understand football is something that is for everyone. game changing individuals making sure the middle east 1st world cup is about far more than just a few weeks. on the richardson al-jazeera don't. ac milan retain top spot in syria wednesday but only just now they needed an injury time winner to be here hernandez getting a crucial goal to seal a 32 win the result means they did the standings by a single point. ac milan had to win to stay top dance because their arch rivals 2nd placed into 3 points antonio contest beats hell us their own up to one away that's our own loud talk martin is. green sorry rather seen the goals for them.

moving on to the n.b.a. it's been rocked by coronavirus concerns only just the 2nd day of its new season wednesday's game between the houston rockets and the oklahoma city thunder had to be postponed it follows 3 rockets players returning coded 19 tests that were either positive or inconclusive the league revealed that houston star james harden in particular was unavailable and stopped him with a $50000.00 fine for violating coronavirus rules and by attending an indoor party on monday. well despite what's happened with the rockets the rest of the n.b.a.'s program on wednesday did go ahead that was a win for the craven county and yes they took down michelle from when it's 121 to 114 call in 6 installed with 27 points because we'll be looking to have a better campaign having missed out in the playoffs last season that's it for me thanks. for the new start stay with us here on i'll just say i'll be back with you

after this very short break with more of the day's news. business later just to buy no brown spots.

business leaders just want to buy no brush paul. a new perspective can change the world. for one chin is even what began as a hobby has grown into a passion a way of life. teaching the next generation to strive for a higher level. and incentive installing in his country and sense of freedom and strength. new heights my chin is here on al-jazeera. a secret mass grave in parliament discovered at an institution run by catholic nuns is. a mission shock to its core. people in power investigates a scandal but destroyed families cost thousands of lives and still raises profound

questions about the ties between the catholic church and the irish state. arlen's mother and baby scandal. on a. the wait continues for an announcement on abraxane deal as you and british leaders pore over the final details. of how i had seen and this is al jazeera on life from doha also coming out if european troops killed dozens sprains for an ethnic massacre in the west as they try and crush a regional conflicts secret regions in the north. and other new mutations of the coronavirus south african scientists are working to.