on al-jazeera. unprompted and uninterrupted discussions from our london broadcast center. on al-jazeera. months of negotiations and with only a week to go the u.k. and e.u. agree a post breaks it trade deal one that's welcome don't both sides of the channel. you know i maryam namazie in london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up on the program south african health officials say they're alarmed by the surge in infections from a variant strain of the corona virus in the united states a pandemic relief package awaits presidential sign off democrats are for another

setback trying to boost payments to struggling americans. i'm scott harbor in bangkok thailand often described as the venice of the east many of the 10000000 people here use the waterways to get around the boats are big polluters so the city is putting greener version of. oh it's been 8 months of tense talks and it comes just 7 days before the deadline the european union in the u.k. have managed to reach a trade deal the agreement for 0 tariff 0 quote relationship covers everything from energy to what became the crucial issue of fish the e.u. one protection for a level playing field on regulation while the u.k. avoided a future role for the european court of justice britain's prime minister boris johnson claimed he delivered the promises of the 2016 vote to leave this country no longer bound by e.u. rules european commission president who live on the line said e.u.

rules will be respected by a balance deal which protects the interests of member states is at the end of the story not quite yet ambassadors from the 27 e.u. members will meet on friday christmas day to discuss it while british m.p.'s will be recalled for a vote next wednesday both list agree by midnight on the 31st for the deal to become official or a challenge has our report. finally breaks it is done 4 and a half years after the referendum almost at the end of the 11 month transition period the u.k. and the e.u. argues negotiated compromised and cajoled but they've done what many feared they couldn't and agreed to a future trading relationship it's a moment of reflection for the european commission president at the end of a successful negotiations generally i know many feel joy. but today i only feel quite satisfaction and frankly speaking in

relief for the u.k.'s prime minister it's a political success that caps a year which gave him very few of them. there will be no palisade of terrorists on january the 1st and they'll be no non-tariff barriers to trade and instead there will be a giant free trade zone of which we will once be a member and at the same time be able to do our own free trade deals one area of disputes that seem compromises fishing rights outside the e.u. britain has control of its exclusive economic zone but it's had to budge on how much access he has have there's also been movement on state aid to allay e.u. fears european companies could suffer from unfair competition and now both have an imperative to gether to make this deal look as good. as possible and that will minimize disruption the government's independent spending watchdog says not

reaching a deal would have knocks 2 percent off u.k. growth in 2021 alone partly because of temporary disruptions to cross border trade but even with this deal u.k. businesses still have plenty to worry about only a small number of transport companies have had access to britain's new border crossing software expected to be rolled out just a week before the transition period ends. there are concerns about britain's current jobs crisis deepening if to the e.u. and there are still unanswered questions about how to avoid physical border checks between northern ireland part of the u.k. and ireland in the member for now both sides will be happy to have something to show for the torturous negotiations boris johnson insists the relationship is still closed this country will remain culturally emotionally historically strategically geologically. attached to europe but in the

year of covert the u.k. has finally done what the 2016 referendum result demanded if distances self from europe rory tolerance down to 0. so the deal's been done and want to take a look at the content and whether either side is as fed better principly it secures a 0 tariff 0 quota market for goods sidestepping the possibility that prices on both sides could have soared forcing businesses to fold or suffer deeply on the key british issue of access to fish in u.k. water as a u.-boats will keep access for 5 and a half years but the size of that catch will shrink the u.k. fishing industry says it's disappointed there isn't more of a break from the e.u. for a year at a key demand was protecting that level playing field common rules to stop one side gaining a competitive advantage over the other it says it will be built in safeguards with incentives to stick to it beyond all of this there are deals covering transport data sharing in health and agreements on law enforcement for example smoothing the

process of extradition but it won't be as swift as before also under the terms of the deal the u.k.'s opted out of the erasmus student program a person's will no longer be able to avoid mobile phone roaming charges and they'll be more paperwork if they want to travel with that pets or earlier i spoke to most of our amani managing director of europe at the risk consultancy eraser group also works as economists for the european commission and the u.k.'s treasury said that he expects the u.k. will begin to substantially die verge from the e.u. . i think both sides have moved is as worse expected than any trade negotiation frankly of this importance the u.k. has moved off some of its red lines european union has done the same and frankly i think the discussion over who compromised more is a bit academic at this point because the ratification process which will take place next week on both sides will go through on both sides i think there's very little

risk that is either top itote in the commons or that the member states decide that there's something about the agreement they don't like so to compromise more who compromise less is actually something of an academic discussion now there is a new agreement it will come into effect on the 1st of january as european commission president as live on the line said this is the end but it's also the beginning and a senior french source said it's up to the same to me i think it's a bit early to judge the direction of travel for the 2 sides now but my own senses this government wants to do things differently that was the purpose of breck's sitting it will warm to symbolically diverged substantively divert. to new strains of the coronavirus have emerged in africa with separately taisha as recorded in one in south africa you very in south africa is believed to be more

infectious contributing to what experts have called al-amin right of contagion countries total number of cases is rapidly approaching $1000000.00 several nations have restricted travel from south africa as a precaution algis there is harm the task is in johannesburg. this new variant inside africa was identified in concern at our province eastern cape in the garden it that's along the cape town area the health minister says the numbers are alarming more than 14000 new infections in the last 24 hours it is recommending more restrictive measures be put in place the measures already in place include a nighttime curfew are going to be sold on certain days and at certain times and some beaches have been closed but health officials say some south africans seem not to be listening to the warnings they're saying some of them are posting pictures on social media photos and videos of them at big parties called super secret events

where they aren't wearing masks and they aren't practicing social distancing the government what is trying to do is to try to make sure enough hospital beds are available across the country in government and private facilities so in some provinces for example some doctors are discharging patients that they think are stable those people being told to go home to make way for covert 19 patients additional staff have been put on standby this talk and in some areas military doctors and nurses may be called in if it does get to that stage the health officials also warning that if these infections keep rising so therefore could reach its peak within the next 2 weeks is the simplest barrier across the continent infection rates are rising and more countries are imposing more restrictive measures for example but one is the latest country to impose a nighttime curfew malawi as it is closing its borders for at least 14 days officials here are concerned that as more and more people keep traveling especially around the festive season they could be at increased infections not just in this part of africa but the rest of the continent as well. relief checks promise to

millions of americans are still on hold as politicians big changes to the package democrats and republicans are in a tit for tat struggle over changes to that shit 2 trillion dollars plan it comes after president trump said the $600.00 individual payments for too small and called for $2000.00 per person instead democrats supported the rise republicans are blocking it rosen jordan is in washington and joins us now on the risk that everyone is talking about is the prospect of president refusing to sign the relief package. that's right even though the president has not threatened an actual veto of this legislation he has been very critical of the measure for among other reasons the fact that the one time a stimulus checks to americans making under $150000.00 if they're married or under $75000.00 if they're saying all the he says that's not enough money even though

that is not what his negotiators had worked out with members of congress when they were trying to come up with this $900000000000.00 stimulus plan that was agreed to earlier in the week if you know he doesn't really feels that strongly about it he could veto the bill the bill is being sent to his home in florida where he is spending the christmas holiday now there are other things that the president doesn't like about the bill namely the fact that there is no review or revocation of a law that essentially protects social media companies companies which the president has accused of being anti conservative or anti tromp depending on your perspective certainly the president is also upset about the fact that this legislation would try to deal with the renaming of some u.s. military installations that were named for confederate soldiers people who were

considered to be traitors to their country after the u.s. civil war of the 19th century he doesn't think that those military installations should be renamed but all of that is really the political process that people here in washington get fixated on what really matters is the fact that if the president does not sign this legislation or if he vetoes the legislation which is a fancy word for rejecting it that means that people who could be getting a more unemployment payments won't be getting it it means that businesses that could be getting more financial assistance in the middle of the pan. demick won't get it and it means a perhaps just as important that the federal government could close at the end of the day on monday because there's not enough funding that's been authorized to go past this coming monday the 28th so there's a lot riding on whether the president actually signs this bill thank you from washington roslyn jordan meanwhile here thousands of truck drivers will remain

stranded at the english force of dover for christmas day waiting on negative coronavirus test results so far only 3 drivers have tested positive with more than 2300 getting the all clear had if that chance to cross the english channel fewer than 100 vehicles had left the force on wednesday evening most likely to have spent a total of 5 nights in their vehicle with limited food water and access to sanitation or one of the people stuck at the oval was ronald schroeder a boat imported from germany off the days being stuck at the port he's finally on route to be with his family on christmas day he told his experience yesterday i went to get very good for a person. or close this morning i. wake up went into the line of the harbor. at 8 o'clock. our forty's except from yesterday.

it creek just from h.s. and the result was negative so i could possible. christmas at home with my daughter with much time with my wife. it's great feeling. both organisation of the british government during this crisis no shops open. moving snow fall from the city. a bit of people just very. low. for me it looks like that the ships i emptied it. that they're not enough pests. that silly reason why enough truck trucks up the hill. i think the organized rationing of this crisis has just totally failed i'm on board your ship hung out. at the ship

this town just leaving those bottles. out. 40. 5000 happy to go home. you're watching our live from london coming up after a quick break we're going to turn to iraq because they have been protests their prices are skyrocketing are the biggest currency devaluations since the fall of saddam hussein. and a shot in the arm for our jeanne is coronavirus defenses and 300000 doses of russia's sputnik vaccine are right in. the. you may know that alice springs his coldest summer day for 50 years because of this persistent line of sundry rain re stretches east was not the

orientation is changing alice springs is warming up the heavy rains going to be now in tropical queen's dislodged it draws the saddles a look at the coast of new south wales there on shore breeze but this is generally warm and it's i think arguably halt in perth now alice springs having had its coldest day will pick up to near average after a few showers on friday but i'll get to sunday which that he 3 just about degree above average i think is a pretty good going and there's 0 for all picture then sunshine for most of australia now with the exception of the tropics where the showers exist and this on shore breeze which means new south wales and eastern victoriously to be sherry melbourne is warm and sydney and as you know it's still pretty warm in perth the opposite shane the opposite seas north of the equator we've got yet more snow to fall in honshu in hawkeye i don't probably will miss the korean peninsula and most of northern china remains in the sunshine after a frosty morning this is maybe half a meter of more snow to fall in the high ground further south in china

a lot more clouds fall spots into rain and the windy prospect i think for hong kong . stories of abuse in aged care homes in the west to shock the world that there's no alternative one to one he speaks those sending elderly loved ones to thailand to live update on how disease. if you want to help save the world. sneeze into your own.

welcome back a look at the headlines this hour after 8 months of tense talks in just 7 days before the deadline european union and the u.k. have clinched a trade deal the agreement for a 0 tariff 0 cozy relationship covers everything from energy to what became the crucial issue of fish e.u. want protection for a level playing field on regulation of the u.k. avoided a future role for the european court of justice. to new strains of the corona virus that emerged in africa with separate mutations recorded in nigeria and south africa the new variant in south africa is believed to be more infectious and tribute to experts of called an alarming rate of contagion. and relief checks promised to millions of americans are still on hold as politicians baker over changes to the package it comes after president trump said the $600.00 individual payments were

too small and called for 2000 dollars per person. now iran's top general has dismissed u.s. claims his country was behind a recent attack on the american embassy in the iraqi capital baghdad iraqi sources say could force commander is smiling carney said he didn't want to give the u.s. reason to take further action the rocket attack on sunday injured an iraqi security officer and caused some damage in the area u.s. president trump has blamed iran and he has threatened a military response and he replaced us insulin money after he was assassinated in a us drone strike in january or in other developments prices of everyday goods and services have been skyrocketing in iraq the government recently devalued the local currently the local currency by more than 20 percent it is the biggest currency devaluation against the dollar since the 2003 fall of saddam hussein charles traffic has this report now from baghdad. 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 you have to stand by the government's action i will effectively lose almost quarter of myself because i'm paid in vienna us the finest minister says it won't affect us how we'll it's not. the government said it had to devalued iraq's car seat because of a collapse in the oil prices brought on by a slump in global energy demands due to the coronavirus pandemic risk evaluation is the biggest since the fall of saddam hussein in 2003 and experts are

saying it means the already a reasonable 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 on for a 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 to actually go out and i still haven't received my give a month pension and even when i do it it will be much less all the prices have suddenly increased of course it is affecting a start up early even before the current she devaluation the world bank predicted

and shop rising poverty in iraq almost 90 percent of iraqi government revenue comes from oil but plummeting prices have caused a cash crisis. iraq's 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 able to account for the deaths that is that the 3rd is that the vast are 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 the fact that 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

ploys themselves and that means financial hardship for iraqis and potentially full civil and political wrist. baghdad. stay affiliated media in ethiopia is reporting that soldiers have killed a group of armed men accused of an attack on a village the incident in the western region of bani shango goma's more than $100.00 villages killed media reports just 42 armed men with and killed after prime minister ahmed send in troops he had visited the area the day before the attacks calling for unity in the aftermath of deadly clashes between ethnic groups. now to mexico the country has started its vaccination campaign with an intensive care nurse receiving the 1st approved dose older people those with underlying health conditions and teachers will also be prioritized but the initial rollout could be small country has only received $3000.00 doses of the pfizer biotech job so far another $53000.00 are expected next week with the government aiming to have

a total of almost $12000000.00 by the middle of next year all that vaccine made by pfizer in biotech has also arrived in hospitals in chile that just the 1st 10000 of a 10000000 dose order health workers in the capital santiago with a 1st to be inoculated rollout will then continue in southern provinces on friday hope to inoculate 80 percent of chile's 90000000 people in the 1st half of next year. and then also the bin delivery of $1000.00 vaccines in argentina the 1st doses are going to be handed out on monday it's one of the few countries takes up the delivery of russia's sputnik the vaccine daniel sheiner reports on this now from buenos aires. the arrival in argentina of the 1st batch of 300000 doses of the sputnik vaccine from moscow a symbol of hope for the country's 45000000 inhabitants or the health experts warn there are still difficult days ahead. the start of the vaccination program does

not mean the end of the pandemic is just the start of a road that will lead to 70 percent of the population being vaccinated days important but it's only the beginning. after approving the vaccine on wednesday the argentine north or it is a working with their russian colleagues to convince a skeptical population that it's safe also that she was. on the go shooting with other producers for alternative vaccines. you know not to morning as of today we've not heard anything against vaccines it's all positives who choose to refuse to be vaccinated it is complicated but by law looks a nation in argentina is obligatory. now begins the huge logistical operation of distributing the vaccine to the distant corners of this enormous country the 8th largest in the world the feet of trucks is taking supplies to argentina's $23.00

provinces where 1800 vaccination points are being set up there's still a long road ahead but in a country that suffered more than 42000 deaths and over one and a half 1000000 infections argentina hopes that the arrival of this version from russia marks the beginning of the end of the covered 19 pandemic. for my medical staff will be the 1st to be vaccinated but health experts are keen to stress that the battle against. the corona virus is far from one. our concern is that the infections are rising but we've been very focused on the vaccination plan and to prevent more hospitalizations and more deaths especially in intensive care so we're targeting the 1st of all those who are at the most risk and the most vulnerable. that the argentine authorities are imposing fresh quarantine restrictions over the holiday periods trying to keep rising infections under control and the hopes and expectations of the recently arrived vaccine in check. on

the road to 01 of cyrus. and people around the world are of course celebrating christmas but it is unusual this year because of the pandemic celebrations of quite for example in vatican pope francis marks a low key christmas eve in a reception of st peter's basilica urging more people to do to help those in need the masses usually attended by up to 10000 people but this time it was less than 100 it also started earlier so people could return home before a curfew at 10 pm italians are under a nationwide lockdown for much of the christmas and new year holidays or in thailand the capital is notorious for traffic and pollution including its waterways which is why the government is looking to make one popular method of transport greener and much quieter scott tells us why is. fishing out his front door like he has for the last 40 years a marine that need your mom lives in

a community of houses built on stilts lining the edge of bangkok's busiest get out . 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 boat. to the electric plants will generate less noise i want but the people say much of 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 because 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 heavy streets 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's hope that the indigenous industry will expand so one day the vessels will be 100 percent tied. i think evy is a kind of the. in the shit the next step is to encourage people all even the government itself to seriously think about having to evie electric vehicles because if that is the next generation the fall for the environmental friendly public transportation 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 here's canal is set to be the next phase for the electric boats that will allow him to fish in peace and relative quiet it's got harder al-jazeera bangkok. just want to update you on our main stories this hour now after 8 months of tense talks and just 7 days before the deadline the european union in the u.k. have clinched a trade deal the agreement for a 0 tariff 0 closer relationship covers everything from energy to fishing the e.u. want protection for a level playing field on regulation while the u.k. of void a future role for the european court of justice britain's prime minister boris johnson says he's delivered the promises of the 2016 vote to leave this country no longer bound by the rules.