i know this is a difficult day for some and to our friends in the united kingdom i want to say part is such sweet sorrow the deal is finally done the u.k. and the european union to clinch a landmark post breaks a trade agreement redefining a future relationship. oh there i'm a star if you take in this is al jazeera life and also coming up latin america begins mass coronavirus vaccine rollouts frontline work as a chill

a mexico and costa rica get those of us chaps. a plea for calm as hundreds of women march in central african republic in a tense run up to presidential elections. christmas celebrations are scaled back this year as millions prepare for a quiet songwriting. leaders say it's a deal that will write history britain's prime minister barak's johnson says the agreement will help the u.k. take control of its destiny after 8 months of negotiations and just 7 days before the deadline the european union and the u.k. have finally reached a landmark post rex a trade and security deal the agreement for a 0 tariff trade deal covers everything from energy to fishing rights as were a challenge reports. this means that the u.k.

has voted to leave the european union the who finally breaks it is 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. argued negotiated compromise 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 journey i normally feel joy. but today i only feel quite satisfaction and frankly speaking 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 work together to make this deal look good and run as smoothly as possible and that will many my short term disruption the government's independent spending watchdog says not reaching a deal would have nots 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 firms relocate 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 which in the year of the u.k. has finally done what the 2016 referendum result demanded it's distances from europe. al-jazeera. so the deal's been done but what's in it and has either side fared better principly it's a kulas 0 tariff and 0 of course

a market for goods that avoids the possibility of soaring prices on both sides which could have forced businesses to fold on the key issue of fishing in u.k. waters in boats will keep access for 5 and a half years but the size of the catch will shrink the british fishing industry says it's disappointed that there isn't more of a break from the e.u. for europe a key demand was protecting a level playing field or common rules to stop one side gaining competitive advantage and says there will be built in safeguards and incentives to stick to those rules there are also deals covering transport days or sharing in health plus agreements on law enforcement for example smoothing up the process of extradition britons will no longer avoid mobile phone roaming charges there and there will be more paperwork if they want to travel with their pets or thousands of truck drivers trying to get to france from the u.k. will remain stranded at the port of dover on christmas day as authorities complete a mass coronavirus testing operation so far only 3 drivers have tested positive

with more than 2300 given the all clear to cross the english channel fewer than 100 vehicles had left the port though on wednesday evening most drivers are expected to spend a total of 5 nights in their vehicles with limited food water and access to sanitation ronald schroeder from germany was one of the people who was stuck at dover after days he's finally on route to be with his family on christmas day he told us just what it took to get roofing. yesterday i went to get think. test at 4 o'clock this morning i wake up went into the line at the harbor. at 8 o'clock. not accept my test yesterday i had to make. that creek just from h.s. and the result was negative so i could possibly order christmas at home with my daughter with my son with my wife. it's great feeling. out

of any ization of the british government during this crisis no shops open you know drinks no coffee no facilities down the hall but i have a bit of tests where very. low. for me it looks like that the ships i emptied it. that there are not enough pests. that's the only reason why because there are enough crop trucks up the hill. i think the organizers of rationing of this crisis this is totally failed i'm on board your ship the hummer and all. that the ship is now just leaving those behind the. house. for days on top of the 5 they have on happy to go home.

all 3 countries and latin america have begun their mass coronavirus vaccination routes and mexico in intensive can us received the fast approved but the initial write out a small from mexico city here is out on home for. the 1st latin americans to be vaccinated against kobe nurses and doctors in mexico few would argue with their place at the front of the line medical stuff that died here than in any other country in the world which a master would have i'm going to feel much safer now at work the truth is that we're really exposed to all types of body fluids so having the vaccine is really going to help so far because only received $3000.00 doses the line to get them snaked around the block should arrive each week they can't comes. soon enough the mexican government is pretty triumphant about the arrival of the vaccine but it's not here in time to save the country from its current problems in the capital the hospitals are almost full and now there's very few ventilators available for the

population of one of the biggest cities in the world. cities now on bread alert with essential businesses closed a group of nurses in the vaccination queue told us how things were in their hospital. that are out there without completely different patients in serious conditions and ventilators. eat i mean we just murdered i mean and a lot of deaths to about 7 a day at the moment and a lot of people coming in from the moment we started morning shift. they dozens of their colleagues were nervous about any possible side effects from the vaccine but they said the benefits far outweigh their concerns we don't know what is the most games that are not sometimes we have to isolate and we want to be with our family i want to hug my grandmother and even more christmas with. latin america a virus epicenter needed some light at the end of the tunnel and i know this looks like it but the last segment of the population won't be vaccinated for months yet

at least it's a start john homan how does it or mexico city. well the vaccine made by pfizer and biotech has also arrived at hospitals in chile the doses are just the 1st 10000 of 10000000 ordered health workers in the capital santiago where the fast to be inoculated the government there hopes to vaccinate 80 percent of chile as $19000000.00 people in the 1st half of next year and in argentina russian made vaccines will be given out starting on monday it's one of the few countries to accept a delivery of moscow spotting the jabs but there are many logistical challenges still. from. 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. of reproving the vaccine on wednesday the argentine north or it is a working with the russian colleagues to convince a skeptical population safe was that she was when you were on the go shooting with other producers for alternative vaccines i mean you know. as of today we've not had anything against vaccines it's all positive who will choose to refuse to be vaccinated it is complicated but by law nation 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 future 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 of 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. from my medical staff to 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 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 in 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. that. one of

cyrus. hostile ahead here on al-jazeera millions of americans will have to wait until after christmas for extra cash to. try. and germany experience all that silent lines on christmas eve. another winter storm is blowing through the u.s. currently going through the midwest in the satellite picture but he did go in further west a serious 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 this is to typical or wintry scene just yet

another one if you like. now that is the storm so ahead of it is quite warm weather and behind it is where the cold tuxes and that contrasts that line there is where we've had some pretty active suns tones so it was what a potential omega to go eastwards during later part of thursday and friday they've been should go offshore being followed eventually by that cold push and a bit of snow but they will be probably and gap between the 2 on the pacific seaboard those storm is unfolding is snow inland and rain that's you forming itself as though that to san francisco quite possibly on christmas day but the picture for the recent 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 get through saturday and sunday will be sunny a days for virtually all of the u.s. but cold.

a secret mass grave in ireland discovered at an institution run by catholic nuns. a nation shocked to its core. people in power investigates a scandal that 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 babies coming. on a. fool of. the forward oh oh. hello again i missed our. top stories this hour after months of tense talks and just 7 days before the deadline the european union and the u.k.

have clinched a trade deal the agreement for a 0 terrace in 0 cordial relationship covers everything from energy to what became a crucial issue of fisheries. mexico has started its coronavirus vaccination campaign with an intensive care receiving the 1st approved argentina is preparing to rout out a russian made vaccine from monday well thousands of files of biotech doses have arrived at hospitals and. now the u.n. security council has approved a temporary deployment of more troops to central african republic ahead of sunday's elections there most opposition presidential candidates had already stopped campaigning because of security concerns they want these polls perspire and but the government says national conference where reports from the capital. the mood in this market in benghazi is just right for christmas kristie ditties central african stake their celebrations seriously and traders are making

a killing it's also an election season they go to the polls on sunday and their main mori is security on sunday vote on a safety of course but it's christmas and who doesn't want a good cheer. but everyone is in a festive mood though many residents want to get their voices hard some through religious procession is praying for peace. others like this women condemn the newly formed peaches for change a coalition of several armed groups that has threatened to march to the city and is already causing havoc in the countryside and $1006.00 to $6.00 our country has gone through coups rebellions mutineers and each time it sets us back the 2013 britons a lot of sorrow women have been raped many people have died and others displaced. they are hoping that the 12000 un peacekeepers in the country alongside government

troops and other international forces will keep the pages for change a b. that's saying they just want a peaceful election this is a country that had been in conflict for so long and their humanitarian needs a huge 100 the population needs some form of aid and hundreds of thousands of central african the refugees in neighboring countries. syria are has survived 5 years of need constant to stability since gaining independence from france. in 1960 . the latest conflict started about 7 years ago when the then president francois was overthrown by a. group called seleka reprisals by the milly christian i only made things worse a peace deal signed between suited rebel groups and the government in 2019 brought about some calm but now violence is again on the rise. we have the poorest people in rural areas who they are scared and wish as a father

a man of the church ask those who have picked up weapons to f.p. to warn us. all the presidential candidates are promising peace many central africans tired of broken promises but here are the market they tell us they want to take the weight of their country's politics off this shoulders for just a little while to have a merry christmas catherine. syrian state television says the country's ed offenses have shot down several missiles launched by israeli warplanes in the north west the sun a news agency says the airstrikes were carried out in the area there are also reports of blasts in the coastal city of tire to. iran's top general has dismissed claims his country was behind a recent attack on the u.s. embassy in baghdad sources say al quds force commander a small county visitor to iraq 3 days ago to clarify his country's position on the

attacks the rocket attack on sunday injured in iraq a security officer and damaged cars u.s. president donald trump blamed iran and threatened retaliation if any american was harmed in any future attack. well stage affiliated media in ethiopia says soldiers have killed a group of armed men accused of an attack on a village the incident in the western region of benish was saw more than $100.00 villages killed media reports suggest $42.00 men were killed after prime minister sent in troops and millions of americans will have to wait until after christmas for relief as deadlock continues over a $900000000000.00 over $1000.00 stimulus package president will trump surprised both democrats and republicans when he sent the bill back to congress for amendments this week he said the $600.00 direct payments were too small and called for $2000.00 per person democrats support that increase but republicans are

blocking it roslyn jordan is in washington d.c. she says the timing of this impasse is highly political. well suddenly we have a democratic president who will be coming into power on january 20th and after 4 years of watching the federal budget deficit increase several times over now republicans are worried about the increase and they're saying that the u.s. government cannot afford to give people $2000.00 for a one time benefit to try to tide them over in the middle of the pandemic now the of course this is something that the president has been pushing for some speculate in order to help the 2 republican senators in the state of georgia who are in iran all full watch and in early january hoping they can go back to the u.s. senate if that is the case then republicans would retain control of that body and they would help the republican party basically stay in in

a way to was frustrate joe biden's powers but all that said if the president decides to veto the measure then that really does push back any sort of financial relief for americans and there's no telling when the members of congress would be able to come up with a new deal that could pass the president trumps muster. mocking this christmas with an album locked down a new day any number of infections now is in the 10s of thousands and the kind of attacks and the many hundreds the government phone distributing will begin distributing vaccines from sunday dominicana ports from ballen. this is christmas in coded lockdown a season of the mandatory mosque wearing clothes chops and public facility at a minimum markets that might otherwise be thriving are now empty the few places filling up a hospital wards packed with patients in a serious or critical condition more than 5000 of them will spend this christmas

alone in hospital which explains the official advice to wider society it's pretty hard to i'm good english i urgently plead with you to spend the holidays with only a very small number of family members please reduce your contacts to the necessary minimum don't travel to meet as few people as possible and if you do you meet the same people meet outside if possible. on average the corona virus has killed more than 650 people in germany every day this week dealing with such numbers is straining the health system particularly for those whose work is safely and humanely to dispose of the bodies. we have special precautionary measures with regard to disinfection and even some special incineration rituals when it comes to these specific cases the coffins are sealed the deceased are wrapped in body bags so there is hardly any possibility to be touched by the virus and that is how coffins get into the crematorium ovens for many what hope there is this christmas

is in the form of the vaccine that's jude to start being distributed from sunday here in berlin ministers hope to have around $60000.00 doses available by the end of this month with the aim to provide around $30000.00 doses per week early in the new year but in a city with a population of more than 3000000 that means many people will have to wait a long time dominant cane al-jazeera in the german capital. or 2 places often associated with religious celebrations of christmas time to have occupied west bank and the vatican this year at both have locked the holiday with limited celebrations we begin with me to abraham and back to him with this report on this year's midnight mass at the church of the nativity. it didn't look a lot like christmas this year in bethlehem celebrations were restricted to the beer minimum as covered $1000.00 cases search. only if you

worship as we are allowed to attend the midnight mass in the church of the nativity but the pending with with its burden of suffering and the. us to imagine a different world. and. you sort of pleased by leaving. and. a few because. for every one of. the palestinian president and many foreign diplomats didn't join the christmas service. the day started with a low key reception of the latin patriarch of jerusalem a procession to welcome him back thousands this year he gave his blessings from a distance. jani. you can feel the town's sadness this is not how christmas looks it's also the 1st time that we didn't attend the christmas tree

lighting ceremony. bells stein's 1st cases of covered $1000.00 which reported in bethlehem in march. dried up in a country that heavily depends on it. the tourism ministry says the losses this year are estimated at one and a half $1000000000.00. but up a chill many makes a living out of tourism here in just community based tour guides and says 2019 was a very good season now he expects his business to pick up in october of next year we had maybe a year in advance that was the 1st time maybe we had the sons the birth of jesus you know. so it was a mess and we would expect an amazing year and things have changed but it's going to be back and. all christmas related festivities were called. instead treated corded christmas carols were broadcast on line the

palestinian authority says it tried to limit gatherings as much as possible to combat the spread of the coronavirus this year there are fewer christmas lights and decorations than usual but some here tell. that the message of christmas is all about hope and they're praying that next year will be better with that regime al-jazeera the occupied west bank. and at the vatican pope francis led alone ok christmas eve mass cutting up as hot area. there are no crowds in this socially distance christmas eve mass led by pope francis a celebration in st peter's basilica usually brings in more than 10000 faithful but with covert 19 about 100 people stood in the pews of a smaller rear section of the church a reflection of christmas amid a pandemic would scale back or cancel celebrations across europe and the world.

so the night you come get. a challenge the pope said must be met with strength the 1st would be that in fact the king the. vatican's mass was moved up to our 2nd plywood italy's 10 pm curfew once the epicenter of the pandemic italy is once again struggling with code 19 that reported more than 500 coronavirus related deaths on thursday and another 550 the day before overall italy has recorded more than 2000000 cases. but. it's strange it reads like a war scenario where something bad is about to happen but at the same time there's a sense of hope that's what we all need to right now. this was st peter's square last year with people lined up to receive the pope's passing but now the world is different pope francis will not be making his usual public appearances in st

peter's square through the holiday season but it's really strange to be here and to see that really nobody the run from the metropolitan. it was. the. vatican is taking measures to protect the 84 year old pope the specially after more than a dozen infections were reported among the vatican swiss guards a mass unlike any other in recent history marked by a pandemic with millions of faithful hoping next year will be different. than al-jazeera. as we've reported the pandemic has changed the way that friends and family as a gathering this year for the holidays bring a little lightness to a tough situation the u.s. airspace defense unit also known as norad has kept its tradition of following santa claus as he travels the globe the so-called santa tracker has been updating

children on the reference of father christmas for more than 60 years out as you can see right now santa is delivering gifts across the eastern united states and also he's wearing a mask to stay safe. and there i'm a star and to hell with the headlines for you here on al-jazeera after months of tense talks and just 7 days before the deadline the european union and the u.k. have clinched a trade deal the agreement for a 0 tariff and 0 question relationship covers everything from energy to the crucial issue of fisheries protection as well for a level playing field on regulation while the u.k. avoided a future role for the european court of justice or i think this to you means a new stability and a new and a certainty in what has sometimes been a fractious and difficult really.