mention a said been wanting for months that the easing of the lockdown would lead to an increase in who should and the impact that would have on those because of the 19. i know this is a difficulty for some. and to our friends in the united kingdom i want to say our team is such sweet sorrow all the deal is finally done and the u.k. and the european union clinch a landmark post bret's the trade agreement redefining to future relationship. hello there i'm starting attain this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up latin america begins mass coronavirus a vaccine rollouts frontline workers in chile mexico and costa rica will get the

fast jabs. south korea seas and now but jump in coronavirus cases including hundreds of infections at a prison in the capital. christmas celebrations are scaled back this year as millions prepare for a quiet holiday. 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 trade and security deal the agreement for 0 tariff trade covers everything from energy to fishing rights as well which balance report. 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 compromised and cajoled but they've done what many feared they couldn't and agreed to their 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 close to this country will remain culturally emotionally historically strategically geologically. attached to europe but in the year of the u.k. is finally done what the 2016 referendum result demanded it's distances self from europe reach out and al-jazeera. also the deal has been done but what's in it and has either side fared better than the other well principally it secures a 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 e.u. boats will keep access for 5 and a half years but the size of their 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 the level playing field or the common rules to stop one side gaining a competitive advantage it says they will be built in safeguards and incentives to stick to those rules there are also deals covering transport daises sharing and health plus agreements on law enforcement for example smoothing out 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. well 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 $2300.00 given the all clear to cross the english channel fewer than $100.00 vehicles have left the port on wednesday evening the mice drivers are expected to spend a total of 5 nights in their vehicles with limited food water and access to sanitation wealth from australia from jimmy was one of the people who was stuck at dover off today as he is finally on route to be with his family on christmas day he told us what it took to get him moving yesterday i went to get sick to get the call that test at 4 o'clock this morning i wake up went into the line at the harbor. at 8 o'clock. the authorities did not accept my test yesterday i had to make it quick test from 8 s. and the result was negative so i could pass the border because it was a toll with my daughter with my son with my wife. it's great feeling.

out of any zation the british government during this crisis no shops open you know drinks no coffee no facilities down the road that i would build the tests were very. low. for me it looks like that the ships are impeded and that there are not enough pests. that's the only reason why he knows there are enough crop trucks up the. i think the organizers gratian this crisis this is totally failed i'm on board here your ship the home and all. there is no just a thing goes beyond the. 4 days and on top of my own happy to go home. well the u.s.

has announced new restrictions for travelers from the u.k. this is from britain must test negative for the coronavirus at least 3 days before flying to the united states the new rules will apply for monday that decision follows the emergence of a highly infectious coronavirus variant in the u.k. . well 3 countries in latin america have now begun their mass coronavirus vaccination rollouts in mexico an intensive cannabis received the 1st approved ice there but the initial roll out can still be small from mexico city home for. the 1st latin americans to be vaccinated against covidien nurses and doctors in mexico few would argue with their place at the front of the line all medical staff have died here than in any other country in the world in which a massive wooden 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 moves should have arrive each week they can't come 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 recompute leaflet and patients in serious conditions and ventilators i think is going to eat i mean we just might at this minute and a lot of deaths to about 7 a day at the moment and a lot of people coming in from the moment we start our morning shift. they does this of their colleagues who are nervous about any possible side effects from the vaccine but they said the benefits far outweigh their concerns but didn't know what

was in the us gave that sometimes we have to ask lighter and we want to be with their family i want to hug my grandmother and even more christmas with. latin america a bios at the center needed some light at the end of the tunnel and i know this looks like it but damn. can't play she won't be don't need to. at least slow down home. to city hall the vaccine made by pfizer and biotech has also arrived at hospitals in chile the doses are just the fast $10000.00 of $10000000.00 ordered health workers in the capital santiago where the fest to be inoculated the government there hopes to vaccinate 80 percent of chile is $19000000.00 people in the 1st half of next year and in argentina russian made vaccines will be given out starting from monday and the 1st country in latin america to approve the sputnik the vaccine the government is hoping to inoculate $300000.00 people before this

year end president alberto fernandez says he'll take a shot himself to prove that it is reliable to criticism the vaccine was registered before the start of clinical trials for 2 new strains of the corona virus have emerged in africa with separate mutations recorded in south africa and in nigeria the south african variant is believed to be more infectious contributing to what experts of called an alarming spread of the illness become trees total number of cases is now rapidly approaching $1000000.00 several nations have restricted travel from south africa as a precaution while south korea has recorded its biggest daily increase in corona virus infections since the start of this pandemic it reported 1241 new cases including a large outbreak at a prison and seoul the country rolled out its toughest ever restrictions this week with a popular tourist venue is closed until next month testing and contact tracing are also being ramped up robert bride has more for us from the capital. many people

this christmas morning woke up to the depressing news that once again the country has set this record of well over 1200 new ring cases being recorded in a single day the news actually was broken by the country's prime minister at a meeting of the coronavirus task force here a lot of the this jump is being attributed to an outbreak at a prison here in seoul some 288 cases recorded mostly inmates but also some stuff there that's in addition to a couple of 100 other cases that had already been recorded there so around 500 cases at this one facility which is cause some alarm here we're seeing some of the prisoners inmates being moved to other facilities tightening up the testing regime etc but this comes as the restrictions have been ramped up across south korea to try to contain this 3rd wave we're seeing more than a 1000 around a 1000 cases per day for the past week or so just before this jump we're seeing ski

resorts closed tourism destinations being shut all as ways of trying to prevent people gathering the numbers of people who are allowed to gather publicly being limited to just 4 people at the government has said that it wants to avoid a complete shutdown of the economy it knows the socio economic impact that that would cause and the highest level where that might take place is what they call level 3 where we're currently at 2.5 just one level below that so far the government has managed to keep the economy going to the beginning of this pandemic but it is said that if it has to raise it to that highest level then so be it would have to do that still ahead here on out is there millions of americans will have to wait until after christmas for extra cash to stop time. and press this far from loved ones pandemic restrictions make life even harder to find a medical akeson hong kong.

the blanket is snow has fallen the sun has come out to replace it so the picture we're left with on friday is a mostly sunny one the weather hurt feels to use often determined by the wind is quite a strong modeling down the gulf and briefly in all the run down the red sea was snow still possibly falling in teheran for jerusalem it looks like a fine christmas day cloudy morning maybe and then for settin sunday the wind comes in but it's from the east so something is changing all of this is a northerly look at what's happening in western society this is almost a circulation taking place in the red sea coast inland to the northwest decide to move get towards amman eventually getting in icing towards israel but it may just be the wind nothing more than showers kept further south the same time doha's wind

is cutoff and becomes more of an easterly. rain profit has been falling in southern africa as you well this is big white clouds to sow the eastern side of south africa and mozambique it is a big down poles there are still around shearing friday drifting slowly east without you left behind was a scotch ring of showers in botswana on the eastern side of south africa maputo represents a good bit of rain façade in mozambique and the long grey will be way that. american people have finally for poking around here as i see it when americans are balanced or become more dangerous the world is looking at us live next year of sadness and. with the election behind us will the republican party dump truck the fuel we can take on us politics and society that's the bottom line. a diverse range of stories from across the globe from the perspective of

a net what's generalists on al-jazeera. roof. or. and again. let's remind you about 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 tariff and 0 question relationship covers everything from energies of fisheries . mexico has started its coronavirus vaccination campaign and intensive candidates received the facts to prove to us that and argentina is preparing to rout out a russian made vaccine for monday while thousands of finds

a biotech doses have arrived at hospitals in chile. south korea has reported its biggest daily increase in infection since the start of this pandemic and awarded more than $1200.00 new cases including a large outbreak at a prison in seoul the country rolled out its toughest ever restrictions this week. well 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 have already stopped campaigning because of security concerns they want these polls perspire and but the government says that's not an option catherine sawyer reports from the capital bangui. the mood in this market is just right for christmas kristie tease 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 the main

mori is security. of course but it's christmas doesn't want a good cheer. but everyone is in a festive mood too many residents want to get their voices hard some through religious processions praying for peace. others like this women can do. the newly formed peach roots 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 in $1006.00 to $6.00 our country has gone through coups rebellions mutineers and each time it sets us back 2013 protests 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 day that's saying they just want a peaceful election this is

a country that had been in conflict for so long and the humanitarian needs are huge one hot the population need some form of aid and hundreds of thousands of central african the refugees in neighboring county. ca are has survived 5 years of need constant to stability since gaining independence from france in 1960. the latest conflict started about 70 years ago when the then president francois was overthrown by a mostly muslim group called reprisals by the mainly christian antibalas only made things was a peace deal signed between 14 rebel groups and the government in 2019 brought about some calm but now violence is again on the rise. we have the poorest people now hiding in rural areas who they are scared and wish as a father a man of the change ask those who have picked up weapons to have peter or not. all

the presidential candidates are promising peace many central africans see they're tired of broken promises but here are the markets they tell us they want to take the weight of their country's politics off his shoulders for just a little while to have a merry christmas cartoon story. when millions of americans will have to wait until after christmas for relief as the dog continues over a $900000000000.00 in $1000.00 stimulus package present donald 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. and 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 watches 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 president trump's muster all for this year's christmas holiday many people who live and work abroad won't be going home because of this pandemic and hong kong domestic workers in particular are feeling the pain of separation sarika couple. christmas decorations may be up but large celebrations in hong kong our whole public gatherings of more than 2 people have been banned and borders remain closed. people like nathan cowan will spend the festive season on his or in his family in australia unable to fly in to join him because of strict travel restrictions were very top family and spend a lot of time on together it's been really hard on myself on the family and on the boys as well foreign domestic workers in hong kong have been hit hard by the pen

demick there almost 400000 here most are from the philippines and indonesia these women of the breadwinners for their families but they're unable to return home for a holiday this christmas very hard for a mother wanting to see your family your your child and. sorry. you know you want to you want to give her the best christmas but you know you can't really push her to understand everything this is all i think here is all. this domestic worker who doesn't want to be identified gave birth last month she didn't plan her pregnancy and has struggled to pay the high living and medical costs she's been forced to rely on charities for help and their money and where it's been very sad and financially difficult for me and it's hard being alone without any support there has been full tilt to bethink pretty much the whole year as has been the

other shelters that we were fair our mothers to and community say health has been a big she began but has given a number of cash handouts to residents here in hong kong to help out during this pandemic but the foreign domestic workers have missed out that's despite i think a minimum wage of around $600.00 7 a month for a covert 19 tests are available for market workers who've lost their jobs but the government project. did a play for pyros this year the fremont south class among the dumbest it was not as saw a problem that had many of the trying to stop them south but out the school is that a small money so that answers that all this got off sort of in the employer as well as helping the family the pandemic has exposed the hoss realities of being a migrant worker an asia travel restrictions it could be months before they can go home and be reunited with their families sarah clocked out a 0 hong kong. places often associated with religious celebrations at christmas

time of bethlehem and the occupied west bank and the vatican this year both of them march the holiday with near said celebrations we begin with me to abraham in bethlehem who has more 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 was covered 19 cases search. the only few were shippers were allowed to attend the midnight mass in the church of the nativity the pandemic with the with its burden of suffering and then. to imagine a different more. made up of new so he dug a team and 4100 ish and she. where. you sort of pleased by even. 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. yanni bennett has seen and 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 tourism dried up in a country that have a depends on it. the tourism ministry says the losses this year are estimated at one and a half $1000000000.00. and 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 it 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 we are. almost 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 us that the message of christmas is all about hope and they're praying that next year will be better for. you. west bank. while the vatican pope francis led a low key christmas eve mass cutoff has had a on. 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 cold at night seen 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. he got close to the start of the night here come get. a challenge the pope said must be met with strength if i should point out the fact the king the the the vatican's mass was moved up to our 2nd plywood italy's 10 pm curfew was the epicenter of the pandemic italy is once again struggling with covert 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.

of it. it's strange it feels like a war scenario where something bad is about to happen but at the same time these 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 here's the really nobody run from the metropolitan and it was empty. 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. well as we've been saying the pandemic has changed the way that people are gathering for the holidays this year to bring a little lightness to a tough situation the north american aerospace unit also known as norad has kept its tradition of following santa claus as he travels the globe the santa tracker has been updating children on the movements of father christmas for more than a. 60 is right now he is flying over north america and as you can see this year he's wearing a mask to stay say. i am a star with the day the headlines here on al-jazeera off to 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 in 0 crucial.