james the u.s. is set to inaugurate its cool to 6 1st of. january on al-jazeera. order. this is al-jazeera. hello i'm sami say that this is the news hour live from doha coming up in the next 60 minutes a holiday season in the time of covert despite warnings over a 1000000 americans take flights on christmas eve making at the busiest travel day since march. of. violence flares again in central african republic as rebels attack a gold mine nor. iran warns of donald trump's

adventurism in the region as the u.s. national security team after the president a range of options to deter iran. sub jude christmas celebrations across the world as nations battle the biggest health crisis in recent times. i'm sorry all the sports we hear from le bron james. christmas day. we begin this news hour with the impact coronavirus is having on what is a holiday season for many people around the world vaccines are being rolled out in some countries but infection numbers while they're still rising and for some restrictions are in place to well as americans are warned to stay at home for the

holidays more than a 1000000 of them boarded flights on wednesday the busiest travel day since march while access to the u.s. will soon be more difficult with travelers from the u.k. required to show a negative test after a more infectious strain was found they're being blamed for a rapid rise in cases across the u.k. restrictions were. slightly for christmas day many face tough new measures from saturday throughout the rest of europe things are looking similarly grim 25000000 cases of the virus have now been recorded across the continent in latin america vaccines are starting to be rolled out as the 1st covert $900.00 jobs start arriving in argentina chile costa rica and mexico are among those who started vaccination programs let's go live now to dam moved in large and tina's capital one assayas and so daniel latin america one of the hardest hit areas with koval how are they marking this holiday season.

well as you say those several countries in latin america receiving their focused doses of the 19 vaccine or different kinds of vaccine we had 5 delivering 3000 doses to mexico the 1st nurse medical worker in costa rica being vaccinated and also 3000 doses to chile but it's here in argentina which i thought i think for the biggest arrival play never linnaeus our containers plane arriving from moscow yesterday thursday with 300000 doses of the sputnik virus and immediately you saw these refrigerated trucks leaving the airport heading out to argentina's $23.00 provinces points there were these doses according to the size of the population of each of those provinces delivering their ratio of doses not is due to start the vaccination program on monday so obviously the big logistical situation

to get them there in the adequate conditions to be used to be protected and then to inform people of this tens of thousands of people involved in the program here volunteers amongst the medical staff being placed in all these provinces really a big program arriving the day before christmas things very very quiet here today obviously but in these provinces people preparing for monday morning and the vaccination program starts or less daniel schorr or for that update from latin america to continue this now with dominick a new joins us from berlin so we've got across the continent of europe it's been a day of what lockdowns curfews restrictions how is all of that impacting casting a shadow over christmas there. well the funny thing about the way the lockdowns being phase then and phased out in germany certainly over the course of the last few months is that at particular points there's been

a sort of relaxation so here in germany a slight relaxation of a hard lock down over. the christmas period but only the 24th the 25th the 26th of december and then it's back into our hard lock down from the 27th of december through for a call for the best part of 3 weeks through into the new year and at the same time you will see the 1st vaccine doses being administered on the 27th so back into hard lock down as one pillar of the approach of the governments and the phasing in of the vaccination is the other pillar of their approach to dealing with the corona virus in this country but the first's tens of thousands of doses of least in the capital city will go not to the mass vaccination centers that have been built by the authorities here for the mass vaccinations instead they will 1st go to those who are considered to be the most vulnerable of all which is the residence of care

homes for the elderly and so forth the interesting thing here is this approach of prioritizing those who are the most vulnerable is something that the pope the holy father picked up on in his christmas day address in the vatican earlier where he appealed to organizations to countries to prioritize those whose need is the most extreme and it's something that has been picked up upon by others certainly the german president frankfurter steinmeier made an appeal and sense that in a christmas address and said that whilst there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the vaccine he understands the pain the ordeal the suffering that many germans have gone through and remember here sammy the numbers which apply not just in the. country but across europe we know there have now been $25000000.00 infections cumulatively but 2 percent of all those infections have been announced in the course of the past 48 hours so bad is the current iteration of this pandemic

all right thanks to dominic kane now a massive explosion has rocked the u.s. city of nashville on christmas day police are now calling it an intentional act the explosion was linked to a vehicle police say several rows of buildings have been damaged but no injuries have been reported you have written c. is in washington d.c. joins us live from there so what can you tell us about this explosion you know we've been following these reports for several hours now the explosion occurred about 2 and a half hours ago at $1230.00 g.m.t. in downtown nashville in the historic district. where only now really putting a lot more into give we're giving it a lot more interest because of those press conferences just occurred in the last few minutes where authorities say they believe it was an intentional act it was linked as you say to a very cool it was an r.v.

a recreational vehicle what we call a camper van or a motor home of some sort in the in the rest of the world we do know actually have some more information which is just record which is just getting through now that 3 people were injured and taken to hospitals but no fatalities have been reported we know residents in the area have been evacuated we know that people felt the explosion miles away according to social media and because of social media we got some video of the scene which shows enormous devastation in the immediate radius of the explosion and we know that local authorities have now joined with federal authorities and they're conducting an active investigation but that's the headline very much of this that authorities do believe that this explosion was intentional we're all awaiting further updates now. do we do we have any idea i know the details are sketchy but i mean what do the police mean by this was an intentional act i mean it's an unusual expression we don't hear very often is what

was targeted to who they suspect is as done it in. another that information is out you know i think it is intentionally opaque phrase an intentional act so yeah they're keeping it very very very great now because it's such a such an early because an early stage of the investigation is in the historical district it was and it was linked to a vehicle they're not even saying i'm sorry that the explosion occurred within the vehicle it was linked to a vehicle which is outside a restaurant the melting pot a restaurant in the historical district i really can't answer any other questions right now we are we will wait for more information we'll bring any answers we get as they as they conduct their investigations and tell us will definitely be coming back to you later then on that once you have thanks so much have a chance if they're from washington d.c. japan's prime minister. is releasing 2600000000 dollars in funding to help medical facilities treating coronavirus the country's been breaking infection records on a daily basis 3000 cases were confirmed on wednesday the medical alert system in

tokyo has been razed to the highest level in the unprecedented spike in infections almost 3000 people have died more than 210000 have been infected across the country the millions of americans will have to wait until after christmas for any government relief as the political deadlock continues over a $900000000000.19 stimulus package president don trump surprised both democrats and republicans when he sent the bill back to congress for amendments this week he said the $600000000000.00 direct payments were too small called for $2000.00 per person democrats support the increase but republicans are blocking it . well from all this we're joined by robert good cheney's a professor at lancaster university so this is help us get our heads around this call on monday was pasta in congress by both republicans and democrats what went

wrong off to that if both sides of the aisle were on board well i do think that you know donald trump is known for having his finger on the pulse of americans i think that can be argued but in this case it is coming down to what that that dollar amount would be that it's going into people's bank accounts i mean certainly there is lots of other things that are being funded through it on a bus bill that isn't in addition to the code package but in this particular case the average one bedroom rent in the united states is $1200.00 and that's you know that's an average that doesn't include hotspots throughout throughout the country so $600.00 which is not close to what it was the 1st time money came around to help out is really that number that's kind of sticking people the democrats are coming back saying well we wanted to do more but this is what we could get republicans to agree to which seems a bit just joining us now that they're coming back saying what we really wanted

something more they just wouldn't budge what does this mean that at a time of crisis for the u.s. is the government going to head into some kind of shutout. well they have until monday afternoon before before money runs out they always say and the government can shut down which has happened in the past but as they have multiple times already they could do a short term boost to the system if it's not this bill that could be a temporary injection of money to keep the government running but what this comes down to is that that states can't issue unemployment or housing assistance if they don't have the money or they don't have the federal approvals and so after monday even if the government were to to stay open itself until there's actual legislation being passed to allow money to go out people could be facing evictions people could be facing not having their government subsidies that are necessary for survival and

so this is kind of looking like you know people wanted to go back to a normalcy in washington d.c. tree donald trump. but this is kind of what normalcy look like even before he came into office the government continuing to try to sideline millions of americans simply because they can't come to an agreement for multiple reasons right and i mean you mentioned though the president he might have a point when he says too much of this package is about things other than cove it it's interesting though that does that really show how much of a split there is now between him and his own republicans. well certainly in summer is summer even asking if donald trump's i mean i you know it sounded but when he stood up and listed through what the government had been approving which wasn't necessarily directly connected to code it or are helping americans as you know

identifying as a perfectly us he actually seemed quite quite presidential but there's always you know couple layers going on too to donald trump's rhetoric and this is a jab at republicans who either didn't stand by him strong enough during the election that bailed on him when he was trying to fight the outcome of the election and those who maybe have just sat silent you know that they maybe died once he spoke which is kind of sat silent that didn't help at all and this might be their punishment and certainly we've been seeing in his pardons and his other behavior over the last few days. and what we expect to see in the next few weeks before he goes over that piece of the white house to joe biden and that this sort of retribution is coming through and certainly is going to be hurting americans if if you know they can't come to agreement back in congress or donald trump

doesn't sign this bill to get this money out all right thanks so much for your losses sound folds a lot really good she thinking. thousands of migrants are spending christmas in shelters and mexico's northern border many have been waiting for months for their asylum cases to be processed delayed further by the pandemic they say they hope a new u.s. president brings change in the new year john heilemann reports from the us mexico border. is the line separating the u.s. from mexico it's been a slow train coming for those who want to cross it legally and the pandemic has made things worse with u.s. immigration courts closed for months. there are thousands of migrants stuck in mexico to meet them open to process their asylum requests the u.s. has put them in a plan called m.p.p. which means they have to way in mexico where there are silent process plays out even though they're from other countries. get out all fled brazil he says because

of the threat of violence erupt in border city what is 10 months ago this still waiting for his 1st court date. a major thematic it was for march 14th of this year but that was changed because of the been demick to the center 15 now it's put that into a may of next year. you're geraldo his son and his wife is spending christmas in a shelter many of the 10s of thousands of people that been ordered to wait in mexico in the n.p.p. program will be doing the same. some migration lawyers are worried that they could miss the one the deadline to start the asylum process all together news stories hopes that's not the case but she's concerned about the well being of those she's trying to help those as us go more or less at bus here it's a complicated situation for the hay from basic needs it's really in setting what's going to happen to them and that generics and sightsee just being here waiting not knowing how to follow up with the pros. church is one of many along the border

which have been turned into shelters he's seen hope among those now under his care the new u.s. administer. could help. but i don't know who is happier about biden's victory the americans or those stuck here in the asylum process because that means for them and then to their stay in mexico so they can follow their dreams. president elect joe biden had promised to end the m.p.p. program on his 1st day in office now his incoming administration has signaled it will take more time and there are questions about what will then happen to those spending this christmas in shelters john home and al jazeera. plenty more still ahead on the news hour including. glad tidings of great joy because this is a deal prime minister barres johnson shows off what he calls his present to the people of brazil agreement on trade with the european union. and pressure mounting

on india's cricket team details coming up and. there's been fighting in the central african republic following the collapse of a ceasefire between the coalition of rebels and government forces the fighting is happening in the town of baquba north east of the capital fighters from the coalition of patriots for change are exchanging fire with the army as well as the united nations peacekeeping mission the fighting broke our as before presidential candidates were scheduled to hold their final election rallies the vote is due to be held on sunday 6 opposition candidates are demanding it be perspire and now the u.n. says it's gravely concerned and has approved the deployment of more peacekeepers catherine sawyer joins us now live from bungay the capital of the central african

republic so how is the president reacting to these escalations then catherine. well be the president is the benefit here just a little while but the having might not i'm afraid but i have to shout that a lot of. people. are saying that they are ready to go and don't. want any reaction from me. or change. its mind. in the pot treaty by. accusing for my friend. that behind every bet you wrote that. back when the president come yet you're going to talk about even if you waste money that the

opposition. the we got why. it fired because the president and the prime minister is not listening. that government have been not knocking the people but this son had already gearing up quite. a. lot in that. area where the fighting is going on with one of the. mining areas in the. very 10 indeed many parts of the country. here in bolivia while. now with 48 hours to go before that poll this it looks like the vote will actually happen given everything that's going on. we have.

the soul that the united nations. talking about the problem block. that. you might hear all. of that. then you might. want to keep. wanting. the way you think. that there may. not.

be more. to. the mood in this market in bondi is just right for christmas the state is 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 worry is security on sunday vote or 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 peach roots for change a correlation of several armed groups that has threatened to march to the city and

is already causing havoc in the countryside. in 1006 to 6 our country has gone through coups. mutinies and each time it sets us back the 2013 comes he protests a lot of sorrow women have been raped many people have died and all those displaced . hoping that the 12000 u.n. peacekeepers in the country alongside government troops and other international forces will keep it paid just for a change a day that's something they just want a peaceful and a lot. that is take you now to nashville where the police department has been giving i briefing let's listen in to a police officials been saying ok thank you all appreciate it appreciate you all being here i know this is taking time away from your families as well but again so far. property damage and it's doesn't seem like it's been that

dramatically a negative personal event and then a little chat i'm sure it'll take a while to piece all the events of this morning together i mean. well from what i saw. in terms of glass breakage you know certainly more than 20. you know i mean and that's just. there's a large amount of glass breakage and then again there are warder jets in the water so you see down here it's it's dramatic it's limited but it is dramatic and all on the street. but. it'll be a while to get the glass swept up and everything the buildings. inspected to make sure that none of them received any structural jamie and all this ok well again thank you all for being here i feel like i should go get you some. coffee actually maybe that's what all to do and kevin thank you all appreciate it thank you. or

let's just recap what happened there was a police spokesman giving an update on the explosion which happened in nashville let's go over now to. believe he's live for us so she had did you catch what he was saying well and thanks i'm going to grab some coffee gave the brief update i think on the number of buildings and casualties. it was interesting just how far that police spokesperson seemed to be trying to calm things down i mean that they had earlier been reports that they were looking for other devices that they weren't really sure what was happening but clearly this police officer was trying to just don't panic but we do have some interesting interesting details now about what i thought led up to the explosion it appears that the police were caught about half an hour before the explosion the explosion the explosion occurred around 12 30 pm g.m.t. so about. 3 hours ago. they were the police were called in because of

a suspicious vehicle parked in this area which is in the historical district of downtown nashville apparently outside the a.t.m. t. building which is actually the tallest building in nashville the tallest skyscraper of nashville so they were called in and then police officer went down there and decided that there was something suspicious about this vehicle and called in what we might call the bomb squad i believe they call it the hazardous device unit so the hazardous device unit was all its way to the scene when at 1230 g.m.t. the explosion occurred now we keep hearing these rather rather be opaque terms like the explosion was linked to of course but the explosion was according to authorities linked to a vehicle of all of the recreational vehicle what we call a motor home or a camp a camper van it's not clear how big this vehicle was but it was linked to this vehicle according to authorities and the explosion occurred as we can see from the footage it was no nor was explosion the cause a great deal of damage we see from social media people 8 miles away saying that

they felt the explosion of what it was some sort of earthquake 3 people were injured we understand those injuries are non-critical but they were taken to hospital and now we're wait the federal authorities are combining with local authorities now to investigate what was the cause and what was behind this explosion. so when you say there she had police were called do you know by who was this the perpetrators or were these passers by oh we have no clue or sounds that. we were just getting little little little nuggets of information right now a few interesting details but what we don't have any more information than from from what they're giving us. briefings throughout the morning is anything significant about the area you said the building i mean i don't want to get you to speculate but you know anything that stands out there that strikes you as now i think is which is perspective there's a respectable shouldn't speculation right now i mean i guess one could could point i mean if we are talking about circumstantial issues this was christmas morning at

630 so not the time when lots of people would be out that's interesting and it's the 18 team building but look right now we just have no idea ok i think we'd better leave it there for now we're trying to come back to you perhaps on the more details . well still ahead on al-jazeera how sanctions on iran led to shortages of. the pandemic but also created jobs. stranded for the holidays foreign workers stuck abroad all around the world this year we'll hear from those in. and the bron james is in for a battle to steal the show on christmas.

hello we've had some rather waynflete weather recently into parts of iraq into iran the snow the it's making its way further eastward spinning over towards afghanistan rain sleet and snow coming in here coupled with a top temperature 5 celsius but much stronger behind me just because some showers to the western side of saudi arabia notice around the gulf we go that way and still blowing as we go through saturday winds go well in the sleet direction as we push on into sunday temperatures struggling to get up into the low twenty's over the next couple of days so that was the weather we have into central parts of saudi arabia that is heaviest just around mecca to the north of mecca just around central parts of the red sea further south it is generally try that draw your weather stretches this way down across the horn of africa plenty of showers across the heart of africa pushing down into was in bob way into a good part of mozambique in just notice from madagascar we have

a tropical cycle and now that's going to make its way further west which as we go through saturday some heavy rain coming through here northern half of madagascar light it see some big downpours we are expecting flooding as a result of that and much of madagascar seeing some of that rainfall as we go on through sunday heaviest of course across the eastern side of the island. every year 50000000 tons of electronic waste is thrown away the majority is indeed going to be done in developing countries right now electronic waste is the most traded out of this with retracing the tech through the criminal organizations making big profits and asking why the west is turning a blind eye. manmade on the waste trail on al-jazeera.

setting the discussions of millions of americans feel disaffected by both political parties examining the headlines this group of activists and relative are marginal families and right now we are calling for the morning edition and that also explore an abundance of world class programming designed to inform why is the only solution for tall as young as 10 month to date and inspire you see the world from a different perspective on al-jazeera. you're watching al-jazeera minded our top stories this hour a massive explosion has rocked the u.s. city of nashville on christmas day now calling an intentional act the explosion was

linked to a vehicle police say several rows of buildings been damaged. nations across the world are marking christmas on the coronavirus lock down u.s. health experts who are warning people to stay at home this infection is continue to surge parts of the u.k. reentering the highest level of restrictions in response to the rapid rise in cases . of this heavy fighting in the central african republic following the collapse of a cease fire between a coalition of rebels and government forces violence broke out as before presidential candidates were scheduled to hold their final election rallies ahead of sunday's vote. after years of uncertainty the european union and the u.k. have agreed a trade deal that will define their relationship for decades in a christmas address to the nation proceeds prime minister barak's johnson called

the briggs's agreement a tiding of great joy e.u. leaders are calling it a fair and balanced arrangement more in chalons begins our coverage from london. 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 is 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 as good. 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 the u.k. business is 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 but in the year of covert the u.k. has finally done what the 2016 referendum result demanded with distances from

europe. down to 0. on the block and now joins us from london with the very latest so need is it clear now who caved in at the 11th hour. no it's not under snow really clear or what specific area the breaks in negotiations one side may have conceded more than the other but we do know when it comes to fishing that the u.k. may have backed down quite significantly rigidly the u.k. were hoping that the e.u. would cut fishing quotas by up to 60 percent even 80 percent at one time was the suggested figure by the u.k. but it's actually only had to cut it to 25 percent which is what the e.u. had been demanding and that's over a period of 5 years the british wanted 3 years the e.u. wanted to be happening over 14 years so they could have better the middle there but definitely not the kind of figure that the u.k. had hoped for considering how symbolic fishing has been throughout all of this.

have noticed that johnson was actually wearing on his tie a little emblems of fish at the time that he was announcing this deal having gone through all right now if we can go through some of the detail the would be terrorists still going to be checks at the border right what happens practically speaking. yeah so it's all good well boris johnson others talking about this sort of frictionless trade about exports being able to happily wheel across borders but the awful lot of questions we heard one of them their support about the border between all the other the republic of ireland we still have no idea precisely how they're going to avoid the need for a hard border with goods going across between northern ireland obviously a part of the u.k. the republic of on the part of the e.u. but also going from mainland britain into from for instance they will be much more red tape they will be much more paperwork the british companies of know that this

is coming in their direction but they've had very very little time to prepare for this and only very few companies have the right software in place to make use of the new technology that's being imposed on the borders as well or and the all important where does this leave the trade in services i think it's a huge part of the british economy you know arguably the biggest part and when it comes to financial services particularly both sides have agreed to deal with this separately they i think the british government knows that it is a massive part of the economy that it has to tread very very carefully indeed not to spook major banks for instance too when it comes to relocating to the european union when it comes to other services as well there have been repeated promises from both sides that there'd be no impediment no obstacle to continue trade if you are for instance a property consultancy based in london you'll still be able to provide services and

advice to companies operating in the baltic states for instance and also business people apparently will still be allowed to travel freely whether that means of special visas or business passes will have to wait and say but the promises are that things will remain as they offer goods for services to sort of largely open all right thanks so much need bark of that. now syrian state television says the country's a defense is of shot down several missiles launched by israeli warplanes in the northwest the santa news agency says the airstrikes were carried out in the area there were also reports of blasts in the coastal city of cutoffs where. u.s. president don trump has only a month left in office but there are concerns about escalating tensions with iran boiling over its foreign minister mohammad javad zarif says trump will bear full

responsibility for any adventurism as he calls it on his way out of office his warning comes after the american president accused iran of launching a rocket attack hit its embassy in baghdad in a tweet phrase didn't trump threaten retaliation against iran for any american deaths in iraq iran's could force chief carney has dismissed the accusation reaffirming its position during a visit to baghdad 3 days ago with the u.s. national security team will offer the president a range of options aimed at preventing further attacks on american interests in iraq speak to that any interaction is a researcher at the center for strategic studies good to have you with us so how likely is it you think that trump will launch some kind of military action on his way out. the unilateralist trouble maker trump has been seeking to kill the j scipio a now with just 255 days left before he leaves the white house

he has adopted a very offensive you know approach hoping that it will either provoke iran. to take some action. iran does know the difference between a unilateralist trump and multilateralist biden administration this is a trap that iran will not fall into. but at the same time it doesn't mean that iran will not respond if it is attacked can you say it's a tragedy no longer jump into iran won't fall into but is iran actually sending a message to to put it mildly when we look at some of the iraqi militia or attacks on the u.s. embassy. general soleimani head

speech will influence iraqi groups but after his assassination there is no one. exercising such influence and it is the iraqi groups themselves who make decisions they do not take orders from tehran and. without general soleimani. there is little control over them from the iranian side it's so you're not suggesting arms also has an influence on the side of the militias that helped to create and arm after the fall of saddam hussein are you iran still has a lot of influence there. iran does have a lot of influence but it doesn't mean that it. controls the operation or. tactics of the iraqi groups there are a lot of iraqi groups to make decisions themselves while iran does have access and fluence. it cannot totally control them for everything de does on the ground

how much you think iran is counting on a new start to relations under a biden presidency. iran does welcome. biden's. statement that he is intending to return to the j c p a way definitely a triumph followed a policy of maximum pressure campaign and he has failed on every front on those policies but iran hopes that with us returning to d j c p a way there will be some normality back in the relations between tehran and washington and iran does expect the incoming biden administration to lift the sanctions as part of its obligations in order to allow iran to reverse its steps so that. so that the dean the nuclear deal is saved and the

days of trumpet ministration are over do you think the c.p.o. a can be salvaged. very difficult if there is a political will on the part of the incoming biden administration yes there is a possibility that it will be saved and it can be saved but if. based on what advisers to biden say nowadays if they are going to raise new issues non-nuclear issues then they will complicate the problem and things may get even worse because the key issue now for iran and you know the united states is to honor their commitments and that means for the biden administration to return to the j c p a way and left the sanctions and for iran to reverse the nuclear steps it has taken in the past couple of months so once. this is saved then we we

are in a good position that iran and the united states can take further steps towards deescalation and normality. thank you so much for your analysis. you are welcome iran stands among the worst affected countries in the middle east by the coronavirus pandemic with more than a 1000000 recorded cases and over 54000 deaths rance health officials say international sanctions prevent essential medical aid from reaching those in need also jabari reports from tehran. a makeshift factory making masks in south help village in south to hand a group of dentists meet unemployed by the pandemic decided to use their own money and buy these machines. they got a permit from the health ministry and the local council provided the space free of

charge. they now employ 20 women from this area who make about 120 dollars each month. for manaus new can as a single mother it's a job that would not have existed without the pandemic or u.s. led international sanctions yet they got a fairly good job of this you have to stop i'm very satisfied with my work even if corona ends i'd like to continue my job the work environment is friendly and i like to work with this charity group these women now produce 10000 masks daily working 6 days a week their soul to medical facilities and hospitals across the city in the heart of the modern would we have experience in every crisis when ordinary people assist the government would be result sooner faster and in a better way either in a war than earthquakes floods and now when corona said these guys citee is an afghan national and a single mother of 5 this job is her only source of income more than most and.

on the way i've been working here for 8 months and i'm very satisfied with my work my husband lives with his other wife and afghanistan and i support a family of 6 the doctors and the women here all say their work will continue even after the pandemic is over the main message from officials here during the pandemic has been one of self-reliance since iran can no longer rely on the international community to meet its medical needs and this small factories is one example of how necessity has morsi the message ingenuity to meet demands and for women. it's been a life saving source of income. the president says iran is in an economic war since the united states withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2013 and imposed a series of crippling sanctions on the country's oil and banking sector. during the early days of the pandemic iranian officials try to buy protective equipment

including masks from other countries but due to international sanctions on iran's banking sector paying for them has been difficult while iran has had the highest number of fatalities in the middle east during the pandemic this factory is one of the few positive things to emerge during hard times and for these women it's been a lifeline that could continue for years dorsett to pary al-jazeera to han france's north of the cathedral has christmas enough by hosting its 1st choral concert since it was nearly destroyed by fire. or. paris time mark is gradually being green billed has from its battles the crown a virus those involved in the service said it was an important moment full of emotion the choir hadn't been inside since last year's blaze. as

we've reported the pandemic has changed the way friends and families are gathering for the holidays this year to bring a little lightness to a tough situation the u.s. aerospace defense unit 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 movements of father christmas as he's known for more than 60 years . still had an al-jazeera in the sports we look ahead to a boxing day cricket feast will be here with all the details just a moment. january on al-jazeera the 10 years since the arab spring sought to bring change to the middle east al-jazeera looks into how successful look at pollutions a new documentary series examines history and you takes of drug trafficking and the

way states and drug lords have used it as an instrument of power as tax elections a big goal down to around the world hope of returning to normal comes back again we need new trends constantly changing listening post continues to analyze how the news is coming. to one of the most intense election campaigns the u.s. is set to inaugurate its 2 to 6 percent in. january on al-jazeera. you know those 311 players we have a narrative of how the russian join me richelle carey on outfront is my guest from around the world take the hot seat and we debate the week's top stories in pressing issues here on our just your. routine reward.

ice time for the sport has solved banks that start with both it will because it's all eyes on the n.b.a. on christmas day they're all 5 fixtures on friday what's the 73rd year of games on december the 25th rainy and champions and a lakers will take on the dallas mavericks a match up that will see the sport's biggest name or bron james face off against one of the league's false this rising stars 21 year old luca don to this will be just the 2nd game of the season for the day because with the campaign having a delayed start because of the pandemic and we have a game plan going it's immoral and you know things are going to change on the fly there are very good saying look is exceptional tonally a great spell in our league. so we look for the challenge and just get out there and get a play on christmas is always a treat. the head of world athletics the passing co's hold out as it were that he's

confident take care will stage the olympics next year in some form he also says he'll support any athlete who protests against racism and believes the sport is in a healthier position today he says than in the past they've said has this report. of the 2020 was supposed to see the world's best athletes perform on the biggest stage but as with so many things the coronavirus pandemic forced the change of plan and the tokyo olympics were delayed by a year. there's still no guarantee the games will go ahead with spiraling costs and growing opposition in japan to holding the games amid a global health crisis but the president of world athletics about visited tokyo back in october and told out his era he was encouraged by what he saw i came away very very confident that they really have a cast on did a determination to deliver a great games and yes they may be slightly altered there may be in

a different format. and who knows i mean we're still you know we're still dealing with the pandemic even with a vaccine on the horizon but i am pretty sure we will have a game. this year is seen sport become a platform for the fight against racial injustice on a scale never seen before athlete activists following the footsteps of tommie smith and john carlos whose black power salute scap should the world's attention 52 years ago at the 968 games in mexico city although olympic rules ban political demonstrations coach says he'll support any athlete who protest racism in tokyo i don't see taking many are or anti racism as being a political statement i think it should be the default position of of any sport and it's certainly the default position you know let's. let ics inevitably struggle. to fill the gap left by you same bolt when he retired back in 2017 but they may just

have found another superstar in pole vaulter mondo duplantis the 21 year old from sweden broke the world record 2 times this year and also a cheap the highest outdoor vault of all time as well. we certainly do have a superstar in in montana planters but what i'm really pleased about is i genuinely think alongside mondo we do have one of the most talented young generations of athletes coming through in all our disciplines and i think that's healthier for us or frankly than relying on just one athlete we're in much better shape being many many more athletes at that level was was the current generation of athletes have the potential to become a limb pick champions they just need in the olympics to perform at hopefully 2021 will be there time with the organizers in tokyo determined to get them started in july david stokes al-jazeera. a feast of cricket is awaiting fans on

boxing day 3 test matches gets underway the pick of them arguably the 2nd test seen australia and at the iconic mobile cricket ground and the indians go into the match training the series one nothing after being crushed in the 1st test to make matters worse they'll be without the engine how much sammy and captain they're out carly is on paternity leave $35000.00 fans have been permitted to attend each day of the match and despite india's problems the aussies are not taking the lightly india is it is a proud cricket country they're extremely talented test match so we've got a dangerous pyro so the moment we take our foot off of the pedal and think we're going or what we saw running that i mean that if we can come unstuck really quickly so if huge fight is there seems that that fetus in the ashes is his brain on winning after winning. also on boxing day pakistan's test series begins against

hosts new zealand the tourists go into it in pretty bad shape with katzenberg men in mom and hug and all around han all out injured and south africa getting ready to host the 1st of 2 test matches against sri lanka the proteas lost the last series they hosted against the tourists who go in go on into the match on saturday having not played an international game since march but we've been speaking to andrew mensah of the cricket unfiltered podcast who says it's a huge achievement for cricket 3 boxing day test happening despite the pandemic. what have faced of cricket for cricket fans that have been starved of action all ye 3 pretty exciting match up south africa hosting sri lanka new zealand hosting pakistan but the big one is destroying the hosting india india coming off a huge defeat in the 1st game and i'm sure that came to turn it around you can never write india off the chock full of stars they have

a terrific line up but in the last match they were bowled out for 36 which is their record lowest score so they will be hurting and sometimes tames when they've put up such a bad performance can bounce back quite strongly but the strain in tame must go it is every 5 minutes and and it's a really exciting match for the people of melbourne who suffered a very long lockdown over the winter have not had any sport to go to at all so this is the 1st event at the m.c.g. since march really significant moment for the city and the spectators the world will be watching the game with great interest and you know just a great occasion to have 3 test matches going on and you have to sort of take into account the 2nd feiss bank being made by the administrators in the plays to get it under way so a significant achievement for cricket around the world well funny back to me thanks so much that ball that's it for me for this news album back in

a moment with more of the day's news so do stay with us. what is that they have been doing with the money that it's for we bring you the stories and developments in. rapidly changing the world we live in argentina as congress is debating a bill seeking to raise billions of dollars from the super rich poor families hit hard by and damage counting the cost on al-jazeera. decades ago manila was called the pearl of the orient the manila metropolitan

theater was once a testament to the city's grandeur but decades later the theater has become a symbol of moneyless to katie now the philippine government is changing their government buildings the universities and monasteries were just some of the many structures that were destroyed in the no lodger in world war 2. but rebuilding a life and a city from scratch has proven difficult and some experts say manila has never truly recovered. the stories of abuse in aged care homes in the west to show the world that there is no this how does one know when he speaks those sending elderly loved ones to thailand to live out there on how disease. we understand the difference is i'm similarities have cultures across the world. so no matter how many you see al-jazeera will bring you the news and current affairs

that matter to you. al-jazeera. the u.s. city of nashville wrong by a large explosion early on christmas morning. this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up the restrictions to control coronavirus governments around the world react to the rapid spread of covert 19. short lived violence flares again in central african republic as rebels attacked a gold mine in the north.