so they become connected the week can't be ignored. the. 3 u.n. peacekeepers are killed in the central african republic as rebels call off a cease fire and resume fighting ahead of sunday's election. there and this is al jazeera also coming. emotional home explodes in the u.s. city of nashville after playing a record of bomb warning. but we're not going to rest. for. millions fly around the u.s.

to be with family for christmas despite warnings that travel will further inflame the coronavirus outbreak. in christmas and remember thousands of migrants are stuck in shelters and more than mexico with hopes of being granted asylum in the u.s. . but we begin in central african republic where violence is breaking out again just a day before an election that 3 u.n. peacekeepers have been killed by an identified attack as and a coa u.n. secretary general antonio terrence has condemned the killings and demanded an investigation earlier there was fighting between rebel groups and government forces after the collapse of a cease fire the rebels accuse president. of planning to rig sunday's elections 6 opposition candidates are demanding that the vote be prospal and our correspondent catherine sway reports now from the capital bangui. was

president. dara arrives for his final election rally in bongi in 4 force has been telling people to come out and forth on sunday without fear i recently formed a group called the patriot for change all c.p.c. has threatened to march to the city and launched attacks against government troops backed by un peacekeepers in some rural areas the c.p.c. reaches a coalition of several armed groups has called off a cease fire it had declared them wednesday my only because they are trying to come to bangui you sent our africans must open your eyes help our armed forces n.p.'s keep. those from rwanda and russia giving us a hand i'm to fight has come into the city. 16 presidential candidates have been cleared to run in the polls. sound of the country's only south declared emperor has

withdrawn citing security concerns former president francois was disqualified by the constitutional court state officials and the u.n. accuse him of being behind the c.p.c. rebellion to disrupt the election and overthrew the government has backed and he said who's a march to as president would dare a strongest challenge. president is the founder of one of the strongest political parties with solid policies he himself is a very popular leader but he did not back my candidacy it's the party that endorsed me. most opposition candidates a while back and won the election postponed presidential candidates are each promising to finally bring it back to the republican vibe and provide basic services but people talking here involving. i think that the hardest problem is

before. knows all about pain caused by conflict his leg was blown off by a hand grenade when the mostly muslim armed groups are over on 2030 and overthrew. a very sick you. actually cannot understand what's happening to me and i'm scared of what's happening now they're only coming to kill i want to ask the government to help us to stop those who are coming. is now preparing to vote in an election clouded by fear and uncertainty he tells us who only go to the polling station if you feels absolutely safe a sentiment shared by many other voters catherine al-jazeera. human rights watch he says rebels control most of the territory and pose a serious threats to free and fair elections. this temporary cease fire i think

a bit too much stop was put into it and i say that because of the groups that make up this rebel coalition of the 6 groups that make up the c.p.c. this coalition this new coalition are some of the groups that have perpetrated the most gruesome crimes in the central african republic since 2013 them wantonly killed civilians they've used rape as a weapon of war they've caused widespread displacement in pillage so the fact that they've broken this temporary ceasefire is not in of itself surprising i think what's much more worrying is how much territory they seem to be able to take and how quickly they seem to be able to take it and how close they actually are to the capital bunky all reports are indicating that within 100 kilometers so it's very very tense in the city right now i think this is the most tense the central african republic has been since early twenty's 13 when we saw the last iteration of the cycle of coups which indicates a change of power in that country it's worth noting that the killing of blue

helmets the killing of international peacekeepers is in of itself a war crime but the fact that peacekeepers have been killed in these sadly these peacekeepers that you mentioned this is just the latest batch of peacekeepers that have been targeted in ca are the fact that they have been targeted i think is demonstrative of the impunity that these armed groups continue to operate with within the country the central african republic is operating after a peace deal in 2019 that peace deal ceded a lot of impunity to these armed groups and instead of stopping attacks on civilians and peacekeepers they simply wrap them up in the last few weeks and months and really it does not bode well for a country that's supposed to be going through general elections in 48 hours. explosion has ripped through a neighborhood in the usa a flash found. out that on christmas morning after playing a record of bombing morning several buildings were damaged but i know 3 people have . line injuries chpa tensile reports. the early morning blast in downtown nashville

was felt and heard from kilometers away authorities say at least 20 buildings were damaged when the vehicle exploded. police were already on their way having received a call for reporting gunshots in the area when they arrived they had no mounds once believed to be coming from the vehicle that an explosion was imminent they called in the bomb squad and began evacuating the area as the bomb squad approached the explosion occurred we had one officer that was not to drive this was the testimony of a man who lived a block and a half away we just heard this blast and we felt the windows in our building shake and we live in a high rise development on that 26th floor and we just. unbelievable last. the f.b.i. has taken control of the investigation authorities are also in the public for help please tell us what you know. we need to leeds we need your help the the hour

prevented more casualties the area is filled with shops restaurants bones i'm glad to poppins and an a.t.m. t. technical facility is adjacent to the site if you want to kill a lot of people and then you'll do it during your shopping hours 730 at night or 2 in the afternoon 630 on a christmas morning there is a book of time you're a reader the fewest people out possible so that could imply this is a statement grabber ringback 'd act rather than seeking to cause mass casualties the president has been briefed as he spends the christmas holiday in florida she had her town see. and places saying they found traces of what could be human remains. we have found 2 shoe that we believe could be remains that would just have that you know examined and it will be able to let you know from at the start of the was detonated so it was someone inside we have no idea such

a large explosion but the investigation continuing there it's a matter all over the the area down there and so we'll continue to examine it to see if it is human remains. out of here as john hendren is in nashville and. it's common nashville now but hours ago an early morning christmas explosion shattered the calm injuring 3 people and destroying 41 buildings according to authorities here they're not exactly sure what the intended target was but the explosion occurred outside of an a.t.m. t.v. transmission building and there were warnings the recreational vehicle was broadcasting apparently recorded messages telling people to evacuate the area and at one point saying that within 15 minutes there would be a possible bomb explosion meanwhile authorities say that they have found what appears to be human remains they don't know if that was someone inside the vehicle or someone who was nearby and have not confirmed that it is indeed human remains

but they are operating on that theory now and authorities are investigating this as a potential terror attack and they are looking into what the motive was who was involved in this attack but meanwhile they have declared a curfew in downtown nashville from friday through sunday the christmas morning explosion has destroyed a large swath of the tourist area here in what is the country music capital of the united states. well huge numbers of americans have boarded flights to be with family for christmas despite warnings that travel on u.s. an already alarming coronavirus death and infection rates more than 7000000 people pass through u.s. airports over the past week it was a summer ushering of a thanksgiving holiday which has blamed fueling the current spike more than 193000 new cases recorded on fast and long with nearly 3000 deaths. has more now from

washington d.c. americans are on the move in the past 7 days more than 7000000 people have gone through security checkpoints at the nation's airports that doesn't even begin to cover the many millions of people who have gotten in their cars or perhaps taken a train or a bus to visit friends and family across the country now what this means is that with this 2 week long holiday period public health officials are very very afraid that you're going to see even more cases of covert 1000 infection through the middle part of january through late january we are already seeing upwards of 3000 people a day on average who are losing their lives to this virus and many more tens of thousands of people being infected so this is really a situation that public health officials are saying could have been prevented if

people simply had chosen to stay home for the holiday period they understand that after 9 months or more of this pandemic in the united states that people want to be with their loved ones but public health officials say that given that just a 1000000 or so people have received the 1st dose of the 1st vaccine against kobe at 19 that this is really outstripping the health systems ability to try to protect people in the middle of this pandemic. well strangely a is now reimposing coronavirus restrictions in parts of sydney off the 9 new cases were traced to a cluster there in the city's north and other areas of the city people were told not to shop on boxing day in sydney's northern areas will now revert back to stage warm waters for at least 3 days. again our strategy is to make sure we need as soon as we can that we get on top of it as soon as we can and of course in the next few days we'll let the community know what nice safe looks lots of people on the know

the bases but also great to see things and also what january looks like. for the rest of the rest of sydney so we want to thank everybody for your cooperation well still ahead here on al-jazeera i have a small present anyone who may be looking for something to read. but is the deal with the going to satisfy his neighbors or his own party. campaigning and presidential elections where fatty candidates competing for the top job. hello there we've had some rather wintry weather it's a parts of the middle east recently over the last couple of days some snow there into northern parts of iraq spilling over towards the north of iran as well dry by

the comes in behind us on the cool side to rob it just 6 ounces to 50 there in baghdad that cool and dry weather makes its way all the way it was that eastern side of the mediterranean we got some wet weather into where western parts of saudi arabia some heavy rain here that could lead to some localized flooding quite a keen blowing here in doha so a chilly 20 celsius barely getting up to 20 degrees here on saturday afternoon it warms up to 22 on sunday notice the winds go around to move an easterly direction by that stage just dry to the south as that with plenty of sunshine in the sunshine the mirror down across the whole of africa p.f. on a dry somalia plenty of sunshine got some showers just pushing into the western side of uganda pos just around lake victoria times and they're seeing some live shows. kenya should be largely dry and finds throughout the showers extend their way across the heart of africa plenty of them over the next cop that day they may have

a southern africa. but we've got a living topical side line at it from madagascar. but . the silence has been this. belief this. is one of scandinavia 3 largest iron ore deposits. and it's driving a wedge between those seeking wealth. and those defending their way of life. gala a witness documentary on a. pool of forewarning.

now again i'm a start and i hope let's remind you about top stories here south 3 u.n. peacekeepers have been killed by unidentified attackers in central african republic ahead of sunday's election the u.n. secretary general antonio terrace has condemned the killings and acoa and demanded an investigation now ceasefire between a coalition of rebel groups and the government there collapsed the rebels accuse present faster nationalist where there are planning to rig sunday's vote. police in the u.s. city of nashville say they found what could be funeral nails near the site of an explosion a mobile home early on christmas morning injuring 3 people. all returning to the pandemic down it's been a quiet christmas across here where several governments ordered people to stay at home a new and potentially more contagious variants of the corona virus 1st attack today added to the agency to impose these new downs the mccain reports now from.

christmas in rome during cotard where good will to others means socially distance events providing presence of the poor and homeless as welcome as these gifts may seem what many people want this winter is the coded vaccine and now the 1st consignment of it have arrived in rome ready for distribution on sunday to people who the pope says should be 1st on the list. i pray for all those in charge of nations companies international organizations to promote cooperation and not competition and look for a solution for everybody vaccines for everybody especially for the most vulnerable and needy ones in every region of the planet as in many other e.u. countries the vaccine will also start being distributed in germany on sunday it's a development many hope will transform the situation. in the long as in the end of

this we see the long awaited light at the end of the tunnel become brighter we will come closer to the exit in this crisis step by step how long the road will be depends on us if we remain reasonable and patient then we will gradually be able to do many things again that we had to do without for a long time. the strategy many european governments are adopting is to follow a return to hard lock downs and the start of mass vaccination so their hope is to reduce the numbers of new infections and eventually lower mortality rates that has been claiming the lives of thousands of people every day for some time dominic cain al-jazeera berlin. candidates have made their final pitch as diverse as ahead of elections. the polls are historic and set the course for the fast peaceful transition of power an address reports now from now on how africa's 2nd coronavirus wave is having an impact. it's been a busy 3 weeks of campaigning for his u.s.

presidential candidate. any wave of korra virus infections forced the government to impose a limit on our members of the last day. of the leading candidate i can fit into but the right message is something passed through the protests form of forming an interior minister mohammad. is the governing party's candidate in and then look at our candidate has visited all parts of the country even before the start of the campaign selling practical ideas to the people and to see how people live to understand their problems that helped us design a program to better people's lives were confident of winning in the 1st round. one of bazooms main rivals 3 time presidential candidate and former prime minister senor morrow says that one tavern. in my political experience it's impossible for anyone to win an election outright in the 1st round each of us would want to but it's impractical no one will it's very very difficult

. a total of 30 candidates are running for president while some have complained hard most have been on the sidelines seeking to form alliances with stronger parties. much of the campaign focused on who becomes president voters will also choose 171 representatives to feel the seats in this parliament some one later from the country's next cabinet as in previous elections analysts say end up with a coalition of one of the been wanted to go to parties and other smaller ones. the decision on who gets to form the coalition depends on what 7500000 voters decide on sunday. a presidential candidate request 50 percent plus one of valid votes cast to win outright that has never happened in an election here if no candidate gets that voters will be called once again to choose among the 2 candidates with the highest

number of votes in the trees i'll just see that you have a. mess in brussels to look over the postbox a trade deal that's finally now been agreed but the u.k. opponents on both sides need to ratify that agreement which will uncouple britain for decades of any membership as this report. i have a small present for anyone who may be looking for something to read in that post christmas lunch moment and here it is 2000 pages of dense detail the british government's christmas gift to the nation because this is a deal a deal to give certainty to business travelers and investors in our country from the 1st of january a deal with our friends and partners in the in brussels e.u. ambassadors met for a christmas day briefing with the blocks breaks at negotiator michel barnier the

$27.00 european union states are expected to formally back the trade deal within days the european parliament which normally votes on a tax before it becomes law will vote on the deal retrospectively in january the choreography is different for british m.p.'s who will cast their vote on the deal in parliament on the 30th of december where it's expected to pass with the the government controls a sizable majority of the opposition labor party says it will reluctantly back it a day later midnight december 31st the u.k. will employ gets economy from the world's largest trading bloc in a deal that will either drive or diminish the country for generations to come it's been a year of painful uncertainty for everyone the british economy is shattered thousands of businesses a teetering on the edge of ruin a while the country has been grappling with the impact of covert 19 it's also been living under the shadow cast by breaks it and worries that the british economy

might never be the same again but now that there is a deal here in london the voted almost exclusively to remain in the european union there's a sense of quiet and reluctant acceptance. at this time of great upheaval a familiar face with a traditional christmas message even on the darkest nights a queen elizabeth is the hope of a new dawn. but even with this deal uncertainty remains there are fears unemployment will rise if firms relocate to the e.u. a few transport companies have access to britain's new border crossing software and unanswered questions on how to avoid physical border checks between northern ireland part of the u.k. and ireland and e.u. member as more details emerge is clear the british government's also gone further than expected in granting the e.u. access to british fishing grounds the e.u. and u.k. are now decipher ing the trade deal for general consumption both eager to show

they've gained the most ground at the 11th hour. london. 800 british military personnel deployed to help the thousands of truck drivers waiting to get into france more than a 1000 troops are now involved at the port of dover. for the. well thousands of refugees and migrants are spending their christmas in shelters and on mexico's northern border with the u.s. many of them have been waiting for months now for their asylum cases to be processed or delayed further by the pandemic townhome reports. he's 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 while they were 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 buda city what is 10 months ago this still waiting for his 1st court date. a major theme article it was for march 14th of this year but that was changed because of the been demick to the symbol 15 now it's put that into a mail for next year. your general though 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 of us go more or less at bus you know it's

a complicated situation for the hay from basic needs it's really unsaid saying what's going to happen to them and that generics and sightsee just being here waiting not knowing how to follow up with the proceeds. to go to a host church is one of many along the border which have been turned into shelters he seem hope among those now under his care that a new u.s. administration could help them in a 2nd sample from. i don't know who is happier about biden's victory the americans or those stuck here in the asylum process because it means for them and then to their stay in mexico so that 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. well several studies have looked into the depression and anxiety that this pandemic has caused children

they've also found increases in obsessive compulsive disorder. natasha game reports now from lab. i want to find a way to make your nighttime routine calmer the call from the mental health hospital halfway across the country was greatly anticipated but now the anguish is long distance less than a week before this florida family admitted their 12 year old son we'll call jackson to inpatient treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder or o.c.d. and an eating disorder he is the most amazing sweet outgoing athletic smart friendly kind through the course of this quarantine he became on edge anxious i'm anxious and today i would describe him as a rat in an electrified cage studies have shown that the fear and stressors of the coded 1900 pandemic have been triggering for children with o.c.d.

and anxiety jackson tortured himself by spending his waking hours only standing or exercising insisting that he needed to lose weight the deterioration happened in a matter of months honestly i would rather die of corona by now because to go through this to watch your kid suffer like this is worse i would rather take the pain from him and not have to see him suffering like this the international foundation says 2 to 4 percent of all children will develop. an estimated 3000000 children in the united states alone there is a genetic component to o.c.d. and anxiety jackson's father also has o.c.d. his struggle to find affordable treatment has been replicated with his son due to a lack of specialized pediatric facilities and the fact that many won't accept health insurance the family waited 6 weeks to find an empty bed states away it

breaks my heart to see that you know that my son is struggling with this and that you know we just you know we're smart people educated resort. and we just haven't up until this point been able to find him the right care that he needs today i'm going to talk to you about anxious to talk to daniels is a child there are pissed she says there has been an influx of desperate families across the globe seeking assistance through her online workshops and community forums although many countries don't have adequately trained clinicians who can treat o.c.d. she says there is a type of therapy parents can teach children that helps rewire their brains and stop the compulsive behavior it's never too late to give your child those skills to pivot and approach your child's behavior and then it can make a huge difference long term there's always hope jackson's family is clinging to that hope the family's life has been turned upside down pretty much nothing has

been the same the family doesn't know when they'll see jackson again coburg 19 restrictions prevent visits they can only have faith that the treatment he's undergoing revives the son and brother they know it's going to. miami beach. again. with the headlines here on al-jazeera 3 u.n. peacekeepers have been killed by unidentified attack as in central african republic ahead of sunday's election the u.n. secretary general antonio terrace has condemned the killings and acoa and demanded an investigation earlier a cease fire between a coalition of rebel groups and the government that collapsed the rebels accuse president foster nationals to end era of planning to rig sunday's elections 6 opposition candidate say the vote should be postponed.