of our programs award winning documentary and. subscribe t u g forward slash al-jazeera english. this is al-jazeera. hello again i'm peter darby you're watching the news our live from our headquarters here in doha coming up in the next 60 minutes a top court in the central african republic projects last ditch appeals to pursue sunday's election after attacks by armfuls. hopes for a turning point in the fight against covert 19 countries across the european union to receive their 1st vaccines and get ready to begin mass immunization. police in

the u.s. city of nashville so they may have found human remains at the site of a powerful explosion there's still no no clear motive for the attack. and holding on to their voice when you group of young iraqi writers keeping the nation's rich history heritage alive. i'm satisfied to all the sports including a holiday performance 2 very memorable as the bron james he's up to 2nd in the end they all time christmas day scoring this. ok let's get going let's begin in the central african republic and the ruling from the constitutional court that sunday's election will go ahead despite rising violence by armed groups their opposition parties wanted it to spode and accuse the president of vote rigging rebels also rejected the legitimacy of the government and threaten to march on the capital bangui 3 un peacekeepers have been killed and

human rights groups are warning that violence could reach levels last seen in 2013 when thousands of civilians were killed in a moment we'll hear from the un but 1st catherine sawyer has more now on an election that could be a crucial test for a nation that has suffered years of conflict. judges the constitutional judges made this unanimous decision in the courtroom behind me and they said that the petition did not have strong enough grounds to have the election postponed now we. so what this means is that the election is going to go on tomorrow wherever it can we have spoken to u.n. officials with a 70 percent of the country think enough people to come out to vote we have spoken to the government spoke spokesman who said that yes they expect a low water tunnel but they hope that this turnout is not going to be so low as to discredit the process but the reason we are not just in areas where there is

active fighting back in places like even bongi we have been talking to people who are saying that they will not come to the polling stations until they feel absolutely their priority is to protect their families so yes there's going to be an election but a lot of tension really and we had the president here today in his final rally telling the people that this is for change. group the thing that they're coming to the. a was appealing to the residents of the to be vigilant to help security forces to block access. and you know just his words alone just show how precarious the situation is but people here in thing yes we want to come and vote but we are really not sure about i think the. well despite the uncertainty that catherine mentioned on the ground the u.n.

is insisting the conditions are stable enough to ensure a free election the deputy special representative to the secretary general spoke to al-jazeera just a short time ago she told my colleagues people are determined to exercise their rights to vote. distribution of the voter cards is ongoing and people through this country who are registered to vote are coming in large numbers to correct the cards the population is determines in this country so vote tomorrow and we are determined at the united nations rictus who are an international community to ensure that the boat goes ahead i just finished a meeting with all the regional representatives and the country and 80 percent of the country the situation is progressing there like the preparations are on there and. so in most parts of the country people will be able to vote tomorrow in security yet in some parts there is interference it was caused by the armed

works but as you know we brought in gram parsons martin school english and in south sudan to ensure that the boat goes hurt and that the country can grow its own security and our last estimate this morning is not just there maybe about 4 percent of the electorate not able to vote but it's absolutely not region why it's ringback very specific communities in those communities. blue how much the. kurds have green force their presence to ensure that people can come so we are very determined the population is determined and push back on the armed groups who believe they can steal the elections from the population of this counter international you can't have them out of this country to be dragged back to the conflict and chaos of 2013 where innocent people were killed institutions. and that and local

chaos let's bring in this country that cannot be allowed he can allow them to leave the country back along this. we have a mandate from the security council which we are responsible to protect the citizens of this country unfortunately very unfortunate and all of our people and family and the country of the groups we lost yesterday but this is what we're here to do. and despite that. many in this current wrong side. as. well the international community is becoming increasingly concerned that violence could spiral out of control in c.l. russia france and rwanda deploying military forces in support of the government catherine sawyer from the capital bangui. was

president for stina shines twice darragh 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 lucian put 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. which is a coalition of several armed groups has called off a ceasefire it had declared them wednesday. morning there they are trying to come to bangui usent are africans must open your eyes help our armed forces un peacekeepers mean those from rwanda in russia the i given us a hand don't lead those i'm to fight has come into the city. 16 presidential candidates have been cleared to run in the polls but join side sound of the country's only celtic led emperor has withdrawn citing security concerns former

president francois was easing 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 was easy has backed and he said who's a marched as president would dare a strongest challenger. president bush president was easy. he's 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. and won the election postponed a presidential candidate that each promising to finally bring people back to the public room by me and provide may think that to keep talking here in bonding i say that the hard problem is the full. 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 him 2013 and over through. actually cannot understand what's happening to me and i'm scared of what's happening now they're only coming to kill him 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 he feels absolutely safe a sentiment shared by many other. catherine al-jazeera. let's take a look at the fragile political landscape in central african republic president foreston archons torah came to power in 2016 and to pursue peace and unity but he

struggled to contain the unrest his rival fronts were busy was forced from power more than 6 years ago by as we've been hearing mostly muslim rebels known as the celica prompting reprisals from christian armed groups u.n. investigators say large scale killings were carried out by both sides against civilians the subsequent violence worsened the country's ongoing civil war prompting thousands of un peacekeepers to be deployed in 2014 a peace accord signed in february of 2019 between the government and 14 armed groups led to a lower level of violence but with armed factions forming a coalition against the government history of the country could see a return to a wider conflict that's forced for half a 1000000 people to leave their homes there as much is the central africa director even writes what she says rebels control most of the territory and pose a serious threat to free and fair elections. this temporary cease fire i think a bit too much stock was put into it and i say that because of the groups that make

up this rebel coalition 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 and 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 2013 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 targeting the c.a.r. the fact that they have been targeted i think it's 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 and 2019 that peace deal ceded a lot of impunity to these armed groups and instead of stopping attacks on civilians and peacekeepers they simply ramp 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. at least 35 people have been kidnapped in the north east of nigeria armed men dressed in military uniforms set up a roadblock and abducted the travelers as they headed to might a goody it's believed the incident could be linked to book or her arm lots more still to come for you here on the news hour including turkey's defense ministers in

libya today after threats from the warlords. we'll have a live update from tripoli. thousands of guatemalans deported from the u.s. find conditions at home even worse for the money an issue left. and india cricket fans find their voice again the latest from the 2nd test in melbourne coming up in sport in about 30 minutes. more than $25000000.00 coronavirus cases businesses hit with another round of shutdowns and the threat of a new more infectious strain that's the challenge facing the european union but it's hoped monday will mark a turning point right now shipments of the fires a biotech vaccine are arriving in countries across the e.u. it was given the go ahead earlier this week where if in occupations juta begin as early as sunday the rollout is starting slowly 10000 doses for each country with

the old and vulnerable being a priority but $300000000.00 doses have been secured and the maternal vaccine is also being considered to boost stock levels until they can be administered so many countries are reimposing their strictest lockdowns to stop the spread of the u.k. germany france greece and italy among a handful of countries still telling people to stay at home. we have 2 correspondents keeping an eye on the situation in europe all brennen's in london 1st let's go to dominic kane in berlin so dominic as far as the e.u. in germany is concerned it's an across the board policy but they are starting from the right place i mean the vaccinations are starting in germany. the vaccinations will start in germany as indeed across much of the if not all of the e.u. on sunday but they will be targeted so we know for example here in berlin a population of 3700000 people were the very 1st people to receive the vaccinations

will be elderly residents of can homes and people who are over the age of 80 the ones who the government has decided are the most vulnerable and those who are in the greatest need what's happened is that the different state governments the federal government of authorize the creation of mass vaccination centers are 6 here in berlin and many more in the big cities around germany but in the 1st instance what will happen is that the vaccinations that have arrived will not go to those centers in the 1st instance as i say instead they will go directly to the care homes and inoculate the residents there but also crucially those who are working with those residents and then on down the priority list the next people to receive them will be medics physicians doctors nurses working in the coronavirus wards in the large hospitals here in berlin but around the country and so on down the line

into people who have preexisting conditions and therefore are at a weaker situation more vulnerable perhaps to the coronavirus and so on down gradually into the wider population and we know that here in berlin they're talking about having something around about $60000.00 doses available by the turn of the year with the ambition then to have around $30000.00 doses per week as the new year unfolds the interesting thing not just in germany but in the e.u. level the officials the ministers the people at the top are now really looking at this as perhaps the start of the light at the end of the tunnel certainly that's what president sort of fun the lion from the european commission has been saying today. we are starting to turn the page on a difficult year today is delivery day and tomorrow vaccination against covered 9000 is beginning across the european union next nation will help to get us our

normal lives back gradually once enough people have been vaccinated we can start traveling meeting our friends and family again and have normal holidays which we all long for but until then we have to continue being careful. vaccinations starting tomorrow but starting today in some countries and definitely here in germany tomorrow is also a resumption of hard lock down a twin track approach vaccinate the most vulnerable but force everybody back into lockdown at the same time and that way they hope to really reduce the daily mirror infection rates and also the daily death rate which is very high right now proving that we really are in the teeth of the 2nd wave not just here in berlin or germany but right around the continent ok thanks don dominic and they're reporting live

from berlin live to london our colleague there is paul brennan paul astonishing oxford street behind you boxing day it should be bumper to bumper with people spending money but that's the reality of covert. colonel virus really household out the high streets and none more so than here on london's famous oxford street perhaps the most famous shopping streets in this country and over my shoulder you can see how few people there we are in the highest level of restrictions here for so is strictly speaking people should be staying at home unless they're out for essential exercise or to go to an essential shop such as a pharmacy and you can see lots of places simply close to unpick names to talk shop over there is closed foot locker on my right hand side shots from off on my left on the side also shot so it really has decimated the expectations of the retailers now

i see one estimate from the credit card company barclay card this morning and they expect boxing day people to spend around $3600000000.00 online but that's small consolation to the people with bricks and mortar buildings in places such as this and the restrictions on expanding today for the 1st time an extra $6000000.00 people under these tier 4 highest level restrictions meaning households cannot mix all essential shops have to close that brings to a total some $24000000.00 people in britain about 43 percent of the population who are now under these restrictions on the biggest difficulty over this christmas period has been how circumstance on the government's have a sense of balance people around now a week ago london was in syria 3 and the expectation was you could have 5 days of christmas with up to 3 households together then that was restricted down to just one day and of course the 4 means no mixing at all it's been very very difficult on

both a personal humane level and on any economic business level to going back to pull to that point when the prime minister boris johnson announced that christmas wasn't going to be 5 days it was going to be one day at the. point he said he would review this at the end of december but listening to the reality of tier 4 restrictions difficult to imagine that he'll be able to ease those restrictions in less than a week from now. it's looking highly unlikely i would say almost impossible when you look at how the devolved administrations are tackling it scotland for example they've got their own tier system they also happen to be in their version of tier 4 and they're expecting that to last at least 3 weeks wales has reimposed the restrictions that it lifted briefly for the christmas period they're expecting it to take several more weeks before they get their level of

infection down on the control a northern island has a curfew essentially from 8 pm to 6 am and again it's looking like well into january before they will even consider relaxing those restrictions so hopes of an english relaxation simply non-existent frankly ok paul we'll leave it there thank you so much paul brennan reporting live from a very quiet oxford street in central london. the more contagious variant of the coronaviruses now also been found confirmed in japan 5 people who arrived from the u.k. were found to be infected and put into quarantine they travel before japan joined more than 50 other countries and banning flights from britain. australia has reimposing coronavirus restrictions in parts of sydney after 9 new cases in the state of new south wales were traced to a cluster in the city's north in other areas of the city people were told not to go shopping on boxing day that to sydney's northern areas will now be under stay at

home orders for at least 3 days. the u.s. city of nashville is under a curfew after a motor home exploded in a neighborhood on friday it blew up early on christmas morning after a recorded bomb morning was played several buildings were damaged 3 people suffered injuries the police haven't been able to establish a motive we have found 2 issue that we believe could be remains that were just there that you know examined and they will be able to let you know from their point darby was detonated so if it was someone inside we have no idea of such a large explosion but the investigation continuing there's a matter all over this the area down there and so we'll continue to examine it to see if it is human remains she returns is our correspondent tracking that story for us she had this just sounds and feels like a weird one of the police there saying that the person who put a device allegedly inside a motor home a recreational vehicle also had

a timed tape recorded announcement that was broadcast in the area. they're just putting information out there but they're not actually saying anything to confirm any any theories the may be floating around we're expecting hopefully more press conferences and in the coming hours i think all we have right now are questions and let's go to the beginning there was that initial emergency 9911 call which alerted the police that there was something going on in the area the report was that there were shots being fired that at least one person who was living in the area said he heard those shots what was that about who was responsible for those shots who was responsible for the 911 call when the police arrived they see this motor home it's broadcasting a message calling on anyone in the vicinity to evacuate because of an imminent explosion but it's the recording suggested the explosion would be within 15 minutes it didn't occur within 15 minutes in fact some people who were evacuated were

beginning to return to the area when the motor home exploded what was that about was that intentional was that a mistake it's unclear and now there's also a great deal of focus being paid to the 18th tee switching facility which is was adjacent to the to the motor home clearly that the structural damage that was caused cause it almost telecommunications outages a brief stop at nashville international airport local emergency 911 calls were destructed was that the target it's not clear if it was the target why wasn't the motorhome parked closer to the a.t.m. t. facility i know we have this human tissue that's been found and it's not entirely clear you know how widespread it is and whether it was a human tissue for related to the attack so i'm afraid be that we will have we have lots of very interesting questions there so many interesting details to this and hopefully we'll get more on this is in the coming hours she will come back to us

and you have more information in the meantime thank you very much. turkey's defense minister has arrived in libya despite threats from the eastern warlord holly for her after her you see aca promised to increase cooperation with the internationally recognized government in tripoli on friday ankara voted to extend the deployment of turkish forces to libya for another 18 months after the warlord who backs a rival eastern government responded with a threat to target turkish forces no more are going to have to go the decisive confrontation has begun to appear for the near future from what our scouts have detected from maneuvers of the turkish mercenaries and soldiers near the front lines piling up weapons equipment building military bases and operating rooms well here but then were to flex turkey's insistence on war and the delusion that they will achieve their dreams of expansion and influence and then visions to control the oil fields and export ports to cure with our wealth its collapsing economy and

then the incursion into the depths of africa ok let's get a live update on the story from tripoli our correspondent there is much more ahead does this change the situation on the ground the turkish defense minister being in country. well peter this visit of course comes immediately after the threats made by have to target turkish military presence in the country but meanwhile her little mission the chairman of the high council of state who received the military did it today along with other military officers and including the defense minister of the g.n.a.s. and mission he stated that this visit comes in terms of the turkish. side trying to make sure that the g.n.a.s. forces are ready to any peril any possible that tack by have to force the also

confirming that if half of its forces try to attack again the government forces they the government forces will not attack but they will try to attack after those forces in their bases now this visit comes only 4 days after the turkish parliament in dorset the. extension of the turkish military forces task in libya for 18 months en also today. the defense minister alone who are the other. high ranking military commanders they attended the graduation of. military detachments over there which have been trained by military experts in libya

now all these arrangements are in terms of the turkish libyan military and security agreement that was signed between fat is sort of the head of the presidential council and the president on in november last year. mahmoud thank you very much members of yemen's new power sharing government have been sworn in seeking the constitutional oath in the saudi capital riyadh it was overseen by the yemeni president who ordered the formation of a new administration after negotiations with the u.a.e. backed southern transitional council fighting broke out between the 2 sides in 2019 . the afghan capital kabul has been hit by a series of explosions at least 5 separate attacks were reported across the city 2 police officers were killed in the worst incident no group has claimed responsibility it comes as the taliban and the afghan government continue their talks here in doha. time for everton with the weather. how

do i do that there's a hint of winter in the weather across the middle east at the moment we have got a a weather system just straddling saudi arabia sinking further south was quite fresh breeze coming in in the process says some west of weather there over towards the red sea further north it is generally dropping see how the temperatures are struggling 12 or 13 degrees there for damascus and for baghdad and even struggling here in doha by monday and the late great pagan temperatures back to around 22 celsius for the chance of want to show is over towards the red sea further south it is generally dry just around the horn of africa plenty as shallow as over towards lake victoria pushing a further west was right to the heart of africa tanzania seen some big down poles we'll see some of the showers just sinking their way south which across the democratic republic of congo with some wet weather or the way down across zimbabwe seeing some showers longer spells of rain some wet weather too just easing across

towards northern parts of namibia over madagascar here we have a tropical cyclone that's bringing some very heavy rain in some parts could see maybe 100 to 200 millimeters of fright as a tropical side plans tell makes its way east was easing into the mozambique channel and heading to mozambique. lots more international news and the sports to come here on the news hour including these stories a new coronavirus trial is underway and looking into using antibodies to help people already infected with coded 19. also had campaigning in zuni jazz presidential elections where 30 candidates are competing for the top job and in that sports bulletin a special win for miami star we'll explain why in a bit later on in about 20 minutes from now. if you look at the history of morphine if you look at the history of our own if you

look at the kang being stang's do not enter the world past evil underworld drugs they enter the world as medicine. a new 3 part documentary series looks at the history and geopolitics of drug trafficking and its impact on the world today drug trafficking politics and power coming soon on al-jazeera. in the far reaches of the new siberian islands gold rush fever is in the air and. hunters searching for priceless woolly mammoth tusks of on earth the holy grail. an incredible journey into the realms of science fiction where cloning and synthetic biology have scientists playing god. witness genesis 2.0 the hunt for the woolly mammoth on al-jazeera. to the editor.

welcome back you're watching al-jazeera i'm peter dhabi these are your top stories the central african republic will go ahead with sunday's presidential election as planned despite fears about the spread of violence there the constitutional court has ruled unanimously after a request by opposition candidates to perspire in the vote. turkey's defense minister has arrived in libya days after threats by the eastern warlord holy father after a car promised to increase cooperation with the internationally recognized government in tripoli. 1000 vaccine shipments are arriving across the e.u. the 1st doses of the fines a biotech vaccine are limited to around 10000 in most countries with mass immunization expected to stop next month's. researches in the u.k.

are starting trials for an antibody treatment that could prevent illness in people infected with cope with 19 it's hoped the antibodies developed by the drug maker astra zeneca could prevent the virus development and people who have already been exposed to it is a new trial it's called storm chaser it aims to recruit more than 1000 people to take part worldwide key target groups in the trial will be health care workers people in long term care and factory workers to 10 people have been injected with the antibodies so far dr sanjay are sent on the ica is an associate professor of infectious diseases at the australian national university he says antibodies could especially benefit people with already weakened immune systems such as the elderly or people who have got a preexisting health issue. one issue with the vaccine is of course that the vaccine works by getting our own immune system to make antibodies so that's

fine if we've got a strong immune system that's capable of making antibodies but what if certain groups don't and the most common group where this is an issue are elderly people because they get an aging immune system which isn't a strong as when they were young and of course people who have a very low immune system because they've got a primary immunodeficiency or they're on medications to suppress their immune system so those people the vaccine may not do any harm but it may not necessarily work as well as a young healthy person so these monoclonal antibodies are an alternative where you just give them the antibody the immune system doesn't have to make them at all they haven't done trials compared directly comparing the vaccine in one arm versus vaccine the monoclonal antibody and another they really have to do that but it is possible that it might have an additive effect we don't know but certainly in that

82 year old who gets the vaccine and we were not confident that the vaccine would work the monoclonal antibody if these trials work would be an alternative and expensive alternative but not good let's go back to the states the american president elect joe biden has expressed sympathy for the many families facing their 1st christmas after losing a loved ones to cope with 19 he's already stolid a message with his wife jill biden promising to do better to combat the pandemic in 2021. we know for so many of you in our nation this is been a very difficult year and we're reminded in this season of hope our common humanity and what we're called to do for one another many of our fellow americans are struggling to find work not only put food on the table pay their rent or mortgage reminded we're on this earth to care for $1.00 another to give what we can and to be a source of help and hope to friend in stranger like many families are facing their 1st christmas having lost

a loved one in jail and i know that. and we know how in times of grief a kind word can mean so much as. well staying with the president elect mr biden does often talk about his working class roots in pennsylvania but his political career was made representing the tiny state of delaware his election to the highest office makes him the 1st president from delaware the 1st state to ratify the u.s. constitution al-jazeera is kristen salumi takes a closer look now at the place the next president calls home. delaware traces its european roots back to the 1600s the city of new castle boasts many historic sites including the courthouse where the state 1st declared independence from great britain not to mention its more powerful neighbor pennsylvania this landmark example of the federal period architecture belonged to the son of george reid one of the signatories of the u.s.

constitution like many in the state tour guide and murphy hopes the 1st state's 1st president will finally put delaware on the map i can remember traveling to california one time they asked me where i'm from and i said delaware and where's that even those who aren't huge fans of joe biden can see his election has benefits to bring more and more tourists i think that she would be king from it was here in new castle that joe biden won his 1st election 50 years ago taking a seat on the county council he hasn't lost an election since and many here see a win for biden as a win for delaware the shipping industry has long since left the shores of this former british colony these days wilmington home to the biden transition team is better known as a tax haven for corporations those in the struggling hospitality business are happy the hotels are now full of news media and more than that george taylor is looking

forward to the new administration he gives that message of hope and for most black people out of my such as myself i believe he's going to do such a great job you know making sure that we are all integrated we are all united in one america it was in fact delaware founding father george reid who pushed to create the u.s. senate and guarantee equal representation for smaller states turns out politics in delaware has always been personal when you have such a small place everyone has to get along in some way and i think that. it's the tradition that joe biden is certainly coming coming out of where your senator or your representative or in this case your president as a next door neighbor he's just joe or to a lot of people here the hope is joe biden will now speak for the entire nation particularly the under represented in keeping with local tradition christian salumi al-jazeera new castle delaware. despite appeals from leaders for

a pause because of the pandemic and during the pandemic the united states continues to deport central americans back to their home countries this year alone more than 20000 guatemalans have been sent back they found conditions there even worse than when they 1st left home and picks up a story. it's been a desperate homecoming from the get settled he was deported from the u.s. in september after 2 years of working illegally in miami. now he's back in his village shipped to you in the guatemalan highlands to find the harvest has failed the young living 120000 guatemalans have been deported from the u.s. this year according to the country's migration institute and they're coming back to find the conditions they fled and now even worse the economy's projected to contract due to the pandemic and experts say the country's also increasingly affected by climate change some of its regions are part of

a dry belt spreading throughout central america and guatemala's so just been devastated by 2 november hurricanes they destroyed the crops in miguel's village and now food is scarce thing not a pollutant mit's those natural disasters many of those deported also struggling to pay off debt. that's because people smugglers often charge migrants $10000.00 or more to take the north the idea is they'll pay it back gradually once working in the states. but it's a gamble and those that are kicked out have to pay the money anyway as the parents of miguel and his cousin who was cool with him and now discovering. when my son arrived i feel glad that we still have this debt to pay we're suffering it's $7700.00 now i'm trying to celebrate of land to pay it as a father i want to help my son but instead of getting ahead we only get poorer what healthy but in our hearts we kept that pain what can we do what can we go now we

have nobody to support to see the u.s. . the guatemalan president has recently said the answer to the problem is to create prosperity in communities like ship you so that people don't have to leave in the 1st place. being coming by ministration this place to spend $4000000000.00 on central america to do just that but it's tough to make sure the money gets to where it's needed past efforts so that it won't be a silver bullet to stop migration john heilemann does either now 30 candidates have made their final pitches to voters ahead of elections and the polls are historic and set the course for the 1st peaceful transition of power dress reports now from the capital niamey on africa's 2nd coronavirus wave is having an impact. it's been a busy 3 weeks of campaigning for his us presidential candidate. any wave of korra

virus infections forced the government to impose a limit on cult members in the last day. of the leading candidates a confident of the right messages have been passed to the protests. former fording and interior minister mohammad. is the governing party's candidate in 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 helps 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

a running for president while some have complained hard most have been on the sidelines seeking to form alliances with stronger parties although much of the campaign focused on who becomes president voters will also choose 171 representatives to field a seat in this parliament some will later form the country's next cabinet as in previous elections analysts say this year may end up with a coalition of one of the parties and other smaller ones. the decision on who gets to form the coalition depends on what $7500000.00 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 you see that you have many. thousands of people have

been evacuated from their homes on the portuguese island of madeira after severe flooding roads were completely submerged rockslides damaged property and at least one house was destroyed no injuries have been reported. iraq has produced some of the most celebrated and respected rights as in the arab world but conflict sectarianism and political oppression forced many to flee and right from abroad now a new generation is determined to keep iraq's military heritage a life his child strafford mcauliffe has been writing about the momentous and often violent changes iraq has suffered for more than half a century the baghdad based author whose novels short stories and poems have been published across the arab world has had to navigate censorship political imprisonment and even death threats throughout his career he acknowledges his contribution to iraqi literature but he's saddened by what he says is the lack of

impact his work has had. the country has culturally regressed people who don't read or write might struggle to develop culture across the arab world is suffering terribly and their right has to without freedom to write how can of this learn i feel have little effect on people's thoughts the bookshops along elements and up the street named after a 10th century poet have been immortalized in iraq in arab culture for centuries the crumbling alterman buildings have witnessed how the pressures on iraqi writers and readers have changed over the years the challenge of avoiding jail worse under the rule of saddam hussein to bomb attacks and kidnapping by al qaida eisel and various armed groups that still have much power in iraq almost an obvious street as almost a mythical status in the history of arabic literature a place where writers and intellectuals would meet to discuss politics and the arts

but despite the political instability and violence this country continues to suffer there is increasing evidence of young writers appearing who are determined not to self censor and to protect and build on iraq's literary past. but i'll be arty is a young recently published iraqi poet she owns a bookshop and one of a number of recently opened publishing houses close by she says half the book seen her shot by new young iraqi writers we're trying to wake people up from the hibernation for too long iraqis have accepted what we were told so as young writers we try to stimulate minds without religion or focus on ethnicity instead we look at our readers humanity we're not afraid because we have seen so much of course i sometimes worry about my family but we have to restrain relate ideas of civilized things at baghdad's annual international book fair young people who can afford to buy books including arabic literature history philosophy and translated foreign

works but. it is difficult for our generation to find the correct road to walk along so we depend on ourselves and through books and reading i hope we can change the next generation to planted flowers not thorns that we find on the path through travel along we have to read more widely to forge a new future young people here definitely seem keen to lead us home to a good that will. hope at least that iraq's literary heritage is being rekindled by a new generation who say their country's future stability and growth will be held by young iraqis reading and writing more chance traffic al-jazeera baghdad literary fans are being treated to an online adaptation of charles dickens classic a christmas carol performed inside the late author's home in london. the specter after listening for a moment joined in

a mournful and floated out upon the bleak dark night. the tale of ebenezer scrooge is brought to life as we will see inside the rooms where dickens wrote the book in late 18 hundreds is the 1st time the story has been adapted from online audience dickens home which now operates as a museum has been closed most of the year because of coronavirus still to come here on the news hour the new zealand captain leads from the front against pakistan relations cricket coming up in sport when we come back. stories of abuse in a chair farms in the west to shock the world but there's no alternative when no one is makes those sending elderly loved ones to thailand to live out there on our jersey or. january on al-jazeera it's 10 years since the

arab spring sought to bring change to the middle east al-jazeera looks into how successful look at pollutions what a new documentary series examines history and giancana takes in drug trafficking and the way states and drug lords have used it as an instrument of power as tax elections are being doled out around the world hope of returning to normal comes back again with media trends constantly changing listening post continues to analyze how the news is coming up to one of the most intense election campaigns the us is set to inaugurate it's cool to 6 1st of. january on al-jazeera.

time for sports this hour that's right pete so we start with basketball and bron james is moved up to 2nd in the n.b.a.'s all time christmas day scoring list the braun school $22.00 points for the l.a. lakers against the dollar breaks it means he now has $383.00 points on christmas day and charles kobe bryant was in faster $395.00 and runs efforts helping c. 138 to 115 when what was an overall great day for the lakers song also. i woke up early this morning we. are all just so. just oh so ready to back home. which was great moment was something. you know i. was. always open to that room so that excited when i woke up to.

go despite jimmy butler injuring his ankle in the fast half miami heat managed to beat the new orleans pelicans 111298 the result maintains a coach's perfect 8 and 0 record on christmas day they were being a lot more physical with us in the 2nd half. bumping us out of our normal flow in our actions they were good but there are a good defensive team there. much improved already you know on that and. it's always good to see us respond the golden state warriors had a christmas they probably prefer to forget it's off to being hammered 138-2995 the milwaukee bucks it was the 2nd race not decided school of any christmas day game in n.b.a. history. well 2021 is shaping up to be

a massive year in boxing the highly anticipated undisputed heavyweight title bout between britain's answer and joshua and tyson fury expected to happen all the fights have a could happen outside of the fights his home country the united kingdom according to ed henry has been promoting a.j.c. fight here this week he said that for it to happen in the u.k. a full capacity crowd would be needed volunteers on show whether that would be feasible given the country's current kovac 19 situation has previously forts in saudi arabia warfare is the most recent fights have been in the united states. where we've been speaking to boxing brawl costs a garrote saves your buddies the fight will most likely happen in the middle east they need to agree the venue so to me that's the big point is the venue can we do it in the u.k. at the moment i don't think we can because it requires a big crowd and therefore i think the chill at the moment are headed towards the middle east boxing is a business coach it is affected the fact we can't have 100000 people at wembley

stadium that's a big reason so just of all that it's not going to happen and they want you here 1st of all there's no guarantee we're in lockdown at the moment people can even see sense to gather at christmas some to go to the middle east to make it viable and see joshua probably the arguably the most ever challenger coming back to win his belts as every 60000000 told me you know so that really much kate said the reason saudi arabia i mean also the extraordinary sum of money and he tells me. you know that you bet if they fight in the middle east and if you know in a ready made state you or even a purpose built stadium that there result usually $100000000.00 each for the 2 men they will say they will go after that money. once a cricket noun ends its own native day one of the 2nd test against australia in melbourne 30000 fans were allowed in that m.c.g. as a tourist dismiss the aussies for just 195 runs just great been rock solid with 4 scalps

india lost one wickets in their response to and closed on 36 for one but overall it was a good day for them especially after getting thrashed by 8 wickets in the series. so it was a constant discussion going on between the bluenose and the other gazed with the captain so you know we could change after the 1st session as well it got better to back on the moisture in doing so adjusting according to that adapting to the end of the lines that we wanted to build so we were just trying to communicate what kind of lines we wanted to boot so we could see. when there was less help so we tried to change a little bit of the line and get the feel of cain williamson played a captain's knock for new zealand on day one of the 1st test against pakistan he's on 94 knocked out with the black caps closing on to 2 to 3 in mt maunganui i wasn't just the world's best athlete sidelined this year because of coronavirus

the consolations of major events like the and then picks for top photographers to change their plans as well and here's how one of them in the states of california was impacted. donal murali i'm a photographer 2021 i think for everybody on the planet it was quite a curveball you know i think any of us have have seen so much in you know our current one year. to almost i decided to almost like it will call old testament things going on with you know things of the environment things with civil unrest. for the last 25 years i've been traveling and i've been traveling a lot for sports in adventure and other things and that all came to a screeching halt in march when i stop probably 100 days of work just you know fizzle and disappear it within a week the top of that i was looking forward to covering was the tokyo 2020

olympics. which was going to start in july obviously that was postponed till 2021 but for me that would have been my 10th olympic games and i was very much looking forward to out there covering it for sports illustrated i ended up you know shooting more things close to home. whether it be you know just local surfing or things for you know social change. you know local paddle outs local demonstrations for black lives matter. just different things that were happening in my neighborhood that i normally would not be here for so it was that was kind of a blessing in disguise you know and i think nothing's going to be the same after 2020 you know i don't think you know we're going to pop back into how we were before i think behaviorally we've changed as as humans because of what happened i

think in general. you know across the board i think there's just things that are front from this year on are going to be the new normal i really hope that we get back to a place where. and you know being able to to go to big sporting events with with all these people and the energy field from that is is normal again and i think it will be i think by the end of hopefully 2021 by the fall of 2021 you're going to see packed stadiums again and and you know i do you miss that side of it where you're at these events and there's so much energy at them whether it's a sporting event or even just going to like a music concert with with people all cheering for the same thing 2020 in general was is is probably has been a learning lesson for a lot of people that's a for me about face that sorrow thank you very much i'll have 30 minutes of al-jazeera world news when we come back i will see you soon.

in december 2019 the 1st coronavirus case was reported in china within months and local outbreak became a global pandemic one year on we examine the devastation caused by covert 19. with more than a 1000000 free tallaght ease and economies crippled vaccines now offer hope of protection from the virus but how long will it take for the world to recover the coronavirus on them a special coverage on a. and i had 3 jobs and now i only have one but i'm soo providing for my family. and the 1st time i was admitted to hospital i didn't show any signs of m.s. . and all that but at about my opinion i might have become very positive

and stop thinking about the negative sides of families and get on al-jazeera. living with them and us in egypt. with the money that it's boring we bring you the stories and developments that are rapidly changing the world we live in. congress is debating a bill seeking to raise billions of dollars from the super rich families by counting the cost on al-jazeera. decades ago 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. 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 law joining world war 2. but rebuilding a life and

a city from scratch has proven difficult and some experts say manila has never truly recovered. cotton the central african republic rejects last ditch appeals to perspire. after attacks by on groups. from coming up hopes for a turning point in the fight against. countries across the european union.