in. the classical music industry. u.s. president donald trump has warned of devastating consequences with unemployment benefits about to stop the millions of americans. hello i'm don jordan this is al jazeera live from doha coming up a court gives the go ahead for central african republic to contentious election despite fighting between rebels and government forces. europe sees a window of hope as government start vaccinating against code 19. and one of thousands of guatemalans deported from the u.s. this year describes how the conditions he fled and now even worse.

millions of americans will lose their unemployment support payments within hours unless president donald trump signs a coronavirus relief and spending bill it was considered a done deal until trump suddenly objected to the amount of money that would be sent to most americans there ought to be $600.00 payments for the president thinks that should be increased to 2000 as he holds out wide ranging benefits in the balance president elect joe biden is warning of devastating consequences for roslyn jordan joins us live now from washington d.c. millions of americans still waiting to hear they lose their unemployment benefits what's likely to happen then if trump doesn't sign off on this package. it's very simple if there's no presidential signature the unemployment funding to the states

which it minister unemployment benefits will stop and that means the millions of people who have been applying for unemployment benefits more than 800000 just this week alone won't be getting any more additional money the states can't just come up with the money themselves because they have to run balanced budgets and so they rely on this federal funding in order to provide the unemployment benefits to their residents so if there isn't a signature there won't be any checks coming this is the last week and afterwards what are people going to do it's been very difficult for people to try to get back to work because of the rising number of covert cases the rising number of curfews and restrictions on people's movements in various parts of the country you just can't say well go out and get a job if it's physically not safe for you to go out and get a job right now and rose how much is this standoff being seen as trump taking revenge on republican lawmakers who think who he thinks didn't support his bid to

overturn the election results. well there certainly that factor coming into it but you have a lot of competing reasons why this legislation as of right now has not been signed you have of course the president's frustration with what he considers disloyal republicans not standing up for what he alleges was an election that was stolen from him there is absolutely no proof of that and you also have the fact that there is a very different philosophy in terms of what government spending should look like there are a lot of republicans who believe that trying to give more money to people right now even the middle of a pandemic would irreparably harmed the u.s. economy would irreparably expand the federal budget deficit to levels that they think are unsustainable the president has a very different view about that and then of course you have sitting off to one

side the democratic party which is trying to get more funding for what they say are people who have been harmed by this pandemic and they're trying to see if they can actually leverage the president against members of his own party so it's a bit convoluted it's a bit tangled but certainly part of the reason why the president is digging in his heels is because he does not think that enough republicans have been standing up for him and what is really a battle stay in the white house all right a rose jordan there live for us in washington d.c. rosa thank you. central african republic sconce additional court has ruled that sunday's elections can go ahead despite worsening fighting between the government and rebels more un peacekeepers are arriving as well as soldiers from russia to help maintain law and order and alliance of rebel groups accuses president focused in archons to a darragh of planning to rig the vote as there was catherine sort of ports now from

the capital. loral god-i is a driver and shows us pictures from my recent walk trip to a town 300 kilometers north of the capital. shortly after he took this photo as he says on demand attacks and he had to flee he's worried about relatives who live in the town he blames rebel groups calling themselves the patriots coalition for change or c.p.c. for the latest security crisis in the central african republic he told the town is almost empty some of the men are asking civilian to give up their electoral card others in the charge as far as they know that cannot be a proper election in bossangoa. president faustina. has asked people to come out and vote those in to be vigilant with concerns the violence may intimidate who says and undermine the point that government is looking

to provide reassurance you have countries throughout the world. let's say. and when. people decide not to vote and you have a level of 0 for what it is but a submission which is no it doesn't mean this election is not credible more than $12000.00 peacekeepers from the u.n. mission are backing c.-r. security forces troops recently sent by i wonder russian military instructors and private security contractors are also on the ground all of this instability that you were. arrested part of the country that's been ongoing for. a petition filed by 7 opposition kind of is to postpone the election was rejected by the constitutional court 17 presidential candidates have been cleared

to run for the election one has withdrawn his candidacy citing security reasons most promising to finally bring peace back to central african republic revive the economy and basic services. are has numerous gold. deposits as well as other natural resources yet it's one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world more than half the population of 5000000 needs a good some people here in the capital told us all they want is a dignified life and to get to the other side of the polls safely. to the north where there is voting in elections that can deliver its 1st peaceful handover of power president ma. who was elected in 2011 after coming to power in a coup is stepping down after serving 2 terms as chosen successor. needs

a 30 strong field of candidates struggling with violent all movements and endemic poverty. it's a big job because there are 2 elections at the same time there are the presidential elections in the legislative elections who stakes are high we have to make sure that the ballots that have to go to the ballot box for the presidential election there and those for the legislative elections go to the ballot box with a representative elections so we try to organize ourselves as well as possible. federal investigators in the u.s. are searching a home as they look for clues into the large explosion in the southern city of nashville on christmas day minutes after blaring a recorded warning of what was to come apart a motor home blew up on a street early in the morning 3 people were hurt and about 40 buildings damaged the house being searched belongs to someone police are calling a person of interest. we've had over $500.00 leads and tips come in and every

single one of those being followed up by a team of investigators that's the stage read in this investigation we are still continuing to follow every lead that we have and we will continue to do so until we find out what's happened. what john hendren joins us live now from nashville john so this explosion has raised more questions than answers so where are the police now with the investigation. well they have identified that one man his name is anthony quinn warner a 63 year old man from the town of antioch about 15 kilometers from here where the explosion happened but he's only been identified as a person of interest what makes that intriguing is that in google earth photographs it appears that there is an r.v. a recreational vehicle parked in the driveway of the home that is being searched and that's interesting because it was an r.v. that exploded down here after broadcasting warnings to anybody who was nearby

so police have not said that this is the man responsible for the bombing they've only said that he is a person of interest they're looking into him but they've also said some very intriguing things they seem very confident that they have cracked this case they have said that they don't believe that there is any threat of a follow on attack that means they're pretty sure that this is a one off and they've also said that they are confident they will identify who is responsible so they appear to be well ahead but they they did not they say the statement that we got the news conference earlier was that they were not prepared to identify any individuals that they were investigating at this point so it does look like they're fairly far along but we are told they have $500.00 leads into hips and they are investigating those aggressively and john we know that explosion caused considerable damage in the busy city center just how bad is it.

that's right the explosion happened back there and you might not be able to see it but just to give you an indication this is after the cleanup all of those sparkly bits on the ground that's glass and we are blocks away from where that explosion happened we're told it damaged or destroyed some 41 buildings amazing if you consider that that only 3 people were injured with non life threatening injuries but. the governor here toured the site of the explosion and said he was amazed at the level of damage that that explosion caused here and he has asked president donald trump to declare an emergency here that would free up resources and help the people here to rebuild so right now the focus is on continuing that investigation that's why the police are here and what the bomb technicians and others are doing is they're starting it as outer perimeter and they're working their way in trying

to piece together the puzzles the broken debris all around them and try to find out exactly what happened that led to this bombing and they have said that they have found what they believe to be human tissue at the scene they have not said that that tissue belonged to the bomber but it was apparently near the vehicle that exploded and the police are the ones who told us that there have been no casualties outside of that vehicle so it remains an intriguing question whether the human remains that they have apparently found belong to the bomber or the john hendren live for us there in nashville tennessee john thank you. lots more to come here on the program including. we are living like any most human and he will a new life meant to us. nearly a 1000 refugees and migrants have stranded in freezing cold in bosnia-herzegovina without shelter. and how

a new generation of young iranians are changing the country's military will more of them stay with us. well off to add very all wet christmas day we're now looking at dry weather coming into the eastern seaboard of the u.s. an area of low pressure has pushed this way for the race was this cold front has gone through and as the name implies much colder air tucking in behind we'll get up to around 45 maybe 6 celsius the new york conforte see some snow flurries moving across the midwest further west speckling of snow coming through but not too bad that it was a west coast some wet and windy weather into that so western side of canada pushing down across the pacific northwest the main snowy area by monday is going to be across the rockies quite widespread snow fall coming through hey that's good news

of course top the reservoirs in the process a fair bit of snow to into the eastern side of canada around quick back over towards canadian maritimes a much milder there for new york and they say temperatures creeping up towards double figures at this stage further south it is generally try and fight it not too bad too across the caribbean basin co-direct coming in harris well behind that same cold front temperatures in havana will struggle to get to around 21 degrees celsius that front makes its way through there some rain there across southern parts of cuba into hispaniola further east it's a case of sunshine and chalice. the . american people have finally folk in america as i see it when america is off balance or become more dangerous the world is looking at us the mixture of sanusi. with the election behind us while the republican party dumptruck the feel we can take on us politics and society that's the bottom line. from the favelas of

caracas to the battlefields around most of our job is to get to the truth and empower people through knowledge. put them back or come out of our top stories here on the al jazeera nearly $14000000.00 americans will lose their unemployment benefits within hours the next president trump signs a coronavirus relief and spending package he's refusing saying direct payments to americans including bill on to know if. a court has ruled that central african republic can press ahead with elections despite violence escalating between

government forces and rebel fighters more un peacekeepers arrive trying to ensure sunday's vote is peaceful. and preparations are on for sunday's elections in mission to be the west african states 1st peaceful transition of power between the elected leaders. 3 e.u. nations have started covert 19 vaccinations a day earlier than the official mass rollout in germany a 101 year old woman in an elderly care facility was among a small number of people to receive the 1st phase of biotech jobs vaccines were also administered to frontline health workers in hungary and slovakia paul brennan reports. the refrigerated vans drove through the night destinations including rome paris spain and hungary the precious cargo the vaccine developed by pfizer biotech kept

at between minus 17 minus 80 degrees the mass inoculation is due to start in a coordinated launch later on sunday but the 1st job went to work at a hospital in budapest. a vaccination plan is ready with health workers at the front of the queue those working with patients in intensive care and emergency care units will be vaccinated 1st so they can continue their heroic struggle to see of. europe has seen 16000000 coronavirus cases and suffered more than 400000 deaths the approval and distribution of this 1st vaccine is reason for considerable hope across the continent. we have in total $19500.00 doses which makes $3100.00 vials these those will be stored in our freezer at minus 80 degrees which will be then distributed to the different elderly homes and public hospitals. are starting to companion because we will start the immunization campaign on a large scale 1300000 doses of vaccine as will be delivered all over germany before

the end of 2020 and then from january it will be even more each week almost 7 100000 doses every week in january more than $10000000.00 doses in the 1st quarter the relentless spread of the covert $1000.00 virus and the news that more infectious variants are evolving as lent even more urgency to the vaccination program the variant 1st identified in the u.k. has now been discovered in other european countries to try to contain that variant thousands of truck drivers have spent christmas stranded at the u.k. port of dover and prevented from crossing to france unless they test negative for the virus the backlog remains stubbornly large despite the efforts of military reinforcements and lock downs have ruined the. festive period for traditional high street retailers with shoppers ordered to stay at home coronavirus has hollowed out the u.k. high street this is oxford street london's primary retail avenue and instead of

hundreds of thousands of people out to take advantage of the boxing day sales the shops are closed instead of festivity and bustle it's full alone and barren the street empty. with coronavirus europe has enjoyed much the same tories 2020 as the rest of the world the hope is that from sunday things will start to improve. paul brennan al-jazeera london more than a 1000 refugees and migrants are stranded in a burnt out camp in bosnia-herzegovina in freezing weather a fire this week destroyed much of leeper camp near the town of be hutch that's near the croatian border the camp was meant to be a temporary shelter for the summer was set to be closed on wednesday but politicians in bosnia haven't been able to find anywhere else to send the people staying there at least 10000 people from asia the middle east and north africa stuck in bosnia hoping to reach western europe. we are living like any most

human and well new like mentor us so please a request. your know our us all and yours to help us because if they cannot help us we really don't. so please help us. now despite appeals from leaders for a pause during the pandemic the united states has continued to deport central americans back to their home countries this year alone more than 20000 watt somalians have been returned they found conditions there even worse than when they left out as it was just home and reports. it's been a desperate homecoming for me gail said 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

young men 20000 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 spain so just been devastated by 2 november hurricanes they destroyed the crops in miguel's village and now food is scarce. 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 it will be

business in your book when my son arrived i feel glad that we still have this debt to pay for suffering it's $7700.00 now i'm trying to still a bit of land to pay as a father i want to help my son but instead of getting ahead we only get poorer healthy but in our hearts we have that pain what can we do what can we go now we have nobody to support to suit us. 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 the administration this place to spend $4000000000.00 on central america to do just that 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 a boeing 737 max aircraft has made an emergency landing in canada plane with just 3

crew on board lost an engine not long after taking off from arizona it touched down safely though boeing's under intense scrutiny as it gets these planes back in the air the $77.00 maxwell ground the world wide last year after 2 fatal crashes accidents were attributed to flaws in software which have been have a hold. iraq has produced some of the arab world's most celebrated writers but conflict and political oppression have forced many to leave their homeland and continue their work abroad now a younger generation hopes to change that as out as it was charles traffic reports now from the capital baghdad. 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. and 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 elements and up the 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 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 books in her shop are 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 simulate minds without religion or focus on ethnicity instead we look at a reader's 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 a baghdad annual international book fair young people who can afford to buy books including arabic literature history philosophy and translated foreign works. 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 of young people here definity seem keen to read. them to get the real . 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 travel al-jazeera baghdad that much has been said this year about the impact the pandemics had on athletics

the olympic games and other competitions wepa spend or canceled so what about those whose livelihoods depend on these events well we spoke to one such person in the u.s. state of california. tarver. tony tony was i think for everybody on the planet it was quite a curveball you know and think any of us have have seen so much in you know our current one year. to almost i had to say it almost like biblical old testament things going on with you know things that the environment things with civil unrest for the last 25 years i've been traveling and i've been traveling a lot for sports an 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 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 serving 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 that i think nothing's going to be the same after 2020 you know i don't think that you know we're going to pop back into how we were before i think behaviorally we've changed 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 miss down outside 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 now an ancient fast food outlet will soon be open again it's early

but sadly visitors one be able to place any orders archaeologists working in pompei have unearthed an l. shaped counter that served hot food to ancient romans and then it was destroyed in a volcanic eruption 2000 years ago crews have found cooking utensils food containers and animal remains. time for a quick check of the top stories here on al-jazeera nearly 14000000 americans will lose their unemployment benefits within hours on this president donald trump signs a coronavirus relief and spending package trump has refused to sign the bill on this congress extends relief checks for struggling americans from $600.00 to $2000.00 to 0 zero's when george reforms it's very simple if there is no presidential signature the unemployment funding to the.