to demand more neutral links and voice solidarity with all detained journalists sign the petition. saying. london's big ben rings in the u.k.'s formal departure from the european union single market. hello i'm down jordan this is our desire on live from doha also coming up the leading expert on infectious diseases in the u.s. says despite vaccines the coronavirus pandemic will get worse before it gets better . donald trump cuts his vacation short to ghana more republican support to oppose

the official approval of joe biden's elections. around the world says hello to turn to 21 leaving what can only be described as a disastrous 2020 behind. as millions around the world welcome in the new year britain has marked the end of an era officially breaking its decades long relationship with the european union the u.k. is now no longer a member of the single market or customs union and the brags that transition period has formally expired prime minister bars johnson has hailed it as a new beginning this is an amazing moment for this country we have our freedom in our hands and he's up to us to make the most of it. and i think it will be the

overwhelming instinct of the people of this country to come together as one united kingdom england scotland wales and northern ireland working together to express our values around the world leading both the g 7 and the cop 26 climate change summit in glasgow under summons reports now from london on how the changes will affect people and businesses. finally the bells of big ben bring bricks it in with the trade deal taking the u.k. out of the european union and a relationship that dates back nearly half a century brussels had set the time midnight in belgium 11 o'clock here in the u.k. e.u. had already made its other adjustments with only a day to spare the trade treaty had been signed and sealed within the shores of this island nation british politicians say sovereignty has been fully restored the political slogan we must take back control had gone down well with the majority of

voters now it's going to be put to the test it's good to be better we need to govern ourselves and be our own bosses but it's going to be a lot of stress between everyone anyway because it's a very unknown and people don't do a change. in legal terms it was 11 months ago that the u.k. left the e.u. nearly a year of transition followed with the trade deal now in place brics it is set to show its true colors. the u.k. may have its bricks it done but there's still a lot of haggling ahead the fisheries agreement seen by many in the industry as a sell out come to proper fruition for 5 years and that will be subject to negotiations decisions still have to be made in the services sector which makes up 80 percent of the economy leaving clues financial services and data sharing that will be any new taxes to pay. on exports at the border but there'll be plenty of

bureaucracy in delays are likely everyday freedoms will also end new rules on travel immigration mobile phone use bank accounts to name a few and there are big implications for the future of the united kingdom the scottish national party promise to restore e.u. membership to largely pro e.u. scotland if it becomes independent northern ireland is the only part of the u.k. that will continue to follow many of the e.u.'s rules that's to avoid the return of a contentious hard border with e.u. member the republic of ireland but that means new checks on goods entering northern ireland from the rest of the u.k. unionists fear isolation i think the dealers made northern ireland yes apart we want to come out of the european union the same terms of the rest the dedekind of sadly that that up for 4 and a half years bracks it split the country even dividing families those tensions may well have subsided but now the clock is ticking on and mujhe year and what boris

johnson describes as a new beginning with a global britain more power a more influence but could the opposite turn out to be the case a diminishing level of power and a diminishing influence by the end of 2021 we may have an idea under simmons' london. well as the u.k. faces the reality of bragg's it it's also dealing with an escalating coronavirus demick surging infections in england for civil authorities to reactivate emergency hospitals that were set up when the pandemic began most nightingale hospitals have been largely unused but officials say they're now being prepared to admit patients if other medical centers reach capacity were a challenge has more on the situation in the u.k. from outside the royal london hospital. whence they had some good news didn't it

with the announcement the oxford astra zeneca vaccine is being cleared for use in the u.k. and it will be rolled out from january the 4th thursday there was a case of do you want the bad news or the worst news 20000000 more people in england started the day here for they join 24000000 people already living under the toughest level of coronavirus restrictions now that is 3 quarters of the english population hospitals in london and the southeast are saying the icy use intensive care units operating at more than 100 percent capacity this one is the royal london hospital in recent days it's been in the eye of the storm with ambulances of patients queuing up outside the emergency wards it begs the question why aren't the nightingale hospitals being used properly now. the emergency field hospital set up all around the country at the peak of the 1st wave

by and large they have stood empty now the government says they're being ready ready for use as backups but i've just been down to the london one and had a look inside and was told that it's been temporarily closed and that most or some of the equipment at least. moved out the government's position is that it would prefer code patients to be treated in proper hospitals like this one and not in the emergency field hospitals as well equipped as they may. b. but the sounds of the coals are coming out from front line and a test of is that things are getting dire and something soon has got to give. more than 25000 coronavirus related deaths have been recorded in the us state of california in los angeles one person's dying every 10 minutes medical workers are struggling to cope and are housing patients and hallways conference rooms and even gift shops fewer than 3000000 people across the u.s.

have been vaccinated against cope with 19 that's far short of the government's target of inoculating 20000000 by now well the united states top infectious diseases expert dr anthony found has told al-jazeera the coronavirus prevention measures are not a political issue nor a matter of individual rights he says it's simply about public health the issue is that science has been very successful in doing something that was unheard of or unimaginable years ago is to go from the identification of a new pathogen in this case this mysterious virus that just how rough the farm has and then we identified in the anywhere e of this in less than an 11 month it actually now is going into someone's arm into a lot of people's arms and it has been proven to be highly efficacious and say that is a very successful coup de force of science my concern is that there is

a lingering anti science feeling in this country that is sort of mixed in with an anti vaccine feeling that we've got to overcome by being transparent about what we've done and what we want to do with science and you can see the full interview with dr anthony fauci on the bottom line on friday at 530 g.m.t. right here on al-jazeera. at least a 140 republicans are reportedly set to vote against counting electoral votes next week when president elect joe biden's victory is expected to be certified although it could trigger a lengthy debate president donald trump supporters have no chance of overturning the results congress meets to count the votes and confirm the 2020 election result on jan with the 6 republican senator josh foley has said he'll object to biden's victory and now some of his colleagues are engaging in similar tactics with our white house correspondent kimberly halkett joins us live now from washington d.c.

kimberly so more republicans queuing up to oppose joe biden's win what can we expect. well we can expect that there's going to be a lot of ground standing and ultimately joe biden will be the next president of the united states but between then and this certification that's taking place that typically was kind of a rubber stamping process there's going to be a lot of play for the cameras now the question becomes why are they doing this because you know as you've mentioned it ultimately is not going to change the vote well the reason they say they're doing this is because they want to object to the certification process something that they say has precedent they say that the democrats in fact did this in 2016 objecting to donald trump's electoral win and they're simply exercising their right as members of congress to do this now what this is going to do is trigger a 2 hour debate it needs members of both the house where you've mentioned there are

$140.00 members or more and also at least one senator in the senate and we know that the republican from missouri just holly is that senator so this is what is going to trigger this mechanism but again this is not going to overturn the results still many of these republicans are allies of donald trump who firmly believe that there was voter fraud that there were election a regularity but as we've been reporting for weeks in fact that's not the case according to not only election officials but also the supreme court so this is going to certainly be a challenge in fact it's going to be unsuccessful even before it gets started and kimberly so why both of them with all of this that it's doomed to fail. you know that's the big question that so many are scratching their heads about particularly given the fact that one of the most prominent republicans in the u.s. senate mitch mcconnell the senate majority leader is saying look guys please don't do this but they're going ahead anyways the reason for they argue is because they

want to get a few things on record as something that democrats said they wanted to do as well back in 2016 a couple of things that they're concerned about they believe that some states like pennsylvania did not follow their own election law they want congress to perhaps try and make sure that doesn't happen in the future as well there are concerned and this is a legitimate concern from both the right and the left about the influence and the change of the internet moving much faster than congressional law particularly when it comes to u.s. elections in this case republicans arguing that the tech companies favor joe biden is silence conservative speech but we've heard similar claims on both sides so that's one of the reasons they say that they're doing this but we should also point out this could backfire in republicans because there's a very important runoff vote happening in the us state of georgia in january in just a few days' time and if many americans are unhappy with the stuff they expect republicans

to pull off this could have some blowback for republicans in that runoff race in georgia and could cost republicans control of the senate something that they say they don't want so it is a calculation a careful one some say that could backfire committee how could they live for us in washington d.c. committee thank you. stouffer short break al-jazeera when we come back was a year. plus trainee advances into the new year with a new anthem we look at what's behind the change also. everywhere when you see police actually you'll get a chance why a growing number of people are turning their backs on hong kong models status.

texas is an interesting place to be at the moment 1st of all we had the snow in oklahoma that's cold air coming south into texas and then we do some big showers so in houston there's underpass flooding as you can see and at the moment there is still wintry weather in western texas this low is developing as you go there wants coming up from the gulf and south committee gets that cold air that's already sitting of a most of the states and that's a frontal system so on the front itself that rain this induced circulation is what tucks in the cold behind and gets you out of freezing rain or snow so dallas is going to start the new year disappointingly i have to say and then that all moves north was say you got ready for some rain or big thunderstorms i think running through the southeastern corner and the stoat taking a similar course as the last 2 versions but through kansas and chicago dallas by

that time in proving so you start off cold you become really quite warm by sunday as the sun returns now on the west coast san francisco back from full system is represented like this you start the new year at 14 degrees in the sunshine but then the weekend looks fairly rainy that's not bad there was it. in the conclusion of a 2 part series people in paris vesta gates allegations that irish catholic nuns facilitated the traffic of babies the church realized that babies that are the could be sold to america a scout in quite a nice and reveals shocking new evidence of how and where religious orders disposed of those who died frankly torn in a system like this one church and state are there to keep the child from coming helps islands mother in baby scandal on al-jazeera.

the order or. welcome back if you come out of our top stories here at this hour the u.k. has formally completed its split from the e.u. after leaving the bloc single market and customs union prime minister boris johnson hailed it as an amazing moment saying the country would make the most of what he called its new freedom. the royal london hospital says it's operating in disaster medicine mode as the u.k. reports 964 deaths a nearly 56000 cases in a single day surgery infections in england are forced north orators to reactivate emergency hospitals. and reports out of the usa at least a $140.00 republicans will oppose counting electoral college votes next week when

president elect joe biden's victory is expected to be certified although it could trigger a lengthy debate president trump supporters have no chance of overturning the results. an exodus of residents is expected to ramp up later this month as more people seek refuge from tough new security laws imposed by beijing from the end of january residents from the former british colony can move to the u.k. for up to 5 years and then apply for residency agent brown reports from aagot. many people in today's hong kong tend to choose their words carefully but fred c. is not afraid to speak his mind about the reasons for leaving a territory he says he no longer recognizes no place he would say you feel safe anymore everywhere when you see police actually get tense that's why especially as a parent with kids it worries me a lot fred hopes to soon join his family in the nearby democratic island of taiwan

he owns a market research company another skilled worker who doesn't want to go but says he has to that decision motivated by concerns over the new national security law especially its impact on academic freedom when the true don't come to home you need to know. what lessons that they had in school would make you very tired. being brainwashed. was he took part in protests demanding political reform demonstrations that often turn violent amid the subsequent campaign against ascent other families are also opting to leave this one else not to be identified because the father's worried about the repercussions of speaking out they've taken up the british government's resettlement offer and will soon leave their home for the last time.

there is nothing to make me stay and it is torture to stay and if you're on the opposition side what the government is doing is not for the benefit of the people their sacrifice hong kong's future for their own interests. kim watch is an outspoken political commentator also mulling a move to britain in the last film a lot of people just as wise to me they call me the they say maybe you have to be less if you choose to stay because it's still good and lol what the government do for you is kind of outspoken people it's not the 1st exodus from hong kong in the decade before the territory was returned from british to chinese rule in 1997 around half a 1000000 left but after securing a 2nd nationality many returned the mood among some of those leaving this time though is one of resignation

a belief that they won't be coming back adrian brown al-jazeera hong kong. now 143 years after it was 1st composed and performed australia has updated its national anthem to reflect what the prime minister says is a spirit of unity. well that was the old line of the words have been changed to one frame no longer are we young and free it's an attempt to better recognise the country's indigenous history in december the national rugby team the want to be an indigenous version of the anthem for the very 1st time let's bring in professor marcy along she holds the foundation chair in indigenous studies at the university of melbourne and joins us live via skype from there so a very small change to the national anthem but is it likely to make any big

differences to 1st nations people and the problems they face in australia today. there are new. nike demands. and weakness they will that are relevant there and the numbers are like the norm. but why is our national guy astride a guy in china night of january 2006 which is wrong greatest celebration of the landing of the 1st were it not remembering. that our pillar and why that didn't sound radical. were abhorrent made well you really are a celebration of genocide and so. the other case. is your right to their name constitutional. have been excluded from the constitution since 9 number one and states 2 minor amendments 969 we exist

as an absence from the constitution so we never thing ok i had one word giant in the national anthem is not right it might be to a celebration of genocide and language nor to our absence from the constitution ok so prime minister scott morrison said that the unity shown by australians over the past year should be reflected in the change of that wood in the anthem but was there any consultation with 1st nations people not that i know rob i've never heard of any consultations already. started they were they were held. and and how much is australia really trying to recognise its indigenous history in political and cultural events i mean last month we're just saying that the australian rugby team the want to be sang the national anthem in non-indigenous

language for the 1st time do you think that was a step in the right direction. it certainly was but you know you could nail resonance right in that that was a genuine hour and the shooting from the right brain you know wires are not the right many arrests out meal and barracks were such are are our whole idea rational and written by not one was gotten straight will i have gotten ever try or why or why are our national lampoon's at that's right you're saying. you know you can imagine that every continent meals are full of a minority leader excluded right now it's the russians that were in witness. must have been a final brief point from you despite all this a strain a still faces criticism of its treatment of indigenous people so what more needs to

be done very briefly to make real change well you know i guess the greatest problem or. were they not our 2 are not special needs and i. simple as one of my marine barracks unsubstantial warm rather grandstanding. and you know i think that there's a new there's a cynical ploy by the governor. are you. live to sell a private jet or start of emptiness right now january 25th research and lives are various i can. you know that guy made it not we were 'd national guard several russians ok muscling so we haven't even there thank you very much indeed for talking to al jazeera thank you thank you. now it's been

a difficult year for iran which is the country's worst affected by the coronavirus in the middle east officials say international sanctions have prevented medical aid from reaching those in need to also bar reports now from the capital tehran where doctors are pitching in to make up for the shortfall in supplies. a makeshift factory making masks insall help a village in south to her on a group of dentists made unemployed by the pandemic decided to use their own money and buy these machines they got a permit from the health ministry and the local council provided the space free of charge. they now employ 20 women from this area who make about 120 dollars each month. for manolo's new can a shot a single mother it's a job that would not have existed without the pandemic or u.s. led international sanctions and got a fairly good job of it yes i'm very satisfied with my work even if corona ends i'd

like to continue my job the work environment is friendly and i like to work with this charity group. these women now produce 10000 masks daily working 6 days a week their soul to medical facilities and hospitals across the city in short of the modern would we have experienced in every crisis when ordinary people assist the government would be result sooner faster and in a better way either in a war than earthquakes floods and now when corona said these guys citee is an afghan national and a single mother of 5 this job is her only source of income more than most and. i've been working here for 8 months and i'm very satisfied with my work my husband lives with his other wife and afghanistan and i support a family of 6 the doctors and the women here all say their work will continue even after the pandemic is over the main message from officials here during the pandemic

has been one of self-reliance since iran can no longer rely on the international community to meet its medical needs and this small factories is one example of how necessity has forced the message ingenuity to meet demands and for women. it's been a life saving source of income. the president says iran is in an economic war since the united states withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2013 and imposed a series of crippling sanctions on the country's oil and banking sector. during the early days of the pandemic iranian officials try to buy protective equipment including masks from other countries but due to international sanctions on iran's banking sector paying for them has been difficult while iran has had the highest number of fatalities in the middle east during the pandemic this factory is one of the few positive things to emerge during hard times and for these women it's been

a lifeline that could continue for years dorsett jabari al-jazeera to her own. well look around a virus pandemic has cast a shadow of a new year celebrations around the world but some countries are able to ring in 2021 in traditional style as they were about money reports for. new zealand was one of the 1st countries in the world to ring in the new year. it has a new community cases of copied 19 and people celebrated in the streets. but a different story is a clock struck midnight 2 hours later in sydney the familiar bang in this a little fireworks were present but not the usual crowds to watch the plans to allow spectators were cancelled after a new cluster of coffee 1000 cases of merged. a few hours later this was the scene in china's who had the city were covered 19 1st emerged more than

a year ago and although new cases a scarce in the world's 4th largest country many still exercise caution by wearing masks. to serve. everyone things that the 1st hall of 2020 was terrible if you look at the measures people took the things people did to control the virus people's kindness was felt by everyone and. most who also celebrated with this annual tradition of pie works but its president vladimir putin had a sobering message but it's unfortunately the epidemic has not yet brain completely stopped the fight against it does not stop for a minute but doctors nurses and ambulance times continue to work right to sleep many of them are on duty he stressed of not. elsewhere empty streets in assemble many stayed at home. and to paris is shown to lease a police checks vehicles to ensure people stuck to a nighttime curfew. across the atlantic ocean new york prepared for its own form of

celebrations. familiar characters in the streets but not the usual crowd that filled the streets to cheer in the new year it's actually sad to see it's such a big distress. but i wanted to be here because it was much edition i was quite many years i was going someplace in a big crowd. i was different new york is undefeatable you know and as the world is as the country is and we're celebrating everything good and we have so much to be grateful for and spite of this horrific situation that we're in during this signing new york times square a reflection of the times as many are ask would things be better in 2021 nor about a man the al-jazeera. time

for a quick check of the top stories on the al-jazeera the u.k. has completed its spec from the e.u. to formally leaving the bloc single market and custom.