what's most important to me is talking to people understanding what they are going through here and i just we believe everyone has a story worth hearing. traffic between britain and europe appears to be flowing smoothly as the u.k. formally completes its exit from the block. i'm sam is a than this is al jazeera live from coming up the health system under pressure emergency field hospitals are being prepared in the u.k. made a more infectious strain of corona virus. one of the world's largest free trade agreements officially begins across dozens of african countries. and reforming cuba's finances

the country ends its decades old jule currency system there are fears could make things worse. after nearly half a century the united kingdom has formally left european union rolls are shrinking in a new era in the new year or so far britain's departure from the e.u. single market and customs union has been fairly smooth there have been no major delays in the cross-channel movement of trucks and ferries to and from france paul brennan reports from the english port of dover. the countdown to the new post relationship was projected across the departure gates at the french side of the euro tunnel rail link moments later the 1st lorry was having its documents checked . the trade deal agreed on christmas eve means no tariffs and no quotas

but there is significantly more paperwork and most of it needing to be done in advance the year it'll operator is get a link the change is a really about. formalities it's time there is a truck can you fear they have to show us the. i have done. online before coming here it's a significant change for logistics and haulage firms on both sides of the new trading frontier the u.k. is expecting $220000000.00 additional customs declarations every year at a cost to business of some $9500000000.00 the ferry crossing between the english port of dover and cali in france handle some $2500000.00 freight vehicles every year but less than a 1000 lorries were set you all to make the crossing on new year's day it's a gentle start for the new regime many haulage companies said they were holding off until the new systems have bedded in my hope is that given the opening couple of

weeks in january are generally pretty late for us and with the start bill that we saw going on the dash should enable those people that are trading during the time to to train themselves and get used to working in this new way in fact at the gates of the 4th the biggest sticking point on this 1st day isn't related to tour. we had a plan only works out already to hold freights to manage the freight but now we've had to initiate testing as well it's a number of locations so that's the biggest problem that we've got because that was never expected never planned for the key to keeping the ports open and running smoothly will be the speed with which the logistics companies get to grips with the new electronic and paperwork requirements early logjams are likely to be not here at the ports but back at the factory gate or were house with cargo delayed because the correct paperwork hasn't been filled in these 1st quiet days of january an

opportunity for companies to familiarize themselves with the new practicalities the real test will come when trade volume ramps up again around the 10th or 11th of the month paul brennan al-jazeera dover on the team barbara joins us now live from london so is it a case of so far so good. i guess so samis you saw in polls report though this a this is not how it is always going to be decisions being deferred red tape not being applied as it will do in the near future of course this now means that the u.k. is out of the internal market of the european union the single market and the customs union and boris johnson the prime minister is proclaiming it as a great moment in his new year's eve speech he said that britain was now had freedom in our hands saying it could do things differently and better his chief

negotiator david frost saying that britain has now become a fully independent country making its own decisions well not everyone agrees the 1st minister of scotland nicholas sturgeon has tweeted to the scot and will be back soon europe keep the light on very much a reminder that she wants a referendum to break away from the u.k. and independence referendum and she knows that part of the for the driving force in that will be that many people in scotland are actually pro european union membership something which they have now lost of course in ireland the foreign minister simon kovi has said that this is no time to celebrate he has actually put out a warning saying we're going to see the 80000000000 euros worth of trade across the irish sea between britain and ireland disrupted by an awful lot of a lot more checks he's predicting more costs and delays or it's

a similar situation there there's now a de facto border between mainland britain and northern ireland because northern ireland is effectively staying in the customs union single market so that goods and people can continue to move freely on the island of ireland and so that could actually have a political effect further down the line if people see there are interests lying in the closer alignment with the european union right now there are lots of. millions of british people are wondering what it will mean for example if they go on holiday to the european union the government saying make sure you have travel insurance if they want to go and stay for example with relatives or to work you might need a visa or if you go there for more than 90 days things like this and then for businesses that deal in services which are not in this trade deal lots more unanswered questions a lot of unanswered questions thanks so much nadine barber host get the view from the other side of the channel from france here's natasha butler the border crossing in cali. first trucks arrived after midnight local time here in the port of

callan our gateway to the european union for the u.k. and since then we've seen other trucks arriving on ferries and as you say passenger services also into paris on the eurostar train of course the u.k. has now left to the single market and customs union and what that means is the french customs officials here have been able to put into action what they have been practicing for so many years and that is the reimposition of border formalities and what we have french customs officials say is a so-called small its border most of the extra paperwork that will be needed by companies or importing and exporting can be done or law in that way port authorities and customs officials hope that that will minimize any delays or disruption here at the border so far they say things have gone smoothly customs

officials have said that they expected these days to be quiet it is the new year holiday of course also the covert pandemic means more restrictions on travel between the u.k. and france and some companies of simply decided not to import and export goods at this time crossing the border because they knew that they could be some disruption all this of course gives port authorities and customs officials here a bit more time to make sure that they can iron out any tweaks that will be needed to do so over the next a few days because this will now will be the new reality here the border in cali. now doctors in the u.k. are warning of a difficult few weeks after a new more infectious strain of corona virus is leading to a record number of cases and deaths emergency hospitals are on standby more people are now in hospital than juror in the peak of the pandemic in april in some parts

of england whereas the number of new infections more than doubles the government's vaccination strategy is coming under scrutiny the u.k.'s doctors' union has criticized a change in policy which would see the delay in the 2nd jab of the fines or biotech vaccine the vaccine is most effective when 2 full doses are administered within $21.00 days but the chief medical officers of england scotland wales and northern ireland are standing by the government's decision dr oz and a large child there really is a front line doctor for the u.k.'s national health service the n.h.s. he says the new strain of coronaviruses hit hospitals harder than expected. obviously it's having a knock on effect on everything because if the wards are being used for other treatments that ward 'd has to be closed and obviously whatever that would is whether it's a surgical ward 'd or a separate counsel those things are going to be delayed i mean the consequence of still going ahead and we are still front positive but at the end of the day if

there are no intensive care beds then there's only certain number of operations and things that can take place you know viruses do you say so this is always something that was you know we were we were worrying about but it's been changed very quickly very rapidly and it's affecting people a lot more than before so it has hit us faster than we expected our main concern now in the n.h.s. and all the doctors nurses and my colleagues is did it takes is missing at the moment you know the ones from generally before christmas so we're really worried about the next week or 2 where the current new year's and christmas parties are taking place and people have interacted those new infections are going to hope you know will probably come in a week or 2 and if we're already in capacity we really wrote what we're going to do next we have crisis management plans taking place out in the writing at hospitals one of those hopefully if that takes you know press if that works out correctly for us we should be able to manage it but like i said we don't know because this is unprecedented times we haven't seen this much you know the heavy impact on the and

it's just like this before so it's all new to all of us in india health thanks birds are reviewing the safety of the office for the astra zeneca vaccine for emergency use the world's 2nd worst affected country is yet to approve any vaccine for rollout it's recorded more than 10000000 cases so far with nearly 149000 deaths and there are signs of vital approval could be imminent as elizabeth purana reports from new delhi. india's health ministry is saying that the expert committee of india's drug's regulatory body continuing to meet to consider emergency use all 3 vaccines and that the final decision will be taken by the director of the body they have been meeting for the 2nd day this week considering emergency use approval for the oxford astra zeneca but also for pfizer by own tech and an indian company called bought a biotech but we have local media and voices use agency reporting that the expert

committee has recommended emergency use approval for the oxford astra zeneca and once that happens that will go to the director for his approval but that is just thought to be a formality preparations have been in full swing for the vaccination drive here there's going to be a trial run with mock drills and vaccination centers around the country on saturday to test everything from the transport arrangements for the vaccines to the cold storage systems the deployment of workers the app that's used to register and monitor everyone that's going to receive the vaccine the indian government is planning to inoculate 300000000 people just in the 1st half of this year and the already has the biggest vaccination program in the world where it inoculates around $56000000.00 babies and pregnant women every year bought health experts say that the cold chain system in many places is in a bad state that vaccines aren't always stored or monitored properly power could

last for hours leaving vaccines unfit for use and that is why the government has been doing trial runs to identify and fix problems before the code that vaccine drive begins here. israel says it has vaccinated 1000000 people against cope with 19 it rolled out one of the world's earliest and most rapid inoculation campaigns less than 2 weeks ago excludes 2 and a half 1000000 palestinians living in the occupied west bank and gaza health care was. because across brazil have held the minutes of silence to mark the new year staff at the intensive care unit in sao paolo are among those paying tribute to colleagues and patients affected by code 19 cases are surging and the country has recorded more than a 1000 deaths for the 3rd day in a row. still ahead of al jazeera.

australia changes its national anthem to reflect its indigenous history but some say that is not enough. a long wait for justice families of those killed and kidnapped by forces loyal to libya's warlord khalifa haftar spend the new year without their loved ones. the fall spring in istanbul is slowly cooling down but proper frozen wintry weather is in most of turkey this is in the northeast this lake freezer every year recreationally it's brilliant and they're enjoying it so showing things where they should be this time the weather wise we are actually looking far instruments to turkey the middle east iran the sun is out this bitter breeze picking up down the

gulf you mark called schmall bit short lived tend to depress the temperature down about 22 by sunday into monday in their heart still a chance of a shower on such tape is a very small chance to be honest generally speaking it's quiet even this massive cloud he would use no more than light showers in saudi or maybe southern iraq or jordan you can still see the remains of the tropical cyclone that came across bear there's no sitting here more or less on the borders of botswana and maybe. i'm sure you don't think in the maybe as a red country our set me down he's got the scots and coast power friends i guess but this rain is going to come quite widespread this weekend used to center circulation so it starts raining when talk generally february march all the way months from now maybe but this is looking particularly wet at the moment. from. one in the twenty's highlighting india gildas younger than ted glick is close

to. one when he's traveling to the villages where parents tell their underwrites doing their thing. on al-jazeera. be the hero the world needs right now. washing. welcome back you're watching our time to recap our headlines britain's departure

from the e.u. single market and customs union has been fairly smooth so far there have been no major delays in cross-channel movement of trucks and ferries to and from france doctors in the u.k. are warning of a difficult few weeks after a new more infectious strain of corona virus spoke to a record number of cases and deaths know people are now in hospital than during the peak of the pandemic in april and some pounds indolent. health experts in india are deciding on the safety of the oxford astra zeneca coronavirus vaccine reports suggest it's close to being approved for emergency use. a landmark free trade agreement between african nations has come into effect after months of delays due to the pandemic $54.00 nations have signed up for now it's being implemented in the $33.00 countries that have ratified it under the deal tariffs on 90 percent of goods will be eliminated the world bank says it will increase the continent's

income by $450000000000.00 by 2035 the agency also says africa's exports mostly in manufacturing will get a $560000000000.00 boost and the agreement will raise wages especially for women who account for more than 70 percent of cross border traders the free trade agreement is forecast to lift 30000000 africans out of extreme poverty. but some economists say the continent's poor countries will remain at a disadvantage. explains from the army in the share. workers of this government factory rushed to deliver a 1000 selfies masks the owner says more than 2 and a half 1000000 were made here to control the spread of copied 90. but as the africa free trade agreement comes into effect he foresees trouble ahead for the continent's poor countries. small and poor economies will always be at

a disadvantage hopefully as time goes on we can get special considerations otherwise it will be difficult to compete. businesses in poor countries may have their concerns but overall experts say the agreement will eventually benefit them they believe the cheap cost of labor in these countries will attract more industries and that you had the defeat in 2 african trade. development the level and pace of industrialization countries very some will have an advantage over others but african countries need to buy and sell and finished products among themselves. currently imports most of its needs from bottled water to food and machinery from big retail to local markets and here is flooded with imported products because. the country will continue to depend on him

making it difficult for local industries to grow. experts say it's hard to see european and asian multinational companies giving up the trade advantage they've held in africa for centuries. products from europe asia and africa's largest economies lined the shelves at the emmys biggest retail monopoly consumers prefer these prams traders say they won't be many local goods on store shelves and less government steps in. we should be given. support government should facilitate easy acquisition of land and loans from banks. but it's hard to see how government on the continent can do that without breaching the protectionism rules of africa trade agreement and the world trade organization or maybe greece al-jazeera yemi. the theo human rights commission says security forces killed dozens of people during ethnic unrest in june and july last year the group has released a report detailing the violence which happened after the killing of

a popular singer a child one desa he was a prominent voice in anti-government protests rights commission calls the killings a widespread and systematic attack against civilians points to crimes against humanity. show is a spokesman and senior adviser to the ethiopian human rights commission he explains what their investigation found. the ethiopian human rights commission launched an investigation right after the the onset of violence in or around the. largest region the violence was triggered by the killing. by the assassination of a child who nessa who was a very prominent singer and an activist see was killed on the 29th and then immediately afterwards we had violence unrest breaking out throughout the region in 3 days of carnage if you could call it at all together over 100 in

123 people died 35 of which were killed by by armed attackers 76 as well died at the hands of security forces today we launched the their report a full investigation report on this violence and we've deemed these attacks by by the by armed groups as amounting to crimes against humanity when libyan warlord after us forces control the city of tal hona hundreds of civilians were forcibly detained killed and tortured there are families that still don't know what happened to their loved ones malik try and i went to talk horner to me those still searching for the truth. many families in libya will be spending the

next few days together celebrating the new year but the family and through no will not be hanna says all the men in her family who were either killed or kidnapped by members of the armed group can yet backed by the warlord belief or have to or who made the town his command center before a failed military campaign on the capital tripoli i don't know what other sure enough for me 21 men from my family are gone 14 were killed for no reason and 7 of them were kidnapped and until now we have no idea of their whereabouts they didn't bring us their bodies and the government hasn't been able to identify the bodies through tests if there are amongst the dead we want to know. when the un recognized government of prime minister faisal so raj retook western libya in june work began to find out what atrocities had been committed when to know was half their stronghold so far 125 bodies have been recovered from mass graves in the city

yet can yet militia is accused of carrying out the killings but the chimbley government has been slow to identify the bodies or begin to work on other reported sites the united states blacklisted the kenya and its leader in november over the human rights abuses into. ramadan says he notified authorities of where he believes his brother and 35 other men are buried but nothing's been done so far to establish the truth. according to some witnesses they killed them and took them to the waste dump they buried them under the trash 36 men with that that's a lot of men i don't know why the government refuses to take the lack of a proper investigation by the government has caused a great deal of anger here and. our team is currently working in town they are combing a large area and the digging is all done by hand unfortunately we don't have the

materials yet to identify the bodies or high tech equipment to speed up the excavation process for the family and many like the mentor who know it could take years to discover what really happened to their loved ones so the closure they desperately seek will have to wait malik trainer. to whom. an exodus of hong kong residents is expected later this month as they seek refuge from tough new security laws imposed by beijing from the end of this month residents from the former british colony can move to the u.k. for up to 5 years and then apply for residency adrian brown reports from hong kong 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 to say you feel safe anymore

everywhere when you see police actually you will 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 children come to home you need to know. what lessons that they had in school it make you very tired to always worry about your kids being brainwashed. 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 asked 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 in hong kong it is torture to stay and all if you're on the opposition side what the government is doing is not for the benefit of the people they have sacrificed hong kong's future for their own interests kim watching is an outspoken political commentator also mulling a move to britain in the last film on a lot of people just as weiss me they call me they they they they say maybe you have to be less if you choose to stay because it is tilted i know what the government do for you this 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. 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. day. one that was the old line the words have been changed to. one and 3 not youngun free it's an attempt to better recognise the country's indigenous history. professor mahseer langton holds the foundation chair in indigenous studies at the

university of melbourne she says simply changing the words of the un from won't make australia fair a country for its indigenous population there are new. nike demands. and if you're not a robber baron the numbers are like. that one is that the our national guy. shines night of january 26th which is wrong greatest celebration of the landing are the most weight i'm going to marry. and that will work and why that didn't sound right. if we're. really are it's not russian genocide and so. we either rotation. or just your right to a constitutional requirement because we were have been excluded from the

constitution since not 101 and states 2 minor amendments in 969 we exist as an absence from the constitution so we've never being quoted and one word giant in the national anthem is not right and i could get so. start russian genocide on. our absence. now artists in the gaza strip are using graffiti and nurul to encourage people to take precautions against coronavirus it's hope there are people raise awareness about the need to wear masks and maintain social distance the gaza strip is experiencing a rise in infections however with no news on when vaccinations will start people are trying to stay positive for the new year.