grants now say they are essential to control the virus i receive messages on the out saying that we are a few rows i was a nurse back who what i am doing is not all that different from my passion helping others. the user 81 the news or 32 thirds of the senators voting. u.s. senators from both sides hand donald trump a major defeat in the waning days of his presidency overriding his veto of a national security bill. hello there i'm alamo here dean and this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up the number of confirmed u.s. coronavirus infections passes 20000000 making up almost

a quarter of all cases worldwide it's. a generally smooth starts for trade and travel after the u.k. completes its separation from the european union. following new era of free trade begins in africa which aims to one day become a $3.00 trillion dollar economic block. but 1st the u.s. senate has delivered a significant defeats to president donald trump forcing to override his veto of a defense policy bill the senate switches controlled by trump's republican party easily achieve the 2 thirds majority requirements of this reflects a growing rift between some congressional republicans and trump who has 20 days left in the white house well that speaks to a white house correspondent kimberly harkat street joins us now from washington

d.c. kimberly defeats for the president says 1st off this new year how is he reacting. not too happy about what went down essentially a bipartisan rebuke of the president's attempt to veto this legislation overridden by not only the house controlled by democrats but by the republican controlled senate the us president reacting on twitter calling this pathetic particularly angry with the republicans in the senate for not standing with him and he feels it and tweeting that he believes that they should have done more for americans with respect to the covert relief raising it from $600.00 to $2000.00 that didn't happen and also the president still out happy with some of the power of the tech companies particularly leverage over the u.s. election also talking about why more wasn't done for that now in the midst of all of this the house speaker nancy pelosi she reacted as well sending out

a statement that this is a resoundingly or buke of the u.s. president and his assault on the american military and national security noting that in the waiting days of his presidency she accused him of attempting to sow chaos and undermine security so very strong reactions from the u.s. president but also one of the president's biggest critics in the u.s. congress again really just how significant is it that it was the republican controlled senate that joined with the democrats and overrun using this speech to. it's really significant well this is certainly the 1st and most pronounced example what we've seen in recent days and weeks is a growing number of republicans distancing themselves from donald trump since his election loss on november 3rd what this really marks is a departure as they sort of look to the president who is outgoing and setting the

sights on their own political future so this is certainly notable what is also notable is that many of these republicans are not backing the president's claim that he won the election that the election was rigged or even that there was widespread voter fraud so having suffered this very notable loss on capitol hill the u.s. president now setting its sights on the next big date on capitol hill and that is january 6th that is when the electoral college will be tallying or rather when the congress will be tallying the electoral college votes we do expect that there will be. number of dozens of republicans in the house and at least one republican in the senate that will stand with the president to at least delay that tallying but ultimately it will be unsuccessful the u.s. president will ultimately be joe biden in january and what the president is talking about of twitter given the fact that he knows this is happening there's very little he do about it is he's advertising on his twitter account the protests that will be

taking place with the hash tag stop the steel ok kimberly how could there bring is the very latest from washington d.c. kimberly thank you and let's get more on this we can speak to own gillespie she's an associate professor in the department of political science at emory university and joins us now from atlanta georgia good to have you with 0. support for the u.s. military is a fairly normal parses an issue in the united states so why do you think trump pick this finds. there were components of the bill that president trump objectives you in particular he wanted this act to include a provision that would not give protections to tech companies in terms of making treating them like media companies it's a rule called section $230.00 he wanted that repealed and that wasn't included in the authorization and he's tech companies so you know right now when he makes

claims that are questionable or baseless on facebook or twitter they put disclaimers on there saying that this is you know that this is false or misleading information and so he doesn't like that there was out there just a provision in the defense authorization at to create a commission to rename bases in the south that were named after confederate generals so there were controversial pieces of the bill it leased and president trumps mine and he wanted to try to gain leverage over those particular issues that were of concern to him not to everyone else and helped to hold up defense authorization order to get what he wanted it just didn't pay off in this particular case and certainly didn't it seem surprising to a lot of people given that this is he was never going to win this fight because no matter what party you're from it just doesn't it doesn't do to the radio a bill of this nature for

a fight with an end to make company so it's still surprising that trump decided to go down this path what do you think this over right says the will but us politics in general would you say this is a sign that the u.s. is moving towards politics as usual it's going beyond the turbulent 4 years of the trump era. well i don't want men to be president as of noon on january 20th but trump isn't isn't going away and so we're still going to see evidence of trump ism even as the next congress takes over going into next week so in particular on january 6th when the congress has to ratify the results of the electoral college we expect that members of the house and senate are going to raise objections are going to state their case and put it in the record and the people who are doing so are aligning themselves with president trump and we expect that a number of members of congress are going to be doing that and so those people will

still be able to talk about the things that donald trump has given voice to in the last 4 years we also are going to look to see the ways that president talking uses executive power in the next little less than 3 weeks and we'll see you know sort of you know what pardons he issues and what other statements he makes and then there is the question of the transition between the trumpet ministration and the incoming biden administration and how smoothly that will go president also appears to be very poised once you announce that he plans on running for president again in 2024 and then also setting up what might be something like a shadow government where he will through social media through his media appearances be able to still provide commentary and still hold a lot of sway over members of congress i think probably the most important thing to look at in this bill is the roll call to see who voted for the defense authorization bill originally but then either voted against the authorization on the b. to override or chose not to vote this time there are some people who might be able

to explain a non-vote because they were legitimately absent from congress but those are the people who felt that they really couldn't go against president trump in part because there are still a lot of republicans who crave his endorsement and don't want primary challenges and we see today even in president trump's tweets that he is issuing or suggesting that certain people run against republicans whom you doesn't like at this particular moment because they stood up to him ok undergo a spin joining us from atlanta georgia great to get your thoughts thank you so much for joining us on al-jazeera thank you. more than $20000000.00 reporters coronavirus cases and the threat of a more affectionate strain in the u.s. is entering the new year with few signs that it's rampant coronavirus a break can be contains the government says also failed some days it's 2020 goal of

vaccinating 20000000 people fewer than 3000000 have been given the job around 347000 americans are known to have died since the pandemic began well that's going to well reynolds he's in the sun jealous foras with 20000000 confirmed cases in the u.s. and that death toll rises saying it certainly appears the pandemic is not in the control toll what's the situation like there. but just say that the situation is not under control hala would be a considerable understatement particularly in places like here in southern california where hospitals are increasingly overwhelmed by code 19 patients and the death toll is rising one prominent california public health epidemiologist likened the situation to a fire tsunami now the latest unwelcome numbers came on new year's day from johns

hopkins university which reported 20037000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the united states since the outbreak began and 33346000 deaths in the u.s. that means the number of infections in the u.s. has doubled since the 9th of november just less than 2 months florida became the 3rd state after colorado and california to report a confirmed case of the new more infectious coated $900.00 fair in 1st identified in the united kingdom that more infectious variant is considered. a widespread it geographically colorado california florida basically 3 corners of the country that suggests that it is considerably more widespread in this country but the me ologists and public health authorities are not sure exactly what makes them

one report that came out on friday from a california based kinetic testing company called helix indicated that their research indicated that the new mutant strain may be may have been circulating in the united states since october which is very troubling yes indeed one glimmer of hope though where the those vaccines as we head into this new year but the vaccine roll late in the u.s. is pretty challenging is it not why has the government's target not been met. well there are a number of reasons that have been given by the operation warp speed taskforce set up by the trumpet ministration one being that there was a very bad weather over the past period of weeks with snowstorms and blizzards in

various parts of the country but the fact is that only 2800000 americans have received their doses of vaccine and that's far short of the goal set by the trumpet ministration of 20000000 vaccinations before the end of 2020 now on friday senator mitt romney who's very prominent republican and as we know ran for president in against barack obama in 2012 called for a sweeping new program of mass vaccination he called on the government to immediately enlist veterinarians medical students emergency medical technicians and others to administer the vaccines and to use buildings like schools and other facilities that have. lain dormant because of the pact pandemic to be set up as mass vaccination sites president elect joe biden said earlier this week he would use emergency wartime powers to boost the vaccination effort as soon as he becomes

president on january 20th ok rob reynolds that bring us the very latest from los angeles rob thank you. now iraqi explosives experts are trying to defuse a naval mine found attached to an oil tanker in the gulf on thursday the vessel was refueling another ship in international waters near the iraqi port of basra iraq's army says its vacuum hated the vessel is not clear who is responsible at this stage . well the discovery was made amid heightened tensions between the u.s. and iran home most one year after the assassination of carson saw the money iranian military commander was killed in a u.s. drone strike in baghdad on january the 3rd 2020 u.s. has conducted b. 52 bomber flyovers and sense a new clear submarine into the go over concerns iran may be planning an attack on the anniversary well in

a tweens to the arena in this year's republican party senator lindsey graham said you should not believe for a moments that american domestic politics has distracted us from watching your every move and necessary spawning to provocations with overwhelming force you miscalculates at your peril according to that tweet meanwhile iran's government says it's pushing ahead with plans to enrich uranium with up to 20 percent purity it's told the un's nuclear watchdog the work will be done in the fordo plants which was built into the side of a mountain the enrichments well above that a load on the nuclear deal was 1st announced after the killing of iran's top nuclear scientists which has been blamed on israel. still to come here and i'll just say to india gears up for the world's largest covert 19 banks nation campaign. and believes eliminating one of its currencies will revive its

flailing economy. the new years come in with a snowstorm from texas to the great lakes now in west texas are a significant amount is now notably it is called alpine this is not lowland texas this is high ground texas it's the backwater around this low that's cold air tucking in and there's warm ahead of it so of course we got rain and the forecast take you through friday and saturday will see rain in the southern states moving up the middle antic and then the snow follows the same course of the last 2 storm for us across missouri for example iowa and up towards eventually new england coming down the pacific coast no forwarding storm system as well so dallas sees the weather improve it back up to normal in the sunshine by sunday but won't be the

case in the west coast as that rain comes down the stoker across the cascades and into the rockies but the sun replaces most of the poor weather in the northeast corner not entirely so while san francisco sees showers come in and out over the next 3 days or so are the sink we'll see that that cold return to the northeast corner and we'll see snow fall in doing that money reached new york where as dallas as i say is enjoying the sunshine at 15 degrees and casper's seeing snow. is gay city has become a major label issue than demand is going right up and the supply is going straight down tanning in a sense. natural resources into a commodity traded for profit just because it's lawyer doesn't mean it's going to be crushed what about the guy that can afford it guys tell me it's water. out to

syria examines the social financial and environmental impact of war to privatizing asian loads of water on al-jazeera. a i. this is al jazeera a quick reminder of the top stories this hour the u.s. senate has voted to authorize president john will trumps a veto of a defense policy bill the senate which is controlled by drunks republican party easily achieve the 2 thirds majority required. women 20000000 people in the u.s. of no tested positive for the coronavirus that's almost a quarter of the world's cases it comes as the government struggles to distribute

vaccines fewer than 3000000 have been given the job. and iraq explosives experts are trying to defuse enabled by in fact attached to an oil tanker in the gulf on thursday it was refueling another ship in international waters near the iraqi port of busseron. a tense have been set up as temporary shelter for around the fires and refugees and migrants who are stranded at a burnt out camp in bosnia herzegovina army officers assembled the tents at camp leaper near the border with croatia on friday the sites will be supervised by the international organization for migration the government has been criticized for failing to provide the people stranded outside from freezing winter weather where there's been a steady strict of trades and passenger traffic over the english channel after the seismic shift in relations between britain and the e.u. the u.k.

has completed its separation from the block and in almost half a century of integration with its neighbors paul brennan reports from the english ports 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 euro tunnel operator is get a link the change is already about. for many teams ok now it's time there is a truck coming here they have to show us that they have done. on a line 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 and france handle some $2500000.00 freight vehicles every year but less than a 1000 lorries were said you'll 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 pre-breakfast star bill that we saw going on that that should enable those people that are trading during the time to do 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 rex it related at all. we had a plan all 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 the early log jams are likely to be not here at the ports but back at the factory gates or were harassed 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 over. a free trade block has launched in africa $54.00 countries have signed up for no is being implemented in the $33.00 and have ratified it but some economists say the poorest states will still be at a disadvantage reports from yami in the share. workers at

this garment factory rushed to deliver thousands of fees 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. one of the 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. into african trade industrial development the level and pace of industrialization among african countries very some will have an advantage over others but african countries need to buy and sell roll 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 of its weekly infrastructure and 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 century. products from europe asia and africa's larger economies line the shelves at the emmys biggest retail monopoly consumers prefer these brands traders say they won't be many local goods on store shelves unless government steps in a bubble we should be given support the government should facilitate easy acquisition of land and loans from banks. but it's hard to see how governments on

the continent can do that without breaching the protectionism rules of africa trade agreement and the world trade organization idea greece al-jazeera yami. well returning to the pandemic in the u.k. is reactivating emergency hospitals built earlier this year is the more infectious school with 1000 variants drives more admissions have been more than 50000 cases on each of the past 4 days india is assessing the safety of the u.k.'s oxford astra zeneca vaccine to see if it can be approved for a marriage and say yes it would be the 1st to be green lets in a country that's recorded more than 10000000 infections and almost 150000 deaths and there are signs that a final approval could be eminence as elizabeth promise 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 files a biotech 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 and it's around $56000000.00 babies and pregnant women every year bought health experts say that the 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 on food for use and that is why the government has been doing trial runs to identify and fix problems for the code that vaccine drive begins here. cuba is overhauling its currency the peso. steve valued well the so-called convertible peso which is paid to the dollar will be eliminated of america editor the syrian human reports. one of have vanished. most successful private restaurants a must even for the most high profile visitors until now his customers paid in

cook's r c u c a state invented substitute for the u.s. dollar with $25.00 times more than the cuban bissau but now that who is being scrapped with an unsustainable dual currency an exchange rate system that's what i mean there is a me that it just means the elimination of a currency that was circulating for a long time and reactivate in our national currency. if only it were that simple one of the most common phrases in cuba is nice fasc or it's not easy. and that's the perfect way to describe the risk elimination of cuba's 2nd currency while it's considered to be hard currency it's in fact worthless outside of cuba hindering exports and desperately needed investments one. then when the crick was put into circulation it was pigs of the dollar but in time it

lost value it's elimination in general terms as positive but there will be collateral damage. first and foremost a devaluation of the peso against the us dollar and a steep increase in prices which means purchasing power will drop despite the much higher promised salaries. i don't see the point they raise your salary but they triple or quadruple the price of the dollar which we need to buy all the basics. and that's the other big problem if you want to buy anything from food to clothes or even hygiene products you need to go to one of the more than $120.00 stores and that's why all these people are lining up in front of the bank to exchange hard currency for an electronic debit card in m l c the cuban name for the u.s. greenback cash transactions aren't allowed. to run his family who can send. money if you don't work with tourists who don't have access to hard

currency this change has been very bad. it will be a difficult process for a country that is already suffering from a deep recession scarcity and harsh new u.s. economic sanctions but then as they say getting to this finances in order won't be easy. to see in human al-jazeera. this is al-jazeera and these are the headlines the u.s. senate says force its over rise president donald trump's veto of a defense policy bill the senate which is controlled by trump's republican party easily achieved the 2 thirds majority requirements of white house correspondent kimberly hauck it's has more from washington d.c. the u.s. president reacting on twitter calling this pathetic particularly angry with the republicans in the senate for not standing with him and he feels it tweeting the.