company brass power is uniquely positioned to deliver against the stigma we provide business growth promote social economic benefits and provide innovative safe and viral mentally sound energy solutions for future generation the brash pioneering future energy. the number of corona virus infections in the us passes 20000000 states fall well short of that that's a nation targets. hello i'm down in jordan this is out there on live from doha also coming up. the user $81.00 the nays are $32.00 thirds of the senators voting u.s. senators on both sides hand donald trump

a major defeat in the waning days of his presidency overriding his veto of a national security bill. a generally smooth start for trade and travel after the u.k. completes its separation from the european union. and a new era of free trade begins in africa which aims to one day become a $3.00 trillion dollar economic bloc. more than $20000000.00 reported corona virus cases and the threat of a more infectious strain the u.s. is entering the new year but few signs that it's rampant corona virus outbreak can be contained the government also failed to meet its 2020 goal of vaccinating 20000000 people fewer than 3000000 have been given the job about 347000 americans on and have died since the pandemic again reynolds has more now from los angeles in places like here in southern california where hospitals are increasingly overwhelmed by covert 19 patients and the death toll is rising one prominent

california public health epidemiologist likened the situation to a fire and 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 florida became the 3rd state after colorado and california to report a confirmed case of the new more infectious code 900 ferry and 1st identified in the united kingdom that more infectious variant is considerably widespread it geographically colorado california florida basically 3 corners of the country that suggests that it is considerably more widespread in this country but epidemiologists and the public health authorities are not sure exactly what next

step one report that came out on friday from a california based genetic 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. well dr bruce lee's from the city university of new york school of public health he explains why the states are struggling to distribute vaccine there's been several issues to one is if you look at this d.d. cove in 1000 backing tracker only 12400000 doses have been distributed it is a state that's well below the actual number that you need to backdate the target goal of 20000000 people yeah i think that there's trouble is there's not in the facts and plus the whole row has not been organized at a national level and it hasn't really been transparent but a lot of states were told get ready for the vaccine in advance of the approval but

they weren't told like what are the plans and how are they going to get the resources in case they don't have enough refrigerators or cold places and things like that these these happy just the sole response but at the states because the virus as well as people cross the line so you really need to figure out like with states you don't have enough resources where the supply chain needs to be shored up and there were months before the vaccine rollout really get this in order and it really has so they have to tell all the states you know where the vaccines are you know like how many being produced and when to expect them and to is there needs to be analysis of you know which state and which locations have adequate supply chains which states don't know what types of resources that they need where the weak point which places need more radiators more transport devices more personnel this has to be organized from a national and

a very strategic orientation and that's not really very right now. the u.k. is reactivating emergency hospitals built early last year as the more infectious covert 19 variant drives more admissions there been more than 50000 new cases on each of the past 4 days and british doctors are criticizing a change in the u.k.'s vaccination strategy the government says it will delay a 2nd dose of the pfizer biotech jobs to prioritise 1st doses the interval could be extended to 12 weeks challenges in london says there are big questions over a gap that law. has the date for what happens if you give the 2nd dose $21.00 days after the 1st dose but if you wait 3 months which is what the government is planning to do then they don't really know what's going to happen is it going to be as effective as it should be the government knows made a decision based on the pragmatics really of public health and

dangerous reality that this new variances has put the country in with so many new infections so many new deaths and so much stress being put on the health system what they have decided is that it's imperative to get as many people vaccinated with the 1st of either the pfizer vaccine or the oxford astra zeneca one as quickly as possible because with the 1st dose you do get some degree of immunity with the astra zeneca one it's about 70 percent with the pfizer one it's it's upwards of that so essentially what the government has said is look let's prioritize 1st dosage to as many people as possible because that's how we get out of this situation and in 3 months time we can give people 2nd doses of these vaccines and hopefully the 1st will have had its effect and the situation will be

calmer and better. a panel of experts advising india's drug regulator has recommended the use of the u.k.'s oxford astra zeneca vaccine it will be the 1st to be greenlit in that country that recorded more than 10000000 infections and almost 150000 deaths. the u.s. senate has delivered a significant defeat to president donald trump voting to override his veto of a defense policy bill the senate which is controlled by trump's republican party easily achieve the 2 thirds majority required it reflects a growing rift between some congressional republicans and trump a white house correspondent kimberly healthcare says trump has unleashed his anger online. 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 and tweeting that he believes that they should have done more for americans with respect to the code

would relieve raising it from $600.00 to $2000.00 that didn't happen and also the president so i 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 waning 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 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 how 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 congress will be tallying the electoral college votes we do expect that there will be. its 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 under gillespie is an associate professor at emory university she says trump found himself standing alone. there were components

of the bill that president trump objected to and 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 are 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 is also a provision in the defense authorization act to create a commission to rename bases in the south that were named after confederate generals so there were controversial pieces of the bill at least in president trump's mind i mean 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 iraq explosives experts 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 it's evacuating the vessel it's not clear who's responsible. the discovery was made amid heightened tensions between the u.s. and iran almost one year after the assassination of qassam still a mandate to rein in military commander was killed in a u.s. drone strike in baghdad on general. the u.s. has conducted b. 52 bomber fly overs and sent a nuclear submarine into the gulf over concerns iran may be planning an attack on the anniversary. 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 could be done in the fordo plant enrichment well above that allowed under the

nuclear deal was 1st announced after the killing of iran's top nuclear scientist which has been blamed on israel. egypt's foreign ministry has summoned ethiopia's top diplomat in cairo a comments regarding a controversial dam on the nile egypt's government condemned what it called ethiopia's aggressive term it didn't cite specific comments but earlier an ethiopian official said egypt is using the dam to divert attention from its other problems egypt on sudan ethiopia's ground when a sense dam would take too much water. time for a short break here not to say i want to come back grieving families demand answers as they wait for news on libya's missing that. and why cuba believes eliminating one of its currencies will revive its struggling economy for now stay with us.

it's time for the perfect gentleman. sponsored point qatar airways it remains freezing cold in eastern turkey in azerbaijan the high ground of iraq but the skies generally speaking are clear there's a bit of cloud around that increasing breeze running down the gulf which will affect their hearts for cross is a drop in temperature down to about 22 and 15 by night the slight chance at 1st on sunday. and i think that breeze will tend to push the luck the other showers into the u.a.e. during sunday but beyond that apart from the occasional showers stretching out through southern syria into lebanon it looks pretty much dry and quiet which is right for this time of the year and in complete contrast what's turning to a very wet summer season in southern africa where we have the remains that tropical cycle running through botswana they will be in the maybe adjoining saturday and you can almost still see the circulation that goes right out to the skies in coast now

january february and march all the wet months and maybe a but this is a particularly well if you picture there will be flooding from that but. rain tends to head slow the sas into south africa in fact you can sort of see a big ring of sheryl's doesn't get quite as far south as cape time as almost still labile sunshine though not very well with the suddenly breeze but you got 24 to 26 . sponsored paul qatar airways told to al-jazeera we ask realistically how can you do with institutionalized corruption in this country we listen if this breaks up until conflict between august on and india this has implications for the rest of the world we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter on al-jazeera and what's most important to me is talking to people understanding what they're going through here and i just we believe everyone has a story worth hearing. welcome

back a program out of our top stories here this hour the u.s. senate has voted to override president trump's veto of a defense policy bill the senate which is controlled by trumped republican party easily achieve the 2 thirds majority it requires. more than 20000000 people in the u.s. of now tested positive for corona virus that's almost a quarter of the world's cases it comes as the government struggles to distribute vaccines fewer than 3000000 and given that. on the u.k.'s reactivating emergency hospitals built only last year is the more infectious coded 19 variant drives admissions have been more than 50000 new cases on each of the past 4 days.

now one day into briggs it and cross channel freight traffic between the u.k. and france has moved smoothly laying to rest earlier concerns about potential backlogs this was the 1st ferry from britain to dock in the french port of calif several hours after the u.k. officially left the e.u. customs union no serious delays are reported as hundreds of trucks crossed into france by ferry and through the channel tunnel. where companies face new costs and paperwork including customs declarations and border checks paul brennan reports now from the english fort of death. 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 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 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 the testing as well as 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 this. 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 brandon al-jazeera. africa has launched a free trade block after months of delays due to the pandemic it will be one of the world's biggest trade zones without tariff barriers uniting $1300000000.00 people barring ethiopia $54.00 of the continent's $55.00 countries have signed up but some economists say poorest states will still be at a disadvantage and it was supports now from them in the share. workers of 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 corporate 90. but as the africa free trade agreement comes into effect he foresees trouble ahead for the continent's poor countries. when 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 and that it had to defeat 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 near here is flooded with imported products because of its weak infrastructure and indifferent b.s. 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 as large economies lined the shelves at the emmys biggest retail monopoly. prefer these brands traders say they won't be many local goods on store shelves and less government steps in. 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 or maybe greece al-jazeera yami. cuba is overhauling its currency is the peso will be kept but devalued while the so-called convertible which is pegged to the u.s. dollar will be eliminated a lot in america and it's on the sentiment reports. that he stole medicare owns one of her banners 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 besought but now that who is being scrapped with an unsustainable dual currency an exchange rate system there is only me that it just means the elimination of a currency that was circulating for a long time and reactivated our national currency to pay so. 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 of. them

when the creek was put into circulation it was pigs of the dollar but in time it lost value its elimination in general terms is positive but there will be collateral damage. first and foremost a devaluation of the pisot 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 if you 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 giving cuba's finances in order won't be easy. to see in human al-jazeera. at least 16 palestinians have been injured in a demonstration against israeli settlements in the occupied west bank israeli troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters near ramallah that follows days of escalating tension after settlers set up dozens of tents and outposts in the area last week the move was apparently not on the rise by the israeli government. tenser been set up as a temporary shelter for about a 1000 refugees and migrants were stranded at a burnt out camp in bosnia herzegovina the government faced criticism for failing to protect them from freezing winter weather. reports. a sign of

relief and of new shelter this will be home for hundreds of migrants and refugees stranded in bosnia had to go to camp near its northwest border with croatia back the military set up tents to shield hundreds of migrants from the winter's freezing weather after days of sleeping out in the cold the nation face mounting criticism for leaving the migrants without proper shelter heat or facilities to do it was ok we don't mind how we can adjust and we can drink of water that's enough for us but the problem is then problem for us we need to contain this ok. for days there were cries for help earlier this week migrants and refugees went on a hunger strike 7. amid reports of frostbite and hypothermia they held a protest to bring attention to their poor living conditions when these nor the

despite the problems caused when these people were abandoned by un organizations and by local authorities we must show solidarity we're here today with the red cross we're trying to help them as much as possible. most of the camp was destroyed in late december when police say occupants deliberately set a fire to protest the schedule closure and lack of alternatives plans to move them to another facility fell through rejected by politicians and people living nearby aid groups have warned of a potential humanitarian crisis is a problem of more humanity just food is not enough combinations bad madness mostly but disease most of the people here are from south asia and the middle east they are among. hoping to make it to western europe to start a new life we don't have blonde kids we don't have jack cafferty you can see this i don't have shoes the new camp will be run by the international organization for

migration it's not a long term solution but it is a way to help people with nothing survive the winter. al-jazeera. an afghan journalist has been shot dead in the central province of gore i mark was on the road when a gunman fired on his vehicle americas in charge of a local radio station and was also a human rights activist is the 5th journalist to be killed in afghanistan in the past 2 months. now when the forces of the libyan warlord any for have to control the city of tara who are hundreds of civilians were detained killed and tortured there are families who still don't know what happened to their loved ones from tahrir who are trying their reports 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. as 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 who made the town his command center before a failed military campaign on the capital tripoli i don't know why there sure enough for 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 it 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 tripoli 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 were there that's a lot of men i don't know why the government refuses to take them the lack of a proper investigation by the government has caused a great deal of anger here. our team is currently working in town who know 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. the once popular video software adobe flash player has been shut down the company stop supporting and updating it as a general 1st people to and install the software before it blocks all flash content on the 12th 1st released in 1906 flash allowed content creators to make and share animations and games online but security issues have plagued it for years and it struggled to keep up as users move to smartphones access the internet. all right time for a quick check of the headlines here on the al-jazeera more than 20000000 people in the u.s. have now tested positive for corona virus that's almost a quarter of a.