if this breaks up a little conflict between pakistan 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. the united states has 20000000 coronavirus infections and the vaccination rollout is going slower than planned. and come out santa maria here in doha this is the world news from al-jazeera the u.s. and iran are accusing each other of ramping up military hostilities ahead of the anniversary of the assassination of iran's military chief. is a problem of more humanity just food is not enough temperature has been set up for migrants on the bosnia croatia border but many say it's nowhere near adequate in

the freezing cold conditions really sat to be. european. and they getting used to a new reality britain is telling us how they feel about the u.k.'s departure from the european union. more than $20000000.00 reported coronavirus cases and the threat of a more infectious strain the united states really entering this new year with very few signs its rampant corona virus outbreak can be contained and as the infections rise vaccination is going much slower than was expected this report from los angeles with rob reynolds. it was nobody's idea of a good way to ring in the new year on friday johns hopkins university reported the u.s. had surpassed 20000000 cases of covert 19 with more than 346000

deaths the number of infections has doubled since november 9th less than 2 months ago the u.s. accounts for nearly one quarter of all coated deaths worldwide in places like southern california hospitals and their staff are increasingly overwhelmed forcing doctors and nurses to ration care one california public health epidemiologist likened the situation to a viral tsunami florida became the 3rd state after colorado and california to report a patient with the relatively new more transmissible kovac variant 1st identified in the u.k. the man had not traveled recently at least 33 countries have now reported cases of the mutant strain a u.s. genetic testing company says its research suggests the variant has been circulating

in the u.s. since october on the vaccine front fewer than 3000000 americans have received their doses a figure far short of the trump administration's goal of 20000000 vaccinations before the end of 2020 i think the rollout very haphazard there's almost no coordination from the federal government the federal government basically delivered to the states but then the states knew were not funded for the rollout program adequately and furthermore basically the state said here's the here and go hospitals you guys pull it out senator mitt romney a prominent us republican political figure called for stepped up efforts including the enlistment of medical students veterinary. ins and emergency medical workers to administer vaccines he said schools and other facilities that are closed due to the pandemic should be converted to mass vaccination centers president donald trump

spent friday tweeting about various political grievances but mentioned the full 3 vaccine effort only once and then to shift blame to state officials president elect joe biden says he will use emergency wartime powers to boost vaccine production and speed up the lifesaving injections across the country rob reynolds al-jazeera. iran 2 other news so iran and the u.s. which are accusing each other of escalating military tensions ahead of the 1st anniversary of the assassination of iran's general concept so the money this is happening on sunday one year since he was killed in an american air strike in iraq and in just the last week the rhetoric between washington and tehran has really been ticking upwards you've got the u.s. doing this flying b. 52 bombers into the gulf. in the wake intending to caution iran against any attacks on american troops or interests iran also sent a letter to the u.n.

security council condemning what it called washington the military adventurism in the region foreign minister jevons are also accused donald trump of fabricating a pretext for war. the u.s. is also accused the militias attack which is backed by iran of attacking its embassy in iraq last month rocket attacks on the compound in baghdad really increased the u.s. actually withdrew most of its staff over concerns of a retaliatory strike so we're going to cover the story which is in baghdad where solomon is assassination happened i'll come to the minute charles want to start with. ron one year one extraordinary year it has been it's good to actually remember how last year began all this tension that started last year still there. certainly come all if not more i would say the tensions are felt now coming to this anniversary there is

a sense that things have really really change since the assassination of major general hossam so the money there's been a series of events that followed that assassination that really has changed the way iran has been interacting with the international community and its relationship with the u.s. is really at an all time low but let's take a look 1st at how the events unfolded in the early hours of january 3rd 2020 shortly after arriving at baghdad international airport major general hossam so in mind he was killed in a u.s. drone strike his close ally the deputy head of iraq's popular mobilisation forces. this also died along with 8 others missiles from the u.s. drone hit their convoy as it left the airport so the money was the commander of the court's force a unit of iran's revolutionary guard responsible for foreign operations and he was

also considered to be the 2nd most powerful man in iran behind the country's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei. and noted all of i know in the news of his death made official by iran's state t.v. . a 3 day mourning period was announced and iran vowed revenge as u.s. president donald trump stood by his decision with this claim last night at my direction the united states military executed a flawless strike that terminated the terrors ringleader responsible for gravely boarding and burger and thousands and thousands of people and hundreds and hundreds at least of americans. solo money has been killed and his bloody rampage is now for ever on a law for ayatollah khomeini so in mind he was a trusted confidant a member of his inner circle and

a friend for more than 30 years almost 12 months on the commander in chief of iran's armed forces says he's not done avenging silliman his death. you know and built woman as a politician whenever it's possible we will take revenge we will take revenge on those who ordered so him on his assassination and the ones who carried out that assassination just hours after saw him on his body was laid to rest in his hometown of care mon on january 7th the revolutionary guard launched 13 missiles at the u.s. space assad in iraq no americans were killed attentions increased iran was on high alert and accidently shot down the ukrainian airline passenger plane killing all 176 people on board while the united states said they were not seeking regime change in iran trumps the citizen to kill himself mani had far reaching repercussions feared by his enemies inside iran so the money had for years

been one of the most popular national figures in the country the international face of iranian resistance to american pressure he remained largely untouched by the diminishing popularity of the country's elected government. his death prompted calls for the expulsion of u.s. troops from the middle east by iranian officials as well as the reigning back groups in iraq and it's a demand which still stands a year later. ceremonies we've been seeing started on friday a terran university to remember the passing of course himself in money where we heard from a number of high ranking officials there's also some officials from the hezbollah group as well as palestinian islamic jihad there's also the deputy of the shabby forces in iraq who were present at the event on friday since then the head of iran's revolutionary guard major general salah me has been visiting one of the most

important bases of the revolutionary guards which is i learned in near the strait of hormuz he's been visiting the facilities there and reiterating his position that iran will eventually money's death and they will not rest until all foreign enemies are expelled from this region there is a sense that iran is prepared there is a heightened sense of tension there's a lot of talk about what its side wants to see happen but there is really no appetite here for iran to engage in any kind of conflicts and there is a very important event coming up in the united states that is the inauguration of president elect joe biden the iranians are hopeful that with his administration there will be some kind of. between the 2 sides and that will see a deescalation in the tensions that we've seen over the past year thank you for all of the doses and from there not a chance for didn't in baghdad what is being said and done there charles because

well obviously so the money was killed there but the iranian backed militias in iraq are such a key part of this story. they are indeed and certainly the atmosphere here in iraq today. is tense and we have seen a increase in tension in the build up to this anniversary of the assassination of the last actual attack on the green zone we believe targeting the embassy was december the 20 years and interesting really the yet again the iran backed groups here denied responsibility for that attack blaming those on what they described as outlaws and saying that they had entrusted the prime minister mostafa car to me to deal with those responsible but in the meantime as we heard also saying there we've had a ratcheting up of rhetoric from the americans as well we've seen those be 52 bombers

flying over the region earlier last week there was a u.s. submarine that entered the straits of hormuz the gulf waters there as well we've had the american embassy this week announce that it supplied 30 military vehicles to the iraqi government in order to better protect the green zone where all those foreign embassies are. and in the meantime i think you know it's really important to try and explain what the iraqis are feeling just everyday people here they are very nervous about any kind of escalation they of course of suffered years of political instability and conflict here and whether they support these iran backed militias or not nobody wants to see an escalation of violence either today or in the coming days in the round this anniversary of sort of manny's death promised economy you mentioned him we actually talked about him earlier and i described it as him being almost between a rock and

a hard place but actually with the way he described it you've got the iraqi people the militias the u.s. the iranians he's almost surrounded an immense amount of pressure. he's under an incredible amount of pressure with reference to those attacks on december the 20 years government security forces made a number of arrests members of some of these iran backed groups and an indication of the pressure these under from those groups came almost immediately after those arrests when there was statements made by a spokesperson for one of the most powerful groups here a group called as a bowler but said that could army. of the woods testing their patience and threatens to cut his ears off now this is a reference to what the iran backed groups to see that he may konami as listening far too much to the americans and ignoring their demands and their fundamental demand is that all u.s.

troops are withdrawn from this country as soon as possible so you've got pressure from the iran backed groups you've got pressure from the americans as well the americans are threatening to close their embassy here which of course would be a huge embarrassment for the iraqi leader and let's not forget these more than a year of protests on the streets of baghdad and other cities people demanding jobs whole scale political change an end to corruption hundreds of those protesters have been killed in a crackdown nobody has been called to account so yes the iraqi leader here under immense pressure from least 3 sides the iran backed militias the americans and the people of iraq thank you child stratford for that report from baghdad. just another note on iran the government is pushing ahead with its plans to enrich uranium to a purity level of 20 percent it's told the un's nuclear watchdog the work will be done in the ford plant which is built into the side of

a mountain the enrichment breaches the near 4 percent enrichment allowed under the 2015 nuclear deal but it falls short of the 90 percent needed to make a nuclear weapon in the news ahead the user $81.00 the news or $132.00 thirds of the senators voting. senators in the us from both sides and donald trump a major defeat in the last days of his presidency overriding his veto of a national security bill and a new technology to save an ancient industry indonesia's assault vomits want help to modernize. however we've got more very heavy showers sprucing towards pushing towards the mill

a potentially quite a bit of cloud being driven in here on the monsoon trough that's like some wet weather to into the philippines some heavy downpours here similar pictures to go on into monday looking at really wet weather that we do have just stare out of the mill a potential southern part of it could also see some life showers and showers to some of the spec 3 much of malaysia down into indonesia joining up with a wet weather that we do have across australia we have a tropical low which has developed in the gulf of carpentaria so some rather nasty weather coming in here as we go on through the next couple days northern parts of queensland could say flooding some very strong winds pushing all the way across into cannes temperatures here at around 32 celsius still though some showers into that eastern side of new south wales to get parts of victoria northern parts of tasmania looking rather disturbed as well further west that's where the better weather is the dry weather still getting up to 33 celsius there in perth on sunday

in a similar temperature as we go on into monday by monday let's look back up towards the northeast there are still some very heavy rain rolling across northern parts of queensland that brings with it the risk of flooding. what is that they've been doing with the money that it's boring we bring the story . developments that are rapidly changing the world we live in argentina's congress is debating a bill seeking to raise billions of dollars for the super rich poor families hit hard by the damage counting on al-jazeera. the number 2 stories from asia and the pacific on al-jazeera.

so these are the top stories this hour on al-jazeera more than $20000000.00 people in the u.s. now testing positive for corona virus which is almost a quarter of the world's cases the rollout of vaccines is slower than expected as well with nearly 3000000 people in ocular. commemorations are being held ahead of the anniversary of the cessation of car some sort of man a u.s. drone strike killed the iranian general in baghdad on january 3rd last year. and iran's government plans to enrich uranium by up to 20 percent a significant breach of the 2050 nuclear deal but well short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear weapon. some coronavirus news now south korea will expand its ban on small gatherings in seoul to the rest of the country to combat a recent surge in infections as much as 40 percent of recent cases have been linked

to small gatherings according to the country's health ministry of $800.00 new infections were reported on friday which was down from around $1000.00 the day before but officials say that drop is likely due to testing over the holidays. and israel says it's now back to the 1000000 people against kovan 19 which is more than a 10th of its population it rolled out one of the world's earliest and most rapid inoculation campaigns less than 2 weeks ago it does exclude 2 and a half 1000000 palestinians living in the occupied west bank and the gaza strip. bosnia's military has set up tents for hundreds of refugees stranded in freezing conditions they were left without shelter for several days after a fire burned down their old camp authorities of trying to relocate the refugees that those being opposed by some locals and supporters from counting up as of the on. a sign of relief and of new shelter this will be home for

hundreds of migrants and refugees stranded in bosnia had to go been asleep a camp near its northwest border with croatia 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 with you know we don't mind how we got married yesterday we can drink of water and that's enough for us but the problem is my main problem for us we need to contain this ok. for days there were cries for help earlier this week migrants and refugees once on a hunger strike. amid reports of frostbite and hypothermia they held a protest to bring attention to their poor living conditions when i see all 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 campus 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. bad madness mostly but disease most of the people here are from south asia and the middle east they are among thousands hoping to make it to western europe to start a new life we don't have kids we don't have 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 to survive the winter carting

a little piece of the young how does era. an afghan journalist has been shot dead in the central province of core the market was killed when gunmen opened fire on his car was a human rights activist who was the editor of a local radio station according to reporters without borders i met survived at least one other attempt on his mind on his life some months ago he now though becomes the 5th journalist to be killed in afghanistan in the past 2 months dozens of refugees in ethiopia have arrived at the border with sudan they include families and farmers fleeing conflict in their country more than $1700.00 refugees now in areas under the control of the sudanese military some are reported seeing fighting between the sudanese army and farmers in the area at least 16 palestinians have been injured in a protest against israeli settlements in the occupied west bank israeli troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in a village near ramallah and for his days of escalating tension after settlers that

up dozens of tents and outposts in the area the u.s. senate still live in a significant defeat to president donald trump in voting to override his veto of a defense policy. bill the senate which is controlled by trump's republican party easily reached the required 2 thirds majority trump earlier refused to sign that defense act into law it limited the president's ability to draw troops from places like afghanistan and also the ability to divert military funds the ones trying wanted to build a border war with mexico post brags that freight traffic during the u.k. and france and so far move pretty smoothly despite earlier concerns about potential backlogs the 1st ferry from britain to dock in the french quarter tally several hours after the u.k. officially left the e.u. customs union and serious delays reported. but as the u.k.

comes to terms with bags it many are reflecting on what life outside the e.u. will mean for their sense of identity needs barca looks at that from london a clouded sunrise over westminster nothing extraordinary here many of breaks its changes will be slow but knowledge even but in the minds of british people the u.k. now adrift from the e.u. is alone again for some that's a cause for optimism for others profound regret the country still working out what breaks it means in practice with new rules on travel trade and immigration to name a few but beyond the dry details it's also about something much deeper for many brits especially those in their twenty's and thirty's being british and a member of the european union a part of one indivisible seamless identity that now is a result of breaks it has been split in 2 of the 48 percent of people that voted to

remain in the european union many now feel like they're being told to abandon half of who they are. really sad to be. not european anymore but i think it was a really awful decision that we made as a country the idea that we this nation the world has to do better outside of something the size of the european union are things a bit stupid it's hugely problematic and the people who have grown up in the eighty's ninety's noughties a european identity was it was fundamental to how we saw the world we call yeasty be able to travel freely in the european union being able to work live and of course people who are older were able to retire that father's european union membership has felt in some way forced and disingenuous voting to leave the e.u. is a shock treatment for some parts of the country that felt left behind

a way of restoring the country's factory settings i think it's a great opportunity for the u.k. now to stand alone and to really. build some business across the world but it's not as simple as hitting reset in the past 50 years the case become intertwined with europe london's often called france's 6 biggest city because of its sizable french population i'm picking the relationships required a form of diplomatic surgery in the shape of years of torturous brags that negotiations and be no human could have been the message for many of europe's leaders is the breaks it is not something to celebrate the last thing the e.u. wants is for the 1st member state to ever leave the e.u. to be followed by others how future generations will judge this moment we don't yet know is it the beginning of new opportunities or the end of many a sunrise or sunset nave back out 0 london.

iraqi explosives experts are trying to defuse a naval mine found attached to an oil tanker in the gulf the vessel was refueling another ship in international waters near the iraqi port of basra in iraq's army says it's now evacuated the vessel is not clear who is responsible. will take you to indonesia now one of the world's longest coastlines but its salt farming industry has long failed to meet the needs of the domestic market and so millions of tons are imported each year and that threatens the livelihoods of the country's salt farmers as jessica washington reports from in there are you on the island of java the government is now hoping investing in technology can change all that. indonesia's west timor this is the process behind harvesting one of the world's most common minerals these men have farmed felt this way for years it's low tech and low cost the salt they farm can be used for consumption or industrial use.

but not all of indonesia's salt is this quality indonesia has the 2nd longest coastline in the world but despite being surrounded by salt water the country still imports millions of tonnes of salt each year. we need to improve the quality of our indonesian salt we need it to be the best quality so that we don't need to buy from abroad the government said a quota of around 3000000 tonnes for industrial salt imports an increase from previous years scientists working with the government's research and technology ministry say they're trying to improve the quality of locally produced salt by using technology to increase sodium chloride contents finally be made not the. bed i believe we need. because we want to make the farmers become more what's very important but common say they don't receive enough support there are more than

800 souls farmers in into my you on the island of java. one farmer showed us inside a warehouse with thousands of kilograms of unsold salt. across this area there are many similar warehouses with bags of salt going to waste. the government isn't on our side salt imports are always open and the amount the importing creases every year family say the techniques used by the government in the past to improve the quality of their self haven't worked and they're struggling to sell their harvest this salt has been farmed and processed by local farmers here in injure my you it will be packaged and sold for consumption across indonesia but farmers here say it's increasingly difficult to on a living they say imports are to blame the farmers said they're feeling the impact of low salt prices because of imports from a stranding in india and china. the government says it's not possible for indonesia

to stop importing solved but across community. where hundreds rely on the mineral pharma say more should be done to train them in modern farming techniques so they can match the quality of imported health. we have experts from the government they should come here and tell us what kind of production they need so we can compete with the imported salt if their prospects don't improve these men fear for the future of their farms and their livelihoods jessica washington al-jazeera interim. finally some swans actually more than a few swans thousands of them have flocked to the caspian sea in kazakhstan they are migrating south to escape the promising temperatures in russia they do visit the coast of cows that stand each winter but this group is the largest reported in recent years.