but the decision must be made soon. part of the viewfinder asia series on al-jazeera. a large crowd gathers in baghdad's capital to mark a year since the us assassination reign in general cause some sort of money. and given al this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up india proves true that scenes from urgency use paving the way for 300000000 people to get immunized. as the prepares for a presidential runoff vote attack has raged 2 villages killing more than 70 people plus. i robot broiled in south korea at the mountain town famous for its ice

festival that has plenty of ice and though festival. we begin in iraq where for hours now a massive crowd gathered in the capital to mark one year since the u.s. assassinated iran's top general some sort of money he was killed in a drone strike near baghdad's international airport protesters are demanding u.s. forces withdraw from iraq iranian leaders have vowed retaliation and tensions between tehran and washington have escalated in the lead up to the anniversary charles stratford as at the protests in baghdad with more. thousands of people gathered here in tahrir square in central baghdad a square that has seen so many protests over the last year the pressure it's. very clear. these people are demanding the fast withdrawal of all remaining u.s. military personnel from this country. and many of them are still demanding revenge

for the assassination of cos it's still a minority that happened close to the border that u.s. drone strike a year ago. many of them are very angry not only with the u.s. but they're angry with the leader of this country well i'm a club they are a community chaos ok what i like the image of the iraqi government is the same as the american government they're just working what i'm going into this parliament voted to expand u.s. forces from iraq in general but nothing has happened if i really can still leave on their own accord you can force them to be with our blood. their own people i made a step only step timetable for the phone with soul of u.s. military personnel from this country the people here say he is not trying to get off the cuff now there is no clear indication as to how the incoming 5 minute ministration in the u.s. or responds to the situation in this country one that many people here say is

increasingly being dominated by neighboring iraq certainly the people in tahrir square today say the only way iraq's dignitary and sovereignty can be restored is if all u.s. military personnel leave this country and say. and sales mentioned there's mounting pressure on iraqi prime minister mostafa i'll call them on the anniversary sort of assassination call them he reiterated that iraq cannot be a battleground for regional tensions i meant when the you will at the peak is month from day one in office i work towards defusing crises steering iraq away from looming regional and global war iraq has been suffering for long as a result of wars it has not found stability since the 1960 s. iraq is in no position to go to war as we have already lost many lives to wars therefore this government has been working hard to steer iraq away from the swirl of wars. for us now in washington d.c.

shihab says not long now until joe biden's inauguration donald trump was very tough on iran do you think anything will change. i think clearly if things will change in the major promise of joe biden is to join to rejoin the iranian nuclear deal the j c p o as quickly as possible as it was negotiated we know that there's a lot of pressure on the biden team from the u.s. as allies in the region to renegotiate the iranian nuclear deal but the transition team is always very firm in saying no way will join it as it was negotiated one of the reasons for that it would seem would be because jake sullivan who is the incoming national security advisor joe biden helping to negotiate the original deal any renegotiation would would would no doubt be seized upon as an admission that the original deal wasn't strong enough that seems rather unlikely that jake sort of a good one to whip out a very least so at the so immediately there is that hope that tensions will be

ratcheted down and sort of the rhetoric that we hear will be ratcheted down but then you know even the trumpet ministration it's so difficult to get a read on what their intentions are because just of the last week now just the last couple of days the word that the watchword has been deescalation removing the u.s.s. nimitz for from the region for example over the objections of military commanders even when the b. 52 bombers were flying over or close to iran from north dakota they would fly 96 kilometers away from the iranian coastline so well outside of iran you know space it's never been entirely clear what the u.s. is up to when it comes to comes to iran and the possibility of military confrontation even though we often hear and have heard that donald trump is mused about striking for example to natanz facility i would hope at least for the very least with joe biden for more certainty a clear path a clear logic to what to do to the events that occurred from the white house as regards she had protesters and iraq as they heard from a correspondent one u.s.

troops to pull out what's the perspective from washington. well those are will be the 2nd president in a row who has vowed to pull out troops from iraq and fails this time around what what what did we learn well i mean now we have a further troop drawdown having been announced it's still only $500.00 troops leaving $2500.00 troops that what we do know is that whatever dog trouble anyway has tried to pull troops back from from areas of the world in theaters of conflict he's been stymied by those around him we know from concurrent biographical reminiscences from people in the pentagon and in the white house staff saying that they slow roll double trump effectively even though he is the civilian commander in chief he's effectively being slowed down from doing something that is universally popular in the united states so that's one thing the barriers being put up even the latest n.d.a. the national defense authorization act had stipulations in there put by democrats

and republicans which would slow down troop withdrawals from germany south korea afghanistan it's very very difficult clear that lots of interest who want to keep troops in biden says he wants to take troops out but keep a 2004 strong force in the middle east that would be able to react to emergencies what does that mean he says he wants to keep them in friendly countries with iraq isn't a friendly country what we have said be somewhere else in the region but also suggests the ability of u.s. special operations forces to do whatever they wanted in the middle east whenever they wanted to what does that mean for sovereignty in iraq and elsewhere these are the questions we have to answer. ok thank you that's never towns even in washington d.c. . india's drug regulator has approved took over $1000.00 vaccines and is preparing to roll out the world's largest immunization campaign yet both the oxford astra zeneca jab and another made by indian drug maker biotech have been approved for emergency use

shelob else reports. outside it was a story heavy rain thunder and lightning lit up the delhi sky but india with the worst conditions in 2020 recorded more than 10000000 cases of code 19 and around 150000 deaths inside at a news conference in delhi on sunday there was hope that storm may pass after i declared examination the 30 years your has decided to accept that a commendation for object. and accordingly that seen for. and brought up by a day are being approved for district was an emergency situation when it was a formality that begins the world's biggest vaccination campaign against corona virus. one vaccine was developed by oxford astra zeneca and another by indian drug maker biotech both are cheaper and easier to distribute than other covert $1000.00

vaccines or though they both require 2 doses and must be stored between $2.00 and $8.00 degrees the ox with estrogenic a jab has an efficacy of 70 percent and will be distributed by the serum institute of india the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines its c.e.o. tweeted it would be ready to roll out in the coming weeks india's prime minister narendra modi responded with congratulations tweeting a decisive turning point to strengthen a spirited fight it would make every indian proud that the 2 vaccines that have been given emergency use approval made in india. india hopes to vaccinate 300000000 people within the next 8 months a quarter of its population to do that it's been holding nationwide drools so far almost 100000 health workers have been trained to give the shots we expect in demand will continue to be high and whatever you think troubles remember facing the

missile rollout stages should hopefully be tackled real time behind the united states india is the most covert infected nation these approvals give hope the developing nations won't be left behind in the fight against the virus shallop bellus al-jazeera. the us has surpassed more than 350000 covered 19 deaths since the pandemic began a further 270000 people tested positive for the virus and new daily record that takes the total number of cases in the united states to more than 20000000. british prime minister johnson expects tens of millions of people will be immunized over the next 3 months he says half a 1000000 doses of the oxford astra zeneca vaccine will be ready on monday the u.k.'s seen yet another record jump in new infections with almost 58000 on saturday the u.k. government is facing backlash and legal action from teachers of plans to reopen schools lawyers for head teachers union have written to the governments demanding

proof that it is safe to resume classes during the pandemic schools and parts of the country are due to reopen in the coming weeks teachers unions say that's putting public health at risk the prime minister disagrees schools are safe very very important to stress that the threat to the risk to kids to young people is really very very very small indeed a society is continually a test risk to start is is very small it may be look we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tough work in in many parts of the country i don't. fully fully reconciled that andrew symonds joins me now live from london andrew these big plans from doris johnson to get many many people tens of millions of doses of the vaccine distributed over the coming 3 months is it logistically possible. a lot of people are working out whether it is there

is concerned it has to be said we're hearing from the medical profession and also some scientists about a an assurance like this it's a very ambitious plan to get tens of millions in the of 3 months it is really not an issue of the supply of the vaccine it's it's more the logistics of getting out to wall areas warm a lot of research suggests that only one in 4 people in the u.k. are near a vaccination center which is rather alarming but there is a plan to roll out a lot more in the way of ability of the vaccine with this launch of the oxford astra zeneca vaccine on monday which is a easier vaccine to distribute to g. use and to store furthermore there is this widening of the gap between the 1st and the 2nd doses of the pfizer vaccination which started a nearly

a month ago now in the u.k. that will enable only the 1st doses to go out and a longer gap before the 2nd dose or more availability to get out there with the vaccination but to answer your your your question in essence the prime minister has been known for making optimistic projections and this is being seen as possibly one of andrew symonds there for us in london thank you. still to come here on al-jazeera faster and faster towards the red planet now back on the progress of china's mars probe. there's essential goods will be made on affordable in libya by measures meant to shore up its economy.

how i we got more very cold air coming in across northern parts of china through the korean peninsula and of cloud head to the north of that that's where the really cold weather is minus 23 and that's the same temperature just one celsius there and so was we go on into choose to you can see how the temperatures full further one is $26.00 and all of the time at that time in the heat of the day if we can go to that will be some snow for a good parts of japan once again northern positive pan seeing fabulous no no just a chance to some rain today into the far south of the country for central and southern parts of china you much just cassio shabbat really nothing too much to speak of now plenty of showers across southern india at present and also into sri lanka further know some rather wet weather we have orange warnings in falls across a good part of pakistan pushing up towards punch ups and rain sleet and snow coming through here freshens up the air in new delhi where we've had the fall and smoke problems so improved quality but poor visibility because we have

a lot of wet weather coming through but at least it is in the prices of cleaning the you can see becomes a little more wise but as we go on through choose day and he coming on into wednesday kristie tons of snow in the foothills of the himalayas further south right continue. when all that seems to matter is the headline there's always 2 sides to a story when narratives and counter narratives obscure reality the leader on the one hand the enemy is over neither on the other hand the listening post drips away the spin what kind of reporting if you can see him on the ground misinformation is right lays bare the body is a lot of people believe things because they want to believe that a done covers the uncomfortable truths do you think they did enough to scrutinize the case for war listening post on alt. the

of. your charges there are a reminder of our top stories this hour thousands are gathering in the center of baghdad to mark one year since the u.s. assassination of iran's top general hossam supermodel was killed by a drone strike near baghdad international airport. india's drug regulator has approved 2 coronavirus vaccines for emergency use one is the oxford astra zeneca jab and the other is produced by indian drug maker bots biotech the world health organization says it's an important breakthrough. u.k. prime minister promised johnson expects tens of millions will be vaccinated in the next 3 months he says over half a 1000000 doses of the oxford astra zeneca vaccine will be ready by monday. well

than 70 people have been killed and 2 attacks on villages in western asia that happened in the 2 the barrier region and unstable area in neighboring mali became a fossil and been named fighters from armed groups links to al qaida and eisel cross in and out via the porous borders. the attack comes just after the 1st round of presidential election which is now going into a runoff between the top 2 candidates as it just reports from the army with already that determined not to let the violence threaten the vote. i think mission i've seen worse attacks before and that didn't impact very much on plans of or on things last year i remember last year there were more than 70 military personnel that were killed in one attack by these armed groups operating from mali. and one of the groups insisted that it had killed more than 100 people the government is going with more than 70 people killed most of the military officers now what needs

here ians are expecting is that whoever wins the table or iraq enough well the idea quickly prepared to deal with this equation or build upon what has so far been achieved to keep the numbers down the candidates the leading candidate is of course was of course a former foreign minister and also former minister of interior and then his opponent in the runoff is in fact a former president of this country so news here in thinking that these people are at least know that terrain and i think least they have an idea of how to deal with these problems whether it's going to impact in the elections it's name it remains to be seen however the fear is that where that these groups will attack and even stop the elections did not happen during the 1st round of the voting so i mean here in expecting things to be calmer and they vote in a president who probably can build on the success of the recorder so far. the

devaluation of libya's currency has taken effect a move it's hoped will help the economy exchange rates very to cross the country because of the conflict the black market back not being printed abroad trying to reports from misrata libya is economic help. a new unified exchange rate comes into effect in libya on sunday the central bank has agreed to a devalued exchange rate of $4.00 ginormous $2.00 while the official rate with $1.00 dinars a lack of availability of u.s. dollars in banks created a black market on which it currently trades at $5.00 dinars the bank's board members held a full meeting for the 1st time in 5 years on wednesday since libya split between warring factions in the west and east the central bank of libya is based in the libyan capital of tripoli also the seat of the internationally recognized government of national of court the eastern branch is based in benghazi stronghold

of warlords lifo house tours libyan national army who had printed alternative banknotes in moscow the us government called them counterfeit libyan currency printed by a russian state owned company and ordered by an illegitimate parallel entity analysts say the alternative bank notes increased inflation in an already struggling economy here in this market people tell us prices for goods are going up . there are long lines at the banks they give you $500.00 that's not enough to feed a family for one week. at the moment business is a cave but i think it will slow down salaries of 1000 dinars that's not enough for people to provide for their families. the political divisions in the gap between the official and black market rates has distorted libya's oil dependent economy the move to unify the central bank and the exchange rate has been welcomed by some business leaders or residents here hear that the price of everyday goods may

increase as a result. abdulhamid is a professor of the economy he says prices may increase in the short term devaluation was the right choice to make in the long term and. the central bank didn't have any other choice but to take this decision otherwise we would have seen a devastating rate of inflation the closure of oil fields by have tar in january 2020 meant libya wasn't getting dollars from exports i believe in see the rate stabilize after the 1st quarter for libyans the next few months will likely get harder before they get better training. misrata. the u.s. congress is set for some new faces with a new session set to start later today democrats kept control of the house of representatives in november the balance of power in the senate is said to be decided by runoff elections in georgia on tuesday scott lucas is a professor at the university of birmingham and co-founder of america unfiltered

news and analysis size or american politics and foreign policy he says u.s. politics is entering a turbulent week. today is just simply that the new members of the house and the senate will be sworn in to take their seats and there are quite a few of them from both parties but there really is nothing of substance today the fireworks start in the next 72 hours on tuesday we have these 2 vital run offs for senate seats in georgia that will determine whether republicans or democrats have a slim majority in that upper chamber and then on wednesday what should be a straightforward process to confirm joe biden as president a lot is going to be turned into a spectacle by 12 republican senators by within 140 republican representatives who in effect are going to refuse to accept the november election are going to insist that there not be a certification of biden which of course will reinforce dollops ongoing attempt through descent from ation to claim that he was robbed of the vote that will have

repercussions he won't change by being president that will still occur in january the 20th but it's pointing to a serious split in the republican party for the rest of 2021 i think the republican party is probably at its most critical point on since the 1930 s. when it suffered a humility humiliating landslide defeat franklin roosevelt and the reason why i say that is is that you actually have 2 groups within the same party you have the established republicans who they'll disagree on policy with democrats they'll try possibly to obstruct the by the ministration but they'll play within the rules they'll play within the system and then you have donald trump who of course doesn't play by the rules who trashes u.s. agencies who criticizes members of the republican party if they don't agree with him and now it's not just donald trump it's these republican senators and these representatives who whether it's for their own political futures whether it's because they want to join the trump

a spectacle they have for what is in effect an insurgent foundation. at least 11 coal mine is have been shot dead after being kidnapped in pakistan's baltistan region militants took them from the muck coal fields and opened fire several others were injured an investigation is now underway so far no one has claimed responsibility the mine is belongs to a community of minority she has are muslims. at least 17 people have died after a roof collapsed at a criminal india's top british state 21 people have been rescued from the rubble in ghaziabad according to a government official or news had come to attend the man's last rites and took shelter in the building from heavy rain when the roof fell and nearly 80000 exiled tibetans are voting in a general election for their parliament election is taking place in india's northern city of dharma sala sala it's the seat of the tibetan government in exile it's also the base of their spiritual leader the dalai lama who fled china after a failed uprising against beijing's rule the 2nd vote is due in april crowds

in the poll of marching in support of the prime minister after several days of protests against him. last month the prime minister. only dissolved parliament and called for an early election people took to the streets to urge him to reverse that decision and submit his resignation in polls the supreme court is reviewing several petitions against the prime minister's actions. or is adding to the coronavirus pandemic and residents of sydney australia will face a $150.00 fine for failing to comply with new compulsory mall schools for midnight on sunday face coverings will be mandatory in shopping centers places of worship transport and other public venues you south wales police say the fines will be a last resort for enforceable measures come as the state reports 18 you grow on a virus infections 5 links to across to the west in sydney. if you don't have

a good excuse will you be found. we understand that there are people who for example may. have not been. there on their way to for example a pharmacy or shop to buy a mask those are issues which are very good. police members will take into account in the next few days. but at the end of the day it is no time for avoiding masks it is now a time for wearing masks please ensure you do. a rising number of cases in south korea is forcing many communities to cancel economically vital tourist events . travel to county in the mountains near the border with north korea to see how it stands with the loss of its annual festival children it's a special event to promote a particular type of river trout known as the sunshine know how to package it how to prepare it in every way imaginable and staged in a town that finds it has

a lot of it 77 tons to be exact question county's annual ice festival is its biggest event and ice fishing on the frozen river the biggest draw for which it starts breeding fish a year in advance but this year there is to be no festival and the town is left to figure out what to do with its fish. we have been putting our heads together to research and develop ways that we can't sell our fish and deceased a result we're taking a crisis situation and turning it into an opportunity. realizing months ago the festival was unlikely to go ahead the county did cancel more than half the fish it had ordered from farms across the country. if we had a regular festival they would have made money on all that fish so i expect they took a considerable hit this year as. the town itself is hurting to the harsh winter in these mountains normally produces ice that is solid enough to support crowds of

visitors beneath it pristine waters that can 5th day in a massive fish but this year no sign of any festival close to the border with north korea the town was already suffering from a ban on military personnel leaving nearby bases during 'd the pandemic and restaurant owners like lee jones soon were counting on the influx of ice festival visitors who won't now becoming. packing pushing and it's been difficult for everyone small businesses an employee no one has been spared it's also hurting the other towns around here who supplies with produce. everyone here is hoping that by the time the ice breaks up and melts away their loss so be seeing an end to the pandemic rob mcbride al-jazeera watch on county south korea. china's space agency says it expects the mars probe 10 when one to enter the red planet's orbit

next month the problem has been in space for 163 days and traveled 400000000 kilometers so far after entering mars and all this ship will spend about 3 months checking out potential landing sites before touching down in may since its launch last july the mars probe is captured an image showing both earth and as well as taking several selfies are essential to say it has a height about the probe is flying at a speed of about 23 kilometers per 2nd which is 2000000 kilometers per day its relative speed to the earth now is about 21 kilometers per 2nd bettors 1800000 kilometers per day it is flying about 200000 kilometers per day towards mars the probe is flying faster and faster as it gets away from the sun's gravity one of portugal's most renowned sing is dive the age of $81.00. was known as the sinatra fond of music because. when you.

declared monday a national day of mourning 2014 dakar mall was the 1st portuguese artist to receive a lesson grammy lifetime achievement award he died of heart complications on new year's day being treated in this big hospital. results there and these are the top stories thousands are gathering in the center of baghdad to mark one year since the u.s. assassination of iran's top general call some sort of money he was killed by a drone strike near baghdad's international airport charles stratford is there thousands of people have gathered here in tahrir square in central baghdad a square that has seen so many protests over the last year the message though today very clear. these people are demanding the fast withdrawal of all remaining.