from international politics to the global pandemic, and everything in between. upfront with me, mark lamond hill on al jazeera. ah, this is al jazeera ah, hello money inside. this is the news i lie from doug hall coming up in the next 60 minutes. a new cove at 19 varian shakes global markets as governments ban were straight flights from cell from africa. the u. s. is calling for urgent negotiations to end. the conflict in ethiopia, while prime minister abbey ahead is on the front lines. and these 3 people are dead in the solomon islands,

off the days of writing against government policies and electric vehicles may be the future. but in the democratic republic of congo mining ca, materials used to make their batteries is devastating, lives on in sports, and b, superstar le bron james is slapped with a fine for bad behavior. as the lakers are defeated by the sacramento kings for their 5th loss in 7 games. ah. hello, welcome to the program. we begin with the corona virus pandemic and the discovery of a new variance called ami crohn. it's seen countries around the world, restricting travel to and from southern africa, south africa botswana, zimbabwe, namibia lesotho as what teeny and mozambique are among those affected by these rules. and the news has shaken the world's economy just as it was showing signs of

recovery. stalks on wall street took a hit on friday before they closed for the weekend. and in south africa itself, the number of confirmed cases are still relatively low. but the speed with which young people are getting sick is causing alarm. will have the latest from poor brother in london shortly. we also have steph rassen, who is an amsterdam fest. let's go straight to farmer de miller, who is in johannesburg for us from it. that's been a real outcry in south africa about these international flight bands. would have people been saying well, that outcry comes specifically from scientists and the government in south africa who have certainly been frustrated in the last 2448 hours saying that simply because south africa has done its work and has been transparent. now south africa's being punished by being put on the ritler says it's a justified and it's created unnecessary panic. the south african government is

also says it will approach the u. k, as well as the european union to discuss some of the bands that have been put in place saying that they're not necessary. and that while they're about 50 cases of this particular variant in south africa, it's one that's also been detected in many other countries. and it shouldn't be assigned to south africa in particular. and that's simply because south africa, they say sciences here have been at the forefront of tracking these mutations and any changes in the virus. so they is concerned around the impact that these bands will have on south africa, especially given the difficulty the economy has gone through throughout the span. they make a head of the holiday season. when most of the travelers, the holiday travelers come from europe and the united kingdom and bring in millions of dollars worth of revenue and now that's going to come to was stopped. so there really is a worry around what the travel band means and the south african government saying

they're going to try their best along with the world health organization to get that reversed. indeed, and with the run up to christmas, the timing couldn't be much worse. tell us a bit more about the new strain. what are scientists telling us? well, scientists are telling us be cautious. we do know that the world health organization has determined that it is a variant of concern. it's been given a name and that does give us some indication of the level of worry. but the concern from south african sciences is that they've detected more than 50 mutations in the spike protein on this particular variant. they are elements of previous mutations, but they of new mutations in this particular variant. and the concern really is one they want to understand better how the existing back scenes will continue to protect people. and also just to how easily this new variant will spread south

africa has had a slump in the number of infections in the last few months. i mean, that's also what's informed the government's decision to lower coven 19 restrictions. but we also know that the covered 19 c'mon countenance of africa is meeting over the weekend to determine whether or not they take those restrictions up. whether the president announces any changes to restrictions. but the level of infection have, has been low of the last couple of months, perhaps 400 cases over an entire week. and just now we're seeing about 2000 cases in the last day. so they is arise, a slow one. but one that signed to say they are taking note of ok. many. thanks for that from it. a miller there for us in johannesburg must tend to step vasa, who is an amsterdam steps? 61 passengers from south africa have tested positive the coven. 19 in the

netherlands. what else can you tell us? yes, there were 2 flights arriving after the flight band was announced on friday after the news about the ferry into has reached us all. and these 2 flights were basically stopped at the time. people have been waiting on this hallmark for hours . they were all tested, all $600.00 of them an hour later we found out that $61.00 passengers have tested positive at the moment the government deal. so these are testing more to see who of those 61 cases is infected with the new variance, we have no information about this so far. all the people who are positive are now quarantined in hotels near the airport. and this is the 1st time i have to say that an island has had such strict reaction to flights coming in. there was hardly any checks at the airport so far. pci tests were not needed before departing from south africa. no quality was needed anymore. that was all left, but at the moment,

all of these restrictions are back. and presumably the timing couldn't be, was given, the surgeon covered the country is facing already. absolutely . we have daily figures of more than 20000 infections here in a relatively small country. last night on friday night, the prime minister has announced a more serious lockdown. it's still according to many to lenient because it's only an evening locked out after 5 pm starting tomorrow on sunday. everything except for non essential shops should be close. but of course, there's also a concern among people in the cultural sector, people who are working at night a lot of economic doubtful or disadvantages will come from this new evening locked down. so people in the balance of really the fight it under our protest regularly. and we've seen the riots that last week you saw a process on friday evening and we are expecting more in the next few days. step

musson in amsterdam. thank he, let's go live now to po brennan, who's in london for us. pull this news of this new there in is arriving on the scene as europe is already seeing. big increases in cases are locked down like in the netherlands as a result of the delta variance. i wonder how the news of this new variance is going to go down. well, with huge alarm, certainly among health professionals and senior politicians, as you say, the, the european continent has been struggling, frankly, as the winter has approached and people start huddling in doors, it was always predicted that the winter would mean a spike in cases a. but we're talking about cases of the did the delta variance, not this new variant that's on the horizon. so as you say, we've got a new lock down in the netherlands. austria is now in the midst of its 1st 10 day locked down,

expected to be extended to 20 days. germany and switzerland are also resisting locked downs, but they're seeing big increases in the, in the data. here in the u. k, we had in excess of 50000 new infections just in the 24 hours of friday, and a 160 new deaths in those 24 hours. not a new record at the moment that there is of resistance to impose new locked down to one of the reasons for that resistance was expressed by the chief medical officer professor sir chris witty. who said, it is not convinced that the public will entirely go with you locked down. so he said, look, can we still take the people with us after such a long period where freedoms have been curtailed and where we've seen evidence across europe in the protests anti vaccination anti lockdown protests of people who are against vaccination and against locked downs, becoming ever more willing to resort to violence and unrest in the streets. many, thanks to that poll brennan in london. let's get some avenues. the u. s. says it's

greatly concerned about the escalating conflicts in ethiopia and ass cold for urgent negotiations. the state department statement follows a phone call between the sexy of states and kenya's president. it gave him prime minister abbey at med, has joined the army on the front lines against the to grand rebels from the north. he said his forces are making gains. government declared state of emergency and yet this month let's go to samuel get to choose of independent journalist and addis ababa, subtle. is it fair to say relations between the u. s. and if you're getting increasingly strange over how prime minister be met is humbling this crisis since the beginning of the bite in administration. the relationship between these and washington dc has really suffered specially this conflict has really progress forward the job and government and lots of ethiopian,

including the task for us will reside in the us. choosing the bite and administration of siding with a t p and left, which they accuse of being a terrorist organization. there was a large station and money town within the us and canada and europe. really showing that, you know, in the open of their misgivings, when it comes to the government has been biden. and jeffrey feltman with a new job that has gotten himself and i mean facing endless difficulties then speaking to different doctors and senior my son, independence source that really wants to bring peace in ethiopia. but there doesn't seem to be any compromise from both sides. both sides are looking at military solution and the state of the peaceful solution that become nina and invoice talked about saying there is a small window of opportunity and that seems to be closing. war fighting is

reported in many parts of the country. what is the latest in terms of the fighting? the prime minister med says that his forces have been making gains. is that the case? well, that's what the prime minister said, and he said they have captured a new village. and yet to capture a few more including end worker and the prime minister's call. busy to go to the bottom, gone, then defend the foundation of this country has really been hurt by the young people that are to be signed up to go and fight and depend their interest with the not be summer by quiet. people are busy. the co pays are busy as well. the speech, the topics are busy and many people are heading to. 2 you know, the red coast, for example, giving blood to the soldiers showing their support to the fighting. that seems to have no end in sight. but again, you know,

within your bed there seems to be. 3 3 an interest conflict come to a conclusion, and that's what the prime minister has been saying that it will end based on and the job will bury the enemy. he has that. and he has also added saying that this is up on the independent, ethiopia, and that's what, what i'm saying, that if you'll get that the need west in prevention in the be likely we've seen in countries make perhaps, and libya and i've done this done and done it is in a position to solve problems as part of the larger vision of african problem african solution that has been endorsed by the african need in no import in trying to end this conflict. thank you for that, samuel got to to speak into from august about the bodies of 3 people have been found in a burned out building in the solomon islands capital,

where they have been days of writing the streets. if only our clients have attentions were main. hi, purchased a set 5 damaged property in the last 3 days. they want the prime minister of the region, accusing him of neglecting the south pacific nation. switching diplomatic allegiances from taiwan to china. sarah clark been following the story. these are the 1st confirmed fatalities after 3 days of looting and rushing across the capitol. they were, as you mentioned, found in the area of chinatown burn stool and chinatown is normally a very busy area. we believe that with the luck report for suggesting these may have been looted to record inside the store, which was set life and the last few days. and of course, a child time was considered the flash points, the main area with some of these anti government protests with targeting. they were targeting the chinese funded operations. and the chinese run stores because they

were grumpy and they're angry about the government decision in 2019 to give up their allegiance with taiwan instead, favoring a china. so the 1st reconfirm fatalities. we've also had on saturday, another development where the police have confirmed that they've arrested more than 100 people in relation to the last couple of days on rot related incident. so they haven't charged yet, but certainly they showing they want to move on this and we've got the prime minister. he, we still believe he's in hiding 50 resign protection and safety. we saw on friday, his house, his residence was targeted by not just people trying to fit the lives, but also loses that was contained but we still haven't heard from the prime minister in the last 24 hours or so. so the report suggests he's in hiding and we do have the a strain defense for the public interest there to try and restore some water in the capital honey. plenty more has all the news out including nigeria is offering free

vocational training for young people. a will it stop them from turning to armed groups and crime? and will tell you why there isn't much enthusiasm for this weekend's parliamentary elections in cag stone and in sport, barcelona new coach has a test ahead of him, as he prepared for his 1st away match details with foreign late in the program. ah, french president emmanuel mccaul has accused the british prime minister boris johnson of not being serious about migration in the english channel. the french have also disinvited the u. k. from a european crisis meeting. the latest deterioration in relations between the neighbors. days after at least $27.00 refugees and migrants drowned off the coast of northern france. joining us from london is molly gave a lecturer at university of essex. her work focuses on refugee and immigration

policies. thank you for speaking to us in the program. there is clearly a blame game going on between france and the u. k. but who is responsible for the death of these migrants rights group say, burson has been taking increasingly harshest stands against asylum seekers, even threatening to push boats back to weds france is this part of the problem? so one of the problems is that you k is not taking efforts to buy the rights to asylum seekers were arrive in the u. k. and another problem is that france is also not protecting rights of refugee. so neither country is really providing the rights that refugees need are in france. refugees often can't access basic necessities like housing and shelter. they end up living on the streets or in calais, and so they risk their lives trying to reach the u. k. but they can't reach the u. k. safely, because there are no visas where they can access safe transport to the u. k. and so

this leaves the tragedy that we saw. now, france has said that these people don't want to be in france, say it because the language barrier and other reasons. if france did more to encourage them to stay in france, is that a way forward? do you think? absolutely, the problem isn't just that france isn't doing more to encourage them. it's that france is actively making it so that refugees can't access basic necessities ran so according to french law, if you're in a silent seeker, you should have access to housing and food while you're waiting for your asylum claim to be processed. but france has intentionally not provided a budget to ensure that refugees aren't homeless. so for example, the french parliament recently agreed to allocate a budget for 4 and a half 1000 homes for refugees. but there are 50000 refugees who have just recently

been applying for asylum and you have situations where refugees not only live without homes, but if they try to set up a tent on the streets, police will slash the 10, destroy it, and confiscate sleeping bags. so the government is actively trying to course individuals to leave the country, and that's one of the reasons that they risk their life trying to cross the channel . and one thing, the 2 countries agree on, is the smugglers. they both blame the smugglers, but these smugglers, of course, responding to a need. if that need didn't exist, we would need these smugglers. so what is the solution? so one solution is to provide more rights to refugees and not only france in the you k, but to refugees. we're living in transit countries like lebanon, jordan, kenya, ethiopia, we know that when refugees have access to schooling,

good employment shall journey attrition day. have one less incentive to pay smugglers to try to reach wealthier countries, and another solution is to avoid criminalizing all smugglers. so, when a smuggler is deciding how to transport migrant, they think themselves well, they're likely to get arrested if they're caught. either way, whether they provide safe passage or unsafe passage. so smugglers just decide to try to place as many migrants as possible and so they can not get caught and provide as few passages as possible. and that's exactly what places migrants at risk. government should focus on targeting and arresting smugglers who are culturally negligent, who failed to provide secure boats and over crowd boats, creating an incentive for smugglers to provide only safe passage. and this can also reduce the number of individuals who died during the journey. so they should provide more aid to transit countries like lebanon and jordan,

and can jani yoga to give refugees lesson incentive to pay smugglers. and they should focus on targeting those smugglers who actually endanger refugee lives and not arresting smugglers who provide safe passage on a really interesting to get your thoughts. molly gover lecture at the university of essex. this is in chi gastorm will return to the polls on sunday for rerun of last year's parliamentary elections. the results of that vote sparked a revolution that unseated the government. and so former prisoners saw their job of win the presidency by a landslide chapel of now needs to gain a broader legitimacy and deliver on his promise. a fat elections, famous ravi reports from the capital biscuit, still before election, day freezing temperatures. another hurdle for people in the city of bish kept going to the polls to vote in parliamentary elections. turn out is expected to be

dangerously low. in kurdistan, doubts over the legitimacy of elections can quickly turn into violent protests, discontent over rising prices. the slow pace of promise change, frustrations that rural and urban voters share. at a memorial dedicated to care gives people killed and past revolutionists. many say they won't vote this time. the gap and trust between them and their leaders too wide to cross is found unless they know luminous. what makes us feel sorry is that laws are not working. even if we say this to the authorities, the legal system doesn't work. they don't listen to us. even if we have our own coal, our own gold, our own water, we are not in control of our resources. this is why we don't trust any member of parliament or any president, we're against all of them. those in the president's inner circle say it's too soon to pass judgment and undoing decades of corruption. we'll take more time. care of as republic has grown up in missouri, adults in the room. and so it will be

a very confident and competent government, and our main goal is to improve efficiency of the state. it's not going to be easy, but also a re accept. i accept the skeptical domestic opinion to make lasting change. the president will need support in parliament. the election will seek here. these people vote in 90 new m p 's down from a 120. but even in it's we can state as a smaller part of a new shared system of power kurdistan. parliament matters, had looked at, bought up, came out to power off following controversial events last year. and she needs to gain abroad and legitimacy within society. if he can deliver on his promise to conduct fair elections on an ensure that that parliament ever presents society as a whole, he might enjoy legitimacy for a longer period of time, sufficient for him to conduct the reforms that hip fixed. the government is keen to

avoid the violence of protests of the past and with pulls due to open on sunday. the country security service says it's rounded up 15 suspected qu plotters allegedly planning an armed overthrow of the government. the raids a show of strength seen by many as a warning to any one hoping to contest election results on the streets. a rubber stamping parliament marched towards one man rule preservation of democracy for voters. right now, these kinds of political concerns are secondary to more basic needs. this country is in the grips of an energy crisis. and throughout the campaign, voters have been asking all the candidates the same question. what is being done to make sure there is enough power for them to stay warm? because winter is coming and days before the election winter is already here. zane bas ravi ultra 0 michigan, ukraine's president vladimir to lensky says his security services have uncovered a russian bite plot to overthrow his government. without elaborating on the details,

lensky toll journalist, the key was planned for next week. he added, one of ukraine's wealthiest man was involved. the kremlin has flatly denied the allegations. it adds to the recent tension about a russian ministry build up on ukraine's. buddha to 1000000 found much better. so just love nation desirable. did the job. me put a little. i cannot that not only do we have the information, but we even have audio recordings of representatives of ukraine. let's call them that discussing with, let's call them representatives of russia occur in ukraine. charl stratford has more on the story. this is the town about the car, about 3 kilometers from the front line. it seen so very heavy shelling and fighting in the mall. 7 and a half years since this conflict started. many of the residents have played, and many of them say the situation is got even worse in recent weeks since the reported build off of tens of thousands of russian troops on the russian side of

the border. we in the last half an hour. so have heard what sounds like shelling in the distance. many of the residents here are increasingly angry with the president . they say that he is not doing enough to protect them, and he's not making as much of an effort as he promised to end this war. lucia would you still live in st. louis was cell and today as the read every day, the situation has definitely got worse and there is shooting was heavy weapons. not just mal arm so much, nearly 8 years and no one can solve this fiction. the former president, he promised to end the war in 2 weeks and the same rubbish from president lamp. okay, what he said, come to the election and $29.00. if you get a vote for me and i will finish ever since in a year. mamma, but did he, of course not. russia is stalson denying that it has any plans whatsoever for the invasion of ukraine. indeed it is. describing reports in the international media is

such as being nothing short of hysterical, but meanwhile, there seems to be no real prospect for a lasting political solution to this conflict. laserderm skin also new. let's start the war, but he promised to finish it. and people believed him. things that god even was now . children in the elderly di from mothers and fathers, a forced to shelter in that basement. lensky needs to negotiate with putin and the separatists. neal. mr. sit down and talk otherwise, how can the pieces all was and through negotiations. so start russia accuses ukraine, had not sticking to its part of the to agreement and agreement signed in 2015. that stipulates that ukraine gives special political status to the air is controlled by the pro russian separatists. many of the ukrainian government say that that would potentially give russia to greater hand in ukrainian affairs. meanwhile, the ukrainian presence determination to eventually get nato membership for ukraine

continues, and that is something that the russian president seems determined to stop, shall strap it out. his era of the still head on al jazeera france postpones a contentious cove anointing policy off to a furious response in the french caribbean. on guadalupe lanka stops a shipment of fertilizer from china to test reveal it contains home for bacteria, uninstalled, european champions, italy and christiano. rinaldo is portugal i'll put on a collision course ahead of next year's welcome cut off. ah hello there, let start in europe and a rare red weather alert has been issued for more than areas of the u. k. that's

thanks to storm are when that's blowing down. bringing some very strong winds and an arctic blast to parts of east in scotland on the north east of england. and those conditions are going to head south that is going to turn rather chilly across the west and central areas with the temperature coming down. now across the south, if it's not winter, it is wet, particularly across that southeast corner. now let's have a look at that alert for the north west. we could see wind gusts across scotland and the northeast of england reach up to a 130 kilometers per hour. and that brings its own concerns with it. but we are seeing the snow sleet and the rain pull down for the south. northern areas of france, i'm going to get rather chilly on saturday, and a lot of the heavy snow can be found in poland. by the time we get to sunday for much of scandinavia however, it is wintry with snow flurries. either this northern areas of spain yon going to see some heavy snow fall over the next few days up to him. nisa expected in places no farther east of this. it is wet and windy. indeed. across much of the

mediterranean, with heavy rain for western parts of italy and greece, we could see some flooding of the next few days. ah, the latest news, as it breaks it in the brazilian rainforest means these areas are now emitting more carbon dioxide than they're absorbed with detail coverage, kind of free like silly because if it's a geographic conditions has an enormous advantage from around the world. what's happening here is local farming communities, using simple methods to solve a complex environmental problem. in the country with an abundance of results for the red bar and walk indonesia whose turns forming we move to grow and fraud. we balance.