on counting the costs, all micron puts oil and stock markets into a spin and the global economy baffled through another. cobit set back with a green hydrogen hats, but clean energy of the future. and the billionaires, broadcast isn't big bucks of india's i. p o. pretty counting the costs on al jazeera ah, the gambia counts votes cost us marbles after a presidential election seen as a test of democracy in the west african country. ah, i don't have a room for the good. this is al jazeera, alive from doha, also coming up, visiting saudi arabia. the french president says that he'll walk with gulf countries to resolve the diplomatic crisis with lebanon. south africa works the scale of fractionation, sustie, omicron varian tribes, a 4th wave of code,

19 infections. and christmas chia lights up the occupied westbank city of bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of jesus. ah, early results were expected on sunday after guardians voted in election seen as a test for its transition to democracy. turned out was high as people decided if president adama bato deserves another tom out 0 as i would address report style from the capital. bungee will cast his vote away. that in this tightly contested election, there could be surprises. but the president, any support is accounting only divided opposition to achieve victory or i am doing pretty much supporting disgruntled, everybody knows not even your digital is you remember born with hearing the other borrower is challenged by the leading architects of the coalition. but ended in the

victory of ice per desa ya, 5 years ago. they also voted and i confident of women. when i want to say that i have gotten my, what i'm didn't, there does to god it is it to him. this election is significant in many aspects, from the record number of candidates to the nearly a 1000000 people who registered to vote. sir, man boss, says the difference between the 2016 election and this one is clear. if ceiling a fia was there one, this one has no feeling of fear. for my own honest that for my own of them is and doesn't mean anything for you as a voter. yeah, it means something. yes. because then somebody if he had a guy lou settings, which is not in line with his own desire for 1st time for to howard demi, it's a dream come true. it's been nice. wooden pretty since then. people, since i was

a tell, i wanted to vote because he did rooting. feel like i said, 14140. as in all previous elections since 1947, a unique system is used traditional models along with a drum and bell inside. this could be the last time the marble system of voting is used in the gambia with the list of candidates going, it's becoming increasingly expensive to produce ballard boxes for each candidate. and in all of the countries, 1500 colon bazzi. the election commission wants to adopt paper ballots in the next vote, because the system that a sockless country for more than half a century is no longer sustainable. turned out across the country was impressive, and the process largely peaceful. people are enjoying greater freedom. they, you know, they have seen the value of elections as a means to piece because gamers,

our so, you know, very canopies love in, but also love me that the result of the election is expected within 24 hours of paul's closing. on saturday night, ahmed edris al jazeera by jewel, the gambia security forces have been deployed a central molly after 31 people were killed in an ambush. a truck was sprayed with bullets and set on fire in the town of ma, teeth, women, and children are among the victims. central. molly's become one of the most violent areas in the fight against armed groups linked to iso at al qaeda. if he appears prime minister has called on young people fighting for the to gray people's liberation front to surrender, and not to take part in what he called a war without a goal. fighting is now said to be limited to areas between the towns of batty and dca. the government says that it's making progress that has captured more towns from the rebels who had been fighting for more than a year. but their leader denies that his troops withdrawing and says that the

government is engaged in war propaganda of z i. v. in war there is progress and regression. this is the nature of war. there are sites that we have seized, and others that we've evacuated. and within the framework of the strategy that we set, we withdrew from some positions and we deployed. this is not because of military pressures changing these positions was our decision. france and saudi arabia have held a joint phone call with lebanon's prime minister in what's seen a significant gesture towards resolving a diplomatic crisis. the call was made the french president money on my cron, visited saudi arabia, 2 trips to the u, a. e and cut off the kingdom and the other gulf states withdrew the ambassadors from bay route last month, angered by a government minister who criticized the saudi lead war in the oven. the minister resigned on friday with saudi arabia and france also issued a joint statement, calling on lebanon's needed to work on comprehensive reforms. they want action on

corruption, finance, energy, and border control. many mccrendon has been sold on, also agreed to work on a humanitarian plan for lebanon's people. it's grinding economic crisis has left 3 quarters of the population in poverty. sedans, military chief says the army will leave politics after elections that are scheduled for 2023 general until fatter. alba, hong offered the assurance. during one of several interviews he gave with international news agencies on saturday. behind let the military takeover in october before a deal was struck last month to reinstate the prime minister and was at yahoo when a government is elected, the armed forces and all organized security groups, i believe will have no participation in political matters. this is what we agreed upon and this is the army natural situation for the armed forces to carry out its duties. because there will be a government elected by the sudanese people that expresses their will and hope

the number of new daily coated 19 cases in south africa is nearly quadrupled in just 4 days. more than 16000 infections were recorded on saturday compared with 4300 on tuesday. it's underscore and concerns about the contagious nurse of a new over chrome variant from johannesburg. i'll just serious for me to mila, explains how the government bears responding. by encouraging more vaccinations. this is one of a few 100 vaccination centers in the house and province in south africa. and how ting has been hardest hit by the rise in coven, 19 infections. between 70 and 80 percent of new infections across of africa in this province alone. and that is why authorities are saying that people need to get out and get vaccinated. there has been some level of vaccine hesitancy, about 42 percent of people who are eligible for

a vaccine have actually taken that up. but that number dropped to about 36 percent for people who have taken up 2 doses, who are fully vaccinated. the government has set up a number of drives, door to door awareness campaigns, trying to create awareness around why the vaccine is important, especially because so little is known around the army kron variance. and the greatest concern there is just how easily it spreads. and that is being reflected in the spike in numbers that south africa is experiencing. one area of concern, while hospitalizations of people has remained relatively low, a number of young children under the age of 5 or having to be admitted to hospital now becoming ill after contracting cove. at 19 this recruiting the number of students 12 to 17 since it was open to that age group a month or so ago that have come in now for, for the vaccinations coming in with the parents coming in as families. so there has

been that we have the mon, optical, a number of infected, a kids at the surrounding schools over years where i think say exercising portia a week ago this vaccination center had about 50 or 60 people coming through every day. and now that number has doubled, so that is encouraging for people trying to make sure that south africans are getting vaccinated. but we've also been to several vaccination centers in this province. some entirely empty, some with people trickling through and others more busy. so they're still an issue around vaccine hesitancy, but certainly a significant proportion of the sub african population has been swooped by this new army con variant. and more people are coming out to get a job. more than 15 european countries have confirmed cases of the omicron variable, but there's persistent opposition to the reintroduction of measures to slow rising cobit 19 infections. thousands marched peacefully through the dodge city of utrecht . the government imposed a partial lockdown 3 weeks ago at

a since tightened it to the case number's being at their highest since the pandemic began. well, it's a similarly star picture in germany which reported another $64000.00 infections on saturday. outgoing chancellor, anglo merkel made this appeal to those resisting vaccinations as she prepares to leave office with the thing alone. please allow me to day to say one last time. what is of the utmost importance to me these days? we are in a 4th wave of the pandemic in a very serious situation. in some parts of the country, you can only describe it as dramatic overfilled intensive care units, severely ill. people who have to be flown across germany to get the care they need be good for a little bit as that is why i appeal to you again urgently and take the malicious virus seriously. right now, the new omicron variant seems to be more infectious than the previous ones. get yourself vaccinated. it doesn't matter if it is a 1st shot or

a booster. every vaccine helps renew, and in a straight. meanwhile, opponents of coven 19 vaccines protested as rivals who support the jams rarely to gillian wolf reports. calling for their freedom in melbourne. large clusters of people on the streets of one of the shrilly is biggest cities waving the flags of many countries. demonstrators who now call us truly a home demand, a reopening of their communities, but oppose a mandatory vaccine teacher for 30 years. and vaccination was always a voluntary thing for parents and kids to make it compulsory teams. the kids we have to just learn to live with this and get all the things my conscious keeps locking us down. just because it's a new variance must be in your variance, you're going to realize is the freedom joseph social responsibility really, which largely clues of borders when the corona virus panoramic began is now dealing

with an outbreak of the omi chrome barrier. and the new emergency is further testing government efforts to boost the economy. following covey locked down. i expect us to see the spread community spread within australia and other parts of the world, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing because it will give us a lot of opportunity to, to understand how this variance works in highly vaccinated countries. in the state of victoria were full vaccination has become mandatory to access most things. it is the and vaccinated who make up the majority of people in hospital with cove it. but most of the trillions are in support of vaccine jobs. with nearly 90 percent of everyone over 16 being fully vaccinated. at the moment there's lots of anger after this covert crisis and i think it's being directed at the wrong side . we're seeing, you know, health care workers being talked, you know, bookshop workers and it's really important. i think that we say actually the

majority of us did support is health restrictions. that saves millions of people's lives. and the majority of us actually do stand in social solidarity with each others. oh, for a country who's covered rates pale in comparison to other developed nations. for these australians, the time to return to normal is long overdue. gillian wolf, al jazeera. in the news ahead, russia is accused of weapon ising, its energy resources to put more pressure on ukraine. and i'm world mcbride in western afghanistan where they've just finished harvesting the world's most expensive spies in a country. that right now is among the world's most economically unparalleled. ah look forward to brighter skies. the winter sponsored my cattle at ways.

hello there. the topical psycho and that seemed brewing in the bay of bengal weekend as it approach the north eastern coast of india. but we still have warnings out for places like a dish. we're expecting heavy rain and strong winds. we could see up to 200 millimeters of rain fall in places. and with that there's a significant flood risk. now the remnants of that system are going to push across to the north east entering bangladesh. by the time we get in some mondays, a heavy rain expected here, edging as well in simeon law as we go later into the week. but for the rest of india, it's largely fine and dry. if you spotty showers up in the north, down in the south. we are seeing some heavy rain but not as heavy as it has been recently. so the show is edging into western areas of sri lanka for pakistan. it's largely fine and dry lots of sunshine. we will see some snow showers edging down into northern india and internet. paul now is the head across the east asia,

largely fine and dry for much a china. it's going to change in the northeast. we've got a bit of a wintry mix coming into play. that's going to blow down into the korean peninsula . some of that heavy snow entering north korea, but it stays largely fine and dry in the south. its west, however, in southern parts of japan. but there'll be sunshine in tokyo on monday. oh, with sponsored by casara, always. the latest news, as it breaks, governments in the region are using security forces to clamp down on protests, instead of protecting their countries against armed attacks with detailed coverage in the absence of any hod dates are on how wide spread overland fioma con variant is scientists urging caution from around the world. political observers argue his government has led a dismantling of democratic institutions. lou

ah, hello again. this is al jazeera. let's remind you of the may news. the saw early results were expected on sunday. off the gambles voted in the election that scene as a test for its transition to democracy, turned out was high as people decided if president obama bato deserves on the top. france and saudi arabia held a joint phone pole with lebanon and what seen as a significant gesture towards resolving a diplomatic crisis. gulf states withdrew ambassadors from bay roof last month, after a government minister criticized the saudi. let war in the m, the south african government is working to scale up cove at 19 vaccinations that you all the con, variances driving another wave of infections with a number of new daily cases really quadrupling in just 4 days. billy 2000

uganda and soldiers of now crossed into the democratic republic of congo to fight alongside troops. that it's part of a joint operation against an armed group, which is bringing violence to both countries. al jazeera, katya lopez, holly on reports. soldiers from 2 countries on the hunt for one common enemy. troops from uganda have joined their counterparts and democratic republic of congo, hoping that together they'll defeat rebels from the allied democratic forces or 80 f among their targets. as the deer sees missouri, mountains were the armed group establish itself more than 25 years ago. okay, so are you gotten to the allies carried out an air strike across our border earlier this week? now together with our dear c, troops were on the move on a mission to push out the rebels in the region. it's an unusual collaboration

between uganda and the d r c, but both governments say the adf poses a threat. they can't afford to ignore. the armed group is accused of having links to isolate and killing hundreds of people, village rates, and northeastern democratic republic of congo noble and uganda, blended for suicide bombings, last month. and it's capital kampala. oh, we're very happy. both governments are working together. we've suffered and cried because of all the security and killings we supported and encouraged both armies. villages like these often bear the brunt of the violence after entire communities have been misplaced, and regional leaders fear the fighting could spill over to other neighboring countries. we promised that the people uganda and houston yoshi and the people viashi's that there are a drinking product. we are looking for the killers. ugandan troops stay there.

prepare to stay in the dear sea until the rebel group is pushed out. but critics fear the presence of foreign troops could lead to more and rest, and perhaps also lead to the rise of other armed groups. katya loved missile. the young al jazeera security forces of shot and killed a palestinian man who police say, stabbed in israeli before attempting to attack others. it happened just outside damascus, gate and occupied east jerusalem. video appears to show as rarely police pointing their gongs of paramedics, preventing them from treating the palestinian israeli stabbing victim was treated as now in hospital. harry's forces has more from the sea. well please say that this was a stabbing attack or they released cctv video of a palestinian man walking across or the crossing behind us here. and then being followed by an ultra orthodox his railey man, the policy man turned and started striking the ultra orthodox man. it was impossible to see from those which is whether or exactly what he had in his hand,

but police say that this was a stabbing the man. then confronted is ready, security forces. he was shot and fell to the ground as what took place. after that though, which is provoked such outraged, especially among palestinian social media, they continued to fire at him from several meters away as he lay almost motionless on the ground. now these really prime minister natalie bennett, has praised the security forces, saying that they acted with speed and did what was expected of them. however, one of his own ministers, this is a broad coalition government, a left wing minister, a palestinian israeli himself has expressed concern call from investigation, said the plea should only fire to save life, not to take life. and there are calls from the opposition saying that this was an extra judicial killing. us defense secretary lloyd austin says that his country is committed to making sure that ukraine has what it needs to protect itself. the u. s . ukraine and european allies accused washer of building up forces on its western

border to threaten its neighbor. the kremlin denies this. i think there's a lot of space here for her, for the policy and leadership to work. and again, we're going to remain engaged with our, our allies and our region, and our partners in the region. and, and we're going to continue to do everything we can to help provide ukraine a capability to protect the sovereign territory. russia has stopped exporting coal to ukraine, saying that it needs it to cover high demand at home. ukraine depends upon russian coal to keep its lights on. but as long accused moscow of using energy as a weapon, i'll just, dearest charles strafford reports now from tourette's. home line close to the front line in easton, ukraine. wind, such as this one, have helped fuel industry and the don bass region and across what was the soviet union for over a century. but ukraine remains dependent on russia to meet its energy needs,

especially coal, which is vital for fueling ukrainian pow stations in 2014 pro russia, separatists seized control of the majority of the mines. further depleting, ukraine's access to call decades of neglect means much of the mines infrastructure is close to collapse. the bottle, do you know, is your thought, the equipment we have is from 958, lack of investment and government negligence is one of the reasons why we face a shortage that things could be difficult this winter. another problem is that russia caught ukraine's coal supply last month. russia has recently stopped exporting coal to ukraine, saying that there's just too much domestic internal demand for the natural resource . some analysts are describing this is nothing short of blackmail. and an effort by russia to weapon eyes, it's vast, natural resources as

a means of putting pressure on ukraine. and it's not just cold that russia is using to try and control your grain. these a gas pipelines similar to those that transport russian gas across ukraine to europe. europe relies on russia for around 35 percent of its energy needs. and grain gets paid transit fees, which were around 2000000000 dollars last year. for those days, on nearly over the north stream to pipeline, which is expected to be opperation next year, bypasses ukraine, instead transporting gas from russia to germany under the baltic sea russia right to we divide euro for russia, better energy relations. ready was different states separately rather than with then go the european union from your perspective, this means that russia will have has free to this to belie

station in. ready between more actively germany has warned russia not to use its gas exports as a weapon, but has been criticized by other european states and ukraine for exposing here to more economic pressure for moscow. so analysts say, russia's aim of trying to keep ukraine in expire of influence is impossible. it is simply not possible to have that sort of control away our neighbors. we've all with investing huge resources military as well as economy. because in the end, as i see on bracey, i think it moscow and age to modify its aids because we're simply not really winter is just beginning kia is so worried about the potential electricity blackouts that it's been forced to start importing coal from as far away as the us and columbia. so let's say economic, an energy pressure from russia will continue,

because the whole ukraine talks about future nato and e u membership. the more moscow sees read charles rabbit al jazeera tor esque eastern ukraine. farmers and western i've canister of just finished harvesting flowers, the produce saffron. it's the most expensive spice of this corner of the world makes some of the best offering hope in a country that's teetering on the brink of economic disaster. notice here is rob mcbride reports now from the fields of her out in the fields of her at the end of the saffron harvesting, is often marked by children from nearby villages coming to pick what's left for pocket money for there is real value in these small purple flowers of the crocus family that yield the world's most expensive spice. since its introduction from neighboring iran, saffron cultivation has boomed in this province in recent years,

and its value to afghanistan given its current economic plight, has never been more important. for saffron produces the turmoil of the taliban takeover has caused disruption for the shipping and banking services they need for exports. but they say at least there isn't the same corruption. they faced under the old government mexican economy. problems of the banking system are a big issue for businesses, but i think we face list bureaucratic interference and the long term i'm optimistic about the future. extracting the precious filaments from the flowers, processing the individual threads to remove impurities, then sorting them into different grades requires painstaking attention. it's a role traditionally carried out by women. while men do the work in the fields, despite concerns they taliban might try to stop women from working produce as we

spoke, to say there's been no problems so far and that's good for the wider social significance of this spice or in the last couple of decades it's been promoted as an alternative to growing poppies for the opium trade. a trend helped by saffron's rising international price. and of course, there will be some interest from the other problem anyway, they see that the price is really high. of course, there is a debt bring also the honda, the contribution of the flooring, the thought from as a lucrative alternative to puppy production. saffron cultivation was encouraged across afghan is done by the previous administration. it stands as one of its more successful legacies. but the vast majority of the country, saffron and the best quality spice still originates from the fields of had us. its been recognized by international awards as among the best in the world. and most of

the stuff that i export to more than 27 countries, and i know that suffering can change the economic face of i've gone this time and i know the soil and other provinces will also produce a fraud. placing such trust in the powers of one tiny flower may be hoping for too much. but this is a country in need of any little help right now. rob mcbride, al jazeera herat africa, and this done. a giant christmas tree has been lit up in the occupied westbank city of bethlehem, where christians believe jesus was born faithful, gathered outside the church of the service. he hoping that covert 19 doesn't ruin another holiday season just here is neither. abraham was there as the lights went on the be the best i did these in 2009 ever. this is 50 that had hit that door. is that because bob and beaver weren't even allowed to

with 3 lighting ceremony last year. but the day that differ in thousands and thousands of palestinians are here that these people are coming from different places from quantity occupied blood bag. oh, it is ready. this is one of the initiatives this year to revive the economy christmas market where people can sell their products as well as their crafts people. here in bethlehem have depended on tourism for decades. so naturally when tourism stopped, the economy took a hard hit. now, you know, christmas people looking to buy presents and the things are turning around, at least for the holidays. people are willing to spend more to try and bring some bright brightness and hope into the house and have like a happy holiday. so i think during this time people will spend, even if you know it's a bit difficult for them, palestinians do not control their own borders,

so they have to rely on what restrictions israel has in place november. israel has allowed vaccinated tours to come in and so people here were hopeful that tourism is going to be back. but soon after news of the new barian has emerged, israel has shut down its borders again. people here are saying that while they're glad that there is some sense of normalcy coming back to town, especially during the christmas season. it's the tours and that's going to revive the economy. ah, it is good to have a with us hello adrian, for the here in doha, the headlines and al jazeera early results are expected on sunday after guardians voted in an election seen as a test for its transition to democracy. turner was high as people decided if president adama barrow deserves another term al jazeera, but address reports from the capital banjo. b china, grocery.