biggest ever sporting event next year, i'm to the castle national seems like get used to playing in front of expected home crowds really hoping to convince both the fans and themselves that they really are ready to take on the world. ah the u. k. reports record number of coded cases with the government warning. the omicron variant is set to drive a staggering serge. ah, lauren taylor, this is al jazeera live from london, also coming up u. s. president joe biden visits kentucky days after tornadoes killed more than 80 people in the region. iran agrees to allow you and cameras at one of its sensitive sites during talk same that reviving the nuclear deal. and vladimir putin and

changing ping hold virtual talks. as western nations oppression moscow over its truth build up on ukraine's border. ah, the u. k is reported its highest number of daily code infections since the start of the pandemic, more than 78000 cases were confirmed on wednesday. from mister barish, johnson is this, the country's bush to roll out will be enough to fight the new more transmissible omicron variant. but health officials, a warning cases and hospitalizations, will reach new highs in the coming weeks. the doubling rate of our micron in some regions is now down to less than 2 days. and i'm afraid i, we're also seeing the inevitable increase in hospitalizations up by 10 percent nationally. we call weak and up by almost a 3rd in london. but we are also seeing signs of hope,

but since we launched our emergency omicron appeal on sunday night, a great national fight back has begun. and people have responded with an amazing spirit of duty and obligation to others. and i will say that each and every one of you who rows up your sleeve to get jabbed is helping this national effort. this is a really serious threat at the moment, the how big a threat. there are several things we don't know. but all the things that we do know a bad, and the principal one being the speed of which this is moving, it is meeting an absolutely phenomenal pace. and therefore, between the time that it 1st starts to really take off in a way people will be able to see. and the point when we get to very, very, very large numbers will be quite a short on angie's image has been falling developments from london as the number of infections from the on the chrome virus skyrocket. the reputation of forest johnson

is diving. a 100 m p. 's rebelled against his party in the house of commons on tuesday nights. voting against new rules, which will mean cove. it passes a used night clubs, a larger venues. the motion passed through eventually, but not without damaged. the prime minister and prime ministers questions on wednesday. this is what the labor leader had to say. the british public are looking for a prime minister with the troughs, a meal 40 to lead britain through the prices. instead, with bird, with the worst possible prime as the worst possible thought, johnson tried to defend himself and didn't acknowledge with our members whose party fell with civil liberties. would stay with the new regulations ride the way across europe. new measures were being taken to try to stem the level of increases in the on the chrome variant. but here in the u. k, there's a question mark over the prime minister's authority to try to get any further moves

made to try and protect the public. and that's something that has a lot of concern about european commission that president osha from the lion says scientists expect coming from to be the dominant strain in europe by the middle of january. but from the line has warned, the block is still battling a high number of delta cases. montoya in east ferguson with our guns. misty is as it might in baton. it seemed that one should not forget, or it's always important to consider that this high increase in new infections is almost exclusively due to the delta variant. and what worries me is that we are now seeing on the crown on the horizon on, which is apparently even more contagious. i'm to him. if you look at the doubling of the number of new infections, that's just 2 or 3 days that's rapidly. and science tells us that by mid january, we can expect damacom to be the new dominant variant in europe. south africa has also reported a record number of new dated daily cove infections. almost 27000 new cases were

detected in the past 24 hours. health officials say the 4th way to infections is being driven by the, on the chrome variant, south africa, unless the world to a new strain in november or micron has since been found in 77 countries. and scientists are still working to determine its severity. ah, yes, president joe biden has arrived in kentucky state worst effected by fridays, devastating series of tornadoes across 6 states, at least 88 people were being killed and more than 100 is still missing. arden is expected to meet some of the survivors and state officials, tens of thousands of people without power, as warranties and emergency workers clear debris. and in illinois and investigation is on the way into the collapse of an out of warehouse that killed at least 6 people will speak to john henry, who's outside the warehouse in nashville, in nor shortly fast. that's pretty hard issue castro. she's in mayfield,

kentucky. and heidi, president biden is seen the tornado on the 1st hand. how's? he responded so far? that's why he just walked through these streets here mayfield kentucky a few minutes ago after 1st getting an area to or of this devastation and president, by his reaction to it. you said that this was catastrophic that were due by anyone who's laid eyes on this damage reeked by tornadoes. that the biggest, one of which was more than one kilometer in width and traveling more than 300 kilometers in distance, leaving behind like this. these were home the course this home here, lucky to not have been completely flat and like many of its neighbors and a bite and seeing this meeting with survivors. and also meeting with the governor of kentucky, the head of emma and others on the ground. here he vowed that the government would continue to step up with support for the thousands of people without homes than of

course, there are those who lost loved ones. the death toll in kentucky alone at $74.00 and the governor here saying he expects that total death. so after all of these homes have been search to surpass $100.00 and what will it take before the effect of communities back on their feet? right, this is just the beginning. i mean less than a week has passed since the tornadoes hit and already the streets of may field are filled with the sounds of heavy machinery removing the debris. sometimes there's even a traffic jam here with so many volunteers driving in with supplies or just pitching in their muscles to see what they can move, how they can help these home owners and business owners who have lost everything. but as far as rebuilding this put take years norm, because this is an entire community of several communities that were leveled by

this natural disaster. and that is why the president was saying that the support here, the help will be needed not just in the coming days, but perhaps in the coming years. i was request for. thank you very much indeed. so speak to john henderson edwards vill, illinois. john, as a federal investigation. now looking into conditions at the amazon plan, what's happening with as right. the occupational safety and health administration of federal agency is here to exactly what happened in the minutes before a tornado swept into the front of that amazon warehouse, killing 6 people and injuring one. what we know is that at about $8.00 oh, $6.00 to $816.00 on friday night, there were notifications given to the managers that there's plans that are tornado might be coming through this area. time in that period, they notified the workers to go to a designated tornado shelter. deep inside of that internal portion of that building

. this is an area that is cemented and a little more structured than the rest of the building. we know that most of those workers did go there, but the ones who were killed were in that front section. we know one of them. a platen, coke had told his family that he was going to go out and notify other people. the drivers in the trucks outside, for example, in case they hadn't heard the tornado sirens that go on in this area. he was among those killed. so the osha is going to look into whether amazon properly notified people, whether it should have shut down operations entirely. whether it should have told its drivers as it did take shelter in place, or whether maybe it should have done something else. 2 more protect those people. that's what osha is looking into. this is an investigation. it could take 6 months to bear any fruit, john 100. thank you very much. indeed. it's been a breakthrough. the iran nuclear talks in vienna. aaron's foreign minister says un

cameras will be allowed to film at a sensitive site. issue had been a sticking point during discussions to revive the landmark nuclear deal signed in 2015 dosage of our reports from vienna. put a more time on the clock for diplomacy. as the 5 permanent members of the un security council and germany resume another day of talks with the reigning officials in the austrian capital. this is the 7th round of negotiations between iran and signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal, as well as the united states. until now, these talks were barely progressing with each side accusing the other of not being serious about these talks. and one of the main sticking points for the europeans had been iran's compliance with the international atomic energy agency until now was off last night. we reached a good agreement with the i a e a that could address some of the alleged concerns about a rounds peaceful nuclear program,

and lead to continued mutual cooperation with the i. e. a. 2 series of texts are being discussed in vienna. the 1st is the result of 6 rounds of talks. at the same time, other parties have agreed to have iran's newly proposed texts on the table. so as to achieve single, concise text from discussions and combination of all of these. iran says the i e a will now be able to allowed to have cameras at one of its sensitive sites. the director general of the you and nuclear watchdog has had some serious concerns about the lack of access to what was taking place at a workshop. just outside to her on over where centrifuges are being made uses. but in june, 1 of the cameras was attacked and damaged. iranian officials accused israel of sabotage. then, iranian officials took all 4 i. e cameras, offline, and refused to allow inspectors to replace them. after signing the 2015 nuclear deal, iran also voluntarily agree to abide by additional protocols of the nonproliferation

treaty as a sign of goodwill. access to this workshop was part of that agreement. then in november of last year, whenever owns most high profile defense, nuclear officials was assassinated near its capital to her on the waiting officials, once again accused israel of being responsible for the attack, a charge, israeli officials, denied the killing cause such an outrage that consequently parliament passed the law which forced the government to withdraw from those additional protocols. now, with this technical agreement with the i, e a, there is hope that the talks here in vienna will get the push they need to move forward. and the practical sense it means that the, i e, again, will be able to monitor the production of centrifuge components. this is what the garage facility does. and the reason for doing this is for the i a e, a, you have a better handle on whether any centrifuge component might be taken away from garage

to be assembled into centrifuges at some secret site. the remaining signatories of the nuclear deal have been meeting since april to try and get the u. s. and iran to return to the agreement, which was aimed at limiting iran's nuclear program in exchange for economic benefits and sanctions relief. but in may of 2018, then u. s. president donald trump abandoned the deal and imposed more sanctions on her on terran, responded by reducing its commitments to the deal america. while the u. s. is not directly talking to raining officials here in vienna, there seems to be renewed optimism about the 7th round of talks. and now that the main issue between neuron than the i e seems to be resolved. it will be up to the americans to put forth what they're willing to do to convince ron to return to for compliance door. so jabari al jazeera vienna to lead on out 0.

germany's new chancellor would have shows briefs parliament the 1st time and warns russia will pay a heavy price if it invades ukraine and high rise rescue. hundreds of people saved when far breaks out in hong kong office town. ah hey there. here's her headlines for europe in africa, thursday, december 16th, we're going to see high pressure build toward the northwest. it's going to deflect systems around. so as the situation on thursday, watch what happens on friday. there's a disturbance pulling into iceland, but wall to wall sunshine here. bit of return flows. we got wind coming off the north sea that's going to drag temperatures down london, just a high of 7 degrees that's below average for this have the year. let's go to where the action is. the eastern med over turkey locked into gloomy conditions. here it's

what and windy and it's stumble. and for some that rain will turn to snow. so we're looking at all correct. nothing major actually. just mostly flurries or temperatures are below average here for the bulk in some cloud cover draped over this area. if we look around the black sea eastern portion, some showers and snow over the higher ground by far the best weather on the continent, iberia seville, 21 degrees is seen a bit more cloud cover. roll in lisbon, 15 and porto a high of 17 degrees. when this weather report in africa right now, few showers, trying to sneak into northern parts of libya and egypt. but things will stay dry in cairo with a high of 900 degrees, which is also a bit below average for this from the your mix of funding cloud on thursday. that's it. we'll see you soon. ah, ah co, cato culture of knowledge, openness and pluralism,

world wide. i'm to reward merit and excellence and encourage creativity. the shake ahmad award for translation and international understanding was formed to promote translation and honor translators, and acknowledged that road and strengthening the bonds of friendship. and co operation between arab islamic and wild coaches. ah, ah ah, or one of the top stories your knowledge a 0 u. k is reported its highest number of daily cobra infections in the pandemic. more than 78000 cases were confirmed on wednesday, and scientists in europe say only thrown away the dominant variant in the you by

the middle of january. yes, president joe biden has arrived in kentucky state worst affected by fridays, devastating series of tornadoes across 6 states, at least 88 people have been killed. and more than $100.00. a still missing has been a breakthrough. the iran nuclear talks in vienna. iran is foreign minister says un cameras will be allowed to film at a sensitive nuclear side issue had been a sticking point in efforts to revive the landmark deal. ukraine's president says strong sanctions against russia could help ease rising tensions between the 2 countries. uminski was speaking in brussels at the e use eastern partnership, summit, france and germany of the main brokers for peace between ukraine and russia. there are 100000 russian troops on its border with ukraine, stroking fears of a possible invasion. natasha butler's foreign developments from the french capital paris. well, according to the ally, say the french present

a manual. mcgraw met with ukrainian president voter may lensky on the sidelines of a summit in brussels. the 2 leaders discussed the situation in ukraine and their concern over russia's military build up on the border. we know that us intelligence officials have warned that the kremlin could be looking to attack ukraine. micro also brief lensky about a phone call that he had had on tuesday with the russian leader vladimir fusion. well, the 2 leaders within joined by the new german charles, the old f. sholtes. the 3 then committed to trying to find a durable and peaceful solution for the crisis. they all said that they were committed, of course, to safeguarding ukraine's territorial sovereignty. and they all said that they wanted to try and work to revive peace talks between russia and ukraine. along the

lines of the normandy format, in which france germany would act as mediators, german chancellor showed says his country is open to constructive dialogue with russia, but worn moscow that any further aggression against ukraine would have a high price. sholtes made the remarks in his 1st speech to parliament since his election as chancellor last week from the cane as more from ballad in terms of foreign policy priorities. mister schultz is pretty clear for him right now. it was important to stress that in eastern europe, and specifically with a message to moscow that any violation of ukraine's territorial integrity will be challenged by his government and by the rest of the european union. this is what he had to say to german politicians in parliament. he defended from terry to any violation of territorial integrity. we'll have a high price and we will speak with one voice here with our european partners and our transit atlantic allies. domestic policy is also very important for mister

schultz and his colleagues around the cabinet table. but the one pressing issue is move that covert and how to deal with cove is. we know that mr. shops is preferred . resolution is to get as many vaccines into people's arms as possible, whether that be 1st and 2nd, vaccines or the booster vaccine. but we also know that mister schultz believes that there should be some form of mandatory requirement. he's going to give members of parliament a free vote, not on party lines of free vote about what they should decides and that should come in the next few weeks months, but he wants whatever measures are agreed on to have teeth may be people who don't have vaccines might be find that's for the future, but for now, it's pretty clear he thinks coven dealing with his top priority. germany is expelled to russian diplomats over the murder of a chechen man in berlin. after court found the crime was ordered by the kremlin, a russian citizen has been sentenced to life in prison for carrying out the murder

to nick. it can go shri lee was shot dead at close range in a park on august. the 23rd 2019 police arrested a russian suspect later the same day. authorities say the killer entered germany on a fake, french issued passport. when all the leaders of russia and china have held video conference, the 2nd this year shooting pagan rhetoric, putin pledge to increase corporation of a trade energy and security. but a katrina, you reports from beijing, some in the west view, the deepening ties with suspicion. but it is, it is a virtual summit and show of solidarity the presidents of china and russia. she didn't ping and vladimir putin spoke for more than an hour on wednesday, hailing their close ties. voltaire the roll has undergone unprecedented changes. and upon damage in the last entry sign, a russian relations, how we do the terse of versa storms as low as the deep historical traditions of

friendship and a mutual understanding have allowed us to take our relations to the next breakthrough level. trade between china and russia. exceeded 115000000000 dollars this year, a new high. the leaders pledge to increase corporation on energy paging already relies on moscow from much of its minerals. oil and natural gas plans are underway for nuclear power stations. they're also coordinating on efforts to further space exploration and scientific innovation. chinese analysts say the relationship is now stronger than it's ever been fail, malone was ads, or that the 2 countries support each other in their core interests. for example, when it comes to china's core interests, those are territorial, integrity and sovereignty development and security. the meeting comes as both nations face mounting criticism for their policies at home and abroad. russia for a mass build up of troops on its border with ukraine, and china for increasing military activity near taiwan. a self,

rhode island dating claims as its own common interests as well as calling grievances have brought china and russia closer together. both face rising tensions with the u. s. and its allies, as well as accusations of human rights abuses, and birth hadn't re supporting each other as national state. officials in washington have under schooled a growing military threat from birth, russia, and china, putin. and she, you say they'll work more closely when it comes to security. they have conducted several joint exercises this year. moscow provides bating, with advanced weaponry, including fighter jets and missile defense systems. the u. s. is now completely focused on great power competition. after they left afghanistan, so there's a short window of opportunity. i think that both moscow amazing see before the u. s . military kind of gears up for this great power competition. and they're trying to explain that the leaders are known to share a good personal bond. several countries have declared diplomatic boycott. sedating

2022 winter olympics. but vladimir putin has confirmed his attendance. the only major leader to do so, so far, katrina, you are da 0. the jing laos extra estate has cut short, the 2nd leg of his se, asia talked her a journalist accompanying him on the trip, tested positive for code. 19, antony lincoln has been trying to firm up ties in the region account. china's influence is criticized beijing for its aggressive policies in the region. look at worthington and senior officials tested negative in quantum paul aid agencies. in arching a joint appeal, saying more than 8000000 people in afghanistan are on the brink of famine, and more than a 1000000 children under 5 could die. it's estimated that 75 percent of all government spending was funded by international donations before the taliban takeover. from mcbride to travel to kandahar in the south of the country, which is suffering food shortages. from early morning at this food distribution

center, they start lining up some of the thousands of afghans from this one district who now rely on their weekly rations from the world. food program to get by mohammed sharif is taking supplies back to his wife and 6 children. oh dear for charlie or 3rd or more thoughtful villa. it's very important to us. if we didn't get this ada, we'd go hungry. so we're grateful that we're dealing with warnings, that half afghanistan's population of nearly $40000000.00 and now going hungry hospitals. in kandahar city are seeing the results, the listless stairs at one will sometimes 2 babies per bed nurse lie loma and her staff are treating twice as many cases as normal. they were out okay. and that you more it, most of these mothers aren't producing milk and they don't have the money that,

how did milk? so most of these babies are around one year old, but they weigh less than 4 kilograms. only. that's about half the weight they should be. so what we thing is a feeding tube going into the stomach in the bed opposite the even tiny, a features of baby. sure reefer just 6 weeks old. and with a feeding tube, trying to increase her weight from an emaciated sweet kilos can to her province is walnut the worst affected by foods scarcity. but here as much of the country, it's also been hits not only by conflict, but the 2nd pole harvest in 4 years. it went almost unnoticed amid the turmoil of the taliban takeover. but this past year, afghanistan has suffered a severe drought affecting crops and livestock. it means this winter was always going to be tough in terms of food supply, but it's been made far worse amid the current upheaval. back at the food

distribution center, the people of quite a bud village, an hours drive away, collect their supplies. this will be enough for their 15, extended families until the following week 7. let this bill harder for next year. the mcgriddle where we've had the drought and if no work, what can we do to situation was already bad. and now it's worse than with they like their neighboring villages, facing the long winter ahead. public bride al jazeera pandora afghanistan. more than a dozen people were taken to hospital in hong kong, austria fire inside the cities. well trade center, about 300 people were trapped on the roof when the fire broke out in a machine room and moved to scaffolding. surrounding the building, which planet has more from hunger a p, cal, a panic in one of hong kong, busiest districts, dozens becoming trapped in a well known shopping center after a fire broke out during lunch time rush. wow,

there was thick smoke billowing out of the world trade center in causeway bay. fi fight is trying to reach dozens of people stuck on a podium and the roof of the 38th story. skyscraper, hundreds of others becoming trapped inside, while fumes filled a dining area. eventually all 770 were rescued. oh, firemen discovered a heavily smoke lock. the fire scene was heavily asthma, blocked the time of arrival. so, to a fireman of, we found it. of it is one of the reason may need to the distress to the occupants inside the building authorities say the fire started in the meet room on a lower level of the building. an investigation is underway into exactly what caused the fire. the manual alarm and sprinkler systems had been disabled on the 1st 5 floors because of renovation work. the sy department said it was only alerted

to this after the fire had broken out. this all happened at a popular shopping area in the run up to the holidays. some of those who were trapped would have been out with their colleagues for christmas lunch. it's cause plenty of chaos and distress. and there will be many people demanding answers. rick clinic al jazeera hong kong lawyers or former south african president jacob summa, are appealing a court decision setting aside his medical parole, and ordering back to prison. 79 year old was jailed for 15 months in july, for contempt of court. after defying a constitutional court order to give evidence at a corruption inquiry more the 300 people, mostly as humans, home province, of course, union and natal province at died in the protest against his imprisonment. he was released from jail in september for an unspecified medical condition notification that orders in storage feet nasa has confirmed a spacecraft has touched the sun agency says it's parker,

so the probe has flown through the sun's upper atmosphere fear for the 1st time. the probe dipped into the atmosphere, which is called the corona. astronomers had thought it was round, but learned that it has spikes and dips into discovery that could help further understand solar weather. the probe will continue operating until 2025. ah. the top stories on how to 0, the u. k is reported its highest number of daily co infections of the pandemic. more than 78000 cases were confirmed on wednesday. from is devoris. johnson insists the country's boost to roll out will be enough to fight the omicron very it. health officials, a warning cases and hospitalizations will rise over the coming weeks. this is a really serious threat of the moment, the how big a threats. there are several things we don't.