rone of ours pandemic keeping many visitors away. revenue from tourism isn't enough . here at the embassy national park, an annual ceremony has been launched the whole creation than individuals pay $5000.00 to name an elephant. the aim this year is to raise $1000000.00, much of it for conservation initiatives. ah, this is al jazeera ah. hello, i'm sam is a dan. this is the news i live from dol coming up in the next 60 minutes. the u. s . stepped up its commitments in the fight against alma cron pledging over half a $1000000000.00 to aid groups. meanwhile, in the u. k, some holiday celebrations a cancelled as the daily death toll rises dramatically. a surprise move 5 ahead of

libya's electoral commission raises doubts about where the friday's vote will go ahead. and rebels in ethiopia say there, withdrawing from some territory, colon the world to pressure the government. and in sport, the president of african football confirms the carpet nations will go ahead as plant a commons. come after doubts have been raised that the tournament daily held in cameroon would be postponed, or even council. ah, we begin this news out with the latest on the pandemic. his case is serge rapidly across the world. this is mainly driven by the more infectious on the con variant, the number of daily deaths in the u. k. for example. well, that's almost quadruple the in just 24 hours. there were

a 172 deaths reported on tuesday up from 44 on monday. it's too early to say whether that jump represents a trend or just as this is to go blip the us. well, it says it'll provide the world health organization, the united nations, childrens funding, 5 all the global age groups, an additional $580000000.00 in funding. later on tuesday, president joe biden is expected to announce plans to provide 500000000 free, rapid test home kits for americans. as part of an effort to increase the pool for hospitals, which have been overwhelmed on the con cases now account phonetic, 3 quarters of all of us covered infections. that's bringing our white house correspondent kimberly hallett. she joins us from outside the white house, so quite a booth to the global effort to fight coven, quite a turnaround for us policy towards the w. h. o. you'll remember that joe bite is predecessor president. donald trump was not very happy with the world

health organization accused it of helping china cover up the true origins of coverage 19 and as a result, withdrew the united states from the world health organization will that was undone or set in motion at least on day one of jo biden's presidency, he felt that the world health organization was the best mechanism for the global fight against covet night team. now we have sort of the next wave manifestation of that effort. lease from a u. s. standpoint. of putting forward $580000000.00 to groups like unicef, as well as the world health organization. to try and get the shots in arms. if you will. you'll remember that the united states has provided some 330000000 doses to a 110 countries around the world as part of the kovacs vaccination program. and really tried to combat vaccine inequality. and this is part of the effort by the

white house to try make sure those doses actually get administered. that's what this money will be used for. so the u. s. president, seeing that combating co 19 domestically means making sure that it is also attacked globally in order to see this one would hope eventually eradicated. and this new initiative was job. i'm will officially announce shortly. it shows that the focus going forward is on vaccinating and testing rather than locked downs and restrictions, at least for now. right? absolutely. we're waiting for the president. he is due to speak about 90 minutes from now give or take and what the president will be announcing is kind of an update on his previously announced winter strategy. but given the omnicom variant, what we know is that the president believes that this could be very dark winter in the united states was doing a number of things to try and prevent the optic that we're already seeing from getting any worse. what we know is that he's going to make available 500000000 at

home, rap and task. this is a big deal because americans typically haven't been able to find these. and if they can, it's often unaffordable now of starting january, millions of americans will be able to test. and if they test positive, be able stay home preventing the spread of this very contagious variant. add to that the u. s. president are also wrapping up to the defense production act, the testing that's available at clinics and hospitals, so that they have what they need. and the president also deploying to help those hospitals that are feeling the effects of the surge. 1000 troops, medically trained professionals to help those hospitals, and those professionals that are already fatigued from dealing with this. now do the 3rd year of this pandemic. and then finally, the u. s. president will be tapping into the national stockpile to see that those states that don't have the equipment like ventilators, that they will be prepared as these cases continue to rise. but you're right. one thing that won't be mentioned are the lock downs. in fact, the u. s. president,

hoping these measures will prevent the need for seeing that in the united states once again on kimberly, how can that from outside the white house returning to the u. k. now, where the number of daily deaths from current of iris in the country is nearly quadrupled in just one day, there were a 172 deaths reported on tuesday. up from 40 for a monday. the total number of cases dropped slightly prime minister boss johnson has ruled out more restrictions before christmas, but says he'll keep reviewing the data. scotlands cancelling its new year's events, says 1st minister nicholas sturgeon imposes new rules from the day after christmas . they'll be new limits on the number of people allowed to make indoors and outdoors. no, more than 500 people will be allowed that outdoor public events for 3 weeks. the surgeon said she's concerned about the increasing pressure on hospitals. we need to

get case he's coming down again to relieve that pressure and the press that a health pressure, but also the pressure that comes from stuff obstinacy in the week at quoted there was an exemption from isolation for and it is no use. so that will help to some extent to alleviate that pressure, but the only we of properly alleviating that patient, just nail service, but in the economy more generally is to get the number of cases which comes back to the reason for the difficult decisions. i'm sitting here earlier, the british government announced $1300000000.00, an extra support for businesses hit hardest by the rapid spread of on the crumb chancellor issue. so not also confirmed more funding for theaters museums, as well as financial help for small businesses struggling with sick leave. taken together on confident that these measures will help hundreds of thousands of businesses and the millions of people that they employ, of course will, i will always respond proportionately and appropriately to the situation that we

face. people can have confidence in that, but where we are now, we've responded, i think generously to day the grants that we've outlined up to 6000 pounds are comparable to the grants that we provided for hospitality businesses when they were completely closed earlier this year. prime minister bars johnson says he's looking at all kinds of measures to slow the rise in the number of cases. at least 12 people died from the army kron variant on monday, a number of people are admitted to london's hospitals is growing. rory challenge now. rejoice says the daily mail on tuesday morning, christmas is looking safe. ministers defy gloomy scientists. that affects the question safe from what's on the con is ripping through the u. k. at the moment. and london is the epicenter so much so that the mayor has declared an emergency situation. but the daily mail is a leading voice on the u. k rights and it shows the relief, particularly amongst the rebellious libertarian wing of the conservative party,

that it's freedoms that have been prioritized or johnson said on monday nights we won't hesitate to take action. the problem for some is that it looks very much like the prime minister has hesitated from taking action. his position is that while they're still big questions, the onset about the severity of alma crohn, it's too soon to be shutting people up in doors. the cancer position, when those questions are answered and if the answers are bad, it will be too late to do and think about it and the house service will be swamped . the opposition leader kissed armor whose labor party would have supported new restrictions. if the prime minister had gone for them, says the boris johnson is putting his fractious party before the public. of course, the spectre of new business and social cubs hasn't gone away. it's just been deferred for another day. christmas may be safe, according to the daily mail, but new year and beyond certainly isn't. south korea has imposed new restrictions

on gatherings and businesses after a rising covey 19 infections. health work has been warning of an impending crisis. the new measures came into force on monday night. i said beg report. 6 0, final drink and a meal before the new restrictions take effect. restaurants, cafes and bars must now close by 9 pm gatherings unlimited to 4 people as long as they are vaccinated. those who are the natives must dine out long or order. a takeaway? i susan nancy, her that she was so it's a little disappointing. but if we don't follow the government's policy when corbin 19 is spreading widely, there will be more damage. so we can help with follow the policy with the new measures come just weeks after the government east restrictions in a policy called living with cove. it, it's left businesses worried about their future. you who are there to begin with these restrictions that came with the living with coping 19 policy,

a hide more people have prepared a lot of ingredients with a hope of doing good business during the year end time. now, with a sudden change or the ingredient to left unattended, and i have too many workers. my business is going very badly. the government doesn't really think through. or i personally think those small business owners, like myself, should gather and protest in front of the presidential office. i hope there will be a big protest so our voices can be delivered directly. but the country is seen as the success case of spotting the warning signs early and controlling the spread of the virus, 80 percent of the population of vaccinated. and that government is encouraging people to get boosted jobs. but despite that, many businesses are feeling the strain aside big i deserve thailand has re imposed it's mandatory quarantine for incoming travelers due to the spread of on the chron visitors will have to gone to go hotel quarantine, which ranges between $7.00 to $10.00 days last month. for country reopened to tourists, ending almost 18 months of strict entry policies. highland how so far recorded more

than 60 cases of the army? kron variant one was a local transmission. lockdown restrictions have been ruled out in australia. even though coven 19 infections are hitting record daily highs. prime minister scott morrison says the country needs to move past what he describes as the heavy hand of government instead is calling for a common sense approach to living with the virus. true is confirmed for new cases, alarming constance. first detecting the new variance on sunday. like many countries around the world is tightening restrictions ahead of the holiday season. for shorts . want more people to get booster shots. mary chandry reports another patient in another stretcher, and another makeshift, tend teach. as the number of those infected with coven 19 continue to rise, health officials are taking drastic steps to prevent a new outbreak. de la, ah, allan dod, the application of the 3rd booster. those will be advanced,

will no longer be necessary to wait 5 months, but only 3 is done for 2 reasons. first, because it's already been demonstrated, there are several countries such as england and other countries that are already applying this $30.00 off to 3 months. it's absolutely safe, there's no problem. 74 percent of its population has been vaccinated, but officials want to increase that figure to 80 percent by the end of the year. ramona for people really. yes, it bothers me because i had a meeting with my family and now they say, i will no longer be able to drink my beer or dancer anything like that. more than 200000 people have died from corona virus, one of the highest mortality rates in the world. the government is desperate to prevent more deaths, but not every one is convinced the new measures will work. i've been there a lot better than up. it depends on the people how responsible they are with their health and the environment with all the people actually. because the law is made, people do not listen to the law. and even if they say there is occur few before 11

at night, many people may mate persona. the peruvian government is reducing public capacity and shopping centers from 80 to 60 percent, and extending curfew by 2 hours during christmas and new year's eve. another holiday ruined by a pandemic that many hoped would be over by now. a marriage or 3 arches error in libya, the head of the high national elections commission says he is dissolving the electoral committees and ending their work. the presidential election was scheduled for december. the 24th malik trainer has more from tripoli, were just 3 days away from the scheduled 1st round of presidential elections. and there hasn't been an official announcement by the high national elections committee that the vote has been delayed. or what we saw today was the elect elections commission decision to dissolve. the electoral committees are basically what that

means is that it has stopped the work of the, of the workers, the temporary workers that are working in the polling stations across the country. the administrators of these points stations are as clear signs, a clear indicator that this election isn't happening. now we've spoken to various political leaders and political analysts, and here's what one of them had to say. or la helene, for the oil had the leader, the elections commission had no choice with the start the procedure dissolving these committees because it's clear that the election scheduled for december 24 is not happening out that so the commission cannot have as committees continue their work for an unknown period of time left. so this administrative procedure is normal, but it's an indication that libya will not say presidential or parliamentary elections in the near future yet. so i think the fear now for many libyans as that libya will now go back to square one. it took months and years for the un support mission to bring about this government of unity over negotiations over bring trying

to bring lawyers rival sized together and, and the elections were supposed to bring, bring forth a government that, that has the legitimacy of the living people are so that the fear is now or that the situation in libya will worsen, or that the, that libyans will not be able to vote for, for those they want to lead them in at least in the near future. or the, the fear is that it may take a year or 2 and get back to the negotiating table. ah, which may takes a really long time or for an election to be possible. ah, but libby is want to be able to vote for the leadership. they also want a constitution or that identifies the rule, the governing system in libya and what kind of powers of president has are. so we're going to have to wait and see how the political situation develops in the coming weeks and months. plenty more still ahead on the news hour,

including christmas unoccupied, east jerusalem christian group say the being driven out of the old city by jewish settlers, plus thousands of argent hines. mark the 20th anniversary of what was called the great crisis. 2 decades later, we look at whether there's been any change and in sport care with 19 is forced to pause in play in the national hockey league will be here with that story. ah, rebels from ethiopia, tig ry region, say they've completely pulled back from hara and a far regions in the north. but to gripe people's liberation front says it's a strategic withdraw aimed at piece. they want the international community to put pressure on the government to hold its military operation, integrate priyanka gupta reports after weeks of making

advances, a significant setback, one that could alter the course of a few years war. tiguan rebels say the retreating from harrow and afar regions in the north area said they had captured just months ago, which once put them within striking distance from the capital, addis ababa interested? this thought not interested in squeezing about again interested in securing the interest of interest in ensuring that you see that was being pulled out. is broken ever since prime minister abi amen. march to the front line to rally his troops against the rebels, the shift and the battlefield, husband swift, and a real offensive. a chinese drones and emerald t weapons have destroy to grind supply lines. the current, the, you know, noise with regards to whether it's

a strategic retreat or not will inevitably reveal itself. we're still in the final low stages of, for the slightest operation. if you recall the operation for a national unity in diversity, the aim was to ensure that a t p and the forces were cleared out of them had i and i for regions. and this is something that is still being undertaken because they're still and some elements within certain pop pockets that need to be fuller or fully cleared out. the u. s. has long been pushing for a ceasefire and has imposed sanctions in response to human rights abuses during the conflicts we've long urged and human rights abuses and violations are an for negotiated resolution to the conflict. so in fact, if we do see a movement of to grand forces back into to t, great. ah, that is something we would welcome. it's something we've called for. and we hope it opens i the door. i too, am i to broader diplomacy for millions, if, if he'll pin's facing hunger and starvation a diplomatic end to the conflict couldn't come soon enough. priyanka gupta,

al jazeera william davison is a senior, ethiopia analyst at international crisis group. he says this could be an opportunity for negotiations. evidently, the gray forces suffered major setbacks on the battlefield and they've given up on their efforts to impose a transitional government given up on their efforts to try and control the main trade corridor with your booty. and that's because of this increased drone capacity for the federal government, which damage the supply line. it's also the popular mobilization on the federal and i'm horace side. that's what's next to this withdrawal and the rethink to take right leadership and it's part of doing so. they are now explicitly calling presentation of facilities that does also involve a significant shift in negotiating position and no longer saying the territory in west and take, right. that was taken over by him har region needs to be returned to take right before talks and say that they say that can be part of a piece process. so it does look like an opportunity for negotiations. any effort

by the federal military and the allies from i'm har, eritrea to re entity grade. we probably end up looking like what we saw earlier this year, which of course, ended in the withdrawal of the federal military from take right after days afterwards. battlefield reversals. so absolutely. i think that it's a great leadership and forces are in a week position here. but instead of focusing on those dynamics, we have to focus on what is really rare opportunity for negotiations here. and i think it's important that the federal government respond positively and important the national community exerts pressure on all parties to try and cross this opportunity. the jury in the trial of a former police officer charged with killing a black motorist, is considering its verdict. kimberly porter pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, saying she meant to use her taser, but drew her gun instead. and shot dante wright killing triggered nationwide protests. the jury in delay maxwell's thanks trafficking trial is once again asked

for the printed testimony of 3 of her accuses. it's the 2nd day of deliberations british socialite maxwell pleaded not guilty to grooming teenagers for under age sex with her former boyfriend, jeffrey epstein. she faces up to 70 years in prison, found guilty speak to gabriel as on those following the trial in new york. so do we know how the jury is faring now? while the jury is behind closed doors, they're in a very big room. in the court house, it's a particularly large room because of the coven search that is happening here in new york and elsewhere. it's giving them room for social distancing. the bottom line is we here and we see nothing until the jury at some point advises the judge that they have reached a verdict and that could happen pretty much at any time. now the court will go into the holiday recess on thursdays we basically have today tuesday,

wednesday. and if they don't reach a jury by then don't reach a verdict by then they will come back on monday. but this verdict could come in at any time. they're basically going over the evidence over the last 3 weeks. essentially, the prosecution argued in their case to the jury that gillian maxwell was a sexual predator. and she recruited under aged women too that were eventually traffic to her then boyfriend, her associate, jeffrey epstein. and where these young girls were sexually abused and the jury presented, i'm sorry, the prosecution presented to the jury for alleged victims there. now all adults who were teenagers, when they claim that they were victims of jeffrey epstein and glen maxwell as far as the defense, they argued from the jury that this case comes down to memory, money and manipulation. they say memory that this happened so long ago, 1994 to 2004. when the allegations are that the memory of these women can't be

trusted because they're so long ago money. they claim that the women all have the alleged victims were testifying, all have financial motivations to cooperate with the prosecution. they all did receive some money from the victims compensations fund out of epstein estate. and they say manipulation, they say that they've, that the victims that testified in this trial have been manipulated by the prosecutors. that's something the prosecutors flatly deny. bottom line, this case is now in the hands of the jury to decide gabriel. lot of names have been raised in relation to this case. you go to wonder if it'll prompt other cases to it could. but let's be very clear. and this is important. prosecutors were very clear that this case is about the alleged crimes of elaine maxwell period. end of discussion and they said that to the jury, and so clearly delaine maxwell and jeffrey epstein both had very,

very high profile friends. they were very close to these names are out in the public domain. they're nothing secret. bill clinton, donald trump, prince andrew, they were not on trial and the prosecution was very clear on that to the jury. they have not been formally accused of any crime, any of those people. let's be clear on that. however, there could be ramifications from this trial, primarily prince andrew, because one of the alleged victims who did not testify in this trial by the way, has accused by name prince andrew of wrong doing. in fact, she was claimed she was an under age girl and had sexual interactions with prince andrew a several times prince. andrew denies that categorically. nevertheless, there is a lawsuit pending against him that was filed this year. that lawsuit is currently

pending. it was filed this year and is currently pending. this is just one example of how this trial or some of the testimony from this trial, if you will, could lead to evidence in future cases. perhaps bottom line know is, it is interesting though, prosecutors in this case, while they did not call any high profile people to testify, famous people, if you will. they, they did say that prince andrew did not cooperate with them on any part of this investigation. all right, thanks so much goverlan on the israel's foreign ministry is rejecting allegations from church leaders that christians are being driven out to occupy these jerusalem's old city. ahead of christmas. christian groups have accused jewish settlers of harassment. they also allege the border closures as a result of coven 19 a targeting. only them hurry for such reports from the old city unoccupied. east jerusalem. well usually this time of year,

the square here in front of the church of the lease applica would be thronged with christian pilgrims in the run at christmas the omicron serge and the very strong travel restrictions imposed. by the way, the government had put paid to that in its stead. though in the run up to christmas, we have a route of red proportions between the church leaders here and the old city and the ready government. last week. those leaders put out of statements in which they talked about what have been happening in recent is they say pressure on christian communities throughout the holy land in the form of a tax on churches, desecration, a church property, intimidation of christian communities, the purchase of christian property here in the christian quarter by what they call radical groups, a reference to the sort of secular activity over the name it as such that we've seen in recent years. now they are careful in that statement to pay tribute to the israeli government commitment to christian life to freedom of worship. nonetheless, there has been a very strong rebuttal coming from the very foreign ministry saying that these

claims are baseless and distortion of the reality on the ground. they talk about that commitment to freedom of worship, and they say it's infuriating that these church leaders don't talk about pressure on christian communities elsewhere in the middle east. the strength of his response follows what we've seen published in the u. k. media in recent days. an article by the head of the latin patriarch it here in jerusalem, also by the archbishop of canterbury, the most senior figure in the anglican church in which he talks about a hot cry coming from christians in the holy land. cilla had an al jazeera turkey's troubled lira rebound slightly after the laces. government moves and sprang from the currency. how much would you pay for an embassy canvas? tell you why it's cost the danish museum. more than $84000.00 and sport steph curry leaves a short handed warriors victory action coming up through the show. oh

hello, there will look to africa in a moment, but 1st to the middle east and unsettled weather continues to plague the levant. we've got wet and windy conditions linger, lingering around coastal areas of the eastern mediterranean, but the further east we move it is going to dry up this little bit of a wintering mix pushing into parts of iran. but for the south of this is a lot finer and dryer, with some cloud popping around northern areas of saudi arabia. we've got a bit of a brisk wind that's going to blow down the gulf, but it remains largely fine and dry. the further south we head now as we head across to north africa, it's still very wet and windy across coastal areas of egypt. the temperature in cairo is expected to go down in the days to come,

and it's looking more wet across the north, west and places like morocco. we could see some coastal flooding from the reins there now was we had further south central parts of africa though seasonal rains of shifted further south, missing heavy rain effect areas such as zambia as well as zimbabwe, pulling into northern areas of mozambique and remains a very wet picture for south africa, we've got funder storms in johannesburg that's expected to last through to the weekend. and it would be cloudy and windy in cape town as to whether ah, killing the debate. 90 percent of the world's refugees have come from a common impacted country. the climate emergency is putting more pressure on cities across the world and amplify your voice. it's not really the future rates now. this is not our responsibility to please give a lot candidates. this completed fact, we cannot lose hope. we know what to do and we have the tools to do to get back. we

must build a page. this stream on out is.