talking the stories you're being told, it's not a science story at all. it's a story about politics. the listening post, your guide to the media on a jesse uta. ah, omicron and delta variance are covered 19 dr. a dramatic increase in the numbers of infections across europe and the u. s. ah, i'm robinson. this is audra 0 live from doha. also coming up the leaders of russia and the u. s. threatened each other with consequences over an escalating crisis in ukraine. wildfires in the usa to colorado burn hundreds of homes and force and evacuation of tens of thousands of people and scorched earth tactics used by the

military on civilians force i was as a people to escape northwest me and mar. exactly . 2 years ago, china told the world health organization about new and mysterious cases of pneumonia and was city. now the world's been changed by a pandemic that killed almost 5 and a half 1000000 people on chrome and delta variance have covered 19 or shattering new daily infection records. in the u. s. and across europe, france has reported 200000 new cases for a 2nd day in a row. the u. k. has also broken its daily infection. tommy, with a home 189000 new infections. re challenge reports from the london on the alarming developments out of europe. dedicated, skyrocketing hand, coven hospitalizations in england, or event flyer. since the alarm bells ringing,

there's an ami kron serge. it's about to crash over the already struggling national health service. so we keep increasing, especially it of course the pressures are, again, mounting on wake when you've got workforce, as i said, that's already up to $550.00 for nurses on many more. and so 5 things then of course the pressures are building and building and building. so what will it be like? and john, you re contingency plans of being put in place to cope with existing hospital capacity becomes overwhelmed with new temporary boards built the house patients. 8 temporary hub, being built at hospitals around the country, each one with a capacity of $100.00 beds more sites of being planned for an extra $4000.00 bed. if needed, it, hope that none of this will ever be used, but if they're just in case london is preparing for new year's eve,

but with the big fireworks display cancel for a 2nd year and on, the kron keeping people in doors celebrations will be much reduced on the confidence new infection records a beaten staley, italy logged 126000 on thursday up from wednesdays. 98000 testing centers are becoming overwhelmed and tempers of fraying. i've been queuing since 9 30 am. i'm exhausted. it was madness to book in. it took me 2 days to be able to book it. the only available spots were outside central room. so that's why i came here and i spent 5 hours in line 5 hours. greece is brought forward new restrictions which have been planned for early january, new year's eve aside bars, night clubs, and restaurants will be forced to close at midnight with no standing customers and no music as dismay in the hospitality sector. you will have the blood must

certainly to after the restaurant sector, it is a disaster. that's the key word here. but on the other hand, you can't go against the health situation. i can't say i want to stay then and work while people are dying. greece, italy, and the u. k. have all seen record numbers of cases in recent days. and it's likely that are more records to come re challenge. how does era london china has been battling to keep covered cases? 0, but now it's 13000000 residents in the city of and i've been locked down. it's a hub of china's industry and technology and it's struggling with the highest number of cases recorded in any chinese city this year. that all reports the people there are struggling to find food supplies between you has more from beijing. well, this is china's more severe lockdown since we're high. the city where this pandemic originated last year, 13000000 people for the most part,

unable to leave their homes for exercise, or even to collect essential supplies. so we've had about $1200.00 cases reported since the beginning of december. the latest figures on friday was 161 new infections documented by the authorities. and we've had some residents on social media increasingly complain about lack of access to fresh food. now this seems to be a logistical issue. this city is under tide, control, transport in and out of it is very difficult, right now. most businesses have been forced to close, it's very difficult to get food delivery. and resident say they're very frustrated . now the government says they are aware of this issue. they are trying to respond to it, but people who live the say they're not responding quickly enough. and of course, the authority is a focus on trying to control this outbreak. they're trying to get those numbers now and over 100 cases reported every day this week, the trying to get those down to single digits. in the next few weeks. the

government is under enormous pressure to get this outbreak under control. they don't want to be juggling this outbreak and she on which is a city not too far from aging. it's only about 2 hours fly away, while at the same time hosting the winter olympics, which opens in february for now, china say they are prepared to horse the lympics when it opens. at that date, we would just ourselves in john lee jung jocko that area, which will be the venue for the olympics. all the facilities already, the hotels already. they will all shut to the public before january 4th, so they'll be a full month what all these results will be closed in order to prepare for this big event. now the difficulty is china is still maintaining it 0 tolerance approach to the bar. so the boarders will remain shot at orders coming to china about $30000.00, to participate in the games that athletes and their support staff, et cetera. they will be confined to very tightly controlled bubble, and they will not essentially be allowed to interact with the wider chinese public

. south africa says it's going to lift a midnight to 40 am curfew. the government believes it's past the peak of the 4th wave of cove in 19. the spike was driven by the omicron variance which was 1st identified by scientists in the country. russia's overtaken brazil as the country with a 2nd high is death toll from corona virus. the government's encouraging people to get their booster shots and they've ordered hospitals to prepare for a surgeon. case is driven by omicron. israel's become the 1st country in the world to approve a 4th vaccine dose. the booster shot will be given to people aged over 60 and to those with weakened immune systems. the presidents of russia and the us have spoken for the 2nd time this month and a bit to deescalate tensions over ukraine. the white house says the call between joe biden and vladimir put in lasted 50 minutes. biden repeated the threat of sanctions if moscow invades ukraine boot and responded that such

a move could lead to a complete breakdown of ties between the countries. john hansen has more from washington d. c. in a 50 minute conversation between us president joe biden and russian president vladimir putin, the 2 sides laid out their diplomatic positions over growing tensions in ukraine. that is where a 100000 russian troops are amassed on the russian side of that border. after that, talk us press secretary for the president. jim saki issued a statement saying, quote, president biden urged russia to de escalate tensions with ukraine. he made clear that the united states and its allies and partners will respond decisively if russia further invades ukraine. president biden also expressed support for diplomacy. she went on to say that the president reiterated that substantive progress in these dialogues can occur only in an environment of de escalation rather than escalation. then we have the response from the russian side assistant

to president vladimir putin. uri you shock, i've said one conclusion was underscored if the security negotiations are successful, it should naturally lead to certain normalization of relations and perhaps an improvement in bilateral relations. the conversation with entirely focused on issues of security guarantees instead. and he went on to say that these conversations will continue at a lower level in europe in january. the russian position is clear. it wants to, once i legally bindings guarantee that ukraine will never enter nato when it wants to make sure that later weapons are never stationed in ukraine or other buffer countries around russia. the u. s. position is that that is a decision between ukraine and nato. and it can't be decided in bilateral talks between the us and russia. ship the u. s. is also threatened economic sanctions against russia if it were to invade ukraine with all of those troops amassed on the

border. president putin says that would cause a rupture in relations. new i say to colorado, hundreds of homes have been destroyed after wildfires driven by high winds, engulfed to cities near denver. these a live pictures from boulder and colorado. it's about 10 minutes after 10 pm on thursday night there, which is why, of course, the pictures are nighttime shots. it's be described as a life threatening situation. tens of thousands of people have been told to evacuate immediately. mister windsor reported to have brought down power lines leading to several grass fires in the area. gust a fire out of all the old. it matters very little time to get out very little time to even get the most of your life and yes. process with rebuild. our human rights group is accusing

government forces in northwest miramar, of killing civilians and destroying their homes. drawn video which matches satellite images, show smoke billowing from the town of tank lang in chin state. the military hasn't commented on the allegations. tony chang, reports from the me. a mar border fires burn and the hill top town of tent, along and chin state northwestern. mamma the destruction caused by artillery shells and fires set by mamma's military, appear part of a concerted policy of scorched earth. most of the towns, $10000.00 residents, have fled across the nearby border and to india. powerless to do anything to say their homes. others fled chin state for the simple reason. they couldn't find anything to eat. ready the creek, i mean, but especially in my 2 p, there was a here food truck age. the people couldn't access to farms also asked the military had placed my on away. no transportation was available and people couldn't go from

one be led to another. internet access and phone lies were shot. satellite photos show how starting in september, systematic and coordinated attacks destroyed 580 buildings in the town. these tactics often associated with me and mars military and all because the residents had shown resistance to february's military coup. even in the berman heartland, home of mere mas majority, ethnic group opposition has been greatly put down in saigon. this woman shrieks with grief. after finding the body of her grandfather, one of 12 villages reportedly murdered by the military, mere mas government politicians and exile condemned the alleged war crimes that military every day committee crimes, terrorist act against the people be by the die. and is, is comparable. comprised that international crimes against humanity still thank you

for making stay meant. thank you for your concern. but the current situation remind you, aren't you in no more actions of concrete actions to start that kind of military actions to, to stop that illegal military daria's. and as recently as christmas eve, 38 civilians killed and burned to work. as for the charity, save the children now confirmed to be amongst the charred remains. in the past, month alone, there have been credible stories of mia mars military perpetrating massacres in saga district and kaya state. and in the past week, thousands of civilians have poured into thailand, telling stories of air strikes that have targeted civilians nearly a year after the military coup. it appears all the fears about none checked military rule inside myanmar are coming to fruition. tony chang al jazeera on the ma ma border. still ahead on al jazeera. ah.

0 says it stands with people of saddam. after a little cracked, arnold protest has killed 4 people. and as the clock winds down on 2021 will look back at some of the biggest stories covered by al jazeera. ah oh, hello there. thank you for joining an we've got some more rain risks across the goal . so right off the bat, let's go in for a closer look. we could see some downpours for eastern saudi into bahrain and cats are some showers for the u. e, and also northeastern portions of a bond impacting musket with a hive 24 degrees on saturday. off to pakistan right now. unsettled in the west,

also through afghanistan as well, but prepare for it is a lot more bog. your temperatures are about to fall as we head in to 2020, to just a high of 13 degrees on tuesday. but because we got that rain hanging around your overnight low will be about 10 weather maker is swirling around in the eastern med, that's throwing some rain towards cypress southern turkey, northeastern libya and northern egypt. and that's going to put a cap on temperatures as well. central africa, we've got solid bands of rain from coastal gap on break into northern sections of angola on friday and for the eastern portion of southern africa as some storms flaring up. my put so into at swat teenie close to johannesburg. never really too far away. same goes for durbin with the hive $23.00, but plenty of sunshine to be found in cape town with a high of $26.00 degrees on friday. that's it. that's all she said, ah, still be on the comfort zone,

for assumption or challenge traveled to the ends of the earth and further experience the unimaginable of the people who live with stream choice. and i've been told him how quickly things can chime award winning documentary. the also perception witness. on a just, you know, lou ah, what you called is it a reminder about top stories. this are global corona virus cases have hit a record high over the past 7 days. was almost a 1000000 detected on average each day. the u. s. is the worst affected economy for

nearly one in 3 cases in the world. the u. s. and russian presidents have spoken for the 2nd time this month, and a bit to deescalate tensions over ukraine. joe biden repeated the threat of sanctions of moscow invades ukraine. vladimir putin responded with such a move could lead to a complete breakdown of ties and he was stay to colorado. hundreds of homes have been destroyed after wildfires, driven by high winds, engulfed to cities near denver has been described as a life threatening situation. tens of thousands of people i've been told to leave their homes immediately. the u. s. has condemned the killing of at least 4 protesters by security forces in sudan. there was shot in on demand where thousands of people have rallied against the recent military takeover demonstrators in the capital costume had been proved, approaching the presidential palace. and they want the military to stay out of government affairs during the transition to free elections. muhammad vol has more

from or to earlier in the day, or the impression was that to this days sir protests was a, a less violent to. and the numbers of what testers less done during the, the, the previous occasions. but, you know, as the day progressed, it became clear that because security forces prevented the protest as an on demand to reach cartoon to cross the bridges into thing. central cartoon air that made the major consultation took place in on doorman itself, particularly in their street called sharon albin at. that's where a goals are protested. were killed. 4 of them, according to medical sources and also sources from the side of the yeah, of the revolutionary is the resistance committees. it, it's a major situation. they'll not only those 4 that have been killed, but also an unknown number of people aged. and that, that the indication of the, the, the big size of this, as of this dangerous situation ease expressed by,

has been expressed by 3 at doctors unions who called on their colleagues to go to the hospital in sharon, are buying the street of our buying and also in the, on the man hospital to help or with the treatment of the, of those who have been injured in the, in the, in the, in the consultations. also even the state, the cotton state ministry of help has issued me a similar as statement calling on doctors to go to those 3, those 2 hospitals to help with the yet the treatment of the wounded at least 8 soldiers have been killed in western marley and what the arm is describing as a targeted attack and comes as talks aimed at ending the country's political crisis, come to a close. it act seen as yet another sent back for any return to civilian rule. fidelis and bar reports. delegates arrived in the capital by michael for the talks organized by marley's government,

dominated by military leaders before the forum. he's aiming to pay of the way for the return of a civilian rule. falling last year's cool. marley's transitional government expects delegates to make a concrete proposals for ending the political crisis and to prevent further sanctions from the regional organization. a course media secret now connected internet directly international community needs to listen to the marines. void it. this is our country. they can't wish for the good of our country more than we do. so similar b, molly has a long history of national consultations to discuss problems. i recommend solutions . but this time, the position and attending, insisting it was a waste of time yet demanding a swift will turn to democratic rule. but some delegates disagree. within a possible, it is not possible to hold elections. the people of molly have suffered political

instability since gaining independence from france. 61 years ago. in august last year, the military toppled president. he brought him back a cater after weeks of street protests against corruption and insecurity. another call in may disrupted the military's pledge for elections in february. no group has claimed responsibility for wednesday's attack in narrow town on the border with mauritania. they put until with him. in for is the dish. we need the dialogue with the new exchange with them to disarm their hearts and minds. so as long as we don't do that, as soon as they have occasion, they will attack one of your brother attacks by and groups in the rest. if so, how does that region have killed thousands and displaced millions? despite years of efforts by international forces to defeat them,

it's feared for the attacks will cause yet more instability. fidelis number r 0, a bolger, a group of hanging refugees who spent days at seeing a damage boat have been rescued by indonesian authorities. the boat was towed by a navy ship off the coast of our chief province, 105 people, mainly women and children. this inbox and the port city of crime can be given temporary accommodation. we have been trying to reach malaysia, jessica washington following the story from jakarta. finally there exhausting journey is now over, and the refugees are now safely in indonesia. so now we have a clear picture of exactly who was on board $105.00 people in total, including asian men, 50 women, and $47.00 children. and according to the you and hcr, these individuals were at sea for at least 3 weeks. as i mentioned, their vessel was damaged and unsee worthy and

a short while ago we heard from the you and hcr in his statement, which noted that it thanked indonesia for once again, proving its humanitarian spirit. and setting an example for the rest of the region . what happens now you and hcr stuff are on the ground working with the indonesian government as well as community groups to assist the rank refugees with their immediate needs, including food, medical checks, and other essentials. while they stay in this temporary government facility in north archie. but beyond that, we don't know where they will end up staying. indonesia does not allow the permanent resettlement of refugees, but at least for now we can say with certainty that this group of 105 people are finally safe, is becoming harder to get food in pakistan because more farmers is selling their ancestral land of property developers, pakistan's population is soaring towards 240000000, and that's making it harder to get a house or some

a bunch of reports from column in northern pakistan. and these decades old mangled trees will soon become fuel fire. cutting down tens of thousands of fruit trees has made room for more housing, society, and focus on southern milton city. but farmers here who are already struggling, the pandemic related locked down in high diesel costs, have made their lives more difficult, less liquid vitals out of the me data. i'm chopping them down because we don't get enough from these trees. we don't have enough to feed our families. we are selling because labor is expensive and profit very low. now it will be up to the buyer to plant new trees or build houses. will all farmers who are giving up the creed, believe they're cutting old trees, which are difficult to harvest, and they will have no impact on mango crops. but pakistan's rapid urbanized ation is becoming a threat to its sources of food. predict fear the government doesn't have a line use policy or an urban development strategy that could improve it's long

term planning. back it's fun for that matter is has the highest rate of organization in south asia. it is being as accelerated because of the lack of proven development as well because you are just populated, or people are moving towards cities from really as in the need of economic opportunities. whereas the cities are not providing those kind of economic opportunities. what you'd really need to do is provide people with opportunities at the place where they live. you provide people with skills so that they can actually, you know, give benefits to their own local community. we say that our policies, but i think the policies are not holistic and not not comprehensive. it's a story repeated all over the country. it's not just the cities people also moving towards doris hotspots in the north and that rapid uncheck growth is endangering pockets on water supply as well as agriculture, with less fresh produce being grown locally. more foreign reserve is being spent on

important fruits and vegetables. and that's led to a price increase. columns, famous potatoes are becoming an exotic commodity. for small scale farmers who see no profits in farming, there's no real incentive not to cash in on their land. pushy, nothing with this, like the local we do, the people are moving to pen job in other parts of the country after selling the agricultural land. a good price is offline. here. i know very expensive and people from urban areas of buying and paying them good money out, people are migrating from here and buying lands in other areas. cheaper rates. this scenic valley is now being overtaken by new hotels. there's no real planning for sustainability. the government says it recognizes the dangers of unchecked loss of agricultural land, industries, and housing societies. we have banned at the expansion of how things is hated into farmland, are farmland, which is our big basket. it's a new law and we have boston, it started,

but it did go down to the provinces. so the problem, it says now i have to put it into legislation and then i'd like to take it down to the local government level. a bit gets implemented, that process takes some time and, and to new laws are implemented. marcusson's trees will continue to be hacked away and found that will keep losing 2 concrete jungles with some of in java, out of their column, northern bike stun. as we can down to 2022. here's a look back at some of the biggest stories that al jazeera is covered in the past year. let's walk down pennsylvania avenue in the us capital building under not however, her my responsibility to validate with robin bye with what is known to guilty is

just me. i'm on democratically elected leadership team as the military stage to the general thought is a bit less. they couldn't have been more wrong. taliban has taken the final departure of the u. s. military officer. 20 years. i believe this is the right to switch a violent day over dangerous days, still ahead. nowhere in gaza feel safe with . i'll just be right. will not be silenced.

in the bottom is ripping around the world. you see that right? and that by the tragedy of the lack of political will, selfishness and music. the new all the cone very in to spread it. 2022 must be the year we end the funding for the code read at a much. oh no planet. no plan and blah, blah, blah, blah blah, i'm deeply sorry. ah, the government us call the quite a guess that to get a reference on the special with general to have a say they don't want me to do with

always like only we're brave enough to see only we're brave enough. mm ah, this is al. busy jazeera, these are the top stories, friday marks 2 years since china told the world health organization about an illness similar to pneumonia that since become known as coven 19 the city of g on is battling the biggest community. i break the country scene this year. global corona virus cases have hit a record high.