ah, holding the powerful to account as we examine the us is roll in the world on al jazeera. ah, the only con and dell to variance drive a dramatic increase in the number of infections across the world. news time for me to mana in cape town, south africa, where the government has reduced over 19 restrictions just ahead of the new year. ah, hello, i'm emily anguish. this is out a 0. lie from doe. so coming up,

thousands of people flee as wildfires destroy large swathes of land and homes in the u. s. stage of colorado and u. s. troops and they combat mission in iraq. but this still opposition to the few remaining on the grounds. to years ago, china told the world health organization about a new and mysterious case of pneumonia in wu and cd. now the pandemic has killed almost 5 and a half 1000000 people in the army. kron and delta variance of coven 19 a shattering daily infection records. in the us and across europe, china's been battling to cape covert cases at 0, but now 30000000 residents in the city of shyanne have been locked down as it struggles within new outbreak. and in india, daily infections have more than doubled over the past week. experts claim the country is entering a 3rd wave, but it's a different story in south africa where restrictions are being lifted after

infections dropped by almost 30 percent last week. the government believes it's past the peak, fueled by the only con variant. for more on this story, we're joined by for me to mila who is live for us in it came down. hello there for me to. thanks for joining us. tell us about why restrictions are being lifted. well, the government is saying that as you mentioned there, that it's all indications are that south africa has passed the peak of its 4th wave, which appeared to have started toward the end of november or early december. now they've seen a 30 percent decrease in infections, and that was the week leading up to christmas and compared to the week before, that's a significant reduction in infections and the government is saying that they have the hospital capacity. hospital admissions are low, the number of deaths are low, but people should continue to be in mind that the army con variant is highly infectious. but now just a head of the new year,

the government has also been under pressure by the hospitality industry. who says this is really an important time of the year when people celebrate the new year, when it's a holiday season in south africa. and the economy has really suffered for 18 months and the various levels of locked down. and this is really an important time to try boost the economists who these are all the contributing factors to why the government has said they've lowered restrictions. they will no longer be a curfew at all. and one of the main mandatory issues which is be wearing a mask in public spaces for media. as we're all aware south africa was one of the 1st to detect the army con variant. what are scientists saying about the reason why you've passed the or the country is past this peak of infections? hey, i think they're looking at the number of infections, and i essentially just start trying to monitor how many people i infected and over what time. and what period of time rather, and also one of the other issues that pointed out is that there's been

a great uptake in vaccinations. south africa had some difficulty in it's roll out initially. but now the countries at a point where there is almost an oversupply of vaccines in stock, the bad to hold back supply at some point because there was some level of vaccine hesitancy. but since the identification of this new variance and just considering how infectious experts say it is, we have seen an uptick in our vaccination rates, south africa at about 45 percent now that it's still far below the 70 percent target. they had wanted by the end of 2021, but again, the exit exports are saying that yes, it's highly infectious. but our infection rates have gone down significantly again, 50 percent. there are less worried about hospital resources being overwhelmed and essentially agreeing and also throughout this time saying restrictions haven't necessarily being very effective, especially travel bands. so what's all africa has reduce the restriction level

within the country. it is still facing travel bands, but we do know that the united kingdom and then united states i at some point i have already allowed travel to south africa. thank you very much for that. update her from in a miller rather in cape town. thank you. have me middle has more on the situation in india, from new telling to a sure is quite alarming. the government says we are in the initial phases off in code way, but in this that it is better prepared. in fact, new jelly where we are and we're actually outside in just largest cove 19 facility, the government says it can handle up 200000 new cases a day and 300000 test daily at this point because of how far infections are rising, most of the country is under some form of restriction, delhi has been put on yellow, a lot to schools and cinema. and jims are shot while restrictions are there on restaurants and public transport. one by which is india. financial capital has also

seen in 3rd, and the government there has put a cap on gathering vaccination, though. we'll also get a big boost because starting monday children about 50, we'll start getting jobs, and many people will also be legible for boosters, which will start later in january. at the same time, they are wearing signs that people are not necessarily following corporate protocol . for example, the images of markets that are crowded, where people are not social distance, nor are they're wearing mom. the other place where over 19 protocols are not being followed. i election valley, you know, continued because india is headed for the state elections early 2022. it's a stock reminder. what happened this past summer when the death of variance was infecting millions of people in india every day, as election, valleys and religious gatherings continued. china is also battling to contain

a surgeon cove. 19 infections is put 13000000 people under lockdown as katrina. you reports from beijing? well, this is china's more severe lockdown since we're high. the city where this pandemic originated, 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 of that 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 residents 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 authorities are focused 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 flights 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 john jock code 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. well, 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 virus of

the borders will remain shot at over, is coming to china about $30000.00 to participate in the games that athletes and the support staff, etc. they will be confined to very tightly controlled bubble, and they will not essentially be allowed to interact with the wider chinese public to other world news now and in the us state of colorado. hundreds of homes have been destroyed after wildfires, driven by high winds engulfed to towns near denver. it's been described as a life threatening situation. tens of thousands of people have been told to leave the affected areas immediately. the strong winds are reported to have brought down power lines leading to several grasp ice gustovo, 100100 miles an hour. a slight blue ball field at the massacres. very little time to get out. very little time to do with the process.

with us led forces formally ended their combat mission in iraq. earlier this month, he operation was a response to the rise of i sold. some troops will remain in advisory and training roles. but as my mode abdougla had reports from baghdad, their present raises concerns of further anti american attacks. a change of mission for the remaining u. s. forces in iraq. instead of being on front line combat missions, 2 and a half 1000 u. s. personnel and a 1000 troops from the international coalition forces have switch to training and advising their iraqi our lies. the transition teal? announce it earlier. this month was sealed in july by iraqis, prime minister most of al cartler me. and he asked the president, job, i it, in the huddle, it's to be late that

u. s. troops were to stick to only training iraqi forces and exchanging intelligence while a heavy duel and tackle of c o'clock. both iran and the united states supported us in the war against terrorism, but they mustn't use our soil to settle scores. we can't let any of these parties target our people. we've addressed that message to all through diplomacy and the strategic dialogue, which stressed maintaining a roxy sovereignty saralitos with a gradual downsizing view as troops was already happening on the orders of former president donald trump. but a proxy war in the region has been fermented by conflict between iran and the u. s . iraq. his prime minister muscle academy is facing increasing pressure from army groups and their political wings, which are allied to iran. they reject any u. s. foothold in iraq. no matter what the role is,

a pro iranian onward group sounded this warning, and the mulatto hurtled. what the in her to it in any u. s. military prisons in the country is considered an occupation, but we will go by asked number 51 of the winchester, which gives nations the right to resist any military presence on valence the fore. we will take up arms and fight them along as we did before. harry on the telephone, the conflict has escalated since the killing of a rainy commander class, him slay manny nab will madden mohandas, a leader of iraq. so popular mobilization forces and he as the june attack need, but that a port last january that triggered the iraq's house of representatives to pass a resolution demanding the old foreign troops leave the country. u. s. personnel along with coalition forces used several military bases across iraq. since the u. s . led invasion in 2003 to depose saddam hussein. the foreign forces played

a major role in the fight against i. sil, which occupied some parts of a rock before its defeat in 2017. now with the resurgence of iceland sleeper cells in some areas, as well as iranian intervention, the question is whether the pentagons mission shift will have an operational impact . ma'am with abdullah hedge al jazeera, but that still had done al jazeera, a temporary fix, said thousands of refugees in me and mark is much needed. eighties sent enough to days of fighting. we report from the tide rhoda. ah, and one of africa's old anti colonial anthems. the congolese rumba, gets major international recognition ah

color, we've got more very heavy rain pushing across the monterey peninsula. the northeast lea monsoon driving those heavy showers toward sir norman parts of the militia fell in areas of thailand. for the parts of pandora chasing some very heavy rain. recently mary's of sumatra sinks and big downpours. and that clump of stones will continue to rattle away through. you see that line where we have the monsoon trough extend some very heavy right over to a central and southern parts of the philippines. nor the marys of borneo could see some flash flooding as we go through sunday. as that rain really begins to pass. pop the usual rash, ask for much of malaysia into indonesia stretching the way across northern parts of australia. and here we do have a, a tropical storm, which has developed is this sauce off in the gulf, a carpet terry. and now making its way into the policy. this is tropical storm seth

. it should stay largely off lab, but some blustery showers just pushing towards the sunshine coast, the gold coast. a few showers there close at eastern side of australia than but to really elsewhere. it's been about the hates. 37 celsius there for adelaide and for melbourne to touch cooler than we saw on new year's eve. is he going to new year's day starting to cool down? ah, a mrs. performance are to draw attention to the critical and controversial issues facing shawnee or waste rates chimes act. ah, one out to 0. ah, all jesse with

lou. ah ah, i know you watching al jazeera, i'm emily angland, a reminder of our top stories this our pandemic has killed almost 5 and a half 1000000 people since the virus was 1st reported in the chinese city of wu han, 2 years ago. global infections have he's a record high over the past week with more than a 1000000 cases detected on average h. j. 5 south africa says it'll eas, restrictions after infections dropped by almost 30 percent last week. the government believes it's past the peak of the army con variant. it's a different story in india, however, we're daily infections of more than doubled over the past week. there. and hundreds

of homes have been destroyed in the us state of colorado after wildfires, driven by high winds, engulfed to townsley denver. it's been described as a life threatening situation. tens of thousands of people have been told to leave their homes immediately. the russian and newest presidents have spoken for the 2nd time this month in a bid to deescalate tension over ukraine. the white house is the core between joe biden and vladimir putin lasted 15 minutes bite and repeated the threat of sanctions. if moscow invades ukraine, hurt, and however responded that such a move could lead to a complete breakdown of ties between the countries. john henderson has been following this story from washington, dc. 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 gen 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. 8 is being sent from thailand to people displaced by fighting in man man after violence near the border east over the past couple of days. but ethnic car and fight is in me and mass say they'll only negotiate a ceasefire if all government troops leave areas where fees fighting has been

taking place. tiny chang reports on the board of thailand and me and my bags of rice and beans loaded up from a warehouse in the tie town of mess up. its emergency aid desperately needed by people who fled from fighting inside myanmar. the relief packages being put together by local businessmen who come from miramar, but live here in thailand. they're doing it because no one else will. this is their janese, our job. and i, we're, we are just like a small groups and i, we a grass route. we have not many capacity of like funding we're, you know, the gathering this kind of aids. but operating in myanmar is complicated. first volunteers have to negotiate with ty, border guards, who are helpful, but whose 1st priority is security. then a call to a local contact on the other bank. and men mom are coming across the river now to get the supplies mirror boxes of insta, noodle, some water and some sold. but with more than 10000 people displaced inside mamma.

this is only a very temporary fix. on the high side, everyone retreats behind the tape barrier and not to cope at 19 protocols. the swim is then load the precious cargo on to make shift rafts, the waters shallow, so ferrying it across the river isn't hard. that they can't afford to lose anything . looks of relief on the opposite bank. and not just because of the food. fighting between government troops and the ethnic current fighters has eased over the last 2 days. and the time military say that confident me will step back. because i got a little all this time, we've always received good cooperation when it comes to asking them to stop so that there won't be any threat to the safety of ties and their property and the career fighters on so sure. they've been in conflict with me, amazon me for decades and there's little trusts and we don't trust the ceasefire. they've been destroying villages killing villages and leaving on the ashes. so how

can you trust them? how can you have a cease fire? all of that bad news for more than 5000 refugees on the high side. then now assembled in one camp and the title stores his are installing infrastructure, suggesting an extended stay. that could mean it will be weeks if not months before they can cross these hills and return home. tony chang al jazeera, on the time, ma'am ma border. more than $100.00 were a hinge refugees who spent almost a month, the drift at seeing a damaged potion. now in quarantine and indonesia, the group made up mostly of women and children was allowed to do some back in a chai. they will be moved into temporary housing. one's health checks has been completed. indonesia initially planned to turn the boat away, but allowed it to land after international pressure. physical washington is following the story from jakarta. finally, their exhausting journey is now over and the refugees are now safely in indonesia.

so now we have a clearer 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 unseen, worthy and a short while ago we heard from 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 do you and hcr stuff are on the ground working with the indonesian government as well as community groups to assist the rank of refugees with their immediate needs, including food, medical checks, and other essentials, while they stay in this temporary government facility in north 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 to south africa. now where morn is paying their final respects to anti apartheid hero desmond to tune cape towns 1st, a black archbishop has been lying in state in saint george's cathedral in the late up to his funeral on saturday. gillian wolf reports from captain. oh, honoring desmond tutu with song and praise oh hundreds flocked to saint george's cathedral where the archbishop once preached his message of peace and reconciliation. inside the revered anti apartheid hero lies in state. people of all ages, class and creed, sharing the hope of passing on the icons,

torch to future generations to come. it was a big person, it changed a lot of lives and even affected a lot of laws and our fields important if you have your but unity to come through per your respects and you carry that message forward and to future generations. some will always remember, you know how to treat each other. little. earlier in the day, his coffin was woken by the congregation. he arched with the family 1st care to pray. other mourners to follow. the cathedral is engraved in south africa's history books as the people's church for keeping its doors open to all races. during the apartheid era. the pulpit became a platform of power from where the freedom fighter spoke out against all injustices and oppression. eventually helping toppled the brutal regime and bringing democracy to a nation desperate for the end of white rule. the nobel peace prize winner will lie

in state allowing mourners to pay tribute and reflect upon his legacy until his funeral on new year's day. or he was everything to us. people reign, exit people and reigned robin island. if the country was bending, he was a hope at the time and hasty to hope to day. the simplicity of the services mirroring, his selfless nature crawls are expected to flow into cape town, saint george's cathedral, until the archbishop is finally laid to rest. and with just a simple glance, you can see that they represent the very ramble, nation that desmond tutu forth. so hard to serve. i'm also not that the i'm no more, but i just hope that the younger folk, the children will take heed from what he's done and i am. try and stand fool, fool, fool, fool. for the truth. stand for what is right and, and it will turn out better for them.

ah, a faith in the nation's youth, the desmond tutu. so deeply shared join wolf, al jazeera town o. d u n. cultural agency has added the congolese rum bud to its heritage list. it's a popular music and dance is genre born date in the heart of africa and has spread world wide as him on con reports. the story of the run by is rooted in the days of the slave trade. a dance floor in full flight as the rhythm of the rumble brings joy to the dances. but this is more than just a distraction, ultra hard day's work. the song, the band plays, is called a piece and unity which came about after the congos independence from belgium. ah, for the last 50 years the song has become an antique colonial anthem across the

african continent. this month, unesco recognizes the style of music as a living cultural tradition. in their words, intangible, cultural heritage for the band leader, it's a recognition of a life playing music. what offer does that mean? no more but got a better ability. remember, has many characteristics. it's existed for more than 50 years. i've lived my whole life with the rumba with. if you look at the run the now we've elevated and developed it. although we've kept our references to the i comes like le grand calais, papa lamba, samara marcia tablet, the modem um, ah, the style of music in some way tells the story of one of the biggest crimes inflicted upon africa, slavery. the music's origins can be traced back to central africa, but it was bought of to the atlantic ocean between the 16th and 19th century was particularly popular among the slaves of brazil and cuba. cuban zuba in particular

became big in african countries on approved by the time recorded music or writing congo congolese artists began to recognize their own rhythms and history in cubans . and took that and the music came a full circle, the coming room laws, all set. you wanted people, our ancestors deported to the americas, in the 1516 sanctuary. and went to either north america, central america or south america. but the focal point was cuba in central america as well. so in cuba, there was a surprising mixture from those who came from africa, but also from whom the slaves have encountered one stair, the city so renew. oh, recognition is also important to foster an industry. to not just only recognize talent, but to develop a nurturing. oh, not law. it is our creation. rhumba is rhumba is our life. rumba is our vision. so

rhumba is us. that's why we want room, but to be recognized as our own. it is our identity. rhumba is congress. ah, one of the things you in recognition does is highlight the room, but sound is commonly just as reg is jamaican. another awful recognize by the us cultural agency. the music plays on louder and more proud of iran costs. are i hello, are you watching al jazeera and these are the stories we're following. this. the pandemic who's killed almost 5 and a half 1000000 people in the virus was 1st reported in the chinese city of wu han, 2 years ago. the global infections have heat a record high over the past week, with more than a 1000000 in cases detected on average h day. but south africa says it'll age restrictions after infections dropped by almost 30 percent.