we understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the world. so no matter when you call home, we'll put you can use in current affairs that matter to you. ah, we're doing the best we possibly can. top us health officials face tough questions at the senate as the country hits a new record for coven 19 hospitalizations. the amazon veterans is also searching across europe. the double h o warns more than half the population will be infected within the next 2 months. ah, hello, i'm down, jordan, this is al jazeera ally from dough wholesale coming up. this is the law was to decide to defend our lectures to defend our democracy. but you as president pushes

to change senate rules, the rallies, support of voting rights reforms, and k paul k drama, and now k food. how the humble korean noodle is becoming the latest global trend. ah, yes, president joe biden has defended his administration's response to the surge and all micron very in cases. more people are now in hospital with kobe 19 than ever before . and infections are hitting an average of 3 quarters of a 1000000 a day. a u. s. senate committee has met your question, federal officials on how they've been handling the pandemic particle haine. as the latest on the situation with a call with another new coded record in the us. more than 145000 people hospitalized with the virus. i'm still

u. s. president joe biden is sounding optimistic on comp and over on the right track. thank you. other polls show much of the country, disagree. one problem, testing this is boston and here in missouri long lines to get a test and results are taking longer to come back very where we've been, it's been a lot like this is what testes looks like in most of the country. the other option at home tests, but they are expensive and really hard to find. same with masks, the government says i'm a crohn means everyone needs better masks if you can find and afford them. so some local government, you have begun giving en route. i was just going to get the mask. i can't find anyone and was like a nightly by just so expensive. oh, take 2 or 3 weeks to get on. at this senate, hearing the focus was supposed to be on how to make it all better, but it often got content with republicans launching personal attacks on the nation's chief covet adviser,

who says he is receiving death threats because of it. so i ask myself, what, why would sen want to do this? so go to that ran poll website, and you see fire doc, the voucher with a little box that says, contribute here. you can do 5 dollars, 10 dollars, 20 dollars, a $100.00. so you are making a catastrophic epidemic for your political gain. so here's the problem. case numbers are extremely high, but hospitalizations usually follow those by about 3 weeks. and hospitals are already stretched. this one, several times is added simply tell ambulance drivers don't come here. we're just quite out of beds. the bind administration says they're ramping up the production of medicines, math test, but those are weeks, maybe months away. and the situation is getting worse by the day. and after saying it wouldn't be needed. authorities admit they are working on

a vaccine for the am across very it and working on others that could work on the next variant that comes after that or i'm a crown isn't likely not to be the last curve ball. this virus throws in us. nearly 2 years on and once again, hospitals are stretched, lives are being lost, and every day new signs that life is far from returning to normal. petty clean al jazeera maryland. quebec could soon be the 1st canadian province to tucks unvaccinated adults. premier france all ago says that placing a financial burden on the health care system on tuesday, he announced plans for those without a medical exemption to pay a health care contribution. cobit 19 hospitalizations in canada of surge with the spread of the on the chron variant. more than half the population of europe will, of course, the only convent of coverage within the next $6.00 to $8.00 weeks. that's the warning from the world health organization. and it's urgent governments to prioritize vaccinations,

including booster shots. 7000000 new european case of amazon were detected in the 1st week of january alone. it is quickly becoming the dominant virus invest in europe. and this no spreading into the balkans at this rate, the institute for health metrics and evaluation for past that more than 50 percent of the population in the region will be infected with mcclung in the next 6 to 8 weeks out there as dominant cain as in berlin with more on the situation across europe, on the face of us, a very bleak assessment. indeed, that's 50 percent of the population. depending on which numbers you go by, in the you, more than 400000000 people live here in the you around 700000000 around the you, it's periphery countries and that sort of thing. so we're talking potentially hundreds of millions of people that this individual from the world health organization is saying might well find themselves falling fowl of the immigrant

variant of the corona virus in the course of the next couple of months. remember, it's deep winter here right now. and so all those conditions which militates in favor of further transmission are in place. it's cold outside people tend to congregate together inside if they're not wearing appropriate masks as we were hearing from the w h o. in another part of a statement made by the individual concerned that it's masking vaccination and that sort of thing in the absence of those. and it's very clear that the wolf health organization is making pretty difficult and dangerous suggestions here. hundreds of millions of people might find themselves as a se falling fall of on the kron in this deep winter phase of 2022. that's the really fundamental question here right now has on the chrome managed to dislodge the delta, very of the preceding, particularly dangerous variance of covey that had been running right. what like

wildfire across the continent, here in germany, the latest estimate suggests somewhere around 50 percent of all cases are of ami chrome. but in other parts of the continent then on the crohn has really taken hold and is starting to really push delta to one side. meanwhile, senators and france have been debating whether to approve a coven vaccine pass. the proposed legislation is controversial because it bars anyone who doesn't have a job from public places. thousands have been taken to the streets for weeks to oppose the measure. natasha butler reports. the southern port is mac say is in a region with one of the highest unvaccinated populations in france until recently, nico call was among them when we 1st met him a year ago. he didn't want to cove it vaccine because he worried about possible side effects. but he has since changed his mind and just had his 2nd job. i would refer if i had many questions about the vaccines effectiveness of what's in it. it

was a personal decision and i decided to say no to be vaccinated, but the situation has since evolved as a 5th wave. their own convent renown, or children are a major source of transmission and my wife as a teacher, right, her environment has changed. and on balance, i decided it was better to get vaccinated. economically, frances registered record numbers of new cove. it infections docked to say most people in hospital with the virus are unvaccinated, so the government wants to pressure those who are not immunized to get a job by introducing a vaccine pass for most social activities. last week, french m. p. 's approved the pass after days of face debate. people in france have to have a cove, it's hell pause if they want to catch a train, go to the movies or even be in a restaurant like this. it is a q r code that most people have on their telephone, but effectively shows whether you've been fully vaccinated or have a recent negative test. or the government wants to change the rules of it. only

people who are vaccinated will be able to access the path, which means people and vaccinated will no longer be able to do things like this. to measure his infuriated people who are against the coven vaccine, on saturday, thousands protested in paris against the pass and against the french president who recently made controversial comments about on vaccinated people, fell at bunker and it is an attack on our freedom. i am not vaccinated, emma prone does not respect the constitution. he has insulted me as a citizen. this opposition and peace as the pastor is an erosion of rights and the approach which even is all those who had be put to get vaccinated. you have to respect janice, we have a i have a clinician rate, nearly 90 percent. but we need to convince people who are unvaccinated to some, not necessarily because they are against it, but because they don't have enough information. so, well, some say the vaccine pulse is divisive emmanuel, macro battle. most people in france supporting it because the majority are

immunized opinion polls suggest he was right. 3 months before the presidential election, i coined hoping that is risky, political calculation will pay off. natasha butler, i'll jazeera must say, well, several nations have gone a step further and made vaccinations, compulsory. they include austria, where people face fines if not fully vaccinated by the 1st of february. italy made vaccination mandatory for the over 50 of last week. in greece, it's compulsory for over sixty's. german is no chancellor, left shoulder is planning a vote on the policy next month. britain's prime minister is facing renewed calls to step down after new revelations about a garden party held during lockdown, or was johnson has repeatedly denied breaking the rules. but elite email reportedly shows his private secretary invited around a 100 government staff to the gathering in 2020, but in bother has more how many garden parties is a garden party too far?

this image shows boris johnson at a gathering behind 10 downing street during the 1st lock down in may. 2020. his office is always claimed. this was a work meeting. now he's under intense pressure. after press reports, he attended another gathering here 5 days later, along with dozens of colleagues, an email from one of his advisors to a 100 members of staff said hi all after what has been an incredibly busy period, we thought it would be nice to make the most of the lovely weather and have some socially distance drinks and the number 10 garden this evening. please join us from 6 p. m and bring your own booze. and i know that people are also eager for news of the same day. the culture secretary was on television, telling the public they shouldn't meet more than one person from another household . in parliament on tuesday, the opposition was granted an urgent question because a prime minister to make a statement on the positive event held in the county street garden on the 20th of may, 2020 boris johnson didn't turn up, leaving it to

a cabinet colleague to fend off repeated calls for him to resign crime. i apologize again, unreservedly. fully upset that these allegations have caused the prime minister has asked for investigation to take place and the terms of reference, the investigations that are underway have already been published. in recent months, the press has been full of reports of social gatherings in downing street where copied 19 regulations were broken. but this time it feels different. johnson has refused to deny anything saying only that they'll be an investigation by su gray, a senior civil servant or the reaction of the former head of the scottish conservatives was particularly a survey on tuesday. she said, nobody needs an official to tell them whether they were utter boozy shindig in their own garden. well apart from su grey's investigation, the police here now say they're in touch with the cabinet office. with those reports of a garden party, the government's official number of people who died from covet 19 has just passed

850000. no surprise than that, the air waves have been full of people who lost loved ones in 2020, and weren't allowed to attend the funerals condemning the prime minister for his johnson's popularity. ratings have already slumped in recent months. whether this latest scandal translates into any real attempt by his party to replace him is less clear. nadine barber al jazeera london does not have to come here now. does air including growing criticism of ethiopia as government as more civilians are killed in military asked rice. and pumping investment into the heart of tripoli, how civic pride is being restored along with the ancient part of libya's capital city on that sentence. ah, so a lot of lake effect snow in the northeast, the u. s. where it's particularly cold, also shows it obviously it might say

t new york's minus 6 with wind chill is particularly cold, but the code is disappearing. so by wednesday it's out of the way. so the picture then is improving what i think it will feel less cold. it'll actually be less cold . the snow is going to fall. nissan canada found northeast of the u. s. but leaving behind fairly sunny weather. toronto goes to about plus one degree on the other side of the continent. it's washington and to some degree, british columbia and see once again rain, snow on the mountains. now between these 2, it's cold in places been severely the walls were in the teens. down on the gulf coast, and that's going to be slow to change. the next bit of winter's gathering, really in the middle of countered head down through, for example, last occurs towards the great lakes the next couple of days. standard, well down in the caribbean with that northeast or easterly trade wind producing shares where you are expecting some enhancement in mexico because of the cold. it

leaked out of the us. huge amounts of rain still falling in south america, particular brazil from rio inland towards the capital. it is very wet ah. stepped beyond the comfort zone, where assumptions of challenge travel to the ends of the earth, and further experience the unimaginable of the people who live it with the probably the most extreme situation i've been involved in how quickly things contract award winning documentary, but also perception witness on a just ah

ah, welcome back to come out of the top stories here at this hour. you as president joe biden has defended his administration's response to the surgeon, omicron cases. bible says he's confident the countries on the right track. the u. s . senate committee has met to hear the federal governments take on how it's handling the pandemic. the will health organizations warning of an approaching tidal wave of corona virus infections in europe says more than half of people they are on like it to be infected by on the kron in the next 2 months. and quebec could soon be the 1st canadian province to tax panels, not vaccinated against corona fighters. premier foss only goals says the unvaccinated are placing a financial burden on the health care system. yes, president joe biden says the united states is at a turning point on voting rights. he's urge the senate to pass legislation to

protect the right to vote. alan fisher reports from atlanta, georgia, before this important speech to bite and took time to pay tribute to civil rights. i caught he stopped at martin luther king's grave site. a man who fought for rights . the president no believes are at risk since the election that carried him to the white house. 19 states have changed the rules about voting. an attack on the people says deal by an attack on democracy for the right to vote. and that that vote count . it is democracy's threshold liberty. without it, nothing is possible. but what it, anything is possible. while the denial of fair and free elections is on democratic, it is not on fretted in it. he made the speech in georgia, one of the places where the laws have changed. a cut, the number of drop boxes made it harder to ask for a meal and vote even made it illegal to hunt water to people waiting in line to

vote. joe biden wants to change the rules in the senate to push legislation through against republican opposition, but he knows 2 senators from his own party. are dead set against that idea. he threw down this challenge. well, you stand against rotor suppression? yes or no, that's the question will answer. will you stand a lie against elections aversion? yes or no. we stand for democracy. yes or no. there is one thing, every senator, every american should remember. history has never been kind to those of siding with voters. suppression over voters rights, joe biden route to election victory with the overwhelming support of black voters in many experts believe that's who would be most disadvantaged by the change in the legislation. advocates who support a national law didn't attend. they believe joe biden should be in washington getting things done. not here,

talking about getting things done. this is york hardy, mister president. these are your soldiers. you need to find a way to get them in line because we deliver or you to lee is party and now you need to leave this party. oh, my god, congratulations, mr. ha joe biden. like every president had an ambitious agenda when he took office . he hasn't spent a lot of time on voting rights. this speech signals, it's no a priority. supporters of had the words. no, they want results. alan fisher al jazeera atlanta, georgia. well to talk. it is a political analyst. she says voting reforms are vital to expand access to polls. i thought today the president of the united states and the vice president of the united states in a very strong message to the american people, to the united states senate. that was a very clear message that democracy is before us and that we have a choice. are you going to be on the side of the martin luther king junior and get

a bit of side of george wallace? and it was clear that he outlined a case for voting rights. why it was so important for us to pass federal legislation the freedom to vote at and john lewis voting rights act, that it was imperative that congress needed to do it now. and he also laid out a pathway that we needed to adjust the filibuster in order to make way for there to be a focus on this issue. any also made it very clear that adjusting that full of buster heads taken place before with the debt ceiling. and there is no reason why i should not happen again for us to deal with a fundamental right in our country, which is democracy. but others say it's a decision for individual states, not the federal government can walk. as a republican strategist found a black, conservative for truth. as a republican when we do not support the voting rights go is not because we don't support voting rights. we absolutely support it. we believe that it is best for the

state decide what is best for our individual state. what happens is if the filibuster is eliminated, which they don't have the vote to do so, right now, then any party there in power can change the bills for the entire country were just a simple with just a simple majority. everything that the, that the voting rights bill that i didn't want to have passed, for example, i live in the state of georgia. we just passed the voting law sb to well, to get addresses. many of the items that they speak up. it is best for this to be done on a state level instead of a federal level. north korea has released images of leader kim jong lou and observing the countries latest missile test sticks the 2nd firing of an apparent hypersonic missile there in less than a week. on tuesday, japan and south korea condemned the test after detecting the launch. the latest

strike in ethiopia, trigger i region, has killed at least 17 people, dozens of others, a wounded in the southern town of my separate. it follows an attack on friday which killed at least $56.00 people in a camp for the displaced the governments denied targeting civilians in the 14 month conflict for malcolm waivers in ruby. he says, if you use use of that power has been controversial. the pin federal government power is widely seated, something that turn the tables in this conflict. in recent month, the conflict began just over a year ago. now, just a few months ago, the t p l. f and allies were advancing towards the capital, addis ababa than last month. the government successfully fought them back and a lot of observe as a tribute to drones that the government has recently bought a combat. drones, which is certainly proved effective militarily, but the death of civilians in the asteroid is at the same time attracting,

growing citizens from the international community. us president joe biden spoke yesterday with the prime minister abbey. i made the statement from the state department said at a biden, was critical about the strikes. also expressed concerns about the human rights situation in ethiopia, including the very many people have been detained under the state of emergency. people have been detained for long periods without trial in large numbers that bite and did say that he was pleased with the recent release of political prisoners, but certainly with the release of vertical printed on one hand. but then it continuing conflict through even escalating conflict in the case of the civilians being caught up and strike on the other hand, that's gonna certainly leave a lot of people thinking that these extensive mediation efforts maybe aren't necessarily bringing this conflict any close to a close now, tripoli is old city is rich in history and culture. the historic area of the libyan

capital was established more than 3000 years ago and later developed by the romans . it's been neglected the decades, but not starting to change. malik, trainer reports bob, as a deed is to western entrance into the ancient city. voyer. it means new door, but it dates back thousands of years. oh, yeah. was established by the phoenicians, nearly 3000 years ago. it then came under roman control and flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, a d. it was conquered by the russia doone caliphate, and was renamed tripoli in the 7th century. it's one of 5, eunice, go world to heritage sites in libya that are on it's and dangers las while it's been neglected in recent decades. that according to change, local authorities with the hope of residence have begun to renovation campaign to save the old city. there are the mallet salesman, a lot of a old city as

a symbol for all of lydia. the city hasn't seen renovation since the 1940s. all the governments that libya has seen since then neglected the city. it was on the verge of collapse. but thanks to the association and the residence we're seeing new life put into the heart of tripoli. follow the bab as you did. entrance has just reopened to the public with a new look. and shop owners like alamo brook couldn't be happier. shereka before there weren't many customers, but after the renovation the market changed. new customers are coming in then people are building because they want to see the non look come to rely on iraq. paula had yanna is on the board of directors of the old city association and has been supervising the renovation work. she says it's been her dream to breathe new life into triple is old city. difference of of round, of course. i mean or something. oh, it's a dream coming to and not even mentally my father used to work in this organization . my father died. want to tell him, you know, i hope his looking, you know,

same casey you we've done let, let you always hoped. so personally for me sir. yeah, it's a big, it's a big thing. i'm very proud. can see how the entire via the old city has changed with these new renovations. and locals now have a sense of pride in the cities rich history and a renewed sense of hope that it could return to its former glory. now, emma used to live in the old city. she found out about the renovations on social media. if i brought my grandchildren to see the history, this change is amazing. i hope they ran away the entire city. 40 years ago when i lived here, the roads and homes were falling apart. this is a great beginning. libya has seen relative calm since a nation wide ceasefire was signed last october. people here hope the hard one piece won't be short lived, so the work can continue to maintain, loses historical psych,

latrina al jazeera tribble tennis to. i know that judge has apologized for incorrectly filling out an australian immigration form the well number one said it was his agent. that incorrectly said he hadn't travel for 14 days prior to arriving in the country. video footage shows joke of its training at a tennis club in my bare spain, my 2nd of january. now south korean food has become the latest exports in the country to see a rise in popularity. cinemark and music industries have already swept the globe. but now the pandemic is pushing sales of korean instant noodles, especially in the west, nor about manageable in the street market. and so all these spicy ram, your noodles pack, a punch, a stable, the south koreans, the now winning over pallets around the world. since the pandemic demand oodles of the spicy noodles have food leading south korean manufacturer, a non shim says

a pandemic helped us be a, had a k food wave in america, canada, and europe. and that expanded noodle sales by 24 percent last year over 2019. ah, the noodles has become a latest trend in a growing western appetite for all things south korean. that's including cape hop, k drama, and k movies. non shem sales went up after the oscar winning film parasite presented a made up dish could jap at gory using its product. korean brown, some young rahman, full sales, reached new highs after it was used in the popular netflix show. with game and caper band bts pushed international sales of mine to old dumplings by 90 percent of the 2 members got into a fight. so good food, a korean wave,

honey. you played a huge role in the popularity of korea noodles and things like b t. s. like the world wide sensation b t s. and just seeing rahman and korean drama has played a huge role. people see it and they see that it's not just something that we eat out of convenience or something that broke college students. it. they see that it's something that people really enjoy the humble in. so noodle isn't new to american society. it's the main say in prisons as much as it is on the students plate. that south green food is claim their brands taste better and say there's only one way to eat it. that brings out that spicy flavor. i think it goes to the satisfaction of eating the noodles when you hear good solar per who's western has gone on korean food and culture. will they also take up this experience whitey shed on social

media horrible, manly algebra. now a hero, rock trained to smith, our land mines in cambodia has died. my god, giant african pouch rat detected more than a 100 landlines during his career. he was light enough to not trip the explosives on, was able to cover in minutes, an error that would take humans days. my gala was awarded a metal for harrison before retiring last year. he died peacefully at the ripe old age of ah tough approach out of the top stories here. u. s. president joe biden has defended his administration's response to the surge and on the con cases he says he's confident countries on the right.