addition on france 24. >> hello, and welcome back. the time is now 10:00 p.m. here in paris, and these are the latest world headlines for you at this hour. the stakes are high in georgia, as the u.s. state gears up for two senate run up -- runoff votes. in a sign of just how crucial it will be for the balance of power in capitol hill, both donald trump and joe biden are holding rallies on the grounds. we will have more from our correspondent in the state capital, atlanta. the british prime minister announces a new england-wide lockdown till at least mid-february.

but boris johnson expects optimism, saying the country is entering his last phase in the battle against covid-19. we will be speaking to our london correspondent. and trailing behind its neighbors and accuse of being overcautious, france tries to accelerate its coronavirus inoculion program, with president macron meeting members of his cabinet to get things moving quicker in one of the world's most vaccine skeptical countries. ♪ the u.s. president and the man who is set to replace him in less than three weeks time are both headed south the so-called peach state, with the donald trump and joe biden both eager to see their party back this

russia's fruit. -- precious fruit. george it will be holding two runoff votes which will determine whether republicans or democrats hold the senate. both men are holding separate rallies on the eve of this crucial ballot. one of the -- let's listen to what one of the georgia officials has been saying. >> everybody's vote will count. everybody's vote did count. i want to make that abundantly clear. if you care about the values that you want to see, it is your obligation to turn out and vote tomorrow, democrat or republican. the reason i am having to stand here today is because there are people in positions of authority who have said that their votes did not count, and that is not true. >> our washington correspondent has jetted south to cover this.

they joined me now from the city of atlanta. as if it was not clear enough just how important these looming ballots are for both donald trump and joe biden, both of those men have jetted in to tryu to make sure the vote goes their way. reporter: yes, exactly. both of them really throwing their weight behind their party's candidates. joe biden will be the first to speak, then donald trump will be holding a large rally near atlanta later on this evening. and this is really the sign of how important these two runoff races are, because really what is happening here is the balance of power in washington, that is what is at stake in these runoffs. and the math is simple. the democrats need to win both of those seats. that would make it 50-50 in the senate. that would mean vice president-elect kamala harris would be the tiebreaker and give democrats back control of the

senate. for the republicans, they need to win just one of the two races to hold onto power any senate, which will make joe biden's life much more complicated. but this is crucial, and the voters understand it. because we heard from the local official, the election official, gabriel sterling, that they have already broken vearl -- voting records. they already surpassed 3 million votes, which is one million more than any of the previous runoffs in the state of georgia. host: this about of course comes against the backdrop of sunday's "washington post" scandal involving donald trump's plea to find more votes there. what are we finding? reporter: gabriel sterling was here for a just that. he showed frustration at what he

has been hearing not only in that tape, the president speaking to his boss, the secretary of state. he was also attacking all of donald trump's team and administration for supporting what he called ridiculous claims. and he was tech -- standing xt to a sign that said "claim vs. fact," and he went through all the claims from rudy giuliani and other people in donald trump's team, or from donald trump himself, and he debunked every single one of them. when example is when he said about donald trump, asking the secretary of state to find more votes, he said we certify those results. there areo more votes left to nd in the state of georgia. and so he was really saying, don't listen to these baseless claims. you have to vote. your voice counts, your vote counts, and you have to sho up to the polls for that voteo count. do not let them prevent you from

deciding the outcome of these races. and that was really his plea after attacking donald trump and his team. his plea was for georgia voters to put aside all these claims and really just make their choice whether republican or democrat. host: ok, thank you very much. moving on, the british prime minister says the u.k. is not a critical moment in the war against covid-19, with boris johnson now instructing englanders to stay home until at least mid-february. across the u.k., yet another grim milestone has been reached. with the crisis worsening over the english channel, lawmakers in westminster have been recalled from their holiday recess to meet this wednesday. let's take a listen now to some of boris johnson's address to the nation. >> with most of the country already under extreme measures,

it's clear that we need to do more together to bring this new variant under control, while our vaccines are rolled out. in england, we must therefore go into a national lockdown, which is tough enough to contain this variant. that means the government is once again instructing you to stay-at-home. host: for more, as large parts of the u.k. prepares to batten down the hatches for this new year lockdown, we can bring in our london correspondent, who is standing by. the caseload is mounting where you are, but the man in 10 downing street is pulling out new stops to prevent this virus from spreading further. just what has boris johnson announced for england? reporter: yes. so, suddenly we have got this 8:00 p.m. tv address, which are

quiteare, although they have been made during the pandemic. so, concretely with the u.k. prime minister has announced for england is new national lockdown, set to begin on wednesday morning tbecome law. parliament being recalled, as you mentioned, on wednesday. so, the gravity of the situation, the deteriorating situation, isllustrat by the very worrying numbers publied today of 58,784 people testing positive in the last 24 hours, and another reported 407 deaths. so, these instructions are very important, and people are once again being told now to work from home, to stay-at-home, after the sharp rise in covid-19 cases. schools will close, all learning must go online.

summer exams are canceled. he acknowledged other arrangements will have to be made. and his hope is that england can steadily move out of lockdown by mid-february. but the alarm is raised because there is really a material risk that the national health service, the nhs, in several areas is about to be overwhelmed over the next 21 days. and that i why these very serious measures have been announced for england. other severe measures are already announced, or about to be announced in scotland, wales and northern ireland. host: you hinted that the prime minister hopes that this new lockdown can eventually be eased and this whole battle won. with the vaccination being ramped up, and historyeing made in oxford this monday. reporter: indeed. i think we can say that there a timetable of hope, and an

underlining by boris johnson, that the difference of this new national lockdown, which was similar to march of last year, is that this time, there's a vaccine. the u.k. was the first toccis. rollout the pfizer biontech one made in belgium, and that is underway now. but today was the launch of that second different vaccine, which is made here in the u.k., which is the oxford astrazeneca vaccine. and that means that there's really hope that by mid- february, the top four categories of people to be vaccinated will have done so by february. but of course, deadlines have come and gone, and there's a worry that that might not be at. so there are many -- might not be it. so there are many people, it may

not be easier in england right now, and many support that across the u.k. host: thank you very much. people north of the border are going back into a lock down for at least the remainder of this month as well. scotland's first minister has told lawmakers in the edinburgh parliament that she is more concerned about the outbreak now than at any other moment since march. to try to ease the pressure on hospitals there, from this tuesday, scots will be required to stay home unless they have a valid reason to leave. people can exercise or will only be allowed to meet with one other person from a household that is not their own. schools will remain shut until february. let's take a quick listen now. >> these additional restrictions, essentially returning us to a position simmler to the lockdown of less march -- similar to the lockdown of less march -- last march.

i cannot rule out keeping them in place longer, nor rule out making further changes. nothing about the current situation is easy. the first measure is that our fundamental advice for everyone is to stay-at-home. that is the single best way of we consider that this stay-at-home message and advice is now so important, that from tomorrow, it will become law, just as it was in the lockdown last year. host: next it will really take off this week, and will get stronger. that is what the french spokesperson said about the coronavirus vaccination program, with drugs said to be rolled out quicker after he criticized sluggish start. president emmanuel macron has met with members of his cabinet this monday after the national academy of medicine last week said the government was simply taking excessive precautions when it comes to pricking and protecting the nation. let's listen to what france's

health minister has been saying. >> by tonight, we will have vaccinated several thousands of people across the country. that number is only going to grow exponentially. on wednesday, thursday, friday, and over the weekend. vaccination will also continue at nursing homes, while respecting the logistical chain, so we do not waste any doses and to respect the security measures necessary to lead this vaccination campaign. host: this is time now for a look at the day's business news with cole. it's the first trading day of the new year. depending on where you are, it has been either a solid day or a rather disappointing one. reporter: really depends on which side of the atlantic you are in. let's start and europe. a few signs of the post-brexiteer eight chaos. -- trade chaos. so too is the rollout of the it vaccine in the u.k. optimism pushed markets into

positive territory on monday, but they were closed before the latest lockdown measures were announced in the u.k. gains across the board on the major european indexes. the ftse in particular, around 1.7%. on the other hand on wall street, a much rougher day. the global health situation is one factor. unease over the outcome of tomorrow's pivotal elections in georgia also weighing on investors there in the united states. now, next up, it's a landmark day at alphabet. more than 200 employees said they are forming a union open to all employees, first in their history. it comes after growing activism over recent years over harassment, google's trident -- ties to the trump administration, and concern about how their products are used. google defending their workplace policies. for more now we are joined by alex, a software engineer at google and supporter of the alphabet workers union.

alex, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. let's get right into it to start things off. why are you guys starting a union? >> first, thank you for having me. our story.for helping us share the answer for why we are sharing -- starting a union is pretty simple. google and alphabet executives have failed to act ethically over the years. we have seen again and again, removal the -- we're also losing the moral compass of this country -- company. we belie the workers can set it right, not just for our own benefit and power and dignity as workers, but for the good of the billions of people use google products as well. reporter: that formal recognition from google -- without formalecognition from google, they are not legally required to negotiate with the union. how do you hope to move somef

these issues? >> we are what is known as a minority union. we are a relatively small portion of the cone -- of the company right now, although we expect to have a lot more people as we become public. but we intend to get the company's ear by doing the same things that we have previously, but now with more structure, now with more organization. google has a history of successful worker activism, and its biggest weakness previously, with all the respect to the amazing people who had worked for activism previously, is without a structure to keep it going after the initial demand, after the initial splash, it has not always gotten consistent, sustained results and attention from google executives. so we think that by just supporting these sorts of efforts, this wker activism, these worker vois, because

we're the people who make up the company, google is going to listen tos. we are gooe. and the executives are going to take that into account. reporter: another question for you there, silicon valley, not exactly known for being a bastion of trade unionism and activism. do you think that is changing today? >> i do think so, yes. google is the first big tech company, to the best of my knowledge, to unionize. but we are not the first tech company. so kickstarter, for example, is a union that we have taken a ve strong example from. we are working with the communication workers of america, and they are working, in tur with other digital workers across the u.s. and canada. so, i think that this is the beginning of a much larger shift. we're not the first, but i am very confident that we are not the last to recognize the need for this kind of union. reporter: thank you so much for taking the time to join us here

on "french 24." moving to egypt, a country that relies heavily on tourism, where the crisis has proven especially painful. authorities say just 3.5 million people visited the country last year, down from 13 million in 2019. travel companies anticipate a gradual recovery in 2021, a is ejected by the country's tourism minister. >> we've made around $4 billion in revenue. of course figures last year were three times higher, but this is not a time to think about numbers or money. what matters is our reputation. it's making sure that egyptians working in the sector, as well as those coming into egypt, are safe, so they go home and speak well of the measures implement it here. reporter: next up, a possible mega merger seems off the table for now. they have rejected aroposed takeover from mgm resorts. the cup and he said the $11 billion offer from the u.s.

casino operator undervalue their business. online betting has gotten a boost undercoat would resurgence. the u.s. -- boost undercoat restrictions. -- boost under covid restrictions. as you can see there, part of the expansion we are seeing the ganley sector in the u.s., as result -- the gambling sector in the u.s.. host: today's focus report takes us to one of europe's hardest hit countries. since the outbreak first hit italy, and particularly the north, thousands of people have headed south to work in the towns and villages where they were born and raised. this trend even has a name, and it is called in italy, aptly, the south working bureau. here is a report from sicily. reporter: the usual morning ritual.

marco gets his laptop, phone, charger, and earphones ready for the day. he's a manager in a multinational financial services company in milan. he decided to leave the company at the end of the first lockdown in spring. his plan? return to sicily, his native region, in the south of italy. >> [speaking italian] reporter: since returning seven months ago, marco can get to work on a bicycle instead of the metro. he never stopped working for his company in the north, and is remote working from a co-working space just a few minutes from his home. from here, he coordinates and supervises a team of eight people, all in milan.

>> [speaking italian] reporter: since the outbreak of the health crisis in italy, these kind of shared workspaces have proliferated here. roberto manages this one, which used to have about 50 workplaces, now reduced to 30 in order to guarantee social distancing. it's almost always full. >> [speaking italian] reporter: useful options for

employees during a pandemic. according to a recent survey, since last spring, more than 100,000 workers have left the north to settle in the group of regions in the south that are behind in development compared to the rest of italy. >> [speaking italian] reporter: for sicilians, the return of this workforce has kindled a new hope, to boost economic development and reduce the gap between the north and the south of italy. >> [speaking italian]

reporter: as a result of this fast growing phenomenon, an association has been created to facilitate the return of this workforce. their aim? to get logistical assistance from local government. this morning, they are meeting with the mayor of a town about 100 kilometers east. here, they hope to manage a public co-working space. >> [speaking italian] >> [speaking italian] reporter: for the town's mayor,

this is an opportunity to re-vandalize -- revitalize this municipality, fight against the dropping birthrate, and more. >> [speaking italian] reporter: so, in order to attract these young professionals, the town has made available their most attractive space. with an uninterrupted view of the mediterranean. this building houses the ceramic museum, a local traditional craft. from now on, it will have a dual purpose. >> [speaking italian] reporter: an inspiring landscape, as is the increased

purchasing power for these young professionals, unlike what they had until recently in the north. a definite improvement in the quality of life, and the opportunity to enjoy a warm winter in the south of italy. host: that brings the first 30 minutes of the program to a close, but there's another round up of international news for you coming up after the break here on "france 24." do stay with us if you can. ♪

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01/04/21 01/04/ [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> today we are swept away by our joy but the fact -- [cheers] willact that julian shortly be with us. amy: in a stunning decision, a british judge has blocked the extradition of wikileaks founder julian assangeth