>> welcome back to france 24 in paris. these are our top stories. 100 conservative mps rebel against boris johnson's government in a vote over covid-19 passes to enter certain venues in england. the dutch prime minister says the restrictions will be extended through the christmas and new year periods. and the probe into the u.s. capitol attack.

they are deciding whether or not to seek against donald trump's shiva staff -- chief of staff. good evening. mps in london have voted to approve new restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of omicron variant covid-19. the conservative party voted against the new regulations. face masks must be worn in most indoor settings in england and proof of vaccination or a native covid test will be needed in order to enter certain venues. all of those measures passed comfortably thanks to support from the opposition labor party.

the new omicron variant is a grave threat to the country. let's get more from london. benedict, a bit of a blow for prime minister boris johnson. how serious? >> a serious blow. he won but the government lost. remember, these concern england, not the other three nations who already have stricter rules. he, the prime minister had to rely on votes from the main opposition party, labor party. he has been making that point that this prime minister has damaged his authority.

his own mps to think about their position because we need a serious leader in serious times and to lead the country through a pandemic. this is a rejection of boris johnson as leader of the conservative party. it is a bigger tory rebellion that we have expected. it is 98 at the last count and they come from very different quarters of the conservative party. the prime minister will be receiving more phone calls, private messages from his mps. this is a turning point in the johnson era. this leader went to an election and won an 80 seat majority.

he is relying on the labor party to get his plan through thanks to them. >> this does not bode very well for boris johnson. even stricter measures need to be introduced. he will have a real uphill battle. >> precisely. there in lies the rub. if we were to believe the scientific and medical experts, it is clear that this new variant, omicron will no longer be the delta variant here in london. that is already past that threshold. so we are going to get omicron. we are going to get a rise in formations across here.

that means more hospitalizations. although we don't yet know and scientists have underlined the severity of that, the fact that this new variant is so transmissible and doubling in two to three days is very concerning. you cannot introduce new measures because people don't trust you with your new measures and certainly a lot of conservative mps are showing they are rejecting, they don't believe a lot of them that these are necessary. they think it is an infringement of their liberties, the individual liberties of their constituents, the u.k. population and they don't trust him on a number of things. despite boris johnson going to the t rose before the vote and going to meet backbenchers behind closed doors and say what a great situation it was and

saying what the scientists and experts lie ahead, they decided to vote against him. this is a major turning point of this prime minister. the future will tell but this is a very serious blow. they want him under stand the message he is sending. we will see. we will see tomorrow's headlines across the newspapers will be very bad for this prime minister. >> thank you for bringing us up to speed. numbers of covid-19 infections in the netherlands have dropped from record levels following a nighttime lock down there but nevertheless, the numbers remain high. in a bid to free up beds, all

emergency operations are on hold. mark rutte or has been giving a news conference on the situation there. quite the big news is that the measures that were introduced at the at -- at the end of november will be extended for the 15th of january at least. that means masks will continue to be worn inside public places but that nighttime lockdown that has been in place means all restaurants, shops, gyms, cultural places all have to shut their doors. is a huge blow to businesses as they go into the holiday season. the government has announced that financial support for them will be extended into the first quarter of next year. this is a huge blow. also, the limitation of the number of users at home.

that will remain the case through christmas and new year's eve as well. people are expecting the government would relax those measures. the opposite is true. children will be off and they are being advised to be kept at home to make sure they don't infect their grandparents over the christmas holidays. the number of people in hospital, they are mostly people over 70. to abide by the measures, keep washing hands because the numbers are not going down yet. >> the u.s. house of representatives is voting on whether or not to seek criminal contempt of congress charges against mark meadows. meadows served as the chief of staff. four people died.

one capitol police officer died from injuries sustained while seeing congress. we had the very latest on today's developments. >> the house is about to vote on that criminal contempt charge against mark meadows. th is becae mark meadows has refused to testify on the january 6 committee. mark meadows has gone back and forth when it comes to complying and cooperating with the january 6 committee. whether they were emails or text messages over to the january 6 committee. after that, when he was supposed to actually testify in person and answer the questions of that january 6 committee, he decided

not to go and testify on the questions they had about some of those -- some of that information they just received. he claims that any testimony would be under executive privilege. that donaltrump has -- to have a court decide whether or not he should testify in front of a committee. as i said, that strove of information that he handed over, that is there important because so of those texts show a lot of people including republican members of congress really texting mark meadows on the day of january 6, asking him for the president to come out on tv and ask those people to leave the capitol grounds.

>> the governor of kentucky said a dozen children are amongst the 74 people who died in the state after a series of tornadoes swept across the region on friday. also amongst the dead are a people who worked at a candle factory that was reduced to rubble. the death toll could advise further still. a number of people do remain unaccounted for. thousands of remain without electricity. brian quinn has the latest for us. >> ground zero for one of the most devastating storms in history. in mayfield, kentucky, the damage is such that known expects them to recover from the damage on their own. limited distortion, moments of relief. eight people lost their lives when this candle factory was flattened. dozens more are feared. .

mayfield mayor says critical if a structure is destroyed and that her town will rebuild. quite it will not happen tomorrow but i can swear to you that the city of mayfield will survive this. that is the type of people we are. we will survive. >> tens of thousands of home remain without water or electricity after five tornadoes swept through the state on friday night. thousands of residents have been left homeless. governor andy bashir says the health impact will not be limited to physil injuries. >> those who have been down there trying to help, it is very real. >> while it was the worst hit, kentucky is not alone. more than a dozen people have been killed with tornadoes reported across arkansas, illinois, mississippi and

tennessee as well. president joe biden has already approved this. he plans to travel to the affected areas on wednesday to view the damage firsthand. >> let's get a check of some sports news stories. let's talk about the dark time we are going through. it looks like a similar scenario to two years ago. >> yes, we have seen the pandemic creep into plenty of sports across the planet. a particularly difficult situation. the highest amount since testing began in may of 2020. the match scheduled on tuesday night between branford and manchester united has been postponed.

there are fears and echoes of that march of 2020 time when the pandemic really kicked in. following high infection rates. several other games are at risk of not being played at all. in total, six clubs -- this as the u.k. battles with an outbreak of the omicron variant. >>ow, there will be other players who are in the problem, in the trouble. it is very difficult. very diffilt.

they will be some more players, more matches who can play. it is very sad. >> looking at the fixtures ahead at this week. you can already see that branch esther manchester united game. some of those could be at risk. >> our sports editor coming up. we will see you next time on france 24.

>> hello and thank you for joining us. with his incredible voice and charisma, the king of african pop has always been a musical innovator, using tradition and modernity. he weaved together african and western pop. his 1994 hit seven seconds remains a cross-cultural jam. the foremost figure has released a new album called mbalax. >> thank you so much for talking to france 24. we are here to talk about your

new album. yoannounced in may of 2021 that you were going to take a break. but if it is a break, it is not a very long break. >> because of the pandemic, the world stopped because of the damage done. some months ago, i stopped to play live. that does not mean i stopped playing everything. one day, my young brother came to me and said please give us some songs about the wake-up of the world after this pandemic. ♪

>> you are known across the world as the king of belak. can you tell us what was establishing your regency? >> this is an expression. it does not mean that we just use traditional instruments, we his guitar, keyboard and saxophone and a lot of modern things but the expression is alec -- balax. music is about bringing a message. >> this was about returning to the roots of african music.

you featured a lot of artists from the african continent. particularly the african -- the hip-hop or rap sphere. >> before i was trying to celebrate the new vibe of african music by the young people -- that does not mean that we blocked everything. >> it feels like there are a lot of chill music and dance but there is also meaningful and strong themes running through

it. >> the more we listen, the more we know africa will affect our future. i think everybody will have questions today during writing or singing. we have to talk about the anthem for the young people. we have to ask for the leaders to just reserve this. >> i was also wondering about language. did you tell different stories depending on the language? >> i think the first language --

life, love, emotion. most of the time, people are touched by the music. we know that music is powerful. we have to use this power to deliver the message. >> you did not just use your music -- none. any particular goals in that domain for 2020 >> everybody has to -- for 2022? >> with my experience, i bring a lot of things like a lot of people to put his bait --

participate in my country. to really healthy president move forward. i think it is very important. i still really focus on that. this main thing is my music does not stop. my music is my patient. when the time arrives and i have the energy and something to say, i come in to say that. >> thank you so much for talking to us. >> no problem. >> next, congolese rumba awarded

world heritage status. they begin a campaign to add this to intangible cultural heritage last year. >> the writing of the legendary independent song of our country, independence cha-cha is one of the triumphs of our history. it is the pride of our country, the congo. rumba is quite a story.

it makes me think of africa's independence. it is part of our identity. >> my father used to tell me that rumba started in congo. i love the fact that congolese rumba can cross borders. >> it is a rhythm that we have been dancing through all of our lives. to recognize rumba recognizes my childhood, my origins and my culture. >> next, what these three leaders have in common. they embody the african concept of mbutuu. to explore the idea some more, 20 artists have been invited to reflect on ubuntu.

>> how can we rekindle our sense of common humanity? this thomas quality is the center of ubuntu and the question presented to 20 non-western artists. >> artists are not here to bring us answers, they are here to help us think about the world differently. to open up our imaginations to other ways of thinking like ubuntu. that could help us imagine a different future. >> noland oswald dennis is one of those people that likes pushing boundaries, tracing them with his own footsteps and in the process, appropriate space that has been rocked by colonization. >> it is a map of places that exists but doesn't exist at the same time, dreams, fantasies, clinical mythologies. it is a map of africa that does

not exist yet. it is printed on the floor, invites you to be a part of it. more people that walk across it, the more that it changes -- the more that people walk across it, the more it changes. >> the pictures of amazon warriors of all stripes who were ignored in a history written in a history written and told by men. each and every piece telling an original story but weaving together in a collective female history of humanity. >> every single woman in our continent should be resented somehow. sometimes you see people's names. i don't take out any of the detail.

>> every piece and artist brings their own vision of ubuntu. leading to an experience with an abundance of perspectives as diverse as humanity itself. >> i will leave you with this next part. created by three artists, this shows the recycled plastic of ghana's -- the textiles of and oil paintings. our website is also on twitter, facebook and instagram. there is more news coming up on france 24 after this.

courts from north to south africa -- >> from north to south africa, bringing you all of the political, economical and social news from africa for insight into an ever-changing continent. >> across africa, represented by georja calvin-smith.

aptioning made possible by democracy now!] 12/14/21 12/14/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! workers at the elmwood starbucks store in buffa, new yok, won a storic victory after they voted to unionize last week, king thethe first do so among the coffee chain's 9000 locations in the united states. more stores have alr