of record high corona virus infections more than a 1000 new cases were confirmed on sunday many in seoul earlier the sira south korea was hailed as a success for stabilizing the virus without having to shut down the economy but infections are now rising sharply the government has warned it may have to increase restrictions to the highest level let's bring in jim who is the director general of the international vaccine institute he's joining us from seoul via skype thanks very much for your time with us on al-jazeera says we're safer most of the south korea kept its coronavirus numbers low and now it's in the midst of a wave record high infections what's going wrong. here with us mr kim can you hear me. yes i can't thanks for joining us on al-jazeera so just tell us what the situation is right now in south korea because as we understand it it's managed to keep its numbers low for most of the year but now it's experiencing record high infection so what's going wrong so you know i mean i think that no matter where you are on the planet now over 1000 has managed to find every week spot and t

in particular, in seoul. from officials that they are hoping to double the number of icu beds that can be dedicated for coronavirus patients by the end of the year. they say 85% of hospital beds are already occupied within the seoul city and the greater seoul area. and they say they have just four icu beds left that can be used for coronavirus patients. now, last week, there were a couple of occasions when there was just one icu bed left. we're seeing officials create more capacity and add new icu beds over the past few days. as they are adding them, they are then filling up, as well. certainly this is a struggle for health officials in seoul, trying to make sure that there are enough beds to go around. they have admitted as well that two patients have died in seoul itself whilst waiting for a hospital bed. also in japan, there was just a little less than 2,500 new coronavirus cases for sunday. the concern there is also surrounding the capital city, tokyo, seeing a significant number. anna? >> we certainly ap

for the latest i'm now joined by correspondent frank smyth who joins us from seoul hello to you frank so tell us more about these restrictions and how people are responding to them. well the government raise the level of restrictions to 2.5 on their 3 point scale and that's to last for 3 weeks especially in the capital reason that so. the province and and in shine bars and fitness centers are in night clubs are going to be completely closed restaurants and cafes will be able to be open only until 9 pm with teco only at any coffee shops or cafes after 9 pm perhaps on the only thing that will be open there are hospitals and maybe convenience stores in terms of how people are reacting to this there has been a bit of pushback from employees that have been warned not to get coke at 19 and that their behavior might be you know tracked if they were to get the coronavirus by people are generally cooperated and they're everybody's wearing masks and when you go into a shop or into a cafe which people are are checking in with their phone numbers or checking in electronically with their phones so

for the latest i'm now joined by correspondent frank smyth who joins us from seoul hello to you frank so tell us more about these restrictions and how people are responding to them. well the government raise the level of restrictions to 2.5 on or 3 point scale and that's to last for 3 weeks especially in the capital reason that so. the province and and in sean bars and fitness centers are in nightclubs are going to be completely closed restaurants and cafes will be able to be open only until 9 pm with teco only at any coffee shops or cafes after 9 pm perhaps on the only thing that will be open there are hospitals and maybe convenience stores in terms of how people are reacting to this there has been a bit of pushback from employees that have been warned not to get coke at 19 and that their behavior might be you know tracked if they if they were to get the coronavirus but people are generally cooperated and narrow everybody's wearing masks and when you go into a shop or into a cafe which people are are checking in with their their phone numbers or checking him electronically with their

south korea's capital seoul as impose its toughest coronavirus measures yet as it struggles to contain a 3rd wave of covert 1000 infections a country has been seen as a relative success story in its efforts to combat the virus that has had a recent surge in cases and is reported its highest daily death toll let's cross over to rob mcbride he's standing by for us in seoul and rob 1st let's take a look at these new measures was all day and who's affected by the. it's basically it has just been confirmed that these measures will come into force 2 days from now and it will limit private gatherings of people either indoors or outdoors to basically 4 people and no more than that these at least toughest restrictions that we've seen being put in place they're obviously being put in place now because there's a real concern about family gatherings for the year end holiday period what that might do to this surge that we're seeing in the number of cases now was going to be just in effect in the soul metropolitan area but it's also been announce now that the neighboring provinces to seoul which bas

at a rise in corona virus infections all public gatherings of 4 almost people will now be banned in seoul as well as several neighboring provinces that affects hall of the country's population south korean health authorities say they're running out of hospital beds because of a record spike in new cases in the united states congressional leaders there have agreed on a $900000000000.00 relief package for millions of americans they've also extended federal funding to prevent a government shutdown situation is also westing across europe with poland now joining a growing list of countries suspending transport links with the u.k. over a new more infectious strain of the virus britain's health secretary has warned that this new strain is out of control and state home orders are now in place in parts of the country while our correspondent robin wright is at one of the testing centers in the south korean capital seoul he has more on the government's efforts to ramp up free testing to fight this outbreak. these measures will come into force 2 days from now and it will limit private gatherings of p

for the latest i'm joined by correspondent frank smith in seoul welcome frank tell us more about these new restrictions and how people are responding to them. well the government raised social distancing measures its coronavirus measures to 2.5 by 3 points scale as one from the highest level of a lot down because of this increase in the number of daily cases prime ministers from so you can call this a critical time in the government's battle against the coronavirus so from now on for the next 3 weeks bars are going to be closed nightclubs will be closed fitness clubs will be closed students will attend classes only at sort of 30 percent or one 3rd level with attendance being rotated there's also a 9 pm curfew which you mention that's not for everybody to go out that's for specifically cafes and restaurants they will be able to have take over after 9 pm however cafes will 'd only be able to have teco throughout the day in terms of how the public is accepting this there has been some pushback because companies have warned employees not to get the coronavirus and that their behavior would

exactly how much of what type of fish can be caught by who and when and in whose waters specifically seoul some deals and herrings and how much of those e.u. own boats can fish in british waters it's coming down to this much detail and it's because fishing is just as important psychologically here in france and also in denmark and the netherlands as it is in britain it makes up in front a tiny portion of g.d.p. just 1.6 percent of g.d.p. is found in fisheries and also agriculture and forestry so small portion of france's output but very important for the nation the fishing industry very important politically and just as boris johnson wants to say to the british people he's scored this deal that benefits the u.k. with the european union so macron also has domestic pressures here he doesn't want to be seen to be giving too much away and seems that according to the a.f.p. the french news agency they're quoting a source that says it's emmanuel mccrum that is holding this up to the a.f.p. says that he doesn't emmanuel markram was doesn't want to enter into too hasty a settlement so that could b

rise in corona virus infections all public out the rings of more than 4 people will now be banned in seoul as well as several neighboring provinces that affects hof of the country's population south korean health authorities say that they are now running out of hospital beds because of a record spike there in new cases in the united states congressional leaders have agreed on a $900000000000.00 relief package for millions of americans they also extended federal funding to prevent a government shutdown and there's also growing concern over a new strain. one of the crane a virus that's emerged in the u.k. hong kong and poland have joined a growing list of countries now suspending transport links with bresson england's health minister has warned that this new strain is out of control and stage time orders are now in place and parts of the country robert pride reports with more from seoul. the new restrictions will limit private gatherings to just 4 people and they're being introduced ahead of the year and holiday season. to know we will not be able to overcome the crisis unless we reduce clus

seoul is not too cold, but as we go into monday, it is going to be minus 8.careful of the freezing conditions. meanwhile, a bush fire has been occurring in frazier island in australia since mid-october. this is the world's largest island. dry conditions continue the next couple days, but later this week, we'll see cooler temperatures plus rain. hopefully, conditions will improve. a tropical low is approaching western australia. this system will likely cause flooding and rainfall to northern areas of the state. we'll see lots of heavy rainfall, plus gusts probably nearly 90 kilometers per hour. 34 is expected in port helen. rain could continue in the south today. opposed to late november, where the mercury hit 40 degrees, sydney will see 24 on wednesday, seasonal for this time of year. and across europe, heavy snow has been pounding the alpine region. 3 meters of snow in three days, the all-time record for the area. strong winds were reported in france as well as serbia. red flag warnings were posted at the time. we'll see stormy conditions in italy and the ba

in seoul, only one of 78 hospital beds were available for seriously ill patients is unoccupied.fficials say they will secure 18 more. >> translator: seoul is in perilous circumstances with the surge in cases. the hospital bed occupancy rate in the city is very close to its limit. >> infection clusters occurred at a church and a bar in seoul early this month. the city government plans to seek compensation from them citing their failure to take anti-infection measures. >>> britain has invited india, south korea, and australia as guest nations to the group of seven summit it will chair next year. the prime minister's office released a statement. it says the investigation underscores johnson's desire to tackle common ideals. the british government also disclosed that johnson will visit india next month in a bid to increase his country's involvement in the indo-pacific region. johnson's visit to india is part of a plan to transform the g-7 into a broader grouping of ten leading democracies, capable of challenging china and other authoritarian nations. britain is increasingly wary of

cnn's paula hancocks is in the capital of seoul for us. quite a disappointing reversal. what is behind the surge and how is the government planning on handling it? >> we heard from president moon jae-in saying he believes this is an emergency situation, there will be more done with testing and treatment. what we've heard from his prime minister is there will be 150 new testing stations set up in and around the greater seoul area. and hundreds of military personnel, police are being brought in and trandz to help with the contact tracing process. it's not an outbreak or a cluster based on one or two epicenters. there are much smaller outbreaks, but they are more widespread. 66 in a nursing hospital, 14 in a restaurant. so the fact that we are seeing so much smaller outbreaks is making it far harder for officials to try and contain the outbreak. the prime minister himself did say if these numbers continue in an upward trend, then there will be no choice but to increase restrictions once again, increase the associate distancing measures and that would be to the highest level

city hall nonexistent this year seoul has its christmas tree as usual but not the normal ceremony for switching on its lights that was held online just one of the many seasonal traditions south korea is having to forgo this year families would normally visit beaches or national parks to see the 1st sunrise of the new year many of those have been closed by a government increasingly concerned by what that new year will bring from a pandemic it thought it had under control robin bride al-jazeera sold. our cutters informed the u.n. security council that bahraini fighter jets violated its airspace it relates to an incident on december the 9th bahrain is one of 4 nations along with saudi arabia egypt and the u.a.e. that have imposed the blockade on qatar since 2017 castillian christians are preparing to go ahead with christmas celebrations in bethlehem despite a surge in covert cases in the occupied west bank the festivities and midnight mass are centered on the church of nativity where christians say jesus was born but they'll take place without a congregation tourism in israel and the occ

to try to contain the virus but our correspondent robert bryant joins us now live from the capital seoul robyn a christmas is quite a big deal in south korea and the country is under some very tight restrictions as yet how are people there feeling as these infection and does continue to climb. many people this christmas morning woke up to the depressing news that once again the country has set this record of well over 1200 new rig cases being recorded in a single day the news actually was broken by the country's prime minister at a meeting of the coronavirus task force here a lot of the this jump is being attributed to an outbreak at a prison here in seoul some 288 cases recorded mostly inmates but also some stuff there that's in addition to a couple of 100 other cases that had already been recorded there so around 500 cases at this one facility which is cause some alarm here we're seeing some of the prisoners inmates being moved to other facilities tightening up the testing regime etc but this comes as the restrictions have been ramped up across south korea to try to contain this 3rd wa

of this pandemic and awarded more than $1200.00 new cases including a large outbreak at a prison in seoulthe country rolled out its toughest ever restrictions this week. well the u.n. security council has approved a temporary deployment of more troops to central african republic ahead of sunday's elections there most opposition presidential candidates have already stopped campaigning because of security concerns they want these polls perspire and but the government says that's not an option catherine sawyer reports from the capital bangui. the mood in this market is just right for christmas kristie tease central african stake their celebrations seriously and traders are making a killing it's also an election season they go to the polls on sunday and the main mori is security. of course but it's christmas doesn't want a good cheer. but everyone is in a festive mood too many residents want to get their voices hard some through religious processions praying for peace. others like this women can do. the newly formed peach roots for change a coalition of several armed groups that has threatene

city hall nonexistent this year seoul has its christmas tree as usual but not the normal ceremony for switching on its lights that was held online just one of the many seasonal traditions south korea is having to forgo this year families would normally visit beaches or national parks to see the 1st sunrise of the new year many of those have been closed by a government increasingly concerned by what that new year will bring from the pandemic it thought it had under control robin pride al-jazeera sold. now state affiliated media in ethiopia is reporting that soldiers have killed a group of armed men accused of an attack on a village the incident in the western region of bani shango gomers so more than $100.00 villages killed media reports suggest 42 armed men were killed after prime minister ahmet sent in the troops marc webb has been monitoring the story for us from neighboring kenya. for more than a 100 people were killed in the attack that happened dawn on wednesday and survivors of said the attackers set people's homes on fire and then shot men women and children dead many of them a

is focused around the greater seoul area., in japan they have just reported close to 2,500 cases, the city bearing the brunt of this pandemic at this point. and in hong kong, stricter social distancing measures are staying in place. they have gyms, bars, pubs all closed at this point and restaurants have to be takeout only from 6:00 p.m. >>> i'm in sydney, australia where health authorities are cautiously optimistic that they might be starting to get on top of a new mystery cluster that's broken out here, running with a number of days of no transmission in the city. just 15 cases announced on monday from over 38,000 tests conducted on sunday. this has not been able to achieve, however. around a quarter million of sydney's residents have been put on lockdown to try to get on top of the virus, and state leaders around australia have blocked entrance from the greater city region. contact tracers still remain nervous because they haven't shown who patient zero is in this cluster. they believe the variant of the virus might have c

whether it's poetry anthologies or picture books n. 2017, over-50 new independent bookstores opened in seoulne. his independent bookstore had to cancel many events. he still hopes to create a space for poets and poetry lovers. >> south korea is currently in search of a new normal and people are forging connections in new ways. the key to preventing infection is maintaining physical distance and avoiding groups. this independent bookstore has a reputation for highly personal service. the store owner chats with customers and steers them towards books they might enjoy. this is a former radio script writer. >> one regular customer has come in the for the first time in months. she's a nurse and a member of china's reading club. >> the nurse has barely been able to find time to read recently. so, jung takes her to a special customer reading group. he recommends the book in which the heroine battles discrimination. >> three years ago, we followed another new movement in south korea. the entertainment district is home to a wide variety of performers. comedians sing about the latest twists and turns

we find out what magic in seoul about. 60 minutes. happiness is for everyone schumann penises are very different from primates you know we have a totally ridiculous sized view of nature and they're thinking that this is climate change brags that sex is helping us employees books you'll get smarter for free d.w. books on. hello everybody and welcome to africa i am some good train audio coming to you from kampala uganda it is good to have you with us again as always we hope and lots of reports from europe and africa things that people are doing to address environmental issues that we will also in the micro present that in nigeria has.

it struggles to contain a rising new infections gatherings of more than 4 people are now banned in seoul and to neighboring regions hospital capacity for critical cases is to be doubled by the end of this year from a bride has the latest from the south korean capital these measures will come into force 2 days from now and it will limit private gatherings of people either indoors or outdoors to basically 4 people and no more than that because of the toughest restrictions that we've seen being put in place they're obviously being put in place now because there's a real concern about family gatherings for the year and holiday period what that might do to this surge that we're seeing in the number of cases now it was going to be just in effect in the soul metropolitan area but it's also been announced now that the neighboring provinces to seoul which basically account for around half of south korea's population will also see the same restrictions congressional leaders in the united states have reached a deal on a $900000000000.00 covert $1000.00 relief package for millions of americans this

number of credit virus cases in one day since march 629 year infections half of them in the capital seoul now the government has announced a ban on year end parties and reimpose strict social distancing guidelines in the greater seoul area. the united nations is holding a special general special session pardon me of the general assembly to discuss the coronavirus crisis the secretary general has accused wealthier countries for not doing enough to help developing nations for the 1st time since 945 and well he's confronted by a common student you've got of us of a nationality at the city off face the world us organization provided factual information and scientific guidance that should have been the basis for a quote of the navy global response and fortunately many of these recommendations were not followed and in some situations there was a rejection of facts and and a lot of those of the united nations and when countries go in their own direction of the values goes in everyone action. america's top infectious disease expert anthony found she has apologized for criticizing britain's rapid

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul.g a blizzard. the red crescent in the area has had 20 search and rescue teams out on the mountains, looking for other climbers who are still missing. heavy snow and strong winds in the past few days have forced many roads to close in several parts of iran. at least two security personnel have been killed in a series of explosions in the afghan capital kabul. officials said there were four blasts within the space of three hours. they damaged houses, shops and vehicles nearby. kabul has witnessed several bomb and rocket attacks in recent weeks targeting security forces, politicians, journalists and activists. the chair of the afghanistan indepedent human rights commission, shaharzad akbar, gave us a sense of life under daily violence in kabul. kabul has been really violent, and across afghanistan, there has been a wave of targeted killings, normally targeting journalists, activists, human rights defenders. names, people are familiar with. people who aren't very powerful or have a lot of

start of this pandemic reported more than 1200 new cases including a large outbreak at a prison in seoul the country rolled out its toughest ever restrictions this week robert bryant has more for us from the capital. many people this christmas morning woke up to the depressing news that once again the country has set this record of well over 1200 new route cases being recorded in a single day the news actually was broken by the country's prime minister at a meeting of the coronavirus task force here a lot of the this jump is being attributed to an outbreak at a prison here in seoul some 288 cases recorded mostly inmates but also some staff there that's in addition to a couple of 100 other cases that had already been recorded that the u.n. security council has approved a temporary deployment of more troops to central african republic ahead of sunday's presidential election there earlier women march to the headquarters of the un peacekeeping mission demanding a place for those tensions have fled ahead of the pole earlier this week rebels have captured a large town. syrian state t.v. says t

bicker, bbc news, seoul.e fond of a takeaway too. archaeologists in pompeii have made the extraordinary find of a hot food and drinks shop that served up the ancient equivalent of street food to passersby from thousands of years ago. it will be open to the public next year, but don't expect to be served any food. rachel stanton reports. at first glance, this may look like a building site, but it is so much more than that. archaeologists have been hard at work in pompeii. the discovery of an l—shaped thermopolium — a sort of ancient fast—food counter from thousands of years ago — is welcome news. partially unearthed in 2019, work was extended to preserve the site. translation: the possibilities are now extraordinary because it's the first time we're excavating an entire thermopolium, and we can carry out different types of analysis, thanks to new technologies. the containers are being analysed and cleaned by an interdisciplinary team. brightly—coloured paintings of animals are still intact after all these year

to this surge that we're seeing in the number of cases now it was going to be just in effect in the seoul metropolitan area but it's also been announce now that the neighboring provinces to seoul which basically account for around half of south korea's population will also see the same restrictions a round of unofficial talks to discuss the future of the 25th in iran nuclear deal is underway foreign ministers from iran russia china germany and the u.k. are holding a virtual meeting the deal to lift sanctions in exchange for limits to iran's nuclear program unraveled after the u.s. pulled out back in 2018. spyware sold by an israeli private intelligence has been used to hack the phones of dozens of al jazeera journalists that's according to research that citizen that which is part of the university of toronto the digital security watchdog says the unprecedented cyber attack is likely to have been ordered by saudi arabia and the united arab emirates and doctors in kenya have joined the public health care workers on a nationwide strike there they want better protection and more effective equ

national college entrance exam during a spike in coronavirus cases but as mcbride reports now from seoul the annual event this year looked a little different. it's the most important day in the academic calendar and it's being held under tough coded 19 restrictions as south korea fights through a 3rd wave of the pandemic. it's in stark contrast to what is traditionally a celebration that brings everyone together in a society obsessed with academic achievement. younger pupils and family members normally throng the schools as the students arrive for the exam. police provide escorts for those running late and even flight departure times are adjusted so planes don't disturb exam takers. this year all students are carefully checked while distancing measures are being strictly observed for examinees and invigilators alike. special evening classes known as cram schools which are normally busy preparing students ahead of the exam have mostly suspended operations as part of the government's efforts to ensure safety. i urge all people including examinees to follow the prevention rules in your dail

anti pyongyang material across the border let's bring in rob mcbride he's following developments from seoul so how do we expect this vote to go and what's prompted it. it is called reverse sure legislation but it is a very contentious issue here in south korea these are defectors who are based in south korea who form groups who then send across these propaganda messages attacking the north korean leadership either on balloons that float across the demilitarized zone or in these plastic bottles into waterways rivers and coastal waters in the hope that they get washed up on the korean beaches now and always in rages north korea north korea are always accuses south korea of not doing enough to try to prevent these sorts of action taking place and things really came to a head this summer when relations really deteriorated across the d.m.z. we had the north koreans cutting communication lines and even destroying and into korean liaison office so south korea mindful of the fact that they want to try to keep dialogue on track and keeping gaging with north korea has been using various local laws an

for the latest i'm joined by correspondent frank smith in seoul welcome frank tell us more about these new restrictions and how people are responding to them. well the government raised social distancing measures its coronavirus measures to 2.5 by 3 points scale this one from the highest level of a lot down because of this increase in the number of daily cases prime ministers from security called this a critical time in the government's battle against the crew of virus so from now on for the next 3 weeks bars are going to be closed nightclubs will be closed fitness clubs will be closed students will attend classes only at the sort of 30 percent or one 3rd level with attendance being rotated there's also a 9 pm curfew which you mention that's not for everybody to go out that's for specifically cafes and restaurants they will be able to have take over after 9 pm however cafes will only 'd be able to have teco throughout the day in terms of how the public is accepting this there has been some pushback because companies have warned employees not to get the coronavirus and that their behavi

>> they're overwhelmed with new cases and cluster, particularly in the seoul metropolitan area.hat's the case for south korea. for japan, they're overwhelmed by cluster all over the country, tokyo, osaka, nagoya and in hokkaido. much of east asia managed to keep the coronavirus in check but given this new wave of infection, we're seeing these two countries, japan, and south korea post these new records in daily coronavirus cases. over the weekend, japan posted and surpassed 3,000 new daily cases for the first time in the punishing pandemic. 6:30 local time in tokyo, the government is holding a task force meeting where it's discussing a number of counter measures to control the outbreak. meanwhile in south korea, over the weekend, it recorded 1,030 new cases of the coronavirus, a new record for south korea. on saturday, the president of south korea, moon jae-in mobilized the military, police, and medical workers to contain the outbreak. on sunday, president moon said it was quote an emergency situation, and if the country did not bring the outbreak under control, south korea woul

severely restricted in size the ice skating rink that would normally occupy the space in front of seoul city hall nonexistent this year so has its christmas tree as usual but not the normal ceremony for switching on its lights that was held online just one of the many seasonal traditions south korea is having to forgo this year families would normally visit beaches or national parks to see the 1st sunrise of the new year many of those have been closed by a government increasingly concerned by what that new year will bring from a pandemic it thought it had under control robert bright al-jazeera sole. women in central african republic have stated a demonstration in the capital ahead of sunday's presidential and legislative elections in march through calling for a peaceful and secure from tensions have flared in the past week with rebels capturing around town on tuesday and barry is now in the hands of un peacekeepers and national security forces. at least 20 people died when a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of tunisia they were thought to be trying to reach the italian island o

in south korea the capital seoul and its neighboring provinces the toughest restrictions yet have been introduced to try to contain a surging corona virus infections country is battling a 3rd wave of the virus with around a 1000 new cases every day rob mcbride reports from seoul. the new restrictions will limit private gatherings to just 4 people and they're being introduced ahead of the year end holiday season how do you know to know we will not be able to overcome the crisis unless we reduce cluster infections being spread through private gatherings of family members colleagues and friends often praised for its handling of the corona virus the government is worried about pandemic fatigue setting in unlike previous waves which were concentrated in specific areas or groups this is happening across the country with hospitals becoming stretched and. at the moment our medical response in providing extra beds and assigning patients efficiently it's a slow compared to the increasing numbers of patients we are dealing with temporary centers of also been set up offering free testing which ten

virus infections rather than a 1000 new cases were confirmed on sunday many of them in the capital seoul earlier this year south korea was hailed as a success story but infections are now rising sharply the government has warned it may have to increase restrictions to the highest level. hundreds of students in nigeria are feared missing after gunmen stormed a secondary school and kidnapped a number of children the attackers arrived on motorbikes at a boarding school in king care a district in the northern katsina states barbara and gopal reports. these are some of the boys relieved to be going home after the school raid in which many of their friends were taken hostage there leaving behind parents anxiously waiting for the return of their missing children. sincerely speaking we here in katsina state are in a terrifying condition we don't see the value of the government i have a younger brother and a child taken by the kidnappers i'm from dan jack katsina state and i've been here in the school since dawn and yet there is no update. it's not clear how many children have been abducted from

it was only monday that the authorities in the greater seoul area announced tougher restrictions home to around half of south korea's population and choose day these tougher restrictions are going to be put in place across south korea and it comes as we've seen this bill let 3rd wave produce around up to 1000 new cases a day we've also had another grim milestone of setting a record for the number of deaths from covert 924 now these numbers might not seem large by comparison to other parts of the world but when you consider where south korea was even up to just a few weeks ago it seemed to be have this under control to have it beat so it is very concerning for the authorities there the worry is that when we get into this holiday period that they really want to try to deter people from having large gatherings so we are seeing a strong recommendation from the government that people do not meet in groups of private gatherings of 5 or more people now it's only a recommendation but it is a very strong one and in fact restaurants have been told they're not allowed to take any bookings of gro

start of this pandemic and reported more than 1200 new cases and a large outbreak at a prison and seoul the country rolled out its toughest ever restrictions this week robert bryant has more from the capital. many people this christmas morning woke up to the depressing news that once again the country has set this record of well over 1200 new rig cases being recorded in a single day the news actually was broken by the country's prime minister at a meeting of the coronavirus task force here a lot of the this jump is being attributed to an outbreak at a prison here in seoul some 288 cases recorded mostly inmates but also some staff there that's in addition to a couple of 100 other cases that had already been recorded that the u.n. security council has approved a temporary deployment of more troops to central african republic ahead of sunday's presidential election that earlier women marched to the headquarters of a un peacekeeping mission demanding a peaceful vote tensions have flared ahead of this poll millions of americans will have to wait until after christmas for relief as deadlock c

make its way further south which gradually knotting down towards the korean peninsula 9 celsius in seoul on monday 4 degrees here on tuesday as that wetter weather that wintry weather that snow starts to push its way further southwards and east was it punches its way into central parts of china as well some what's the weather there around the east coast shanghai at about 12 degrees but that's all going to continue making its way further south which in the switch over the next couple of days south of that city i mean showers some active showers into the philippines crossed malaysia into indonesia more the same as we go on into choose day so what's the weather just making as well little closer towards vietnam by this stage we also got some wetter weather pushing towards us ranker southern areas of babbin gold looking rather disturbed at what the weather will make its way across a good part of sri lanka and then as it continues to drive its way further west was we will see the cloud add the rain increasing across much of dumbell now to eventually pushing across a good part of kara. the ultr

pandemic that reputation now looks somewhat tarnished bryant there with all the latest for us from seoul thanks. well speaking of vaccines mexico has just received its 1st shipment of the pfizer biotech vaccine as a fast country in latin america to have a vaccine ready to roll out but it's also battling a shop rising infections that's overwhelming hospitals john holmes reports now from mexico city. it's what everyone in mexico wants for christmas because the doctor and the woman from pfizer has now finally arrived. as the phrase goes good things arrive in small quantities we have the privilege today of being one of the 1st countries in the world with a vaccine supply to be handed out next year i mexico is the 1st country in latin america to get the vaccine. but for many people it won't be available to the middle of next year and meanwhile the country's in big trouble. mexico city's hospitals rulebooks with very few ventilators left. their queues outside shops selling oxygen tanks monica aves trouble from another city desperate to get one like many people she's taking care of an infected

record high corona virus infections rather than a 1000 new cases were confirmed on sunday many in seoul earlier this year south korea was hailed as a success 1st stabilizing the virus without having to shut down the economy but infections are now rising sharply the government has warned it may have to increase restrictions to the highest level drone came as the director general of the international vaccine institute and he explained why the most vulnerable groups should be prioritized for vaccinations in order to achieve herd immunity. the thing is that you know the only way around the pandemic is is not through treating our way out but to identifying those groups of people who are the highest priority for vaccination so health care workers the elderly and then setting up of prioritization of different segments of the population that need to be vaccinated i think the government here has made a commitment to vaccinate 30000000 people at least which is roughly 60 percent of the population in the hopes that that will achieve what we call her protection that the level of immunity in the com

result of that cold air coming across the relatively warm water that has been snow on the ground in seoul already there's more likely cheering sunday and it stays cold as the sun comes in with this biting wind so you can sync of wind chill as well the average should be by day 4 degrees nov not monastery where we're at minus 4 by day and minus 10 if not so we are well below the average and that's just an example in so cold out of course floods through japan most of northern china and if you follow this here look at hong kong down to about 16 degrees what do you think hong kong should be this time here around about the 20 mark siegel 1617 ride to 20 by the end of service today but to be honest 16 degrees in december in hong kong is going to feel pretty chilly. al-jazeera world tells the intriguing stories behind for classic songs from palestine and jewish social snapshots of different times and places from the british mandate to 19 fifties jordan and the palestinian diaspora today musical expressions of the cultural identity and the yearning for the homeland that many were forced from in 19

it struggles to contain a rise in new infections gatherings of more than 4 people are now abandoned seoul and to neighboring regions and hospital capacity for critical cases is to be doubled by the end of this year probably has the latest for us from sell these measures will come into force 2 days from now when it will limit private gatherings of people either indoors or outdoors to basically 4 people and no more than that these are the toughest restrictions that we've seen being put in place they're obviously been put in place now because there's a real concern about family gatherings for the year and holiday period what that might do to this surge that we're seeing in the number of cases now it was going to be just in effect in the soul metropolitan area but it's also been announce now that the neighboring provinces to seoul which basically account for around half of south korea's population will also see the same restrictions congressional leaders in the u.s. have reached a deal on a 900 $1000000000.00 covert $1000.00 relief package for millions of americans as also comes as deliveries

since the beginning of the pandemic it reported 1241 new cases including a larger break at a prison in seoul the country rolled out its toughest ever restrictions this week with popular tourist venues closed until early next month testing and contact tracing are also being ramped up. churches in south korea have been holding their christmas celebrations virtually earlier this year a congregation in the city of daegu was identified as the source of most of the country's original infections its members were accused of undermining efforts to contain the virus brite has more now from so. many people this christmas morning woke up to the depressing news that once again the country has set this record of well over 1200 new rig cases being recorded in a single day the news actually was broken by the country's prime minister at a meeting of the coronavirus task force here a lot of the this jump is being attributed to an outbreak at a prison here in seoul some 288 cases recorded mostly inmates but also some stuff there that's in addition to a couple of 100 other cases that had already been recorded t

dealing with this pandemic does look somewhat tarnished rob thanks for that robert right there in seoul south korea now after 9 months of negotiations there are signs that the e.u. and the u.k. are edging very close to agreeing on a post trade deal talks between the 2 sides continued late on wednesday as they tried to hammer out the final details and let's speak now to gardner who is director of the margaret thatcher center for freedom and joins us live by skype from washington d. c. mr gardner so how behold can we be on this seems a legal text or under review in a european capital city is it is it will have a deal to mar. well all indications so far coming from london all that a deal is imminent and. i expect that we're likely to see the deal being signed or put forward actually more of mourning and if that is indeed the case i think it's a huge breakthrough for the british government after several months of extremely intense negotiations with brussels in negotiations we had by lord frost but also in some cases by the prime minister himself. this deal certainly i think will be seen as

it will catch parts of the korean peninsula as well these are daytime high temperatures minus 8 in seoul minus 5 in beijing 13 in tokyo and the cold of course going to keep moving south the consequence the depths of thunderstorms further south in the philippines but look at the temperatures that the sun might be out in hong kong it's about 12 degrees it should be a diety that's going to be cold feeling couple of days probably till saturday to be honest. the cold wave in northern india and pakistan continues this is recent snow which is just intensified it it's also of course nice to keep the fog there so daytime and nighttime time for specially are low the fuck is likely to be around for a while yet the cold wave extends is about 10 times has gone to a dish or dance troupes for the job as well also almost as a south by day you get these brief couple of hours out of the fog work just about thins to get down to 20 degrees at best and that's how it says quality obviously suffers. from. water scarcity has become a major global issue the demand is going straight up and the supply is going str

meanwhile south korea has banned gatherings of more than 5 people in the capital seoul as government tries to control what it has described as an explosive surge in infections and back here in the u.k. prime minister barak's johnson says about half a 1000000 people have now been vaccinated but 25 of the 27 e.u. nations have introduced travel bans from the u.k. johnson saying he is working with france to resolve the border closures it's vital 1st to stress that these delays which are only occurring at dover only affect human handled freight and that is only 20 percent of the total arriving or departing arriving from or departing to the european continent which means the vast majority of food medicines and other supplies are coming and going as normal. those directions brought in my france in particular have brought much of the case congo trade to hope trucks carrying essential goods and projects to and from france and are stranded at close to ferry ports and tunnels for a chance reports from dover. the cold waters of the english channel rarely see more of a barrier. is usually one of

30th day in a row of daily triple digit increases more restrictions are set to come into effect in seoul on choose day local time let's cross over to rob mcbride who's in the south korean capital with the very latest on sort of those numbers and the government's position on covert 19 infections and really the treatment capacity that they have. it is a concerning situation here in south korea this is the 3rd time in a month that we have had an increase in these restrictions and it is because we've been seeing over the same period of time an increase in the number of daily cases being reported now well over $600.00 new cases per day south korea has a 5 tear system in place and these latest restrictions that will come into force will put it at $2.00 it will mean things like further restrictions on restaurants are gatherings indoors also on transport for example on intercity trains and buses they'll be a 50 percent cap on the number of passengers meanwhile there will be no small spectators in sports venues once more and also private companies will be urged to have around a 3rd of their worke