during a crisis. if you want to help save the world. the way. the in. the us. coronavirus case a surge of cross europe and pressure mounts of regulations to approve a vaccine for use as soon as possible. the way the e.u. . blown barbarous are you watching al-jazeera live from london also coming up. the electoral college. vote top republican senator mitch mcconnell congratulates joe biden and running mate come a harris on their election victory and anxious wait for the families of hundreds of school boys abducted in northwest nigeria and scientists and track

a rogue antarctic iceberg that's out of commission course for the island of south georgia. a. thanks for joining us we begin right here in europe or several nations are facing tough choices in their fight against the coronavirus cases are surging ahead of the christmas period with fears that increased travel could accelerate the spread or new restrictions could hit businesses when they least need it but the past day is also brought new hope that vaccines could be administered in several countries as soon as next week that he reports from brussels. in brussels they're dreaming of a busy christmas shops reopened in belgium on tuesday despite a recent rise in covered 19 cases but bars and restaurants have to stay closed shop keepers here in belgium are hoping to make the most of the reopening but with daily

covered 19 infections roys ing and the reproduction rated almost one the government is not ruling out bringing in new restrictions at the end of this week. over the border in the netherlands they've gone into a 5 week lockdown closing all non-essential shops as well as schools prime minister mark router insists that rising infection rates make it essential to in his words bite through this very sour apple before things get better. it's totally understandable the number of afghan iraq if this wasn't done the consequences cannot be neglected. and locked down is not really dissolution of a strict enforcement not compulsory facemasks using the coronavirus app and shopping malls your temperature should be checked. but there is new hope at the prospect of mass vaccinations across europe after pressure from the german government the european union's regulate free body is set to approve the pfizer biotech vaccine next monday. on the lion president of the european commission

tweeted i welcome the e m a bringing forward its meeting to discuss the pfizer biotech vaccine before christmas likely that the 1st europeans will be vaccinated before the end of 2020. germany hopes to vaccinate up to $4000000.00 citizens by the end of the year but with hundreds still dying from the corona virus every day it's bringing international locked down on wednesday. in france they've lifted a lot down but they're bringing in a nighttime curfew and bars and restaurants remain closed tuesday so members of the cultural industries protests angry that places like museums and theaters are not allowed to open number seen in the huge numbers of cinemas in theaters that will close its catastrophic person will no longer be the culture city it was before the lockdown because we're back with the media you can't say one sector is essential and another is not there's no evidence of clusters in theatres and cinemas now the government's advice in people to quarantine before meeting up at christmas because

he controls a budget thing scientific can't sleep saying and i view that as reasonable if you can self confine for 8 days before christmas if you can it's not possible for everyone across europe the message from governments is the same please be careful over christmas so the new year can be a better one knitting barber al-jazeera brussels. meanwhile senior u.k. government officials are discussing whether to proceed with plans to ease coronavirus restrictions over the christmas period and the current measures 3 households will be allowed to mix over a 5 day festive period but an urgent review was called for after 2 leading medical journals warned that the decision to relax the rules was rash and would cost many lives u.k. cabinet office minister michael gove's hope talks with leaders in scotland wales and northern ireland they've agreed to seek further advice with the situation expected thursday. meanwhile tougher restrictions are due to come into force here

in the british capital in about 2 hours time jonah hall has the latest from london . tonight i mean spiraling rates of infection around the london area and the southeast in some places infection rates doubling in 7 days we're told that there is this particularly virulent variant of the virus that's been identified in part responsible for that fast uptick in infections and then this rather in congress situation where the government is lifting all restrictions for a 5 day period over christmas to allow families to get together in their homes to mix together and it sparked real concern about what comes down the line beyond christmas possibly a 3rd wave in january maybe even a 3rd lockdown real criticism aimed at the government not least on tuesday for 2. preeminent medical journals in this country both internationally respected that have issued a very rare joint editorial warning the government of what is at stake here saying

simply that if people do get together people will die most likely elderly relatives predicting that the caseload for the national health service after christmas will be 40 times higher than it was at the beginning of the 2nd lockdown back in the autumn and urging the government not to blunder it says into another era so lots of these voices now aimed at the government urging change that it sounds like there might be some tweaks in the offing the government and the other nations of the u.k. discussing the possibility of tweaking these rules and one minister earlier on in the day admitting that look all coronavirus measures are under review all the time . a 2nd coronavirus vaccine is set to be given approval in the u.s. this week regulators say the jab produced by the drug firm is safe and highly effective in fact tests to show it's more than 94 percent effective when 2 shots are taken within $28.00 days of each other if an independent panel gives it the go

ahead on thursday it would make the u.s. the 1st country to approve 2 vaccines john hendren is live from washington d.c. so good news on a potential 2nd the vaccine but this is actually day 2 of vaccinations with the 1st vaccine in the u.s. so how is the role of going. well there's a sense of nervous relief here in the u.s. you've got to find her vaccine on its 2nd day of actually being put into the arms of health care workers and nursing home workers and then the prospect as you point out that madonna could be is approved as soon as friday by the food and drug administration here so that would increase the numbers of vaccine doses that were available to the public of 330000000 people here it's going to take a while to do that. but anthony found the top viral disease specialist here in the u.s. in an advisor to the president says this is

a bittersweet moment that this is actually the peak of the 2nd wave and it could not come any more desperately to the u.s. we still have 300000 people dead 16000000 cases here in the u.s. and people are dying at a rate of about 3000 a day we're talking the levels of pearl harbor not pro harper but of $911.00 and other major tragedies here in the u.s. so this is a desperate time and people are beginning to feel a little more hopeful that it's not the end but it might be the beginning of the end unfortunately in the u.s. much like many other countries around the world that there are some people that will be skeptical towards that vaccine so what's being done they have to try to convince more people to go for the vaccine. well 1st of all you've got people asking for very high profile people to set

a good example anthony found who i was talking about earlier he wants president trump the incoming president biden and his vice president connell harris all to take this vaccine as soon as possible a biden seemed inclined to do so the white house sent out notice last week saying that they were going to start vaccinating the people around the president the president himself in the vice president and then extended to all people in the white house but donald trump is countermanded that he says that he doesn't think it's appropriate for the white house to be in the 1st wave he says he'll get the vaccine later when appropriate but he goes out of office january 20th so it's not even clear that he will get the vaccine in time he says he'll take it at the appropriate time so there's now his push to get other people to do it and we have 3 former presidents presidents obama clinton and george w. bush all saying they're going to do this publicly but there's also a call for people of color celebrities to get the vaccine because those are the

people who are most affected 100 with the latest from washington d.c. john thank you. staying in the u.s. the republican party's refusal to accept joe biden's presidential election and win has all but collapsed after the most senior congressional figure congratulated the democrat majority leader mitch mcconnell offered warm words to the president elect the day after the electoral college officially voted in the winner electoral college spoke so today i want to congratulate president elect joe biden the president elect is no stranger to the senate he's devoted himself to public service for many years. i also want to congratulate the vice president elect our colleague from california sarah errors beyond our differences all americans can

take pride that our nation has a female vice president elect for the very 1st time well by than himself is back on the campaign trail in georgia what early voting has begun in a runoff for 2 senate seats republicans have long dominated in the southern states but biden's win there last month has boiled the democrat hopes i think on just thought don't jump a lesson. in this election george wasn't going to be bullied george was going to be silenced georgia certainly wasn't going to stand by and large donald trump or the state of texas or anyone else come in here and toss out your votes. but you know. you know did stand by you know did nothing while trump texas and others were trying to wipe out every single one of the almost 5000000 votes you had cast here in georgia november 8 your 2 republican senators well our white house

correspondent kimberly have to joins us live now from atlanta georgia pretty strong words there really from joe biden what's his plan in trying to convince georgia to vote democrat again. well it's all on the line for his agenda what he's focused on that's why he's campaigning hard that's why the the gloves are off and he's campaigning just similar in tone and fashion to what he did in november because it really was the impact that he was looking for in november he won this state very narrowly by just 12000 votes so he needs those people that turned out in historic numbers to come out again and to unseat these 2 republican senators so that's what he's asking them to do but if you look at the polling booth behind me he's got a little bit of work to do it's been pretty quiet here now the runoff election in

georgia for these 2 very important senate seats isn't until january january 5th to be exact so there is still some time for him to continue campaigning of course the holidays are mixed in there but really it's critically important for democrats and for joe biden if he wants to push through his agenda already they control the house of representatives hill control in january the white house but if you doesn't control the senate that's where he could face some obstruction. and obviously like you're saying it's quite crucial to 2 windows 2 seats for joe biden but him getting the state for the presidency was already a surprise in a sense georgia a state that historically has voted republican is so how is he going to try to convince them to i guess give them confidence again. well what he's luring them or enticing them with is really his promise of what he believes he can achieve he's given a bit of a lottery list whether it's overcoming the challenges of racial inequality social

justice whether it's climate change even addressing the economic impact of covert 19 these are all some of the things that he says he wants to achieve but he recognizes having been in the white house before when there was a republican controlled congress that a lot of what you want to do a lot of what you promised voters you will do you can't do unless you have the control of congress or at least the support of congress and he knows in the years of the rock obama administration at times that was particularly challenging so this what he's trying to avoid this is what he's promising georgia voters at the same time what he's also saying is that he's criticizing the refusal of some republicans to accept a biden presidency so he's got a challenge on his hand he's got to try and unite the country as well unite these voters to support him and as he continues to point the finger at donald trump for his refusal to concede have to remember 74000000 americans supported donald trump

in the election and so the challenge of uniting the country is going to be a difficult one in addition to trying to to win these seats for his agenda absolutely tough for years ahead kimberly how with the latest from atlanta georgia kimberly thank you. well still to come here now just 0 a man of honor this italian or for is returning france's highest award a former government minister tells us why she is following him. and homes torn down and given the history of kashmir where authorities accuse tribes of illegally occupying forest land. brisbane's had a rough spell of weather recently not just because been the storm system is expanding now from what was effectively nearly a tropical cyclone offshore the legacy is

a load of foam being brought in on the coast this is the gulf coast as quite safe it just looks very weird it's because these seas been chewed up what has been churned up now that that wind is not as strong other ways aren't as big but these showers all the way down through new south wales into victoria the temperature melbourne's come down to 24 the forecast on wednesday a couple days of a 30 as you can see the storm system proper such does will go down to the east of tasmania and keep going south was leaving behind a legacy of very humid weather admittedly and thunderstorms all showers still in sydney the temperatures there are rising at the low thirty's again by friday well just be sitting at the representation of the weather in new south wales now is just becoming active in what will be the typhoon or tropical psychoses dipping with your north and south of the equator this is the tropical cycle and it's a big one of the category 5 now that beijing get is about time it gets to fiji is

going to be sometime on thursday as potentially of course a destructive tropical cycle we'll watch that very closely. building a new life on a beach living off the sea and. a dream is shared by so many but so few make it a reality. a family business led by a market. with a flair for cooking and disaster living. island kitchen on al-jazeera.

home after a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera members are preparing to roll out the pfizer bio on tech coronavirus vaccine as early as christmas european regulators are under pressure to approve the job and are expected to deliver their decision makes week or regulators a clue or close to approving the coronavirus vaccine for use in the u.s. tests show the mother in a jab is more than 94 percent effective when 2 shots are taken within $28.00 days. and u.s. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has recognized president elect joe biden's election victory for the 1st time a top republican says the electoral college is spoken and confirmed that when. a faction of the armed group boko haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction of hundreds of school boys in nigeria the students were taken from

a boarding school in the northern could see in a state on friday the group's faction says they've taken. more than 500 students this comes 6 years after bottom kidnapped 276 school girls in the town of chalk many of whom have never been returned parents of the boys are unhappy at the nigerian government's response maybe not we want government to risk your children because they have the capacity to do so but their actions are smoke because it is not their children that are involved in the incident they put us in the situation not parents and grandparents are an absolute confusion they've stopped us from having peace of mind we are totally sad every now and italian writer has returned the major french all are in protest of the decision to award the same on earth to egyptian president i've been fatter and c.c. corrado i was just handed in his to the french embassy in rome egypt's president

was given the on our last week despite human rights concerns including the torture and death of italian student julia original rights groups also want the release of patter exactly an egyptian student who was studying in italy and who has been detained in egypt since february. well italy's former culture minister john the landry says that she will also return her medal in protest it is impossible for me to share this honor with a regime where young people are tortured and killed you see an attorney and young student a. young. excellent student in 2016 julia jane was unequivocally unequivocably. tortured and killed and and it's proved now that there was a role. of the national security forces in this.

somalia has cut diplomatic ties with neighboring kenya saying it's violated its sovereignty somalia has accused the kenyan government of political interference in one of the country's 5 states and which borders kenya somalia has recalled all of its diplomats from nairobi and has ordered their kenyan counterparts to leave within 7 days. will give me a veteran leader. has been sworn in for a 3rd term as president of a country which limits him to 2 terms he won almost 60 percent of the vote in october as election which the opposition says was rigged as the reports now from neighboring senegal it's left. for the shopkeeper indycar the presidential inauguration day is another step back for democracy in his home country guinea. concert as you want to head

a constitutional court praise the president's eagerness to take on a 3rd term he says he's not duped and has kept a tally of all that has gone wrong since condi came to power 10 years ago from tweaking the constitution to allow him to stay in power to rampant corruption in arresting opponents in a country rich in minerals like gold and bauxite most canadians are trapped in poverty. people at the beginning we thought afrikander would bring us home but he has shown us this true colors he has disappointed us he doesn't respect the constitution and he exercises control of everything people are scared of him either getting arrested or killed. after his victory was announced in october the military fired live bullets at protesters and went house to house detaining mostly people from the full army ethnic group to support opposition candidates and jell-o. he believes condé rigged to the elections and says he won the vote the inauguration

is taking place as protests are being held gather during the ceremony are number of aging african heads of state who like condé have changed their country's constitution to stay in power. outside of. our young african migrants from various friends speaking african countries all of them share this common feeling that they've left behind nations led by presidents clinging on to power robbing their nations of wealth and leaving young people without jobs opportunities and the space and freedom to express their political views at a car's museum of black civilization the activist from across the continent have gathered to warn of a dangerous trend of civil liberties being stifled and governments muffling democracy and freedom of expression among those taking part is gello an outspoken critic of condy called his government has issued an international arrest warrant

against him you need to do. this because could pull we have seen nation states use the coronavirus plan to make that as an excuse to restrict individual and collective freedoms of citizens bonding protests when these do not suit governments this pandemic is benefitting autocratic regimes. the borders between guinea and senegal are closed is unable to return home to his family and with the inauguration of. he fears there will be more trouble ahead nicholas hawke the car. australia's prime minister has warned china against restricting australian coal imports saying any move to do so would be in breach of global trading rules according to chinese state media beijing is moving to formalize restrictions amid a deepening diplomatic. battle china currently buys about $3000000000.00 of australian coal per year making up nearly one 3rd of its coal exports scott

morrison says any move to limit that would be a lose lose situation for australia and that china's trading relationship as well as the environment. dozens of homes belonging to magic tribes in indian administered kashmir have been demolished local authorities say the community is illegally occupying forest land but the tribes argue they've lived there for generations as alexey o'brien reports. to those destroying these hearts and the himalayan forests they are pieces of wood and cement. but to the back are well and good the muslim nomadic tribes who live here their home at least for 6 months a year as they move between the forests and mountainous pastures with their herds of goats and sheep. we are yet to recover from the

shark we have been living here for generations we are now worried for our livestock and our children i try to plead with the demolition team but they threatened us with a roast and a fine some in the tribe received a notice from the local forest department saying their homes were legal a few days later people arrived to tear them down. the himalayan region of kashmir is controlled by india and pakistan and part but kind by both in full. last year india revoked the region special status imposing restrictions on movement and enforcing a communications blackout. critics say the government wants to change the demographic of the muslim majority region as carrying out the demolitions to do that they want their disloyal people gradually from the. told them out make them all listen their own. said billoo not the indian was there and that rufus

a little bit bad agent of ridley with me but local officials say they only follow in court orders and that more than 60000 people are legally squatting on the land in india traditional forest while as a usually protected by law and tribal leaders in kashmir say that should extend to them. last year with a special status was appealed to the government published an advertisement that they were going to implement the forest floor in the region. on the gold is different the government is working against us people are suffering under pressure from the government to move from the forest and from encroaching cities some say their traditional way of life is becoming too difficult you. live in fear that remain fears of seeing feet as the others we keep on thinking day

and night that our homes may be demolished where would we go for generations they've led a nomadic lifestyle but that could soon become a thing of the past and exam brian al-jazeera. tech firms could be fined up to 10 percent of their entire global revenue if they fail to remove the legal and harmful content draft european union rules could see companies such as apple and google broken up under the measures it says it's providing do's and don'ts in a relatively unregulated area but google says a would hit innovation british scientists are setting off on the mission to investigate the world's biggest iceberg that could be threatening one of the planet's most fragile ecosystems the iceberg measures more than 4000 square kilometers and it's not a collision course with the british south atlantic island of south georgia scientists fear that if the iceberg called

a $68.00 runs aground that it could destroy wildlife havens surrounding the island . mostly our spokesman there in the open ocean they tend to break up and go into smaller icebergs this one remarkably as remained intact and that is still even more remarkable because it's got quite a shallow keel is not very thick so we'd expected to break apart so something the size of luxembourg is going to be a massive impact on an island like south georgia which isn't that much bigger than blocks of book itself i mean it could scour a large areas of the continental shelf of the diversity on that shelf and on the bands that is equivalent to what we find in areas such as local activists and really significant amounts of carbon is stored up in this ridge by diversity on the seabed but also you could get in the way of these enormous colonies of seals and penguins globally significant populations over hearth of walking penguins for instance i've found on the island south georgia weisberg's car or the time what we

are worried about is that models are predicting that this type of carving events is going to increase in the future and so we could expect more icebergs like this to be going in the sorts of directions in the future more on that story and everything else we've been covering on our website al jazeera dot com you can see one of our top stories there is that senior republican mitch mcconnell has acknowledged joe biden is president elect. a reminder now of the top stories are now just 0 e.u. members are preparing to roll out the pfizer buy on take corona virus vaccine as early as christmas european regulators are on the pressure to approve the jab and they're expected to deliver their decision next week restrictions are being reimposed as infections a surge across the continent with germany entering a national lockdown on wednesday.