and botswana _ the appeal is dismissed. and botswana made _ the appeal is dismissed. and botswana made human rights history. applause. but when the's government had gone to the high court in an attempt to overturn the country's 2019 landmark ruling decriminalising homosexuality but the high court upheld the previous law. prompting jubilation and some years. before 2019 anyone caught in a 93v before 2019 anyone caught in a gay relationship could be sentenced to seven years in jail. this unanimousjudgment jail. this unanimous judgment confirms, jail. this unanimousjudgment confirms, said thejudge, that criminalising such individuals violated their constitutional rights to dignity, liberty, privacy and equality. the high court's ruling is final. today'sjudgment court's ruling is final. today's judgment is today'sjudgment is awe—inspiring indeed today's judgment is awe—inspiring indeed because it is going to change the lives of many people in our country. it is really an opportunity for the lgbtq immunity to change the lgbtq immunity to change the status quo in our co

a 1st case was detected in botswana, but it was south african scientist who 1st.

and botswana made human rights history. applause. botswana's government had gone to the high court in an attempt to overturn the country's 2019 landmark ruling decriminalising homosexuality, but the high court upheld the previous law. prompting jubilation and some years. and some tears. before 2019, anyone caught in a gay relationship could be sentenced to seven years injail. this unanimousjudgment confirms, said thejudge, that criminalising such individuals violated their constitutional rights to dignity, liberty, privacy and equality. the high court's ruling is final. today'sjudgment is awe—inspiring indeed, because it is going to change the lives of many people in our country. it is really an opportunity for the lgbtq immunity to change the status quo in our country. botswana is one of a very small group of african nations to have decriminalised homosexuality. in most countries in the continent, it by a prison sentence and in some states, a sentence of death. let's take you back to barbados — these are live pictures from natio

and botswana made human rights history. applause. botswana's government had gone to the high court in an attempt to overturn the country's 2019 landmark ruling decriminalising homosexuality, but the high court upheld the previous law. prompting jubilation and some tears. before 2019, anyone caught in a gay relationship could be sentenced to seven years injail. this unanimousjudgment confirms, said thejudge, that criminalising such individuals violated their constitutional rights to dignity, liberty, privacy and equality. the high court's ruling is final. today'sjudgment is awe—inspiring indeed, because it is going to change the lives of many people in our country. it is really an opportunity for the lgbtiq community to change the status quo in our country. botswana is one of a very small group of african nations to have decriminalised homosexuality. in most countries in the continent, it is a crime punishable by a prison sentence and in some states, a sentence of death. a volcano on the spanish island of la palma — which has been

a 100 confirmed cases have been found in south africa, hong kong and botswana. the change is in the 32 mutations on what's called the spike protein. this is what virus uses to penetrate human cells and cause infection in the body. it's also what most vaccines are designed to target, and it could take weeks of work to uncover what impact these changes could have on how effective the vaccines are out there is it, andy bober has our port now. it's the news. no one wanted to hear the discovery of a new covey, very and called ami krohn. first identified in south africa, has hit world stock markets as concerns grow about a new global threats. the world health organization has labeled it a variance of concern based upon the information that we have, particularly from south africa. and they have advised w h o that this variance should be classified as a variant of concern. so today we are noticing b 11529 is the variance of concern named on the crime, the w h o cautioned against hasty counter measures for now, but many governments chose instead to act fast. early indica

the first reported case is the 11th of november and botswana. after that, south africa made it public. the question is how did this get to these levels without leaving the countries, is it developing in countries other than what we think it was found. many questions, we will have the answers here. next, eric zemmour has declared he is a president candidate in france. he is been criticized for his far right views. he was given airtime on rinses biggest to be straight -- to be station. his position on many issues overlap with other far right candidates. >>'s attention to run for president had been apparent for weeks, but that did not stop him from seeking to create suspense counting down to his announcement. [speaking foreign language] >> in front of a microphone and a printed speech, he took inspiration from charles de gaulle's call to join the resistance but the video was peppered with anti-migrant rhetoric and warnings that the friends of joan of arc and louis the 14th was disappearing. the party says his announcement was a nonevent. >> [speaki

and botswana made human rights history. applause. botswana's government had gone to the high court in an attempt to overturn the country's 2019 landmark ruling decriminalising homosexuality, but the high court upheld the previous law. prompting jubilation and some tears. before 2019, anyone caught in a gay relationship could be sentenced to seven years injail. this unanimousjudgment confirms, said thejudge, that criminalising such individuals violated their constitutional rights to dignity, liberty, privacy and equality. the high court's ruling is final. today's judgment is quite awe—inspiring indeed, because it is going to change the lives of many people in our country. it is really an opportunity for the lgbtio community and to change the status quo in our country. botswana is one of a very small group of african nations to have decriminalised homosexuality. in most countries in the continent, it is a crime punishable by a prison sentence and in some states, a sentence of death. gail maclellan, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news,

it was first discovered in south africa and botswana. that does not mean that those countries are aware this variant evolved. it likely was spreading since late october or early november. we do not know the origin of where this variant evolved. it may have come from someone else -- from somewhere else and only been recognized in botswana. that is why we do not name it after a country. pandemics that have originated from africa, there have been a couple, that africa is not a place where we have seen major respiratory pandemics. but the hiv pandemic did originate probably in west africa. it did spread. it is not productive to try to stigmatize one part of the world . what happens in one part of the world happens elsewhere very quickly, especially with efficiently spreading viruses that traveled with the speed of a debt -- of a jet modesty minor. host: how difficult is it to do the genetic detective work to find out where the origin of this variant is? guest: it is difficult in the sense that we do not do much sequencing. we often diagnose,

restricting flights from botswana, south africa andfire neighboring countries. the president defending those new travel restrictions, saying it will give the u.s. more time to prevent for the inevitable cases here. the last unrestricted flight from johannesburg arriving at newark airport this morning. president biden coming before the cameras to urge calm and urge action tonight. urging americans who are not vaccinated to get the shot and for all adults 18 and older to get a booster. just one of the long lines tonight. americans getting their shots. this popup site in washington, d.c.'s franklin park today. dr. jha is standing by right here with us tonight. and of course, those questions. this is variant nor contagious and will the vaccines and the boosters work against it? we'll ask him in a moment here. we'll carefully get to it all tonight, beginning with abc's stephanie ramos leading us off right here in new york. >> reporter: just hours after the world health organization warned the global risks from the omicron variant are very high, president biden with d

botswana, namibia, and zimbabwe. we are waiting to find out if other countries are going to follow suit and ban flights from those countries too, but in terms of uk travel rules on how they stand right now there will be a flight ban in place until the hotel quarantine has been set up under is up and running. for anyone already arrived in one of those countries recently they are being asked to do pcr test. very one who arrives between now and 4am on sunday the are being asked to quarantine for ten days at home and pcr test in the second and eighth day back from sunday with the six countries on the red this to anyone who arrives will to quarantine in a hotel for ten days but the only people allowed in from those countries will be either uk or irish nationals or customers, travellers with uk residency rights. no one else will be allowed to take this fight to the uk. we've seen these variations before. this seems quite sudden. what has the reaction been? people booked flights once that travel list was clear, and we had r

restricting flights from botswana, south africa and six neighboring countries. the president defending those new travel restrictions, saying it will give the u.s. more time to prepare for the inevitable cases here. the last unrestricted flight from johannesburg arriving at newark airport this morning. president biden coming before the cameras to urge calm and urge action tonight. urging americans who are not vaccinated to get the shot and for all adults 18 and older to get a booster. just one of the long lines tonight. americans getting their shots. this popup site in washington, d.c.'s franklin park today. dr. jha is standing by right here with us tonight. and of course, those key questions. is this variant more contagious? could it cause more serious illness? and will the vaccines and the boosters work against it? we'll ask him in a moment here. we'll carefully get to it all tonight, beginning with abc's stephanie ramos leading us off right here in new york. >> reporter: just hours after the world health organization warned the global risks from the omicron va

while in botswana, the government says the new virus was found in several foreign nationals on a diplomatic visit. while the south african government says it respects the decision taken by the u. k and other countries to limit travel to and from the region. and that precautionary measures may be necessary. it says the decision is rushed. the world health organization is meeting to decide what action to take. so we know been promised. interventions were been practicing. we did to touch and dos with restrictions in terms of the regulations, whether they're with or that a possible 4th wave, compounded by the new variant may further strain and already overwhelmed health system in south africa for me to mana, i'll 0 johannesburg. and in the past ally tight restrictions have been announced in the netherlands, has collided to step boston who's in the hey covering this forest and step, tell us what these new measures involve. well the government, as mountain as for the lockdown, then they announce just a couple of weeks ago. infection rates have really gone up in the last couple of weeks. the maint

and we're now seeing how much more transmissible this declared from botswana, or is that into the berlin. so it's more tricky because a comparing rural as amongst different populations that difficult because for example, in southern africa we have a high, you have a high rate of h r, e and t b endemic infections that may or cause different levels of severity for clinical illness. compared to western countries where both to infectious or not. and derek. so comparison of berlin will be very, very tricky going forward. as a dean, morocco joins, there are many countries imposing travel ban on south africa at this particular stage. give us a sense of what you're thinking in morocco. i think about more screening, more restrictions or revisiting the whole issue of coven 19 inside morocco. well actually actually, i think that we talked about this problem before and we thought that maybe if with something is not done to vaccinate at the rate a speedo rate actually answer gets a certain percentage to be max. and he said, we have this huge risk, that's a virus or variance when we come in and would

for cases in botswana and one in hong kong. this is the most heavily mutated variant so find of course, as we have been saying, concerning how fast it can spread and whether vaccines can stand up to it, all of which are unknown is at the moment so the uk has taken the step to band travel from the six countries and let's take a look at which ones they are. south africa is one. botswana, namibia, listed two, s bertini and zimbabwe. we are waiting to find out if other countries are going to follow suit and ban flights from those countries too but in terms of uk travel rules on how they stand right now there will be a flight ban in place into the hotel quarantine has been set up under is up and running. for anyone already arrived in one of those countries recently they are being asked to do pcr test. very one who arrives between now and 4am on sunday the are being asked to quarantine for ten days at home and pcr test in the second and eighth day back from sunday with the six countries on the red this to anyone who arrives will to q

now we look at the number of infections for people in neighboring botswana have been identified as having this new variant. but the government there has issued a statement saying that the virus was detected on for foreign nationals who had entered botswana on the 7th of november and a diplomatic mission. now this is part of the issue in terms of the concerns around borders and movement at white european countries might be doing in terms of trying to restrict travel. thank you for those updates from johannesburg family to mila. let's have a closer look at this new variance in just a bit of back story. remember we started referring to variance by the geography for me to reference that, but then in may, the world health organization rename them will trying to avoid stigmatizing those countries. so now you know, we have alpha, beta, gamma delta, as you see on this chart from covariance dot all little confusingly, if we follow this greek alphabet naming system, then this new varying b 11529 will actually be called the new variance. and you and the w i chose, we heard has been meeting today to

while in botswana, the government says the new virus was found in several foreign nationals on a diplomatic visit. while the sub african government says it respects the decision taken by the u. k. and the countries to limit travel to and from the region, and that precautionary measures may be necessary. it says the decision is rushed, the most coaches in terms of imposing and such measures are completely against the norms and standards as guided by the organization. a possible 4th wave compounded by the new variant may further strain and already overwhelmed health system. in south africa, let me to mila, i'll just 0 janice, but well, well, much is unknown about the on the corner very, and let's take a look at what we do know? well, as we heard, it was 1st identified in south africa from a sample that came from a neighboring botswana. since then, more than a 100 confirmed cases have been detected in those 2 countries as well as hong kong, israel and belgium. the variant has $32.00 mutations on what's called the spike protein, which is what the virus uses to invade ourselves. this means that

south africa and botswana should be thanked for detecting and sequencing and reporting the variant not analyzed. >> the new coronavirus variant has posed a spike in infections in south africa with over 200 cases on sunday, down from a daily average of 500 the previous week and the week75 -- and 275 the week before. we have to wait to see how infectious it is and how severe the new cases are. yena: as you just heard, the united states are one of the countries that has restricted travel from south african states. president biden said while it is concerning, it is too early to panic. president biden: this is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. we have the best vaccine in the world, the best medicines, the best scientists, and we are learning more every single day, and we will fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed, not chaos and confusion. yena: the health ministers of the world's biggest economies on monday said omicron requires urgent action and also praised south africa is quite exemplary work detecting the new strain. the u.k. currently holds th

beginning monday november 29th the united states will restrict travel from botswana, eswatini, former swaziland and mozambique, namibia and zimbabwe. belgium, israel and hong kong have had one case of the omicron variant within their borders and you know there is never just one. no cases have been identified in the u.s. to date. we expect omicron to be identified quickly if it emerges in the united states. this morning on weekend today, dr. anthony fauci addressed concerns about the omicron variant. >> it seems to have spread rapidly in south africa, even though the numbers are relatively small. its ability to infect people who have recovered from infection and people who have been vaccinated make us say this is something you have to pay really close attention to and be prepared for something that's serious. it may not turn out that way. >> right, but you really want to be ahead of it and that's the reason why we're doing what we're doing. >> omicron is emerging as the delta variant that continues to infect and kill many americans. in michigan, hospitals are so overwhelmed with covid-

., france, germany, botswana, australia, hong kong australia has delayed plans to reopen its borders to some foreign nationals. morocco has stopped all incoming ights. israel has banned all foreigners. as has japan. >> japan has had tough ordered restrictions for most of the last two years. this began to be lifted on november 8. just three weeks later, the prime minister exec air going back in. this does not affect japanese nationals. it does not affect residents or people with multiple entry visas to japan, but it will affect everybody else. that means businessmen, students, tourists. ros: other countries are targeting travel from southern africa. u.k., the u.s. coming vue -- the eu have banned travelers from that region. >> these restrictions are unjustified and unfairly discriminate against our country and sister countries. the prohibition of travel is not informed by science, nor will it be effective in preventing the spread of this variant. ros: we do have some information about how it is spreading. it is responsible for most of the infections in the country's most populated pro

the first confirmed case of the new variant was found on south africa and botswana. the suspension of travel by eu countries as well as the u.s. and u.k. affects travelers from there as well as countries in namibia, zimbabwe, lesotho, and former swaziland. our africa correspondent reports. >> a technical university in pretoria, south africa, this afternoon, where the new variant was first properly identified. >> obviously, this is so overwhelming. we are all worried, but the ministry made the decision to suspend gatherings and social activities. >> the impact has been swift with many countries following britain's lead in banning flights from south africa. >> it is absolutely ridiculous, moving so quickly without investigating this new variant. >> the timing for south africa could hardly be worse. it is summer here, and the tourist industry was hoping for a big boost after two richard years of lockdowns and red listings. no wonder south africa's foreign minister has criticized the travel ban, calling it rash, economically damaging, and urging prison to reconder -- urg

omicron has been detected in belgium botswana, hong kong, israel but not yet here in the u.s. now the white house says it's not taking chances announcing new travel restrictions for travelers from eight african countries including south africa as well as botswana, zimbabwe and malawi. starting monday travelers from those countries will not be allowed to come to the u.s. unless american citizens or permanent residents. we send nbc's dame yn trujillo to sfo to understand. >> there are no direct flights from sfo to johannesburg but several connecting flights and some people are traveling to the african continent. those who we spoke with say they are concerned because what if they leave the country, will they not be allowed to come back? those traveling to other than western african countries tell me at sfo that they will make it a point not to travel to those seven other southern african countries aside from south africa. there is a concern about what they might come home with. >> i know most people are scared because they don't want to bring something to the united states. so i

the first confirmed case of the new variant was found on south africa and botswana. the suspension of travel by eu countries as well as the u.s. and u.k. affects travelers from there as well as countries in namibia, zimbabwe, lesotho, and former swaziland. our africa correspondent reports. >> a technical university in pretoria, south africa, this afternoon, where the new variant was first properly identified. >> obviously, this is so overwhelming. we are all worried, but the ministry made the decision to suspend gatherings and social activities. >> the impact has been swift with many countries following britain's lead in banning flights from south africa. >> it is absolutely ridiculous, moving so quickly without investigating this new variant. >> the timing for south africa could hardly be worse. it is summer here, and the tourist industry was hoping for a big boost after two richard years of lockdowns and red listings. no wonder south africa's foreign minister has criticized the travel ban, calling it rash, economically damaging, and urging prison to recder -- urgin

we found it in south africa, but it was also found in botswana and in travelers that have come back from south africa. so we think it may have arisen in the region, but we don't know where. i'm saying that because south africa is in the unique situation among african nations of having enough vaccines for the eligible population. the problem we are facing is vaccine hesitancy. it is like the industrialized countries where there is more vaccine than there are willing to curse. other african countries are not in the same fortunate position. they do not have enough. not diminishing that argument. but should that variant have arisen in south africa, it could not be blamed on not having enough vaccine. it would have to be blamed on vaccination programs, population hesitancy and resistance to vaccination. >> it was south african researchers who detected it and sounded the alarm quickly to the rest of the world. some countries have placed a travel ban on that part of the world. is that the right decision? travel bans work? >> yes and no. i he sympathy with these decisions. it seems obvious, don'

ros: bearing in mind everything you just said, sir, what should be done in south africa, botswana, and globally? >> the first important point is that it has highlighted the importance of good surveillance, and we picked it up at a very early point. so the critical aspects now is that this first set of cases have come from a group of university students. so, tracking them down, establishing how widespread this variant is among those students, is our first port of call. then, it would be to increase surveillance and establish of this variant is currently distributed, and is it growing at a particularly rapid pace, and then would come guidance about what restrictions we need to put in place while the search is underway, to establish how vaccines remain effective against this variant. ros: can i ask how easy or difficult it is to predict how a variant will behave? with delta or gamma or alpha, could we say very early on that this was a big problem? or is it only after time that we recognize it definitely was? >> there is almost no way to tell. the virus is so new, these mutations are so ne

south africa, botswana, namibia, lesotho, s martini and zimbabwe. we are waiting to find out if other countries are going to follow suit and ban travel from those countries but as far as the uk travel rules are concerned there is a flight ban now in place until the hotel quarantine system is up and running and anyone who has recently arrived from any of those countries is being advised to take pcr test and anyone who arrives before sunday at 4am is asked to quarantine at home for ten days and to take pcr days in the second and day of their return but from 4am on sunday, when the countries which will now be on the red list, people coming back from those countries will have to quarantine in a hotel for ten days and entry at that point will only be allowed for people who are uk and irish nationals and customers with uk residency rights. everyone else will not be allowed to travel from those countries as they fit those categories. it from those countries as they fit those categories.- fit those categories. it will obviously _ fit those categories. it wi

cases have also cropped up in boston on a, belgium, hong kong -- botswana, belgium, hong kong and israel. are you concerned about this new strain of covid-19? you see the numbers on screen? let's start with sean calling from shackleford, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. it is very concerning. in reference to the last 23 months and the way it has adapted whatever reason it has. all we can do is pray and, lo and behold, we can get hold of this one quickly because if it is that lethal, we already lost over 700,000 in america. but around the world it is probably five or 7 million. let's pray and hope we can resolve and god bless the world and america. host: sean, what do you think the american government should be doing to ensure that this strain does not do the same thing the delta variant did? caller: we gotta get the medical people around the world to work together to resolve it. that is where it is got to begin. we have to work this thing together the best we can. that's where i believe we have got to go with this. advanced as we are there is no stopping it. i called tw

so far in 3 countries, botswana, south african hong kong. what does that tell us about how it's spreading? well, we're looking, obviously the south african jenoma network is looking across south africa at the moment. and obviously we also work the south african net to it was very closely with other countries in the region. so there are now more they've identified more of these cases. it's still under a 100, but we're seeing we started off seeing it in one central province in south africa. and now we think that it probably has spread into other provinces as well. but there is a sort of hotspot center around johannesburg and pretoria that happened, some scientists voicing concern saying that this very and could be was the nearly anything else about including the delta strain? how worried a you about it? look, i think when we see something like this and we don't yet understand it, we must all be very concerned. and scientists have to turn their full attention to trying to understand it. but i don't think people should jump to panic, or we've se

actually one of the nearest cities to that province is gaborone, the capital of botswana. places like conway and the nearest cities are bloemfontein. it has spread to all the provinces, one of the most significant things is that they have gone from 500 cases every day on average in the previous week to 1600 in the current week. that is more than triple the number of new infections and that is why people are warning that this could be, it is an advisory, but it could be, it is an advisory, but it could be a much more infectious variant, will be a doctor is treating patients to say the actual infection is milder and were heard from claire bennett earlier, an expert at the department of cambridge, who said this was the case with sars, it became less severe as it mutated. we don't know if this is the case with coronavirus and we should not be complacent, there is but some cause for optimism, but it may be the case. we are at an early stage with this variant and that was the president of south africa speaking live from pretoria, in the last few minutes. that's return to the sit

this new b11529 variant — of course one in hong kong and fourin course one in hong kong and four in botswana. it's the most heavily mutated variant so far, and the concerns are about how far it can spread, how quickly can spread, and also how effective it is against vaccines. so let's have a look at those six african countries at those six african countries at the uk is banning trouble from — south africa, botswana, namibia, lesotho, s one teeny, and zimbabwe. now we are waiting to see if other countries will follow suit. those rules are a flight ban until the hotel quarantine system is in place and up and running for some so if someone has arrived from those countries already, they are being encouraged to take pcr tests. if someone arrives before that hotel quarantine starts, they are being asked to take quarantine at home and take quarantine at home and take piece are tests on the seventh and eighth day they come back. but if they come back, expected from 4am this sunday, then they should quarantine in a hotel as well as the previous system under the uk's red list.— the uk's red list.

they include south africa as well as botswana, zimbabwe, malawi, and others. travelers will not be allowed to come into the u.s. u.s. citizens will be allowed in with a negative covid test. >>> vice president kamala harris weighed in on the new variant, calling on all americans to get vaccinated to help stop the spread of covid and limit its ability to mutate. >> we're going to take every precaution. so that's why we've taken the measures we have. but, again, i can't stress enough, one, if you have not had the booster shot, get the booster shot. >> the president and vice president have been briefed on the new variant over this thanksgiving weekend. no cases of omicron have been identified in the u.s., according to the cdc. >>> back here locally in an effort to get more people vaccinated, the santa clara county public health department is turning to young people, as it were, to convince their peers to get the shot. as "today in the bay's" marianne favro reports, they're proutsing videos on tiktok and instagram as part of a contest. ♪♪ >> reporter: this vide

while in botswana, the government says the new virus was found in several foreign nationals on a diplomatic visit. while the south african government says it respects the decision taken by the u. k and other countries to limit travel to and from the region. and that precautionary measures may be necessary. it says the decision is rushed. the action of countries in terms of imposing and such measures are completely against the norms and standards. as guided by the wealth organization, a possible 4th wave, compounded by the new variant may further strain and already overwhelmed health system in south africa. lemetre miller, i'll just 0 janice, but ah, let's bring in our gas in johannesburg, helen rees, chair of the world health organizations, regional immunization, technical advisory for africa, and member of the south african ministerial advisory committee for covey and covey vaccine. a last so u. k. julian tang clinical by raw just at the university of leicester and robert as the dean abraham director of med biotech and medical biotechnology laboratory. thank you all for joining us. helen.

while in botswana, the government says the new virus was found in several foreign nationals on a diplomatic visit. while the south african government says it respects the decision taken by the u. k and other countries to limit travel to and from the region. and that precautionary measures may be necessary. it says the decision is rushed the action of countries in terms of imposing travel beds and such measures are completely against the knobs and standards. as guided by the wealth organization, a possible 4th wave, compounded by the new variant may further strain and already overwhelmed health system in south africa. the leader miller, i'll just 0 janice, but ah, let's bring in our gas in johannesburg, helen rees, chair of the world health organizations, regional immunization, technical advisory for africa, and member of the south african ministerial advisory committee for covey and covey vaccine. a last so u. k. julian tang, clinical biologist of the university of lester and robert, as the dean abraham, a director of med biotech and medical biotechnology laboratory. thank you all for joini

this time in botswana, the world health organization has convened an emergency meeting to discuss the potential risks of was being labeled a super mutant variance. the 1st case of it in europe has now been registered in belgium. we've spoken to the head of the russian direct investment fund, which is overseeing the global distribution of the sputnik vaccine. he say the range of different jobs is key to finding the pandemic and news trains. i think it's very important to investigate as in your burial a so far as to what it has shown to be incredibly effective against all of the different mutations. and we will share some good data, hopefully a little bit later on a grade her efficacy against delta, very and so. so numerical force has to be started and we need to see how the shows as exists and extremes. i games in your area, but also weekend really quickly about vaccine when you variant, if needed. and we believe that different countries report folio different like suits. we, caesar monopoly off and we're in the election in europe failed to protect europe. so it shouldn't be about em,

for example, in botswana, they were paying -- botswana was one of the countries where the genomic sequence for this new variant was discovered. paying one of the highest prices in the world, nearly double watch we're paying in the u.s. and the delivery of their vaccine from moderna was delayed by many months meaning over a third of people in botswana right now are vaccinated. we know unvaccinated populations give the voyeurs places to mutate and create more variants. we can't build walls and we won't boost our way out of the pandemic in the u.s. we need to do more to get the world vaccinated. >> we did ask moderna if they should be selling the vaccines at cost. you can hear his answer on our website but he really didn't give a very satisfactory explanation to whether they should be doing more to make sure that that vaccine gets distributed in other parts of the world. but some experts are saying, i mean, we don't know, but it does appear that some experts are saying at this point what they are observing is that this virus this, variant is more highly transmissible but it appears -- it appe

so look out for woods, wanna add that expo, 2022 by spectacle, where we will unleash our potential botswana, all pride, your destination ah ah, this is al jazeera my to over. so stories this are iran says it has falls and attempts for the u. s. navy to seize its oil in the seas of oman. it says its revolution.

100 confirmed cases have been found in south africa as well as hong kong and botswana. and then the u. s. is the latest countries a band travelers from south africa and 7 neighboring countries. cases have also been detected in ot swanner at belgium, israel and hong kong. in our all the headlines, the french present. emanuel mac one is cancelled an invitation for the british. i'm secretary to a meeting on the migrant crisis and has warned the u. k to get serious or remain locked out of discussions. it comes off to you. k prime minister boris johnson wrote a letter to mack on, urging france to take back migrants who make it to person. 27 people die trying to cross the sea between france and u. k. on wednesday. well, the flow of migrants is causing concern on another of the ease borders. this time between poland and baton rouge, who's president alexander lucas shank was visited of crowded order. can you met some of the thousands of people that make shelter and told them they will freeze the had west go home, use accused batteries of engineering, the crisis, my flying peopl

it would have ever emerged in botswana, this could have emerged and elsewhere. it is really hard to tell. it would have emerged in one of the countries with very low sequence you coverage with very low if you very little data coming out. so it's a we, we do know that there are numbers of keys is, are strongly correlated with seen uptake. and you live r e, there is no virus. there are, there is nothing to evolve. and of course, the better of it's needed a country ease their lower the chance that it will read, lead to emerge us up a new, a new variant. but i would certainly not a blame south africa for these. there is a certain that it has even immersed there. okay, a tense time though. thank you very much for your time today. your he buzzing can molecular biologists. a war of words has erupt between france and the u. k. following witness the tragedy in the english channel in which $27.00 migrants joined the french present last night on bars. johnson for resorting the social media to the non purpose. take back those who make the dangerous crossing. our t. charlott

this evening, the botswana government announced that the number of cases they had risen to 19 of this particular variant. and why i'm mentioning that is because it was in south africa that that mutation was detected, those cases coming from neighboring botswana. and many of the scientists here say, trying to equate our good work with us, the country, south africa being responsible for mutations. it is completely unfair. we're doing the best scientific work we can do. and we need to really look at the narrative around cov 19. and how southern african countries in africa as a whole, is looked at. it's tough for me to mila marvin johannesburg for us. but following that address to the nation from president, rama poor sir, ah, well, people in honduras are heading to the polls to vote in a tense presidential election. a countries bracing for potential violence as candidates look to asked the right wing national party, which is rule for 12 years. president, one, orlando, and, and as is not seeking re election and has chosen a successor. he has been dug by drugs, trafficking and corruption sc

in moving south africa botswana and some bob, which is a big inconvenience. we had our flights booked for a week time, but we got the news from our daughter in about 2 31 o'clock last night saying that you were going to introduce a red list. it's on justified. it's abrupt and it's not good for tourism for south africa with these regulations laid off last night and people are frantically trying to get back into the south. african scientists say they're worried existing vaccines may not be effective. and the new variance may spread easily. genomics and south africa has been outstanding throughout this whole pandemic period. and that's why we've been able to identify when changes occur. the fact that we are able to identify changes quickly is good news is good news for the world. but we must be careful that we don't jump to the conclusion of, well, that equals, it came from here, it came from there. and it means that this all that we need to understand much more about this. so far, dozens of infections have been identified in south africa. while in botswana, the

detecting the variant south africa, public health institute says the strain which was discovered in botswana, as an unusually large number of mutations, our scientists are deeply concerned about this varied. i'm concerned, of course, and that's one of the reasons we've taken this action today. i will say we don't know enough about this for it. no one does. i think probably the u. k. knows more the most heard because the excellent work we do on surveillance, but i think it is right that we take this approach and we remain cautious. while helen reese is a senior regional advisor for the world health organization, she says that while there is reason for concern, there are more questions to be answered. i think when we see something like this and we don't yet understand it, we all must all be very concerned. and scientists have to turn their full attention to trying to understand it. but i don't think people should jump to panic, or we've seen with the delta strain, for example, that it was more transmissible. and it was more resistant to the action of vaccines, the antibodies induced by vaccine

since 1st being detected in botswana, china, scientists say it has an unusually high number of mutations and they've described it as close. the was so far, professor constant in severe enough tote as bat vaccination is kate. so i believe that the only way to curve the spread of this well to come to virus but not to spread. the virus is to either vaccinate while close to 100 percent of the inhabitants or the planet, or to have an equal amount of them being infected, whichever builds the immunity and makes the secondary infections list year. oh, if you think about it from the point of view of producing countries, of course they should care about their population most. that's reasonable and the other hand, because this is a global threat. and of course, in all countries which are less well off and have less vaccinated, population would suddenly be a threat. again, globally, virus doesn't this through necessarily you have to become stronger, whatever the needs are mean, or whatever, right? so, but in fact, one can also have an argument that it may become more benign, even though it may be sp

this means south africa botswana cimbawe way, namibia las suitor, s sertina and mozambique all among those affected the bands came as the world health organization declared a new cove at 19 varied to be a variant of concern and named it army cra. we understand that people are concerned . the good thing is that we have monitoring systems around the world to detect these variance very quickly. this variant was detected a few weeks ago, and already scientists are sharing research with us information with us so that we can take action. what's really important as an individual is to lower your exposure . the measures these proven public health measures have never been more important distancing wearing of a mask, making sure that it's over your nose and mouth with clean hands. making sure you avoid crowded spaces, have be in rooms where there's good ventilation and when it's your turn get vaccinated. we're still learning a lot about this new on a cron variant. at this stage. this is what we do know 1st reported to the world health organization from south africa on wednesday. the varied has

while in botswana, the government says the new virus was found in several foreign nationals on a diplomatic visit. while the south african government says it respects the decision taken by the u. k and other countries to limit travel to and from the region. and that precautionary measures may be necessary. it says the decision is rushed the actual office, some of the coaches in terms of imposing travel beds and such measures are completely against the knobs and standards. as guided by the way of organization, a possible 4th wave, compounded by the new variant, may further strain and already overwhelmed health system in south africa. for me to mila, i'll 0 johannesburg. when europe is, once again, the epicenter, the pandemic on the netherlands, is among the countries trying to bring down infection rates for governments over bars, restaurants and shops to close at night, triggering protests in the hague. but there was no repeat of the riots and cities last weekend. hospital say they're getting overwhelmed and are counseling surgeries to free up beds for coded. 19 patience spent vesman was out

, zimbabwe, botswana and others. both pfizer and biontech say they expect to be able to ship out new vaccines tailored to fight off the new omnicron variant in about 100 days, if necessary. moderna says it's already considering doubling the dose of its current vaccine booster shot from 50 of micrograms to 100 micrograms. meanwhile, top biden administration officials are strategizing how to ramp up the current pace of booster shots and fend off a potential new covid-19 surge in the united states. now, as this new variant continues to spread quickly, vice president harris urged americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible. >> as the president has said, we'll take every precaution. and that's why we've taken the measures we have. i can't stress enough, one, if you have not had the booster shot, get the booster shot. i cannot stress enough the importance of getting vaccinated for those who have not been vaccinated. i will say what i say every time, because it remains true. the vaccines are safe, they are free, and it

they are at the moment about 19 cases of the new variant in neighboring botswana. and those samples were sent to south africa. and that's also how this variant wires are identified. and the president had also gone on to talk about what a good job local sciences were doing in terms of the sequencing of genomes, as well as watching out for changes in mutations and the coven, 19 virus. and instead of being applauded for that, south africa is being punished. and this will just really worse than the economic situation in a country that's already had months of locked down where the south african ran. the currency has lost a significant amount of value and with thousands of jobs have been lost. and so this type of reaction, they're calling knee jerk reaction. they say is just unjustified unwarranted and simply unfair. what else do you have to say about the, the, the cases, the effect this is having on numbers of cases there. so, rama was, i had noted that about the that the cases had risen by about 9 percent in the last 2 weeks. or so perhaps an average of 500 cases a day

all flights to the uk from south africa, namibia, zimbabwe, botswana, lesotho and eswatini have been suspended. from sunday, people arriving in uk from those countries will have to quarantine in hotels. stock markets around the world have fallen sharply on the news. here's our transport correspondent caroline davies. gloomy skies at heathrow this morning. after months of opening up travel to some places in the world is restricted. direct flights from six countries in southern africa have been temporarily stopped. anyone already in the uk who has beenin anyone already in the uk who has been in these countries in the last ten days will need to take a pcr test. 0n the uk and irish residents who have been in these countries in the last ten days will be light and they will have to self isolate and take two pcr tests and from sunday they will have to pay to quarantine in a hotel. for those landing this morning the news came as a surprise. i feel extremely relieved because who knows how long this is going to last? i who knows how long this is going to last? , ,., ~ who knows how long this i

those discovered to be rapidly transported but that's exactly what south africa and botswana did. what are they getting? punishment. are traveled and doesn't take effect until monday. what about those three days before or the fact it doesn't involve us citizens. what about it doesn't involve many countries thathave run cases like the netherlands or like canada like the uk . to me it doesn't make sense. i think this is something politicians often are pushed to do but the risks and the downside aremuch greater than any minimal benefit you're going to get .i think this part in the pandemic when we have the ability to test and we got monoclonal anti-bodies and we know some so much about transmissibility going back to these tools which are not recommended by the world health organization and any other bodies makes no sense it's not surprising that the us did this and many other countries are also doing it. >> host: this is benjamin in huntsville alabama. >> caller: i would like to know as this virus ever been scientifically isolated and if so can you point me to the study or paper that

cases have been identified in south africa, hong kong and botswana so far. but no cases have been confirmed in the uk. britain's health secretary, sajid javid, says the variant has a significant number of mutations, which means it could be more transmissible, and that current vaccines could be less effective. scientists say the new variant is the "most complex that we've seen" and "the most worrying". our medical editor, fergus walsh, has this assessment of the new variant. the speed at which new and stringent travel restrictions have been imposed show just how seriously this variant is being taken. between 500 and 700 travellers arrive in the uk from south africa every day. that's where most of the cases have so far been identified and where it appears the variant may be driving a new wave of infection. it may be more transmissible than the delta variant. and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it. now, to be clear, we have not detected any of this new variant in the uk at this point in time, but we've always been clear that we

scientists say they've detected the variant in small numbers of people so far. cases of also been seen in botswana and hong kong. the early indications we have of the varied is that it may be more transmissible than the delta variant and it, the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it. our scientists are deeply concerned about this varied. i'm concerned of course, and that's one of the reasons we've taken this action to day. i will say we don't know enough about this very and no one does. i think probably the u. k knows more the most because the excellent work we do on surveillance. but i think it is right that we take this approach and we remain cautious. the deputy head of sedans governing council has told out sir that last month, military takeover was the best option to stop what was a spiraling crisis. general mohammed hamden douglas, as they discussed it with all parties, including the detained prime minister, who was agreeable to it up della ham dock. has since been reinstated by the generals in the new power sharing deal. fastened sister denise had been back on the