this is al jazeera. ah. hello, i am sammy's aiden. this is the news our live from dell ha, coming up in the next 60 minutes. hong kong announces a further easing of crone of iris restrictions as mainland china scraps is 0 coded policy. maternity ward in the ukranian city of kerosene is hit as russia intensifies its shelling russian president vladimir putin bands, oil exports to several countries after they impose the price cap and from heat waves to an arctic storm and devastating floods to prolong droughts. we look back on a year of extreme weather. ah, we begin this news hour with an announcement by hong kong, but most of its remaining current virus restrictions will be scrapped from 1st day is canceling negative p. c. r tests requirements for people arriving in the territory as well as quarantined for passengers who test positive, social distancing measures are no longer applicable, although face masks are still required. lie day, oh, more visitors coming from overseas. the mainland macau anti one do not have to do mandatory p c r test when they arrive at hong kong. instead, rapid n t jan taste will be required all the way through the 4th day. however, some countries in asia taking the opposite approach, taiwan, india and japan will require tests for passengers traveling from china. and the u. s. is also considering imposing curbs on arrivals from china. health authorities are worried about the spread of new variance. so it's larry joins us now from hong kong. so let's start with a situation in hong kong. is this the case of life returning through? well, i guess almost normal now. well, that's exactly what hong kong leaders said. he said these steps that are now being that they've been announced these last few measures of i'm really stringent cove requirements being lift, it will help hong kong return to normalcy. now there will be questions asked about whether as to whether or not the timing is right, considering china is m experiencing a surge in cases. and this number is only expected to go up with the upcoming nuno new year's celebrations, which we'll see tens of millions of people traveling within the country to be home with their families. now, hong kong leda, john lee said that he's confident that hong kong will be able to cope. and he gave several reasons for this. one is the relatively high vaccination rate in hong kong . and he also said that term because 2 and a half 1000000 people here have already got co that there is a sufficient immunity barrier that will protect people in hong kong. he also talked about how health care workers in hong kong will not not have the experience in dealing with an epidemic. and he also said that the city has enough medicine to deal with any potential outbreak and flaws. so what does this mean for the economy? our businesses celebrating well, if you look at the performance of the stock indices in hong kong, i think it mirrors how people feel about this decision. the hunting index rose, 1.6 percent. and i think the business community is largely, i'm happy and also confident about hong kong ability to cope with rising coven cases. remember when hong kong had the very strict rules. it was, it was seen as something that affected the cities reputation as an international financial center. now it's rather different story in china. however, it's main induces the c as i 300 index, as well as the shanghai composite index, both recorded minor loss losses. and i think this overall reflects m just how investors feel about china's ability to cope in the short to medium term with the explosion. in covey cases on the mainland, china's health facilities are under immense strain. its hospitals, its medical staff, ah, overwhelmed, there is a shortage of medicine in some medicines. in some places funeral homes are full, they're not accepting appointments until next year. so and the modeling that some health experts have print from have used, predicts that they could be one to 2000000 deaths in china the next year. and so i think what we're seeing in the stock market in hong kong and china really reflect how people feel about these 2 places. ability to cope with corona virus in the coming months. all right, thanks so much. hi, laurie. dr. patrick tang is division chief of microbiology, it says re medicine joins us now on skype from though her good to have you with us or 1st of all, do we know just how critical the spread of cov it is in china? how clear or reliable is the dasa for you for having the you know, coby originated in china and that a lot of the data we have it, we can, you can them, it came out of china so they definitely have their degree of capacity to be able to track the virus character virus virus and sequencing virus. so the concern right now is that maybe the data coming out may not really or black or not in china. so i think that that is a little bit concerning for the w h o. as far as last for the rest of the and just to try and clarify the picture further. what exactly is friday? is this a new variance, one of the previously known ones? so from what we know so far, and that is here, that most of the variance are the same or more con, there, lineages that are also couple. and in the rest of the world, there are some we need that are being more prevalent in china right now. but it doesn't seem, at least from the day that we have any one dominant suddenly agency over that there is that new variance yet that might be different than the ones you've seen elsewhere around the world. at the same time, we're talking about uneasy restrictions in mainland china and hong kong. is this the right time to be doing this? a very tough situation that they've, that they're finding themselves in, in china. and booming, unfortunate the baffle of how difficult it is to get public health. paula, the vin number, kelly needs and balancing the public health need, where they need to, society, your economy and politics. so, you know, you know, from, from what would be experienced in that. and the evidence that we have so far about how to handle the pandemic, it would be embed, it may be to a, brought the change from the 0, with all of the tier to allowing no, pretty much ramping spread the virus now and in their country. so what we worry about is the ry new more, you know, the more transmissible barrier co cobra maxine as well and having various spread to other parts of the world. the same time, there is a lot of immunity and the rest of the world, and especially immunity from fascination, as well as community from infection. so it's really hard to say what the effect will be if you knew that when a barrier that arrived in china, would they have that much impact on the rest of the world, which has gone through multiple ways of colgate, including the recent on the way. there's a lot time pack than what you said that start with the idea of the fear that it might be spreading. is that perhaps what we're already seeing in countries like japan, with a number seemed to be rising again. wow. nice countries already half of we talk about japan, they already had driving numbers that prior to what were happening in china and, and each country had the lightly different situation. each country has different demographic. each country has different levels of new and different molig the and the timing of their policies during the pandemic. so very hard to say why one country is being in a certain way versus another country. so i'm, i'm not sure that what's happening in japan is related to china. i don't think we can make that connection. but definitely in that, the polish, even the way that the japanese government to manage their pandemic. it's part of that to what, what form on their time you look at on the country that also had high read the code. if you look at the western world, if you look at the canada, a non king data, you know, we are in the country, you know, they've also reduced their testing, reducer survey land that reduce their, all their public health measures again a career so that we also don't know what exactly is going on in the law to live there. now, dr. for the, for the rest of the world. all we, should we be worried about another wave of global pandemic, a return to the 2020 sort of situation all. as you said, you know, just the world have more experience, more immunity, more vaccines. now that we can say, hey, we're not going back to 2020 everyone it's, it's highly unlikely that we'll go back to back kind of situation because of a high level of heard in unity around the world. and how we're seeing the virus evolved. it looks like we're seeing more convergent evolution of the virus and that it's recycling many of the same mutations that are making it successful. and it's gotten to the point where, where it's highly, highly transmissible. so it's, there's no, we don't see that there's that much more room for this virus to, to evolve, to become even more transmissible. so i think we're, we're getting close to the point. we're not quite there yet. that there's going to be some equilibrium between the buyers and people in terms of our, our level of maturity and how transmissible and how them, you know, they said that this viruses so that we're getting close. i think from the success of waves of different omicron variance sweeping around the world. we're getting close to the point where there's going to be a cool librium where we're going to reach some level of and to miss city. and not quite there yet. and especially for china, they're, they're definitely not quite there yet. they're, they're going to experience this large homer conway, just like the rest of the world did back in late december, early january of this year. and then the subsequent additional ways of different con, sub variance. that's really interesting. thanks for making the picture. look here for us for tangling. thank you for having plenty. marcella had on the news out including hungry and d hydrated after weeks, etc. or hang the refugees seek shelter in indonesia. landslide floods and pal accounts in the southern philippines, out at renshaw, rain the weekend. now ukraine says, russian forces of shell, the maternity ward in paris on which it really claimed last month. elsewhere, ukraine's military is resumed its counter offensive in the eastern region of landscape. to large cities, there are still under russian control. charles stratford joins us now from cave. so charles, 1st of all, let's talk about the shelling in harrison climbing more damage, right? that's right. yeah. this is the 1st day now where we have seen a reported intensification of brush and shelling of the liberated city of her song of some was liberated by the ukraine in forces on the chancellor 11th of november. and this is according to the presidential spokes person. he saying that this maternity ward was hit and a pretty graphic account of a doctor having literally only minutes before completed his erin operation on a pregnant woman before those strikes. morocco say no reports of any casualties. but sir, as i say the last couple of days, at least we aren't seen renewed, seemingly renewed, intensification or rush and sharing from across the river across the disney port river. it was what 2 days ago were at least 10 people were killed, another 70 injured in an attack that sir, that hit the center of the city. we do know that approximately 70000 people oliver care sold in some of the surrounding areas. many of them having returned since ukrainian forces took re back, took control again. and there are reports of many of those people now leaving in particular neighborhood called antonio, which is directly on the west bank, or norwood bank if you like. the denise for river that is come under heavy shutting sources. they're saying around 8000 people are living in that neighborhood. and they say the neighborhood is very susceptible to sniper fi russian fools. he's only around 700 meters across the river on the opposite bank. now, whether this indeed is a renewed effort by the russians to try and reach back control of care. so it is difficult to say at this stage, but of course that river is a huge natural barrier of defense for ukrainian forces. but it's like to say, yes, the shilling has intensified in the last couple of days and so on. and at the same time, news, or talk about ukrainian counter offensive already picking up in the hands. what we know about that. yeah, some really interesting lines that says started dropping, i suppose about 48 hours ago with respect to an area along the don't. it's going to guns, regional borders around the town of crimean russian occupied town. now the ukrainian forces were very successful in a counter offensive, but basically ground to a halt around 2 and a half months ago. we were in that area, then we pretty much own that new front line until 2 days ago. that'd be very little movement. we're now hearing reports from certainly the heads of the new guns regional military administration on the ukrainian side. he's saying that ukrainian forces i started pushing in towards the town of crimean reports there from the military saying that you're creating policies are moving gradually towards the town. and they're saying that many russian forces have withdrawn from crimean. so she's saying that it's only the russian command center that is still occupied by russian troops in the town itself. they say that a lot of russian civilians, very interestingly in the town of arrive there since it was occupied by russian forces. we presume that this is referring to reconstruction work is people that of going to enjoy to rebuild a town off the face fighting for so long. but that indeed is a very interesting development. possibly signs of a renew counter offensive by the ukrainians. and it's important because if indeed crimean failed and it would give ukrainian forces, potentially easy access to, to very large towns in the lugens province. lucy chance can civil to the next that we're occupied by russian forces around 6 months or so. and just quickly, some interesting developments also around the besieged city of the siege town, where we've seen so much intensive in the last weeks and months. we understand both sides have suffered thousands of casualties. but we are hearing reports now from interestingly rational pro russian telegram channels, the last 24 hours day back vacated that russian force is actually withdrawn from that sound. we know that a lot of russian forces in there are members of the wagner group. this mess and regroup that, that he's, that he's so controversial, there's been some really quick videos posted by pro ukrainians, pro ukrainian channels on telegram in the last day or so showing ukrainian forces. i mean it's amongst many russian dead. we're also hearing reports that a lot of russians have withdrawn from above moot as well, leaving. so tactical small units around that city. now whether in fact, this is because of the pressure they're under a weather. in fact, it's at some sort of time school move to protect mobiles is in the winter weeks ahead and they will continue. the russian forces continue using heavy artillery all that remains to be seen. but whatever way you look at it, some very interesting developments on the eastern and southern france today. all right, thanks so much for all those updates. chelsea drafted by president vladimir putin, his band boil, expose the countries that set price caps on russian energy products. he says the decree will come into effect in february, and last for at least 5 months. earlier this month, the european union, g 7 and australia agreed to cap russian crude at $60.00 a barrel dames to restrict moscow's revenue streams while still supplying the global market. energy exports make up around 40 percent of russia's annual revenue and the worth around. a $1000000000.00 a day. moscow says the cap and all the western sanctions will not affect its military offensive in ukraine. cornelia meyer is an economist and ceo of my resources. she joins us now via skype from burn. good to have you with us. so 1st of all, we'll countries outside the e, u, outside the g 7. now find it difficult to bring in tankers to find insurance or credit to transport russian all even if they want it now, because of these moves. thank you for having me and me. yes, put some come to study as a nephew, but when you look at the 3 countries which are counted, the main bias which is china, which is india and turkey. they are not a tear into the price. so they can still do it. yes, they will. no longer it will hired to be to find the solve. it will be far, it will be impossible to find insurance financing. but the russian trucks so acquired the shadow fleet, about 3 times the chinese, a small refiner, their own fleet. there's a rush and we insurance company will give some moment come up and surely will never be as good as the lights of the cloud, but some modicum. so oil will continue to flow and it will continue to flow to, to, to maybe a show. we have seen that ever since the war started. but whereas europe was re substantial by some group, people, and crew to swell is all gone to china and to india. india came out of nowhere to being the 2nd largest buyer for us. you crude. alright, if we break this down because it is quite complicated, but basically on the one side of the g 7, the ease saying they're not gonna buy rational and they don't want anyone else to be involved in buying russian oil. if it's more than $60.00 a barrel, and now you got the russian saying, we don't sell to anyone who agrees to any such condition. what is that going to do ultimately to prices than does that mean the price is going to come down, or it's going to be good for you. if you still want to buy rational is going to help you to negotiate. price is down. well, what has happened so far is that the chinese and indians, and also the turks because they're being, you know, they're small, a pool of buyers that have a big bargaining power that so bought rush included, boss discounts, which are below actually to $60.00. so it's more for other countries that this, that this would matter where i look at all prices as a whole is now that china is opening, you know, bed bound to come up. because even if there's a lot of russian crew coming in, russia will maybe produce about 500 barrels a day last up to a 1000000 barrels a day, less. but he's china, i'd say goes up and suddenly consumes 2000000 barrels a day more because they're opening up and people are traveling again. then we are in the very tight market. and that will mean that oil prices will come up for russia crude. they will still, you know, they will still have to negotiate with their fuel buys, that they still have, which are substantial bias, but because substantial by them. so you to have huge bargaining power. so does, in a sense, if, if you're russia and you know that the price for your oil is going to stay low, ok, but maybe the global cit, your recovery and chinese recovery can push the price of other oils up. so give you an incentive, maybe to cut your own production in order to hurt the g 7 countries by making other roles go off. i don't think so. i don't think so. i think it's more a matter because i still need the revenue rec, you look at a ration revenues that quite substantial. the above 60 percent revenue come from energy and minerals and so on. so that, that doesn't make sense. but it, it means that it means that we will, we will see maybe it pushes the price, lower prices go up a lot. it may push that price level for russia grew to india and china up leave it . but, but, but, but all in all, what the price kept has done. and what the situation has done is given the consumers of russian crude, huge bargaining power, giving them good bargaining power down. what about maritime secures? he said, going to be impacted by big concern. that because of what you see in the shadow police, the russians have not gone out and bought them. you know, the latest the u. s. last night. but you know, the chinese have their own fleet impact their own. you've seen a lot of the secondary market. a lot of the bustle being bought over the last god, 8810 day to 10 months. these are not delayed. so they're not all of them are imo compliance, so that means from the, from an environmental perspective, not very good. an other one is a security perspective. and yes, you will get some sort of insurance from the russians, or maybe also some chinese companies to get some insurance, but it will never be the same, you know, overall package insurance that you get when you go to the lloyd's of london cloud. all right, we'll leave that. thanks so much cornelia. my thank you very much. the u. s. supreme court is upheld a trump here a border policy that uses public health as a justification for expelling asylum seekers. the rule known as title 42 was imposed in 2020, to spread, to control the fed rather of code. 19, when i gave the government the power to expel thousands of on documented migrants entering the u. s. from mexico, the policy had been due to expire. this month, leading to fears of an increase in border crossings. our white house correspondent kimberly hallett is in washington dc. with more the u. s. president did weigh in on this. what do you have to say essentially, is that he's commenting on the fact that the supreme court is now going to have the final say on the matter. but 1st is going to have a bit of a deliberation. in other words, is going to hear oral arguments. so the president saying, the court is not going to decide on this matter until june. that's typically when the supreme court rulings come out after hearing oral arguments. and the president goes on further. just say that title 42 must be enforced. what is title $42.00 will essentially, it's something that was put in place during the previous donald trump administration . and what this is, is essentially gives the federal government the powers to turn away those that are seeking asylum in the united states under sort of the order that this is to prevent the spread of disease. so it's sort of a public health emergency type of restriction, but it's been use kind of as ad hoc immigration policy given the fact that there has not been immigration reform in the country for about 20 years. as the controversy around it is essentially that the by the administration feels that it's not the pin, derek is essentially for all intents and purposes over that is, this is no longer needed that they have argued it's in humane, has been separating families. and they wanted to see it and done. still had an al jazeera, we look back at the com. sleggs in the democratic republic of congo, failed foreign intervention, tens of thousands displaced and accusations over one does roll in violence. ah, with europe in africa, this is your forecast for wednesday. good to have you along a feet of rain into the north west of spain, northern areas of portugal. we can trace this up toward the northwest as well. got to tell you, i think we'll see some heavy falls of rain across the islands of ireland, britain, western france, and the low countries, but still tapping into warm air. now speaking of warmth, there has been exceptional warmth in central europe, but okay, temperatures have come down a bit through the balkans with that rain. it's behind a legacy of cloud cover, but check this out 1st day of 2023. now can you believe we're almost there? i mean, look at some of these temperatures looking more like spring dark of the yellow and the orange, the higher the temperature. some of these spots a good 10 degrees above average. okay, back to the here now some pretty intense rain for the ne black sea coast of turkey or, or keep tabs on that, whether there will be some flooding there. and still sandstorms in the forecast for a huge swath of mauritania. little chilly in cairo at 18 degrees that slightly below average into the south. we go. we're going to see disturbed weather start to fill in across eastern portions of south africa, including how tain province. so johannesburg has a high 28 degrees. also some rain in the forecast for been took on wednesday with the high of 30. that's it. that's all susan. ah, this is a miss with ah ah ah ah, we'll come back here watching al jazeera time to recap our headlines down on call me as lifting almost all its remaining cove 19 restrictions from thursday. it'll cancel social distancing rules, foreign teens and p. c. all test for arriving passengers borders with mainland china will reopen. next month. ukraine says russian forces of shell, the maternity ward, and have san anerio, which we claimed last month elsewhere. ukraine's military is resumed, its counter offensive, and the eastern regent of your hands. russian president vladimir putin, his band, oil exports, the countries that set price caps on its energy products. the decree will come into effect in february and is expected to last for at least 5 months. if you open airlines is resuming flights to michaela in the north and tig ry region after an 18 month absence. if the opium government representatives visited the rebel held area on monday, it was their 1st trip to the region since war broke out 2 years ago. both sides agree to a cease fire in november, conflicts in the democratic republic of congo escalating numerous african countries have deployed troops to counter armed groups and civil unrest while the government welcomes these forces. any congolese are opposed to them. malcolm web has more difficult year for the d. r. see? hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in recent months. has e m $23.00 armed group advance towards the city of goma in democratic republic of congo to the north. uganda and soldiers arrived just over a year ago, under an agreement with congress government. he got his army says he pursuing a you can an armed group pulled. the adf is responsible for massacring thousands of civilians. writes creeps, say the violence has increased since the ugandan troops arrived both uganda, andrew, under of being accused of meddling and looting minerals ever since they 1st invaded congo. the 1990s is not everyone who we, who was interest in our most table. there is some non states apt eyes and perhaps even some fits actors who need this to, to, to be going on so that they may got, you know, with their traffic 6 months ago, east african leaders agreed to send a regional stabilization force kenyon soldiers of the latest to arrive under that banner, uganda, perone, and south the dawn of said they'll also contribute troops. the risk is there that the different countries that are intervening will pursue their own narrow interests . and many of these countries have in the past, particularly the neighboring countries of burgundy, wanda, and uganda have supported proxy groups against each other, but also against the commonly state. more than 20 years after their mission began, the popularity of un peacekeepers is an all time low. many congolese blamed them for failing to protect civilians. demonstrators of burn, some un convoys encamped in recent months. many people say they tired of foreign forces suit the beginning that the soul, you son for the see to have i said, which is the responsible i state that can defend its territory and a fed, which can also defend and protect the human rights of their own citizens, so military lation and it's not the solution for the last 20 or 30 in the i see we have these for an intervention intervention. and they, they didn't give the solution. and we can say that these rates are not an initiative which is in our military. you shop, you will hi, will their food? the m $23.00 groups widely understood to be backed by neighboring wonder. it's fighters have been photographed alongside brandon soldiers. un peacekeepers have filmed hundreds of fighters crossing the border. rwanda denies backing the group. almost nobody in congo believes it in cities across congo. people have protested against luanda. and you can see they blame for decades of military aggression. it called for western powers to cut off military aid to wander. the u. s. and more recently, france and germany have criticized rwanda for its support. but none of rwanda backers have applied sanctions. last week. the voter registration began for elections that are due to be held a year from now leaked documents shade the last election 4 years ago was rigged. president felix jessy. katy was announced the winner. he wants to run again. many people are wondering if next year's election will be free and fair was it even happened on time when you look at the document. so the national electoral commission is already in there as a factor that might delay elections themselves. so they were preparing the arguments of course, no credible election can take place if there's so much violence that voting can't, can take place. the violence shows no sign of stopping and 23 said it pulled out of this town of keep them last week following international call for its fighters to withdrawn disarm it has since continued fighting on another front, pushing towards kolton minds that it controlled in the past more than half a 1000000 people remain displaced from their homes, mostly because of armed conflict. recent peace talks in nairobi failed to bring any change on the ground. for now, people must wait to see if the arrival of more foreign forces in the months ahead and the upcoming election make things better or worse. malcolm web al jazeera, israel's parliament, the connect it has passed, the so called ben give the law a grant, incoming security administer. it's a mob been given unprecedented power over the police. get more in this now from saw the hierarchies in west jerusalem. so this is the thing, the 3rd change in the law that's having a deep impact on these right. the government tell us. busy what this means well, these decisions are part of the medicine in the head of the swearing of the new government. it's less than 24 hours. and these new knows are coming out. we had to, you know, yesterday that came out which was controversial in itself. and we have another one which is a ben give a one which gives him sweeping powers over the police. now that means a politician can head the police and that's never happened. this is extremely on precedent to the laws that came out yesterday was the diary, the small church know and that was giving minutes party need is from the right wing, the ultra right wing policies, the ability to ignore previous convictions. 2 within the court, whether it was for russian and give them the power to be appointed as ministers needed within this new government. this is never happened that trying to cement these laws ahead of the swearing and in a way this is even more important than the big day itself. tomorrow obviously that's and yahoo is in a position now where he's perhaps having his arm twisted by the far right. this is my fall right government that israel has ever seen in its entire history. nathan, y'all, who's in a way, perhaps listening into these demands of being made very clearly ahead of the swearing in the gum at once. these walls have been cemented which they all being cemented. it may be very difficult to change them later. and perhaps to that point, so that's why they're trying to pass it in such a hurry and such haste. that's right. the decisions are coming in fast and furious in the last. morrison, just ahead of the swearing and now nathan, yahoo overseas, coming back as prime minister, he's in a very different position from before. he's been involved in a massive corruption case and still is and in many ways he is keen to make sure that the coalition ultra right wing parts of coalition party is happy as well because that will keep him in power. now there has been a lot of control the seals, it was the dom across the collection, but there. 1 calls from people saying that the process itself ahead of the soaring and of the government isn't democratic. we've had the idea the head of the israeli defense force. be very vocal about this on tuesday saying this is on except for one had demanded a meeting with nathaniel her. and then you also have members within the liquid party next. and you know, his party, who all also outraged some of the ministerial positions that people from the also or right wing pos, heat coalition members, they are receiving some people in the liquid party that perhaps that expected to have those roles and be more involved. and then you also have people within israeli society that we've been speaking to the feel that this coalition doesn't represent a cross section of the society. there are decisions being hastily made from perhaps an extreme, this point of view. and people are not quite sure where this is going to take israel moving forward is next and yahoo going to give in, is he going to be, is he got, he says he will draw a red line when he has to be consulted on these big decisions is he willing to have new support from international, the international community, especially the us, which has also been voicing discontent as to the decisions being made. all of that is yet to be seen on the see were less than 24 hours from the very end of the government and a lot will be happening from now until then. all right, thanks so much. hi. now at least a 113 people have been rescued from the mediterranean sea off the coast of libya. the mediterranean charity says its ocean viking vessel rescue. the group from a rubber boat about 30 on accompanied miners were on board the ocean. viking is the only rescue ship in the central mediterranean or hanging to send a rived in northern indonesia telling stories of the harrowing sea crossings. at least 185 people have been receiving medical care after arriving and not till monday. they were on board one of full boats that left bangladesh in november high force it as more of 2 weeks drifting at sea 1st full day on dry land. 185 range refugees came ashore in indonesia as a province on monday evening. week hungry and many severely dehydrated. we left the refugee camp in bangladesh. 7 days into the journey. the boat engine broke about 10 days to the journey. our food was finished and i had to drink sea water. after more than a month, we arrived here. many died on the sea. this was the scene just aus earlier, as the survivors finally reached land. these people a 2 time refugees fleeing 1st from persecution and me and mar, which its military government is facing charges of genocide at the international court of justice, and then from harsh conditions in refugee camps in bangladesh. in bangladesh, our children didn't get educated. we couldn't leave the camp. we didn't have food, we didn't have anything. in late november agency, safe, full boats, left bangladesh. on december, the 8th, an indonesian oil tank of picked up a boat carrying about 150 people of the me in my coast and towed it to shore. 10 days later, the shrunken navy rescued a 104 people osher lunk, his north coast. the captain said he'd received an s o s message from a 3rd boat, which he feared was about to sink. on sunday, a group of 50 acre hinge came ashore in ladon, village in indonesia, western as a province. and on monday evening, the boat carrying a 185 mounted further up the coast is not yet clear whether this is the boat he had lost a week earlier. like we need to do further communication and intensive investigation with different parties within indonesia or outside of indonesia. to clarify, if this is the case at the moment, i cannot confirm the information. for now, indonesians doing what they can to give these refugees some sense of normality and dignity after their ordeal. but the future remains unclear. agency say the number of hinge, a fleeing by boat from refugee camps had bangladesh has risen fivefold this year. $22.00 and a half 1000. the theories that many more will be subject to the sorts of dangers in the months to come. hurry faucet al jazeera. let's big now is tanveer child re, he's in cox's bizarre, where many ra hinder have taken refuge after they fled the violence in me in march . so they take us through some of the conditions that are prompting so many of the ring go to try and get on these risky boat journey's or the condition of the cancer desperate it's very congested. can one of the most densely packed area belly, 17 square kilometer area, got into nearly $1000000.00 population that's bigger than the size of washington dc in terms of population with much, much less facilities and fibers on the rowing as don't seem to have any future. they have lost hope of repatriation, they don't see any hope of going back right now. considering the political situation there, there is no job opportunity. there's no way of earning a living that totally dependent on aid from the un and other aid agency. so a lot of the younger generation who are out there, i'm losing hope, and they're making this sad, desperate journey is through the see knowing the risk involved spending all their life time saving in some cases, cost them to $1000.00, to $2500.00 for this cheap without any assurance, they'll end up in any of the southeast asian countries, so lack of hope, no jobs future. absolutely poor living condition is some of the main reason. and also most of the younger generation had lost generation if you want to call them without any formal education. the situation is quite bad in the camp in that regard . or a situation may be challenging, but i mean, so these boat journey wouldn't happen without the role of course of human trackers tell us what the authorities are doing to try and stop them. what area this rowing a cancer is very near to the arc man mart border in this area is known for drug smuggling, human trafficking and smuggling. so there is a notorious bunch of smugglers here. some of them are bangladesh is some from me and more and some are actually drawing us julio, these people and the. 1 promise of taking them to indonesia, thailand, or other se ancient countries like malaysia and that take them out sometime in the daytime. sometime mcknight piece by piece into tech not very up by the sea shore, or even by a coastal areas near to the camp area. and the journey is dangerous, but people are still willing to take risks and go into this boat, which are hardly capacity for 7200 people with hardly any navigation equipment. some time they have satellite from to communicate. that's about it. and the, as far as the government goes, is trying to track down on this people are, but they're going to door to door in the cans making public ins. are there been much more robust, several gangs have been arrested in recent days, but it's just not enough. i'm in the sense to be still much more than last year. this number of times made by the rain guards fling the cam. all right, we'll leave it there. thanks so much. tanveer chowdhury the vatican says former pope america, hispanics. health is worsening, and he's receiving constant medical care. the 95 year old became the 1st pope and 600 years to resign. it's been living in the vatican since then. ho frances has visited his predecessor after telling a general audience. benedict was very sick. the death toll from severe winter storms across north america is rising. at least 64 people have been killed. nearly half of those deaths are in new york state, one of the worst affected areas across the border in canada, at least one county on lake ontario is declared. the state of emergency a winter storm lead to major travel disruption. so it's still a big backlog of passengers in the united states waiting for counsel flights to be rescheduled. i think it all high and has more from reagan national airport near washington dc. a familiar scene in airports all across the united states. long lines were canceled flights, lost luggage, but more than that, missing memory that you pay, how care? my grandmother greeting today said i was do youth and my grand daughter. there wasn't a score that we went with the post as braces because a grading sentimental. she's been here every day looking for her luggage. she's not sure when she'll get it or when her granddaughter will be baptized. everyone in these long lines has a story to tell. eventually i just left the line after being told that we probably wouldn't get a flight to dc until the 28th, and i'm paired up with a family and we all drove together to dc. and then i stood alive for about 3 hours. got re book for another flight that was supposed to leave out at all. paul about 9 ish, and they say at okay, in about midnight, that will was council. the severe winter storm saw almost $20000.00 flights canceled during the height of the busiest travel season of the year. but most airlines have recovered. southwest airlines are mostly domestic carrier, has canceled the vast majority of them. it's just the fact that this one started west swept east and impacted almost every single one of our largest airports that put us in a position where we struggle to recover. these lines are not going to get shorter any time soon. the ceo of southwestern, they're only gonna fly about a 3rd of their scheduled flights that could take days. department of transportation says it's going to investigate, but the airlines going to have bigger problems than that. everyone i talk to so they are new, catching a fine. southwest airlines ever again. patty call him al jazeera washington. on the west coast of the us. people are dealing with flooding. salinas, northern california, the santa rita creek at birst its bang soft heavy rainfall homes are flooded in the authorities. a warning people to be careful on the roads, county officials have been distributing sandbags to prevent further damage. meanwhile, parts of washington state are also under water. king tide and heavy rainfall triggered flooding in seattle. the national weather service is issued a warning for high winds weather present. jeff harrington is here, has more in the situation along the us west coast. jeff, this is our, the satellite image. you can just see this plume of white weather crashing into our, the u. s. west coast. but let's talk about this set up at. so really we did have the perfect storm for a few reasons. here we had an atmospheric river which is a narrow, concentrated band of rain, but this coincide it with you heard just a few moments ago, a king tide, so that was a tide of about 5 meters high. so the 2 worked together, just inundated areas up and down the west coast of the us. so let's go on for a closer look right now at the blue. that's all the rain as far south is los angeles in san diego. but let's talk about the worst case scenario we saw in some spots we saw about a 150 millimeters of rain. we set records for just how much rain we saw, for example, in portland, in the us state of oregon. and we saw there was winds were brought to a 145 kilometers per hour. so this was certainly a vigorous system. this was also impacting canada's british columbia province the lower mainland. but here's the thing, bit of a breather through the rest of wednesday. but then that next storm system rolls and so we're going to see some more rounds of rain get lash with some even more wind. and we can see that in the 7 day forecasts in vancouver more rain thursday and friday it's okay. you know what? i think by saturday i will begin to dry out with a mix of sounding club. at least 25 people have died of the heavy rain and flooding in the southern philippines of the weekend merchant c response teams of helping tens of thousands of people falls from their homes. where the forecast is, say storms is set up to dump more rain on the southern and central regions. well, there have been extreme weather events around the world this year. many of them were fueled by increased concentrations of greenhouse gas and heat in the atmosphere. al jazeera senior meteorologist everton fox looks back at some of them . the year 2022 will be remembered for the numerous extreme weather events that cause destruction mass displacement and kill thousands of people. at the beginning of the year, tropical storms swept across southern africa with a sigh claimed battering madagascar and devastating flooding in south africa. a severe heat wave in parts of south asia gave in the air its warmest march on record . what in neighboring pakistan the city of jakob bad was the hottest place on the planet at one point, the extreme heat scorch several countries france bait in may and the u. k declared its 1st nation wide heat emergency and july. when temperatures hit 40 degrees celsius, wildfire spread across europe and north africa around 4 times as many as the historical average, along with some of the driest conditions ever recorded drought in hearts flooding in kentucky in july, while unseasonal rain flooded the streets of doha, the warmer weather caused glaciers to melts in south asia, raising river levels, which led to the worse floods in more than a 100 years in parts of northeastern india and bangladesh and pakistan. 3 times the average rainfall fell in august, leaving one 3rd of the country submerged. scientists called it the climate catastrophe of the decade. china experienced its longest heat wave since official record keeping began. the yangtze river shrank to its lowest level in more than a 155 years. in contrast, south korea's capital was lashed by the heaviest rains in more than a century. during august, september blowing, one of the most powerful stores japan had ever seen at the philippines will never forget the force of typhoon noro, which escalated from a category one storm to a category 5 in just 6 hours across the pacific hurricane he and pamela, florida, at least a 114 people died more than in any hurricane since katrina. drought battered california swells heard in september. as death valley recorded the earth's hottest day with the mercury hitting 53 degrees celsius. in africa, nigeria saw the worst floods in more than the decade. and by the end of the year, southeast australia was in the midst of its 4th major flooding event. with sidney having its wet last year on record, the world which roger can organizations says the tell tale signs in impacts of climate change while becoming more dramatic and we greenhouse gas is continuing to rise. after reaching recall levels, last year, the frequency and force of severe weather events are expected to be even more extreme in the future. now the un security council is condemning the taliban recent decrease limiting women's rights in afghanistan. girls and women are not allowed to attend university or work for humanitarian aid groups. un chief antonio without her says, the rules amount to unjustifiable human rights violations. he's called for the full and legal at participation of women and girls. in afghan society. venezuela's economy is emerging from a deep recession after years of political upheaval and us sanctions, poverty has fallen to 50.5 percent in the past year. though incoming quality continues to widen. and as alexander appears to reports, presently, class missouri is capitalizing on the situation. and the inner garcia opened her natural, cosmetic shop 4 months ago in caracas, bedding on venezuela's, mother it economic recovery. and despite many hurdles, she says things have gone well so far on economy. agatha nice young, it's an economy and revision that's just starting to grow again. there is a feeling of normality for commerce, and many shopping centers have started operating again. but now like the government's decision to relax, price controls and allow trading in us dollars has given some businesses and president nicholas, my daughter, a 2nd wind in a country were real gross domestic product as shrunk by almost 80 percent in a decade dollars. they're everywhere. these days, prices in stores, restaurants, and even food carts are listed in dollars. this is partly stabilized prices and brought a veneer of better economic times. so people go together with more favorable international geo politics. this is allowed my daughter to venture outside the country shaking hands with leaders who were trying to house them until a few months ago and confounding opponents. every religion, why dor them in the united states and other democracies recognized as legitimate president after calling my daughters 2018 re election. a sham spends most of his days in a spartan office, photos on the wall show him at the height of his efforts to topple my daughter. and although opposition parties are now seeking to end this mandate, he remains undeterred. they don't wanna do out a thought. oh, now like some resumes. yeah, only the we need to bring this to a presidential election and we need to strengthen the opposition to facilitate talk to mexico. but let me be clear, it's not because the opposition is divided, that madura keeps the power he keeps you surfing power because this is a dictatorship my daughter's regime as agreed interior to resume negotiations with the opposition in mexico and arrange free unfair presidential elections in 2000 with 4 in exchange for e s. u, a thank jones and the oil sector. all my daughters hoping the economy will continue improving enough to give him a chance to win the next presidential elections out. right. especially if the position remains as divided as it is right now. that economy say the improvements have done little for the majority of venezuelans. good, my little see at the hall. you elemental madura is trying to credit himself for the increasing a comic activity, but all they've done is top causing happ inflation. to lift things, then it will create some peace among the middle and upper class. but this doesn't mean better conditions for those who go to public hospital or need public services . but for now, avoiding hyperinflation might be enough to offer some opportunities to businesses like ed brianna's and the government more time to maneuver. i listened on piet, the al jazeera carrack, us that brings us to the end of this news. al, but the good news is, so rom, on his back with another full show. ah ah, ah, ah, in a newly january. oh, now to sierra, almost a decade after joining the e. u croatia, adults the euro, despite fears, it could lead to price increases and already tough. economic times immersive personal short documentaries, africa direct showcases african stories from african filmmakers can public private partnerships sold some of the wells most pressing challenges when government, business and civil society leaders, me for the world economic for rigorous debates and unflinching questions. up front, cut through the headlines to challenge conventional wisdom. senegal host, the all africa musical was the celebration of talent and creativity from all corners of the african continent. january on al jazeera, across the world, young activists and organizers, rhonda moon, motivated and politically engaged. the challenges they face couldn't be more daunting here. and bill, we were the ones who said light on what was going on in a way that most means the media didn't. there's nothing static about the lebanon, there's always in the information. we have the agency to create a viable alternative generation change on al jazeera ah.