Forces battle to stop taliban fighters closing in on the capital of Helmand Province and flooding and landslides kill or least 36 people in Central Vietnam with more heavy rain forecast. We begin this news hour in europe where many countries are seeing coronavirus cases surged to their highest levels in months and with that comes a wave of new restrictions france will reenter a state of Health Emergency on saturday with weeks of nightly curfews imposed on paris and 8 other cities you know the 23000 new cases were recorded in the past day but president mccrone insists the outbreak is not out of control meanwhile in the u. K. A new 3 tier alert. System has come into force in england only one city is in the highest level but with almost 20000. 00 new cases in the past 24 hours other areas look set to join it is in the meanwhile has seen its highest daily increase yet with more than 7300 new cases its infection rate has more than doubled in the past 2 weeks and germany hit a 6 month high in new infections which passed 5000 for the 1st time that live reports from paris on the new restrictions in france. French president emanuel mark cross that france was in the grip of a 2nd wave of coronavirus he urged people to be more responsible and announced a nighttime curfew for paris and 8 tell the cities the could last until december 5th. If we stick to this curfew for 6 weeks if we take collective responsibility for reducing our contacts we think it will be able to progressive the reopen at that stage and. The curfew adds to a raft of restrictions already in place in the countrys big cities where cases of new infections are rising rapidly in the past couple of weeks queues outside the board trees like this one in the city have been getting longer and more paris Health Officials say is the one in 5 tests is coming back positive soon after moving to paris in september these british students fell sick with coronavirus they began having symptoms after attending University Events and welcome parties every station distancing while Wearing Masks but it sometimes that doesnt stop if youre in a crowded place and you havent stopped going to lectures the c. D. C. Very tired and between needy half the students in a year were infected for some recovery has been slow i mean i was covered before but even i just want to get it again there for a new there im a lot more like conscious of it micro hopes the curfew will help ease pressure on hospitals in paris intensive care beds capacity. The problem says this epidemiology just is that the government is taking the wrong approach relying on restrictive measures rather than whites protesting the solution would be to assign to test message really the population and that can be done both using p. C. R. Test with group just doing what you put in one to the samples from 20 or 30 people. Also the one to test so thats whats being done in the countries where the virus has been contained for some new restrictions will deal yet another blow to an already ailing economy for others theyll be welcomed as a sign that after months of urging people to live with the virus the president is hardening his tone Natasha Butler al jazeera paris. Will schools have closed along with bars and restaurants in the Czech Republic which currently has the highest per capita infection rate in europe the country reported more than 8300. 00 new cases on wednesday its 2nd highest daily total of the pandemic so far shutting classrooms was seen as an unpopular but necessary measure students represent 16 percent of all infections and the Health Ministry says the number of cases among teachers and other staff has been rocketing since september over the life of every local the decision was difficult but i think we have a clear vision of how to return to normal im convinced that we will succeed together with your help and that we will defeat the virus as we did in the spring we have experience we have clear plans but now the priority is for our hospitals to cope with the growth of hospitalized people. The u. K. Is facing up to the possibility of a hard winter ahead it reported nearly 20000. 00 new cases on wednesday which also saw the start of a new sri tier restriction system social mixing is out while bars and gems are closing in the one region to enter the highest level as donahoe reports now from liverpool public misbehavior by a few could have very real consequences for vulnerable residents. Normal talk of the coming 2nd wave political drinkers its arrived pubs and bars forced to shut as the city becomes englands 1st to face the highest level of new restrictions. Away from the drunken revelry these are moments when heavily on the lives of many livable is the 1st with its hospitals filling up and Critical Care beds almost at capacity it wont be the last theres talk of a possible full scale nationwide lockdown for a short period at the end of the month and all the while the hidden toll is being counted the Mental Health of millions held in the balance people support mechanisms and their coping mechanisms just arent there anymore and i think that is something that we are going to see Going Forward i think the Mental Health implications from the cove it all go to far outlast the actual virus itself i think were going to be picking up the pieces for this for quite a long time its just the opposite offer to give the offer of say facility so these kids can get some acceptance of exercise and activity what we found in the 14 weve lost our now some are some of our members of their cell farm because he does had meltdowns at home in the previous life and the previous one down old so obviously but the 2nd stampers again now. Jims and Leisure Centers up shut their doors but this facility continues for now waiting for clarity on the rules. Well it helps me with my eyesight. And all our. Gail my anger arms because everyone has a lot annoyed. That. I dont like the 5 s. Guys or iraqi guards. They are i want to be there but to the normal. Caroline couldnt walk on her own when she began weekly visits to the kirkland centers inclusive coming from a few of my never done things i can even dream of doing when i was busy at home with my mom i used to desmond do absolutely everything for him. You know now. Available. Well. On the physical activity as well. Liverpool iran reported 279 coronavirus tests on wednesday thats its highest daily toll since the outbreak began another 4830 people tested positive both days were record high numbers its caused the government to announce a travel ban to one from 5 big cities that are the worst hit by the virus including the capital tehran on saturday the wearing of face masks was made compulsory in all large cities nationwide. At least 36 states in the u. S. Are now reporting a rising number of new coronavirus cases in the northeast of the country hospital beds are also filling with new virus patients around 50000 new cases have been reported each day for the past few days since the beginning of the pandemic the virus has infected more than 7800000 people in the us killed more than 216000 put millions out of work. U. S. 1st Lady Melania Trump has revealed that her 14 year old son barron also contracted for a coven 1000 this month but exhibited no symptoms President Trump and the 1st lady tested positive on north tobar 1st all sorry have since tested negative in a couple of hours thousands of people are expected to defy virus restrictions at a Trump Campaign rally in iowa cases and deaths remain at high levels across the state which is one of the highest infection rates in the u. S. The governor issued an emergency proclamation for people to keep their distance in Public Places it from Campaign Says there will be temperature checks and masks will be distributed or President Trump is racing to make up for time lost while he was recovering from covert 19 at a rally in pennsylvania on tuesday even begged suburban women to like him because he repealed an obama era and the segregation wall so could i ask you to give me a very suburban women would you please like. I say their neighborhood ok the other thing i dont have that much time to be that night you know i can do it but i got to go quickly we dont have time they want me to be politically correct all yes lets discuss it lets talk about it over the next 10 years no no no no we save your we save suburbia in the u. S. So i live now to mike hanna in washington d. C. A so interesting what the president was saying there but beyond that trump on another Campaign Rally while cases are continuing to spike in a number of states. Deviousness just look at the figures in the past 2 weeks the infection rate has risen by 12 percent across the country theres on average nearly 50000 new cases of corona virus every day this is not a new wave this is previous infections continuing to spike in a large number of states and part of the troublesome factor as well is that in some of the states that were very sharply hit at the beginning of the pandemic then appeared to recover such as new york state you see new spikes again now this is deeply concerning remembering too theres no real federal program in place to deal with these hot spots in the pandemic its being lifted individual states to try and work out some kind of process to try and beat the pandemic back but very clearly in a number of states its not working the president but hes on his way to iowa where its eventually the hospital admission rate is rising incredibly sharply by some 30 percent over the past week so that is one of the states that is spiking at the moment when President Trump arrives and will hold a rally to a crowd few of whom are Wearing Masks well mike thats just the point is the people showing up a transfer rallies of this the supportive and obviously approve of the ways handle the pandemic but the fact that he is continuing to rally in such a public way and like you say a lot of people showing up not Wearing Masks what impact is that having on being the projections for Election Results you know between republicans as well. Well it is a very partisan issue it would appear that to many republicans will support President Trump whatever he does regardless of whether or not to use dealt with dealing with the pandemic of the most vast majority of democrats will oppose him specifically on the issue of the pandemic now one must remember that these crowds we see a trump rallies are fairly isolated we cannot draw any real corelation from them to trumps why there is support they are. As one could put it like that they will go out of their way to attend rallies but the vast web of support for president according to every poll has been waning considerably particularly on the issue of coronavirus where polls indicate he holds his home with regard to his handling of the economy as opposed to his current turned on the issue of coronavirus most polls disapprove of him some 75 percent as 25 percent approval now these are politically killing figures in terms of support for President Trump and yet hes pushing through it he appears to believe that by going out showing that he is in his view strong that is by not wearing a mask he is showing that he has conquered the pandemic that is his view because he states publicly he believes hes immune he feels it would appear that this is a good tactic in the closing weeks before the election many would disagree. I can i would the latest from washington d. C. Mike thank you. Saying the u. S. Justice department probe ordered by the trump of ministration into alleged misconduct by obama officials has ended with no evidence of wrongdoing the Washington Post says the investigation into the quote unmasking of american citizens mentioned in intelligence reports in 2016 has now concluded for months republicans of hyped the unmasking requests as a huge scandal the President Trumps u. S. Supreme Court NomineeAmy Kone Barrett is into her certain day of confirmation hearings shes again facing tough questions from Senate Committee members on capitol hill so far shes been pressed by several democrats on key issues including Health Care Abortion and election disputes barrett was also asked whether a president should be able to pardon themselves of a crime. When. Nobody. Got to play. Right now and. Right to pardon. Me after. Senator leahy so far as i know that question has never been litigated the question has never risen that question may or may not arise but its one that calls for a legal analysis of what the scope of the pardon power is. Coming up on this news hour from london the few signs of a ceasefire as arena in azerbaijan continue their battle over nagornokarabakh and the death toll keeps rising and protesters in cyprus demand the speaker of parliament to resign after al jazeera is that cash for passports exposing. Afghanistan now where tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes after heavy fighting between Government Troops and taliban fighters both sides have reported casualties and the aid agencies say hospitals are becoming overwhelmed taliban fighters have been battling their way towards lashkar gah the capital of Helmand Province in recent days Government Forces have launched a counter offensive to stop them with u. S. Airstrikes supporting afghan troops on the ground this coincides with talks being held in calcutta to end americas longest war and could complicate president plans to have american soldiers home from afghanistan by Christmas Well in another blow for the government to Defense Force helicopters crashed into each other earlier while setting off for helmand killing 9 people on board journalists feel for free is in the capital kabul she says Health Services are overwhelmed in the area where the fighting is. They main trauma hospital in provincial capital. Has been operating at full capacity cannot treat anymore people and the m. S. F. Supported another m. S. F. Supported hospital in the area has been serving as an overflow facility with over 20 people have been admitted there in the past 24 hours and among them are even pregnant women and children in terms of the displaced according to the u. N. And local sources 35000. 00 people have been forced to flee their homes a lot of them with nothing but their clothes weve seen pictures of them trying to load as much as they can in some model bikes and try to escape the fighting now are you in assessment teams are on the air in the try to assess the situation and its extremely difficult to get information and a lot of the infrastructure of the telephone lines have been damaged so its hard to a says what exactly what the exact needs are the laces from afghanistan there meanwhile out been divided has more now from doha where the peace talks began last month. There has been some headway in the talks and to discuss that further we have a theres a Senior Advisor to president musharraf going in with another another he was also a member of the Peace Negotiation Team thank you very much for taking the time ive heard you describe this as this ongoing violence as an impediment to peace in afghanistan is the afghan Negotiation Team willing to leave the table if the violence doesnt stop well our brief National Defense and Security Forces are doing the job of protecting our people or our constitution. That this level of violence that weve seen in the past 3 weeks is a clear indicator of less care about peace by the side more about the violence its acceptable to people to see civilians dying to see Public Properties and Public Infrastructure be destroyed and thats not injecting a good sense of confidence in the Peace Process that we are so willingly in generally and faithfully gauged and the other side doesnt inject that with the same level of genuine mr stop the violence we need to get this violence level down or stop it completely or people demand cease so that they can build a level of trust and confidence that a Peace Process will lead to a shared future for all of our friends thats what we are. Engaged and looking forward to to work with the taleban. To get it you. Know for more we can speak design of home mom shes the c. E. O. Of afghan action and joins us live from istanbul via skype adam thank you so much for joining us here on aljazeera i hope you could hear there the adviser to the president and the of the day who described the violence as an impediment to peace in afghanistan i mean what do you make of the fact that on the one hand theres peace talks going on in calcutta between the government and the taliban but then what we see is a horrific increase in violence with of course as usual unfortunate afghanistan and intolerable strain on human life there what do you make of that. Thats correct. Well i have to go a little bit back today Peace Process that initially was the deal that was signed between taliban and us and there and then that was understood that the Peace Process was only between us and the taliban subserving mostly the u.