uncertainty after a surprise moved by the head of the electoral commission and turning discos into crypto currency mining. phong's, argentines are innovating to survive as their economy grapples with a decades long debt crisis. years president joe biden has told millions of and backs and i did americans, it is their patriotic duty to get a knock highlighted against covered 19 the amazon variance. now accounts for almost 3 quarters of all new cases, but in as worn, the unvaccinated face. so winter of severe illness and death is not a raft of measures as well to try to limit the rapid spread. alva micron, including 500000000 free at home rapid tests, military staff, are also being brought in to help overwhelmed hospitals. all these people who have not been back, you have an obligation to yourselves, to family and quite frankly, annoyingly criticised this to your country. get faxes it now it's free. it's convenient. i promise you would save lives. an honest to god leave it. you patriot duty more without it i'll hate in washington dc. i mean, he's used the science is used to logic and now pulling at that he sort of patriotic strings of america he's trying but really since the summer we haven't seen the vaccination numbers move very much about 60 percent of those who can get the vaccine in the country have at least one dose, but when it comes to booster, which is really important with his under crowns and strain, only about 30 percent of the country have those boosters and he keeps he's trying to throw the needle. he's, he said, or if you're vaccinate, if you're boosted, you're probably not going to get horribly sick. probably won't be in the hospital, probably won't die. you should go ahead and have your holiday keep those plans the unvaccinated though. that's a whole other situation. the problem is for the president and part of why his poll numbers are plummeting. he said his number one job was to get a handle on coven. so here we are almost going into year 3 of this and he, the president keeps saying, look, this isn't like march 2020, that's when everything shut down. but it kind of feels like that. the reason the mass is back on the face because in washington dc, it's mandated inside again, because case numbers were growing like this and now they're going straight up the same in new york city and states across the country. and people are having problems . there are enough fair enough at home tests and the president said, we couldn't possibly have known the problem is going to be this bad. but the administration did know the people were going to gather for the holidays. and the administration's guidance was, if you're going to be together, even if you're vaccinated, get some of those at home. rapid tests, they're really hard to find in the united states. you really can't find them anywhere. now if you did, there are $25.00 for 2 tests, so that's prohibitive for the vast majority of americans. and even when it comes to those pcr tests, those longer tests were seen lines going around the block in cities like new york city. in one case, i heard a person anyway 10 hours with their young daughter because she had been potentially exposed to coven. so he is getting a lot of pressure. a lot of pushback right now, that there aren't enough tests there. no, not enough treatments available. if people do get sick, he does say that they're going to do more federal pop up a booster shot clinics vaccine clinics. but like, for example, when it comes to the at home test, he said they're going to order half a 1000000000. but that's gonna take time to produce, and that's going to take time to get to americans. and the, the holiday is just a week away. so less than a week away. so a lot of pressure from the press on the president right now to get this under control a little bit more. okay, thank you for that. patty calhane reporting from washington d. c. i. now jo nichols, national affairs correspondent for the nation in madison. wisconsin. good to see you, john. what did you make of president biden's push? as i said, he pulls at the patriotic strings. maybe that will work, but there's always gonna be this portion of society who's just saying not, not going to get it. i think that's exactly right. you could hear that in the president's message. he will certainly as you suggest, pulled at the patriotic strings. he also gave a very, very long address. he spoke for a good deal of time to the american people in a live setting, which i think certainly will get a lot of attention. but with the in it, you heard the evidence of the challenge that he faces. at one point he called out those who had been critical of are skeptical of getting vaccinations. he basically pleaded with them to start distributing misinformation. he also made the point that donald trump has gotten a booster shot. and so he was clearly trying to address this division and i, you know, i mean, i'd give him credit for doing that. but i think if we're honest with ourselves, it's unlikely that that will a, in, and of itself eliminate the division. i do think that the rapid spread of omicron and much of the reporting on that may cause a, a portion of people to be more concerned and to perhaps, to get their vaccinations perhaps, to where their masks. but there will still be also another portion of the american people that just don't do that. well, that would be the portion of some of them her boot, donald trump, didn't they? when he said he'd gotten the booster? absolutely. in fact, that's the interesting thing. i hear he had president biden referencing donald trump in his remarks and saying well for, you know, for present, gotten his booster shot. that's the one thing we agree on. well, that is not the one thing that trump backers agree on. in fact, if there is one place of deep division within the republican party, it is between those conservative republicans, some including donald trump and some associated with donald trump. who said that they don't want mass mandates. they don't want vaccination mandates, but they do communicate that they think that getting the vaccination is a good idea. there is a nother sector of the party, including some elected officials eaten up to the u. s. senate level who are very, very critical of are skeptical about vaccines and so that division is real and you really see it writ large across rural america. there are vast sections of the united states were frankly, the data is i would suggest very troubling that there are a lot of people who simply have not gotten vaccinations and don't seem to show any inclination to do so. john is the dreaded ellwood lockdown, still learning, or is that somewhere where this administration just doesn't want to go? it is somewhere where this administration desperately does not want to go. however, it is also something that of public health experts and doctors are suggesting may be necessary. and the important thing to understand about that is that is not a decision made purely about the spread of the disease. that is also a decision made with regard to the crowding in hospitals, whether hospital beds are available, and as hospitals go beyond capacity is they are overwhelmed. that's the point where public health people say to mayor's, to governors and to the president. look, you have to lock down or you have to have at least some intervention here to try and slow the number of cases that are, are coming on to and that are impacting these hospitals. and so i don't think we can rule it out. i think it is something that may return if it does, it is something that i think grudgingly president biden would of acknowledge it would accept, but it's something he would really like to avoid. and i think that's why he's putting such an emphasis on getting back to nations, getting testing, try to take all the steps that might avoid that. john nichols, always a pleasure. thank you for your time. honor to be with you. thanks so much from israel is set to offer. wait for this. a full dose of the coven vaccine to people aged over 60 prime minister, natalie bennett, says it will help the country overcome the spread of under kron. the move has been approved by the health ministry and is now awaiting final sign off by senior officials. that decision comes off to israel reported its 1st death from amazon on tuesday. a u. k is reported more than 90000 new cases overall on tuesday. but prime minister birth johnson has confirmed he won't be bringing in any new restrictions before christmas. what i can say to night is it naturally, we can't rule out any further measures after christmas. and when a keep a constant eye on the data will do whatever it takes to protect public health. but in view of the continuing uncertainty about several things, severity of or micron uncertainty about the hospitalization rate or the impact of the vaccine roller. the boosters. we don't think today that there is enough evidence to justify any tougher measures before christmas. at least 12 people have died from their micron variant on monday and the number of people admitted to london's hospitals is growing more and that from ro challenz rejoice says the daily mail on tuesday morning christmas is looking safe. ministers defy gloomy scientists. that affects the question safe from wants on the con is ripping through the u. k. at the moment. and london is the epicenter so much so that the mayor has declared an emergency situation. but the daily mail is a leading voice on the u. k. rights and it shows the relief, particularly amongst the rebellious libertarian wing of the conservative party, that it's freedoms that have been prioritized or johnson said on monday nights we won't hesitate to take action. the problem for some is that it looks very much like a prime minister has hesitated from taking action. his position is that while they're still big questions, beyond that, about the severity of alma crohn, it's too soon to be shutting people up in doors. the cancer position, when those questions are answered and if the answer is a bad, it will be too late to do anything about it and the house service will be swamped. the opposition leader kissed armor whose labor party would have supported new restrictions. if the prime minister had gone for them, says the boris johnson is putting his fractious party before the public. of course, the spectre of new business and social cubs hasn't gone away. it's just been deferred for another day. christmas may be safe according to the daily mail, but new year and beyond. certainly, there are reports that sedans prime minister, abdullah hum dock is about to stand down. that is a month after he made a deal with the military that's been criticized by processes as a betrayal. honda, you may remember was kept under house arrest for a month following the military coup in october. since that paragraph, of course, have been mass processed, including this past weekend, which month, the 3rd anniversary of the start of the whole revolution in sudan mohammed vaal with us now from khartoum, where it's, you know, it's only quarter past 1 in the morning. mom at what likelihood of a resignation in the middle of the night yeah, that's right. to come out. it's very strange, but it's expected. and the laws of the law to keep telling us. but actually he's on that letter designation is lighting it and it's expected in a few hours. the military side told us, but they hadn't to see any notification about handbooks intention to resign. and that's a very interesting situation. the handbook is very fast plated, and he has been expressing it privately and in public. sometimes about the, the amount of support that he's receiving from the people pushed him to find an agreement with the military and. and that's at the same time when his popularity waned among that of lucian, that he will have been looking at the savior of sudan. he placed him something very difficult situation in the middle between 2 to 5 swath loggerheads. and we have seen that a pollution or is gaining momentum over the last few days with that push that lead them to the gates of the presidential polish. and they are planning more demonstrations on the 25th and the and the 30th of this month. so i mean analysts talking about how do observing a situation that is, you know, going to lead to a total failure of his policies, those policies by which she tended to reconcile between the 2, between the 2 sides. and he's finally got untenable. yeah. so if he goes then, i guess it's not just a case of the, someone to replace them, it would be the military who would install someone else. again, i mean the, the military still really in charge that side to the military are adamant that they are going to lead this transition. other val going toward grenades in election next year. and as a point of contention with 3rd lucian or is who, strangely enough are, are asking for more time before it actually is organized. they feel that a former regime still has people inside the, the political system and that any election that is, are organized very soon will not to lead to any to any significant change. so that's one point of contention. the 2 slides talking about pam or on it, you know, now on a regular basis. but that's not, that's not the only problem between the 2 sides. i mean, the, the civilians are accusing the military of renege. you know, they'll promise to share power with them. they are saying that the military are a monopolizing power. is that your sense of the word and the expectation is that in the military are going to appoint another prime minister, ma'am, at val in khartoum? i know it's late, fair, but we will come back to you if and when the so resignation comes 3. thank you. in the news ahead malaysia's worst floods in decades in the growing anger against the government's handling of the crisis and christmas in occupied east jerusalem church leaders. there's christian groups have been driven out of the old city by jewish settlers. ah hello, welcome to look at the international forecast. we have an alberta clipper making yes. why they quickly across sir parts of canada easing over towards hudson bay. that's his area of low pressure, with his trailing where the front just around the northern plains of the u. s. re the canadian prairies and pushing back up towards the pacific northwest extract a fair bit of cloud fair to winfrey weather as well. some lake effects may for time just around the great lakes, but eastern parts of canada, sanks more. that snow is to go on into wednesday. then we got more snow gathering over towards the west. so british columbia segatus, increasingly snowy mouse wintry weather, or slow to so sliding down across the north west pacific into northern parts of california. it becomes more widespread. it moves across the cascades, the sierra nevada's right the way across into the rockies. so some disruptive snow coming in, she make our way towards christmas central parts, generally dry and clear. charles has some showers wintry in nature, up towards the northeast, dry weather coming in across southern parts of the u. s. o sites, right? because we are looking at some store, we conditions over the next 24 hours or so is what were the sweeps across the panhandle cloud and range raping its way across cuba, jamaica and much of hispaniola. ah, i've come back to san diego to re visit the fascinating part, a posse in history. they were crazy, creative, even visionary. they were top lister, not realistic. it was them as a child during and just have to do people still love them. it was basically too bad to be what they were predicting can comedy he'll ethnic divisions and national tensions existing both his day. once upon a time period on al jazeera, hulu. ah, without to 0, these are the top stories. this our, you, as president joe biden's announced measures to limits the surge of amik on cases. they include expanded tests, support for hospitals and mo, vaccinations he has stopped short though of calling for another lockdown. the british prime minister bars johnson says, tied it measures will be considered. after christmas. the government announced a $1300000000.00 support package for businesses affected by the only growing outbreak. and sedans. prime ministers reported the close to stepping down of the alarm door, removed in the military takeover, but then reinstated, last month, after signing a deal with the military protest is called that agreement of a tray. let's look at libya with the head of the high national elections commission says he is dissolving the electoral committees and ending their work. the presidential election is scheduled for december 24th on a trina has moved from tripoli. were just 3 days away from the scheduled 1st round of presidential elections. and there hasn't been an official announcement by the high national elections committee that the vote has been delayed. or what we saw today was the elect elections commission decision to dissolve. the electoral committees are basically what that means is that it has stopped the work of the, of the workers, the temporary workers that are working in the polling stations across the country. the administrators of these points stations are as clear signs, a clear indicator that this election isn't happening. now we've spoken to various political leaders and political analysts, and here's what one of them had to say or la helene, for the lad, the leader, the elections commission, had no choice with the start, the procedure dissolving these committees because it's clear that the election scheduled for december 24 is not happening out so the commission cannot have as committees continue their work for an unknown period of time left. so this administrative procedure is normal, but it's an indication that libya will not say presidential or parliamentary elections in the near future. so i think the fear now for many libyans as that libya will now go back to square one. it took months and years for the un support mission to bring about this government of unity over negotiations over bring trying to bring lawyers rival sized together and, and the elections were supposed to bring, bring forth a government that, that has the legitimacy of the living people are so that the fear is now or that the situation in libya will worsen, or that the, that libyans will not be able to vote for, for those they want to lead them in at least in the near future. or the, the fear is that it may take a year or 2 and get back to the negotiating table. ah, which may takes a really long time or for an election to be possible. ah, but libby is want to be able to vote for the leadership. they also want a constitution or that identifies the rule, the governing system in libya and what kind of powers of president has are. so we're going to have to wait and see how the political situation developed in the coming weeks or months. at least a 160 people have drowned on the mediterranean in the past week in 2 separate shipwrecks, migrants trying to make their way from lydia to the european union. they were travelling in wooden boats. the libyan coast guard intercepted a 3rd vessel and rescued. 200 people. now people in the flood hit regions of malaysia are being moved to safety. 17 have died. 4 of them found in the salon, go the countries wealthiest or most populous region. governments been criticized over its slow response for him though he reports al from quanto lumper rep. phillip yeah, yeah. i asked him more than a day, tramped in her home by flood waters. this woman is finally been rescued. 2 days of torrential rain last week had caused waters to rise swiftly, inundating homes and damaging property. many couldn't leave their houses in time and ended up sheltering on the upper floor or roofs desperate for help. and the roads had become impossible, and the only way out was in boats. those who managed to escape barely had time to grab their belongings. abilene, i, but i yank, i mean we are left with only our clothes and important documents like our children's birth certificate. so that's all we brought with us. we can't bring a lot of things. so we just saved what we could carry with arizona, the banker. some of the 1st on the scene were volunteers who drove to flooded areas and used their own equipment to transport people to safety. i was actually disappointed on the government to provide it for the long term when i don't have a lot of people doing. yeah, worked on it all, the mom was coming down everything. but is that slow slow and all this because of the politic softener. and the government has deployed tens of thousands of emergency service and military personnel to help malaysia's wealthiest and most popular states. the language is badly affected, which is unusual because the monster in floods typically affect state on the east coast or peninsula malaysia. tens of thousands are taking shelter in relief centers . some say they are worried about their future. give her a view of you that if you go in and you thought you could save your starting from 0, nothing else could be saved if possible. please help us right now. people are suffering due to the cold with 19 pandemic. we are living in the shelter week on working hills. we're self employed, cannot run their businesses, like my husband who works on his own. he has an automated workshop, the because of the flood. it's a talk to last. the government says it will provide more than $20000000.00 for the repair of homes and infrastructure damaged by floods. florence louis al jazeera column poor tens of thousands of people in argentina have marked 20 years since in economic crisis sparked large scale protests and riots known as the great crisis of 2001 years of austerity culminated with a government decision to limit cache which roles sparked outrage on the streets and a police crunch on the $39.00 people dead. critics, 20 years on the situation in argentine, there's actually no different. the government is in the midst of negotiations with the international monetary fund to restructure $44000000000.00, which it owes to the global fund theresa bo, with the support from quinn as ours. oh, this building housed at disco prior to the cove it pandemic. but the loved down and argentina's, already shaky economy, forced owner, so i can neal to adapt live. i think if i look at what he has now filled the room with machines used to mine crypto currencies. he's not only doing it for himself, but also for those who want to invest are busy, but i don't, we are kudos elac and they're what i, when you're in the beginning, it was very complicated and hidden. they sent us an email address and we checked to roswell, at the one know phone ups. now everyone wants to do it yet. we rent space and the handling of the machines and we have to separate the funds because of heat and energy required to operate. and it's proven a success. neil has expanded establishing mining farms all around when a site is there, located in restaurants, and on rooftops with a growing list of clients. crypto currencies have become a way for people in argentina to protect themselves from endless economic crisis that include inflation evaluation and now capital control. this crypto currency farms use enormous amount of electricity and they're profitable here in argentina because energy is relatively cheap if compared to other countries in the region. argentine is trying to recover from the economic effects of the pen demik. it's also well to close a 40000000000 debt agreement with the international monetary fund to establish the economy. but many fear the medicine could be worse than the disease. the mom already said no, no. there is no agreement with the i m f without adjustments. said this protest is the beginning of a series of moments. we will do to reject which ever agreement our country and our preston science with the i m f. as in zebra, sealant alberto for amanda says they're trying to close a deal that won't affect argentina's most vulnerable citizens. he also says an agreement is essential to get the economy out of the read economy. see a deal is necessary to give argentina credibility in international markets in both so better we rent up all eaten gra. i think the political survival instinct, i believe, will make the government close a deal, argentina macroeconomy and all the problems we face cannot resist on other crisis. the agreements with the i m. f is the all, it's all the government has to establish the economy and generate expectations, which is what the country needs. argentina has had over 20 agreements with the i m f. and people here have gotten used to living in crisis. and that's why they have started to find alternatives like crypto currency mining that they hope would protect them from the fluctuations and instability of the economy at home. that he said, well, i'll just see that when a site is is ready, forces have shot dead, a young palestinian man off to claims. he tried to run over israeli soldiers and the occupied west bank is ready military say the man crashed his car into a military jeep after being shot to his ready soldiers were also reportedly wounded . israel's foreign ministry is rejected allegations from church ladies that christians have been driven out, have occupied jerusalem's old city, a head of christmas christian groups of accused jewish settlers of harassment. i also alleged that border closures as a result of coven, 19 a targeting. only them harry force it with the support from the old city and occupied his jerusalem. well usually at this time of year, the square here in front of the church of the lease africa would be thrown with christian pilgrims in the run at christmas. the omicron search and the very strong travel restrictions imposed by the israeli government have put paid to that in its stead though in the run at christmas, we have a row of red proportions between the church leaders here and the old city and the israeli government. last week, those leaders put out a statement in which they talked about what have been happening in recent is they say pressure on christian communities throughout the holy land in the form of a tax on churches, desecration, a church, property, intimidation of christian communities. the purchase of christian property here in the christian quarter by what they call radical groups. a reference to the sort of secular activity over the name it as such that we've seen in recent years. now they are careful in that statement to pay tribute to the israeli government commitment to christian life to freedom of worship. nonetheless, there has been a very strong rebuttal coming from the very foreign ministry saying that these claims are baseless and distortion of the reality on the ground. they talk about that commitment to freedom of worship, and they say it's infuriating that these church leaders don't talk about pressure on christian communities elsewhere in the middle east. the strength of this response follows what we've seen published in the u. k. media in recent days, an article by the head of the latin patriarch it here in jerusalem. also by the archbishop of canterbury, the most senior figure in the anglican church in which he talks about a hot cry coming from christians in the holy land. finally, the 1st text message ever sent has been sold. if you can do that for just over a $120000.00, an auction in paris, the message read merry christmas. it was sent on the 3rd of december 1992 from a computer by an engineer at the british telecoms company, vodafone, it has been sold as a non fungible token and n f t, which is the type of digital asset. now that's become popular this year. the good news proceeds from the sale go to the united nations refugee agency. chevron ah mostly are. these are the top stories you as president jo biden's announced measures to limit to serge of all my cotton cases includes expanded testing.