very authorities of negligence. for a fire that's left dozens of people dead. in back ma'am, it's just one hour to christmas. but pandemic restrictions are a dampening the sound of ration. and then later in sport, a meeting between the premier league and manages to discuss the coven 19 situation is described as a waste of time by talking and coach. ah christmas travel plans have again been thrown into chaos by the pandemic. more than 3000 flights around the globe were cancelled on friday because crew were either ill or had to isolate you to the virus. and that number could grow some more than 5000 by the end of the christmas weekend. at least 117 services were canceled in australia, while several 100 with scraps in the united states were gabriel is under its following developments for new port in new jersey. and course, this is the time when people are making that last minute rush to see friends and family for christmas. but i guess for many those kinds of to be cancelled or delayed one of passages that been telling you whether if one of 2 minds of this, or either frustrated and upset and kind of regretting that they even tried to travel on this holiday season. given the surge in the armory crime here, especially here in the northeast of us or they're just sort of taking it in stride . one man saying, listen, i've been vaccinated not once, not twice, but 3 times. and i'm wearing a mask, so i'm just hoping i can get home to the family. bottom line is it's pretty quiet here right now. and newark liberty international airport, at least in the terminal we're at. however, that's not the case around the united states because now the total cancellations of flights in the u. s. are over 500. the majority coming from united delta airlines. united cancelling 183 flight delta, a 160 as i last checked a few minutes ago. this is all coming at this time now. as the oem re cron variance surges here in new jersey and new york just in new york. there are 44000 new positive cases just on friday. so it's really become the epicenter of the american strain here, the u. s. where i'm at now jersey, new jersey and new york, one of the longest line here at the airport. this airport is actually the line to get a covey test. and that's what we've been seeing here, but we expect more cancellations in the coming days. in fact, several airlines have already announced they're going to be canceling twice a saturday and sunday. and of course he's cancellations. and this travel disruption shows how, why, how widespread on the call is now that it's sweeping the globe. how is that affected us travel restrictions on a southern african nation? well, in on november 29th, the vitamin ministration impose travel restrictions on 8 countries from southern africa. and that was in response to the armor con variant that was 1st detected in south africa. however, the bite administration and now seeing that it will ease those restrictions and in those travel restrictions for those 8 countries starting january 1st to their south africa. both swan is in bob wayne and maybe a mozambique and malawi. all of those countries now they're saying will be free of any sort of travel restrictions related to coven, starting on january 1st. all right, thank you very much. cable is on the following. is adam, it's there in newark airport? well, there was further evidence on friday of the inequitable global distribution of vaccines . rich countries have received more vaccines and run up to christmas than african countries have all year. an exam report has been released saying that in a 6 week period, the e u. the u. k and the last received 513000000 doses. only 500000000 went to the entire continent of africa. throughout the whole of 2021. fewer than 9 percent of africans are fully vaccinated at the current rate of delivery. it's gonna take until april 2023 to get every one a 1st dose. g 7 countries will have a 1400000000 surplus of doses by march 2022 but are failing to deliver on donation pledges. but none of that has slowed down the booster roll out in the u. k. and elsewhere. as we challenge now, reports you might get side effects. how did you know it may be christmas, but the u. k. is vaccine booster program roles on without a pause. this is portsmouth on england, south coast and jobs are being given to people who slipped between the cracks. i know that they're not supposed moth i'm not vaccinated, and we need to get the town vaccinated to be able to go on. the come get back to normal is that particularly the home is a very vulnerable at this time of year. the cold, they sleep rough and they definitely need to be protected from some come by. despite christmas day, the 25th and boxing day, the 26th being holidays jobs are still being given. it's just this sort of public service that boris johnson, friends, health workers and care is for. and his christmas message in those. in the in 8. yes. we're here over christmas, our co workers, everyone involved in the incredible vaccination campaign. those looking after people who have lost loved ones this year, that who would otherwise be on the road? he said been so many words. those getting vaccinated and boosted are doing what jesus would have wanted. getting jobs, not just for themselves for ourselves, but for friends and family and everyone. we meet that after all. is the teaching of jesus christ, whose birth is at the heart of this enormous festival. oh, across europe on a crone is rampant, but countries are responding differently. germans q outside shops to show their health passes. nightclubs will be shot after christmas. and the major events will have attendance limits. spain has brought back mandatory mosque wearing outside now as well as inside, but the netherlands lockdown is still something of an outlier, non essential shops, restaurants, hair, dresses, gyms, museums, and other public places the close until at least the middle of january. another christmas. and the shadow of cove in 19 glory challenz al jazeera, showing me now as christian. how dare come are the director of the global health innovation center in north carolina. so as was a dilemma here is to balance preliminary data, which shows that there will be fewer cases of severe disease with on the chron a. but how do you, how do you balance that with the very high degree of infectiousness which has the capacity to strain and overwhelm health systems? how is that being handled in the us right now we're not handling it very well. unfortunately, we do know that the trans miss ability is significant for the ohm icon variance, so we're seeing case numbers arise dramatically over 260000 cases reported just yesterday. and even though we're cautiously optimistic that the severity is lower, where the rates of hospitalizations may be anywhere from 20 to 80 percent lower than we saw with the delta v area. and the sheer numbers mean that even if a few people as a percent are ending up in hospitals, that still is going to overwhelm many of our health system. does that mean that we're likely to see tougher restrictions in the weeks ahead? it means we really have to both continue to vaccinate as aggressively as we can, but we can't forget about all of the other measures. we do need to make sure that we're masking that we're following the at the testing access to treatment using every tool we have in our arsenal to make sure we're, we're maximizing our chance of getting through the next few weeks. there's been a lot of focus on the data from south africa, which is really interesting because the only con varian appears to affect different populations in different ways. now, they have managed to it. is it going to be different? because western nations have older population. so does that perhaps suggest that there will be a greater burden on hospitals in the u. k. and europe in the us for that reason? yeah, it's been fantastic to see the quality and the timeliness of the data from south africa, which has helped to the entire global community. and you right, the populations are different. we have older, perhaps sicker populations in parts of the west. we also have less, perhaps exposure to prior infections and the strains in particular. so it's hard to predict directly from what the experience in south africa has been. we are starting to get better data from the u. k, from denmark. that is again cautiously optimistic about the severity, but our health systems are already at a breaking point before we even see the summer crime wave continue to expand. and is that because the on call very is inherently less severe in symptoms or a you less likely to need hospital admission because of strength and immunity due to vaccines and boosters. our best guess is that the combination right now, both of the inherent quality is of the virus itself and the weight interacts with the immune system. but also the fact that we have increased rate, the vaccination of boosters, as well as hybrid immunity and natural immunity. over the last 2 years, you spoke about data that's coming in from the u. k. and there's been some analysis from u. k. health security agency shown that someone infected with on the crown is estimated to be between 31 to 45 percent. 30 want to 45 percent less likely to need emergency care the need, but if they've been infected with the delta vary, now when you take that data into accounts, along with the information coming from south africa elsewhere, it is that definitive now is that range just a bit too broad to be able to say it's definitely milder. yeah, we've seen data across the board and everything from perhaps 20 percent reduction in risk of hospitalization, all the way to 80 percent based on the dataset. and i'd say it's too early to know definitively because there are so many variables in play and it doesn't necessarily translate the same across different populations in different countries. we do think that there is less severity overall, the degree of it. we don't know, but more concerning is really that the rates are so high with the easy transmits ability that even the smaller percent of people that are going to get very sick are still too much for any of our health systems to handle cushion idea kula from raleigh, north carolina, thank you for joining us. thank you. you at the news, our lie from london still add on the program will memorial statues, the victims of the town them and square massacre are removed in hong kong. adding to fears of history being erased. i must have been job aid in a mangrove forest just off the re b and c. and i'll tell you how the lack of fresh water is killing species of mangrove and his fault. we hear from england, cricket captain, joe will tell me what his side was. due to russell control back from australia and the ashes. ah, now south korea as pardon former president park, jen, hey, who's been serving a 22 year prison sentence for corruption? in 2017 part, became the country's 1st democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office alexia bryan reports park on hays removal from office and raced in 20. 17. was a dramatic fall from grace. let saw her go from south korea's president to prisoner . she's been serving a 22 year sentence for corruption that the government's pardon will see her released on december 31st along with around 3000 others. how are you putting on your credit score? we have included former president park and he and former prime minister, hung young shook to list to overcome unfortunate past history and cries of covert 19 about realized peoples unity and provide a chance to take a new step forward to the future. park is currently in hospital and analysts believe that's played a part in her imminent release. i think it's really her dancing age and her health issues. she's had physical and mental health issues since impeachment i am, she's pretty clearly not going to have any kind of meaningful political role in korean life. she's allowed, gomez appears going to happen. hawk was one seen as political royalty the daughter, a former president part young. he, she served as acting 1st lady after her mother was killed and 974 joe young. so yes, i got one young in 2013 parkin hay became the country's 1st female leader scoring a decisive victory for her conservative party that she suffered a sharp drop in public support. after more than 300 people, mostly children drowned when a fairy capsized in 2014 just 2 years later, and now the political scandal engulfed her administration after an old friend choice and so was alleged to have used her influence over the president to meddle in state affairs, hundreds of thousands of people gathered every weekend to demand parks resignation . they were celebrations when she was impeached, thrown out of office, and later jailed for collusion with joy to receive billions of dollars from major companies. the scandal also landed heads of 2 conglomerates and prison. what occurred in the blue house during her reign was unacceptable. ah, but there are corruption indeed, but um, overall i, i personally didn't feel that she was deeply involved into these into the entire scheme and so on. she's been jailed. she's in poor health. i feel like the time is right to let her go and give her the pardon. at the moment of the palm on me, i feel upset as a citizen. i feel that it's regrettable that such a decision was made all of a sudden when it would undo what was achieved through the candlelight vigils. almost all of south koreans, former presidents have been implicated and corruption scandals lenient back. the only living ex president aside from park is also in prison. he didn't receive a pardon alex o'brien al jazeera. now at least 39 people died while a fire up through a fairy carrying hundreds of passengers in bangladesh. and he say the blaze broke out in the engine room in the middle of the night and quickly engulfed the entire boat by his smith has the story. now. this overnight ferry was packed with up to 800 people heading out of docker for a weekend, away with friends and family. many would have been sleeping in these crowded cabins as the fire took hold in the engine room or the engine had been running for about an hour while on fire. later, the fire probably spread from the engine to the earl tanker and his tub with a lot bang at this spot where you're standing right now about that little as flames whipped through the ferry. many passengers jumped into the river to escape. according to police. they believe the engine carried on running for an hour. as the fire took hold. many survivors have suffered terrible bird injuries and the death toll is expected to rise. i was on the 2nd floor. suddenly the engine exploded in court for it had be malfunctioning from earlier on. what the negligence of the fairy authority resulted in the far the ferry was coveting curtains. all the heat from the explosion was trapped inside and that he'd made everything firm. dozens of bodies have been recovered so far, very accidents, a common in bangladesh, usually blamed on over crowding, and lacks enforcement of rules. fairies are a main means of transport and a country that's criss crossed by more than a 130 rivers. the government to set up 2 committees to investigate the fire. they been ordered to report their findings. in 3 days, bernard smith, al jazeera le pandemic, has cast a shadow of a christmas eve celebrations in battle and in the occupied westbank, with relatively small crowds in the bath town of jesus christ. bonds marched through manger square before the arrival of latin patriarch pierre batista. it's a bachelor who is the most senior roman catholic cleric in the region. he urged people to look to the future with hope. normally christmas is barnham's busiest tourist season. this year israel his band, almost all international travel, including to occupy palestinian territories. when they did ever and joins us live now for bathrooms manger square in the occupied west bank. what was it like in bath land today? we can say it didn't look a lot like christmas to day. yes. there are lights. yes. people came to greet the latin patriarch as he entered the nativity church and celebrate the christmas eve. but there are less numbers than previous years. but also that has been no 2 has to be found. yes, some of the hotels of say that just a day they have a 70 percent occupancy, but many hotels in the city have been closed. even some of them at the managers told us that they weren't even open for the day because it would cost them more than it would benefit them. also, many managers were saying that the skilled labor, when it comes to tourism have left the sectors. now they are doing other things because they don't believe that tourism is going to be back to town any time soon. of course, people know that this is a pandemic hitting the whole world. it's not just matlab, but this is a city that has been heavily dependent on tourism and for years. so it's been not just affecting those who work directly with tourism, but also the city, the people who have been making a living because they have tourists coming to their little town. but all in all laugh, seen a lot of ho amongst people i've been speaking to throughout the day. they say that old though there are many obstacles and there is really no end inside. when it comes to the variance, all the disciplines that make this ruin of ours, they believed that the message of christmas is encouraged them to be hopeful that the message of christmas is all about hope they wish that by next year things will get much better. all right, thanks very much from beth. i'm in the occupied westbank near abram to more universities in hong kong have removed sculptures built for victims of the town and square massacre. cities. chinese university took down the goddess of democracy, calling it an unauthorized statue. ling demand university also moved a memorial dedicated to students killed in 1089 in china on size. a university of hong kong remove the sculpture, the pillar of shame as well. well, how long you is a writer in civil rights campaign. he is from hong kong, but temporarily based here in london. and i suppose hong kong was the one part of china that could still have tiana min square commemorations. is that going to to completely stop now? i mean, yeah, yes, actually seems to return d. they're all for d has already bend the and you with joe memorial meetings in hong kong. so and now the jailing people who are those leaders who has initiated to, ah, and they suddenly dare. why should these universities remove these statues? and these works of art. why is this happening now? well, they gave, they gave a technical reasons. her budget is not true. actually says the statue was put in the you, there was a g by the student 20 years ago. so ah, and by that time pressure go into the university as agreed that to this. so ha, i think it is a shame that the president university management has get rid of the statues using such laughable excuse. what are the long term consequences of removing memorials that are there to remind people about the massacre? ah, well i think the removal of days, statues and the peters of shames and so on is firstly a to single. are you so bad on kong? autonomy is totally dead. well, previously, i mean, seen last year july, when paging, impose the national security laws on hong kong. that is already the beginning of the cast off on call and told to me, but well, and then aging has prosecuted $150.00 free protesters under the law budget. now this is esther statue ah, it has not involved in any separate age or suppression or collusion before enforces or you just dare and spare it does. why would they offer a di, wanted to, to get rid of the schedule, which has not been any additional security law. the reason is really simple, because i 1st be there before. do you want to catch about 10 acre? and more importantly, it's make sure that, ah, the scenario where hong kong them located loans and china to no credible lunch on hand in hand. which was the occasion i b a to die. and it was this connection which give birth to the statue. go. yeah, ha, says symbolize. is that that's preaching doesn't want that happen again. all right, well thank you for giving us your reaction to our long you joining us from london. yes, thank you. you at the news are much more loud for you on the program where we're trying to rewrite some of the astronomy folks that exist right now might be 20 years late, but it's finally all systems go for the launch. the most powerful observatory ever sent into space concerns have been growing over the past year about the technology governments and other organizations using for security, some predicting a terrifying future. and the action coming up in sport with steph curry, producing another shooting last class to leave the warriors victory. ah, we have had days of rain across iberia. hello everyone. and we've got more rounds to come. so here we are on saturday, particularly heavy. let me press play, see what happens on sunday. yep, you guessed it. another wave moves in this is concerning because it's falling in northern spain were earlier this month we had been dealing with some flooding, so we'll keep tabs on the situation. they're a batch of rain falling across the republic of arlene. we'll see those winds pick up as well. and also some rain for the south west of england. temperatures have fallen across central parts of europe, and we've got a rain snow line. we'll call it prague to be n, as, as south of that, that's where the rain falling. and we've got snow for the check republic. interest will vakio concentrated rain for croatia into bars. we could see winds here of up to 70 kilometers per hour and wet weather for the top end of italy off to assemble right now a temperature is are on the rise in turkey. actually all of that rain and snow has made a clean sweep of the country on cur, looking good with a high of 6 off to africa. windsor dragon down temperatures in cairo as one and hard toom at $29.00 degrees, but toward the west. lot of unsettled weather. a lot of rain coming your way for robots and mar cash at 18 degrees, but give it a few days. her temperatures will rise and back into the sun. that's it. caea ah on county low cost. beyond the tourism, the world's richest men making a grab to control access to the trillion dollar spikes industry. odd, how's the new call? why rich nations of emitted agriculture from climate change and how flouring cost lives in iran? counting the calls on al jazeera, i, i've always been fascinated by space, but the story, the space race isn't just about the men who wish their lives to travel and see i know. but the ones who held those lives in their hands. grandfather and his colleagues worked on the space suits they, designing space suits of aladdin was his triumph or a program and the policy design space seats his legacy putting man on the moon on al jazeera, bold. and i'm told stories from asia and the pacific on al jazeera oh, a back watching the news, our life from london. i'll top stories now more than 3000 flights have been cancelled around the world on christmas eve. with airlines claiming on the contrary to the corona virus for this of tanza, united in delta airlines will say that the virus has taken a toll on the south korea. as the former president pod can have been serving a 22 year prison sentence for corruption in 2017 all became countries 1st, democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office at east 39. people have died when a fire ripped through a ferry carrying hundreds of passengers in bangladesh. you say the blaze broke out in the engine room in the middle of the night and quickly in gulf the entire y. jerry ends of feeling the impact of rising prices as they try to enjoy the festive season. food prices have increased sharply in the past 2 months, while many people have been unable to get home with travel costs also on the rise. fidelis and bar reports, my boucher one mazda jonathan, is out shopping for the family. ahead of the festive season. he's trying to buy gifts for his children and stock up for the holidays. while his family plans have been disrupted by the rising cost of food items. i bought my air, my expenses, all of what i want to buy to the level of them went out. we had to be able to so sinners within this bit of nobody wants with an elevator shopping anymore because there is us. i know that for many people fitting their family has become a daily struggle as a coastal some items have doubled enterprises. i expect that to stay high 31st it says in.