PBS News Hour

in the day's other news beginning on monday travelers from the united kingdom must present a negative covid19 test within three days of flying to the united states the u.s centers for disease control and prevention made the announcement last night to help prevent the spread of a new highly contagious covet variant in britain that comes as the u.s death toll surpassed 330 thousand and hospitalizations nationwide hit a new record high yesterday more than 120 thousand we're going to take a closer look at the devastating tool the pandemic has taken on los angeles county later in the program about a thousand british soldiers worked to clear a huge backlog of trucks in southeast england today amid efforts to contain the new coveted variants some 4 000 drivers are still stranded near the english channel awaiting coronavirus tests to be able to cross into france meanwhile in south africa at least 15 people have died in recent weeks waiting in long lines for virus screenings at crossing points sometimes for days local media said they passed away due to exhaustion poor health and a lack of facilities as they were trying to reach zimbabwe this year's christmas celebrations around the world were unlike any other against the backdrop of the pandemic from bethlehem to the philippines worshipers attended scaled-down services seated sparsely and wearing masks in rome lockdown measures left the normally crowded streets of saint peter's square eerily quiet inside the near empty basilica pope francis delivered his annual message virtually and appealed for unity i beg everyone heads of state companies and international organizations to promote cooperation and not competition to find a solution for everyone vaccines for all especially for the most vulnerable and needy in all areas of the planet the most vulnerable and needy must be first president trump spent the holiday at his mar-a-lago resort in florida he spoke with american service members stationed around the world in a private teleconference more than 250 000 people across northeastern u.s woke up without electricity today a massive winter storm downed power lines throughout pennsylvania heavy rainfall triggered flooding in some communities snow fell from new york to the mountains of north carolina while parts of new england had wind gusts up to 65 miles per hour crews in southern california meanwhile battled to contain a wildfire today amid dry and windy conditions they worked through the night after more than seven thousand residents in and around the camp pendleton u.s marine corps base were forced to evacuate the so-called creek fire has burned more than 3 500 acres so far and is only 35 percent contained in ethiopia the red cross reported the death toll from wednesday's massacre in the western part of the country has now risen to 222. more than 40 000 people have fled the area due to the violence meanwhile ethiopia's electoral board has scheduled the country's national election for next june as political and ethnic conflict rages in several regions and a passing to note tonight legendary boston celtics player casey jones has died in connecticut after battling alzheimer's the often overshadowed point guard won eight nba championships in the 1960s after transitioning to the sidelines he won four more nba titles coaching for the los angeles lakers and the celtics jones is one of only seven players in history to win championships in college along with the pro league and an olympic gold medal casey jones was 88 years old