al-jazeera where ever you. learn that we will escalate things using our peaceful civilian methods which is strikes protests and civil disobedience. a nationwide general strike in sudan as talks to form a civilian government deadlocked. think of this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up serbian troops on alert after course of and police launch an operation in a so dominated region. european leaders are in brussels to begin the tough negotiations to fill the union's top jobs plus. whatever the.

blaming drug companies for the deaths of thousands a landmark cold case could make them responsible for the u.s. opioid crisis. protest leaders in sudan are stepping up the pressure on the transitional military council to hand over power to a civilian government a 2 day strike strike is underway with workers nationwide walking off the job imran khan reports from. on any other day this would be the main transport hub for the whole of all to you but the central bus station is shut in the general strike is holding disruption to the capital's airport but strike is displaying signs saying we will build our country shops and businesses are closed citywide and protesters are out in the streets a handful of shops and government offices. did open but the strike is widespread

enough for the organizers to deem it a success the plan today walkout was organized by the sudanese professionals association speaking on monday night before the strike started organizers said they were forced into taking action because the transitional military council are not negotiating in good faith abundantly so what are the sole guarantor of the revolution are the sudanese people and the law and order in what we agree upon as a constitutional declaration or otherwise this is the guarantor of the revolution not a military rifle for the workers who have walked out they hope that the military leaders who replaced ousted president omar al bashir will listen to their demands for a civilian led government 2 so he just likes to do this right but we're going for more they don't. want version was a little shocked at one and all the rest of the transitional military council has criticized the strike saying it won't hand over power to an unstable and civilian

government it's also said that the army is the most popular institution in the country according to these people that's not true however the transitional military council will be very concerned that the strike is holding and it's courtroom wide the opposition coalition will be hoping that the strike gives them negotiating power and that the transitional military council will have to listen and reopen talks if they don't opposition leaders say they will take further action such as more strikes for now the padlocks remain firmly closed as do the talks between the 2 parties iran carved out is there a lot of troops in serbia have been put on high alert that's after kosovo police made several arrests in the northern semi autonomous territory that's dominated by cern's police said they were targeting organized crime but serbian leaders who don't recognize kosovo's independence say police were sent to intimidate serbs i

did hear as balkans reporter julie no clue such has the details from belgrade. well serbian president alexander who teach confirmed that the syrian forces are ready to react after course of the police made a number of arrests in the course of all voted said that costs of the police have used have used force against an armed service he underlined that the serbia is doing everything to keep peace and stability but it will be fooled are ready to react to to protect its people of course of the police have arrested $23.00 people and they explain their arrested people are involved in corruption and crime and that the police action took place not only in those regions of course to go with the majority of serbian population but into retore of all the course of a but still been authorities claims that the action was organized to skeer serbian

people in cos of all. now european leaders are meeting in brussels to talk about the new names they want to fill the union's top jobs monday's election results sure center right and center left parties lose support populous liberals and greens picked up more seats as they took advantage of the voter anger with the current direction talks have already begun to appoint the commission's president and the other heads of the e.u. institutions with david chaytor is live for us in brussels so david what is the latest that's happening now. let me explain the background 1st of all the most important position that they'll be want to discuss the informal summit over dinner tonight here in brussels is of course a presidency of the european commission this is the executive arm this is held at

the moment by john clothing your car. at the. that the last time this happened in 2014 how they decided it was based on the leading candidate of the party that got the biggest number of votes in the european parliamentary elections now at the moment that would mean it would go to a german up a very and 46 year old the very end who has never held any political office in his life and he's called manfred verba and merkel angler merkel the german chancellor is backing his candidacy for the top job but the french president emmanuel mccraw is not he thinks it's time perhaps for another change they don't think the old system back in 2014 should be operating anymore in this particular parliament and this particular time and it is the case that people who study here in brussels the architecture of the power here in the way it's changed are saying that the

balance of power has radically altered let's hear what one of those specialists is saying. now i think it's a little bit different because the patent is more fragmented so it will be more difficult than it was time more time to kind of find majorities inside the institution so i doubt if they will have the same kind of momentum or that they will use this one mentum that they have actually today before before the leaders meet and the leaders here because on the other side they also learned a lesson from last time and i think at all despite their the different opinions on who should be the candidate of course they do think that every institution that liking on a kind of getting this progressive back to a place where you can commission and m's. so david what should we expect is the outcome them. sorry your sound broke up their 3rd century what will be just discussed around the table in the film

they're doing this night is a huge number of names as well as the one who has she a takeover junko junkers position and they'll also be looking at the policies coming up over the next 5 years as a change of generation. taking over the new the power blocs inside the european union and that will have a great impact of course on any brags that negotiations that might be going on they will shape the trade deal with the united kingdom if and when it ever leaves the european union also on major policies exactly what they're going to do about the the taxing of international corporations what can they do about the climate and of course are so many more different parties now that will want to take part in this process of maze still be much more complex than we've seen before we're not ruled

be worked out between paris and berlin this time many other capitals within europe are demanding a say at this table in the say in these decisions so it's going to be a much more complex process here in the european union in future. david thanks for that david chaytor in brussels. our senior white house advisor jared cushion ase in morocco to drum up support for a plan on the future of palestine in israel and a team of u.s. envoys will also visit jordan and israel later in the week the u.s. is presenting the economic part of the plan of the conference in behind next month the palestinians have rejected that plan and urged arab nations to avoid the conference a good starting point on mike hanna is line. in washington so mike what more are we hearing about this. well it's understood that this is in connection with that economic conference planned for a muslim up bahrain in the next month. some question obviously seeking support for

the economic aspects of his plan from morocco it would appear importantly from jordan where king abdullah has not confirmed that he will be attending that conference in bahrain and then of course such arab question of goes to west jerusalem which is in political chaos at the moment to an extent with the possibility of another election looming there from their cushion or we'll go to switzerland montreaux where it appears he'll be attending a meeting of the highly secretive build a burger group essential a group of politicians bankers business people who critics contend control things around the world from secret but then krishna will go to the united kingdom where he will be joining up with president trump on his state visit but certainly all of this appears connected to that economic portion of the plan for

a settlement between israel and palestine. that jared krishna says the economic aspect absolutely critical to get in place before the political aspects of the plan can be addressed some might work what are the prospects of this being successful in by any measure of it given the fact that the palestinians want no part of it. well it would appear to be very difficult to have a conference so involving parties one of whom is not even attending the conference the palestinians have made very clear they no longer regard the u.s. as an independent or unfair arbiter in the ongoing conflict they see the trumpet ministrations decision to move the u.s. embassy to drew. the various actions that have been taken against the un agencies for example as evidence that the u.s. is no longer an honest broker and they refuse to have anything to do with any

diplomatic process that the u.s. might undertake in particular any economic portion of such a process as jared describes it and also very importantly is the decision by king abdullah king abdullah obviously ruling a country that has a huge amount of palestinian refugees it also has responsibility for control of. it in east jerusalem so he is an absolutely critical figure and without him attending that conference in bahrain it will probably have little significance and certainly little influence. all right mike thanks for that mike hanna live for us in washington. well still to come on al-jazeera malawi's president is now really reelected for a 2nd term but it wasn't a smooth process. more violence in brazil brazilian prisons just 24 hours after 15 inmates were killed you know a riot at a facility in the north. seeing

flooding rains in the southern parts of china recently and that wet weather staying in position to see the angry looking thunderheads here have been rumbling away for quite some time just to the west of hong kong 2 $136.00 millimeters of rain here in 24 hours and we're looking at over twice that over the past couple of days that wet weather starts to recede but it's still very much in evidence to go on through wednesday there's that wetter weather across the south of china not quite as widespread but still some hefty downpours coming in as we go on through thursday drop right disguising temperatures now on called good up to around 28 celsius some of the showers to into eastern parts of india the southwest the monsoon the monsoon rains to summarize the try to make their way further northwards nicobar as out of

our as the rains of setting but they're not quite pushed up into the far south of myanmar further north we have got largely draw skies the prey monsoon he continues well into the forty's then for many central and northern parts of in the the south some shower was it to tumble not to and also into carola what it says showers to into southern parts of the arabian peninsula but for much of the region it's fine dry and getting hotter. the pollution is palpable. delis shares the symptoms of many modern metropolis but its unique features have been gotten a crisis. people in power investigates the toxic mix feeding the city's invisible killer and asks why more is not being done to relieve its citizens to these

deadly air on a jersey. again you're watching i was in a reminder of our top stories this hour 2 day strike is underway across sudan protest leaders trying to pressure the military there to start a new round of talks for civilian government. troops in serbia been put on a high alert that's off the coast of our police made several arrests in the north of the territory that's dominated by serbs. european leaders are meeting in brussels to talk about the new people they want to fill the unions top jobs the

leaders of france and germany a carly at all odds over who should be the next president of the european commission. in brazil dozens of prisoners have been killed fighting among themselves in 4 different jails the riots follow years of overcrowding and jail break attempts and rival gangs battling for control they don't know how much has the story. as a deadly fights broke out between inmates inside this prison in my analysis on sunday action. family members protested outside demanding answers blocking roads and clashing with police look at your watch i don't know what am i going to tell my mother in law and my kids when i arrive at home that my husband did prison guard say the attack happened during visiting hours. around 11 am an internal fight broke out billions 5 in 3 leading the warden to immediately activate the prison intervention group on the right calls the deaths of 15 inmates the prison intervention group's action was fundamental so we could maintain control of the

incident started around 11 am 1140 it had been contained with. this prison is one of 4 in amazon a state where riots have started over the past 48 hours officials say 42 inmates were found dead others stabbed with toothbrushes which have been crudely shop and. gang violence overcrowding and breakout attempts are common in brazil's jails. result prisons pretty much governed by drug trafficking and when people. arrives in prison they have to basically choose decide between these factions full protection of the guards or not and law in and out that. busy area and when these fights break out there's an officials that are on the ground all control what is going on. brazil has the world's 3rd largest prison population close to 3 quarters of

a 1000000 inmates is twice the capacity of what the jails were designed to hold was 3 weeks of riots and prison 2 years ago and did with nearly 150 inmates dead. the same year hundreds of inmates escaped in sao paulo after setting fire to their jail. government attempts implementor reforms were resisted by powerful criminal gangs with connections behind bars and outside to public buildings banks and petrol stations were targets in a series of attacks in january. president diable scenario has promised to build new prisons address under-funding to control the overcrowding and boost security reinforcements. as angry family members await for news of the recent deaths prison guards are on alert for further retribution attacks. al jazeera. the united nations security council is holding an open briefing to talk about the worsening

humanitarian crisis in syria the months long syrian government offensive against the last remaining rebel held areas is showing no signs of a let up how many provinces are under bombardment by syrian and russian warplanes and their attacks are forcing hundreds of thousands of syrians to head north towards turkey in search of safety zina harder has more from beirut. but the intensity of strikes like these is increasing and so is the number of civilians killed across southern ad libbed and northern russian and syrian jets are carrying out more than 100 raids a day. was. and most are hitting crowded residential areas marketplaces are reduced to rubble hospitals clinics and schools have been destroyed in the offensive in northwest syria that is entering its 2nd month thank god the law but. many civilians have been killed the planes have

returned to hit moderate the norm and the people are panicking afraid. opposition activists are accusing the government and its allies of using internationally banned weapons like cluster bombs and white phosphorous they say it is part of a strategy to depopulate a belt of territory on the southern edges of it lipped province to secure 2 international wrote more than 200000 syrians have moved north towards turkey's borders seeking safety in open fields but tens of thousands are believed to be caught in the area of hostilities the russian backed syrian government offensive has barely changed the lines of control government forces are trying to recapture territory to connect cities under their control and revive trade but they haven't been able to take much ground russia too is trying to push the rebels north so. that its military base in lucky a will no longer be within the opposition's firing

range. opposition forces have united and are fighting back and some of the armed groups say they are getting military support from turkey which wants to strengthen its negotiating halved many believe the offensive is about pressuring turkey which is trying to balance relations between moscow and washington there are reports that turkey is holding behind the scenes negotiations to try and revive last year a cease fire deal and create a demilitarized zone that fighters from the share or s. and the syrian army will respect. us. as. mortars

artillery. sometimes. it's best not. although as the spider would save lives there is no sign of a deal but for now through their proxies russia and turkey i will fight each other how costly it is when they're not working together. a test case is beginning in the u.s. on whether individual states can hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for the widespread addition to prescription drugs millions of americans are hooked on painkillers which resemble other opiates including morphine and heroin as any gallagher of course now lawyers in oklahoma arguing that a drug manufacturer there is to blame for the so-called opioid crisis that's after 2 other companies settled out of court. it's a drug crisis of epic proportions that's what i wouldn't die for it according to

the center for disease control in 2017 close 250000 people died from overdosing on drugs more than a 3rd of those deaths were caused by prescription opioids given to patients for pain faced with a growing crisis oklahoma's attorney general decided to take action to big drug companies purdue pharma and tiva pharmaceuticals have already settled before being taken to court that leaves johnson and johnson who lawyers say are an opioid kingpin these companies we believe. made no effort. when this process began 20 years ago to ensure that they were providing in a clear and informed way what the downside was oklahoma's case is just the 1st of almost 2000 lawsuits brought by states local municipalities and native american tribes this then is an important test case for the entire nation if lawyers here can prove a multi-billion dollar company like johnson and johnson played

a role in the opioid crisis the ramifications could be huge ultimately campaigners say it will save lives and could be the beginning of tackling a crisis has claimed so many legal experts say whatever happens drug manufacturer is watching closely and think it's going to have a really good benefit for the public as a whole in terms of the safety and the marketing of drops in april president trump valid to tackle the opioid crisis by providing more treatment and oversight of big pharmaceutical companies we will end this terrible menace we will smash the grip of addiction we will make our cities safe our communities strong and our future brighter than ever before as one united nations we will work we will pray and we will fight for. the day when every family across our land can live in a drug free america. the opioid crisis has already claimed countless

victims over the last 2 decades and continues to blight the lives of millions pharmaceutical companies claim they're not responsible but courts across the us and now primed to hold them to account. well and he joins us live now in oklahoma so andy what is the this tragedy of the oklahoma attorney general in all of this what is their plan of attack against such a huge company. well i guess the biggest challenge is that these companies collectively call big pharma in the us on doing anything illegal these are prescription drugs prescribed by doctors to patients in pain but what their main argument is is that these companies in this case johnson and johnson weren't transparent about the downsides of taking things like oxy codeine an oxy cotton which are commonly handed out and they're using a state law

a public nuisance law to challenge these companies and as i said in my report 2 companies rather than go to trial have already settled for over $300000000.00 collectively i just spoke to a doctor who was going inside the courtroom today to give evidence he works on the front line of treating people with addiction problems and he says that kind of money is a drop in the ocean they think in this state where 100 people died from overdoses last year will need simply billions to treat this problem over the coming years so that's what's at stake here and believe me and you this is a monumental trial whether they win or lose big pharma will be watching this closely the other states who are waiting to pounce on them as well will be watching whether the what they use their strategy here whether that works or not so come what may seems that time may be up for these big pharmaceutical companies they need to answer to what the legal teams here say they are doing which is selling drugs and not being clear about just how addictive and damaging they can be because often

people take these drugs when they run out they buy them illegally and ultimately in 2017 almost 50000 people died and a lot of that was from prescription opioids so this is a big trial it's not before a jury it's being a life stream which is highly unusual and will probably last for at least a week perhaps 2 weeks or simply read. the millions of documents to go through here but nonetheless the outcome will be watched across this entire nation andy thank you andy gallagher in oklahoma. the president of malawi has been sworn in for a 2nd term after last week's closely fought election peter rica won his 2nd term with just a 3 percent lead over his rival lazarus check where the results were delayed by a high court review after the opposition included accused the ruling democratic progressive party of vote tampering for inauguration will be held on friday more now on this from for media miller who's live in johannesburg for us or for me to what did president mubarak

a say following his swearing in the house and it was a very short ceremony that took place this afternoon and once he was sworn in peter mubarak out then called for unity just given how controversial the elections were and that opposition parties had said that allege that there was a vote rigging and they weren't happy with the result and as you mentioned taking the i.e.c. of the electoral commission to court to stop them from announcing that result but once the final results came out people to recount was sworn in and this is a president who's not beginning his 2nd term when he 1st came into power in 2014 that was based on saying he would fight corruption and since then he's had to deal with these old corruption allegations or so he used the opportunity to say that this was now the time for malawians to rebuild the country and that's especially after parts of the country were affected by cyclons in march and he had said that

this is a time for malawians to focus on development focus on moving on from the election and ultimately calling for unity and what about the opposition have they accepted. the final result given that they were alleging fraud in these elections. well some have we have seen that some opposition parties have said they were surprised by the results but they also went on to congratulate motoric on his win but to the malawi congress party led by. a city that they will continue to use the courts to fight for the results to perhaps be an old or at least looked active for $28.00 days to do that now that the final another results were announced we do know that in recent days there were some protests where at least 31 people were arrested it's not certain if those protests would continue given the number of arrests and

the fact that the president has been sworn in so they isn't entirely as they isn't entirely happiness around this final results but perhaps a result that these opposition parties do have to accept. for me to thanks a lot for me to miller in johannesburg. all right let's get a round up of our top stories on al-jazeera today a nationwide strike underway in sudan protest leaders there trying to put pressure on the military to start a new round of talks for a civilian government. troops in serbia are on high alert after a kosovar police made several arrests in the north of the territory that's dominated by serbs there balkans report in a blue shirt has the details from belgrade. simple president alexander would be to confirm that serbian forces are ready to react out across to the police and need

a number of arrests in kosovo hooted said the cost of the police used force against on armed services and he underlined it serbia is doing everything to keep peace and stability but it will be fully ready to react to protect its people of course of the police have arrested to him to treat people they explained that arrested people are involved in corruption and crime a senior white house adviser jared cushion is in morocco to drum up support for a plan on the future of palestine in israel question on a team of u.s. envoys will also go to jordan and israel later in the week the u.s. is presenting the economic part of the plan of the conference in bahrain next month . the u.n. security council is holding a briefing to discuss the worsening humanitarian crisis in syria the month long syrian government offensive against the last remaining rebel held areas is showing

no signs of a let up how much and provinces under bombardment by syrian and russian warplanes. president of malawi has been sworn in for a 2nd term after last week's closely fought election peter won his 2nd term was just a 3 percent lead over his rival last august where the results were delayed by a high court review after accusations of vote tampering. the un's refugee agency says there's been a surge of people fleeing north east nigeria around $20000.00 made the move to neighboring needs year last month the un agency says there's been a rise in violence between farmers and herders of different ethnic groups those are the headlines of the stream is next in the philippines the black market for gold is worth hundreds of millions but not everyone is repeating the rewards some ultimate one i want to use to investigate

why people like dying for gold on al-jazeera. why is the world for them in love with k. pop look at the growing popularity of korean popular music and its global cultural impact we want to hear from both super fairness and those who are curious you can join this conversation live on you tube and the it's better. known for intensely choreographed music videos with striking visuals k. pop has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon with the help of social media fandoms and music sharing platforms the general has been around for decades but he's now making huge strides in the west and other regions beyond asia and if you've been following k. pop surprise you.