thank you to stick to the 20 twentieth's in action. on this is. the i'm. the death toll from the china corona virus outbreak is climbing it's now killed more people than the 2003 songs outbreak. the but. i'm sam is a band this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up police shoot dead a soldier who went on a gun rampage in thailand killing 20 people. and 3 way tie exit polls and islands general election suggest it's too close to call. and locusts are causing havoc again this time ruining crops in pakistan we live with the latest.

the be. we begin with the corona virus outbreak in china the number of people who have died has now surpassed those killed in the sars outbreak of 200-3813 people are confirmed dead all but 2 in china the sols toll was 774 the world health organization is sending a team to help beijing cope with the outbreak more than 37000 cases have been confirmed around the world most are in mainland china 343 people have been infected in 24 other countries in hong kong a 2 week mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from mainland china is being enforced and in japan thousands of passengers on

a cruise ship being quarantined doctors in the port of yokohama have confirmed 64 cases on board. adrian brown joins us now live from hong kong adrian amidst all of that news there are some numbers that say new infections new cases of deaths are not escalating as fast as furious as before is there reason to get excited yet. that. no sammy i don't think so but it's a sliver of good news coming from the world health organization they say that the number of deaths appears to be stabilizing but it's too soon to say yet if though the death rate is peaking they also say that 2 percent of the deaths so far only 2 percent of those people have been infected have have died it says that 82 percent of those who have the virus only have mild symptoms and that 2 percent of cases

have resulted in death they also report that there is a shortage now a global shortage of vital medical equipment including face masks now all this comes as we see more signs of anger on the mainland over the way the government there has responded to this crisis an open letter has been written by a group of academics in wu han calling on the government to apologize to the family of dr li one liang the doctor who died from the virus after 1st raising the alarm about it in mid december they also say they want the government to protect freedom of speech and they say that every citizen was allowed their right to free speech in china than china wouldn't be in the mess it's in today this of course further underlines the problems the government faces right now because more and more people are starting to question their faith in the party that has ruled china for 70 years

. in a national emergency the country's leader is normally front and center not so china's president xi jinping his meeting with the visiting head of the world health organization in late january was 1 of his few recent appearances on state television nightly news where he normally features prominently and since demanding a transparent and timely release of information about the coronavirus more than 2 weeks ago he's yet to visit will. ensue. he sent the premier league a chunk to test the temperature and encourage medical workers. figure one analyst says there's perhaps a good reason for the president's disappearing act if things turn that. thing the owners will be young. and so. in a way seeing ping is to protect himself from being too much exposed by that crisis it's almost 2 years since she was appointed president for another 5 years that was

after china's parliament voted to abolish the 2 term limit on the presidency effectively allowing she to remain in office for life for president she this crisis is much bigger than the young going protests here in hong kong or trade friction with the united states because the way his government has responded to the coronavirus outbreak is causing more and more people on the mainland to openly question the system they live under many chinese people feel that core values like family livelihood and food security and now under attack threatening she's credibility and legitimacy especially if the virus becomes pandemic so i don't think this is as bad as that at the moment. he's got no real competition you know he's secure. but if this sort of crisis deepens and it's becoming

a pandemic of course the political consequences could be devastating. maybe evil style virus is threatening china's city of the future but 17 years ago i reported from shanghai on the aftermath of another deadly virus sars that also caused people to question their faith in the party after officials admitted a coverup. a local colleague help navigate me around a popular chat room be internet in china was still in its infancy then as now though public skepticism ran deep he said. no to tell the truth he says the government doesn't tell the truth. there are more expressions of anger today in spite of tighter internet censorship lessons that should have been learned from sars haven't proof once more the china remains vulnerable to disease at the beginning of the crisis china was boasting i mean the media were boasting about the

how much the chinese well the legal system could better face the crisis manage the crisis and solve the crisis. he says it's hard to imagine the crisis threatening she's survival because unlike 17 years ago china's security machine is much bigger and better able to maintain control so given what you reported there the navy and how much of a threat is this crisis to she and the government. well there's no doubt stymie that this is the biggest political and economic challenge to face president xi jinping since he came to power in 2013 but we're not going to see i think the collapse of the chinese government you know this is not like the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in the former soviet union chernobyl were not on that scale but i think what it has done is expose the danger if you like of

a public health emergency in a one party state it's not a good mix it can prove fatal also we now know that there was paralysis at the very top of china's government in mid january that was when president xi jinping was out of the country and that's when this crisis began to deepen and we also now know because of the bravery of the doctor who died that officials in will hand attended at a very early stage in late december early january to cover up this virus. or a brown bear thanks for that. dr peter is dean of the national school of tropical medicine that they love college of medicine he says the scientific community needs to do more to prevent future coronavirus outbreaks. what we're dealing with is is the fact that unlike a cold this could cation only cause very serious illness especially in individuals who are older or with underlying diabetes or hypertension those are the ones that

are actually requiring respiratory support in some cases even dying unfortunately you know it's tough for the chinese they're trying to do this with one hand tied behind their back i mean by that i mean we don't have a vaccine in some ways we should have seen this coming this is now our 3rd major coronavirus epidemic in the 21st century we had sars in 2003 then mare's coronavirus around rising out of the arabian peninsula in 2012 and so i think the scientific community now also needs to think about building infrastructure for coronaviruses like we do with flu and step up our game in terms of active surveillance and do better at accel reading vaccines i mean the vaccine we made for the sars coronavirus back in 2016 we that point there was no sars around so we couldn't get any enthusiasm for doing clinical testing now we're

realizing there's a lot of similarity in the virus structure between sars and this new and corona virus and have been we've been able to do that perhaps we could have been deploying a vaccine now so we have to be a little more anticipatory because responding in the middle of a public health crisis is streaming challenging. to thailand now or a soldier being shot dead 18 hours after he killed at least 20 people in a shooting rampage the gunman began opening fire at a military base before moving toward a shopping mall and reports on how the situation develops. late on a saturday afternoon a shopping mall in thailand to came under attack a gunman opens fire at a time when it would have been at its busiest. here he can be seen firing multiple rounds towards people and passing cars.

people found would have a cover they could after he entered the terminal $21.00 more in a con watcha sima also known as karate panic shoppers run out their day out coming to a terrifying and this was the heavily armed gunman seeming to walk casually through the mall identified by police as tama a 32 year old soldier in the thai army he began his rampage i was earlier by killing a commanding officer on a military base outside the city as he continued his murderous attack he posted updates on social media including this one where he's complaining to his finger was sore from pulling the trigger so many times others remain trapped inside hiding in stairwells and corridors trying to find a way out gunfire rang out told dawn with reports of a rising death toll police closed off streets around the mall and kept behind a security cordon. right now police have successfully completed the operation there

are roughly about 20 people dead from the incident which is considered a massive loss high security services soon stormed the ground floor of the mall where the gunman held out after 18 hours the terror came to an end as police made their way out of the building with ambient. on stand by this is say the soldier that started this rampage. was a really really trained soldiers he was fully armed not just normally on but fully armed by by robbing a nation development which 700 rounds of ammunition. at that same time when he went to that mall there were a 1000 people in there so i thought i thought that the type of carefulness that that security force or they were concerned about were picked the right timing to

essential e 2 to deal with this this this this shooting gun violence is common in this country but not on this scale one of thirty's will begin to investigate the notice the hind the shooting this will be remembered as one of thailand's darkest days for him mohammed al jazeera. so the head of al-jazeera separatists in cameroon threatened to boycott landmark elections we'll have the latest on the ground. it's turned surprisingly all in some parts the arabian peninsula there's not much cloud and you can't see the wind but what you can see up here is the opposite of always been pretty stormy in gnostic in turkey and in love and now the focus to

sunday is still a cold one but not as what is it was normal snow to fall for example even in turkey but the $27.00 degrees c. and $28.00 and riyadh now they surprisingly will was near 30 on saturday but the turkey in that it won't last and obviously temperatures drop significantly and the cloud tends to grow as well 20 degrees in there ha with the wind chill and it's only about 6 injuries which represents all of lebanon as well roni tell you beirut is beyond us so the potential for snow showers on the high ground does exist still this jump sayas through the warmth and to find the seasonal rains not much in tanzania or kenya the moment there are showers developing to the west you'll notice again a little early maybe the sun's not really going north yet but it's certainly thinking about it and that's what prompts those showers south of all this we should see proper rain the seasonal stuff was pregnant recently however there's a good scattering the shows by satellite and that's repeatable in the forecast

during sunday. the island of sardinia a famously a delay khalid a spot. less well known as a proving ground for war. investigating claims that years of military training and arms testing triggered cancer and birth defects amid the local population. secret sardinia people in power on al-jazeera.

marcum bank you're watching al-jazeera time to recap our headlines the corona virus outbreak has now killed 813 people bats more than those who died in the sars epidemic of 2003 an international team of investigators is expected to arrive in china in the next few days. time security forces have killed an army sergeant who went on a shooting rampage and took hostages in a shopping mall least 20 people have been killed. polls have opened in cameroons long delayed local and legislative elections the vote has worried residents of the country's independence seeking angle of regions they have been gripped by separatists violence english speaking fighters called for a boycott of the polls after the years of conflict with the cameroon army. joins us

live now from the wall or so how are these elections proceeding so far. well some of the polls have just opened moments ago there was no long queues outside the polling station in fact the election commission that's supposed to hold this election are just trickling in so the vote has an actually started at this polling station and we're in one of the main polling station in the economic hub the biggest city in cameroon and. now there has been a call for a boycott from the main opposition figure more. he says that the security situation in the english speaking region the northwest and southwest regions of cameroon makes it unable to have a credible election remember 73rd of the population lives there 6000000 voters are expected to vote today there's about a 1000000 people that are displaced in that region and the separatists from the english speaking region have not only called for

a boycott but they've also attacked there was to have been campaigning as well as election commission officials and as all of this unfolds this country is on lockdown borders are closed the airports are shut down this is an important election for the government of cameroon and while this is taking place people are fleeing the english speaking region we met some of them right here and take a look at this report. fearing for children's lives patients being packed your bags traveled for 3 days in the bush to see. their children don't understand why her father coko farmer was shot dead by the police they thought were meant to protect. do you understand what's happening she asks do you know why we left our home yes jews are found cers it's war. this is the region she left behind arm separatists here called this embassy they see it as an english speaking country struggling for independence from

a french speaking nation but for the government this is an armed insurgency in the country's north and southwest region 3000 people have died human rights organization accuse both the armed separatists and security forces of torture killings and kidnappings for 4 years in china house went to school not. so much what we have. we need. to. keep on no movie not on the law how. head of municipal in parliamentary elections poll because government passed a new law for a more told me to the regions but this falls short to the separatist ambitions who want full independence or at least a federal state they've called for a boycott of the elections fearing more violence many are leaving the english speaking regions some have fled to neighboring nigeria others are coming here to the economic capital of the norwegian refugee council estimates that there are

about a 1000000 people that have been displaced from this conflict calling it one of the most neglected displacement of people in the world people here 400 people share this small corridor people are suffering from malaria tuberculosis now most of the people here cannot go back home and so they cannot vote and yet they have the most at stake in this election. with the main opposition party boycotting the vote the government is urging people to take part in this election. going to schools probably last week the president does quote also could force is to be deployed so that people feel safe to express themselves and so they will keep a watch before during and after the vote. the enlistment regions are on lockdown airports and borders are closed cameroon is on high alert because in this vote at stake is the credibility of the country's democracy. looking for unity.

$180.00 seats are up for grabs in the parliament more than $300.00 merril offices merril seats are also for grabs there's about a 1000 candidates taking part in this election so this bite the calls for a boycott from the main opposition figure in some of the separatists there many people many young candidates who are taking part in this election hoping to be the change that many had hoped for would come from the political elite. who has been in power for a very long time has been holding on to power and his political party has always had the majority in parliament and among these seats but in december he changed the legislation giving more power to the regional offices and so in this election what's at stake is is these particular seats and i spoke to one voter just moments ago he says electricity schools infrastructures issues are important to local

people this is what at stake in this election back to you all right thanks so much nicholas. politics and island seems to be on the brink of a momentous shift in its general election shinn saying has seen a surge in support exit polls have the republican party matching the vote share of the 2 main ones or what was a fringe party may have now risen to prominence as paul brennan explains and the results we can now show you pre-election opinion polls suggested that the political order here was about to be turned on its head this exit poll suggests it has been turned on its head and shaken up and down the 2 center right parties phina for oil and phina gale which are jointly dominated irish politics for nearly a century have been matched by shin fein each polling 22 percent of 1st preference votes and what that means essentially is that the party has been making games and

it's now consolidated those gains over the last number of years so they're in a strong position going forward not necessarily to form a government this time right there anyone running for 2 candidates but certainly for the next election they're in a very good position. the buzzword of this election campaign was change ireland's economy may be the fastest growing in the e.u. but people here are struggling with soaring house prices and years long waiting lists for public health care voters were just fed up with the 2 main parties i voted for the terms of. so i don't really want to go independent but basically just some kind of alternative to the status quo i have a lot of fears about what the future is going to hold for me with climate change and. that's going to affect my life in the future sinn fein is the left wing nationalist republican party previously regarded as the political wing of the paramilitary group the ira now shedding those associations and remolding itself as

a progressive alternative and it's not clear what strategy will be now looking at it from the outside i think they would benefit from not going to government on this occasion because they would be going in as a junior partner define a fall if you know gale and previous experience of junior partners with those party suggests that they would lose votes nonpolitical factors may also influence the outcome of this election if the 1st saturday poll since 1918 storm kira brought dangerous winds and driving rain to many polling stations and slap bang in the middle of polling day a major rugby international. just. the timing of this election certainly raised eyebrows i can't believe that it is really doing well but it's a point we've often and have you voted already. imagine that gave his more important vote and i'm sorry. under the irish system transfer of votes will be crucial how many 2nd and 3rd preferences can the big parties pick up but even if

shin fein doesn't get into a government the days of 2 party dominance in this country appear to be over paul brennan al-jazeera doublet. pakistan's prime minister has declared a national emergency after a locust devastated farming communities in the eastern part of the country massive swarms of ravaged cotton and maize crops raising fears of food security the government says it's the worst locust infestation in more than 2 decades. joins us now from. in the past to huard province does it look like the government's going to be able to avoid of food crisis then come our. well that's a good question and it should be remembered that dates miles gone one step from the line against the pakistani taliban however dates time the enemy is an insect it has travelled all the way from africa it has devastated crops in that province and up

on job and now entering the type of book and an emergency has been declared the district administration the agriculture department a plan protection department are all busy had tried to. we have the deputy commissioner of the icon who is leading the campaign against the swarm and we talked to him about what steps are being taken to try to ease the situation. what steps are you taking to control this. phenomena. threatening food security thank you very much. we have encountered this situation a couple of weeks back but even got the dykey alerts and we just go off to there and you have to keep project or do we consider ourselves as the front line at the

front line before the locusts and i must acknowledge by. the security culture and security lead has given us a great sport we have 'd gone for manual operations then we go for the motorized operations then we feel that they should be out of the box solution for this emergency situation so we go for the drone solution as well so just like we support a support our enemy we're targeting enemy and we eliminate our enemy we have so far . i limited 2 forms and we have contained another one in condition was a and i must acknowledge your efforts for the visiting of but even more to disagree ican. but how confident are you that you'll be able to gain. mentioned earlier it represents a huge challenge for pakistan given the fact that it could have an adverse effect on food security you know you have greg you pointed out because you know one swarm

of locusts can eat up. to you know 2500 people's food which can be consumed over a new doctor a huge toll which could be ordered or not ignore beast economy. picking it is as a challenge and i hope we can continue to be a con. we won't let it go beyond being kind incheon with this part of the government thank you very much well deadworld the deputy commissioner caught up bait but it did indeed a great challenge because you can move short north and travel hundreds of. and no time back thanks so much come out. peace talks between representatives of libya's un recognise government and warlords so they have they get ended without agreement senior officials from the warring sides gathered at the united nations in geneva this was the latest in

a series of talks to ease the hostilities. turkey has sent reinforcements across its border after syrian government forces advanced in the last rebel held province talks with russian officials have been taking place in ankara to try to deescalate the situation in it live last week turkey said it had killed dozens of syrian government soldiers in response to an attack the regime ignored warnings through truth and has dealt tape inside of. australia's been hit by a tropical cyclone and floods some areas have been soaked by the heaviest rainfall nor most 2 decades all since friday the number of rescue operations in new south wales has more than doubled the country's bushfire crisis has been raging for months it could be eased by. deforestation and brazil's amazon rain forest doubled in january compared with the

gear ago government data shows more than 280 square kilometers of land was destroyed last month destruction of the rainforest tends to slow this time of the year as the rainy season limits access. let's take you through some of the headlines here on al-jazeera now the number of people killed by the corona virus outbreak has risen to 813 that's more than those who died in the sars epidemic of 2003 adrian brown has more from hong kong. we have to remember that the official statistics we're getting from china relate to people who are being treated in hospital what we don't know is how many people are at home who are sick and can't get medical treatment now in china the anger over

the government's response to this virus has been mounting a lot of angry messages on social media which are very quickly deleted by the algorithmic censors but certainly it is a reminder that many people in china feel that the government has failed them and a belief also that perhaps confidence in the one party state has been severely undermined by this crisis a toy soldier who went on a shooting rampage has been shot dead by security forces the gunman killed at least 20 people in a series of attacks he began by killing his commanding officer at the base the koran it is then went to a shopping mall security forces spent 18 hours trying to stop him and managed to rescue hundreds of people exit polls in ireland predicting a very close result lire variety because party finn a gala has 22.4 percent of the vote less than one percent ahead of its 2 main rivals so he has sent reinforcements across its border of the syrian

government forces advanced in the last rebel held province talks with russian officials have been taking place lang heard to try to deescalate the situation in need of. ending the conflict in libya is high on the agenda at an african union summit which will begin later today talks between representatives of libya's un recognized government and warlords holy for how far ended on saturday with no agreement for its people and power now stay with us here on al-jazeera. in india identity politics on the rise what we're seeing is the construction mills but decisions and cuts and loads of what you want to put across the country and as a dockside into this was is we do see the grit from his office the majesty of the

infix into something more like the team i didn't see of the british football league i meet with victims of violence and discover what life is like for minorities in the country join me on my journey in search of india's soul on al-jazeera. best known to tourists for its beautiful beaches and dramatic coastline italian island of sardinia is also a major cut to make the western locals long delayed these tests of how tough effects help for years the authorities have refuted those playing reporter emma alberici went to investigate.