and in the throes of a 5 part series 3 years in mexico examining how propaganda shaped. algorithm on the jersey. china's government on the defensive as the coronavirus death toll surpasses the sars numbers that traumatized the nation 17 years ago. and i'm richelle carey this is out of their life and also coming up information emerges about the motive a high soldier who went on a shooting rampage killing 26 people. they really awaiting election results vote counting begins in ireland's closely fought election. pale and male alarm bells are

ringing once again over the lack of diversity for this year's academy awards. the number of people killed by the corona virus has surpassed the sars epidemic 17 years ago the latest coronavirus total is 813 dead the emergency is centered in china where there's going to criticism of the shortage of medical supplies and the leadership's handling of all of this and hong kong around 3 and a half 1000 passengers and crew stuck on a cruise ship for the past 4 days are being allowed to shore the world dream was quarantined on wednesday when a chinese passengers on a voyage in january were diagnosed with the virus and brown joins us now from the ship terminal and hong kong tell us more about what's happening with this ship and these are the. patients. well behind me lit up like a christmas tree is the dream world this vessel docked in hong kong just 6 days ago

but finally on sunday evening the passengers and crew were allowed to leave this has been basically a floating quarantine center for the past few days they've been stuck on board this vessel because it emerged that 8 passengers from the mainland on a previous full 'd wage on this same vessel tested positive for the virus so for that reason the health officials here in hong kong had to screen all the 1800 crewmembers just to be sure before they could let people go ashore and on sunday it was confirmed that none of them had tested positive so those people have now left what is effectively been a prison for them albeit a 5 star prison in fact i can still see some people some passengers still aboard the vessel so perhaps a they don't want to leave there was another sliver of slightly better news from the world health organization this weekend richelle it's been saying that the virus

has been killing about 2 percent of the people who become infected it says 82 percent of the people who have this virus have what it says mild symptoms the world health organization though does stress free shell that it's it's too soon to say whether the virus is starting to plateau out because it's a virus that can sort of similar and then suddenly flare up again so we won't really know i think for another week or so whether the number of deaths we're seeing in her bay province has now started to peak also in hong kong it was confirmed on sunday that 3 more people have tested positive for the virus taking the townie in hong kong to $29.00. we are seeing evidence of a freedom of speech campaign. about. yeah this is quite remarkable a remarkable display of defiance that we're seeing on social media in china people

have been posting selfies of themselves on social media showing them holding placards calling for freedom of speech now also on sunday a group of academics wrote an open letter to the central government urging it to protect freedom of speech saying that freedom of speech is protected in shrines in china's constitution they also say that the doctor the whistleblower doctor who 1st raised the alarm about this fire as many weeks ago who then became infected with the virus after being reprimanded by the police for spreading rumors and of who of course died on friday they want him to now be treated as a martyr a hero of the chinese people this is all evidence i think of what we're seeing is a growing sense of anger and also a sense of a lack of trust in the party that has ruled china for 70 is. 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 we 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. instead he sent the premier league chung to test the temperature and encourage medical workers you know the figure one analyst says there's perhaps a good reason for the president's disappearing act if things turn that. thing the onus will be young. and so. in a way seeing ping is to protect himself from being too much exposed by the 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 xi 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 there's becoming a pandemic of course the political consequences could be devastating. and 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 cover up a local colleague to help navigate me around a popular chat room the internet in china was still in its infancy then as now though public skepticism ran deep. may not 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 proved once more the china remains vulnerable to disease at the beginning of the crisis china was boasting i mean these. are both saying about the how much the chinese well the legal system could better face the crisis manage

crisis and solve the crisis. he says it's hard to imagine the crisis threatening she survival because unlike 17 years ago china's security machine is much bigger and better able to maintain control adrian brown al-jazeera hong kong. security forces in thailand have killed a soldier after he went on a shooting spree at a military base then held hostages at a shopping mall $26.00 people are confirmed dead in the north the city of herat police suspect the soldier's motive may have been because of a property deal wendel reports. 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 mall in a con watcha sima also known as karate panic shop has run out the 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 you complaining to his finger was sore from pulling the trigger so many times others remain trapped inside hiding in stairwells and cardinals 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. 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 ambulances on standby. once the really really trained soldiers he was fully armed not just normal ya but fully armed by by robbing a nation development with 700 rounds of ammunition. at the 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 would pick the right timing to really to 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 motives behind the shooting this will be remembered as one of thailand's darkest days for healing mohammed al jazeera. syrian regime forces have taken control of several villages in the north west the soldiers are advancing in the southern part of aleppo province along 2 major highways defensive could open up a direct route to rebel held areas of western aleppo and. is monitoring this monitoring the situation from istanbul there are a lot of new parts to this hotshot including turkish troops so tell us what's with the latest is. well michel on the on the ground this some fees fighting in the village which is of the southern outskirts of aleppo amid a push by the syrian government army to take over those areas it seems to be determined this time to take control of the whole western outskirts of of the

northern are scores of. and this comes against the backdrop of the latest gains made by the syrian army in one of the major rebel strongholds in the province of. these latest developments have triggered a turkish reaction on the ground turkey now is sending hundreds of soldiers vehicles into areas in particularly around. and this setting up outposts and also trying to prevent the syrian army from of the 2 words. a while ago the turkish defense minister told the newspaper that that turkey has different options for syria and saying that in the past when the international community was not stepping in to help turkey deal with armed groups operating in syria the turkish military intervened like in the

3 major military operations in the past euphrates shelled a peace bring an olive branch hinting that turkey could interfere this time militarily in libya if the syrian army does not pull out we just need to remind our viewers that the turkish government has given syria until the end of february to pull out from all the areas it controlled over the last few days otherwise turkey will use all necessary means to stop that the advance by the syrian government. but the latest from istanbul thank you. so ahead on al-jazeera they 1st met a backlights from yemen in years so we'll see where war wounded children are finally getting treatment. pakistan's plague of locusts a national emergency is declared as billions of insects swarm the country.

the weather remains pretty quiet across the northern parts of china a few showers to japan meanwhile has something in between there across the korean peninsula is cold enough for for japan temperatures now 9 celsius there for tokyo one would see wintry florist's driving the way through sleet and snow there into central northern parts of honshu pushing up into her qaida behind that will non-self just full so watch you try and find him but at 12 in beijing so some wall around here over the next couple of days it's a quiet and down for japan as we go on into tuesday things will get a little wetter across central parts of china as we go on into cheese day down towards the south even hong kong could still see a few showers at that stage going to fish i was in the full cost the eastern parts of india around addition maybe pushing down into northern parts of under but this

show over the next day i would say so these showers just sliding a little further southwards even when there is a commonality but if you catch your chalice a chance to show there into sri lanka a chance of a shout into northern areas of pakistan some wintry weather now sliding out of afghanistan into the far north of pakistan cold enough but lousy draw across northern parts of india with a return to the usual we're not fog. but . from passion into transformative science that brings about change al-jazeera goes on a journey with 5 scientists who are determined to use scientific knowledge to serve the human kind and we have dolphins in our sanctuary we can monitor them and record their mobile the photos and behavior we're able to figure out how they're adapting

to their new environment women make science coming soon on al-jazeera. or be a way of. watching al-jazeera let's recap the top stories right now the death toll from the corona virus has risen to 813 and it's now more than the number of people killed in the 2003 sars outbreak in while people on board a cruise ship in hong kong that's been under quarantine are being allowed to leave more than 3000 people were stuck there for 4 days it's thailand's prime minister says a soldier who went on a shooting rampage was motivated by a belief he'd been cheated on and i'll steal the soldier was shot dead by security

forces 18 hours after he killed at least $26.00 the. syrian regime forces have taken control of several villages in the northwest the soldiers are advancing in the southern part of aleppo province along 2 major highways defensive could open up a direct route to rebel held areas of western i love boat and italy. but counting from saturday's general election in ireland is underway with the result expected to cause a major political change exit polls show the left wing nationalist party unfeigned in a tie with the 2 center right parties which have dominated irish politics for decades but the ruling in a gale and rivals fianna fall are both ruling out a coalition with sinn fein brennan report sums up one on the results we can 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 for uniform 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 on what that means essentially is that the party has been making gains on this new consolidated those gains over the last number of years so they're in a strong position going forward not necessarily to form a government it's time right there anyone running 42 candidates. but certainly for the next election they're in about a 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 turn has to. 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. 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 in 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. but it's a point we've often and have you voted already don't imagine that gave is more

important vote 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. annual african union summit is underway and ethiopia leaders from $55.00 african countries are set for 2 days of talks will focus on ways to and regional violence over the continent can unlock its economic potential conflict in libya is high on the agenda as well as the growing instability in this a hell region among the issues facing leaders at this your summit is a scramble to see a unity government formed in south sudan or an interview without a serious diplomatic editor james phase the head of the u.n. mission says the gathering could create momentum ahead of a deadline later this month. well we're hoping that the 22nd of february when the 100 days does come to an end we all the other sufficiently advance place where the

parties will be able to form a transitional government a unity government and then from then on and there's a 3 year transitional period before elections happen at the end of that there's a lot of jockeying going on at the moment between the various parties about the different issues before that 22nd but you know we remain. optimistic that we will be able to get across the line in the 22nd a leaders are meeting right now in outer suburb tell me what pressure they could put on the 2 parties whether you think that would be useful so they all come together in this over the weekend and i understand there's a there's going to be a number of meetings including the secretary general who will be in some of those and we're hoping that there will be give that the impetus for the continue the momentum to get us across the line south sudan is the world's newest country it's had such

a troubled birth is this an hour south sudan's dos chance we don't need to use the last word last charted their charts they fought for a long long time more than 30 years for independence they gained it and within 2 years it had fallen apart because they thought of fighting amongst themselves there was a 2013 we're now in 2027 years down the track and this is the opportunity for them to put aside the differences to think about the people and the they and their own country it's a it's a country with enormous wealth if it was able to be harnessed and it was able to be used properly and the people of south sudan who were some of the most. deprived in the world need. a 2nd u.n. charter plane carrying in many ways in need of urgent medical care has arrived in jordan more than 30 people have been evacuated since monday after the saudi led coalition east restrictions on sana airport for the 1st time in 3 years and reports

from amman where children are awaiting surgery. born with a spinal defect 10 year old ayman sanand says he spent almost half his life in pain that is the average just due to my pain sometimes i couldn't see in studying up at times i couldn't go out and play with my friends. and to his suffering is in sight he's among 30 yemenis airlifted out of the capital sana'a onto un chartered flights they're receiving medical treatment in jordan they've waited years for. a start i feel gratitude to opportunity to come here to treat men but of a yemenis could come here for treatment to you i would feel better this is the 1st time in more than 3 years that yemenis have been allowed to fly from the capital center for medical treatment abroad sena is controlled by the who thies yemeni airspace is controlled and a blockade imposed by the saudi led coalition at war with the who these for the

past 5 years the blockade has made it challenging for humanitarian organizations to assist yemenis in need. the un and the world health organization or w h o joined to negotiate with the saudi led coalition to make the emergency evacuations possible the w.h.o. says the war has shattered yemen's health care system more than half of all hospitals aren't fully operational many medical workers have fled abroad and the blockade has created a shortage of medical supplies. we were very depressed and annoyed because you have a patient you can't help we were willing to sell what have we had to get treatment in yemen but in yemen they're all no special licenses for treatment samir el mar has already had the 1st of several operations needed to reconstruct her ear injured in an accident she says she spent almost 6 years feeling self-conscious about her

injury like i was not feeling good and when i went to school i was feeling shy because my it was deformed the w.h.o. hopes these met of x. flights will be the 1st of many but the need is great an estimated 30000 yemenis are waiting and praying for a ticket out to receive proper medical care natasha going to name. a man pakistan's prime minister has declared a national emergency after billions of locusts devastated farming communities and the east the cropping and sex ever average cotton and maize crops raising fares of food shortages the government says this is the worst locusts infestation in more than 2 decades swarms of locusts are also destroying crops and east africa has more from dera ismail khan many problems. an emergency has been declared the district administration the agricultural department the plant protection department are all busy at work to try to contain the swarms we have the deputy commissioner

of the con who is leading the campaign against these swarms and we talk to him about what steps are being taken to try to ease the situation. we have encountered this situation a couple of weeks back but look you leave god the dykey alert and we just go off to there and you have to argue project or do we consider our so says the french laird to front line a before the locus and i must acknowledge by. the security culture and security has given us a great sport we have. a manual operation and then we go for the motorized operations then we feel that they should be out of the book solution for this emergency situation so we go for the dawn solution as when the 92nd academy award ceremony will take place later on sunday i'm to share

a lack of racial and gender diversity in the nominations has caused an outcry as a reminder of 20152016 the hash tag oscar so white was trying to an on twitter robber and i'll support some los angeles i don't know if you know extraordinary d.c. we're not for cynthia air of those nomination for best actress in harriet the oscar acting nominations this year would have been white it's an embarrassing outcome for the academy of motion picture arts and sciences which is troy for several years to expand and diversify its overwhelmingly white older male membership hollywood is trying to diversify but it's slower than it should be and that's part of the nature of the film business film the film is very cautious because in television they take a lot more chances with things and so and so you see a lot more diversity in television and the emmy awards and the and the oscars are still on diverse actors of color who were left out this year include phina

in the farewell jennifer lopez in hostler's lupita in young. getting murphy in is my name. and songs. hole in parasite. puddle not too much going to go it's a sharp contrast to 2019 when out of the 4 acting awards only one went to a white person ollywood also has a serious gender gap the nominees for best director are all male female directors passed over include gretta gerwig for little women and lulu weighing for the farewell in 90 plus years of oscars just one woman has ever won best director i think by women directors being hired for preacher films was about 6 percent 10 years ago and i think it's about 6.5 percent now so it's like i mean it's in stuff

but not much it becomes self-fulfilling prophecy because there haven't been any in the past there aren't many being hired today and you know again it's because i think the studios are very conservative and cautious financially cautious while the academy struggles with diversity the companies that make films in the way people watch them are changing rapidly streaming services are steadily taking the lead in hollywood's most prestigious event netflix has garnered $24.00 oscar nominations including 2 for best picture with marriage story and the irishman the stage is set for hollywood's biggest night but there will be fewer awards for an industry slow to embrace diversity rob reynolds al-jazeera los angeles. and al jazeera is also up for an oscar nominated for best documentary short subject is st louis superman so you can watch 823-2230 that is g.m.t.

on sunday february 9th let's take a look i know it's flat you're in 5 do you drive to would likely say it's not you don't learn about using something else happened on this night. one recently noticed when we saw my son in 15 are so huge that i mean to. not feel like you know at this my time on the stand. these are the headlines right now on al jazeera the death toll from the corona virus has risen to 813 at us now more than the number of people killed in the 2003 sars outbreak meanwhile people held under quarantine on board a cruise ship in hong kong have been allowed to leave more than 3000 people were stuck there for 4 days adrian brown has more from hong kong. this is been basically

a floating quarantine send for the past few days they've been stuck on board this vessel because it emerged that 8 passengers from the mainland on a previous full weight on this same vessel tested positive for the virus so for that reason the health officials here in hong kong had to screen all the 1800 crewmembers just to be sure before they could let people go and on sunday was confirmed that none of them had tested positive so those people have now left what is effectively been a prison for them albeit a 5 star prison thailand's prime minister says a soldier who went on a shooting rampage was motivated by a belief he's cheated on a house deal a soldier was shot dead by security forces 18 hours after he killed at least 26 people. syrian regime forces have taken control of several villages in the north west soldiers are advancing in the southern part of aleppo province along 2 major

highways the operation could open up a direct route to rebel held areas of western aleppo and edlin that counting from saturday's general election in ireland is underway and they result expected to cause a major political change exit polls for the republican party and fan level with the 2 center right parties that have dominated irish politics for decades but the ruling in a gale and rivals found a fall are both ruling out a coalition with sion fame and all african union summit is underway any theo pm leaders from 55 african countries are holding 2 days of talks focusing on ways to and regional violence so the cotton can unlock its economic potential the conflict in libya is high on the agenda. more news to come and sad story is that next keep it or.

a potential political shake up in opinion polls said the irish a shifting away from the 2 main parties towards shin fein so how might this affect the next government and could it redefine island's politics this is inside story. hello welcome to the program i'm adrian finnegan islands governments of long been dominated by $0.02 a right posses phin a gale that's the policy of current prime minister leo veronica and free to fall but this appears to be changing opinion polls show shin fein is now the most

popular posse of arabica is in 3rd place it means he.