iraq of the new countries and we're use about struggle against an ethnic sectarian kotor inside story on al-jazeera. al-jazeera. how i maryam namazie are watching the news hour live from london coming up in the next 60 minutes italy ramps up its battle against corona virus closing schools and universities for 2 weeks as its death toll jumps to 107. the. tensions over turkey's offensive in syria boil over in parliament after another 2 turkish soldiers a killed in it live meanwhile create riot police fired tear gas and stop refugees crossing its land border from turkey while despair drives others to risk

a fast flowing river. and billionaire businessman mike bloomberg drops out of the democratic presidential race and gives his backing to joe biden. is schoolin pick organizers insist the cancellation of joys so kill games isn't being considered the torch relay through japan also set to start this month despite the coronavirus outbreak. a very warm welcome to news our top story italy is closing all schools universities and cinemas until march the 15th as it battles to contain its corona virus outbreak the death toll there is jumped to 107 now this is the largest number of confirmed deaths outside of china public events have also been cancelled across parts of europe asia and the middle east also the international monetary fund has issued a warning that the outbreak is likely to slow global economic growth this year

there is john hull begins our coverage. contagion is spreading quickly across europe and the world and that means anxiety as much as the covered $900.00 virus itself staff at the world's most famous museum the louvre in paris shut it down for 3 days this week demanding better protection against the virus tourists went to news there isn't a place in the world that's not going to get to you and you can't just shut down the world you can though shut down parts of it battling europe's most prolific outbreak so far italy will close all schools and universities until mid march in an effort to stem the tide of infections and the rising death toll japan did the same last week and france has also ordered the closure of some schools affecting an estimated $35000.00 pupils. as dramatic for some italy's decision to hold all sporting fixtures in empty stadiums spain has done so to life across the

globe is changing fast the world health organization continues to stress the importance of containment in places with few infections in the hope of delaying the spread of the disease and to give health systems time to prepare there is no doubt that things will get worse. and if the w.h.o. isn't yet prepared to declare a pandemic germany it appears is. the corona virus outbreak said the health minister has become a global pandemic amid a worldwide shortage of goggles masks and gloves germany has banned the export of medical protective gear they wanted all to be available for use at home and other shortages have provoked concern this time in australia over toilet paper. some countries are taking matters steadily further india has extended the screening of passengers to all those arriving on international flights the authorities in saudi

arabia have banned citizens and foreigners from making the pilgrimage to mecca in israel prime minister netanyahu suggested the common handshake be replaced by the indian greeting number stay while italians have been asked to stop kissing and hugging with the coded 900 virus reaching more and more countries each day it is possible that no corner of the world will be spared even as european health ministers prepare to meet on friday one infection was registered inside the european council building itself not just towns and cities now but the seats of government and parliament are in its path jonah al-jazeera. pressures have been mounting on officials in iran to take more action against the virus as the confirmed death toll there jumped to 92 same bus ravi is into iran and has more on some of the ashes being taken. present hasan rouhani during his cabinet meeting to meeting earlier today struck a very different tone from last week when he said that things would begin to

normalize in a few days now he was taking more seriously trying to calm the public and trying to show that the government is taking this very seriously who are people against hoarding medical supplies like masks and gloves and we've heard that later this week the courts will hear the 1st 10 cases of people arrested for public order earlier this week the government announced a prison sentence of 5 to 20 years even the death penalty if people are found guilty of hoarding supplies that would help medical facilities to cope with this virus the president also said that they were working with neighbors to try to keep commercial avenues readings and transport networks for business open so as to make sure that people don't suffer more economically than they need to but of course small and medium businesses are suffering the most they make approximately 40 percent of the country's g.d.p. but unfortunately we heard earlier today that because exxon had just closed its ports on the caspian sea to any vessels and passengers coming from iran the r.g.c.

is trying to do what it can the revolutionary guard it has set up field hospitals and clinics and it's also set up a hotline that people can call explain their symptoms discuss ways to prevent the disease to try and ship the hospitals and clinics around the country that are apt to pasadena from being overcrowded overburdened unnecessarily with patients trying to seek treatment. well a number of known coronavirus coronavirus cases in the world's 2nd most populous country india has now risen sharply from 6 to 28 india's health minister says the new cases include 16 tarus from italy europe's west affected country experts have been concerned about how the country would cope with a widespread outbreak of virus has prompted india's government to limit the export of medicines leading to fears of global shortages of some common drugs meanwhile at least 11 people in the united states have now been killed by the corona virus new cases of also been reported around the 2 most populous cities in the country 4 in

new york 6 in los angeles have been 10 deaths in the seattle area which has the largest concentration of corona virus cases several have been connected to an age aged care facility the 11th person died in california present on trump insists the u.s. is leading the world in containing an outbreak well let's get more from shopper chancy who is in washington following the story what else is president trump and saying. yeah we've often got pronouncements like that from don't tread on the white house not least because the white house has been put on the defensive since the outbreak of coronavirus not least because it's the trumpet ministration dismantle the units in the white house not the national security council to deal with pandemics so don't try was always insisting that the u.s. is the forefront even as the information we're getting suggests we're very much not over here at the forefront especially of testing that was a big issue today that we've been having it's become clear over the last week that very few people are being tested that the very few testing kits available that one

hospitals do want to do some testing and often not allowed to by the by the centers for disease control this is now being streamlined the white house says president trump they are blaming an old obama era regulation that only allowed testing using kits that were approved by the federal food and drug administration that's that regulation has now been removed we're getting these assurances assurances from the white house now that the whole thing will be streamlined the red tape removed but that's still huge there's a huge suspicion that there simply isn't the capacity the laboratory capacity the testing kit capacity in the u.s. for and it was tested to be done which makes all the figures that we get about the number of current are as cases in the u.s. pretty meaningless adams and this is an issue that came up in super tuesday just you know 12 hours ago really this is a for profit medical system in the u.s. even if people want to get tested even if they're allowed to get tested they may have to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars even under obamacare to get the test it's very unlikely that many people will get tested. the u.s. congress has passed an $8300000000.00 coronavirus response phil what does that.

so this should be being voted on actually as as we speak and as a lot of backslapping all round of the bipartisan speedy nature that this is been has been agreed upon in the house of representatives at least with a trumpet ministration initially requested around $2000000000.00 for the current a virus which only about one and a quarter 1000000000 was new money all the rest of the money taken from other programs really with a bowler and things like this the house $8300000000.00 it's new money they say $3000000000.00 for the development of treatments and vaccines $300000000.00 to ensure that if a vaccine is produced that americans have access to that vaccine again that's dealing with that issue of the for profit medical system that we have here 2300000000 i think being spent on public health funding and prevention and preparedness and response about being voted part of the house it will then go to the senate but it's already very least one sort of senator rand paul who's

a libertarian is saying that he may hold that up he may want to pass and amendment to make sure that this is all paid for through cuts in foreign aid so its passage isn't entirely assured right now would be for speedy passage is the short but the house vote is taking place in this this hour we believe thanks very much for the latest from washington chaper tennessee well in terms of the reaction if commercially the german adeline lufthansa is cutting its like passy in a move equivalent to grounding almost a 5th of its total fleet or $150.00 aircraft because of the virus company says it's justing plans to affect extraordinary circumstances last week lufthansa said it had grounded $23.00 long haul at craft european airline bosses of want that the worst is still to come for the airline industry in terms of economic damage as a result of the outbreak well the international monetary fund says it continued spread of the crime the virus will push 2020 global growth below last year's levels managing director christina gettogether says the i.m.f. will revise its full cost down once again in the coming weeks. what we're

wrestling quit is uncertainty and that defines our projections which at this point lead us to state that global growth in 2020 will be the below its last year's levels but how far it will fall and how long the impact would be is still difficult to predict or coronavirus fears of course producers to push back the release of a new james bond film no time to die and scheduled for release in april but it will now be moved to november producers say the decision was made after careful consideration sound film analysts have suggested the outbreak could wipe billions

off the global box office but many of china's cinemas already closed. of more on the outbreaks economic impact we can speak to patrick peregrine he's an international economist at the economic analysis fan at macro and he joins me in the studio now so we've seen a fairly dramatic reaction in financial markets last week in the reaction was muted when the virus is spreading in china but then as it went to europe in the middle east we saw a very strong reaction is a global recession or a foregone conclusion at this stage over certain countries it is because if you look at europe and germany france japan all effectively in recessionary territory in the last part of last year anyway 3rd pretty much guaranteed to have technical recessions china is is going to struggle with i mean the estimates for how much of chinese growth is going to be wiped out just in the 1st quarter but there are some signs that china is actually so it was getting past the worst of it shipping volumes are picking up the number infections every day is falling off the global

economy it's you know it is serious and the problem is it's not like a financial shock it's people can't go to work they can't you know they can't get paid how long a resident is this and you know here in comparisons the financial crisis of 2008 terms of how governments and central banks are reacting but like you say there is just so much uncertainty that it makes any kind of forecasting or predictions it impossible we are in i watched willie walsh last week so his earnings outlook and he said but i can't tell you what's going to happen tomorrow next week or next month and that's a leading international c.e.o. and i think the problem is governments have been fully complacent and slow in reacting to this so when china was shutting down cities just before chinese new year everyone assumes so it's just chinese problem we find oh it's something in asia. and you can see the countries that have reacted quickly and perhaps

in ways that is very difficult to do in sort of more liberal societies but singapore is set the absolute gold standard. it's been extremely successful in narrowing controlling 'd it. and the important things we found is is communication identify with letting people know where there are pockets of infection so they can avoid it for a start and the other side is being extremely reactive economically because cutting interest rates absolutely is put is like putting a sticking plaster on a gaping wound. they actually need to come have fiscal measures that people have to be assured that will i get an income how i'm going to feed myself all these basic things that really really sort of support confidence not just in the short term the long term as well and when you have a country like italy which has caused particular unease globally and in financial markets saying that it's going to close university campuses and schools in cinemas for a period of time i mean what what does that i mean how much uncertainty does that

generate that sort of paralysis to every day. particularly for especially for italy it's concentrated in the most prosperous regions of the longwood in pure was like 30 percent of italian g.d.p. it's where all the big companies is where the primary wealth is an area that is obviously if that's fed out with freedom of movement it's going to germany france spain it's or it's going everywhere so i really do think we should be adopting both the language used by korea today and by china previously but you have to treat this is a wartime scenario and if you can go and spend hundreds of billions on saving the banks in 2008 why can't you go and spend hundreds of billions on saving people in their livelihoods in 2020 thanks very much good to get your thoughts on this story patrick peregrine journeys international khana mess that are here in london. and watching the news hour live from london much more still ahead after president tom's

phone call with a taliban leader more attacks on the afghan army prompted a u.s. as strike against the group living in limbo it's no holiday for thousands of asylum seekers camped on the border between the u.s. and mexico and then later in sport will have worn a sleaze top football is facing the prospect of playing in empty stadium it's. all turkey's parliament descended into chaos after rising tensions the country's military role in syria a fight broke out involving dozens of politicians after one opposition member accuse the president of disrespecting turkish soldiers who've died in syria or egypt has also label was labeled irresponsible for sending troops into the conflict without air cover turkey has sent thousands of soldiers into syria to try to halt a government offensive in the province of that brawl in the parliament followed the deaths of 2 turkish soldiers during an attack and it led turkish forces also

suffered heavy losses last week when 34 soldiers were killed in as strikes 59 overall have now died in northern syria one is due to meet his russian counterpart in moscow on thursday to discuss a cease fire while in other developments greece's deny turkish accusations that it shot and killed a migrant who was trying to cross into its territory earlier greek riot police have used tear gas and water cannon against refugees and migrants at the border thousands have been trying to breach the barrier since last week when turkey said it would no longer stop people crossing into the e.u. the blocs foreign policy chief has been meeting in ankara seeking to diffuse some of that tension. i heard. chris. all understanding who defeat groups who do issues in turkey is quarterly phasing. but also to stress that the current developments in the european war those

are not leaving to any solution. we have also. asked not to encourage further movement of refugees from a grant mine migrants towards european union borders only a fraction of the refugees that have tried to leave taki have successfully managed to cross into greece thousands of amassed at the border since it was opened last week but greece is saying only 1500 have actually managed to enter but that hasn't stopped people from attempting the very dangerous crossing as sasha going to reports now from the border. struggling to find their slippery footing they made their way across the dam barefoot stone by stone. one man slips and his bag bobs away with the swift current of the river. desperation and despair are growing as refugees and migrants take advantage of turkey's open border

with greece and garia some are taking dangerous risks for the chance to reach the european union. i don't know how to swim while walking i was thinking you cross or you die those are the only 2 options earlier this week the turkish police began blocking refugees for walking across this bridge to get closer to the checkpoint with greece now people are resorting to risking their lives by crossing this day below. on the other side of the river bank cold and wet refugees were met by villagers looking to make a profit those who still had money in their pockets were asked to pay $2.00 to $3.00 for a ride with a horse and cart a tractor or a van instead of walking the short distance to get closer to the checkpoint at the greek border. all who. were also poor we don't have money and if we did we wouldn't be doing this. the odds of people making it to greece and being

allowed to stay looking creasing least lamb the greek government says only $1500.00 migrants at most have entered since turkey opened its border gates last friday around 26000 have been stopped several men told us this was their 2nd attempt after they'd already been deported from greece but this was done just dick music. i made it to the other side and for 5 days i moved from place to place have no food people give me food i eat i have no money left me. despite hunger exhaustion and frustration they've summoned the determination to repeat the journey. europe has to take us because only took a is taking care of immigrants to take us there would be good others will be following that also making the precarious track natasha getting. a dirt

near the border between turkey and greece. well a great navy ship has arrived on the island of lesbos to provide some relief for the hundreds of my quince that have arrived over the past few days they've been camping out at the town's port off to being prevented from reaching its of the crowded camps i angry local residents but as john reports from les paul said let me be a briefer spite of those on board. a greek navy transport ship arrives in lesbos to pick up more than $500.00 refugees and migrants they arrived after turkey opened its borders to europe and won't be allowed to apply for asylum instead they will be taken to athens and eventually deported people here hope this will act as a deterrent to more refugee crossings. the people who crossed illegally from the land border got 4 years in jail and a 10000 euro fine it serves them right and it will make others think twice the refugees have bones whatever happens here gets bound over to the other side

security around the port is high police have their hands full preventing daily attempts by refugees to board ferries to athens lesbos has been the most hospitable island to refugees but people are frustrated a year ago there were about 5000 people in the island's refugee camp and this was an olive grove the camp and tent city mushrooming around it now hold 20000 villages from morea a kilometer away say they've been hit hard and. i no longer cultivate my vegetable garden because it will be picked clean and the chickens are gone the police say they can't do anything this store has been robbed 6 times if someone is caught red handed they're free in a couple of hours if i do the same thing i'll go to jail. government attitudes reflect the changing mood greece has asked for emergency border assistance from the european union the east coast becoming militarized greece now has 52 warships and

coastal patrol vessels at sea spotting red. boats and preventing the entry other european union countries have another 10 ships posted here and the rapid border intervention force greece requested will result in many more the un says that suspending asylum applications isn't legally justified and that all thorough should avoid excessive or disproportionate force but the turkish opening of borders has altered this humanitarian crisis in greece as eyes it's now a national security crisis and the military is increasingly taking over jumps are ople us al jazeera lesbos. race to channel challenge donald trump and november's u.s. presidential election is down to just 4 candidates from new york mayor mike bloomberg has pulled out after a disappointing showing in the super tuesday primaries a surge in support for joe biden made him the big winner pushing him ahead of

bernie sanders in the battle for the democratic nomination it now looks like a 2 horse race with elizabeth warren a distant 3rd and then till the gavotte even further behind bloomberg did spend heavily on his campaign though that did not translate into support well he's admitted he could no longer win the nomination and is starting his significant financial weight behind joe biden. if you remember i did the race for duck president to defeat donald trump and today i am leaving the race for the same reason to defeat donald trump because staying in would make it more difficult to achieve that goal i've always believed that the supreme donald trump starts 1000000 guiding behind the candidate with the best shot to do it and after yesterday's vote it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great american joe biden. there are still some super tuesday votes being counted but we have a clear view of the results biden won 10 of the 14 states up for grabs on tuesday

texas was an important win he also secured massachusetts the home of elizabeth warren maine and minnesota the home state of amy club a chum he made strong gains in the southern states as well bunny saunders won the state with the most delegates though california a big win there as well as utah colorado and his home state of vermont while biden has the most delegates so far saunders is not far behind they all followed by elizabeth warren with mike bloomberg no longer is the right in the race as he was saying saunders though is still full of confidence but if anybody in this room thought. that a year ago we began our campaign about a year ago that a campaign that was taken on wall street and the drug companies and the insurance companies and the fossil fuel industry and the military industrial complex and the prison industrial complex and most of the one percent of anybody here thought that a year would come and go and we would be even hard for 1st a few votes up

a few votes down delegates up with them that is a pretty amazing achievement regret as is life for us in los angeles now why joe biden is about to speak and ronnie biden must be a man energized and galvanized from his super tuesday victory. yes indeed the former vice president is going to speak to a room full of press and some supporters here in a hotel conference room he has dubbed himself the 77 year old former vice president as dubbed himself the comeback kid and his campaign has put out a statement saying the joe mentum is real of course he will need the joementum going forward because there is are a series of 6 additional primaries coming up on tuesday the 10th of march those include states like idaho washington state but most crucially michigan michigan is

seen as a make or break state because it's in one of those north. midwestern states that president one in 2016 actually running against the. actually bernie sanders wanted in 2016 in the primary against hillary clinton but it's a different dynamic now biden has been putting up public statements on the social media that are focused entirely on president trump he also thanked joe also nothing about about senator sanders no criticism of bernie sanders at all he did think the former mayor bloomberg for his gracious words an offer of support which could be very important for biden who has been lagging somewhat until recently in terms of funding bloomberg of course has a huge organization and a lot of money which if he chose to. to hand it over to joe biden would would make

a considerable difference in biden's campaign and tell us more about how biden managed to seal his money to make a comeback but to really see. his place as a front runner in the democratic race was it was it just about managing to hold on to that support maintaining that support of black voters. that's a big part of it also. the endorsements of by amy close to char and people to judge who dropped out just before super tuesday and through their support to joe biden that made a big difference to i spoke to a voter earlier last night in fact who attended a biden rally was that i was in for mayor people to judge but then when he dropped out i did my homework and talked to my friends and i decided that that biden was the best candidate to beat president donald trump in the fall and that is really

what a lot of voters are thinking about the thinking about health care they're thinking about the coronavirus the thinking about income inequality and many other things but the thing at the top of mind i believe from talking to voters over and over again is beating donald trump that's what democratic voters want and that is what biden is packaging himself and selling himself as the candidate who is best suited better than bernie sanders he says to defeat donald trump in the fall elizabeth warren another candidate who is still in the race but fell far short last night super tuesday in fact losing the state that she represents in the senate massachusetts to biden her campaign said that they admitted that they they fell short and they are assessing the path ahead so we may hear something from senator elizabeth warren before the day is out or in the in the next coming days but again

look towards next tuesday look towards michigan and then a debate after that which could be a one on one debate between sanders and biden that's set up for phoenix arizona on the 15th of march so the campaign trail winds forward as you say michigan is going to be a key indicator in this race isn't it thank you very much from los angeles rob reynolds reporting to us that. i have 4. you cannot make deals with physics why not everyone is impressed with the plan to make europe the 1st comp and you troll continent by 2050. and in the weather could play a big part in deciding the final ace in the women's team 20 wild card.

and stormy weather pushing into western areas of europe has been a very unsettled picture with several days siege sway the clouds pushing in with some strong winds and of course yet another round of rain but tom look at this this is the south of france into berates very very strong winds and just a bit further inland these same strong winds we just swept across the region so many trees in the process and on the way really is pushing in through the bay of biscay very heavy rain at times and very widespread pushing up into low countries germany and of course once it hits that cold air turning into yet again some very heavy wet snow some very heavy rains to those lower elevations not as bad across into spain and also a bit of a break for areas across much the you can next system has yet to actually work its way across through friday all that rain across west spreading further through will central areas the areas colder so it will be quite a wintry mix over the next couple of days and again the winds all the while

remaining very strong really funneling through the bay of biscay and right there across the mediterranean funneling up into the adriatic so again we could see some heavy amounts of rain into coastal areas of the balkans and then at the same time the system in the med that will produce michel's across into libya that says it by friday the showers on the way to cairo with a high for you 21. she was black gay i'm from rio de janeiro's have alice 3 she was also an elected outspoken council woman. until she was assassinated. people in power investigates the killing of a vocal critic of brazil's security forces and the legacy of empowerment she left behind the manager of mario franco on al-jazeera. a winning in programming from international filmmakers. now playing out just the

arrest sets the stage for egypt to be through here will be the life of the lives of the life of the nuns dead everybody is there global ex-pats you get it we're going to let the planet go through it because when i do it is obvious things open your eyes to an alternative view of the world today on al-jazeera. to. welcome back you're watching the news hour live from london now top stories italy is closing old schools universities and cinemas until march 15th is it backwards to contain its corona virus outbreak the death toll there is now jumped to 107 the

largest number of deaths outside china turkey's parliament descended into chaos earlier when an opposition m.p. accused the president of disrespecting turkish soldiers who died in syria and greece has denied turkish accusations that it shot killed a migrant who was trying to cross into its territory. the former us vice president joe biden was the big window on super tuesday taking 10 of the 14 states who voted in moving ahead of the solid as in the battle for the democratic party nomination the former mayor of new york mike bloomberg has pulled out after disappointing. under a controversial united states government plan nicknamed remain in mexico more than $60000.00 asylum seekers being denied entry to the united states having to wait across the border in mexico while the case is a protest in u.s. courts john holeman has more on this now from the mexican border town of matamoros

well more than 2000 people and living in a tent city between the herrings. and the mix can bank of the rio bravo is a tent camp of more than 2000 people over the other side the promise land the us. most of from central america especially on due to us and have been here for months there waiting for their asylum requests to play out in a closed up u.s. system before they would have been kept stateside for that long process but a year old program could n.p.p. or remain in mexico changed things since then some 60000 people have been shipped across the border and told to wait here going to head on the u.s. officials told me that i was going to a shelter in mexico with security and food that we shouldn't be scared in reality they just left us at the bridge i asked mexican migration officials where i could stay because i was with my girls wherever you want they told me if you don't find

anywhere you can just stay at the bottom of the steps that eventually they found their way to a company it's turned into a sort of village residence provide some services the nuts morristown government takes care of the rubbish and international organizations and churches many from the us provide food and other essentials. rather brownsville resident felicia run health runs the sidewall school and this will stay as long as there are children asylum seekers out here that's that's a future of it openly her movements are at it next week when it's raining or too cold we have to cancel school. we come to matamoros a border town known for gang violence. like many others here each of his family hardly ever set foot outside apart from to head across the river when they have a case hearing they don't see a judge face to face even then just across the border from the camp something that's new under this u.s. administration they called in tank courts and this is where asylum seekers speak to

judges who are elsewhere in the united states by video link up now what migrants rights advocates say is that these are quite secret and even hostile environments for asylum seekers were it becomes even more difficult for them to effectively present their cases. the study by sitting queues university shows that less than one percent of asylum relief requests and the m.p.p. have been approved it's not helped say migrant rights attorneys by the complications of getting legal aid in the camp so there are very few attorneys that are willing to actually come into mexico and especially in the areas of my thumb or as a non i went out at all because of the level of dangerousness within within mexico itself last friday u.s. school ordered n.p.p. to hoped but then the same cool stayed the order pending fresh arguments it means that for now the policy continues in the end there none of the charges family

continue to wait we so little chance of success off the wine and get that in the minority but i think if we go back now what are we going back to we've been threatened what's going to be our story if we go back. recently the numbers of arriving at the camp going way down but migrants right suffocates say that's only because the us is now sending some asylum seekers further away still under another new program all the way to guatemala john heilemann how does it or might the more those. well many central americans waiting for a decision on u.s. asylum cases are staying in mexico's most dangerous state where many have been kidnapped we'll be reporting on that in part 2 of our series on thursday. now the united states has carried out its 1st s. strike against the taliban since they signed a troop withdrawal agreement last week military commanders say they were spawning 2 attacks on afghan army positions in southern helmand province in northern

afghanistan at least 19 soldiers and police there were kidnapped were killed during 2 separate attacks encounters province 10 afghan border patrol officers have also been kidnapped well the attacks happened hours after don't transpose the taliban's political leader mullah baradar the 35 minute phone call was aimed at reducing violence in afghanistan it's thought to be the 1st direct exchange between u.s. president and the senior taliban leadership i mean bibi is a former senior advisor to nato joins us by skype from kabul so they have been dozens of attacks reported in the southern province of helmand also afghan police and soldiers targeted in the northern city in the northern province of can do as it was saying that will continue to tax against the afghan government impact the agreement between the taliban in the united states. i think it's where the yes and i think they strike the 1st striking after their view duction off their violence by the united states was

a clear political message to the public on that if you continue to a time. afghan forces and increase the level of violence and spread it all over the country then it will not be because that will be considered a breach of agreement between you 2 come in between the united states and the taliban will sign on to it when you know in november so yes. it will not be i mean the u.s. may not accept any violation of the commitments because the peace process is going on and i think they are so committed they are so it careful that watch you know by lifting the agreement. but for the taliban they as part of this agreement was supposed to begin a negotiating process an interim afghan process with politicians with the afghan

government that would ultimately bring an end to the civil war now how is that even supposed to begin if these sort of attacks a taking place. i think these and these attacks will stop and i think they got their message. out because they will support them and share miller security if that and forces need their help and they will be there to help so they announce to the you know present. secure pharaoh on said that the reduction of violence should continue and this is based on a back form that this reduction of violence will be connected to. negotiation do you think from the taliban's perspective that they're making a clear distinction between a reduction of violence in terms of attacks on international forces an adoption of violence in terms of attacks on afghan forces which they are likely to continue as

a pressure tactic yes it did actually they wanted to do that but i think that it didn't warrant because. clearly they acted and i think their expectation from the u.s. side is that this reduction of violence should continue until they afghan interim negotiations to start and when data starts the end probably getting bad negotiations this reduction of violence you end up in a permanent cease fire so i think the taliban wanted to separate this but the united states not accept that and said i can give appear but it didn't take long for this agreement to have. blocked it because at the same seems to now be this disagreement and that people are saying that's the reason for this upsurge in violence is a way for the taliban to pressure the afghan government of the elements of the agreement that involves a prisoner swap because there's a disagreement about whether it should be part of the negotiations or

a precondition which is what the taliban launce. you know through this i mean the deal between the united states and the taliban was done but this deal between the afghans is just starting and i know that and everybody knows that it will be a very difficult part to prove through these negotiations they taliban have their conditions out work conditions and this book negotiated with the united states for more than a year and a half and the bad guys are starting just starting to go through these negotiations and negotiations and they have their own conditions and i think there will be. issues arising as secured pompei always coming to kabul to talk about to do the job the peace process has started and it will not be moved off and there will be

difficulties but i think the united states is now determined to make it to make it and to deal with darkens as well so these negotiations when the start but i don't know what thank you very much i'm going to have bibi former senior adviser to nato joining us there from kabul and rescuers in brazil as such in for survivors after heavy rain in the southeast of the country calls to series of landslides that killed at least 16 people dozens are still missing and it's feared more bodies could be found that under the mud more than $5000.00 people have been forced from their homes of parts of the city of rio de janeiro also affected by flooding state governor saying the equivalent of a month's rain fell in a space of just 12 alice. activists a warning for oil drilling in the republic of congo could devastate the global environment vast oil reserves were discovered there last year anything paid and forests government says it will protect the land despite allowing companies to conduct oil exploration in the capital brazzaville malcolm webb has our report.

beneath the swampy forest lies carbon equivalent to about 20 years of emissions from fossil fuels in the us it's stored in peat lands that scientists discovered here in the republic of congo 3 years ago the government didn't allow us to go there and film this is the government's video but it did allow oil companies to drill there last year with. its licensed oil exploration in blocks of land across more than half of the peak lands and environmentalist say if wells extracted risks releasing 30000000000 tonnes of carbon stored in the peat. it would be catastrophic even if we tried to exploit the oil in an eco friendly week we still have to destroy the ecosystem plans or it will make the area want to see before the exploitation of other resources and also indeed. so what. the river congo

is the world's 2nd largest river by volume and the rain forest that sits in its basin is the world's 2nd largest after the amazon and its leaves and branches falling from the trees partially decomposing in the ground in the form the peat lands over about 10000 years have been discovered on both sides of the river in swampy areas and the carbon stored in them beneath the ground is as much as is stored above the ground in the entire forest the congolese government signed an agreement to receive $65000000.00 of funding from european governments to preserve the pete lands and the forests above them but activists say the agreement doesn't rule out oil extraction the country's africa's 3rd largest oil producer 2 oil companies announced major on shore oil discoveries near the peat lands last year. but the environment minister talked with the people on the safe new design queller

commute on what we are saying to the international community is that the congolese government will not touch their people and if we have a friend or oil there even if we have to do it if we friend drawing the land areas we will do our best to do a good job the plans are also home to millions of people the government says oil revenues help communities environmental activists say they don't. that if oil extraction goes ahead here the world's largest tropical peat land and this vast carbon reservoir will be gone forever welcome web al-jazeera republic of congo. the e.u. wants here in the 1st carbon neutral continent by 2050 to turn the ambition into reality it's unveiled its 1st climate law it gives brussels the power to set revised emissions targets every 5 years where the member states agree or not but teenage climax of his gratitude was invited to the laws unveiling at the target was

insufficient and accused lawmakers of only pretending to be climate leaders or a challenger has more. if the european parliament and member states approve it the continent's path to a carbon neutral future will be enshrined irreversible the use of 1st ever climate legislation it is a binding legal obligation. it offers predictability it offers transparency to all for example the european industry to investors to public are sorry to us and this is what they are calling for this is what they ask us to do because it gives them certainty about what needs to be achieved and it gives them certainty at what pace the climate law would commit the e.u. to net 0 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 but there's no mention of net removals of carbon post 2050 which was in an initial draft of the law and it defers till september plans to upgrade the aim to cut emissions by 40 percent by 2030 for some

this law still pushes too far too fast and some member states are objecting to the use of what's called a delegated act here is the ability of the commission to revise emissions targets every 5 years from 2030 with limited scope for e.u. governments to object for others it doesn't go nearly far enough to live on the land welcomes teenage climate activists gratitude to the e.u. headquarters but her verdict was damning this climate is so random. because nature doesn't bargain and you cannot make deals with physics and for this criticism of them and their alleged capitulation you got a standing ovation. an open letter signed by 2 in berg another activist says the law is deferring action that should be taken today the 2016 paris accords pledged to limit global warming below

a 2 degree celsius rise campaigners say carbon needs. by 2050 is too distant to achieve this they want goals from this year and every following month the new year to come. how does iran. while still ahead and we're going to have reaction to the statement from the olympic organizers at the tokyo games will not be canceled because of the coronavirus and the man known as the french spiderman climbs a tower in barcelona this time to spread a message about current fires. and

he's here now with all the sports. thank you so much myron rolle tokyo's lympics organizers say canceling or delaying the games you coronavirus is not even being considered good news for athletes including world champion high jumper meter suppose the cattery want a silver medal at the rio games 4 years ago he's the favorite to win gold in japan or some other sporting events taking place behind closed doors without spectators or she was told al-jazeera he hopes that doesn't happen at the olympics i think it take it take so much of the joy and the beauty of sport goes sport need to be celebrated and we filled with people with audience you know to interact with that the reaction from people and the support we get from the people on the job we give them it's a big very very special relationship is a big part of sport that cannot be taken away of are not actually feel about that rather it feels like more like training you know i don't want to go to the biggest

event and community compete with new orleans or not people at the end of the day health is the most important and whatever decision i mean the i.o.c. or the people that's in trying. to make sure that we are safe and healthy and with it all talk here is confidence that all will be ok is being matched by that of the olympic president thomas back the international olympic committee has just concluded a 2 day meeting in switzerland back refused to comment on the possibility of cancellation or party spokesman says the games will start on july the 24. it will not be fuel to the flame of speculation by giving it a theory giving it to a dog fueling more speculation. however a statement from yesterday where we give you we are fully committed while earlier on we spoke to professor jules book of author of power games a political history of the olympics he says there's no way for banks and i know if

the games will go ahead and that any cancellation will be felt mainly by broadcasters and the people of japan. well with most messaging emerging from the international olympic committee we should have a healthy degree of skepticism on one hand you can understand why tomas bach today might say that we have nothing to worry about at least right now because he wants to quell all concerns but if the coronavirus panic becomes a pandemic they better have a plan he said today that in fact they never even discuss the word postponement or cancelation with the executive board that should be a cause of concern for those who are looking ahead to what might come for athletes it probably wouldn't be that big a deal logistically for tokyo it would be a challenge where i think you're going to find the most resistance to postponing the olympics is with the broadcasters and in particular and b c here in the united states where i'm coming from back in 2011 n.b.c.

plunged 4400000000 dollars to get the rights to the games through 2020 and then after that they plunged another $7700000000.00 through 2032 and so for them the games must go on short of a global pandemic because if they postpone it will start bumping up against a lot of their other cash cow properties like n.f.l. football as well as the college football season i think you could also argue and this comes from speaking with people in japan when i was there pretty recently they say the damage is already done in the sense that they've made special laws to build higher in the city in the sense that numerous people have been displaced to make way for the olympic stadium so for them the olympic damage has already transpired well one running a limpet champion looks at some missed the games regardless bahrain's has been given a full year on the kenyan border run a one gold in the 3000 meter steeple chase 4 years ago. all sports in italy will be

played behind closed doors until april the 3rd to to coronavirus that will include games in its top football does that division syria and italy's 6 nations rugby match against england a government decree says clubs and associations now have a responsibility to test all players for the virus price enjoyment of giving their support to china over coronavirus and club chairman nasser khalifi all also looks like being given a clean bill of health by the swiss justice system the corruption charges against him were dropped last month the french media is reporting the one other charge will also be thrown out. west indies of parents straight back from the one day series defeat to sri lanka winning the 1st t 20 match in candy lendl simmons was the key man for the tourists hitting and on beat in 67 as the windies finished in 196 for 4 in reply call superb or would do some damage with the bat to sri lanka hooking the ball into his adoring home crowd here the hope left them with on very russell. he was out for 66 the hosts all out

25 are in shorts they meet again on friday. ok about as useful as get but some are in middle of them lovely thank you very much and in just one of the stories to bring you the man known as the french spiderman has climbed also known as ag but tower as a symbolic act against what he calls corona virus panic an hour a better told journalists he wants to spread the message that fear is more contagious than the virus itself or a bear often climbs well known buildings without permission including dubai's burj khalifa and the the trying to stallin in malaysia once back on the ground rebel was checked by medical staff and then arrested and not for the 1st time. that wraps up the news al but i'll be back with another full bulletin in just a couple minutes very shortly.

on tropical fiji chinese developers are accused of destroying a pacific power and i. want to one ace investigator. on al-jazeera. once hosni mubarak became president so began a story of conflict and isolation on one side a wife and son the sights set on succession on the other the president increasingly distant from beijing people when his beloved grandson died mubarak need to step

down but then the flames ignited in tunisia exploded in egypt and everything changed episode 2 of the family on al-jazeera. al-jazeera. and. talked to al-jazeera let me talk about 2 of the biggest problems facing and they all the endemic corruption and the gang we listen so if you really put place china as an enemy of the noise and that's really that yours we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter although just 0.

the with the. italy ramps up its battle against corona virus closing schools and universities for 2 weeks as its death toll jumps to 107. 0 i maryanne demasi you're watching al-jazeera live from london also coming up. tensions over turkey's offensive in syria boil over in parliament after another 2 turkish soldiers are killed in a. week riot police fired tear gas to stop refugees crossing its land border from turkey while despair drives others to risk a fast flowing river. and the 1000000000.