wounded while working on mines i wasn't scared to lose an hour a leg it's a sacrifice we have to like to say that this country. the global number of coronavirus cases reaches a major milestone as many as 100000 people could have been infected cases in iran have jumped dramatically the government considers using force to stop people from moving between cities. hello i'm maryam namazie in london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up on the program an uneasy calm in northern syria almost 24 hours after a cease fire came into effect in adlib province. and mysterious gas attacks triggered deadly reprisals insomnia president blames community leaders for inciting

violence. but we start with the corona virus outbreak and the number of cases worldwide is now believed to have reached 100000. the 2nd highest number of deaths outside of china and the continuing spread of the virus across the globe is beginning to test it dramatic relations japan and south korea are engaged in a tit for tat battle over travel restrictions which is and at the world health organization the european union held an emergency meeting to agree solidarity among its 27 nations off to france germany and other countries blocks exports of protective equipment and concerns over a world wide recession continues to plague financial markets stocks of falling worldwide and emergency interest rate cuts have been in force in the united states canada and australia algis there is john hall begins our coverage. the

global infection total since the start of the corona virus outbreak has by some counts passed the 100000 mark while there are positive signs in the slowing rate of infections in china and south korea elsewhere it's speeding up iran recorded a dramatic rise of a 1000 new cases in the 24 hours since thursday with your 30 said to be preparing travel restrictions between cities to add to widespread school closures and bans on public gatherings the world health organization said rapidly rising numbers are a sign of a more efficient government response any country in the face when epidemic when it looks for cases will find. and if we call that a bad thing it is it's a sad thing for the people who have the disease but it's much better that we understand the extent of the problem so we commend the move towards a more aggressive target of surveillance and we hope that that will lead to the kind of control measures that could help push this virus but among the more than

3300 lives lost around the world so far most have been among the elderly whose less efficient immune systems make it hard to fight off the virus in france where new infections jumped by 200 on friday president emanuel visited a retirement facility. i'm asking all fellow citizens to act responsibly to make this sacrifice i know it is sometimes heartbreaking but we must avoid visiting our elders as much as possible the european union with its open borders is proving a haven for the spread of coronavirus italy remains the worst affected country but germany's catching up across europe a tiny vatican city has reported its 1st case as has serbia and in britain prime minister boris johnson has announced a 50 $1000000.00 investment into vaccine research and faster testing methods. early signs of the virus continue to spring up in africa and the middle east cameroon and senegal join nigeria and south africa in registering their 1st cases this week that

is the head of the un's will program sounded a stop warning if coronavirus continues or create panic around the world it is an economic downturn of until the european leaders and leaders around the world you don't have enough money set aside to address the needs in africa east africa west africa and the middle east right now and if there's a next economic downturn on top of the economic downturn that exist now in syria and lebanon it absolutely could be a catastrophe i mean absolute devastation and there was more bad news for the airline industry already operating on margins with losses across the industry from travel restrictions of canceled bookings estimated to top $100000000000.00 the german carrier lufthansa announced plans to scale back up to 50 percent of its services worldwide now this may suit follows suit. al-jazeera

well more deaths have been reported from the virus in iran with a 1000 new cases in the space of 24 hours. in the capital task and says authorities are considering using force to stop travel between. the public health ministry spokesman said that the public is not listening to government guidance or government advice not to travel and move around freely he said that the reason that schools and universities and other institutions were shut were so that people would stay at home to limit the spread of the virus during the incubation period but he said people continue to travel and he suggested that the government may start using force to compel people not to move in between cities he didn't elaborate what that would be but we already know that there are checkpoints military and police checkpoints between major cities on major highways to try and control the flow of people to try and stem the flow of this virus as it transfers across the country major tourist sites are now saying they will not accept travelers from anywhere

around the country or obviously from outside the country and this is a time of holiday the persian new year is coming up so this was a very big development friday prayers remain closed and if you walk around on the streets you can see firefighting and health units in full chemical gear in full protective gear spraying in disinfecting city streets what you see when you look up from those streets that are being disinfected is that in many areas life is going on as normal now there are 2 things really to consider here the country the has been suffering greatly economically and so people feel that despite the threat of this virus they can't stay home they have to go out they have to participate however they can in the economy or at least what's left of it after sanctions to try and keep earning some money they simply can't stay at home. well the united states is now dealing with more than 200 cases across 18 states overall mike hanna

is following the story that joins us live now from washington and there are actually thousands of people passengers stuck aboard a cruise ship just off of san francisco and some of them are exhibiting symptoms of the corona virus but that hasn't been established yet well the all the passengers aboard that ship have been tested we understand that tests kids have been dropped by helicopters onto the ship there are some 4000 passengers and crew on the ship the testing has been ongoing it's not quite clear how long it will take for results to come out but what we do know is that the ship will stay off shore the passengers will remain on board until the full scale of the virus situation on that ship is properly established and also to understand that president trump has been talking about that he that his administration was doing something was doing all it could to compete with the virus

and he made particular reference to the crew ship. going through very. very well. with. one of the. we're going to know where. we take you to hear of it we'll be reasonably sure things are happening we will be interested. just go to the governor. who had a good conversation who were who. is close to 5000 people some of the you were doing just in this week. there is this $8000000000.00 worth of emergency money that's been set aside to battle the coronavirus and has that done anything to l.a. a sense of crisis there in the u.s. . well admits to accusations that the trumpet ministration has been very slow in

reacting to this crisis congress did step forward they active relatively quickly in 48 hours this bill was passed both in the house and in the senate it was signed by president trump in the course of this morning now that provides some 3000000000 dollars for it best occasions for research into a vaccine some 2000000000 dollars will go directly to the agencies that are on the front line of combat in this virus but still it may not go that much to reassure the public that the administration is doing everything it can certainly congress would hope for reassuring its constituents in terms of the fact that it did act very quickly but the major problem that remains that in the eyes of the public too is the slowness of the testing that true cruise ship example a very good example it took some 2 days to get test kits to the passengers on that ship now the trumpet ministration is speaking of testing millions of people but it would appear according to observers that enough test kits only being produced to

test in the thousands rather than in the 10s or hundreds of thousands that are trapped administration says it wants to do thanks very much from washington mike hanna. of course there's been reaction big reaction in financial markets all of this and crude oil prices a plunge more than 5 percent as talks over a cut in production juice the corona virus outbreak of ended without agreement russia is refusing to support a cop plan by the oil cartel opec arguing that it's too early to predict the impact of the outbreak on global energy demand members say action is needed as measures to stop the virus have dampened the global economic activity and oil demand it's not a member of the group but russia has allied with opec for 4 years to help prop up oil market prices. of the kremlin says russia's president vladimir putin is assured the syrian

president bashar last out that a cease fire deal with turkey will stabilize the situation in syria's italy province fragile call appears to be holding in the last almost 24 hours after it came into effect turkey and russia declared the pause in fighting off the negotiations in moscow to government support opposing sides in the conflict the number of casualties had been escalating in recent weeks that been some reports of sporadic fighting in southern parts of the province but that been no major clashes all despite that many syrians believe that the ceasefire is unlikely to last. you know some are supposed to believe there's a truce if i'm listening to the sound of jets and call me when there is no real truce no one moderate voters tell me what i'm not a too hopeful regarding the agreement i'm not expecting anything from it those people don't respect any commitments. regarding the agreement we don't feel it's all reassured we didn't meet our aspirations and desires to hold because there have

been many agreements about the regime hasn't respected and it won't respect this one either. but in terms of the territory itself rival forces in syria been fighting for control of the key m. 4 and m. 5 highways for several months the town of sarky visit the center of this fighting because of who because whoever controls it has access to both highways and gains crucial military and economic advantages the m 4 an m 5 link aleppo with the capital damascus and the south and latakia in the west the red areas of the map are in government control those in green the opposition's territory and this is the joint security card all that turkey and russia of agree to establish either side of the m 4 to prevent the syrian army from moving north confrontations between rebels and government troops and to ensure the protection of turkish forces that was a key element of the recent cease fire deal is monitoring developments for us from the turkish city of antakya and says that some opposition groups are not pleased

with the terms of the cease fire agreement. the rebels were hoping that. with the backing of turkey they would be able to regain those areas. as a norm and morlock and the strategic city of set up that didn't happen and this explains their frustration over the terms of the agreement signed between turkey and russia but took it says in general this is this was a good agreement because it will protect the borders it will protect the turkish army operating in there the it will pave the way for the resettlement of the hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced since the start of the syrian government offensive in december and it will also pave the way for more cooperation with the joint patrols between the russians and the turks in the in 2 weeks from now on both sides of the highway in 4. but then we have to wait and see to what to what level can the turks and the russians bring their cooperation as

far as live is concerned that would be indicative of whether this is fire will continue to hold or will collapse the 2 parties have signed is if the bass of those deals collapse when the syrian army decided it was about time to move forward to retake the strategic city of because it is the rebels' last major stronghold in syria. well refugees and migrants at the border between turkey and greece have been caught between volleys of tear gas as riot police from both sides try to keep them away tens of thousands of people have been trying to cross into greece since last week when turkey declared its borders with the european union open but greece says those trying to enter doing so illegally and police have been using take gas and water cannons to repel them a 1000 turkish police officers have also been deployed to try to stop the push back over the top diplomats has criticized turkey's actions as a political game and is urging migrants and refugees not to be misled.

don't go to the border. get bullish not over. i jus can't go because if you can go freely to reroof to greece or to cyprus that's not a void to the situation in which you could be in danger avoid discoloration of the crisis avoid moving. but please don't tell people that they can go because it's not true that. it was al jazeera live from london more still ahead dozens killed all of the shots are fired at a memorial service south of afghanistan's capital kabul and then why dozens of displaced rang in me and mom now facing criminal charges and prison sentences.

hello and welcome to international weather forecast let's start in europe we've got some mild conditions across eastern areas still moscow up at 12 degrees average this time of year should be about one i care also several degrees above average they wanted across more western areas still looking brown southall another frontal system pushing in towards u.k. bringing some heavy rain to parts of southern ireland meanwhile fine conditions largely across much of spain the wind having died down as well been very windy here in places over the last few days as a move the forecast through into sunday and see that rain sweeping on through the u.k. into the channel coastline there france. scenarios seeing some fine weather conditions vienna there sunshine and 9 rome should be generally fine with a mix of 15 but it still remains on settle around some of these balkan states with the risk a some rain and indeed in places snow let's move into north and central parts of africa so iran the gulf of guinea region lots of showers coming through over the

next few days to 16 all the way from lagos nigeria to freetown in sierra leone but also notice the winds pretty much cooler conditions along the coast of north africa we've seen the big drop in temperatures for tonight for tripoli and that is going to extend in towards benghazi as we head through sunday with highs of just 19. of. the u.n. in fact find is accused of burma is military of genocide this is the political if you think there. do you believe there in the movie is a fashion. that you don't have all. the recognize that both sides have legitimate grievances against the other climate this is the foundation of climate back then why does my place. up. on al-jazeera. the

order. welcome back a look at the headlines this hour the number of corona virus cases worldwide is believed to have reached 100000 with 80 now having the 2nd highest number of deaths behind china crude oil prices a plunge more than 5 percent as talks between opec and russia over cutting production because of the outbreak have ended without agreement. and then a fragile cease fire in syria's last rebel held province of it live appears to be holding some 24 hours after it came into effect. so more now on corona virus outbreak developments japan's prime minister has imposed a mandatory quarantine on all visitors from south korea and china juta concerns

over the virus well that move is angered south korea's government which is threatening countermeasures if the restrictions on not revotes right has more in this now from seoul. in the sometimes strained relations between japan and south korea the corona virus outbreak has exposed the animosity that exists below the surface south korea says it wasn't consulted before japanese prime minister shinzo abbay announced the new measures yokohama new visitors from both china and south korea will be required to be quarantined for 2 weeks at a location designated by the quarantine director and asked that they refrain from using public transportation in the country. that brought a swift response from seoul the japanese ambassador was summoned for an official reprimand. look at what we find the speed of rhetoric and the japanese government to withdraw such an excessive an unreasonable measure immediately our government

can devise a proper counter measure against japan's measures. opponents in south korea accuse the japanese government of trying to deflect criticism of its handling of the corona virus outbreak in particular the attempted quarantining of a cruise ship that left hundreds of passengers sick and. while criticizing japan's efforts south korea has been quick to show the scale and transparency of its own response which is one international praise testing on an industrial scale means thousands of people are being checked with the virus every day. on south korea has been touted as an outstanding example of releasing information in a transparent and rapid manner in that sense i believe that japan's move to not fully take into account our central and local governments efforts. the growing dispute between 2 leading countries in the fight against this global health emergency is worrying for the international community the 2 sides have long

disagreed over trade and the legacy of the 2nd world war more than 100 countries now have travel restrictions on people arriving from south korea but unlike many of them japan is a vital trading partner this quarantine measure will cause further economic pain and there's a lingering suspicion here that politics not public health is the motivation behind it robert bright al-jazeera so. elsewhere at least 16 people have tested positive for the crowd a virus in palestine a state of emergency was declared in the occupied west bank on thursday now the israeli army is sealed off the city of bethlehem to try to contain the outbreak now to abraham has more. that claim had its best tourist season on record last year now all reservations are been cancelled. many people believe the city to be where jesus was born and it draws tourists from around the world but just weeks before easter

several posting in workers at the hotel have tested positive for the corona virus and the israeli military has shut bethlehem off stopping people coming in or out al-jazeera reach some of those stuck inside can you tell us a bit more about the situation in bethlehem where you want to go and ask. all of. us you know you're given a. steady. palestine's mentors to traction is the church of the nativity believed by many to be the birthplace of jesus it's also been closed off by the palestinian tourism ministry come on to my talking to mr bennett on this consent to happen and yesterday the church was sterilized and clean so that when people come back after 14 days everything will be safe and we're taking precautions for the health of the people

so of course this shouldn't be any panic the main reason we're doing this is because the bar spreads fast so we need to protect the people and keep them safe of all and the palestinian authority has also shut down the occupied west bank for a month in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus schools and public spaces and also been closed conferences and other public events counselled and people's movements between city limited to only those that are strictly necessary in the city of jericho people protested against the government decision to treat all infected patients in a center there they blocked roads and called on the government to keep people who are ill where they already are this my dismissal is telling them to stay calling some people are stocking up on food water and cleaning supplies out of fear that this shutdown will go on for some time some say they're starting to panic. we don't have any male disease or the occupied west bank. now according to afghan media

i.c.l. has claimed responsibility for an attack in the capital kabul that has killed at least 30 people the head of the country's peace council was giving a speech when shots were fired senior politician abdullah abdullah was there but he escaped unhurt this is the 1st major attack since the taliban signed a deal with the united states to reduce violence and begin a withdrawal of u.s. troops are the abdul hamid has more now from kabul this was a very long standoff between the afghan security forces and attackers that were holed up in a nearby building which was under construction that's actually where they base themselves to launch the attack on this memorial service but you know the attack started at $1120.00 kabul time and it was over about 5 pm so that shows you how long it lasted you had to bring in afghan security forces you had to bring in foreign forces it was quite a situation and it happened south of kabul in an area this predominantly.

which is a shia minority living here in afghanistan which has come under attack a lot of times over the past years zambian president good has confirmed that more than 50 people have been killed in a recent spate of reprisal attacks that began in december in an address to the parliament he blames some community and church leaders for inciting the killings reprisals follow series of attacks in which gangs use poisonous gas to target their victims leaving them unconscious the police say it's unclear what the motive is for those gas attacks around $26.00 people have been arrested for me to miller is in johannesburg and says that many believe the attacks are connected to ritual killings. it really is a strange event that has really caused the police to be concerned in that it seems as if they are gangs going around parts of zambia and these attacks have spread

using a poisonous gas or some sort of chemical gas which police haven't identified but using that gas in public places schools and homes to cause people to lose consciousness become dizzy and while police haven't established a clear motive speculation in zambia is that these attacks appear to be connected to what people are saying are ritual killings where the reason these gangs are attacking these public spaces and attacking people is because they want to mobilize them perhaps to attack them for their body parts for ritual killings now the police have said they are investigating the army is also being deployed to certain areas in zambia to ensure that they're kept safe and there aren't any further attacks but what's happened is that people they have taken matters into their own hands and have been a number of violent mob just as attacks against people suspected to be responsible for these chemical gas attacks on mount

a man maher dozens of including children have been charged with not possessing identity documents fled to recent upsurge in violence in iraq and state where the muslim group is the majority of the population florence louis has more on this now from lego just outside the capital yangon where their cases are due to be heard. in the 1st 2 months of this year alone more than $200.00 have been arrested for not having identification documents and for traveling illegally now and 70 of those cases will be heard in they grew on the outskirts of yang gone told were brought to court on friday the myanmar government does not consider the rohingya as citizens even though many of them have lived in this country for generations and they face increasing government restrictions so keep claiming like a big can trouble freely there's no restriction are all but in reality in the

government. the. unit is extremely restricted rights advocate on likely any of the rango will be acquitted and they could face the sentence of up to 2 years in prison and could be. sold just why we escaped they were hanged mainly muslim minority who live in rakhine and it was in the northern part of the state where the myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown in 2017 driving nearly 3 quarters of a 1000000 into bangladesh the un has accused it of carrying out the campaign with genocidal intent the myanmar government denies and says it was a do the job summit response to attacks carried out by working right. now the situation that even worse off the fighting between the myanmar military and the our economy intensified starting with january last year they are not on the very top you say they're fighting for more autonomy on behalf of the rakhine and not the

ethnic minority mainly buddhists who make up the majority in rakhine state the rohingya who already live under apartheid like conditions without access to public health care education being caught in the crossfire and many are desperate to escape rights workers fear that many will turn to human traffickers now over the years that have been many attempts by groups of bringing goods. by boat on dangerous journey didn't come to pass on boats that capsized people have drowned somehow taken on overland routes through thailand and into malaysia they have been instances where they were kept in jungle camps along the border until their friends or relatives could pay a ransom many died of disease and starvation now even when they managed to escape myanmar rights they say many are at risk of a white haitian some sold into the sex trade or as indentured labor. for the working god there is no easy choice they can choose to stay and face persecution or

the threat of more violence or they can try to escape but risking their lives. so al jazeera dot com is where you need to go for comment analysis video on demand there as well that forget you can watch us on life streaming here to. recap of the headlines now the number of coronavirus cases worldwide is believed to have reached 100000 with italy having the 2nd highest number of deaths behind china iran recorded a dramatic rise of over a 1000 new cases in 24 hours since thursday but the world health organization says the rapidly rising numbers a sign of more efficient government responses country in the face when epidemic when it looks for cases we find. and if we call that a bad thing it is it's a sad thing for the people who have the disease but it's much better that we

understand the extent of the problem we commend the move towards a more aggressive target of surveillance and we hope that that will lead to the kind of control measures that can help push this my respect. meanwhile crude oil prices of plunged more than 5 percent as talks over a cut in production have ended without any agreement rusher is refusing to support the cup by the oil cartel opec arguing that it's too early to predict the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on global energy demand. and then in our other headlines this hour a fragile ceasefire in syria's last rebel held province of idlib appears to be holding almost 24 hours after it came into effect turkish president. and his russian counterpart vladimir putin who support opposite sides in the conflict declared a pause in the fighting after negotiations in moscow there's been some reports of sporadic fighting in southern part of the province but there's been no major clashes. refugees and migrants at the border between turkey and greece have

been caught between volleys of tear gas as riot police from both sides trying to keep them away tens of thousands of people have been trying to cross into greece since last week when turkey declared its borders with the e.u. open but greece says those trying to enter a doing so illegally. and then in afghanistan media there reporting that i still is behind the attack in the capital kabul in which at least 30 people were killed the head of the country's peace council is giving a speech and shots were fired senior politician abdullah abdullah was there but he escaped unhurt. up front with matty as i was coming up next looking at the surge in popularity of u.s. presidential hopeful joe biden.

this week called up front we're tackling 2 big political dramas in the us the battle between bernie sanders and joe biden to be the democratic nominee for president and take on donald trump while in malaysia a new prime minister taking office in a backroom deal and controversially pushing aside in the process. super tuesday the biggest day in the u.s. electoral calendar so far resulted in a big way in the full form of vice president joe biden and the establishment wing of the democratic party that he represents biden carried 10 out of the 14 states in play while independent senator bernie sanders who was the front runner going into super tuesday.