this is al jazeera. hello and welcome i'm peter dhabi you're watching the news our live from our headquarters here in doha coming up in the next 60 minutes the number of dead in the corona virus outbreak crosses 700 in iran tehran says its efforts are being impacted by u.s. sanctions. checkpoints and curfews across the philippine capital restrictions imposed on 12000000 people. france goes ahead with local elections despite what the president's called the biggest health crisis in a century. what's the. millions of children around the world are coping with the

shutdown of schools during the global pandemic. around the world continues to be called off all played behind closed doors. much of brazil's medical famous for holding nearly 200000 fans in a world cup final. now the restrictions are getting tougher across the world as countries try to stop the coronavirus pandemic iran has announced 113 people died in just the past 24 hours confirmed cases well that's nearing 14000 tiran says its fighters being severely hampered by u.s. sanctions in the philippines the capital manila is sealed off 12000000 people have been told that they can't travel for a month schools. closed in large events are banned australia has joined the

countries ordering travelers into self quarantine as of midnight sunday those going to the country have to isolate themselves for 14 days austria has banned gatherings while france will also restrict long distance travel but has gone ahead with local elections natasha butler is across the french elections for us out of paris paul brennan will join us from london following developments there and elsewhere across europe 1st let's go to tehran and my colleague our correspondent zain. the death toll this concern that looks like it's taking another spike. that's exactly right it's tragically been another record setting day here in iran in terms of the death toll we've seen a ticking up consistently over the course of the several weeks since the virus was identified since the outbreak was announced here in iran and the number of cases overall also continuing to take up and the government still struggling to get

a handle on the spread of this virus we've also heard today that border closures with iraq had taken place for the last week iraq it said it was to sanitize those border posts now several of those posts have been opened but the crucial measure on border between iraq and iran that remains closed that closure has been extended both for cargo as well as passenger so iran finding itself consists in the isolated due to being unable to control the spread of this virus now the government has come out and said president hassan rouhani has government consistently stating that a quarantine on the capital to run even though it continues to be the epicenter of the virus there will be no active koren teen that is put into place but an official with the task force to combat the current virus headquartered here and ron did say that the next phase of trying to implement some kind of measure will begin in the next day or so he said that there will be check posts that will be placed on the

city limits of to iran to start checking passengers and temperature screening passengers going in and out of the city of car travel so we are going to see that happening but in terms of the military out on the streets trying to control mass gatherings trying to control crowds that go to shopping centers bazaars people going back and forth to their offices and to their businesses that still has is not happening here in the capital the dead including younger patients as well what else can you tell us about that aspect of it. that really was something that stuck out for a lot of people as part of the briefing that happened today a health official what can with this task force set up by presidents and rouhani saying that the virus in iran is code deadlier and quote wilder here in iran then is observed in other parts of the world and he's not the 1st official to suggest that possibly the cases inside iran are somehow different that the cases here are more virulent now the dead in iran do include younger people we've heard that 15

percent of those that have died have been around the age of 40 now the virus was already a very disturbing concern for an aging population that iran has there are people here that are getting older but the majority of the population here is comprised of young people the average age is 31 years old so certainly if this is the case and we still haven't seen specific verification or any medical evidence to suggest what's actually happening but if is this is the case it will certainly certainly add to the worries that the iranian population are already facing in terms of the south crisis zain thanks very much less to get to london correspondent pulled run full just what mid january it would have felt unprecedented the idea of all these european countries in effect clues seeing the borders. indeed the schengen principle which. guarantees freedom of movement for the european union citizens as enshrined the idea that they for many millions of european citizens can

simply cross borders without even needing a passport anymore for many years but coronavirus and covert 19 has challenged all of that and pointed out a real contradiction in the way that the policies of various countries are being implemented in relation to controlling or trying to control the virus stonie a austria it's only switzerland slovakia slovenia all of them introduced czech republic for example banning travel in or out of the of the country all various different degrees of controls but challenging that central principle and the european commission president has live on the land spoke on friday saying that according to the world health organization closing borders actually has minimal if any effect at all in store stemming the progress of the virus so she was urging country leaders not to do it that said there's of course a very powerful political motive for leaders to be seen to be doing something and

of course if they have the power they are tempted to use it how much pressure is boris johnson's conservative government there in london coming on the to explain their thinking because it's clearly at odds with everyone else's way of dealing with this. it yes i think boris johnson's government has been quite savvy in the way that it's approached this so far it hasn't really been boris johnson that's been the front man of all of this peace push the chief medical officer and the government's. strategic and scientific advisor up front in order to push the message out there and on that basis is been able 1st of all to distance himself from the decision making saying well i'm doing what the scientists elements of do and also to retain some degree of political isolation political ensure lation as well that said the hot topic of discussion here in the u.k. is why schools are being closed across the rest of europe but not here why big

restrictions are being imposed across the rest of europe but not here matt hancock who is the health secretary has been doing the rounds of the political television programs here in the u.k. this morning saying that an emergency bill will be placed before the british parliament on thursday granting powers which will be far wider including for example powers of arrest for police if they find you and they believe that your ill and you're not willing to self isolate that powers the could give them power of arrest and also the possibility of asking elderly and vulnerable people to self isolate for up to 4 months and so these powers are in the in the pipeline but they've been chosen not to implement them so far it's a hot topic of conversation that they're saying that they're being led by scientific advice at the moment but make no mistake it's being debated furiously here paul thanks very much live to paris correspondent in the trash about law and sasha more powers more restrictions in france was the picture there.

yeah extraordinary picture really i mean for all this is virtually in lockdown if you think of some of the scenes you've seen from italy well i mean we're pretty much nearly there and from where everything has been shot apart from the food stalls and pharmacies so people can still get food and medicine schools universities are businesses closed the government telling people to work from home to not go in the streets to not take transport and in fact the transfer and transport minister has today announced that transport will be a limited increasingly over the next few days until it basically grinds to a halt and once that happens there are no connection between city sick people simply can't move around. later on saturday night the french prime minister then decreed that all restaurants and bars are shown so as a side effect of lee we are in a position where where very very little is running only those essential services

yet in the midst of all this the french government have decided to press ahead with the 1st round of local elections which of course is causing much concern for many people wondering whether it's sensible to be doing this at a time of great risk as you pointed out french president saying this is the worst health crisis france has faced in a century is this a political risk for mr macro because on the one hand the government saying you can't go to bars you can't go to restaurants you can't go to the football but on the other hand you can actually go out and vote you can vector yourself into potential contamination potential infection and we're ok with that. the french government say that the democratic process must continue they have put in place certain regulations so if you go to vote you have to stand a meter apart you space to where mosque use hand sanitizer when you going in and out soon bring your own pen to sign the register but nevertheless french health experts and many political leaders said that it was simply not worth holding the

elections at this time that you are putting swathes of population risk it's also not necessarily democratic because you have a large part of the population who simply can't go and vote because they are in self isolation because they are sick or they're in lockdown such as old people that all people soames they've not been able to go out for the last week because of the extra precautions being taken so it's a very unusual situation for the french government presence of michael's party while they were actually on the back foot going into these local elections some weeks ago they weren't expected to be doing particularly well with a lot of continuing anger among some of the population against president michel if the things like his pension reforms the french government were perhaps thinking that their handling of the health crisis and situation which has been relatively well seen here in france might help revive the fortunes in these polls but haps that's why they've chosen to press ahead with them we have a 2nd round do you next sunday will have to see whether or not they will continue

to press ahead with them and whether or not in fact their decision to carry on with these elections will backfire natasha many thanks. ok let's turn our attention to some of the asian countries other countries around asia been bringing in tough new measures to stop the virus from spreading as a number of countries have seen a jump in new cases including malaysia which has reported $190.00 new infections a collapse of the details new restrictions every day across the world as each country fights its own battle against the corona virus in australia has strict travel measures are being implemented anyone arriving from abroad must self quarantine for 2 weeks cruise ships entering australian waters will soon be banned from docking for 30 days prime minister scott morrison says the restrictions are necessary and has called for an urgent meeting of the g 20 promised a modi is carrying to organize i link up between all the g 20 leaders i think

that's i think that's a commendable initiative a struggle obviously supports that and even more urgent maybe that would be needed would be the meaning of the g 20 finance ministers and central bank governors this is a whole crisis but it has very serious economic impact in new zealand the number of people infected has gone up after person travelled from australia despite having tested positive for corona virus itself isolation period of 2 weeks to travelers entering new zealand has come into force but those coming from small south pacific island countries with no reported cases are exempt we're going to step up their enforcement things like spot checks to ensure people are self isolating and if you don't there are quarantine powers at baylor boto us and on new zealand's east coast passengers on a cruise ship docked in akra town are not allowed to disembark 3 people on board are quarantined with one showing symptoms. so in the pacific region the philippine

capital manila has begun a month's lockdown thousands of police to sealing off the city by blocking major roads the koren see means domestic travel. in and out of miller is suspended with a few exemptions one morning. there's so much traffic the containment measures are disruptive but it's ok it's for the good of our own health. from monday minute his 12000000 residents will be under a nightly curfew and are encouraged to stay a time during the day schools are closed most government jobs will be suspended and large gatherings are to be banned. the philippines is taking some of the toughest measures yet in the region people's movement is being restricted if users hope it will prevent a bigger spread of the virus. and just. as infection numbers globally the dunwood trend in china continues with the communist party hailing as efforts as a major victory beijing concealed the initial outbreak and is now trying to promote its success through propaganda at home and abroad but the blanket locked and heavy

quarantine restrictions came at a cost tens of millions of people so a clock has more. on his 1st trip to the epicenter of the corona virus outbreak chinese president xi jinping went on what commentators called a victory lap visiting members of the communist party and health workers on the front line he congratulated the people of one hand for defeating what's now a global pandemic the places he went to or it was a very choreographed for everything with stepping away so ever and it was on message so that it maps for so the signaling in the newspapers t.v. . media is partly winning the battle but partly it's also signaling to people. who were there when it's a mass lockdown across e bay province came into effect at the end of january as well strict quarantine and travel restrictions across china 60000000 people were forced to stay at home including 11000000 from the city of the world health organization has raised

beijing's response but not everyone appreciated the robust containment measures with infection numbers for the hash tag when will he be on blocked was read more than me. $100000000.00 times on china's social media platform weibo the shutdown may worked but some say that success could also come at a cost i didn't feel like i was. and maybe. i just sensed the same face the place i was because well nobody can tell me what. i think people do you know. when you. look has been separated from her father since january he's in the city we hand for work she's chosen to hide her identity in fear of a safety being associated with a resident at the epicenter of the outbreak i just can't help feeling worried for his health and we because we don't know anything about. what's happening how

people are going. into. the government in who by province is now introducing a mobile monitoring system with residents given a rating based on the health those considered low risk would be allowed to resume travel officials in other countries including italy are following china's lead putting the country in lockdown hoping the spread of the virus can be slowed or even reversed as a result the outbreak now threatens global growth all eyes will be on china as it attempts to return to business as usual sarah clarke al-jazeera hong kong. the leaders of 8 south asian countries have held a video conference to discuss the region's response to coronavirus india pakistan and bangladesh are among the group of nations trying to work out how to beat covert 19 there are at least 107 confirmed current violence cases in india followed by 33 in pakistan and 16 in afghanistan let's talk now to n.p.r.

school he's the director of the center for research and security studies in islamabad. if they're going to beat coronavirus in that region how do they do it. quite obviously there has to be a coordinated response as far as troubling to one another country is concerned as far as screening measures are concerned. in a way that will not why it has come as a lesson in disguise but really for india and pakistan which have been locked in our fears and in our city for the past 5 years india continuously rejecting all over to pakistan and also rejecting the sadic summit which is supposed to be held in pakistan for the last 4 years and india had the start of that effort but now because of the particular situation. has accepted the indian in an indication

and a minister of state will be travelling to to the conference to to coordinate the response to the to the corona wires are they big enough on all sides to get beyond those long lasting entrenched differences over those big big issues one would hope that better sense prevails in india. particularly because ever since i have caught the end in serving navy opposite as a as a spy so the indian government went into an extremely hostile attitude if using 2 opposing declining all offers and disengaging almost all together so one would hope that could or know why it is basically had obsessive mitigating factor and cut it is india as well as pakistan to engage and not only to cope with this pandemic but also to me it is human did

negotiation on some of the contentious outstanding issues here with those negotiations begin and where with the end. well that's an extremely tricky question $1000000000.00 question i would say because both countries are locked in in the. media where the indian government basically change the status of the himalayan state and bugs continues to raise or raised noises about what the india has done both in terms of the changing of the status of the kashmir state as well as the human race where nations there so this is an extremely sticking point and one would only hope that this not does not stall not only the start of consultation or covered $1000.00 but also pave the way for exemption of dialogue whatever it may be would be regardless whether it's on kashmir or on other

on counterterrorism which india has been touting as the supreme supreme issue as far as your relations with pakistan is concerned ok we'll have to leave the imtiaz gul thank you very much. to the states the biggest u.s. carrier the airline american is to slash 75 percent of its international flights up until the month of may the cuts were announced to the white house restricting travel from all countries including the u.k. and the republic of ireland and it was a cross the u.s. were already in chaos with incoming travelers forced to wait hours for medical screening before tossing through customs the pandemic has forced the presidential primary in the states of georgia to be postponed until may there are also big changes in how candidates are campaigning rob reynolds has that from los angeles. you know from the last campaign rallies canceled a debate without an audience personal campaigning suspended the coronavirus

pandemic has swiftly changed the way the race is being run most politicians thrive on crowds and they enjoy it. they feed off of them traditional campaign behavior could speed the spread of the disease lots of touching lots of shaking hands holding on to the rope lines and lots of crowds and lots of people that's what happens during normal political campaigns and that is unfortunately the perfect setup for a pandemic because that's how these things are spread all of the candidates have canceled upcoming rallies that could affect donald trump who gets a jolt of energy and ego boosting from packed arenas he gets a lot of. a lot of support from those crowds but he goes to his people to his base and you know he speaks for an hour an hour and a half and convinces himself that he's very popular bernie sanders also thrives on

boisterous crowds and joe biden is famously a touchy feely hands on politician who loves hand-shaking on the rope line so in the age of covert 19 what's a candidate to do so to be responsible i think the candidates have to. take a step back and start doing more campaigning virtually biden tried a virtual town hall interacting online with voters in illinois it didn't go well. the technical glitches made the candidate sound like a mel functioning robot but it's just a trick. the technical details will probably get ironed out but big questions remain what happens to the party nominating conventions if the virus is still circulating in july and august and how about the november election itself long lines and crowded polling places are nobody's idea of social distancing voting

booths and polling places are also places that concern me very much if the virus is still rampant at that time i'm going to recommend that we do mail in voting despite the changes that the pandemic may force candidates and their campaigns to make they can still reach the vast majority of voters through television ads and online through social media robert oulds al jazeera los angeles. but francis won't be leading any public easter celebrations at the vatican because of the coronavirus break worshippers will be able to follow his prayers online and on t.v. the leader of the roman catholic church had already canceled some public audiences after catching a cold but will now be a full shutdown until easter day april the 12th well the pandemic has led to school closures in many countries unesco that's the u.n. educational organization is estimating more than 421000000 children in iran 60

countries directly affected and he teaches a using virtual learning to ensure children don't miss their lessons but there are still several challenges as now explains. at a time when the elderly seem to be more stick risk of the coronavirus pandemic and the young are being told to stay at home to stop the infection from spreading but. we're worried about this chronic virus but we're also a bit relieved because there's not much chance or die from or more scared of transmitting it will feel. and we're more scared for the elderly grandma and grandpa. dozens of countries around the world have ordered schools to shut down its impact being felt on the daily lives of more than 400000000 children what's the name of the earth in a matter of days educators and institutions are being forced to adapt at innovate

on a scale never seen before draw a shoe that looks the way you teachers and students are trying to use online learning to was ushering the new era of digital learning this current of our situation gives us a great object lesson where we can say well how are we going to design for survival under these pretty new circumstances and online teaching is an exact. response to. the problem and we get to. innovative ways are changing how to respond to the crisis but in a world where nearly 40 percent of the population don't have access to internet the new coronavirus has also exposed the deep digital divide that exists between countries. and communities when no income families depend on schools to provide the children with safety abby titian collision of schools mean and citing and hunger

for some in many countries including the united states i schools player vital function in providing or food which open we have over 50 percent of the children public school united states who qualified to receive free lunch and free breakfast at school every day and if they're not in school means some of them will not be eating there are many parts of the world including the united states where people do not have access to the internet and that so to rely on virtual learning remote learning i during this period is going to exacerbate those inequities as most cities and towns go under lockdown and government leaders scramble for response it seems like it's taken a pandemic to view the existing inequality made much was priyanka gupta 0. it's a game of 2 halves or whether of 2 hemispheres is rich thanks very much so yes we've got a couple of cyclons to consider at the moment nothing cause any great concern so keep

it in perspective the 1st one is this one for the coast of madagascar and let me point to the union they're the main population centers which were most worried about the way things are look at the moment this system is very very slowly towards the southeast towards that particular direction now it's got winds of 140 kilometers per hour says quite a strong base to house to be said the main feature has been the brain for scene reports about 150 millimeters of rain in parts of madagascar i suspect over the mountains is probably drop 302400 millimeters this is self is going for actually no where at the moment but it does start to pick up a little bit of pace as we head through the next 24 to 48 hours but it does focus so it just misses it goes towards the northeast so there are several keep it on the track but that's the way it's looking at the moment meanwhile across in australia we've got this other system now this one gretl is moving much more quickly nearly 39 kilometers per hour towards the southeast so it's not really going to interact

with any other land masses moved away from new caledonia given some heavy rain there but it will eventually sit just a fact in the weather in the north and you see and it could get pretty stormy here peter rhodes thanks very much still to come here on the news israel postponing prime minister benjamin netanyahu is corruption trial over for years to do with the coronavirus plus. one year on how christ church is marking the mosque shootings that killed dozens. some sports are going to miss the price to play on the pandemic. in 2014 and al-jazeera and the. revealed how anger and fear fueled. that ravaged west africa we asked. her to.

3 years on we speak to the filmmaker the wanting to spread. his fear that was born out of rewind liberia living with an al-jazeera. soon as the sun goes down. russia is a very challenging place to work from and. even folks here say you can't do it it's not allowed to feel pushing you're always pushing. more. people are being taken for peacefully march here through the city center we are travelling the extra mile where all the media go go we go there and we give them a chance to tell their story. i've.

come back here watching the news live from doha and peter dhabi let's get you right up to speed with all the top stories around says the number of people who died from the corona virus there has now risen to $724.00 it is the hardest hit nation across the middle east with around $14000.00 infections. checkpoints are in place around the philippine capital manila as the government imposes new restrictions to curb the virus 12000000 residents are only allowed to leave their homes for work or emergencies for the next one month. the french president emmanuel mann kong has defended his decision to hold local elections despite the pandemic country house at least 4 and a half 1000 cases and to shut down shops and restaurants. here is really prime minister benjamin netanyahu is corruption trial has been for spurring for at least 2 months to see concerns over the coronavirus meanwhile efforts to form

a new coalition government in israel have resumed however the discussions are expected to last just one day today because of the outbreak of the virus live now to west to islam and harry forces harry there saying it should only take today but this is israeli politics what are the chances by the end of the day we have a new israeli government. oh practically 0 that the government by the end of the day what could happen by the end of the day is that the president reuben rivlin having judged how many recommendations he gets from the news that the newly elected members of the israeli parliament the knesset each of the rival candidates for prime minister he could decide which of those 2 men either benjamin netanyahu or benny gantz to give thirst dibbs to try to form a coalition government now benny gantz has been awarded one bonus today in the form

of the mainly palestinian israeli joint missed of parties all 15 of them all 15 of members have recommended benny gantz the prime minister that didn't happen after the 2nd election last time around in september the party the constituent part of that alliance declined to recommend him so should he get them and all of the other potential people who might recommend him then he might have the edge over benjamin netanyahu despite the fact that benjamin netanyahu has the could. score more victories more scored more seats in the election than dances blue and white the key player in this really will be avigdor lieberman benjamin netanyahu as former defense minister former chief of staff full of medical aid now bitter rival he has said initially before the coronavirus really took off here he had said that he would support a minority government supported from the outside by the joint nest with benny gantz

as prime minister since then netanyahu has been calling for an emergency national unity government one that is required for at least 6 months with him in charge to tackle the virus lieberman had initially at least supported that idea but now today he's saying that he sees that as something of a political tactic by netanyahu just to try to engineer fresh elections again in a few months time and win those off the back. of his performance during the coronavirus so it's very unclear just yet as to which of these 2 possible present prime ministerial candidates will get the most recommendations we have to wait and see so there has been some talk to clear over the last couple of weeks that saying that mr netanyahu is only option is to go for a 4th general election say in 5 or 6 months but in the immediate short term what are the chances that mr netanyahu would gratefully accept having to play 2nd fiddle to prime minister benny gantz i think pretty short those sorts of odds netanyahu has made it very clear throughout this crisis especially over the course of the

last week he's been on television pretty much every night very publicly taking charge of the coronavirus crisis and essentially conveying the message yet again that he is the indispensable leader for this country especially at times when its security and safety are in jeopardy so it's very clear that he wants to be either prime minister for 6 months and then we go back to point 0 and try and organize some kind of coalition there after all he's offering benny gantz a 4 year deal when netanyahu goes 1st benny gantz goes 2nd down is always set up into a list point that he would not accept sitting in such an arrangement but who knows the coronavirus could change things also just to know that the restrictions are enforced across the country now no leisure activities people being told to stay home from work it's possible and indeed the iraq's a mosque and the dome of the rock have been shut down it's a prayer people being told they translate it only in the grounds outside ok we'll

leave it there thanks very much kyra. russia and turkey in other news are holding joint military patrols in syria to monitor the ceasefire in providence the latest planned strikes when violence in the last rebel held area was finalized on friday after 4 days of talks in ankara patrolling the strategic m. 4 highway linking syria's east and west the 2 countries backed opposing sides in the war in syria which started in 20 or less so in conservatives in istanbul she says the patrol was opposed by people on the ground today it was for a child because of this blockade on the highway by the civilians the route was cut short are brought the because they didn't want to come face to face with the civilians that's why a much longer route was completed about in 3 kilometers turkish defense ministry we are delivered the statement saying that the 1st joint battle has been handled by the russians with the participation of the land and air forces but the russian

defense ministry has a statement saying that they are expecting the turks to eliminate their what they call radical elements inside at them so this is again a very fragile process both for turkey and russia because this really seemed to be not happy about the cease fire deal that was signed but of course when it comes to the syrian opposition groups inside the it turkey has a critical position because it has observation posts inside of the both down below the m 4 highway and a border for highway this is going to be a tough process for to keep and so to wants to keep its minister presence but if the syrian opposition groups mainly the group called. it continues to be against this cease fire signed between turkey and russia turkey might need to be. might need to make a choice between the opposition group and the russian side. well the war in syria

enters its 10th year on sunday marking a decade of fighting with no real end in sight 370000 people have been killed and millions displaced a binge of aid reports the u.n. says more than 11000000 syrians are in urgent need of aid. the 2011 uprising had been brewing for decades in the suppression and exploded during the arab spring. people from all walks of life protested in their thousands and sing a possibility of overthrowing a government they saw as undemocratic back then it was syrians undivided forward in this city religion or sectarianism. but the government of bashar al assad used force against the protesters those opposing it when labeled terrorists. opposition leaders professionals activists were all targeted those who weren't executed but arrested tortured or rent placing that's when the uprising turned

violent 2 machine guns replaced by tanks and rifles by airstrikes. when the government's use of indiscriminate bombs failed opposition areas were targeted with chemical weapons hundreds were killed. already world leaders at peace in meetings try to find solutions the un security council has since passed over a dozen resolutions but russia blocked many of them while maintaining its support for the assad government what is important is that governments in the region and beyond work together. with this syrians to resolve this current crisis. this is a war in syria soon became a battleground for international and regional powers the dresher in iran standing by the assad government countries the u.s. and turkey all backed opposition groups. which failed to put up a united fight. while the world lacking

a meaningful response competing interests and mounting debt violent groups became dominant and in 2014 these nomic state of iraq and the levant or eisel declared a caliphate but as its capital. 6 the countries which refuse military action in syria soon formed a coalition against isis. syrian civilians were being killed by assad's forces opposition infighting. and coalition airstrikes by then more than 200000 people had been killed the united nations decided to stop counting the dead. russia's active military deployment in 2015 was a game changer for damascus it was backed by should be of russian air power and iranian troops and military from iraq and lebanon opposition fighters rapidly lost areas they controlled through the years activists and rights group kept reminding the world of the horrific violence syrians are facing. i feel is propaganda and

abuse by government forces drew condemnations from international leaders for the military the starve or surrender tactic worked where bombs and troops didn't millions of syrians removed each year to live province and the various deals until it became the last remaining rebel stronghold in the last 9 years hospitals have been deliberately destroyed even those whose quarter notes were provided by the un to russia and syrian forces in its relentless campaign the government has started civilian buildings it would in schools universities and community centers. even rescuers have been targeted and secondly strikes when they gather to pull bodies from the rubble of an attack over half of syria's pre-war population that's more than 12000000 people have either been killed or forced from their homes. every once in a while when a large group of refugees had to word europe the world pays some attention but a vast majority of syrians affected by the war feel abandoned by the world with no

end in sight for their suffering. their. iraq's experiencing the worst political crisis is that president saddam hussein the country hasn't had a leader since november when mass protests forced. from office the president is due to select a new candidate on tuesday simona holton reports from baghdad. gone are the dense crowds from the early days of what few here still dare to call a revolution for 5 months protesters have demanded jobs an end to corruption and sweeping political reform but the government has offered few concessions instead responding with what the u.n. has called excessive force those who remain in the protest squares are young men from by the doubts poorest neighborhoods with nothing to lose your why. someone came to us and said you're young why did she work where the jobs are they. waiting

for us there are no jobs unless it's humiliating work many of those who remain feel like they've reached a point of no return they can't abandon the cause even if only out of fear for their own safety. good night that we should buy houses in the neighborhood the moment i leave here to go home they'll kidnap me they followed me more than once and i hardly got away. the size of the protests is reduced but not the attacks against them anti-riot police have recently begun to use hunting rifles to fire at protesters and medics this is what they are using at the moment the ammunition they used before was smaller when this is fired it explodes into shrapnel that hits your entire body we have a lot of medics who got injured even people from the red crescent the father of the injured are rushed to nearby medical tents where volunteers provide 1st aid before serious cases are taken to nearby hospitals in the our al jazeera was here we saw

half a dozen gunshot injuries in just this one tent one person had shrapnel in his chest another in his eye. those who recover a vow to keep going until the end whatever that may be iraq's protest movement appears to be struggling to stay alive and with the world's attention elsewhere the radical changes protesters want seem increasingly distant iraq's president is due to nominate a new prime minister on march 17th but some analysts say that there is less pressure than ever on the political establishment to meet the demands of demonstrators so wonderful to al-jazeera. the 1st man ever convicted by the international criminal court has been freed from prison in kinshasa supporters gathered outside mccollough prison to welcome thomas lubanga the bundle was found guilty in 2012 for recruiting child soldiers to fight in the democratic republic of congo war crimes were linked to a period between 20022003. but banks are kenya's public hospitals are running

dry forcing many patients to ask for donations themselves u.s. funding for transfusion services was pulled last year catherine sawyer has the story from my ruby. it has taken helen barazan month to get 4 pints of blood from a government hospital so she can start treatment as recently diagnosed with cervical cancer and traveled to nairobi from western kenya to begin radiation therapy sessions doctors told her she needed more blood but the hospital did not have it neither was it possible for people to donate because the national transfusion center was shot off screening agents so. i'm just praying and i know it will get better i have faith but i've gone through with this disease is a nerve i have looked for blood every one intervention i was in so much pain and stress wondering what will happen to me for i don't get the blood in september last

year the u.s. government withdrew funds that almost entirely paid for government blood services in kenya with no donor money. the health ministry appears to be struggling to sustain blood donation programs screening as well as paying staff members in centers across the country government officials say the problem is being resolved but now the police are also investigating claims that some health workers are selling the little blood available to hospitals in somalia the head of a parliamentary committee and house told al jazeera the government had made no alternative plans to fill the financial gap after the u.s. cut its funding the holy shortage comes in the blood that is available as roads clean then it's not available for use. but it comes in and the whole of the entire problem is tied up to the issue of resources the health ministry has now ramped up blood drives according to world health organization guidelines

a country like kenya with 47000000 people should be collecting up to a 1000000 units of blood every hour yet on average only about 864000 units are collected and mostly from schools and universities private hospitals have their own blood baths but many are not accessible to people with no money or insurance like helen. and live every month doctors organize a regular blood donation campaign and the screening is down right here. with a quick but many. doctors say blood is also running low because many kenyans are reluctant to donate mainly because of cultural and religious reasons as well as possible fear is. for us a has started her radiation sessions but she knows this may not be the end and she might need more blood catherine soy al-jazeera nairobi kenya. sunday marks one year

since $51.00 worshippers were killed in 2 mosques in new zealand special prayers were held on friday but the coronavirus pandemic has forced the cancellation of the main memorial services that were planned is victoria gate me. students in christ church were united in spirit and police and the hour together they came to the al no mosque where the 1st attack happened to remember the victims it's more important to come ashore as we speak. today than being scared of whatever the al know and linwood mosques were targeted by a white extremist gunman one year ago 51 people were killed for those who survived this is a difficult day i can't explain what i feel this morning. i was thinking and look at the top i said ok is 8 o'clock now. and.

5 hours later last year. going to be injured with 9 bullets this wasn't the new zealanders wanted to remember the victims but the corona virus outbreak forced the cancellation of the main memorial services. since the attack the government has tightened its gun laws parliament quickly voted to ban military style semiautomatic weapons. but muslim leaders say much more work needs to be done to tackle prejudice what happened last year happened in large part because of the other ring of a community and how a particular individual saw muslims us talk sic in the subway and the author and i think that we're whoever the author is in any community in any way as long as authoring continues unless that changes then the healing called take place and australia man is charged with terrorism murder and attempted murder is jew to stand

trial in g. victoria gate and be al-jazeera. still to come joe will join us with the sports news including we'll hear from those fighting for a place at the olympics in tokyo but facing a lengthy quarantine when they get home. a journey both dark. blue there's a very for everybody there's a lot of corruption and beautiful lake the beautiful lady you have to be very patient and order is also the same as ascended you can see how i was introduced to it though when my father and my most or all working for king for how the personal story to discover the source of one of the most expensive commodities sent from heaven and our just sarah. full of struggles. you know but i'm not i would not oh my god i mean all along all the time walking up

on the full of pleasure to go out there oh man i'm getting away with it i'm not good but i'm not going to have an intimate look at life in cuba today as it was and no one of our country we are going to watch the norm i get a buzz about my cuba on al-jazeera. you're. but is that what sport going on around the world yes there is but just maybe a little bit more with the spanish early go on lockdown for 2 weeks valencia have announced 5 positive tests of current virus among 1st team players and stuff the

1st to be announced was defend as he and the other 4 individuals are at home in good health and self isolated for those who travel to milan last month for a champions league match at a full capacity san siro stadium over in rare brazilian champions flamengo played a match in an empty medical and asked stadium which once famously hosted nearly 200000 fans at the 950 well cup final before the game flamingos players have been tested after too much the club's vice president contract to create a virus on a trip to spain. today it was very complicated emotionally i've never played without supporters i hope this was the 1st and the last time it's a distressing thing it's bothering that's the ultimate proof that there's no way of playing without friends also it affected the team having to be tested for coronavirus worried with what we could have. said we need to buy you time portuguese and i know pretty well what's going on in portugal i lost

a friend so this is not a joke. i think it's told him it needs to stop we should not have the next round of games for the players and not superheroes for mango is a team that is at risk. and took a full continues but without spectators these shots of callous hacer i stadium in istanbul being disinfected at of sunday safe in a game against us sports events in turkey will continue behind closed doors until at least the end of april those plenty of disinfecting on show an australian rugby league as melbourne storm took on the money sea eagles the bulls were playing with bleach every time they went into the crowd off towards melbourne's captain cameron smith cold in the n.r.l. to be suspended the team travels a lot and we're travelling actually every 2nd week of the competition so you know we're going to be exposed to the airports in the air travel. crowds a lot said there's a nice incentive to apply as i understand. themselves the extent of their families

. making this this issue which is already libel. making it much bigger more dizzying to destroy not. in the u.k. whole sree scene is continuing largely as normal that's off to hundreds of thousands of fans attended last week's chelm festival. racing's taken its the heat from the government and is basically saying while they can continue they will continue hence the reason why we have chosen them last week with over 250000 race goes there was racing yesterday in the u.k. as indeed there is today but in scotland racing tomorrow it can't say only 500 people will be allowed say they are and i'm sure racing is preparing for the event you want to see that have to race behind closed doors and midweek meeting say it's subtle and wolverhampton you probably might not get more than 600 people there so

there's not actually going to be a huge significance if these meetings are stage behind closed doors indeed they be doing that a non and france will be doing that they do have extra source is of revenue coming in from the betting that they say from that point of view racing should be able to find a way to continue to operate so that people can enjoy it on television and it might be a big shop window for the sport but the the big question mark is a meeting at the grand national meeting spread over 3 days in liverpool they'll get 150000 people there and always see there's a wider economic impact from that bucks from a t.v. perspective think it pugin over years around the world indeed in britain 89000000 people will watch that race so i'm sure all the racing full authority will try and find a way to stage the grand national but clearly there are going to be lots of discussions between now and then and how racing manages going forward and also there is this

p.r. aspect to it because if they are seen to be too out of kilter with out the sports it might it will reflect potentially badly on the school well they're hunting 30 days to go in the take and then picks and still on to states but then pick flame hyundai for in athens next week will be done behind kunze tools chris already shut down the relay through the country to avoid attracting crowds in the day. european and pick boxing qualifies opened in london on sas a but there was an early upset belgian former professional soon lost in the early rounds she can still make it through the well qualifiers later this year which is light weight caroline dubois won her opening bounce but there's concern amongst other boxes i've a whether the qualify should be taking place especially those who face being quarantined i saw the event would be cancelled already we arrived here on tuesday. started to be cancelled but all of

a sudden they told us we are going to fight we can come come home when it's time to come we've got unturned i think. but i take it it's. of obviously a bit ridiculous but we have to take our own response and do something to keep the virus down. the rally of mexico is finished early after organizers decide to cut short cyberforce changing travel restrictions around the world frenchman's best you know she has clinched his 6 win in mexico the former world champion such the lead in friday's speed test and kept his tears here rests on course in hot conditions to clinch his 1st victory for the t o 10 counts do racing team. right that's just for for now pay to have peter thanks very much joe so we'll be here. with all the top stories for you from everyone here on the news thanks for watching we will see you very soon.

when the news breaks work down for was part of the ins and getting more police on the presentation and economic development when people need to be held to the top leadership world where the potential for parity of the virus weeks before the public were told it was dangerous al jazeera has teams on the ground the syrian army says determined to defeat the rebels and to use advanced words this is a good day to bring you the winning documentaries and life news. a nation where corruption is endemic now embroiled in a battle to hold the power to account. how does this radical transformation occur. i mean nobody i mean if you want to know the shedding light on the romanians pressing for change and the unconventional methods to eliminate

corruption remain people. on houses in. the us the fact finders accuse the bernie's military of genocide this is a political if you think that. do you believe the modi is a fascist or poor kids don't have all gone they. wouldn't vote the recognize the both sides have legitimate grievances against the other climate this is the foundation of climate back then and that is why the palookas must take hard hitting debate with up. on al-jazeera. al-jazeera. and.

a spike in corona virus cases in spain more than 100 deaths in the past 24 hours. alarms the rommany what you notice there are a lot of my headquarters here in doha coming up in. the next 30 minutes iran is warning the pandemic could overwhelm its health system reporting almost $14000.00 infections friends holds its local elections despite the outbreak and imposes strict measures to tackle the spread also checkpoints and curfews across the philippines capital restrictions imposed on 12000000 people.