that's what we do high up there's no oxygen. just to experience life simple pleasures. risking it all in kurdistan on al-jazeera. today i'm instructing my administration to halt. funding of the world health organization world the us president accuses the world body of failure and dissent from ation handling of the coronavirus pandemic but swift reaction from the u.n. saying now is not the time to keep funding some a group on the front lines of the world's most dangerous challenge. hello i'm down in jordan this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up an election in the time of a pandemic south koreans carefully head to the ballot box plus. this is

a crisis like no other the international monetary fund says the coronavirus is setting the world towards its worst financial downturn since the great depression. hero's welcome for nurses who traveled across the u.s. to lend a helping hand in new york city hospitals. u.s. president donald trump has announced he'll hold funding for the world health organization the top u.n. body at the forefront of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic trump is accusing the w.h.o. of both a cover up and a botching the initial response to the outbreak he says the group has made things worse by spreading disinformation from china but the virus was 1st detected. we have deep concerns whether america's generosity has been put to the best use

possible the reality is that the w.h.o. failed to adequately obtain vet and share information in a timely and transparent fashion the world depends on the w.h.o. to work with countries to ensure that accurate information about international health threats is shared in a timely manner and if it's not to independently tell the world the truth about what is happening the w.h.o. failed in this basic duty and must be held accountable but the u.n. secretary general says now is not the time to reduce resources for the w.h.o. which is on the front lines of what he called one of the most dangerous challenges the world has faced in our lifetime and as a dire forecast on the economic front the international monetary fund says the world is heading towards the worst financial downturn since the great depression of the 1930 s. the i.m.f. chief economist says lock downs could cost the global economy more than $9.00

trillion dollars over the next 2 years well the world health organization is the un's agency responsible for global public health last year the u.s. contributed 15 percent of its funding the most from any single donor the u.s. paid nearly $900000000.00 china contributed about $9000000.00 well lawrence gostin is a professor at georgetown university he says the u.s. government's slow response to the pandemic is outrageous the united states had ample warning. the degree joe very early on said that the world had to brace itself. and to do confinement. contact tracing testing quarantines. the world health organization. similarly. disclosed the genetic sequencing of the

virus and the president and everybody in america could see as a tsunami of cases were sweeping across africa then east and a sorry not africa china and then east asia then to europe and then finally to the united states so we had so much time to prepare and we just didn't it was dismaying. and you know made me almost ashamed to be an american because at a time when we're facing literally a once in a century global health crisis when tens of thousands of people are dying when this is the time more than ever. for our global health leadership and global solidarity to have the united states undercut world

health organization was indeed painful to watch i never thought i would see an american president. undercut a vital u.n. agency in the way the president tried did and i think it will do will happen it'll just the united states has now lost all voice all influence over. international relations and global health and affairs. i think that the world will be outraged by this act for the u.s. president to still came to left social distancing restrictions in some states possibly by the beginning of may he's at odds with some of his governors who want to make the decision themselves michaela has more from washington d.c. . president trump also against the advice of his medical experts continues to press for an earlier opening of many u.s. states saying that it's quite possible that a number of states could have restrictions lifted by the end of this month this is

what he had to say there are numerous states that are in great shape right now they're viewing the rest of the country like we don't even believe this is happening we have a lot of those states they're set to open practically now i mean they would be open now we're going to let them open sooner than the date we're going to pick a date we're going to get a date that's good but it's going to be very very soon sooner than the end of the month but there are many states out there that are looking at this and they're reviewing it and they're saying we shouldn't be even included in this you know there are some that want to open up almost now now if we disagree with it we're not going to let them open voting is underway in south korea's bottom entry election it's the world's 1st national ballot to be held during the pandemic voters are required to wear masks and gloves must maintain social distancing south korea see more than $10000.00 infections and more than $200.00 deaths of zeros drop mcbride has more from a polling station in the capital seoul. there are various precautions in place here

as people turn up we are in a fairly busy residential part of seoul and we've seen varying numbers come through at the hours that we've been here but they all have to go through the same process everybody has to keep a distance of at least a metre apart as they are and to the polling station you have your temperature checked you have hand sanitizer obviously everybody is wearing a mask but you are also given special disposable gloves with which you can handle your ballot paper and when you leave the voting station you throw those gloves away again everybody taking absolute precautions that no infections are passed on as people go out to vote interestingly if people do turn up here and they are found to have a temperature they are not turned away they are sent to a special voting booth where you can still have your vote what also is happening on this election day is that the end of the regular polling that you've got to remember that there are something like 50000 people throughout south korea who are in self quarantine at the moment who are still have a right to

a vote so what happens is that although they're in cell coroutine they're not meant to leave wherever they are sheltering or whether maybe there are at home but for one day only they are allowed to leave and then come to certain polling stations which are going to be kept open just for them so they have a vote and have their say in this ballot well as we mentioned the international monetary fund is predicting a grim few years for the global economy due to the coronavirus alan fischer reports . from the international monetary fund a stark warning this is a crisis like no other which means there is substantial uncertainty about the impact it will have on people's lives and livelihoods as unemployment lines grow around the world as manufacturing grains to halt in many sectors as businesses are forced to close the economic impact of the corporate crisis is bowing to the i.m.f. issues regular reports on the global financial situation 3 months ago they were

predicting widespread growth could one of us has radically changed the landscape we are projecting global growth in 2022 for. to minus. 3 percent now this is a downgrade of 6.3 percentage points from general 2020 a major division over a very short period of time this makes the great lockdown the worst recession since the great depression and far worse than the global financial crisis one of the biggest jobs will come in the european union soon which is expected to take a hit of 7.5 percent the u.s. where the president is pushing to reopen the economy is looking at a contraction of nearly 6 percent japan 5.2 percent down the same as latin america in china where the pandemic began and has begun to reopen its economy it's expected to record growth of just over one percent the i.m.f.

is predicting that if things don't deteriorate there will be a rebound for the global economy in 2021 the one economist warns that might be short lived i think he's going to run into a lot of headwinds in terms of the kind of the draft that's going to come from all of that the big shock that's happened over the past quarter in terms of bankruptcies in terms of lost jobs and that is going to weigh quite heavily on demand and that is why governments and central banks stepping up stimulus to try and give the economy this extra boost when it comes out of this shock this didn't used by the shutdowns one year seriously impacted the airline industry it seems passenger numbers dropped by half globally airlines no think they'll lose more than 300000000000 dollars this year much more than expected the i.m.f. is urging countries to what together to beat the pandemic saying there is no tradeoff between saving lives and saving livelihoods alan fischer al-jazeera

virginia. well the i.m.f. is also forecasting that latin america will plunge into recession that could set the clock back more than 50 years in terms of economic growth of the 635000000 people who live in latin america and the caribbean at least a 3rd could lose their livelihoods as a result of the pandemic a latin america editor and human has more now from santiago. alexander guy this is trying to make enough to cover one day's expenses selling secondhand electrical goods on the street it's illegal but he has little choice made and i thought the police many a city police are let us work because it's going to get worse if we can't sell now we'll have to go out and steal later. my particularly if you know if they say there's nothing worse than kicking someone when they're down and that's exactly what coleridge 19 is doing to latin america if i was a white but all the restaurants close so now i'm trying to survive doing this just

to pay the rent and. the pandemic got the region on an already poor footing with anemic economic growth rising crime and social unrest fanned by severe inequality the forecast now is even more bleak. in the area standing. extreme. to me and so. to 200. 3 years. the biggest problem is unemployment and many latin american countries are too insolvent to provide viable economic rescue plans for small and medium sized businesses. venezuela ecuador argentina and most to central america and deep in debt already but all without exception will have

a hard time keeping their heads above water even after the pandemic subsides between 19952015 tens of millions of latin americans rose from poverty and into the lower middle class many of them were able to buy apartments like the ones you see here now these are precisely the people who stand to lose everything i mean the i.m.f. predicts the region will suffer its worst recession in half a century a lot may depend on if and when latin america's main trading partners china the u.s. and europe recover nothing is certain to disappoint except the region's main weakness a structural inequality that will take much longer to cure than the pandemic. you see in human al-jazeera santiago. time for a short break here al-jazeera when we come back a few european nations take the 1st cautious steps out of lockdowns to revive their economy. be considered. as virtual birthday

party. and how little important enough force people to come up with creative ways to get on with their daily lives more stay with us. hello there it has been a rather unsettled couple of days across areas of the middle east is fine to rain showers and will thunderstorms into the full cost but we're seeing a very heavy amounts of rain of coals impacting areas of yemen in particular of the capital this is a picture just like a couple of days ago the streets really are under water we've had some very heavy downpours in a very short space of time to come this is it on wednesday really developing through central areas a saudi and on its way east was across much of castle and by the time this system is done of the next 2 or 3 days we could be picking up potentially as much as 50

even 60 millimeters of rain that could well lead to some localized flooding certainly some dangerous flash floods and you can see that rain really all the way down into southern areas assad in again the chance of you showers and thunderstorms across into yemen meanwhile to the north wanted to showers across northern western areas of turkey but apart from that it's a fairly quiet picture that rain working its way east was into southern areas of iran as we go through in again it will be very heavy at times so the chance again of some isolated flooding and then down into southern africa still there are some heavy thunderstorms impacting eastern areas a south africa and again tanzania for the next couple days very heavy rains along those coastal areas and also heavy rains in the gulf of guinea. i don't think an isolating times the listening post cuts through the noise you've been looking at another side of this story are some of the information around the

outbreak but the misinformation separating propaganda from fact look it's reality and you have to reach a lot exposing the optics triathlon if the rhetoric and shit but they cannot manipulate the listening post your insight going to the media on al-jazeera. welcome back a quick amount of our top stories here at this hour u.s. president donald trump is suspending funding for the world health organization he says the botched the initial response to the outbreak and spread what he called disinclination from china the u.n. secretary general says now is not the time to reduce resources. voting is underway

in south korea's parliamentary elections it's the world's 1st national ballot to be held during the plan to make voters though are required to wear masks and gloves and untamed social distance. international monetary fund says the world is heading towards the worst economic downturn since the great depression of the 1930 s. the i.m.f. chief economist says lock downs aimed at stopping the outbreak could cost the global economy more than a 9 trillion dollars over the next 2 years. well 3 european countries have taken the 1st steps to partially open their economies after weeks on the lockdown but most shops and businesses in spain italy and austria remain closed and social distancing is still being enforced is paul brennan. after more than a month under government imposed closure the shutters are starting to be raised europe is taking its 1st cautious steps out of lockdown many italian bookshops stationary stores and children's clothing shops were allowed to reopen on tuesday

albeit with strict conditions but in a country which has seen more than 20000 fatalities from the virus the relief is mixed with fear but this is on the move a little i think the right thing is to prevent every possibility of infection obviously one needs to balance this with the need for normal life to resume but always remembering that the risk is still very high. the. better to be alive and poor if the shops that reopen a totally safe that both workers and customers then i am in favor i why. there will be a lot to do to get to that stage though italy is not made up of just large companies with big space as they can easily be organize shops in austria are also reopening for the 1st time since mid march and although shoppers are being urged not to stampede the sales there is a sense of optimism among vienna's retailers. cynthia hoffnung spoiled yes actually

we're in good spirit is the people have been locked up until now and we have already received some requests by phone and email or in the mood for some addresses yes we are hopeful. indian our approach over the coming months is going to be very clear as much freedom as possible as much restriction that is necessary but let me add should the figures develop in the wrong direction we will of course hold the emergency brake which we have in place should it become necessary. accurate data is crucial in knowing how and when to apply that emergency break the virus is ripping through the continents care homes where elderly residents are particularly vulnerable to infection but in the u.k. the government's daily death and infections to to stix only include hospital patients and new data suggest the real totals are much larger care home providers say the suggestion that u.k. government statistics are under estimating coronavirus deaths by some 15 percent

are themselves under estimates hit c $11.00 of britain's largest operating $329.00 homes including the one behind me said the virus is now present in 2 thirds of its residences and that the deaths of one 3rd of its residents in the past 3 weeks of involved coronavirus that's more than 300 people. britain's coronavirus restrictions are being reviewed this week with a decision by thursday on the current evidence there is no possibility that the u.k. will be joining its early austria and spain in starting to lift its coronavirus confinement orders paul brennan al-jazeera sorry well sweden has reported a sharp rise in deaths from corona virus 114 people died from the disease in the past day that's up from 20 on the previous day more than 11000 people have tested positive and over a 1000 died sweden has been criticized for taking a more liberal approach to the pandemic than many other countries. in occupied east

jerusalem there's concern corona virus is spreading through palestinian neighborhoods undetected the number of recorded cases shot up this week to 41 but health workers fear it could actually be double that are a force that reports. at this hospital in occupied east jerusalem an improvised new ward has been set up 16 beds readied to isolate patients who test positive for coronavirus already 3 patients who have tested positive have been sent to hospitals in west jerusalem after an infected man from a nearby neighborhood visited his old early father here all spittle director says the israeli government has failed to help prepare you stew slim's health system to tackle the pandemic not enough protective equipment only 23 ventilators between 3 hospitals serving 350000 people this is too little i mean the. people our population in egypt please please please because you know if there.

goes out of course there is nothing we can do that we can do the israeli health ministry has said 1000 patients from east jerusalem could be treated in the west of the city and that a major outbreak isn't expected but in recent days cases here have started to spike despite attempts by local committees to enforce lockdown measures. the israeli occupation was not happy with this and they clashed with the groups i think israel must understand that we all humanity are in a war against corona and it is not the time for issues like who is sovereign here. jerusalem has the highest crooner virus numbers of any city on the israeli health ministry's list it's been reported that ultra-orthodox jewish neighborhoods account for about 3 quarters of them israeli officials say palestinians have largely abided by the lockdown restrictions they may also have been protected by a younger average age and fewer contacts with people who've been overseas but there's also been a large of some weeks between testing facilities being set up in jewish areas and

in palestinian ones more and more testing centers like this one are opening up for residents of occupied east jerusalem but the concern is that the delay is still preventing health authorities from getting an accurate picture of just how widespread this disease is palestinian israeli politician ahmed tb has demanded greater testing capacity now he's calling on palestinians to use it putting aside any worries about social stigma we as if he does ship. doctors physicians health ministry in order to convince people that it is wrong not to be tested it is right to go and to be tested for the sake of yourself and your community this week the israeli government committed to provide testing 415-0000 palestinians living in parts of east jerusalem cut off by the separation wall after a court petition by palestinian israeli rights group more densely packed communities where the scale of the spread has been so far unknown perry forsett

al-jazeera occupied east jerusalem now one new york hospital battling the pandemic has received must think it back up. a group of 46 nurses from across the u.s. was given a surprise welcome by staff at northam health the city's largest health care provider training to help treat the influx of covered 9000 patients new york has more than 200000 positive cases at least 10000 people have died. i just feel like this is a calling that i felt several weeks ago i left family kids grandchildren behind to come out and help these people that need our help i've never been more proud to be a nurse and this is by far the most rewarding career i've ever had in my life and i'd like to thank them for welcoming us so much former u.s. president barack obama has endorsed his 2 term vice president joe biden in his bid for the white house in a video message obama said he believes biden is the candidate that america needs

during the crisis he also praised his former running mates leadership skills and empathy the backing comes less than a week of the bernie sanders dropped out of the race leaving only biden. if there's one thing we've learned as a country for moments of great crisis it's that the spirit of looking out for one another can't be restricted to our homes were our work places were neighborhoods or houses of worship it holds so has to be reflected in our national government the kind of leadership that's guided by knowledge and experience honesty and humility empathy and grace that kind of leadership doesn't just belong in our state capitals and mayors offices it belongs in the white house so he's president. has tabled the bill to free up to $90000.00 prisoners to help contain the pandemic but it's being criticized as it excludes government opponents rights activists and journalists and

cost the owner reports now from istanbul if you don't me she cop some of the members of turkey's parliament have passed the prison reform bill it will reduce the sentences of thousands of prisoners to ease overcrowding in prevent the further suppression of coronavirus but those serving time for crimes including direct trafficking in grape as well as detainees under turkey's anti terror laws are not included in the new policy. well designed then with a few criminality in it streamlines the judicial process reducing miscarriage of justice aloso tending to favor the person over the system the reform seek to release minor offenders who have completed at these helpful things sentence and will release those who have already served 2 thirds of their sentence while toughening sentences on their rice financial crimes the reforms will also enable home confinement for some inmates prisoners over the age of 65 and when men who

have children under the age of 7 along with sick prisoners will be released on parole what's point is that it leaks out of. our ties. so all of this increase how. they. are excluded from release i'm sorry people like james you're not friends is this opposition. group that. makes it. sometimes very nearly 90000 inmates are expected to benefit from this new legislation which was proposed by the governing party and its nationalist al-lah in parliament i'm h.p. happy. if a court penalise a someone that person shouldn't enter from one door and exit without charge from the other that was the ideal when the bill reached the general assembly but now it

will have a negative impact on the society and the victims while encouraging the perpetrators . so reform would also bring measures for inmates with communicable diseases the turkish government says this new legislation is not in the state it is to oppress the overcrowding issues in prisons that the critics argue it's neither. hopeful and interferes with the existing program or for the same sentences based on. the opposition is expected to challenge to the constitutional. i'll just to wrap up. the biggest cycling race in the world the tour de france has been postponed organizers say it's not possible for the race to start on june the 27th as planned that's after the french government extended a ban on public gatherings until mid july bosses are hoping the race could happen later in the year 3 week event usually attracts more than 10000000 spectators. now

living in coron tino under some sort of lockdown has meant people have had to make big changes to their daily lives but many around the world have been adapting and finding creative ways to pass the time some of houston is one mother in the u.s. was documented her family's experience is their story. so i'm. pretty sure i don't want to it's probably take me about 3 weeks to get into this moment of walking with them but you know just to kind appreciate things like this. science project together. he's a leader in bringing help and. so on a day after. learning trying to get my son through the end of 6 very unhealthy. we should all be too occupied one still doing college

work and one doing music. big incident commutes 5 presidents virtual birthday party lives that simple even that i'm not even. a. part of a quick check of the headlines here on al-jazeera u.s. president donald trump is suspending funding for the world health organization he says the w.h.o. botched the initial response to the outbreak and spread what he called this information from china the united nations secretary general says the middle of a pandemic is not the time to reduce results it's one of the most dangerous and costly decisions from the w.h.o. was its disastrous decision to oppose travel restrictions from china and other

nations they were very much opposed to what we did fortunately i was not convinced and suspended travel from china saving untold numbers of lives thousands and thousands of people would have died had other nations likewise suspended travel from china countless more lives would have been saved instead look at the rest of the world look at parts of europe other nations in regions who followed w.h.o. guidelines and kept their borders open to china excel aerated the pandemic all around the world voting is underway in south korea as part of entry elections it's the world's 1st national ballot to be held for the pandemic voters are required to in mosques and gloves and maintain social distancing. the international monetary fund says the world is heading towards the worst economic downturn since the great depression of the 1930 s. the i.m.f.

chief economist says lock downs aimed at stopping the outbreak could cost the global economy more than 9 trillion dollars over the next 2 years months long containment measures in 3 european countries are now starting to ease spain italy and austria letting some businesses reopen but social distancing is still being enforced in occupied east jerusalem there's concern the corona virus is spreading through palestinian neighborhoods undetected the number of recorded cases rose this week to 41 but health workers fear the actual figure may be double that former u.s. president barack obama has indorsed his 2 term vice president joe biden in his bid for the white house a bomber said he believes biden is the candidate that america needs during the crisis well those were the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after listening post station thanks so much after. there are people in the world who want all forms of verification to just go away so we need people fighting against the

other trying to see if it's a fake review maybe in syria but in a different time they risk a great deal to find out the truth in very complex situations that include major global play as we've been told to 5 cyber attacks from russia they're all dangerous and through this kind we're barely kept. troops in the post truth world and are now just 0. coronavirus cases around the world support. the 788. august. that 1. 140. 6000. on. hello i'm richard gives birth and you're watching the listening post to our song of the coronavirus stories the media angles that we're covering from home this week they say numbers don't lie when you're tracking the pandemic the numbers.