accounts of the dramatic story of the assassination of a major p.l.o. figure. in a secret israeli operation assassination in tunis on al-jazeera understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how we take it we'll bring you the news and current affairs that matter to you. the in the in. china's economy contracts for the 1st time in decades as the coronavirus shutdown takes its toll on the manufacturing giant. term fully back to boyer watching al-jazeera live from doha also coming up. we are not opening all at 'd once but one careful step at a time donald trump's guidelines for reopening the u.s.

economy but democrats say they are vague and inconsistent and are calling for a major expansion in coronavirus testing the u.k. government expense knock down restrictions for at least 3 more weeks and brazil's health minister is fired after a dispute with present votes in iowa over the corner virus response. thank you very much for joining us china's economy has suffered its sharpest fall since it opened up to the world in the 1970 s. in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic gross domestic product in the 1st quarter plummeted by 6.8 percent the 1st time it's contracted in decades and speak to our correspondent in beijing katrina you katrina a historic plunge but not entirely surprising. no

we were expecting this we have some more information now about this plunge minus 6.8 percent we haven't seen this kind of fall since records began here in china mall figures above around this so manufacturing investment in china fell year on year by 25 percent in the 1st quarter infrastructure investment fell by 20 percent and retail sales fell by 19 percent and that's an important figure to look at because china's economy very much relies on domestic consumption and it really goes to show the impact of this corona virus pandemic it's really significant i mean china for almost half a century had an interruption this growth wasn't even stopped by the global financial crisis in 2008 it wasn't stopped by the saudis at the demick in 2003 and yet here we have this economic growth seemingly this this this trend stopped because of this outbreak and not surprising because as you mentioned we had this

economic standstill across china for nearly 2 months juicer infection control measures factory production was it was ground to hold businesses were closed hundreds of millions of people were stuck indoors unable to buy in unwilling to really spend during such an uncertain time and now in china the economy is slowly getting back up and running since the outbreak and infections appear to have eased but even then a lot of businesses including small businesses in particular are really struggling to get back on their feet and i spoke to one business owner who is really struggling to get things back going again. empty chairs at empty tables this beijing restaurant once served $200.00 customers every day but because of the coronavirus pandemic it's now struggling to survive owner joe tao was forced to close the u.s. themed diner for almost 3 months you know a 1000000 here. there is no cash flow if we are open at cash flow is the most

important thing for a restaurant we are still paying for the rent and stuff wages plus there are accommodation in beijing we've taken a really big heat small and medium sized enterprises have been worst hit by the health crisis local curve in 1000 infections have eased in china and life is slowly returning to normal. but many businesses have been forced to close for good this restaurant was once bustling with customers but since the beginning of february it's been quiet foreign business owners are also suffering they're requesting more financial support and an end to the ban on foreigners entering the country we need there really. measure sure to relieve your region it's a matter of rice. for these companies actually need. some retailers attending to of logging on live streaming to sell products but for

many such efforts to adapt to the outbreak won't be enough and analysts don't expect the world's 2nd largest economy to bounce back before 2021 right now the biggest challenge chinese authorities there is actually to stabilize on employment because there is a weak demand from domestic market and also foreign markets chinese appliance make a high sense laid off over 10000 workers this month following a drop in sales more than $20000000.00 people nationwide are expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year joe tao is doing everything he can to retain all of his staff he started offering home delivery and reopened to the restaurant this week albeit under strict conditions. there are no more than 3 people could eat at one table and they have to sit at least one meter apart beauty's coles only accommodated half their capacity doses all he can do is wait for economic stimulus

measures for a coronavirus a vaccine and for customers who often now few and far between so katrina what kind of support then is the chinese government providing for many of these businesses like the ones we saw in your report and also to get the chinese economy back up and running again. well so far fully the government has resisted any type of major blanket stimulus measure they've got they've announced what they've called targeted stimulus measures in the last few months we've seen things like bank rate cuts tax cuts for businesses cipa lorne's wage subsidies rental subsidies and for people some spending coupons to get them out spending and supporting some of those businesses again but analysts say that these measures a simply not going to be enough to get the economy growing again to get it going again and certainly china's national bureau of statistics it's currently giving

a press conference as we speak and the representative there said that the chinese economy is facing new difficulties and new challenges because while we see the chinese economy running against factories up and running again the supply side of things seems to be more or less taken care of all it's getting getting there international demand has on the other hand dropped and so that's another sort of double double hit for the chinese economy and in particular what's a sensitive issue for the chinese government is unemployment as we heard unemployment is one of the biggest challenges the national bureau says just 6 as mentioned there's a lot of pressure in china when it comes to unemployment and this is for the communist party very sensitive because unemployment or employment is key to social stability here in china and in march we saw the latest figures unemployment is 5.9 percent that doesn't seem to be too bad but that only takes into account been employed but it doesn't take into account the legions of migrant workers and

informal workers here in china who are probably the most affected by this outbreak stand still here thank you very much for that katrina you live for us there in b.g. . meanwhile president donald trump has outlined guidelines to reopen the u.s. economy as job losses swelled towards levels of the great depression of the 1930 s. but he's leaving it up to state governess to decide when to ease restrictions house speaker nancy pelosi has called the guidelines to vague and inconsistent and says more coronavirus testing needs to be done and to gallagher reports it's what president donald trump calls a science based plan to get the united states back on its feet he's issued guidelines in 3 phases that advise each state when they can begin to reopen and what doctors say will be a new normal america wants to be open and americans want to be open

as i've said for some time now a national shutdown is not a sustainable long term solution. to preserve the health of our citizens we must also preserve the health and functioning of our economy over the long haul the 1st phase calls for social distancing and for schools and businesses to remain closed but some larger venues including restaurants and movie theaters could reopen if states see a steady decline in coronavirus cases they can move to phase 2 in which schools some businesses including bars could open big gatherings remain limited the 3rd phase will allow workers to go back to their jobs and for at risk people to continue to take precautions we took the greatest economy in the history of the world and we've closed it in order to win this war. and we're in the process of winning it now are approach outlines 3 phases in restoring economic life

we are not opening all at once but one careful step at a time democratic speaker of the house nancy pelosi called the plan vague an inconsistent citing concerns over the need for rapid testing oh the coronavirus has taken a harsh toll on the u.s. more than 30000 people have died and there have been over 600000 confirmed cases $22000000.00 people are now out of work wiping out a decade of job growth president trump says the u.s. will be back and greater than ever but this is a delicate process that comes down to a state by state county by county basis some states manta phase one as early as friday others face a far longer slog business leaders governors and scientists warn a shortfall in testing could hamper efforts to reopen the country that decision now lies with each state's governor. in some states coronavirus case is a yet to peak and as a risk of the virus making

a comeback in the months ahead personal protection equipment for health workers is still in short supply but even if you are in phase 123 it's not ok game over it's not it's going to be a way that we protect ourselves because as we know and as i've said from this podium it may very well be as we go the cycle around that they'll be this virus that wants to come back to us i think we're going to be able to handle this is a cautious approach to reopen the world's largest economy something president trump has long wanted to do the challenges for each state are huge the dangers of making the wrong decision now crucial and as yet there's still no vaccine and a gallica al-jazeera. our bob are not is a medical and medical doctor ingenuous he says reopening the u.s. economy without widespread testing is risky. if you look in china and we'll have problems their success was they came up they hit

a peak and that's where we are right now they didn't succeed until they had a rigorous contact case tracy that is every single positive was traced and all their contacts they were then put into quarantine what they call these camps mobile camps and then they had to decline to 0 we're taking a big chance at opening back up full flat out we still have you know massive numbers of infections many dead every single day so there's no question it that it's it's a real risk to start back up that said you know i work with dr fox he says 980 for a one of the very best infectious disease people on the planet. i'm very impressed with i think that they've done a remarkable job of debbie down the infections the state here in vermont is one of the most successful thanks to our governor phil scott we have i think 28 cases in our whole county right here so they've they've done a good job but the key point is this you've got to have the test it's called an antibody test to show who has the virus or who had the virus and very rigorous

contact case tracing so you can have 25000 people from the u.s. census and then others about 500 or so from the peace corps that they're going to use to go door to door to door to find these cases those emergency rooms so if for any upticks but it's still risky and until we have the advent of what i would call a bio security industry much like we had a security industry after a 2001 with much more sophisticated testing in monitoring it's really going to be trial and error and the errors are going to result unfortunately in more deaths. to the u.k. now where the government has announced an extension of social and economic restrictions for at least 3 more weeks foreign secretary dominic rob says now is not the time to give the corona virus a 2nd chance more than 13000 people have died in the u.k. and there are over 140000 confirmed infections need barca has more from london. britain's financial capital quiet empty the wards meant to be the height of the

working week it began as a novelty but it's fast becoming an uncomfortable reality and now a bleak message from the british government that while the virus looms and lingers there will be no return to normal if we rush to relax the measures that we have in place we would risk wasting all the sacrifices and all the progress that has been made and that we would risk a quick return to another lock down with all the threat to life that a 2nd peak of the virus would bring and all the economic damage that a 2nd lockdown would carry the government's been asked repeatedly for an exit strategy from current restrictions the answer continually given it's too soon to tell in a major new study by the office of national statistics half of all british adults say the virus is affecting their sense of wellbeing contributing to heightened levels of anxiety with many people citing financial worries the virus is affecting

the health of the nation in more ways than one and according to recent findings we aren't all in this together we know men are twice as likely to die of the virus so too are those with underlying conditions but also a greater risk people in poorly paid jobs and those from black asian of minority ethnic backgrounds who are 30 percent more likely to become critically ill many of those contracts in the virus are essential workers bus drivers cleaners and caregivers in the national health service. this is marry a guy who argue pong and n.h.s. nurse she was pregnant when she tested positive for coated 19 but died soon after her baby was delivered alive and well by emergency says areon a formal review is to be launched to understand the deepening to spare a t in deaths but the suspicion is that longstanding inequalities in wealth and health mean some

a more likely to lose their lives neve barker al-jazeera london. still ahead on al-jazeera a threat of covert 19 pushes yemen's warring sides to a formal truth rus racing to meet demand kenya steps up mass production after the government introduces tougher rules to curb the spread of coronavirus. however same spring storm bringing some snow into parts of the u.s. recently this big bank of cloud here just rolling off the rockies see some cold air sliding through that cooler air moving through the northern plains easing over towards the midwest to see a little dusting of snow there into parts of illinois pushing ever towards that northeastern corner don't be surprised if we do see some bits and pieces of sleet

and snow we see make our way through the remainder of the week some way to weather there through the appalachians pushing down towards the deep south a little going to continue making its way further east with as we go through friday brought the skies to come back in behind and notice the temperatures starting to bounce back she gets up to around 12 degrees celsius that's a bit more like it and similar temperatures there for denver i was towards the west coast slushy dry but a few welcome showers there over the rockies what it says showers into the caribbean as well but by and large it's set family tropical sunshine will see plenty of fine weather then want to showers the into hispaniola maybe into jamaica could see a little bit of wet weather here much of the caribbean there will be fine dry and sunny that's the case even over towards the western side of the region by the time we come to sets that maybe one or 2 showers into the leeward the by and large is fine dry and sunny.

alaska's follow north a pristine environment that's become a battleground with the trumpet ministration keen to let oil companies start drilling some in its remote communities are tempted by the promised wealth we live here we make there not there but others of bitterly opposed we should not have to trade our culture for oil and gas crossing the high peaks of the arctic circle to investigate the people in power at the edge of the earth on al-jazeera. you're watching al-jazeera live from doha a reminder of our top stories china's economy

a suffered its shot this fall since it opened up to the world in the 1970 s. plunging by almost 7 percent in the 1st quarter of this year to equal in a virus outbreak. donald trump has unveiled guidelines to reopen the u.s. economy as it continues to reel from the core of our spend make but it's up to governments to decide when to ease the long johns in the states 22000000 americans have made job nice job this cleans in less than in the and the u.k. has extended restrictions to contain the kobe 900 spread by at least 3 more weeks foreign secretary dominic rob says lifting curves early could damage the economy over a longer period. by returning now to our main story in china's economy suffering its shop this fall since it opened up to the world in the 1970 s. gross domestic products g.d.p. in the 1st quarter profit it by 6.8 percent this raises yet more pressure on beijing to prop up growth are made mounting job losses and falling exports and it's

not the only country being battered by the coronavirus over the past month more than 22000000 americans have filed for unemployment claims wiping out a decade of job gains the u.s. has not seen this level of job losses since the great depression in the 1930 s. about a night 195000 people in south korea also lost their jobs in march it's a shop its monthly decline since 2009. well let's speak to pauline long about this she is the managing director of the recession consultancy asia analytic and is via skype from hong kong very good to have you with us on our just let's start with china and its g.d.p. down by almost 7 percent many people were somewhat expecting this because china's economy was already slowing last year but did you expect as sharp a plunge. and since the writing was of the wall even in february because if people are not going out they're not spending money they're not investing they are not making products they can't be no

effect except that the economy is going to slow down the question has always been how badly it will slow down rather than whether it's through saluda right and unemployment is up and this is a big concern for the chinese government isn't it yes because if people don't have jobs and we even set aside the question of social stability and. a response to how the government is handling the crisis it's also the fact that if you don't have money you have got to just spend the rest you're not good to buy apartments so economy the economy is no less right to a standstill and that is something the government does not want and all the sectors of the chinese economy are affected not just the manufacturing industry as we saw

earlier what do you think the big chinese government can do now to get its economy back up and running and you know that they're talking about stimulus possibly not a stimulus package what should it be doing right now beijing i think in terms of. it could not much stimulus interest rates a big package of credit and all of that there was this solution to yesterday's problem as 820082 day. unser nice with the virus the best in the government could do to start the economy going it's not just to control the spread of the virus but to make people feel that the bottom is being contained right now we see occasional deals from china our cities and villages clashing with each other because they don't want someone from the other

village or the other town going past their time to go to work now that's a matter of perception so as long as people feel that it is liar is this going to continue or that it hasn't been contained there is very little in the way of stimulus that the government can do right people are not interested because they don't have money but because of no confidence indeed looking at the big picture at the big picture misnomer and of course everyone sees china as the world's single most important growth engine how hard will it be to restart not just china's economy asia's economy but the global economy as a whole. i think it's going to be quite difficult but it's not just a matter of restarting growth i think the us is changing a lot of so the only business is related to each other supply

chains for instance people are now beginning to say well do i want to have my x. in one basket in case. there's an earthquake or what happens to strut the fall the perception is that china is so big so if something happens in one city it will affect not so in the coming months there will be. a receipt by businesses are how they handle the exposure thank you so much for talking to us and chairing your views with us pauline long managing director of the research consultancy asia analytic i thank you for your time in brazil president abbas and arrow has fired his health minister luis in the u.k. monday to and votes now are have cashel weeks now over how to handle the corona virus outbreak the president has repeatedly paid down the risk of corba 1000 calling it a little flu and opposing social distancing advice brazil has gotten america's

borisov break with nearly 2000 reported deaths argentina has put forward a debt restructuring proposal to avoid defaulting on its loans for the 9th time the offer to international credit creditors includes a 3 year grace period before it begins paying back $83000000000.00 the government also want interest payments reduced as it grapples with a chronic recession and the coronavirus spend demick to kenya now where textile factories entail is a scrambling to produce tens of millions of surgical masks after the government made it compulsory to wear them in public or earlier this month catherine story has our report from nairobi. a few weeks ago 300 tailors at this factory in nairobi made clothes are now on enforced leave because of the corona virus pandemic was left to workers stitching around 20000 protective facemasks a day the government has ordered that everyone must wear proper masks when out in

public or pay a fine of $200.00 it's a job of tailless across the country to make sure there's a constant supply at an affordable price the local authorities have only 35 the surgical ones but those are not very comical if you have if you're one of the 4 devote every day for what we came up with is the clock moth. a few textile companies have also been commissioned to make other past more protective equipment for health workers but this young people in a neighborhood backyard on the outskirts of the city tallis they too can make protective 19 respond as they all recently lost their jobs as economy continues to suffer they've already made body suits like this one which they've distributed to a local health center here they tell us this is an extra layer of protection and with it and it all for her award. from different.

parts of the country where. they are and marks for that occurring a girl standard or forewarning or some of this product. for a 4th. their walk is not yet approved by the government's bureau of standards but they hope it will be soon is just like having anything. down is good in kenya has little experience in manufacturing medical supplies mostly realize and imports from countries like china and foreign aid hospitals have around 500 ventilators many like this a private health facility are preparing isolation units. one pasand recently died of the disease here. around $5000.00 public health workers are to be employed in the special units and those on the frontline will be regularly tested but some nasa say that's not enough we have been raising the issue. of help to be dusted after

14 hours to see it affording base to ensure that. we have been raising the issues of life insurance from health care workers that has not been responded by the minister for now it's a race to have everything in place using all means available to deal with a pandemic that is causing so much distress across the walls cathy zoi al-jazeera nairobi kenya. and the u.n. envoy for yemen says they may soon be a ceasefire in the country the threat of coronavirus has pushed the warring sides closer to a diplomatic editor james space from. the u.n. special envoy martin griffiths believes the threat of covert 19 may have started to focus minds in yemen he told members of the u.n. security council in a video conference meeting productive negotiations about a new peace deal that would include a nationwide cease fire over the past 2 weeks or more.

i have been in constant negotiations with the parties on the texts of these agreements on the detail on the wording of these agreements we expect them to agree on formally adopt these agreements in the immediate future this positive news comes amid many dial warnings for yemen the existing humanitarian ceasefire in the port of who days are now 60 months old is being violated an almost daily basis if covert $9000.00 was to spread through the country it would cause devastation in part ambassadors we're told because the u.n. is running out of money for its humanitarian work of the un's $41.00 major programs $31.00 will start closing down in the next few weeks if we cannot secure at this point. this means we will have to start eliminating many of the activities that may

offer yemenis the best chance to avoid 90. 1 security council ambassadors told me it was clear there was much at stake right now we have already information that they were is has reached yemen the 1st case is already there and and i think it's really high time for both sides and especially the who are not accepted the ceasefire to go ahead and think about the future and to think about the population that is going to suffer even more un envoy griffiths said yemen can't afford to fight on 2 fronts at once he's hoping diplomacy can finally bring an end to the conflict so the food to school move to fighting the virus jamesburg zira at the united nations. go again i'm fully back to bill with the headlines on al-jazeera china's economy has suffered its shop as for since it opened up to the world in the 1970 s.

economic activity prime's by a 7 percent in the 1st 3 months compared to last year it comes after the coffee $1000.00 outbreak brought china's factories and its workforce to a standstill katrina you has more from beijing now this has really this pandemic has really brought the country to a standstill for almost 2 months china's manufacturing activity was halted people stayed indoors consumption was was down and really this figure this minus 6.8 percent is the result of that and some analysts were actually predicting an even shop a fall of minus 10 to minus 15 so this is definitely within the realm of what is what was expected. president donald trump has unveiled guidelines to reopen the u.s. economy meanwhile as it continues surreal from the coronavirus spend demick it's up to governess to decide when to ease down in their states the u.k.

meanwhile has extended restrictions by at least 3 more weeks a contained the spread of coffee 1000 foreign secretary dominic grabs his lifting curbs early could damage the economy over a longer period in brazil president has fired his health minister luis enrique monday to clash with boss narrow for weeks now over how to handle the corona virus outbreak the president has repeatedly don paid the risk of kovi 1000 calling it a little flu for israel has latin america's worst outbreak with nearly 2003 ported deaths and the u.n. envoy for yemen says the country's warring sides are close to reaching a formal truce negotiations have been taking place for the past 2 weeks after the saudi u.a.e. coalition announced a unilateral cease fire a spokesman for sodger arabia says assad's wanted to support the u.n. efforts to reach a political solution and help to stop the spread of the corner fires those are the headlines coming up next on people in power. as corona virus continues to

devastate the united states the race to the white house goes on joe biden has all but secured his place is the democratic nominee but can he beat donald trump joining us for continuing coverage of the u.s. election 2020 on al-jazeera. alaska's far north as one of the world's last pristine environments but now the trumpet ministration wants to let the oil companies through here as campaign is take on the white house and the energy industry indigenous communities are divided between those who want jobs and those who want to preserve a unique landscape and way of life reporters zoe daniel went to find out more.