every generation has a higher purpose. hours to help. more than 26000000 americans have now filed for unemployment benefits over the past 5 weeks of the global pandemic. alone will come on peter wu watching al-jazeera live from doha also coming up a warning from the german leader angela merkel that her country is only at the start of the pandemic as new infections rise for a 3rd day. truckloads of medical aid arrive for garza's hospitals and clinics desperate for supplies after years of blockade. also ahead after 9 years of

conflict and war in syria the 1st trial linked to allege state sponsored torture has begun in germany. ok let's begin this half hour in the states where figures released just over an hour ago now paint a devastating picture of the economy in one month and one week all of the jobs created since the end of the 2009 recession have gone they've been wiped out here how the numbers are on packing last week another 4400000 americans filed for unemployment benefits that's fewer than the week before when more than $5300000.00 registered for jobless support but the speed of the rise within those figures is unprecedented in all more than $26000000.00 americans have now applied for unemployment benefits since the end of last month. yes that was when the president

mr trump made the 1st of his covert 19 outbreak declarations live now to kimberly white house correspondent kimberly this is like the population of australia all losing their jobs in the space of a month. and it's across all star sectors as well not only is it in some of the service industry like hospitality restaurants hotels we're also seeing it in travel and in construction but we're now also starting to see it in some of those white collar office worker jobs too as this social distancing sets in and doesn't look like it's going to be lifted in a significant way for some time increasingly we're seeing a large number of employers saying we can't hang on that long now that is one of the reasons that many americans are feeling particularly desperate you know as you pointed out all of the job gains since the last major recession in this country

have now been wiped out and the prospect peter is expected to get even worse because well the reality is is that it is you know tens of millions of americans lost their job overnight not all americans have been able to get through to the overwhelmed unemployment offices to process their claims so we expect that these numbers will continue to climb for some weeks even months his points of view issue here kimberly where the you'll for want of a better expression working class and you work in the hospitality industry or you're a single mother or your own white collar worker working in the banking sector the the time lag between pay check a mortgage falling jew paycheck and call payments old and you is 456 weeks and the people don't have much of a safety net here they don't have savings them go to new it is tucked away but they can cash it. you know 'd there's a saying in the united states that we're all really just

a few paychecks away from from homelessness and most americans don't have significant savings they are literally living paycheck to paycheck even in good times they were using creative find out saying 2 to. try and pay the bills you know stagger them between weeks in order to try and cover all of the bills that were due and now americans are not getting paychecks for the most part there are tens of millions that are trying to figure out how to get by and of course there was relief from the u.s. congress but while it was an enormous bailout package some 2 trillion dollars the amount to each individual was relatively miniscule a $1200.00 check for an ordinary american is hardly * going to cover the rent in any sort of major metropolitan city like miami chicago washington d.c. los angeles you can get a very 'd decent apartment for $1200.00 and that's what the government was handing out so it's not going to cover rent and then there's still food we've seen

historically along the lines at the food banks people are just simply trying to figure out how to make ends meet so this is a dire situation now we have another rescue package in the u.s. congress that is being pushed through it's already gone through the senate now it's in the house it's got to be voted on and then it will be signed we believe by the president by the end of the week and this is going to allow small businesses to keep people on their payrolls a little bit longer the package is about $484000000000.00 in total and the last one was so successful the money ran out so they're going out again but peter as the truth is things are pretty bleak and it's not expected to get any better and i should point out very quickly this is why we see this u.s. president pushing so hard to reopen this economy his reelection chances chances hinge on it he's a jobs president he did come in and deliver jobs but all of those gains have been wiped out as a result of the coronavirus pandemic but if you can believe does this shift to

a change the color surrounding those ticks in the run up to the election he wants to get the economy up and running because he wants as much distance as possible time distance i mean between yes him saying the economy is open guys is open for business with me. america great again and again oh whoops here's the election. yeah there's no question about it in fact it's interesting you bring that up because the crown of virus task force briefing on wednesday the president was visibly angry at the media for reporting that there could be a potential 2nd wave even worse than the 1st one we've experienced here in the united states that could happen in the fall when we see coronavirus on top of the seasonal flu the president repeatedly got the reporters to to say that they had gotten the headlight wrong or at least attempted to be brought up the c.d.c. director centers for disease control to say look at when you were quoted in those

stories they misquoted you didn't say what he essentially said was yeah this is going to be a problem but the president didn't want to hear that because why does he not want to hear things could get worse in the fall that's when the election is in november this president is trying very hard to cheerlead for this nation because he knows his reelection chances really i hinge on all of that so live reality is that this is a president trying to reopen the economy get these jobs back on track we know some of them are coming back and he's also had this advice from the public health officials saying things could get worse be prepared for it i should point out this coronavirus task force says they are trying to mitigate this they're preparing for it and they're trying to make sure it isn't as bad as it was last time or what we're experiencing right now but again these are a lot of question marks we simply don't know until we get there and that is disturbing for the president and again he was visibly angry as this subject was even brought up because he's trying to win

a 2nd term couldn't believe we have to go in the meantime thank you so much. well back to europe now the german chancellor angela merkel calling for unity among e.u. leaders in the fight against covert 19 during a speech to the parliament in berlin mrs merkel said success can only come if the e.u. fights the virus together the number of new infections in germany rose for a 3rd day mrs merkel warned politicians the country is still at the beginning of the break new month with the government nobody likes to hear it but it's the truth we're not living in the final phase of the pandemic but still at the beginning we will have to live with the virus for a long time. well the german chancellor also calling for a significantly bigger e.u. budget to help the region's economic recovery leaders from the 27 member bloc are now in a virtual meeting to debate the size and the scope of their rescue package natasha buckley is following developments from france. what we have today is e.u.

leaders meeting via a virtual video conference because they can't meet together of course and they are looking at trying to. talk about how the e.u. can survive economically and what it's a key part it's a recovery has been called a recovery hope that means different leaders consecrate on exactly how this recovery plan should be funded you're looking at a continent that's been absolutely back to tens of thousands of people have lost their lives a quantum e.-s. have come to a standstill in many countries because a lot down including in saul's how europe pulls out of that how europe tries and gets through what will be a recession in the future that's really the question but some are usually does the saying look what we need is solidarity france italy and spain for example is saying we need to get together we need a mutual ised a joint approach to this we need for example joint corona bonds we don't need all countries to come on board there are other countries though including germany the

netherlands wealthy more fiscally conservative countries that are worried that if they join in some joint mutuals debt that they may take mole too great a burden of financing the recovery of the continent in the future so those are the really the real divisions that exist on the table. natasha well we'll have lots more on the virus pandemic shortly but 1st full wrap up will pause we'll wrap up some other top world news stories for you to syrian suspected of being formally intelligence officers are on trial in germany as of today the men are accused of committing crimes against humanity during the early days of the revolution in syria it's the 1st court case linked to alleged state sponsored torture by president bashar al assad's government dominic cain is at the trial in berlin. the case against these individuals is that in different capacities at the start of the syrian civil war they were part of the intelligence and security apparatus of

president bashar assad's government and in those capacities they either carried out or were complicit in the carrying out of multiple murders of the torture there's one allegations of rape and other serious and violent attacks against the syrian people as i say at the start of the syrian civil war what's interesting about this is these individuals came to germany at different times and presented themselves to the authorities as refugees and yet starting today for the course of the next few months they're going to hear claims that they are anything but that they are guilty as i say of the crimes and the offenses which i just outlined outlined of course the presumption of innocence applies here they deny the charges there are other interesting elements about this the german government is choosing to to implement the jurisdiction it claims that it has under the universal janet jurisdiction for serious crimes such as genocide and other serious crimes and that is what's being

applied here and many international human rights organizations and other campaign organization say that what is happening today and will be unfolding over the next few months represents a watershed the 1st chance for the victims of the sorts of offenses that are alleged to have taken place here to see justice being allowed to progress the head of iran's revolutionary guard says he's ordered his naval forces to destroy any american vessel that threatens the security of military or non military ships the threat comes a day after president trump issued a warning to iran over how to respond to the u.s. ships in the gulf iran summoned the swiss ambassador in protest switzerland is the official representative of american interests in iran. china is building up stockpiles of crude oil and global prices plunged because of the coronavirus outbreak imports rose by 4.5 percent in march compared to the same period last year overall in the 1st quarter imports were up by 5 percent chinese importers

reportedly sent $84.00 tankers to saudi arabia last month each to carry $2000000.00 barrels of crude china is the world's biggest energy consumer. still to come for you here on al-jazeera we'll report from the rickshaw capital of the world on why aren't staying home during the pandemic. and robots being used to sanitize exam rooms in hong kong but there are questions as to whether one of the most important tests for students should go ahead. and are there more showers across much of japan without some brisk winds bringing their showers in and then across southern i was a china very heavy amounts of rain also impacting northern sections of vietnam heavy rains across into high non taiwan as well saying

a fair few showers over the next couple of days it's a busy day saturday across much of japan there's a bit of a system working its way across the sea of japan that will bring the winds so these coastal areas and push that rain across into her as we go through the day meanwhile to the north it's clear fine and sunny fairly warm as well $22.00 celsius in beijing the rains very widespread throughout borneo once again across into sulawesi over the next couple of days job actually saying less in the way of rain but again quite heavy into some archer the malay peninsula and a real scratching showers and thunderstorms across areas of thailand myanmar but also across into laos and vietnam you can see these dark areas of blue developing as we go through the day plenty of rain as well into the northeast of india it's been here for the last several days bangladesh has really seen the brunt of this rain it could well be leading to some localized flooding and then the rains push across into west bengal and really quite extensive down into addition and all the lot if you wash as across into karen of pushing on into tel nada and still the

showers as well into sri lanka. as the world fights the corona pandemic more than learning more about this every day it's a new package and join our global community it's up to us on how we come together to fight i'm sorry your questions can i just i'm just going to say directly that coming on on you tube as you're saying i'm concerned about the fact like oh nothing very quiet and not keeping you up to date i'm using countries beating back and beating back successfully the stream on 00.

welcome back you're watching al-jazeera my name's peter dhabi your top stories another 4 and a half 1000000 people in the u.s. will now file for unemployment benefits in just 5 weeks all of the jobs created since the end of the 2009 recession have now been wiped out german chancellor angela merkel has called for unity among e.u. leaders in the fight against cope with 19 it comes as the number of new infections in germany rises for a 3rd day as merkel want politicians there still at the beginning of the outbreak. in other news to syrian suspected of being former intelligence officers are on trial in germany the men are accused of committing crimes against humanity truly early days of syria's revolution. we'll go back to the coronavirus story in just a 2nd for you in the meantime let's take you to gusev because the international committee of the red cross has been delivering medical supplies to gaza 2000000 people live in the densely populated gaza strip there aren't enough hospitals or

medical equipment to cope with any substantial outbreak of the virus the u.n. has already warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if the virus spreads local health officials say 17 people have tested positive so far ignacio. is head of the sub delegation of the international committee of the red cross there in gaza he says it's difficult to know for sure how many cases there are so far. we have to rely on the numbers provided by. we recognize that they are conducting a very strong and very firm on the street. measures in order to contain then arrive or discredit of the fighters inside st we do not have information regarding numbers we rely on the information that they got out of it is given but what i can tell you is in that. context with the largest.

population and then flee population that leaving gaza particularly in there if you g. camps i was proud of the fighters come they decide to us we follow the recommendations provided by the walker county section and social business or physical distance like we like to say is one of them that same as hannah washing or wearing masks or glossing case of needed proximity indicator of gaza as i mentioned densely populated area a particularly interested she comes but also in the rest of the strip. makes it difficult as you know ramadan you think i mean tomorrow starting from iran. and people tend to go shopping and gather with from really enhance families and that makes it very difficult to. stick. to their physical distance the south african army has now called up its reserve forces to help enforce the

national locked up more than 70000 soldiers almost the entire standing army or are already being deployed leaders in cities like cape town so they've seen a surge in looting since the restrictions were imposed the u.n. secretary general has warned the pandemic is fast becoming a human rights crisis and so needed to assure stress that any emergency measures must be known discriminatory. the surete is the vitals not the people we must ensure that any emergency measures including states of emergency and legal proportionate necessary and nondiscriminatory if a specific focus and duration and take the least intrusive approach possible to protect public uls the best response is one that responds proportionately to immediate sets while protecting human rights and the rule of law india's government says it plans to manufacture thousands of electronic wristbands little moments of

the locations and the health of coronavirus patients the country is ramping up surveillance as it begins to ease one of the world's strictest virus lockdowns india has more than 21000 confirmed infections in bangladesh nearly a 1000000 rickshaw pullers in the capital dhaka next to no income with the streets now generally lying empty and the situation is getting more desperate by the day as time via choudhry now reports. dhaka is often called the richer capital of the world a colorful scene on any given day but now the streets of dhaka are largely empty due to the lockdown order since march 26th to carve coronavirus. sure the islam is worried as he waits hours in the scorching heat. gets enough to live and there is no income anymore we are going through much hardship condie when paid the rent it is getting difficult to get by there is not enough food at home by 2 pm everything is closed can't even get out of the home low wage earners and those working in the

informal sectors are the hardest hit. who would be. nearly a 1000000 rich in the city are now struggling to make ends meet thousands of small enterprises like this regard here in dhaka have shut down due to their log down to 5 coronavirus this is dealt a devastating blow to their livelihood many of the rich are now on the brink of starvation. for many small business owners this is an uncertain time and. businesses badly hit rich pullers are facing a lot of hardship as owners we are also suffering many of the ricksha pullers are facing hunger they can't get any passengers right now. prime minister sheikh hasina

has announced a cash aid package for daily wage earners unable to work because of the lockdown. but many are not getting any relief and in recent days thousands of underprivileged people have taken to the streets demanding food out of. i haven't received any help from anyone else even from the government not a single piece of grain or money is of no. for many where the next meal will come from remains a main concern. dhaka bangladesh. china says australia's call for an independent investigation into the virus pandemic is political maneuvering australia's foreign minister has demanded transparency from china into the origins and the spread of covert 19 but chinese authorities insist they have been open about their handling of the outbreak since in hong kong are preparing for some of the most important academic tests more than $52000.00 of them

will now sit exams that will respond last month is typical polymer. how do you hold a major state exam during a pandemic it's one of the toughest questions the hong kong government has faced since the outbreak started as high school students sit for what's seen as the most crucial test of their academic lives the diploma of secondary education or d.s.e. this exam was entry were important for them if we do not do it why do well and then if there is a spread of the wires here and there will be trouble not just to the students but also to the city. infection controls for the 350 exam centers include spacing tables nearly 2 meters apart and ensuring students temperatures are checked and they're wearing mosques along with the invigilators the 52000 students taking these exams and halls like this across the city will be under intense pressure all their

formal education over the past 3 years culminates in these tests but this year along with the stress of having to perform well they will be dealing with concerns about their health and personal safety welcome we've seen your hands and good luck . thank you. this school has enlisted the help of robots to minimize human to human contact and maintain sanitation the government has given basic guidelines and minimal funding for mosques and sanitizers. after initially being postponed the government announced the exam dates just over a week before they were due to begin it feels like when you're told to go for a 400 meter race but then when at last 10 letters and then they tell you that this is. and 800 meters race so it's like so frustrating to feeling is usually at the top of her class but taking these exams in unpredictable circumstances is making her nervous. really worried about the situation that will

happen like one week after during our exile maybe someone will call. examinations and you and everyone just really really panic about that. schools have been closed since january due to the corona virus outbreak stephy has been careful to maintain social distancing and sent us this footage of her studying from home. her teacher says they have continued lessons using video and teleconferencing apps but hong kong small living spaces and family distractions make it tough i think learning a school is still the replaceable it's better to communicate with students in the lesson when you can check their understanding instantly. the d.s.e. relies heavily on final exam results the government says it had little choice but to go ahead with it. but many are questioning whether that's the right decision for

the students and the future of the city. if you go pollen are does their home call . us. boeing plans to lay off 10 percent of the workforce in its passenger plane division as many as $7000.00 jobs but is also about to begin negotiations with the us government over a possible bailout the pandemic has compounded the company's existing problems the 737 max fleet well that's been grounded worldwide since last year after 2 crashes killed almost 350 people. oxford university has begun testing a possible covert 1000 vaccine on humans scientists say they'll know in a few months if it works and if it does millions of doses could become available by the autumn but experts are warning it's going to take a lot longer to control the pandemic. trial itself will take take at least a year because we want to monitor these volunteers after they've been vaccinated and see what both what happens from a safety perspective whether the vaccine works and also to study their immune

response to see how long it lasts so a lot of work has to now go into the process of upscaling to be able to make large amounts of vaccine and that process is already started it's certainly possible if nothing goes wrong in that upscaling process that there could be millions of doses available in the autumn but to get to the scale that we really need to control this pandemic is going to take much longer than that. independent booksellers of feeling the pinch on world book day with millions staying at home stores or adopting creative ways to saying gaged with readers. in 2015 it was greece's financial crisis keeping customers away from the free thinking zone bookstore and cafe at the time pages weren't being turned coffees weren't being served and the overall situation looked bleak owner added to your yearly worried

her small athens business might not make it despite all that what she called the free thinking zone survived now though it's the coronavirus pandemic that threatens to switch the shops lights off for good it's been very hard because. the per the biggest problem the knowledge. that. really doesn't measure a legal problem. these days independent booksellers around the world are finding it increasingly difficult to stay in business hi everyone this is my the bookstore i was on reiner owns and operates the run for cover bookstore in san diego california its doors are temporarily shut and its future is uncertain but customers are still ordering titles actually really hard. business book business we're all to get our books every. business mariani who fulfilled

a lifelong dream by opening her store a year and a half ago has turned increasingly to social media to keep book buyers engaged alerting them to works that have come in and orders that have gone out. she's even started digital mother daughter story time sessions but she says nothing will ever replace face to face interactions with fellow book lovers having the connection. reader carl's greatest gift. and not being able to do this. right now is are. hard my name is sam and it's not just booksellers getting more creative in engaging readers in the era of covert 19 authors or 2 such as son amar in pakistan who along with a friend started the stay home stay reading series as she worked from her home in karachi i wanted to create something that i now goes on there is to put their work

or in as public spaces or to just readers from all over the world to access their art to just check it out see if they're interested to be able to read from their work and also really they have a moment when they could share it and celebrate it writers speaking directly to readers offering stories as a way to escape even if just for a few moments the seemingly constant barrage of bad news. as. we sit over here in doha with your top stories from al-jazeera another 4 and a half 1000000 people in the us a file for unemployment benefits in just 5 weeks all of the jobs created since the end of the 2009 recession have been wiped out as the u.s. economy feels the impact of the locked on put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus the german chancellor angela merkel has called for unity among e.u.

leaders in the fight against covert 19 comes as the number of new infections in germany rises for the 3rd day michel want politicians there still at the beginning of the outbreak. new month with the government nobody likes to hear it but it's the truth we're not living in the final phase of the pandemic but still at the beginning we will have to live with the virus for a long time to syrians suspected of being former intelligence officers are on trial in germany the men are accused of committing crimes against humanity true in the early days of syria's war it's the 1st court case linked to alleged state sponsored torture by president bashar al assad's government. the international committee of the red cross is delivering medical supplies to gaza 2000000 people live in the densely populated area and there aren't enough hospitals or medical equipment to cope with an outbreak of the virus the u.n. has already warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if the corona virus spreads 17 people have been tested

positive for the virus the south african army has now called up its reserve forces to help enforce a national lockdown more than 70000 soldiers almost the entire standing army are already being deployed leaders in cities such as cape town say they've seen a surge in looting since the restrictions were imposed south africa 65 deaths and over 3600 infections the indian government says it plans to manufacture thousands of electronic wristbands that will monitor the location and the health of virus patients the country is ramping up surveillance as it begins to ease one of the world's strictest virus lockdowns the wristband project aims to track quarantined patients and 8 health workers india has more than 21000 confirmed infections the news continues after the stream i will see you very soon. if you want to help save the world. reason to your own.

i am for me ok and you are watching the stream today we're looking at iran and how it is travelling it's cohen a virus crises now according to many sources iran is now open for business sort of open that this now is no risk business we would love you to join in this conversation and you can do that on twitter at a.j. stream and also in the you to chat bill comments will be fed into the show or be checking them out and putting them to the guests so let's meet the gas kind of ass welcome to the street tell us here you are. hello from tehran my name is. sumi a research fellow at the center for a minute is the study studies i mean the capital city run. good to have you welcome

to the stream how lonely guy welcome back to the street.