the nation campaigning on the election true has been forced to take a back seat will the presidential candidates ever hit the road and so very brand of politics to americans before the fall follow the u.s. elections on a. north korean leader scales down rising tensions with the south kim jong un suspends plans for military action. but a diplomatic standoff in south asia india expels pakistani diplomats accused of spying. calls the allegations baseless. i'm sam is a band this is al jazeera live from the house so coming out. to destabilize the

region the u.n. secretary general urges israel to abandon all plans to annex parts of the occupied west bank corona virus infections increasing in iraq doctors warn the health system is close to collapse. north korea has announced its suspending plans for military action against the south the north state media says the decision was made during a meeting of the ruling party central military commission chaired by. the leader's sister kim jong who's in charge of relations with the south had warned of possible military action the joint an office was blown up last week and all official talks ended. south korea says it believes the meeting was very on the usual and is paying close attention it said it would keep working to stop provocative acts from its

soil those include sending propaganda leaflets over the border which gong young says is behind recent actions. we saw the report from the north and we are reviewing it in a close serious way we will monitor the situation our government stance remains the 2 koreas should edge here to the bilateral agreement apart from this we stressed again and will continue to sternly respond to acts such as sending anti north leaflets which creates tensions between the south and north and threatens the safety of people in the border area raman pride is covering this for us from seoul . we know that there does tend to be a patent to these kinds of things we do see an escalation and then a sudden deescalation and often it is north korea that is pulling the strings maybe the north koreans have calculated that this particular escalation has run its course has served its purpose it is grabbed international headlines it has reminded the united states of where the korean peninsula is it has had the effect of

unnerving the south koreans may be pushing them towards trying to find some extra measures maybe humanitarian aid the kinds of things that south korea can do despite international sanctions but certainly south koreans are this wednesday giving a guarded welcome to this but there is the cavity at the at the defense minister has pointed out that is this is only putting on hold of these military measures he would rather see a complete withdrawal of them we were expecting the kinds of measures being the deployment of extra forces along the d.m.z. it would have increased tension along the border but this does seem to be on the face of it at least a genuine deescalation we know that a lot of the articles attacking the south korean defector groups who've been launching these provocative balloons with propaganda into north korea they have

suddenly disappeared from north korean websites also these loudspeaker system that often blare propaganda across the barbed wire that in recent times as have relations have improved they've been taken down in recent days they're being put back up again well this wednesday we have reports that once more they again do seem to be taken down by the north koreans. the u.n. secretary general says israel should abandon all plans to annex parts of the occupied west bank and turn a good target so it would be the most serious violation of international law a day earlier thousands of palestinians rallied in jericho more than 1000 politicians across europe signed a petition opposing the annexation process it could begin on july the 1st. very consistent message that annexation not only against international law but it will be a major factor. it will be something that in their mind what they believe is this

is a which is a 2 state solution in which israelis and palestinians continue to get a peace respect each other than get into each other so. i hope that this voice of reason that is not only mine. of course the world will be hurt. by israeli authorities and that annexation there's nothing in the 1st. israeli police have shot there the palestinian man in the occupied west bank police say atma die hard rammed his car into an office so causing slight injuries palestinian officials are skeptical though of the police account his family say he was driving to pick up his sister on her wedding day india has announced it's expelling half of the staff in pakistan's high commission in new delhi because of spying pakistan quickly rejected the allegations as baseless and demanded a similar response from india to half the number of its diplomats in the slum

a bad can hide it has more from islamabad. everybody asking and specially given the fact that tensions are running high and on india front china by the saudi foreign ministry saying that. they've got a man by their in their mody playing with fire. engines and. it is a trade of destabilization it's done in india like there was a cute each other then cease fire by nations and on the line of control but this is coming i didn't mention given the fact that i just i'm not saying they didn't move it's primarily a guy would get danger from detroit city being needed in indian administered kashmir nor for getting the fact that china and india have had a decent and the chinese troops are on the phone now active i don't know i know

actually control richard not far from the line of control separates pakistani and indian administered bushmeat and not to forget also that no netball is going to get it. right up to that. point based on the reciprocating and what is considered a quid pro quo india prosecuting the focus on the diplomats up a notch and also keeping the cricket is still going i didn't get on tonight. iraq is seeing an unprecedented rise in the number of corona virus infections as doctors warn the health system is close to collapse 32000 cases have been reported so far and government ministers say the peak is yet to come simona faltering reports from baghdad. 10 days after the government decided to partly ease the curfew in iraq the rate of core with 19 infections is rising with more than 1800

new cases recorded a day showed that in. the last few days saw an unprecedented increase in the number of new infections which is just that the situation in iraq is about to reach its peak. officials and doctors have wanted iraq's health system is nearing collapse field clinics are being opened to cope with the growing number of patients a charity helped set up this temporary hospital bed but that international fair iraq's health sector has been chronically underfunded and the latest crisis has made matters even worse doctors say they lack medical supplies including protective gear and according to the ministry of health hundreds have fallen sick. but on the streets of baghdad life appears to go on as normal many iraqis don't observe social distancing or the requirement to wear masks in public some blame the government for not doing more to help iraqis comply with government measures i know more about you

and your mom than the health ministry is not making too much effort they didn't provide people with gloves all masks there are people who don't have any money to afford them there's almost no government support for small businesses hit hard by the pandemic and while many shop owners say they can't afford to stay home this juice bar owner wants a full lockdown to contain the virus but one that is enforced equally and live out favre out of court on it. so i just have. to fight to corona we demand the government to impose a. proper curfew for 15 days close all the roads don't let anyone can go out at the moment everyone has a special badge and they go around as they wish with a protein that getting medicine while they have no disease. despite the increasing cases the government appears to want to ease travel restrictions preparations are underway at baghdad international airport to resume flights. over to the. in the beginning we will open up internal flights and hopefully once we can deal with the

virus we will open up the entire airspace. when the passengers depart we will examine their temperatures and we will sterilize them in special tunnels before they enter the halls reopening would give a boost to iraq's ailing economy but many fear it could further deepen a health crisis that the government is struggling to contain seem awful to al-jazeera but that. america's top infectious diseases expert is warning the next few weeks will be critical in controlling what he calls a disturbing surge in corona virus infections and that he felt she testified in congress about the white house response to the emergency they contradicted president donald trump by saying he's not being told to slow down testing rosalyn jordan reports. saturday night in tulsa masks required donald trump used his 1st campaign rally since the start of the kobe 1000 pandemic

to talk about a spike in cases in the south and the west when you do testing. you to find more people you go to find more cases so i said to my people slow that testing down. and even though several trump campaign workers and 2 secret service agents tested positive for covert 19 the president stuck to his call heading to his next campaign rally on tuesday. i don't get let me tell you let me make it clear we have got the greatest testing program anywhere in the world we have better than anybody in the world our best the best in the world and we have the most job by having more than we find more. less than an hour later on capitol hill a hearing about the white house response members of trump's coronavirus task force

said there could be a viable back scene by the end of this year but they disagree with the president's view on testing knowledge i know for sure but so my knowledge none of us have ever been told to slow down on testing that just is a fact in fact we will be doing more testing dr anthony and his colleagues testifying the pandemic is not over. after 3 months of stay at home policies and now ongoing anti racism protests urged people to stay vigilant and as you wear a mask and you're in a situation where you're getting animated in a demonstration or in a rally or wherever you are avoiding as best as possible the urge to pull your mask down and shout more than 3 months into the public health crisis and there's still a confusing message coming from the highest levels of the u.s. government rosalynn jordan al-jazeera washington. celebrations are being held

across russia for the country's 75th victory day parade but looking at the live pictures coming out of the russian capital. the surrender of nazi germany in 1945 they go flying cost the kremlin back it's usually held in may but this year it was delayed because of course of the coronavirus. still ahead on al jazeera breaking his own coronavirus rules to laze president accused of hypocrisy for going to a relative's funeral. why the return of the tourist trade in thailand threatens to inflict more pain on captive elephants. we got plenty of sunshine now across western parts of europe in the heat building

we have got the shot was continuing for the race you can still see some large areas of cloud the thunder a downpour still likely over the next couple of days that we are going to see some wet weather and some thunder downpours pushing into western parts of europe as we go on through the next couple of days so while it's saying a little more cloud as we go on through wednesday that will tumble its way into scotland awaiting feature for the time being come into the way we're going to see those storms really picking up and banging away there plenty of stalls banging away into where poland into ukraine down towards the black sea some showers that just around the alps as well maybe into the peyronie's too for good measure come thursday little bit more the way of wetter weather starts to push where across northern parts of spain southern areas of france the showers continuing into central and eastern there is just one of 2 showers there into western russia moscow $25.00 celsius hot and dry those still very hot for london at 30 degrees signs of that wetter weather for the latter part of the wake 34 there in paris and more hot

sunshine coming through here a lot of sunshine across northern parts of africa lotsa showers there into central areas of africa and those showers extending across a good part of west africa. join our global community they call the place is just isn't the place that blessing upon . human equals global health keeping you up to date is oneself or situation where we have a human rights crisis that persists beyond the health crisis answering your questions is a dialogue nothing we are now approaching a crossroads this is an opportunity that we must not miss the stream on al jazeera .

back let's recap our headlines here al jazeera now north korea has announced it suspending plans for military action against the south state media said the decision was made during a meeting of the central military commission overseen by leader kim jong un. india has announced it's expelling half of the staff in pakistan's high commission in new delhi because of spying pakistan quickly rejected the allegations as baseless. the head of the united nations is urging israel to abandon plans to add next parts of the occupied west bank i'm telling you says station with devastating hopes for new talks on a 2 state solution. libya's internationally recognized government is rejecting arab

league calls for peace talks saying the push is coming from allies of walled holy for half thought and as the government's forces advance on the city of sirte egypt is warning of military intervention were done but i had reports from the capital. arab league ministers met via video link to demand an in to foreign military intervention in libya and they said neighboring countries have an important role to play in india in the crisis is. the cut that we have followed with great concern and condemn the internationalization of the levy a crisis aggravated by the open involvement of foreign militaries repeated violations of the un arms embargo in all directions and the systematic recruitment off mercenaries and foreign fighters. the un recognized the government in libya had downgraded its representation in the meetings concerned that the arab league which

is based in cairo is a strongly influenced by egypt. on saturday egypt's president opted for to his sisi threatened what he called external military missions across the border. and several other members hold back the arab league statement including the united arab emirates so i would arabia jordan and sudan are actively supporting the warlords have against the government it's a position that has infuriated the government in tripoli real weaponization of the . only. peace to incur the murder. forces. and this is really a question. so. after thwarting

have to the efforts to seize the capital to bag libyan forces continue to advance east in support of the you and the recognized a government egypt says the red line for its own security is serviced down to do for our and the ada base housing advances russian warplanes according to the u. s. military russian pilots supporting the russian mysteries in support of how after. forces loyal to the government of national accord are right now on the outskirts of syria it which is a gateway to libya's main oil fields in the east they feel they have half that on the run but that's only been the case since turkey fully committed its resources to the d.n.a. earlier in the year and egypt has watched it they change in the balance of power with increasing alarm. moved up to. tripoli.

israeli air strikes in syria have killed at least 2 soldiers and wounded 4 others missiles hit a military outpost near the southern city of sway the army positions in other regions were also targeted syrian state television says air defenses responded to the airstrikes. family of a former saudi intelligence officer living in exile in cannes there say he's being pressured to return to the kingdom's side and japanese families say saudi crown prince mohammed bin salamander ordered the arrest of 2 of his children and his brother in march jobs where he is the director of the gulf studies center at cutting university he says jeffery is an ally of one of the crown prince's main rivals the sudden germany was the right hand of. the moment but now you know when you know about. the last more than 20 years because basically he was the person who was coordinating the war in terror with the americans that he was the person

basically who was. coordinating the effort to tackle the terrorist organizations that have been selling through the gamut so you know when you about him so the lead became important after basically concealment came to power and prince mohammed bin nayef was basically forced to leave his position and suddenly he was abroad at that time and you basically he was advised to stay abroad twitter has here then another tweet by donald trump and labeled it abusive the u.s. president wrote that he views serious force against protesters who tried to set up a so-called autonomous zone in washington d.c. that's similar to the police free area created by activists in seattle. voters in 6 u.s. states have been choosing back congressional candidates in kentucky thousands of

voting stations were closed because of the kind that make that didn't deter some from making their voices heard though john 100 reports. voting rights advocates warned the kentucky primary was a recipe for disaster with a shortage of poll workers the state slashed the number of polling places from 3700 to just 200 there were serious concerns that the pandemic here and restrictions would suppress the black vote instead election officials are expecting near record turnout especially in louisville's parent jefferson county the county received 218000 requests for mail in ballots several times the usual number this has been the largest primary in jefferson county history. by valerie quest and of course state's been a decent turnout as well and the 6 days that we had prior to this. for voting here yesterday we ended the day with 11111 people the kentucky exposition center the state's largest voting venue never reached capacity here in louisville elections

usually have 200 polling places but now there's just this one for a county with more than 600000 registered voters and that includes half of the state's black population so the concern was that african-american voters would be under counted because they'd be dissuaded from coming to the polls by long lines but somehow with early and mail in voting moville and to avoid the kind of fiasco that many had predicted. that got folks a month long delay in the election and the recent police killings of black americans has raised the prospects of a black progressive to challenge the most powerful member of the u.s. senate for months charles booker's longshot candidacy for the senate has been eclipsed by his rival former marine fighter pilot amy mcgrath was considered unbeatable the winner would run. for the senate seat held by mitch mcconnell the republican leader and could help the democrats take control of the senate it's

extremely important to get mitch mcconnell out he does represent the interests of not only kentucky and louisville kentucky but the nation but since the election was postponed in may black voters have been energized by the police killing of george floyd i'm like his platform i'm like what he stands for and his values are my values as the last of these voters have found through in this extraordinary pandemic year the state of kentucky will have to remain in suspense on the outcome until june 30th when the last of the mail in vote have been counted john hendren al-jazeera louisville kentucky mexico's reports of another record rise in corona virus cases in the past 24 hours more than $6000.00 new infections health workers acknowledge the total is likely to be much higher of testing the government is gradually reopening the economy mexico has had more than $22000.00

crowd of virus linked deaths so far chile's president sebastian pinera is being accused of breaking his own government's coronavirus restrictions he attended a funeral with over 30 people tend more than is allowed has now reported more than a quarter of a 1000000 cases i want latin america to the see in human reports from santiago. companied by close family members chile's president peña took part in the final farewell of his 104 year old uncle former archbishop bennetta the new opinion. health ministry protocol stipulates that only 5 people can attend the funeral of anyone suspected of having died of colvin 1920 in the case of a person who has died of other causes the former archbishop had caught corona virus in may but according to his doctors he recovered and died a short time later of pneumonia the problem is more than 30 people attended the funeral when 20 is the maximum under the new pandemic protocol the ceremony

included live music and photography was. the president demanded the seal casket be opened giving him one last chance to see his uncle over the sandy the deputy health minister defended the president against widespread charges of bad taste and of breaking his own rules as he did on this show took a saw on us there were only 18 family members at the funeral the casket was sealed as to pilate in i can assure you everything was 100 percent according to protocol i don't think it's right to use the situations of pain especially during a pandemic. but the video clearly shows more people were present in opposition congressman is demanding an official probe by the general prosecutor been there. not only has the president broken the law he's underscored the privileges that his small cast enjoys while thousands of ordinary chileans are unable to give their

loved ones a dignified burial during the pandemic the number of confirmed killed 19 cases in chile has surpassed italy with italy as well 4 times chile's population but president here is by no means the only latin american leader was being accused of not quite following the rules in fact brazil's president jailed borson out or has always made a point of not following protocol such as social distancing or wearing a face mask but now he may have to do just that following a new court ruling. a federal judge has ordered the president to wear a mask in all public spaces transportation and commercial areas in the capital brasilia like all federal employees failure to do so carries a $400.00 fine the president has said in the past he'll ignore court orders he regards as quote absurd whether on purpose or not failure to follow the rules that can help reduce the spread of this deadly virus is sending

a bad example in the region that is now the epicenter of the pandemic you see in human al-jazeera sente out. the stabbing videos emerged of the ill treatment of elephants in thailand wildlife shows are normally a major tourist attraction but they've been close to the pandemic is why imho reports from bangkok things may get worse when the show's reopened. this has become a familiar yet still painful routine for. it's the 4th time she's had one of her calves taken from her the latest 18 month old is to the to another adult and taken away was tied to a tree is clearly distressed the as is been chewed her. as far away chained up crying out for her mother it's really traumatic for those elephants and a while especially male coughs stay with their mother. most entire life they would

stay x. ocean herds with a mother. assists on the video some of which is too disturbing to show we shot secretly at an elephant training school in the province northeast of the thai capital bangkok. the techniques and punishments such as being beaten or prodded with metal hooks while being forced to walk while their legs are bound together and designed to make them compliant all in the end to entertain too. many want to close encounter with one of thailand's national symbols or another animal 4 years ago one of the most popular wildlife attractions the tiger temple was raided and closed because of allegations the owners were trafficking big cats and animal parts soon after the park was given permission to reopen elsewhere these elephants that are among thousands captive in thailand will also be heading to parks and zoos but the coronavirus pandemic has meant the tourism industry here has ground to

a halt almost 200 animal welfare organizations wrote to the thai government asking them to use the opportunity to reset the industry they've heard nothing back we really. raise. and the long run and also ensure that the current generation of. al-jazeera also approached the tourism authority of thailand for reaction to the video but it declined the concern is that when the borders reopen operators will be desperate to make up for lost revenue and the elephants will be trained and put to work harder than ever wayne hay al-jazeera bangkok. and let's take a look at some of the headlines here and al-jazeera now north korea has announced

its suspending plans for military action against south korea state media says the decision was made during a meeting of the central military commission overseen by leader kim jong il in south korea says it believes the meeting was very unusual and is paying close attention. we saw the report from the north and we are reviewing it in a close serious way we will monitor the situation our government stance remains the 2 koreas should edge here to the bilateral agreement apart from this we stressed again and will continue to sternly respond to acts such as sending north leaflets which creates tensions between the south and north and threatens the safety of people in the border area the un secretary general says israel should abandon all plans to annex parts of the occupied west bank and turn over terror said it would be the most serious violation of international law a day earlier thousands of palestinians rallied in jericho more than $1000.00

politicians across europe have signed the petition opposing the annexation process which could begin on july the 1st. israeli police have shot dead a palestinian man in the occupied west bank but they say a high dollar cards rammed his car into an officer causing slight injuries palestinian officials are skeptical of the police account his family say he was driving to pick up his sister on her wedding day india has announcing it's expelling half of the staff in pakistan's high commission in new delhi because of spying pakistan quickly rejected the allegations as baseless islamabad is demanding a similar response in reducing staff from india's mission. those are your headlines the news continues on the stream stay with us and on to syria. for 4 weeks america engulfed in protest every day all over the u.s.

even as the country faces the continued threat of a deadly pandemic. and it morphed into a movement calling for police reforms sometimes it was violent. but mostly it was peaceful we asked people to describe what america is now feeling i think people want change. and i think people are willing to do whatever it takes to get that on friday billions of people in america are expected to celebrate what's called june 18th and an official holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the united states this year in the wake of the nationwide protests there is a growing number of calls to make it an official federal holiday. as people see it as a great opportunity to take to the streets to continue to let their message be heard . oh the.

the the was to have a meeting and catch it by. late night on friday in washington d.c. protest it's down the statue of confederate general pike in the last few weeks dozens of monuments have come down being pulled down already faced how much should we handle contentious mockers past that is our discussion today i'm femi oke a you're watching the street if you're flying on right now jump into the chat and you can be part of the conversation. i'm going to say hello to the guests the guess what she's themselves to hear hello that helium welcome to the street are you doing julie may actually enter me.