of cultures across the world to send a matter when you cool hand luke leading news and current affairs that matter to you. u.s. vice president mike pence visits one of the worst hit states as the global coronavirus death toll exceeds half a 1000000. dollars the whole romany watching al-jazeera live my headquarters here in doha also coming up removing a symbol of racism mississippi votes to change its flag carrying the confederate emblem following the death of george floyd. also the speaker of the u.s. house of representatives criticizes donald trump over reports of russian bounties on u.s. troops in afghanistan. and president micron's party faces a setback but is

a good night for the greens at a local elections in france. welcome to the program across the world half a 1000000 people have now died from corona virus and more than 10000000 have been infected a quarter of all of those infections and deaths are in the united states which is by far the worst hit country with a sharp spike in infections recorded in southern and western states the u.s. health secretary is warning that time is running out to contain the virus particle haid as more. the corona virus is marching through america in houston texas hospitals are quickly running out of intensive care beds in florida arizona and texas mobile testing sites are being overrun with people waiting for hours many

turned away health experts warned this would happen in many of these states mostly republican governors move to reopen businesses stressing the importance of the health of the economy now critics say the public health system and a growing number of people are paying the price well the trumpet ministration says there is no connection. all 50 states are opening up again to one degree or another states like florida and like texas actually began to open up in in early may for the better part of 6 weeks john we did not see any significant movement but if you look at this tracker showing which states meet the government's criteria to reopen only 4 are safe the ones in red are seen large spikes in cases and now at least one member of the administration is sounding the alarm window is closing we have to act and people as individuals have to act responsibly we need to social distance we need to wear fit our face coverings if we're in settings where we can't

social distance particularly in these hot zones but in many of these states where cases are on the rise there is no mandatory order to wear masks in public and in many ways this is become a partisan issue well the vice president attended that event sunday where the crowd seemed to mostly wear masks the president has not done the same and my understanding that the centers for disease control has recommended the use of mass but not demand with choir it because they don't want to send the president and that the president should be example you know real men wear masks for the president's part his focus at least on twitter was elsewhere we tweeted this video of supporters yelling white power 6. he appears to have deleted it before leaving the white house once again his weekend spent golfing by some estimates the number of cases that have been reported each day has more than doubled over the last 2 weeks and given the way this virus spreads that means the number is likely

to jump dramatically in the days and weeks ahead political haim al jazeera maryland . brazil is the world's 2nd was to a country with more than 1300000 cases and over 57000 while in response protest as a gathered in brazil and around the world to denounce president john bolton always handling of the pandemic and the sons of m.p.'s he has more from the colombian company. as the sun capital brasilia a 1000 crosses were planted in front of the brazilian congress. the 7000 people dead of so far 1000 in the country but it was also the 1st of a series of demonstrations on sunday against president. of the. groups of protesters in more than 20 countries in.

the state. without a face mask despite a court ruling require him to wear one but. cases in the country keeps rising i reduction in the number of daily deaths. was enough for the mayor to reopen stores. this week and but many customers say they remain worried i think it should be done step by step there can be no crowds everyone should keep their distance we all know our economy is collapsing and we have to get back to work but the viruses and visible so we can only wear our masks. the coronavirus and their mic continues to wreck havoc in much of latin america. even colombia that had managed to control the spread of the virus is experiencing a resurgence of infections after partially reopening the economy the mayor of the capital is asking president to reinstate the strict lockdown.

the numbers are overwhelming but has reached 27000 cases and arraigned 600 dead the country has more than 88000 cases and almost 30000 deaths we need to prepare to go back to a strict quarantine. staying at home might be the only way to protect the health system reaching a critical state with something difficult to implement again in this and other countries in latin america with a large population working informally hand to mouth then needs to be on the streets every day to survive and listen to them and just. the u.s. president says intelligence agencies are told in the report suggesting that russia offered to pay taliban fighters to target american troops in afghanistan were not credible but the new york times who 1st reported the story now says senior u.s. officials were aware of the plot as early as january the newspaper reports that at least one death was connected to the bounties and the tweet trump suggested it was

another fabricated russia hoax house speaker nancy pelosi is accused of siding with russia's leader vladimir putin. this is as bad as it gets and yet the president will not confront the russians on this or denies being bewkes whether he is or not his the ministration know our allies who were some of our allies who will work with us in afghanistan have been briefed and accept this report just as i've said to the president with him all roads lead to putin he will not he will i don't know what the russians have on the president politically personally financially or whatever it is but he wants to ignore he want to bring them back into the g. 8 despite the annexation of crimea and the invasion of ukraine karen greenberg is director of the center on national security at the fordham university school of law and she says even if trump's denials are true the controversy isn't good for him. if this is

a story that actually has some merit to it which if the new york times is right it seems to be that of that he would be briefed on it and not just him but his closest advisers would be briefed done and he would think there would be some kind of investigation into the validity of it and some kind of sense of how to respond and what to do so if he wasn't briefed on it that too was a problem because if there was a story out there intelligence sources or elsewhere then it's the kind of thing that needs to be brought to the attention of the president and so you go away whether he was briefed or not briefed and this actually was information that was in the intelligence community in the national security council arena then either way it doesn't look good for the president in the area of afghanistan pakistan intelligence services who is using who is. who to do their bidding which groups it's an incredibly cloudy complicated and untrustworthy area and if you

study the history of the region over the past many decades you're is always a little bit of who's on whose side who's doing what so it's not unusual but it is unfortunate and it just highlights the complexity of the region and how difficult it is to know who's really on whose side and who's doing what but when you're in the middle of peace talks you really need a level of trust that this story betrays. so that says in the state of mississippi have voted to replace the state flag of the last of the nation to display the confederate battle emblem but the bill goes to republican gov the tate reeves to be signed into law i see the current design as racist was friends to slavery in the south it was on the reports. a contentious flag that symbolized america's past connection with slavery soon to be gone. lawmakers in mississippi voted

overwhelmingly to remove the state flag 126 years after it was adopted the last of its kind in the us to carry this symbol of the confederate states that fought and lost the civil war to maintain slavery in america if you want to be on the right side of the free market and proud of personally cherish your day and heart of the credibility of individuals who came out and shot it appears the same. for many they can better at flag symbolizes hate my parents and grandparents experience much terrorism and tyranny under that flag on as a younger mississippi and a millennial it represents the darker days of our state when our state government and various others used it as a symbol of supremacy. others argue getting rid of the flag is another attempt to wipe out america's history they don't change if you take my.

place. was. in 2001 mississippi voters decided by a 2 to one margin to keep the flag is the official state emblem but times have changed. with it get the george floyd in may sparking nationwide civil rights protests highlighting racial inequalities a renewed call to change the flag this time it was successful. but a new flag is just a 1st step in achieving racial justice argue more is needed in a state where 31 percent of blacks live in poverty compared to 12 percent of whites the lack of assembly. you know up low now it will lead you to travel that i have faced daily and most african-americans in this state so that is a. little bit substantive. we have to see these policies that are

punitive and work i mean right now we have to get rid of those policies so that we can have. you know once and for all a 9 person commission will oversee a new state flag design voters will approve or reject it on the ballot in november gabriel's sandow al jazeera. starbucks says the latest company to pull ads from facebook over concerns that the social media giant has become a platform for hate speech the coffee company follows other multinationals like coca-cola unilever and levi's civil rights leaders have been calling for a boycott of facebook saying it doesn't do enough to stop racist and violent content on friday facebook announced it'll take a potentially harmful posts well still ahead here on al-jazeera calls to justice in india after a father and son die in custody reigniting the debate about police brutality. and

out in the cold a ski resorts amongst the attractions bracing for a bad tourist season in south africa. hello there hot and dry throughout much of the middle east of course if they when they saw the dust in the sand has also been picking up temperature wise it's also been fairly warm into afghanistan these boys enjoying the cool waters to cool down but as we go through the next few days it may actually be a few shots which in calls into nolan afghanistan the times is in the low thirty's once you had to the west of there calls home it is much higher 45 in baghdad 47 across into you 8 still the winds a very strong way down the gulf and if it is a go through tuesday the time which is actually on the increase so doha could be up to $45.00 degrees celsius and the same across into riyadh and then from there we

had down into southern africa plenty of rains around the gulf of guinea out was west africa but also the last couple of days on a very strong front work its way across into the far cape so this has also led to a lot of storm damage the winds were gale full strength and just over the seas a blue gum trees came down actually really damaged 8 cars but it wasn't just this the cause the problem there was also flooding as well that was fairly widespread now as we go through monday you can see still a chance a few showers the winds could still be brisk but not as strong as they were but really all the along the south coast again the winds will be fairly gusting if those showers will creep along the east coast and also coast in mozambique as we head off into tuesday. in a 2 part series. observes the lives of 2 to. 20 years. in science circumstances that you clawing.

20 years of. starts and land story to see you around. what the law reform. look about you watching all deserve me as a whole rob a reminder of our top stories across the world half a 1000000 people are known to have died from corona virus more than 10000000 have been infected a quarter of all of those infections and in the united states which is by far the worst hit country. in brazil protesters have been demonstrating against president

tribals nora's handling of the crisis they set out a 1000 crosses in the capital brazil the 2nd worst hit country in the world. and senators in the u.s. state of mississippi have voted to replace it states like the last in the nation to display the confederate battle emblem many see the current design as racist for its links to slavery in the cells. but the green party appears to have made major gains in france's local elections present a model backwards party struggled is the 2nd round of polls and bears and to be in a simple counsellors which was delayed because of the coronavirus lock down the election is seen by many as a test of buchholz reform policies and his handling of the outbreak that has more from paris. victory for annie delgo and a 2nd term as mayor of paris the socialist candidate had teamed up with the green party to run on an environmental platform for the city she promised to continue her drive to cut cars and pollution and help the french capital's economy recover from

the covert crisis was that is was the list was a this was you know that you've chosen hope you've chosen unity chosen a pair is that a city that leaves no one behind it or goes nearest rival conservative candidate for data he conceded defeat a former justice minister on the nicholas sarkozy sheet campaign to clean up the city and crack down on crime trailing behind was an e.s.b. south a candidate for president emmanuel mack cross centrist policy failed to convince voters to have a message about his unity but i want to thank all presidents he swam against the tide to place their hope and confidence in us by voting for our list i take on board the result. the 2nd round of the local elections took place more than 3 months after the 1st it was delayed because of the coronavirus lock down the health crisis and likely factor in the historically low voter turnout many restrictions

have been lifted in france which is why these elections can finally take place there are there of course special measures in a polling station mosques are mandatory social distancing has to be respected and everybody who works here is behind a prospect screen across france there were big gains for the greens taking cities including but it was a crushing day for the president's party the fail to win any major seats macro created his republican the move party to help him win the presidency in 2017 but his struggle to expand its supporter base his party has suffered from the unpopularity of my coin self there was lots of trouble in the past 2 years and in the middle of a pandemic you don't expect a reward for the for the government certainly not in france where people are are criticizing a lot of the power of the day local elections have little direct impact on the national government in my craw has played down their importance of the voting in

northern france he looked relaxed nevertheless 2 years before the next presidential election his party's poor results offer some indication of how much confidence voters have in his leadership and as such will be difficult to completely ignore. al-jazeera paris. paul is conservative president has won the most votes in the 1st round of the country's presidential election with ballot counting almost complete. just over 45 percent of the vote he'll face his closest challenger warsaw's liberal . ski in a runoff next month opinion polls place the 2 candidates neck and neck. at least 12 people are being killed in turn a missing following heavy rain and flooding in southwestern china nearly 8000 people were evacuated in he hired a township in sichuan province seasonal flooding since the beginning of june has

already caused billions of dollars in losses the palestinian political group fatah has welcomed calls from its longtime rival hamas for a unified front against israeli plans to start and its in the occupied west bank from next month which controls the gaza strip calls for a strategy to undermine the israeli plan the government of israel is due to vote on wednesday on the annexation of all settlements in the occupied west bank including the jordan valley fatah and hamas have been that old since 2007 after hammer seize control of gaza israel has ordered a channel owned by evangelical broadcaster god t.v. to be taken off or the cable and satellite broadcasting council suspended the license for shayna lou t.v. it's a hebrew channel run by the group and it's based in the us its critics accuse it of hiding a missionary agenda to convert jews to christianity controversy comes at a time when the majority of evangelicals in the u.s.

are strong supporters of israel. thousands of people in the amar's rakhine state of flowed from their homes at the prospect of military raids the un says urgent measures are needed to save civilian lives villages were ordered to leave as the army prepared to launch an operation against the american army now it's a rebel group which wants more self rule for ethnic rakhine buddhists the order to evacuate has been called off after the u.k. australia the us and canada called for an end to the so-called clearance operations refugees and humanitarian groups say the operations are a cover for military crackdowns the military had used the term clearance operation in 2017 when they targeted the ring a muslim minority that led to accusations of genocide. this executive director of the burma human rights network he says raids are still taking place despite the assurances of state officials what we're hearing is that it is just you know show

that they call off but it is not true they have still conducting some operations not operation on the ground and i contacted myself my team also contacted a lot of people on the ground there saying that they have been hearing the shelling hiring and firing and there are so many few locations civilians have been detained to interrogate and bear in mind the interrogation regaling in torturing so they are civilians are facing torture because the right kind of like the kind they are bullies but they are still because they are supporting. konami so they try to create fear and pressuring the population to give them the information where they are about and in the meantime as. we reported within 48 hours for civilian has been killed and there are several injured and also there are a couple of villages there some houses have been turned on by the shelling and by

the military activity and also we are also learning that you know 111 month old baby was killed a few days ago so the military operation is continuing no matter how the community is crying and talking about it to stop this so this military operation is clearly breaching. you know. provision measure the international criminal court of justice has you know ordered them to stop all kind of activities that they're going to suffer in your community in china say so they're clearing breaching this or that. investigation is underway in india the 2 men died in police custody in taba ladu state relatives of the victims say they were tortured the cases sparked outrage with hundreds of thousands of people calling for justice for tory b. of the story. what started off as

a small protest by relatives of 2 men who died in custody has grown much larger in recent days and we ignited a debate about police brutality in india. j. raj and his son panix who were arrested last week accused of keeping the shop open during a lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus they spent the night in jail and died days later within hours of each other relatives of the men say they were tortured an investigation is under way. in the districts of the nicola immobile shop with them but there are denison bendix there was an issue between them and the police regarding the closure of the shop and the police file a report they were held in custody and. both were later admittedly by the hospital and died. 2 police officers have been suspended many on social media are comparing this case to the death of george floyd in the united states latest figures from the national human rights commission show that 9 people on average dying custody every

day in india and a further 15 report violence and torture we have a combination of make maliki but of course the that there are a lot. where certain we're going to get that that they will not. work and heard in the same breath what we have what the right is sort of national where this. little bit off and this one occasion that people. leaders in tamil nadu state say they'll transfer the case to the central bureau of investigation but that's unlikely to stop demands from the victim's family and hundreds of thousands of others for justice and accountability victoria gate and be algis they are. no forces loyal to libyan ward cleaver have to say they're sending reinforcements to regions they hold in the center of the country this video from the solved declared libyan national army is said to show fighters being sent to the regions of call for uncertain the unrecognised government of national accord has

pushed back have to forces from the capital tripoli on wednesday arab leaders called for a truce and peace talks between the warring sides. democratic republic of congo prime minister will solve their stray longer has protested at the briefer rest of the justice minister. to the president to guarantee legal protections for cabinet members soliciting to send was released after being questioned by prosecutors no follows a disagreement with the president over proposed judicial reforms critics say they're an attempt to muscle judges. boeing's grounded 737 max airliner is a step closer to getting back into the air the us federal aviation administration has given approval for safety test flights to begin as soon as monday now the 737 max was boeing's best selling plane but it hasn't flown since march 29th teen after crashes in ethiopia and indonesia which killed almost 350 people

russian mining giant nor lisc nichols say it stopped a toxic spill into the arctic tundra it came to light when the local newspaper released a video showing contaminated water from a nickel processing plant being pumped into waterways the company has suspended employees it says were responsible for a flagrant violation of operating rules lots of africa has been easing lockdown restrictions to revive the economy including its vital tourism sector but as the government deals with the highest number of krona virus cases on the continent the industry is expecting to struggle in the coming months to meet a bit of visited a winter resort where it's feared the season is already lost. more than 2700 meters above sea level this is the highest resort in south africa it's also the only ski resort in the country and one of 3 in africa but with no leisure

travel allowed the covert 19 locked down has brought to fidel and south africa's tourism industry to a standstill the resort hires about 120 people during the 3 month long ski season with good new talent to repeat a cold front coming. now we're not. trying to. make sure that we can run a soon where open borders. so tonnage really is a ski instructor who also teaches in the resorts training program for the underprivileged it too has been canceled now that the season the winter season is caused you to lock down it's very rich difficult for me because our i don't work around it in council i just sit at home. the resort usually hosts at least one international ski competition every year but it's likely this season will be lost and surrounding tourist attractions are also empty this is the call the fear that

this area's had in 7 years conditions are perfect for winter sport making it all the more difficult for people here to break had it not been for coronavirus this resort would have think 1500 people pass through during the peak of the winter tourism season instead of being on the slopes 17 year old top is spending his free time trying to keep fit earlier this year he competed in the youth limpy games in switzerland he was one of only 2 competitors from africa he had hoped to train during the winter at his home in the eastern cape i feel embarrassed because i really really looking forward to this game this year and try my best to qualify for the 20202022 winter olympics and china. i quite enjoyed but. destroyed everything. well topples plans have been put on hold the tourism industry

in south africa waits for word on when it can reopen the government says the bulk of applications for unemployment grants has come from the sector and up to 600000 people in the industry could lose their jobs if it's not fully operational by september but for now the ski resort stays empty for me to malaya al-jazeera east and cape. george is there with me so horribly reminder of our top stories across the world half a 1000000000 people are known to have died from corona virus and more than 10000000 have been infected a quarter of all of those infections and deaths are in the united states which is by far the worst hit country but the window is closing we have to act and people as individuals have to act responsibly we need to social distance we need to wear fit

more face coverings if we're in settings where we can't social distance particularly in these hard times in brazil protesters have been demonstrating against president diable snorers handling of the crisis they sent out a 1000 crosses in the capital brazil's the 2nd worst hit country in the world the us president says intelligence agencies have told him the report suggesting that russia offer to pay taliban fighters to target american troops in afghanistan were not credible but the new york times who 1st reported the story now says senior u.s. officials were aware of the plot as early as january the newspaper reports that at least one death was connected to the bounties senators in the u.s. state of mississippi have voted to replace that state flag the last in the nation to display the confederate battle emblem many see the current design as racist for its links to slavery in the south starbucks is the latest company to pull as from facebook over concerns that the media giant has become a platform for hate speech the company follows other multinationals like coca-cola

and levi's on friday facebook announced little tag potentially harmful posts after boycotts wife and. and poland's conservative president has won the most votes in the 1st round of the country's presidential election with ballot counting almost complete all great duda has just over 45 percent of the vote will face his closest challenger warsaw's liberal man how. in the runoff next month forces loyal to libya ward cleaver after deploying reinforcements to regions are held in the center of the country sources say sudanese mercenaries loyal to have to have also been sent to regions of conference set on wednesday arab leaders called for a truce and peace talks between the warring sides those were the headlines about with more news in half an hour one a wall east is next to stay with us. from the europe at a crossroads that deals with a rising china and a u.s. president who riles his allies also how the world's investment money hasn't reached

people of color and cyber attacks on vaccine makers in the bar trees. counting the costs on al-jazeera. indonesia is home to the largest remaining rain forest. resource companies are paying as little as $5.00 a day for the ecological paradise through questionable land grabs. indigenous tribes accusing south korean run. of plundering west papuan for a piece of the $300000000.00 revenue is pure fantasy that is not the case at all when i want to investigate allegations of fraud and human rights abuses deals worth billions of dollars.