found questions about the ties between the catholic church and the irish. are limbs mother and baby scar. on a. coast prime minister collapses and dies during a cabinet meeting just weeks after being confirmed as a presidential candidate. hello i'm down jordan this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up a warning turn in libya's war why the u.n. chief is calling for urgent action on a ceasefire. phase. levels serbia's president delays new coronavirus restrictions as protesters keep up the pressure of his handling of the pandemic this just protecting.

joe biden's ahead in the polls for u.s. president but we look at his potential pitfalls against donald trump. ivory coast is facing uncertainty off the sudden death of its prime minister i'm a do go on to lead belly collapsed and died during a cabinet meeting just 3 months before he was supposed to run for president there was no reports. moments before his death prime minister i mean to go on the appeared upbeat as he entered a cabinet meeting chosen by the ruling party as its presidential candidate he just tweeted to have a vision is not about church and political gains but careful planning for decades to come but inside the meeting he suffered a coughing fit collapsed and died no official cause has been given but he suspected

of having suffered a heart attack last thursday he was welcomed home by president want are after spending 2 months in france for medical treatment over his heart condition the 61 year old was chosen successor. i'm back to take my place alongside the president to continue the work of development and construction of our country the ivory coast. in address to the nation what are described as his younger brother his son. with the death of. ivory coast loses a mugging for the youth an example of competence and persistence. after the tribute to the political fighting his death creates a political vacuum with many eager to take his place and become the ruling party's candidate for october's presidential elections the president's spokesman. and defense minister a. favorite while the country's economy back on track critics accuse him of

failing to address the deep grievances that led to the 2011 civil war 3000 people died after former president refused to concede defeat to ouattara. whoever replaces the will have to put up a strong campaign against experience rivals including former prime minister and opposition leader only good o.b.d. a former president with elections just 4 months away the sudden death of puts ivory coast into a new period of political uncertainty nicholas hawke al-jazeera. executive director of the africa international media group she explained what political challenges may lie ahead. the main problems occurring now you know we watch eat what really happened because we we can reckon with a lot of tensions and also maybe president wiped out our will say when it comes to

sion allows me to run again and facing that situation we have a note the former president 86 years old who says why me and yet another tension we don't unite about a candidate. within my property still maybe a run meisner president went to war was not in a great comfortable position to do to begin with but now with this openly everybody all of the political also may feel that it's a signal to come up with their own ambitions and really i mean it may be great james the u.n. secretary general is warning of unprecedented levels the foreign interference in libya antonella tears as warring parties and their international back as to end the political stalemate and agreeing to a cease fire diplomatic efforts at james bays has more from un headquarters in new york. 2020 was the year the u.n.

and the international community said they would bring peace to libya instead of violence has intensified with repeated war crimes mass graves and civilian casualties there are new risks as well as opportunities for peace now that general have to forces have been pushed all the way to say that time is not on our side in libya. the conflict is and the new phase is foreign interference reaching and it's ended levels including in the delivery of sophisticated equipment and the number of mercenaries involved in the fighting. germany has been leading international efforts in january it pulled together key players at a conference in perl in germany now has the presidency of both the e.u. and of the un security council its foreign minister was blunt some of the countries who signed up to the berlin communique 6 months ago have been undermining it ever

since with their actions foreign interference in may and the main driver of the conflict in libya it must be projects to an end that means no more planes no more tanks no more trucks or cargo ships full of weapons and no more lights so will those directly involved in libya now back down representatives of russia egypt and the united arab emirates said they support the u.s. position even though they're widely believed to back general have to militarily france has a growing strategic partnership with the u.a.e. and was strongly critical of fellow nato member turkey the main supporter of the government of national accord. the problem is this porters of general haftar know he's now in a much weakened position and they may want to bolster his military standing before

any negotiations on the other side supporters of the government of national accord no battle with haftar insert would be very bloody but after that there be an open road to the part of libya where much of the country's oil infrastructure is based james bays al-jazeera at the united nations libya's un recognized government says it's found a prison used by warlords only for have to torture his opponents government leaders in tripoli are calling on the un to investigate mass graves discovered near the prison in whom the forces of the government of national accord capture the city from have fighters in june as believe the warlords forces buried their torture victims. a local official of india's ruling b j p party has been shot dead in kashmir police say at least 2 gunmen opened fire killing was embury his father and brother outside the family shop a party called the attack shameful and mindless members of a police protection team which was absent during the attack have been arrested.

australia has suspended its extradition treaty with hong kong in response to a new security law imposed by china it's also extending visas for hong kong residents in australia and offering pathways to permanent residence the government has warned its citizens and residents in the territory they could be at greater risk of detention under the law it punishes a range of crimes including submission with harsh prison sentences and our government together with other governments around the world have been very consistent in expressing our concerns about the imposition of the national security law on hong kong and. to die we have agreed to announce that the national security law constitutes a fundamental chinee of circumstances in respect to extradition agreement with hong kong nicholas cage joins us live now from sydney to tell us a bit more about the elements of this announcement and how many people could we see

entering australia. there are about $10000.00 students and skilled workers based in australia right now and that is this announcement is targeting to begin with the prime minister scott morrison announcement means that their visas will be extended for another 5 years with the potential of becoming permanent residence at the same time they're trying to entice businesses already in hong kong to move their operations. if they are looking to move out of the territory that doesn't seem to be any humanitarian intake plans at this stage so this announcement doesn't go as far as what the u.k. is planning in terms of citizenship but of course it also includes the suspension of extradition toys there was the concern that if someone was extradited from a strictly it hong kong under these new laws they could be moved to mainland

china so quite modest but at the same time this will definitely struck a chord with beijing and we know that diplomatic ties have been deteriorating recently between australia and china is this law to make matters worse do you think . all this will no doubt infuriate beijing which will see it as a strangely a meddling in its internal affairs. tensions have been hot and in the coming months since the strain did announce that it wanted to inquire into the origins of corona virus and that has led to huge trade disputes in the agricultural sector there has been no mass tariffs placed on bali imports. beef products to spend it the chinese government has told its citizens not to travel to australia you know we're in a pandemic right now and people want but at the same time

a strong leader has updated its travel warning today for hong kong saying that a strolling citizens could be at higher risk of detention so this move will definitely anger beijing will just have to say what happens next thank you time for a short break here and al-jazeera when we come back melbourne goes quiet as australia 2nd most populous city returns to look down on the fallout grows for colombia's military ever again write the sparks national outrage more on that statement. out of the daily event of building big thunderstorms in the high ground in this part of the man continues there is profit writing that's finally dying off or just

shows how much of this edge of the monsoon trough is sort of moisture is just showing itself in the developing countries in somalia but for most it's drawing the orange indicates dust in the air stuff to the strong breeze and i mean in fact temperatures are rising partly because of that you've got $54.00 cost in baghdad and $44.00 in doha and the breezy day just is not particularly sandy. through most of north africa is much the same but the rain belt is vast rushing from ethiopia through sudan and south sudan and beyond daily showers is hardly a surprise but we go to rejuvenation of the witness in this monsoon when all the way from normal up through the coast to tanzania to kenya it seems fairly wet in the next day or so we've been following the fortunes of south sudan for the full cost of juba still showing daily thunderstorms the temperature rising to 34 at best and 30 when it's not quite so warm up tick humid environment so it's welcome right in south africa just gathering here is cloud so for the next couple of days

increasing wind and then rain stretches right up into namibia. john presence on down the time junior was promised damaging information about hillary clinton allegation like to see an investigation seductress did the trump campaign with russia did you at any time or birch the former f.b.i. director james comey in any way shape or form the closer to back down the investigation into michael flynn and also as you well know. next question battlefield washington on al-jazeera.

welcome back a quick reminder of our top stories here on al-jazeera ivory coast prime minister has died after fainting during a cabinet meeting a madugalle included was the ruling party's candidate for the presidential election in october. the u.n. secretary general is warning foreign interference has reached unprecedented levels in libya and television is urging the warring parties in their international backers to agree to a cease fire. and australia has suspended its extradition treaty with hong kong in response to china imposing a new security law it's also extending these as the hong kong residents and offering ways to get permanent residents. so the us government is set to announce new coronaviruses directions after the president said the weekend curfew might not go ahead thousands of people protested across belgrade for a 2nd night of the government's handling of the pandemic reports. hurling

rocks flares and insults at the government protesters gathered 1st seconds night across the serbian capital belgrade. security forces best outside parliament came to avoid a repeat of tuesday's chaos when some protests does manage to storm the building. but the tensions remain high with more tear gas from police some in the crowd intent on forcing their way inside again. there's an accumulation of dissatisfaction the majority of people here don't have exact demands that most of them feel in justice protesters blame president aleksander for sudden spike in coronavirus dates and infections after it lifted a strict lockdown just weeks before last month's elections. demonstrations began on tuesday when the restrictions would be coming back to de lay said he had advised

the government not to introduce a curfew but refused to take responsibility for the outcry. on the political rally was well organized a part of our security services on the before md and was saying there was an involvement of various not only criminal groups but also international intelligence services. the church has asked people to stop attending anti-government rallies to avoid spreading the virus warning there were no beds left in the hospitals to watch them initial problem over i don't have a problem with these measures but i do have a problem with ending them because of the elections and then reimposing them. the nation the south some in the crowd chanted the church is a. and that the money spent on the elections should have been invested in hospitals especially during a pandemic obvious to me. our government to simply looking after its own interests

the people are just collateral damage. 2 weeks after his passing surprise victory in the parliamentary elections is now facing widespread anger and is calls for calm head foodland on deaf ears. brian al jazeera now 5000000 people in australia are 2nd biggest city are back in lockdown after a surge in new coronavirus cases melbourne's downtown district was deserted as residents woke up to the 1st day of instructions there barred from leaving home for 6 weeks and this is for essential reasons the city's the capital of the southern state of victoria which has closed its borders well stephen schubert is a reporter for the australian broadcasting corporation a.b.c. he joins us from near a checkpoint on the outskirts of melbourne steve let's talk 1st if we can about these 9 talib locks in the city where thousands of residents are in lockdown tell us what's been happening there to them.

darron the latest on these tower blocks in melbourne in a north is that 111 out of 3000 people in these towers have tested positive for corona virus now they've been in full lockdown since saturday evening and this is unprecedented in astrology its response to corona virus the whole country was looks down but people were still able to leave their house for 4 reasons and that hasn't been the case for these presidents now a large proportion of these residents don't speak english is the 2nd language there's a high population in those towers and there has been some criticism about the numbers of police involved in enforcing that looked at there were 500 police officers on the shift every hour of the day so that's one of us of every 6 presidents victorious coronavirus cases to keep ticking outwards and as you mentioned today the whole the whole of melbourne struggles 2nd biggest city is back

in lock down to 6 weeks yet stephen and that's an important point to make in terms of the bigger picture melbourne now goes into its 2nd coronavirus lockdown people must mean pretty frustrated as they face another round of stiff restrictions on their movement. definitely frustrated but also i think understanding that this is necessary they've seen those numbers jump up just 3 days ago we had 191 cases here in victoria and that comes out there it wasn't really that long ago that we had a few days with 0 new cases so people really do understand that but of course how breaking for cafe owners the gym owners business people who were just getting back on their feet after the last lockdown and it is being enforced we're on a checkpoint here just out of melbourne where police currently blocking one of the major freeways out of the city now we you've caught us on

a shift change here of the police so they're not stopping cars at the moment but they have been pulling cars over on a random basis and asking people why they are leaving no been there are only 4 reasons why people should be leaving melbourne and the fines if you know if you don't have a valid reason are about $1600.00 astronomy and dollars which is a fair bit and for a lot of people that would really sting darron are just even just outside melbourne stephen thank you for that now the u.s. has seen the biggest jump in corona virus cases recorded by any country in a single day more than half the states are seeing a rise in the number of infections despite that secretary of state mike pompei on says the world is looking to the u.s. for guidance as a global leader in the fight against a pandemic capitalism that has more now from new york's. in states like new york where i'm at in new jersey the neighboring states the numbers have come way down but overall in the united states it's a much much different story 35 states right now in the u.s.

currently are seeing their numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases increasing and there's only 3 states that see the numbers decreasing of the numbers that the states that are hardest hit on this give you a few anecdotes from each california governor just said there that in the last 2 weeks the number of hospitals ations has gone up by over 40 percent in arizona they're saying only 145 i.c.u. beds are available left in the state in texas more than 10000 confirmed cases there on tuesday a record for the state for 24 hour period and in florida the epicenter of the core virus outbreak in the u.s. right now there are 42 hospitals that say they have no longer had in i.c.u. beds available for patients anymore so you look at these numbers and they are not very good they're trending in the wrong direction nevertheless as you mentioned

secretary of state might pompei o says and claims that the u.s. is a model for the rest of the world after months of taking aim at mexico the u.s. president as welcomed his mexican counterpart to the white house and there is money lopez obrador has been criticized for holding talks with donald trump who remains a divisive figure in mexico over his immigration policies and border war the leftist leader defended the trip as trade related some democrats say trump wants to use the occasion to drum up support among hispanic voters ahead of the members election. the relationship between the united states and mexico has never been closer than it is right now and as the president said a little while ago people were betting against that they were actually betting against it. but it's never been stronger never been closer we're doing tremendous job together we're cherished friends partners and neighbors our cooperation is founded on mutual trust and mutual respect between the 2 of us and between our 2

countries need but a yes but i say i decided to come because it was very important for us to launch this new agreement but i also wanted to thank the people of the u.s. government and you president trump for being increasingly respectful of our fellow mexicans and for your personal support in acquiring medical equipment to treat coronavirus patients that's why i'm here to express to the american people that their president has treated us with kindness and respect long live the friendship of our 2 nations. well christopher wilson is the deputy director of the mexico institute at the wilson center he says despite trump's warm words he continues to maintain a hard line on mexico. the policies and rhetoric from president from on a day to day basis and not changed that much he still is pushing mexico to be an extension of u.s. immigration policy howard's migrants seeking asylum in the united states whether

cases or process use the national guard in mexico to block migrants from coming through mexico to the united states and generally speaking in rather aggressive terms of about the country now he doesn't speak that way about the president himself there is respect and this is what the 2 presidents are talking about between each other as individuals perhaps even some sort of strange come rothery because of their similar populist styles of governing and distaste for institutions but the relationship itself i mean when i hear the 2 presidents today speaking from the rose garden about how wonderful the relationship is i just have to ask myself what world they're living in because it's not the same one 'd that i'm living in watching these policies unfold and watching really harm be done to us mexico relations as a result many of the policies. donald trump is planning to push ahead with large campaign rallies even after supporters at his last event tested positive the

covered 19 by contrast his democratic challenger has kept his campaign mostly on the line joe biden is ahead in the polls but some observers warn you need to do much more alan fischer reports i was it's been months since joe biden held a rally surrounded by supporters or given a major speech at a packed event it's now almost all done online like this gathering with educators and eliminate anything to do with him. but changing how to campaign during colbert as part all recent polls have the presumptive democratic candidate ahead one from monmouth university gives him a 12 point lead over the president most warning for trump is half of all registered voters say he won't be backing him joe biden shouldn't start planning his inauguration just yet it is still very early we are in the middle of the summer but you know you haven't had the conventions yeah you haven't had any debates yet. i

think it's really early to start getting overconfident there's nobody that i trust more to campaign virtually with his old boss barack obama he's given a major speech about the trump administration's reaction to the covert crisis from isolation and he's raised money lot saw that no. recent protests over racial equality have seen president trump's approval numbers take a hit. to his handling of the corporate crisis and his reelection is in real trouble this job is about protecting america. here. but one analyst says joe biden has to do more than be the guy who is not going to trump that he can't just be anger at the other person what do you stand for people actually selecting when they select a job so he still has to put out policy. one day only abiding out. that it's still not necessarily making its way to the needy western

region knows. he's going to need. both sides hope they will soon make it a turn to normal campaigning both sides believe they see poll numbers right rather curious shapes both sides insist their candidate will win in november only one of them will be right alan fischer al jazeera washington. the gang rape of an indigenous girl by a group of colombian soldiers a spot outrage across the country it's turned the spotlight on the military's record of sexual violence and human rights abuses. reports from bogota. there was shock in colombia when the 7 soldiers admitted kidnapping and raping an 11 year old indigenous girl 2 weeks ago. protests broke out outside a number of army bases across the country demanding justice as more abuse cases came to light. the usually reticent armed forces publicly admitted that since

2016 at least $118.00 incidents of sexual violence against minors have been or still are being investigated. while 45 soldiers have been sacked another 75 remain active despite the evidence against them. as. the military forces and its institutions should be protecting our rights not violating them if those who are supposed to protect our territories are abusing and threatening us what can we expect by the rest even wars when we see there's a level of silence by the institutions trying to keep these cases invisible. indigenous communities have long been vulnerable to sexual violence by both legal and illegal armed forces in the country's internal conflict and the signing of a peace deal with fart rebels in 2016 has been stopped the crimes as pressure mounted the head of the army announced that another 31 soldiers were going to be discharged but insisted that it had never tried to protect the soldiers implicated

. no colombian soldier is trained within the institution to attack the human rights of boys girls or adolescents. it has been a particularly bad year for colombian armed forces as a number of scandals have affected its you made from accusations of illegal spying to the possible return of extrajudicial killings that for many here was sexual violence cases that were truly the last straw a new poll shows and the president did fall in support from 85 percent to 48 percent in less than 6 months it was masked. who led an investigation uncovering one of the abuses says that while military scandals are nothing new to the men's for justice show colombian society is changing. since we used

to have a major internal conflict society forgive the military because there was a big enemy the fire. but there's no fire anymore and society is not willing to forgive anymore and these scandals are likely mean this time reform of the armed forces will be inevitable. for those affected by the violence real reform can come soon enough. and just. time for a quick check of the headlines on al-jazeera ivory coast prime minister has died after thinking during a cabinet meeting i'm going going going to bali was the ruling party's candidate for the presidential election in october. the u.n. secretary general is warning of unprecedented levels of foreign interference in libya attorney protests edge is urging warring parties and their international backers to end the political stalemate and agree to a ceasefire australia has suspended its extradition treaty with hong kong in

response to china imposing a new security law it's also extending these as for hong kong residents in australia and offering permanent residence the government has warned it's citizens and residents in the territory that could be at greater risk of being detained under the law and our government together with other governments around the world have been very consistent in expressing our concerns about the imposition of the national security law on hong kong and to die we have agreed to announce that that national security low constitutes a fundamental change of circumstances in respect to an extradition agreement with young hong kong 5000000 people in australia are 2nd biggest city back in lockdown after a surge in new corona virus infections melbourne's downtown district was deserted as residents work up to the 1st day of restrictions there barred from leaving home for 6 weeks unless it's for essential reasons more than 3000000 americans have now

tested positive for cope with 19 infections are slowing in some regions but cases a surge in most states especially in the south despite warnings from public health officials president donald trump is continuing to push for schools to reopen in the autumn and serbia's president says we can curfew may not go ahead as is government considers the best way to control an increase in covert 19 infections thousands of people tried to storm parliament and protested across belgrade for a 2nd night over the government's handling of the pandemic protests also spread to other cities with many calling for the president to resign. those were the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera on the witness station thanks so much but about. a global pandemic mass protests demanding change economic recession and geopolitical tensions not to mention the small matter of

a looming election join me steve clemons in conversation with leading voices on the bottom line your weekly take on u.s. politics and society on al-jazeera. who here is my favorite of all the whole jack obi wound canobie he's not of very nice just so when testy with his mary. you have a right there you. find of a feather oh my you know that you know. where they're from boy.