the internet industry where over half of the country. today i'm announcing a surge of federal law enforcement into american communities plagued by violent crime donald trump says federal forces will be deployed to chicago and albuquerque democrats say it's a political stunt to boost a flanking reelection campaign. this

is out there at live from doha also coming up in the program the spying claims and a mysterious fire china has ordered to shut its consulate in the u.s. to diffuse them as a diplomatic born 20 five's. california now has the largest number of coronavirus cases in the us a passing new york. the self-confessed middleman in the murder of a maltese journalist was found with severe knife wounds hours before he was jew to give evidence in court. so that he's been criticized for his response to the west in corona virus pandemic and to the demands for racial justice following george floyd's death but with just over 3 months to go before the presidential election donald trump is taking action

and talking tough on 2 other fronts as administration has ordered that china's houston consulate to be shut down and the latest move against beijing. and in the past couple of hours the president's announced that hundreds of federal law enforcement officers will be sent to the cities of chicago and albuquerque to combat what he calls rising crime state governors and city officials all democrats say this is a political stunt you know it's one follows a night of violence in chicago which included a gun battle between gang members at a funeral that wounded 15 people. will work every single day to restore public safety protect our nation's children and bring violent perpetrators to justice we've been doing it and you've been seeing what's happening all around the country we've just started this process and frankly we have no choice but to get involved or federal agents have already been deployed against protesters calling for racial justice in portland that's an oregon of the state government's gone to

court seeking a restraining order the acting head of the department of homeland security says the forces have made lawful arrests he's also said he's ready to pull officers out if i don't stop but they've been accused of seizing protesters from the streets and vehicles and detaining them without justification democratic members of 15 cities condemn the use of the agents in a letter to the attorney general let me be very clear with oregonians when i spoke with the director of the department of homeland security last week i told him to go home and to take his federal troops with him. this is a democracy not a dictatorship we cannot have secret police abducting people into and putting them in unmarked vehicles. i cannot believe i have to say that to the president of the united states well john 100 our correspondents live for us in chicago and john the president says this is

a necessary move to calm things down what does it mean on the ground. well this is a particularly violent year in a violent city as about a week ago 373 people had been killed in the city of chicago that's about 100 more than at the same point just a year ago so we're on pace to have 700 deaths that's a very high number and it's a city that often has high numbers so it is a violent year but i spoke to a federal law enforcement source and he said this would be very different than what happened in portland in portland you had a bunch of federal officials in cammo gear with helmets and pads they were protecting federal buildings from vandalism but they were also going out in chasing down vandals these federal law enforcement source that i spoke to here in chicago says it will be entirely different that no one will see than the officers here on the street at the president's news conference he was talking about something like 200 officers i am told here on the ground as of yesterday the number that federal

officials here were told was more like 110 but whatever the number is these are going to be people who are going to be investigating existing crimes they're not going to be boots on the ground they're not to be armed and out on the street and that is one of the things that has apparently changed the mayor's mind here in chicago mayor lori lightfoot was very concerned about what happened in portland and she was going to try to stop the president from sending in federal agents here in chicago but after she talked to the u.s. attorney here in town we are told that she changed her mind and decided that they could be helpful in solving some of these crimes so she's wary she's not exactly inviting them into town but she says she will except it the governor of illinois j.b. pritzker has also been critical of what the president has done elsewhere but they say they're going to give it a chance and see if they can possibly help but i will say the federal agent i spoke to here says this is happened at points of high violence in the past and it's not

likely to make a huge difference in the numbers as far as that the difference here is that it is happening in you know along with alongside deployments elsewhere in the united states which of being tied to the protests. that's right and what the president is doing here is we just have to say it as it is i mean it's political he has been very critical of all of these protests in the democratic cities all of the ones resounding people have democratic mayors and he's been particularly pressing this message that defunding the police is a bad idea that's one of them entres of these protesters but what they want to do is shift money from inside the police department to things like mental health people who are better equipped to deal with some of the problems that now only police are dealing with and trump is trying to suggest that what is needed is more money 'd and more policing in these cities these protesters are talking about doing it a different way but that gives him ammunition in his campaign against joe biden in

an interview the other night he trying to suggest that biden was for defunding the police something biden has never said so this is it's a way that trump can try to make some positive progress in the minds of his supporters at a time when he's heavily being criticized for what he's done on the front of the coronavirus our journey there for months john hendren in chicago let's bring in a renounce our money ought to be who's a former u.s. federal prosecutor he joins us live via skype also from chicago or not so welcome to the program now what about the legality of this move to send in federal forces is it legal yes it's this is legal i mean there's no real concern here is long as it's been or it is yes these are going to be federal prosecutors is it your or spots investigating to see crimes that's that's fine i think it's it's

certainly you know it's maybe a little you know motivated but not know is it unusual then to send them in without consultation with the local authorities. yeah usually the local leaders are interested in having additional resources in chicago we have been having issues with violent crimes particularly in certain areas that city for many many years and the root causes of that crime are difficult to tackle and many times in the past local leaders to work with different administrations to bring in additional often resources that occurred when i was a federal prosecutor turned the georgian bush and obama administrations and really i think is just attention being. brought by trump to the activity that otherwise would be very easy right because again it's the timing of this is not as chicago as you say this is rising crime rate but the president is tying it in that he deploys

federal forces across the country to different cities. it's a question of tying it into the protests. exactly right i mean look there are good reasons that people are very alarmed about the actions of federal law enforcement in other cities where they have been in conflict with protesters in an invasion actions on video that are very disturbing and i think people are raising who didn't concerns about whether or not this was in the soul of the federal government's power you know i won't say john law u.s. attorney here is a former colleague of mine and is worried that that's not what's going to be average joe i never different reaction to this if that's what was happening but if all these are this additional federal investigators that's fine but it's not going to solve this huge issues that have been ongoing here in chicago for many years primus did other years as well and 100 more federal agents are going to

rise and if it is there i read today about this issue of confrontation for political gain with it what do you think. well i can't say you know whether or not he's going to mislead or i will say that. crime is not created or solved by president or mayor and it's created by a you know. issues and problems are there far more complex than we did talk about on this program or that it's trying to grapple with and it would be nice to have a president who was working with us here in the city charlotte assault these problems as opposed to using us as of. right or gay or not i'm going to good to get your analysis on this thanks a lot thank you well the u.s. and china have traded threats and criticism over the cave in pandemic hong kong in the south china sea and now the diplomatic war between the 2 global powers has a new focus at beijing's been given 72 hours to shut down its consulate in the u.s. city of houston this is the latest in

a series of actions meant to punish china for what the trump administration calls undiplomatic behavior and chinese officials are threatening to retaliate in jordan as more. it's a scene straight out of the spy film employees at the chinese consulate in houston burned documents before they're forced to leave the u.s. on friday the expulsion of the 60 diplomats and their families is just the latest step taken by the u.s. against a country it considers a national security threat we are setting out clear expert taishan for how the chinese communist party is going to behave and when they don't who are going to take actions that protect the american people protect our security our national security and also protect our economy and jobs even before the u.s. officially announced the closure on wednesday officials in beijing were condemning the move you don't you're doing. maybe this is intentional sabotage to buy national relations and it's extremely outrageous china strongly condemns it and which is the

u.s. side to withdraw its decision otherwise china will definitely take unnecessary and legitimate response the top administration's decision is the latest in a string of what it calls punishments for china's recent actions imposing tariffs on hong kong goods after beijing revoked its autonomy officially opposing chinese efforts to claim the south china sea as its own imposing sanctions to protest the alleged abuse and imprisonment of weaker muslims and what washington has insisted was beijing's failure to warn everyone about covert 19 before the virus outbreak turned into a global pandemic later on wednesday senators grilled deputy secretary of state stephen wiig and during a hearing about the administration's china policy i know you argue that this president and the administration has been uniquely successful with china and i know you're good at your job before the hearing devolves into a hearing bashing china and the world health organization for the code pandemic let

me assure you blame game politics won't save american lives some analysts say that despite the administration's harsh rhetoric there may well be justification for closing the houston calls a lot long time the chinese have gone after. internet related technology space technology and so much of which is texas is a sensible step from that since the trumpet ministration says by closing the chinese consulate in houston it's punishing beijing for its bad behavior but political opponents say the white house strategy could backfire by encouraging its chinese counterparts to retaliate in jordan al-jazeera alexandria virginia and president trump says schools should be fully reopened despite the rapid rise in corona virus infections a new poll conducted by the associated press shows the vast majority of americans are against the idea but the president insists that he's comfortable with his son

and grandchildren returning to class. i would like to see the schools open open 100 percent and we'll do it safely we'll do it carefully but when you look at the statistics the statistics i just read having to do with children and safety and it is very impressive they have very strong immune systems so you are seeing the children who go to school they go back to home or with some live with their grandparents there's there's a real risk would you understand something to say that they don't transmit very easily and a lot of people are saying they don't transmit and we're looking that was stunning john very or that particular subject that they don't bring it home with them now they don't catch it easily they don't bring it home easily and if they do catch it they get better fast looking at that fact that is a factor and we're looking at that very strongly will be reporting about that over the next week california the most populous state of the united states now has the highest number of crowbars infections in the country as a policy in new york the spike has been attributed to the state opening up most of

its come economy since may there are now nearly 415000 cases in california but more people have died in new york and california has had to reimpose restrictions on businesses that were a state again size of 21 states combined so it's not surprising now in some respects as we've begun to reopen a key sectors of our economy people continue to mix and people continue to come in contact close contact with others that may have contracted this disease that our numbers would start to go up in total now the highest in the nation not highest per capita not highest in that respect but nonetheless a sober reminder of why we are taking things as seriously as we are. still ahead here on al-jazeera how a coronavirus curfew in zimbabwe has led to accusations of rights violations by the

government. what canadian courts as a deal with the u.s. that manages the flow of refugees is unconstitutional. and still the heat is in place across the northeast of the united states of the south on the midwest you've got more of those thunderstorms across the west it is about the fire the winds are very strong it is very hot and very dry and this is one particular fire up into the northeast over california it's called the whole fire and you can just see the size of this in fact over 3 and a half 1000 head has burned already it's only 5 percent contained the flames but you can also say obviously the damage in its way people have been evacuated from the nearby town of season villain's a say that is in the northeast of california it will stay dry as we go through thursday temperatures are not too bad but as

a say it is very dry very low humidity but elsewhere quite discussion of showers really quite good across much of the 4 corners region that typical for this time of year these a seasonal rains and then across the south the southeast and some heavy rain as well pushing into the northeast and finally temperatures beginning to come down by friday 29 in new york but fairly unsettled 31 a washington d.c. with the tons of the showers and thunderstorms and as i elsewhere more of that rain working up into areas of the south then down across into the caribbean we're watching one disturbance of particular is towards the northern section of the gulf of mexico that will continue to spend thursday and friday and that's where we're going to see the heaviest of the rains. territorial social and ethnic divisions. france has seen some of the biggest recent protests over black lives matter. al-jazeera welcomes to some of its

least privileged communities. where treatment by the police is still a contentious issue. harris a divided city on al-jazeera. but if you're watching al-jazeera or mind about top stories and the u.s. president says he's going to send hundreds of your unfortunate offices to the cities of chicago and albuquerque donald trump says it's to combat rising crime officers are already in portland in oregon they've been accused of detaining protesters without justification. the u.s.

government has ordered beijing to close its consulate in houston saying it's ritek to american intellectual property the chinese foreign ministry has denied reports that stoffer been burning documents inside the building. california has surpassed new york's become the u.s. state with a large number of coronavirus cases spiking cases has been attributed to the state opening most of its economy since may. the pan american health organization says the coronavirus pandemic shows no sign of slowing in latin america several countries in the region are reporting worsening rates including bolivia where police say they've recovered hundreds of bodies from streets and homes more repeller as this report. in bolivia a special police unit is tasked with recovering bodies from people's homes in the cities of la paz and santa cruz authorities say they've recovered $420.00 bodies from homes streets and automobiles over a span of only 5 days. the vast majority are believed to be deaths from coated 19

it's a sign the health crisis in the country is accelerating more trouble but is this true of my relatives have died we went to the hospital and they didn't take care of them they told us the hospitals were crowded we went to several hospitals and now my 2 closest relatives have died from medical negligence the government does nothing. coronavirus cases in bolivia have surpassed 60000 and there are predictions the number of cases could double in the next 2 weeks this exponential rise in corona virus cases is also playing out in several other countries in the americas with alarming rates of contagion in ecuador columbia and others join the last week there were on was 900000 new cases a nearly 22000 deaths reported in our region most of there is within brazil mexico and the united states of america almost their sirens have gone on tuesday

evening mexico surpassed 40000 coronavirus deaths it's the 2nd highest death toll in latin america just behind brazil its. people need to know the epidemic is still active that we have to stay home engage in social distancing etc or guarantee some moral commitment from health officials but everyone needs to do their part. despite a reopening of next. echo's economy the still worsening outbreak is expected to lead to new lock downs as cases search. latin america remains one of the worst affected regions of the world the pan american health organization so the crisis in the region shows no signs of slowing down world health experts are also expressing concern over contagion rates in central america where countries are reporting the highest weekly death tolls since the start of the pandemic. al-jazeera a nighttime curfew aimed to containing the spread of the virus has come into effect

in zimbabwe opposition leaders say the new step siblings to antigovernment protests planned for next week they accuse the government of using health restrictions to infringe on people's rights. from harare. after 2 nights in police custody freelance journalist hopeless in gone and opposition leader jacob me arrive at the magistrates court to apply for bail they were arrested on monday and accused of inciting people to protest over the economy and corruption in zimbabwe is going through thank you for putting out the full of your story but the case was adjourned they are spending another night in jail there's no question that this is. cause there is no law that says you can't their own states you can protest section 59 citizen rights. through their own states and pretty soon. the government to meet said to know of their expectations. lawyers say police have raided the homes of the 2 main looking

for evidence the opposition believes the state is trying to stop anti-government protests planned for next week defectors to document since it was imposed which imposes a curfew 66 pm curfew i'm here in this country after the liberation war so we have. men in charge of the street with a dangerous regime instead of the change the norm is safe the government imposed a curfew saying it's only trying to tackle rising coronavirus infections we know within the opposition we should mention this in 2 respects causing violence which. place in spreading. ill going to spread because the voters by doing so that more does. that route. we will not allow it into blues sending that

message loud and clear to the opposition we will not allow it human rights activists worry they could be more arrests people would go into work happy birthday home they can only come out to buy. medical facilities and public gatherings are bad girls who do have jobs are now trying to get home. here but there isn't enough public transport so now only transport operators approved by the state are allowed to work many here fear they might not make it home in time. thought as an 11 and a warning the health care system there is on the brink of collapse it's buckling under the strain of a crippling economic crisis in the pandemic the government has been able to contain the outbreak so far but there are fears a rapid rise in infections could quickly overwhelm hospitals that have been reports of shortages of vital medical supplies and regular power cuts at hospitals. the

limited the children that they were very nice in syria medical supplies and medicines that are beginning to get to place it in the hospitals the situation here is really catastrophic we're expecting a complete collapse of the health care system soon if the government doesn't in this year is a risk you plane. strikes in western afghanistan of killed $45.00 people district governor in the province of herat says at least 8 civilians died in the attacks which he blamed on afghan forces members of the taliban were also killed afghanistan's defense ministry has launched an investigation the u.s. has denied involvement. in. the self-confessed middleman in the murder of a maltese journalist has been found with serious knife wounds just hours before a court hearing it is unclear if melvin through mother tried to kill himself a former taxi driver was given a presidential pardon and immunity in exchange for evidence about the case that afternoon karuna a multis journalist named for exposing government corruption was killed by

a car bomb near her home 3 years ago when albert is a journalist of the motor independent who's been covering the current gillies years mad he says it's too soon to draw conclusions over what happened to this key witness. it's a very interesting development which i don't think anybody quite expected in in this case for obviously the event stuff happened last night. it sort of thrown the case into into suspect so the police immediately said that the wounds and the evidence pointed to the wounds being self-inflicted however there have been sorts of concerns that this may not be the case even especially of the haste of of of how this announcement was was made the police have always said that europol was involved in the investigation from from the onset and that it remains involved in the in the investigation in fact in the court sitting today which took

place today which turmel was meant to testify and it was testified that europol do still hold mr fenix mobile phone because there extracting the data the data from it so the police have continued to to insist that even though there isn't a joint investigation team as as has been the call from the i want to go to family that there is still very real collaboration which is still ongoing between the maltese police force and and europol russia's judiciary has come under fire for jailing a problem to store and you need to be 3 of was convicted of sexually abusing kids adopt a daughter a charge he denies human rights groups are not to say he was jailed over his work on covering massacres during the rule of soviet leader joseph stalin supporters say his focus on starting his crimes is seen as incompatible with the state's view of russian history trip was sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison but is expected to be released within months because of time

already served. the united nations is warning up to 3200000 people in southern yemen are expected to face acute food insecurity over the next 6 months more than 2000000 people already suffer from severe food shortages jus 2 ongoing fighting the u.n. says the situation will get worse due to the coronavirus pandemic and the global economic downturn the war in yemen has left more than 100000 people dead leading to the world's worst humanitarian disaster. turkey in russia have agreed to work together towards a lasting cease fire and water in libya turkey supports a u.n. recognized government in tripoli while russia backs its rival the war not only for have to is based in the east of the country delegations from turkey russia met in ankara with more talks planned of moscow they say that dialogue remains the only solution to the conflict. a court in canada has struck down a key agreement with the united states on asylum seekers saying it violates the

human rights under the pact both countries are recognized as safe places to seek protection that's allowed canada to turn back asylum seekers coming from the united states but a federal judge ruled the u.s. no longer qualifies as a safe country under the trumpet ministration which has been trying to overhaul the asylum system. even if the secretary general of amnesty international canada he says the ruling is a groundbreaking for the rights of refugees and is calling for it to be implemented immediately. the court has actually given the canadian government a grace period they've suspended the effect of the ruling for 6 months a period of time to give the canadian government a chance to get its house in order and a senior national in the organizations we partnered with are however saying the government cannot and really should not take advantage of that 6 month period we have a court ruling that says that for years now rights have been violated along the canada us border and that just can't continue for another day let alone for 6 months so

we're looking to the canadian government to act immediately this afternoon tomorrow and suspend the effect of this agreement at the count of the us border which would mean that it went once again be possible for refugees who understandably feel at risk and unsafe in donald trump's america to cross over the border into canada and make refugee claims for protection here instead. this is out there these are the top stories and the u.s. president says he's going to send hundreds of law enforcement officers to the cities of chicago and albuquerque donald trump says it's to combat rising crime offices already in portland in oregon they've been accused detaining protesters without justification but hundreds in chicago. as about a week ago 373 people had been killed in the city of chicago that's about 100 more

than at this same point just a year ago so we're on pace to have 700 deaths that's a very high number in a city that often has high numbers so it is a violent year but i spoke to a federal law enforcement source and he said this would be very different then what happened in portland in portland you had a bunch of federal officials in cammo gear with helmets and pads they were protecting federal buildings from vandalism but they were also going out and chasing down vandals these federal law enforcement source that i spoke to here in chicago says it will be entirely different that no one will see than the officers here on this street it's the u.s. government to sort of beijing to close its consulate in houston saying it's to protect american intellectual property the chinese foreign ministry has denied reports that staff have been burning documents inside the building california. new york to become the u.s. state with the largest number of creative us cases spike in cases has been

attributed to the state tapering most of its economy since may there are not nearly 415000 cases in california the united nations is warning up to 3200000 people in southern yemen are expected to face acute food insecurity in the next 6 months well than 2000000 people already suffer from severe food shortages jutes you ongoing fighting but the u.n. says the situation will get worse due to the coronavirus pandemic and the global economic downturn. lost a multibillion dollar lawsuits against 4 arab countries a different post a blockade on the gulf state banning craft from their airspace and railways is seeking $5000000000.00 in compensation from egypt saudi arabia bahrain and the united arab emirates countries imposed land sea and air blockade in 2017 the un's top court ruled last week in favor of casa approving the jurisdiction of the international civil aviation organization to hear the case you have states with all

the headlines here on the observer we've got more news coming up right after counting the cost for me. to buy for as protest rage over police brutality and corona virus grips the nation campaigning on the election trail has been forced to take a back seat will the presidential candidates ever hit the road and sell their brand of politics to americans before the fall follow the u.s. election on. this is counting the cost on al-jazeera your look at the world of business and economics this week called the war to the united states punish china for tightening

its grip on hong kong by. peg to the dollar. turkey's theater of war does the country on the verge of another car shark have the money for conflict . and president putin hope to kick start the economy this year but how will he pay for his.