now the special tribunal for lebanon in the heat will deliver its verdict on aug 7th find out what this means for lebanon and for those indicted to follow all the developments on a. hong kong faces a resurgence in corona virus cases as a team from mainland china arrives to carry out widespread testing. a lot why maryam namazie in london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up on the program a president comes under attack in eastern afghanistan several people are killed and dozens more injured. a political novice versus a 5 term leader the english teacher with plans to bring down the president to reduce. washed out. as you can see on your screen we

have your confirmation for spot. and historic return to nasa astronauts crash down in the gulf of mexico for the 1st time in 45 years. welcome to the program people around the world are facing the prospect of new coronavirus lock downs and restrictions as concerns grow about new outbreaks of the disease and clusters of cases there's been a spike in infections in asia and now health workers and experts from mainland china have been deployed for the 1st time to hong kong to help control the epidemic all spittles and testing centers were already reaching capacity before pads were announced to test all 7 and a half 1000000 people living there was difficult pollen reports that a rival is also raising concern. hundreds of beds ready for

patients a hole next to the international airport once used for exhibitions and conventions now converted to a hospital hong kong is facing its 3rd and worst wave of corona virus with daily new infections in the triple digits the government says hospitals are reaching capacity testing centers are overwhelmed and so health workers and experts from mainland china have stepped in to help their woman say she was compartments we understand the feelings of residents in one cong so we were deploying medical teams to support them 7 medics from a 60 strong team are the 1st to arrive from neighboring guangdong province they will be based at the makeshift hospital at the asia world expo at the height of the outbreak in mainland china experts built temporary hospitals from the ground up in record time to treat thousands of patients it is that expertise the hong kong government says it is drawing on but many are also questioning why the city would

need external help given it had managed to swiftly and successfully contain previous outbreaks critics say the public were not consulted and the decision to bring mainland experts bypass the legislative council some activists have voiced concern that this is just another way for beijing to interfere in hong kong's affairs. the government's plan to offer free testing for all of the people in the territory has also raised suspicion with some in social media alleging this could be a way for beijing to access people's d.n.a. samples for surveillance purposes but many of hong kong's health professionals have welcomed the extra help from family our staff has almost been working around the clock and it's good to hear that the central government will dispatch professionals to share our workload and more mainland assistance is on the way 6 experts from move on the city where the virus 1st surfaced last year will help build

a coronavirus facility from scratch to compliment the asia world expo site this is the 1st time mainland officials have assisted in hong kong's battle to control the current virus outbreak while it may have divided opinion with the territory under its strictest and most restrictive social distancing measures yet many years say they are united in their determination to overcome the latest outbreak. hong kong. well if it had been just reported a record single day rise in corona virus infections another 5000 cases have been confirmed taking the total to 100000 would never accounting for most of those infections frontline medical groups are calling for president roderigo detect a to place the capital under a stricter lockdown the philippines has the 2nd highest number of cases in the region behind indonesia and then iran is reporting its high single day increase in infections in nearly a month describing the situation as concerning in most of its provinces health

ministry announced more than 2 and a half 1000 new cases on sunday with total infections now exceeding 300000 the central city of way iran's outbreak started is experiencing a resurgence as well more than 16 and a half hours and people have died from covert 19 in iran. well it's a terrorist deteriorating situation in latin america as well almost 5000000 people across the region have been infected with the virus and at least 200000 have died mexico's reported a record number of infections for a 2nd day in a row it's the 3rd worst affected country in the world it registered more than 9000 cases in the 800 deaths on saturday the mexican government says the real number of infected people is likely to be much higher than what has been reported that goes in my life as in mexico city and these are some really extraordinary figures from mexico and also putting a great deal of pressure on the health system there. mexico

is one of the worst hotspots identified by world health officials when it comes to contagion i'm going to run through the latest numbers according to johns hopkins university in terms of confirmed cases mexico has recorded 434193 and more than 47000 confirmed deaths though as you mentioned merriam even health officials and government officials admit that the real number is likely much higher given the lack of testing in the country on saturday evening mexico recorded a new daily high when it comes to contagion more than 9000 new cases and there's been a lot of criticism over the government's handling of the of the ongoing pandemic specifically criticism of the country's president on this model is a bit of a lot of who has for from since the beginning of the pandemic you maintained a sort of relaxed attitude and over the course of the past month repeatedly said

that the worst of the pandemic is over that the worst of the economic crisis is over when we look at the statistics on contagion and on the economic impact it paints a completely different a completely different picture now many parts of mexico began reopening as far back as may mexico city began a gradual reopening of its economy at the beginning of july so we've had more than a month now of of a quote unquote new normalcy with many non essential services opening back up and the attitudes from many of the people in mexico at least here in the country's capital seem to me are that relaxed attitude of the government so it's not uncommon to see many folks out on the streets without their masks on and what we're hearing from public policy and health policy experts here in the country is that it will be almost inevitable to see a return or a renewed lockdown and increased containment measures as a result of this now and that's precisely what we been seeing in countries like argentina and colombia where lock downs have come back into place all restrictions

have been extended how does mexico compare then to the rest of the region. exactly lead america if you look at the region overall it's worth noting latin america accounts for about 8 percent of the world's population but it's currently accounting for almost a 3rd of covert related deaths the death toll worldwide the mexico compared to the rest region it's difficult to compare countries like mexico or brazil which are leading the world in terms of coronavirus deaths just behind the united states but we are hearing a lot of alarming and troublesome and and very disheartening warnings from world health officials at the u.n. and the world food program the world health organization when it comes to the economic impact we're hearing that that poverty reduction and in terms of g.d.p. we could see a 10 year reduction and when it comes to the number of people that could potentially be faced with famine or severe food insecurity the world for food

program estimates upwards of 14000000 people so the big takeaway here miriam is that the virus the contagion in the region is still far from over thank you very much from mexico city money rapido thank you money. all media reports nikkei are suggesting that the prime minister barak's johnson is planning to travel drastically slow down the easing of coronavirus restrictions and a better avoid a 2nd nationwide lock down economy has been opening up in the past month that new restrictions are imposed in northern areas on friday because of a spike in infection and as john howell has this update now from london. hopes that the worst of the coded 1000 crisis may be behind the u.k. this autumn appear to be fading infection rates are rising for the 1st time since may not to the heights of a pandemic in april but nevertheless going up and the government has warned it may have to go further than the localised restrictions in place to control local spikes

where they happen there are reports that the prime minister boris johnson has commissioned a plan for a london wide lockdown including restrictions on movement in and out of the m 25 ring road asking people over the age of 50 who may have a vulnerable condition to the virus to shelter at home and with schools due to return in just a few weeks' time in september scientists are warning that any further reopening of the economy may mean other parts of the economy have got to shut again to maintain balance and the finger is being pointed at the hospitality industry will take a look at where i am now in soho in the heart of london a normally vibrant buzzing entertainment district full of londoners locals tourists the bars restaurants and pubs that have been allowed to reopen their doors have the tables and chairs spilling out across the pavement and onto the road desperate for customers but there are no tourists around a lot of londoners aren't venturing out all that much and the reports suggest that the price of getting children back into the classrooms may well be that some of

these businesses have to shut their doors again and business owners are warning they have survived one lock down many will not survive a 2nd. now at least 5 people have been killed and $24.00 others injured in an attack on a prison in eastern afghanistan official that officials say there were several explosions including a suicide car bomb outside a prison in the city of jalalabad afghan security forces were locked in a gun battle with the attackers who haven't been identified several prisoners escaped during the fighting i still says it was behind the attack a blouse or wire he has more on this now from the capital kabul. at least it explosions of taken place since the fighting started the afghan special forces are fighting the attackers in several different directions i was able to speak to an inmate in the political block who said

a number of inmates are wounded several security towers or being controlled by the militants it's still not clear how they got so much weapons and ammunitions into the heart of jalalabad the city but few days ago the afghan intelligence service announced that they have killed the head of intelligence for these london extended so it seems like it's a revenge attack by that group we often heard from the americans from the afghan government that they have defeated the islamic state in that part of the country but clearly the group is extremely resilient they're able to strike such complex attacks after many many years of operations against them is actually live very bad news for afghanistan in slight embarrassment for its international law is as well. much more still ahead on the program for you going to bring you much more on that historic splashdown which you just seen in the gulf of mexico these are some of the pictures coming to us at the moment obviously satellite images but

a great yacht is invited splash down there in the area for the 1st time in a number of decades and they can see that is just in the process of taking place pictures are a bit. hazy but not to worry as we're going to bring you much more on that in just a minute or 2 and also. adding the personal story to historical artifacts why museums are hiring back east as told guys. there's been a heatwave in sardinia and sicily for about 3 days now but the heat from the rest of europe has been slowly pushed out of the way by this cold front behind which of course the air is a little colder it's about a 10 degree drop to be quite honest difference between vienna on monday and on

sunday is off the order of 10 degrees double great hangs on to that heat but the difference is that 10 degrees makes the sun just to really go up into the sky help to coast by the alps indeed has a thunderstorm warning in northern italy and slovenia as a result of that now but time we get to choose to pressure the progress to be made to be ours in towards belgrade which hangs on to that heat for crosswise and specifically for that city you've got $3420.00 than $28.00 with a little bit of rain coming through the averages 24 so we stay above average whatever happens. through the heart of the trade into the hot part of north africa and these little clumps of showers now this is moving sand this is those suppressed sand because there's no flow rain comes out of these things and when they go off the western side of north africa they do sometimes turn into tropical cycles which we then talk about in the caribbean not necessarily immediately happening but look at those masses particularly in bamako are covered in thunderstorms.

as a weapon of war leaves the very deepest scars. scars so rule that the victims men and women can barely talk about it. they are the only witnesses who can help bring about justice al-jazeera follows human rights campaigners in libya investigating since the 2000. unspeakable crime on al-jazeera. the earth.

back look at the headlines specialists from mainland china arrived in hong kong where hospitals are reaching capacity after a resurgence in corona virus cases plans have been announced to test all 7 and a half 1000000 people in the territory. at least 5 people have been killed in an attack on a prison in the eastern afghan city of jalalabad officials say at least 3 bombs including a suicide car bomb exploded and security forces were locked in a gun battle with the attackers. and of course our developing story this hour 2 nasa astronauts have successfully landed off the coast of florida in the world's 1st ocean landing in 45 years. just about 20 meters off the ocean. robot bank in an douglas hurley left for the international space station 2 months ago the dragon capsule endeavor launched on a falcon 9 rocket both of which were supplied by iran musk's space x.

it's the 1st time the astronauts have successfully launched into low earth orbit on a commercial spacecraft lamie thompson is a science journalist who joins us now from orlando by skype but we're just looking at live pictures from the gulf of mexico where the crew has splashed down in the sea as he was saying i'm not sure if you can see what's happening but can you take us through. what the crew is coming aboard the ship now there in their little capsule yes ok so we had a successful splashdown to 48 this afternoon and the boats have been working to actually bring the capsule onboard the recovery vessel so that's what you're seeing right now they're wasting it up on there with the hydraulic lift and then after that happens one of the flight surgeons is going to check on bob and doug and they they actually open the hatch themselves so they will open that flight surgeons will check on them they'll get a full medical check and then they'll come out of the capsule and do we know if

they're in good health obviously they have to be checked but they thought to be in good health because obviously we've been seeing pictures of them and has been in contact while they've been aboard the international space station yet so they actually said that they felt great prior to the flight they weren't sure if there would be any sea sickness or whatnot so i'm not sure if that has happened but so far they're in good spirits and great health and probably glad to be back on earth . 63 days for them on this on this voyage just how significant is this going to be in terms of perhaps opening up space to a whole range of people. oh it's definitely the 1st step historically you know nasa has built and constructed the vehicles that take their astronauts into space and they stopped doing that with the end of the shuttle program and russia was the only means for any astronauts to leave the planet well now iran musk's space x.

is going to be one service boeing is going to come online probably later this year they're going to complete another crude test flight so they can begin flying astronauts next year virgin galactic is looking at flying astronaut so this is just the beginning and what's going to be probably a booming industry and as we look at these the images of the astronauts having splashed down when speaking about the the fact that this is the 1st time it's happened in over 40 years in the gulf of mexico is it is it any safer to land on water instead of land i mean in terms of safety there are about the same. ok and so when they when they come out of the of that little capsule what happens next after the after they go through the medical checks and they see the doctors they will be airlifted back so this particular ship has

a helicopter pad that's built into it and so they will use that to get back to the shore where they're boarding a plane that's waiting for them to take them to houston so sometime along that journey they'll be able to talk to their families and just let them know that they're ok and then they will be waiting for them when they get back to houston later today what does it mean for nasa to be able to have companies like space x. like boeing as you were pointing out private enterprises getting involved in these sort of missions. so it's actually going to open up a lot of different. menus so when nasa was strictly reliant on russia they had you know $1.00 to $2.00 flights per year that were scheduled out usually in the spring time in the fall and now as more of these providers come on line they will have more opportunities not only for more flights but for different types of missions so they don't have to do strictly 6 month long duration missions they can

do 2 months they can do a year they could there's a lot of flexibility that this creates by 2 months is quite a while isn't that what do they do when they're on the international space station so bob and what they did is they well bob did actually a couple spacewalks so he and fellow nasa astronaut chris cassidy finished replacing some batteries that were on the space station so that the solar panels could stay charged and those batteries will actually last a lifetime of the space station now so mostly for them it's been a lot of station upkeep it actually takes a lot of hours to keep the station running and just maintain the facility so space x. is actually planning the launch of their next crew which will have 4 astronauts on board so they will get to do a lot more science and research experiments and that type of thing and as you're

saying this paves the way for perhaps more people to fly into space but in terms of tourism. could that be a while off yet it has to be said it is something that's only going to be accessible to the very wealthy. correct and it is going to be a little ways off right now they're just trying to get this vehicle completely tested and certified so now that it's back it's actually on the ship right now so now that it's back on earth they'll finish some few check out of it and then certify it for flight so at that point they can start looking forward to more space station missions and then to commercial. all right amy thompson thank you very much really really interesting to get your thoughts on this story but i think the astronauts just about to come out saying they've landed in the gulf of mexico as amy was just explaining to us we already have some reports that they are in good

health this is bob behnken and doug hurley they've been aboard the international space station for $63.00 days that's over 2 months and of course they will emerge from the capsule now and they will go through medical checks and obviously they're going to be surrounded by a number of different teams there and then hopefully get a chance to meet their families but they will be eager of course to actually amy i think you're still you're still with us i am yes they're opening the hatch right now it seems to be quite a process doesn't it i mean to get the the hatch on board the ship and then i mean this is all it's something that has to be done very carefully it's very very delicate sequencing to it yes and this is still a test flight so they're always being overly cautious you know even when they have a normal mission but yes so they look like they're should be getting that hatch open pretty quickly. what about to temperature i mean is that

something that's going to be i'm not sure. if that's something that they're going to have to adjust to because obviously you know they've been aboard the international space station they've been in one particular environment that bodies have physically grown accustomed to for the past couple months and now there's someplace else i don't know if they going to need some assistance. or not really well it's i'm sorry takes a little bit of time to adjust back to earth's gravity so in there in space they're feeling what's called microgravity and that's because the space station is in a constant freefall around the planet so they are feeling a little bit probably about 90 percent of what we feel here on earth so it varies from person to person it can take a few hours maybe a day or 2 to get fully acclimated sort of like i guess similar when you're on a boat for

a long period of time and when you get back on solid ground you're kind of wobbly. but they were saying that through the reentry process the cabin probably got to about $85.00 degrees fahrenheit so it wasn't too terrible. just seeing the capsule is now safely on board that ship in the gulf of mexico having just experienced a water landing this is the 1st time we've seen a landing of this nature in the gulf of mexico in over 40 years but of course it's going to take perhaps just a few minutes to be able to open the hatch to make sure everything is done very safely 2 astronauts are inside report suggests that they are in good health bob behnken and doug hurley have both been aboard the international space station for 2 months now amy thompson thanks very much for sticking around we'll stay across this maybe chat to you a bit later thank you. now i want to bring you another story we're watching closely next sunday better reuss is going to be voting for

a new president alexander lukashenko who's governor of more than 25 years is labeled by many as europe's last dictator is expected to be returned to office in that vote but as nadine bob reports there is one woman determined to mount a major challenge. yes. you. can hear yeah well she's only 37 and she's not a politician that's for atlanta hopes that in a week's time she'll be president have been a rule. on thursday she drew tens of thousands of people to a rally in minsk the biggest protest the country's ever seen. the former teacher announced she'd stand off to her husband sergei a well known blogger was arrested in may he's been charged with plotting mass disturbances said good evening and being able to call me direction commission didn't accept gays documents iran instead of him not because i need palla open because i'm the politician and want to become president and all of the country is

now i ran to support my husband supporting family values people saw this and were inspired by it was not planned just following my hot. she's challenging president alexander lukashenko who's been in power since 994 and is seeking his 6th term there's been an upsurge in protests against him fueled by the poor state of the economy and look at his handling of the covered $1000.00 pandemic. he originally downplayed the virus and refused to stop sporting events here he says there are no viruses here do you see any flying around. but belarus with a population of 9500000 has registered nearly 70000 infections and more than 500 deaths in recent weeks hundreds of opposition activists journalists and bloggers have reportedly been arrested among them 2 men who are considered the president's major challenges victoria arrested on suspicion of money laundering and valarie sept carlow a former ambassador to the united states now said callias wife seen here with the

rico's campaign manager is backing svetlana to kind of scios it while it is just a surprise headline as husband has been held as a hostage as well as her children who she was forced to take out of belarus my situation is similar. my husband had to flee the country because they framed up a criminal case against him and my children were being followed by the security services so i had to sell them away from belarus just. a week ago bellerose suresh did more than 30 men they accuse of being russian mercenaries russia says they worked for a private security company and were on their way to turkey but investigators in belarus suggest they were working with opposition figures including sergei to come off the d.v.d. and his wife has dismissed the accusation and says she's afraid attempts to tie her family to alleged foreign plotters could lead to violence ahead of next sunday's vote. al-jazeera israel israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is saying that

protesters demanding his resignation are anak has trampling on democracy thousands of israeli demonstrators of course and to step down in recent weeks this weekend so the largest protest so far. and they say netanyahu has failed to handle the coronavirus pandemic and that he should resign over corruption charges all of which he denies as anyone who blames the media for inciting violence. the fears of. these wild and unfair to every doing including the day before yesterday there were calls to murder the prime minister and his family the media is ignoring it and covering it up in the politicians a silo. now a soviet era iraq lappin has made its final journey through the caspian sea to become a museum exhibit in the russian city of dependent the project 9 o 3 is the last remaining long class physical of its time and the only one of its model ever built it was manufactured soon before the fall of the soviet union it's

neither an aircraft seaplane or hovercraft it's actually classified as a ship if you can believe it the high speed and invisibility to radar would allow it to get close enough to aircraft carriers for a precise tack so that's something you might not have known data. just look at the headlines now a specialist from mainland china arrived in hong kong where hospitals are reaching capacity after a resurgence in corona virus cases plans have been announced to test all 7 and a half 1000000 people in the territory. at least 5 people have been killed in an attack on a prison in the eastern afghan city of jalalabad officials say at least 3 bombs including a suicide car bomb exploded and the security forces were locked in a gun battle with the attackers i still has says has said it was behind the attack

journalist but has more it's still not clear how they got so much weapons and ammunitions into the heart of jalalabad the city but it is a goal of the afghan intelligence service announced that they have killed the head of intelligence for these london it's the. seems like a good sort of india target by that group we often heard from the americans from the afghan government to do for you did this islamic state in the part of the country but clearly the group is extremely resilient they're able to strike such complex attacks after many many years of operations against them is actually live very bad news for afghanistan. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says protest is a demanding his resignation and he describes him as an a kiss to a trampling on democracy this weekend saw the largest protests to date in recent weeks they say netanyahu has failed to handle the coronavirus properly and that he should resign of the corruption charges all of which he has denied. years of.

these wild i'm. including the day before yesterday there were calls to murder the prime minister and his family the media is ignoring it and covering it up in the politicians the soil. to nasa astronauts have successfully landed off the coast of florida in the world's 1st ocean landing in 45 years. just about 20 meters off the ocean. rob a bank in and douglas hurley left the international space station 2 months ago now that dragon capsule endeavor launched a falcon 9 rocket both of which were supplied by iran mosques space x. . talked as air is coming up next with sweden's health minister in a sea of atta. all

orders. swedens on all 3 docs approach to handling the health crisis has made headlines throughout the covert 19 pandemic unlike most members the swedes didn't impose any strict lockdown measures it remained business as usual in stockholm and elsewhere even when cases peaked there and opinions became more divided than ever. while the relaxed strategy is expected to ease the impact on the economy sweden has one of europe's highest fatality rates.