people don't think. any german and american the new germans on al-jazeera. and the norm us xplosion kills at least 78 people in beirut sending a mushroom cloud into the sky and destructive shock waves through the city. more than 4000 people are injured hospitals are overwhelmed pleading for blood supplies and generators to keep their lights on. it's 6 am in beirut these are live pictures of the aftermath of that explosion that rocked the city. down in jordan this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up colombia's supreme

court orders the former president alvaro uribe to go under house arrest in a case relating to witness tampering and for all. argentina takes a major step forward in stabilizing its economy by reaching a deal to restructure the huge government debt. also ahead a groundbreaking and controversial ceremony india's prime minister prepares to lay hindu temple foundations on the ruins of a mosque. welcome to the program a massive explosion has leveled parts of lebanon's capital beirut killing at least $78.00 people and injuring thousands more as a shock wave smashed through the city well it's just gone 6 am there in the lebanese capital and these are live pictures coming to us here at al-jazeera showing just the scale of the destruction and aftermath of this massive explosion which ripped through the port and its surrounding air. well it erupted from

a poor warehouse where about 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate had been stored for years it's believed to been set off by welders the blast was felt a 160 kilometers away cypress countries around the world including lebanon's traditional style israel are offering help. in beirut begins our coverage. a massive explosion in the heart of the lebanese capital. was. the blast essential across beirut shattering windows destroying buildings. and injuring hundreds. the streets were filled with panic and confusion forces so you know my call was down there it rolled over i think my injuries all because of the loss the loss cut me up my call was like this i don't know about the sun i don't know what happened i was fishing i heard there was

a fire so i began to hit home then i heard something explode and then this happened i got injured this is all i know. rescue work began quickly and emergency vehicles converged on the site of the blast. putting out fires. and getting the injured to safety lebanon's internal security chief confirmed the blast originated in the port district in a section housing highly explosive materials. lebanon's prime minister has addressed the nation promising that the victims would get justice for what happened . it will not post without accountability those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price this is a promise to the martyrs an injured this is a national commitment while the cause is still unknown some are already blaming the government levanon is an accident waiting to happen so many so many places.

whether it's. public services electricity all kinds of government industries are not regulated well we don't have like inspectors that so many buildings could collapse so you know again all the problems that lebanon face because they don't really have a strong government that is able to ensure the safety of its citizens and that's been why people have been protesting that's why the currency has been falling so you know there are so many possible accidents and i've been on so it's very hard to speculate ambulances continue to arrive at this explosion there have been dozens of casualties many victims are still trapped in the rubble and rescue work looks set to continue long into the night the destruction of central beirut appear to come out of nowhere and there's the shock of what happened subsides the demands for answers will continue to grow louder santa for their favorite well homes and buildings quite some distance away from the explosion have been badly damaged or as

a journalist living in beirut these are pictures from her house she suffered minor injuries earlier she told al-jazeera more about what happened. you know you don't want to create more heart. i don't know what they were up a very novel covering all of. the windows up. and. i open the window and i was even found out and within seconds. i was on the ground. bleeding there was a speck of blood i spoke. but i have to tell you that i certainly didn't have one of injuries because all the hospitals in the city got back a lot of journalists less than editors are trying to get me a doctor but they're hearing is that the hospital is a fact and i. know at this point in time i probably. just sort of

driven to the fence. maybe sit down to see what i could do but my own situation certainly was a terrifying experience even as a doctor this is something i have a conflict all the time but this happened in court how you know we just got off the front but that's not what you think of when that happened. the story of how devaney the struggle to buy bread but the price of bread has doubled and my heart going out . for all the people these people already had. european leaders on the u.s. government offering their assistance but it was the gulf nations that are among the 1st off i hope capitalism is just i mean been handed out fanny says his country will send medical equipment to set up field hospitals iran has also offered support as has its regional rivals saudi arabia and israel is putting forward humanitarian aid through forming channels as it has no diplomatic relations with lebanon. when

nothing else and as a professor at the american university of beirut he says he doubts the government will be able to deal with this disaster on its own. like many issues for the last few months we've been seeing the revenues government not taking that i decisions when it comes to managing the economy or the finances or social issues and i can imagine that this disaster this catastrophe will be dealt by the way that live in these people do relying on themselves on their war on their communities of or and the government would just be lost in not giving and not doing the right decision i hope they do things differently this time i hope all the state the government the parliament administration leader look into this and give real answers from it and but people accountable and i think this this is what we want we need we need more response of the leaders and we need the engagement of the

international community to deal with this kind of this i said i think this is what's needed you know the measure of this is the major part of it was that was almost totally destroyed and part of it also the grain silos where the people of the grain and the we actually deliver the knees and people who live 11 in need and that's another disaster in the making if we can get support in terms of grain and we and other food supplies. for the coming days and weeks we will be dealing with the immediate needs and the immediate aftermath but i think after that we really need to look into new ways and new people to govern this country rather than just keep pushing the can and pushing the response of it into others. let's give us some other news now on colombia's supreme court has confirmed it's over the detention of the former president alvaro uribe it the former leaders accused of

witness tampering and fraud or even has repeatedly declared his innocence and questioned the court's independence he's a close ally of current president even do k. allison run petit has the latest now from bogota. it was a unanimous decision on part of the judges the supreme court to comes after and 9 months of closely analyzing a lot of evidence in the form of a phone interception. listening to witness looking at documents conversations between the former president then is a lawyer and a close allies in this is the 1st time in history that a president or a former president of this country as well faced the attention of the judges said in this statement that the reason for the tension is that they have reached the conclusion that there could be the possibility of obstruction of justice

taking place so we'll have to face the rest of this trial from his house or one of his farm from what we understand he is in a farm in. the north to the country right now and there's no doubt that this decision is shocked the colombians because that would be is still considered the most powerful and influential police station in the country but also the most divisive half of the country can see their him a savior for the way he successfully fought the rebels doing the country's internal conflict but the rest of the country instead to criticize him for the many human rights violations and cases of corruptions that happened during his 2

administrations i mean particularly the killing of thousands of innocent civilians the next are traditional killings that committed by the army and paramilitary groups through. government ministers have been forced to resign after congress voted to reject the president's cabinet the no confidence vote happened on tuesday after a long session where representatives criticized the government's handling of the corona virus pandemic through is one of the worst hit countries in latin america with nearly 20000 deaths due to the virus president martin for schuyler 72 hours to present a new cabinet. argentina has reached a deal with its creditors to restructure huge government debt it follows months of talks and is being hailed as a major step toward stabilizing its struggling economy argentina nearly $65000000000.00 it defaulted for the 9th time in may making it difficult to access more capital on the international markets successive governments overextended themselves with expensive social programs causing chronic inflation and frequent

debt crises the pandemic made reaching a deal even more important argentina is in a deep recession and its economy is expected to contract by about 12 percent this year. to reason but as iris tells us more about the challenges ahead. an economy that is shattered not only because of coronaviruses been shattered since back in 2018 with recession inflation and many many other problems argentina had what even the i.m.f. said it is an unpaid debt 3 $120000000000.00 in debt and it was trying to restructure $65000000000.00 in the past few months it's been very very tense negotiations at a time it seemed that the country was once again it entered the fall of last may but that it once again those stocks we're going to failed and what the ended up agreeing with 3 of the main creditors groups that includes brad blackrock which is

the largest asset manager in the world they agreed for a grace period until 2025 and they're saving around $30000000000.00 in debt this is an enormous success for argentina's government because it certainly helps a times when the government needs to be spending money fighting with the crisis and fighting what coronavirus is living in the country with a rise in poverty of unemployment among many other things i didn't you know defaulted as you just mentioned also 9 times in history the last time was last may it was a soft default but let's not forget what happened in this country back in 2001 when it defaulted again on its foreign debt there were years of litigation 60 percent poverty rates among many other things so present about the fatah members what he said on this day is that argentina succeeded that they managed to make payable at a debt in times of a massive economic crisis and in the middle of and demick. time for a short break here now to see when we come back another big increase in the number

of covert 9000 cases in australia the 2nd most populous state will be naive in sydney. an election in sri lanka that could see one political comedy become even more powerful or not stay with us. hello there we are watching very closely of course the tropical storm. this is it hail on the satellite this massive cloud is actually moving ahead of the storm system really cool some very heavy amounts of rain meanwhile as across the west particularly california it is hot and it is dry that is this one massive fire began is true and that is combined to warn it's already burned 80 square kilometers the firefighters a really backing this blaze 8000 people evacuated because of the danger of this find you can see when they drop the fire retardant really just what

a thankless task it is it is a huge fat one it'll stay dry it'll stay hot across much of the west in the meanwhile our tropical storm will be racing north northeast was the case through wednesday you can see still expected to stay as a tropical storm even when it pushes into those eastern areas of canada of course it will also produce some very heavy amounts of rain the wind should be weakening old the time but even so we could be seeing more flooding across the carolinas and some very heavy rain as it pushes up into eastern areas of canada by says it really should dissipated and you can see those still a very unsettled picture through the middle and take across into washington d.c. wanted also pushing into the pacific northwest homages a little bit lower but meanwhile it will stay hot and dry throughout much of the west. bought into existence by a slave rebellion yet rife with slavery. at the 2010

earthquake forced into domestic were. deprived of an education and dropped off a childhood. child slaves part of slavery a 21st century evil. on al-jazeera. welcome back a quick recap of the top stories here this hour a massive explosion in lebanon's capital beirut has killed at least 78 people and injured thousands as a shockwave devastated the city. it happened at a port warehouse where about 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate have been stored for

years hospitals are overwhelmed. and colombia's supreme court has ordered the detention of former president. he's accused of witness tampering and fraud read it denies any wrongdoing. saudi arabia has reportedly moved a step closer to nuclear power constructing a uranium yellowcake extraction facility with the help of china that's according to sources quoted by the wall street journal the facility is said to be close to the town of. yellowcake is a milled form of uranium ore that's found naturally there but would take additional steps on technology to enrich it enough for a nuclear power plant saudi arabia denies building a uranium ore facility near a little bit says mineral extraction is a part of its economic diversification. the australian state of victoria has announced another $725.00 new coronavirus takes in it's another significant spiked containment measures on not in place melbourne the country's 2nd biggest city is

subject to not to confuse them instructions on movement hundreds of military personnel have been deployed to help enforce isolation orders anyone breaking the rules faces log signs well nicola gage is monitoring developments from sydney in the class of virus cases continue to rise in melbourne despite the lock down tell us what's been happening. right now the number of infections just doesn't seem to be going down on tuesday another 725 new cases were recorded 13 more people have died including a man in his thirty's and hospitals are filling up with paypal needing help now these figures might not same as high as some other places around the world but we need to remember that a strong leader had been extremely successful in containing this virus and we'll all know or how fast it can get away from us if it isn't contained but these new figures it really will justify i guess for many the need for the tough shutdown

lockdown measures that are currently in place in the city of melbourne in victoria where there is an overnight curfew and harsh penalties being imposed for anyone who breaks isolation measures but it really is deflating to not see these figures go down given how many papal live being financially impacted by this of course we're seeing more businesses closing retail and manufacturing and many are concerned that some of these companies just won't be able to survive the 6 week lockdown even we've financial support from governments and on top of that some experts are saying that the recession that australia is currently in may last until the end of the gear a pretty tough time at the moment but we always knew that it may take. a week or 2 to see how these new lock down measures would influence the rights of infections in victoria a nickel a virgin australia's administrators have announced plans to cut thousands of jobs

at the airline and how much is this likely to further deepen the crisis in australian aviation. yeah well of course it's kind to make has brought the global aviation industry to its knees and australia is no different to quantas has previously announced that it was cutting 6000 jobs and now that's truly the 2nd largest carrier virgina straley will be cutting $3000.00 jobs that is one of its workforce and on top of that it will be getting rid of its budget carry a target and it says it will be suspending old long haul international travel to the international travel travel sick to does recover so this will no doubt be a fairly stressful day. workforce it hasn't announced what exact positions will be going 50 transport workers union says it's quite brutal given the state of the economy in a strongly

a right now and on top of that queensland to the state of queensland has just announced that it will be closing its borders to new south wales and the astroland capital territory to try and slow the spread of these forests which will no doubt be another big blow to the domestic travel market. technical gauge there live for us in sydney nic thank you for that. well polls have opened in sri lanka to elect a new parliament president got up by a rajapaksa sponte seeking 2 thirds majority so it can make changes to the constitution the vote was postponed twice because of the coronavirus well nelson and his joins us live now from colombo so this is south asia's 1st election since the pandemic why does this election matter and what have been the main issues for voters. busy that run for sri lanka in terms of its journey forward we are sort of 10 years post conflict

but there are still a lot of things that need to be sorted out we've had changes of government but in terms of a direction for this country whether it be the economics whether it be post conflict issues there still a lot to happen so here we see a century that rajapaksa brothers going into this election asking for control of parliament to bring in the changes to bring in the constitution let's take a look at some of the views we've heard. moving the rethink has. to be in september 2008 was one of 11 young men kidnapped in the wrentham a group within the sri lankan navy including its highest ranking officers have been implicated lamela the arbiter which is that the law we just want our child in 12 years we haven't been told whether he's alive or not so much information has been uncovered one can get away we don't even care if they do but the officers or whoever allowed this injustice must be punished human rights activists in this and

similar cases involving the disappearances of hundreds of tamils after the 26 year conflict with the tamil tigers will be forgotten in sri lanka and go to the pool on windy sri lanka people's party led by the rajapaksa brothers is expected to when. president hu tabin prime minister my in the family will protect war heroes who brought a queue ssion ensure national security subcommittee and bring prosperity. the president's party must come to power to take this program forward we require a 2 thirds majority for this there are amendments needed to the constitution or else we need to change the constitution presidential powers were weakened and those of the parliament strengthened under an amendment passed by m.p.'s in 2015 and only see any reversal would be detrimental as far as depok was is concerned if that arch boxes get close enough all the set will be out of the window

and therefore you will have a strong authoritarian government. but this doesn't seem to want emotion longer than many rajapaksa appear the best option given their handling of the corona virus outbreak and the negative perception of the previous government including security failures that led to one of the worst bombing in sri lanka on easter sunday 29th. the main opposition united national party has been ripped apart by infighting and he's contesting the election separately we'd rather not have to carry. the. past ministration. the legal miscreants. who we say lines incompetent people he was he was exhibited leadership qualities i'm not getting our lines and only see low voter turnout is possible and

spheres of 19 me keep people in the we from the ballot boxes winning the general election will be the easy part there are multiple challengers but a looming economic crisis aggravated by the credit of either spend demick with severely test the next government in sri lanka meanwhile families like the reducing her trying not to lose hope. and as we've seen essentially the issues are relatively sort of sparse on the ground going into this general election it's more brought the current realities the coronavirus pandemic the government's handling of it which is strongly contrasted with the massive easter bombings of last year a different government of a people that is what halmos in their minds as they go into the polling booth like the long queue you see behind me waiting to cast their ballots as they go into choose those 225 public representatives who will decide on 3 lanka's future

direction aaron hernandez live in the sri lankan capital thank you for that. indian administered kashmir is in lockdown to prevent protesters from gathering to mark exactly a year is the region lost its special status a curfew has been imposed in the area many local political leaders have been in detention for months officials have also banned mass gatherings because of the pandemic india's prime minister narendra modi is overseeing the laying of the foundation stone for a hindu temple at a controversial religious site he's in the northern town of ayodhya where a mob destroyed a 16th century mosque in 1902. well after years of legal wrangling last year the supreme court ruled that the side belongs to him 2 groups our correspondent elizabeth reports now from new delhi. on the banks of the solder you've ever people

gather to pray in the ancient town of. preparations underway ahead of the construction of a temple at the site that hindus believe is the birthplace of their god from. the rom temple is supported by all indians only some who wanted to spread hate were opposed to it. controversy over the site has led to some of the worst religious violence in india's history and security has been heightened. in 1992 thousands of hindus from around the country came to the town and destroyed the 16th century babri mosque and 22 others 18 of the muslims living in the town were killed including relatives of and muhammad childhood we lost everything in the violence my sawmill was here we had thousands of dollars worth of wood they set everything on fire they killed my husband and brother in law. the koran in our mosque and started stomping on the beaches we tried collecting the beaches. kept getting worse started

attacking people here. the religious violence spread beyond iowa with yet mohammed child's father and uncle to have more than 2000 people who were killed around the country leading members of the hindu nationalist bought of the party are on trial for conspiring to destroy the mosque the b j p had long promised to build a temple this is the fulfillment of the promise to the listen. and this is a defining moment for india. the party gained more political support after the mosques destruction was visibly started woman. then gradually become a symbol of. that is where the destruction. of . the country.

the b.j. people 1st elected to govern the country in the general election the destruction after the legal battles over ownership the supreme court ruled last year that it belongs to him. after he joined the campaign for. prime minister. and overrating its construction and its. new delhi. talks between egypt and ethiopia on the ground ethiopian renaissance dam have been suspended egypt and sudan withdrew from the negotiations to consult on ethiopia's new offer they say out of some of those proposals excluded legally binding rules regarding operation on filling up the dam the 2 countries are on the downstream projects could lead to water shortages but the ethiopian government says the $5000000000.00 project will boost its economy zimbabwe's president. is defending his government against allegations of a new crackdown on dissent local human rights group says more than 60 have been

arrested since last week the government and forced a coronavirus lockdown just days before planned protest last friday the opposition says this was aimed at stopping its rally calling on the ruling party to resign all the news of course on our website there what is on your screen from that explosion in the lebanese. time for a quick check of the headlines here on al-jazeera a massive explosion in lebanon's capital beirut has killed at least 78 people and injured thousands as a shockwave devastated the city. it happened at a port warehouse where about 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate had been stored for years the explosions believed had been set off by welders the blast was felt 160 kilometers away in cyprus hospitals are overwhelmed the countries around the world including lebanon's traditional throw israel are offering help and lebanon's prime

minister has addressed the nation he says those responsible will pay the price. when doing it will not pass without accountability those responsible for these catastrophe will pay the price promised to the martyrs and the injured national commitment. colombia supreme court has confirmed it's ordered the detention of the former president of our only bit he's accused of witness tampering and fraud ribera has repeatedly declared his innocence and questioned the court's independence he's a close ally of the current president even duke a. peru's government ministers have been forced to resign after congress voted to reject the president's cabinet and no confidence vote happened on tuesday after a long session where representatives criticized the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic peru is one of the worst hit countries in latin america with nearly 20000 deaths due to the virus president this current has. to present a new cabinet argentina has reached

a deal with its creditors to restructure some of its debt it follows months of talks and is being hailed as a major step toward stabilizing its struggling economy argentina owes nearly $320000000000.00. saudi arabia has reportedly moved a step closer to nuclear power constructing a uranium yellowcake extraction facility with the help of china that's according to the wall street journal the facility is said to be close to the town of houla yellowcake is a milled form of uranium ore that's found naturally there but it would take additional steps to enrich it enough for a nuclear plant or saudi arabia denies building the facility near i don't know but says mineral extraction is part of its economic diversification those with the headlines news continues here on al-jazeera after slavery a 21st century evil child slave stage and that's what i thought. we understand the difference is and similarities of cultures across the wound so matter how you take

it out just to bring you the news and current affairs that matter to. counter the. 300 years the most powerful nations on earth group richer and strong go on the profits of the slave trade over 12000000 men women and children will also be transported from africa on slave ships like this to the colonies and plantations in north and south america today slavery is illegal in every country on the planet but the truth is slavery did not die in the 19th century it is alive it is thriving and it is bigger than ever.