on al-jazeera. al-jazeera. russians go to the polls in regional elections just weeks after the opposition figure and a volley was poisoned on the campaign trail. you want to doha and i'm come all santamaria with the world news from al-jazeera. and the rest of the women police violently break up the latest protest against the

roosters president. also a british iranian woman named cigar iraq that faces new charges of spreading propaganda against iran. not everybody living in the street everybody live in india. and growing frustration on the greek island of les paul says refugees remain homeless all of europe's largest migrant camp in turn to the ground. starting in russia this millions a casting their ballots in a series of local elections on sunday i have those in members of the public local parliaments i'm sorry municipalities governors as well in different regions sunday will be the 3rd and final day of voting that's been held over several days due to the pandemic. so these elections held in a year ahead of parliamentary polls which means this will be seen as something of

a referendum on president putin's popularity the poisoning of russia's main opposition leader alexina volleys also cause to shadow his supporters have been campaigning for candidates who will challenge the government in the elections 2nd time actually we should point out russians are voting in a major election during this pandemic they also got an economy in trouble millions of people unemployed and rare antigovernment protests in the far eastern region of cutoffs have been taking place for a couple of months now pollsters think the political unrest in neighboring bellary smale so affects this ballots so that so it's about exxon's. joining us from moscow tell us about these elections today and i guess what wider impact they could have. well these elections that are happening on different levels all across russian federation are important this time because they're seen as

a major test for russian president vladimir putin and of the ruling party called united russia what we are seeing past the years when it comes to the part united russia is that their rating has dropped rapidly for instance their disapproval rate is 43 percent but also what is happening is that the ratings of russian president the most popular politician in russia dropping saw the trust rating is down to 23 percent while the approval rating of his work is around 60 which is a drop since the beginning of the year so in this case in couple of regions of russia namely in say bierria and the far north there will be a test of say it is a sort of a vote of confidence for kremlin on the local level because there are serious candidates there and there are alternatives to the. ones that are posted there by kremlin and in these areas we did see protestants or were this year and also the

year before sort of so 2019 on different occasions and for different reasons but still people were going out on the streets as they are doing now for what 11 weeks already in siberia and city of about of what sort of state would you describe the opposition in politically what sort of strengths are they have obviously we've been focused a lot on alexina valmy in just the past few weeks. well the it is very hard times for position in russia but it is exactly the project of alexina violet called the smart vote that gives some chances for a position to enter regional levels of the governing or even chose their own governor not the point of the smart vote is basically to rally behind the strongest candidate which is a position to the candidate of power or of the candidate posed by kremlin so there is some chances for instance in that handles or novice

a bit of to do that so this will also be a test for this type of voting now that the disappoint recovering from poisoning in german hospital so that ease a bit of a blow for his supporters since he's not there to encourage them to do not evade them to go vote for the candidates that were chosen to be opposition basically because this is a protest vote it's not just for him but choosing against in in these regions on the other hand the high profile of this case might actually make some people really angry to go out and vote for what is vitally headquarters proposing and i have to say not only doesn't have a political party he tried couple of times to register the party but he was always refused which was not a problem for some new project as they call them here of kremlin some new parties that that is actually testing also on this elections in the same excellent thank

you xander stone of record for who we will speak to again later about these local elections in russia. now in the coming hours are going to have a protest expected in the bella russian capital minsk against president alexander lukashenko follows a demonstration on saturday which saw police violently detain dozens of women women $10000.00 women in fact to find the government crackdown to rally in minutes they've been demanding look at shanghai's resignation ever since he was declared the winner of last month's election which critics say was rigged step vasant was at the protest and so the arrests happened. every saturday for the last couple of weeks women have been marching here in the center of minsk women smart to release the political prisoners and also offering a look at shankar to step down in the recent weeks while inspired relief has increased and many have particular leave being detained in the last couple of days so women are still defiant and they're still gathering here.

you know this was one have i was a lot of. women now this. was a horrible enough group. i. was doing the that was i mean what kind of power is this does it see people doesn't listen to people is this our power how does this relate to a constitution on to a law enforcement system these are peaceful women without weapons. a group of women is now being locked up for by you muffed the policeman they're all grieving and shouting to be relieved to be tensions are completely random here right now some women manage to escape by just simply jumping the fence but they are not a policeman here right now and people are screaming women are screaming why are we

being detained. now a british iranian charity worker is already serving a 5 year sentence for espionage is due to appear in court this time. cliff has been charged with spreading false propaganda against the state of iran comes as she almost complete so early a prison tim nelson who was arrested back in 2016 during a visit to her parents living into her arm she was charged with working for organizations attempting to overthrow the governments so more with us had begun teheran says she's being charged now with what did we say false prep and spreading false propaganda against the state of rubbish that in jail for 5 years as well can you put all this into some sort of context for us. you know we've spoken to her lawyer this morning and he said the charges of spending spreading propaganda against the islamic republic now back in 2016 she was indeed visiting her parents

when she was arrested now she was set to go back to the u.k. with her 22 month old daughter at the time but daughter is now 6 years old and is back in the u.k. with her father at the time the charges were espionage and planning to topple the iranian government charges which she denies now she was sentenced to 5 years and that sentence was coming to an end. shortly set to expire but she was told that she would face these new charges now back in march she was she was released temporarily because of the krona virus pandemic you're saying that her parents although she had to wear an electronic tag now her husband has said that she's been held hostage because iran wants the u.k. to pay back decades old debt that goes back to before this time of revolution here under the shah when he ordered some chieftain tanks the money was paid back after the revolution the british didn't pay that money it's around $400000000.00 pounds now the defense minister here has said that those cases are not linked now back in

2019 the british government changed her status and gave her diplomatic protection change the status of her case changing it from a consular matter to a dispute between 2 countries 2 government now iran says that's against international law because countries can only do that for their own nationals and now is a jew national in iran doesn't recognize jill national so she said to face these new charges as we understand we're waiting for that hearing to begin and this could possibly increase her sentence. keeping an eye on that one today waiting for have to appear in court. now after a day of ceremony and statements of hope the taliban and the afghan government now have to get down to the hard work of trying to end decades of war unprecedented mazing in couples capital followed months of delays at state a permanent ceasefire the rights of women and minorities and how taliban fighters will be disarmed and sides are being urged to seize this opportunity to secure

peace for future generations so heo shaheen is a member of the taliban's negotiating team who reiterated the belief that it will take time and patience to overcome the deep differences with the afghan government including the group's insistence on an islamic system for the country he also said that he was optimistic of course throughout up stella's he had a lot of skills we need a lot of started to talk. with that many kinds about the draw the attention will understand ending the occupation but opted for talks. in the right and in. the long discussion he chose solution and he had it and he gave me in signs that it would mean anything to 9 feet witty and we i'm hopeful that we did meet beam bumps in the we hate right wendy we need each other solution that's critical. on the other side the government negotiating team is

there by a bella who spoke to our program talked to al jazeera said he is hopeful the talks will be a start to ending the years of violence. if there is one lesson out of the recent history of afghanistan recent past 2 for dicky's that's that there is no military solution and our hope is that both sides have recognized this that message to send that this is stage will be late the message to the in this conference that we want we have different views we have different version for the country but we want to make peace but one that in order to help our own people and also look at the suffering of the people look at the losses of the people look at the pain that the people of the tolerating referred to the numbers in the past few months only since the signing of the agreement with you between the

taliban in the united states which was. which was the main fundamental reason. that the 2 can and situation that we were talking to one at that that is still there when i am talking about the number of casualties it's high on both sides it's not just one side in to be billeted 2. to 2 coup their wounds of the people to recover will be sign of strength not inflicting casualties on the people in the news ahead. then. turns and running are you afraid instead of victoria workplace a manager and then lock down checkpoints. because my only concern was to get my books out so that i can study and sit my examinations on the sudanese

students determined to succeed in the face of the devastating floods. hello there plenty more clear sunny skies across much of central europe and in fact for the next few days the time which is all set to rise that was little pain to cloud across the north not just cloud this rain in there as well and a very stubborn area of low pressure as they really sitting across the central mediterranean but nice sunshine across into paris the locals enjoying it and also trying to stay cool in fact how much is all set to rise here as they will across into germany some fairly grey skies there but it is all clearing out quite nicely not so just yet across the north some very heavy rain working its way towards scotland and strong winds as well but also warnings in place for that rain and finally on sunday we should see the end of the heaviest showers and those the

thunderstorms across the central med and then on into monday it's looking fairly similar still there is rain showers to the far north of the u.k. and of course on monday beginning to push further east and north so really impacting this coastal areas of norway but look at these temperatures for the next few days my goodness london 28 celsius 8 degrees above the average very woman dede in that sunshine paris even warmer monday and tuesday up to the mid thirty's celsius cooling down a little bit of one says that more clouds around and then ballin it takes a little longer it's reached there but even so look at these temperatures and 11 degrees above the average. talk to al jazeera we urs is the government not taking the necessary action to really address some of the structural issues we listen i still think that air travel is the safest mode of travel and to spend that we meet with global news

makers and talk about the stories that matter on which is their own. holding the powerful to account as we examine the u.s. its role in the world on al-jazeera. top stories for you this hour on al-jazeera millions of russians voting in a series of local elections seen as a test for the ruling united russia party but also being overshadowed by the poisoning of opposition leader alexina valmy. police in belarus a violent detained dozens of women attempting to join the latest we can protest against president alexander lukashenko said last month's election and they're

calling for a sign. and british iranian charity work in iraq that is due in a temper on court to face new charges include spreading propaganda against the state she's close to completing a 5 year jail term for espionage. pompei it has been in cyprus for talks on tensions in the eastern mediterranean he says the united states is deeply concerned about turkey's actions in the region and is pushing for a diplomatic solution but history it centers on maritime areas which are believed to be rich in natural gas turkey greece and cyprus have all made claims to them. for natural resources. least interesting. they say for some reason to expand the shores of. the.

exclusion. of the police forces the settlers should. simply interested community. and turkey's president has won his french counterpart quite not to mess with ankara the nato allies are at odds is paris is back in greece and cyprus over the resources and naval influence in the sea on friday emmanuel macron and other southern e.u. leaders threatened new sanctions against ankara. she will have done much simular to one woman i do not want to mention him by name but i have to because he's messing with me he's seeing our problem is not with the turkish people but really i don't want mr mccomb you will continue to have a lot more problems with me. who are protesters with differing grievances have been targeting the greek prime minister police were on alert as about 5000 demonstrators rallied in the open city of the sun on a key where. it was delivering a speech they included pro and anti migrant groups as well as far right supporters

who are against the coronavirus restrictions. meanwhile police have fired tear gas at protesting refugees on the greek island of lance bass they're demanding humanitarian assistance and are resisting the attempts to relocate them back on tuesday fires destroyed a maria camp europe's largest even 12000 people without shelter support from john psaropoulos. the arrest of an elderly man sparks violence ask a new spokes the arresting officers with rocks was. and they respond with tear gas women and children who were sitting nearby panic and seek shelter in the island's municipal refugee camp stuff here terrified that asylum seekers displaced by the burning of the main camp at moria may try to set fire to this one as well in the crush this afghan boy is separated from his parents and

after inhaling tear gas an infant is rushed to hospital unconscious days have passed since greece's largest refugee camp moria burns down on the island of lesbos bottled up on a stretch of highway these refugees have slept rough and are hungry angry and impatient because of daily protests the army has not distributed food and water spraying even more on that we got no place to stay for for 5 days now no place to stay no food no water down the toilet we decide to go to mislead to this show so they bring us to the mainland but the police the military the block the road since we are staying here. is not an everybody living in the street everybody livin in the bush we need freedom we don't want to maria we don't want to come we don't want to graze wanting to have a quit the comp that's won't. be. down the road the government is

rushing to set up temporary shelter to get people off the street and out of the mountain. olive groves this is morea mark to an artillery range by the sea now being landscaped and fitted with tents where a few 1000 people will be able to stay at least temporarily a few asylum seekers are struggling in but there's been no mass transportation of them yet off the streets here however that is what the author rotis intend as soon as possible because here they can be fed and watered and the public safety can be assured some refugees arrive to take a look at their immediate future walk in and install themselves but some around this afghan women whose children have had 2 birthdays and no school we will nominees get our money good moment you know i mean we are ready to die here and we don't want to go and live in a tent in another camp we want freedom all the refugees but for these people freedom for now is brewing tea on the asphalt and camping on the driveway of

a car dealership jumps are open to us al-jazeera lesbos. more protests in lebanon to demand justice over the beirut port explosion hundreds of demonstrators were heavy security as they tried to march on the presidential palace calling for accountability following last month's blast that killed nearly 200 people and injured more than 6 and a half 1000. u.s. media reports the president donald trump tried to push health officials to rush their approval of unproven coronavirus treatments and to alter reports on the outbreak in new york times reports trump wanted me want to government scientists to sign off on blood plasma therapy before they were ready to do so another news outlet politico says drum's aides asked for the weekly reports from the c.d.c. the centers for disease control to be altered. protesters in israel of again been rallying outside prime minister netanyahu has residents in west jerusalem calling

for him to resign because the corruption charges there is also there plenty of anger about his government's handling of the corona virus pandemic israel's been reporting record levels of new cases for days now and the strain state of victoria is renewing a state of emergency off the recording 41 you covered 900 cases the measures of and get hundreds of people have rallied across the state for example this video. really. actually. so this is a woman in melbourne trying to defy restrictions. filmed her struggle with police as they pulled her out of her car checkpoint police say the issue was that she refused to actually identify as self think of the day age in camera i mean that's a very extreme example and of course these ones get a lot of prominence but it does reflect

a lot of the frustration which victorians particularly a feeling of being locked down for so long. there has been some quite dramatic sayings coming out of melbourne that we don't normally see in a strangely a very often a riot police holding a shield separating crowds who are trying to gather in public of course under the lockdown in place at the moment people aren't allowed to gather in public places or in other papers times as well that i think it starts showing just the frustration that many people are feeling at the moment the lockdown measures in no win and some of the strictest in the world there is an overnight curfew in place and many people have lost their jobs so they are leaving their homes and that frustration really can be seen with some people protesting across the weekend in milk then of course the government has these measures in place because it says that it wants to keep

people safe and healthy but of course the economic and social impacts have been massive in the business community and the federal government has been quite critical of the victorian government has been doing for its so-called road map out of this on sunday this 6 point clock down was supposed to end and it was extended for another 2 weeks and many companies business the say they just will not be able to survive going forward and people up wanting a stricter plan clear a plan going forward as to how people can move forward at the same time the victorian government has announced more funds to help businesses as some restrictions are going to be east slightly that the strict lockdown is still in place and many people in melbourne are just wanting life to go back to normal the lawyer of course is in recession at the moment with 1000000 people unemployed and they're just hoping that the number of code 19 cases stays down so more

restrictions can be relieved it was in the days and weeks and hades. i gauge that update on the situation in australia particularly in victoria thank you more clinical trials for a corona virus vaccine in the u.k. have now resumed drugs company astra zeneca and oxford university stopped their tests after a person taking part developed severe neurological symptoms health regulators though say it is now safe to carry on on a 1000000 people have now been displaced by severe flooding due to exceptional rainfall across western central africa in the generally $65.00 people have died in large parts of the capital are now under water and here is actually one of the world's driest countries but the rainy season has intensified in recent years which is linked to climate change this is. capital with the suburbs are under water earlier this month there was more rain in

a single day then the country usually experiences over the whole rainy season president macky sall has launched an emergency aid plan for people there and of course sudan where hundreds of thousands of people displaced by heavy flooding a calling for more help their homes were destroyed by the worst flooding in a century tens of thousands of students are among those whose lives are being disrupted here morgan has a report from one how many are struggling to keep up with their studies just hours left before ray and japhet and her colleagues sit for sudan's general high school certificate examination in the capital how to it's a requirement to be able to get into university but after she and her family lost their home in the floods that prospect seemed almost impossible. because my only concern was to get my books out so that i can study and sit in my examinations it's hard we've lost everything we've lost a house and that is hard we were inside and the river just flooded and we lost

everything. her colleague had also lost her family home in the floods that had village in the northern part of how to a week ago said it's unfair that i'm too soon homesick the floods came in and took away everything that homes were destroyed and we ended up on the streets near the main road the government gave us tents and people from the area gave us a place to stay and study and so we can prepare for examinations examinations which are usually held in march every year have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic so then the government sets up demba 13 as the new date more than $150000.00 students will take part in the capital alone a rise in the river to levels not seen in more than a century caused devastating floods in many parts of sudan it's led the government to declare a state of emergency and announced the country as a natural disaster zone more than $100.00 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced schools in several towns and villages were among the damaged

properties tens of thousands of those displaced by the floods are school students and many are due to sit for their high school general certificate this year but for those students sitting for examination to guarantee seats in universities in the future is hard when their families have lost most or all of their belongings so dan has set up a committee to deal with the impacts of the floods the head of the committee says the government is working to ensure that students around the country take the exam as scheduled. every day there's they're basically checking on on all the ministries of education in the different states. the centers that people need to go and have exams for what is the situation we're talking about the people the affected the numbers of the people who are going to for exams and they said they're assessing the situation on daily basis so hopefully you know it well we're hoping that it's you know it's going to be something that fits the needs of the people the levels of them have started to drop but those affected see what they've been through already is enough. i didn't want the exams to be held at

a time like this it's hard to she and her colleagues see they'll have to sit for the exams and hope for the best despite their very difficult circumstances people morgan al-jazeera hard. on to the u.s. state of oregon's preparing for mass fatalities as wildfires continue to burn across the west coast dozens of people have been reported missing in half a 1000000 ordered to leave their homes but the death toll now reaching 27 in california 3 of the 5 largest wildfires in the state's history are still burning. across the i will take you through the headlines now millions of russians are voting in a series of local elections widely seen as a test for the ruling united russia policy still being overshadowed by the poisoning of opposition leader alexei xander a story of a cold flow explains now from moscow what these elections mean for the party and

president putin. their rating has dropped rapidly for instance their disapproval rate is 43 percent but also what is happening is that the ratings of russian president the most popular politician in russia dropping so the trust rating is down to 23 percent while the approval rating of his work is around 60 which is a drop since the beginning of the year so in this case in couple of regions of russia namely in siberia and the far north there will be a test. say it is a sort of a vote of confidence for kremlin on the local level of headlines police and delusive violently detained dozens of women attempting to join the latest weekend protest against president alexander lukashenko. last month's election was rigged and continue to call for him to resign but iranian charity work in the cliffs you to appear in

a test run court facing new charges that include spreading propaganda against the state close to completing a 5 year jail term for espionage. a day after the ceremony of the taliban in the afghan government well they're now getting down to the hard work of trying to end decades of war the unprecedented meeting in counters capital follows months of delays the sides are being urged to seize this opportunity to secure peace for future generations u.s. secretary state my point has been in cyprus for talks on tensions in the eastern mediterranean sea he says the u.s. is deeply concerned about turkey's actions in the region and is pushing for a diplomatic solution but turkey's president is warning his french counterparts quote not to mess with ankara the nato allies are at odds paris has chosen to back greece and cyprus over the oil and gas resources and naval influence in the sea as you headlines on al-jazeera inside story is next. on counting the cost of debt

crisis and an insurgent uprising mozambique's troubled road to becoming the world full biggest gas exporter an epic battle challenges apple's grip on its i'm still in the rising prospect of a currency war it's a mighty dollar. counting the cost on al-jazeera. this chapter is one of reconciliation progress not another chronicle of tears and bloodshed. hailed as a historical that cannot be wasted afghanistan's government meets the taliban for the 1st time to negotiate an end to 19 years of war what can they overcome the system. and contesting ideology is to offer any hope of peace.