confirmed to be caring coronavirus now they tell us i think feel even more discriminating and vulnerable than ever. this is al jazeera. it's 1300 hours g.m.t. this wednesday here and al-jazeera hello i'm kemal santamaria welcome to the news hour. the battle between armenia and azerbaijan intensifies over the disputed region of they're going to cut back but have a report from the front lines. also in the news the 1st u.s. presidential debate descends into a chaotic fight with name calling and accusations of racism. the new regime is

yours is the rational left would you share with us about this and always on your list you know this is. the man accused of helping to finance the rwandan genocide is to be handed over to the united nations for trial. and israel imposes new pandemic restrictions but government critics say they're aimed at stifling dissent. and with all the day's sport big news from the french open tennis $23.00 times grand slam champion serena williams pulls out of the tournament with an achilles injury. for a 4th day armenia and azerbaijan are engaged in fierce battles over the disputed region of nagorno-karabakh both sides of rejected international demands for a ceasefire by contrast on the ground they are attacking each other like this

artillery rockets other heavy weapons in civilian and military casualties are being reported by both countries turkey says it will be backing azerbaijan by quote every means available and france just part of an international group trying to mediate a truce is criticized for what it calls war like rhetoric what we're going to start with this from slim your she has gone to a city that has come under attack on the front lines and she sent us this reports. we're in barga almost 8 kilometers to the close do not go to. actually we are hearing all the time we are hearing the poundings over as our bridge onto the armenian side and from iranian side to our bridge on side people were here i'm on a very small hill on the top of a small hill it's civilians who gather around here to to watch the other side of the conflict and actually the sound is coming from my left this is this way.

we always see a few small i must tell you that the city center this week center of cars are the largest radio in the region of the area has been targeted by iranian military and this morning around 8 am a rocket hits at the center and 7 civilians were injured one of them was killed one of them died after he was taken to the hospital the locals are telling me that 5 civilians lost their lives within the last 2 days it is very tense and when you listen to both officials from both azerbaijan and many inside the conflict seems to be remaining this way for a while because neither of the sides are planning to give up by the way the telephone internet they're almost blocked they don't work so that's why we are a little bit restricted in terms of communication. but yes we are we are still

hearing the poundings and this is what we can explain from here let's get an idea what the armenians the same forestry walker is monitoring those developments from tbilisi in georgia what more do you have. more grim news i'm afraid the armenian. thirty's confirming that the town of mud came under. fire a short while ago and 3 civilians have been killed there and a number more number of several more injured. the fighting has continued into this 4th day. it appears that there is some kind of an offensive concentrated to the north of. this appears to be where the fiercest fighting has been today and again the armenians asserting that f. 16 fighter jets belonging to turkey are involved well these are very or thirty's of

deny it this has ankara. and they say that the aircraft that went down yesterday was one of 2 armenian aircraft that were shot down but it got lost up in the mountains well of course claim and counterclaim constantly coming through so it's a it's a confusing picture but this is what we're hearing so far robin the fact that we are now into 4 days of fierce fighting how does that sort of compare to previous times when this conflict has flared up. well they called it the 4 day war back in april 26th which was the last time there was a flare up approaching what we're seeing now but the most committed observers to this conflict. organizations. that have been watching this for some time they say that this is the worst that they've seen since the 1990 since

the cease fire in 1900 that sort of froze this conflict as they said. i mean you know. making claims about how much success they've had in terms of how much military infrastructure they've destroyed and i mean it's extraordinary really i mean the armenians saying that they've they've they've blown up 137 tanks and armored vehicle 72 aerial aerial vehicles those a drone 7 helicopters in an aircraft now as a by john is also making similar claims perhaps an even larger numbers but certainly when we see the military videos that are being released and some of them are really ghastly it does convey a sense that this is a this is really all out war. of the like we haven't seen since the 1990 s. certainly certainly looks like it when we look at those pictures don't we walk into place a thank you. i mentioned this earlier france criticizing turkey for its comments on

the situation the french president emanuel micron's as any volved in the fighting would be unacceptable because you are at this stage i remain extremely cautious but we know it's an extremely volatile situation that said i have noted turkey's political declarations in favor of azerbaijan which i think are inconsiderate and dangerous france as part of the minsk group which requires the impartiality which explains my caution remains extremely concerned by the warlike messages coming from through a few in the last few hours which essentially remove any of us or versions inhibitions in reconquering the garneau kora block and now we want to accept. many mccrone talking about the minsk group of which russia is also a member xander got 4 in moscow what's russia's position right now what are they doing to try to bring some comes of this situation. well come out the russian position is very much similar to the french one to the us one all 3 members of the oil see means group or for the security council of un position

so the spokesperson of clement made the discourse today repeated that kremlin does not support such statements of turkey that they lost support to adding fuel to the fire and that these such statements don't sit very well with them he again called on all the regional players to refrain from such statements and that what is needed is an immediate cease fire is all parties going back to the negotiating table now french president on that but on is going to speak tonight he said that with russian president vladimir putin and tomorrow he's going to speak with the united states president to donald trump on the conflict about the conflict in gordon or. what we are also hearing is armenia keep on claiming that turkey is involved not. only in a political support to azerbaijan but that they actually had their planes are

involved so their militaries involved i mean we cannot confirm this so we don't know whether this is true but it seems that their meaning is trying to rally allies around their cause and even though they did not appeal to the collective security treaty organization of which their member together with russia it seems like they are going that direction now in order to get this help they would have to ask for it and they would have to present the case that their their territory is on the track which strictly speaking at this point would be a hard case to present because as far as we know all the fighting is going on on what is internationally recognized territory of sort of a john for not only the territories occupied by the armenians in the ninety's but also the region of the gold market about. thank you alexandra joining us from moscow.

president donald trump and his democratic challenger joe biden ahead in campaign stops in battleground states a day after a chaotic presidential debate marred by personal insults insults often drowning out discussions on coronavirus civil unrest and the economy and donald trump's failure to condemn a white supremacist group as drone operators well this report from john hendren cleek. it was less a debate than a verbal brawl president donald trump lagging in polls lashed out early and dominated the clock trump repeatedly sought to throw joe biden off balance with a big blizzard of interruptions that left the moderators scrambling to regain control i was a part of their preserve that rating was an article by me off like well i wouldn't audience moderator and justify and i would like you to let me ask my question and then you can answer go ahead i want to get rid of i understand it sucked but i have to have to give you roughly equal time goodies let the vice president biden

sometimes struggling to get back to his point repeatedly lost patience it's hard to get any word in with this clown would you show was out there were moments of coherent conversation on why each should be presidents because there is never been an administration or a president who has done more than i have done in a period of 3 and a half years and why the other man should not under this president we become weaker sicker poor more divided and more violent. when i was vice president we inherited a recession i've gone head to head with putin and made it clear to him we're not going to take any of us stuff he's putin's puppy bitter exchanges on the coronavirus you believe for a moment what he's telling you in light of all the lies he's told you about the whole issue relating to covert a lot of people died and

a lot more going to die unless he gets a lot smarter a lot so has the president don't ever use the word smart with me and there were heated accusations over taxes but why did i do it over again in the last 25 years not because i would otherwise he do it ok he'll our president screwed things up you are a senator and the worst president is america has never had a trump denied a new york times report that he pays a pittance in taxes is it true that you paid $750.00 in federal income taxes each of those 2 year or so is your tax i paid 38000000 dollars one year i paid $27.00 michaud issues tragedy here and the president declines once again to condemn white supremacists but are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacy and militia groups i would say almost everything i see is from the left wing by trying to be the adult in the room the man with a plan to resolve the coronavirus and to restore civility to government troll tried

to befuddle biden with constant interruptions playing into the narrative that the former vice president is beyond his prime and trump sought to draw biden's ayer with attacks on his son hunter with some success hunter got thrown out of the military he was thrown out dishonorably discharged not true as a discharge and he is my son like a lot of people like a lot of people you know at home had a drug problem he's overtaken it he's he's he's fixed it he's worked on it and i'm proud of him in his starkly divided us the debate might have changed few minds but it might well have hardened positions between 2 candidates with little love lost between them john hendren al jazeera cleveland. let's talk to our white house correspondent kimberly have now morning kimberly i've seen this debate described in many different ways i think the most acing was when said that no one won but america lost because if you got anything out of that you were doing pretty well.

american public in many ways they're used to donald trump being the disrupter in chief but this seemed to be kind of a next level using the text acronym s m 8 shaking my head that's how a lot of americans are feeling right now that they watched a wrestling match not a presidential debate now in the assessments following this debate even republicans believe that the president's strategy of interrupting was agree just and perhaps too high is the word that we're hearing sensually the other concern in all of this and you americans really didn't get much out of this is that both men kind of avoided some of the key questions that americans were looking for answers for for example on the right they were looking for joe biden to denounce some of the fringe supporters and on the left they were looking for donald trump to do the say when donald trump confronted joe biden about anti for that has been responsible for much

of the sort of violent protests taken place in the united states particularly in portland oregon he called anti a i d not a group and that seemed to outrage many on the right and on the left there is sheer outrage over the fact that the president did not denounce the group called the proud voice in fact if anything they have been emboldened they're now selling t. shirts reportedly that as a result of the president saying stand by that he may not accept the results of the election and would like these people to make sure that the votes that are being cast are free and fair so again the american public probably the biggest loser in all of this. there's a perennial debate anyway kimberly about debates and how important they are how much they will to use the phrase move the needle what's your take on this debate that might be the ones to come if they will actually change how people would think and vote. you know i went into this one thinking that it wouldn't move the needle

but i think the president's behavior certainly now house him at a disadvantage what he didn't do is expand his big speech and that is always the goal in these debates to try and capture the very numb narrow number of undecided voters in the united states if anything joe biden captured that because he appeared more presidential if you will now both men have the opportunity to kind of capitalize on what they saw as their successes play down their weaknesses in this debate they're both hitting the campaign trail we know that the president he'll be heading to the state of minnesota for one of his make america great again rallies then biden will be headed to ohio one of the key pivotal states in the united states for deciding elections traditionally so both men aren't wasting any time but certainly the reviews of this 1st debate are not particularly favorable that is kimberly how good moments on a wednesday morning in washington thank you kimberly. 16 minutes past the hour this

is what's coming up for you. kuwait swears in its new emir who calls for unity in the face of multiple challenges. also an indian court reaches a verdict in a case that divided the nation and the thousands of people dead. and in sport people have all the action from the major league baseball as the playoffs. begin. kuwait's light. is being laid to rest a day off to his death the funeral procession was held in kuwait city for the 91 year old leader his body having just arrived back from the united states where he had been receiving medical treatment before his death kuwait has declared 40 days

of national mourning. earlier on wednesday kuwait's news was sworn into office the ceremony was held in the parliament for 83 year old. who paid tribute to his predecessor who was also his half brother and promised an era of stability and unity. really bill just. as a soon this huge burden of this office i promise god almighty i promise our homeland and our people that i will spare no effort that i will continue to work to save the interests of our homeland preserve the freedoms of our people their welfare and continue to support the peoples of kuwait and i pray to god almighty to guide our steps forward. this new i me of that has a number of challenges ahead of them kuwait was one of the 1st countries to be hit by covert ninety-nine is actually now one of the worst affected certainly in the gulf which is hurting its economy which is facing the highest budget deficit in history and the table are also kuwait's plans to reduce its ex-pat population to

resolve the demographic imbalance there that has given rise to some anti ex-pat rhetoric corruption and the theft of state funds are also a big issue something the new emir expects to tackle before parliamentary elections later this year he also faces several regional and global challenges also remember . took major roles in achieving regional peace and stability through mediation we're going to talk. about this visiting professor at the national university of singapore as middle east institute he's in muscat amman. which of course went through its own transition earlier this year when sultan died what was that like there what is how do these transitions work in the gulf when there is an expectation they will happen but it is still change. a small correction if i may come out and the current limiting professor what's he doing in the verse in procure thank you having just left singapore. you know that's no problem i believe that

this year has been as we see in witnessed a major changes in many respects and one of them is of course the passing away of 2 giants in regional politics and that's assault on couples in the beginning of the year and currently. the m.e. out of kuwait and this listening measure loss comes to time when the whole region is there with nothing catastrophic if you like challenges a few mentioned there are some. internal challenges. that make that. face by everybody the economic slow down the line. the decline in the oil prices but also the major challenge you know the political turmoil and the conflicts between the region the war in the. conflict in iraq and syria and lebanon

the libya and the mediterranean and of course the us rany in showdown so it is a very very difficult challenging period and this time also we've lost those 2. very wise leaders who have been able to manage these and make sure that dialogue continues to be. the more the feel like. sorting out the conflict sartin director dela do you think then that will remain or will hold that position as a regional mediator on the schechner law. yes of course i think the fundamentalists. and determinants of quickly foreign policy will continue to be the same it's small country it lives in a very minor region that. lives next to 3 major large. companies that are at some time and conflict with each other so that geopolitics is

not going to change the neighborhood is another break the chain the underlying if you like dynamics of regional politics is not going to change i think the core of the kuwaiti foreign policy will continue to be the same and that it's see that the region continues to be in peace and through conflict to be a result of dialogue we may see a small change in style obviously you know between shifts and one because they're 2 different people and we may see a small difference in style but i think the. trend of mentors and accord if you like and the dr scott. foreign policy will continue to be the same kuwait has this interesting position in the gulf where it has a monarchy of the sea and an ear but it also has a national parliaments. did the 2 work in tandem or is there tension between the 2 and can that be

a problem going forward for kuwait's. well kuwait correctly say it has a unique system in the gulf and it had. started with this throwing from its independence and it has served it in so many ways and sometimes when you have public participation when you have a strong parliament it can go against some of the if you like the policies of the government it has its pluses and minuses. and directions but so obstructed some of the work as well because of infighting between factions and within the parliament but that is if you like the. pros and cons of democracy you know its democracy is not an especially good but it has it has its pitfalls as well but i think it it works. against way for political

participation it also gives. the authority sometimes a challenge but at the same time it supports the sort of the in certain areas for example you know the. peace with israel and the parliament were not accepted so the government of will immediately have. if you like a reason why not to be pushed into a corner or to sign the peace agreement with israel. right so i think it says it is definitely beneficial and it's different from the rest of the gulf states some of the gulf states do not want to repeat or a copy the quickly experience but it is a unique experience and it's worth learning from it i think it has had the company done about for joining us from muscat today thank you for that we do appreciate the

time thank you. to france where the highest court has ruled a suspect in the rwandan genocide can be sent to tanzania to face trial at a un backed court. is accused of helping to finance members of the hutu tribe who killed 800000 to seize and moderate hutus back in 1904 he has been held in a french jail since his arrest at his home outside paris earlier this year he'd been on the run for more than 20 years. in paris with more on this front i should tell us about this decision and any reaction to it. yes this is the decision from france is a higher court so they have decided that it can indeed be handed over to u.n. custody that paves the way for could be then be extradited to tanzania to face an international court in aruba. is accused of being the main finance in

the rwandan genocide of funding the ethnic hutu militias that killed some 800000 ethnic moderate hutus in 1978 u.n. court actually indicted. indicted could go on genocide charges i should say and an international arrest warrant was issued at that time but a very did arrest he has been for more than nearly quarter of a century at large police were unable to find him it is believed that he moved from continent to continent until may this year when french police tracked him down to the paris suburb of. say not keeping his lawyers out all of you because he's now in his eighty's that he was too old and too frail to be extradited they wanted him to face trial in france but the courts decided otherwise to uphold that in snaffle restaurant when we spoke to a survivor of the random genocide he is

a representative here often association. victims of the genocide and he said that this was of course a very moving moment for all the other survivors because it was such an important person one of the world's most wanted men and what the survivor told me was that he not clothes that could be good does indeed face trial in a router that he makes of it even though he is in his eighty's of medical health because he said that will be seen as just as having been finally served after all this time and with that update from paris thank you more than 50 women in democratic republic of congo have accused aid workers of sexually abusing them zanuck actions were made against workers employed by the world health organization and other n.g.o.s reports say the abuse happened during the recent ebola outbreak in do ya see that officially ended this year the world health organization for its part says it is investigating malcolm webb's following this

one for us from the nih the kenyan capital nairobi. more than 50 women reported incidences in the report and they were describing incidences such as being ambushed in hospitals or lured into hotel rooms where aid workers would demand sex for jobs or threaten to terminate contracts if they refused. a lot of the jobs in question were for cooks or cleaners people being paid about 50 or $100.00 a week but got to understand this in a context where there are almost no formal jobs one of the allegations with from a survivor whose husband had been killed by the disease and she alleges that she was drugged and believes that she was raped in one of these hotels where the abode of operations were being run from most of the allegations are against foreign male workers 30 of the 15 question again workers of the un's world health organization others are against workers from congo his ministry of health and some of the other

international organizations that were part of that response. time for a check of the weather with everton we're going to india we're off to in the bring you some sunshine good news the summer rains are now starting to ways so the southwest monsoon is officially retreating away from that northwestern corner of india pulled away from pakistan quite some time ago the tramline that is where the rains actually well that's where the monsoon is officially set out with the strict criteria that they take into account the black line is where it should be well actually about a week behind schedule but regardless of that you can see large the clear skies across much of the indian plain also show was a which was that eastern side of india mind you northern parts of the babbling a little circulation here at producing some very heavy downpours up towards west bengal pushing across bangladesh up towards behind the still quite a few showers extending their way up towards nepal so a similar picture this is

a slow moving feature this one so it could well. course some problems as we go on through the next couple of days more wet weather coming in here for friday and take a look at sas day a very similar picture for much of india though it does look fine and dry we have got some showers through the western ghats through maharashtra just extending up towards the fos outthought good but nothing too much to speak of more showers we do have here becoming less widespread as we go on through sunday further shows to the northeast but up to also northwest kemal is fine dry and sunny lovely thing is folks evident folks with your world weather there in the news ahead calls for justice and accountability in iraq this is over the killing of hundreds of protesters by security forces. and in support rafa nadal prepares for the latest challenge he's set bidding for a record extending victory.