says and similarities of cultures across the world so matter how you take it out just 0 bringing you the news and current affairs that matter to. counter 0. curfews tougher restrictions and a warning from the w.h.o. as coronavirus cases multiply in cities across europe. hello and barbara sarah you're watching out for a live from london also coming up a carefully coordinated prison her exchange in yemen more than 1000 detainees swapped in the hope that it could facilitate

a lasting peace. thousands the fire protests began in thailand demanding the prime minister's a resignation and reforms to the monarchy. and the speaker of the cypriot parliament quits after being implicated in a cash for passport scam exposed by al jazeera. coronavirus cases are surging across european countries are imposing new restrictions the world health organization has warned the death toll in the 2nd wave could be beef be 5 times the level of the 1st outbreak in the spring unless significant action is taken in the u.k. london is moving to the 2nd highest cove at 19 alert level charlie angela has the details. this city of 9000000 is moving into high gear to have

a 3 tier system meaning no one can meet indoors with anyone outside their household it's the government's latest attempt to rein in a runaway infection rate which is doubling every 10 days we must act now delayed action means more deaths from coated it means more. deaths and it means more economic pain later because the virus comes down slower than it goes up but there are questions over whether this goes far enough with the opposition of many scientists instead advocating a short sharp nationwide lockdown not just regional restrictions. here in london the new measures will impact 3000 pounds and 7000 restaurants the city will we were viewed every 2 weeks but most of these businesses have already made their orders for the month and this stopping and starting to cripple them and many in europe find they're in a similar situation france has declared

a public health state of emergency and impose an 8 pm curfew in paris and 8 other cities hospital admission is at their highest level since june peer pressure the curve has nearly taking a vertical shape and that's why we knew we needed to arc because this reality would have an impact on hospitals. very strong impact on intensive care unit. infection rates are also rising in spain the region of catalonia is closing or bars and restaurants for 15 days and limiting the number of people allowed in shops in its attempt to curb the surge germany czech republic italy and poland are all looking at a record number of daily cases since the pandemic began and from the world health organization a bleak warning that governments mustn't shy away from nationwide lockdowns projections from reliable. models or not so optimistic these models indicate that for launched relaxing policies would propel by generally 2021

they leave mortality at levels 4 to 5 times higher than what we recorded in april. 19 is now killing a 1000 people a day in europe with winter fast approaching this exponential increase is everyone's concern that al jazeera london. the coronavirus pandemic has also destructed an e.u. summit in brussels the president of the european commission or so level in their lane abruptly left breaks a trade talks after she came in contact with someone infected with calls it 19 as she has this the negative but will isolate as a precaution the summit though is going ahead as planned. and u.s. democratic vice presidential candidate kamma harris has canceled all events this week after a member of her communications director team tested positive for covert 19 harris

will show jewel to travel to the battleground state of north carolina answers they both harris and biden have tested negative. let's meet our white house correspondent kimberly how kit who is in washington d.c. for really what else do we know about this or what impact might this have on the campaign. yeah well we know that the latest update is that come a harris has once again tested negative for covert 19 that is not true though of 2 of her staff members or communication director as well as one of the attendants on the plane that she uses to travel to campaign appearances now we 1st got wind of this when she was expected to touch down in the battleground state of north carolina and when she was essentially a no show that's when the media was notified that in fact there had been 2 members of the staff that it tested positive now we're being assured that kamel harris they believe is that no risk because she's not had close proximity to either of these staff members at the same time in order to make sure 100 percent she's canceled all

of her travel until saturday or rather sunday so monday would be the 1st day that she would begin traveling again and that includes her husband dog doug and hof so this is certainly a major interruption why we're less than 3 weeks from voting day november 3rd and it sort of is reminiscent of what we saw with donald trump when his campaign was interrupted of course because he did test positive for covert 19 who is in the hospital * later recovering in the white house and it was a major interruption to his campaign now he is back campaigning you know right now in north carolina the same state we're coming to harris is not and this is a very important battleground state so it just gives you a sense of the impact there you have the president fighting for every vote coming to harris now not showing up on the ground why does this matter well this is a state where there is essentially a statistical dead heat between the 2 candidates so every vote matters and in this

election unlike the one in 2016 there aren't that many undecided voters so now the 2 candidates are taking their case to the american people and that also is related to kovac and also controversy we've got these sort of dueling. halls that are taking place we've got joe biden in philadelphia this evening and we've got donald trump in the battleground state of florida and he's going to be talking out of miami now again the reason this is such a big issue and controversy has to do with donald trump's covert diagnosis this was supposed to be the 2nd presidential debate town hall it went virtual because of that diagnosis the president got angry said he wasn't to compete wasn't going to debate so joe biden went and had set up his town hall in philadelphia only to have donald trump now participate one that will compete at the very same time now the critics here are saying look at this is not fair you're simply rewarding bad

behavior donald trump doesn't like the terms he pulls out somebody even argue with his own fault for getting coded 1000 given the fact that he's been very resistant to wearing a mask but others say look at this is free speech americans are entitled to watch whomever they want and that's where you have it but again in terms of the impact on this campaign and cope it it's major. kimberly halkett with the latest on that campaign and more in washington d.c. thank you. the largest prisoner exchange in yemen civil war has been taking place in santa more than 1000 detainees are being swapped between the who the rebels and the saudi u.a.e. coalition which backs yemen's government exchange was brokered by the u.n. in 2018 but it was never implemented as reports. a long awaited moment in yemen prisoners held in captivity for years

read in the largest prisoner exchange between the warring factions the deal was brokered by the un in 2018 but never implemented but this time. and the government representatives set aside differences hoping the swap could lead to thousands of detainees being live today to in the future. the implementation of this agreement will build confidence and indeed momentum by demonstrating a simple truth that peaceful dialogue. between the parties and deliver the road to peace it was a carefully arranged operation saudi sudanese and government detainees boarded a plane that took off from hoofy held sunnah airport their destination airport in

saudi arabia by the same time who 3 rebels were transferred from say yoon airport in southern yemen to sana any delay could have jeopardized the whole agreement there is one very important element in this we need to place. staking place why the conflict is ongoing most of the time real detainees happen at the end of a calm not during and i think we should stress this and now be take it as a positive step i think they've done something really hard a separate prisoner exchange took place on wednesday brokered by oman the deal allowed more than 200 heard these stranded in amman to return home in exchange for the release of 2 u.s. citizens detained by the whole thesis the rebels also sent back the remains of

a 3rd american who died in captivity. citizen was living working in yemen and. was in prison for a 199 days 2 years and 6 months in solitary confinement and it was hell really how bad bad experience and i think. his majesty cellphone hiten for his assistance in getting us out. the un held the prisoner exchange as a milestone its hope is to convince feuding parties to restart political talks to end the war in yemen. un envoy martin griffiths faces a delicate task to hand encouraging the parties to do just that.

but yemen is now more divided than ever the back to these control most of the more of the saudi backed government is losing ground and secessionists backed by the u.a.e. in the south. to declare a state of their own. kurdistan's prime minister has assumed presidential powers after both the president and the speaker of parliament resigned said their job at all had been named the prime minister just this week after his supporters freed him from jail the president assume by you haven't called for has face that they really protests against his leadership since this month's disputed parliamentary election demonstrators accuse the government of breaking the vote charles stratford is an eastern care guest on with more on what the president's resignation means for the country. fair to say mr jeenbekov has been changing his story since these rigged elections on oct 4th initially after

those elections we heard nothing from him with all there was a french really a statement given by him saying that resignation was not on the cards. and then we had another statement from him saying that he was going to resign he would resign but only after a new cabinet was full and now yesterday a new cabinet was full by the new prime minister and it was late last night or last night we heard that he wasn't going to resign until there were new elections we understand that there were some very heated discussions held by him and the new prime minister and speaker of parliament last night trying to negotiate mr jeenbekov to punch journalists that we were with in bishkek where outside respect bishkek about 3 aus at the moment but those journalists were telling us that your power of supporters were threatening to storm the president's building if he hadn't resigned by 830 last night mr powell if the new prime minister then calm those

supporters down and today we understand there were more discussions between the prime minister the speaker and the now resigned president and he has indeed yes said that he is going to sit down. still to come in this half hour thousands of illegal homes planned for the occupied west bank israel approves a record number of new settled and why zimbabwe's pensioners are queuing for food handouts despite a lifetime of work and saving for retirement. we've got more very heavy showers thundery downpours across central parts of europe at the moment rolling across italy through the vatican heading back towards the balkans couple of areas of low pressure and much in charge

a bit further north there's a massive high this keeping things quiet across northern parts of europe dragging in winds from the north or northeast direction always on the cool side then so temperatures will struggle to reach very 13 celsius there in london and in paris hovering around 9 or 10 degrees there across scandinavia some showers there just feeding their way into eastern parts of germany 3 poland some wetter weather into that western side of russia where the temperature down in moscow to just around 8 degrees celsius quite a rash of showers there into central parts and as you can see what's the weather trying to make its way in from the atlantic we're bumping into our area of high pressure and i think it'll make too much progress over the next couple of days at least next week does look like a different story staying dry if a little on the cool side bill gray as well across northern parts of fine in try present sunshine across a good part of southern europe into northern africa you might still catch your share or so snow the passage uneasier but that's the message speak of the wetter

weather there that's running across central africa southern parts of nigeria right across the gulf of guinea 2 west. i don't know that corruption has reached a level like never ever before in our country i am the rank outsider. to president of the united states. the power was in the data we will monitor the american people with the truth and nothing else discover the formula for winning the white house unfair game on al jazeera.

welcome back is a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera the head of the w.h.o. in europe says the total number of deaths in a 2nd wave could be 5 times that seen earlier in the year if action is not taken this comes as london prepares to move into the 2nd highest english alert level the warring sides in yemen have begun a swap of more than a 1000 prisoners it's hoped the move could build trust between the rebels and the saudi led military coalition and kurdistan's prime minister has assumed the powers of the president after the country's leader resigned by you have been called had faced daily protests after this month's disputed parliamentary election. azerbaijan's president says his army will take all of the major regions unless armenia agrees to withdraw within a specified timeframe. coalmines have further dashed hopes that

a moscow mediated ceasefire could bring an end to the conflict where than $600.00 people have been killed since fighting over the disputed region broke out last month the humanitarian agreement signed on saturday appears to have had little impact with both sides accusing each other or violations. thousands of protesters in thailand have defied a ban on public gatherings filling the streets of one of bangkok's busiest streets they are demanding the prime minister's resignation and reforms to the monarchy but the government says the movement threatens national security scott heide lawyer has more from bangkok. police leave a long night out front of thailand's seat of power government house as street cleaners wash away what was left behind by the thousands of anti-government protesters from the night before several 100 protesters camped out overnight and just before 5 am they were pushed out with calls from protest leaders for calm they

left peacefully but later in the day some of the most high profile protest leaders were arrested the protester clearing operation was given the green light when an emergency decree was announced at 4 am saying that gatherings of more than 5 people was now illegal the decree cited that the protests were illegal public gatherings causing chaos and disorder and threatening state security part of the justification for that decree was this hundreds of protesters using a 3 finger salute as the motorcade of queens to teach past by the salute has become a symbol of the protests the calls for government and monarchy reform at the daily life that even will be a crime he. would not result. in higher than because. you know problems. just lie and being. there has moved on now from stockholm. you want to

stay still to. be decisive when i want to reform or not as we are now in new territory with the protests directly in strongly calling for reform in the monarchy the government no doubt is feeling immense pressure from the palace to find that new emergency order and risking arrest protesters took over a major intersection one of the high end shopping districts in central bangkok they set up a stage where they called for their protest leaders to be freed saying they'll continue their protests making sure that they are heard by those in power it's got either al-jazeera bangkok. the speaker of the cypriot parliament has resigned in the wake of a cash for passport scandal exposed by al jazeera the mitri sideris is the party comes after our investigation found senior politicians were willing to sell a cypriot passports to convicted criminals the scheme was wrong to attract financial investment in exchange for e.u. citizenship the government has abolished the program in the wake of the reporting

well al-jazeera is david harrison is an eco c.n.n. and has more now on the political fallout yes well there's been another dramatic development in cyprus where the speaker of parliament demitra serious has announced his resignation now as the suitors have been hanging on for a couple of days but we seem protests outside parliament on 2 successive nights on his name as the one they were calling for to resign was a serious did not admit any wrongdoing he still maintains his innocence but he was a key figure in al jazeera documentary which revealed him to be agreeing to help a chinese criminal obtain an e.u. pos course the last couple of days and also see him being something of an object of ridicule with mean showing him holding the now notorious glass of red wine and winking at the camera there's a saloon is insists that he will be proven innocent when the attorney general's investigation is complete but for now it's another scalp for the people who say

that this man is corrupt despite his objections and that he has to step down and we've got a podcast up on our website so you can find out more about this investigation and plenty of other episodes al-jazeera dot com forward slash podcasts of forward slash al-jazeera investigates that is on your screens right now and for more on this particular investigation it can watch the cyprus papers on the cover at 12 g.m.t. on friday. security forces have been deployed in the nigerian capital abuja and the city of lagos as demonstrations over police brutality continue the government order follows more than a week of protests officers have used live rounds water cannon and here gas against demonstrators the government says it's this bad thing a special police unit implicated in a case of excessive force but that has not satisfied protesters who say they want

to c.n.n. the extra judicial killings and the extortion amnesty international claims that at least 10 people have been killed in the protests when he addresses in a blue jay and says authorities there have announced a ban on street protests. demonstrations are continuing in several cities in nigeria but there's been some incidents in nigeria's financial capital lagos where overnight demonstrators spent the night in front of the seat of power the state power i mean while the government has its buildings key buildings and installations they spent the night demonstrations today. in the early hours of today a group of thugs with knives and clubs descended on protesters dispersant them before the protesters formed by just like they did yesterday and then things are getting common out there grouping goes and in a number of state we understand that more protesters moved towards the government

housing to blockade the government house there in a buddha the authorities here have announced a ban on street protests following yesterday's incidents but not before a few 100 supporters or protesters marched to the national parliament the national assembly just to present their case to legislators and but the police denied the intrigue to the national parliament they still there a few of them are still there remaining insisting that they must see members of parliament to prison. although members of parliament had earlier interviewed various capacities some of them on personal capacities asking the government to take immediate steps to the. cases of police brutality some went even further by expressing their support to protesters now holding rallies across the country facebook is stepping up its fight against misinformation and

election interference concerning tanzania's upcoming vote a new election day reminder will be introduced at the top of facebook and instagram feeds one polls open on october 28th it will also provide official voting information and make any posts that are found to be false less visible media restrictions have increased there since president john mccain fully seeking reelection into power in 2050. israel has approved the construction of thousands more illegal settler homes in the occupied west bank it brings the total number of homes approved in the past 2 days to almost $5000.00 it's the 1st time jewish settler homes have been authorized since israel suspended plans to annex palestinian land as part of a deal starting diplomatic relations with the u.a.e. the palestinian leadership has condemned the move will need abraham is in bethlehem in the occupied west bank and says more homes effectively mean annexation the

number of illegal israeli settlement units promoted this year is the largest in nearly a decade palestinians say that the israeli government is emboldened by the trump administration settlement activity has increased by 25 percent since trump took office one of the largest expansions in the latest israeli decision is in this settlement over here built over the lands of the well as a village near bethlehem. over $950.00 new units will establish a neighborhood that is larger than the settlement itself they moved. away that they can. between communities. within the west bank this is the 1st announcement of its kind since the u.a.e.

and normalized relations with israel the deal was thought based on freezing annexation but for palestinians the ongoing supplement expansion is the fact that. we're not only talking about their homes but roads infrastructure the separation barrier is an israeli settlers eating up palestinian resources. life is difficult for millions of people in zimbabwe and the specially for the elderly many had saved it to see them through retirement but years of out of control inflation wiped out what they had and reports from belfort the pandemic has only made it worse now struggling to buy food. 68 year old juliet macur has a waits for her daily food ration her sick husband can't walk to the soup kitchen that means bring home something for him to behind her is 75 year old jimmy banda his wife died some years ago his children are in south africa looking for work this

ration of zimbabwe staple food sides or a parish made from maize and vegetables must feed him and his 4 grandchildren. have been coming here for 2 weeks at least i know my grandchildren and i have something to eat daily displaced must not close their loss of are struggling in the soup kitchen feeds on average 3000 people a day samantha mohr ozaki started it when she saw families in the community going to bed hungry she says a lot of older people who live alone are regulars some will tell you that their children. have died because of hiv and aids and some will tell you that they went to south africa and they never came back or remember them some will tell you that. here she's there but doesn't do anything for me so i have to make a plan for myself. some of these pensioners had decent jobs and

diligently save for retirement but decades of inflation in zimbabwe wiped out a savings zimbabweans are facing their worst economic crisis in a decade soaring inflation shortages of food foreign currency and now the coronavirus has made things worse we used to get assistance from. individuals but because these individual companies they're also finding they're also facing financial challenges therefore they also find a different they are now finding it difficult to extend their hand to assist. the early. old age homes receive a monthly grant from the state and the government does give food and cash to vulnerable families in urban and rural areas but it's not enough according to the last government census done nearly 10 years ago older people make up about 6 percent of the population in the way and asked some of the most eclectic. the government said it's going to introduce a universal pension scheme for older people with

a struggling economy it could be months or even years before that benefit is implemented. al-jazeera mouth what zimbabwe. more on that story and everything else we've been covering on our website the address on your screens right now al-jazeera dot com. time now for a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera the head of the world health organization in europe has issued a stark warning about a 2nd wave of corona virus infections hence kluger said the total number of deaths could be up to 5 times that that was seen earlier in the year if significant action isn't taken there new restrictions are coming into force across the continent with london moving into the 2nd highest level on saturday infection rate in germany has

doubled in the past week with alarming rises also seen in the netherlands italy and poland before to search the new.