malinda by violence and concerns of a fairness tensions run high as voters go to the polls in tanzania. where i'm the star and this is al jazeera live from dark also coming up making their final pitch the u.s. presidential candidates seek to win over undecided voters with just on that a week to go now before the election. shoring up support for the u.s. and china message secretary of state my pompei is in sri lanka as beijing accuses

washington of bullying smaller nations. plus rolling out the red carpet with little fanfare one of the ballots most famous phone festivals a prime yes' but with pandemic proportions. polls have opened in tanzania as presidential and parliamentary elections following days of tension and unrest president john legere fairly is seeking a 2nd term but the lead up to the vote has been mobbed by violence and accusations of foul play the government has been accused of cracking down on dissent and on tuesday the opposition on the semi autonomous island of zanzibar said at least 8 people were killed during protests of a ballot fraud catherine sawyer reports from neighboring kenya. president john. paul nicknamed the bulldozer wrapped up his complaint in the

new capital of times and yeah. some analysts say he's favorite to win and throughout the campaign he's exit at conference outlining his achievements in the last 5 years staring clear of accusations that his government has ruled by violently clamping down on critics and curtailing the freedoms of the media. a minute. let's protect peace in tanzania peace will prevail if you vote for me for another 5 years alone bring even more development and progress. i'll go full his main opponent to lease and finished his campaign in the former capital. he recently returned home from belgium to run for president he left tanzania 3 years ago critically injured when he was shot multiple times pass aliens who haven't been caught he's accused the president of being a dictator and doubts the election will be credible. there wasn't any local mission

has the responsibility of preventing whereas in bed announcing it is old before counting he's concluded he's creating room for kaos. do not allow them to announce pretty much what is or even go to the date i ot's also being held in the semi autonomous indian ocean i keep a log of which has a history of contested polls and violence after results are announced opposition leaders have accused police of using force on protesters who allege some ballot papers had been pre-marked there is no doubt of this election far from being free and. without doubt as good issues in this election possible of course. the playground is not level both in terms of the institutions which are governing or managing the

selection as well as the conduct of the security agency. the ruling party kind of a dr house and when the sign of a former president a relative calm in politics is up against safe sheriff complaining for the 6th time i'm odd state he won the last presidential election 5 years ago the result was an old by the electoral commission and he was caught at the rerun samana least fear that an opposition defeat could trigger another violent fallout with the ruling party well let's all speak to catherine who is watching the selection for us from the kenyan capital nairobi and catherine i see the government has throttled of the internet and cut off social media by my count polls have been open for just over 3 hours now how is voting actually going is going. well we have been speaking to several people in tanzania who say the internet is

still very slow of course we have no official word from the telecommunication companies or the government itself but the people have been speaking to us saying things like what baalke messaging is a problem very slow internet speeds as well about the voting process today inspector general of police of tanzania issued a statement yesterday giving a stand warning to anybody who tries to disrupt the process who tried who tries to disrupt this election of course this is in light of what happened in the last 2 days in the island of zanzibar process to stake into the streets. yesterday during that voting for special groups saying that the process was not transparent enough the main opposition party there was a lendl saying that police in by land a used tear gas and live bullets to discuss protesters in the process

killing at least 8 but the inspector general of police has denied this and has denied that the police used to live bullets and has denied that there were any deaths now in terms of what's going on we have colleagues who have visited in tanzania who have visited several polling stations they say the process to find those polling stations is going on smoothly people are patient he waiting in line but a huge security presence both in the mainland and in zanzibar nastasia catherine i know mr leaser and the opposition are already warning that if this election isn't viewed as free and fair it will be decided in the streets tanzanians bracing for protests. well there is a satin a lot of concerned a lot of concerns especially from you know ordinary time the people who are voting today who are saying they're concerned about what's what might happen especially. the opposition senses defeat we've been hearing very aggressive. opposition

opposition both in towns in both in the mainland tanzania and zanzibar using a very aggressive tone saying that they already believe that the election is being rigged to leads to in his final campaign telling his supporters that these results are announced prematurely if there is a nice sense that the election is being stolen then this people that he's supporters should go out to the streets and mosque process in zanzibar same situation main opposition leader there safe ahmad a saying that already he believes that the election is being is good is going to be rigged has been rigged from voting yesterday saying that he doesn't believe the election is going to be credible telling his people to be vigilant and if they've a new rigging that's going to take place then people should go to the streets a lot of people in the voting stations a lot of times and in the voting stations will be talking to our high of a saying that they just want a peaceful election but beyond that they want

a result that is beyond reproach nastasia because they're saying anything else is just a recipe for. catherine and so are they watching that election for us from nairobi will be staying crossed for you here on out as they are today thanks so much catherine. well the u.s. presidential candidates are making their final push to win ai versus then with just a week to go until their election day crisscrossing the country campaigning and battleground states now more than 17000000 americans have already voted a record that could lead to the highest of us attend out in a century my kind of reports from washington. a final frenetic week of campaigning before election day president trump doing a swing through 3 of the states with polls indicate he's neck and neck with joe biden wisconsin michigan and the brusca attempting to remove one issue from the

agenda at the beginning of the day tweeting fake news media is going full on. we are rounding the 99.9 percent and he's attempting to reset the conversation around an economy he claims to have revived it's trabant lead the number one reason that i'm standing here because of trade and we turn that around if 7 straight now we're going to win the great state. we're going to win 4 who are years in the way. but joe biden kept the discussion sent to don what he describes as a trumpet ministrations failure to deal with ekta plea with the pandemic this administration has yet to offer a single plan that's one of the reasons why the most one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world the new england journal of medicine call the

president quote dangerously incompetent went on to say the president turned a crisis into a tragedy i'm ready that act. i know what to do well. biden spent the day in georgia which polls indicate has come strongly into play for the democratic party it's been a solidly republican state for decades but full clinton the last democratic candidate to take it back in 1992 the fact that democrats believe there's a chance of biden winning it is a clear sign of how the traditional electoral landscape is changing another good sign for the democratic party is the massive number of votes that have already been cast close to 70000000 americans have already voted that's more than a hot the number of total ballots cast 4 years ago but the biden campaign warns

against complacency traditionally it's republicans who cast the most votes in person on election day effect that could still tilt the balance my kind of al-jazeera washington now america's top diplomat has his house at china's ties with sri lanka and his latest stop on a tour of the region secretary of state mike compare has been discussing trade and security with sri lanka's foreign minister in the capital colombo he's pressing the country to be on guard against what he called predatory lending and investment by china china has accused the us of bullying smaller nations. indeed a strong sovereign sure walker is a powerful and strategic partner for the united states on the world stage they can be a beacon for the free and open in the pacific. but that's quite a quantum contrast to what china seeks we see from bad deals violations of sovereignty and lawlessness on land and sea that the chinese communist party is

a predator in the united states comes a different way we come as a friend and as a partner. and as in the capital colombo for us mel some strong words we've been hearing today from compare and that his visit comes on the heels of a senior chinese delegation who are there only what 3 weeks ago it does sound like sri lanka is going to have to pick a side soon. well that's certainly the direction that both of these global players seemed to be pushing this little nation towards us asia sensually this sort of rhetoric ratcheted up obviously in the run up to visit basically the u.s. secretary of state in that address talking about that sort of predator kind of rule that china as he sees it is playing in sri lanka where he says that the

u.s. comes as a friend now china has also been responding because right at the outset before the secretary of state came to south asia there were obviously briefings and one of the principal deputy assistant secretaries in his briefing said that the sri lanka to make some difficult decisions but necessary ones to ensure and security economic independence obviously china took umbrage to that responded saying that the u.s. was basically interfering as well as violating diplomatic protocol they basically accused the united states 5 of having a sort of a cold war mindset and sort of a. monistic sort of a mentality and an attitude now the u.s. basically saying that they come as a friend wanting to see sovereignity for sri lanka wanting to see development and sri lankans having that ability essentially to be in control of their future but

obviously this began before the secretary of state even arrived here and obviously it's slated to continue the secretary of state talking about some of the issues touched on his discussions with president go to the rajapaksa and the sri lankan delegation talking about the pandemic pointing to the fact that obviously came from who. in china so lots to be read between the lines here the seizure as basically these global players sort of playboy longo. smell fernandez there live for us in the sri lankan capital colombo watching that as a thanks so much more. still ahead for you here on al-jazeera facing reality mexico admits the number of people who've died from the corona virus is far higher and faster. i'm john hendren at ohio state known for picking u.s. presidents it might just do it one more time.

hello expect warnings to be issued for the weather in greece is this thing was last a thunderstorm warning heads in your direction now it's picking up more warmth and the bottom half of the cold front to be chopped off and start to spin up like this into a revolving storm which means wind potentially wind damage and thunderstorms will spread through greece and eventually towards turkey leaving behind a rather dry picture for italy the adriatic and generally speaking where it's raining now it won't be by the end of wednesday athens forecast and gusty day on wednesday the shasta when you're out on thursday then it quietened down the temperatures don't suffer a tall really know what do they really for most of europe is fairly mild the air that's coming in and being blown even some thoughts that's the remains of epsilon

hurrican that's wrong by the way still quite warm air so we've got teens despite the fact it's overcast and running in london and in paris but the real strength there will be felt in the low countries i think heading sas much quite a picture for most adults after it's been particularly warm recently in senegal because the wind is coming off the land it's still going to be fairly warm. wet weather that's really going south you might going to shower too in the south of nigeria probably nothing else in west africa is now hitting the rift valley and get on. with. frank assessments if other can public opinion piece betrayed by social media platforms after november what would be because if you believe that there are corrosive to our democracy one obvious solution is to break the law informed opinion just look at his dog anyway the protesters are going anywhere either it's a bullet with a revolution people in-depth analysis of the day's global headlines kill is it

that's really out there on the street inside story on al-jazeera. the. hello again i must go home let's remind you of our top stories here the salary polls have opened in tanzania's presidential and parliamentary elections president john mather freely is seeking a 2nd 5 year his government has been accused of suppressing his critics and the opposition. will close to 70000000 americans have already voted with just under a week to go before the u.s. presidential election the coronavirus pandemic continues to cost

a shadow over campaigning with nearly half a 1000000 new infections just in the past week. and u.s. secretary of state mike compare has his out of china's ties with sri lanka during his latest stop on the tour of the region he's warned against a chinese investment and calls its influence predatory china accuses washington of bullying smaller nations. when it comes to u.s. elections analysts say it's ohio that predicts the wenna known as the bellwether state it's picked the winning candidate and 30 of the past 32 presidential elections and both parties of heavily invested there with the belief that winning ohio means winning america john hendren has been speaking to voters in cleveland. cleveland's industrial skyline rises from the ohio coast on lake erie and it's ohio's weeks of industry agriculture and service jobs that make it a microcosm of the u.s.

and that's what makes ohio the bellwether stay. for decades all routes to the white house have gone through here ohio has voted for the winner in every presidential election since 1064 and they take voting seriously here i think it's most important especially if you want to see change no republican has ever won the presidency without 1st winning in ohio. at made holes bowling alley winning is the name of the game. here in suburban cleveland the diversity within international border the crowd leans toward democrats and away from president trump he's mentally imbalanced and he is a threat to the health and most being of everyone on the planet i'm looking for a change this upcoming election season just that we can kind of get back on track as a country. on the state's vast farmlands and in the factory town of canton where apache

industrial services recently expanded into coronavirus cleaning solutions penetrates the d.n.a. of the cell the workers lean toward republicans and the blunt spoken president he's straight to the point he doesn't really take too much from people kind of says well it's only wanted to time his character not so much. but what he's done politically what he's done for policies and stuff i stand again polls show joe biden in trump in a dead heat here where trump won handily in 2016 but that was before the coronavirus and a wave of economic shutdowns oh i wonder stands the importance of economic issues also understands the moment the country is living the democrats have very wisely then shifted the. the campaign to being the referendum on president trump with just days to go both candidates have made a priority of navigating ohio's shifting political waters if history is any guide

whichever candidate wins this great lake state will likely win the presidency john hendren al-jazeera cleveland ohio also in the u.s. 2 big wildfires are raging through parts of southern california powerful winds are fanning the flames in orange county more than 100000 people have been forced to leave their homes and local electricity company says it's equipments may have accidentally started one of those fires. the indian state of bihar is also going to the polls in that country's 1st elections since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic nearly 72000000 people are eligible to vote for local leaders one of the world's biggest electoral exercises since this pandemic began is also the poorest station india and has seen one and a half 1000000 migrant workers returned in the past 6 months elizabeth purana has more from the capital new delhi. the voting is taking place in around 70

constituencies with rules around social distancing the wearing of mosques and temperature checks around 20000000 people are expected to vote on wednesday in the 1st of 3 rounds of voting in india's 3rd most populous state be hot and this election is seen as an important test of whether large events like these can be held safely during a pandemic we can see that the rules are being followed in some places not in others where there were long lines and no social distancing this election is also a very important test for prime minister in that in the morning and has bought of the party which are in the coalition government in the state which is on of india's poised it has some of the worst public health care in the country a test of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic he has been campaigning in the election and has promised to be hardy's a few days ago when he kicked off the campaign rallies that they would be the 1st in the country to receive a coronavirus vaccine when it was made available certainly raised eyebrows

elsewhere in india. hong kong police have arrested 3 people from a student group advocating for the territories independence from mainland china take a look at this video it's said to show tony chung leader of the disbanded group a student localism being led away by offices he was taken near the u.s. consulate where he reportedly tried to seek asylum the group was arrested under a controversial security law that was imposed by china earlier this year. the most powerful typhoon for 20 years and vietnam has killed at least one person 12 fishermen also missing and hof a 1000000 vietnamese are being evacuated from coastal areas the government ordered the shutdown of schools and offices in several provinces capitals government has ordered a comprehensive and transparent investigation after several women many astray and nationals were subjected to intimate searches at international airport it happened

earlier this month when terminal star found a newborn baby alive inside a plastic bag and dumped in a rubbish bin the castro government says the abandonment was an appalling attempt to kill the baby in violation of the law the child is said to be now safe and well israeli prime minister scott morrison says he has been assured by doha that the results of the investigation will be communicated soon the money transfer service western union is closing hundreds of offices in cuba after the u.s. imposed new sanctions they prevent western union from dealing with the military run company that controls remittances into the country more than $400.00 officers will be shots which were affected many cubans who rely on money from relatives abroad. now mexico's government has admitted that many more people have died from the corona virus and officially recognized 90000 as the record in total but it's actually thought 50000 others have also succumbed to the disease the northern state

of chihuahua is particularly hard hit by the 2nd wave of infections causing a regular john holl reports from mexico city. even by the standards of mexico's problems with cope with 19 there's a deeply worrying situation developing in chihuahua state on the border with the us borders of things are threatening to get out of control says adult speaking on condition of anonymity because he's scared of reprisals. we are to 100 percent capacity and we're taking patients basically out of humanity they're just sitting in chairs because there's no beds and instead of putting them on ventilators as they need we just have to give them oxygen and hope we get lucky . mitch has been hit hard throughout the pandemic but it's rare to hear there's simply not enough states and it's not just patients at risk says a doctor. we are working practically without equipment to protect

ourselves that the nations are running out and we're out where you worry about the day when we don't have overalls and we have to risk ourselves with the kit the authorities give us. the death count among medical stuff in mexico is already one of the highest in the world the way that i met screws government has also acknowledged around one 140000 people have died from the disease 50000 more than in the official count the countries already number 4 in terms of total fight teletubbies and he's gearing up for its 2nd plague when the 1st one never even really went away years really the virus hasn't spread the country's political class either a senator died this weekend and on tuesday the captives make cloudier announce she tested positive. but for now she was the center of attention with doctors wondering how long do they have to turn away seriously ill patients together your home which is either exclusively. or families in mexico are also taking part in the day of the

dead the annual tradition is when mexicans believe the spirits of the departed return to earth one museum in mexico city has dedicated an exhibition to health workers who've sacrificed their lives in the fight against private. well to some sports news now and the los angeles dodgers have won baseball's world series title for the 1st time in more than 3 decades at $31.00 victory over the tampa bay rays in game 6 secured that championship the dodgers finish the series without their star player justin turner he received news of a positive coronavirus test midway through the game and was withdrawn from the action the dodgers last won this title back in 1988. and the red carpet has been rolled out in france for a scaled down version of one of the world's most famous celebrations a film the cannes film festival was postponed back in may do to the coronavirus pandemic and while movie enthusiastic are happy that it is going ahead now some are

worried the event will never be quite the same again for. the show must go on only 4 films will be shown and no major prizes will be given for the cannes film festival is happening 5 months after it was postponed while open to the public seats are distanced and face masks are mandatory. organizers say the 3 day mini event won't compare to the original but it will be a boost to the cinema industry hit hard by the pen demick in the home. we figured we wanted to light up the screen the city has been highly impacted by the crisis we still wanted to create a celebration of film here we decided to do this many of it not a many festival in cannes but a mini moment to all be together to show the films to invite the creators earlier this month france imposed a nighttime curfew on 2 thirds of the country as coronavirus cases there pass $1000000.00. it's now the epicenter of the 2nd wave of cold but $98.00 infections

sweeping much of europe. festival goers say the cannes festival offers a great distraction from reality. even with the mosques on you have to take safety measures but it's important to take your mind off it. response because it's. i think it's good to be able to continue dreamings even though this so much anxiety right now because today people should say you don't have them or you in football we don't know what all what the health situation will be like but we hope that next year it will go back to normal and. also absent from the can red carpet this year are the biggest names in hollywood. but we have seen this make. a list star. on the over here are wearing fabulous fashion and so i don't know we're going to that in the new year maybe definitely not when we were in one frame fashion that we have seen it before or i think it was for me are not practical in

a different kind of way but the downscaled festival means only a few films will get global exposure and one of them is the beginning for mean. there's a religious drama by 1st time george and director they call them biggest feely 2 french comedies a japanese drama and several short movies will also be shown on the big screen in cannes and a festival known for premiering some of the greatest films of all time and soon just. and the as the headlines polls have opened in tanzania's presidential and parliamentary elections president john legere fairly is seeking a 2nd 5 year term his government has been accused of suppressing his critics and the opposition catherine so it has been following that election from the kenyan capital nairobi people who are voting to.