here on al-jazeera. if you want to help save the world. sneeze enduro. we face a human tragedy and the public health humanitarian and development images a year into the coronavirus pandemic some hope with vaccine development but still a long way to go were courting to the un. but i'm having my head in and this is out to 0 my from doha also coming up iran joins a growing with of countries that have hits the 1000000 mark of corona virus infections fears for reading the refugees who are being moved to an island that aids groups

say is dangerous. and people in indian administered kashmir accuse soldiers of wild scale abuse which the army denies. but we begin with the coronavirus pandemic now in a new phase with countries racing to approve vaccines but in some parts of the world picture is getting worse with cases on the rise as winter approaches since the start so of the pandemic there have been more than $64000000.00 confirmed cases nearly $1500000.00 deaths the united nations is currently holding a special session of the general assembly on coronavirus diplomatic editor james bays is at the u.n. in new york and james that session is still ongoing but we understand the secretary

general has addressed the meeting what did he have to say. well secretary general was the 1st to address the meeting one of only a couple of speakers who were actually in the room at the general assembly because of covert 19 most the leaders have submitted their speeches recorded speeches they're being played out from all of them for the secretary general he's normally very very diplomatic very careful with his language but this was a tough speech because he believes that the countries that are the richest that can help the most are not doing enough to help the poor countries on the earth deal with covert 19 extended lifesaving assistance to 6 the city of the most vulnerable companies so our global humanitarian response plan from the start we have called what a stimulus package was at least 10 percent of global g.d.p. and for depth relief for all countries that needed i welcome the steps that have

been taken to help developing countries but they are totally insufficient for the scale of this crisis many low and middle income developing countries need immediate support to avert the leak we use they are being forced to choose between providing basic services for their people or servicing their dams. and he's certainly calling out one group in the g 20 which met a couple of weeks ago for not doing enough on this special session we'll hear from world leaders there are about 50 presidents speaking about 40 prime ministers and numerous ministers will they be able to solve any of these problems no this is a meeting where they're airing their positions but they're not expecting to make any decisions at all james bays there at the united nations thank you james. well let's take a look at some of the countries were following right now as corona virus cases

continue to climb russia reported more than 28000 new infections on thursday ised increase yet its 2nd largest city isn't petersburg's the most restrictions around the new year holiday indonesia is seeing a record daily rise in cases reported more than 8300 on thursday alone it has the highest number of factions and deaths in southeast asia several officials have recently tested positive for corona virus hungary has just recorded 182 deaths 8 size daily death toll a partial lockdown there was introduced 3 weeks ago with a curfew in force in lebanon their health minister is warning there will not be enough hospital beds to cope with an increase in cases of countries already dealing with a major financial and economic crisis and is still struggling after the beirut courts explosion last august's and iran has no past 1000000 confirms

coronavirus cases over 1000 has killed nearly 50000 people there but the health minister says the actual number of deaths is probably much higher i said beggars in to her and he explains the discrepancy in the fatality rates. many people weren't tested and some people died before a covert test could be carried out now figures are coming down slowly slowly since the country introduced this partial lockdown so with the new infections daily new infections around 13000 down from 14000 in the daily death toll come down to mid 300 to what it was last month the highest there had ever seen over 400 now these new restrictions mean that non-essential businesses are closed that restaurants and cafes are serving takeaways only and private vehicles are banned from the roads from 9 pm till 4 am in the morning if they're found to be out on the streets they

face a financial penalty but also mosques and religious places have been closed and that's quite significant because iran is an islamic republic facemasks a compulsory both inside and outside in public spaces and government offices have either closed or working with minimum stuff now this partial lockdown is set to expire on friday night some places could be extended or some restrictions depending on what category they fall into now iran has blamed us sanctions for stopping them and restricting their fight against the pandemic also at the start of this pandemic around march this year iran wanted billions of dollars from the international monetary fund that was refused again iran blamed the united states in fact today foreign minister divides the reef has been speaking and he said the united states has reached an economic war against iran that's cost many lives and they were able to purchase medicines to deal with patients. the u.s.

is still the worst affected country by far and wednesday it reported its highest daily death toll since april according to see the johns hopkins university there were more than 2800 deaths recorded for the 1st time daily hospital admissions across the u.s. tops 100000 in a single day 200000 new infections were also reported the head of the u.s. centers for disease control warns that by february another 200000 people could die from the virus. so we're in that range potentially now of starting to see if jeanne 100 to 2000 to 2500 deaths a day. from this far so you know the mortality concerns are real. and i do think unfortunately before we see february we could be close to form

50000 americans have died from this virus. let's get more now from our of white house correspondent kimberly how it's kimberly this is another grim set of statistics really for the united states isn't it. yeah the public health experts in this country gravely concerned that the next 3 months could be among the most difficult in america's public health history and that's why they continue to tell people to social distance to limit their activities as much as possible given the fact that post the thanksgiving holiday there are fears that these numbers are only going to continue to climb and hospitals already feeling the strain will be overwhelmed now a lot of anxiety but also optimism with the vaccine on the horizon expected with emergency authorization in mid december but the white house admitting that by the end of the year there could only be about $40000000.00 doses available in

a country of 330000000 given the fact that you need 2 courses this is going to be in that very few americans are going to be an ocular rated in the 1st round it will go to 1st responders and frontline health care workers as well as those living in care homes that have really seen the bulk of deaths but there's also some skepticism as more and more americans are able to get vaccinated some not trusting the science that's why we know that the former presidents barack obama george w. bush as well as bill clinton say they will all when it's their turn to getting the vaccination on camera to reassure the public again will speaking of the virus the vaccine rather kimberly there have been reports that the supply chain for transportational front finds her vaccines been hacked were he tell us about this. yeah the department of homeland security the latest in addition to i.b.m. to warn those involved with what's known as the vaccine cold chain this would be

the suppliers this would be even the business executives to watch for spear phishing emails essentially what's happening is that these cyber spies are attacking these individuals trying to get them to give up their passwords and they are all people that are involved with the cold chain what is that well as you know many know the vaccine requires extremely cold temperatures for transport as well as storage and so it would be these individuals involved with that so this is certainly a concern and many people fearful it's a vulnerability so this is an alert that's being put out there what security experts are saying is that they believe this is a nation state has all the hallmarks of that given the fact that they seem to be the attackers acutely aware of how the cold chain works so some disturbing news even as americans are trying to overcome their anxieties about the vaccine in general. live from the white house chemically thank you

mexico is another country hoping to start immunize and people against the coronavirus this month when say the government needs to deal with us drug maker find sorts of by more than 34000000 doses over its vaccine though it hasn't yet decided who will be offered the facts seen 1st. facebook has announced it will start removing posts that have false claims about corona virus vaccines it says misinformation that poses a risk of imminent harm will be taken down the social media company will label and reduce distribution of other claims contradicting health experts and in support of warrants countries to prepare for organized crime networks targeting those coronavirus vaccine sits issued a high alert outlining potential criminal activity the force of education theft and the legal advertising of vaccines interpol says criminal organizations are planning

to infiltrate or distraught vaccine supply chains so as to come on al-jazeera yet another prominent support democracy voice faces time behind bars in hong kong and the mogul chim eloy is denied bail on all charges and it's exam time for say 3 and school students we'll tell you how they're managed to pool itself during the time of course but one thing. hello the weather looks pretty quiet across china over the next couple of dice little bits and pieces of cloud and right now also just sliding across the korean peninsula heading over towards japan so one or 2 showers here well too bad i think more dry weather than showers but the showers of that nevertheless and they'll

still be in play as we go on into saturday perhaps just hopping across the other mountains could catch a shower at say 13 celsius the top temperature you see how the day on shore breeze continues to feed those showers into the northern half of well it's the side of honshu pushing up into her car i drive behind for south korea north korea pushing across a good part of china generally settled and quiet here temperatures well down into single figures not too quiet across sri lankan southern india at the moment we do of course have a sox fan of brevity that's going to continue making its way a further west was weakened significantly winds of around 75 kilometers per hour still some very very heavy rainfall flash flooding mudslides a sunny possibility for sri lanka and the far south of india red warnings in force we've already same in the sense of $200.00 millimeters of rain across many parts here and i will concede to be the case as we go through the next day or 2 the west the weather will continue to make its way towards carola showers continue behind but will.

the american people have finally poking around here as i see it when america is off balance or because of more dangers the world is looking at i was feeling mixture of sadness and. with the election behind us the republican party dumptruck a few weeks to take on us politics and society at the bottom of the usa is always open for the people on the right of the world people pay attention to what is on here and i do see it is very good to bring the news to the world. the arrow on the on. my. this

is al jazeera a quick reminder of the top stories for you now multiple countries are racing to approve covert 1000 vaccines be more than 64000000 confirmed cases around the world nearly 1500000 deaths the u.n. secretary general is calling for a unified approach to tackling the virus iran's top 1000000 confirms coronavirus cases is the hardest hit country in the middle east with a 50000 people have died from the virus but officials say that number could be much higher. former hong kong politician and pro-democracy campaigner ted whey has announced he's seeking exile in the u.k. is facing multiple charges related to last year's anti-government protests that's as media tycoon and pro-democracy advocate jimmy lawyer has become the latest high profile figure to be taken into custody to be a good pal reports now from hong kong. a news room that's once again at the center

of the day's news as the apple daily goes to press the detention of the tabloids founder will be making the headlines on thursday jimmy lyon 2 of his media companies executives appeared in court to face charges of the illegal use of an office space in the paper's headquarters the court ruled that jimmy lie was a flight risk and denied bail he could remain behind bars until the next hearing in april the 73 year old is one of hong kong's most high profile democracy activists a businessman with a net worth of around a $1000000000.00 he has 6 cases against him mostly related to his support for anti-government protests with his close ties to the united states he has lobbied for support for hong kong's pro-democracy movement prompting beijing to label him a traitor in august lie was arrested for collusion with foreign forces a violation of the national security law which was imposed by beijing just

a month before around $200.00 police stormed his next digital media complex the raid on the apple daily news room live streamed across the city the apple daily as hong kong's biggest proto moccasin newspaper reported widely on last year's anti-government protests and despite coming under pressure it has continued to be critical of not only hong kong's government but also of beijing lies detention came just a day after 3 pro-democracy activist joshua long agnus chauhan ivan lamb started jail terms of 1310 and 7 months respectively. more than 10000 people have been arrested for protest related activities since last year demonstrations on the streets of loyalists. people are now keeping their cell very worried about these developments former legislative counselor ted hurry is the latest to go into exile on thursday while on

a business trip to denmark he faces 9 criminal charges including offenses related to last year's protests the apple daily newspaper has called it one of the saddest days in their 25 year history but sent out a statement of valuing to continue to monitor the government and keep up the fight for democracy even in the absence of their boss they've got talent our desire hong kong bangladesh has begun transferring hundreds of rangar refugees to the island of passion char which the u.n. wants is prone to psychosis and flooding at least 80 buses carrying around 2500 people left the camps and cox's bazar thursday and 1000000 rangar have been living in squalid camps in southeast bangladesh after fleeing violence in myanmar they're refusing to return there without guarantees for their safety and their rights to have your child has more from coke's is bizarre. why suddenly take 100000 people to

an isolated island which is 50 kilometer coast of bangladesh which is prone to cycle and tidal wave the government will say we spent 280000000 we'd build them back and there's clusters of villages cycling shelters hospitals although there are school missing which is one of the primary. reasons the rowing or equities are really concerned about because there's no formal education either in the camp or in that island now talking to a lot of their own ingle many of them said they're really not interested despite having all the infrastructure facilities the government said they'll be farming they'll be domesticated animals they could get the livestock farming they could go fishing and other stuff they said they feel comfortable here because they can visit camp to camp their extended families here close to their homeland we can see the several kilometers away behind me is me and my there's a sense of belonging here even the regional people here speak their dialogue they can communicate more or less in the same language so that sense of belonging

a psychological factor they don't want to be isolated far away in a coastal island which they don't know my thing about but the government is determined they're going to take place by space probably will take months to relocate these 100000 people in that island. the indian army has denied reports of reprisal attacks after the deaths of 2 of its soldiers in indian administered kashmir this week but residents of one area outside srinagar have told al-jazeera details about the attack they say was carried out by security forces under schapelle reports. days after an indian army patrol came under attack in 2 soldiers inside the vehicle were shot later died in hospital authorities are looking for those responsible no group has claimed responsibility for the shooting on the outskirts of srinagar in india and minister kashmir people here say they're living in fear special police and army soldiers have carried out raids in the past week and those who live here say they've become victims to reprisal attacks. on the

day of the attack the soldiers questioned us we told them we didn't know anything a day later around 1 30 am the soldiers write it down neighborhood all men were taken out of their homes and lined up in a neighborhood square we were beaten badly we were separated into 3 groups soldiers took turns beating us at least 5 soldiers beating a single person with iron rods battens whatever they could find we were even pushed on the ground and beaten west civilians why would we know anything about the attack is they were soldiers and they should know how to deal with civilians al jazeera has spoken to numerous people who say they've seen many beatings or have been attacked most have the bruises to prove it. some were tied to electric poles and beaten badly children were beaten in front of their parents sons were beaten in front of their fathers fathers were beaten in front of the sons or were ruthlessly beaten always screaming the women were crying and weren't allowed

to move closer they were abused to. some say whenever they hear the army coming they now flee their homes. an indian army spokesman has denied the allegations of beatings in this area a local official from india's governing b j p says such complaints are rare when would. you go incident i believe if such an incident happened we urge our high command and the local administration to launch an inquiry to make sure it doesn't happen again but i don't think that sentients that it happened as a disciplined force if it has happened there needs to be investigated and be guilty needs to be punished. that. services have been held to remember the 2 soldiers who were killed as soldiers and civilians alike remain on edge in this disputed milian region and al-jazeera. the 1st lawmakers from libya's rival administrations have arrived for their 1st joint

session in 6 years more than 1000 members of the tobruk based house of representatives are in the city of adonis will be joined by those from the internationally recognized governments in tripoli meeting on monday when the highly anticipated debate follows talks in morocco with my bills agrees on a framework to end the years lol sufficient. gun ions will be able to vote for a woman to help run the country for the 1st time on monday night argument as the 1st woman on the ticket as vice president says she's running alongside former presidents john mahama hoping to defeats incumbent president. and struggling to control a flak economy hit hard by a pandemic. so of course in the central african republic has rejected the candidacy a former president also a busy say he had plans to run against the current president in elections at the

end of this month life nicholas hart who joins us from the senegalese capital dakar neck why has busies a been ruled ineligible to run. well the constitutional court says he's in breach of article one o 3 of the constitution which says that for a candidate to run for this election it needs a candidate need to have good morals a clean criminal record and been in the country in the last year of course because it has been in exile since the 2013 crisis in his country been in he just arrived 3 weeks ago to take part in this election he's under u.n. sanction the u.n. security council believes that he provided support for the undermine peace and stability that's during the 2013 crisis where remember he started this militia group the christian militia group of the who fermented ethnic and religious

tensions in the country which resulted in millions of people being displaced and still displaced many of whom who will not be able to take part in this election as well as that there is an international arrest warrant against him launched by the government in benghazi they want him for acts of torture killings and funding unrest in the country so there's a long list of reasons of why the constitutional court didn't want to see him in the race but of course this is very convenient for the incumbent president president who sees. a clear a path towards a 2nd mandate in this election that will take place later on this month and this comes at a difficult time for the country the cia has been in crisis for years half the population of allies on humanitarian aid to rival armed groups could troll most of the territory what kind of implications could this decision have on a country that's arguably already in crisis. well there's.

really no on the head here because the government. has little control over the country a little control of what's happening outside of the capital and frankly it's been relying on the help of the russians who have been playing a key role in the country in the last 2 years with russian mercenaries or contracted soldiers in the country training the central african we've forces in order to regain control of the country's borders and that's to the displeasure of the french the central african republic is a former french colony france had. a role in the stability or at least in in the who was at the head of this country and they see their influence waning so there is a geopolitical game here at play in this election in the central african republic on the one side you have the french in the west and on the other side you have the

russians and is is on the sides of the russians of course with this latest announcement that fosse what was it will not take part in this election there's a real fear that there could be and there could be violence and we've sense that already in that campaign especially outside the country where we've seen tensions between the armed groups despite this peace agreement that was signed 2 years ago so there's a real fear of what is going to lie ahead in fact president. had even thought about delaying the elections itself saying that because of the pandemic it would be very difficult to hold such elections now we're waiting for fall so it was easy to react to this news that he's no longer illegible to take part in this election he was out campaigning outside the capital many of his supporters are now outside his party headquarters waiting to hear what he has to say and what next step to take forward hala. live from dakar senegal thank you. it's

a career nearly half a 1000000 school students are setting their national college entrance exam and they're doing that sure in a recent spike in coronavirus cases well as rob mcbride reports now from saw the annual events looks a little different this year. it's the most important day in the academic calendar and it's being held under tough coded 19 restrictions as south korea fights through a 3rd wave of the pandemic. it's in stark contrast to what is traditionally a celebration that brings everyone together in a society obsessed with academic achievement. younger pupils and family members normally throng the schools as the students arrive for the exam. police provide escorts for those running late and even flight departure times are ringback adjusted so planes don't disturb exam takers. this year all students are

carefully checked while distancing measures are being strictly observed for examinees and invigilators alike. special evening classes known as cram schools which are normally busy preparing students ahead of the exam have mostly suspended operations as part of the government's efforts to ensure safety. i think i urge all people including examinees to follow the prevention rules in your daily lives what hasn't changed is just how important this day is in the lives of students and their families this exam will determine which college they get into and so influence their career paths afterwards it doesn't get much bigger temples across south korea families have been praying for exams success but also probably for their children to stay safe special arrangements have been made for infected

students to take the exam in hospital and south korea's president has being seeing for himself special centers set up for students who are self isolating on. that i had various concerns but today looking at the preparations i am somewhat relieved to be however the cove in 1902 ation is now worse than when we 1st planned for this day. already under incredible exam pressure students this year have the added concerns of the pandemic to stress over rob mcbride al-jazeera seoul. this is al-jazeera these are the headlines multiple countries are racing to approve covert 1000 vaccines as the pandemic worsens in several places countries from the u.s. to russia and iran are seeing war in rises.