everyone. new hope for the fight against variants of covert diety with news of a vaccine that's nearly 90 percent effective in late stage trials. and pivotal this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. a fortnight of clashes the lebanese city of tripoli as anger rises over strict covert lockdown measures. a russian court rejects kremlin kremlin critic alexina valley's appeal against his detention. of the $1000000.00 means how one charity has

cashed in on this viral photo of the u.s. senator bernie sanders. it's $23.00 g.m.t. and we begin this news hour with the global effort to contain the corona virus pandemic as a positive development on vaccines a new job developed by nov axes proved to be 89 percent effective in late stage trials in the u.k. meanwhile german health officials have warned that the astra zeneca vaccine should only be used on people under 65 years old saying there isn't enough data on older people and the european commission has demanded belgian authorities inspect an astra zeneca plant in the country it said the delivery of millions of doses would be delayed portugal meanwhile has extended and nationwide lockdown and announced new limits on international travel and the highly infectious south african variant of the corona virus has reached the united states to infections were confirmed in

the state of south carolina donna kane is in berlin with more on the situation across europe. astra zeneca vaccine is not officially vailable for use in across the entire e.u. until it's approved by the e.u. now the approval process is supposed to happen tomorrow on friday but interestingly we have seen here in berlin that the scientific commission which advises the german government the german health ministry about vaccine approvals and that sort of thing is said that because of an insufficiency of data regarding the way that the vaccine operates in those over 65 that it believes that the vaccine should not be approved for those over $65.00 until more data has been collated and has been analyzed now interesting lee the federal health minister who in effect that commission reports to the end sram the federal health minister has said has played down this these suggestions that there's anything definitive there because of

course the decision might devolve to him anyway certainly in germany and he said well let's wait to see how things. are decided upon at the e.u. level which will happen on friday one final thought then we know that public health england which would be the regulator re body that would approve vaccine uptake in use in england anyway which has already approved the use of astra zeneca as vaccine has said that it understands this idea that there is not a great deal of data about the performance of the vaccine in the over 60 five's but that 1st analysis has been very reassuring brazil's president diables in audio has vowed to quickly vaccinate everyone in the country as his popularity falls amid to a new wave of coronavirus infections brazilians have been angered by the government's slow that scene rollout 220000 people in brazil have died after being affected also now it has been widely criticized for his handling of the pandemic is even said he won't take the vaccine himself marking an archive joins us now live

from rio de janeiro monica so real change of tune from the president on the vaccine front. yes or no on the one side he's saying that he's going to vaccinate brazilians fast on the other side he's he and he's changed his tune with china as well he has been attacking china and china is working with brazil to produce the corona vaccine here and as well as supplying the material for as presented to produce vaccines in brazil and the president had been tackling china all this time this is change because time was running out brazil was already lagging behind its neighbors to start inoculation so on one side he has changed the tone on the other side to get it so i'm giving mixed messages just today he was saying he was telling governors

and mayors that they should say twice about taking any restrictive measures lockdowns he says if they don't work and he says the economy should war walk hand in hand with life now these restrictive measures are being taken because of the 2nd wave and the 2nd wave has hit man now where a new strain of the virus has appeared which is more much more contagious so there are reasons for people to take a step back and and take protection measures is not in favor of them just give us the picture in terms of the virus in the country i mean we have reports of shortages of oxygen. yes that happened in my now as my announces the capital of the amazon a state it's the gateway to the amazon forest in brazil it's surrounded by rivers

it's very difficult to the logistics of getting there is difficult now that doesn't that's not an excuse for a lack of oxygen in the hospitals the hospitals didn't have room for patients because infections were growing and infections were growing also partly because of this new strain and my mouth you must remember was very hard hit by the pandemic at the very beginning that was the place where people were being mass graves and people wrongly believe that herd immunity had happened because a lot of the population had been infected and now they're being infected again and . not really to my apologies we seem to have lost monaco there with the connection my apologies for those technical difficulties that walls want to have in rio de janeiro with protests in lebanon has been growing his anger rises over lockdown measures and government corruption security

forces and been firing tear gas and water candidate hundreds of protesters gathered in the city of tripoli 2 people have been killed and hundreds injured and for days of unrest thousands joined the funeral procession for a man who was shot dead by security forces in the protests they chanted slogans against lebanon's ruling class and vowed to continue to demonstrate until their demands for reform a mess. and lebanon central bank governor and several other senior figures have been charged with negligence misuse of power the bank's false came under scrutiny to lebanon's financial system collapsed and $29.00 teams sent home to report sent us this update from tripoli. another night of protests another night of violence in lebanon 2nd largest city dozens of protesters have been injured over recent days 2 protesters killed the situation on the ground is estimated there

is a lot of anger people initially took to the streets to protest the coronavirus lockdown they said that the government is not the lighting the poor and the funder vote with the financial assistance in order to cope with the loss but now that lockdown exacerbated the deep economic crisis in the so she finally was already collapsing before that lockdown so most of these people are unemployed those who. were in the employ of sector which means they live day by day if they don't work today they can't feed their kids and this city has long been impoverished before the pandemic was 1st detected last year so a lot of anger in the streets they're saying that they're no they wanted new leadership in fact. in fact there has been a popular uprising in lebanon for more than a year now people have been holding protests in other cities as well on and off

they've largely fizzled out because 1st of all the response of the state of militarized states arrest the tensions heavy handed tactics to clamp down on protests movements so and of course you also have. the coronavirus spreading among the community it's not clear whether or not the situation can be contained in the days ahead but this is a country for over a year now there have been social unrest political turmoil and as the our economy collapse more and more people are are drowning in poverty the u.n. says 55 percent of the population are now poor and this is a small nation of 5000000 people one 3rd of the workforce employed so difficult a tense situation in this city a russian court has rejected own position seen of all these appeal to be released from jail

a wednesday police raided his offices on the homes of his relatives and associates of ali was arrested last week when he returned from germany where he was being treated for poisoning is accused of violating previous parole restrictions. with the latest arrests connected to russian opposition leader. this time told between those closest to him. police raided the apartment of his brother and detained his wife yulia at the atomic they rented not even allowing access to her lawyer. we say that a series of rights on members of the anti corruption foundation were launched on thursday it's a clear and prejudiced violation of the right of defense as a lawyer i consider that yulia has rights have been violated. i greeted the police with music as they came to her door to arrest. when alex

saying that only appeared in court through video conference from prison he told the judge he had been denied access to his own lawyer. i understand my rights i want to draw the attention of the court to the fight but since i've been to tell you and i've not had a single opportunity to meet with my lawyers in private not a single one night at the police station nor at the detention center i 0 since saturday when tens of thousands of people protested across russia in anti kremlin demonstrations more than 3000 people have been arrested. because. you have only who president vladimir putin badly was to blame it's becoming a concern for the russian leader especially since worsening the living standards in russia are doing little to come public anger this is an all out front against alex and of all the him and his supporters and and also people who came out in the streets to protest not just his detention but also to air just their their general

grievances with again about about corruption the like they've they have they really they have spared no effort to undermine and to undermine the law in washington president joe biden's new secretary of state made clear how the administration sees russia's treatment of the opposition leader we have a deep concern for mr involve the safety and and security and the larger point is that. his voice is the voice of many many many russians and it should be heard not i as russian authorities continue to take tough and measures against the opposition it is unlikely that will deter and of all these supporters for the kremlin is detractors any time soon so today i go al-jazeera. still ahead on al-jazeera the biden administration signals

a more assertive approach to the conflict in libya calling on turkish and russian forces to believe the. outrage in the u.s. is buckstone top court upholds the acquittal of a man convicted in the murder of an american journalists. there was say some lively weather across southeastern parts of the united states you can see this by the cloud here that brought the tornado of course more than parts of florida on this cold front things squatting down now the main weather action is further west we have another area of low pressure which has been pushing in across the pacific northwest across a good part of california and it has led to some disruptions some flooding widespread flooding here heavy rain and some snow said the snow over the high grab of the heavy rain moving down across the burn scars of the hills of california has

led to some mudslides and as you can see some disruption and the power outages as well and people evacuated from their homes this study is disturbed as we go on through the next couple of days actually more weather coming in across the good parts of california more snow there over the sierra nevada is pushing across a good part of the rockies where that city just pushing into the pacific northwest pushing across into that western side of canada but the central and eastern parts of the u.s. information passed of canada generally try it's going to be cold baiji temperatures struggling to get to highs of around minus 2 celsius crisp sunshine there for new york but notice that snow pushing of the rockies will turn very wet as it moves across the central plains. but. i really did bad things without being able to forgive somebody like me a convicted war criminal seeks out the survivors of

a prison camp to apologize for the crimes of his past i just can't get even better as showing for. the unforgiven a witness documentary on al-jazeera my old team ask a best fit outlet next. week . you're watching al-jazeera reminder of our top stories this hour germany's vaccine panel looks likely to recommend astra zeneca as jab only for people under 65 years old the committee says there isn't enough dot on health is on those who are older

european regulators are said to issue their decision on the vaccine on friday. the president job also not or has vowed to quickly vaccinate everybody in the country as his popularity falls brazilians are angry at the government slow that seem almost. protests and they have been on have been growing as ag amounts of the lockdown and government corruption security forces have been firing tear gas and water cannons at protesters in the city of tripoli. the u.n. secretary general and the security council are once again calling on all foreign forces and mercenaries to leave libya under a cease fire deal all fighters from outside the country were told to withdraw by the end of this month that is here to happen and diplomatic editor james bays has this report from the united nations in new york. it's now almost 10 years since the start of the uprising in libya it's been a decade of death and misery but the un's outgoing acting special representative stephanie williams told the security council there was no reason for hope at

ceasefire is in place a cease fire agreed in october it was holding despite this she said blatant foreign interference was continuing this was the 1st security council meeting on libya attended by a diplomat representing the boy in the administration and he demonstrated what appears to be a more forceful u.s. policy we call all external parties to include russia turkey and the u.a.e. . to respect libyan sovereignty and immediately cease all military intervention in libya a line echoed later when i asked the u.n. secretary general about libya can you please today give us your message to those countries that are still involved militarily in libya the libyans are doing their part it's essential that all the others that that involved in the libyan crisis will do their part it's essential that all foreign troops and all foreign mercenaries move 1st to benghazi and to tripoli and from there move back and leave

the libyans alone because the leaders have already proven that left alone that able to address their problems at the end of the meeting the security council agreed a position calling on all foreign fighters to leave libya russia in a statement to out 0 said that it has no military in the country although there be numerous reports that the wagner group a mercenary company has been operating in libya turkey has long said that its forces are in the country at the request of the legitimate government both those countries though now know there's a new policy from the u.s. government as does the united arab emirates which is already seen an arms deal worth $23000000000.00 blocked for now james out 0 at the united nations of course in the german city of frankfurt has sentenced the man who killed a prominent politician and 2019 to life in prison all 10 of care had spoken else in favor of accepting refugees and migrants he was

a member of chancellor angela merkel's christian democratic union party stefan ernst had to already admitted to killing him ahead of the court's verdict the cat was shot outside his home. the white house has expressed outrage after pakistan's top court acquitted the man previously convicted of killing american journalist daniel pearl oh u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken says his country is ready to prosecute him instead pakistan's supreme court has ordered the release of british born ahmed omar saeed sheikh said baik has more. after 18 years in prison almost side shakes acquittal has been confirmed pakistan's supreme court rejected an appeal by daniel pearl's family and the provincial government one of the country's high courts had acquitted last year but had remained in prison while appeals were lodged and heard before the supreme court however after years of denial has admitted in a handwritten letter to the court of playing

a minor role in the killing of the american journalist in pakistan although it's not clear what that involvement was 1st year chaired one true to his position for the last 15 years he'd make it there here do the rule he says here the minor role in the induction and murder of daniel pearl arundel because of his minor role he had to there to sentence be deduced and more importantly he also said their team knew. their to the real killers of daniel pearl world he named someone daniel pearl was abducted and beheaded in 2002 he was the south asia bureau chief for the wall street journal a graphic video of his beheading was sent to the u.s. consulate in karachi a month after his abduction pearl had been investigating links between the british man richard reid the shoe bomber and al qaida in pakistan at the time but stands president pervez musharraf had sided with the u.s.

against the taliban in afghanistan a move that was widely unpopular in the country. scheck's argument to the court was the death sentence handed down did not warrant his minor role in the kidnapping one appeal was fly the cortez mean police to accept their appeal and give him a clean and complete acquittal in 2011 a pearl project investigation at georgetown university said the reporter had been murdered by khalid shaikh mohammed being held at the u.s. military prison at guantanamo bay something officials also said khalid shaikh mohammed the man accused of masterminding the september 11th attacks had admitted to while in custody. daniel pearl's family called thursday's decision to release them or side share a travesty of justice and a danger to journalists everywhere and the people of pakistan i said big. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he doesn't expect thing your us

administration to effect normalized relations with the us that was brokered by the trumpet ministration in september as part of the so-called abraham accords the concern comes as the u.s. freezes on cells to the u.s. pending a review. i don't think so i think we have passed the point of no return i think everyone understands now after mohamed bin zire as the king of bahrain took this historic step so did king of morocco and so did the leaders of sudan now it is already in a different stage everyone understands there are huge advantages here it's peace in exchange for peace peace in exchange for prosperity peace in exchange for progress peace in exchange for technology peace in exchange for a future i do not see this happening and i think we need to move forward high false it is in wester islam explains the significance of the weapons agreements the sale of these jets was seen by many analysts as very much

a part of pressure by the united states really the way that they encouraged. states to move towards israel in this way some analysts are also talking about whether the new biden ministration might be able to use the prospects of future normalization deepening the existing ones as a way to try to influence the israeli government to. the concessions or some concessions at least towards the palestinians at least this to some extent this does show that there is some influence and they are united states by the fact that they have caused me michel. iraq's government says eisel leader in iraq has been killed to esol we is said to have been killed by iraqi forces and operation incur cooke last week a us who claimed responsibility for a twin suicide bombing that killed at least 32 people in a crowded baghdad market. apple's chief executive tim cook is criticizing social

media companies for spreading misinformation and polarizing society in a message to a privacy and data protection conference cook said many social media apps collect too much information and prioritize conspiracies for hire and gage meant he said disinform ation is rampant and is supported by algorithms what are the consequences of prioritizing conspiracy theories and violent incitement simply because of the high rates of being gage made what are the consequences of not just tolerating but rewarding content that undermines public trust in why saving docs and nations it is long past time to start pretending that this approach doesn't come with a cost. a polarization of last truss and yes of violence. u.s. president joe biden has signed an executive order allowing more americans to sign up for health insurance through the affordable care act the trump administration

had refused to reopen involvements despite a growing number of people needing insurance in the pandemic but biden's action won't reach all of those in the 800 to cast her reports. more than half of all americans depend on their employers to sponsor their health insurance but with millions now unemployed because of a pandemic more middle class families are now struggling with no income and no way to pay the doctor we lost our corporate health insurance and that during a global pandemic is really not where you want to be. hall was diagnosed with skin cancer 3 months before losing her job in august her work sponsored insurance covered her surgery but now she's uninsured and unable to pay for follow up appointments and just this week her husband was diagnosed with cove it all around me people are losing their lives or having learned term effects from coded and so as a. as a mom as a parent as a wife as

a citizen how can we have close to half a 1000000 people be gone and or not have the assistance to get the right health care 28000000 americans did not have some of the insurance before the pandemic now that number has grown by an estimated 5 to 10000000 biden's executive order will allow some of those people to buy government subsidized health insurance through the affordable care act of all times that we need to read steve access to you want to know you know the extent of access to medicaid is not this group of christians but the help won't reach all. those who need it in fact hall says the affordable care act plans are still too expensive for her family and they don't qualify for government programs intended for the poor they'll remain in the gap of the uninsured middle class every family should go to get family doctor whenever

they need to that should be a commitment to our society can make every family in this nation leaders in washington have pledged time and again to reform the health care system the for years they failed experts say with a pandemic raging the need for action is more clear than ever how do you know castro algis iraq vietnam is reporting its 1st all break of coronavirus cases in nearly 2 months 84 infections were recorded into northern provinces the largest one day total of new cases the country's same vietnam is so fast exceeded in keeping the pandemic at bay with official total of just 35 cases hundreds of journalists and activists in haiti of march through the capital port au prince to protest against for these brutality several journalists have been injured while covering recent clashes between protesters and police they also want justice for colleagues who've been killed some was shot while they were the portal

corruption allegations in the government. u.s. senator bernie sanders is raising millions of dollars for charity using a popular mean of him and his missions comes at a time when millions of americans are struggling to put food on the table and are chappelle has. the senator from vermont became the unlikeliest of fashion icons at the inauguration by wearing woolly mittens made from repurpose sweaters and recycled plastic bottles made by school teacher i was just trying to keep warm trying to pay attention to what was going on within hours the image of bernie sanders was everywhere repurposed into days of hilarious content on social media with the senator appearing in major films historical moments and even the al-jazeera newsroom. chairman sanders merchandize quickly sold out his political action committee has raised $1800000.00 for area charities including meals on wheels an organization that delivers food to senior citizens who live alone toby

king was inspired to make a doll of the senator it fetched 40000 dollars on e bay it's very inspiring like how it no matter your political views one of his main goals is to help people how can you not like somebody who wants to donate you meals on wheels you know money so he inspired me to do the same thing 50000000 americans including one in 4 children are food insecure demand on food pantries has spiked during the pandemic so any effort to feed the hungry certainly welcome at a time where help is needed more than ever and al-jazeera. tokyo olympic organizers say their main partners have raised no doubts or objections about hosting the games in july that includes the international olympic committee and the sporting federations involved in the games i.o.c. has insisted that hole in the games would not be irresponsible and that it's a question of how not if they will take place they are expected to release a playbook to explain how they plan to get thousands of athletes to compete safety

issues should be or should. have been after talking with everyone and asking them about their thoughts the i.o.c. president thomas back told us that no one from anywhere raise questions or objections and everyone wants to make you take your game to success. this is all just there and these the top stories the u.s. drug company know the facts says it's corona virus vaccine has shown to be more than 89 percent effective during the trial in the united kingdom the company is now expected to apply for regulatory review preliminary analysis also suggests the vaccine is effective against the new variant of covert 19 1st found to be. germany's vaccine panel looks likely to recommend astra zeneca.