politics and economics preserve structural inequality keeping white a supreme black in its place the race for america part 20. 0. hello there i'm the star in this is the news hour live from our headquarters here and coming up in the next 60 minutes tens of thousands of protestors define a military crackdown across me are not demanding a return to civilian rule as the u.s. imposes sanctions on the crew leaders. the attack was done for donald trump at his instructions and to fulfill his wishes. donald trump had sent them there

democrats can clear their opening arguments and donald trump the senate impeachment trial the former president's defense team will now make its case. on pay brennan at $1.00 of the u.k.'s mass vaccination sentence on the day that data shows the economy here shrank by its biggest amount over in 2020. and a lunar new year like no other news in celebrations in parts of asia under the shadow of this corona virus pandemic. and i'm sort of the belated or just found a shutout of the australian open tennis tournament because of a number lockdown and the president of the take care of them picks is finally stepped down off the recent sexist comments. we begin. news in manama

a nation and turmoil after the military coup this month tens of thousands of protesters have been rallying against the gentle there for a 7th day in a row now they faced arrests and a growing military crackdown under tad though the protesters are continuing to demand the release of their deposed civilian leader aung sun suu kyi and also for the generals to give up power myanmar's new leader has meanwhile demonstrators to work with the offices if they want democracy the giunta is now releasing more than 23000 prisoners and a move that it says is consistent with establishing a new democratic state the military action against protesters has taken center stage at an emergency session of the u.n. human rights council and the u.s. is also responded with new sanctions euro group ports and photographic evidence that mean more security forces are used live ammunition lethal force against protesters this violates international detentions and intimidation or also on

not only our political leaders targets were community and civil society leaders as well. now joins us live from across the border and bangkok scott week of straight protests now you've seen the military crackdown in parts but is there a sense that there may be more violent confrontations coming. well we saw a little bit of violence today. in the eastern city of movie i mean we know that rubber bullets were used and there was a bit of a clash between riot police and the protesters we know that there were some arrests but there were 10000 tens of thousands of people who came out in this eastern city what's interesting in the been dealt developing over the last couple of hours talking to our contacts on the ground in gone they are saying that this is the big these are the biggest crowds they've seen yet you know this is the 7th day running of these mass gatherings mass rallies mass protests they're saying today is the biggest day so far and it's not just one location there are at least 4 locations

where protesters have been gathering throughout the day right in the center part near city hall near right in the center of yangon but then also in front of embassies and in front of the u.n. office is so there is really a very big big crowd gathering in yangon and it's not just there as well in the capital neighbor door and i was saying in the east people have been coming out and protesting so we're seeing this across myanmar we saw again just that little bit of crackdown today so far and this has really been you know the 1st since we saw a pretty big crackdown on tuesday and scott what about those prisoner releases who are saying today and this is a public holiday amnesty that season if any common and man on that given the political situation there is it taking on any further significant. well you when you look at it the timing is very curious obviously because you've got a government

a military overthrow just you know 10 days ago around 10 days ago so for them to be making decisions on who should be released and 20 more than 23000 of them obviously the timing is a little bit suspect some people are looking into it reading into it a little bit saying that this might be a message from the military government saying that they're freeing up space in some of the prisons freeing it up for possibly political detentions political prisoners to come in but what's interesting you need to know is that those about 250 people who've been detained since the coup took place on february 1st they've mostly been under house arrest mostly some might be in prisons but mostly under house arrest so that really wouldn't jive but clearly it's some kind of it's a message that they're sending that why they've done this the military government today as well as the fact that they you know they just a sense they took over the government so that is very curious timing and some people looking into it. there for us keeping an eye on the situation in myanmar

from bangkok thanks very much scott well we can now speak to our a challenge he is in brighton in the u.k. where he's also been keeping an eye on that human rights council meeting i mentioned earlier and laurie what are we expecting to come out of this about your session today if anything at all. well at least some sort of statement is going to be made later on no doubt hopefully a unified state but we have heard a succession of voices all espousing pretty much the same opinion in this special meeting so far today we have heard from our schieffer was the deputy high commissioner for human rights we've heard from thomas andrews i think you played a clip from him a little bit earlier on the show and we heard from the united kingdom we heard from the european union germany etc all of them saying that the crew as they put it in the in mar is being condemned in the strongest possible terms let us speak clear said not of the deputy high commissioner for human rights indiscriminate use of

lethal and sub lethal means against peaceful protesters is unacceptable she said that calling on the tatmadaw or the medium our military to leave control essentially and to offer itself up for significant reform bring itself under civilian control release all of the people who've been detained in over the last week or so and essentially retreats to to the barracks whether or not we get a strong position like that at the end of the session i think will depend not on countries like the u.k. denmark germany exposure or the european union it will depend perhaps on china and on russia as well which have the stronger ties with the military in making me and mark and i think will be less inclined to the as condemning as the european

states have these hopeful chalons they're keeping an eye on that meeting for us at the un human rights council thanks so much for a. while we can now speak to anybody and then chicago he's the director of the new lines institute this to teach strategy i'm sorry and. policy and also the author of the book the ranges inside man laws hidden genocide as in thank you for being with us these are being called the biggest generation demonstrations in a generation and as we were discussing earlier well now a weekend in your mind what do you think the generals are thinking now what's their strategy going forward. with the mystery of the general seem to be trying to do everything possible to make sure that these protests just for the vote they've turned off the internet facebook and is also rumors that they are bringing in significant equipment from change to create an internet fireball very similar to the one in chain are to ensure that there's a lack of communication between these protesters hence their ability to organize

and portis will be diminished dramatically but they don't seem to be debating whether that will actually translate into any change of behavior from the generals it's very difficult to see at this particular stage but you know they've obviously trying everything possible they have not to resort to food violence yet but there have been skirmishes with people with soldiers using live ammunition and it's very interesting to see because even the some of the police officers on the game seem to be quite sympathetic to the protesters we've seen but you footage of police actually joining some of the testers so there's a clear debate between even the police and the military here. there have also been concerns including at the united nations about how this could man mark could even further exacerbate problems for ethnic minorities including the ranger who you've written about what it means strategic for the military to crack down on them now.

yeah i think that is a very important concern because you know we have to understand that one of the reasons why the military had elections in the forced place was that they were very unpopular and one of the things that made the military much more popular in the public mind was to crack down on these ethnic minority groups particularly that when joe when the military undertook this campaign against it when joe pearce accuse you next and expelling them in 2017 from the country the military actually became very popular because they were seen as the defending be disabused against these muslims illegal muslims from bangladesh this actually increased the popularity of the military so this is a deep concern that the meters zot to those kinds of tactics again to shore up their popularity amongst the people as he mentioned china we did see china and russia both block any reaction at the u.n. security council and i see the chinese state news agency is even calling this crew just a cabinet reshuffle the chinese foreign minister was in myanmar just weeks before all of this happened is beijing then the ewing all of this as an opportunity for

more influence here. yeah i think he is we will never know what position b. . how much he actually knew before this coup or they do fully on board but it seems quite clear from everything we have seen so far that beijing is not too concerned about this coup but they are willing to work with the military will be one of the key beneficiaries from this coup and so it's very difficult we will never know the conversation that the military gentleman only had with the cheney's foreign minister but it's quite clear they think that the b. is not as not too concerned about the situation diluted the statement at the u.n. for example at the behest of train up and to not to not mention some of the generals in terms of. you know applying penalties to them. i think we have been doing stands on this well all this really puts the united states and iran the tricky position doesn't at 5 been slapped sanctions on military generals in their families but they've not had much impact before and washington also doesn't want to

push me on a even closer to beijing so what options does biden have or this is biden's force foreign policy in the options are not necessarily very good and as you said you know they've slapped the sanctions on myanmar they've trying to make the most target of this possible the frauds and 1000000000 dollars of the myanmar's government's money and the united states but i think the the military generals and myanmar must of calculated beforehand that if they have changed on their state of the beaching on their say that the fix of these sanctions can be diluted with cheney's investment and me and mar you know change as the biggest investor in myanmar. signal by far the investor huge amount to see american military me on my economic order door and assume u.s. sanctions will be very limited in their effect well so let me ask you then given what we've seen at the u.n. so far beyond a condemnation is any kind of international action or even

a resolution with some real teeth is any of that likely and would that even actually make any real difference. i think it's very highly unlikely that we're going to see any substantive action from the u.n. apart from platitudes you mentioned even the statement that was given by the deputy human nature chief. commended that sanctions would be targeted against individuals about the mass of people and also did not mention the generals or did not mention you know and did you generals are responsible and this is all at the behest of change in russia so i don't think you're going to see much action from the u.n. and that's certainly been calculated by the military generals as the ameba him there in chicago the director of the new lines institute for strategy and policy great to get your insights here on out is there thanks for being with us. all has plenty more ahead here on this news hour including we take a look at why some minority communities in the u.k. appear to be reluctant to take the kind of the 19 vaccine plus. i'm elizabeth

random and the indian himalayas with a rescue operation to find 35 men missing in a tunnel since it flooded on sunday is continuing the family members say they lost all hope. and in sports will tell you about the formula one driver who is recovering after being knocked off his bicycle. in the coming hours former u.s. president donald trump's lawyers will present his defense on charges of inciting an insurrection democratic impeachment managers are wrapped up their side of the case and sent out an impeachment trial has alan fischer on thursday's proceedings from capitol hill there was no dramatic video from the impeachment managers on thursday instead there was a warning donald trump had a history of political violence and if he wasn't convicted then there would inevitably be more the attack was done for donald trump at his instructions

and to fulfill his wishes. donald trump had sent them there we love it we love you grow you know you'll be happy what do you mean we're fighting for jobs. all of these people who have been arrested and charged they're being accountable held accountable for their actions their leader the man who incited them must be held accountable as well. so you. know you. don't know if we don't try the line here what's next what makes you think the nightmare with donald trump and his lawmaking and violent mobs is over. if we let him get away with it. and then it comes to your state capital or comes back here again is

there any political leader in this room who believes that if he is ever allowed by the senate to get back into the oval office donald trump would stop inciting violence to get his way. would you bet the lives of more police officers on the. i'm not afraid of donald trump running again in 4 years i'm afraid to say run again and lose. because he can do this again. the democratic impeachment managers quoted extensively from republicans who had blamed criticized and condemned donald trump for what happened here on capitol hill on january the 6th a clear message to the republican senators no sitting in judgment impeachment is not to punish but to prevent we are not here to tarnish donald trump we're here to prevent the seeds of hatred that he planted from bearing any more fruit many of the insurrection is the present trump incited to invade this chamber were

dangerous people on the f.b.i. watch list violent extremists. white supremacists. i challenge you all to think about it if you think this is not impeachable what is . what would be. president trump's lawyers endorse his breathtaking assertion that his conduct in inciting these events was totally appropriate. and the senate acquits donald trump than any president could incite and provoke insurrectionary violence against us again if you don't find this a high crime and misdemeanor today you have set a new terrible standard for presidential misconduct in the united states of america donald trump's defense team will no take about less than half the time allowed to present its defense convinced it has the votes to stop the conviction of donald

trump on the charge of high crimes and misdemeanors. well as trump's defense team prepares to make their arguments one of his lawyers dismissed everything that the democrats have presented so far i think they're making. they have an if anyway fight. i think it's offensive play frankly if this is the healing process. president happened on the game and then i think there's the american. the u.k. is economy has recorded its biggest annual contraction in more than 300 he is driven by the impact of the current virus and 10 percent and 2020 that's the largest decline among the g 7 countries and did however grow one percent at the end of the year which means that britain about had another recession well let's speak

now to paul brennan he's in london for us what we always knew that the economy was taking a very very hard hit but is this what us than expected. well it's certainly bad i mean the bank of england has been forecasting a recovery for next year but the office for national statistics data that has been released today certainly shows just how big a roller coaster ride it was during 2020 as the pandemic hits and those 3 lock downs that were experienced here in the u.k. took that toll the overall contraction in g.d.p. gross domestic product was 9.9 percent and as you say that's more than double the previous worst recorded annual statistic it did go up and down though in the 3rd quarter of 2020 the economy grew by 16 percent it grew by one percent in the 4th quarter as well but the overall impact of minus 9.9 percent just shows how

grim it was in that 1st part of the year when everything essentially was shut down the bank of england is as i say forecasting a some degree of recovery based on the power of vaccinations in 2021 but there's a lot of pressure given the economic impact of 2020 for the government here in the u.k. to start relaxing lockdowns politicians of the conservative side the ruling conservative side saying that when you look at just how bad the economy fares on the the restrictions imposed by the government then surely there has to be some other way apart from lockdowns in order to proceed and poland all this game there is some good news that maxine rolled out there does appear to be going many well does that suggest perhaps that lockdowns may then and help the economy get back on track.

it is increasing the pressure on the government to revise and review its decision on whether to maintain lockdowns whales for example one of the home nations has just announced today that it has now at least offered vaccines to all of the top 4 priority vulnerable groups that's basically everybody over 70 ending concluding people who work at care homes for example the vaccine rollout here in the u.k. is going particularly well for example in england alone 11 point $4000000.00 people have been vaccinated scotland $1000000.00 northern ireland and wales together some $1000000.00 in the overall is that roughly 20 percent of the u.k. population have now been vaccinated or at least had the 1st of 2 vaccine jabs now that's far in excess of other countries comparable countries here in europe but the government is going to make its decision on whether or not to relax lock down here until february the 22nd they say it's still far too early the data on infections is

far too high at the moment so despite the good news on vaccines despite the grim predictions on the economy the government is resisting the idea of releasing the current lockdown too soon paul brennan there in london for us outside a vaccination center thanks so much paul. despite how well that vaccine route is going in the u.k. there are concerns about why few at black and minority health care workers are getting the vaccine compared to their colleagues and some british hospitals only a quarter of black staff members have gotten the job and have back or reports now from london. there's something wrong with britain's vaccine rollout the country's way ahead of the rest of europe vaccine has to see could be rail government plans to give every adult in the country a dose by september. the hesitancy is down racial lines in a country where black women are 5 times more likely to die during pregnancy and

covert death rates for most ethnic minorities are higher compared to white people longstanding health inequalities say leading doctors have eroded confidence in the vaccine in a recent survey 72 percent of black respondents said they were unlikely to have the job despite being most at risk of dying from the disease and according to one study a 5th of all care home staff and many workers in the country's national health service the n.h.s. a choosing not to be vaccinated 1100000 people work in the n.h.s. they are are told our society and what happens in the wider social world is bound to be reflected within within the n.h.s. workforce now what we do not want is for news about misinformation to take the lives of individuals due to a potential lack of understanding or because. this is the hospital where the prime minister boris johnson was treated when he contracts in coronavirus the hospital

trust told us that overall 80 percent of staff have been vaccinated from surgeons to secretaries but only a quarter of black african black caribbean staff and even fewer staff and filipino backgrounds. a vaccine scandal that plagued the philippines for years has had a negative impact on uptake here developed by a french company during baxi it was proven to dramatically reduce severe dengue fever. but how to be relabeled after it was found it could cause more severe illness in children who have already have the disease even though none of the $30000.00 children in the clinical trial were affected and the vaccine still worked well the damage has been done effectively use of a whole range of proven treatments i look after international and the ones that. are coming are the younger generation the children that were given injection.

could be relatives of the nurses who we have now or people that they already know or you know and that scares them. a vaccine center in a birmingham mosque the government says it can't force people to have the job but what it can do is tackle some of the myths surrounding the vaccine including that it contains pork or could alter people's d.n.a. and that means reaching out to different communities reshaping that narrative to help people make the right decision the park out as 0 london. for more on this now let's speak to me a canon leads he is a doctor with the u.k.'s national health service and is also a senior lecturer at the lead school of medicine dr can we were hearing there from the of about a few different reasons but i want to get your perspective what do you think is driving this reluctance for some people from very specific communities to take the vaccine. really complicated so

a lot of the facts is a historical. people from minority ethnic and black backgrounds haven't had good experiences with health care with members of both or to figures and with the government you can. see in black will be you can see. in bangladeshi families it's a lot poorer when compared to their white counterparts and that's led to a mistrust of the health care system going forwards in the pandemic we've seen people from black and ethnic minority groups. higher numbers in the u.k. when compared to people from the minority backgrounds and actually when we saw after the lock down we saw numbers start to go up again they started to go work really in cities where there were high densities of people from black and minority and they were then delayed as well and they've had their religious holidays disrupted also been christmas was so it was locked down very very very very short

notice and say we did wali so there's a lot of mistrust and that is extended now to say to them actually you know it's safe to have this vaccine and it is safe to have the telling as well so far you haven't really supported us so why should we believe you now and there's a lot of work to be done to do all of this trust taking a bit of a step back my understanding is that this isn't just the case for ethnic minority health workers in the u.k. that broadly ethnic minorities around the wild is misinformation spreading within certain great. yes there's targeted misinformation going around on social media they know what kind of things will worry people from these kind of backgrounds and they are base and they're targeting it through different ways and it's really important to say on the show do not affect. men or women they do not contain any animal or human products if you're from

a muslim background they are they don't contain any beef products if you're behaving do so it's really really important the right message is get out and there's also been a lot of publicity around the new strains that we've seen imagine south africa and the e.u. and the u.k. as well have worry is about whether these vaccines will work for those strains also played into things i think that played into it not necessarily from the from the bain community but as a whole what we know is that the fall is a vaccine does appear to be a threat to the north the south african variant but in the u.k. the dominant strains are the original crew of virus variants and both the pfizer and the oxford astra zeneca vaccine are effective against them and there's no reason to believe that the small numbers of the south african variant that we have here in the u.k. will become the dominant strain we are working really hard to to kind of keep them contained and so take the vaccine that will protect you against the strains now if

any adjustments or boost of the lead against any new strains in the future we can offer you that but right now you are most likely to get sick from the original or the kent strain of the virus and that is what these vaccines will protect you against dr khan there are also now just so many vaccines being rolled out right around the wild has the opacity about how some of them were developed and potentially the lack of choice for people over which one they actually get has that impacted uptake particular in places like india for instance. yeah i think there's always a concern among people about how quickly these vaccines were developed but it's important to know the ones that have been approved by official health care bodies have been rigorously reviewed and the data is room but. we don't have a choice here in the u.k. when you come and get your back see it is the one that is on offer that the one that's in stock in whatever building it is and it's the same countries as well

whatever vaccine you are offered will offer you protection against whatever strain is dominant in your country so cleave don't let your having a choice about the vaccine or the choice of the vaccine itself. you must still go forward and get dr khan very briefly i do want to ask you many curious if the amount of vaccine skepticism that we're seeing is that actually affecting the speed of the rollout because presumably if one person doesn't want to take it it then goes to the next person and there more people who want vaccines than vaccines are available and then if people say others get vaccines without side effects might they then change their minds down the line yes that's likely to happen some other way giving out our surgery if people don't want it there's always someone who does not think it's going to waste and i'm hoping as more and more people say you know what i was fine after my vaccine either bit of a sore about a bit of a temperature for a day or 2 that's normal but i'm now protected against severe disease from this on

this they'll spread that message all of the people will come forward remember my symptoms after having me back the temperature sore arm is normal it's your immune system reacting well to the vaccine is not a reason to be put off dr american there with a u.k. national health service a doctor and courage in you all to go out and get the vaccine thanks very much for being with us. well still ahead here on al-jazeera. iraq is seeing a rise in domestic violence but rights groups say many women are unable to get the help that painting. support action from the strain open as one former champion flies into round 4. remains basically cold across

a good part of europe certainly into northern and central areas but i view the next couple of days you will see moldering pushing in from the atlantic it will turn to face the cloudy old town increasingly wet also turned increasingly a windy this area of high pressure is blocking things off at the moment but as we go on through the next couple of days we will see the cold we just couldn't squeeze down towards the southeast the moment london one celsius months 11 in moscow 14 degrees there in athens is because through the next couple of days just watch how those numbers change yellow color started to push their way into western parts of europe plus 11 there in london by monday minus 19 for moscow well down to single figures there for athens at that stage still plenty of snow around across those eastern areas but the stats was the southeast at last enjoy your attention race taking snow pushing across italy into the balkans some very heavy snowfall grassy pushing its way across greece over the great amounts in some parts could see

a meter of snow by the end of the weekend in that wintry weather pushing across both garia both western parts of squat but cold across central parts of europe there's that milder wet and windy weather to the northwest. from. the latest news as it breaks human rights groups are questioning why people are taken to this isolation senators and the treatment they receive one fare there with details coverage beyond groups now control the villages that we can see on the other side of the river people who live on this side they can hear gunfire when they're fighting from around the world months after that i will cain eruption they say their harvest are now back to normal. knowledge is there a world goes to morocco to meet find would be film directors doing whatever it takes to succeed the soldier or write the script and i'm often the cameraman the

podium near them the boom operator not the road to fame and fortune can be a rocky one juggling the demands of family life with their passion for filmmaking i'll become a great film director and my mother will be proud of filmmakers in charlotte a clone al-jazeera. hello again i missed. that remind you about top stories here this hour the u.n. human rights investigator for me on mass says there's growing evidence security forces have used live ammunition on protesters tens of thousands of demonstrators have been rallying against the military coup a 7th day. u.s.

democrats have finished presenting their case against donald trump in his 2nd impeachment trial they say there is overwhelming evidence that he incited the capitol hill riots last month. and the u.k. economy has recorded its a biggest annual contraction and more than 300 years driven largely by the impact of the coronavirus its g.d.p. shrank nearly 10 percent in 2020 that's the largest decline among the g 7 countries . and the families of $35.00 men thought to be still trapped inside a tunnel in the indian state of shock and say only a miracle can save their loved ones now rescuers have been moving mountains of sludge to try to reach the work men but they haven't been able to make much progress it's been 6 days now since a tunnel and much of the surrounding valley was flooded when part of a glassy there collapsed into a river at least $36.00 people have died and around $200.00 are still missing there's a promise at the site of the tunnel with assaulting. rescue work is continuing at

the top of on tunnel good digging machines being used to remove the sludge that filled the tunnel when it flooded on sunday i spoke to the engineer who built the tunnel and he said that rescuers trying to reach the right places but they're not making enough progress but the sludge is one of the most difficult substances to deal with it's not a liquid that you can drain and it's not solid enough to remove quickly rescuers also haven't been able to reach the last known location of the men the silt filtration tunnel that's about 30 meters below the entrance they said they were only able to drill about halfway before they hit on stable rocks and couldn't go any further meanwhile the family members of the men inside the tunnel are still here they've told us they've lost all hope and just want the bodies of their loved ones bodies of people swept away in the flood have been found more than a 100 kilometers downstream from where the flood hit such was the force of the

deluge now the government has said that natural disasters are beyond its control and that hold them shouldn't be built on driver banks but environmentalist say neither should the dams and hydroelectric power plants in fact after the last devastating flood in the dot com in 2013 to drown 6000 people a supreme court appointed committee said that dams and hydro power plants shouldn't be built above an elevation of 2000 meters above sea level members of that committee say that that's continued to happen including the she gonna dam which was completely washed away on sunday and the fate of 125 people who worked on the gun the power project is unknown. how domestic violence has been on the rise in most countries since the start of this pandemic rights groups in iraq say women there often have no choice but to remain with abusive partners because iraqi no restricts the help of support groups out of there are some manifolds and has been out with a community police unit in baghdad. for this your checklist. assadi from iraq's

community police is following up a case of domestic violence in the capital baghdad 'd. we're on our way to solder city to visit families that suffered from domestic violence do you copy. according to police there's been a 20 percent increase in domestic violence since the start of the coronavirus pandemic sutter city is one of baghdad's poorest neighborhoods and is said to be among the worst affected the has been married for 18 years she says her husband began beating her last year shot here and there are problems with the house when it rains it gets flooded we don't have an income the kids need to go to school and i cannot afford it whenever i talk to him about the issue he beats me and. the her call to the community police which is part of the ministry of interior to intervene . in autumn when it reached the point where they were going to divorce and the

family would break up intervene in any issue to unite the family to prevent the breakup of families which may lead to tribal conflicts. to solve the case the unit worked closely with local tribes the community police claims to have a 90 percent success rate and resolving the mess that abuse cases but critics say the unit reinforces conservative social norms prioritizing reconciliation over victims rights lawyer say many women drop cases against partners because of lack of money and social pressure but. the social values and customs consider is shameful for the woman to file a complaint against her husband or brother even if she did file a case as soon as her family hears about it she will drop it and victims often have nowhere to go anyway there is one government run shelter in baghdad but it only provides accommodation on

a judge's order. some women seeking urgent refuge turn to rights groups that run underground operations this woman and during her husband's abuse for more than 20 years. we have tribal rules if the woman left her husband's house or her parents' house she will be killed. the tipping point was when he began to sexually harass their daughters one night they crept out of their home and came to this shelter. on the law doesn't protect me maybe they will find my location i'm scared to sleep at night i'm afraid of the tripes. although these shelters offer a lifeline to women escaping abuse they have to operate in secret because they're illegal under iraqi law last year the government filed a lawsuit against the group that runs it accusing it of breaking up families just lost those are the cabinet demanded to dissolve the organization we managed 3

repeated sessions to get the law case dismissed by the government to pealed and now we are waiting to find a solution. the prime minister's office didn't respond to repeated requests for comment. at the mess that violence law that would legalize these shelters has been stalled in parliament for years amid widespread political opposition until such a law is passed rights groups say iraqi women will struggle to escape abuse at home simona fulton al jazeera but that. well the un has described the global increase in domestic abuse as a shadow pandemic alongside kovac 19 in lebanon for instance nearly 1500 cases were reported in the past year that's up from 747 the year before in japan more than $13000.00 women sought help just in april after rates of abuse increased in those early months of the pandemic across europe there's been

a 60 percent jump in calls to domestic violence hotline more than 44000 women in france asked for help just in the 1st 2 months of the lockdown last year in colombia the violence there against women rose by 94 percent between march and may a nearly 3 women were killed every day in september alone well let's now speak to a christian she's a program officer with the ban ki moon center for global citizens and she joins us now from vienna earlier this is clearly a global issue not confined to any country or region and we spoke a lot about this with the fast lock downs but now that countries are dealing with 2nd and 3rd wave that's obviously still a huge problem is it even worse now as the pandemic drags on. absolutely thank you so much for allowing us to speak today. the issue has increased to a maximum at the moment being the 2nd wave and the 3rd wave of hope it has had to their effect on violence against women worldwide we're not just talking about one

country but we're talking about a global issue and code it really has given us the moment and the momentum to reflect on our progress regarding violence against women worldwide convert before coded we've seen one in 3 women worldwide being affected by violence and looking at the at 50 percent being in lockdown at the moment of the world's population this is number is just it's normal to increase so it's just the fact is just really that the increase in coded cases has a direct effect on the numbers of violence against women cases with off to restrict the ability being a big issue here and of course financial insecurity as well i want to also fail because it's obviously difficult for women to seek help even at the best of times so how do they try to do that now you talk about mobility these women who are

trapped at home how can they reach out. yes exactly so a lot of the international organizations have done tremendous work in making sure that help is also available online so women are also encouraged to seek online help to see if there are any frontline services that they can connect with you in these difficult times and through the virtual way it's been apparent that this has been it's increased anyways but right now this is also a way of seeking help of being in contact with others who seek help as well and connect and to find the help that is needed well you mentioned the virtual wild this isn't this kind of abuse isn't just necessarily physical violence right there are issues also around violence in the cyber world too especially so many people are now spending so much time at home online can you explain a little for us. absolutely so we see an increase of the use of the internet from

50 percent to 70 percent increased and so this is just naturally accompanied by an increase in cyber violence and we have seen in many countries for example in india or indonesia where massaging this language has increased it's doubled week over week in the 1st months of lockdown in march last year so we've seen that to sticks have shown that cyber violence massaging this language which is basically a form of violence that can result in a cold violence as well have increased and we can see that. governmental efforts have to be put towards that issue because if it's not addressed it will not be used all legislation has to do with methods of coping with this issue you know we were talking earlier this news hour about the economic

impact of this pandemic and you alluded to that as well has that had an effect on domestic violence levels. yes absolutely so with increasing unemployment and her man chill in security women find themselves in isolation with their abusers they're trapped at home with no financial means to seek help with no financial means to save their family and get out of the household and find help seek help for mental health help as well so. the financial instability is that is directly linked to the issue of violence against women and preventing it if this financial stability is not secured then of course there aren't many our mission so also of the lives with the private sector to of course make sure that

these opportunities of employment opportunities are saved and that women are. huge amount of work still ahead of course yes exactly the question that a program officer with the band came in scent of a global citizens a great to get your thoughts here on al-jazeera thanks for being with us viola. on our countries across east asia marking the lunar new year this time it's the year of the ox normally it's a time for families to come together and to make travel plans but the pandemic is forcing many people to simply stay at home from abroad reports now from seoul. as the lunar new year gets underway chinese travelers have once again been on the move but in far fewer numbers in the city of wool hand where last year's new year exodus helped turn coded 19 into a global pandemic many people have stayed put. i feel happy last year we just stayed indoors and couldn't do anything this year we still need

to wear masks but it's much better but china's regional neighbors are being hurt by less international travel for thailand which relies heavily on tourism it's a further blow after a miserable year the same is true in japan where borders of virtually closed and for more distant destinations like australia's blue mountains facing a steep decline in a rivals from across asia. a year ago in south korea chinese visitors throng the capital seoul many of them buying up masks from pharmacies like this one with fears growing about a new virus spreading back home this year no crowds even the pharmacy has closed a detailed study by seoul city has shown just how much life has been transformed as visitors have stayed away and residents change the way they shop and work with around a 3rd less visitors to downtown areas this city like so many others moving away

from in person activities towards more of a remote online existence to what we imagine to be happening has now been proved through the data and it can help us make more responsive concrete policies in malaysia kuala lumpur's chinatown district is also suffering but traders here are working with an online retailer to help shift their stocks of traditional new year clothing the decor lingers on or any more nobody wants new clothes after the holiday but online. we're hoping to get at least subseries east asian neighbors marking the start of a lunar new year and adapting to a new reality rob mcbride al-jazeera so. well in taiwan the foul zones of people flock to temples to pray for luck and prosperity people are required to wear a mask and the government has also canceled some advance taiwan has been applauded

for its handling of this pandemic and hundreds of people also went to buddhist temples in china's capital despite the gates there being locked where shippers made incense and flowers outside beijing's lama temple before being led away by authorities the temple is closed to prevent the spread of covert 19 officials in beijing have been discouraging travel in the lead up to this holiday after the discovery of new cases. still ahead here on al-jazeera munich when the club wants help in cats that's coming up in sports but star.

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is now time for sports and sorry even more trouble for the tokyo olympic costs is true and top story on sports day because talk has him pick organizers say they will try to find a new president as soon as possible after sherry mori officially resigned on friday over his sexist comments amare had been facing backlash in japan and abroad often saying women talk too much and have a strong sense of rivalry some might say a major olympic sponsors also voiced concerns about murray's comments the controversy is the latest to hit the 20 top 20 summit games which were postponed for a year because the pandemic. if you choose not. in my inappropriate remarks caused turmoil i'm sincerely sorry for causing trouble for so many including organizing committees and everyone involved in the olympics as long as i remain in this position it causes trouble it would ruin everything we've built up until now and this cannot be allowed. fans have been shut out of the a story in open tennis tournament after the state of victoria announced another

coronavirus lockdown up to $30000.00 spectators were allowed in each day in melbourne but that's been scrapped because of an outbreak of the quarantine hotel a 5 day lockdown will stop residents leaving home except for work to shop for essential care giving and limited exercise action on the court will continue the play will continue the players will compete in a bubble form not dissimilar to what they've been doing right throughout the year in fact this was the 1st event they played in front of with in front of crowds and now for the next 5 days they will continue to play many could do to compete officials say the tennis matches can continue because the players are out of their workplace serena williams won a latest match to reach round 4 working very hard to beat russia's anastasia povo in straight sets this rally lost 20 shots but 39 year old serena showed great court coverage and eventually came out on top is aiming to tie the record for 24 grand

slam titles. and the 2019 champion. had a pretty easy day apart from this moment when a butterfly landed on her face but she didn't let it distract her too much and chris so straight sets win over cinesias on their next start she's up against god and more growth in the 1st heavyweight clash of the tournament. i'm moving on to the men's draw because 6 feet alexander's very is safely through to the 4th round after beating adrian there reno world number one novak djokovic is currently ahead in his match but 3rd seed dominic team is trailing against nick kyrgios. now by a mere one the cop world cup in cats odds of only the 2nd team in history to claim all 6 trophies available to them in a year german european champions the mexican side take this one name in the final

goal from benjamin was initially ruled out for offside but it was then awarded by the video assistant referee by and without striker thomas malone who tested positive for covert 19 and the victory means there are now one all trophies available to them inside 12 months. now this brings an end to the tournament in cattle which managed to successfully hold 7 games despite tight restrictions a sports correspondent and the riches that has more. well the complexities of hosting a major tournament in the midst of a pandemic laid bare at this club world cup final whereby munich confirmed just before kickoff that thomas muller striker had tested positive for coverage 19 and he wasn't able to play in the title decider a reminder of the sort of protocols all the players had to go through for bynes perspective they were tested 72 hours before their departure from germany retested on their arrival in doha tested again 6 days into their stay in cats on is that the

came back as positive for more in the lights of his positive test all the other players were retested just ahead of kickoff just ahead of the game on thursday and no further positive cases came back covered 19 also having a massive impact on the number of fans who were able to attend this tournament in stark contrast to the last time the country hosted the tournament in 2019 when there were thousands of fans coming in from all over the world especially brazil mexico and then the. this time around simply not being possible stayed in capacity kept at an absolute maximum of 30 percent with all the ticket holders having to go through covert checks before they attended the brazilian legend carr has been in the country for this tournament he said at least seeing some found in stadiums was a sign of hope for all those involved in the game not least the players he said you hate playing games behind closed doors world cup organizers saying their real hope is that by next november when the main event kicks off the stadium capacity will be back to 100 percent and fans can cite their rightful place inside venues i'm not at

home watching games on television. now as things stand the european championships last still set to take place in june and july across 12 european cities inspectors visited one of the venues in st petersburg in russia local officials are planning on a full capacity stadium but there are many factors which could stop that from happening we are not here you know to spoil anything so we would like to have a festival and everybody is happy and people need to be happy as well when they go back home but this is going to be a football 1st 2 and there's a lot of people who would like to join but in the end we will have to assess together with the local authorities as well in the international context we will very clearly assess you know what is what is feasible what is reasonable. and predictable that states it's for round up but for me i'll be back later thanks so much for that is also it for me and started for this news hour santa maria will be

in the chair in a moment with much much more of the day's news and i will then after that stay with us here on al-jazeera. as information on governments responses to covert 1000 across the world emerges so too as a deeply disturbing question. people in power investigates allegations of systemic discrimination against the pandemics disable victims and das has there been a shameful fame here to protect some of the world's most vulnerable citizens.

coverts disabled victims pop 2 on a jersey and up. the river narin flows through the coldest region of kyrgyzstan the temperatures here can drop to 20 degrees below 0 this time of year but the driving snow and bitter winter conditions on is enough to keep these men from working on the ice and in the freezing water because the river nile river contains gold fend for villages along the nile river have been panning for gold a nice area for centuries the best time of year to do it is the winter because the river is lower than your in the summer months these tiny little yellow flanks you can see why not look much they were around $50.00 a gram. a son. a father. the mutual love of the ox.

this stage is set to immortalize fading memories. in a magical race against time. witness our time machine. on a. tens of thousands of protesters defy the military crackdown across me in mar demanding a return to civilian rule while the u.s. imposes sanctions on the coup leaders. but again i'm come out santamaria here and with the world news from al-jazeera. the attack was done for donald trump at his instructions and to feel his wishes.