multi-nationals people in power investigates. the funniest on al-jazeera. be the hero the world needs right now. this is al jazeera. hello i'm sam is a than this is the news hour live from doha coming up in the next 60 minutes african nations step up coronavirus vaccine rollouts the raw fears the south african variant could derail efforts to control the pandemic.

and who protest is the miramar face off with the police despite fears of a violent crackdown. fears grow in nigeria about the fate of dozens of students a day after they were kidnapped by government. their way heavy handed and they would damage its reputation. australia's government blasts facebook blocking news sites in response to plans to make tech platforms pay for content. and i'm planning how much with all the sporting clearing serena williams bed for rapport the equaling a 24th grand slam title has ended the american was knocked out of the australian open by a world cup between now and the author. we begin with the corona virus pandemic and growing alarm about the spread of the

contagious south african virus strain across the continent that's as several countries begin their 1st vaccine rollouts zimbabwe is the latest using the sino farm jab that china has distributed to several african countries for the south african strain is now thought to be dominant there and wednesday selling all received its 1st $200000.00 of the jab but the raw concerns about the chinese vaccines efficacies after a study found it produced a weaker immune response against the mutation deaths across the african continent have now reached 100000 with the contagious variant term limited access to vaccines there are real concerns that figure could get much higher however tasso joins us from zimbabwe's capital harare and we know that the this phase of the vaccination program is voluntary isn't it in zimbabwe helping people have people

been responding to it. well the health minister was the 1st person to get vaccinated and that was the time encourage of many people as possible to get vaccinated there is a concern of course here by some people who are worried about how effective the vaccine is actually going to be on tuesday the government told them bobbie and that the very end that was 1st identified in south africa is now in zimbabwe so naturally questions are being asked the vaccine fina fund from china how effective is it against this variant so people are questions they want to know also what exactly is in these jobs you're concerned that they feel the chinese vaccine and other vaccines on the market were produced far too quickly they come here that tests weren't properly done and then of course he dealing with the usual conspiracy theories and misinformation of vaccines. that is circulating all over the world in

zimbabwe for example some people are concerned that vaccines could cause infertility and there are some that feel that the vaccine has been given to people in africa especially the ones that have been given for free for example being used to wipe out black people on the continent so all of the thing about playing out of the moment not just in zimbabwe but also in the race of africa as well now some other countries have also started receiving vaccine this study going to start rolling out their own vaccine programs but many african countries are very weak health systems for example in zimbabwe for example or elsewhere in the continent a lot of health care workers in public hospitals complain about a lack of p.p.s. no gloves no mas and some of them have been affected here in zimbabwe are saying that they feel at least a little more comfortable going back to the hospitals to work hoping that this vaccine could help to take them again catching kovac 19 but they have other issues to deal with as well i mean some hospitals on the continent are strained a lot of people are getting ill in some countries doctors saying they can manage

that can cause all those concerns on the back of everyone's minds and governments are scrambling to try and get as many vaccines as possible the issue not of course in many countries is cause they rely on donations from kind of like china for example on the kovacs facility was coordinated by the world health organization and the global vaccine alliance but of course the urgency is getting of many of those vaccine everywhere on to the continent as soon as possible. thanks so much earlier we spoke to helen razer professor a bit sooner versus the and also a member of the w.h.o. strategic advisory group of experts on the covert 19 vaccine she says designs seeing the sensitiveness will be closely monitored during their rollout. many of the countries where we've seen this very steep rise in the 2nd wave. that so far from the data that we've been able to gather are being now affected by the variant that originated in africa many neighboring countries. had

a very accelerated 2nd wave the good news is that in most of these countries now the numbers are coming down but while this was happening in groups in or on a strain on health systems because many of these countries have got very mannerable health systems and hospital systems there's been an enormous amount of work in preparation for the vaccine grown. by like the well tell us a shit and garvey behind the scenes what we've done is develop tools for the countries to be able to evaluate their readiness and it's not just that i got some i just saw the back since that it's can my program do it have i got financing what is the community perspective so it's a very comprehensive evaluation and the good news is that we're starting to see the vaccines being rolled out to cause that kind of access to the asters anika banks even if isaac backs in there are discussions around

a number of the other there as well and i think all around the world to the u.k. that these variants one of the characteristics of the u.k. originally variant of the south african originated very then were transmissible so they spread when usually so i think that worldwide we are going to see over the next few months that the variants probably in many places will not the same many that replaces the original will have strain that we saw. but having said that you know there's a lot of work behind the scenes looking at affective ness in the face of the variance and a lot of thinking a lot of lab work clinical work as well and a lot of. well we grew a little ranger work is going to be pretty place so we will monitor the effectiveness of vaccines as we roll it out including in the context of countries which have got significant numbers of cases cruel. now report found

the fires as covert 19 vaccine can protect people against new coronavirus variants including the one that submerged in south africa researchers at pfizer and the university of texas medical branch found that while fewer antibodies were created they were enough to neutralize the virus a team of modernity and the us national institute of health has published a study with similar findings for its vaccine new data collected by israeli scientists shows that a person who is vaccinated has only a one in 1000 chance of contracting covert 19 researchers say the pfizer vaccine is showing a 95 percent effectiveness in israel out of the more than 600000 people who've already received the 2nd dose only about $600.00 were infected dutch politicians are debating new legislation that could extend the current coronavirus

overnight curfew the lower house of parliament is expected to support the move it would then go to the senate on friday a judge ruled the restrictions had breached people's right to privacy and free movement but there was overruled by another court there were violent protests in january when the restrictions were imposed stassen joins us now live from amsterdam so step 1st of all does it look like parliament then is going to go for this extension. well many expect that here to happen but lawmakers have some very strong words about the government's big mistake as they call a day also call it a big mass where the country is landed in because the government has used this wrong legal basis for this curfew and as we know the curfew from the ferry start has been leading to political legal and also security dramas here in the

netherlands and has led to the largest riots in 40 years when the curfew was actually impose it's a 1st curfew since the 2nd world war sort of was a lot of resentment already so many took to the streets in the 1st few nights i was looting there was a lot of destruction fighting with the police and then this week the government got a real big blow because the court in the hague decided that the curfew wasn't legal at all so now they very quickly came up with this emergency law at the moment this is very quickly now being discussed in parliament there's a lot of criticism from the lawmakers of course especially. the far right is really profiting from this mistake but at the end many here expect at the end of the day also tomorrow when the 1st chamber the senate will look at it that there will be approved but there's still also an appeal hearing on friday about this circular

a few law so at the end maybe we still have a curfew but you can imagine this has led to a lot of confusion here in the netherlands do we have a curfew or do we have a curfew and also it's seen as an example of the very inconsistent policy the government has had since the beginning of the fund that makes which actually has led to this very strict measures one of the strictest in the whole of europe only in the last few months. thank you so much to. schools in argentina's capital have reopened after they were shot for more than a year due to the pandemic it's a welcome relief for some parents but a cause of concern for others special hygiene measures are in place and last numbers are limited daniel schwarm the reports from one the scientists. for many of these primary school children and their parents it seemed like this day would never come the school year of classes last the studying at home of not seeing

their friends their back cautiously carefully concerned that the put them up on all of the goal of this is that we've got all the necessary measures in place alcoholic child disinfected mouth sprays masks the moment says the idea is that everyone's relaxed to let them know they can send their children to school without being worried that we've got everything in place to look after them. not everyone however is likely to be convinced the covered 900 virus has killed 50000 people in argentina 2000000 have been infected or the vaccination program the still any reached a few 100000 would have made then it of course only as definitely in the next few days or when the old people's return to school there will be families who are concerned and that's fine but we all have to understand that we've got to learn to live with this virus. school attendance this year is obligatory and nationally one 3rd of people the returning 60 of the $180.00 who normally attend this primary

school the 1st day back at school after the long summer break is always an emotional sometimes traumatic time especially after the year we've just had for the children their parents and the teachers. well the son ian says they've lost the habit of coming to school and it's a routine that having to really learn. i understand they've done everything possible although it's still not 100 percent. a cure i'd rather we'd had our vaccines that things had been done differently maybe more gradually or with the classes more spaced out the way she says a year had seemed like much longer especially to her daughter lucy or you know that . i'd like to see all my friends because it's been a year since i last saw them i really want to see them. meanwhile the 1st batch of half

a 1000000 doses of the oxford astra zeneca vaccine manufactured in india has arrived in one osiris to bolster supplies of the russian sputnik vaccines are already being administered as argentina slowly tentatively struggles to return to the life you had before starting with the youngest. and the road to 01 of cyrus plenty more still to come on the news hour including a political crisis in georgia the prime minister steps down in a dispute over the arrest of an opposition leader. trapped on board after the owners abandon the ships we take a look at the plight of sailors left to fend for themselves. and in sports manchester city have taken a step closer to another english premier league title action coming up later in the show. brilliant.

in may in march thousands of demonstrators are back on the streets a day after some of the biggest rallies yet they're protesting for a 13th straight day calling for the release of the post leader aung san suu kyi the military has issued arrest warrants for 6 celebrities for encouraging the protests close to 500 people have been detained the united nations is warning of a possible violent crackdown after reports of soldiers being moved into yang gone scott hyla has more from bangkok. it's shaping up like we saw very similar to what we saw on wednesday and that's what this broken car campaign starting the day that's were hundreds of people if not thousands drive their cars onto the streets in central yangon pretend that they're broken down and just park right in the middle to slow things down and then today they also once they did get back in their cars they just drove slowly to further snarled the traffic in the middle of yangon

they're doing this they say because they want to prevent the government workers from getting to work they want this to be a very visual aspect of their civil disobedience campaign and they've been doing that very successfully the last 2 days in yes the largest city the commercial capital yangon but also across the country so that's kind of what they're they've been working on lately and this is what's interesting because once they do that like we saw wednesday in are seeing again today unfolding that thousands tens of thousands of protesters come again behind all that chaos if you will that congestion caused by that by that campaign song suchi she is still being detained she still under house arrest in the capital neighborhood or we heard that yesterday wednesday that her next hearing there are 2 charges that have been placed against her now that her next hearing actually her 1st hearing we haven't heard really seen anything any movement on either of these cases but yesterday the courts better

controlled by the joint and now said that the 1st hearing will be on march 1st so that's when we know we'll hopefully get some clarity on what's going to happen with her if she's going to remain in detention or the release or while these cases move forward but right now that's all we really know about her. rescue operation is underway in central nigeria where gunmen have kidnapped a group of students the exact number of those taken by the armed gangs is unknown but hundreds are missing it's been confirmed one student was shot and killed in the attack on the state run school in. reports from a booth. at the hospital in doctors and nurses treat wounded students and teachers and at the cricket our science college concerned parents gather for news elsewhere in town security has stepped up just as the state government ordered the closure of schools in those areas prone to tikes schools saying creasing really targeted as they offer an opportunity to take many students

hostage in nigeria this totally absent absence of look at government administration which has become very difficult for the locals to have anyone to run to another train yeah that there is also. a border surrounding most parts of that area if you look at what is happening internationally and like in places like chart in cairo in especially in southern cameron this countries have not been able to hold the security military onslaught for too long this is the 2nd marriages could keep happening in us many months. in december last year gunmen stormed a school and abducted hundreds of students in president behind his home state of cats and. for 6 years before that in 2040 in a case that made headlines around the world more than 270 goes last snatched from a school teacher book at least 100 are still unaccounted for the armed group

claimed responsibility. and 4 years after that in neighboring state the group took more than 100 students from a school in death to kidnapping for ransom is no big business in nigeria from the north down to the country south hundreds of nigerians are kidnapped every week for ransom and despite military offensives against what officials the accord bandits the problem continues to grow on monday 18 passengers were seized while traveling in a bus. not far from where the latest kidnapping took place 8 have since managed to secure their freedom although there are no official statistics it's estimated $20000000.00 was paid in ransom money and 2022 kidnappers and this in a country africa's largest economy while properties on the increase or decrease. which are. facebook has stopped users in australia from viewing or sharing

news on its platform the blackout is in response to a proposed law that would make tech giants facebook and google pay for the publishing and sharing news content explains. this trailer wants to regulate facebook in return it's got a news blackout facebook scrubbed its news feed wiping information from health pages government agencies welfare networks and weather warnings the government wants to bring in a law that forces facebook and google to pay media outlets when they re publish their content google has conceded signing deals with several media outlets but facebook has not facebook was wrong facebook sections were unnecessary fairway heavy handed and they will damage its reputation here in australia facebook announced the move on its blog saying astray leah misunderstands the relationship

between itself and publishes it says publishers willingly choose to post news on facebook to sell more subscriptions grow their audiences and increase advertising revenue it is to make generated more than $5000000000.00 free referrals to a straight line publishes with an estimated 315000000 dollars last year the government and facebook c.e.o. mark zuckerberg talked again on thursday the principle is very clear way going on facebook are important parts of the digital eco system in australia they're important part of the economy we've made it clear that we want to continue operating here but we've also made it clear that if you do business in australia you need to comply with a lot of the industry and many in the media agree arguing tech giants must pay for the journalism they republish well because news organizations you. can't. problem is what this is meant is google. now to the lion's share of advertising

revenue which makes it very difficult for media companies to boycott the journalists our members. really use human rights watch also condemn the move saying facebook has cut off more than the media by well strains of the once quote in the middle here because last this floor is same good news companies they are a whole range of community organizations have been affected history has given google and facebook 2 options strike deals with media companies or have fees sit for them but facebook has decided on a 3rd take away its news feed altogether shallop bellus al-jazeera rupert murdoch's news corp has struck a 3 year partnership with google to develop a shared platform to drive what it calls trusted journalism news corp so it would be sharing it stories in exchange for significant payments murdoch has long called

on google and other internet platforms to pay media companies for their output in syria more than 20 people have been killed in their camp thing i saw families syrian kurdish forces guarding and hold camp say the killings are eyesores way of intimidating people and attacking perceived enemies the campaign more than 62000 people the majority of them are women and children repatriation of foreigners been under way but was dramatically slowed because of the coronavirus pandemic but one couple are is the director of policy analysis of the arab center for research and policy studies he joins us by skype from there are good to have you with us so marwan why are we seeing an increase in killings a whole camp right now. well i think sammy the man reason has been haves is that an arson is going to. to have mitochondrial or that

can be are maybe intimidating people who are suspected of being or. may be trying to defect actually. with the kurdish forces who are actually point toward in or releasing the guy so that is mainly i mean this is what we think is that means he's in the hind decision that in these and weeks does it say anything about the plans and ability of eisel. well of course we have seen in the recent weeks a serious shift in. index dacs by ice and many are but also a city on last month there was a big bomb had that insight about. the green zone. in what was actually described by that act botanists that was the one causing it as a big big security breach also to see if you have seen that series in india at that against bought the cd and it is even forced and also. that is the f.

one i think that shows that i said. which the united states suspect that is still has something like 10000 fighters in both city and iraq or holding it up street between at close the borders between syria and that and about that. perhaps making a comeback but if you if you if you want to ask me about the gun of that hold. i think. that i see it is binding mainly the dual smuggling some of the families because i just said i mean these are mainly different bodies of isis fighters some of them actually are slightly going to start to smuggle their families from inside and inside that count which has. not only to be private security. by the goodish forces and that is perhaps also one of the reasons that shows why we had been seeing. it in the getting inside the com ok i know that

covert 98 has slowed down the repair tracing process but you know these people have been in this camp for much longer than a year. been there for many years of 880 percent of them are women and children why all those sorts of people sitting for a year is in a camp without being repatriated. as you mentioned sammy and the gun was established actually actually after the defeat of isaac is sitting in iraq in 20172000 did gene and this god was established to hold the families of those people as you as you said also we have something like 62 thousands. that is this that got it to percent of the not women and children and that he meaning it and thousands of mainly fighters they are flung. different countries on the one. most of the civilians women and children are syrians and iraq east but they are

also 10000 children and women they are from like 5057 counties on the world most of these countries especially libya and countries mainly france i'm talking here are sort of locked on to dig up i mean their citizens back home why didn't cause it don't want to actually and they don't want to have the ghost because because if you if you take them back home you have to look to have them not be before a court of law and in the court of law his day unlikely that you can't convict them and you are going to spend a lot of money also on plying them so this is why so many european countries are sort of like that big these are the good citizens about but on the other hand if you keep them in this can most probably you are having a breeding ground at that point that dilute the ground for isis fighters in the future because most of the people as we said that and these children often end up

to make it in a way that makes them wrong for sure extremists and out in the future so if you are wise some europeans are trying to avoid spending money on one prize for these people they are on the other hand. adding like an ticking bomb by by not finding a solution to this that this guy the situation is bad and in this gotten is very very bad in fact. so i think. i think must something must be done about it and they were going has been warning. mike. about the consequences the consequences of doing this. and with. having us that you should do it. all right thanks for your thoughts ma one couple on thank you. nato secretary general is dismissing the possibility of an early withdrawal from afghanistan as defense ministers gather for their 1st summit since the us

president took office stolzenberg says forces will only leave when security conditions allow the trumpet ministration brokered a deal with the taliban for a final withdraw i made the 1st nato has nearly 10000 soldiers in afghanistan they include 2500 americans training and assisting local forces already chance joins us now live from london so where are the ministers heading then. well i think all the signs are showing that the consensus view within nato is that this may the 1st deadline is just too soon to be pulling all of the troops out of afghanistan when donald trump inc to that deal with the taliban back in february of last year i think there was a distinct amount of unease within nato that this was. fergal

unilateral and 2nd of all just moving too fast to the whatever fragile gains nato might say being made in nato could easily be lost if there was an overly rapid pullout and that the taliban could then use that for their own advantage and take back territory that they might have lost over many many years of conflict so we've got comments from dan stoltenberg we've got the by the administration saying that they're looking into this peace deal and whether it should be adhered to we've got the head of the u.s. forces in afghanistan general scott miller saying that he's seeing an uptick in in taliban violence and that this isn't the right kind of setting for a proper pullout and you've got u.s. allies in nato like germany saying that the negotiations the peace negotiations haven't gone as far as they should have done and that they don't think that this is

the right framework for pulling out either so although we haven't had a decision yet it is looking in all likelihood is like that may the 1st deadline will come and go and they'll still be nato troops inside afghanistan. thanks so much roy chalons it's time for the weather now here's rob. there is just been a big dump of snow in the levant it snowed in jerusalem it snowed quite easily obviously in the golan heights up through lebanon in syria as well which is a picture in lebanon of what is described as the worst snow for 15 years clearly destructive but also fun if you are young enough that there must be a little bit more to come in the way of a few more snow showers blowing through rain is more likely true some slightly will work 7 day routes easily better at 13 but of course you go higher snow is more likely and that is things expanded is a big system the showers in the way through saturday will change the wind direction

in bahrain in doha in q 8 in the temperature drops by a good 10 degrees and that should normally wind will keep going so as doha is forecast 21 or 22 and windy after a few showers even thunderstorms on thursday night early friday and that's the picture for saturday just showers wandering around significant stuff in northern parts of iraq and eastern turkey and northern iraq this is not what is wanted in mozambique gone by is a now a named tropical cyclone is wandering around over the water during friday march even reach hurricane strength but then curiously it goes away into the water. still ahead on al-jazeera and i'll take last leaves millions without power in the u.s. state of texas. chaotic scenes as migrants and refugees try to enter how do they to be confronted by police.

acid attacks in india. leave many scars most of which cannot be seen. they also create a bond. borne of a sarod ordeal and stronger than the many obstacles their survivors will now face. black roses and red dresses parts of the viewfinder asia series on al-jazeera. one in 3 brazilian women is a victim of domestic abuse it seems every day a woman dies and it just becomes a statistic but some have broken away from the cycle of violence it's not easy to leave you have to ask for help and inspire others to turn their lives around i call the strong help program the dream program my life changed after the course it gave me opportunities for my business women make change on al-jazeera.

welcome back you're watching al-jazeera time to recap our headlines zimbabwe is the latest african country to begin coronavirus vaccinations the world health organization is increasingly concerned about the spread of the south african variant across the continent. dutch politicians are debating new legislation that could extend the current coronavirus overnight curfew protests against downs went on for several days after the restrictions were imposed in january. a rescue operation is underway in central nigeria government have kidnapped students

possibly several 100 it's been confirmed one was shot and killed in the attack on the state run school in kogarah. georgia's opposition is calling for snap elections in the wake of the prime minister's resignation ga ga hardier says he made the decision following a disagreement with his cabinet over the arrest of opposition leader. has been critical of the arrest saying it will only fuel political tensions further melia is accused of organizing mass violence in antigovernment protests in 2019 his supporters have rallied outside his party's headquarters. absolutely. my absolute unshakable position is that it's unacceptable to enforce a measure even a lawful one against one particular person and if that person poses a risk to the health and lives of our citizens or creates the possibility of

a political escalation in the country especially today when there is political tension in polarization in our country it creates a risk for the development of the state security and future i unfortunately could not come to a common opinion with my team on this issue i made a decision to resign this robot only. the fact that the prime minister has stepped down from his post the fact that he has practically and made it that today bloodshed and violence was planned against the free will of people who are gathered at the office of the national movement and he did not support that is to be respected but this will not help matters the only thing that can defuse the situation is a quick action that should be carried out we demand a meeting of united opposition with the participation of our partners and representatives of the government about only one issue snap elections robin frustrate walker is covering this for us from tbilisi. it's a pretty surprising move for for

a senior politician like the prime minister to resign over the fate of one of his let's say competitors one of his opponents but now that carrier has resigned it seems that there may be more even more hardline 3 people in the georgian government who want to see this issue resolved and who want to see this opposition leader nicam area arrested so we're expecting other members of of the cabinet to now get together and form a new cabinet and appoint a new prime minister and now will everyone will be waiting to see whether a lot this government is prepared to go ahead with its plan to see nick a melia arrested and that's a big concern i think for everybody who's been watching this because this country is already in a political crisis and it has been since elections in october that the opposition said were fraudulent they then decided to boycott parliament. and nick america was

among them and he was facing charges for having tried to rush parliament back in 2019 when there were big anti-government demonstrations it had its parliamentary immunity stripped and last week a court said that he could now be arrested unless he paid his bail the money that he has to pay to pay for a head of his trial. but this is being looked upon as a very dangerous escalation for georgian politics no opposition in parliament what looks like a one party state the opposition accusing the government of backsliding on democracy and the idea that the police might go in and take an arrest melia is going to be resisted by the opposition and so the potential for violence and the international community has been calling for both sides to step back from the brink and try to reach some kind of agreement around the to negotiation table. belorussian court has reportedly sentenced 2 journalists from a poland based t.v.

news channel to 2 years in prison they were detained in the ember and accused of filming anti-government protests international human rights organizations have condemned their detention jailed hong kong media tycoon jimmy lie has again been denied bail is accused of fraud and conspiring with foreign forces on the beijing's national security law why is the most high profile person among more than 100 people arrested under the new legislation the 73 year old will remain in custody until his trial is hurt. members of a crew have been living on a ship with no basic supplies for over a year in the ports in kenya they rely on well wishers for food water and medicine cargo ship was traveling from russia when it stopped port it's been there ever since instructions from its lebanese. visitors the ship spoke to those on board.

it's most is moonies job to look after the crews of abandoned ships he took us to one the m.v.t. non there's more dock an years coast one and a half years ago it on loaded a cargo of construction materials here at the port of mombasa and it's been in this channel ever since waiting for instructions from its lebanese owners that the syrian crew has never came the only way to meet them is by climbing on board. since they can't leave the ship. or the. this is us in the loss of the mission as. many are with. the ship's crew haven't been paid since months before it was abandoned the port city of mombassa is just there it's only about

a kilometer away so close but yet so far for the sailors stuck on board restrictions in immigration rules when they can't go on the land plus if they abandon the ship they risk losing the wages that they're owed in some cases up to 3 years and so they're confined within the decks of the ship which they say have come to feel like a prison. the ship's cook sailed with it to turkey romania and russia before getting stranded here he has a young child back home in syria in the. matter because nobody feels what i feel i'm stuck here i wish the owner could feel what we feel if you see. children were here he would know what we feel i have been away from my family for 3 years has. been confined in these cabins and they wait for a resolution and they're not alone around 6000 seafarers face the same problem on hundreds of ships abandoned by their owners the crew here has depended on food and

water from a charity called mission to seafarers regularly by moses he says ship's owners try to push abandon cruise to their limit they wanted to cause a crisis to the city they want to get tired and leave this year so that they don't pay us some of the crew their wives left to them because to continue i want to live with modern celebrity abandon cargoes can be a problem too. it was an abandoned ship cargo that caused a devastating explosion at lebanon's capital beirut last year. the crew region on hope their ordeal will soon be over a court in mombasa has ordered the ship to be sold at auction took place last week and used a poor nothings you. know which sound like. reading rooms are good compute money we say our goodbyes and leave the crew waiting and

hoping that whoever won the auction will pay homage and if that happens they'll soon be leaving too and finally flying home. to thousands more like them around the world still going nowhere malcolm webb out a 0 mombasa kenya. so how can sailors protect themselves from getting stuck on an abandoned ships or maritime organization suggests they should find out as much information as they can about the company in the vessel they'll be joining before they take the assignment if sailors are in danger of abandonment and if their shipowner does not respond they are advised to contact the insurance company under maritime labor laws ship owners must have insurance to assist seafarers if there are abandoned they also are expected to provide the name and contact details of the insurer frederick kenney is the director of legal affairs at the

international maritime organization is also the chair of the secretary general's seafarers crisis action team he joins us by skype from london good to have you with us so 1st of all can we clarify the situation are these people unable to leave the ships because of legal considerations because of covert restrictions or is it more a case of they don't want to leave the ships because they want to get their salaries 1st they want to risk losing years and months of salaries. well the problem of seafarer abandonment is a historical one it's been going on for many years and the causes are varied usually financial with the company they're just unable to pay their bills including the seafarers wages. and the seafarers don't want to leave in many cases without

their wages which is why the insurance regime went into effect in 2017 however what we've seen is with the insurance regime going into effect we saw we saw a big spike in abandonment cases the pandemic has and the travel restrictions have only added to that issue we've last year the imo in the international labor organization aiello saw nearly doubling of the abandonment cases reported we're on track for another record year and the pandemic has definitely contributed to that for a number of different reasons. why calling the the crew leave the ship then and to see to the end is legally for their salaries why they got to remain on the ships it seems from what some of them are saying they feel they both remain on the ships if they physically get off and they lose the money well it's it becomes

an issue of jurisdiction for them if if you have a seafarer that's and. an indian or filipino seafarer that's on a ship that's been abandoned in africa it becomes much more difficult for them to gain access to the courts now that there are possibilities for them to get legal assistance within the country that has jurisdiction over the ship but that can often be difficult and seafarers i think are wary of that they would rather have the money in hand. so how they likely to get the money in hand even if the ships is sold to the the new owners under some kind of obligation to pay them anything for pasta years of salaries well normally if the seafarers can can file a lien within the court system the new owners would be responsible for for extinguishing those liens prior to taking possession of the ship the international

transport workers federation. the imo and the ilo do work in individual cases to get that kind of resolution so that the say so that if it's a matter of filing a lien in a cold come come they do that from their homes they need to file that lien court while they're still physically on the ship. they don't necessarily have to do it but in many cases i think seafarers feel they'll lose the ability to assert that lien once they leave. interesting all right thank you so much for explaining the situation to us sure certainly. at least 30 people have died as freezing winter weather sweeps across the united states historic storm has left millions without electricity and covered the area 3rd of the country in snow the arctic blast is slowing down the delivery of covert 900 vaccine supply is in this force didn't kill ation centers close pipes in texas have burst

in the freezing temperatures water treatment plants have also stopped working 7000000 people have been told to boil their water more than a quarter of a 1000000 have no running water so the governor says it will be days before the situation improves most of the state will be below freezing tomorrow morning along i 10 in north were will remain in freezing through thursday night with ultra cold temperatures once again on thursday night we should across the state start getting above freezing on saturday. a caravan of migrants and refugees have clashed with police as they tried to enter poto peruvian officials say they don't have the resources to take the main. reports from lima. escaping the pandemic

desperate migrants forced their way across security lines on an international amazon bridge the group is mainly made up of haitians as well as africans some are pregnant or with children and are carrying what little they have but the border is closed and when state police and the military stop them and sent them back in the morning there were more than 300 they pushed the police and ran to the peruvian size but then the police partly pushed them back here with violence should not be allowed to happen. the caravan has been stranded on the border region of mother since friday they set up tents waiting for a chance to make their way north official say to haiti panama or the u.s. they just want to get to their lands looking for a better life here they lift waiting for days in the middle of the bridge in the rain small children get wit it's a desperate situation was. some among the most vulnerable were allowed to stay on

p 2 side some tested positive for corona virus there's only one doctor says the mayor and no infrastructure to take care of them and then. we have a dang epidemic no health services the clinic is a small tent the rains are difficult even for the police and soldiers it is very difficult to tend to them in this situation. u.n.h.c.r. officials say the migrants are fleeing strict lockdowns a lack of jobs and the virus raging in brazil and the solution for any government is not d.c. you know what i mean the people want to continue but the northern borders are closed and it's difficult to ask authorities to be flexible the health care in peru has absolutely collapsed if they get sick they. hospital beds and allowing them to continue is taking the problem from one place to the next. borders have been closed for months in january authorities say tanks to guard the poorest northern border to

stop the migrants from crossing from the. middle usually has an open arms policy for migrants now local authorities say the foreign ministries of maybe one brazil should find a quick solution because those migrants are already living in dire condition and there are so many more desperate the caravan is likely to grow. for now the mayor on both sides of the bridge and the catholic organization are given these migrants some food and water but despite the hurdles they're stationed on the bridge waiting for the next chance to get across. even. still ahead of al jazeera installed a massive match to mock the return of fans at their stray you know open all the details in just about.

all right it's time to catch up with all the sports news has sarah thank you very much assam who are now male sika has beaten serena williams to book a spot in the australian open final on a day that also saw novak djokovic take a step closer to a 9th men's title in melbourne sale matic has. serena williams taking on naomi osaka for a place in the australian open final a massive much to mark the return of found that the tournament following melbourne's 5 day lockdown. the 2 players have been in scintillating form of the event both losing just one set on route to the last 4. and

while it was serene of that started off better by breaking osaka serve in the opening game the japanese would come back strongly to take the 1st set $63.00. osaka won the pairs last meeting at a grand slam the now infamous 2018 us open final. she won the 2nd set 64 that day and did the same on this occasion another win for the 23 year old over last resort rival who she now holds a 3 in one record over. just really like nervous and scared i think in the beginning and then i sort of ease my way into it and for me i think the biggest thing is just oh i'm having fun and it's the 1st time in the crowd in a while. osaka will be up against the u.s. aids jennifer brady and the final a rematch from the last 4 of the 2020 u.s.

open brady came up short that day but has been impressive in melbourne beating kerry in a macabre in 3 sets to book her spot in the final i can feel my legs. no exit shaking i heard is raising. i. despite complaining of an abdominal injury throughout the tournament novak djokovic has now just one win away from a night melbourne title the serbian star who has not been training between matches because of his lateness the shoes made short work in his semi of the tournament surprise package. djokovic beating the unseated russian 636462 this is best as a shelter in the tire tournament timing felt great the world number one can expect a much tougher test in the final where he'll face either denny medvedev or

stephanos it's a path so well malik al-jazeera. eventis champions league title hopes or dented on wednesday as porter stunned them in the 1st leg of their last 16 tie goals from the editor our man most lead the portuguese side to their 1st ever victory over uva italian man did manage however to get a crucial away goal through thread 3 cookies the final score 21. and then the other mad to prove dortmund beat severe 32 in spain erling holland netted twice and he now has 10 champions league goals in just 7 games for the german side lots of. prisons the way he got the balls and work the team does proud of it's been tested that he scored but the way he played for the team is exactly what we need there's no one i wouldn't praise like that it was a great team effort and early on played his part in it manchester city have extended their lead to 10 points at the top of the english premier league they beat

everton 31 away on wednesday phil foden opened the scoring for pep guardiola side. so. to speak. in a playmaker he had my hairs and silver also got on the scoresheet city have now won a remarkable 17 straight games in all competitions highs they have also become the 1st thoughts like club in england to win the 1st 10 games in a calendar year. english premier league it chief executive richard moscow says he is hopeful that fans may return to see this season top flight games are currently being played behind closed doors due to the pandemic. we haven't lost hope that we might see a few back even this season depending on what happens in the direction of the numbers and government decisions that cetera but certainly next is not i hope it opens up quickly and that we can work with government again and with the rest or

with everybody and and and get fans back in the stadiums in real numbers and get back get back to a real premier league. and that's as well for me then you back to sammy thank you so much that said so for me i was a down for this news hour but what back to the love for show. hidden away in their rooms a 1000000 japanese shun the outside world 101 east investigates why so many young and old feel lost in japan on al-jazeera. ahmed no mood out of his parents' house after he got to me he says he found more space living in biscayne after a run of eating it last year it's now his home along with his wife daughter and health but there's really governments at the cables be constructed we've gotten permits and issues that the militia ordered last month our interview with cut short

as he hears that the israeli army has arrived in the village with the bulldozer residents face will just give them one minute to get home it took the found me months to build their brick house and just an hour to see it get demolished. the place song our world social model where intellectuals artists and park could just mean a town where ideas are sparked and history was made. for america to use my room to have brought out just 0 world tells the story of 4 iconic cafes and their role in the arab society as a product of creativity debate the 2nd secret soviet era country on a just 0. 11

. african nations step up coronavirus vaccine rollouts fear is the south african variant could derail efforts to control the pandemic. i'm sorry to say that this is al jazeera live from dell also coming out.

and protesters in me and face off with the police despite fears of a fall.