african nations step up coronavirus vaccine rollouts the raw fear is the south african variant could derail efforts to control the pandemic. i'm sami's a than this is a live from doha also coming out. and protesters in me and face off with the police despite fears of a violent crackdown. facebook blocks are strangely in news feeds as it goes to war with the government which wants the tech giant to pay for content. the u.s.

congress holds wall street to task over their role in trying to curb the meteoric rise of means dogs. so let's begin with the corona virus pandemic and growing alarm about the spread of the contagious south african virus strain across the continent that as several countries begin their 1st vaccine rollouts zimbabwe is the latest using the sin of jab that china has distributed to several african countries the south african strain is now thought to be dominant there and on wednesday senegal received its 1st 200000 of the jap but the raw concerns about the chinese vaccines efficacies after a study found it produced a weak immune response against the mutation deaths across the african continent have now reached. a 100000 with the contagious variance and limited access to

vaccines there are real concerns that could get much higher. republican so. the vaccine rollout. will go on for about. the country health workers are being vaccinated most of the people work in public hospitals way they've complained for many years about the lack of. some of these nurses and doctors getting this vaccination to take them again kovac 19 in dania with the police soldiers and immigration to get vaccinated. and people with underlying conditions and in the range of the population will follow the government to that additional things $100000.00 vaccines from china those are expected to come into the country early in march they also talking to russia and india about buying more of that they also trying to get more that the country from

the fact that being coordinated by the world health organization and the global impact alliance to vaccinate 10000000 people about the population by the end of the year on tuesday the government that the variant that with. africa is now in people i'm now concerned are asking questions how effective is the fact going to be against that theory and some of them i think if you look at the chinese like the implied apartment other back on the market will produce you quickly they want to know what exactly that means and would it be any. well earlier we spoke to helen resupport fessor exists university and also a member of the strategic advisory group of experts on the covert 19 vaccine she says. this will be closely during the 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 are affected by that 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 world health organization 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 have i got some i just saw the back since that it's can my program do it have i got financing which is a 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 vaccine if isaac vaccine there are discussions around a number of the other vaccines as well and i think all around the world in the u.k. that these variants one of the characteristics of the u.k. originate variant of the south african originated very transmissible so they spread what 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 very 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 affected 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. what we call volatile region work is going to be pretty place so that 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 by the. new darter collected by israeli scientists shows that a person who is vaccinated has only a one in them 1000 chance of contracting co with 90 researchers say the pfizer vaccine is showing a 95 percent effectiveness in israel out of more than 600000 people who've already received the 2nd dose only about 600 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 have breached people's right to privacy and free movement but that was overruled by another court there were violent protests in january when the restrictions were imposed so far so has been following the latest

developments from amsterdam. well many expect that here to happen but the lawmakers have some very strong words about the government's a 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 that 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

was very quickly now being discussed in parliament there's a lot of criticism from 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 still also an appeal hearing on friday about this curfew 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 don't 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 pandemic. anti kook protests is refusing to back down this is a violent crackdown by the military thousands of people have joined demonstrations

for the 13th straight day calling for the release of deposed leader aung san suu kyi. over now. rickshaws in trucks join the 2nd day of a civil disobedience campaign with protesters blocking roads by pretending their vehicles have broken down this to stoke further disruption ahead of another day of rallies protests in yangon parked in the middle of streets again and then drove off a road off very slowly here. once we stop the operations our revolution will be successful this civil disobedience will have been just a way we can defeat the military to that's the way forward we are creating the traffic because we want to stop the government workers who are getting tax money from going to the office i want everyone to join us. in southern myanmar protesters gathered out front of complexes run by foreign companies involved with international gas pipelines in the gan area. they appealed to the companies to stop doing business with the new military government. and in mandalay they gathered in

front of a court house where hearings for 2 officials connected to unsung suchi is n o d party took place. as a joke to continues its campaign of harass people in the capital no put or called for the release of suchi and students who were detained here earlier in the week. we rode to the subways in front of every day for information about children but we get nothing we aren't even allowed to get close to the gate and the authorities keep denying that the detained children. the judge has also issued arrest warrants for several celebrities who've encouraged the strikes hundreds of people have been detained since the coup not only those politically connected to aung sang suu kyi it's got hardware al-jazeera. 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 the tech giants facebook and google pay for in

publishing and sharing news content charlotte 6 violence 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 it's 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 them to continue operating here but we've also made it clear that if you do business in australia you need to comply with the law of the industry many in the media agree giants must pay for the journalism they republish well because news organizations use whatever platform i can to share their content problem is that what this is meant is google and facebook now tiger woods share of advertising revenue which makes it very difficult for media companies to boil the journalists our members need to

use human rights watch also condemn the move saying facebook has cut off more than the media babble strains are the ones caught in the middle here because whilst this floor is saying that years companies there are a whole range of community organizations have been affected astray or 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. still ahead on al-jazeera a crisis of conscience say in georgia as the prime minister steps down in a dispute over the treatment of an opposition leader. and will be in kenya where there's been a dramatic rise in the number of ships abandoned along with their crews trapped on board.

will be the last the snow troubling not but for a short while at least these are snow showers but about some to get through to friday there are very few left the wind direction has changed more of a southerly and that brings quite a lot of warmth a big rise in temperature for shanghai for seoul and eventually for tokyo as well and that's going to carry on up into saturday where we wipe out the snow showers and replace with rain showers so the thought sets in in honshu seoul confirms that average is 5 where up to 30 or 40 to sustain sunday just cool down as the wind goes into northwest monday bernie and to left and we're still there for above average action the philippines see a named storm locally its code is wrong but ordering is what we're going to call it for international perspective and that's on its way through to the center for science probably later on in the weekend not quite make it typhoon strength in the

current forecast but the 1st of the season the 1st a year windy and wet and potentially of course quite damaging. there is a change in the weather in india showers are forming very few of them but they're all the same well that keeps the air quality quite good sadly it's not reached the north quite foggy but those calls it was. but. jump into the story there is a lot going on in this and julian global community when i don't have all the misinformation i think we are more afraid than we are and where be part of the debate don't ever take anybody's one word because there's always a difference when no topic is off the table we have been disconnected from our land we have been disconnected from who we are and would love to hear some new and be part of today's discussion this streamed on out is there a. welcome

back you're watching al-jazeera time to recap the headlines zimbabwe's the latest african country to begin corona virus 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 current a virus overnight curfew protests against lockdowns went on for several days after the restrictions were imposed in january and t.q. protesters in myanmar are refusing to back down despite fears of a violent crackdown by the military thousands of people have joined demonstrations

for a 13th straight day calling for the release of deposed leader aung san suu kyi. at least 30 people have died as freezing winter weather sweeps across the united states the historic storm has left millions without electricity and covered nearly a 3rd of the country in snow the arctic blast is slowing down the delivery of covert 19 vaccine supplies forced inoculation centers to close to a winter storm has hit middle eastern countries along the mediterranean disrupting traffic and halting covert 19 vaccinations in lebanon heavy snow for blanketed parts of the country covering areas it has not reached in years this has cut off a number of main mountain roads conditions are similar in syria and jordan

this was the scene in jerusalem which is being blanketed by its 1st heavy snowfall in 6 years coronavirus vaccinations have been delayed transporters being disrupted . a rescue operation is underway in central nigeria where gunmen have kidnapped a group of students the exact number of those taken by the gang is unknown but hundreds of missing it's been confirmed one student was shot and killed in the attack on the state run school in kogarah i did research reports from a booth. at the hospital in doc to some nurses treat wood to students and teachers and at the going to a 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 be 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. the border surrounding most parts of that area if you look at what is happening internationally and like in places like chart in cairo especially in sovereign cameroon this country's have not been able to hold the security military onslaught for too long this is the 2nd major school kid knapping in us many months. in december last year gunmen stormed a school and abducted hundreds of students in president behind his home state of kids and it. was 6 years before that in 2000 in protein in a case that made headlines around the world more than 270 goes last snatched from a school in your book at least 100 are still unaccounted for the armed group

claimed responsibility and for years after that enable a new state the group took more than 100 students from a school in dept. 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 officially a court branded the problem continues to grow on monday 18 personages were seized while travelling in a bus near your killer 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 in 2022 kidnappers and this in a country africa's largest economy where poverty is on the increase or decrease al-jazeera a quarter of georgia's opposition is calling for snap elections in the wake of the

prime minister's resignation. says he made the decision following a disagreement with his cabinet over the arrest of opposition leader nick emelia. has been critical of the arrest saying it will only field political tensions further melia is accused of organizing mass violence in and think government protests in 2019 absolute. my absolute unshakable position is that it's unacceptable to enforce a measure even a lawful one against one particular person 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 and 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 robin for a walk or 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 or not 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 had 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. members of

a crew have been living on a ship with no basic supplies for over a year in a force in kenya they were well wishers for food water and medicine the cargo ship was traveling from russia when it stopped the port it's been there ever since awaiting instructions from its lebanese owners visited the ship and spoke to those on board. it's moses' mooney's job to look after the crews of abandoned ships he took us to one the m.v.t. none that's more doc can use 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 so i will agree with. this is us in the eyes

of the world after the mission as. many as i want. 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 mean 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. farris a whiny 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 and. the mother has nobody feels what i feel i'm stuck here i wish the owner could feel what we feel if his children were here he

would know what we feel i have been away from my family for 3 years. they've 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 brought regularly by moses he says ship's owners try to push abandon cruise to their limit they want to talk to cause a crisis to the city they want to get tired and leave this you saw that they don't pay us some of the crew their wives left to them because let's ask to continue i want to live with modern celebrity. abandon cargoes can be a problem too. it was an abandoned ship cargo that caused the devastating explosion of lebanon's capital beirut last year the crew of the m.v.

jean 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 for nothing just no good but no sound like. sound like. their friends are working to get money we say our goodbyes and leave the crew waiting and hoping that whoever won the auction will pay up 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 al-jazeera mombasa kenya. the united states congress wants to know why. why online investors have been limited from purchasing games and other stocks in the midst of a market search lawmakers have called in experts to testify thursday also the on the expected rally on wall street challenge many assumptions about how the markets

work kristen salumi has more. you have to have some type of faith in the stock market i don't think all of it is just skill i think some of it is also maybe it's his daily ritual of lighting same age but lately pablo batista has been lucky he made $11000.00 selling game stop stop since losing his job as a cook working from his bronx apartment as a day trader was really paying off we are programmed voice we are programmed but then the platform he was musing started putting limits on trades i saw it like these guys are trying to stop me when i'm at my peak leading up to game stop i had already been making money making a lot of money. since 2019 the volume of trading by small time investors like him has grown from 10 to roughly 25 percent of the market they're credited with boosting game stop from under $20.00 to above 3 $100.00

a share outsmarting hedge funds who bet against the struggling retailer. without ever setting foot on wall street pablo and other so-called retail investors have been lexing their financial muscle with the help of technology and social media hitting institutional investors right where it hurts their bottom line. but even before game stop sounded the alarm the market was at record highs a trend experts say is unsustainable i don't think people really understand that especially the younger generation the big you know the stocks in the market is supposed to go up you know that's what they're supposed to do but no we're supposed to have corrections were supposed to consolidation we haven't seen any of that brought pierce is a former actor who's made millions investing and believes it's the hedge funds not individual investors who need to be restricted what we're seeing is the democratization of the financial system

a line is being drawn which side of the fence you stand on are you with the people or are you with a small group of institutions that are profiting from killing companies oh yes rip and sco boys as for pablo he knows investing comes with risks i think i'm kind of where i'm at right now because i took that risk risks he believes he and other individuals are entitled to take new highs 8 every week every week christine salumi al-jazeera new york. let's take you through some of the headlines here and al-jazeera now zimbabwe is the latest african country to begin coronavirus.