if you want to help save the world. sneeze into your own home. the u.s. launches an airstrike targeting iranian backed militia in syria the pentagon says it's in response to attacks on american personnel in iraq. hello again i'm watching al-jazeera live from the also coming up fears in brazil that a more contagious covert 19 strain is pushing the health system to the verge of collapse

as the death toll exceeds 250000. to speed up the blocks back scene rollout but one of the difficult weeks ahead. and the song calling for change in cuba that's gone viral and has the government's fighting back. the u.s. has launched an air strike in syria targeting structures that belong to iranian backed militia it's the these strike targets at the military base near. the pentagon says it's in response to the recent attacks against american personnel in iraq. we're confident and the target that we whatever we know we did. and we're confident that that target was being used by the same shia militia.

that conducted the strike. she had pretend she is following developments from washington. we understand joe biden authorized this on thursday morning the attack took place 23 g.m.t. and we understand that biden had been presented with several options and it's been reported that he picked the smallest targets of all the options presented to him by the pens again and we have and that and that was this this facility which the u.s. claims was used by quote iran backed militias on the border between syria and and iraq and we have this statement which is seems to be the key message that the u.s. is trying to get out that this proportionate military response was conducted together with diplomatic measures including consultations with coalition partners the operation sounds an unambiguous message president biden will act to protect american and coalition personnel at the same time we have acted in

a deliberate manner that aims to deescalate the overall situation in both eastern syria and iraq this message of deescalation this message of consultation as well we understand again there are ports that joe biden certainly mentioned the possibility that this might happen in a phone call with the iraqi prime minister earlier this week if perhaps significant would be asked strike which is proportionately about coalition attacks on coalition forces in iraq is in fact happening in syria u.s. president joe biden has spoken with the saudi arabian king king solomon by phone before the release of an american intelligence report on the murder of the saudi journalist jamal the 2 leaders discussed security in the region and to end the war in yemen mr biden highlighted washington's commitment to help defend itself against iranian backed rebels the declassified intelligence report is widely expected to implicate the saudi crown prince mohammed bin sell none in the killing of jamal khashoggi.

there are warnings that brazil's health system is on the verge of collapse the health minister says his country is facing a new stage of the corona virus pandemic with a mutated variant that is 3 times more contagious. says is threatening to overwhelm the health system brazil is the worst affected country in latin america and it's just reached a quarter of a 1000000 deaths monica logic here. from rio de janeiro. on friday it will be the anniversary of one year since the 1st case of cold did 19. or so and while the country has the 2nd largest death toll after the united states the people are very worried because hospitals are really filled up in many states in this moment and all over the country and my one state has on top of that which

back to vote on top of that flood and also in the break of day ingots so it is a complicated situation brazil has a large experience of max vaccination is in the past with it has of a very good system but this time with this virus what has happened is a lot of misinformation well you had the federal government the president downplaying the virus saying he would not say that the natives so there was there was you know there was a. a political infighting between the federal government and governors and state so there's a lot of. confusion and delays in starting this program and once it started in certain places it stopped because there wasn't enough there weren't enough back things like real suspended it's a vaccination for a while so this so far brazil has only vaccinated less than 4 percent of its population and that is

a problem that is going on so the private sector is saying allow was to buy vaccines and so and mayors and governors have told have asked the federal government to allow us to buy back these on our own and not just depend on the federal government buying for the whole country and distributing it. hong kong has started its coronavirus spanks the nation campaign to do the territory endorse the chinese made sign of seen before trial results were published despite the territory already receiving jobs from pfizer and astra zeneca residents can choose between the 3. take up roots of the chinese meat shot could be seen as mainland sentiments so clocks in hong kong with more on the facts a nation drive. well this is the 1st day of this mass vaccination rollout we've been at a couple of the community vaccination centers this morning and we now know that 70000 people have signed up the next 2 weeks to have. and that's fully booked but

1000000 as you mentioned 1000000 the sun about germs that doses there arrived last friday today is the 1st time the public has been given access that's friday that includes c. essential workers will be getting access the elderly as well as the cross transport workers across the border transport workers as well as teachers now the government is hoping to issue around $2500.00 per day and to vaccinate at least to 70 percent of hong kong's population which is about 7 and a half 1000000 people prevents nation talks will be made available to the government for $22.00 and a half 1000000 doses to try and not be like the entire population to sign in fact was the 1st one to be made available that's of course the chinese manufacturer the mainland based manufacturer it was fast tracked as was the pfizer one by the government in what was called an emergency response now the but the fine someone has actually been delayed we also have a masters in as in cuba which have no arrival date as yet but i should state that the hong kong rollout of these vaccinations has been quite delayed when you compare it to other developed cities across asia and we should note that the mainland got

access to their vaccination or their vaccine last july. well south korea is also launching its banks a nation campaign in what officials are calling the 1st step in returning to normal life the 1st of a series of astra zeneca vaccine being given to nursing home workers and patients at 200 locations on saturday tens of thousands of health care workers in corona virus treatment facilities will also start getting the job to a 3rd of the reaping commission says the e.u. is on track to fully vaccinate 70 percent of adults by the end of the summer despite condemnation of its slow roll. on the lion spoke during a summit where e.u. leaders put pressure on astra zeneca over delayed qubit 19 vaccine supply is the company says it will hopefully deliver 40000000 doses by the end of march but that's still less than half the amount it had promised european parliament president david says vaccines will prove central to the blocks long term recovery

it will be a more provided account of jane's we've supported a number of big businesses and we need to make sure that we deal with those contracts need to be respected and we need transparency when it comes to the vaccines that's how you instill trust in your population but we need to make sure that industries in all of our countries are in a position to supply all of the vaccines it's an urgent matter it's not a matter of money but will. leaders also discussed the need for vaccination certificates which could allow inoculates people to travel without restrictions you know months and voyage down here and she didn't. in germany we decided to develop such a national vaccine certificate the basic dato which such as a ticket must contain is defined by the european commission and member states the german health ministry issued a procurement procedure and the european commission made to about 3 months to create the required technical condition it's. more on the story dominic kane is in

berlin. brussels on thursday was the venue for 2 separate meetings both of which have a role to play in the way that the pandemic will be managed across the continent going forward on the one hand e.u. heads of government heads of state met in a digital conference to discuss the next steps 3 specific areas for top for discussion the 1st about how to speed up the production of the vaccine to get more vaccines into the arms of europeans living on the continent although they spoke about the need to close up bottlenecks and facilitate production but in go to much detail about it the 2nd area for discussion was about vaccine certificates how people who have had the vaccine may be able to go beyond the social distancing rules perhaps to travel in the near future a broad agreement about how to go forward but no precise details of when and how that would happen and then looking into the future you had

a meeting also in brussels at the same time at the european parliament there interviews with the heads of several of the vaccine manufacturers specifically with the c.e.o. of astra zeneca several different members of parliament but hostile questions to him about the way they perceive the treatment of the e.u. visa his vaccine was going compared to the way that it was happening in the united kingdom his answers did not please those members of parliament the fact they were asking the questions shows the level of envy or resentment there is among some people at the way the rollout of the vaccines are proceeding in the e.u. relative to the u.k. and other countries. still ahead on al-jazeera by found that diplomacy is about showing compassion we hear from the diplomat a mentor a new washington standing at the united nations. and another vaccine rolled out this timing guinea but it's not for coronavirus.

it's time for the perfect. sponsored point qatar airways how i once again i'm pleased to say the weather looks a little quieter across the middle east over the next couple of days but there is still some rain sleet and snow in the forecast little area of cloud here moving across iran over towards afghanistan some snow over the high ground but simply says the phrase sleet and snow into iran clear skies to come back in behind still quite a keen wind blowing across the gulf for a time but that should ease off as we go on through saturday temperatures here in doha around 22 degrees celsius not too far out further north baghdad at 22 but for the levant we're getting up into the high teens with plenty of sunshine plenty of sunshine to into somalia much of ethiopia fair we have got some rather lively

showers just moving towards the fall north of madagascar over the next day also so i certainly want to keep an eye on that wetter weather just stretches across the mozambique channel because see some lively storms just popping off across northern parts of mozambique as well some pretty wet weather to ensue zambia for a time zimbabwe and with a chance of seeing some very heavy rain as we go through the next couple of days that could lead to some localized flooding but some places afraid into central and eastern parts of south africa for a time but you can see come sunday the wettest weather will be course much of zimbabwe. sponsible qatar airways jump into the story there is a lot going on in this and julian and global community when i don't have all the misinformation i think we are more afraid than we are aware 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 from you in the to be part of today's discussion this streamed on out is there a. welcome back you're watching answers here a reminder of our top stories this half hour the u.s. has carried out an air strike in syria targeting structures that belong to rani and back fighters the pentagon says that's in response to recent attacks against american personnel in iraq. through fears that parts of brazil's health system are on the verge of collapse the health minister says the country is facing a new phase of the corona virus pandemic with the strain of the virus that's 3

times more contagious. hong kong has started its vaccination campaign residents were receiving the chinese made sign of a jab which was approved by the sudanese government before trial results were published. armenia's prime minister nicole passion young has fired his military chief after senior army officials called for his resignation he says the call amounts to an attempted coup thousands of rallied both for and against passing on in the capital now opponents of set up camp outside the parliament saying they won't leave until the prime minister steps down his burning smith. in the center of yerevan on thursday armenia's prime minister was defiant in the face of calls from the military for him to stand down made by mackey some people want to drag the army into unconstitutional processes this is an intended coup but the people will not allow a military coup in armenia an estimated $20000.00 people came out onto the streets

of the capital after nicol pushing in called for a show of support that beat the pack the army context part in political processes it must obey the people and the elected authorities machine ian has been under pressure to resign after his country lost last year's war with azerbaijan over the region of nagorno-karabakh. i'm not as much of a supporter of caution you know but i don't want to corrupt the dream to come back more than 3 and a half 1000 damini and soldiers were killed in the 6 week conflict a significant number for a country with a population of under 3000000 passion yon was forced to cede large swathes of territory around the going to karabakh that armenia controlled for almost 30 years since the end of the last war with azerbaijan. that prompted weeks of protests led by the opposition are not equal your passion ian came to power in 2018 and what was called the velvet revolution after an attempt by the previous leader to stay in

control beyond his term limit we are in effect a crisis i want to see i do means to take their course he said that chance now security. police to stand by their army and to demand to leave our prime minister without any. opposition representatives say they'll spend the night in yerevan central freedom square the prime minister it gives government have diminished popularity but the alternative the discredited political opposition has much less so or so in general there is little alternative to partially own or his government but this is unprecedented in terms of a military record what's not clear is whether the army is willing to use force to

back its call for the prime minister to step down clashing and says he'll announce a replacement for the head of the army in the coming days the crisis he says will be resolved constitutionally but it smith al-jazeera. is the 1st day on the job for the new u.s. diplomat to the united nations linda thomas greenfield has the task of repairing relations damaged during don't. trump's time in office or appointment has been widely welcomed and even russia's approval. james bays reports now from the un. arriving at united nations headquarters on the 1st day in her job and bastard her linda thomas greenfield 1st presented her diplomatic credentials to the u.n. secretary general antonio good terrorists. the 68 year old is a veteran u.s. diplomat forced to retire by the trumpet ministration after a 35 year career in the state department ending up as the u.s.

official in charge of african affairs throughout my time representing america all over the world i found that diplomacy is about showing compassion it's about managing points at differentiation and it's about bringing people together the united nations is the world's most important forum for bringing people and countries together and i take that seriously as a u.s. diplomat ambassador thomas greenfield is very different from her 2 previous sources donald trump's 2 ambassadors when nikki haley a leading political figure who previously served as the governor of south carolina and kelly craft whose family donated over $2000000.00 to the trump campaign and inauguration before she was rewarded with the ambassadorship to canada and then the u.n. even russia often an adversary to the u.s. on many issues in the security council seems pleased by the new appointment we

heard that. when the us. was always easier. trumps america 1st policy meant the us lost influence in international institutions just as china stepped up its engagement and assertiveness at the un. campaigners now hope the biden administration will bring a fresh focus on human rights what we really need is a u.s. ambassador who is going to call china out for example uses and actually take some action it's not good enough anymore to give soundbites to journalists saying that china must do better on human rights we actually need some action taken given the severity of the situation in areas like some jang but honestly even beyond that the new ambassador couldn't ask for a more high profile start every month the u.n. security council presidency goes to

a different country on the 1st of march it's the u.s. is turn and ambassador thomas greenfield will be chairing the council's proceedings jamesburg out his era at the united nations amnesty international says a massacre of civilians during last year's conflicts in ethiopia's tikrit region could amount to a crime against humanity a report from the human rights group says soldiers from eritrea systematically killed hundreds of people in the city of x. on in november ethiopian government says its human rights commission is investigating crimes during the conflict. opposition presidential candidates in somalia perspire and a protest over delayed elections after reaching a last minute deal with the government official supposed to investigate last week's protest when at least 5 people were killed by the security forces anger has been growing over a political deadlock that's delayed presidential and parliamentary polls the president mohamed up to like the mohammed's mandate expired on february 8th with no

agreement on a transition to a new government. guinea has launched an ebola vaccination campaign it is desperate to stop the spread of the virus which resurfaced this month for the 1st time since 2016 at least 5 people have died in the latest outbreak the gate and the reports. health workers that people against ebola in the town of a in southeast guinea and you outbreak was discovered near here almost 2 weeks ago this you trace year i am very proud to be vaccinated and it's a joy to me to see the population get vaccinated specially those on the frontline all my stuff it allows us to be safe protected from this disease because ebola is not a good thing 11000 vaccine doses and 200 health experts arrived in guinea's capital conakry on monday the government in the world health organization hope the vaccination campaign can stop the virus spreading by april i should remove workers

to help the fight against ebola we interrupt the train of transmission by targeting the 1st contacts of ebola patients and also the health workers on the front line who are exposed including those who apply the vaccines ebola causes severe fever and in the worst cases unstoppable bleeding in 2015 more than 11000 people died after the virus spread from guineas forest region to neighboring liberia and sierra leone the outbreak with contained after an experimental vaccine was distributed but not before health workers were attacked by people who did not believe in the virus the next scene is an extremely useful. break but it is not. under essential aspects. to happen as well and it always comes back to community. the w.h.o.

has wound 6 african countries to be on high alert for ebola including sierra leone and liberia the hope is this campaign will stop the virus from spreading any further and potentially save thousands of lives victoria gate and be al jazeera. the government in sri lanka has passed laws meaning people who died because of covert 19 can be buried not cremated under previous roles they had to be cremated which of course an outcry especially within the country's muslim minority some protested this week to demand an end to the force cremations. waves of trash have been washing up in the brazilian city of rio de janeiro leaving beaches choked with plastic bottles bags and toys it's also having a devastating impact on marine life manly. rio de janeiro's iconic copartner about a beach is well known for its white sands and pristine tropical coastline.

but these images certainly would be on holiday postcard just 20 kilometers along the coast in south conrado beach marine biologists ricardo gomez describes waves of rubbish lapping the beaches as a tsunami of trash if. this is a crime it's not just a crime against the city of rio de janeiro it's a crime against the population of rio de janeiro this evil that we do to the ocean is a global crime some of it is easy to recognize most of it points out is single use plastic the effect on marine life is evident that. there are $8000000.00 tonnes of plastic that reach the ocean each year suffocating marine life and threatening the existence of man on the planet. a similar wave of trash hit brazil's beaches in january the environmental group institute tomorrow bando says 80 percent of this was caused by heavy rain pushing rubbish into the city's

drainage system and then out directly to sea it's estimated around 325000 tons of plastic is thrown into the atlantic ocean from brazil every year this is a fact. marine life and beaches in about 100 syria degeneres date with president jay both scenarios poor record of environmental protection activists such as goma take it on themselves to spread awareness and call for individuals to drop plastic consumption the about somali al-jazeera. a song about hardships under communism has gone viral in cuba something that would have been on earth when fidel castro was in power some of the country's biggest music stars collaborated on the project using lyrics that are direct and provocative and this is proof times are changing his stories about. a song that talks about the need for change in

cuba. it's an anti-communist messages sung by a well known cuban in miami and have an act. where. it talks about the failures of the government and the hardships faced by the people of the caribbean island for the past 62 years. the song is called homeland and life he changes the old slogan of but they don't want to pay for homeland and death. a symbol offered el castor's 1957 leftist revolution people in atlanta i listening about also little brother more different than for us patrice has always had a very clear message now ancestors fought for our independence and it's always been a slogan that has characterized unrepresented us petrea veda also represents me

because it speaks of the reality that cubans ordinary cubans are going through political tension has been on the rise in cuba after a rapper from the sunny see their movement and opposition group was detained for insulting up police officer. since then artists from around the country have started to demand political reforms when it's part of a tennessee their movement and thankful for the support it's hard because i wonder if those huge artists were able to connect and chant for the people and tell us people here we can also get together and fight it's known that a song can touch the deeper sense ability of a beast we are so thankful they are people who come from cuba's reality and the fact that they put their talent and fame to help people here shows we can unite the island's economy has deteriorated in the past year and the lack of tourist because of covert 19 has forced the government to devalue the currency for the 1st time

since it came to power in 1959 the government blames crippling u.s. sanctions for the economic slump but it's even gone on national television to attack the song homeland and life accusing the artists of being envoys of the cia they're feeling that they're weak they're feely that they're not receiving this or that they always below around the 'd just in their actions you know the government the cuban government has always said that they are supported by by europe. but when you hear many people seeing it as sun. it will lead to go miss open the government right now. we have been more than very years under the same situations that idea doesn't exist anymore. doesn't exist anymore we don't have a leader we don't have an idea that people are even in the same situation i like

you said they did not go out they didn't have the same conditions. conditions that for now the government has been unable to improve so when itis expressed themselves politically that can motivate other cubans who until now have not dared speak up. and. updating your top stories here on al-jazeera the u.s. has carried out an air strike in syria targeting structures that belong to iranian backed fighters the pentagon says that's in response to recent attacks against u.s. personnel in iraq. with. the target that we were there but we know we're. here we're confident that that target was being you know sorry shia militia. that

conducted the strike. she had pretends he has more now from.