similarities of cultures across the world around. cinematic. al-jazeera. and current affairs that matter. how does the. more than a week after school boys were taken from a school in nigeria gunmen kidnapped 300 girls in the northwest of the country. a lot of adrian forget this is al jazeera live from go also coming up the u.s. launches and strikes targeting a radiant backed militias in syria the defense department says it's in response to attacks on american personnel. brazil's hospitals are pushed back towards crisis

levels by what the government describes as an extra contagious variant of covert 90 . 5 well the. media's prime minister holds a rally of a growing calls for him to resign over how he ended the conflict with azerbaijan. we begin though with breaking news out of northwestern nigeria where more than 300 schoolgirls have been kidnapped it happened in some forest states gunmen arrived at night shooting sporadically and took the girls away into the bush let's go live to a minute in central nigeria al-jazeera address is the other tell us what more we know about what happened. well. the report from locals that we've spoken to this morning said the gunmen are. arrived shortly after

midnight and operated for hours in this small girls' schools in january in some far state this is one of the trades that is continuously being attacked by these gunmen abductions for runs them as well as raiding of villages looting and urson this is practically one of the major things that northern areas of people in the north of the country are facing on a daily basis in nigeria and that problem has actually spread to other parts of the country central nigeria why am now dozens of students have been abducted at 10 days after the abduction parents are still waiting for the news of their loved ones now in terms of them for a state i spoke to a senior police officer shortly before coming on ash and he confirmed that right now they're driving into the bushes to see what they can do to save these schoolchildren however it's difficult to say whether they have enough resources to

deal with the situation the army is stretched the police is stretched and the bandits are getting bolder every day and capturing more territory in and govern spaces across nigeria in many of these places we talking about that is little or no government presence at all so the bandits set the rules they set punishment they determine who goes to farm and who doesn't go to bomb they raid villages at will and this has been going on for a very long time the nigerian government seems to be at a loss of about how to deal with this situation and then all of this of the country despite the bottom crisis. kidnapping for ransom is still going on on a very very large scale even yesterday on the road to my degree there was an attempt by the book what i'm function functional group loyal to a biblical trying to abduct. we seem to have lost our signal that central nigeria that was on that address reporting live there will come

back to that a little bit later in the meantime let's move on the u.s. has launched airstrikes in syria targeting facilities used by iranian backed militias the main target was the military base near book amal close to syria's border with iraq the pentagon says that it was in response to recent attacks against american personnel in iraq. with. the target that we were there we know we. were property that that target was being you. know sorry shia militia. that conducted destroy. hezbollah and sayyid shahada are 2 of the targeted militias that part of the popular mobilization forces which is an umbrella of shia groups formed in 2014 to fight eisel in iraq because he has been a or has been

a brigades was set up more than 10 years earlier in 2003 during the iraq war its fighters attacked u.s. and coalition forces and. so harder was founded in 2013 like hizbollah brigades it conducts operations in both syria and iraq for more we're joined by in doha he's the head of policy analysis of the arab center for research and policy studies good to have you with us again so the pentagon says this was in response to recent attacks against american personnel in iraq. is there more to at the moment. well i think and i think the artist is once you sure that your audience because over the last few weeks actually that you're on an. alliance and the arc has increased at darts and instead of the u.s. interests and boredom in inevitability in the north of iraq in good design and also in. so the americans the different that the iranians might be actually seeing them

very much as much weaker than that it is a new station so they wanted this time actually to where they are news that if you keep actually abducting our interest we are often enough and strong enough to be done here but i think on the other hand americans did not want to spoil any chance for. that is something of an appreciation is what they are millions so this is why that attack was very limited in fact and scold by the been done point was merely in my being and it was me in a message to iran that done this to us on this we got it done yet and we can't i want to be both one and them all right so they're sending a message to iran but what but what is it made as far as the nuclear talks are concert as far as iran this response. well i think as i said i mean that that that was very limited in scope and also don't forget that the way the attack against american interests took place in the office that indonesian actually took

place in syria and it hit me. that americans the one on one hand not the will not the government or put it in a very awkward position these are the the iranian militia in iraq and also on the other hand they don't want to risk it with the iranians on iraq their territories so as far as the iran nuclear talks up unsent this is the main focus of the biden administration in the middle east like now i think that americans don't want it don't make that they are looking right now about that is iran and its nuclear program and escalation by the iranian sponsored in the docks on this with that because you know the iranians that having these the enrichment. they are knew him over the past few weeks that would draw them die and brotherhood. would and then i turned and the energy agency they have taken so many steps actually and you know we in order to put pressure on the biden administration and force it to lift the

sanctions so i think this is part of this of this a conflict between the 2 sides and mccain the other on the sanctions and iran he has a just briefly about what does this tell us about u.s. policy on syria syria now just being used as a proxy battleground. absolutely so he has one was in use as a proxy butler got between the you is they audience the dirks that is what is the russians everybody man he is actually using city as a proxy but then in all i don't see much change actually in terms of if i can or u.s. policy towards syria syria libya means. actually as we said the. proxy war about to go on between these different but these that is north and key of u.s. policy on syria presenting the political solution of this constant which has been actually going on for the past 10 years i believe that. by that mrs sheehan that is

what i think it is will be trying in the next few weeks and months if it can of course to broaden this issue and that the wind is not looking with the iranians because the white and was it also interested in talking with iran about is it certain activities it to the position and who runs its what do you call them and their militias activities by iran in the middle east but so far i can't she can't really change or be addressed by the american that is the new american decision are and to see a conflict and it's not just one moment many thanks indeed good to talk to you again one couple on and. joe biden a spoken with saudi arabia's king salam by phone ahead of the release of a u.s. intelligence report on the murder of the saudi journalist. the declassified report is widely expected to implicate saudi crown prince mohammed bin solomon in a shock she's death the 2 leaders also discussed security in the region at efforts to end the war in the yemen president biden highlighted washington's commitment to

help riyadh defend itself against iranian backed hooty rebels. brazil is struggling to contain its corona virus outbreak the death toll there has passed 250000 the 2nd highest in the world a vaccination campaign is underway but a new wave of infections is leaving the health system on the verge of collapse al-jazeera is more chaotic here reports from rio. there is hope in this prison indigenous village 40 when members of the small to keep what i need tribe have received the 2nd dose of the couvade 19 vaccines. we have seen so many people die with this disease i do not want that for my people they were 1st in line to be inoculated together with the elderly considered to be more at risk but they are the lucky few who get it was thought there was a lot more brazil could have vaccinated 15 percent of the population by now and

stead of nearly 4 percent we haven't because president shared basile narrow still downplays the pandemic sets a bad example by scorning social distancing and delays the acquisition of vaccines the situation today is worse than a year ago when we recorded the 1st covert 1000 case we're now facing a peak of deaths and hospitalizations in one year more than a quarter of a 1000000 brazilians have lost their lives to the pandemic and hospitals in several states are on the verge of collapse forcing governors and mayors to impose new restrictions some have taken extreme measures by shutting down all comers the city of our quiete in the state of so powerful looks like a ghost town. yeah we understand there are the not purely from campaign was temporarily suspended because there weren't enough vaccines but the fact that

infections are on the rise does not keep people from ignoring basic safety will. while brazil boast the 2nd largest couvade $1000.00 death toll in the world football fans still celebrate their team's victory out in the streets and without masks monica narky of al-jazeera rio de janeiro amnesty international says that a massacre of civilians during the conflict in ethiopia is to greater region could amount to a crime against humanity it says in a report soldiers from eritrea systematically killed hundreds of people in the city of axim in november the ethiopian government says that its human rights commission is investigating crimes committed during the conflict. one of haiti's most dangerous gang leaders escaped prison during a riot that left an least 11 people dead on all joseph fled the jail just outside the capital port au prince witnesses say that they saw heavily armed men shooting at prison guards before inmates started to run

a police officer at the detention center director are among the dead. we're going to weather update next here on al-jazeera that myanmar's military disperses anti coup protesters who show no signs of easing up close. by found that diplomacy is about showing compassion we hear from the diplomat working to renew washington standing at the united nations. it's time for the perfect gentlemen. sponsored point qatar airways hello we're losing the record breaking heat across much of europe now because this little area cloud just sliding down into central possibly find the cold fronts with cooler air just tucking in but still decent temperatures still on the mild side cheri right on this system as well as just sinks its way further south it's across

germany into poland look at the temperatures 10011 just remember a couple of days ago we were getting up to around 20 celsius in berlin so something of a change here it is 30 moderate moscow were above freezing now looking at a high of around 4 degrees celsius is that rain sleet and snow makes its way up the east was just 2 celsius in moscow as we go on through saturday that bad of cloud of rain that sinks further southwards and again it will cool off the belgrade for a book rest as well as a system just makes its way down towards the black sea south of that it is generally try and find across the mediterranean places sunshine and we'll see station temperatures here temps getting up to around 19 celsius for athens similar temperatures across northern parts of africa we've got some wetter weather sliding across morocco as we go on through the course of friday that could lead to some localized flooding and the snow over the higher ground further south the usual russia showers now starting to gather across much of the gulf of guinea.

sponsible qatar airways jump into the story there is a lot going on in this and julian global community when i thought of 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 and be part of today's discussion this streamed on out is there a. well again this is 0 let's remind you of the baby news this hour more than 300

schoolgirls have been kidnapped in some far states in northwestern nigeria it's the 2nd such such abduction in just over a week. the u.s. has carried out air strikes in syria targeting the cities used by iranian backed faces the pentagon says it's a response to recent attacks against american personnel in iraq. and brazil's health for the star says that his country is facing a variant of the brother virus that's 3 times more contagious the other strain and water for swallow says that it's threatening to overwhelm hospitals that. global pressure is mounting on man mas military after it seized power earlier this month the world bank is the latest to take action it stopped all payments requested after the coup on february 1st the bank's president says that it's taking a cautious approach and the payments for existing projects will continue protesting taking place of myanmar as largest cities demanding the release of elected leader

aung san suu kyi and the return to democracy al-jazeera scott heide lawyer is following developments from bangkok and says the pressure on military from both inside and outside the country isn't easing up. we've seen sanctions being imposed we've seen some private companies sever ties with companies and entities tied to me and most military so this is that kind of external pressure in international pressure that's being applied to the military in their crew and what's been happening since their detained leaders that took place right after the coup took place on february 1st there's international call for them to be released as well so that's kind of the external pressure internal pressure and that's the protesters and they're continuing with their movement on the streets across myanmar we've been seeing a lot of it in yangon the numbers are a little bit smaller than we've seen the last couple of days i'm hearing from from some people on the ground feeding us information as well as

a mandalay we know they've come out as well and then even way down in the south there is a student group a teacher's group i should say that has come out and has protested one thing that we need to know in and gone overnight a section of the city neighborhood of the city there was a fairly severe crackdown by the police because there was a bit of a dustup because the military appointed local councillor was put into place the residents there didn't like that so there was a bit of a standoff some flash bang grenades were sent out by the police but it sounds like there were no major injuries after that but right now yes some people still coming out to the streets we're also getting word on the streets of yangon there are a lot of. blockages by the police by riot police but then also by their vehicles so there's less access ability around the city in yangon right now hear a pin leaders are holding virtual meetings for a 2nd day this time with a focus on security nature chief. opened the summit by laying out the top defense priorities facing the alliance. for nato the main tosca during this pandemic has

been to make sure that. a health crisis doesn't. turn into a security crisis because so the threats we are faced with a day before pandemic they are still there russia's aggressive actions more brutal forms of terrorism sophisticated cyber attacks the rise of china and the security implications over climate change so no country or continent to come face these challenges alone european council president shall michelle said that he was optimistic about a renewed relationship between europe and the united states need to played in place a key rule in but i didn't know if i may we care into europe we share the same team attracted to values we have common strategy interests and i'm totally convinced

that this new bad in the station offer us a unique opportunity to we knew the student incidentally plenty to lines between europe and the united states one hour from al-jazeera stone a cane and his with a live from berlin dominic and european leaders on the same page when it comes to defense and the transatlantic relationship. well that is the question of what we might find out more about over the course of the next few hours during this this summit the interesting word you didn't hear from either of those $22.00 leaders is russia because that is one of the words one of the countries is going to be at the forefront of the discussions in the e.u. summit today we know that the role that russia plays and indeed nato and the e.u. play on the continent of europe is particularly important but no mention of it from those 2 leaders perhaps because they're trying to work out

a new position maybe we know that with the biden administration now in charge president biden has set out what his goals are going to be and they do diverge from his predecessor from donald trump's that ministration remember mr trump was not a particularly big fan of nato and it called of on countries european countries particularly germany to boost the defense budget to boost their contribution towards nato president biden striking a slightly different tone and so this nato nato meeting with the e.u. the 1st such opportunity for the biden in an administration priorities to be injected into the debate here and so that's one of the things that is definitely going to be discussed today but then also the more strategic relationship between the e.u. and nato is also something that's very important you heard it being alluded to both by instruction but that and by shalmi sched the question would be what form of consensus can they find because clearly there are some e.u.

countries that were more in the trump camp as it were certainly central europe and eastern european countries some of them who may not necessarily indorse entirely the new biden and ministrations plans for its relationship with nature and the e.u. but as i say we'll be finding out a little bit more about what they've been discussing later in the course of today as the summit comes to a close out of there as thought it came reporting live from berlin dominic many thanks indeed. the coronavirus pandemic has caused a crisis in global oxygen supplies and it's killing people in africa latin america despite previous warning the stock to say the shortage is leading to unnecessary deaths some desperate families of turned to the black market for life saving oxygen the u.n. says that it will take $1600000000.00 in order to stabilize supplies france could

impose weekend lockdowns in paris and 19 other regions in march if corona virus infections continue to accelerate from this. is that french citizens need to be in a state of heightened alert in order to avoid restrictions. that is a lever which we must only use when we cannot do otherwise you have to do it at the right moment and at the right level you have to do as much as possible to delay it to allow the vaccination campaign to happen effect on conger started its coronavirus fact the nation campaign off to 1000000 doses of the chinese made site of a jab arrived last week the territories government endorsed the chinese made side about vaccine before trial results were published it's also received from pfizer and astra zeneca and people can choose between the 3 but low enthusiasm for the chinese made vaccine could be perceived as anti mainland sentiment the united states has joined wash in calling for restraint by all parties in armenia that is urging the

military not to intervene in government armenians are rallying in support of prime minister nicole passion ian he fired his military chief to senior army officials call for him to resign and he says that amounts to a coup his opponents also held a rival demonstration of setting up camp outside parliament shinee and has been confronted with widespread protests over recent months just 4 years ago he was leading mass demonstrations against then leader serge. worry chalons takes on the. because his rise to power and declining popularity. thank you for talking dates last year is the conflict with azerbaijan raged bernard smith sat down with armenian prime minister nicolas violence at the end of the interview he asked him this question do you worry for your own popularity that if you miss handle this conflict if it doesn't go your way then you yourself are going to suffer in your

position of prime minister did it yes. or you see i reached the position of the prime minister. not to defend my popularity but to serve the national interests of my country and my people and to defend the dreams of people in my country so along this path absolutely not interested in my person that's just as well armenia lost the war and popularity. so it was just 2 years ago the seeds of pressure by asking around the nation and he became prime minister from a different political age then he was the man of the moments before my journalistic an opposition politician who the end of march 28th seen launched a protest organization might step. in his camera t. shirts and cap came across as an every man antidote to the perceived cynicism and

corruption of armenia's ruling elites. 2 term presidents sarkozy and was trying to continue his rule by becoming prime minister the crowds were determined to stop him the so-called velvet revolution. from power and after 2 elections in may 28th. replaced him. governing armenia isn't easy besides its entrenched domestic problems and was also taking on all mean years fraught regional relationships you know 2020 the stalled peace talks with azerbaijan over nagorno-karabakh collapsed armed and assisted by turkey has a by john went on a devastating offensive to stave off a complete rout prussian eon accepted a humiliating russian brokered ceasefire giving up swathes of formally armenian controlled territory it cost him huge political capital and opened

a rift between his government and the military this is the end of the velvet revolution made it very clear in his speech that he said this is the end of belgrade what that means and what comes after is anyone's guess there is a lot of unstability in the country after the war that ended in november 2028 the opposition has been calling for his resignation not long ago he was the figurehead of a more democratic and equitable armenia now nic an impression iraq's political future hangs in the balance. how does iraq the new u.s. diplomats the united nations has begun to work greenfield has the task of bringing gaging with the with the u.n. after relations became strained on the donald trump's leadership a reporter who's been widely welcomed our diplomatic editor james bay is reports from the u.n. in new york. arriving at united nations headquarters on the 1st day in her job and

bastard or linda thomas greenfield 1st presented her diplomatic credentials to the un secretary general antonio terrace. 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 services 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. is always easier. trumps america 1st policy meant the u.s. 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 culture. now trix abuses 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 and in areas like seen john 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 turned and ambassador thomas greenfield will be chairing the council's proceedings james byrd's al-jazeera at the united nations. it's good to have you with us hello adrian said i'm going to hear the headlines from al-jazeera more than 300 schoolgirls have been kidnapped in some forest states in northwestern nigeria it's the 2nd such abduction in just over a week i was there as i would address reports from the.