march in the time i've covered wars revolutions elections on military poor's from the favelas of caracas to the battlefields around our job is to get to the truth and empower people through knowledge. of the world. 0. hello there are no stars and this is the news hour live from doha coming up in the next 60 minutes e.u. leaders propose a special certificate that would allow its 450000000 residents to travel freely within the block once vaccinates and. we aim to help member states reinstate. the freedom of movement in a safe responsible and trusting. tens of thousands of vaccines arrive in the

occupied west bank and gaza strip to speed up the lagging roll out their. voters in the netherlands despite decide whether to keep this prime minister mark worser and power as they head to the polls. and during his visit to south korea the u.s. defense secretary says they remain united in tackling challenges from china or north korea. i'm going to guess roscoe would sports his n.b.a. star le bron james becomes a part owner of the boston red sox baseball team and team new zealand retain sailings america's cup the oldest trophy is. now the european union has proposed a coronavirus passport to help ease travel restrictions within the block the digital green pass would provide proof that travelers have either been vaccinated

recovered from the virus or had a recent negative test now the proposals do include an option to allow people from outside the e.u. if they've been vaccinated the world health organization has warned against such schemes citing unknowns around vaccine efficacy against infection the certificate will make sure that the results are what shows the data and is the minimum set of data mutually recognized in every member state and thirdly with this digital certificate we aim to help member states reinstate the freedom of movement in a safe responsible and trusted minim dominic anus following this for us from berlin dominic this whole plan has not been without controversy so how's it going over now . well this whole plan controversial as it may be is one of the routes out of the pandemic that the european union situations

believe is perhaps the right one which is to reassure people who've had of the vaccine they will be able to move freely and throws who fall into the other categories whether they've had the the virus recently have a high level and antibodies in their system therefore a degree of immunity or whether they've got negative p.c.r. test that the e.u. believes the institutions at least that this is the way out for many many countries because that's because you're about it there are many e.u. countries who depend to a large extent on tourism so an influx of tourists who are able to show a digital green pass to show that they are not a threat from a covert perspective is something that those countries really want also remember that the use fundamental principles are based on freedom of movement something that from a political perspective is very much desirable for the e.u.

institutions 1st fund a line who we heard from just there and it's clearly something that she really wants to see happen as quickly as possible but there are potentially teething problems with this the fact that the w.h.o. has as indicated doesn't believe this is necessarily the best way to go about fighting that that obviously doesn't help the e.u.'s position and insofar as this is concerned and there are those who make a different argument which is that there is a degree of personal sensitive information that goes into each person's entry a person's digital passport digital green pass that perhaps is something that needs to be borne in mind so lots of potential problems because the e.u. believes this is a central plank for them out of the pandemic or speaking of problems stomach there is vaccine entirely hasn't been very speedy to say the least how's that being addressed. well interestingly enough 6 different e.u.

countries have raised their concerns with the president of the european council that's sharma shared he's the man who presides over the e.u. summit amongst other duties that he has and those 6 countries of said we're not happy with the way the distribution is is being managed particularly because of the way that the astra zeneca vaccine is being dealt with the fact that many different e.u. countries have imposed a partial suspension on the use of it now that's something which sort of underlying and 2 of her colleagues have been addressing in a news conference of they gave in the course of the past hour or so and all 3 of them were keen to stress that there were the there was the potential for a stop on the export of astra zeneca that the e.u. as a bloc had ordered many many millions of doses from other providers they were made reference to the fact that the johnson and johnson one shot vaccine has been ordered in considerable quantity and so the feeling that sort of the mood music as

it were from these ministers in brussels was that even with a problem with astra zeneca which obviously is currently a temporary problem but even with astra zeneca not being able to to provide the doses that it in said it would provide in the course of the 1st 2 quarters of this calendar year these ministers believe that the other vaccine doses that have been ordered will be sufficient to be able to provide vaccines to the vast majority of the population of the e.u. in the course of this calendar year that was the still coming from those ministers in brussels in the course of the last hour or so dominic came in there with all the latest for us from that end thanks so much dominic. well there's been another setback for the astra zeneca vaccine a new study from vets university in johannesburg shows that it is less effective at protecting against the south african variant now in the earlier trial of more than 2000 participants found the jab is less than 60 percent effective at preventing

mild to moderate infection but the findings show it's still can help prevent severe illness and deaths from covert 1000 even for high risk individuals the world health organization supports its use in all countries including those with the new variant while south africa canceled its rollout of the astra zeneca shot back in february after concerns about its effectiveness opting instead for the johnson and johnson job i spoke to should be a madi he's been leading the vaccine trials of both novak's and astra zeneca in south africa he says the job still has a vital role in preventing illness. it best to read speculation clipped and that is it but that's against soviet disease and it could use a so that's got people dying from carbon 19 including possibly you read the pew on 351 pm recently had in that this was identified in south africa it is circulating unfortunately records that seem doesn't do it and the same will apply for many other 1st generation covered 1000 seems he said it's i'm likely to put in

a saying at the same never again and smiled at moderate infection due to the view on 351 ph and that there couldn't just be violence so many of the 1st generation covered $1000.00 that seems to have clearly been designed around them just the right as a construct to shouldn't come too much as a surprise for just that scene and probably pretty perhaps not so far that it seems that those were not the same attitude against the infection but for all of these covered one thing that seems to expect them to perform reasonably go against if these unfortunately disrupt the 3 shows that were in fact in times of extreme confidence but that the same time i think we need to be caught at any time somewhat the way patients are now government it seems and particularly in countries such as the coverage of that is sort of latency are dominating getting too hard even if he were the 1st generation of code 19 that seems in settings such as in south africa yes and i'm realistic option in the near future so we really need to recalibrate

our expectations or discovered one thing that seems and the focus really needs to be centered on detecting savitt protecting people in developing severe disease and dying well speaking of vaccines palestinian health officials say 60000 doses of vaccines are on their way to the occupied west bank and gaza strip they include shots manufactured by pfizer and astra zeneca they are being delivered there as part of a dyna program organized by the wild health organization need abraham has more now from ramallah and the occupied west bank. the issue of vaccinations has been a tough issue here in the palestinian territory because many people here do not trust the palestinian authority they've been saying that after the palestinian authority has received 12000 jobs in the past few months they've given some of them to officials and their families so there is a lot of when it comes to the transparency and integrity of those effects of

nations and this is going to be a true test for the palestinian authority many officials and health officials have been telling us that the health system is overwhelmed we've been to one of the hospitals seeing. patients waiting and calling doors they wanted to get a room in some of these hotels some were even looking in other cities in the occupied west bank but they couldn't find the place so these 60000 jobs are going to be imported to relieve the overwhelmed how system let's not let's not forget that $24000.00 of those jobs are from us and the health minister has said that they're going to be putting them in storage until they get some sort of clearance and. because that has been concerns about the side effects that they may cause in light of the general situation the lack of vaccinations. growing numbers of people infected with the bars the palestinian authority has been

resorting to lock closures here in there and they're hoping that some of these vaccines are going to help alleviate the health system that is deteriorating although still plenty more ahead this news hour including. i saw my friends i do receive up to about. we had the stories of survivors who managed to escape a fire at a detention center which killed at least 16 people and yemen cross lines under martial law there's growing share. i know calls for the military to control the anti crew movement. and tiger woods leaves hospital 3 weeks after his car crash joe will have those details for you. u.s. president joe biden has spoken about

a number of foreign policy issues in an interview with the american broadcast to a.b.c. news including pulling troops out of afghanistan and allegations of russian interference in the 2020 u.s. election well let's ask white house correspondent can be healthy this kimberly this was a pretty fair rain fair far ranging interview from with biden here. that's right there are a number of topics discussed including the vaccines and the number of vaccines that he is still pushing out to make available to the american people surpassing the goals that were expected but joe biden the u.s. president acting surprised that there is still so much politicize ation as he calls about the vaccine saying that it is changed his life and he's making sure that other people know that so that they will be encouraged to get a vaccine as well now in terms of other domestic news he also talked about the u.s. border the fact that there is well he didn't acknowledge

a crisis as some of alleged here in the united states with regard to the border between the united states and mexico he did talk about the fact that the united states is not ready to receive unaccompanied minors which have been rumored to be in excess of 10000 who have crossed into the united states from mexico since joe biden became president so his message to those wishing to travel to the united states don't come now we're not ready for you and yes on the issue of russia the u.s. president very firm in his resolve that he intends to send a strong and clear message to vladimir putin this on the heels of a report that indicates that in fact there was once again attempts to influence the 2020 u.s. election the u.s. president saying that the united states will work with russia when it's in u.s. interests take a listen to what he had to say you know vladimir putin you think is a killer and i do so what price must he pay the price is going to pay well you'll

see shortly i'm not going to buy the way we're going to be able to have all that trade expression walk and chew gum at the same time there are places where it's in our mutual interest to us to work together that's why i renewed to start agreement with an example of that when they said in fact that the us president said that there had been cooperation that was in u.s. interest the extending of an. arms agreements back in january with russia so obviously the u.s. president trying to underscore that win isn't the national security interests of the united states he will make strategic decisions that may be different from his predecessor donald trump who often favored a cozier relationship with vladimir putin and when it comes to decisions made by his predecessor that includes afghanistan the u.s. president saying he's not so sure about a deadline put in place by donald trump to pull all u.s. troops out of afghanistan by may 1st in fact he says he's reviewing that decision take a listen. i'm in the process of making that decision now as to when they'll leave

the fact is that. i was not a very. solidly negotiated deal that. the president the former president worked out and so were and consultation with our allies as well as the government and. that decisions on a it's in process now likely to take longer i don't think a lot longer but may 1st is tough could happen but it is tough. the u.s. president saying that there are a number of benchmarks that the taliban needs to reach an order for him to feel satisfied the u.s. troops can be withdrawn and finally on the issue of the murder of his shows you also asked about that and why the united states government has not held the saudi crown prince responsible or held him to account given the fact that the

intelligence agencies here in the united states say that in fact it was the saudi crown prince who ordered the killing joe biden defending that decision much like we've heard from his white house press secretary and others in the administration saying that well he has made it clear to the saudi king that the relationship between the united states and saudi arabia is going to change he says that he is not going to take any further action against the saudi crown prince given the fact that he believes u.s. policy president establishes the fact that you don't go after a head of state so those are the topics that the u.s. president talked about in a very wide ranging interview on national television here in the u.s. can be held at their our white house correspond with all the latest thanks so much coming. as more protests his head out to the streets and manama china has renewed its call for the military to take more action to protect its people and companies that more than 30 chinese backed factories in yangon were torched on sunday it's

called reports. a mother grieving for her son a scene that is now becoming more frequent across myanmar. 17 year old car my head was one of 74 people killed on sunday the worst day of violence in the 6 weeks of protests the medical student was caught in the crackdown by security forces on the outskirts of young gone and we medical doctors initiated the civil disobedience movement from an early time now a life has been sacrificed so i'm sure we as the medical community will not step back from the fight we will fight until the end while security forces continue their crackdown the jump to also imposed martial law in 6 nearby townships of young gone. prompting thousands to flee the industrial zone and fly tell ya the location of chinese factories were torched on sunday home to many migrant workers from

across me and mark it's still unclear who started the fires and the lead on my last image is. our jobs are not ok and we're also not safe now my parents are worried and that's why we decided to leave today the situation is really bad i don't know how it's going to be. it's not just the violence that concerns human rights groups it's also that the military will have complete control of the 6 townships now under martial law including the courts if you're arrested you're going to be slammed into a kangaroo court run by the military for which there is no appeal of any guilty verdict and there's a possible death sentence or other to coney and punishments like punishment through labor for an undetermined amount of time you know this is a court system run by one of the most abusive militaries in the world as we are hazed loved ones say their final goodbyes there's growing concern that the

judge to might expand the zones of martial law in its effort to stifle protests scott either al-jazeera. now dutch prime minister has cast his ballot in the netherlands national election opinion polls suggest that his center right party is on track to win by a large margin and that's despite his entire cabinet resigning after child care benefits scandal just 2 months ago this is also europe's 1st major vote since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and also be a test of the government's policies. of course and a fraction of this is european nation where climax if you can you were. forced to do fractions to see which of them answered and then if you're working very hard to acquire once we have. time to make the most of us out of which of course you can become lost and your sister has been shown very she should we have to you wish and so forth and at the same time i'm proud of some of the things your competition is a country not just me but a product. now from a polling station and i'm stood on

a step it's been a very different kind of election this time around i see you've been watching people cost their ballots they're on bikes. exactly people here are in a drive through polling station coming on their bicycles this is one of the corona matches that the government has taken to make this election as safe as possible so people come in on their bicycles then they actually have to remove their masks because their identity is being checked and then they can actually park their bicycles over there and the cost to vote and drive out of this polling station again this election is happening while the lad lence is facing a 3rd wave of infections thousands of people are already in the hospital again and a government is very much concerned about this this election as well of course there's a risk factor i'm actually joined here by 2 young photos lisa looked to be found this 1st time a photo that she is 21 years old why was it important for you well and.

for the end of democracy that everyone can raise their voice and say what is idealistic for them to do have in their living environment is a strange election right you're coming here with a mask on a bicycle weren't you worried about getting infected it's actually a wasn't mentioned because you can't stay. in your bike and that way you have a lot of distance between people you're wearing a face mask so i believe that say your friend is so with us well that while it's time was so difficult because many people were still undecided right up until the moment the polls were opening people had no idea what to vote for a wrong 50 percent did you know who you want to vote for i did know but it's it is a difficult time especially because there are a lot of like new groups coming out right now and i think everyone is just kind of

looking like do i want to photo or. a government party that's already bigger or do i want to small as a voter you know for a small one and everything so i think it's pretty difficult for people to decide right now. that you make your decision was it the government party or because we have 37 parties were right it's the largest number of parties in the dutch elections ever so that you make your mind up already i did i did i i did think i want to smoke for a smaller political party just because i think we need some fresh air in here you know out with the old in with the new you know. when we look at the polls it was sort of a done race right the prime minister a market that was falling really high despite the fact that there was this candle right with the child care benefits and also his says approach of the carone up and damage which didn't really go down well here are you surprised that he's getting as

so much so many people. but actually i am i recognized a lot between the younger folks that there was a lot of anger toward the guy but at the same time there was also a lot of neutrality i would say so surprise is a big word but then i i do think it's odd after all the issues that have. well thank you so much for joining us and go ahead and fold i would say so. elections are still happening for the whole day until 9 o'clock in the evening and also here in this big hole that they have prepared us just polling station there's not only a bicycle drive for but also a car drives to where people come in with their cars and they can actually fold quite safely. fasten the live for us in amsterdam following that election thanks so much step now a day after some sharp words from the u.s. secretaries of state and defense are both in south korea on the 2nd stop of their

heirs atoll the u.s. secretary of defense right austin was welcomed by the foreign minister with a military parade north korea's nuclear ambitions are high on the agenda jiang has already warned the u.s. not to cause trouble in the region. the u.s. or ok alliance which has been steadfast for several over 70 years remains in place it is the linchpin of. security and prosperity we're going with the phrase you are free. verse of it region across the world. mcbride is in seoul with more. this visit to south korea is seen as a very important way for the u.s. to reset and restore relations with a traditional ally much as it did in japan also to some extent with the hope of repairing relations between japan and south korea which have been frayed in recent

times lloyd austin the u.s. defense secretary spoke about the importance of the alliance with south korea at their 1st meeting with his counterpart wednesday saying that it was very important in countering what he called the unprecedented challenges posed by both north korea and china now it's the china part of that which is somewhat problematic here in south korea which has a far more complicated relationship with its mighty neighbor china it is much more reliant on china in terms of trade it tries to avoid any head on clashes but once again we have this u.s. mission talking in terms of china as a potential adversary so for south korea they have tried to avoid any direct confrontation and in fact the defense minister for south korea in his remarks talking about the importance of the relationship with the u.s. in deterring north korea no mention of china at all what the south koreans and the

u.s. can agree on is the cost sharing agreement the cost of hosting u.s. troops in south korea after months and even years of disagreement under the trumpet ministration donald trump demanding that south korea along with other allies pay far more for the hosting of u.s. troops so the fact that they have an agreement which will be signed on this trip is seen as the biden administration in some ways returning to traditional u.s. values which is being a welcome here and also traditional ways of dealing with its friends and allies well let's take dig into this now with tobias harris he is a senior vice president of today or intelligence and also author of the book at the iconoclast shines out there and the new japan he joins us now from washington d.c. mr harris this is the 2nd stop on the asia tour how much significance should we read into the choice to go to tokyo 1st and then 2nd. i don't think they order we need to read that much into it i mean i think this is

a customary order when you have trips like this i mean i think the important thing is that asia northeast asia and visiting u.s. allies in the region plus secretary austin going to india after his stop and seoul i think the important thing is to note that it is asia it is visiting u.s. allies in asia as their 1st foreign trip since being confirmed in their positions earlier this year it really tells you where asia is figuring in the biden ministrations foreign policy and when it talks about strength in alliances it really is focused on looking to allies and partners in asia as it tries to figure out a new indo-pacific strategy well it's not like japan and south korea say i have i own a number of issues the u.s. keeps saying that it's really came in on a trilateral cooperation in the region is that likely. not i mean of course you have baseline levels of trade i know cooperation that exist and you have a defense sharing agreement between japan and south korea intelligence sharing

agreement that remains in place but of course if you want to deepen cooperation between the u.s. japan and south korea and strengthen cooperation japan and south korea there are a number of obstacles of the moment that you have this longstanding dispute over a compensation for forced laborers for comfort women you've had some court cases in south korea that have led to a fairly harsh reaction from japan the japanese government is not particularly interested in working with south korea on closer cooperation until those issues are resolved and it just seems unlikely over the next year within the final year of president moon's term as president of south korea that you're going to really see major initiatives going forward that there's going to be that kind of energy and political capital really for for that kind of cooperation while so many of the by the administration is policies right now including the one on north korea currently under review so does that make a trip like this one a little awkward. not not necessarily i mean i think there's you know certainly

after some of the turmoil in u.s. alliance relationships during the trump ministration i think there was a very important needed to signal to allies that the u.s. is going to listen to their concerns and deal with them i think with more respect maybe than we saw sometimes under the former administration and so i mean i think there's a value in that you know you know of course the signaling how important the region is going to be for the administration's foreign policies but of course i mean i do think there is some awkwardness with particularly in south korea where the focus is so much on how to deal with north korea the south koreans of course want more open minded diplomatic approach from the u.s. and since you don't know quite how the biden mystery she's going to deal with that i mean it's it's maybe if not premature it's just you know there's only so much that they're going to be able to agree while the u.s. figures out how it wants to approach north korea only talk about this focus on asia

some of the strongest language that we've had yet on china came out of that meeting in tokyo and we have these talks that ask are about to happen tomorrow what the u.s. allies in the region hoping for to come out of those discussions. well i mean i think i think that also you know shows you the reason why we saw trips to tokyo and seoul 1st i mean there's really i think the emphasis on getting on the same page with the allies and then going to china and then and having some discussions and i think from the sound of it it sounds like we're going to really be hearing not the beginning of negotiations necessarily but the u.s. the by demonstration really making clear it's issues and we saw really a very strong statement of what those issues are yesterday as you said when when secretaries austin and lincoln met with their met with their japanese counterparts and so i think that's what we're going to expect i mean i think it was really particularly in tokyo really making sure that the 2 governments are on the same

page that they really have the language down that they want to use to communicate their concerns about china's behavior and that you know i suspect we'll hear similar messages now going into that meeting in alaska will be following that meeting very closely indeed tobias harris from today on intelligence great to get your thoughts here on out is there thanks for being with us. human rights watch is blaming the rebels for a fire at a detention center in yemen last week that killed at least 60 people most of them wealthier peons the incident highlights the dangers that some are willing to face and such a better life anderson reports. before a devastating fire ripped through this detention center in yemen's capital last week the ethiopians being held there confronted their guards to demand better living conditions that's when survivors say who the security forces locked them in a hangar and told them to say their final prayers before firing something at them oh my god i'm not a present i did you fired to projectile at us through the hole and the fire on to

the piles of pillows was sleeping on the room filled up with smoke and we all sort of just screamed as a crowd for help some of us thought had to faint and fall to the ground. i saw my friends burning to death i didn't receive any help and i met. dozens of people were killed in the blaze after a tour through a hangar with 350 people inside mostly migrants from the horn of africa. where. the united nations is calling for an independent investigation into the cause of the fire. tens of thousands of migrants pass through yemen each year attempting to reach wealthy gulf countries in order to provide for their families back home they're exposed to kidnapping torture and abuse on navigating a deadly conflict survivors of the fire accuse the who these abusing them to feed the war effort well by the guideline i'm an awful lot going on when we told them we were going on a hunger strike they said they'd force feed us and send us to fight on the front we

said we would not fight because this isn't our country we are refugees our country is facing a bigger war than the one here we could live in our own country so we escaped here the international organization for migration has demanded the release of thousands of migrants being held at who the run facilities these young. and under this. journey by smugglers and traffic. and they are not going to. hear that and if you. or journey one group at least was given a way out 150 ethiopians were evacuated on tuesday on the 1st repatriation flight since the pandemic began and should help al-jazeera. now at least 8 people have been killed and one injured near the u.s. city of atlanta and 3 separate shootings targeting message policies 2 of those shootings were just across the street from each other police say 6 women killed were of asian descent a mouse effect has been arrested. time for the weather has ever some how i once

again welcome to another look at the international focus we have seen some very heavy rainfall into parts of queensland recently some big downpours record breaking rainfall some you can see we have got these weather systems just hauled ring around that eastern side of australia small very heavy rain as we go on through the next couple of days so for treats creek 216 millimeters the frank coming here 24 hours but take a look at iraq and it's still to be confirmed but over hof a meter of rainfall coming down in 24 hours record breaking rainfall and those records go back to 1928 hot of that rainfall fell in just 6 hours so that has led to flash flooding and river flooding as well for the heavy showers into the good parts of queensland pushing up towards the pilbara we'll see some more wet weather into that eastern sort of australia down towards the sunshine because the gold coast little further south to see more heavy showers there lingering across eastern parts of new south wales and again we could see some flooding here some parts could

see 100 to 200 millimeters of rain over the next couple of days further north we got more rain pushing in across central parts of china that was slide its way out into the open waters gradually heading towards the far south of japan but for the time being is fine in try with plenty of warm sunshine into the weekend. well still ahead here on al-jazeera we speak to one woman and republic of congo he says her activist husband was abducted by government agents and she hasn't seen him sense plus. i'm a farmer in baghdad and i'll tell you about the ancient men dying in production and how it struggling to survive. and n.b.a. star le bron james becomes part owner of the boston red sox baseball team details coming up with joe and.

frank assessments the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure is that a fair assessment it would be a catastrophic failure to weiss valuable backseat informed opinions should we be buying bit coy ultimately it will be sovereigns and governments who are buying this that is the direction this is all headed in-depth analysis of the day school lobel headlines inside story on 00. when the news breaks 4 months ago janine onions was president of bolivia now she's under arrest when people need to be hurt more than 11000000 people infected hospitals in brazil are struggling to cope al-jazeera has teams on the ground the last time voters lined up to cast their ballots in the central african republic an attempted coup was taking place to bring you more room mood when documentaries and life moves on air and online.

the. the and. however you're watching al-jazeera that's remind you of our top stories this hour the european union has proposed a coronavirus passport to help ease travel restrictions within the block the digital green certificate would provide proof that travelers have either been vaccinated recovered from the virus or how to recent negative test. dutch prime minister mark richard has cast his ballot in the netherlands national election opinion polls suggest his center right party is on track to win and this is europe's 1st major vote since the start of the pandemic. in the u.s. secretaries of state and defense are in south korea on the 2nd leg of their 1st asia tour north korea's nuclear ambitions are expected to be on the agenda jonghyun

has want to the u.s. not to cause trouble in the region. now soldiers and republic of congo are version ahead of sunday's presidential election there to help with security on voting day president genesis where so he's been in power now for more than 40 years is seeking a 4th term but as malcolm webb reports from the capital brazzaville rights activists say anyone critical of the government is being seen as a threat. gertrude in congress says she's so worried about her husband alex savannah that she comes. he's a rights activist here in the congo republic she says he walked out of their home one morning last week and then disappeared neighbors told her men wearing plain clothes took him a wary eye. since learned he's been detained by congo's secret service use in pills . he is an elderly person he is unwell and i'm scared they can torture him there i

don't know the living conditions there he is already on well and that's what worries me the plain clothes men briefly brought back in handcuffs and searched his home says they found this jacket he bought it on a trip to paris and they suggested he was plotting an armed rebellion according to the neighbors when the banach came out of his gate there were men in plain clothes waiting for him parked in a car just here 2 of them tried to bundle him in the back he resisted so then 3 more joined in he was forced into the vehicle and drove off in that direction rise activists say it's common for the government here to arrest and imprison anyone it sees as a threat to its grip on power president denise are suing queso has ruled for most of the last 40 years and he wants to carry on he's running for reelection in sunday's presidential polls rights activists say there's no possibility that the

democratic process. pres or in zillah works with the banner. presell says he's documented dozens of cases of killings torture and disappearances he says abana was campaigning for democracy and for the release of political prisoners seeking for. you have to understand is that we're in a dictatorship the arbitrary arrests the torture the restriction of civil space are typical of a dictatorship the government take more political prisoners i don't know but the reality is this is a dictatorship. the last election 5 years ago this man run for president is a former army general who was one of 2 opposition candidates who contested the results they were both accused of plotting to overthrow the government. we asked the interior ministry about the activists complained these activists did not belong to the human rights activists have always worked have any complaints been submitted

on the eve of the presidential election is this all part of the game i cannot tell you anything because at the interior ministry we have never been contacted regarding supposed assaulting of mines by the police gertrude said she knows nothing of sudan as human rights work she just wants her husband to come home malcolm webb al-jazeera brazzaville congo republic gunman on motorcycles have attacked a group of civilians in asia killing at least 58 people it happened as they were returning from a livestock market and body bangle near the border with mali the attackers also destroyed nearby structures used to store grains the government has declared 3 days of national mourning while i spoke to a vague way a great igor who is a security analyst had specializes in the sahara region he says these types of attacks are a growing challenge for news as new president obama has. with the group

behind this recent attack just like you would get that in general or us where you need that over a 100 they were just before the elections in your republic and also before the g 5 sign here. in german a child so very different to the new president of this office now mahmoud abbas room is very mind of the security situation on the enormity of the trip if this is what the president in monday to secure new year's eve he's going to have to think of new with new approaches are the of course i want you both collaboration with rich region and state our international partners for you know for a more lasting solution to to to be implemented in this area because these are parts unknown stopping time soon if nothing changes. how the government and

nigeria's can do not states says it won't be giving in to ransom demands after 3 teachers were kidnapped from a primary school on monday at the latest in a string of abductions from schools in the north on friday 39 college students were taken by armed men in the same state out of there as a medic dressed reports now from katrina. except for security personnel and if you start at the college for forestry research in mind though. it's largely empty and quiet. the usual bustle on campus is gone no classes no field work. the hostels where hundreds used to leave and i want to lock and key as 39 students remain in the hands of their captors. minus about me and i did e.g. alexander 2 friends who escaped the attack as are still haunted by what they saw the church going to myself. now to tease to complain not to show myself with

hot coals from the folks. we're trying to escape some or some of those good and evil and the process of. i hate it when do that got me enjoy around here. big guys big one of the students i was the one trying to rescue who was like you were just telling me to those leave the mountain i told him i can leave you here 5 days after the attack the personal effects of the missing students are still being recovered along the way what they were taken security sources say guns were used to open up this gaping hole is a breach in point from where the students were extracted now behind this wall is a force that stretches for meters to a location where the students thought to be still held by their captors. neighbors

and relatives still come to confront the sandy family as they try to come to terms of the kidnap of their 2 daughters from their school. the mother still shaken by the incident is against the use of force to rescue them. davis was on there now giving up with their lives give the children and my hope is gone so we have you know government to blair is good but the fight. the family says the absence of the 2 girls is a bearable for everyone the slanging the entire world is dark. it is one thing for you to move that does children are no more life than when you look down life and you cannot see them. for 3 kidnappings in 4 days the government here says it will not give in to kidnapper's demand for runs. stand was based on principle very careful and logical evaluation of the consequences of their state negotiate to

non-state actors or even giving them money. that we could win a state government has decided to avoid completely what some parents of missing students want to hear at the moment but the government insists negotiating with the hostage takers will all the create a bigger problem our body grease al-jazeera. now one of iraq's religious minority groups which has survived for centuries as now rapidly disappearing monday and say security issues of forced many of their members into hiding are some of the debate has more now from baghdad as far as they're gathered to mark a sacred ceremony known as the bunch of festival. men women and children submerged in running water of the tigris river. to cleanse their bodies and wash away their sins this baptism is a mending ritual also known as sabby and in iraq they are the followers of a monotheistic religion which predates islam and christianity. but he comes here

every year for either a 5 day festival where everyone dresses in white he must change into the special robes and head to the river. they pray before being baptized in the chilly water ritual it's time for reflection. the grandfather explains the belt worn around the rope is made with 61 threads representing 61 angels but he loves being here and i have. i like meeting friends and playing here i like this festival more than others because we get but ties in the water. after the baptism food is served but just cooked using clay from the river bed during the bungee festival all food must be washed in the river and they must drink from it as well their patriarch is john the baptist called prophet in arabic. and men day and say all good comes from a world of light and all evil from the world of darkness. is the religions grand

chief priest. monday ism is the 1st religion in the world we believe in one god who created life anees everlasting holy book is considerable well the 1st books of prophets adam a sheet and we believe in charity for the poor the running water gives us purification the religion forbids any parts with god adultery killing witchcraft holy book says don't go to that which is a magic they are lies. but for centuries they were considered heretics and in the digital age their faith is linked to spells and sorcery they want to dispel the myths about witchcraft and magic being associated with the gnostic religion so their numbers are barely a 5th of what they were before the 2003 invasion because of iraq's security and there is being a close religion one can only be born into the faith in marrying into their religion is forbidden and the population has dwindled even further because thousands have taken refuge elsewhere for safety. and her sister left iraq because

of airstrikes and war today they say they're happy to have returned home and the fact that no matter when we left for jordan we thought we will never come back we thought we would never participate in a religious ceremony as again i'm happy to see our relatives and everyone participating in a festival. festivals like this bring people together there are fewer temples but because of the pandemic only outdoor gatherings are allowed. instead of restoring places of worship the iraqi government even wants to take away the small base of rituals on the riverbank. we demand the government to take care for minorities as an ancient religion that religious harmony gathers people and interfaith relations promotes respect and humanity we have suffered in other provinces from persecution in targeting of our people nearly 2 decades of violence neglect and indifference have destroyed iraq's rich heritage and one of its ancient religious groups fears extinction unless its traditions and people are protected. back that.

well still ahead here on al-jazeera we take a closer look at afghanistan's national forest because cash that's coming up next a check.

for. it will. all come back it's now time for sports history as the a thank you will it start with sailing and team new zealand has successfully defended the america's cup the oldest trophy in international sports and they did it on home waters off the coast of or clint they only needed one more win on the

6th day of racing is the it's highly in challenges we do not rasa. and they took race 10 by 46 seconds to wrap up a 73 victory over rule code 900 numbers are extremely low so there were more than a 1000 spectator boats out on the water to celebrate alongside them. i'm really feeling you know we're going to remember everyone is or even right back to before we're going to need a spin choose from a team spirit based on it right here in front of. you know 5000000 can we say no we did all of this or. and there are even more fans watching back on dry land including thousands of planes viaduct harbor skipper peter bergen olympic champion who also won the last america's cup in 2017 lead his team through the crowds to lift the trophy which is 170 years old is the full time that you zealand have won it. golfer tiger woods has left hospital 3 weeks after his car crash the 15

time major champion sustained multiple fractures to his right leg as well as other injuries will continue his recovery at home he tweeted thanking doctors for his care and fans for their support a long awaited report has found the english football association did not do enough to protect children from sexual abuse the dependent review which took 4 years to complete focused on historical claims of abuse 219720058 concluded that the f.a. was too slow to put sufficient protection measures in place the report also said that there are known to be at least 240 suspects and 692 survivors well madrid have reached the champions league quarter final so the 1st time in 3 seasons karim benzema open the scoring for them in their 2nd leg match against atlanta which they went on to win $31.00 on the night and one on aggregate. manch

city also 3 they went into the 2nd leg against piracy a winch and glad back holding a tuna lead and finished up for sale and i go get it puts man city into the quarter finals for a 4th successive season difference here right here 5 years ago they told me that there are 2 in the chamber. so yeah always is in our shoulders over control of that so what if you deserve it you go through your deserve it. we are not thinking to get him finals and thinking to do good for the game enough to the 2nd game is the only thing when you would are thinking about what you are going to when you forget what you have to do defending champions by meaning to have one foot in the quarterfinals already they take a 41 lead into the 2nd leg against let's say i like to well chelsea hold a slim one elite as they host atletico madrid so it's a must to hold tech over at the end of january chelsea unbeaten in 12 games and sit

4th in the premier league. and be a basketball star lebron james is now part owner of the boston red sox baseball team he's become the 1st black partner at the fenway sports group which owns the red sox and liverpool football club in the u.k. has previously spoken about wanting to own an n.b.a. franchise but he'd have to wait until he retires because active play is not allowed to own teams we doesn't look like he's slowing down just yet le bron racked up the 99th triple double of his career playing for the l.a. lakers on tuesday a school 25 points 12 rebounds and 12 assists to help them easily beat the minnesota timberwolves who are the worst team in the n.b.a. the moment it's a 3rd straight win for the defending n.b.a. champion lakers and a nice way to change to celebrate his latest news in sports business world. now will finish with some great pictures from afghanistan and one of the country's most popular sports our cameras captured some of the action at a recent tournament in kabul david starks reports. to the untrained eye this may

look like a chaotic tangle of horses and humans arms and legs but this is because catchy and here in afghanistan it's the national sport was. played for hundreds of years it has some similarities with polo it was catchy translates as goat pulling and traditionally a dead goat is used as the ball at this tournament in kabul an artificial goat might have leather was used instead and to score a rider was grab the ball and then drop it into the opponent's goal. and i'm not good with the one i'm going with the cash game has a lot of meaning for us when our people were fighting with the enemy in the past they were using these types of horse the game has a long history but even my father and forefathers they don't know exactly when it started. some believe the sport could have its roots in a time when rival tribes would steal each other's goats. it's certainly physical

with riders wearing protective clothing and that the liberal swinging of whips and boots of them have one of the i mean i mean. that this is a game which can bring all of gun people together in one place we have people from all of these and backgrounds in the league all of them love discussion this is the 1st time that we've had teams in the league from all around the country it brings me so much joy to see it. this week long event involve teams from 16 provinces the final match lasted 5 hours with nothing to separate the conducing kandahar teams who were eventually named joint winners that i was on. sports in afghanistan is very important because we are surrounded by war there are explosions and suicide attacks every day there are few chances for the people to just have fun this is a sport which brings all the people together it unites everyone was an ancient and dangerous sport with a role to play in building a more peaceful future in afghanistan david stokes our jazeera. all right that is

all yes but for now it is back to the stars yes thanks so much to well that's it for me for this news out but don't go out the back in just a moment with more news for you. jumped into the story there is a lot going on in this and julian global community when i talk about 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 who would love to hear from you and be part of today's discussion this streamed on out is there. and then i would put out more in my change is very much a culture has been very harmful to the economy and the lives of many people challenging traditional attitudes how narrowing the gender gap is helping women in

the room the camargue what escape poverty. level we're trying to break these barriers of machismo by giving women access to resources meet the women leading the way. women make change on al-jazeera. examining the impact of today's headlines it didn't matter you're rich or poor what your religion is you are battling this and you're staring at it in the face and you're dealing with it setting the agenda for tomorrow's discussions that are on holding on capitol hill international filmmakers the world class journalists bring programs to inform and inspire you each and in one of us in the responsibility to change it all thirsty explains it all on al-jazeera.

al-jazeera. really does propose a special to take it that would allow its $450000000.00 residents to travel freely within the bloc wants vaccinated. we aim to help member states reinstate. the freedom of movement in a safe responsible and trusted him and. hello there i'm the stars here tell you this is al jazeera live from doha.