al jazeera english streamline the nike channel. plus thousands of our programs will be documentaries and. subscribed to you chief. al jazeera english. polls open in republic of congo's presidential election but the leading opposition candidate is admitted to hospital with copd 19. elevator and clark this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up coronavirus restrictions are trigger resistance across europe as the country's brace for another wave of infections. and its infection spike police in brazil's biggest city

are breaking up parties to contain outbreaks. plus a taste of life in taiwan where a thriving economy is bucking the global trend. so then the polls have open for republican congress presidential election president dennis gay so is widely expected to extend his 36 years in power there are reports of internet outages ahead of the poll some opposition candidates are either in jail or have refused to stand or another candidate. who is hospitalized with covert 19 has urged people to vote. competitive in. my dicom partly it's i'm in a difficult situation i'm fighting death i demand that you guys open go vote for change fight don't give up the fight rise up please do this from a. all right quick look at some of the leading candidates in the vote

a long time incumbent president a dentist a suit in case a was reelected in 2016 his election victory sparked protests and unrest after many said the vote was fraudulent metis zon is a former finance minister who later joined an opposition party he ran in the 2009 election with through saying the poll was floored former minister gave police perfect was a runner up in 2016 but opposition parties disputed the results then and passed and retired army colonel. and was the former bodyguard of president. countries across europe are returning to lock down as the continent grapples with the surge in corona virus infections that many people are protesting against the restrictions in calling for them to be lifted rhetorical as this. a 3rd wave of

covert 19 is forcing new lock downs to spread across europe but with the restrictions comes resentment and resistance to the new rooms. in germany police used water cannon and pepper spray to disperse and he looked down protestors in the city of castle chancellor angela merkel has wound new restrictions will likely be imposed with cases of the virus rising exponentially but protesters say the measures such as the closing of non-essential shops hotels restaurants and gyms are a threat to their freedom. and i consider corona virus to be a serious disease just like the flu but to make a pandemic out of it as we are experiencing now with many restrictions on our basic rights i don't think that's justified. in neighboring switzerland more than $5000.00 protesters gathered in the town of elite still to demand an end to cave it restrictions which have shut restaurants and other public places for months i mean

because we want our lives back we want to live we want to live in a democratic and we want our children to be free and safe elsewhere in europe more and he looked down protest on saturday from bulgaria to remain in serbia to croatia. but i'm here because i'm fed up with the lies coming from ignorant people is not only in croatia it's across the world they want to force us to stay in our houses and not to go out not to breed not to work not to eat what they want from us to crawl on the floor enough is enough. in the u.k. dozens of antelope down protesters were arrested on saturday as campaign has defied police warnings a march through central london under current restrictions it's unlawful for groups to gather to protest these demonstrators want those rules changed as to more than 60 m.p.'s who signed

a letter to. the him secretary had to ease their wounds and allow peaceful protests . but some global health experts say that would be a mistake right now what we need is continued restrictions as it's interesting that because i know that it's not a popular position but we need to continue a few more months with these restrictions and we need to scale up x nation much much more rapidly which means we need to increase manufacturing vaccines there's frustration with the slow rollout of vaccines in the european union and to die warning from the german health minister that there aren't enough vaccines in europe to prevent a 3rd wave and despite these demonstrations it appears tighter measures are on the way victoria al-jazeera well police in brazil's largest cities are breaking up illegal parties to try and slow the advance of covert 90 curfews have been imposed in several major cities to prevent the spread of a local variant is helping drive

a surge in factions in the past 24 hours brazil to more than 79000 new cases and close to 2500 deaths. the situation is getting worse in other parts of latin america chile is reporting infection rates close to record highs last seen in june despite most of the nation being under a strict lockdown and argentina has imposed restrictions and is short of vaccines. in someone's areas with more on the situation. 79000 new infections in the last 24 hours that brings the number of infections up to nearly 12002400 deaths that brings that up 229-2000 deaths the i.c.u. beds in the brazilian hospitals breaking point 95 percent occupancy in rio de janeiro a similar situation around the country hence these measures by the author it is in rio de janeiro to close the b. is there also stopping buses coming into the city bringing tourists to those

beaches they've done that before the question now is whether they will police it whether they will stop people massing on the beaches they also have to put up with the president of the country job also nado encouraging people to go to the beaches and take in the sun and he's saying that's a good idea so they can soak in victim in d. which will allow them to fight the cove in 1000 virus so that is a problem always in brazil you have the national authorities led by the president telling people to go back to work ignore the measures not wear masks and then you have city councils state governors trying to fight against the virus telling people to stay indoors and not work so a difficult situation there as the numbers continue to rise but let us now return to our top story the presidential election in republic of congo we can join malcolm webb live from brownsville and malcolm so polls have now opened how is it shaping up. the opening at the polling station is

a bit delayed and just a tiny handful of votes is who have come here waiting for it to open waiting to vote in one of the things that a lot of people we've spoken to here over the last week have anticipated is a low turnout because a lot of people feel that this election doesn't really bring an opportunity to bring any kind of change and interestingly we were the same polling station just a few days ago when soldiers were voting and the difference is striking there were hundreds and hundreds of them all lined up in the yard waiting to vote in a process that rights activists said was not transparent soldiers are visible today but they're out on the streets as well as police the roads are closed no one's allowed to drive around they can only move on foot the internet being turned off as well the government's information minister told us that they did this during the last election because that information about the stress of an armed insurrection rights groups has said it's quite simply because the government's trying to hide

what it's doing not just one of many complaints that they have about the election they said there are problems with the electoral register and the voting process but some of the critics some rights groups say even before this whole process began because former opposition candidates are in jail because rights activists are targeted they say that there isn't really any freedom of speech anyway and so there isn't really the space for a democratic process and some drama as well as one of the opposition candidates kola has ended up in hospital conveyed. yeah one of the most prominent of the 6 opposition candidates running in this election is the son of a very well known politician he missed his final rally appearing at his final rally here in the capital in brother bill on friday and saturday evening published a video message from a hospital bed he was wearing an oxygen mask he spoke to his supporters doing them

to vote for change saying the words i'm in trouble now. potential cause for tension before the internet was not some of his supporters on social media were already speculating that he'd been poisoned by the government certainly no evidence that that happened at all but the mistrust in the government runs the. any health problems regarding an opposition candidate certainly risk inflaming tensions in the parts of the country where he has a substantial support base or american but with the day progresses thanks very much indeed to mark webber 40 people who want the united nations to impose sanctions and send peacekeepers to stop the military's violence that's a message from andrew koch with the un's top official in the country but while sanctions would target the they could also cost people working in the garment industry the only source of income has this. once again protesters head

out onto the streets here in town with a ward in the center of young gone and once again they're forced back carrying their injured after being met by brother bullets and live rounds. a new tactic from the military bulldozers smashing through rows of cars and intent simply to terrorize and demoralize. as the violence is spread so has the destruction these clothing thanks is in yangon was set on fire last week it's not known by whom . in the last 5 years the garment industry has grown significantly under civilian rule but now many garment workers have joined the protests to full the new economic freedom could be lost he'd make. it is very stressful i am boring and straight for my own security recently i am fighting my fight to get what we want when we are fighting we have to face being arrested and fired any beaten by

had a pretty tough. to manufacture is it's a disaster sanctions are likely to cut off the factories and their workers source of income. and we've been urging our government to apply pressure. to end the coup but to do so on a manner that doesn't harm the workers is as we talked about before it's really important to make sure the workers have their livelihoods protected the rights you know i would. and forced labor on the streets of yangon this mobile phone footage shows civilians being forced to carry sandbags for the police when one full to as he's made to crawl on his hands and knees more in dignity is at the hands of those who is supposed to protect and serve tony chang al jazeera. still ahead here on al-jazeera one day 9 lives cut short families of activists killed by security forces in the philippines call for justice.

i am angry protests in turkey after president one pulls out of the istanbul convention to protect women from violence. but. now over the last few days it's got cold for most of us who has come down from the north as has the clout of the still a big circulation rather an area of high pressure which is just the west of ireland so when does this sort of thing but it's caught into it a bit warmer and so although it's cold now as that thing comes out and cooler a warm front if you like it's still cold enough to g.'s rain or snow in poland the baltic states and train back to the alps as well but they are temporarily behind it gets a little warmer now where that cold air before it reached the waters the mediterranean is set up for the last load of storms or persistent rain or snow on the high ground

and that will keep going as you can see we're now into monday and you've still got that northerly breeze against the wall which was used to what the snow for you of the car pays you know out and beyond that but burdens warmed up a bit to 8 degrees and paris is about 10 degrees now we just sadness because most of the actions in the mediterranean anyway it spills over into the north of africa that we see any proper weather and we have a spot as might see some what is now early spring snow was rain going to in algeria it's quite a stormy system here but we're dragging dust out of the sahara through egypt it will be nasty for a couple of days. frank assessments the world is on the brink of a catastrophic model failure is that a fair assessment you see a catastrophic failure to twice 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's global headlines inside story. again you're watching al-jazeera remember the top stories this hour and polls have opened in the republic of congo's presidential election president dennis us who goes so is expected to extend his 36 years in power some opposition candidates are either in jail or hope just refused to stand. protests have been held across europe

calling for covert 19 restrictions to be lifted as the continent struggles to cope with another rising infections many countries are returning to lockdown. police in brazil's largest city of san pablo the breaking up illegal parties to slow the advance of covert curfews are being imposed in several major cities to prevent the spread of a local various. a state of emergency and curfew have been imposed in the u.s. city of miami beach after large crowds gathered over spring break without following social distancing rules the mad describe the situation is out of control police struggle to break up parties in restaurants and on the streets from saturday everybody must stay indoors between 8 pm and 6 am and businesses in restricted areas will be closed our city right now in this area has become a tinder and we cannot have a policy of simply hoping that it's not lit we have to be one of those incidents

happen we cannot act in the wake of something when it's america's largest state but alas crisp oste populated and known for its harsh terrain some villages and rarely accessible by boat or by plane it is being hailed as a vaccine success story nearly 40 percent of its people have received at least one taste and alaska is the 1st u.s. state to offer the jobs to everybody from the age of 16 diplomatic editor james bass reports now from anchorage. with an outside temperature of minus 15 degrees celsius this is a drive through vaccination center in anchorage the biggest city in alaska the u.s. because of its wealth and power has vaccinated a higher percentage of people than most countries in this state which is more than 1700000 square kilometers is the largest state in the union has done better than nearly anywhere else in the nation we are very fortunate alaska that we have actually been able to open eligibility up to everyone 16 and above at this point

how did you get to that point it has been an incredible effort throughout the state in a lot of incredible collaboration with our local and state partners those receiving the vaccine seem appreciative of the state cephus they've taken very seriously from the onset because of the native population and the potential for that outlying communities in the native villages to be decimated by the all. the bad virus and we've seen things like this happen before so they're taking it very seriously which is great 1000 percent of people here have been fully vaccinated and already life is returning to a kind of normality with restaurants retailers and sports facilities all back open for business the figures for alaska are amazing this state has vaccinated a far larger percentage than most us states and just compare this possibly populated state with many countries for example alaska has vaccinated more people

than nigeria a country with a population of over 200000000 people a real achievement for the health care workers in a state with 800000 residents but at the same time clearly an indictment of the way vaccines have been distributed globally james pays al-jazeera anchorage. hundreds of people have protested in the u.s. city of atlanta violence against asian americans the rally on saturday was prompted after 8 people including 6 women of asian descent were killed by a white gunman 21 year old robert aaron long is facing murder charges. according pakistan has sentenced 2 men to death for a gang rape that triggered public outrage in new anti rape laws the men attacked a mother in front of her children last year when a car run out of fuel on the motorway or was more than a policeman blame the victim for driving at night without a male companion the 2 men say they will appeal decision. hundreds of

people have been protesting in turkey off of the government withdrew from a european women's rights treaty i because say the istanbul convention is crucial to fighting problems like domestic violence but critics argue it's incompatible with turkish values was under as this report. the landmark treaty protecting women from violence bears the name of turkey's largest city now in istanbul there's anger that turkey is walking away from the accord it was 1st to sign a decade ago because the letter thank you randi said to me i wasn't feeling safe as a woman even before this and after this i feel like i'm in the unsafe environment at least there was a law a decision that i was leaning on but now i feel like i don't have any support i feel vulnerable in 2011 more than 45 governments promised to take tougher action on domestic violence marital rape and female genital mutilation. but conservative

groups and officials from the governing ak party have long argued it's inconsistent with turkey's values and undermines the traditional family unit tayyip erdogan ordered his country's withdrawal and a presidential decree the government says turkey's laws are enough to protect women and their rights but not everyone agrees that on. every day women a killed in the streets in the bus in the car there are women who are beaten by the lovers in an elevator when you get to that place they say it's ok because your husband forgive them for the sake of your children but when that woman returns home the same police offices there a day after to take a to have funeral how are they protecting us rights groups say violence against women and deaths are on the rise in turkey there is being. made last year only last 100. $170.00 cases were unidentified

so women are saying. investigate why we are we are being well why do you. * turkey's not alone in turning its back on the istanbul convention conservative and populist governments in hungary poland slovakia and bulgaria have all moved to prevent the accord from being ratified when you have a situation where people in charge think they can score political points by withdrawing even nominal protections for women and vulnerable populations you have a situation where people who would like to target them believe they can do so without any sort of penalty. protesters like these in istanbul say they'll fight on insisting their years long struggle won't be a race by the stroke of a pen. alexandra byers al jazeera. the families of 9 people killed in

a single day by state forces in the philippines earlier this month the calling for justice they say their loved ones were peaceful activists targeted for criticizing the government the police say they were communists rebels who resisted arrest to milan and has the story now from manila. it was the worst day for activists in the philippines in recent years on march 7th a series of operations conducted by state forces resulted in the deaths of 9 activists in several parts of the southern loose on region rosalee in the saloon douglas says she was asleep with her husband melvin the sick go and their children when police force their way into their home melvin sands she says was behind his head it was an act of surrender she says but melvin was still shot several times by will well that's what they say you have weapons we don't even have money for food we are dependent aide after our house was there were stated by 8

a fool unless the same or they stripped us of our humanity and our dignity have you no heart no conscience you kill us like animals because we join your elise markley because there was a friend and colleague of melvin was also killed he lived across the street people here tell us it was a wrong 4 30 in the morning when they heard a group of armed men forced their way inside mark leese house they say they heard his family pushed out of the house before markley was shot several times right here . their home is abandoned now and in other parts of result province poor boy and pull on the low crews were cousins who advocated for the rights of indigenous peoples they were killed the same way among those killed 2 were the couple shyly meet the evangelista and they're here live on the least they're from but on this province both were killed by police just meters away from their son and on sunday

and in targum unity grieved the death of money as unshorn was a known labor rights organizer for many years. the police say all of the victims were killed because they resisted arrest and that led to what they call an armed encounter but rights groups here say this narrative has long been used by police since its so-called drug war began in 2016 the government has ordered an investigation into the killings burying all of them the president then. the order of the president was correct kill kill kill if your enemy has a gun to be shot and killed it is not the way elation under international humanitarian law if a soldier fires at an i'm gone minister but this is there a distinction between activist and variables of course there is a human rights activist say those who died had one thing in common they were freedom fighters were outspoken critics of the government. dog and al jazeera manila. part of the australian state of new south wales are experiencing

some of their worst flooding for decades house was seen floating down a river near the northern coast many in the region have fled their homes in this trench will rain continues people are evacuating cities out of. well jonathan how is a senior meteorologist at this trillion bureau of meteorology he explains what's causing these heavy rains. very dangerous a significant flooding event on 40 across the new south wales and including the biggest city of sydney are we have seen 2 wrencher right over the last number of days and at least 4 major flood warnings out covering parts of western sydney and then for to the right is coastal anytime soon house a massive i.q. ations and the main dab city organic dab had to basically be stilled overnight and so i personally like a situation there right now across northern australia there is a tropical low sitting just over northern possible within australia that's driving

a lot of tropical moisture into central parts of australia and there is a warning out it rankle across the northern territory and as you say this is the australian interior so this is the desert we are seeing a potential for flooding over the next few days and this is just the systems i should have moved into eastern parts of australia over the coming 24 to 48 hours and this will link up with the system across new south wales and basically create a multi-state a couple 1000 kilometer long right under storm band on monday and tuesday and it could rain be right some of that. have same some incredible totals over the last couple of days since thursday the highest who we have seen is 860 millimeters that's about 34 inches of rain in just over 3 days so not surprisingly we are seeing these really major floods and how we get into wednesday we could see up to one meter of rain to some new south wales so it is going to be quite a beach and national event. 19 reg's months of the global economy many countries have plunged into the worst recessions and both robert pride reports taiwan not

only managed to but the trend is expecting further growth this year. restaurants and stores are full shopping districts busy with people out spending. it all points to an economy enjoying its own mini boom while much of the world is still mired in a pandemic gloom just a year ago as countries were quickly closing borders because of the spreading coronavirus prospects for this small island so close to the pandemic source in neighboring mainland china looked grim. i met it here taiwan where we experienced certain downturn where our counter software like a minus 4 percent g.d.p. of course instead taiwan grew its economy by more than 3 percent last year growing faster than mainland china for the 1st time in decades with 5 percent growth predicted for this year successes due in part to the economies reliance on

semiconductor chip production which has boomed during the pandemic but it's underpinned by early and decisive public health measures that have created a safe haven that's encourage companies to relocate from the mainland in line with government policy there clearly a lot of job opportunities especially high tech industries because that the government policy is trying to encourage it also high tech. back to taiwan then there were the taiwanese living overseas returning to avoid the effects of the pandemic elsewhere i have a lot of friends that came back from new york from california a lot of part of the world so our decision to come back was for safety or for the freedom because we can you know still have a normal life here while we're young chief how is a real estate agent from chicago now doing business remotely online from taiwan it

means dealing with a 12 hour time difference but it keeps him earning money that he spends in taiwan u.k. you know be with your family you can take the public transportation and live your normal and why. he like so many people here largely enjoying the kind of normal that for much of the rest of the world is still a memory problem bride al-jazeera. so this is our dessert these are the top stories in polls open in the republic of congo's presidential election dentist. who is expected to extend his 36 years in power the main opposition candidate peabody's perfect who is hospitalized with covert 19 people to vote welcome webb has the latest now from brazzaville one of the things that a lot of people we've spoken to here over the last week haven't.