yes a very very strong speech from the supreme leader khamenei he is the spiritual and political leader of this country and also he has the final say on foreign policy now what was interesting when he was talking about the way he's position and therefore iran's position seems to be unchanged that is that iran will not return to their commitments in the 2015 nuclear deal longer so united states does not return to the deal and lift those sanctions but that's not the only thing he has said that they need to verify that those sanctions have been lifted and understand what that means is iran would have to be able to sell a tanker of oil and that money must be able to come back into iran of course there are sanctions on iran's oil and banking sector but also when he was talking about the economy he was encouraging the administration produces in this country to be self reliant and he said that they should they should work on the basis of that the

sanctions will not be lifted and that's a very very interesting point and very strong points coming to the j. c.p.o. even criticism of the rouhani administration he said we are not in a hurry and he said that when we signed up to the way we were in a hurry and we implemented our part on the ground in terms of actions where the united states pledges were only on paper and what he seems to be indicating there is that he's preference to the j.c. was an incremental like for life like action if you mean if you put it that way that iran does something and then the united states or something then iran does something does a further commitment and then the united states does something he seemed to criticize a hard ministrations signing of that it was a comprehensive agreement that iran implemented all these changes on the ground in terms of nuclear enrichment reducing that nuclear stockpile closing down nuclear plants having these inspections were so united states hasn't done anything and what

and this has now is somewhat to be in error. called by some high officials farmers to develop the reef has also said that talk is easy they want to see action so in terms of the. looks like iran is not budging listed in this stalemate where iran is saying to the united states you are the one that left the deal you are the ones that impose sanctions you come back you lift our sanctions let us verify and then we will return to our commitments and of course this was you might say to a certain extent. a way of sending a message to all of those potential candidates who want to stand for the presidency because he also was very specific about the qualities they would need they have to be an efficient person a faithful person a person who could administer justice they'd have to be corrupt they'd have to jihadi and revolutionary approach to iran and bring national unity in a country that should not see polarized nation. yes look the presidential

elections in a few months last year were the parliamentary elections which saw the lowest turnout since the revolution in 1989 know. how many the supreme leader wants a massive turnout it was a big turnout he said that is a cause of national dignity at home and abroad in terms of authority for the political establishment and it was a call and a defense for the political establishment here he talked about the office of the president and the responsibility and the power that it has now the reason why he is mentioning the power and responsibility because certain previous presidents have. just slightly criticized the position of president saying that the responsibility is more than the power that they are given and. how many dismissed this actually said that this is a very high office that he has responsibility but also has the power in terms of the budget and when he talked about the characteristics of the president look the presidential elections are coming up the guardian council here vets those

candidates and decides who can stand and who cannot stand and watch what the supreme leader here is doing is quarreling for a call of unity a big turnout act so the united states find it hard to discredit the elections here you mentioned social media and how foreign intelligence agencies are using social media to persuade people not to come out to vote or undermine the political process here and really what we're looking forward to now is these presidential elections who will stand and what the voter turnout will be. back in tehran thanks very much course we'll dip in with you later it gets more analysis of reaction from the capital let's join house and at the end is a professor of middle east studies at the university of tehran joins me now via skype from there good to have you with us as the indian on the program to just get your initial reaction to what the supreme. mini had to say the supreme leader a very forceful forthright speech to the nation to quite an auspicious time.

so i think the speech was strong in many ways but what stood out in his was where is poor and stomp on policy on the j.c. iran and relationship with the united states and the internal issues that are also related to the united states and the way for instance production and focus in on this aspect saying that the sanctions will not be. just based on this is basically part of that also our policy debate within the country so i think it's a sort of a roadmap or are they year that is just started. and it's domestic but also in its foreign policy we have elections than we have and what ministration the united states that seems to have you know that seems stuck in the previous

policy strong. and not moving away from it and we have also economic problems and all sorts of issues that he has put on but what stood out i think is. that there are many forums ready by him and many other points are not actually 'd they have been part of this debate written words i mean he's written beans audience give them a bit of weight indeed how does how does this time of the day how does say what the supreme leader have to say about foreign policy now embolden the more conservative elements of parliament and also the more conservative candidates all vying for the presidency because he's made it very clear to the u.s. to certainly those a signature is to the j c p a way if the sanctions by the u.s.

are not lifted and if iran cannot sell its goods and services. a broader import like any other nation around the world we just don't care we're not going to deal with you because we ourselves sufficient i mean it's a very strong message to send to a country that is and we have seen in the past 18 months having great difficulty in trying to appease its population that are very frustrated with sanctions of the straighted with obviously a deep covert 19 problem that it does have. so i don't see that you know. the presidential elections are on the corner so whatever direction you want us relations on the job a problem that's short it's not going to have an abstract drag and quick effect on the economy to then affect the elections i don't see it on

folding that way so i don't see him basically preferring one party against the other but certainly as his own preferences but 'd what i what i'm sensing from the speech is that we know we need not to hurry because the united states is the policy of the united states is based on the assumption that the when you are going to hurry and that's why they are trying to extract more concessions we need to focus on to passing the building which is the main play that we use throughout this. city building to gauge the u.s. not to wait for this 2nd point which i think it's very important is that this is a consensus. which means high came out of the supreme national security council the main. body that comes out that you know sentences. back to this which i think is very important as the great fight others but.

as i give that more weight than the regular. ones that i think is a month important that compliance compliance with with some friends but that didn't even say that we will go over compliant assume that the united. lives with. which has been the main point in the minds of many in our reporting on the nuclear issue and that. is that you know that by which me. which speaks to the other or another debate within iran that the states is not trustworthy b. and we can't guarantee if we get back to the same level of compliance with the j c if you wait before the united states can yes do it then we will we might face and not there necking on the part of the united states so i think there are enormous

problems are very important but. you know if you're as i think it's when you're pushing back against that at some point and wife and. the girls that enter iran that iran is in a hurry and that you focused on that one basically the construct in this saying that we will continue there and we will be that well. then you will think push back against sanctions or see what happens and so the more to come ashore from worth herad in the coming days has an end but the only thank you very much for joining us from the university of tehran. now voters in the republic of congo are electing a new president dennis assists or gesso is one of the world's longest serving leaders and is widely expected to stay in power 7 people who are vying for the top job but some opposition candidates are either jail or boycotting the poll the internet has been shut down and there are concerns

a vote is not transparent but one candidate gave. us is in hospital with covert 19 but he's urging people to get out and vote. compared to. my dicom party it's i'm in a difficult situation i'm fighting death i demand that you rise up and go vote for change fight don't give up the fight rise up please do this from a committee of welcome where those at a polling station in the capital process will. along the polling stations we went around the center of the city indeed very few people there's a few more people in this district in the south of the capital brazzaville there's a short line of people waiting to vote here but clearly out there who's sick in hospital widely reported to have posted this is an area where he supported where he's popular now the internet's been switched off a little actually went off early this morning but before it went off in some parts of the country collectors supporters started showing messages on social media

saying that they believed he'd been poisoned by the government while there's no evidence that that's happened or certainly a very deep mistrust of the government and so is his health is to is to be seen as to who have been harmed certainly something that could be quite inflammatory the african union they are living in a couple of other organizations but no one that has any kind of history or track record of being critical the only the last one standing among the observers who might have been critical or expected to be with the catholic church in the local civil society organizations that have been blocked for a lot of these democracy activists say that even before today's whole began there was no chance of having a democratic process too with a prominent candidate from the last election they said they'd won and they were cheated after a victory when they disputed the result they were tried and they were accused of plotting an armed insurrection to overthrow the government sentenced to 20 years of

forced labor each so it's already in the context of what some people described as. elections going ahead other rights activists have been detained and jailed and so a lot of these people say that just simply isn't enough freedom of speech to have a serious political campaign or a democratic process in the 1st place. to syria who were child is amongst 5 civilians killed after regime forces shoulder hospital it happened in other probes . city in western aleppo attacks on health care facilities are common in the region mostly blamed on the government and its allies the world health organization says over more than 300 attacks on medical sites in the past 5 years the u.s. secretary of defense has made an unannounced visit to afghanistan lloyd austin met with president musharraf gani after leaving india earlier on sunday austin sense and the reason for visiting was to hear gandhi's concerns that the head of a deadline agreed with the taliban to withdraw u.s. troops by may the 1st in terms of an end date or setting

a specific date for withdrawal. that's sort of made up my botched. but. you know the decision that the president will get some point in terms of how he wants to approach is going forward and i want to try to my boss job for him you need for me to do that i will put continue to do it in a very meaningful way in their view that's going. well while israel continues as one of the world's fastest campaigns for inoculating those suffering from cave at 19 palestine is only just begun to roll out its general public to the general public the palestinian authority's president mahmoud abbas was the 1st to get a shot the health authority received more than 60000 vaccine doses on wednesday through the international cave vaccine which helps poor countries that abraham has

more from ramallah. the health ministry of. health. care is above the age of 75 and then those who. finish their treatment before they get administered. definitely a good. many palestinians have been waiting for. the pandemic and it comes at a really difficult time because never. a year ago and this is why many have been to the medical centers we're standing in front of a medical center here. where we've been seeing tens of people. waiting to get inoculated somebody even under 75 when they were trying to kind of negotiate their way in to get. remember that we're talking about 6000 they're not going to

be enough for everyone and the ministry is saying that they're prioritizing those but many do not trust the palestinian authority they have received before from israel and. some of these to the official than there are so many. want to make sure that everyone who has a relative all the wonderful that they would get the. saudi arabia's oil companies profits. in 2020 to 49000000000 dollars 44 percent drop. global prices during the pandemic oil prices have rallied recently as 2. levels after the. now the company has seen its annual profits fall over the starters. in 28. it's been another violent day in me and bought 4 more protesters were killed and others critically injured on sunday the military's increased use of

violence hasn't stopped the anti huge demonstrations people in mandalay held a rally at dawn to minimize the risk of confrontation with security forces health care workers lined up on the main road to chance slogans the united nations representative says people want the un to impose sanctions and send peacekeepers to stop the violence teaching has more from bangkok in neighboring thailand. those protests in mandalay that took place at the crack of dawn this morning again because the protesters want to minimize the risk of confrontation we've heard in the last hour or so that there has been further confrontation in men lay in the own pin lower districts around 107th and 59th street the area apparently was surrounded by security services not just police but armored vehicles as well and since then residents have been seeing a lot of black smoke rising there saying that some of the barricades the protesters have put on the streets but also houses have been set on fire and they're hearing

a lot of gunshots we've got confirmation of one wounded so far but a lot of protesters appear to be trapped in that area it's a developing situation them information is very hard to get out of the moment also because mobile internet service is a down and sort of wife i.x.'s people can get is very patchy too. but it does appear that the security service is having let those process go ahead they are now closing in on the protesters elsewhere we've seen lots of other protests going on in money was in. the 2nd region smalling the security services crackdown on the protests there one fe town t. confirmed from a head shot 2 others in critical condition and then again we are seeing lots of people in these protests being killed with and injured with head shots which suggests the use of army snipers as we've seen in many places as the security services have cracked down but protesters are still going on. possibile straightly

in search of new south wales are experiencing some of the worst flooding in decades the house was seen floating down the river movie northern coast many of the region have been told to evacuate their homes to ritual rains continue people are evacuating cities out of supposed to. our 1st and foremost priority is to save lives save as many properties as possible but also to give people enough warning of what's occurring and i appreciate in parts of the media and north coast region which are experiencing a one in 100 year event there's been sustained damage to infrastructure there's been sustained damage to how people communicate and move around and i just want to say that everybody in new south wales is experiencing that fear and that anxiety that afterwards with you will get assistance to you as soon as we can top of the homes they see their meteorologist at australia's bureau of the trawler tree he explains what's behind the heavy rains very dangerous a significant flooding event in 40 of course is 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 on for to the right any time soon we are have same massive evacuations and the main dav city where we camped there had to basically be stilled overnight and so i. situation there right now across northern australia there is a tropical lawyers sitting just over a normal process in australia that's driving a lot of tropical moisture into central parts of australia and there is a warning of it rainfall 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 actually going to be 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 couple 1000 kilometers long right under storm band on monday and tuesday and this could really be right some of that close. where i have seen some

incredible totals over the last couple of days since there's a heist who we have seen is 860 millimeters and that's about 34 inches of rain in just over 3 days so not surprisingly we are seeing these really major floods and as how we get into wednesday we could see up to one meter of rain to some us in new south wales so it is going to be quite a beach and national. america's largest state is being hailed as a vaccine success story alaska is sparsely populated and known for its harsh terrain so villages only accessible by boat or by plane but nearly 40 percent of its population have received at least one dose of diplomatic editor james bays reports now from anchorage. with an outside temperature of minus 15 degrees celsius this is a drive through covert 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 and this state which it 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 in 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 for 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 states for merchants saying curfew has been imposed in the u.s. city of miami. large crowds gathered there over the spring break without following social distancing rules now the mayor described the situation as out of control police struggled to break at parties in restaurants and on the streets from saturday everyone must stay indoors between 8 o'clock in the evening to it's 6

o'clock in the morning and businesses in restricted areas of miami beach 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 before one of those incidents happen we cannot in the wake of some police in brazil's largest cities are paolo breaking up the legal parties to slow the advance of covert 19 curfews have been imposed in several major cities to prevent the spread of a local variable that's helping to drive a surge in infections in the past 24 hours brazil registered more than 79000 new cases and close to 2 and a half 1000 deaths was covered 900 wrecks much of the global economy many countries have plunged into their worst recessions in decades but the bride report taiwan not only managed to buck the trend is expecting further growth this year. restaurants

and stores are full shopping districts busy with people and spending. it all points to an economy enjoying its own mini boom while much of the world is still mired in a pandemic flu 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 taiwan where we experienced certain downturn where our counter staff were 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 are a lot of job opportunities especially high tech industries because that the government policy is trying to encourage it also high tech factory 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 here is normal and what he like so many people here largely enjoying the kind of normal but for much of the rest of the world is still a memory problem bride al-jazeera. voters in israel head to the polls on tuesday for the 4th parliamentary elections in 2 years and opinion polls suggest there will be no clear winner in a tight race prime minister benjamin netanyahu is trying to. work out a new strategy and he surprised many by publicly courting palestinian israeli voters a groupie previously saw as a threat to his electoral success are the force that has more. is not the 1st time benjamin netanyahu has focused on israel's palestinian citizens during an election campaign in 2015 he tried to boost right wing turnout by warning of quote arabs coming to the polls in droves and 2019 facebook suspended a chat bot on his account which had arab politicians wanted to quote annihilators

all this time the message is very different than. a campaign video presents palestinian israelis supporting a prime minister who among other things is pledging to address the number one issue . a surge in violent crime sparking protests against the israeli police the failing to tackle it and it was really me i'm committed to bringing in into the violence and the crime in your communities this is a national assignment that touches each and every one of you and your children. in the northern city of haifa friday night jar is reopening his restaurant after months of coded $1000.00 in forced closure for him netanyahu is pitch is missing the mark he's a hypocrite if we say this 20 times it's not enough they don't want any alliance with arabs they never have they'll never give us our rights. the same goes for the

customers we spoke to even those who become frustrated by the palestinian israeli parliamentary block so see on and dad i'm not entirely happy with the air parties because they haven't been working properly socially speaking things have been deteriorating especially the violence if you expect benjamin netanyahu to experience a sudden warm embrace from a group of voters that he spent previous elections casting is a threat to the prospects of a right wing government what he's looking for is just the tiniest slice enough voters to help him gain that extra one or 2 seats that could prove crucial to his chances of forming a coalition for activists and analyst jeffrey fara that means improving on the 10000 palestinian israeli votes netanyahu is likud got last time of 660000 votes cast more and more voters actually. support the parties and listen listen for. these so i don't expect a really big. supporter of that you know on the likud but still he can get

potentially one. he may also benefit from a split in the joint list palestinian israeli grouping the breakaway united arab list says it may work with netanyahu after the election. however that plays out one broader change is emerging in recent polling a growing acceptance of the political legitimacy of a sector of society for so long kept at arm's length harry force it out just era haifa israel. you watch it all jews are of means the whole romola reminder of our top stories iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali how many has said that u.s. economic sanctions are a major criminal act how many call them officials to turn sanctions into an opportunity you also address the issue of the iran nuclear deal specifically attacking the tactics employed by the form.