our society has structural racism built into it. and. people tend to be migrant labor. and. a natural disaster declared in parts of eastern australia as people are forced to flee severe flooding. and forgive this is a live from doha also coming up the leading opposition figure in the congolese election has died the day after the presidential vote with early results expected

in a few days we look at what. he's been our return to detain and now we see that the process itself is not transparent. is denied access to a trial in beijing for one of its former diplomats on charges of espionage. israel prepares for its 4th election in 2 years proportions remain the prime minister benjamin netanyahu will manage to secure a majority of the knesset. we begin in australia where a natural disaster has been declared in parts of the east coast with homes destroyed and rescues under way the state of new south wales is battling the worst flooding in decades the forecast is for conditions to improve by wednesday but for now people are bracing for more heavy rain the kola gauge reports from the town of windsor west of sydney. regions under water and many people

breaking point days of torrential rain have turned parts of eastern australia into an inland sea ruining homes and destroying livelihoods several areas have been declared disaster zones and tens of thousands of people ordered to leave others are on standby watching what happens next is only one bridge at the moment one road in and one road in the future cup we will know and emergency services have been inundated with calls for help dozens of people trapped by rising floodwaters have been rescued but many farm animals forced to why as rivers burst their banks and dams spilled. communities are becoming increasingly cut off here in windsor west of sydney this is the main bridge completely under water along with buildings and more rain is on the why people get to evacuate are writing to protect homes sandbagging

properties and hoping for the best. you know why it's pretty bad others are already counting the cost sorry where is your business just over the bridge patrick muskets business is under water 100 acres of lawn that he commercially grows flooded destroying all of this season's stock a loss of millions of dollars. it's very scary not knowing what's going to happen and not knowing. what's happening. yes we just got a light to say and if we haven't siphoned everything say from the farm it's been a year since precision to bushfires burnt across this region before that severe drought one emergency its aims after the next some communities who were battered by the bush was and now being battered by the floods and drought prachi that and i don't know any time in our state history when we've had these extreme weather

conditions and such quick succession in the middle of a pandemic some are calling this a one in 100 year disaster and weather experts are predicting the worst could be yet to come because the gauge al-jazeera winsor. the leading opposition candidate in the democratic republic of congo has died a day after the presidential election gabe response. was being transferred to france for treatment for covert 19 after being diagnosed on friday he was the main challenge of the veteran lated that he saw in case over right now votes are still being counted so who is widely expected to win extending his 36 years in power and nationwide internet blackout on sunday has added to concerns over transparency al-jazeera as malcolm web reports now from brazil. if we spoke to who saw him last week said he was visibly on well he had a cough and a fever then on friday was meant to hold his final rally in the center city center

here of brazil but he didn't turn up he was on well by that stage it was saturday evening he published dramatic video from a hospital bed holding an oxygen mask saying that he was fighting against death and he was on well and this morning we heard the news that he died while being medivac to france or possibly while in france now we're in the back congo area of brazzaville the capital at the moment where very many supporters and for them this is something that's very hard to accept and really now in many areas a lot of skepticism or people believe that the election won't bring any change but in this part of the city and some other have been areas close supporters are definitely motivated to kill more voters in polling stations in their was areas than we did in in other areas but with regards to affecting the results i mean a lot of people especially the opposition who are boycotting the rights activists say that there's no way that there would be any outcome other than start to ingress

so the president of nearly 40 years being announced the winner whether that was an authentic result or not so that's in that sense not expected to change but what we can expect to be much more sensitive now is the reaction of killer supporters to that result. china is holding a secret trial for a former canadian diplomat who's been detained in the country for more than 2 years diplomats from canada the us about 20 other countries gathered outside the court in beijing to show solidarity for michael covering who's accused of espionage he was detained in 2018 soon off to canada arrested a senior huawei executive has held separate proceedings for another canadian facing similar charges michael speight voice trial and it on friday without a verdict despite. the international agreement to china has signed

under the vienna convention that would allow. consular officers access to hearings for their citizens we are being denied that access we've made we've requested access to michael writes hearing repeated repeatedly but that access to the tonight. is you know. michael covert has been detained for more than 2 years now. he's been arbitrarily detained and now we see that the court process itself is not transparent china has defended its handling of the covert case of the qs is canada of meddling in its internal affairs . in canada has brought together some other countries diplomats in china and points fingers at china's handling of individual cases that is interference in china's judicial sovereignty we reject that and will by no means accept such interference

michael khobragade michael spade or are suspected of endangering china's national security and china's judicial organs will handle the cases and guarantee their rights and interests. i've thought of beijing of 0 as katrina you as the forests contribute it's happening behind closed doors given how tight lipped china has been about the whole process will can you tell us about this trial well it's been a very long drawn out legal process for both michael cover and michael speight will we've had very little information from the chinese government the ratan they've said that this is because these 2 cases are related to issues of national security but we know the birth of them were arrested in december 2818 months later they were formally charged with espionage and providing intelligence to outside sources now canada as we heard earlier has been highly critical of the way these cases have been handled in addition to a lack of transparency they say that they've been given very little access to the

outside world since they've both been detained now for more than 800 days and they've also raised questions about the amount of the amount of access they've had to chinese lawyers prior to the trials being heard on friday and today on monday now this case of course has also attracted a lot of international attention the business community for one are watching closely both men were known very well here among the ex-pat community they both lived in china for some years and of course as we just saw more than 20 diplomats from a number of countries including the us australia new zealand and a variety of european countries stood outside the court today in support of michael coverage and even u.s. president door biden has weighed into the case saying that the u.s. stands with canada on this issue and that human beings should not be used as battering chips come of that has described this is all staged diplomacy on the back of the arrests are after about chinese executives that was arrested in canada a u.s.

warrant i mean is this a case of tit for tat. well beijing a saying that these cases are not related that they have evidence against these 2 men but the timing is highly suspicious long want to know was detained in canada on the 1st of december just 9 days before both michael coverage and michael spadeful were arrested here in china now she is the daughter of run junge fayed the founder of chinese china's big technology company and she was at the time the c f o of the company and she was arrested in canada at the request of the united states which has accused her of breaking sanctions on iran now she's currently still fighting extradition to the u.s. but since her arrest the relationship between china and canada has really deteriorated let's have a listen to what beijing the foreign ministry spokesperson watching had to say earlier on this. we urge the canadian side to stop interfering in china's

judicial sovereignty and stop acting in ways inconsistent with its status and conform to their vienna convention in the monkeys canada acted as an accomplice which is very dishonorable we urge once again to release miss monkey and allow her to get back to china safe and sound. now the timing on these cases are very similar but the conditions under which these people are arrested long one joe and michael and michael coggan michel's they have vastly different for one long wonders case has had a high level of transparency there in canada she has a last legal team defending her case and also she is allowed to live out the process waiting under house arrest in her mansion in vancouver where she's been allowed to live with the family and had much access to the outside world despite having a g.p.s. tracker on her ankle which is ensuring that she doesn't leave canada during this process which is there is country you live for us in beijing to treat

a body thanks dude security forces in myanmar are responding with increasing violence to mc crew protests across the country. this was the moment when police shot a man off his motorcycle in the northern city of mandalay he was later a schoolteacher way by police it's unclear how badly the man was hurt or war or has happened to him since the protests have continued across me on march nearly 2 months after its civilian government was deposed in a military coup people have been turning out despite the rising death toll rights groups say that the only 250 people have been killed since the demonstrations began . the european union is set to impose sanctions on a number of people linked to military coup to block the block foreign ministers a meeting that expected to take the most significant action against military officials yet. today we will discuss miramar what we're

witnessing near in terms of violent excesses is absolutely unacceptable the amount of murders has reached an unbearable stage and that's why we can't avoid imposing sanctions aimed at those in charge of what's happening on the streets what are from his own parish. e.u. foreign ministers talking about myanmar one of the main topics on the agenda for their meeting today they've announced sanctions against at least 11 military leaders and police officers and their business is that these are all individuals linked to the fabric now what these sanctions will entail is a freeze of any assets of these travel ban businesses and investors banks the normally do business with any of the companies that belong to these military leaders and police officers well they will be banned from being able to continue to do so now these are the most important and

significant penalties that have been imposed on myanmar since the coup they are they do add of course to sanctions are imposed on the country in 20184 hours leadership's role in its persecution of muslim minority but they are as i said this is really the main response from the e.u. since the coup the priority for the european union they have made it very clear is that the ongoing violence must stop and that myanmar must return to a part of the democracy. the weather next here on al-jazeera then japan lifts a coronavirus state of emergency as the government comes under more pressure ahead of the olympic games. feeling the. other child is among 7 people killed in a syrian hospital that's been hit by government shelling. it's

time for the perfect gentleman who went sponsored point qatar airways there even the cold winter follows this system here he's going to die out fairly soon so we may get a few with snow showers on the western side of the mountains of honshu it's cold front after all the air should be colder the sun is strengthening and the wind is going to turn around to the southwest so when tuesday you've got this sort of feed across the yellow sea and beyond so sunshine out wind from a warm direction temperatures will rise or 20 in beijing 16 in tokyo which will rise to 20 i think by wednesday there is rain proper just curl up into what tries to be a little low pressure system as it goes off shore produced some fairly heavy downpours temporarily in taiwan and useful weather i think useful because it improves the air quality still running through the far north of pakistan and it will affect northern

india including new delhi now most of india is pretty much dry them discussion of showers maybe they were down as far south as kara and certainly in sri lanka but the forecast a new delhi's probably a pleasing one for those who don't like the quality 1st of all thunderstorms and it could be a sundra day throughout shoes day and then once they've gone through the wind picks up and if the wind picks up it tends to blow in cleaner and so search deja day for improved air quality. to quit school to call qatar airways. mixing the traditional with the modern what he knew what to expect ignoring cars divides the only thing which united their force the music great music blaring through the speakers wielding the power of music to turn up the volume on india's social injustices when i saw the performance i was like wow and shake things out we went on status of the border status of the us witness causeless collective on

al-jazeera. well again this is al jazeera let's watch of the main news this hour waters are rising across parts of the australian state of new south wales a natural disaster has been declared in some regions after the worst flooding in decades. the leading opposition candidates in the democratic republic of congo breece profit colas has died he was being treated for covert 19 votes in the presidential election being counted presidents' day sussudio case who is widely expected to win. china's held a closed door trial for a canadian man accused of espionage michael coverage has been into tension for more

than 2 years canadian diplomats say they're being denied access to him. astra zeneca as corona virus vaccine has received a boost after data from the trial showed that it's safe and effective the study involved more than $30000.00 people from the u.s. chile and peru it showed the job is 79 percent effective in preventing covert $900.00 symptoms and 100 percent effective against severe illness several european countries halted astra zeneca shots earlier this month after reports that it was linked to blood clots but some now have resumed in occupations. japan has lifted a state of emergency in tokyo as pressure mounts on the governments to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control ahead of the olympic games under the measure imposed in january bars and restaurants a big closing at 8 pm or many other businesses have switched to remote working with

infections rising for months ahead of the games experts are warning against complacency. just days before the olympic torch relay begins to accuse organizing committee so they're taking all precautions to minimize the spread of the virus it's an effort to turn around public opinion with polls showing 80 percent of people in japan want the olympics canceled or postponed again. is that this week in fukushima the torch relay will start old though it is a grand starts we will greatly simplify it but not including spectators to prevent infection in addition we will take all possible measures in a safe and secure manner such as road side measures to prevent congestion at the torch relay as the opening approaches will continue to have the highest priority on safety jeff kingston is a professor of asian studies at temple university he says there's a number of factors in the government's decision to ease restrictions to spite

a rising number of new infections. what's driving this is clearly money and politics there are a lot of important stakeholders invest a lot of money in these games the i.o.c. depends on the television revenues for some big 90 percent of their revenues n.b.c. is paid a lot of money sponsors here have put up a lot of money and the government has invested you know close to $28000000000.00 preparing for the olympics so there's a lot of economic reasons to go forward. people had hoped for revival of the tourism sector but now they're banning foreign bans so the hope is that the olympics will be sort of a coming now party end of the pandemic and this will you know reassure people that can have a say and revive tourism which has just plummeted and this is had a really bad impact on the economy the political angle is sent soon is embroiled in

various scandals surrounding his son and nepotism and so he's in trouble and so he needs serve a feel good story to try to revive his political fortunes at the olympics and cancel ease in deeper trouble. all intensive care beds and paraguayan are occupied as covert 19 infections rise steeply authorities are trying to find more beds in the military has offered to help. a report style from one us are us. those on the medical front line in paraguayan the morning for some time that the health system was buckling under the strain nearly 200000 people infected with the covert 19 virus and 3700 dead because of their money. the health system is currently saturated on the verge of collapse we are fighting to safeguard the integrity and the life of our compatriots. he 655 i.c.u.

beds serving a country of 7000000 and now for so too and many other beds and the country's military has offered its facilities also supplies are running low then maybe you want me to be in there we've got supplies but not enough to treat the number of patients we are receiving right now we've got more than 120 and more are coming it's very intense. demonstrators earlier this month protested across paraguayan accusing the north or it is of corruption and mismanagement in the handling of the pandemic. these vaccines arrived as part of the code back scheme to supply poorer countries but critics say it's not enough. there's a similar picture across latin america this 3rd batch of the sin of backpack seen sent by china to colombia came with this message from the chinese president being told she was she was feeling he said the vast pacific ocean can stand in the way of the profound friendship between the peoples of china and colombia and that in the

face of the copied 19 outbreak the 2 countries have been working in solidarity and demick cooperation. but most ordinary people are still waiting peru has passed the grim milestone. 850000 beds i mean there are no respirators there's no i.c.u. bed says nothing so we have to wait for the patient to die and doctors tell us this from the inside of the hospital when we are out here. meanwhile in brazil hospitals are also reaching capacity nearly 12000000 people infected 293000 dead residents are being urged to stay indoors to stay away from crowds with even the famous beaches of rio de janeiro closed to visitors. one osiris venezuela's president has announced 2 weeks of what he's calling radical quarantine including the cancellation of easter celebrations nicolas maduro had

previously announced that there would be flexibility over the holiday period but festivities have now been called off after the detection of a coronavirus train that's blamed for soaring infections in brazil an emergency curfew has been extended for a week in miami beach in the u.s. state of florida following concerns over people partying during the pandemic or to go as a conveyor converged on the holiday destination for the spring break many without masks dan gelber says that student supreme flocking to miami beach after florida's governor called the state away says of freedom from covert buying team restrictions . a child is among 7 civilians killed in northwestern syria underground hospital was shelled by government forces it happened in the rebel held city of west of aleppo around 600 attacks on the health on health facilities have taken place in 10 years of conflict in syria laura but mandy reports. a place meant to

care for people and keep them safe the becomes a scene of chaos the hospital was hit by motorists 5 from a syrian army outpost. bloodstained survivors who carried out and treated elsewhere only. a child and health care workers died in the bobo couldn't be bad day to day father come to go of all of the medical staff were shocked this is the result of targeting this hospital the civil defense came and cleared the patients who are staying at the hospital and we have vacua to the building and medical staff and the injured. al-jazeera correspondent. reporting from the scene said the hospital is now empty and and fit for purpose this hospital provides medical services to more than 10000 patients every month the artillery shells fell here early this morning at the main entrance to the hospital the hospital is called

arabic the cave it was built underground for better protection against attacks but it wasn't enough. it's not the 1st time it's been targeted in 2018 al jazeera visited days after a bombing. at the doctors share the facilities location with the u.n. hoping to avoid being hit. it's that's just an incident that happened only deceit and we are only in the 1st quarter of a year so somehow it's really really sad to see that these. mean. so many times despite all these coordinates the u.n. saying that these. should be protected under international humanitarian law. west aleppo neighbors it's a province the last major areas held by rebels they and vast numbers of civilians accorded there by president bashar al assad's forces and their allies the own paper

being put under the protection of a cease fire signed in march 2020 between russia and turkey but it's continually violated. those killed have been buried near a type city more craving for a country that suffered so much devastation. laura garza many actors here at. opinion polls in israel suggest that its 4th election in 2 years on tuesday could end in another inconclusive result benjamin netanyahu is facing a fractured group of challengers after a dramatic decline in support for the formal opposition leader but he counts are a force of reports. in 3 consecutive elections benny gantz presented the strongest challenge benjamin netanyahu had faced in years. the former army chief had it the blue and white alliance helping deny netanyahu a viable coalition but failing to form one of his own his decision last year to split his alliance and break his central campaign promise by joining that and you

know in government the scene is standing crumble. we entered the government despite netanyahu not for nixon yahud we into the government because there was a health economic and social crisis when of the biggest israel has ever seen and we are not sideways all of us are soldiers for this country now he's campaigning for perhaps half a dozen seats on the basis that they can block legislation allowing us to escape his corruption trial dancer's collapse has left a fragmented field of possible alternatives to netanyahu leading the pack is yeah peed dances form a partner in blue and white a former finance minister in an earlier netanyahu government and now the number one target of netanyahu his campaign that by now he didn't start this way but now is complete cynic and he says this is the tool of they've hurting us from the things he doesn't want us to talk about peter's trying to downplay his own

prime ministerial ambitions wary of netanyahu as attempts to cast the election as a 2 horse race in which the pete becomes the scary left wing or gideon rock hard of the israel democracy institute says a split field makes it more difficult for the prime minister that danielle would like us to choose between 2 good chocolates but you have to face many good chocolates let's say and if you think about the voter as a consumer this is much more problematic for him and then yell in the unlikely chocolate box of israeli politics natalee bennett would be found well to the right of the prime minister he rules out working with lockheed that leaves the door to joining netanyahu at least partially open not so good on sour shy young netanyahu differ the painful truth is that netanyahu prefers his own personal interests over the interests of the country. his decision to leave the coup didn't challenge him from the right at the head of his new hope party was the big news is the campaign

began but his promised late surge in the polls has failed to happen. for all that's changed in terms of the lineup of challenges one thing has remained constant throughout this 2 year political crisis it really is all about benjamin netanyahu are a force of al-jazeera west jerusalem. that is kurds have you with us hello adrian figure here in doha the headlines on al-jazeera waters are rising across parts of the study and states of new south wales a natural disaster has been declared in some regions in the west flooding and decades nicolas cage reports from windsor northwest of sydney it's been raining for days and floodwaters continue to rise behind me is the main bridge in town and it's under water many buildings are inundated as well and people in the lying areas have been told to.