north korea fires 2 ballistic missiles and its 1st major provocation since u.s. president joe biden took office. a lot of a very very good this is al jazeera live from doha also coming out of a pandemic milestone for brazil its death toll crosses 300000 with hospitals of breaking point plus. doing everything they can to survive we report on the plight

of abandoned children in cameroon. at a sign of hope philippic torch relay begins in japan the 2 q. games postponed by the pandemic. tension is rising on the korean peninsula to north korea launched 2 ballistic missiles off its eastern coast it's the 1st significant provocation by pyongyang since u.s. president joe biden took office in january they were launched from north korea south province into the sea near japan the u.s. pacific command says the move threatens countries in the region south korea and japan have expressed deep concern and condemnation of pyongyang's actions. lucky to . you know here you are it is a threat to our country and to regional security and it's also

a violation of the united nations security council resolution will strictly protest and condemn their actions. i'm determined to closely cooperate with the united states south korea and other related nations to protect the lives of people on our from robin bryant who's in seoul for the past couple of years since the denuclearization talks have stalled north korea has returned to kind of carry on developing its weapons arsenal but it's been very careful largely to avoid these provocative but listing missile test which of which of course are banned under un resolutions it has instead been firing off and testing weapons systems rockets which are permitted under u.n. rules and we saw that just this last weekend with the firing of 2 lesser cruise missiles now these are weapons it is allowed to test and this was seen as in fact the 1st weapons test to confront the new incoming biden administration and the

white house largely ignored it well it's far harder for president biden to avoid but listing missiles as always with north korea it is often about timing and yes later thursday we have president joe biden's 1st full news conference so this will ensure of course that north korea will be front and center at that event he cannot avoid commenting on it from the region we have already had comments condemnation from japan and also from chunky young south korea's foreign minister that has been his expression of disapproval. we expressed deep concerns over north korea's latest firing of what appears to be short range ballistic missiles amid our government's various efforts to achieve the goal of complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula. now this is an important time of course with a new administration in the us north korea often chooses moments like this to test

out the incoming administration but we just had the secretary of state and to me blinken visiting northeast asia to formulate the u.s. strategy towards north korea and there was a feeling that north korea would wait and see to exceed what exactly that strategy looks like before responding wouldn't do anything provocative well this test thursday looks like it could be a change of heart a change of direction and this could well be north korea deciding it has nothing to lose and now is the time to round put pressure on the u.s. china's foreign ministry is urging all sides to continue diplomatic efforts to deescalate the situation we were talking in bandar hooking when so when the problem 3 dialogue in consultation serves the common interest of all and is the aspiration of the international community we call on all relevant sides to meet each other half way and continue to maintain the deescalation situation to advance

a political settlement and work for lasting peace and security on the peninsula north korea 1st launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2017 during tom donald trump's 1st year in office the following year kim jong un and trump met in singapore both committed to the complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula but the details were never finalized a follow up summit in vietnam collapsed and the 3rd meeting of the demilitarized zone also failed to bring about a resolution in 2020 north korea unveiled a new larger intercontinental ballistic missile a blue up or liaison office used for diplomatic talks with south korea robert kelly as a professor of political science and diplomacy of busan national university he explains the reasons behind north korea's sudden show of strength. my sense that this is probably typical north korea testing of a new u.s. president whenever there is a new president the united states or in south korea the 2 primary opponents of

north korea the north koreans usually poles some kind of stunt some kind of provocation missile tests have become particularly a big one for them in the last few years but they've done other things as well and they were quiet for a while during the trial period and so the missile tests are doing make a bit of a splash and have gotten a world attention i think that's what they want basically say you know we're still here it was you can sort of ignore us or bowlers i think most people assume that north korea doesn't actually want to start a war right away they had many opportunities to do this in the past i think the real concern is that you might have some kind of spark or things been out of control in the yellow sea for example their bench shoot outs and stuff like that passed at these things but out of control the north korea has substantially greater firepower to expand the conflict right you can now bombard japanese cities which is something it couldn't do as recently as you know 5 or 10 years ago expanded order include china i think that's people big concern the secondary concern is proliferation but we're going to sell these things or you know give away programs or sketches and things like that medical workers and l g b t activists to be have a lot of joint protest against the military coup and the crackdown on

demonstrations. on health care staff wearing white coats marched and rode in a motorbike convoy through the city of mandalay chanting slogans in support of the post president on sun suit shade in dull way people marched carrying rainbow flags. more than 300000 people have died in brazil since the pandemic began 100000 of them in just over 2 months president has long downplayed the threat of the virus but has recently agreed to take action. reports from rio. is brazil school the death toll keeps growing women across brazil have joined hands twin broidery their grief and the names of all those who died from coal bed 19 this by november the map

of america this panel has 2 and a half meters per presents only 0 point one percent of the number of victims we would need $1000.00 panels like this one for older victims that's another 2 and a half to law much as of. pressure against presidential aide who has been mounting as infections and death continue to spiral out of control brazil's bar association has asked the attorney general to charge president. with criminally mishandling the pandemic $500.00 bankers economists and business men wrote a letter asking the government to stop boycotting measures aimed at controlling the new wave of infections and to start heaving to the advice of doctors and scientists on tuesday night or went on television to say he was in favor of the vaccines he had criticised in the past and was slow to start finding raw brazil his words were greeted with poc banging protests with next year's presidential election in mind

also national met wednesday with representatives from congress in the supreme court one year after couvade 19 struck brazil the government has finally announced a committee to deal with the pandemic on a national level. meanwhile in this square 19 year old in ways that castro embroider the names of her daughter in law and a friend she says she can deal with the sorrow but not with the anguish of watching nothing being done. there for. everybody silent while president and out of school and the virus the masks and the vaccine even the church which threw up against the day the ship is holding its tongue i'm feeling very anguished knowing i have nobody to turn to she decided to write a letter to the pope but while waiting for an answer to her prayers in luisa and her friends will continue using their needle and thread to keep alive the memory of

brazil's 300000 meineke an i.q. i'll just sirrah. another setback for the oxford astra zeneca vaccine venezuela's president nicolas maduro says that he will last allow its import. then as well as authorized a set of vaccines that are going to enter the country no vaccine will enter the country nor should it be sent which has not been authorized by the national scientific institutes and health authorities astra zeneca slightly downgraded the effect of its covert dietary vaccine to 76 percent the company had alicia lee said it's true those jobs were 79 percent effective at preventing symptoms the u.s. agency overseeing vaccine trials and said the company's data was not up to date it's not including more results from a clinical trial held in peru chile and the us india says that is a texan was being described as a double mutant variant of the virus that was found in 206 samples in the state of

maharashtra at another night in new delhi a double mutant is an entirely new variant with the characteristics of 2 other previously identified types. the suez canal authority says that it suspended operations after a ship ran aground blocking the waterway the ship's japanese own a issued a statement saying that it's working hard to resolve the situation the 224000 ton container vessel or control in high winds and run aground it's causing heavy disruption to the fastest shipping route between europe and asia anjan tina's vice president says the nation is not able to pay back its debts on previously agreed terms and rates cristina fernandez said the pandemic has made things worse anjan tina's economy has been in crisis since 2018 when it asks the international monetary fund for a $57000000000.00 loan the country defaulted to private investors last year. all

those. we all know all of us that the terms and rates for the debt are not an acceptable it's a position that is subjective no it's not a problem of subjectivity the problem is we can't pay because we don't have the money to pay. a weather update back to what i was a 0 than the opposition in the republic of congo course the president's election when unfortunate. and a waiting game at israel after the vote prime minister benjamin netanyahu was face could rest in the hands of a new foreign policy. however we got the usual heavy showers across a good part of southeast asia behaviorist of which traveling the equator and we'll see some wet weather once again coming up into the middle

a peninsula in 58 millimeters of rain here in 24 hours and those showers continue across a similar line as we go on through a friday morning where sunshine then showers into the philippines and that set of the case across a good part of china over the next couple of days that what the weather will continue to plague the malay peninsula some are seeing some other wet weather and the heavy showers of course continuing into good parts of indonesia joining up with some very heavy rain that we have seen across northern parts of australia they say it's going to get over towards that eastern side of also eastern parts of new south wales looking a little better fending area of low pressure has now made its way across tasmania but not before it dumped record rainfall into that eastern side of tassie gray seeing around 275 millimeters of rain in the east and no time so that has caused widespread flooding heavy showers will continue to make their way across southern parts of australia as well into south australia cloud and rain easing towards

victoria and notice some what's. weather also feeding into we're new zealand but warm and in fact. it's one of the world's most powerful and dangerous criminal enterprises central to the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people and behind the deaths of many more exceptional access to some of its key players reveals the inner workings of an organization telling the name to many as the blood alliance inside this in a low a cartel part 2 of a 2 part investigation people in power on al-jazeera.

this is 0 let's remind you of the baby news this hour north korea has fired 2 ballistic missiles into the sea off its eastern coastline the u.s. pacific command has responded saying reaction show that pyongyang is a threat to a stable. one in 4 people dying of covert my team globally is brazilian although 300000 people died since that president triable sonora has downplayed the thrust of the virus for the last year. of astra zeneca was downgraded the effectiveness of its code by a team vaccine to 76 percent the company had initially said it's to tow strap for 79 percent effective at preventing symptoms including all results from trials. the opposition in the republic of congo has rejected the results of sunday's presidential election was fraudulent the electoral commission says that president

dennis so won by more than 88 percent of the vote most opposition politicians boycotted the poll or are in jail malcolm webb reports from brazzaville. political opposition in the republic of congo say they've been cheated electoral commission said president any sasser ingress a one with nearly 90 percent of the vote but you do tickle with a bone congo is not a democracy you can see what happened congress is a dictatorship pure and simple. presidential polls one sunday results were announced 2 days later the supporters here don't believe the results but also many of them say they're not surprised some of the opposition candidates boycotted the elections entirely to others who won in the last election are in jail serving sentences of 20 years forced labor that they were given off the challenging the result of the last election the police part of the most prominent opposition

candidates is dead was announced just after voting he tested positive for covert. many of his supporters think he was poisoned his party officials say they've discovered widespread irregularities like polling stations where the president won more than 6 times as many votes as the work people voting liberal politically not a democrat human history the union of human history strongly rejects these results as a whole and invites the constitutional court to do the same. then he sasso in queso has ruled for most of the last 40 years a french public relations company run his campaign along with the minister for education he told us the president's past record and charisma won him the vote over with yet in a party democracy can you say there is no democracy i think that those who are saying that are just in need of consoling themselves because they're not able to win an election. people complained of irregularities during the voting here dozens

of armed police came when opposition supporters said a ruling party official was ballot stuffing many opposition politicians and rights activist said there was never a chance of a democratic process in the 1st place if you thought a country just now working health care. human rights violation record told you some live angel who's going to be happy and maybe 8 percent no it doesn't make sense since there are so. many people we spoke to here say they wanted change it looks like they won't get it. malcolm webb al-jazeera brazzaville republic of congo . with post of the votes counted after israel's 4th election in just 2 years the clear idea of who will end up in power but it's a small palestinian israeli party which may hold the key force of reports from west . one months or

a bus decided to split from the rest of the mainly palestinian israeli joint list alliance and campaign separately it was a big gamble that earned him plenty of blowback now with 5 seats in the israeli parliament his united arab list in theory has the power to bestow either side a majority. vote so he can be kingmakers in the elections we need to 6 eighth's that we can establish our status and influence in politics for the future the next generation. of us is politics a religious and conservative right wing israeli politicians call him and he's ironist left wing is criticize his stance on. issues and yet his openness to engage with and potentially support either the bloc led by prime minister benjamin netanyahu or the one trying to remove netanyahu from power has shaken up israeli politics. during the campaign netanyahu ruled out the idea of allowing abbas into his coalition or even accepting his support from the outside but that was before

his bloc once again fell short of the 61 seats it needed and senior members of his party started openly discussing working with us for some even having such a conversation represents a political watershed the very engagement between the 2 particularly to the extent that it would be public is going to be a story transformative for israeli politics. from that point of view it could have results and outcome. and agreement. abbas isn't the only one celebrating the prospects of influence in the new parliament the far right religious sign is a movement also outperformed expectations and would be. welcomed in an s. and yahoo coalition. a buses party says it will sit with racists the opposition leader yolo pede also says a government relying on religious zionism would be dark and dangerous but marshalling his own coalition with support from our politicians would also be

a difficult sell to the right wing is in the anti netanyahu look not every path to a government runs through months or a bus for instance that could try to poach off a right wing politician or 2 from another party less likely could try to break off part of the netanyahu bloc and there's still a possibility of total failure and a 5th election to come but after 4 elections this is a very different type of political conversation with the palestinian israeli polity at its center are a force that al-jazeera westerners a senior military figure loyal to the libyan war is coming to have to has been killed in benghazi. what folly was a special forces commander of a half ton self declared libyan national army he was wanted by the international criminal court for the killing of 33 people between 20162018 human rights watch says that a militia under his command is responsible for the disappearance of hundreds of people were and are so good marty is the founder and director of the sadeq

institute he says this could be a turning point for libya's conflict. what about the boy simply he was a relentless and merciless killer i mean you know that the testimony of not only those that have been documented by the i.c.c. but the hundreds of families as documented by human rights watch and amnesty international and the many thousands more that have lived in fear of mahmoud who were fully i mean you know kidnapping civilians we've just seen over the last several days the number of civilians that have been found but i was 11 or 14 depending on whose numbers you take but at least a least 11 that were found behind a cement factory another 6 that were found on the shore about ozzie men because he is fast becoming the murder capital of north africa it's a number it's a and i rate just number over the last several months and many point a finger to my mother who is not only wanted by the i.c.c. but following his his indictment by the i.c.c. and his request to be delivered to the hague he was promoted by helicopter and this could be a major turning point for khalifa after his facing over the last several weeks

a number of challenges social and political and military dissidents from senior commanders from senior tribal figures in libya so they may decide his fate internally in eastern libya before this new government of national unity in western libya decides his fate for him u.s. president joe biden has appointed come on harris to manage the steady arrival of asylum seekers at the southern border the vice president will lead efforts with mexico and central american countries to stem the flow of migrants numbers of congress and visiting emergency facilities that have been way opened recently it follows a growing outcry after images revealed over crowded and makeshift conditions at a texas center. and so it's not like someone sits around the. table from one of the one of the mall and says i got a great idea let's go over there we have to give the money to hire you really haven't taken our kids or us to the floor we're going to take the cross reduce the

we're going to speak you're lying we won't be. one of the ways we learned is that. if you deal with the problems in the country it benefits. us and people grow within . the u.s. state of virginia has abolished the death penalty it's the 23rd state to do so and the 1st in the southern u.s. 113 people have been executed there since the mid 1970 s. that's 2nd only to texas governor ralph oldham says that capital punishment has no place in the state's the south or the nation around the country more than 170 people have been released from death row since 1973 due to evidence of their innocence. that is simply wrong we can't give out the ultimate punishment

without being 100 percent sure that we're right. and we can't send its people to that ultimate punishment knowing that this system doesn't work the same for everyone for the 1st time the us such as can fund an openly transgender federal official to a city a post rachel of a man will now be the nation's assistant secretary of health transgender rights activists appraiser a point but is a breakthrough with few trans people having held office at that level. the united nations estimates that children in cameroon are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance many of them have been abandoned after being caught up in the conflict between boko haram and government forces in cameroon the region. reports these children have spent the best part of the night begging for food and money they have been abandoned here in cameroon far north region near the nigerian

border they will not keep what they get instead they'll give it to this religious teacher who in exchange gives them shelter water and occasionally teaches them prayers sometimes a charity and they offer maps for children to sleep on and teach them to read and write but the children are distracted most have been abused many have witnessed their fathers being killed or mothers being raped by book fighters who entered their villages like 8 year old mohammad yousuf. when i grow up i want to be a soldier because boko haram killed my father we were picking it when i saw them slipped by their throat and take my mother away 10 year old man hopes his father will come back to get him. boko haram came to my village and they picked up all the kids but i ran away my father well my father i don't know where he is thousands of children have been separated from their parents either abducted

by boko haram or orphaned by the conflict between government forces and the fighters children who have escaped from the armed group or seen with suspicion with schools refusing to enroll them in the state authorities unwilling to register them the u.n. says state authorities are failing the children they are meant to protect. we have to recognize something children develop skills when they're with armed groups they develop an incredible sense of resilience sometimes leadership it's not it's an elicit kind of function but they nevertheless do develop some skills and some of those skills we need to capture and reinforce as well as help them get over the very negative experience. is one such child while he has lost his parents and continues to beg on the streets he has joint state school he says he wants to be a doctor not only to heal his country but the children of cameroon who have been

abandoned but worthy of care nicholas hawke al-jazeera emergency crews and the australian state of new south wales have launched cleanup and recovery efforts after the area was hit by the worst flooding in decades thousands of people had to be moved with many homes destroyed at least 2 people died the local bureau of meteorology has warned the state's coast is still on the threat after a delay of more than a year the olympic torch relay for the tokyo 2020 games has begun the flame started its journey from fukushima which was devastated by a tsunami and earthquake 10 years ago andrew chapelle reports. policy taken i think putting a stop at long last the torch relay begins in japan for the olympic games. our football star. who was the 1st to carry the flame 10000 others will take it to

every part of the country. it's shining a light on the progress made since fukushima was devastated by an earthquake tsunami and nuclear disaster 10 years ago. on the long road to tokyo it's hoped the relay will generate excitement for the games but many are wondering why it's still happening as the country is still battling cove it. so how could i see what it would be sad to see the olympics cancelled but the priority now is to end the pandemic we can still postpone it and hold the games when it's safe to get the funding. it could cause another pandemic here because people from all over the world are coming here. if it is successful it will symbolize. many difficulties. moto knows what it's like to represent japan on the world stage and compete against the world's greatest he's worried organizers have run into too many problems to go ahead. with an effect on you all factors necessary for hosting the

games are facing issues there are sports that have held qualifying events while others haven't when you look at domestic issues in japan the covert infections a far from over vaccination is not making progress. if the relay goes ahead safely over the next 4 months it'll go a long way in reassuring the public and signal the end of a dark chapter in japan's history and her schapelle al-jazeera. it's good to have you with us hello adrian from going to here in doha the headlines alondra 0 japan says that north korea has 52 ballistic missiles they were launched from south hamed province into the sea near japan the u.s. pacific command says it shows the pyongyang is a threat to its neighbors brian is following developments from south korea's capital seoul it is quite a.