there's something else significant about this what it represents is a dividing line between the wealthy are the poor from around the world the man who knelt on his neck his friends the weekend in minneapolis corporate board selecting jurors to decide if he should be convicted of murder. george floyd struggled with addiction and the alleged role of drugs in his death become a focus at the trial of the former police officer accused of his murder. our story it's. tragic story. how many people. follow him down jordan this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up on acceptably slow the world health organization slams the european union's vaccine

rolled out. protest as mark 2 months since the military sees powers on time soon she is slapped with the most serious criminal charge yet. on the centenary of his birth argentina pays tribute to the controversial composer who revolutionized tango and divided the music for. george floyd's girlfriend as spoken about the couple's opioid addiction courtney ross testified on day 4 of the trial of the former police officer accused of floyd's murder drug use is expected to become a major focus of the trial gable elizondo reports from minneapolis and a warning some of the pictures may be disturbing. this image of george floyd adopted by the black lives matter movement after his death is recognized all over

the world as a symbol of police brutality and it is based on a selfie kind of. that's according to george girlfriend courtney ross who was the 1st to testify on day 4 of the derek show of and murder trial. in her often emotional testimony she described how the pair met in 2017 when floyd was working as a security guard upon questioning she also described how they fell into addiction. it was an apparent attempt by the prosecution to get ahead of a central plank of chauvinist defense team's argument that it was the drugs that

killed george floyd and not the officers more than a 9 minute choke hold in their defense attorney eric nelsen questioned about a drug overdose floyd had in march as a court session was ongoing ben crump the floyd family attorney released a statement saying in part we fully expected the defense to put george's character and struggles with addiction on trial because that is the go to tactic when the facts are not on your side we are confident that the jury will see past that to arrive at the truth. the jury later heard from paramedics part of the team who arrived at the scene to treat floyd they testified when they arrived show up and still had his knee on floyd's neck and that floyd was unconscious in a living person there should be a poster i do not feel on i suspected the patient at the moment that you're checking for this crime and haas and the os are still there and on top of mr black

. yes the trial is moving into a new phase instead of heart wrenching testimony from eyewitnesses like what we've heard most of the week the trial is now shifting into fundamental questions like how george floyd died exactly when and who or what is to blame gabriel's on doe al-jazeera minneapolis the world health organization has criticized the european union's code 19 vaccination rolled out as unacceptably slow this it says risks prolonging the pandemic as variant spread to. the e.u. to ramp up production and ensure all available doses they used the w.h.o. also warn the overall coronavirus situation across europe is more worrying than it's been for months. vaccines are now available to anyone over the age of 45 in india the government is racing to inoculate its citizens as infections continue to

rise shots were previously restricted to those aged over 60 and anyone with health conditions india wants to vaccinate 300000000 people by the end of july the country reported more than 70000 new cases in the past day. everyone should get vaccinated it's absolutely safe as the vaccination campaign now includes everyone over 45 they should get the shots well india's rush to vaccinate its own people is affecting countries far beyond its borders it's home to the world's biggest vaccine maker which has put a temporary hold on exports of the astra zeneca job is the main dose supplying the un's kovacs program for poorer countries. to continuously. the people are different. that's. true chris. from astra zeneca from media from the. country.

because then because the structure. that's an issue. becomes problematic very very very much a new government has taken power in slovakia replacing the previous one which was brought down by a vaccine scandal a secret deal came to light involving the purchase of 2000000 doses of russia sputnik v that in bob reports. swearing in a new government and hoping to turn the page on a terrible year for slovakia's ruling coalition. president serzh on a couple to over praise the coalition for reaching an agreement in 4 weeks you know unfettered contesting the real fulfillment of the success of your agreements will be these government continues to take steps to help the country and its citizens

development are now chile we have learned a lot and we also have learned a lot from mistakes i believe that will be stable and trusting and i believe that they'll be cohesion and unity between us because they're here for cation and renewal of slovakia continues hager was previously finance minister and deputy prime minister he's swapping those roles with the man who stepped down as premier along with his cabinet on tuesday igor much of it his was the 1st european government to collapse because of how it's handled the covered 19 pandemic disputes over matter which is leadership boiled over last month the prime minister had ordered shipments of russia's sputnik the coronavirus vaccine without consulting his political partners but when asked in the next 2 months we will receive 1000000 vaccines as agreed meaning it will be for half a 1000000 people the move prompted 2 parties in the coalition freedom and solidarity and for people to demand that matter of its resign he don't need to lead

the center right along no party to election victory a year ago with an anti corruption agenda. since covered 19 arrive sort of a he has had an unenviable record with a population of 5 and a half 1000000 it's registered roughly $10000.00 covered deaths one of the highest per capita rates in the world in recent weeks it's seen infection rates fall by avoiding early elections the new government will hope it can concentrate on driving down copied cases and hospitalizations the dean barber al jazeera. finds a biotech has released more data about the vaccine saying it's highly protective against the south african covert $1000.00 variant is cause concerns because of apparent resistance to other vaccines overall pfizer says the injection is 91 percent effective even after 6 months helen fisher has more from washington d.c. initially people thought that the vaccine would be good for probably 90 days so the fact that pfizer came out and said no you get 91 percent protection after 6 months

that is very good news and of course it extends the period that people can get vaccinated and then we need another booster with of also revealed that children between the ages of 12 and 15 are 100 percent protected by the vaccine the big news is that they tested it for the south african variant and phoned that it was very effective there was worry that this period may well cause problems for this vaccine that it might be able to work its way around and meet people there saying no look we've managed to sort that out we've tested it everything is good here and that's good news for pfizer as well because they can now go to the f.d.a. here in the united states and see we would want full approval for this vaccination because of course you'll remember that they're only operating on temporary american c. approval which was granted to make sure that they could get shots into people's arms

and millions of people have received their vaccination this is good news as i see coming on the back of what was essentially bad news on wednesday that's when johnson and johnson said that they were stopping shipments of vaccination to the united states that's because millions of doses of the drug were ruined at a factory in baltimore. deposed civilian leader aung sang suu cheez facing the most serious charge since being forced from power by the military the new charge against her and 4 others carries a penalty of up to 14 years in prison the general's olds have shut him down while a 7 says scott hyde now reports. with tears of blood painted on their faces protesters in yangon mourn those killed for demonstrating against the coup this is they mark 2 months since the military power grab that plunged myanmar and the crisis. we are very sad for fallen heroes and protesters who are still fighting the military but we will never give up the legal team of the pows leader on song suchi

thursday announced that she has been charged with violating the country's colonial era officials secrets act she's been detained since february 1st and has also been charged on 2 other accounts and has been accused of bribery it's a crisis that's now spilling outside its borders for the 1st time in more than 20 years myanmar military fighter jets attacked korean ethnic army held areas near the thai border those attacks during the past few days sent thousands of civilians across the border into thailand seeking safety and medical attention it also prompted the strongest reaction yet from the thai government on the coup next door kind of a square free troubled by the reports of more casualties among them in my people. during this past week and. we were doing ok. for the exercise of utmost restraint. the escalation of situation and to violence and for the

release of detainees. some of the ethnic army groups have denounced the coup throwing support behind the protestors and have even called for an increase in attacks on myanmar as military most have spent years fighting for greater autonomy the un envoy on myanmar has warned of a civil war if the situation does not improve some feel that not only is there already a civil war in myanmar but on 2 fronts the streets and the ethnic territories what we're at now is a situation of 2 civil wars one which is too much so and it's what the military. started when they they staged to so it's a civil war with the anti-sex and then this 2nd civil war which has been going up to 7 decades which is against a lot of these it talked about isolations as protesters in yangon burned copies of the 2008 constitution that gave deep powers to the military a parallel government has been set up by deposed members of parliament mostly from unsung suchi is former governing party they have called for

a federal democracy that would include the ethnic armed groups. it's got either al-jazeera. the prime minister's chances of forming a new governing coalition have been thrown further into doubt parliament approved a motion of disapproval against mark russia saying he hadn't told the truth about remarks made during coalition against the actions he survived a separate vote of no confidence ross insists he never knowingly misled parliament and is refusing to resign an independent envoy will be tossed with assessing its conduct. lots more still to come in on his area including unverified social media video adds to the tension between russia and ukraine. and the potential punishment waiting for veteran hong kong democracy figures who've been convicted over protests more in that state it's.

time for the perfect gentleman. sponsored point qatar airways hello there we've got lovely spring sunshine for to pan over the next couple of days we have got some wet weather coming out to china they get a lot of clouds coming through those central parts stationary front here bring you some outbreaks of cloud and some rain some heavy at times and that's all pushing its way further east was heading over towards shanghai further north some wet weather easing up towards yellow sea as well and that will eventually move across the korean peninsula turning increasingly wet as we go through the weekend ahead of that japan on a dry for the time being 21 celsius there in tokyo in the sunshine 22 in a saka sunshine to across northern parts of the philippines and laurie fine and dry across a good part of indochina want to see showers around will our way into parts of vietnam some nasty weather there just easing across the andaman sea as we go on through the next few days plenty of showers there as per usual across much of

southeast asia and in asia in particular could see some very heavy rain that wet weather that we do have around the end of the say the nicobar islands seeing some very heavy downpours as we go on through the next day or so the possibility of some localized flash flooding as a result of that much of india with the stays hot and dry and that heat extending all the way up into northern parts of pakistan. sponsored by qatar airways. it's the political debate show that's challenging the way you think i want to know where you're to stand on cancer culture decreasing the range of ideas that can be heard from international politics to the global pandemic and everything in between if tech companies are the ones with all the power what do we do what's the solution we get organized what are world leaders or governments missing thread talking about targets like 204121 were the targets but now up front with me marc lamont hill on al-jazeera.

welcome back if you're a mind about top stories here at this hour george floyd's girlfriend has testified about their struggles with addiction during the trial of the former us police officer accused of his murder derek show this defense team is expected to further argue that drug use was the major factor in floyd's dead. the world health organization has criticized the european union's vaccination rolled out as unacceptably slow to this it says risks prolonging the pandemic as variant spread. to post civilian leader and since who is facing the most serious charge since being forced from power by the military carries up to 14 years in prison activists have been continuing to protest on the streets exactly 2 months after the generals

seized. the u.s. is warning russia against intimidating its neighbors unverified social media videos suggest russian tanks and other military equipment moving to areas bordering ukraine and the region of crimea which is the next from ukraine in 2014 earlier this week ukraine's government accused pro russian separatists of violating a cease fire all this is happening as nato ambassadors met to discuss a recent rise in violence our concern is predicated on russian escalations and aggressions in eastern ukraine of course we would be concerned by any attempts on the part of the russian federation to intimidate its neighbors and our partners of course ukraine. is among them. well the kremlin says it's freed to move its military assets around than ever at once and fire minister sergei lavrov says if tensions are rising in eastern ukraine it's not russia's fault and you just want to talk or you know the united states addresses ukraine through the lens of

geopolitics ukraine close to russia makes russia great russia lift without ukraine is of no global importance i'm leaving the truthfulness of these ideas on the conscious of people professing them as well as their ability to appreciate modern russia president putin said not long ago but this statement is still relevant today that those who would try to start a new war in donbass will destroy you crying. veteran pro-democracy activists face up to 5 years in prison after they were convicted for staging a protest in hong kong then in a march against the now repeat extradition 2019 from hong kong. they arrived at court flanked by their supporters defiant in the face of a crackdown on the movement they have represented for decades these are some of hong kong's most high profile veteran activists including 82 year old martin lee who is known as the father of democracy in the territory who many of my brothers

and sisters so maybe britain. consider a better morning. please one of 9 people who were found guilty of organizing and participating in an unauthorized assembly in august 29000 joined the anti-government demonstrations the rally was given police approval but this group was accused of aiding protesters out of the designated area into central hong kong veteran activist lead chuck young says peaceful protests are not a crime and they used charges a beijing's attempt to silence its critics i think it's. inevitable that we in such a political and violent of oppression are retaliation that we have to go to jail to . you know he paid a price media tycoon jimmy lie as well as barrister and former councilor margaret were also convicted and face up to 5 years in prison this group of pro beijing

supporters rallying outside the court wants a tough a penalty they are trading this treason so today we have reduced the trade out to the sentence life sentence this is a major blow to democracy movement the every major voice of dissent in from one side in exile on trial already behind bars for the $2400.00 people have been charged as part of this project and police have told us more arrests even so the pro to mock. the activists say they won't give up the game if not all but we will continue to fight for some we don't want to see really some money and all we want to do it in the moment is no and not out anyway but we will. at least 3 in this group will be back in court on trial for other charges the court is expected to hand it sentence on this case later this month sarah clarke al-jazeera hong kong or victor gao is director of the china national association of international

studies he argues that convictions were to be expected because illegal gatherings result in prosecution all over the world there have been tremendous amount of chaos and anarchy and violations of the rule of law yes indeed there were many protests and demonstrations but i would say many of these protests and demonstrations were illegal by hong kong standards hawkeyes of democracy protects people's right to demonstrate and to contest so you need to do that according to the law therefore if someone is involved in illegal and unlawful protests and demonstrations or even further committed offenses like a murky assem want to attack off other people for example or setting fire or even for example attacking and assaulting a let's hope your big occupying the logical building or other government facilities that definitely this person or those persons will be filed.

for the law and will be subject to prosecution this is perfectly understandable this is not surprising. gunman of killed at least 30 people in ethiopia's or amir region villages who witnessed the attack in the west were leaders and say the victims were ethnic and hard as authorities a blaming armed group called the liberation army for the assault a ship carrying 1200 people who fled violence in northern mozambique has arrived at the port town of pemba family members were waiting outside the port to see which of their loved ones were among them group stormed the northern city of palmer a week ago killing hundreds of people mozambique's military is fighting to retake it. that 'd i don't know about my son i don't know where he is nothing i haven't been able to eat for a week. and. i'm so tired 7

days in the bush is i'm so tired we crossed paths several times with the bandits this iteration is really bad many are dead representatives of egypt sudan and ethiopia are meeting us and e.u. officials in khartoum they're discussing ethiopia's contentious mega down on the river nile in an exclusive interview. with the sudanese minister of education what we are proposing downside is to strengthen the african union persis by fear is that all of the of their worth that is the united states of america the european union and the african union itself to mediate that and facilitate that and then to force the united nations so it become a court fight to give the african union persists and to give more leverage political leverage to reach a kind of an amicable agreement among the 3 countries. and the full interview with

the is next to 0830 g.m.t. on friday on talk to our jazeera. the head of egypt so as canal authority says the country expects more than a $1000000000.00 in compensation after a cargo vessel blocked the canal for nearly a week he said the amount should cover the cost to dislodge the ship losses due to stall traffic and loss transit fees but it didn't specify who will be paying they have a given is owned by a japanese operated by a taiwanese company and registered in panama. the british prime minister's most senior black advisor has quit the day after a controversial review on racism was released but downing street insists that samuel consumers departure isn't linked to the report was commissioned during black lives not a protest last year found the u.k.'s not institutionally racist is a good example to other white majority count countries the findings have been slammed by many racial equality advocates and bars johnson admits britain still has

a long way to go. this is a. a very interesting piece of work you know i don't see the government who agree with absolutely everything in it but it has some some original ins and stimulating work in it that i think people need to read into and to consider there are very serious issues that our society faces. to do with racism that we need to address we've got to we've got to do to fix it we need to understand the severity of the problem and we look at all the ideas that they put forward and we will be making our response. the white house says it's alarmed by a video of children being dropped over the mexican border by smugglers in the infrared pictures an adult can be seen dangling and then dropping a child from the top of the fence moments later they drop another one appeared to throw supplies over the sisters from ecuador in the care of all authorities that

just 3 and 5 years old. i will say that our concern and our focus is on sending a clear message to smuggler to the region that this is not the time to come you should not send your kids on this treacherous journey that these smugglers are preying on vulnerabilities in these communities there's a lot of issues and steps we need to take to address root causes so of course our concern is for the safety of these kids these border patrol agents who save these kids deserve our our thanks and our gratitude for ensuring their safety. now concerts are taking place across argentina to mark a 100 years since the birth of tango legend a stop at solar is unconventional approach was criticized during his life and now 19 years after his death his legacy is being reflected upon much more warmly of stories about a reporter but as ours. this is one of the most famous dangle songs worldwide.

of you honey no it was written in 1989 by composer actor to beat farewell to his father. i didn't tina's celebrating 100 years of utter b.s. when asked perth with series of concerts and shows in the city of one. because it would have been 3 says your wife says this is the 1st time the city has paid tribute to his music. in the beginning he was at war with the city of born desirous don't forget that tango is from born as arias alongside heroic why he said he played music from the city he wanted to revolutionize music he wanted people to know there was more than 3 times 4 in the beginning he was more respected in europe than in argentina but people here looked at europe and saw him. museums and

theaters in the city by putting his musical life on display early on in his career after p.s.o. left music arrangements were criticized by traditional handel musicians some even accused him of killing and mocking her for an element of jasin classical music and created what is now known more i worked on and became so successful that he's music is now known around the globe. yes i was born in the province of one of scientists but he's father moved to new york city. it was there where he was given his 1st bandoneon and since then he never stopped playing. he wrote over 900 songs to take tango. has played in many of the world's top for years. and in films

and royal weddings. was a close friend of the my and also his manager he took tango to the 21st century. after on the basis of just to create a new universal language that everyone understands and feels and you can hear it in so many different scenarios in the 2nd note of a song you know it's he was special and elevated. 2 his music is now part of. a city that he made beginning rejected him but the today celebrates. when a site of. 20000 people who turned out to dance to calvin harris and daft punk in belgium are wishing they'd check the date the party invite was an april fools joke

and those who attended were instead met by the police belgium recently ended a 3rd lockdown with gatherings limited to just 4 people. and what turned out to be an april fools prank by one of the world's largest car makers has backfired folks fog and said it was rude naming its u.s. operations volkswagen signaling a focus on electric vehicles it provoked anger on social media among those appointed to the company's diesel emissions scandal the cup. i have a quick check of the top stories here on al-jazeera george lloyd's girlfriend just testified about their struggles with addiction during the trial of the former u.s. police officer accused of his murder their children's defense team argues that drug use was a major factor in floyd's death. we've both are from chronic pain. mine was in mine.