al jazeera is newsnight on the biggest stories of the week delivered to your inbox . now assist and opinions of the world. subscribe of the conversation. a doctor testifies that a lack of oxygen not drugs killed george floyd as he was pinned to the ground by the police. well again i'm peter w. watching al-jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha also coming up this is an epidemic for guns and has to stop. declaring that there have been enough prayers time for some action president joe biden unveils how he plans to get us gun

violence under control. warnings that africa is being left on the margins as countries battle supply problems to get enough cope with 19 vaccine. unboxing the ballots amazon looks to have won its battle against workers unionizing at one of his giant warehouse. i. a doctor has in fact sickly rejected claims that george floyd's drug use and underlying health problems caused his death lung and critical care specialist dr martin tobin testified that floyd died from a lack of oxygen or being pinned to the pavement with a knee on his neck the trial of the former police officer derrick jovan was shown animations of him and 2 other officers holding floyd down during the arrest alan

fischer now reports from minneapolis. focus on this this was a significant day in court a phase of testimony covering important medical evidence the 1st witness martin to open a doctor with more than 40 years experience a pulmonologist a breathing expect mr floyd died from a low level of oxygen and this caused damage to his brain that we see and it also caused. a rift that caused his heart to stop how mr floyd pinned to the ground restrained by police simply couldn't get enough breath to survive that contain forces that are going to lead to the shallow breath are going to be that he's turned prone on the street that he has the handcuffs in place combined with the street and then that he has a knee on his neck and then that he has a knee on his back and on his side dr toobin reviewed all the video and concluded

that after he taken his last breath the police continued to pin george floyd done for a further 3 minutes that's the moment the life his body the defense argued that drugs taken by george floyd was a significant factor in his death increasing his carbon dioxide level in his blood not so says the doctor what you're seeing is that the increase in his carbon dioxide that is found in the emergency room is so explained by what you expect to happen in somebody who doesn't have any ventilation given to him for 9 minutes and 50 seconds under cross-examination dr toben acknowledged he'd had a lot of time to analyze the events of may last year but derek chauvin was acting in reacting to events as they happened he dismissed some of the questions from the defense trying to poke holes in what was a compelling testimony throughout the jury paid close attention to the doctor many

making notes the defense team including derek. good to see a forensic toxicologist told the court there were traces of drugs in george floyd system but nothing that was alarming the result to be consistent with a prescription dose of that right. would that be considered a low level of methamphetamine ergo. the final question for dr toben again concerned george boyd's drug use he said that those who suffered defend an overdose went into a coma far sed george floyd never did alan fischer at the dead of children mark the trial in minneapolis. is calling its an epidemic and an international embarrassment now the u.s. president joe biden has outlined his 1st moves to reduce american gun violence he admits the measures are limited and he will need the support of congress to achieve more ambitious goals white house correspondent kimberly helka has more. in the

absence of meaningful gun control laws passed by congress and in response to recent mass shootings in the states of georgia and colorado u.s. president joe biden unveiled a series of executive actions to curb gun violence gun violence in this country is an epidemic and it's an international barriers the executive actions include regulations on so-called ghost guns weapons assembled from parts that lack serial numbers purchasers of void background checks so when they show up at a crime scene they can't be traced also prohibited pistol stabilizing braces reportedly used by the mass shooter last month in colorado and red flag regulations allowing families to petition the course to confiscate weapons if a person is deemed dangerous i've held hands. with the hands of parents who have lost a child gun control advocates see the executive actions as an important 1st step

but not enough the notion that somebody can walk down a city street in my hometown richmond virginia with an assault rifle attached to their back is just you know unacceptable and unnecessary as a senator biden helped pass legislation to ban assault weapons back in 1994 but it expired 10 years later he's urging congress to act to reinstate the ban the 1904 act had a positive effect on public safety enforcing these actions if confirmed biden's pick to head the bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms david shipman he's a former federal agent but also a gun control advocate making his nomination controversy all with firearm supporters. biden took on his conservative critics arguing his actions do not infringe on a person's 2nd amendment right to bear arms under the u.s.

constitution the idea is just bizarre to suggest that some of the things you're recommending are contrary to the constitution the u.s. president is also calling on congress to pass laws ending immunity for gun manufacturers make it possible for victims of gun violence to sue gun manufacturers in court joe biden calls this one of his top priorities can really help get al-jazeera the white house. the world health organization has warned africa is being left behind in the race for qubit 19 vaccines countries around the world are grappling with supply shortages and delays the w.h.o. says jobs are out of reach for more than a 1000000000 africans. butts in asian is a lifesaving tool in the response to the pandemic and $100.00 days into the year and also more than $600000000.00 in those it's easy to globally africa has that

mean is that only 20 percent more than $1000000000.00 africans remain on the margins of this is starting march to end the pandemic african countries like ghana are one and i'm gonna have delivered a significant proportion of their vaccines within a short space of time and some of the success that includes training was in advance simulation exercises prelims thing priority groups and communicating early with communities meanwhile the african union is dropping plans to secure astra zeneca vaccines from the serum institute of india the world's biggest supplier the a disease control body says is not because of concerns about a potential and extremely rare link to blood clots they'll still receive astra zeneca shots through kovacs that's the program that aims to distribute vaccines to the poorer countries south africa's already stopped using astra zeneca for me to mill in johannesburg explains now how the vaccination program has been slow to

recover. earlier this year south africa suspended its vaccination program using the astra zeneca jab that after a new strain was identified here and a trial show that astra zeneca would not be as effective against the strain and since then about a 1000000 doses of that vaccines been sold to other african countries are now so africa says it's been refunded for the other $500000.00 doses that would you to be delivered the government has been criticized for potentially wasting money but it says it's continuing to engage with astra zeneca as they continue to research and any development on a new generation vaccine the government hopes it will deal adequately with the new variant in the meantime south africa has poured millions of doses of the johnson and johnson vaccine and it hopes to meet a target of vaccinating about 252270000 people a day and that's to achieve what he calls herd immunity for all many south africans

it's been a long wait for a full vaccination program so far only health workers have been vaccinated about $270000.00 of them and so many south africans are waiting to hear when that broader program will begin the sister of a british man who died from a blood clot after receiving the astra zeneca shot is still people to take the vaccine 59 year old pharmacist new york died 10 days after getting his 1st dose. she's angry and in shock but is sure the benefits do outweigh the risks. despite what has happened neal of the impact on our family i still strongly believe that people should go ahead and have that scene if you travel around our school had her be 2nd if you haven't i don't yet make sure that you do exert over all we will save all our lives like people having the vaccine and not so the risk well it is very

very small and my brother was extraordinarily unlucky but even given the situation our partners and i would strongly encourage everybody to go ahead and have that see if we can if we can save your life or the family as a result of this and that would be worthwhile. the day has brought another coronavirus record in brazil 4249 deaths were reported on thursday the highest yet and the 2nd day this week that fatalities have exceeded 4000 there were another 86000 infections hospital intensive care units in most states are now filling to capacity a new record 2 for iran which announced 22000 new infections as of thursday the spiraling outbreak there has been linked to the persian new year holiday when millions defied the government's warnings against gatherings and travel the health minister has ordered all non-essential shops in the capital and other cities to

close turkey has condemned comments from the italian prime minister mario draghi who's likened the president wretched typer to one to a dictator techies foreign minister some of the italian ambassador to explain the remarks druggy accused murder one of humiliating the european commission president still on the line she was left without a seat during a meeting in ankara on tuesday. non-believers who the internet police really appreciated i absolutely disagree with president who once positions i think it was inappropriate behavior i was very sorry for the humiliation that the president of the e.u. commission bunda lion had to suffer a good congress the. yama to figure with these let's call them what they are dictators however we have to collaborate one has to be frank in expressing the diversity of views opinions behaviors in visions of society. still to come here on

al-jazeera a 1000000 miles military rulers are branded bullies after the country's ambassador to britain is locked out of the embassy in london. and we'll look ahead to the elections and been enough for a paralyzed economy has left hundreds of cars stranded the nigerian border. it's time for the perfect gentle. sponsored park qatar airways. once again we've got more snow in the forecast for japan over the next day or so not so much in places i would a cloud of rain in the process of pulling out of the way things last a settle but you see this bank of cloud just coming out of central china up towards q shoot up towards honshu that's in the process of pulling a little further a switch into the open waters some wintry weather there coming into the northern

parts of on sheer not bad in tokyo to 18 degrees celsius a similar temperature too for us so and also for beijing basin pieces of cloud and rain just around the say much of central china looks fine and dry for friday perhaps a little more cloud just started to push its way in as we go on into saturday by saturday the sun is out right across japan it's a pleasant sunshine not quite as warm but in light winds it really will feel very nice in the meanwhile down to. southeast asia bad across the philippines one of 2 showers coming through here heavy a showers into malaysia at also back into indonesia the fight if it's a positive indonesia will see for the showers i'm afraid as we go on through friday and sassed out west the weather just pushing up towards thailand some wet weather to say on the other side of the by a bingo we could see some showers grassy making the way into the eastern side of india. sponsored pakatan at ways. the story goes but the statue of an ancient greek god he beat the waves for millenia.

until a palestinian fisherman on earth the priceless relic. the story continues that has the world's attention was drawn to cause mysteriously the day it disappeared once again. the apollo of ca's. on a. former . welcome back you're watching al-jazeera a reminder of our top stories this half hour a critical care doctor says a lack of oxygen and not drugs killed george floyd when he was pinned down by the

police dr martin tobin testified at the trial of derek children the former officer accused of killing floyd last year. u.s. president joe biden has announced measures to tackle gun violence which he says is an international embarrassment for the u.s. they are relatively minor changes mr biden will need the support of congress which even more ambitious goals. than the african union is dropping plans to secure astra zeneca vaccines from the serum institute of india it says is not because of concerns about a potential and extremely rare link to blood clots. more than $5000.00 coronavirus infections have now been reported in yemen the un those says it's nowhere near what the real figure is likely to be health workers are trying to increase the amount of testing and vaccine distribution over 5000 covered 1000 cases have now been confirmed since the start of the pandemic this number has doubled in just one month

signaling an alarming dangerous surge in the virus fatalities are on the rise with almost a 1000 deaths having been recorded so far 3rd of those have been confirmed since march since mid march we know that these figures greatly underestimate the country's actual disease burden due to limited testing capacities and under reporting as well as challenges of access to any treatment as of today yemen's humanitarian response plan which seeking $3850000000.00 is only 13 percent funded. ruling generals are targeting more of their critics at home and abroad more than $600.00 civilians a set of being killed by the security forces since the jointer seized power on the 1st of february at least another 11 died in the northwestern town of tars e.u. where truckloads of soldiers arrived to crush anti coup protests popular actor and model pieing tom has been arrested for his starring role in the protest movement

and the police are looking for other entertainers and musicians elsewhere in the u.k. today condemning what it calls bullying by the job after the ambassador in london was locked out of the embassy has joined a home. protesters at the miramar embassy on wednesday night ambassador tortue arm in was locked out allegedly by his deputy and the military attash say last month the ambassador a former army colonel himself had broken ranks criticizing the coup on february 1st and calling for the release of the country's democratic leaders in the morning he returned and spoke to reporters outside he said embassy staff were now taking orders from the military attach a close within the formal neutralizing the the military for your comments last month to take yes the instruction from. the old ringer

of the orders as this is there was a decision he said his own options did not likely include returning to his country you used to get killed if you'll be a little kid. in the water maybe one of his last journeys in an official diplomatic troubleshooter i mean headed to a meeting of the u.k.'s foreign commonwealth and development office in a statement foreign secretary dominic robb had earlier said we condemn the bullying actions of the me and my military regime in london yesterday and i pay tribute to min for his courage the u.k. continues to call for an end to the coup and the appalling violence and for a swift restoration of democracy. the british government has imposed sanctions on myanmar military interests since the coup but it's not clear what more can be done now a foreign office spokesman said myanmar's military authorities had given notice that they terminated the ambassador's position the decision the government except what

is it you'd like the british government to do is. over the door. george says he considers himself still to be the ambassador here in london but the foreign commonwealth and development office does not this country has a long standing tradition of recognizing states not countries and so it is the military in myanmar that has authority over what happens inside this building jonah how al-jazeera london leaders from southern africa promised a quote proportional response to armed groups in mozambique to raid the town in the north but meeting in the puter the 16 member grouping didn't specify what support it would offer the gathering included the presidents of zimbabwe south africa and tanzania they condemned the attacks by al-shabaab that forced thousands of people from their homes it's been happening in the town of palma which is in mozambique's gas rich karbo delgado province the attacks began in 2017 driven partly by ethnic

tensions and high youth unemployment armed groups linked to eisele want to establish their own state they regularly target civilians and have occupied towns and villages but 700000 people have fled over the past 3 and a half years the attack in parma which left dozens dead was one of the worst since the conflict began unicef daniel is in pain but he says he's heard harrowing accounts from traumatized children. one of the problems. already. refugee. crisis and all these people and many. are currently on the run trying to get away some. others are going. to the provincial. but already.

more than 12000 people. waiting many more how. out of these people are children and what is worrisome to us. unaccompanied children i was here. myself to work on some of these children that were. you when human. rights and it's. completely different how traumatized many of them don't. quite. to be treated in hospital we've seen. so situations quite. 1000. here from this conflict.

the numbers. have been accused of unsafe working conditions and you know. she has. it's not looking good for the union's $3215.00 votes what cost and at the end of vote counting on thursday there are $463.00 yes votes and $1100.00 no votes union there's a supporter you need 1608 yes of apes and looking at these numbers it does suggest that it will probably have what we're calling a final result pretty quickly on friday once the vote counting resumes but it's not really going to be final because we're expecting a great deal or wrangling to happen no matter what the result is either from amazon

or from the union and in addition of a vote the i would just leave the vote deadline was about 9 days ago we really got to the stage because we had a long process where i was on it seems has been objecting to hundreds of votes even being counted in the 1st place so if we got what's called what we're calling a final vote we get that on friday but if the number of ridge of votes that amazon is contested with would affect the final result then we have to go into a long process then of arbitration of figuring out well should those votes be counted so this could go on for weeks if i guess likely to go on for weeks no matter who who wins what we're calling this final vote almost 19000 unaccompanied children were among the 171000 refugees and migrants stopped on the us mexico border in march it's an extra seat to regional talks about what's driving the searches manwell the apollo reports from mexico city. this meeting between u.s. and guatemalan officials is being seen as the official start of

a new strategy by the u.s. government aimed at reducing the number of migrants fleeing central america the biden administration's special envoy to the region the capital sunita says the white house wants to create legal ways for migrants to reach the u.s. at the set i want to emphasize that the u.s. border is closed we are here to also talk about the need and the efforts of the white house to create legal means for migration so that people do not have to use irregular and dangerous routes we also want to make sure that they are ways and means of accessing protection for people who require that protection and has. since the start of the year there's been a dramatic increase in the number of people fleeing central america and more often than not their destination is the united states last month more than 171000 migrants were apprehended on the us mexico border among them nearly $19000.00 unaccompanied children from central america representing one of the highest monthly

totals on record experts say it's critical that new regional immigration policies be forthcoming. policies that guarantee the rights of migrants and asylum seekers and also improve conditions in their countries of origin but also we are expecting that the. relationship between the united states and the congress will not be instant trying to marry her we are expecting. kind of stuff substantial change in the way that the u.s. administration is going to really get these countries we have to speak the moral operation more open ration to ensure that costs are going to be addressed so that people don't you are not forced to leave their homes part of the u.s. government's immigration strategy includes nearly $4000000000.00 in aid for water mala hundreds and el salvador a region of central america known as the northern triangle legal observers say the biden administration needs to ensure the money is actually used for. it's intended purpose. biden is familiar with this region when he was vice president there was

also a sort of financing plan for the northern triangle what worries us is that those $4000000000.00 will end up in the hands of the same corrupt presidents of the northern triangle. though many are welcoming the return of a more multilateral approach to international migration policy experts warn that problems like violence extreme poverty and corruption won't be solved overnight. below al jazeera mexico city. now a massive cleanup effort is underway in a bolivian lake which is said to contain more plastic than water hundreds of people have been called in to help remove mountains of rubbish from the lake high up in the andes mountains the lake once covered 214 square kilometers but shrank by 85 percent during a drought 5 years ago been hearing up for a presidential election on sunday as one of the strongest economies in west africa but it's not been immune to the effects of the global pandemic the eastern border

with its biggest trading partner nigeria has been closed for the past 18 months when address went and found what that has meant for traders in the commercial border town of sami. has been selling 2nd one cause for more than 10 years in semi a border town between binny and nigeria. he says he's never lost so much income i say he did in the past year. but. we are totally paralyzed ships that was supposed to bring in god's aren't coming as they used to those who buy from us are gone many employees have lost our jobs lives so hard for everyone involved in this business most of our clients are nigerians we don't see much of them these days they come and see has lost its value and it's no longer profitable for them to buy . one operates been in imports $25000.00 cars a month while the vehicles are meant for countries like malaysia chardin booking

a fossil 80 percent of them end up in nigeria but despite the impact of covered 19 and an 18 months long border closure by nigeria been in recorded a 2.3 percent growth. the slowdown is in commerce transport agriculture and hospitality industry. is an important maritime help for many west african countries like booking a fossil chad and the general public a substantial part of its revenue comes from car goes of cars like this but in the last year revenues on exports have snow covered 19 and nigeria shutting its borders these cars have been sitting here for months waiting for buyers. important supplies medical equipment to clients and binny me and beyond is as prospects for recovery are bright. with so many vaccines now in play there is hope that the covert 1000 pandemic can be contained

quickly this will help revive business activity. but it's the poor who are mostly affected incomes and jobs have disappeared for many inflation has also doubled from 0.9 percent in 2019 to 2 percent last year still one of the lowest in the region but rising employment and poverty are raising concerns about an economy that's the envy of many countries in west africa. semi on the bin in nigeria border. this is al jazeera these are the top stories a critical care doctor says a lack of oxygen and not drugs cause george floyd's death when he was pinned down by the police dr martin tobin testified at the trial of derrick chauvet in the former officer accused of killing floyd last year president joe biden's announced measures to tackle gun violence which he says is an international embarrassment for

the u.s. now a relatively minor changes mr biden will need the support of congress to achieve more ambitious goals.