up to date with what's happening on the ground in the heat and in the land now more than ever the wound needs w.h.o. making the healthy a world. that every. 'd child is holding a presidential election incumbent address debbie wants to extend his 30 year grip on power. there are more car elder says al jazeera live from doha also coming up we're live in israel where the u.s. secretary of defense has just arrived as the 1st visit by a senior administration official iran is expected to be on the agenda.

evacuation orders issued on the caribbean island of some vents and well once dormant volcano has burst into life. and parts of brazil have begun easing coronavirus restrictions but the nation remains the epicenter of the outbreak in south america. voting is underway and chad where president idriss deby is looking to extend his 3 decades in power by seeking a 6th term in office that he has just cast his vote in the capital and to maina position has called for a boycott it accuses the government of repression and cracking down on anti-government protesters on the interior ministry said it arrested several people for planning attacks on polling stations morgan is outside a polling station and jermain up. the opposition has called for. their

support of decisively. their opposition to the fact that it will take about 2 weeks for the vote to be announced and they say that there's ample time for the ruling party as well as the hard toward elections. elections will not be free and for now at least 7300000 people have registered but again many people. right now it comes up down to the observers who are here. election to see what they make out of it as well as the people who are voting. on the streets at the national stadium and elsewhere across the chechen capital and thousands have come out to show their support for one man president idriss deby the incumbent leader has been in office since he took power in a coup more than 30 years ago debbie is now seeking a 6th term and promising a new future for. together we're going to build in africa like

other continents that shares a long history a common history with those who colonized us and we're going to start this chapter together with them. during the. debbie overthrew his predecessor who he had worked for as a military advisor before their falling out 3 years ago chat's parliament approved a new constitution that expanded powers it also allowed him to stay in office until at least 33 you know votes boycotted by opposition legislators chad has been fighting with rebels in the east and several attempted coups in recent years while incumbent president. abbas is on the final day of the election randi opposition candidates were notably absent. after the elections hundreds of protesters against their candidacy and human rights watch says the british forces have the crackdown on protesters and the head of the bolt. wheat. before the elections the army raided the house of opposition leader yeah deano killing 2 of his family members

whose candidacy has been rejected by the high court along with 6 others has fled other opposition candidates have withdrawn their candidacy accusing debbie and the military of intimidation mission a provision which sent. more and more. 50 percent of the members. of. the repression. friends. from. the receiver to this is going to be fiction the solution would not be transparent if you are sincere. be. really really free. 7.3000000 voters have registered according to chad's national electoral commission 5 of the candidates are also in the race but opposition leaders have called on their supporters to stay away from the voting but those who backed the president like yes it say they will take part of the if it were i will vote because

it's my right and duty i want stability and security as well as better economy and i believe the current president is the man who can provide thought so i will vote others say they'll follow the lead of the opposition. these are not elections there are no competitors some of been rejected some of being intimidated and things have been the same for the past 30 years and i don't think there will be a chance so i will be recording the election. the polls are open for a single day but it will take 2 weeks before a winner is announced but many here at the stadium are confident the candidate they support will be the one to lead them for the next 5 years he will morgan al-jazeera chad. well in burnie new people there also are choosing a new president the voting comes during a time of political tensions present patrice how long is facing a weakened opposition in a vote he is likely to win he is accused of sidelining most of his rivals with many

opposition leaders now in exile along came to power in 2016 promising to serve one term and vowing to stamp out corruption when it is at a polling station in qatar no and act with this president is voting or is about to vote in an election that he has promised not to run in. absolutely and we expect him to be here any minute now he's expected to vote this hour he's used to challengers basically many people believe that these this these candidates or their candidate is just a formality a lot of people expect the current president the company to run over them in the run up to this election and particularly been allegations from the opposition of crack down on them like you said in the introduction some of the my ex in jail and some have been intimidated more than a dozen candidates filed the applications just time in this election but the court

of the constitutional court disqualified most of the living only president a priest along the opposition has mr cohen as well as mr samantha the to challenge president alone well it's a small start to this election in here in no voting started in this particular polling station in zone go which has 3 which is at least 6 stations or poorly built for voters and it's been reported that in such an areas especially in the north of the country what would weakness demonstrations in recent days in the run up to this election voting materials were made and this was expected because i was before the opening of polls the chairman of the election commission announced that destructions have been recorded in the north of the country and as a result voting will not take place at the exact time they supposed to start in that part of the country simply because of destructions caused by the blockade of highways and protest by opposition supporters in the north of the country so we

went to close need to see how these goes but election observers here hoping that this will end world the united states and other european allies have also called on people to be calm and this election to be conducted in a very calm manner laura. really brings them for a long says there from ben in on election day thanks very much. iran has reported an accident at its main nuclear facility at natanz new country's atomic agency says it affected the electrical distribution grid no injuries have been reported but officials are looking into what caused it on sas a president rouhani said iran had launched new advanced and which meant centrifuges at the site of talks in geneva to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with iran is set to be high on the agenda as the u.s. secretary of defense visits israel lloyd austin's trip as the 1st cabinet level

visit to the middle east from the by demonstration austin is expected to meet with his israeli counterpart and prime minister benjamin netanyahu and frantic and says discussions will cover priorities by both nations high force that is in west jerusalem covering this visit and harry plenty to be discusses the 1st official visit from a senior biden ministration official but no question that the main issue is going to be iran. that's right i mean as you say that that pentagon statement talked about a range of priorities about reaffirming israel's military superiority in the region in the u.s. commitment to that which of course comes most notably in the form of nearly $4000000000.00 a year in u.s. military aid but the key issue of difference between the new by the ministration and that of benjamin netanyahu is continues as israel's prime minister now in this is caretaker role after the most recent election is the issue of iran and

very different set of policy priorities on that front the biden ministration has said that it wants at least to get back to the j.c. p.o. a the iran nuclear deal of course setting conditions on that iran is in a similar position while the those very stark differences remain towards getting to an agreement but last week of course there were those parallel talks in vienna with both iranian and u.s. officials talking to the same group of officials from other countries at a time when israel continues to say that there should be no return to that deal or at least the only return to a deal it would be subject to a list of israeli conditions that are a so hard line as to be almost impossible to attain in terms of restricting iranian activity on a number of fronts and so there will be these talks and as you say it comes at

a at a time when iran has just announced a further advancement in its uranium enrichment or a at natanz and on the day of this so far unexplained power cut of course it was just 6 well it 9 months ago that iran blamed israel for carrying out in an attack there was a blast at the natanz uranium enrichment facility at that time so there have been attempts to try to. or at least a allegations of attempts by israel to try to circumvent or or prevent progress from iran and so after 4 years of the trump administration the netanyahu ministration talking in almost identical language about the iran issue today would be interesting to see how the 2 men lloyd austin and benjamin netanyahu how they convey their messages from the from the podium that they wanted imagine they'll be some pretty tense discussions going on there today for the moment thanks very much

. well still has head on out is there are we at the votes in a keg a song that the critics say threatens to return the country to a forest area and rove. and clinging to tradition how yemenis are preparing for the muslim holy month of ramadan a time of war and the pandemic. it's time for the perfect gentlemen. sponsored point qatar airways how i was swimming up nicely across parts of eastern europe but can't say the same for west and there is that we have got more cold digging in across the british isles down across the low countries into france grass you see that cooler we're talking in across a good parts of germany scandinavia course also say some wintry weather behind this

cold front here sinking further south was because some significant rainfall gravity tends to snow so some wet weather there full front some snow that just around the outside what's enough to across central and eastern parts of spain other side of the med have still got some wintry showers down into the southeast and quite a look at the world 21 celsius in belgrade 18 in bucharest and even moscow getting up to 60 degrees very nice think it will be some snow there she could see into sweden and that's a wintry mix make as well little further north which is rico on through monday temperatures in single figures across the u.k. just 11 sells for paris a dryer day though across much of spain and portugal west whether and so when she with that just around the alps more than possible of italy hopefully if you wish i was over towards turkey as we go on through a monday lousy draw across northern parts of africa want to see showers into northern areas of morocco algeria and telling increased the wet from the gulf of guinea. sponsored by qatar airways told to

al-jazeera we are can you tell me what the government you represent is now illegitimate and we listen we did not sell the fence material any country during your conflict in yemen we meet with the global news makers and talk about the stories that matter on al-jazeera. if you want to help save the world. sneeze and hero. hello again you're watching out who's there has a reminder of our top stories this hour voting is underway in chad where president

interest is looking to extend his 3 decades in power by seeking a 6th term in office he has just cost his votes in the capital and to maina the opposition press corps for a point cause. in but maine people are also choosing a new lead to tell on is facing a weakened opposition in a vote is likely to win is accused of sidelining most of his rivals with many opposition leaders now in exile. and the u.s. secretary of defense and in israel for talks on issues including syria and lebanon . as the 1st senior by demonstration official to visit israel. thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes on the caribbean island of some vents and after a volcano erupted ashes from less so for have been reported as far as the island of barbados 2200 kilometers away. and could go on for weeks as more. a towering smoke and ash filled the sky over st

vincent as last volcano continue to shake the caribbean island with violent explosions the cloud rose 15 kilometers into the sky and was visible from space the situation is that we currently experience in a very intense. drought most of the midlands had been sent and we've been experiencing this since late yesterday the explosive portion of the eruption began yesterday morning and as we went into the night last night we had the intensity and the amount of action crease quite considerably. covered houses roads and cars and the smell of sulfur hung in the air of a. 16000 people have been evacuated from the so-called red zone surrounding the volcano was there done this mine and me no more of their own after move no

some people fled by coast guard vessels to safer areas several cruise ships were also assisting in the evacuation effort until recently. had been quiet for decades but in 1000 no to a severe eruption resulted in the deaths of at least a 1000 people there now some 78 emergency shelters that are active at this point in time and the last figure we have as 3000 of it individuals living in the shadows at this point in time there have been no reports of injuries or deaths in the latest eruption but damage to crops and farms is expected to be severe ash from lawsuit free air fell as far away as barbados nearly 200 kilometers from st vincent countries including antigua cuba venezuela and the united states are sending aid to the island nation home to 100000 people scientists warned that the eruption could

continue for days or even weeks robert oulds al-jazeera. labeling. on invoicing on proposed changes to that constitution critics say over home and the president and pressing democracy. called for the referendum often months of political turmoil tell stuff and reports from the capital bishkek. curious families have been enjoying the spring sunshine after a long winter of the soul momentous political events in the central asian country one often described as the most democratic in the region but that may be changing. since the new president's plan to change the constitution could be a step backwards on the path towards full democracy. people have a strong will towards freedom we don't tolerate backward steps away from democracy there are more serious issues to be solved in the country than the constitutional

referendum such as an implement but it's better not to destroy what we have already achieved so far which is the day that the new president saw the free from jail by supporters during protests after parliamentary elections were nolde in october following widespread allegations of vote buying he was serving an 11 year prison term for kidnapping a time crime he denies because he was out of the country when it happened in the 6 months since solar power if was greeted by supporters on the steps he has changed the political landscape in kyrgyzstan dramatically even before he won the presidential election in january he said that the parliamentary system of governance in kyrgyzstan had failed he described the system as being dysfunctional and corrupt critics propose changes to the 2010 constitution show he is trying to impose a more thorough tarion formal rule one which we can checks and balances needed to

prevent abuses of power this. proposed text on the constitution is going to change the rules of the game at least at the high level toward serious centralization of power in the office of the president to such an extent that it's . basically no national level institution will be able to do anything without participation signed off on its by the president's. the names on the plaques of those killed during 2 of the 3 revolutions kyrgyzstan has had since independence following the breakup of the soviet union 30 years ago the fight for democratic rights is something curious people are proud of young members of the recently established reform party campaigning in municipal elections which are being held on the same day as the referendum. the presidential rule implies personal rule there's

no room little room for parties because the value of parties is being. it's being devalued parties are being represented as something western something that is imposed. back at the amusement park people enjoy the warm weather and riots there's no sign of the political upheaval of recent months but you president's plans for constitutional change that many say would put the brakes on decades of democratic gains. bishkek. the number of cases in india has hit a record for a 5th day one country is struggling to contain another wave of infections on sunday and of course its highest single day death toll in 5 months several states a warning. in the coming days but india's health minister says state governments.

countries across south america are rushing in restrictions as they battle to contain the virus the problems are being made worse by slow vaccine rollouts and weak health systems but in the worst affected countries brazil there are now moves to ease restrictions in places that have seen a huge rise in cavan 1000 cases and deaths and reports from what is ira's. a mixture of relief and disbelief this 2 weeks of lockdown lifted in rio de janeiro one of the worst coronaviruses cities in brazil and the poor villages of this war the good news is that by enforcing the 14 day epidemiological period suggested by specialists plus other restrictions we managed to lower the number of people seeking the city's basic health system. yet for the past week across brazil there have been an average of 4000 deaths a day adding to a total of more than 350002nd in the world only to the united states health

experts say much more needs to be done to curb the spread and. we can't sleep because we don't know full be able to attend to the patients if we will have medicines oxygen today we have them but if these cases continue growing at some point it will be chaotic there is no other way we don't sleep today's reality is that health workers don't trust chile despite a vigorous vaccination campaign has also seen a recent surge in coverage 1000 cases coming a few weeks after restrictions were lifted to encourage tourism in the pacific resort of vineyard omar and the nearby port city of el paraiso. we believe that this increases directly related to several factors but one of them is the holiday permits which allowed a significant number of people to travel to districts in our region in a festive spirit has periods of rest relaxation and disconnection after a very bad year your require has also extended lockdown restrictions until the end

of april to contain a surge in covered 1000 cases well here in argentina we've seen a record number of daily infections and a new set of restrictions including a nighttime curfew. that people aren't going to tolerate being locked up again like last year many people want to go out they don't want to let their children or their family go hungry they need to look for their daily bread. vaccines are being applied but many complain the ritu few a new batch is a not a riding fast enough but until those vaccination program started take effect the only other option if overburdened health systems are to code is to impose ever more lock down restrictions but with people angry and defiant those measures are proving to be increasingly ineffective. for their own 2010 cyrus. has imposed a strict 3 day lockdown as capital bogota a city of 8000000 is facing restrictions on movement and

a ban on alcohol sales quota virus cases are rising rapidly across the country number of new infections has doubled during the last month and intensive care units are approaching capacity in a number of cities. so his president has promised to support ukraine and its increasing border tension with russia or chapter one says he hopes the issue can be solved through dialogue some got over the reports from istanbul this is the 2nd meeting in 7 months between ukraine's leader volodymyr selenski and turkish president regift i pad on so most of his visit to a stumble comes at a crucial time for both nations but the focus on saturday was largely on trade tourism and defense time as between on current kiev. ukraine has a soviet legacy of producing helicopters aircraft and cruise missile engines turkey's next generation of combat aerial vehicles equipped with ukrainian engines

are expected to be introduced later this year c r c this song considering that defense and foreign policies are interconnected we established a platform without offending foreign ministry's to increase cooperation between our countries is cooperation is by no means a threat to any 3rd country. but tension has been rising in the black sea region in recent weeks russia is amassing troops and a weapons near its western border with ukraine and the fighting in is turn ukraine between government forces and russian backed separatists and donbass has escalated russian officers have indicated moscow could intervene to help russian speaking residents and is stand ukraine if the government launches an all out operation there the other questions for you sure we discussed in detail the issues of security and joint action patrolling dres in the black sea region it's worth noting that the regions of kiev and uncover coincide both regarding the threats themselves

and the ways of responding to those threats the united states is considering sending 2 warships to the black sea region in the coming days despite do u.s. navy routinely operating in the area this time the pentagon believes the deployment will send the message to moscow that the u.s. is watching the situation closely. turkey is in a sense to position at the moment as a nato law it is likely to support the alliance in any potential crisis between ukraine and washington on one side and moscow on the other but that could provoke anger in russia the country on korea depends on for its energy needs russia and turkey have a fragile partnership in syria and libya when it comes to ukraine that through lation ship could be tested in the weeks and months ahead. also 0 stumbles protests have been held in service castle calling on the government to do more to stop pollution and israel has blocked traffic in front of parliament in belgrade on

saturday stricter laws to prevent pollution by industries such as mining in recent years serbia has started selling its mining resources to foreign companies despite opposition from within the country. more law is flowing out of a volcano that erupted in iceland 3 weeks ago a 3rd fishes now open between the 2 existing ones the volcano on the wreck and peninsula has become a tourist attraction. the cost of living in yemen is going up as aids and imports a blocks in many parts of the country despite the challenges of life during conflict families are still trying to cling to tradition as they prepare for the muslim holy month of ramadan they are hunting reports of. 6 years of war and a global pandemic now on top of that inflation no bill is a father and earns a daily wage but he said it's not enough to deal with the rising cost of living and

that's making shopping for essential zx in preparation for the start of ramadan a difficult task. and i had that on one life we were not able to buy much we still need to buy rice sugar and flour like everyone else god knows we are tired of the war we have been displaced we have been left hungry only god is aware of our situation in a maryland. the city of tire as is still under a blockade by the hoof the rebels restricting aid and imports forcing prices to increase the un says fuel prices have tripled in some areas and according to a report by the ministry of social affairs 5000000 yemenis have lost their jobs to go out of terror should have an issue also live in same issue merchants buy and sell the way they like money traders do what they want the government is absent despite an increase in covert $1000.00 cases markets are crowded in preparation for ramadan and that's out of

a price is very high especially with the rise in the exchange rates to rise of the u.s. dollar and to saudi radio is increasing our cost of living. this will be the 6th holy month since the start of the war many of these children don't know a different life. like millions of other yemenis and his family will have to make do with what little they can afford. al-jazeera. this is al-jazeera top stories voting is underway in chad where president interest is looking to extend his 3 decades. a 6th term an office that he has just cost his voters and the capital and remain a position has called for a boycott of the morgan has more from the capital now hundreds have already lined up here i've been polling station many of them say that this is going to be the 1st

time that they're casting their vote and in the presidential election more of them have often tried.