go undercover to hear allegations of corruption by those in power and if you read a hari get your news in tonight's from al-jazeera news updates on. child is holding a presidential election incumbent address debbie wants to extend his grip on power . over america this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up an accident at her ron's main nuclear facility a day after it starts and which she knew amy and using advanced centrifuges. the

defense makes his 1st official visit to israel and iran is expected to be on the agenda. and evacuation orders issued on the caribbean island of some friends and a once dormant volcano has burst into life. voting is underway in chad where president address debby is looking to extend his 3 decades empowered by seeking a 6th term in office that he has just cost his votes in the capsule and to maina the opposition has called for a boycott and accuses the government of repression and cracking down on anti-government protesters on saturday the interior ministry says it arrested several people for planning attacks on polling stations across london have a morgan is outside a polling station in the capsule and remain and have the president has cast his vote a lot of other people now costing the. well

at the start of the voting when they were when the polls opened at around 60 there were hundreds of people lined up and all station was open with president there be casting the 1st ballot and followed by his wife before other people started voting but now it's considered but it's noticeably thin or the crowd has much reduced from what it used to be. just a few people coming in and out but this is not the only center in the capital and around the country there are dozens of other centers at least 7300000 people have voted in this have registered to vote in this election but the opposition have called for a boycott they say that the elections will not be free and fair they have instead called for people to mobilize and march to the electoral commission to voice their education and their frustration over the whole process the high court has rejected at least 6 candidates before the elections and to have withdrawn their candidacy

following an attack on the house of opposition leader in late february so the opposition have called on people especially in the southern part of the capital into a manner to boycott the whole process and instead to march to the electoral commission which is why there is heavy security presence around the capital injuring many specialists around forming stations the interior minister on thursday said that they have arrested people who try to attack polling stations as a as well as the national electoral commission and that those people have been arrested through lots of tension in the days leading up to this election although we can see just behind. wondering around the polling station what is the situation like in that regards. well a lot of observers are deployed to monitor this elections most of them from the african union and from the community of. african countries as well so they

say that they are here to observe and to some of them earlier they say that they did not notice any irregularities in the voting process just yet on saturday the military the soldiers of the champion army voted because their ballots you observed also round they went to several polling stations those who spoke to say that they have also not noticed any irregularities in the voting process as of yet but they were not able to answer the question with regards to the opposition the fact that the opposition say that the government did not give them enough space to be able to campaign freely like president deby and his ruling patriotic salvation movement and that is something that human rights watch and amnesty both also brought up they say that there was intimidation around the campaign environment that people were not able to freely express their opinions especially the opposition candidates so lots of tension around the selection but then we're going to have to wait until the end of the day to see how it plays out and for 2 weeks before we see who the winner is

ok well we'll certainly keep a close eye on events there have a moment thanks very much for bringing us the latest from chad. people are also choosing a president comes during a time of political tensions present alone is facing a weakened opposition and a vote he is likely to win is accused of sidelining most of his rivals with many opposition leaders now in exile came to power in 2016 promising to serve one term and vowing to stamp out corruption but it just has more from a polling station in qatar no. many people believe that these lists these candidates or their candidate is just a formality a lot of people expect the current president the incumbent to run over them. in the run up to this election in particular been allegations from the opposition of a crackdown on them some of them i next saw some light jail and some have been intimidated more than a dozen candidates filed their positions just time in this election but the court

of the constitutional court disqualified most of the living only president patrice to long the opposition has mr cohen as well as mr samantha while the 2 challengers challenging president along well it's a small start to these elections in here in quarter no voting started in this particular polling station in zone go which has 3 week which is at least 6 stations or poorly built for borders and it's been reported that the certain areas especially in the north of the country where with the weakness of demonstrations in recent days in the run up to this election materials were delivered late 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 blog page of highways and protest by opposition supporters in the north of the country so we

went to close need to see how this 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 now iran has reported an accident as its main nuclear facility at natanz and countries atomic agency says the incident on sunday morning affected the electrical distribution grades joins us live from tehran what will tell us about this incident. well they're currently being told that it's an electrical incident that there's no leakage or injuries told that parts of the electricity to that plant has been disrupted now natanz is iran's main nuclear facility and that the 2015 nuclear deal in the country can enrich uranium at this plant and in recent times iran has announced that it's installing more advanced

centrifuges at this tans nuclear plant in violation of the 2050 nuclear deal now iran says that this incident will be investigated in the findings will be released so if it's just an electric incident why are we here talking about it and that's because iran has a habit of downplaying such events last summer we were told that there was a fire at an outdoor facility at natanz even saw images on state t.v. downplaying it saying it was just a fire then we were told it was an explosion and then some media outside the country to the satellite images and iran finally admitted that it was a significant explosion that damaged the ability for iran to produce advanced equipment then it was called sabotage by iran and yesterday we had an official from the natanz facility call that attack a terrorist attack and all this is also happening just last tuesday we had a attack against an iranian ship in the red sea the service which is being blamed

on israel so this is the context of what's happening and it definitely raises suspicions that something untoward is taking place and of course this is a critical time in talks with the u.s. on the nuclear deal resuming in just a few days or how will it play into that. well it definitely complicates matters if this is seen as an act of sabotage or some may believe inside iran attempts to derail those negotiations we do know that israel saudi arabia and the u.a.e. unhappy with the 2015 nuclear deal unhappy with biden's policy joe biden's policy of engaging with iran but so far iran has stuck to their guns in terms of their demands they were all sanctions lifted and today officials reportedly saying that it would take 3 to 6 months for iran to verify that those sanctions are lifted but those talks will resume but incidents like this will raise suspicions and possibly

complicate matters absolutely ok many thanks for bringing us all the details there from tehran well iran is likely to be high on the agenda as the u.s. secretary of defense visits israel lloyd austin strip is the 1st cabinet level visit to the middle east from the biden administration also is expected to meet with israeli counterpart and prime minister benjamin netanyahu then discussions will cover priority shared by both nations are of course it has more from west jerusalem. that pentagon statement talked about a range of priorities about reaffirming israel's military superiority in the region and 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.v. the iran nuclear deal of course setting conditions on that iran is in a similar position while the very stark differences remain towards getting to an agreement and so after 4 years of the trumpet ministration the ministration talking in almost identical language about the iran issue today will be interesting to see how the 2 men lloyd austin and benjamin netanyahu how they convey their messages from the from the podium. thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes in the caribbean island a. volcano erupted. for have been reported as far as the island of barbados and 200 kilometers away authorities say the eruption could go on for weeks

. a towering plume of smoke and ash filled the sky over st vincent as lawsuit free a volcano continue to shape the caribbean island with violent explosions the cloud rose 15 kilometers into the sky and was visible from space the situation is that where a common experience in a very intense ashfall throughout most of the main ones that 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 about 16000 people have been evacuated from the so-called red zone surrounding the volcano was there then this

week there are no more of the running after moves 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 show does 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 ashram lawsuit free air fella. 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 warn that

the eruption could continue for days or even weeks roberts al-jazeera. still ahead here on al-jazeera we look at the violence in kenya this song which critics say fastens to return the country to a far tyrion group. and clinging to tradition how yemenis ample time for the muslim holy month of ramadan at a time of war and the pandemic. i would say some rather lively showers into parts of india china recently thunderheads showing up quite nicely here in vietnam 78 millimeters of rain went to still into parts of the philippines 89 millimeters of rain here and more of those showers to come as you go on through the next few days i suspect the much of the philippines central and northern parts this should be lucky fine and dry we have

got some wetter weather there you can see just pushing across southern parts of vietnam into cambodia thailand seeing some pretty wet weather as well usual showers there across malaysia still seeing some lively showers into much of indonesia and a similar picture as we go on through shoes day now into australia but all eyes on the western side of the country we have this system here which has been swirling away for a couple of days is sucked up. and russia will make landfall late on sunday going on into monday sinking further south with winds at the moment of around 120 kilometers per hour but it's getting quite a spate 33 kilometers per hour it will continue to sink its way further south was very very heavy. rainfall coming through we could see 50 millimeters awards right at times damaging winds flooding is certainly on the cards as we go through the next couple of days it will actually move through elsewhere is fine and.

a passion for supporting local communities. and pioneering inoperative african science and technology projects his child beautiful. story as are all of us on this planet not just africa al-jazeera front is a leading by a chemist determined to use his scientific knowledge to africa women make science from the lab to the field on al-jazeera. hello again you're watching al-jazeera has

a reminder of our top stories this hour voting is underway in child where president looking to extend his 3 decades in power by seeking a 6th term in office position has called for a boycott the qs is the government of repression. iran has reported an accident as its main nuclear facility at natanz a country's atomic agency says the incident on sunday morning affected the electrical distribution grid it comes a day after the country officially resumed enriching uranium. and iran a sense very high on the agenda as the u.s. secretary of defense visits israel lloyd austin is the 1st senior biden official administration official to visit israel and discussions will cover priorities said but both nations. in. and a guest on a voting on proposed changes to their constitution critics say that will give the president more power. of course for the referendum off the political turmoil. in the capital bishkek. curious families have been enjoying the

spring sunshine after a long winter that saw 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 this 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 them 11 year prison term the kidnapping at the time crime he denies because he was out of the country

when it happened in the 6 months since solid your power off was greeted by supporters on these 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 say the proposed changes to the 2010 constitution show he is trying to impose a moral floor a tarion formal rule one which we can check and balances needed to prevent abuses of power and 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 a situation will be able to do anything without participation signed off on its by the president the names on the plaques all 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 their value of parties is being. down 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 the new president's plans for

a constitutional change that many say would put the brakes on decades of democratic gains child strife and al-jazeera bishkek. ecuador is that to hold a presidential runoff later on sunday the leftist economists on dress are also going up against a conservative banker so far as one the 1st round on polling suggests he could win this vote by a landslide alas in america it's in human reports the nilita will face major challenges. the can down what is a rule indigenous community the known for a true tragic culture and flower exports but here as in the rest of ecuador the economy and basic services have collapsed long before the pandemic. russified an angle is one of the many unemployed who's had to find a new way to survive she's raising and selling these guinea pigs at $8.00 each 2 2

2 2. here there are a popular dish at their facebook as a job that's all i ask of him. she's referring to and that is sad alice the leading presidential candidate i doubt says a young a condom is and protege of former left wing president rafael correa who was in power for a decade until 4 years ago and i was his name is frequently placed next to korea as image so they'll be no doubt about the connection let's look something on the system it's not just me who will vote for a rose everyone says that korea did a lot for us they say he stole but he did a lot. under korea's citizens revolution poverty levels fell social spending soared and so did public works projects but there were also nagging accusations of corruption and persecution of opponents and the media to korea is now living in belgium and places 8 years in prison for corruption if you returns

home put korea is still a powerful force represented by 36 year old are else one of his former ministers. from ecuador's pacific coast to the mount. the ins and outs has been campaigning hard to reinstate and it's celebrate their citizens revolution movement he says it was betrayed by current president lineen more than all but as you know they prefer to pay the foreign debt rather than protecting ecuadorians who had to leave their corpses on the street during the pandemic because there was no money for hospitals . all over his rival more last saw faces an uphill battle he is perceived as close to the discredited current president and worse yet to the i.m.f. the bank of businessmen is a 3 time presidential hopeful and a political conservative he warns that a return of korea's party would threaten democracy gains never go on yours i love it a lot for more than

a decade they persecuted those who didn't bow to the tastes of the chief we represent those who consider diversity is one of ecuador's principle assets. that i asked former president correa about speculation that he'll return to ecuador as the power behind the throne if i doused the selected plan he's going to please i don't even plan to return to my country rather to continue in academia in belgium with my family furthermore the brainchild of a program to risk your ecuador is andras i was a brilliant economist. back in candour a ph d. degree incline to me or experience in banking i mean very little the only thing people say they want is a president who will remember that they need help to see in human al-jazeera. a number of corner virus cases in india has hit a record for a 5th day the country is struggling to contain another wave of infections on sunday

it reports its highest single day death toll in 5 months several states are warning of vaccine shortages in the coming days but india's health minister says state governments should stop fear mongering all countries across south america are rushing in restrictions as they battle to contain the virus problems are being made worse by slow vaccine rollouts and weak health systems but in the worst affected country brazil there are now moves to ease restrictions in places that have seen a huge rise in covert 1000 cases and deaths reports from what us areas. a mixture of relief and disbelief the 2 weeks of lockdown lifted in rio de janeiro one of the worst coronaviruses cities in brazil she said this was 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 of us they believe we can't sleep because we don't know full be able to attend to the patients if we will have medicines accident 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 that health workers don't trust cheerleader spite of 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. and we believe that this increase is 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 there are too few a new batch is a not arriving fast enough but since ill those vaccination programs start to 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. there are 2010 cyrus some of the world's poorest countries may have to wait longer for the 2nd day of their vaccines up to 60 countries that have begun their vaccine rollout may have to wait until june for more shots supplies. nearly all deliveries through the un but kovacs program blocked the world health organization scheme is designed to give poor nations fair access to vaccines the cost of living in yemen is going up as a imports of blocks in many parts of the country despite the challenges of life during complex families are still trying to cling on tradition as they prepare for the muslim holy month of ramadan reports. 6 years of war and a global pandemic now on top of that inflation below 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 line my family and i 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 you know maryland. the city of tire has 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 $5000000.00 yemenis have lost their jobs to get out of jail or should have an issue a sort of in same issue merchants buy and sell the way they like and money changers do what they want the government is absent despite an increase in covert 1000 cases markets are crowded in preparation for ramadan are not adequate rice is very high

especially with the rise in the exchange rates to rise of the us 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. go without as there are these are top stories and voting is underway in charge were present. looking to extend his 3 decades and power by seeking a 6th term in office opposition has called for a boycott and accuses the government of repression and cracking down on anti government protests and the morgan has more from the capsule and. the opposition have called for a boy's.