just the climate if you think that's a bit more which you should look since absolutely. you're. the. 0. hello i'm barbara sarah this is the al-jazeera news hour live from london thank you for joining us coming up in the next 60 minutes. it's time for american troops to come home. president biden says it's time to end america's forever war but promises it will not be a hasty exit from afghanistan this says the u.n. says nearly $1800.00 afghan civilians were killed or injured in just the 1st 3 months of the year the police officer who shot dead 20 year old donta right in

minnesota is arrested and faces a manslaughter charge and india refuses to call off a hindu festival drawing millions to the ganges despite hitting a new record high for covert cases. on fire and small have all the day's sport including liverpool been knocked out of the champions league the rads said fail to score in the 2nd leg of their quarter final against around madrid. it's time for american troops to come home that's the pledge from u.s. president joe biden as he looks to close the book on 2 decades of military involvement in afghanistan in a speech at the white house c.n.n. ounce that all ssri $1500.00 u.s. soldiers still in afghanistan will start to withdraw on may the 1st and. all of

left by september 11th that's the 20th anniversary of the attacks that sparked america's longest running war it's cost the lives of $2400.00 u.s. service members and an estimated 2 trillion dollars. we cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in afghanistan hoping to create ideal conditions for the drawl and expecting a different result now already have service members doing a duty in afghanistan today whose parents served in the same or we have service members who are not yet born when our nation was attacked on 911 or in afghanistan was never meant to be a multi-generational undertaking we were attacked we went to war with clear goals we cheve those objectives nato allies have also agreed to withdraw troops from

afghanistan alongside the u.s. from may 1st around 7000 on american forces from mainly nato countries are currently deployed in afghanistan speaking alongside the u.s. secretary of state and the fence in brussels nato secretary-general yes salton bag said it was a case of in together out together and the alliance is not abandoning afghanistan this is not the end or relationship with afghanistan but that all that is stalled out of a new chapter chapter nato allies and partners will continue to stand with the afghan people but it's not for the afghan people to build a sustainable peace the nato secretary general there will stephanie decker has more now from berlin on that message from nato. very much similar language hearing there from nato secretary general u.n. stoltenberg similar to what the americans have been saying also that nato troops

will start their withdrawal on may 1st just like the americans as you say very much coordinated together they went in together they will leave together of course so for nato also this was a historic mission in the sense that was the 1st time they invoked article 5 of the nato charter this was also referred back to by un stoltenberg which is you know attack on one member is attack against also officially now all foreign troops will be withdrawing from afghanistan by september. this is what we're hearing they say they remain committed to the country of course it's been 20 years of conflict and they've had soldiers on the ground and now it really is up to diplomacy they say so that's nato will pass equal hain has been at the pentagon and says the u.s. defense department has concerns about completely withdrawing from afghanistan it's been long believed the u.s. military leadership urging president joe biden to keep at least a small contingent of troops in afghanistan specifically to be able to have

counterterrorism operations there's a big concern in this building about just how well and how long afghan forces will be able to continue their current level of readiness but yet the commander in chief has given the or giving them the order they have to be out of afghanistan by september 1st that's just under 5 months from now there are only $3500.00 u.s. troops there so far they're not giving very many if any details here in this building about just what that drawdown will look like but we do expect we'll get more details in the weeks and months ahead while the head of afghanistan's committee for reconciliation of the of the law says the taliban needs to return to talks in good faith. be to sure that if the clergy the people of afghanistan want their rights and freedoms protected they don't want that is chicken of gunston and this is the decision of afghan people and we should find a way to take people out of this destruction the only worry that they have that the

taliban may take the groom calculation and wants to impose peace the way they want after the u.s. withdrawal. while the afghan peace process has stalled fighting is increased in several parts of the country recent weeks with deadly consequences the u.n. says nearly $1800.00 afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the 1st 3 months of 2021 that's a 29 percent increase from the same period last year the taliban were responsible for 43.5 percent of civilian casualties last year while afghan national security forces calls that 25 percent the u.n. says other deaths were caused by crossfire eisel fighters and undetermined anti or pro-government elements the report also documented a 37 percent increase in the number of women killed and injured and a 23 percent increase in child casualties compared with the 1st quarter of 2020

well residents in the capital kabul say they are torn between the prospect of peace and concerns of a future instability if there are no foreign troops in afghanistan. the americans have not fulfilled their responsibility to afghanistan their responsibility is to ensure a strong government the rule of law and democracy in afghanistan and ensure that people's concerns relate from terrorism drugs intervention by other countries i think the u.s. should not leave until it has fulfilled its responsibilities peace is the only thing the people want but if foreign troops stay here peace in afghanistan will be impossible their presence will continue to cause problems they fail to fulfill the promises they have made to the afghan people these forces are not useful to afghanistan because their presence has not changed the country's security situation so what does it mean if they stay here. or brett brewing is a former director of global engagement at the white house on the president obama he joins us live from washington d.c.

sir thank you so much for being with us here on al-jazeera so a cost to a trillion $1.25 u.s. servicemen and women killed the aim was to rip out al qaeda from afghanistan that's pretty much been accomplished osama bin laden is dead and it's been 20 years isn't this the right time for the u.s. to leave afghanistan. no it's not we are not completed our mission we are not sure not going to start to people in afghanistan for an alliance and most importantly for our own national security interests that's why we went in to afghanistan 2 decades ago and unfortunately i fear we are sowing the seeds of the next rice is today's. and so what do you think that president biden should do at this point because of the sort of 3500 troops that were left or to around 3000 aren't really going to make a difference one way or another so what do you think the president should do now to

try to at least stabilize the country and certainly help the afghan government well the whole in one important way in manny's to. getting our diplomats to get our development experts out into the provinces and to engage with the afghan people our mission is going to be severely hand strong starting on september 12th we're not going to be able to have the same ability to move around the country to engage with people outside of the capital so to your question what would i have done i would have a significantly increase the programs that we are already in yes you know whether it's for economic development through out of humanitarian purposes that is ollie's fall in short whether it's not going to start or when i was working on a provisional reconstruction team in iraq i was there in 20082009 when president obama chose to leave iraq and unfortunately soon after that it's when it comes

to i guess trying to contain the taliban do you think that realistically there is anything the u.s. can do one so it leaves considering that the taliban hasn't really been on on this the. onus corporator when it comes to the sort of deal or agreement or talks that they were trying to take part in over the past year. well i think the best case scenario is for us to try to shore up the afghan government for us to provide more resources both to the security forces but also let's remember this is a battle for hearts and minds so we've got to provide economic development we've got to ensure good governance so that the people of afghanistan have faith in their leaders that's what we're going to have to focus on now i suppose 20 years down the line a especially when the u.s. and nato started talking about reconstructing the the nation the a state in afghanistan i guess 20 years that ally no one wanted to be here but what

would you say has been achieved that helps the afghan people over the past 2 decades if you think anything has. well i certainly think when it congress to show that tension democracy a certain ranks of freedoms most especially for women in afghanistan i think that has been a source of pride in progress but now we're going to have to see whether those gays and the sick sure whether or not those you know as a result of threats from the taleban but he also the afghan leaders themselves whether they will keep to the one some of those practices and policies will the afghan people the same freedoms in september as they did during the u.s. presence bro and former director of global gauge meant at the white house under president obama thank you for sharing your expertise with us thank you.

turkish diplomatic sources say the u.s. has canceled the deployment of 2 warships to the black sea which were due to arrive in the region this week that u.s. embassy in ankara notified turkey's foreign ministry of the station but did not provide a reason for it the u.s. and nato have been alarmed by the buildup of russian forces near ukraine and in crimea russia's navy has started military exercises in the black sea and had warned the u.s. to stay away from the area. a rocket has landed near a u.s. space at an airport in northern iraq witnesses said that they saw a plume of smoke rising from the area but there have been no immediate reports of injuries a u.s. led military base in the erbil international airport vicinity was hit by a barrel of rockets in february that killed a non american contractor working with the u.s. military. well coming up on this news hour from london

a defense witness in the trial of derek chauvin argues that george floyd died as a result of heart disease but concedes the police officers involved should have provided medical attention. plus a coalition of u.s. corporations weigh in over the battle over voting rights will their stance shift american politics and in sports dennis tennis world number one makes a winning return to action fire will be here with that story and more. a former u.s. police officer has been arrested and charged with manslaughter over the death of an unarmed black man don't a right was fatally shot during a routine traffic stop on sunday the 20 year olds the s. reignited protests in minneapolis happening of course in the same city as george

floyd's death and the ongoing trial kimberly paul ter who resigned after 26 years on the force faces 10 years in prison if convicted of 2nd degree manslaughter she allegedly mistook her gun for a taser when she opened fire. let's go live to shia bricktown see who is live for us in minneapolis tell us a little bit more about the police officer in charge now with one to rights killing obviously all of this in minneapolis you know really shining the focus on that city even more for these kinds of issues. to give some clarity that's defined what 2nd degree manslaughter is that's culpable negligence is a quote from the statute culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another as you say the police lie has been she mistook.

him for her taser and there's been a set amount of incredulity about that not least because the goal of the taser positional different size of a body they have very different weights and so on and in fact we got this statement from benjamin crump who is representing the family of down to right he said that this shooting was no accident this was an intentional deliberate and unlawful use of force driving while black continues to result in a death sentence a 26 year veteran of the force knows the difference between a taser and a firearm yes you're right this charge could lead to a maximum of 10 years in prison what we've been hearing from lawyers there is that usually leads to about 2 years in prison and there's a maximum of $10.00 to $10000.00 fine involved but of course there's always a huge hurdle in trying to make a case against a police officer who is can say well that they felt in some sort of danger so it's unclear as to how far this will go it's also unclear whether this will be the only

charge leveled against given. such an early level period of the investigation and she of course we were mentioning not far away that the fence is continuing its case the trial of former police officer that is shelving over the killing of george floyd. 3 charges. what happened today in. defense produced its own forensic pathologist all for the prosecution the succession of medical experts who seem terribly credible so this forensic pathologist who is a former chief medical examiner and marilyn made the case it was rather. interesting case he said there were so many possible factors that could have led to to george floyd's death including his high blood pressure his history of heart disease his drug use and in fact actually he didn't say there were any one particular cause of death he just kept saying there was so maybe even perhaps carbon monoxide from the tailpipe of the police car adjacent to george floyd's head

as he was knelt on for night and a half minutes this is this is a this is a measure of of what this forensic pathologist was saying today can you sum summarize briefly what your opinions are in this case. it is so in my opinion mr floyd had a sudden cardiac a reasonable cardiac arrhythmia. he's atherosclerotic hypertensive heart disease will you can write that down multiple different ways. restraint into july the piece of history by the police. on the prosecution just really laid into his credibility suggesting he didn't really know much about arrhythmia or heart disease this this idea of an undetermined

decision just seemed absurd to them and it really it really was a major attack on his credibility. well you're not a toxicologist or you don't have a degree in toxicology that is correct i'm not a toxicologist. and to be clear who the jury is a as a forensic pathologist you don't treat patients. current. we have heard from home and i'll just use also respiratory disease just you're not a common i'll just work respiratory physiologist through their history so you never measure anybody's respiration that is their breathing as a part of your work as a forensic pathologist no. i have no. party just. something fascinating that

wasn't brought up by the prosecution is this for i'm sick with all of this himself as the subject of a lawsuit he was involved in a case involving a 19 year old black man in maryland he was the chief medical examiner this was smothered by several police officers a family of the man says this pathologist helped cover up police wrongdoing there's actually a mostly kirby on the way but that wasn't mentioned today in the trial in the meantime though we expect the defense to rest quite shortly the big question is whether they're true himself will take the stand but this is certainly all wrapping up with as the judge keeps saying the expectation of closing arguments next week. tensely with the latest there from minneapolis thank you. well let's speak now to richard phrase a professor of criminal law at the university of minnesota and he joins us now from minneapolis via skype sir thank you so much for joining us here on al-jazeera is all the fences to do really is just so reasonable balance in the mind of at least one of the jurors when it comes to the reasons for george floyd's that namely that

it was something that it wasn't just they would show vince the but the other factor is do you think that so far that the fence is has managed to do that. they certainly trying their best and it is important to recognize that that reasonable doubt is enough for an acquittal in our system as to an affirmative defense the use of force as well as the basic elements of the crime so on causation it's not at all surprising that the defense would would try to bring in as many other possible causes as they can to suggest. how can anyone know what actually killed this man and you have a reasonable doubt mr and mrs members of the jury is exactly what you would expect that offense to do. i suppose if one thing that everyone is wondering whether the

fence will do is to actually call their action himself at to the witness stand what do you think the factors are either that the fence will consider it for the siding whether to do that or not. well on the one hand and he time there is a claim of justified use of force the that it really is important for the defense to to get the jury to believe the defendant's version of the facts so if he doesn't testify he doesn't get a chance to look straight at the jury and say we had no idea this guy could die. he doesn't say that no one else can really say that as effectively as mr shogun on the other hand and if he doesn't testify even though the judge will tell the jury you must not draw any inference it from his exercise of his right not to testify the jury is still going to wonder. why and why didn't he tell us in his own words

what is he hiding it's a human and human reaction it's difficult for the jurors to just set aside on the other hand they have to be concerned that once he takes the stand the prosecution will walk him through all 9 minutes and each time some new information comes up another red flag they will say and you still didn't think mr floyd was in any danger mr schoeman so they're going to rub his nose in the duration of time that this went on for and you talk about human reactions in that jury and of course that video that night a half minutes a such a hard to watch for anyone because it isn't a trial by jury i mean the jurors are not legal experts that will have listened to all the medical details and the procedural details and they'll know some of the law

but i guess it's you know ordinary people that have ordinary responses as so in light of that do you think that actually putting shoving on the stand could backfire. well it all depends i are a lot depends on how how good a witness he is does he does he make eye contact and does he seem earnest and and sound convincing that that doesn't mean he really is but that you're jurors like most of us we tend to overestimate our ability to tell when someone's lying so he may be able to convince at least one juror that he honestly didn't think there was anything wrong here and it would be unfair to convict him i think the prosecution has done a good job of building up to. the finale with a battle of the experts by starting out with the opening statement you can believe your eyes emphasizing that 9 minute cell phone video and then in the use of force

part of the you know the prosecution's case having experts say this is a very dangerous procedure it can kill somebody to treat them this way they could die and in fact they did die that supports the inference that it was the officer's actions that caused the death it wasn't just a coincidence that floyd happened but die right then which a phrase professor of criminal law at the university of minnesota professor phrase i thank you for your analysis good to be with you. india's new coronavirus infections have hit another record level with more than 184000 cases reported in 24 hours the spite this the government is refusing to call off a religious festival in the north were millions of pilgrims have gathered to bathe

in the ganges river more than a 1000 people if tested positive in the city of harried water where the weeklong hindu festival is taking place many people have criticized prime minister and their own drum o.t. for allowing the event to go ahead. a tough new restrictions have come into effect in india's war state state maharashtra with its largest city of mumbai locked down from midnight to help curb the spread healthcare services across the country are struggling to deal with the sharp rise in infections as elizabeth reports. a long line of ambulances outside a covert buntin hospital in the state inside a patients struggling to breathe and waiting for a bed to become a. good rock is one of many states but the hospitals are overcrowded and they don't have enough equipment or health care workers to deal with the current caseload. the

ambulances bring in the patients who are on oxygen supply some of them are critical and they are admitted forced assoon as the beds with ventilators are available the patients who are on oxygen supplies to the venturi masks are given that in 108. as patients wait for beds the families of the dead mourn for their loved ones nowhere is the situation as bad as in the state of maharashtra where migrant workers crowded bos'n trying to aminals after more restrictions were announced the closing down of all but essential services has seen many daily wage lose their jobs they want to travel to their home states afraid the government might shut down public transport as it did last year. but it's the common man who suffers the most i've come here from with the i have no ration card or any of the local documents only those who are local and have a russian card will get groceries outsiders don't get anything at all hobble migrant workers feed themselves that's why they're leaving for their villages state

a leader said he had no choice but to impose the restrictions that this disease is spreading at a very horrifying base i say horrifying because today's number of positive cases in the state is the highest so far. as $125000000.00 people will only be allowed to go out for work and shop placentia supplies including groceries and medicines until the end of april as india witnesses the world's biggest surgical cases the health ministry says it will fast track emergency approvals for the pfizer more dinner and johnson and johnson vaccines that's amid continuing reports of vaccine shortages in the country which produces 60 percent of all the vaccines in the world elizabeth purana al-jazeera me daily. south africa's drugs regulator says a local study on the johnson and johnson covert $1000.00 vaccine showed no major

safety concerns but is still the site at to suspend the jabs use over concerns raised in the u.s. that it could be linked to blood clots the single dose job was the only vaccine being administered in south africa but it does have other doses on order from pfizer professor helen reese is a member of south africa's ministerial advisory committee on covert 19 and vaccines she told our just they were the pause is out of an abundance of caution in the south african setting where we live in this nearly 300000 doses we haven't seen this really condition but because this has been seen in the united states and they're evaluating it now it was thought wise that we just put a temporary hold while the u.s. . investigation i think many regulators i'm i'm i chair the regulator or it's here in south africa as well you know we've been very cautious about safety signals and evaluating that's good news and that's reassuring for the public on the other hand

that is confusing for the public because they say go go no go that is computing we need to be able to be useful to. there is lots more still to come in this hour including the us president signs the controversial bill giving him another 2 years in office after the country failed to hold elections. bernie made off the american finance your convicted of running the biggest ponzi scheme in history has died in prison and in sport a leading basketball player's call for a liberty and justice in the aftermath of a fatal police shooting. at the moment moscow is warmer than madrid the cold air that's been invading much of

europe is fronted by this thing here if you like so it's been squeezing what was really quite warm weather right out towards the caucasus which means moscow is on the warm side everyone else is on the much colder side the yellow represents temperatures typically 10 degrees or below the highest by doing everything to the teeth to mislead spain and portugal and that but they're still well lower than they should be now the weather the father of the sky rain snow is back with us for poland the czech republic going back into wards germany high temperature and 5 in prague and basically the sun's now out in croatia and serbia where it was snowing 24 hours ago and this right along the south coast of spain in the north coast of africa this is disappointing even in the sunshine it does still only improve but it's a very painfully slow process the same time moscow gets cooler so athens firmly beats moscow but madrid yeah just. but that's had service i did mention north africa for

x. 2 days anywhere from casablanca right across to today's if you're near the coast or even a bit inland is going to be wet windy and not very. came from the countryside to cairo and became part of a life. they say just as different from be in the former al-jazeera world meets the man who's been keeping a close eye on residential life in the big cities for decades but who may now be passing into history. to see for movie people he wasn't dormant but he's now managed by a security company the doman of egypt on al-jazeera. and we're going to have is on the other working in asia and africa there'd be days where i'd be choosing editing my own stories and a refugee camp with no electricity and right now we're confronting some of the greatest challenges that humanity has ever faced and i really believe that the only

way we can do that is with compassion and generosity and compromise because of the only way we can try to solve any of these problems is together that's why al-jazeera is so important we make those connections. the early. reminder now of the top stories on al-jazeera president joe biden has announced that all the u.s. troops will be withdrawn from afghanistan between may 1st and september 11th the 20th anniversary of the $911.00 attacks america's longest war has cost $2400.00 american lives tens of thousands of afghans have also died. the u.s.

police officer who shot an unarmed black man to one to right time has been arrested and charged with manslaughter the 20 year olds there. have protests in minneapolis and elsewhere in the city epiphone largest has told the courts that george floyd died as a result of preexisting heart disease giving evidence for former police officer derek show vince defends he rejected the results of the over. the fight over voting rights in the u.s. is being backed by some of the world's most powerful corporations amazon google and general motors are among the companies calling on states to stop making it harder for people to cast their ballots and the gallagher reports. casting a ballot in the u.s. isn't shrine does both a right and a privilege one activists across the country say is under attack last month georgia

republicans passed a sweeping bill that imposed new idea requirements reduces the use of drop boxes and bans mobile voting vans laws that are now being challenged in the courts and by local leaders that is terroristic legislation that is legislation that is laser focused oh and. taking the brown and black voter. out calm down the backlash from what many see as laws making it harder for communities of color to vote was immediate big corporations in the state spoke out against voter suppression but with similar legislation being proposed in more than 40 states the coalition of big businesses has grown the number of companies now numbers in the hundreds part of the statement reading voting is the lifeblood of our democracy and we call upon all americans to join us in taking a nonpartisan stand for this most basic and fundamental right to all americans

legal experts say their stance is an important political shift but i do think what we're seeing is potentially a longer term realignment of where those corporate interests lie and it may no longer be. so strong with. conservatives so that's a that's the space i think we're going to have to watch in the coming months and years republicans say the new laws are aimed at making elections more secure and corporations shouldn't get involved there's nothing about what they do george or law does that by any objective standards or my complaint about the the ceo's. a reader down bill politically pivotal states like arizona texas and michigan are proposing laws similar to those passed in georgia critics say it's a reaction to former president trump's false claims he lost because of widespread voter fraud here in florida too there are moves to restrict mail in ballots and

make it illegal to hand out water to voters this is now an all out battle with big business caught in the middle what began in the neighboring state of georgia and now looks set to spread across the entire nation at stake the right to vote and shape the destiny of an increasingly divided nation on the gallacher al-jazeera miami florida brazil's supreme court has ordered a committee to investigate the government's handling of the corona virus pandemic president jalal sonata has come of the criticism for downplaying the virus and fighting against restrictions on a local level it's thought that letting it run unchecked is leading to mutations that then threaten the rest of the world it comes as the state of south fowler reportedly warned that it can't care for seriously ill kovan 1000 patients for much longer as its funding out of key drugs was cross live now to monica in a kiev rules live for us in rio de janeiro so tell us a little little bit more about this investigation on the government's handling of

the pandemic. well we have this is an investigation by congress and it's basically similar to a trial congressman can ask witnesses to come and explain why things went so wrong brazil has almost 360000 dead by covert 19 and as you were mentioning before the not only the hospitals are crowded but they're also running out of medicine to into bait the patients so there are many questions to be asked it will shed a spotlight on both the models government the party is not only about what he did but it's also about what he did not do and what he did not do was to have a national effort to lead the country through this what he did do was show up without masks. stimulate people to gather around him talk.

criticize vaccines so there are many things that he did that contributed for to people not taking it seriously and things that he did not do and those things will be investigated so it's not comfortable for both at this moment to have the spotlight on all the negative effects of the pandemic and there's a spotlight in general in brazil over politics because while the whole in the issue of the pandemic is going on brazil's attorney general is currently trying to get the court ruling that a no former president of the sea voyages conviction overturned which would potentially have a i guess a pretty big political impact. yes we must remember that in march the supreme court justices said that moonlight had been tried in the wrong court and convicted he was in prison for 19 months that

does not mean that he is not innocent it means that he was tried in the wrong court and then he should be retried in another court now this decision is being examined by all of the supreme court justices we expect that they will not change it because the decision was made on a technicality it wasn't a political decision so but the decision will come up probably tomorrow if things stay as they are that means that rule can is not innocent he may be tried again but he can run in next year's presidential election if this changes by any chance that means that will is back in square one monica and kiev with the latest from rio de janeiro monica thank you it's going to haiti now with the foreign minister has been appointed the new prime minister hours after the previous prime minister's

shock resignation though he didn't say why he was stepping down but it follows an increase in unrest including kidnappings and killings just 2 days ago a group including priests and nuns was taken hostage the president is riven in moises says the new government under close. will allow him to address problems in public safety but he isn't brawled in a political standoff over term limits with protesters angry at the security crisis calling for his resignation. at least 20 young school children have died in a fire in the share officials say that they were trapped by the blaze which rips ripped through their straw hot classrooms in a poor neighborhood of the capital it's not known what caused the fire which spread rapidly fanned the by high winds the prime minister has visited the site and pledged to punish those responsible if it was started deliberately

the southern african development community has sent officials into northern mozambique to assess the threat posed by armed groups last month dozens of people were killed and more than $11000.00 displaced when the town of power was attacked by ice a linked fighters the u.n. says nearly a 1000000 people face severe hunger in the region. has more now from pemba in northern mozambique. when parma was attacked by an armed group that calls itself al-shabaab people scattered many heads in the forest for weeks until it was safe for the end to move this group has just arrived in the provincial capital some of them look traumatized they say they saw the children being killed some mothers say they don't know where the children are they just saw them being taken away the bishop of pym says he suspects that this armed group is holding children as young as 11 in the camps and some analysts also say that they believe this armed group is

recruiting child soldiers when families get to this reception center in him but they are registered and they will stay here until they can be moved to camps for internally displaced people is the stadium that's now a temporary home for them and conditions in here are basic an assessment team is the scene by the southern african development community that team is assisting threat levels and it will also see what other countries in southern africa can do to assist mozambique it's in with a report back to african leaders at a meeting on mozambique that's expected to take place at the end of april. somalia's president has extended his term in office for 2 more years president mohammed abdul he signed the bill into law despite opposition from some members of parliament his mandate actually ended in february sparking protests and calls for him to step down presidential and parliamentary elections were due to take place

this year but the leaders of 5 semi autonomous states have failed to agree on how voting should be conducted catherine soy has more now from nairobi in neighboring kenya. a lot of somalis are saying that what the president has done is problematic on so many levels so he signed this motion into the last night but ideally what's supposed to happen according to the law is that once the lower house passes such a motion they have to forward it to the upper house the senate for approval or rejection so that stage has been skipped we also have had from the speaker of the senate of the upper house who said that they would have rejected this motion anyway because it was unconstitutional and there's also a lot of reactions from different quarters we've had from a correlation of opposition presidential candidates and some leaders of the federal states particularly jubal land end point land all of them saying that they reject

this decision they reject any extension of the presidential term saying that president from joe just wants to cling on to power we've also had from somalia is key donors the e.u. the u.s. and the u.k. all of them speaking on this in the same tone very strongly worded statements basically saying mr president if you continue with this we are going to rethink how we do business with you it will be business as usual talking about perhaps saget it set targeted sanctions on some individual cities to be stumbling blocks. harmful practices against women are undermining gender equality in developing countries they're detailed in a report by the u.n. population fund it found that almost half of women living in nearly 60 countries are denied the right to decide whether to have sex with their partners use

contraception or access health care 20 countries or territories have laws that allow alleged rapists to escape prosecution if they marry their victims more than 40 countries have no legislation addressing the issue of marital rape and more than 30 countries restrict women's freedom of movement outside the home this year we're making clear that. of women has been put at risk. by culture in particular women and girls are the owners of their own bodies yet the denial of these rights which is a fundamental human rights leads to. misery lack of access to health care. access to countries. almost half the world's women cannot make their. decisions are made by others. the former

financier and poesy scheme mastermind bernie made off has died in a us prison at the age of $82.00 he was handed a 150 year sentence for d. for the 10s of thousands of people from the 1970 s. on wards he died of chronic kidney failure christa salumi reports. from a finance industry legend to a man the tabloids described as the most hated new york bernie madoff was convicted in 2009 of orchestrating the largest ponzi scheme ever it's virtually impossible to violate his promise to clients of 11 percent returns each year simply too good to be true instead investment money from new clients was paid as profits to establish crimes all while eluding regulators for years don't forget also that the largest bank in the world j.p. morgan paid $2000000000.00 in fines because it turned

a blind eye and assisted for decades this ponzi scheme so it this isn't just some rogue individual this was at the heart of what of course became the 2008 financial crisis it's estimated the scheme cost his investors individuals and institutions nearly $65000000000.00 from celebrities like hollywood director steven spielberg to charities like the foundation started by nobel prize winner ellie b. cell which lost $15000000.00 and there was a human cost as well made off the oldest son mark took his own life on the 2 year anniversary of his father's arrest he took advantage of seniors that he should never of god and if his old family property from what he did resident peace. didn't do the right thing. a lot of people made off had requested release from prison for

medical reasons but was refused bernie madoff leaves behind no fortune 170000000000 dollars in assets seized by the government there's only his wife ruth and what he described at sentencing as a legacy of shame his name now synonymous with wall street. kristen salumi al-jazeera new york. still ahead in this news hour coming back to life after kovi crowds returned to the streets of the occupied east jerusalem on the 1st night of ramadan and then sports we're going to have the latest from tokyo as the city marks the $100.00 day countdown to the start of the olympic games.

to move.

the earth. the air muslims in occupied east jerusalem have been celebrating the 1st night of ramadan with prayers inside the al aqsa mosque it's a very different picture from last year when covert restrictions meant the site was closed to worshippers during islam's holy month harry false it joined the crowds nearby. the 1st night of ramadan and drew slim's old city is bustling a year of coronavirus and the accompanying restrictions took a heavy toll on lives and livelihoods here this has the air of relief and celebration with a common destination in sight last year we were all abandoned to come to our luck some of this year 100 and we are all allowed to go hopefully until the end of the

month we can go because then a little bit last year we stayed at home there were no prayer is this yet is life there are people there are sweet there is. initially the israeli vaccination campaign struggled to find take up in occupied east jerusalem but recently the vaccination numbers have been going up at the same time as coded cases have been in steep decline allowing for an ever greater reopening there's a real sense of joy of release here in the streets around the ark's a mosque and that in large part is explained by the ability once again to pray during ramadan at islams 3rd holiest site but it's also about the ability to experience together with friends families neighbors this very important time of the year after a year of pandemic. last year's ramadan came at the end of the fall 1st coded lockdown with some restrictions on movement remaining in iraq so close to worshippers this time the crowds are back the mosques islamic trust is still instructing those going for prez to wear masks and maintain distance and so far

israel is allowing only $10000.00 vaccinated palestinians from the occupied west bank to enter for friday prayers nonetheless for the old city's merchants and snack vendors there is hope that after a bleak year this year is different. we will break into war reckon to life will. this will be a month to savor every force it out easier occupied east jerusalem. now it's time for the sport here. barbara thanks so much well madrid are returning to the champions league semifinals after a 2 season absence comes after holding liverpool to a draw at anfield the $2900.00 champions did create chances but muhammad salla berto from a no and saudia money couldn't manage a goal it finished no mill around madrid go through 31 on aggregate and liverpool's last chance at a trophy for this year is over but before the game

a window on around madrid's team boss was smashed on its way to end fields this was the aftermath of the incident as stewards worked to clean up the broken glass dozens of liberal supporters had gathered outside the stadium despite not being led into the game due to coronavirus restrictions liverpool has since apologized calling the actions of acceptable and shameful manchester city are through to the last 4 for the 1st time in 6 years the english side came back from a goal down to be brought dortmund $21.00 on the night and $42.00 on aggregate readme are as and fill fodder in both got on the gold score sheet to seal the win for city. let me find a lot up is now complete city will phase paris a sure man with the french side having a limited holder is barn munich on choose day all 13 time champions around madrid take on chelsea with $100.00 days to go until the opening ceremony of the

international olympic committee say they have no doubt the tokyo games will take place and that's despite a rising coronavirus cases in the country and poll suggesting the vast majority of japanese people want the olympics to be counseled and the richardson reports. events to mark the $100.00 day countdown to the start of the tokyo games were necessarily low key the city has just raised its alert level and government experts say japan is heading into a 4th wave of infections organizers though are resolute in their commitment to the event going ahead. and i had no hesitation in saying that the games will tie place and they'll be the safest games possible. all of the countermeasures have been put in place to deal with that to ensure that the public place in all of the other bitches and society we can expect that emotions will run even higher because of the

significance of the world being together for the 1st time in a pandemic situation there are so much expectations from the world community $11000.00 at leats will compete at the games the international olympic committee said being vaccinated isn't supreme requisite for taking part but many countries are hoping they will be able to offer their athletes the option of getting vaccinated the athletes and the pieces are going to take the world is going to take you oh so in terms of looking after the health and well being of the athletes and also giving him that confidence that they have been vaccinated going to be very important that performance in. the top 3 lay is an event designed to raise awareness and interest levels in the games that the most recent poll of japanese public opinion suggested that more than 70 percent on the event canceled or postponed and matsuyama city has just called off its like of the relay jutes

arising coronavirus cases we have medical professionals here questioning why the games are going on saying it's a too big a risk despite all that it is going on it's going on because the international olympic committee lives after elevation revenue it must get these games on television secondly the japanese state has invested perhaps $15000000000.00 in these games prime minister suga i think is staking his claim to perhaps extending his prime ministership are making these games successful so the japanese public cannot back off and so the games go on tokyo sold itself as a safe pair of hands when it won the right to host the games in 2013 that claim is now being tested in a way few would have thought possible and the richardson al-jazeera. time as world number one novak djokovic has made a winning return to competitive action jack which beat italian teenager yannick center to reach the last 16 of the monte carlo masters the serb hasn't played since

he won the australian open title in february. also back in action after a 2 month long break is rafa nadal the spaniard had an easy straight sets win against argentina qualifier frederico dublin 8 the world number 3 is seeking a record a standing 12th monte carlo trophy that i will face grigor dimitrov in the 3rd rounds. also through is defending champion fabio fognini the italian pete jordan thompson of australian streets that's been a has held the title for 2 years since last year's tournament was cancelled due to the pandemic paul for the. ok and that is all your sport for now it's now back to barbara in london. paris * thank you so much and that is it for this news hour do stay with us still going to be back in just a few minutes with more of these things like. in

pakistan's largest city climate change and water shortages and driving some residents to desperate measures. one o one the streets the water of garages the no 0. how concerned should we be about raising food prices or is this entirely down to the pandemic we bring you the stories and developments that are rapidly changing the world we live in a prime minister designate a. task of fixing a war torn economy counting the cost on al-jazeera.

we live in a world where the news is at our fingertips where we're one click worse wipe away from the latest headlines but how often do we stop swiping and scrolling and just listen it's the difference between knowing what's in the headlines and understanding how they got there. and this is to take pod cast where we bring you the context and the characters behind the stories that matter subscribe and start listening today that seems a promising path out of the pandemic but implementing the greatest inoculation in history is testing the global community around the world already a clear gap is the merger between rich nations and poor ones when it comes to vaccinating their populations from the geopolitics to the pure economics the misinformation the latest developments what's going on here is very different for a start look that's incomes in the form of the nasal spray special coverage of the

corona virus pandemic are not just. it's time for american troops to come home president biden says it's time to end america's forever war but promises there will not be a hasty exit from afghanistan this is the u.n. says nearly $1800.00 afghan civilians were killed or injured in just the 1st 3 months of the year. hello i'm barbara sarah this is al jazeera live from london.