but continuation of the legacy or the beginning of real change in cuba special coverage has rolled past 2 steps down on notice you. play an important role protecting the. ringback place 3000000 people have now died of code 19 around the world bringing new to the global vaccination drive. by money this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. on the streets of minneapolis hundreds of people protest against the latest police shooting of a 20 year old black man. collapsing lebanese economy makes this year's ramadan

celebrations a somber. and space x. gets the go ahead to develop a new land to finance as part of plans to take astronauts to the moon again by 2024 . we start with some breaking news 3000000 people have now died of covert 19 around the world it's a milestone few could have imagined when the outbreak began in late 2990 the united states remains the country with the highest number of deaths followed by brazil mexico and then india nearly 140000000 people have been infected worldwide governments are now racing to vaccinate as many people as possible. thailand is closing schools bars and gyms for at least 2 weeks as it battles

a 3rd wave of covert 19 infections it had hoped to be able to reopen to tourism but now cases are rising it reported 1500 cases in the last day and 2 deaths that's brought the total death toll since the start of the pandemic to $99.00 health authorities alarmed by the sudden infections less than one percent of the population has been vaccinated tony chang has this update from bangkok. while thailand has been a huge success story in stopping the spread of covert 19 it's come at a huge economic price and then it's principally shutting its borders stopping people from coming in which has really devastated the tourist industry here that's an industry which is worth more than 20 percent of g.d.p. there you can see when you go out to places like kept up in the north in chiang mai past year down on the eastern seaboard just how devastating it is you know in some

places more than 50 percent of businesses are closed. in a 60 percent of income has disappeared many people had been holding on for the tiny new year holiday which has been taking place over the past week they've seen these rises and today is the 4th day in a row that we've seen these record rises it's seen them coming but the government was very keen not to stop the internal domestic travel because that was just one small lifeline that many of these businesses have had however people are now returning to bangkok getting back to work and i think the government is going to make conditions much tighter at this stage they don't want to introduce a full law. but they're certainly very keen to restrict movement to try and keep some of those businesses shut the whole sales have been banned in restaurants and bars and i think they're trying to snuff out this 3rd wave quickly as they can if they can particularly until they get their vaccination program sorted out. india's

covert 19 infection rate shows no sign of slowing it's registered nearly $235000.00 cases in the past day that's yet another daily record says 100 people died in the same period bringing the total so far to more than 175000 the world health organization says a variant 1st identified in india may be more contagious but despite the rise in cases some politicians are still holding large election rallies. prime minister narendra modi has people not to gather for a hindu festival he wants the comella festival to be symbolic instead hundreds of thousands of people have been gathering along the banks of the ganges river for several days and modis asked religious leaders to tell their followers to show restraint germany now has more than 3000000 confirmed cases of covert 19 the number of deaths increased to just under 80000 on saturday chancellor angela

merkel has asked parliament to pass a bill granting the government new powers to force lock downs and curfews in areas with high infection rates merkel is appealing to the public to get the job after she herself received a 1st the astra zeneca vaccine. signed scientists in chile say the chinese corona vaccine is 80 percent effective at preventing deaths from covert 19 the study of more than $10000000.00 chileans who receive the data also found it effective against symptoms 67 percent of the time chile's vaccine rollouts has been one of the fastest in the world the country is registered more than a 1000000 in 1000 cases and nearly 25000 deaths. hundreds of people have rallied in chicago in support of a teenage boy who was shot dead by police there is outraged too about the shooting of a young black man by police many applets during

a traffic stop happened several incidents during the past month which have heightened tensions across the u.s. about issues of policing and racial injustice chaper times he has this report. hundreds gathered in chicago a day after police released video from the march 29th killing of the 13 year old adam toledo by a police officer. in the off tomorrow if the police had said that the boy had died then all md confrontation of the video shows to later complying with an instruction to put his hands up he's then shot dead an investigation is on the way for her help the video about him to later his death was released as the trial of a police officer. in minneapolis i was protests continue here in brooklyn following the killing of a rights. by the protesters here have long argued that the disproportionate killing of people of color by the police is a systemic issue not the result of

a few bad apples and the mother of dante right again despaired of a system that may finally be putting police officers on trial but that remains fundamentally broken justice yes justice is definitely what we want but i'm never going to get. justice would be bringing my son home to me justice would have been my son driving to the car wash coming home after that i'm not going to get fat but 2nd degree manslaughter is not ok i'm not ok with that that's not right she murdered my son my son is never going to come home. so you get the fit on a police pension right now why my son is going to be buried in a few days and that's not what the protests in brooklyn center just about police killings now they're also about the police response to protests about police killing on friday many of the protesters were both rubes in solidarity with samir

hassan she lives opposite the police station where night after night tear gas and smoke grenades have been fired with abandon. on wednesday she left her apartment in her bathroom to look for her brother she was tackled to the ground. she was then jailed for presidents of an unlawful assembly all week the irony has not been lost on those here but the response to these demonstrations against unnecessary violence and the over policing of black communities. is a beam unnecessary violence and over policing shihab rattansi outages are a brooklyn something. the gunman who shot and killed 8 people at a fed ex the service in the u.s. on friday had previously been interviewed by the f.b.i. that was after his mother called police raising concerns about his mental health officials also revealed 19 year old brandon hall was a former employee at the indianapolis center president joe biden has issued

a statement describing gun violence as a stain on the country kristen salumi reports. another corner of america the scene of yet another mass shooting this time at a fed ex facility in indianapolis a gunman opening fire late on thursday night killing workers outside in the car park before going inside to kill others and then himself by friday morning police were still trying to piece together the motives of the gunmen details remain scarce he got out of this car and pretty quickly. started some random shooting outside the facility there was no confrontation with anyone that was there there was no disturbance there was no argument he just appeared to randomly start shooting and that began in the parking lot and then he did go into the building into the facility for a brief period of time the f.b.i.

later revealed that the gunman a 19 year old former employee was interviewed in april last year after his mother became worried about his mental health however he was later released overnight workers families gathered at a nearby hotel and waited to be reunited with relatives on shifts compound in the anguish a fed ex policy banning cell phones at the workplace which made it harder for survivors to reassure loved ones indiana's governor eric holcomb tweeted condolences but was immediately criticized for his anti gun control agenda he's received an a grade from the national rifle association reserved for politicians who demonstrate particular enthusiasm for blacks gun laws america indianapolis summing up the feelings of the majority in the country where we are left with this morning is grief grief for the families of those killed grief for the

employees who have lost their coworkers and grief for the many americans struggling to understand how tragedies like this continue to occur later president joe biden issued a statement saying too many americans are dying every single day from gun violence it stains our character and pierces the very soul of our nation we can and must do more to act and to save lives. this latest tragedy coming just weeks after mass shootings in atlanta colorado and south carolina drawing further attention to what's been described as a deep seated epidemic of gun violence kristen salumi al-jazeera after that shooting president joe biden once again urged members of congress to pass gun control legislation every single day every single day there's a mass shooting in the united states if you count all those who are killed out of

the streets of our cities and our rural areas it's a national embarrassment and must come to an end i strongly support the universal background checks which i continue to push the congress has to step up and act the senate has to act and i strongly support and continue to never stop supporting the ban on assault weapons and magazines that hold more than $1010.00 bullets the white house now says president joe biden will increase the refugee camp off the changing plans twice he had initially promised to let 65000 people in a year but on friday signed an order to keep it at the trump era level of just 15000 refugees allowed into the u.s. a separate program than migrants and must be vetted while still overseas many of those trying to get to the southern u.s. border being stopped along the way including unaccompanied children u.s.

government figures show more than $34000.00 unaccompanied minors why done to find out the border with mexico between january and march of this year. is there is john hallman is in mexico city with more on why people feel the need to make the perilous journey. let's talk about the push factors going out from central america there are already these countries guatemala el salvador honduras in a bad way home daughter some especially is the 2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere but late last year 2 back to back storms really poll over oyster specially honduras and guatemala now in terms of especially the surge of unaccompanied minors children that are turning up on the u.s. border it's been suggested that at least in part this is due to a policy change under president biden's of ministration that says that basically unaccompanied minors will immediately be expelled out of the country as soon as they get back in there will be sent back to mexico they'll be left there in the

country to be able to pursue their their asylum case in the united states now that's been cited as one of the reasons that people are sending their children or bringing their children if their parents ready in the united states to try and cross over and of course as these children pass through mexico they're passing a country that we as a team have gone through these stages with migrants many times and it's a country that's riddled with organized crime demanding kidnapping or demanding extortion money from migrants and controlling swathes of trick through aware at times as corrupt officials where the shelters are close to overflowing so this is a really really perilous trip specially for children and especially on their own more than $23000.00 pressed president step and pardon and release. it's unclear whether any of them will pray jim ocracy activists who were arrested during protests against the recent case the problems are customary to mark the new year

holiday in myanmar but this is the 2nd time the gentile has done so since it seized power in february. and thailand's foreign ministry is confirming on mas gentle leader men on the line will be attending the upcoming as ian summit the association of southeast asian nations brings together its 10 members annually to discuss regional issues this year is being held in indonesia as in has already called for ousted leader aung sun suu cheez release from prison. still ahead on al-jazeera the 1st time in decades the castro family will not be in charge of cuba raul castro is stepping down. with russian troops building up its eastern border ukraine's president goes to paris for emergency talks.

but. how i once again we have got a developing time food making good progress towards the philippines i'm pleased to say it should stay off shore but you can clearly see the distinct on i on that storm they're very powerful one this in a will be equivalent to catch the 4 hurricane by the time we get to the middle part of the way thankfully it should stay to the east of the philippines but we are still going to see some big way some strong winds along the eastern side of the country some wet weather coming into eastern areas there as we go on through sunday and push on into monday it will continue to just make its way little further north was as i said it should not make landfall in the coming days so we're not too concerned about that side of things but some very strong winds some very choppy waters and some big ceases results with that little further west we got quite a rash of showers coming in across much of india china vietnam cambodia lao todd

all saying some lives showers showers of course rot across malaysia and still a few showers that getting into indonesia as the civil rights continues to pump their way further north was not too many rains at the moment across australia fine and we have got a few showers into the northeast of the new south wales that eastern side of queensland are in the process of pulling away and woman up nicely behind. on counting the cost of the rwanda versus the markets with the turkish economy. i mean already on the brink will the president's unconventional economics take over yet plus mozambique huge gas reserves big investors and the surgeon see could do you a little. counting the costs on al-jazeera. award winning documentary from around the world. down to

0. it watching out is there a mind our top stories this hour 3000000 people have now died of covert 19 around the world it's a milestone few could have imagined when the outbreak began the united states remains a country with the highest number of deaths followed by percent. of people who have rallied in chicago in support of a teenage latino boy who was shot dead by police and several incidents during the past month which have heightened tensions in the u.s. . the white house now says president joe biden will increase the refugee camp after

starting in order to keep it at the trump era level of just 15000 he had previously promised to let 65000 people come in. israel says it's conducted as strikes against targets inside the gaza strip its military says it hit a hamas training facility and across missile launcher post it's in response to a rocket fired from gaza which landed in southern israel on friday night now a group has claimed responsibility for that attack. more than $3000000.00 lebanese which is half the population are facing a difficult ramadan the monthly cost of ifta the meal to break their fast now cost $2.00 and a half times the minimum wage the world bank says food prices there have become the highest in the region and a honda has more from beirut. for millions of people in lebanon food is becoming a luxury prices had already increased 5 fold since 2009 team before the holy month

of ramadan began families of muslims are struggling to afford the if tar meal that breaks their dawn to dusk fast. prices are insane and they have gone up even more during ramadan a plate of salad with cost $6.00 times more disappear what do we do do we beg we're not used to begging ramadan is an important event in this time of calendar but there are few signs in this working class neighborhood gone are the lights decorations and the vending stalls with traditional drinks that are staples on an if tar table lebanon's economy has collapsed so has the local currency and that's reduced people's purchasing power. those who used to buy culo vegetables are now buying half while others buy a piece some just walk away after knowing the prices. a month of its star meals for a family of 5 is now estimated to cost $2.00 and

a half times the minimum wage which is worth $60.00 at the black market rate and with no hard currency it's that rate which dominates trading. our salary hasn't changed but the prices have soared as desperation grows so have scuffles over subsidized goods and supermarkets lebannon imports most of its food and there have been shortages as the government runs out of dollars. despite wheat being subsidized by the government the price of bread has also increased over a month buying a single pack of bread a day will cost more than 10 percent of the minimum wage charities helping the vulnerable have had to expand their efforts unemployment is rising and at least half the population of 3000000 people is poor. maya terrell tells me her organization feeds up to 1600 families a months base that if we don't receive the full votes this month in my mean that we might not have the spot or i mean we have to have

a long many have had to change their diets some have stopped buying meat and herbes and spices and then they have to do it we used to buy an ounce of paper for 2 and a half dollars it now costs more than $10.00 what are the poor going to 8 politicians failing to agree on a reform minded government also means there won't be international aid and now lebanon is on the un list of hunger hotspots santa. suit. the latest if the u.s. and japan say they will continue to work together to meet challenges posed by china you know she had a sig a is the 1st well lated to visit the white house since joe biden took office talks focused on a wide range of issues including technology and the economy but it was geopolitics that dominated discussions. we committed to working together brought the same god challenges from china and on issues like the east china sea the south china sea as

well as north korea to ensure a future of a free and open and oh pacific japan and united states are 2 strong democracies in the region and we're committed we're committed to defending advancing our shared values including human rights and the rule of law we're going to work together to prove that democracies can still compete and win in the 21st century can deliver for our people and the face of a rapidly changing world. you know as you know. we agreed to oppose any attempts to change the status quo by force in the east and south china seas and intimidation of others in the region at the same time we agreed on the necessity of each other to engage in frank dialogue with china and in doing so to pursue stability of international relations while up holding universal values. ukraine's president volodymyr selenski is calling for

a 4 way peace negotiations to ease tensions off the waste and build up of russian troops along its border during a visit to paris olinsky held talks with president emmanuel my crawl on the german chancellor angela merkel charles traffic reports now from kiev. emergency talks in paris an effort to deescalate a military situation with russia many ukrainians fear could spiral into war germany's chancellor joined her french and ukrainian counterpart online russia's recent deployment to what's estimated to be 100000 troops along with heavy weaponry to its borders with ukraine has caused a long across europe and among nato allies we have seen so warm and stronger nation between ukraine and france and then germany about i said where it directly and there are on a slew that which we need now to move weyrich week story i understand that it's our problem but i think that it's not only our problem that is the safety of your.

russia the 4th member of the so-called normandy format that has for 7 years been trying to negotiate a political solution to the conflict in eastern ukraine was not invited to the meeting in paris. moscow says its troop deployment is a military exercise and poses no threat but is warned it will respond to what it describes as ukrainian provocation. 14000 people have been killed in a 1000000 forced to flee their homes since the conflict began in 2014. both science accuse each other of regularly violating a ceasefire that has barely held since it was signed 7 years ago germany and france have been accused of wavering on how to confront russia and how much support to give ukraine ukraine's foreign minister last week called russia's troop deployment an open threat of war and destruction of his country more ukrainian soldiers have

been killed since the beginning of this year and throughout 2020 in kiev ukraine's deputy foreign minister told al-jazeera russia is using the threat of violence to test nato and the new u.s. administration. ready to settle the conflict that is the question and the basic plot it's not about us or by terrorists is about russia russia has no interest in having result oriented approaches in this negotiation they only pushing for the process by itself to control the situation. people in the ukrainian capital i'm nervous said there's abortive and i think it happen you can expect anything from putin if there is a war everyone will defend our land we will be defending our country for a video is no illusion ukridge i'm not a fortune teller but of course i don't want to hold everything as possible from russia it's the aggressor they're capable of anything and nothing good will come of

it because ukraine's president says he is ready to hold talks with russia france and germany in order to calm the situation on the border in a statement released all the paris meeting france and germany yet again urge russia to withdraw its forces but despite the diplomatic pressure there is no sign russian president vladimir putin is ready to do that yet john strafford al-jazeera kiev. cuba will be without a castro at the helm for the 1st time and 60 is 89 year old raul castro has confirmed he is stepping down as the head of the communist party raul as brother fidel began their core leadership of cuba after the revolution of 1959 at augusta and is in humana with more reaction. what does raul castro's retirement mean for ordinary cubans all the sectors of the population are broadly supported by the government particularly those that lived through the huge improvements in health

care education public safety that were ushered in by the cuban revolution in the 1960 s. but for 30 years this island has been living through a slow drawn out economic and social crisis and as a younger generation that's demanding more. the 1st thing i'd change is i'd get rid of the blockade so that the spire of this country would change. when the revolution triumphed did a lot for society schools and hospitals and there were other things that went backwards housing trade. for me the customers legacy is that there is free education and health care and we should be grateful for that and i must tell you that we have serious problems with freedom of expression most cubans are scared to express themselves because they are scared of reprisals all that the police have them in the street or that they take me away in a police car because they won't know the real problems we have humans are living through the most serious economic crisis since the fall of the soviet union the silence been lashed not only by the pandemic but also by powerful new sanctions at

the top of ministration put in place improving the economy is the island's main political challenge but the mood here in havana is that more than anything any cuban leader can do improve the economic future hopes and dreams run through improved relations with united states. perris congress has unanimously voted to ban former president mass invest from holding public office for 10 years as car was found guilty of influence peddling after it was revealed that he has wife and several ministers received kevin 19 vaccines before perry's public rollout the former president says the center farm job he was given in october was part of a clinical trial. the funeral of the u.k.'s prince philip is to take place later this saturday the husband of queen elizabeth died at the age of 99 last week only 30 close family members will be able to attend

a private ceremony at windsor castle because of the coronavirus restrictions 3 astronauts who've been on a joint russian american mission have safely returned to earth the expedition came to an end when the soyuz spacecraft landed in kazakhstan the astronauts have been on the international space station for about 6 months orbiting the planet nearly $3000.00 times space x. has been awarded a $2900000000.00 contract to develop a commercial lunar lander if a nasa it will also plan to take 2 astronauts to the moon as part of nasa as artemus program which wants people back that by 2024 space x. beat amazon founder jeff bezos is private space endeavor blue origin and the defense contractor dianetics.