on just after a while, you delay the tokyo and then picks up, find the growing opposition. my really cause to japan, thousands of athlete will compete in empty stadium amid the corona, virus pandemic. audi 0 will be inside the bubble to bring them later games like no other. ah, this is al jazeera. ah, it's $1800.00, gmc hello, on. come out. santa maria, welcome to the news from al jazeera. ah. and then pick opening spectacle, but with almost no one in the house tennis, san amy thought like the cauldron to officially open took your 2020 a year later. and an unprecedented circumstance. also in the news haitians say good

bye to president shows no easy fascination is brought renewed violence and political uncertainty to the country. fighting words from the town about the group warns there will be no peace in afghanistan until certain conditions are met. and hospitals in lebanon, or on the brink of running out of fuel within hours during the lives of patients at risk. ah, 2020 olympic games delayed by a year are now officially underway on the tight corona virus restrictions and a state of emergency in the host city. there were no fans, just a handful of dignitaries in a far more subdued, even somber tone. but it was still the opening ceremony in tokyo managed to put on a show for the rest of the world, including fireworks, a drone display, and a surprise choice of athlete to light the cauldron. andy richardson has our report

from tokyo, the ever since the modern olympics began in 1896, an opening ceremony to showcase the identity of a whole nation has been part of the games. but really has a city had to pull off a balancing act like this. the shows creative director said the aim was to produce a spectacle that was also sober and in sync with the sentiments of a country going through a pandemic. or many was a made for t v event. all fans were bound from attending, just as they will be for the games to come. a scale down athletes parade was socially distanced and relatively subdued. but athletes from kurdistan. tajikistan and pakistan didn't wear facial masks breaking supposedly strict rules laid down by organizes just more, more headache for olympic president thomas back. he is admitted to having sleepless nights and daily doubts in the build up to the games. but he believed it was the right decision to push on and give athletes the chance to fulfill their olympic

ambitions. these, he's all of us hope for our further journey together. much of the local population is still to be convinced that this is the event the city needs. in the midst of a pandemic, japanese tennis thought naomi soccer was handed. the job of lighting the olympic coltrane. organizers will now be hoping, the sporting exploits of athletes like her can help turn public opinion around in the days ahead. when toko last posted the lympics in 1964, the game showcase the country, the reemergence. after world war 2 foreign visitors and athletes were welcomed and what became known as the inclusion games this time around. suddenly the world is happens to be cat at arms length and the richardson algae era. so what we wanted the perspective of and, and then pick athletes. so we spoke to the tunnel mohammed, his taekwondo will champion, was

a silver med list for great britain at the last summer olympics in rio de janeiro, a 2016 excuse me. he told us that not having spectators will have an impact on some of the athletes. it's impossible to overlook the impact, but having a war in crowd it lives. you and i think the historic great performances that were used to us in the lympics, the crowd has a major role to play, especially for sports like mine, take condo, which on traditional big sports like football and tennis. so you have to understand that this is really the only time once every 4 years. but most of these at least get to compete in a packed house arena, with grout cheer and pull them. so it's going to be strange. it will be probably like the moscow $980.00 or l a. $1084.00 games were that were boy caught in that there will be the mention oh such and such actually wasn't there. it's unfortunate

. but i still think it is happening though, that the athletes do get an opportunity to go and compete with their nation and compete for themselves. what's that gold medal london? was this absolutely epic james bond flying in and the queen, it was just so memorable, a very, very british occasion. and if i'm being honest, i watched the open. so i mean, just now, like we all did, i was hoping to see pick a 2 in the summer i and the kerosene. i really thought they were going to lean in 2 elements of japanese culture that spread across the world. but they went for a more artistic approach and be more lympics news and sport a little later on. other news now there are reports of shots being fired close to the funeral of haiti's assassinated president jovan annoys, where he has been laid to rest in the grounds of his family home and the country.

second it, he compassion outside the police report of the 5 t. a gas that protested, sending us delegation and other dignitaries, russians. they cause some self was shot dead. on july 7, haiti has been experiencing math protests and a political crisis for more than 2 years. and he gallagher reporting for us today from miami. and if nothing else, everything i've just said shows that they can't be no peace in haiti at least for a long time. i mean, if it can't happen during the funeral of an assassinated president yeah, exactly. this was supposed to be a solemn occasion, one in which a world leader was laid to rest. and really what it did was reveal the cracks and the suspicions and the division in this nation, people in k patient. i don't trust people from puerto prince, when the chief of police turned up to the funeral service. people were shouting assassin at him because they know that you have not maurice. his personal security

guards would ended in that attack. at that fascination on july, the 7th, they know that some police officers have been arrested. so instead of being a moment of solemnity a moment where perhaps a nation would get together for this laying to rest of their president. it didn't happen because there are so many divisions that there are somebody and answered questions. remember that an investigation is still ongoing at the haitian authorities of talked about trying to find the mastermind behind all this. but increasingly, i think people in haiti looking inwards, looking to who perhaps might have been a part of this who was haitian and perhaps then authority. so the big concern here, i think, apart from this being a funeral, the ongoing security concerns and the projects of this nation. and they'll be looking as well andy, towards who can lead them out of this. now there's an, an interim government in place and intern prime minister. but again, a huge job ahead of him. a huge job and,

and one that, that may be tricky for him as well. given that the a core group prevent national countries basically back to him. his name is arial, andre. he was sworn. it is the prime minister following a political battle with the vacuum left by marie. so that may be problematic for him to but it's real. one purpose here is to lead this nation into elections. they haven't happened successfully over 4 years. but many haitians, i speak to say, look, going to the ballot box is not going to fix this nation's problems. the senate is barely operating. the parliament was dissolved in january of last year, gangs that running the streets in puerto prince going to the ballot box is not necessarily something that will fix all of that. but the international community is now pushing for those fair and free elections, which may happen towards the end of this year, or perhaps into next. thank you. id kalika for that report from miami, some analysis now with lauren to blah,

who is co director of the democracy initiative. an author of haiti, the author shocks of history. he says hate, he's underlying problems cannot be solved as. and he was saying that just by holding fresh elections, obviously a very somber occasion, a moment to take stock of the deep violence that's been going on politically in haiti for the last several months. louise, not the only victim of that. there have been other killings as well. i think that what we need to think about now is exactly that. what happens next? there's been a kind of quick transition that's kept essentially numbers of the same party. people more close to movies and power than for many opposition, figures and 80 skepticism about whether they will indeed pursue kind of free and fair election process. but also elections are just one part of the democracy, obviously. and if there aren't the other kinds of structures and, and pieces in place to support and sustain a successful election, and it's obviously very difficult to carry one out as,

as we've seen the past and 80 as well. so there's a big debate about whether moving to elections of the right for what other processes might be put into place to kind of resolve the, the many crisis that the country is facing. currently, the appetite for kind of boots on the ground for a little inter literal intervention i think, is quite low, both in the us and on the part of the un. that does not mean that they're not other forms of intervention. and even the formation of this new government was clearly kind of guided and pushed along by the various diplomatic forces and the state department who above all have unfortunately, i don't know if it's unfortunate or not, but they have always sort of prioritize political stability. and that's been the kind of priority over some, maybe larger democratic process. sometimes at least that's what i think a lot of opposition members feel that keeping people in place and has, has been a priority over kind of addressing that the structural problems of, of democracy in some deeper way beyond the electoral question. a member of the

towns, negotiating teams as they won't be a lasting peace in afghanistan until a new government is installed and cobble on. all sides can agree on taliban fighters have been seeing many areas the loft of the us. the nato forces leave afghanistan for her. shaheen says the taliban doesn't want to monopolize palm, but the current government can't expect things to continue as they are either a diplomatic get into james space has more from cobble certainly what everyone wants, i think on the international community. is some way to have a negotiated settlement between the african government and the taliban. some way of sharing power. and what they'd like is to restart those talks that have been taking place in doha currently adjourned. great deal of effort to try and get that back on track and get that going. there has been a meeting recently with the deputy heads of the taliban political office in doha. of those alarm a happy and representatives of diplomats from the

e u. u. s. u n. and catherine. now many of those diplomats in addition to getting the talk started, think that the best atmosphere for the talks is to have a cease for the ton of and reluctant to have a c spot. at this stage, they say the proposals that the african government have put on the table so far are unacceptable. they won't not want reconciliation, but they won't set entering. they won't come come n harbor c spied and we will continue our waterman as it is. so that's the also not realistic approach, not to me, pragmatic approach. it is necessity that all of one should have are, should eagerly, upon, i knew god meant. and that was meant what to replace the new this

couple administration. and that's what it meant will be acceptable for us and to other up months. another taliban spokesman later clarified those comments, making it clear that the taliban is not demanding. the president, national ref gone, is removed or stands down before a ceasefire. that's not one of the conditions that demanding before a ceasefire out there understands what taliban want in order to have a cease far for them to a greek to a c swap would be for all the prisoners being held by the african government to be released and that will be difficult. moved by president gun, he got a lot of christmas last time. he released prisoners and also for all of those taliban members that are listed by the un under the sanctions committee. to be listed. your secretary state antony, blinking event, iraq's foreign minister in washington talking the agenda, the potential withdrawal of combat troops by the end of the year that may allow the

us military to take on an advisory role, including training and arming iraqi forces to find i thought, friday's meeting is to lay the groundwork for president jo biden's, meeting in person. the rocky prime minister suffer called to be on monday. i correspond to petty calhoun as more from washington. iraq. foreign minister came here to the state department to meet with the us secretary of state, and they spoke to the media, but they didn't really make any news that's expected to happen on monday, when iraq's prime minister heads to the white house to meet with us president joe biden, they are expected to announce that they will take all us come troops out of iraq by the end of this year. but the foreign minister has been telling the press that he still needs the us military to do intelligence and surveillance. do training to fly for air power. air power is in fact combat. and that's pretty much what us troops are doing in iraq right now. and sources in the putting out or say they don't expect that the numbers going to change very much right now. they have 2500 troops in you, in iraq and,

but they're not always supporting the mission in iraq. they're also supporting the $900.00 or so troops, us troops that are in syria. so we are respect that mission is going to change very much. this is being seen widely as a political move to try and help the iraqi prime minister in the run up to the next election coming up say, quarter past. the news are here is what we've got coming to you. new zealand spending its quarantined free travel bubble with australia. the national covey emergencies declared and sydney. the person question emerging around the world. how long should we be waiting between doses? a covered 1900 back thing. with the games the beginning, the temperature was to out the handle for one competitor in tokyo, that's coming up later in sport with german. ah, now and advised that a former us president donald trump has appeared in court for a bail hearing. thomas barrick charged with working as

a foreign agent on behalf of the united arab emirates, prosecutor say he failed to register the lobbyist and tried to influence us foreign policy to benefit the united herb emron small with christian salumi in new york. why don't we just start more prison with more about thomas park himself and exactly what he's charged with? yes, absolutely. thomas barrick is charged with trying to influence improperly lobby the u. s. president for he was working allegedly on behalf of the united arab emirates as he was the chairman of president trump's inaugural committee in 2017. and he is now at this very moment, appearing in los angeles court house on this agreement to let him basically go free while he awaits trial. this was a substantial step and i unexpectedly taking place today. he is due to appear in

person and a new york courtroom on monday, but his lawyer is attempting to secure his freedom pending trial. prosecutors were very nervous about this because he is a very wealthy man, a business man with a private jet and citizenship in lebanon. so they wanted to make sure that his attendance in new york, on monday would be assured before letting him leave this federal detention facility while the investigation into his allege influencing attempted influencing the president continues. he's also charged with lying to investigators back in 2019 who were looking into this kristin aside. well, let me put it this way. big picture. what does this mean? what could this potentially mean for donald trump? other than have more bad news for him. well, the president, trump is not in any way indicted with these charges. he's not named in these

charges. prosecutors do allege that the defendant brock had an influence on president tom's foreign policy, however, and also that he was attempting to get a position as a middle east adviser in the trump administration. when all of this was happening, he was informally advising president trump's officials, but president trump, while he himself is not charged, does remain the subject of at least 4 investigations here in the united states that have ensnared some of his closest advisors, including the cfo, the chief financial officer of the trump organization, our wife berg, who was charged here in new york last month. so right now this does not directly impact the president, but another close associate of the president now tainted by these charges alleged against him. of course he has pleaded not guilty in this class, and so far he like weisberg, is indicating that he plans to fight the charges. ok,

thanks for that. and kristen salumi in new york. mm. but it's not our current of our season lebanon where hospitals are running out of fuel for the generators. the economic crisis is led to power cups that can last up to 20 hours a day, and that is putting lives at risk. because the pandemic continues sainthood with this report from beirut. these generators are a lifeline for hospitals in a country where state electricity cuts last most of the day, but they're running low on diesel fuel. lebanon is an economic and political turmoil, and the state is nearly bankrupt. doctors warned the health sector is close to collapse with all the what's going on with the shortages, whether in human resources, whether in medications, whether in supplies, and on top of that now fuel electricity and more of a case is coming in. i'm believable that the hospitals are still able to it's not

just hospitals bakeries to say if they don't receive diesel fuel in a few days, they will have to close the state. the electricity company has all but stop providing power. already the sector was crumbling from years of neglect, but in recent weeks rationing has been severe. we rely on tandal. there is no electricity and i can't afford to pay private generator owners. many no longer can afford basic food since the local currency crashed. prices have increased by 50 percent this month alone. the prices are controlled by many factors, including the exchange rates or the dollar depending on the black market prices for fuel and for diesel. you know, we have market, we have to have electricity, 247. the black market has taken advantage of states subsidies on basic goods including medicine,

many of which has been missing for months. many blame this for the crisis. all of the odyssey to something when you stop that, i think they would be out of market because once a month and even if they were the subsidy, but they would be the source on the market. merchants have been blamed for hoarding supported goods or smuggling them to neighboring syria or other countries. mama lacy is element, we can't find any med since there is no electricity. food is so expensive. every aspect of life has been affected by the unprecedented economic and financial meltdown. water supply is likely to be affected by the collapse of the power grids . the united nation says water pumping could gradually seize within 4 to 6 weeks. the country is falling apart, its blamed on decades of corruption and mismanagement by a political class still in power. the solution, many se requires

a government ready to fight just that. then their elders, either beirut, took the asia pacific in denisia, reporting more than $1500.00 current of our debts and 24 hours a new record. and also registered just under $50000.00 new infections. and teenagers become the epi center of a surgeon cases in se, asia fields by hardy, contagious filter. barry and rapidly rise in cases of lead to a declaration of emergency. in the strange state of new south wales, half of the country's population has been put into locked on. the outbreak spills into the states. state home orders in sydney are likely to be extended beyond the current end date of july 30. it means neighboring. new zealand has suspended quarantine for travel with all of his trailers for 2 months. the so called travel bubble was already paused for news. southwell, victoria, unself, australia, humans, prime minister, just cindy, roger, and his warning of an increased risk to travelers. now apparently,

a longer gap between your doses of the 5, the vaccine at least boosts effectiveness against corona virus. this is kind of a new study led by the university of oxford. while it reveal a strong immune response, many way from 3 to 10 weeks between shots that identify that 8 week gap between doses as the sweet spot. the trade off in that longer interval is a drop in antibody levels between the 1st and 2nd doses. and importantly, the study noted the decline in anti bodies needed to fight off the delta variance. but regardless of the dosing schedule research and said to 5 shots generate robust immune responses, his susanna dunahee, the professor of infectious diseases at the university of oxford. and actually the joint chief investigator of the study known as pitch. she says people who have received the 2 doses of pfizer at shorter intervals still be confident they are protected. first of all, i'd like to say that today's is a bit vaccine and very good to inducing immune responses. and if you've had your

price back in on a short dosing info, don't worry it's, it's a great back thing. we just found that you, kate strategy, which was to give along the strategy which was based on and knowledge of back scenes for diseases and how long a gap often is better. what we've done this when we neutralizing antibodies and they're induced by the vaccine. and but the against the delta barrier, they're, they're a bit lower and 2 jobs is definitely better than one against the delta variance. so really it's a balancing point. you case just you had to originally been 12 weeks interval and been brought to 8 weeks just to try and balance and trying to get the best results of the population. i wouldn't want people to get too hung up on and going down because that's what they say. you bought the car, have high levels antibodies for every bulk. it's ever been back to me again. what

happens is you then have memory and you'll be so memory. so if you can, to the virus, you'll be able to quickly make antibodies. so if you're healthy and you've had 2 shots, that might well be enough even if you're unable to levels that seem to be lower. okay. i think it's a different matter the same portal people do because of health reasons might not respond well to the job. and there's clinical studies going on in the you get a moment to look at giving a 3rd shot. those 2 people in the news, the head us, the states take action in support of israel after ben and jerry is suspended, sales in the occupied palestinian territory. little stuff. the latest on the scrambled to save people stranded by monsoon, plugs in wet and india is the death toll grows. many parts of drug and display about feeling big stadium and tokyo. more from japan and all of the games officially begins. ah

hello. nice to see you. there's no change across the weather in the middle east, we're still dealing with some high heat, particularly around the gulf kuwait's 49 degrees. we've got a slight shamal wind here, so we're seeing a northwest wind gusts about 4050 kilometers per hour. we do have some rain moving across much of yemen, and our southwest monsoon is giving us some rain as we would expect to see in sola, for example, on saturday. next, i want to take you to turkey, where the black sea region has just been hammered with some heavy rain. we've also seen as a result of this land slides at home, going down right there. and unfortunately, it's looking like much of this heavy rain will continue on saturday, toward that southeast corner of the black sea. next, we're going to go to africa and check on the tropic street here, and we've got storms coming and going. but what's the bit unusual is the storms are

lifting further to the north and falling across the sou hale region. so we do have some rain in the forecast for juba on saturday with a high of 32 degrees further to the south. we had some soaking rains for the eastern cape port. elizabeth picked up 50 millimeters of rain over the past 24 hours. but look at this on saturdays, things start to dry out and we've got some sunshine with the temperature of 21 degrees. the joined the debate, do not have vaccines reaching those who are most of the needs and amplify your voice. it allowed a diverse community and how and array of different story know topic it's of the table. it's such a tough ethical debate where there is obvious discrimination and systematic discrimination of play. people are thursdays for new, wasted. the stream where a global audience becomes a global community on al jazeera. when the news breaks,

pinion journalists complain that they are systematically in iraq and the store needs to be told. we watched the last helicopter, leave the roof, the embassy with exclusive interviews, and in depth report. if purple is your thing, this is the place al jazeera, her teens on the ground, over 900, to bring you more award winning documentaries and live need on air and online. ah, the ah. the news out here at to 0, these are the top stories. after

a years delay the tokyo 2020 summer lim picks that opened officially and 2021. with a low key ceremony in a nearly empty stadium, japanese tennis named sancho was given the honor of life and delivered cauldron president of the games and said she hoped, fell off people a moment of peace. a funeral of haiti's assassinated, president of reason taken sites in his hometown of compassion. he was shot dead at his residence in the capital more than 2 weeks ago. and a new member of the town of bands negotiating team says they will be no lost in peace. and i've got a son until the new government stolen cobble at all side. agree on change of the taliban. the doesn't want to monopolize now. texas is reviewing investments by its pension funds after ben and jerry's announced it is pulling out of the occupied palestinian territory. the von based company for filling ice cream there. whereas really injurious settlers live illegally under international law, would be inconsistent with its value. the texas state government though,

believes the decision goes against a law which prohibits any boycott involving israel. it's $100000000.00 pension fund has investments in unit labor. and jerry's parent company or been and jerry's was acquired by unit leave a 20 years ago, but it has kept an independent board to manage the brands. image. unilever says been in jerry's decision, does not reflect the position of its board, and it wasn't approved. israel's prime minister natalie bennett was quick to react though warning, unilever of severe consequences and possible legal action. just to put a little perspective for you about unilever. ben and jerry's itself over here is just one of what is that 8 i screen brands that you know, leave room has a whole lot of food brands, as well as the se, cosmetics cleaning products, personal care. it is a huge company.