like the city we say we need to take america to try to bring people together trying to deal with people who've been left behind me. ah, all 5 northern california forced thousands to leave the homes as they destroy property in several towns. ah. why money buy this is out there alive. also coming out. china keys is the u. s. a violently intervening in hong kong with fast by offering its people a safe haven to gray and rebels. take control of molly unesco world heritage site.

sacred for millions of ethiopian dogs, christian and kale, confusion in the philippines where thousands rushed to get vaccinated cove in 1900 delta, various sweeps across southeast asia. ah, as while fond burn in more than a dozen us states foreign fighters in california struggling to contain its biggest blaze, the so called dixie fire is forcing thousands more to flee their homes after burning for nearly 3 weeks now its leveled most as a historic town as john henry reports from northern california, the california largest active wildfire exploded, engulfing the gold rush, or a town of greenville and threatening several others. a sheriff's off stores be

strows saloons, gas stations, homes, all left and embers is $800.00 residence appear to have escaped following a mandatory evacuation order. over the last 24 hours, we've had explosive fire growth, driven by winds out of the west and south west meter and ologist have given a red flag warning where we have historically dry conditions, low humidity, low fuel moisture combined. are those winds that drove the fire? as we drove through mountain passage to reach greenville came another evacuation order for taylorsville. then one after the other for clear creek time town walker lake and the list goes on. the dixie fires been burning for 3 weeks. fueled by dry conditions and high winds, taking out an area the size of new york city. even with $5000.00 people battling the blaze, it's only 35 percent contained on wednesday. it was the 8th largest fire in

california history by thursday. it was 6 across the country, it's shaping up to be a record breaking fire season out. pacing 2020, the worst year ever recorded. 26000 firefighters are battling 100 blazes. in 14 states, we still have to keep our head in the game because we saw the peak months ahead of us with no indian site firefighters said they're battling the dixie blaze one day at a time. the priorities today are to aggressively attack fire perimeter. north of greenville, greenville still has active fire and a structure assessment going on at the same time or so continuing to fight the fire to our firefighters and our aerial resources are working in concert to drop retarded, and water. well, our ground crews and dozers and heavy equipment and engines are working to provide structure protection. some fires were sparked by lightning strikes, a local utility,

pacific gas and electric says its equipment might have sparked the dixie fire, which shows no signs of abating john henry and al jazeera greenville california. grace's prime minister is urging people to obey evacuation orders as emergency crews battle dozens of wildfires for a 4th day. he says unprecedented conditions have turned the country into a powder keg. an intense heat wave and droughts of fueling blazes, including this one north of athens, which re ignited off the 5. i just had both it on the control. same bus ravi is that he sent us this report. only hours after an announcement that fires north of athens had been put out, the blaze was back and bigger than before, the order to evacuate. the small town below came suddenly, when the church bells began ringing people panic. and all the storekeeper could do was head up hill and watched the fire closing in. today's fire is overwhelming,

isn't it? because it's impossible that after yesterday's fire that everything is burning again, burning whatever's left. we came to the high ground to try to get a sense of how bad this fire really is. and for the last several hours, we've watched it get bigger and bigger. spreading wider and faster the water dropping planes and helicopters seemingly have little to no effect on the blaze. as the fire spreads closer and closer to build up populated areas. and now we can see that the town of korea neri is burning on the ground. the fire didn't stop there. the aircraft that have been dropping water over the fires have only about another hour to go to be able to operate safely to try to put out those claims. but the heat is so high over the fires that the water has been evaporating before it's been hitting. the ground to the helicopters have been flying lower and lower to try to get to the fires to try to get as close as possible to put out these flames. all people can do with themes is watch the hillsburg and wondered perhaps if their homes might be next of the bush and vinny thought over what is happening now is

crazy. there were a 10800 fires in all of greece yesterday. if it crosses the national road, it will spread to the other force there. the severity of the situation was brought into sharp focus on thursday night. international address, prime minister to jago smith's talkies warned the worst was not over that people in greece must brace for dry, difficult, and extremely dangerous days ahead. by nightfall reports confirmed the worst. the fire had jumped the highway spreading to both sides of the national road. the wildfires seemed to be everywhere. everything at the moment seems uncertain. one person said it feels like her country is under attack. zane bus robbie old 0 north athens. the u. s. is offering temporary safe haven to thousands of hong kong citizens currently in america. in response to china's cracked down on democracy,

president joe biden signed a memorandum allowing residents to extend the visas by up to 18 months. beijing has moved to stifle opposition in hong kong falling protests in 2019 against the sweeping national security rule. let's get more of this. we can speak to adrian brown, his live rest in hong kong. so agent, i believe china has just been giving out its reaction to this needs. what if they've been saying what we've been hearing from china is foreign ministry here in hong kong. and they have issued a very blunt statement, essentially accusing united states and their words of interfering violently in china's internal affairs accusing united states of smearing china. and also bag, melting hong kong, but put those comments to, to one side. i think there's probably many people within the chinese government are actually quite glad that those people in the united states are going to be staying a bit longer. because in the eyes of those people,

those who have fled hong kong in the past 2 years or so, what people probably who supported the pro democracy movement and they are regarded by china's details as being patry artic. so yes, the language is getting stronger. the language is getting more violent and in many ways, it is a reminder that hong kong finds itself called in the middle of a proxy war being fought on the economic and diplomatic front between the world's 2 biggest superpowers. agent. tell us a bit more about this new u. s. policy. who exactly does it apply to and how's it going to work? well, it applies to the 10s of thousands of hong kong chinese citizens who are now living in the united states. these are understood to be people who have fled there since the protest began here in hong kong in mid 2019. now this deferral removal order from president joe biden means that they can remain in the united states for 18

months. but it's not clear when that deferral of removal order begins, and indeed what happens 18 months from now. but this is not the 1st time that biden has made a big announcement concerning hong kong, of course, just a few weeks ago, he issued a business advisory warning, american companies of the dangers of operating here in hong kong. and of course, the united states has also slapped sanctions on chinese entities and chinese individuals. china has also done the same money. thanks about adrian bound there for us in hong kong. if you're appears to gray in rebels, have fees control of the ancient town of lolly bella, which is in the north. in recent weeks t p le fighters have targeted the strategically important a fall region as well as horror where the ballot is located for the rebels. it's a symbolic victory and also a significant in cousins south. the town is

a unesco world heritage site on his sacred for millions of ethiopian orthodox christians, is known for its 12 century churches which have calmed out of rock. the us is calling on rebels to protect its cultural heritage. mark web has been following developments from nairobi. resident and others have told us the fighters and the gray region of entered the historic town loudly better. there were rumors that they were close local residents over the last week, some of the residents that they've had gunfire at night, but they say it's normal to to have some gunfire at night there. but then just in the last few hours, resident said they could see the, the gray and people's liberation from finances getting close. busy and then just to show while ago they've taken control of the town to town with a population of 20000 people, but it couldn't be of greater religious and cultural and historical significance. 800 years old, full of ancient church, and in a holy site,

4 years millions of orthodox christine. but it is also, as will appears to be a significant incursion on the part of the grand people's liberation funds from the north, coming into the territory of the enemy. they've been fighting with a mar of militia to the south, and now it seems they have taken control of the town as well inside the enemy territory. but it's careful to remember that in this conflict there on contingent front lines to speak of the people control the town here and other, other control the town that we can't we can't get it how much surgery is taken. but certainly this is as far as we've known, they've take taking the town into the enemy's territory so far that conflict could have been spreading into the m r afar regions in the last few weeks. david shin was a us ambassador to if you're, if you're on

a former deputy chief of mission at the american embassy in sou dawn, explains why the t p last may have wanted to talk at this location. i don't think there is any particular military value to the capture of la bella, by the grand defense forces. the town is not far from the gray border. sorry, it's not a long distance for them to go to me. the only explanation would be the fact that very early on in the conflict back in november of last year, the militia and the sample government forces captured the world heritage site of ox, which is the location of the, the auction, former oxen kingdom, inside western te gray and they, they still hold that location up to the present day. it is very difficult for the

grand forces to know apparently recapture ox own. so i think they probably made a decision to take a lot of bella and are using this as a tit for tat mode that we will need while they, bella, if you got us back. ok, so the 2 grand defense forces are great. they have to be very careful if they decide to go much outside of the region. i don't think they have any particular interest in remaining for any length of time outside of t gray that they are interested and retrieving as much of western t gray as they can. and i really see this move into la bella was an effort to do that. still ahead on al jazeera, the u. n. is on the prussia as concern, gross cosivity is caught up in the fighting between the taliban and afghan full

time. the elliptic spirit takes root in rio 5 years on from the games. we visit the legacy project, buying expectations. ah, ah, hello there, we've seen extreme heat across parts of europe at north africa, and that's extended across into the live. anton, this was the scene in gaza city as people escaped to the beach to try to get away from those hot and dry conditions. now, temperatures are above average here, but not only here across the northern areas of saudi arabia, as well as iraq and q weight sitting up in the high forty's. it's for the south, the things are slightly cooler. we've got a southern breeze kicking along the coast of yemen, an oman, and that's brought temperatures down slightly. we're also expecting some showers across western areas of yemen in the mountainous areas,

as well as part of saudi arabia. but for heavy showers, we have to hope across to that central band of africa. we've had really active thunderstorms across this area. we seen flash flooding in sudan. we could see some of that in south sudan where those rains are going to for heavily, as well as chad the central african republic, and part of the demo, democratic republic of congo. now for the south of this, it is a lot hotter and dryer. we think temperature is slightly above average for namibia and for what swanner. before south africa, things are looking slightly cooler and it's going to be cloudy in cape town this weekend. the story that need to be tow. find away, and demand to be heard. the opening the window into another light and challenging

perfection and personal endeavours in epic struggle with the colossal sacrifices in individual journey witness showcase it inspiring documentary the change the word on al jazeera. ah the me you watching out. as a reminder, on top stories this, our california largest fire has leveled most of a historic gold rush, or a town greenville was home to buildings. more than a century old china, how's the keys abided, administration of violent me interfering, and it's

a 5. and that's all the us off a temporary, safe haven, thousands of hong kong citizens currently in america. then response to beijing, crack sound on democracy. to grand for this has sees the ancient town of nati bella churches carved from rock, r u and weld heritage size and sacred to ethiopia as millions ah heavy fighting between afghan forces and the taliban has continued overnight in the city of laska god in southern afghanistan thousands of lead to neighboring come to hall, the country, 2nd largest city, the security forces that control just 3 of 17 districts in the province. kandahar, alaska, go and herat on seeing the most intense combat you and says health facilities and struggling to cope with civilian casualties tend to automatic edison james phase.

who's my 1st in a couple, james, bring this up today's fighting. well last guy is still seeing very, very heavy fighting in the center of the city. we understand that the fighting right now is focused around the headquarters of african intelligence and also focused around the prison, which just happens to be very close to the main hospital. the emergency hospital, italian n g o that's been treating the war injured. we think it's possible the taliban are trying to break into the prison so that they can break out people who are in the prison, where we believe there are taliban detainees being held. the african government and the army call that is leading the fight in alaska say that they have killed a senior taliban. they say milan view barrak was killed. he is the commander of what the taliban called the red unit. that's the equivalent of the caliban

special forces. no confirmation for the taliban of that. but the thought about all saying that the puppets of the americans as they refer to the african forces carrying out war crimes. and they've posted pictures of shops on fall. they say they've been heavy financial losses for people in laska. now it's been going on for some days. there is a problem, i think for both sides in this the african government are not managing to get control of this provincial capital. and clearly if they lose it, it will be a very significant set back to the morale of the government in cobble were told that the african forces are managing to clear areas briefly, but not hold them. and the taliban come back each time. but there is a problem, i think for the taliban to those fighters that are there in the center of the city, there are more and more african come on those arriving. the african forces have as strikes, they have power as well. and it can be very difficult, i think,

for the taliban to re some resupply. those who are fighting in laska guy just across the border in kandahar were told clashes cont, can you and something significant is going on at the border. the main border crossing that the taliban took spin, bolduc we're told is now closed. interestingly, this is because of a dispute between the taliban. on the pakistani authorities to tell about what the board is to be open 24 hours a day for pedestrians to cross. we told the pakistan is do not want that and it seems now because of the dispute, that border is currently closed monday. thanks for the update. james. phase of that for us in cobble be on security council is due to meet in the coming hours to discuss the rising balance in afghanistan as a taliban makes further gains, pressure is mounting on the un to do more to help resolve the conflict. kristen salumi have the laces with hundreds of thousands of afghans being displaced by the

taliban. recent offensive against government forces. un aid workers are sounding the alarm on human rights abuses in afghanistan as civilians. not to mention more than 1000. you and employees get caught in the crossfire. unicef, so today is outraged by report that a 12 year old boy from shearing gob district in far, providence suffered a brutal flogging by a member of an anti government group. women in particular are at risk from violence and the loss of basic write a letter signed by prominent feminist and rights activists calls on the security council to authorize a peacekeeping force. under resolution 1325 which demands the protection of women in armed conflict. women are at risk or being women and we know many of the things that are happening. i will not repeat the litany of what has happened to women during the advance. so the primary thing is to get

a cease fire. betty riordan, who work to get the resolution passed in 2000 says it also promises women a seat at the negotiating table. the protection of women, an armed conflict is not just some lofty un ideal. it was enshrined in international law right here by the un security council, which is under increasing pressure to help stabilize the situation and afghan, a stan. but the council is unlikely to authorize a peacekeeping force, given that any mission would have to be approved by the 5 permanent members who all have veto power. there is no real danger, a spread of extra prism and terrorism in countries surrounding us going on. there's no doubt about that. hi, ida is a former you and envoy for the region. he says with the withdrawal of us forces, the taliban needs extra incentive to negotiate. he's calling on the secretary general to appoint and the security council to get behind

a single un appointed mediator for peace talks has been said for a long time that you should be going to lead us only goes here some way that doesn't work. you know, you have to put somebody else in charge here. counselor's meeting on friday to discuss the situation. but civil society groups say it's action not dialog afghans need the most. christian salumi al jazeera, the united nations, me all the 13000000 people in the philippine capital headed back into a 2 week lockdown as a friday to slow the spread of the delta variance. if the corona virus, there was chaos. the cross minute on thursdays, thousands packs, vaccination centers trying to receive shorts before restrictions came into effects, philippines, a thing southeast asia, 2nd was kevin 1900 outbreak off to indonesia on

a be low has moved from manila. of course, this is already the 2nd time that the philippine capital is going through this enhance community quarantine. what this means is that only essential workers will be allowed to go out. only essential businesses will be allowed to remain open. only one member of each family will be allowed to go out to buy essential goods. now what you saw there, what happened on thursday here in metro manila, it's a little bit of a situation where people where misinformed president deterred in his last speech had said that he wanted and vaccinated people to not be able to go out. and if they're go out, they would be escorted back home. but a lot of people, especially essential workers, they have to go out, they have to go to work. and so yesterday, thursday people were scrambling to get vaccinated. the problem is there is

a supply shortage of vaccines here in the philippines. so there were limited slots and people were worried that. 6 they would not be able to go out, would not be able to go to work and they would not be able to get the financial aid the government promised damage. so that's what happened on 1st, on thursday. in malaysia daily infections, top 20000 for the 1st time on thursday, cases have doubled in the past 3 weeks despite a national, lockdown was outbreak. his father, growing public and cvo of the prime minister handling of the pandemic. florence louis has more from column for malaysia for 2 straight days reported record number of new crew and virus infections. now the country now rank $52.00 out of $53.00 countries in bloomberg's covert resilient ranking. this is a monthly snapshot of where the virus is being effectively managed,

but the least social and economic restrictions simulation is in the 2nd to last place. now not only is it reporting record number of new infections and deaths, but much of the country has been in lockdown since june. it's locked down, it's set to continue indefinitely despite causing economic hardship too many, many people have lost jobs. many people are relying on aid to feed themselves and their families, and yet we're not seeing number of cases coming down despite the locked down health services on the severe strain. intensive care units are operating at over capacity . so there's a lot of anger directed at the administration for its failure to contain the spread of cone, a virus, their calls for the prime minister to resign. and these calls are coming not just from the opposition, but from also within the ruling coalition. now malaysia is relying on vaccination and achieving heard immunity to come out of this pandemic. it's managed to fully

inoculate about 24 percent of its population. and the government has just recently given conditional approval for another vaccine to be used. new curve, 19 cases in the us have reached a 6 month high. the country's reported more than 100000 infections 3 times this week. the white house says 7 states accounts for half of the new cases. they have some of the lowest vaccination rates for specializations and deaths are also rising, bought a much lower rate corruption scandals, political crises, an recession has kept brazil from fulfilling many of the promises it made for the olympic games in re edition era. 5 years on one pledge husband realized a forest dedicated to athletes, monica, yet a que reports 5 years ago this was barren land, and many thought it would remain. so another broken promise from rio de janeiro

summer olympic games like cleaning up the beautiful and still very polluted when i bought a bait. but as the world is watching the olympics and tokyo, the athletes forest and rio de janeiro, its finally blooming and even expanding this forest. it's an important legacy from the olympic games. the real because we have here, right inside of the west, part of the city, 13000 trees inside of a future, a green corridor, the reciting right now to be for the next 10 years. it took an uphill battle to fulfill the dream which began at the 2016 olympic opening ceremony with athletes for reading feebly of $207.00 brazilian native tree. each one representing a different country. they were taken to a private farm until the necessary preparations could be made to plant them in 2017 . but the economic crisis, corruption, scandal,

and politics got in the way. the seeds of hope would have been buried in the past had not been for the insistent group of forest engineers who had continued to nurture them despite the lack of public funds and of the large food. not because i eat it took us 3 years from 2016 to 2019 to turn the athletes forest into a reality and find a home for each country that participated in the 2016 olympic games have been told to him in the forest indicating the species that represents, and it's part in this global environmental project. or you and a half ago all plants here were this size. now many of them are more than 3 meters high athletes. forest occupied 80000 square meters, a space equivalent to 8 football stadium. and another 20000 square meters are being

cleared to plant more threatened native species don't. we'll talk soon. we won't have to do much to keep the forest from growing. he says the trees already producing seeds which are being dispersed with the wind and will ripen in the ground. nature will take care of the rest to maintain this environmental footprint of the real olympics. monica, and i'll give, i'll just 0. we're diginero. ah, this is al jazeera, these he had help stories. california is biggest, while fi has leveled most of a his.