in the stop the fan that ticket i use and that it completes. see right now people out of day children are day up front with me. michael mon hill on out 0. ah mm. this is al jazeera. ah. hello, the hell robin. you're watching the al jazeera news out, fly from our headquarters here in doha, coming up in the next 60 minutes. the u. s. president tolls a summit to tackle what he calls alarming challenges to democracy. but some countries accuse it of hypocrisy and cold war mentality. a call for war urgency as well. power resume talks with iran to salvage. the nuclear deal will be live in vienna and a powerless winter. the u. k is warned, it could see

a 1000000 cases of the alma kong cobra, buried in weeks. plus we have more on how katara is partnering with countries across africa to provide education to thousands of children left out of school. and i'm devin ash, with board and thomas back to fence the handling of the functional situation ad in football boss, right is right to recovery, hits another huddle, leaving new case chevy with plenty of anger. ah, welcome to the news out of the us president, his warning that democracy is on the decline and confronting the crisis is the challenge of all time. joe biden is hosting a virtual summit to address the issue more than 100 countries are taking part, but russia and china have not been invited. both countries have denounced the meeting and accuse washington of cold war mentality and stoking divisions. in my

view, this is the defining challenge of our time democracy. government of the people by the people for the people can at times be fragile, but also is inherently resilient, is capable of self correction and is capable of self improvement. and yes, democracies hard, we all know that that works best with consensus and cooperation. level has correspond can be how it is standing by for us in washington dc. and of course, kimberly, and why does the president think he needs to have this sort of a summit because it's coming to a lot of criticism it's a campaign promise that is being fulfilled by joe biden. and you have to remember he has years of legislative experience as well as being vice president, now president. so in terms of how american democracy is supposed to work, he certainly understand that from the inside out, intimately. having said that,

there is a lot of criticism about this conference. what can really be accomplished by virtual meetings and even if the countries that are participating will be able to emerge with some sort of actionable joint communique or joint statement. so this is what people are watching. they're looking at this carefully as the u. s. president says he's pushing back on erosion of democracy around the world that he says, leans towards authoritarian tendencies. but there is a real question about whether or not the united states has the moral authority to lead such a conference. ah, the images are unforgettable. supporters of former president donald trump last january, attempting to overturn the results of the u. s. presidential election. it rattled a nation that prides itself on being a model for democracy. since then,

many americans have come to believe democracy is under attack in the us and elsewhere. it's no secret that there is democratic backsliding happening around the world. that's why you as president biden is holding a virtual summit this week to bring together more than a 100 countries to promote democratic ideals like voting and human rights. divide in administration points to threats to taiwan from china and ukraine from russia. as just some of the examples of how democratic governments are being tested, it hopes to rally global leadership to stand up even confront those authoritarian forces. but critics say the u. s. lacks the moral authority to hold such a summit. we directly arm and finance some of the most authoritarian and inch democratic governments around the world. the case that comes to mind over and over

again is saudi arabia, where we continue to sell arms in the millions, billions of dollars, to a government that who stated goal. he's not to support that democratic. we foundation the guest list for the summit has also raised eyebrows. countries like india and israel have been invited to attend. they've been criticized internationally for their authoritarian responses, kashmir and the palestinian territories. meanwhile, turkey and hungry, both nato allies are excluded. it does not mean that we are invited that every one were invited were giving a stamp of approval on every democracy is a work in progress. divisions over the 2020 u. s. election. continue led by former president trump, who has still not accepted the results or his defeat. democrats say that sentiment has motivated republicans to change voting laws in some states to

restrict access to the ballot box and potentially manipulate future votes. now, joe white and the u. s. president opening the democracy summit saying that to preserve democracy, he believes, is the pivotal and most challenging task of our time. he also said that, well, it is important to acknowledge self correction, what he believes will really support democracy is consensus. in other words, people sitting down to work out difficult problems even if they have opposing views . now, given the fact that the u. s. president has encountered a lot of pushback from republicans in there are deep divisions in this country on both the left and the right. many people, again wondering if the u. s. president is really the right voice to encourage this

sort of practice. at the same time, you as president, also talking about how he believes in order for there to be a healthy democracy, there needs to be rule of law fair and equal justice. something that is not always practice in the united states and freedom of the press. again, something that is not always practiced in the united states. so these are the challenges for this white house, but they say that they are presenting the arguments in this democracy summit, humbly and acknowledging that well they encourage others to improve. sometimes they also need to improve themselves can be halgert in washington dc. thank you. well, mom bushera is out there, a senior political analyst joys me now via skype from paris, her height, my one is the u. s. really in a position to tell us what are other countries, what democracy, democracy is all about when its own house has been out of order these past few years. and, and what kimly really alluded to, and her story well, you know,

at this peasant biden are in, are claims to have one against the conference trying to reverse a different her challenge is if you world for democracy in the united states and, and that he is trying to build on how long legacy of american liberal democracy. so unlike tromp, he that he is a believer in democracy, not tar populous type of nationalism. and he believes that democracy is key not only for a u. s. interest, but also globally as well for global stability. so in a sense, if you want to what, what is really important here sale is, how is democracy being used now by the united states as a tool for a policy at because in the end of the day now that we are hearing from the russians and the chinese that they themselves are democrats, that it, china is a socialist democracy. and russia is

a figurative democracy. this is sort of new. and you know, coming from moscow and badge in, you know, this, the country super powers being on the defensive as the united states re, emerges are on the question of the marker sandwiches at the 4 of its foreign policy . busy tries to rally 100 plus countries around the world against russian and, and, and, and chinese authoritarianism. so suddenly democracy is not just a question that is domestic in the united states. it is one of geo political importance where the united states is trying to rally the others in order to come up front to come up on top. it's a geopolitical competition at with beijing. i mean, democracy is sort of has been under strain during the pandemic. for example, we've seen democratic o democracies and authoritarian governments all make unilateral decisions without debate or negotiation ready to safeguard or to safeguard the populace as a whole. and that really has created this debate about what democracy is

a when does it work and when it doesn't work? yes, absolutely. this is an attempt at a relative i zinc or what democracy is and, and that democracy needs to fit in was certain cultural paradigm as the russians claim, one or certain history as the chinese claim and so on, so forth. but in the end of that there, there are some basics, especially the ones that are sort of americo screeching if you will. and those are the ones that concern liberal democracy because even, you know, i, in my view democracy without the liberal aspect of it, when it becomes, or you know, quite short live because in the end of the day, if there are no respects for you know, freedom of expression now with the judiciary, the rules law, the protection of minority and you know, gender and other equality. then democracy is just a way to go to the, to the falling station and make that to be the last time. and i think in that sense, there is a certain universal understanding that in

a basic protection of freedoms and human rights are integral to her to democratic rule. and i think in a sense, you know, having authoritarian leaders from around the world, whether it is a dictators from the middle east or authoritarian leaders in asia and latin america clinic to be democrats. it just a testimony to how democracy still attractive to people around the world. yes. as president by then says there is a certain decline and yes, that is malaise if you would, especially in western democracies, whereby the fact that democracies are not producing the idea that the act to the expected prosperity is turning a lot of people off. but i think also people have short memories because in democracies, especially like here in newnon, but also north america. you know, things are better off today than they were. you know, say, 100 or 200 years ago,

shall have a great deal of analysis as we get more word of what's being said in that conference . the virtual conference of mom bush are the algebra senior political analyst in paris. thank you. know china has accused us of political manipulation for going ahead with the some it even came far as to say that it's a joke. katrina, you has more well basically to say according to beijing, this summit is about promoting us self interest and making sure that the u. s. stays on top of the world stage. now china has many reasons to be angry. one of the foremost is that it was not one of the more than 100 countries or regions invited to attend this summit. and they took issue with that. and they were further infuriated by the invitation, extended to taiwan, which china considers a rogue chinese break away province. another participant, they are not happy with is the speaker nathan law. and now he was a former hong kong legislator, a well known activist,

and he fled hong kong before the position of the national security law. last year now he's been invited to speak about his experiences. he will talk on human rights and standing up to authoritarianism on friday. now in recent days, over the past week they doing and it's propaganda. state media has been on or va, dr. talking about all the flaws of us style democracy and saying that china has its own style of democracy, which is more representative of the interest of the people. but of course us many other per democratic groups and countries would take issue without saying that trying to routinely denies its citizens, human rights or basic rights. there is no individual voting and china has been routinely criticized for it's a treatment of, for example, muslim wiggers as well as people working in the media. so joe biden is expected to speak soon to ukraine's president lot of in the lensky about the build up of russian troops of the border on tuesday. and had a virtual summit with russia's vladimir putin. he said he has no plans to invade

ukraine. me? well, nato troops are training ukraine's armed forces to better defend themselves against what the allies say is russian aggression. but as charles trafford reports now from eastern ukraine, nato's helping hand doesn't extend to a highly effective fighting unit described by critics as a neo nazi movement. that the soldiers are members of what used to be a pro ukrainian government. a paramilitary group called the as of battalion, critics said, as of was a neo nazi group unit, started in 2014 as a volunteer organization and quickly developed a fierce reputation for fighting pro russia separatists. defending the court city of murray, awful. in december that year as off was incorporated into the ukrainian national guard. it now has over a 1000 soldiers. you recruit must pass

a 5 week basic training course that instructors say you so grueling. only around half get through walkers offered fairly though. granted, i am proud to be a member. we are an elite regiment. we have proven ourselves as number one and all the armed services. we are very motivated engine. the enemy knows who we are and is afraid of us on the government supplies weapons, ammunition tanks and armored personnel. carriers like this one would around 80 percent of the men's kit and material for this training camp is bought with donated money. its been 7 years since the as of brigade were incorporated into ukraine's national guard under the ministry of interior. but come on his head say that the unit is still struggling to shape a reputation of having far right or even fascist leanings. these allegations, the commanders staunchly deny, but they acknowledge that it's the main reason why nato forces refuse to train them

alongside the ukrainian army critic say the underlying philosophy of the regiment has not changed. they say it's part of a far right movement, bled by this man. andre b litski, who was its 1st commander and who now leads the national co follow right? political party accused of having links to white supremacist groups. i think it's completely absurd to claim that there is no relationship between the regiment and the broader as our movements. ukraine's primary western allies are all the western allies are very especially now attuned to the issue of members. alright, extremists, in, in the military and any military. and they're very much not keen to be to associated with the badge resembles the wolf's angle on it,

which is warned by nazi infantry divisions in world war 2. there's been pressure in the us congress to declare as of a terrorist organization. but the regiments leader says it has distance itself from politics and serves the crane in government and people. more couple of the honda you, me, the russia propaganda try to discredit us because it knows we combat capable and willing to fight to the end. russia tries to portray us to our western partners is incompetent right wing radicals. we've had visits several times from representatives of nato countries. we want to share our battle experience with them . we could learn from each other slowly. but nato says it will not strain these men until the regiment proves it has no links to neo nazis. and that is proving hard to do fall stafford al, jazeera, ors of young, eastern ukraine. well, plenty more had here on the i was, is there a news are including we look at how children across east africa all bearing the

brunt of climate change. and india's defense minister reveals what happened moments before a top military chief and 12 others were killed in a helicopter crash, also called me the one officials of warned against unsportsmanlike, driving in sundays, championship decider law, not enforced. ah, faith burdick then at the headquarters of tennessee as large as political party, at least 11 people have been injured. but people trying to escape the and had parties building through windows is unclear what caused the blaze. now the group holds the most seats in parliament. it's been locked in a dispute with the tennessee in president since july, when he suspended the legislature and assumed that he, all executive powers there on top negotiator says to her on, is serious about reaching

a nuclear agreement with world powers. now the chair of the negotiations, and ricky mora says that all sides have shown a renewed sense of purpose talks have resumed in vienna, aimed at reviving the 2015 deal. it's limited iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. now last week, u. s. and european participants accused to her on not being serious about salvaging the deal. what guys both dish morgan was from poles allegations with only the ring in one full delegations, lorine essential for push home. the need to war, come to return agreement from bringing the spirit back to life. this is, this is my my information from from this morning. it's difficult, it's a very difficult devil to say that are still different positions that we have to marie. this is the gist of the negotiation or we will see how we can, how we can proceed, or how we come across all dosage of all he chose. we now live from vienna and it

does sound like there is some optimism around this round of told, perhaps a little bit of urgency as well to get some sort of conclusion. certainly, and the sentiments that were shared by the reigning deputy foreign minister at the very connie who's leading the rating delegation was the same as that of the you foreign policy cheese that we just heard from. connie said that the ratings are very serious and they're here for results. and that is exactly what they hope to achieve in the coming days. the joint commission met earlier on thursday and then they went off to smaller working groups to discuss the details of what iran has proposed to the world powers. the rainy's put forth 2 proposals last week where they said one deals with how the united states will lift those sanctions that they impose, since they left a nuclear deal in 2018. and the 2nd proposal deals with the arena nuclear program and how iran will go back into compliance. the way news of that that will only

happen when they can verify that all the sanctions that the u. s. is imposed or lifted, the americans for their parts have said that they have discussed the proposals that the capitals along with the european signatories of the deal that is, france, you k and germany. and in the next 48 hours, the various working groups to discuss the america response, we have not heard exactly what the response is and neither have the rains. we understand the technical work in groups will be told what the americans have come back with in terms of what the international atomic energy agency has to do with all of this. they are the watchdog that polices the j. c, p o, a, the nuclear deal of 2015. and the head of that organization has said that there has been serious issues with iran compliance over the past few months. and that they are very concerned that they no longer have the access that they want to have when it comes to policing, iran's nuclear program, the radians say they are upholding their end of the deal that they are giving access to the agency under the agreements and nothing more,

the americans have threatened to call an emergency board of governors meeting of the i. e before the years and to discuss iran's noncompliance is they put it. and ultimately, that would mean there was a possibility that that board could then take their decision to the united nations security council. but for now, the groups here that are discussing how to move forward. and hopefully they can come to some kind of an agreement in the next few days and on how to move forward with these negotiations. daughter jabari in vienna with bud update. thank you. the other con cove at 900 variances casting a shadow over the upcoming holiday period where the countries across the world stuffing up measures to contain it spread south africa has approved the use of the 5. the vaccine booster shot, the w h o says the country has seen a 255 percent increase in cases in the past week. well, while in the u. k, the health secretary has warned that it could see a 1000000 mclean infections by the end of the month. cases of the new variant have

been doubling every 2 to 3 days. at austria has outlined its plan to make current virus vaccines. compulsory officials previously hinted as a maximum fine of about $4000.00 for those who refused the job. well we'll get more from from eda miller on the situation in south africa in a moment professor because of the dominant came for the very latest on the measures in australia that have just been involved and don't make it really to sound like austria is taking a very hard line, whether the public like it or not there's no question that the austrian government, felts, when it's announced some weeks ago that a mandatory vaccine requirement was coming and that a lockdown was necessary. there was no doubt that the wave of covey that was washing across their country was so bad. they felt they have no option well to day . they have presented their proposals, and it is thus, every one over the age of 14, in austria, who has not been vaccinated by

a point in february, will suddenly find themselves potentially liable for a fine of more than $4000.00. everyone under the age of 14 will not need to suffer that penalty. the point is the numbers here, something around about 70 percent of the austrian population has already been vaccinated. at least has had 2 doses of the vaccines that require 2 doses, or one if it's the johnson and johnson vaccine. but that still leaves around 30 percent. now the 14 year olds and under make up around 14 percent of society to catch the chase. what it means is, around $1200000.00 adults have had the opportunity all this year, almost all this year, to have the vaccine and have chosen not to for whatever reason. well, come february, that 1200000 people. if they haven't been vaccinated, we'll start having to pay for it. and it could be up to $4000.00. locals across the border in germany, they to have a new government. it's the 1st full day of working or in operation for them. and it,

they got hit the ground running yes, effectively, you have 2 new governments. the ones of chancellor near hammer in vienna and our chancellor's shots here in berlin. and to a large extent, similar problems pertain here as 2 in vienna. we know here that something again, around 70 percent of the population has received either 2 doses or one to comply with full vaccination status. but that still leaves a very large chunk of society. perhaps 10000000 adults who have not been vaccinated . when you look at the numbers, you actually begin to see quite how bad this wave of covert has been over the course of this calendar of this week. so far, this working week on average, around 500 people have been dying every day. when you look at the number of infections on average, every day for the past week, we're talking about more than 50000. so there's no question the pressure is on the government. now, the federal government that is meeting the representatives of the federal

government, including mister shots and his new health minister, mister lat, above our meeting, the prime ministers of the 16 states of germany to day to try to work through what potential plans there might be. we know many state prime ministers want a mandatory vaccine requirement, like in austria, we know that mister shots has said he wants to see that happened to. he's also said it will not be a party line vote in parliament. in other words, members of parliament can vote with their consciences that he too, wants to see this requirement. this mandatory vaccine requirements up and running in germany as soon as possible in 2022 w kane in bel invoice. thank you for the update. well let's go to south african a janice, burglary for me. the miller is standing by and the real worry is those numbers increasing day in day out. so meter all that has been sort of up and down in the last few days. and when we've spoken to

experts have said that, you know, shortly after weekends we may have a lag just because of data. we had 6000 new cases on monday, but that shut up to 19000 in the last 24 hours and 36 people died from a covered and 19. the numbers are concerning because there is a 20 per 6 bit st positivity rate. and that means that for the people who are going out to get tested for covert 19, about one in 4 are receiving a positive result. but the government is also saying that hospital facilities are well prepared. and in terms of, i see you bit intensive care, that just 6 percent of beds are occupied at this moment. about 3 and a half 1000 general beds occupied by people with coven 19 when they're 813000 available. and they also saying that data will, at least initial data is showing that potentially, while this particular variant does spread easily and they're worried about that it may possibly be milder than expected. but this is very early stages of the 4th wave

in south africa. and also looking broadly at the region and what is happening with the variant of around the world. there are about a 1000 cases that have been linked directly to our be con, and it appears that 46 percent of those cases are from africa. specifically in southern africa, we have 5 countries, including south africa. us are leading to a spike in numbers to me to thanks for the updates we deliver force in johannesburg . well, let's head back to europe because in the u. k, the hell secretary has warned could see a 1000000 or mc on infections by the end of this month. cases of the new variant have been doubling every few days. journal has the latest from london, like many other places on the crown is well truly established here. we're told by the scientist that it has a very fast doubling rate of 2 and a half to 3 days. there may be as many as $10000.00 cases in the country already,

and that points that go to the health, to the health minister to the possibility of a 1000000 cases by the end of the month. and so we have these new measures so called plan b, long in the works, apparently hurriedly rushed forward unannounced on wednesday by the prime minister . increased mosque wearing an indoor settings, guidance to work from home. again, the limited use of cobit vaccine passports in mass public venues. and the idea, of course, it was not to wipe out all micro and that's not going to happen, but to try and curb those numbers. while the scientists do their work in figuring out what a crime is capable of, it's clearly highly transmissible. the hope is it may yet not be as severe as delta, but what they don't want to find themselves is a position where the numbers have already gone off a cliff when in a couple of weeks time, say the worst happens on the scientists come back and say on the ground is worse in every way than delta will still have all the news on how life's

a drag the smoke. because the new zealand, as the government seeks to step out and new generation of smokers and installed at the 1st century from australia is travis had helped the home. so i take a commanding leave over england in the ashes. ah ah some fog and miss to start the day around the golf. hello everyone. good to see you. so that's going to be the situation in q 8 and also do on friday. and then for saudi arabia we're going to see more clouds float in. so for example, react, we look at the next 3 days, i think it's going to be fairly overcast on friday in temperature pretty well where it should be during the day. but look at night time, you should be 11 degrees. we got your penciled in for about 6 to 7 or will chill in the air there. same goes for bucket stand that cooler air.