pers, studio be unscripted on out his era. we understand the differences and similarities of culture across the world. no matter why you call, i'll just bring you the news and current affairs algebra. ah, a grim milestone as the united states marks 800000 covey 19 deaths and the w h. o ones on the crown is spreading faster than any earlier covert, very ah! on haven't think of this is just yet a live from the also coming up. wealthy nations are criticized for giving coven 19

boosters to the citizens, while millions in poor countries are yet to get a bus dos. worker's say they were prevented from leaving a factory before a deadly tornadoes struck in kentucky. the french, british, and german ambassadors, the united nations criticize iran position in tor, survive the 2015 nuclear deal. ah . in another world health organization says the code 19 on the kron variant is spreading faster than any strain before it. it's criticizing wealthy nations for offering the vaccine boosters, while millions in poor countries are yet to have their 1st dose. w h o says there'll be no end to the pandemic. if this continues, the world's worst affected nation has now seen more than 800000 deaths from covered 19 members of the u. s. congress held

a moment of silence on the steps of the capital to honor those americans who died during the pendulum. in the united kingdom on the con, infections are now doubling every 2 days co brennan, as well. and that from london in europe, the jobs are going into people's arms as fast as they can be unpacked. more than half a 1000000 booster shots who are administered in the u. k. in just one day fall short of the 1000000 a day, the government's aiming for. but the race to reinforce immunity is gathering pace. it's the extraordinary infectiousness of the con variant though, which is really worrying global scientists and health experts we have learned by now that we underestimate this bias at our period. even if or micron does cause less severe diseases. the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared. health systems. in the u. k. m, a kron cases are now doubling every 2 days. and with more than 200000 possibly

infected every day, the number could pass a 1000000 within a week, long queues again at vaccination centers, up and down the u. k. as the government's brewster jap program continues apace. with the dilemma facing the politicians on that side of the river is whether the jobs alone will be enough to slow the progress of the on a cron variance. scientists have never seen. never seen a coven 19, very was capable of spreading so rapidly. so we have to look at what we can do to slow only crohn's advance. that level of alarm was reinforced in testimony to a u. k. parliamentary committee. we are concerned with a large volume of individuals who are being infected every day in the population. that we're going to have a very difficult for weeks ahead with cases in the community, which will of course cause individuals to needs stale work in school. and then for those cases to transfer into admissions tonsils, the world health organization has,

again raised the issue of vaccine hoarding and warned the world's wealthy nations that giving boosters to low risk groups while others are yet to have even one dose of vaccine is dangerous. w h o is not against boosters. we are against inequity. if we end in equity, we end the pandemic when it comes to deciding which options to reduce the infection rate. the advice from the w h o. do it all, pull? brennan, al jazeera london, a british m. p. 's have approved new restrictions in england to curve the spread of code 998 politicians from prime minister bars. johnson's own party voted against it . face coverings will be compulsory and most indoor settings and there we changes the sell fi, salacious rules. cobra passes will also be required for large venues. the south african medical research council has released its 1st on the chrome study. the data

was gathered in the 1st 3 weeks of the variance appearing in southern africa, and it found that 2 doses of the 5 vaccine would provide a 33 percent protection against infection from on the chrome, but 77 percent protection against hospitalization. so the inference is that while i'm a crime is perhaps more easily transmissible, it isn't necessarily more severe. the president of the democratic republic of congo hopes a vaccination push will help control rising infection numbers. then the country has confirmed the 1st cases of the on the cron variance. so far, the government has administered fewer than 5 percent of the vaccine doses. it's been given. the d r. c has reported nearly 60000 infections and more than 1000 corona virus related deaths. since the pandemic began a, malcolm webb has more from nairobi on why the congolese government is struggling to contain infections. firstly, the reason affected all of africa,

much of, of other continents as well, was just a lack of doses. which countries of course, both almost all of the available to the beginning of this year. and it was only when donations start to trickle into, into poor countries. that governments were even able to start those vaccination programs, but that's something that affected all of this continent. and of course, if there aren't enough doses for government to give out to many people, then they're not in a position to start running public. a public awareness campaign to coach people to come and get that connected. but say that congo situation is worse even than the other countries in this content, countries around it because of a reluctance, because it hesitancy expressed by the political leadership by president felix typically. and other health officials who themselves were very slow to publicly take the dose of the vaccine. one of the 1st donations that congo received the

3000000 doses of the present vaccine. and many of those ended up being sent to other countries because they weren't used before they were due to expire. so this is mobilized very slowly, although now the well bank says that congress ministry of health house has started to organize a program to distribute vaccines to the problem, to the provinces, to rural areas. but this will happen very late, which is what explains why the vaccine rate is indeed very far behind. other countries of the u. s. government has ordered enough fines is covered 19 pill to treat 10000000 americans. why as a says, this medication is almost 19 percent effective at preventing death or hospital admissions. in high risk people, the drug is known as pac slowly and was tested on unvaccinated people. it must be given within 3 days of symptoms appearing 5 says the drug is also effective against the alma chrome varied. a staff at

a candle factory in the us state of kentucky. se bosses threatened to fire them if they left the building as a tornado storm approached, management denies the claims, at least 8 people were killed when the building was flattened on friday. kentucky governor and the bishop says a workplace safety review of the deaths will be conducted as us heidi's cast spoke to one of the employees who says he was threatened with termination if he left his post. there were a 110 people at work at the scandal factory on friday night. you know, it's the height of the holiday gifts season. so they were rushing to meet the orders and we were told them many knew of the possibility to strong possibility of disastrous storms coming their way. and when they asked to be loud out of work early for safety sake, they were told no, this is coming directly from our guest who was one of the workers. elijah johnson, thanks so much for joining us. you were at work when the storm had tell me how this

in before you came in. this is a lot of the storm of place around 930. we took shelter around 9 o'clock and we was there before. everything happened at 7 o'clock when i was 1st came home while we was in the facility, we had to leave, i was told no, it was me watching other people would you leave? and i said no, the approach management and you asked to leave, what did they say? what happened if you did? we said we left was will be terminated. and so what 15 of the yeah. what was going through your mind as you saw the potential of the storm coming? i was i was scared, scared on top of that frustrated because i couldn't leave because i needed the source of income. and so finally, the storm strikes, what happened in the moment? it impact when it, when i hit, when i hit people still on the floor when they came into the room,

hit so fast that people flew and took shelter and but they hand over their heads while they was flying from the when other tornado push it to where we was and you were one of those people. can you tell me what, how it felt and what you what you sense at that moment? well, we was taken and they was taking roll call at 1st and then once they took roe call, after that he was standing up. he was standing up. i was in my to and there was, i was much when i already had hands on my head and my knees on my stomach and was to happen. the wall fell on my back and was they fell on my back. i was good, but i was still hurt and because the weight of the walls on my back and my knees sprayed out because all the weight of it and certain people wasn't in tornado stances. so certain people got hit in awkward ways. you guys wanted to leave and get out of dangerous path, but you're saying that the company would not let you the company denies that ever happened. they say that they did not threaten to fire anyone. what's your response

to that? is sad because there's so many people that passed away, so maybe we're still interested his day. and i'm not saying just injure like a scratch or in those days some people are missing legs. some people paralyzed for the rest of the life of the you and he's calling on the united states and iraq to move faster to restore the 2015 nuclear deal. ambassadors of the security council called the situation grave. christian salumi reports from the united nations. a stern warning from the european signatories of the iran nuclear deal to ra needs, to act fast. if it wants to salvage the agreement, even the us to choose between the cut ups of the g. she buey and the fear and comprehensive deal for the benefit of the iranian people. a nation you rance continued luke. the escalation means that we are rapidly reaching the end of the road, talks of resumed in vienna after

a 5 month hiatus. but western nations say iran is backtracking on earlier agreements and adding new demands. the u. n. is express concern about the countries refusal to allow inspectors to make unannounced visits to, to nuclear facilities. the u. s. left the deal in 2018 under then president trump thing under president biden, washington wants back in, but only if tehran upholds its commitments mixed were convinced that if iran pro approaches talks in vienna with urgency and good faith, we can quickly reach and implement an understanding on mutual return. we cannot, however, allow iran to accelerate its nuclear program and slow walk. it's nucular diplomacy, ron's ambassador blame the us. vienna talks can succeed only through genuine political, real, and good faith negotiations. engaging in blame game or flying artificial impatience

is not constructive. the rhetoric in the council chamber was strong. both iran and the united states say they want to return to the deal. and the un says that's encouraging. but clearly, members of the international community are concerned that iran is closer than ever to a nuclear weapon. and time may be running out. kristin salumi al jazeera, the united nations. i'd still ahead on al jazeera, the u. s. secretary of state is in malaysia. cha remains the focus of his tor through south east asian. haiti suffers it's worse tragedy since fuel crisis began . hospitals are overwhelmed and death toll is rising. ah

and away we go with your headlines for the americas. hello, everyone. bc's our mainland. get a duck and dodge mostly this next system that's reserved for the pacific northwest and northern areas of california. as where we're going to pick up the weather store right now. nother round moves in after los angeles was drenched through the top peaks of the sierra nevada. we could see upwards of 200 centimeters of snow on it. to show you this, we've got warm air coming up from the gulf of mexico. it's bumping up those temperatures, kansas city 22 degrees. it's very likely to be a new record. they've got cold air coming off the rockies. the 2 are going to clash and sparked some storms, upper midwest, right down to the deep south as we get later into the week. okay, for wednesday through the east there's some of that activity popping up. we've got some c and dozed, c, and do snow for cape breton island, now for the carabiner usual scattering of showers. the southern mexico believes and thorough snicker raga also through the caribbean, but there will still be plenty of sun to be found. storms come in and go in through the top and a vast south america, but this

a corner toward the southeast of brazil. that's really where the bulk of the activity is. so paula reeves diginero, 14 lay gray, which has a high of 23 degrees, but sunny and coma, dora with a high of 22 on wednesday. ah . step beyond the comfort zone. where assumptions are challenged, traveled to the ends of the earth, and further experience the unimaginable of the people who live it is probably the most extreme situation i've been involved in. how quickly things contract award winning documentary is that also a perception witness. on al jazeera lou,

the me again, you're watching as a reminder of our top stories. the world's worst affected nation, has now seen more than 800000 debts from cobra. 1900 members of the u. s. congress held a moment of silence on the steps of the capital to honor those americans who died during the world. health organization says the cove in 1900 on the con variant is spreading faster than any other strain. it warns there'll be no end to the pandemic . wealthy countries offer vaccine boosters while millions in for nations wait for a bus stop at a candle factory in the us state of kentucky. se bosses threatened to fire them if they left work as a tornado approach. management denies the claim,

at least 8 people were killed at the factory once the storm hit. the us secretary of state is in malaysia, on the 2nd leg of his tour of southeast asia. anthony lincoln is trying to firm up ties in the region to counter china's influence. on tuesday, he was in indonesia, capital jakarta, where he criticized basing for its aggressive policies in the region. let's go live now to florence louis. enquire, la post flush, tell us more about what was said right, so that's enabling can the u. s. secretary of state is in malaysia and having visited indonesia the day before where he delivered the u. s. his vision for the indo pacific region. now he talked about how important the u. s. things it is to maintain peace and prosperity in the region. and he talked about how the u. s. is committed to ensuring that the indoor pacific remains free of coercion. now blinkin

was very forthright in his remarks. he called out china for its aggressive actions, and he list it some of these actions which include laying claims to large parts of the south china sea using trade as a means to punish countries whose policies it disagrees with them. lincoln's visit to southeast asia is really an extension of the u. s. as strategy in this region, this is a region that was largely neglected or overlooked by the previous administration and the biden administration. however, nancy se, asia, as really vital to its efforts to push back a rising china. so lincoln's visit is about that it's about deepening ties and engagement in the region and blinking. i said that the u. s. intends to do it by strengthening military and economic partnerships. in the region as him. all right, thanks. la florence. lastly, la force in quality. the u. s. house of representatives is debating contempt of

congress charges against former white house chief of staff, mark meadows. on monday, a congressional committee investigating the january 6 capital ride unanimously voted in favor of the measure meadows refused to attend to hearing last week, despite being subpoenaed. go live now to she can see who's in washington with more than this. so she had, we're expecting this vote on whether to hold mark matters in contempt of congress. how is this likely to play out? yes, we've been expecting it for several hours now, but it seems clear that the house had put in a lot of other business to deal with a lot of other debates. and so it's currently waiting on the debt ceiling increase, which we may talk about a bit later. but yes, we're expecting this to pass along party lines. and then it's up to the department of justice, whether it's indict meadows as it did, steven by the and when he was found in contempt of congress without cooperating

with john re 6 select committee. but things are slightly different with meadows. bannon claims executive privilege but but he wasn't actually a member of the government on january the 16th as a private member of public or the public. whereas mock meadows was the white house chief of stuff. and so the argument then as well look, i can't give you privilege information between me and the president. let me know, advisor to the president would give all those advice if this is just going to come out in public as you know. so sometime later than i can, i won't be honest. the problem with that argument from others is he did for a while, cooperates with the january 6 of that committee, handing over thousands of texts and documents. so the committee is saying, well, we don't want to ask you about anything that might involve executive privilege. would you have decided that this wasn't an executive privilege information, so that's what we want you to answer questions about this information and that's so, and what we've seen in the documents of matters have given the committee. i mean, there's a range of things, but i think what's been most striking is just how panicky members, republican members of congress were at the time during,

during the rad fox news. and it's where i'm because i also don't trans own, sounded from junior, they're all saying trump has to do something to stop this. and a main line of inquiry with this committee is why didn't he stop? why did you, why did he wait so long before he did eventually give a message? cooling the protested off? was it connected? perhaps 2 attempts to subvert the certification of the election results on january 6. i mean, these are the questions that i've been knocking around washington all the time. so that's their argument. but mother says this is executive privilege. it's not clear . i've another clear cut, perhaps, as, as it was with, with the bottom part. because matt is david corporate a little bit, but was white and was white house, chief of staff. and she had mentioned earlier the, the debt ceiling over in the senate. there's been a vote on that. tell us why that's important. it's important because, i mean, every few weeks it seemed to us is we've had this moment,

the u. s. is going to default stats and that could be completed last year for the global economy and so on. and so the debt ceiling is this is a congressional congressional tradition where the us has to get congress to intervene every so often in order to raise the limits that the u. s. is legally allowed to borrow. the u. s. lives spends a great deal more than it takes in to, to, to, to put its policies interaction. and this is a result of policies from successive governments, republican and democrat. but in recent years, what we've seen is the republicans who tried to weaponized this and use it as a symbol of democratic profligacy of the bad like extravagant spend is even though this is debt that's already been accrued because the company is tax codes or whatever, as well, as what the democrats have been thing, at least this time, it's been about it and these, this time, no predictions of global reception and the u. s. the shock of the u. s. defaulting . it's at least it's over. we think the democrats feel until. busy early 2022. they've got a $2.00 trillion dollar raise from the republic agreement,

not to oppose that res agreement from the republicans. so they wouldn't insist on 60 votes in order to get that res. and we expect that. and this, these are the procedural dates around the way currently we expect that to fall bow down to party lines once again the with, with the house, the house voting for the sentence already voted for it. so then all that's needed is for joe biden to sign the bell. and that will of a default because the money about that limit was going to be reached on wednesday. all right, she had thanks for that. she can see in washington for hey, team prime minister has announced 3 days of national morning after the explosion of a gas tank that killed more than 60 people. and with an overwhelmed hospital in the coastal city of cap hash. and that number is expected to rise. gillian wolf has a story. the one by one victims of monday's gas explosion are loaded onto trucks. as own workers is watching shop. the. there is little comfort for this mother who weeps at the loss of her child. why sheets

cover the victims as they lay sprawled across the street some too badly born to be identified? i heard a loud noise around midnight. i asked one of my boys, what is it about why he said it was a large truck filled with gasoline right away. i left the place with my family and with the other way, the bridge. that's all i can say. a truck carrying gasoline overturn monday. exploding into a fireball and golf in cars and homes in its path. 6 pedestrians reportedly rushed to the scene, collecting spilled gas as the country suffers from a severe fuel shortage. i received many called informing me about the fire and immediately to the firefighters and police and alert, so they could interview. unfortunately, many people died. but i want to congratulate our 1st responders because they put

their lives at risk to control the fire and prevent any further debt. on monday, prime minister ariel on re expressed his condolences declaring 3 days of national morning with the local hospital stretch, then he has deployed field hospital to the area. it is the latest tragedy in a country that has already experience so much this year. gillian wolf, alger 0 of the u. s. is condemning the conviction of the husband, the bellow, reese's opposition leader as politically motivated, so sick. a new sky has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for organizing mass unrest, and inciting social, social hatred. he launched his campaign to unseat president, alexander lucas shanker before last year's election, but was arrested. his wife's wetlock ran in his place, but lost many observers say the vote was raging to comply with ukraine's north crimea canal is used to supply the majority of the peninsulas. water needs that

stopped in 2014 after russia and next crimea declined built dams on the canal saying it would only allow water to float when russia ends its occupation. john strafford reports from current check in ukraine. land is flat and bleak as you look towards crimea. the peninsula onyx by russia in 2014. this is ukrainian government control territory. villages are now almost deserted. nearby is the north crimea canal, which used to be the peninsula as the main source of water. when russian forces invaded activists built a sandbag dam to try and stop the water flow and force the russians out. ukrainian government then built this dam closer to russian control territory before russia antics crimea in 2014. this canal provided up to 85 percent of the peninsula as

water needs. as you can see now, it's virtually empty. ukraine says it will only release the water when russia's occupation ends. russian military post is visible on the horizon less than a kilometer away. moscow is transporting water from mainland russia over the coach, straight bridge, and digging wells. but rationing has reportedly got worse since the arrival of tens of thousands of additional russian troops in recent months. only sphere, the russian army may be planning to push nor to take control of the canals, pulse of the denise river. the canal is hugely important to crimea. it boggles the mind to think that the russians, when they illegally annexed crimea, they didn't think about how they would serve as the territory, especially with water putin's main objective. and if he were to. ready go for another line, grab would be to create that land bridge between russia and crimea. ready because

it is so difficult to service the territory without that land access. and that, of course, would mean, for example, taking over key port cities like commodity all poll. so that's a huge strategic land, grub, crumbling signposts, or reminder of life before the collapse of the soviet union is bast, soviet built industrial plant is in russian controlled territory. many ukrainians used to work there but left when the russian military arrived 70 year old laval as relatives on the peninsula. she hasn't seen them the 6 years. that is latina cook was over delivered asa as a war, can separate a child from its mother. it can be so difficult to cross to crimea, the young but jobless on this side because he can't work at the plant anymore. my deceased husband worked there, my son worked there, we could afford neath and decent photo. all the changed when the crimea was closed

. the criminal denies it's planning to invade the ukrainian mainland, but securing water. if a crime is estimated to point 4000000 people, the majority of whom are russian means that may change. charles drop at al jazeera colon shook suddenly cried a more than a century after the british troops stole that treasure. the people have been in city in southern nigeria have a reason to sell right to been in. bronze is our heading home and a royal welcome. a whites of thousands of other artifacts remain in museums in europe. and the us address chappelle reports signing on behalf of his people, the traditional ruler of the kingdom of benign puts pen to paper, to write a historic wrong ah the ivory alberto walls of which were removed from

his brothers in nigeria as president mohammed who bihari has issued a directive to his government. oh ah. 6 a bronze, cockrell and a king's boast, the 2 works of art whose return is being celebrated. they once decorated beneath palace commissioned by ancient kings to remember their predecessors. the city was attacked and the palace ransacked in 18. 97. the king had refused to recognize britons claim on west africa, while 2 items are being returned. 900 pieces remain in the british museum in london, and the people have been in city or waiting for their return. and chappelle al jazeera. ah,

it's going to round up. now, other headlines on al jazeera, the world's worst affected nation, has now seen more than 800000 deaths.