cannot lose hope. we know what to do and we have the tools to do to get. we must build all the paper. the stream on al jazeera, we understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the world. so no matter how you take it well for you, the news and current affairs that matter to you. ah, this is al jazeera ah, the time is 1800 hours g m t 9 p. m. here in dawn, camels, santa maria, welcome to the new south. never before have we seen the world collectively come to its ease, right? americans voicing their frustration is a 1000000 coven cases are recorded in one day,

the highest for any country since the pandemic began. also in the news police fire t a gas protest is in sudan. they're back on the streets demonstrating against the military. after nearly 5 months, on hunger strike palestinian act was hisham abbey. how ash agrees to suspend his protest in return, israel will end his administrative detention and sexual assault allegations against prince andrew. his lawyers say a civil lawsuit should be dismissed on his, for another joker, which will be allowed to defend his australian open cycle. after all the well, number one has been given a medical exemption, which means he can compete without having had a cove at 19 vaccination. ah, it's all a bit familiar, isn't it cove at 19 infection searching all over the world. this time as the alma crohn barian spreads at really

a blistering pace. we're going to take you around the world here 1st with the united states, which set that new global record of over 1000000 covered cases in a single day. while in the u. k, there's another national record there that's been broken. 219000 new infections confirmed. but the british prime minister paras johnson is still ruling out tougher measures. we now know that on the chrome is milder than previous variants. so while hospital admissions are rising quickly, with over 15000 cubic patients, now it hospital in england alone. this is not yet, thankfully translating into the same numbers, needing intensive care that we saw in previous waves over to india, which has imposed a weekend curfew in delhi. after seeing the highest coven 19 infections, they've had there in months. and also looking at argentina, which has reported its highest daily tallies. since the pandemic began, the south american nation recorded milton 44000 infections. on monday. more on the

situation in argentina and in latin america more widely shortly. that'll be with teresa boat. ah, john henderson 1st though in washington, d. c. president biden, to you to speak while meet with his advisors 1st, and then speak a little later on today. and tried that meeting happens in just to about an hour, probably driven by that extraordinary number. you were mentioning a 1000000 positive cases and that's in a 24 hour period. mondays tend to be higher. um, but what's extraordinary about that is that they, it's probably a much larger number than that. and that's because people cannot get test. there is a national testing shortage. i was just out on the street, looked at 2 different drug stores. both of them were out of those instant tests that you can get. so there are a lot of people who are probably walking around, wondering if they are contagious. maybe they feel sick, but they can't get a definitive answer to that. the testing rate here in the u. s. has gone from 5

percent in november to 20 percent. now that's with people who can get those tests. so it is extraordinary. just how contagious this particular variant is in new york city of those people who have been tested 33 percent one in 3 comes back with a positive test. so president biden will likely want to address the testing shortage, the surge of oma cron, and give people some kind of hope that this could in soon. okay, john, thanks and i will talk to you about that again a little bit later on off see, once we hear from president biden, actually it's about when a, sorry that's bring you in at this point. case is getting very high in argentina and in other latin american countries. well, that correct corona virus infections have increased alarmingly in the past days, the government has confirmed that the delta varied,

but also the army kron variant is reading up fast. we're here at this testing site in the city of when a site is where people are coming to. to get a tester, we've been in several hospitals across the city and there's long lines of people trying to get a call it test. on monday, the government reported 44000 positives, but some experts we have spoken to say that the figure could be closer to 100000, mostly because of the amount of people that do not want to go to hospitals or many others are in vacations and beach resort among other things, so they're not being tested at this point in just a few minutes ago. i was talking to one of the nurses that's working here and she was telling me that out of 12 of the test she did. 10 of them were positive, so you can see how alarming the situation in argentina is prevalent. that america for amanda, however, has said that he is not going to re impose restrictions in the country at least for

now. and the government is focusing on increasing vaccinations. booster shots among other things that the vaccination campaign that began a year ago. but it's not only happening here, it's also happening in brazil, where the army cronies also spreading faster. cruise lines have suspended their summer cru says 2 of them had a brake, a brake, how it inside 2 of those cool says, and there were also some protest in brazil, of anti vaccination campaigners, most of them supporters of presidential, you'd want to know who said that they do not want their children to be vaccinated. so this is happening in brazil also in mexico, in bolivia. so army crime is creating fast to latin america. but in a way, what many give some hope to many, oh for it is here in argentina and other countries. is the vaccination rate around 63 per cent of 1st south america's population has been vaccinated. that that's something that definitely helps, ah, authorities in this country, and in many others,

fide the spread of army crone and other variants of corona virus. yeah. gotta keep looking for the good news. don't me. teresa reporting from when sr is on the situation in latin america. thank you. mentioned india a little bit earlier, which is reporting the highest number of target infections in months. and new restrictions are coming in to force in delhi and poverty. we tell us more than that this lisa coffee, by the way, is an extension of already existing restrictions in new jersey, the national stopper. i've seen some info and a virus cases a week ago there's been a nice coffee that was in both schools was shot. so a, jim's and cinema hall and there were also restrictions on restaurants. now the government says that it will also talk or non essential activities and or non essential movements over saturday and sunday. so unless your house or john lewis are delivering food, you will have to stay at school. in addition to this, all government employees will be working from all of the employees who work in

private companies are also encouraged to work from home. the government has been more people if you stay at home, whenever you can also control to cobra. 1900 protocols because there have been photos of people crowding markets at the same time. this was mentioning that one of the thousands of people who just bought this will cover 19 in new delhi over the last 24 hours. is the city chief minister. now he's getting absolutely no sympathy for contracting the virus because he's been hosting, like many of the political leaders election rallies in boy downstairs in northern india track, the prime minister himself has been hosting values. this is a reminder of what happened this past summer when the dash or bad into rec, through the country, infected millions of people and inactions on election rallies continued more on carbon to come in this news now. but now some of the days of the new sedans, political crisis, which appears to be deepening, following the resignation of the prime minister, security forces of fire. the t,

a gas that demonstrate is rallying against the military 1000, gathered in khartoum, andermann and dan adela, hon. dog resigned, prime minister on sunday, saying that political deadlock is threatening sudan, 30 survival bahama vall with us now from come to me and mom. it seems like you're in a, a quiet spot at the moment. but earlier today, right in the middle of both approaches, what was it like oh, that's right to come out and i was in undermined during the day and i witnessed the moths i took they sat on the biggest highway in the modest highway undermined, has gotten out of by thousands moss through without highway and the other streets also. and they went as usual to golf by the security forces at the security forces tried to block their passage and they succeeded. actually in blocking the passage, they tried to cross the bridge to work up to them. you know,

the destination of all the testers. every time they take the treaties, the presidential police, they want to leave a message with say, have, which is calling on the military to withdraw from power. so undermined was the scene of clashes, particularly attacks by security forces against port that says. but the good news today is not, not all the bridges were closed and also the internet was not cut off. the local network was not cut off. and that was, you know, subject to speculation. people say that it has disrupted the public services and it has impact to the economy. so the government has changed its policies to was these protest, particularly if they are not, if they are not very big one today, even though it took place in captain itself, in the central area of cartoon, and also in other parts of sudan. and this could be a ray of hope for the, for the country if the 2 sides and, you know,

decrease the level of attention and violence as they go about this confrontation between those who wants the military to seat power to leave power. and those who want to, you know, maintain the status quo as well. so, i mean, the, the situation is, as i described very tense, but today is not the worst, is not the worst, because nobody has been killed so far. we don't have the news of anybody killed and not or so it no use of about numbers of people into it. i'm at the resilience of these protesters is quite something, isn't it? not when you just take into account what's been going on in the last few months, but going right back to even the overthrow of, of, of some odd. i'm and i was she a, sorry i forgot his name for a moment they bought. i'm saying is that they basically had just kept going and haven't been deterred at all. i

mean, if i got your question, well you know, ab yeah. ah, if i understood your question that the 2 sides are not, are, you know, there's a, there was a huge amount of polarization going on in the country. we have 2 sides that are not trying to get close to each other, particularly, particularly the resistance committees that not for the idea of dialogue with the military. the military are talking to a politicians on, on higher levels. they're not able to connect with the leaders of the year of the protest. and this is a big problem because the whole idea is to, at the whole idea behind all these, you know, efforts is to put an end to violence, put an end to the killing of people put an end to the protests. and that cannot happen unless there is at a dial, a direct kind of negotiation and talks with those people behind people who are behind this process. but we don't know them. we don't on that that mathes air and death. whatever is happening on the higher levels between politicians,

between the parties and even between, you know, that within the foreign a foreign partners in this offer piece piece operation is not getting results because the street is not listening to them. and that's a big issue now. on the val reporting from cut to him. thank you ma'am. nearly 30 minutes past this news i here's what's coming up. if they are fearful off for not being able to comply with a lot and they have to make up their mind. a warning for the media from hong kong leader as yet another news outlet shuts down in sports as well. a deca rally veteran breaks new ground at the race and saudi arabia and, and he will have that story. ah no palestinian prisoner, his yamaha a shoe has been on a hunger strike for months will be ending his protests. these ready government has

agreed to end his detention by the end of february. he'd been refusing food for more than a $140.00 days to protest being held without trial. i bow ash was arrested under stringent israeli laws that allow authorities to detain any one for months or even years without charge. neither abraham reporting from ramallah on this one. it was only a few hours ago needed that we were really genuinely concerned about his health, eyebrow wash in what might happen even in the next few days or so. what changed for this to happen has been many years about his life, many saying that he could be facing sudden death at any minute. but there has been already hall behind the scenes between the palestinian and a radio official summer saying that her husband, even an egyptian mediation, related to the end of the strike of her. she's not new to being in prison. he's been in the past, been in and out of jail for a total of 8 years,

but 5552 months of those were under the pretext of administrative detention. so this is something that sharma wash, wanted to put an end to according to reports. he's in the hospital with his wife and the lawyer now was reading to him the details of the agreement that would ultimately hopefully lead to him ending his home. the hunger strike. many palestinians will tell you that israel has been using this policy arbitrarily and detaining palestinians for months and months in a row, without giving them even charges. what is administrative detention? can you explain that a little more? this is a policy that israel has been using for decades, but the palestinian prisoners club is saying that there has been an intensity of

using it. it's basically arresting palestinians without giving them any charges, either under the predicts of secret files or just because the palestinians are being tried under military records in medicine records. so this is the reason that the israel has been giving to arrest palestine in many times these administrative detention no no limit. so we would find one prisoner being in prison. for example, for 3 months off, administrative detention only to real is that they are renewed and renewed again and again, this is why that has been an increase in. ringback individual hunger strikes, trying to combat this increase using this policy by israel, according to the palestinian prisoners club, just in 2021. there has been more than 1600 orders of administrative detention against palestinian prisoners. and many would tell you that they want to

be free and they're willing to risk their lives for that freedom. it abraham with that update from ramallah. thank you, nita. hong kong said, i carry lyman's rejected claims that the territories press freedom faces extinction . it follows the closure of a 3rd independent use outlets on monday. editorial leaders from citizen use so they are worried about the safety of their journalists. 6 in october, the allah was accused of misleading people about the national security law imposed by jane. i read news about because of the closure of online medium press read, i'm in hong kong facing extinction or hong kong, free, free press faces collapse. i just cannot accept that sort of allegations, but nothing is more important than the rule of law in hong kong. and journalists and media organizations like or of us, half so respect and comply with the law if they are fearful off for not being able

to comply with a lot. and they have to make up their mind and take the necessary decisions bring kind of with more now from hong kong. citizen uses winding up its operations in the building behind me and will now stop updating its web site after it said it could no longer continue sizing the safety of it stop. it's the 3rd media outlet a to close off to a stand use last week. the arrests and raid of its new for and the 4th closure of apple daily and june, last year, citizen news described itself as a small boat and tremendously rough seas. it's found a chris young said that he hoped it would not deterred young journalists from taking part in the industry. and that there still a role for media here in hong kong. however, it's still unclear whether the remaining outlets, like hong kong free press can survive in this environment. chief executive carry lamb said that it's not about press freedom that it's about upholding the national

security law. while hong kong authorities deny there's a crack down here and say they are not targeting the media. the hong kong journalist association says that attacks on the press threatened the status of hong kong as ages world city. hong kong was once known as the thriving hub for media outlets. but since the national security law was introduced in 2020, that changed. and now there are big fears over where the independent journalism here is being crushed. oh, long you is a global justice campaign. and the author of hong kong in revolt, he rejects carry lamps, claims that freedom of the press is alive and well. it you look back to yes. and it is very clear that yes, aging and carry land is finishing all the freedom of press the home home the government created the lives the apple, 80 this last june. and then in november,

actually one very ami news as well that the government denies research of the british journal. economists. the nice one obvious journalist, a visa. so this is already on top of the fact that the whole government has refused that we search the financial times journalist as well. so if you look at the developments in the past 2 years thing, well i fully understand the. busy news closing down on his own because actually phase one consideration. i think that's the fate closing on itself. so that website could still be hanging out there for a while. you said all hosting done by the government and then everything disappear

or the archives disappear. that is the most dangerous and most tragic things happening in hong kong. also, or a hong kong court has sentenced the lawyer, child hung tune to 15 months in prison. she was convicted of inciting, an unauthorized gathering to commemorate the chinaman square massacre. child was arrested last year a day before the june anniversary of the 989 crack down in beijing. she was convicted on some of the challenges a back in december. the sentencing dough, which means she will spend 22 months in jail. police have banned the annual chinaman video for the past 2 years. citing corona virus restrictions. the man, it's used of setting fire to sell african parliament building has appeared in court before the case was adjourned until next week. the fire started on sunday at the back of a complex that houses the old assembly chamber and a flight up again on monday to lean woof as more on that story from cape tom. well the man charged in connection with the parliament fire here in cape town has now

made his 1st appearance in court. mister zondaway mafia is charged with 5 counts including arson, house, breaking and theft. well now that case has been postponed for a week and mister mafia will be held in custody until then. now this is allow, this is to allow investigators to conduct a proper investigation because up until now they haven't really been able to access the scene. that's because it was burning until late monday evening as a flare up following the original fire that ignited early on sunday morning. now to provide a bit of context as to why this is so significant to south africans. this is the building where parliamentarians gather to debate, policy and legislature, and it also serves as a historical key point as it is where nelson mandela was elected as the 1st black president of south africa. it's also where our present civil ram opposed that every year delivers his state of the nation address, and he's expected to conduct that speech next month. well,

many might expect that this will no longer be the scene for that speech. now, this is also understandably raised a lot of concerns around safety across all political parties and the general public about how easily accessible it is for people to access monuments like this. and of course, there are also a lot of questions still surrounding this case. those questions expect to be answered right here at the magistrate court in cape town. returning to our early story about the palestinian prison, hisham abu, how will apparently be ending his hunger strike. we spoke to melana on, sorry about this earlier on our news, our at 1500 gmc, she's the international advocacy officer at the adams prison support and human rights association. we've got her back now from ramallah. lots changed in a few hours, hasn't it? does it surprise you that this move quite so quickly? and definitely it was a surprise you were really planning on pushing more towards the safety and the p

for life for he shut her west. but this is absolutely excellent news. we are thankful and great to hear that he is ending his hunger strike after the military prosecutor, let's say, promised to not to renew the administrative detention or the and that he will be released on the 26th of february. of course this is the action and you knew that hey sean was life and will will some i am improved at this time. but he has been on hunger strike for 141 days. so his time will, it will so his body will take time to re adapt and hopefully all goes well with her . it's great for him. the unfortunate nature of life in israel and palestine is that there are so many palestinians who face similar problems have been arrested under these laws, which israel seems to use just arbitrarily definitely because administrative

detention in the past year has increased a lot against palestinians. and this, this year in 2020, to the beginning of january, only a few days ago, the palestinian detainees under administrative detention have announced that boy cut off is that are in the military courts. am by this sense. and they have a refused, and he had a presentation off their cases of administrative detention in military courts. this is to emphasize the mockery of the triumph that take place against the detainees without any charges or any fair trial guarantees. so this is also an important m and move by the palestinian prisoners and to take on and, and the assistance of the international community. the p a is much needed even to highlight m the, the whole policy of administrative detention. and not only hunger strikes and individual pin is it difficult? so we talked about this a little bit earlier,

but it's worth going back to is it difficult knowing that the palestinian authority president mac right about was actually talking to these, right? he's only a week or so ago, or the defense minister, i think it was been against sir. he is indirect contact. and yet it takes so long for there to be any movement on his shoes like this. and definitely this is the case when you, when there is an occupation that em has full control over in the palestinians, even in some way the palestinian authority, whether we like it or not, in certain circumstances. so and to even make this even more bizarre and it does take time to it. take justice for palestinians, even this ending the hunger strike and promising not to renew the administrative detention or that after the 26th of february is still also a small step towards justice. one sham of a wash. he's the to lead us king. and he literally this risk his life and am his,

the health is deteriorating, they buy their and as we mentioned, and so not being immediately really released is not fair enough, or just this for him, since there's no charges against them and his health is already deteriorating. so the, the most justice and the, the proper remedies would have been for his immediate release, since there is no charge. and he cannot impose any bra bidding in mind his health condition. yeah. and so, so again, just this work on this thing and only once or palestinians always take time, but we're hopeful that one day the impunity against israeli by nations will end. and we will have basic human rights or palestinians, especially palestinian prisoners and then on. sorry, thank you for your time. thanks for coming back. actually to i keep talking about the story repeated while plenty. when you say ahead, you will look at the turn to rain in indonesia, which is worth more than 20000 people now to leave a 100. also,

the beaches at ghana reopening for the 1st time in almost 2 years. not everyone's welcome and sport manual soccer returns to action for months after taking in a definite break. and top level tennis. ah re recently in the middle east has been pretty nasty stuff producing widespread flooding. it's now just crossing through pakistan into was india. and the following weather is fairly windy, particularly in the gulf. its a seasonal wind, cold, the shamal normally and is quite cold. it's often full of dust, but not at this time the, because it's been raining in iraq as well. it's a fairly clear wind, but look at the high temperatures. remember where you are? this is arabia high temperature of 80 in doha, about 20 in upper darby. the few showers, i think, still in the amorous,

but nothing like what was seen recently in the main rates in iraq, reproaches focus on that cause whilst the wind keeps blowing till the end of thursday, that cold wind phase one of the reigns on its way into india, but phase 2 is coming down through the radio, matches bit further east a bit for the north and the last lot which proved fatal for at least 3 people. so this is not going to be welcome, but it's rain and snow rain for gas on as well. and then beyond that the sun is shining, for the most part there are a few shall still around and around. and in southern turkey's fat, this southerly breeze is a change in wind direction, and the contrast is quite warm throughout turkey, and it's fairly dry. you'll notice in egypt where recent, they're equally heavy showers. so this is the nice part of winter, i think ah, a mineral central to the quest for clean energy. a key ingredient for the production of electric car batteries, cobalt extracting, it is dangerous,

but profitable with global demand set to skyrocket. people empower, investigates, claims of industrial mines, extracting the precious material, needed for cleaner energy, or in fact, poisoning the environment with dire health consequences for those living in their shadow. the cost of cobalt people in power on a jazeera what happens that in new york. 1 has implications all around the world. it's the home of the united nations. it's a center of international finance, international culture. to make these stories resonate requires talking to everyday people to normal people, not just power brokers, and that's where al jazeera is different. the mayor of the city announced that he was doing the way with the curfew. that was, it was to get everybody off. it's international perspective with the human touch zooming way in, and then pulling back out again. lou

ah, this is the news out from al jazeera and these are the top stories, the united states, to set a new global record of more than a 1000000 cobit cases in a single day. at huge number hasn't translated into large depth rates, but testing and other services are becoming overwhelmed. india is imposed a weekend curfew in delhi, after seeing the highest cove at 19 infection numbers in months earlier, experts, a sorry, experts suspect the more transmissible armstrong variant has begun to overtake delta and security forces in sudan if i t gas at crowds demonstrating against the military and pop tube sedans, army chief is calling for an urgent care take at government. days after of dela handoff resigned as prime minister so 1000000 cases of coke in the united states in a day. it is in some ways, scarcely believable given how far we are now into this pandemic. but as always,

context is helpful. so pull out a few charts from our world and data just to go through this you a story in a little more detail. let's start with this one. this is not daily cases. this is cumulative cases, right? been number of cases of cove it in the united states throughout the entire pandemic . it is at $55000000.00 plus at the moment. so if you are getting 1000000 of those in one day, in a pandemic as last 2 years, then you've got a serious problem. the good news, if i can put it that way, is this the death, right? it's not seeming to get much worse. that peak there for the circle that was 3 and a half 1000 debts a day that was about a year ago. these days it's more like $1200.00 a day. but the important thing to see is the trend. it's a little erratic towards the end of that graph there, but it's not going up in any major fashion. what's concerning though, is the positivity, right? i think at the moment, let me illustrate it this way. if we look at tests,

the number of tests being conducted in the united states, this is a daily chart of those per 1000 people. okay, that's the metric per 1000 people. so at the moment, 4 tests per $1000.00 people in the united states. but again, look to the end of the graph. it's not going up. the rate of testing is not going up to any great extent. and we know there are problems with a testing kit availability in the united states. what is going up though, is the positivity, right? from those tests look at that. if you go back a few months, it was 5 percent, 5 percent of those tested we're testing positive now it's more like 22 percent and it has gone up just like that in the last. well, i mean, we're talking about a matter of weeks fair. so let's try to bring all that into perspective and other countries as well. with asana, pisec who is the lead of the global citizenship program on outbreaks of infectious diseases. from university college london. great to have you with us as always, oksana of an outline. what's happening in the u. s. there,

because it is the big headline. it's the huge number. but actually these skyrocketing rates are happening in lot of places in the u. k. today. what was it? 219000 new cases on the con, that infectious i'm a chronus spreading faster than any other variance to date. and we see that because so many more people are being infected at all. the same time that this can translate into increase in hospitalizations already 10 hospitals have declared critical incidence, meaning that they staffed in leadership, do not think that they can deliver safe, essential care due to strain on stat absences. it's not just the problem of people taking up hospital bed. it's is also the systems around it to provide care. currently, one in 10, health workers are off sick and there have been projections that up to 25 percent of the essential workforce across sectors could also be offset calling

a mass disrupt. the death rates alone are that's incredibly significant, but we also have to be looking at absences as well as ventilation and oxygen, meaning as well as ice patty. in the u. k. we have the lowest amount of icy capacity compared to western europe. we're coming to bottom of that and any just is been battered over the 2 years. we're in a worse position in terms of health care. a system resilience been at the beginning of the pandemic. despite all the tools that we have, including vaccination boosters and treatments, including meth is own and starting to come out, some antiviral drugs. so just to go back to the point you made about, i see your capacity in ventilated capacity and things of that. is it dangerous? for governments to bank on the idea that only crone is milder, because that seems to be the argument of them. i mean the w h, i was saying it was, well, it's a mile the variant fewer people seem to get really bad symptoms. is it dangerous to sort of bet on that and hope that that will mean the health system can, can manage?

will the message coming out of the press conference today? where the minister boars? johnson's had highlighted? yes, alma cron is my older. but just the sheer rate of infections means that we're looking at a curve that is shaped more like a hairpin. it's very steep incline. we're not at the peak yet. and this is hoping that we come down just as quickly. but part of the, the concern around this is that we're also dealing with delta we're coast, simulating both omicron at the same time, or you will double the pressure with that regard. and we know that there is only so much because so many people, more people are getting sick, the elderly, the vulnerable, we'll still likely need hospital here. we see this pressure already occurring with over 40 our weights in a any services ambulance is also running short. so this is a bit of a gamble,

we've heard a prime minister say that need to be on war footing here. so highlighting the severity of what's happening in terms of this current wave. but at the same time, showing a real reluctance to move beyond planned b here in the u. k. plan b is quite minimal. it means that wearing face masks, but very little restrictions beyond that isolation periods have been cut down from 10 to 7 days to help really deal with the short shortage problem. more than for clinical reasons. can you tell me really quickly? i'm just running a little short on time. looks on about just about delta saying you brought it up. how. how bad is delta still? if i can just put it in really simple terms like will on the crown is out pasting delta. so we have to you or delta cases though it isn't. wiped out yet, it could be that we see it lasting and coaster relating in the future as well. delta we know has higher rates of hospitalization. so i'm

a chron by comparison. i has a 50 to 60 percent less chance of hospitalization, so there is still that real threat or around catching either on the ground or delta based on where you are in the country or the world that's on a physic. thank you so much for your time. and your expertise really do appreciate it. thank you. now, lawyers for the you guys, prince andrew, have argued that a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual assaults should be dismissed. virginia for i says he forced her to have sex with him when she was 17 years old, or he strongly denies the claims. a hearing has taken place in new york christian salamis keeping across it for us. christian, what happened in the hearing while in that hearing come all lawyers for prince. andrew attempted to get the lawsuit against him, thrown out based on a document in

a civil suit between job free and jeffrey epstein that was come to back in 2009 in that agreement. he epstein agreed to pay to fray a half $1000000.00 in, in exchange. she agreed not to pursue charges against any other quote potential defendants in the case. so lawyers for the prince have argued that that means she can't sue him, but her lawyers pushed back against that saying that the agreement does not apply in this case because that was in a different court jurisdiction in florida in a state course. the judge, hearing the arguments, actually pushed back very strongly against the defense prince andrew's attorneys, and offered another argument pointing to another clause in the agreement which said that any other person was barred from using that agreement. in another court case

and see this suggest that he thought prince andrew perhaps could not use this agreement to get the case thrown out. so it's all very technical legal, procedural arguments. at the end of the day, the judge said he would make his decision very soon, and this decision will determine whether or not the case proceeds to an actual trial. it is really complicated that thank you for that. kristen salumi, new york. we've got sir. a bruce fine with us now to talk about this for you as associate deputy attorney general and international lawyers in washington. for is i'm trying to simplify this as much as possible. give us your take on this agreement and how it affects or doesn't affect prince andrew's case. but the agreement is very broad, but in some sense narrow as well. it 1st identifies epstein, is employees,

his successors, assigns and agents as beneficiaries of the agreement and not to sue in the future. so andrew clearly doesn't fall into those categories. and then after i knew rates those specific categories and says, and any potential defend, well typically you would read potential defendant after any numeration of specific beneficiaries of the agreement, which is epstein and his employees. agents. basically his assigns as something like those that preceded the other people clause. and i don't believe that andrew falls into that category after all, when they phrase, other potential defendants are used. it would mean other persons who would likely be a conspirator, somebody who could be joined in the same lawsuit because all of the alleged wrong doing, grew out of the same what we call nucleus of operative fact. and according to the

allegations, the new allegations against prince andrew, he had sex separately and apart from epstein, even if epstein may have been a facility, right, i think the meeting reading the agreement is clearly i think, against the argument being advanced by prince. and here's the thing, if prince andrew and his lawyers want all of this thrown out and they have always professed his innocence. why wouldn't he want that sort of all on the record. i mean, if he's not, he's not guilty, then you should never problem defending himself. i don't been really simplistic here, but no, it's not simplistic at all. you're exactly right. that is the technicalities are typically at the borrow from samuel johnson. your british philosopher know the last refuge of a scoundrel. why if you want to clear your name from these allegations, would you want to rest on a technicality? among other things, he said that it would be physiological,

physiologically impossible for him to have been the culprit. because he doesn't sweat and that he had identified him as perspiring on one occasion. and if you want to clear your name not just went on a legal technicality, you want to go to the merits if you're innocent. and you can look at the comparable case of bill cosby ultimately was cleared on a technicality. but because of that, he really hasn't been cleared in the eyes of public opinion as someone who was a sexual predator. and that's a clue that andrew really is willing to accept the ignominy or a stigma bill, cause the because he fears so much that if we went to trial, he would lose. can you explain one more thing for me? again, i'm going to be simple here, but this is a civil lawsuit. virginia phrase accusing him of something criminal, right? it doesn't matter in the sense that there are numerous acts that have both civil and criminal penalties attached to them. for example, the boeing aircraft,

they've been negotiating a plea agreement for criminal charges by the department of justice. they're all re c defendants in civil suits. as well, so that's not unusual. you remember the case of o j. simpson. he prevailed in his criminal case and he lost in the civil case. so there's nothing irregular about that just juxtaposition, respond, thank you for coming on helping us understand all of this really do appreciate it. thank you. we have a wonderful day. you too. now tens of thousands of people have had to flee their homes with heavy rain causes flooding. this is across malaysia. the rain started on sunday, causing rivers in several states to rise the dangerously high levels. at least 50 people have died in the flooding since mid december. and more than 125000 have been displaced. france, though he has more from elections capital. one of the 7 out of 13 states have been affected by floods. according to the national disaster management agency, more than 17000 people are flood relief centers as off tuesday afternoon. but the

total number of people affected by floods is much higher. at its peak, a 125000 people were displaced. now in some states, this is the 2nd even 3rd wave of floods this monsoon season, which typically runs between the months of october and march malaysia, saw unusually heavy rain mid december. and again in early january, the government was caught unprepared. it didn't respond fast enough to floods in some places it was volunteers who actually reach those areas and who helped move people to safety, who are bringing food and water to people. and the husband, a lot of anger directed at the government. now the damage to property has been huge . you've seen pictures of homes that vehicles that have been submerged plantation, land roads. i've also remains that much for days that have been land slides. and

this coming on the back of 2 years, nearly 2 years of pandemic, of prolonged periods of lockdown. this is putting a severe financial strain on many families. and it isn't even over yet. the department of irrigation has forecast, have high tides in some parts of malaysia, and particularly in places where the water levels at rivers is still dangerous. the hy, this could potentially worse than flooding and to rent a rain in indonesia is forced more than 20000 people to leave their homes. several districts in north archie have been inundated with water and authorities. one child has died. jessica washington with the support in jakarta, people in indonesia ha, province, days of unrelenting rain has forced thousands of people from their homes. at least 15 sub districts are affected. many parts of indonesia experienced flooding during the monsoon season, from november to march. but some people here told al jazeera they have never seen

floods like this. about our landline. this time it's really bad. we are taking refuge. some of us are going to our relatives houses because the war is up to 2 meters high in our homes. are local authorities are providing food and other essentials to only legal fees. i believe we have resources in our warehouses and so far it's still enough. we distributing it to the people today and tomorrow. he says it is difficult to know how many people are impacted by the floods due to communications being affected, logan will hear the number of people taking refuge is in the thousands. we do have some issues because many areas are currently experiencing blackouts. thousands of homes have been damaged in north r j, as well as a school. many have been evacuated to a near by prayer space,

anxiously waiting for waters to receive the head of north arches. disaster mitigation agency told al jazeera the region has flooded several times in recent months, and that deforestation has made the area more vulnerable to severe flooding. as people struggle to cope more rain is being forecast for later this week. jessica washington out a 0 to carter. the court in canada has ordered iran to pay $84000000.00 to the families of those killed in the dawning of a plain in 2020 aaron's military shot down the ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board air defenses had been on high alert days after the u. s. assassinated, iran's top general, caught them so many back to toronto. are susan beach isn't gonna free up in 2 years after being closed because of the pandemic. now only people who are vaccinated can go back victoria, gate and b has more than that. oh,

the pleasure beach resulting gone is capital i cry is once again welcoming visitors . beaches across the country were placed to the public in march 2020 because of clothing. 19 people here were thankful to be back and eager to make up for lost time. don't go out much. could they be there thursday at lol. i think that very day in that new year we decided to come in half on year. yeah. by we all 7, every protocol, the strict rules are in place only vaccinated people are allowed on to the beach and there were plenty of police officers around to ensure compliance. but for those not yet vaccinated all is not lost. a temporary vaccination center is operating just outside the resort. once people have had that job, they're allowed on to the beach. organize the safety initiative has been a big success or people don't fix the way it gets here. the died there to us. they had on tuesday, the just agree, and in the just though you, the boston dog one,

then the just to gashodi gwinnett enjoyed himself despite the optimism. his id number is not back to pre pandemic levels and the extra government restrictions all frustrating for those working in the tourism industry. this long time that need was school today because it out. yeah, i can hear but not the less we expected. but we will, by deckles are they will come about is that nobody is annoying. so does that sound affordable? got ya cancelled out to go back home until today. i've been thinking this also is great. the program this me so you say they're still waiting to receive financial help that was promised by the government. but they're taking comfort from the fact that she has got off to a much better start than the one before victoria gay to be al jazeera sports news. coming up with andy and england, cricket is all without a win. and a head coach heading into the latest match against australia that and the rest of the sport in a moment. ah

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a whole oh a here when i wanted to get out of doing sport, that's when i got a note. joke of it, just going the other way around. definitely has and not a lot of other players. very happy about it. either another joke which has been given this medical exemption to plant the australian open, it means he'll be allowed to defend his title despite not being vaccinated against harvard 19. well, number $1.20 time grand slam champion proves he said he was unsure if he'd be allowed to can pay to the event a vaccine mandate is in place at australian tournaments,

which has all participants must be fully vaccinated or have this exemption joke of it. she's never publicly revealed. his vaccination status has posted this message on social media happy new year wishing you will help love enjoying every moment and may you feel love and respect towards all beings on this wonderful planet. i spent fantastic quality time with loved ones over the break. and today i'm heading down on the with an exemption permission. well, the grounds for joke, which is exemption remain unclear. requests for medical exemptions are assessed by 2 separate independent panels. only acute conditions including inflammatory cardiac illness, a deem to be valid reasons. it's possible jock of it's recently tested positive for over $19000.00 would have allowed him to delay taking the vaccine. tennis australia insist joke of it was only given an exemption after a rigorous review process, which followed fair and independent protocols. joke which isn't that the atp camp, which is ongoing in sydney someplace taking part in that event of expressed

surprise, the decision to allow jokers to compete at the opening grand slam. i don't know. what does that really? i mean, i think if it was me that wasn't vaccinated, i wouldn't be getting an exemption. it sounds like you don't think it's already further. well, it's whatever you want to. that's the situation. yeah, i mean, at the end of the day, you kind of us to trust that it does have a valid reason for the medical exemption. that's all you can say about it really isn't it? look, i just think it's is very interesting. that's, that's all i'm going to say. but hey, it is what it is. just hope that the other place that i heard there were other cases as all they got exemptions. i hope

they're all they'll fit the criteria defending women's champion. now me, i soccer has made a winning return to competitive tennis after taking an indefinite bright from the sport 4 months ago. the japanese store is through the 2nd round of this warm up event in melbourne. i saw on the opening set here again, a lease calling. i have friends did go on to drop the 2nd before securing a 3 set victory. i saw because 1st competitive matches losing in the 3rd round of the us open. i can september to 24 year old ended his season early then i think back mental health. i feel like for me it was just like a extreme build up and you just happened to see it all release last year. so i don't really feel the same way i look. i feel like everyone has their moments, of course, and that's what makes you human. but i'm going into this year a bit more optimistic now. romilly leecock who has been recalled to the chelsea court just days after saying he was unhappy at the club. i wanted to return to in

some alarm because i was signed by chelsea from into for a club record 130000000 dollars last year. manage it's almost take will says the belgian strike a has apologized and is back in contention. it's plugins. tottenham in wednesday's lee cup semi final. he's very aware of what happened and what he created and he is in. he feels the responsibility to, to clean them as up. maybe we will have a bit of smell still from it. of course he can handle it. he has it as also no other choice. he can not expect. no, everybody to be to be super happy. now england, cricket coach, graham philip, says covered 19, has taken its toll on the place during that sort of australia. thorpe is taking charge of the team for the full test. in sidney van, off the head coach, chris sylvia had tested positive for the virus on the pitch bow. england have been completely out play losing the 1st 3 matches of the series. and i did well,

the matches coming into play some state games coming into it. be a good look at your own, came as well coming into this area. that happened. obviously, we've had the distractions of coven off the field as well, which had been challenging to say the least. i think that they've sacrificed quite a lot to come over here. a couple of ways quarantine tom away from families. ah, you know, some restrictions on what i can do as opposed to pre pandemic. i'm, and i think they're having some positive cases. the coach obviously being away from this guy. i think it's been really tough for them. and a decor rally veteran is still breaking new ground at the events. spain's call a science says one, the 3rd stage of the rally in saudi arabia. this audi seems celebrating a 1st for an electric hybrid call. this was a 40th career stage, victory for the 3 time decoy champion castles at nasa. alex here has the overall

lead. the 4000 chromos rally you to finish in 10 days. okay, that is high school's looking for an alcohol. andy, thanks so much for that world. on here in don't have the team in london by ready to bring the more news out to the bright stick around our anti was here in the months . ah ah, a selfless act as human bravery and 10000 precious pieces of literature, rescued from being burnt to ashes in a besieged, sorry ah,

al jazeera world meets the bosnian women and men who risked everything to say their written heritage. ah, the lovely books on al jazeera, this one's feared war lord, during lay barriers, decade long civil war says he's now fighting a drug epidemic. the work that the former warlord joshua boy, he has done with treat children, has attracted their hobble, eccentric b, and that's protected in effect from public crawford church. and despite the recommendations made by the truth and reconciliation commission for this former warlord, liberia has become the frontline of a drug war. it cannot afford to lose. he says it's a battle he will fight out of responsibility and killed for his past crimes. and for his country african stories from african perspectives, most of them are never born one that has not been

a good machine because of the voice of machine happy make. and i mean, as a short documentary is by african, the filmmakers from kenya he raised almost done it down into something back. he's super pressure and ivory coast colors. i live here in scrap yet animal africa direct on al jazeera ah school struggle to open across the u. s. which has just reported more than a 1000000 new cove cases following the new year weekend. new delhi is chief minister test positive for cove it a day after he addressed an election rally, but few people will masks ah,

lauren taylor. this is al jazeera alive from london, also coming up that he saw tag asked to disperse, thousands, rallying against 2 dogs, mid.