announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, this is the newshour life. cocoming up in the next 60 minus -- >> i'm not happy with it. you think i am opposed to be happy with it? anchor: a ukraine expert who testified against donald trump during the impeachment hearings is house ousted from the white house. pete buttigieg closes in on bernie sanders as seven democratic contenders face-off ahead of tuesday's primary. china's government struggles to contain a wave of anger over the

death of a doctor who was reprimanded for raising the alarm of the coronavirus. turkey deploys troops and tanks to syria's last rebel stronghold as pro-rebel forces claim a crucial town. brazil's government moves to cut back its key anti-poverty program, leaving some family struggling to survive. ♪ anchor: now, the ukraine ex-pat who testified the donald trump's actions were improper has been ousted from his job two days after the president is acquitted in the impeachment trial. alexander vend and told the u.s. house that trump put pressure on his ukrainian counterpart to investigate joe biden. calling his removal enact of revenge by the president. trump said he wanted vindman. president trump: i'm not happy with it. think i am supposed to be happy

with it? they will make a decision. anchor: the top democratic senator chuck schumer was quick to respond on twitter. he said "the pentagon assured me that patriots and whistleblowers would be protected. any reprisal against him or others who came forward to tell the truth are wrong and should be seen of what they are, an extension of president trump cover-up." toldinder of what vindman the u.s. house last november. >> i was concerned by the call. what i heard was an appropriate. i referred my concerns to mr. eisenberg. it is improper for the president of the united states to demand a foreign government to investigate a citizen and political opponent. also clear that if ukraine pursued an investigation, it was clear if ukraine pursued an investigation into the 2016 elections, it would be interpreted as a partisan play. this would undoubtedly result in ukraine losing bipartisan

support, undermining u.s. national security and advancing russia's strategic advancements. anchor: we are joined out from washington, d.c. given president trump's tone, does this come as a surprise? >> it does not. really, the big question was, was it going to happen sooner rather than later? there is this reaction from lt. col. vindman's lawyer. i'm quoting part of his statement. "there's question in the mind of any american why this man's job is over. why this country now has one less soldier serving at the white house. lt. col. vincman was asked to leave her telling the truth. his honor, his commitment to write frightened the powerful. we have also learned the lt. col.'s twin brother who was also a lt. col. the u.s. army and he was working in the national security council as one of its

lawyers was also fired on friday afternoon and was escorted at the same time from the white house alongside his brother. we understand further that both men will be going back to the pentagon for a short time. join theer is going to legal team at the pentagon while the turn and colonel vindman will spend a couple of months there before he moves on to the u.s. army college in pennsylvania for more education and more research. something that is typically done for officers who are considered general officer material. anchor: what kind of reaction have we seen in d.c. from politicians and the pentagon? rosiland: well, before this came out, the question was raised to the defense secretary on friday morning and he said it was the pentagon's policy, his personal commitment that no reprisals could be taken or could be

executed against any member of the military, in particular against lt. col. vindman. there are those in the military community who are now questioning why he was not reassigned from the white house back to the pentagon or another military installation before this actually happened. why there wasn't some sort of emergency plan. as you might expect, those who support the president are cheering the dismissal of both vindman brothers, while top democrats are decrying this action, saying this is simply the president acting in anger and basically that we could expect more of this type of behavior from the u.s. president. nastasya: thank you. politics,th u.s. democrats in the u.s. are trying to move on from the chaos and delay around the iowa caucuses. the new hampshire primary coming up on tuesday. the seven leading candidates will go head2head in a debate in

the coming hour. opinion polls show pete buttigieg closing in on bernie sanders. 38-year-old buddha judge has been vaulted from being a mayor , finishing marginally ahead of sanders in the iowa caucus. the centrist platform is the first openly gay candidate to start up on a high note in the primary. >> that has been an extraordinary week. we are absolutely electrified by the energy that we are coming here with and by the extraordinary validation of this campaign's vision that we have in iowa on monday. i'm also mindful and humbled by the fact that new hampshire is new hampshire. and, new hampshire is not the kind of place to let iowa or anyone else tell you what to do. nastasya: bernie sanders was only 0.1% behind in iowa. the 78-year-old has strong grassroots support from the left

and has attacked rivals from taking support from wealthy donors. >> i'm reading some headlines from newspapers about pete buttigieg. pete buttigieg has most exclusive billionaire donors of any democrat. that was from forbes. the hill, pete buttigieg tops billionaire donor lists. nastasya: elizabeth warren who was also from the left of the party finished third. she has been struggling to stave off criticism about how to fund her medicare for all plan, and also speaking to recover from a slump is former vice president joe biden who finished fourth in iowa. he is seen by many senior democrats as the person who could beat donald trump in november. let's speak to john, a democratic strategist and former communications director at the democratic national committee. he now joins us live from washington, d.c. john, thank you for joining us. you work to shape messaging for the dnc. talk us through what kind of

tone and dynamics we should see on stage tonight, especially after the debacle of iowa. john: yeah, it is a great question. i think pete and bernie came out nowiowa essentially tied, so there's all sorts of incentives for them to be attacking one another. i think with the party in the country with like to see -- not all the countries but democrats would like to see them making their case to be the one to take on donald trump. what you have seen is the democratic primary electorate, the voters are not sure who is the person who can take on donald trump even as he becomes, as trump becomes more and more menacing in the wake of the impeachment acquittal. nastasya: has this conversation then shifted from policy and ideology to electability? if that is the case, is it over for joe biden, finishing fourth because that is his whole plat form? john: it is not over for joe

biden by a longshot. this is still anyone's race among the top four contenders. we have not yet seen a state vote that has a large african-american population. that goes for both iowa and new hampshire, predominantly white, which is not what the democratic party or the general election electorate looks like in the u.s. biden forow that joe instance has a lot of strengths in that community, too. it is still a very wide-open race. whether it will be about ideology, there's a lot of reasons for these candidates to throw some elbows. i'm just hoping they don't forget to throw some at donald trump. nastasya: talk us through the different styles of campaigning. sanders and warren have been focused on the biggest cities but pete buttigieg has been going everywhere shaking hands. is that why he's ahead? he has camped out in iowa. he made a decision early on that

that was going to be where he would make his move and his mark and it worked out beautifully for him, coming in tied or winning, the pending on how you do the count. the question is how long does that momentum last? now goes to new hampshire. is getting a boost from new hampshire despite what he said in the clip. people do not like iowans make their decision for the. that flattery will get him places in new hampshire. i expect he will do well there. the question is when he then runs into the two following states which are more diverse -- south carolina and yvette as well. whether he's going to be able to sustain this momentum and whether it will carry over at that point. nastasya: there has been so much talk of iowa and new hampshire. can you a sling to the national audience how significant they are and how much damage has this mess in iowa done for the democratic party itself? john: it is a great question. usually, iowa, the night of the iowa caucuses, there is one clear victor and they give a

great inspiring speech. i think back to barack obama in 2008. it really sends the message across the country that we have our candidate -- maybe if we are not sure yet, we have at least one strong candidate. you should seriously think about as your possible next president. we did not really have that in iowa because there were some glitches and delays. there was no iconic speech coming out of iowa. we will see what happens next. you do iowa and then new hampshire which traditionally for a long time. what happened a few years ago in response to complaint about how overwhelmingly white those states were, two further states were added afterwards. south carolina with a large black population, nevada with a mixed population including more latino voters. you have these four states and then super tuesday where lots of states vote. i imagine, depending on what we

see over the next couple of states, i think super tuesday and victory night on super tuesday, if someone has a clear lead by then, that's when we will begin to get a sense of who is going to be running against donald trump you nastasya:, correct me if i am wrong, but it is my understanding no candidate -- if you went isla and you win new hampshire, you then become the nominee. not necessarily in that order. but no one has won both and not become the nominee, is that right? john: i believe that is correct. i also believe that all bets are off, that there are a lot of streaks like that that have been broken over the last couple of cycles and i would not be surprised to see some new rules written this time around either. nastasya: speaking of unpredictable, how has trump's impeachment affected the race? several candidates are spending time sitting in the senate and off the campaign trail. has that changed things? john: yeah, that certainly did change the dynamic, to have them so front and center in that impeachment process.

i think for the most part, democrats are going to be glad to have the impeachment behind them. talk about phone calls for ukraine does not change anybody's opinion about donald trump and does not change anyone's vote preference. it does not tell people what should they beo put back into the white house. themrats are glad to have behind them but what we have seen from donald trump this week , he is now -- he has been behaving flawlessly arguably first like -- quite some time. i think we are likely to see a whole different level of vindictiveness, cheating -- i am not even sure i want to imagine what comes next after the united states senate basically vote semi license to break the law. i think this is going to be an election year potentially unlike any we have seen in this country

for a long time. nastasya: speaking up on like we have anything seen in this country, i want to ask you about someone who won't be on stage, michael bloomberg. he has now doubled his campaign spending. he's even got trump's former naval secretary stumping for him. what is the changes he gets than on imation -- the nomination? john: i think they are rising. i would not count him out at all. i think the number one thing people want to see, they're all kinds of reasons that all kinds of constituencies within the democratic party would object to mike bloomberg, but the number one overriding issue is someone who can beat donald trump and not too far down the list is somebody who would be able to tackle climate change. i think both of those, potentially there is a case for mike bloomberg to make. expect to see him in the mix for the next few states. nastasya: i want to ask your take on the top story this evening, the firing of alexander

vindman, in the house vowing to continue to investigate trump. you say things are going to be unpredictable, but how might all of that play out in this election year? john: i think the house feels obligated because they could not call witnesses, because they couldn't make their case to continue to hold donald trump around the ukraine -- rudy giuliani is no try to dig up dirt over there. i think that will be an ongoing thing. i think with the senate vote in the rearview mirror, i think that becomes less of a page one story and more of an ongoing kind of issue. but, the thing that concerns me most is i don't think it is just going to be a couple of firings here and there, a spiteful move. i expect to see some serious policy changes and some really worrisome things from this president. i think democracy is in serious peril. nastasya: john, democratic jobs

just joining us from d.c., thank you for being with us. plenty more ahead on this newshour, including why botswana is lifting a ban. and in sport, the former pakistan cricketer who has been sentenced to jail. we have that story. ♪ nastasya: china's government is struggling to stop the spread of the coronavirus with 81 more people reported that in hubei province overnight. across china, 717 people have now died and the world health organization his warning of a severe destruction to global medical supplies and widespread anger over the death of a doctor who first sound of the alarm in december. we report from hong kong. >> these are some of the last images of a doctor who was

punished preparing to tell the truth. now he has died from the virus that he first warned colleagues about late last year. to many, he will be remembered as a chinese hero. death andy regret his feel sincerely set for him. we need to see if the influence of a death can wake up anything and i hope you didn't die in vain. he left us when we needed him to fight the virus and he was a victim of the virus. he was unfairly criticized because of his work so we feel regretful. showed responsible attitude toward society. he is honest and faithful. media, the grief and outrage is more profound. is it that hard for the government to admit it is wrong? a doctor had to die twice, that is a national humiliation.

and, the eyes of the people are clear. his death is the top trending waybo, one of the most popular hashtags was we want freedom of speech. li was in the front line of the crisis, falling sick while treating patients. his death was confirmed on the website of whuan hospital friday morning. li died after all rescue efforts, said the statement. we express our deep condolence. as did an official from china's national health commission. commission health extends our sincere condolences and respect to the family. that he contributed against the battle against the virus. society needs to care more about the medical workers. toin december, li sought share information about his concerns, only to be

investigated by police he accused him of spreading rumors. li's passing highlights the huge risks taken by front-line doctors and nurses to treat patients. a situation made worse by overcrowded hospitals and an acute shortage of beds. the government appears to be listening. it has dispatched a team of anticorruption investigators to wuhan to listen to the concerns of the public. in china today, there is no shortage of people with opinions about the doctor and the way he was treated. the virus has spread across china with cases also emerging in two dozen countries. two crew ships carrying thousands of people have been placed under quarantine in hong kong and japan as doctors test all on board for infection. and another ship currently in the south china sea has been refused entry by japan, south korea and the philippines. in china, the growing public outrage worry for leadership as

it threatens to create what they fear most. social unrest. adrian brown, al jazeera. nastasya: foreign ministers from the african union have been meeting for a second day to discuss their response to the coronavirus. hundreds of suspected infections have been reported. as reported from the ethiopian capital, there are also concerns of people trapped in china. >> she's a mother in distress. her 21-year-old son is stuck in a chinese city of wuhan, along with 200 other ethiopian students there. they have been confined to their homes, under quarantine for weeks. the emergency measure is aimed at preventing further infections of the coronavirus. i'm very worried about his situation right now. it is not only the disease, but also access to food is very difficult. sharing a bottle of water, they are in a very difficult situation.

>> she is having a hard time communicating with her son. when he did get in contact, he sounded tired and dejected. the families of the students are appealing to the ethiopian government to repeat treat them as soon as possible. the the opium government has banned flights from china but has stepped up prevention measures and medical centers. after 50,000 chinese live and work in ethiopia and ethiopian airlines and operates daily and weekly flights to five destinations in china. >> we found 14 suspected cases of coronavirus based on the criteria of the who. eight of them were found negative. we are still waiting for test results regarding the other six including one chinese national. >> similar measures are being taken in other countries. the africa task

force for coronavirus preparedness and response. which brings all members together and coordinates that closely with the world health organization in several areas of work. areas of laboratory testing, areas of enhanced airport surveillance and control. and areas of infection control and in areas of care and treatment for potential cases. >> with the continent considered vulnerable to the spread of the epidemic, doctors are racing to raise levels. nastasya: medical staff in manila have been striking to demand more government support during the outbreak. the first death from the virus outside of china was in the philippines and there are now at least three more concerned cases. we have been speaking to protesters. >> we are outside one of the manilaent's buildings in warehouse workers are picketing, demanding better transparency

from the philippine government. they say they have been frustrated with the government's response towards this outbreak and they are hoping for better compensation and better protection. slashing of the national budget of many health research and monitoring facilities and services actually worsening the situation. they hope that the government will react fast because time is of the essence. they also remain committed to their cause and they will continue their work. they call on the government for more support, for better protection, compensation and better equipment in many government facilities across the country. turkish: moving on, armored vehicles and tanks have entered idlib province in syria. it is in response to an advance by syrian government forces and could pave the way for them to have an offensive on the capital. turkey is determined to stop that. forcesan government

afterbefore the town fell fighting with syrian rebel defenders. it sits at the junction of two major highways and was seen as a major obstacle in regaining province, idlib one third under syrian government control. turkey has warned pro-damascus forces to back off. >> unfortunately, the syrian regime does not believe in political process and thinks peace can only be possible by a military solution and i have to say they are wrong about this. they have stepped up their aggression. been around the escalalation zone. russia and iran in 2017. they have been surrounded by advancing syrian government forces. to protect and stop the advance,

turkey established for more posts which ended up indirect clashes between the turkish and syrian army. >> the attacks we responded to in the scope of defense. any other attack will be responded to appropriately. the syrian government has intensified its attacks since last november and has targeted civilians. this triggered a new wave of migration with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the violence. in the nine year long civil war in syria, the displays can find refuge. but it's epicenter is -- the syrian government forces captured and just seven kilometers away. israeli forces have shot another palestinian debt in the occupied west bank, the

fifth and 48 hours. a funeral procession has been held for one of the victims. a palestinian policeman killed on thursday. he was in uniform at the station. they were seizing cctv footage related to a rally. tunisia's president has fired his country's ambassador to the u.n. the removal came as a surprise to some in the security council and it appears the palestinian issue is the reason for his dismissal. our diplomatic editor has more from the u.s. came out of retirement to take up the job of u.n. ambassador to coincide with his country's two-year term on the security council. but now, he has been fired on the orders of the country's president. and, the reason is the issue of palestine which perhaps seems odd because it is one of the country's main stated priorities, as ambassador barty

himself made clear the beginning of the year. >> tunisia will be the voice of the arab world and the african continent and will push for the settlement of just causes, particularly the palestinian cause. james: when the trump plan for the middle east was made public over a week ago, the palestinian ambassador to the u.n. told reporters that president mahmoud abbas would be coming to new york. as ambassador baati stood by his side, explained that tunisia is the arab member of the security council and would drop a resolution rejecting the trump plan. i'm told ambassador ba ati was told news of his firing shortly before jared kushner healthy lunch with members of the security council. the tunisians were represented by the deputy ambassador. other council members including the current president were taken by surprise by the news. >> i was quite shocked to hear that. no, i don't know all the details, the reasons behind

this. but, he was a very good colleague and i very much regret to see him leave. mes: so why has this veteran diplomat been fired? the foreign ministry says he is being dismissed for purely professional reasons concerning his weak performance and lack of coordination with the ministry on important matters under discussion at the u.n. that might not be the whole story. i have spoken to diplomats from a number of security council countries who told me they heard that jared kushner himself called tunisia's president before the ambassador was dismissed. one source says the kushner call was to the prime minister, not the president. the white house not confirming there was a call. one u.s. official says the tunisians told them the ambassador was dismissed because he had gone rogue.

iraq's most powerful cleric has called the security forces to protect antigovernment protesters. the grand ayatollah's intervention follows weeks of violence in baghdad and southern iraq. the humans rights commission says nearly 550 iraqi seven killed since the protest began in october. still ahead, the british women and former isil member facing uncertain future after a decision by the british court. we will tell you about the biggest issues irish voters face in the snap election. a big upset for naomi osaka in spain. we have details. ♪ ♪ >> the w wst is now w over.

this is a very active, nasty frontal system. it caused a lot of damage. in north carolina. looks like straight-line wind. this happened all the way from tennessee to west texas. residualast shows showers. it is still snowing coming in from washington into wyoming and idaho. not extreme but it is still there. atlanta at 12 and new orleans at 19 degrees. it is creeping towards the plane states and there is snow falling once again. let's jump south. that frontal system damaging the southeast part of the u.s. as it goes through, it still and will have some effect in the bahamas. it will bring some showers and

it will also drop the temperatures to 24 degrees. it reaches cancun as well. ♪ nastasya: hello again. a reminder of the top stories this hour. a key witness in president donald trump's impeachment trial has been ousted from his job. alexander vindman told the u.s. house that trump put pressure on his ukrainian counterparts to investigate political rival joe biden. and u.s. democratic presidential hopefuls will soon go head2head in a debate ahead of the next critical test in the new hampshire primary on tuesday. opinion polls show pete

buttigieg closing in on bernie sanders. the chinese government is struggling to stop the spread of the coronavirus with 81 more people reported dead in hubei province overnight. that brings the death toll to at least 770. now a 20-year-old british woman who joined isil has lost the first stage of her appeal against the u.k. government's decision to strip her citizenship. she was found in the syrian refugee camp last year. she was 15 when she left the u.k. five years ago. international law makes it illegal to take away citizenship if it leaves a person's status, but a tribunal rules that she could. we have more on the case and what the next move could be. >> five years ago this month since she had to have her friends disappeared from east london. police appealed for their safe return, but the girls had traveled from london into turkey

and then into raqqa in northern syria where they lived under isil rule. nothing was heard from baker until she was spotted inside a refugee camp early last year. secretaryks, then revoked her citizenship. her lawyers argue that was unlawful because it rendered her stateless a decision today by a special tribunal set up to look into the case and said that was not true because she is a citizen of bangladesh. her lawyers have said they will appeal against this decision. this is really just the first stage of the process. it could end up in the supreme court, the uk's highest court. this case really does shine a light on the difficulties governments now are facing and dealing with those individuals who left the country to travel to syria to support isil, who now want to return. nastasya: catalonia regional

leader was the spanish government to agree to a date on an independence referendum. the reasons are absolutely irreversible and catalonia will be independent. he met the spanish prime minister on thursday. sanchez rejects any push for independence but has agreed to hold talks with catalonia's leaders to talk about the future of the region. >> i believe the people of catalonia never fail. they have realized what all these protests have been about and the sacrifices needed to reach independence and have realized this is not about pressing a button, it is the willingness to sacrifice. we have had enormous evidence of people and their families sacrifices to achieve this goal of freedom. i believe this is has widened the pro-independence sector and has attracted the independence of catalonia which is a reversible. nastasya: popolls opened in a matter of hours. with more than half a million

people waiting for medical services, access to public health has been a top concern for many voters. paul reports from limerick. paul: around the city, political posters from the lampposts. but it is the health care crisis which the voters want the politicians to look at. instance of i had to bring in pillows for her mother. >> if you have private insurance, it's fine. no problem. but for the ordinary, it is not good to see people waiting on trolleys for hours and hours. paul: the work in the private area for the past 15 years. her dedication is self-evident and so are her frustrations. today withesented mental health issues that i feel require special intervention. if i put them on a waiting list,

they might not be seen in four years time. nearly 359,000 outpatients were on a public waiting list. by 2017, the number rose above half a million for the first time. than19, it grown to more 553,000. to try to tackle those were level as increases in the waiting list, the irish government is throwing millions every year of public money into buying private health care. in 2019, it was the equivalent of $82 million. this year, it is going to be closer to $110 million. still, the waiting lists go up. having private health insurance meant that john was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in 2017, it helped extend his life. in the time he has left, he advocating urgent reform. >> front staff to their absolute to do whatever they can given the resources that they have but

that is the problem. they don't have enough resources and they don't have enough beds. the resources that have been allocated is basically throwing money at that. paul: a universal health proposal has been suggested, for the different political parties have very different ideas of what to prioritize and how to implement it. >> really what is important is the population will vote on saturday and really looking for change. it is a change in culture to actually be citizen centered and put the politics aside to ensure that everyone can have safe timely access to health care. paul: it was the threat of a no-confidence vote which forced the irish to call this election. faced with a combination of public anger and the sense that no one was accepting responsibly. on saturday and the polling booths, the voters will hold the politicians to account. paul brennan, al jazeera. nastasya: the french president

has called on his european counterparts to discuss the role of france's nuclear arsenal could play. weaponsfrench nuclear stand as a deterrent against many attacks. hison has briefly called on allies to stop relying on nato and the u.s. to defend. malawi's electoral commission has asked the court to suspend last year's presidential election results. that is after the president launched an appeal against the constitutional court's ruling, seeing the findings were grossly biased against him. earlier in the week, the court ordered new elections within 160 days, citing widespread voting irregularities. we are in the capital with more on why the electoral commission and the constitutional court are at odds. reporter: malawi's constitutional commission wants the supreme court to overturn the decision to annul last

year's election. they say first of all, a prominent banker has been accused of illegally trying to bribe some of the judges. they also say the cause additional court cannot tell parliament to make sure in the next election, the winner must get more than 50% of the vote. they say that is the case of the judiciary try to interfere with the legislature. is also going to appeal. he says it is a miscarriage of justice. there are fears that all these appeals on the court could delay the election and there could be violence if that happens. they are planning protest if the elections are delayed. they want the head of the electoral commission to resign or be removed. they say they seek to sit down or there will be nationwide demonstrations. nastasya: brazil's right-wing government has been slowing down the flagship antipoverty program

launched by the former president. the number of beneficiaries and families admitted to benefits has been drastically cut. that is been a huge waiting list and for some a struggle to survive. john holben has more from rio de janeiro. john: at the end of a dirt road outside of rio de janeiro, sousa is engaging in a weary, daily struggle. >> today, we had nothing to eat. i had to go out and ask women to help us. we had no food. yesterday, my husband asked some fishermen to give him something from their catch. john: until three month ago, they received cash from the government. the program is called the family bag. it was only about $40 a month, but it helped keep them afloat. now for them and about one million other brazilians, the benefit has been stopped. the number of families newly admitted to the program has also plummeted to a fraction of those accepted before.

it's meant a polluting waiting list of half a million people. she says she has been given the runaround since she tried to join up last august. >> the authorities don't care. they take me from one place to another like a ping-pong ball. john: it has helped millions of brazilians. it is the government's flagship antipoverty program, but it has been having problems for five years now and this is just the latest setback. it started when the leftist government stopped adjusting payouts to keep up with inflation. now the current administration has hit the antipoverty tool. time, it reaches one quarter of the brazilian population, the very poorest. the money goes to women, goes to children. it costs very little.

.4% of gdp. brazil did a fiscal adjustment on the poor. john: recipients not just for survival but the future is now on hold. >> my children have big dreams. the eldest wants to join the army. he was training but we had to withdraw him. we cannot afford his transport. the government says it is reorganizing to improve the program. millions are waiting. john holden, al jazeera, rio de janeiro. nastasya: a senior fellow at the inter-american dialogue, a think tank. he says the program is a successful one that does not cost much. is facing anment terrible economic problem now. they are struggling to recover.

one of the worst periods in brazilian history and economic advance and they are cutting and this is a place where the people are not very powerful. lobbies't have powerful and they -- it is easy to gave -- get away with. it is something i would call a criminal act to take away the small amount of support these people have. frankly, does not say very much but it is an easy branch to cut. -- $100 aterrible act month to fill out their budget with no reason to do so except save a very modest amount of money. this is really a flagship

program that has had tremendous success and has been imitated in countries around the world and it seems to work. that is provides money essential for these families, but it also gives an opportunity for them to get their kids into schools. it gives them an opportunity to get adequate health services. nastasya: pakistan's parliament has passed the resolution calling for the public hanging love convicted child killers and rapists. sex abuse cases that has sparked wide protest. human rights groups have been quick to condemn but this a lot of domestic support. >> pakistan's parliament has approved a bill which would carry a death penalty for todd rapists and executions would be carried out publicly. there had been a strong demand from people across pakistan that there should be exemplary

punishment for such heinous crimes. there has been a rising number of cases in this country last year alone, there were 4000 cases that were reported. that means almost 11 children per day. the pakistani parliament supporting the bill in the majority because of the growing demand of the people here that there should be very strong contention against in order to curtail it. people across pakistan says this is the only way forward. nastasya: india's prime minister says his government will continue to push for peace in the country's northeast. odi address crowds in the first visit to the area. re say the measure would open the region to a flood

of foreign migrants but modi has fought to stop those fears. >> there are forces that are using their full energy and spreading rumors in assam. they say people from outside the country will come and settle. i assure the people of assam that nothing of this sort will have it. nastasya: our india correspondent, elizabeth, is monitoring the visit from new delhi. elizabeth: he spoke for a long time and he was there in a place called -- an autonomous territory of assam after signing a peace accord with the tribal group. critics have said this was a hastily signed accord because the government needs the political support of the voters as it faces opposition elsewhere over the citizenship of the law. country andund the

elsewhere have been by people. the protest in the northeastern states are for a different reason. northeastern states have the largest number of migrants. they share a border and people who are in ethnic minority in india feel they will become a minority in their own state. the prime minister was talking, cecelebrating ththe peace accor. the only thing that he said very briefly about the citizenship law was that the people of assam need not worry. it will not lead to an influx of what he called outsiders but he is talking to people, the bulk of people who are not affected by the territories they live in, the tribal territories, protected and he is not planning on going to any of the parts of assam that have seen protests. nastasya: botswana has held an auction for the rights to hunt elephants for the first time since the thing a ban last year.

seven hunting packages were auctioned in the capital. each package includes the right to hunt and kill 10 elephants. says huntingt could bring in income but others say it could encourage coaching. the director of humane society africa and says there is multiple methods that can be taken other than trophy hunting. >> there is so much stigma attached, which is an absolute number. ecosystems do not like that. there is a balance of ebbs and flows. there are natural processes that will reduce elephant population numbers and we see that in some parts of africa. byre are other measures reducing artificial waterholes, by forcing elephants to move to different areas, and affecting the way they utilize the landscape.

those are long-term measures. trophy hunting will simply not make a dent in the overall numbers. what it will do is make a dent in the number of breeding. there are so few left across africa and this will cause much more. and the numbers are estimate it to be 415,000 which seems like if you number. a million but it is safe to say elephant poaching is taking 30,000 elephants a year already. poaching numbers are in significant decline. we need to move away from the approach and look at it at a continental level. nastasya: still ahead on al jazeera, islands looks to the captain's installation in rugby. we have more on the clash with wales.

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♪ nastasya: now it is time for sports. >> thank you. four pakistan cricketer has been sentenced to 17 months in prison by u.k. court for his part in a fixing scandal. the 30-year-old admitted along with two other defendants to conspiring to bribe fellow players in the match in dubai in february 2017. asked to avoid scoring runs

from certain balls in return for money. he has been banned for cricket for 10 years. a good day on the field for pakistan's current cricket team on the opening day. bangladesh 233. a five wicket hold for the host. -- hely man to go after contributed a knock of 63. barcelona's coach insist they are heading in the right direction, despite a shock exit in the spanish cup and a cloud over the future of star player lionel messi. the build up thursday's defeat was preceded by a public spat between messi and the sporting director. messi' contract allows them to leave at the end of the season for free. one of the former coaches does

not think he will move away from the camp. >> he plays for barcelona. that is my wish. stay in barcelona. i'm not going to talk about the players. you about where you think he might play for another european site however or if it is just barcelona? >> i think he's going to finish his career there. peter: israel's controversial return to rugby league has been delayed. he has been left out of the dragon squad for sunday's season-opening match at wake field. the french did not say why, but it was in question. it had been eight months since he was sacked for posting homophobic comments on social media. defending fixed nations champion wales faces a test of their title credentials in the second round of matches. the grand slam winners take on ireland in dublin on saturday.

>> it is a great place to come and play rugby, in a tournament game in particular. we had a big -- mixed bag over recent years. to friendly's. coming out here, it is a test. .he international stage freed peter: for island, they labored to victory in scotland in their opening match last weekend. the team was hoping to give their fans more inspiring performances this time around. >> we will have big moments in the game that will get the crowd behind us. the way the game started last week, scotland was on the ascendancy from the first to 56 minutes. hopefully we can get that. peter: scotland welcomed their old arrival in england to edinburgh on saturday. the first home game of the

tournament. they are looking to retain the calcutta cup for the third season in a row. >> we cannot stand back and admire. they have some cracking individual players. they are not in the final for nothing. they are a world-class team and it will take us to be our best to get the result we want. peter: as for england, they are still smarting from their opening day defeat to france in paris. thinks of thedy reception they will receive from the scottish crowd. >> getting booed off the bus, and seeing how much it means to everyone, it is definitely something to acknowledge. you cannot really ignore it, especially when it is as loud as it is. peter: one of tennis greatest rivalry had a record-breaking occasion. roger federer and rafa nadal

took part in a one-off charity event, watch my 50,000 fans. federer won in three sets. in the fed cup, it was an embarrassing defeat for naomi osaka on friday. former world number one lost the world number 78 in japan's qualifying tournament with spain. osaka losing 6-0, 6-3. spains leads 2-0 after the opening-day singles. more sports news later. see you then. nastasya: a reminder that you can find much more on our website, including all the latest on the coronavirus outbreak. that is al jazeera.com. that is it for me. but i will be back in just a minute so don't go away. ♪