anchor: the n national guard ino a part of new york city as the governor tries to shut down the spread of covid-19. this as the coronavirus continues to spread in europe with a jump in cases in both france and spain. afafghan president said to relee some 1500 taliban prisoners in the coming weeks. aa move meant to pave the way with a talk with h the militant, but the way forward is complicated by concerns of whether the taliban will hold its promises to reduce violence. thank you for joining us on "france 24."

in the u.s., a new round of primary voting brought to big wins for biden. he won the biggest prize, michigan. our reporter has more now on how the victories have approved a blow to bernie sanders and a boom for biden. >> with rallies canceled as fears of the coronavirus began weighing heavy on the presidential campaign, joe biden's speech was a relatively quiet affair. vp biden: it is more than a it is a in my view, and comeback for the soul of this nation. this campaign is takingg off and i believe, we will do well from this point on. team alsoders' canceled their post primary rally in ohio over concerns the supporters could spread or catch the coronavirus. the loss in michigan was a blow.

sanders won the state against hillary clinton four years ago. sanders did not comment on hadday's return, but biden a messagage for ththe generally youngeger, progrgressive voterst back sanders. thank bernieant to sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and passion.n. we share a common goal and together, we will defeat donald trump. [applause] victorieses onhe tuesday reinforced the momentum that began just weeks ago. in south carolina and on super tuesday, prior to those wins, biden's campaign was in trouble, but now the path to the nomination is becoming increasingly clear, with much of the e democratic party rallying behihind the 77-yearar-old formr vice president. anchor: that primary voting

happening as the coronavirus is spreading across the united states. over 1000 cases of covid-19 in the u.s. anand at least 31 deaths. the biggest epicenters are the states of washington and new york. on tuesdayay, the government set up a containment zone in new rochelle, where more than 100 cases of covid-19 have been detected. >> this is the new rochelle containment zone. at schools,rsday various temples and institutions will be closed for two weeks. for the first time since the coronavirus reached the u.s., the national guard is being deployed. >> we are also going to use the national guard in the containment area to deliver food to help with the cleaning of public spaces. outbreak is

believeded to have started in te synagogue. attended by a lawyer who was working in manhattan, and he alerted hehealth authorities and tried to get tested several times unsuccessfully. as the neighborhood is set to partially shut down, residents are getting nervous. neighbor right now is in icu. i am praying for him to get out. toit is an unusual situation be in, especially being named the epicenter of a national epidemic. it is unnerving and it makes people very nervous, and it makes people nervous to be around others. >> but there is some solidarity among neneighbors. thatcommunity like others are jewish celebrates a holiday where they traditionally give cake baskets to one another.

year, these d deliveries and extra support messagages were particularly comforting. anchor: the c coronavirus outbrk is expanding around ththe world with the first confirmed case of hearing and turkey and the first death reported in belgium. the entire nation of italy still in lockdown. nations are struggling with spikes in covid-19 like here in france where there are 33 deaths and c close to 1800 confirmed cases. there is also a major jump of cases in spain. there was aekend, major change between sunday night when there is about 500 cases of coronavirus diagnosed to monday evening, and today when the number of cases has jumped to more than 1600. they said that health expertsts sasaid it was necessary to do more. many of the doctors and hospitals were worried about people goingng to the accident,

the emergency ward, so they did not want stress on those public services, so something more had to be done. the opposition has criticized the government to because on sunday as there were thousands in the streets of madrid protesting for women's day, many of the parties like the people's party and the far-right partyty said that should not have been allowed to go ahead. theit was just heard at general secretary of the far-right party, javier ortega's been diagnosed with the virus himself. for thatlly apologized party holding a rally of the weekend w where 9000 people turd out and said thahat it's 52 mps would not be attending the parliament this week, and that forceded the house speaker to sy that some of the debates in the parliament will be canceled thts weekek. coronavirus has

reached every country in the european union now, and the eu is taking so unprecedented measures to try to control it. the european parliament canceled this month's assembly, holding the meeting in another city of brussels instead. no restrictions have been imposed on the more than 700 mep's who came from the 27 in member states. for a few days now, it has been a diffefent routi for is b bruels lobbst. this badge is no longerer useful because the european parliament has closed access to almost all outside visitors s do cororonav. of has gotten into the e habit trying to find s solutions with his coeaeagues. >> these kinds of meetinings are going to be done remotely, but for those w where they bring people for the commissions, it is more complicated. >> the virus has already had an impact on his work. >> we have to organize meetings outside of the european parliament with the members we

already know. but when these are our first contacts, it is a lot more complicated. >> as a result of these restrictions, the visitors center at the parliament, usually busy, is now almost empty. right now, journalists are the only external visitors being allowed into the european parliament building. to do so, they have to sign this form saying they have not been in contact with any affected person. this measure does not apply to some people see as illogicical. >> what do we do for parliament because we are like an ocean liner with thousands of passengers. >> one member is calling for a full closure of f the parlrliam. >> we are big contaminated is because we are constantly on public transport. >> parliamentary activities next week have been canceled, but for this spokesperson, the european parliament must continue its democratic activities.

>> the votes have to bebe in person, that is what the rules of the european parliament say,, and that isis why it is importat to keep sessions even if sometimes it will be only one day session in which we can vote. >> the bags that were supposed to go to strasburg remain in brussels, but for how long? a doctor is is also trusting the experts. for her, there are more important things thanan strasburg g sitting. toldn the parliament sessions in strasburg is symbolic for france, and we are facing an emergency. parliament has already decided to also hold the next strasbururg sitting, scheduled r eaearly april, in brusussels. is set afghann president to release some 1500 taliban prisoners in the coming weeks. that is a m movement to pave the meantth talks -- move

to pave the way with talks with the militants. as allison reports, the way forward is complicated by afghanistan's political chaos and concerns of whether the taliban will uphold its promises to reduce violence. a unanimous vote from the un security council, approving a draft resolution to back the u.s. talibaban agreemet signed last month. the deal paved the way for american troop withdrawal and talks with the militants in afghan government. >> we are eagerly looking forward to the next steps of the peace process, but unfortunately, the presidential thetoratal process, and high levels of violence by the taliban have not permitted negotiations to start on time. allison: the inter-afghan talks were also delayed over demands from the taliban that the two sides swap prisoners.

on tuesday, the afghan president accepted issuing a decree for the government to release taliban fighters this weekend with 1500 set free over the next two weeks, and 5000 released over the course of peacece talk. wououldnge, t the talibiban free 10000captives, bubut that s all on the c conditionon that te taliban uphold its promise to reduce violence. withthin 10 days of signing the agreement with the u.s., they have continued attacking afghan forces. a rocket attack acclaimed by the islamic state group shook the inauguration on monday, and his rival held his own ceremony, claiming he is afghanistan's rightful leader. in the midst of the political crisis, the u.s. began sending troops from you two afghan bases back home, moving ahead with the long-awaited pullout from america's longest war. oppositionezuela's

held a new protest on tuesday, demanding a new presidential election to replace nicolas maduro, but police forces blocked the march and opposition. protesters were marching towards parliament when riot police blocked the road and fired tear gas. >> this is a dictatorship. supporters say it is not, but it clearly is. >> among those leading the protest, the head of the auido, tryinguan g to stop classes from erecting, and failing to reach their target, and holding the parliament session in the streets, calling for new protest against maduro, whose election they say was rigged.

>> we have to stay uniteded induststry as long as necessaryy until we sucucceed. who initiallyo,o, crowds hasgather duro'snable to weaken ma grip on power. he is still backed by security forces. protest,y after the special forces d detained three mp's. >> for approximately an hour, they repeatedly requested information. three or four different officials asked us the same questions. >> the u.n. says about 5 million venezuelans have fled their country due to poverty, lack of food and medicine. maduro's s supporters say the economic crisis as not the government's fault, but was nerated byby sanctions from the

u.s.s., the biggest backcker ofe opposition. anchor: finally, the final act of harvey weinstein's rape trial in new york begigins today. the once powerful film producer will be sentenced following his landmark c conviction. he faces up to 29 years behind bars for raping an aspiring actress in 2013, and forcing oral sex on a tv assistant seven years before that. both women are expected to speak before the sentencing todaday. a second criminal case is still penne against weinstein in california. stay with us on france 24, i will be back in minutes with more. ♪ algiers, it part of is 3000 years old. there are donkey drivers everywhere. -- architectural heritage >> it is our history that we are

restoring. >> we are trying to keep -- priority,urism now a 10 other monuments are set to be for the public. we revisit the casbah bar of algiers all this week on "france 24." ♪ [speaking foreign-language close bracket -- foreign language]

donald d trump: i'm establilishg new vettining measures to keep radical islamamic terrorists out of the united states of america. we don't want 'em here. larara kiswani:i: there's a stia of ararab people, , muslim peoee in ththis country designed to perprpetuate andnd justify t thr on teterror, and that's what a lot of arabs and muslims are facing today, sort of a really undignified struggle to just live. dr. raramzi salti: it takess courage e to be able to stand dp to racisism, turn itit into a positive moment a momoment of learning g where you u actually use that momement to educate, to let people know about the rich diversity of your culturere. lamees dahbour: we e want our community,y, like, sanan francio