a motion urging the government to outlaw all of hezbollah's activities in the country. hezbollah supporters have repeatedly brandished the group's flag and used anti israeli slogans at rallies the ban now allows oath already used to outlaw the use of hezbollah symbols at gatherings and on publications and the group's asses can now be confiscated. israel and the u.s. have welcomed germany's move to completely outlaw has. the no hope that other european countries will follow suit. here's a brief look at some of the other stories that are making headlines this hour russia's prime minister mikhail was just seen has tested positive for the coronavirus russian state media say that the 54 year old will now enter self isolation the 1st deputy prime minister andre belew souls will be his temporary stay and did in libya's civil war rebel leader khalifa haftar are has announced a ceasefire for the muslim holy month of ramadan the statement follows international calls for a truce but the country's internationally recognized government says its forces will keep fighting citing a lac

hezbollah supporters have repeatedly brandished the group's flag and used n.t. israeli slogans at rallies the ban now allows oath already used to outlaw the use of hezbollah symbols at gatherings and on publications and the group's asses can now be confiscated. israel in the us have welcomed germany's move to completely outlaw hezbollah the no hope that other european countries will follow suit. have been declared champions of the french football league for the 2920 season bringing the clubs that title tally to 9 yesterday had a 12 point lead over 2nd place must say when the season was halted in march the decision follows from french president eduardo filipe the professional football and other sports could not resume until september because of coronavirus restrictions germany's ponderously still hopes to finish the season. well as the job or football they go waits to hear about restart decision a survey commissioned by d.w. sport is captures a rapidly changing mood when it comes to the return of put to sleep that much as jonathan craig is here to tell us more we

a motion urging the government to outlaw all of hezbollah's activities in the country. hezbollah supporters have repeatedly brandished the group's flag and used empty israeli slogans at rallies the ban now allows oath or at least to outlaw the use of hezbollah symbols at gatherings and on publications and the group's acis can now be confiscated. israel in the us have welcomed germany's move to completely outlaw hezbollah the no hope that other european countries will follow suit. or we have complete coverage of today's decision by germany i'm joined tonight by hong schindler he is with the counter extremism project in new york in berlin and he spent time in iran is the security liaison at the german embassy in tehran and joining me tonight from beirut in lebanon is correspondent baso a read to both of you gentlemen welcome but also let me start with you is based in lebanon it is in the parliament it is a force to be reckoned with in the country has there been any reaction to germany's decision. oh but that is nothing today about the sound of silence i tried to have some

a motion urging the government to outlaw all of hezbollah's activities in the country. hezbollah supporters have repeatedly brandished the group's flag and used anti israeli slogans at rallies the ban now allows 0 forwards to outlaw the use of hezbollah symbols at gatherings and on publications and the group's acis can now be confiscated. israel in the us have welcomed germany's move to completely outlaw hezbollah the no hope that other european countries will follow suit. suggestions that injecting disinfectant can help. to conspiracy theories linking the pandemic to 5 g. mobile phone networks there's been. steering this crisis now with a new fact checking website where it's been set up to combat some of the wilder stories appearing on social media sites and those stories or while my colleague alex force winds and joins us now to talk about these stories and tell us 1st of all about this new site well it's called if it's a chicken and it's an end in free fact checking site that has been set up in response to some of the misinformation and disinformation that has emerge

ban on hezbollah's military faction and now includes all activities by its political way hezbollah is a shiite military and political group based in lebanon early this morning german police took action against that suspect suspected supporters in 5 german towns and cities. early morning raids with dozens of police and special forces in cities across germany police searched mosques associations and private residences collecting evidence to be used for investigations into hezbollah's activities. we're searching for locations here in berlin annoyed following the ban on his blog i missed to find out if there's a connection between these locations on his blog the organization which is now outlaw. hezbollah doesn't have an official presence in germany but a network of associations is thought to provide financial support and deliver propaganda for the group while the group's military arm is classified as a terrorist organisation in the entire you most countries haven't banned its political wing on thursday germany moved to do just that. it said it could not tolerate hezbollah's anti israel p

it said it could not tolerate hezbollah's anti israel positions. these are party members of these potty and nothing more than despicable israel hate is an anti semites people who not only call into question his right to exist but also openly colfer its destruction of. questions regarding hezbollah's operations in germany aren't new in december the in the saga adopted a motion urging the government to outlaw all of hezbollah's activities in the country. hezbollah supporters have repeatedly brandished the group's flag and used anti israeli slogans at rallies the ban now allows oath already said outlaw the use of hezbollah symbols at gatherings and on publications and the group's acis can now be confiscated. israel and the u.s. have welcomed germany's move to completely outlaw hezbollah the no hope that other european countries will follow suit. or we have complete coverage of today's decision by germany i'm joined tonight by hong schindler he is with the counter extremism project in new york in berlin and he spent time in iran is the security liaison

this is news coming to you live from berlin germany bans the iran backed hezbollah group police carry out raids across the country is home as well the activities are outlawed in the interior ministry classifies it as a terrorist organization also on the program a long term battle against the coronavirus germany announces more aggressive plans to expand testing for the bombers and stops open seasonal flu vaccines to head off a double digit infections later this year plus british fund raising hero captain tom moore celebrates his 100th birthday just days after completing a record breaking charity walk to raise money for health care workers travelling to become rotavirus. hello i'm terry martin welcome to the program we begin with some breaking news germany has banned hezbollah on its soil and designated the iran back group a terrorist organization since early this morning police have been conducting raids in several cities on mosques and associations suspected of affiliation with the group as paula is a shiite muslim political party and a militant group based in lebanon on its military

motion urging the government to outlaw all of hezbollah's activities in the country. hezbollah supporters have repeatedly brandished the group's flag and used and the israelis slogans at rallies the ban now allows authorities to outlaw the use of hezbollah's symbols at gatherings and on publications and the group's assets can be confiscated israel and the u.s. have welcomed germany's move to completely outlaw hizbollah they now hope that other european countries will follow suit. and look at more i am joined now by hans yacc option larry senior director at the counter extremism project in new york in berlin and a former security liaison at the german embassy in tehran welcome to the program and thank you for joining us how big a threat does hezbollah pose in germany. thank you for having me now you have to distinguish between that but at that. point i sympathize with both of germany in a terrorism sense and in a crime sense as far as terrorism is concerned attacks conducted in germany this is a fairly late in threat the law latest really. operation that is what i did

motion urging the government to outlaw all of hezbollah's activities in the country. hezbollah supporters have repeatedly brandished the group's flag and used empty israeli slogans at rallies the ban now allows oath already used to outlaw the use of hezbollah symbols at gatherings and on publications and the group's access can now be confiscated. israel and the u.s. have welcomed germany's move to completely outlaw has. been no hope that other european countries will follow suit. let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world russia's prime minister mikhail mishra stern has tested positive for the coronavirus state media say the 54 year old will now and to self isolation the 1st deputy prime minister under a blue soft will be his temporary standing. in traffic jams of up to 30 kilometers of the border between kenya and uganda because of mandatory coronavirus testing the controls were instituted introduced after several kenyan truck drivers tested positive drivers say they've been waiting in tailbacks for days in libya's civil war rebe

well germany in all of europe kept an eye on hezbollah and its allies on this members on this friends and this is something routine they had been banned the military wing of hezbollah had always been banned but now they're looking at the social and cultural and political activities the interesting thing is that the news came with really no details so if you look at the news reports they say suspected or possible members or supporters and that's a hint actually they have against maybe send but we don't know so i think the important thing is to ask the germans to put the evidence out there in public if you have people in charitable groups in mosques and schools who are actually helping a group that is those are made as a terrorist group that's important for people to know but if this is a political pressure a game that the americans and the israelis are doing which is typical then that's a whole different ball game then that this is something that hezbollah has dealt with for the last 15 years or so and it doesn't really impact them at all so the question is will what happened recently

a motion urging the government to outlaw all of hezbollah's activities in the country. hezbollah supporters have repeatedly brandished the group's flag and used anti israeli slogans at rallies the ban now allows authorities to outlaw the use of hezbollah symbols at gatherings and on publications and the group's acis can now be confiscated. israel in the us have welcomed germany's move to completely outlaw hezbollah the no hope that other european countries will follow suit. a senior director of the counter extremism project in new york and lynn is also a former security liaison of the german embassy in tehran western how big a threat has block poses in germany now you have to distinguish between the threat that. well i sympathize with both of germany in a terrorism sense and in a crime sense as far as terrorism is concerned attacks conducted in germany this is a fairly late and latest really. operation that in germany was in 99 or. the fascinations however is what has proven time and time again that it uses germany and economy as a means to collect funds for itself it i

germany has banned hezbollah on its soil and designated the iran backed group a terrorist organization police conducted early morning raids in several cities on mosques and associations suspected of affiliation with the group as below is a shiite muslim political party and militant group based in lebanon on its military wing has long been banned in germany this latest measure applies to the group's political work. let's get more i'm joined now by ahmed nouri pour of the foreign policy spokesperson for the green party in the german parliament welcome to the program and thanks for joining us i'd like to begin by asking you banning has follows political wing the right decision. it's about the activities they are doing in germany and it's absolutely correct to ban the activities there are trying to find fundings in germany for their work in you know livable and in syria and they're trying to recruit people and this is not nothing we can accept our national the u.k. meantime the netherlands a band has been a years ago why do you think it took germany so long to follow suit. there are 2 diff

has offered $10000000.00 for information on hezbollah commander sheikh mohammed qahtani who was a close associate friend and battlefield colleague of iranian general qassim salaam ani the u.s. designated cothren e a global terrorist in 2013 the state department says it's offering money for info on his activities his network his associates are part of an effort to disrupt the quote financial mechanisms of hezbollah and while the coronavirus pandemic may have tempered any immediate attacks on u.s. forces the u.s. isn't taking any chances and has moved patriot missile batteries into iraq including at al assad air base outside of baghdad where iran launched a ballistic missile attack on u.s. troops back in january former pentagon official michael maloof said the move is aimed at protecting u.s. forces and assets there but the united states appears to be consolidating its forces there to certain bases with the idea. it all timidly will move within the next what we're hearing now possibly 2 years whether or not iraq's new prime minister designate mustafa d.-mi the country's former intelligenc

ban on hezbollah's military faction and now includes all political activities by its political way. to the u.s. now where more than 2 dozen states are moving ahead with plans to relax coronavirus restrictions and reopen their economies federal social distancing guidelines to cover the spread of the virus expire at midnight local time on thursday and are not being extended with signs that the outbreak has started in some u.s. hotspots president again praised his government's response to the virus at a white house event honoring american seniors. some states are nonetheless extending stay at home measures well into may in the midwestern state of michigan that's prompted fresh protests from people who want the restrictions to and. this is not what social distancing looks like protesters gathered outside the state capitol in michigan to demand an end to stay at home and business restrictions despite president trump's plan to let nationwide rules expire michigan's governor has already issued an executive order to extend a stay at home regimen until may 15th the democrat is also asking fo

israeli jets the attack is the 4th in less than a month during rising tensions between israel and hezbollah in syria. well in libya there's been heavy shelling of residential areas in tripoli by forces loyal to ward cleaver hafter been firing on homes in the capital for over a week in retaliation for losing strongholds in western libya as al jazeera is mahmud the glue i had that i reports from tripoli or men and their young son have been reported to been killed. as soon as the early in the morning were been hearing heavy sounds of explosions and military sources with the government of national accord say that have that his forces have been shelling get civil areas in southern tripoli with indiscriminate shelling actually the art of now. for those forces the in the rains are in this southern outskirts of neighborhood in southern tripoli and from there the shelling get civil areas including the government forces locations in irons are also in the northern outskirts of ns out a neighborhood with mortal rockets and in many cases random rockets land in it is eventually yes today a woman was kill

israeli jets the attack is the 4th in less than a month during rising tensions between israel and hezbollah in syria. hundreds of factory workers in bangladesh have defied a nationwide coronavirus locked and then return to work many factories are exclusively sewing mosques medical guns and other in demand personal protective equipment the lebanese army has dispersed protesters who were blocking one of the main roads in the capital beirut demonstrators have been defying a locked out on curfew to voice their aka over the worsening economic crisis last week lebanon's currency reached new lows against the dollar sparking calls for the central bank governor to resign. those are the headlines coming up next on al-jazeera talk to al-jazeera go by. on counting the cost billions now to save trillions the last economic output the backfilling hunt said i've offered a sick over $19.00 test kit for $1.00 plus u.s. oil dropped on the line as proof sinks into negative territory. counting the costs on al-jazeera. the little. blue pills in. june the 26945. is the 2nd movable was ending representatives of 50

politicians who are backing the long serving governor riyadh cell amy believe the ruling alliance led by hezbollah is trying to take control of the central bank which implements u.s. sanctions against the iranian backed group over the. coming going to see maybe what they're basically removing the issues. but it's not all known as. the. money transfer offices and banks no longer dispersed dollars and people are deprived of much of the savings due to informal capital controls. the crisis is seen as a struggle between those who hold financial power and those who have political power and it's putting lebanon stability at risk. victoria gating be out you sara. some thoughts now from abraham a political activist in barrett who we spoke to he says the crisis in lebanon has only worsened during this coronavirus lockdown during this time there was a huge buildup of anger at the people because of the tear it in economic situation and devaluation of the lira all combine the people are hoping to give a lot of chances for this particular subject and the slight chance was this new government the government and

germany in all of europe kept an eye on hezbollah and its allies on this members and its friends and this is something routine they had been banned the military wing of hezbollah had always been banned but now they're looking at the social and cultural and political activities the interesting thing is that the news came with really no details so if you look at the news reports they say suspected or possible members or supporters and that's a hint that actually they have against maybe send but we don't know so i think the important thing is to ask the germans to put the evidence out there in public and if you have people in charitable groups in mosques and schools who are actually helping a group that is those are made as a terrorist group the that's important for people to know but if this is a political pressure game that the americans and the israelis are doing which is typical then that's a whole different ball game than that this is something that has been has dealt with for the last 15 years or so and it doesn't really impact them at all so the question is what happened recently

and declared it a terrorist organization the move is in addition to a 2013 european union ban on hezbollah's military faction and now includes all the activities by the group's political week. pregnancy can be a scary time for any woman but expecting during the corona i'll break but that brings a whole new set of difficulties is it safe to go to the hospital for example could the baby get infected and can women even get to the hospital during a lockdown and the situation is particularly hard for women from poor homes in kenya. well if it were up to karen mckinney she would stay away from any hospital especially her hospital which now houses the country's main corona clinic but at 8 months pregnant she has little choice but to go for regular checkups. but when i go i sit outside we sit far away from each other then the doctor comes but you have to stand away from them they take your health card and you go back outside. with a little time the doctors have these days is up to do. health volunteer with local n.g.o.s to explain the results to the mothers she takes up there well and following the

sanctions against hezbollah so you have these 2 camps and they're both accusing each other of trying to topple each other accusing each other of trying to stage a coup and in the interim the economic crisis is only worsening and people's livelihoods are at stake the world's biggest container ship has been launched in south korea just as global trade is suffering a sharp downturn juta the pandemic but having largely control the spread of the disease is very country the government is now looking to repair the economic damage bryant reports from the southern port city of tucson. about to start its maiden voyage to europe the world's biggest container ship loading at the port of busan able to carry 24000 containers she's the 1st of 12 ships intended to make south korea one of the word. leading shippers but the giant vessels were ordered in 2018 well before anyone had heard of cove it 19 clear so back all the about those are big bestsellers everybody trusts simulation maybe a market gross is as part of sketch right we have a no good histories to every year how much passant you know grow b

and israel to ban hezbollah. and now a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera the u.n. secretary general has hit out at what he's called a lack of leadership globally during the crown of iris pandemic and then you could terrorist says the international community is the fight it isn't doing enough to help the developing countries u.s. president donald trump says he's seen evidence the corona virus originated in a lab in the chinese city of wool hand speaking a short time ago trump said it's possible that china could have chosen to stop the virus from spreading beyond its borders one of 2 things happened it either didn't do it or you know they couldn't do it from his competence in point where they let it spread and. you know i would say probably it was it got out of control but you know there's another case that how come they stopped all the planes and all of the traffic from going into china but they didn't stop the planes in the traffic from coming into the united states and from coming into all over europe. well meanwhile in the u.s. another 3800000 people have filed f

sanctions against hezbollah so you have these 2 camps and they're both accusing each other of trying to topple each other accusing each other of trying to stage a coup and in the interim the economic crisis is only worsening and people's livelihoods are at stake the un's departing rights envoy for me and says he's basically disappointed in suchi he lee has previously a clue accuse the me and me of genocide against the range of muslims with 700000 of them fled a crackdown in 2017. syria if she were allowed back into the country which brought her from visiting should have more evidence to take to the international criminal court the government may have consistently denied the accusations here is some of those comments from the un's outgoing special rapporteur on me and my young healy. we all knew that she was put on a pedestal trade as the icon of democracy and human rights but ever since the n l d has taken office and ever since she took the oath as a state counselor all of her actions and her words statements point otherwise and recently when the pandemic call that 19 how she is supp

mainly through hezbollah's experts technicians that hezbollah sends.iranians don't send many of their own people but they send money area and to the extent they can smuggle in some equipment they smuggle in some equipment but it's not really anywhere near what we give the salaries who are after all invading yemen. >> .. >> .. >> iran is highly institutionalized. and within seconds of his death, he was replaced. and they have a good amount of people who can run these organizations, again for good or bad, not talking value judgment here. we're talking strategy and tactics. and what is the goal? if the goal is to change iran's behavior for the better, you've done the opposite, by killing him. i think partly they didn't understand -- and your point is well made in your piece on he is an overrated general. but the fact is for all his mistakes and for all the bad things that he's done, he is very very important politically, militarily, culturally to the people that we consider enemies now, but that we want to somehow fix the relationship with. i don't think

israeli jets attack is the 4th in less than a month during the rising tensions between israel and hezbollah in syria. the u.n. envoy for yemen is urging all parties to stick by a peace deal in the south after a separatist group declared self rule over the areas it controls the southern transitional council announced a state of emergency on sunday accusing the government of failing to improve the lives of yemenis in the night it out about minutes says it's also against the southern separatists decision even though they've previously supported the group air bus workers are being warned the company's existence is being threatened by the spread of coronavirus a letter from the chief executive to staff warns the company is bleeding cash and immediate action is needed to resize an adept global oil prices are falling again with storage tanks nearing capacity around the world the price of u.s. crude dropped below $16.00 a barrel as global lockdowns continue to cause a slump in fuel demond investors feared a repeat of last week's events when u.s. crude dropped to below 0 for the 1st time the u.s. ha

now some breaking news coming in germany has banned the iran backed group hezbollah on its soil and designated it a terrorist organization since early this morning police have been conducting raids in 4 cities on mosques and associations suspected of affiliation with the group interior minister wholesale hope has said all of the group's activities in the country are now outlawed as a shiite muslim political party a militant group based in lebanon on germany german security officials believe up to 1000 people in germany belong to its extremist wing. the united states has seen its biggest quarterly dip in the economy since the global financial crisis 12 years ago the us economy shrank by 4.8 percent during the 1st 3 months of the year with much of the country shut down during the last 2 weeks of march an estimated 30000000 americans have lost their jobs since the coronavirus crisis began to drop and as the longest ever period of economic expansion in the us. is roundup of some of the latest developments in the pandemic south korea says it has recorded no new domestic cases for the 1st time in 2

are we talking about hezbollah again? >> we have information that they were planning something.y good information, and it was lead by iran. not necessarily iran but, by groups supported by iran. but is iran to me. and we are saying, don't do it. very bad thing for them if they did do it. reporter: last time in early march in taji there was a response from the military from tai hezbollah alone. >> very powerful response by the way. that response knocked out five different places and took out a lot of very bad people. reporter: the tweet suggested it may go up the food chain. >> that was a big response. they hit one sight. we hit five big ones. ammunition sites. you saw what happened. i won't say how many people were killed but some bad people were killed and a lot of them. that was a big response but this response will be bigger if they do something. reporter: thank you, mr. president. going back to your conversation with president xi, wonder if you received an intelligence report that talked about the discrepancy of the numbers, if you addressed that -- >> i have not seen that b

sanctions against hezbollah so you have these 2 camps and they're both accusing each other of trying to topple each other accusing each other of trying to stage a coup and in the interim the economic crisis is only worsening and people's livelihoods are at stake the u.n. departing arrives voice from in ma says she's bitterly disappointed in its leader aung san suu kyi dan healy has previously accused the army of genocide against rohingya muslims when 700000 of them fought a crackdown in 2017 the government a nami have consistently denied the accusation. let's hear some of what outgoing special rapporteur on me and ma had to say about. we all knew that she was put on a pedestal. trait as the icon democracy and human rights but ever since the n l d has taken office and ever since she took the state chancellor all of her actions and her words statements quite otherwise u.s. president don trump has ordered meat processing plants to stay open despite concerns about worker safety production was stopped in the around 20 of the country's factories after many workers fell ill responding to wa

it is assisted by russia and iran and lebanese hezbollah. without them he wouldn't have lasted a few weeks without all that supportive. so, he has asserted himself into the humanitarian aspect is going to take time to fix it yourself. to feed their kids and keep them warm, but then you have to go back to the established regime and try to take it down somehow. if you could do it politically, i would love to see a woman arab dictator say you know, i've had enough and so come into the possession and let's see how we can do this. but it is not happening. >> i have developed the deal, some rules of the middle east reporting and they are so politically incorrect published in -- rule number one i will share with you and that is that any american general assigned to the middle east should have to take a test, a very short test, only one question. do you think the shortest distance between any two points is a line, and you can talk to korea, germany, -- who are the diplomats and military officers who you felt understood the region and why? what was i

iran exerts extensive political influence on the country's militant islamist organization, hezbollah. lebanon's many religious groups make politics in lebanon a delicacate balancing act.. the country is economically on its knees. for months there have been widespread prorotests, in whih women are playing a key role. >> "revolution!", they chant. wooden spoons and pots hammer home theheir message.. lebabanon has beenen rocked by protests since last octor,r, amidid an onomicic csis andd frustration with theountryry political elit women li l laury htayayan e at theororefro of thth protesests. >> so herere women are p playia very impmportant role. they are being evewhwhere, whever youou s them they are being, in leleading e demonsnstrations, in chanting,n being li thehe barrieretetween ththe police andnd the demonstratorors. so peacekekee. >> she's n not interesteted int being g confrontatioional. laury haytayan seeks to unee the e crow in bebeir. she hopepes the protesests will stngththen cil socociety and lead to o more gender r equal. >> hopeful w we will he e more womemen reesenteted

i mean, assad is very much assisted by russia and iran and lebanese hezbollah. without them he would not have lasted a few weeks really without all that support. so okay, he's asserted himself. could some of the community aspect is going to take time to fix itself for people to be able to just make a living and be able to eat and feed their kids, keep them warm. but then you need to go back to an established assad regime, corrupt, abusive, and try to take it down somehow. if you could do it politically, i would love to see one arab dictator say i've had enough, and i see, i read the tea leaves. so come in opposition, come in, young people and let's see how we can do this. but it's not happening. >> i have developed, nabeel, some rules in middle eastern reporting and they are so politically incorrect i will publish them post humorously. double of what i will share with you and rule number one is any american general assigned to the middle east should have to take a test, a very short test, only one question. do you think the shortest distance between two-point it

they don't always have a straight line to hezbollah. they went to lebanon and convinced them to release the hostages and they didn't get rewarded for that. even when obama came and made these lovely speeches and televised appearances, unclenched fists, they thought can we really trust them? they had seen nice words before. to them, that was a reference to 1989. we've heard that before, but what about action? we want to see action. they didn't see that over the next few years. and even when it came to the final, final stage of jcpoa negotiations, the supreme leader was skeptical but said, you know, let's try this. heroic, let's kind of have heroic flexibility and so on. but he kind of said, i'm not sure this is going to work out. most of the hardliners felt you're going to see. you can't really trust america. and it's unfortunate, you know, that -- and i don't think that that's just the change of administration that's proven that point of view. it's made it easy for hardliners in iran to say see, you can't trust america. you don't have t

sanctions against hezbollah so you have these 2 camps and they're both accusing each other of trying to topple each other accusing each other of trying to stage a coup and in the interim the economic crisis is only worsening and people's livelihoods are at stake. there's lots to cover in terms of policy options of a 1st least explain to us what the situation is like right now on the streets we had a 2nd night of violence in tripoli how quiet is the north how quiet is it where you are in beirut. well there is a cautious calm over the past 2 nights protests turned into riots people are angry they're desperate many have lost their jobs over the past few months. the lebanese currency it has devalued by 60 percent inflation up by more than 50 percent of the majority of lebanese are in their money in the local currency so when you go to the supermarket term money really is worthless so people are growing frustrated they want the government to come up with a plan but the government is in a very difficult position because it is close to bankruptcy and it seems the only alternative they have