let's begin with the corona virus outbreak in china the number of people who have died has now surpassed those killed in the sars outbreak of 200-3813 people are confirmed dead all but 2 in china the sols toll was 774 the world health organization is sending a team to help beijing cope with the outbreak there are more than 37000 confirmed cases around the world most are in mainland china but 343 people have been infected in 24 of the countries in hong kong a 2 week mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from mainland china has come into effect and in japan thousands of cruise ship passengers remain in quarantine doctors in the port of yokohama have confirmed 64 cases on board. adrian brown joins us from hong kong adrian midst all of that bad news i've been laying out there some numbers might offer a sliver of hope talking about how the number of new cases of infections and deaths may have declined yet the rise in numbers does appear to have been relentless during the past few days some may but the world health organization has offered as you say a sliver of good news they say that it seems that the number of deaths is now stabilizing but it's too soon to say whether the death rate has in fact pete we won't know that for several more days of course so we have to go on some me are you know official figures that we're getting from china's health commission what we don't know is how many people are sick at home perhaps and can't get the medical treatment that they need there's more evidence on sunday that the anger in china over the way the government has responded to this crisis is growing a group of academics have written an open letter to the government calling on the authorities to protect freedom of speech which is guaranteed in the constitution and also to apologize to the doctor who 1st raised the alarm about this virus and of course who died from the virus on friday it's a further sign that this anger is undermining trust in the party that has ruled china for 70 years. in a national emergency the country's leader is normally front and center not so china's president xi jinping his meeting with the visiting head of the world health organization in late january was 1 of his few recent appearances on state television nightly news we normally features prominently and since demanding a transparent and timely release of information about the coronavirus more than 2 weeks ago he's yet to visit. instead he sent the premier league a chunk to test the temperature and encourage medical workers. one analyst says there's perhaps a good reason for the president's disappearing act if things turn. thing the owners will be young. so in a way seeing thing is protect himself from being too much exposed by the crisis it's almost 2 years since she was appointed president for another 5 years that was after china's parliament voted to abolish the 2 term limit on the presidency effectively allowing she to remain in office for life for president she this crisis is much bigger than the young going protests here in hong kong or trade friction with the united states because the way his government has responded to the coronavirus outbreak is causing more and more people on the mainland to openly question the system they live under. many chinese people feel that core values like family livelihood and food security and now under attack threatening she's credibility and legitimacy especially if the virus becomes pandemic so i don't think this is as bad as that at the moment. he's got no real competition you know he's secure. but if this sort of crisis deepens and there's becoming a pandemic of course the political consequences could be devastating. a maybe evil style virus is threatening china's city of the future but 17 years ago i reported from shanghai on the aftermath of another deadly virus sars that also caused people to question their faith in the party after officials admitted a cover up a local colleague to help navigate me around a popular chat room view internet in china was still in its infancy then as now though public skepticism ran deep. naomi's no tell the truth he says the government here doesn't overthrew. there are more expressions of anger today in spite of tighter internet censorship lessons that should have been learned from sars haven't proved once more the china remains vulnerable to disease but the beginning of the cries of china was boasting i mean the media were boasting about the how much the chinese while the legal system could better fade the crisis manager crisis and solve the crisis. he says it's hard to imagine the crisis threatening she survival because unlike 17 years ago china's security machine is much bigger and better able to maintain control so given what your report there outlines adrian how much of a challenge is this to share in the government. well i don't think the government is in danger of collapsing this is not china's chernobyl moment cheating ping is surrounded by a powerful coterie and of course the chinese communist party is designed to prevent the sort of collapse that happened in the soviet union i think that what this crisis has exposed sami are 2 things firstly we now know there was a cover up at a local level and also something else that was paralysis at the very top of the chinese government in mid january when president xi jinping was out of the country . or leave it there thanks so much a very. tyla now a soldier has been shot dead by security forces 18 hours after he started a shooting rampage at least 20 people were killed the rampage started on saturday when the gunman started shooting at the military base there caught he then made his way inside the shopping more security forces spent hours trying to stop him and managed to rescue hundreds of people. sean boon pro kong is the former national security advisor for the government he joins us by skype from bangkok good to have you with us so how efficient was the response to this incident it took hours to contain the gunman. it was so difficult operation a i have been to that mali's the best state of the art mall of the north east and thought of thailand it's a huge mall but you have 3 remember that this is say the soldier. started describing page. once a really really trained soldiers he was fully armed not just normally aa but fully armed by by robbing a nation development which 700 rounds of ammunition. at the same time when he went to that mall there were a 1000 people in there so i thought that the type of carefulness that that security force or they were concerned about bringing the those who were trapped and throughout the night and pick the right timing to essential lead to to deal with this this this this shooting but as a whole this really shocked by this. mass shooting is not blood this is the 1st time that it happened in our culture the government has decided that they were fastened to reacting by putting the team of psychologists to counsel those who were affected. so this is a a 1st for thailand but with a little different twist the shooter who will pretty much in wall with his boss return a colonel on a land dispute decided to bracket and post live on the facebook and the security force use 10 drone to locate where he was. and he shot 2 of them down. so this has an element of something i haven't seen before and life will buy when there was premeditated but this suit tike psych and they incorporation of using. internet skill and the horror this is a 1st of these frightening right it's a 1st what do we have a picture yet of what motivates and what prompted the soldier to act in this way normally of high. easygoing cool hearted rages is is not you know people don't drive in bangkok they don't talk or like in new delhi so it has to be has to be something serious the wording i understand it was that he put a down payment under house and he wanted to money back and that didn't happen and therefore you know when when so he's asian specially thais or you know cambodia they say they seems nice but when they really anchor they can step on. 100 percent then and came out like this and this is something we have to watch time and integration with the modern world busy is something we really have to be. really really watch this a lot of people moving into bank of the change of modern world is is is something of a 1st that we have going to have to watch it or i thank you very much for your thoughts on that. politics in ireland seem to be on the brink of a momentous shift in its general election shin fein as while a surge in support exit polls have the left wing nationalist party matching the vote share of the 2 main parties it would bring a previously french party to prominence as paul brennan explains and the results we can show you pre-election opinion poll suggested that the political order here was about to be turned on its head this exit poll suggests it has been turned on its head and shaken up and down the 2 center right parties phina for oil and phina gale which are jointly dominated irish politics for nearly a century have been matched by shin fein each polling 22 percent of 1st preference votes and what that means essentially is that the party has been making games and it's now consolidated those gains over the last number of years so they're in a strong position going forward not necessarily to form a government this time right there anyone running for 2 candidates but certainly for the next election they're in a very good position. the buzzword of this election campaign was change ireland's economy may be the fastest growing in the e.u. but people here are struggling with soaring house prices and years long waiting lists for public health care voters were just fed up with the 2 main parties voting for the turn has. so i don't really want to go independent but basically just some kind of alternative to the status quo i have a lot of fears about what the future is going to hold for me with climate change and how that's going to affect my life in the future sinn fein is the left wing nationalist republican party previously regarded as the political wing of the paramilitary group the ira now shedding those associations and remolding itself as a progressive alternative and it's not clear what should frame strategy will be now looking at it from the outside i think they would benefit from not going to government on this occasion because they would be going in as a junior. partner define a fall and previous experience of junior partners with those parties suggests that they would lose votes nonpolitical factors may also influence the outcome of this election if the 1st saturday poll since 1918 storm cura brought dangerous winds and driving rain to many polling stations and slap bang in the middle of polling day a major rugby international. just. the timing of this election certainly raised eyebrows i can't believe that it is really. but it's a part we've all for and have you voted already don't imagine that gave is more important vote i'm sorry. under the irish system transfer of votes will be crucial how many 2nd and 3rd preferences can the big parties pick up but even if she doesn't get into a government the days of 2 party dominance in this country appear to be over paul brennan al jazeera doublet. said i had an al-jazeera another bleak winter for syrian refugees in lebanon made worse by an economic crisis. this story is here we are told by the most delicious in the world i'm stephanie decker in the gaza strip and we'll have this story coming up. hello returned surprisingly all in some parts the arabian peninsula there's not much cloud and you can't see the wind but what you can see up here is the opposite of always been pretty stormy and nasty in turkey and in love and now the forecast for sunday is still a cold one but not as what is it was and there was snow to fall for example even in turkey but the $27.00 degrees c. and 28 and riyadh that is surprisingly well was near 30 on saturday but the turkey in that it won't last and obviously temperatures dropped significantly and the cloud tends to grow as well 20 degrees in there ha with the wind chill and it's only about 6 injuries which represents all of lebanon as well roni tell you this be honest so the potential for snow showers on the high ground does exist still this jump science through the warms and to find the seasonal right is not much in tanzania or kenya the moment there are showers developing to the west you'll notice again a little early maybe the sun's not really going north yet but he said he's thinking about it and that's what prompts those showers south of all this we should see proper rain the seasonal stuff is pregnant recently however there's a good scattering the shows by satellite and that's repeatable in the forecast during sunday. frank assessments the one thing about these bush bars is that really what the. climate change informed opinion economy i think is actually what's keeping donald trump afloat right now critical debate sequel on those days don't even know what the noise is all 'd about this argument is astonishingly patronize a in-depth analysis of the day's headlines this is the beginning of the iraq of the new conscious and aware youth that stood up against an ethnic sectarian kotor inside story on al-jazeera. welcome back you're watching al-jazeera time to recap our headlines that amber of people killed by the corona virus outbreak has risen to $813.00 that's more than the total who died in the sars epidemic in 2003 an international team of investigators that is expected to arrive in china the next few days to help. high security forces of killed an army sergeant to went on a shooting rampage took hostages at a shopping mall and least 20 people were killed. voting is over in islands general election with exit polls predicting a very close result of around because party galas 22.4 percent of the votes less than of the center head of its 2 main rivals. the u.s. and afghan forces have come under attack in eastern afghanistan soldiers were taking part in a joint operation on the hard province when they were engaged by direct fire u.s. forces had been helping the afghan army clear an area threatened by the taliban in the region turkey has sent reinforcements across its border after the syrian government forces advanced in the last rebel held province talks with russian officials have been taking place in ankara to try and deescalate the situation in the last week turkey had killed dozens of syrian government soldiers in response to an attack the regime ignored warnings to retreat and has now taken. the town gives the government forces access to 2 major highways the m 4 and m 5 that could open direct routes of rebel positions on the western outskirts of aleppo and into the city of vidlin the advance of government forces and capture of saddam now means for new turkish observation posts around south africa are surrounded. so has arrived in lebanon's mountains making the living conditions worse for the hundreds of thousands of syrian refugees living in the car valley not only is the country's economy in crisis and the syrian refugee sentiment is on the rise so has this report. kabul yass complex and. the syrian refugees living here have been forced to stay in these makeshift tents. but the plastic top pulling off has little respite from the snow rain and strong winds. with very few possessions children aren't even wearing socks and some of the refugees have resorted to burning nappies to keep warm they can't afford fuel and would the lebanese government won't allow them to build solid structures sending a clear message there only to stay in lebannon temporarily new repatriation cross demanding displaced people return to safe areas is expected to be voted in this week as part of the government's policy statement some of the syrian refugees that we've been speaking to have told us that they would actually prefer to die than live in these horrific conditions it's a bitter winter things are getting harder and tougher by the day for them in lebanon especially is going through an economic crisis which has affected the lebanese as much as it has affected syrian refugees. in another camp further down the road a woman asked the seller if she can buy eggs and pay at a later date she says she has no money and is that. there are nearly $1000000.00 registered syrian refugees in lebanon and 3 quarters of them live below the poverty line on around $3.00 a day. since protests started knocked over of the economic crisis inflation rates have gone up across the country and they're struggling to buy basics for the people who work hard enough to give me cloth a blanket and fuel to keep me warm other than that i have nothing just under half of the syrian refugees are relying on cash assistance from aid agencies but the financial downturn has meant restrictions on bank withdrawals so funds aren't always available making it more difficult for some to cash their monthly allowance . mafia and have needs from wroclaw fled the syrian war 6 years ago when our husband and 2 of the sons were killed earlier she lives here with her family but it's been difficult even though they're safe and now. and in taking care of my orphaned grandchildren and the little field they have to keep us warm is running out the weather is cold i can barely cover their expenses on saturday president michelle on said international assistance is needed in exchange for the billions of dollars it has spent on giving syrians refuge and there is rising hostility towards refugees here they're often blamed for making lebanon's economic crisis worse all this making their suffering increased by the day so to hide out al-jazeera the car valley peace talks between representatives of libya's un recognized government and war so far have to have again ended with no agreement senior officials from the warring sides gathered at the u.n. in geneva this was the latest in a series of talks to ease hostilities. ending the conflict in libya is high on the agenda at an african union summit in ethiopia the u.n. is calling on the you to play a greater role in ending the conflict libya's rival sides ended a round of talks on geneva on saturday with no deal on a cease fire is 100 vile from. even before the summit has officially opened heads of state impact on the question of libya during a meeting of the african union peace and security council on saturday evening. in response to a question by our disease about the possibility of the creation of an african force for peace in libya congolese president. who chairs the african union high level committee on libya said the idea is being discussed. we are waiting for the deliberation by the a huge peace and security members but personally i believe whatever africa speaks in one voice it always wins battles and i think yes the time has come this libyan crisis this crisis in the sahara which poses a real menace to all africa gets the interest of all countries of the continent and we think that we will have a response toward the united nations secretary general antonio terrorists who is here to attend the summit said you representatives will be integrated within the you and mission in the libyan capital as the beginning of a stronger old for african nations in the global effort to stabilize the war torn country but he made it clear that such efforts may never work if foreign interference in libya continues. it's evident that the crisis is being seriously aggravated by the presence of forces and equipment from many other countries in clear violation of the mandate of the security council but then we have to reestablish the sovereignty of international law and the conditions in which the decision of the security council could be implemented with terrorist condemnation of countries that still send weapons and fighters it to libya has been reiterated by the head of the libyan delegation representing the un recognized government of national unity reported. actually there must be some sanctions for 4 or 4 countries and and also for personnel and it's only. if you start sanctioning them didn't they consider that this is what you mean the countries that send weapons and support groups can you say can you elaborate on this. because he condemned that and he said it is a scandal it's not enough to just open them but you have to put sanctions the united arab emirates russia and egypt are among countries accused of sponsoring warlord after who's waging an armored campaign to remove the internationally recognized government in tripoli from power we tried to get a response from the egyptian president opted for. you cannot last word on the last words there is but to refuse to stop for questioning it's now the joint response of 50 plus african leaders of the world is waiting for. a disease or rather the forestation in brazil's amazon rain forest doubled in january compared to a year ago government data shows more than 280 square kilometers of land was destroyed last month the structure of the rain forest tends to slow this time of the year as the rainy season limits access it's strawberry harvest time for farmers in gaza most of it bound for the occupied west bank getting the berries there is a challenge because of the blockade imposed by israel and egypt stephanie decker forte's from beit lahiya. it's warmer in here than outside on this crisp february morning. the sweet smell of ripe stew a breeze fills the greenhouse abu sammy's family has been farming this land for generations this is because they're here. at 82 years old abu sami doesn't only have a lifetime of farming knowledge but is also witness the constant change of this political landscape couldn't wesa work when. we used to sell our product in israel when we were under israeli occupation but says 2006 when how much took over and israeli imposed the blockade we can't sell in the israeli market so farmers income has decreased a lot now the main market for gaza store breezes the occupied west bank around an hour's drive from here before could be 0 ish in filmy year israeli product compete with us even in the west bank because my product takes days to get there as it has to follow certain look to procedures while israeli produce takes just a few hours to reach the market the client prefers freshly picked rather than mine it's loses 20 percent of quality along the store. this umbrella certain fertilizes a ban by israel citing security reasons and that too we're told is affecting the quality of the strawberries but despite that things are moving forward now this is a relatively new way of growing stories they started having them around 3 years ago and farmers are telling us that they get around 3 times more strawberries using this technique rather than just keeping them in the ground and there's less griscom of disease because they're protected by the greenhouse and also for from the ground this hanging method also maximizes the use of space and it's also pretty while we're filming a group of visitors arrive but i have not heard that silvio either so why don't we do our i think sufism vigilance and i will upload them to social media i did not know that we have these forms they're fantastic and i don't think many people know about it i think we should publicize base and increase awareness of the good things we have. but the restrictions of the blockade are felt in every layer of this farming process and there is the never ending cycle of escalation between israel and the various armed groups here. the darkest period in our lives after 2006 the siege is really tough and it's meant all our movements it affects every part of our lives and off fortunately things are getting worse you simply cannot predict today what will happen tomorrow but perhaps a small response is the reliable cycle of nature the changing seasons and the harvest they bring and if you managed to drown out the constant buzzing of the israeli drone in the sky you could just about imagine a very different reality stephanie decker al-jazeera and distribute fields of beit lahia northern gaza. let's take you through some of the headlines here now just there are now the number of people killed. by the corona virus outbreak has risen to $813.00 that's more than the total who died in the sols epidemic in 2003 an international team of investigators led by the world health organization is expected to arrive in china in the next few days adrian brown has more from hong kong we have to remember that the official statistics we're getting from china relate to people who are being treated in hospital what we don't know is how many people are at home who are sick and can't get medical treatment now in china the anger over the government's response to this virus has been mounting a lot of angry messages on social media which are very quickly deleted by the algorithmic censors but certainly it is a reminder that many people in china feel that the government has failed them and the belief also that perhaps confidence in the one party state has been severely undermined by this crisis or ties soldier has been shot dead by security forces 18 hours after he started a shooting rampage at least 20 people were killed the rampage started on saturday when the gunman started shooting a military base near current then made his way inside a shopping mall. voting is over in island's general elections with polls predicting a very close result 3 of arad curse party finagle has 22.4 percent of the vote less than one percent ahead of its 2 main rivals so he has sent reinforcements across its border after syrian government forces advance on the last rebel held from vince talks with russian officials have been taking place in ankara try and deescalate the situation in the middle of. peace talks between representatives of libya's un recognized government and walter lee for half a have ended in geneva with no agreement the conflict is expected to be high on the agenda at an african union summit which begins later today the news continues after up front stay with us. he got away with it this week senate republicans voted to acquit president donald trump but can he ever escape the taint of impeachment one of his closest allies. steve cortez thanks for joining me on upfront on wednesday president trump was acquitted on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of congress you must be delighted the white house has called it a full exoneration for the president but given this was the 1st full senate impeachment trial in american history not to feature any witnesses senate republicans did not allow any witnesses it's not a full exoneration at all is it well met.