A dutch court finds shells nigerian subsidiary responsible for multiple pipeline leaks and or does it to pay damages to farmers. And we look at why namibia is government is auctioning off 170. 00 elephants despite the pills by conservationists im 7 asked with sports event is that cage and perrier refuses to criticize christiane around his top scorer faces a Police Investigation for breaching coded 19 rules by going on a ski trip. Alone welcome to the news hour we begin with the race to vaccinate the world against 19 and fears the poorer nations are being left behind and richer countries are rushing to secure supplies johnson and johnson has become the 1st company to announce trial results for a single dose jab it says its vaccine is 66 percent effective in preventing moderate to severe symptoms of covert 19 and plans to seek emergency authorization in the United States next week thats just a day off the American Company novaks said its vaccine was 89 percent effective in u. K. Trials but both vaccines a week against the variant that was 1st detected in south africa a country which wont receive its 1st vaccine shipments until february meanwhile the european you. An eon which is already secured to vaccines has now approved astra zeneca job for all adults as while it tussles with the company over delayed supplies and faces criticism of the slow rollout algis there is dominate kane has all the latest developments now from berlin this is the astra zeneca vaccine in use available to british patients most at risk from covert since late last month and from now on officially so too for many e. U. Citizens most at risk from the pandemic its a real pleasure to be here and to announce the 3rd positive 0 pinion for the authorize ation of the astra zeneca covert 19 vaccine this expand the range of Vaccines Available to e. U. Member states which will all help to bring the pandemic under control and protect the citizens of the e. U. Except that far fewer e. U. Citizens will be able to receive the vaccine for the next few months after the company cut back what it could deliver to the block astra zeneca a british swedish firm blames production problems at some of its plants and said it can only deliver fewer than half of the 80000000. 00 doses promised the europeans have complained and decided to protect all vaccine stocks made on their territory as a commission because a lot of good strickly targeted measures that will allow us to gather information about a production influx since and where manufacturers intend to ship them. The measure is term limited and specifically applies so it was all scored 19 vaccines that were agreed to by advanced purchase agreements as a measure is intended to run until the end of march although on the face of it this measure could apply to pfizer by on tag more downer and astra zeneca it appears most targeted at astra zeneca the root of the disagreement between the 2 sides lies in the contract they agreed last year the company says it promised its best reasonable efforts to produce sufficient vaccine for the e. U. The europeans disagree saying the deal is binding to both they say the company agreed to use its plants both in the e. U. And in britain in order to guarantee supply the europeans have also asked how astra zeneca going to have insufficient product for the e. U. But still supply the british who are immunizing far more people than in the e. U. Particularly since in the terms of this contract the company confirmed it had no other contractual obligation with any other party to prevent it fulfilling its obligations to the European Union and while the round rages on the measures to deal with the pandemic are intensifying in places germany has announced that from saturday it will ban travel from several countries where covert mutations have been reported dominick came aljazeera. Well angry has become the 1st e. U. Member to approve chinas sign of vaccine and says 5000000 doses of already been or did its drug regulate regulators signed off on the vaccine a week after also proving Russia Sputnik the on the e. U. Law all vaccines need to go through the books European Medicines Agency before they can be used in Member States but government is moving ahead with its own agenda right now it issued a decree calling for approval for any vaccine which has been administered to east 1000000 people in 3 other countries. Well can you are saying that health care and immigration workers are going to be 1st in line when it starts and people next month vaccines are being secured through the African Union and the. But Health Officials say it will take until june next year to vaccinate around a 3rd of the population kenya is a member of equal rights for c. D. C. And has made an initial commitment to procure vaccines through this for c. T. Weve this commitment the country will receive 24000000 doozies from different and we procure 11000000 boozes from other mechanisms to vaccinate nearly 16000000 people that is 30 percent of our population over a period of 18 months. Almost president has won the hospitals across Southern Africa around a severe strain 22 percent of all infections in the region were in the 1st 2 weeks of january alone this is doctors in zimbabwe of hit back a government spokesman who suggested the deaths of several Ruling Party Officials from the virus might have been the work of medical assassins a joint funeral was held this week for 2 cabinet ministers in a retired army general who all died of covered 19 of borders close many of the countrys elite have been forced to use the countrys Public Health system for the 1st time instead of traveling abroad for treatment doctors and nurses have been coming. In. Were going on. Were. Dying. Its how these people if you want to debate you. Ought to get straight about. This you know. Well i mean a handful of nations in africa have started vaccinating people and there if is a continent is being left behind in the fight to stop the pandemic 6 of the top 10 countries in the world with the fastest rising infections are on the continent just take a look at malawi which is number 2 on that is cases that doubled in just 2 weeks from 1991 on january 14th to over 22000. 00 on the 28. 00 continents kovan 1000. 00 mentality rate is now higher as well with the rest of the world at 2 and a half percent compared to the global average of 2. 2 percent there is simple positive news the African Union has secured a deal for another 400000000 doses of the astra zeneca vaccine but to could take up to 3 years to vaccinate 60 percent of the continents 1300000000 strong population which is the threshold needed for vaccines to work im not joined by peter drawback Global Health specialist and director of the sculls center for social entrepreneur pernicious at Oxford University joins us via skype. Missing this new variant of covert 19 spreading through south africa with really terrifying speed its overwhelming hospitals in that country but its this were seeing the same story with Health Systems in other Southern African countries facing a great deal of pressure if most african countries avoided the fatalities that we saw in brazil the u. S. And europe the 1st time around with the 1st wave is this new variant is going to change that. Well thank you for having me mary and i think the answer is yes it absolutely could and were seeing signs of that now a lot of countries in africa did a very admirable job of responding quickly to trying to contain the outbreak early on in the pens emic but its difficult to maintain you know significant restrictions for long periods of time as we all know but particularly in settings of of poverty and families that are living on the margins its really hard to ask them to stay home so you cant sort of hold on forever and i think thats part of what were seeing right now certainly the spread of some of the new variants including the one you mentioned out of south africa that are more transmissible is of great concern not least because they spread so much more quickly but also because of this emerging evidence that the there appears to be lower after effects excuse me efficacy of several of the vaccines you know to this and so it its an extremely concerning moment. Just speaking about this some of the figures what what its how the proportion of the continent population that has to be vaccinated for that to be. Immunity herd immunity now of the the proportion of vaccines that have been identified not this but in the proportion of vaccines have administered while why how i mean how many of those in africa. Its effectively 0 you know there may have been a handful but not a not a meaningful amount of almost all of the vaccinations have been concentrated in wealthier countries to this point about looks to be the case for the forseeable future many countries are aligned in that kovacs facility a multilateral. You know partnership that showed others helped organize to try to allow for some equitable distribution of vaccines and other technologies the role of that could be delayed by supply problems and it could be further worsened by you know some of the sort of trade war type talk that were now starting to see out of the e. U. So this is incredibly concerning you know that realistically many countries in africa and other areas of the global south may not see meaningful amounts of vaccine for months or possibly longer. Right i mean it i mean theres no mechanism either is there for stopping on federal unequal distribution of vaccine at stake tainted by market forces. Really are likely to see a hoarding of vaccine doses by which countries if it isnt happening already. Well its already happening you know canada the United States europe the u. K. Most of these countries have have creep purchase agreements for 5 times more vaccines and they actually need to cover their entire population and they did that to hedge their bets with multiple different candidates not knowing which ones would come 1st but theyve essentially bought out the global early Global Supply of vaccines and then some through nontransparent Bilateral Agreements and the problem with this is not just that its going to slow down access for the rest of the world and actually makes everybody less safe you know because its going to constrict the Global Supply for example the talk that were hearing out of the e. U. Right now about potentially limiting exports of vaccines from the e. U. Elsewhere could create choke points and a really fragile Global Supply chain that could actually limit the Global Supply even further you know its its silly to think that even if the u. K. Or europe or america was successful and vaccinate a lot of this population that suddenly they would be safe if the virus is still raging around the world we really need to think about a Global Cooperation type spend some time to then what are the implications of that a massive and balance in the line which vaccines in a distributed does that may if you have the virus continuing to spread and poor countries does that mean and you take actions are more likely to occur how does that affect the global picture in how the pandemic evolves. So certainly one risk is that any place of the virus is spreading out of control the more transmission there is the more opportunity there is for new mutations and the emergence of new variants so we could be entering a situation where were having to think about 2nd generation vaccines before weve even rolled out the 1st generation of axioms thats one problem but then the other thing is that how are we going to have some countries opening up while others still have raging out of control transmission its going to create an incredibly incredibly Unequal World i think its going to cause geo political instability and ultimately its going to make all of us less safe and its going to prolong the pentameter. Thank you very much. For joining us from Oxford University thank you thank you. All the developments elsewhere portugal has extended its nationwide lockdown and tighten its border with spain is it grapples with the worlds highest per capita death toll is that the mergence will be extended until feb 14th delaying the reopening of schools and nonessential businesses the Portuguese Health service is hiring foreign medics to tackle staffing shortages as intensive care beds run out and ambulance is a force to queue outside hospitals another 278. 00 deaths were reported on friday. The french Prime Minister is announced of the tightening of coronavirus restrictions but step back from imposing a widely anticipated National Lockdown junk aesthetic says the u. K. And South African variants of 1000 pose a dangerous risk in the coming days will be crucial from sunday borders will be close to arrivals from outside the e. U. For all but essential travel police will also set up checks on people breaking a nightly curfew will mexico now has the 3rd highest coronavirus death toll in the world with more than 155000 fatalities confirmed date exceeded the total number of deaths recorded in india which has a population of more than 10 times the size of mexico as its been struggling to contain a 2nd wave of infections and hospitals in the capital on nearing capacity and running out of oxen oxygen supplies mexicos president under his money Lopez Obrador currently has the virus himself but is said to be in good spirits. Well my appetite joins us live now from mexico city and many many we wouldnt expect that to be any comparison between india and a country of mexicos size how how did the situation deteriorate like this it is quite significant and i think that that comparison is something thats not lost on the average person here in mexico especially given how especially devastating this last month has been with the sharp increase in new cases and new deaths here in mexico just run through those through those latest numbers one more time as of friday morning there were more than 155000 deaths and more than 1800000 confirmed cases we of course know that that number is likely to be much higher given the lack of testing here in mexico but again on thursday evening mexico fishley surpassed india for the 3rd highest coronavirus deaths in the world mexico now takes its place behind just behind brazil and the United States for the most of the deaths around the world and overall its been a very busy week in mexico in terms of coke at 90 news but we just surpassed that milestone of 150000 cases over the weekend followed shortly by the news that the mexican president on this monday looked as over though it himself it tested positive for the virus a few days later carlos slim the richest man in mexico once the richest man in the world tested positive as well but really again this entire month has been as been very difficult one of a very difficult start to the year for mexico and its really stretch the limits of the Public Health system many are afraid that the Public Health system could be on the brink of collapse hospitals are nearing their occupancy limits overall i think the ox occupancy limit currently stands at 90 percent in mexico but we do know of at least a dozen hospitals that are already operating beyond the limits of their of their occupancy so there is a lot of concern over how much longer medical workers can can stay. And the Current Situation and what were hearing overwhelmingly now from Public Health policy experts is that the system put in place the policy the strategy by the federal government has failed and without a new stricter strategy the Health Emergency here in the country can only continue to worsen thanks very much from mexico city many rapid. Experts from the wild helpful guys ation of visited a hospital in the chinese city of one as they continue their investigation into the origins of the 19 who bay provincial hospital is one of the 1st to treat patients when the virus was 1st identified in late 2019 were such a spot with Health Workers about their experience on the frontline and w. H. O. Team is also expected to visit the seafood markets at the center of the early outbreak as well as the mohan institutes overall ag. But as always its an entitys will be limited to those organized by that chinese hosts. You with the news hour life from london much more still to tell you about the e. U. Moves to stop Northern Ireland being used as a back door to get covert 19 vaccines from the block into the rest of the u. K. Also more than 200000 people flee the fighting in the Central African republic a situation a former Prime Minister is described as apocalyptic and egyptian football fans give that African Champions a raucous welcome at of the fee for world cup. A Dutch Appeals Court has ordered the Nigerian Branch of Oil Giant Shell to pay compensation to a group of farmers for nigerian farmers 2. 00 of whom have since died brought a case against the company in 2008 accusing it of destroying their fishing villages with 3 spills its the 1st time a Dutch Company has been held liable for actions by its foreign subsidiary and could pave the way for more cases against the oil for im address has been following proceedings from nigerias capital abuja. The people in the niger delta especially communities affected by oil spills over the last 50 years really happy about the verdict of the appeal court in the netherlands a lot of them are saying that this clears the way for them to raise issues of contamination issues of repair relations issues of human rights abuses in the niger delta following years of exploration by Oil Companies and were looking at probably only a fraction of those oil spill works or other people damage thats being treated right now by both shell and the Nigerian Government al jazeera visited ago and he especially the border creeks and other neighboring communities to look at how the was pills over the years have impacted on the environment and what the company as well as the government i doing to do to remedy the situation. What is educate anything but to flush out trucked oil in border creek as it all comes to the surface a boom trust us like for you back to a ship its a job the contractors hired by all john child must quickly accomplish before the type returns the clean up is due to litigation against the Company Following a Massive Oil Spill in the record in 2009 is walkies jewel really did. Pick. Up the next phase will be depressed or revert you to sort out among groups and monitoring so far is a 1000. 00 hectares. While shellings can talk to say they have done a lot to subsides the Nigerian Government led decontamination effort jointly funded by the Shell Company is off to a slow start. Heavy machinery is now deployed farther inland to excavate and treat contaminated soil we are told from what we have planned but were trying to see what we can do to catch up they still a lot of work to do to catch up i mean to take. An assessment by the United NationsEnvironment Program 1st published in 2011 shows that pollution from more than half a century of Oil Production was worse than or originally thought the report recommended a 1000000000. 00 fund to clean up alone an area covering 1000 square kilometers the work which began success later could take at least 25 years to complete much of a is a wasteland this is dead fish and crustaceans no longer spawn here farmlands fish ponds and even underground Water Supplies have been polluted by hydrocarbons leaking from old pipelines we could buy some activists in the region are less impressed with the work so far. Is one. And how many. And thats not the only concern significant amount of all theft continues in the region father complicating the process of reversing the environmental damage experts believe 15 to 20000 square kilometers full of nigerias Oil Producing region require the attention is currently receiving they fear that unless the entire region is decontaminated clean up me in the end be a waste of time and resources as re contamination could occur. Orgone in nigerias Oil Producing niger delta. Well in all the stories of following has been a warning from the United Nations more than 200000 people have fled violence in the Central African republic in the past 2 months 92000 have crossed into the democratic republic of congo more than 13000 to flooded into neighboring states tens of thousands of displaced inside the country a former Prime Minister has described the situation as apocalyptic the cia as they are all me backed by un peacekeepers and russian rwandan troops has been battling a coalition of armed groups have been trying to overturn decembers president ial election and security so if you are good republicans this race no more 200000 people within the country and states in less than 2 months you are needs you are the you will see is born in terms of thousands of thanks to guard bush refugee arrivals in the democratic republic of the congo b. R. C. Who reached 92000 according to local authorities in the over 30000 people who cross the care move. In the republic of congo refugees continued through. Lebanese armed forces have dispersed protest as in central tripoli after 5 nights of violent demonstrations the protesters pelted soldiers with stones as they were forced to leave the citys own lawyer square demonstrators angry with the government from posing a strict coronavirus lockdown without providing any Financial Relief hundreds have been injured in at least 2 People Killed off Security Forces used live ammunition to disperse the demonstrators i become like them i made some planning to destroy other places in the city we will stand up to them and come from them we will not accept any more that civil committees marks the way they used to demonstrate he is acceptable real for peaceful protest but we are against any attack on private or public property. All position parties in india say supporters of the ruling b j p party of attack farmers protesting against the governments controversial agriculture laws thousands of farmers refused to move during a standoff on the outskirts of new delhi police then intervened using tear gas to disperse the crowds the fama say the reforms will ruin their livelihoods and theyve been demonstrating for months. Military isnt ruling out the possibility of a coup in the aftermath of last years election unsung suchi is governing party want to majority of seats in the parliament but the army says it might take action if its complaints of fraud on addressed the Election Commission has rejected the allegations the threats come as parliament is set to reopen on monday un secretary general antonio terraces expressed concern and says all electoral disputes should be resolved through established legal mechanisms. A 3rd group of rango refugees of men moved from their camps in bangladesh to a Remote Island in the bay of bengal its despite concerns over the risk of floods and storms hitting the low lying island bangladesh is aiming to transfer a 10th of the 1000000 refugees living in border camps after fleeing neighboring me and our 5 ships moved 1700 rangar and their belongings on friday with more set to be relocated on saturday the command of the. Our team is there will be checked by doctors when they arrive today they already have this it made to house those rooms and Everything Else that they will move into going to the homes that. They would hope the coop to put out after a few days they will start managing food themselves under our system we hope they will start the new life in safety. Youre watching the news hour live from london well still ahead thailands which is its choice of vaccine supply a protest to say royal influence could compromise the rollouts. Russian moves to isolate allies of kremlin critic alexina valmy ahead of protests planned for this weekend and in sport with jana allowed but pleasant surprise for tennis fans returning to a course on a farm in australia. How either the weather has been exceptionally mild if not hot across western parts of europe tick down towards the southwest and now we can see on thursday off no the temperature got up to a staggering 29 degrees celsius that is around 12 degrees above the seasonal average so some very very warm weather somethings going to cool off over the next couple of days now lets compare and contrast that with the weather that we see across the other side if you know theres a moderate sweeps in from the atlantic with this gag of weather fronts with some rain sleet and snow theres a fair bit of snow just around the black sea this is into western parts of ukraine where we saw a good covering of snow cause widespread destruction that snow standing down across the other side of the black sea into good parts of turkey so we have seen scenes like this more wintry weather more wet weather pushing across parts of greece turkey pushing across the black sea back into ukraine rain and snow there more snow across the northern flank that stretches its way back into a good part of poland so good covering of snow too over the alps and theres that moderate continue to just tumble its way through not quite a small those 13 celsius in madrid on saturday maybe 12 here on sunday that wet weather that Winter Weather continues to watch the balkans and notice clouds and rain to the northwest. But. As a celebration of tradition life. And love. Aljazeera was a case where insights into the diverse culture of somalia the bullies 2 different couples embarking on their lives to get on to weddings the money style unanticipated. Examining the impact of todays headlines it didnt matter youre rich or poor what your religion as you are battling this and damning you are staring at it in the face and youre dealing with it setting the agenda for tomorrows discussions was it a coup on holding on Capitol Hill International filmmakers a world class journalists bring programs to inform and inspire your engine in one of us ever more responsibility to change our thirst in its place for the good of bond aljazeera. To. Welcome back to headlines now johnson and johnson is announce trial results for the 1st single dose Coronavirus Vaccine which has 66 percent efficacy says the e. U. Is approved astra zeneca is job for all adults while it tussles with the company of a delayed supply. Mozambiques president has warned that hospitals across Southern Africa around a severe strain 22 percent of all infections in the region were in the 1st 2 weeks of january thats as kenya says its hoping to inoculate a 3rd of its population by june next year. And a Dutch Appeals Court has ordered the Nigerian Branch of Oil Giant Shell to pay compensation to a group of farmers for oil spills in their fishing villages its the 1st time a Dutch Company has been held liable for actions by its foreign subsidiary. The u. K. Has warned the e. U. That it is considering its next steps after the block restricted the export of covert 1000 vaccines to Northern Ireland the e. U. Wants to prevent Northern Ireland from being used as a back door to move vaccines into the u. K. While its tussling with the Person Company astra zeneca of that delayed Vaccine Supplies its now invokes a protocol that allows it to override parts of the price that agreement which says there should be no export restrictions between the e. U. And Northern Ireland its meant to avoid a hard order between Northern Ireland in the Irish Republic which is a member of the e. U. Stis gustus now with political commentators jonathan lissie joins us from london via skype just put this into some perspective for us how how serious a crisis could it become. Well i think its across so many levels its very destabilizing who you take your relations see theres the 2 sides assigned to the brics a deal and already theres a real hostility is very destabilizing to the island of all news as well and thats even more important because the whole purpose of the rules not a protocol was to ensure open border between Northern Ireland and arland and now youre effectively closing part of blocking vaccine exports from foreign and into Northern Ireland and understandably the arash government is very concerned about that and also you mean the Northern Irish genius will have more opportunity and excuse to push through the u. K. To kind of that. Part of the agreement as well which could in the long term result in in a not necessarily hard in arent that some kind of border friction or infrastructure which is what weve been trying to do it for the last 5 years its also caused part of the Global Supply but i think thats an even broader issue aside from the main are cheap lets go problem its not right so if this is triggered how will the tell us more then about how well the u. K. Government is likely to respond. Well so far the u. K. Harz put out quite a sensible statement saying it is in the interest of rules are is to preserve. The status quo and bidens to protect the good friday agreement and so on so on the notes threatening it take for tots theyre not threatening to impose the same article over food exports britains northern arent which is seeing a lot of disruption in the last few weeks so theyre kind of taking the moral high ground but that could change in the next few days and weeks depending on how this rob turns out it looks as though you the e. U. Has kind of act and made quite a rush political decision which is now turning out to be about p. R. Move as well but theres also the arash government is very unhappy about it and the e. U. Is always parts its just that city in the interest of our own and on through the whole process so what i expect is cool has what hope is that cooler calmer heads will intervene trying to deescalate this crisis because it no ones interests food any sorry to engage in vaccine protectionism its in everyones interests that everyone has to be vaccinated now that appears to be precisely whats happening just picking about imbalance between wealthier countries and poor nations and well that actually was saying. This intense competition between wealthy countries playing out in this possibility of export blocks from the e. U. A plan from them so there is a possibility that cooler heads might prevail as you say in the light road back but what is the worst Case Scenario from this. Well there are many worst Case Scenarios of c. The ultra worst Case Scenario is some kind of trade who when you change which kind of brings in the audience arent potential hard to tell with all the destabilizing effects in the house i dont see news you know the u. K. If it cant get the vaccines it believes its very hard for the rest the world if that darned if they cant import our vaccines from the factories either so you could really be very serious and i could realize its made an ethical and a Public Relations longer. Really for 39 re good reason obviously we dont know the details of the full details of the astra zeneca contracts im sorry its are just getting what was agreed this is very much in the e. U. Interests as a Global Player the moral high standing that its seen not to block vaccines not only to the u. K. But the rest of the world as well jonathan les thanks very much appreciate it joining us on the news hour thats. So we turn to thailand now the government there is facing criticism for its vaccine roll out after its which supplies just 2 weeks before the start of the 1st phase. Chosen the chinese sign of that job but its now moving forward with the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine that set to be produced locally later in the year by oh and by the thai king scott either explains from bangkok. Protesters gathered outside the offices of bio science in bangkok this week accusing the government of being swayed by royal influence over its covert 19 Vaccine Program the company is owned by the king and now holds the exclusive contract to manufacture the Oxford Astra Zeneca jab in thailand so far the only certified vaccine that prompted the main opposition figure who was banned from Holding Political office for 10 years by a court last year to go public with what he saw as a flawed process. Level question is better disc game keith too much benefit to one company on a royal defamation complaint has been filed against 10 a torrent for his criticism but hes undeterred and says his concern is more than just possible collusion during contract negotiations if anything were to go wrong with the vaccine manufacturing the governments hands are tied you have legal immunity because it used to stand but as it been done to the government contract she is the chair hoarder of this company and if things go wrong the government cannot sue to or not become body the minister of Public Health says there is no room for politics when it comes to vaccines i fully believe strongly believe that i have acquired the best. The most proper. For people i will make sure that that will be the. Priority of privilege siham by a science or alternately manufacturer the Oxford Astra Zeneca japara thailand and the region up to 200000000. 00 doses a year to receive 20000000. 00 in Government Funds to upgrade its facilities part of a pandemic grant system. The job will be free to all ties and will run as a nonprofit operation but soon bio science stands to substantially boost its revenue once the pandemic is over busy times at this buddhist temple here and bangkoks chinatown as people come out to pray for good fortune ahead of the Lunar New Year while recognizing the government success in containing covert 900. 00 some are concerned about the vaccine rollout and the politics surrounding it. I think that the vaccine plan is not clear we still do not know if the vaccine is safe enough to use and thats what we want for your life that no one leg out will not i dont know what the future holds i think that this is a very early phase and we wont find out the result of the vaccine immediately. What the year of the ox will hold for the people of thailand depends on controlling the virus and the success of its vaccine and many people here praying for just that its got harder aljazeera bangkok now russias crackdown on allies of crime and critical acts in a valley is continued with a court pursuing prominent supporters under house arrest until the middle of monch and found his brother doctor an opposition activists of sobel are among those detained for allegedly breaching covert 19 restrictions the opposition leaders allies have called for nationwide rallies on sunday to demand his release from jail in valley was arrested after returning from germany where he was being treated for a poisoning thats been blamed on the kremlin. Well above so bills lawyer says the house arrests are politically motivated. Used tear gas where the bullets you just give you are naturally it is a political case which has nothing to do with either law or justice its only about political activists being punished for their activities for what they do which one is choosing home arrest of the restriction is too severe in my opinion but in the years proportional to what they said to have done. Dozens of endangered Wild Elephants are being sold as an option in namibia despite conservationists appealing for it to be stopped the government put 170. 00 up for sale it says the country has too many elephants and needs to reduce conflict between them and humans as well as battling drought and maybe has been praised for its conservation drive the government says its elephant numbers jumped from 7 and a half 1000 in 1905 to around 24000. 00 in 2019 the National Park rescue charity says the vast majority of those are migratory birds which means it is actual elephant population is much smaller the group says the auction is actually linked to corruption in a continent thats lost 95 percent of its elephant population in the last 100 years or john gruber is an environmental Investigative Reporter who joins me now by skype from window in namibia what can you tell us about this elephant option how could it impact what are the possible implications for the elephant population in the area. It likely will greatly reduce the genetic diversity because there has been. Some or systematic alarm team or especially the bulls in all of this free of aging populations. It also has very serious questions about the actual number of elephants we have in the movie because. It is admitted that the greater part of this claimed Large Population is basically a migrated population. Which means that we basically sitting on neighbors elephants and most of these elephants in fact are its you know trapped beyond the elephant 2 frames that separates namibia from whats on in the north recent quadrant this and you know removing the last you know 3 red sea population also out of the i think gays not really in the interest of conservation longer just explain to us the governments argument because that claiming that there is there is overpopulation that this is a necessary measure that that taking. Its very strange because you know if they were to be a 3 fold increase in it and population as they basically posture that since 95 we should have seen at least a commensurate increase in a number of human elephant conflicts with balls and thats not been the case at all not been reporting on this you know whole 30 years now and what weve seen this is a dwindling and it will die out or if such reports he runs twice a year perhaps we have reports of elephants causing problems somewhere but there have been a 3 to live in in recent months and. As for the claims of our drought we are having the most poker is a incident in yesterdays countrys dabs old through. A. You know more than enough water at least in the northeast and in the northwest a different story. But what that really speaks to is that is a conflict between a drive to allocate more farmland in communal learnt to mellow supporters of the party and those kinds of course dont want any election anywhere near their farms they dont like farming or on elephants a days not a compatible activity to say the least can you explain to us or at least shed some light on the possible links with corruption. Well the problem is that you know we dont really know like i said before what the actual 7 American Population is. Maybe or was the only country outside of south sudan which was a war as well as the Central African republic similar excuse that did not participate in the Great Elephant census in 20152016. And you know what we faced with that is so a war of the odyssey and trying to parse you know what as actually going on with the actual 11 population because the antiquities that it allocated to the various Companies Active in this area. All rely on this large number of 22000 and offense to justify getting more put a lot of money involved for them. But the reality on the ground is that the elephant if not it disappeared. In the areas that we used to see them and. Ive been traveling around a lot especially in the east of the last 4 months and i have just seen them sign 23 result of elephants but have not actually seen the numbering 7080 that they used to see that they in in the late ninetys and in iran one is where they disappeared to. Right well thank you very much appreciate you joining us there from then talk john and problem thank you. Game starts jazz have shot up again the latest twist in a wall street saga that strong the attention of billionaire as the white house and thousands of social media uses video Game Retailer stock ended up almost 68 percent after a volatile day of trading this is after the investor robinhood allow users to buy limited she has an again off to blocking them a day earlier a mature investors have been pushing up the prices which are up by staggering 900 percent at one point to damage wall street hedge funds who make a profit by trading shares in failing businesses the Dow Jones Industrial average indices closed 2 percent down still ahead. Im white hey in new zealand one of the few countries in the world where people can gather in big numbers and enjoy live music we take a look at the global Music Industry and how the coronavirus pandemic is changing its. On the going gets rough sailing is americas cup challenge a series well have that story and more with jeff. Welcome back to court a virus pandemic has devastated the live Music Industry in most countries summer festivals have been canceled across the Northern Hemisphere for the 2nd year in a row but new zealand is are the few places in the world where bands are playing on in the town of raglan why hail reports was its been a career defining 12 months for this rising new zealand bands while much of the world has been in various forms of coronavirus lockdown l. A b. Has been traveling the country playing to packed stadiums weve been able to still perform. Get out there and play gigs and and tour material which has made our fan base just explode. So yes as far as from an awesome year but in other countries the pandemic has destroyed the live Music Industry one of the Worlds Largest festivals glastonbury in the United Kingdom has been cancelled for a 2nd Consecutive YearIndustry Leaders worry that without support from the government and Insurance Companies some concerts and festivals may be lost to the goods its very hard to to underestimate the states you under exact on the Music Industry and what we need now government to support that too is very critical times and it returned to operate again. With the main form of income playing live music largely gone artists have taken gigs online swedish band the hives are playing what they call the worlds 1st World Wide Web world 2 of substituting stadium shows like this for online concerts tailor made to different markets do you graphics this it seems important to us that were actually playing to people i mean. Germans are going to. You know we can play to the germans in new zealand there are new restrictions on public gatherings so the summer festival season carries on to those in most countries new zealand musicians and bands are clearly in a fortunate position but strict border controls mean no Big International acts and that seen at least one company which employed hundreds of concert support staff close its doors the people that usually keep the live Music Industry afloat far away from the bright lights and big stars are the ones that are suffering the most during the pen demick new zealand stars and their fans are enjoying their freedom while it lasts but feel for their counterparts in other countries a try and not talk to much too much of the city because you dont rub it in their faces when you know its like its pretty unfair whats happening. Very and you know to fellow musicians around the world so we just feel blessed and lucky to be able to get out and play and right now new zealand bands can claim to be playing some of the largest concerts in the world when hey al jazeera reglan new zealand. For thanks mariam event as head coach. Has declined to criticize his top scorer christiane i went out i had a legit breach of cave at 19 travel rules in italy the forwards being investigated by police after taking his girlfriend on a 2 day ski trip 150 kilometers from where they live in turin despite nonessential travel between regions being. Says why his players do in their spare time isnt his concern. Or never heard a day off and everybody is free to do what they want in their private life when we are here theyre under my control and when they are out of the Training Ground they are free citizens and they act on their own responsibility. Manchester united manager only got a social one social media platforms to take action against anonymous accounts after racist abuse was posted to 2 of his players and t. Mashal an axle to and say be were abused on instagram and twitter sell after the teams 21 defeat to Sheffield United turns a. B. Posted this video on his account in response that with the caption my race my religion my color equals football so shock cant believe that play is a still being targeted there are still some people lots. Havent got it hide behind the social media be anonymous on its own only acceptable and of course we. We can its disgusting. The play is never one weve weve spoken to each other of course theyre fine too to put it that way. Its just. Not money united fans in my head anyway. African continental champions i lastly of been given a role because welcomer from their fans is there for next weeks tournament and their supporters have brought out the flags and drums actually have never won the event which traditionally pits all of the continental champions and one host against each other take on a qatari team al jihad on thursday and the winner will play european champions a buy in munich in the semifinals for the 1st time the teams taking parts will be allowed one concussion substitute per match as fifa trials the rule of the tournament in qatar the English Premier League doing the same but committing to concussions substitute in a game thats for next saturday players can be taken off the field if they suffer a head injury and their replacement wont count towards one of the 3 subs normally allowed the trial will run until the end of the season after 14 days of corinth seen at the worlds top tennis stars have been enjoying some freedom ahead of the Australian Open and a few of the being back out on court playing in front of fans for the 1st time in a year as david states reports. After 2 weeks largely confined to the hotel rooms it was no surprise to see Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams taking a stroll outside in the adelaide sun unlike more than 70 of their fellow pros in full lockdown in melbourne they have at least been able to train for 5 hours a day but still they cloud its over putting their feet on the ground you know just doing something that i didnt have a chance to do so you know just that just having the space i think thats what we all kind of missed for williams shes been quarantining with a 3 year old daughter and they mark their release with a trip to disease we had a calendar in our room and every day we mark the x. On the days that went by in a big circle on the corn team ending day and we promised her that we would take her to the zoo to see koalas and. Is the players then headed across town to play in an exhibition tournament 24000 fans were allowed to watch but minutes before he was due on court djokovic pulled out of his match because of blisters on his hand maybe not what the crowd wanted to hear but his practice partner for that crown of it stepped in and took the opening set against yannick cinna only for djokovic to then make a u. Turn i make an appearance after all. My 50 despite the blister on his right hand the serve produced some trademark shots to secure the victory. Im sorry that i didnt step in on the court from the beginning. I had to. Had to do some treatment with my physio and i wasnt feeling my best last couple of days. Serena got a fright as she stepped out on court for her match as did her opponent i am heir saka williams came out on top in this one but both players clearly enjoyed performing in front of a Live Audience again we havent played in front of a proud member here so its been a really. Time so this is really cool and then for having us and trusting us with your with your loss was great we were so happy just to be here and now its worth its just really thanks for coming out i havent seen people in it feels like forever so just to play in front of you guys its really amazing meanwhile in melbourne the process to release players from full look down continues because of carbon 19 cases on their flights theyve been confined to their rooms for 14 days or more and unable to train sure to be at a huge disadvantage when the Australian Open begins in 10 days time david stokes aljazeera. And finally the Luna Rossa Sailing Team has the edge in the americas cup challenge a series in new zealand the italians were up against American Magic in the semifinals it was a return to competition for the u. S. Team whose fate capsized just 12 days ago during their last race despite some quick as the high winds that were you American Magics hypes away. Took a battering today as they went on to lead to nail in the best of 7 series they went out will race against any off the team that is for the right to challenge a Team New Zealand for the americas cup in march lovely pictures there isnt gorgeous yeah thank you thank you very much jennifer all thats it for the news hour but ill be back in a couple of minutes a full blast of news coming up for you and just a couple of minutes time at 2200 g. M. T. Of course as always our web site aljazeera duck dot com you can get some analysis that takes you behind the headlines and you can watch us on life streaming that as well as usual by phone. When all that seems to matter is the headline there is always 2 sides to a story when narratives and counter narratives obscure reality only there on the one hand the enemy is all believe there on the other hand the listening post strips away the spin what kind of reporting if you can see it on the ground misinformation is right lays bare the body is a lot of people believe things because they want to believe them done covers the uncomfortable truths do you think they did enough to scrutinize the case for war the listing post. Editorial terraces of the football ultras what club loyalty come in violent confrontations when i was young when there was a football match we were crying because the fans got to go crazy but in indonesia one group of revolutionary supporters has taken a stand against male aggression with a carnival left display of peace and unity defines who make football old truism angels on aljazeera. I met no moved out of his parents house after he got to me he says he found more space living in biscayne after a run of eating it last year its now his home along with his wife daughter and health but the Israeli Government said that he was to be constructed weve gotten permits and issued the demolition order last month our interview would cut short as he hears that the israeli army has arrived in the village with a bulldozer residents say soldiers gave them one minute to go home it took the found me months to build their brick house and nothing an hour to see it get demolished. As another 2 corona virus vaccines give promising results the e. U. Approves the astra zeneca job for older adults while with travel by. Find themselves a sea of a crumbling health system. And i know i Maryam Namazie and london it watching al jazeera also coming up on the program will than 200000 people feel the fighting in the center