Washington of bullying smaller nations. Plus rolling out the red carpet with little fanfare one of the ballots most famous phone festivals a prime yes but with pandemic proportions. Polls have opened in tanzania as president ial and parliamentary elections following days of tension and unrest president john legere fairly is seeking a 2nd term but the lead up to the vote has been mobbed by violence and accusations of foul play the government has been accused of cracking down on dissent and on tuesday the opposition on the semi autonomous island of zanzibar said at least 8 people were killed during protests of a ballot fraud Catherine Sawyer reports from neighboring kenya. President john. Paul nicknamed the bulldozer wrapped up his complaint in the new capital of times and yeah. Some analysts say hes favorite to win and throughout the campaign hes exit at conference outlining his achievements in the last 5 years staring clear of accusations that his government has ruled by violently clamping down on critics and curtailing the freedoms of the media. A minute. Lets protect peace in tanzania peace will prevail if you vote for me for another 5 years alone bring even more development and progress. Ill go full his main opponent to lease and finished his campaign in the former capital. He recently returned home from belgium to run for president he left tanzania 3 years ago critically injured when he was shot multiple times pass aliens who havent been caught hes accused the president of being a dictator and doubts the election will be credible. There wasnt any local mission has the responsibility of preventing whereas in bed announcing it is old before counting hes concluded hes creating room for kaos. Do not allow them to announce pretty much what is or even go to the date i ots also being held in the semi autonomous indian ocean i keep a log of which has a history of contested polls and violence after results are announced Opposition Leaders have accused police of using force on protesters who allege some ballot papers had been premarked there is no doubt of this election far from being free and. Without doubt as good issues in this election possible of course. The playground is not level both in terms of the institutions which are governing or managing the selection as well as the conduct of the security agency. The ruling party kind of a dr house and when the sign of a former president a relative calm in politics is up against safe sheriff complaining for the 6th time im odd state he won the last president ial election 5 years ago the result was an old by the Electoral Commission and he was caught at the rerun samana least fear that an opposition defeat could trigger another violent fallout with the ruling party well lets all speak to catherine who is watching the selection for us from the kenyan capital nairobi and catherine i see the government has throttled of the internet and cut off social media by my count polls have been open for just over 3 hours now how is voting actually going is going. Well we have been speaking to several people in tanzania who say the internet is still very slow of course we have no official word from the Telecommunication Companies or the government itself but the people have been speaking to us saying things like what baalke messaging is a problem very slow internet speeds as well about the voting process today Inspector General of police of tanzania issued a statement yesterday giving a stand warning to anybody who tries to disrupt the process who tried who tries to disrupt this election of course this is in light of what happened in the last 2 days in the island of zanzibar process to stake into the streets. Yesterday during that voting for special groups saying that the process was not transparent enough the Main Opposition Party there was a lendl saying that police in by land a used tear gas and live bullets to discuss protesters in the process killing at least 8 but the Inspector General of police has denied this and has denied that the police used to live bullets and has denied that there were any deaths now in terms of whats going on we have colleagues who have visited in tanzania who have visited several polling stations they say the process to find those polling stations is going on smoothly people are patient he waiting in line but a huge security presence both in the mainland and in zanzibar nastasia catherine i know mr leaser and the opposition are already warning that if this election isnt viewed as free and fair it will be decided in the streets tanzanians bracing for protests. Well there is a satin a lot of concerned a lot of concerns especially from you know ordinary time the people who are voting today who are saying theyre concerned about whats what might happen especially. The opposition senses defeat weve been hearing very aggressive. Opposition opposition both in towns in both in the mainland tanzania and zanzibar using a very aggressive tone saying that they already believe that the election is being rigged to leads to in his final campaign telling his supporters that these results are announced prematurely if there is a nice sense that the election is being stolen then this people that hes supporters should go out to the streets and mosque process in zanzibar same situation main Opposition Leader there safe ahmad a saying that already he believes that the election is being is good is going to be rigged has been rigged from voting yesterday saying that he doesnt believe the election is going to be credible telling his people to be vigilant and if theyve a new rigging thats going to take place then people should go to the streets a lot of people in the voting stations a lot of times and in the voting stations will be talking to our high of a saying that they just want a peaceful election but beyond that they want a result that is beyond reproach nastasia because theyre saying anything else is just a recipe for. Catherine and so are they watching that election for us from nairobi will be staying crossed for you here on out as they are today thanks so much catherine. Well the u. S. President ial candidates are making their final push to win ai versus then with just a week to go until their election day crisscrossing the country campaigning and battleground states now more than 17000000 americans have already voted a record that could lead to the highest of us attend out in a century my kind of reports from washington. A final frenetic week of campaigning before election day President Trump doing a swing through 3 of the states with polls indicate hes neck and neck with joe biden wisconsin michigan and the brusca attempting to remove one issue from the agenda at the beginning of the day tweeting Fake News Media is going full on. We are rounding the 99. 9 percent and hes attempting to reset the conversation around an economy he claims to have revived its trabant lead the number one reason that im standing here because of trade and we turn that around if 7 straight now were going to win the great state. Were going to win 4 who are years in the way. But joe biden kept the discussion sent to don what he describes as a trumpet ministrations failure to deal with ekta plea with the pandemic this administration has yet to offer a single plan thats one of the reasons why the most one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world the new england journal of medicine call the president quote dangerously incompetent went on to say the president turned a crisis into a tragedy im ready that act. I know what to do well. Biden spent the day in georgia which polls indicate has come strongly into play for the Democratic Party its been a solidly republican state for decades but full clinton the last democratic candidate to take it back in 1992 the fact that democrats believe theres a chance of biden winning it is a clear sign of how the traditional electoral landscape is changing another good sign for the Democratic Party is the massive number of votes that have already been cast close to 70000000 americans have already voted thats more than a hot the number of total ballots cast 4 years ago but the Biden Campaign warns against complacency traditionally its republicans who cast the most votes in person on election day effect that could still tilt the balance my kind of aljazeera washington now americas top diplomat has his house at chinas ties with sri lanka and his latest stop on a tour of the region secretary of state mike compare has been discussing trade and security with sri lankas foreign minister in the capital colombo hes pressing the country to be on guard against what he called predatory lending and investment by china china has accused the us of bullying smaller nations. Indeed a strong sovereign sure walker is a powerful and Strategic Partner for the United States on the world stage they can be a beacon for the free and open in the pacific. But thats quite a quantum contrast to what china seeks we see from bad deals violations of sovereignty and lawlessness on land and sea that the Chinese Communist party is a predator in the United States comes a different way we come as a friend and as a partner. And as in the capital colombo for us mel some strong words weve been hearing today from compare and that his visit comes on the heels of a senior chinese delegation who are there only what 3 weeks ago it does sound like sri lanka is going to have to pick a side soon. Well thats certainly the direction that both of these Global Players seemed to be pushing this Little Nation towards us asia sensually this sort of rhetoric ratcheted up obviously in the run up to visit basically the u. S. Secretary of state in that address talking about that sort of predator kind of rule that china as he sees it is playing in sri lanka where he says that the u. S. Comes as a friend now china has also been responding because right at the outset before the secretary of state came to south asia there were obviously briefings and one of the Principal Deputy assistant secretaries in his briefing said that the sri lanka to make some difficult decisions but necessary ones to ensure and security economic independence obviously china took umbrage to that responded saying that the u. S. Was basically interfering as well as violating diplomatic protocol they basically accused the United States 5 of having a sort of a cold war mindset and sort of a. Monistic sort of a mentality and an attitude now the u. S. Basically saying that they come as a friend wanting to see sovereignity for sri lanka wanting to see development and sri lankans having that ability essentially to be in control of their future but obviously this began before the secretary of state even arrived here and obviously its slated to continue the secretary of state talking about some of the issues touched on his discussions with president go to the rajapaksa and the sri lankan delegation talking about the pandemic pointing to the fact that obviously came from who. In china so lots to be read between the lines here the seizure as basically these Global Players sort of playboy longo. Smell fernandez there live for us in the sri lankan capital colombo watching that as a thanks so much more. Still ahead for you here on aljazeera facing reality mexico admits the number of people whove died from the corona virus is far higher and faster. Im john hendren at ohio state known for picking u. S. President s it might just do it one more time. Hello expect warnings to be issued for the weather in greece is this thing was last a thunderstorm warning heads in your direction now its picking up more warmth and the bottom half of the cold front to be chopped off and start to spin up like this into a revolving storm which means wind potentially wind damage and thunderstorms will spread through greece and eventually towards turkey leaving behind a rather dry picture for italy the adriatic and generally speaking where its raining now it wont be by the end of wednesday athens forecast and gusty day on wednesday the shasta when youre out on thursday then it quietened down the temperatures dont suffer a tall really know what do they really for most of europe is fairly mild the air thats coming in and being blown even some thoughts thats the remains of epsilon hurrican thats wrong by the way still quite warm air so weve got teens despite the fact its overcast and running in london and in paris but the real strength there will be felt in the low countries i think heading sas much quite a picture for most adults after its been particularly warm recently in senegal because the wind is coming off the land its still going to be fairly warm. Wet weather thats really going south you might going to shower too in the south of nigeria probably nothing else in west africa is now hitting the rift valley and get on. With. Frank assessments if other can Public Opinion piece betrayed by social media platforms after november what would be because if you believe that there are corrosive to our democracy one obvious solution is to break the law informed opinion just look at his dog anyway the protesters are going anywhere either its a bullet with a revolution people indepth analysis of the days global headlines kill is it thats really out there on the street inside story on aljazeera. The. Hello again i must go home lets remind you of our top stories here the salary polls have opened in tanzanias president ial and parliamentary elections president john mather freely is seeking a 2nd 5 year his government has been accused of suppressing his critics and the opposition. Will close to 70000000 americans have already voted with just under a week to go before the u. S. President ial election the coronavirus pandemic continues to cost a shadow over campaigning with nearly half a 1000000 new infections just in the past week. And u. S. Secretary of state mike compare has his out of chinas ties with sri lanka during his latest stop on the tour of the region hes warned against a Chinese Investment and calls its influence predatory china accuses washington of bullying smaller nations. When it comes to u. S. Elections analysts say its ohio that predicts the wenna known as the bellwether state its picked the winning candidate and 30 of the past 32 president ial elections and both parties of heavily invested there with the belief that winning ohio means winning America John Hendren has been speaking to voters in cleveland. Clevelands industrial skyline rises from the ohio coast on lake erie and its ohios weeks of industry agriculture and service jobs that make it a microcosm of the u. S. And thats what makes ohio the bellwether stay. For decades all routes to the white house have gone through here ohio has voted for the winner in every president ial election since 1064 and they take voting seriously here i think its most important especially if you want to see change no republican has ever won the presidency without 1st winning in ohio. At made holes Bowling Alley winning is the name of the game. Here in suburban cleveland the diversity within International Border the crowd leans toward democrats and away from President Trump hes mentally imbalanced and he is a threat to the health and most being of everyone on the planet im looking for a change this upcoming election season just that we can kind of get back on track as a country. On the states vast farmlands and in the factory town of canton where Apache Industrial Services recently expanded into coronavirus cleaning solutions penetrates the d. N. A. Of the cell the workers lean toward republicans and the blunt spoken president hes straight to the point he doesnt really take too much from people kind of says well its only wanted to time his character not so much. But what hes done politically what hes done for policies and stuff i stand again polls show joe biden in trump in a dead heat here where trump won handily in 2016 but that was before the coronavirus and a wave of economic shutdowns oh i wonder stands the importance of Economic Issues also understands the moment the country is living the democrats have very wisely then shifted the. The campaign to being the referendum on President Trump with just days to go both candidates have made a priority of navigating ohios shifting political waters if history is any guide whichever candidate wins this great lake state will likely win the presidency john hendren aljazeera Cleveland Ohio also in the u. S. 2 big wildfires are raging through parts of Southern California powerful winds are fanning the flames in Orange County more than 100000 people have been forced to leave their homes and local Electricity Company says its equipments may have accidentally started one of those fires. The indian state of bihar is also going to the polls in that countrys 1st elections since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic nearly 72000000 people are eligible to vote for local leaders one of the worlds biggest electoral exercises since this pandemic began is also the poorest station india and has seen one and a half 1000000 Migrant Workers returned in the past 6 months elizabeth purana has more from the capital new delhi. The voting is taking place in around 70 constituencies with rules around social distancing the wearing of mosques and temperature checks around 20000000 people are expected to vote on wednesday in the 1st of 3 rounds of voting in indias 3rd most populous state be hot and this election is seen as an important test of whether large events like these can be held safely during a pandemic we can see that the rules are being followed in some places not in others where there were long lines and no social distancing this election is also a very important test for Prime Minister in that in