Annual pilgrimage to mecca. Hello, we begin in the united where where could the the coronavirus death toll has now surpassed 150,000, higher than any nation. It accounts for nearly a quarter of the global toll. Many are warning the u. S. Will see that number climb higher if to stopnot take steps the pandemic. The u. K. Is the third worst infected with around 46,000 virusrelated deaths confirmed so far. Mike hanna joins us live from washington, d. C. Is quite a figure from the United States. Very much a stark warning and truly a disturbing figure. Now, what is happening is that there is a mixed trend in terms of the spread of the pandemic. There is a slight decrease in the rate of infection but an increase in the mortality rate. This is highly disturbing and experts are pointing out once again that this increase is a consequence of persontoperson spreading weeks ago, particularly in the southern states. The death rate, for example, recorded in the United States through tuesday was the highest since the second of may. Once again, the mortality r rats are climbing sharply. This is of great concern. Texas,sentative for louie gohmert, tested positive today. He is now under selfquarantine. He was not wearing a mask when he was present in the house of representatives earlier in the week. s Speaker Nancy Pelosi house Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to enforce mandatory mask wearing in the house this evening. Lauren what is being done to help get the numbers down . Well, very little, unfortunately, and everything is being done on a state to state, sometimes county to county basis. Medicalul organization within the United States has released a statement saying a National Strategy has got to be imposed in order to combat these red of the virus the spread of the virus. Says we need 2 million tests a day. Aretests being conducted half that figure. It also says results need to be within a matter of hours, not days or sometimes weeks as is occurring at the moment. Associations report gives a lie to President Trumps claim that anyone who wants a test can get a test and that the results are quick. That is a falsehood. What we are seeing is a Major Medical association stepping up and trying to impose some sort of order in terms of combating the virus. Most importantly, trying to get a National Strategy put into place rather than doing it piecemeal from state to state. This is an Important Message and a stark warning from the association of medicine. If these issues are not addressed, the death rate is going to climb in the tens of thousands in the weeks ahead. A stark warning, indeed. Lauren mike hanna, thank you very much. Part. S. Response has in been fueled by conspiracy theories around hydroxychloroquine and the effectiveness of face masks. That was raised during testimony of Tech Companies on capitol hill. Ceos representatives from and facebook were asked about the role they could play in stopping the spread of misinformation. We do prohibit content that will lead to imminent risk of harm. A provenhat there is cure for covid when there is none might encourage someone to take something that could have adverse effects. So we do take that down. Lauren alan fisher joins us live from washington, d. C. What did they say about misinformation . This is an antitrust hearing, which means they are trying to thesebout whether or not four companies are strangling innovation and whether some of the terms on their platforms are so strict they are stopping Smaller Companies from developing policies and products, essentially killing competition. But they did talk about misinformation because its something republicans have been keen to hammer on, whether conservative voices are disadvantaged on social media, and whether some of the misinformation going out, particularly around election time, can be stopped. Said his teamg tries to intercept things before they are seen by users. He said at the moment, 89 of what is misinformation gets pulled down and he would like to get that to 99 . It certainly a topic that will be discussed more as we move toward the election. Certainly, watching jim jordan, one of the senior people on the subcommittee talking about the suppression of conservative voices, it is certainly an issue they want to revisit. Mark zuckerberg was asked about why some of the posts made by donald trump and donald trump, jr. Talking about covid in the last 2448 hours were taken down. He said i cannot answer that. That happened on twitter. Wasnt itherwise, mainly about competitiveness . It is. They are talking about whether these companies have built up a monopoly. Mark zuckerberg made a good point. He said if this had been 10 years ago, there would have been other companies here. Do you remember myspace and friend star . No one does because facebook swarmed them. But the chairman of the subcommittee identified a real problem at the start of the hearing. They have too much power. It staves off competition, creativity, and innovation. While there are still new, innovative products, their dominance is killing small business, manufacturing, and the dynamism that is the engine of the american economy. Where does this all go . The committee has already said they want more hearings in september. That means both democrats and republicans think there is an issue here. Donald trump tweeted that if congress didnt do something, he would start issuing executive orders. If the Tech Companies dont start taking action, the legislators will. Lauren thank you very much indeed. The United States has announced plans to pull nearly a third of American Military personnel out of germany. Decided on the move back in june over a dispute on defense spending. Our White House Correspondent explains. , theking good on a threat withdrawal of the almost 12,000 soldiers from germany. It is a move the defense secretary in says insists will improve the partnership between north america and european allies. We are excited about where we are going and what this will mean about our ability to strengthen the alliance. The cut will reduce forces in germany by about a third. About 25,000 will remain. Some soldiers will be repositioned in nato countries including belgium and italy. The rest will return to the United States. The u. S. European command will also move to belgium. Speaking to reporters on wednesday outside the white offered asident trump different explanation for the move. He said it was to punish germany for not contributing 2 of its as required for members of the nato. Mr. Trump germany is delinquent. They are at 1 . They should be at 2 . And everybody should be at 4 . While germanys military up, it is still smaller than other nato allies. Republicans and democrats in the u. S. Congress have long held that germany should be paying more for shared defense. But most oppose removing u. S. Troops from germany, fearing it stabilityn regional and natos capacity to push back against russia. The plan to withdraw u. S. Troops from germany is expected to cost billions and could take years to execute. And it could be reversed if President Trump does not win reelection in november. Can really how can, al jazeera, the white house. Pin, al jazeera, the white house. France has urged the country not to drop its guard against coronavirus. Than 221w has more thousand covid19 cases. Of coronavirus patients put on a ventilator in germany died from the disease. A study of 10,000 patients also revealed that those who had to be put on a hospital for twice as long as those who didnt. The lead researcher said older and sicker people were mainly affected but warned younger people also had serious complications. While men were twice as likely to need a ventilator, the mortality rate between genders was similar. Every city and province in the country is at risk of a coronavirus outbreak. Thailand are also raising the alarm as case numbers grow across asia. Or has more from bangkok. Has been viewed as a Success Story during the covid19 pandemic. Through centralized quarantine and strict contact tracing, the country of 95 Million People had no deaths from the disease. Sealed, theders government encouraged travel, but things took a turn for the worse when a central city was hit by an outbreak, the first local transmission in months. The city was locked down and domestic tourists were sent home. Linked toare cases the two largest cities, hanoi and ho chi minh city, and even in the central highlands. The Prime Minister has called on all regions to be on alert. Should raiseces their alert level. The chairman and general secretary of each province should take action. As should the entire political system. One case in the capital, hanoi, was a worker at a pizza restaurant who had returned from a trip to penang. Some question the ability to control the next wave of covid19. Our ministry of health has gained much more experience controlling the virus after the first wave. This time, it will pass sooner because we have more experience. The city leader in hong kong is warning of a potential largescale outbreak after local transmissions surged. The first strict measures since the outbreak began were enacted on wednesday. No gatherings and no dining in restaurants. Thailand had been viewed as a Success Story with no locally transmitted cases in 60 days. Officials are no doubt looking nervously at their neighbors after recent spikes in covid19. That is because the government has allowed Domestic Travel and tourism to help the ailing economy. Lauren still to come, 14 Million People at risk of hunger. A dire warning as latin america reels from the coronavirus. Number of activists who were killeled last year. R. I am pleased to say the weather is quieting down nicely now in australia. Charge. Ssure in it is looking sunny and settled for the most part. Around newieter south wales. Sydney, 18 degrees celsius. 14 in melbourne. Nothing too much to speak of. Across the western side of the country, windy weather. This is nudging slowly toward new zealand. We will see wetter weather eventually pushing and as we go through the next couple of days. Wet, windy weather, a little on the cloudy side. Recentlyeen flooding in northern parts of japan. We still have a few showers in the forecast here as we go through the next couple of days. Some outbreaks of rains lodging across south korea into central parts of china. It nudges a little further northward up toward the yellow sea as we go through friday. A few showers in beijing. , wewet weather heading toward hong kong. Lauren a reminder of our top stories. The coronavirus death toll has surpassed 150,000 in the United States. That is the highest number of fatalities in any nation, and accounts for nearly a quarter of the global toll. The leaders of the largest Tech Companies in the u. S. Are being questioned by politicians at a hearing in washington. They are accused of antitrust practices, including buying out competitors. Has revealed more of its plans to withdraw one third of its troops stationed in germany. Nearly half of the 12,000 personnel will be moved to other locations in europe. A World Food Program is warning that the pandemic means millions of people in latin america could go hungry this year, and the problem is getting worse. It is estimated that up to 14 Million People in the region are threatened with Food Insecurity. The outbreak adds to economic, migration, and climate pressures on food supply. Residents are informal workers who make up a large part of the latin american workforce. Pandemic has just been devastating in latin america. We were already dealing with economic deterioration in many different issues, but covid in this region alone, we have seen a substantial increase, 11 Million People marching toward the brink of starvation. Its devastating. Its why we must act and we must act now. We must bring some hope to people. Many people will starve in addition to covid itself. We go to ourore, correspondent in mexico city. A strong warning on hunger in latin america. Thats right, the message, or the warning, rather, that we are hearing from officials is very clear. Regional governments need to do more. They need to step up and do more to address worsening poverty in the region, or else millions of people are going to face Food Insecurity. We heard from the World Food Program director a second ago talking about this crisis in latin america. It is the number one crisis in latin america, but the u. N. Is pointing out that millions of people in the Informal Sector face Food Insecurity of these governments are not doing more to address that. What they are pointing to is a domino effect or Chain Reaction caused by coronavirus pandemic. This Health Crisis has led to an can, to an economic crisis and deepening inequality in the region. All of these things are making Food Insecurity worse and hunger is a main ingredient for political instability. The u. N. Is pointing to a number of regions in latin america, certain countries that are hotspots for these types of concerns. We can point to central america, a region that has been facing a years long drought. That is not helping Food Insecurity. Honduras, guatemala, panama are showing large rates of contagion. In haiti and the dominican republic, there are outbreaks. The could just quickly read latest numbers on brazil. The country has two point 4 million confirmed cases. The death toll is now 88,530 nine. Brazil has implemented a Welfare Program that addresses the most vulnerable, informal workers. Risk are the folks most at of poverty and Food Insecurity. Lauren the annual muslim pilgrimage to mecca is unlike any seen before this year. Usually, millions of people travel to saudi arabia, but coronavirus means worshipers from abroad have been banned. They come from all over the world. Muslim pilgrims fulfilling a lifelong dream. Ofy come in waves and images the city of mecca have become synonymous with the holy city. This year, it is completely different. Travelare not able to because of coronavirus. The city is under lockdown. Only 1000 people will be allowed , all ofrm hodge haj them residents of saudi arabia. This is a huge source of revenue for the saudi government. Figure in thethe billions of dollars. Losing out on that as well as all the money from a smaller pilgrimage is a big setback. There are two factors. Saudi arabia is the host. And its the most important religious ritual. 2020 has already been a tough year after a trade war with russia. Worse, things even pressure has increased on saudi taxes andincrease reduce salaries. While many applaud the authorities for their decision to prohibit travel to mecca, there are those who are critical. There be a Fair Distribution to all nationalities living in the kingdom . Are failinghorities to provide any information. This year,n the criticism is of the failure to deal with stall small crowds. U. S. Federal agents will be withdrawn from the city of portland following weeks of clashes with protesters. Government has agreed to remove them in phases. Were focused on police brutality. Quickly shifted to excessive force. Sanctionsas imposed on syrian leadership. s son is named in the measures. He will be banned from traveling to the u. S. Or Holding Assets in the country. It is the second part of new restrictions imposed under the caesar act. The u. S. Also warned it could blacklist anyone doing business with president assad until he supports a negotiated end to the countrys nine year war. Needless,ime for his brutal war to end. This above all is what our sanctions campaign is meant to bring about, a political solution under resolution 2250 four. It is the only credible path. Guardns revolutionary ballistic fire missiles for the first time. Other projectiles track a mock u. S. Aircraft carrier. The two countries have been in a state of heightened tension after the u. S. Killing of a in january. An 2019 was the deadliest year on record for environmental activists. Hundreds were killed for defending the environment and in some cases they are incensed ir ancestral land. In columbia. Ere dozens more were in the amazon. In the philippines, the majority of murders were linked to agriculture. That is an increase of more than 40 compared to the year before. The report outlines that the escalation may be linked to activists becoming more active. Temperatures in southern iraq are soaring. It was a record 54 degrees celsius last week. Many people are getting only a few hours of electricity a day. The companys power grid buckles under the demand. Suppliers private rise along with the temperature. We report from baghdad. Sun,der the scorching workers go from house to house to collect their dues. Government electricity is heavily subsidized. His monthly bill is 16. But like most iraqis, People Living in this neighborhood only get a few hours of elect per city during the day of electricity during the day in the summer. And their anger at the government is boiling over. Look at me. I am sweating. You are talking to me and i am full of sweat. From 2003 until now, god brought this on us as a punishment. Its a state of thieves. When the government cuts electricity, the family relies on the neighborhoods private generator company. Family four times as much as they pay the government and the power is not enough to run the air conditioner. Everyone gathers in the living room, where only an old air or and a fan offer respite from the heat. Cooler and a fan offer respite from the h