Head to Head

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Since the outbreak of COVID-19, tensions have mounted between China and the United States.

In this special edition of Head to Head, we ask if the West is heading towards a new Cold War with China.

In part one, we challenge retired US Brigadier General Robert Spalding, a former senior director for strategy on President Donald Trump's National Security Council, on why he believes the world should stand forcefully against China.

In part two, we challenge Kerry Brown, director of the Lau China Institute, King's College London, who argues that it would be disastrous to turn away from China now.

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In this episode, Mehdi Hasan goes Head to Head with two guests with opposing views.

In part one, he challenges Lanhee Chen, chief architect of former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign. Chen argues that "the employer-sponsored system ... has been the linchpin of a quality system of care we have in the US".

And in part two, Hasan debates Bernie Sanders surrogate and health policy expert Abdul El-Sayed. "I don't want to live in a society where any of my neighbours … have to potentially go bankrupt because they got sick ... and that's what we have here in the United States," he says.

*Editors Note: In the programme, Hasan refers to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, published May 13, which estimated that by May 2, 2020, some 27 million Americans could have lost their health insurance as a result of the economic impact of the coronavirus. After this segment was recorded, a new study, conducted by Families USA, estimated that 5.4 million Americans lost their health insurance. While the Kaiser study took into account family members of the insured, the Families USA study did not. Americans frequently receive their insurance through another family member's employer.

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With more than 146,000 deaths and counting, the United States has been the hardest hit country by COVID-19.

In this first episode of a special Head to Head series, we challenge prominent members of the Republican and Democratic parties on their handling of the crisis.

In part one, Mehdi Hasan challenges Jack Kingston, a surrogate for the Donald Trump campaign, and a former Republican congressman.

Our second guest, Jess O'Connell, is the former CEO of the Democratic National Committee who has worked on Hillary Clinton and Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaigns.

So, who is to blame for the US COVID-19 catastrophe?

*Editor's Note: These interviews were recorded on July 9 and 13, and since then, some of the data quoted has changed, including the number of cases and the death toll, which have sadly grown exponentially.

Thailand has begun lifting restrictions after a steady decline in the number of coronavirus infections.

But many people still need help putting food on the table and some businesses are expected to struggle.

The government will evaluate the situation every two weeks - either determining to further ease the restrictions - or if there is a spike in confirmed cases, they will reimpose some of the restrictions.

Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler reports from Bangkok.

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As Canada’s hospitals and medical personnel deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, calls are mounting to allow more internationally-trained doctors to practice and support front-line healthcare workers. But tight regulations are leaving many shut out of their chosen profession.

Al Jazeera's Daniel Lak reports.

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A factory in Afghanistan is making personal protective equipment (PPE) for the first time.

The plan is to make five million affordable masks that cost a fraction of the imported ones.

Not only will this provide affordable protective equipment to people, but it is also providing job opportunities to Afghans hit hard by the pandemic.

Al Jazeera's Sara Khairat reports.

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President Donald Trump says the United States is working very hard to come up with a vaccine for the coronavirus by the end of the year.

He also reiterated claims that China was responsible for the severity of the outbreak and said businesses in the US needed to get going once again, despite its increasing death toll of more than 67,000 from the coronavirus.

Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds reports.

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Some Asian countries have begun lifting restrictions after spending weeks in strict lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.

Malaysia has allowed the majority of businesses to open with health and sanitation precautions and social distancing a must.

Arisina Ma is a doctor and president of the Hong Kong Public Doctors' Association. She joins Al Jazeera on Skype from Hong Kong.

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Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro attacked Congress and the courts as he urged his right-wing supporters to rally against coronavirus curbs as he fights for his political survival,

The country has reported more than 100,000 infections nationwide from COVID-19 and in the Amazon state capital Manaus, hospitals are overwhelmed with more than 100 people dying from the disease per day.

Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti reports.

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