of which is i said and it is very prudent because the world countries have come together fighting i said. as a shared enemy as a common risk invited all the world countries to live above their differences and come together to fight isis and i if i understand your question correctly iran will not replace of any country but we are prepared yes go ahead. trying to say that how can you maintain a balance with your relations with iran despite the relations with g.c.c. countries now it is clear iraq will spare no effort to.

make its bilateral relations with other countries to the benefit of other countries as i said we have relations with all the neighboring countries turkey syria kuwait iran these relations must be invested at all levels and they can and they should also be channeled to the benefits of other friendly and brother list aides there is no hard we have been adopting this for years. and you can see me present here today you are listening to me and here we are emphasizing that all relations must be channeled to the benefit of all other world countries and this is our responsibility. similarly iran as a neighboring state must channel. their bilateral relations with us to the

benefit of all other countries the same applies to our bilateral relations with kuwait which. last year. i have been to kuwait and all man carrying with me. of the crises taking place in the gulf region i also delivered the speech in the league of arab states where i laid down or laid out their concerns. among the risks and as i said this is responsible it is by virtue of our offices and our places and i believe we are through these efforts will be culminated simply because we are genuine and we believe that we will be met with positive response as i said our stand has been shaken and unchanged from the beginning. channel all

our efforts and bilateral relations to the benefit of the regional ones and we can not falter in this respect and i believe iraq's strength stems from its adherents to the stability of all the arab. countries in the arab world which in and other words iraq should not take advantage of any bilateral relations and the expense of the other. well the gulf what does it mean it is a political representation of a geographical one. what is a gulf bloc and iraq is overlooking the gulf isnt it. so. that's why saddam hussein attacked and destroyed some of the gulf countries this is a different story iraq is

a gulf country. we are not poor countries we are not begging it is. true fact iraq is overlooking the gulf including iraq the gulf bloc should be a political representation of as geographical fact. and you are welcome in the bloc however it is feel that it is fred mantid now this. was respect to the question on the embassy decision has been made in the past that an embassy will be open and ambassador be appointed however due to these circumstances. recently. the issue was made by. difficulties however there are clear directives from his royal highness the emir to immediately the embassy and

appoint an ambassador and we hope as we spoke at the beginning of this press conference that the minister's visit to qatar will usher. in our bilateral relations. i have two questions the first of the qatari foreign minister the king of bahrain days ago threatened with and he'll package of sanctions again a squatter including imposing fees and. tighter meters how the government. the second question saudi arabia has requested for immediate with iran is this request is still valid and case of tension

how would you act in the light of the tension between saudi arabia and iran with regards to the statements made by the king of bahrain. these statements. have no and tact bahrain has nothing to do however they were part of the blockade again as the set of quarter we believe that this decision was not based. resulting from bahrain so for in authority that's why we will not supply. this boils down to the management of strategies it is not limited to the authority of the foreign minister or even the prime minister it is above any office in the government because it involves. long strategies

and i believe that iraq is adamant to see positive relations between soda arabia and iran and that's why iraq will spare no effort to have the. relations duly established to the best fashion this was cleared in syria we have existed concerted efforts with bashar. to have the crises in syria resolved simply based on our. philosophy of strategy management now we are also playing the same role trying to be good between countries in difference and i hope. we will succeed and at the end of the day this will be

to the benefit of iraq if not then well thank you so much one of the that was iraq's foreign minister there talked to him just sorry at a press conference with his qatari counterpart here in doha. mohammed bin abdul auckland. dr jeffrey said that the world is living in an era of repression and a rebuilding process in iraq requires cooperation with neighbors and brothers we're not in a fight with our kurdish brothers he said. we've been patient with turkey's mistakes and we've striven to have good relations with everyone we're against this is talking about the gulf crisis now we're against blockading any country hope the negotiations will prevail. had been a block and i thought any the country foreign minister for his part talking about the gulf crisis said that it's no longer with carter it is with into question what

the minister meant by by that. as far as iraq was concerned a rebuilding process requires cooperation with our neighbors not brothers were not in a fight he was cleaned keen to emphasize that iraq is not in a fight with our kurdish brothers. called them we've been patient with turkey's mistakes he said which is intriguing remark and we strive to have good relations with everyone as i said we'll be speaking to our correspondent imran khan who was at that press conference in the next few minutes here on al-jazeera in the meantime let's move on to the rest of the day's news. u.s. president donald trump is in beijing his message for china's president xi jinping get tough on north korea earlier trump gave

a speech in seoul where he called out china and russia by name to put pressure on pyongyang he also warned north korea not to underestimate the united states kathy novak reports now from seoul on trump's tour of asia so far. donald trump's day was supposed to start with a surprise visit to the d.m.z. the heavily fortified line separating north and south korea but bad weather prevented what would have been his opportunity to deliver a symbolic message to the north korean leader kim jong un so he used his speech at seoul's national assembly to address the man he called a tyrant and a cruel dictator the weapons you're acquiring are not making you safer they are putting your regime in grave danger north korea is not the paradise your grandfather invasion it is a hell that no person deserves though he refrained at this time from

referring to kim as little rocket men trying to paint a picture of north korea likely to infuriate those in its government he called it a country ruled by a cult centered around the range beliefs where people still die of hunger and are tortured in gulags and as the north korean government continues to pursue its nuclear ambitions trump has said this morning. this is a very different administration. then the united states has had in the past do not underestimate this and do not try. the as he vowed america would not be intimidated and listed the us military assets currently stationed around the korean peninsula protesters outside called for peace . manned up to us stop or threats on the korean peninsula.

valleys of arms. trump says south korea has agreed to buy more u.s. military equipment a move he says will help close the trade deficit between the two nations it's the first time in more than twenty years that a u.s. president has addressed the national assembly president monday and says he hopes donald trump state visit will mark a turning point in efforts to deescalate tensions with north korea trump says that begins with north korea stopping the development of its missile and nuclear program and in exchange we will offer a path to a much better future with a nod to south korean achievements from economic development to female golfers the speech was well received in the chamber likely very much less so across the border kathy novak al jazeera so let's go back to that press conference that we saw

a few minutes ago between foreign minister in doha and iraq's foreign minister who is visiting take you live now to the ministry of foreign affairs here. was watching that press conference what do you make of what you heard. well it was a much more positive much more friendly press conference that we've seen between iraq and in the past you have to realize that these are two countries that had real problems during the first gulf war in ninety one broke off diplomatic relations. and it's only in two thousand and fifteen that the new three embassy in baghdad was opened now that's really where a lot of this is coming from it was described as a meeting that was strategic in nature not technical there were big issues that they were being discussed chief among them was the reconstruction of iraq post i saw this was something that the cafe foreign minister was very keen to say that the companies would be very much involved in the rebuilding of also they touched upon

the g.c.c. crisis and iraq's potential role in any kind of mediation that might take place. very much talked about the fact that they were a brotherly nation is now because this was the very first press conference of his taught in a very long time between the cut the reason and the iraqis the iraqis actually took this as an opportunity to really explain their position on a number of issues including kurdistan including the g.c.c. relations they really did take this. press conference as opportunity to show that they were willing to work with the kurds which is something that we have heard from the iraqi foreign minister before abraham and also this was reiterated by the got three foreign minister as well so very much a strategic press conference focusing on the bigger wider issues place between the two countries and the region it's a couple of things that the rocks foreign minister said that i want to pick up on with you he said we're not in a fight with our kurdish brothers he also said that iraq has been patient with

turkey's mistakes what do you make of that. well clearly he's talking about the weather when it comes to the kurdish these talking really about the referendum about most of designing and everything that took place when the referendum was taking place for kurdish independence you know this idea that they're not frustrated with them that they want to build a new relations with them this referendum is something turkey is in right now that's an iraqi territory they have a military base. the iraqis have said that this is a violation of their sovereignty so that's likely what he's referring to when he's talking about that he's also talking about the way that turkey has behaved towards iraq in the past so there's a lot of like i said earlier this is a lot of what this press conference was about was a rock explaining its position to the cut there is on a number of issues including those that you just mentioned all right there are many things david brown on there reporting live from doha

a procession union in spain's catalonia region is observing a general strike today and these are live pictures of those demonstrations currently taking place in the past alone where they want the release of sacked local officials who were jailed after last month's secession referendum in madrid spanish prime minister mariano rajoy has spoken for the first time since enforcing direct rule over catalonia he said that he withdrew catalan autonomy. leader as push to mount declared independence from spain illegally his party pushed him out remains in brussels fighting spanish attempts to extradite him to face court there on tuesday he made his first public appearance since spain issued that arrest warrant john howard rubel. from his place of exile at the heart of europe catalonia used to post lead a kind of he's using every platform he can to issue an election call to arms

the word independence hardly appears. spain has carried out a coup d'etat against the legitimate government our colleagues who are now in prison have been subject to mao treatment by the spanish authorities and spain must now respond to international justice. the change of tone reflects how much and how fast things have changed for the independence movement probably in the bend and it's going to have a secondary role i mean this doesn't mean that people are going to forget what happened the last month but at the same time in the minds of the politicians are now. we are starting to think about this process as something that you need more time in other to to make the underpinnings of the neo con trip that new country now under the thumb of central government the independent republic i proclaim less than two weeks ago has been stamped out the most urgent task now

lifting direct rule by madrid restoring catalonia is autonomy before deciding what to do next much will depend on the far left party supporters of independents and previously kingmakers in parliament who may yet decide to boycott all disrupt december's election but here too the tone has changed. are people aware that this is very difficult right now. but people are also aware that the way our sovereignty is with the republic it does seem that those who support independence in catalonia are beginning to accept that their dream remains a distant one journal al-jazeera barcelona. on al-jazeera then the u.s. calls for fairness and transparency in saudi arabia carries out its so-called anticorruption drive.

hello the rain has swept through now it looks like a fine upcoming day for japan when sun finally breaks or you can see the cloud very obvious sitting over tokyo this is when the satellite last looked but let me take you forward to the forecast that rain is going offshore well to following showers and still fairly quiet weather in the peninsula korean peninsula and the sun is still quite warm honshu supporters backed out where should be eight degrees but we're in sunny territory here the real cold air still tucked back into the far north of china but hours max is minus seven but beijing plus fourteen don't expect a huge change for most places but that cold air does running towards front of us talk of this snow is inland because you see a lot of bluster except about ten degrees not much more in pyongyang but that's rain not snow as yet just an indication of what's to come now we've had

a quiet couple of days of not couple weeks in the good part of china looks like it's fine for thursday i'm fraid there is still showers on the vietnamese coast but let me take you to friday when other spell of rain is developing in the middle of china an unusual time of the year maybe but rain could fall out of the sky for this very reason still further science is still warm thought and sunny thirty one degrees and humid hong kong. discover the world of al-jazeera. the best films from across on the network of channel. but. fresh perspectives and new insights. to challenge and change the way we look. at this time on al-jazeera.

well again the top stories here on al-jazeera the u.s. president on the truck his meeting china's leader xi jinping in beijing trade talks tension with north korea both will be on the agenda he flew in from seoul where he said the u.s. led efforts to ramp up the pressure on pyongyang are making progress. approaches a session viewed in spain's catalonia region is observing a general strike these are live pictures of demonstrations come to take place in barcelona they want the release of the state of sacked local officials who were jailed after last month's secession referendum. the u.s.

state department has called for transparency in saudi arabia's anti corruption drive dozens of prominent saudi businessmen and princes were detained over the weekend as part of an investigation led by crown prince mohammed bin solomon but as was in jordan now reports critics say the detentions as a move to consolidate power in the kingdom. the saudi government has been very busy lately and it has foreign leaders and financial chiefs trying to figure out why on november fourth king solomon put his heir apparent in charge of a nationwide corruption crackdown crown prince mohammed bin saleh then ordered the arrests of numerous prominent saudis including relatives such as the billionaire investor prince waleed bin doll and they're now being held at the ritz carlton. president donald trump applauded the arrests on twitter saying the king and the crown prince quote know exactly what they're doing some of those they are harshly

treating have been milking their country for years even so the u.s. is calling on the kingdom to follow saudi law we encourage them and i just want to say this one more time to pursue any possible prosecution or corruption cases in a fair and transparent manner however the u.s. says riyadh did not tell it the arrests were coming it also says no one expected lebanese prime minister saad how to evade to resign on the same day there's speculation the saudis pressured to quit in order to send a message to the group hezbollah and to its supporter iran riyadh's regional rival the united states strongly supports the legitimate institutions in the lebanese state we expect all members of the international community to respectfully those institutions in the sovereignty and the political and independence of lebanon we do regard as as you all know has fallen to be a terrorist nation the arrests and the political changes in lebanon as been solid

increases his role in the government he backs the saudi led war against the who these in yemen and the ongoing blockade against got some wonder whether all this could ruin the crown prince's plans to diversify the oil based economy they also wonder if the trumpet ministration which like saudi arabia doesn't like iran might be too supportive of bin solids actions i was advising the president i would say maybe this is the time to use some of that influence he built up with your successful trips to the region your good friendships to try and put the brakes on and stop what the saudis are doing as it happens the president's son in law jarrett cushion a recently visited saudi arabia white house official suggested it was to discuss peace efforts between the israelis and the palestinians it would be interesting to know if the saudis own foreign policy came up during those same discussions. well in jordan al jazeera washington the un's international labor organization has decided not to follow up on complaints about the treatment of migrant workers in

qatar last week consonance plans to introduce a minimum wage and to allow the monitoring of labor practices by trained inspectors it's expected that council will sign a bilateral agreement with the u.n. protecting labor's making it the first gulf country to do so i'll just shall reports from geneva. international labor organization has just decided that the complaints that were filed against qatar a few years ago by several workers' representatives they would not pursue those complaints following what they described as a positive response from the qatari government in terms of addressing the concerns that many rights groups and workers groups had with regards to migrant workers' rights in qatar it is significant in the sense that the spotlight has been on the heart for several years now particularly in the build up to the twenty twenty two world cup the delegates here of the part that had responded positively as i

mentioned there with regards to free movement of migrant workers those who are now able to leave the country as and when they wish and enter it as and when they wish rather than before the conditions that were placed on them under the previous system but more significantly is that qatar is now introducing a minimum wage for foreign workers that is something definitely unique to the g.c.c. to the gulf region which cited as. enduring very poor conditions and many of the rights not being respected as far as part is concerned it seems that it is now leading the way in terms of ensuring that those rights are protected on top of this qatar together with the ilo the international labor organization have agreed to a technical cooperation agreement which will go on for the next forthcoming three years under this agreement the ilo will have full access to workers sites through ensure that their inspectors see that qatar is living up to the promises it has

made it will also give a mechanism for groups who may have concerns with regards to migrant workers' rights that they can now then use this mechanism to ensure that those concerns are heard and indeed responded to. a course in zimbabwe's two to rule whether to grant bail to an american woman accused. insulting president robert mugabe on twitter. faces up to twenty years in prison if convicted of referring to mugabe as a sick man she's denied the allegations as baseless and malicious that been elections in several u.s. states with two new governors elected along with several big city mayors and a list say the results are a test of president donald trump's popularity and may determine whether the republicans will hold on to their senate and house majorities in next year's midterms mike hanna reports from virginia. the new governor of the junior is democrat northam it's a major victory in

a state where republicans hold of two to one majority in the legislature a blow to republican candidate. who received strong support from president trump and a warning to republicans that the democrat threat could intensify in the crucial midterm elections next year. the republican campaign has been run at a grassroots level taking a leaf out of the trump playbook that led to his victory a year ago. that election indicated an antipathy among voters to traditional political leaders and in this campaign organizers maintained it was necessary to campaign on issues not individuals who are really surprisingly i just campaigning for it like the republicans were democrats and were just saying please go on like what you believe in the single issue and i think people are really encouraged by

that because they're seeing we execute the issues and not just the first. democrats too focused on energizing the voter base working on a bottom up rather than top down principle in gathering support. we have. more. some more. there's no doubt that this democratic challenge is very different from those in the past in the virginia state elections two years ago more than forty republican candidates were unopposed this year democrats are contesting all but twelve of the seats this is a massive increase in political participation republicans maintain control of the state legislature but democrats made inroads into their majority people are talking about this is a wave of law that i mean this is a tsunami was an indication perhaps of lessons have been learned from the massive

defeat suffered a year ago and a sign that the public support from the sitting president could prove to be a political curse my kind of al-jazeera but. it is good to have you with us adrian finnegan here in doha the headlines this hour on al-jazeera u.s. president donald trump is meeting with china's leadership in playing in beijing trade talks and tension with north korea will be on the agenda he flew in from seoul where he said u.s. led efforts to ramp up the pressure on pyongyang are making progress he also had this warning for north korea today i hope i speak not only for our countries but for all civilized nations when i say to the north do not underestimate us and do not try this we will not allow american cities

to be threat with destruction we will not be intimidated. union in spain's catalonia region is observing a general strike today these are live pictures of demonstrations that are currently taking place and pass a loaner they want the release of sacked local officials who were jailed after last month's secession referendum in madrid spanish prime minister mariano rajoy has spoken for the first time since and forcing direct rule over catalonia he said that he withdrew cattle on autonomy after the exiled leader carlos pushed him out declared independence from spain illegally. the un's international labor organization has decided not to follow up on complaints about the treatment of migrant workers in qatar last week plans to introduce a minimum wage and to allow the monitoring of labor practices by trained inspectors it's expected that qatar will sign a bilateral agreement with the un protecting laborers making it the first gulf

country to do so according to bob way is due to rule on whether to grant bail to an american woman who's accused of insulting president robert mugabe on twitter mothra donovan faces up to twenty years in prison if convicted of referring to a gabi as a sick man she's denied the allegations against her as baseless and malicious the u.s. state department has called for transparency in saudi arabia's anticorruption drive dozens of prominent saudi businessmen and princes were detained over the weekend as part of an investigation led by crown prince mohammed bin sultan more news for you here on al-jazeera right after inside story next.

some say he's in a rush to take power from his father others argue mohamad been saw man is on a path to reform saudi arabia but what risks is the crown prince running and kenny meek the many challenges he faces both at home and in the region this is inside story.