public is plunged into for the cheap. and intricate tanev of people and a nation crippled by recent history. africa but one of a two part series at this time on al-jazeera. al-jazeera is award winning programs to take you on a journey around the globe and. expert analysis. it's all about who's in charge who controls the resources and documentaries that will go in your eyes it's a technology story it's a business story it's a social story and it's a political story all wrapped into one it's unpredictable television that truly inspired us only on al-jazeera. it is time to officially recognize jerusalem as the capital

of israel. u.s. president donald trump declares jerusalem the capital of israel ignoring widespread global criticism and longstanding international agreements. and. this is a reward to israel and further encourages the occupation of the state of palestine also the palestinian president condemns the u.s. decision saying it undermines peace efforts. and watching also the whole robin in doha coming up in the next thirty minutes also wildfires raging california forcing thousands from their homes in the state's worst ever fire season. plus germany offers cash to asylum seekers if they leave by february attempting to get them to drop their hopes of sanctuary in europe.

welcome to the program the u.s. can no longer play a role as a mediator in the israeli palestinian conflict that's the message of palestinian leaders after donald trump ignored global opposition to formally recognize jerusalem as israel's capital a general strike has been called in the occupied palestinian territories in protest against trump's declaration leaders there have called for three days of rage how he feels it begins our coverage for the occupied east jerusalem. this announcement had been trailed for days now it was up to donald trump to make the case that a wildly controversial move opposed by the palestinians arab states and most of the international community who could advance the peace process it would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result therefore i have determined that it is time to officially recognize jerusalem as the capital

of israel trump said he was directing the state department to begin preparations to move the u.s. embassy to jerusalem from tel aviv talk of architects and engineers confirming earlier suggestions that this would be a matter of years not days we are not taking a position of any final status issues including the specific boundaries of the israeli sovereignty in jerusalem or the resolution of contested borders before from made this speech white house officials were trying to frame it saying that it didn't define the final status of terrorists well that could still be negotiated between israelis and palestinians in a two state solution if that is what both parties still want it over for the palestinians this is the united states definitively taking sides in this conflict in a prerecorded message the palestinian president said trump was merely encouraging continued

occupation. in washington got these denounce and rejected measures create deliberate constraints to all of the efforts towards realizing peace and reflect the united states withdrawal from practicing its role as a peace mediator. israel to have repaired its messaging on the day that prime minister benjamin netanyahu called is story called milestone the president's decision is an important step towards peace for there is no picks that doesn't include jerusalem as the capital of the state of israel palestinians living in occupied east jerusalem would have heard little in president trump speech recognizing their own historical connection to the city which they too view as their capital jerusalem is christian churches and of conflict violence and irreparable harm. donald trump made reference to a perceived lack of courage on the part of his predecessors who'd failed to make this decision now he will have to wait along with the region to see what consequences it brings are

a force that al-jazeera occupied east jerusalem well there have been overnight protests throughout the middle east demonstrations took place in jordan lebanon and in garza the palestinian group hamas which controls the gaza strip has called trance decision an act of aggression its call for more protests in the coming days and has arabs and muslims to shun israel and the u.s. let's get more on this from gaza bernard smith is there for a sitting garza city and of course you know we can talk about the mood on the streets we talked about it before the announcement bernard what's it like there as the beginning of three days of range starts. so there was a call for a general strike across the palestinian territories here in the gaza and in the occupied west bank it hasn't been universally respected the worst shops opening this morning as we drove to this location but the roads are a bit quiet a government ministries are closed today schools are closed

a school behind me i would normally be busy at this time the day kids would have started their lessons by now they've been closed for today and there are calls for protests later on today which we expect in parts of gaza look the mood is as it was yesterday even before dawn trumps announcements it's one yes of anger of resignation of own almost and also of sadness because after essentially twenty five years of sort of all peace negotiations between the israelis and the palestinians with the americans as the mediator between those two parties it hasn't clearly hasn't got the palestinians anywhere so there's enormous frustration that there will be other press conferences today with other political factions here in gaza hamas is holding is having a spear its political leaders giving a speech later on islamic jihad is also speaking later on all of these organizations all of these political factions expressing their support for the

palestinian authority and the stance of mahmoud abbas the palestinian president they want to be unified against this declaration by the new to the united states that jerusalem is the capital of israel so while mahmoud abbas is under pressure his policy over the past years at the moment there is support or there is solidarity amongst the palestinians to attack this call to make jerusalem the capital of israel so well leave it there for now but of course follow events with you as the day progresses thank you. now the u.n. secretary general says there is no alternative to a two state solution with jerusalem as the capital of both israel and palestine mike hanna with the international reactions now from the united nations. parthenon after president trumpet spoke in the u.n. secretary general restated what are the u.n. position on jerusalem for decades i have consistently spoken out against any

unilateral measures that would jeopardize the prospect of peace for israelis and palestinians. jerusalem ease a final status issue. that must be resolved through direct negotiations between the two parties on the basis of the relevant security council and general assembly resolutions taking into account the legitimate concerns of both the palestinian and israeli sites a number of other leaders have backed the un position among them pope francis released a statement calling on all to respect to roast lamb status quo based as he put it on the pertinent united nations resolution criticism of president trump's decision coming to from the president of france sitting this is. this is a regrettable decision that france does not approve of and which goes against international law and all the u.n.

security council resolutions and the british prime minister theresa may said the following we disagree with the u.s. decision to move its embassy to jerusalem and recognize jerusalem as the israeli capital before a final status agreement we believe it is unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region the british embassy to israel is based in tel aviv and we have no plans to move it back at the un even before president trump made his announcement the bolivian ambassador said he would call an emergency meeting of the security council. reckless and dangerous decision to go against international law the resolutions of the security council. weakens force for peace in the region and also upset the whole. region and later in the day bolivia was joined by a number of other countries calling for an emergency security council meeting including egypt france and the u.k.

however waiting in the chamber will be the u.s. veto mike hanna al-jazeera united nations. palestinians and israelis in jerusalem have been speaking out about tribes decision. i think the whole of the. not. only. my feeling so. so. jerusalem was always a capital of israel and israel didn't need foreign recognition for it to be the capital however i think it's a country as powerful as the united states and as close to israel as united states taking that step and recognizing the capital and here are some reactions of people

in new york express their concerns about unilateral decision. i guess it's just a little troubling that he would choose to do something that the rest of the world has chosen not to do. it seems all divisive and i don't understand what purpose it would serve other than to make other people angry really terrified by writing you know i'd like to understand better what his not that it matters what his motivation is behind it. i'm really scared of what's going to happen really just my biggest you know that something terrible is going to happen i think it's a ridiculous i think that it negates all the efforts to achieve middle east peace that have been worked on for the past forty years it's just it's a stupid stupid idea we'll find out very soon i know a lot of people in new york are against it but everybody seems to march against him i don't understand it no matter what he does. well palestinian refugees are also

speaking out against trying millions were driven from their homes when israel was created and during subsequent walls many of the more than seven million refugees worldwide have lived in lebanon for decades now their hopes of returning home to a palestinian state in bling as a whole the ripples. born in exile but raised not to forget their identity these are the children of the refugees of the one nine hundred forty eight more palestinians who were forced to leave their homes in what is now israel. lebanon is where they live but they want their homeland back we want a country these children chant. it was him is ours five year old shah says promising that no one will be able to take it away from them. apple hussein was younger than shut down when his family fled palestine he was too young to remember his country but for him palestine remains home he has a message for u.s.

president donald trump. stood in a jerusalem to israel and he crossed the red line he should donate one of his country's states to israel. and palestine is jerusalem. there is anger there is defiance jurors in the status is extremely sensitive in the israeli palestinian conflict. never give up jerusalem but there is a reality many of the refugees here say that they have given up hope just like jerusalem the right to return has been at the heart of the palestinian struggle it's been seven decades and no one here has returned home. thirty four year old mohammad jamal was born in lebanon he has a nursing degree but he can't find a job palestinian refugees in lebanon are banned from working in many professions and have little rights in a country that has tried to prevent settlement. jerusalem status of returning to

palestine are lost causes. the raunch return is forgotten cause is not our intention to forget about it but the arab rulers betrayed palestine for us the priority is to live stateless these refugees live in desperate conditions very few were under the illusion that peace with israel was ever a possibility and for them the u.s. decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital only reinforces their belief that washington was never an honest broker in the conflict. or not that. this is a new aggression against the palestinians it is a dangerous new phase they want to destroy the palestinian cause to get rid of the right to return prevent a palestinian state. many palestinians feel that now more than ever the dream of their own state is fading away. beirut. still had here on al-jazeera voters a new poll how to use the ballot box to force change after devastating earthquake

two and a half years ago. hell i was about to get stormy in northern europe specifically the british isles and scandinavia doesn't look much yet apart from that hope developing but that is a developing storm system and because one itself not so much it's drawing in much warmer head of it they already know it's feeling pretty mild in the northwest of europe particularly going to london's forecasts fourteen degrees in the rain but that's a forcings change dramatically so that looks like warm wet and windy whereas the rest of europe is fairly cold there's a big change coming because following through that northerly wind brings it down to six degrees snow as far south as the output at low ground even in northern france and maybe in belgium so a big change in the weather for the northwest of europe after the storm it gets

cold whereas it doesn't change very much elsewhere still five in vienna not in book think the increase in the breeze will mean morning fog will be a thing of the past at least temporarily another none of this is going to affect the central med in the immediate future we've had this on shore not very warm breeze from tunis here across to egypt really for the last couple days and it's there for the next couple of temperatures typically fifteen to seventeen degrees in the breeze that's become weaker by the time we get to friday and all this time it's been rather nice for anyway in iraq or.

your child has a right to our top stories the u.s. president take north global outcries into class jerusalem as israel's capital trump is also meeting the american embassy there while israel has held transposition palestinian leaders react by rejecting america's future role in the israeli palestinian peace process. the palestinian factions are calling for a general strike and three days of rage against decision amounts which dominates

the gas and strip that's called proposition an act of aggression. our other top story the french president is in qatar to finalize a major transport and military contracts already met french soldiers stationed at date which is the largest u.s. base in the middle east and he settled to meet the emir of qatar before speaking to reporters. south asian in the paul polls very open ended the second phase of parliamentary and regional elections that considered to be the final step in the transition to a federal democracy though to say they want a new leaders to focus on rebuilding with millions of survivors of the earthquake disaster two and a half years ago still living in temporary housing perhaps more from kathmandu. calls it than at seven a.m. local time and voting has been going on in fifteen thousand polling so centers across the country that mean long queues and people are quite excited about this

election we talked to some people who are saying that it is a very important election because they are right. for such a long time for this country to be a federal republic now there is a level of cynicism as well especially with the young people that we've talked to largely because they're concerned that the same old faces will be elected again there is a three percent threshold for new political parties and one person at least one person from this from new political parties have to be elected in the first past the post sister while people are hopeful that this will happen there is also a bit of concern that it might not happen these polls happen in two different phases the first one happened in the mountains where climate was challenging geography was challenging and this and this station around twelve million people are voting this election has been complicated because it had to take place in

a relatively short time and it also is an election of both the national parliament as well as state parliament we talked to one of the election commissioner yesterday who said that because of the time constraint and and budgetary policies and all they could not move to electronic ballots which means around fifteen million people would have cast their votes in on paper ballots for both state and national elections so foad counting is going to take a significant amount of time and according to the election commission it will take around a week before we know who will get the mandate to form the next government now the u.s. president has called on saudi arabia to immediately end its blockade of yemen in a statement donald trump said i have directed officials about ministration to call the leadership of the kingdom of saudi arabia to request they completely allow fuel water and medicine to reach the yemeni people who desperately need it the u.s.

has backed the saudi led coalition it is finding its hutu rebels and you have been since twenty fifteen thousands of people have died in the wall that millions more are facing famine and starvation. now the son of yemen's ousted president ali abdullah salah who was killed on monday has been consoled by the crown prince of abu dhabi i have a bit inside the visited salah who's been under house arrest in the u.a.e. for the past three years since his father allied with the forces the u.a.e. is part of the saudi led coalition fighting for the overthrow of the who tease. was killed in the fighting after apparently switching sides and announcing talks with the saudi coalition. while the country has learned how to enrich uranium experts say it doesn't take much more to turn a civilian nuclear energy program into a military one well powers jumped into action when iraq began

a homegrown nuclear program but in a radian m.p. has told al-jazeera that the international panic about building nuclear weapons was based on beth has moved to iraq. many iranians here say they've paid a high price for their country's nuclear ambitions years of sanctions have led to international isolation and an economic toll that is difficult to quantify but the cost can be measured in at least four lives nuclear scientists killed in targeted attacks between two thousand and ten and two thousand and twelve the government blames regional rival israel which is never confirmed or denied the allegations iran has reviewed the dead scientists as heroes honoring them with burials in a centuries old shrine next to a descendant of the prophet muhammad. their widows and families are treated as national treasures and at this ceremony to remember men and women killed in the line of duty the head of the revolutionary guard himself thanks them for their

sacrifice. the first scientist was killed here outside his own home. most of the was a professor at a her own university and was on his way to teach a class as he left his home a motorcycle bomb parked outside was remotely detonated killing him instantly. that day he said good bye three times. must mean those the price iran is paid better than most. i started calling the suit my suit my suit he didn't respond i saw that part of his head was blown away i realized it was guns i put his head down and started screaming and crying and asking the neighbors for help. her home still bears the scars from the bomb blast that took her husband's life. she's done her best to preserve his memory. even kept his briefcase the same way it was on the day he died

more than seven years ago iran's supreme leader banned the production of nuclear weapons in the mid one nine hundred ninety s. the iranians say the issue was inflamed by the united states israel and other countries as an excuse to isolate them in the global marketplace. iranian m.p. now. a spokesman for the parliamentary commission on national security and foreign policy he says the idea of an islamist nuclear bomb made in iran is a myth in at. deliberately with this accusation was a lie that america put it in the mouth of the international community i'm telling you not before not now not in the future nuclear weapons have absolutely no place in iran's strategy first of all it's the fatwa of the supreme leader it's a religious edict we have to abide by it parliament government no one can defy it we are obliged by this fatwa. but whenever there's a new argument between iran and its rivals the government here likes to remind the

world they could be producing highly enriched uranium again in less than a week while more work would need to be done to build a bomb for iran's enemies it seems it's still too close for comfort. al-jazeera. russia's president vladimir putin has announced he is to seek reelection next year the sixty five year old has either been president all prime minister for seventeen years if he serves another six year term putin will have been a power or been in power longer than joseph stalin the veteran leader of the soviet union. will sing in europe britain's prime minister says she'll protect the constitutional integrity of the u.k. during breaks in negotiations which occur only deadlocked over the irish border trees of a says she's committed to ensuring there will be no return to a hard border between north and ireland which is part of the u.k. and the republic of ireland which will be the e.u. she told m.p.'s the issue could only be resolved once because frazier's with the

e.u. move on to the second phase including trade and the e.u. however is saying the opposite of that talks can only proceed was the irish border issue is finalised. well a rightwing billionaire who promised a tough stance on immigration is the new prime minister of the czech republic our great barber says he'll continue to refuse to meet an e.u. quota which call requires all the states to take an asylum seekers' his party was the strongest force of the elections in october with about thirty percent of the vote but his is facing fraud charges over his business dealings but is protected by political immunity. some asylum seekers in germany are being offered cash if they volunteer to return home before february the incentive applies to around one hundred thousand refugees and amounts to around twelve hundred dollars per person and. spoke to one refugee in the very very who refused the offer.

with a friend about to be deported a group of protesters tried to break into a holding room to say goodbye but it was too late for this man whose face we can't show it for security reasons he was told he'd be sent back to afghanistan after arriving for an appointment at the immigration office. protesters in volunteer workers helping refugees are outraged by the decision. i can't put it in words i'm devastated i still can't believe he will be sent back to an almost certain death. deportees boss even showed up to support him. when people are trying everything to find their way in a new country learning the language culture and trying to be integrated it's very sad that they don't get a chance. the night before we walked the streets together in the bavarian town of by reut he refused extra money on offer by the german government for anyone who

returns home voluntarily they offered me a thousand euros to go back i said account go back a been away twenty years from my country i didn't come here for money i came here because europe is safe he fears if he took more money home it would make him more of a target in the eyes of the taliban with no relatives or friends in afghanistan he will be alone there i'm not a criminal i'm not an islamist i'm not a terrorist for twenty six years i've been living in fear not knowing what's going to happen my life is just over. the german government won't comment on individual cases but stands by its deportation policy fair the situation remains unchanged people seen as a threat criminals and those who repeatedly refused to cooperate can also be deported to afghanistan i believe this is right and we will continue this practice but lawyers say the afghan refugee we've been talking to has no criminal record and cooperated with the authorities the number of afghans supported from germany has

almost doubled in recent years and the treatment of refugees is emerging as a key dividing line is the country struggles to form a government. two years ago germany opened its borders to an unprecedented number of refugees now during a shift in domestic politics the reality is that goodbyes like this appear to be more likely elec alan al-jazeera by reuters germany. the homes of the rich and famous in los angeles are the latest to be threatened by raging wildfires thousands of people have had to leave southern california in the worst wildfire season on record just as silly reports. dramatic images of a morning commute california's latest wildfires are threatening more neighborhoods including the community of belair for a time the flames forced the closure of several lanes of one of the most important highways in california interstate four five high winds in unusually dry conditions

drove the inferno we had very strong winds coming from the northeast to the southwest blowing that fire quickly and it is turned into a fire that is one hundred fifty acres zero percent containment at present from the air or water drops by helicopters to help hundreds of firefighters on the ground who've been mobilized and are battling to keep flames away from exclusive homes in the neighborhood some have been destroyed shrouded in the smoke every now and getty center art museum it closed its doors as a precaution officials are warning residents to remain on guard but we are anticipating a continuation of the red conditions throughout the week at least until friday about eighty kilometers away in ventura the largest of five wildfires continues to burn there are some twelve thousand homes remain under threat the weather forecast provides little comfort the winds are expected to pick up in the affected areas

kristen salumi al-jazeera. and watching all of his around the whole rob these are all top stories the u.s. president has defied widespread international opposition and has said he's recognizing jerusalem as israel's capital and also plans to move the american embassy that palestinian factions are calling for a general strike in three days of rage against trucks decision which dominates the gaza strip has called tribes decision an act of aggression it has arabs and muslims to shut israel and the us. also the french president is a cattle are to finalize a major transport and military contracts about all backgrounds already met french soldiers stationed daid which is the largest u.s. base in the middle east and he settled to meet the emir of qatar before speaking to reporters. at the bottom on. your mission here is important

because it will allow us in the next few months to successfully win the war against eisel in iraq and syria we're convinced that this victory is possible for you and that it is only possible and successful tomorrow through your commitment over the last few years french presence on this base and throughout the region is our contribution to the international coalition it's a decisive element in this fight that we shall win in the paul polls opened of the second phase of parliamentary and regional elections considered to be the final step of the transition to a federal democracy voters say they want their new leaders to focus on rebuilding with millions of survivors of the earthquake disaster two and a half years ago still living in temporary housing australia's parliament has voted to allow same sex marriage across the nation cheers and applause broke out as ministers voted in favor of the bill that paves the way for gay and lesbian couples to tie the knot as early as next month. more than twelve thousand homes are

under threat for wildfires in southern california two hundred thousand people have been told to leave their homes as the fire is now into the heart of los angeles the flames are being fanned by hot dry winds which are forecast to last all week and you can follow all of those stories on our web site at al-jazeera dot com next on. inside story with laura carle. news has never been more available but the message is simplistic and misinformation is rife listening post provides a critical counterpoint challenging mainstream media narrative at this time on al-jazeera does the gulf cooperation council have a few new questions are raised after most of the group's leaders snubbed this week's summit in kuwait instead of discussing a blockade against castro and i was a new separate military cooperation organization with saudi arabia will that shift the balance of power in the gold.