four to four the dry river beds like this one five years on the syrians still feel battered or even those who managed to escape their country have been truly unable to escape the you're. going as i want to finally we're going ask about that but that's the ball is a ball not i see well it's not as i thought the set says they're not the same wonder or the double of a cousin to bunches a push up the bottom in the first episode of a two part series al-jazeera investigates the world of performance enhancing drugs . sports during the endless chase at this time.

the tax cuts and jobs act is passed. the u.s. congress passes the most sweeping tax overhaul bill in more than. his first victory. and i'm more of a live from doha also coming up divided. on thursday in the election many hope will resolve. the crisis. without electricity u.s. officials promise to speed up recovery efforts from the heart. and remark in captivity for al jazeera journalists who say.

one point five trillion dollars tax reform bill the tax cuts and jobs act is passed this brings the president one step closer to his first significant victory the bill is the first major rewrite of the tax code in more than thirty years it will now be sent back to the house of representatives for a final vote later on wednesday. after eight straight years of slow growth and under-performance america is ready to take off coupled with a regulatory reforms that have already been implemented by the administration we know comprehensive tax reform major middle class tax relief and making our businesses both large and small more competitive around the world. donald trump has tweeted about the bill saying the united states senate just passed the biggest in history tax cut and reform bill terrible individual mandate obamacare repealed the

house were mourning for the final vote if approved there will be a news conference at the white house at approximately one pm that's eighteen g.m.t. gibbers and has more for us from new york. this tax overhaul bill was extremely contentious and you could see that when the senate was finally voting just a little bit before one am there were protests that broke out in the senate gallery protesters saying kill the bill kill the bill in fact vice president mike pence who is presiding over the session had to call a call the gallery into order several times to have the protesters removed but nevertheless the bill will move forward it did pass by fifty one to forty eight a long strong partisan lines and this is a huge victory for president donald trump and also for the republicans it's the first legislative victory from donald trump since becoming president and also for

the republicans they say that this will spurn economic growth in the u.s. for years to come however there were protesters and there are a lot of people in the country that are very much against this bill in fact the latest polls show that fifty five percent of americans were against it primarily because they say it is going to mostly cut taxes on corporate america and benefit the top one percent of earners in america at the expense of the middle class and the working poor because the tax cuts for the middle class and working poor are just temporary and they're eventually going to go away that's not the case for the corporate tax cuts also this bill will add more than one point four trillion dollars to the national debt what's next on wednesday the house of representatives will do one final vote on this bill they actually voted on it tuesday night however because of a provisional mistake they have to reboot on wednesday but it's expected that once

again the house of representatives will also approve this at which point it will then go to donald trump and he will then sign it. campaigning for catalonia that parliamentary election has closed first vote was called by spain after catalonia declared independence in october elections expected to indicate the extent of public support for succession from spain a hung parliament is likely leaving the political crisis result. whole joins us now live from. a choir there what's the mood well today laura is a quiet day it's billed as the day of reflection that essentially is to give time for voters to consider their options but i'm here today with sonia she's a political science professor at barcelona university sagna is this election is it going to draw

a line under catalonians political turmoil or is it going to be fuel to the fire unfortunately i think it's going to move fuel to the fire just one step more in this long political process. it seems that the election was organized from madrid as a solution for the conflict but the way it has been carried out with so many things that are normal under normal ety such a very complex center you know with options being various symmetrical it seems that it's not going to solve the background problem which is in the balance or not now if separatists parties manage to get a majority in the new parliament that's a big if but if they do manage that what are we going to see if we're going to see more arrests of separatist leaders or is the madrid government going to allow them to take their seats and press ahead with their project so i think that is the big thing of this election in particular because as it was designed and decided from madrid it's the ball is now in madrid's roof so the prime the pendants weans or the

bunch auriti madrid is going to have a serious problem first because this is a very personal but from the president and he's ministers and his legitimacy is going to be probably put on the question but second because if the prime depends have a majority in the parliament you're going to just be going back to the first. point of the whole conflict and they are going to have to accept that maybe the spine is the more because it is not full democracy if not every single political idea can be put into question in a parliament thanks very much sonia now we're hearing there of course it could seem that this election resolves very little in terms of spain's political crisis a regional crisis that became a national crisis in fact spain is in its worst crisis since the end of a dictatorship more than forty years ago laura. thanks very much indeed for joining us there from barcelona. now man one has brought an independent un investigator from entering the country un special special repertory man while young he had been

due to visit and january to assess human rights including abuses against was and were hanged in iraq and state in the six hundred fifty thousand refugees have fled to neighboring bangladesh since august to escape a military crackdown where healy is especially u.n. special repertory memo she joins us now via skype from seoul very good to have you with us i'm sorry to hear the news that you've been blocked from in march you know why i sure don't know why you know i was very disappointed and i was there or hope that why the long distance of just a late in the process i was due to lose it found that the genuine doesn't give me more much time what was on your agenda for man mom. well my mandate tells me to be human rights situation is you know which means i do the whole human rights issues your

entire nehemiah and this time as usual i would i wouldn't miss it. i would have the. children because there is increased fighting in the kitchen. i would rather the young one and i was no please no no no other human rights issues the mantic issues as i have always done. i am in most highly sensitive isn't it international criticism of its treatment of the range up to take kony and the mass exodus of those people to bangladesh won't do you believe is happening. well. if you see that two were going that month to month period if you have more than six and three thousand he thought of leaving. harry with such sharing

stories it's really hard to say that agree with the government that all of this is. fake news we have to remember that back in october of two thousand and sixteen there was a similar crackdown in response to. militant insurgency that killed the security officers and the pows neither of my kind to be action was in disproportionately high and during that time about seventy thousand people had fled i have been into northern rakhine after that incident that situation i have been to cuts is bizarre talking to people who had led that october incident and it was different than what had happened to the poor but the commonality of been city from the fire

cutting children's throats cutting people's throats mass rape of young women and disappearance of and of course imprisonment of men who are holding men in detention but it's all the similar kind of modus operandi happened during this this year is october crackdown. and it's such mass stale and as you can see from the satellite images the whole. of a big chunk of northern work has been completely torched down. i mean the reports of these abuses what you just listed that is so atrocious how can the international community pressure man to stop this because it seems all of this international community condemnation is only forcing it to retreat into its

previous isolationist stunts. there's a lot of big words that have been sent in my to there's that sense agenda a lot of strong very strong condemnation but it doesn't seem like the military government is taking heed to any of this i think there was disappointing to. the international community could not want to come up with a stronger resolution while the security council. it was a presidential statement but that having said that that was an improvement we've come so far from that we have never i think where the first person and the last president would have never drowned me in my i would choose to go down this path it was opening up it was the road to democracy the transition the

aspiration of the people you know all of this point to to a success story for me but i'm really deeply. disappointed and then already saddened by the this decision. to deny cooperation with my mandate over there you know the human rights mechanisms and most of all to silence people who speak out about these kind of we're trusted to. be continuing to pursue your efforts with man ma trying to get into the country getting me for the moment thank you very much indeed for taking time to join us here on al-jazeera. thank you very much. there's now one years since al jazeera journalist was hussein was detained and imprisoned in egypt he was visiting was arrested while visiting family security services say he is under

investigation but have not refer him to court into his tired reports. for three hundred sixty five days mahmoud hussein has been held in an egyptian prison the crimes he stands accused of range from incitement to broadcasting fake news with the aim of spreading chaos al-jazeera strongly denies all allegations against his saying and demands his immediate and unconditional release i think we have to continue our efforts in order to keep the egyptians out of the position totally is our colleague which percent before working at the network's headquarters in the qatari capital doha the same was based on al-jazeera is now closed bureau in cairo his family says his physical and mental health had deteriorated considerably over the past year and that he's being denied adequate medical attention for a broken arm my father is emotionally and mentally distressed because he feels that

he is there and the dog sitting behind the bars without connecting and crying. and he's away from his children his family father his mother and he can't do anything the coverage of hussein's case by egyptian media has also had a major impact on his family shortly after being arrested he was paraded on national television which branded him a terrorist my sisters and ground their face social stigma everything in their schools everyone calls them and they are sons and daughters of protest and they are not worth flipping during egypt they are not safe each one of us is not safe. human rights groups and press freedom groups have condemned hussein's detention is the latest in a string of arrests by gyptian authorities targeting al jazeera staff in the country a year and a half ago ibrahim hello the former editor in chief of al-jazeera arabic was sentenced to death in absentia for endangering national security accusations he

denies egypt also in prison al jazeera has bought her mohammed mohammed and peter greste on charges of spreading fall. news in a case that was widely condemned by international media outlets and politicians alike they were freed after being held in prison for over a year it's unclear when or if mahmoud hussein will be released but the message to his egyptian jailers is the same from him his family and his employer. mood because journalism is not a crime n.p.r.'s. headquarters in doha. and. a live event al-jazeera employee holding an event here in doha in the al jazeera arabic news from taking a solidarity stand with our colleague mahmoud hussein who as you just heard has been in jail now for three hundred sixty five days in cairo's tora prison keeping

up the pressure to release mahmoud hussein who has still not been formally charged of course rejects all the what it calls baseless allegations against hussein and condemns his unfair detention signs reminding egypt and the world that journalism is not a crime. still ahead head on al-jazeera i still may be out of rocker but the straight people as still wary about returning to their homes will explain why. hello it's still cold in japan the korean peninsula not quite as cold as it was the breeze it was blowing quite steadily across the sea of japan is a little bit lighter now which means it doesn't feel quite as bad ten degrees in tokyo very few showers if any atoll just above freezing in support of the snow on

the ground of course it's even been invited all still come back from minus one and is plus five in beijing very still air quality is now dropping of course if anything temperatures rise a little more the following day friday still ten degrees and tokyo six in so a quiet but still obviously rather wintry period. the air is clear all the way down through china as well now we've got the northeast monsoon running down to hong kong down to nineteen as your marx's cooled down little bit still eleven in shanghai and one small despite it being a winter sun it's warming up in shanghai maybe so in hong kong but more humidity zone to feel different that breeze is going on shore isn't bringing much with it it's just a bit of a circulation most a cloud in the south china sea and the most vicious weather here is still the remains of karnataka is hard to see it green blob of the drifting slowly towards financial malaysia and sudden talent another potential tropical storm developing again just to the east of the philippines.

forced to flee from syria to lebanon many refugee mothers risked childbirth in terrible conditions delivery is very difficult here in the bin and it's costly i can't go back to syria now because of the war but one lebanese woman is committed to helping them. become friends with everyone with. she is important to me. there are a few g.'s midwife at this time on al-jazeera world. there

again you're watching al-jazeera has a reminder of our top stories this hour the u.s. senate has passed a contentious one point five trillion dollar tax reform bill as brings president donald trump one step closer to his first significant victory in the battle will now be sent back to the house of representatives for a final vote later on wednesday. campaigning for catalonia stop parliamentary election has closed thursday's vote is expected to indicate the extent of public support for succession from spain falls so a hung parliament is likely leaving the political crisis unresolved. the new head of south africa's ruling a.n.c. party is calling for unity after a better leadership election poser who is currently the deputy president will take over from president jacob zuma. exwife in the leadership post on monday and base of a good day is research at al-jazeera centers for studies he joins us from johannesburg so is robert is the man who can unite the a.n.c.

. all the branches of spoken and according to them they do believe that sort of opposing ease the men who could unify the ac and the signs are that he might just do that. ok and what are his plans for jacob zuma do you think you think he can persuade him to step down for the next presidential election. while i think they're trying to avoid a repeat of what happened in the previous conference of the scene in the corner where the incumbent tub mbeki was forced to resign after jacob zuma was elected into power so there might just want to see him throw his tenure as a president of the country so the chances by the the looks of things and what you hear from some of the ain sophie shoals is that they will allow jacob zuma to go

ahead and finish his tenure which is which is which ends in twenty nineteen just before the nation elections ok and what about trauma pace's new deal i mean it's his plan to reform south africa but it's such a huge job isn't it soon get corruption out of the system to reverse something called state capture i mean can he do that. while he has a memo stuck fast he has to deal with the corruption within the government and he has to deal with the challenges that the a.n.c. is currently facing but he is a very. interesting figure who has always been visible in southern politics if you remember he he drafted to the constitution of this country together with a rueful mayor who was the senior official of the then ruling missional party and

he also is credited is credited with the. choosing the political settlement in south africa so there are a lot of hopes that sort of them oppose so much just do what's appropriate for both the government of this country and the the african national congress or the a c. ok i just must also just bring in there is also tarnished by the narconon massacre many people remember him for his role in the death of thirty four miners so broadly speaking what does south africans think of them. well indeed but you also have to remember the same time that the commission that was established to. find out exactly what had been americana twenty extent absolved him so he comes out with that you know that credit but yes i do agree with you the money can a scandal will never leave him and i anticipate that come the opening of

parliament. in february this year you'll still going to hear the same noises from the opposition party reminding him and the general public in south africa that might occur in the mud a kind of scandal still lingers and it has not been settled many of the victims are still waiting for the promise that i mean the ration is from that scandal so yeah it might just be one of those things that was stuck with him during his tenure as both a and c. president and a c. and the president the country if it does win the elections in twenty nineteen. then base have a good day thanks very much for joining us here on out is there. in syria people displaced from isis former stronghold of rockets say they're being pressured into returning to their destroyed homes parents there are worried about their young children stepping on unexploded bombs so inventor of it reports. it's not easy falling implodes from rubble but the family has little choice. their home and rocco was hit by

a near strike as i still was driven out they'd been living in displacement camps but life was so tough there they've moved back. piers the children could step on a mine on an unexploded munition. past and i'm from the l. much like neighborhood i'm constantly worried about the young children it's difficult to live here there's nothing with no houses outside now after the fall of isis the fact the capital the people of iraq are complain no one is helping them or his thirteen children and he says the camp management i need told him to go home and then we'll look at this the house is gone there's nothing left nothing to eat or drink we need something to survive i was once home to more than a quarter of a million people after nearly five months of fighting eighty percent of the city is destroyed or and doctors without borders says during the battle nobody cared about the billions and the coalition inflicted a deluge your fire on the city reconstruction is estimated to cost billions of dollars but since isis defeat in october if you have announced the billing this to

foot the bill or even provide basic infrastructure health care and education the ancient city was a crown jewel of empires dating back more than two thousand years it's never been leveled like this before beyond the river euphrates was isis capital iraq which was under their control since two thousand and fourteen now the city has been taken over by kurdish led forces but it remains in ruins and i said elements are still being cleared. by just continue to discover rep and dumps faisel to leave guns and ammunition from the syrian army. but generally the area is safe but there are some ice a weapons left to protect the people we are doing mining of the city we are here to protect civilians for the displaced arab population find me it's hard to believe people wouldn't comment on camera but many say they're under another occupying force kurdish white b.g. fighters deny accusations that defense arabs from their towns and villages. but

unless there is a serious push to rebuild and rehabilitate raptors gaping wounds bears the risk of fostering some of the group like i saw some of the job way down to zero on the western bank of the euphrates river. it's now been one thousand days has the conflict in yemen began in the past drug war between the who thesis shia rebel group and president one saw has he backed by a saudi led coalition has turned into a regional confrontation. reports. noranda was walking out of her father's cement factory north of the capital sana'a when the building was hit by an airstrike but the blast waves twisted her back she's now struggling to walk doctors say her spine was damaged during the attack while her life has been shattered by the conflict in her country dreams of graduating and becoming doctor and i used to go to school and fit my life was beautiful because i could walk and right

now i can't walk to school i can only go to the wheelchair i used to be able to sit in a chair at my desk and write but now when i try to write my hand hurts i used to love writing but now i can't even hold a pen. but the conflict in yemen shows no sign of abating on tuesday the who thiis fired a ballistic missile to was the subject capital of riyadh they say they were targeting a meeting of senior officials at the palace saudi arabia accuses iran of supplying the houthi is with the messiah and as the conflicts continue there are fears of a wider regional confrontation the healthy is the remain defiant and when i heard. we face a war carried out by ten countries and their attempts to create more divisions and chaos but that has failed and we still lead the front against the aggressors.

meanwhile the fighting rages near the capital sana'a forces loyal to president of the. are struggling to break the defense lines civilians caught in the fighting a worrier. thousands of people have been killed since the start of the conflict in two thousand and fifteen and. my hope is that two thousand and eighteen comes along with peace and of aggression and blockade imposed on my country but i also hope that all the parties come together and build a democratic state. millions of yemenis struggle to find food and shelter the country which faces the world's biggest humanitarian crisis is also politically divided. by the international community to negotiate a settlement suffered a setback earlier this month when the country's ousted leader. was killed by the home. but for many yemenis like neuron who have suffered the most in

this conflict and to the fighting can't come soon enough. and further exploring the political and humanitarian impact of this conflict and in-depth discussion on the inside story at seventeen thirty g.m.t. . the u.s. has promised to speed up recovery efforts and federal assistance a puerto rico after top officials visited the island on tuesday but i continue to struggle after a devastating hurricane three months ago with over two hundred thousand homes damaged several missed the dark with no electricity the governor says the island needs a lot more financial assistance on top of the five billion dollars pledged by congress . this is out there these are the top stories the u.s.

senate has passed a contentious one point five trillion dollars tax reform bill that springs president donald trump one step closer to his first significant victory the bill will now be sent back to the house of representatives for a final vote later on wednesday. after eight straight years of slow growth in order performance america is ready to take on a couple of really regulatory reforms that have already been implemented by the administration we know comprehensive tax reform major middle class tax relief and making our businesses both large and small more competitive around the world campaigning for catalonia is that parliamentary election has closed there's a vote is expected to indicate the extent of public support for succession from spain also a hung parliament is likely. so around opposer is due to deliver his first address as president of the ruling african national congress in south africa has been calling for unity after

a bitter leadership election. mandela has blocked an independent u.n. investigator from entering the country he was special. young he had been due to visit in january to assess human rights including abuses against. state and he says she hopes the government will reconsider all the six hundred fifty thousand refugees have fled to neighboring bangladesh since august to escape a military crackdown a new round of talks aimed at ending the syrian civil war begins in kazakstan capital a stand on thursday the two day meeting will focus on implementing a cease fire deal brokered by russia turkey and iran because that foreign ministry says the talks will also address issues including the clearing of land mines and the release of hostages in syria and the white house is again suggesting iran is supplying weapons to yemen who the rebels after a ballistic missile was insteps in saudi arabia over the capsule riyadh iran denies the allegations is the third attack since november when say marks

a thousand days since the saudi led coalition launched its military campaign against the thieves. those are the headlines more news after inside story with come all santa maria to say with us if you get. america is in the game and america is going to weigh in said donald trump in a major policy announcement on national security by singling out russia and china how will these plans for u.s. national security affect it.