and guess what not one w m d shite was found in iraq since one thousand nine hundred ninety one iraq a deadly deception at this time on al jazeera. the tax cuts and jobs is passed the u.s. congress passes the most sweeping tax overhaul bill in more than thirty years

allowing trump to tout his first legislative victory. as there are a whole robin also coming up in the next thirty minutes divided catalans prepared to cast their verdict a vote on thursday in an election many hope will result spain's session crisis also with parts of puerto rico still without electricity u.s. officials promise to speed up recovery efforts from hurricane maria. in captivity for al jazeera journalist mahmud hussein. welcome to the program the u.s. senate has passed a contentious one point five trillion dollars tax reform bill. the tax cut and

jobs act is passed now this brings president dole trunk one step closer to his first significant legislative 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 now a comprehensive tax reform major middle class tax relief and making our businesses both large and small more competitive around the world well don't trump ours tweeted about the bill saying that the united states senate just passed the biggest in history tax cut and reform bill terrible individual mandate in brackets obamacare repealed goes to the house tomorrow morning for the final vote is approved there will be

a news conference at the white house at approximately one pm that's one thousand eight hundred g.m.t. well gabriel alexander 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 struggle on strong partisan lines and this is a huge victory for president donald trump and also for the republicans it's the first legislative victory for 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 re boat 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. to europe now or campaigning for catalonia is not parliamentary election is drawing to a close catalans head to the polls of the day for a vote that's expected to indicate the extent of public support for the session from spade call pettable possible from barcelona. it's the last brush before campaigning closes a rally for the separatists d r c o catalan republican left party former speaker of the regional parliament karma fork adele is lucky to be here at all she's free on bail for now but faces criminal charges for rebellion. i don't think anybody at all only imagine what was going to happen we could never have imagined that. after the october secession referendum prosecutors arrested key cattle and leaders for their role in organizing that vote and the spanish central government dissolved the

capital and parliament a front seat is left empty for party leader john kid s. judges refused bail and instead kept him in prison fearing he would use the hustings to rabble rouse thursday's parliamentary election isn't specifically about secession but it is the most polarizing issue voters will choose between parties who want catalonia to remain part of spain or others have clearly not renounce their goal of a breakaway republic veteran catherine politician artur mass hopes madrid look for compromise not confrontation if the central government. had a real positive proposal for the cattle and people what they have to do to put that proposal on the table. and to compare this proposal with the proposal for a real independent country but the necessary mother's riding high in opinion polls

has little appetite for negotiating her center right citizens party has backed madrid in its crackdown against the separatists she'll need to build a coalition but believes the only way to resolve the political turmoil is by beating the secessionists in the election will try to win will take to win and i think it is possible we we are seeing the pools and we see that it is it is not the new to the. as the hours tick down activists from the left wing see you people know vital vote system up for grabs even in barcelona's backstreets their party is small but was kingmaker in the last election they make for an easy political bedfellows they stand against spain in the monarchy and thermally in favor of a cattle and republic run by the working classes. al-jazeera barcelona.

has blocked an independent un investigator from entering the country the un special rapporteur on me and he had been due to visit in january to assess human rights including abuses against muslims in the state war than six hundred fifty thousand refugees have fled to neighboring bangladesh since august to escape the military crackdown we're going to leave spoke to us earlier on al-jazeera sol she says that she never imagined me amar to go down this path and is deeply disappointed with this decision to deny her entry. there's a lot of big words that have been said in my to there's that sense agenda a lot of current and strong very strong condemnation but it doesn't seem like the military government is taking heed to any of this i was disappointed that. the international community could not want to come up with a stronger resolution while on the security council. it was

a presidential statement but that having said that it was an improvement we've come so fire 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 apparition of the people you know all of this point to a success story for me but i'm really deeply. disappointed in very saddened by the this decision. to deny cooperation with my mandate over there any other human rights mechanisms and most of sailings people who speak out about these kind of atrocities.

since i was there a journalist who was detained under imprisoned in egypt he was arrested while visiting family security services so he's under investigation but have not referred him to court. 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 sane and demands his immediate and unconditional release i think we have to continue our efforts in order to keep the egyptian out of the position totally is our colleague in which percent before working at the networks 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 if they are sons and daughters of a terrorist and they are not worth fighting 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 in the eyes the eyes of the al-jazeera headquarters in doha. a new round of talks aimed at ending the syrian civil war begins in kazakhstan's capital istana on thursday the two day meeting will focus on implementing a cease fire deal brokered by russia turkey and iran the kazakh foreign ministry

says the talks will also address issues including the clearing of land mines and the release of hostages in syria now the french president of iran micron's says bashar al assad is the enemy of millions of his own people after the syrian leader accused paris of supporting terrorism the war of words began as french officials blamed assad's government for failed peace talks aimed at ending the conflict assad responded saying paris has spearheaded support for terrorists in syria and back iran is therefore unfit to discuss peace settlements the french president then hit back describing assad's statements as other acceptable because it's been the international coalition that's been at the forefront of the battle against deisel. meanwhile people displaced from isis former stronghold of raka say they're being pressurised into returning to the destroyed homes parents there are worried about their young children stepping on unexploded bombs as a suburb of it reports. it's not easy in your clothes from rubble but the

family has little choice. their home and rocco was hit by an e.f. strike as i said was driven out they've been living in displacement camps but life is so tough they're back home with some fears the children could step on a mine on an unexploded munition. has done 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 house outside now after the fall of isis de facto capital the people of complain no one is helping them or his thirteen children and he says the camp management i need told him to go home and they're going to 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's destroyed. doctors without borders says during the battle nobody cared about that of billions and the coalition inflicted

a deluge of fire on the city. reconstruction is estimated to cost billions of dollars but since i saw this 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 say the limits are still being cleared. by just continue to discover rep and dumps. i said to leave guns and ammunition from the syrian army. that is generally the area is safe but there are some i saw weapons left to protect the people we are doing mining of the city we are here to protect civilians from the depleted arab population find it's hard to believe people wouldn't comment on camera but many say they're under and

they're occupying force. b.g. fighters deny accusations that they are arabs from their towns and villages. but unless there is a serious push to rebuild and rehabilitate raptors gaping wounds bear the risk of fostering some of the groups like isis which armament job on the western bank of the euphrates river palestinians protesting against the u.s. plans to move the embassy to jerusalem have again called for a day of rage there have been some clashes with israeli security forces across the occupied palestinian territory in bethlehem protesters marched in the street to denounce donald trump's recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital they were dispersed by tear gas fired by israeli forces and in the kalandia has also been friction with police trying to push back groups of protesters in street. well still ahead here on al-jazeera we will not accept you as a luke lirot nation and they fear what this nation. forty bases plan to meet in canada next month to discuss the north korean nuclear crisis and tropical storm

heads to vietnam after it killed at least forty three people in the philippines to stay with us here on al-jazeera. in two thousand and one vs spreads around the world to arab australians accused of being enemies within. and attacking the aussie way of life we were treated like we we're all suspects we were all under suspicion struggling to adapt to their new found home. al-jazeera explores the history of the lebanese community in australia . once upon a time in punchbowl and this time on al-jazeera. al-jazeera

where every human. being as i want to finally we're going ask about that but that's the balls are not i see my listeners that are that the set says they're lost. brothers out of all of our cars and bunches of the time at the bottom in the first episode of a two part series al-jazeera investigates the world of performance enhancing drugs . sports dogging the industry at this time. under surgery or sky. a bomb or shattered monument towards destructor powers. there's amid the ruins the defiance to resist. and strong survive. people in power investigate child this suburb of damascus has refused to crumble under the might of assets only. job part two at this time on al-jazeera

kenyan elections intractable war in syria refugee crisis troubles in venezuela and tensions on the korean peninsula and al-jazeera news special looks back on the biggest stories of twenty seventeen trivialities of families who lived through them. welcome back you're watching of zero zero robin a reminder of our top stories the u.s. senate has passed a contentious one point five trillion dollars tax reform bill this brings president donald trump one step closer to his first significant legislative victory the bill

will now be sent back to the house of representatives for a final vote later on wednesday also campaigning for cash lowliest not part of a tree election has closed thursday's vote is expected to indicate the extent of public support for secession from space show a hung parliament is likely leaving the political crisis resolved. it depended un investigator from entering the country the un special rapporteur be about yang healy a june had been due to visit in january to assess human rights including abuses against muslim brotherhood in rakhine state. it's nabila thousand days since the conflict in yemen began the power struggle between the shia rebel group and the president robert rule. backed by a saudi led coalition has turned into a regional confrontation as hashim reports. 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 and 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 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 tried 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 hooty is fired a ballistic missile aisle two was the saudi capital of riyadh they say they were targeting a meeting of senior officials of the yemeni royal 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. then 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. are struggling to break earthy defense lines civilians caught in the fighting. thousands of people have been killed since the start of the conflict into a thousand and fifteen and the end of 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 the yemenis struggle to find food and shelter the country which faces the world's biggest humanitarian crisis is also politically divided first by the international community to negotiate a settlement suffered a setback earlier this month when the country is asked that leader. there was killed by the who. but for many yemenis like neuron perhaps suffer the most in this conflict and and to the fighting can't come soon enough how about al-jazeera and we'll explore the political and humanitarian impact of the conflict in an in-depth discussion of and today's inside story with hashem our bro on wednesday at seventeen thirty g.m.t. at seventeen thirty g.m.t. or about five hours from now now after causing flooding and mudslides

across the philippines tropical storm kai tak is headed to vietnam and the middle a peninsula this week at least forty three people have been killed in the philippines rescuers are recovering more bodies in some areas but hope is fading to find any more survivors now the storm hit on saturday forcing eighty eight thousand people to leave their homes to maryland they're going to house more for believe an island. according to rescuers there are at least five bodies trapped in the rubble it's going to be difficult especially over the last few days when the incessant rains have hampered operations now president with the go those are do was on the ground a few days ago and promised to provide immediate assistance to the families the seventy is from this area from this region in this very much connected to the people of samarra and later but there are questions as to not just the emergency response but the preparation for disasters like this one as you know eastern beside

this region has always been bogged down by natural disasters one of the most powerful and devastating typeless ever hit the country happened right here typhoon haiyan you think. more than four years ago and left more than eight thousand people dead and since then during the time of former president benigno aquino and now under the time of president there have been a lot of discussions and efforts when it comes to dealing with we have elicitation but more importantly experts would like to see how the government is doing when it comes to making communities far more resilient that these should not be much more reactive but much more proactive when it comes to preparing for disasters like this one. the u.s. has promised to speed up recovery efforts and federal assistance to puerto rico after top officials visited the island on tuesday the island continues to struggle after a devastating hurricane three months ago that over two hundred thousand homes several municipalities are still in the dark with no electricity or that we.

will see how. farmers to armies who are petitions and there are several steps all of this way there's actually form and there is the supplemental. we see that there is and there are senators and congressmen. are acting. against the best interest of the people of puerto rico we will continue. now the european union's top court has ruled that dubai is officially a transport company and not a digital service that means it can be regulated like traditional taxi service says the landmark ruling means it will have to accept stricter regulation and licensing within the e.u. the case follows a complaint by barcelona taxi group that argued uber was directly involved in carrying passengers you've argued it was a digital app instead and that it should fall under a different less stringent rules. well the u.s. and canada will co-host

a summit attended by forty the foreign ministers in january to seek progress on the north korean nuclear crisis you know what was made after the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson about his canadian counterpart chrystia freeland the meeting will be held in the city of vancouver last month north korea tested its most powerful ballistic missile get what it says is capable of reaching the entire u.s. mainland we believe that a diplomatic solution to the crisis is essential and possible we'll use this gathering this opportunity to advance our work on diplomatic efforts towards a more peaceful prosperous and nuclear free future on the north korean peninsula and to demonstrate international solidarity in our conduct of korea's actions we will not accept you as a nuclear nation but nuclear weapons variation and all of the shooter one policy you want to go there in the fall complete verifiable denuclearization of the korean . the former archbishop of boston cardinal bernard law has died he was once one of

the most important leaders in the u.s. catholic church but he was forced to step down after it was revealed that he was involved in a cover up to protect priests accused of abusing children and a huckster has more. is a dramatic fall from grace for the highest ranking catholic official in the united states. cardinal law once favored by the late pope john paul the second was forced to resign after it was. revealed that he had failed to remove priests from his ministry who had been accused of abusing children the former archbishop silence over child molesters in the priesthood sparked the worst crisis and american catholicism news of his death provoked more anger in massachusetts where he was the archbishop of boston good riddance to bad rubbish i hope the gates of hell are swinging wide to allow him entrance i am a mother of three of children that have been sexually abused by a priest tom no law has everything under the cap and he will not admit

anything he will not meet what does. he abuse in boston extended over six decades involving over two hundred thirty priests and more than seven hundred fifty victims the harvard educated law was implicated in a scandal after a boston globe newspaper investigation was published in two thousand and two please know that as long as i am in a position to do so i will work tirelessly to address this crisis and to underscore it's a very good. this is a wake up call for the church the paper use court documents revealing the cardinal had moved priests who had abused children from parish to parish without alerting police or parents. his actions led to a public uproar and mass protests before his resignation at the end of the year the

newspaper's investigation was then made into an oscar winning movie in two thousand and fifteen. the boston priest molested kids in six different actions over the last thirty years the church found out about it and did nothing we haven't committed any long term investigator for resources to the case despite his involvement in the clergy sex abuse scandal of the vatican continue to support cardinal law and offered him a position in running within the church he focused on building catholic jewish relations and acting as an unofficial envoy to cuba cardinal bernard law died in rome he was eighty six years old. there of course you followed stories by logging on to our website a town just never dot com sounds of dot com it's updated twenty four hours a day to stay with us here and i just.

want you all just their homes the whole robin these are all top stories the u.s. senate has passed a contentious one point five trillion dollar tax reform bill it's brings president donald trump one step closer to his first significant legislative victory the bill will now be sent back to the house of representatives for a final vote later on wednesday. or 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 now are comprehensive tax reform major middle class tax relief. and making our businesses both large and small more competitive around the world campaigning for catalonia parliamentary election has closed thursday's vote is expected to indicate the extent of public support for the session from spain polls show a hung parliament is likely cyril ramaphosa is due to deliver his first address as president of the ruling african national congress in south africa from opposing has

been calling for unity at a bitter leadership election. beared bar has blocked an independent un investigator from entering the country the un special rapporteur on the in bahrain yang he levy had been due to visit in january to assess human rights including abuses against mr britling in state lee says she hopes that the government will reconsider more than six hundred fifty thousand refugees have fled to neighboring bangladesh since august to escape a military crackdown. to do round of talks aimed at ending the syrian civil war begins in kazakhstan's capital stana on thursday the two day meeting will focus on implementing a cease fire deal brokered by russia turkey and iran the foreign ministry says the talks will also address issues think looting the clearing of land mines and the release of hostages in syria we're crossing over live now to zimbabwe where we have

the new president and the man in god why are you stating his first state of the union address state of the nation address let's listen in to what he has to say. and commander in chief. was. president speak. first and foremost. and our national security services. in particular the zimbabwe defense forces wolf informed by the f o's of the liberation struggle and their and flinching loyalty to our heritage exuded great us to nest led to of peoples and

exemplary behavior. in defending the national interest by initiating what is now become known as operation restore legacy this was indeed in line. with their mandate of protecting zimbabwe speedball its national security and interests and is territorial integrity and appalling the constitution of what a public is provided for in section two and two of the constitution of them but we. also want to commend the entire nation where they are all in assuring a peaceful transition zimbabweans demonstrated that sovereignity resides with the people.

this sounds and daughters of this great nation on this occasion demonstrated unity love tolerance and enjoy our ince put to tease him piece in maturity as per the announcement by the commander of the zimbabwe defense forces general philip valenti a spy under operation restore legacy is ended since the situation in the country is attended to normalcy. however they should ask all right however. us all to remain forever vigilant in the safe guarding zimbabwe's of pretty territorial

integrity and national interest let us further continue to cherish and serve god the i do want peace and tranquility that currently prevails in our public madame president mr speaker. my government is very conscious of the challenges facing our country's economy great if what will be put towards increasing productivity and the capacity utilization across all sectors and the ensuing foreign currency innings the juicing the country risk. perception improving service delivery drastically reducing the budget deficit and

ensuring steady economic growth while country is spreading to note that the advent of this new era. has rekindled a lot of goodwill and a walk for economic recovery both domestically and internationally we must to build on this foundation is roof over your head for a better economy creature or a nation madam president mr speaker says their government has made and the growing of the national economy a top priority. clearly versus this policy thrust has been covered in my inaugural speech delivered on the twenty fourth november twenty seventh. and in the twenty eight national budget the statement

presented loose or gust i was on the seventh december tenth or inten in line with my pledge to buy a tie is police implementation my government has taken upon itself to operate on the basis of a clear set of performance targets to be implemented each ministry within a one hundred day second is we seek to realize the aspirations of our people within the shortest time possible this naturally question was for public bureaucracy which is a highly skilled performance in development oriented uses resources economically and efficiently is accountable to the people provides the public with ten million accessible and accurate information in

a deliver services impression fairly it could terribly and it was that by us equally essential. it will essential will be oriented to state controlled commission entities who must conduct their operations so as to maintain commission availability and are buried by acceptable standards of good corporate governance governmental will else for tech a keen interest in the conduct of public affairs. the objectivity and impression. in decision making honesty in the execution of public duties accountability to the public for their decisions and actions as well as

the discipline. and the commitment in the service to the people we all keeley claimants in the new government vision madam president mr speaker. the specific economic reforms is a new city and in the grand eighteen national budget statement shelby family i did too in pursuance of my government's development agenda government welcomes short to medium term credit financing and the recent offer of u s one comma five billion economic stabilization fund by the african zim bank is indeed a welcome gesture government is stepping up implementation of sector

specific is of being business reforms furthermore that means putting in place concrete and comprehensive used two minutes in line with our new market economy thrust we are determined to remove any police impulse distances of the past. to mecca zimbabwe and that collector of destination the capital. the opera or planet nationalization of the one stop shop investment center is now proceeding with renewed impetus is part of this investment grade the special economic zones act and the economy authority board in place. this special permits on board is currently working with the right as a stakeholders on the more deleterious in the regulations with regards to

the key vehicle for economic growth as well as on strategies to attract investment into this but from min away government is also carrying out a comprehensive comprehensive review in the i when i was asian of investment clothes and policies to boost the drive for foreign direct investment in our economy my own president mr speaker said the government will soon and very robust engagement and reengagement program with the international community in our continued to be duty to rejoin the community of nations may. make

government is committed to open a zimbabwe up to investment by building a free and transparent economy which are benefits zimbabweans and is well coming up seders this task earlier for of projecting our country as a welcoming investment destination remains a collective responsibility for us but wins across the political divide this therefore demands that we subordinate our partisan in the personal interests to the i object of building a strong economy for the benefit of both current and future generations. madam president mr speaker says this success of the new economic agenda

rests on good and efficient infrastructure among other things such as key projects on the rehabilitation and development of public infrastructure in data enablers like energy transport housing water and information communication technology cities. these are. you watching al-jazeera speaking live from the zimbabwean capital is the president. in his inaugural state of the nation address he started about ten minutes ago talking firstly with great affection to the defense. teams across the country the military in general the national security force talking how they intervened to bring the country back to normality in

operation restore legacy he's speaking at the international convention center and started with a brief up some really of what he hopes to do the state of the nation address allows him to set out the government's plans over the next few months or years certainly next few months up to a general election we expected twenty eighteen but talked about the ability to restore the country's sovereignty protecting the rights of the individual being vigilant in terms of their security and safeguarding the country in the long term peace that he hopes he can bring to the country he acknowledged there were challenges for the government the economy the creased productivity that is so lacking in a country with high inflation and he wanted to see capacity utilization in all areas across all ministries and forge a partnership with international organizations that allow as he just said of just

a few moments ago allows him to rejoin the community of international nations to which he got warm applause you get referring back to the budget that has been planned for twenty eight teachers unveiled earlier in the year his tone is very much engagement with the international community and that the country needs to get together to band together to try and find a way. forward from the economic woes that it has seen being alienated for such a long time let's cross over to alex macgames so he's a lecturer in law at the university of kent and a former advisor to morgan chango as a barber is former prime minister part of the opposition. joins me on skype from cancer good to have you with us you've been able to dip in and listen to what president a man of god was had to say but he really has focused on the economy to start with that seems the most poignant position to start oh absolutely he understands

that. to send the economy going to shoots in the past ten to fifteen years and. that the supposedly new era here they're going to be grist for the country and it's important that. you. go over the last few days about the rising prices of commodities and therefore it's important that is starts to strike you on the economy in the president's inaugural address he says you might say saying all the right things that both to both the domestic audience would want to hear from the new president but also the type of things that then international audience and certainly global capitals will want to hear from a country that has been mired in a really one party state led by one man for so many decades he is of that same

party he is of sandu p.s. he needs to try and shake off the shackles of his predecessor. mean what he says. absolutely. you know prayer state for quite some time and it was too long i understand and i think he's government understand that's a lot will not be able to forge a way forward without the help of the international community without good relations with other nations but he has to demonstrate they have to demonstrate that they're different from the oh look at the regime not just in words but also in deeds they've been in you know jack for the only three weeks now so a lot of people saying let's give them a bit more time it's too early to judge it's important of course that they don't

squander that they have both routines in belgrade and also outside some over people are looking for a change in terms of the terms of that change and what the good will of the people of zimbabwe have there was a honeymoon period allowed for any new politician. is not a new politician he's a seasoned politician he's described as the crocodile previously he said to him here in part of the speech that he wants to set performance targets each numbering at least a hundred day cycle for each ministry it is is that possible in a country where money performance has been lacking and where the parts education of some ministers in power or people in power is can lacking to try and help people at the grassroots level that need it so much. you know there are two sides to a school of thought that. part of this government for many

years and therefore there is no difference between the two but there's also another school of thought which sais mr mugabe had for thirty seven years he had he is leadership style who these people could do nothing about but they are now in charge and if you give them adequate you need to demonstrate what they can do is. not just is part of the group and so it's important to see how they're going to work it out over the next few months important that. people just you know drives out. and i think it's important that of course we do give them their virginity to demonstrate what they can do and see how they produce results in minutes and dates there are a couple of really interesting factors in argin zimbabwe's story over the last few months you have the the freedom fighters association who were vocally against

robert mugabe in his final days you have the public at large who want to see improvements in their daily lives they've been suffering for a great deal and you have the military hooper played a back seat you might say at the moment in terms of coming to the forefront of any of them on a guard was cabinet how important are those three factors in making sure the president really does have some tangible success certainly in the first six months of his presidency. well it's absolutely important. has been supported by the veterans of the liberation struggle who had a tough time and the means to garbage in his lot stays the military is obviously been a very important factor in the game changer in some but when politics after intervening in november and therefore a lot of people see them as they have the most part at the moment we sure have

improved on how the government operates there is also obviously a lot of expectations from our other point of course is about the expected sorts alex we see three having a few problems with your sky but if we get a general gist certainly of your valuable opinion and will be coming back to i'm sure as we get more of that state of the nation address alice make us there in the country thanks so much for joining us from the u.k. let's cross over now to some of the day's other news now even though we can see the president and still speaking. some of the day's other news argentina's congress has passed a controversial pension lost the vote was delayed by violent protests in the capital border sirees the new system which sees pensions linked to the inflation rate is seen as a crucial crucial for president masoud your plans to cut the nation's deficit

is in the company. here in the main plaza outside the auction tying congress after the violence here on monday as well as the argentine congress were debating in this building behind me reform to the pension law which the government of president. says the necessary to boost our economy he wants to attract more foreign investment he wants to reduce the fiscal deficit and try to control the country's high inflation rate the opposition that were out here in large numbers on monday protesting peacefully but a large group of protesters. with metal bars were attacking the police the police responded with tear gas water cannon with rubber bullets they were scenes which argentina is today assessing talking about the violence which has shocked many but there's no doubt that there is anger in this around the country with just

the first of the reform measures that the government says a necessary they still labor on tax reforms the car so with that with that in mind still many problems to come in argentina but a victory for the government after an all night debate which lasted something like twelve hours or preparing for more problems the car. the former chief executive of the latin american construction giant at the center of one of the world's largest corruption scandals has been freed from prison. the former head of it by time spent two and a half years in jail despite his initial nineteen year sentence another scandal has had top politicians across the region to home and has more from sao paulo. up to two and a half years in prison the man who was in charge of this company and behind the biggest corruption scandal in recent history has been allowed to exchange jail for house arrest here in sao paolo on the must sell all the brush leadership his family's already powerful construction company became synonymous with brazil's rise

what later immersion is it was playing politicians across latin america the lucrative government contracts for roads bridges and even world cup football stadiums the graft was on such an industrial scale that it even had a bribes department even as marcello the brush leaves prison the ripples made by his deals are continuing to spread the president of peru is on the verge of being ousted after his company took over to brush money while he was the economic minister ecuador's vice president is facing six years in jail after taking millions in kickbacks all of rest officials have also said venezuelan president nicolas maduro accepted campaign contributions in return for contracts all of this came to lie in part because marcello the british and others agreed to name names in exchange for more lenient sentences now who spend the rest of his ten year sentence at home but the man they call the prince's time as one of latin america's most

powerful figures is over for now. crushing best gaiters in the u.s. examining the wreckage of a do rail train say they've recovered a data recorder from the main engine at least three people were killed when the incident in washington state on monday the train it was reportedly traveling at three times the speed limit inspectors from the national transportation safety board are expected to remain at the scene for at least seven days. we have confidence that we will get to the bottom of what caused this horrific tragedy i've talked to n.t.s.b. they have significant tools they are well on their way to gather the evidence they indicated to me that they were pleased that the scene was intact so that the evidence will remain undisturbed for their evaluation we should have confidence that we will find out what happened in this or if event and we will fix anything

that went wrong to make sure that in the future real safety is assured for everyone . an endangered baby bungalow has been bold in new orleans as the first conceived out the species survival scented louisiana bongos are a species of african and but they're highly endangered the many founding kenya cheetah poaching the any a hundred left in the wild and of course you can follow that story as cute as it is on our website at al-jazeera dot com we have news views and reviews as well as critical analysis solve global news stories that we're covering here at al-jazeera dot com i'm back with the news in a few minutes on the other side of the break to stay with us.

by this guy nine an asian harbor or off the coast of the italian riviera. hello was a stormy day yesterday in southern brazil bits of paraguayan and you require you just see this tuck in he is east of the sun sea and that was it cause some damage caused quite a lot of damage actually and it's not necessarily over now this mass of potential big thunderstorms is still around during wednesday there's a flow of warmth and moisture from the north and some particularly cold for the sas but this circulation is fairly sees no it is the useful range of the reservoirs in sao paolo and the whole us is now moving out towards rio forecast for thursday there of course plenty of big showers for the northwest in brazil and they go

beyond to southern colombia and a line down the eastern andes as well take you to northern argentina buenos aires is warming up again having been much warmer than cool down recently but north of the cars and things are much kwanten i mean this is the time of the year where you don't receive that many showers it's hard to pick out anything just part of the great flex in the satellite picture but you got it on shore breeze for the coast of nicaragua costa rica and honduras i think that's where we'll see any showers and they could be fairly frequent daily light ones but otherwise it's a drug looking pictures a nice time of the year there's a bulge of warm went to weather in the southeast corner of the u.s. but otherwise the story is of course thirty wintry. weather sponsored by qatar airways.

arts. kenyan elections intractable war in syria refugee crisis troubles in venezuela and tensions on the korean peninsula elgin's era news special looks back on the biggest stories of twenty seventeen through the eyes of families who lived through them ultimately this is the opportunity to understand in a very the french way were there before something happens and we don't leave after . this is al-jazeera.