oh people in power investigate charges suburb of damascus has refused to crumble under the might of ersatz army. job on part two of 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 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's time to turn around the struggling economy that's the message from the bomb

boys the new president as he addressed the nation. as a whole robert you're watching officer live my headquarters here in doha also coming up. my view of this that we can show or show the american people want to go into another line of work. u.s. senate republicans pass a major overhaul of the tax code that they say will deliver economic growth although democrats like to differ. i know where the first person and the last president would never do and that me and my word choose to go down this path. from the u.n. special envoy is told to stay out of the country. divided catalogs were had to cast their verdict they vote on thursday and election many hope will resolve spain's secession crisis.

good to have you with us welcome to the programs of barclays new president ever submitted guard as improving the nation's struggling economy is his number one priority that's the key message from his state of the nation address government will soon and. you're a biased against rent and a reengagement program with the international community in no will continue to be to rejoin the community of nations may. make government is committed to open a zimbabwe up to investment by building a free entrance but don't come to me which are brilliant it's zimbabweans and these well coming up say there's horrible tasa our correspondent is live for us in the capital harare a much anticipated speech how the focus mainly on the economy is not what people wanted to hear. people seem generally pleased they're happy

that he spent a long time talking about the economy the last few days his surprise some people the prices of basic commodities have been increasing basic things like bread chicken meat maize meal for example which is a staple food here so we were wondering what is going on when the president was sworn in he told them that the economy will improve so they were kind of skeptical and concerned he came out he said he's going to focus on the economy he's going to ease cash alleges and that he's going to do a lot to tackle corruption which could be one reason why prices are skyrocketing because some businesses are capitalizing on the uncertainty on the times right now what could happen now is that our president is expected in south africa on thursday so clearly clearly he can leave the country without someone in charge so we could see him appointing two vice presidents this speculation one of them could be general constantino chewing who is the former head of the zimbabwe defense forces

very clear. to the international community encouraging them to invest in the. according to him. exactly he has been keen on trying to stress this point that the days of robert mugabe are gone and that it's a new era in zimbabwe he wants to work with the international community because he believes if people come and invest in the country jobs will be created independent economists estimate more than ninety percent of zimbabweans don't have work so it is a really urgent matter he needs to address the international community the ambassadors here in the country generally say they're keen to reengage with the body but they are cautious they want to wait and see if we need things that are going to change the first test could be the elections next year if those elections are free fair credible and there's no violence it could be an indication the stability is returning to the country which could encourage more investors to come back in

december we pour money into the economy and maybe we could see jobs being created for the moment we leave it there thank you but it's the u.s. now where the senate has passed a contentious five point one point five trillion dollars tax reform bill the tax cuts and jobs is passed. is the country's most sweeping tax overhaul in more than thirty years and this brings president donald trump one step closer to his first significant legislative victory now the bill now goes back to the house of representatives for a final vote in the coming hours. has been covering the story for us joins me now from washington d.c. with an event like this taxes a huge issue there always winners and losers kimberly. always winners and losers and certainly the republicans are championing this as a big win for ordinary americans not surprisingly democrats not so much saying that what this does is reward the wealthiest americans with major corporate tax breaks

from thirty five percent to twenty one percent now the argument being from the republican side and from the president is what this is going to do it's going to bring companies that have gone overseas back to the united states make the united states more competitive with countries like china even canada which has a significantly lower corporate tax rate than the united states the idea being that then in turn jobs will be created and middle class americans will benefit from that a major campaign promise from the president but democrats saying that this is not going to help ordinary americans quickly enough it's a big gamble for republicans because what this means is that this takes effect immediately so there are twelve days for accountants and ordinary americans to try and understand what this means and whether or not they'll actually like what they see is still to be determined right now most americans have not read this in fact

most congress members have not read this. really it will come down to whether or not people see changes in their paycheck whether or not they really like it but for the moment two thirds of americans saying they don't like these changes that are historic some of the biggest sweeping tax changes in almost three decades suddenly getting this legislation passed would be a major achievement for a beleaguered president who promised his people so much. right and in fact donald trump has not had legislative victory so far he has been trying hard to get one you remember on the campaign trail repeal and replace obamacare that was sort of the battle cry of republicans and yet they failed miserably in the house because of a dramatic vote in the senate by in fact a republican john mccain who was not in support of it something the president has held against republicans were p. diddly and has continued to work he's a president that has repeatedly said he focuses on winning but he hasn't had

a legislative win now the president believes he has when there's a procedural vote in the house that will be taking place and then it goes to the president's desk to be signed into law the president already saying that he's going to be holding a press conference at eighteen g.m.t. if that of a victory lap because he's believes he finally has the legislative when he's been working for almost twelve months to get both of them i want to leave it there completely and see what the president says later thank you. the u.n. special envoy from entering the country young he's been due to visit in january to assess human rights including abuses against a muslim in rakhine state small to six hundred fifty thousand refugees have fled to neighboring bangladesh since all this to escape the military crackdown yankee least spoke to earlier from seoul she says she never imagined me about would go down this path and is deeply disappointed with the decision to deny him a trick. there's

a lot of big words that have been said in my to there's this incident a lot of kunda 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 the security council. it was a presidential statement but that having said that it was an improvement we've come so far from that we have never i where the first person and the last president would have never dreamt that me and my i would choose to go down this path it was opening up it was the road to democracy the transition the apparition of the people you know all of this point to

a success story for me and what i'm really deeply. disappointed in there he said and why that this decision. to deny cooperation with my mandate of with any other human rights mechanisms and most of to silence people who speak out about these kind of original cities. it's an hour been one thousand days since the conflict in yemen began the past drug war between the huth easyshare rebel group and president of the rebel had the backed by a saudi led coalition has turned into a regional confrontation thousands of people have been killed and millions are on the brink of famine. reports. was walking out of her father's cement factory north of the capital sana'a when the building was hit by an airstrike 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 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 whole thiis with the messiah and as the conflicts contin years there are fears of

a wider regional confrontation the healthy 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 i would also had a. we are struggling to break her three defense lines civilians caught in the fighting are worried. thousands of people have been killed since the start of the conflict into 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 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. was killed by the whole thing. but for many yemenis like neuron who have suffered the most in this conflict and and to the fighting can't come soon enough i should write about al-jazeera i will explore the political and humanitarian impact of the conflict in an in-depth discussion on the inside story with hashem seventeen thirty g.m.t. . i still had here on al-jazeera i still may be out of rock but displaced people are still very wary about returning to their homes we'll explain why and we market in captivity for al-jazeera journalist mahmoud his saying.

hello are off that cold push of winter three or four days ago temperatures slowly rising again in shanghai and hong kong is still clearly winter monsoon season the winds coming at the north was checking back in as well and i think that's one reason why attempt to rise a little bit in hong kong bit more more should be more humidity will feel a little bit different but to say the skies should be clear the air quality is to pretty good in china which can't be said for northern india is has a disorder is very unhealthy from delhi all the way down to was bangladesh factor going to the size of forest is reported is good air quality you might think this indicates a change has very high clouds not bringing any sort of rain with it that does indicate the atmosphere is a bit more turbulent we might get more of a surface breeze which would in truth exhibit in new delhi otherwise the pictures essentially quiet nothing moving very much not much rain is falling as it should be

dry throughout the arabian peninsula now as well whatever flash floods they were in a man the thing of memory now temperature wise it's still about eight degrees difference east to west and it's quite hazy at the moment leaving the arabian peninsula going north we pick up an interesting change there's been something a breeze coming out of the side out of egypt and that's lifted temperatures or threaten event and iraq eight degrees above average. you are making a point even monks when they're on line the main us response to drug use and the drug trade over the last fifty years has been the criminal mind or if you join us on saying no evil person just wakes up a over the morning in the sense i want to cover the world in darkness and this is a dialogue and that could be was leading to some of the confusion i like about

people saying they don't actually know what's going on join the colobus conversation at this time on al-jazeera. welcome back you're watching officer i'm sort. of our top stories the bar boys do leader says building an open a transparent economy is a bigger priority in his address to the nation and a symbol to god that he was committed to building a system that was welcoming to zimbabweans as well as foreign investors the u.s. senate has passed a contentious one point five trillion dollar tax reform bill this brings president donald trump one step closer to his first significant legislative victory the house

of representatives will hold a final vote in the coming hours. to be a bar has blocked the u.n. special envoy from entering the country yankee lee had been due to visit in january to assess human rights including abuses against mr brooking it rakhine state. to europe now where campaigning for catalonia start parliamentary election is drawing to a close catalans head to the polls on thursday for a vote is expected to indicate the extent of public support for session from spain called pole possible from barcelona. it's a last rush before campaigning closes a rally for the separatists d r c o catalan republican left party former speaker of the regional parliament come a 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 kidd us 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 masse hopes madrid will look for compromise not confrontation if the central government. had the 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 a 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 a 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 the ears announced its strongest measure against member states poland the commission of runs two modes announce the trigger you of article seven a process that could see poland stripped of its voting rights within the european bloc now this is being used to force poland's government to drop its new controversial judicial laws that the e.u. calls a threat to democracy hungry as it will not support the measure. the so-called nuclear option of article seven has never been used before the commission decided to invoke article seven one procedure and submit a recent proposal reason proposal for a decision of the council on the determination of a clear risk of a serious breach of the rule of law by port. however should the polish authorities implement the recommended actions in the coming three months the commission stands

ready in consultation with the european parliament and the council to reconsider its recent propose the european union's top court has ruled that is officially a transport company or not a digital service that means it can be regulated like traditional taxi services the landmark ruling means that it will have to accept stricter regulation and licensing within the e.u. now the case follows a complaint by a barcelona taxi group that argued it was directly involved in carrying passengers who argued it was a digital app instead and that it should fall under a different less stringent rules one day ahead of the vote on the us decision on jerusalem at the un the us ambassador has sent a threatening e-mail to other members of the general assembly the halley war the brigade supporting a resolution to reject donald trump's recognition of jerusalem the e-mail reads the president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested

a report back on those who voted against us as you consider your vote i encourage you to know the president of the u.s. take this vote personally a new round of talks aimed at ending the syrian civil war because in kazakhstan's capital a starter of the day the two day meeting will focus on implementing a cease fire deal brokered by russia turkey and iran because that foreign ministry says that the talks will also address issues including the clearing of land mines of the release of hostages in syria. meanwhile people displaced weisel former stronghold of rockers say that they're being pressurised into returning to their destroyed homes parents there are worried about their young children stepping on unexploded bombs as a suburb of it reports. it's not easy thousand lords' from rubble but the family has little choice. their home and rocco was hit by an e.f. strike as i still was driven out they've been living in displacement camps but life

is so tough there they have to move back home with some fear the children could step on a mine on an unexploded munition. chasms i'm from the el mission that neighborhood i'm constantly worried about the young children it's difficult to live here there's nothing we have no house to live outside now after the fall of isis the fact the capital the people of the complain no one is helping them i was amr has thirteen children and he says the camp management to die nice told him to go home we're going to look at this the house is gone there's nothing left nothing to eat or drink we need something to survive 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 the civilians 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. eisel to leave guns and ammunition from the syrian army. 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 thank the deflator arab population find it's hard to believe people wouldn't comment on camera but many say they're under another occupying force kurdish my b.g. fight is deny accusations that defend arabs from their towns and villages. but unless there is a serious push to rebuild and rehabilitate raptors gaping wounds where the risk of

fostering from other groups like isis which armament jobby down to zero on the western bank of the euphrates river i was there are journalists around the world are calling for the release of our colleague matthew just saying he's been detained into the gyptian prison for a year he was taken into custody while visiting family security services there say he's under investigation but have not referred him to court as reports. standing in solidarity with mahmoud hussein at al-jazeera headquarters in doha journalists from around the world showed their support for hussein who has been held in any gypsum prison for a year the correspondent is accused of crimes ranging from incitement to broadcasting fake news with the aim of spreading chaos trendall is the managing director of al-jazeera english he says the allegations against hussein are false it's quite outrageous that but his imprisonment has been extended i believe that

every forty five days they extend the taste attention that it's now right in two years so it's it's really outrageous and of course we call for his freedom of all as we do hold journalists who were unjustly imprisoned before working at network headquarters in doha hussein was based in al-jazeera is now closed bureau in cairo his family says his physical and mental health have deteriorated considerably over the past year and that he's been denied adequate medical attention for a broken arm my father is emotionally and mentally distressed because he feels that he was there underdogs and behind the bars without committing any crime the coverage of hussein's case by gyptian 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 brother face social stigma everything in their schools everyone calls things if they are sons and daughters of protest and they are not

sure fingering egypt they are not safe each one of us is not safe human rights and press freedom groups have also condemned hussein's arrest it's unclear when or if not move who say he will be released from prison but the message to his egyptian jailers from him his family and all his colleagues at al-jazeera remains the same free mahmoud because. journalism is not a crime. hussein's detention is the latest in a string of arrests by egyptian 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 the censure for in danger of national security accusations he denies egypt also imprisoned al-jazeera is by her mohammed mohamed fahmy and peter greste on charges of spreading false 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 and while it's unclear what will happen to mahmoud hussain the demands for his release will continue until he's free m.p.'s al-jazeera. now the u.s. and canada will co-host a summit attended by foreign ministers from fourteen countries in january to see progress on the north korean nuclear crisis the announcement was made after u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson met canadian foreign minister chrystia freeland the meeting will be held in the city of vancouver the last month north korea tested its most powerful ballistic missile get one it says it's 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 itself pretty 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 condemnation of korea's actions

we will not accept you as a nuclear nation a nuclear weapons nation and all of the share wanted policy you want to go to the full complete verifiable denuclearization of the korean peninsula. now the u.s. has promised to speed up recovery efforts in federal assistance to puerto rico after top officials visited the island don't choose state puerto rico continues to struggle after a devastating hurrican three months ago with over two hundred thousand homes damaged several be disciplined still in 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 what the guns will see how congress responded to our needs and why our position. there are several steps along this way there's a tax reform and there is. we see that there is there are senators and congressmen. are acting. you know against the best interest of the people that

we will. we see. videos. and an opportunity to talk to people back in united states who actually suffer as a result of what's going on here. will we ever have a complete one hundred percent understanding of all the suffering that people go through. probably. through the level of compassion is there we do understand that there are very significant. and you can follow all of the stories that we're covering here on out is there by logging on to our website is updated twenty four hours a day at al-jazeera dot com. you're watching algis there are so robert these are all top stories and bob ways new

leaders says building an open and transparent economy is a major priority and isn't what the guy is in an address to the nation says he's committed to building a system that's welcoming is a barbarians as well as foreign investors. government will soon. hear a biased engagement and engagement program with the definition of community in their work going to be to rejoin the issues may make government is committed to what presumably. meant very building in free but it ain't going to me which the british it's zimbabweans and is coming out say there's the u.s. senate has passed a contentious one point five trillion dollar tax reform bill now this brings president donald trump one step closer to his first significant legislative victory

of representatives will hold a final vote in the coming hours. the independent un investigator has been blocked by me in march from visiting next month has told aunt is there that she deeply is deeply disappointed with the decision and keely warned there must be something terrible happening in iraq in state more than six hundred fifty thousand ring of muslims have fled to neighboring bangladesh since august to escape a military crackdown the european union's top court has ruled that is officially a transport company and not a digital service that means it could be regulated like traditional taxi services 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 was directly involved in carrying passengers. a new round of talks aimed at ending the syrian civil war begins a cause it stands capitola star birthday the two day meeting will focus on implementing a cease fire deal brokered by russia turkey and iran. al-jazeera journalists around

the world are calling for the release of our colleague mahmoud hussein stuff here in doha have been showing their support for hussein by holding this event in our arabic channel news room they want to see him freed from prison those were the headlines bore in half an hour with the news with next on al-jazeera it's the street to stay with us 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 trillion families who lived through them. ok you're in the stream we're live on al-jazeera. today voted in staines catalonia region go.