that space we do. about this conviction that everyone has a deep reservoir of talent but if you give them the opportunity to wonderful things start to look at the exit distance there's at least twenty thousand or hinder refugees who live here we badly need at this moment leadership and felt person exposed to the public as was i guess it's going to be the next president retaliation where banks want to go. back she's very kind of gas subsidies to be doing it best to prevent getting anyway let's get a call that. he achieved something that never happened before. al jazeera. and live from studio three a team here at al-jazeera headquarters in

doha. welcome to the news great donald trump one step away from his first major legislative victory the u.s. senate has approved a rewrite of america's tax code the first in more than thirty years the bill is now back in the house for a final approval can this victory help president trump overcome non-self allstars frustrations and scandals we'll have a live report from washington. also on the graves in the heart of one of the world's biggest refugee camps a un refugee chief has visited the border between kenya and somalia weight two hundred thirty thousand people live some have started to return to somalia but wise groups are concerned they're being pressured to go back or speak to filippo grandi the u.n. high commissioner for refugees and eighteen solidarity. one year since egypt arrested canid mahmoud hussein accusing him of reporting false news to create chaos

al-jazeera continues to deny all the allegations against him and demands he's immediate release. mood hussein's case is one of many examples of governments targeting journalists on the road and press freedoms will also be looking at the arrest of reporters and need more using colonial era laws written nearly a century ago i made. it with news grades live on air and streaming online through you tube facebook live and at al-jazeera dot com thank you for joining us it's taken almost a year but u.s. president donald trump is on the brink of his first major legislative triumph. the tax cuts and jobs act is passed that was vice president mike pence announcing that the senate had now really approved the biggest rewrite of america's tax laws in more than thirty years the other chamber the house of representatives now just has

to stamp it off before the bill goes to the president's desk where he will sign it into law donald trump and the republicans say it will boost the economy and benefit everyone while the democrats argue that the only winners will be big corporations and rich people what a disgrace that's what this bill is it's an absolute disgrace it's not just an ideological difference it is something dramatically opposite of what america needs there is no reason for a single middle class family to pay more while every single corporation pays less my view those that we can so those are the american people we ought to go into another line of work i think there's an important accomplishment for the country that people will value and appreciate but obviously it requires us to continue into this discussion with the american people and we're all going to be doing the. right

so those are the arguments now he are the facts big business is beyond a doubt a winner in this with the corporate tax rate dropping from thirty five to twenty one percent this cut under the legislation is permanent cuts for individuals so are not the last for seven years and as you can see the richest people will benefit the most it's not just taxes that are changing the legislation also repeal it's part of the obamacare health system that republicans have long tried to get rid of it also opens the way for oil and gas drilling in alaska octave national wildlife refuge a big defeat for environmentalists and president trump has been tweeting he just tweeted this not long ago the tax cuts are so large and so meaningful and yet the fake hughes is working overtime to follow the lead of their friends the defeated dems and only demean the true case the results will speak for themselves starting very soon jobs jobs jobs such as the president's latest tweet let's speak to

a white house correspondent kimberly whole kit now who is in washington at the white house for a skin believe the president in a set of a tory mood clearly there on twitter talk us through the next phase for us for this legislation it's not going back to the house for a vote but it's pretty much a done deal right. it's a done deal for all intents and purposes the house already voted on this it was discovered in the senate there were three minor provisions that were not lawful for lack of a better word so they're going to have the vote again on this tweaks legislation and then it gets signed into law by the president now we know the president is planning to speak at the white house of bout this many people call it his victory lap initially that was supposed to be for eight hundred g.m.t. that time is now slid by two hours now we expect that will happen in about twenty what's not clear for us right now is why the president won't be signing this into law according to the white house at that press event parent leave that's happening at a later date not sure why but essentially once the president signs it it's

a done deal and when you hear the president's tweet there as you just read really the evidence will be in the jobs jobs jobs this is a big gamble for the president and for republicans who hope that these corporate tax rates will in turn create jobs for middle class americans. is basking in the triumph of his first major legislative victory but how much do you think this will help in making people forget about the other crises that are great his first year in office and that is of the biggest one the russian investigation of course. well you know when it comes to americans it seems like there are three things that really capture americans attention is their heart their mind their pocketbook so this is about the american pocketbook or their wallet if you will if americans see that more of their paycheck is staying in their wallet not going to the government allowing them in turn to take care of their families than this certainly will be a big victory for the president the problem in all of this is whether or not the

corporations are going to deliver because they've gotten these big tax cuts will they in turn hire more americans that's that gamble i was talking about and really when it comes to americans this is a deeply unpopular piece of legislation because most americans don't really know what's in it in fact most legislators don't know what's it is more than five hundred pages they haven't all been read and so there certainly are some concerns because of course there is deep distrust of government in the united states can really thank you very much for that can be how kate our white house correspondent at kimberley hope that if you want to connect with her on twitter let's bring in our social media producer now andrew a ship out andrew the vote in the senate kept the party lines and the reaction has been pretty much been the same i don't party lines just very partisan here and donald trump's democratic party rivals say this bill is first and foremost a tax hike on millions of families that will send most of its benefits to the top one percent of americans not just the rich but the ultra rich that's why democrats have been using the hash tag g.o.p.

tax scam now calling it a scam is pretty rough but in the lead up to the vote house democrats used even stronger language this g.o.p. tax scam is simply that. monumental brazen that from the american middle class and from every person who aspires to reach the g.o.p. tax scam is not a vote for an investment in growth or jobs it is a vote to install a permanent plutocracy in our nation while other democrats are using tax reform in the holiday season to compare president trump to the grinch every middle class family wanted tax cuts a lot but the grinch who lived in a big white house did not agree one representative from rhode island told an entire story on the floor of the house called how the grinch stole middle class tax cuts inspired by dr seuss there are a lot of comments along the same lines from democrats in both houses calling the

tax bill a handout for the super rich another colorful comparison i saw likened republicans to robin hood but in reverse on the other side republican politicians say that their reforms among other positive things in this bill will simplify taxation for americans and they say that they have essentially delivered on a major campaign promise here and while this will be seen as the president's first major legislative achievement his supporters say that trump is had a very successful year through his court appointments through military advances against eisel and the performance of the stock market so let us know what you think about all of this is specially if you're impacted by the tax plan you can get in touch with me directly i'm at order sees the hash tag it is good yeah and andrew a lot of our viewers already commenting on this story a lot of them having opinions on this dana on facebook say this tax plan is a total nightmare for americans unless you are rich here and also on facebook says middle class is suffering everywhere in the world this tax plan is not

a good one and there's a very interesting piece on al-jazeera dot com right now on how the trump tax plan will increase income inequality in america the warning came from philip out. in the un special rapporteur on extreme poverty and rights he says president trumps tax reform plan stakes out america's bid to become the most unequal society in the world philip alston recently traveled to the southern united states to explore the poverty in the region and he talked about how this tax plan basically expanded the inequalities between rich and poor in america let's move on now to other world news and thousands killed countless more wounded millions pushed to the edge of famine this is a reality in yemen a thousand days after a saudi led military coalition intervened to support the government in its war

against the rebels. reports on what the u.n. describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. 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 dr and i used to go to school on thirteen 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 i used to love writing but now i can't even hold a pen. for 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 conflict continues there are fears of a wider regional confrontation the healthy is the remain defiant and. we face a war carried out by ten countries and there are 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 earthy defense lines civilians caught in the fighting. 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. i'm opposed to my country but i also hope that all the parties come together and build a democratic state. millions of germany's 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 who things inside. but for many yemenis like neuron have suffered the most in this conflict and to the fighting can't come soon enough. and the war in yemen in pictures one hundred days of war as you can see the

immense suffering fountains of people affected and also fountains of public service employees across yemen have not been paid their salaries for more than a year and a half read this piece by col schembri on al jazeera dot com also some great pictures of the conflict in yemen and the suffering of people illustrated through those pictures on al-jazeera dot com and to syria where families say they've been pressured to return to their homes in rocka since the city was recaptured from ice all parents are worried about children stepping on an unexploded bombs osama bin job it reports from near jobless in northern syria. it's not easy thundering and flowed from rubble but the family has little choice. their home in iraq i was hit by a near strike as i filled was driven out they've been living in displacement camps but life was so tough there back home with some fears 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 complain no one is helping them has thirteen children and he says the camp management that 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 villian 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 few have announced the building 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 of fighters continue to discover weapons dumps faisel to leave guns and ammunition from the syrian army. 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. fight to deny accusations that defends arabs from their towns and villages. but unless there's a serious push to rebuild and rehabilitate raptors gaping wounds bear the risk of fostering some other groups like isis which armament jobby down to zero on the

western bank of the euphrates river. now the united states is warning fellow u.n. member states not ok apologies for that we'll get to that story in just a second when we bring up our u.n. correspondent mike hanna who we joining us from the united nations in just a few minutes to talk to us about the warning the u.s. ambassador to the united nations nikki haley has made to member states of the united nations who are about to vote on a resolution at the general assembly tomorrow on the u.s. recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital we'll get to that story in just a moment but first it's been one hundred days since a colleague mahmoud hussein has spent one year in an egyptian prison after being detained while visiting east sami that prompted a stand of solidarity here at al jazeera as we continue to demand his release in just time as our report. standing in solidarity with mahmoud hussein

at al-jazeera headquarters in doha journalists from around the world show their support for hussein who has been held in any gyptian 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 into a year so it's it's really outrageous and of course we call for his freedom of the law as we do fall 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's there and the dog sitting behind the bars without committing any crime the coverage of his saints 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 is the one constant 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 all just zero 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 helo the former editor in chief of al-jazeera arabic was sentenced to death in the censure for in danger in national security accusations he denies egypt also imprisoned al jazeera mohammed 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 hussein the demands for his release will continue until he's free in al-jazeera doa i mean while harsh restrictions in a rest in myanmar have made it incredibly difficult to cover human rights abuses going on in rakhine state and military crackdown in rakhine state has forced

hundreds of thousands of running and muslims to flee to bangladesh and many of them have been killed and manned mars government has just brought she when special rapper tour for human lives young lady from entering we spoke to her earlier about it take a listen. there's a lot of big words that have been. in my to there's that sense of a lot of kind of strong very strong condemnation but it doesn't seem like the military government is taking heed to any of that is. 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 it was an improvement we've come so far from that we have never i for the first person and the last person would

have never. me a mile would choose to go down this path it was opening up it was the road to democracy the transition the ration of the people you know all over this point to a success story for me but i am really deeply. disappointed and very saddened by that this decision. to deny cooperation with my mandate over there any other human rights mechanisms and most of all to silence people who speak out about these kind of atrocities. now u.n. officials are facing obstacles from the government in myanmar but journalists are also being talk at it in the country that's certainly the case there's two journalists from the reuters news agency who were who were arrested last week and

days later are still in jail while alone and kelso accepted an invitation to dine with police officers on the outskirts of me in mars largest city yang gone that's where and that's when they were both picked up and arrested both journalists worked on reuters coverage of the crisis that is seen around six hundred fifty five thousand revenge refugees flee from a military crackdown in the western rakhine state journalists have condemned the arrests on twitter using a hash tag free loan kelso to others are using a hash tag myanmar press freedom verrina here it's waiting that simply we want them back now call here says that in myanmar ethical journalists are being persecuted and jailed through smear campaigns while biased unethical and inflammatory journalists and reporters are being provided impunity reporters have been charged under the official secrets act of ministry of information posted this photo on facebook saying that the reporters illegally acquired information with the intent to share it with foreign media now that law dates back to one nine hundred twenty

three when me and maher then known as burma was a province of british india at the time british administrators worried that rival powers could seek to exploit anti-colonial unrest in its south asian empire so the official secrets act covers trespassing in for hit areas handling documents deemed to be secret and communicating with foreign agents this law carries a maximum penalty of up to fourteen years in prison section three prohibits people from taking images or handling secret official documents that might be useful to a so called enemy legal experts say prosecution under this act have been rare and b. and maher in recent decades and this is what reuters had to say. so royce is president and editor in chief steve has called the detention of well known in case of a blatant attack on press freedom and he has called for immediate release of course and we haven't had any response yet from the myanmar authorities mr waiting to hear

how things are going to unfold from here now the e.u. is increasing pressure on me in mart's release the reporters as quickly as possible the journalists haven't been seen by visitors and police won't say where they're holding them or grant access to family or attorneys now their case mahmud hussein's case are just a few of many incidents of journalists around the world who are in prison just for doing their job and we want to hear from you let us know what you think about these stories using the hash tag it is good andrew thank you very much for that the world needs to do more to help millions of refugees from sub-saharan africa that's the message from the un's refugee chief filippo grandi has just wrapped up his visit to the walls one of the world's largest refugee camps which is in kenya any of the border with somalia the government wants to close down more than two hundred thirty thousand people live while we speak to felipe aground in just a moment but first this video from the u.s. refugee agency which gives us some figures still stop and think about.

well i'm very pleased to welcome now three full grandy to the news great he's a united nations high commissioner for refugees he joins us live from nairobi in kenya very good to have you on the show with us or i want to hear about your visit

to the refugee camp in just a moment but just coming back to video we just saw we just showed that the u.n. put together you're going to zation says that this refugee crisis the world is west witnessing today is unlike anything we've seen since the end of the second world war but no conflict today is close to being as deadly as world war two sixty million people died then just tell us about the scale of the crisis today the refugee crisis around the world and how many of these crises can you deal with as an organization. the scale is a president that in modern times we have almost sixty six million refugees and people that are refugees in their own country we call them internally displaced saw it's very big and it's very scattered it's all over the place we've just heard about myanmar that crisis has provoked the recent the exodus of six hundred thousand people across the border into bangladesh and here in africa from where i speak we

have multiple conflicts eight. very difficult conflicts and fickle to resolve in each one of them producing generating displacement earlier you visited the dadaab refugee camp on the border between kenya and somalia understand and some of the somali refugees who have lived in kenya for so many years now have been returning home i believe about thirty thousand of them on a voluntary basis but there is nonetheless increasing pressure from kenya to shut down the dob but somalia sir is still a very un secure and stable country how concerned are you about what these refugees are returning to and what kind of support are they getting when they get back. i think that the concern of pressure to go back has diminished i think there is a realisation in kenya and everywhere that somalia is not entirely stable country

recent attack that provoked five hundred deaths in mogadishu drought that has ravaged the country lately everybody has an understanding that repatriation has to be first of all voluntary and then very gradual and this is what we're doing now in full agreement with the government of kenya i saw the president today president kenyatta and we discussed this that means so that means that many refugees there's about eight hundred and fifty thousand somali refugees in the region in kenya ethiopia djibouti were in was a few days ago and other countries that means that they will continue to meet asylum protection in these countries that means that we need to continue providing them with humanitarian assistance and very importantly we need to also support the communities hosting them like here in kenya that often are very poor themselves as you say say yourself you know when we talk about these crisis they're scattered all over the world as myanmar that is the refugee crisis in the horn of africa but very

often nowadays when we think about a refugee crisis the first one that comes to mind is a syrian refugee crisis and the numbers there are huge but syrians only make up a third of the sixty million refugees to what extent has syria overshadowed eclipsed the other crises around the world in terms of funding for you and in terms of urgency. certainly the syria crisis at one point was very overwhelming it is the largest refugee crisis in the world still but it became very urgent very visible when syrians started arriving in large numbers in europe if you remember two thousand and fifteen two thousand and sixteen when my job is precisely this also it's to remind the world that all this prizes need that tension and need resources there is not one which is

more important than the others right all of them cause instability and more importantly cause untold suffering to the people that have to leave their homes and make that most difficult of choices which sees to leave everything behind because you are compelled to flee missa grant a question here from one of our viewers as a refugee agency how do you go about prioritizing these crises how do you decide which refugees need the most help is there a hierarchy in the u.n. system to prioritize these crises. well in legal terms in terms of international law all refugees need protection there is no hierarchy there but in terms of how you provide assistance of course you have to prioritize it on the basis of vulnerability and vulnerabilities can be of many of many kinds and in that sense refugees like those in bangladesh today assistance is

urgent there because they are they have come with nothing from myanmar and they need everything but we should not forget that even some of the refugees the ones i've been dealing in the last few days with although they've been away from their country for many many years they still have needs their needs maybe of a different nature we may need want in those cases to invest more in the longer term in education in opportunities so that when they go back as so many refugees are beginning to do they can bring back skills to their country and contribute to the reconstruction so needs vary and they have to adapt the response according to the situation thank you so very much for taking the time to speak to us filippo grandi is the united nations high commissioner for refugees he was joining us on the news great from nairobi kenya thank you for your time sir thank you for having me. now the united states is warning fellow u.n.

member states not to vote in favor of a resolution which calls for president donald trump to reverse his decision on recognizing jerusalem as israel's capital the u.n. general assembly will hold a re-imagined see session in twenty four hours in a tweet the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley said at the u.n. we're always asked to do more and give more so when we make a decision at the will of the american people about where to locate our embassy we don't expect those who have help to target us on various say they'll be a vote criticizing our choice the u.s. will be taking names that speak to a mechanic at the united nations for us mike how is this threat going down of the way well nobody speaking publicly about it but obviously it's a matter of much debate behind closed doors and discussion and in some cases intense anger the u.s. ambassador has also sent a letter to all members of the united nations and let me just quote a couple of lines from it she says as you consider your vote i want you to know

that the president and the u.s. will take it personally she then continues in her letter saying. i will take note of those countries who voted against us we will take note of each and every vote on this issue this is in effect a threat to fellow member nations of the united nations the u.s. intent on avoiding any embarrassment in the general assembly vote taking place thursday joined by israel which has also sent messages to all its foreign embassies i understand all its foreign ministries asking them to bring pressure to bear on all member states but this threat is not new this is what ambassador haley had to say following the fourteen one vote in the security council on jerusalem. what we witnessed here today in the security council is an insult it won't be forgotten it's one more example of the united nations doing more harm than good in

addressing the israeli's tallis tinian conflict today for the simple act of deciding where to put our embassy the united states was forced to defend its sovereignty the record will reflect that we did so proudly but the last time the general assembly voted on an israel issue that was back in november one hundred fifty one votes in favor of the resolution condemning israel's activities in jerusalem only six voted against among them the united states micronesia and israel itself if the vote goes that way thursday will be a shuttering blow to the u.s. and to israel and a great emphasis on the degree of division between the u.s. and the rest of the world on the issue of the status of jerusalem mike thank you very much for that mike hanna reporting there live from the united nations in new york and we've got a special page up on al-jazeera dot com with all the very latest on the jerusalem

recognition controversy you have a timeline that's constantly updated with all the latest developments both on the diplomatic and on the street front as you know there's been a lot of protests since the u.s. recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital all of that and much more on our web site al-jazeera dot com and if you have any questions on that story and others we're covering on the great today you can connect with us using the hash tag a.j. news greg you can send your questions to our correspondents our guests by contacting us all the different ways to do that on your screen right now on twitter our handle is at english you can also whatsapp us the number seven four five zero one triple one four nine. now moving on to zimbabwe and economic recovery has been the focus of m s n one ganga as for a state of the nation address as the president of zimbabwe has promised to turn things around since taking over robert mugabe who's decades of rule came to an end last month government will soon and. era burst and

gains rent reengagement program with international community in there will continue to be to rejoin the community of nations. my government is committed to open a zimbabwe up to this mint by building a free and transparent economy which abilities zimbabweans mts will coming to outsiders live to her in zimbabwe's capital harare how a large part of present one ganga a speech was devoted to the economy how have zimbabweans been reacting to his message today are they hopeful that things will get better. the feedback has been generally positive it's ultimately about the economy like he said

people want jobs they want the economy to recover and they say the president said all the right things but some are saying we've heard this all before robert mugabe when he was head of state former head of state he promised to create jobs and he never really did so people are saying they are tired of talk they want action they want to see results prism and what is expected in south africa on thursday he clearly call and leave the country without someone in charge so what we could see happening is him appointing two vice presidents this the commission one of them could be general constantine he used to hit the zimbabwe defense forces you tired yesterday and he is the man who played a huge huge role in removing robert mugabe from power the issue of land reform heroin is a very contentious one in zimbabwe a very controversial one and the president also spoke about it in his speech did he announce any specific measures when it comes to land. he says will be a land orders he wants to know who has farms how many each person has who's

productive who's not he's appointed a former soldier retired air marshal parents either he's or the agriculture minister he says he hopes he'll with these farmers into being productive we know that some government officials have traveled to zambia where they met some white farmers whites involving farmers who've gone to zambia and they say they want to come back and work with the new president and work with the government to revive that agricultural sector some people are also concerned about what that means in terms of land reform because remember land is an emotive issue here black land belongs to them and shouldn't be taken away so yes really manage or there he says he won't reverse the land reform policy he just wants to make those farms more productive people watching him closely to see if he actually manages to do that many challenges ahead for this new government no doubt and one of the bigger one also is gauging with the engine. national community after years of isolation how is the new president going to go about doing that how is he going to be courting the

international community. when he's already started even since he was sworn in we've had people from the united kingdom you've had officials from china from i'll say around the world coming into the country meeting him one on one and he's be telling them he wants to reengage with the international community the funny thing is minister again a soldier retired major general is the more oil is now the front affairs minister he met ambassadors few days ago he says this to get about the past it by going to be bygones we know we made mistakes some of you didn't like our policies we're now starting over or oh my god he is no longer around it's now a new country so he is really trying to engage his nationality which is very very key but i think most people in the international media space ambassador has spoken to here have said they want to wait and see how the elections next to play out if this free fair and credible and there's no violence it could indicate there's not stability in the country which could encourage investors to come back and pour money into the country thank you very much for that live for us in harare zimbabwe

we are now are almost to you all here on the newsgroup taking a look at the different pictures the news agencies are feeding us we're expecting a speech in south africa from the new leader of the african national congress a ruling party a.n.c. cyril ramaphosa expected to speak on the last day of the a.n.c. congress we will bring that to united when it happens on al-jazeera this is the austrian parliament meanwhile and sebastian curtis a new chancellor in austria speaking to the parliament for the first time since he took office after forming a coalition in austria now let's check in with london new center and barbara sara for a look at the day's other news barbara. folley thank you catalans are anxiously preparing for thursday's decisive regional vote which will help settle the question of whether the region should secede from spain polling stations are being set up across the region thursday's poll pits the leaders of the separatist

movement against candidates who want to stay a part of spain record turnout is expected and candidates are neck and neck in opinion polls with neither side likely to win a clear majority madrid called for the snap vote after pro secession leaders unilaterally declared independence in october. poland has spoken out against the e.u. calling the unprecedented the sedition to suspend its voting rights politically motivated the european commission has launched what's known as the article seven procedure against warsaw a step that could lead to sanctions it's over reforms in poland that the e.u. fears will undermine the court's independence by putting them under more direct government control where the european commission first vice president france him or his man made the announcement earlier on wednesday the common pattern of all these legislative changes is that the executive or legislative powers and are set up in

such a way that the ruling majority can systematically politically it's a fear with the composition the powers the administration and the functioning of these authorities thereby rendering the independence of the judiciary. to be moot. british prime minister two reason may says that she will permit a short to delay to britain's the parcher from the european union in exceptional circumstances may have been headed for a second defeat in parliament later on wednesday after several members of our party said that they would vote against writing the date of breck's it into law rebels had signaled they would be prepared to back down if a provision was added allowing bad date to be changed if necessary speaking at head of an eight hour debate on the legislation may told parliament that she would accept the compromise is important i think we have the same position legally as the

european union and that's why we've accepted the amendment my right arm befriend the member for westall sit but i can assure my own befriend the house we would only use this power in exceptional circumstances for the shortest possible time and an affirmative motion would be brought to the house. or has suffered a setback after a court ruled that the app can be regulated like other taxi firms the right hailing app argued that it is not a taxi service but an information sharing app putting drivers and passengers in contact however the european court of justice says e.u. governments can now regulate as they would for any other transport company while i'm going to have more news from around the world here from london at sixteen hundred g.m.t. now though let's go back to foggy barbara thank you we will see you then sixteen hundred g.m.t. now they've been few words of sorrow from victims of church sex abuse after the death of disgraced former boston archbishop cardinal bernard law his failure as a sop child molesters in the priesthood sponsor outrage which was chronicled in the

award winning film spotlight on hawkster has more. it was 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 of the 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 placed tanno law hit everything under the cap and he will not admit anything he will not

meet with us. the abuse in boston extended over six decades involving over two hundred thirty priests and more than seven hundred fifty victims their 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 used court documents reveal in the car to had moved priests who had abused children from parish to parish without police all parents. his actions led to public aprile 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

. boston priest molested kids in six different versions over the last thirty years the church found out about it and did nothing we haven't committed any long term investigator for the sorcerer's despite his involvement in the clergy sex abuse scandal of the vatican continue to support call it no go and offered him a position in rome within the church he focused on building catholic jewish relations and acting as an unofficial envoy to cuba cardinal bernard law who died in rome he was eighty six years old how to which is there. now the death of cardinal law has garnered a lot of attention online with tens of thousands of tweets from people reacting to his death now the conversations are mostly related to the sex abuse scandal the cardinals legacy the broader catholic church as well now we notice that more than half of the conversation about his death is coming out of boston which has the largest catholic population in the united states this is also a big story in new york which has the second largest population now much of the

online reaction i must say is very very critical robert here says every reference to the cardinal's death should mention his central role in exposing children to pedophile priests his actions were as damaging as those priests and he should have died in jail many people know of the scandal because of the film spotlight as we just heard which won the best picture academy award last year the film focuses on the allegations of widespread abuse facing dozens of priests in the boston diocese and the spotlight investigative reports by the boston globe. mark ruffalo played the role of a journalist from the boston globe special investigations team and he posted a short while ago that one can only hope the countless sexual abuse of children he allowed and the subsequent profound suffering that he hid will come to an end with his demise if you're watching us from boston or have any other thoughts on this story that you want to share do get in touch with us using the hash tag it is good . thank you very much for that peter is here in just a moment with a look at what people are talking about in sports and the twenty thirteen wimbledon

champion tony has announced she is coming out of retirement to return to professional tennis that's coming up after a snapshot of the world but. tonight

it's like getting something for you young it's the season of excess this is me and . i for one all american family

a challenge. this sucks life without the wilds factory we don't make any. what is our economic christmas without china a witness documentary. kenyan elections intractable rule 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 trivializing families who lived through the. high time now for sports peter is here and another tennis star making a comeback quite rightfully that's exactly what it is she shocked the tennis were

about retiring just a month after winning wimbledon and mel this lady marion bartoli has surprised everyone again by announcing she's to make a comeback four years off to calling it quits but only played her last match in cincinnati in twenty thirteen losing to the no world number one simona halep aged just twenty eight she said nobody could no longer cope with the strain of the game but off the taking time out which she's worked in television and also struggled publicly with her health on tuesday the frenchwoman revealed written. it's going to be your challenge i asked you out of practice ahead of me but i'm hoping to be ready for march and the miami open. and read a king for wired to be on the corner get in front of you to feel your support machine paris of course in roland garros in my home country but also for the fed cup and who invented well bottle his announcement has been welcomed by fans and

fellow professionals online some of the comments are quite like this one from retired former world number one men's player andy roddick the american reaction in this tweet implies that perhaps maybe he might be thinking of a return to. or not turns out he was just kidding he simply says that good luck to the french woman now sports writer christopher clary took a more sarcastic approach each has to post a link to an article from a few years ago where bartoli said her decision to retire was final and they would be no return to the sport famous last words and charlotte here is clearly not interested in what bartoli may have had to say all those years ago she's just happy to have a back she tweeted this picture from wimbledon in twenty thirty when she was there to support. for more nurses now joined by sophie a former player from france who no follows the game as a t.v. commentator sophie thank you for joining us it's lovely to have you with us how

surprising is this comeback considering she said her decision to retire was final. well nothing is really surprising about mayawati i don't know if you remember but our type of game was no surprise to see how she was able to actually succeed with playing with two hands on each side and the demand physically that she had to bring on the court was enormous and it was already amazing for her to win a grand slam i think that not many people expected that in two thousand and thirteen at wimbledon but to tell you the truth i'm surprised that i'm not but you know the famous words never say never that's one thing that we should hope remember right now one reason that she could prove because of injuries and she's obviously had health issues recently physically this is a big challenge for her isn't it. well physically is going to be the main challenge i think mentally we know that she's a warier and she's proven this day in and day out on the tour winning

a titles winning a grand slam title and i think that physically with all she went through throughout the last two years especially year ago with the illness and the weight gain and the weight loss i mean it's been like so difficult for her she's. she's still plying and you know the funny thing is you know i interviewed her about two weeks before she retired and that was after wimbledon back in two thousand and thirteen and there was absolutely no reason for her to quit she didn't have that in our mind so it was such a shock for everybody so surprised i don't think we should be surprised by anything that happens these days on the tennis tour with the likes of all the older player i would say like the federer and the cyrano williams who is now trying to come back after giving birth to her of her first child so young bartoli is a great story again for the woman stays association i think that i'm bracing this

and i'm sure i'm sure one of them because as commentator it's always fun to see different things and that's going to be one different one because she's aiming to come back at the miami open in the in march ok so talking about the w.c. embracing this sherif publisher be back full time in twenty eight hundred sareen is expected to return at some point to the toadies back on the tourism as well now so how much of a boost is this for the women's game. look i think you meant the women's game right now to me is exceptional because the deaths in the women's game i've never been so grand you have players who are in the top you know fifty you can be pretty much anybody and we've seen a lot of movement in the number one ranking last year i think it's going to happen this year again you know you forgot to mention as a rank up who is also you know player that could definitely make a difference this year on the tour she's able with the custody battle that she's having with her son leo to finally you know move from california and go to

a tournament so i think what we have to expect in two thousand and eighteen is you know an amazing field from the number one up to the number ranked more and more to a leader who is going to look for wildcard to get into tournament's and it's exciting i mean what's not exciting about that i mean you have pretty much a lot of players who are looking to maybe be the contender and be the new winners here in grand slam we had four different grand slams winner last year which is pretty amazing and it's a testimony anything to the depth the women's tennis and how good it is and how good they are out there sophia america we're going to leave it there thank you very very much for your time very much appreciate it but remember you can also join the conversation using the a.j. news would go to meet me directly at speeds under school standard back with more in the eight hundred g.m.t. hour but for now it's back to you fully peter thank you very much before we end today's show i look at some very impressive pictures out of ecuador where

a volcano known as troublemaker has been rumbling to life the photographer has captured these fiery explosions over a three day period earlier this month using special timelapse techniques it's ok knows last big eruption was back in two thousand and two when it went off with almost no warning wiping out a nearby valley the picture is quite impressive. well that will do it for today's news great remember to keep in touch with us on social media hashtag as ever it is great we'll see you again tomorrow at fifteen g.m.t. .

you are making very pointed remarks where on line the main u.s. response to drug use and the drug trade over the last fifty years has been the criminal or if you join us on sac no evil person just wakes up in the morning and say i want to cover the world in darkness this is a dialogue that could be worth leading to some of the confusion online about people saying they don't actually know what's going on join the colobus conversation at this time on al-jazeera. something images from the niger delta through the unflinching eyes of a look up with. an eye on a mission to demonstrates the good under his beloved homeland documents the effects of the black. and disfigured. and showcases the traditional moments between. tribal culture the new.

al-jazeera. thank you i thank you. u.s. republicans poised to hand president trump his first.