and. this time on. al-jazeera. welcome to the al-jazeera news our life for my headquarters and the end of the problem for the next sixty minutes. a second day of pro-government rallies and the

head of the revolutionary guard says the days of protests are all over. the chinese president tells his soldiers to be combat ready at a grand military parade. a new bowl quotes one of donald trump's top supporters criticizing the president and the white house that's not happy about it and turkey slams the u.s. of the trial of a banker accused of illegally moving money for iran. pro-government rallies are being held in iran for a second day they follow five nights of anti-government protests a senior military commander has declared an end to the month of which twenty two people were killed and. accusing the u.s. of stirring violence of the country well let's get more on this. on that. is live for us in the capital had on a firstly zain what's the latest with the demonstrations both the anti and pro.

well we've seen small and short lived anti-government demonstrations overnight but nothing along the size of the ones we've seen in the last few days so they certainly are diminishing at the same time we're seeing very large pro-government rallies being held in major cities across to her on with reports that there may be a large one planned for the capital as well in the coming days and the government's really trying to reiterate a point the government and pro stablish mint. activists that are coming out in support of the government they want to illustrate the point that while iran may have some problems the government still enjoys broad public support in iran system of governance enjoys broad public support and that's exactly what these rallies are designed to show not just to the domestic audience but to anyone outside the country that may be watching events unfolding in iran and just to really just to

reiterate that point the interior minister recently put out a number of this morning that the maximum number of people that participated in any anti-government demonstrations was forty two thousand over the course of the week and the superimposed that number against the overall population of around eighty million and the numbers of pro-government supporters that are coming out onto the streets now which are much bigger and it's really an effort by the government by the establishment to book and what has been a violent week of protests that turned into riots and it's an effort by the government to push home the point that no matter what iran's problems the hope is that they can be solved gradually through stability and over a longer period of time protests even if they were made up of a small number some of the biggest. seen in iran and. how and why did they end zain and do they mean the end of. the grievances the real question is is

that what expressed on the streets what happens to them. those are exactly the issues that the people and the people and the government will be unpacking over rule several over the next coming days and that's absolutely the right point while the protests the protesters may have left the streets the fact that anyone came out at all is very interesting and the fact that. the reasons that they came out on the streets haven't gone away that's really the point going forward and it was down to the economy of the protests started with dissatisfaction over economic problems in the country the cost of living is rising unemployment especially among young people is going hasn't always administration of increasing gas prices exponentially and that was something that was just very unpopular with the people and even the pro-government supporters that are coming out in large numbers now it doesn't mean that they necessarily support the president's policies but they support the governing system in iran and they want to push home that point

but they certainly don't necessarily support president hassan rouhani and going forward his government is going to have to deal with the economic issues that remain addressed and no doubt those things will continue to be a thorn in his side so we may see some adjustments to proposals to raise gas prices in an effort to continue subsidies to give the keep the cost of living stable if not bring it down for the same thank you very much for that for now that zain joining us live from thank you but a spokesman for the u.n. secretary general antonio tazz has called for an end to any more violence in iraq. the secretary general is following was concerned recent developments in the slavic republic of iran it deplores the loss of life in the protests he urges respect for the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression and that any demonstrations take place in a peaceful manner further violence must be avoided it. we're going to move on to

other news now china's president is urging military leaders to train soldiers for combat and prove the capability to win wars or she jinping made the comments at a ceremony at an army base outside beijing. at the beginning of the new year the central military commission holds the mobilization ceremony with the purpose of implementing the spirit of the nineteenth national congress of the party and the thoughts of the party on building a strong army in the new era and calling on the whole armed forces to comprehensively strengthen real combat training where she has been trying to strengthen china's influence in a number of areas beijing has long tried to assert control over the disputed south china sea and to major trade in birds and this is various concern in southeast asia and the u.s. across the region china is investing in large several large projects in the philippines which is traditionally a u.s. ally that's promised twenty four billion dollars of investment since two thousand

and sixteen the central geo political issue is of course north korea beijing has played a careful game implementing international sanctions against it leader kim jong un and his government but it wants to avoid regime collapse which could lead to us our lives south korean troops on its borders it's also trying to position itself as a regional deal broker attempted to mediate disputes between pakistan and afghanistan rob mcbride has more now from beijing. this was a show of military strength meant to impress president xi jinping with seven thousand troops and their hardware at a parade in herb a province outside beijing delivering a speech where he urged the troops to carry out the judi's bestowed upon them by the party and the people as they entered what he called a new era we have told it is also a speech that was carried live to thousands of other locations across china where

the military were listening being mobilized in what the newspapers are calling a mass mobilization of the people's liberation army with such a spectacle not surprisingly this has been making the news across the state run t.v. channels this is the main item of news and really show she jinping in his battle fatigues is very much they head of the armed forces here the commander in chief and it comes a couple of months after the all important party congress when president xi really cemented his position as what many people see as the most powerful chinese leader in living memory it also sends out a strong signal to china's neighbors about the growing strength of the military in particular to regional rival japan and also countries in southeast asia with whom china is having territorial disputes and then directly through them of course to

the united states of america the big concern for china at the moment are the tensions on the korean peninsula and the possibility as we get into the new year of possibly those tensions increasing and leading to some sort of conflict this is a timely reminder that whatever happens china increasingly has military options that it can call upon if it has to let's get more on this now we're joined by tension bank of american studies at beijing foreign studies university and he's joining us live from the chinese capital very good to have you with us on al-jazeera let's start with the president's calm comment that troops should be combat ready is that significant. well here's an absolutely i think the chinese army until now for thirty years haven't fought a battle ever since one thousand nine hundred nine with the group of vietnam at the very top in january and so in this case i think the presidency is calling on the

army to train and to intensify the training and especially in terms of combat a combat ready in response to certain tensions around our neighbors for example in the korean peninsula and also in the south china sea and perhaps a little bit of attention in the east china sea and so this is a very very timely call for does very well in is to protect the motherland to keep peace and stability in this very region so all those comments then and sort of direct response to those tensions that you mentioned if they are odd those tensions more heightened now than they have been in the past few decades. i think so i think the tension that's been heightened in the specially over the past few years when can own. power to power in north korea and also the intensified kind of. activities in south career like there's

a new military exercises out there and with the very intensive my situation over north korean development of nuclear weapons sila responded and u.s. responded and especially us and its allies responded in a very tense manner and so i think that this is a very common disappear we call for combat readiness is a response directly to this very military tension and in fact as i conceive it this is almost a very intensive situation ever since the korean war in one since one nine hundred fifty the war actually ended in one thousand nine hundred three in a stalemate and this time around because of the nuclear issue tension has been intensified and the awareness of war has been enhanced and very caught a comment has been a very significant signal not just to the international community but also to the domestic audience in this country well there does seem to be a show of strength by all sides here we have the north korean leader on new year's

day saying that he has to launch bottom to nuclear missiles on his desk president trump replied a few days later saying that you know he has a big a button and now we have this real actual show of military strength rather than just words by the chinese military how is this going to be viewed by china's allies in the region and their detractors to. well china in china we have a problem when teeth or exposed i mean the lips death and in the us china has a strategic stake in its neighbor and in this graphical. deal politics around the region. has been always the chinese buffer zone geo politically speaking and also in the south china sea and also in the west like pakistan border between china. and to the south the chinese china india border and so in this sense

the very calm and the very call could be really alarming to. china and to china's neighbors. china has been encircled ever since the one nine hundred fifty s. ever since the cold war and now with the cold war and we seem to see a second rise of this very encircled and the china with the activities going on with the actions going around china and china need to respond and the chinese military has always been an armed a kind of a military arm of the c.p.c. and in this sense the military is spawns presidency's response was in very much a condom a coordinated in a coordination of this very response towards a incoming crisis situation lasted just briefly lastly and briefly if we can at this time you say of heightened tensions the month of thing in decades what do you think it's going to take as we enter a new year to actually calm that now. well i think

china has been reaching out to different parties involved in this very crisis situation and china has been working closely with our south korea important areas. including the most recent presidential visit to china in negotiating and in consulting the various parties involved and also china i believe also know that the president does see as a telephone conversation with president tom just before the new year in order to negotiate to to talk and to discuss this very current situation and so i think that peace is something that again the is the light at the end of the tunnel we see the light and we work for that very light the peace at the end of the tunnel and so with concerted effort i think with this joint effort the china u.s. and perhaps south korea and also neighboring countries involved including north korea that we can still hope for love peace is peace and stability in this very

region military might a military solution is not the is not an option is not a viable option i think that we need to stay were people voice of peace a seat at the table and i. thank you very much for your time and it's great to get your thoughts on this joining us live from beijing thank you. now leaked of a forthcoming book on the trumpet ministration of course like a political storm in the us well the president has has held his us for missing a strategist steve benen for his comments in the book betancourt's eldest son treasonous amazing and loyal to the kremlin in two thousand and sixteen in that meeting essential to an investigation into alleged russian meddling in the presidential campaign honester book reports from washington. for the first time a furious donald trump publicly thrashed his former strategist over comments in an upcoming book saying steve bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency when

he was fired he not only lost his job he lost his mind in fire and fury inside the trump white house bannon says donald trump jr was treasonous and unpatriotic when he met with russians who claim to have dirt on democratic presidential candidates hillary clinton press secretary sarah sanders called the president's anger at bannon justified i would certainly think that going after the president's son and absolutely outrageous and unprecedented way is probably not the best way to curry favor with anybody the book's release coincides with special prosecutor robert miller's investigation into russia's meddling in the twenty six thousand election and possible collusion by the trump campaign it includes interviews with white house insiders including bannon and paints an administration in chaos the white house tried to distance itself from bannon wednesday saying the president had little one on one contact with bannon but bannon was the c.e.o.

of the president's campaign played a key role during the president's transition to the white house and was chief political strategist until he was fired last summer in the book bennett says he advised the president to move the u.s. embassy in israel from tel aviv to jerusalem immediately after he took office he is quoted as saying we know where we're heading on this let jordan take the west. bank let egypt take gaza let them deal with it or sink trying i would love to tell you people banding continues to have a strong connection to president trump's nationalist core but sanders downplayed suggestions that those supporters might break with the president it's a question you have to ask steve bannon the president's base is very solid it hasn't changed because the president hasn't changed his agenda hasn't changed as yet bannan hasn't commented on the blistering words from the man he helped propel to the highest political office in the world dion estabrook al-jazeera on just let him out as a national security journalist for the associated press and he says the republican

establishment will be believed at trump distancing himself from steve benen. the president's new battle with former chief strategist steve benen could create tensions with his base steve benen really helped represent a lot of voters across the country who felt angry and disenfranchised and supported the president and now the president is saying that you've been is out of his mind that he didn't have a lot of influence either in the white house or in the campaign but steve was never an establishment republican he was never part of that group on capitol hill that has run the country for so long a lot of mainstream republicans on capitol hill and elsewhere will be delighted to see the president distancing himself from steve benen and that wing of the party bed it has been waging a war against incumbent republicans across the country as we head towards the midterms where the book has revealed more insight into trump's first year and office one of the biggest claims is that he never expected to beat hillary clinton

well hassan donald trump jr is closer to saying that his father looked as though he'd seen a ghost on election night while trump publicly claimed more people attended his inauguration than barack obama's and private he was furious that the start opening of avoiding the event and on moving into the white house trump is said to have the building intimidating which forced him to spend a lot of time alone and his private bedroom. now the white house is defending donald trump's tweet about the size of his nuclear button on tuesday the president warned the north korean leader that has nuclear button is much bigger and more powerful and has gotten books i don't think that it's time team to stand up for the people of this country i think what's dangerous is to ignore the continued threats if the previous administration had done anything and dealt with north korea dealt with iran instead of sitting foreign doing nothing we wouldn't have to clean up

their mess now. south korea says it's coordinating with the u.s. ahead of proposed talks with north korea and says donal will focus on the winter olympics in south korea next month but the country's foreign minister says president moon wants the nuclear issue to be raised. specifically tell us the foreign ministry work very closely with you are there are friends to ensure that the self north track. cemetery sleep with our endeavors to come to terms with the north. and japan's promise that is calling on north korea to change its policies. as it gets severely closer in january and february we hope to cautiously watch the impact of the sanctions on north korea does have diligent people and rich resources they could make their country richer only if they took the right policies japan is

determined to do the utmost to work closely with the u.s. and south korea to pressure north korea to change its direction while also coordinating with china and russia to fully implement the u.n. security council sanctions ultimately to make north korea abolished its nuclear and missile program the head on the news and committing and i'm on the look at efforts to keep it and live and vital. snow in the sunshine state and deep freeze whips much of the u.s. including florida and a dangerous blast of cold air is on the way and in sports that's bad news for the world's number one adding maori ahead of the serious first grand slam event. turkey says the u.s. has interfered and its domestic affairs by convicting. against iran. and all those policies japan is determined to do the utmost to work closely with

the u.s. and south korea to pressure north korea to change its direction while also coordinating with china and russia to fully implement the u.n. security council sanctions and ultimately to make north korea abolish its nuclear and missile program the head on the news all including and i'm on the look at efforts to keep it alive and vital. snow in the sunshine state and deep freeze whips much of the u.s. including florida and a dangerous blast of cold air is on the way and is forced it's bad news for the world's number one adding mari ahead of the serious first grand slam event. turkey says the u.s. has interfered in its domestic affairs by convicting a turkish banker for violating sanctions against iran. a teller and eight others

were accused of moving but he ends of dollars worth of iranian money through american banks disguised as food and gold sales kristen salumi reports from new york. attila took the stand and insisted he never conspired to evade u.s. sanctions at the deputy general manager of hulk bank his attorneys suggested his boss and others were to blame but it was a tila who was arrested while traveling to the united states while his boss and others charged in the case remain free in turkey the only other defendant to face trial in the u.s. turkish iranian gold trader and reza rob he pleaded guilty and became a key witness for the prosecution making accusations that rose to the top of turkey's government saurabh testified he paid tens of millions in bribes to government ministers and the scheme that president rest of type and want himself had authorized when he was prime minister turkish officials who initially lobbied u.s. officials for release have now moved to condemning him and seizing his assets the

very fact that everyone has been so concerned about this case does suggest that at some level he feels vulnerable however given the ease with which he's dealt with previous allegations of corruption in the past it's hard to imagine this it's hard to imagine a sort of suggested this is going to be the thing that brings him down everyone's government claims the u.s. is trying to weaken his government and do the bidding of political rival for to lead glenn lives in the united states they go. back to. this court case or stop being judicial became completely political with the sole aim to corner turkey and its economy and damage the country a charge prosecutors have described as ridiculous you can choose to willfully help iran said acting u.s. attorney june kim in a statement or you can choose to be a part of the international banking community transacting in u.s. dollars but you can't do both so rob provided no evidence that a tila ever took

a bribe but as u.s. prosecutors successfully argued that didn't mean he was innocent now he could face decades behind bars for a scheme he helped as. zine but others including zurab got rich off of christian salumi al jazeera new york well as mentioned earlier turkey has responded and we've heard from the turkish deputy prime minister. says the verdict has greatly damaged ties with the us and may have an impact on all future operations and the state bank how bank has also responded it's going to distance itself from the verdict saying the u.s. court has made no ruling on the bank itself be it administrator of often ensure. a special mind your own government team has landed in libya on a fact finding mission in the wake of video evidence show an organized slave markets where the team is expected to avenge the repatriation of over five thousand my jewelry and my friends who are stranded in libya trying to reach europe many of

the migrants are suspected to have been victims of human trafficking. equitorial guinea is government says it's prevented a coup against president to your door and game our security forces used gunfire to disperse what the government says will mercenaries gathered near the border with cameroon one man was killed the government blamed opposition groups president obiang has been accused of corruption and human rights abuses he's been in power for nearly four decades. a bone chilling cold to seize much of the u.s. and a ferocious new blast is on its way meteorologists are calling it a bomb bomb but janessa cycloid of snow and wind that's expected to bring dangerous conditions to the u.s. east coast john hendren reports from chicago. a deadly arctic freeze his blanketed the american midwest with lingering record breaking cold in minnesota last week forty five below zero in spots colder than the surface of mars in north

dakota wind chills of fifty below celsius or fahrenheit at that point they're pretty much the same in chicago setting record lows in the new year a river of ice. really stings the face and i usually don't come out here like this i'm normally dressed like a ninja only my eyes are showing now a new storm targets the entire u.s. eastern seaboard with a rapid riklis force of a bomb we're going to see what we're also called the bomb a storm that street in so rapidly in twenty four hours that it almost seems like a hurricane with snow wintry weather has frozen fountains from new york to south carolina dropped the first snowflakes in tallahassee florida in thirty years and frozen niagara falls in time in iowa it suspended this car in place i can even tell you how many anxious the ice that it has on it left vehicles piled up in

a deadly crash on the new york thruway but the record setting chill does not make global warming fiction other parts of the world if you look at temperatures right now are actually somewhat above normal where one of the coolest places on the planet right now this is in no way refutes the notion of climate warming or climate change the lethal cold has left two dead in milwaukee one in detroit in several more as far south as texas despite warnings against a new will polar plunges some in boston traded in parties for swimsuits in boston harbor. in. the u.s. national weather service has issued wind chill advisories and freeze warnings from texas to canada but the munsters sign clone now descending on the eastern coast of the u.s. . is expected to strike hardest in new england john hendren chicago. but in just a few moments we'll have the weather with richard but still ahead on the news hour with a man skate the fighting that the new reality is not much better displaced syrians

and a freezing winter. weather head to mexico's presidential election as candidates warm up for the race for the top job. and sports egypt and liverpool strike on the home of a lot of shooting for the biggest individual prize an african football and he's here with that story. from a fresh breeze. to watching the sunset on the australian outback. i'll have more on bombo genesis the united states in the coming hours for the time being because a lot of the still weather across many parts of the planet across the u.k. we've seen the effects of storm elena which went across giving winds of one hundred sixty kilometers per hour storm systems no moving across into the baltic states but is weakening quite rapidly so there is

a low center associated with it this big areas knows a warm sector between those two fronts and that's going to bring about its own problems very mild air pushing in so we're going to see heavy rain pushing in across parts of france into the alps there will be some snow at higher elevations but also a lot of rain mixed in there and that is going to pose an avalanche risk over the next twenty four hours or so meanwhile i'm standing in front of another area of potent weather at the moment we've got this disturbed area of low pressure moving across the eastern side of the mediterranean that's me coming into wards syria lebanon parts of israel the need the rain here with drought ongoing but i think it's going to come all at once it's going to cause some real problems probably the worst weather anywhere on the planet in the next twenty four hours could be way down in southern parts of africa specifically madagascar this is a tropical psyco aver which continue to develop in the coming hours is going to pile on the rainfall parts of the east coast the island could see a meter of rain. there with sponsored by qatar race.

when diplomacy fields and fear sweep then borders are wide open wide open to drugs terrorists we've proven the barriers are built to impose division but it's not effective instead of being an obstacle to tell wastes it became another obstacle to peace in a four part series al-jazeera revisits the reasons for divisions in different parts of the world and the impact they have on both sides walls of shame at this time on al-jazeera. we're here to do some better coverage israeli palestinian affairs we cover this story with a lot of intimate knowledge we covered it with that we don't dip in and out of this story we have a presence here all the time apart from being cameraman it's also very important to be a journalist to know the story very well before going into the fields covering the united nations and global diplomacy for al-jazeera english is pretty incredible this is where talks happened and what happens there matters.

it's good to have you with us on the al-jazeera news out these are our top stories probably government rallies are being held in iran for a second day they follow five knots of anti-government protests in which twenty two people killed and a senior military commander has declared the end of the protest movement. china's president is urging military leaders to train soldiers for combat and improve their capability to win was speaking at a military ceremony paying said the event showcases china's military might in a new era u.s. president donald trump says his former chief strategist steve batten has lost his

mind bad and described eldest son as treasonous and unpatriotic and a new book with the comments refer to a meeting between donald trump jr and a lawyer with russian government connections. to syria now where twenty three civilians have been killed in russian and government and strikes on a rebel held on klav of the capital damascus three children and eleven women of believed to be among the dead in the suburb of east and several infants were injured well the attacks followed the deaths of at least seven civilians including five children. on tuesday by air strikes in the northwest and province. well thought to be the largest remaining rebel held area in syria it's one of the so-called deescalation zones set up last september in an effort to scale back the conflict but with no letup in the fighting tens of thousands of civilians a leaving the area saying a ha the reports. they set up tents wherever they can on

the side of roads in open fields syrians are still on the move trying to find a safe place many have already been displaced more than once these people are from the north and hama countryside and from the villages along the neighboring provincial borders of areas that have become battlegrounds. we fled the bombardment and the air strikes we can't go back because our house was hit and it is now destroyed they are targeting civilians and their homes not the rebels. the recent wave of displacement coincides with winter weather is setting in making life even more difficult near freezing temperatures are common here and many fear they may have to live out of the open for a long time they have nothing to return to and some of their villages have been recaptured by government forces for many going back is not an option. we had to leave the area because of airstrikes we tried to return to the village but it was talkative again we hope that the regime doesn't control the area the united nations

says up to sixty thousand people have been displaced in recent weeks it also says aid is scarce there are already an estimated two hundred thousand displaced people and people who fled from areas across the country retaken by government forces. are being displaced for the past seven years running from one place to it's horrible if god doesn't help us no one can kill us all even the children the regime wants to control every single area. the violence is not confined to areas close to the frontlines villages across the province are coming under fire. hospitals bakeries markets have all been hit by air strikes but we're going to get more on this now we're joined by. center for research always great to have you with us. so as we heard in that report the absolutely terrible situation in syria continuing for many even if they live in these so-called deescalation zones that we have seen

a real increase of violence and. recently deserve to be called deescalation. are not seeing a reduction this what they're supposed to i think many people now are questioning the very idea of song which was proposed by the russians actually. talks. i believe that the opposition at least believes that the syrian regime and its allies is actually use. the talks are part political solution as a small to gain more on the ground by using. violence we have seen there in the north of in the south of and we are seeing right now into eastern around damascus but on the other hand this depends very much on the relationship between the three mean war in syria i'm talking here about russia and iran

when the relationship between these three actually are not good to work out some sort of understanding on how to proceed from from here on the political solution we see it actually translated as more violence on the ground and i think the russians and the turks are having it is simply some difficulties in working out the sort of understanding what is the outcome everybody is expecting actually from the switch conference for example the russians are having certain demands from the turks they want to actually to normalize a relationship with the syrian regime the turks actually the turkish government wants to. from the from the invitation to the conference these differences she was so with recently in the escalation. it's like a war of words between president. president putin of russia and hence we have been seeing this escalation in violence on the ground and we have those sochi talks as you mentioned coming up in january geneva of course have not

been successful so far if the main success of the talks was the deescalation then they are not working out what are the prospects i think is especially because the russians want you know they want to stay in power which is a nonstarter for the opposition is very true i mean the russians they have started actually the process from the very beginning for the opposition they believe the russians started that is the. we need our process the russians tried in fact actually to have some sort of political discussions in that satanic process the talked about the new constitution they talked about the new elections presidential and parliamentary but i think now everything is in danger right now everything seems to be if if the russian. the turks and the iranians they don't come together again and try to deescalate the situation right now and even so she is not serious

now because the opposition or huge part of the opposition is actually seeing that we are not going to go to. every means like this on the ground it's very difficult for us to justify our participation in sushi to our people. who are actually taking more of the of the violence that is being now executed against them there is another issue here i think the russians yesterday the russians the escalated bombing over the top because we have seen some reports by commerce which is a major russian news people talking about me job losses by russia in an attack by the opposition. in the dark here with more than seven russian warplanes have been destroyed on the ground by by by. a sudden attack by the opposition i

think the actions are also showing some sort of an ease about their recent losses in the last actually a chargeback and. both have been killed so we are seeing an increase in the losses of russia in this in this conflict and we are seeing the action by the russians also but most of that action is being actually talk to. the civilians are are the targets here especially in the very interesting that point that the opposition can still inflict and cause the sort of damage whether to the rush. to the syrian government has to thank you very much as always for your time on this we appreciate it thank you. now israeli politicians have taken their first step to allowing the death penalty for what they call terrorists a draft law in the knesset was passed that would ease restrictions on capital punishment the law would apply to people convicted of murder and saddam is classified as a terrorist attack currently the death penalty can only be used of

a panel of three military judges passes the sentence unanimously that the new legislation would see a death sentence handed down with only two out of three judges approval the bill still requires three more readings before it becomes law. i think that to extreme situations there is also simple logic and simple logic is if someone murders and he will not spend the rest of his life in jail he will be executed or face a list about he is director of the center for study of the middle east at indiana university and he says the amendment should be seen in a wider context. let's not forget that prime minister netanyahu has central committee of prime minister netanyahu his party has just. passed a resolution to annex the settlements in the west bank which are universally recognized as occupied territory the settlements are illegal under international law. on the other hand the united states' ministration seems to be winking

and nodding in the direction of a fairly hardline israeli government that it will not interfere with hardline policies on the part of the israeli government and there is a political climate in the arab world in which some rather significant arab countries are in a de facto alliance with the state of israel to confront iran and indeed the butler any former minister tweeted before the new year that the palestinian or the jerusalem issue is a secondary matter so there seems to be a sort of a coalescence of political factors that i think makes the prime minister of israel who has never been particularly interested in resolving the problems of the palestinians making him think that he can get away with this and indeed if you force me to put money i would guess he probably can and through a second minister has resigned and as many weeks of the pot and given to former president down first for morning defense minister diego only after his departure

comes off to the culture minister stepped down last week for more he was released on health grounds last month and days of protest he was serving a twenty five year sentence for corruption and human rights crimes including murder . mexicans head to the polls in july to elect a new president and it's already shaping up to be a historic race and is the first time candidates can run without the backing of a party dozens of independents are vying for the top job which i did my. lies ahead for mexico in two thousand and eighteen. mexico's presidential elections are heating up led by leftist firebrand andres manuel lopez obrador he ran in and lost the past two elections now lopez obrador is riding a wave of public discontent to lead the pack of candidates to name most. we haven't heard the possibility of ending we will stamp out corruption i'm.

wrong. from the center right national action party calls himself the clean hands candidate though he division within his party to a sluggish economy could give former finance minister and pre candidate jose antonio media a push with the united states threatening to pull out of the north american free trade agreement needs says he has the experience to find new export markets. and for the first time in mexico's history independent candidates have joined the race . but with surging violence and corruption scandals plaguing government officials gaining public trust won't be easy. i think all the candidates are interested in themselves and their political parties i don't think any of them are in it for the people. i don't trust any of the candidates. only

believe them when actual changes start to happen. analysts say that people must be engaged and hold candidates to account if they want this election to be different. the political class loves it when society doesn't trust the list. then you separate yourself and leave. but the government doesn't like is when social media is buzzing with discussion and. never before have mexicans had such a variety of candidates to choose from and with the july first election quickly approaching many people here are asking what impact younger more educated and more politicized generation of voters could have on the country's future david mercer in mexico city. and the next report in our series looking at the possible stories the see if we examine breaks it. could be a make or break year for britain's withdrawal from the june and of the first round of talks are anything to go by the deal could be

a challenge that's friday here on al-jazeera conservationists in brazil are trying to figure out why more than eighty dolphins have died in less than a month they say up to five dead dolphins have been found every day since december in a bay in rio de janeiro spaces is one of the most endangered animals. now the gulf has a heritage dating back thousands of years but the construction of the traditional doll boats is under threat because of cheaper modern child stratford met locals in the historic port of aden mom trying to keep the ancient workmanship alive. history books have been sailing the wall of the gold from two thousand years. but exactly who invented this ancient type of vessel is lost in time maritime scholars believe they could have originated in china around six hundred b.c. . the sails have been replaced by an engine but they are still used for trade

fishing and tourism along the coasts of the united arab emirates saudi arabia qatar yemen. taliep kafeel nasri has been sailing tourists along the coast the twenty year is. i live in create on the sea and the sea is everything to me it's a type of therapy i've spent my life on the ocean on boats like these which are so important as symbols of our heritage. the historic pulte of sue a situation in eastern oman was once home to a fleet of hundreds of dals the portuguese the dutch and the british hold their boats in these waters over the centuries all keen to benefit from its ideal trading location. it takes only five days to sail to india from here. maritime trade started flourishing here in the seventeenth century with places aspira field the

vans of all india and africa and so also became a major center for the ship building industry a tradition steeped in history and culture but is now struggling to survive. this is the only dal building yard in saloon now. this boat is being built for a country owner when it's finished it will cost more than three hundred thousand dollars and that's without the engine. in keeping with tradition it's being constructed almost entirely from a cd and. originally these boats were literally lashed together using rope. and even now little metal is used as in the past the wood is imported from asia and africa allie's family had been building dallas for more than three hundred years to have the. main challenge we face is the introduction of fiberglass fiberglass dows

are easier to build and they are cheaper but wooden boats last much longer fifty to sixty years of course this is our heritage and we must protect it people must know their traditions and protect them without our traditions who are we. many of these predominantly indian fishermen spend weeks at a time at sea many of their fathers also sailed fishing and trading down to and from india they are reliant on their dals the name of which is actually a swahili would originating east africa the arabs simply call them meaning ships. to the.

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it's time for sports now has andy thank you so much elizabeth well former world number one andy murray has just pulled out of the upcoming australian open the five star finalist is struggling still with a long some hip injury larry hasn't type competitively since being knocked out of wimbledon last july the thirty year old had hoped to make

a return at this week's brisbane international but withdrew forty eight hours before his first match but a new siphon of a joke of h. the twelve time grand slam champion confirming he'll take part in two exhibition events next week as he returns from his own long term injury layoff elven decide whether he's ready for the australian open that gets under way on the fifteenth of january also some injury concerns for women's world the men on jan a concert concert retired engineer gets alina it's alina in the quarter finals of the ongoing brisbane international the person reached the semifinals of the australian open in twenty sixteen and the quarter finals last year. also manage ason vanga has again hit sounds at a referee after his team's two two draw with chelsea banger described the pouncey award against his side as false sickle x a ballerina's injury time strike rescued a point fast don't miss chelsea missed out on the chance to go second in the table already facing the possibility of a stadium ban after being charge of misconduct for his criticism of the officials

at arsenal's last game really showing a great mental resources i knew before the game of the last twenty minutes could be difficult for us because we have a big disadvantage rhesus good europe and. really got to gain a frosty good decision on a pretty bad but we knew worked as well before so really have to deal with but. it would be really put those who get the big companies doing interviews league because who had these not seen these niggas not seen. no particular season are tomorrow afternoon t.v. earth he was owed two years ago charity was owed prematurely good don't. top six is looking manchester city way out in front of the chasing pack with a fifteen point title lead fifth place top one by play west ham later on this thursday harry kane is set to return to the spurs team after his recovery from a flu virus and the play apostle on

a science replace neymar is set to return to action after nearly four months out with injury he spent them barely join the club from brushwood oldman in a one hundred thirty million dollars deal he's expected to play a pass impasses coppered all right side with celta vigo lights are on a run rate also back after their winter break they travel to second. in the first leg of their last sixteen tie they finish twenty seven saying with a three nil how you defeat barcelona trailing by fourteen points in the league. cleared out of your previous british your news we're still alive in three competitions and we have the same hope for giving the best in each match tomorrow the copa del rey is back and we have the greatest enthusiasm for winning this first leg. it was a dramatic end one of the biggest matches in portuguese football on wednesday champions benfica it's a console sing in the lisbon davi sporting have taken the lead in this primarily to match gelsen marcy's open the scoring ninety minutes it. looks like that would be

enough and so an award for penalty for how the ball jarvis doing their necessary salvaging one one. now the biggest names in african football were gathering in garner the consonance player of the year award is set to be announced and for the very first time fans are playing a part in the vote twenty fifteen winner capone's pm record by me anchors again made the final three he was the leading african score in europe's top leagues in twenty seven c. with twenty eight strikes in the german bundesliga parachute opened sunday in monterrey of liverpool he's trying to become only the second senegalese player to win the title mohamed salah also of liverpool is the favorite so when he's played a big part in getting egypt so the world cup in has already scored twenty three goals for his club this season while football rights a gary al smith says the public vote is likely to be in favor of marsala. well the thing about media especially where egyptians are concerned is that there's

a running joke that isn't really a joke if you could anything on social media and we're going in egypt he's going to weigh in from the get go there is one popular web site in the on the board site one very popular one they actually stop running polls for money and for play out the month somewhere in october because. any time they put it up it's an hour and so that's you know i mean he does want to be busy every couple months which is good exclusively by friends and i'm told by a site is down it wasn't even a contest is that because the up and i think it's a very big deal i mean i can't underestimate it's it's actually probably taken more seriously than the rest of the world take something like their t.v. . which many people see has been reduced to a contest between the highest to high schools chorus in the world especially when messi and we're not you know about ten years ago but he was doing was very.

sweet when it comes to what discussions and prestige on this continent sort of the biggest change in the n.b.a. eastern conference faced off on wednesday with leaders boston facing the reigning conference champions cleveland cavaliers going down one hundred six eighty eight chasing thought i'll feel all so i want sixty seventy six is just outside the playoff spot scored a major upsets the san antonio spurs he holds the third best record in the west dated back to twenty one points and eleven rebounds. as seventy six. one six. and australia in the final two i was of the day to claim the upper hand in the fifth ashes test mitchell starc climbing the crucial wickets of england caps in eighty three before just hazelwood removed johnny stark. england have already lost the series they trailed three nil and they finished day one here in sydney on two

hundred thirty three four five beats and on fifty five no cells are got to tell you sport is looking for you very much andy and that does it for the al-jazeera news outlet richelle carey is here with another full news bulletin in just a couple of minutes and as always you can keep up to date with the news on our web site that's al-jazeera dot com thank you for watch.

from the carter center. and then he put it on. us and british companies have announced the biggest discovery of natural gas in west africa but what to do with these untapped natural resources is already a source of heated debate nothing much has changed they still spend most of their days looking forward to for the dry riverbeds like this one five years on the syrians still feel battered or even those who managed to escape their country have been truly unable to escape the war. and live there it sounds like an agreement between the criminal bosses it's like trading in stolen goods that have been taken

by the place if anyone ever comes to ask them question then sort of throw their hands up in the air and say i don't know i was just nominee director we're doing a investigation into. ukraine could you a bribe you've been corrupt i don't know i've been called up i did just look to the presidency council zero investigation it's the only go this time. a second day of pro-government rallies in iran is the head of the revolutionary guard says the days of protests are over. i'm richelle carey this is out is there a life and also coming up a new book.