it's not all lost the chief global economist at u.b.s. what's his dangerous idea counting the cost at this time on al-jazeera. al-jazeera. and for you. they say he's. a moron in the. the author of an explosive book on donald trump hits back comparing the president to a child. you

know i'm maryam namazie in london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up the truce village preparing to host the first high level talks between north and south korea on tuesday. this famished and sick in yemen the u.n. warns the country faces the world's worst humanitarian disaster in fifty years. and catch of the day the price tuna that fashed three hundred twenty thousand dollars at a historic final auction in tokyo. the author of a controversial book on donald trump says the u.s. president has no credibility and his staff say he is like a child the book by michael wolff has gone on sale for days early despite threats of legal action from trump's law is the president has described fire and fury inside the trump white house is full of lies misrepresentations and sources that

don't exist insisting he never even spoke to wolf but that claim has been refuted by mr wolf who said i absolutely spoke to the president it was not off the record. spoke to him after the inauguration yes and i had spoken to i mean i've spent about three hours with the president over the course of the campaign in the white house so my window into donald trump is. is pretty significant but even more to the point i spent this i spend in this was really the sort of the point of the book i spoke to people who spoke to the president on a daily sometimes minute by minute basis so this this book was really i mean in a sense in a sense there was one question on my mind when i began this book what is it like to work with donald trump. a classic ion is live in washington d.c.

has he the white house has responded by. conveying a blistering attack on michael will of trying to cost his credibility into doubt but our people viewing this side of that well i think people who are against the president think that this is confirming their worst suspicions the big question will be how do those that support him feel about this he is doing what he usually does he's going after and attacking anyone on twitter who he sees as going against him one of his tweets from the president saying that he never gave him access to the white house well this is another one of those cases where a statement from the president can very easily be proven false for example you don't just walk into the white house somebody has to allow you into the white house and reporters saw him there all the time see on couches in the west wing and importantly if you're a member of the media you have a gray badge now he didn't have one of these badges had a blue badge which meant he could go pretty much anywhere he wanted and he says

what he did is he was talking to all of the people around the president he said across the board one hundred percent and this would include his children in a southern law said they basically think he's an idiot. they say he's. a moron in the. actually there is a competition to sort of get to the bottom line here of who this man is let's remember this man does not read does not listen so he's he's like the. it's like the pinball or just just just shooting off the side. and surprisingly hearing fascinating insight there not just into president trump's temperament and personality but perhaps more crucially to into the people around him and perhaps his how vulnerable he is to manipulation how much is that going to worry. the community in d.c. but also people across the country more generally. well i mean i think whenever

you're having somebody paint this picture of a mentally unstable president the united states it's going to have you a bit concerned let's not forget there are no checks and balances of the compass of the launch of nuclear weapons that is of the sole discretion of the president of the united states and make no mistake in this book wolf is painting the president as mentally unstable and he says it's actually spiraling getting worse he said at the beginning of the term that trump would often repeat stories for using the exact same expressions forgetting that he had just said these things he said that would happen about three stories every twenty five to thirty minutes now he says he's repeating the same three stories within a ten minute time span that is a really really worrying accusation and then he said just a few days ago new year's eve that he didn't recognize long term friends of his so that is obviously a very worrying concern now will this affect his base i should point out he is not a popular president the majority of the country does not approve of the work he's

doing but he's held on to this core support about thirty three to thirty eight percent according to polls now will this shake their faith in him they tend to discard anything that goes against him is fake news he's trying the play with this book so we'll have to wait and see if that works but in the past he has discredit his accusers and it has really stuck to him but this book is pretty damaging if true. in washington d.c. thank you. all now after more than two years of silence north korea and south korea are ready to reopen direct lines of communication she's days face to face talks will focus initially on the north participation in next month's winter olympics in the south but officials in seoul say discussions are expected to move on to what they describe as areas of common interest lawrence louis reports. in a few days the truce village of panmunjom on the demilitarized zone that separates

north and south korea will be a hive of activity representatives from the two countries will hold high level talks here for the first time in more than two years earlier this week north korean leader kim jong il to dialogue in his new address four days later his government agreed to hold talks the announcement came just hours after the u.s. and south korea agreed to postpone and your military drills for the end of february these have long been regarded as provocative by pyongyang. leaders agreed not to conduct south korea yes joint. takes and to do their best to ensure the security of the olympics. next week's discussions will center on north korea's participation in the upcoming winter olympics as well as generally improving into korea relations but officials here in south korea are also hoping the negotiations will eventually

lead to north korea returning to international talks on its nuclear program even so president cautiously optimistic saying we should refrain from making premature judgement or expectation. the japanese defense minister also sounded a lot of caution but. north korea goes through phases of apparent dialogue and provocations but either way north korea is continuing its nuclear and missile development we have no intention of weakening our warning and surveillance that it is new year's day speech said north korea with its nuclear weapons program and even called for the mass production of deployment of nuclear warheads and this house. from the conservative perspective in north korea trying to buy time the majority seems to believe the north korea is trying to finalize its technical development to to achieve operational i.c.b.m. so you know as us the cia has announced before they are talking about two or three

month time in terms of finalizing the i.c.b.m. system and it looks like this is a perfect action on their side you know to buy time. last year north korea test fired three it took continental ballistic missiles or i.c.b.m.'s including one that it's capable of reaching the u.s. mainland maybe hope the upcoming talks would be the best option for now of deescalate the crisis on the korean peninsula largely al-jazeera seoul. united nations humanitarian chief says yemen could become the worst humanitarian disaster in fifty years mark lowcock says the u.n. has released more funding to try to prevent hundreds of thousands of people dying through famine and disease i am today announcing the largest ever allocation we have made from the un central emergency response fund an allocation of fifty million dollars to the aid operation pump primed for twenty eighteen and

the fact that i'm having to do that obviously is not a success measure that is a sign of exactly how desperate the situation is the situation in yemen today right now to the population of the country looks like the apocalypse and unless unless the situation changes we're going to have the world's worst humanitarian disaster of fifty years. fighting is continuing in many parts of yemen earlier the saudi led coalition says it intercepted a missile fired by who's the rebels towards the kingdom for people living in yemen the war is having a devastating impact as stephanie decker reports. forced to live out in the open these yemeni families of escape the fighting near the border with saudi arabia now they have to bear the elements on the streets of who dado their daily routine now for everyone to see this war has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. came from how we ran for our lives now we sleep on the floor no mattresses or blankets

and it is really cold we have knowing our children are suffering any of us fall sick we can't afford treatment our condition is really terrible needless to say we are living in fear this war now almost into its third year is all about regional politics and control the consequence of that has created what the un calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis in aid agencies are not able to access the majority of those in need. and i and we had there scared the war our life has turned upside down we can't afford a decent meal we're now begging to eat and feed our children were living in the streets on charity some basic supplies are getting through a blanket to keep warm it is winter now and temperatures drop at night no fire offers little comfort these people face an uncertain future with no idea when they can go back home what will be left of it once they do stephanie decker.

national felt count for us half hour a day of pro-government demonstrations taking place in eragon we'll have that story also telling you why the marijuana industry in the u.s. is back in the spotlight. with had some very disruptive snow across parts of central china over the past twenty four hours or so still some snow in the picture as we go on through the next twenty four hours but they're going to focus over the next twenty four asked across the southern parts where we'll see some really heavy rain setting in and that is likely to lead to some flooding there we go with our snow on the northern flank but is going to be southern parts which will see the worst of the weather see go on through the next couple of days on through the weekend then meanwhile a good deal quieter across south asia right away and cross the northern plains once

again so temperatures new delhi around nineteen celsius with that fog and smoke want to see was a possibility over towards me and mum but otherwise it really is a very quiet pitch many places staying dry we'll see temperatures getting up to thirty celsius in colombo some pleasant sunshine coming through him some pleasant sunshine too across the region peninsula highs here in doha of around twenty six degrees perhaps a little more cloud just around the southern end of the red sea might see one or two showers here for a time but nothing much to speak of for most of us across the red a place that will stay fine and dry dry weather now making its way into the events over the next day or so we should see bright skies for turning off to spell a very wet and windy weather. in the most. charming

deception. and bring photography to these communities. the story of hope. in the face of adversity. you feel. at this time it is it. will come back you have al-jazeera an update of the stories making headlines now the author of a controversial book called donald trump says the u.s. president has no credibility and his staff say he is like a child michael fire and fury inside the white house has gone on sale early despite

the president's attempts to halt publication. north and south korea will help face to face talks for the first time in two years on tuesday officially the talks are about next month's winter olympics in the south but seoul says discussions are expected to move on to other areas of common interest as well. as humanitarian chief says that yemen could be the could see the worst humanitarian disaster in fifty years the u.n. has released more funding to try to prevent hundreds of thousands of people dying through famine and disease after three years of war in that country. when other stories are watching closely russia has called for a closed door talks ahead of a u.n. meeting on iran on friday this comes as thousands of iranians are taking to the streets for a third day of pro-government demonstrations rallies have been held across the country in protest against a week of anti-government demonstrations at least twenty one people have been killed in the on rest which began of the country's economic instability and rising food prices the u.n.

security council has called an emergency meeting to discuss the growing tension saying bus travel has more from tehran. another day of pro-government rallies in iran seemingly part of a two pronged approach by the government to cement the writ of this state's large groups of public support on the streets coupled with a heavy police presence in flashpoint cities across the country at friday prayers a senior cleric close to the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei took the opportunity to remind his countrymen of the country's real enemies who he says are behind the unrest in iran. amounts this is what is happening saudi arabia gave the money the u.s. did the planning it was coordinated from u.s. control rooms inherit in irbil weapons have been transferred little by little to iran they wanted to finish us in february that was the plan. but there are signs that iran's leaders do sympathize with at least some of the anti-government protesters and he said that those who came out into the streets to protest for

economic development and for a change to how the country's economy works for economic upliftment for themselves and their families he said that those protesters were right to do so and he also urged the government to recognize the fact that their message should not be lost in the mix. french president has warned his turkish counterpart that democracies must respect the rule of law during a meeting between the two leaders in paris a visit to france was russia first since the failed twenty sixteen coup and one of only a handful to europe he was confronted by a dozen human rights protesters who are attempting to block his arrival to any say . he said recent developments in turkey did not allow any progress on its exception . but from the moment. i really do believe that we have a challenge which is wonderful leaders but also democracies democracy must be strong against terrorism because the legitimacy of the state means it must protect

its citizens at the same time democracies must respect the rule of law. joins us live from paris and i suppose significant that the meeting even took place at a time of rising tensions between europe and turkey what emerged from it. well this was really an opportunity for these two leaders to discuss a number of pressing a regional issues in the middle east they talked about syria they talked about iraq and of course the crisis over jerusalem with the french president reiterating his support for a two state solution that was something that the turkish president said he appreciated very much but there's no doubt there was a real focus on turkey's relationship with the european union which has deteriorated over the past two years over criticism over turkey's poor human rights record and actions after that failed coup attempt in twenty sixteen arresting tens of thousands of people now turkey is

a candidate for european union membership the talks accession talks of pretty much been on hold for the past two years so this was really an opportunity meeting the french president it was really a step towards trying to mend those relations between turkey and the e.u. for the turkish president and what instead happened now for there to be an improvement in the relationship. and i think it's significant that the turkish president was here at all there's no doubt that for him he is looking for allies and partners as the relationship between turkey and the u.s. is more fragile than ever as is the situation in the middle east and he has perhaps of a found somebody he can talk to in present my call because president has taken a very pragmatic approach to all this he did bring up the issue of human rights he condemned turkey's poor human rights record and in fact they've been protests in france about one even being here the president might call says look i have to talk to everyone and i have to be open and frank and he does not want human rights

necessarily to get in the way of turkey having a good relationship with europe because he says that's very important to deal with issues such as the fight against what he calls terrorism and trying to stop illegal immigration to europe thank you very much natasha with all the latest on that meeting from paris. pakistan has responded angrily to the american suspension of military assistance to islamabad pakistan's foreign minister has told the wall street journal that the white house is not acting like an ally washington has cut millions of dollars worth of aid to the country it blames the government for failing to take action against taliban fighters targeting u.s. troops in neighboring afghanistan. well on tuesday the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. announced a suspension of two hundred fifty five million dollars in security assistance to pakistan but washington is considering what to do with the nine hundred million dollars it already approved for pakistan last chair as part of its operations in

afghanistan four hundred million from that account from that amount has been withheld until pakistan does more to fight the afghan have commie network group now their main in five hundred million is in question a political analyst says pakistan has already been shifting towards closer ties with china which i know that you know there is a partnership which is called strategic cooperative partnership with johnno we are building everything from the fight. to the seeburg to the measured investment the sixty billion dollars that is making. everything is happening on the basis of partnership but been bogged down in china so basically this strategic direction has already shifted from washington to bidding it's just that there is a certain mindset still in this law about the baby we still need to be going to good with washington maybe at a limited level so was as the time goes by and if the us sanctions going to do i

think august on. for a long time to come. a german right wing politician yens maya's says he will apologize to the son of former tennis star boris becker for a racist slur on social media whilst also blaming it on one of his staff members it comes a day off to know a baca whose mother is of african-american descent filed a criminal complaint against maia a politician says the back a tweet was written by one of his assistants at the anti immigration alternative for germany party who has since been disciplined are all moving to zambia now where a major military operation has been launched to contain a cholera outbreak that has killed more than fifty people in just over three months the un has lent it support providing two million vaccines and beds the sixteen hundred people victoria gate and be has more. extreme measures to contain

a national health crisis this is a barricade in zambia's capital lusaka street sellers pitching in to help the military close off one of the city's crowded marketplaces that have become a breeding ground for cholera before the unsettling season there was this petition ready to terminate but because it in season is getting. deeper into a period where there will be crowded waters in several places the government decided to mediate discredited reports and get in the military the outbreak began at the end of september with bacteria showing up in shallow wells into densely populated areas on the outskirts of lusaka the wells were filled in but not before the disease spread to the city moved in two thousand people have been infected in just over three months color is a bacterial disease usually spread through contaminated water it preys on the most vulnerable the frail and weak but even the healthy are at risk left untreated it

can kill with an ounce with the backing of the un zambia has launched a color a vaccination campaign set up treatment centers and closed off some public spaces. church gatherings in the. areas where. much. and the lists as has been provided by our colleagues from the command center and not allowed funeral gatherings and not allowed public gatherings and. the ban extends to schools due to resume classes this week and two restaurants where health workers have found contaminated food the government says it's confident the outbreak can be contained within the next few weeks but spreading the message of proper hygiene and sanitation may take longer than that victoria. zimbabwe's new president has ruled out forming a coalition government with the opposition amisom an ngo i made the statement after

visiting opposition leader morgan tsvangirai who's battling colon cancer at his home and i got came to power in november after forcing our longtime leader robert mugabe. the hands off approach the obama administration took to enforcing federal laws on the can of the services sector is changing and the president trumps government stay in it as a vying to fight any moves against what's become a multi-billion dollar industry and i am explains this change in policy. to have the trump administration ignited outrage in the six states and the district of columbia where americans have the right to use marijuana for recreational purposes the whole concept of the interdiction of marijuana at any point in time and the prosecution persecution of those who take marijuana is absurd and this is the where the whole is condoned to advertise part of the n.f.l.

on thursday the department of justice allowed prosecutors to enforce federal law which bans the sale and use of marijuana it was a departure from the approach taken during the obama years which largely left the states alone the president believes in enforcing federal law that would be as top priority the pivot in policy has renewed the debate over the rights of states and the federal government's authority we will not be bullied by an administration that seems obsessed with dismantling things that are actually working with these greedy . you know what came days after a law allowing the recreational use of marijuana went into effect in california it's the sixth largest economy in the world and it's spec to become the economic engine for the multibillion dollar cannabis industry in the united states some business owners say obtaining marijuana has shifted from the drug dealer on the street to a regulated pharmacy and there is no going back you don't invest one hundred fifty

million dollars into legal kind of as an operating three state when you react to the news of the day so we were taken for a long time on this and we think that long term on this is as a. he changed some predict that the department of justice won't have the resources to specifically target marijuana americans are already grappling with an opioid epidemic which the trumpet ministration has designated a public health emergency or in the middle of an opioid crisis right now that is killing more young americans than any other cause of death so it's kind of difficult for me to see how a u.s. attorney would decide to use their discretion to go after can of us instead of opioids the number of states where americans can legally use marijuana for recreation is growing people in massachusetts and maine are waiting for laws to go into effect natasha al-jazeera the devastating snowstorm gripping eastern parts of

the united states has left emergency services scrambling thousands of people without flights have been canceled and streets a cold with snow in florida it's so cold that ikhwan as have been falling out of trees the lizard's a struggling to warm up enough to move in the city of lake quest people are helping out by moving them from the roads as they don't get run over. tokyo's world famous fish market is held its last news auction in its historic site the sale of a blue centurion affection more than three hundred twenty thousand dollars the key g market is being relocated as part of the city's we development ahead of the twenty twenty games and a hoax that has more. to get taken allegedly stroll down a supermarket aisle this is how competitive shoppers buy. auction house in downtown tokyo is the world's largest fish market where tourists mix with michelin starred chefs hoping to reel in

a worthy catch. this shot personality the prize attraction pain over three hundred twenty thousand dollars for a four hundred five kilos premium pacific bluefin tuna this big fish was paraded through the market not an easy task considering where you see equivalent of a grand piano this market has been here for over eighty years and it's expected to close its doors and move to a different site as part of the city's redevelopment of the twenty twenty and limpid some say that's the reason for this year's high prices but there was an air of excitement of the auction and i expect that the fish market will grow livelier as the year goes on although i feel some concern for the markets relocation i'd like to enjoy the moment too. despite the excitement here activist a warning bluefin tuna numbers are dwindling there is an international push to have the fish registered as an endangered species the japanese government wants pino

regulations on pacific bluefin for fishermen who exceed the sec quota. it's hoped these new international controls will help the bluefin tuna numbers saw to record levels in fifteen years' time and as this take your landmark gets ready to move to a different site two kilometers away on a manmade island the traders here hope their good fortunes continue. our does their . well there's much more to everything we're covering right here the latest on all of our top stories including of course analysis that takes you behind the headlines al-jazeera dot com. quick look at the top stories now the author of a controversial book says the u.s. president has no credibility and his staff say he is like a child michael wolff far inferior inside the trump white house has gone on sale early despite the president's attempts to halt publication it paints

a damning picture of government dysfunction that the u.s. administration has branded it lies. i spoke to him after the inauguration yes and i had spoken to i mean i've spent about three hours with the president over the course of the campaign in the white house so my window into donald trump is. is pretty significant but even more to the point i spent this i spent in this was really the sort of the point of the book i spoke to people who spoke to the president on a deal we sometimes minute by minute basis so this this book was really i mean in a sense in a sense there was one question on my mind when i began this book what is it like to work with donald trump. moving to our other top stories this hour after more than two years of silence north and south korea will reopen direct lines of communication choose days face to face talks will focus initially on the north

participation in next month's winter olympics in the south but officials in seoul say discussions of them expected to develop moving on to what they describe as other areas of common interest. russia has called for closed door talks out of a u.n. meeting on iran on friday thousands of iranians have taken to the streets now for a third day of pro-government demonstrations rallies have been held across the country in a show of strength against a week of anti-government protests at least twenty one people have been killed in the unrest which began over the country's economic instability and rising food prices. and the united nations humanitarian chief says that yemen could see the worst humanitarian disaster in fifty years the u.n. has released more funding to try to prevent hundreds of thousands of people dying because of famine and disease a civil war in the country's resulted in some ten thousand deaths going to bring

you more on that story and everything else in about twenty five minutes time when i'll have a full bulletin of news that's after artscape. twenty first century africa a continent on the going great change and finally seizing control of its image but it's been a long box on that he has a goal photography was a colonial to god and other guy without a trace. i'm not term but indeed been incompetent. in the post-colonial euphoria photographers like my legs the bit that you call food . but l. .