creative thinkers show continents future. africa at this time on. al jazeera. with every. al-jazeera.

low and welcome to this al-jazeera news hour live from. this coming up in the next sixty minutes the u.s. puts hamas leader ismail haniya on a global terror list the palestinian group calls it a dangerous develop. donald trump signs an order to keep the guantanamo bay prison open. the children orphaned by somalia's palmas how some of the world's poorest a struggling to help fifteen hundred bereaved youngsters. and the triple trees a blue moon a super moon and a total eclipse all in one. but first the u.s. has designated the political leader of hamas ismail haniya a global terrorists and impose sanctions against him the state department says any u.s. based assets he holds will now be frozen hamas is the palestinian faction that's

ruled the gaza strip since two thousand and seven until it handed over power to the palestinian authority in december it's already considered a terrorist organization by the u.s. the group says the u.s. decision is a violation of international law. that is me is not always thought we are in the midst of this for a beginning i want to know what religion is for this reason we are considering this statement of is the foolish statement committed by people who know nothing about what freedom for where you. live now to our correspondent alan fischer his in washington for us and alan what practical effect does this have given that hamas has been on the list of of terrorist organizations since nine hundred ninety seven well it means that. any american assets he has will be frozen and also americans cannot do business directly with him so practically i'd suspect there's not a great deal that will actually change here he's been designated on this list

because the united states see him as a threat to national security they say that he is fermented trouble in the middle east that he has threatened israel on several occasions and they also believe that he is directly linked to the death of seventeen americans and that me open the possibility to some sort of court action in the future if it was ever captured or handed over to the united states but certainly one of the state department senior figures in the country terrorism hierarchy seem to suggest that when called for an intifada against the united states because of donald trump's decision back in december to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital that may well have been the moment that the united states decided that ishmael who will be placed on this list and here is the president of hamas political bureau is also closely tied to the group's terrorist operations including attacks on israeli citizens and he has been

a member of hamas and the one nine hundred eighty s. and he rose through the ranks in large part continually championing terrorism against israel. and years calls for a new into father just last month underscore how important today's designation is we will not be distracted by hamas efforts to obscure its true and bloody nature and alan we've always known haven't we that the us is a very strong and close ally of israel but rarely have we seen such partisanship from the americans when it comes to the palestine israel conflict well there are many palestinians in many who see that this is a sin to the continuing pattern of the trump white house there was the designation of jerusalem as israel's capital which upset many across the occupied territories there are those who suggest that the decision to cut aid to the palestinians announced by donald trump was another slap in the face and no this designation this

is really just playing in directly to the high end of those israeli right wingers who believe that this should have happened some time ago so when donald trump says that he still believes that he can negotiate a peace in the middle east there are many in the palestinian side who simply don't believe that he's an honest broker in this and his actions continue to sure that their fears are being realized and official live in washington thank you for the european union says it's a pleasure next year fifty three million dollars to help the palestinians following the u.s. decision to withhold funding these foreign policy chief federica mothery made the announcement at a donors meeting in brussels it comes amid a u.n. warning that girls's economy is on the verge of collapse now dean barber has more from brussels. well just before the talks started here in brussels the e.u.'s foreign policy chief frederica moore greeny did say you're on the record but this

meeting really came about as a result of president trump's recent announcement that the u.s. would recognize jerusalem as israel's capital and the angry reaction that provokes in not only among the palestinian leadership but in other countries in the region to now the e.u. is stressing the importance of keeping the u.s. on board as a crucial partner in the so-called peace process which has really been dormant for several years and that was something that was addressed in comments to al-jazeera by the palestinian foreign minister we are not excluding the americans to be party to any peace process we are excluding the exclusivity of the americans and the monopoly of the americans for the peace process but we are not we are not naïve to see will the americans can play a role. we will allow them to play

a role but you know it all as as part of a comprehensive collective at all by many other countries now something that's worrying everybody involved is the threat by the united states to withhold funding to own rule that's the united nations agency that provides crucial services for millions of palestinian civilians notably in the gaza strip where much of the two million population lives in poverty their withholding around one hundred ten million dollars they say they will be contributing this year now we've heard in the last few days that some european nations will be speeding up their payments but that's just a short term solution at the end of the talks the norwegian foreign minister didn't have any figures to announce she did basically say that it's going to be left to subsequent meetings to try and plug that gap he recently through the international

community to recommit to common strategy and building the institutions that will ultimately lead to a negotiated two state solution and there is also a need for a comprehensive in supporting and the reception of controls. well in the background there have been warnings from israeli intelligence officials as well as other political figures that the threat of a reduction in funding to the palestinians could have big implications for security not just in israel and the occupied territory but for the whole region and that's why many people really are looking for some sort of quick solution whether it's a reversal of the u.s. decision or somebody else stepping in particularly from gulf countries to say look this money will be secure because it's in everybody's interests to make sure that it keeps keeps flowing. well the same measures he did in

a meeting in brussels israel presented a plan which would help rebuild it will cost a billion dollars and will be funded by the international community in iran come reports now on the day challenges of life in. gaza is crumbling the siege imposed by israel in egypt now in its eleven pm and three wars have left its infrastructure in ruins everything is in dire need of repair or replacement buildings roads house services this is a shot they a refugee camp mo nobody alice houses not fit for human habitation according to the local united nations agency yet there's no money for even basic repair much less extensive reconstruction. and we are a family of eight people living in a small house until now we can provide food and i can't expand the house i only have two small rooms the house is too small and it's falling to pieces the blockade

dictates the day to day reality for two million people in gaza where israel controls the borders space and walters goes an economic experts are warning that even if help is given immediately as security and humanitarian situation might be unavoidable many youth. many of they want to leave gaza they want to leave anywhere the social. graces and. hey in ramallah the news that the israelis are talking about a billion dollar deal to ease humanitarian suffering in gaza has been met with skepticism and experts are wondering what any deal might actually mean or what because that really needs is an entitlement a serious and kind of national effort led by the by the studios i don't think about very sorry lives are of the bhatti to speak about the development of gaza at a time when is why and is putting forth for the bed the development of gaza many

blame israel for gaza's current state but others also say that the rift between the palestinian authority and hamas the largest political group in gaza has meant that things have stagnated gaza remains under siege imran khan. president trump has decided to keep the guantanamo military prison in cuba open using an executive order his predecessor barack obama promised to close it but failed al-jazeera as defense correspondent patty culhane reports. of a we haven't got that report but we can hear from mohamed. was a prison at guantanamo bay he was detained without charge from two thousand and two m is released fourteen years later he spoke to us from mauritania's capital no upshot. it's a very bad the very said the very dark day for whom. and

for this and to be this complete disregard and complete contempt. to all the rule of law and to all these part of the world who is just beyond him i really said. i wish not all people decent people around the world can do and who is it i know people who've agree with donald trump we called them in this part of the extremist they completely agree with me they want this like these were called for fight against so-called. yes they agree with him but this isn't even being regular muslims in this part of the world they don't want that they don't want the young people to be kidnapped and taken to a place with no crimes what the hopes for muslims in it's really bad it's really said and let's not only talk about down to

this think about this part of the world africa and the middle east those four to the theory and regimes without them people like donald trump the. i could never see something like they could never win the one providing them people the one heavy hey i was nabbed by my illegal within a set of america i ask them to see to it this time to this point in time then as it is denying me my people i can not seek medical treatment i can not go outside this country to see medical treatment that when i suffered abuses at the hand of the united states of america we have they have we have we are still in this potable going to animal bit i hope that people oppose this decision and we all band

together and stand for human rights for the rule of law and people who don't belong in guantanamo bay people no one should remain in want there are innocent people. let's go back to that report now from defense correspondent patty culhane. a big stage and a chance to make good on a big campaign promise us president donald trump announced a newly signed executive order he will keep the controversial guantanamo bay military prison open in the past we have foolishly released hundreds and hundreds of dangerous territory. only to meet them again on the battlefield including the isis leader our baghdad when we captured who we had who we released both of those statements are just not true i salute or. he was released in two thousand and four by iraq and according to the u.s.

director of national intelligence of the seven hundred fourteen get mo detainees that have been released one hundred twenty one are suspected of returning to the fight that's around seventeen percent the executive orders as detainees can be transferred to the prison but it doesn't mean they will be it gives the secretary of defense ninety days to decide if anyone should be sent there a decision to do that would be controversial to many across the globe the international community needs to condemn the latest statement from donald trump president trump saying that he will keep the president and we know it doesn't we know it costs of awesome and we know that the human rights abuses manifold and it's a stain on any justice system there are forty one detainees still being held in guantanamo the majority have not yet face trial and even those cleared for release are facing an uncertain future as the trump administration decides if others will meet the same fate patty calling al-jazeera washington. two british lawyers

are seeking saudi arabia suspension from the un human rights council over its human rights record the kingdom is accused of arresting dozens of political activists and detaining them without charge sonia gago has more now from london. it's a case that has been given little attention given the recent state of affairs in saudi arabia thirty of its citizens detained without charge another thirty one who have apparently simply disappeared no one knows where they have gone or whether they're being held nor have they been charged with any offenses a violation of saudi and international rules say the british lawyers who authored the report into the arrests and are now calling for the un to suspend the government of saudi arabia from the human rights council if they are committed to human rights and the instruments that they signed up to as well as international law then there's no need for the suspension if they put that into practice but

those who breach provisions of international codes should not be allowed to do that and still sit on a council that reviews human rights around the world with the double standard should be stopped much may have been made of the recent changes in saudi arabia since the country's exodus thrown mohammed bin salman assumed a wider role women have won the right to drive the last country in the world to have lifted that ban and a high profile corruption crackdown against members of the elite two significant attention around the world human rights groups say while these actions are part of a determined effort to change saudi's troubled image the reality is far removed from that vision of change dissent is silenced calls for change our sense it and even messages on social media can invite imprisonment and punishment the fact that both tipple activists. gene according to our accounts and maybe more now that this

new report has emerged r.j. soley for the human rights activism and this is absolutely not acceptable and i mean that the efforts of the crown prince to brand himself as a reformer cannot fly in the face of such blatant human rights violations as a member of the un's human rights panel there is much pressure on saudi arabia to fulfill its duties in that capacity one way would be to get key allies such as the u.k. a major exporter of arms to the kingdom to convince them to fulfill the legal obligations . saudi's rulers are expected to visit britain soon but there are concerns asked how much of an effect prime minister theresa may would have on calls to respect the values that meant to uphold as members of the human rights council saudi arabia may be sensitive about his image question is how much will it be prepared to prove that it's willing to accept change within the kingdom. al-jazeera london we're going to

a lot more to come on this al-jazeera news hour including the grassroots mobile network is helping mexico's indigenous communities keep in touch with the rest of the world. vietnam prepares to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the battle which forced the u.s. to withdraw from its war there and one of the most deadly strikers in world football makes a big money move peter will have the details plus the latest transfer deadline day news in sport. a u.s. judge has said the number of victims of sexual abuse by sports doctor larry has now risen to two hundred sixty five at least sixty five of them are expected to confront their abuser in court in the last of three sentencing hearing nasser's already been sentenced to up to one hundred seventy five years in jail for assaulting more than one hundred fifty female athletes during his time as

a doctor for the u.s. gymnastics team well among his victims were the olympic medalists and they include u.s. gymnast simone biles she won four gold and a bronze in the twenty sixteen rio games. i think it's very hard for someone to go through what i've gone through recently and it's very hard to talk about. but i think the judge is my hero just because she gave it to him and didn't let him get any power over any of the girls and letting the girls go and speak was very powerful you can't hurt you anymore you know he. can. but the f.b.i. has raised questions about the accuracy of the secret congressional memo to the suggests the agency and justice department abused their power are the white house intends to release a classified document that contains allegations of anti trumped bias can really

help his explains. thank you and god bless america goodnight for many people it was the text of donald trump stated the union speech that made headlines instead it was his unscripted comments as he left the chamber referencing a secret memo purporting to show top law enforcement tools were used for political purposes the twenty sixteen presidential election was released for iraq the war on the. right. it's a classified memo written by top republicans and members of the house intelligence committee they allege shows a misuse of power by the f.b.i. and justice department under the obama administration will investigating the truck campaign during the u.s. election republicans on the house intelligence committee voted on monday to release

the classified memo to the public despite protests from democratic lawmakers and the department of justice the memo al the partisan decision to make it public have only intensified the controversy surrounding the inquiry by special counsel robert muller into accusations of russian election meddling and potential kulu with the trump presidential campaign democrats argue it is all part of a wider effort by republicans and the white house to undermine the bowler investigation by continually raising questions about its fairness this week a top f.b.i. official announced he was stepping down after trump personally criticized him on twitter for having ties to the democratic party and recent reports suggest trump himself wanted to fire mahler thank you still thank you for a very well you're going straight story the russian vesta geisha has clouded trump's presidency from the start yet as truck checked off his list of what he sees

a successes in his first year. there was barely a mention of russia in his state of the union speech and despite an almost unanimous vote by legislators to further sanction russia for interfering in the u.s. election the white house on monday decided not to move ahead with those sanctions the white house has received a classified memo and says it's under review the president now has five days to make good on his promise to make it public kimberly how al-jazeera washington. the u.s. government has dismissed reports that it intends to cut off aid to put a rico four miles off it was hit by a powerful horak and the federal emergency management agency fema says it's been evaluating whether there are sufficient supplies on the u.s. territory a decision on whether to cut aid completely has not yet been made but the agency is

winding down food and water supplies there are roughly six hundred thousand puerto ricans still without power well jose rivera is a professor of social science of these in university and he says while the towns and cities on the island are recovering the rural areas still need much more support you're still in telecom human they're in crisis especially especially in the countryside so this shouldn't be assured if it needs. distribution of food and water to the metropolitan areas in there in the coastal areas but not in the concept i haven't had our since so it's here again that's one hundred forty seven days almost in three days it will be like months that it's on a separate any part of the united states and we are citizens we demand that that the brightness of the repairs so we can we can get on with our lives. a grassroots

mobile phone network built in rural mexico has become an important link connecting indigenous communities and the but also it is say the local service could be breaking the law as man ripples from one state and the. deal to reese is paying his mobile phone bill forty or roughly three dollars for unlimited calls for the money as a municipal employee in the town of something ness in southern mexico that is his most valuable tool for coordinating public works up until a few years ago however something this population seven hundred fifty was just one of countless areas left in the dark by telecom companies that was until a nonprofit group called the indigenous communities telecommunications network came to town. it has helped a lot not only for this community but for the people of two or three neighboring towns who come here to use the service has been a big help. for years the police had gone out to cell service providers to expand

their coverage but without a profit incentive telecom companies aren't known for making investments in rural villages some estimates suggest that more than forty percent of mexicans live in areas outside of cell phone reach. but with the installation of two when tennis and a single call routing system half the population of something isn't how connected at a price they can afford there is a problem however the mexican government has charged the nonprofit group who built the network nearly one million pesos about fifty two thousand dollars to operate. you can make a thousand calls in a month and it won't generate any cost it's only going to cost you if you call long distance so i don't think it's for but as we say the government is the government and they're always trying to apply their taxes. through the mobile phone network to people of something this can finally contact emergency services. make long distance

calls or simply order of cab members of low income communities invest their own money to create the network locally sourcing materials to build an entire communications infrastructure the result is mobile phone and internet services and almost ninety eight percent lower cost than other providers in mexico. the network is still new and far from perfect but locals seem thrilled to have any service at all for public workers like that deal the user own network is about more than just connectivity it means the members of his community are being better served mounted up on a. block of mexico. still to come on the al-jazeera news hour one of the world's largest traders of ivory decides to ban its sale completely. protesters in syria's afrin say they feel betrayed find out why they're blaming russia attack his attack on the kurdish region and the russian president speaks out on his country's

athletes not being allowed to compete under their flag at the winter olympics we'll have the details in sports. good mobile flow across the united states at the moment we're seeing a fair amount of cloud making its way from west to way so any rain bands that to push in i will clear through quite quickly i am pleased to say said thursday that a bit of wet weather maybe some snow over the high ground there pushing across northern parts of the appalachians easing up towards new york state i will continue to make its way further east with six celsius in new york eleven degrees celsius there for d.c. as we go on through friday by the skies to come back into hardly see a little bit of rice leave the start up to the northeast going into the eastern side of canada some light snow to across the pacific northwest into the cascades

easing across northern areas of the rockies and sunny north of the border into what they say you can expect see something of a wintry mix over the next day or so for the south of the warm one for l.a. temperatures getting up to twenty celsius in the sunshine fam out of sunshine across a good part of the caribbean still want to shout clouds that just over towards. towards southern parts of mexico into cuba but for many it will be fine and dry was some pleasant sunshine not just as we go on through thursday the shot was said if you move far between as we go on through friday kingston with a high of twenty nine. the palestine national locust was first founded in the one nine hundred thirty s. but has had to be revived in two thousand and ten always very important thing in palestine known musicians from all over the world come together to perform in the

occupied territories. it's like every palestinian living in the felt it was the first time they perform using their identity al-jazeera world hears music as a force for unity the diaspora orchestra at this time discover a wealth of award winning programming from around the world we need more spying professionals i talk carroty is to model ways a new generation to study finds powerful documentary debates and discussions as prime minister you do need to be critical of almost any and all sex is a challenge your perceptions the contours of this story are shaped by the interests of the countries involved only on al-jazeera.

tough to say look at the top stories here on the al-jazeera news hour the u.s. has designated the political leader of hamas ismail haniya a global terrorist and impose sanctions against him the state department accuses him of being involved in terrorist attacks against israeli citizens hamas has branded the u.s. decision a violation of international law president trump has decided to keep the gun ptolemy military prison in cuba open using an executive order his predecessor barack obama had promised to close the facility within a year of taking office before. two british lawyers a seeking saudi arabia suspension from the u.n. human rights council because of its only human rights record the kingdom is accused of arresting dozens of political activists and of detaining them without charge. or

let's go back then to top story that of this situation regarding israel honey of the palestinian leader in girls at least within the past twenty four hours president trump used his state of the union address to reiterate america's recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel and he pledged that u.s. foreign aid would only go to countries that he called america's friends following that the state department listed the political leader of hamas a small hania a global terrorist imposing sanctions against him meanwhile israel unveiled a billion dollar plan to help ease gaza's humanitarian crisis using international funding and the european union pledged an extra fifty three million dollars in aid to the palestinians following the u.s. decision to withhold funds. or i would. say a political analyst at the truman national security project she's also served as

a legislative affairs advisor in the obama administration she's joining us live now from washington d.c. cause a bit to get through the really isn't the can we just start with this. prescribing of. branding him a terrorist putting him on the list in the by imposing sanctions against him what do you make of that sure so first of all the biggest thing to recognize is that this is not a very significant policy change on the part of the united states because for many years since the one nine hundred ninety s. hamas as an organization has been already recognized as a terrorist organization by the united states and so therefore simply saying that the leader now is being singled out for individual doesn't nation as a terrorist is not a huge difference although it will place individual think sions on him as

a person and so it's more about the message the than the actual practical implementation is that so what is the message exactly so it's another example of president donald trump appealing to his base and working more on the domestic policy platform. in order to reinforce his strong anti terrorists right or ak and so this is that is an easy kind of stone that he can throw his supporters and it seems very much is i mean given the totality of the of the trump policy towards israel palestine it seems very much as though it's designed to exacerbate a huge amount of pressure particularly on the palestinians in order to force them to the negotiating table i'm just wondering do you think it will work. know won't

work because first of all hamas has never been a party to the negotiating talks with the israelis it's always been with the palestinian authority we don't recognize hamas as a legitimate government and city and so it doesn't quite accomplish any political and international security space again it's just more a talking point added to the trump administration's rhetoric that he's supposedly fighting back terrorism and today the state department officials remarks specifically quoted mr henry is comments on a nother intifada but i think it's important for english speakers to understand that the word intifada translates to uprising in english and that was a direct response to president donald trump's decision to unilaterally recognize the capital of israel which is exactly why u.s.

national security experts for many years have mourned against the united states unilaterally making this decision because it would precisely do that foment tensions and increase risk for american citizens. very interesting and ironic sorry sorry to be going to that is it just what i don't want to get too much more to the rules strategy this overrule middle east peace strategy that we are seeing from washington d.c. i'm just wondering what do you look do you think is the ultimate objective. and do you think that is likely to work all could it possibly backfire. i think it will definitely backfire and i think it's actually very generous of you to use the word strategy i think there are many u.s. national security experts in washington d.c.

that don't think that president donald trump and his administration even have an accurate comprehensive strategy towards the middle east there are many vacancies still in the state department and the department of defense and keep positions that of people who are experts on middle east policy and so again it seems just very consistently with donald trump that he's prioritizing his domestic political interests over the u.s. national security interests in terms of the broader conflicts between the israelis and the palestinians it might be actually better or for the palestinian people that now it's so blatantly biased by the united states that it forces the rest of the international community specifically like european union and the organization of islamic countries to play more of a leadership role in mitigating the conflict because we all know for the last more

than sixty years the united states has had a monopoly on the peace process and we're not able to really point to any significant gains in that space all right interesting to. thank you very much. now the french president emmanuel mccraw has warned turkey against invading our freend in northern syria turkey has been attacking this kurdish region for more than ten days african is controlled by the y.p. jane which is a syrian kurdish group turkey considers a terrorist organization stephanie decker reports now from the turkey syria border . solidarity with the people of africa this protest is in the kurdish run area in northeast syria where people say they feel betrayed come on and then i go in for we condemn the turkish state we condemn russia because had it not been for russia giving the green light turkey would not have been able to attack a free russia and turkey your fate and will be at the hands of the heroes of the

wipe e.g. just like the end of ice. in africa and funerals are held for fighters from the people's protection units. turkey considers the y.p. g a terrorist organization but fighters from the kurdish group across syria make up the backbone of the u.s. backed syrian democratic forces crucial and the most effective in the battle against ancyl and this is said to be video that is an area close to the border with turkey that has been heavily targeted sources have told al jazeera that most people in these areas have fled due to the heavy bombardment. and the u.n. estimates around fifteen thousand are now displaced inside the region about. we're also told there been civilian casualties after random shelling in turkey denies this and says it only targets white peachy positions turkey's offensive is now well into its second week the village with the smoke coming from it is inside syria now

turkey has been shelling these border areas on a daily basis i was also supported on the ground by free syrian army fighters this is the syrian rebels that turkey supports and they have a presence here in turkey along the border. we spot a few free syrian army fighters on the side of the road. they're rarely seen this openly in turkey turkey has brought many of these f.s.a. fighters from syria and they are now waiting along the border for orders to advance we managed to speak to one of them who tells us the battle won't be easy record that. we're facing quite a few challenges first the weather didn't help us as it was foggy and raining second the y.p. g. has advanced snipers that's why we are taking it slow and trying to control these mountains first turkey is a with the moment is to secure its border area with. airstrikes and artillery can be heard all along this area but we're told that the y.p. g a while parent and know the terrain this could be a long and difficult fight stephanie decker zero on the turkey syria border in

kenya gov the kenyan government says three television stations that plan to broadcast the opposition leader raila odinga smocks swearing in on to say will stay off the air indefinitely the kenyan government's declared the opposition movement a criminal group riley says the thirty seven teen presidential election was stolen from him because of voting irregularities. somalia has suffered countless upon the facts over the years but the twin explosions in mogadishu three months ago with the largest ever more than five hundred people were killed and they included many parents have now left behind at least fifteen hundred orphans from either miller reports. medina mohammad plays with her three month old grandson hudson his grandmother is looking after him because his mother was one of the hundreds

killed in the twin bomb attacks in mogadishu last october person was just eleven days old when the bombs went off as well as has since mother two of medina's other daughters and niece were killed their bodies were never found. the most difficult thing is that i've been left with twenty children to look after and really old now and a calm provide for them a come with them houses can do anything for their the only real surviving right now is money from the well wishers produce not enough for all of us. the truck bomb blast and a second attack later the same day killed five hundred and ninety people injured hundreds more and orphaned at least one thousand five hundred and forty children in most cases their extended families are looking after them no one claimed responsibility for the attacks but police suspect all shabaab fighters may have planned it the truck bomb blast completely devastated the area where

a popular hotel once stood since the last summer business owners have come back running a makeshift restaurant some of the customers here were injured in the explosion but people here say they want to support the hotel that for them it's a show of defiance there is small is part of a local fundraising group as the injured were rushed to hospital the group began collecting money to help them families and. local business is affected five million dollars was raised very remarkable this city has gone for twenty years it is a pretty and problem so are going to be able to get all of them together every problem came was not of for the international community or other peoples or other governments come to form their own self and then be hoping to other following the explosions tens of thousands took to the streets condemning the attacks.

just fifteen and her grandchildren are a small part of a large community of survivors still in recovery she says despite the pain and loss all have family can do is move on from me to malaya al-jazeera mogadishu. vietnam is marking fifty the battle that ultimately falsie united states to end its war there when the hay reports on the legacy of the tet offensive. government and communist party leaders gathered in her city to remember the tet offensive it was a celebration in a city that used to be called saigon the capital of south vietnam that was defended by southern troops and the united states' allies during the vietnam war. but fifty years ago as vietnamese were preparing to celebrate the lunar new year communist soldiers from the north launched a surprise attack on saigon and other cities in the south the timing wasn't

a coincidence many south vietnamese soldiers had gone home to visit family for the tet holiday the north saw an opportunity to defeat the enemy and spark an uprising in saigon that it hoped would result in the overthrow of the u.s. backed government in the short term the attempt failed and the north soldiers were forced to retreat minus around fifty eight thousand who were killed but ultimately the tet offensive was seen as a turning point in a long and costly war in the united states it fueled antiwar sentiment the year after the tet offensive the u.s. began a gradual withdrawal from the that was completed in one thousand nine hundred eighty three despite the signing of a cease fire and peace accords the war continued and ended in one thousand nine hundred seventy five when the north took saigon. today vietnam remains unified under a communist government it views the anniversary of the tet offensive as a mark of heroism not because of what it did or didn't achieve initially but with

the victory that it led to wayne hay al jazeera. shelves in hong kong will now be banned from selling ivory but not for almost four years traders will face a ten year prison sentence if they break the new law. hong kong complied with the global ivory ban in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine but still allows the sale attain before then according to conservationists this is open up somewhat of a new poll which allows the sale of both old and new ivory products openly in shops across the city this new government bill aims to address that the ivory trade has been particularly lucrative in the past couple of decades thanks to the mainland chinese tourists who see african ivory as a status symbol not the number of shops in traders have decreased significantly since the one nine hundred seventy s. but there are still dozens of merchants who have licenses to sell him and trees they say from before the one nine hundred ninety s.

every worry that our future generations cannot even see the african elephant to get killed that's why we care about them the complete ban of r.b.s. been debated ad the legislative council many times are the problem here is the main argument for the ivory trade is that it's a craft and it's a traditional part of chinese culture and vive until it's not calling on the government to speed up the process even though this latest bill banning all commercial i agree merchants will be given time to get rid of their stock which means all called will not be free of the library trade so twenty twenty two.

thank you very much one of the most highly anticipated deals of the january transfer window has been completed arsenal have signed america obama young from brazil gotten for seventy nine million dollars the gabbin international comes to the english premier league with an impressive scoring record he netted ninety eight times in one hundred forty four bundesliga games he was also the twenty fifteen african footballer of the year six that placed arsenal could do with him after a three one loss to relegation threatened swanzy on tuesday here's a look at some of the major business on did line day that obama young deal was part of a cycle of transfers that's all mitchie but sure i believe chelsea for dortmund to

replace the gabon international with the blues signing french international food olivier giroud from arsenal gone then international andre are you has rejoined swanzy from west ham in a twenty six million dollars deal and brazilian international lucas mora completed a move from p.s.g. to tottenham who had a huge night in the e.p.l. more on that in a moment. mesut ozil has signed a new contract at arsenal making him one of the e.p.l. biggest earners the german world cup winner payne the three year deal and will pocket just under half a million dollars per week there were some big upsets in the on wednesday firth placed tottenham stand second place manchester united at wembley to no end an even bigger shock at stamford bridge bournemouth beat the champions fourth place chelsea three nil and man city now lead the table by fifteen points after beating bottom side west brom we now know who will compete in the final of the african nations

championship hosts morocco will take on nigeria in the final but moroccans had a tough time booking their place they needed extra time to secure a three one win and nigeria had to play just over half an hour with ten men but hung on to beat sudan one. the entire board of directors of usa gymnastics has resigned the u.s. olympic committee set a wednesday deadline for this to happen as a condition to avoid being terminated as the governing body for the sport in the states this was in the wake of former u.s. to mystics team dr larry nessa sentencing of up to one hundred seventy five years in prison on sexual assault charges more than two hundred sixty five women have accused of abuse and on wednesday he was back in court to face more of these victims in a third sentence i'm hearing. you are the most vile disgusting creature i've ever met scum of the earth is too high of a title for you i hope you realize that you will never have any power over anybody

for the rest of your life because standing in this courtroom today and having my voice heard is a huge step in my personal healing process and i know that my story will help to prevent this from ever happening again because well it can't russian president vladimir putin has apologized to the russian athletes who won't be heading to pyongyang for the winter olympics in december the i.o.c. issued a ban to russia for systematic manipulation at the twenty fourteen winter games of the anti doping system however the door is open for the countries are free to participate under the banner of the limbic athletes from russia. there he believes the reasons for the band went beyond sport when you're solution you are going to sport it is twice as difficult when sport is near the start of events which are definitely unusual and strange to sport with superficial circumstances politics or anything else sorry we couldn't protect you from that by us all sport fans should

not have any doubt the russia will always stand for as the does always done the idea of clean sport. we're just four days away from super bowl fifty two when the new england patriots will face the philadelphia eagles and patriots quarterback tom brady is still trying to brush aside concerns over an injured throwing hand the fourteen year old will appear in his a super bowl and is given little away about the injury but n.f.l. media reports say he's had twelve stitches removed. my hand it's getting better i mean it's not quite where i want to be. so i'm just trying to protect it the best way i can i was obviously very important. part of my body for a quarterback so i just wanted to be as healthy as possible for the game on sunday so. it's an arm or just made for me. it's a great glove it's got a lot of recovery in it and that's what i need this time as for the philadelphia eagles their head coach doug peterson is getting ready for a tactical battle of note come the super bowl on sunday it's

a chess match i mean that's that's what these games every every weekend is about you know in making sure that you know our moves are sort of one step ahead but at the same time if if something is taken away then we have to adjust in make sure that we can we can still run the football south africa will be looking to put the squeeze on india in they six match one day international cricket series starting in durban on thursday so that forget have only lost five times in twenty nine home o.d.i. as against india since one thousand nine hundred two and kept in fifty plus he says he's bowlers already targeting weaknesses they did take to be in the indian batting line up in the test series they just won two one. the good thing i suppose that we can tell you the wonder is that. from a betting point of view they still have a few few inroads we can make we feel like we've got some we had some good plans in the taste match to certain but it's. so start if you can keep if you keep. those guys quiet in the early doors of the series you feel like you can as

a batting unit if you keep in mind the pressure look we obviously want to win every seat is that people are. thinking of doing something which hasn't been done before is not something that you would think of before to achieving it. just adds extra pressure which is not needed and that's what was for for me we'll have another update for you again later the sky gazes in many parts of the world have been able to witness something that hasn't happened for one hundred fifty years as a lunar eclipse coincided with a superman and a blue moon reynolds took in the spectacle in los angeles for an hour or so the familiar face of the moon slipped on a blood red manske a spooky transformation that delighted luna fanatics including a large group that gathered outside the griffith observatory high in the hills above los angeles to celebrate the celestial spectacle. amazing.

it's really exciting i think for those of us who don't quite remember our school astronomy lessons here is how a lunar eclipse works course the moon orbits around the earth and the earth casts a shadow. and when the moon goes through the shadow cast by the earth again a lunar eclipse and why does the moon turn red sunlight is filtering through earth's atmosphere and that's turning the light red it filters out the blue and lets the red through just like a sunset looks red because the blue is scattered away and the red comes through so we like to say sometimes that during a lunar eclipse you're seeing if you were on the moon you'd be looking at all the sunrises and sunsets on earth ancient greek astronomers who studied lunar eclipses concluded from the shape of the earth's shadow that the world was round many people who watched lunar eclipse said it was in

a way humbling putting human kind and all of its petty affairs in perspective those thoughts absorbed this multinational group of students who stayed up way past bedtime to moon. it makes us feel like all our problems are like the political in the nicety something goes on is so small compared to what else is going on but like i said it brings everyone here together like forgetting all the issues there's no there's no niceness around this everyone's just brought together to appreciate it with no ugliness no political drama nothing it's just to appreciate this beautiful event it reminds us how to be who we are how small we are in the world you know just a tiny part of the universe and it's amazing to feel maybe you know. this eclipse took place when the moon is closest to the earth in its elliptical orbit a so-called super moon and it's the second full moon in a calendar month known as

a blue moon that means this was a super blue blood moon which is kind of a mouthful but whatever you call it it was a heavenly sight to remember robert oulds al-jazeera los angeles. that's it for this al-jazeera news hour but don't go away because i'll be back in just a moment to look to you with more of the day's news.

from the carter center. february on algis iraq south korea has the twenty eighteen winter olympics can records be broken al-jazeera will bring you the latest from pyung china the big picture examines the present day crisis in venezuela by exploring the divisions rooted in its past senior officials will meet to discuss the biggest security challenges facing. will be nine from the munich security conference politician borders of blood looks at the troubled legacy of the events that shaped the indian subcontinent and in a series of special reports we look at new trade and travel routes which are opening up the loans february on al-jazeera. facing

realities growing up when did you realize that you were living in a special place a so-called secret city getting to the heart of the matter why is activists to live in jail just because she expressed herself hear their story on talk to al-jazeera at this time. the u.s. puts a homicide leader on its global terror list the palestinian group calls it a dangerous development.