you have also been critical as well as democratic members of congress will still be the first face to face meeting since the president returned to washington and we are told that he is expected to talk about the summit and we're speculating based on the tone and tenor of the statements on social media so far that likely he will deflect criticism and perhaps even be angry with some republican members of congress for not supporting him more in his positions and how do you sense the republicans you have come out against him and then influential bunch or or they people who are going to carry much weight. there absolutely and influential in fact we just heard from the top republican in the u.s. senate who typically supports donald trump in fact his wife is even a member of the president's cabinet he has also stood by mitch mcconnell has stood by many republican members of congress who are perhaps not running for reelection and had very harsh criticism of the u.s.

president not just the top republican in the senate but also the top republican in the house of representatives paul ryan saying well he doesn't believe that the actions of the president are treasonous as some of suggested including the former cia director john brennan he does believe that donald trump perhaps should have been stronger in his wording with the russian president also believes that there needs to be further action as a result of the president's rather weak performance in the eyes of many republicans on capitol hill and so is a result there are suggestions that republicans could put in place legislation in the form of further sanctions against russia to ensure that russia does not interfere in the twenty eight thousand election as republicans and democrats conclude it did in two thousand and sixteen committee how could thank you very much . a u.k. based investigative agency has obtained documents revealing an expensive lobbying effort by the u.a.e. and britain and the u.s.

the spin watch report includes e-mails from an emirate you know being group trying to influence the b.b.c.'s coverage of the arab spring well brennan has more. the two thousand and eleven arab spring saw a wave of democratic grassroots protests which toppled longtime leaders and offered the hope of a new vision for the middle east the response by some of the kingdoms and emirates of the region was just as dramatic a report by the spin watch group says that in the u.k. the united arab emirates mobilised a narrative against the muslim brotherhood in britain in the highest echelons of government it says the abu dhabi crown prince and the then prime minister david cameron had several undeclared meetings and it says through a combination of persuasion and threats the u.a.e. campaign produced results one threat which is made by the david cameron was if you don't institute an inquiry into the muslim brotherhood we will cancel the typhoon fighter jet deal from bush's space i will stop british petroleum oil concession in

the law that was successful really extraordinary effort by the ether actually cajole and bully the british government into a pursuing its foreign policy the success or failure of the other u.a.e. lobbying is less clear it's been watch says that the u.a.e. put pressure on the b.b.c. over its coverage of the arab spring but the b.b.c. in a statement says flatly denied that it caved in to any political pressure it's been watch also quotes a source suggesting that iraqi donations to the think tank chatham house may have affected that institute research but chatham house is vigorously denied that it could be affected in that way but the u.a.e. foreign minister is known to have had close contacts with selected u.k. journalists meetings which led the u.a.e. p.r. firm quilla to claim that views changed and the report highlights the ways the two thousand and seventeen blockade against cats are sore the intensification of the u.s. p.r. campaign including bitter criticism of catalyst twenty twenty two world cup the

lobbying rules woefully inadequate it seems to me and explain what the greater safeguards. to you know prevent the sort of influence which seems to have been exerted on the on the british government in the way in which is has been and of course you know some of the only time the consequences have been the growth of islamophobia in this country and we're seeing the expression of that on the streets of britain the report notes that now theresa may is u.k. prime minister abu dhabi's clout has diminished significantly but this seems little to prevent a possible slide backwards the central issue in all of this is one of transparency when does the jetsam at lobbying become undue influence and to quote the report itself promising billions in return for influence infiltrating the british media buying politicians loyalty donating to think tanks and trying to influence media coverage some would see as a step too far paul brennan al-jazeera central london i always speaking to the

co-author of that spin watch report and external our morgan later in the news hour in about twenty minutes from. what their news asked from london still to come on the program. if it weren't for the new refuges ready so just tell displaced syrians to go back as they approach the occupied golan heights. burying the victims of nicaragua's church siege as the u.n. calls on the government to stop using lethal force. and later in sports we'll hear from underneath cabot as she adjusts to life as wimbledon champion. former u.s. president barack obama has paid tribute to nelson mandela's vision for democracy and social inclusion during a special event marking one hundred years since the anti-apartheid leader's birth

mark obama spoke of the universal appeal of mandela's message and urged people around the world to respect human rights it's his most high profile speech since leaving office through a sacrifice and i'm wavering a leadership. and perhaps most of all through his moral example. mandela. and the movement he led would come to signify something larger he came to embody the universal aspirations of this possessed people all around the world the hopes for a better life the possibility of a more transformation in the conduct of human affairs wednesday ceremony paid tribute to the man many believed healed south africa when nelson mandela became president in one thousand nine hundred forty marked the birth of the rainbow nation but his hair in which us are reports many challenges still remain in post mandela

south africa. attended the truth and reconciliation commission hearings in south africa shortly after apartheid ended she wanted to find out why government soldiers shot her brother at a train station in one thousand nine hundred three she was never really told the truth about why he died and says she can't forgive and forget she's now part of a group where people like her me to try and find a way to heal anyone and there were three bodies that lay on the side of the tracks the had been shot a week later we were told his remains were at a mortuary i had to go through the body bags looking for him. nelson mandela so that because first black democratically elected leader made reconciliation a priority of his presidency one of his biggest achievements was his role in sitting up a truth and reconciliation commission it investigated crimes committed during apartheid on both sides to try and unify a racially divided nation political analysts say it worked to a certain extent at that time there was uncertainty by the country's future and

whether the different races could live together but more than twenty years later south africa still struggles with the race and other challenges factions in the ruling african national congress created to divide the continent's oldest liberation movement millions of black south africans continue to live in shanty towns with little access to running water electricity quality health care announcer mandela's legacy of protheroe and and reconciliation as mean threatened or will be years by social conflict in south africa this country has one of the highest rates of inequality in the world the poor black majority said they want jobs and land some south africans feel the promises of a better life for all made in one thousand nine hundred four haven't materialized in many countries fifty percent. and are going to see employment in their lifetime it's a question that needs to be all strategically some young people born after apartheid are starting to ask questions about whether mandela spent too much time

focusing on reconciliation instead of improving conditions for the poor. and others in her group say they admire mandela's willingness to forgive people even those who refuse to apologize for the crimes they committed during apartheid she says she still trying to find that strength and hopes today's leaders work harder to build a more racially and economically inclusive south africa the kind of country some say mandela would have wanted to see. al-jazeera israeli soldiers have repelled dozens of displaced syrians who approached a border fence that separates syria from the israeli occupied golan heights. the displaced syrians were seeking sanctuary from an offensive by the syrian government forces and russian jets. a crowd which included women and children returned to their refugee camps israel and jordan which border the area where the syrians are fleeing refused to grant asylum to the syrian citizens but have offered

some aid and medical help stephanie decker has more from the israeli occupied golan heights. we're just further down the road from where we saw all those few hundred people approach the fence we're in the israel keep going and heights the fence behind us right behind there is syria now it's been a very active frontline while we've been here we can see the smoke in the distance we can hear the explosions the syrian army backed by russia is making very fast headway against the rebels the u.n. estimates around one hundred sixty thousand people have been displaced because of the fighting and this is why you see the people that we saw today move towards the fences the closest that they have come to the israeli fence the soldiers through loudspeakers in arabic telling them to move the people holding trying to portray what is a white flag using white t. shirts white material to try and indicate that they come in peace certainly need to cation of how desperate the situation is for them they're living in makeshift camps

there is no aid handouts where they are yes the israeli army has helped somewhat but the borders remain firmly closed it is a war zone and then on the other hand you have the concern that people have having lived under the rebels for around four years now that the syrian army is taking over their villages and people are afraid of some kind of rich evasion by the troops so this is all ongoing a desperate situation for the people here i think that shows you because the narrative certainly inside syria is that israel was never really a friendly ally i think we can put it that way is there for them to come that close to the fence and to also for help really gives you an indication of how desperate the situation has become the un's human rights office is calling for an end to the use of lethal force against demonstrators in nicaragua it says the police and security forces have tortured and killed protesters and imprison people without due process an estimated three hundred mostly anti-government demonstrators have been killed since protests began in april. in the capital and i will.

family members are burying twenty year old jenna vasquez on friday he was one of dozens of students entrenched inside a church for more than fifteen hours spare military forces shot at them. his family says he was hit by a bullet from an a k forty seven according to other students agonized for more than an hour. police allowed ambulances to take out the wounded friday night she was not one of them died on saturday morning as the siege at the church to. something meant to come across them us all we feel helpless seeing our brothers getting killed and we can't do anything because we don't have weapons to defend ourselves and we don't really want them because nicaragua is no place for civil war. the government says students and other political opponents are terrorists and coup plotters and are responsible for the deaths of policemen during the crisis are all massed men who are supporting the government say they will attack anyone who builds

a barricade rights groups accuse them of going around the country terrorizing the population. they say paramilitary and government supporters have attacked members of the national dialogue group sabotaging the resolution to the crisis that will leave. you with this policy the government is not contributing to a peaceful resolution it's creating obstacles yours them to open child for real dialogue. nearly three months of protests around the country have left more than three hundred people dead and many say the crisis is far from over many analysts say the government doesn't really want to negotiate they say it will continue to respond to protests with the use of force as they did here at the church where the students took cover where you're like well i think i can say categorically that the government has obstructed dialogue the talks are going nowhere the government doesn't want to negotiate they would rather the talks break. completely. political

opponents say president and his wife vice president. want to hold on to power indefinitely but the president's allies say or term in office in two thousand and twenty one they will stay. friends of pleaded to fight the precedent to he leaves office in this small cemetery of the capital but they buried their friend the national anthem for will for their fallen hero. when we got our war. to the fore protesters who ran onto the field at the world cup final in moscow have been sentenced to fifteen days in jail the women dressed in police uniforms ran onto the pitch at the luzhniki stadium during the final between france and trey show that members of the group pussy riot according to the release of political prisoners and fair elections in russia official group that campaigned for the

united kingdom to leave the european union has been fined eighty thousand dollars for breaking spending rules and actual officials say the vote leave group exceeded the spending limit by funneling funds through a different youth organization called believe the founder of that group is also being fined and referred to the police leave say the reports are politically motivated. you stay with us on the news hour still to come twenty years after it was established to prosecute the world's worst atrocities we look at the legacy and future of the international criminal court. and could you same boat stream of becoming a professional footballer be about to become a reality or take a look. hello

there we've still got some showers that are plaguing parts of georgia the satellite picture is showing that area of cloud it's also affecting us across the caspian sea and some or all the bright white areas of cloud have been there over the black sea these have given a some waterspouts they are pretty violent thunderstorms looks like they're finally going to clear away though as we head through the day on wednesday and then finally things here will begin to dry out the still the risk of a shower there in the fall northern parts of a run but away from there it looks draw and settled at the moment hot though baghdad up at forty four or forty five degrees as we head through the next few days the day then flows its way towards the south it works its way towards us here in doha because it's from the northwest it's quite a draw a direction for the air so it isn't going to be that humid but still hot up around forty four or forty five for us to the south of rome and more in the way of humidity here more cloud as well might give us a few showers just around the far south coast in that cloud also working its way across the southern parts of yemen as well so that's where the gray weather is to

be found down towards the southern parts of africa and we've had a few areas of cloud just in the eastern part of our map that's showing to drift away towards the east there as we head through wednesday so it should be dry a brighter here twenty two in cape town. one of the really special things about working for al-jazeera is that even as a camera woman i get to have so much empathy and contribution to a story i feel we cover this region better than anyone else would be pushes you to . do but in the particular because you have a lot of people that are deployed on political issues. the people who believe that tell the real story so i'll just mend it is to do the work in depth journalism we don't feel inferior to the audience across the globe. about fifty thousand people were arrested under a policing strategy known as stop and frisk the car got a ball here it was

a guy coming behind me and picking him up back how many of your children gotten caught in this trap i have seven sons and six of them have been arrested for drug charges still me against a wall maybe take. down for you the atmosphere the police the back exploring the dark side of american justice the system with job on al-jazeera. among the top stories. in a speech to the nation iraq's prime minister has promised to address the concerns of protesters in the south of the country has been two weeks of demonstrations in several cities over poor public services and lack of employment. is

a growing outcry in the united states over donald trump's failure to hold russia to account meddling in the election during his meeting with vladimir putin on monday a former cia director told his actions treasonous. a new investigation has revealed documents detailing an expensive lobbying effort by the u.a.e. in britain and the united states include secret meetings between prince and britain's former prime minister. sharon has been held at the international criminal court to mark twenty is since its founding treaty was signed see was set up to provide justice for victims of the world's worst crimes treating genocide and crimes against humanity but sink counted many obstacles along the way. critics have called it an expensive display of western arrogance with more than a billion dollars spent on just four convictions so far all of them african some

member nations have threatened to quit but supporters argue the international criminal court does what it set out to do provide justice to victims and a deterrent to perpetrators of some of the world's worst atrocities yes the community has closed it. it may not be perfect it is not perfect by any means but we credit get going and focus on what happened when there was none at all as the i.c.c. founding statute of rome turns twenty this week commemorative events at its smart new headquarters in the hague look to the future we must. resolve to create a world that's six justice crimes universally applied and. let the little started continue to guide us through what's that better future for all the i.c.c. was founded as a permanent court of last resort from which no leader rebel group or army could

hide now despite rumblings among some of its members severe budgetary constraints and the difficulty of arresting indictees without an international police force at its disposal the permanence of this court isn't in doubt but there are significant gaps in its reach and in global commitment to it big powers like russia china and the united states aren't members and while cases can be referred to the court by the un security council all of those countries hold veto powers russia is blocking efforts to send syria to the international criminal court even though the assad government really with putin's backing has deliberately targeted civilians as a way of waging this war china seems to be standing in the way ascending myanmar. even though it ethnically cleansed seven hundred thousand hinge of muslims in the course of the month you know the united states is continuing to try to protect israel to protect saudi arabia so there is

a very unprincipled approach to international justice all of which puts alleged war crimes in syria and gaza beyond its reach but the i.c.c. is broadening its scope with new investigations in venezuela the philippines georgia and afghanistan but it must also compete with the rise of nationalism and growing disdain for global institutions signs for the strengthening of international justice jonah al-jazeera the hague. well he's been out of the former chief prosecutor international criminal court he's more in a camper he joins us from amsterdam thank you very much indeed for being with us just on the on the issue that human rights amongst others even though they're supporters of the i.c.c. have have criticized some of its performance saying there are gaps in its performance we can best geishas in some of the earlier cases lengthy investigations and to limited efforts to support victims access to their rights how do you think those kind of gaps except those gaps are there and do you think those can be closed

when i took office in june two thousand and three there were many months about the entire brushing i was at harvard teaching though there is and for mommy told me don't take the job we're going to do nothing for a minute this would be a shame. now you saw the reality i says it involves different can do so on the world and everyone is asking for it is see so it's a reality now. twenty years ago it was a dream now it's a reality that is the issue is not me or it is not that it is affected reality because it's all very well having a building and an investigations but if it's perceived not to actually get the results then that's not much help to people is it. but there the court look i see it like it is fun ok great invention but it is no wife i thought for not working similarly good to see you in this program i was listening

about syria conflict ok syria is no way to fire in for as you see i did not intervene in syria because syria never looked for the treaty you talk about nicaragua in nicaragua there is no why if i because i sneak i was not the state parties so it is not about the court you know that this forum is about the white fide how we do a very strong signal on why if i don't the world do we sure justice is done everywhere. or you do you have any idea how about how you achieve that because at the moment as you say in instances like with syria that contact and so there are these big situations where the reach of the r.c.c. for whatever reason whether it's because at the un security council whatever else isn't there how do you how do you change that in the current climate. no we did leadership we need political leadership the secretary general of the organization american state just issue

a report showing crimes in venezuela asking for countries to refer to this is as you see political leaders doing that the prosecutor herself is doing the case but not the state is standing so is it time for small countries leaving this time for arab countries imagine if justice for the conflict in syria or in iraq and then you don't need to fight each other we don't need to kill each other that you like to put your community you can use just this and other mechanism that we need we need imagination we need new generations understanding how to manage conflict their advantage is now you have this is see twenty years ago there is nothing now or it is exist tell me this was an example of president omar bashir so he was he was one of the people who was actually referred to the i.c.c. and there was no arrest warrant issued for him to for genocide a war crimes yet he is still free what he does that it personally does that

disappoint you after after all these years. i know it's a point before the big things but imagine if you are a victim of genocide and your mother is still in the camp and your sister is raped it's two days and you're desperate because no one even listened to you because there were no one talk about genocide in darfur so that's the problem that the wife i thing there's no one with eyes is the issue it's job in in sudan in darfur issue out as wire and then there was negotiations president obama decided to give up on the genocide and make an agreement with percy and bashir and that's who i am but she was a sceptic in the south of sudan independent prison but she was supporting the division in yemen and by the way president obama leads the sanctions so if i illegally president obama has legal he's option but therefore no if there is no

activity to implement there what are they going to do nothing no judge in the world has police in any country or liberal is different than almost from the judge and they were having the same we need to understand how to combine efforts to the decision of the court it should be more through implemented. on a more sort of perhaps in the broader note what would you say briefly is that the biggest achievement in the last twenty years of the i.c.c. . the existence the existence. if you mean that justice is national there was no idea to do a burman international justice system but something did the entire global system and the worse much in one thousand nine hundred eight and lose your book and different countries. all over the world they made an agreement. establish it and now it's a reality that is the carriage of men is a reality do we have

a court to go in the past impunity what the rule is not chance to mitigate the crime we've got the court is the beginning it's just the beginning but it's a good beginning there is more in a camper thank you very much indeed thirty that are joining us for here time. thank you but i want to return to one of the top stories we're following this hour a u.k. based investigative agency has obtained documents revealing an expensive lobbying effort by the u.a.e. in britain and the u.s. has been watch report includes e-mails from an immorality lobbying group trying to influence the b.b.c.'s coverage of the arab spring report says it has proof of secret meetings between abu dhabi's crown prince mohammed bin zayed and former british prime minister david cameron right apparently threatened to pull out of billions of dollars worth of deals if the u.k. failed to designate the muslim brotherhood as a terrorist organization iraqi foreign minister anwar gallagher she's accused of pushing journalists to create a pro you

a anti muslim brotherhood anti iran and anti cata media narrative and it's alleged the u.a.e. is lobbying company quiller offered twenty six thousand dollars a month to king's college london to focus research linking qatar with terrorism. well external morgan is the co-author of the report he joins me now in the studio thanks for coming in so obviously huge report a lot of allegations here what do you think the most significant aspect of this lobbying effort was in the u.k. particular or the. i think if you read the report i think what is striking is just the level of i mean i mean just broadly this was a concerted very detailed sophisticated well old machine to influence top journalists and brits and also and also politicians and i think you mention this or the journalists there maybe b.c. has denied that they their coverage was affected in any way how effective was this operation is do you have any evidence that it actually succeeded. we we know.

we've been told that consultants which was employed as the your utopian company in london run out research on b.b.c. journalists that the felt were too pro muslim brotherhood. views that whose views they objected to. we know that the u.a.e. personally dopy the government about the b.b.c. coverage and that i was pushed back by the british government saying well we can't control the media is just you know this is this is this is britain this is what happens so in terms of the kind of the effectiveness of it do you think that actually they're just another lobbying outfit and people take that in their stride all. well all gulf i mean all countries lobby lobbying is a legal activity you all lots of gulf countries have a very powerful lobby in the u.k. and the top western democracy in the us. has one so the saudis have one. about

since the u.s. not alone but i think what's striking is the how aggressive it was. just the lengths that they went to to push their own interests in their own agenda and in particular the they had they were upset about the muslim brotherhood and so what do you think the effect of that was in terms of the perception of the muslim brotherhood. well wait i mean that was the number one aim when the arab spring happened you know that the spread of democracy was in force across the middle east the muslim brotherhood was done actually opposed to it to you know to our to do whatever that we wanted. that this was part this was the reason why they pushed this will be into gear in such a forceful way was to as a kick back against these you know democratic forces that this is sweeping the region tell us about the meetings in particular with top politicians what kind of ones that would you single out as being a worrying nature or we know there are

a lot of unpublicized private last minute. meetings between mamak inside the crown prince of abu dhabi and david cameron they developed a very personal i mean they developed a personal friendship. these two text each other and they clearly got on well and that was a key. that was a key rootin for the u.a.e. to you know spread its message to the british government did you get the impression that the government review into the muslim brotherhood was a direct result of of this kind of lobbying or do you think that was on the cards anyway i mean is it is it possible to make that link directly. and i think there's enough evidence now from you know what we know now from from emails and you know what's come out over the last usa that the the british government review into the muslim brotherhood was. going to say totally but certainly largely down to the

u.a.e. lobby except on morgan thank you very much leave current to us i thank you. well israel is tightening its see john almost two million people living in gaza by further restricting the flow of goods into the territory it's planning to ban all surely imports through the kerem shalom crossing the fishing zone open to boats from gaza has also been hard to three nautical miles john stratford reports trucks gather at the current border post it's the only official crossing for goods and fuel to gaza from israel but the israeli government has now all but closed it it says it will let food and medicine in on a case by case basis but it's not a few essential for powering garza's basic services many of the almost two million people here only get electricity.