this is al jazeera. hello from doha everyone i'm come on santa maria this is the news hour from al-jazeera saudi arabia and the u.a.e. have admitted last month's bombing of a school bus in yemen was quote justified the u.s. cuts all funding to the un agency to provide schooling and health care to five million palestinian refugees. it made us better presidents just as he made the sun a better just as he made this country better tributes for john mccain former president barack obama joins mourners to remember the late republican senator and vietnam veteran. in sport asian games host indonesia announced their intention to

bid for the twenty thirty two olympics the country has won its thirty first gold at this event the biggest ever medal haul at the gangs. so the saudi led coalition fighting in yemen has admitted that last month's bombing of a school bus in yemen was a mistake remember fifty one people were killed including forty children and investigation has ruled that those responsible must be punished alan fischer has that story he's reporting from neighboring djibouti. it was an attack which threw international condemnation and their appearance of forty children crying over near graves eleven others were killed in a crowded market in with you know they and in the north of yemen in early august initially coalition was it justified military operation was targeting lukey leader

no it made me think. they are a subject that the joint team of based on the above information gathered is of the opinion that the coalition forces should take legal actions to try and penalize those responsible for these mistakes which cause collateral damage in that area these mistakes are as follows first delay in handling down the exact sheesh an order where the execution squadron should be waiting for the target to approach a clear area free of civilians to avoid unjustified collateral damage in line with the approvals of engagement in article fifty seven and fifty eight a political one of the geneva convention and the standard norms seventeen and nineteen. the findings come just days after two reports critical of the. u.n. panel of experts said that both sides in the conflict including the coalition could be guilty of war crimes and human rights watch accused. of failing to investigate allegations of possible war crimes. inquiries like transparency credibility and did

little to stop hitting civilians to be clear the report does not expressly condemn the killing of the children it says. leaders didn't need to be carried out when it was because they pose no immediate threat to coalition forces and he says vital information was not passed to the pilot who fired the. thirty investigators sponsible must be punished. the joint team is also of the opinion that the coalition forces should take necessary measures to immediately review and verify the rules of engagement approved by them to ensure the total compliance in all military operations in yemen. you know suggestions if they're using their own eyes to come to the u.s. pressure to do more to cut the number of civilian casualties this surprise admission of mistakes may go some way to improving relations and peace talks are still planned to be hosted by the u.n.

later this month. well joining us from washington d.c. we've got some who is a yemeni analyst visiting fellow at georgetown university nice to have you with us what do you make of what the saudis have said is it's certainly not an apology it is an admission it would seem it could be a beginning of an apology you could make two things out of what they say and claiming that this is in fact a mistake one that potentially they could change their ways and now start claiming accidents which is a really good stuff because it's the first step to issuing reparations to families of those who were hurt in this incident and then it's also a way to hold them accountable for their actions now another way to look at this and it would be a much cynical way of looking at it it's to say that the international pressure surrounding this specific incident specifically from the united states was really heavy that the saudi arabians had to come out and say that this is in fact their

mistakes now are hoping that in fact this is the former specially that now they will go to geneva and participate in the talks starting september third that's what i was going to say actually more leaning towards the latter unfortunately is that with the peace talks coming up maybe the timing of this was crucial to show that there is some. ability to as you said begin the process of apologizing and reparations before the peace talks. well the most important thing is that the saudis do not behave in this conflict the same way that rebel militias acting on the ground and it is in fact important that they hold themselves accountable to international standards of law and to prevent those who are civilians in this conflict of course we know this is not the first time that the saudis of attack civilians but it is important it's a first step to making sure that now that we are starting to claim accidents that saudi arabia ideally would have a commission created of outside parties meaning those who have nothing to do with

the conflict to investigate what went wrong in this case how did they end up targeting civilians now if they can't do that of course in the past we've seen that in saudi arabia does not like to have a coalition of outsiders but they have their own mechanisms within saudi arabia to investigate what went wrong was that our information or you know how did this error come about and then to put penalties in place to make sure that in the future you don't target schools you don't target hospitals you do not target historical sites and you make sure that those who are damaged and hurt specially those who are children woman that their families receive the reparations they need what do you feel just looking forward some are what do you feel about the prospects for these peace talks beginning on monday yemen has started to take on that sort of syria feeling the feel of it being not having anywhere that it's really going is that do

you think that is the case or is there a potential for some sort of breakthrough or at least the start of some sort of breakthrough i think that yemen is slightly different than syria in that the problem in yemen is actually solvable if everybody comes to the table and has been going on for a really long time but we've seen continuously that the u.s. is going to stand behind martin griffith to make sure that these peace talks take place. oh you cario. sorry i think i'm losing you and over that too it's really important to to see that martin griffith is a british. you know he is a person coming from europe who's going to lead these peace talks and so in a sense we have the internet the international community now coming all of them together saying we want an exit to this war especially in the us with the last attack there have been a lot of americans who are talking about how lockheed martin is the distributor and

the maker of these weapons used on the ground and a lot of americans are finally catching on to see the role of the u.s. in all of this and the more that they target civilians the more that they're there back or and supporter the united states here is going to be more embarrassed and afraid to support them in the future really pleased to get your perspective on the summit and the joining us from washington d.c. thank you you thank. now jordan is warning of dangerous consequences to the trumpet ministration announced it was cutting all funding to the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees or provides health care education and food to millions of people but the u.s. says it is irredeemably flawed israel has backed the decision which the palestinians say is an attack on their people who are a force that with more from the occupied west bank. just this week in the face of its funding crisis one row was celebrating the start of the academic year at the reopening of its schools girls arriving for class in the refugee camp in the

occupied west bank welcomed by the agency's chief an ra has been scrambling all year to drum up the money to maintain its services after the us withheld more than three hundred million dollars in funding. now comes confirmation that those cuts permanent the u.s. state department saying the fundamental business model and fiscal practices that have marked on rougher years tied to an endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries is simply unsustainable the united states will no longer commit further funding to this irredeemably flawed operation for the palestinian leadership the decision is not about the specifics of a un agency rather an attack on the palestinian cause the us may argue that it's tax payers money and there are free to do whatever they want to do with it yes but will give them the right garber of the stealing of my land my future my spirit my hopes my capital maxim was my only subject her church they have no right whatsoever

. for palestinians the final status of the more than five million refugees who assert a right of return to present day israel is like the status of jerusalem an issue to be settled by the go see a should not by a preemptive u.s. position that position is referred to at least in the language used in the us statement when it talks about the exponentially expanding number of people who rely on that suggest this isn't just a move against one specific agency but also against the continued refugee status of millions of people. with a sufi family home is the village of bacon a balance now in israel not the jailer's own refugee camp where most of them were born and raised. will a human what can i do if i go back on my own a car to tend the land i want my children there before me we want them that the future is there and their children are. used for a sufi house seventy grandchildren and great grandchildren among israeli jews there

is all but political consensus that allowing all such families to return would destroy the jewish character of the state but is also concerned not least reported within the israeli security establishment about the effects of killing off their main provider of aid in order to disrupt the politics that the people are asking whether what we're seeing is the political instrumental isolation or aid and what you say is that the amount of minutes and the needs of the people are simply two grades in the short term un role will continue to seek ways to plug its funding gap germany among the first donor nations to promise extra money warning of an uncontrollable chain reaction if we're forced to shut down air force it out zero refugee camp in the occupied west bank spoke to had a little bit earlier as an on resident senior fellow at the foreign policy center for middle east policy at the brookings institution and he says removing funding from enron will harm the u.s. and regional security. us. to under in the simplest terms is just

plain stupid it's it is callous it is un-american and it's even against u.s. national security interests why i think the why is is based on sort of really false premises that the trump ministration has the trying to ministration believes that palestinian refugees derive their their refugee status from under a they don't they derive it from international walk it's based on the false premise that other refugee populations don't transfer their refugee status is to children i think finally it's based on the false premise that cutty three hundred million dollars in funding to two u.n. agency will somehow pressure the palestinian authority to ramallah to give in to u.s. demands again the p.a. can't be seen as giving in to pressure from donald trump who is more reviled than any president in u.s. history in the palestinian society and also it doesn't affect them because most of

the money that henri spends is in gaza which that doesn't rule or in jordan which the p.a. doesn't rule or in lebanon which the policy already does rule so it's just it's just plain stupid policy that not only harms in the first instance. the dignity of the most vulnerable palestinian refugees it harms national security interests as your program alluded to even harms israeli security interests which the israeli military readily acknowledges now the newly appointed u.s. representative to syria james jeffrey is making his first trip to the region his visit comes as speculation grows that russia and syria are planning a military offensive in inflame the u.n. has warned can or lot attack on the rebel held province would cause many civilian deaths and further displacement stephanie deca has more from antakya near the turkey syrian border. what you're looking at is province and these are just some of

the tents of the internally displaced along the border with turkey around eight hundred thousand tents lined this border area the border with turkey is of course closed and also the other situation is that people here will tell you that they have nowhere to go they have been coming over the years from areas where fighting was inside syria now most of those areas are under government control and of course there is a feeling that this operation this offensive by the by the syrian government and the russians will take place at some point this is why you have intensive diplomatic efforts underway between turkey between russia and the syrian government trying to figure out how to limit this turkey's nightmare situation is to have these people try to cross into the border areas also how do you maintain the aid flowing to the people over a million people inside of the dependent on aid so a lot of different challenges under way it's also different this province the last held rebel territory inside syria because this is the area where people have been

bussed to rebels and their families will sit internally displaced who did not want to stay in those areas now under the control of the syrian government under those reconciliation deals so this is why it's different this is why it's a huge challenge where they're going to go. and one of the key backers of the syrian president bashar al assad russia's flexing its military might meanwhile with a week of drills in the mediterranean sea moscow says the exercises will focus on anti air and anti submarine defense systems it has been described as russia's largest naval deployment in the area since it intervened in syria's war three years ago nato had earlier reported a build up of russian forces in the mediterranean. here's what's coming up for you on this news the first session with many surprises mexico's leftist majority congress kicks off with more women and a lot of plan so. i'm wayne hay in northeast thailand where we'll tell you why some are blaming the emergence of a flesh eating disease on

a big increase in sugar cane plantations and in sports the fastest lap in formula one history sure as ferrari dominates qualifying back home grand prix. how the weather's looking glassy dry across much of the middle east no great surprises here we still going to the legacy of showers just around the black sea so southern parts of russia pushing into georgia. maybe a little bit wet weather there into armenia but essentially it does that dry and sunny might just catch you notice that just around the southern end of the caspian as we go through sunday but for much of the region they plenty of sunshine into the low thirty's for beirut for jerusalem or to the mid forty's back that at also for kuwait you come down into the arabian peninsula in here it's again try

a little bit of cloud into southern parts of saudi arabia but it's largely looking settled and sunny on the human side from time to time though at least here in qatar that will be the case the around the u.a.e. also expect the humidity to be picking up so where the morning mist and folks early this year as you go on through. the next couple of days i'm feeling a little on the sticky side fair amount of cloud two to southern parts of south africa as we go on through the next hour so this massive cloud diving its way in will produce some useful rainfall i suspect as we go through the next thousand capetown on sunday looking wet fifteen degrees celsius seven capless seeing some wet weather at a slot its way further east was some side coming in behind. instantly shifting news cycle it was even changing america tweet the listening post take sports and questions the wild needle the devil will be of the details the kind that

cannot be conveyed in two hundred eighty characters or fewer exposing how the press operates it is their language as their culture it's their context and why certain stories take precedence while others are ignored we can have a better understanding of how news is created we're going to have a better understanding of what the news is than listening post on al-jazeera. al-jazeera. where every.

mexico's new congress is getting to work under president elect and press manuel lopez obrador the incoming government is expected to tackle several new policies poverty and corruption and energy reform john heilemann is looking at. it's a historic new mexican congress for the first time since democracy the left has a clear majority. for your own party morena and its allies swept the board giving populist president elect and his money well lopez obrador a legislative power not seen in twenty. yes it's used to promise a new austerity plan that would have the salaries of lawmakers and dramatically cut their perks bodyguard's teams of consultants and international travel. they say

something that a public tired of rich out of touch politicians needed to see. there can't be such a marked inequality in society so much poverty in the countryside and a group of privileged politicians with everything. there's another big shift for the first time they'll be almost as many female lawmakers as men in part the result of the quotes a system where. there could be a different vision with women involved in the country's direction not just to highlight the problems we have domestic and social violence but to do things differently with sensitivity honesty dedication those values are more prevalent in women but there's a challenge ahead say female lawmakers getting more access to big policy decisions rather than just being relegated to so-called women's issues we can't yet see how this is all going to play out but congress is definitely opening with

a real change of tone in particular the cuts to pay and perks of grab the attention but analysts say what's going to really make a difference is better oversight to how lawmakers are spending public money not just blanket cuts up until now there's been a real lack of checks and balances one immediate change that should make politicians more willing to play the transparency game is reelection introduced for the first time i expect and i hope that this incentive structure will really focus on politicians to go more to their grassroots result in a virtuous circle of going more to the constituency and really tried to to get good results source source turned the boat this three years for the new rule makers to prove all know that this time around they're prepared to put the. so john homan. brazil's former president louise enough to live the silver has been barred from

running in october's election despite leading the polls judges that the electoral court voted six to one to ban his candidacy because he's serving a twelve year prison sentence for corruption people convicted of a crime can't run for the presidency of brazil but lula's party registered him anyway and says it will fight to make sure he remains a candidate. tensions have been rising in the eastern german city of chemist's demonstrators protest against government immigration policies rival rallies have been held after the arrest of two asylum seekers suspected of stabbing in german man to death last sunday and it's has been seen a series of anti migrant protests in the past week more than twelve hundred police have been deployed to keep the peace. earlier though left wing demonstrators rallied in the center of cabinets protesters marched under the slogan heart instead of hate there have been more open displays of anti migrant sentiment in germany since the arrival of more than a million refugees in migrants in the past three years. at least thirty nigerian

soldiers have been killed in a battle with boko haram fighters in northern nigeria scores of fighters stormed a military base at the armory village in northern borno state and briefly captured the facility book launched its rebellion against the nigerian government ten years ago trying to establish a state in northern nigeria with its own version of islamic law. now the thai government is reconsidering the use of three toxic weed killers one of the chemicals parekh out is already banned in more than thirty countries as it's been linked to flesh eating diseases and that's in farmers in northern thailand when hay has that story. in parts of rural thailand red marks the spot it's an indicator that farmers used to show that sprayed paraquat a toxic weed killer banned in many countries and the european union its use is blamed on a number of illnesses including a flesh eating bacteria disease which is emerged in northern thailand some farmers

have died others have lost limbs in the province of. where researches say contamination from agra chemicals is severe. i really want to see people stop using the chemicals last time i went to the provincial hospital the staff told me there were a lot of patients with similar symptoms as i had thailand's become one of the world's biggest uses of paraquat partly because of its effectiveness on sugar cane plantations as the price of rice fell the government encouraged farmers to grow other crops like sugar which in turn increased demand for paraquat the health ministry recommended that it be banned along with two other chemicals but that was ignored and they continued use approved by a government appointed committee there are now allegations that some members of that committee had conflicts of interest with companies involved in importing the chemicals that are loaded with that but i have to look at the members of the committee their position is not groundless but so far we have no imperial evidence

to accuse any of them thailand wants to become known as the so-called kitchen of the world but that largely unregulated use of toxic sprays is leading to concerns about food safety most of the world's paraquat is made in china which has also decided to ban its use in thailand it's important mainly by foreign companies the biggest thai company dealing in it is c.p. group were johns among other things convenience stores it's also one of the world's largest food producers. al-jazeera contacted c.p. group and other companies involved but none would give an interview and none have ever been to see see to put to ask him what happened he says he can never farm again but hopes one day the fields here will be chemical free wayne hay al jazeera non-board lump who thailand's. the u.s. and canada have missed a deadline to revamp the north american free trade agreement talks on friday tare

talks on friday broke up without a deal but they will resume next week president donald trump is that he will press ahead with a new trade agreement with mexico and that's with or without canada down or lack reports from toronto. president trump has long said nafta was unfair to his country and he was visibly pleased when he announced last monday that u.s. and mexican negotiators had reached a deal to replace it canada was left out and trump said the canadians had until friday to give in to us demands so it could join the new pact that deadline is passed with no deal and trump is keeping up the pressure because i love canada but they've taken advantage of our country for many years they have tremendous tremendous trade barriers and they have tremendous tariffs. the sticking points remain what they've been for months u.s. demands for access to canada's highly protected dairy industry and auto was desire to keep independent trade dispute resolution part of a new nafta something the u.s.

opposes canadian negotiators say they're still hopeful they can reach a deal on an agreement that doesn't leave canada out we know that a win win agreement is within reach and now it's what we're working towards with goodwill and plex ability on all sides i know we can get there canada's economy is highly dependent on trade with the u.s. more than a billion dollars a day in business flows between the two countries president trumps threats to slap high tariffs on canadian built cars would be disastrous for the country's workers and manufacturers both the u.s. and mexico say canada can be part of a deal to replace nafta many members of the u.s. congress some of them from donald trump's republican party agree but a protectionist trump administration has so far been demanding far more than canada's negotiators have been prepared to give daniel lak al-jazeera toronto. america's political elites have turned us in washington for

a final public sendoff for john mccain leaders from across the political divide gathered to remember the long time arizona senator and vietnam prisoner of war former presidents obama and george w. bush were among those who paid tribute but of course defeated mccain in their bids for the oval office. for john and me there was a personal journey. our holiday thought political history. back in the day he could frustrate me. and i know he'd say the same thing about me but he also made me better in recent years we sometimes talk of that intense period like football players remembering a big game. in the process rivalry melted away. in the end i got to enjoy one a life's great gifts. the friendship of john mccain. and i'm missing.

that's perhaps why we honor him best by recognizing that there are some things bigger than party or ambition or money or fame or power but there are some things that are worth risking everything for principles that are eternal truths that are abiding. at his best john showed us what that means more from gabriel elizondo who's been covering events from washington. this was a memorial service that was quite patriotic because you could maybe imagine for a man that really represented america in all of its glory as many people here at this memorial service said it was over two thousand invited guests that were here

at the national cathedral paying on or to the life and legacy of john mccain now one person that was not invited was current president donald trump and that was by design mccain and his family did not invite him because they had a long and contentious relationship and they asked the president to stay away but even without mentioning trump's name there was some of that in some of the speeches particularly by mccain's daughter a real rebuke of trump style politics listen to a little bit more of what mccain's daughter had to say about that the american john mccain is generous and welcoming and bold she is resourceful confident secure. she meets her responsibilities she speaks quietly because she is strong america does not boast because she has no need to. the america john mccain has no need to

be made great again because america was always great now on sunday there will be a small private burial for mccain at the u.s. navy academy in annapolis maryland and that will essentially be the culmination of what has been a week long celebration and remembrance of the life and legacy of a man that will go down as one of america's most important political figures of his era. now russia has warned that talks to resolve the conflict in eastern ukraine are impossible after the killing of a separatist leader on friday alexander died in an explosion in a cafe in donetsk moscow is accused ukraine of killing him calling it a provocation kiev's blaming the death of rebel infighting chalons with the story from moscow. this is the aftermath of the blast that killed alexander as a car chink or a blackened body can be seen lying on

a stretcher outside the cafe don't yet squint into lockdown after the killing with moscow and the russian backed breakaway republic itself calling this an act of international terrorism with. security measures in the republic are heightened all the borders are closed a few people have already been detained they have already given evidence confirming that this was a ukrainian act of sabotage. the last pictures of her alive were from thursday laying flowers for the donbass born singer years of cubs one who died earlier in the day so had been the prime minister of done yet since november two thousand and fourteen he was shuffled into the position at a time when attempts were being made to make the war in ukraine's east look less like a foreign operation run from moscow more like a homegrown independence movement as a disney esque native and rebel military commander who fit the bill. or was present

both peace summits in minsk a negotiator of the first the d.n.r. representative and signatory had the second three potential theories spring to mind for who might have been behind this killing it could have been ukraine secret service the s.b.u. perhaps it was separatist infighting or maybe it was moscow doing some extreme housekeeping amongst the rebels plenty of other separatist commanders have met similar fates like the man with the nom de guerre give the killed last year and motorola who died in two thousand and sixteen but this ukraine analyst thinks one theory of a psychotic is death stands out as the most likely to me it looks like this was an internal operation for the past few weeks and months. has been critical of some of its colleagues other deputies and that's the. n r r m n i t control the t.v. station which pretty much humiliated and their colleagues so i think become kind of

the writing was on the wall. or were numbered moscow and kiev are both accusing each other of having a culture because death is the most significant yet of the many murky deaths that have been ongoing feature in this murky war rory chalons zero mosque are staying with russia where one person has died after a passenger plane crashed at sochi airport the aircraft ran off the runway during landing catching fire in a riverbed an airport worker died of a heart attack during the rescue operation eighteen of the one hundred seventy people on board were injured the cause of the crash as yet unknown. uganda's opposition politician bobby wine is seeking medical treatment in the united states he boarded a flight on friday night after the government allowed him to leave the country wine says he was injured while in detention his lawyer accuses security forces of torture remember one charged with treason for his alleged role in an incident with

stones were thrown at the president's mostly case scientists in south africa are on a desperate search to stop stop trees from dying because of a tiny beetle johannesburg is home to one of the world's largest urban forests and about two hundred species many of them indigenous are now flitted with the past and the fungus that terri's family the miller reports from johannesburg.