and the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world. al-jazeera. zero. fully back to this is a news hour line from my headquarters in doha coming up in the next sixty minutes the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami in indonesia jumps to more than eight hundred any is expected to rise sparking health concerns for the areas affected a year after a failed independence bit voters in iraq's kurdish region are back at the polls this time to pick members of parliament. also this hour

a celebration and disappointment in macedonia after a referendum to change the country's name fails despite strong support. and europe's best gophers beat the usa by seven points to regain the ryder cup. thank you for joining as we begin in indonesia where mass graves are being dug in a desperate attempt to stop the spread of disease after friday's earthquake and tsunami people are being warned to prepare for a death toll in the thousands with many remote areas still cut off most of the eight hundred people confirmed dead in the city off pollo west six metre high waves crashed ashore devastating anything in its path but there's been no word yet from a city thirty kilometers to the north to me she told reports. the difficult task of

looking for survivors this is what is left in the city of after friday's magnitude seven point five earthquake and tsunami rescue workers frantically trying to find those who may still be alive so its efforts are being hampered by block roads and the collapse periods rescue teams stuck by hand to free twenty four people trapped in the rubble of this hotel the owner told local media people could still be heard crying for help but no heavy lifting equipment was available dozens remain missing in the city of over three hundred thousand those who did survive the quake and tsunami that follow now have to try to lift off anything they can find things like this of people looting local shops and siphoning petrol from cars are becoming the norm. is very slowly coming in many injured are being evacuated but the red cross estimates that more than one point six million people have been affected but the concerns about the nearby. where the impact is still unclear. is home to

over two hundred seventy thousand people the indonesian president is visiting to assess the damage and the region is so the people that more help is on the way. i have seen directly the situation in the field the real conditions everything is still that an emergency status but the most important thing i would like to emphasize to all ministries military police and regional administrations is first to focus on all things related to evacuation but for now bodies continue to feel the streets of. being one not to return to their homes as aftershocks continue. to kata. and those affected by the earthquake and tsunami have been talking about their ordeal since. it struck i just finished my shopping i was at the cashier suddenly everything went dark and the wall started falling around us it was horrible i rushed to the broken escalator with my daughters and we made it outside

to safety. we were having some smarts on the belittling it felt the earthquake i media i told my son in law to grab his children from the mall and someone told me he would be arriving just after we successfully evacuated sunday night it all made the mess it is like at the camp at the i've got my son here and my mother she got washed away and stuck in a mango tree joining the tsunami with my other kids she was bleeding from the. thomas how this works for the charity save the children he says progress is being made but the rescue effort is still an enormous challenge. it's been a good development today with the poor alou reopen and for humanitarian flights which is the big thing that will allow agencies in the government to really start to bring in the much needed stocks and the quitman. that we need to kind of make things make things work essential it's yeah there's a lot of roads a need to be cleared so this cracks in the road i was also landslides and it's very

very challenge and an earthquake of seven point four seven point five magnitude it's quite rare event for than for that to be followed by a tsunami obviously that's particularly challenging and it's not you know not something that can really be prepared for to this extent and i think what we're seeing on the pictures unfortunately you know the about people who died. in dongola although we don't have much information from the gullible already and alou we're you know we're talking about eight hundred twenty three people you know that's around double of those who died in lombok just under that so it's always leigh significantly more impactful earthquake than the long block earth quake specifically in terms of the epicenter and in terms of the impact of the tsunami that followed it so it is not a normal event it's extraordinary event and the challenges are also extraordinary

meanwhile nearly half a million homes are without power in western japan after typhoon trami made landfall south of a saka fierce winds interventional rain brought transport to a halt with more than one thousand flights grounded and train service is suspended at least eighty four people have been injured many by windows shattered in the driving wind whether officials are warning of flooding and landslides hard abdel-hamid riff or some tokyo. doesn't travel is expected to transit over tokyo and the great middle quality area throughout the night authorities have been warning people to stay indoors shops and businesses have closed earlier than usual and also the raid was the system has shut down since eight pm local time now authorities have warned that in some area they could be rainfall that haven't been seen in about fifty years certainly people have taken that advice seriously usually just streets here would be bustling at this start well most of the people and the

businesses all around are shut down people bracing themselves for certainly very strong willed and storm throughout the night in other world news votes are being counted after parliamentary elections in the kurdish region of northern iraq it's the first time kurds have gone to the polls since a failed bid for secession last year's referendum was rejected by the central government in baghdad punching the region into economic turmoil and leaving its leaders deeply divided earlier a member of one of the main group c.p.u. case said his party will reject the results of the vote effort has more from abil. but we understand that this statement was made by a p.t. you k. spokes person i was the saudi peer who said that the p u k was going to reject these election results subsequent to that statement being made the leader of the p u k list qubad talabani has rejected this claim and said that it is far too early

to come out with statements like that. rejecting results as they are still being counted meanwhile the k d p the k.t. p.d.t. ship in the towns of sunni and shia which a p u k strongholds of come out and make claims about election violations there also i mean i think these incidents obviously just showed just how full these palm tree elections are indeed how the a for the build up to them has been we have seen these increasing divisions between the two main political players in this region the k d p and the p u k there's always been a if you like an on an easy. leadership agreement if you like in this region and that is full of partisan subsequent to that referendum the failed referendum that we saw last year and also the fact that the k.t. they blamed the p u k as being complicit with the baghdad government the baghdad army when the peshmerga the kurdish full seasons were forced to withdraw from

kirkuk last year. well let's take a closer look at this point of entry lection iran three point one million people were eligible to vote with more than seven hundred candidates competing for one hundred eleven seats that includes five seats allocated for turkmen five for christians and one for armenians but the election is seen as a test of kurdish unity and public trust in the main parties or film on this let's speak to a fine body he's a former iraqi ambassador to the u.n. and he's currently director of the center for the study of the middle east at indiana university joins us via skype from bloomington indiana good to have you on al jazeera again thank you for being with us so how significant is this vote one year after the kurdish region tried to on success we separate from iraq war can iraqi kurds hope to achieve. well i think that the very fact that the kurdistan region is holding up parliamentary elections is

a good thing the last parliamentary elections were in two thousand and thirteen which is to say that under the laws of the region on iraqi kurdistan these elections are a year too late they should have taken place one year ago rather than the referendum which of course was rejected by the united nations and the international community as well as by the government so i'll be wrong so it's important that the elections themselves are taking place as. a step forward i think there is some hope amongst some in the region and the iraqi kurdistan region that the stranglehold of the two main parties that you mentioned in your report the katie and the p u k will be somewhat attenuated in the latter i'm afraid i think. those hopes are more likely to be disappointed i was going to ask you about that the results of the elections are still being counted but already

a lot of tensions divisions between the two main political players and has always been an uneasy leadership agreement among the cars as we heard chani report there do you think this vote and its outcome will help the existing divisions zero zero will it on the contrary further exacerbate that. afraid that it's hard to be optimistic under the current scenario i think that they. very often before elections are announced people who expect not to do well in the elections talk to complain about fraud now that's not to say fraud didn't take place i am not taking a position as to whether there was or was not electoral fraud we would have to wait for the facts to be on there. but it's not uncommon so you have the u.k. generally or at least some of the p. u.k. generally complaining about the possibility of fraud you have people from the k.t. p. in the u.k. stronghold complaining about fraud before a single vote has been counted this is this is not all your wealth for unity in the

post-election period i'm afraid there's some we'll see this vote as also the kurds positioning themselves within the iraqi government what can change if that's the case what can change for the kurdish region when you look at the bigger picture right now in iraq. well there's a very contentious election coming up this week in fact for the president seven iraq which under the iraqi constitution is. devoted their election is held in parliament the post appointed by the parliament and so there is a contention between a very strong contention between a very strong puke a candidate and a k d p candidate and so some of this posturing has to do with the relative strength. on that position so hoping to influence the value election right generally i think that the federal parliament but he lections will have more to do with the relationship between baghdad and that each of the regional capital of iraq

a court has done then these elections will which which i think will have more to do with this with the internal dynamic but it will have this sort of follow on effect in terms of the current dispute between the kurdish parties as to who their candidate should be for the presidency of iraq and finally after i said mr body iraqi kurds have been a kano of course of the u.s. in the war against how much leverage do you think that still gives them today with baghdad with the central government well i think all iraqis have been partners with the united states and in the international community in a common fight against international terrorism and i so in particular the i so was threatening to take over the territory from your walkies and have taken over territory from iraq eason iraqis of all the new cities and all confessions rose to fight against them i think that what i have heard from south that fight when they. all the rockies where absolutely they were in the forefront and so are the rockies

from buswell and the jeff and about on but i doubt that most of them and i'm bought from all provinces and all cities in iraq they were all in the forefront of the fight i had hoped that that common fight with for at least a common bond and a common understanding at least to develop some what is called a nuance parlance u.n. parlance. you know good faith or trust but unfortunately at the i think the referendum last year dissipated much of that my hope is that if nothing else economic realities will set in and that will also help to forge are at least a common modus vivendi presence or body thank you very much for speaking to us. it's my pleasure always to be with you thank you thank you more ahead on this al-jazeera news hour including demanding freedom protesters gather outside a prison in catalonia spain in a show of support for embattled separatist leaders the last u.s.

senators accused the white house of micromanaging an investigation into the president's supreme court nominee last. by three this is still a difficult day for you a difficult day for us let's discuss it afterwards a recorder a cup to get a little the old expert. team orders made for an awkward mysterious victory at the russian grand preacher will have the details in sports. macedonia's bid to change its name has failed sunday's referendum had strong support by the turnout didn't reach a fifty percent threshold needed to make it legal just over a third of the voters cast ballots with ninety percent of them supporting the new name the republic of north macedonia the government wanted the name changed to help end a decades old dispute with greece now tension between macedonia and greece started in one thousand nine hundred one that's when macedonia declared independence after

breaking away from yugoslavia during the balkans war greece objected to the name change saying it represented a claim on its territory as it has a province called macedonia the un and other international organizations opted to refer to the country as the former yugoslav republic of macedonia greece brock's macedonia as attempt to join nato and the european union renaming the country north macedonia could lead to nato and e.u. membership now macedonia as leader says the low turnout doesn't mean he should step down instead is pledging a parliament vote on the name change was easier not to take it again i know the opposition knows all the citizens know there is and there can be no better agreement with greece there is and there can be no all term. to have to macedonia's membership of nato and the e.u. let's not play games with our unity and our macedonia my personal message to every member of the macedonian parliament is let's put the national interest the interest

of the citizens and the strategic interests of the state above politics and party interests the main opposition party has criticised the government for pushing for the name change describing it is shameful. the moment global cooling that was for sure if it and this was an unsuccessful referendum the policies of zoran zajac and his governments have been a debacle of the truth when it is macedonia the number of citizens who didn't support this shameful remans citizens who have the votes or those who voted against it is stress tickly larger than those who supported it so the deal with greece did not give the green lights people of the republic of macedonia who are owners of this land of showing great patriotic and democratic awareness my address ascot has the latest from the capital sculpey. this outcome is showing that macedonia is very deeply divided society and that the discretion about the name issued

about about the name of the republic of macedonia is very emotional. question especially about the ethnic must've gone on in the country even the prime minister resort towns i've said that these day was successful and that he is satisfied with the outcome and they did boycott was organized by the main political party from the opposition in the country the opposition actually said that the people defeated the agreement with the greece so s. in the campaign now the situation is very similar the people are here strongly divided in the position for and against agreement with chris hill the end of this year macedonia should fulfill its own obligation on its own part of the agreement with degrees but what is happening now can postpone the plans

for implementation of these agreements a prime minister's i've said that he expected that said opposition we will support the constitutional change in the country. if not there will be early erik election in the country that means that you dare is the election the terms for implementation of this agreement will be postponed the macedonia will not finish its part of the job till till the end of this year so reese cannot ratify these documents next in the beginning of next year as well as many macedonian some greeks are also opposed to a name change. hundreds marched through the capital of the greek province of macedonia they say using the name macedonia implies territorial claim to their land steve all pender of ski is a national coordinator for preparing macedonia to join nato he says even though the

turnout threshold wasn't reached the people's will should still be respected. if we are not reaching the legal threshold that means that the people had not brought forward the decision so we do not see a decision taken by the people to be that means that the government and the parliament are going to enter the field and from tomorrow on will start negotiations with the other parliamentary factions to change the constitution and i would like to emphasize the political argument of the whole being then the we have ninety two percent of the people who voted today that's a huge majority of the people who are in favor of this agreement and in favor of our you our country integration and we should respect the will of the people the will of the people should be respected by the opposition parties as well it is peculiar to declare the victory when you get only six percent of the world's six percent of the people said we are against the agreement and thirty percent have been on ballot ballots so huge majority to repeat that one small knife two percent has been our side why we have not reached as a country the legal threshold of two components because we have one hundred we have

four hundred thousand people who lead the country are not anymore physically present in macedonia and approximately three hundred thousand people one of the so-called traditional members and sympathizers of the main oppositional party who have been pressed to boycott the referendum so but out of the people who have voted today we have the overwhelming majority of them voted in favor of the agreement we are still living in a minute to the individual and. as anyone can remember in the past few months there again are circulating that forty years of a change in the peoples and put it there is a multiple question of the borders so we are boarding the serbian cause or and we have been quite recently in an internal conflict being instigated in the early stages by what i were not so by being under the security umbrella of need or we will mean a definite if i would like i would like i would say a stamp to the territorial integrity and so that until the country which means a lot for the country for the two million people being encircled by the much much my tyranny. saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin salman has left kuwait after

two days of talks with the emir ahmed is understood the leaders discuss the ongoing gulf crisis kuwait a spate of mediation roles in saudi arabia the u.a.e. bahrain any gypped imposed a blockade on qatar last year qatar denies eric you say sions that it supports terrorism child has more from kuwait city. this is the first time that a man visits equates since his country together the united arab emirates egypt and bahrain imposed a land air and sea blockade on his have been leading the efforts to mediate this crisis try and find a solution to what many view as an existential crisis for the g.c.c. the gulf cooperation council the saudis have been reciprocated positively as far as many observers will point out the fact that this is b.s. as he's widely known his first visit to kuwait since this crisis is an indication

of that however some will be hopeful that maybe through these brief discussions that take place between the carbons a man and the emir of kuwait ships obama's obama maybe something positive will come out aside from this crisis the court has also tried to play a mediating role when it comes to the war in yemen they did try and host talks with the northeast a couple of years of all those failed but the emir of kuwait is widely respected as a mediator in the region he's known as the wise man of the gulf maybe he will try and use his influence and his respect to try and heal some sort of a resolution when it comes to a breakthrough rather when it comes to the war in yemen and obviously there is aside from the diplomatic crisis that. both these countries share an interest in there is economic ties between the two it is important to note however that saudi does or does view itself as the stronger bigger partner in this relationship they don't lose an opportunity to remind of which is that it was them who intervened

during the night in one thousand gulf war when saddam have invaded kuwait that the saudis had helped the qualities of that time and therefore maybe some observers would say or some saudi critics would say that riyadh doesn't maybe respect kuwait attempts or overtures to try and find a resolution in these different prices as much as they should nonetheless this is being hailed here domestically in kuwait as an important visit we'll wait and see if anything significant or tangible comes out of it. britain's prime minister says those who refused to back her plan for leaving the european union are playing politics to the samee as critics say her proposal would compromise the u.k. sovereignty conservative party is holding its annual conference in birmingham as it struggles to bridge division six months ahead of breaks it sonia gago reports. the buzz word of the conference written all over the venue opportunity may be in the air or translating it into reality another thing altogether and when it comes to

bricks it the u.k.'s departure from the european union the british prime minister to resign may was keen to point out that plan the so-called check is deal represented the best opportunity for orderly exit i do believe it but crucially i believe in delivering bricks it in a way that respects the vote and delivers on the fate of the british people yet at the heart of her party the debate still rages over how to leave the e.u. lurking in the foreground the cheerleader for pro breck's it group former foreign minister boris johnson he wants a so-called hot bricks it to leave the e.u. at any cost in his latest verbal volley he attacks to resume a's plan as posterous and even deranged a new low in the discourse and a sign of just how bitter the quarrel has become within the party this could not have been the conference opening that prime minister may had hoped for the party was supposed to have united behind

a vision for breck's it instead is more divided than ever with those who want of course a very divorce from the european union fighting her every step of the way. all this prefaced with an embarrassing data breach the day before the conference was due to begin an app recommended to delegates exposing personal contact details of senior government ministers and other leading figures and all the while there are other voices angry at the government about bret's it itself based on the principle there was nothing that sat wrong. with a lot of people who are virtually never regretted that decision this is not what we want. we really do not want or need. and it will not benefit others in any way and. one thing is certain there are less than six months to go until breck's it the u.k. is still none the wiser as to how rex it will happen but there will be

a fight to the bitter end of a witch wing of the party will win out with no guarantee that prime minister may will still be leading the charge so now you go others era but when i'm. still ahead on al-jazeera i cannabis users celebrate a victory in south africa and now the challenge ahead is to make sure everyone sticks to the long grass present as unemployment rate is falling but it highs and uncomfortable truth about the state of the economy and you will have all the support including a few more years final at tennis is trying to open as coming up after the break just stay with us. hello again we are watching a lot of rain coming into play over here across the southwestern part united states and northwestern mexico all due to

a hurricane that's off the coast now that is going to weaken significantly but the rain in the moisture associate with it is going to continue across much of that area and this is a very arid areas so flooding is very easy in that region flash flood watches are in effect across that area and as we go towards tuesday the rain continues anywhere from the northwestern part of mexico and into the state of arizona so that is going to be a problem probably all the way till we get towards wednesday well here across parts of central america heavy rains are in play across parts of panama costa rica also into dico rug over the next few days that could potentially some some localized flooding in that region but up towards savannah you're going to be seeing a partly cloudy day then as we go towards tuesday conditions stay about same with the temperature a few of thirty one degrees more rain for nasa as well as freeport with a temperature there of thirty and then as we make your way down here towards parts of south america particularly down here across argentina and also up towards your gray in paraguay we are looking at very heavy rain showers and in those

thunderstorms have been a problem rain over here towards parts of rio but salvador probably cloudy at twenty seven. fresh perspectives new possibilities. debates and discussions it's all in one piece on a story that doesn't get nearly the news coverage that it deserves says i want to talk about is there any way of measuring that is our number at all that we could put all that. out is here is award winning programs take you on a journey around the globe. to air. only on al-jazeera. from cutting edge medical technology toxic venom could be a vast untapped resource for the development of lifesaving drugs to advances in the most difficult regions of the world blasien and this is something that you know the

worst it is the you've heard the other side to every event innovative solutions to global health care problems to make a difference maybe all this work get a cure for solving the cure on al-jazeera. the arab. i'm back you're watching the news hour with me for the battle our reminder of our top stories now mass graves are being dug in indonesia in an attempt desperate attempt to stop the spread of disease after friday's earthquake and tsunami the death toll has soared to more than eight hundred people rescuers are still struggling to reach coastal communities cut off from how. the votes are being counted after parliamentary

elections in the kurdish region of northern iraq it's the first time kurds have gone to the polls since a failed bid for secession last year's referendum was rejected by the central government in baghdad plunging the region into economic turmoil and leaving it to. it is deeply divided. and macedonia is bid to change its name has failed sunday's referendum had strong support but turnout didn't reach the fifty percent threshold needed to make it legal the government wanted to change the name to republic of north macedonia to help and a decades old dispute with grace to the u.s. now and the white house has denied reports that is trying to limit the f.b.i. investigation into the president's supreme court nominee the f.b.i. is looking into two allegations of sexual misconduct by bright kavanaugh a third accusation is being left out as a white house correspondent kimberly hellcat explains. on sunday one day before the opening term of the u.s. supreme court justices and government officials like attorney general jeff sessions

were spotted heading into a mass designed to invoke god's blessing on those responsible for the administration of justice in the united states. but outside the cathedral protesters gathered showing the divisions that exist around the white house nomination to fill the vacancy on the bench of america's highest court u.s. president donald trump has ordered the f.b.i. investigate the charges against his supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh following a ruckus hearing this past week the failed to advance his nomination of the probe will look at just current credible allegations bret's assaults on meijer i trust sickly altered my life that means the f.b.i. will investigate dr christine blazin ford's claim kavanaugh sexually assaulted her well the two were teenagers and investigators will speak to witnesses at a yell university party in the one nine hundred eighty s.

where cavanagh allegedly exposed himself in front of deborah ramirez but the f.b.i. probe won't include the allegations of a third woman julie sweat nick who says she was gang raped at a party cavanaugh attended. just not one democrat mentioned it but more judge tuesday by miss what next is being part of a gang rape and the dragon women will be asked did he ever see this happen or did i see kevin r. gage and last week cavanagh denied the allegations at a senate judiciary committee hearing but i've never done this but given the serious allegations and cavanagh's combative defense that he's the victim of a political smear campaign democrats are questioning kavanagh's temperament for the role of supreme court justice it was clearly a political and aggressive angry and he revealed himself as a partisan i would think that if i were a democrat going before him i'd ask him to recuse himself president donald trump

says he has no backup plan when it comes to the confirmation of judge kavanaugh the f.b.i. is currently investigating its report is expected sometime after friday it will be delivered to the white house and then will go on to the senate or senators will then vote whether to confirm the controversy will judge kimberly help at al-jazeera the white house people in spain's catalonia region have protested as the mark one year since a failed bid for secession they rallied in front of a prison where some of the leaders of last october's referendum are being held in spain central government called the vote legal prime minister pedro sanchez has proposed a referendum for more tanami but ruled out another poll on independence catherine stansell has more. the scenes are reminiscent of one year ago pro independence protesters clashing with police catalonia may have voted for independence but it's failed to materialize and the issue remains as divisive as

ever protesters who supports the session have come out in their thousands. so have people on the other side of the independence divide brief skirmishes broke out in a rally in barcelona on saturday and those one on and off. we will continue to fight for independence despite the many difficulties we'll do it day by day in the hunt we will continue to defend the folks we held on the first of october and remind people that fascism still exists in spain. last year carlos preached dimanche the catalan leader at the time pressed ahead with the vote despite being declared illegal by spain's constitutional court on the day of the referendum spanish riot police stormed polling stations across the region and clamped down on protesters hundreds of people were injured the violent crackdown brought international condemnation the cattle an assembly officially declared independence on october twenty seventh but it was not internationally recognized the spanish

government dissolved catalonia parliament and imposed direct rule shortly thereafter carlos peach demands fledge to belgium and remains there and self-imposed exile earlier this year spanish authorities revoked european an international arrest warrants for him on the eve of the anniversary he says that the route to independence was never going to be smooth or quick. we are facing a very complex crisis i said that even before the declaration of independence i don't regret a vote but there isn't a button that we push and just like that we have a republic it doesn't work like that. direct rule in catalonia ended in june when petra sanchez ousted mariano rajoy in a vote of no confidence sanchez is against independence but his approach is softer than not of his predecessor his government agreed to move jailed cattle and politicians out of prisons and madrid to ones in catalonia. the election of petra

sanchez is actually good news because he has a softer approach is open to dialogue but it's not clear if he has specific political objectives or he can result situation because he just doesn't have a parliamentary majority. the promise of talks between the spanish and catalan leaders has yet to come to fruition so for these demonstrators the fight for independence remains in the hands of the people kathy stansell al jazeera. fifty eight migrants have arrived in malta after being stranded for five days in the mediterranean sea a deal was reached on tuesday to relocate them to four other european countries they were stranded on the aquarius rescue vessel after panama revoked its registration a day area this meant that the ship wouldn't have been able to leave after docking at a port. the german chancellor is warning us present donald trump against destroying the united nations and going to merkel made the comments while during state

election campaigning in bavaria she said although the u.n. is not perfect undermining it is what she called highly dangerous on tuesday a trump addressed the united nations and call for the rejection of globalism to protect u.s. interests. up says we must contemplate the discussion about the post-war order and the questioning of it with extra care that starts with the us president thinks that moshe is not the answer to our problems who assumes they can only be one when any given situation the united nations was founded on the ruins of the second world war and yes it's not perfect we've been wanting reform of the security council for many years but to destroy something without having built a replacement that's highly dangerous and can destroy a community of peace sooner than we think. brazil's outgoing president michel to marry is promising to lives latin america's largest economy out of recession

unemployment rates have been falling but many people lack faith in the government because of cuts to social programs marianna sanchez reports from. in central brazil . they're back in business.