almost it is how almost all trump is being about the masses the defense secretary was also being very honest he said and this was just to a press to a gaggle of reporters not being recorded but he said on the show presidents don't often get the freedom to work with unblemished partners in all things are going to that ruthlessly pragmatic approach that sort of leveling with the people that they seem to be doing the administrations were saying look we have no choice we've got to put america first and so sometimes you have to do you have to deal with terrible terrible people and terrible things and of course we know that president obama for example others did exactly the same thing but they wouldn't be so honest about it and they dress it up with rhetorical flourishes about human rights then about this to go on to talk about yemen and this is interesting from a strategic perspective he said yemen and the international effort to end the war as soon as possible saudi being one of the belligerence in the fighting we're going to deal with them if you want to end the war you're going to deal with saudi you can't say i'm not going to deal with them so that's a suggestion that we had heard whispers about this last week that some members of

administration think well if mom had been some of the crown prince is a bit damaged maybe that will give the administration more leverage to move on yemen to try and get some sort of cease fire in in yemen and certainly perhaps before congress starts to act on that having said that they were given that donald trump statement on tuesday was so one sided about the conflict in yemen completely blaming it on iran and absolving saudi arabia of any guilt in yemen even that snow under some question scrutiny as to whether the administration is going to apply any pressure on yemen now that they think that maybe they can clip the wings of the crown prince so that's the administration but what about congress what action is congress likely to take over all of this. well beginning with yemen there are several initiatives on the way to cut off the u.s. arms supply two to saudi arabia one vote might take place in the senate as early as next week we understand secondly cong members of congress have sent another letter

. which will get the global magnitsky act on the way again they've already sent one letter to the white house asking for the white house to investigate anyone and come to a conclusion on who was responsible for the killing of the shoji and then they have to come back to congress and sanctions have to be worked out as to have a against whoever is found to have been responsible that already happened in october yesterday on tuesday another letter was sent specifically asking that the white house investigate whether mohamed bin solomon was personally culpable for the killing of the show so again and both of these the white house is one hundred twenty days to come up with their investigation the results of their investigation so that first investigation they have until february now they have until march to find out whether moment when someone is personally culpable for the killing of the show in which case sanctions against him personally may be in the offing thirdly we're hearing more and more suggestions that they'll be pressure in congress for the intelligence agencies to release everything they know to the public about the

question of gee killing she have returned see with the latest there from washington d.c. she have saying q so that's the latest u.s. reaction to the murder what about the country where it actually took place well there's been no official reaction out of turkey to try to use they statement that many politicians are angry that they're pretty chairman of the ruling ak party called donald trump statement comical and has accused the u.s. of turning a blind eye to murder tony berkeley has more now from istanbul. president donald trump's statement of support for saudi arabia was perhaps no great shock in turkey but there was derision. yesterday statement is just comical the cia would know not only who killed them but what color the consulate cats were. the turkish government has said nothing officially but privately is angered by the us president ignoring a horrific murder because of economic reasons and there are worries this could lead to other governments abandoning human rights if you have

a situation in the united states where you have a leader which is hostile to principle if you have a situation that you have a new if you knew where many leaders who once. defending human rights principles are now indifferent or silent or abuses taking place for example here in turkey or elsewhere i think this is a very. damaging time for human rights principles amnesty has issued a report about how women activists have been tortured and abused in detention in saudi arabia but without the leverage of a powerful country like the us little is likely to change and without u.s. support it will be difficult for turkey to get answers from saudi arabia about who really ordered the killing of jamal khashoggi turkey's position actually still we need to get an answer or less a conclusive answer from this saudi arabia say because most probably.

united states the european union. that there will not push this problem in a further for turkey this is not just a political economic issue it's also a criminal one a murder has been committed and they want to investigate it and solve it but they say that investigation is being hampered by a lack of saudi cooperation. the turks are demanding details about the day mr kosofsky was murdered they have asked the saudis who if not the crown prince gave the order they want the men accused tried in a turkish court and they want to know where mr remains are but tookie can't force this alone it has to be an in international investigation under the powers of the un secretary-general. so it has to be an investigation where there is an experienced investigative team with the power to go anywhere they need to go to interview witnesses to interview suspects. and only nice circumstances i think

genuine justice be possible. this murder has gone from the realms of a tragic hollywood movie script to a political chess game it may be that with the help of donald trump saudi arabia has the advantage tony berkeley al-jazeera istanbul the u.s. defense minister says saudi arabia and the united arab emirates have ceased offensive operations around yemen's vital port city of what they that this after the u.n. special envoy to yemen met who the leaders in the capital sanaa are watching griffiths has been discussing peace talks to take place in sweden only next month the iran backed rebels announced this week they were ready for a broader ceasefire if the saudi led coalition wants peace a draft u.n. resolution calls for an immediate end to the fighting in holiday that whenever that fighting that's come to an end will be too late for tens of thousands of children save the children says it estimates that nearly eighty five thousand children under

five have died from extreme hunger or disease since the war broke out in yemen in two thousand and fifteen mohammad though has the latest developments now from neighboring djibouti. martin griffiths visit to yemen is all about getting a commitment from the whole thing to not only a ceasefire but also the peace talks i thought planned for before the end of the year in sweden has been talking to the whole of his own so far he has been able to gain that concession in which they had promised to stop targeting the sodium without equalisation on their allies in yemen with brawn and ballistic missiles but that hasn't translated to the guns going silent in the vital port city of the day that we've seen some of the most intense fighting in the past forty eight hours in the city and very close to the port where seventy percent of yemen's exports including crucial aid go through now the people who are suffering in different

parts of the country people who are facing starvation and the u.s. on the verge of a farm and here's a glimpse of some of the suffering some of the people are going through. the kushal to solve human swore and not just by the bombs and bullets they're comic impact has been catastrophic for the general population food supplies have been disrupted prices have gone up and millions of people are now living with the effects of malnutrition. is weak and severely malnourished she is ten months old but weighs just three kilograms the weight of a newly born baby. been sick since she was born hunger and disease have left tiny and frail she even struggles to cry. mariam is an area not only she can give nourished but she also suffers from diarrhoea she's very

sick yemen has always been desperately poor but the war husband thinks was well food prices inevitably rice incomes have plummeted many families can barely afford to eat. i have sixteen children two of them suffer severe malnutrition and hung on the living conditions as you know and i'm without any source of income hospitals in hijab province of overflowing with sick and starving babies and more keep arriving every day so i thought there had been one hammer the last that you have a problem of severe malnutrition is getting worse the consequences of four years of war are clearly visible here from severe malnutrition to deformed needy born babies breastfeeding mothers also suffer from undernourishment. the frequent strikes also make it difficult for the people to leave their homes the destruction to roads and bridges has limited the delivery of food and fuel to a population already suffering according to the united nations two point eight

million people have been driven from their homes by the bombing it's humanitarian chief has warned of a clear and present danger of farming many of the displaced are living in green comes in the middle of the country surviving on meager live hundreds whose deliveries a few and far between everybody fully understands that the solution to what the u.n. calls the world's was to monetary and crisis is a halt to the fighting on every tongue to peace talks and the little disruption of the vital work that is going on at the port is going to be felt by the community up to fourteen million people need to be fed they are also calling for the lifting of brocades on groups in and outside the city that have been put by the warring parties so that a country called to those who need it most. coming up on this news hour from london we see also country. the e.u.

moves to punish rome for breaking the rules with a budget that would push italy deeper into debt this as poland's ruling party backs down in its standoff with the e.u. moving to reinstate supreme court judges forced to retire early and then sport michael jordan returns to his hometown withheld for victims of hurricane floyd that and more later in the program. the british foreign secretary has warned there will be serious diplomatic consequences for the u.a.e. after it sentenced a british man to life in prison thirty one year old matthew had just has been convicted of spying for the british government that doctoral student was arrested in dubai airport six months ago after a two week research trip paul brennan reports. thirty one year old matthew hedges

was arrested at dubai airport at the end of a two week research trip as part of his ph d. on the country's security policies last month a court in abu dhabi granted him conditional bail raising hopes he might soon be cleared of all charges but the sentence of life imprisonment is a massive blow to those expectations this only does think that you know it is a very dangerous place in the already known the u.a.e. is dangerous for journalists for activists for any critics of any sort and so now we also know it is absolutely dangerous for academics want to conduct research in the country as well matthew's wife daniella to hard has said in a statement i am in complete shock and i don't know what to do matthew is innocent the british government must take a stand now for matthew they say that the u.a.e. is an ally but the overwhelmingly arbitrary handling of math case indicates a scarily different reality matthew she said was shaking when he heard the verdict the u.a.e. authorities should feel ashamed for such an obvious injustice. it's only ten days

says the british foreign secretary met the crown prince in abu dhabi and personally discussed matthew had his case it seems to have had no impact on the outcome in an indication of the level of concern here at the u.k. foreign office the foreign secretary jeremy hunt first issued a statement expressing his deep shock at the sentence issued on matthew hedges but he then followed it up with a post on social media which said the following matthew hedges news extremely worrying we have seen no evidence to back up the charges against him the f c o will do all we can to get him home and i will meet his wife daniella tomorrow thursday the u.a.e. claim to be a friend and ally of the u.k. so there will be serious diplomatic consequences and he finished that tweet with the word unacceptable. and the prime minister is also taking a close interest and we are of course as he is deeply disappointed and concerned

today's verdict and i realize how difficult and distressing this is both from a few pages but for also for his family we are raising it with the m.r.c. all for it is the highest level military procurement deals have long been a central plank of u.k. mideast diplomacy but those links have been strained by the civilian casualties from the u.s. involvement in the war in yemen and by concerns over a clampdown in which counterterrorism laws are being used to jail political dissidents and human rights activists and indeed anyone who raises concerns or criticisms about the country matthew had his ph d. studies may have led the u.s. authorities to regard him in a similar light but he has repeatedly denied the charges of spying and his supporters insist he is innocent nonetheless his options are dwindling he has thirty days now to appeal against his sentence paul brennan al-jazeera london. well rory donna he is campaign manager of the emirates center for human rights based here in the u.k. he joins us live now in the studio thank you so much for being with us on

al-jazeera everyone in the sort of just listening to the reaction in the u.k. everyone seems surprised by the sentence whether it's politicians a lot of observers a lot of commentators why do you think we've come to it with in this particular case i mean i'm assuming he can't have been the first person to go into the u.a.e. to do some research on the arab spring and obviously the war in yemen and other things linked to it the spears for debating these kind of things and questioning the u.s. foreign policy in the country is very narrow so what he was doing is sensitive in the u.a.e. and so whilst there is a surprise because i think that the british foreign secretary was expecting him to be released it's not a shock in terms of the broader culture of restricted civil society in the usa and people not being allowed to speak about these kind of things well now the foreign secretary is one of there was going to going to be serious diplomatic consequences for the what could these be and how key is the us a partner for the u.k. i would still be surprised if the consequences of months are very much because for

instance jeremy hunt went and spoke to mohammed when saddam raise the case a couple of weeks ago but just seven days ago but. the trade minister for the u.k. was in the u.a.e. talking about how important the country is to the u.k. post the u.a.e. is the u.k.'s fifth largest export market side of europe that is more important to the u.k. than anything the brics as we can the u.k. and a fire in the u.a.e. i would be thinking that the u.k. isn't as powerful as it once was but so is that when you think it is the u.a.e. sending a message in a way rebalancing the power between them i think that is certainly a message that the u.a.e. feels confident that they can assert themselves without fearing reffer questions from the u.k. and also from america too because donald trump is certainly research and national norms on this front and people in the gulf probably feel.