an escalating trade war announcing a ninety day truce of sorts in an interview with national public radio the us national security advisor was asked if the president knew about the arrest during the dinner i don't know the answer to that i knew in advance but this is something that that we get from the justice department and that these kinds of things happen with some frequency we certainly don't inform the president on every one of them and bolton wouldn't say nor would anyone else in the u.s. government what she was arrested for although some senators implied it had to do with potentially violating sanctions on iran the canadian prime minister seemed to add to the mystery of the appropriate authorities took decisions in this case we were advised by them with a few days notice that this was in the works but of course there was no engagement or involvement in the political level the chinese are condemning this and demanding her release the timing of the arrest on the same day as the meeting could be seen

as a deliberate move to send a message but experts say that might not be the case though on foresman processes work on their own schedule and people sometimes don't understand that about the united states is the department of justice does not consult with the president when they're going to make an arrest we'll know more on friday when mom makes her first appearance in court what happens there could impact more than just her freedom but fortunes across the globe. article al-jazeera washington. china correspondent adrian brown has more from beijing. friday looks like being another difficult day for china's biggest private company the japanese government has announced it's no longer going to be buying our way a quick moment this follows decisions taken by governments in new zealand australia and the united kingdom that they were effectively going to be barring holway from those countries five g. networks in the united states it's becoming clear that at least some senior white

house officials were aware that monk was going to be arrested on the day the president donald trump sat down to meet president xi jinping at that all important meeting in one of saris on saturday but it's still not clear if president from himself new one analyst says the what we have here is a serious legal act happening with political timing here in china there is certainly a belief amongst those online anyway who feel that this was a politically motivated arrest some people saying that canada is acting as the u.s. says thug and demanding that mung be immediately released now whether it's still ahead on al-jazeera the u.s. president makes his decision on who should replace nikki haley as u.n. ambassador plus. we must either be doing something right or we must be doing an

investigation they don't want to follow through with one of the most well known journalists in the philippines faces they need to fight to prevent being silenced. hello there the still an awful lot of wet weather across the middle east at the moment the satellite picture is showing plenty of cloud on it we've got one area working its way across parts of iraq and iran and then more cloud working its way in from the mediterranean so plenty of heavy rain around at the moment and that's going to stick around as we head through the next few days so on friday then the wetter weather will be over the northern parts of iran more pushing through parts of iraq and into syria and then another string a front working its way through parts of turkey and all the way down through parts of lebanon as well so heavy downpours and a fair amount of snow over some of the mountains here that system just pushes

a little bit further eastward as we head through saturday but still quite a few showers over many parts of iraq and iran and then we'll see more cloud up towards the northeast as well so looks like that we're working their way towards our marty out here in doha the winds are changing so it will be from the north west or north east over the next couple of days hopefully a cleaner and a top temperature of around twenty seven degrees further south at all temperatures into the lot of a whole ring around twenty eight at the moment if we head down towards the southern parts of africa it's looking pretty wet for some of us in the far south as we head through friday including some rather lively showers in cape town is clearing up though as we head into saturday but a chance of a drawing day there with a temperature of ninety. zero follows the struggles of a new rocky painter a syrian screenwriter and a palestinian filmmaker as they come to terms with their lives as displaced artist

in lebanon. the first two groups in the last two to zero. five new home in my imagination. the roots refugee artists on al-jazeera. welcome back i'm just. a reminder about top stories this hour the head of taxation teligent has briefed some u.s. senators on its investigation into the matter of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi there is growing pressure on the white house to hold saudi crown prince mohammed bin sound accountable for the killing of. the un envoy to yemen has called for both

sides in the four year long war to end the violence now he made the comments at the start of talks in sweden the day began with some progress the warring sides agreed to a prisoner swap. a u.s. sponsored draft resolution that would have condemned the palestinian group hamas has failed to pawson the u.n. general assembly the resolution didn't get the required two thirds majority. u.s. president donald trump is expected to pick head the now it to be the u.s. as new ambassador to the united nations she is currently the spokeswoman for the state department and her nomination would need to be endorsed by the republican controlled senate so replace nikki haley who announced her resignation in october and to leave the post at the end of this month has been in the position since the start of trump's presidency james warren is the executive editor of news god and was the washington bureau chief for the chicago tribune he says now it is an

unconventional pick. when one looks at the history of the u.n. ambassadors going back to one nine hundred fifty s. yet people like allie stevenson twice the democratic party nominee for president george h.w. bush who is buried today was a united states ambassador you had rather prominent intellectual like daniel patrick moynihan would later be knighted state senator from new york and the small group of women which includes nikki haley included among others marilyn albright who would be future secretary of state and even a somewhat unconventional pick at the time by president obama samantha power she had been a journalist with a great deal of foreign experience notably in africa covering the wrong rwandan genocide so on that level this is notable on another level i think it's very much and easily explained by trump that's a nation in particular with american cable news television and in particular with the fox cable news network and where one of the stavert shows is

a very popular morning show fox and friends and not our for several years was associated with that show and that had surely and something to do with her selection initially for the united states state department he has a an interest nearly an obsession with image and people on the hawkish and the oil producing group opec has decided to cut production because of an oversupply of crude then this mrs from then the country has tentatively agreed to the move at a meeting in vienna they're now waiting to hear from non opec member russia before deciding on how much they'll reduce production pull brennan report from vienna. a highly unusual situation if not unprecedented here at opec headquarters with the day's meeting ending with no formal announcement about oil production cuts as expected now it's left the journalists in the analysts here somewhat perplexed what exactly is going to be the policy of opec going forward but i think it's also an

indication that opec is no longer the person is no longer the body the calls the shots in the global oil markets but the bigger body opec plus and indeed there's not opec states such as the united states their influence now is massive and opec's monopoly of power is think of the past now what we're expecting on friday is the opec plus members that's ten opec members that are closely aligned with the opec block very going to come here to vienna join the discussions and the expectation is that then figures will be put on exactly how much opec and its allies will cut production into twenty nineteen but as the saudi energy minister father said it's not a done deal it's still if as opposed to a when. sudan's government and on creeps a meeting in germany to try to end the fifteen year long conflict in darfur more than one point seven million people remain internally displaced while over three

hundred thousand are living as refugees in neighboring chad him or can reports from giannina and west awful. for more than thirteen years this has been a lot of its miles home of displacement camp she was forced to flee from her original home with her mother when the weren't r. for reached her village but over the past few years in the camp have been doing telling or lower the. things here have become tough and we have children we need to cook and wash there's not enough water there's no bread they've stopped giving us grain for nearly four years. i want to is one of nearly half a million people displaced in west are four the worst started in two thousand and three when ethnic tribes accuse the sudanese government of marginalization hundreds of villages were burned and more than four hundred thousand people were killed and over three million displaced in what was termed as genocide a hybrid u.n. mission was approved by the un security council to stabilize the situation in two thousand and seven that same year the international criminal court issued arrest

warrants for sudan's president and several other top government officials they were charged with genocide work crimes and crimes against humanity the u.n. says the situation in darfur has become much more stable last year it announced a decision to downsize its peacekeeping force here by forty percent but more than fifteen years after the start of the war and are for thousands of people have yet to return to the homes they fled several rounds of peace talks have been held between the government and the various opposition groups since the worst parts of it some have signed agreements with the government others continue to fight the peacekeeping mission will end in twenty twenty but with more than one point seven million still internally displaced and over three hundred thousand living as refugees in neighboring chad the un says its work will not and the. two year start does not mean. the departure of the u.n. will be working with all the stakeholders the government of sudan the u.n. country team the. non-profit organizations humanitarian workers to actually provide

the conditions and the sustainability for i.d.p.'s to receive the services that they require but the humanitarian budget for it are for has only have the money it says it requires leaving millions in means local authorities in west are for say they're working to restore stability and encourage displaced people to return home . we've set up judicial systems in villages we've set up police stations for people to feel secure and return home and we've had a successful disarmament campaign so that there are no outbreaks of violence again and some people have left. camps and returned but for people like the one point seven million who remain displaced more needs to be done to reste fifteen years of war a conflict that was once called a human catastrophe and whose consequences people continue to suffer people are going to al-jazeera janina star for for a wonders high court has dropped all charges against opposition politician diane regard and her lover. they celebrated with

supporters after the verdict the government critic had been accused of forgery and inciting insurrection after challenging paul kagame in last year's presidential elections but a three judge panel says the charges were baseless. i do not know why so. was it like you. said. you must say ok. we got you covered. this is just the beginning. it was the you know that needs to be brought to. the last migrant rescue ship which has been operating off the coast of libya is ending operations doctors without borders says a smear campaign by european governments has forced the aquarius to stop saving asylum seekers in the mediterranean sea the boat lost its registration in september and has been blocked at the french port of must say. a senior journalist in the

philippines has appeared in court over multiple tax evasion charges maria ressa says the case is politically motivated the news agency has been called fake by the government of president regard to test jamil and open reports from manila. maria ressa is one of the most prominent journalists in the philippines and also one of the most impact a lot media and the news agency she co-founded called rappler have been inducted on multiple counts of tax evasion the government also tried to revoke the agency's license to operate with their day calling rappler a feat use outlet to look out for maria and her supporters this is persecution from a government that sees journalists as the enemy we're going to hold the line but it makes me think that we must either be doing something right or we must be doing an investigation they don't want to follow through with. we just keep doing our jobs

you know we keep looking we try to maintain the news agenda firstly but the government insists the warrant issued against media is not political persecution months after detector was sworn into office the government set up a special task force to focus on media security proof it says of its commitment to press freedom it meant rappler scase is different. you do not believe the rafters and you see. her family they claim a really big claim to be they say that the news agency but then again we have to take it with our laws last year reporters without borders calls the philippines the deadliest country for media in asia and what is happening here reflects a growing on the mosty towards journalists worldwide and that to still ety openly encouraged by political leaders and authoritarian regimes pose

a threat to democracy. the center for media freedom and responsibility focuses on the rights of filipino journalists it says there have been more than eighty attacks on journalists since president assumed office in two thousand and sixteen we should not forget that the despite of the big pattern and the pattern had been set march earlier. when. president that that began to demonize mainstream brest since one nine hundred eighty six more than one hundred sixty journalists have been killed in the philippines most of them worked in the provinces or observers say media protection is virtually nonexistent. the massacre in two thousand and nine is the single worst attack against journalists anywhere in the world thirty two were shot need to lated and buried on their way to an electoral event in the southern philippines those accused of being behind the

killings reportedly have strong political ties to the government grieving families are angry no one's yet been convicted almost ten years after the massacre and they are losing hope. the global livestock industry produces more greenhouse gas emissions than cars planes trains and ships combined but that's not a fact you'll see advertised on meat products denmark is considering laws which would require food manufacturers and supermarkets to label products with a rating showing their impact on the environment for reports. in this supermarkets the label on the potatoes or sausages that you're about to buy will soon be able to tell you exactly how much damage it's done to the planet's in an attempt to reduce its government emissions and slow down climate change the danish government wants to introduce a new rating label for food products consumers are very. concerned about the

climate change and if you if you look at this. with the climate labeling on will we consume or get information ok and they want to make it change the one to do something for the world and then they can say ok i'll buy this product because it's more current climate friendly when it comes to their carbon footprints not all products are made the same some require a lot of land and water resources well other products had to be transported for hundreds of kilometers by planes or in order to get here adding to pollution levels . agriculture is one of the major contributors to the level of carbon emissions that's driving climate change worldwide denmark is building wind farms promoting energy efficiency and getting rid of fossil fuels cars and also wants to reduce pollution caused by the food industry in order to have zero emissions by the year two thousand and fifty but developing a label that creates all that won't be an easy task some say it will be

a waste of valuable time. it's going to be very complicated as we look at look on this label. our our fears that the consumers will be maybe even more confused because now you have another label on top of all the other labels that exists and really i think we need to act now. we know what has to be done we need to eat less meat of the same thing that it was also a label system will not save the planet. but radically changing our eating habits will says this insect farmer teaching the next generation to cook with larvae i am worms instead of meat he says is far more effective. so insects are the answer because they pollute a hundred times less than beef does for instance and we want to make sure that the children know this because basically they have a chance of the world of the future to the time i came was like. well most

seem to agree there isn't much time left to bring global warming closer to the forefront of people's minds solutions on how to feed the world in the future without destroying its very and some. might take a bit of courage for announcer al jazeera open half an. understudy a tape and doha and these are the top stories the head of turkish intelligence has briefed some u.s. senators on its investigation into the latter of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi and there's growing pressure on the white house to hold saudi crown prince mohammed bin salam accountable for the killing she had tandy has more from washington d.c. politics. we were told from turkish sources a range of issues were discussed including syria no turkish forces them say a group of senators requested

a meeting with the turkish intelligence chief about the murder and in that meeting which was described as informal the intelligence chief explained what evidence turkey had about about the killing and explained what evidence turkey has given to the us about the killing the u.n. envoy to yemen has called for both sides in the four year long war to end the violence now he made the comments at the start of talks in sweden the warring sides have agreed to a prisoner swap. a u.s. sponsored draft resolution that would have condemned the palestinian group hamas has failed to pass in the united nations general assembly the measure didn't get the required two thirds majority. u.s. president donald trump is expected to pick heaven now it to be the u.s. is new ambassador to the united nations she's currently the spokeswoman for the state department so replace nikki haley who resigned in october and will leave the

post at the end of this month the nomination still needs an endorsement by the republican controlled senate. the last migrant rescue ship operation off the coast of libya is ending operations doctors without borders says a smear campaign by european governments has forced the aquarius to stop saving asylum seekers in the mediterranean sea the boat lost its registration in september those are the headlines i'll be back with more news here after war her toes. getting to the heart of the matter how can you be a refugee after you while eight borders between five safe countries facing the realities supremes starts from the very beginning go to school when you've been providing context housing is not just about four walls and a roof hear their story talk to al-jazeera.

control the holiday inn and you control the the region around and that's why it was such a bloody battle. the important thing if you were walking around in beirut was not to be in the line of fire from the holiday inn. the bottle of adi in complete its do division all the beadle into two sectors east and west beirut. but also for sauce but let's not go on our stuff see you. can club me from. the most powerful building in the system ferment is the holidays. warmer tells our buildings that function as normal hotels but often in the

context of real instability. beirut once a jewel in the mediterranean but then torn apart by war. this is the sea front of the lebanese capital today around three decades after the end of the civil war. the devastating conflict lasted for fifteen years this street was the green line dividing beirut into east and west. dominating the front line was

this concrete skeleton what was once the holiday and. its walls still patted by the scars of war a grotesque witness to the years of separation killing and destruction. of fun i missed tell me on i'm a painter and architectural activist from england and i've lived in beirut for about eight years. i'm particularly inspired by memories and the feelings and emotions that imbedded in the buildings and beirut. the most powerful building in the city from it is the holiday inn. it's so famous and so iconic it's like

a giant wish. remains in the center of the city election results sky. the holiday inn is still a stark reminder of war wounds that have yet to heal even today. the thirteenth of april nineteenth. seventy five was the official start date of the violence. but this was a proxy conflict fought during the cold war era. on one side lebanese right wing parties backed by the united states aiming to expel armed palestinian groups from lebannon. on the other left wing parties are allied with the p.l.o. and backed by the soviet union who saw the right wing christians as an extension of

israeli and american influence in lebanon. only two weeks off to beirut erupted the south vietnamese capital saigon fell to the communists ending over nineteen years of conflict in vietnam television's first war. now came levanon. armies of reporters and war photographers moved from southeast asia to the middle east and began to occupy beirut hotel rooms filled up with news crews and a new chapter of the cold war began. most of the correspondents t.v. crews and photographers checked into this hotel the commodore a safe haven in the west of the city. every day they would set off from here for downtown beirut for the main hotel district where the holiday inn was and

the front line. was a war were tell in the sense that it was part of an urban battle a battle between two factions of the strategic heights but it wasn't a press or a tail so none of the journalists covering the war to be interested in the whole of the holiday inn became one of the first significant physical manifestations of the . of the conflict. my name is kenneth morrison professor of european history and one of my key research interests in the history of world. war were tells are buildings that function as normal hotels but often in the context of real instability so i look a new minister tales study of us holiday in bed it's commodore but also the hotel europe on belfast for example the leader palace in nicosia cyprus all of these hotels have continued to function throughout this pedia of instability some are

within the real midst of an urban conflict. a war hotel emerges out of the history where journalists over a long period before wars start have somehow find it a congenial place to be a watering hole convenient near the center of activity in the city where the politics happens where the culture happens where you meet people the hotels which made beirut the tourist center of the middle east i'm jonathan dimbleby and i've long been a reporter reporting from all over the world and therefore i've been in wars and most memorable amongst these was the experience of reporting from the lebanese civil war in the one nine hundred seventy s. this was once the richest part of the richest city in the middle east i first went to lebanon in nine hundred seventy two as a young reporter my very first article for a magazine here called the new statesman in which i effectively said this place is

waiting to blow or it needs is a spark because of the complexity of this very small country surrounded by competing nations. from the one nine hundred fifty s. to the early seventy's beirut was a magnet for the international pleasure seeking elite. they roots hotel district was at the heart of its luxury tourism economy making it a favorite jetsetter destination. one we speak about beirut's golden age as to switzerland of the middle east we are actually talking about an area the old town district that is the very specific product of

a precise geopolitical project my name is sarah freeganism i'm a political geographer based at the university of birmingham i am interested in hotels and urban conflict. all day in came quite late in the day. united seventy four it was open and it came quite late in the day in two days or tel district which was considered a playground for celebrities and politicians and diplomats and spa is. the hotel district started life in the one nine hundred twenty s. when the st george open. for four decades it was one of the most prestigious hotels on the mediterranean. during the cold war in the one nine hundred fifty s. and sixty's the bar of the cent george was described as a revolving door of information. the british double agent can philby was

a regular. he operated on the cover as a foreign journalist and on the thirtieth of january nine hundred sixty three was spotted for the last time at the bar in the said george before disappearing in beirut and reappearing a few months later in moscow. and. more smart hotels sprang up including the phoenicia even more luxurious than the st george. but when the holiday inn arrived in one nine hundred seventy four it was not only the tallest but also the last to open before the civil war broke out. i remember the experience of the phoenicia and i went to the holiday inn different scales of hotel but both of them pretty large areas hotels the phoenicia was very grand indeed the holiday inn was a holiday inn but

a very upmarket holiday inn so there was plenty of chrome plenty of silver plenty of gold colored drapes it was done very much in the style that the arab world likes. me free. release a rose. and a sun had a fair saddle to soften the holy well i let me come soldiers over there had a bill and legal ability and send you home something i sorely embers. this friend or lonely day indiana came shirley really really. found was that he bet the fair. land the city. has a good hello and. a short amount believe it had a bill he can feel inside me though really be elaborately breach. of us and i can leave it to another to contaminate bizarrely who will miss any

shade of medical work to him as an emetic home. can only be levied on what a sheriff best but if so what can the numbers hold then i will not approve. of our sealing the scene very reality. artist tom young wanted to get inside the building today but to do that he had to get permission not only from the owners but from the lebanese army which still controls it as a strategically sensitive location young man wanted to indulge his passion painting . i finally got the chance to go inside and my my my immediate feeling was one of just overwhelming emotion i felt sad i felt i felt horrible but i felt amazing mints.

when i started my projects for the holiday and and so i started painting it from the outside from many viewpoints. and then i discovered that it's the parents of hers.