or thirty dollars for ford which is roughly one month's salary but yet people are lining up for the service at a wal-mart as if it's another way to communicate with family and friends who live outside cuba and also get all the information that's available on the internet michael moore i found that getting it there are more she says that this is going to be much more comfortable she can actually get online from our home or from work not outside on the street she can actually surf the web like people do everywhere else in the world now the way this works is you have to wait for the state phone company expects that to send you a text message advising you that you are now eligible to sign up for the plan like gary here who just received his message and he's about to sign up for the least expensive of the plans that are available now for those of us who are used to having data readily available on our smartphones this is nothing short of revolutionary unfortunately i'm still waiting for my message and so i'm still offline.

time to look at the top stories here at al-jazeera turkey is intelligence chief has briefed u.s. senators about his country's investigation into the murder of the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi there's growing pressure on the white house to hold saudi crown prince mohammed bin sol man responsible for the killing a second day of peace talks aimed at ending the war in yemen is you to begin in sweden within the next hour day one so a promising start with the rival sides agreeing to exchange prisoners a u.s. sponsored resolution to condemn the palestinian group hamas has failed to win enough votes in the u.n. general assembly it fell short of the required two thirds majority angering the u.s. ambassador nikki haley who said it would have been a chance to quote right and historic wrong. the senior aide to the saudi crown

prince is alleged to have been the mastermind of the khashoggi murder is now being accused of overseeing the torture of detained women activists the reuters news agency is reporting allegations that under sowed alcatel and his supervision at least four women were subjected to sexual harassment electrocution and flogging at an unofficial holding facility in jeddah president romney is expected to pick heather nauert to be america's you know ambassador to the u.n. she is currently the spokeswoman for the u.s. state department and nomination would need to be endorsed by the republican controlled senate the oil producing cartel opec is trying to reach an agreement with russia on how much it will cut its output of crude oil ministers from member countries meeting in vienna have agreed to reduce production due to an oversupply but russia which is non opec has opposed massive cuts on thursday oil prices

tumbled as a result of the deadlock the last migrant rescue ship operating of the case of libya is ending its mission doctors without borders say a smear campaign by european governments is false the aquarius to stop saving asylum seekers in the mediterranean sea right inside story is coming up next. no where in the world is growing reforest disappearing fast. inside all our. lives we have been called. out it's terrorists and traitors i was a knowledge that sign was followed into the fast flowing river into nazi. one man's fight for the rights of indigenous heritage a time to swim a witness documentary on al-jazeera. a critical moment for donald trump and his relationship with the saudi crown prince u.s. senators plane mohamed bin found money for the murder of john this jamal khashoggi

but can they force their president to drop his defense of the saudi royal this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm martin dennis six senior u.s. senators from across party lines have introduced a resolution which holds the saudi crown prince personally accountable for the murder of john this jamal khashoggi now this directly contradicts statements from president trump who's insisted repeatedly that there's no definitive evidence connecting mohammed bin sound man with the crime john hendren reports from washington. it's an extraordinary rebuke from the u.s.

senate to a long time american ally a diverse group of senate leaders from both parties introduced a resolution that definitively blames the crown prince of saudi arabia for the murder of jamal khashoggi the measure which could be scheduled for a vote as soon as monday condemns kesho g.'s murder demands that the saudi arabian government negotiate an end to the war in yemen and an end to the political dispute with could talk and release saudi blogger rife by dolly and other political prisoners they have linked old at least that belies ng actions that m.b.a.'s as they starting with yemen passing by the sharks the murder on took up on any other level it is the latest bipartisan rebuke of the saudi crown prince and president trump support for him we are with saudi arabia we're staying with saudi arabian oil and not look at the king of the same way senators erupted in anger on tuesday after a long awaited briefing from cia director gina haskell sort of hard to call this

a cover up given the fact that everybody in that briefing last week knew that tom peo and matters were misleading us knew that there was no way this merger happened without the consent and direction of m.p.'s of the senate is already considering an unprecedented bill to invoke the never before used one thousand nine hundred seventy three war powers act to force an end to u.s. aid to saudi war efforts and yemen. this six page measure would record the view of the senate that mohammed bin solomon is responsible for the murder of jamal khashoggi and it urges the u.s. and the international community to hold him and anyone else involved in the killing responsible and a joint statement democratic senator ed markey calls the crown prince a fuck up and republican senator lindsey graham calls him a wrecking ball rare harsh words for the leader of an allied nation. the resolution falls short of calling for regime change in saudi arabia but whether president trump likes it or not the rift between the u.s.

government and its ally of eighty five years has rarely been wider john hendren al jazeera washington. time to introduce our panel now in washington d.c. in fact all of our guests are in washington today but first we have john jones former senior congressional advisor during president obama's term we have secured new bar middle east analysts with expertise specifically in the gulf and chris garcia former deputy director of the u.s. department of commerce under president thank you and welcome to you all can i start with you joan with your experience of congressional affairs how important how significant how much weight does a resolution from the senate actually carry. well it's very significant this resolution is not a binding resolution but it is binding in the court of u.s.

and public opinion it's striking to see the bipartisan support behind this resolution at a time where there really hasn't even been a great deal of bipartisan cooperation in the united states senate it is a strike across the bow in terms of the impact it can have on the u.s. saudi relationship and it basically states to the trump administration in regards to m.b.a.'s and the killing of mr coo shoki it's time for the administration to fish or cut bait ok joan but the administration the white house is under no obligation to abide by the terms of the resolution did i understand that correctly that is absolutely correct the resolution in terms of its impact on the administration is non-binding however it does state publicly where the united

states senate is when it comes to the status of the u.s. side the relationship the united states' relationship with prince muhammad and the future interaction between the united states and the saudi government in terms of the potential impact it can have on sanctions the impact on potential u.s. saudi weapons agreements in the future as well as continued u.s. support for saudi military for diet and yemen all right and coming to you chris so a very very strong message even if it's not binding a really strong message with some very very strong rip us language coming from the senators of both sides of the aisle a strong message to president trump in the white house will he listen. sure so this is something that is very difficult for any president to be in this is a position really between the morality of the united states and the realities of what the problems are currently in the middle east namely the threat and the

violence of iran knowing that any type of destabilizing activity for example calling for regime change in the king of saudi arabia could lead to significant destabilisation which of course this is something that we are saying that he is exactly in the senator's though sorry to interrupt you chris but the senate is a not calling for regime change they seem to be making it a clear distinction between the royal family and the existing forest is in saudi arabia and the crown prince you they accuse of harry having carried out nefarious acts in the region which are not a tool stabilizing they are very destabilizing in fact i mean that's their argument right so i think that the overall analysis will will show that the long standing alliance with saudi arabia since one thousand nine hundred five has led to more stabilization for u.s. interests at the very least but this is something that the united states does not

condone we do not condone in fact we condemn any extra judicial killings we don't want to see this type of bad behavior from any of our allies but we have to have a measured response and i believe that it's the position of the united states to ensure that we keep stability with a longstanding ally like saudi arabia knowing that we have to show and we have to make it very clear that this cannot happen again won't be a one strike but perhaps you only get two what would it take then christi you think the president trum to make the distinction that everybody else in the rest of the world seems to be doing and that is to separate out the crown prince who it is believed to have been behind this atrocious that and the rest of the authorities in saudi arabia president seems unwilling or incapable. doing that well the president's relying on his advisors and those who have briefed him on this matter his secretary of state my pump a.o. has said that this will not be the final word in the us response to this action

secretary maddest secretary of defense has said that any type of backing away or minimizing of our relationship with saudi arabia that would embolden iran would be disastrous for the national security the united states and so i think the president's trying to balance the facts that he's receiving from his advisors with the morality that we know as united states americans we want to be the shining city on the hill we have to also develop some type of a measured response that does not permit this to happen again all right see good coming to you now what is what has happened to members of congress in the u.s. why if they all suddenly around this particular moment galvanized and decided that it's time to cool out mohammed bin sound man they're not going to put up with this particularly the likes of of lindsey graham who as we know is a real close ally of president trump and his the two has been a great supporter a great advocate of the relationship with saudi arabia what's happened. you're up

you're absolutely right about lindsey graham and it's important for our viewers to remember it was lindsey graham who led the republican coalition in the senate to confirm brett kavanaugh for the supreme court which for president trump was a tremendous political victory so the fact that lindsey graham is now a taking on the saudi crown prince who are trump is seen as defending him i think that what we really need to understand is that we are seeing a good cop worse as bad cop game playing out here because it is inevitable that the cia assessment is accepted across the political spectrum president trump has a responsibility as my colleague said to ensure that the u.s. saudi relationship does not call ops at the same time he is lending to congress lead on this issue and us the congress is now moving forward at a process it is important to understand at the resolution that we just discussed is

to first. measure that potentially could end up in sanctions imposed on the saudi leadership so this is a process moving forward and that process will also bit of be defined on what measures the saudi authorities are taking themselves to hold those responsible for this murder i think all i've done is one aspect that they are sorry to interrupt you but i'm quite fascinated by this you describe this is a game of good cop bad cop cope what is he also mess objective then as far as president trump is consent the ultimate objective it's always been the same and out of the us out a relationship goes back to one thousand nine hundred eighty two when f.d.r. met with. with with the founder of the kingdom. and so the relationship of strategic in nature and the relationship is between two government and not between individuals so precisely because the more because the public

opinion here in the united states and certainly within the political establishment has now concluded who is behind us murder the good cop or says bad cop dynamics is giving or providing a space i would add for to saudi royal family to take measures that they need to take in order for that alliance to prevail but also in order to force saudi arabia not to become a pariah state that nobody wants are able to become a pariah state but it's also understood that if present trumps goes up on a fourth and start shouting out negative anti saudi rhetoric that it will have the exact opposite impact of what united states is trying to do which is they move to balance between holding dollops responsible for their murder accountable and at the same time ensuring that the alliance remain intact and it's an extraordinary dangerous and difficult time absolutely joe and i saw you nodding your head nodding your head in agreement this sounds very much as though it's

a carefully calibrated exercise if you like which has just pointed out this could a risky game isn't it that trying to keep all the pools up in the air also mentally without letting the person responsible for this this this heinous act go unpunished but still maintaining the state's relationships with the kingdom without a doubt you hit the nail on the head in what to chris's point. in agreement this is a relationship the u.s. saudi relationship that spans eight decades the u.s. saudi relationship is more important than any one government official and there are a lot of things for the administration to consider when you look across the board you have the u.s. saudi security relationship you have the. threat posed by iran in the region and the threat posed by iraq to u.s. interests in the region you have the sensitivity of the us israel relationship and

which the saudi government has a great deal of influence on so all of thing all of these issues have to be taken into account when discussing or considering future steps the united states senate of course does not have to consider all of these factors but they do have to consider what is the impact of u.s. opinion when it comes to the killing of mr cruise shoki which was a rather brazen act and they are compelled to speak out and to do what they think is in the best interest of the united states reputation for the promotion of human rights and civil rights region and in the international community and that chris throughout all of this this drama for that is what it is the president has really got to watch in self isn't he because he looks weak he

looks transactional he looks he's been acquitted casing hasn't come out one way or another surely that's as damaging potentially to the person of the president as coming out and being strong and saying it like it is especially given all the information that he has at his disposal from the cia particular right will i think the president for want to i think we can all agree would never ever want to appear weak certainly on this serious matter though the president has called this the worst cover up ever he's had very very strong words condemning this action as this is secretary of defense and the secretary of state with regards to some of the activity that we expect from the president though i think we can take a look back to when we first found out that the that the that the crown prince may have been involved in the disappearance of jamal khashoggi we saw. there were sanctions placed on iran and saudi arabia was encouraged and asked by president trump to ramp up production knowing that supply would be decreased because people

were not going to buy nations would not be able to buy from iran what we saw after we learned about the killing of jamal khashoggi is that the u.s. missed that the trip of ministration the united states allowed for eight nations to be exempt from those iranian sanctions so the saudis have lost hundreds of millions of dollars surely as a result of these exemptions in allowing nations to to buy from from iran and so i think that the timeline of that is very fascinating perhaps that something that's not being reported and it could be something that could be looked into but i think that the timeline for that shows that the united states is trying to have is as serious of a response and the president wants to have as serious of a response and i think that he's certainly of the mind that the worst decision is in decision and so as secretary of state pompei have said earlier this is not the last word from the united states on this matter yes but chris. in this evolving debacle because that's the way it appears to have been handled by the white house

not only is the president himself facing a huge amount of criticism but you've now got mattison pompei is being accused of at best being loyal soldiers and that was orchestrating some kind of cover up so then now in the firing line as well so the whole administration these got a question mark over it over it's come down to this entire episode well what they're doing is really they're dealing with the realities the realities excuse me of what we have in the current situation in the middle east the dangers that we perhaps may may see some increased violence or increased destabilisation if we do about away from that saudi relationship this is something that you know really everyday americans often either overlook or are simply don't pay attention to. but there are significant back channel conversations happening right now to try to stave off and prevent this activity from happening again while also dealing in

reality we have a serious serious threat in iran any type of destabilization or any type of balance away from this relationship with saudi arabia could further embolden them right. washington is renowned is infamous isn't it for being a wash with the different lobbying groups and we know that the various actors in this particular incident. prominent in terms of being represented by lobbyists in washington should we be viewing this is perhaps a battle in between the various low being sides some one size is winning in the other side note to see that the side representing saudi arabia is losing at the moment is that why there's so much opinion in congress agitating against saudi arabia i would disagree with two points that were raised just now the first point about iran and its danger to the region and the second about lobbying i do think

that because all the facts are established of what happened to jamal khashoggi who by the way was a friend and colleague who i know very well so now that all these details have been . have been cleared and people have an understanding of what happened to him what we're seeing is that we're seeing to force of the u.s. government asks an institution kicking in and shaping policy and it's important for our viewers to remember that the united states has three co-equal branches of government one is the executive of course which is spearheaded by president trump and the other one is the congress and the third one is of course your judiciary and disk ace the congress could very well move forward with imposing sanctions and legislation against saudi arabia and preventing american businesses from investing into a country that would be an extraordinary step if that were to take place and it could also hamper prince mohammad's twenty thirty there's in which is to revitalize the

saudi economy by wearing off oil and energy dependence so all of that will be tied to congressional steps moving forward and the president has no interest or ability even if you wanted to to engage in any cover up because because the u.s. senate and the house of representatives are united on these issues so with endless contacts and the fact was a columnist for the washington post only underscores that whatever lobbyist or pay to play groups will try to influence this process going forward they would run into a brick wall so what but when it comes back to iran i think it's very important to remember it at one of the reasons that we're having this chaos in the middle east is precisely that the united states under descent ministration house. failed to

balance the powers of the region i can adjust and just invested everything in one country all right and i want to move us right back to the here and now and john what do you think is likely to happen and it seems very mushy. this resolution could be put on the table as early as monday which way do you think it will go. i believe the resolution will actually pass and then congress will go into recess the senate will go into recess and jan you were the first we could january when congress gets back in session you're going to have a democratically controlled congress you're going to have a intelligence committee that is chaired by a democrat you're going to have an oversight and government reform house committee that is chaired by a democrat and they're going to be looking into the steps that the trump administration has taken since mystically shoki was killed they're going to look at how they arrived at their conclusions and if their positions and steps and

statements were not in alignment with what the intelligence community concluded in regards to the killing of mr chris shoki and based on reports you're also going to have a number of democratic leaders on these committees who will be looking into the steps that the president made it in if the steps were in the best interest of the u.s. saudi relationship or if they were reflective of their financial relationship that the president has spoken about in terms of past deals and arrangements with saudi national as that's an interesting point chris coming back to you with a new delhi impalas hostile house of representatives. looking closely at the president there will be a greater appetite went there for an investigation into the president's personal

commercial ties with saudi arabia that's something that he's really got to look out for the rights of the president i think is aware i think the white house is aware of the risk. not adhering to the protocols and not taking the advice of the intelligence community and his own advisors on this matter particularly knowing that this is such a difficult position to be in for any president the house will be a pain for this administration they will conduct oversight the democratic controlled house has already pledged to conduct several investigations into the president many of which have been proven to be without merit so far by reports that we have seen in a variety of allegations that have been made by these incoming chairman of these various committees in the house of representatives however i will say that i believe and i trust and i hope that whether whether it is a bipartisan panel whether it is

a democrat led coalition to investigate the administration investigate the president that in the in that doing that they prioritize the national security interests of the united states knowing that that this is truly something that we have to take seriously as it relates to a long term strategy we can you know some balance away from the saudi relationship is a very shortsighted and might feel good in the moment but it has a very grave long term consequences right i hope that our colleagues on the left and rights of the aisle will adhere to that we live running out of time put the final word to you if you could be brief please president chompers be known pretty regularly to to walk away turn his back on while friends and allies do you think that the pressure this seems to be mounting in congress a poem president trump will persuade him to cut loose mohammed bin sound man. i think that president trump recognizes that decision can only be made internally and

the saudi royal family and the saudi royal family will have to decide on this issue what president trump is signaling us that u.s. congressional pressure is not going away so he's providing the space for the saudi right royal family to deal with this issue internally and let itself play out and the congress right now is in the driver's seat on this issue and that it's also understood in riyadh. great thank you all very much indeed john jones sigurd nuba and chris garcia thank you very much indeed for a very interesting conversation from washington d.c. and as ever thank you for watching the program you can see it again any time you like by going to the website abc dot com should you want more discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash inside story and there's always the fair. as a.j. inside story i'm at dennis' thank you from the whole team here in doha.

in nepal poverty leaves children vulnerable and at risk but sometimes those who say they can help cause the most harm one of many shines a light on predators in the aid industry. on al-jazeera. a notorious symbol of the u.s. war on terror once said the closure of guantanamo bay and its detainees are going nowhere we have identified as a priority is the construction of. the conditions to return back to. the states. rendition revisited part two on al-jazeera. december on al-jazeera.

from hospitality to hostility war hotels tells dramatic stories about icons of complex and last resorts in divided cities an exclusive interview with nobel peace prize laureates. and special antarctic sanctuary follows greenpeace says their campaign to create the largest protected area on. an annual convention that gives a platform to a global dialogue on critical challenges facing our world a new two part documentary that reveals the shocking realities of the global arms trade december on al-jazeera. intelligence chief u.s. senators on the jamal khashoggi as they consider ways to punish saudi arabia.

live from. this also coming up yemen's warring sides agree to swap prisoners start talks in. the back when the fighting and suffering continues. a u.s. resolution condemning hamas fails to get enough support at the u.n. general assembly. and the country looking to food labels to help tackle climate change. now after a promising start on day one the hard work now begins at talks between yemen's

warring sides in the swedish village of rimbaud that's just north of the capital stockholm our correspondent who is there. fairly positive a fairly positive start then to day one with confidence building measures and exchange of prisoners does day two therefore start on an optimistic. it is the day when they are supposed to be tackling some of the most critical issues in yemen and the need to further exit and seize fire whether there would be agreed upon by all the parties and then they would have to tackle the issue of the day which has become the focal point of the fight in yemen the earth is entrenched they say they are willing to do just one concession which is to allow the united nations to oversee the management of some of the operations are they there is a vital lifeline for all the imports coming into yemen the government on the other

hand says if that does not happen they will move ahead with a huge military operation to take over and the reason why they are now focusing on her data is a strategic location for all the bodies if the hope is that on her data it will pave the way for the government to take over the capital sana in the future and this is one of the critical issues now at the talks and as i said for the international community just watching the healthiest along with the government representatives sitting together to negotiate the future of yemen is a great achievement as we're going to see in this report. it was a rare moment of agreement yet many rivals engaging in friendly chat before the start of talks this is the first time they've met since two thousand and sixteen. u.n. envoy martin has praised

a prisoner swap deal agreed between the two sides but said the political process to and the war will take time because institutions. the fragmentation of a country. is enormously so we must work. before we lose control of the future of the earth is who control most of yemen said they were willing to make concessions hoping the talks in stockholm would lead to a comprehensive peace plan. we heard the other parties are serious this time for humanitarian and security situations require all of us to come together and seek a solution we really want to deal with the prisoners exchange deal is a small step forward in a complex political reality most of these government representatives live outside yemen that influence has why did

a client says the who things took over the capital it two thousand and fourteen but they remain determined their bibles must hand over their weapons before there is a final deal on said. it's twenty two sixteen and nothing more they should respect international community well they should surrender their ads in the nations and myside that they're used to attack that the yemeni people and their own countries and that then that there.