and the press from. this is al jazeera. hello i'm barbara sara this is the al-jazeera news hour live from london thank you for joining us coming up in the next sixty minutes the u.s. says it's started withdrawing its troops from syria as president trumped the claims that i saw has been defeated. position supporters the fire and order suspending election campaigning in the capital of democratic republic of congo. and the hundred days before brecht save

the european union reveals its plan to protect the bloc if britain crashes out without it. and i'm we're hard in with all the sport gareth bale grabs a hat trick as real madrid booked their spot in the club at the world cup final. the u.s. president has announced that he's pulling all u.s. soldiers out of syria there are currently around two thousand special forces there but the interim says their mission was to defeat i saw and that has now been accomplished the move could have major repercussions in the region as particle hane reports from washington. it's a massive move that will dramatically change the landscape of the war in syria and one not many saw coming the u.s. president tweeting out that isis has been defeated and that was the only reason

u.s. troops were in syria seeming to confirm reports that the two thousand u.s. troops in syria will leave over the next few months. but according to the u.s. government the islamic state of iraq and the levant is not actually defeated a point stressed by the president's own state department just last week i think it's fair to say america will remain on the ground after the physical to feed a caliphate until we have the pieces in place to ensure that that defeatism during the move comes after a phone call between president trump and president urged one of turkey he's made clear he wants to target the kurds who have fought beside the us and that is more difficult to do if u.s. troops are in his way just a few months ago the president himself has played heralded as a sacrifice the kurds have made and we're trying to get along very well we do get along great with the kurds we're trying to help them a lot so they fought with us they died with us they died we lost. tens of thousands of kurds died fighting isis now many worry what will happen to the kurds what this message sends is we don't stick with people our friends without the kurds in the

syrian democratic forces we couldn't have beaten isis we couldn't have taken back and rocker because we were not willing to commit all of those troops that were necessary others say that should be a concern for the u.s. first time in my lifetime we have a prayer a president with the courage to declare victory and bring the troops home this came as a surprise for many on capitol hill some senators calling this a big mistake if this decision is a withdrawal of all of our forces in syria and now we're dramatically listen this isn't a bomb of like move it's now that the u.s. has withdrawn or is going to withdraw from syria we basically turn the country over to russia into an even greater extent iran the administration and the pentagon both released statements saying the fight against iso isn't over but the u.s. is simply transitioning to the next phase of the campaign they didn't say what that face might look like. al-jazeera washington well meanwhile in recent days

turkey's president tried to type at the han has threatened the new offensive against kurdish forces the united states supports and the country's north saying a holder has more now from and kyra. the decision to withdraw u.s. troops from syria coincides with turkey's announcement that it plans a cross border operation into syria particularly into the area where u.s. troops are stationed and the area under the control of the y p.g. a kurdish armed group that turkey considers a terrorist organization but that armed group has been an ally of the united states the why p.g. has so far not made any statement or given any reaction to the u.s. withdrawal announcement but clearly this is being seen as some sort of green light from the president to turkey to launch a cross a border operation now the question is will the turkish military go ahead with its

threats and what exactly will happen to this enclave in northeastern syria that is under the control of the y.p. g are the russians the syrian government the iranian government they are going to lay claim to this territory as well but like i mentioned the decision to withdraw u.s. troops is linked to turkey's threats because just a few days ago turkey's foreign minister said and pro believes that trump is considering leaving syria and or the garden president or dawn said that trump supports his plans for an operation so this issue was being discussed between the turkish and the and us presidents a phone call and just hours after a gun announced that cross border operation what we've been seeing over the past few days are intensive contacts between these two major allies these two nato allies whose relationship really has been strained in recent years particularly

over the u.s. support for the white p.g. the u.s. eating out that turkey the u.s. special envoy saying just yesterday that we understand turkey's concerns and we are taking steps to ease those concerns for the. i said states it is much more important to lure turkey away from its alliance with russia and iran if it is to implement its strategy in the region then to keep really two thousand troops on the ground in territory in east syria so we have to wait to see whether or not turkey is going to go ahead with plans to enter the northeast syria and what is going to happen in that corner of that country. for more on this we're joined from washington d.c. by amanda slowed who's a senior fellow at the brookings institution madame thank you so much for joining us here on al-jazeera i don't know how much you could hear there of our reporter as a holder just explaining the changing dynamics and obviously the situation of the

kurds in syria do you view this as a betrayal of the kurds a pulling out of u.s. troops and just generally how do you think it's going to change the balance of power in the region. i think it's going to be a significant development it certainly one that is going to be welcomed into ron and moscow and damascus if not by the syrian kurds president trump has long been clear that he has wanted to pull the u.s. troops out of syria in fact his advisors managed to persuade him not to do that at multiple points over this year i think the kurds will probably not be surprised by this decision even if they may have been caught off guard by the timing and i think they have been quite strategic in terms of maintaining relations with a number of powers operating within syria and there's some speculation about whether the y.p. g. now is going to be trying to expedite its conversations with damascus so that it

gets regime backing if the turks decide to launch a military campaign against them it's quite ironic is that trump himself and a lot of his supporters often accuse the barack obama of pulling out of iraq too soon and that that had escalated then the the sort of the presence of eiseley in the region do you think that this is a mistake on behalf of the trumpet ministration why do you think he's doing it now . i think there certainly is an irony there that's not lost on anybody in washington that trump is doing the exact thing that he accused obama of doing it is somewhat surprising given that a number of the trump's advisers including national security advisor bolten secretary of state pump a zero other leading republicans had been quite critical of the obama administration for not doing more to counter the iranian influence in syria that was becoming one of the stated objectives of u.s. policy going forward in syria so it is unclear how that approach is going to be

handled now with the u.s. withdrawal i think many people recognize that the united states should not have a long term military presence in syria there has been no appetite for continued u.s. involvement in middle east conflicts which was one of the things that trump ran on in his campaign i think from trump's perspective he is trying to fulfill a campaign promise he is trying to wind down a war and he has been focusing very narrowly on this question of american defeat of the islamic state which is the only reason that the u.s. military had authorization to be in syria however if you look at the statements coming out as you noted by the state department by the pentagon including by the white house they focus it much more narrowly on the defeat of the territorial caliphate but certainly as others in your piece of mentioned there are pockets of the islamic state that remain and one of the concerns is that an overly quick u.s. withdrawal could lead to the resurgence in the regrouping of some of these islamic state forces this

a lot of speculation possible i guess you know links or agreements between turkey or the u.s. as a lot of players involved in this and of course turkey announcing they're threatening their new offensive against the the kurdish forces you know the timing is suspicious but in general what do you think this stuff has to ongoing and continuing u.s. influence in the middle east i mean you know we just seeing a withdrawal out of syria or more and more we just seeing a u.s. that's really trying to step away from the middle east. i think there was an effort even under the obama administration to limit certainly u.s. military involvement in the middle east and that was something that campaigned on as well he has always been clear that he did not want to commit u.s. forces to syria in the long term and he also did not want to spend a large amount of money on stabilization and reconstruction efforts in syria and so presumably in trump's mind now that the major lift of the military operation is

over he seems quite happy to turn over the broader reconstruction the broader peace process in syria to other actors i think the challenge is going to be from the merican perspective is that with the u.s. withdrawal you are likely to see a rainy and russians other powers that are not necessarily allies of the united states filling that vacuum that was left by the u.s. departure and the slowed senior fellow at the brookings institution let him thank you so much for sharing your views and expertise with us thank you. police in the democratic republic of congo have fired tear gas to break up crowds of rocks throwing opposition supporters in the capital kinshasa the protesters were rallying in support of all can the with martin for you to it was use a hold a major campaign event but was blocked from arriving by the security forces for several hours and is now being this court of hope earlier the governor of can shut subband all political gatherings in the city citing security concerns just four

days before presidential elections in the fall of tile country catherine sawyer was at that rally in kinshasa earlier. some of my future you. can see. why. that's think i'd like to speak to the. presidential candidate is going to comedy and tragedy. and i don't know man running. son let me have that. number one our nominee no ninety nine and then maybe. even more. on one of the. day stunts and outs from these.

very. delayed. exit is disputed. well since katherine so sent us that report there have been reports that the presidential vote may actually be delayed malcolm webb has more now from kinshasa. an official from the electoral commission has said it is the possibility that sunday's poll. might be delayed by a few days possibly weeks i think technical difficulties will be official said the electoral commission would still do everything it could to try to make sure the poll goes ahead on time but this announcement came just a few hours after the governor of the capital kinshasa and the final political campaign rallies from taking place here they were due to happen over the coming days they now when he gave the government funded security reasons saying he within

the defeat of the functioning i mean. these are all physicians are very many opposition to even the capital and skeptical things like running rallies and shows burning elections jaycee's possible schemes by the ruling coalition to be election all to try and stay in power beyond this election which has already been delayed for two years. coming up on this news hour from london south africa issues on arrest warrant for zimbabwe's former first lady grace mugabe for allegedly assaulting a model yemeni boy who's dying wish to be reunited with his mother has been granted by u.s. president donald trump and manchester united call upon a club to save their skins and the world have all of that and more a little later. but first the world food program has announced severe service cuts affecting

palestinians in gaza and the occupied west bank food assistance to one hundred ninety thousand people will be reduced or suspended from the start of january the u.n. agency is blaming funding cuts of the last forty percent of its u.s. funding when president slashed aid to humanitarian agencies working in the occupied territories it says it needs another fifty seven million dollars to continue with next year this decision is extremely difficult to make the people. we do reach. across palestine and we appreciate that we're going to put further anxiety in these families we're going to make them more desperate p. is doing everything it can to try and find extra funding to meet that gap. explosions have been reported in the yemeni port city of whole day there for a second day the spite a un mediated ceasefire the who these and the saudi led coalition of blamed each other for violations on the first day of the truce on tuesday

a breakdown of the agreement which was formed at talks in sweden last week could lead to humanitarian operations being suspended around the vital ports. and the mother from yemen is set to fly to california after being granted a visa to see her dying two year old son seamus we left had been barred from visiting the u.s. because of donald trump span and citizens from six muslim majority countries including yemen her son is an american citizen and suffers from a rare genetic brain condition john hendren traveled to oakland california to talk to the boy's father. here in a california hospital the u.s. travel ban his left a two year old motherless as a rare brain disorder carries him into the final days of his life his second day in and the u.s. took him to the hospital and they were shocked how skinny you were as they were us were those doctors and the nurse. when they were seen and like this all time this is what's happening back in yemen like his father an american citizen is among the

youngest immigrants to suffer from the american travel ban since he arrived in the u.s. in october of dollars you many mother has been unable to see him because of the trumpet ministrations ban on travelers from yemen and six other mostly muslim nations on tuesday the u.s. granted his mother's waiver and a chance to hold of dilla once again but for two years nothing happened until monday when ali hassen in the council on american islamic relations called a news conference to appeal directly to the american people you know we've got a lot of foreign service officers deployed all over the world that are making these decisions on a daily basis and they're trying very hard to do the right thing at all times for the house and the wait has been traumatic ali hassan says it's hard for him to tell such a personal story but he decided if he didn't go public his son would die without ever seeing his mother again that's two hundred grand the bed that she gave it to

me on september that's when the last time she said she would regret everything so if you had not gone public. what would have happened. i would just see my son dying on on or taking off our mayor mom on. without his mother without his mother after marrying his wife shaimaa two years ago ali was told her visa would soon be approved. then came the trump travel ban which brought protesters into the streets and airport waiting rooms until a few months ago little of gillis stayed with his mother in yemen growing thinner sicker and sharing hospitals with thousands of victims of the war in yemen. desperate ali brought his son to cairo and then the u.s. for care what my son going through. it's really hard for him i mean he was the number from the mother and then his face in there it's just it's crazy you know no

matter what color you are. family should be together no matter what this fault of dilla stopped breathing on his own then closed his eyes for the last time and stop responding entirely doctors say the end is days away a bill is strength in the speed of his mother's plane will determine whether on wednesday evening the hudson family will get that chance john hendren al-jazeera oakland california the u.s. federal reserve has raised the key interest rate for the fourth time this year in a move that is likely to anger president trump the central bank raised interest rates by quarter of a percent from two point two five to two point five percent but forecasts fewer rate hikes next year your stocks fell on the news with the dow jones down three hundred points on the trump has repeatedly attacked the banks tightening the sere as to the economy. the british government has set out its biggest reform of

immigration policy for more than forty years as it prepares for a post breck's it relationship with the rest of the world the cap on the number of skilled immigrant workers is being scrapped than unskilled laborers will still be granted temporary visas but the government has the first plans for a controversial salary threshold for skilled my view in this race and the plans have had a mixed reception. meanwhile has revealed its contingency plans for a no deal break city of the u.k. crashes out of the block without a divorce agreement in exactly one hundred days the e.u.'s plan covers fourteen areas most likely to be affected and is the sign to protect the vital interests of the e.u. its leaders a say it's an exercise in damage limitation the plan includes temporary measures for airspace british airlines would be allowed to operate flights in and out of the e.u. but not within it some financial regulations and still be recognized as equivalent to those of the e.u. for one or two years but banks and insurance companies headquartered in the u.k.

will no longer be able to provide services in the e.u. under their current authorizations trucks and freight carriers would be allowed to carry goods into the e.u. for a nine month period without applying for a permit but that doesn't include live animals and the animal products which will have to undergo border checks at entry points and e.u. countries are being urged to take a generous approach to the rights of u.k. citizens living abroad as long as that approach is reciprocated by the u.k. . while the u.k. is also ramping up for preparations for a no deal as the now explains. with the government's plans for a new deal breaks it featured heavily in prime minister's questions here in parliament's home wednesday what we know is that they're stepping up those preparations with the least two billion u.s. dollars of extra funding to try to get the country ready for that scenario and if

the tape doesn't have a deal or leave the e.u. next march they are for example putting three and a half thousand troops on standby there providing for extra special flights to make sure all medicines carry on arriving in the country now those prospects are worrying people like him five of the biggest to business organizations in the u.k. you visited a joint statement saying they're looking on with horror of what they call functional infighting here in westminster and are saying it's up to politicians to really find a way forward and avoids that no deal scenario the labor party official opposition opposes said that that should be taken off the table the prime minister is recklessly running down the clock oh in any shameful attempt to make your own bad deal look like the lesser of two evils. thing to the right honorable gentleman . while until the deal has

a day and has been ratified it is the responsible position of government and it is it would be the responsible position of any government to put in place contingency arrangements for no deal so there's lots of worry both in terms of immigration policy and in terms of the damage and no deal breaks it could bring. that in their words get more in the implications of a no deal break say from guarantee jones who is professor of economics at lancaster university management school sir thank you so much for joining us here on out so i guess it's one hundred days from now that if there is no deal than the u.k. his face. in what we're calling a sort of crashing out of the e.u. the e.u. seems to be preparing in some way what do you think the u.k. government can do to i guess prepare for what many people had hoped would be avoided but now it seems that might just happen. the first thing to say about the possibility of a diode deal is that according to the government's own calculations

a no deal would be a very bad outcome indeed and their own calculations suggest that fifteen years from now g.d.p. would be more than nine percent lower than it otherwise would be if the u.k. were to crash out with no deal and the reason for that is that if we crash with a no deal the european union would have to charge tariffs the standard rate to the u.k. as it does two countries because the u.k. would of course become a third country that would make exports from the u.k. to the european union very own competitive that would cause jobs to be lost at the same time you've got supply chains that of over the last forty years developed across the border between the u.k. and the rest of the european union and things travelling between the u.k. and the you would be interrupted at the border for border checks for terrorists but

also for regulator e. checks that would slow down for straight supply chains firms would likely leave the u.k. for the european union in order to access that bigger market that there is in the european union so no deal outcome is a very bad outcome indeed for the u.k. and that being the case very few people want it it seems that mrs may and her government are holding this as a possibility in order to try and get some political action from it to try and get some of the backbenchers particularly in her own party the conservative party to support her deal at the same time we've had a delay in the meaningful vote in order to run down the clock and make it almost inevitable that people have to choose between no deal and mrs may's deal the reality is there are other options out there people. vote is one thing that has been suggested or norway plus arrangement to something has been suggested and

really the sooner the better we can get to a sensible discussion amongst all politicians of these various options but i suppose if you own a small business in the u.k. you know not a big firm that can actually relocate to the e.u. but a small business here and you've probably been watching the politicians over the past few months and aren't particularly impressed i mean the whole point of no deal is that no one really prepared for it because everybody thought well it's never going to get to that because that is the worst case scenario but what do you think a small u.k. business saw you know businesses here in the u.k. can do to prepare for it should it happen. it's a difficult question to answer because businesses operate in a whole variety of sectors and no deal will affect different sectors in different ways but what will affect any firm including small firms that are trading with europe is the export regulations and the import regulations that they face so every firm will need to have a new all read number. an economic operation. number that

is a bit of bureaucracy this involved with this most firms will go for having a customs broker in order to make their arrangements with the tax office they'll have to have special tax returns so the tax man knows what they're importing what their exports going because terrorists will be payable on those so they'll be extra tax returns to fill they may also need export licenses so there's a lot of extra bureaucracy that firms are going to face of course in the run up to the referendum few people spoke about trade in such detail the way few people spoke about really the whole irish issue immigration really seem to be the main issue we've seen the british government effectively unveiling its new immigration policy or role does that play in a potential breaks it is a moment mission do you think by the government that actually breaks it or no breaks in the u.k. still needs immigrants to come and work here. britain will certainly need immigrants and certain sectors will lead them more than others so we know about the

agriculture sector when it comes to picking fruit for example they may need to recruit immigrants to do that work and special arrangements would need to be made for that also in the whole service certainly in the short to medium term before people can be trained to do these roles then there will be a demand for nursing staff and celery staff that will need to be plugged by by migration as it has been in the past and so they'll need to be some windows in the legislation to allow for that to take place during john's professor of economics at lancaster university management schools sir thank you well with just as we mentioned one hundred days to go until britain leaves the e.u. maybe a pro e.u. boy band has made its debut with a ballad to the british people. five

member band the name the brit union boys launched a video for their single britain comeback in amsterdam other they haven't booked any gigs yet the band hopes to tour british pubs to get their message out the group's founder says she was inspired by the british boy band take that. not just because it reminded me of the same heartbreak but also because the members of the take that come from the country. was born in stoke on trent and they voted. overwhelmingly to leave the european union so i thought what else will work better when the boys of take that or boy band best thing britain ever gave to us good luck with that tour of british pubs still to come this hour madagascar goes to the polls for a bitter presidential runoff pitting two former leaders against each other we'll have the latest from nicaragua where the government has been accused of its worst human rights violations in decades and winning streak another home victory in denver

brings the nuggets one to seven in the air has the highlights in sport. which. hello the city and color of a central europe but be nudged out of the way by what's coming in behind me is atlantic pushing in this is much milder wetter windier this circulation that's been producing snow ever remain here he said so you know those ones into ukraine probably won't make that much more progress it's main concentration being rain in turkey so then you've got rain or snow to pay attention pushing into austria pursuit pushing through germany and denmark behind it rep double figures again windy sometimes wet but particularly mild in comparison to the rest of europe that carries all feeding in it's wet and windy weather and therefore the snow is pretty

even further east but the temperatures rise afterwards also was above freezing bitter about freezing significance does think in southern germany and the tirol but the same time book rest is sitting in what's probably still foggy weather in the morning and zero degrees at best by day so all the action there is in northern europe well maybe have a turkey which means much the mediterranean really is effectively quiet the breeze isn't as strong as it was temperature typically in teens it's kind used around libya noles in egypt and the sun's out in robots at about eighteen degrees rather nice weather that's true all the way down towards the tropics are a few showers around west africa but not that many. after joining the greenpeace campaigning to protect the weddell sea in antarctica we're now in australia for the outcome with the first generation to realize the gravity of this crisis. but we may be the last to be able to do something about

it enough special find out if the effort to create the largest sentry on earth has succeeded thrice on al-jazeera when the news breaks and the story buildings the fight against isis is still continuing in the ahmar desert when people who need to be heard. and the story needs to be told by family status and wealth has benefited from interest and slave people al-jazeera has teams on the ground to bring you more allude winning documentaries and live news on air and online.

welcome back is a reminder of the top stories around as the u.s. says all its troops will be withdrawn from syria within sixty to one hundred days it comes after president donald trump that played victory over i saw in a tweet police in the democratic republic of congo have fired tear gas at crowds of rock throwing opposition supporters in the capital they were protesting after campaigning was suspended in kinshasa and their candidate martin for you was blocked from attending a major wrap and the world food program says severe funding cuts mean food assistance to one hundred ninety thousand palestinians in gaza and the west bank will. or suspended from the start of january. in madagascar a former president and the man who ousted him in a two thousand and nine kuku are battling to become the country's next leader in a fiercely contested runoff election bitter rivals marc ravalomanana and andry

rajoelina cast their votes on wednesday the election result is you to be released by the end of the year sixty nine year old mark ruffalo manana was first elected to the presidency in two thousand and two he's a former mill fan from a poor family who went home to build the business empire revolution and i ruled for seven years before violent demonstrations forced them out in two thousand and nine that demonstrations were supported by andry rajoelina then mayor of the capital and tun in a revolt he was instated by the army and left led madagascar from two thousand and nine to two thousand and fourteen both men claim they were victims of fraud and cheating during the first round of voting but they have agreed to accept the result of the final well the head of the european union's monitoring commission says the run of vote has passed peacefully. i've just come from two lives the two teams to represent the candidates there told us we are ready to accept the other side's

victory so it's a pretty good atmosphere south african police have issued an arrest warrant for zimbabwe's former first lady grace mugabe for assaulting a model with an electrical cord the wife of former president robert mugabe is accused of attacking the woman in a johannesburg hotel room last august gabrielle angle says she suffered a serious head injury mugabe has previously claimed that she was acting in self-defense police say the warrant was issued last those that well this fight no longer being first lady grace mugabe is still protected by zimbabwe but it's harder with explains her options could be limited. the government spokesperson here in zimbabwe said that we have not received any written communication from south africa when we do the government will consider it according to the laws of zimbabwe what we knows are grace mugabe is in right now she was in singapore where she is getting treatment she's being protected by the state because she's

a former first lady and as far as we know the last time she was in south africa was when that incident happened last year now what is the risk mean internationally it basically means that if she travels to a country anywhere in the world that country could arrest and hand over to these other africans and call her because she loves to shop they joke that she's the time on planes and so they know that she loves traveling now that means her travel options could be limited if certain countries take this arrest warrant seriously all eyes are now on the zimbabwean government if they receive this gritting communication from the africans are they going to hand her over given the fact that she is a former first lady a state of emergency has been the clarity in the sudanese city or a bar after the local headquarters of the ruling national congress party or burned down hundreds of people have been protesting a hike in the price of bread after subsidies were counselled a twelve hour curfew has been imposed

turkish media has leaked new images of the some of the suspects accused of murdering the journalist. the new photos appear to show the so-called hit team arriving at the saudi consulate in istanbul where ashaji was killed. more. walking through istanbul airport dressed casually dragging suitcases the suspected saudi hit team arrived for the mission new photos leaked to turkish media showed them arriving at the saudi consul general residence in istanbul the faucheux time stamped eleven away on the second of october the day jamal khashoggi was killed at the same time others into the consulate this is from the same camera that captured the final images of. the saudi journalist entered through the same doors two hours later at one fourteen pm there is about three thousand five hundred hours of footage that the investigators are actually looking into saw due to the fact that

this is taking time and there is new evidence come in notes we get these leaks was no while. within days the world learned khashoggi had been murdered and dismembered inside the consulate over weeks who was mounted for justice and accountability he was put on the cover of time magazine as person of the year saudi prosecutors responded with criminal charges for the men in this so-called hit squad five face the death penalty six a charged with related offenses it is also rejected turkey's request to extradite the suspects for trial using the vienna convention on diplomatic immunity as reason not to or the major question of who was at the killing has been left unanswered the results are fifty six and forty one news u.s. senators gave their verdicts last week passing resolutions blaming saudi crown prince mohammed bin solomon for khashoggi sticks and calling for an end to u.s.

military support for a saudi prince of in yemen this is now unanimously unanimously united states senate has said that crown prince mohammed bin salman is responsible for the murder of two malcolm. the saudi foreign ministry denounced the senate's position saying it is based upon unsubstantiated claims and allegations contained blatant interferences in the kingdom's internal if it is undermining the kingdom's regional and international role the condemnation and denials on and off to stop the leaks these timestamped images review more about the movements of the suspected saudi who to you before and after the killing of jamal khashoggi ballasts al-jazeera well it's becoming an increasingly dangerous world for journalists the number of revenge killings nearly doubled this year the annual

report from the committee to protect journalists found that thirty four journalists were murdered in retaliation for their work that sixteen more than last year one thousand others were killed while covering conflict and violent protests the committee is blaming a lack of international leadership on the rights and safety of journalists one example being the murder of. thirteen journalists were killed in afghanistan this year making it the most dangerous country to report from but the number of reporters killed in war zones fell to its lowest levels for seven years because i was government has also been accused of launching a brutal crackdown to silence critics of president danielle oath a gap some three hundred people have been killed since the protests began in april causing the u.s. to threaten more sanctions monoid apollo reports now from managua. to the i the streets of money are calm the tension remains the presence of security forces is now the norm ready to quickly put down any acts of anti-government dissent like

that that there are no protests because you'll get thrown in prison that's why this country has more than six hundred political prisoners in jail and he is a vocal critic of nicaraguan president daniel ortega. this is her being thrown into the back of a police vehicle the last time a public protest was held in mine i work. in a similar manner i actually broke my foot in that moment and they took every one of us away in an act of absurdity and in front of all the members of the press. in the wake of the crackdown government critics and journalists run the risk of attack by pro-government forces i found. now from the start of troubles which began over proposed reforms to a national pension program prison in order to go has underlined his commitment to human rights he says the violence seen so far is part of a right wing conspiracy against him. former nicaraguan ambassador to the oas who

said we still ask is says that's nonsense. so. this is more than a police state this is a state that acts completely arbitrarily the rule of law in the longer exists in the hands of hitmen it's like an orioles novel where they speak in newspeak where war means peace and freedom in slavery that's what happened here large protests are no longer allowed civic and business leaders along with mediators from the catholic church have all pleaded with president order to return to the negotiating table despite international condemnation and sanctions imposed by the united states there's no sign the president is willing to accept early elections a condition demanded by the national opposition human rights observers warn the political crisis will continue to. deep in pushing the country further toward a situation similar to that of venezuela for activists like i'm a good eater however what matters is continuing the resistance against the

government even has a. new look they are through i we're going to continue until daniel ortega is gone if neither are going history has taught me anything it's that when nicaraguan people say enough it means in math. that sentiment means the calm on the streets right now maybe no more just a phase and you get i was political crisis when. when i was. the king of belgium has met with several political party leaders as he decides whether to accept the prime minister's resignation shows michel offered to resign on tuesday after his right wing coalition partners the flemish nationalists walked out of the government over a un my gratian pact that he signed the country up to that but there are reports from brussels. belgium split cicle leaders arrived at the roll palace in brussels for crisis talks with the king one day off to the government collapsed over a migration ronnell on tuesday after john mattick day in parliament shell michel

told m.p.'s he was resigning as prime minister. will have to respect and take note of the situation and taking the decision to offer my resignation and my intention is to meet the king immediately midget. pressure had been building on michelle since last week when the right wing and v.a. policy quit the ruling coalition in protest at the prime minister's signing of the you had packed american ash aimed at creating global corporation a very gracious. one sunday thousands of far right supporters demonstrated in brussels against the agreement saying it would encourage immigration this far right same piece says events in belgium reflect the recent discontent seen elsewhere in europe. so-called as park is only a symbol. there is a sort of a popular revolution going on an uprising in the whole of europe yellowjackets in

paris you have this protests now over here in our county and they don't want this open border policy towards immigration any more some experts say that the political crisis here in brussels the symbolic car to the european union in some ways reveals the growing challenges that some centrist and liberal leaders face as they try to govern at a time in europe when for right and zuma gratian and teemu policies are on the rise bathed in wood to sunlight the federal parliament building was eerily quiet the big danger is that people abandon the wrath of liberal mainstream and go for alter a tarion parties of the right and the left and to prevent it i think it's very important to mainstream parties take the concerns about uncontrolled migration seriously if belgium's king except the prime minister's resignation it could lead

to snap elections early next year a ballot that could be seen as a gauge of just how high the far right have risen in brussels just months before may's crucial european parliamentary elections the al-jazeera brussels belgium. as world leaders vying for a say in europe's energy market one country is caught in the middle denmark's consent is required before the final section of a controversial russian pipeline can be completed but opinion there is the vi that for laos flecked reports now through copenhagen. a new pipeline which could double the amount of gas russia delivers directly to germany has kept world leaders busy arguing if europe might become too dependent on russia so about thirty thousand pipes here in carson but in this harbor down in sweden near the danish border where departure stuart the economic benefits of the pipeline construction outweigh the concerns i have a course on the people here in karl's home think it's a great idea they're happy with it it creates

a lot of jobs but in the rest of sweden they're afraid and they said if you let the russians into your harbor the pipeline is divided europe and its allies into those who are for and those against in september u.s. president donald trump criticize germany over the plan and germany will become totally dependent. on russian energy if it does not immediately change course the twelve hundred kilometer route runs under the baltic sea the pipeline will be able to supply to european markets giving russian alternative to bypass existing pipelines running through ukraine with which it has poor relations poland and the baltic states are against the project saying it will damage their economies and leave them vulnerable to russia the pipeline he cries permission from scandinavian countries as it will pass through their international waters feelings in sweden have already agreed but denmark the last country to approve is hesitant we have been pressured from all thought and we are very small country russia have

been more and more aggressive they have annexed crimea. actually waging war as we say against ukraine and then actually also building up militarily against the baltic states were among our one of our dearest and closest friends denmark doesn't need the gas its energy policy calls for self-sufficiency by the year two thousand and fifty but it doesn't want to damage relations with its neighboring countries either this is one of the major foreign policy decisions since the cold war it is because it we somehow signal if we belong still belong to the american camp or we are more dupion german following germany so therefore it's it's a very important decision politicians in denmark are looking to brussels for an agreement that she'll start country against the critics of the pipeline with their skinny navy never supporting the project they feel left alone in this decision and

their response has been to play for time. tired of waiting to company building to pipeline has proposed a different route that runs just outside danish territorial waters where a commercial project is a highway of gas that is going to secure europe with a supply of gas that is needed in the future construction of the pipeline is supposed to be completed by late next year and those building it seem determined to continue no matter how the politics play out. al-jazeera copenhagen denmark japan's biggest ever stock market float has failed to live up to expectations. the share price of tech investment join softbank plummeted fifteen percent wiping off nine billion dollars on its first day of trading on the tokyo stock exchange analysts say that this appointing debut may be due to a recent network outage and concerns about the company's ties with chinese telecoms

giant qual way. the attorney general for washington d.c. is suing facebook over the misuse of users they to in the cambridge analytical scandal the lawsuit comes as the social network faces new reports about data breaches the new york times has obtained internal documents showing that facebook arranged to share data with more than one hundred fifty companies including netflix and spotify facebook says its partners cannot ignore people's privacy settings and there's no evidence of misuse. still ahead on the news hour why middle east broadcasting rights are attracting so much attention at the world trade organization that's coming up in just a moment in sports. business updates by qatar and we're going places together.

oh and business updates brought to you by qatar and we're going places together.

ok now it's time for me out with the sport. thank you barbara we start with football and gareth bale who scored a hat trick as real madrid booked their place in the final of the club world cup in the u.a.e. so how mehlis report. winning the club world cup could be the bright spot lift what's been a disappointing season for real madrid so far. brown who is struggling down and full of the league oh look shaky early on in the semifinal against you pounds. gareth bale settled the nerves however after some clever work by marcel it was just the start of what was to be a destructive spell. yet the welshman back in a quick fire eleven minutes three was he was helped on his way by some comical

defending. it all seemed a bit too much because she was manager to handle. there was no luck however about bale's third marcello again with the assist to end any serious hopes of a comeback was because she did go though with thirteen minutes left. but it was all too little too late rally winning it three one the spaniards now turned their attention to him rocky side alain little face in saturday's saw and so while malik al-jazeera tottenham have also beaten their rivals arsenal to book their spot in sydney finals of the english premier cup sport spurs winning two nil away at the emirates chelsea have also made it by beating bournemouth one nil both join third tier side burton albion and holders man city in the last four. now manchester united have named their former striker ole gunnar sol shire as interim manager following the sacking of josie marino the norwegian played for the club between one

thousand nine hundred six and two thousand and seven after retiring from playing he became reserve team manager the only other top level role he's held in u.k. was with cardiff city that was a short lived spell in two thousand and fourteen so shire will manage united until the end of the season alex ferguson's former assistant might feel and was appointed first team coach the world trade organization says it's launching an investigation into allegations that saudi arabia failed to protect sports broadcasting rights saudi arabia is one of the country's blockading qatar and have done since two thousand and seventeen and since then qatar is be in sports content has been blocked in the kingdom billions content has recently been rebroadcast under the brand b. out q the qatari network holds regional broadcasting rights for much of the world's high profile events including this year's world cup saudi arabia has claimed the sports broadcasts are blocked for national security reasons and it says the w t o has no standing to hear the case now earlier we spoke to lars under bird from

nordic content protection and an organization working with t.v. channels to prevent piracy he says the piracy crimes will only get more sophisticated. well it's getting bigger and bigger and that also depends on the evolution of the internet connection the high speed so we're seeing ahead many more criminal organizations getting bigger and bigger and taking her illegal outcome of this. i.p.c.c. string in some countries it is a problem but that there is no consensus between conscious on which also a tool appliance or this kind of criminality so there might be adequate loss in one country since many jurisdictions can't be involved in this criminal activity that has a need to have it proud about broader understanding of which laws and needed to to cover this crime it's obvious that if you're not able to join forces in the right

way due to a. loss to international cooperation it will be easier for the criminal us to have their it illegal revenue out of this so there's a lot of neat fun for bringing the laws or to speak and also have a much higher possibility of international cooperation trying to force this a landmark agreement has been reached for cuban baseball players allowing them to sign with teams in the united states without defecting talks a been under way between cuba's baseball federation and major league baseball since the obama administration relaxed sanctions on cuba born from the embargo which started in one thousand nine hundred two it's a big boost for players in cuba which has a rich history with the sport they are three time olympic baseball champions. and to the n.h.l. now where the chicago blackhawks got a rare win in what has been

a dismal run of games they came from behind to beat the nashville predators on tuesday trailing one zero gust of force or slim equalized for chicago in the second period then aired the stuff since scored the winner on a power play to seal it two one this is only the blackhawks second win twelve games . and in the n.b.a. the denver nuggets have extended their home winning streak to seven games beating the dallas mavericks one twenty six twenty it's the best start for the nuggets since that one nine hundred seventy six season serbian center nicolo joke which drove days when with thirty two points in the fourth quarter jamal marie took a block back up court for a two pointer to seal the when after dallas had rallied in a fourteen point lead down to four at the nuggets stop the western conference. that's all your support now more later. thank you very much for that and that is it for this news hour remember you can get everything that we've been covering on our website the address al-jazeera dealt called well do stay with us i'm going to be

back in just a few minutes with more of that these thanks for watching. developments . progress for. the end of a way of life. a clash between corporate interests and a people who must provide a long fight to protect their heritage. the march to progress in the philippines you find a series on al-jazeera. it's

a daunting climb to one of the holiest sites in bhutan. spotless tree seems to defy gravity every piece of the u.s. is expected to complete the pilgrimage to ensure peace and happiness when it became a democracy in two thousand and eight the time put happiness at the center of all political policy inspiring the un to pass a resolution urging other nations to follow be times example but how do you measure it many brittany's happiness is what we ensure it if it is quantifiable but by simply turning its pursuit into policy bhutan has done what no other country has. a policy imposed decades ago pregnant woman part that she puts goods and have many boards changing demographics across asia with far reaching consequences creating a pool of socially disadvantaged young men so you have the system where people at

every level will be get being given money money to agree to start zation our money to get other people to be disturbed says. al jazeera examines the politics of population control. us president trump announces he's withdrawing troops from syria the player in the battle against eisel over. are you watching out as they are live from london also coming up. opposition supporters the fire ban on campaigning in the capital of democratic republic of congo.