mr see the consensus really started forming after of both senators and representatives had closed door briefings with the cia director gina haskell in december but again because the u.s. government is in a partial shutdown the focus right now among all legislators is in trying to resolve this crisis and then they will get back to these other issues involving foreign policy but frankly the government shutdown is overriding everything right now because something there for the u.s. at least is on hold rose many thanks for joining us live from washington d.c. simon maven is a senior lecturer in seattle studies at lancaster university he joins us from then has had a correspondent in the u.s. saying that the shutdown has basically shut down all the talk of the show in the u.s. do you think we should be expecting to hear anything more from other countries on this story. i think that's probably to be

expected we know that there are going to be protests across the across the western world today marking the one hundred days after show g.'s murder we know that organizations like amnesty all really trying to keep this issue and in the forefront of the public's imagination and and the cutting edge of news cycles so i think that that's something that a number of people are going to be hoping for that that it stays in the rolling news coverage whereas the saudis obviously hoping that this is going to die down and they were probably hoping that the government shutdown in the u.s. was going to mean that it took a back seat but i think with these protests with these demonstrations taking place we know that the people are going to cover it and it's going to get the focus of that it's obviously very much does but what does that focus going to mean what's it going to force from governments. well i guess that's the really important question because what we've seen in the us is that

there was a general outcry there was a lot of concern about about the saudi actions and not led to this this resolution this this condemnation of the saudi position which is obviously putting a great deal of pressure on mr trump but also on the u.s. relationship with saudi arabia more broadly and i think that says a lot about the role of public opinion and how it can shape politics broadly we know that if the public speaks loudly enough and in the right directions then it can have an impact and obviously in the u.s. there is a great deal of concern that one of its key allies has acted in such an appalling way i how significant is this murder already been in terms of shifting geopolitics in the middle east region i think it's it's really emblematic of the complexity of middle eastern politics and international politics more broadly in the sense that the murder has had an impact on not only us saudi

relations and u.k. saudi relations but also on the conflict in yemen because it's forced international actors to put a great deal of pressure not only on saudi arabia but also on the saudi backed government in yemen and that's forced the sides to come together to try and reach some type of initial peace agreement in stockholm now we know that that is problematic and that is going to take time but hopefully this international pressure on the saudis and on their allies will mean that some type of lasting peace can be reached in yemen and that all i think stems from the international condemnation of saudi actions with regard to the murder of jamal khashoggi do you think we should expect to see other changes in behavior or foreign policy from the saudi crown prince in the wake of pressure that has built up to can show. quite possibly i mean we know that the crown prince wants to survive if he wants to maintain his position he wants to become king of saudi arabia that much is is

obvious and he's ridden the initial storm of people calling for him to be removed from office and now i imagine that what he'll want to do is keep things relatively quiet move forward and and become king when the time is right but it just depends on how much international pressure there is on saudi arabia on the extent to which congress and the senate actually come to new to to keep this investigation into saudi arabia open and how much organizations like amnesty and or the other states are able to pressure saudi arabia if that pressure continues then we could see a different course of action with regard to the saudi behavior with regard to iran with saudi got turkey tensions and also potentially the palestinian question ok simon may been very good to speak to is thinking of points he that's one thing investing thanks very much. still ahead here on this day including cautious

optimism about the cease fire that's holding in the hard data as millions of yemenis remain in need of help. and attempts to end the government u.s. government shut down a store donald trump walks out of a meeting with congressional leaders. plus the warm up match that could easily have been a grand slam final lir we'll tell you what happened when joke about it and the mary that's on the course in well but. the much awaited results from democratic republic of congo's elections are out but the francaise saying there's a need for clarity over the outcome. says the provisional results are different from what was seen on the ground the election commission has declared felix k.d. as the winner but another opposition candidate says the results are a fraud gupta reports. an announcement

few had expected one that could set the stage for the first democratic transfer of power in the since independence. thousands of felix just a cavy supporters to the streets to celebrate a surprise. just to carry would see his father beat congress opposition for more than thirty five years had a message of futility. i know how many of you find it hard to accept but i say with sincerity i pay homage to president joseph kabila president of the republic today we must no longer consider each other as a bursaries rather as partners and democratic change in our country. but you will have to contend with his rival to who is rejected the previous should results. to suit you all those who learned of the truth of the ballot boxes especially to. hungary's national bishops the past couple conference sankoh of the church of congo

through your historical observations we ask you to reveal to the congolese people of the whole world the name of the person who really was our people's choice. the country with a history of coups conflict and contested elections has been on the edge there were allegations of widespread election irregularities including complaints of all tricking advice. the internet has been cut off for days in an apparent attempt to stop speculation about the results why police have deployed we still have to wait to see what will come out from people context the results and hope that the process is going to be much lot there than the electoral process so that we don't end up in a situation that. rising because people don't feel represented in the result and just being released now it is quite a shock for everyone about it is a new beginning with the vote that was two years overdue you will finally see the

exit of president joseph kabila after nearly eighteen years in power but there are questions about how much influence he will still have on whoever takes the reins. on the french foreign minister is warning things could take a turn for the worse and the democratic republic of congo after these unexpected victory. we're very concerned about the situation in the democratic republic of congo because it seems that the results announced mr security being the winner cannot match the expected result of. the catholic church of congo that its tally announced a completely different result therefore i think while remaining calm and avoiding confrontation that we must have clarity on these results which are the opposite to what we expected. she is and can show was in the her what's been the reaction there to the result in christie what's the mood on the street.

now like the party for the yes of course it's still a great take it sublime act with there are the parts of the chance that's why it's a little bit more the portrayal of much about you said a really clear that she's ready to make some kind of deal with president joseph kabila where you will see just the love for the stranger behind the scenes is it released won't run the country and you think it will become more of a man who does what he's told and nothing much will change him different than he was in the youth of the country protests have broken out support of them are providing a lot of the silent million investors didn't want happy with the result that only the strike. should go mass protests there was a broken out people want happy what the results of all of them are why you also saying that if you know they've been cheated so these are all. using tear gas and

other parts of country star power we're hearing it's quiet a lot of people waiting to see out the vast majority of the country react to use that knowledge that haiti has in the play the went out there and so uniting the country haro is going to be one of the key challenges facing the new president. while you have a lot of huge huge challenges i mean the us is a country with a lot of mineral water but is by that a lot of people a very poor there's a high unemployment rate your grand deal with the boiler outbreak in some parts of the country and they're not want the admiration in the particular different militia groups who are fighting different government forces for example a lot of challenges on the table and you maybe your new one with don't see a point flooded out of the vote so it is a divided country many people didn't vote for him that he had time to vent or congolese but he's going to be a leader for everyone not just the supporters or ok her image as the ring is the very latest there from the streets of contrasts thanks very much kyra. now u.s.

secretary of state mike pump is in egypt where he'll be giving a major speech on the top of instructions middle east policy he's been meeting present until fattah el-sisi in cairo part of an eight day tour of the region the top u.s. diplomat is in the middle east to reassure allies a little trumps plans to pull troops out of syria. is expected to touch on the syria withdrawal in his policy speech as well as address plans to step up pressure on iran has been billed as a counterpoint to former president barack obama's speech to the muslim world in cairo a decade ago right up on holding talks with egyptian. ties between donald trump and c.c. have grown despite egypt's controversial human rights record egypt is one of the biggest recipients of u.s. foreign aid it's also one of four arab countries that's imposed a blockade on castle close to the u.s. washington wants egypt on board for a broader regional alliance against iran and crucially for the success of trump's

so-called deal of the century to resolve the israeli palestinian conflict. is joining us here in the studio senior political analyst says plenty of points for discussions if you're going to get through. well he probably yes certainly has a whole day as it were but what's interesting is that what he will not get into i think probably is good for us to cover that because we would be covering throughout the day what he would say but what he wants say is anything about egyptian human rights egyptian political prisoners egyptian repression i think he's going to make the case that the administration is nothing like c.b.s. news sixty minutes program they're not going to be asking him the tough questions about his human rights record so might see cesium one for its records about what has happened the last four years under his rule that has been ruled out by the administration as talking point between trump invoice and some of the regions

dictate there's an authoritarian regimes hence i think the axis of authoritarianism if you will that is needed to confront iran will have to start in egypt because egypt is the bigger country the more influential a country perhaps not the richest but certainly you cannot create a real axes in the middle east without egypt egypt is indispensable for various parties that the united states wants to bring in including israel and saudi arabia in order to create that kind of fronts against iran it's also indispensable for any deal of the century of the decade or of the millennia between palestinians and israel so i think yes these are these would be important points and i think what is needed here in order for sisi not to face the like the likes of tough questions from the sixty minutes program here we need to get with the getting with the program as it where he needs to support american policies visit the iran which by

the way he has been slightly hesitant to do he needs also to support american policy towards israel palestine and by the way he said that on sunday when he was asked about egyptian israeli security coordination he said they have. never been better under his regime look ahead to the speech interesting choice of venue kyra interesting timing ten years on from obama and at a time where a lot of mixed messages coming out of the white house so how much of that speech is the region actually going to believe we're ok so i actually went back it's been a long time since i went back and read the obama speech and i must admit in retrospect i was a bit tough on the former president then when we commented here about about the speech it was an incredible speech i mean one must admit and in so many ways it's going to be impossible for bail or for person trying to imitate these are big shoes

to fit to fill and if there's a certain uniqueness about president obama speaking their world i mean he had them . you know the whole muslim world applauded when but i was one of them i don't think secretary pompei was big on a salaam aleikum he's a strong evangelical in the united states it's going to be very difficult to defend the muslim ban that president trump wanted since he was a candidate it's going to be difficult to defend the recognition of jerusalem as a capital of the jewish state which came as a slap to most muslims and christians around the world and so on so forth but president president obama was humble was engaging he wanted to engage iran so so much. that he basically obsessed about that engagement to risking a lot of terrible things happening in syria and in iraq i think we're going to see something better and hear president. speaking in cairo about getting upset with

iran but negatively against iran and hence risking a lot of a lot of wrong bad things happening there even including in israel palestine in the gulf and in terms of human rights in the arab world in general. more so after that speech happens like smaller. now u.s. president donald trump has walked out of a meeting with the democrats after they again refused to fund a border war with mexico a standoff has seen the government in a partial shutdown now for two and a half weeks mike hanna has more from washington d.c. . the bill is passed another spending bill is passed in the house significantly ake republicans break ranks and vote to the democrat majority but there's little possibility this legislation will go to the senate republican leader there insistent he will not allow the passage of any bill that does not have the

approval of the president who continues to insist he will veto any measure that does not include funding for the border wall you can never have border security or less you have a steel barrier a concrete floor whatever you want but without it you would never have you could have the greatest challenge in the world you will never ever in a million years you will not have more secure care that the majority of federal employees who will not be paid this week would appear to disagree some being urged to speak out by democrats we are the faces behind this shutdown we are the real people working in the bureau of prisons and the transportation security administration and other federal agencies today doing so without federal pay. democrat leaders went to the white house for another round of talks but the meeting ended in failure when the president abruptly walked out then sending out this tweet in reference to democrat leaders of senate and house just left

a meeting with chuck and nancy a total waste of time he says i asked what's going to happen in thirty days if i quickly opened things up are you going to approve border security which includes a wall or steel barrier nancy said no i said bye bye nothing else works it's cold out here and at the temperature wasn't much warmer in the situation room again we saw a temper tantrum because he couldn't get his way and he just walked out of the meeting the vice president asserted that was the democrats who were blocking reopening the government not president trump yes speaker pelosi that if we opened things up quickly if we reopen the government quickly would she be willing to agree to funding for a wall or a barrier on the southern border and when she said no the president said goodbye. earlier the president walked up to the hill for a meeting with the republican caucus and deny there was any division within the

party the democrats have lost support there is tremendous republican support unwavering as you probably know thank you very much but the eight republicans who wavered and voted with democrats in the house sent a different signal that the standoff is no longer one on purely partisan lines my kind of al-jazeera washington. will have over whether we're that kevin next and then a cell ahead on al-jazeera will be live inside syria say get the latest updates on the attack as much as preparations for an offensive against kurdish rebels. passed south korean leader urges but what a step by washington and pyongyang in the efforts for peace on the peninsula. and a shooting star. off from football's asian cup a touch of class by ten minutes sounds capital calls a tournament favorites. from

brisk nose and fuel. to the wind tranquil waters of southeast asia. well over the last decade there has been no lack of headlines over countries making the warmest month the warmest season even the warmest year in australia for two thousand and eighteen has seen the one third warmest year on record they were about one point one four celsius degrees above average but this wasn't the warmest year that they have seen the second warmest year was actually in two thousand and five where they were about one point one five above average but it was actually two thousand and thirteen that was the warmest year on record in records go back to about two thousand and ten and also two thousand and eighteen new south wales also saw the six wettest month but on average it didn't break any records for two thousand and eighteen they were about a deficit of about eleven percent in terms of rain across much of the of the year but the since two thousand and five it has been the driest season that they have

seen in terms of the temperatures over the next few days well we are going to see some very warm temperatures particular down here towards the south and also the southeast we are going to be seeing melbourne about thirty two degrees tomorrow with the highest temperature in adelaide at about thirty nine as we go towards the next couple of days the temperatures are actually going to shift and we're going to be seeing some very warm conditions out here towards the west with percy about thirty two degrees warming up to about thirty. the weather sponsored by cats own ways.

it's very difficult a shuffle restaurant tour to buy shrimp with the confidence that what you're serving is going to be good seafood by nature is a high risk sometimes for using production drugs. that are not approved for use in the us the f.d.a. simply isn't testing enough on the imported market to really find all of these by a lot of bread to feed take no one else's no. hello again you're watching al-jazeera has a reminder of our top stories this hour it's been one hundred days since out of

gemma's jamal khashoggi was murdered and the kingdom's constants and istanbul human rights campaign this have been gathering outside the building to remember him as a washington post columnist said was a critic of saudi crown prince mohammed bin salma. opposition guns at phoenix's acadia has been declared the provisional window of presidential elections in the democratic republic of congo brought up by you who was expected to win and he's rejected the results says pushing for more clarity over the outcome. and there is edges that might bump a race in egypt where he'll be getting a major speech on the top administration's middle east policy is meeting at present at the fattah el-sisi and will later hold talks with foreign minister. turkey's defense chiefs have been briefed president rejects military preparations across the border into syria against kurdish fighters meanwhile turkey's foreign minister says the withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria does not affect and operation against kurdish y p g u armed group

has been a key american ally in the fight against eisel considers y p g a terrorist group that's going to latest now from sin and cos she's joining us from northern syria. lots of talk of a new offensive in ankara but any signs of actual military preparations on the ground well of course laura. began to speak about a potential operation to the east side of the euphrates and into the city of. we have it as turkish military reinforcing to the border and last of the bases inside syria and according to what i have learned from the security sources turkey has completed seventy percent of the reinforcements that is necessary for the military offensive to the region turkish politicians have been targeting and you see that on

the ground on the ground we have been we have been here for a while we have been seeing turkish armored vehicles turkish convoys reinforcing inside syria plus patrolling all around inside the liberated areas when you speak to the military as well of course you sense that they are ready for an offensive when the politicians the site. you've been speaking to people there how are they feeling about a potential turkish operation. well known of course that most fear here is not even though these places are liberated the atmosphere here is not like any random city in a peaceful country people hears feel a much safer in the liberated areas and they're thankful to the free syrian army which is backed by the turkish military but of course when we try to speak to people here for instance yesterday in the marketplace most of them try to avoid

speaking on the cameras even speaking to journalists because many of them especially in have have come from other places like they were especially a lot of people came from eastern good after doing is city was attacked but the people who were open to speak to us they said to us they want turkish military to launch this operation and liberate the problematic areas first they can go back to their homes and the other is also can can have safety as well but of course there is always fear because especially during these kinds of sensitive times when the international powers who are the players inside syria haven't decided anything about the withdrawal or a military operation the peaceful the peaceful closes off the civilians can always become a target and people are afraid of being targeted by any organizations in a fight or two groups like isil as well ok thanks for joining us there from

northern syria now m.p.'s in iraq are expected to vote on filling ministerial posts which have been empty for months. the was sworn in as prime minister on october the ministers of justice interior and defense have not been chosen because of arguments between rival political blocs our correspondent in wrong can live for us now from baghdad on how likely is are we to see these vacancies finally being filled. well what we're hearing from the iraqi parliament they haven't actually met yet they were supposed to meet in this coming hour they have now actually met is that there will be no vote on approving those candidates for the ministries of defense interior and justice and this is a very big political crisis for prime minister monti he can't put forward his legislative agenda until he fills those key positions and the problem is there's no compromise candidates that everybody can agree on to fill those three key positions

now what's on the agenda today is likely to be procedural they're not even going to discuss the candidates the still a lot of backstage wheeling and dealing to be done but it's a looming political crisis not just for the iraqi parliament but it's the first real test for the prime minister he needs to find three candidates they can put in those key positions get them confirmed and that way he can move on with his agenda ok thanks very much for bring us up to speed on what's not happening in the iraqi parliament. now if the drone attack has struck a yemeni government a military parade. happened and that lige province killing at least five people the rebels have been fighting the yemeni government which is backed by the saudi ambassador military alliance that attack comes a day after the u.n. special envoy for yemen updated the security council on his peace efforts once it

gets to james bays has more from the united nations. the u.n. security council was told a fragile shaky cease fire continues to hold in her data almost a month after initial peace deal was signed in sweden there has been some violence including in the data city and in the southern districts of the government but this is remarkably limited compared to what we saw in the weeks before the stockholm consultations and this relative calm i believe indicates the tangible benefit of the stock and agreement for the people of yemen and it also illustrates the commitment of both parties to make their agreements work. but special envoy martin griffiths seemed to be accentuating the positive in the public meeting when later it went into closed session the council heard from major general patrick kamut the dutch general who leads the u.n. monitoring mission in who data he's giving the security council weekly reports the

latest says the un's body armor and armored vehicles have not been allowed into the country there are many no go areas and the team of received death threats according to the un's top humanitarian official the situation for ordinary yemen is remains dire millions of yemenis are looking to ask for assistance and protection and we need to see more and faster progress on all the humanitarian elements of your resolution to make any practical difference to their lives the u.n. special envoy said sweden is only the start of the next part achieving a last thing political agreement will be even harder a former u.s. ambassador to yemen laid out the challenges ahead what he got out of stockholm was in some sense of though hanging fruit in some instances in fact they're wise. to shows that had already been agreed like the prisoner exchange so as so what's going

to come next is going to be much more of a trial and there's talk here of fresh talks on yemen to be held in either kuwait or jordan but so far the u.n. has not felt confident enough to name a date james out is there at the united nations. chinese president xi jinping has voiced support for a second summit between north korea and the united states with panetta conjunct in ended a two day visit to beijing on tuesday neither side provided much detail about his shuttle nor what the need is discussed but she has since told local media he hopes can and donald trump well meet each other halfway on the issue of denuclearization if they meet again bright reports from the capital seoul north korea's leader kim jong un has returned home from china able to claim his first diplomatic achievement of twenty nineteen after their summit it's been reported president xi

of china has agreed to pay a return visit to pyongyang their meeting in beijing the fourth between the two leaders in the past year seems to confirm that a second summit between kim and u.s. president donald trump is now most likely. interment a visit to china a signal that the second summit what we north korea and the united states is imminent i think president moon j.n. was speaking at his annual new year news conference moon stressed a strong link between peace and economic progress not only for south korea but also the north kim jong un who spent time in china visiting a pharmaceutical factory says he wants to concentrate on developing the north's economy. in his address president moon repeated his desire to move ahead with joint economic projects with the north but that will depend on exemptions to the

sanctions that are in force and progress will only happen if the international community and the u.s. especially allows it. in his role as mediator lune said there has to be give and take in the next meeting between kim and trying to change how can we get our north korea needs to take hold and substantial denuclearization steps in order to swiftly lift the sanctions against them kames visit to china has been notable for how it's being covered by the north korean media with regular reports throughout the trip. that appears to be a sign of the growing confidence of the north korean leader who emerged from isolation in twenty eighteen he's seemingly intent on leveraging his diplomatic influence in twenty nineteen broad al-jazeera so.

packing the punches in politics.