also very mindful at the f.b.i. that if they started looking into their suspicions and they do have the legal right to do that the fear was that somehow the investigation would be leaked and then the f.b.i. would be accused of playing politics of interfering with the two thousand and sixteen presidential election now what the f.b.i. could do in the meantime would be to keep an eye on russia under the rubric of dealing with counterintelligence matters and certainly being concerned about what a country such as russia or such as china such as iran would want to have in terms of influence on the u.s. political process those are areas where they could go ahead and look but it was when jim combing the f.b.i. director was fired in may two thousand and seventeen and when the president seemingly bragged about getting rid of jim comey in of telling russian officials at the white house that he had relieved a lot of pressure when it came to russia by getting rid of cali well that gave the

f.b.i. the permission it need it really to just go ahead and start looking into this investigation as you noted the president is not happy about this he has said that this is again another witch hunt by the new york times newspaper that he's not crazy about he's also gone after of the washington post for suggesting that this all leak indicates that there's some sort of chaos around the white house and he's of course criticized jim comey and by extension robert muller the special counsel who is looking into all of this by saying that this is what friends who are doing for each other and basically trying to paint him the president in a very bad light jim comi we should note kemal basically quoted the late president franklin delano roosevelt by saying and i'm paraphrasing here you can judge me by the enemies i have seen in jordan but the update from washington thank you. and

while the list goes on the u.s. government is now officially into its longest shutdown ever around eight hundred thousand federal employees have now been going without paid work for twenty two days longer than during the clinton administration back in ninety five and well ahead of anything else same during the president sees of reagan bush sr or even trump himself the most recent shots down this sort of generation was sixteen days that was under barack obama in two thousand and thirteen of course it will persists because of an impasse of a donald trump's border wall to moms he wants five point seven billion dollars for a wall between the u.s. and mexico the democrats when agree to that and of course want to rob reynolds has been finding out at the consumer electronics show in las vegas at the answer to trump's worries could be virtually right in front of. the screen i'm standing in front of could some day be an alternative to a physical barrier at the us mexico border it's made by the company quander g.e. and basically uses laser technology that's the laser device up there to

identify and track any people who are entering through a certain perimeter so in this display each one of these green trying goals or diamond shapes are an actual person who is moving through the exhibit area here now in a practical application on a board or this could allow officials from law enforcement to track individuals crossing the border and while each individual unit can only monitor an area of about two hundred meters and a ray of them could go a long way and in fact. a bigger or a stretching the entire length of the u.s. border from the gulf of mexico to the pacific ocean according to the company quantity would cost only about one point five to two billion dollars considerably less than the physical border that's being discussed in washington and this would

work. night and day according to the company and be able to determine or distinguish rather between human beings and animals that are out there in the desert so it's possible some day that this could be an alternative and the company has been in touch in talks with politicians in washington and federal officials to make that someday a reality there have been scuffles in france during a ninth weekend of yellow vest protests police force with demonstrators in central paris tear gas water cannon both used to push back the protesters who threw rocks and other objects at riot police these demonstrations began in november as the plans to increase taxes on fuel which were later show. there in paris. thousands of protesters marched across paris and they've congregated here they ought to trail just behind me which has become something of a symbol of this yellow face movement and police are at the moment firing tear gas

they're trying to move people away from this area dispersed the crowds if you look behind me you can see the police that there are eighty thousand police deployed across the country security has been boosted as the government tries to crack down on what they say some of the most violent elements in the protests so far they have been peaceful most of the protesters are of course peaceful and that's why the police they had to try and control and manage the situation but it has been very difficult for them over the past few months to see these protests have been very unpredictable now the government's response has been politically to try and also protesters move concessions more financial concessions they don't think big national citizens dictate to get people move of course in politics next week but people here say that's not enough what they want a move taxes to be scrapped they say they want to move to be done for poor people they say the president and he cares about the rich and also in france and

explosions joe. two firefighters and a spanish citizen a gas leak is suspected of causing the blast in a bakery in paris emergency services treated dozens of injured people some of them from flying glass as the explosion blew out windows in the buildings south africa's ruling african national congress has launched its manifesto for elections in may durban was the city chosen to host the event it's in the province of. where support for the a.n.c. remains divided from me to miller explains why the south africa's president and leaders of the african national congress aim to shore up support. at the climax of a week of unofficial election campaigning. at the launch of the party's manifesto cyril ramaphosa continued to play out the idea of a new dawn for south africa today as the african national congress we launch our twenty nineteen election manifesto we do so

and a crew showed a moment in the history of our nation after a period of uncertainty we have arrived at the moment. of oath and the promise of a new beginning for a party marge not only by corruption scandals but infighting between rival factions aligned to either roma or former president jacob zuma the a.n.c. has used this event to highlight some of its achievements as the last election and its future plans for south africa but for many here it's much of the same from a new party president competing with a formal leader who's popular in this province there were concerns about how reports i would be received president's hall is the home of former president zuma who resigned last year during various corruption scandals involving him in the a.n.c. thunderous applause greeted zuma as he entered the stage with distinctly fewer

cheers for the president the more forces presidency however appears to have regained some support nationwide one survey shows sixty one percent support for the ruling party its closest competitor the democratic alliance trails with fourteen percent the manifesto appears to continue previous government policies including free university education for students from poor and working class backgrounds and promising a more inclusive economy growing we've been the big one how dare i let the bible was out there but i want to be a bar wow they're probably getting access to health and education but the emphasis on what has gone wrong to deal with the quality of those services is what is wanted . from a force or acknowledge that corruption has weakened south africa's public institutions and went on to say it would not be tolerated as the a.n.c. winds up its one hundred seventh birthday celebrations and the launch of its plans

ahead of the general election in may delivering results such as improving the economy and creating jobs remains a priority so does a united front with factionalism remains a major threat to the agency's election success. al-jazeera durban puzzle natal. four israeli settlers are under house arrest in connection with the killing of a palestinian woman three months ago he died after rocks were thrown through the windscreen of her car there is a fifth teenager also in police custody numbers do show violent crimes by settlers against palestinians rose steeply last year sorry false reports from the occupied west bank. yes robbie is finding comfort where he can mainly it comes from his family he and his wife i raised eight children together he says they always planned once the kids had finished their schooling to devote more time to each other to travel together but that future was shattered in october last year when driving

home past an illegal settlement outposts in the occupied west bank their car came under a hail of rocks and stones enough so. there was a huge explosion in the car the glass fell n. my wife and i have been talking in the rocket on the side of her had she fell on me blood came out from her ears and nose my daughter was screaming i didn't know what to do the car was swerving right and left it was the longest three seconds of my life three months on the israeli security services have arrested five students from a religious school at the outpost in connection with a shower robbie's death saying they collected evidence of extremist and anti zionist religious ideology consistent with what's referred to in the israeli media as jewish tara the suspects are reported to be from the illegal settlement of youths are near the palestinian city of nablus for all the attention is raised this attack is not an isolated one it's part of a patent a surge according to recently published figures of attacks by settlers on palestinians in the occupied west bank in july twenty fifteen

a husband wife and their toddler son were killed in the fire bombing of a palestinian home in the west bank village of duma a crackdown by israel security services saw a reduction in central violence last year the numbers rose sharply again it's reported there were four hundred eighty two and palestinian crimes a three fold increase on the previous year the incidents include assaults vandalism of vehicles and property as well as threatening graffiti israeli human rights group ph d. and recorded twenty five such incidents in just one day last month after two israeli soldiers and one baby were killed in palestinian attacks it says too many settler crimes against palestinians go unpunished we've had about over twelve hundred investigation falsely documented and want to turd since to. five and eight percent of those indictments were served and a mere three percent were any convictions served we also noted that eighty two percent of investigation files are closed in circumstances that suggest police

investigate a failure is really police call those figures misleading and incorrect robbie says he is finding some solace in the fact that suspects have been arrested in connection with his wife's killing he hopes that any eventual punishment will act as a deterrent to others but whether the freed or jailed for one hundred years he says nothing will bring back his wife sorry force it in the occupied west bank. on the news hour when we come back a hurricane hunter coming in puerto rico our record breaking musical is going back to richard c. . questioning his legitimacy to rule from of the six years the venezuelan president is struggling for credibility in sport the indianapolis colts looked to beat the freeze and their opponents in the n.f.l. playoffs.

hello i think lebanon and iraq are probably syria had the worse for the time being the next massive cloud developing is clearly heading that way going cross aleppo but if i take you over the next twenty four hours or sermon less than that you'll see the cloud itself is just cloud and sudden iraq there comes a gets the higher ground in this is where rain starts to fall yes it will catch northern iraq the mountains clearly of iraq against a substantial snow and same was true briefly of to the rains gathering for the lebanese coast quite possibly but i don't think it will make much progress inland jump you had to monday here this is still the active area significance there running into west and south of iran right at lower levels stretching down towards cuba and possibly into society as well that most of this is a picture of clouds it has induced the different wind direction settle be probably quite a humid twenty seven in riyadh twenty four in die hard more clout than sunshine but a different feeling for sure still plenty of rain to come has been falling fairly

heavily throughout madagascar sudden towns there as well running out through zimbabweans are kept in the same thing with a bit of a weakness in the atmosphere allowing a few showers an eastern side of south africa but mostly if the weather than he is looking beautifully sunny. portrays one of the oldest cities seen through the eyes of those who know it best they see their story first to show you the people. al-jazeera world goes on the road with palestinian taxi drivers living and working at the heart of one of the most hotly contested locations in the. jerusalem is a palestinian cabbies on how jazeera.

al-jazeera. it's. where ever you. grow the news on here at al-jazeera and these are the top stories the runner up in the presidential election and democratic republic of congo as challenge the results in court and call for a recount martin for you too says he won with more than sixty percent citing

catholic church election observers. south africa is really part of the a.n.c. has launched its campaign for this year's general election with a message of unity that's been seen as a test of the group's popularity after years of scandal and division under the former ousted president jacob zuma. and the saudi teenager has landed and can. about where she's been offered asylum open and says she's fleeing an abusive family in saudi arabia after renouncing islam and fears she will be killed if she returns there. so let's talk to my mom on the about this a senior fellow at the center for international governance innovation based in canada also a professor at the university of waterloo nice to have you with with us she is and i said this to our correspondent early early as she is just one woman and it's a very very high profile case what could this mean though for other cases will canada be viewed more as a place for people to go yeah i mean you know cameras out

a very welcoming refugee policy of course in a climate internationally where many do not so certainly this is not new for canada but of course it is a very high profile case and although cattle accepted her on the terms of the fact that she was as you pointed out abused by her family and so domestic violence is a category and canada quite unique not all countries have this to allow card vigils to seek asylum here so it's a unique situation but i think the message of the optics more broadly is that kind of forces receptive to women who feel that they want to seek asylum because of gender segregation and center discriminatory laws that exist globally lastly i just want to add that kind of proclaims itself under this government to be indeed a feminist government with a feminist foreign policy agenda it's also a government which wants to take in more people listen to you know i believe

immigration is around sort of three hundred thousand per year at the moment that's talking of a million per year by the end of twenty twenty when we talk about those numbers are we talking just immigration how we how much of that is refugees or people who need to seek asylum. yeah very little of that is refugees most of our immigration the numbers are accurate although they're not really mean nearly as high as a million the hope is to get to maybe four hundred fifty thousand eventually several years but you know this is a country that has a declining population naturally eventually it will need to replace thoughts to do everything that we do have in this country that is based on our tax base from social welfare and the rest our immigration system is quite also unique in that most of the people that come to this country are chosen on a merit based system we use a point system here and so we want the very educated we want those who come as

entrepreneurs and are very much able by virtue of our geography to be very picky about who is allowed to come here and why. are you joining us from waterloo in canada thank you so much syrian state media says israeli forces of fired several missiles at targets in damascus including the capital's airport syrian air defenses reportedly intercepted some missiles one of them though damaged an airport warehouse. you know us and kurdish forces are attacking i thought last stronghold in syria airstrikes have stepped up on the town of hygiene where remnants of i still hold up as coalition offensive against them could take two or three months mohammed has more. heavy fighting in this town city. the last leave of long remaining within isis control is under. the kurdish led city and democratic forces as d.e.f. by in a final push to all eyes still fighters from their last remaining stronghold in the

eastern city. as they have come under say they're making some progress backed by u.s. airstrikes which have been stepped up since donald trump announced the withdrawal of american troops from city problem of this storage is full of weapons and ammunition we took from i saw fighters after days of fighting here this assault on i still is the final chapter of a conflict that began more than four years ago when the group says parts of it out on city and declared a hug. it out to government forces declare victory over i still in december two thousand and seventeen despite analysts say their ideology is also very much alive in the region. it was pushed back. your logic there the sunni complaints they have been totally run over anybody.

that ukraine should be still ready. and therefore radicalism over the i.s.i. already. has eat roots and. that's why it has been totally it legally. fighting between the s.d.s. and i still is centered around the town of hygiene on the banks of the euphrates river close to the syrian border with iraq the hygiene area was once home to sixty thousand people most fled to live in mexico becomes for the displaced as renewed fighting intensifies more people are joining them here dozens of the newly displaced wait for tents and blankets in the bitter cold some say they fled on foot because they heard the u.s. coalition warplanes bumping vehicles. on the frontlines as their fighters are preparing for a long stay long they estimate the fighting hygiene will last two to three months

not may seem like a surprisingly wants time given the size of but any of them dealing with ice and health cities with populations three times greater fell within days the difference is that in both bottles us and fighters threaten to kill every three to two thousand from one hundred positions in order to cross the daytime river this time the retreat is not on the one hundred on the wall just doesn't. political limbo in lebanon is provoking growing anger about the worsening economy in the rising cost of living the lebanese haven't had a proper government for eight months now politicians can't agree on how power should be divided and i think terry and society and the protesters there are accusing the caretaker government of intimidation to sonnets to send them a photo with the support from beirut all marsh borrow is struggling to pay the bills for his mother's cancer treatment the twenty seven year old is not receiving help from the state that is why he joined this protest against the caretaker

government which is not making important decisions access to free and proper health care is just one of the many problems lebanese chase. i am an employee with a low salary and i cannot afford to hospitalized my mother every month they didn't admit her in the hospital also she needs four different by dissidents and the ministry offered to only provides three i have to choose whether to eat or pay for her treatment but protesters have rallied outside government ministries demanding what they call their basic rights because it is up. and nobody cares about it and. then we move it to the ministry of. because. the fault of hospitals it is hard to attract crowds in a country controlled by sectarian political parties many lebanese rely on them for jobs and financial support and it seems intimidation tactics are being used to keep

people silent we were distributing brochures about us. to us and try to. stop us from some at serious. risk the world bank says seventy percent of the population of six million people earn less than ten thousand dollars a year many find it hard to make ends meet because of the high cost of living public anger is growing is economic. worsen fiscal reforms are needed but not has been without a functioning government says elections politicians are fighting overseas but many here believe even if those politicians agree on the government's formation little will change the same political elite remain in charge nonsectarian civil society groups are trying to make a difference the system has been there for decades that's true that's correct they are very powerful they know how to play within the system they know how to turn things into their advantage by playing on sectarianism we will never accept defeat

we will always make things the same pressure we always work on next and next and next elections we will get somewhere. for now the balance of power is not in their favor they can only hope that their appeals for change are heard. beirut in yemen an artillery bombardment by hope the rebels has killed eight people from the same family or women and children the attack was on the government held village of shalala close to the border with saudi arabia the saudi u.a.e. led coalition says it destroyed a drone control center used in thursday's attack on a military parade. all opponents of venezuela's president a challenge in his right to a second term and countries throughout the americas are refusing to recognize is that just a mistake to govern they say his socialist policies of rexx the oil rich economy and perfect latin america's largest ever migration crisis to raise a better ports from caracas thank god it's been

a day since the one the mother wouldn't was sworn in for his second term in office and already members of the opposition controlled national assembly took to the streets to denounce him as a super of the executive office of the scene and that his daughter is one of the millions that have left been swimming in the past year she says families shouldn't be forced to leave apartheid as soon we don't have our folly trail right there is the polish guy in them because we don't have that medication so our food to go out we don't have secret in the streets the demonstration was small compared to the massive ones that happened in two thousand and seventeen when thousands took to the streets to protest against mandalas attempts to disregard the national assembly for most of the people here and this is a first step towards opposing what they call it the dictatorship of precedent because a lot muddled up there also calling on the armed forces to rebel against the government even though the military has played a crucial role in

a war child the socialist revolution was the precedent of a national assembly is one why though he was elected last week and now says he's ready to become the interim president and called for new elections he told al-jazeera he first needs the support of the armed forces and the venezuelan people to hand them a guy you know what is the strength of the people is crucial in this process when as we have people that were forced to leave the country and others to teams murdered and even tortured nothing is stopped us it has not been easy for us we are survivors and we are in resistance they want us at the end of this with a position has called for a demonstrate. on january twenty third and promises the national assembly police consider to be in contempt by the administration will be in charge of defending democracy in this country international pressure may also help but analysts say it is not enough then the most assume politico coolant the need to force the

government to negotiate the international community plays an important role but it's not enough there has to be a true leader that can connect to the masses to force majeure to negotiate you need a population ready to defend their rights. says this is another attempt orchestrated by the united states to generate chaos if. this is a show to try to destabilize the country they are a group of kids who control the opposition and want to play to create chaos it's the same group that carried out the street protests and every day they will have a new show. but many of those opposing the government are desperately looking for someone that would show them a way out of the crisis that has forced millions of venezuelans to emigrate in search of a better life. and to monza growing in colombia for the chief prosecutor to resign stone burton martinez is accused of covering up bribery linked to south america's biggest ever

corruption scandal. holding flashlights of colombians gathered in various cities demanding their country's attorney general steps down. is accused of covering up the regularities in bribes paid in colombia by the brazilian construction giant target rich at the center of the biggest corruption scandal in the region we colombians are tired of seeing the powerful steal money and nothing happening our institutions our justice system i kept captive and we want them back i took you to forces were able to prevent protesters in front of the attorney general's headquarters taking down the offices flag and burning. i in two thousand and fifteen the legal advisor of colombia's biggest financial group. the country's richest man.

partner with the british winning a one point six billion dollar contract to build a major modern way but in a series of documents. then the auditor of discovered more than thirty million dollars in legal payments and informed my team is about them yet in a dramatic twist the sound noise son in a third witness have since died and what are said to be suspicious circumstances well martina's became the man in charge of investigating the crimes other branches admitted in a plea bargain with the united states the partment up justice being eleven million u.s. dollars in bribes to colombian politicians but that's just a fraction of the total amount of bribes he has allegedly hate hearing and yet turney general denies any prior knowledge of the payments and continues to reject calls for his resignation. process. pressed charges against high ranking officials in a number of countries including former presidents while in colombia only mid-level

officials have been charged has recused himself from two related cases but many fear a complete and impartial investigation will not happen in colombia as long as he remains in office. the issue is that financed the presidential campaigns of the two most important political parties in colombia they paid. congressman if the attorney general falls the entire structure falls with them. just days ago peru's attorney general resigned under increasing public pressure after he dismissed two leads prosecutors in this scandal. political backers continue supporting him but it's unclear if he'll be able to withstand the growing calls for his removal. for nearly three months now since the devastating earthquake and tsunami destroyed parts of indonesia. aid has been pouring into the

region there are also complaints that a lack of coordination is hampering the distribution and relocation has been slow steps returns to. the name of this small fishing boat sums up the mood and by tragedy survived the waves as high as palm trees on september twenty eight well many other boats were destroyed like the one owned by hamidi for months he has not been able to earn a living. because my boat and nets i cannot work and just sit here doing nothing i'm disappointed but i can only wait and see what the government will do for me. others are not so patient has started to rebuild his house right by the sea after his village was destroyed his community moved to the hills many now have returned to restart their business selling dried fish despite a government plan to relocate them to safer areas. when i'm in the hills i can only

eat and sleep because fish is already been coming in i have to work. the government plans to build temporary houses for fifteen hundred families but survivors complain the construction process is too slow after living in tents for months. growing impatient extreme heat and the rainy season making it unbearable to live here despite the outpouring of help. it's taking too long life. eight from all over the world has reached the area but some promise donations have yet to arrive a government adviser was in charge of rebuilding after the indian ocean tsunami in two thousand and four blames a lack of coordination and too many regulation is. still. there. ok and nobody will donate because. there is the very

clear indication that things are fairly slow there that means there's something wrong right. but the government denies that rebuilding is slow and says it's very capable of these.