if the judges say he has no case in feeling the katie will be sworn in as president the influential catholic church is rejecting the official result so too is france and former colonial power belgium the african union and the southern african development community regional body are appealing to the people of congo to respect the eventual decision of the constitutional court judges and avoid a violent reaction out of a toss al-jazeera. a coal mine collapse in china has killed twenty one miners eighty seven were underground when the roof caved in dozens were airlifted to safety in chiang province engineers are investigating the cause disasters are common in china's mining industry a saudi teenager who fled from her family because she feared for her life in the kingdom has arrived in her new home country raf muhammad ali khan and flew from thailand to canada after she was offered asylum the eighteen year old one global attention when she launched a social media campaign from her hotel room in bangkok pleading for help mike hanna

has more from toronto. the long an arduous journey from saudi arabia over the eighteen year old step through the arrival doors accompanied by the canadian foreign minister the size of the media contingent a reflection of the massive public interest generated state you know that everyone . else oh. i'm hearing free media towns really want need even to leave it seems arrive at home but she's putting theory on the players. and so she would prefer not to take questions today so please don't see the syrian crazy woman who was and she is now going to go. home then rush. back through the doors to begin the first phase of the new life her wish to go to college and study architecture. the canadian decision to grant

sanctuary is likely to worsen already fractured relations with saudi arabia back in august saudi arabia severed diplomatic ties following tonight a criticism of the kingdoms human rights policy then in october the murder of jamal khashoggi saw an upsurge in demands for canada to counsel a multibillion arms deal with saudi arabia this deal is now being reviewed the foreign minister though insists that the protection of human rights is more important than diplomatic relations or any trade deal with any c.r. . to. replace. this time when. we were involved in those conversations as. an tentative plan to bring a. suit my friend you see pretty

blessed here and on fifty two percent display. here and it was this message from the hotel room in thailand that drop all couldn't century the power of social media confirmed and an example perhaps for others seeking their freedom. mike hanna al-jazeera toronto. weather is next but still ahead on out of there well tell you why father africa's president is trying to read vast his party's failing popularity and how a wave of sexual abuse cases has cause the biggest crisis facing america's catholic church in years. three tranquil arabian can you guess. and in on can free to use in its initial gondola. hello the weather story of europe is still snow and it's

still largely focusing on austria in the immediate future you can see the cloud is still falling down and you think well anywhere is vulnerable certain to the northern alpine slopes getting more snow anything up to me to maybe a meter and a half but the focus to appears to be austria and then that north of that you'll notice is much much milder level twelve in london and paris strong wind rain there for for the low countries and for germany some parts of france too but the snow will be the thing that is most obvious and once again will get a push to bring that to the balkans although it's an eleven or twelve behind we do change to a rather cold if flows so five or six is the is the her forecast temps of berlin the viet it's again it's not back cold just sinking a bit of height and you take the stairwell wouldn't who's belgariad in the competition outs it may well be that turkey has the worst weather in the next one in the following two or three days but anywhere in eastern europe that is the wintry picture there there's a meter as i said on the heights in austria the consequence in the central eastern

med same as you've seen so many times and for the last couple of weeks it's a fair old breeze it's not very warm but the rain is confined to the northern coast of libya egypt and once again it heads towards the levant. the weather sponsored by cattle and maize. how much more are we going to invest in the elusive notion that. the truth is governments your national security poverty destitution the sense of. direction the harbor virtually every civil conflict in the last twenty years. head of the u.n. development program to al-jazeera. i really feel liberated as a journalist while. getting to the truth as little as. possible his job.

welcome back i'm just. a reminder about top stories this hour the u.s. president has denied accusations he conceal details of his meetings with russians and. the washington post alleges donald trump took back the notes made by his interpreter following a meeting in hamburg in twenty seventeen. the runner up in the democratic republic of congo's presidential election says the vote has been for mawson failure to do once a recount and as challenging the official results in court. a coal mine collapse in china has killed twenty one minus eighty seven while underground when the roof caved in dozens were airlifted to safety in shanxi province engineers are investigating the cause. there are calls for a general election in the u.k.

days before parliament is due to vote on prime minister to resign may's breaks that deal the decision for britain to leave the european union came after a referendum two and a half years ago but protests against the move have been growing along with demands for a second vote for brennan reports. with just. days to go until teresa mayes breck's a deal is voted on the volume and the tension is cranking up. this demonstration in london attracted a wide array of left wing protesters with a wide range of political grievances this was anti austerity not a brics it rally at all but it certainly bret's it which has brought matters to a head. after eight years of ashes starting they want to push us over the age into our present one month deal price ritual signage our economy southbridge up of it services so the solution is very straightforward on shoestring

we want to treat maize. was labor is not seeking to overturn bricks it's unfair to try to deliver a different rex's i what is clear and f a size by all the different events taking place across the u.k. this weekend that there is still no single coherent principle everybody can unite behind. in the northern city of sheffield campaigners for another referendum have been pressing their case you have the right to be heard and they must listen to the voice of the people as people now look at the exit understand what it means and realize that this great country in truth has made a terrible mistake and at the same time government minister chris grayling warned that the biggest mistake would be not to go through with grex it we risk a break with the british tradition of moderate mainstream politics that goes back to the restoration in six hundred sixty he told the daily mail newspaper it will

open the door to extremist populist political forces in this country of the kind we see in other countries in europe. opposition figures quickly denounced gratings comments as gutter politics but the row illustrates the bitter divisiveness of the current political climate and the uncertainty of how this will be resolved brennan al-jazeera central london. france's interior ministry says that more than eighty thousand people took part in the ninth saturday of so-called yellow vest protests across the country there was violence in central paris where tear gas and water cannon were used against protesters who threw rocks and missiles at riot police demonstrations began in november over plans to increase taxes on fuel for that measure was shelved by president emmanuel macron in response to widespread protests . macedonia is urging greece to sign a deal to end a decades long dispute over

a name on friday macedonia as parliament approved an agreement to change its name to the republic of north macedonia but it still needs backing from the greek parliament athens has consistently blocked scope is entry into nato and the e.u. but has promised to lift its veto if macedonia changed its name. these days together with our friend the republic of greece we will reject the isolation and misunderstandings and to get confirmed this is to recall decision i'm convinced that the lawmakers in the greek parliament also recognized a great program to see story called moment i believe that the greek parliament will find strength to come to an agreement to but far more important are the citizens firstly with making new friends also greece makes a new friend north must be doing. the sudanese government says the number of people killed in weeks of protests is now at twenty four after two people died of their

injuries in hospital but amnesty international and human rights watch say the death toll as at least forty rallies began last month over rising food and fuel prices but have since grown into calls for president i'm al bashir to step down and end his thirty year rule more protests are planned on sunday boosting the ailing economy creating jobs and reducing racial inequality a some of the election promises being made by south africa's ruling party the african national congress has launched its manifesto for the general election that in may the city of dublin hosted the event its in the province of cause you to natal west support for the a.n.c. is especially divided 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. as the african national congress we launch our work twenty nine. election manifesto we. had a crush on the woman in the history of our nation after a period of uncertainty we have arrived at a bold moment. of oath and the promise of a new beginning for a party modest 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 libin the big one how they are led to the bible was the raw data bieber was told they are probably getting access to health and education but the emphasis on what has gone wrong but the 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. hundreds of protesters have marched in guatemala city against the president's decision to shut down a un backed anti graft body jimmie rodgers ordered foreign staff of the international commission against impunity to leave within twenty four hours last monday or some others top court blocked the decision mirallas accuses the commission of overstepping its duties after it sought to investigate him on suspicion of campaign finance violations. a democratic politician from texas has

announced his bid to become the first hispanic president of the united states forty four year old julian castro is one in a long list of names vying for the party's top spot in the twenty twenty lections the grandson of a mexican immigrant castro served as housing secretary under president barack obama the catholic church is facing a crisis both financial and spiritual it's had to pay out more than three billion dollars in sexual abuse claims in the united states alone and that amount is expected to rise even further after a report found that hundreds of priests in one state preyed on thousands of children for decades kristen salumi traveled to pennsylvania to see how the church and its victims are responding. in the diocese of harrisburg at the first in a series of meetings bishop ronald gaynor explains to catholics what's being done

to stop clergy abuse and help victims including setting up a compensation fund i hope that this is the beginning as one step to forward for a better safer catholic church but it isn't enough for the forty sisters five of whom were abused in the diocese by the same priest they want all perpetrators and those who protect them to be held accountable in a court of law carolyn was still in diapers when her abuse started in her family's case there was evidence in the church paid a one million dollars settlement in exchange for not pressing charges or talking about the case last year when the pennsylvania attorney general released a state wide report on clergy abuse the forty's learned at the church had received another complaint against their abuser and done nothing that was a validation to me for us and that's what victims are seeking they're seeking that moment in court it wasn't just the four unease the report found credible evidence that statewide some three hundred priests had abused more than

a thousand children and that the church had a pattern of covering it up the revelations have led to a federal investigation and at least a dozen more states are now compiling their own reports in pennsylvania victims have been lobbying elected officials to suspend the statute of limitations in older cases and give victims two years to take the church in their abusers to court but legislation has gone nowhere amid fears lawsuits would bankrupt the church in new york churches have already made more than two hundred million dollars in payouts camille bureaus overseas the awarding of funds for several dioceses and. these programs have afforded these victims an outlet a place to go an avenue to do so. and sort of compensation and it mission what happened but elected official mark razi who was raped by a priest at thirteen believes changing the statute is the only way to hold the

church accountable this is about the. aiding and abetting known perpetrators of that allowed this to go on and that's why i'm bad is that this has to stop courtney says she was heartened by what she heard at the meeting not from the bishop but from other catholics a lot of them are voicing that you know they're going to withhold their there are financial contributions raising the pressure on politicians as well as the church christian salumi al-jazeera harrisburg pennsylvania. i'm just on the attainder high and these are the top stories the u.s. president has denied accusations he concealed details of his meetings with russia's native that a man pearson the washington post alleges donald trump took back the no it's made by his interpreter following a meeting in hamburg in twenty seventeen why not release the

conversation that you had with president putin in house thinking along with some other stops that might involve the. sore on the whole lot of them well janine i would i don't care i mean i had a conversation like every president does you sit with the president to various countries i do it with all countries we had a great conversation we were talking about israel and securing israel and for lots of other things and it was a great conversation i'm not keeping anything under wraps i couldn't care less the runner up in the democratic republic of congo is presidential election says the vote has been fraudulent mohsen failure to once a recount and is challenging the official results in court. a coal mine collapse in china has killed twenty one minus eighty seven were underground when the roof caved in dozens were lifted to safety in shanghai province engineers are investigating

the coals the head of yemeni intelligence has died of his wounds two days after a drone strike on a military parade five others died and forty five were injured in thursday's attack in la hedge province a saudi teenager who fled from her family over fears for her life in the kingdom has arrived in her new home country mohammed al coonan flew from thailand to canada for an offer of asylum the eighteen year old one global attention when she launched a social media campaign from her hotel room in bangkok pleading for help hundreds of protesters have marched in guatemala city against the president's decision to shut down a un back to anti graft body as ordered foreign staff of the international commission against impunity to leave within twenty four hours last monday as top court blocked the decision as accuses the commission of overstepping its duties after it sought

to investigate him those are the headlines join me for more news here after talk to al-jazeera. newsstand the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world. al-jazeera. established in one thousand nine hundred sixty five the united nations development program works alongside u.n. member states to create solutions. according to the u.n. conflict is the main driver of humanitarian needs followed by natural disasters overall more than one hundred thirty five million people worldwide are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. and at least twenty five billion dollars is

required to meet those challenges. but given the various crises faced by many countries is development even possible we will find out more from steiner the head of the u.n. development program talks al-jazeera. from sign up thank you very much for talking to. alleged by asking about the un report published by the un d p which measures development in each country around the world according to your findings published for two thousand and eighteen the bottom five countries all burundi child south sudan central african republic. or of those on africa why is the. well again it might be tending to say there is an african syndrome here but i would not advocate that i think each one of these countries is facing challenges central african republic essentially strife conflict and the falling

apart of many of the structures that actually would sustain development in a country such as chad we have first of all the challenge that it is a vast country to this day central government services in education in health don't even reach a significant part of the population so we are essentially dealing with countries that either are still a very early stage or putting the basic infrastructure human but also into the services access to electricity health education in place and then you have countries that are really falling apart again over civil strife conflict or wars and unfortunately. a significant number of those countries still are falling on the african continent joseph is going to be playing a part in it because there are those countries that were have similarities in the sense that they were former colonies or that they were maybe not so rich in the beginning or had their wealth maybe taken away like india for example which is doing a lot better in terms of development is why is it that in africa you're still finding

that very slow development of not zero development is there a lack of interest is it because certain governments aren't paying attention is it more difficult to generate the reasons for the well let me can say i don't think there is a generic judgement on developing in africa we have countries such as nigeria ghana kenya south africa botswana. mozambique in the last ten years i mean these are success stories another one being run the governance reform investment in education development of infrastructure functioning markets and regulatory frameworks accountability of government functioning parliaments those are the ingredients of success of developed. and you find them across africa as you would in other continents and let me also remind you that you know when we look at some disastrous development implosions there not only in africa the situation that we find in some

countries in the middle east parts of central america. and even in parts of asia so there are countries with extreme poverty and i would simply say africa is a vast continent and one often forgets that if you take a map and compared to other parts of the world it is bigger than most people imagine and it is more than fifty countries so i would still say look at each african country in terms of its own reality and history and you will discover that there are different drivers that explain whether their success stories in development or perhaps failures when it comes to trying just of success is not obviously simply limits the true issue of resources corruption or bad governance a key reason for lack of development is war and conflict in the three countries that have witnessed the steepest decline in development as you mentioned are actually in the middle east you're talking about syria libya and yemen all three are countries in all three witness protests calling for greater freedom and

democracy in two thousand and eleven is what was then or later builders the arab spring i want to start by yemen with yemen and it's been described as the worst humanitarian disaster of our time who is responsible for this. well let us begin with the fact that in every war there are at least two sides each one will blame the other it's not different in yemen i think from the perspective of a development program the united nations we go back to the root causes and much of what you just alluded to also in terms of the arab spring was in fact something that the united nations development program human development reports began to anticipate already at the time of the arab spring in the years before there is a very often cited human development report that actually began to recognize the ingredients of what happens in societies in countries if political consensus is lost conflict becomes part of dividing communities within ethnic or

religious lines yes there are two sides but there's always maybe a more powerful site or more responsible side or something and by their side not necessarily one country or government but it could be even institutions and so forth if you're true maybe identify one of the main reasons or the drivers who is preventing maybe work to be done or which. kind of mechanisms need to exist in order for that crises to to end and for the development to begin again what would that be well first of all let us recognize that yemen has been a country a nation and has been challenged by geographical realities already for many decades by different also tribal affiliations so there is within yemen. always a potential there for competition and conflict to also dominate national politics now into that kind of combustion situation come also regional

perspectives i mean you know we are all very familiar with the kind of tensions that are now dominating the middle east and i think you have seen parties from different sides becoming engaged in yemen now the argument being that we are invited. we are asked to assist we are requested to provide support but at the end of the day let me go back to the root causes and most of the time when we end up in a conflict situation there are two drivers one there are development failures that lead to people losing either confidence in their government or confidence in the ability to trust other interest groups in the country and into that void or into that tension come then geographical geopolitical interests from outside and this is the classic story of yemen and when you say it is the largest humanitarian disaster yes that is what the united nations is saying to the world week after week because what we are witnessing there is a catastrophe first and above all for the people of yemen but it is also

a catastrophe in developmental terms this country is losing decades of the advancements that it had made on top of which we have the humanitarian emergencies so this is also why the secretary just non-stock home my colleague martin gryphus having putting so much pressure on all parties to come back to the table this conflict will never be solved by arms it can be solved by compromise and above all by reinvesting in what were the original causes for the conflicts that have driven the tensions within the country and beyond that in the region ok let's move on to libya it's an oil rich country it has a very small population on paper it should be thriving really why is it not libya posed got off easy essentially was a political vacuum into that vacuum the forces that differentiate interests in the country began to organize themselves so today we have the remnants of

a nation state with a central bank and an oil industry for example but we have no political consensus the governance system of libya essentially has imploded in that vacuum what we're witnessing right now is a. a continuous set of conflicts being used to establish an assert power control over certain parts of the country unfortunately some people are making a lot of money in this vacuum and therefore have little interest in allowing a national government structure and a democratic process to be restarted so this is the question i mean libya out of all the arab spring countries had a un resolution which allowed for international intervention if the united nations is capable of passing these resolutions for intervention when there is this political vacuum as you say surely it should be the united nations stepping up to ensure that any roadmap or political consensus strategy is implemented rather than

it saying well this isn't our responsibility leave it to one for however it is and when it unfolds badly as it has in libyan terms of armed conflict then the cost and burden on you is even greater because not only are you trying to fill a void but you're also trying to clean up the mess in the damage and destruction and kind of regression that has occurred as a result which is precisely why secretary antonio terra's continuously and repeatedly is advocating for the united nations to be recognized as a major force for prevention and not simply as a kind of global ambulance or fire service which you offer not but let me also say my staff in the united nations development program but also of our sister agencies are in libya today some of them at great risk to themselves working precisely to try and reestablish the conditions and which libya can become a nation state that is governed through a democratic process where its government situations function again but our the limit has always been we cannot force a nation or its conflicting parties at gunpoint to exercise good governance and the

rule of law now yes member states passed a resolution a whole series of political events took place what we're left with right now is a situation that i think all of us consider to. the fed the disastrous and into that void or into this chaotic situation very often the united nations is then asked to step in and perform miracles and it cannot do these miracles it needs international community and it needs to domestic parties to be willing to come to the table now it sometimes takes painfully long to get to that point but more often than not it does eventually happen i cite syria the third country there that war is going on now for what seven more than seventy years now and painfully is an essential with all the massacres and the destruction the entire infrastructure of the country is basically nonexistent anymore. and still people haven't come to the realisation that they need to find a political solution even though they've met and not for want of trying at least

from the un's perspective what kind of work are you doing in syria right now or are you able even to do well our ability to being gauged in syria is premised first of all on being able to operate across the country this already poses challenges right now because different forces obviously exercised different degrees of control our ability has been also partly constrained by many of the political tensions with the international community having said that you n.d.p. has been present in damascus throughout this period we are engaged in the collaboration with the humanitarian agencies and in particular to try to help communities with emergency programs reestablishing basic.