and cross street. explosions and gunfire as a luxury hotel in nairobi al-shabaab claims responsibility. hello i'm maryam namazie in on the new year with al jazeera also coming up on the program predictions of a heavy defeat for to reason bay as the u.k. parliament prepares for its historic vote on her breaks it deal. the prosecutor has fifty such as for the burden of proof. the former president of ivory coast is

acquitted of war crimes the international court says longer bug will be released on wednesday and after a war of words lines of agreement the turkish president and donald trump consider creating a safe zone in northern syria. we begin this hour in the kenyan capital nairobi where a luxury hotel complex is under attack and witnesses has reported explosions and gunfire but lease a an operation is still ongoing and their main concern is that the attackers all still in the building the armed group al shabaab has told al jazeera its fighters are behind this attack. well al jazeera is nairobi producer joy tony joins us from nairobi what are you hearing about the attack it appears to still be

under way. yes under way we're just two hundred meters from where i'm growing. just like half an hour ago there was a huge explosion and saw the police of also released a statement saying that there's several still in the building and they're trying to get the situation under control. joy can you give us a sense of the atmosphere there because it seems as though this is a complex that would have been full of civilians and we're now just looking at pictures of the area being sealed off it looks like an ambulance is there it looks like security officials are there but the attackers have not yet been located or apprehended they are still inside the building.

well apologies for that we will reestablish a connection there with joy in nairobi she was just bringing us up to speed with some dramatic developments in nairobi a luxury hotel complex has been under attack witnesses have been speaking they have reported gunfire and explosions police are on the scene as you can see from the pitches there and from what we understand attackers are still probably in side the building al-shabaab is claiming responsibility more on this story later. well to other top story this hour after two years of heated negotiations and political deadlock the u.k. strikes it battle comes to a head in just a few hours five days of intense parliamentary debates come to an end shortly and m.p.'s will soon make the historic vote on the prime minister's controversial deal

to take the u.k. out of the european union the predictions are that the reason may will be heavily defeated despite pleading with m.p.'s to back her deal of bricks it turmoil is then set to continue ad of march twenty ninth and britain is scheduled to leave the e.u. o'brian reports. oh. oh outside the u.k. parliament has a sense of matters coming to a head the increasingly vocal camps of pro and anti brooks it campaign has a making the voices heard. that a sham. this is a constitutional crisis for the u.k. bitching the government impala months against each other and potentially putting parliament against the people or at least against the narrow majority which voted for breakfast in place of sixteen there is disillusionment on all sides whether they betray it with this disastrous appalling withdrawal agreement which is really remain but without the power to vote or whether they betrayed by cancelling brings

it if this withdrawal agreement is voted down we expect them to find some way of making sure that the people of this country do not get what they voted for a bit redemption i've been a bit over the place but i'm tired i just once tend to be over with i wish i was a bad night man i wish we could be a citizen can be left out of this negotiation. inside the parliament chamber the prime minister's brix it withdrawal deal is in its final us the attorney general open the final session of debate with a warning that waiver is up playing with people's lives but there is no sign the to recent. he has done enough to muster the support she needs to win the closing votes this place can't decide we are polarized we're in gridlock if government parliament is in gridlock we don't have to take it back to the people but the big question about a second referendum is if the result was flipped fifty two forty eight does that

take it to any better place defeat will lead to resubmit needing to produce a plan b. by monday or next week and those with threats of the opposition labor party hitting how with a vote of no confidence even before that there is a noisy almost mcconnell atmosphere at westminster but with rival sides chance to get each other there's also an undercurrent of antagonism as well defeat for the prime minister the ceiling looks a certainty but the story of the damage inflicted by that remains unclear will depend on just how many m.p.'s votes against a deal and the question that nobody here appears able to answer just yet is what comes after that paul brennan al-jazeera westminster. well spent an evening in belfast in a moment first those lines he's outside parliament in westminster for us and laurence the suggestion is that two reason may's deal was pretty much dead before this vote tell us more about what are the expectations for developments tonight.

well there's there's about three hours now left of debate before the amendments to the votes and the vote itself will be about a pass when you pass a local time but frankly don't bother turning into the votes because you won't hear anything and these are saying that they haven't said a hundred times before and all the divisions across parliament are all plain to see the only thing that a majority m.p.'s have in common apparently is that they from both sides leavers hands and those are the soft abraxas or don't want to leave it's all equally unhappy with stories amaze dalan that's the bind that they've got themselves into let's let let's take a sounding from passion mcguire from the new statesman magazine thank you very much for your time what's your guess as to how much is going to lose by so nice well i mean some really theresa may will be delighted with a with a victory just defeat of under one hundred votes not such a crazy thing to say about you know the central plank of a government usually a promise would have to resign well in dealing they indeed you know and you know it is you know this is a real situation we find ourselves in the actually you know treason maze facing

potentially if your friend if things are defeated up to two hundred thirty m.p.'s you know that be the biggest parliamentary defeat ever since rumsey mcdonald in nineteen twenty four so she'd get it below one hundred at the hope and on down the street on little to m.p.'s that she knew about the process and say look we are almost there who are in touch in this and if you can give me something on the box of anything more than the rest of his life say well there's no hope of a negotiated settlement passing on it if it does appear that whatever the strength of the to see her search is the same i mean can she actually stand up after losing by say hundred fifty and eighty votes and say i'm going to go back and see what is going to say about this you know lots of people across the house will be very exasperated by that you know most most particularly the m.p.'s who don't much like her deal on her own benches so much rather see her seven month push rather see her pivot towards labor she conjured up body political reasons but what is clear that any road to go shake certain that comes through politics runs through labor leadership now we know they don't thing which is treason mase deal i don't want to

. but bottom school reason they don't want to second referendum they don't want norway so it's very difficult to see what happens so if. it's seventy two days i think as of right now between that with the twentieth of march when the u.k. supposed to leave if if over the course of the time that they that they can't find a way of coming together is it and they don't want to leave with no deal either then at the very least to presume they have to go cap in hand the europeans say we have the three months or something like that yes and we know that brussels has to grab not unanimously on any extension you just might say will have to be for a reason you have lots of m.p.'s you've got to say we must accept not all fifty so we have time to talk about the options voters didn't want to give to want to give the u.k. more time to disagree for appointees the second referendum or general election none of those are forthcoming on thank you very much indeed so no way forward at all at the moment no easy answers but we'll see what they have to say once the vote happens later on this week that's lindy thank you very much with all the latest

there from westminster lawrence les well of course one of most contentious issues around this bracks it deal is the issue of the irish border and that backstop arrangement needs bar has been gauging opinion in belfast and me we know that treason may as warned that if this deal is voted down it could potentially lead to a breakup of the united kingdom what are you hearing where you are. well any kind of message along those lines has been received with great alarm whatever happens there in westminster will undoubtedly have massive implications on the whole of the island of ireland there has been of course a tremendous amount of uncertainty though and possibly it's pretty much given that the time of the referendum when people working out which side of the debate that they would back furry little thought was perhaps given to issues of security here the implications of return to

a hard border but it looks as if potentially this part of the u.k. could be responsible for derailing to reason mais plans completely this is storm on the home of the northern island assembly the devolved government here hasn't been doing much for the past two years after it collapsed in political infighting one of the reasons why they haven't been doing much is also because of breaks it members of the assembly politicians have been trying to work out what's going to happen and when it comes to break see what's going to happen in westminster before deciding whether or not they take up their seats it has led to a slow decay of public services affecting the day to day lives of people here in northern ireland that also some profound security concerns as well if there is a return to a hard border the has to be a significant increase in policing and the authorities that we spoke to earlier on told us that they are working out what options lie ahead of them next. northern

ireland's police service the p.s.n. eyes preparing for a worst case break six an ario the return of a hard border with member island it could soon ask for hundreds of specially trained reinforcements from the rest of the u.k. what we would be very cautious of is as hard infrastructure going on the border that actually would mean that potentially our officers would be on protracted protectable points for a long time history showed us about those terrorist remains to to be able to plan an orchestra it attacks on our officers that is something we don't want to see so if that were to happen then it would have to be very very properly resourced and i think would have to be heavily resourced during thirty years of sectarian violence the streets were patrolled by the forerunners of the police service of northern ireland the royal ulster constabulary they are you see it was a conflict between nationalists mainly catholics who identify as irish and unionists mostly protestants who want this province to remain a part of the u.k. for many nationalists the r.u.c.

was seen as an oppressive colonial force backed by the british army paramilitary groups including the irish republican army they are a sort to expel them would force a delicate peace has lasted for twenty years but a legacy of hatred remains. last year londonderry sore spike in violence police were set upon in a nationalist neighborhood and there was several nights of rioting hooliganism and poverty both have a part to play in the armrest but police also say the new ira a combination of republican and paramilitary groups fuels the violence probably gallagher is a member of c. roux a new hard left anti british political party it glorifies the ira but insists it's peaceful the party intends to exploit breaks in to the fore not out of any desire to stay in europe but simply to destabilize. the u.k.

. so britain's difficulty is always there and again it's an opportunity for ireland the reality as ireland's partition which congress occupied. the mayor brought up as bring on the border situation in the people's minds there are before there could be attacks against. drugs it is created a dangerous new context for bitter old rivalries putting the question of identity and loyalty back at the center of anglo-irish politics. jerry still ahead for you on the program canada's prime minister the death sentence imposed on a canadian man by a court in china and the sculpture that angered minority christians in israel's north and feel the debate for not just symbols in.

hello there we have seen yet more rain over parts of southeastern china fairly unusual at this time of year normally this region is really quite dry you can see the area of clavicle stretching across us at the moment and that is giving some fairly significant rain some of the wettest of the weather is in the northern parts of vietnam stretching up into china and then it turns to snow when it hits that cold air the whole system is gradually working its way eastwards as we head through the next day or so and so most of us will see that what weather at some point force in hong kong though it should stay dry and the temperatures will be climbing and it will be higher to over towards india and for most of us here it's fine and dry in the north a little bit more cloud but the snow is really in the far north and that's with us as we head through the day on wednesday the temperatures in delhi will be rising up to around twenty degrees but if you head down to assure longer here we're still

clinging on to those showers yet more wet weather is expected as we head through wednesday on thursday does look like they'll be something of a break so maybe we'll see some drier weather for the arabian peninsula well here a good deal of cloud is with us over parts of saudi arabia not stretching up into parts of cuba eight and into the southwestern parts of iran gradually that works its way eastwards invigorating as it does say so if you are brakes of all the heavy rain for iran. rewind returns the care bring your people back to life from start with brand new updates on the best of al-jazeera documentaries there has been a number of reforms put in place since the program was full and it continues with also darkness we were following orders we send young people to fight these wars put them in the most complex situations you can imagine and have a midwife and the citizens rewinds on al-jazeera.

back a look at the top stories for you now the armed group al shabaab says it's behind an attack on a luxury hotel in kenya's capital nairobi report suggests that the attackers are still inside the complex and that the attack is on. its decision day here in the u.k. as paula prepares to vote on prime minister to resign may's breaks it deal may is widely expected to lose. one of the former president of ivory coast has been acquitted of war crimes charges by the international criminal court judges ruled

the prosecution failed to prove their case against all and ordered his immediate release he was charged with crimes against humanity in connection with violence after disputed election in two thousand and ten three thousand people were killed about bo was the first former head of state to stand trial at a global court the chamber by majority here the song that the prosecutor has faced such as. the burden of proof to the requisite standard. as for seen in article sixty six of the rome statute grants the defense motions for acquittal from all charges against mr. childs. older even adriel ease of both accused and brings us more now from ivory coast capital abidjan where the victims of the the atrocities and the torture and the killing of the two thousand and ten if you count unleavened

contested election they do not want to see them back go back into the country they say that justice has not been served but if you speak to the supporters of laurent background there are many in this country is in this neighborhood in particular where i sound neighborhood a public neighborhood if you provoke a folk hero or a hero. if you judge but what we've seen this morning after the announcement of the judge where we saw people working on the street screaming isn't a damn thing it is celebration continues right here right now and then he threw out a different point of the capital he would have a hero's welcome back to the country tomorrow. turkey's president says his troops will establish a thirty two kilometer safe zone in northern syria russia type. just tickle and financial assistance from the united states to establish the area after discussing it with president donald trump over the phone tensions have been high in northern

syria after the u.s. one turkey that it should protect. and accuses the syrian kurdish fighters of being linked to cut issue rebels in turkey not to do. the safe zone issue including a safe zone along turkey's borders that will be formed by issues that i have brought up since the obama era which was reiterated by him as a twenty mile safe zone i believe we have reached a historic understanding last night with mr trump about these matters. relations between china and canada have deteriorated further after a canadian citizen was sentenced to death in a drug smuggling case beijing has accused canada's prime minister of making irresponsible comments about china's use of the death penalty katrina you explains . canadian robert schellenberg looked stunned as he was handed a death sentence by judges in china. the court said the thirty six year old was attempting to smuggle more than two hundred kilograms of methamphetamines from china to his strength when he was arrested in twenty fourteen when he was jailed

for fifteen years in november and was in the purses of appealing that sentence when a retrial was suddenly announced last month canadian prime minister justin trudeau has pledged to intervene on schellenberg behalf it is of extreme concern to us as a government as it should be to all our international friends and allies that china has chosen to begin to arbitrarily apply death penalty in cases facing as in this case facing a canadian chinese foreign ministry has rejected trudeau's comments calling them irresponsible and saying in china all people are equal before the law jeffery you want to show the other remarks that the most basic awareness of the legal system urged the canadian side to respect the rule of law respect china's legal sovereignty correct its mistakes and stop making irresponsible remarks. the court sentence has further intensified a dispute between the two countries which began when chinese executive one job was

detained in canada in december the heiress and chief financial officer of technology company chua way was arrested at the request of washington for allegedly violating u.s. trade sanctions this infuriated beijing analysts believe shelling there could be spared the death penalty if mom was released there is a lot of room for compromises if the situation cools strong the tiny so far it is can always choose to expel the port the canadian citizens trust diffusing the controversy since the rest thirteen canadians have been detained in china most have been released but former diplomat michael convert and business consultant michael spat will remain in custody on suspicion of endangering china's national security canada says these cases and robert shilling big step penalty are retaliations by the. on monday canada updated

a travel warning to its citizens in china saying that they should exercise a high degree of caution in the face of arbitrary enforcement of local laws that chilling berg's lawyer says he will appeal the death sentence arguing that the harsher penalty cannot be valid as no new evidence was introduced in his case continue al-jazeera. u.s. troops remain stationed at the border with mexico until at least september the pentagon has extended their mission to increased security at ports of entry president trump ordered the deployment of about five thousand soldiers and national guard members in october in response to the first migrant caravan the mission had been scheduled to end on december fifteenth. iran has attempted to launch a satellite despite criticism from the u.s. but the rocket carrying the satellite failed to reach orbit because it didn't pick up enough speed the u.s. says the launch violates a u.n. security council resolution and is the technology can be used to fire missiles iran

has vowed to continue with plans to send another satellite into orbit it was created as a comment on consumer society but this sculpture behind me is getting attention for all the wrong reasons our christians living in northern israel has been protesting against this artwork angry over its depiction of christ and the cross and the artist who created the sculpture has also lodged his opposition saying the museum used it without his permission more manly explains. this is the sculpture that's caused so much outrage in titles macc jesus it displays a fast food outlets famous mascot hanging from across an important symbol in christianity haifa museum is added to disclaimer that it's not meant to cause offense but it has. on friday hundreds of protesters face off with police on the streets as they attempted to

force their way into the museum to remove it themselves others are camping outside until the work is taken down. this is something i kneel for i redeem it with my soul i offer it with all the good things and what do you expect i first of all felt that this is a big insult a big insult i hope that everyone will stand with those in solidarity with the heads of churches across israel a sickly a court order to have the scope to removed. started with the heads of the churches have petition was offered to the judiciary to remove it will continue through peaceful rallies and vigils with the churches the museum and a municipality we won't be quiet until we reach a solution. we need to understand the freedom of expression is interpreted in different ways in different societies we live today in israel if this work was directed against christians the world will be turned upside down it's not only the

christian community that's angry but the artist himself he asked the museum not to use his work in september when he joined the boycott divestment and sanctions of israel he told israeli media israel uses culture as a form of propaganda to whitewash the occupation. but the director of the museum says he's defending the freedom of art culture and speech we understand fully understand the. hurt feelings of christians here but we have to explain to them that this wasn't the meaning and we all saw it that they are. offended by this work the christian population makes up just two percent of israel and people in the community say it's a daily struggle to free practice that culture and religion they say the work was put up against their will and the minority status that concerns of being ignored

durable manly al-jazeera president donald trump's nominee for attorney general is testifying before the senate judiciary committee at his confirmation hearing william boss says he believes russians interfered or try to interfere in the u.s. two thousand and sixteen presidential election and it's vitally important that special counsel robert muller be allowed to complete his investigation says he has not promised trump anything other than that he will run the department with professionalism and integrity. alibek his pilgrimage on earth has begun in northern india up to one hundred fifty million pilgrims will visit the city of ryad grudge of the two months for the sacred hindu festival known as myla india's nationalist government hopes the event will impress its largely india population had of general elections this year ellis has more. the code in ash and little ouse can do cool grooms are drawn to the when to hold the song them the convergence of

india's most sacred rivers it's the start of comella an ancient procession that started two thousand years ago with up to one hundred fifty million devotionally yes it's considered the largest gathering in the world's charset if you is wonderful it's very nice to get to see all of the holy men in the same place it's great i never mean and to be made out so it's i've got a z. it's like yeah it's crazy i legged it but. even then the lead up to the festival has been controversial after the city was renamed in october a muslim rule a crowned allah more than full centuries ago or the chief minister of the northern state it would have pradesh changed it to private garage believed to be its original hundred nine ahead of the festival and a general election this year india's majority hindu population must be courted the government has allocated any system

a good six hundred fifty million dollars for improved infrastructure and services for the eight week long festival is a very aspirational goal. being that we should provide enough number of diluted we should provide clean water to everyone we should provide electricity connection to each and every one and we are leaving more stone unturned to make it happen for the pilgrims who are visiting this camilla the man upset at the job the more i often go to holy spots like this one but they used to be very dirty this is the. i've seen this kind of cleanliness a comb. meaning this is important the pilgrims come to wash away the sins in the gunships the act is called the royal box they weighed in just the full. value of the novel it came up but the royal box has a lot of importance this is called this is wild the double d's come here to get all their wishes fulfilled. wishes echoed by organizes and the government hosting

a festival so logically seen from space shuttle ballasts zero. or more and everything like covering right here including our breaking news story this hour you'll get all the latest on that and everything else al-jazeera dot com is the address. i. attack in kenya now it's taken place at a luxury hotel complex in the capital nairobi an armed group has told al jazeera its fighters are behind this assault lisa saying the operation is ongoing and then main concern is the attackers might be still inside the building witnesses have reported explosions and gunfire. in front of my colleagues. behind me everywhere everybody was just a gun and never. so i went. oh yeah when i didn't go to the

condition i did most of the features. that you need to reach that was shooting for. nothing if you talk to me why do you not think about activity i say i don't trust him to be. it's decision day here in the u.k. as parliament prepares to vote on prime minister to resign may's bret's it deal may is widely expected to lose as many of her own m.p.'s are set to vote with the opposition the prime minister has been making a last ditch effort to convince parliament warning that unless agreement has passed breck's it might not happen atoll the u.k. scheduled to leave the e.u. on the twenty ninth of march the former president of ivory coast has been acquitted of war crimes charges by the international criminal court judges ruled the prosecution failed to prove their case against long and ordered his immediate release he was charged with crimes against humanity in connection with violence

after a disputed election in two thousand and ten three thousand people were killed by bo was the first former head of state to stand trial at the global court turkey's president says his troops will establish a thirty two kilometer safe zone in northern syria i should go on says he'll seek logistical and financial assistance from the u.s. to establish the area after discussing it with president trump over the phone tensions have been high in the region of northern syria after the u.s. warned turkey that it should protect fighters there and curricula as the syrian kurdish fight is of being linked to kurdish rebels in turkey now a rewind looks back at one of the worst atrocities of the vietnam war there will be more news after that in twenty five minutes time stay with us.

hello and welcome. back in two thousand and six when we launched al-jazeera english we set out to make the kind of documentaries other channels just wouldn't do and here on rewinds we're revisiting some of the best of them to find out how they came about.