well to talk about this in more detail let's speak now to have be brought back who joins us live from kabul sir thank you so much air for joining you are an analyst. in such issues now the timing does seem strange the taliban has admitted responsibility for this attack which literally came hours before they were meant to meet the u.s. says special envoy for afghanistan i mean actually this obviously doesn't engender any good feeling to try to find a resolution or some you know middle ground between the u.s. and the taliban yes we have had moscow conference two months ago and then we have had the u.a.e. conference a month ago and it looked like the taliban were into their hibernation phase and we're getting of they could get something out of the negotiations and the peace process but the policy that we have product from the united states and its african counterparts that is the african government was a policy where they wanted to engage taliban on one front and strike them on the

other front to front of the two further to have some sort of liver age group to have some gains on the negotiating table and because we have had the saudi arabia conference which did not happen we have had we were supposed to have the qatar conference that did not happen the pakistan conference got canceled and it looked like the peace process was having its own problems and what we had today in my donnchadh was a good. united states in the african government is doing to the taliban so the taliban i think coming out of that hibernation period they're trying to carry on the same policy where do going to inflict damage to the african government and its international counterparts on the other side carry on with the peace process to have further gains in leverage for them on the negotiating table i think this is the overall policy. the so i guess if they're doing this to try to get leverage

themselves though what impact is this having in afghanistan itself tell us a little bit about the military compound that they targeted. so this is from what we had this is a compound that belongs to the intelligence agency not demean the street of defense it's a very high profile target good and terms of the guerrilla warfare in terms of from the perspective of the taliban we have nominations for the presidential elections that are going to happen in july two thousand and nineteen president he has registered for reelection and his point was very clear yesterday urging the taliban to coming join the african peace process and if not they would want to talk to the pakistanis because the taliban out of proxying of apac pakistan which does not send a very good message to the peace process which would sort of create and impediments

and and and the way of the peace process this this is not this is a hawkish message and i think taliban are are sort of responding to those statements that came from president donny and his team yesterday when they were just starting for reelection i think the peace process is having its own problems the international community the afghan government aswell as the taliban do they all want to go into the peace talks but i did the same time they want to inflict damage to each other to sort of have more leverage and more points on the on the on the negotiating table this statement that we have had from the u.s. special representative for the african and regional peace was a such that the united states would want to engage taliban if not devoted to fight them and i think taliban out of responding back to those statements and we saw the results today had they brought that political and security analyst joining us from

kabul sir thank you so much for sharing your views with us. still ahead in this half hour a group of venezuelan soldiers is how they continue to meet over there will take you away for an uprising against president will do it all. on china's economy grows at its slowest rate in almost three decades fueling anxiety about the global economy. and are there the weather's all looking quite quiet for the southeastern parts of china at the moment there's not really a great deal going on it's for the south we've got more in the way of cloud and the winds are bringing in quite a bit of moisture too so expect those clouds to bring in quite a few outbreaks of rain at times but even these break up as we head through wednesday and then for more of us in vietnam it does look to draw a jury in the day out towards the west and for many of us here this dry weather but

in the north we're seeing this area of cloud here that so was the remains of the storm that made its way across the middle east it's kicked up a lot of dust for some of us in pakistan and caused some rain as well these pictures from karate showing that we did have a significant amount of rain around twenty nine millimeters which is quite impressive when we normally have eight millimeters in the entire month now i think for karate the wet weather is over instead the systems hitting the himalayas and where it does it's giving us a lot of wet weather so a lot of rain in the foothills and then turning increasingly wintery as it makes its way northward i think we'll also see some rain force in new delhi on wednesday towards the south should be largely fine a draw and force in sri lanka it should be dry to colombo getting to around thirty degrees there in doha pretty cold at the moment but it's getting milder i think or tuesday will be up to the dizzy heights of twenty three degrees.

all this week's counting the cost the prime minister's briggs's deal is rejected as britain pulls towards a messy exit why zimbabwe's government wants people to buy less fuel plus classy models called last call because worries about the trade will. counting the cost. welcome back a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera eisel says it was behind

a suicide car bombing in northeast syria that killed at least five people the bomb went off as a joint convoy of u.s. troops and fighters from the syrian democratic forces passed by. hours earlier meanwhile israeli warplanes comeback that air strikes in syria's capital damascus israel says it was attacking rain in military targets and at least a forty three members of afghanistan's security forces have been killed in a coordinated attack by the taliban the target was a military base and police training center in my down shot which is near kabul. now in the last hour of the u.k.'s prime minister has returned to parliament to lay out her plan before how the u.k. will leave the e.u. just a week after plan a suffered a crushing defeat in parliament three's a may hope so new proposals will convince rebellious m.p.'s from her own party and coalition foreigners to support her the plan includes more discussions on how to deal with the contentious issue of the irish border and scrapping registration fees

for citizens in the u.k. post breck's it still several m.p.'s accuse the government of failing to present an acceptable plan many now want to take back control of the brics a process and they're considering a historic amendment that would let m.p.'s propose new legislation and force parliament to debated but parliament is deeply divided over brics it with different factions calling for a range of options including leaving without a deal holding a second referendum or seeking a customs union with the e.u. . with regard to the backstop despite the changes we've previously agreed there remain two core issues the fear that we could be trapped in it permanently and concerns over its potential impact on all union its northern on. it is treated differently from the rest of the u.k. so i will be talking for this week to colleagues including in the u.p.a. to consider how we might meet our obligations to the people of northern ireland and ireland in a way that can command the greatest possible support in the house and i will then

take the conclusions of those discussions back to the e.u. . let's cross live now to lawrence is outside the u.k. parliament in westminster alliance i guess promising more discussions and also scrapping the registration fee for e.u. citizens in the u.k. is hardly the kind of thing that is going to convince a lot of the backbenchers that don't back to reason means plan. no they they say that today is the most depressing day of the year statistically and if you want if you look at the press then here's here's the place to be because there is enormous frustration partly the inability of parliament to coalesce around a single idea that would break the deadlock but also as you said in your introduction partly treason by losing last week by this is or acknowledge in saying she's going to listen to people from from other parties then coming back with actively the same as she had before henry newman's as director of the open europe think tank do you think henry. ford an inch from where we were this time last week

a little bit i mean some new announcements made this morning specifically on the way that e.u. nationals currently in the u.k. will get their settled status their right to reside the prime minister's guarantee they'll be able to do that free rather paying any money and she was ruled out any speculation that she might try to reopen the good friday agreement the peace deal in northern ireland so i think that's that has moved on but overall i know i mean the prime minister's critics are saying where's the plan b. where the new ideas of course we've been discussing bracks nonstop in the u.k. for three years of course there's no new ideas and she's right to a degree there is no plan b. because there's only one deal that's been done with the e.u. and that's her deal and if parliament were to rule out no deal she's also right in saying that that could potentially involve having to revoke the plan to leave the european union it's all exactly what to parliament voted to trigger the exit mechanism to leave the european union and that takes you to a process at the end of two years where you're out deal or not so the best way to

rule out no deal is to vote for a deal or the alternative is you're saying to revote. fifty to cancel breaks it and she's of course saying she doesn't want to do that is there any majority in parliament for a second referendum the people here in the background demanding that now people know what it might look like they want the whole rethink a lot of people have been demanding a second referendum and not just saying this now because they we know what breaks it looks like they've been saying this nonstop since the referendum and i think if you actually look at the numbers within the commons within parliament there's not a majority in favor of a second referendum and this not necessarily even a majority in the country and of course even if there was a second referendum which i think it's very unlikely it's not even clear the country would vote to stay in it may well just make the same decision that decision again we hear hardline solar is now grumbling today that even if they don't like her deal at all it's better than not leaving the european union at all do you think in the end if she runs the clock down to the middle of february she might end up bouncing people into accepting her deal because that's that's the only thing the

majority will support i think that said i think something in the middle is the most likely outcome and it's going to be a version of her deal i think as you said some hardline tories some of the ultra euro skeptics are happy to leave without a deal but i think that most people in hollywood want it would want to find a way to try and stop that and i think that they may find a way to either extend the exit discussions or to actually in the end vote for a deal but the other end of the day there are no alternatives there is beyond leaving without a deal leaving with a deal or not leaving i do think very much indeed there will. be lots of. heat but not very much light actually on south side westminster lawrence lee thank you so how will terrorism is revised plan go down in brussels well there is there for us now and david there are some hot rocks and supporters here in the u.k. that claim that all of this confusion is actually good because it strengthens. the u.k.'s position with the e.u. because the also doesn't want the u.k.

to leave without a deal do you think there is any strength of truth to that argument. well barbara sensually i think that the the european union your account bureaucrats and the political leaders here would agree with jeremy called in the leader of the opposition that this is very much a groundhog day they were hoping and looking for a real plan b. they were looking for a coherent policy and coherent strategy but what reason may is just. shown in her statement to the house of commons is just more of the same now there was speculation as you seen in the of the sunday press and in the papers in britain over the weekend that perhaps a bilateral negotiation could be opened between the united kingdom and the republic of ireland well we had a foreign ministers council meeting here and there was a statement from the the irish deputy prime minister simon cove me and he said that

that is idle speculation there is no there's going to be no change to the deal there will be no one way bilateral talks between the u.k. and the republic of ireland he said this is a deal between or of the twenty seven members of the e.u. in the united kingdom that will not change the deal when change will be no alteration to the the backstop in island there was one call from the poland the polish of foreign minister perhaps that perhaps they could push it back by five years but again that was rejected so this seems to be no difference and no change as far as the e.u. is concerned to this stalemate continues david chaytor with the latest there from brussels they would thank you we heard david there talk about the back stall that

over the border between the republic of ireland and northern ireland all done to avoid violence in northern iraq. in the meanwhile police in the northern irish city of london their ia appear to have carried out a controlled explosion on a van in a cordoned off area police say the vehicle had been hijacked by three masked men who threw an object that hit before abandoning it and this follows a car bombing in derry on saturday in a vehicle also hijacked by masked men the main focus of that investigation is the new ira which opposes the one thousand nine hundred peace deal in the region colombia's rebel group says it was behind a tackle a police academy in bogota which killed twenty one people the group called the car bombing which killed twenty cadets aged eighteen to twenty three a legitimate act of war it also urged the president to return to the negotiating table. put peace talks with the on hold until it stops attacks and freeze hostages. venezuela says it's captured

a group of national guard officers who stole weapons and kidnapped four officials hours after a video appeared on social media showing a sergeant demanding the removal of president nicolas maduro groups of protesters took to the streets and for security forces in the district of caucus where the officers rebelled the army fired tear gas at the protesters the government has accused the sergeant of the video of being linked to the extreme right. on the same look i mean they need the support of the venezuelan people take to the streets here you asked for us to come out and to defend the constitution and here we are we are here here the troops people take to the streets support us we will watch the military to take to the streets to light the fuse we're here lighting the fuse but we need your support our economic growth in china has slumped to a twenty eight year low as the trade war with the united states takes its toll the

world's second largest economy expanded by only six point six percent last year while g.d.p. in the fourth quarter grew at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis that's the spike government measures to try to stimulate the economy the slowdown is married to reserves in the past thirty years we rely on the investment it's an investment driven the gross model it is not sustainable in the longer and of course there is something external effects such as at the trade dispute between china and the united states in the short run definitely to hurt the market to morons and also a fact. people's confidence in the futures of condoms. now here's something we will not see again for a while a rare lunar eclipse known as a super blood the wolf moon the phenomenon was visible all over europe asia and the

americans and it only lasted for a few hours if you missed it don't worry it will happen again in twenty thirty seven tonight we have a superman because it's fallen it's close to the earth it is a wolf moon because it's the january form and it's a blood moon because it's a total eclipse that we have a super wolf bloodmoon eclipse according to some folks i just like it because it's a total eclipse of the moon and it's a lot of fun to watch on the set of waiting for twenty thirty seven you can see it again on our website along with all of the day's news the address on your screens right now al-jazeera dot com. now reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera eisel says it was behind a suicide car bombing in northeast syria that killed at least five people the bomb went off in the city of the as a joint convoy of u.s.

troops and allied fighters from the syrian democratic forces passed by no american soldiers were killed or injured well just a few hours before that attack in the israeli warplanes conducted air strikes in syria's capital damascus israel says it was attacking a rainy and military targets well some of binge of eid has more now from that what it is done is that it has called the bluff of iranian commanders and the pressure that we've been seeing building inside syria after the repeated victories of the syrian government against opposition groups taking back a lot of areas and iran in trenching itself inside syrian territory and building its military presence at chose that iranian presence inside syria is both vulnerable and at risk from not just israeli targets but also pressure from other allies such as russia which does not see eye to eye with everything that iran does inside syria so it's a it's a slice of the very complicated picture inside syria. at least forty three members

of afghanistan's security forces have been killed in a coordinated attack by the taliban the voices news agency says the death toll could be as high as three times that number the target was a military base and police training center in my den shot which is just outside kabul hours after the attack the taliban said its representatives held the talks with the u.s. special envoy in afghanistan. in cata. the u.k.'s prime minister to resign may says that she'll try to break the deadlock over her breaks a deal by seeking further concessions from the european union at the heart of the talks will be possible changes on a backup plan to avoid a hard border in ireland may's initial plan on how the u.k. would exit the e.u. was the fitted by historic majority in parliament last week the country is shut jule to leave the e.u. on the twenty ninth of march well those are the headlines coming up next that's

counting the cost to look at the financial impact of this month's biggest stories from brakes it to the u.s. china trade or. hello i'm adrian finnegan this is counting the cost on al-jazeera a weekly look at the world of business and economics this week to resume a hangs on to chair one who breaks that deal is overwhelmingly rejected by parliament avoid crashing out of the european union without a deal. also this week currency to buy essential goods is hard to find in zimbabwe

as anger after the government doubles fuel prices to curb demand. and snazzy new cars can't hide a trail of gloom for automakers at the detroit auto show as the u.s. china trade war eats into their profits. it's a confusing paradox that's keeping all sides in the brakes it drama on edge britain's prime minister's reason may now really survive a no confidence motion while her plan to navigate brigs it was massively rejected by parliament the deadline of march twenty ninth twenty nineteen is marching ever closer and european leaders are warning that the prospect of britain crashing out of the union without a deal has increased this could lead to huge economic disruption on both sides of the channel joining us now from london is james smith james is an economist at the global markets research team good to have you with us james so the prime minister's deal was voted down in parliament does that mean that brings it is now more or less

likely or. a no deal scenario is more likely. remains that we're leaving. the e.u. on the twenty ninth of much but the big question now is will treason make reach across party devise to seek consensus on bret's it well for now at least it seems like plan b. is going to look pretty similar to plan a no immediate sign is going to walk back on her red lines nor some of the opposition parties the labor party. psammead shift in direction by that so if the time being no immediate clarity but one thing is getting more and more likely we're running out of time and in our view an extension to article fifty is getting more and more likely what message the financial markets and investors giving us on all of this at the moment do they see perhaps a softer brigs of this big will likely or a no brainer the tool or a or a hard briggs's well i think markets are trying to take the silver lining from

things at the moment the pounds remain pretty calm and i think investors are looking at t. things i think they think. some kind of cross party agreement is getting more and more likely. it is an extension of the article fifty period so that's the two main themes in the markets the moment but importantly it's going to be a bumpy ride to get our don't think any immediate resolution to this is is forthcoming and it could be at least a few more weeks before we get clarity so i think this colleen markets it could get a bit bumpy a before it gets better i mean what is the outlook for the for the british pound which i mean ever since the referendum back in twenty sixteen has been trading what at least twenty percent lower than it was i mean is that growth ever going to be recovered or you think in the long run it probably will be although of course that's premised on the idea that we either get a mole market friendly softer bret's the outcome all we get a second referendum that would result in. potentially results and remain i guess

that's at least the base case according to the polls as things stand so in the long run prospects of the pound look a bit better but as a safer now. could be several months before we know for sure whether or not no idea has been extended as been avoided sorry article fifty could be extended it's going to be a choppy ride for markets before things get better and that's not good for business is it it's the uncertainty which is bothering the business community at the moment making everybody very jittery well exactly so while the markets can kind of george little bit of comfort from this cross party support idea for businesses they have to deal in facts on the cold hard fact as things stands remains that way leaving me with or without it deal on march the twenty ninth so for businesses they have to prepare for that when we're likely to a business is getting more and more vocal about preparations they're making we were talking last week's program about the amount of money that's moved out of the u.k. into the european union as businesses prepare for the breaks of whatever it is even

if the u.k. ends up with with a much softer briggs's or even remaining in the u.s. for as the money moving out of the economy is concerned it's too late is that we have potentially i mean clearly the u.k. economy is already been hit very hard by the brics that process investment was really sluggish through last year so yeah it may never be fully recovered but i think should we get a deal or if in the end there's a second referendum in the u.k. very sure main and the prospects should get a little bit better in the short run but it all really depends what that final price it model is and it could potentially be quite a few years before we get there because of course we still have this transition fair period to come if some kind of deal comes in ok james really good to talk to you and come to the constance for being with us china's trade dispute with the united states is taking a toll on its economy exports of fall into the lowest point in two years while imports also down katrina you reports now from beijing. the world's largest

trading country has been trading a little less according to china's customs administration exports fell by four point four percent in december while imports were at the lowest level since twenty sixteen concerns for the year ahead underlined at a news conference in beijing. in two thousand and nine the biggest hit the worry for china's foreign trade is through the complex and grim external environment uncertain and stable factors a stew numerous protectionism. from certain countries a rare in their heads a slowdown in global demand and the continuing trade dispute with the united states are being blamed for the current predicament china finds itself in china and the us are midway through a ninety day truce in the tit for tat trade both which started last april analysts say china's shrinking trade figures could be used by washington to increase

pressure on beijing i think beijing clearly has the pressure there on your votes restore. the best of their leadership and to restore baster confidence such as. nationally so i think a.j. clearly does that and i think you asked the. agent. here and they will put pressure because despite the lower figures china posted a record surplus in its trade with the united states last year with more than three hundred twenty billion dollars the largest in more than a decade that's a sore point for the u.s. and according to the trumpet ministration a major justification for its trade with china but the apparent good news there's little to distract from china's cooling economy december's low trade figures follow a disappointing november when consumer spending also fell contributing to a gloomy economic stuff to twenty nine thousand. and the trade wars cast its shadow

over the north american international auto show in detroit high powered sports cars and s.u.v.s took center stage but come a case say the industry is in turmoil as tariffs pushed up steel and early minium prices and eat into profits john hendren reports. the most renowned auto show in north america opened with the drama glamour. and muscle cars descending from above auto makers rolled out bows were the new models including cadillacs x t six utility key is telluride and ford shelby mustang g.t. five hundred the fast is street legal for down the road there were concept cars that might one day hit the road like the infinity q x inspiration in the lexus convertible. but the mood among the automakers at the twenty one thousand north american international auto show in detroit is somewhat somber global auto sales

which boomed from two thousand and ten to twenty sixteen have slowed g.m. is closing plants ford is partnering with to make its cars in europe and sales in china have plummeted amid a u.s. trade war perhaps the contraction in the overall number of vehicles that they sell but they're shifting their production process toward producing more trucks and less of that and while some automakers broccoli drama there are fewer of them here this year b.m.w. mercedes volvo porsche jaguar and land rover are all skipping the event this year opting to reveal new models online or at their own events instead their exodus has left room for other lights to shine and the winner it just. was. just maybe known as the year when korean cars really came into their own. hyundai is kono one utility of the year and this is the car of the year the g seventy by genesis price between thirty and fifty thousand dollars this car

competes with entry level b.m.w.'s and mercedes showing that korea is now in the sports car market. the north american truck of the year is. the ram fifteen hundred. and sit in sales slow when u.s. manufacturers retooled to make a lector it going to tournaments cars sport utility and truck sales remain strong including chrysler's massive ram fifteen hundred the truck of the year. we're very happy with performance that we had in two thousand and eighteen and now with this new pickup truck here this new heavy duty we're looking for even better things in two thousand and ninety but amid the celebration in the motor city automakers here are fretting over forecasts that consumers will hit the brakes on new car sales in twenty nineteen with china importing fewer goods europe's economic powerhouse germany is feeling the pinch its economic growth slowed in twenty eighteen so the

weakest rate in five years g.d.p. grew by one point five percent last year dropping from two point two percent in twenty seventeen china is germany's largest trade partner and the source of much of its auto industry's profits china's slowdown is just one of the foreign risks facing germany's export oriented economy that has the potential messy brigs it antigovernment protests in neighboring france and america's protectionist threats still to come on counting the cost venezuela's president raises the minimum wage by three hundred percent we'll tell you why the additional money though won't help people buy any more goods. but first fuel prices in zimbabwe have more than doubled sparking strikes and violent protests the government says it was the only way to make people buy less fuel as it struggles to tackle a currency crisis foreign exchange is now hard to find in a country that scrapped its own currency

a decade ago that's led to long lines for fuel bread and has pushed up prices fall chad reports. frustration over zimbabwe's worst economic crisis in a decade ignited rights and prompted a strike by unions protesters tried to shut down the capital harare and the southern city of bull away oh by erecting barricades and burning tires police responded by shooting live rounds trying to disperse rioters with water cannons and tear gas the uproar began when zimbabwe's president emerson and gaga announced that fuel prices would more than double digit someone just wakes up and decides to increase the fuel price we have demanding that the price be reduced to its proper price in the information minister tweeted clever people know what to do avoid fuel guzzlers cancel unnecessary trips and use bicycles do not protest in the streets you can lose a limb in skirmishes.