emirates which is one of four nations that impose a blockade on qatar since june two thousand and seventeen by the end of that year apple says security updates to its i phones made karma less effective but with every update hackers start working on new cyber tools to get around them and offer to their clients. lopez so began al-jazeera politicians in the us aren't giving up on their attempts to end support for the saudi u.a.e. war in yemen the bipartisan group announced its plans to resubmit a draft resolution that was passed by the senate in december but was then blocked in the house of representatives late last year i had the opportunity to meet with several very brave human rights activists from yemen urging congress to put a stop to this war and they told me very clearly when yemenis see made in usa on the bombs that are killing them it tells them that the united states of

america is responsible for this war this is not a message the united states should be sending to the world the united states should not be supporting a catastrophic war led by a despotic saudi regime with a dangerous and irresponsible military policy lebanese leaders reached a deal on thursday to establish a new national unity government political sources say it's a step that will end nine months of political wrangling over how to share out cabinet portfolios the new government yet to be announced as you know however has more from vapors. the political deadlock is now over nine months of political wrangling lebanon has a now a government it's never an easy process in this country rival politicians agreeing on the distribution of seats simply because of lebanon sectarian based power sharing agreement so rival politicians agreeing on

a new cabinet why now well many observers believe france played a role france a former colonial power a country which has influence here in lebanon their work consultations in recent weeks in the french capital a number of lebanese politicians visiting paris and paris of course having some sort of leverage over iran we have to remember the united the european union is agreeing to business dealings with iran skirting u.s. sanctions so transfers have leverage over you run and iran of course its allies hezbollah they hold political power in this country all sides made concessions but it was a demand by hezbollah that it's suddenly ally hezbollah being a force the shiite party it's certainly allied be given a ministerial portfolio hezbollah more has had a more conciliatory. attitude in the past a few days so

a new government parliament is going to me to give it a vote of confidence that is expected to happen but the political power the balance of power does not changed hezbollah and its allies control control the parliament they control political power in this country and by extension that means iran and its ally the syrian government are if you really have influence over lebanon. still ahead for you on al-jazeera. found. the british government is paying a one point three million dollars penalty to a group of people inside. press and a brutal chill sweeps through parts of the united states in what is being called the worst freeze in a generation. however

the weather is now largely set fire across the middle east's normal service pretty much has been resumed still a few wins for shall as they were towards afghanistan that made a stop towards is back to stand but nothing much to speak of as we go through the next few days still it's also want to see when she flower is just spilling out he might just catch the odd one moving across northern syria as we go on into sas day basis out of the med fine and dry now seventeen eighteen celsius there for a beirut seven celsius for couple fun to drive pakistan crouchie around twenty three degrees followed right to across much of the arabian peninsula possibility of a little more cloud just developing as we go through the weekend at twenty seven forty back to around twenty five here in doha so freshening up a touch but it should stay last you try not a dry weather to southern africa south africa could see some useful right over the next day or so the suited to see

a little bit of wet weather that eastern cape saying some shop showers from time to time and welcome rainfall making its way into cape town as we go on into saturday so a chance of some useful showers pushing in at this date mozambique dry wanted to showers into the mills and showers there into tanzania and showers also right into angola. forestry.

there with top stories this hour the venezuelan opposition leader by those says the state is using port terror and fear to control the population it's the security forces loyal to president nicolas maduro have been threatening his family all of this while speaking at a university in caracas laying out his plan for how he can take the country forward . a you country's plan to launch a new payment system with iran which bypasses u.s. sanctions it will allow e.u. companies to do business with tehran using a european payment channel avoiding u.s. penalties the u.s. says it won't affect the economic pressure it is putting on iran. and the u.a.e.

has used spying software to hack the i phones of rival foreign leaders diplomats and activists an investigation by reuters news agency found the targets included the emir of qatar and a human rights activist. sudan's president omar bashir has announced the reopening of the border with eritrea it's been closed for a year after the eritrean government accused. of supporting rebel groups in. both countries deployed troops to the eastern border town of during the dispute of course this announcement at a time when there are growing protests demanding president omar bashir step down. at least twenty nine children and babies have died in a refugee camp in northeastern syria over the past two months and hypothermia is being blamed for most of the deaths of twenty three thousand people mostly women and children escaping the fighting in neighboring areas have arrived at the. since the end of november the world health organization says many families made the

journey on foot in freezing conditions. u.s. president signed an executive order to end a policy that separated migrant children from their parents if they cross the u.s. border illegally but there are reports of families still being separated. mother cindy florus reuniting with this seventeen month old daughter. in san francisco and choose day has been shared more than eighteen thousand times on twitter. separated from each other for over a month. well immigration courts in the u.s. is struggling to catch up after the longest government shutdown in history a backlog of more than eight hundred thousand cases means for some asylum seekers their fight or be known for years. as a report from los angeles. early morning downtown l.a. the u.s. immigration court building a long line of people waiting to attend a hearing on their cases victor purpose was one of them his hearing was canceled

because of the government shutdown his case was scaled for generally twenty four hours because of the chant down the court didn't happen so now we have to wait that a new day would be scary you know right now we don't know if that would be within the next year or two years three years a father of four progress has already been waiting for three years to see whether he can stay in the u.s. or if he will be deported to mexico this will cost it's chaos now have to wait two three four years more i think it's too much my children are suffering with an overburdened system it's common for cases to drag on for years judge ashley tab a door is president of the national association of immigration judges it's pretty much broken it's been broken for some time but it's become unacceptable at this point and we now have well over eight hundred thousand cases that are pending on our calendars for just about four hundred judges it's not unusual for judges to

have four thousand or five thousand cases on their docket she says a fundamental problem is that immigration judges are not truly independent or part of the prosecutorial system of the u.s. justice department which is geared toward removing undocumented immigrants i am constantly being pushed to hear more cases faster and that conflict that tension has made it impossible for god to be able to do this job in that effective and efficient manner to the contrary it has created these domain. it is created additional backlog and it has made it very very difficult for the judges to really do their job correctly without undue pressure it's ironic that president trump shutdown which he started to force congress to allocate money for a border wall has resulted in more undocumented migrants remaining in the u.s. longer immigration judges and attorneys say the only way to fix this broken system

is a sweeping overhaul of the immigration courts and by allocating more money to hire hundreds more immigration judges rob reynolds al jazeera los angeles prosecutors in brazil a frozen two hundred nineteen million dollars belonging to the country's largest iron ore mining company and this is of course in response to the collapse of that dam on friday that killed at least one hundred people in southeastern brazil the frozen money will now be used to compensate the victims but over two hundred fifty people still missing at least nine people have died in extreme cold weather in the united states in some parts of the midwest and northeast and states the deep freeze is plunged to minus thirty degrees celsius which is the coldest in a generation john hendren has more from willis michigan. in arctic freeze envelops the american midwest bringing dangerous cold in record low

temperatures this is an event unlike any we've seen in a generation and i think it's really important that we protect people the arctic air of the polar vortex is sweeping the region driving temperatures down to thirty below zero celsius it should goggles o'hare airport with wind chills in the suburbs making it feel like minus forty eight the predicted low of minus thirty three at o'hare on thursday would be chicago's lowest temperature in recorded history the weather system stretches across issues swath from the dakotas in the north that minus thirty degrees celsius to maine in the east and as far south as alabama to prevent freezing chicago sets the train tracks on fire schools post offices and businesses are closed even a few minutes exposure to temperatures this low can cause frostbite one local forecaster is warning if you shut your eyes for too long they can freeze closed it's that kind of cold. the frigid air that forms the polar vortex once spun around

the stratosphere over the north pole but its current now disrupted is pushing down into the u.s. the arctic blast leaves a mess of crashed cars and broken pipes with days to go before the cleanup begins john hendren al-jazeera willis michigan. the oldest and one of the largest rebel armies in me and wants unite with neighboring groups to fight the government the idea came as the current national liberation army seventy years since its fight for greater autonomy began attempts to reach a peaceful solution though it failed when he reports now from current state. throughout decades of civil war korean refugees have poured across the river from me and ma seeking shelter in thailand this journey was in the other direction but still in the name of the fight. this is my first time and i am very happy to come and mock revolution day it's like the current new year. i'm not sure what the

future holds but we hope that we will get freedom and happiness. they came to the jungle headquarters in eastern me and ma of the qur'an national liberation army to mark seventy years since it took up arms against the government they call it revolution day but the revolution still hasn't been realized. the fight will go on because the government won't give us freedom easily so we have to fight for that. the mainly christian organization is one of many armed ethnic groups that are fighting for greater rights and self-determination a cease fire is in place but it's broken regularly. and peace talks have made little progress one of the main problems is that the armed to the groups say when the negotiating with me i'm a civilian government they don't get anywhere because don not the ones who are really in control it's me and miles military that run the country for almost fifty years that still has ultimate power and they say when they do talk to the me and my military there's a lack of trust and. the korean leaders have now suspended involvement in the peace

process choosing instead to hold informal talks on their own terms those involved say it's a temporary setback to does the nature of the peace process not only in our country some other gun treat so peace brother does sometimes still mean sometimes the magnet. over the decades the fight in korean state has splintered but this was the first time in fifteen years that all korean groups came together to mark the anniversary they now hope to reunite and join forces in battle. i want to see all korean groups fighting together for the same victory target we're trying and we hope it will happen in the future the me and my military says the rebel groups must give up ideas of separation from the state and surrender their weapons but these fighters say it's never really been about independence it's about having control over their destiny and written into their mission statement surrender is out of the

question wayne hay al jazeera korean state me and ma. funny greece's defense minister has called on the british government to apologize to the victims of the so-called cyprus emergency this was on the campaign in the one nine hundred fifty s. to end the colonial rule of the island while the u.k. has already agreed to pay compensation it still refuses to accept liability support from david schaper arriving from athens the defense minister of greece came to pay tribute to their sacrifice this week. after his tour of the prison we asked the minister if it was now time the british government apologized for what happened here but this is really the answer is not simple you understand they have to have to but so many years have passed since then this matter has almost been exhausted. but not for this man who was

tortured for eighteen days he said the psychological abuse was the worst of british interrogator told him you'll die every day in here like a pig in your own blood and. they put their wet blanket on my face to make it difficult to breathe and place the bucket over my head my hands were tied the british soldiers started hitting me quipping my back and feet using turn on my knees they would do it in shifts. this was the last of the freedom fighters to fall to his death from this noose and the prison and also the youngest just nineteen years old his family stood outside the prison gates as he was executed. i felt so much pain also the whole family the first year is so much anger right it gets softer over the years but it has never gone away.

the scene is just outside nicosia and these pictures underline the fact that with the recent flare up of america activity the security forces can take no chances. every bridge is a potential danger and a likely place for a bomb to have been planned patrols on the side for hidden arms or suspects may themselves run into trouble they must always be on the lookout for a mine bomb on ambush the u.k.'s minister of state for europe's alan duncan said after the out of court settlement was announced we must not forget the past indeed we must learn from it but the most important thing is to look to the future the settlement does not constitute any admission of liability and is not a precedent in respect to any potential future claims against the government standing in the mountains far above nicosia the statue of one of the freedom fighters whose nom de guerre was the eagle of the cross he fought to the death

against british soldiers who surrounded his hideout in this cave they poured petrol into it and burned him alive but the land his gaze is forever fixed on is now free david chaytor al-jazeera the true dos mountains. i'm come on santa maria these are your headlines the venezuelan opposition leader one way though says security forces loyal to president nicolas maduro have been threatening his family where there was speaking at a university in caracas laying out his plan for how he can take the country forward meanwhile the e.u. says it is ready to send more humanitarian aid into venezuela. the central element of our plan to get back the state and place it in the service of the people the problems of the state are terror and fear the state uses these two things for

social control the state is like the mafia no one can live on three dollars a month it's not a problem of the left or the right it's a problem of humanity and. a couple of other headlines a you countries plan to launch a new payment system with iran which bypasses u.s. sanctions would allow e.u. companies to do business with teheran using a european payment channel thus avoiding u.s. penalties the u.s. says it won't affect the economic pressure it is pushing on iran and lebanese leaders reached a deal to establish a new national unity government political sources say it's a step that will ends nine months of political wrangling over how to share cabinet positions in beirut all sides made concessions but it was a demand by has a law that it's certainly ally has being of course a party it's certainly our lives be given a ministerial portfolio hezbollah has had a more conciliatory. attitude and in the past few days so a new government parliament is going to meet to give it

a vote of confidence that is expected to happen but the political power the balance of power does not changed and those are your headlines we're back with the news hour in around twenty five minutes that is right after inside story. congress and u.s. involvement in the war in yemen group of senators say they have enough votes to do so they say help for the saudis to eat coalition must stop but even if the resolution is passed it's not clear if donald trump will back it this is inside story.

hello and welcome to the program i'm richelle carey for the past four years much of yemen has been at war united states has firmly back the saudi coalition which has been fighting who the rebels but peter does hacks on civilians by the coalition has drawn widespread international condemnation and has contributed to the world's worst humanitarian crisis now things could be about to change if with u.s. senators as fishing to end washington support of the conflict the group of democrats and republicans led by senator bernie sanders plans to resubmit a draft resolution the senate passed and december but the house of representatives rejected sanders has issued a warning over america's continued role in the war bring in our gas in a moment first here's more of what the senator from vermont say late last year i had the opportunity to meet was several very brave human rights activists from

yemen. urging congress to put a stop to this war and they told me very clearly when yemenis see made in us a on the bombs that are killing them it tells them that the united states of america is responsible for this war this is not a message the united states should be sending to the world the united states should not be supporting a catastrophic war led by a despotic saudi regime with a dangerous and irresponsible military policy so let's take a closer look at the u.s. involvement in yemen washington began supporting this saudi u.a.e. coalition back in two thousand and fifteen and until recently much of that assistance was in the form of and flight refueling for saudi jets which ended in november by mutual agreement but the u.s. still provides intelligence and is the top arms supplier to saudi arabia and the

u.a.e. it says its officers advise on potential targets to minimize civilian civilian that is casualties yet saudi strikes have killed thousands of civilians including dozens of children on a school bus and sought a province last august. let's bring in our guests in london adam baron visiting fellow at the european council on foreign relations adam is also a journalist formerly based and yemen's capital saana joining us via skype from birmingham scott lucas professor of international politics at university of birmingham an editor of a world view a website specializing in news coverage and analysis of the middle east and in berlin catherine shacked m. who has consulted the un security council on yemen as a researcher at the alibi and center for strategic studies so i'll come to all of you scott i want to start with you is the timing right for u.s. congress to pass this resolution ending support for this war. well there you

believe something like this should have been done back in two thousand and fifteen before the saudi led intervention escalated of the deaths and yemen but politically what you have right now is a donald trump who has weakened on a number of fronts democrats have taken control the house of representatives that means that sort of the house republicans who had held off previous congressional attempts to kobach american intervention in yemen well that is now shifted donald trump is at war with the own intelligence agencies those intelligence agencies believe for example that the saudi crown prince mohammed bin solomon is responsible for the death of jamal associate the journalist last october so he doesn't have or trump doesn't have the support of his own personnel and i think also trump faces and washington press which thinks that he is weak in the combination of his general

witness in front of the truck russia investigation the recent government shutdown and the washington press a specific concern over saudi activities after the death of associate i think that means that this is probably the best opportunity that congress has to check executive power and the u.s. intervention in yemen and i met be interested in your feedback on some of those and points that scott made it to say that he thinks this might be the right time for this do you agree with that analysis. i mean to a large extent you're a invigorate democratic majority in the house and for that matter when you add that to the fact that the senate was able to pass a bill prior to the elections they feel like i to some extent they stay small blood on the water when it comes to linking trump to saudi arabia. and they see yemen is as a key potential opportunity for that that being said you know as someone who focuses more on domestic politics in yemen on the domestic politics in the states i think there really is a danger within seeing yemen over the through the eyes of me through seeing all

of this through the eyes of yemen's domestic versus the united states is domestic politics ok so in a lot of ways there's there's a we're there's a worry of what is an extremely calm complicated conflict in yemen being being used for for political hits in many regards ok and i think that's actually a great point we will we will definitely come back to that point catherine same question to you though do you think this is the right time to get some sort of action on this. you know i do i do i think i agree with scott's i mean critically now is to time you know to to address the yemeni issue that i also agree with adam in this sound stuff yemen is indeed very complicated and i don't think anyone in washington not even democrats are actually willing to drop so do. you know as far as a point their foreign policy is concerned is will still be a key ally in the region for the u.s.

but i think that now we moving forward to to have a different formulation of foreign policy as far as the saudi are concerned and the kind of position that would be given moving forward and i think that you know we seeing these this is a break now occurring you know away from haven't been some of the policies because he has failed not just in yemen but in regards to many other duties and i think that this will be reflected and it's maybe a signal from washington maybe the need for a change of the guard in riyadh and that even though the u.s. is still willing to of course to support the saudi for very obvious geopolitical reason that this support will be very different and i mean we have to remember too that the many war crimes committed committed in yemen on a daily basis by the saudi and of course the u.a.e. actually on account of your u.s. intelligence and so questions needs to be answered and i think that the u.s. doesn't want to get to that point where the war ends and questions are being leveled at washington i don't think that anyone wants to be in that position and of

course we're moving towards you know election time the presidential election will i mean the race will begin quite soon so i think that people want to position themselves and try to use yemen as a kind of you know political called. scott why their reluctance on the part of donald trump to. to push the kingdom to push saudi arabia it is it can't really just be about money. that's part of it we know there were discussions between people around trump with the saudis and with the u.a.e. just before trump took office and just afterwards in terms of i took office around various projects we know that specifically donald trump son in law jerry question or who has sort of been designated the unofficial middle east envoy for the ministration is very close to the saudis including the mahomedan solomon we know that that's one reason why trump has tried to resist his intelligence agencies over the sochi affair and why donald trump has gone so far as to support saudi arabia

against its gulf neighbor qatar when the saudis put the blockade on in may of two thousand and seventeen and trump said oh it must be because the qatari support terrorist so all of that is in the mix but i think the main thing here is that donald trump actually knows very little about what is going on within yemen and the fact is is that no one has clean hands here the americans don't have clean hands the saudis don't have clean hands the u.a.e. doesn't have clean hands iran doesn't have clean hands and the real question here is whether this u.s. congressional initiative not only might restrict some american arms that go toward saudi arabia but in some sub small way linking up with the yemeni domestic space that i'm not so well will open up some type of move towards political talks we had a slaughter of that at the end of november but it's sort of came it's gone will those talks be revived so that we can get everyone out of the conflict and reduce the death toll that is affected millions of young unease and adam right before we

brought you on and brought you into the conversation we played a little bit about some comments from senator bernie sanders where he said that you know in many ways see weapons there that have you know made in the u.s. there and and they say that america is playing a big role and killing in many ways you know you many you know you many politics what how is the u.s. perceived there. i mean to be honest when you're in it when it comes to the opinion of the u.s. and yemen they can't really win of it's and it's a difficult position in the sense that you're in even to the extent that you have many people even that are that are pro coalition that are somewhat frustrated with the u.s. role feeling that they haven't been giving even enough. even enough effort of support to the saudis but i think at the end of the day there is widespread acknowledgement that not just the united states but you know if you're sort of coordination between the u.s. and other key powers is what's going to be essential. to bringing this conflict some sort of resolution you have seen that sort of flutter of activity particularly

secretary not as we've seen is rather key in terms of the work behind the scenes that ended up leading to the signing of an agreement in sweden late at the end of last year even before that you did have efforts albeit in the obama administration coming from secretary kerry. to to sort of push things forward when it comes to when it comes to a potential solution in yemen but i think really when you look at u.s. policy in yemen even beyond the issue of of airstrikes or of discipline support the coalition there is really a sense particularly now that not us has has left the administration that there is a real vacancy no one is taking the lead on yemen within the trumpet ministrations so let me lead to better going what we we are sort of the no that's not but i was going to get you there because i am it is it is it just enough the that politicians want to disengage i mean what it's got to be more than that what else should the u.s. be doing besides just disengaging that's not that may help obviously in the immediate

sea but what does that really do to solve the bigger issue of yemen. oh exactly i mean something like ending airstrikes maybe or excuse me adding direct u.s. support to the coalition may be something that could be symbolically used as a victory for some people but it's something that absence of a wider political process may well have very little effect and indeed may end up actually helping the who is so absent the real key more than anything is you need i think a degree of greater united states leadership particularly in coordination with american allies in europe and involving greater and more more productive channels with with the gulf states and other regional actors. what yemen needs is a political process and you've seen the inklings of a beginning of a political process here that it least for now it's it's something that really does need a key power like for example the united states where particularly the u.s. and at the u.k. really pushing things along further scott is that going to happen well i think that

there are a couple problems here one is that the u.k. is almost paralyzed right now because of braga and the mess that's happening to must apply so even though they have been the penholder for yemen i think they are sort of being pushed off to the side i think there's a question about where the european union goes if it intervenes but i think beyond this is this could be a u.n. led process and it has been a u.s. led process through gryphus for example to get those talks at the end of november but what you have to have is first of all an incentive for the yemeni government come to come to the table and i think that only comes if they feel like that saudi isn't going to come to their aid in any point and that's where this pressure is important so if they feel like they have to come to talk because saudi arabia can't just simply cover them that's on one side but the other question is. what makes the hutus come to the table what makes the hoot insurgency come to the table and i think that means they have to feel like they can't count on iran to give them cover to continue to refrain from going into talks is only when all external powers sort

of pull back the i think the u.s. gets the real space to start to work with local groups within yemen to get a meaningful political process catherine what could saudi arabia possibly say that they have been accomplishing in yemen besides killing thousands of people and destroying that country. not much quite frankly i mean i understand that so durable when in to try to to kind of. you know it's a gemini in the region and actually ensure that whatever transition of power whatever you know yes yemen's political landscape would actually be in its favor and that riyadh would continue to to exert great pressure on the yemenis future political future but they haven't they haven't manifested that at all if anything i think they exploded yemen even more so i mean it was already a very fragmented very tribal country its infrastructure had to have been completely destroyed and that would lead to further instability you know poverty

will drive people maybe to radicalization so there's a real issue where you know yemen is i would say kind of landscape has been completely exploded and it will take decades to actually fix that so we're not in terms of the kind of future that so do i can hope for in yemen or the footprint that we will have will be very difficult i don't think that the yemeni will forgive anytime soon what has happened to them civilians have suffered tremendously under saudia this matriarchy patients and i mean one of the matriculation we have to remember that i den is still under occupation it's going to be very difficult how do you move forward in formulate peace when tensions and i think angle has you know has risen to such an extent that people would want to seek revenge and i don't think that you know relations will be very positive in diffused so we would need definitely to have different regional power to come into you know yemen and try to to formulate a peaceful constructive peace but i don't think that this i would have achieved

anything i don't think that they will achieve anything if they continue to to think in terms of politics in terms of belligerence and this is what is coming out of rehab systematically imagine themself in sanctions and in military intervention is that which is not good it's not good for the regions that it's not good you know in any case or any way shape or form i don't thing. anyway so this is going to be quite difficult but i do think however that this saudi two down just on the only way forward now would be to have a peace and this needs to happen politically how this is going to happen i think is going to be very difficult because they're going to need to acknowledge the fact for example that the unsubtle movement is not going anywhere and they will have to contend with them. like for you to weigh in on that. yeah i mean i i would push back on at the assertion that this out of the coalition hasn't accomplished anything i mean when we look at it when the coalition's intervention began that was his are on the verge of of controlling the entire country at this point there with

these have been in retraction they've lost control of god and they've lost not to both parts of ties they're currently under pressure and who data you know there have been military gains has it been you know the grand victory that i think many people were expecting of course it's a different story but to say to deny the fact that there have been military gains. and it was a bit complicated when it comes to the saudi role in yemen i think this is also something that's kind of complicates this kind of congressional action on on from the from the u.s. as well let's not forget that regardless of the situation now at the end of the day saudi arabia and yemen are neighbors yemen's longer term stability is something that's a key interest for saudi arabia so the question is how will you bring you don't pull open these sort of development rebuilding contacts and keep these channels open because at the end of the day this is going to be a key thing moving forward i think even yemenis that i speak to that are broadly opposed to saudi arabia's current military intervention in the country when it

comes to the idea of there being a saudi role in rebuilding which are let's be honest you're already seeing the saudis engage in a bit of rebuilding in areas like not have in the south of the country etc addict a decent degree of development and humanitarian aid going in albeit while the bombing is contained right exactly they're still bombing so i mean it's a balance but i'm saying it's kind of a it's kind of a mixed bag and i think you've seen this kind of from the reactions from many many yemenis to this congressional action yemenis or are deeply divided with regards to how how they view this so i think moving forward it's really crucial to keep in mind the sort of the deep complications of how demis view not just this conflict but also international international reactions to it all right scott i know you're there and i'm going to come back to you but i see this look on catherine's face so i i want her to be able to respond to what adam was saying. not all i would say is

that i mean when adam is talking about the humanitarian existence yes i know that the claiming that you know they're trying to help rebuild patenting that's really the case i think that the main goal here you know when you mention matter for example is actually to to gain access and control over yemen natural resources and to try to control you know the what ways this is why it's and was actually ok it is to have an opening on to on to the sea in to ensure that the world all root is actually protected so i don't think interested in rebuilding yemen in any way shape or form other than securing access to natural resources and of course the waterways to kind of you know offer a buffer to to iran's influence in the region and i think this is not this is not the way to to to go about it because then you completely denying the fact that there are actual people in yemen millions of them and that those people we need to to have a future secure for them you know if we're talking about regional stability so i think these denial that people are actually then the completely exploded the social

fabric the political social fabric of yemen you know we lead to you know greater issues moving forward this saudi again are a completely checked into the fact that yemen has a very you know has a political reality and people have likes and desires and wants that might conflict with those of saudi arabia but it doesn't mean that they know then that we should not respect them i disagree with people but at the end of the day i think that political set of determination is the only way to promote a viable democracy in this needs to happen in yemen ok they certainly need to again to to come to terms that let me bring scott into this so scott you know the u.s. has been supporting saudi in this since two thousand and fifteen proceeding donald trump this goes back to the obama administration what has the u.s. policy but and thinking been towards yemen generally speaking. well in many ways and your previous just have brought this up young is just

a playground for wider interest it is a deadly playground not only for saudi goals in the region but for mohamed bin saw bowman's personal rise it's been a playground for the u.a.e. often overbooked and the hum of inside it's been a playground for the iranians in their contests regional influence and it's been a bit of a playground for the americans in the sense that yemen itself doesn't matter as much as what you do with saudi arabia what you do with saudi arabia when you have a split amongst the gulf states and clearly between saudi arabia qatar and most importantly and this i think does limit on how far congress can push the administration away from saudi including over yemen their ministration is in bed with saudi arabia because it wants regime change in iran and until you give up that policy of regime change in iran saudi arabia still has a leverage with the trump an illustration of like if congress or anyone else tries to push too hard a scholar might let me bring that up because we all i think it was you specifically that said that donald trump has bit at odds with his intelligence community just

this week the leaders in the intelligence community testified that iran is still complying with video even though donald trump backed it up where is this coming from. ripped it up hard to remember them for those intelligence services though which the cia the office of national intelligence they're coming at it from just a sheer assessment of what iran is doing but in that same administration you have a secretary of state might pompei o a national security advisor john bolton who are committed to they will call it this but they are committed to regime change in iran after shredding that nuclear deal so you've got a not only divided but a two faced administration and one face might be going towards a more realistic policy was saudi intelligence services but as long as you've got john bolton it might pompei o driving the idea that iran has to change then you don't have a consistent u.s. policy on iran on saudi arabia or on yemen so if this measure does get out of

congress bottom line scott do you think that donald trump will just will veto it will squash it and it will all have been for not. i think doesn't actually question because donald trump is so we can politically how many fights does he want to have i think it turns a lot on what jarrett cushion or says in his ear i think it turns a lot on what the national security advisor john bolton turns on presses him on but i think no i think it's a limited congressional measure which says the u.s. pulls back on some of its assistance he doesn't veto but if it's a war powers measure it which it says congress has the right rather than the president to dictate what should happen i think he will veto that because it's a challenge to his authority catherine your take on this how do you think this is going to play out out. i would agree with him i think it's going to be very difficult i really don't see i mean it really depends because i think if trump's can actually convince mohammed bin saddam monday he's a veto would come with a heavy price like you might actually go along with it that being said i don't

think any kind of food politically to antagonize congress for the mall you know especially given that we just came out a government shutdown and that they still the possibility of another so i don't see him doing that again we getting closer to the next presidential elections and he's going to need to think about getting reelected so he's going to have to pick his fight and whether or not he can actually win that one some no i'm not until i sure will but that being said i think that this. has such lesser it in washington it is a possibility but i think that default would be so grand full president trump that he might not want to step on that one but again i mean if anything he has been consistent and being very rational in his position so we're very very difficult to predict so that was a very unfair question in some ways for me to put to you all but thank you very much for the discussion i appreciate it and we will continue this discussion thank you to our gas adam bear and scott lucas and katherine checked out and thank you

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al-jazeera is fighting for his country venezuela's opposition leader outlines a plan to help his people. keeping the nuclear deal alive the e.u. announces a plan to bypass u.s. sanctions and to keep trading with iran. i'm daniel slime there in the brazilian amazon where indigenous communities are organizing after president bush sonora suggested they no longer have a place in modern society. i am. in greece demands the u.k. apologize for atrocities committed by british soldiers in cyprus back in the one nine hundred fifty s. . so venezuela's opposition leader has accused security forces of threatening his own family on where those spoke a short time ago at a university in caracas laying out his plans for the country he says special police have visited his home looking for his wife white who was trying to convince

military to withdraw their support for president maduro he says venezuela needs to be rebuilt and with the central elements of our plan to get back the state and place it in the service of the people the problems of the state are terror and fear the state uses these two things for social control the state is like the mafia no one can live on three dollars a month it's not a problem of the left or the right it's a problem of humanity. he's a lot in america edison to see in human life and could arcus busy times behind you tell us about where you are on what you've been hearing today. oh. yes come on it's been quite a busy day indeed an outside the apartment building where one white dog lives where he went in just a short while ago with members of the diplomatic corps members of the national assembly and supporters and he came out just a few moments ago to tell the crowd out here and the media that the members of the

security forces had come to his house his wife wasn't with him. his child is twenty month old child was and that he had rushed over here believing that something could happen to his family his wife was actually with him he asked all these people to accompany him what we got here they were gone and when he spoke a moment ago he said that it was clearly an attempt to try to intimidate him because they have been unable quote to intimidate them venezuelan people especially ahead of a huge mobilization a huge remarks that's been called for saturday which is expected to be a normas and that is what's happening right now before that come out he had been speaking from the central university of venezuela presenting his recovery plan for the country basically his economic plan that was he said going to focus especially on the need for humanitarian aid so that venezuelans could have access to food and water just as a start and while he was doing that he's gotten

a message that these security forces were at his home and that put into iraq and to that event come out with the one going to gave that that university his plans for the future is he giving the impression that he really believes he can become the president because as you know i've discussed before nicolas maduro is not the kind of man who would simply just step aside. absolutely and the answer is yes he is acting as though he's already the president the interim president didn't even say for how long that would be explained at the university that before this country can hold elections which will be as soon as possible they first have to sort of put humpty dumpty back together again make sure that people have the minimum conditions for electricity and full water some kind of stability that you know the details are still very very rough at this hour but absolutely clearly he's acting as though he's already the interim president with the recognition of dozens of countries from around the world and just earlier today

from the european parliament let me also just to tell you that while i'm gone was speaking at the university b. and i have to be at the interior minister went on television to announce that they had captured what he told a group of mercenaries and some terrorists what crossed over into venezuela trama colombia he said that at least three of them are former. colonel and the retired colonels in the venezuelan army and the family were trying to put together a plan a very well thought out plan they claim to have all the details to murder suspect and members of politicians and selected members of the military in a bid to quote enhanced the upheaval in the country and he said that they will be getting more details later on from all the latest from caracas with a latin american it is really seen newman thank you to see you. let's move to other news e.u. countries have devised a new payment system to allow them to trade with iran and bypass u.s.

sanctions their hope is to save the twenty fifteen iran nuclear deal that president donald trump pulled out from last year to iran says the mechanism is a first step there's a plan that would allow e.u. companies to trade with iran through a european payment channel which has been created by france germany and britain last year was president reimposed to tough sanctions on iran he warned countries against trying to sidestep the measures but the u.s. state department is now saying it doesn't expect this measure will affect its campaign of maximum economic pressure against iran but speaking in bucharest the use foreign policy chief reiterated her confidence in this new system establishing a special this week on this i believe the mechanism that we. needed to try to not to continue as for seeing in the nothing to support from our side. and we are discussing on saddam any chance of this and other regional issues talk to come down

just two days ago including our. transfer frantic relations i don't think that france is the country where this new system will be registered so here's more from the tasha butler in paris. well foreign ministers meeting in bucharest are supposed to give more details as to exactly how this transaction transaction payment channel will work it will not use dollars that is designed to contour bypass those u.s. sanctions were imposed on iran now what we understand is that it will be called in stocks it will be based in paris overseen by the german banking manager and will have a board in the united kingdom it's a joint effort and it really is aimed at trying to keep this iran nuclear deal alive in the beginning it will be used only for things like medicines medical devices some humanitarian items and food but it may be expanded but what most analysts say is that it isn't light on likely to be able to persuade

a big multinational companies in europe such as france's total or germany's daimler to start trading with iran again because they simply will not want to risk being penalized by u.s. sanctions when they really rely on the very lucrative u.s. dollar market but what this payment mechanism does do is it's europe sending a message of defiance if you like to the united states on the issue of the iran deal and also a clear message to iran that it wants to support this iran deal and is trying to do something about it and this is at a time even when relations between the european union and iran have deteriorated somewhat over the past months earlier we spoke to matthew go to see who is an economist at the vienna institute for international economic studies you told us multinational companies will actually struggle to use this new system. the pressure is still there so u.s. will put pressure on any companies on any multinational companies that want to deal

with iran so i think for a very longer time the nationals will have difficulties in having any relationship with iran but small medium enterprises could have trade with iran could even invest in iran and that will send a signal to the iranian market at least so earing in market in the past few months maybe six months ago it was in panic it went into panic now they will see this as a new settlement for their own businesses in iran and they can also reach out for other countries for instance if it is exporting its foodstuffs to iran iran can act as a transit hub to other countries to neighboring countries like afghanistan so that could somehow develop some. economy incentives in iran so that iran does not quickly go to recession donald trump says there will be no deal on trade with china until he has a sit down meeting with chinese leadership u.s. and chinese officials have been having talks in washington to try to end a dispute that seen the world's two largest economies impose trade tariffs on each

other now there are reports of a possible summit between trump and shoot him in next month the background here is that both leaders did agree to a ninety day truce in december but if there's no deal the truce will end in march and the u.s. will increase tariffs to an additional two hundred sixty seven billion dollars on chinese goods more with our white house correspondent kimberly halkett now kimberly this is classic donald trump isn't it he wants the big meeting there are meetings going on at a high level in washington but he wants the big photo op. yes absolutely the president self will be meeting in a couple of hours with the chinese vice premier but no deal until he meets with president xi at least according to donald trump donald did we get this indication on twitter but he's just been speaking in the last hour in the oval office saying that he believes that if a deal can be struck with china it will by far be the biggest trade deal ever made it has a very good chance of happening that he plans to go into detail on

a potential deal with president xi into everything was exactly his quote he says that he has a good relationship and there is a very good chance of this happening in terms of talks that would be discussed he said everything's on the table including intellectual property theft which has been an ongoing concern of the united states for more than a decade he also claims to take some credit saying that china has opened up because of us to financial services and things of the like so the president being very clear in the oval office of what he hopes to accomplish with a meeting that we should point out his aides didn't know anything about our white house producer chris shared in fact went up to speak to the press office shortly after donald trump announced he would be meeting with president xi saying oh you mean the meeting that none of us knew anything about so it's come as a bit of a shock and as you point out this is classic donald trump he does like to be there

to get them grab the big headlines and it seems that this is no exception can be the way donald trump talks about tariffs calls himself a tariff man in these that no hesitation putting these terms will. it's probably worth reminding our viewers the tariff not necessarily good for americans are you for certain parts of the economy. right so in this is been a tit for tat trade war war that's been going on for months while the united states has slapped tariffs on chinese goods coming into the united states there was also retaliation that was expected and promised by china for the import of u.s. goods goods into china so there have been u.s. businesses and companies particularly farmers some of those that have been trying to supporters that have been hurt by this in some of the rule states for example pork farmer soybean farmers those are very big products and hot commodities in china that they get from the united states so many of these people have been very.