as to what to do about the middle east positions that have held for very many years president trump seems to be jumping his own gun on twitter as you say we've heard that maybe this was coming next week i think the actual timing for it right now is because of what is happening next week and that's the annual gathering a pact which is a conference it's the most important conference of israeli american interest takes place every year in washington d.c. and prime minister netanyahu you just heard there is coming this year in person and he's also having a visit to the white house so this is clearly something that i think president trump wanted to give to prime minister netanyahu as a personal gift but remember it's also a political gift because right now we're in the middle of an israeli election campaign indeed and the international community recognizes as you say the golan heights a syrian territory under israeli occupation what consequences for the international order this u.s. decision. well i've been wandering around the united nations have spoken to

diplomats from a number of different countries that currently serve on the un security council shoppin takes a breath one very senior diplomat i spoke to hadn't heard the news oh dear oh no and then said oh well there are still security council and general assembly resolutions in place because the settled international position the position of the united nations of the security council of the cortex which the u.s. is also a member is that this is occupied territory the u.s. unilaterally change that they certainly can't change those resolutions and are the security council general assembly they wouldn't have the votes but it is i think a slow undermining potentially given the importance of the u.s. as the country that pays most of the bills here at the united nations all of the world order that we've seen for the last seventy years this is the un's charter and

certainly it goes against this chart look charter which came into force after the second world war that you should gain territory by invading someone else's country now that's what israel effectively did during the arab israeli war of one thousand nine hundred sixty seven they took the golan heights and the u.s. if not the rest of the world right now the u.s. seems to be now fifty two years later warning that thank you james bays our diplomatic editor live at the united nations let's cross over now to harry fossett in jerusalem how is james said that this decision by the trump administration coming as these really prime ministers about to visit washington also a decision that comes just two weeks before the israeli elections what implications . well i think the implications were pretty clear in benjamin netanyahu is broad smile at that news conference where he was standing with my pump repeatedly thanking the u.s. secretary of state the u.s.

president and america for what he said was a historic moment there were hugs there were smiles there was high emotion from benjamin netanyahu because he recognizes that this is a very important gift from president trump just a couple of weeks out from the election on april the ninth this is an election that has been very much characterized by netanyahu drawing on his past experience and his image here very carefully tended image as the steward of israeli security contrasting that with his main opponent and a strong opponent in the former israeli army chief benny gantz who is standing against him in a coalition with another party netanyahu is able to pivot from characterizing him as weak and left talking about a scandal from last week report that iran had hacked his phone and that there could be some compromising information on it leaving him open to iranian blackmail and at the same time he can stand with the u.s.

secretary of state welcoming this very significant moment for him just just days away from this reelection i mean america has intervened in israeli elections before bill clinton has admitted that he tried to help get shimon peres elected ahead of benjamin and you know in one thousand nine hundred six but this is pretty heavy stuff that dying from has just laid on the israeli electorate just a few days out and as james mentioned harry since taking office president trump has at the end of the u.s. policy in the region recognizing jerusalem as israel's capital moving the u.s. embassy there from tel aviv what impact has all this what effect has this had on the regional dynamics and also on efforts to end the israeli palestinian conflict. well i mean that the main impact that it is a had so far has been purely to alienate the palestinians from the united states in an extremely dramatic way the palestinian leadership in ramallah has totally rejected the u.s. as any kind of broker in that peace process of course we are still waiting for the

trump plan which is now being trailed that it will come out at some stage after the israeli election obviously the people behind it cushion a green blatt trungpa will be working with benjamin netanyahu hence presumably the effort to try and ensure that he stays on the one question i suppose is whether given that trump has said in the past that he's given the israelis a lot already that they will it be expected to pay something towards the palestinians in that peace deal whether this extra cherry on top of all that in recognizing the golan heights is over in israeli territory in contradiction of international law whether that means that he's going to try to ask for something significant in return but given all indications coming from this white house so far that does seem unlikely and of course the palestinians have rejected it in advance in any case thank you for that harry fawcett reporting there live from western slim

. that's spente more ahead on this al-jazeera news hour including a daring rescue in mozambique where more than two hundred people have died and thousands are stranded since i q. and a dice struck a week ago and former brazilian president michel ten maire is the rest at a spot of a wide ranging corruption investigation and sports new rules to lower testosterone in female officer criticize unscientific be here to explain later in the program. the air. first three iraq where at least eighty three people are now known to have died after a ferry capsized in the northern city of mosul about two hundred people were on board the vessel on the tigris river they were celebrating the persian new year holiday of novels rescuers have pulled dozens of survivors from the water at the name is in baghdad forests joins us now with the latest natasha the death toll

again going up. that's correct fully the death toll is now at eighty three fifty five people have been pulled from the water according to the iraqi health ministry as i speak the iraqi prime minister has reached the accident site he is calling for an immediate investigation into the cause of this ferry accident although iraqi civil defense says it appears the cause of this ferry capsizing is due to the ferry carrying more passengers than the maximum capacity recommended three days of mourning have been called for in nineveh province mosul is the capital of that province and distraught relatives have also been arriving at the crash site demanding answers one man was begging police to take him to the banks of the tigris river he said my family is in the water my wife my daughter please take me to the other side the crowd holding him back and the police refusing to take him

to the base of the tigris river another man said that he witnessed the accident and he said that these ferries are quote old and have lax security this happened as you mentioned on a national holiday here in iraq as people in mosul more weary mosul were celebrating the day looking for an escape at an amusement park along the banks of the tigers river it's estimated that there were two hundred people on board that ferry and we've already been told by the government that many of those victims were women and children it's important to note fully that the people of mosul have really been through a lot it's a beleaguered city of beleaguered people they were terrorized by eisel and of course since the battle to purge eisel a good chunk about half of the city has been destroyed with people living in very desperate circumstances so you can imagine that this trip to the amusement park was

an escape if you will from the. daily miseries the now of course dozens of family are dealing with yet another tragedy natasha thank you very much for that update natasha go named live for us in baghdad and at least thirty migrants are believed to be missing are missing in fact after a boat carrying almost fifty people sank off the libyan coast of the city of this week sixteen migrants were rescued libya's western coast remains a focal point for migrants trying to reach europe via the mediterranean now a devastating storm is affecting tens of thousands of people across southern africa cyclonic began as a tropical storm earlier this week before intensifying off the western coast of madagascar it hit land in mozambique on thursday with winds of up to one hundred seventy kilometers an hour pounding the city of beirut it then moved inland causing

further destruction through the weekend then tracked west striking neighboring zimbabwe malawi also experienced severe rain flooding and damage from the high winds it flattened buildings and put the lives of millions risk now the storm is affecting tens of thousands of people across southern africa rescue team in mozambique have extended their search for survivors who are still trapped in flooded areas this footage shows an emergency team rescuing stranded villages in beirut about fifteen thousand people are stranded aid has been slow to reach affected villages because the infrastructure is badly damaged the sign has killed at least four hundred people in malawi zimbabwe and mozambique in a moment we'll hear from markham webb who is in the city of in mozambique but first tony berkley has this report from beirut. but for us here in the port city of bear. the roofs of buildings peep out from the water

that's all that's left of this town by floodwater that almost a week ago. was a province it's not known how many people made it out safely. on stagnant water allies across the horizon on an isolated piece of dry land rescue workers drop off desperately needed food hundreds of people queue for what could be their only meal in days. their little guy left. i. was. a little like. as we fly for we see what was once a sports ground now a temporary shelter for hundreds of people who are stranded sit wait and sleep on a back to grandstand a short unsubtle group preview from floodwaters. then

a call comes through to save a critically ill patient this woman is pregnant and needs medical help as quickly as possible. ten minute flights between flood ravaged and the safety of bear a city maybe her only chance initial concern about how psycho to die would impact central mozambique has been replaced by a widespread flooding a growing number of deaths and the displacement of thousands of people this is just one rescue of what aid agencies say could be thousands more. al-jazeera muslim beak. more helicopters were coming on friday and they hope to improve the situation but the problem is getting through and clean drinking water to those people and of course the longer they go without water the more the temptation is to drink unclean water and that can lead to water borne diseases like dispensary and

diarrhea and that can cause serious repercussions so there is an urgent need here to get aid to these people quickly and get the most final people out the death toll at the moment stands at something like two hundred seventeen but the president of mozambique said that's probably easily going to rise in the coming days the problem is getting to these outlying areas and finding out exactly what the scale of the problem is to be taking the small hamlets like the one i'm standing in now they're also near boozy boozy a very vulnerable area about four hours away from zero now people are either being taken come bringing water here to be are all being taken to smaller patches of land which are above the water levels closer to bluesy now because he has an additional problem the two big downs in mozambique which are overflowing they've got to have the water released in a controlled way but they just fear that if this is not done properly it will cause a surge and goosing in particular will be very vulnerable to that surge so you know although the weather has improved the water line is receding those still inherent

risks on a daily basis here. what we can see here which is a bridge too severely damaged when the rental rain high came brought called the river to swell this river just a few days ago with above the water levels above where i'm standing now has severely damaged this bridge and took out a whole section on the far side that people have got on both sides in vehicles people are managing to cross by climbing up and down the pillars on the bridge with the help of a cable and then scrambling across it's not very safe that people really need to get around to find out if their relative has survived because there's no phone communications in order to get food and people who are stuck and isolated on the other side in this. big there is. still a story that i think throughout the whole of when to mozambique we traveled along that road yesterday we got across several bridges that were broken like this and that reduced the whole of the central region into a series of islands in which there are many people in need people whose homes were flooded crops were destroyed people who need food and now no road access to get

emergency support to the more humanitarian aid so that we waiting to get help. in afghanistan at least six people have been killed in bomb attacks in the capital kabul the health ministry says at least twenty three others were injured at a ceremony to mark the persian new year police say the explosions were caused by three remotely detonated devices an explosion at a chemical factory in eastern china has killed at least six people and injured thirty others it happened in young chang in junk so province windows in the neighboring residential area were smashed by the force of the explosion adrian brown has more from beijing. well the investigation into this latest explosion at a chemical plant in eastern china is now underway this was a very powerful blast several hours after it there was still a large plume of smoke hanging over the industrial complex a number of people were injured at least thirty they're being treated in hospital

so it's possible the death toll could continue to rise at least thirty people though were rescued many of them workers from this chemical factory now we know that at least ten schools are within a five kilometer radius of this side of course that is one small raise questions about why people are able to live a permitted to live so close to industrial estates where these dangerous chemicals are produced now sadly industrial accidents like this are not rare in china there have been at least four serious ones during the past five years the most serious of which was in the northeastern city of to engine in august two thousand and fifteen when a hundred sixty five people were killed after an explosion at a chemical storage plant now china as i say does not have a particularly good record when it comes to industrial safety worker safety in two

thousand and seventeen at least thirty eight thousand workers died in accidents in factories and mines but that was a twelve percent fall on the previous year it is improving china's government says it's improving but clearly the government has a long way to go to improve on that safety record. all right still ahead on this news hour albania bets big on tourism with a notch construction project but ethnic greeks complain it's being built on stolen land and travel mounds fall jarius president will tell you why his own party has not stopped supporting him and supports the biggest names in tennis get a new home at an american football stadium to stay with us.

once again we got the weather calming down at long last cross the middle east bits and pieces the cloud and rain yet in the forecast of the moment just around southern parts of the caspian sea northern areas of iraq could see a little bit of wet weather but it's making its way further east was brought to skies coming back in behind just notice a few showers up towards our media towards georgia as well in between the caspian and the black sea fight in dry just around that eastern side of the med by richard around twenty celsius will be off as we go on through the next couple of days and a little more cloud just starting to slide its way into those central parts and cloud that we have around iran that will make its way towards afghanistan still a chance of want to wintry showers but it's improving as because through the next day or so just notice this area now towards a mob because a little bit of wet weather around the arabian peninsula over the next day also a few spots of rain likely as we go on through friday i think more so as we push on into sas day around the u.a.e. over towards amman a little bit of cloud there could produce your spot of right to it to doha this

week a but not too much to speak of still a few showers on a friday in sioux mozambique in the society zimbabwe can still see that legacy of plowed lurking away across the mozambique channel is still the sense that. it's. twenty five after independence. day to become. defendants are. preparing for the possibility of. a witness documentary on. bikes and the story.

to be heard. and the story needs to be told people are. has teens on the ground. and. on. the as. you're watching the news hour on al-jazeera are with me for the back to a reminder of our top stories e.u. leaders have agreed to delay breaks it until may twenty second but only if teresa mayes deal is approved by the british parliament first that vote is taking place

makes week days before the current deadline for the u.k.'s exit from the block on march twenty ninth israel's prime minister says donald trump has made history with his announcement that it's time the u.s. fully recognized israel's sovereignty over the golan heights israel captured the spirit territory during the six day war in one nine hundred sixty seven the international community has long considered the golan heights syrian territory under israeli occupation and at least eighty three people have died after a ferry capsized in northern iraq thousands of survivors have been pulled from the waters of the tigris river in mosul about two hundred people were on board the ferry when a twenty. the future of the algerian president. is in doubt following a decision by the ruling party to withdraw its support but that's unlikely to satisfy protests says who don't just want the president to go but the entire establishment that has backed him until now mohammed john john has are reports. in

algeria judges have joined demonstrations that have been going on for almost a month thursday sittin outside a local court in the capital was meant to showcase solidarity with more than one thousand other judges who refused to oversee the upcoming election if president. was a candidate another setback for beautiful who just a day earlier appeared to have been deserted by his own party leader. the members of the national liberation party fully support the popular movement and will defend with all sincerity in order to achieve the objectives according to a clear roadmap many in algeria believe the eighty two year old would flee may be unfit to govern due to his health. the country's newly appointed foreign minister extended a conciliatory hand to the protest movement the likes of which algeria has not seen for decades ok then and one fee and what the solution lies in dialogue the algerian state is fully ready for dialogue moreover it is fully ready to welcome the

representative of the opposition and civil society as members a new government that is being formed now. a constructive dialogue is the only way capable of finding successful solutions that meet people's expectations in the state's responsibilities. the demonstrations led by the young have already scored success which if liko was forced to withdraw from the possibility of a fifth term but he also postponed polls which were due in april with no new date set and he remains the nominal head of the transition process. many protesters note ironically that they'd asked for elections without beautifully but what they've got is beautifully still in power and nowhere lections complicating matters even further is the fact that protesters want to see more than just go they also like to see the ouster of the entire establishment that has backed him until now which means the protests look set to continue. would have luka and his f.l. and party have not ruled out jury alone also at the top table is

a coalition of business interests and the military on tuesday on syria's army chief declared that the public has expressed noble aims during the demonstrations analysts believe those words to be the strongest signal yet that the military may be distancing itself from beautifully mohammed. to new zealand's now on friday marks one week since if the people were killed in a gun attack at two mosques in the city of christchurch relatives of the victims and members of the muslim community are expected to return to the scene of the attacks for the very first time for friday prayers andrew thomas joins us now live from christchurch new zealand and to tell us about the mood and what's planned on friday. for this is obviously a very significant day a week from the horrific attacks of last friday and of course the first on the muslims in this city have gathered for the friday prayers now it was hoped that the alamo mosque down the road behind me on the right hand side and the lynnwood most

both of those attacked last friday would be open that have been planed up refer based on that muslims will be able to go inside. the pray in the last hour i've heard from the christ church mayor and she says unfortunately the cleanup process just hasn't been fast enough so the hour nor most certainly won't actually be open but instead it's a park the really opposite the mosque and most things indeed anyone who wants to come along will be free to join in the prayers at one thirty lunch time local time here today but not actually inside it now there are various events planned for friday just under a new zealand's prime minister as promised a two minute silence nationwide at one thirty two pm that's midnight thirty g.m.t. or midnight thirty two g.m.t. and that will be respected she says she hopes by all new zealanders and then and this is unprecedented the muslim call to prayer will be broadcast over television networks and radio networks nationwide as well as

a mark of respect the president going to half an hour the prime minister will then make some comments and then the official events will and we're expecting hundreds if not thousands of people opposite yeah well no mosque as well as all of that though there is the song business of burying the dead all the bodies have now been identified and most of the fifty killed have now been returned to their families for burial on thursday i was very privileged to be invited to a funeral of the first and eldest victim to have been killed. in the life haji daoud nabil loved motorbikes so his sons arranged for members of a club to lead his funeral cortege nabil was the first and at seventy one the eldest person shot and killed last friday in christchurch witnesses say he greeted the gunman at the door of the al nor mosque not realizing his intent his family is

profoundly proud of his spinal words of welcome. on thursday hundreds of people came to the muslim section of christ churches memorial park cemetery to pay their last respects and reflect on his life he was the first in new zealand anya's search to accomplish a mosque in he built the allure mosque in is the founder so many people are being buried this week there's a marquee at the cemetery in which to conduct formalities the greeting of and grieving over nobby's body here's why died in teary youngest granddaughter his wife distraught and a friend comforting one of his sons after the funeral prayer. this is now the when he first came to new zealand a young engineer who established a business mending damaged cars he made

a success of life in new zealand many friends helped carry his coffin. graveside more tears and more prayers eleven victims were buried before nabil thirty eight more to follow all on our identified after days of investigation by police and the coroner now. used to be lowered gently into the ground. after all the trauma and then the bureaucracy of the last week finally isn't about how dowden are being died but rather how he lived who he was what he did and the legacy he's leaving behind that legacy includes five children and knowing grandchildren and the memory of a kind man dad had a good heart a loving father and welcome even what it is. a good man for muslim relies on. for our family

a big loss. let's make. hodgy doubt navin will forever stay here but online his final words are now travelling and. it was a very very sad day. there are a couple other significant announcements that came on the state news in as prime minister just announced the long awaited or so long awaited awaited since last friday's gun reforms and we'll hear more about exactly what she is introducing that in a moment there was also a statement from the place but it was state that the place had made when they brought the alleged gunman to cool a few days ago they accused him of having murdered just one person initially really to get him in the system because obviously momenta trials charges i should say will

follow but the person they accused him of murdering is actually alive and well rather embarrassing for the place the fifty victims but the perp to kill a person they charge him with murdering is actually find the place very red faced about that but they say when he appears in court on april the fifth a raft of charges will follow andrew thank you very much for that andrew thomas live for a scene christchurch and as andrew mentioned the new zealand prime minister has moved swiftly to make changes to gun nonce just days after the mass shootings all military style semi automatic weapons an assault rifles are effectively banned immediately when he has more now from christchurch. less than a week after fifty people were murdered prime minister just in the right turn and those changes to gun laws that she says will make new zealand safer today i'm announcing that new zealand will been all military style simi or medic weapons we will also have been or assault rifles we will ban all cry

capacity magazines. we will ban or pats with the ability to convey seemingly or a medical or any other type of firearm into a military style seamy automatic weapon just in drug don't expect the laws to be passed in three weeks and in the meantime the weapons have been reclassified meaning owners will have to apply for new licenses the message from the prime minister to those gun owners is don't bother trying. the gunman who is alleged to have attacked the mosque sport assault rifles legally with a license he then modified them using parts he purchased online he was able to fire multiple rounds quickly the guns he used will now be illegal and the loophole he took advantage of to modify them closed on monday as cabinet met to agree on the law changes the owner of new zealand's largest gun seller held a media conference in christchurch he said he had previously sold four guns to the

suspect in the attack but couldn't be sure if any of them we used last friday and he wouldn't be drawn into the issue of gun laws to buy differently will continue as it appears will more life but this particular diary is not of they're out of the ground by the government says it will buy weapons off owners in a plan things will cost up to one hundred forty million dollars some have already started handing this back to the police but with no gun register in new zealand it's not known how many are out there tell me the last week or so a lot of people been buying up lots but i mean. they are going to have to look at themselves especially the hard stuff mayor and relinquish them and that simple i think it's a step on the right direction something must change spaced on the last experience i know some people could see this is a reaction. crossed reaction because of one person the consequences and what we've

seen is this terrible and something must change the prime minister says the new laws are just the beginning she says one stop passed will be a broader review of regulations to try to ensure new zealand never sees another mass killing wayne hay al jazeera christchurch. brazil's former president michel to mare has been arrested in connection with the country's largest corruption scandal ten marriage repeatedly denied any wrongdoing his arrest is part of a non-trained best occasion into corruption and racketeering is led to the detention of several politicians and business leaders stanchion now has more so dramatic scenes outside the house of former president michel temora ansel powell where a special task force as part of the wider operation call was. arrested him in the early hours of the morning they since flown him to rio de janeiro the state of rio de janeiro which is at the center of the investigation accusations that bribes were .