thank you but don't think that. one german and i'm not the new germans on al-jazeera. in fact both sides will pay both sides ok and these things $1.00 of donald trump's top economic advisers admits americans will also pay the price for u.s. tariffs on chinese goods. i don't know this is their life and also coming up calling their bluff an iranian military commander accuses the united states of playing psychological warfare. filipinas very timid and seen as a test for president rhodri could deter these controversial policies. and cracking down on colombia's cartels we look at how the fight to eradicate cocaine

trafficking is an uphill battle. so one of president ronald trump's top economic advisers has admitted american businesses will soften from tariffs on chinese goods laurie could lose comments contradict his claim that it will only be china that pays united states place a 2 $100000000000.00 tariffs on chinese imports on friday and that amounts to 25 percent tax on goods it coincided with the failure by both sides to reach a deal and the latest round of trade talks in washington. both sides will take and these things and of course it was a tariff on goods coming into the country the chinese aren't paying no but the chinese will suffer g.d.p. losses and so forth with respect to a diminishing export market and goods today may need for their own i understand this because the president says china doesn't china it pays the terrace they may

suffer consequences but it's the u.s. businesses and u.s. consumers who pay correct and yes to some extent and you know i don't disagree with that again both sides both sides will suffer on this. meanwhile trump has since restated his claim that it will be the united states that benefits from the new import tax a few hours ago he tweeted we are right where we want to be with china remember they broke the deal with us and trying to really go shape we'll be taking in tens of billions of dollars in tariffs from china products can make it themselves in the usa or buy it from non-tariff countries more now for major brown in beijing for the details on how china is responding. china has has vowed that it will take countermeasures but of course on the issue of tariffs its options are somewhat narrower than those of the united states because china exports far more to the us than the us does to china so you know i think it's going to be a sense really of china weighing up what he what it's going to do and you know i

think at the moment that that the language you actually hearing from chinese leaders which is quite interesting is actually very measured and very moderate but in the chinese language media if here in china the the language is far harsher the the global times newspaper for instance carried a very sort of belligerent editorial on monday saying that the u.s. approach at the moment was in its words totally useless and that china was prepared for the worst case scenario and i think the thrust of what chinese media is saying is a century this that the china's pain threshold is far higher than that of people in the united states you know china is aware china's leaders know that on this issue the democrats are right behind president donald trump but they also know that the people who are hurting in the united states at the moment include farmers in some

of those swing states who may not be able to endure a 2nd year of losses and may not be so supportive of president trump now that we're entering the electoral cycle in the united states saudi arabia says 2 of its oil tankers has suffered significant damage in an attack on cargo ships off the u. easy eastern coast the u.s. government says 4 commercial ships were subject to sabotage early on sunday it says this happened close to the port fujita authorities say there were no casualties has been no independent confirmation of the incident when george lakoff hero is a fellow with gulf state analytics and he says the incident raises the stakes in an already tense region. as the white house is intensifying its so-called the maximum pressure campaign on the islamic republic officials in tehran are also considering what options they have to put pressure on iran as adversaries for

a long time and people have speculated about as soon ario whereby the hero ronnie and his close the strait of hormuz located right next to this incident and this is certainly something that raises the stakes for all players internationally given how much oil transits this artery separating the arabian peninsula from iran but i think there's no doubt that you're going to see. many voices not only in formal media but also in social media trying to spin this episode to further their own narratives in their own interests during this very sensitive period of time. the commander of iran's elite military units the revolutionary guard says the u.s. does not have the ability to wage a war against his country he also described the deployment of extra u.s. warships and fighter aircraft in the region as psychological warfare the pentagon says iranian aggression is the reason why it did so the increased u.s.

military presence was discussed in the iranian parliament on sunday president hassan rouhani unity in the face of pressure that he calls from president it has more now from tehran. while it is a matter of routine for the new head of the islamic revolutionary guard corps to address iranian members of parliament and answer their questions major general turn comes at a time of heightened tensions with the united states the new i.r. g.c. chief assured m.p.'s that a war with the united states is unlikely because americans know the closer their military hardware comes to iranian territory the more vulnerable it becomes to iranian defenses and iranian firepower the head of the air force was also present and reinforced his boss's comments saying warplanes and warships that represented a threat in the past have since become an opportunity and potential targets since moving closer to iran shores following the briefing a senior m.p. and the head of parliament's national security and foreign policy commission said

iran can hit targets up to 2000 kilometers away and estimated that american ships are at most 500 kilometers away that might put them somewhere in the arabian sea or perhaps in the gulf of oman so the message this day is that iranian forces are watching and waiting and are ready to respond to any perceived threats from u.s. forces at their doorstep. but meanwhile the former u.s. defense secretary has criticized u.s. president ultram for tightening sanctions on iran for military deployments to the gulf robert gates said washington and tehran need to return to the negotiating table i think that. there's a conflict between the united states and iran would have tremendous unforseen consequences in the middle east i think would be very dangerous so i think that the strategy needs to be how in fact do you get the iranians back to the negotiating table and understanding that the agree that whatever agreement emerges has to be

broader and has to deal with some of these other issues well let's hear now from school groups a former u.s. assistant secretary of defense and he says even if actual conflict is not the intention the latest deployments increases the chances of a possible skirmish. when you will the chariots task force plus another ship plus you know of bombers that are capable of carrying nuclear weapons into an area you take a chance on this getting out of hand with the iranians themselves us say you know if you try to we're talk to us you know if you're not going to be very successful we you know we can handle it so you really do have to be careful you put a lot of forces in there and something could happen even if you don't intend it to john bolton has been talking with 20 years about attacking iran and getting rid of the car the car got a car got government trump on the other hand i think he believes putting these

forces in you can pressure iran to come back to the table and get a better deal because he sees himself as the ultimate dealmaker which is what he for example has been trying with north korea for the past year very unsuccessfully i might add there's no doubt about the fact that we have crippled iran's economy by putting this sanctions on unending the waivers for companies to buy a rainy unoiled and this is what they might think is a way to get back at the united states and its allies for for doing not and then of course you could have a global international of crisis and there would be demands on the united states to use its kariya gas for still reopen the straits it's gotta be up to the europeans and even the russians and the chinese to convince the united states to get back to the table as bob gates says there are a couple of technical issues you might work out without changing the essence of the

deal but if you could change you this was the sanctions and iran starts a nuclear rising again and you have a real problem estie ultimately a threat in that area is to have a nuclear arms race between iran and some of the us allies like saudi arabia and the u.a.e. . sri lanka's government has banned a number of social media platforms following violence in parts of the country and overnight curfew was imposed in some areas after mosques were attacked all this comes just a month after churches and hotels were targeted in bombings on easter sunday when elfin and as more from killing in northern sri lanka. social media networks once again under restriction by the sri lankan government i spoke to the information department direct short while ago and he said that one of the main reasons was to clamp down on tensions on incidents that have been erupting over the last 48 hours

we did see yesterday in chillout to the northwest of the country there was an incident where someone had posted on social media some comments which was seen as offensive there was a crowd that gathered outside his place of business obviously there was an exchange there was weiland and this continued later on in the evening where we saw at least 3 places in the country where there was a police imposed in the police administrative area so the government basically using this as this is the long term measure but it is basically a tactic to clamp down to dampen any tensions that might erupt obviously a time where there are a lot of fears a lot of sort of concern regarding the whole specter of full of the attacks i mean just this morning on my phone i got at least 3 messages you know warning of potential attacks all in the backdrop of assurance from the government from the

army command that they have got a handle on the situation but for people that taking no chances as you can see the school behind me here in killeen and she one of the biggest government schools there's a heavy security presence as their reason schools throughout the country catholic schools yet to reopen after the easter sunday bombing so people are not willing to take chances. so the head here announced there are indians votes in one of the most polarizing lections ever. and protests isn't been enough still demanding the president resign after days of violent demonstrations. hello again and welcome back or here across much of the levant we are looking at fairly nice conditions the rain that we saw across much of turkey is finally coming

to an end and we're going to be seeing some better weather conditions across much of that area some of those showers are going across parts of the caspian so far back cool not a bad day at 25 degrees but what could be see some clouds rolling through there baghdad though your temperatures are going up from 39 degrees to about 40 degrees as we go towards tuesday and windy conditions across the gulf now that's going to be a problem here in doha as we go towards the the 2nd or 3rd day of the week too because those winds can be quite gusty but temperatures are going to be coming up as well here on monday 40 degrees expected high for delta but as we go towards tuesday and the winds coming up to it it's going to be about $42.00 degrees but it will be dry so it's not as bad as it could be over here towards abu dhabi about 34 in the scott and about $35.00 degrees well here across parts of southern africa it is going to be clear and sunny for many locations temperatures into the mid twenty's across much of the area there is could be some clouds across much of southern africa with cape town a cloudy day for you at about $22.00 degrees but as we go towards tuesday things

get a little bit cloudy in that area but over here towards medicare it is looking quite nice view we do expect to see a temperature there of about 26 degrees there. the weather sponsored by countdown. but i mean if every weekly news anchor brings a seemingly simple breaking stories and then of course there's donald trump town it's a blouse. that's right out of the script that calls for the an aisle ation of israel that is not what that phrase means i'll be listening post as we turn the cameras on the media focus on how they were caught on the story. in bad news a free palestine. on al-jazeera.

but again you're watching out 0 a reminder the top stories this hour one of president donald trump's top economic advisers has admitted that the u.s. businesses will suffer from tops on chinese goods or he could lose comments contradict trump's claim that it will only be china that pays united states placed a $200000000000.00 terms on chinese imports on friday. sri lanka has banned some social media platforms and has imposed overnight curfews in areas following violence in the aftermath of last month's easter sunday bombings mosques and muslim shops were attacked in the western town of chill just north of the capital colombo . and the commander of iran's revolutionary guard says united states does not have the ability to wage war against his country he described the deployment of extra u.s. warships and aircraft to the middle east as psychological warfare the pentagon says it's in response to iranian aggression. now filipinas of 18

a mid term election seen as a test to rodriguez eternity's presidency more than $18000.00 pages are up for grabs including half of the senate's wins for candidates allied to deter will make it easier for the president to push through his policies including his controversial war on drugs his critics say he's using violence and intimidation to influence variances in his movement. hours since polls opened and despite the sweltering heat nothing has stopped filipinos from coming into local recent to vote to cast their vote and to make themselves heard however hours since the voting opened there has been increasing concern about the credibility of these elections there have been many reports of machines in voting precincts breaking down in fact the former vice president jejomar binay was unable to vote because his machine broke down several times there has been an attempt and even in many many areas there have been reports that people were unable to vote frustrated basically because machines were functioning malfunctioning and there were not enough

technical assistance to come in and help still many remain optimistic specially those supporting members of the opposition those gunning for the seats in the senate that because that's because the senatorial seats remain critical it will determine whether checks and balances will be able to be seen in the last half of president of the good that they're at this therms mid-term elections basically is a determinant whether the current administration will be able to continue its influence through its popularity and grip in power and by continuing its policies that it has started since 2016. where do you know where the prime minister has been told of the presidential race so. conceded defeat a few hours after the polls closed runnels will be held on the 26th of may and economists seem to build a welfare state because it's conservatives finance minister. several states in

germany have indicated their support for a so-called mosque tax aimed at making muslim organizations less dependent on foreign funding the scheme would mirror a voluntary church tax according to newspaper reports it's been proposed as a way to reverse the influence of foreign governments over the country's $5000000.00 muslims around $900.00 mosques in germany run by the turkish islamic union of the institute for religion which is under the authority of the turkish government. security forces in pakistan have cleared a hotel of gunman in the port city of quite a day after an attack that left 5 people dead separatists from the southwestern province of blue just on have claimed responsibility for the raid which killed a security guard 3 hotel staff members and a special forces soldier the port city is a major hub for chinese investments. there's been violence in the 2nd to last phase of parliamentary elections in india candidates of the ruling party the b j p was targeted in the opposition ruled state of west bengal almost 60 seats were up for

grabs on sunday including those in the capital new delhi more than 100000000 people across 7 states were eligible to vote over a 6 week period the last round is on may the 19th counting will take place on may the 23rd prime minister nuri and remote he is hoping for a 2nd term. teach taseer is a journalist and author and he says there's been a huge rise in hindu nationalist fervor ever since modi came to power and a divided opposition may help him win again. i think he's always kept 2 fires going at the same time on one hand he sort of speaks from both sides of his mouth to the world he's the great reformer he's going to make india south korea and then quietly in india he keeps this his sort of hindu nationalist background going alongside the same time and when things are not looking good for him in that tour lee when he seems not to have delivered it cannot make the when there's kind of push back against him then he starts to like charge up this other atmosphere and it seems to be very much it from his playbook throughout his career as

a politician you often find that even more than muslims especially upper caste muslims. that are in the modis vote bank is if full of hatred for the lower castes and so there's been a whole spate of violence against the lower cost and well modi can afford to perhaps use the muslim vote he can lose the muslim book and the lower cost vote and then hope to be prime minister so this is someone of the kind of unintended consequences of creating an atmosphere where people are allowed to act in this way i think it's terrible i mean they've had 5 years to recuperate to think of what more these crushing victory meant electorally and they've come back 5 years later with exactly the same candidate who reduced them to 44 seats in a parliament of $543.00 and so it would i say in the piece it would be ridiculous it would be like literally if if we were to deal with trump by putting forward hillary again would perhaps like the added enticement of chelsea and so this is the

congress is so steeped in a kind of dynastic principle that they haven't really understood the message of 2014 and haven't responded as a vital opposition should. a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck panama near its border with costa rica the center was 50 kilometers northwest of panama city of daveed several homes and businesses business premises are reported to have been damaged in the least one person injured so far that i'll never ports of fatalities. colombia is infamous for its cocaine cartels latest estimates from the united nations suggest more of the narcotic than ever before and that's despite the army specifically targeting cocoa farmers and destroying hundreds of trees hidden in the jungle let's see reports on how the end of the war against fog rebels is fueling the supply of the drug well why. from the sky the coca fields that scarred this once virgin jungle in southern colombia tell

a story of failure the inability of the country's government to control the cultivation of coca plants meaning greed and for cocaine. according to united nations estimates we are dealing with the 171 had to have coca that's more than 1000 metric tons of possible cocaine our president ordered a frontal assault against drug traffickers. producing more cocaine than ever before as a new criminal groups fight over territory under the control of gravels who signed a peace deal with the government in 2016. the conservative government. years elections calling the drug traffickers and the existential threat and promising an iron hand. but it wasn't enough to avoid the ire of the united states president whose blame to colombia the u.s. is best ally in the region for flooding his country with drugs and i'll tell you something colombia you have your new president of colombia

a really good guy i met him we had at the white house he said how he's going to stop drugs more drugs are coming out of colombia right now before he was president so he has done nothing for us ok. in response colombia launched one of the largest . operation in recent years going after poor farmers making a living cultivating the coca plant as well as the drug traffickers selling the cocaine. since the beginning of the year the colombian police says this troy $8000.00 of these smaller bora tori's the farmers use to process the coca leaf and dozen of the larger ones to produce the final product cocaine that it's then sold on the streets of cities across the world. but most experts say the increase in drug production is being driven by a number of global factors from the rise of the us dollar to an increase in demand . the previous government created an integral ambitious plan for crop substitution

but this government already said it will not find its own anymore so an effort that lasted only one year only a comprehensive solution can make a difference unless our rural regions get roads infrastructure access to markets for legal people in there will have no alternative but to grow coca to survive military strength might bring results in the short term and help placate the united states but if history is any guide this excess may be short lived at least on that . front as well as opposition leaders seeking the support of the u.s. military to help topple president nicolas maduro from one of the has failed to gain the backing of venezuela's powerful army after an appeal last month in the past few days madeira government arrested quite as deputy stripped at least 10 politicians of parliamentary immunity that forced many of them to seek refuge in foreign embassies. believe 6 people including a priest have been killed in an attack on

a catholic church in west africa about 20 gunmen and to the church near the town of northeast of the capital one could do it witnesses say the attackers a lot of people inside and set fire to the building. thousands of people are struggling to rebuild. northern mozambique last month storm destroyed the country in 6 weeks. has more from one of the worst affected places and. this is the 1st time doug combat able island since hit last month his family home is gone so to have all his belongings. look to see. before.

what are you going to do. now the rain is eased aid workers a sturdy managing to reach more remote areas and small islands in some places the damage is extensive patients had to be evacuated from this hospital when the storm hit thousands are now homeless. in schools and community holes even in this old fort. the 16th century building survived the cycloid people who lost their homes say they feel safe leaving india because it's so strong but conditions our families the drinking water clothes and food. aid has started to arrive by road but many people are still waiting for help the cycle destroyed many crops in northern missouri. we are grateful for the help we have received so far but we need more it's not just food people also need medicines clinics and

hospitals were destroyed. mozambique was still struggling to deal with. when the 2nd one struck this is already considered one of the poorest countries in the world and the building will cost a lot of money and people's. how to. evil island. the opposition in the west african country burning is refusing to accept parliamentary election results members are now calling for president. to resign all to days of violent protests because more from the commercial capital of culture and. this is the been a president wants the world to see not just soldiers patrolling the capital shooting at protesters arresting members of the opposition. here it's a different parade of bin laden's younger lete who for the most part support the man who has ruled for the past 3 years but. i think patrice alone is working for

our country he's doing the right thing for our country and he isn't hurting anybody we just need to do what he's asking us to do because he is our king our president. since the parliamentary elections boycotted by the opposition president calderon has ignored the violent protests against him and not made any public statements but his government didn't congratulate the restraint of the armed forces after the shot at an armed protesters demanding his resignation. before entering politics became wealthy after taking over been in state run cotton mills he financed the election campaigns of who was president until 2060. returned the favor allowing him to take stakes in the management of the lucrative ports of cotton. but the 2 men fell out when they became political rivals not only is a rich man he's also a political outsider who took many by surprise when he won the $2016.00 presidential election he's often referred to as the donald trump of because he

campaigned on a promise to change what he describes as a corrupt political system promising a greater share of been to those who have been ignored by politicians. but the poor are getting poorer and are growing in numbers despite the economy booming at the rate of 6 percent in the past decade the number of people living in poverty has risen to 40 percent according to the world bank. the newly elected member of parliament or dean dean says only the president can reverse the trend. if i. get sick will take a plane and go to the u.s. or europe for treatments paid for by the state the hospital is always on strike that's why we made going on strike eagle i know it's not popular but we have to do it to help the poor. the opposition accused of

sweeping away basic freedoms so you can tighten his grip on power his supporters say he's just got a different style of governing. nicholas hawk al jazeera. so this is these are the top stories and one of president donald trump's top economic advisers admits that u.s. businesses will suffer from tire of some chinese goods larry kudlow his comments contradict trump's claim that it will only be china that pays the u.s. placed a 25 percent tariff on $200000000000.00 of chinese imports on friday. both sides will play in these things and of course it will be such a tariff on goods coming into the country the chinese are no but the chinese will suffer losses and so forth with respect to a diminishing export market and goods today may need for their own history on this

because the president says china doesn't china it pays the terrace they may suffer consequences but it's the u.s. businesses and u.s. consumers who pay correct and yes to some extent yeah i don't disagree with that again both sides both sides will suffer on this. saudi arabia says 2 of its oil tankers have suffered significant damage in an attack on a cargo ships off the u. easy eastern coast the government says 4 commercial ships were subject to sabotage early on sunday says this happened close to the port for you here with already say there were no casualties there has been no independent confirmation over the incident the commander of iran's revolutionary guard says the united states does not have the ability to wage war against his country he described the deployment of extra u.s. warships and aircraft to the middle middle east as psych psychological warfare the pentagon says it's in response to rein in aggression iran's president hassan rouhani unity in the face of pressure that he calls unprecedented. sri lanka has

banned some media platforms and has imposed overnight curfew did a number of areas following violence in the aftermath of last month's easter sunday bombings mosques and muslim shops were attacked in the western town of jewell just north of the capital colombo. filipinos voting in a midterm election seen as a tense a rodriguez presidency more than $18000.00 posts are up for grabs including half of the senate wins for candidates allied to deter will make it easier for the president to push through his policies including his controversial war on drugs his critics say he's using violence and intimidation to influence from since. all right you're up to date with the headlines here and what will news coming up right after this. on counting the cost from union leader to business magnate can still ram a post a turnaround a troubled south african economy as india's economy turns out

a new breed of tech savvy old for now as we find out why the benefits of growth not reaching everyone counting the cost. if you don't record. it when you really. quite. gentle kind of exercise. none of them are my prime minister. hello i'm richard burton you're at the listening post here are some of the stories we're covering this week in india as elections one party is definitely winning the media game the trump white house is that using new rules for press passes to lock out journalists it doesn't like me and maher where the refugees story and the coverage of it continue to make news and looking to be inspired then look elsewhere it's been a little more than a month now since the 1st votes.