not about war. we're not about going to war we're ready to respond if we have to the best thing to happen is for everybody to calm down and iran to back off and i'm hoping that this show of force will result in deescalating not escalating nobody is talking about a military solution to the current friction with the iranians i haven't heard anybody discuss that are you thank you all very much but the briefing still did not convince skeptical democrats make no mistake this president and his administration are itching for a confrontation with iran i believe that a war with iran would be an absolute disaster. on the wall with iraq and i hope the american people told this administration that we will not go to war in iraq underlying this crisis a decision by president donald trump to unilaterally pull out of the 2050 nuclear

deal with iran and as the briefings were taking place iran was announcing it had quadrupled its production of enriched uranium this uggie many democrats a consequence of a president rejecting a negotiated deal with no thought as to what should replace it mike hanna al-jazeera washington. we're going to talk more about this now with your glasgow he is foreign editor with the german national weekly newspaper he joins us from berlin thanks very much for being with us so what we what we've seen from the u.s. over the last couple of weeks is is a kind of ramping up of what began with a ramping up of the rhetoric and these additional defense moves in the gulf that seem to escalate the tensions with iran what we're now seeing is an attempt to sort of bring things back from the brain and say hold on a minute we're not we're not we're not pushing for war here what do you make of all that what have you what's your view of how all this is played out

well it's certainly reassuring to hear the secretary of defense scaling things down a little while still. it's a very dangerous situation and here in berlin where i'm talking from there is a sense of foreboding. conflict might. might escalate even if the parties are not actually aiming for war i mean we've seen all these things happening in the goal of. provocations and counter provocations and. this is obviously a very dangerous situation still how how do you see president trump's role in all of this because there is a sense that from the beginning he was kind of boxed into this. and then he came out and said you know you he's not interested in in starting

a war with iran. how important a fact is is he in all of this because there are those who are saying that he's not really running things. well you know it was what it's certainly an interesting reversal if you remember when he 1st came into office there was this idea that there were it is so-called adults in the room advisors keeping him in check more adapt to 2 foreign policy challenges that might come in now it's the other way round there is john bolton the very hawkish person that has been aiming for conflict with iran for 20 years or so and now president trump is seen as the man possibly calming things down and not really interested in going to war. this is this is an irony. that you really have to cherish. but who can be sure

i mean i think trump is actually not interested in going to war because he he promised in his election campaign that he would end the wars that cost america way too much and had nothing to show for all the billions that were spent and now maybe he's trying to try to have a replay of the north korean situation on a maximum pressure and then. negotiations but. i'm not sure it's going to work of that way and how is this playing into europe's calculations though here given given how relations between the united states and some of its you know being partners have been quite frayed recently. yeah i mean the europeans see these tensions that started with you know that really

pulling out of the jason pure way as a manufactured crisis totally unwarranted and a senseless escalation so they are as opposed to the iraq war 16 years ago they are really unified in not wanting to see this escalation go further and the u.s. cannot expect any help. any support when it tries to to dial things even an even more up so that's a good thing i think but on the other hand european europeans are very much concerned with their own. affairs at the moment there are european elections coming up so there is not not really a foreign policy initiative by the big 3 like france germany the u.k. to actually be a part play

a part in calming things down that's what i certainly would like to see as you say last going on in europe right now with those elections coming up and want to talk more about that sat a little bit later in the hour thanks very much for being with us the u.n. special envoy for libya is warning the country is on the verge of a problem long civil war brief members of the security council in new york it's been 7 weeks of fighting for control of tripoli by forces loyal to war old khalifa haftar diplomatic and to james bays reports from the u.n. . the u.n. special representative gas sun salami reporting to the security council on what's been a dramatic and destabilizing period for libya. the country gripped by fresh violence his plans for a national conference representing all libyans overturned by a no day shifts offensive by wholly for half to a renegade general believed to be armed by the united arab emirates and egypt $48.00 days into the attack on tripoli by general have to us forces there has

already been too much death and destruction libya is on the verge of descending into a civil war which could lead to the permanent division of the country the damage already done will take years to mend and that's only if the war is ended now he said war crimes were being committed and some of those already listed by the international criminal court were involved in the most recent fighting there are numerous reports of extremists persons under international sanctions and individual is wanted by the international criminal court appearing on the battlefield on all sides or parties must publicly dissociate themselves from such elements without delay and referred to the i.c.c. those for whom at arrest warrants have been issued addressing a security council that his itself deeply divided and has been unable to agree a resolution calling for a cease fire in libya he attacked regional and international players for fueling

the conflict by sending weapons to both sides in defiance of an arms embargo officially in place since 2011 many countries are providing weapons to all parties in the conflict without exception the amount and sophistication of these weapons are already causing greater numbers of casualties without air robust and forstmann mechanism the arms embargo into libya. will become a cynical joke some nations are fueling this bloody conflict the united nations should put an end to the u.k. is what's known as the penholder on libya very would draw up any security council resolution it's likely they'll try again to negotiate a resolution calling for a ceasefire but it's also likely that negotiations will be difficult james al-jazeera but the united nations. plenty more ahead on this in news hour u.k.

prime minister theresa may making the case for a new improved break zip deal but her opponents are not convinced. why these children who were born and brought up in bangladesh are being denied a formal education. plus later in sports the team heading to hockey's playoff series for the 1st time in decades. brags that on turn uncertainty may have led to another business casualty with the collapse of manufacturing giant british steel the u.k. based company was hoping to secure a 95000000000 dollar bailout from the government but the high court has ordered it into compulsory liquidation industrial giant employs 5000 workers directly with another 20000 jobs involved in its supply chain and british prime minister to

resign may is coming under a new pressure now from right wing m.p.'s within her own party over her latest plans to steer her briggs it deal through the e.u. through parliament he sets out the latest plan for britain's departure from the european union telling politicians they have one last chance to deliver brakes and m.p.'s have already rejected her plan 3 times which i know how is life for us in london so generous talk about british steel 1st what's happened here. well british steel is one of the big remaining pieces of british heavy industry largely declining over the years of course in the face of big competition from china british steel already a company in enormous difficulties it was in the hands of a private equity firm having been bought for just a pound from the indian company tata steel and looking for these loans from the government the business secretary greg greg clarke saying that his advice from

lawyers was that the government couldn't give this sort of a loan on a commercial basis to british steel and therefore this time has to decline it's appalling news of course for the $5000.00 workers plus $20000.00 in the wider supply chain blamed all of this on briggs it by the unions by the workers themselves uncertainty about the future here about the possibility of a no deal breaks it would see 20 percent tariffs slapped on british exports of steel to its biggest market in the european union and of course overall it's an awful look for the conservative party government here on the eve of the european parliamentary elections on thursday but nobody wanted to be fighting in the 1st place in that government and which the government looks to do looks likely to do appallingly in with this is an area scunthorpe in the north of england that voted overwhelmingly for breaks it on undercurrents of feeling overlooked ignored by politicians in westminster where they could hardly look further now for evidence of

that and the problems piling up for the british government to jono with teresa mayes. announcement event what she says is or is a newer version of the of the brazier deal but it's already being. getting a frosty reception from people within her own party and from the opposition labor party. indeed it as we expect a statement from tourism a shortly in the house of commons before facing prime minister's questions after that presumably giving to m.p.'s in parliament the nuts and bolts of this so-called new deal a 10 point plan that he unveiled in a speech on tuesday he won't be kidding ourselves i think you'd be in for a hostile reception if you know that as you say reaction has been universally negative to it she's failed to win over pro 2nd referendum m.p.'s are feet dangling the pipe possibility tantalizingly of a 2nd referendum at them yesterday what they know now that all she was offering was a vote on the possibility of a referendum if they pass her deal and most will know that they simply isn't at

this time a majority for a 2nd reference in any way to a meaningless of that she's also failed to woo the labor party with promises of compromise or customs union she's only succeeded in further alienating people in their own party on that everyone of course knows that this will likely be the last act of this prime minister win or lose she's promised to either step down or set out a timetable for her departure immediately after this vote if it goes ahead and of course everybody will know that her life except successor will come from the right of her party would almost certainly drunk any concessions made now and push for an even harder form of breaks it. all right for the moment john how life works in london thanks jennifer. well starting on thursday voters across the european union will elect members of the european parliament they'll have to the power to approve e.u. new laws the e.u. budget and choose the president of the european commission 751 seats are up for

grabs with each of the $28.00 e.u. countries getting a number of seats proportional to their population the u.k. is still taking part because it's briggs it plans of course not been passed the 2 major blocs in parliaments are the right leaning the p.p. and the center left s n d but the dominance of these coalitions could be eroded by the rise of europe's populists bridget lafon is the director of the global governance program at the european university institute she joins us by skype now from florence to talk more about this thanks very much for being with us so we've seen this we've seen this wave of populist nationalist movements sweeping across europe over the last few years in in the individual european governments but do you expect that to be reflected in this european parliament as these elections begin. well we should remember that the anti european radical right one about 25 percent

of the vote already in 2014 this will rise this time but probably no higher than 3033 percent in other words it will not be a dramatic rise although it will be put trade as such much more importantly as you said i see no way in which the socialists and the 50 the center left and right can continue to be the dominant grand coalition in the parliament they're going to have to do a deal and the question is will that be with the liberals and. which could well when about $100.00 seats or will it would be the greens because of course another important political development in europe is the resurgence of the greens so the political arithmetic on monday will determine who the next president of the european parliament will be will it come from will it be a compromise candidate will it come from the party with the largest number of seats

it will not be determined by the anti european forces because although they will rise they will not be the dominant force in the parliament so to what extent do these elections matter isn't the real power still with that with the with the individual european governments. no they matter in 2 senses they matter because they take the temperature or the political temperature in all of these countries so governments will see where they stand but more importantly the parliament has real power and has had real power for a very long time it coal legislates with the council it determines the laws with the council it determines the budget as you said with the council so rather than say power is either with the governments or with the parliament it is with both they are in constant discussion and negotiation in terms of where the political

balance lives so it is neither the power is neither just in brussels and stroudsburg or in the national capital it is in both and we can't get into any discussion about this of course without mentioning it because we have is indeed we have the spectacle if i can put it that way of a country devoted to leave the european union taking part in european parliament elections and by all projections is going to be led by a party that wants to lead the. when united indeed well i think that what happens in the united kingdom is much more important for u.k. politics than for the rest of europe in a way the u.k. has been sidelined within the e.u. at this stage so if nigel farage the brics the party returns with a large number all of any peeves then he will simply continue to jump up and down a messy house for the last 5 years it but of course it will matter in domestic politics in the u.k.

because it will see a fracturing of the 2 party system in other words the 2 large parties will take a beating particularly the conservatives but also labor because increasingly remain in the united kingdom will flow probably more towards the liberal democrats and those who want to absolutely leave the e.u. will migrate to a party that calls themselves the breasts of party so the conservatives will take a thumping good speaker brigid left and joining us there from florence thank you. sebastian kurtz says he will appoint a new caretaker government he faces a no confidence vote after a scandal is told the removal of coalition party politicians dominic cain has that from berlin. sebastien course has very much been in crisis management mode ever since the scandal that engulfed his coalition partners the freedom party erupted over the weekend in forcing out the ministers of that party all but one of whom

have left their posts in cabinet mr cortes clearly believes that this is will bring support will reassure voters in austria but also reassure those looking on from the wider european union that austria's government is still in steady hands because i believe it is a kiss of death in guaranteeing security for our country and making sure that we remain capable of acting on the european level in the crucial coming months the government has a responsibility in austria it also has a responsibility in and for the european union i promise you i will fulfill the responsibility to the best of my ability in referring to the coming months if the courts is clearly conscious of the role his country is playing as president of the european union specifically with european elections taking place in the next few days but it's the coming the coming days in austria which really matter there will

be a confidence vote in the austrian parliament on monday must survive that or there will be greater constitutional worries for his country one last thought to make though is that in the most recent opinion poll released in austria since the scandal erupted over the freedom party it appears that mr courts his party the austrian people's party government has found a boost several percentage points up on what they had to be whereas the freedom party is down it's dangerous to infer too much from one poll but if it's accurate it suggests that mr courts well some people do approve of the actions he's been taking in austria. hungary's ethnic roma community is living in fear of racially motivated violence. the far right protesters held a rally in a town east of budapest the demonstration was organized by the our homeland movement a far right party that was established last year its leader described roma as gypsy

terrorists responsible for crime now a few moments we'll have the weather with staff but still ahead on. meet the venezuelans looking for a miracle to help them through desperate times. later in sport we'll hear from india's cricket team as they step up their preparations ahead of the world cup. sponsored by the time. hello there we've seen yet more severe weather across the states all out of this same weather system here is gradually trying to track its way eastwards but it's still giving us some very ferocious weather and the whole problem is thanks to the cold air working its way down from canada and the very warm air that's working its way from the gulf of mexico where those 2 areas of meet

well that is the result the severe storms actually for some of us in the west it's so cold that we've seen some snow demba there in colorado has seen some wintery weather quite a coating over the years in the south really very warm so these are the severe weather reports that we've had the reds auto tornadoes for 38 reports of tornadoes then the blues there wind damage and the hail well they're just hail reports but the wind damage the worst of those ac 136 kilometers per hour so incredibly strong and that wasn't from a tornado now here's the system at the moment it is trying to work its way eastwards as i say but isn't being replenished plenty more moisture just working up from the gulf of mexico so it's going to be again the same sort of region where we're going to have the worst of the weather during the day today that system then gradually begins to clear away towards the east but as that one plays another one works its way across the rockies and this one again could give us more severe weather in the coming days. when sponsors. ways.

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again you're watching are just there reminder of up top stories this hour indonesia's president joke a widow says his government won't tolerate threats to the country's security or unity parts of the indonesian capital on lockdown off the 6 people killed in riots over a lection results the acting u.s. defense secretary is playing down the possibility of a u.s. war with iran patrick shanahan says sending more forces to the gulf is meant to deter iran from launching an attack. second biggest steel makers

gone out of business citing concerns about brakes it. industrial giant employs 5000 workers directly with another 20000 jobs involved in its supply chain. by u.s. president donald trump's latest tariff increase and beijing's plans to counter them are hitting u.s. companies in china that's according to the american chamber of commerce it found at least 40 percent of its members are considering relocating businesses outside the country or have already done so china's ambassador to the u.s. says beijing is ready to continue trade talks the last round ended 2 weeks ago with no deal edging brown has more from beijing. well the survey shows just how worried u.s. businesses in china are right now the survey was conducted by the u.s. chamber of commerce it involves some 250 of its members and was carried out several weeks ago just after the 2 countries levied more tariffs on each other's imports it

shows that 40 percent of members are considering or have moved their manufacturing facilities out of china a 3rd of those members and now focusing purely on china business also they complain of harassment of sudden inspections at their plants also complaining of custom clearance delays and also delays in getting the licenses they need to function here in china meanwhile the propaganda organs here in china have been ramping up their message state controlled t.v. continues to show pictures of president xi jinping touring the south east of the country following in the footsteps of those who took part in the long march that was led by chairman mao the long march that of course the communist to power 70 years ago this year and a lot of people analysts are saying that in many ways this friction between china

and the united states right now is very much for calling in to president xi jinping hands because president xi jinping at the moment is regarded as the strongest leader that this country has had since chairman mao and of course president xi jinping is arguing forcefully this is one of the reasons why china needs to strengthen its military to buy more aircraft carriers and i'm the man to help you stand up to the united states. a british based chip design is reportedly suspending business with the chinese company huawei staffa been told to pause contracts and any pending engagements to comply with the u.s. regulations arm is owned by japanese invest the softbank it's one of the u.k.'s largest tech firms the u.s. recently added huawei to a trade blacklist which curbs its ability to do business in america and that comes off the trade tensions escalated between the u.s. and china a woman who support abortion rights have marched in cities across the u.s.

in a show of force against conservative efforts to restrict the procedure. castro has more. well you got it i was right. c on the 100th anniversary of the house giving women the vote in the united states women and abortion rights activists in cities across the country took to the streets to say their battle is not finished does anyone here think that the women in this country will stay silent while our rights are being taken away from us. they march to protest abortion restrictions recently passed in conservative states 256 nays one alabama's new law is the most extreme it bans abortions except for when a woman's health is at risk making no exceptions for rape or incest this was a study we were alive or even a fact we have right in america and it says it's very important analysis which

other great work by. more than a dozen other states are trying to make abortion illegal after a fetal heartbeat is detected as early as 6 weeks democratic leaders say such laws are unconstitutional from the missouri fact that you are republican but plague are waking up your heart going rabid our women aren't coming at all right the state laws are not yet enforced they face court challenges that will likely escalate to the u.s. supreme court. conservative activists have decided now is the time to challenge roe versus wade the landmark case that gave women the right to an abortion in 1973 illegally years. earlier and i think. the supreme court has skewed to the right due to president trump's recent

appointment of 2 conservative justices but there's no guarantee the court will intervene meanwhile the president has distanced himself from the. most restrictive abortion ban tweeting he's pro-life with 3 exceptions including rape and incest. but these protesters say that's not enough they fear women's rights are eroding in america and are telling the supreme court now to protect their right to an abortion heidi joe castro al-jazeera washington. overcrowded hospitals and widespread medicine shortages in venezuela have left those in need desperate for help some are now turning to spiritual healers or latin america editor lucien newman has more. moderate emotions. from 6 in the morning people start lining up to get their number every day hundreds gather in the spiritual center no created in the news we list largest slum. the waiting room is full of images of local saints and dade's

especially hall said the glory laden and this 1900 century venezuelan doctor who is said to still have extraordinary healing powers diana has just seen the medium while she waits to receive a donation of chemotherapy drugs to treat her advanced user and cancer your place in. the cima is pressing on my thigh optic nerve i went to the hospital for treatment because of the excruciating pain but it did no good now at least i can take a few steps i have faith in this to see more. just a little of the biggest pain was a 6 month old baby she says he's been coughing for months. at the public hospital there either no doctors no medicine or it's contaminated and they send us away buying medicines at the pharmacy is too expensive so my sister recommended i come here for. the as well as acute economic crisis is drawing more

and more people to the one place that at least gives them hope for less than $1.00 cases of depression are up 3 fold says although to leave us. last say would be the lack of food especially for your children is one of the main causes along with violence and the deteriorated health system you see people dying so you can imagine how it impacts people's psyche many want to commit suicide we do what we can to calm them. he says the sessions which are not allowed to be filmed are a mixture of science religion and face now they're going to show me what they would do if i were a real patient in. medium us merely of us says the 1st thing is to pass a candle over the part of the body that hurts in this case my back while in a trance the idea is to block and release trapped energy. if the case was serious he would do this carry out a spiritual surgical operation. some call it

a placebo others the power of suggestion but whatever it is people who are undergoing treatment here swear that they are being healed. which is why more and more are coming to find the kind of miracle that they say they desperately need to see in human i'll just see that that it then israel or. saudi arabia and the united arab emirates will attend a conference in bahrain next month part of u.s. president donald trump's palestine investment plan the palestine liberation organization and hamas have called for an arab boycott of the meeting organized by trump's senior adviser jared question. our thousands of students have been marching in the streets of algeria's capital calling for free and fair elections the protesters want all politicians connected to former president bill to flicker to step down including the interim president and prime minister the presidential election is set for early july but opponents fear it will be manipulated by the

political elite. judges in france are forced doctors to resume life support for a man at the center of a debate over whether his life should be ended vincent lambert suffered severe brain damage in a motorcycle accident 11 years ago 42 year old's been on life support ever since and is paralyzed from the neck down doctors agreed to switch off life support on monday at his wife's request but an appeals court has overturned that decision our world leaders are being accused of ignoring abuses carried out by government security forces in indian administered kashmir so here raman reports from new delhi . it's 20 years since 0 and the cheek of his legs amputated after what he says was torture by indian security forces in indian administered kashmir the stonemason was accused of being a rebel sympathizer. part of this war was not soldiers started me by using

a ruler on my legs they would get on the 2 sides of the road or to exert extra weight they would pour hot water on my legs and also burnt my hand on the fireplace i was subjected to brutal torture and when they thought i would die they dumped me outside a hospital he's not the only one a new report from because mary human rights group called association of parents of disappeared.