he described as being utterly meaningless it's groups like the one that he heads that very pro iran and potentially pose a threat now the prime minister has said. refuting that statement that was made by the u.s. secretary of state at the beginning of this month saying that there were credible escalating threats towards u.s. interests in this country the prime minister has denied that and said that there is no serious escalation of potential threats by these groups but as i say it's a very delicate balancing act for this country and of course iraq is in teh grewal to trying to sort this situation out and act as a vital mediator between iran and the u.s. because of those incredible religious political military and cultural ties that they've shared fundamentally really that have grown since the fall of saddam hussein in 2003 thank you for that chance stratford live for us in baghdad and u.s.

president donald trump has involved the perceived threats from iran to declare a national security related imagine see this will clear the sale of billions of dollars worth of weapons to saddam arabia and the u.a.e. for their operations in yemen without congressional approval critics described the move as a fake emergency including democratic party senator chris murphy who tweeted this over and over when trump knows he can't win a fight in congress he makes up emergency powers to get what he wants building his wall sabotaging obamacare selling arms to saudi arabia this isn't how democracy works well let's delve a little deeper into this and speaks not me now he's director of the center for middle east studies at the university of denver his via skype from there thank you so much now dan for being with us on al-jazeera so what's your view on this did donald trump really declare fake emergency on iran to sell weapons to saudi arabia . yeah i think there's a lot of evidence to suggest if this. is

a fake emergency i would point to the fact that on tuesday of this week the trumpet ministration was briefing members of congress over recent tensions with iran it was no reference to an emergency to some sort of national security crisis but then literally 24 hours of later an emergency is invoked to justify this sale of arms and i think it's broadly understood to be a fake emergency and i think senator chris senator chris murphy is is bang on point this is an attempt by the trump administration to circumvent us a lot with respect to the export of arms that demands congressional oversight what about that the deployment of these $1500.00 additional u.s. troops to the middle east i mean deploying troops even though it's not a high number i mean would they do that for a fake imagine say. well i think that's my reading is that it's a reflection of the internal policy debate in the white house people like iran

the hawkish iran advisor to the president john bolton you know wants to play tough with iran i suspect he wanted a much larger troop deployment trump personally is very reluctant to send more troops to the middle east as you've indicated it's unclear what $1500.00 troops can actually do to make a difference but i suspect it's trying to send a strong signal to iran that the united states is you know going to play hardball with them yet the weapons sale i not just meant for saudi arabia and the u.a.e. but also to jordan interesting me what do you think is ultimately the trump administration's policy in the region now in light of these perceived threats that they say are coming from iran. well i think there's several things that are happening one there is a clear attempt to try and squeeze you're on to promote regime change in iran there's an internal white house battle over how to proceed but the other element of the story here is the war in yemen there's a lot of outrage

a lot of anger in the united states particularly in congress over you know the humanitarian catastrophe there the use of american weapons to commit war crimes against yemeni civilians and so the truck administration wants to support its saudi and iraqi allies i mean these are these are very close and intimate tie between those 2 countries and the only way you can get around congressional oversight which you know wants to block these arms sales in fact you know there was a you know a joint resolution in both houses of congress trying to prevent these types of arms sales that was vetoed by the president so so truckers evoking this you know false threat laying the blame on iran which is easy you know bowie to invoke to get around congressional oversight to stick to a think policy that is supporting the saudi policy in yemen you know to the end right or wrong the united states under a truck wants to back that policy on the dash m.-e. very interesting to talk to you and i dash i mean it's a right to have the scent of a middle aged 30 at the university of denver joining us now from denver thank you

very much for a time thanks i inside yemen 7 children are among at least 12 people killed in an essay by the saudi u.a.e. coalition in the southwest of the country that's according to the rebels and witnesses who say that he'll station was bombed in the district of tice province there's been no comment from the military coalition which intervened in yemen's war and 2015. plenty more ahead on this al-jazeera news hour including there is renewed fighting on the outskirts of libya's capital as forces loyal to warlord have todd try to advance in the air and old airport u.s. president trump arrives in japan to try trade and security and in sports with peta roger federer plays down his chances after 4 years away from the paris to play. a un maritime tribunals has ruled russia must release ukrainian sailors and ships

it sees near crimea last year for more on that we can cross over to my european broadcast center. yes that's right $24.00 ukrainian sailors and 3 ships for all captured by russia this was in november during a standoff in waters off the crimean peninsula the maritime tribunals called on moscow to facilitate their release immediately and urged both sides not to aggravate the disputes but russia didn't even attend the hearing there is dominant cain has more now from hamburg several of the country's sailors and ships have been held by russia since last november so on saturday ukraine's deputy foreign minister led her delegation here at the international tribunals for the lure of the sea in search of justice in contrast russia shows an empty chair strategy

seemingly unconcerned by the possibility of an adverse ruling. or consider as appropriate. under the circumstances of the present case to prescribe provisional measures requiring the russian federation to rule is those 3 ukrainian naval vessels and $24.00 detained ukrainian servicemen and to allow them to return to crane one of the judges on the panel was russian his was the only dissenting voice among a panel of 20 the moment of success then for you cram for at this is a pure week period there is what we ask did you know answered you now clearly that all our vessels and our crew should be released immediately the tension between the 2 governments has been high since the russian annexation of crimea in 2014 which is

why some legal experts believe bringing this case has been part of a wider ukrainian strategy ukraine is definitely in a very very difficult situation and they try hard to. acquire judgments in favor of their legal position in order to increase political pressure in order to make it possible to fall for the presidents to sit down and come to some kind of agreement but the russian government is clear who it believes is at fault it says it detained the ukrainian vessels and crew for violating its territorial waters a criminal act according to russian law. this ruling is pretty clear the minister has what she wanted but the russians want here the russians don't want moon really happen in moscow following this judgement until we hear that it's likely these sailors may not be going home any time soon dominic came out zira at the international tribunal for the lure of the sea in hamburg. well here in the u.k.

politicians are in the conservative party have launched their bids to take over from theresa may the prime minister announced he'll resign next month triggering a leadership contest that's already seen several candidates step forward a contest will be defined by the candidates positions on brecht said the former foreign secretary and leading back seat campaign of boris johnson is currently the favorite to win or a challenge sent us this update from outside the houses of parliament in central london. so who will be the next prime minister of the united kingdom well 14 tories have already said they'll consider running 5 actually throwing their hats into the ring they are estimate gray rory stewart's matt hancock and jeremy hunt and also boris johnson perhaps the most familiar to viewers around the world former mayor of london and foreign secretary he is the bookies favorite by a considerable margin but historically speaking the favorites usually doesn't do

very well in conservative party leadership races you have to get that they will face exactly the same challenges with bricks to reason may have just less time to get it done the deadline is looming at the end of october they will be leading a minority governments of a divided party a divided country dealing with the european union that doesn't want to renegotiate to resume a deal and then you have the labor party opposition which will do everything in its power try and bring down the government and force a general election. well in all the stories we've been following police are hunting for a suspect believed to have delivered a parcel. in the french city of the on friday 13 people were wounded when the device exploded in a busy pedestrian street surveillance video shows a man dropping a paper bag outside a bakery before cycling away the explosion happened shortly afterwards france's counterterrorism police have opened an investigation into the incident describing the suspect as dangerous this you call stalls to conceal the food the circumstances

of the act committed until daylight in a place that was a particularly frequented as well as the use of an explosive device which had the ability to affect a large number of people all of this to be handed over to the terrorist section of the public prosecutor's office. elsewhere thousands of people a marching on albania's government building in the 4th month of anti corruption demonstrations protests as are demanding the resignation of prime minister eddie rama of accusations of hold and involvement in organized crime. both sides to find a peaceful solution after demonstrations that earlier this month descended into violence of petrol bombs being thrown and police firing tear gas. and voters in the czech republic slovakia malta and latvia have been casting their vote in the european parliamentary elections it's the 2nd to last day of the vote which has seen different member states take to the polls in several stages since thursday

$751.00 politicians will be elected for a 5 year term with the results expected on monday the e.u. parliament presides over various different laws including health and safety regulations farming and environmental protections. from london for you in about 40 minutes time now to folly in miami thank you very much as well as leader hassan nasrallah has commended the palestinian authority's decision to boycott a white house sponsored economic war workshop in bahrain next month it's meant to serve as the 1st part of president donald trump the long delayed middle east peace plan your talent. be this of speaking of palestine and the deal of the century and the developments in the region namely the high tension that is growing between the united states and iran and many speculations and analyses are being heard as old want to know what has built up position is embassies and other regional international agencies seek to know our position i

will address it all on the day we mark this resilin day simply i believe all of what's taking place in the gulf region and the talk of the islamic republic of iran are all related to the deal of the century. a mass rally is underway in tel aviv against plans to pass a law that could protect israel's prime minister from criminal prosecution benyamin netanyahu is facing fraud and bribery charges in multiple corruption cases his likud party is reportedly trying to pass legislation that would grant the premier immunity it's also seeking to weaken the high court of justice so that it won't have the power to overturn the laws protecting him. to libya now where fighting has picked up on the outskirts of tripoli between forces battling for control of the capital. forces loyal to the un recognized government say they have pushed back against fighters who support the warlords highly for have to are near the old international airport more than 500 people have been killed since have

task forces began advancing towards tripoli in april and as mahmoud reports the violence is stirring up anger. crew testers took to the main square in the libyan capital to condemned the targeting of civilian areas calling on the international community to stop the military campaign led by have to ask him dead dead and his comrades say the rose up again is to get deaf in 2011 and now can't have another military john ruling the country the muslim heart of god also after is a war criminal because he bombs our areas with their strikes in fact is even bringing gyptian in iraqi war planes to help them we want to civilian state not a military rule on thursday night another strike hit in tripoli city center but this time the attack seems to convey the political message the headquarters of the have to lawmakers is the target are you witnesses talk over state of panic after

the explosion no casualties were reported but the damage was significant as you see from a from the get go we are calling on the united nations mission in libya and the international community to do their part to protect civilians and face the aggression that has been targeting civilians. the target appears to have been numbers of the parliament which is controlled by have to realize they broke away and established a base in tripoli after it have to his forces began their offensive to take control of the capital civil civilian locations have been targeted by have jets says the fighting began in southern tripoli. last month many people here call it a war crime and are demanding the perpetrators be brought to the international criminal court. 50 days of fighting between hefted his forces and

others loyal to you and recognize the government have taken a toll nearly 500 people have been killed. more than 1401 dead and about 70000 forces from their homes. the protesters say they will continue to protest every friday until hefted his forces move back to the east of the country. ahead. tripoli. still ahead on this news hour protestors in bangladesh raise their voices for activists say say have been silent seen secret detention flash writing for a invent 800 year old structure in afghanistan and support their big moves in the mountains in cycling's gero d'italia peter had to text.

hello there we've seen some terrible wod fives in israel recently 1st of all we had a heat wave not only in israel but also through palestine as well and then we saw the wildfires around 40 homes in israel are believed to have been destroyed by these fires you can see the heat that must have been given off by those 5 now over the next few days is still some unsettled weather around but not really the rain we need in order to clear all of the problems with the water so it's a temperature in beirut there of around 23 now it's not too hot here because we're at the coast head further inland and the temperatures quickly rise by the time you get to baghdad we're right about 42 degrees and it's also pretty hot in tehran now 32 for the west imposed all of iraq and though there are a few showers here they show it's still going to be with us as we head through monday it's hotter as you head out towards kabul by monday or temperatures much higher before this was the south and here in doha certainly feeling hot now we have

more in the way of humidity and the temperatures up around 38 to 39 say feeling incredibly hot outside force insulin 32 will be our maximum so not too hot i think for the western parts of yemen though there's likely to be a few showers also forth across the southern parts of africa more showery weather is like the air on the coast of mozambique. what is left of the past indigenous dollars. let's call in isolation of the americas assaulted for centuries. to amateur astronomers embark on a journey of discovery and reach a remote village in mexico's mayan reacher. but who has more to learn about the ways of the world a route through mexico is contemporary wreckage and its mystical past viewfinder flounces on 00. the latest news as it

breaks local communities here importing are very frustrated because the lack of post storm services with detailed coverage this lack of knowledge of the bag-o. people's thoughts and say this struggling to make handsome needs and just want a better life from around the world as agnes he has been offered to those who rebel against the government of an equal except those involved in human rights abuses a war crimes. they're watching the news on al-jazeera a reminder of our top stories iran says the u.s. decision to send more soldiers to the middle east is quote extremely dangerous for

peace present donald trump insisted they probably meant is needed to defend his country and its allies meanwhile iran's foreign minister job i'm sorry if has landed in baghdad for talks with iraq's leaders and international maritime court has ruled russia must immediately release 3 ukrainian naval ships and 24 sailors captured in november russia sees a vessel was and crew during a standoff in waters off the crimean peninsula. and fighting has picked up again in libya between those battling for. all of tripoli or says aside with the u.n. guys governments say at least 14 fights is no oil to wall or 25 topping killed in fighting near the old international airports. that donald trump say his hoping for progress on a trade deal with japan shinzo abi the us president is there for a 4 day visit a firsts the 1st state guest on the new of the new emperor not. with this deal we hope to address the trade imbalance remove barriers to united states exports

and ensure fairness and reciprocity in our relationship and we're getting close just last week u.s. beef exports gain full access to japanese and to the markets in japan for the 1st time since the year 2000 we welcome your support of these efforts and we hope to have several further announcements soon and some very big ones over the next few months his algis is wayne hay with more from tokyo. despite the fact that the white house and the japanese government had been saying that trade was not going to be a big factor in this visit by donald trump to japan i think no surprise that the u.s. president made it all about trade pretty much soon after he got off the plane in tokyo speaking to business leaders he referenced the big trade deficit as he has done many times before that the united states has with japan saying also that he

wants a better deal the official reason for this visit is that donald trump will become the 1st foreign leader to meet japan's new emperor another hito at the imperial palace in tokyo but there is no doubt that trade will be discussed as well when he meets formally with the japanese prime minister shinzo abbay on monday trade negotiations on a deal are underway they started in april and we've seen the trade delegations continuing those talks over the last few days in tokyo having said that i don't think there is an expectation that they will be any significant announcement on trade while donald trump is in japan and north korea will be discussed between the 2 leaders as well particularly after the 2 missile tests from north korea earlier this month we heard from the national security adviser for the united states john bolton he's also in japan he said that those 2 missile tests were clearly a violation of united nations security council resolution so the issue of north

korea regional security will be discussed when donald trump meets shinzo up in. they've been protests in bangladesh by people demanding to know the fate of loved one stay say are in secret detention say more than 430 people have been forcibly disappeared during the past 9 years many of them government critics dr hamid has a story. where there is no respect in their torment even during this month of ramadan where did they leave fasting is made more difficult by the longing for a loved one has disappeared into the pig justice system of bangladesh many unheard of for several years. despite repeated appeals now calls to stop in force disappearances are getting louder this one organized by the mothers call campaign a family initiative inspired by a movement in argentina through which mothers they're called on the authorities to

reveal the fate of their missing children their story is similar to that of these bangladeshi families one of a family member picked up on the street by security forces and never heard of again for those husband who was abducted on his way to a birthday party he was a student leader of the bangladesh nationalist party the main opposition force in the country there followed the summer they are it was on the 2nd of december 2013 it was his friend son's birthday humans out with 6 friends 4 of them are standing together at one corner and the other 2 in front of a shop suddenly security forces got out and picked up 2 of them impotent reachin and fan both were white 2 days later sent jitters to his brother was also snatch along with 5 other friends from the streets of dhaka by men dressed in black witnesses say they were part of the anti terrorist elite force it was the eve of a general election every day when dying every day our each member of this family

wait every night that maybe we'll get information maybe my brother will back. other brothers will be back so the should realize that they should take action or that it's not something government is implying as they want that you grant that they should accept that so that's our only only request to them so far authorities have denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of cindy does brother or anyone else is relative human rights groups say more than 400 people have disappeared in the last 9 years some have been found it but the fate of the majority of the missing in bangladesh remains unknown couldn't the how many ages are now u.s. scientists is predicting that couples undergoing treatment will be able to decide their child's i.q. within 10 years stephen so says they have developed tests that can assess genetic

markers for low intelligence in embryos is likely to add to ethical questions surrounding so-called is a sign of babies well let's speak some more about this not to understand berg who is a senior fellow at oxford university suture of humanity institute his via skype from oxford thank you so much for being with us on on just air as we've said there are already tests that screen out embryos in fertility clinics what can we really predict what genes can make a person smarter. there are obviously some genes but breed. high intelligence is typically because of men the genes of small impact song together but there are statistics that sort of absolute predict. but how accurate will these i.q. predictors be and also is a person smarter really because of their genes or what they learn. it's a mixture of what the genes we start with and they build our brains and what we later learned so it's both nature and nurture generally intelligence is fairly

heritable but it depends a lot of genes so the ability to predict this from a genetic problem is going to be relatively but it is going to give some hints of what consequences medically for these genetically selected babies if any. it's probably going to be just like selecting your babies on any of the criteria so it's a statistical test so they have a better chance of being smarter or avoiding you know intelligence but it's not like you're automatically going to be guaranteed not of course a very this poses ethical questions and there are those who will say that couples undergoing i.v.'s have already been able to screen their embryos for serious diseases and conditions like down syndrome but what about the potential for deepening existing social inequalities. well to some extent the social inequalities are already transferred in the sense that the rich and well of parents of course

are better health care the bit the chances the reader but it's well i don't think this has a very strong effect because you still you're selecting maybe ready the potentially smartest embryo of 8 that's not going to have an enormous effect but it certainly does. make for the life of a child. interesting to talk to you about the sec you so much for speaking to us and disembark from oxford university as hitcher of humanity institute thank you very much for your time thank you. break has u.s. officials looking for ways to get more children vaccinated the shots are already required to attend school but most states allow religious exemptions christensen only has more from new york where this a movement to change that. the latest measles outbreak in the united states is concentrated in orthodox jewish neighborhoods of new york like here in borough park brooklyn there's nothing about the vaccine which has been proven safe and effective

in the limiting the disease that is contrary to the jewish faith in fact religious leaders have been at the forefront of urging members to vaccinate still this local elected official thinks people should have the option of opting out on religious grounds it is just a dangerous precedent we will be opening a pandora's box 1st amendment issues with the state senator bradley oilmen is sponsoring legislation to eliminate the religious exemption in new york just like california did after a 2015 outbreak. of course you have a 1st amendment right to practice your religious beliefs in this country and that it sank or sank but you do not as the supreme court has said time and time again have the right to endanger your children or worse someone else's child all but 3 states allow parents to opt out of vaccinating their children on religious grounds even though none of the major religions in this country are against vaccinations

here in new york it's as easy as filling out a form and bringing it to your local school for approval. but now several like new york are reconsidering the why when we vaccinate our children alexander rappaport took part in new york's pro-vaccine ad campaign and runs a local social services agency but he thinks the limited aiding the religious exemption will simply fuel the conspiracy theories that lead to the distrust of vaccines it gives the end of action ations a platform they say you see what they're doing to they're closing down your schools they're getting rid of the religious exemption there so then. instead of. being seen as a friend someone to take advice from being alienated i am concerned that the measles outbreak will continue to grow eliminating the religious exemption has raised vaccination rates in california though the number of children seeking

medical exemption is there has tripled the bill sponsors are hoping to bring it to a vote before the legislative session ends in june kristen salumi al jazeera brooklyn new york flash flooding is threatening to destroy a 12th century minaret in afghanistan the minaret of jam is in the country's west next to the hairy river in gold province a 65 meter high structure was built around the year 1190. at least 10 people have died while attempting to scale mount everest over the past few days saying to his mountaineers from india the u.s. austria island and a poly guide climbers have complained about spending hours waiting to scale the summit as you can see from this photo shared online noble share is a founder of wild yak expeditions and has climbed mt everest 9 times he says poorly prepared crime is a part of the problem. another getting very commercial eyes and the people coming from all over the wall to have some kind of name or whatever they have dreams

what the thing is that people come with the program or. a progression that's what i feel because you know people have to start from can't believe it is like 7200 meter and they go to small holes they have gotten nearly all to buy all the rest and then they have to continue again like 18 hours after some meeting this time people don't drink enough water and they have no time for all of so you know because of all that you you know a lot of plan because they are not really prepared our audience you know how bizarre to new up our use how many of those one bottle gives you know to check the time because overcrowded if it's still good to continue or not and if there is a decline then there's the one part miracle in that sense and one part where people can be sent also well if you look at one big plan and then all people are scared

because they don't want to get out of the rope because then you will fall there's a chance of calling you not so that's also a reason everybody so i think from the government it is very important also you know the one who's involved on the in the last they have to really. cons and on these 2 lines of meeting where one can go out and one can go on down. the most rural and remote areas of the u.s. rely on volunteers to drive ambulances but these aren't base services are shutting down one by one leaving millions of people without immediate access to emergency care algeciras john hendren has more from rural wyoming.