diplomatic ties sense and most influence in a country which wants to join the european union and nato is often a flashpoint in georgia's domestic politics russia there are doubts if it plays in . in the east all destroyed territories members of the russian duma and it's another question whether the revised actual parliament because there is no opposition there with these individuals in our view must not have been allowed into georgian territory. georgia's prime minister is blaming the opposition for thursday's violence moscow things radical political forces are behind what happened it's deputy foreign minister says russia will keep trying to normalize relations with georgia that's something these protesters will do anything to fight. al jazeera. now the weather is next up still ahead on al-jazeera pomp and pageantry but has there been progress on nuclear talks the report on the chinese president

landmark visit to north korea cost. i'm when he reporting from northeastern thailand where we'll tell you why the people here using rockets as a way of saying thank you. how the last sort of significant thunderstorms have rumbled through indiana hit again you'll notice but there's a bloom of cloud through texas that's the position as satellite picture if i take you forward to daylight hours on friday there's not much less has gone through there's a potential i think for chicago science was to see significant showers once again and interestingly further out west we have got the white stuff showing again as a little late in the season disease snow falling but that runs down the rockies down towards colorado come saturday the snow pack in california are actually still

well above where you'd expect to be for late june which is actually some good news here is the picture for saturday then still the showers she cargo west was now southeast woods as well this is a place to watch because the still river flooding in the area of course come south and i think a reduction in the caribbean is to be seen here the still a good old trade wind blowing a lot of cloud with it but very few green dots which indicate the showers so they're going to be lighter one to seem likely in cuba as well but when the trade winds come up against high ground slightly higher grounds or anywhere from panama up towards honduras you will see green stuff big showers and that's also true for most of mexico. voters beaten in polling stations stolen 12 european politicians on trial for their role in a referendum on catalan independence their political opponents in the prosecutor's

seat for a case that traces crucial questions about democracy and self-determination. but is the outcome already decided by a hostile spanish state the catalonia trials justice or vengeance on a. hello again i'm. reminded of the news this hour u.s. president has called the downing of an american drone over the straits of hormuz a very big mistake washington says the surveillance trend was flying at high altitude in international airspace when it was hit by

a surface to air missile regulates as of now back and u.s. operated flights from entering politics in iran this base. iran's foreign minister told me other hand says the drone took off from the u.a.e. and was shot down by the revolutionary guards violated iranian airspace they say it was shot down in a curry mobarak that's in home province in southern iraq. and several people have been injured in violent demonstrations in georgia's capital tbilisi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters who tried to storm parliament after a visiting russian politician was allowed to address to make is that. now north korea's leader says he's waiting for a positive move from the u.s. to get stalls in nuclear talks back on track the comments reported by chinese state media were made as kim jong un welcome to china's president xi jinping to pyongyang for a state visit adrian brown reports. this is a visit it's been a long time coming but was only confirmed on monday the welcoming ceremony for

president xi jinping and 1st lady punk came with military honors and seamless pageantry chinese state media said was awash with exuberance. a reception that possibly exceeded anything she could even expect in his own country . the last time a chinese head of state was here was 14 years ago a reflection of a relationship that in recent years has often been strained mainly over north korea's nuclear bomb and missile development. so i think this is about repairing the relationship between pyongyang in beijing which has been very rocky area since . korea. and the 1st wave having its about that in the shorter term about. north korea and china getting on the same page.

with the u.s. which have installed president she said the international community wants those negotiations to succeed and china is willing to help during the past 15 months he's met kim 4 times in china but this was their 1st encounter since kim met u.s. president donald trump in hanoi 4 months ago which ended without any agreement on north korean nuclear disarmament officially president xi is in pyongyang because it's 70 years since china and north korea established diplomatic relations with the visits also happening just days before he's due to meet the u.s. president donald trump who so far been unable to persuade kim to give up his nuclear arsenal but a former senior north korean diplomat believes kim is using she as a messenger to pass on a new offer to try the could end the impasse they want to use the presidencies in as a kind of maybe in g. 20 brzezinski's impinges coming to joe pan next week and

president says in ping may deliver this new offer directly to president trump so now it's up to president trump where there she would accept this new proposal or not so she's visit to pyongyang appears timely what have. could well determine the outcome of these meetings with president trump next weekend adrian brown. a now the saudi u.a.e. led coalition fighting in yemen says it's targeted truthy rebel sites in the port city of data the attack was in response to a who if you drone strike on the saudi city of. her datas is yemen's main entry port for aid delivery and last month he's pulled out of the port as part of a un brokered deal and now the world food program says it's partially suspended its aid program in yemen it comes after it failed to reach an agreement with the rebels

on just how to deliver food to yemen's most vulnerable the u.n. agency has complained that some of its food assistance has been diverted since the start of the war the w.s.p. has been feeding more than 10000000 people there every month judges in britain have ruled that government leaders broke the law by allowing arms sales to saudi arabia activists argue that there was a clear risk that weapons used in the war in yemen violated human rights laws the british government must now evaluate how and where its weapons exports to saudi arabia are used need barco reports from london. british weapons sales to saudi arabia currently engaged in a war in yemen are unlawful the verdict of one of britain's highest courts. the case was brought by the campaign against arms trade it says the government license arms sales to saudi despite a risk the weapons could be used to kill civilians. in this terrible war

it's time to. end the policies which have. to continue for so long the ruling doesn't mean the u.k. has to stop selling weapons to saudi but it doesn't mean the government will need to scrutinize what british may weapons they use for the government says it will challenge the ruling and freeze issuing any new arms export licenses to saudi while it considers the decision to disagree with the judgment and will seek permission to appeal alongside this we are carefully considering the implications of the judgement for decision making while we do this we will not grant any new licenses for export to saudi arabia and its coalition partners which might be used in the conflict in the. sun are yemen october 26th seen in the aftermath of an airstrike on a community hall the building was packed with civilians attending a funeral when the airstrike happened $140.00 people died the saudi arabian led

coalition later admitted it launched the attack claiming wrong information. since the start of the yemen conflict in 2015 the u.k. slice and $6000000000.00 in arms sales to saudi including fighter jets and precision guided missiles exports the core beliefs of course indiscriminate deaths . saudi arabia says the deployment of british may weapons in yemen is legitimate and that only iran stands to benefit from ending british weapons exports to saudi. public scrutiny of british arms exports to saudi has been growing in recent years the government under my. pressure to prioritize yemen spiraling humanitarian crisis the u.k. also has lucrative weapons deals to protect british defense company b. a systems makes 15 percent of its annual profits from sales to saudi $13000000000.00 deal to sell 48 euro fighter toys jets to the country is pending

the ruling also has implications on other countries that sell weapons to saudi including for arms it boosted its sales to the kingdom by 30 percent and $28.00. the death toll in yemen is nearing 100000 people it is time so you can pay news for britain to stem the flow of weapons and put people before profits leave. london now protesters in sudan have returned to the streets demanding an immediate transfer of power to a civilian government they have rejected calls for talks by the military and they're calling for justice after security forces killed dozens of activists in an attack on june 3rd genter says it's investigating the crackdown now thousands of demonstrators in hong kong have just begun occupying roads around government buildings as part of planned protests to push for the complete withdrawal of the next edition bill you're watching live pictures now from there where the government

headquarters have been closed with crowds gathering calling for the resignation of hong kong's leader many have dressed in black to honor a protester who died after falling from a scaffold on saturday mass demonstrations have been held over the past fortnight against the bill which would allow criminal suspects to be sent to mainland china for trial while our correspondent robin wright now joins us live from hong kong robyn we see those numbers there they appear to be growing what's happening there now. that's right they've been growing throughout friday morning in a stars it is now several 1000 people out protesting and they've taken over once again one of the major high river highways in hong kong until a few minutes ago this highways called hardcore road was busy with traffic it's now busy as you can see with protesters they've been gathering around the main government and legislative council complex here this is all part of their ongoing campaign they want to bring the government to a standstill that in

a way has been thwarted somewhat by the government bring itself to a standstill they've given the workers here in this complex the day off nonetheless the protesters gone ahead it's peaceful it is fairly good natured but certainly there is still a lasting resentment and anger not only about this extradition bill but also about towards the police here. they are angry that police classified one of their protests last week as a as a riot and also at the level of force used by police now the protesters have called for a protest outside the police headquarters that's a couple of blocks in this direction so they are gradually moving there but as you can see they are blocking at the moment to this highway they're blocked one side of the highway and if we just get a look over here there are some protesters trying to block the other side of the highway some traffic on this side of the highway was blocked for a time remains to be seen if they can get up the numbers to completely block this

road as you can hear a lot of the drivers beeping their horns down to happy for the moment at least the police keeping a very low profile allowing the students to vent it seems that to occupy this road as we wait to see what happens to the stars here and rob it's been almost 2 weeks now things we've been seeing these really huge numbers of demonstrators but this movement has been going for some time how long do you expect these protests to continue and when makes for them. that's right there is a problem protesters up the mountain one important thing that they have not done is called another. the problem it seems is they're victims of their own success once you've had a 2000000 person march where do you go from there you're not going to top that in a city of 7000000 people so they have decided not to call another mass rally instead they have been working towards july 1st which is

a traditional annual event here an annual demonstration they are trying to get numbers up for that and in the meantime carry out a number of different actions this seemingly being one of them the organizers of this have to be really careful because if they could they could potentially face prosecution for doing things like this bringing major highways to a standstill so they've been using interesting euphemisms this what we are attending is called an all day breakfast other people have called for a picnic in the park that's tell you more part the other side of this complex and still later on there's another group calling for an annual dinner always of getting people to come out without of course saying that they are going to be demonstrating blocking roads like this which is could potentially face prosecution we are seeing some of the some of the protesters have been donning masks helmets and also as you can see moving some barricades around remains to be seen whether this particular highway will eventually be closed. from bribe there our correspondent across all of

the action in hong kong taking turns throughout the day thank you rob. well it's the time of here in northeast thailand and neighboring loud when some areas are declared no fly zones that's because of rockets being launched from farms below as part of a buddhist festival when he reports. crew the people here each rocket sent to the skies is a high velocity message to the gods they're not meant as aggressive or threatening symbols but on stated explosive gestures of gratitude some festivals in this region are about wishing for good luck at the start of what they hope will be a bountiful whit season for farmers this one in roy it's northeast thailand is about saying thank you to the gods for answering prayers made at a nearby buddhist temple. and my prayers and wishes were answered that's why i

launched the rocket today it's a tradition that if you get what you want you launch a rocket to all of the gods and spirits. people like not to pay almost $500.00 for someone to build the rockets but there are no qualified rocket scientists here just secrets and techniques passed from generation to generation chachi one seesawing for example is an electrician for most of the year now. it's like my family business my uncle was the one who asked me to help him and it's been more than 8 years that start building rockets once to fester wars of i go back to my full time job in bangkok. at this festival there are 2 sizes of rockets and as well as the religious theme there's a sporting side to it there are prizes for the longest flight time with the winning larger rockets spending around 7 minutes in the air before crashing back to earth hopefully in an uninhabited field but increasingly it's also become about gambling with money bet on whether rockets are launched smoothly or spiral out of control

the noise is deafening the smoke is choking and it's dangerous but people come in their thousands. it's a frenetic scene here there are hundreds of rockets launched over the course of the day the largest of which are packed with 200 kilograms of propellant. so if t. doesn't appear to be a main priority but iran has a good time those who take part say they are determined to preserve the festival will once a year everyone becomes an expert on flight and some really do become rocket scientists wayne hey al jazeera roy it thailand. hello i'm a star and there are and these are the headlines u.s. president donald trump has called the downing of an american drone over the strait

of hormuz a very big mistake washington says the surveillance drone was flying at high altitude in international airspace when it was hit by a surface to air missile regulators of the band u.s. operated flights from entering part of iran's and space iran's foreign minister on the other hand has released his own version of an op saying the drone was intercepted after violated iranian airspace tehran says it was shot down near kui mobarak that's in hamas gun province in southern iran and congressional leaders in the u.s. are urging president trying to proceed with caution we have an untrustworthy adversary the high kenshin wires are up in the region for a lot of different reasons some by lateral region some some religious whatever is the high tension one. 3rd we must act in a way that does not that does deescalate and does not as to collate the

tensions and the situation here. thousands of demonstrators in hong kong have been occupying roads around government buildings as part of planned protests to push for the complete withdrawal of an extradition bill you're watching live pictures now where the government headquarters have been closed with crowds gathering there calling for the resignation of hong kong's leader. and several people have been injured in violent demonstrations in georgia's capital tbilisi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protest as they tried to storm parliament the unrest began after visiting russian politicians segarra laws was allowed to address omegas that . judges in britain have ruled that government leaders broke the norm by allowing weapons sales to saudi arabia while the u.s. senate has voted to block the sale of weapons to the kingdom and its m.r.c. allies i have a concern for the weapons a contributing to the death of yemeni civilians well there is other headlines join me for more news here after people in power do stay

with us on al-jazeera. easter sunday bombings reverberated around the world with religious and ethnic tension rising one a one east investigates it is the new frontline ensuring to. 0. in 27 see a referendum cuts and they need independence spoke to respond state i made accusations politicians behind the boat were committing rebellion over the polls for months surcharges be settled at a controversial criminal trial raising serious questions about the that was punished. we went to florida.

it's been called spain's trial of the century. and it's divided the nation 12 cattle and leaders accused of sedition and rebellion after calling a referendum on independence from spain. the whole independence bubble is just going down normality is coming little by little to get a loan what we have seen is full to cover oppression and violation of fundamental rights so now we have even more reasons to want independence. on the 6th of september 27th teen the cattlemen regional parliament took

a vote which was to precipitate the biggest crisis in the history of spain's relatively young democracy. oh well that is the deal a lot of opposed. to what all the great. don't often doing that unless you are all doing julia for the better than going in the spanish capital of madrid the decision to hold the referendum was met with outrage that the government backed by the country's constitutional court made clear the spanish nation was even divisible cool through its break up unconstitutional the referendum would be on your full and it would be stopped. in barcelona's extensive talks to when congress lee decorated cruise ships arrived commendation to

thousands of state police drafted into catalonia by the spanish government. the scene was set for a major confrontation. on the 1st of october 2017 the morning of the referendum more than 2000000. in defiance of a huge police presence. is concealed in bin liners to polluting stations. is. the spanish seville out in force. they smashed a way into putting stations in such a ballot boxes. police personnel wearing balaclavas

confiscated books isn't papers. others physically sculpt people. enjoy rayna with a cotton president was due to vote and in towns across. the police operation. with remarkable disregard for the t.v. cameras and mobile phones recording everything they did the police force for the trad finches from hiding stations seemingly recall edges of their age old funner ability. to many villages raise their hands in peaceful protest. last

august who sat on the ground in a fit to defend polling stations. like dragged off by the police. i. i. still mall offered flower as a symbols of peace. but. little bit. outside one polling station ramon u.e. primary school in barcelona the police operation was particularly heavy handed. one of the men caught up in it was a musician who has been you. know you are not alone. in the

gusta. yes the last. thing was i went beyond the laws and then. when i went up thinking analysis or when the police tried to leave with confiscated boxes and others attempted to block their way. into the last. study and other men with a lot of other what i think along with. it and the police began firing plastic bullets at the crime. for which it was struck directly on his right eye the paramedics rushed him to hospital for emergency surgery but you don't time only look for a little blood but an obvious you don't see given the numbers in the local. hundreds of bridges that referendum day. something seriously.

despite the police attends to stop them many hoffa's the population of catalonia either very or try to. block the results of the referendum controversial people opposed to cutters on independence night feeds demonstrators had mostly boycotted that they all flew to the footie 3 percent of the electorate did manage to cost of 892 percent voted for independence. in truth as far as complete homes. actually remains pretty evenly divided on the phone with the scene where. in the tense days the front page the spanish government declared its intention to suspend the cattle and. hanumant. the

catalans responded by signing the declaration of independence. 3 days later spain's attorney general made an announcement. coffeecup going to list the list the quinta and begin them by younger than the other only the ministry official that of course does indicate a god or that he throws their very own said if you own my little study on school it shows. also of politicos that i get it only that they got the lumia. of these charges perhaps the most serious is that of rebellion suggesting the accused instigated a violent insurrection against the state. particularly as minister for foreign relations post-school not allegation. all the violence that was on the day was perpetrated by the spanish police troops which were sent 600000 to.

brutalize the people were voted out if found guilty of rebellion the accused face sentences of up to 25 years in jail. some including the president called us puja among escaped into exile he's now in belgium from where he continues to campaign. but others politicians and civic leaders attended court as instructed. when they were refused bail. in total 9 which taken into custody some spending 17 months in jail before the trial even began. their lawyers contended the refusal of bail as a clue to attempts to silence them. migraines are in pretrial attention got it

george. said that he didn't like start their political careers so we have some citizens former legal representatives that are in jail because they are all issues. but spain center right party papuan in kaufman twin the charges when a comprehensive plea reject scattered on planes this is a political trial and a denial of free speech. by noise part of the narrative is part or the stress that the defense of the independent is i was brought in on the time but i cannot accept that this program and i will never share any any doubt about it in the been done so that you can see you don't we are a full democracy there is no risk of freedom of speech i think there is too much freedom of speech and all parties say yes because everyone can say whatever and with no consequences and that is ok but that's the thing that's freedom of speech i

hear there is such a freedom of speech here in spain that you've got everything on the contrary at the same time so freedom of the speech is not a risk now responsible because. then in june 28th seen the party people who are government mariano rajoy was forced out of office leaving spain's new center left socialist party government to defend the trial. but a propaganda video produced by the new government in a bid to redeem spain's reputation with cruelty and featuring the town which again this is the real spain was quickly mocked by pretty dependent supporters. this is the response just died last month but. this is. the new spanish government's representative in catalonia acknowledges that there

was a problem you're going to hear of the killing though there are no not like that you'll go to the humility saying you'll say throw the loudest poster for it like you will but she defends the trial itself. they committed by who is by now at least another pretty motherly now has either said leave it but up a little harder but at the last of this unit. form a supreme court judge martine piolín has a very different view. about it is so. very. real could mean every 5 nice 3 men look at possible relations here pedro or or yourself or see that other common or the sort of the next holy cause or form a coherent.