al-jazeera. you're watching the news hour live from london coming up in the next 60 minutes. we'll let you know that. after 2 days of protest leaders of an iranian backed group tell their members to would call from the u.s. embassy compound in baghdad widespread devastation as bushfires engulfed australia's southeast coast at least 15 people are believed to have died and cause a missing. dozens arrested as

a new year's day pro-democracy march in hong kong turns violent. on paul recent hour with the sports the rockets star mom is back from injury and back in business james harden schools 35 points to help houston down the nuggets in the n.b.a. . welcome to the news our top story supporters of iranian backed groups in iraq of withdrawn from the united states embassy in baghdad after laying siege to the complex for 2 days a popular mobilization force is ordered demonstrators to leave the u.s. has also now dispatched extra troops to the region following the protests with president donald trump blaming iran and threatening reprisals simona fault and reports now from baghdad. they left just as they had arrived a day earlier determined and angry but also pleased that they had managed to

deliver a message to the us supporters of the iranian backed popular mobilization forces who had defied the prime minister's orders to withdraw just a day before now heeded the call of their leaders while some this mantle tents and ferried away supplies used to camp the night out the more defiant ones staged a final showdown in front of the embassy gates burning tires and flags to the sounds of anti-american slogans usa was hit out of all our country we don't america we can protect ourselves our world gone through real we are fighters who heard out who killed our says road turned them crank through. the attack on the u.s. embassy was sparked by the latest u.s. strikes against hezbollah brigades which is part of the popular mobilization forces the majority of the crowd consisted of its members and supporters but some here say

they were also driven by what they perceive as an unjust american policy in the region this is noisy land. and if you want to stay here you must understand. when the government believe and understand. it's we can leave. as crowds withdrew u.s. helicopter circled overhead after reinforcements arrived from kuwait the night before the white house had pressured the iraqi government to end the standoff but it was clear that of florida's here didn't want to risk confrontation iraqi security forces surrounded the embassy but use no force to remove the crowds or the iraqi governmental forces have been put on a very confusing and sensitive position as i mentioned the partnership in an alliance with both countries the u.s. and iran so the iraqi government now has to prove to the u.s.

that it's taking either a neutral stance or it's protecting the u.s. embassy because that's what a government has to do and yet to the outer gates of the embassy burned and vandalized bear witness to the iraqi government's inability to protect the u.s. presence here the speech here at the u.s. embassy appears to be coming to an end with u.s. trade iraqi counterterrorism forces now taking over the security and basically securing the area as the crowd 4 but the brigades have said that this is just the 1st lesson for the united states they have vowed that they will not stand down until they see a full departure of u.s. forces from iraq the soil the monopole to al jazeera but without. wells a solid range of aid has more from baghdad as well and explains why the protest might not be over. from all accounts that we've heard iraqi security forces are now back in charge of the security on the outer perimeter of the u.s.

embassy which was besieged in the last 24 hours by members of the popular mobilization units the shia militias who are now under the command of the prime minister and these are forces who fought against the group and they were instrumental in the fight against isis and the times were actually working by immediately with the media raise with the government iraqi government forces as well as u.s. forces to defeat isis they have relocated themselves across the tigris river onto the other off the tigris river and they say they will continue to stay there until next week at least when the iraqi parliament they have been promised by the prime minister's office will convene and we'll work towards legislating a law which according to his will is going to make sure that all foreign troops leave this country it is quite interesting because. logically as well as militarily allied with iran and is a proponent of at least one foreign presence in iraq also interesting because

politically they are relying on the government of the who is in charge of a caretaker government if you remember so it is an interesting 24 hours where more u.s. troops have been deployed where we've seen escalation to the brink where people were likening it to what happened in iran 1979 and now the protesters have left peacefully but they say that their message has been heard their message has been delivered and they will continue their push against u.s. forces until all their demands. now to our other headline story this hour bush fires are burning across all 6 australian states with the situation in victoria and new south wales becoming increasingly serious 8 people have died in the past week alone bringing this fire seasons total death toll to at least 15 firefighters are battling more than $200.00 bushfires across the country many who are now able to return to their communities witnessing the extent of the damage for the 1st time

catching lopez her day on reports entire neighborhoods have burned to the ground destroying more than property. jan gilbert is among the thousands of australians who have begun to go back home to nothing. rubble and debris now cover what's left of her belongings all of my positions have been tightly in writing everything there is just simply nothing. nothing except that. in other areas the bushfires are far from overhead thank you thousands of firefighters are struggling in the states of the tory i new south wales an area that's home to more than 13000000 people and the conditions are expected to get worse over the next few days the winds are expected to be very strong back to 45 degrees temperatures we've got

a lot for in the last guy that we can time. in the town of all adult people wait outside supermarkets and stock up on food and water power and mobile phone outages are also a concern you have a challenge with getting people liable to even access the basics like petrol and atrocity and that's causing enormous stress for communities we understand that the australian military is using planes and helicopters sit downs of flames while preparing for possible evacuations. emergency crews are stretched thin and slight changes in temperatures and the wind could spark even more fires there wasn't much i could do a time a quick and i just couldn't do anything it was just hearing the wind just blew and wind just blew and if you look at everything on monk it's just grass it's just everything everywhere you go. no one knows yet the precise cost of the damage but it's clear the widespread devastation is immense katia locus of

a on al-jazeera. we're now joined by james told from the victoria state fire control center thank you for taking time to speak to us can you describe some of the conditions you've heard about and counted there for us and. also give us a sense of how many new fire is being sparked with each passing day. yes hello america suds the situation in victoria which is in the southeast us says a strike and borders news of wild. means that we've got a number of landscape fires that are occurring right across victoria and the southern parts of yourself wild and there's a strong likelihood that a number of those fires will join up in the days ahead so currently there are within victoria at least there are 47 fires that are still going and not under control and these are burning in very mountainous and forested landscapes very

difficult to access and there's obviously a number of road closures and lots of property damage and and danger still in the in not just the going fires but also just in terms of the aftermath in the impact from those fires in terms of safety for firefighters so it's very difficult terrain where expecting while there's some moderate conditions today in that kind of low thirty's or high twenty's degree celcius we're expecting warmer weather again on the weekend with some increasingly gusty winds which will fan base fires again because of and because of the really dry conditions much of the southeast destroyed years in draft. the forest is very very dry this little log of wood that will be articled these fires after 2 or significant rain comes in that might not be for you know a few months yet so hot and windy conditions making it was you mentioned 40005 in victoria into very difficult terrain the government deployed. aircraft and

navy but that is that making a difference here ability to battle the 5 you have the resources of something on this scale. well it's definitely got the resources we've got some over a 1000 firefighters in victoria fighting these fires we're getting assistance from our interest i colleagues as well as assistance from overseas firefighters coming in from other countries as you mentioned the strike in defense force has now. been . requested in is acting to provide additional support in particular in relation to the provision of boats and choppers to help with access to a number of coastal communities that are cut off by the fires or the situation is that there are a number of coastal communities within victoria and potentially and in the south whiles where because of the impact of the fire those communities have been cut off by road and the roads are safe to travel on because of falling trees and other

infrastructure problems to do with power lines in the like so the only access into these communities is via sea and straw in defense force as well as a number of private organizations now providing. boats with supplies medical supplies food supplies water and some time we're having to chopper in and out the fire crews themselves so far services were rotating. the personnel through through chopper not back on the boats and the like so it's it's it's a big operations some of these situations novel in that we have at the deal those are the sort of situations of past particularly around where there are flooded coastal communities but rest assured that we're putting all the resources of available resources we've got out of knowing that as i said before 'd it's potentially going to burn for a long time yet we need to also managed the health and well being of our far far

agencies thank you very much jane tough and victoria they live in filth and taking the time today. now a new yeah but no sign that hong kong's anti-government protest is preparing to abandon their cause protest leaders say more than a 1000000 people packed the city streets on new year's day but the largely peaceful march eventually turned violent as police shut it down a resting 400 people lawrence louis reports from hong kong. was what was supposed to be a peaceful march descends into chaos and destruction on the streets of hong kong a small fire most likely caused by a petrol bomb buds before it's doused by a will to carry. elsewhere police stupid to arrest a protester after demonstrators ignore their warnings to leave 4 hours into the protest march police withdrew the permit for this rally deeming this to be an illegal assembly meaning they can take action to clear the state and that is

exactly what they are doing here riot police have got water cannon clearing the streets of protesters as well as the barricades that hurts us is that set up crowds of protesters many wearing gas masks had earlier used to braless and bricks to block roads police fired rounds of tear gas to disperse the crowds. the march it started peacefully in the early afternoon attracting tens of thousands of people who slowly made their way along a 3 and a half kilometers route young and old they chose to spend new year's day much the same way hong kong had spent the 2nd half of last year at another street demonstration. by new year's wish for peace in hong kong but that will depend on the government and the chinese communist party if they continue to tighten their grip on home call in these protests will continue. along the way labor union groups set up recruitment booths and volunteers collected donations to assist the protest

movement was my goal it was. the crowd did let up on its 5 demands which include an independent investigation into allegations of police misconduct during the protests and the right to choose their leaders. police did a distance away keeping a close watch occasionally protesters would direct the anger. at the police. government protests have gone on for months now and even though there are rallies and gatherings almost every day they've reduced in intensity there's no indication the government is willing to make further concessions. no one knows for how long this will go on florence al-jazeera hong kong. there is much more to come for you in this news hour from london north korea's leader

promises a new weapon for the new year in his latest threat to the united states. in a while the united nations moves into one of africa's most notorious neighborhoods where weapons have now been banned and that in sport the norwegian wowing the world cup crowds in chanting all of that story. now the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is awesome lawmakers to grant him parliamentary immunity from prosecution in 3 corruption cases but is imran khan explains from west jerusalem is request is by no means guaranteed. for the last month prime minister benjamin netanyahu has had israelis guessing whether he would actually ask for parliamentary immunity finally 4 hours before the deadline was due to expire he did ask for that immunity now the process is quite simple however the

procedure is very complicated but he did give a very bullish very confident performance saying that he would be able to weather the storm let's take a look at what he had to say before going to republish but. it's mine tensions this time before the call to shatter all the public aid accusations against the citizens of. what is meant to protect elected if we should lose from tided lawsuits from serving political case an ancient home the will of the people now what happens next is quite simple all he has to do is ask the speaker of the knesset to put the immunity request into place what happens next is very much more complicated asked to go to a committee and then it comes out of committee it's voted on by the knesset members and they're likely to divide themselves along party lines already we've heard the the good party is saying that they will support the immunity request because it's

the prime minister's basic right of the opposition figures have actually said they're not going to support it and the vote against it however when will this folk take place will it's likely to take place after the election on march the 2nd and after the formation of the government so it's going to really push this court case that these 3 court cases that he's facing into the summer before they're able to hear that now the immunity only loss as long as the prime minister is a member of the knesset once he's out of the minutes he is automatically revoked so he will have to face trial at some point as long as the attorney general wants to push these corruption cases in the course but he now has a huge. a political fight on his hands because like i said things are now dividing along party lines the likud party will support him in this immunity request but it's by no means guaranteed that the others or will support him other opposition the party people will support him so it's not clear whether he will get that

immunity request. now to india the family of a young man shot in the head during a protest say he was intentionally killed by police is one of at least $25.00 people to die since demonstrations started last month against the government's new citizenship more police blaming protesters carrying illegal firearms and shovel her reports from the northern state of a pradesh. 24 year old was shot in the head he was a bread maker and the sole provider for his family. his 80 year old father is inconsolable his mother less his disabled brother with 3 kids who were raised has no clue how the family will survive the loss of river a girl who didn't even litters body home for the last. what happened to the government what's happened to the police who came to this firing bullets.

on december 20th some people here in the city of mira to try to protest against a controversial new citizenship law that many see discriminates against muslims the police say the protesters protect them with rocks which led them to use force. limbs family says he was not even part of the protests and was merely walking back home from the restaurant he worked in when the police shot this was a video with someone this he was a witness and claiming he saw the police shooting him al-jazeera cannot independently verify its authenticity. activist who went on a fact finding mission to the city soon after the killings say most gunshots were above the east and appeared targeted this is absolutely clear deliberate shooting to kill it is not following the standard operating procedure of announcing there were no announcements no warning announcements mean nothing of the kind and no attempt to use tear gas or water cannons or anything like that no attempt to shoot

at the feet 1st it was street to be a shooting to get. activists to key. used the police of being biased against muslims. in a recent video the city superintendent of police saying was her telling people in a muslim dominated leave the hood to go to pakistan. we asked the superintendent about the allegations and i was i won't comment on that and while he admitted that the police did fire shots he said it was protesters with illegal firearms who killed the people however he added the police were investigating but. there's a big difference between a clean and an untrained shooter the mob doesn't see whether it's firing from behind a front he said that a dozen police officers were shot and injured and shared this video people here say they are demonstrating for their right to live in the land of their far india and that they don't want to go to pakistan they also say that we are the police in

a few steps of investing people indiscriminately they say at night they're taking turns to guard their neighborhoods in case officers our. family is in mourning they demand an investigation but don't expect the administration to conduct it fairly arch of war or al-jazeera made out with a predation india the mother of a british woman convicted in cyprus of lying about being raped is calling for a boycott of the country a cypriot court convicted the 19 year old of public mischief after she withdrew an accusation of gang rape in july she says she only recanted her accusation while under duress from the police or a challenge reports. this is the anonymous british 19 year old who said she'd been gang raped in cyprus by 12 israelis only to end up convicted herself now her mother has told a british broadcaster that the party resort of iron napa is dangerous the place

isn't safe she said it's absolutely not safe and if you go and report something that's happened to you you're either laughed at as far as i can tell or in the worst case something like what's happened to my daughter may happen she's back to campaign trending on twitter to boycott cyprus the teenager was convicted on monday of lying about the rape angering women's rights campaigners who say the victim has been turned into the criminal. she says pressure from cypriot police back in july made her retract her accusation against the 12 israelis. when they arrived home at ben-gurion airport some of the young men celebrated with champagne and insulting chance against the woman and. her lawyer says there were numerous violations when police were questioning her she did not have an axe or i didn't seem because she has that i. was well. and she

claims and this is what. was given to us some of the women supporters suspect cypresses economic ties with israel may have influenced the case and they say cyprus is legal system is corrupt and e.u. report in 2018 said the country hasn't fully implemented 14 of its 16 reform recommendations the u.k. foreign office is raising concerns with cyprus about what's happened to the woman but the government had nicosia insists its courts are independent the british woman to be sentenced on tuesday or retellings how to 0. now a former guinea bissau prime minister omar sissoko in ballo has won the presidential runoff election with 54 percent of the vote and bello will take over from the incumbent president just samaria buzz was eliminated in the 1st round the losing candidate domingo's simmo as head says the vote was rigged and he plans to challenge the result in the supreme court's. united nations and government forces

in the central african republic of declared in a tour as neighborhood in the capital a weapons free zone the area known as p.k. 5 recently sold days of fighting between armed groups and local traders fighters were given a deadline to disarm which is now passed. but address has more from bungie. ashore force by united nations troops in an effort to avoid an all out war between traders and their former militia protectors in bungay speaking of 5 neighborhood the area was once described as one of the most volatile districts in the country now the united nations has stepped in calling on both sides to this. problem anyone seen with arms will be arrested disarmed or neutralized if he or she resists the population shouldn't take long to their hands it's the responsibility of the new sky and local forces we will also occupied control bases of self-defense groups for government forces this is the 1st time they're setting foot in 5 says $24.00.

nobody should pretend about the current situation if one is a traitor you're a traitor if you're a militia man who reintegrate you to work last week clashes broke out between traitors and the local militia protecting them of accusation of extortion more than 40 people were killed days later the traders vow to chase the militia out of the area the collaboration of the pickier 5 member hold as a weapons free zone came just hours before a deadline full so running out all arms in the neighborhood expired traders were probably relied on militia men for protection had told them that they need to surrender all weapons in their possession or freeze an all out war now it should at side order has been. anyone seen carrying a gun and this never. disarming fighters which the united nations want to carry out is something no one was able to do in 5 since the outbreak of civil war in 2030 in

some residents wary of the bloodshed hope this time it will be different. our message is clear people should really be careful we're going to make sure no one is using guns to hold people to ransom later they did this you know he will the fed up and disappointed with what the vigilante they're doing that's why they want the presence of international and local forces to take charge and get in t. everyone safety for now a bloody confrontation on new year's eve is of a good but no one knows for how long this piece will who are old. al-jazeera bunky. washable still to come on this news hour we look back it is competent 1st year is brazil's president and the head to want to wait for him in 2020 battle to change the hearts and minds of consumers in one of the world's greatest produces of plastic and action. and then a bit later tokyo's n.m.

takings takes a big fat board in its preparations for that and much more. it's been a quiet start to the new year across much of year we've got a large area of high pressure in charge and not too much showing up on a satellite picture here hi nathan hi we have light waves and that has led to some pretty dense fog in parts of germany across the low countries as well as cool some problems before the north here we got the tightly packed i suppose quite breezy here actually with the winds coming in from a westerly direction all the way over into that east assad if you're even in moscow temperatures have been on the mild side one celsius in moscow on thursday there's that brisk wind are rolling across northern pas and there's a lack of wind into the central air it's going to few showers across southeast

assad of the mediterranean sea i was along the spells of frank pushing into the northwest and colder over here for thursday we go on into friday i don't think is where the further south is still 12 celsius in london and paris is still mild enough in moscow around to decrease still quite into central areas that's pushing a little further eastward say so hopefully that will help to clear the air around the low countries into parts of germany further south wet windy weather moving across the east side of the mediterranean yet again so we have got some disturbed weather just lapping across the coastal shoals of northern ate it pushing across into the levant just in time for the weekend. violence is powerful. force is the political wild card that ultimately shapes world order the structure that is defended at all cost. be it

with the support of the people fall through the crushing of their will. people in power exposes the use and abuse of power around the world. on al-jazeera. you stand the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world. al-jazeera. al-jazeera where ever you are.

welcome back with the news hour live from london a look at the top stories now members of the iran backed popular mobilization forces have started withdrawing from the u.s. embassy compound in iraq's capital on the orders of the. bush fires still burning across all 6 australian states but the situation in victoria and new south wales becoming increasingly serious 8 people have died in the past week alone police in hong kong have detained dozens of people after a new year's day march turned violent. all in all the stories are watching north korea's leader kim jong un says he'll soon launch what he calls a new strategic weapon according to south korean media reports kim said the u.s. would suffer helplessly if it continued to delay denuclearization talks wright has more now from seoul. it may be new year but on the korean peninsula there

is a return to some of the old belligerence of the past. north korean leader kim jong un told a special meeting of the ruling workers' party he would continue developing his nuclear arsenal. as p. and yang welcomed in 2020 it marked the expiration of the deadline kim had set for the u.s. to come up with concessions installed steve you clear eyes aish until. so far kim has stopped short of resuming tests with long range ballistic missiles on nuclear weapons knowing that would risk losing what little chance he has of getting concessions from the u.s. president because donald trump has been probably the most supporter. for negotiations between north korea and iran a stance to actually continue so nursing his faith there would be great risk for mr

kim. this hardening of north korea's position leaves the vague commitments by the 2 leaders to denuclearize ation now in tatters it also marks the end for now of south korea's efforts to mediate between the 2 powers seoul welcomed in the new year back in the familiar position of facing an increasingly belligerents northern neighbor to come i think we can make a good relationship with north korea and i hope we can have a good discussion with trump to improve things attending a new year's eve party at his mar-a lago resort president trump remained optimistic we have to do what we have to do but he did sign a contract he did sign an agreement talking about denuclearization that we signed number one chan denuclearization kim jong un also spent much of his speech addressing the need to develop his country's economy with an emphasis on self-reliance it seems to be accepted that crippling economic sanctions will stay

in place and may even be further tightened as a punishment for anyone. testing but the past 2 years of summit diplomacy not only with the u.s. but also north korea's neighbors leaves the country far less isolated than it was before and its continuing weapons development means it goes into 2020 with more advanced missile technologies and an expanded nuclear program rob mcbride al-jazeera sole turkey's vice president says there may stop sending troops to support libya's internationally recognized government based in tripoli if the want to play for after stops is offensive turkish parliament is due to vote on whether to deploy military forces on thursday after tripoli requested support libya has been in a state of chaos since long time wrote i want to get duffy was overthrown and a violent uprising in 2011. takes a look at how the nation caught where it is now. august

2011 and rebel forces sweep into the capital tripoli creating euphoria countrywide the 4 decades of with presses and dictatorial rule by a mug of that the world over but in a country divided along tribal and regional lines the celebrations was short lived . in national transitional council was established to govern after gadhafi is that a year later in 2012 libyans elected a new legislative authority called the general national congress the d.n.c. was given 18 months to oversee the transition to a permanent democracy nor alina's the. bottles are the deadline passed and divisions crn remerge to new elections were held in 2014 and the new house of representatives was formed. but many members of the d.n.c.

refused to recognize the authority of the new parliament libyans found themselves with 2 competing authorities the house of representatives based in tobruk and the t.n.c. based in tripoli. the east west divide soon developed into a full blown military confrontation when renegade general backed by the house of representatives launched operation dignity accusing the triplett based government of being affiliated with what he described as bullish as with extremist agendas. as fighting flared into 1015 the un stepped in brokering a power sharing agreement. the deal signed in morocco established a government of national accord which was indorsed by the u.n. and international community as libya's legitimate government. but 2 years ago hopes to and the political divide suffered another setback when the

mandate of the jenae and asked arrivals is a prime minister of the tripoli based d.n.a. and. had several meetings but failed to overcome their differences. in april health ordered his so-called national liberation army took up chose the capital after making initial gains the war most forces suffered a series of defeats in street to street fighting on the oscars of tripoli and have remained there since. 2 weeks ago after us forces backed by egypt saudi arabia and the u.a.e. launched what they described as the final battle. it's already killed and wounded hundreds of civilians and forced nearly 140000 people from their homes.

80 years after libyans threw a lot of this risk calling for democracy the country is at war and divided like never before has. now brazil's controversial president gyre boss in our own is completed his 1st year in office it's been a competent competent 12 months in which he struggled to implement most radical parts of his right wing agenda while seeing his popularity decline but improvements in brazil's economy could give him another opportunity in 2020 other sandra yeti as more. i here after is surprising victory brazilian president joe you both so now the us failed to deliver on his most radical promises and managed enough wins to keep them alive the former army captain a self-confessed nostalgist for the brazilian dictatorship has blamed the democratic checks and balances in this country for slowing down his dream of freeing brazil of what he calls the ideology of the left and globalization while

pushing for its pro-gun pro religion agenda. 3rd of the country remains delighted with his ideas but many seem to have had 2nd thoughts he was rather inexperienced and throughout this year he has had many specific problems scandals and so on which have allowed him perhaps to build or to maintain that high level of popularity. he's been at loggerheads with the international organizations as he played down the devastation of the amazon rain forest for the 76 percent increase in fires compared to the previous year. the message it has also been a turbulent time promise is a legalizing the carrying of arms and offering immunity to police carrying out lethal operations were rejected by congress or helped by the supreme court corruption scandals involving a sense damage this image as a crusader against corruption and the country's powerful farming lobby forced him

to push down its and china and take communist rhetoric. to manage to pass historic pension reform after decades of failed attempts to tackle brazil sky high public debt i think some of his main promises that were related to security to the ability do to you know to have all guns and things like that haven't turned out to be so successful or so important. i think what's what's happening if you if you read public opinion and so on is that the focus is moving you know surprise surprise towards the economy paul few know is international supporters still hope he will be able to tackle drug gangs in crime but to further is vision the key will be revitalizing the still sluggish economy a year later it's unclear whether he'll be able to achieve the few doubt remain as controversial as ever i listen to them to al-jazeera. now fact checking

organizations of warning that not enough is being done to combat this information in georgia they say they're anti western websites narrowing russian claims that georgia hosts a secret biological weapons laboratory run by the united states al-jazeera was given special access to the park tree at the center of the allegations from tbilisi robin farseer walker has more. we were shown inside george's lucca tree which detects and prevents the spread of dangerous diseases but pro kremlin media claim it spreads disease experimenting on humans with cancer zeek a virus killer mostly toes and plagues of stink bugs. i asked the laboratories director whether there was any truth to these narratives but we are not making sich a way was this hope that the killer must get out of the but they love the tory is. the level of love but obviously this weekend diagonals to be sick. we have gone

dark and a man of any infection this is no killer was not invading this white house is here no aerated stink bug coming from the loop of literature but the moderated stink. i'm not a scientist but what i have been seeing here suggests that this laboratory is exactly what the georgian government says it is the russian claims that what's going on at the luca is far more sinister haven't been supported by any hard evidence facebook investigators made the stocking claim that george's governing party had adopted russian style d.c. information to discredit its opponents facebook shut down dozens of fake news accounts and pages government officials deny the allegations but fact checking organizations say political groups in georgia increasingly employ such tactics more

than a 100 facebook pages connected to far right organizations spread and he western narratives and then wrote and enjoy it unlikely alliance of patriots party 3rd elections in 2016 claims homosexuality is a western disease and the nato membership because another war with russia. you're fighting a losing battle. is a very you would carry through it yes because what we see groups of these people is increasing their audience number is increasing i'm told they're working we're recording it so in this case we have at least the reason to meet face and to start. working on that issue. like a virus this information in georgia is spreading 1st to the lead can be contained

written for steelworker 0 tbilisi the daughter of angola's former president is denying allegations of corruption after a court froze her bank accounts government says the court action against her is part of an anti corruption drive is about to santos says the accusations of politically motivated though she's been described as africa's richest woman well our father for president because they admired her dissent us led angola for 38 years until 2017 and older is an oil rich country or oil production and the industries that support it contribute to around 89 percent of its exports but much of the population is poor last month at jos a philomena de santos the son of the president and the brother of isabel went on trial for corruption he has pleaded not guilty well isabelle to santa spoke exclusively to al jazeera and said there had been a lack of due process. so my half brother was if you let me know was

charged a few months ago and he was under preventive custody for a long time you and all of the law establishes that you're only allowed to be under preventive custody for 4 months if fact he stayed for 9 months so he was arrested for 9 months with no trial no charges this was a complete violation of human rights so there was a leaked unveil asian of his rights all his legal rights he also was not afforded representation on blocking his accounts they have not allowed him to pay for his legal fees so in fact he had to ask for estate lawyer to represent him and i am very concerned that these court cases are just instrumental just just political instruments to to do for a 1st strategy of undermining the legacy of president of santos and what he has achieved out to thailand the country is one of the world's biggest producers of ocean plastic pollution retailers and authorities are trying to clean up the

country's act by banning some single use plastics but as jessica washington reports they also face a big challenge of changing the attitudes of consumers. around $45000000.00 plus of bags are used every year in thailand but the new year will bring a change in behavior for consumers all around the country major department stores in benin stores and supermarkets will all implement a ban on plastic bags from this year signs like this are on display around the country explaining the changes telling consumers they'll need to plan ahead for the next time they go shopping there's also a ban on using products with micro beats and plans for a ban on plastic cards within the next 2 years. all it would be think this is a good idea because it will preserve the environment these days so as the weather is changing it's hard to do my job as a driver because of the heat we need to stop using so much plastic and reduce the garbage overall but getting thai consumers to break up with plastic could prove

challenging the highest percentage of plastic usage doesn't come from department stores and convenience stores it comes from places like this fresh brewed markets and food stalls and getting independent sellers to get on board with a plastic bag could prove challenging. i think a plastic bag bad is a good idea but what will i use instead what would be a good substitute the supply was a wet so they'd be to be in a plastic bag but still i think reducing plastic is a good idea because of climate change the empty plastic push has been hard spurred by the high number of wildlife the teletubbies caused by classic ingestion one case which caught the attention of the public was that of a baby to go which died after eating several kilograms of plastic that case and others like it served as a graphic reminder to the public of the dangers of excessive plastic usage. so had

on the program why things are no longer double dutch as the government decides on just one way for that country. and world more raw found a dollar gets on the trail of wildlife and trophies in australia. are you out on the streets protesting whether on line you feel the weight of the system when you walk through each and every lug will board layer further and further into the jail or if you join us once a week entry has to start from day one whether again you're into tension or your own parser and this is a dialogue everyone has a voice so for the northeast those that supported our coverage will be varying accounts but i want to give people the reason for joining the global conversation on how to 0 when the news breaks today the current government has lost the trust of

people like you do anything because the producers are against it when people are to be counted votes is what working will represent the law for sure for opponents of rex it's drawing to the conservatives al-jazeera has teams on the ground right now hopes the meeting in paris will push politicians to create a competent and credible government to bring new moon blue documentaries and lighting on air and online. now at least 30 animals have burned to death after a fire ripped through the monkey house at a zoo in the west of germany krefeld zoo said its worst fears have become reality

hiding endangered apes are among the dead including unknown and gorillas west african chimpanzees and born in iran you tang's police say the fire might have been caused. by chinese sky lanterns which was set off as part of new year's eve celebrations and then landed inside the zone. we're told in turkey. i would like to say that it's profoundly sad day the hardest data has ever had our monkey house was destroyed by the flames of a fire that started more or less around midnight we don't know exactly when it started yet but it burnt down the house completely. now if we talk about the land of lips and windmills holland or the netherlands usually comes to mind but which name should we use well from now on the government would prefer if people called their nation the netherlands as it attempts to rebrand but it's not reports from amsterdam poland is not a country despite suggestions to the contrary all over amsterdam north and south

holland are just 2 coastal provinces in the country officially called the netherlands and the government tired of its biggest city being a by word for legalized prostitution and recreational drug use wants a rebrand. so with a new p.r. push it's asking us to forget holland and the goalie of the netherlands before the whole rest of the world i think holland is quite clear what it is some small spot somewhere on the earth. where such people live. and to change that image around to change that. idea of holland into the netherlands i think it's quite a task it's quite a difficult task everywhere you look from branded clocks to other souvenirs the name holland dominates it's no surprise tourists aren't sure where they are what

would you call this country. ending. romance what do you call this country we're in now. that london you are right. there the land bases bassy yes. or no it was ok yes i mean this is holland estates the netherlands is the country today officially they want you to stop calling it all and they want to call it the netherlands. in amsterdam they're struggling to cope with a wreck or number of tourists 42000000 people are expected to visit this country by 2030 that's up from around 20000000 now and to manage that the government hopes

that this rebranding will encourage people to explore outside overcrowded amsterdam so the country beyond the 2 provinces of holland's. al-jazeera i'm still in the netherlands i'm not all the sport with poll thank you very much we start in the n.b.a. where the rockets star man james harden was back from injury and back in business in houston russell westbrook was also returning for the rockets and he did the early damage against denver. which has struggled this season for the nuggets he was doing his best to keep his side in the game. but hardin with $35.00 points would inspire the rockets to victory they go on to take 812-7212. and in the east it's 6 straight defeats for the hornets boston celtics the team celebrating at the buzzer in charlotte jason tatum firing $24.00 points their leading scorer kemba walker also contributing in 809292 when.

in english premier league jones a merinos tottenham have made a poor start to 2020 the portuguese watched his team lose that one nil away to lowly southampton is the 3rd loss in one league game since marino took charge in november and leaves them in 6 well leaders liverpool play sheffield united on thursday club has been weighing into the v.a.r. video review debate after goals were ruled out because of players on pits or toe was offside. the only problem is it takes like feels like half an hour until you see if you told mail is there or not it was armpit and that's not cool but at the end if somebody says you can score a goal with armpit didn't get done ok then it's offside the new national stadium in tokyo built for the olympics in july has staged its 1st sports event 60000 football fans watched kobe beat. in the emperor's cup final organizers of the 2020 games

still looking to make improvements for spectators at the $1400000000.00 venue. so we need to consider more about the signage and about how to get to destination to some areas how to create easily understandable wording and also how information should be provided to customers who come to the stadium. and one star. is a doubt for the 2nd test against south africa beginning on friday the paceman only bowled 6 balls in training before pulling out with a sore elbow and would have been practicing at stadium in cape town they'll be looking to bounce back in the 4 match series after losing the 1st test 507 runs then you look at the last test of having south africa 111 for 5 and. we were 140 for 3 in our 1st innings in south africa end up with a 101 lead after the 1st innings i think that's a big area of the game where we lost that way lost the match so those key moments recognizing them and performing better in those we go into this as the top men's

tennis players start their year at the new a.t.p. cup team event in australia but not everyone seems excited to be involved on wednesday canada's dennis shopov a lot of urged organizers to merge this tournament with the existing davis cup i think it felt weird to have 2 world team event within one month of each other the prize money on offer for the new a.t.p. cup is $13000000.00 less than november's event in madrid. well spain beat canada in the davis cup final and his team have been taking in some of the wildlife sights near their base in western australia that all says this new event is important and not just a light warmup for the australian open honestly i think for all of this tournament is not for the obliteration for the snow and open eyes of the other we want to compete well and then we will have a week before the you know but for me personally to practice for some of them to play in adelaide so we're very focused on that i'd be ready for this competition we

have not taken this quantities of like the brace on for far not one nor is marius linda very committed a great start to the new year in ski jumping in front of a packed arena of 20000 fans he broke the hill record out. in germany 143.5 meters on his 1st jump the cornerstone of his victory which was also his 1st title in world cup event this is the 2nd leg of the 4 hills tournament with events to come on saturday and monday. and i will have more later on. thanks very much paul well that's it for the news hour but i will be back very shortly with a full bulletin for you a roundup of the top stories coming up in a bit and of course as always our web site al jazeera dot com for all the latest on everything we're covering don't forget you can watch us on life streaming that as well.

ruins that speak of a rich history and the ones ranged from this part that's more than 600 years ago this is the old town of the door to the sacred body of the gods and to the century of much petri ancient traditions are still being embraced here today that may change less than 2 kilometers away bulldozers are never the ground for a controversial new airport that's expected to shuttle millions of tourists to historic sites the airport should then be the sacred folly she cheryl has culture and traditions for thailand but the big powers want to because it's the door to much of each. kind of who is poor is to buy them and then i would be in favor of an airport if more people come and make business with us but only if it will preserve our environment and our ruins some farmers like it look east they believe their lives may change bring development to our community and country.

discover the world of. the best films from across on network of channels in the heart of 6 boys and 2 good men of the citizenship fresh perspectives and new insights to challenge and change the way we look at the world .

you know. after 2 days of protest leaders of an iranian backed group tell that members to withdrawal from the u.s. embassy compound in baghdad. hello i'm maryanne demasi in on the new year with al jazeera also coming up on the program widespread devastation has engulfed australia southeast coast at least 15 people are believed to have died and school was a missing.