well. iran's revolutionary guard admits it shot down a ukrainian ala killing all 176 people on board. i'm stan grant this is al jazeera live also coming up montmorency a long time ruler known for promoting peace in unstable region the transition of power has been swift and mars new rule promises to continue these like thousands path peace. and taiwan's president looks to sit to win a 2nd term in

a photo closely watched by beijing. in a dramatic about turn iran has now admitted shooting down a ukrainian airliner describing it as a disastrous mistake 176 people were killed when the plane crashed on wednesday a commander with the revolutionary guard amir ali apologized to the nation and accepted full responsibility he says the plane was brought down by a short range missile soon after takeoff from tehran it was the same night iran launched missiles at the rocky bases housing u.s. troops. as a lot of. those in our aviation services who were denying responsibility they were saying this based on their findings and i repeat they are not to blame it is us who are to blame the plane was on its way it did not have any error or mistake everyone

worked very well efficiently it was us who made a mistake and we are responsible we should accept responsibility and accountability this was a very small missile and that's why the plane had the time to sort of land and to crash it did not explode straight away so they were not aware i do not know to defend them so our military forces neither the i was aware about it but we are regretful and we also are in pain and we share the pain of those families who lost their loved ones so basically this happened due to the heinous activities of americans that night we were ready to confront in any way there was a prediction that anything could have happened because there were so many airplanes in the air some aircraft and fighter jets there was a possibility for missiles to fire at us so we were ready unfortunately because of a very small decision made by an individual this tragedy happened. now in

a few moments mike hanna will be telling us how the news is likely to go down in washington we go to dorset jabari who is live for us in tehran. the commander had a lot more to say than just that admission of responsibility to take us through what else he talked about. well he said he wished he had died rather than to share this news that this was a very difficult for him to come to share exactly the details of what occurred with the iranian population he said that this is a very difficult moment for him to explain to the arraign in public what actually took place and he's very very distraught as well and he's not the only one the one of the millions of iranians who are shocked at this news he says that this was a very very unfortunate accident that the operator of those missiles had 10 seconds to decide what to do because they were expecting

a reaction from the united states government after iran launched those rockets into i know assad base in iraq he said that the operator tried to contact the plane they but then he didn't get a response and he believed to be a cruise missile that was heading to tehran and that's when he decided within a 10 2nd period that he had to launch the missile towards this plane it's all very very unfortunate this chain of events that have taken place and 'd the old the other authorities in iran have also shared the same sentiment we also heard from the president in the foreign minister that have passed on their condolences and their regrets over what has taken place we've also heard that the iranian parliament will hold a special session behind closed doors on sunday to speak to the head of the revolutionary guards to hear what he has to say about the events that unfolded that morning over the skies over town adores her of course there is also a very tragic human cost here as well one of people saying about this right now and

to near 0. well i've been speaking to one. family's of the victims here and they're just so distraught they don't wish to appear on camera but they told me that they had a son who was over it with his wife and child heading back to toronto they were here on holiday before going back home to canada and the mother told me that she believes her son is fine she's in complete denial she says that she's not receiving any visitors who wish to pass on their condolences to her because she believes her son is alive and well and will be calling her any moment now from his home in toronto there is this immense sense of grief and denial about what has taken place because people are just so shocked that this accident could happen in such a manner that they just can't seem to be able to deal with it for the time being they're hoping that in the days ahead things will be more clear but really there is

such a huge sense of grief and loss and shock that people are just they don't know what to do and what to say to us to thank you don't live there from tehran let's go to mike hanna now in washington d.c. is it too soon to get a direct response from anyone in the u.s. mark to this news. stanwell there has been no direct response as yet state department referring an inquiry to the statements made by the secretary of state yesterday in which mike pump said that the administration was waiting for the results of any investigation into the shooting down however it's likely to be a restrained response as it has been in recent days the pentagon very quickly asserted that there had been a missile strike on that aircraft saying that at least a heat seeking missiles there had been picked up on a pentagon radar so certainly the administration was from very early on of the

belief that this was a missile strike however this restraint appears to be continuing the treasury secretary steve newton has made clear that a waiver will be granted in terms of visa from the u.s. for any official from the national transportation board to take part in that investigation so from the administration before the iranian acknowledgement there has been an air of restraint a willingness to engage in some form in the investigation and that very much does it is consistent mark isn't there with the language of deescalation we've heard particularly from donald trump as well it might be difficult to try to place it in a broader context but how is this and this admission from the iranian republican guard likely to to play into that and perhaps influence the direction of the immediate relationship between iran and the united states in the weeks to come.

well the iranian acknowledgment is likely to help these period of deescalation despite the fact that iran is very clear that there is a context here that the shooting down of the airliner during what it said was ongoing hostilities by the united states but very clearly the administration is on a course of deescalation that being said there were new sanctions introduced in the past 48 hours against 8 rein in individuals the administration clearly seen the imposition of sanctions as punishment as you could put it enough that at this stage it does appear to be restraint that does appear to be from the trump administration a degree of keeping this deescalated one must mention too that there has been a tweet from president trump this morning it has nothing to do with the accident the shooting down of the airliner in iran used to eating about domestic politics so the administration move very much defined by what is emanating on social media from

the white house and nothing as yet mark thank you mark hanna live there from washington d.c. . a man has to quit 3 days of mourning after the death of its leader so tom cruise been sired outside of the region's longest ruling monarch died after a long illness at the age of $79.00 his cousin hiten been terra garside has been sworn in as his successor bara has more. this is new sultan haitham been. sworn in a few hours after the death of his predecessor. the oldest ruling monarch in the region and the founding father of modern day oman. sultan haitham made it clear in his 1st speech to the public that he will follow in the footsteps of the late sultan. we remain guided by the late sultans wisdom going forward we will preserve and embark. on the achievements he made this is what we are adamant to do

to follow in his footsteps with respect to international relations we will follow in the same course set out by the late sultan we will embrace foreign policies based on peaceful coexistence without any interference in domestic affairs of other states the succession ceremony was swift and smooth dispelling any concerns about uncertainty and instability in one of the oldest dynasties in the gulf region but the new sultan would have several roles he's the prime minister controls the government the armed forces finance and foreign affairs his biggest challenge is balancing a budget that relies on revenues from dwindling gas and oil resources. to better the death of couples comes at a critical moment tension has grown in the region after the us assassination of iranian military command some say manny his killing has shattered any hopes of

a diplomatic solution oh man has in the past played a crucial role in narrowing differences between the 2 rivals it has a longstanding neutral approach to the problems of the region in 2017 when saudi arabia the u.a.e. egypt and bahrain imposed a blockade on qatar oman refused to take sides calling instead for dialogue. it also plays a central role in the international 1st and the war in yemen. the new sultan has insisted he will maintain his nation's neutrality and honor the legacy of salt. the later came to power in 1970 at a time when our man was underdeveloped divided and facing a rebellion in the south but managed to overcome those obstacles and turn it into a modern state. faced another challenge in 2011 when thousands

of people protested demanding better wages and more jobs as the arab spring was spreading sultan qaboos fired members of his government gave more powers to the consultative council and began reforming the public sector in the late one arc will be remembered by his people as a unifying figure and by the world as a shrewd politician for turned a small nation into a regional player. stephanie dicta joins us now live from us we just heard from hashem there saying that he's going to remember him as a unifying figure has been running fairly heavily where you will be getting any sense from there about how people receiving this news. well it is a very somber day of course for the people most of the remember any other ruler other than the sultan this is a man who's ruled this country fair to say singlehandedly for 50 years so

changes afoot it is very unusual weather as you were mentioning it's been raining very very heavily pretty much since he was buried this morning people have been expecting this to be fair he's been sick he announced that he was sick in 2014 you didn't specify what it was so people been speculating about his health he really retreated from public life he wasn't that visible that often but certainly in the last couple of weeks a real escalation in the rumors concerning his situation you've gone to belgium who's expected to be there for a long time and he returned very soon leading people to believe that it was in its last days so it is something that was relatively expected but of course there was also worry here uncertainty about what was to come next i think the fact that the new sultan has been sworn in so soon has had a bit of an at piecing factor certainly but people who are wondering how that was going to go of course the sultan is

a character respect. the effect he's had on this country the time he spent building it is something that is irreplaceable so i think there are challenging times ahead certainly sultan fight them who's going to be dealing with a very different situation different leaders in different bordering countries and here as well demands that he's going to have to answer to just talk a little bit more about those challenges because not only is he facing economic difficulties and demands from his own people we've seen protests in recent times there but also at such a critical time politically throughout the region. absolutely and i think the timing of this many people will say that the timing if you look at what's happening between the united states and iran and the role that oman played and sultan qaboos played in the mediation he was key when it came to our ending our to nuclear deal this was a country this is a country where many diplomats feel they are away from the cameras this is

a country that doesn't like to have the presence of media where they could talk secretly iron out those difficult complicated issues when it comes to geopolitics whether it's a role in us whether it is yemen whether it is the israel palestinian situation prime minister benjamin netanyahu was just last year this is the country at the center of all this complicated issues in the region which is so very explosive so i think certainly if we look at how we started this years which is a very very sensitive situation all eyes are going to be on yes we've heard the new sultan say he's going to continue the policy of you know being neutral but i think also oman's neighbors would like the new leader to be on their side whichever country that is we have been located on the g.c.c. that among also refused to take part in very difficult times ahead again this is a matter that has been around. but it doesn't will the experience and the character and the respect that sultan qaboos did so i think one to watch certainly incredibly

extraordinary new times ahead here and i people will be curious to see how it's all going to unfold. for us from moscow. for the political instability off to paul but rejected a new cabinet proposed. the president has 10 days to choose a new prime minister the governing and harder party was forced to do months of negotiations with other bodies. to win enough seats to form a majority of the elections. taiwan's presidential or fro independence president signed when his declared victory in the self-governing auburn's general and presidential elections sighing winds declaration time shortly after the opposition candidate conceded defeat the election has been seen as a choice between moving closer to china or continuing to resist beijing's push for reunification. the results of this election carry an added significance because

they have shown that when our sovereignty and democracy are threatened the people will shout our determination even more loudly back over the past 3 years our ministration have been firm on our bottom line on taiwan's sovereignty but we also continue to maintain healthy exchanges with china in the face of china's diplomatic pressure and military threats we have maintained a non-provocative non adventurous that has prevented a serious conflict from breaking out in the taiwan straits. still ahead on al-jazeera from prayers to protests demonstrations today i see india's new citizenship law to doubts prime minister narendra modi's visit to kolkata. i'm nicholas hawke and going to be so in the words law enforcement agency described as africa's 1st narco state join us next as we follow an anti narcotic operation inside the capital international airports.

hello finally the weather in japan is settled down to where it's supposed to be the still plenty of cloud community china the winter is well to the north by winter i mean really severe stuff there where it should be but all these temperature forecasts are above 0 so sapporo maybe a little woman should be certainly warming up but tokyo is 12 is about right and the same is true of beijing but with little movement in the air little breeze around currency's once again dropping almost all of china is drawing to an occasional showers you'll see every now and again nothing like what they were but there was the same the real heavy rain of course the wet season is further south in indonesia and although it looks pretty widespread it's no it's once again we have had some big downpours in sumatra but now they're moving eastward so eastern java parts of borneo sort of way seeing just running into the southern philippines us

the area where the biggest thunderstorms will be for the next 2 days and this is a general drift through indonesia which leaves sumatra not particularly wet we've got a few shattering dancer line current and time a lot is right expects talking about the obvious mark behind my head is this frontal system that brought rain so the gulf over the last couple of days is still bringing it through pakistan afghanistan the far north of india. but. for the congolese the journey to was a tall order means unimaginable hardship i prefer to lie down because then you might get the calking to chancing life and live on a dangerous journey through the jungle i've gone on to the rails with a nearly died. because of our children to go to school and live because of the training risking it all the democratic republic of congo on al-jazeera.

you're watching al-jazeera his reminder of our top stories this hour iran has admitted shooting down a ukrainian airliner describing it as a disastrous mistake 176 people were killed when the plane crashed on wednesday a revolutionary guard commander has apologized to the nation. has declared 3 days of mourning after the death of its ruler. inside outside his cousin tariq has been sworn in as the new leader he's pledged to. policies of peace and

noninterference. taiwan's pro independence president signing when he has to create victory in the self-governing islands general and presidential elections an official result is yet to be announced. let's get more now on the tensions between the u.s. and iran and the regional impact in iraq they're raising doubts over the presence of foreign troops now the kids act a prime minister is in the kurdish regional capital bill to discuss their withdrawal. he is holding talks with members of the regional government at the presidential palace iraq's parliament held a non-binding vote to expel all foreign forces after the assassination of iranian military command just some sort of money in baghdad last week. with the kurdish regional government is opposed to the withdrawal of u.s. troops. explains why. this is the 1st time. he comes to the kurdish region and he's coming now in the capacity of

a caretaker prime minister not a prime minister but these are difficult times and you do need the kurds on board you are mentioning this non-binding vote taken by the iraqi parliament well the kurds have. pain of that and they made it very clear that they are against any withdrawal of the coalition troops from this country they say that at the moment there is a resurgence of isis they have noticed that the borders of their region and certainly now that chasm silly money has gone through and he played a big role certainly at the beginning when they were when isis sort of stormed central iraq is tactics made a difference on the ground with the help of the. coalition forces from the sky and according to the kurds from their point of view well if you remove all of that then iraq will be very vulnerable to every surges from eisel and that's

a big concern for the kurds here at least 12 people have been killed and dozens wounded in syrian government in strikes in and around the city of the russian backed forces have stepped up their campaign in the lead province of recent weeks it's the last remaining rebel stronghold in syria the new strikes come a day after russia announced a turkish brokered cease fire coming into effect at midnight on saturday india's prime minister narendra modi has arrived in kolkata where they have been days of demonstrations against his visit the city was brought to a standstill by protests over a new citizenship law which critics say discriminates against muslims opposition politicians refusing to go with. rubber reforms. they prayed 1st but their intent to protest was evident. it wasn't long before they marched and denounce the imminent visit of the prime minister narendra modi. led by

some of calcutta's leading activists and religious leaders the general public poured onto the streets in the thousands. winding their way through calcutta's busy shopping district the ruling party's chief minister m.p.'s and civil society have not confirmed whether that meeting the prime minister as he comes to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the deep sea port they're all objecting to the citizenship law which was passed in december seen as unjust and divisive the government is completely back to that you can see because there is no and there is lord leadership no central leadership people are calling that all but in every single one of them you'll see hindus and muslims together leaving the nationals demanding that would allow us to be divided so it's a very particular claim all of movement as i said i have not seen such a movement since the gandhi get. but it doesn't and there this

park is hosting one of the many peaceful but noisy protests that have been continuing through the week and in different parts of calcutta and it's day turns to night the voices of protesters continue to be heard loud and strong across the city this particular gathering at step 100 has been ongoing for 4 consecutive nights and the numbers are growing. they've come from all sections of society many of them women recovering from surgery was much a meal a housewife feel strongly about the government's moves to alienate muslims and other minorities and asked her friends and neighbors to join her in this local park to demonstrate before modi arrives each evening this week it's grown involved into a major focal point for anti-government sentiment and the much again i said. i hope the government understands me to take to the citizenship laws. we'll never submit our paperwork and we look forward to the supreme court hearing because every indian is focused on that date and our hope is that those laws will be through night.

across india people have taken to the streets the parks and universities to voice their discontent with laws they perceive as unjust and racist here in calcutta they're being led off a chilly winter evening by a 1st time activist well small rally to the cause with no other rain but to face an unjust law the could determine her very existence and that of millions of others across india the hill robin al-jazeera calcutta well north korea says a strong personal relationship between his leader and the u.s. president is not enough for you to return to talks the north korean foreign ministry says donald trump sent greetings to keep joan for his birthday thought to be on january 8th but an advisor says more than warm words are needed and that washington must make substantial concessions for any more negotiations i hope china has announced the 1st death from an outbreak of pneumonia caused by an

unidentified virus 41 people have been diagnosed 7 are critically ill the world health organization says it's a new type of coronavirus it's been linked to the sudden acute respiratory syndrome or sars epidemic which killed 775 people in china in 2003. a verdict is being delivered in guinea bissau the trial of 12 people charged with smuggling 2 tons of character in last year the biggest hole in the nation's history the case is highlighted how the tiny west african country has become an international hub for drug trafficking and it was hard joined an anti narcotics operation at the airport in the capital base out. acting on a tip off from brazil's anti narcotics officers going to be seen as police believe passengers on board this flight from lisbon are smuggling cocaine. detectives believe or com and his team are looking for 3 individuals one of them is this man

wearing a yellow jersey again in national from this hour who lives in the brazilian city of south paulo he doesn't know it yet but he's about to be pulled aside for questioning. where you coming from are you carrying anything illicit drugs who are you visiting here where are you staying detective is already building his case this was going to sell these are the profit of so much because the people who smuggle drugs are often vulnerable and from paul backgrounds but they're not stupid they know it's illegal and there are consequences to their actions but only the night before and as you take sarah lives in sao paulo working in maintenance and earning $256.00 a month he says he's here to visit his family but the police believes he's hiding something so they ousted check his luggage. this is where most seizures take place at the airport but it's often over small quantities just a few grams of cocaine could lead the person that's being stopped 10 to 15 years in prison but most cases go unprosecuted. the united

states drugs in foresman agency says guinea-bissau is turning into what it calls a narco state the qs is latin american drug traffickers of bribing state officials to let cocaine destined to europe transit through the country and into the hell region where armed groups use the drugs to fund their fighting $75000000.00 worth of cocaine was seized last year some of it hidden in cat food the fast this is a war it's a threat to our country and to the region the traffic is a well organized and well financed it's difficult to fight them as investigators go through take serra's bag a bundle of drugs is found after urine test take separate admits to having swallowed 18 packets of drugs $5000.00 worth of cocaine lays in his stomach not the slightest doubt will be for the i'm not skeared i'm doing this for my family i'll be freed. taken into detention at the police station take serra's

stripped and searched now under arrest he risks decades in prison yet he seems calm he says this is not his 1st offense has been set free before. the powerful drug cartels are looking after him nicholas hawk al jazeera. this is these are the top stories iran has admitted shooting down a ukrainian airliner describing it as a disastrous mistake 176 people were killed when the plane crashed on wednesday a revolutionary guard commander has apologized to the nation. those in our aviation services who are denying responsibility they were saying this based on their findings and i repeat they are not to blame it is us who are to

blame the plane was on its way it did not have any error or mistake everyone worked very well efficiently it was a mistake and we are responsible we should accept responsibility and accountability . has to 3 days of mourning after the death of its rulers. his cousin. has been sworn in as the new leader he's pledged to maintain the policies of peace and noninterference. is facing the political instability off to parliament rejected a new cabinet proposed by prime minister designate. the president now has 10 days to choose a new prime minister the governing party was forced into months of negotiations with other parties after it failed to win enough seats to form a majority in elections in october. taiwan's pro independence president sighing wind has declared victory in the soft governing ivans general and presidential

elections declaration time shortly after the opposition candidate conceded defeat an official result has not been announced yet. iraq's caretaker prime minister is in the kurdish regional capital bill to discuss the withdrawal of foreign troops iraq's parliament held a non-binding vote to expel all foreign forces after the assassination of iranian military commander customs on the money in baghdad last week. at least 12 people have been killed and dozens wounded in syrian government is strikes in and around the city really backed forces have stepped up their campaign in italy province in recent weeks it's the last remaining rebel stronghold in syria. was are the headlines and news continues here on al-jazeera after risking it all. to old jews there oh we were told to get to be the true alteration has this been addressed by you took you to listen to what these the proposal of spain for

a couple anya we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter to 0.