yeah. unfortunately because of a very small decision made by an individual this tragedy happened. iran's revolutionary guard admits it mistakenly shot down a ukrainian airliner on wednesday killing all a 176 people on board. watching al-jazeera lie from a headquarters in doha also ahead ukraine says iran must offer a formal apology pay compensation to the families and bring those responsible to justice. a call for peace of libya from the leaders of germany and russia. more insults on

a long time ruler known for promoting peace in an unstable region his cousin has some been taught and saeed is named the new leader. hello in a dramatic u. 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. apologized to the nation and accepted full responsibility he says the plane was brought down by a short range missile soon after takeoff from to ron it was the same night iran launched missiles at iraqi bases housing u.s. troops. as a lot of mileage out of that how. 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 blend in 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 or g. 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 while crowds of

students in central to herat are protesting the government's response to the airliners downing. and the chants of death to the liars and call for the resignation of those responsible for shooting down the plane the protests are in front of america baring university where a vigil for the victims had earlier been helped in a few moments we'll bring in mike hanna who will tell us how the news is likely to go down in washington the 1st woman to dorset jabari who is live for us and. talk us through the reactions or so now that there has been an mission. well there is a lot of anger and the iranians here are demanding justice and accountability and many of the people i've spoken to including families of the victims here are just in shock they don't understand why their government would have lied to them for

this long their demanding those be accountable we know that the head of their own judiciary has asked for all the evidence of people passed on for them to start their investigation into why this happened we also know that the head of the revolutionary guards will be going to parliament on sunday to brief m.p.'s about the chain of events that led to the downing of this plane by and by the revolutionary guards we've also been seeing pictures of a vigil that took place outside of am your capital university in tehran earlier on saturday and those vigils quickly turned into protests and we've been hearing chants calling for the revolutionary guards to leave the country calling them liars to get out people demanding that those who are responsible be held accountable so there is a sense that there is a large amount of anger among the average iranian that's to be expected given the circumstances that iran finds itself in now all right so doris i thank you for that update from iran let's get reaction from mike hanna joining us from washington and

during that press conference mike by the revolutionary guard iran did say that the shooting down occurred in the midst of hostilities with the united states so has there been any official reaction from the president himself on what has come out of iran. there's been no official reaction whatsoever given the reign you know knowledge meant of being responsible for the shooting down of that airliner the president's been occupied this morning tweeting about domestic issues about his coming impeachment no reference on his social media to the iranian reaction there's been no official statement from state department so certainly it would appear to be at the stage. of restraint as far as the transfer administration is concerned not at the stage responding to be a rainy an explanation about the context in which the shooting down took place. all right it's my can i thank you for that update from washington.

well moving on to other news and i'll tell you about it's a press conference that was held between the russian president vladimir putin and the german chancellor angela merkel just in the past hour or so in moscow and they did talk about regional issues including libya as well as iran and syria let's listen in to some of what they had to say. we welcome the german initiative to have a conference in berlin on libya and we would like to invite all involved parties in states all decisions should be coordinated with those involved in the libya conflict and we should also have mr salami as the u.n. representative who will bring in what i'm going to head to standing by for us in tripoli in just a moment but let's bring in stuff and 1st she's joining us from moscow what is the

takeaway message sent from the account for and held by both leaders. well interestingly the president put in those still hopes that this ceasefire in libya will take place in a couple of hours from now at midnight on the 12th of january as he had agreed to with. earlier last week in istanbul and he also said it is important that the all parties agree to pull down their weapons and come to berlin for a conference which is organized by angela merkel. stressed at this conference and this post process is has to be in the interest of the libyan people so not so much all these proxies and people in other countries involved in the conflict but the libyans should benefit from this interestingly also in the same press conference or put in was asked about turkey said allegations that the 2000 russian mercenaries

are actually fighting in libya on the side of. that who is actually on this offensive on to tripoli any said well if there are any russian citizens they're not representing the russian state and they also need not being paid by the russian state they are supposedly from this walking a group which is headed by a close confident of president putin so it's a very complicated situation while russia is sort of backing. they also have communications open with the u.n. backed government in tripoli but it also is clear that their support for holly for half the house and that kind of consequences that he can actually put some pressure on half though because half that immediately said that he doesn't want to buy this cease fire so it's going to be interesting to see what will happen in the next few hours in the in tripoli where we'll speak to one holdout in the white house about the cease fire in just a moment and but before i cross over to him step just put this into context for us

and tell us what putin was hoping to get out of this visit and how significant this visit was. well it's important for president putin the to have this mediating role in the middle east of course he has been active in syria for the last 5 years nearly already backing the assad forces he also stressed that because of this russian interference basically the situation in syria is not very stable political solution will come up in a very different tone than merkel because she stressed the need for humanitarian aid put in didn't mention at all the offense offensive on it live at the moment which has caused hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee the area and russia is also blocking humanitarian aid from the north east into syria which merkel actually stressed was very important to help the refugees there so it is they both leaders

of course want to show that they have to use this this mediating a role that they want to make peace in the region but there are so many different interests of germany and russia in all these conflicts that every small step is probably a significant ok steadfast and thank you for wrapping that up for us from moscow let's now bring in and he's joining us from tripoli dots in libya to discuss what's going on there because. the 2 leaders during a press conference did stress the importance of a cease fire in libya and that is something that turkey's earlier one had also agreed upon with a lot of near putin where are we when it comes to that cease fire that's meant to start midnight on saturday. well until this moment jury in this ceasefire does not seem to be accepted by the both.

factions because as you know that have to has rejected this ceasefire call by both of them and putin meanwhile fighting get when you would do it today in southern tripoli and the government military sources say down there you have killed the sudanese mercenaries are fighting along with have those forces in a couple of axes in southern new tripoli but the question now is whether or not this cease fire cole would be translated into action on the ground as you know that many people here and especially in the west of libya are calling for calm actually the government of national called have accepted the cease fire agreement but again it's not being implemented on the ground but the question now is that many people are asking here in the west of libya whether or not prison putin can put pressure on have to us forces to stop the military escalation in southern tripoli as the

question he answered about the wagner's russian mercenaries fighting along word have to say said that they do not belong to this state and they don't get paid by the state but they get the russians and they're making a change on the ground they have been helping have to his forces taken control of several occasions they have been escalating the fighting in southern turkey we're going to see tonight whether or not this cease fire is going to be implemented or not on the ground and what are we to make of this sort of diplomatic person by germany at that press conference with who turned a merkel said that germany plans to start sending out invitations for libya peace talks soon. or can you tell us about the so-called berlin process. well daryn as you just heard the merkel is saying that she's will coming the efforts by divine and putin hoping that this ceasefire agreement or call would lead to. a car on the ground

a cease fire agreement on the ground and she hopes that she would be sending out invitations for the berlin talks but as you know that for the past few months germany has been involved in inviting the rival factions in fact those countries regional and international countries backing both factions but we're getting news from enforcement sources in germany that there is it's difficult for the german mediators to bring to bring the president of the land to sit together. sisi of egypt as you know that it isn't a defector l.c.c. of egypt is that one of the major allies of the world have to and on the other hand the divine is supporting you and back the government of national chord and the sources in germany say that the problem now is to put the 2 leaders or to bring them to a compromise in the regard to the libyan crisis ok what are the rather thank you

for that update from tripoli. still ahead on al-jazeera taiwan's president sighing one wins a 2nd term in a vote closely watched by beijing. hello finally the weather in japan is settled down to where it's supposed to be the still plenty of cloud coming out of 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 conti'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 right of course the wet season is for the south in indonesia and although it looks pretty widespread it's not once again we have had some big downpours and 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 sheltering dancers rancorous and tom about his right expects to have even 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 in the far north of india. the fruit of the burning movement spied utopian dreams of peace and democracy but how many came to pass they transformed from communist the social democrats but it

was a fake democracy people in power travels through the former eastern bloc to ask why post cold war optimism to succumb to darker more authoritarian realities the police called a cup or brout a bomb to the lodge and they were ready to detonate to be on the war part one on al jazeera. following on top stories on al-jazeera this hour iran has admitted shooting down a ukrainian airliner describing it as a disastrous mistake a revolutionary guard commander says a short range missile brought down the plane shortly after takeoff from just wrong

airport on wednesday. while the announcement by the revolutionary guards has been met with protest in some parts of iran the students into iran have denounced the government's response and are calling on the government to put those responsible on trial. russian president vladimir putin says he supports libya peace talks to be held in berlin the german chancellor angela merkel backs the move and says the united nations should be involved the leaders are holding talks in moscow. well mom has declared 3 days of mourning after the death of its leader. the region's longest rolling monarch died after a long illness at the age of 79 his cousin has been taught a concise has been sworn in as his successor has so how about. this is new sultan haitham been thought it. 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 see if. 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. the

new sultan would have several roles he's the prime minister controls the government 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 commander some survey manny his killing has shattered and hopes of a diplomatic solution. oh man has in the past played a crucial role in not knowing differences between the 2 rivals it has a long standing 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. the later ruler 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 child ends 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 the late one arc will be remembered by his people as a unifying figure and by the world as a shrewd politician to turned a small nation into a regional player. to mishears facing further political instability

after parliament rejected a new cabinet proposed by prime minister designate germany 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 webb has declared victory in the general election sign one's declaration came shortly after the opposition candidate conceded defeat the vote 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 lively back over the past 3 years our ministry should 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 non-provocative non adventurers but has prevented a serious conflict from breaking out in the taiwan straits scott hi-lo reports that size reelection is a rejection of china as one country 2 systems policy. it was expected that she was she and the party the d.p.p. were going to win this election but they won handedly in fact they broke records she broke a record of the most votes ever for president so really kind of resoundingly message coming from the people of taiwan on this election day and she reiterated some of the main points some of the feelings as to why they supported her and there's the support of the d.b.p. she said that they are reject this election is a rejection of china's one country 2 systems policy that is the main message they really kind of has come across and obviously the people of taiwan the majority of

people to want that picture as the president to lead that initiative one thing that really inspired and shifted feelings toward the d.p.p. toward her remaining as president happened since really july when those protests those pro-democracy protests in hong kong took place no one thing you really need to focus on you know the economy here is reliant on mainland china but what people became very concerned about is when they saw how china was implementing the one country 2 systems and their iron fist and how the pro-democracy protesters were treated in hong kong so that was a very very a touchstone to the voters here and that's why you saw a big shift because just a year ago the political party the d.p.p. the ruling party and simon were on the ropes the political world they were not doing so well that they didn't fare well in a regional election in 2018 and there was even talk about the senior members encouraging her not to run for reelection what a difference just a couple of months have made and now squarely behind her the people of taiwan and

squarely behind the idea that they want to reject one country 2 systems and that intimidation as as she has said from mainland china. north korea says a strong personal relationship between its leader and the u.s. presidents are not enough for it to return to talks the north korean foreign ministry says donald trump sent greetings to kim for his birthday thought to be on january 8th but an advisor says more than words are needed and that washington must make substantial concessions before any more negotiations are. more than a 1000000 people were made homeless when a devastating earthquake hit haiti in 2010 a decade on survivors are still struggling and many never saw the benefits of the humanitarian aid that flowed into the country they see little chance of that changing houses or a sewer supposin the capital port au prince has this report. 1st

arrived to the orphanage when he was 6 years old he's parents died in the earthquake in 2010. he arrived with his 4 year old brother looking for help both of them have been living here for the past 10 years. i was the 1st kid to arrive here my life's been very difficult to develop still alive because of the grace of god i feel very sad because i don't have anyone i don't even have an answer if i leave here i don't know where i'm going to end up. the orphanage is all region a building was destroyed in the earthquake so the directors were forced to search for a new space levy them yet says they have been struggling to care for the children since 2010 when you have a whisper and said we would do. 56 children are supposed to give some food 3 times one a day was supposed to give what are you supposed to do all you seem to care to whom

the fields if you call to find the money and some time would go to the organizations you can give would be a good work once response but sometimes you go back to. haiti's earthquake killed over 300000 people over 1000000 and a half were displaced because their homes were destroyed thousands of survivors came here to guard their 30 minutes outside of port au prince this place used to be filled with tents for those who were displaced by the earthquake it's now become a permanent settlement with no basic services most of us children were born here and when you talk to their parents they say that they do not believe the situation will improve any higher. moved here with his wife and 2 daughters they lived in makeshift shelters for years he says he was promised a house. but he situation remains unchanged 10 years on. we

have been made lots of promises but the poor never see anything if they delivered we wouldn't be here they never come to the camp and see how we live the ngos did not spend the money on us over $13000000000.00 were pledged to help haiti recover from the earthquake it was led by the united states but according to the united nations only half of that money was released much of it was spent on short temporal rams to assist people with fooled water and health care is after the earthquake there was a real effort to say this is going to be different because we're here to put ourselves out of a job right you build local capacity but the way to do that is to actually give money to local institutions to give money to local companies and instead we saw money totally bypass the haitian government haitian companies haitian organizations haitian civil society was left out and i think you know if you're looking for a sustainable solution or something that can be done better right it is to build up

the local community to to prioritize their needs as opposed to the needs being driven by members of congress in washington over the years the international community has prioritized stability over improving people's lives millions continue to be exposed to an endemic cycle of poverty and hunger that has been haunting haiti for a very long time that is how will. and australia 3 bushfires have formed to create a large and fair now in the south east all stories are calling it a magnifier it's in the area of the state border between new south wales and victoria 27 people have been killed since september and more than 2000 houses have been destroyed and the dangerous far from over the fires are likely to go on for weeks. china has announced the 1st step 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. demonstrations have been taking place in the polish capital against a controversial law that could see a judge just punished if they're critical of court reforms parliament passed the law in the summer defying warnings from the european union the law allows the government to fire judges for their remarks and protesters fare it could risk the independence of the judiciary. as in the polish capital warsaw with an update this demonstration here in warsaw as attracted many thousands of people including judges and public prosecutors from around the country but also from other european countries as well the judges have been around the country campaigning to spread the

message the profession is under attack clearly they have got a fair amount of support at least here in warsaw next week the senate will be judging on this reform bill they're likely to reject it because the opposition controls the upper house in parliament but it will go back to the lower house which is controlled by the ruling your and justice party in the next few months that this issue is likely to hold up here in poland. well again the headlines on al-jazeera this hour iran has admitted shooting down a ukrainian airliner describing it as a disastrous mistake a revolutionary guard commander says a short range missile brought down the plane shortly after takeoff from to one airport on wednesday. 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 . for students and central to han chanted death to the liars in response of the government's handling of the downed plane they also called for the resignation of those responsible the protests are in front of america or university where a vigil for the victims had been held earlier russian president vladimir putin says he supports libya peace talks to be held in berlin and german chancellor angela merkel backs the move and says the u.n. should be involved the leaders are holding talks in moscow. has declared 3 days of mourning after the death if it's ruler of. his cousin. has been

sworn in as the new leader he's pledged to maintain the late policies of peace interference. so his is facing further political instability after parliament rejected a new cabinet proposed by prime minister designate. the president now has 10 days to choose a new prime minister taiwan's pro independence president sighing when has declared victory in the general election sighing ones there who ration came shortly after the opposition candidate conceded defeat the vote has been seen as a choice between moving closer to china or continuing to resist beijing's push for reunification those are the headlines on al-jazeera people in power is coming up next.

the full of the berlin wall just over 30 years ago came the midst sweeping changes that would end the cold war and see the downfall of authoritarian communist regimes across the street the 3 decades on the pro-democracy optimism of those days has turned south replaced by rising seas and the soviet and populist nationalism in countries once helped me one day i heard so what went wrong in the 1st of 2 special reports we've been to germany to find out.