an official there on holiday. is people see it as a great opportunity to take to the streets to continue to let their message be heard. the u.s. big south in support of a former saudi intelligence agent at the center of an alleged assassination plot by the crown prince. alone sam is a band this is al jazeera live from also coming up anger in hong kong after the u.s. imposes sanctions on 11 officials including kerry lam as hope fades of finding survivors after the explosion in beirut president external interference.

punishments are handed out to violators of venezuela's coronavirus rules but many say they have to take the risk. the u.s. state department has spoken out in support of a former top saudi intelligence agent who was allegedly targeted for all the sasa nation attempts it describes as a valued partner of jumper a filed a lawsuit in washington d.c. on thursday accusing the saudi crown prince of sending a hit squad to calendar to kill him michaela has more. patrick leahy was one of 4 senators who sent a letter to the white house last month in the letter the senators expressed their concern about what they call the abduction in saudi arabia of saddle jobbery son and daughter. in his court filing our job research his children now aged 20 and 21

were being held as what he called human bait to lure him out of hiding the state department has now responded to the senator's concerns in a letter to senator leahy it describes jobbery as a valued partner to the u.s. government working closely with the u.s. to ensure the safety of americans and saudis it also states that any persecution of family members is unacceptable adding that it has made repeated requests to the saudi government about the status of his son and daughter. was an advisor to the previous crown prince mohammed bin nayef but in his court filing he says he left saudi arabia because he feared what would happen if and when muhammad been summoned took over the state department says it's concerned about the alleged activities that resulted in exile to canada it says that any saudi accusations of wrongdoing

against him must be and i quote address through established legal channels with full transparency and respect for the rule of law interpol rejected the request for algebra arrest saying it was rooted in political and not criminal grounds president trump has continued to express his support for the saudi crown prince despite the repeated allegations of human rights violations describing him as an ally and friend but increasingly this is very much at odds with the prevailing view in congress mike hanna al-jazeera washington. beijing's top representative in hong kong is called u.s. sanctions on the territories leader ridiculous and barbarous carry lamb and the territories current and former police chiefs are among 11 officials targeted the

sanctions were prompted by president trump's executive order last month in a bid to punish china over a sweeping national security law imposed on hong kong sarah clark joins us now live from hong kong with beginning to get reaction tell us what officials have been saying well we have had beijing's top representative in hong kong that's why awakening and he's also noted that he opposes opposes and condemns these a u.s. treasury sanctions he said this reveals and strip the unscrupulous intentions of the u.s. politicians to support and to china chaos in hong kong he's also noted in what is being considered a humorous response to trump he said i don't have any assets abroad is a waste of effort and time to impose sanctions i could say $100.00 to president trump so he's describing them as describing them as clowning actions and really ridiculous and now the hong kong government has also just responded the last 15

minutes or so it's described the sections as shameless and despicable they've spoken to the media by this statement saying they're unreasonable and savage and blatant interference in hong kong's domestic affairs and they say they will send the wrong signal to u.s. investors in hong kong not carry them as long defended these national security laws which were introduced on july 1st she says a constitutional legal and reasonable and she says it was a crucial to restore order in hong kong and stop the chaos and violence that paralyzed the city last year but of course there has been a lot of international condemnation of these laws critics including obviously the u.s. in the u.k. have said that these particular laws undermine hong kong as one country 2 systems policy and simply an effort by china to silence its critics in this former british territory. and sara give us an idea of how potentially damaging these sanctions could be were damaging in the sense that we do

expect to potentially hong kong that the government here could reciprocate and again target the us individuals and the companies operating here now we do know from the american chamber of commerce that there are 1200 american companies operating in hong kong and 800 of them are other regional or head offices in the city now the american chamber of commerce has long expressed its concern and fear is these national security laws and it's also suggested that some companies my sea suppose their doors in hong kong for fear of what these national security laws impose or could inflict on a training operations here but certainly these sanctions that the latest round of sanctions a body united states is a dramatic escalation of the tensions and not just between the u.s. and beijing but also between hong kong and the united states all right thanks so much sarah clarke there lebanon's president has raised the possibility of external interference in tuesday's port blasts in beirut michel aoun has promised an

investigation into whether the blast was caused by a negligence an accident or even a rocket or bomb but the government is facing widespread anger over accusations of mismanagement and corruption $157.00 people are confirmed dead so in a holder has more this report from beirut. this is what is left of beirut port the stockpile of tons of ammonium nitrate that appeared to set off tuesday's blast was in one of the warehouses some of the missing people are believed to be underneath the rubble it's a complicated job to look for them because the damage is considerable international rescue teams have joined search operations but hope of finding survivors is fading and they say the affair. what we're trying to do is to find the structures that are still under tons of rubble specifically the cells in the technical rooms that are under the silos they could have been buried by the rubble and still be standing which could allow us to find survivors the. lebanese authorities have begun

investigations into the blast that destroyed much of the central parts of the capital port and customs officials have been detained and their assets frozen investigators initially said it was triggered by a fire the president michelle and says they are looking into all possibilities. this accident is a wake up call as i said it could be an act of negligence or we have another possibility it could be a rocket attack or a bomb attack i personally requested from the french president if they were in possession of any aerial footage to kindly provide us with it in order to identify any aerial attack or missile attack if any. popular anger at a political class blamed for years of corruption and mismanagement is not new people have little face in a government inquiry that is led by the politicians and security officials who they believe should be the ones questioned there's a problem. for trust between the political system and the population and this

exists for years not just now but now the problem is that the investigation that the person in this committee they feel they are a part of the security services that people are asking questions about their attitude french president manuel mccall will visit. the devastated neighborhoods in beirut on thursday joined voices in lebanon and abroad calling for an independent international inquiry but the governing alliance headed by the iranian backed hezbollah has dismissed that. and send the i would like to emphasize that hezbollah categorically refutes and rejects that we have materials at the seaport not a single bullet weapon ammunition or a bomb nothing at all belongs to hezbollah even the materials the ammonium nitrate that does not belong to hezbollah and. i believe that there is a consensus amongst all lebanese that a complete comprehensive transparent and fair investigation must take place

authorities are welcoming international humanitarian assistance which has started to arrive in a country already broken before the disaster but they are against internationalizing the crisis which would weaken their control call for actions against the ruling class are growing louder following reports that officials were aware of the presence of highly explosive material in the middle of a densely populated city there are plans for mass demonstrations the priority is no longer just a humanitarian emergency there are attempts to revive the momentum of the protest movement that began in october but bringing about change won't be easy. beirut u.s. president says he'll be joining other world leaders on a donor conference call for lebanon on sunday he also said aid from america is already on its way at 3 pm this afternoon i spoke with president.

of lebanon to inform him that 3 large aircraft are on the are on the way fully loaded fully loaded with medical supplies food water and many other things lots of emergency equipment also 1st responders technicians doctors and nurses are on their way. at least 17 people have been killed in a plane crash in india crossed slid off the runway as it was coming in to land in the southern states of cattle in heavy monsoon rain and high woodruff forte's. the desperate search for survivors from an entire express flight which is being bringing people home from the u.s. 190 passengers and crew on board the bering 737 when it overshot the runway because according porson kara. the pilot had apparently tried to land

minutes earlier in heavy rain officials say the plane landed at speed and skidded down a slope before finally coming to a store it broke just several pieces it seems to have crossed that runway and fallen into a ditch sort of a place because there is a different shield between the runway and the other parts of the airport and because of that impact there seems to have been a breaking off of the fuselage into the aircraft or the front portion has been very badly mangled and damaged. it is moments sitting season in india making the rescue effort even more difficult many of those injured and now being treated in hospital both pilots reported to be among the dead there are currently no commercial flights in or out of india this was a repatriation point from dubai bringing indian nationals who've been stuck overseas because of the coronavirus pandemic in

a tweet india's prime minister narendra modi said he was pained by the accident thoughts which will be shared by the nation investigators will now want to know how and why this accident happened and why he would al-jazeera. still ahead on al-jazeera. protesters across colombia show their support for former president alvaro uribe who's on the house. surats. a huge economic impact for those on a national right across the region that's going to last for years and how the global pandemic is ravaging tourism in the pacific islands. hello another edge of fact of the monsoon is this circulation of cloud in the

arabian sea it's produced rain in karachi there is more to come for the south of pakistan and there's more to come just into iran and probably a mom if not on such day then on sunday and it may well stop the hot and dry dusty breeze that's coming out of iraq or down into the empty quarter it diverted away from doha for example which means the $43.00 could turn into a more humid $43.00 rain proper that will show us over the mountains of amman hard it is still blowing from the south coast now the northern extent of the rains has probably been reached now through eritrea and sit down the sudden extent is more or less like victoria which breeze showers every night and every day stores and westwood's interwar under the coastal when this particular moment the forecast for mortgage issue is not exactly a wet one as a steady 25 and breezy so the showers are in land alone the moment southern africa should be largely drawing apart from the passing showers or occasional

winter fronts to go through cape tumble a moment the wind is a northerly is quite warm in both cape town important as with summer heat wave is just a nice bit of mid-winter warms. a $150000000.00 trees disappear every year into the clothing that we all wear from uk cycling to save the forests the famous yellow dress fade from blue jeans. to conserving the world's dwindling wetlands 3 of the aids world's global bird migration routes are sick right where we are the basic discovered a treasure trove it is one of the most special that lands on the planet after ice ecosystems and land it on al-jazeera. rooted to.

welcome back time to recap our headlines now the u.s. state department has called for more top saudi intelligence officials are the job valued partner of job he filed a lawsuit in washington d.c. on thursday accusing saudi crown prince mohammed bin so man of sending hit men to calendar to kill him. beijing's top representative in hong kong says u.s. sanctions are barbarous and ridiculous chief executive carry lamb and the territories current and former police chiefs are among 11 officials targeted. lebanon's president michel aoun has declared an investigation into tuesday's devastating explosion in beirut at least 157 people were killed he says the blasts could have been caused the the by negligence or external interference. the

united nations envoy to yemen has condemned in their strike that killed at least 9 children on thursday martin griffiths is calling for an investigation into the attack in the job which also left 12 women and children injured you sow the coalition has been blamed for carrying out the strike griffiths says civilians are protected under international law turkey has resumed oil and gas exploration in the disputed eastern mediterranean sea in defiance of a new maritime deal signed by greece and egypt on thursday president project over 2 hours called the deal worthless he says greece hasn't kept its promises turkey and greece have long disputed the rights to the oil and gas reserves in the seas between the nations. u.s. intelligence official is warning foreign governments are trying to interfere in

november's presidential election in a statement the director of the national counter intelligence and security center says he's concerned with russia china and iran he says beijing once donald trump to lose the vote its allegedly creased efforts to influence u.s. politicians and shape public opinion the agency's determined though that russia wants to win again it says moscow's already working to undermine his democratic opponent joe biden and iran is accused of using online this information to undermine trampin divide the u.s. ahead of the vote scott anderson is a fellow in governance studies that the brookings institution he says while the issue of foreign interference isn't new it's notable intelligence agencies are being so up front about it. in many ways the report is not necessarily that surprising we know from 2016 that certainly russia has a ball and been involved in various forms election interference in iran and china

are likely at decisions to that list certainly have a vested interest in us domestic politics and not surprising to hear that may be involved in some of these tactics which is surprising about this report is simply the willingness of the intelligence community released this component of it to come on the record and say foreign actors are not only potentially looking at election interference in this case but they have a vested interest in certain political candidates in the president trump in one case in an opponent in another case or 2 other cases as it may be no let doubt that is part of the framing that went into the effort to present this information and effort to make it look like it is in some ways an equipoise between the 2 sides but nonetheless it is notable it is useful it's a useful reminder to voters that they need to look at media and information critically and they need to engage and think about the sources that they're getting information from thinking about the reasons why people may be past them certain messages and it's also to alert to authorities to private companies like facebook

and twitter to the fact that there is a belief that several entities are actually going to be involved in misinformation campaigns that we know in the past have involved false identity false claims and that there is a responsibility on their part to in an effort to rein that in and ensure that actual facts make their way to voting audiences. politicians in washington have been sent home after failing again to make a deal on emergency benefits for unemployed americans president dan trump is threatening to issue executive orders to force the funding to go through millions of americans have been struggling since losing a $600.00 unemployment payment more than $100000.00 bikers are expected to ride through the u.s. state of south dakota as this calls for the annual sturgis rally to be canceled because of the conduct pandemic at least half a 1000000 people usually attend the week long event but that number dropped this year as the u.s. records tens of thousands of new infections every day. that is why this government

is being accused of taking publishing measures against people who break quarantine rules or the prolonged lockdown has severely impacted the economy many people can't afford to stay at home anymore flora burden finally has more. food to sit in the sun on the still exercises and even public beatings. soldiers in venezuela's capital caracas are accused of taking these punishing measures against people violating florentine rules earning a copperhead enough i was buying corn meal for my children i removed my face mask to clean my face and i put it back on their soul just stop me there this is crazy there are many people here. for the 1st case of the coronavirus hit the country in mid march to cut the spread the government imposed and knocked down a mistreated movement across the country since then security forces have roamed the

streets imposing strict mask wearing and curfews moves the many say difficult to follow. i leave my house at 11 am to work and get food for the day and they won't let us work they grab us and sit there it is easy for the soldiers because they have food but what do poor people do the food box given by the government is not enough for family the government has to understand that we go out on the streets to look for work if i don't go to work i can't find food for my kids rights groups and published video online which is said to show more punitive measures taken into a state in western venezuela. president nicolas maduro has accused local rights groups of receiving money from the cia and supporting what he calls donald trump security forces he's throwing the military back in court in $1000.00 but it's also

a country that can use a food for the bars to spread there are some far more than 23000 confirmed cases of corona virus and just over 200 deaths with the health care system on its knees following the is infrastructure decay the medication and supplies the u.n. is cooling the government not in outside help to deal with the crisis opposition lawmakers and rights groups say maturer is using the pandemic as an excuse to further militarize the country. with the police and judicial handling of the pandemic there will be a higher rate of infection a lower capacity for care and cases will be complicated then the population will not only be afraid of the virus but also of the police handling of the pandemic people sleep on the floor they mistreat you they arrest people for having a virus that is all over the world with many venezuelans and with this with choice

look for work to feed their families and face the consequences lure a $1000.00 money. germany and france of both abandoned talks to reform the world health organization frustrated with attempts by the u.s. to dominate negotiations the move is a blow for donald trump his government had hoped to lead an overhaul of the w.h.o. before the upcoming u.s. elections trump accuse the w.h.o. of being too close to china and mishandling the pandemic. british airways has begun cutting thousands of jobs because of the impact of the pandemic many of those who remain will face steep pay cuts and lose benefits british airways says more than $6000.00 workers have applied for voluntary redundancy the company lost more than $900000000.00 between april and june. pacific island nations of largely avoided outbreaks of covert 19th but many are facing economic

devastation due to the collapse of tourism industries now a rise in cases in papua new guinea has authorities worried the already fragile health system could soon be overwhelmed nicola gage reports. outside a sports stadium in port moresby people white to be tested at 19 inside a makeshift hospital has been set up to treat iraq as a number of paper with the coronavirus until now pup when you get me has avoided a large scale outbreak but in recent weeks it has spread to new provinces forcing the closure of a massive copper and gold mine and many health workers are testing positive protective medical equipment is being distributed and international health teams flowing in but there are concerns the already fragile health system won't cope for all we know there are some great things going on behind the scenes the

communication between government health department and then down to the people that hasn't happened the government has brought down measures including closing its border with indonesia but in many areas social distancing is a challenge and with huge numbers living below the poverty line access to clean water for hand washing is limited what we can do is find ways to overcome challenges whether it's washing hands. in a creek washing hands and they are. using salt which my stable have is a means by which to wash their hands while few cases have been recorded in other pacific island nations they now facing economic devastation due to the collapse of trade and tourism and countries like some a student reeling from recent deadly measles outbreak sun many of the nations in the rage and relied on tourism people coming to visit to really sustain their

economies and i just don't have that capacity now so a huge economic impact for those island nations right across the region that's going to last for years. the asian development bank says the number of people living in extreme poverty in the region could increase by up to 40 percent in the. many pacific island nations who need help to keep their economies afloat gauge al-jazeera protesters have rallied the cross colombia after the supreme court for former president alvaro uribe on the house arrest his recent detention is deafening political divisions as the reports from the capital bogota. they came out in force in the 4 wheeled protest to abide by current restrictions only. their stanch supporters of former colombian president. who for them will always be

the country savior no matter what. little and upper class conservatives forever grateful to an ex-president who improve security in a nation battered by a long and bloody civil conflict one doctor what america would disagree with this injustice don't you remember we couldn't leave the house with the current who gave us freedom. for them the supreme court decision to detain libyan witness tampering and fraud charges this week is an outrage when thousands of former fighters have gone free tanks 282016 peace deal no i don't actually it's not fair that they keep him like a vile criminal when those guerrilla fighters are sitting in the senate it's not fair not fair. but to others here who is the criminal a man with alleged ties to drug traffickers and paramilitary groups with no regard to human rights whose war against marxist insurgents left thousands of innocent

civilians dead. opposition against a hard fought peace deal with fired rebels there is predecessor a one man way to santa the cheve leaving the country split into. even tension promises to be. there threatening the possibility of requests. would have aspired in this political protests current president to have attacked the courts the situation even calling for an overhaul of the justice system and a change to the constitution. for many political commentators the current crisis is testing the country's institutions in society one of the basic questions here is whether or not the political structure can hold this attack that it's being done against its legitimacy. dorothy. per better or for worse.

dominated colombia's political landscape for decades and will likely continue to do so as a symbol of a deeply polarized country still trying to reconcile itself with its past and listen to them i'll just. take you through some of the headlines here now just the other now the u.s. state department has called former top saudi intelligence official sounding a valued partner and filed a lawsuit in washington d.c. on thursday accusing the saudi crown prince of sending his men to canada to kill him beijing's top representative in hong kong says u.s. sanctions are barbarous and ridiculous chief executive carol lam and territories current and former police chiefs are among 11 officials targeted sarah clarke is in

hong kong has more on china's response. beijing's top representative office in hong kong has released this statement strongly opposing and condemning the u.s. treasury sanctions on hong kong and this is that this reveals the unscrupulous intentions of u.s. politicians to support anti china car chaos in hong kong that's a quote from that particular statement and that he said these particular actions are really ridiculous again another quite lebanese president michel aoun has launched an investigation into tuesday's devastating explosion in beirut at least 157 people were killed he says the blast could have been caused to either by negligence or external interference. 17 people have died in a plane crash in india or india express jet broke into when it overshot the runway at the airport in the southern state of cattle or it was bringing indian nationals

home from dubai. the u.s. intelligence official is warning china russia and iran were all trying to interfere in the upcoming presidential election he says they're using online this information and other tactics to influence u.s. voters and create disorder politicians in washington have been sent home after failing again to make a deal for a vive emergency benefits for unemployed americans president donald trump is threatening to issue an executive order to force the funding to go through the united nations envoy to yemen has condemned their strike that killed at least 9 children on thursday martin griffiths is calling for an investigation into the attack on the job of the saudi coalition has been blamed for the strike it's earthrise now. all counting the cost to russia war planes a mistress to scenes from the fold of libya's biggest oil field last lebanon's

become a promise of a devastating explosion is it time from awful fun plus weaponize in place of this information to manipulate elections. counting the costs of al-jazeera. to cope with our growing population we have tripled our exploitation of natural resources in just 14 years as a result of the vast expansion of mining industrial scale farming fishing and other human activities natural ecosystems have lost nearly half that area and 1000000 plant and animal species.