videos that were pumped in from other areas and to kind of give an idea of how this isn't this is what you saw all over new york city on new year's eve with bars and restaurants and cultural the news that normally would have been opened late into the night and celebrations all of it closed because of coronavirus and at the celebration in times square gloria gaynor played her favorite song i will survive perhaps symbolic for many new yorkers that have gotten through a very very difficult 2020. half past the hour these are the headlines the u.k. has completed its split from the e.u. by leaving the single market and the customs union there will be a tariff free trade but the government says they could be disruption as the new rules begin prime minister bars johnson they're welcoming this new chapter for the u.k.

this is an amazing moment for this country we have our freedom in our hands and he's up to us to make the most of it and i think it will be the overwhelming instinct of the people of this country to come together as one united kingdom england scotland wales and northern ireland working together to express all values around the world leading both the g 7 and the cop $26.00 climate change summit. emergency hospitals are being prepared in the u.k. is the more infectious strain of coronavirus puts pressure on existing health facilities the circle nightingale hospitals that have been largely on used are now being reactivated to receive more patients there are now more people in hospital and during the peak of the outbreak back in april. when 25000 coronavirus related deaths have been recorded in the u.s. state of california in los angeles one person is dying every 10 minutes fewer than

3000000 people across the u.s. have been vaccinated against code 19 far short of the government's target of 20000000 by now indonesia is banning international visitors for the next 2 weeks an effort to stop the spread of that mutated more infectious strain of the virus which was found in the u.k. it is the 2nd time indonesia's closed its borders since the pandemic began. despite all the cities around the world of should in the new year scale back events though as global infections continue to rise strict social distancing rules are enforced in many countries during the holiday periods and medics across brazil of held a minute's silence to mark the new year cases are surging and the country has now recorded more than a 1000 deaths for a 3rd day in a row. now to let the headlines on al-jazeera the latest edition of inside story is next a runoff that will determine if democrats take control of both chambers of congress has no candidate received a majority in this election george or is getting ready for

a historic vote that challenges senate majority. joining the special coverage of the u.s. senate runoff. a new setback for yemen a bomb explosion kills at least 26 as a new unity government returns from saudi arabia who could be behind the attack and our hopes of ending the civil war slipping further away this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program imam a gym drome yemen's new unity government has come under attack just a week after it was sworn in at least 26 people died when a bomb exploded as minister stepped off a plane at either an airport the government members were unhurt but 3 red cross

workers were among the dead the saudi erotic coalition responded with airstrikes against her with the rebels who deny being behind the attack it's the latest setback to peace after nearly 6 years of civil war in yemen as barbara reports. waving at supporters as they climbed off their flight attendant airport members of yemen's new unity government returned days after being sworn into office at a ceremony in saudi arabia. but the hopes of rebuilding the country after more than 6 years of civil war turned into chaos a devastating attack on agency international airport and the work of more than a year of saudi brick of talks and the deal signed in 2019 now in question the government members were led to safety but analysts say the authority of the new administration has been undermined yemen's new prime minister moved quickly to try and restore confidence. with the people this attack gives the government the

responsibility to put an end to the could and to restore the country and the state again the government an addon it will go on continue its job supported by the people of yemen we will never let our people down the terrorists never defeat our people we will be victorious we will accept nothing but victory sides government was formed as a compromise between you a backed separatist in the southern transitional council of aden and saudi backed loyalists of president abu reprimand so hardy in riyadh the 2 camps for to each other after separatists declared a state of emergency and self government in aden and surrounding southern provinces but together they aim to launch a knighthood front against iran backed walls in yemen's capital sana'a who deny they were behind the attack but the bloodshed at the airport is likely to put any hopes of peace in yemen back a long way barbara and al jazeera. all

right let's introduce our panel in doha abraham pretty hard associate professor of conflict resolution at the doha institute. but on director of political studies at the arab center for research and policy studies and cell phone but director of the center for conflict and humanitarian studies welcome to all of you ibrahim let me start with you today how much has the authority of the unity government been undermined by this attack and i've been. well significantly i think this says. you would challenge a presence that you would security challenge for the government that has think it almost a year since the signing of that agreement until this government has finally finally been formed and that the brought everyone together on the southern part of the yemen is and now well it is to start with it and then you have comes.

huge security breach and that enjoyments and then which undermines. could ability that you need the. and this is questions about its future where canadian let's keep in mind also that the situation has not been to secure the 'd only 2 that get it at court but also we have about another attack that happened actually that the after. you know at me and my chief presidential palace where the prime minister the cliff huge so it seems that that is. what it's not i when single incident that happened in the airport but it seems that there was a planning behind that that is something that is a pity that it's on that back of side to undermine the credibility and output of the and the future work of the senate to give them one yemen's new prime minister

has moved quickly to try to restore confidence in the government is he really going to be able to do that after an attack this significant. well visible i think we need to know who is behind that that actually because. it will change how we see that from that perspective because if we agree with the government of iraq that also have the it that with these are behind the attack that would actually take. the issue into i defended entities but if we are talking about to be believed from the south i'm talking here about the whole kind of and within south ossetia that concept. that is also i mean different directories that the chinese maybe if we are if we have to go with the 2nd the probability of the chinese are you with in this case why because that to me is you have

a bit of problem with the south and there's not a concept of maybe playing on the mind then you're going to go because actually they just don't like what and what the saudis are planning to do here i forcing them to get that and said that it was isha as it were going i don and also on the weekend then falling. off that you will have done with these are behind that of course i mean that is a different journey and that means that all these actually it can be just as far as i can and then the new government so all so it's very it's very difficult it's very different actually. to understand he's in taxes and spending and behind and that will be on man who is not going down who is the south that doesn't like council and maybe they're not that i mean it's which is supporting. that particular group and that's not so so he actually did that is that he will wish there is a huge difference between these 2 different peavey's salt on the new unity

government was formed as a compromise between u.a.e. backed separatists in the southern transitional council and the other end and the saudi backed loyalists a president or had the in the riyadh how difficult was it to reach this power sharing deal and does all of this put it in jeopardy now. well it's obviously it was very difficult to reach to that point and the real issue is. surrounding the issue of egypt to see to the government you know originally had his government was considered as the legitimate representative and the original the government of the you know meant and the whole war was launched in order to protect this legitimate government and the u.n. resolution 2216. went through and so on and now we are in a situation where that government has actually been negotiated and it's been negotiated because of a fracture between the united arab emirates and saudi arabia as the allies each

backing a different site now that in itself has already. reduced illegitimacy of this arrangement and has made it very very difficult in the eyes of the yemenis but also outside yemen people to look at it and take it seriously especially when the government was named still in the area and now there is a real risk with this attack that they may withdraw the government bacteria from adam and i think that to be very very very very dangerous at this stage from a different perspective everybody wanted the yemenis to have a unified as unified voice as possible and to try and reduce this conflict as much as possible into a 2 sided conflict with these and the other so a lot of effort as a brain mentioned earlier went into establishing this government and i think this at tike has. again depends as an iran said if it is how these went after

the airplane and the delegation then that may help mobilize people around the government and if it is actually other side then it's a different scenario ibrahim from your vantage point do you believe that this attack was meant to destroy the new unity government. well we got admissable who is that that kind of that and such i believe is yes with that it's that who with is that the fair c.n.n. your that they want to send a very strong message that this unity government that took you a whole year it in order to put it together among all the different factions has that what it spawns the moment the at that. or then. that act or the missiles or the mortar shells because that's also there's a big difference between with and this has been hit by a ballistic missiles as some will but the other side just ordered mortar shells because this presents say that this has security implications you know with that

it's within that that happened within the city of a didn't order came from outside so regardless i think without came from outside or from from a then the message is still better song from the hole at the site that. that little challenge it. and he has that us however if this if this actually came from the southern. council then we have a much bigger problem on a lot of hands because this is a scene of sportsman's about to what extent actually that support this council in the south is really cool we have to get that with that new government because this now has if it's this then it has if there is serious questions about the future of this government and to what extent they're willing to cooperate because one major reason is that they are in control of security in that and they have city obeyed

unless you want to see if. a genuine and strong support from down transitional council i don't think this government can work because again of their control of the security. but also for the benefit of this analysis let's also not exclude. the chances of not. great but let's also not exclude other see not just like there are a lot of players and they like that guy that isis in the past they launched some attacks so. again this is not a bit of some scenario but instead as one of the cases or to some group in a mess from the southern support this will then. that the transitional council if it's behind it then it will to present a different set of challenges because i'm lists that number them that they need that believe that ship of the. 7 transitional council is behind this then i think

the challenges will be more amenable to deal with. would be easier for the government to have my one you heard about him there talk about the security situation and adnan i want to focus on that for a moment because presumably the airport where the attack happened in i did yesterday presumably that would have been one of the more secured areas or one of the most secured areas in all of yemen if an attack like this can happen in a place that is supposedly as heavily fortified as the airport should have been what does that saying about the security situation in the country overall. well it shows actually how did you get the position of the yemeni government is and that this won't yemen has just like all other conflicts and that he's and you have so many here this study complicated because you have so many bodies a lot and walled in despite that i mean look at the how that will be easy hot out there are the also hot the idea how the south and position of each having their own

their own interests actually goes i mean has but i'm set also have oswald back and isis. internet edition that he will have a lot of saudi arabia you have the idea of him as want also having different agendas even in the saudi arabia and if you don't have the same i didn't know when you talk about the amount and don't mention any of those and you have also other players so this is a very difficult actually conflict in which you are trying actually to bring almost all of the bodies like if you want something which is a just going to be extremely difficult because at the saudis it actually managed to do over the boss the boss to actually when be managed to to have that 2 sides and the south. the government about that but also had the one hand under something that wasn't constant on the other hand i could see one forming a unity government of course i mean that is a body of any good step forward but as we said while the discussion there are so many challenges of course you have to but it's going to challenge the saudis have

been playing hashed of this government and blissful for many months now that many find any because they are becoming also under huge pressure they are expecting that in coming by that administration with russia on them in order to stop the war and yemen the war in yemen is that there was a you crisis described by the united nations and the saudis and actually the image has been taught missed because of their involvement in the war in yemen. on the other hand of course you have this this tension between iran and the i just is that your audience knows that it would want very much to have a lot to say. conflict in yemen is differences between saudi arabia and yemen especially now because the saudis are going towards not pushed out with qatar not as they are not as actually they don't like that very much so have so many actually different agendas and i believe that this is a good the situation in the ground is going to get does sort of conflict between these different places where there are

a lot of any inside yemen who will be in that he or internationally so this situation is not going to be is not going to be any easier in the coming days and the coming weeks and i months i miss you have some sort of quote me not that you've gotten but in one of these bodies that got a big interest in dug out in yemen just like in all other companies and that he got he got that in the context of goodnight bobby and this conflict all of that he has sanctioned actually having some sort of a bit to go situation so to see how things are going to be and all and then nothing beats switching off the coming and. the coming of dawn you have been a station though i didn't ask how that is going to actually be i think there was a general day i mean to saudi arabia and iran how that is going to connect one that you're going to bobby's and yemen and how does it out that's going to be actually going to do also and does get this nation and that constant soltani you heard the ibrahim there make mention of groups that still have a presence no matter how small on the ground in yemen groups like eisel and

a card that's why i wanted to ask you 1st of all how much of a threat in yemen is still posed by groups like al qaida and i still and also is there a security vacuum in yemen and if so how much of a security vacuum is there. i think it probably is a mistake to talk about this event as a as a preach of security as if security existed in the country security and i'm sure if you were to speak to colleagues or friends from yemen they will tell you that the it's a community that they've lost for a long time now and it is missed in night in as much as it is in sanaa and elsewhere the issue here of course the al qaeda and all of these terrorist groups have thrived as a result of the fault line between the how these and and the others and they managed to very much like water in a cracks they moved around they. really engaged and so on and i think this

is something that the americans will come to realize very soon after by biden takes or the office in washington. the threat from terrorism is still very much there their real issue about these attacks that i fear is that it is pushing for an increase conflict escalation and maybe it is pushing the how these another step forward by october. this year they for the 1st time of the new friends around the cities are secure. which is resource rich and in fact they have managed to win $11.00 position on the outskirts of the city but they stop there now with this escalation it is likely that the how these will push further iran will be much more interested and excited in supporting them so that they prepare for war in the new member taken administration arrives they they need a stronger hand to be able to negotiate with the united states and and as such i

think we look back at who was behind this incident i agree with marwan that it is it is it could be any side and there are many many theories that are coming out one of them speaks very clearly about the fact that. the head of the southern council has actually left the airport before the the missiles struck and that brings the figures as to whether there has been something agreed that the others were not aware of and so on the real. loss i think is again we're going to have delays in the potential of resolving this conflict through negotiations in november few a few weeks ago. he has. reportedly offered the how these kind of for the to do with them offering a ceasefire in return for establishment of

a buffer zone and that and also the 2 they were willing to ease their own sea blockade and that in itself was actually a step forward in that the saudi started to directly negotiate they shoes with the how things i think it is long as it's wrong and you know that the international community is so ready and and the regional countries should really approach this problem beyond it being the versus the how the and the should be direct negotiations with the sony's over their interest as much as between them and happy and i hammered on mention a few moments ago that there's a lot that could impact the situation on the ground in yemen and one of the things that will be interesting to see is how the incoming joe biden administration in the u.s. might change things on the ground do you think they will play a bigger role in yemen will a president joe biden in the united states do something different that could impact

the situation on the ground in yemen from your perspective. well let me put them think them how mad about this conflict unfortunate there that it's really lost to the regional conflict to the regional components of the challenge of life from the you know between iran and so that emanated states and all them all but that would seem regional level and that's has been will probably probably be the primary reason why this conflict has not that it's all because simply you cannot just sit at it that from what's going on on that region on an international level you know and is backing the which is supporting that with this and it's a cheap proxy war. to support wind saudi arabia continues to be for the past 5 years since this war started with the heavy of all but on saudi of yeah but i guess what it's fully aligned this does not close that on much but now we are seeing actually and nor and. call it you know that post that. that's

taking place. after jenny what it $23.00 and what biden is willing and able to do in order to add this regional conflict with iran and it's an issue of whether the air would sound good he got that's i think it on would be willing to. the way i understand this if it's of out of c.d.'s a lot of if. that's all part of from the united states about then you could be on. the nuclear project that probably would be willing to engage in some sort of permit . in yemen because yemen is not the national security issue or thought of for iran and it's more hanging fruit sort in on you know on the can you was just got their lives very very well playing because the in the different proxy wars in the conflict so iran might be willing to engage in some sort of deal making depending

on how the negotiations are all the. it's an active it's is going to do it and to what extent that it is the united states is winning the support saudi arabia and this will so i think after january 20th we are talking probably about a new context a north regional context sort of this conflict which was dependent on that it should have could either out of this scale they have been on big o. d. is still is depending on that again the best definition of the discussion that each conflict and the proxy wars that you know i'm supporting of the one we only have a couple of minutes left in your previous answer you referred to the dire humanitarian crisis that's been going on in yemen for quite some time so i want to ask you a little bit more about that you know there were 3 staff members with the red cross who were killed in this attack mark lowe cox who is the undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and the emergency relief coordinator he issued a statement saying this tragic event is an urgent reminder that all parties in the

conflict must respect their obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians provide aid workers with a safe working environment and to spare civilian objects so my question to you is how will this attack further complicate humanitarian efforts going forward in yemen . it's good for them to get it but on the other hand had to put the ball so good in pleasing measure. especially when the saudis that it was not we are expecting that the incoming by the administration will be. perhaps interested more in this human life issues than the humanitarian crisis in yemen we believe that though because of that issues are going to be on the edge and the and coming by that mr john going to all be a lot and it's not get on one hand and yemen and yemen mainly because of the humanitarian crisis in that country this is why we believe that the saudis the actually and exacted he was encouraged to note that to happen this is unity government see like

before the coming of the new administration the white house because they believe that they are going to have the i'm going to come i'm going to he was special why is it the mistake should not have to stop the war and you know and i don't want to be president by again but i didn't elect biden actually but on his that he would be revising his policy or serving the sending off weapons to saudi arabia and other counties was in the mid east because of the boom of isaac was on was what it was and what it meant in context and. in that age and so the human issue but also i just said could be also that i didn't force her having some sort of a new at a time and that got me but of course i think it's much more complicated than that because not as by him said actually yemen has become much more than it due to the iranians the i do's in yemen as it has been against us out is the are actually when i want to get out is at that you know how to see the other response is actually digging. in yemen i guess i'll get it yes so this is why last year actually does all of the organizations have been at that in

a country as we have been seeing also so many and at that point by that with these we need that iran is using that which is in this case as a as a as a proxy you know that the attacks are. with bush on his allies and the less allies in this case. they're not just us we've run out of time so we're going to have to leave the conversation there thanks so much to all our guests it but i mean for how much i want. but i've got. and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j. inside story for me mohammed gentleman the whole team here bye for now. discovered kazakstan as

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