yes well the republican party dump truck with your weekly take on u.s. politics and society at the bottom of. qatar's their heads to saudi arabia for a golf summit out a breakthrough in a 3 year long dispute. alarms the whole rommany what you all just there are live my headquarters here in doha also coming up england and scotland go into another lockdown to contain covert 19 us hospitals struggle to cope with the surge and infections. we're going to fight like hell i'll tell you i the battle for control of the u.s. senate last minute rallies held in georgia in a runoff that will decide the balance of power in congress. and the change of plan

of the new york stock exchange decides not to remove the shares of 3 chinese telecommunications companies. welcome to the program the emir of qatar is joining other leaders from across the gulf for a summit in saudi arabia these are live pictures coming into us from the venue for the g.c.c. conference the plane arriving of course from the kingdom of bahrain it's expected that it's a mere hamad bin khalifa will take off that plane shortly to join other heads of state from the g.c.c. for that meeting will bring you that as we get it of course the summit could see the end of the illegal blockade of castle not after saudi arabia said that it would open its air sea and land borders to qatar and water seen as big steps toward

resolving a diplomatic rift. tamala sale reports on the very latest. in more than 3 years after saudi arabia u.a.e. behind and egypt imposed a blockade on qatar finally a breakthrough but that the military fuck. up an agreement was reached open the land and maritime borders between the kingdom of saudi arabia and the state of qatar starting tonight this statement from the kuwaitis on the eve of a g.c.c. summit in saudi arabia was not a surprise since the crisis began they've been mediating between the deeply divided members of the gulf cooperation council the united states has also been urging gulf countries to resolve the dispute in order to maintain the stability and security of the region. for decades rivalry and differences in foreign policy have divided gulf states but when that worsened in 2017 few expected the region would be thrown into crisis and the land air and sea blockade imposed on qatar saudi arabia had shut

only land border cutting imports and its food and medicine supply chain the train the u.a.e. saudi arabia and egypt to close their airspace to pottery aircrafts grounding hundreds of qatar airways planes the blockading countries also shut their embassies in doha and expelled qatari diplomats they issued a list of 13 demands they said oh how must meet including shutting down the al-jazeera news channel the positive aspect of it as far as cutters concerned has been a greater degree of resilience over the last few years do have managed to learn to live with the blockade and that has helped really help them discover better ways of living and more efficient ways of sustaining their economy their expenditure managing their affairs and resulted in an extremely resilient country that has now demonstrated is in the lifting of the blockade without them having to endure as the

totally irrational 13 conditions the impact the crisis has had on the gulf cooperation council is unquestionable and while the differences remain the hope is that moving forward they will be resolved through dialogue. let's take you to port. in saudi arabia the bahraini delegation have arrived in the jumbo 7 full 7 saudi taxiing to the main reception area where we expect the delegation to be headed by the mayor hamad bin khalifa bahrain of course that small island in the gulf coast the 5th fleet of the u.s. navy and of course is one of the 4 countries that is also blockading katsav. more developments on that as saudi arabia lifts some of those restrictions let's bring in our correspondent. who is with us here in doha let's just talk about those pictures of the bahraini delegation coming in 1st to the 41st g.c.c.

conference hosted by saudi arabia of course a very close ally of the saudis yes that's quite interesting another plane which has landed now in a lower and we'd like just to remind our viewers that historically speaking this is some is inside arabia where most of the time either held in or injured this time the crown prince mohammed bin and the and the leaders decided to go for a place in the midst of nowhere near vienna and this was the harbor some of the dynasties that prevailed hundreds of years before christ and this falls into the image that compress 100 but so man wants to show his kingdom that transforming the kingdom and what you're going to see in the near future is going to be different and this explains that yesterday just right after the announcement of the lifting of the book a crown prince mohammed bin sermon said that he wants this summit to be

a not for charity to build a united stance of course the only delegation arriving that white now have a different view about how to move forward when it comes to the him the lifting of the blockade and this explains that the response yesterday was muted we do understand they don't seem to be really quite excited about what how what is happening why it's in now now what is going to happen in the next are always going to be extremely important for many reasons all the countries are going to pin down details of an agreement about how to turn the chops of the blockade and move forward with seeing clearly a pattern now which is a breakthrough in the saudi qatari relations. we have to monitor and see if. i defer to her sister present of egypt or wives and whether in the near future we're see in a sense of rapprochement between the start of the tardies and the egyptians that could give us an indication about whether. all the countries are going to turn the

chapter of what happened on the 5th of june 2017 and will forward but before they do it at that they will have to overcome major obstacles. who they are as nations do they have to build stronger nations with iran or no do we have to do they have to reach out to turkey which is one of the 2nd most important regional powers in the region how are they going to solve the crisis in syria and how are they going to solve the problem in libya and whether to stand when it comes to the muslim brotherhood or political islam or the impact of what's happened since the our spring of 2011 those were the core issues that paved the way for what happened in 2017 course even with joe is no we're not expecting them to pin down all the details of an agreement today but i think what happened yesterday was a significant step forward and we'll just have to wait and see what happens today

and in the upcoming days and of course hashem you know as we see those pictures really of the saudi hosts getting ready to welcome obviously the emir of bahrain and their incomes hamad bin isa khalifa coming down the steps to be welcomed by the saudis of course that the messaging is very important also as you just said about how the blockading countries will react to the news that saudi wants to lift and will lift its land sea and air blockade but also how cateye are now has to deal not just with the reproach more from saudi arabia but also how it deals with its allies you might say of iran and turkey who have supported it through this blockade and how that troika of relationships will move forward this is mostly one of the most important g.c.c. meetings in the last 41 years it could be i don't have my reading glasses with me but if think the gentleman that we're seeing is the crown prince of bahrain and

this could be an indication that the political leadership in behind is not really excited about the outcome of what happened yesterday and we're likely going to see . same representation from the as well as the united. emirates we're likely to see the. lower representation from the u.a.e. because they don't seem to be excited about what happened yesterday however developing excited how they might not be excited but you think saudi arabia is going to you might say if i quote a phrase drag them kicking and screaming to the negotiating table that they will have to listen to what side your abs just point of view is you're absolutely right saudi arabia presents itself as the protector of sunni islam and as one of the most powerful muslim nations in on earth and therefore they will definitely use that particular leverage with the other countries and tell them you know it's about time to turn the chapter and we cannot just afford to continue moving forward without solving those problems and the biggest problem that we have been facing is this is

a crisis to the point where the americans have been telling them repeatedly we cannot help you if you don't help yourself and if you don't mend fences with your date and you have to solve the problem of the crisis and if it was not going to be solved now it was definite going to be solved and the upcoming administration under president elect joe biden and you are absolutely white so when you say that to morrow or today will start tackling issues like iran and turkey this could be a unique opportunity for qatar which has been building strong relations with iran and turkey to say to saudi arabia to behave way into the united arab emirates and other countries that position well i just tend now 3 years and a half after the blockade gives me the legitimate right to build bridges between you and iran and what do that i can broker a deal i can mediate i can step in same thing absolutely no country this blog that

has a stronger relationship with turkey the same where qatar has and it can definitely use that to try to build bridges between turkey and saudi arabia you know that's ahead of him and as long as you don't have strong relations between the. and we're sorry there is absolutely no way this blog can move forward and tackle issues like libya syria or even how to deal with iran because turkey not only is a powerful engine of power but it's also a powerful it's certainly a nation in that region and therefore it is a nation that you need to go to when it comes to solving problems or building the realign says or thinking about political realignments and this could be the opportunity for qatar to say i would use that symbolic capital i do have to try to build bridges and turn that chapter and i think it is definitely going to be a win win situation of this plane that you're seeing right now lending is of of

them are online indeed of course will continue to unpick what happens at the g.c.c. in terms of oman and the plane just landing there you know if this is going to be the 1st g.c.c. meeting at such a high level for the new sultan himself and he is also already in in the mix of trying to offer his help in negotiating the lifting of the blockade what is a man's position in the sort of dynamics of the g.c.c. well the sultanate issued a statement yesterday saying that the sultan is not going to turn and. someone else from the delegation is going to be. to be representing home and their own man is a nation of their has meant a remarkable stance when it comes to what happened in 2017 of the 5th of june it is a nation that has been asking for. unity in never took sides

it is a remarkable nation there has always tried to maintain a neutral balance to relationship and saying ultimately i am a i am a nation i am. oh dynasty i need to see people showing respect for my heritage i'm not a wealthy nation nation as wealthy as saudi arabia or the united arab emirates but i have a legacy and i have a history and this explains why so when you look in the past we were instrumental in paving the way for the iran nuclear deal with the american some of the back shuttle diplomacy was held in must at the worse very crucial also in the talks between the different warring factions in yemen and to the point where the united nations always travels to muscat hoping for their own man is to help help the mediate. the differences between the yemeni fashions of the sultanate of a man today will reverberate who will say the same message which is about time for

all the nations to set aside their differences come together this absolutely no way for us as a g.c.c. block to move forward unless we forget about the differences and our own man one last thing so haley is a nation with absolutely stronger relationship with iran and they could step in in the near future and mend those differences but to leave it with the iranians and the saudis they have massive respect in this part of the world and they could use that particularly into it and of whole sort of forward several notions of mediation that will be picking of course through the day and we will of course continue to monitor what's going on at. airports as the delegations arrive for the 41st g.c.c. summit people in england have been ordered to stay at home as part of a new nationwide lockdown a highly transmissible baron variant of the covert 19 that. virus has fueled

a surgeon factions prime minister boris johnson says restrictions will last for at least 7 weeks and 2 sevens has the latest from the british capital. boris johnson had started monday at the rollout of the oxford university astra zeneca vaccine a world 1st easy to store and distribute but any fanfare was lost replaced by a realisation that the spread of covert in the u.k. is out of control by the end of the day came this announcement the government is once again instructing you to stay at home. you may only leave home for limited reasons permitted in law such as to shop for essentials to work if you absolutely cannot work from home to exercise to seek medical assistance johnson had said he hoped the roll out of vaccines could protect the most vulnerable people care homes carers medical staff and people over 70 by mid february he said all schools and colleges would have to close the weeks ahead will be the hardest yet but i really

do believe that we're entering the last phase of the struggle because with every job the goes into our arms we are tilting the odds against coded and in favor of the british people and thanks to the miracle of science not only is the end in sight. but we know exactly how we will get there early as scotland's 1st minister was on her feet at a recall session of her devolved parliament with a similar announcement we have to say to introduce from midnight tonight for the generation of the january a legal requirement to stay at home except for essential part of the season this is similar to the lockdown offer march last year and there's another worrying development a u.k. government side to have a good visor is reported as saying that he's concerned the vaccines won't be as

effective against a south african variant of covert furthermore matter henk or the u.k. health secretary says he is concerned because the south african variance seems to be more infectious than the u.k. strain the u.k. is planned straight into this lockdown with no delay on the country's coded alert level has switched to 5 meaning hospitals are now out material risk of being overwhelmed the u.k. finds itself at its most critical state since the 1st wave in the spring andrew simmons al-jazeera london. and germany is expected to extend its lockdown moshe's until the end of january regional leaders signaled they would agree to prolong the restrictions record numbers of cases and deaths last week now they're meeting with chancellor angela merkel later on tuesday the shutdown includes schools and on essential stores the country began vaccinating people last month. the new highly contagious corona virus variant has also been found in france the health

minister says there are around 10 cases and as promised to speed up vaccination france has had one of the slowest roll outs in europe but aims to have 300 vaccination centers in operation next week it's in a sharp spike in hospitalizations. u.s. presidents like joe biden and president donald trump in the state of georgia are ahead of 2 crucial senate runoff elections now the republicans need to win at least one of those seats in order to retain control of the senate fisher has the latest in georgia. the last push from a president whose power might be waning but his influence with the base of his party remains undiminished he came in their thousands for the rally in rural georgia the ghetto the vote effort for a crucial senate runoff but from a president who won't except the last november's election a list of unproven grievances and complaint there was no way and i just want to thank you you know i've had 2 elections i won both of which he did turn his

attention to the senate race people to. republican majority limiting the new president's agenda your vote tomorrow will decide which party controls the united states senate the radical democrats are trying to capture georgia's senate seat so they can wield unchecked unrestrained absolute power over every aspect of your lives. the battle in georgia also drew the attention of the president elect he held his rally earlier in the day the message though was the same as his rival get out and vote in america as your opposition friends are finding now all power. flows from the people from the people. that's our history the president still believes november's election was stolen from him an assertion he made in

a controversial phone call to georgia's top election official at the weekend but with no hard evidence the secretary of state said it simply the president was wrong i'm very confident in the results we have here in georgia and that's the cold hard truth is present trying to not carry the state of georgia we want honest and fair elections here in the senate runoffs give joe biden the best chance of a clear run and his legislative agenda if the democrats win both seats the republicans they have to maximize turnout in areas like this if they're to have a chance and victory secures the senate but will also fuel donald trump's on the phone did claims that he did much better in this state in november alan fischer al jazeera dalton georgia the new york stock exchange says it no longer plans to delist 3 major chinese telecommunications companies the about turn comes less than a week after it said it would remove the listings to comply with an executive order

signed by president donald trump last november katrina you has more from beijing. these 3 companies are stationed at the biggest chinese telecom companies in the country and they play a very significant role in china's economy so when the decision was 1st made to deal with them from the your new york stock exchange beijing really saw that as an attack on china they said that the trumpet ministration was politicizing trade and they said it was an unfair move that would harm the markets in general that being said though this move to delist was also lovely perceived as a symbolic one as these 3 telecom companies trade relatively few shares on the new york stock exchange so they maintain that were that this was not going to impact market operations in general that was largely seen as symbolic a way to shake confidence a way to put american that investors off having any involvement in chinese companies and really a move to accelerate decoupling between china and the u.s.

so this move this reversal will definitely be perceived as a positive thing beijing is likely to see this as maybe a move in good faith by the biden administration as a sign that they're not really keen on decoupling as the troubled ministration was and that they're willing really still to continue doing business with china. stephen is the chief global market strategist at global institutional financial services company joins me now via skype from bangkok good to have you with us live on al-jazeera i mean how much of a surprise is this i mean come the stock exchange in new york do this and override a presidential executive order. it's pretty bizarre really i've never seen anything like this happen but i think the n.y.s.e. is sort of looking at this and trying to disavow themselves from the proposal at a cold. obviously this was really a political knock down more so than a security concern i think we're seeing developed economies sort of march ahead here for for technology domination rather than supply she domination so anything

that the u.s. at least president trump could do to nullify china's far reach as far as technology concerns he's going to try to do it look the popular vote in the u.s. is negative and anti china by him would have had trouble reversing these measures but i think the n.y.s.e. is seeing through this given the proximity of biden coming to office right now at least giving him a chance to make that decision the financial light that how does this actually affect the markets if a toll doesn't really i see that the markets completely looking through this i think these stocks trade well in asia and i think they also trade well in and new york i think the market's going to see this through this markets are more worried about regulation than they are these the listings right now of course you know we were expecting coming from the chinese foreign ministry in beijing for led to the daily press conference very little it's come out of china is that ready to ball that by what's happened on a supposed to a certain extent they also sort of like waiting and seeing as to what president

elect biden is policy towards them will be very much so it's being treated very much as a tempest in a teapot really i think the immediate change is expected to that china relationships are going to not happen immediately when buying takes office but i think he's going to keep the pressure on him but i think he's going to keep the dialogue open and see where it takes them into the year 2021 and beyond let's see what happens stephen it's from x.e. joining us from bangkok thanks so much for your time thank you for having me. now south korea is demanding the release of all of its tankers seized by iran to iran says the ship was causing oil pollution in gulf waters south korea's deployed a naval destroyer to the strait of hormuz now the seizure comes ahead of a planned visit by the south korean vice foreign minister to discuss iranian funds frozen in banks as part of u.s. sanctions from a bride has more from seoul. south korea does have

a naval vessel in that area as part of the international and t. piracy effort that vessel has now been deployed or redeployed to the waters where this tanker was seized but is not likely or expected to be doing much but monitoring the situation and seeing how this develops the iranians have accused me of environmental pollution the operators of the vessel here in south korea deny that and say that this vessel was in international waters it is thought that this is part of an ongoing much wider dispute between iran and south korea over seas to funds here in south korea this is $7000000000.00 worth of funds which are owed for oil products imported from iran into south korea which since the imposition of much tighter sanctions by the united states south korea has frozen has not given access to iran to these funds if it did do so then it would risk being sanctioned itself

by the united states so these monies are the on the subject of ongoing negotiations and the dispute between tehran and seoul if there is a meeting coming up an anticipated meeting a visit by a vice foreign minister from south korea to tehran where obviously this will appear on the agenda a run is desperate for any funds it can get at the moment given its economic circumstances so it is an expected and it is thought the this happening right now the seizure of this vessel ahead of this anticipated meeting is more than mere coincidence tylenols on c.n.n. as a success story in containing covert 19 but a sharp increase in cases has forced the government to implement a tougher response more from bangkok. it's not the way thailand wanted to start the new year the country has seen a steady increase in new locally transmitted covert cases of all going into a full fledged 2nd wave this after no new local cases for months but on monday

a milestone was reached the highest number of daily cases since the start of the pandemic more than 740 as the last few weeks most of the cases are tied to an outbreak in some province it's believed to have been brought in by migrant workers in the large seafood industry in the province while thailand was the 1st country outside china to register a locally transmitted covert case it has been successful in preventing a major outbreak heavy restrictions on foreign arrivals and mandatory to eat corn teen help that the 2nd wave has the government concerned responding quickly with restrictions and a system of color coding areas with rising cases. compared to other countries the measures in thailand are acceptable but we can't let our guard down the government has the authority and i support it we have to suffer for a while to bring down the new cases we have to work together $28.00 provinces designated as red zones are facing the most severe restrictions schools are closed

and mass gatherings prohibited restaurants have to limit the number of dine in customers in hours bars and clubs are shut malls and supermarkets remain open but have to measure people's temperatures and set up track and tracing systems the government has stopped short of calling this a lockdown as the people here have been living in relative normality since july the 2nd wave is a bitter pill to swallow also officials are encouraging businesses and companies to explore remote working options. maturo to now runs an open air hotpot restaurant on the outskirts of bangkok these new restrictions cut deep and she is still recovering from the lockdown last year never not but i don't plan as a citizen i understand the situation and will try to cooperate but as a mother how can i support my family my kid has to eat and go to school what about my staff they have to pay bills and support their families everyone has their burdens. the thai government is planning to inoculate more than half of its

$70000000.00 people over the next several months the 1st round of jabs could come as early as the end of february the vaccine from chinese scene of a biotech going to health care workers 1st and then it will look to locally produced the oxford astra zeneca vaccine with the capacity of up to $200000000.00 doses a year it's got harder al-jazeera bangkok farmers in india are still camped out on the outskirts of the couple new delhi in a protest against reforms they've been campaigning for more than a month now that word for plans to remove price controls will harm their livelihoods the government says reforms are necessary to modernize the farming sector. and australia's prime minister says julia saunders welcome to return home once his legal challenges are resolved he's wanted by the u.s. on espionage charges for publishing thousands of secret american military documents mexico has also offered the wiki leaks founder asylum after a u.k. court ruled not not to extradite him to the u.s.

. the supporters celebrated the ruling outside the court the judge denied the request citing concerns over a soldier's mental health the u.s. is expected to appeal against the decision. the watching of jazeera which means the whole roman a reminder of our top stories qatar's emir is joining other gulf leaders for the g.c.c. summit in saudi arabia now that's after the kingdom said it would open its sea and land borders to qatar in what seen as a major step towards resolving the 3 year rift marber has more from doha what is going to happen in the next are as is going to be extremely important for many reasons all the countries are going to pin down details of an agreement about how to turn the chops of the blockade and will forward with.