but the decision must be made soon. by blood out of the viewfinder asia series on al-jazeera. qatar samir arrives in saudi arabia for a summit meeting as hopes rise for an easing of the blockade. and that he agrees to open its air sea and land borders with cattle after a 3 year long dispute. the whole romany watching al-jazeera live my headquarters here in doha also coming up england and scotland go into another lockdown to contain covert 19 a hospital struggle to cope with the surgeon 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 are held in georgia in a runoff that will decide the balance of power in congress. back into the program the emir of qatar is arrived in saudi arabia and is one of his what most important moments in relations between gulf countries in recent years shake to mean been hammered out on he landed in the saudi city of and was greeted with an embrace by the saudi crown prince mohammed bin salon joining other gulf leaders for a major regional summit well that meeting is about to begin and learn it follows a move by side to open its sea and land borders to cattle in what's being seen as a step towards resolving an illegal blockade on the country delegations from oman bahrain the united arab emirates kuwait and egypt are also attending.

john hendren is standing by for us in washington d.c. with reaction out of the u.s. where we live with him and mohammed values on the cattle saudi border but let's start our coverage with our senior correspondent has followed the story for some time let's just begin with the fact that the meeting begins the hard talk starts how hard or in depth can those talks be. it's a crucial gathering now because this is when they will have to come together start talking about some of the elements about the agreement about to announce and also talk about what they will be doing in the immediate future for the announcement to happen i think the saudis will be having some talks with the amenities in the bahamas and the egyptians who are part of the. blockade in block they impose the lancy embargo or qatar on the 5th of june in 2070 and they will have to decide

about the modalities of the agreement and later i think they will have to say that the core issues are issues that need quite some time to solve because we are talking about a wide range of issues the have to do with the region and also with problems in different parts of the world syria turkey and also libya in north africa but for the time being they understand that the people who are watching the all over the world waiting to see and get a sense of a confirmation that the embargo is officially lifted that the saudis the qatari is the is the emirate is and the egyptians are turning a chapter starting in you what what is quite all these as we speak swayed on this subject qatari truck you get a strong clear indication things are uncle dory for the time being it doesn't seem to be the case as far as qatar bahrain is track is concerned as far as qatari egyptian truck is concerned as far as qatari and military truck is concerned and

it's quite obvious you see the reactions from the town the behind is the amenities and the egyptians are very muted about this announcement about this deal they don't find it the suitable way to do things right now and i think they were taken a little bit by surprise by the announcement of the saudi government yesterday to turn the chapter of the blockade and start a new era with the qataris and of course there are many issues. as you just touched upon. i mean one of them is a problem for qatar is it stronger alliances since the blockade with iran and turkey and that creates issues for doha well thinking about moving forward with saudi arabia and the other as you say potentially blockading countries western had this is not the 1st time that the g.c.c. countries have had the same problems and signed an agreement about how to move forward they did this thing exactly into 1040 what is different this time there is absolutely no way the qataris will return to before the 5th of june 2070 because

what happened in between is a seismic shift in the region new political realignments new realities on the ground and qataris see themselves as emerging more resilient more stronger and more unified than before with their political and financial in influence expanding internationally and war broke an international recognition of the role of qatar has been playing over the last few years so therefore they will tell the saudis the emirates and the bahraini and the egyptians there's absolutely no way we're going to go back to what you've been saying in the past we're moving forward now when it comes to iran we're not going to be listening to the same concerns about building bridges with the iranians where you're not know we can tell you the other way around we can use that as an asset and build bridges between you and the iranians into the benefit of the whole region we have very strong relations with turkey we can use that we can capitalize on that set and try to build bridges between the saudis and the turks because the saudis on their own of course they are financial

power but they don't have the same leverage that turkey is having us where if they come together they are to predominantly sunni nations they have huge political financial and military influence in this part of the world if they come together that could be to the benefit of the g.c.c. bloc and to the region i think that message which is going to prevail today is going to be a message about reconciliation peace and stability and reached. are 2 other key players in the region it's normal and other time to talk about 6 tarion strive 6 rayon divide the problems between the iranians and the and the saudis the shia are sunni divide the problems that we were been facing in the past they do understand the challenges they're facing forward mammoth there's absolutely no way one nation can tackle that problem with of the others but for all of the others that have to come together they have to understand that it's not necessarily having everybody on the same page about the same issue just to give you an example ermine is an

extremely important player in the g.c.c. bloc which has been always having strong traditional ties with the iranians and they have always been saying we can use that to bring everybody together and start a new chapter with the iranians their own bunny's would never accept any statement coming from the g.c.c. bloc which is for example very critical of iran when did you have very strong relations with the iranians and i think this sentiment is going to prevail which is about time to be inclusive and to reach out to everybody let's just see what does happen over the diplomacy for the moment thank you let's cross over to mohammed values standing by the cattle saudi border the any land border that qatar has with another country and really attraction on the ground is what people want to see is there anything going on where you are mohammed. not yet so we've been here since the early morning and nobody has yet crossed service

this crossing behind me we have see them trying to prepare the booths trying to check the cameras dusting off the table desks and so on and it's very clear that they are waiting for impatiently waiting for the opening of the border actually the the the announcement was made but probably they are waiting for the official signing of that agreement as those leaders are meeting discussing the type now we asked the police here at the checkpoints and they told us they don't have details yet but observateur the place we see that there aren't enough preparation we know that we are in we are under covert circumstances right now we know about the destruction is related to that no doctors have arrived here no medical facilities no places reserved for quantity and or for the type of things even the customs or so we haven't seen much of activity there so i think it is just

a situation of wait and see before their leaders give the green light and also it will take time of course on both sides of this border telling the population people who want to cross telling them what kind of people work the should bring to this place to be able to cross this is a very important economy coote link in saudi arabia with qatar you see only as you mentioned the only land border for qatar qatar has managed in the last 3 years to to deal with to deal to do without it actually they were forced to do that and they found alternative means to bring to imports their economy can needs and so on but it is on the humanitarian side it is crucial to open this line with the g.c.c. countries because. of the diseases those communities which speak the same language they have the same religion and they have lots of tribal ties. most of the families were separated it's it has been very painful and they are waiting for this border

to be open some of the rejoin much other thanks for the at that moment on the qatar saudi border let's cross over to washington d.c. where john hendren is more politics john really because this is a huge foreign policy success for the u.s. president as he potentially leaves the oval office i mean how do you get to spin this. well they're going to spin this is a major victory with just 15 days left to go before donald trump has to hand over the range of the most powerful office in the u.s. to joe biden after bitterly contesting that election he's got and it cheeseman here that could help out his legacy and he has a number of things that have been reversed on him that he had hoped would be his legacy the u.s. economy for instance has been really severely damaged by covidien when it comes to international relations this is an administration that has been best known for pulling out of agreements like the paris climate treaty the iran nuclear deal but

when it comes to the middle east it's very focused on isolating iran and that is one of the purposes of trying to push this agreement so hard another reason for that is that the administration really fumbled its initial response to the gulf crisis this happened early on in the trumpet ministration and while trump was saying things that were seemingly supportive of saudi arabia the state department's official position was that it wanted an end to the gulf crisis and today we got a statement from the state department saying a resolution of the wider 3 year dispute between the quartet and qatar is in the interests of all g.c. members g.c.c. members as well as in the interest of the united states the u.s. wants iran isolated they want peace in that area they want trade and commerce and this is something that trump can finally brag about after giving jared cushion

or a very broad portfolio and seeing very few returns from that in the white house tells us that christian or was involved on the phone and in sunday negotiations on this actually had to delay his trip to saudi arabia in order to overcome some some miscommunication in those agreements remained in the u.s. a little longer and is now on his way there if not there already. thanks very much for the update of course we expect a final communique from the meeting later in the day and maybe more comment again from the u.s. when that happens if you go. well still ahead here on al-jazeera a change of plan the new york stock exchange decides not to remove the shares of 3 chinese telecommunications companies that story after the break.

it's time for the perfect jenny. went sponsored point qatar airways how is the weather remains cold across a good part of northern china and it's set to get colder still that cold air plunging down across the korean peninsula and with this weather system here that's going to produce a fair bit of snow into japan over the next few days snow flurries rolling through as we go on through where to stay see some snow there coming into north korea the temperatures minus 9 the top temperature in beijing. top temperature and heat of the day minus $27.00 as we go through wednesday similar value for thursday but look at that snow look how widespread that is set to become as we make our way towards the latter part of the week sheltered by the mountains not too bad in tokyo temperatures here around 12 celsius in places of rightness notes across northern pakistan pushing across the far north of in the that's helping to clear the mist and fog the smoke that we have around new delhi in the northern plains showers

becoming little eyes as you go on through the next couple days that plenty of showers down towards the south it stays very disturbed around and into india down towards the southern end and that west the weather will ease up the western dances well we see some showers coming through here want to see showers still in place for sri lanka largely fine and dry meanwhile across the right in place highs in doha of 24. qatar airways to scarcity has become a major global issue the demand is going straight up and the supply is going straight down turning an essential natural resource into a commodity traded for profit just because it's lawyer doesn't mean it's going to be priced what about the guy that can afford it guys tell me it's water. now to syria examines the social financial and environmental impact of war to privatizing asian loads of water on al-jazeera.

talk about what you all deserve me several robin a reminder of our top stories the emir of qatar has arrived in saudi arabia where he was greeted with a hug from the saudi crown prince there joining other gulf leaders for a major regional summit and of course that meeting is about to begin a low it follows a move by saudi to open an air sea and land border to cata it was seen as a big step towards resolving an illegal blockade on the come. on to other news now in the corona virus has affected people across the united kingdom and they've been ordered to stay at home as part of a new nationwide lockdown ighly transmissible variant of covert 19 as feel the

surgeon infections prime minister boris johnson says restrictions will last for at least 7 weeks the u.k.'s other nations are also imposing their own lockdowns new parker joins me for the very latest an evenly the u.k. struggling to deal with its day on covert infection numbers but many must be wondering there when will it ever end life returned to a near normal even with vaccines. well despite boris johnson the prime minister's hopeful optimism that the end is side we simply just don't have the answer to that question right now it is a darkening picture here across the united kingdom at the moment of a fears about how transmissible this new strain of the virus is because it is according to scientists 50 percent more transmissible and london at the moment the capital of course is the epicenter but the concern is that it will spread very very quickly across the rest of the country which is the reasoning behind this new

complete lockdown in england scotland northern ireland and wales already have that but downs in place. many millions of people are now waking up to the reality that their lives once again are going to be deeply affected by this until at least the middle of february where the government says it will review the figures but on monday there were 50000 new cases of coronavirus for the 7th day in a row on a week on wheat basis that's a 30 percent increase that's happening regularly and of all of this of course means that the number of people entering into hospital as a result of corona corona virus is higher than it was 'd during the 1st wave last year in march and april the worry is also that because of how transmissible this new strain of the virus is locked down simply won't have the same impact as they did the 1st time around when they are right the rates in which the infection reproduces within a population was brought down to nought point 6 as

a result of restrictions now scientists say that because of the fact that there is this new strain is doubling in transmissible it can only realistically be brought down to nor point 9 so that basically means that it will take significantly longer to bring this new strain of the virus under control meaning essentially it's a race between the virus and the vaccines need thanks very much the need barkha for us in london. germany is expected to extend its lockdown measures until the end of january regional leaders signaled they'd agreed to prolong the restrictions up to seeing record numbers of cases and deaths last week another meeting with chancellor angela merkel later on choose day the shutdown includes schools and non-essential stores the country began vaccinating people last month that mccain has more from berlin. the prime ministers of the 16 states of germany this federal republic are meeting angle of merkel many of them will be doing it virtually because of the

situation regarding covert 19 here in germany and what's going to happen well it's been very widely reported that everybody has agreed that until that that the lockdown should be prolonged through to the 31st of january but it is worth making the point that there is some dissent from the prime ministers of 2 states in eastern germany in saxony and thring year where the incidence of covert $1000.00 is very high indeed the suggestion is that those 2 prime ministers would like to have the lockdown extended even further further into february that is so that's one thing that's being considered at this meeting between as i say the prime ministers and i'm going ackland and her senior cabinet colleagues but there's also been some suggestion over the course of the last 24 hours or so the germany too might consider making the gap between the administration of the 1st dose of the vaccine in the 2nd one slightly longer although there is some argument about the relative efficacy of doing that and that has not been agreed upon but certainly the one

thing we know they are all united on is that the lockdown in place in this country should extend right through to the end of this month and that's everyone believes that with the caveat that some want even longer than that. u.s. president elect joe biden and president donald trump have rallied in the state of georgia ahead of 2 crucial senate runoff elections the republicans need to win at least one of those seats to retain control of the senate fisher house more from dalton in georgia. the last push from a president whose power might be waning but his influence with the base of his party remains and diminished they came in their thousands for the rally in rural georgia a ghetto the vote effort for a crucial senate runoff but from a president who want except 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 them it's amazing he did stunt his attention to the senate race arching people to vote to maintain

a 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 their opposition friends are finding out all power flows from the people from the people. that's our history the president still believes november's election was stolen from him in a session 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 honest and fair elections here the senate runoffs gave joe biden the best chance of a clear run of 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 unfounded claims that he did much better in this state in november alan fischer al-jazeera dolton georgia. the new york stock exchange says it will no longer plan to delist 3 major chinese telecommunication 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 trump in november the treaty you has more from beijing. an unexpected backflip by the new york stock exchange reversing

a decision to delist chinese telecommunications companies china mobile china telecom and china unicom just days after it was announced the new century as the 3 companies surging on the hong kong stock exchange on choose day but analysts say any celebrations unlikely to be short lived and the longer term i thing the tendency or the situation will not change at all because most of the old chinese companies are now this thing in the us there was sick for seek for a 2nd or a listing opportunity maybe in hong kong or maybe in shanghai starboard because those chinese company will face more and more pressure from the record later the decision to delist followed the side of an executive order by u.s. president trump in november banning americans from investing in companies linked to china's military the new york stock exchange says it made that decision after consulting u.s. regulators beijing has accused the trumpet ministration of politicizing trade in

arbitrarily suppressing chinese companies with a certain to surely some political forces in the united states have continuously suppressed florrie listed companies for no reason reflecting the also today of their system but its impact on chinese companies is limited we hope they can respect the rule of law and the markets the chinese telecommunications companies say any u.s. trade that would have little impact on daily operations it's instead seen here as symbolic donald trump has targeted a number of chinese technology companies grounds of national security then are waiting to see if the incoming biden administration will take a less hostile to do business with china but many believe trade disputes between beijing and washington are set to continue it's based upon you know saying as an as an enemy to us of the u.s. and as a threat to the u.s. now clearly it. as a competitor without a question of a doubt you know it's it's going to be soon the world's largest economy it's

growing very fast it's recovered from the coded 19 outbreak very well and there are also human rights issues that not just america but the whole world is going to be concerned about and rightly so but this may not be the best way of putting pressure on china and while the u.-turn seems to be a lull in tensions between the 2 countries it's certainly not be a debate between al jazeera beijing. more than $200.00 employees of google and its parent company alphabet to form a union the membership represents a fraction of the company's work falls but it's a rare photo for the labor movement in the tech industry those who signed up say they want more voice on wages benefits and protections against discrimination google says it won't negotiate directly with a new union south korea is demanding the release of one of its tankers seized by iran tehran says the ship was causing oil pollution in gulf waters south korea's

deployed a naval destroyer to the strait of hormuz 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 the bride has more from seoul. south korea does have a naval vessel in that area as part of the international anti 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 and 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 that the this happening right now the seizure of this vessel ahead of this anticipated meeting is more than mere coincidence iran has been showing off its drone technology amid tension with the

united states reportedly being deployed in 2 days of drills months after tehran confirmed its resumed enriching uranium at 20 percent levels not seen since the nuclear deal was signed in 2015 now the move was denounced as nuclear extortion by the trunk but ministration. the president of central african republic has been reelected for a 2nd term and the electoral commission says faustino shelves today are a one with more than 53 percent of the vote attacks by rebel groups have launched a been launched before and after the election and many fear the violence will go on . reports. reelected to a 2nd term president foster are conch to tara says he can unite a divided central african republic it's an ambitious goal at a fragile time of course barack obama given results monitored by the electoral commission show he received an absolute majority in an election marked by violence

and the challenges are many central african republic is still recovering from a civil war. the president's supporters are hopeful he can bring peace and stability. people don't need weapons to take power we have suffered so much the president has done his best to bring the country forward in 5 years that's why central african voted for him which. unrest has persisted before and after the election attacks by armed fighters aligned with rival politicians kept thousands of voters from going to the polls they seized the city of benghazi you and threatened to take over more an attempt to take control of the capital was stopped by soldiers u.n. peacekeepers in reinforcements from russia and rwanda. i support another party i'm with the l.p.c. opposition group but if the president won it's because he deserves it he's a man who's fought for this. now prosecutors are launching an investigation into

a former president francois posies he's accused of plotting a coup which the election may be over but many people in the country are bracing for the possibility of more violence. the young how does hear. your child is there with me as a whole romney reminder of our top news stories the emir of qatar has arrived in saudi arabia where he was greeted with a hug from the saudi crown prince now joining other gulf leaders for a major regional summit and that meeting is about to begin to learn it follows a move by saturday to open its air sea and land borders.