even when i know it's not at my. house or reinvests in the house and that's a privilege as a journalist with the anyone the air. the air. we are extremely pleased with having been able to achieve this very important break. the saudi foreign minister says the kingdom and its arab allies at restoring full diplomatic ties with qatar. below this is al jazeera live from doha fully backed he will also coming up georgia vold see the crucial runoff election that will determine the balance of power in the u.s. congress prosecutors clear it why it's pretty soft serve the shooting of a black man jacob make that left him paralyzed incidents led to deadly protests

across the u.s. and nicolas maduro titan's is great britain venezuela as the new national assembly is sworn in. the air. saudi arabia and its allies have agreed to restore full diplomatic ties with qatar ending their 3 and a half year blockade of the country leaders from across the gulf region have signed a declaration calling for. stability at a summit aimed at resolving the dispute the declaration will enable member states to combat any threats to go for security and it ensures no interference in each other's internal affairs. i mean bin hamad al funny was welcomed with an embrace by saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin solomon this a day after the announcement that saudi arabia will reopen its land borders to

qatar. has paid tribute to the efforts of kuwait in helping to negotiate the end of the book 8 jamal and child reports. after 3 and a half years of a crisis that threatened the very core of the gulf region g.c.c. leaders have agreed to end divisions and in a new era of cooperation the olympic relation is that has achieved a settlement of all issues outstanding in a way that is entirely satisfied factory to all nations involved all the countries involved we are extremely pleased with having been able to achieve this very important breakthrough that we believe will contribute very much to the stability security of all our nations in the region and yes all the outstanding. whether it's turning of diplomatic relations flights etc all of that will now go back to normal earlier the summit's had got off to a promising starts when saudi crown prince mohammed bin said

a man insisted on hugging qatar's emir shift i mean been some of that funny as the letter touched down in the saudi city of amara the clearest indication yet that both countries were on the way to mending relations the qatari leader confirmed his attendance at the 41st street summits of the 11th hour only after saudi arabia agreed to lift the land air and sea blockade it had been imposing on doha since 2017 in his opening remarks to follow leaders crown prince mohammed bin solomon emphasized the importance of cooperation and unity between the g.c.c. member states and i'm with you. today we are in a dire need to stand united in the face of the challenges namely iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and other agendas adopted by its respected in the region which undermine the stability of the region this demands that we dovetail our efforts with the international community to cement the stability and security of the region also in attendance at the summit was senior white house adviser on

president donald trump's son in law gerard questioner it was off to his visits to doha and riyadh late last year that's a breakthrough in negotiations that had been led by coates was. reached since the start of the crisis courts had been exerting its efforts to solve the disputes with its late amir ships a bottle of medicine successfully preventing the military invasion of qatar it was no surprise then that a lawless summits was named after together with the late senator of a man who also passed away in 2020 with all 4 blockading countries now agreeing to open their land air and sea borders to put out the gulf region can now begin a new chapter one that its leaders say will be written by all of them together. al-jazeera the. all right some breaking news out of hong kong this hour with least $23.00 pro-democracy politicians and activists have been arrested for violating the national security law they're accused of subversion for taking part in unofficial

election primaries in july china has declared the poles illegal and warned hundreds of thousands who took part could have broken broken the law all asian brown joins us on the line from hong kong adrian what more can you tell us about these arrests how significant is this. well it's pretty significant it does seem that 2021 is beginning in a way that 2020 ended with more arrests so little activists here in hong kong that's right we have confirmation that 23 activists have been arrested but there are also reports from local media yet to be independently confirmed that up to 50 activists may well have been detained in a duel and sweep by hong kong police on wednesday morning now these detentions come interest in each just a day after the retiring chief justice of hong kong spoke to media and to categorically insist that he has never come under pressure from me to beijing or

the hong kong governments to rule a certain way in certain cases and of course all this is happening at a time that. the biden the new incoming bite of ministration is planning its future strategy with china mr biden has said that you know china will be at the center of his foreign policy but it's quite clear that for the moment china's officials government officials here and on kong don't really seem to care too much about the inevitable international flack that's going to come from these new round of arrests adrian brown in hong kong thank you. polls have just closed in a runoff election in the us state of georgia that could have a crucial impact on joe biden spiers as president more than 3000000 early votes were cast ahead of the election to choose the state's 2 senate members that represents almost 40 percent of the state's registered voters georgia voted for biden as president in november ending nearly 3 decades of republican dominance in

the state and the runoffs in georgia 2 republican senators david perdue and against democratic challengers john l. soft warnock the vote will determine who controls the u.s. senate democrats needs to win both seats to deny the republicans a majority that could that they could use to. have joe biden's legislative agenda if the democrats secure both seeds the senate would be split down the middle the vice president come out a harris would then get to cast the tie breaking vote. covering this election forceful forus coming to us live now from georgia's capital state capital atlanta so a look polls have officially closed understand but voting continuing in some places why is that in washington up in like. that's because there were some lines just as the polls were due to close just at the top of the hour those

who are in the line at the top of the hour will still be able to cast their vote just a couple of places across the state where there may be delays somewhere in the region of 1020 minutes to get those final voters through on the whole the secretary of state has given a news conference just in the last already said that things have gone very well that a few issues barely at this morning they were very quickly sorted out and across the state they were seeing voting times of somewhere in the region of one to 5 minutes know that the polls have officially closed a lot of the places will be able to catch start counting the airlie votes that were cast in remember 3100000 ellie votes cast in georgia that is a record for a state election people were suggesting that the turnout in this election might even get as high as 5000000 which is rivaling the presidential turnout of course the concern for the republicans is that they were looking at a ton note in some of the rural areas some of the more republican leaning in years which was not as high as they need to make this a competitive race

a couple of weeks ago you would have said the republicans were on track to win both seats things have changed though with early voting among them and certainly among those early votes it would certainly be skewed towards the democrats so we're waiting to see what the results will be there's some hope that there might be something by our own 1 o'clock which is in 4 hours 4 hours time new 6 hours time but it may take a few days before all the results are finally and right allan a democratic senate candidate hasn't won georgia 20. it would be history making i guess if they won not one but 2 senate seats but this race is also very crucial for biden's presidency right. history in the making of the democrats won both seats 1st of all your scope would be at $33.00 the youngest one of the youngest senators in about 40 years and raphael warnock

would become the 1st black senator from georgia are certainly the republicans thought they were on track to do very well here both senators quite well regarded but if you speak to republicans across the state they say that the races change particularly the last 48 hours without phone call that donald trump made it to the secretary of state about the presidential election they felt that that could well turn out they were overly impressed by that and said that if the selection is lost it will be done to one month and that will be donald trump certainly the republicans have been arguing their voters to get out they realize that early voting didn't quite go their way so they're looking for a heavy heavy time note but as i say just speaking to some of the republican people around the state they don't think that it's at the figures that they need could be all wrong they could just be misjudging it will have a better idea but certainly we know that they want to count the votes as quickly as possible but bear this in mind. joe biden won the state by just 2 tenths of

a percentage point and it took 16 days to declare him the winner so if this race is as tight as everyone expects there could be demands for recounts and this could take a couple of days to sort out. in atlanta thank you allan. saying in the us a police officer who shot a black man 7 times in wisconsin in august will not face criminal charges that can osha county district attorney officer ruston cesky of any crime he shot take a break 7 times in the back leaving him paralyzed from the waist down the incident sparked a mass protests in kenosha and several american cities and speak to isaac brian about this he's executive director at the u.c.l.a. black policy project and joins us via skype from los angeles thank you for being with us so the district attorney announcing that no charges will be filed in this case despite you know the video any of the outrage that ensued what is your

reaction for us to this decision are you at all surprised that 1st of all thank you for having me and i've got to feelings in terms of big surprise on the one hand i'm not surprised because we have a were a 400 year history of not holding folks accountable when it comes to legally taking black life or even moving black lives like we have in this case but i'm also a little bit surprised because last year we had the largest civic on record in america's history we demanded for reimagine policing structure and we demanded accountability here less than one week in the 2021 we have neither this seems to be a standard being set here that no legal lines have been crossed why do you think this reluctance in the u.s. to chaunge offices in many of these cases what does it come down to ultimately. i mean ultimately it comes down to the history and the protection of certain classes

of people that the civic institutions were designed to protect for example our criminal legal system the same legal system we're hoping holds officers accountable is the legal system that justifies the protection of property at the time when black folks were considered property in this country and so now 400 years later we're all rights of personhood and protection under the law should be afforded to everyone we're seeing black folks in this country still do not have that and so we have an area now where we need courageous district attorneys to step up and enforce the law equally for everybody especially those that we authorize with lethal force to enforce safety in our communities and even more broadly we need to question those civic issues to infrastructures in our legal system that allow for these outcomes to perpetuate and happen over and over and over again yeah the blake shooting happened 3 months after george floyd died while he was being restrained by police officers in minneapolis and as you said we saw protests as spread across the u.s. and beyond the black eyes madame movement put

a spotlight on inequitable policing and became a fault line in politics in the u.s. and yet as you've said yourself nothing seems to be changing what needs to happen what why why do you think this you know despite the opera all of the outrage the protests in the u.s. and beyond nothing seems to be moving. quite frankly a law enforcement answer to should have way too much power and political power you have a whole range of district attorneys who are charged with holding them accountable that are elected off of the dollars funded by their law enforcement uses we have to tangle our systems of accountability from our systems of lethal harm we have to do better and even further we have to reimagine public safety there have been jurisdictions that have pushed further los angeles counties measure j as one example where they imagine taking a $1000000000.00 of community resources and investing them in all of our sin against the 2 should accept law enforcement situations we have to think creatively like that community safety means building communities where folks are thriving healing and have economic opportunity not ones where suppression and legal

encounters with law enforcement are the only things people see thank you so much for talking to us thank you for giving us your reaction isaac bryant executive director of the u.c.l.a. black policy project live off from the sentence where cliche it. still ahead on al-jazeera rolling out but not fast enough health workers in europe say vaccines rivington snowy and a supporter is a central african republic president celebrate his reelection opposition protests brand his victory a farce. it's time for the perfect jenny. sponsored play qatar airways however we've got a real cold blast setting in across northern parts of china through the korean peninsula and it means more snow to come for japan over the next couple of days

little weather system pulling out of the way here i suppose starting to open now when it's turning a little lighter for a time but signs of what's to come with some snow starting to fade in across the sea of japan that see effect snow becoming more widespread across that western side of japan as we go on through thursday eventually making its way further east on the other side of the mountains clear a cold weather coming in behind in seoul with a top temperature of minus 11 celsius in the heat of the day there's that crisp sunshine across northern parts of china a little more cloud down towards the south it should be a lousy dry here now far from dry across southeast asia malaysia we have seen some very heavy rainfall recently this is very close to kuala lumpur further heavy showers drifting in or the north easterly monsoon here big downpours coming in and the usual rash of showers across malaysia indonesia sunshine and showers there for the philippines showers too across southern parts of india becoming a little more widespread over the next few days some very wet weather lingering on

here wet and wintry weather still controlling further north but turning drier the pakistan. qatar airways would escape the city 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. out to syria examines the social financial and environmental impact of war to privatizing asian loads of water on al-jazeera.

welcome back our top stories on al jazeera gulf leaders have signed the declaration to restore full diplomatic ties with qatar and their 3 and a half year blockade emotion calling for solidarity and stability was agreed at a summit inside syria get attended by the emir of qatar at least 23 pro-democracy politicians have been arrested in hong kong for violating the national security law they're accused of subversion for taking part in unofficial election primaries in july. and voters in the u.s. state of georgia are making a choice that could have a crucial impact on joe biden spiers us president the runoff election to choose the state's 2 senate members will decide the balance of power in congress. the u.s. director of national intelligence is the latest official to point the finger at russia over a massive hocking attack the government now says fewer than 10 agencies were hit by

the bug that was attached to security updates president trump has downplayed the attack and tried to shift the blame shift the blame away from russia. california has reached a new single day record focused on a virus cases with 74000 confirmed on monday the number of covered 1000 patients in intensive care wars has quadrupled in the u.s. state since november they had a los angeles's health services says hospitals are so overcrowded that patients are being left in hallways and ambulances more than 15000000 vaccine doses have been sent to us states but less than a 3rd of those have been administered so far the u.k. meanwhile has reported more than 60000 coronavirus cases in a day for the 1st time on monday the government announced a new national law down in england in some parts of the country an estimated one in 50 people now has covered 90. when the office of national statistics

tell us that more than 2 percent of the population is no infected that's over 1000000 people in england and when today we've reported 60000 new cases and when the number of patients in hospitals in england is now 40 percent higher the 1st peak in april i think obviously everybody you want to be sure that we in government are now using every 2nd of this lockdown to put that invisible shield around the elderly and the vulnerable in the form of vaccination and criticism is mounting over europe's local over 19 vaccination drive with the e.u. trailing well behind the united states the u.k. and israel only a few weeks after. some members of the bronco are ready facing vaccine shortages

and the netherlands is yet to begin its rollout as that path and reports from amsterdam. it looks like inoculations are in full swing in the netherlands but one important thing is missing a needle while all neighboring countries have started vaccinating more than a week ago the dutch just a holding dry runs with the 1st covert 1000 japs to be given in the next few days and embarrassment according to medical experts the last company to start fractionating can. be. done. so late. but what went wrong also prime minister mark hurd to have no comment ahead of an urgent debate in parliament on monday the minister of health admitted he had made a mistake by counting on a different vaccine other and a price of biotech want to become available 1st this has led to frustration among medical workers who are dealing with the worst influx of covert patients since the

start of the pandemic. we have definitely been frustrated we have gone through emotional months and out this happens if you look at other countries for vaccinations are in full swing and feel jealous why can't we do this here the dutch delay merest a chaotic strategy overall across the e.u. this empty fractionation santa not only symbolizes the country's failure to inoculate its population rapidly it also shows how you will be in countries considered to be well organized have handled this covert 19th and that with so poorly what was meant to be a common tax a nation program has led to serious delays and not only here in the latter lands. in france only a few 100 japs were given in the 1st week due to bureaucratic hurdles but the government says it's quickly catching up with thousands fact unaided on monday in germany where hundreds of thousands have been unoccupied it vaccines are quickly

running out and a 2nd shop might have to be postponed many are blaming the european commission for the slow rollout to $27.00 member states and the lack of facts scenes for its 450000000 people the e.u. is accuse of being so keen to work together and step that it fell behind countries i'll swear. the european medical agency has yet to approve the scene which is already widely used in the u.s. and u.k. after pressure the netherlands moved its vaccination program forward and will now start inoculating medical workers and employees of care homes on wednesday but it will take months before vulnerable groups like the elderly will be facts unaided step fasten. their south africa's president has called an urgent coronavirus meeting as a number of deaths there passes 30000 can't rest sections are due to expire next week but there are new concerns about a variant of the virus which is spreading rapidly through the country there's also

uncertainty around the reopening of schools death this month. opposition figures in central african republic want last month's election an old because of what they're calling numerous irregularities president. was reelected with more than 53 percent of the vote by the opposition says half the population were unable to cast ballots because of violence from rebel groups. following developments from senegal. despite and the announcement made by the election commission there's no celebrations outside. there as party headquarters the united hearts movements that's because he's under pressure from the international community as well as different actors in the country so wait for the official validation by the constitutional court and that will happen in 2 weeks time remember 9 count candidates have appealed the election results saying that the president has not won

the popular vote saying that only half of the electorate was able to go out and vote half of the polling stations were closed that's because large parts of the country is in the hands of armed groups one of the candidates even suggesting that there should be another election held that the conditions for the elections were not adequate for a democratic vote take a listen to what he has to say not. cancelling the results is one solution holding a 2nd round is another but no matter what the results announced yesterday cannot be accepted now armed groups that were once fighting against each other are now united under a coalition they call the coalition for patriotic change there just 20 kilometers away from the capital bangui they've taken over large parts of the country this despite 812000 strong un peacekeeping troops additional troops sent by rwanda president paul kagame to send additional troops to the capital bangui as well as

russian fighters on the ground ensuring the protection of the president himself there's been reports of russian fighters wearing ski mask heavily armed patrolling the streets of the capital while they're just 20 kilometers away a spokesperson from this coalition 'd says they're ready to take over the country but they're also open to dialogue with the government. at least 4 people have been killed in flash flooding in bolivia to wrenshaw rain and hail hit the city of seoul korea on monday washing away streets kiosks and vehicles the city's largest farmers' market was in the worst affected area residents say drains brought by rubbish made the flooding worse. venezuela's president nicolas maduro has tightened his grip on power with the swearing in of a national assembly controlled by a socialist party it marks the end of control by the opposition who boycotted last month's election because they said it was neither free nor fair there is

a bull reports. the pictures of latin america's independence hero. and lead precedent to go chavis i return to venice way less national assembly a symbolic act by the ruling socialist party to let the world know model is now in control of the legislative body. i tell you this without any rhetoric that we cannot fail we cannot but succeed this time we have to repair what has been damaged we have to rebuild what has been destroyed to rebuild what has been damaged by hatred betrayal and violence but it took what critics say was a fraudulent election last month for my little to take power in the assembly venezuela's opposition has been in control since 2016 and since then has been in constant confrontation with a government denouncing what it called dictatorial ways 2 years ago the president of the body white who proclaimed himself president claiming model was elected the

country's leader in a fragile involved why the last monday to in the assembly expired on tuesday but members of the opposition have extended for another year not as leader of the assembly but of a parallel body to challenge models legitimacy. this effort and this sacrifice it's worth it this need for change and the scream for freedom it's worth it the parlor. it is worth it this resistance by each venezuelan it's worth it this country is worth it yes it's worth it the sacrifice the determination respecting our constitution it's worth it to fight for men and women who are giving everything for venezuela but with the assembly now in my daughter's hands analysts wonder what will happen to why though on the opposition now that model has taken control of what many see as venezuela's last democratic institution. his capacity to mobilize people has deteriorated the opposition is divided the confidence that they can

remove from office is small but he still has a stock for a political fight the united states will continue to recognize and more continue to support him even with biden in power canada japan and other countries recognize and . controlling the national assembly gives my lula the legal tools he lacked in the past and the appearance of legitimacy in front of international law. with the sma duro from a legal point of view he can validate the national assembly in front of his allies like russia china and turkey to sign agreements or concessions that legally need to be done by the assembly aside from their madeira from a real point of view already controlled every institution. grip on power remains strong despite why those efforts as he has failed to turn the bolivarian armed forces against him. but disenchantment with the economic and political situation in the country is significant and growing and that's why the confrontation with the

opposition is unlikely to end anytime soon. and. my. get em fully back to deal with the headlines on al-jazeera gulf leaders have signed a declaration to restore full diplomatic ties with qatar and end their 3 and a half year blockade the motion calling for a sauna diety instability was agreed at a summit in saudi arabia attended by the emir of qatar at least $23.00 pro-democracy politicians have been arrested in hong kong for violating the national security law they're accused of subversion for taking part in unofficial election primaries in july china declared the polls illegal and 100 cells thousands broke the law adrian brown has more on call. 23.