you're watching the news hour live from headquarters and. coming up in the next 60 minutes democrats on the verge of taking control of the u.s. senate they've won a georgia seat and hold a narrow lead in the other. electoral setback for republicans comes as president trump's allies plan to disrupt a congressional vote confirming joe biden's victory. also ahead as we could leaks founder julian assange has denied bail a judge rules he'll remain in

a british prison as the u.s. pursues his extradition. hong kong police arrest more than 50 pro-democracy activists and former politicians in the biggest crackdown so far under beijing's new national security law. i'm joining with the sports as the head of football welcomes the end of the blockade for president jenny. who can help the unites the middle east with cats all set to host the region's 1st world cup in 2022. welcome to the news hour democrats are poised to take control of the u.s. senate on the same day donald trump is mounting a final attempt to overturn joe biden's presidential win so 2 seats were up for grabs in georgia senate runoff and one democratic challenger that's roughly all worn. lock has already won and in the other race democrat john also off is ahead by

over just 16000 votes and is claiming victory just before the runoff u.s. media had published a recording in which donald trump tried to pressure georgia's top state election official to overturn his loss some republicans are now blaming him for the party's reverses georgia is one of the states where biden's win is expected to be challenged by trump's allies that's as congress meets just a few hours time to certify the results their efforts are likely to fail but they'll push the process long into the night and mark an unprecedented moment in u.s. politics meanwhile take a look at this thousands of supporters they are there expected in washington d.c. for the so-called save america rally the president is due to address a protest later on let's get an update on the situation in georgia and bring in a touch of a name she's joining us from atlanta so that's a show we have a run we have a win for raphael warnock where does this leave the runoff in georgia.

well according to the john asa campaign they have declared victory it's a very tight race and that has been expected all along with 90 percent of the vote there's about a less than half a percentage point between john aasif and his republican challenger david purdue as you said that's more than $16000.00 votes it's worth mentioning that he's already outperformed biden's showing in the state biden carried georgia in the presidential elect in election by less than 12000 votes os of released a statement earlier this morning a video statement he humbly think georgians but quickly got to the point he said during this moment of crisis we need to roll out economic relief to americans and help pass an effective pandemic response so where things stand right now is this is a historic day for certain with the wind of reverend raphael warnock he is

a senior pastor here at the famed ebenezer baptist church he becomes the state's 1st democratic senator in 20 years the state's 1st black senator and only the 11th black senator in u.s. history both he and aasif appealed to voters by talking about helping revive the economy expanding health care and really appealed to the needs of working class and middle class voters and it's also put the storage election into context for us i mean what does this do to the balance of power in the senate and how significant has been. well the reality is that the democrats needed need to flip both of the republican senate seats to gain control of the senate and if that does happen kamala harris by the way would break any tie breaking vote if that happens that means that president elect joe biden

would be able to implement perhaps a more expansive agenda that he might have been able to you know there were a little buzz a lot of discussion in the lead up to this very high stakes senate runoff in georgia among democrats who are concerned that biden would face a quote obstructionist senate controlled by the republicans they echo they thought it would echo what happened during the obama years so there was a lot of hope that they could flip both of these senate seats so there wouldn't be a repeat of the obama years and that's why biden came here 3 times during the senate runoff race he was here on monday and he literally said that this was it that this election could change the fate of georgia and the country you cannot talk though about the democrat showing in the georgia senate runoff without talking about how this is a victory to the army of grassroots workers who have been toiling away for years to get out the vote particularly among african-american voters it's what

a lot of people are calling what i call the stacy abrams a fact she is a former state legislator a former democratic gubernatorial candidate and she launched 2 groups over the years targeted at looking at the latest several $100000.00 black voters in the state who had simply opted out of the electoral process she calculated that if she could get to those people convince them that their votes mattered that democrats would be able to make serious gains in the state of georgia we've seen it now it's biden we've seen it was warnock and as a testament to stacy abrams prowess and all the other groups that have followed. to help mobilize voters in this state it's worth mentioning that on that leaked phone call between president trump and the georgia secretary of state the last thing president trump said is what stacy abrams has done to this party is on believable all right the house that i am reporting from atlanta georgia natasa thank you so

that's the situation over in georgia right now their certification by both houses of the u.s. congress will mark the final stage in the process to officially declare joe biden as the 46th president of the united states i was particle haid explains and this era of donald trump it's expected to be controversial and unprecedented. this announcement of the state of the vote it's supposed to be a formality. the u.s. vice president along with members of congress receiving the certified votes from the states donald trump of new york has received for president of the united states 304 votes and declaring the election over. president al gore did it george w. bush of the state of texas has received for president of the united states 271 votes and he just lost the election to george bush by just over 500 votes the vice president votes but his vice president my pence prepares to take the gavel he is under pressure to throw out joe biden's win and i hope mike pence comes through for

us i have. a great vice president. our great vice president comes through for us he's a great guy. he doesn't come through a lot like a quite as much according to the constitution the vice president doesn't have the power to do what the president wants but more than 100 house republicans and at least 13 senators have promised to try i have an announcement george. i january 2nd i really 6 just to feel like troy was . there calling for an emergency audit of the vote and are threatening to challenge the results for key states if they don't get it we've got tens of millions of americans now think this election was stolen we need to get to the bottom of it again what's what's explained we need to explain it get that off the table to be

clear there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud even though the trump campaign has filed almost 60 lawsuits claiming that there is all of which have been thrown out by the courts but if these republicans do object to certify the results from certain states the each chamber will debate each challenge for up to 2 hours before voting on whether to certify the results it's unlikely they have the votes to actually change the outcome challenges have been made in the past but never with these kinds of numbers i would like to see it named for what it is which is the republicans are making a plea to get rid of democracy and and and offer something else which looks like entrenched politicians get to decide who the next leader is and it's absolutely breathtaking as a matter of constitutional basics never before has the loser of a presidential election refused to concede or call the election stolen but for

president trump this is one more precedent breaking move on his way out a last ditch and likely futile attempt to stay in power patty go out to 0 well let's not bring in shihab rattansi his joining us from the white house so she robbed the certification of process is meant to be a ceremonial procedure and officially the end of the election about it sounds like it will be quite tense so what do we expect to see. there are 2 main areas of suspense right now i'd say 1st of all what is mike pence going to do donald trump continuing to pile on the pressure on the vice president who is also the president of the of the senate he will be providing over the proceedings but it will be occurring in about 3 hours time just in the last hour don from continuing to treat in this particular case a real exhortation to mike pence to reject the certified votes from the electoral college in each state he says do it mike this is a time for extreme courage exclamation mark still paths to do something he cannot

constitutionally do and we understood that there was a lunch at the white house all day afternoon in which mike pence was said to have explained to the interim that he could not constitutionally do this how of subsequently the trump campaign denied that there was any disagreement between the 2 men however there were many reports of penn's did put out his constitutional position to donald trump but now we still have this from from donald trump this is the real the fascinating shakespearean element in all of this i suppose is that after 4 years of on wavering support for donald trump mike pence is now in danger of having donald trump and the millions of his base told on him because the implication of these tweets is if joe joe biden is certified then surely it's mike pence his fault because the court of dole truck might pence could have done something this is what loyalty get so you could say that's one area of suspense what's mike pence actually going to do maybe he'll say something but he can't actually do anything but maybe could say something we don't know secondly there how

many states again to be challenged by at least 13 salop his republican senators and now they just counts maybe a 150 house republicans are willing to challenge the certified results from the states we know that arizona will be challenge early on by ted cruz this will be alphabetical roll call of states the arizona pennsylvania georgia sudden to be challenge what we don't. about is as wisconsin michigan nevada whether they will also be challenged those rules are states where the old trump is disputing the results and as party suggested each time one of these challenges because it adds another few hours 'd if history is to be believed 3 hours perhaps for the whole process to be done 3 hours each time so this could go on until we owe as of the morning if 6 states 6 states that we will go in into the evening and mix if 3 states are charged will check in with you later thank you very much reporting from the white house just a moment ago we were telling you about the approach from protests taking place

let's bring in john hendren he's there he is joining us from washington d.c. john set the scene for us what are you seeing over there. but i'm seeing a bigger crowd than have seen in quite some time here there are thousands upon thousands of trump supporters you can see here where in the the national mall that is the washington monument the roads here have been blocked off because it so many people here are filling this center of the city of washington you can see some of them there that is a save america march in the distance you might be able to hear some of the music and then there are thousands more people marching down this street street we expect this to happen all day long. these people are essentially here protesting the certification of the presidential election there are signs here that say things like stop the steel and so many people have come into town that hotels are full and expensive you can find them flights that were $250.00 are now over

a 1000 getting into town that's how many people wanted to come here from out of town to witness sort of the last gasp of the trumpet ministration many of them deny that that is what is happening but once the certification happens here that will be official and we expect these demonstrators approach from demonstrators to be. later on with trump demonstrators and that's when things get dicey here in washington so this is expected to go on today after there is an announcement as to what happens with the certification process you can expect this crowd to get light. all right john we will leave you there for now thank you for that update from washington d.c. john reporting from a pro trump rally let's bring in steve clemons he's the editor at large for the hill he's also the host of al-jazeera is the bottom line his joining us from chestertown maryland over in the united states hi steve lots to talk about take you

1st of all john's reporting his reporting from metro approach trump rally are you concerned that there will be an escalation of some sorts once the certification process is over between the pro trump protesters and the protesters. it's very hard to predict but of course i'm very concerned i mean one reason. it seems so many of us are outside of washington d.c. just you know an arm's length away is that there's a lot of concern to me about this or has asked people not to go in to the inner city area has warned people about guns already apprehended people with guns the city has boarded itself yet again with plywood on storefronts and office fronts throughout that part of the city around the white house and so there is significant concern that the followers of donald trump and potential protesters just or unable to accept the political realities that are unfolding and

when you see what's happening in georgia and the race over there i mean what do you think about a state like georgia turning blue it's quite unprecedented and what do you think is behind that shifts. several things number one stacy abrams she's been a remarkable force in georgia politics of helping mostly the black community that had felt that the cards were stacked against them for generations to realize that there's an opportunity to come back and one of the things i talked about on al jazeera around the time we saw the very narrow shift of georgia in the you know bamber election in favor of joe biden was once people who have not been part of the system who've been left on the sidelines get a taste of victory that it may be easier to repeat that victory even in a southern state like georgia so i think that notion that they won is part of it but i think also the president's haranguing republican officials in state of

georgia created a huge divide inside that state among republicans remember the governor and the secretary of state were elected by their republican followers and friends in the state of georgia and donald trump went to war with them and i think the other thing is that david perdue but particularly left for the 2 republican senate candidates trying to make this about what was happening in washington what was happening around the president as opposed to what was happening with georgia and its needs and its aspirations in the country and so they went national and you know one of the real lessons in american politics is stay as local as you can ok well let's look at what's happening around the president because we understand that there are reports that the president is trying to increase pressure on his vice president mike pence to reject the results in the certification process that takes place in just a few hours time do you make of that it and just to be clear a great extent you know you are kind of at odds with us. if he cannot do it the

president is doing it over her early in the open in his twitter account and i think if she said a few minutes ago no. loyal follower has been less abused when mike pence is mike pence has chosen it every course never to embarrass the president always to stand by him even when i have to tell you it's really taught me mike pence was a member of the house of representatives he was a distinguished governor of the state of indiana he knows how the system works and i think he's at the proverbial fork in the road where no matter what he chooses it's going to be consequential for him and protect and potentially painful but look what i think is happening right now some of us are speculating i think we're seeing the break up of the republican party as we've known it right now and that you're beginning to see the split and divide among republicans and republican hopefuls for the 2024 presidential race i think mike pence will be among those who want to run

and he has to decide as he's watching donald trump's power begin to slip as he got overridden by the united states senate and house of representatives on an important vote and he sees the republicans divide it not together whether he wants to join a sinking ship or whether he wants to go on his own we don't know how that will go because as you said it won't make a substantive difference in the outcome all it does is make a subset it makes a. you know a difference in in you know looking appearance of where mike pence is is he loyal to the end or do mitch mcconnell senator mcconnell and vice president mike pence are they the ones that finally bring down donald trump or you know are caesar today and try and save their party and and in a sense the republic all right steve that we thank you very much for giving us your perspective thanks very much. once more head on the al-jazeera news hour including this european union countries get a step closer to receiving

a 2nd 1000 vaccine. a rare admission north korean leader kim jong un acknowledges that his economic policies have failed manchester city's code outbreak spreads 3 more tests positive ahead of their english league cup semifinal joe we'll have the details on that later. but 1st the u.k. judge has denied bail for wiki leaks founder julian assange age he's accused of endangering lives by publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential documents on monday judge rejected a request by u.s. prosecutors the extra back to songs on account of his mental health or the wiki leaks editor kristinn hrafnsson says he's disappointed by the decision you think it's unjust and unfair and illogical search when you consider the ruling today to julian fellowes. for

hosts in large part because he is being held in bed most. do send him back there doesn't make any sense. has more from the courthouse in london. this bail hearing had been expected to last anything up to 3 hours but in fact it took less than off god time for the judge to come to her decision but 1st though she heard from both sides and initially it was the u.s. prosecution or the u.s. lawyer clad job it who gave her reasons why she felt just julian assange should not be granted bail she said that julian assange was in the past a chinese so willing to go to extreme lengths to avoid justice saying this to the extraordinary background of mr ass always attempts to resist extradition found the gulf of mexico asylum increased the risk of standing in reply to that it was this general to see who is to be an ass always is what i said there was no significant

incentive for mr ass always to respond sour songs wishes to live a sheltered life with his family and any residual concerns of the courts will be met with stringent bail conditions well there was a 10 minute recess before final arguments and then the judge came back with the reasoning if it essentially denying bail and keeping judge judy in the house always in custody the reasons given as far as with julian assange should fled before despite stringent bail conditions and the judge said i am satisfied that he would fail to surrender he is willing to flout the order to hold this court is changing conditions did nothing to stop him last time so julian asaad will remain in belmarsh prison that high security prison in the south east of london while we await the appeal hearing against monday's decision not to extradite him to the u.s. the u.s. appealing that decision not to extradite him. they are medicines regulator has

recommended the madera not covered 1000 vaccine be approved for people aged 18 and over and still needs to be given the green light by the european commission the region is seeing high rates of infections and the new highly contagious variance friends there's been strong criticism of the slow pace of vaccinations across. europe stuff our son is joining us from amsterdam somewhere and has been recommended for approval by the drug regulator what happens next. well with the locks lockdowns extended throughout europe all eyes have been here on this european medicines agency they have indeed been accused of being too slow finally today are for a delay again of 2 days so the more damn our fax scene has been approved thinking that 4 weeks ago the united states already started to administer the same vaccine so there has been this criticism and a lot of people especially in germany where vaccinations have been in full swing

we're waiting for a 2nd fact seem to be approved as soon as possible so a lot of pressure has been put on the agency as well to come forward with this decision but the european union and agency as always sat we do this very carefully a lot of people in europe are very skeptical skeptical of also about the safety of the vaccinations so that's why they're taking their time but of course time is running out. of hospitals are flooded with 19 infections are still on the rise throughout of europe and the netherlands in particular has been under fire for the slow rollout of the vaccination war i have things been so slow. yes that's a very good question and a lot of experts here say that it's very embarrassing that such a small and well organized country as the nablus has been this slow and the government the prime minister and the minister of health came under

a lot of criticism in parliament on tuesday they had to face a lot of questions and they said that they did make mistakes organizational mistakes they also were aiming for the wrong facts and that's actually a problem throughout the year of main. european nations have gamble for this i started a vaccine they bought most of the doses from this particular vaccine which has yet to be approved here by the european medicines agency so the whole distribution and rollout of vaccinations had to be changed at the last minute which had caused serious delays medical workers will very angry because they saw of course neighboring countries already started vaccinating weeks ago while in the netherlands the vaccine pfizer by intact was still in storage for the last couple of weeks but they did finally start today but one remarkable thing as well is that compared to other countries where you could see very happy people 90 years old

being factual aided in them that lets medical workers and also employees out of the homes i don't want to be vaccinated 1st and the elderly only being scheduled for february or maybe even later all right stuff and reporting from amsterdam step thank you church services have been held in greece in spite of walked on measures including a ban on public gatherings so in a rare show of defiance greek orthodox leaders warned the government they were pressing ahead with it if any services but would limit the number of people allowed inside each church if any is one of the most important days of the orthodox calendar and commemorates the baptism of jesus christ of senegal imposing curfews in 2 regions work over 1000 cases are on the rise people in the car will have to stay home between the hours of 9 pm and 5 am from wednesday facemasks will be mandatory and large gatherings are banned president says the

region accounts for more than 90 percent different factions in the west african country cases rose by $192.00 on tuesday taking the total to just over $19900.00. now to the u.s. where california has rates the new single day record for corona virus cases with $74000.00 confirmed on monday that's one new case every 6 seconds the death toll is also soaring across the country with a new record of 3900 people dying on shows day brunell's reports from los angeles. california has entered the darkest days of the pandemic so far a record 74000 new cases of covert 19 were recorded on monday we're likely to experience the worst conditions in january that we face the entire pandemic and that's hard to imagine and the worst is yet to come with many more cases anticipated due to travel and people getting together over the winter holidays but

we are entering in to now this what we anticipate what we anticipate the surge on top of a surge it's going to put a lot of pressure on hospitals and i see is coming out of the holidays well sensualist county ambulance crews are under orders not to transport patients with little chance of recovery to overburdened hospitals they've also been told to ration oxygen providing it only to the sickest patients oxygen tanks are in short supply in hospitals as well exhausted doctors nurses and hospital staff are buckling under the strain we haven't yet seen a post december surge if we do on top of where we are now we will go under the health care system will collapse. public health officials say the virus is everywhere there is no safe place outside of one's own home maybe you have

somebody at the grocery store and you want iraq for just a few minutes i'm on thousands of people waited to get tested at dodger stadium the largest testing site in the u.s. one person is infected every 6 seconds in los angeles according to the city's mayor while widespread vaccine distribution is seen as the light at the end of the tunnel so far the rollout nationwide has been slow and sometimes chaotic just 4500000 people have received doses of vaccine a far cry from the outgoing trump administration's pledge of 20000000 by the end of 2020 the trip administration has refused to come up with a nationwide plan for vaccination dumping that responsibility on the states some states like florida and tennessee opted to make vaccines available to all seniors on a 1st come 1st serve basis that led to long lines of people in their seventy's and

eighty's waiting for hours to get shots only to be told supplies had run out nationwide $356000.00 people have perished from cove and 19 the centers for disease control estimates more than 400000 will die by late january rob reynolds al jazeera los angeles still ahead on the al-jazeera news hour the search for a missing loved ones in libya after years of war families demand justice of the world's top courts. venezuela swears in its new national assembly members of the ruling party takes control but where does that leave the opposition. people and brown sufferer. well as 5 including the head coach tested positive for coronavirus ahead of their 1st playoff game and the team yes.

it is remarkably quiet weather wise from turkey syria iran to afghanistan a right down towards yemen but in the middle there is this just a barrier showers which will every now game from thunderstorms given a bit of help meca might well be the recipient for the next 3 days not much wind to move in there and you can see where they are in the forecast for everybody else but of the increase in the breeze coming through the southern gulf states including cutter and around the coast it doesn't mean very much and turkey still in the sunshine istanbul's about 17 degrees have you seen a great deal of rain recently you can see that bit of a sitting in the clouds now need your screen is a tropical site and sudden indian ocean awful steadily make its way towards

militias which can take a long long time to do that next few days i think and then this suddenly breeze that's going to pick up the showers in the suit to the eastern side of south africa but maybe as maybe more of a recipient of this very wet weather recently it looks as though it's easing off but that's because in the morning it is and then by the afternoon temps has risen so when talks forecast will reflect that wind has got showers for friday and saturday and sunday unusually. the hillbilly a harmless caricature or a malicious label denying a people their culture to justify the exploitation of their natural resources that divide and conquer thing has been so successful that even people in the region believe the stereotype then becomes dangerous it's only a region of trash so. why not trash it what's in the name hillbilly the

witness documentary on al-jazeera. one half scottish and half lebanese so diversity is really important to me and al-jazeera is the most diverse place i've ever worked it's we have so many different nationalities and this is east brought together in this one news organization and this diversity of perspectives is reflects its in our coverage giving a more accurate representation of the world we report on and that's a key strength of al-jazeera. the.

you're with the news hour on al-jazeera here the top stories democrats are poised to take control of the u.s. senate rough are worn off has already flipped a seat in georgia senate runoff race and join us of a narrow lead in the other. a joint session of congress is taking place in the coming hours to formally certify joe biden as the next u.s. president dozens of republicans have vowed to challenge the results though their efforts are likely to fail. and the medicines regulator has recommended the more they're in october 1000 vaccine be approved for people aged 18 and over it still needs to be given the green light by the european commission. police in hong kong have arrested more than 50 pro-democracy politicians and activists an early morning raids this is the biggest crackdown so far under the controversial national security law which china imposed last year those detained are accused of subversion for taking part in an official election primaries in july adrian brown reports from

hong kong. form a legislator lam choking didn't seem surprised when police came knocking at his front door early on wednesday morning they tell him he suspected of violating the new national security law a scene played out of more than 50 other addresses in hong kong the drama was recorded by an unidentified person inside lamb's home i'm later posted on his facebook page before he was taken away al-jazeera had interviewed him several weeks ago just after he resigned as a pro-democracy politician along with almost the entire opposition camp i will keep fighting for democracy of hong kong. and the guy that was in response to the disqualification of full fellow legislators following a ruling by china's highest political body police say wednesday's operation involve more than a 1000 offices and involve raids on 3 media outlets as well as honor office where

a solicitor who is also a us citizen was arrested we have a rest of the free press is already all francis office of person under. the national security law the detentions were linked to an unofficial primary vote held last july to select candidates for the legislative elections due 2 months later a poll that was eventually canceled with the hong kong government citing covert 90 now all those involved in organizing that primary are suspected of subversion which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment a further sign of a tightening authoritarian grip here says one analyst it seems to me this is the chinese communist party trying to. change the political culture of hong kong it's imposing leninism why did they arrest these people because they.

they demonstrated capacity to organize the u.s. president elect joe biden has said that china will be at the center of his foreign policy so it's possible hong kong will be an early point of friction with china's president xi jinping who has said the campaign against ascent here is justified in the name of safeguarding national security adrian brown al jazeera hong kong earlier we spoke to sunny chunk pro-democracy activist who fled hong kong in august he stressed the urgent need for an international response. freedom distaste opportunities will be really limited on the ground and therefore we do to help the international community as a foreseeable future we can no longer access a pace there will be any large scale social code has in hong kong due to the

repression and also also the cult like teen and the same time when most of the politician activists are arrested due to sit ins and that's nice i will hope for democracy. eradicated by the beijing government and that's why the help from the international community we should not abandon the holy and freedom of the home console society the congress party can actually call norm mcdonald is try to impart to you appear to me and to to us not to all the about humans white issue in china and this is not just about hong kong was also about people who currently suffer bats and shin chan and that's why we urge the especially near should stop and stop sign and. as soon as take

a step step back try to recall see the acting in our human rights causes in the coming months. north korea's leader has made a rare admission of failure speaking during the country's largest political event said its economic plan had failed significantly and acknowledged painful lessons have been learned rob mcbride reports from seoul south korea. a rarely held event it is normally the propaganda set piece for the ruling workers' party of korea to trumpet its achievements but in his opening address north korea's leader kim jong un admitted his country has failed economically going through what he called the worst of the worst. the country's 5 year economic development plan finished last year and we fell short of our goal significantly in almost every sector already facing international sanctions the country has virtually sealed

itself off from the outside world during the global pandemic it suffered further during typhoons and flooding over the summer that damaged infrastructure and crops . and the end of the trumpet ministration means the end of the road for the unprecedented period of summit to plough mysie with the united states in october north korea put on an impressive show of strength at the 75th anniversary of the ruling party's founding but kim seem to be suffering the strains of recent setbacks kim jong un must be really really frustrated even so disappointed are barred lack of any progress you specially on the front of economic development since the breakdown of the summit meeting with the u.s. president on trial in a noisy so north korean leadership has been basically flailing trying this and that

without any well coordinated strategy north korea watchers will be looking in the coming days of this congress for any clues about kim's likely approach to the new administration of u.s. president elect joe biden and whether there will be a return to more traditional arm's length diplomacy. the 1st test could come soon with a possible announcement of resumed military exercises between u.s. and south korean forces in the spring which had been largely suspended during trump's term you have a very narrow window of opportunity very limited amount for biden or the muse to. strike a conversation and dialogue with north korean regime so close to the inauguration north korea's position for now seems to be a cautious wait and see. bright al-jazeera seoul. opposition thinkers in the central african republic want last month's election and

now because of what they're calling numerous irregularities president forced our lodger out was reelected with more than 53 percent of the vote for the opposition says half the population were unable to cast ballots because of violence from rebel groups. several mass graves have been found in the city of tara who are in libya when the forces of warlords cut if i have to take over that city hundreds of civilians were detained killed on torture and people there say a war crimes were committed i want to see those responsible face trials of the international criminal courts. reports from just a warning viewers may find some images in this story disturbing a grisly discovery in the city as to who now this mass grave is evidence people here say of the war crimes committed by fighters loyal to the warlord who is faster . to who knows how to command center during his campaign to seize the libyan

capital tripoli. hundreds of people are alleged to have been killed here by the end can you know that militia loyal to him those who have lost relatives want those responsible to face the international criminal court or i.c.c. in the hague will be held and of the militia kidnapped my brother he has 6 children they have developed psychological disorders where is my brother where is the government where is our justice system i call in the justice ministry and the i.c.c. to arrest the perpetrators there is anger here into huna over the lack of accountability committed by forces loyal to half their city officials fear if justice isn't served who did admit and lawful means the generations to come may see greater abuse than themselves the i.c.c. has started an investigation but has yet to bring any charges. if you say that there is a clear lack of support from the government we are in dire need of help at the very

least we need a team of therapists for our children to deal with the psychological conditions. 75 years old she says her brother and 6 other men from her family were kidnapped by the ilkhan yet militia she believes they were killed beside her a sign that reads no rican silly ation until those missing are returned she says she has 45 grandchildren who have lost their fathers what had a total not of him i thought it will happen and don't want to is a massacre the dirt here is trembling from injustice the innocent are killed and shaking in their graves the criminals are roaming freely in eastern libya and the innocent are either dead or missing is that justice. a sealed her 10 year old grandson tells us he misses his father and uncles he says he will avenge his family when he grows up it's authorities don't act and justice isn't served. group thousands of families affected by have to use military campaign there is no political solution that will heal their. memories that will likely last for

generations the trainer al-jazeera to. sudan says it signed a deal with the u.s. to normalize ties with israel and that says washington allows khartoum to access more than a $1000000000.00 and world bank loans for the 1st time in 3 decades u.s. treasury secretary steven minucci has been visiting sudan the trumpet ministration recently removed hard tune from the state sponsors of terrorism lists protesters in southwest pakistan are walking a highway for 4 days and they're insisting the prime minister meet them before they burry 10 coal miners killed by i saw him on contact to twitter to encourage mourners to burry their dead and promise to visit soon the miners were abducted and shot while blindfolded. well as well as president nicolas maduro has tightened

his grip on power with the swearing in of a national assembly controlled by his socialist party it marks the end of control by the opposition last month's elections because they said it wasn't free or fair terrorism has. the pictures of latin america's independence hero. and laid 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 my little is now in control of the legislative body but. 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 he 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 why though proclaimed himself president claiming mother was elected the country's leader in a fragile involved why the last mandate 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 my daughter's legitimacy. to this effort and this sacrifice it's worth it this need for change and this scream for freedom it's worth it the parliament 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 year. decision now that model has taken control of

what many see as venice or less the 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 them even with biden in power canada japan and other countries recognize them to 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 oil 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. that is how and. germany's coalition government has approved legislation that forces big companies to appoint at least one woman to a senior management role the law applies to list of companies employing more than 2000 people led by a 3 board members the decision has been held a milestone for sexual equality in the workplace. still ahead on the news hour cattery rally driver and makes it a hat trick of wins of the car rally in saudi arabia that story is coming up with joe in sports.

all right let's get an update on the sports as well joe there ian thank you let's start with the head of world football fifa president jannie bunty you know he's welcome the end of wealth cup hosts katsa on tuesday saudi arabia the u.a.e. and egypt lifted that 3 in a haul fia boycotts and agreed to re-establish. diplomatic and trade ties with their gulf neighbor inventing a congratulated all nations involved in the agreement and says he hopes football will also help build solidarity in the region set to host the fee for arab cup later this year for staging middle east's 1st ever world cup in 2022.

matches the city is just hours away from kickoff and they initially cup semifinal against manchester united but it turns out they coded outbreak has spread another 2 players and one staff member have tested positive for corona virus including their backup goalkeeper their 1st choice keeper edison is already in isolation since he will without 6 other players for their premier league match against chelsea last sunday following positive tests no word yet on whether wednesday's game will be postponed or not the winners of that much to darby will face tottenham who have offered their stadium is a potential covert vaccination site the stadium in north london is already being used as a covert testing center italian said his ac milan will be without midfield a bit shy and that dick niche for wednesday's match against juventus the pair of tested positive both players are said to be asymptomatic and in isolation at home melana 10 points ahead of you they in the standings germany's world cup winning

midfielder missed it could be on the verge of leaving all snow and joining fed about che according to turkish media has reportedly agreed a 3 and a half year deal with the istanbul club he hasn't played for arsenal since march. katz's nasa has checked stage wins at the rally it's here to drive and made it a 3rd day in a row of victories awaiting stage 4 in saudi arabia on wednesday alethea beat overall leaders stefan petter hansel and now sits just under 5 minutes behind his rival in the general classification defending champion colors science finished the day 5th and says overall. i am really quite happy because my team mate. was behind me you know and this is what they need you know for a decade you know to do to be there is a faster driver in or do to help each other you know i'm really quite happy and

every day i will try to do my best just 2 days after reaching their 1st n.f.l. playoffs in 17 seasons the cleveland browns have suffered a big blow as 5 of their team of tested positive for current virus among them head coach kevin stefanski and 2 assistant coaches 2 players are also infected and will miss cleveland's 1st playoff game since the 2002 season the browns have been hit hard by the virus they were missing 6 players and 3 coaches last week after a number of positive tests the team had to close down their training facility again on tuesday and it's throwing their preparations for sunday's wild card game against the pittsburgh steelers into disarray the game is unlikely to be rescheduled though because of the n.f.l. rules and their opponents understand what cleveland are going through. every morning at 6 am i am looking at my phone waiting for verification of the previous day's test results. you know we in the clear are we not and what necessary

adjustments need to be made what investigations if any need to be made that has been our life and not only ours you know best for but our collectively as members of the national football league says july and so there are daily reminders there are continually continual reminders of how fragile the circumstances are so what's transpiring what's transpired in cleveland is not reinforcement or verification it's just more of the same for us like it has been for everyone else but the course of this journey where us sport has had to adjust to the circumstances with the country having record in woman 21000000 cases of coronavirus since the start of the outbreak among those taking a pandemic seriously is boston university they go they have a rule in place for the basketball teams to wear mosques on court during play that resulted in what's believed to be the 1st men's college game this season in which both teams wore them on chains day boston university playing against holy cross

although some mosque slipped down the need of adjusting sunday at boston university rule though and not mandated by the end seat to play as i've been hearing the u.s. is also in the midst of counting votes in the senate runoff election in georgia something that n.b.a. star le bron james has been passionate about yes i like his forward wore a shirt saying poll up georgia to his team's game against the memphis grizzlies on tuesday to remind people to get out and vote james more than a vote to great because what's to come but voter suppression in the u.s. and i hope that we look to you to shed light on situations that one if we believe in 2 it's in our home original heart that we can talk about it and discuss it and also just be knowledgeable about any situation that comes out. well abroad james was a busy man on tuesday because as well as campaigning for voters to turn out to georgia he scored 26 points to help rally the l.a. lakers 289-4292 win over the grizzly's james added 11 rebounds and 7 assists

anthony davis also contributed 26 years. these ilands cricketers have gone to the top of the test rankings for the 1st time up to hammering pakistan by an innings and 176 runs to in the 2nd test in christchurch pakistan were 841 at the start of play young pace bowler kyle jamieson picked up his career best figures a 648 with none of pakistan's batsmen passing 37 the kiwis dismissing their opponents 186 to wrap up the victory. series 2 nil as well and england's cricketers can breathe a sigh of relief they resumed training after all tested negative for coping 19 intra lanka comes off to around a bow in early tested positive on arrival on monday is now isolating for 10 days of the team hotel. all right remorseful with gemma a little bit later but now it's down but to drink ok joe thank you very much for that and thanks for watching the news on al jazeera back in just a moment so right at the top of the hour we'll have much more of the day's news

coming your way seared in by. january on al-jazeera it's 10 years since the arab spring sought to bring change to the middle east al-jazeera looks into how successful look at pollutions what a new documentary series examines history and giancana takes of drug trafficking and the way states and drug lords abused as an instrument of power and sparks elections are being doled out around the world hope of returning to normal comes back again week media trends constantly changing listening post continues to

analyze how the news is coming after one of the most intense election campaigns the u.s. is set to inaugurate its cool to 6 president. january on al-jazeera. finland has committed to cutting its carbon emissions with the world's most ambitious reduction goal carbon neutrality in just 15 years now it's really it's hard to actually get to and we can go eat if we want to but 1st the nation must tackle the dirty legacy of a profitable fossil fuel industry to its end being an active emanations souls people in power finland's planet warriors on a. at the center of the new series exposed the imperial origins of the drug trade. goods pirates are. very much what i took its passage from the far east to europe and the united states. you need

money you money in the mountains. drug trafficking politics some power the era of empire is on. in washington the congress prepares to confirm joe biden's victory and donald trump and his supporters say the fight is not over you're looking at live pictures from outside the white house. this is al jazeera life. also coming up the washington drama comes as democrats are on the verge of taking control of the u.s. senate they've won one georgia seat and hold a narrow lead in the other. a 2nd code 19 vaccine will soon be wrong.