well to shine a light switch. the darkness along. should remember all we last words of comfort for a grieving nation joe biden on as more than 400000 americans have died in the coronavirus pandemic as he prepares to take the oath as the 46 president of the united states. now as i prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on wednesday i want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning a defiant donald trump delivers his farewell speech to the nation and issues last

minute presidential pardon. hello i'm down in jordan this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up at the heart of the u.s. capital turns into a fortress ahead of an unconventional inauguration under unprecedented security. on the last full day of trump's presidency the u.s. state department eclairs of the chinese government has committed genocide against we goes and other minorities in change yeah. we begin in the united states where joe biden is hours away from becoming the 46th president he'll lead a country devastated by an unprecedented health and economic crisis as well as facing multiple security challenges when a day before his inauguration biden and vice president elect harris paid tribute to more than 400000 americans who've now died of code 19 he says containing the

pandemic is his number one priority through he'll we must remember it's hard sometimes to remember but that's how we heal it's important to do that as a nation that's why we're here today between sundown and dusk. the lights the darkness along. remember all we lost and as biden gets ready to start a new chapter donald trump's tumultuous presidency comes to an end in the past hour he's granted clemency to rappers lil wayne kodak black and a former mayor of detroit earlier he delivered his farewell speech to the nation outlining his legacy. we re stored american strength at home and america's

leadership abroad the world respects says again we built the greatest political movement in the history of our country we also built the greatest economy in the history of the world we revitalize our alliances and rallied that nations of the world to stand up to china like never before as a result of our bold diplomacy and principled real ism we achieved a series of historic peace deals in the middle east nobody believed it could happen it is the dawn of a new middle east and we are bringing our soldiers home i am especially proud to be the 1st president in decades who has started no new wars. and it will be an inauguration ceremony like no other in recent memory downtown washington d.c. it's virtually a fortress moment $20000.00 national guard troops have been deployed there following this month attack on congress and the threats of more violence when the toxic name is on the streets of washington d.c.

monitoring the security situation there john hendren is live to take us through the final hours of trump's presidency new york times reporters. and reuters are reporting that trump has granted clemency to the former white house advisor steve bannon let's go 1st to john so john in the last few minutes president trump has been granting pardons and clemency we knew this was coming though john didn't we what have you been hearing that. well daryn donald trump has long been criticized when it comes to pardons and other forms of clemency for favoring celebrities and aides and allies that he knows personally well it looks like he's doing it again we have those reports that steve bannan is being pardoned and according to sources in the white house he and donald trump is also pardoning as you mentioned rapper little wayne kodak black and former detroit mayor kwame kilpatrick. these guys are well known many of them have. pleaded with the trumpet ministration to pardon

them and it looks like he's done what he's done in the past when he pardoned paul man a fort roger stone and his son in law's father charles questioner the president 'd has not released this list yet we have not seen it but these are reports coming out of the white house according to aides and there are some who says back that the president might really release all of these names shortly before joe biden is inaugurated in order to overshadow that event but there are some interesting omissions we are told that the white house legal counsel's office has warned the president not to pardon members of his own family preemptively that's because a pardon comes with the suggestion of guilt and when it comes to other prosecutions after this administration and private lawsuits that could put them in a bad spot we are also told that the president has been warned against pardoning

the rioters who took over the capitol on january 6th there are also reportedly a number of people on that list who have been arrested for drug charges methamphetamine and marijuana and face long sentences as a result of that so this appears to be donald trump doing what he has been criticized for in the past and that is violating the norms of clemency policy john and we have a summit trump is now declassified f.b.i. documents from the investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 election what more do we know. that's right this is the claim of russia russia russia that donald trump has been making for for years saying this is fission that russia aided him and that he somehow colluded with that country in order to get elected 4 years ago is a hoax in his words well he's declassified a series of f.b.i. documents some are redacted we have not seen those so we don't know exactly what's

in there but this is part of donald trump's effort to discredit the russia probe now that probe led to the impeachment probe that's his dealings with ukraine trying to pressure the leader there and ultimately it was included in the moeller investigation that's the investigation that did not definitively conclude that trump and his campaign and family colluded with russia but it did point out that they had a lot of connections a lot of overlap now we're not going to see donald trump and joe biden converse about this tomorrow unlike 4 years ago when trump took over from barack obama and they had a pleasant conversation and a handover at the white house that is because trump is leaving without joining into the biden ceremony at the close is they're going to come to a handover is it by sharing a night that's tonight on pennsylvania avenue donald trump at the white house joe biden across the street at what's called the blair house that is as close as we're

going to get to a handover and it's kind of a metaphor for 2 administrations with very little overlap john just before you go a final thought on steve bottom because there was wasn't that huge uncertainty throughout the night whether or not trump would have pardoned him. that's right the reports we're hearing are that that decision was made in the final hours of the night and the reason for that is that trump is so been criticized for pardoning those who are close to him in the case of roger stone someone doing trump's bidding so it appears that this decision now the reports were saying we're getting or that trump has decided to pardon ban and we haven't seen the pardon once again but that decision was apparently made in the final hours of the night and we're still waiting for him to announce it formally all right john thank you for that let's cross of a now to natasha going to name she's on the streets of washington d.c. senate. huge

a deployment of the national guard on the streets of the capital but there's also been a big effort to security vet them ahead of the inauguration. i don't think i've ever seen in any american city or with signs driving along the highway coming into that city saying stay out but that's exactly what you'll see if you're driving on the highway and attempting to get into d.c. this evening bridges from virginia to d.c. have been closed in an attempt again to keep the city lockdown and as safe as possible we are at the black lives matter plaza the white house the washington monument behind me the black lives ladder matter plaza of course being the site of major protests last year in the wake of george floyd's death the man who died in police custody in minneapolis we've gone from checkpoint to checkpoint tonight you can see some national guard folks over there looking very relaxed that is because there are there is hardly anyone out on the streets this evening we're blocks away

from the capitol the white house and there's a trickle really of people milling about lots of storefronts close the metro stations closed with 25000 national guard soldiers in addition to metro police officers. other people from law enforcement agencies at the ready to ensure that president elect joe biden is sworn in peacefully on wednesday it's no surprise that it is quiet and quite honestly d.c. might be one of the safest capitals on the globe at this moment the big news on the security frauds was the news that 12 national guard troops were removed from their mission to help secure the inauguration and sent home. we have 2 individuals identified had made inappropriate comments or turks those 2 individuals were removed one of those was flagged by 5 within the command and then we have another

group of individuals that have been flooded in the vetting process for a number of different reasons like i said unrelated to the events here and the concerned. the pentagon is currently investigating any possible links within its ranks to far right militia groups and for federal agencies are currently investigating the security lapses as well as the response to the capitol attack on january 6th the secret service is now in charge of the inauguration and an official has said we do not want a recurrence we don't want the u.s. in the world to see what happened on january 6th again we know one thing will be different and that is this time there is an overwhelming security presence ensured and ready for come what may lie for us there on the streets of washington d.c. natasha thank you for the most senior republican party member has criticized

president trump for that attack on congress which prompted those security measures in the capitol as senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says trump misled and provoked a mob at a time capitol hill 2 weeks ago custer reports from washington d.c. . within a fortified u.s. capitol. the senate reconvene for the 1st time since a violent mob stormed the building on january 6th leading to 5 deaths and republican leader mitch mcconnell once a close trump ally pointedly denounced the president on his last full day in office the mob. there were provoked by the president and other powerful people we are and as plans for trump's upcoming impeachment trial take shape already senate committees are on to the next order of business the confirmation of joe biden's cabinet secretaries retired 4 star general lloyd austin is biden's

nominee for secretary of defense who opened his remarks by valuing to address right wing extremism in the military the job of the department of defense is to keep america safe from our enemies but we can't do that if some of those enemies lie within our own ranks. if confirmed hill be the 1st african-american to lead the u.s. defense department widely respected for his 4 decades of military service austin oversaw the u.s. withdrawal from iraq the general's confirmation is expected but because he recently served in uniform he'll need a congressional waiver allowing him to assume the civilian post of defense secretary in another hearing room secretary of state nominee antony blinken a career diplomat was deputy secretary of state under former president barack obama after his expected confirmation lincoln will be tested to rebuild the u.s. is diminished global leadership when we're not engaged when we're not leading then

one of 2 things is likely to happen either some other country tries to take our place but not in a way that's likely to advance our interests and values or maybe just as bad no one does and then you have chaos besides immediately having the u.s. reengineer the paris climate accord and the world health organization blinken will have to take on strained relations with iran russia and china as we look at china there is no doubt that it poses the most a given challenge of any nation state to the united states biden will take office wednesday with few if any senate confirmed cabinet secretaries a democratic push to waive some senate rules to expedite the process has already met republican resistance then there's trump's impeachment trial still to be scheduled and urgently demanded the senate now looking to balance those priorities in coming days. castro al-jazeera washington tough

a quick break here in al-jazeera when we come back. an appeal for calm into his ear as protests over unemployment and poverty intensified and it's in his prime minister clings on to his position as. grapples with a pandemic and an economic freefall on that stay with us all. how we got some rather nasty weather pushing across northern parts of the middle east at the moment we've got some rain sleet and snow spilling ounce of turkey pushing across into syria lebanon jordan we have got well quite a wintry weather scene across much of turkey at present this is a stumble over the past couple of days or since movies that things have turned to him as that wintry weather just tumbled its way

a little further southwards and ace with some more disturbed weather pushing into northern parts of iraq and you can see how it stretches right down towards israel the palestinian territories i told 9 celsius there for jerusalem and for damascus that will make its way to further east was as we go through thursday so iran seeing some of that wetter weather that wintry weather successes the top temperature in toronto i'd be surprised if you see flacco to the snow in math as well brisk winds setting in across the gulf so here in constable has been lifted just in the sand temperatures no higher than around $21.00 degrees celsius bunya showers meanwhile across central parts of africa just around the rift valley pushing a little further south with and then we have the trouble side elway's now making its way across northern parts of madagascar it will gradually punch through reinvigorates in the mozambique channel and head towards central nice and big.

when all that seems to matter is the headline there is always 2 sides to a story when narratives and counter narratives obscure reality the leader on the one hand and the enemy is a little neither on the other hand the listening post strips away the spin what kind of reporting if you can see on the ground misinformation is right lays bare the bias a lot of people believe things because they want to believe them done covers the uncomfortable truths do you think they did enough to scrutinize the case for war the listing posts on. the. welcome back a quick amount of the top stories here on the al-jazeera u.s. president donald trump has pardoned former white house adviser steve bannon that's

according to the u.s. media and the reuters news agency is accused of defrauding political donors who gave money to build a wall on the border with mexico he had yet to stand trial. number of people have died from cut at 19 in the united states has passed 400000 the staggering toll was confirmed on the eve of president elect joe biden's inauguration he's led nationwide memorials and security has been heightened time president of levels in the u.s. capitol the head of the no gration ceremony and after this month's attack on the capitol 12 national guard members have been relieved of duty for the ceremony after an intensified vetting process. your sector state might pompei i was accusing china of committing genocide and crimes against humanity against we get muslims it's believed around a 1000000 been imprisoned in camps in recent years mostly in the shin shang region activists of documented atrocities including rape torture and the sterilization of women china deny is old such accusations and says people are being educated and trained in special centers pompei o issued the statement after what he said was

a careful examination of the facts he also said i believe this genocide is ongoing and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy we goes by the chinese party state and joe biden secretary of state nominee anthony blinken echoed pompei a statement at the senate confirmation hearing secretary pump designated the chinese communist party as having engaged in generous regarding the weaker more muslim population do you agree with that that would you my judgment as well you do agree yes well being can also outlined his approach to the middle east giving a sense of the foreign policy priorities of the incoming biden administration at his senate confirmation hearing he said he recognizes jerusalem as the capital of israel and confirm the embassy would stay there he also wants to build on recent u.s. brokered normalization deals between israel and the united arab emirates morocco and sudan rincon says

a resumption of the iran nuclear deal is likely to take some time but if terror on resume strict compliance with its obligations he says the u.s. would follow suit on yemen he indicated a break from previous policy he said he'd order an immediate review of the recent decision to designate who the rebels as a terror group and reiterated a biden campaign pledge to end u.s. support for the saudi led coalition fighting in yemen where rami khouri is director of global engagement at the american university of beirut he says the new administration should do more to protect palestinians. the democrats the biden clinton blenkin those kind of democrats very very centrists are extremely close really they have a track record of her sensually saying that there should be a 2 state solution but they never really do anything to stop israel's continued colonial expansion and building settlements and the grabbing honorably and. the measures that trump took most of them that the democrats may not have taken

themselves but they don't particularly have any big problem with them the interesting thing is he did say though that the biden is going to push or supports a 2 state solution and so the answer to the jerusalem to see issue is to have the palestinians get their state which he said they deserve they're entitled to riches interesting new terminology i think. he also said he didn't think it was going to be much movement on that front quickly but of course that's understandable because as many mothers are the more pressing issues. there's not much surprising at all and what what. a blinken said he did say one other thing that i thought was really important that the israeli drive to equate criticism of israel with an anti semitism and stop support people supporting b.d.s. the sanctions. against israel movement around the world the blinken the

sensually said well the he doesn't like biden doesn't like b.d.s. either but the 1st amendment constitutional right in the united states gives every citizen the right to say and do what they want as long as it's not against the law so that was a pretty important statement. cattles foreign minister is calling on other gulf states to bridge relations with iran israel and count about jihad zarif has backed the efforts on twitter saying iran welcomes my brother foreign minister mohammed bin abdul rahman bin jasim out fanny's call for inclusive dialogue in our region as we have consistently emphasized the solution to our challenges lies in collaboration to jointly form a strong region peaceful stable prosperous and free from global or regional hegemon and we are hopeful that this this should happen and we still believe that this should happen and i think this is also. desired that being shared among the other g.c.c. countries there is

a differences between the countries on the way how to approach such a diet of also from the on side they have expressed their willingness several times to engage with with the u.c. countries and i believe that the time should come where when the g.c.c. will sit on the table with the on and. reach a common understanding between the countries that week we have to live with each other we cannot change or get off easy. prime minister has appealed to protesters telling them he's aware of their anger and frustrations have been 4 days and 5 nights a violent clashes between police and protesters in several cities as anger mounts of a growing unemployment and poverty reports the the foundations of tuna's ians protest each feeling disappears and frustrated this week the feelings have boiled on to the streets the coronavirus pandemic has crippled the fragile economy leaving a 3rd and young 2 museums unemployed they blame the government for the problems and

as you. know there is a feeling of deep disappointment with the pandemic and may god protect us from it poverty unemployment and the situation we are living in as young people. know the protests have morphed to include police brutality and unlawful detention still the odd thing with this man says more than 600 protesters have been arrested most in their homes and asks why protesters are demanding the release they say this is a government crackdown. it's. up to the politicians i say one thing if you have something to say don't say it with the police go out to the people and face the the prime minister responded in a televised address another one and the lack of a. i'm well aware that there is anger and frustration in many areas i know that the

economic and social situation is a crisis deepened by covert and the measures we have taken to preserve the health which it is he and your voice is heard and your anger is legitimate and it is my role and the governments to work to realize your demands and to make the dream of tunisia become true. the. frustrations have recode across multiple tunisia and cities this week from the capital tunis soft. facts. and in the waist in kasserine the rights group amnesty international has wound against excessive use of foods. music nice protests evolved into running street battles between demonstrators and comics the government has deployed the army in civil says east and rolled out a curfew to quell the clashes. the demonstrations come just days after the 10 year anniversary of the ouster of former president zine el abidine ben ali a result of protests that birthed the arab spring but many to new zealand still

disenchanted saying the hope of that time has gone on realized absolutely nothing not at this point do you see in 10 years there's no strategy or prospects for the future or even hope for change on the contrary every year the amount of food decreases to date in 2021 practically all young people are just desperate. and so they turn to the streets harasses just like they did a decade ago palace 0. italy's prime minister giuseppe conti has survived a confidence vote in the country's senate allowing him to hold on to power it was triggered after former prime minister matteo renzi pulled his party from contest coalition last week over his handling of the coronavirus bennett. the world health organization says a highly contagious corona virus strain detected in the u.k. has been found in at least 60 countries in germany schools and businesses will stay

shut until at least mid february chancellor angela merkel and state premiers agreed to extend the existing with 19 restrictions they also agreed to mandate the wearing of medical masks on public transport and in shops a 1000 doses of the chinese developed vaccine a been delivered deep into brazil's amazon rain forest hospitals and clinics in the region on the verge of collapse as oxygen supply has dwindled. it's been one year since south korea reported its 1st coronavirus case the country's been battling a 3rd way but there are signs it's under control ryan reports from seoul. one time south korea was the worst affected country outside china when the fear of this new and relatively unknown virus was very real. everyone to restrain themselves from group of interactivity is not only an indoor places but also outdoor places. drawing on experience from previous epidemics and with close cooperation between

government agencies and the private sector the country got to work it quickly pioneered innovations like drive through testing centers and then mass testing and tracing to avoid the shutdowns being experienced by other countries subsequent outbreaks pose new challenges such as a cluster centered on night clubs used by the gay community requiring a tactful response. to a punter there were no good we cooperated with the l g b t community and explained the situation was grave and introduced anonymous testing which just required a fine number and the number of people getting testing increased 8 fold. the authorities also faced outbreaks in church congregations and among political groups holding super spreader demonstrations in a society that cherishes free speech steve gian opened his gym right at the beginning of the pandemic managing to survive and adapt to

a new reality. i think people will lean towards having more personal space that is well defined rather than coming together in big groups like soul city itself looking ahead to life after the pandemic. or even when it's over it would be difficult to go back to the old normal with arrived at a new age where we have to adapt. one year on south korea is just getting over its 3rd wave and the lines of people waiting for their free tests and now mostly gone starting out on a 2nd year of this pandemic here as elsewhere there is pandemic fatigue the difference seems to be while some people in other countries got fed up and gave up people here are still largely prepared to put up bright al-jazeera soul in the us the deaths of more than 400000 people were mourned at ceremonies across

the nation and american nurse who was rendition of amazing grace was widely shared online last year sang to him to the country in honor of the lives lost and the frontline workers were fighting to save the. 0. east. it's. time for a quick check of the headlines here on al-jazeera u.s. president donald trump has pardoned former white house strategist steve bannon that's according to officials and the new york times he was accused of defrauding pay.