deny any wrong. 10 when he stood. on al-jazeera. 0. hello i'm maryam namazie watching the news hour live from london coming up in the next 60 minutes major make over of u.s. foreign policy president joe biden says america is now ready to reclaim its position of leadership in the world. america is back to. its back. this would include its role in the war in yemen where the binded

administration will and the support for the saudi led offensive. also coming up the u.n. security council says it's deeply concerned by the situation in myanmar calling for democracy to be restored and the child soldier who rose to rebel commander now found guilty of war crimes by the international criminal court. i'm sorry all the sports egyptian giants. hey it's a book of spots in the kabul cop semifinal. hello welcome to the news hour our top story president joe biden has delivered his 1st significant foreign policy speech at the state department he spoke about restoring u.s. global leadership conceding that washington's moral authority and credibility had been. damaged and now is the time to mend fractured rate relationships and

alliances he also spoke about the war in yemen wet 5 years after the launch of the saudi led military offensive the country is still suffering from the wild west humanitarian crisis president biden said the war has to end and pledged u.s. support for u.n. led peace efforts america is back america is back diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy. as i said i'm our nod to address we will repair our alliances in gage's with the world once again not to meet yesterday's challenges but today's and tomorrow's american leadership must meet this new moment of advancing authoritarianism including a growing ambitions of china to rival the united states in the determination of russia to damage and disrupt our democracy we must meet the new moment accelerating

glow of the accel already global challenges from the pandemic through the climate crisis to nuclear proliferation challenging the will only be solved by nations working together and in common we can't do it alone. well alan fischer is live for us from the white house and so alan really a speech that was speaking to the spirit of renewal and restoration of u.s. leadership on the wealth stage a message of reassurance i suppose. there is there an implicit criticism of what's going on the last 4 years of the foreign policy that was driven by donald trump and jerry cushion of from the white house and of course the food the front of that was 1st of all rex tillerson and then lots of lee. who seem to be very aggressive on a world stage don't trump talking about rebuilding alliances says that the united states has to reclaim its moral authority suggesting that that has been lost so

he's talking about building alliances with partners he's talking about what king with countries like china and russia when it is necessary but always considering the united states and we're also seeing almost a mare doing of deploy domestic and foreign policy saying that any foreign policy decision has to be guided by the idea of how does it benefit the united states the middle class in the united states it's all very well having an aggressive trade policy against china and imposing the likes of sanctions these are my words but it how does that impact ordinary families and if it doesn't do well with them then the has to be a recalibration so this is very much joe biden setting out his terms for at least the next 4 years in office he's got antony blinken who has what with him very very closely for a number of years is to a large degree except for yemen as you say a bit broad brush at the moment he's called for

a review they'll be carried out with blinken and also the new defense secretary to talk about the united states military footprint but the fact that the military are looking at this and foreign policy will be involved as well through the secretary of state suggest that is a different approach a much more brought together approach under this white house than under the white house so as to say implicit criticism of donald trump at joe biden suggesting that the american 1st agenda doesn't didn't set of america particularly well. although by saying that every foreign policy decision has to be viewed through the prism of how does this benefit america this is to a degree what we've seen from presidents in the past it is all about america perhaps just not with america 1st tiger which joe biden clearly felt was slightly talks. you mentioned yemen there allan president biden saying he plans to end u.s.

support for offensive operations in the country how will that work. well we knew that he was going to do this he talked about it on the campaign trail when congress in 2019 voted to stop selling weapons to the united arab emirates and also saudi arabia that would be used offensively in yemen joe biden was very much in favor of that so that's essentially what is going to happen the very 1st part of that will be that they will stop selling weapons to mainly so do arabia if they can be used offensively in yemen he talked about how the last 5 years that essentially brought a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe and therefore that had to be some way out of this that was negotiated in the u.s. would play a part in the how are they going to do that well they've appointed a man by name of 10 melinda king who's actually well known well respected in that area he spent a lot of time there as a career diplomat rather than someone who is a political appointee he has relationships in many of the key capitals there and so

he will start stepping up efforts to try and get 1st of all a cease fire and then a longer term peace deal in yemen as well though what is interesting is that joe biden says look we're going to stop selling these weapons to saudi arabia he was also very clear that luke saudi arabia has suffered attacks in recent years and they've got to have the ability to defend themselves and they will continue to do that so he's not slamming the door on weapon sales to saudi arabia obviously they have to look and say when are these going to be used are you planning to use them in yemen you know getting those but if there was a defense of them we will certainly look at that so a whole new approach coming out of the white house given the very close relationship the donald trump had with sodium arabia and the past and of course his reluctance to criticize them either by the death of jamal khashoggi or the way that they approach the war in yemen even though there was

a bipartisan criticism of the number of deaths that were being inflicted there by some of the. by both sides but how much the u.s. was helping so de rigueur to inflict those casualties by providing weapons from the united states thanks very much an official at the white house thanks allen. p.j. crowley is the former u.s. assistant secretary of state for public affairs and the author of red line american foreign policy in a time of fractured politics and failing states joins me now by skype from washington so it was a powerful message we had there from president biden about reclaiming america's position of leadership in the world is that even possible though when you think about the fragilities in the vulnerabilities of american democracy that have been exposed over the past few months indeed the past few years and the country is now more divided than it has been for a very long time. it certainly is possible but clearly it will take time

as the president said he's already begun the process of reengaging with leaders around the world traditional american friends and allies and i think over time we can reestablish common cause i mean the speech was a remarkable in in how basic it was how foundational was there were no ad libs there were no insults you no longer have 2 american foreign policies one by the president on twitter and the other by american national security institutions you know or your clear path forward i think the world will respond to that a clear path forward but is the is a biden team willing to take a long hard critical look at the ways in which the united states is itself has contributed to the challenges that it now faces for example and being support for this idea that military operation in yemen is a policy with us hope of course it was a policy started under president obama. well i think there's

a recognition that there's no military solution in yemen ultimately there has to be a ceasefire in the ground the delivery of humanitarian assistance and then. a relook at some kind of. in the goetia that settlement you're right. even even in what he said about for example beyond maher and russia you know it's one thing to say and he's saying clearly you're putting american values back at the forefront of american foreign policy but what it comes to your reversing what's happened in those countries imposing costs that that is difficult and it will take hard work working with other countries around the world what is going to be the fuss that specifically on kyle he specifically about yemen right now because the

country suffering from the wild west humanitarian crisis u.n. led efforts haven't resulted in any progress at and in fact it's not going anywhere how how is the u.s. going to to support efforts to try and end the war. well i think the the the signal that that making arm sales to saudi arabia you know more conditional that wilkes conveyed to saudi arabia to the to the emirates that that you've got to change course you've got to figure out how do we have affected we engage the all of the elements on the ground there who to use for example will be a critical aspect of this obviously the biden ministration is reviewing you know the trump administration's does ignatius of the who these as a terrorist organization you know and then what do you do about iraq obviously iran has provided significant support to the cooties and is

a contributor to the crisis in yemen as well so it's a multifaceted crisis and it's going to take you know a multifaceted policy to try to change the facts on the ground all right thank you very much p.j. crowley appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us mary i'm well you're welcome and speaking of yemen and a close think about who sees just that and how they've actually responded to u.s. president joe biden's position as recent remarks on yemen in a tweet the spokesman of the iran back to seize said. the real proof of peace and yemen is to stop the aggression and lift the siege president biden wants to hold u.s. support the saudi that military offensive in yemen but of course the key is to try and get more food and medical supplies into the country because they were already suffering from

a. crisis in some ways much of the country dependent on aid before the war really got underway but now the country suffering from the wild west humanitarian crisis as the united nations has described it and that is the priority is to try and get more aid into the country. well the by the ministration is also considering sanctions in response to the coup in may in martin east 147 people have been detained as protest against monday's military takeover gathered pace unsung cinci in the deposed president both face charges and if they convicted they won't be able to work in politics again as a bag reports. small protests in the 2nd largest city in myanmar the students and activists in mandalay are speaking out against monday's military coup but with the military campaign down on internet and social media providers it's hard for people to communicate and organize protests yet. we have no

access to any news no news about mother on song suchi i feel so sad it gives me a pain in my chest i would rather go out and fight if possible but that would be against the wishes of mother sue. facebook is a central part of life in myanmar it's why the military has shut it down seems as if the military is really going after the primary social media platforms including facebook which really is the internet in myanmar most people including people within government agencies use facebook almost as if it was an e-mail system so it will be. terrible in terms of its consequences not only in terms of organizing a response to this coup but also in terms of conducting day to day business and economic activity but that didn't stop these health workers walking out of the hospital to protest against the coup according to their facebook groups similar walkouts happened at hospitals across the country have. we're just protesting peacefully by wearing this red ribbon we don't need to speak out we all know that

playing the ribbon is a sign of protest against the military government and the only want our elected government this is a message many people have likely not seen such a military presence on the streets since the 2011 democratic reforms. despite the apparent anger at the social media ban and the international condemnation of the coup the generals who have vast business interests in the country are not going anywhere many people in myanmar may be troubled by the military intervention but minorities in the country have long been victims of the army's crackdown hundreds of thousands of muslim rangar were forced to flee persecution deposed leader aung sun suu she who was largely silent about their plight now finds herself at the mercy of the very same generals as that big al-jazeera or u.n. security council has called for the military to release unsung say change but stop short of condemning the 15 member council stressed the need them

a classic institutions and respect human rights there is diplomatic editor james phase is at the united nations. the statement took several days to negotiate but it is significant it shows security council unity and that china is on board with criticism of the military in myanmar it was read out by the current president of the security council the british ambassador barbara woodward the members of the security council expressed deep concern at the declaration of a state of emergency imposed by the military on the 1st of february and the arbitrary detention of members of the government including state councilor unsung suchi and president when mint and others they called for the immediate release of all those detained. the members of the security council empathized the need for the continued support of the democratic transition in me and she wasn't taking any questions but the spokesperson for the un secretary general said he was pleased

there was security council unity on this issue i think it's very welcome that relatively quickly the council came together to speak with one voice human rights groups of welcome the security council statement but they say words must now be matched with action. so i have for you on the news hour from london the 1st shipment of russia's sputnik vaccine arrives in iran health care workers will be among the 1st to receive it. china's state broadcaster loses its u.k. license beijing promises retaliatory measures. and climbing to new heights it wants nice 40 is set to make its olympic debut sorrow have the details a bit later. 1000

representatives will vote soon on whether to exclude controversial u.s. republic congresswoman a republican congresswoman marjorie taylor green from several official committees green has expressed support for the q and on conspiracy theory and other extreme views including advocating violence against democrats. chancy is live for us from capitol hill a delicate balancing act for the republicans how much of an internal struggle has this cause for the party. it's a key question for the republicans as to what direction to go into after donald trump tell a green it has to be said on the house floor today did say that she no longer believes in some of these theories q and on the night the $911.00 was an insider job that school shootings were hoaxes she said look i questioned establishment media because like much of america we question the establishment now they failed us and my my main sin was liking things on social media and now that it's being has come back to haunt me the problem with that was is that she didn't disavow other

things that she said and agreed with like calling for violence to be committed against house speaker nancy pelosi and all sorts of anti-semitic and racist tropes that she's said so this wasn't enough for the democratic party they're moving ahead with this attempt now with this with with with the with the proceedings now to remove her from these committees but it was enough for the republican leadership in the house apparently and it's clear that kevin mccarthy the house republican leader thinks that he can can manage this that he he needs the trump base he doesn't want to cross the trump base it's just not worth it he wants the campaign contributions he wants the grassroots turnout and like the republicans have so often in the past he's just another right wing extremist sect which they can absorb in the republican party and use for their own ends what i think is more people senate republican senate republicans are more concerned about there is that unlike other right wing factions in the u.s. which the republican party has successfully absorbed in the past the trump base

isn't loyal to the establishment isn't loyal to the republican party in fact is quite hostile to perth and so can't necessarily be controlled and be used for the republican leader's own ends which is always you know deregulation and cutting taxes so there's that concern also in the senate that they may begin to start taking control because out of the fear of the republican party in congress and then the republican party will get ever less electable and ever less attractive to the corporate donors who bankrolled the republican party up to now. and more developments on former president donald trump's impeachment trial we now learned that he will not be testifying under oath. and it's interesting we have a bit of a surprise actually this letter that was sent to the long trump saying look will you testify under oath and be cross-examined sometime between monday and thursday of next week the trial begins on tuesday and there was this key sentence in the request that if he refused the refusal to testify it supports a strong adverse in

a difference regarding your actions and in action on january the 6th 2021 when the capital was stormed so now we have the letter that that donald trump's lawyer sent back we're in receipt of your latest public relations stunt as you certainly know there is no such thing as a negative inference in this unconstitutional proceeding your letter only confirms what is known to everyone you cannot prove your allegations against the 44th president of the us who is now a private citizen the use of our constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to try to play these games now this is being read certainly as a refusal for donald trump to testify perhaps a refusal even to recognize the proceedings but it's something that would conform to what we would expect because there is that sense that both republicans and democrats just want to get this over with as quickly as possible especially because donald trump has no chance of being convicted it would be so it would seem thank you very much on capitol hill shabba chancy thanks happen. when other stories are

following the 1st shipment of the russian sputnik vaccine has arrived in iran the country hardest hit by the krajina virus pandemic in the middle east health care workers and the vulnerable are the 1st in line to receive doses dosage of barley has more from tap on this aircraft brought the 1st sign of good news for millions of iranians since the start of the pandemic nearly a year ago. the russian sputnik vaccines are the 1st batch to arrive and there are 2 more shipments coming later this month these jobs will be given to 430000 health care workers before anyone else and iran has so far purchased 2000000 doses of the russian vaccine. russia sputnik visa because he is 91 to 93 percent considering that the sputnik is designed well in its 2nd dose is a stronger than the 1st doses we expect 91 to 92 percent efficacy in our country and more importantly the sputnik the brand in very serious cases of the disease 100

percent with iran is the worst affected country in the middle east with nearly 60000 covered 1000 deaths a more than $1400000.00 people infected the shipment comes at a critical time when the country is trying to avoid another wave ahead of the rainy new year in mid march that's a time when families visit each other in large numbers president hasn't rouhani has warned iran cannot afford another lockdown and he's urging the public to continue to observe protocols set out by health officials. iranian scientists have also been working on their own vaccine 2 of which are now in human trial phases and officials are hopeful they will be rolled out in the next few months. despite severe economic sanctions on iran's banking sectors officials say they have purchased 18000000 doses of foreign vaccines but not those made in the us or britain supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has banned the import of vaccines made in those countries

saying they cannot be trusted on thursday iran recorded 67 deaths it's the lowest daily rate in the past 8 months but there's still a long way to go before the country's able to vaccinate enough people to achieve herd immunity officials say they hope to end their mass vaccination program by early next year but that may come too late for many iranians who are desperate for any sense of normality in their lives dorset to party al-jazeera to iran. in a world 1st researchers at oxford university are going to explore if it's effective to mix doses of the pfizer and astra zeneca coronavirus vaccines scientists will evaluate if you can alternate between pfizer an oxford astra zeneca a prime and booster shots if it still effective to using one of each vaccine they will believe that it would offer greater flexibility for immunization globally and it might even in haunts the immune response they will also be evaluating how important the timing is between doses some participants in the study will get

a 2nd shot after a month of the off to 3 months let's bring in dr julian tang on our associate professor at university of leicester department of respect for the sciences joins us from leicester in england i'm sure you'll be following this very closely tell us more about how the trial is going to work and why it's important. yes so the oxford vaccine at the moment uses the same a new virus vector the chimpanzee and the virus went to for both those as the 1st and 2nd dose and the back to the russians but in 5 years a new virus 26 of the 1st those and they are new virus 5 for the 2nd dose and they've achieved a higher if we can see all of the reasons for this might be that the the patient's body produces an immune response not so the as protein coated in the advice vector but to the ultimate respect for itself so i think the 2nd shock you but is going in response to the yes pretty much is what you want but also great in response to the advise vector which is what you don't want the 2nd shot may actually be neutralized

as to some extent by the time you get it if they mix and match the 1st and 2nd doses were different vaccine designs that you can avoid this 2nd those patient response neutralization which may reduce the frequency of the tudors vaccine overall what about this question of the length of time between guises. yes so that does explored by the oxytocin her clinical trial which is quite unusual they had a very mixed clinical trial design in the south african brazilian the usa arms were the duration intuiting 1st and 2nd there's a varied amongst those arms and if the placebo used the 1st and 2nd days were very between his arms as well and what we found is that if you delay that 2nd dose a bit longer you get the extra boost when you get the 2nd. i think that that delay i think is intrinsically not

a major issue for these vaccines because we know that the 1st those of any 2 those vaccine measurement readers have plenty for example the 1st as does most of the work in the 2nd dose is a booster for that 1st those 2 again. raise your immune responses and time with that could be quite important if you do it too soon you don't get additional boost from the 2nd dose if you leave it too late your 1st crime may not have actually may not be prime that he more so i think something in the middle may well be but 2 or 3 months you make about additional benefit of that optimal boost i suppose it's the purpose of a child to stablish. stuff like this but what are your thoughts on possible side effects or risks to vaccine mixing. i'm not particularly worried about that the effects seen that are on their own because they're both approved vaccines that pfizer and the also i think that they have a spectrum of. relative well tolerated adverse effects which are not that unusual

and the washout period if you actually were to vaccines it was like 2 or 3 months is well beyond what you might be worried about too because of the concern about a combined adverse effect profile so not too worried about. thank you very much dr julian tang appreciate it joining us efren lester thank you. without is there a live from london still ahead on the program we'll look at a social media backlash over sexist comments made by the tokyo olympics chief he's apologized but will he step down. a longtime activist and critic of hezbollah is killed in lebanon provoking public outcry. and that in sport the pakistan captain leads from the front of quick action star.

however we've got some all there across parts of southern year but a very different story further north and in between we go to areas of cloud rain sleet and snow this weather system here this double front passes dividing line between the warmth that we have across southern most parts and that cold air that we have across the northern areas and it's the northern areas the cold air is going to win over the next couple of days further south of that temperatures hovering around the 20 degree model around 6 or 7 celsius above the seasonal normal there is that cold air coming in across northern most parts of becoming more expansive as we go through the course of the weekend by the end of the weekend temp just struggling to get to just 2 celsius there in london and early next week a similar picture loss of cold air minus 12 the top 10 for moscow a 10 degree drop in temperatures coming in here that cold air well that's making its way across the north say significant snowfall across central parts of scotland

at present digging its way down into western parts into france where we have seen flooding rains wet weather there for spain and portugal over the next couple of days more that cloud right as we go on through saturday than a line a snow wore the way across to ward see blacks say north of that there's that cold weather in place further south warm sunshine athens 21 degrees. but. the latest news as it breaks human rights groups are questioning why people are taken to this isolation centers and the treatment they receive one facility and we detailed coverage beyond groups now control the villages that we can feed. on the side of the river people live on this side they can hear gunfire when they're fighting from around the world. they say their hearts are now back to normal. after more than

a decade of civil war life remains a challenge in sierra leone. we follow the citizens of this war torn nation as they push their limits. for so far. risking years of sierra leone. on al-jazeera. welcome back the headlines now u.s. president joe biden has promised to restore us a global leadership and to mend fractured diplomatic relationships and his 1st

significant foreign policy address the president also pledged support for us that peace efforts in yemen saying the war has to end. at least 147 people have been detained in may in mars' protest against monday's military coup gather pace the u.s. has expressed deep inside and called for a return to democracy and the 1st shipment of the russian spotnitz vaccine has arrived in iran the country hardest hit by the corona virus pandemic in middle east health care workers and the vulnerable will be the 1st to receive immunizations. well in other news a belgian course is convicted in iranian diplomat for attempt to terrorism and sentenced him to 20 years in prison i said earlier i said he was found guilty of processing to bomb an opposition rally outside paris in 2018 said he was attached to the iranian mission in austria when he was found to have supplied explosives for the attack which was 40 by belgian officials 3 of his accomplices jule iranian

belgians were also given jail terms and stripped of their belgian citizenship iran has strongly condemned the detention calling it a clear violation of international law now ugandan child soldier turned rebel commander dominic has been found guilty of 61 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the international criminal court in the netherlands despite being a victim himself judges ruled he was still fully responsible for his crimes he was abducted by the lord's resistance army in northern uganda when he was just 9 years old step vasa reports on this now from the hague. never before has the international criminal court heard such a long list of guilty verdicts and never before would a crimes this gruesome attacks against the civilian population murder attempted murder torture and slave meant outrages upon personal dignity

pillaging destruction of property and persecution numerous psychiatry's looked into on one's personality he was described as a monster by some witnesses after he was kidnapped at the age of 9 by the lord's resistance army or the al or a he spent nearly 3 decades in the bush the atrocities he has been convicted of include sex crimes that took place when he was in his twenties the judges decided that he was mentally able and fully responsible for his crimes when this verdict the judge would have given a clear and firm answer to the question of whether a moment on one is a perpetrator or victim this question has haunted the trial for the last 5 years the seemingly endless list of crimes that on one has been convicted are hard to digest but observers say that this sentence will send a harsh message to all those who are against their will i become involved in a war at a young age and once a lawyer calls the verdict a bombshell this concept of victim papa traitor to me is rubbish

once a victim all is a victim you have deprived me of my childhood how do you expect me to after 15 years on the stroke of midnight become 3 begin thinking like an adult. years. danielle ocean believe on when i was fully aware of what he did he was shot by the ela ray and became an orphaned refugee at the age of 6. threw me. pain. if. you will make. a point in time if you are really was. right observers who were followed the trial closely say there was a lot at stake for the i.c.c. this is their 1st case and today's the 1st judgment in the case of uganda and they

needed somebody to carry the can perhaps for all the atrocities body and our lord's resistance army so he's become the face of evil the maximum sentence on one is facing is 30 years in prison only in cases of genocide can the i.c.c. impose a life sentence it will take months before unwin knows what the sentence will be step fast and al-jazeera the hague. a long time activist in fierce critic of the lebanese political party has bala has been shot dead is death has provoked a public outcry in the country there's been no claim of responsibility there is an a hole there brings us the story from beirut killed by 4 bullets to the head and one in his back look months liam was found dead in his car in southern lebanon early on thursday he was a long time activist and fierce critic of hezbollah there has been no claim of responsibility but his family has reached its verdict have the will of man nor in

this country you are not allowed to have a voice against the ruling party they are strong and they won more than a year ago slim asked for protection against the iran backed armed group which controls political power in the country. progression in lebanon is going bigger and bigger the freedom of expression is vanishing given no there's nothing to say about democracy in lebanon this. nation does a lot but we are going into the air office and nation. for many slim's killing brought back memories of the post 2005 period when former prime minister rafik hariri and other politicians opposed to syria and its allies hezbollah were assassinated the group which has an armed wing has denied any role in those killings and its supporters have come to its defense. look man was against hezbollah syria and iran but it doesn't mean fingers should be pointed at them they

could be someone trying to pin it on them. for many the killing was a message this is going to scare anybody. going to criticize things about criticizing the like particular. because of mine was the most this in the web a little bit and look man hailed from the same sect as hezbollah shia islam he lived in the group stronghold and was killed in the groups heartland for more than a year anti-establishment protesters have been demonstrating to bring about a change in leadership and for the 1st time those protests spread into strongholds of the mainly sectarian political parties including hezbollah which was accused of protecting the system many blamed for running the economy into the ground. protestors were attacked by hezbollah and hamas supporters and journalists have been harassed. journalists from the state sector and whenever i express my socks on

the sector and i am a traitor. authorities are promising an investigation but his family like many others say there's no need for one in a country where there's barely been accountability. they wrote. china's state run t.v. channel will no longer be able to broadcast in the united kingdom after the office of communications revoked its license a broadcasting regulator says license holder is breaking the rules by not having full editorial control of the output or a challenge. europe with a relaunch and a new name late in 2016 china put a fresh face on its english language t.v. news brand china central television was now china global television network or c d t m president she urged its international stars to tell china story wealth spread china's voice well it's a voice that the u.k.

is media regulator ofcom has decided shouldn't be heard anymore in the u.k. revoking the broadcasters license said our investigation concluded that star china media ltd the license holder for the c.d.t. and service did not have editorial responsibility for c.d.t ends output as such. does not meet the legal requirements of having control over the license service and so is not a lawful broadcast licensee. the chinese foreign ministry says it firmly opposes setting barriers to chinese media's regular activities in the u.k. shortly after or coms ruling china said it had lodged representation to the b.b.c. over quite big news coverage and urged the b.b.c. broadcaster to apologise. the u.k. has been a leading critic of china's hong kong security law and its crackdown on protests

it's also legislating against businesses profiting from alleged slave labor in china as we get camps and it's ousting tech giants who are away from sensitive parts of the u.k.'s 5 network. so c.d.t. end is the latest focus of attention in the u.k. china relationship it's been deteriorating for several years i think the idea really was that it would probably liberalize and change not become a democracy but become a little bit easier to deal with and under siege siege and ping the current leader that's not true it's become much harder towards the outside world on issues like hong kong and xinjiang. on taiwan it's got a much harder line now so it's a more difficult diplomatic partner logic might suggest that oppose brics it britain would want to swallow some of its political differences with the world's 2nd largest economy but at the moment at least is the politics that the dominant rory schilens how does iran. the head of the tokyo lympics organizing committees

apologized of a sexist comments he made about women but says he will not resign and sharon laurie reportedly told a meeting of the japanese olympic committee on wednesday that female board members talk too much in meetings and are annoying the 83 year old who is also the former japanese prime minister is facing pressure to step down with the hash tag laurie please resign now gaining traction online well according to one of japan's leading newspapers a citation when the president of the tokyo 2020 organizing committee told a meeting of fellow members. if we increase the number of female board members we have to make sure their speaking time is restricted somewhat they have difficulty finishing which is annoying we have about 7 women at the organizing committee but everyone understands that place morey says that he's sorry for any offense his comments have caused the. persecute i would like to take back what i said

i also want to apologize to the people that were often that view should through canarios. i have no intention of resigning really i have been supporting on working hard political games for 7 years i'm not thinking of resigning. well joining me now via skype is gail ams a british olympic badminton silver medalist thanks very much for joining us did these remarks come as any surprise to you. and those who know it's as a woman in sports you hear these comments constantly and i just want to have the remarks i just roll my eyes another guy rolling his eyes or making a comment about women and their place in sports and he's sorry for our straight saying sports is what they should be no barriers to sports sports is equal and to have those comments and when we really try to purse women's sports and especially in the limpid games where it's 5050 really old male female competitors so how those

comments is really really annoying right and maybe that's important context there for us to leave had these obviously very controversial remarks and that people are saying the apology doesn't go far enough he needs to resign from the shooter amaury but this is not something that is ness that is restricted to one country one culture one individual that actually it's quite widespread from what you're saying . there is sport is a boy's club is such a boys' club because it's because they've had the power for so long and because of that they got used to what they like and what they don't like and you know he's a big boys club and that's what we do when oh my goodness women have come along and now women want the place for oh it's girls all of us. and it's not that it's not about us my education is about you know getting into the next generation and this but his goal surfing and skateboarding these are kids the new millennium was for inspiring young boys young girls not just becoming more you know each additional of

oh no you know women don't that place this is about inspiring the next generation and comments like this really don't help but you've managed to do really really well for yourself tell us how did you manage to come. as far as you have what was some of the the struggles that you faced in rising through the ranks and when you were maybe also when you were younger and you told people that you wanted to be an olympian well i had a fantastic role model my mom was a football and my mom played women's football for england so she had to grow up with a say batting her because the women were not seemed to suitable to play football my mom's growing up was so much sexist abuse of playing sport something that should be celebrated and it's physically and mentally you know if it's a great for you and so i grew up with someone who just looked to me when if anyone puts you down you just show them what you can do and that's fantastic which we should be teaching girls about sports you know the anything to anything in minds to it but when i remembered going to school and how my teachers are i want to be

a limpy and they just love to me and you know the boys were ok because they could be professional footballers and crickets and rugby players but girls oh no it's be silly there's no such thing as sports a joke it's a hopi and that's there and it's frustrating because it's not really that long ago but it is changing conversations the great thing about these comments is the conversations we are having it's highlighting there is a problem still when 2021 and we're talking about sexism in school and that shouldn't be happening what is the one big change or shift that you would like to see you mentioned a number of things there where does it you're talking about it being a boys' club i suppose in in many ways that that's about the way people think that's about mentality how do you is it about the way you teach kids at school is it is it more about board representation so kids have people that they can look up to. yeah it's about normalising it's not making us leave women's sports on

our week right we're doing our job you know that secure that butts get rid of that attitude is normal to be sposi farrago it's normal to want to be at to exercise and have muscles get more female coaches we've got great female p. teachers in schools but where the courage is the elite level we're still lacking i think it's under 10 percent of women are coaches at elite level which is shocking than we've got to get in the board level as well it should be my course we have to have a woman on the board it should be a natural progression and showcasing that sport understands that it's equal that sport is no barrier as they should be for everyone all right thank you very much ams and ing on a very positive note thanks chris shays a british olympic intellect and silver medalist now denmark has approved plans to build a groundbreaking energy island to store and distribute green energy the artificial

island will be linked to hundreds of wind turbines in the north sea around 80 kilometers off denmark's west coast comes a month after denmark decided to halt all plans to search for oil and gas in the north sea and commit totally to renewable energy well denmark's overall plan is to build 2 of these islands one in the north sea and one in the baltic by 2030 the islands are projected to generate 5 gigawatts of energy from offshore wind farms with the potential to increase capacity later on that's enough to power about 5000000 households almost double what's needed for denmark's 2700000 households copenhagen plans on exporting the excess will converting it to green fuels to power heavy transportation like planes ships and trucks. well mining giant valets reached a multi-billion dollar settlement with brazilian authorities for the collapse of the burma denio dam that killed $270.00 people 11 people are still missing 2 years

on from that the rupture unleashed enough mining waste to bury the equivalent of $300.00 soccer pitches $7000000000.00 payment to ask your eye a state will be used to compensate the families of victims and fund projects throughout the affected region. watching the news hour live from london still ahead the club world cup is off and running in kowtow all the action from the opening matches in just a moment. it's

. time now for the sport.

well we begin with football in the kabul copies under way here in cattle the only day of the african champions an early advance to the semifinals now they be host and a whole host nation one nil is thin to getting the gold to the gyptian giants now in huge tests now awaits them in the last 4 with at least that to face european champions by a mina. earlier friend strike on job here genea starred for mexican side to aggressive being match as they came from behind to beat all sort of south korea to grace will now go on to face south africa south america's rather represented at the tournament palmero in the semifinals. a 30 percent stadium capacity has been committed to the match is due to the pandemic would organize implementing safety measures to keep players and spectators safe al-jazeera and andy richardson

has more. well the contrast between the start of this tournament and the last time cats are hosted the club world cup in december 29th scene could hardly be more stark on that occasion they were tens of thousands of travelling fans coming into the country from brazil england mexico this time around due to the pandemic that simply isn't possible there are some local fans in attendance but stating capacity caps at an absolute maximum of 30 percent since this opening game with the be an early stadium between cigarettes of mexico and also of south korea the really was a tiny crowd restrictions as well of course for the players and team officials there tested before they leave to come to qatar the tested on arrival. and they then go straight into a bar a secure bubble consisting of team hotel the training facilities and the match they stadiums and the sort of logistics in place here no different to any other country

right now trying to walk in eyes an international sporting event we've seen the issues australia's face trying to see all the players coming in for the australian open tennis grand slam and of course coming up very soon we have the olympics in tokyo but the international olympic committee and local organizers insisting those games will still take place albeit with huge restrictions in place for the world cup here in cuts or is due to kick off in november of next year by then local organizers are really hoping that we will be living in some sort of post pandemic environment but they are planning for any and every eventuality well as and you just mentioned that despite the inserts he bought home by the pandemic take it 2020 limp the organizers say it's still going ahead in july if so it will be a big moment for 5 new sports getting being created for the 1st time ever nicolas cage method actually think he's one of many reaching new heights as professional

climbers. inside this climbing gym tomei halloran is preparing to the biggest competition of his life representing astride the at the tokyo olympics something he's been dreaming about since he started climbing is a child it's still a bit of a trip out to think and a 1000000 people it's a dream come true so the 1st time a climbing will be an olympic sport and a halloran is one of 2 to qualify and you for match will require athletes to master 3 disciplines all during a coma for a climbing speed climbing and laid climbing with a roic all requiring mental and physical strength flexibility and skill is usually specialize in. the combination of the 3 is is one of the events sort of like saying that a track athlete has to run the marathon the 100 made is and like hurdles climbing

his growing from what some of previously viewed only as a recreational activity to athletes winning medals at top international events in australia. by new gyms opening up across the country with its popularity rising the number of competitive climbers in australia has tripled in the past 7 years there are now 1200 climbers who registered for competitions while still in its infancy in a stray leah an estimated $35000000.00 people if it is in the sport worldwide only 40 will compete in tokyo but speculation around whether the olympics will be cancelled due to cope at 9 tame coupled with travel restrictions limiting access to print media training centers has made for an unprecedented and challenging debut for athletes i think it's a matter of just digging in and doing the absolute best you can despite all of the external noise you've just got to block it out and just keep on. marching forward.

hopefully towards chalking up his 1st olympic medal gauge al-jazeera caliber. i can tell you it's a lot harder than it looks now organizers of tennis australia open say will begin a scheduled on monday despite 400 players and officials being forced back into isolation in melbourne a worker at a hotel has tested positive for the virus just days after play is finished a 2 week orenstein on arrival in australia if players test negative they'll be allowed back out of their rooms and there's been no action either a warm up events on thursday do you see the situation we have to be confident this is going to go here we know that we've got a period now that we're going to work through with those 507 players and their staff is $160.00 players actually that need a test and we fully expect the probability is very low that there's going to be any issue we fully expect them all to be negative and then we continue with play

tomorrow like we originally planned. pac sun capped so. lead from the front on the opening day of the 2nd test against south africa in rawalpindi he hits and on between $77.00 and what was a rain affected days pay off pakistan has slumped to $22.00 for 3 a bomb put on an unbroken stand of 123 with a match winner from the 1st test to himself his own 42 not out back some close on 144 for 3 if they point to fi in this match will win the series. well that soyuz sport for me finale bots they will be a lot more later looking. lovely thanks very much sarra all that wraps up the news hour but i will be back in a couple of minutes with the bulletin at 2200 g.m.t. of course our top story that foreign policy speech by president joe biden he spoke about ending u.s. support for saudi arabia's military offensive in yemen we'll have the details on

that just a couple minutes shortly. february on al-jazeera unrestricted access to iran's nuclear program is about to end will u.s. president joe biden overturn trump sanctions and help rebuild relations al-jazeera said so to the journey to the heart of what it means to be a true supporter of the beautiful game the u.s. has the highest covered 19 count in the world the new administration as promised

a time out around we'll have extensive coverage the big picture reveals how a perfect storm of events in 2020 exposed the truth about wakes up the hawk to the united states and as president joe biden embarks on just 1st month in the white house we'll bring you the latest developments escape attempts to repair global relationships february on al jazeera. radicalism is on the rise across the globe and we're told it's every west we're told is supposed to be highly suspicious of everybody and everything but our government policies aimed at tackling radicalization in fact pushing youngsters to the fringes of society the impact is huge i don't mean there's only so much we can try before you say ok that's me rethinking radicalization of the radicalized youth syrians on al-jazeera when all that seems to matter is the headline when narratives and counter narratives obscure reality the listening post drips away the spin lays bare the bias of the uncovers

the uncomfortable truths the listening posts on al-jazeera understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the wound so no matter when you call will greet a news and current affairs that matter to you the warning . a major make over of u.s. foreign policy president joe biden says america is ready to reclaim its position of leadership in the wild america is back diplomacy is back this will include its role in the war in yemen where the byington administration will and support for the saudi led offensive. lineman.