why is the u. k, so hostile to transfer the mysteries? all of us join me if i take on the live with men or the misconceptions and debate the contradiction time to get up front and out 0. ah, the cost of the councils ongoing silence is too high. more than half the un security council condemns north korea's latest launches, but china calls for dialogue. ah, well and welcome. i'm peter w. watching al jazeera alive from dough are also coming up. the u. s. wave, some sanctions on iran, as talks continue to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal. the 1st full day of

competitions now underway at the beijing winter olympics, but the event is being overshadowed by co 19 and a diplomatic boycott. and will tell you about the turf war between rebels in columbia this threatening the forthcoming election? ah, more than half the un security council has condemned north korea for its recent missile launches 8 nations as he to statements including the u. s. france, japan and the u. k, but china has called on the us to engage in dialogue with north korea. yes, i diplomatic editor james bass. she didn't, judy of, she almost killed all this propaganda video has been ad in recent days on north korean t b kim john on is showing off his equestrian skills riding at speed on a white horse. but it is the speed of progress, his country's making,

its nuclear weapons, and miss all programs. it's warring diplomats. there were 9 miss are launches in january a record in a month. and the most recent launch was an advanced intermediate range ballistic missile. ambassadors came to a closed door meeting the 3rd this year. before it even started though, the chinese ambassador made it clear he felt there was a vicious circle and the u. s. needed to do more invoking the summits that president trump had held with the korean leader in 20182019. they should come up with more attractive and more practical, more flexible approaches, policies and actions. we have all seen, we have all seen what happened in finger pool. we have all seen what happened in hanoi, china and russia wouldn't agree to a joint security council statement at this stage. that clearly angered 8 other

council members, which came up with their own statement read out by the u. s. embassy. the cost at the council's ongoing silence is too high. it will embolden the dpr k to further defy the international community. your chinese colleague said that the u. s . needs to do more, and he specifically referred to the her noise summit and the singapore summit, which president trump had with the supreme leader kim. so is it time for president biden to get directly involved in the diplomacy? the united states has made clear that we are willing to meet with the north koreans without pre conditions. but before we can, can met our president to meeting, we need to have had a better sense of what there is to achieve. the united states were clearly like the security council to take a tougher stand on pyongyang,

but china currently actually wants to ease sanctions on north korea. and it's a subject that will come up again on monday when the security council, under the presidency of russia, holds a meeting about sanctions around the world. james bays al jazeera at the united nations. the united states is waiving sanctions on iran civilian nuclear program as talks to save the 2015 nuclear deal enter a critical stage. the waiver was ended by the former u. s. president donald trump in 2020 ross jordan has more for us from washington. essentially what so the secretary of state antony blinking has done on friday is restore one part of the deal that was reached back in 2015. this sanctions waiver allows foreign companies and governments to assist iran in the maintenance of 3 of its nuclear reactors. both share a rock which is a heavy water reactor and the terror on research reactor. otherwise, without this

a waiver, these companies and other governments could find themselves in trouble with the us, possibly facing a sanctions or ra, criminal charges of their own for assisting the government. this is a purely a maintenance, a type of relationship. you're bringing in parts, bringing in and the ability to monitor the amount of, of, of uranium that has been processed. and basically making certain that everything is safe at these 3 facilities. this is a technical step, one that needed to be done just for the safety of these facilities. and to, in order to load try to, i'm make certain that all of the terms of the j c, p, away or ra nuclear deal can be complied with. you need to have the ability for other parties, not just the u. s. and iran, but other parties, other companies, other governments to know what's going on inside these facilities have the

technical information available. so that they can best provide the assistance that the iranians would need to keep these facilities running. ah, the 1st whole day of competition is on the way of the beijing winter olympics. nearly 3000 athletes are in a strict bubble because of cope with 19 foreigners are not allowed to attend. the games have also been shadowed by concerns of human rights abuses. david stokes reports from g. olympia couldn't long way cry more. ah, after a troubled build up the 24th winter olympics have officially begun in beijing? the venue for friday's opening ceremony was the birds nest stadium originally built for the summer olympics, back in 2008. it's the 1st city ever so spoke the winter and summer games. dear

fellow olympians, your olympic stage is set you are for i fear after overcoming so many challenges. but vow your moment this come the moment you have been longing for like the tokyo olympics last year. cobit 19 has given these games a different complexion that taking place inside a closed loop system, keeping competitors and staff away from the general public athletes must get tested for carbon 19 daily. and there were no foreign fans with only a small handpick domestic audience allowed to attend. some of the world's best winter athletes are unable to compete after testing positive. this is not tougher than injury because you aren't putting yourself out. let's take the risk. it's just the risk is everywhere around us, and i really feel for those athletes, i can't, i can't even imagine how it must be to day 4 years of work and then at the last minute. so had that taken away by something that's out of your control. several

world leaders have traveled to beijing for the games, but other nations including the u. s. britain and canada have declared a diplomatic boycott over china's human rights record. specifically, its treatment of muslim wages, china to noise human rights abuses. the people's republic of china is perpetrating a campaign of gross human rights violations, including janet sought over the next 2 weeks as an urgent moral duty to shine a bright light on the many human rights violations being perpetrated by the host nation. beijing 2022 organized as say the games will be carbon neutral. oh, venues will be powered by renewable energy. and 5 of them have been repurposed from 2008. but with very little slow, full will. the 200000000 liters of water have been used to generate fake powder for the alpine locations. let's not be name. you know, artificial snow is used in a consistent way for decades. you all in

a winter, a competitive sport. what is really important life for any other activities that sir we, we practice is to try to do it in the most efficient way. with the lead up to the olympics dominated by politics and cove. 19, most of the athletes will have the focus now shifted to the action. why as nearly 3000 competitors from 91 nations, quite to take home a gold medal. david stokes al jazeera, the russian president was one of 20 world leaders to attend the winter olympics opening ceremony. vladimir putin. l talks with his chinese counterpart, she jing ping, they announced a strategic partnership described by the leaders as quote, unprecedented katrina. ye reports from begging that in a putin and she didn't ping standing shoulder to shoulder showing what they describe as an unshakable bond. the leaders of russia and china met ahead of the opening of the winter olympics invade. ching, it's the 1st time president she has met

a foreign counterpart in person. since the beginning of the pandemic struggle, certainly zulu, thoroughly hitler, or a spirit of friendship and the strategic partnership. her route, the unprecedented levels. banjo or maria ad there. so she went to olympics 80 years ago, we promised to meet again. we have kept that promise. the leaders signed a joint statement, presenting a united front on a range of foreign policy issues. they called for nato to end its expansion and for the military alliance to abandon it's so cold, cold war approach. they also denounced the orca security alliance between the united states, britain and australia, and the formation of further blocks in the asia pacific. the statement comes as both russia and china experience souring ties with the u. s. and it's western and european allies. but doris allies are also at odds. they see that the west is not speaking with one voice, and i am hudson ah division. so this benefit spoke,

russia and china. the visit comes as tensions escalate over the presence of more than $100000.00 russian soldiers on its border with ukraine. washington is threatening to impose tough sanctions on moscow. should its forces invade. they ging says russia security concerns are legitimate the intentionally, yeah, here is to send a very clear message to the west. that's russia has options that russia china relationship is a possible alternative for, for moscow that is, is not going to be backed into a corner. and leaders are expected to find 15 agreements on issues ranging from trade to technology during putin's visit. russia will increase gas applies to china, and has announced a 30 year contract for a new pipeline between the 2 nations. china already received gas through what's name to the power of siberia pipeline that began pumping supplies in 2019 economic

support from china could undermine any western method to punish any possible russian incursion in crane. but unless say, an even bigger concern, is it possible deepening a military corporation between moscow and they do? she didn't being has often spoken of his deep friendship with vladimir putin who was the 1st major leader to confirm his attendance at the beijing winter olympics. the u. s u k. canada and australia have not sent officials to the vet in protest against china's human rights record. katrina, you al jazeera, they drank still to come here on out to 0, while the u. s. republican party is censoring to its own members of the capitol hill. ryans and the african union will hold its 1st in person summit since the beginning of the pandemic with twos and corona virus. high on the agenda, ah,

where the arctic meets the tropics, and that's the case with these 2 air masses in the us southern states, the moment get dramatic with always he gets married. you know about this significant storm rain where it's warm in between the 2 freezing rain and of course is enough energy difference here to spin up some pretty stove. a rare tornado cited with this damage and soil in alabama. toast tonight because the snapped trees had in texas snows. no. dallas got caught in houston, but it's certainly cold that far south. now mentioned the sun will do its work even in february and things will my to bit so data cease temperatures rise steadily to about 8 degrees, but normally it should be 17 light times by 5. you're seeing nighttime temperature by day as a best guess. that during sunday there'll be significant rain again in florida, potential flooding here. but really the systems don't offshore. what's best on the

ground, different matters, still disruptive, more snow to come for parts of ontario. otherwise, sunshine is predominant to the south for that cold air leaks who hans, the shower big chassis, likely mexico, and probably guatemala as a result of attempted difference. and it's still raining in his span urinals, which is it was with hasn't entirely dried up south that still a potential forbid or flooding in kito and parts of protocol. i gotta one of the fastest growing nations in the world, news bonnie casa needed to open and development, whole into national shipping company to become a p middle east. and pub trade and money, skilfully, mcdowell, 3 key areas of develop. oh, filling up from it. so connecting the world, connecting the future, wanted cato cutters,

gateway to whoa trade. ah ah, exactly 15 minutes past 3, g m t, your top stories, more than half the un security council has condemned north korea for his recent missile launches 8 nations including the u. s. and the u. k. both describing it as a significant escalation. china is calling for dialogue. the u. s. is waving some sanctions on iraq civilian nuclear program as talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal . and to a critical stage, former president donald trump ended the waiver in 2021st day of competition is underway at the beijing when to games. strict corona virus measures are in place 10

nations have staged a diplomatic boycott because of human rights abuses. for us, vice president mike penn says dismissed claims by donald trump that he could have overturned the results of the 2020 election. mr. pence said he couldn't think of anything more on america. and i heard this week, the president trump said i had the right to overturn the election. the president trump is wrong. i had no right to overturn the election. the presidency belongs to the american people and the american people alone. and frankly, there is no idea more on american than the notion than any one person could choose . the american president, the us republican national committee, has voted to sense yet to politicians from its own ranks. their list cheney and adam kinsey, they're accused of defying party leadership by taking part in the investigation

into the january. the 6th riots. republican politicians have described those events as legitimate political discourse and they have largely boycotted the inquiry. let's talk now to jason nicole's in elliot city in the us state of maryland. he's a democratic strategist. jason, welcome back. trying to get your thoughts upon this evolving story. so mister pence, his posterior must be a lot more comfortable than it used to be because he's not sitting on the fence anymore on this cuz i guess he can't sit on the fence on this anymore. right. i think, you know, as you said, a. 1 pensive rejection of donald trump's lies about the 2020 election should have happened long ago. and what's extraordinary about this, peter, is that it took this long, and he's been clearly positioning himself for 2024 run at the presidency. so this was just as much about beginning to stake a path for his political future as it was about telling the truth. and he'll likely have to stand on a stage across from donald trump during the republican primary. and we'll have to

look strong and principal and can avoid this topic, and he did it in a politically expedient environment. he did it in front of the federalist society. these are not people who are going to throw tomatoes. these are people who are supposedly devoted to the constitution, but it was also important though i don't want to downplay the importance of hearing . a man who was closest to donald trump in the white house acknowledged that january 6th was a dark day in american history. as far as january, the 6th being a dark day, how many people tell me, jason, how many people across america really view the events of january the 6 as political discourse as opposed to an attempt to coo? cuz that's really what it was. surely it was an attempt to qu at the doors of democracy on capitol hill in your capital city. you know, it's a sad moment in my country, peter, because i believe that

a large minority of our country believes that this was political discourse, or at the very least, ugh, thinks that the violence came from other sources. they believe conspiracy theories that perhaps the f b i instigated the violence. so it's, it's really, we're in a very, very difficult place right now as a nation and our democracy is very fragile. ah, because people don't believe what they can clearly see that this was a violent insurrection. this was an attempt, as you said, it was an attempted coo and trying to destroy our democratic institutions. and that is the beginning of the, the end. i think i'm very afraid for my country because we've seen other great nations go down this path and it never ends well to separate what you're saying, jason, you seem to be saying that we could in theory be, will 18 months or 2 years away from a republican candidate debate televised on you'll, you'll big mainstream tv networks there. well,

we've got donald trump squaring off against mike pence and a couple of others. one assumes to get the republican nomination, but people will then be asked to vote. again, not on donald trump's policy is not on donald trump, the politician, but either to vote full or against the idea of candidate from as the man going for who is not what he it's that's correct. but you know, donald trump, unfortunately the republican party right now is still donald trump's 40 people seem to still believe in him. he still has strong support, although i believe it is waning on some level. and he does have some challenges in the republican party, but the soul of the republican party is lost. and that is a dangerous thing when you have 35 percent of our country that is willing to believe that an election, a free and fair election that has been proven over and over again to be free and

fair. i believe that it was stolen. and so, as i said, we're in a dangerous place, there are media outlets that are feeding this narrative because of course, it nets them more profit. and i hope that we can start to change who arts and mines in our country. or, as i said, we're headed down a very dangerous and precarious path. jason, thank you so much, jason nichols. they're talking to us from eliot city, maryland. thank you. peter. hong kong is facing increasing pressure to shift away from its no tolerance approach to the pandemic. as omicron casey's reach record levels. economists to warning failing to relax restrictions could jeopardize the regions role as a financial hub. brit clinic reports from hong kong. hong kong is known as asia's world city, that economists a warning that could soon change the territory as keeping in line with a 0 covey policy adopted by mainland china. locked downs and mass testing are

common place and social distancing. restrictions have been extended, at least until mid february. people have been suffering a lot in the past 2 years and i doubt whether people can stand another 23 years in the current state. so to me, this is definitely not ideal. according to a report by the european chamber of commerce, hong kong international isolation could extend into 2024, or until mainland china reopened to the world. experts say, hong kong reputation could suffer long lasting damage given that to the hong kong. if the financial help, if the headquarters for many multinational firms in a region and for many expects will want to come to hong kong. but if they're discouraged by this policy, it is going to make hong kong last international. hong kong is one of the few places in the world, still maintaining its no tolerance approach to coven and sticking to mainland china policy. but as a 5th wave of infections sweep through the community,

followed by another round of restrictions, people here are increasingly questioning whether the strategies sustainable or not . a scandal over birthday party, attended by government officials, has done little to boost trust. on monday, hong kong home affairs, chief casper choice stepped down after missing he behaved inappropriately by attending the gathering last month. the government is also under pressure to boost vaccination rights among the elderly. currently it just over 30 percent with alma cron infections expected to serge following the lunar new year. festive period. getting infections to 0 is looking increasingly out of reach brit clinic al jazeera hong kong. thousands of people have been rallying in molly against the former colonial power france. they were celebrating the expulsion of the french ambassador . he was given 72 hours to leave off to the french foreign minister, described molly's military leaders as illegitimate and out to control the corona

virus pandemic, and recent coups, a top of the agenda to, to day summits of the african union leaders on the pressure to increase the number of africans hooping vaccinated. madeau has more now from addis ababa of the african union had quarters in the philippines capital. the fust summit with b point instead of a video link in more than 2 years. the newly established africa center for disease control, africa, c, d. c, is leading efforts to keep the 2 days summit covered free. the decision to hold a summit in possum. since the advent of brother pandemic was take him with the express decision that we're going to make it safe. top on the summits agenda is how to step up books in ation against corporate 19 in the continent. although covet vaccine supplies enough recoveries and significantly the continent is struggling to expand roll out with only 11 percent of the population

fully vaccinated. african heads of state and government gathered here will also discuss another epidemic of multiple who's in the continent. emboldened by popular hunger was of the can military leaders in miley gillian brooke, in a fossil of cut it out folk whose in 18 months they followed military takeovers instead, done and church in 2002, and one more than 115000000 africans that to day living under the rule of soldiers who illegally seized power, lovick and union with it's often much hyped slogan of africans. solutions to africa . problems has been unable to do much to tackle what sama calling on a p demco, whose the now increasing calls for more auction from the continental body. there is such as of cruise has a loved was the because remaining civilian didas on friday, cold and emergence is some of the regional economic community of west african states. of course,

miss not really fall into the illusion that the military takeover will solve the problem. they cannot solve the problem and that will not solve the problem. because we have seen it in the past. the african union suspended molly guinea burkina faso had done but not chad. some analysts worn. the double standards could hop dire consequences. there is a break down into official contract between the government and the people. the governments are not delivering for the people, but the benefits of economic growth a going to those who are ready to reach on the poor, continue to poor on the marginalized, continue to be marginalized with many african nations facing major security threats . relentless humanitarian disasters and millions of young people with no prospects producing the number of who might be up told of for the after communion. mohammed i do elders eda, i disobey few p. fighting between rival rebel groups and columbia is making it impossible for politicians to campaign for next months. congressional elections for

the 1st time voting includes so called special electoral districts for peace created under the fog p steel. and the sandra ron petty has more farmer and congressional candidate to join the live the horror of columbia conflict. first hands a local victim leader. he's running for office for a special electoral district for peace created to give a voice to under represented people like him. but the return of violent confrontation between arm groups in at ok has made campaigning impossible vicinity . i meant there were some we are just sitting still trying to work in the village, talking to friends, knocking on doors when possible. more than 60 people have been killed since the beginning of the year in a conflict between 11 rebels and dissident groups of 4 or 5 gravels. we had planned to follow giovanni, handing out flyers and visiting

a perspective voter. but as we were leaving, he had a change of heart. but he said, yeah, when i was, i don't think we should be a nice thing for me to take you around town and be on the news telling people what my plan is. what i want to do if i win, but right now will put us at risk the little campaigning that is happening is limited to the main urban center. that's because all candidates are saying it's just too dangerous to travel to rural areas, even on main roads like this one. because the groups are known to set up checkpoints at any time. the situation is also affecting regular candidates. older cassidy's was running for a traditional seat in the house of representatives has campaigned in at alca for years, initial momentum that we are putting our lives in the crossfire to campaign. and we accept silencing ourselves and confinement to try to sustain democracy. but unless, man, he says the situation is as bad as at the height of the conflict. he's running most

of his campaign on social media. go. yeah, it was organizing a meeting in for to is impossible going to the town of life where i was a teacher and getting 4050 people together, also impossible. the local human rights official says political and social leaders have become the main targets of the arm groups and pop in on paper. everything is great. the government has full filling its obligation to the victims who can vote and these elections. but the reality on the ground is the opposite. when people can't exercise their rights, when i'm running a political campaign in the conflict ridden region like alco was never easy, but this time was supposed to be different. instead, threats and attacks are once again silencing this already marginalized voices. allison, that m p a t t and jesse, you know, historic bridge in the dutch city of rotterdam could be dismantled to allow a cpr built for the amazon boss. jeff, base us to pass by the city is considering

a request from a ship builder for the bridge to be taken down temporarily. if approved, the billionaire would have to cover the cost that y'all will be the largest in the world with half a $1000000000.00 to vacate feel over. i think it's a bit of a 1st because in fact only the middle part needs to be removed temporarily. and yes, okay, it's an old bridge, so it's a bit vulnerable. so i hope everything will be fine. i think it's a bit of a shame to dismantle the breach just for some persons private property to pass through it. ah, this is al jazeera, these are the top stories, more than half the un security council has condemned north korea for its recent missile launches, 8 nations including the us and the u. k. described it as a significant escalation. china is calling for dialog.