not a reality runs a form of slaves on the phone, but pharma players will they be able to sit down to debit of the table of brotherhood. i have a dream. my dream is that people may my daughter to young. people just have a full voice and don't feel tired today because of their race or ethnicity. ah, the you gives war torn ukraine candidate status to join the blog president below to marilyn's he hailed the decision as a unique and historical moment. ah, i'm how much of room this is al jazeera alive from don't also coming up a victory for the gun lobby in the u. s. the supreme court declares carrying guns in public in the state of new york,

a constitutional rights desperate please for international help as survivors of afghanistan's earthquake struggle for food, shelter, and water. and indigenous protesters in ecuador celebrate as they take over a cultural center, sealed off by the military. ukraine has taken a major step towards membership of the european union. after the leaders of member states voted to give the war torn country e u. candidate status. president volota mars lensky has hailed the decision as historic. moldova has been given, the same status is the 1st step in what can be a long application process. but as natasha butler reports from e u headquarters in brussels, it sends a strong message to russia. ah, just days after russia began its invasion of ukraine, keith applied to join the european union. 4 months later, you leaders at

a summit in brussels, approved the request, and put you crane on the path to future membership. we have decided to grint to the through through ukraine and moldova. then you are ready to grant to the suitors to georgia. once priorities will be addressed, there can be no batch, a sign of hope for the citizens of ukraine mould of an georgia in these troubled times. ukraine's president of anatomy zalinski cooled the eas decision, a unique and historical moment in relations. we have just received the european union candidacy. this is a victory. we've been waiting for this 120 days of the war. and even 30 years of our independence. it usually takes years for a country to gain candidate status after applying. some you official said fast tracking the process would prove the block solidarity with ukraine as a defense itself against russian attacks. a sentiment echoed by the head of

ukraine's mission to the e. u and a gathering in the city. it's important for the whole country for the whole society, and it's important also for the granular army to have a clear reason what we are fighting for. we are fighting for the future. we are fighting for the modern, independent sovereign european country. becoming a candidate country is only a step to be granted. membership is a long and arduous process. the could take many years. some western balkan countries have been waiting for more than a decade for progress on fe. you beds, leaders from the region. we're also in brussels to urge you officials to speed up the process north, macedonia, albania, serbia, and montenegro are all candidate countries the world to achieve full membership. we definitely support the candidacy status. we're ukraine. we also support the candidate status formal dover. we are very thrilled at the georgia is also being

given the european perspective. but we also ask our european partners not to forget about all, leave the western balkans behind the eas approval with keith county to see since a storm message, not only to ukraine, but also to russia, but despite moscow's fire, power and efforts. keith is determined to look west. natasha butler, al jazeera brussels. the conditions that need to be met for countries wishing to join the european union are known as the copenhagen criteria. each potential new member country must have stable institutions, the guarantee democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for an protection of minorities. they must have a functioning economy and be able to compete within the e u. and they need to take on and implement membership obligations including accepting the euro currency. charl, stratford is in the ukranian capital, keith,

he says ukrainians are hearing mixed messages from russia on the e u decision. in the last few days, we've heard messages from the kremlin the spokesperson for the kremlin dmitri a pest golf a few days ago saying that so the russians were very concerned about ukraine's move closer towards europe. specifically, he said because of the deals that are being made in terms of weapons supplies from european and nato members. but then in the last couple of days, we heard from the president vladimir putin who seemed to imply and st. petersburg that he didn't have a problem with with, with this a possibly a face saving statement made by him because the fact remains that the fighting now is arguably heavier in the east than it has been since this war started. it's been described as a battle of artillery heavy shelling in multiple locations most focus in and around that city of civil than it's one of 2 cities that the russians do not yet control

in lieu guns province. so ukrainians very much up against it in the east. so today's decision in brussels of huge significance and an moral importance for this country. the gun lobby in the united states has won a significant court victory just weeks after a string of mass shootings. the u. s. supreme court has ruled that the century old gun laws in new york state violate the 2nd amendment right to bear arms and must be relaxed. christmas salumi has more from new york arrests for gun crimes in new york or at a 28 year high, a racially motivated shooting in the city of buffalo. recently left 10 people dead . and now gun control activists say the violence is only going to get worse. the supreme court has ruled new york's law requiring anyone who wants to carry a concealed handgun show what is known as proper cause is unconstitutional. justice clarence thomas wrote the 63 page decision. he says,

the constitution protects an individual's right to carry a handgun for self defense. outside the home. the decision was based on a case brought by the new york state rifle and pistol association. criminals are the ones that are causing the crimes in the cities, not, not legal, gun owners, not lawful people, because it's a decision. new york elected officials were bracing for and they didn't hold back their criticism at the court's decision. this decision isn't just reckless. it's reprehensible, it's not what new yorkers want. this keeps me up at night. new york's mer says it will set back efforts to rain in gun crime, an gun deaths. former police officer, kirk burke halter agrees when the impact will be more guns on the streets of new york. and i am of the opinion that does not make a city. this populace safer. and here's why. even trained law enforcement offers, trained military personnel quite often don't hit what they aim and we see this all

the time throughout the country, right? innocent bystanders, children, the elderly and silkworm that is struck by straight bullets who are unintended targets. the ruling comes in the wake of high profile, now shootings at a time when pull show, the majority of americans prefer stricter gun control laws. the decision will impact not only new york but other states with similar restrictions including connecticut, massachusetts, and california. the ruling is a setback for gun control. advocates who advanced legislation to tighten gun laws at the state and federal level. states need to be able to make laws that protect their communities. new york is not like montana new york officials are promising to pass new legislation to restrict guns insensitive locations that will satisfy the courts and keep their citizens safe. kristin salumi al jazeera, new york. sonia coleman is an organizer at stop hand gun violence. she joins us

from boston. sonya, thanks for coming on the show with us. how big a set back is this for gun control advocates. ah, i would say that it's going to make it harder on the states to make sure that their existing lines are any new laws that they're going to possess that will satisfy with the current a ruling has been. and sonia the supreme court has deemed unconstitutional. this decades old, new york state law that requires gun owners to show proper cause to carry a concealed handgun for self defense in public. i'm from your perspective, is this ruling going to apply in the same way in different states? no, it was one 0. so every state has a different loss because we're not, there isn't a federal law that determines how licensing should be presented. so

every state is different. massachusetts is different or not like new york. and so it will go state by state as far as what the risk is. sonya is this ruling going to have an impact on the bi partisan gun control legislation that lawmakers i have been trying to pass? no, it should definitely not have an impact on what the senate was has been working on the last couple days that they are probably going to be boning on its night. it is a separate situation. all right. sonya coleman, who is an organizer, stop hand gun violence. thanks so much for your time. sure, thank you. 24 democratic senators have written to us president joe biden, telling him to get washington directly involved in the investigation into the murder of al jazeera journalist. should ina barkley terrain was shot dead by

israeli forces on the 11th of may while on assignment in jeanine in the occupied west bank or white house correspond? kimberly how kit has more on the letter. there's a big reason why these democratic senators are looking for the white house and, and the united states to get directly involved in the investigation into the death of sure. you never claim that is in large part because of the mistrust that exists between the israelis and palestinians. we know that there have been investigations that have been conducted on both sides, but given the fact that there is such a deep distrust and given the fact that also the there have been conclusions and investigations that have been conducted by the media that really call into question the conclusions of the israeli investigations and other words that the really have concluded that in fact, it was not there and israeli bullet that killed sheree and ever play. and in fact,

media investigations as well as the policy investigation, conclude just the opposite. that there is, in fact, some deep distrust with these conclusions. and that is the reason that these democratic centers saved the united states must get directly involved in order to get the transparency and the full accountability that the secretary state entity blinking has promised that the united states will seek to try and achieve still ahead on al jazeera, endless allegations of voter frogs, the u. s. house committee on january 6th. here's how donald trump put pressure on the justice department. climate change, poverty and conflict. push millions of people to the brink of starvation in ethiopia. ah, the journey has begun. the fee for world copies on its way to catherine book,

your travel package to day. hello. we got some really heavy rain pushing across the northeast in parts of china, or at the moment you see this long line of cloud which runs down across the korean peninsula. associated with this area of low pressure and the may you front, the seasonal from which is very active, some big and foundry down pause could lead to some localized flooding. dismantle central parts. the good news with southern air is, is it is largely dry over the next couple of days where the will be one or 2 showers should make a way into the weekend, but nothing like the kind of heavy rain that we've seen recently. so that where to weather that'll make its way across western parts of japan as we go on through sat stay, try to get across the mountain, sheltered by the mountains. tokyo lottie drive little here beside, tbs, here at around a 30 degrees celsius and the showers weakening by the end of the day. and then you go, you can see those showers into the far southeast of china, but your showers crossing though china, some very heavy downpours lightly over the next day or 2 in the northern parts of

the philippines is gradually clear through good scattering of showers across malaysia and also into indonesia. plenty of showers. meanwhile, across much of in the hour we have got. so the monsoons made his way a good deal further north. now lottie drive towards the northwest and into pakistan, showers not as heavy as of late for the northeast. the wettest weather for the western gats cats are airways official airline of the journey. the hillbilly, the harmonies caricature or a malicious label denying of people their culture to justify the exploitation of their natural resources. that the batting, hunger thing has been so successful that even people in the region leave the field type then becomes danger. it's only a region of trash. so why not trash it? what's in a name hillbilly, a witness documentary on al jazeera. ah

ah, you're watching al jazeera, a reminder of our top stories. the sour ukraine is taking a major step towards membership of the european union. after the leaders of member states voted to give the war torn country e. u. candidate status. president, a lot of years lensky has hailed the decision as historic. the u. s. supreme court has handed down a landmark victory to gun rights advocates. it ruled that restrictions put in place by new york state on carrying concealed handguns and public are unconstitutional. the u. s. house select committee is holding its 5th hearing into last year, storming of the capital building, and whether then president donald trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential

election results. the former acting deputy attorney general robert donahue described how he responded during the near daily discussions between trump and members of the justice department about allegations of voter fraud. i felt in that conversation that was incumbent on one on me to make it very clear to the president what our investigations had revealed. and that we had concluded based on actual investigations, actual witness interviews, actual reviews of documents that these allegations simply hadn't almera. and i want to try to cut through the noise because it was clear to us that there are a lot of people whispering in his ear, feeding him these conspiracy theories and allegations. and i felt up being very blunt in that conversation might help make it clear to the present at these allegations were simply not true from capitol hill, heidi joe castro has more on what was learned from the days. testimonies between around christmas time and the january 6 riot that unfolded here. the president was

on the phone or in personal meetings with top officials and the department of justice almost daily save on christmas itself. and that this campaign was to pressure the department of justice to without evidence claim that there was loder fraud and that the election had been stolen, which essentially is a lie. and when those officials refused to cooperate with the former president's request, then were told of an extraordinary meeting at the white house which happened 3 days before the riot in which trump essentially pitted his own man. a person, a lawyer within the department of justice, up low ranking official who was really the only person he found, willing to play ball with his unfounded allegations. his name was jeff clark and trump wanted to elevate clark to be the top boss of the department of justice, the acting attorney general. and at this meeting, it was fitted between clark and the actual attorney general. jeff rosen who

essentially had to fight for their jobs. rosen told the president, at the time he was on the witness stand today, saying that he refused to comply and, and, and assist in reading the live at the election had been stolen. and that trump would have fired him save for one thing. that's because he and his aids at the dark part of justice went armed with the knowledge that if rose and were fired and replaced with clark, there would be a mass resignations at the department of justice. and they told trump of firing. rosen may result in hundreds of d, o j employees in washington, in across the nation resident resigning in protest. and that ultimately made an impact on trump who pulled back on the plan. their urgent appeals for international help, after afghanistan's most destructive earthquake in 20 years. at least 1500 people had been killed and entire villages reduced to rubble. people in practical province

are desperate for food, shelter and drinking water. aid is trickling in, but it's not enough. given the scale of the disaster. ali latifah reports earlier today we saw worlds food program trucks passing by. we know that the international rescue committee has started deploying more mobile medical units, but the assistance is still slow to come. we're currently at the pack the army corps, and here on the tarmac is where helicopters will land and transport, the injured 2 ambulances that will then take them to the regional hospital here. but once they get to the regional hospital here, it's another issue in the hospital doesn't have proper emergency equipment and it may not be able to treat head to injuries. and so in that case, they will have to go by land to the city of kabul, which is another 4 or 5 hours away. so again, it shows sort of in this disaster setting, the kinds of shortcomings with which government is currently operating,

extremely urgent. you know, we were talking to a pilot earlier who was piloting one of the aircraft. and he was saying that when he land unpacked the call, you know, hundreds of people just warm towards the helicopter, trying to get their think and injured on board. trying to get attention trying to get out and get to a better hospital as much as much possible. and he was saying that as many as the people who come and seek help to, to get out into the city, the city of guys is there just as many still trapped under the rubble. and obviously the assistance was hindered yesterday by the inclement weather. and then that also impact, you know, the condition of the people that are being treated. a lot of people may have died just by being stuck under the rubble. other, you know, are facing serious medical conditions because of how long the speaking them to get to a proper hospital, whether that be these or if they have to be transported to so they need helicopters for sure that that's one major issue with helicopters. come and go once every hour or so, but they can only take so many people with them out of time. so the more they are

there are because the roads are so difficult to get to. and because yesterday, you know, there was rain and hail that there would be flooding and landslides and things like that. they really need air support. at the moment the you and security council received a special briefing on the situation in afghan. a stan gabriel elizondo was following events and has more from united nations headquarters in new york. the humanitarian situation in afghanistan, his grave. that was the key message from top un officials to security council members. in what was a regularly scheduled meeting to discuss the overall situation in the country. but given the recent devastating earthquake, the immediate humanitarian conditions obviously were front and center. search and rescue operations remain ongoing. that it is expected that the number of casualties will probably be on the coming days along the number of communities. i'm sure you

do agree that yesterday earthquake was a tragic reminder media dangers which are facing some people at this time. the un estimates there are about 24000000 people in afghanistan or about half the country that are in need of humanitarian assistance. just to survive. the un already has the f ganna stand, humanitarian response plan. they're asking for about $4400000000.00 in an annual budget, but they've only received about one 3rd of that. meaning that they are on pace to potentially run out of money by the end of the year at a time when this money is needed, the most. we traced a $3000000000.00 funding for the last 6 months this year. i think probably i got it is and i was difficult situation in terms of the gap between funding and needs anywhere in the world. in a country where an earthquake has exacerbated already dire humanitarian conditions

calls from the united nations headquarters to rally the world's attention. iran has dismissed the powerful chief of the revolutionary guard intelligence service. stay tv reported her st times dismissal, but gave no further details. tire worked at the office of iran supreme leader on the company before becoming the guard intelligence chief in 2009 is being replaced by mohammed kazi, me, who has previously been the head of the revolutionary guards intelligence protection unit. indigenous protesters in ecuador have taken over a cultural centre in kito that had been sealed off by the security forces for a week after 11 days of a nationwide strike against government policies and the rising cost of living. the occupation has been celebrated as a victory by the protesters. the house of culture has traditionally given shelter to indigenous demonstrators when they come to the capital. but the government had blocked access as it strives to contain the protests. our latin america editor

lucio newman, is following the protests in quito. this crisis is becoming more and more complex by the minute. certainly. by the day it's actually the 12th day. and what you see behind me are members of the army in their full riot gear. they are basically the 1st line of defense leading up to the presidential palace about 3 blocks in front of reason. that direction is where very, very fierce clashes between riot police and protests were taking place. just a few minutes ago we've come from there. the testers had been asking, they have a 10 point. dement is going to say this of demand and the among the large, lower entries, the price of fuel to, to improve health, education and, and pensions for the people, especially the indigenous farmers home. the confederation of indigenous peoples of

ecuador represent they are the ones who are leading this, this national strike, but the others have joined them at this point it's, it's paralyzed in the countries. certainly the city, there's nobody, everything is shot. there's no traffic, there's no public transport there, shortages of a petrol cooking, gas of fresh food. and it doesn't look that there's going to be any solution to this anytime soon. the president had asked for a dialogue to take place, and as a sign of a conciliatory gesture, the 1st one. since this all began, he allowed the indigenous confederation to take back the house of culture as it's called. that is going to rain. yes. so you'll have to, you'll have to, excuse me, the house of culture, which is where they normally gather in an unprecedented move. the president had ordered the police to take it over. but that hasn't really quite passions very much at all. the president says he wants to talk about the 10 lists of these 10 demands, but they've been talking for the last year and the confederation says they don't

trust the president to really want to do more than just by, by sitting down with them again, u. k. prime minister boris johnson has met with her wanton president palka gummy, to discuss the migrant deal between their 2 countries. the agreement involves britain deporting asylum seekers to the east african country and has been widely criticized for breaching human rights standards and protocols. malcolm, malcolm webb has more from kigali, british prime minister, boris johnson and rwandan president pool academy of mac and spoken about the asylum seekers deportation deal. also in garley right now is the case print, child who's here representing the queen of the united kingdom, here with the commonwealth heads of government meeting and 2 days before traveling . here, prince charles described deportees seal as a pulling come on the widespread criticism in the u. k and beyond some people say

the u. k, neglecting it ethical and legal obligations to give those people a chance to apply for asylum in the u. k. is also shown spotlights on one, the human rights record, which is something even the u. k. itself has been critical of last year over to you and human rights meeting in geneva, the u. k. said it was concerned about torture, enforce disappearances, and killing of critics and political opponents. every one of it's in the refugee deal is been on the table. the u. k for what he paid about a $150000000.00 to run the case on quiet about that. and certainly for his johnson, prince charles and the commonwealth meeting over here happening here. this week is going to be seen by many as a glowing endorsement on the part of the you. k for president polka gummy. and his government, millions of people in ethiopia are in urgent need of food aid. the nation is facing its worst route in 40 years. and the conflict in the northern to gray region is

effecting a delivery humanitarian organizations say they're running out of money to provide relief. here. morgan reports. ready this classroom in a day my had my day school in if you p as nothing to grow region. now host people displaced by conflict. test flight is a farmer who was forced to flee his home when his village was attacked during the start of the we're in november of 2020. he and his family members. now live here along with other families and rely on food aid to survive. now we fled our homes and came here because the militia started killing and destroying dollar, even in our land. they started killing people and looting homes. as we witnessed this happening, we were shot out, but luckily we escaped. betty gray conflict has displaced millions of people and left many more in need of aid aid organization have been able to access to great in recent weeks. the hundreds of thousands are facing families and more than 20

percent of children under 5 or malnourished. the conflicts has spread beyond pig right into neighboring, i'm horror, and a far regions. hundreds of thousands there have been forth from their homes and are now facing food shortages. and climate change in the horn of africa has worth the humanitarian crisis. in parts of a few young floods last year in on dated most of the grazing lands in southern if you're an insufficient rainfall this year has resulted in drought killing life, talk and displacing thousands of pastoralists who rely on him for living. the world . food program says it doesn't have enough money to provide sufficient help and it's food and nutritional supplies may run out by next month. the agency says it's already reduced some of its assistance programs to focus on those most in need. people have been severely affected by the people have been displaced there, lost everything, people are trying to go back. and this is a very, very crucial moment because people are expecting and leave people and not be

in the field. if they cannot, did the kids, the time, energy resources to, to get on shipped, that we are headed to what's another disaster with those in conflict areas unable to go back home and farm. and those displays by drought losing their livelihoods. millions more could be at greater risk. he bought morgan alta, xerox. ah, this is al jazeera and these are the top stories. ukraine has taken a major step towards membership of the european union. after the leaders of member states voted to give the war torn country e u. candidate status president followed amelia lensky has hailed the decision as historic, although by has been given the same status. the u. s. supreme court has handed down a landmark victory to.