g.c.c. summit has finished in saudi arabia with no firm agreement on how to resolve simmering disagreements between member states murder of saudi journalists and the saudi led blockade on qatar two of the issues that are or shadowed the meeting or so now i don't know if. we have faced a lot of challenges and on top of the of the different. between g.c.c. nations we need not to risk the interests of our peoples the peoples of the g.c.c. council states the g.c.c. must not be hesitant we need to keep our situation firm stand firm and we need to be able to face the challenges in our region china has summoned the u.s. ambassador in beijing to protest the detention of an executive from chinese tech giant weiwei language oh was arrested in canada last week at the request of the us which accuses her of violating sanctions against iran the canadian courts are deciding whether to extradite her also closed in armenia's first parliamentary elections a landslide victory is expected for the acting prime m

g.c.c. it was after all a regional grouping that was designed to counter iranian policies. well only in zero zero zero p. g.c.c. is of one of those products of the united states iran the full be a policy that started after these lawmakers aleutian in iran and through a misuse of some slogans and mulattoes and causes of the islamic revolution that was stated by iranian officials that's why some arab states especially slowly arabia and you know its allies in the out of war supported saddam hussein against iran in that war are the same climate was a spreading in the region all throughout the last several decades thanks to the united states israel and saudi arabia that have been trying to use of regional capacities and potentials against iran to harness iran to actually stop iran's growth and strike at iran's economy and political dominance and influence in the region but the p. g.c.c. is. you know a failure actually because of that iran a phobia has now changed into us all before via because of

g.c.c. nevertheless the saudi king said fail to even mention it during his opening remarks instead choosing to focus on iran and other issues. that were. witnesses. that we all know we face to resume and iranian policy we also need to stop these come from at the feeling into the affairs of our country this is the second summit to take place since the blockade on qatar began the last one was held in kuwait which has been the leading mediation between the two sides on that's occasion shift. ended while the blockading nations leaders refused to show up and despite failing to solve the g.c.c. crisis a mere it seems has not given up i don't know if we have faced a lot of challenges and on top of them or of the differences between our g.c.c. nations we need not to risk the interests of our peoples the peoples of the g.c.c. council states the g.c.c. must not be hesitant we need to keep our situation firm. and we need to be able to face the challenges in our region. a core reason for the success of

g.c.c. has met in saudi arabia but the blockade of the war in yemen but a journalist's moda overshadowed the summit can this powerful six nation block survive what does the future hold this is inside story. a welcome to the program i'm adrian finnegan leaders at officials from six gulf nations of met in the saudi capital riyadh to discuss cooperation from the economy to security but its regional disunity that's hanging over the summit in his opening address saudi arabia's king solomon didn't mention the blockade of cost by his country and to other g.c.c. member states bus it's that dispute the war in yemen and the diplomatic crisis surrounding the murder of the saudi journalist the shuttering the event there was a plea however from leaders to work together. how would you know if. the gulf cooperation council states is working for the prosperity and solidarity and cohesion of these uses see gun trade is true of this country as all the ambitions will be achieved and we need all to work hard in

well g.c.c. is meeting in riyadh as we were saying in that meeting has appears to have exposed divisions between six members the emir of kuwait shakes us. address that head on using his speech to call for an end to disputes and hostility through media campaigns an obvious reference to the blockade of katsav by three members of course saudi arabia the u.a.e. and bahrain all have views that t.v. and newspaper outlets to criticize cas are heavily but kuwait is also in dispute with saudi arabia over revenues from a shared oil field and then of course there is the war in yemen catherine and us involved while kuwait and behinds roles a limited lack too has made it difficult for the g.c.c. to present a unified front saudi arabia is the largest country in the block and has traditionally been able to drive the agenda though the divisions there between member countries have impacted it's decision on the shale reports from kuwait city. as heads of states and leaders from the gulf cooperation council met at

g.c.c. has met in saudi arabia but the blockade of the war in yemen at a journalist's moda overshadowed the summit can this powerful six nation block survive what does the future hold this is inside story. a welcome to the program i'm adrian finnegan leaders and officials from six gulf nations have met in the saudi capital riyadh to discuss cooperation from the economy to security but its regional disunity that's hanging over the summit in his opening address saudi arabia's king solomon didn't mention the blockade of cost by his country and to other g.c.c. member states but it's that dispute the war in yemen and the diplomatic crisis surrounding the murder of the saudi journalist the the shuttering the event there was a plea however from leaders to work together. i would you know it through the gulf cooperation council states is working for the prosperity and solidarity and cohesion of these uses c. trade is true of this country as all the ambitions will be achieved and we need all to work h

a core reason for the success of the g.c.c.has been in its provision of free movement of people and goods between member states with the embargo and the council's inability to resolve the crisis there are those that question the future of the organization i don't think we can say confidently that the g.c.c. is dead i think it's more realistic to say that the g.c.c. is dormant right now possibly down the. road when circumstances in the region change you have different leaders in these countries possibly the g.c.c. will return to being a relevant institution in the middle east although that's certainly not possible right now given the culture crisis for the average person in the g.c.c. very little will change as a result of this summits the huge aspiration of them solve a single currency a nato style gulf defense force and a railway network connecting member states that were once on the agenda of meetings like these seem like distant memories now instead it would appear that simply being able to hold such a summit is seen by saud

council states the g.c.c. must not be hesitant we need to keep our situation firm stand firm and we need to be able to face the challenges in our region for a core reason for the success of the g.c.c. has been in its provision of free movement of people and goods between member states with the embargo on the council's inability to resolve the crisis there are those that question the future of the organization i don't think we can say confidently that the g.c.c. is dead i think it's more realistic to say that the g.c.c. is dormant right now possibly down the road when circumstances in the region change you have different leaders in these countries possibly the g.c.c. will return to being a relevant institution in the middle east although that's certainly not possible right now given the culture crisis for the average person in the g.c.c. very little will change as a result of this summits the huge aspiration of the soul of a single currency nato style gulf defense force and a railway network connecting member s

council states the g.c.c.must not be hesitant we need to keep our situation firm stand firm and we need to be able to face the challenges in our region. a core reason for the success of the g.c.c. has been in its provision of free movement of people and goods between member states with the embargo and ohio on the council's inability to resolve the crisis there are those that question the future of the organization i don't think we can say confidently that the g.c.c. is dead i think it's more realistic to say that the g.c.c. is dormant right now possibly down the road when circumstances in the region change you have different leaders in these countries possibly the g.c.c. will return to being a relevant institution in the middle east although that's certainly not possible right now given the culture crisis for the average person in the g.c.c. very little will change as a result of this summits the huge aspirations of a single currency nato style gulf defense force and a railway network connecting member states

a core reason for the success of the g.c.c. has been in its provision of free movement of people and goods between member states with the embargo in doha on the council's inability to resolve the crisis there. those that question the future of the organization i don't think we can say confidently that the g.c.c. is dead i think it's more realistic to say that the g.c.c. is dormant right now possibly down the road when circumstances in the region change you have different leaders in these countries possibly the g.c.c. will return to being a relevant institution in the middle east although that's certainly not possible right now given the culture crisis for the average person in the g.c.c. very little will change as a result of this summits the huge aspiration of the soviet single currency nato style dolph defense force in the railway network connecting member states that were once on the agenda of meetings like these seem like distant memories now instead it would appear that simply being able to hold such a summit is seen by sa

a core reason for the success of the g.c.c. has been in its provision of free movement of people and goods between member states with the embargo on the council's inability to resolve the crisis there are those that question the future of the organization i don't think we can say confidently that the g.c.c. is dead i think it's more realistic to say that the g.c.c. is dormant right now possibly down the road when circumstances in the region change you have different leaders in these countries possibly the g.c.c. will return to being a relevant institution in the middle east although that's certainly not possible right now given the crisis for the average person in the g.c.c. very. summits the huge. single currency. gulf defense force and the railway network connecting member states that were once on the agenda of meetings like these seem like this the memory is now instead it would appear that simply being able to hold such a summit is seen by saudi arabia and others as an achievement in and of itself. who waits beside the coal

the g.c.c. the gulf cooperation council summit is due to open in saudi arabia's capital riyadh a cattery delegation headed by the minister of state for foreign affairs been saad al reich is attending the summit could have major implications for the g c c's future saudi arabia is leading a blockade against katha which is the council's in a serious crisis in decades. armenians a voting in an historic early parliamentary election is the first vote since mass demonstrations earlier this year ended decades of one party rule the polls suggest a landslide for acting prime minister nicole passion yand he came to power in may after weeks of popular protests against corruption and cronyism and what became known as the velvet revolution robin for a ca walker has more from the capital yet of our. nicole passion and he's my step alliance are riding sky high in opinion polls and therefore they are expected to win by a significant majority in today's election and if that happens this will be the finishing touc

the leaders of stress the important goal of the g.c.c. to bring peace and stability to the region and to fight terrorism and extremism we need to face the challenges by boosting the values of tolerance and human rights in our region and to adhere to the law and principles to drive from our religion and culture we need to work with our international partners to get rid of terrorism in order to avoid regional and international conflicts we need to have a unified a vital foreign policy based on the principles of the g.c.c. our meszaros here he is al jazeera senior political analyst so those are nice words but is this all largely ceremonial at this point you know i got the feeling that not only that i've heard these words before not only the sounds like a cut and paste communique but in fact those where decisions taken in previous summits and they were included in final communiques in fact a lot of them as the communique said where for example conceived in two thousand and fifty and now we're just going to make sure we actually carry them out

council states the g.c.c.must not be hesitant we need to keep our situation firm stand firm and we need to be able to face the challenges in our region for a core reason for the success of the g.c.c. has been in its provision of free movement of people and goods between member states with the embargo in doha on the council's inability to resolve the crisis there are those that question the future of the organization i don't think we can say confidently that the g.c.c. is dead i think it's more realistic to say that the g.c.c. is dormant right now possibly down the road when circumstances in the region change you have different leaders in these countries possibly the g.c.c. will return to being a relevant institution in the middle east although that's certainly not possible right now given the culture crisis for the average person in the g.c.c. very little will change as a result of this summits the huge aspiration of a single currency nato style dolphin defense force and a railway network connecting member sta

smiles and calls for unity of the g.c.c. summit in saudi arabia but serious divisions look off from results. president to meet french unions as paris cleans up after a fall from weekend of protests and violence and the acting prime minister enjoying a commanding lead as the votes are counted in on me as a lot mock election. as in doha with madrid is hosting so america's biggest club football game the place and boca juniors are fighting it out for this year's couple of limited orders title will be live in the spanish capital. the fiance of murdered saudi journalist spoken exclusively to al-jazeera detailing her desire for those responsible to be brought to justice in her first interview since u.s. senators were briefed by the cia chief jane a hospital a teacher ginger has also said locating her fiance's body was a basic human right i don't know if i want to expose the details of this horrific crime i did defy the perpetrators and put those who carried it out on a fair trial including those who ordered the hit so they can rece

hasn't been g.c.c. rather hasn't been able to use the mechanisms within to resolve the crisis where economic free trade which is the core of that g.c.c. has essentially been obliterated because of the crisis and therefore it's very difficult to see how anything positive will come out of this some all right jim thanks for that jim are live in kuwait city where here in the studio with me is giorgio. the chief executive of gulf state analytics which analyzes risk an opportunity is among the g.c.c. nations interesting times aren't they given the amount of international attention international opprobrium actually being directed at saudi arabia because of its various activities in various to mainz how realistic is it do you think that there is enough pressure on riyadh to lift the blockade on cattle for instance. you know some people argue that if washington were to apply more pressure on the blockading countries this whole crisis would come to an end that may or may not be true but thus far the pressure whic

council states the g.c.c. must not be hesitant we need to keep our situation firm stand firm and we need to be able to face the challenges in our region. joins us now live from kuwait city we have a mare in his speech to the summit a call for unity but it's a miss and a very disunited gold body isn't it. indeed i mean the thing that is worrying people the most or has been worrying people the most have been monitoring the d.c.s. developments over the past year and a half is the fact that this cooperation has in and of itself mechanisms that's been designed in order to try and find a solution to when crises take place the fact that the g.c.c. has essentially been power lies because of the blockade on qatar imposed by saudi arabia united arab emirates and that these mechanisms haven't been used has been something of concern with regards to then posing a question of what purpose does this for the. service of the kuwaiti i mean was somebody who has always been leading attempts to try and find a mediation in fact th

council states the g.c.c. must not be hesitant we need to keep our situation firm stand firm and we need to be able to face the challenges in our region. a core reason for the success of the g.c.c. has been in its provision of free movement of people and goods between member states with the embargo in doha on the council's inability to resolve the crisis there are those that question the future of the organization i don't think we can say confidently that the g.c.c. is dead i think it's more realistic to say that the g.c.c. is dormant right now possibly down the road when circumstances in the region change you have different leaders in these countries possibly the g.c.c. will return to being a relevant institution in the middle east although that's certainly not possible right now given the culture crisis for the average person in the g.c.c. very little will change as a result of this summits the huge aspiration of the soul of a single currency nato style dolphin defense force and a railway network connecting

council states the g.c.c. must not be hesitant we need to keep our situation firm stand firm and we need to be able to face the challenges in our region. but i suspect syria mali academic and research are. joining us via skype mentioned to know how this summit is being viewed. well as you know i'm on is very keen on d.c.c. and the stability and prosperity of the g.c.c. however i think all the not just the crises but other crises as well that you have just mentioned whether. they were that the way that the g.c.c. has been managed and if you need it by now in this case saudi arabia being the largest country it's not your nicely here it's. people look at what is happening as basically undermining the whole project of the g.c.c. that's been going on hold decades and there is a lot of work and there is a lot of effort has been put into this and there are a lot of benefits to the people it's all been undermined and basically because there is an all or country that is saudi arabia that seems no one to manage the whol

summit the g.c.c. but there is not free movement among the countries how much sense does that make doesn't make a lot of sense what's worse and i think that's the main problem it seems now for some a year or two years is that in a summit like this the host countries saudi arabia the king solomon doesn't even mention it so it's not even addressed if it's just the new normal as there is an elephant in the room as it were but no one you know want to recognize it until the emir of kuwait stepped in and said we have a crisis that is shaking the very base is the very pillars of this group called the gulf cooperation council but the fact that's not addressed the fact that the saudi foreign minister puts out a minister so therefore mr puts out these diagrams about the history of the g.c.c. and doesn't even mention right as it is of this in exist it's a big childish logic what does it do for the credibility of the g.c.c. well i think that the problem here is that it's almost the credibility is based on two prin

speaking at the g.c.c. summit in riyadh is the former chairman of the g.c.c. some as addressing a welcome session of this meeting as cross back to jamal shell he's in kuwait city. making a brief reference to differences with what he called r g c c a no where was that clearer than round the table or jamal where we saw the kashmiri foreign minister when it should have been the a min. well not even the foreign minister the assistant foreign minister the fact of choosing just ranking official there and obviously there are several reasons behind it from a macro perspective let's say that you are talking about the crisis still ongoing that is the blockade imposed by saudi arabia the united arab emirates now for almost two years specifically speaking however if this summit was to take place let's say in amman or as it does last year in kuwait so very much likely that i thought it would have sent the head of states a shift in how funny how over the fact that this is taking place in the in there's been a lot of. unconventional policies put it in a diplomatic terms purs

a core reason for the success of the g.c.c. has been in its provision of free movement of people and goods between member states with the embargo and the council's inability to resolve the crisis. there are all those that question the future of the organization i don't think we can say confidently that the g.c.c. is dead i think it's more realistic to say that the g.c.c. is dormant right now possibly down the road when circumstances in the region change you have different leaders in these countries possibly the g.c.c. will return to being a relevant institution in the middle east although that's certainly not possible right now given the culture crisis for the average person in the g.c.c. very little will change as a result of this summits the huge aspirations of a single currency nato style dolph defense force in the railway network connecting member states that were once on the agenda of meetings like these seem like distant memories now instead it would appear that simply being able to hold such a summit is seen by saudi ara

the citizen and the g.c.c. leaderships under the harry thank you so much for your expertise in times like this appreciate it. police in egypt say they have killed two gunmen suspected of attacking a bus carrying christians and many. of the government says it has killed nineteen other suspects connected to that attack at least seven christians returning from a child's baptism were killed when their bus was ambushed six of those victims came from the same family place in italy are investigating after a stampede at a nightclub kill six people and injured more than one hundred others it happened near and qana on the adriatic coast italian media say people panicked and ran for the exits after someone sprayed a noxious substance or the victims were teenagers armenian said to the polls on sunday and parliamentary elections it's the first vote sense mass street protests earlier this year and a twenty years of rule by an unpopular republican party opinion poll suggests a landslide victory by my step alliance which led t

council states the g.c.c. must not be hesitant we need to keep our situation firm stand firm and we need to be able to face the challenges in our region. has more now from kuwait city. the kuwaiti i mean was somebody who has always been leading attempts to try and find a mediation in fact the last summit took place here in kuwait and qatar sent its amir as a sign of respect or maybe encouragement or support for these mediation efforts however the saudis the united arab emirates and the behind has refused to send any senior official to represent them this time around in the riyadh it is cut out of this has decided to truce to send its deputy or assistant foreign minister whilst the heads of states or at least senior members of the blockading nations exist the saudi king king solomon when he spoke in his opening remarks spoke about many different issues but refused to talk about the blockade on qatar and these threats posed to the unity of the gulf countries the quaids he. did mention it she did say that maybe t

council states the g.c.c. must not be hesitant we need to keep our situation firm stand firm and we need to be able to face the challenges in our regional and other senior staff member is leaving donald trump white house chief of staff john kelly goes at the end of the year the retired marine general has been in the job for sixteen months kelly is one of a series of resignations as the white house prepares to take on a new democrat led house of representatives as an trump is understood to be trying to take on the vice president's chief of staff. armenians are voting in their first parliamentary elections since last seven straightens earlier this year and the decades of one party rule polls suggest a landslide victory for acting prime is cynical passion yeah he came to power in may after what became known as the velvet revolution. and this is joined nobel peace prize winners have held a news conference and also ahead of tomorrow's awards ceremony conley's docked at those big quake day and years eve the activist

when circumstances in the region change you have different leaders in these countries possibly the g.c.c. will return to being a relevant institution in the middle east although that's certainly not possible right now given the culture crisis for the average person in the g.c.c. very little will change as a result of this summits the huge aspirations of the single currency nato style dolph defense force and a railway network connecting member states that were once on the agenda of meetings like these seem like distant memories now instead it would appear that simply being able to hold such a summit is seen by saudi arabia and others as an achievement in an over itself amount i'll show you i'll just you know who waits on the saudi foreign minister spoke on the sidelines of the summit about murder saturday analysts was killed in the kingdom's istanbul consulate in october by a saudi had seen there once again rejected turkey's demands to hand over the suspects he. was speaking with regards to their runs we will not hand any of our citizens to turkey even the turkish constitution prohibits e

one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s.

the yemen war and the g.c.c. blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister him. al-jazeera. place in the democratic republic of congo have fired tear gas and opposition fighters just days before presidential and parliamentary elections there is anger after the much delayed was postponed by a week the country is going to the polls on sunday a main opposition candidate has appeal for call. we have. friday. and. hours before. we. finish. we have this. culture. as i say please please we know the. outgoing president of the day r c has rejected opposition claims that the electoral body is favoring the ruling party. to joseph kabila head of sunday's election talking of protests and the like i don't want to go into what happened. in the pass. and the electoral process is always a sensitive issue and i was just stating that even if football game between two you have tensions that rides so during an electoral process you have tensions the most important thing is to ha

the yemen war and the g.c.c.blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister ybor him. shelagh phallus al jazeera roslyn jordan has more now on u.s. reaction to the saudi cabinet reshuffle. the cabinet shakeup in saudi arabia may not do go far enough towards rehabilitating the country's image at least with members of the u.s. congress just before they broke for the holiday session the members in the senate took two key votes they voted to pull the u.s. as support for the saudi military as it continues its military operations in the yemeni civil war and all of the members of the u.s. senate uniformly endorsed a resolution accusing mohammed and solemn on the saudi crown prince of orchestrating the murder on october second of jamal khashoggi the exiled journalist who had gone to the consulate in istanbul to get papers in order to get married this is a situation where both republicans and democrats believe that the saudi crown prince who is widely expected to succe

the yemen war and the g.c.c. blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister abraham. found this. place in the democratic republic of congo have fired tear gas on opposition protesters just days before presidential and parliamentary elections there is anger after the much too late vote was postponed by a week countries going to the polls on sunday we have. friday . and. hours before. the nation. and where. we have this. country. police believe. they armed group boko haram has overrun two military bases in northeast nigeria overnight attacks took place in the fishing town of aga stormed the bases and engaged troops and intense fighting forcing the soldiers to retreat to third base on the shores of lake chad. about two hundred people seeking asylum in the u.s. spent some of christmas in a parking lot in texas after being sent there by immigration officials in the city of el paso four hundred others were also sent to places including bus shelters the u.s. governm

the yemen war and the g.c.c. blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister ibrahim al asiri chalo fellas al-jazeera. well rami korea's journalism professor at the american university of beirut and a senior fellow at the harvard kennedy school the reshuffle is merely an image make over. it's really hard to tell right now like so many things in the decisionmaking or so the radius like the soviet union in the one nine hundred sixty s. you really don't know what's going on until a few weeks or months down the road when a decision is made the saudis themselves various saudis close to the fourth family are saying that this is not really a demotion but to fire him would have been a real demotion but this is a sharing of responsibility they needed a more experienced fellow at the top brought in a very myself who was served for decades well in saudi arabia it atmosphere didn't do very well in talking about the sugar murder but nobody in saudi arabia did very well the

the yemen war and the g.c.c. blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister. charlotte fellas al-jazeera al-jazeera senior political analyst more on the sharia says saudi arabia is expected to make several changes to bring back business and investment. as far as assaf is concerned i think that's a kind of an interesting signal coming from riyadh it's basically saying look we mean business literally we mean business we want to change we want to regain the confidence and. credibility in the international community especially among the international business community and since the south was a sort of a star if you will in davos the world economic summits in previous years and he certainly was the man in various appear in preparation for saudi arabia's role in the g. twenty i think they are regime of riyadh reckons that he is the man for the new challenge which is bring back the business and investments in a saudi arabia is going to make all sorts of changes in

the yemen war and the g.c.c. blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister ybor him a loss of shallow fellas al-jazeera. also in jordan has more u.s. reaction to the saudi cabinet reshuffle. the cabinet shakeup in saudi arabia may not do go far enough towards rehabilitating the country's image at least with members of the u.s. congress just before they broke for the holiday session the members in the senate took two key votes they voted to pull the u.s. as support for the saudi military as it continues its military operations in the yemeni civil war and all of the members of the u.s. senate uniformly endorsed a resolution accusing mohammed bin solemn on the saudi crown prince of orchestrating the murder on october second of jamal khashoggi the exiled journalist who had gone to the consulate in istanbul to get papers in order to get married this is a situation where both republicans and democrats believe that the saudi crown prince who is widely expected to s

exercise his or storage the democratically the g.c.c. summit that's the gulf cooperation council is due to begin in a couple of hours from now the six nation block is meeting in the saudi capital riyadh the cattery amir has been invited but has yet to confirm whether he will attend saudi arabia is leading a blockade against cata which is the council's most serious crisis in decades she was weary is the director of girl studies at kettering university he thinks the saudis will focus on ending the war in yemen now i think riyadh will try to bring bring that again and saying look we want peace process to move on we need a peaceful negotiation we need the world to be and i think that is a message to washington this is serious i think that is to reduce the level of pressure on them and hush of the case so that it's a play on different cards on the same table and this is also an ending the war in yemen continue in sweden the demands of each side becoming clear among the significant issues that divide the healthy rebels and the yemeni governmen

the yemen war and the g.c.c. blockade three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister ybor him and massive challenge tell us al-jazeera. well staying in the region bahrain has reopened its embassy in syria so the united arab emirates the first direct flight in eight years from syria's capital to tunisia has also landed to new zealand's waving syrian flags greeted one hundred fifty tourists in damascus it's a further sign of regional relations being restored after eight years of war in syria. south asian our bangladesh's general election campaign has ended with more violence and arrests the opposition the bangladesh national party says nineteen activists have been arrested ahead of sunday's vote and police say a supporter of the ruling or why we leave was killed police boats are on patrol in indonesia to enforce exclusion zone around volcano which is threatening to erupt again zones been widened and alert level raised for the and the krakatoa volcano another major erupti

the yemen war and the g.c.c. blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister ibrahim al asiri chalo fellas al-jazeera. but ryan has reopened its embassy in syria so has the united arab emirates and the first direct flight in eight years from syria's capital to tunisia has landed and a further sign of regional relations being restored after eight years of war gymnasiums waving syrian flags greeted a hundred fifty tourists from damascus. a former president of madagascar and raja lina is back in the top job after winning the election with more than fifty five percent of the vote roger leno was up against another former president marc ravalomanana was already announced what he called massive fraud he wants an investigation into the december nineteenth vote the constitutional court has nine days to declare a final result bangladesh's general election campaign has ended with more violence and arrests the opposition bangladesh nationalist party says nineteen activist

the yemen war and the g.c.c.blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister ibrahim al asiri shallow fellas al-jazeera. followed the united arab emirates and reopened its embassy in syria relations are put on hold or to syria's civil war began more than seven years ago but this is coincided with the first direct flight from syria's capital to tunis here in in two years the flight from damascus was carrying about one hundred fifty syrian tourists they were received by tunisians waving syrian flags of the port. sudar the fischel say at least nineteen people have been killed since antigovernment protests began more than a week ago journalists went on strike on thursday in solidarity with the demonstrators angered over rising prices where they want president omar bashir to step down her morgan has more from the capital khartoum. it hasn't been a normal day at the office for yasser instead of editing his newspaper he's preparing evidence to file an official complai

the yemen war and the g.c.c. blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister ybor him. fellas al-jazeera politicians in iraq are u.s. forces leave the country following president announced accusing him of violating iraq's sovereignty did not meet any of the country's leadership on his three hour trip but telephone prime minister. mahdi invited him to the white house and ron carter has more from baghdad. the u.s. president seems determined to keep u.s. troops in iraq. but his visit last in just three hours on wednesday night to air base one hundred thirty kilometers west of baghdad provoked a strong reaction from some iraqi politicians. well i think it is shameful for the iraqi prime minister to accept the u.s. president's invitation to go to the u.s. after his mockery of iraqi politicians and the iraqi government he entered iraq surreptitiously without any coordination and no respect for iraq's sovereignty i spent three hours celebration with soldiers as if yo

the yemen war and the g.c.c. blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister ybor him. shallow fairness al-jazeera. police in the democratic republic of congo have fired tear gas on opposition protesters just days before presidential and parliamentary elections there's anger after sunday's well that was pursued by a week in some pro opposition areas elections are already overdue by two years about two hundred people seeking asylum in the u.s. spent some of christmas in a parking lot in texas after being sent there by immigration officials in el paso city four hundred others were also sent to places including bus shelters families were left to fend for themselves because there was no room in detention centers. the u.s. government shutdown is likely to continue into the new year after both houses of congress adjourned without agreeing on a way forward the standoff centers on donald trump's demand for five billion dollars for his border wall and next year's budge

the yemen war and the g.c.c. blockades three of the main ongoing diplomatic crises facing the kingdom and its new foreign minister ybor head and massive challenge found us. rami khouri is journalist and professor at the american university of beirut and a senior fellow at harvard kennedy school he says the reshuffle is merely an image make over it's really hard to tell right now like so many things in the decision making or so the radius like the soviet union of the one nine hundred sixty s. you really don't know what's going on until a few weeks or months down the road when a decision is made the saudis themselves various saudis close to the north really are saying that this is not really a demotion but just firing would have been a real demotion but this is a sharing of responsibility they needed a more experienced fellow at the top brought in to bring myself to serve for decades well in saudi arabia it that israel didn't do very well in talking about the should be murdered but nobody in saudi arabia did very w

one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter coming less than twenty four hours later making clear the core difference in his belief in multilateralism and respect for allies and the president's lack of either the letter continues because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects i believe it's right for me to step down from my position. this departure is different from the many th

and security council resolution two two one six the g.c.c. initiative and also the outcomes of the national dialogue. anger at saudi arabia has been rising in the u.s. with the senate voting to to condemn its long standing ally for the war in yemen and its role in the murder of the journalist. the washington post is running a full page ad in tribute to her show who was a regular contributor to the newspaper the post says it will continue to push for meaningful action against riyadh over its role in his killing fridays at his pass a larger campaign planned for twenty nineteen. the man at the center of sri lanka's political crisis is resigning prime minister mahinda rajapakse appointment seven weeks ago caused uproar president may throw a cena picked him to replace run ill with promising the country's been without a functioning government for nearly two weeks now after a court suspended rajapaksa and his campaign that's ever heywood reports. less than two months ago he was being sworn in as sri lanka's new prime minister but after weeks of poli

security council resolution two two one six the g.c.c. initiative and also the outcomes of the national summer we've seen some aid began trickling in through her data. is it enough is the agreement around the port of a data and nuff to try to alleviate some of this humanitarian catastrophe. not necessarily it's something that as you said it trickles down it's not these the a very large scale operation it definitely will not leave at the suffering overnight the crisis is obviously over sixty million people are starving this is going to take a while and it's not just her data poor again it all comes back down to the political situation stability governance you know national institutions being placed there needs to be a sense of law and right now there are obviously group says has these are out of the. out of the country's constitution and they're breaking that law and so you know i've seen over the sweden talks we hope that there is a push to hold them accountable for their actions unfortunately there have been kidnappings from different ar

worst humanitarian crisis where's final months as minister have been marked by turmoil within the g.c.c. including saudi led air sea and land blockade of qatar for the past eighteen months . the king is now taking a step back with him last off instead of who wasn't in the first day is the first choice or for the king anyway because he was very close to king couple or to the king of saudi arabia rather than to king so much so now by having brought him last of who was an old school he's a veteran he served as a minister of finance for twenty years from one thousand nine hundred six until two thousand and sixteen so now he's having come as a foreign minister in order to give the the message that now we are back to the vision of foreign policy it's unclear if you bears fall from grace in riyadh is a way to make him scapegoat for saudi policies attracting global condemnation or perhaps the latest attempt to take the heat of the crown prince jubera successor is a loss of a former finance minister he was one of the many saudi power brokers arrested in last year's purge his imprisonment in the

one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter coming less than twenty four hours later making clear the core difference in his belief in multilateralism and respect for allies and the president's lack of either the letter continues because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects i believe it's right for me to step down from my position. this departure is different from the many tha

worst humanitarian crisis dubious final months as minister have been marked by turmoil within the g.c.c. including saudi laid air sea and land blockade of qatar for the past eighteen months. it's unclear if two beers fall from grace in riyadh is a way to make him a scapegoat society policies attracting global condemnation the king is now taking a step back with him last off instead of. who wasn't in the first the first choice of the king anyway because he was very close to king couple of the king of saudi arabia rather than to king so much so now by having brought him last of who was an old school he's a veteran he served as a minister of finance for twenty years from one nine hundred ninety six until two thousand and sixteen so now he's having come as a foreign minister in order to give the the message that now we are back to the vision of foreign policy to be a successor is abraham former finance minister he was one of the many saudi power brokers arrested in last year's perch his imprisonment in the ritz carlton hotel in riyadh was part of what the crown prince called his crackdown o

one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold. the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter coming less than twenty four hours later making clear the core difference in his belief in multilateralism and respect for allies and the president's lack of either the letter continues because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects i believe it's right for me to step down from my position this departure is different from the many th

worst humanitarian crisis where's final months as minister have been marked by turmoil within the g.c.c. including saudi led air sea and land blockade of qatar for the past eighteen months . it's unclear if you bares fall from grace in riyadh is a way to make him scapegoat for saudi policies attracting global condemnation or perhaps the latest attempt to take the heat of the crown prince the king is now taking a step back with him last off instead of. who wasn't in the first days the first choice or for the king anyway because he was very close to king couple of the king of saudi arabia rather than to king so much so now by having brought him last of who was an old school he's a veteran he served as a minister of finance for twenty years from one nine hundred ninety six until two thousand and sixteen so now he's having come as a foreign minister in order to give the the message that now we are back to the foreign policy jubera successor is a loss of a former finance minister he was one of the many saudi power brokers arrested in last year's herds his imprisonment in the ritz carlton hot

king salmon open the talks in the capital he did not address the ongoing blockade of cattle by three g.c.c. members bahrain the u.a.e. and saudi but the emir of kuwait who has been part of mediation efforts did call for an end to regional disputes. in all the headlines this hour the french president is set to meet with unions and employers organizations on monday to try and bring to an end weeks of violent antigovernment protests paris has been in cleanup mode following large scale demonstrations on saturday by the so-called yellow vest movement all in seven hundred people were arrested throughout france and hundreds of businesses vandalized and tweeted his appreciation for the courage and professionalism of the police. or rival protests have been held in london in support of against breaks it had a key vote on the prime minister's the withdrawal deal on cheese day and one of those rallies far right groups in the u.k. independence party denounced a reason mase proposal which they say will leave person trapped in the e.u. . and the returns from. snap parliamentary elections show acting prim

one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter coming less than twenty four hours later making clear the core difference in his belief in multilateralism and respect for allies and the president's lack of either the letter continues because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects i believe it's right for me to step down from my position. this departures different from the many that