two men in plainclothes tell us to sit down and warn us against reporting in western sahara. we go back upstairs and soon after we learn a pro-moroccan government website called sahara zoom had published details about our trip, including information about the interviews we had done in our hotel room that night. the message was clear -- we are watching you. this is a democracy now! special, "four days in western sahara: africa's last colony."  [music break] amy: that is sahrawi singer mariem hassan from her album "el aaiun on fire." this is a democracy now! special, "four days in western sahara: africa's last colony." i'm amy goodman. it's day two of our trip to laayoune, the capital of western sahara. despite warnings against reporting from here, we set off for the offices of a human rights group. we carry all our possessions with us, assuming our hotel rooms could be searched or we could be deported at a moment's notice. everywhere we go, we're followed. we just left our hotel. and a man with a motorcycle just outside, as we came out, he started texting. and now he's a litt

aid could be spent in western sahara. our country did not do that before and the united states opened that kind of venue and there has been a lot of nigeria because that is a defacto recognition over western sahara. european union signed treaties with morocco that included western sahara. before it refused to do that and that is defact hoy ho of western sahara. morocco spends by the agenda and by international law that the demark asal lines in 1967 is the only line that exists between the two-state solution and is the only solution and jerusalem is the capital of the palestinian states. and the that kind of negotiation. and i think that what is happening now, between the palestinians and israelis in terms of reopening the channels comes also because of this kind of momentum created by the fact that some other countries have recognized israel and pushing in the right kind of direction and negotiation between the israelis and palestinians. >> what do you make of the moroccan's reaction. it was perhaps a bit more muted. and

to recognize and accept its control over an annexation of the western sahara. the different countries in the world, the u.n., do not recogne morcan control or anxation of the westersahara and neither did the u.s. is is a change in u.s. policy ana violation of u.n. resolutions that granted the sahwari, western sahara since determination possibly same wa as the palestinians every year told they have the right to self-determination, but with implementation we never get it so this has created a situation of quid pro quo where the u.s. exploits the weakness or the avarice of other countries in order to bring them normalize with israel and in two destroyed violatee initiative, to arab resolutions, and israel to place and at the heart of the region as a major economic military security court. now, morocco -- there is an article in, but the new york times." the moroccan people are among the most supportive of the palestinian cause, extremely patriotic and they identify with palestine. they're very unhappy with what is happening. . happy with the normalization with isra

policy and agreed to recognize the disputed western sahara region as moroccan. western sahara has been disputed for decades between morocco and the pro independence police are your front the 1st country in the world to recognize. or 65 countries their. recognition. and siding with. only the united states has recognized the claims. process. for a long time and. international law concerns. population. in order to get. the palestinians have condemned the agreement saying it's yet another country to break a promise of not recognizing israel until the establishment of a palestinian state that more and more arab countries are stablish in ties with israel whereas the reality of a palestinian state seems to fade further and further away it's hailed as yet another victory for israel another unilateral move by this outgoing administration who have little more than a month left in office stephanie decker al-jazeera. all right let's bring in our guests in new york at liege a cubs a partner with the truman national project and president of public affairs consultancy firm e.j

policy with regard to western sahara as not simply being reversed the us had been alongside a united nations members african union the european union had all insisted that the way to get a peaceful settlement in the region was to get a referendum in western sahara now president trying to simply turn his back on all those years of discussion all those years of policy making and all those years of negotiation that happened and there's already been a consequence a very rare criticism from a republican in the senate jim inhofe has released a statement saying that president trump has traded the voices of the people of the no voice for this particular peace deal he really critical of president trump for taking this action for reversing u.s. policy now the question is when joe biden comes into office where the heat is follows along with what president trump does which could well anger many off his allies or whether he attempts to reverse the situation which could imperil this peace deal and of course there are implications on politics across the middle east to consider his hands from a whol

brokered the deal promising in exchange to recognize rocker's claim over the disputed western sahara region the area which until now the us agreed was disputed western sahara in dark grey has been for save a few years by morocco and some ethnic group. this is the foundation on which we can now build this piece will resume liaison offices quickly between israel and morocco and work as rapidly as possible to establish full diplomatic relations we also institute direct flights between morocco in israel and israel morocco giving this bridge of peace and even more solid foundation this will be a very warm peace peace as never the light of peace on this hanukkah day as never shown brighter than today in the middle east. well the united arab emirates was the 1st to make a normalization deal with israel and that was back in august and september it was followed by an agreement between bahrain and israel both attended a signing ceremony at the white house that in october it was the thought of so dongs transitional government mike hanna is in washington d.c. with the u.s. political reaction. pr

brokered the deal promising in exchange to recognize morocco's claim over the disputed western sahara region president trump announced the deal on twitter here is the area which up until now the u.s. a grade was disputed the grey area western sahara which has been for have a for years by morocco and they saw how we ethnic group of israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says helps the path to peace for the why the middle east this is the foundation on which we can now build this peace will resume liaison offices quickly between israel and morocco and work as rapidly as possible to establish full diplomatic relations we also institute direct flights between morocco in israel and israel morocco giving this bridge of peace and even more solid foundation this will be a very warm peace peace as never the light of peace on this hanukkah day as never shown brighter than today in the middle east. correspondent for 7 western is and i'm. promised you know in the previous normalization deals has been stressing what it could mean practically for israelis and terms of trade in terms of tourism

i was so sadden by the betrayal towards the people of western sahara for unilaterally recognizing mo row co's -- marrow co's claim but i'm colleague the unexpected results from the proclamation. if highlightings the injustice of these people pushes the rest of the world to get hem the referendum, it might be worth it. that's what i'm seeing right now. i remember so well -- it's now been some three or four generations of western saharans and the little kids that you see in the camps, in the refugee camps living in the conditions that we can't even imagine in this country, but happy little kids. and they carry around a sign. and i don't have the pronunciation in their language, but it says, we will fight until we get back our homes. these are little kids. the fourth generation of those who have been abandoned. so i remember -- and i called and i found out, what was the year? was it 2007? yes, in 2007 mark powers and i -- he's been with me in a the although of things in africa that we've been interested in. he and i met with all of the elected leaders of the western saharans in a room t

today's white house announcement alleging morocco's sovereignty over western sahara is shocking and deeply disappointing. i'm saddened that the rights of the western saharan people have been traded away. in 1966, as west africa was being decolonized, the united nations general assembly agreed -- this is 1966 -- agreed that sahara deserves a referendum of self-determination for itswn future. the united states has supported this policy for decades and has worked to accomplish the referendum of self-determination. until today, this administration has continued our long history, one that has remained consistent across administrations, democrat and republican. we're not alone in this position. the african union, the united nations, the international court of justice, the european union have all agreed the sahari people have the right to decide what their own future is going to be. the president has been poorly advised by his team. he could have made this deal without trading away the rights of the -- of voiceless people. during my most recent visit to the sahari refugee camps, i have visited wi

policy on the western sahara has been one of neutrality it's a policy that's been followed by most western countries and indeed is the policy of the united nations and international law this is a reversal of u.s. policy and certainly a question for joe biden when he takes office of whether he's going to continue along these lines and perhaps invoke anger among many western allies or whether he's going to reverse president trump's decision to recognize western sahara or morocco's sovereignty over western sahara i can there with the latest from washington d.c. mike thank you. well coming up on al-jazeera at this news hour a mental health crisis in the refugee camps a report finds that many are suffering from depression and trauma a prominent to afghan t.v. presenter is shot dead just 5 years after her mother suffered the same fate and italy's world cup winning hero paolo rossi dies we'll have reaction coming up. more than 4 years after the vote to leave the leaders of the u.k. and the e.u. have given their negotiators just negotiators just 3 more days to come up with a trade deal but the bri

over the disputed western sahara region. before our countries were agreed to diplomatic relations with israel. the u.k.'s prime minister boris johnson says there's a strong possibility of a no deal brags that he's been holding urgent talks with the leaders of the solace of boston. lebanon's caretaker prime minister has been charged over the pay reports explosion which devastated the city. and 3 former ministers are accused of negligence around 200 people were killed in the disaster oldest. as a member of global crude it 19 cases continues to rise signs that vaccination programs around the corner have sparked optimism but safety concerns could slow the progress of inoculations the fire bell and tech vaccine was rolled out for the 1st time this week in the u.k. with health care workers and the vulnerable 1st to get it but officials warn that those with out a full act ecology is shouldn't get the job after 2 national health service staff had adverse reactions the u.s. food and drug administration is meeting now on whether to ap

the recognition threatens to break a 30 is ceasefire with pro independence supporters in the western sahara warning they've now got little choice but to fight back has that story with our senior correspondent. christmas will well havoc i suppose especially good for israel this year see santa clause that doesn't work donald trump who has become the israeli equivalent of santa claus has managed to convince morocco to establish diplomatic ties with israel and when i say convenes what i mean is bribe the united states believes that an independent serai state is not a realistic option for resolving the conflict in their genuine autonomy under american sovereignty is the only feasible solution western sahara is the world's largest inhabited territory that hasn't managed to achieve self governance largely because it keeps getting invaded the little people of us are always have had a rough time of it for the past few centuries 1st that was resistance to spanish colonialism then it was invaded by morocco and mauritania whom the locals fought and author all this struggle and all this bloodshed for in

it's quarter past 3 here in moscow who is brewing in the western sahara after the us agreed to recognize the disputed territories part of morocco in return for morocco normalizing ties with israel but they moved us threaten to break a 30 year ceasefire with prime independent supporters in the western sahara warning that they now have little choice but to fight back against if explains more. christmas will well havoc i suppose especially good for israel this year see santa claus that doesn't work donald trump who has become the israeli equivalent of santa claus has managed to convince morocco to establish diplomatic ties with israel and when i say convenes what i mean is bribe the united states believes that an independent serai state is not a realistic option for resolving conflicts and genuine autonomy under american sovereignty is the only feasible solution western sahara is the world's largest inhabited territory that hasn't managed to achieve self governance largely because it keeps getting invaded the little people of us are always have had a rough time of it for the past few centur

policy with regard to western sahara has been reversed. the u.s. had been alongside united nations members, the african union, they had all insisted the way to get a peaceful settlement in the region was to get a referendum. now, president trump has simply turned his back on all those years of discussion, years of policymaking and negotiation that happened and there has already been a consequence. a very rare criticism from a republican in the senate -- jim emhoff released a statement saying president trump has traded people with no voice for this particular piece deal, heavily critical of president trump for reversing u.s. policy. the question is when joe biden comes into office, whether he follows along with what president trump does which could anger many of his allies or whether he attempts to reverse the situation which could imperil this piece deal. anchor: there are implications on politics across the middle east to consider. reporter: that recognition today by u.s. president donald trump is something which will definitely receive -- reshape

policy and agreed to recognize the disputed western sahara region as moroccan. western sahara has been disputed for decades between morocco and the pro independence police are your front 1st country in the world. countries. and siding with. only the united states is recognized. for a long time and. international law concerns. the palestinians of condemned the agreement saying it's yet another country to break a promise of not recognizing israel until the establishment of a palestinian state but more and more arab countries are stablish in ties with israel whereas the reality of a palestinian state seems to fade further and further away it's hailed as yet another victory for israel another unilateral move by this outgoing administration who have little more than a month left in office stephanie decker al-jazeera. prominence hong kong pro-democracy activist and media tycoon jamie laing has been charged under the controversial security law that was imposed on the city by beijing the allegations include that he's colluded with foreign forces why is already in jail a

policy with regard to western sahara as not simply being reversed the u.s.had been alongside united nations members african union the european union had all insisted that the way to get a peaceful settlement in the region was to get a referendum in western sahara now president trying to simply turn his back on all those years of discussion all those years of policy making and all those years of negotiation that happened and there's already been a consequence a very rare criticism from a republican in the senate jim inhofe has released a statement saying that president trump has traded the voices of the people of the no voice for this particular peace deal he really critical of president trump for taking this action for reversing u.s. policy now the question is when joe biden comes into office where the heat is follows along with what president trump does which could well anger many of his allies or whether he attempts to reverse the situation which could imperil this peace deal. canary islands has received flights to send migrants back to north africa follow

would recognize the claim of its sovereignty over western sahara. thawas something that was a big shift in u.s. policy. laur what about saudi arabia? is it possible there could be some kind of breakthrough there in terms of relations with israel? >> that is something the trump administration has been pushing. you had jared kushner who is the top man recently asking for that. the short answer is probably not very soon. maybe eventually t there is a debate within saudi arabia about what to do. the crown prince is more eager to have a deal with israel. the king is less so. he carries the establishment with him.ly very much stro saying first there needs to be in agreement with the palestinians. isa arabians have a much moreig y position to deal with. they are also the custodians of the holy mosque and have to think about what the muslim world would say. laura: to what extent is the trump administration trying to box in the ben administration by focusing policy on israel and not mentioni the palestinians? >> that has been the whole approach of the trump

forces in the western sahara on one of the world's longest running conflicts. and the formula one champion beats cope at 19 to return for the final race of the season to be coming up later in the sport with joe. turkey is criticizing european union plans to expand the sanctions targeting its drilling operations in the eastern mediterranean the e.u. has agreed to widen its sanctions list of turkish individuals and companies involved in gas drilling activities which of contested by greece turkey is describing the move as biased and unlawful more e.u. countries say that they hope it will send a strong message. on the 50 europe showed its ability to be firm with turkey by adopting sanctions to make it put a stop to its unilateral actions in the eastern mediterranean last october we gave turkey a chance we reached out a hand laid down conditions we have unanimously observed that turkey has continued with its provocations this firmness and the new sanctions of a sign of a new approach to what turkey's president other one says the differences with the e.u. can be reso

donald trump is something which will definitely reshape the whole thing about the conflicts of western sahara is going to give morocco massive political advantage in the coming in the future it will put more pressure on the polish sorry a front backed by 2 key players in africa and south africa and algeria as far as the middle east peace process of the normalization between morocco and israel the royal palace said that the kingdom of morocco. reiterated in the special status of jerusalem and would like to see to a solution a state solution happening in the near future the king of morocco is at the same time the chairman of the. committee of jerusalem committee which was established in 1975 with the aim of finding a solution to the issue of jerusalem and i think the walkers would like to take this opportunity now to say that we will use our normalization with israel to move forward and help the both the palestinians and the israelis move forward to words a permanent solution to the crisis i can say this is a seismic movement move moment that could shape the future of the conflict between moroc

well here is the area which up until now the us agreed was disputed western sahara in dark grey has been forced to have a few years by morocco and this a hallway ethnic group. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says it helps put the wider region on a good path this is the foundation on which we can now build this peace will resume liaison offices quickly between israel and morocco and work as rapidly as possible to establish full diplomatic relations we also institute direct flights between morocco in israel and israel morocco giving this bridge of peace and even more solid foundation this will be a very warm peace peace as never the light of peace on this hanukkah day as never shown brighter than today in the middle east. a palestinian israeli father says he's fighting for equal educational rights for his children in a case involving israel's controversial nation state law got him back he was seeking compensation for having to drive his children out of town because there's no arabic language school or a faucet reports from come alle in northern israel. it's an early morning routi

to see our documentary on western sahara, go to democracynow.org.the european union and the united kingdom agreed to extend brexit negotiations beyond sunday's deadline as the two parties struggle to make an agreement thatould avoidhe no-deal divorce at the end of this month. but both sides say a deal is unlikely. this is british prime minister boris johnson. >> there are some serious and very difficult issues that currently separate the u.k. from the e.u. the best thing to do now for everybody is to follow up all the work that has been done over the last 4.5 years, colossal amount of preparation at our ports come everywhere across u.k., get ready to trade on wto. amy: the u.s. government has executed another man. 56-year-old alfred bourgeois, a louisiana truck driver, was put to death by lethal injection friday, one day after the execution of another black man, brandon bernard. bourgeois had an intellectual disability, which should have prohibited his execution. but an application to the supreme court for a stay was denied earlier friday. he was se

morocco has occupied western sahara since 1975 in defiance of the international community.to see our documentary "four days in western sahara: africa's last colony," go to democracynow.org. in news from honduras, the indigenous environmental activist felix vasquez was assassinated saturday by armed, masked men in front of his family. vasquez was a member of the indigenous lenca community and was planning to run for congress in 2021. his killing comes 4.5 years after the assassination of berta carceras, who was also a lenca activist. the city of columbus, ohio, has fired the police officer who shot and killed andre hill, a 47-year-old black man. officer adam coy also faces criminal and internal investigations after last week's fatal shooting when coy opened fire just seconds after encountering hill, who was unarmed. officer coy was not using his body camera properly at the time of the shooting, and he failed to administer aid to hill for several minutes as hill lay dying. coy has racked up dozens of citizen complaints since 2002, including a 2012 incident when he repeatedly

government has adopted a new map of morocco which includes the disputed territory of western sahara the decision to recognize riband sovereignty over the region is part of the u.s. brokered deal for morocco to normalize relations with israel. but as well in the home and abroad her voted in a non-binding poll organized by the opposition leader one goh i don't know is asking people whether they want to end the president nicolas maduro is rule and hold new elections the poll was organized to counter last week's parliamentary elections of physician groups had boycotted the vote calling it fraudulent media as governing party regained a majority in the national assembly the only state body the opposition had controlled latin america to lucy in the human has more from santiago. i've been keeping a very close eye on both the turnout inside venezuela and outside of venezuela remember there are more than 5000000 venezuelans most of them here in latin america a large number here in chile and even more 2000000 just in colombia in. this country was shall we say disappointing from the point of view o

government has adopted a new map of morocco which includes the disputed territory of western sahara the decision to recognize about sovereignty over the region this part of the u.s. brokered deal for morocco to normalize relations with israel. venezuelans home and abroad have voted in a non-binding poll organized by opposition leader. is asking people whether they want to end president nicolas maduro as rule on hold new elections the referendum was organized to counter last week's parliamentary elections opposition groups had boycotted that vote calling it fraudulent. governing party regained a majority in the national assembly and the only state body the opposition had actually controlled let's get more on this while latin america editor lucy anyone joins me now following events of course from chile's capital santiago good to have you with us lucy or i mean one wonders now the voting has ended how you assess the turnout obviously reported from venezuela on many occasions you know the feeling of the people. yes i have been keeping a very close eye on both the turnout inside venezuela an

government has adopted a new map of baracoa which includes the disputed territory of western sahara the decision to recognize for about sovereignty over the region came as part of a u.s. brokered deal for. normalized relations with israel the pro independence policy front and algeria's prime minister have both condemned the move. world leaders to climate emergencies in their countries he was speaking at a virtual climate ambition summit walking 5 years since the signing of the paris climate. headlines more news coming up right after upfront but for now. we understand the difference is. pretty nice of cultures across the wound so no matter how you take it out just the. current affairs. unprecedented protests against the government and the monarchy are gathering pace in thailand we ask a government spokesperson a prime minister prayer time is up but 1st is new zealand too soft on china and this week's headliner which challenge the country's 1st female indigenous foreign minister and i am madhu and ask her how to bring more and vision as voices to the table. and i am i have to thank you so

policy and agreed to recognize the disputed western sahara region as moroccan. western sahara has been disputed for decades between morocco and the pro independence police are your front 1st country in the world. countries. and siding with. only the united states recognize the claims. process. or a law and. international law concerns. in order to get. the palestinians have condemned the agreement saying it's yet another country to break a promise of not recognizing israel until the establishment of a palestinian state but more and more arab countries are stablish in ties with israel whereas the reality of a palestinian state seems to fade further and further away it's hailed as yet another victory for israel another unilateral move by this outgoing administration . i have little more than a month left in office stephanie decker al-jazeera. still to come on the news are indian doctors go on strike wage that practitioners of traditional medicine will be allowed to perform surgery and as supports the football coach it was racially abused in the champions league tha

will recognize morocco's claim over the disputed western sahara. is the 4th arab nation to recognize israel in recent months well she was simply a woman on her way to work a high profile job that was apparently too much for extremists in her country to stomach afghan television news anchor. was shot dead on thursday along with her driver in the eastern city of jalalabad but those who took her life could not have raised the depth of respect she had earned from the nation. oh laura who are prayers for a heroine hundreds came out to pay their respects to journalist. driver assassinated on their way to work. for many young women in afghanistan my one was larger than life a t.v. anchor in a country where 2 thirds of girls are barred from attending school. my one was also an advocate for women's rights and continued to speak out even after her own mother was killed for doing the same. but then early thursday morning in this street she and her driver were ambushed by gunmen the attack was claimed by the militant group islamic state. was a brave female jou

will recognize claim over the disputed western sahara morocco is the 4th arab nation to recognize israel in recent months. 3 weeks before britain is due to leave the european single market huge lines of trucks have formed at the english port of dover and the channel tunnel both he crossing points to the european union but british companies are scrambling to stockpile goods ahead of a potential deal. now leaders in brussels say they have come to an agreement on the e.u.'s $1.00 trillion euro budget it includes hundreds of billions in coronavirus relief funds member states poland and hungary had blocked approval of the budget because it allows sanctions against member countries to breach democratic lost but a compromise brokered by germany which currently holds the e.u. presidency ended the deadlock. french president in man with shows covered 900 safe kisses as a greeting german chancellor angela merkel waved the atmosphere seems jovial when leaders gathered in brussels but behind closed doors it was a different story. i never seen that and difficult long reach is behind us and i never rem