Transcripts For ALJAZ NEWSHOUR 20240713

A cancer of hatred in america after 5 or stabbed at a jewish celebration. Get now tens of thousands of a stray and still to leave their homes as bush fires flare in another state. Their warm welcome to this hour of news well the u. S. Is calling them precision defensive strikes they are iraq the Prime Minister has labeled them quote im acceptable an american attack on the bases of a shia armed group close to the Syrian Border is causing new friction 3 camps of cuts a of hezbollah our hits in iraq one of them near all kind and 2 more inside syria at least 19 people have been killed well the pentagon says its in response to repeated rocket attacks on iraq he bases the most recent one killed an american civilian contract to just a few days ago well Simona Fulton explains why these targeted airstrikes appear to be an important shift in u. S. Action in iraq. Well there are quite significant because this is actually the 1st time that the u. S. Actually strikes a target on iraq his soil lets remember not until too long ago the u. S. And were fighting against eisel on the same side but of course since then the tensions between the u. S. And iranian backed groups have played a quite a bit in this particular ad attack were hearing from a source inside the p. M. S. Has claimed as many as 10 lives with dozens of people injured and of course this particular strike comes at the back of a series of rocket attacks that were aimed at military bases where both of us and iraqi personnel are based in the u. S. Attributed some of these attacks took a type hezbollah the last one happened last friday and for the 1st time it actually claimed the life of one u. S. Contractor and it injured several u. S. Personnel now of course secretary of state my pompei o has said before that any such attack that harm u. S. Troops or their allies would be met with decisive force so this strike is basically a response to that now it does present a departure from the previous stance of the u. S. When it basically tried to urge the Iraqi Government to rein in groups like a type and hezbollah reminding the government that it is responsible for the safety of u. S. Troops because of course they are here at the invitation of the government so this is these strikes represent a departure from the policy in a sign that the u. S. Is now taking matters into its own hands well i have to she have returned see hes standing by in washington d. C. Hi there she has so what are we hearing men from the u. S. Well the defense secretary and the secretary of state might compare have flown down to florida to brief president from we understand will show now where the crew of the joint chiefs chairman is also that the reports that he was but compare and as briefing we understand we should also add that theres been no claim of responsibility for these attacks or the attack in cook on friday in fact just on saturday an Iraqi Government spokesperson said perhaps it was the Islamic State but nonetheless the u. S. Has decided after many many warnings weve already heard that to confront a shia militia in in iraq the problem is well 1st of all we should also add that this is being presented as the 1st time this has happened but actually shia militia have been saying for some months now that this far as theyre concerned theyve already been the target of u. S. Or israeli air strikes on the weapons caches and command and control centers and so on so as usual we get these conflicting conflicting claims its all a bit murky but the main problem now is this particular group is part of the popular movie allies ation force which was was banded together a number of different militias in order to fight successfully the Islamic State and since july the pm af this have come under the control this on paper of the Iraqi Government the iraqi army so what we have just witnessed that is the u. S. Bombing the Iraqi Administration and all of the Iraqi Administration this is clearly quite a big deal and she have what other way given the significance that youve just mentioned going forward. Well as we heard there was a firm cool to the iraqi Prime Minister off an hour before the strikes began marcus foden the iraqi Prime Minister informing him of the strikes now as we also heard the iraqi Prime Minister said no this is really a violation of iraqi sovereignty who the attacks off and the u. S. Did not know obviously that also has ramifications for international more north of the u. S. Is terribly but oh but that has been in the past but now we have to think about escalation of the big fan or is escalation of any sort of battle between the u. S. And shia militias in the United States will then ill be retaliation own the u. S. Thats one thing out because this is coming at the same time as there is this outpouring of iraqi nationalism on the streets of iraq where the slogan is youre neither the my the american nor irans want to see what ramifications this what the Prime Minister cools violation of iraqi sovereignty is going to have on that debate she had britain see there joining us live with the latest from washington d. C. She have thank you well the issue for iraq is that could save his butt allies possible group that helped the government defeat i still its been brought into a state sanctioned group of militias known as the Popular Mobilization forces and many of them are backed by iran well thats a hizbullahs leader abu mahdi army on this is one of iraqs most powerful men and has in the past fought against u. S. Forces with u. S. State Department Says he advises irans revolutionary guard well Kenneth Katzman is the author of the warriors of Islamic Revolutionary guard he joins us on skype from awning tim in virginia kenneth warm welcome to the program will the u. S. Have warned it would strike back it has what do you think this strike will achieve anything. Thank you hers cost of speaking in a personal capacity it was had limited objectives secure was a very targeted strike on certain bases ammunition dumps. Perhaps certain are rockets facilities of the tape is below iran backed militia. The question is what the reaction is going to be on the part of particularly iran because obviously this was a militia linked to iran and the reaction of the Iraqi Government which already the care tech approach minister adl abdul moxy who has tried to straddle the United States and iran and be friendly with both has. Said it was an instrument of iraqi sovereignty so. The strike could potentially cause problems in the u. S. Iraq relationship and kenneth at our correspondent she had noted there youve got this pouring of iraqi nationalism weve got an all time low when relations between the u. S. And iran so i guess as you say the big fears are escalation and potentially retaliation. Correct i mean i think iran is pattern is to has to retaliate differently. Not necessarily in iraq but it might retaliate somewhere else in the persian gulf obviously the hes in yemen Hizbullah Hamas iran has quite a few options these days and has a lot of proxies a lot of allies in the region a lot of agents all over the region could could potentially strike in afghanistan its got agents there so i would be surprised if or run sort of directly retaliates through iraqi. Proxies and allies it would probably might choose something different. And kenneth the group thats being blamed cats and hezbollah which is thoughts of carries out of that rockets attack that killed the contracts there how does that include put her a little already fit into the wider context. Well its a designer iran backed militia so it is named as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States it certainly is equipped funded and trains but parked by the could source customs so that money the iranian head of the could say force is very close to d the to the and its leader. Abdul hadi mohan disks who also serves a dual role as deputy head of the Popular Militia forces the hush to xabi the the shia mostly shia militias in iraq generally so he has a dual role but he is close to cylin money and the iranians have a lot of influence over that militia yes author Kenneth Casson joining us there sir thank you. Craning Government Forces and russian backed separatists have exchanged 200 prisoners group has just returned to the cranium capital kiev where they were welcomed by emotional family members and president vladimir selenski those released just civilians the members of a special police force who were accused of killing protests in kiev in 2014 well the exchange follows talks between ukraine and russia leaders a few weeks ago in paris and hayward has the story. For many this was a Long Time Coming ukrainian prisoners finally free to leave the territory they fought to keep but still controlled by pro russian separatists security was tight as a Prisoner Exchange began in Eastern Ukraine some had arrived at the checkpoint in heavily 45 because the identities checked and checked again but the men disbelieve them relief that it was happening and they will be able to return home there are some fathers though found to fight on this moment ukrainian prisoner said they would fight for their country to president there were more than one well this pro russian separatists thought hed been beaten and tortured by the Ukrainian Security services. Sundays exchange was the result of direct talks between president for lenski and putin in france earlier this month they agreed to implement a full ceasefire in a bid to end the war in the dont pass region of ukraine relations between russia and ukraine soured when protesters in kiev managed to drive out a kremlin backed government in 2014 russia then seized control of crimea from ukraine and within weeks russian backed separatists took control of the eastern part of ukraine. More than 13000 people including civilians have died during 5 years of complex the have been attempts before to try to end the war and the prisoner swaps ukraine wants to join nato once your union wants to move west. Im not sure where ukraine and this. Difference may just. Not meet result why a Prisoner Exchange this one has caused controversy in ukraine protesters gathered outside a Detention Center angry some members of a Ukrainian Police unit accused of killing demonstrators in kiev and 2014 were released there is little well im going civilians caught up in the fighting for this war to continue this Prisoner Exchange then a sign that tensions could be easing and he would aljazeera. Plenty more ahead on this news hour we are in libya to look at severely and sons of fire for warlord police for half the Hours Campaign to capture tripoli. In this hour rips through a military parade in yemen killing at least 7 people. And the queen of the slopes and still her world cup tally in austria so well have all the action. Began many governments is blaming kuti rebels for a missile attack on a military Graduation Parade which killed at least 7 people theres been no claim of responsibility for the strike in the southern time of dollar now the apparent target was Security Belt forces who are trained and equipped by Saudi Coalition its been fine seen against the hutu rebel since 2015 years of leadership it was a paltry the heathy militias have tried to move the party away from the battlefield after they suffered losses on the front lines i mean to the heart of darling by way of a strike and this strike will wreak not. Because the joint Southern Forces will not stop in just securing darling they will also try to secure tell us and other areas when the who say theyve identified 9 targets in saudi arabia and the u. A. E. Which they plan to hit next year lets say alba haiti is a prole whos the journalist based in the summer and he says who make these threats there are significant disagreements within the saudi u. A. E. Coalition. I think because if we see that the goal in the south is different. Support in the legitimacy of the un on the other side we see that the United Arab Emirates created a militia and Security Forces which actually want yemen to be separated over they call it this is session. And thats why i think if they continue this way i dont think that this coalition can continue on as well we have seen today confidence for the 1st book person of yemeni out of voters here in sanaa and he has warned saudi arabia and he said that this year. 2020. Victory. Depends because we know that in many out of means and a has been developed that it depends on if they can limit. The power of saudi night out of the forces i believe that they can conduct to make that attack against saudi arabia a night out of a minute and i just want to mention that 2 days ago yemeni a Ballistic Missile has targeted a military base in niger and i think that was a clear set of the end of the unilateral truce that was announced in sanaa 3 months ago on the spokesperson today have said in sanaa that the yemeni army would respond to any attack against germany that here in area under the control of some or any other Major Development in the south of this bitterly from the united out of a minute. The governor of new york has described an attack on Orthodox Jews as an act of domestic terrorism 5 people were injured when a man armed with a machete stormed into a rabbi saw showing how like a celebrations in upstate new york it is the latest in a number of recent attacks against the Jewish Community in the u. S. As russell and jordan explained. 37 year old Grafton Thomas faces 5 counts of attempted murder after an attack at a Hanukkah Party a month see new york. Attack terror. Work money for the what it was back and forth. Thank you it is ending this crammed after me when they came out here its going to have to be hey you all got you but thats a thats about it so far thomas has not been charged with a hate crime the new york state governor says the suspect should get that and more i think this is an act of terrorism i think domestic terrorists they are trying to inflict fear they are motivated by hate. They are doing mass attacks these are terrorists the muncie attack is the latest in a series of assaults on Jewish Americans this year new York City Police say that as of december 15th 213. 00 anti semitic hate crime complaints have been filed this year thats 36 more than in 20188 of those attacks have happened in the last couple of weeks including a woman and her son attacked while leaving the coffee shop. In nearby jersey city 3 people were murdered in a kosher supermarket and december 10th while police are increasing neighborhood patrols and some israeli politicians say it might be time for Jewish Americans to leave the u. S. Others say it will take much more than Law Enforcement to fight anti semitism we would leave these thought on even more than a veil and you question not a and for all its. A whole khosla memory and the fight against something you think and 50 mathieson is most needed. Right now people are scared and the priority is keeping people safe roslyn jordan aljazeera washington. Well avis jill and sue eva is the c. E. O. Of insights on ltd a Consulting Firm focusing on race gender and inclusion she joins us live from washington d. C. Hi there avis a warm welcome to the program so we know the hate crime violence against minority groups is on the rise even more so when were looking at the statistics for jewish groups whats happening out there we have seen a continuous increase in hate crimes in america specifically for the past 4 years year after year hate crimes have increased and in specially weve seen a spike the year immediately following the president ial election and then just last year we saw spikes in 10 of the largest cities across the nation hitting for them a 10 year high so what were experiencing here is a cultural shift that i believe starts from the top where you have a president who has been spewing hate from the very beginning of his campaign all throughout his presidency and unfortunately its infecting our broader culture as a result so even i guess what were saying is the kind of current believe nature if i can use that phrase of the political discourse this is partly to blame here. Its partly but i think it goes beyond bullying he has really struck a nerve and a tone that has attracted a lot of white supremacist followers to him and he specifically things to speak out and spread on twitter a lot of theories and a lot of quite frankly lies that are related to White Nationalism so we have seen this every year that hes been on the political thing that has led to a huge bump in hate crimes both specifically related to increasing hate crimes against the Jewish Population but also increasing rate hate crimes across boundaries of race in america and so were now at a point where we have a Record Number of hate groups in america now topping over a 1000 the largest number that weve ever seen since that statistic has been recorded and i think a lot of that has to do with the hateful rhetoric that were seeing not only from this white house but also be hateful policies that have been acted and his over zealous miss in terms of trying to justify hateful activities you might recall that after the charlottesville sort of attack where one person was murdered and where you had nazis protesting this president without his way to call them very good people right and so this is a culture that unfortunately it has been encouraged by this presidency and until we get rid of that very toxic leadership from the top i think it will be very difficult to be able to root it out from the bottom and avis i noticed in some statistics its interesting that vandalism levels would drop one on one kind of interpersonal attacks have gone up but his yes the kind of confidence behind these hateful acts if eli. Absolutely absolutely its become a very violent culture that we are that were seeing here not only as you mentioned in terms of just sort of. Things that might lead to the grid a sion of property but actual lethal attacks or Violent Attacks have become much more common place in our culture and though its good to hear the governor of new york come out and immediately say that he hopes that this is ultimately classified not only as a hate crime but as domestic terrorism we have to recall that historically this country has been very slow to do that when we had dylan roux for example who murdered parishioners in South Carolina and mother emanuel it took a lot of pushing to get that even considered as domestic terrorism i think to this day its not even characterized as domestic terrorism when he was picked up by the police you might recall he was given a ride to burger king before they even took him to jail and so there has been a a level of deference to perpetrators of hate trying in our culture that i believe has emboldened them and when you look at that along with the hateful rhetoric that has been spreading throughout social media throughout the rise in hate groups and all the way up to the white house its become a very dangerous culture for Jewish Americans but also americans of different races as well and avis i wonder if its only to some degree going to get more intense given that weve got a president ial election next year and immigration has become that kind of hot issue hasnt it for more right wing politicians absolutely and so in your view do you think we could sort of see an intensification of this this booty kind of speech the sort of language thats being used that might drive some of the assets. I completely agree with that its certainly not anything i would like to see but i think its very plausible and thats because as i mentioned you have a president here who has become a hero to White Nationalist and central to the theory of White Nationalism is this idea that there need to create a white state a white governmental system which is all about being able to deny this sort of turning demography that we have in our nation where were quickly becoming the jordie people of color a nation and so one of the ways in which theyre trying to turn back that future is to be very stark with regards to immigration policies and this is another thing thats related i believe to this increased targeting of the Jewish Population a lot of White Nationalist quite frankly blame a number of jewish communities because they see those communities as being supportive of immigrants and so by attacking the Jewish Population and in a sort of indirect way they are also seeking to downgrade the the level of immigration to this country a they still do even their c. E. O. Of insight unlimited joining us there live from washington d. C. Avis monkeys. Tens of thousands of people in the australian state of victoria have been told to evacuate ahead of whats forecast to be another day of extreme fire danger on monday further north the fire ravaged state of New South Wales is facing more strong winds and temperatures exceeding 40 degrees bushfires in 5 states have burnt an area the size of switzerland since september killing at least 8 people and destroying hundreds of homes Prime Minister Scott Morrison has now agreed to compensate volunteer firefighters by up to 4000. 00 as this is a very prolonged fire season this is putting additional demands on our firefighters in particular and it means that the turnouts in the call outs have been far more extensive than in previous years going well and beyond and above what is normally expected of those who are engaged in volunteer service and ive got a cite particularly when ive been out an outside the cities and seen the impact to clean Rural Communities on farmers who are dealing with drafts during the day and dealing with far as it not and through the afternoon. Response from the a. B. C. Joins me now from Port Melbourne in the state of victoria a lot of the focus has been on the fires in New South Wales but just how bad are things in victoria right now. Well until recently the tory has escaped the worst of these bushfires affecting astray about saying 1000 homes lost 9 people lose their lives and around 4000000 hits is burnt but Authorities Say that today the state is facing a very serious life threatening fire conditions weve got 3 out of control bush fires burning in the states theyve actually been burning for over a month now theyve been through around 100000 to hit is little floridians are now extremely concerned that with the deteriorating conditions today which will see temperatures well into the fortys in very high winds that we thought was conditions these fires will Impact Communities and as a result theyve put out to several emergency warnings telling people to leave theyre also extremely concerned about the road several roads have been closed already and they concerned that one particular major royd in and out of that area will be closed as a result of people of the fires and potentially trapping people in that area for multiple days and really care what measures. To protect people. Well yesterday we had a Mass Evacuation order for an area thats roughly half the size of belgium and that is for that region asking the ace where those 3 fires are burning now despite that region being quite remote it is very popular at this time of year with many families holiday makers going down the coast to spend christmas and new in that region about 40000 people have been told to leave ahead of todays all full of fire conditions with authorities extremely worried that if the fires are in those areas that their ability to help and decide if people are limited because of those conditions weve also had organizers of a very large Music Festival that takes place every year on the southwest of course thats the falls festival thats also been canceled that was canceled yesterday 9000. 00 people they have been told to leave for their own safety so its around 50000 people that have been ordered to evacuate just to make sure that the authorities can do as much as they can to keep as many people safe as possible in these terrible conditions so any killer smile there joining us Port Melbourne. Theres loads more ahead on aljazeera including chile is leading the developing world with a pledge to relinquish the use of coral to generate power but for those who live in the socalled sacrifice sones 30 years is too long to wait. Ballerinas in rebellion against french president manuel mak homes pension reform plan. M ranges decade long Victory Drive at celtic comes to women so well have reaction. Hello there a very big winter storm winding its way across the Central Regions of the United States plenty of cloud as well in the last few hours but what we have is this one main storm system which is really sitting across the upper midwest and the great lakes so picking up a lot of moisture as it works its way east was but weve got some very mild air in place on monday 18 celsius in washington that is that warm of unusual for this time of year meanwhile 7 degrees in new york but its going to be a wet monday but look at where the snow is and this of course is where the cold air is in place now its on its way eastwards on a sunny means that much of southern canada southern ontario will see quite a lot of snow the next couple days and choose of course is new years eve so be prepared to have some snow in toronto 3 celsius and just hovering around freezing and also a meanwhile this another system works its way into the Pacific Northwest but not making a great deal of headway then to the south throughout the car being we have got one or 2 scattered showers. Working their way across the. Towards hispano let than elsewhere we have got one or 2 shows just passing through the bahamas and the heaviest rain really is going to be into panama and then you can see it does tend to work its way up towards guatemala as we go through monday but i choose day is generally a cloudy picture and we should see some sunny skies in. With a high of 26. What happens when plans for a new life a good idea railed by committing serious crimes from Drug Trafficking turn obery too much would it i dont remember how many times it stopped the way her boyfriend spoke to me and even her aljazeera world goes inside an italian prison meeting men and women from north africa who left home only to face life behind mas double exile on aljazeera. I remember the 1st time i walked into the newsroom and it felt like being in the General Assembly of the United Nations with so many nationalities. Just different places but its all good for us thank you for the ability to identify the. World but we can understand what its like to have a different perspective and i think that is a strength for aljazeera. You know what challenges there are remind of our top stories this hour the u. S. Military carried out what it called defensive air strikes in iraq and syria against a group known as katz a hizbollah at least 1000 people were killed the pentagon said its in response to repeated rocket attacks on iraqi bases most recent one killed an american civilian contractor. Ukraines government and poor russian separatists in the east of the country have completed a full swap of prisoners from the 5 year conflict 200. 00 fighters from both sides were exchanged. Tens of thousands of people in the industry in state of victoria have been told to evacuate ahead of what is forecast to be another day of the extreme fire danger on monday and 5 states of burns nayarit the size of switzerland since september. Lets get more now on the prisoner swap between ukraine and russian back separatists. Is a former spokesperson for the organization for security im cooperation in europe says special Monitoring Mission to ukraine and he says its too early to say whether the exchange will lead to a pause in fighting. It is a bit of a lopsided swap if i can put it that way ukraine gave up 127. 00 captives and got back and returned 76. 00 including i should point out 2 contributors to Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty stun a slap i say of an all or how as you look there are facing up to 15 years in captivity but you know i think that next milestones will be looking for is the ceasefire promised for the end of the year but im not getting my hopes up too high because there are 3 disengagement zones that have been active for quite some time and there have been cease fire violations according to the o. S. C. There for quite some time so difficult to be optimistic poet has to be pointed out with whats going on in washington right now with a disgraced President Trump his his attention is not on ukraine whatsoever and putin russia knows that and it makes it that much more difficult for his the lansky to get any future gains or wins in the march for peace and the other thing i should say i mean the another indication of the way putin manipulates the situation if i can put it that way is the getting the ukrainians to agree to give up those 5 but a quote Riot Police Officers i mean i cannot overstate this enough this is this is probably the 5 most hated despised men in ukraine for what they did for the unit they belong to and i think putting realizes by zaleski handing them over it could so some social just court force that im going ukraine. Maybe is un recognized government is reaching at say the International Community to stop the madness you campaign by forces loyal to water telephone have to are untypical hundreds of civilians killed or wounded by have to us forces since the beginning of the offensive in april i had no reports from tripoli. The fight for tripoli is collating now the Foreign Ministry is calling on the United Nations and the International Criminal court to intervene the un recognized government accuses forces fighting for warlord flee for have to head of committing crimes against humanity in their campaign to capture the capital. We are asking the International Community to perform its role after it doesnt have any legitimacy and has been destroying tripoli for the past 8 months yet the International Community has a lot moved to stop him only now as we have a new ally regional and International Powers are rising against us the war on the southern outskirts of tripoli has cost the lives of hundreds of civilians and wandered many more have to the forces repeatedly targeted residential areas and government run facilities with airstrikes and rockets nearly 140000 libyans have fled their homes to seek safety also under threat are oil revenues which are the backbone of libyas economy. The National Oil Corporation is assessing the damage following greece and airstrikes on the oil refinery in the western city of zawiya. And as Government Forces battle to stop the fall of tripoli you have to his forces are reported to be getting very enforcement from russian missionaries and advance it weapons supplied by the United Arab Emirates turkish troops could soon be joining the conflict the promise to support for forces loyal to the the government is being seen by some as crucial to preventing the fall of tripoli because president says parliament will vote next month on a mandate to send troops but as have the forces advance further into the southern neighborhoods and closer to the density Populated Areas of the capital the fuel for human casualties is growing. And without the word of disease or tripoli. The u. S. Military and Somali Forces have hit to alshabaab targets with air strikes somalias government says a Single Member was killed well it comes just a day after a truck bomb attack blamed on the armed group in mogadishu 80 people were killed araminta also reports from i will be in neighboring kenya. They survived saturdays truck bomb blast it mother dishes but sustained some of the worst injuries now some victims have been airlifted to better equipped hospitals in turkey clinics and hospitals in mogadishu are struggling to cope with the dozens of wounded why the diet is going to roll from the time the explosion occurred up until now the government leaders have been working hard to provide the services needed by those injured in the explosion and its now possible for us to airlift 16 of some of the seriously injured in the attack 6 to our brothers in turkey. A truck loaded with explosives was detonated a security checkpoint in the capital somalis president is blaming the Armed Group Alshabaab and Mohammed Abdul life on my job as a file in the country wont be tomorrow. By the attack which caused the highest number of casualties in 2 years. The magnitude of the damage caused by the blast the Prime Minister of somalia to request assistance from the turkish government to provide treatment to those injured in the attack. A Turkish Military transporter landed with much needed supplies and medical staff some will stay to treat patients at a turkish one hospital in mogadishu as turkey seeks to boost its influence in the horn of africa its been an increasingly important aid donor especially since the somali famine in 2011 as more aid arise and the badly injured leave the country is on each somalis constantly wondering when and where the next attack will be. Algiers or vote counting is underway in guineabissau president ial runoff its hoped the result will help the west african nation turn the page on near constant political turmoil so former Prime Ministers are competing to replace president whole save mario vos who failed to get through the 1st round last month one of the candidates omarosa socalled volatile has already accused the interior ministry of stuffing ballot boxes or Michael Moore is a visiting fellow at the fear was largely center for africa at the London School of economics he says it will be a close race. One of them seems to be a general and also an academic at the same time and the other is actually. The head of the main party isnt going to be subtle now what seems to be the essential difference actually is that the incoming Domingos Pereira of the main party is actually counting on support for the main party who are still position seems to be wanted to gang up with the un to talk to see whether they can actually remove the main party out of this seat for once there is a clear possibility that the underdog may win. Because the said the opposition parties in the round of most of them have actually decided to pitch the tent with the underdog with. And see if they can actually use him are invalid to to unseat the main part of the has been ruling the country since independence so 3 theres a very high possibility that the table is my 10 bucks but we dont know yet demonstrators in hong kong avowing to continue antigovernment protests well into the new year thousands turned out to peaceful rally on sunday contests over the past 6 months have often turned violent people are demanding less influence from beijing and the resignation of leader carolann. The events in hong kong are being closely watched in taiwan where president ial candidates have held their 1st televised debate ahead of januarys election point dependence presence sighing when faces a main challenger whod like to see closer ties with china brian explains. Relations with china dominated the heated t. V. Debate between the 3 candidates vying for taiwans top job as she bids to secure a 2nd 4 year term president sighing when says beijing is the biggest threat to taiwans free and democratic way of life. When da my rival hong hesitates when asked which country he thinks would harm the well being of taiwan the most let me tell you now that country is china. From the Chinese Nationalist party or k. M. Ting is widely seen as thais main challenger he favors kosar ties with beijing and accuses sigh of exploiting the protests in hong kong to bolster her case. Foreign. People are bleeding from fighting against china president what have you done to help hong kong people are bleeding while you are enjoying electoral gains your campaign is based on the blood of hong kong people so the boys are part of the. Prodemocracy demonstrations in hong kong over chinas perceived efforts to curb the territorys freedoms have ignited concerns in taiwan some say the 6 months of protest in hong kong is given a timely boost to its size reelection campaign. A steady and hes facing. In taiwan responding to events in hong kong and china benefited from the end of the chinese government. I want for example already many and i and how they handled. President xi jinping is emphasis. That taiwan is a renegade province that needs to be reunified by force if necessary china is pressured countries to cut diplomatic ties with taiwan the number of nations retaining relations with the island has shrunk to 15 and china is seeking to win favor with voters in taiwan by making it easier for Taiwanese Companies to invest in the mainland part of the opinion polls are correct and sigh is reelected chinas if its are expected to face a further backlash on chinas island neighbor elixir brian al jazeera. Protesters in india are continuing their pressure on the government by coming out in large numbers against a new citizenship law legislation makes it easier for religious minorities from 3 neighboring countries to become indian citizens protesters say the law violates the secular constitution by excluding those them refugees and migrants 2. Samoa has lifted a 6 week state of emergency after doctors managed to control and i prayed with measles the highly Infectious Disease killed 81 people mostly babies and children around 5000 so morns were infected the government ordered door to door vaccinations cool schools and rich directed travel to stop the spread it mean isaacson is now at 95 percent. Despite being battered by economic and social unrest chiles government is standing by in some cases promise to go Carbon Neutral i think here 2050 that commitment is being praised by environmental advocates but in cities like coronel its far too early to celebrate as our Latin America Dysart this see anyone explains. This is what remains of the once impressive lot of coal company in the city of cotton in the wild today the mines are closed 28 thermal electric plants powered by coal continue to supply more than 40 percent of chiles energy and 3 of them are located within a 3 kilometer radius here in. America shows us the giant coal ash dump of one of the largest plants he says that since 2003 high levels of arsenic and other heavy metals have been contaminated in the air and filtering into the water supply from. Cornell is the only city in the world that has a call ashdod inside a residential area 100 meters from a school 150 from a Nursery School 30 from homeless the ash is a health hazard. And thats why good or nell is known as a sacrifice zone more than 70 residents especially children have tested positive for heavy metals including planet 9 this who has dangerously high levels in her blood stream she and her 2 children suffer from headaches exhaustion muscle and body pains lack of concentration and other symptoms. And no one has taken responsibility they havent said what will be the long term consequences what will happen to our children we have been totally abandoned by the state what will happen to my children if i die. The good news is the chilis government has vowed to close down all coal plants by 2040 and replace them with clean energy sources. Like solar and wind. These measures aim to confront Climate Change and contribute to reducing Greenhouse Gases but they also intended to create a positive impact in the cities where there is contamination from coal plants chilies pledge to each Carbon Neutrality by 2050 it will require one of the fastest coal shutdowns yet for a coal dependent economy but the governments plan to begin by shutting down 8 of chiles oldest electric plants is regarded as an ambitious by environmentalists and much of the communities that live next to them. Put their lives plants are unlikely to be shut down for another decade the government argues transitioning to alternative energy takes time and technology. Unfortunately for residents like 109 days the dream of no longer living with her children in a socalled sacrifice zone will have to wait. To see in human ill just put on it chilly. Frances winter long transport strike has been a disaster for the Entertainment Industry in paris some cells have gone in theatres during Christmas Holidays but without salad audiences and other performers themselves are on strike burnitz mr force. Of power says the cast expects to perform in front of full houses at this time of year i but amid the rows of excited children there are empty seats a drop of 20 percent in ticket sales means the public transport strike is no laughing matter. For the only family that owned the circus for almost 90 years its one of the toughest seasons theyve had we were doing the show until 16 of march so if we lose 20 percent every show is a lot of money is a lot of lost but we can stop we have contract with an artist we are a public already bought ticket until the 16th of march so we can see we stop its impossible. Sometimes its the performers who are on strike dances are against government plans to reform pensions because for now they get to retire at 42. 00 after a short career the puts enormous strains on their bodies. We are against the pension reform the government wants to implement but its also a gesture toward spectators because we as arsonists are very sorry about whats happening in tibet to private hundreds of spectators of christmas shows. The opera house says its lost 9000000. 00 since the start of the strike on december the 5th ticket sales in many paris there is a drop by as much as a 40 percent and december is the most important time of the year its money will not be able to make back just 250 tickets have been sold for tonights performance at the 650 seat today after the montana us when people have spent an hour and a half on foot to get to work its too much to expect them to go out again here when the crowd applaud the act theres the act of clout that the crowd back up because they are the real heroes whove managed to make it here it is says bertrand the biggest slump in theatre going hes experienced in recent memory. For the performers the show must go on of course but its getting harder to live up to the principle. Burnitz with aljazeera paris. Well the snow on the ground for a new year in moscow nothing unusual you might think but its still falling from the skies being delivered by truck thats because the russian capital is having one of the warmest winters on record the snows being used to decorate a new year display in the city send several videos of the snows arrival have gone viral with some notes in the irony of trucking in snow in a country which usually spends millions of dollars clearing it every year your kids and you could start as there isnt any snow anywhere its new year and it feels like it came with him but now theres a real festive spirit showing you. Its a taste of winter when you dont have any real snow and this will do weve been waiting waiting for it to fall and here it is its great. That youre young since theres no snow this makes us happy we like it a lot now were going to have a snowball fight. Still ahead here on aljazeera in memory of happier times people forced out by the Chernobyl Nuclear disaster come together to celebrate the new year in an abandoned time for the 1st time in 3 decades japans ski jumping sensation was the cried sin germany pete so well have that story in a bit. Its time for sport now heres peter thank you very much we start in the English Premier League where david moyes is back as manager at west ham united hes been named as replacement Emmanuel Pellegrini who were sacked after saturdays defeat to leicester which left the hammers one place above the relegation zone 2 years ago moyes was brought in also with the club in trouble but he only stayed until the end of the season despite keeping them up liverpool going to 2020 with a 13 point lead in the title race but v. A. R. Incidents dog they won no win over wolves on sunday a disallowed saudia man a goal counted off to review wells then had an equaliser cancelled out by a tight call using Technology Coach knew no a spirit or some thought believes v. A. R. Is sucking the soul out of the game decisions are made has been are being taken by by so by a referee that miles away from here miles and miles away in the t. V. Screen it doesnt feel the game doesnt get. To the field the game is not in the game. Elsewhere on sunday mikel arteta was beaten amys 1st home game in charge of arsenal thats the spine taking the lead against chelsea through america about a young 2 goals in the last 7 minutes from georgina and Tammy Abraham snatched the points it leaves arsenal down in 12 place in the table the final premier league game of 29000 was won by the champions Manchester City goals from Sergio Aguero and kevin the brainer giving them to no victory over Sheffield United city or 14 points behind liverpool and theyve played one game more than it has taken rangers the home of this decade but theyll head into the new year in buoyant mood after their 1st win at glasgow rival celtics and 28 when they collect catechize grabbing the decisive goal as rangers beat the champions 21 at celtic park. The German Bundesliga is enjoying its 4 week winter break but parisienne dortmunds push for a 1st title since 2012 will be helped in the new year by the arrival of the highly rated teenager early in the hall and the club announced on sunday they have signed him from rb salzburg the norwegian striker impressed in the Champions League group stages and has scored a prolific 28 goals in 22 games this season. Australias cricketers have a wrapped up a series victory of a new zealand they won the 2nd test in melbourne by 247 runs with a day to spare and south africa lead the 4 match series against england after winning the 1st test at centurion about a taking 4 week at says the tourists were beaten by 107 runs the 2nd test begins at newlands in cape town on friday the little move a good start just as well but the way that be special the last 2 days when we get to do it would like to know why they do that why the gaza school was just remarkable consistent all the time. Yes its a good start and thats what we need really is a good start to get our confidence parks. So very happy to suggest that 1st. Mckayla shifrin secured a slice of slalom history on sunday with another world cup win at lanes in austria she called the record of fellow American Military vanishing the most womens victories in a single discipline stricklands 60 full time and 40 food in sloane events leaving her 3 short of the record for most wins in one discipline hour by swedish great in the mostyn mark. And the mens world cup combine event set bormio in italy saw a number of delays due to crashes that is all spheres christopher noir meyer he was and if its a hospital after that incident it was defending World Champion Alexis Spencer over who won the title the frenchman came from 12th in the rankings after the super g. Section to win the slalom and with it the overall victory. And japans world ski jumping champion new kobayashi was wow in the crowds that are but still in germany on sunday night leaps of 148154 meters then enough to win the event this was the 1st leg of the prestigious full hills tournament with the remaining 3 competitions taking place over the next. Lebron james on the Los Angeles Lakers ended a run of 4 straight defeats as they beat the portland trailblazers on saturday meanwhile james harden gator shooting master class as they used the rockets down the Brooklyn Nets and scored 44 points and seemed to be able to school from every way he chose use and lead their division and 02 places behind the lakers in the us. Thats it for now in other sports but its in coming up again later and well see you then. I mean the exclusion zone around the church noble Nuclear Plant a few years 1st 2 years been put up in the abandoned town of pripyat its the 1st time the town has seen a new year tree since the Nuclear Disaster happened in 1986 former residents of the town opted not to use traditional decorations instead of covering the cheerless family photographs from before the disaster they say that theyre remembering her types thats it for me ill be back in just a site with much more of the days news. The brazilian economy is booming but deep divisions still exist between the haves and the have nots in a country where smartphones have become a part of everyday life could Technology Help reach to get. To see was the challenges develop as to design apps for a better wells travels to real dish i made and meets the young people tasked with making a different life after so fail a father on aljazeera. New leaders place children in this refugee camp the latest victims of the unending sectarian violence in Central African republic among them are survivors of unspeakable violence 10 year olds in work as mother is dead her father is gone killed because they were christian by their own muslim neighbors this is the least you home an overcrowded refugee camp of 23000 people surrounded by armed militia groups celine wants answers she says she wants to be asking the questions and so we traded places inch took the microphone will we find peace how can we make the violence stop when will i be able to return home. Insulation in the case that you have. A. Police department it has the potential to be biased in a number of different ways there are too many operators use for the computer to get whos checking those offices or commit those they to entrance is wrong to be saying that your son mission now is wrong to. Kill or becoming a suspect before the actual crime and indepth examination and to preventative policing precrime on aljazeera. Allies of iraq under attack from the u. S. Airstrikes launched against a shia group kill 19 people close to the Syrian Border. Tell them chilling when to hold this says al jazeera live from doha also coming up stop the crimes against humanity libyas u. N. Backed government calls on the International Community to act against warlord had before. Finally home you crave them for russian separatists complete a full prisoner swap after for