Transcripts For ALJAZ NEWSHOUR 20240713

Turkey back groups and kurdish fighters as the deadline passes for them to pull out of Northern Syria. And the white house official who was on the controversial phone call between donald trump and ukraines president testifies before congress. Hello so we begin with breaking news out of lebanon and the Prime Minister assad heidi he has submitted his resignation to the countrys president following days of antigovernment protests says he has reached a dead end after unprecedented protests paralyze the country after the long awaited statement lebanese protesters took to the streets in celebration earlier on tuesday supporters off hezbollah attacked a protest camp set up by antigovernment demonstrators tearing down tents and roadblocks and banks have closed for the 10th straight day adding pressure to an already troubled Economic Situation. I made a similar call on all the liberties people to give precedence and priority to lebanon stability unity and civil peace and to steer the country away from the economic crunch and to our Political Partners i say it is our duty today to give the to safeguard living on and to steer it away from any pierrots it is our duty to bring our economy back to its feet my resignation and i will place it under the disposal of the president and all the liberties people offices come and go however a country must live on intact no one is above living on my god save living on me living on live on so that was they had 80 statements earlier on in a few moments well bring in stephanie joining us from just outside the Prime Ministers home but we begin with dana also joining us from beirut and also heidi has met one of the protesters demands by saying that he plans to submit his resignation to the president whats the reaction from the protest. Well theyre considering this i wish to all of those 13 days on the streets theyve been blocking roads piling pressure on the government to resign that has now happened but what has happened is lebanon finds itself in yet another crisis a political crisis it has happened in the past there is a vacuum we understand that had he went to the president ial palace and that he submitted his resignation to the president and neither the Prime Minister or the president made any statement following that that meeting now some believe that had it is using this in one way or another as a negotiating tactic to try to pressure his his partners in government that we keep on saying partners but at the end of the day those in government are not really how do you choose allies the government is controlled by an alliance led by the iranian backed hezbollah the president michel aoun and the House Speaker bertie and what the how did he has been trying to do really is try to find some sort of a consensus to set up a new government made up of technocrats people who are not politically affiliated with the with any party so that he can implement the Economic Reforms now we are joined with one of the organizers of the protest Movement Paul stopper sorry this is last minute but what what is your reaction. 1st 1st of all i would like to congratulate the nice people on their 1st achievement. First the man has been met there is mason of the government just like. Organizing the brought us were just like anyone else with a megaphone ok but are you going to accept to head the cabinet maybe hes asked to form a new cabinet would that be acceptable so its not up to the streets demanding a change. And they keep screaming until today even after there was a commission the same demands ok whats next the government theres a political vacuum in the country the street is divided there was violence in the streets today what next so the violence today in the streets just make people want to stay scare away people and strides of a civil war because you can see the protests are very peaceful in the country and they will see peaceful and we will not get back and we are building that sense now from the other side whats next we want to keep pressuring. The president of the country to set up a cabinet with technocrats not necessarily headed by. Government of technocrats this is a transitional government. With a specific one of them is to give that cabinet exceptional is just. To put in place a new electoral law seconds according to. A law for the independence of registered. And the 3rd thing they need to do is start working on the economic and financial reforms are needed before we get to a new computer. What do you say to those in the Ruling Coalition who say that. Popular anger is now hijacked by those in the opposition opposition politicians who are pushing a certain political agenda so definitely some people try to take advantage of the. Movement whereby they would try to ride this wave and its normal but the majority of the. You can support which is. Thank you very much there is no doubt when we say unprecedented protest yes across sectarian mobilisation of the streets muslims christians old young theyve come together in a rare show of unity but now there is a deep political crisis and the street is divided yes he talks about those in the streets who are not politically affiliated but theres the same amount of people at least half of the population who are not with them who we saw just a few hours ago they took to the streets they attacked these antigovernment protesters because they feel that their Political Parties who are in power were legitimately elected in the 2008 election so a very divided strewed a tense street Security Forces out in force there is now a political vacuum weve seen this before in lebanon over the heroes but like in the past the biggest challenge or should i say risk is the security of this country was oks enough with an update from beirut thank you lets stay with beirut and bring in Stephanie Decker but shes joining us from outside saddam is a residence stephanie so i was saying this is considered a win for the protesters whats the scene outside his home. While the streets here are pretty empty this is sort of almost like a Business District but his convoy did arrive back at his residence just around 20 minutes ago a large amount of cars and security just going back in. To where he resides he left the bob the palace the president ial palace without speaking to the media it was a very short visit so were going to have to wait and see how it goes forward but hes going to have to keep working until a solution is found until a sort of transitional cabinet is found and you are there the protesters this is a 1st step when for that there are huge challenges ahead with the protesters want and you heard it there they said well were. We might have a scenario where assad had 80 leads a new cabinet of different ministers and then you do have a minister that seems to be a Sticking Point whos the foreign minister. Whos also the son and rule of the president hes really become a rallying call for the protesters throughout these last 13 days incredible insults directed at him well it seems to from what we understand that he seems to be a red line for the president not allowing him to resign so a lot of political back and forth between parties between interests between what they want and i think this is also hinted at in his speech by saudi where he said to turn to his Political Party said to my Political Partners we need to do this for the best of lebanon because as you heard zain explained there there are huge challenges ahead and there are dangers challenges ahead this country. Is a country thats incredibly armed you have groups that have are bad hezbollah is the most for biddable force in the country really heard from its leader Hassan Nasrallah twice throughout these protests where he made it very clear yes you can protest but this is not the way to topple a government the government should remain in place we need to work on the reforms that were promised so not everyone is in agreement it is a political stalemate there are no more questions at this point in time then there are answers so yes it is a political victory for the protesters but it is short term and it is a step one and i think there are far more questions at this point in time about how this country is going to move forward then there are certain rights but do we have any sense stephanie of what the protesters will actually do next like like we were saying the resignation has met one of their demands but all the slogans throughout the past 13 days have not just demands a decided heidi it is resignation but rather all of them. All of the means all of them and i think these are hugely ambitious jamal and they want all of them to resign and they want a change in the entire political system and structure of this country that is in great and they want to transitional governing body cabinet made up of nonpolitically affiliated technocrats that is something that has also been dismissed more or less by those in power so you have a real stalemate i think are the protesters going to compromise i think thats the big question is this going to be enough for them to say ok well weve achieved this lets wait and see what comes out of it lets wait and see if these Economic Reforms are going to be implemented and then we go from there the problem is you have such momentum on the streets now people will tell you all the time whichever walk of life they come from whether its their sect or their cost that they are fed up whether it is someone who has a salary but who says theres challenges when it comes to water electricity god versus someone who has to work 3. 00 jobs to even just put food on the table but the basic infrastructure of this country doesnt work you have a country that struggles to provide its citizens with 24 hour water with 24 hour tricity that had politicians divvying up the pie of business interests which allowed the garbage to rise up and fill the highways here in 2015 you have a country that is one of the smallest countries in the world with one of the highest debts in the world and this is what the people are blaming the politicians for the politicians that have been in place here for decades the politicians that many people will tell you were warlords during the civil war they now want all of this to go but these are ingrained systems these are people who have vested business interests in this country who run large parts of the sectors of this country i think the dumonds are ambitious i think theyre going to be very difficult to search i think this is a 1st step and again were going to have to wait and see how the streets responded also now politically there is a political crisis here nothing has been resolved how that is going to. Forward whos going to blink 1st if you will because the politicians among each other also have issues so i think very Uncertain Times ahead and as you heard dana say there are also potentially dangerous times because as you saw today a crowd of men coming to the streets affiliated people were saved with hezbollah and you can see this as political divisions as well that are trying to stir up trouble what we saw today was limited no weapons were used it was sticks it was stones thrown it was ripping down 10 things can be kept things can become far more ugly here in lebanon ok Stephanie Decker thank you for that wrap up from beirut so lets speak to mark though hes a professor of communications at the American University of beirut and hes previously run for parliament in lebanon hes joining us via skype from the. East of beirut thanks very much for giving us your time on the aljazeera news so we are hearing that has now left the president ial palace after submitting his resignation to the president talk us through the next steps what happens now. Basically what happens next is the president has to call on the parliamentarian blocks the for limiting and individuals to basically do it a command they sions for who should be named Prime Minister he or she and then after that person is theirs and they to him by the president of the republic as the Prime Minister he has to do it his own negotiations with the parliamentary blocs to create a government and i locate the cabinet seat and ministries to various individuals the big debate now is will he or she be capable of creating a government that wins over the people protesting in the streets because that is the biggest challenge now to create a positive impact to win over the trust again and make sure people demobilize and see that there is a transition towards a new governance and lebanon so hard to get a government go ahead government not just just resigned as a government but got 90 percent approval by the Current Parliament so basically the it is a nation of this government is not just an issue of that is going to shut off Prime Minister heavy and his team in the cabinet its actually a huge blow to most of the political players that gave this government in 90 percent approval in parliament so now were looking at an independent ministry or set off ministers who can actually run the country and have the confidence without being undermined by the fact that politics off the sectarian Political Parties that have been running the previous government which do you know when you say theres a tendency are you referring to this for a technocratic government that some of the people seem to be demanding. No i mean in the plan then by those who are not actually have to do the Political Parties people who have their own dignity and on the stand will not submit to the needs or the sectarian divisions that split government and the reasons for the corruption and mismanagement of public funds in lebanon but so we want to limit itself as a writing table its right that im saying how split the parliament in lebanon is and as youre saying its up to parliament to nominate a new Prime Minister Going Forward looking at whats happening on the streets in the context of everything thats happening how likely is it that they actually agree on one person the creation of a government under turning lebanon to political stability it quite is that just a mistake its not an issue of numbers in parliament its about creating a legitimate government that can win the trust of people investors the business sector and the private sector so people will spend money again the banks would open the International Community would continue to support lebanon and the people in the streets would actually believe that that set of government ministers are capable of solving lebanons deep problems and i think it is not an issue of numbers in parliament its an issue of legitimacy and credibility and on the street and integrity of the individuals who can lead this country out of its Current Crisis on the issue of the technocratic government that i was referring to moments ago id like to get your point of view on that because there have been calls for a technocratic government yet weve seen resistance and reports seem to point to the president himself resisting a technocratic government what do you think of that and why is there resistance. I believe theres resistance because a lot of people or a case the dominant Political Parties are trying to maintain their hold on Foreign Policy Security Issues relations with syria the Syrian Regime and other areas theres a lot of pressure on lets let go of the economic good option related issues but maintain a strong gold and a power grab on Foreign Policy and governments i dont think those can be split and the more there should be a transformational change in how politics and lebanon is run with the form support of the population without being aligned with regional conflicts all at the expense of the National Interest they all need to be aligned within the lebanese National Interest through a government that is capable of managing the diverse perspectives in lebanon but Still Producing a good executive power to move the country forward what do you think they protesters will be doing next now that heidi has submitted his resignation that was just one of their demands how do they take their movement for and what do they do. I think tonight is celebration so theres a lot to be happy about after 2 weeks of sleeping staying in the streets blocking the roads and literally crippling the government from ruling now the next step would be is to put the agenda of the next government which i did that he forms fighting corruption and retrieving stolen funds the public funds stolen and siphoned away into. The uk its quite up to employees and ministers and politicians so i think that is the 2nd step and then the majors that is going to be if it enacted a law to be able to eat constitute a parliament based on the aspirations of the lebanese people with a truly Representative Parliament presidency as well as it coming that that trip presents the will of the living these people to move forward i waved from the militia men who controlled this country and the corrupt mafias that have been running the economy for the past 30 years in this country all right mark doll we thank you very much for speaking to us get to have you with us on all of his era lets bring in. His aljazeera senior political analyst is joining us now from london to another tight it is submitted his resignation lets just look at that for a moment and the ball is in whos courts the president and i see its a great question another. I mean it depends of course yes up to 30 years initially if you probably would have asked them a certain time stay on as you have heard before from your guests and then to ask us a substitute person to form a government whether that would be a government of this that or the other thing as weve heard from your guests but it would be a government of technocrats a government of politicians but none parliamentarians a parliament thats a bit more neutral with less of those radicals including his son and no it means to be seen of course and of course and also at the bench to be seen whether theres also some walls in the in the street meaning whether the street now with the react and how it will react because one of the problems were facing and the been on like we did in other places like algeria is that the streets is not exactly united around one particular brookport one particular leadership so the street is the street and the street is making demands of what it once and its making it clear what its against. But it is not articulating in any shape or form a real turn at all and it does not present itself as an alternative to the existing government or the existing regime in the country so what you expect moving forward is more of the same dynamic meaning we shouldnt be looking for something very tangible in the days and weeks even months ahead what we need to looking at is that i now mix is the 3rd ject jury of what is going on how much. Of the street demands are being met and how and how is the graph moving forward up and down it is really not about some secret some secret magical alternative to how he or to the foreign minister or to the Syrian Regime in the country today its about a movement of change and the best that the lebanese can hope for and the best lesson they can learn from other experiences in various parts of the world is a Continuous Movement towards reform a Continuous Movement towards a more Accountable Government a better functioning court system a better working groups in terms of establishing new laws that do encourage investment but also encourage social justice and the likes so that movement on the street and the Movement Among the elites will need to be one that is favorable to the streets demands without us expecting any time soon anything magical happening that somehow will turn lebanon into a Secular Democratic liberal government that is functioning to the to the interest of its people so are you saying that this demands by the protesters of a basic overhaul of the system get rid of the electoral law get rid of the sectarian rule is that an unrealistic demand at least now. Absolutely not but its not going to happen all at once and its not going to happen in any articulate way on some sort of a calendar or an agenda these things are unpredictable in the way they happen and there are a number of challenges ahead ill just name 2 of them the president and the Strongest Party in the country hezbollah that sure are not amenable to that kind of change that is being required or demanded by the street the 2 are insisting on the existing regime the 2 wanted the existing government and they might want to recreate a similar government so there are challenges still because the more organized groups in the country the better armed i should say groups in the country that could still cause havoc in the country hence leading to images deterioration in the country exploiting the void that might happen from a non functioning real government all of that could lead to some negative repercussions for the lebanese thats why when i talk about. Sure assured reforms scrutinised by the street and the trust of the street is the best possible outcome or outcomes that would continue to come in the days months ahead and i know that you saw what happened in the streets a couple of hours ago where mobs tried to take down some of the tents that have been put up is there a danger at all my previous guests mundo are saying that tonight its a celebrate celebration because of the resignation of saddam heidi but is there a risk that this protest movement can be hijacked and can be taken into a different direction because its originally started over people protesting over bad economic conditions. Absolutely thats why i said there are many a potential surprises moving forward because there are many potential challenges moving forward and one of the problems facing lebanon like it is in a number of other countries like iraq and others who are facing similar conditions as some real tensions between the street and the government over similar issues like it cannot make social political reform we see a certain geo put it does i use ation if i may use the expression usually we say put it this size but in this case its geo but it is sized in the sense that we have a good number of foreign elements are trying to end fluent what goes on and lebanon that is a very very a real influence by hezbollah supported by iran and making sure that the existing order in iraq lebanon and syria continue to govern in favor of iran and they really dont want to see the iranian axes if you will in those 3 countries from iran to iraq see that to want to the mediterranean through lebanon that this is change but unfortunately for iran there is a Serious Movement in the street not necessarily against iran or against they are told us what a gives a stomach a public they are for. Social economic and political reform within their own countries people in lebanon i mean look at those who are the most critical and those you who you just singled out those who arent demonstrating in the streets of lebanon are probably out on the edge of 20 to 30 maybe a little more those people he all of them were born or grew up after the new republic of lebanon was created in 1989 thats 50 years an entire new generation was born over the last 30 years since that by agreement established the more than republic of lebanon thats basically based on long the lines of security in his him and the 2nd charity and sharing of power in the country this new generation having tasted the bitterness of instability violence including the assassination of the number of foreign minister number of up Prime Ministers and president s since then and taste of the bitterness of a social regression and it cannot make regression and incredible corruption and nepotism within the country this generation once something new and different this generation that did not have the civil war this generation that did not sign on the security a regime established in the 1989 agreement for the mother lebanese republic one not only of the resignation of the government they want the resignation of the new lebanese republic of the security under public they want Something Different they want to be modern People Living under modern conditions whereby the citizen not the sect the citizen the modern citizen the advanced citizenship the nucleus of a modern lebannon know somebody religion a sort. Of thank you very much for your analysis from london lets go back once again to is an affair that is joining us live from beirut and just back to the issue of hiding it is resignations and what you think of message was behind this resignation. This could be a negotiating tactic or an attempt to pressure his partners in government to make a concession to compromise and to agree to create a new government which will be made up of technocrats ministers who are not affiliated to any Political Party in the hope that it will calm the anger in the streets and protesters will go home and allow the government to try to fix the economic crisis in the country how do you yes he is politically weak kids lost the backing of his longtime patron saudi arabia in the last elections in 2018 he lost a number of seats in parliament his financial situation not as good as before but in many ways his decision now his act siding with the people on the streets really gives him cards that he can play with the parties in the Ruling Coalition House Speaker to be barrys im a movement or the iranian backed has a lot they have lost a lot of support over the past few days because of the way in which their supporters have been acting on the streets we saw them a few hours ago attack the protesters who were sitting in squares tear down their tents yes they said that you know they cannot continue to paralyze this country we need to go to work but the very fact that they used force more than once against the protesters in the streets really caused a lot of anger has also losing a lot of support in the in the previous speeches given by its secretary general has on the strada when he cues accused many people in the streets of being linked to foreign embassies when his party itself he doesnt hide its links to iran and its allegiance to iran so how do you could be betting on the thing is he could also be betting on Something Else and that is he is the main some new leader in lebanon if you isolate a sect in this country that is when it becomes very dangerous yes those in the streets keep talking about ending political sectarianism in the country and they keep talking about National Unity but there is a reality here if a sect feels. Marginalized then this will definitely divide the street and cause even more tension in the street so how do you know it has about law and their allies need him he has International Cover he has International Legitimacy if they appoint an ally a semi ally to replace him then we could expect the west maybe they will no longer see the lebanese government legitimate and maybe does not do United States instead of just targeting hezbollah sanctions on hezbollah because of its links to iran it will then target the lebanese government as a whole so that is where how do you think house has cards and he can play those cards but its still not clear how the Ruling Alliance is going to react because for them what is happening is a fight for survival they feel that this protest movement is not about people who are hungry or people who want a better economic a better Economic Situation for them they believe that there is a political agenda behind this to topple the regime and to change the balance of power in this country which will no longer be pro iran pro to mask this and instead pro a west so they are going to cling onto power its not clear its really Uncertain Times but this is not the 1st time theres a political vacuum in lebanon its not the 1st time the street is divided but like in the past the main a challenge or should we say the main risk is the security of this country a right thank you. Still ahead on the aljazeera news hour. I mean. Protesters are back on the streets a for a rock cost or a night of violent demonstrations against the government also ahead and this is the end of the debate and were going out there to win ok. Ok Opposition Leader germany corven backs a december election 1st by Prime Minister boris johnson. Coming up in sport peter will be here to explain how cricket corruption has dealt bangladeshs National Scene table oh details a little later. Hello again were here across parts of southern pakistan we have been dealing with a lot of storm surge dealing with a storm in the arabian sea and i show you that in just one moment but along the coastal areas we have seen storm surge causing some coastal flooding as well that will continue not just for today but also for tomorrow to the north we are looking at some cloudy conditions across much of parts of Northern Iraq as well as into iran tehran expect to see a temperature for 20 but we are going to see the skies starting to clear as we go towards thursday well here across the arabian sea i do want to take you and show you that storm system that we are watching we dont expect to see a landfall with the storm but we are going to see quite a few problems here across the omani coast over the next few days were talking riptides as well as storm surge that will continue not just from wednesday but also into thursday the storm is moving very slowly and we could be seeing some storms some showers with storms as well up towards misc up attempt a few of about 29. 00 degrees and then very quickly across parts of Southern Africa we are going to see those temperatures still quite warm towards the north clouds pushing over here towards parts of madagascar but down across parts of cape town it has been very clear it will stay very clear attempt a few of 17 degrees but a very warm day on wednesday for johannesburg with the temperature of 28 with some showers on. Thursday and a temperature of 26. By injections of the well to beaches in the sport of squash. Champion from some of the top players but it sounds to me madonna thats fun to watch us play because we focus on skilful and hard challenging shot. Aljazeera world examines why egyptians dominate the sport egypt squash champions on aljazeera. I dont deal with poverty unless you deal with the guy you just said i just agree with that a lot this sounds like blaming the public the country for the problem not literally mean anybody these people well trained much of. The state machinery and. Very. Popular Little Church future join me as i put the questions to my special guests and challenge them to some straight talking political debate. Aljazeera. Hello again the top stories on the aljazeera news hour the lebanese Prime Minister saad heidi has submitted his resignation to the countrys president he says he has reached a dead end after protests paralyzed the country. In lebanon has remained in deadlock this protest has blocked roads around the country with barricades tents and cars its been hit by 13 days of protest since october 17th against a Political Class accused of corruption and mismanagement of state finances meanwhile hundreds of. Supporters attacked the main antigovernment protests in beirut on tuesday they destroyed tents and roadblocks before choosing a way protesters whove been counting the area for nearly 2 weeks. Brushes defense minister says the withdrawal of kurdish militant forces from northeast syria has been completed the deadline for kurds to leave areas along turkeys border in Northern Syria ended at 1500 hours g. M. T. On tuesday turkey stopped its military Campaign Last week after reaching a deal with russia under the agreement Kurdish Forces ordered were ordered to. 30 kilometers away from the Turkish Border by 15 g. M. T. On tuesday russian and Turkish Forces vow to start a joint patrol on the syrian side of the border right after the deadline a delegation from moscow is in turkey for talks on the Border Patrol operation and the United Nations special envoy for syria is expected to meet Foreign Ministers from Turkey Russia and iran in geneva that meeting comes ahead of the official launch of syrias 1st Constitutional Committee on wednesday lets bring in has some had better hes joining us from gaza thats near the turkish Syrian Border so its the end of the 150 hour deadline whats happening on the ground has some any indication that the s. D. F. Has pulled out or pulled away rather well its been. Well do we know its been 35 since the end of that line and the the questions of saying that the last year. Has its commitments and pulled out its fighters of such a war but i have to say that the opposition the Syrian Opposition particular they said there was is the Syrian National army backed by turkey has been saying that the last year has not completely pulled out from those areas saying that earlier in the day theres been some clashes that ticket at least south of failure and also around the city of because we havent heard anything yet from the turkish government who expected a statement from the turkish government later tonight it down the. Pleated its withdrawal from those areas if that happens it is going to be definitely a significant step forward that would deescalate the tensions the has prevailed in the area over the last few weeks. And whats at stake however has if the s. D. F. Maintains its positions are we hearing any official alliance from turkey on what it would do next a vote where the case. What is this situation as it stands now on the ground if you look at that area on the border with turkey since the start of the operation by the turkish military. And also the Syrian National army to control the area thats from tell us elaine were talking about 100 kilometers and also they managed to maintain a safe of about 30 kilometer 32 of the kilometers deep from the turkish perspective thats fine its a secured area and they would like to see predominantly Syrian Refugees back to those areas they say that they were villagers who were forced by the i. D. F. To evacuate those areas back in 2050 and 60 and they want them back the problem lies east and west of those areas particularly in the west where you have any and what you have been busy. He have miss lee and will and maliki and this is where you have a problem because for the turks and the russians to maintain that safe course they have to ensure that all they ask for that but then the syrian army is taken advantage of the situation and the ripples this in itself all those areas so were talking about a complicated Political Landscape that could be shifting any time in the coming days if all the parties manage to maintain the safe corridor or its going to be a huge victory for turkey because theyve managed you know well another to achieve what they were looking for an area longer than 400 kilometers 32 kilometers deeper and deeper where theres no presence of fighters. It could be a major setback also for the us difficulty with hoping to further expand into was in what they consider to be their homeland area which they say should be part of the areas they control but this is also an indication that whatever happens in the future the russians and the turks will have a significant say in what happens in that northern North Eastern part of syria. Thank you now a top u. S. Government official says he raised concerns twice over president Donald Trumps efforts to have ukraine investigate democrat politicians Alexander Van man the director of European Affairs at the National Security council is defying trump and is testifying in the impeachment inquiry venom and says here a trump asked president volunteer zelinsky to investigate former Vice President joe biden and his business dealings in ukraine and veteran says that he considered the request so damaging to american interests that he reported it to a superior the testimony comes as the u. S. House of representatives has to vote this week on whether to formalize the impeachment investigation into President Trump heightism castro has more from washington. Then is a member of the National Security council the expert on Ukrainian Affairs and he is an important witness in this impeachment inquiry because he is the 1st who was actually on the phone calls listen then when donald trump spoke with the leader of ukraine in july and it is that phone call that launched this impeachment inquiry in the 1st place trump asked of a lot of years olinsky the president of ukraine during that call to launch an investigation into democrats and then to buy into joe biden who is one of trans political adversaries in the United States elvin that the witness who is testifying behind closed doors today we obtained his Opening Statement and in it he says i was concerned by the call it i did not think it was proper to demand that a Foreign Government investigate a u. S. Citizen i was worried about the implications for the u. S. Government support of ukraine i realize that if you point pursued an investigation into the bidens and barisan it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in ukraine losing the bipartisan support it had thus far maintained this would all undermine u. S. National security and at the time that trump was on this phone call with the president of ukraine trump was with Holding Close to 400000000. 00 of u. S. Security aid that was supposed to help ukraine ward off aggression from russia and that is why then men and other National Security experts have come forward as part of this impeachment inquiry see that the president s demand for something for his personal gain was endangering u. S. National security and endangering an ally furthermore republicans have been defending the president by attacking the democrats process in this inquiry saying that because theyre conducting these hearings behind closed doors theres a lack in transparency and that the inquiry is illegitimate to begin with democrats have responded now by scheduling a full house vote this fall. To officially launch this inquiry its just a formality now because the courts have already said whats happening over the last 2 weeks is already legitimate however democrats are hoping to take away that argument from republicans saying that on the contents of this call and the contents of trumps handling of ukraine alone that that is more difficult to defend iraqis are defying a curfew on the climb in a new wave of protests there back on the streets of the capital calling for political change there is widespread anger over corruption lack of jobs and Poor Public Services and social her name has more from baghdads. This is day 5 of a 2nd wave of protests that began here in baghdad on friday this is truly the largest crowd that ive seen it is body to body all the way to a bridge that would eventually lead to government offices in the green zone there are quite a few people here they are being bolstered by support from a large number of students teachers and attorneys unions have said today to their members djoko to work come here to Tahrir Square and show your solidarity amidst all the craziness this man stood out he was standing very quietly holding this sign hes asked that we not use his name he obviously has a mask on do that here a gas but hes willing to speak with us tell me why youre here you said you didnt come in early october when these 1st wave of protests began you didnt come the last 4 days why did you come today i came today because of the respect and yesterday this is the you know action could have been attacked the protesters they killed a lot of them. Are saying i came here with a clear message is that human life is above everything you dont care about your properties you dont have much of vehicles you have to protect human lives and i have to urge the protesters to not try to cross the bridge they will try to. Attack us violently and human life is important not only for the protests but the human life of the police as well we have to protect human life we have to not try to cross the bridge british politicians have approved the timetable for Prime Minister Boris Johnsons apos legislation for an early election johnsons 1st time for an early vote fail to get enough support on monday night but chooses effort could pos with offices a leader germy corben expressing his support for polls to be held in december now says his condition for supporting an early election that a no deal bricks be taken off the table has been met. Hong kong activist john huang has been barred from running in the upcoming local Council Elections they have a tour of Commission Says his nomination is invalid because hed advocated for hong kong selfdetermination wang has condemned the decision accusing the government of conducting political screening and censorship hes the only contender disqualified from the november 24 election and earlier my colleague Adrian Finnegan spoke to joshua long and got his reaction to being barred from the elections it just proves how beijing they know all the boys of young generation to run for office which show they have no respect on dissidents to talk to and to the institution but they say the problem with you is that you advocate selfdetermination for hong kong which conflicts with the requirement for candidates to declare theyll pledge allegiance to the city it up hold its constitution south determination is their right and fundamental. Right spent should be enjoyed by people according to the United Nations charter and International Law i already opened it declared that i did not advocate on hong kong independence and i reckon i still employed has been the cause of to get a phone call named basic law and how beijing imply political censorship and screening to me to run for all this would just prove that they helped with the whole generation of youngster and a new generation to enter the institution it would just treat them all people continue to be discreet so will the protests go on. Chivo might ask that the extradition is withdrawn already why youve got to keep on protests but we are just asking for a free and Fair Election once they continue to employ political screening shield law people that run all this and even disqualified my candidacy it will just let the International Committee to where that house all call is far way from high degree autonomy and election in hong kong is on the map the play should off a cheap Iranian Foreign minister zarif is in qatar attending a security conference which is bringing together cyber analysts and exploring the security situation in the region he touched on the future of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal and potential discussions with the us which pulled out of that agreement president rouhani talked a bit earlier about a private dump of for solving the problem with iran what would you know about that offer President Trump who has been insisting on the need to make a new deal. And on the need to have meetings were not afraid of meetings and were not afraid of the use of you just cant be made one long meetings but we need to have the basis and the foundations for that and that requires everybody to be people to live up to the commitments that they already made. Still ahead on the. I dont i cant underscore this with peter thank you very much we start with some big cricket news one of the worlds best players the bangladesh captain shock about how sun has been banned for 2 years on 3 corruption charges the 32 year old has admitted to be International Cricket council but he failed to report approaches by bookmakers to fix matches back in 2018 the matches were in a try series between Bangladesh Sri Lanka and zimbabwe and the Indian Premier League to one year of their sentence has been suspended but he will still not be able to return until october 2020 the i. C. C. Has released this quote from shock it saying i am obviously extremely said to have been banned from the game i love but i completely accept my sanction for not reporting the approaches me winning is has more. This is a disaster for cricket in bangladesh and a disaster for the reputation of world cricket because shaq is a huge star and perhaps hasnt been given all the credit he deserves for his career over the past decade where his buy 330 matches for bangladesh was one of the stars of the recent world cup he is the top all round in one day cricket internationally this is a big figuring cricket is played all over the world and to have someone like him in brought in this shows you how deep Corruption Cases run in cricket there have been investigations on our air weve seen from our investigation junior who have really shine and shine a light on how deep corruption goes it is a sport that is ripe for illegal bookmakers to move in make use of information about the pitch conditions the weather conditions and when youve got someone of this level of shock a guy who is being banned it just shows that cricket hasnt has failed to clean up its act we spoke 3 years be in cricket assistant editor siddharth monger in delhi he believes she should have known better. This is the same person who had reported approaches the suspect approaches in the years book and 8 and 2010 and he was also a key witness in the total 13 people Corruption Case it means he might have made a conscious decision to not share this approach with the i. C. C. Iciness you that makes it. That makes it sound really bad for bangladesh cricket because i think it was the captain of the side when these approaches are made to him and we all know how bookies operate the board of the captain to try to get the motivation he cannot be the only one that bookie is operating with or a group of cookies or a whole industry of book is operating with i dont think he has got a way easy. Spent outside when hes watching all the cricket on t. V. Is missing the i. P. L. Is missing that it when he woke up i think thats going up and it. Bug area will have to play 2 matches in an empty stadium as punishment for the racial abuse their fans and that includes black players in a euro 2020 qualifier 2 weeks ago even one that match 6 no but it was marred by monkey chants and nazi salutes bulgaria have also been fined 75000 euros the stadium was already partially closed for that match because of previous racist behavior in the aftermath the National Team coach as well as the president of the Bulgarian Football Federation resigned south africas rugby coach rusty rasmussen says england have the upper hand heading into saturdays World Cup Final because they have a more experienced coach the springboks are aiming for their 3rd world cup trophy which will equal the record held by new zealand but erasmus says england have the edge because unlike him eddie jones has already coached in finals with australia and south africa. Were excited but we feel the pressure weve found ways to handle it and try to to work around it they would have the upper hand in terms of its experience of being of south africa and but you know weve tried to find a way to how to handle that and so for so good certainly said it will be a big day for us to see if we can go that last the former south africa wing bryan habana won the world cup back in 2007 he says sesame final is too close to call so difficult to give a prediction i think theyre going to pick we absolutely love to see see at least become the 1st player to kept us after 2 world cup victory but they will know that they are coming up are really getting a 1st and foremost will respect on many levels not just from playing perspective you know a chance of course from a side in 2007 so ill definitely be wearing my spring work is the hoping that you know we can gartin and see history being made. Lets go from rugby to tennis now theres been a huge upset at the double finals in shanes in china were number one ashley barty has been beaten the australian who was originally supposed to play soccer but she pulled out of the whole tournaments with a shoulder injury said barty faced a soccers replacement kiki persons the pull of a shock when in 3 sets despite the loss can still qualify for the city. To the n. B. A. And theyre only 3 games in but we may have already seen some of the plays of the season by the Sacramento Kings rashawn holmes whats this. For you. Look at this. Car that is a thing you. Put it right there nasty. Despite 24. 4 homes the kings still lost to the Denver Nuggets jamal murray scored 18 for denver if they won by 5 to make it 3 straight wins the rao continues over way next years olympic marathon and walking races should be held with less than a years ago the International Olympic committee has decided to move the events to sapporo because of the extreme heat in tokyo but now one of the largest parties in tokyos metropolitan governments have protested the decision. Our city tell you more you get the sense that no considerations have been made for the athletes the spectators who had already bought their tickets and who were looking forward to these events the potential spectators who will be cheering on the streets and also to the people involved in the operation no consideration has been made for these people and although they talk about socalled athletes 1st it can only be perceived as i. O. C. 1st will finish with a wool record by a female free diver from turkey this is 34 year old so he can remember plunging into the icy waters of guillen did a cave in Southern Turkey which dates back to the ice age. Swim without any breathing equipment but this time she was also swimming without any friends incredibly she managed to go 100 meters with just one single breath and thats all the sport more coming up later during ok well see you later peter thank you very much and thanks for watching the news hour on aljazeera well just leave you with some live pictures before we go from lebanon thats where the Prime Minister sort of submitted his resignation to the president a short time ago and you can see people out celebrating in the streets of beirut as that was one of their demands were back in just a moment well have much more news out of lebanon coming up on aljazeera. A young girl. With a lot of bias wendy says indication. When they have this opportunity. So the young girls both through secondary school with ought to be able to stay employed but thats one thing able to change have fun. Meet the women in guyana who are going places when it comes to education women make change on houses they are. Driven by outrage and spanning generations the real hinge of demonstrators gathered on the very day a widely criticised repatriation agreement between the governments of bangladesh and me and more was to begin the anger was all too apparent and the fear was palpable if you dont like were so afraid that if they send one of us back to myanmar today tomorrow theyll send back 10 and the day after tomorrow theyll send back 2030 or if we were given citizenship in myanmar then there would be no need to take us back there we would go back on our own we must remember the rancho among the most persecuted minorities in the world. Too often on the streets of india. Are victims but a new force is at play a. Female Police Officers are combative and Sexual Assault and domestic abuse. But changing society is a challenge and so is life behind the badge for indias lady called. On does either. Lebanons Prime Minister aside how do you submits his resignation in response to the demands of the people. Watching aljazeera live from a headquarters in doha im sorry you know were going to also a. Clashes between turkey back groups and kurdish fighters as the deadline falls those for them to pull out of Northern Syria. A white house official who was on the controversial phone call between donald trump and ukraines president testifies before congress