a cruise ship off the coast of japan and we speak to one foreign team passenger. polls open in just 2 hours an island election that could change the face of the country's politics. u.s. president donald trump 1st fired 2 major witnesses in his impeachment trial barely 48 hours after the senate acquitted him the ambassador to the european union golden somnolent was recalled it came just hours after the talent colonel alexander vinland was a schoolteacher in the white house both men were critical of president trump's handling of military aid to ukraine and the gallacher reports. gordon sunland was considered a close ally of president trump's the 61 year old businessman gave trump's inauguration committee a $1000000.00 became ambassador to the european union and is said to have had the president's number on speed dial all that changed after someone's explosive testimony into the president's handling of military aid to ukraine was there a quid pro quo as i testified previously with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting the answer is yes another pivotal witness in the impeachment korean to president trump was lieutenant colonel alexander that mn was a highly decorated soldier an expert on ukraine been man's testimony was said to have been breached the president is improper for the president of the united states to demand a foreign government investigate a u.s. citizen and a political opponent it was also clear that if you create pursued an investigation into the 2016 elections the bidens and greece it would be interpreted as a parson play on friday lieutenant colonel the newman and his twin brother a lawyer at the national security council risk ordered from the white house by officials both have been reassigned just hours after the president commented on the lieutenant colonel well i'm not happy with you because supposedly happy with the bump that it is midnight in washington senior figures in the democratic party reacted angrily to the firings adam schiff who took a lead role in the president's impeachment tweeted lieutenant colonel that man did his job as a soldier in iraq he received a purple heart then he displayed another rare form of bravery moral courage he complied with a subpoena and told the truth he upheld his oath when others did not. one of the president's senior adviser said the firing sent a clear message that not backing the commander in chief will not be tolerated following the impeachment inquiry in his acquittal it seems that president trump is bent on retribution whitman's lawyer released a statement saying the most powerful man in the world boyd by the silent pliable and complicit and decided to exact his revenge it came as no surprise to many that 2 key witnesses in what president trump called a hoax and now gone the question is who's next and again like al-jazeera washington or former u.s. national security advisor john bolton is accusing the white house of suppressing his unpublished book the national security council sent a letter bolton's lawyer of friday the expressed concern with the manuscript containing classified information bolton denies that the book reportedly contains allegations trump suspended military aid to ukraine to force it to investigate his political rivals of whom was sacked by trump in september just before a complaint by an anonymous whistleblower was made public candidates vying for the democratic presidential nomination have held a fiery debate in new hampshire head of a key primary vote there next week during the a.b.c. news debate bernie sanders and pete judge faced with a challenge brother by rivals over their electability and experience the 2 were top finishers in the iowa caucuses that kicked off the start of the democrats' race to the white house you hampshire's primary is seen as a crucial test for joe biden and elizabeth warren who both trailed in the 1st caucus. bernie sanders has consistently led opinion polls in the state he urged all of the hopefuls to unite behind the final candidates of the way we defeat donald trump and everybody up here by the way is united tomorrow who wins the day i'm putting we're all going to plan together to get. paid but a judge is never served in elected office beyond his time as mayor of the town of south bend but he said it's his lack of political experience which sets him apart look i freely admit that if you're looking for the person with the most years of washington establishment experience under their belt you've got your candidate and of course it's not me the perspective i'm bringing is that of somebody whose life has been shaped by the decisions that are made in those big buildings in washington d.c. somebody who has guided a community written off as dying just a decade ago through historic transformation somebody who knows what it means to be sent to war on orders that come out of the situation room we need a perspective right now that will finally allow us to leave the politics of the past in the past. is a democratic political strategist joining us live from burlington in vermont so i'm sure you've been following the debate is a front so is a winner emerging from it well i think we see a couple candidates really coming out on top from this debate and i think the big thing here is that we needed to see or joe biden needed to see a really stellar performance coming in 4th place in iowa a pretty pretty difficult position to come out of at this debate he had plenty of opportunity to speak the thing that he needed to do wish to shine and i don't know that he pulled that off on this one we saw a lot of from bernie we saw a lot from people to judge and we might might have seen all a bit more from elizabeth warren but it was biden who really needed to shine and i don't know that he pulled it off here. have pizza and. that was not just a one off food is a trend that will continue we'll soon see the polling in new hampshire shows bernie continue to be quite strong and it's showing pete really rising in those polls so in the next couple days we'll see if they can sustain this one event iowa into the next in new hampshire and again these are small states and there are small contests but the effect of winning either of these states is outsized in terms of the media coverage the attention the donors pay and just the momentum that you get in one of these campaigns and of course joe biden went on the attack during the debates why do people like you feel he's still not securing it well there wasn't a standout moment or a moment where you'll find on the internet or in the news media tomorrow we'll see joe biden just really rising above the rest or even just having just a viral moment that everyone will share we saw great moments from people like amy clubbish our who didn't do particularly well in iowa but who did do well with a couple excellent lines of this debate and with a fantastic closing you can't say that for joe biden in this although he lobbied lob some attacks i don't know that any of them really stuck i don't know that we'll be talking about them tomorrow or next week about elizabeth warren how she come out of this debate well as of warren outperformed her polls in iowa and so i think many people were watching her this debate to see if she would continue to shine through and continue to rise up she didn't get a lot of time at this debate which i think was too bad with pretty you know beating expectations performance out of this last election iowa i would have hoped that the t.v. cameras made a focus on her a little more maybe she got more some more airtime i think she did well for the time that she got and i think we still do well to pay attention to her she's in the top 3 so i think she will still be watching her. a lot of eyeballs are going to be on new hampshire no doubt going forward thanks so much our shared house and they're absolutely my pleasure hongkong has started a 2 week quarantine for people arriving from mainland china to try and stop the spread of the corona virus the outbreak has killed $722.00 people in china it's infected almost $35000.00 worldwide so a clock is in hong kong she explains how the quarantine restrictions been affecting travelers. i came through the airport about a week ago and it was teeming with people and today on saturday about 12 hours since those quarantine restrictions were imposed the numbers are obviously down now the particular quarantine restrictions they were imposed on the chinese travelers the travelers from the mainland and they will now be forced to go into isolation for up to affordable fortnight and if they breach that isolation period they could face a 2500 dollars fine as was up to 6 months in jail there has been some criticism about how those particular restrictions will be imposed the government here has described them as mandatory but of course once the their travels arrive here they're having to put themselves into self isolation so the criticism is how will they be monitored as a result now a number of people quite a high number came in yesterday from mainland china trying to avoid the restrictions which came into play at midnight at the numbers show that about $95000.00 people came from mainland china into hong kong on friday and this does include hong kong residents and chinese residents but that was up about 20 percent from the day before so certainly some people are trying to avoid restrictions and came in before but where we are now as you can see behind me it is empty and there are a number of flights are being canceled and most of those plants are the ones going to china earlier we spoke to matthew smith who's one of thousands of passengers and crew stuck on board a cruise ship in the japanese for a vehicle harbor the ship has $64.00 confirmed cases of the virus he says he's hopeful who will be allowed off to the foreseen day or team period. yesterday the captain informed us that according to the japanese health officials that absent further development we would be allowed to go on february 19th if the quarantine is doing what it's intended to do was keep everybody separate from when it was instituted on wednesday morning the fact that additional cases are developing is likely from should be from infection that occurred before the quarantine and we're hopeful that they're not resetting every time they discover one which would seem to be a little bit of an overreaction given the the nature of the quarantine but frankly we recognize that anything could happen at this point we're hopeful to get off on the 19th but are open to the possibilities of quarantine might be extended well still ahead on al jazeera we look at why life on television. on the. movie parricide marking a breakthrough for the south korean cinema. hello it's still snowing in turkey but the storm system that's bringing it through will affect everywhere dancer's live out the vent and into egypt with cold nights and cold days in contrast to the light southerly breezes warm things up from the usa back into his eastern side it is quite high temperatures for this time of the year and look out like contrast blustery wind and rain running into israel into lebanon into syria the stow at height of course van will go subzero and they could have well been it a meter of snow dropped by this time sunday and invent once again now the skies are clearing to some degree but the rain has come across as showers into iraq and north and saudi and the wind is quite strong blowing down through looks or for example leaving in the middle east now into tropical africa and just heading south when trying to pick up the rain here there are a few showers not but may the rift valley has been developing there in the west coast there as you can see north african shasta but really to find the heart of the seasonal rain you come for the south still and here they are everywhere botswana and zambia seem to be something of a focus namibia of course and not surprisingly is mostly dry. but. the 2000 mile trip across europe seems impossible. as the both guns route begins to close for refugees it has become a race against time for one syrian family. it's a perilous journey from greece to germany but there's no turning bank to the ravages of war left at home. sky and ground a witness documentary on al-jazeera. to. but i'm back here watching al-jazeera times very happy headlines the fallout from dog trump's impeachment trial continues with the firing of 2 key witnesses gordon somnolence the u.s. ambassador to the e.u. is the latest to be removed that came just hours after ukraine expert colonel alexander finland was a score to the al to the white house. candidates hoping to secure the democratic presidential nomination of held a debate in new hampshire and had a key primary vote during the a.b.c. news debate front runners bernie sanders and peter good to churchill criticized electability and experience. hong kong as started a 2 week quarantine for people arriving from the mainland try and stop the spread of corona virus the outbreak has killed 722 people in china and affected almost 35000 worldwide. turkish armored vehicles and tanks have entered it lived province in northwestern syria the last rebel held region it follows an advance by syrian government forces that have taken the 3rd of the province and are preparing to march on the regional capital that are said in casale reports turkey is determined to stop that syrian government forces in the suburbs of surat camp hours before district town well after fierce fighting with the syrian rebel defenders. sits at the junction of 2 major highways and was seen as a major obstacle in regaining control of the province one 3rd of which is now under syrian government control. turkey has warned prague the mask has forces to back off . no arkie unfortunately the syrian regime does not believe in political process and thinks peace can only be possible by a military solution and i have to say they are wrong about this they have stepped up their aggression turkey has 12 military observation posts positioned around the globe the escalation zone agreed with russia and iran in 2017 but 9 of them have been surrounded by advancing syrian government forces to protect and stop the advance trickiest stablished for more post which ended up in direct clashes between the turkish and syrian army's solve little mission with our focus on the missed you know cultural get tax responded to within the scope of such offense from now on any kind of attack will be responded to appropriately and observation post will continue their duties the syrian government has intensified its attacks since last november and backed by russia has targeted civilians this triggered a new way of a migration with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the violence in the 9 year long civil war in syria that was aware that this place could find refuge but it looks at the center is now under threat as the syrian government forces captured so rocket and just 7 kilometers away seen em go solo al-jazeera bubble how are northwest and syria israeli forces of shot another palestinian dead in the occupied west bank the 5th in 48 hours a funeral procession is being held for one of the victims palestinian policeman killed in jenin on thursday he was in uniform of the police station when he was killed during raids by israeli forces. tennessee as president has fired his country's ambassador to the un their move all of the career diplomat came as a surprise to some within the security council and it appears the palestinian issue is the reason for his dismissal are different i think at the james base as more from the un mons surf bartie came out of retirement to take up the job of u.n. ambassador to coincide with his country's 2 year term on the security council but now he's been fired on the orders of the country's president. and the reason is the issue of palestine which perhaps seems odd because it's one of the country's main stated priorities as ambassador bharti himself made clear the beginning of the year . tunisia will be the voice of the arab world in the african continent and will push for the settlement of just causes particularly the palestinian cause when the trump plan for the middle east was made public just over a week ago the palestinian ambassador to the un riyadh man saw told reporters that president mahmoud abbas was becoming to new york as ambassador barty stood by his side he explained that tunisia as the arab member of the security council would draw up a resolution rejecting the trump plan i'm told ambassador bartie was told news of his firing shortly before jared cushion i held a lunch with members of the security council the tunisians were represented by their deputy ambassador other council members including the current president were taken by surprise by the news maceo was quite shocked to hear that no i don't know all the details. and the reasons behind this but the evil is a very good colleague. really very much regret to see him leaving. so why has this veteran diplomat been fired the foreign ministry in chu news says he has been dismissed for purely professional reasons concerning his weak performance and lack of coordination with the ministry on important matters under discussion at the un but that might not be the whole story i've spoken to diplomats from a number of security council countries who told me they've heard but jerad push to himself called chin is u.s. president before the ambassador was dismissed one source says the question the call was to the prime minister not the president the white house is not confirming there was a call at all one u.s. official says the tunisians told them that the ambassador was dismissed because he'd gone road james pays out jazeera at the united nations facebook is taking an israeli cyber surveillance firm to court next week for allegedly hacking uses of its encrypted messaging service what's up the social media giant accuses the n.s.a. group of hacking into the phones of nearly 1400 users back in october among them or human rights activists for the call this incident journalists and this furious the allegations and says it will vigorously fight them. regional elections are on the way in india's capital region of the same as a major test for prime minister in their own dream ots ruling party with widespread protests against the new citizenship law and recent violence at the university in the capital elizabeth forum has more. polls opened at 7 am local time in delhi to time chief minister. and has me a common man party are expected to be reelected but the country's 2 main political parties the bought of the the party of prime minister in the day of the morty and the congress party have been campaigning extensively the election is taking place after the biggest protest against the b. j p government since it was 1st elected 6 years ago after the government passed the citizenship amendment act and december which fast track citizenship to minorities from 3 neighboring countries but excludes muslims the b.j. he has campaigned on this issue criticizing protesters in fact to be j.p. politicians were banned from campaigning the 1st because he likened protesters to rapists and murderers and said that they wanted to india into a muslim country the 2nd because he said protestors should be shot and just days after they made those remarks there were 3 shooting incidents against protesters in new delhi in one week now kejriwal has campaigned on his usual platforms on development education health care and that is something that resonated with voters in the past has common man party want to historic 67 out of 70 seats in the last state elections in 2015 the results of the election will be out on february 11th and they will be a key indication of whether the b j p's politics and campaign have worked. french president a monument cross called on his european counterparts to discuss the role france's nuclear arsenal could play in the continent's security my car is seeking a surge in european defense spending and says french nuclear weapons serve as a deterrent against enemy attacks he's previously called on as european allies to stop relying on nato and the us for defense botswana has held an option for the rights to hunt elephants for the 1st time since lifting a ban last year 7 hunting packages were optioned in the capital governor on each package includes the right to hunt and kill 10 elephants the government says commercial hunting will bring in income but conservationists say it could encourage poaching. ireland is the fastest growing economy in the e.u. but it faces a range of problems from rising homelessness to a failing health care system saturday's general election begins in less than 2 hours holzer indicating major changes in the political landscape. ports. there's growing discontent on the streets of dublin people are struggling with soaring house prices a crumbling health service and the spiralling cost of childcare for generations i wish politics has been dominated by 2 centrist parties the ruling family gale party and the largest opposition in a fall many now see them as being part of the problem it's time for our a change in our. 100 years finn a full. time for change they make endless problems they don't have any of them so we're don't expect it. and all we can do is hope and we need to get down to business very quickly ireland's prime minister and leader of iraq has presided over a period of cultural transformation is the country's 1st openly gay leader and you know only a few years the socially conservative and traditionally catholic countries legalize same sex marriage and abortion is also tough breaks in negotiations with neighboring britain but he's also been accused of a lack of political vision in the failing to confront concerns home he's had his finger on the pulse of bragg's a for a while and he's actually done quite a good job of it there needs to be a heavier emphasis on i suppose the important issues housing you know health care education things that he hasn't really been so so good on for the 1st time in modern history opinion polls are predicting a shift in power away from the 2 traditional parties towards left wing nationalist champagne i think. they put housing and health care at the heart of their campaign they also want to referendum on irish unification within 5 years. northern ireland's part of the u.k. during the conflict in northern ireland the party was regarded as the political wing of the republican paramilitary group of the ira 3 and a half 1000 people died in the violence that ended 20 years ago she feigns has it's time to move on this is about the future you know if we keep continue to look in the past we'll get nowhere this is about the future of the future generations and on the children today as to what kind of society what kind of contrie day will i can live and this is where she has been gaining ground poaching support from other political parties and attracting an entirely new generation of 1st time voters with promises to solve some of ireland's biggest problems health care housing and homelessness alan's political landscape is changing no party is expected to win the election out right coalition building is inevitable new partnerships could emerge as age old political distinctions fade leave parker al-jazeera. the south korean film parasite has emerged as a surprise contender at the academy awards this weekend the dark comedy thriller is being nominated for 6 oscars. for. since its release last year parasite has had south korea talking mostly about the social injustice of a younger generation not able to better themselves no matter how hard they study and work. it's becoming harder to imagine improving your social status as generally accepted within our generation. because i found nothing to be fascinated about it equality problem it's been here for long i'm kind of exaggeration in the movie the movie focuses on a poor family living in a semi basement who trick their way into the services of a much richer family with darkly comic consequences. i don't think in the region people are that stupid but suspend your disbelief for the duration of the movie and parasite becomes an intro all in fable about the struggles of the have nots all too painfully aware of the comforts enjoyed by the haves that they're living alongside it's a theme got resonates not only here but also in a world where the whitening wealth gap that gap is no better illustrated than guru young one of the last shanty areas of seoul starkly contrast with the towers of neighboring kenya the brashly opulent district parodied into global fame by gangnam style displaced poor families when it was developed many of whom moved to korea and who now scrape together a living doing the mean the old jobs that gangnam needs much as in parasite i think it was very realistic in the way that it portrayed our society especially in korea and further development threatens to move these residents again locked in an ongoing battle with the government for proper compensation. and as south korea has developed it has become easier for the rich to earn more money and while it has become more difficult for the poor to make a living it's an issue that has to be result. from its comic opening parasite quickly descends into in the car tragedy in their own struggle the people of korea hoping for a far happier ending rob mcbride al-jazeera seoul. and let's take you through some of the headlines here on al-jazeera now 2 major witnesses and donald trump's impeachment trial have been fired golden song law and the u.s. ambassador to the e.u. has been removed. it came hours after the crane expert lieutenant colonel alexander vinland was this course about the white house. candidates hoping to secure the democratic presidential nomination of held the debate in new hampshire and head of a key primary vote during the a.b.c. news debate front runners bernie sanders and pete would to jeju a challenge to their electability and the experience the firing of lieutenant colonel alexander vin men was one of the key topics president former vice president joe biden offered the ukraine expert a round of applause for his work colonel remove got thrown out of the white house they walked out i think we should leave it at the same track he should really pin your medal on women and not on rush limbaugh and i thank you and should i am i think you should or should think you have been or. show how much we supported stand up and clap for a very good thank you. thank you. thank you i've hong kong has started a 2 week quarantine for people arriving from mainland china to try and stop the spread of corona virus the outbreak has killed 722 people in china own faded almost $35000.00 around the world facebook is taking an israeli cyber surveillance firm to court next week for allegedly hacking uses of its encrypted messaging service whatsapp the social media giant accused there are so group of hacking into the phones of nearly 1400 users back in october and they're so group disputed those allegations vowing to vigorously fight them. headlines news continues after all while the algorithm on culture recalls despite your following to stop propping up straw men in africa france is backing a libyan war and charles dictator is it all about the oil plus the u.k. finally clears one brights a potent what does it mean for one of the worst performing industrial economies. counting the cost on al-jazeera. one of the really special things about working for others here is that even as a camera woman i get to have so much and put in contribution to a story i feel we cover this region better than anyone else working for us as you know it's very challenging the body but to be there because you have a lot of people that are divided on political issues we are we the people we live to tell the real stories are just mended used to do we were indeed journalism we don't feel inferior to the audience across the globe. you think of some of the biggest companies in the world today there's google amazon microsoft facebook which are all of them big tech with algorithms that. one more than just uses or customers will these businesses with generations of data they need us to like them for them to be indispensable because the more that we use them the more data we produce where in the midst of a great race the dot and big tech companies are on the chase. for the past 3 years academics nichol dri analysts is have been investigating a phenomenon they call dot of colonialism. while the modes scales in context may have changed they say colonialism same underlying functions of empire building extraction and appropriation remain the new lang grab going on that's not land that's being grabbed it's.