An Air India Express jet crashes in the Southern State of cattle. And u. S. Sanctions on home along the territories chief executive kerry lamb and 10 other chinese officials singled out over the controversial security of. The u. S. A spoken out in defense of a former top saudi intelligence agent who was allegedly targeted in a foil the assassination attempt the state departments describes as a valued partner comes a day off that all jobby filed a lawsuit in washington d. C. Accusing the Saudi Crown Prince mohamed bin someone of sending a hit squad to canada to try to kill him the state Department Says its concerned about al job these allegations and it says any persecution of his family members back in saudi arabia is unacceptable and its also being reported that interpol rejected a request to extradite algebra back to saudi. Arabia because they said it was politically motivated and well the state department comments or in a letter sent to democratic senator Patrick Leahy he requested a formal update on the case and it says dr al jobbery has been a valued partner to the u. S. Government working closely with us to ensure the safety of americans and saudis the bobbin of state is concerned by the alleged victim a tease that led to dr al job his exile in canada any accusations of wrongdoing against a doctor or job should be addressed through established legal channels with full transparency and respect for the rule of law and the persecution of his family members is unacceptable and the strength of the u. S. Saudi partnership which has benefited both nations for more than 7 decades permits us to engage in frank discussions in areas where we disagree well for more on this lets cross live to mike hanna in washington d. C. Mike these are very strong words from the state department. Indeed yes they were responding to a letter sent to the white house by senator Patrick Leahy along with 3 others asking about what had happened to the children of out of 3 there in riyadh being held by the saudi authorities the response coming in that letter from the state department a very strong statements made making very clear that he was a valued ally of the United States now outside. Worked for the poor crown prince of muhammad bin nayef as its intelligence advisor so he worked very closely with u. S. Country intelligence in terms of joint operations between the United States and saudi arabia in fact left saudi arabia because he feared that the present crown prince would take over from hamad bin nayef which was indeed what happened but since then hes been in exile in canada the state department making very clear in that letter that should there be any accusations of wrongdoing against him by the saudi. Authorities then theyve got to proceed in a formal legal matter according to the rule of the law now one must notice well that the saudis approached interpol for an arrest warrant and they refused to give one saying that the saudis motivation was political rather than criminal so here weve got a situation where the state department making very clear that it sees him as a very valuable man and making very clear to that it has on a number of occasions it says approached the saudi authorities about the status of his children who are being held in detention they now aged 20 and 21 so this is a strong statement from the state department making very clear to that it has already be making inquiries into the whereabouts of its children and this is a response to the senators in congress but what this whole matter shows as well is that the state department is moving towards the view in congress about the nature of relations with saudi arabia now President Trump has stated repeatedly that despite ongoing allegations of ever ation of human rights he still sees ahmed been someone as a friend and as an ally this letter from state department casting some doubt on that and also as well of course the letter from congress and the disturbing in congress about the fate of children is an indication that congress at least sees the relationship with saudi arabia in a very different light than the president mike thanks very much thats mike hanna live for us in washington d. C. Lebanons president has raised the possibility of external interference in tuesdays port blast in beirut michel own has promised an investigation into whether the blast was caused by negligence an accident or even a rocket or a bomb but the government is facing widespread anger over accusations of mismanagement and corruption 157 people are confirmed dead in a hot air has this report from beirut. This is what is left of beirut port the stockpile of tons of Ammonium Nitrate that appeared to set off tuesdays blast was in one of the warehouses some of the missing people are believed to be underneath the rubble its a complicated job to look for them because the damage is considerable International Rescue teams have joined Search Operations but hope of finding survivors is fading and they say the affair. What were trying to do is to find the structures that are still under tons of rubble specifically the cells in the technical rooms that are under the silos they could have been buried by the rubble and still be standing which could allow us to find survivors. Lebanese authorities have begun investigations into the blast that destroyed much of the central parts of the capital port and Customs Officials have been detained and their assets frozen investigators initially said it was triggered by a fire the president michelle and says they are looking into all possibilities. This accident is a wake up call as i said it could be an act of negligence all we have another possibility it could be a rocket attack or a bomb attack i personally requested from the french president if they were in possession of any aerial footage to kindly provide us with it in order to identify any aerial attack or missile attack if any. Popular anger at a Political Class blamed for years of corruption and mismanagement is not new people have little face in a government inquiry that is led by the politicians and Security Officials who they believe should be the ones questioned theres a problem of. Trust between the political system and the population and this exists for years not just now but now the problem is that the investigation the person in this committee they feel they are a part of the Security Services that people are asking questions about their attitude french president Manuel Mccall visited the devastated neighborhoods in beirut on thursday joined voices in lebanon and abroad calling for an independent International Inquiry but the governing alliance headed by the iranian backed hezbollah has dismissed that. And i would like to emphasize that hezbollah categorically refutes and rejects that we have materials at the seaport not a single bullet weapon ammunition or a bomb nothing at all belongs to hezbollah even the materials the Ammonium Nitrate that does not belong to hezbollah and. I believe that there is a consensus amongst all lebanese that a. Comprehensive transparent and fair investigation must take place authorities are welcoming International Humanitarian assistance which has started to arrive in a country already broken before the disaster but they are against internationalizing the crisis which would weaken their control calls for actions against the ruling class are growing louder following reports that officials were aware of the presence of highly explosive material in the middle of a densely populated city there are plans for mass demonstrations the priority is no longer just a humanitarian emergency there are attempts to revive the momentum of the protest movement that began in october but bringing about change wont be easy. Beirut. And the 17 people have been killed in a plane crash in the air the aircraft slid off the runway as it was coming in to land in the Southern State of cattle and heavy monsoon rain and the hayward reports. The desperate search for survivors from an express flight which is being bringing people home from the u. S. 190 passengers and crew on board the bombing 737 when it overshot the runway because according coursing karen. The pilot had apparently tried to land minutes earlier in heavy rain Officials Say the plane landed at speed and skidded down a slope before finally coming to a store it broke into several pieces it seems to have crossed that runway and fallen into a ditch sort of a place because there is a different shield between the runway and the other parts of the airport and because of that impact there seems to have been a breaking off of the fuselage into the aircraft a different portion has been very badly mangled and damaged. It is moments sitting season in india making the rescue effort even more difficult many of those injured and now being treated in hospital both pilots reported to be among the dead there are currently no commercial flights in or out of india this was a repatriation plight from dubai bringing indian nationals who have been stuck overseas because of the coronavirus pandemic in a tweet indias Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said he was pained by the accident thoughts which will be shared by the nation investigators will now want to know how and why this accident happened and why he would aljazeera the u. S. Is imposing sanctions on the leader of the Hong Kong Government in the territories current and former Police Chiefs are among 11 officials targeted sanctions were prompted by president trans executive order last month in a bit to punish china over a sweeping National Security law imposed on Hong Kong China insists the law is needed to criminalize acts of secession subversion and terrorism critics say is being used to silence dissent White House CorrespondentKimberly Hauck it has more on the story. What will happen is that these individuals that have been named will have any assets here in the United States frozen now the treasury departments very clear the reason this is being done and these individuals have been named is because they are directly responsible for the implementation of beijings policies of suppression of freedom and democracy and in his statement the treasury secretary steve said that the United States will continue to use all of its tools and authority to target those undermining hong kongs autonomy the u. S. President is furious that cope with 19 that originated in china has decimated the u. S. Economy and in turn hurt his reelection chances so a relationship that had looked like it was starting to improve following those tit for tat trade sanctions between their tariffs rather between the United States and china the whole thing is a really deteriorated since then theres been a long string of actions by this administration most recently yesterday the restrictions on the social media abs from china we chat as well as to talk there was an executive order that now mandates that all drugs for the u. S. Government that are purchased by the u. S. Government must be from the United States that cuts off a major source of revenue for china where drugs many cases came previously and there are a whole host of other actions that have taken place in recent weeks it is clear this administration is looking to punish china and this president perhaps even looking to punish china specifically at harming his reelection chances. Ok let me take you back to more on our top story the fact that the u. S. Officials are speaking out in defense of fall more. Secret agent who has been there describing him as a valued partner hes alleged to have been the target of an attack by the saudi government i want to talk to george will cuff yetto whos the c. E. O. Of gulf state analytics its a washington d. C. Based geo Political Risk consultancy is joining us by skype from washington d. C. Thank you very much indeed for being with us the statement to that the state department has put out seems very strong but is it likely to go any further than just strong words for public consumption. You know i think this statement underscores how the u. S. Diplomatic establishment is increasingly troubled by the ways in which mohammad been some is using his power while President Trump has bent over backwards to give m. B. s the benefit of the doubt throughout trumps presidency more and more diplomatic officials elites in the washington d. C. Foreign policy scene have been criticizing trump for being too soft on mohammed bin so money is they see it and i think this is just going to you know add to those perceptions you know right now the crown prince is obviously working with an american president to give him the benefit of the doubt but if the Trump Presidency ends either in 2021 or 2025 there could be a different kind of white house that is going to keep this file and so many other issues in mind and possibly have a quite different sort of relationship with mohamed been summoned to so the 2 of these children are being held in circumstances were not quite sure about in saudi arabia do you think that this statement by the state department actually creates any greater protection for mr but also for his family as well you know i think probably trump would have to try to put pressure on the crown prince to 3 these 2 adult children. I dont think that this statement from the state department alone would result in them having their freedom im a little pessimistic about that how big a p. R. Problem is this becoming for saudi arabia not over just with this case but it being preceded by the killing of a as well. Well in my opinion i dont believe that the crown prince can ever return to washington d. C. Or any American City for that matter you know earlier on prior to the killing of jim on his show g m b s coming out to d. C. New york california meeting with billionaires people on wall street you know that cant happen anymore. So that is definitely a serious issue that will have an impact on the u. S. Saudi relationship especially if mohammed bin so mine is to become the next king of saudi arabia and i definitely think that thats going to happen where we go to get your thoughts on this joseph you had oh its great to have you on ill visit again once again thank you very much indeed thank you still ahead on our jazeera unemployment shows a slight drop in the u. S. But the painful reality remains for millions of americans out of a job because of coronavirus pandemic. Promising sweeping reforms that rajapaksa brothers to strengthen their grip on sri lanka with a big electoral win. How the legacy of you say yes is still with us the storm is still over the top for new york and d. C. For example just exasperate the fact there are still Power Outages now those showers will carry on in the humid weather for a few more days and there are big ones drifting across the plains states in towards the midwest which i dont think will cause Power Outages but they are going to be significant storms otherwise it is a dry picture still far riskier for of course out west but surprisingly dry in texas and substations few showers around here as east coast also slowly dries up pakistan or whether in the caribbean as well when would all see frequent daily showers a polyp or cloud against nicaragua or costa rica and big showers seem to be developing in southern mexico as well you can tell that because of the or incentive these blues things and thats potential Tropical Cyclone developing off the coast of mexico another one to few longway sayas and theres been a lot of snow this winter in patagonia and theres more on its way the sort of Division Line more or less about montevideo so the river plate but this is where the snow is falling and snowing 2nd fast for the time we get through the end of saturday whereas in montevideo the temperatures rising. Exploitive plays the can. Learn a word. To make the charcoal that feels a fantasist that forge the steel didnt make sure that the trade that exploits them and. Solve it penetrates Global Markets slavery a 21st century evil continues to charcoal slaves on aljazeera. Youre watching out to see a reminder of our top stories this hour the u. S. State department is called a former top saudi intelligence official. Valued partner shall be filed a lawsuit in washington d. C. On thursday accusing Saudi Crown Prince muhammad and solomon of sending hitmen to canada to try to kill a lebanese president michel aoun has launched an investigation into tuesdays devastating explosion in beirut he says the blast which killed at least 157 people could have been caused by either negligence or external interference 17 people have died after a plane crashed on landing in india Air India Express jet broke into it overshot the runway at an airport in the southern cut of the state it was a repopulation flight for indian nationals have been stuck overseas because of the pandemic. Politicians in washington have failed in their laser system attempt to agree emergency benefits for millions of americans whove lost their jobs because of coronavirus President Donald Trump is threatening to issue an executive order to force the funding to go through john hendren reports from chicago. For more than 30000000 unempl