Skidding off a hilltop runway and. Showing support for our vital rebate protesters in colombia stepped on the gas to rally against a Court Decision placing the president under house arrest. Welcome to the program its a decision that hong kong calls just because all and shameless theyve condemned the u. S. For imposing sanctions on the territories top leaders kerry and the current and former Police Chiefs are among the lever fishel whose u. S. Assets will be frozen the sanctions come a month after President Donald Trump stripped old kong of a special status at the time he said he was punishing china for imposing a National Security law on the city now hong kong secretary of commerce and Economic Development says the decision will put a strain on u. S. And hong kong relations. On the hong kong is an reasonable up area and i think the long run it will inflict ruin to us u. S. Interest income to as you have seen well i dont find any sort of valid reason for this blatant if youre in. A fast 5 own country i dont think this is necessary for you to do so and looking at the wide interest in us such imposition of a reasonable set of measures would send a very wrong signal to u. S. Investment in hong kong and i think ultimately i think that the toll will get back to the u. S. Of course it will definitely hurt u. S. Relations. So a clock is in hong kong she says the reaction to the sanctions has been strong. The condemnation has been swift not just from the Hong Kong Government but also a by beijings top representative in hong kong that he has said he strongly opposes and condemns the treasury sanctions he said this reveals unscrupulous the unscrupulous intentions of u. S. Politicians to support anti china chaos in hong kong and inquired or quote from him and whats believed will consider the humorous response he said i dont have any Assets Abroad isnt it a waste of time for President Trump to impose those sanctions and he could send 100. 00 to the United States if President Donald Trump wanted to freeze that 100. 00 now the Hong Kong Government its also released a statement described it as shameless and despicable it said we had one representative the economics of development and commerce minister he spoke at it would yell but also he repeated what was said in that government statement describing it as unreasonable and savage blatant interference in Hong Kong Hong kong as Domestic Affairs it said or send the wrong signal to any u. S. Investors in hong kong but of course carry land has long defended the introduction of the National Security laws in hong kong she said their legal constitutional and reasonable and that was crucial to restore order and stop the chaos and the violence in hong kong which we saw months of protests in 2019 but of course its been International Condemnation from a number of countries including u. K. And of course the u. S. They say this law. Oppresses the freedoms of the city and it undermines the one country 2 systems policy which was promised in this former british territory. An International Donor conference to collect aid for lebanon this shows will for sunday though the country is in desperate need of help for an explosion at the port in beirut on choose day president michel own has promised an investigation into whether the blast in beirut was caused by negligence an accident or even a rocket or bomb but the government is facing widespread anger over accusations of mismanagement and corruption 157. 00 people are confirmed dead and at least 6000 injured say the harder 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 the. 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 or 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. For 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 the visit. 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. I believe that there is a consensus amongst all lebanese that a complete 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 International Law using 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 to. Beirut but it smith is in beirut with the latest on the investigation into the explosion. Enormous pressure of course on the lebanese all thorough in this investigation there are 19 arrests the most senior arrest is the head of customs hes called. Now the problem is all the challenges that when you get to this level of seniority the sort of people who are being arrested are in the positions they have because of who they know and this is the challenge in investigating Something Like this and 11 on is that a soon as people arrested who have got connections that lead right to the very top of government then there will be pressure on those connections to blame somebody else and this is the problem this is why being called from overseas for an International Investigation if you like all foreign assistance with the investigation because the investigators in lebanon are essentially investigating themselves or investigating people they know and the enormous fear really of many lebanese weve been speaking to is this investigation if its only done internally will get nowhere and the people ultimately responsible for this disaster will get away with it because there is no incentive here for them to be held account so held to account. Flight data recorders have been recovered from the wreckage of a lawyer which crash landed in india both pilots are amongst the dead 18 at the moment and in the city of kut appalling carola around 250. 00 passengers were injured has the boeing 737 plowed off the table top runway during a monsoon storm on friday night the Air India Express flight was repatriating work and stuck some months in dubai and the hayward has won. The desperate search for survivors from an indian or 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 just 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. And the aircraft or the front portion has been very badly mangled and damaged. It is moments in season in india making the rescue effort even more difficult many of those injured and now being treated in hospital both pilots were reported to be among the dead there are currently no commercial flights in or out of india this was a repatriation pli from dubai bringing indian nationals whove 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. Well still ahead here on aljazeera a warning from the u. S. Intelligence community the country they say is behind a push to sway the upcoming president ial election in favor of donald trump and help at last but kenyans whove lost their livelihoods because of coronavirus question why its taken so long their stories after the break here on all to see. How theres a turn in the cloud now to into it all suggest that tropical depression developing in the South China Sea and that certainly in the forecast and that might drift through luzon towards southern taiwan and that line of latitude which suggests a fairly heavy rain in thailand and mean in the next day or so because you got the recurrence of tropical showers well you know normal thunderstorms in borneo which have been absent for a day to a few around so the way sea in west papua and they are returning to sumatra generally speaking indonesia is looking dry. Now there have you got a house on the coast of New South Wales remember those pictures from a couple weeks ago look at this low here developing in the next day or so a circulation means pounding waves will again coinstar soft coastline that was warmer why is the 3rd time since this happened in 3 weeks sydney itself will see when the end rather went whether i have to say New South Wales will have that coastal pounding otherwise its a fairly quiet picture until you look west that frontal system has gone through Western Australia exists and as a following cold breeze in 2 person was plenty of shows been a wet winter so far for the western side of australia. On counting the cost russia says war planes and thats mr since the fall of libya biggest oil the last 11. 00 on the Economic Analysis of the devastating explosion is it time from awful fun plus weaponize in place of this information to manipulate elections. Counting the costs of aljazeera play an important role. You want to go to 0 with me said holroyd the reminder of our top stories chinas top representative in hong kong says u. S. Sanctions on the territories leaders are ridiculous and barbarous and the u. S. Assets held by chief executive kerry lam are being frozen similarly for Police Chiefs and other officials search and rescue efforts are still underway in beirut but hope of finding any survivors is fading 157 people have been confirmed dead and at least 6000. 00 injured anger is growing about accusations that authorities ignored warnings about explosives being stored at the port and flight data recorders have been recovered from the wreckage of an Air India Express jet which crash landed both pilots are amongst the 18 dead in the city of port around 150. 00 passengers were injured in the aircraft as it plunged off the runway during a monsoon storm. The u. S. State department has voiced its support for a former top saudi intelligence agent who was reportedly targeted in a foil distaso nation attempt is described saddam japery as a valued partner or job filed a lawsuit in washington on thursday accusing the Saudi Crown Prince mohammed bin salon of sending a hit squad to canada to try to kill him like hannah explains why Patrick Leahy was one of 4 senators who sent a letter to the white house last month in the letter the senators express their concern about what they call the abduction in saudi arabia are saddled jobbery son and daughter. In his court filing our job research his children now aged 20 and 21 were being held as what he called human bait to lure him out of hiding the state department has now responded to the senators concerns in a letter to senator leahy it describes jobbery as a valued partner to the u. S. Government working closely with the u. S. To ensure the safety of americans and saudis it also states that any persecution of family members is unacceptable adding that it has made repeated requests to the saudi government about the status of his son and daughter. He was an adviser to the previous crown Prince Mohammed bin nayef here but in his court filing he says he left saudi arabia because he feared what would happen if and when muhammad been summoned took over the state Department Says its concerned about the alleged activities that resulted in algebra exiled to canada it says that any accusations of wrongdoing against him must be and i quote address through established legal channels with full transparency and respect for the rule of law interpol rejected the request for algebra arrest saying it was rooted in political and not criminal grounds President Trump has continued to express his support for the Saudi Crown Prince despite the repeated allegations of Human Rights Violations describing him as an ally and friend but increasingly this is very much at odds with the prevailing view in Congress Mike hanna aljazeera washington. Georgia is the c. E. O. Of gulf states analytics the washington based geo Political Risk consultancy he says the accusations of testing the relationship between the u. S. And saudi arabia i think this statement underscores how the u. S. Diplomatic establishment is increasingly troubled by the ways in which mom had been sold is using his power while President Trump has bent over backwards to give m. B. s the benefit of the doubt throughout drums 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 much 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 mohammed bin some on the u. S. Intelligence official has warned that china russia and iran will try to interfere in the upcoming president ial election the Counter Intelligence agency says all 3 countries are using online disinform ation and other tactics to influence voters and create disorder william of arina says that china wants President Trump to lose the vote while russia would like him to weigh in and is already working against his democratic opponent joe biden. Well Scott Anderson is a fellow in government studies at the Brookings Institution he says the issue of forward interference isnt new but its notable that the intelligence agencies are being so up front about it in many ways the report is not necessarily that surprising we know from 2016 that certainly russia have been involved in various forms election interference in iran and china are likely at decisions to that list certainly have a vested interest in us domestic politics and not surprising to hear it may be involved in some of these tactics which is surprising about this report is simply the willingness of the Intelligence Community released this component of it to come on the record and say foreign actors are not only potentially looking at election interference in this case but they have a vested interest in certain political candidates in the President Trump in one case in an opponent in another case or 2 other cases as it may be no let doubt that is part of the framing that went into the effort to present this information and effort to make it look like it is in some ways an equipoise between the 2 sides but nonetheless it is notable it is useful its a useful reminder to voters that they need to look at media and information critically and they need to engage and think about the sources that theyre getting information from thinking about the reasons why people may be passed in certain messages and its also an alert to authorities to private Companies Like facebook and twitter to the fact that there is a belief that several entities are actually going to be involved in misinformation campaigns that we know in the past have involved false identity false claims and that there is a responsibility on their part to in an effort to rein that in and ensure that actual facts make their way to voting audiences not politicians in washington who once again failed to reach a deal on the emergency benefits for americans who lost their jobs because of coronavirus President Donald Trump is threatening to issue executive orders to force funding through millions of people had been receiving 600. 00 a week but that expired earlier this month. Many kenyans who lost the job because of cave at 19 accused the government of misusing foreign aid to help them but they say theyre yet to receive any money catherine so we report from nairobi. Antonio chang has just received his weekly 10. 00 payment from the government the money is a lifeline to him and thousands of other kenyans in auburn areas who have lost their jobs because of coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown measures. A chain is a casual labor in the western town of q and has 3 children. Under 500 we use 500 shillings for a banana hoping business we then use the other 500 to buy food and other basic things. In another part of the town has a callow tells us this is a pastime shes receiving food since march when the 1st case of the disease was confirmed an advance im in now messire gawain i have only heard about the government money i have not seen it ive just received this food store from well wishers. National treasury has so far dispatched about a 100000000. 00 with more on the way the money adds to an existing Welfare Program that helps the elderly oftens and the disabled while the 300000. 00 people have lost their jobs because of the pandemic government money is helping the poorest but the fans are limited the number of those who need it is growing and some analysts are concerned about the lack of transparency on how its being distributed i. Worry about. The lack of transparency. Or corruption and youve already started. And we dont want to. Continue or to. March. There are reports here that say much of the money sent to different government offices is being mismanaged through fraudulent procurement processes and inflated costs of medical equipment. Put this concerns to the treasury cabinet secretary giving money to those 2 issues that. Even the money. And how that money is if you know political. You know. d this will be no mercy the treasury secretary is expected to release an additional 500000000. 00 soon to provide father assistance to those who need it many like her khalil were struggling to survive i hope in the money well get to them this time kathy soliah aljazeera. Protests have been held across colombia after the Supreme Court put former president on viral ordering day under house arrest her supporters have been rallying in their cars across the countrys major cities with a detention deepening political divisions and us on the run p. S. U. Reports from the capital bachata. They came out in force in a 4 wheeled protest to abide by current restrictions got their only. Their stanch supporters of former colombian president. Who for them will always be the country savior no matter what. Needle and upper class conservatives forever grateful to an expresident who improved security in a nation battered by a long and bloody civil conflict. What america did we disagree with this injustice dont you remember we couldnt leave the house with the current who gave us freedom. For them the supreme Court Decision to detain libby on witness tampering and fraud charges this week is an outrage and thousands of former good fighters have gone free tanks 282016 peace deal no i dont its not fair that they keep him like a vile criminal when those guerrilla fighters are sitting in the senate its not fair not fair. 7 but to others here who is the criminal a man with alleged ties to drug traffickers and paramilitary groups with no regard to human rights whose war against marxist insurgents left thousands of innocent civilians there. The opposition against a hard fought peace deal with fired rebels that its predecessor a one man way to santa is achieved leaving the country split in 2. And even then certain promises to defend these divisions there threatening the possibility of requests. Would have this party in this political protests share current president have attacked the courts the situation even calling for an overhaul of the Justice System and a change to the constitution. For Many Political commentators the Current Crisis is testing the countrys institutions in society one of the basic questions here is whether or not the political structure can hold this attack that its being done against its legitimacy. Dorothy. For better or for worse. Dominated colombias Political Landscape for decades and will likely continue to do so as a symbol of a deeply polarized country still trying to reconcile itself with its past alison that impunity. Floods of inundated one 3rd of bangladesh and displaced millions of people local media says 161. 00 have died in the past month houses in a district close to the capital dhaka have been submerged after a nearby river overflowed its banks the Agriculture Ministry says that these are the longest running floods in over 2 decades and have swamped 2000000. 00 acres of paddy fields. No the latest bank of england forecasts says the british economy is facing its biggest annual decline for 100 years and bankers warn it could take more than a year to get back to prelaw down levels provided there isnt a 2nd surge of corona virus infections need parker reports now from london. This rush hour but theres little on the move this coffee kiosk normally serves long queues of customers powering workers in surrounding offices for the Small Business is under pressure. Economic storm is brewing i have a team of 7 people and currently at the moment with the way things are of the lucky to bring maybe one or 2 back. If it remains like this i think its going to be very bleak especially for small independents like ourselves that will live on cash flow. And the foot flow to come through. Is a similar story in londons financial district where every day feels like sunday this week the bank of england forecasts the economy would contract by 9 and a half percent over the year thats less severe than 1st thought but its still the biggest annual decline in 100 years and by the end of the year when government funded support schemes come to an end the bank believes unemployment will double. With many office staff now working from home the streets and alleyways in and around londons financial district are fallen silent thats catastrophic news for all of the local businesses that depend upon passing traffic covert 19 is redefining the country cities and towns can see the from the beginning of march that 4 started to decrease quite rapidly data scientists in the u. K. Have been watching our changing behavior since the start of the pandemic using tracking technology and shops d and high streets to find out how where and when we spend our money they are the economies of vital signs. And point towards a slow recovery when lock down hit for dropped like a stone and really we were looking at drops of the over 80 percent over 90 percent in london where the streets are absolute deserted weve opened 3 nonessential retail weve opened hospitality were encouraging people back to work all of those things created some for and yet post those because we are still 40 percent lower than we were last year the figures are going in the right direction a surge in online sales is keeping parts of the economy afloat but a 2nd coronavirus could risk another damaging lockdown denting Consumer Confidence silencing the nations high street for potentially years to. Leave. London. Or georges are movies that will rob a reminder of our top stories beijings top representative in hong kong has called us sanctions on the territories leader ridiculous and barbarous curry the current and former Police Chiefs are amongst the level officials whose u. S. Assets will be frozen so a plan comes more from hong kong for the condemnation has been swift not just from the Hong Kong Government but also to abide beijings top representative in hong kong that he has said he strongly opposes it condemns the treasury sanctions he said this reveals unscrupulous the unscrupulous intentions of u. S. Politicians to support and china chaos in hong kong an inquiry or quote from him and whats believed all considered a humorous response he said i dont have any Assets Abroad isnt it a waste of time for President Trump to impose those sanctions and he could send 100. 00 to the United States if President Donald Trump wanted to freeze that 100. 00. Search and rescue efforts are still underway in beirut but hope of finding any survivors is fading 157 people were killed and at least 6000 injured in the explosion at the port and International Donors conference is set for sunday to discuss how to help lebanon. At least 8 soldiers have been killed and 14 others injured in an attack in the Somali Capital Mogadishu Police say a suicide bomber detonated outside a military base near a stadium flight data recorders have been recovered from the wreckage of an airliner which crash landed in india 18 people were killed and 150 passengers were injured when the Air India Express plowed off the tabletop runway during a monsoon store one friday evening the u. S. State department has praised a former saudi intelligence chief who was filed a lawsuit against crown Prince Mohammed bin sylmar in washington subtle jab presents the crown prince sent to hits what to kill him in canada in 2018 those are the headlines more news in half an hour do stay with us. A Global Pandemic mass protests demanding change economic recession and geopolitical tensions not to mention the small matter of a looming election join me Steve Clemons in conversation with leading voices on the bottom line your weekly take on u. S. Politics and society on aljazeera. Hello im daryn jordan this is counting the cost on aljazeera your look at the world of business and economics this week russia seizes control of libyas Biggest Oil Field despite losing ground moscow flounce libya with warplanes and russian. Currency crisis default hyperinflation lebanons economic paralysis