Question why its taken so long. Welcome to the program afghanistans hires consultative body the loya jirga has remained as recommended that the government release of 400. 00 taliban prisoners but it says they should only be freed if they promise not to return to fighting again the release is seen as the last step to allow peace talks with the taliban to begin its now up to present a show of danny to make the final decision which could come as early as sunday. In our other top story the cleanup of lebanons damaged capital could soon give way to a new show of anger a mass protest against the government and the ruling Political Class is due to begin in the center of beirut in a few hours time search teams are still looking for 60 people reported missing after tuesdays port blast which killed 157 people shortly well speak to Bernard Smith on the search efforts but 1st this report from santa harder 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 you. 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. 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 that 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 who 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 in the Ammonium Nitrate that does not belong to hezbollah and. I believe that there is a consensus amongst all lebanese that a. 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 call 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 know what their favorite u. S. President told trump says hell be joining other World Leaders all a Donor Conference call for level on sunday he also said aid from america is already on its way at 3 pm this afternoon i spoke with president. Of lebanon to inform him that 3 large aircraft are on the are on the way there are fully loaded fully loaded with medical supplies food water and many other things lots of emergency equipment also 1st responders technicians doctors and nurses are on their way across bullet burnet smith is on the water very close to the port area. There are still hopes that there are some people possibly alive under the rubble over my shoulder there is the silo the grain silo the explosions on the other side of that its possible rescuers say that there might be some people trapped in a pocket underneath so we know theres a search operation going on over there im actually speaking to you from the Naval Dockyard and this side of beirut was essentially protected from the worst of the blast by that silo but if you look at the beirut skyline it might but every building you see along there every skyscraper you see along there youd be lucky to find warm intact pane of glass the destruction is total along there when 3 kilometers inside inside lebanon inside beirut so there is a search operation still ongoing and a massive cleanup operation and of course that is going to take a very long time not weeks not one months but years. Its a decision that whole cold calls despicable and shameless they condemn the u. S. For imposing sanctions on the territories top leaders and the current and former Police Chiefs are amongst 11 officials whose u. S. Assets will be frozen the sanctions come a month after president all troops stripped of its special status at the time he said he was punishing china for imposing a National Security door on the whole cold well home. Secretary for commerce and Economic Development says the decision will put a strain on the u. S. And hong kong relations. On the hong kong is 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 on call affairs 5 own country i dont think this is necessary. To do so. Looking at the wide interest between hong kong and us such imposition of on reasonable 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. 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 unscrupulously unscrupulous intentions of u. S. Politicians to support anti china chaos in hong kong an inquiry 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 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 and said it will send the wrong signal to any u. S. Investors in hong kong but of course carry man has long defended the introduction of the National Security laws in hong kong she said the 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 has been International Condemnation from a number of countries including u. K. And of course the u. S. They say 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. Well still ahead here all aljazeera a plane bringing stranded indians home skids off a hilltop runway at least 18 people are killed as it splits into pieces. However there has been yet more pretty heavy rain in south korea and its not over yet this is the sees no rain line now running from Central China over the yangtze across south korea particular then towards the northern parts of japan is a seasonal front and his dad got quite a lot of potential as he heads almost exactly the same place so or just societies filling up the han river once more obviously north and south korea affected by the flooding because this thing moves from weve got 300. 00 more millimeters to come in the next 24 hours possibly more they will definitely be more flooding which leaves of course much of china now know a lot quieter situation and but she japan saying all the sudden japan sudden smaller islands will see increasingly wet weather. The monsoon rain spun off a little tropical depression of sorts that went through the south of pakistan karachis had her 100 surge and im going to be as nasty as compare that with the average for some sort of perspective far more than twice the average but thats quite an down and other parts of pakistan will see significant rain thats true through the middle of the northern indian plane rather lesser maharastra while im also in kerala. The curve in 19 is seen a war of words escalate between the u. S. And china all challenge us general Robert Spaulding and british diplomat and also kerry brown on whether the west is entering into a new cold war with china in a special edition of head to head you want to travel ban on china to match the muslim is a quite stock proposal we need a strict vetting process is to tide finally turning against beijing we have a china centric world and then a world which is not china centric head to head on out his iraq. Or. Ok Michael Wacha officer with me cell run the reminder of our top stories search and rescue efforts are still underway in beirut 60 people are still reported missing 157 have been confirmed dead and at least 6000. 00 injured anger is growing amid accusations that all thought hes ignored warnings about explosives being stored at the ports. Trying to stop 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 lamb are being frozen similarly former Police Chiefs and other officials that have got us all as high as consultative body the loya jirga has recommended that the government release 400. 00 taliban prisoners its now up to president bush of gandhi to make the final decision which could come as early as sunday. Flight data recorders have been recovered from the wreckage of the boeing 737 which crash landed in india both pilots are amongst 18 dead in cardboard in kerala state however 150 passengers and crew were injured as the workers Repatriation Flight from dubai plunged off the end of the runway so higher it has more. On a gloomy wet saturday morning corey cold air points clouds gather at the site of friday evenings cross their India Express flights plowed of the end of the hilltop runway and down a slope the fuselage splits into 2. 190. 00 passengers and crew on board the boeing 737 flight from dubai its to the pilots to a both killed in the cross twice tried to land the plane during a monsoon storm thats overshot the runway which is notorious for being difficult to land on jaring heavy rain better conditions you have a monsoon going out and the weather conditions were unfavorable juice the monsoon it seems a pilot as this is a tabletop airport tried to bring the flight to the end of the runway but you just slippery conditions dismissed out to a place there is a drop of 35 feet where it fell and immediately the rescue workers are 5 or gate ambulances reach that and locals also helped. Crash investigators of recall of the black box flight data recorders now the inspection and various other things are going on. As part of the rescue operations they had to break old saw some of the parts of the aircraft. Some of the injured in hospital praised the pilots and. The pilot tried a lot to land us safely in the rain it was cloudy and around 730. 00 we crash landed it was difficult to land he really tried a loss during the 2nd landing at the time i skidded on the left side there was a ship it was over 36 feet then there was a sudden break everyone on board was wearing seat belts we kept our hands on the seat in front of us to protect ourselves and that the plane fell into the ditch and broke into 2 houses. Karen the state is trying to a large number of indians working in the gulf is the 2nd plane crash in 10 years involving in India Express flight from dubai 150 people were killed remember plane skidded off the runway in mangalore ruin crashed down a hill in 2010. Fridays flight this child to by the Indian Government repatriate workin stranded by the pandemic for months and who are eager to return home some never made it to the long awaited reunion with their family so the height of. The. Monsoon floods cover a 3rd of bangladesh local media reports say that 161. 00 died in the past month millions have been forced from their homes the district close to the capital dhaka has amongst the many submerged by rivers bursting their banks Agriculture Ministry says they are the longest lasting floods for more than 20 years. And a suicide bomber in somalia has killed at least 8 soldiers outside a military base 14 others were injured by the blast in the capital mogadishu. The state department has spoken out in support of a former top saudi intelligence agent who was reportedly targeted in a folder assassination attempt it describes. As a valued partner jobbery filed a lawsuit in washington d. C. On thursday accusing Saudi Crown Prince mohammed bin salon sending a hit squad to canada to try to kill him mike hanna 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 jobbery said 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. 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 saudi 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. Turkey has resumed oil and Gas Exploration in a disputed area of the Eastern Mediterranean is in defiance of a new maritime deal signed by greece and egypt on thursday has a recipe and has called the deal worthless saying greece has not kept its promises turkey and greece of long disputed the rights to the oil industry in the seas between their 2 countries a court in thailand is granted bail the 2 protest leaders arrested on friday night dozens of supporters gathered outside the court in bangkok demanding their release but they were held in connection with democracy protests wayne hay is in bangkok and says the arrest warrants havent stopped demonstrators from holding antigovernment rallies. It is an interesting decision from the court they have been charged with sedition they were granted by a law on the condition that they do not basically bring that over again and then in terms of coming to any of these antigovernment protests again and in fact leading them what weve seen in recent weeks is quite a