check check >> voting day in egypt - people are deciding yes or no on a new constitution that could give the military more power. [ ♪ music ] >> hello welcome to al jazeera america. live from doha: also ahead - blocking the streets of bangkok and the thousands of protesters trying to shut down the thai capital. >> the mexican vigilantes taking on the drug cartels and the authorities as well. >> after a quiet 400 years, a

volcano in indonesia wakes. we see what it's doing to people's livelihoods. >> people in egypt are voting in their first ballot since the military toppled president mohamed morsi in july. the constitutional referendum was seen as a test for the military. the country's security chief warned mohamed morsi's supporters not to disrupt the 2-day poll. >> decision day dawns for egyptians. they are being asked to approve a new constitution, one that will undo the rules brought if under the deposed president mohamed morsi, and which some believe will give the military and political elite more power over every day life. >> translation: the constitution is a reflection of the current situation. along with the challenge that

egypt and egyptian society faces. therefore there is is focus on the egyptian people, without neglecting any of the society. >> one change being proposed concerns the armed forces. if approved the constitution would allow the military to appoint the defence minister to be in office for two presidential terms. >> controversially the draft text retains the military's right to prosecute civilians who attack it. opposition groups like the april 6th movement will boycott the referendum. it will be explained why. >> we can never participate and give legitimacy to a regime. it is neither democratic nor civil. >> any political party based on religion will be banned. further eroding the position of

the muslim brotherhood which has been called a terrorist organization. despite this, another party with a strong religious core, the salafi indicated that this favoured a yes vote. >> translation: moving away from the constitutional amendments lead to chaos. these are factors affecting the position. we can confirm that not only are we saying yes, but we hope egyptians will vote yes. >> this is the first big test of public opinion since the removal of mohamed morsi as president. those who deposed him called for a large turnout and positive results. if they vote yes, egyptians will have seen three different constitutions in less than three years. >> while in a leaked audio recording defence minister and

army chief general abdul fatah al-sisi is heard to have talked about the handling of the constitution. in an interview with the egyptian today newspaper the draft should be rewritten and modified. modifying achieved the system. the interview was conducted several months ago. >> as we mentioned voters are not going to the poll to decide whether to endorse a constitution, but who are the key players. the leader of the defense, general abdul fatah al-sisi is at the heart. it's understood he will stand for president if the referendum has a positive result. deposing is mohamed morsi and the muslim brotherhood, and the anti-coup alliance. both are boycotting the vote. some are in the middle as the april 6th diplomatic front. they are calling on people not

to vote. the sal iffist is an important player and supported calls for the referendum, despite the ban on parties with overt lellageous links. >> they called for a yes vote and then there's the coptic christian population, relating 10% of egyptian society. the leader agreed to be photographed with general abdul fatah al-sisi after mohamed morsi was deposed. cairo's producers and correspondent were arrested, so we are unable to report from the locations, but we are monitoring developments from the engipt desk in the studio. >> we are keeping a close eye on the polling stations. we are seeing pictures of the general abdul fatah al-sisi. we are hearing from various twitter accounts that there was

a lorge scene of people chanting and singing when he turned up. we are hearing of steady queues across egypt. in gooezer and alexandria people have been queueing to pledge whether they are for or against. breaking news - we are hearing there has been sporadic violence in alexandra. we don't have pictures, but protesters were throwing stones at the military trying to hold the security up there, and that tear gas has been fired back. not confirmed i should point out. there are hundreds of thousands of military and police on the streets trying to contain anything that may flare-up over tuesday and wednesday, when people will be going out. we are seeing people speaking on twitter about what the atmosphere is like at the polling station. we saw a tweet from a person who

has seen several long lines. everyone is voting yes. not excitement but resolve. and another tweet: >> you get a sense of what people are saying. we are seeing on state tv that most of the people in the lines are saying they are voting yes, but as i say, a lot of military are standing next to the people who are queueing up. the question may be whether they were voting know if they were standing next to military presence. we are also hearing of some violence in gooezer. we heard of what we think was a molotov cocktail thrown at a courthouse. that was going to be a place where the finished ballots, those filled in were taken and held there. it was an attack on something that stood for the referendum. the minister of interior saying no casualties there.

also, reports of a drive-by shooting. we are hearing that from christen mctie, saying in her tweet: >> i forgot mention that on that courthouse where, as we say, there was a molotov cocktail thrown, we are hearing from a respected commentator, a reporter for the london times based in cairo, she says the people demand the death of the muslim brotherhood chant propsi group outside a court. she has mentioned howed people queueing up around the corner are saying they will not be put off by violence. they'll turn up and vote even if there is violence going on. that's a picture on the ground. we want to hear the tweets. you can go on a facebook page.

also, log on to the website and click on there and give us your view. >> more than 30 international media organizations issued a statement calling for the release of five al jazeera journalists who are still being detained in egypt. producers mohamed fadel fahmy, baher mohamed, and correspondent peter greste are accused of spreading lies harmful to state security and joining a terrorist group. al jazeera says the allegations are fabricated and are demanding their release. they are being held in separate cells. the other two journalists are from our cyst ter channels, one is a reporter, and one is a cameraman and they have been detained for five months. >> anti-government protesters are on the streets in thailand's capital trying to shut the city down. life is continuing as normal in most places with schools

restarting, commuters heading to work and businesses remaining open. protesters want to derail protesters and remove yingluck shinawatra's administration accusing them of mismanagement. >> tens of thousands of protesters have tried to block major intersections in bangkok with plans to surround the homes of politicians. there have been eight deaths and 500 injured in connection with the political unrest. >> veronica pedrosa is joining us live from the commercial district. what is happening there now? >> hi, elizabeth. things are going on pretty much as they did on day one. we are now in the second day of the bangkok shutdown campaign. what we have seen are the seven sides that you talk about being

flooded with people in their thousands. yesterday police estimated that there were 100,000 people who showed up to try to shut the city down. today they say there was 33,000. nevertheless the intersections are so important to the commerce, to the state-owned business of the city, that they are nevertheless having a big effect. this area, the people who are not familiar with bangkok but more familiar with london is like the piccadilly circus of bangkok or the times square of new york, if you are familiar with that city. it is one of the most important places. and there's another very important archery place which is cut off. it's inconvenient and 1.2 billion have been affected because of schools, hospitals and biostations shut down. down the road is the police headquarters.

and that is locked, closed off. it is surrounded by hundreds of demonstrators shouting at the police to stop supporting the administration of yingluck shinawatra. joining me to make sense of what is going on is the director of the peace center at the university. it is very loud. i hope we can hear each other. >> thank you. >> dr, i want to ask you about how important this is. there have been so many masked demonstrations. is this really dangerous. >> so far almost not violent. and we realise that the one who start to use violence will be loose are. >> people believe the longer the stalemate continues, the more possible it is for violence,

civil war and a military movement. >> there is a danger are of violen violence, waiting in the wings. for so many years we have learn lessons. a coup will not solve the problem. so this time, you see around, no military, no even police. we try to keep some kind of order by ourselves. but, of course, there is a risk. i don't know what the size of government is, but i think they have different views. people here are protesting. they would like to stage a view of nonviolence, bit of people's

revolution. they are moving because of royalism. the government of this party want to fight for the election. they have the legitimacy of democracy. >> we have to leave it there. we have run out of time. >> thank you so much. >> we'll bring you up to date as things proceed through the day. >> thank you very much. >> now, syrian activists say a residential suburb near damascus has been hit by a series of air strikes. video uploaded shows the suburb bombed by the air. barrels were filled with explosives coming after u.n. leaders met in paris to decide which nations will attend the first round of peace talks in switzerland later this month.

volcanic ash damaged thousands of houses near mount sinabung. continuous eruptions has forced 25,000 people to flee the home. the volcano had been dormant before it started erupting. we have this report. >> interruption happening in north sumatra as we speak. lots of smoke and hot ashes are coming out of the volcano, which was dormant for 400 years, and became active and has been erupting. constant eruptions kept people here on the edge. no one has died, but no one can predict how the mountain reacted next. many have comlained this is a disaster. they say the government has not done much to help them. most people here are farmers and have had no other choice to go

back into the danger zone every day trying to save the crops. many have not had an income for four months. they are begging the government to make a compensation plan. >> ahead, from the powerful to the practical - the cars that are popular at the detroit motor show. >> in good company, the famous art pieces going from billionaire boardrooms to public displays.

>> good to have you with us - these are the top stories on al

jazeera. egypt's army chief cast his ballot in a constitutional referendum. this is the first vote since the military toppled mohamed morsi if july. >> more than 25,000 people have been forced from their homes by a volcanic eruption. thick ash damaged houses. >> anti-government protesters are on the streets, trying to shut the city down. protesters want to derail elections and removed prime minister thaksin shinawatra. >> more on the top story. the referendum in egypt joins me on set. he joins me from the university in doha. there was a lot of talk about how important the turn out is for the referendum. what kind of environment are

egyptians going to the polls in today. >> i think part of the problem is the way that this vote has been characterised, especially within the international media is it's looked at in the context of previous votes through 2011 and "12. the problem is it's not the free and open environment. what we are looking at since june 30th last year is an authoritarian regime trying to take hold and solidify and establish itself. it's vulnerable. it led a coup against a popularly elected president. whether people agree or not all the steps taken have increased the authoritarian character of the temporary government. the context in which the vote takes place is one of wanton violence against protesters, repress of every independent social and political movement within the country, not just the

muslim brotherhood. but now it's expanded to ideological trends. within that there's no room for opposition. the vote taking place within the context, i think, of course, to some extent has been overblown. >> do you think than with this constitution, are we seeing a return to hosni mubarak authoritarianism. >> to a certain extent it's fair to make the comparison. only because the current government led by general abdul fatah al-sisi, they are yet to affirm themselves and legitimise claims to authority. the constitutional referendum is a part of that. it is part of the current elites to confirm events that took place and solidify a return to the hosni mubarak regime.

we are not there yet. >> there are people heading the constitutional committee that say the strengthening of the force, military, police, is needed now because of the ongoing violence and instability. what about that argument? >> i think it's quite the opposite. people came to the streets in 2011 demanding the overthrow in part because police have been running rampant for decades. that was the hope upon which people took to the streets and overthrew the regime. any argument that had been in place before then is an institutionalized violence, the way we saw movements. the idea that you are trying to see accountability in the hands of the media. against independent social movement organizations to hold

accountable police. we have seen unprecedented levels of state violence against unarmed civilians and protesters. >> thank you for that. that's abdullah from the university. he'll join us throughout the day as we monitor the referendum. >> at least 200 died in a ferry accident in south sudan. the incident happened on the white nile river in the country's north-east. up to 300 people have been on board at the time of the incident including women and children. the interim leader of the central african republic has deployed hundreds more soldiers in bangui with orders to shoot to kill anyone disturbing the peace. alexandre ferdinand nguendet hopes it will end months of

communal violence. >> translation: i have launched an operation. there'll be a rapid operation put in place. in case of robbery, this rapid intervention team has been working 24 hours a day. whenever there is a robbery or vandalism minutes later the perpetrators will be neutralized. >> nigeria ratified a bill without an announcement signed by good luck jonathan autolouing homosexual relationships. >> a doctor has been given a suspended death suspense for trafficking children. he persuaded parents to give up what was described as a sick newborn. one baby died.

mexico's suburb has created their own force to drive out knights templar. >> heavily armed men in south-western mexico are a common site. so-called self-defence groups have liberated towns from a drug cartel known as knights templar. they say they need to take the law into their own hands because the government wouldn't protect them. >> translation: starting today we'll implement a comprehensive strategy in municipalities to address insecurities. a security plan includes

20 million for funding social programs. community will have to turn in their weapons. >> translation: we call defense groups to go back to their towns and daily activities. we invite the government to cooperate with the authorities by showing all the information they have to stop criminals. >> the president enricko's government sent troops over the past years. the situation is deteriorating. a gun battle broke out between the vigilantes and the distrug gang. the shoot out lasted for hours. one man only was reported injured. residents in another town set cars and trucks tonne fire, protesting the arrival of 100 vigilantes. towns people opposed them because they are recruiting

young men. the protesters are backed by the knights templar cartel. >> the federal government suggests that it's ready to take action. disarming them will not be easy. some say they refuse to enter into negotiations unless the leaders of the cartel are arrested. >> day two of the detroit auto show, it single biggest in the world. the chevy stole the show with a stingray. one truck of the year. overall the car market staged a recovery in the united states. for years successful companies have been spending money on artwork. some earn hundreds of pieces by the world's greatest artists. now the collection has been catalogued for the first time and some art has gone on display. simon mcgregor wood went to have

a look. >> this is a snapshot of company-opened ard, words millions. art owned by big businesses are worth billions. they are owned by a family bank. today they and the bank belong to jpmorgan. this is an early work by a british artist, brought by a british legal firm specialising in modern art. this painting be longs to a spanish telecomes company. italian banks started to buy art in the 15th century. why? it's not investment, it's about image. >> if you go into an office before it's occupied, a brand new office, what do you see? you see rows of desks is computers and it's grey and beige, and you say to yourself what is this organization. the april is it's on the wall. >> there is a view that once a company buys a work of art it is

forever hidden interest the public view and it's a bad thing. this new book, and this exhibition seeks to challenge that few. they think that companies are good at displaying and sharing the works, that they are good at art eduation and their deep pockets are good for the artists themselves. a norwegian oil company owns these. it has a gallery. the british law form owns these art club and employees and photo belongs to a french bank and is part of what it calls its cultural policy. the basic message is we shouldn't be too suspicious of the big corporates scooping up great art. it doesn't mean paintings disappearing into corporate boardrooms, and may be better than paintings like this picasso ending up in a basement.

some argue art as great as this deserves public display, to be seen by all the people, all the time. >> that story and the rest of the day's news can be found on the website aljazeera.com.