sun blessed beaches breathtaking scenery but there's another reason that draws people to cyprus it's not always easy for mixed faith couples to marry in the middle east and that's why the mediterranean island has become an ideal destination for couples and love to have a civil marriage al-jazeera world looks at what happens when romance cuts across religious lines cyprus island if it bit in love at this time on al-jazeera. with. zero.

hello i maryam namazie this is the news hour live from london coming up lebanon's prime minister saad hariri gives his first interview from saudi arabia since his shock resignation says he will return to his country soon and. at least ten people are killed as an earthquake strikes the iran iraq border. what he believes is what he believes the. conflicting messages from trump on putin and whether russia interfered in the u.s. presidential election. also how this can become this being built in kenya entirely out of plastic waste. i'm joining. with you day sports news says witsel and bank a place at next year's world cup at the expense of northern ireland will croatia be able to join them in the next hour that's coming up.

allow our top story lebanon's prime minister saad hariri has spoken publicly for the first time since his resignation in saudi arabia eight days ago in a televised interview from riyadh hariri denied reports that he's being held against his will and promised he would return to beirut soon he also called on lebanon's hezbollah movement and iran to stay out of regional conflicts. i don't hold women like her here in the kingdom of saudi arabia i am free i have complete freedom but i want to look after my family as well i don't want to see my children have the same fate like what happened to us i'm not talking about months i'm talking about weeks i'm only talking about days and i'll go back to lebanon. saudi arabia wants the best relationship with iran but iranians should stop interfering with arab states the most important thing for me is the interest of

lebanon. and i'm solemn as a professor of international diplomacy at the notre dame university in lebanon he joins us of a skype from beirut what do you envisage the next steps will be now how quickly do you expect to see saad hariri back in lebanon should he return following these remarks he's made. well base it on what was said how did he himself has said we cannot expect actually when he would be back he was asked at the same question two city four times and every time he said it is in a matter of days so i don't think clearly that. decision is entirely in mr how do you do this hand for the past. eight days mister how do you know he has been courted upon by all kinds of politicians and officials in lebanon including president of that aqaba and he has been offline no

one has been able to speak with him except for one or two of his immediate family so all of the indications indication say is that that is something wrong with the situation off mr how do you do in saudi arabia and is this interview by animal stuck rather than a vision any misstep how do you know his own or vision problems are with it yet when i it was supposed to get a far i think about his situation but there are several. issues and several shots during the interviews which raises the question what is and is a sort of a western what is that he was looking to see four times that i left looking at an individual standing in a court and they think. some kind is off. telling him what to do or what not to do and missed it how do you think there's any actual proof of that is that that's what you're describing now is speculation. well

when he said i did i was and what a lot of suspicion we do it's a social media in lebannon and this in itself you know he was not the quite quite the clear home. to whom he was talking and who was talking to him and why during the middle of the interview anyway let's let's suppose that mr how do you do is stay in the yard is not force it which. is as an indication it is as a way let's suppose it is not just that how do you lose an ignition officially from the. job in lebanon cannot be affected unless he comes to lebanon and submit his resignation according to a legal channel by submitting it to the president of the department at all times of his in terms of his remarks about his resignation he seemed to imply that it might be conditional on the behavior of hezbollah and mean it is no secret that there are

concerns about their activities in syria and elsewhere and iran's involvement do you see do you see that there is some room for maneuver on this issue of harry's resignation in terms of it prompting a shift in lebanon. well this is issue which has been raised by somebody about you know hezbollah's involvement in syria has been for the past seven years well i'm making an issue out of it right now this is a big question what sort of missed it how did he understand her and hezbollah mr nasr a lot mr. howard agreed when you had to go to form a unity government and everyone in use that each. side is a position are different also on i mean maybe it is some issues particularly on the syria crisis on the palestine crisis on negotiation and said that i and despite all

of that they have agreed that they were set to go for the benefit of the company and to to keep the government going in lebanon so just if you wish and now why suddenly just. observed to mr how do you decide his one year of. the prime minister. to beings on i mean it's an eleven hour suddenly he flies with somebody that if you and declares his resignation he was if this is unbelievable it was a happy. issue which he had eight days ago was that it was he was threatened security wise in lebanon all of the security agencies in lebanon are happy and you can go but it's up best the few days that they have not that he see that and he said that's what any information about so that's against mr how do you know his life or so about u.s. embassies in beirut including the. embassies or some of the they said we haven't been but if we offer any such information and we ourselves i want

intelligence. in lebanon or in other places do not have such information about that's against misstep how do you so nine salim thank you very much for not attending and i still very much appreciate getting your thoughts on this story also joining us now is ronnie her senior public policy fellow at the mat. can university of beirut he joins us live from boston and so despite what we heard from saad hariri in his first public remarks since his resignation is there any further clarity on whether he's being held against his will in riyadh or whether there is some sort of coercion involved here. well the body language certainly would indicate that he's not comfortable. this was not the normal side happy that we've seen in lebanon for many years he clearly was in them uncomfortable situation here physically look not not at ease and what he was saying was

it was very. contradictory to many people in lebanon saying that he's free when he didn't look free saying that he's doing this to help lebanon when perhaps it was actually more to help saudi arabia there's just a lot of contradictions and lack of clarity in what he was saying so i think it just reinforces the widespread sentiment in lebanon that he is being used by the saudi arabian government as a mechanism to put pressure on the lebanese government to put pressure on hezbollah which would put pressure on iran that's the general assumption by almost everybody that i've seen the writing and talking about this people who are quite a bit of knowledge and who i respect so i think there's no doubt about that he's caught in a very difficult situation impossible situation in lebanon to reconcile hezbollah with the lebanese government and an impossible situation between lebanon and saudi arabia and you have to feel sorry for the fellow and i think he's trying his best

but he might possibly emerge from this in much better shape he was before if he pulls off a new agreement in lebanon that would satisfy the lebanese government satisfy hezbollah and satisfy the saudis it's very difficult to do that but i think he might give it one try and i suppose given the pressure that on the situation and the the idea that this the whole thing is designed to put pressure on iran and hezbollah is there then a possibility that there is some room for compromise that this resignation might be rescinded. i think there is i think that was the main message from this interview that. if he goes back to lebanon which he says he will do and enters into negotiations which he says he will do he made it clear that the main point was the extraterritorial activities of hezbollah outside of lebanon whether

that's in syria or. yemen or other places around the region that hezbollah is accused of doing things with it's not really clear but that seems to be the core issue this is a very difficult agreement to achieve now they had an agreement before in the lebanese government where hezbollah would restrain its activities outside of lebanon so that it doesn't get all the lebanese government in trouble with many other countries which has been the case in recent years specially with saudi arabia and some of the gulf countries. this is not an easy thing to do and if they if it does achieve this hezbollah is low key and patient and gives a small concession to allow lebanon to resume having a full government full cabinet full parliament active president and they can all work together they have pressing issues and the real fear in lebanon is that the country internally is very vulnerable on the economic level on the political level

security level water level electricity level every day mention of lebanese life experiencing great vulnerability and it's finally reaching into the homes of ordinary people so it's of hezbollah's interest and these amount the president to to achieve an agreement internally to address internal issues especially the national debt the external issues can be dealt with later and there's nothing pressing right now that should cause hezbollah or anybody else in lebanon to want to actively being gauged outside the country this is not a country that has power all across the middle east but hezbollah does and this is the great. dilemma for the lebanese they've never really addressed the issue of hezbollah's power and how to reconcile that with the lebanese government's formal authority for sovereignty and governance they played around with a little bit here or there the national dialogue years ago but they've never gotten to the core of it and this isn't the way in of in the way what the saudis may be or

are trying to force but i would argue that this whole thing is not about lebanon this whole thing is about saudi arabia the saudi government its regional policies as many failures it's frustration the ambitions of the new crown prince there's a lot of things going on inside saudi arabia inside haiti has been caught as an unfortunate mechanism in this battle between a new saudi government and its desire to have a credible effective regional policy that has some wins rather than most of the failures that the saudi policy has had in the region so for indeed there are a number of layers to this story and thank you very much for outlining it all for us rami khouri in boston let's take it all back to beirut now the lebanese capital is a no harder is there for us and really we're seeing jaring than it was an american in beirut ten lebanese across the board seem to really use it as an excuse to

rally around and voice that support for the prime minister how will these comments that we've heard tonight be received out of that. well definitely there will be mixed reaction and some people will be convinced that he is a free man but i can tell you the majority will not be convinced because of his body language he seemed under a lot of pressure he seemed very stressed a lot of people we've been speaking to this is what they've been telling us a man really who really didn't have a lot of answers his answers were not didn't have any clarity but it's just more than that the prime minister even if he returns to lebanon he did say that he's coming back once security arrangements are made even if he comes back it doesn't resolve the political crisis he did say that he would be willing to withdraw his resignation but the condition that he gave is almost impossible to achieve he said

that hezbollah will have to respect lebanon's this association policy a few years ago the lebanese government adopted this policy whereby it stays away from regional conflicts particularly in syria so you'll be asking has the logical its troops out of the syrian conflict its troops are fighting alongside the syrian government this is not the first time hezbollah has been asked to do so it's not going to heed this demand now so the political deadlock will continue the political paralysis will continue how do you see is the tops on the politician in lebanon and that is why when he resigned it shook everybody because at the end of the day the sunni community here feels that they've been marginalized that iran's influence is only growing the very fact that he resigned means they're going to be marginalized even further so there was a lot of fears and also there was a lot of anti saudi resentment even in this in the street they felt that saudi arabia was robbing them from their leader so the situation is quite tense his appearance his comments are going to do very little to ease the tensions in fact

instead really he looks like a pawn in the rivalry between saudi arabia and iran in the region. and. a guest earlier was saying that this is essentially goes to the heart of a long standing historical lebanese dilemma when it comes to hezbollah and the role it plays within the lebanese state and is there enough momentum behind harry reid now to be able should he returned to beirut to enter into some sort of negotiation with hezbollah and the other parties could he emerge from this in even stronger favor well there was relative stability in lebanon there was a compromise deal last year we saw side of how to be appointed as prime minister at the same time the presidency was the post was filled by michel aoun who is an ally of hezbollah it was a rare saudi iran agreement an agreement to really shield levanon from the regional

crisis the crisis the across the region but that the stability has now been shaken a lot of analysts here will tell you that saudi arabia really has taken this aggressive stance against iran because it is losing out it's losing its influence in the region iran is only gaining strength in iraq in syria and here in lebanon as well so this is a feeling that saudi arabia has this aggressive stance towards iran and they're going to start their campaign against iran here in lebanon by targeting its proxy hezbollah there have been attempts in the past to curb hezbollah's influence those attempts sometimes there was if there has been a war against hezbollah as there have been bouts of violence in lebanon over recent years but they were not able to curb its influence hezbollah is a state within a state its armed wing is stronger than the national army there is it's going to be very very difficult hezbollah is entrenched here iran is a very dominant force so this is a difficulty and at the end of the day eleven on there needs to be a consensus among the different rival political camps or else that instability can

cause violence and that's why it's that's so uncertain and lebanon really is at a crossroads. thank you very much cena harder with the latest from beirut. watching out there there's more to tell you about in this news hour thousands of civilians flee aleppo is rebel fighters face heavy bombardment from syrian government forces that we visit the walls largest gun show where calls for stricter laws in the wake of the texas mass shooting are not going down well. and the mark of a champion mount mark has takes out a motive g.p. bowl title but not without some drama. now at least ten people have been killed after an earthquake struck the iran iraq border the epicenter of the seven point three magnitude quake was around one hundred fifty kilometers northeast of the iraqi capital baghdad latest report say

eight villages have been badly damaged with electricity cut imran khan has more from baghdad. well the earthquake was felt. on the fifth my hotel can tell you this building swayed from left to right for about a minute it was very disorientated nothing really felt off the shelves but still very very strong we followed our emergency c. just went outside where i started talking to others who i felt you might as well with very scared a lot of people saying that they never felt anything like this in baghdad that if you can see behind me there's a main road because pulling over people getting out of the cost of certainly a lot of very scared people here now also that will be here are going to come from this is that has been damage to buildings here in baghdad but the epicenter quake was in a saloon many of which is in the kurdish region up north one hundred fifty kilometers away from it now what we're hearing is that was a seven point three on the richter scale earthquakes that we've very strong that so

it looks like it will be significant damage from this earthquake we don't hearing about anything right now but that's like the president on all times has he backed the contingent of u.s. intelligence agencies that russia did meddle in the twenty sixteen presidential election but writing into a changed man what he called the fools who oppose better ties with moscow trying to carve occasion comes off days ingested on saturday and even if you had an opinion when he said russia did not into failing to buy land hanks planes from hanoi. two themes dominated donald trump's visit to vietnam competing with china for influence in asia and offering conflicting messages about russian influence on his election win last year i believe that president putin really feels and he feels strongly that he did not meddle in our election what he believes is what he believes what i believe is that we have to get to work and i think everybody

understood this that heard the answer hours earlier he spoke off camera with reporters and said something different following brief discussions with blood amir putin at the apec summit in downing he said he believes the russian president didn't meddle in the election comments were criticized by some in the united states government intelligence agencies have concluded that there was russian interference in the campaign in his meeting with the vietnamese president in hanoi trump said he believes a strong relationship with russia can help fix the world's problems we have to get to work to solve syria to solve north korea to solve ukraine itself terrorism it's now time to get back to healing a world that is shattered and broken those a very important thing donald trump back some self as a deal maker someone who can make things happen and while much of this trip was about trade and business he also offered to help keep the peace between vietnam and china vietnam and china are in

a long running territorial dispute in the south china sea along with other neighboring countries donald trump told his vietnamese counterpart. that he could help make things better while also touting u.s. weapons contracts. you. know. really where. we're going to use. donald trump says he's not interested in multilateral trade deals china's president xi jinping who's also in vietnam's capital says he's not interested in multilateral talks on the south china sea when hey al jazeera hanoi. meanwhile trump has found time to respond to north korea's foreign ministry after it called him old trump took to twitter to complain that he would never call kim jong il in short and fat he added that he tries hard to be the north korean

leader's friend and that someday it might happen so why in this let's speak to mike hanna who's in washington d.c. so might this war of words getting very personal between tran and north korea but how is it being viewed where you are well it has always appeared to be personal and some observers within the u.s. saying that it's far too personal that president trump should not be responding to personal barbs with other personal barbs when you are looking at an international situation that is very critical and one that has a great threat of fallout for the region and indeed the world as a whole so once again the reaction to president trump's barbed comments about the north korean leader very much along the lines of well he's had a good few days where he appears to have been kept somewhat under control from

unrestrained tweets all of that sick on away now and any idea about working towards some kind of diplomatic solution with the north korean issue a very major issue indeed is constantly undercut by what are described as playground tweets by the president a good few days mike but not destined to last also mixed messages from trant on russian interference in the u.s. election. well here there's just a great degree of confusion president trump apparently backtracking on comments that he made within the last twenty four hours saying that he had been assured by president putin that russia was not involved in the u.s. electoral process last year and that he believes the russian president now he says though that he does accept the intelligence estimates that were released at the beginning of the year which did find russia responsible for election meddling so the degree of confusion here you've had some tramp spokespeople attempting to walk

it back mark shorty's director for legislative affairs appeared on u.s. television saying that what president trump meant was that he does not necessarily believe that the russian interference affected the result of the election this is a different matter entirely and those intelligence estimates made no ruling whatsoever on with its effect on the election saying that was beyond their power to actually make a ruling on that particular issue so once again the president seen as at best to confused at worst somewhat. sly in terms of trying to walk back something that he said i must add as well as some form intelligence chiefs have been speaking out in the course of the day john brennan and james clapper making very clear their distaste for the president's remarks calling them political hacks and saying both of them that they believe president trump is vulnerable to manipulation by leaders like president putin because of his reliance on the trappings of power they believe

this is very dangerous indeed and once again linking this to what they see as president trumps infant our response to the north korean leader all right thank you very much mike hanna in washington d.c. . the syrian province of aleppo is again under heavy bombardment by government warplanes targeting rebel fighters the air raids have forced thousands of civilians to flee the area and set up makeshift camps in the countryside some of binge of aid has more from gaziantep on the border between syria and turkey. the war in syria is far from over. the army and air force of president bashar al assad and his allies continue to attack opposition positions in the southern countryside of billable province forces are advancing to secure an important supply route a highway that connects damascus to an apple city. which

is why there are fighting to retain control of a small town but this is. days of fighting has displaced thousands. we don't have any shelter no tents no cover when we left we didn't take anything the syrian army went after us with airstrikes and now the children while. there's no water no power no roads just we move a lot for god's sake have some fun with just the clothes that we wear now we're here in a tent and. the used tents are not just for people from so the but also from hama province in the north around three thousand people in all. many here haven't seen any help from international aid organizations because the front line is close by local aid workers say they are doing what they can but don't have enough provisions and. the villages and towns in the southern countryside of aleppo faced

a wave of civilians fleeing towards the east or one thousand seven hundred thirty four families from the south and one thousand three hundred families from the northern countryside of after visiting the random camps in the area we evaluate the humanitarian situation as a disaster people need tends to protect themselves by the freezing winter the united nations says at least one point one million syrians have been displaced in the last year the u.n. is concerned by the escalation there were strikes in aleppo and it led provinces and is calling for the protection of civilians. the fighting is continuing on the edges of the deescalation zones agreed by the united states and russia the opposition says that the government is taking advantage of these zones to target them while the government says that it is going to go after what it calls terrorist groups and this goes on millions of syrians continue to suffer. in the tech a syrian border much want to come on this news out spain's prime

minister calls on catalans to vote separatists out of office in next month's regional elections. a gold digging jobs on the threat to the challenges from environmental campaigners stories also setting new goals how football is helping indigenous women in mexico fight back against violence joe has that story in the sports. hello winter weather is heading science again through europe may but not without all vesna satellite picture which just shows a massive tried but you can string a frontal system through here this side is proper cold single figures by day and decided to double figures for the holiday is coming so yes it's pretty obvious during monday for france's massive song charles for the alps and up towards the lower ground of both poland and better thing to the north is cult that snow of

course rain to the south but it's turning stormy once again in italy in the adriatic that will be rain thunderstorms and strengthening when the war keeps moving south i guess between monday and tuesday night as a choose to the daytime. plus five in vienna the series i. still get to work and they've to she's in paris and london two double figures the stormy weather continues still. but we're talking about it and it would involve algeria in tunisia as it just as so monday's for crossroads area right along this on the east coast same is true through tunisia stopping the team's manji resisting spins up and we've already seen a vast amount of rain for the south into new zealand it's potentially flashflood territory on quest anyway.

documentaries that open your eyes at this time. we know the culture we know the problems that affect this part of the world very very well and that is something that we're trying to take to the rest of the world we have gone to places and we pointed out a story that you might take an international network for months to be able to do it and i made him think if i was there i'm tired you know. you are challenging the boys you were challenging companies we're going to places where nobody else is going.

welcome back you're watching the news outlets update you on the stories making headlines lebanon's former prime minister saad hariri says he's free and saudi arabia i'm overtown to his country soon ari was speaking publicly for the first time since he resigned eight days ago in saudi arabia. at least ten people have been killed after an of quite struck the iran iraq border the epicenter of the seven point three magnitude quake was around one hundred fifty kilometers northeast of the iraqi capital baghdad. and the u.s. president donald trump has insisted he backs the u.s. intelligence community's view that russia did madelyn last year's election was widely criticized on saturday when he said he believed who has always denied

allegations of interference. now in other stories we're following iraqi security forces have found mass graves in an area recently were taken from my sil could contain up to four hundred bodies the bodies of civilians and security forces were found in the abandoned base near how we judge the northern town was retaken from the group in october well the u.s. has joined calls for the saudi led coalition to lift its blockade of yemen but it also says it recognizes the coalition's concerns about stopping the movement of alms to who the rebels on monday the coalition closed off all as sea and land borders is causing a humanitarian crisis in yemen with the u.n. saying it's pushing millions of people close to starvation. rockers came home at the six has arrived in cast off for an official visit straight from a similar trip to the u.a.e. is a visit comes against the backdrop of the gulf crisis where saudi arabia the u.a.e.

bahrain and egypt have cut diplomatic ties with cattle now a church goes in the u.s. state of texas have been holding sunday services a week on from the mass shooting of a congregation in southern springs but it hasn't stopped the world's largest gun show from taking place this weekend in the neighboring state of oklahoma then estabrook is there ageing the opinion of gun in suzy s s. well told so oklahoma flies flags at half staff mourning the victims of last week's texas church shooting thousands file into what is billed as the largest gun show in the world take a. pay gap sign. in the parking lot of this exhibition center there are license plates from dozens of states visitors come to buy and sell guns and everyone we spoke to told us the same thing the u.s. should not pass laws restricting their second amendment right to own guns a person behind a gun we need to get back to god before you go you know there are lots of problems

because people don't enforce the current statutes really and force them on us for anyone that breaks the law we should stand behind it and convict them and stick but then we weren't allowed to take our cameras inside of the gun show but i did go inside and walk around and what i saw were a lot of hunting rifles antique guns and a handful of a ar fifteen which are assault rifles a bill banning assault weapons was introduced in the u.s. senate last week just days after the texas shooting and last month after the mass shooting at a los vegas concert legislation was introduced banning bunk stocks which allow guns to fire more rapidly so far this year there have been more than three hundred mass shootings in the us defined as those which involve four or more deaths or injuries in a single incident but despite that passing tougher gun laws could be taught your job before. we're going to fix that. in states like oklahoma guns are part of the

culture dave king has been shooting competitively for decades and now teaches classes like this one king says he doesn't see either side in the gun debate finding common ground because the way we see it out here the way the voters see it is you're trying to restrict our second amendment rights to us this is a civil rights issue we have the right to defend ourselves all right king says he wants to preserve for his grandchildren. let's speak to diane now because she was at that gun show in a climber and what conclusions did you reach about american gun culture having spent some time down now. this continues to be a really divisive issue here maryam and one of the problems is the way people look at this so you have one side that says that this is a gun problem and the people who are proponents of guns who who want to go i think that this is a mental health issue it's not a gun issue they think certainly the people that are committing these crimes have

some sort of a mental illness and in this country if you have a mental illness you cannot buy a gun the problem with that argument though is critics will point to stick this is a guy with a number of violent crimes in this country are caused by a very very low percentage of people with a mental illness and then you take a look at the shooting last month in las vegas and the gunman in that included had no. no but nevertheless despite the knowledge means that you mention that do the people at the gun show see these mass shootings being a problem that is also linked to broader issues around gun legislation all the lack of strict stricter laws in the country. but we don't have enough laws on the books as it stand the problem is that sometimes they're not in foreston here in the united states there are federal laws that control guns and then there are state laws that control guns and we have as this past work. in this country and they say

. if these laws would only be followed those problems and they say the answer is not more laws just enforce the laws that we have in place currently. thank you very much dinosaur bring us more on that tulsa. spain's prime minister mariano rajoy is in catalonia for the first time since the central government imposed a right ruling for the region he traveled to barcelona to campaign ahead of december's regional elections and praised efforts to own a spanish shore in what he called difficult times. on a sunday or to morning in barcelona a marching band goes through its routines oblivious to the presence of spain's conservative prime minister in the hotel behind them mariano rajoy was paying a quiet visit to supporters of his own party. to those who want catalonia to break away from spain right he's something of a hate figure the man who deposed their government enforcing direct rule by madrid

emotion should expect them in we have done exactly what any other country who respects itself would have done what france or germany do if one of their regions suddenly wanted an autonomous referendum. the party faithful were in clear agreement. was was this was a friendly crowd of catalans supporters of spanish unity vote for a voice governing popular party in december's regional election i don't you know i don't really never know just know it's not the middle anyway and it has to be bilateral and it will grow but the. kind of thing that you need to fit the crisis in catalonia has done prime minister mariano rajoy and his popular party no harm its ratings are way up people pretty happy with the way the prime minister has put down the secessionist insurrection here and it's also had the added benefit of

largely obscuring a raft of corruption allegations against the prime minister and his party in madrid . his visit came the morning after three quarters of a million cattle hands took to the streets in a show of solidarity for eight former ministers jailed on charges of rebellion and sedition to imprison civil society leaders and the government in exile in belgium but this is they've had it but it was protesting over the holding of political prisoners in our country people who just want to vote and decide to imprison standing up if you know the prime minister has promised december's election will restore the rule of law in catalonia but a great many people here feel that roy's government has simply bent the law for its own purposes jona whole al-jazeera barcelona. some one thousand range of muslims desperate to leave me on mar i camped in the bay of bengal waiting for a boat to carry them to sang train bangladesh overall some six hundred thousand

rangel fled to bangladesh to escape a crackdown the un has compared to ethnic cleansing the issue is to be raised with the international criminal court next week the to shop has. the imposingly wide river now which separates my ma and bangladesh was the final hurdle for another wave of increasingly desperate rohingya refugees nearly two hundred people many of them women and children made their way to freedom paddling improvised rickety rafts kept afloat by empty plastic jerry cans scavenged along the way as they fled the country using homemade paddles and sheets of plastic it was a long and slow crossing some just paddled with their hands on the final half the rafts were intercepted by bangladesh frontier guards these people are not welcome here and for now the guards circled the raf's trying to persuade them to turn back and pushing them rather the refugees ignored them and pushed on to the shoreline.

they've been travelling for weeks and with land for a mixture of exhaustion and relief on the faces of those who'd reach safety traumatised by what they'd witnessed during the long march out of my mom for the children still too young to comprehend that they may never return to their homes. each had their own story to tell. we built this raft with plastic jerry cans that we found in burned down villages. we couldn't manage boats as we couldn't afford the rent a few of our neighbors got robbed when they left the camp with the boat people they lost all their money and everything they had. it took us three days to reach safety one day to cross the hill one day to prepare the raft and a third day to row across the river. these are just a handful of the hundreds of thousands to have sought refuge in bangladesh many repeating stories of violence rape and murder carried out on the refugees the

senior u.n. official in dhaka raised the issue with the international criminal court this week whether my own mom military could be held responsible be to shop al-jazeera. unsung city has addressed the r.c.n. summit in the philippines she didn't speak about the military crackdown in myanmar which has forced six hundred thousand range of muslims to flee the country despite mounting criticism against her instead suchi focused on gender discrimination and the importance of promoting girls' education it is true that there really are not much discriminated in the sense of india from any activities such as doing business on going in for the session. professions but still there is the underlying traditional concept that men are superior and many mothers.

sons about their daughters especially when it comes to education opportunity. the battle of economy versus the environment is raging in northern greece as one of the country's largest foreign investors threatens to pull out a canadian mining group eldorado gold all my suspended operations last month and the government is causing delays and costing millions but as john psaropoulos reports the government says it's trying to protect the environment. two hundred and seventy meters below sea level these men are digging for gold eight million ounces of it thought to be hidden in these rocks left more than ten billion dollars which would make greece europe's biggest gold producer and there are billions more in silver copper lead and zinc but these which is aren't yet within reach the government hasn't consistently worked through the permits as required under a contract and under regulations here in greece and we've suffered our share price is significantly down compared to our peers and the predominant issue is our

investments in greece have not proceeded as planned el dorados shares have fallen by more than half this year this mill should already be crushing rock instead it's waiting for permission to build walls and a roof to house the machinery and now the city the government has taken the company to court because it's only completed two thirds of its one and a half billion dollar investment it's the sort of behavior that is putting off other potential investments in greece and losing series of votes down here. i'd like the government to come here and see what we do know what we produce and see with our own eyes what we can achieve for the national economy if they do away with my salary today tomorrow there won't be any income for the very people in government. this is the growth greece is looking for salaries here average about fifteen hundred dollars and that twenty four hundred workers. monthly payroll of about three and a half million dollars that kind of money creates an entire economy on the surface

but cities are says it's not the only economy. these people will work for twenty or thirty years this isn't a sustainable form of development for the area or it will eventually run out what we're made for the future generations yes this entire valley will become an open cast mine pit half a kilometer deep once that happens farming and tourism won't stand a chance but mining is the biggest driver of the local economy and it full swing this operation would give the government half a billion dollars a year in taxes for a quarter century and double the size of the mining industry to seventy percent of g.d.p. . those taxes. too in the last election the environmental vote defeated the mining vote next time around the tables could turn. in the cassandra minds of northern greece scientists say eight million tonnes of plastic dumped into the wild

every year in kenya a group of makers are trying to find a more environmentally friendly use for the waste they're sending a down made out of recycled ocean plastics and flip flops with the hope of eventually setting sail in the open sea catherine so i went to see it. it may look like an ordinary boat being built on the shores of the indian ocean in lima along came a skull but there's nothing normal about this boat. because a building what they call flip flopping using mostly plastic waste and discarded flip flops. that often washed up a song if it works the plan is to eventually build a sixty foot down like this one which is usually built with wood it will sell to south africa with the hope of creating awareness about the devastation brought about by plastic down. it would be a good message to the world because it's

a moving object you know people have done different type of recycle things but it's not one hundred percent everybody sees it but when is a moving object it will reach to many parts. this is one of the cleanest beaches on the coast local residents load trash they've collected for the last two months plastic bottles polythene bags flip flops which will be used to make the boat. the waste ends up in a factory in mali more than two hundred kilometers away this is where plastic waste is crushed off credit then melted using that machine and molded into planks the dow will need the factory receives trash washed ashore from countries in africa and asia and also rubbish collected locally. getting an end product that is strong and safe to withstand the ocean has been tough we are making the first. nobody's ever made of being out of plastic that's ten metres long no zero point two centimeters

wide twenty five centimeters deep that's a huge piece of plastic so all we have tried multiple ways of doing it mark what types of materials stabilizers and all kinds of things to make sure it gets better better and. back in our lives kaunda and his workers give us an idea of how the boat and eventually the dow will look like it will be covered using this colorful print made from more than two hundred thousand used flip flops they say they're not only campaigning against ocean pollution but also for what is a dying culture of traditional making catherine soy al-jazeera on the kenyan coast . still to come that cup final serves up a thriller as it goes to a doubles decider find out who won with.

everything duke is being and it's being weighed and it's being measured and it was close by. and it's not just i phones that i was laughing i mean most small fans of the state at the moment we are in a state of the universe like something started something that was over a week that i would rather take the risk of. the risks of. digital dissidents at this time on al-jazeera. when the news breaks. the streak. and the story builds steam jobs much better marketers. when people need to be heard they thought they were american until they broke the law now they're deported to cambodia al-jazeera has teams on the ground to bring

you more award winning documentaries and live news on air and online. i can back his the sport now with judge. marianne thank you very much will switzerland have banked a spot at next year's world cup in russia and they did it at the expense of northern ireland whose hopes of reaching the finals of the first time in thirty two years with crushed switzerland went into the second leg holding a a one. vantage thanks to a controversial penalty but despite having home advantage in basel they were far from convincing the nil no draw was enough to secure a place croatia will join them in qualifying off to beating greece on aggregate the

croats hammer them for one in the first leg so despite the second leg finishing. off to their fifth world cup finals now mark have has won his fourth moto g.p. while chamish ship in five years but the spaniard gave himself a scare with seven laps to go in the village grand prix he managed to stay on his bike optimist judging his braking and recover to finish the twenty four year old cementing his status as the top rider in motor bike racing he's the youngest four time champion in the moto g.p. class. amazing amazing feeling you know the thing that as i was always. going through although the situation but only i say ok now it's time to board because i felt really good but then done one honestly i love that they're good at they should have the backbone to read as. i read.

you know what at this time. sebastian vettel is a step closer to securing second place in the formula one world drivers' championship the ferrari front man sees the advantage over a pole sitter valtteri bottas at the first corner of the brazilian grand prix after that he was never threatened by them sadie's man but the most impressive drive of the day came from newly crowned world champion lewis hamilton he started from pit lane after crashing out in qualifying and narrowly missed out on the indian place. but the moving moment of the day came for the fans favorite philippe mass eight was the williams miss avies drive his farewell race in his home country before he retires. and he received a special message to be and still brando you and. when we you know i ocean flying to you i know you may doing an eleven years stand by

really. emotional today. because of all of you guys thank you very much for everything that we passed together for the support. and their joy that i felt. for making the best race i could oh it's so sweet isn't it well the united states have claimed their first fed at fed cup tennis title for seventeen years in a thriller against belarus it went to a doubles decider before shelby rogers and coco vander way one six three seven six three two victory in the final minutes of under way meant she was beaten after winning both her singles matches the u.s. have now extended their record to eighteen fed cup titles. this is amazing i've been dreaming about this for a very long time since my first are fed cup tie and do it with one of my best friend was and i'm real there are no words for that she's such

a leader for this team she's been here all year long for us and at this moment it's so special. this is a made. me two years this is. what the federal has become the season ending a.t.p. world tour finals with a win the world number two was up against jack salt they sealed the opening set off just thirty six minutes but the nineteenth time grand slam champ had a much tougher time second with the american seven six was how it finished eventually to federer the swiss miss this event last season but he's going for a record sending seven title this year. indigenous women in mexico are finding a sporting way to fight back against physical and sexual violence so a people of on. often within their own communities but one woman is helping them set new goals as john heilemann reports. for these girls from them as our indigenous group in mexico this is more than just a kick about in

a male dominated society football could open the door to another world. where the loop a suffer the fate of many goes here violence in her own home and then being sent to work as a maid in mexico city at just thirteen she decided she was worth more than that. she got a university education and headed back to help other girls forming an ngo that heads into schools uses football to get them to open up about things many face daily what do you think that would i guess i'm sure if i asked you who has faced by their own home or as a woman everyone would raise their hand. she holds workshops on other subjects that are often to do with their communities like avoiding early pregnancy and sexual rights around four hundred girls who are in the program. there are many women who haven't been to their doctors because their husband won't let

a man examine them that kills us just putting on a sports kid is an act of rebellion because it sends a message that i can dress as i want i can decide how i look not to please anyone other than myself. but most of our team is at the center of a tomb aspiring place have to not just have the skills but also nine out of ten of my studies were sealed doesn't let anyone get in the way of football even her husband who she divorced when he could beat her for playing. by the as a woman and the indigenous community it's great to feel equal that you were the same as any other woman that you have the chance to feel excited happy and part of a team. it's generally agreed the indigenous women have the worst lot of anyone in mexico they're the poorest of the poor have the least access to education and often face discrimination and violence within and without their communities initiatives

like this one are not going to change overnight but they do send a signal that these women are prepared to fight for something more john home and. mexico city one of the great things that get there in mexico for now that's all for me and it's back to mary i'm in london was a very inspiring story wasn't thanks very much john. well that's it for the news hour but i'll have much more for you in just a couple of minutes time a full bulletin coming up so i do stay with al-jazeera a stand by for. short

films of hope. and inspiration. a series of short hustle stories that highlight the human triumph against the odds. i could afford four hundred people it was you know he had to be on. t.v. on the bed aco get fed up because if that everybody was out jazeera selects at this time. with every. in the united states rights activists are

still being targeted they had enough information that you felt you were being watched raising surveillance from both the police and the f.b.i. this is not law enforcement. fault lines it investigates the scope of these agencies tactics and the impact on civil society. confidential surveilling black lives at this time on all jazzier. eight days of his short resignation in saudi arabia lebanon's prime minister saad hariri gives his first interview promising to return home soon.