museums start forming a new life here and part of life is culture not peace here immediate kids here don't have to give up painting that kind of money i still in afghanistan for some taliban fighters a new call to arms for taliban leaders a threat to their authority. to see the also children as they call for that need something known as thought they were only lovely but. unprecedented access i still and the taliban at this time on the scene are. celebrations in ethiopia after the release of an opposition leader on hundreds of other prisoners as part of a government amnesty. or

about the same this is all just the other live from doha also coming up pope francis wades into a centuries old conflict in chile calling for unity in the struggle for indigenous rights. protests in the u.s. as politicians try to prevent a possible government shutdown on the anniversary of donald trump's first year in office. will take a dive into a one of a kind cave in mexico that could help shed some light on the mayan civilization. if he'll be or has freed an opposition leader as part of a mass release of prisoners who were jailed over anti-government protests in two thousand and fifteen made a good in and was released with more than four hundred others getting always denied violating the law his release is part of a government drive for national reconciliation paul brennan as more. moronic idina

is a hero to his supporters and thousands of excited well wishes to guard of honor to restore his convoy to nine miles from the detention center on the outskirts of his apple to his home in the nearby town. the leader of the aroma federalist party had been arrested after returning from a visit to brussels a year ago was accused of collusion with outlawed groups a charge always denied by save of their violated while it is their no. former member of parliament and jose construction in the low. i have been always you know respect things that. anyway it's good that them out. his freedom came as part of government efforts to stem a spreading wave of violence and unrest which flared up in twenty fifteen has claimed hundreds of lives and threatens the stability of one of africa's fastest growing economies generally the third in

a move into diffusing the tension ethiopia's prime minister announced he would release many prominent dissident politicians always out without a party in their members who will decide is it makes their weeks what to do the right road to do all. the strange early out to do is a government the board for national debt or if it is real in the honest the we are for it but amnesty international and other observers warn that a few high profile releases will not be enough the regime has to do more stories rescind this reckoning ellos has to instill judicial reform this security sector reform a complete overhaul of the electoral system without this. i don't think the people will be satisfied thousands of prisoners of conscience are still in jail accused or prosecuted for protesting against the government in a statement the us embassy said it was encouraged by the latest releases paul

brennan al-jazeera mohammad adamle is founder and editor of o pride dot com it's an independent news website about ethiopia he says the release is a direct result of the overall more protests. i think you know about a year ago i said i'm jailed fighting for my people my people were let me for free in does essentially what happened today i think what gives a lot of people of them is aimee's this is a young population that is demanding it is right that is asking for more in ethiopia faces a challenge where the purposes are not going away in it has pushed the ruling party to a corner where now there are divisions even within the governing coalition where the oromo members of the ruling ethiopian people's democratic front is saying surely embracing the protesters demands and calling for reforms i think they

child power struggle within the party and the fact that there is an assertive younger generation of leaders within the ruling party in the in the fact that the protesters and the young people who are taking to the streets in the minding their rights this gives people a lot of them isn't because one way or another change seems inevitable in ethiopia is just a matter of how soon it will come in the way we are going to see more change at least twelve people have been killed in twin suicide attacks in nigeria the bombers targeted a market in the outskirts of the city of my degree at least forty eight people were injured and it could do in a state in northern nigeria government have kidnapped two americans and two canadians and killed two police officers. u.s. president donald trump's accusing russia of helping north korea to evade international sanctions in an interview with the reuters news agency he's cast

doubt on whether talks with north korea's leader kim jong un will be successful on tuesday twenty countries agreed to consider tightening sanctions on the north they were meeting at a summit in vancouver in canada where japan one fellow delegates not to be fooled by north korea i am aware that some people argue that now that north korea is engaging in intercalary of dialogue we should reward them by lifting up sanctions or by providing some sort of assistance frankly i think this view is just too naive i believe north korea wants to buy some time to continue their nuclear and missile programs they simply want to get something out of this daryn look joe biden's a foreign minister was talking after north and south korea said that they will march under a unified flag at the opening ceremony of next month's winter olympics and also field a joint a woman's ice hockey team for the games in china in south korea the gesture of

reconciliation was announced after their first high level meeting in more than two years other measures include joint training and cultural events and pyongyang will send a cheerleading squad to the games kathy novak has more from the south korean capital seoul. this is a significant agreement between the two koreas especially considering that before high level talks last week there had been no official communication between the countries in more than two years now they have agreed to march together at the opening ceremony under a korean peninsula flag they've agreed to form a joint women's ice hockey team and interesting lee they are planning to stage events inside north korea think agreed to hold training events out at a ski resort that is a pet project of the leader kim jong un they're also planning to hold a joint cultural event at mount come down now south korean tourists have not visited there since the south korean was shot by

a security guard ten years ago and north korea has tried to bring up restarting that tourism program in the past there have been displays of unity at sporting events before for example the two koreas marched together at the opening ceremony of the two thousand sydney olympics but this is agreement follows a period of heightened tensions and increasingly threatening north korean nuclear and missile tests south korean president says he hopes this year will mark a turning point in establishing peace on the korean peninsula but others are skeptical of the japanese foreign minister has told the meaning of his counterparts that they should not be naive about north korea's intent nor should they be blinded by what he called its charm offensive saying that even now north korea continues to develop its nuclear weapons program syria's main kurdish party is urging the u.n. to act quickly to protect kurdish controlled territories in the country's north the p y u d warned that one million people live in the own clave over

a foot in which turkey has threatened to attack turkey's presidents or zip tie a powder one says he'll launch an offensive soon to push out kurdish forces tanks have gathered on the turkish side of the border and could a links the city and why p.g. kurdish fighters to turkey is outlawed p k k party which has fought for autonomy for decades it strongly criticized the us for arming and funding the white p.g. which has played a significant role in the battle against eyesore. u.s. secretary of state rice tell us and says he'll take tokens concerns into account but in a speech about syria there was no talk of stopping support for cut its groups but let's be clear the united states will maintain a military presence in syria focused on ensuring isis cannot reemerge our military mission in syria will remain conditions based we cannot make the same mistakes that were made in two thousand and eleven when

a premature departure from her iraq allowed al qaeda in iraq to survive and eventually morph into isis. it was that vacuum that allowed isis and other terrorist organizations to wreak havoc on the country pope francis has called on chile's young people to embrace the values of solidarity during a visit to the pontifical catholic university in chile in santiago he told students that they should not accept injustices all the earlier the pontiff urged chile's indigenous my porch a people to end violence in their struggle for more rights he's held a mass in the region which is at the center of a centuries old conflict with the government at least ten churches have been set ablaze in the area in the past week from tomorrow latin america editor lucien newman reports. this is how indigenous map which is prayed with branches and cries to the sun and the earth and it was with their traditional rites not the catholic churches that pope francis began his visit to chile's most rest of

region. but. we can hear alco sing of a sorrow that cannot be silenced who said trees of injustices that everyone sees taking place. the pope dedicated his homily to the my pooches acknowledging that their blood was spilt on this very airbase chosen for the papal ceremony and it is still being disputed by seven hundred families thousands walked long distances from all over the region to attend even from neighboring argentina but. we are separated by the end is mountains but we are the same people with the same demands for the return of our ancestral lands that were taken from us. but many couldn't get here because of barricades put up by massed groups who blocked access roads but. i would add a region has been beaten by too many conflicts since the pope is closer to god than

we are hopefully he can into seed and i will be have for peace. three catholic churches were targeted by arsonists in the lead up to the pope's visit no one is taking responsibility. here. francis privately you know him. but the vatican spokesman told al-jazeera the pope is not here to mediate the pope called for my pushes to be recognized as equals but he made no mention of the key issue of land rights instead he warned against confrontation and violence. violence begets violence destruction increases fragmentation and separation violence can turn even the most just cause into a law i. hope francis is repeated he for unity is what many wanted to hear

but it's unclear whether it will contribute to easing the centuries old dispute in chile's poorest region you see in human i'll just see that. the european union is planning to impose sanctions on seven senior venezuelan officials next week diplomats say they will vote in favor of travel bans and asset freezes on thursday the e.u. wants to put pressure on president nicolas maduro his government which is accused of cracking down on the opposition and ruining the economy the crisis has led to an influx of people crossing into neighboring countries. he has more from the colombian border city of course. minutes well as imploding economy as managed to real increase in the number of venezuela refugees moving through colombe especially in border towns and cities like where we are right now half

a million of them are now in colombia cording to government figures hearing quit that many are sleeping on the streets close to the border taking over placers and sports fields in this city they're cooking out on the streets leaping in hammocks or tents their number has been increasing since the beginning again the year create creating a lot of tensions here in cuckoo time putting a strain on social services in the city of cook with the has started registering them just to find out how many of them are actually now here in this border town and the secretary general of the united nations and paris who was in colombia last week and said this time for the international community to do more in assisting colombia for this problem that will not go away and will probably only

get worse in coming months still ahead an al-jazeera. united in defiance catalonia separatists make their return to the regional parliament plus donald trump's presidency has had a huge impact and famine is in the united states and across the globe and particularly look at that. by the springtime flowers of a mountain leak. to the first snowfall on the way into this day. hello once again temperatures in china are on the rise they shouldn't be but they are the forecast for shanghai is twelve degrees and thursday twenty one to hong kong if virtually anywhere in central southern china is above average temperature wise some cloud is building in the west as the ground starts to rise with the

sheriff here of rain not snow rain but a significant rain cayley's they were in it here over the philippines the last day or so we've seen one two hundred millimeters fall in luzon the bit further south that's slowly drifting away there was a talk clouds are still in existence through indonesia or linus certainly given persistent rain in java and sort of ways it will carry on doing so and it should get to proffer you guinea the circulation might fall anyhow it's the rain even more here it's the wet season i suppose we should expect this sort of thing now or nothing is just the flow of the air act all in northern india delis just sitting in fog or small or both all the time as you well know is twenty odd by day and we're down to single figures quite a few places by night is what you should expect at this time of year and it's certainly what's happening there and he didn't showers for crossness are lying but it's bit more clouds in the sky bit of architectural cloud to look at. the weather

sponsored by qatar and he's. the controversial leader of islam. focused on most wanted terrorists in history is really coming to terms and his alleged extra judicial killings by israeli intelligence and a sudden sense of being caught in the last post the outcome is only death if someone tried to. immediately superintelligent was shut down to kill him in damascus at this time on al jazeera world. you're watching al-jazeera a reminder of our top stories this hour if your peers freed opposition leader made

a good deal know who was detained during anti-government protests in twenty fifteen the government released more than four hundred other people as part of what it says is a national reconciliation drive. north and south korea will march under a unified flag at the opening ceremony of next month's winter olympics that also field a joint hockey team the juster of reconciliation follows the first talks in more than two years pope francis is urging the. indigenous people to end violence in their struggle for more rights is held mass in the outcome in a region which is at the center of a centuries old conflict with the government. politicians in the us are trying to prevent a possible government shutdown in the anniversary of donald trump's first year in office congress will need to push through a short term spending bill by friday to avoid federal agencies shutting their doors over the weekend democratic leaders have said they won't back the spending plan and . less than a guarantee is to protect the young immigrants known as dreamers who are facing

deportation or the white house chief of staff john kelly's met politicians earlier on wednesday to discuss immigration he's reportedly said some of trump's campaign pledges on immigration were uninformed will she have a chance is joining me now from washington d.c. what exactly did general kelly say when it was this strange bragging apparently to members of congress that. as you said donald trump's statements on the campaign trail were uninformed that kellie's been responsible for evolving donald trump's views on for example the border war general kelly saying there is not going to be a concrete wall from sea to shining sea apparently this is according to members of congress who are in the meeting that mexico was never going to pay for this war and john kelly has been trying to convince donald trump of these of these facts because this is simply just geographical in topographical fact in some ways you can't build a wall in the rio grande for example he's also said that donald trump had evolved

on the issue of those dreamers for example which has become a key issue right now but i guess what raises the i would raise the eyebrows once again especially in the context of that book by michael wolff that came out recently of fire and fury is once again we have someone close to donald trump bragging that donald trump you know isn't perhaps wasn't terribly well informed but you know would we're doing our best to try and shift him and then i'm the one you guys got to go to find you do seems rather undiplomatic perhaps the meeting was about the so-called dreamers is there any progress on that and why is it so important. so the members of congress in the meeting said despite john kelly's assurances that don't trump was evolving on the issue of the dreamers they had nothing new and they're still completely in the dark as to what donald trump is prepared to sign as when it comes to his dream was the dreamers some eight hundred thousand immigrants who came to the u.s. as you as young children without documentation but have since made their lives here

and contributing to us society president obama deferred any deportation for these for these folks don't trump scrap members of congress till march to come up with an alternative now why this is become very important this week is as you suggested some democrats are saying we're not going to. help fund the government moving forward on friday when the deadline for a new budget comes up unless a deal on the dream dreamers is reached having said that though that's not looking as as much of a unified position among some democrats because the house are coming up with a deal house republicans are saying look we might not give you the dreamers in this but we'll give you the reauthorization of the child health insurance provision which is also very important to many people in the country millions of children for example so maybe the democrats are wavering on that but this issue of the dream is is particularly fought right now because it may it may be connected to whether some democrats will support a continuing funding resolution on friday to prevent the government from shutting

down completely she have for now thank you very much indeed. i mean to movement has been in the global spotlight in the past few months it's an pollard woman to speak out about sexual harassment and abuse but as particle hain reports the election of donald trump as the us president has also played into that movement and has had a clear impact on women in politics preserve protect and defend there was no comparison donald trump had his day so help me god and the very next one women had theirs. in washington d.c. the largest protest in the history of the country women across america and the world marched to reject the president his sexist actions comments and past allegations of sexual assault he was even caught on tape bring about a grandmother. and he was still a leftist. the question at the time was this a moment or

a movement i never thought that i would do this until i went to the women's march in washington d.c. let's let this be the beginning empowered women like rebecca cola ran for elected office in virginia a record number ran eleven toppled long serving male politicians it's been happening across the country. and i just say to donald trump keep your hands off seattle. women are running like never before and winning in large part because women are also voting in huge numbers because of trump the worst could possibly happen actually happened and we have someone unqualified to be leading this country long time feminist icon gloria steinem is in a unique position to judge this movement she told me she believes it is here to stay it is beginning to shift and i think i think we're beginning to see that there is no gender. people are people. and beyond race and

beyond. and we're just getting a glimpse a system that political scientist laura brown says will change because of this she predicts women will have parity in government in a decade or so what you see here is that enough women are finally getting involved at the local and state level to ensure that there will be a strong bench of women candidates ready to run for those higher level offices in the coming years and decades one year in and it appears there is something donald trump is making great again feminism although it is highly unlikely that was his intention patty calling al-jazeera washington on thursday we're going to take a look at the chimo to its impact of trump's foreign policy in the middle east. but he's in pakistan say a five year old girl was raped before being strangled to death in the country's northwest her body was discovered in

a field on sunday close to the city of ma don there's been outrage in the country over the murder and rape of a two year old is zainab and saadi the case has caused widespread protests with accusations of negligence on the part of the authorities. the parliament in spain's catalonia region has met for the first time since snap elections in december still uncertainty over the new president of the parliament separatists parties want to form a leader collis push them all but he's in self-imposed exile in belgium called penholder reports. but the first vote in a new session of the cattle and palm and of the separatist members of the new assembly the next chapter in the campaign for catalonia to split from the rest of spain. got a lot of it we're not going to back down we're going to work to build up the grassroots and turn a goal of an independent republic into reality. yellow ribbons marked the seats of elected members of parliament who are in jail or on the run judges accuse them of

rebellion for leading the campaign to create a breakaway republic when spanish prime minister used emergency powers to call snap elections to the cattle and parliament his clear aim was to try and realign the balance of power but that gamble has not paid off because once again separatist parties have been able to build a majority and the ruling coalition. of the process session coalition was elected parliamentary speaker at wednesday's inaugural session. if the. parliamentary speaker is an important job he will effectively control the political agenda within the next two weeks he must organize a vote to choose the new head of the cancelling government the separatist party's want to reinstate ousted leader demand who fled to belgium when the spanish government declared emergency rule in october. to have him put him on

back in the presidency of the. spanish police say they'll arrest bustamante if he returns unity politicians who favor remaining part of spain also reject the proposal. the new forest minister must be hearing catalonia not abroad we will not accept the savior the moccasin virtual politicians are holograms. separatist m.p.'s ended the opening session with the capital. a rebel song about breaking the chains of spanish oppression while outside several thousand rallied to support the separatist cause they sense the stage is now set for a new showdown with spanish government leaders in madrid. britain's lower house of parliament has approved a bill aimed at helping britain's withdrawal from the european union but

a formal transfer a european laws into u.k. laws the bill now goes to the upper chamber where it may face a more difficult journey and so expected to have several amendments out it before being sent back to the lower house for further debate. archaeologists in mexico have discovered what's believed to be the largest underwater cave in the world the network a flooded tunnels and chambers is around three hundred fifty kilometers long divers found human bones and possibly and they're hoping to use them to gain a better understanding of the mayan civilization all insincerity and reports. deep underneath the state of kin tonneau role in eastern mexico new the sandy beaches of can prune the tourist resort on the caribbean coast scuba divers explore what they say is the world's longest and largest underwater cavern in the political. stretching for three hundred forty seven kilometers the freshwater caves are known

as you noted dust all hosts the maze of underwater channels is not only extensive but also deep up to one hundred meters in some spots on the sea in the sea not these muscle meaning of the few there are about two hundred underwater caves in the secretary a system which we thought could be connected but we are not sure so now we know about the collection and the flows of water while the city can put them into the way. that scientists think the kids were used as a source of fresh water during the ancient maya civilization divers began exploring the mayan arkell first in the one nine hundred eighty s. mayans considered the cave sacred to the portal to talk with the gods north down a northern me remember us and it gives us a wonderful perspective a new understanding of how the leaders of the ancient settlements and how the ancient mayans developed it allows us to understand more clearly the rituals and the pilgrimage sites and finally the great previous ban example means that we know of which run. along this cave system. at the peak of their civilizations in the six

to ten centuries mayans mastered agriculture mouth's and thus drawn to me as well as building hospitals and sporting arenas and they're credited with creating calendars and discovering chocolate. mayans abandon their cities around one thousand years ago when spanish explorers arrived hundreds of years later they found most cities overgrown. this discovery by divers deep underwater may shed more light on what happened above so long ago. al-jazeera. this is all it is here are these are the top stories ethiopia has freed an opposition leader as part of a mass release of prisoners jailed over anti-government protests in twenty fifteen made it a good scene it was released with more than four hundred other people always denied violating the law his release is part of

a government drive for national reconciliation. at least twelve people have been killed in twin suicide attacks in nigeria the bombers targeted a market on the outskirts of the city of my degree at least forty eight people have been injured tanks have gathered on the turkish side of the border with syria links that city in kurdish y p g fighters to turkey's outlawed p k k party which has fought for autonomy for decades it strongly criticized the us for arming and funding the y.p. g. which has played a significant role in the battle against the. u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson says he will take turkey's concerns into account but in a speech about syria there was no talk of stopping support for kurdish groups but let's be clear. the united states will maintain a military presence in syria focused on ensuring isis cannot reemerge our military mission in syria will remain conditions based we cannot make the same

mistakes that were made in two thousand and eleven when a premature departure from her iraq allowed al qaida in iraq to survive and eventually morph into isis it was that vacuum that allowed isis and other terrorist organizations to wreak havoc on the country is very forces have reportedly killed a palestinian man injuring a raid in janine in the occupied west bank israeli media are linking it to the search for the killer of a rabbi who was shot a week earlier an exchange of gunfire was reported on the number of palestinians a set of being injured north and south korea will march under a unified flag at the opening ceremony of next month's winter olympics they'll also field a joint woman's ice hockey team for the games until chang in south korea pope francis is urging chile's indigenous people to end violence in their struggle for more rights he's held a mass in the out of kenya region which is at the center of

a centuries old conflict with the governments and those are the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after inside story see in half an hour by. some call it the business of death the worldwide arms trade is booming on the number of dead from wars gun battles and on gang crime is rising with thousands killed every day is it possible for governments to control powerful companies that dominate the global weapons market this is inside story.