every. we have your zip data we know the products you from buying everything that you're doing that's really where the power of the all powerful internet is both a tool for democracy and the threat you believe that any of your companies have identified the full scope of russian active measures on your platform in the echo chamber world of fake news and cyberspace the rules of the game of james there are no precedents people in power investigates this information and democracy at this time. this is al jazeera and these are top stories now the u.s. president donald trump has delivered his first state of the union address to a joint session of congress it was dog trump's first state of the union address he

spoke mainly about domestic policy but also mention tensions with iran and north korea rivalry with competing superpowers china and russia trump spoke of his successes in tax reform and the need to change immigration laws to protect u.s. interests and the u.s. president pushed for cross party support to solve the issue of so-called dreamers there people who were brought illegally to the u.s. as children. my duty and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber is to defend americans to protect their safety their families their communities and their right to the american dream because americans are dreamers to. thank. our white house correspondent kimberly how that was following the address from capitol hill. most of donald trump's speech certainly focused on domestic policies and what he sees as achievements on that

front that he has scored in the last year in office there were certainly some very pronounced foreign policy messages as well there will be controversy over outside the united states donald trump projected as he house in the campaign trail and in his first office need to continue policies that he believes projects american greatness by this he was to call in congress for additional funding and rebuilding of america's military in his view the best way to bring about peace is for jack and straight and that this will deter aggression particularly when it comes to north korea as well donald trump talked about what he sees a significant achievement and that is the near radek ation in both syria and iraq of eisel within that announcement donald trump also making a very controversal announcement and that is his decision to keep open one ton of

obaid cuba prison or what many refer to as get vote in the united states this is very controversial because of course many who have been held there for more than a decade have not been afforded due process in the process something that is counter to the u.s. justice system now donald trump suggested not only that this prison should remain open but that there should be more enemy combatants in his view that should be detained there that is certainly going to be something that will not be received well outside the united states and another point to note is this claim by donald trump that those who do not stand in support of american interests particularly when it comes to the recent votes of the united nation with respect to his decision to move the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem but those nations who do not stand with the united states should. not receiving american funding these are certainly policies which many outside the united states will feel are not part of the american pool

wopper ration that they have seen in the past from the united states. and saudi led coalition planes have carried out air strikes in the yemeni capital sana'a are targeting who the rebel weapons stores explosions were felt in an area north of the city is coalition forces carried out several raids residents say the strikes resulted in flying shells and explosions russian sponsored talks aimed at finding a political solution to the war in syria have ended with a call for elections in the country syrian opposition which boycotted the event inside she says key demands being ignored no formal agreements were signed beaver. britain's prime minister to resign may has arrived in the chinese city of one hand ahead of trade talks with president xi jinping may is there along with fifty business leaders the largest ever trade delegation to go with the prime minister three day visit to china is crucial she looks to set up new deals and fresh markets

on the u.k. prepares to leave you. those i headlines the news continues here now to syria after struggle over the nile there's always our web site as well for you to update al-jazeera dot com is the address. the novel. the world's longest river. a seven thousand kilometers

a lifeline for almost four hundred million people. flowing north the nile runs through ten countries from the highlands in the heart of africa the shores of the mediterranean sea. a source of sustenance but also one of tension even potential conflict. these tensions between countries along the river nile have their roots in the nineteenth century. colonial decisions of the past. are a point of bitter dispute today. and new political realities on the ground are increasing the sense of uncertainty over who owns the river nile.

in september two thousand and five a team of explorers set off on a unique journey up the nile river. like in the state at the mouth of the not. the longest running journey in the world. led by new zealand adventurer a chemical a team aimed at being the first expedition to travel up the nile to its furthest source. the first stage of the trek through egypt and. proved a breeze. but then the explorers encountered the sued the world's largest swamp.

and found. some swamp area at one thousand kilometers long and three and a kilometers wide is now helo's is my jury he just did live and water it's absolutely incredible. the suited means obstacle in arabic and it has proved just that a labyrinth of waterways that has hindered specs but asians. maclean's team managed to navigate their way out of the swamp. off the ninety days of travel overcoming tremendous obstacles they eventually arrived in rwanda. at a tiny spring which they determined to be the southernmost source of the nile. today

maclay is settled in uganda where he runs a whitewater rafting business in the city of. jinja here on the nile when you've done your life and it's good. that i'm. just a few kilometers away from the clays business stands this list a monument to a past mile adventurer john manning speak. speak was a british explorer who arrived here almost one hundred fifty years earlier eighteen

sixty two. he came in search of the answer to an age old question where is the source of the nile. the royal geographical society in london was established in eighteen thirty. it houses the maps navigation tools and personal belongings of famous explorers from the nineteenth century. men who were in the grip of a romantic obsession to discover the source of the nile. for europeans the exploration of the mile is probably the biggest goal drives their enterprise in one thousand century because it's seen as the largest the most important river and also because there is this long heritage or history associated

with it. rather than trying to cross the sued area in southern sudan explorers in the mid one thousand nine hundred. another passage via the island of zanzibar. during the nineteenth century zanzibar was an arab kingdom controlling the trade route from india into africa's interior. and these arab traders facilitate european exploration it's the year of this the arab traders for example who began first to report that their great lakes or a great like in the interior of east africa. based on this information the royal geographical society sponsored expeditions into the heart of africa.

in eight hundred fifty seven using zanzibar as a starting point john hanning speak cross to east africa and ventured into the hinterland where he found a huge lake he believed to be the source of the nile. three years later on a new expedition he travelled around this lake today known as lake victoria to discover the nile flowing out from its northern side. a roll call of famous explorers ventured into the continents interior to build on speaks discovery. men such as samuel baker david livingston and henry morton stanley helped complete the picture about the true source of the nile. back home they were lauded as heroes with monuments built on of them

but others saw them differently it was mistakenly called to discover that you know most of the books in the plus they use it speak to discover the night as if you was a fust you might have been through the night when actually. he was a fussy european to see this as of the night but i want to discover it because he was even so and this is also denied by the other gods yet. the royal geographical society helped push the boundaries of exploration and empire . but this age of exploration is seen by many as a precursor of colonize ation. most of that is most of these people were explorers but intelligence services in their own countries made use of their experiences for them that. they were not only british

but also belgians and french. they've served the people and the situation in these areas. they then pass this information on for colonize ation has. armed with greater information the age of exploration began the scramble for africa . the continent was up for grabs. to divide the spoils european nations convened at the berlin conference in eight hundred eighty four where they sliced up the african continent into spears of influence. britain had formally occupied egypt two years earlier in eight hundred eighty two to control the suez canal the strategic route to india the jewel in the crown of the british empire. in berlin it was decided the

nile basin region would fall under british rule. when the british to control you to night and to to the very soon realized that they had become rudeness of a society that a totally depend upon the nile so they understood. from the very beginning that the economic development the political stability to depend upon my control. to assert control upstream the british established what it called the east africa protectorate in one thousand nine hundred five comprising what is today kenya and uganda. the next step was sudan a territory ruled by egypt since eight hundred twenty. with their domination in egypt the british persuaded the egyptians to sign an agreement in january eight hundred ninety nine for joining rule of

a sedan. in reality joint rule was a fig leaf for british commander. here in the presidential palace in khartoum to this day a museum houses portrayed of former governors of sudan. the paintings are testament to a time of british dominion. in our what in fact the british master the art of ruling sudan they completely sidelined the egyptians. the governor general was british the commander of the army was british and so were all the high ranking officials in the administration. controlling the great lakes region source of the white nile the british mix turned their attention to ensuring hedge of money over the blue nile rivers of a source originating in the ethiopian highlands.

in may nine hundred two the british signed an agreement with emperor men like the second of ethiopia in which he promised not to build any dam that might. the flow of the blue nile to egypt. feeling they had secured the full length of the nile britain's decision makers in london began to put in place the next phase of their master plan economic gain. from quite early on the british also decided to transform egypt into the cotton farm of the textile industries and like it here in the. british reliance on egyptian cotton began to increase. and. to boost the harvest the british set out to revolutionize egypt's irrigation

system a system dating back thousands of years. they gave a oddity to the both countries deny countries their old engineers what the plan is running down from the colonials service and teed experienced guys. given a lot of plans another political freedom so that they really could take the nile in head. the british came up with the idea for a dam in southern egypt to hold back the nile flood and use its waters for irrigation. construction on the ass when low dam began in eighteen one thousand nine. it was officially opened three years later at the time it was the largest stone dam of its kind ever built.

britain wanted to ensure the full flow of the nile reached egypt to maximize cotton production. no one else upstream was allowed to siphon off any of the river. for have some strict orders were laid down regarding the use of the nile water because the british were concerned about egypt not only all island for example they banned sudanese fondness for not using it water pumps unless they obtained permission from the egyptian irrigation authority. in. britain discriminated in favor of egypt's claim over the nile. the british expected the egyptians to be thankful but they were to have

a rude awakening. in one thousand nine hundred nineteen following the end of the first world war the egyptians revolted against british occupation and demanded complete independence. they were led by a fiery nationalist called saad zabulon. with such sentiment on the rise the british look for a way. cowered the egyptians into submission. the river nile egypt's lifeline was an effective political weapon and the british had in mind a perfect place to use this weapon. the get zero region in sudan between the blue nile and the white nile was an area with the potential to become the largest cotton growing region in the world. they had two plans to motives or two main strategic and is that they can see us again or wrong to increase the cup.

production in sudan for the benefit of the british taste of history secondly this huge it is not really in control of the now it's running through saddam and his who has a power and. the business has a power in saddam. british attempts to intimidate the egyptians only further inflamed nationalist sentiment. a crisis point was reached when in november one thousand nine hundred twenty four salinas stack commander in chief of the egyptian army and governor of sudan was assassinated while driving through the streets of cairo. the assassins were arrested and sentenced to death. but the murder of the british official was a turning point london now found its reason to implement the good serious scheme.

what they did was that ok you killed the governor general then the will take more work from the nile as a punishment so this was the first time in practice that's jim power punished the empower you dude. for the vote with. britain's trump card was this an odd dam completed in one thousand nine hundred twenty five. built on the blue nile in sedan it would help the irrigation of the gears here area. but it also delivered an ominous signal to the egyptians for the first time in their history a dam built outside of egypt but affect the flow of the nile into their country. nationalists however continued to mobilize popular support against the british occupation. cooler heads in london began to realize that relations with egypt

were deteriorating fast. something which could threaten british control over the suez canal. as before the river nile became a useful political tool this time for compromise rather than coercion. in maine one hundred twenty nine notes were exchanged between the british high commissioner in egypt george lloyd and the egyptian prime minister mohammad mahmoud pasha. this diplomacy led to a landmark agreement in which britain awarded egypt exclusive control over the full course of the nile waters from egypt point in the night to twenty nine agreement also calls. and the tree. because here the british said that well and now is in the definitive modernise and it has a with

a right to stop it's a shame if they don't want it. by signing the nine hundred twenty nine agreement with the british so to co-opt the egyptians. no such consideration was given to the indigenous peoples upstream who were not consulted even though the river originated in their lands. by the early one nine hundred thirty s. britain was becoming increasingly concerned with a growing menace closer to home. at

the end of world war two when one thousand nine hundred forty five britain was no longer the mighty empire that could claim control of a large parts of the world such as the nile basin. after the second world war britain came out of the will inject brits economy came out very much a device that it and the us now that came with a world of. the united states stepped forward to assert itself more boldly on the world stage in places formally controlled by the old then piles. in one nine hundred fifty three u.s. secretary of state john foster dulles became the first time ranking american official to visit cairo. dulles offered financial support for the construction of a massive new dam on the nile in southern egypt. but three years later the offer was withdrawn. the americans had become suspicious of egyptian president jamal

abdul nasser as non-alignment policy. at the same time the withdrawal of the offer provided an opportunity to undermine british influence john thousand dollars and the american government that understood quite clearly that one way or crushing the influence of the british imperialists in this area was to make them powerless when it comes to the now question became clear that everybody. that doubles of the americans decide it and the bids had to just fall off they said prior to. despite the withdrawal of financial support for the construction of the ass one high dam nasa chose to push ahead. in july one thousand nine hundred fifty six nationalize the suez canal company to provide funding for

the project. the takeover stun british and french shareholders in the swiss company . the british still ruling parts of east africa had a secret plan and retaliation. the plan would involve using the zero in full dam in uganda to cut off the flow with the nile upstream in an attempt to force nasa to give up the suez canal. the scheme was never adopted since the ensuing drought would take too long to have its effect on egypt. britain wanted more immediate action so they reverted to a more obvious method boots on the ground. in one thousand nine hundred fifty six britain and france with israeli collusion invaded egypt in a bid to seize back the canal.

the americans publicly distance themselves from the aggression. by the states but not consulted in any way about any way that these actions nor whether we informed them in it but. it is our hope and intent just matter will be brought before the united nations general assembly there with no veto operating the opinion of the world can be brought to bear in our quest for a just in to this tormenting problem. the united nations declared a cease fire. the suez crisis ended with a humiliating withdrawal of the invasion forces from egypt it was to prove a seminal moment in modern history. the sun was setting on the british empire. colonialism was on the decline.

in africa nations began to gain their independence among them nile upstream countries. the winds of change were blowing creating new states and new demands for a share of the waters of the nile. al-jazeera explores prominent figures of the twentieth century and how life will really influence the course of history was the human revolution coming his own way feel castro is a feudal eastern not a communist just for want of his country che wanted international revolution became a point when the relationship came to an end the icons of revolution who changed

the course of latin american politics. and fidel castro face to face at this time on al-jazeera more than seven decades ago a country was split into rebated. and. they only took was a pan a map and a collapsing empire when the british had to draw a line they pulled its servant to had never been to india before al-jazeera examines the violence of india and pakistan and asks what the future holds for these nuclear neighbors partition borders of blood at this time. allow i'm sami's a that and how with a reminder now of the top stories here on al-jazeera u.s. president don trump has delivered his first state of the union address calling on americans to set aside their differences and find common ground he spoke mainly

about domestic policy but also mentioned tensions with iran and north korea and the u.s. rivalry with china and russia prompt also pushed across party support to solve the issue of so-called dreamers undocumented immigrants brought to the u.s. as children. my duty and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber is to defend america us to protect their safety their families their communities and their right to the american dream because americans are dreamers to. ah saudi led coalition airplanes have carried out strikes in the yemeni capital of sun are targeting houthi rebel weapons stores explosions were felt in an area north of the city's coalition forces carried out the raids russian sponsored talks aimed at finding a political solution in the war in syria have ended with

a call for elections but the syrian opposition boycotted the event in saji it says key demands were ignored no formal agreement has been made. britain's prime minister to resign may as arrived in the chinese city of were aimed at shoring up trade relations is the u.k. prepares to leave the european union may is there along with fifty business leaders the largest ever trade delegation to go with the prime minister. a coalition of egyptian opposition parties are calling for a boycott of the upcoming presidential election the civil democratic movement says it's in response to a wave of repression ahead of the march vote president abdel fatah has cc's main challenger is the former military chief of staff sami a nanny pulled out of the race after being arrested last week a number of other candidates have also dropped out of the united nations children's fund is warning around sixty thousand children are risk of starvation in north

korea as international sanctions take their toll have been put in place because of north korea's nuclear and ballistic missile program. as the headlines the news continues in al-jazeera after struggle over the nile. good. luck. let. them up. luck. and.

luck. khartoum capital of sudan. the meeting point of the white nile from the great lakes region and the blue not from the ethiopian highlands. hamdi is a resident of tutti island where the two niles converge. he explains

to his son the difference in the color of the waters. the white nile on the left and the blue nile on the right and how they join here to form one river flowing northwards to egypt. again that's how you made money the most beautiful thing distinguishing us from the rest of the world is the line of duty and love in your novel there is no other river like it it's a great river heavenly and the life around it is unique. in this small truck each day having the delivers vegetables across the river to the market of miles. away. and the. idea of the nile it take visible that girl here to the market how would i live otherwise and liberals way even with i will be buried by the live in.

sudan's road to independence started in the middle of the twentieth century. in one nine hundred fifty three britain and egypt joined rulers of a sedan for more than fifty years. signed an agreement giving the sudanese people the right to self-determination. two years later in one thousand nine hundred fifty five the sudanese parliament unanimously adopted a declaration of independence rather than unifying with egypt into a single country. on january the first nine hundred fifty six the sudanese flag was raised for the first time and khartoum. the largest country in africa was born a country flowing sixty percent of the entire nile basin area.

sudan had enormous agricultural potential but there was a drawback. the one nine hundred twenty nine anglo egyptian agreement allotted only four billion cubic meters of nile waters to the sudanese territory. compared to egypt's forty eight billion cubic meters. the newly independent sudanese were not happy inheriting this colonial legacy. that this agreement the enforced gyptian dominance over the nile the me and my and gives who done just a token amount of. what was that if the home of the chaff most sudanese believe that the knowledge agreements were unjustly set and that distribution of the water should have been based on the size of the country i salute. sudan's share should have been much more than what was agreed upon because

it's far larger than. the nine hundred twenty nine agreement had also given egypt the right to monitor the nile flow beyond the egyptian territory. under slightly i remember when i was young in geneva. i moved to the center not my room mate was an egyptian engineer this was and his sole job was to check the amount of water so then took from the night. and to ensure that so then didn't take water during the drought these were your ideas but in the end. keen to assert its newly won sovereignty the sudanese government declared it was no longer bound by the one nine hundred twenty nine agreement. by nine hundred fifty eight relations between sudan and egypt had deteriorated. so dan's foreign minister

travelled to cairo for urgent meetings. the two peoples had often described themselves as brothers of the nile valley but now there was a growing rift. but dramatic events in khartoum brought a sudden end to tensions in november one thousand nine hundred fifty eight the sudanese army staged a coup d'etat overthrowing the government. general ibrahim abood took the reins of power. looking back on events some see the hand the venue gyptian president jamal abdul nasser behind the coup. jamal abdul nasser like a military coup and it. and lieutenant general abboud was close to the egyptian regime. a year after the

coup a sudanese delegation arrived in cairo to sign a new nile agreement. the nine hundred fifty nine full utilization of nile waters agreement allocated a new share of the river ahead of the completion of the ass one high down in egypt . once constructed the dam was due to save over thirty billion cubic meters of floodwater and. egypt share of the nile increased by several billion cubic meters sudan's limited share more than quadruple. the nine hundred fifty nine agreement between egypt and sudan consolidated a renewed deadlines. muscle issue that egypt and so then formed a joint committee once again for monitoring that it in the two countries looked at that and increasing its water flow was the ad that allowed.

one way to increase the nile waters was to resurrect a plan dating back to british colonial times. over twenty billion cubic meters of the nile waters carried downstream from the great lakes region a last buyback aeration in the huge swamp area of southern sudan known as the sewage. the plan was to dig a canal diverting the nile to bypass this area reducing the water loss it was cooled the jungle a canal. there was one problem. sudan was far from stable. the nation had been born with a dangerous fault line between

a predominantly arab and muslim north and a mainly christian and animist south. and . chief dam ian is a village leader on the outskirts of juba the capital of southern sudan. he remembers the mood of secession in the south during the early one nine hundred fifty s. . but wondered whether because we were all used by arabs as second men in the government we want to give it. but i'm. not it's not a what did mentally i'm not there not a muscle and i'm going bye bye we can. i'm going to advocate. in all this nine hundred fifty five the first sudanese civil war erupted between north and south. fighting raged for seventeen years.

eventually a peace accord was signed in one thousand nine hundred seventy two in. the end of fighting meant that plans for the jungle a canal in southern sudan could now be brought back off the shelf. egyptian president anwar sadat and his sudanese counterpart just mary did exactly this and in one nine hundred seventy eight work started on the three hundred sixty kilometer canal. but the southern sudanese viewed the project with suspicion. the main tribes of the region such as the new heir and dinka made a living by grazing their cattle across the suid. the jungle a canal threatened to dry up significant parts of this wetland. from the start it

proved harmful for the tribes and their livestock. i know that when they don't like an animal being open i would still a young man and we still stuck in the stack of kept on coming from the east going to deny to bring water and a guest when in and they perished because of the b. . bank and that was open because of those machines. a campaign against the jungle a canal project gained momentum reaching far and wide. will be a little harmless shot what the don't really can and was met with a hostile campaign to give you go but you know yeah that i was minister of education. i received letters from japan from environmentalists asking me why we would want to dry the wetlands in southern sudan and create a desert with a felix hardly a letter from someone in japan who wasn't even living here and had no rights to

this food i'm less sure what it was part of the campaign of negativity aimed at creating instability and i would area. others that well. by the early one nine hundred eighty s. the project almost two thirds complete had become the focus for suspicion and wild rumors. well there was politics and you know politicians can create. stories to frighten people one of them was that probably there were a lot of it just was coming to stop a lock on the canal. that was not true but of course in the absence of proper information anything could be billy. relations between the north and the south began to deteriorate once again. in one thousand nine hundred eighty three

a group of southern sudanese soldiers mutiny refusing to obey orders from the northern commanders. an officer by the name of john garang joined the mutineers. he led them into the bush to start a guerrilla movement which came to be known as the sudan people's liberation army or s.p. away. there's sudan's people liberation army was not against the john meccano perfect search turned out on the leader it's been a written his p.h.d. thesis by the way on the donek now his problem is not. the person himself but his complaint was the southern sudan also needs water and even not just be set aside a little bit. the project

provided one of the very first targets for the s.p.l. a at the beginning of sudan's second civil war between the north and the south. and . the canals giant excavator lays in the spot where it dug its last home a rusting destroyed drink. needed it would be the fighting lasted for twenty two years. two million people died and four million became refugees. the number get out oh well it was. just after a series of talks the peace agreement ending the civil war was signed in january two thousand and five in ny vashon kenya changed. the

accord stipulated a referendum to be held throughout southern sudan on independence by january two thousand and eleven. the referendum resulted in southern secession. a new country was born. and a new question erodes. with a new country abide by previous water agreements allocating a share of the nile flood. even before the announcement of the referendum result the opinion from the south was clear. we must advise of those agreements. because saddam didn't become a different state then this was very vital those items wouldn't you not only look at him but i get. a new nile basin country in africa rejecting that the liberty of

old agreements. a new nation looking to secure its own share of the rivers waters something similar has happened before. in the one nine hundred sixty s. with european colonial powers declining a number of african nations gained their independence among them upstream states on the river nile. soon after they announced they would not abide by the one nine hundred twenty nine anglo egyptian nine agreement which had given egypt exclusive control of the river. at the fourteen d. of one thousand internet agreement he states very clearly that most states sound be able to utilize the nile river what us or that he was feeding their mates or the lakes wheat fields that he remained without the approval of the dance of they give him a government that alone gives veto to egypt i bet the party and states. the

two agreements from the previous century from nine hundred twenty nine and one thousand nine hundred fifty nine lie at the heart of today's struggle over the nile . egypt and sudan on one side see the agreements as historical legacies to be maintained. when i close some of that a little so we must uphold agreements and treaties the holdup is that this is a logic that applies to national borders to me and hold them no you can't just change the borders of african countries because the demarcation had been rectified in pre-independence treaties their manner let you and so you can just demand new stipulations in the nile. especially since this is a crucial case reading to our livelihood then i want out of such a case egypt doesn't have any other water source problem here. on the other side upstream countries see the past agreements as colonial relics and demand their

own rights to a share of the nile waters. we are aware that the argument on the usage of the native what. was tainted we're back here in the tank. and since then a lot of things have happened and therefore there was need to review the alchemy itself and how the countries. through which the nail growth can benefit could have been. in an effort to resolve the growing dispute in one nine hundred ninety nine the ministers of water resources from all the nile basin countries met here in dar es salaam tanzania. the so-called nile basin initiative was launched aimed at promoting joint projects and reaching a new agreement over the sharing of the nile. but the mood of camaraderie at the

initial meetings soon changed over the work in the kenneth. i'd like it to be known that the relationship between us and them wasn't that amicable that we said they believed we were taking all of the water and that they were getting nothing more but. when there was less than when we went for meetings in those countries they would say you are taking our water with my up it happened because i don't want to say it was a hostile atmosphere but it certainly wasn't friendly for in. the upstream countries accused egypt of digging in its heels by refusing to consider relinquishing the agreements from the previous century. negotiations continued over ten years. attitudes hardened positions became ever more entrenched. the egyptians saw their share of the river flow as both negligible

and non-negotiable. big money rather near the amount of rainfall in the entire nile basin area is one point six trillion cubic meters. but what arrives downstream is eighty four billion cubic meters only which means less than five percent is a fuck so where does the difference go it's wasted in evaporation and swamps in forests and it is not used in upstream countries. either therefore we should put aside the small quantity which is less than five percent leave it aside and focus on building joint projects between the nile basin countries this will save part of the lost water then we can divide it in a fair way between the ten basin countries. hold and i felt. the upstream countries rejected egyptian arguments. ethiopia was one of the countries which after years of being caught up in internal strife and tragedy was

now pushing more forcefully for a greater share of the nile. when the whole is a not here to be negotiated because this is. the nature and it is a given what are going in or that is not negotiated in any international argument and that's why it is a demanding the nih what are the when or whatever the reason it instead of telling is it is a natural resource and about another one of the sort of is that. the resource or for every. people. things reached a head in may two thousand and ten at a meeting in entebbe uganda. when four upstream nations signed a new agreement nullifying older ones and setting out policies for a more equitable share of the nile. to this date six countries are signatories

ethiopia uganda rwanda tanzania kenya and burundi. egypt and sudan were absent having refused to even attend the meeting. there was a mood of celebration among those who signed the so-called mile quarter framework agreement and want to regulate ourselves. having come it's far. less than that to why it's even more often said to make sure that all. the signatories believe egypt and sudan will have to come on board at some point and sign a new agreement all the time they walk out but they still come back because there is no in the cells that they can be able to use and what we have been telling them the only simple way is probation with that at asians sure enough a few weeks later in june two thousand and ten the egyptians return to the

negotiating table. it was a bitter pill for them to swallow. however they have yet to sign the entebbe agreement. for the egyptians at least for the time being facts on the ground are more important than the signing of any a cool must of. egypt and certain neutral parties believe that we don't need to sign any agreement at the present time that had that there is no need for a framework agreement for the foreseeable future we do not have we believe what is important is what is happening on the ground especially the fact that there are no big dam projects at the present time. that may affect egyptian interest. but the status quo is unlikely to hold. african upstream

nations are increasingly demanding a larger share of the nile waters. such demands are raising fears downstream. fears stoked up by a history of suspicion and rivalry. fears about countries not only on the nile but even beyond the great river itself. and the rhythm are

a vital source of sustenance to the countries and flows through this normal thing called on who can lay claim to. isn't going to give them the resources we found both but with this comes a destabilizing rivalry countries suspicious of each other's intentions in the battle for control of the record transponding see consultation was not often included counters because it works on the field struggle of an a does time on al-jazeera. welcome back well after a few days of snow we are seeing dry conditions affecting tehran iran we've got little bit of snow further towards the east of afghanistan and moving up towards the hindu kush otherwise weather conditions across the region not too bad you see some snow across northern parts of turkey and into the caucuses but around the eastern side of the military not looking too bad with temperatures there into the upper teens for beirut as we head through to thursday here in the arabian peninsula

the weather is also looking fairly quiet at the moment little bit cooler than it has been but twenty two degrees is not something to complain about here in doha riyadh temperatures coming up a little bit as well so eighteen degrees the high during wednesday and on thursday we should see that topping out about nineteen degrees across the rest of the clincher gerri looking fine meco should see plenty of sunshine and highs of thirty degrees into southern parts of africa has seen some showers affecting eastern parts of south africa that continues through wednesday but cape town should be dry and fine heavy rain affecting a parts of i go through some beer towards zimbabwe and mozambique and still some heavy rain affecting the east coast of madagascar not much change expect as we head on through into thursday we're looking at fine weather conditions across much of central africa and it should be fine in liberal in the barn highs thirty one.

the scene for us whether online what is a parent's time in yemen that peace is always possible but it never happens not because the situation is complicated but because no one cares or if you join us on sat there are people that are choosing between buying medication and eating this is a dialogue i want to get in one more comment because this is someone who's an activist just posted a story join the global conversation at this time on al-jazeera. tracked is our new american. there has never been a better time to start living the american dream present.