and the similarities of cultures across the world. al-jazeera more than seven decades ago a country was split into a good but to me and now i'm going to be my baby all it took was a pan a mile and a collapsing empire when the british had to draw a line they pulled in six seven two hundred have been to india before al-jazeera examines the violence of india and pakistan and asks what the future holds for these new korea maybe has borders of blood at this time. video emerges of what appears to be a massacre of our hands on muslims and me and mark associated press says it's confirmed five i've reported mass graves.

i'm richelle carey this is al jazeera life and also coming up the u.s. but some os as political chief ismail on its global terror list the palestinian group calls it a dangerous development. helen senate approves a bill that seeks to criminalize anyone blames the country for nazi war crimes despite warnings from israel and the u.s. . and when he reporting from southern thailand we will tell you about an empty coast to coast projects that could have a major impact on shipping and security. video appears to show a massacre of a henschel muslims and man maher last year at a press says it's confirmed at least five previously reported mass graves the video . appears to show the bodies of half buried in its thought

a massacre took place in good r.p. in august the news agency spoke to villagers who say up to four hundred people may have been killed in mars' government has regularly denied that any massacre was committed so far it's signal it's only one mass grave which it says contain tend to terrorists more than six hundred fifty thousand row had to have fled across the border to bangladesh since august they say they're fleeing a crackdown by me and mars' military but the military says their operations are only targeting armed groups bangladeshi me and maher have reached a deal to voluntarily repatriate their revenge but implementation has been delayed in the u.n. says not enough is being done to guarantee the safety of those who returned scot heiler has more from him gone. we contacted a government spokesman about this is sociate a press video that shows these atrocities in rakhine state and he said that he had not seen nor heard of it yet and that he would get back to us that has not happened

now if the track record serves as any indication we probably won't hear back or the government won't directly comment on this video footage that associate press has released there have been multiple reports from humanitarian organizations who have accused of the government of queues the military of systematic rape of violence against the hands of populations in rakhine state they have denied all of that and really haven't directly responded to specific examples like the one we're seeing from associated press now it's interesting when you look at just the last couple of weeks for the first time military admitted that some of its members its soldiers were involved in the killing of civilians in rakhine state they said some were involved in a mass grave that was discovered with ten bodies in it that came just two months after the military issued the findings of an internal they said exhaustive internal investigation were none of their soldiers were implicated in any wrongdoing coming back just a few months later saying yes in fact they were now as an example of how tightly controlled the military and the government here keep what's coming out of rakhine state or at the courthouse to order

a journalist on trial for possessing secret documents while they're investigating what was going on in the kind state they're going to be finding out if they'll be able to be released on bail but this trial will probably be going on for a couple of more weeks but again it underlines just how closely the military and the government here want to keep what happened in rakhine state during those two months under wraps the un special rapporteur on man maher has been banned from entering the country says the government is not allowing her to do her job because the military is actions are part of a deliberate pattern of violence. talks of repatriation at this time i clearly premature while the government of bangladesh made it clear to me that no refugees would be forced back to myanmar i remain concerned about whether any safeguards exist to ensure that any returns are truly voluntary safe dignified and sustainable i saw great anxiety and fear and i spoke to refugees about the prospect

of returning to me emma one mother said to me our beautiful children were slaughtered how can we go back where fiji's have been entirely excluded from con conversations are about their fate and going forward they must be involved in a meaningful way. phil robertson is the deputy director of human rights watch is asia deficient he joins us now from bangkok still with the reporting that's been happening you know for for months and actually longer than that on how the russians are treated is this type of discovery really any surprise. it's not we're we were waiting for this we have not been able to get access to number these areas but obviously associated press was able to get this video which is very important we have been hearing about these kind of massacres and we have been following up at least a couple massacres in various different villages trying to confirm the information

i think we're going to see more of this and i think it's going to have a direct impact both on the refugees who will be even more scared to go back will probably be fused to move anywhere or will refuse the offers by the myanmar government to return but i think it's also going to have a considerable knock on effect for the international accountability efforts to try to bring some of the military to international justice for what they've done but are really into it but where do those accountability efforts really stand has there been enough pressure on me and more how much more pressure can there be. there's not been enough pressure but we think that it's starting to really move now i mean we're seeing international sanctions specifically targeted to certain individuals the the big effort is to determine who did what when and where and how how are those people going to be held accountable but we're also i think going to

see a stronger policy coming out of the european union next month when they have the european commission. coming up with final decisions about their policy and i think also the fact finding mission which has been ignored by the government and has essentially been barred from entering the company country when it when it reports and mark to the u.n. human rights council i think there's also going to be some very strong language so i think we're starting to see the mobilization of real political opinion that something needs to be done far beyond what has been done so far. this season but with this discovery by the associated press is it possible that there will be perhaps even more pushback against reporters and journalists who are trying to get to the truth obviously some of whom are have already been arrested and detained now that they see what can happen and reporters are allowed to do their jobs might

their jobs be more difficult. well there are already various obstructions being placed in front of them and you know there's a sign at the city where port one reporter told me saying that no foreigners allowed to go into a so-called bengali village without official permission so there is an effort to restrict access already what is most worrisome about these reports beyond obviously the killings is now the effort to cover this up that they discovered. in some instances acid is being used to burn off the futures of the people killed or burned off the fingerprints to try to obstruct any accountability and that shows a degree of pre-planning that will really i think impact the international community's decisions about whether this is constitutes genocide or not phil robertson with human rights watch thank you very much how sending a group hamas says u.s. sanctions against its top political leader will not stop it from resisting israeli

occupation washington has designated ismail haniya a global terrorist and he had called for an uprising or an intifada against israel after donald trump's decision to recognize tourism as israel's capital rosin jordan reports the united states formally declared the palestinian group hamas a terrorist organization in one thousand nine hundred ninety seven twenty one years later washington says hamas is political chief. is himself a specially designated global terrorist because thanks to his leadership hamas has killed seventeen americans the designation is that any assets honey a house in the u.s. are now rosen he can't travel there and u.s. persons cannot give him any financial support one official says honey a is a clear threat to u.s. national security and he has been a member of hamas and the one nine hundred eighty s. and he rose through the ranks in large part but continually championing terrorism

against israel. and he has calls for a new into fatah just last month underscore how important today's designation is we will not be distracted by hamas as efforts to obscure its true and bloody nature of the land my honey a call for a new uprising against israel in december because of this we are no to los or to a lasting peace agreement between israel and the palestinians the us president donald trump's decision to recognize your islam as the capital of israel something mandated by congress welcomed by the israeli government and condemned by palestinians who want east jerusalem to be the capital of their future nation while honey i attended a funeral for a hamas member his aides told reporters they don't take the us is move seriously while the other side of. it is clear that putting the name of ismail haniya on the terrorism list by the americans came at

a time that the us administration is targeting jerusalem and putting sanctions on preventing the aid of the morra which is a continuation of the crimes against the palestinian people that it isn't is not always thought we have looked at this it is for a beginner notice them no religion it's for this reason we are considering this statement of is the foolish statement committed by people who know nothing about what freedom for the us says it will do all it can to stop hamas from destabilizing the middle east the problem for the trumpet ministration a ma says it won't be deterred rosalyn jordan al-jazeera washington. the polish senate has approved a bill that would make it illegal to suggest poland was complicit in the nazi holocaust ever house back the draft legislation despite objections from israel and the us israel accuses poland of trying to rewrite history if the bill is signed into law by the president some offenses could carry jail sentences of up to three

years not just for show research of the past is not threatened in any way talking about the past and analyzing this past even the darkest shameful part of the polish past is not present in any way poland is a democratic state of law respecting the freedom of public debate respecting scientific research respecting the right to criticism. to silvano this law has a very wide scope of application it may also refer to the discussion about history which takes place in every country also in poland especially about the newest history about the times of the nazi occupation this public discussion should take place without any obstacles you cannot take place under the supervision of the prosecutor on the poem says it's trying to restore its reputation in clear its name in history so here is a reminder of what happened alone was invaded by the nazi germans in one thousand thirty nine that was home to europe's largest jewish population at the time nazi occupiers built and operated notorious concentration camps like auschwitz and.

three million polish jews were killed during the holocaust critics of the bill argue that it allows the government to deny some cases in which polish can polish complicity in nazi war crimes has been proven to conservative government says the country was a victim and not a perpetrator of nazi crimes a court in cambodia has rejected a bail request by opposition leader can soak up is accused of plotting to overthrow the government a charge he says is politically motivated so he was arrested in september during a government crackdown on the opposition is cambodian national rescue party was also shut down. still ahead on al jazeera activists say for even the price is being targeted and levanon after several television presenters are charged with defamation. and a classified memo about the f.b.i. to try to campaign and russia opens a new partisan reading and washington. we

got a good mobile feed in the weather across the southwest and prosecute now the latest band of cloud of gray blustery shallows fills in the way in a lovely suspecting of salecl out there across scotland and northern ireland little continue to make its way further south which as we go through the next few days the main rain bad will sink south was this brought some rather lively wrangle showers into pos of northern france recently added to the flooding problems but the main system is now easing further south with so some wet weather some winter weather over the ouse a good old covering of snow once again over the alps mixture of writers snow there into northern parts of spy but into the southeast a few jenny fon and dry who want to moscow people from moscow temperatures now hot or a minus eight degrees celsius that warms up as the snow rolls in for friday and the snow bands still stretching his way down across the alps and west of whether

they're into northern parts of italy western side of the med it's right there but for much of northwest europe it's going to be a cold side yes a northerly wind talking in ice house in london but it will be lousy dry with some good spells of sunshine down some weather that we have around the mediterranean also affecting the fall north west of africa well it's about in a batch of around sixteen degrees celsius but rather cloudy their fortune is the changes for the high of ninety degrees.

rushing out to syria these are the top stories right now the release video appears to show a massacre of her henschel muslims and me and maher last year associated press says it's confirmed at least five previously unreported mass graves. outstanding group hamas says u.s. sanctions against its top political leader will not stop it from resisting israeli occupation washington has designated ismail haniya a global terrorist. the polish senate has approved a bill that would make it illegal to suggest poland was complicit in the nazi

holocaust the opera house back the draft legislation despite objections from israel and the us. the us government has dismissed reports that it intends to cut off aid to puerto rico for months after it was hit by a powerful hurricane the federal emergency management agency says that it has been evaluating whether there are enough supplies in the u.s. territory the agency is winding down food and water distribution as stores reopened but it hasn't yet decided to end completely there are still roughly six hundred thousand without power. thousands of syrians who have claimed refuge in the u.s. will be allowed to stay for at least another year and a half the top administration has made the decision to give extended temporary protected status to seven thousand syrians syrian refugees most have been in the u.s. since august two thousand and sixteen any new arrivals will be placed on hold over twelve million syrians have been displaced since the conflict began in two thousand and eleven. the host of lebanese talk show has become the latest media figure to be

caught up and a crackdown on freedom of speech comedian who is accused of defaming the crown prince of saudi arabia by cracking jokes about him on t.v. press freedom groups say the case is part of a pattern in lebannon designed to intimidate the media and holder has more from they were. it's a comedy show but the host who shall have dad is being indicted for what he says was a joke. his show featured a fortune teller who advised the saudi crown prince behind didn't sound man to eat fast food for his house had dad then gave his own advice. he should stop fast arrests fast politics fast military strikes what do i care if he gains weight or has a belly or cholesterol. he's the second t.v. presenter to face charges by the public prosecutor in two months i understood that i. was summoned for questioning not because of comments he made but comments made

by two saudi journalists who criticize lebanon's president on a political talk show host says his case is aimed at intimidating the media. and the list. i'm not a criminal or a drug dealer i'm not a terrorist belonging to my identity is well no one i'm a journalist that has been struggling for more than twenty five years to defend freedom freedom of expression and human rights. the judiciary is accused the political interference of the court cases. denies that the minister of justice belongs to a political party affiliated with the president. expression and the press calls the limits by the law and that's where the problem lies rights groups. and they need to be reformed for example journalists can be imprisoned for criticizing a public. rights group say the media in lebanon is being pressured and the space

for free expression is shrinking. the judiciary is no longer independent and it seems it is under political pressure. case is strange and is the second political message sent through a prominent figure as if they're saying you can't say what you want and you can't write if you don't look like us you belong in jail civil society groups have criticised what they called the repressive practices of the ruling class critics of people in power have been investigated arrested and prosecuted rights organizations say the pattern of intimidation is threatening freedom of speech. beirut where many government. prisoners in the southern port city of aden secessionist for . control of a man from the government on tuesday after several days of fighting. killed and injured in the unrest and aid groups have suspended operations in. russia dismissed

evidence from the u.s. and u.n. iran's missiles to yemen the rebels russia says it is inconclusive and it would reject any bid to sanction tehran russia's ambassador to the. missiles used by the rebels may have. an arms embargo was imposed in two thousand and fifteen. healthcare workers teachers and students have added their voices to anti-government protests and togo staging a nationwide strike its latest demonstration calling for an overhaul of tacos political system and an end to the ruling family's fifty year are upon power around the heart has more. or less looks more like a street party than a protest but behind the smiles a serious complaints hospitals without water equipment to staff teachers on put a full wages and students burdened with crippling debt and a president who refuses to give up the position in his family for more than fifty

years. was we will not give up we will not stop until he quits power was i the five months protesters have been calling for an end to the political dynasty togo is the only country in west africa that doesn't adhere to presidential term limits that's kept than a single family in power for half a century first missing by a dam of the thirty eight he is and then his son for missing there who took over in two thousand and five when his father died president full pledged in late september to hold a constitutional referendum but the proposal for a two term presidency is not rich pro-active that means missing big could stand to gain even twice potentially keeping him in power until twenty sooty. good. we know what determines they are not with us on the street

just to have fun this movement began because they know they must take a stand here. a coalition of fourteen opposition parties has been leading the mess demonstrations since august security forces violently suppressed some early gatherings people have been killed and they've been arrests and detentions. if their intention is to intimidate us so we stop telling people what's going on well they are wrong we will not stop arresting our members will not give young people jobs or bring democracy and change that is why we will not stop. a few here have experience life under anyone other than missing day or his father discontent like this and feel so precision today in togo it's put the president under enormous pressure but he's still showing little interest in vacating his seat . and. the f.b.i.

has raised questions about the accuracy of a secret congressional memo that suggests the agency and justice department abused their power white house intends to release the classified document that contains allegations of bias a white house correspondent kimberly hocket reports. thank you and god bless america goodbye for many people it was the text of donald trump state of the union speech that made headlines instead it was his unscripted comments as he left the chamber referencing a secret memo purporting to show top law enforcement tools were used for political purposes the twenty sixteen presidential election was released for iraq now we're going to have. you heard it's a classified memo written by top republicans and members of the house intelligence committee they allege it shows a misuse of power by the f.b.i.

and justice department under the obama administration will investigating the truck campaign during the u.s. election republicans on the house intelligence committee voted on monday to release the classified memo to the public despite protests from democratic lawmakers and the department of justice the memo al the partisan decision to make it public have only intensified the controversy surrounding the inquiry by special counsel robert muller into accusations of russian election meddling a potential kulu with the trump presidential campaign democrats argue it is all part of a wider effort by republicans and the white house to undermine the bowler investigation by continually raising questions about its fairness recent reports suggest trump himself wanted to fire mahler sixty still thank you for a very well you're going straight story the russia investigation has clouded

trump's presidency from the start yet as truck checked off his list of what he sees a successes in his first year there was barely a mention of russia in his state of the union speech and despite an almost unanimous vote by legislators to further sanction russia for interfere. in the u.s. election the white house on monday decided not to move ahead with those sanctions the white house has received a classified memo and says it's under review the president now has five days to make good on his promise to make a public thank you kimberly how al-jazeera washington. australia's domestic spy agency has secured thousands of highly classified government documents and teligent officers arrived at the national broadcaster the a.b.c. on thursday morning and aired a series of exclusive reports this week citing confidential files on current and previous governments it was later revealed that the documents were found inside a filing cabinet that was sold at a second hand shop i minister malcolm turnbull has ordered an urgent review into

the breach i think we feel we've done the reporting we need to do on these documents the most important aspect of that obviously is the security of the documents in the first place the security breach the scifi all the important government documents is the core of the story here really and having exposed that story having told that story. i think it's also important that ensure that we're not doing any harm in reporting that story and northern japan eleven people were killed after a fire broke out in a welfare home there were sixteen elderly people living in the three story home in flames tore through that wooden building. panama has its famous canal the suez canal cuts through egypt and now there are plans to resurrect a four hundred year old idea and southern thailand as part of our series on global trade routes lane hay travel to see cow or enter groups are pressuring the thai government to link the indian ocean and the sea with the gulf of thailand in the

south china sea. during the wait season thailand's andaman coast is often dark and moody tourists go home leaving local fisherman to ply their trade in relative peace but life could become a lot busier if the proposed shipping canal cuts through here some welcome the prospect of investment while others don't their lives would change for the better. when it comes to make a projects it's new for the people who benefit and it's only the rich people big people from bangkok who get more rich from it and never get anything and the government never helps at the moment ships sailing between europe and china for example travel through the dangerous and congested malacca straits often stopping in singapore to refuel or unload before continuing the tide canal would cut more than one thousand kilometers off the journey but could drastically cuts in to singapore's shipping trade. the backers of this canal proposal have many problems

to overcome not least of which is the location between here and the malaysian border there is a separatist movement with armed muslim groups fighting for independence from thailand in the three southernmost provinces if the canal goes through here it could create something of a border and therefore embolden their claim because of the violence in the south prime minister private channel char says he's reluctant about effectively cutting the country into supporters of the plan which includes some type of business leaders and retired generals believe they can convince the prime minister to at least agree to a feasibility study he has to come to an understanding that this is the project that boost our economy in the projects. that we have right now the canal group says it has private sector support from china to help pay the estimated price tag of thirty billion dollars but it really needs chinese government backing if it's to tap into beijing's one belt one road economic and

trade initiative to link east and west so far there's no sign of chinese government money in the proposed canal zone there's already concern about the potential impact on tourism the environment and livelihoods. our lives depend on this is our home this is where we find food people will start to come and take what belongs to the locals or people means more trash this place will no longer feel like home instead this sleepy coastal community could become one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world wayne hay al-jazeera sea cow thailand. our next story in the serious will take us to canada. in the arctic northwest passage for shipping companies. richelle carey and these are the top stories right now on al-jazeera really

released video appears to show a massacre or henge of muslims in me and maher last year the associated press says has confirmed at least five previously reported mass graves in mars' government has regularly deny that any massacre was committed so far it's acknowledged only one mass grave which it says contained ten terrorists the u.n. special roberts or on me and maher who's been banned from entering the country says the government is not allowing her to do her job she says the military's actions are part of a deliberate pattern of violence talks of repatriation at this time and clearly premature well the government of bangladesh made it clear to me that no refugees would be forced back to myanmar i mean main concerns about whether any safeguards exist to ensure that only returns are truly voluntary safe dignified and sustainable of the u.s. has designated the political leader of hamas ismail haniya a global terrorist and impose sanctions against him and the air had called for an

uprising or an intifada against israel after donald trump's decision to recognize store islam as israel's capital loss has branded the u.s. decision a violation of international law. poland's upper house has voted in favor of a bill that could penalize people who blame it for nazi war crimes during world war two the upper house back the draft legislation despite objections from israel and the u.s. according cambodia has rejected a bail request by opposition leader come so he's accused of plotting to overthrow the government a charge he says is politically motivated so he was arrested in september during a government crackdown on the opposition the many government and secessionists have swapped prisoners in the southern port city of aden session his forces backed by the control of aden from the government on tuesday after several days of fighting dozens have been killed and injured in the unrest and aid groups have suspended operations in. russia has dismissed evidence from the u.s. and u.n.

that iran supplied missiles to the rebels russia rather says it was inconclusive and would reject any bit to sanction tehran those are your headlines keep it here on al-jazeera and sad story it's next. to the children of jailed chinese criminals with nowhere else to go one. is giving them a home when he speaks the children growing up with their parents behind bars at this time when al-jazeera yemen has split with aids and under the control of saw them separate to the internationally recognized government is confined to the presidential palace so how does that complicate the saudi led war against. this yemen on the way to inevitable politician this is inside story.