it's updates brought to you by qatar airways going places together. to journey through memories scarred by sri lanka's civil war. divisions and mental wounds still run deep. as a once exiled tamil gorilla struggles to comprehend how things went so wrong and demons in paradise a witness documentary at this time on al-jazeera. this is al-jazeera. so robert you're watching the al-jazeera news our life my headquarters here in doha coming up in the next sixty minutes past graves found in me and bar video appears

to confirm the massacre of hundreds of writing of muslims and attempts to cover up the crime. also what hamas is calling a dangerous development of the palestinian groups leader ismail haniya is designated a global terrorist by the us government. also the lifetime ban for more than two dozen russian and lympics athletes for doping has been lifted that's clearing the way for them to compete in the winter games. and the f.b.i. is questioning the facts of a secret congressional memo donald trump plans to release suggesting the agency abused its power.

good to have you with us on the news are the trumpet ministration is allowing seven thousand syrian refugees to stay in the u.s. for at least another eighteen months the decision extends a temporary protected status but only applies to refugees who arrive before all of us twenty sixteen the status of late arrivals to the u.s. will be put on hold more than twelve million syrians have been displaced by the near seven year long civil war alan fisher is following the story from washington d.c. so back in two thousand and twelve because of the fighting in syria the u.s. government awarded temporary protective status to syrians living here in the united states what does that mean well it means if you meet certain criteria and repeat certain fees then you could live here without the threat of being deported back to syria now that program has been under review and the department of homeland security has announced that it's going to extend it for a further eighteen months and it also says that's because the situation in the on

the ground in syria hasn't changed dramatically from six years ago now that means about seven thousand syrians will continue to be covered by the program but if you're arrived after late twenty sixteen you will not be covered by the program and that covers about two thousand people who've arrived here since then from syria no the trumpet ministration has removed temporary protective status from a number of countries recently including sudan he and nicaragua and says other countries will also lose that status but for the moment the majority of syrians seem to be safe. now the un says the violence against women the muslims in myanmar bears all the hallmarks of genocide it comes as newly released video appears to show a massacre. in the last year the associated press says it's confirmed at least five previously unreported mass graves the news agency spoke to villagers

who say as many as four hundred people could be buried at the sites when contacted by al-jazeera the million man government declined to comment on the video the u.n. special rapporteur on me and maher says attacks on the right are part of an established pattern of violence by the military against ethnic minorities she said the safety of refugees must be guaranteed before they return home more than six hundred fifty three hundred thousand. have fled across the border to bangladesh since august they say that they're fleeing a crackdown by the a mass military but the military says their operations are only targeting armed groups scott has more from young on. the associated press news agency has released a video it says confirms reports of a massacre of revenge of muslims in myanmar last year a.p. says the pictures are here to show the bodies are buried may. its investigation

suggest at least five previously unreported mass creation of been found and the news agency spoke to villagers who say the number of dead could be as high as four hundred. wherever was injured but still life after the attack was thrown into flames young men like myself managed to escape the attack but others like small children and women couldn't run away in time so when they were either killed or tied up and thrown inside homes by the military which they burnt down using launchers. you know it's not the massacre took place in. a few weeks ago for the first time the military here said that soldiers were involved in civilian deaths it acknowledged one mass grave containing the bodies of ten rangers it's called terrorists the u.n. says reports of more mass graves warrant further investigation. i do not have the details of this particular site or the village that scrapes but it is.

it is. you can see it's a pattern that we that i said earlier and. you know we had that too not to leave mass but indeed that's where the mass graves were discovered. but when i was talking to some of the refugees amounted to me he had he had buried four hundred in thirty plus bodies before he escaped his town. and i received growing names of people who. let you kill or missing so this is something that needs to be investigated and this is why we've called for a fact finding mission and human rights watch says there's growing evidence of genocide in rakhine state what is most worrisome about this report 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 features 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 you know mars government has previously denied any reports of a massacre it has now cut off access to good up in other than tightly controlled government troops the area in northern rakhine state where there was violence has been closed off to the u.n. humanitarian groups and journalists it's got harder al-jazeera young on. well two reuters journalists detained in mi amman have been denied bail. arrested in young go in december while covering the running a crisis for the news agency now they are accused of violating the official secrets act and face up to fourteen years in jail. to the middle east now where hamas says it won't stop resisting the israeli occupation despite the leader of the

palestinian group being designated a global terrorist by the u.s. government it's frozen it's not any it's financial assets that imposed a travel ban from washington roslyn 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 especially doesn't need a global terrorist because thanks to his leadership hamas has killed seventeen americans the designation is that any assets honey to has in the u.s. are now frozen 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 his calls for

a renewed 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 closer 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 as move seriously while the other side of ismail hernia 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 and

preventing the aid of the morra which is a continuation of the crimes against the palestinian people that it is me is not always thought we ought to note that it is that is forbidden or does them no indigents 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. well let's put this into context for you on december the sixth donald trump unilaterally declared jerusalem as israel's capital that sparked protest for weeks across palestine and in several parts of the world on december the thirteenth the palestinian president mahmoud abbas formally rejected america's role as a mediator in any future israeli palestinian talks and a few weeks after that the u.s. froze more than half of its planned aid to the u.n.

agency under a law which has been a lifeline for millions of palestinians across the region and now the u.s. is designating the leader of hamas and a key palestinian political group with the armed wing as a global terrorist it's not in sanctions on this melania who threatened a political uprising or into fatah against israel a day after trump's decision on jerusalem ghazi hamad is the deputy foreign minister of hamas joins me now from our gaza studio good to have you with us on al-jazeera even your colleagues within the senior cabinet are saying that trumps decision is stupid and that basically it will not have any effect on the way hamas operates got to get your reaction as foreign minister in terms of how you deal with the international community or those that will talk to you. i think our story. from the beginning that he started. to do more enemies with the palestinians

with the syrians with in my ignorance with north korea where i think he like the elephant in the glove short it tried to big everything to break the regulation this system everywhere and i think he not he does not not only made money on the tourism list he put all the people when he ignores all the palestinian this from their lives and he took. them as capital of israel and ignored the right of return here to. ignore our rights in a freedom independence and so i think that we are not surprised i think that there really that he is mentally ill is still there do you think by by his money and by his power and by his a black man he can impose his policy in the middle east and people. frankly that this is not accepted smile any as a symbol of dignity a symbol of freedom and we as a policy and that's melania you live in there just as we are all of the policy in

this including the. islamic jihad and all policy in fact in their beliefs and believes in their existence ok that's a case does our military systems appreciate when you say mr ahmed let me just come in that because they smell him he is your leader and would be at any table in any future negotiations if the peace deal peace movement moves it moves forward with israel how problematic is this as you are a sort of part of a consensus government with fattah can it be can he be ignored in future negotiations can he be ignored from the round table talks that everybody hopes may happen one day in the future. look we have experience of more than thirty years where the bush administration obama administration the clinton administration more than it went to four years and i think the big deal from the american media that i think this is a big lesson for the present our best one that is and all his why is that america

they are not honest. accepted by the policy not just only put the gloss over israel they just believe in the rise of israel in existence security prosperity then never believe in the palestinian national dollars so i think now we have to change our strategy we have to first of all i think now is to go back to the national unity policy a reclusive nation in order to have one start the u. one one vision and after that i think we can we can find. honest media those who can help the policy and us but i think we should ignore and we should exclude the americans we should not do that to our god because they think i think because they have just one goal all the support they can patient and to stop by their compassion with money with power with weapons and we have to stop this again because i think we are fed up for this game for twenty four years it should be stopped but we should see what does happen for the moment to ghazi hamad that the deputy foreign minister for hamas from a gaza studio thanks for joining us on twenty eight russian athletes have been know

have had their lifetime bans from the olympic sport overturn just one week out from the winter olympic games in pyongyang now the decision was made by the court of arbitration for sport after an appeal last month each had been banned by the international olympic committee for doping at least twenty fourteen games in sochi but the court found there was insufficient evidence let's cross over now to moscow our correspondent rory challenger is following the story for us it's really quite a big win for the russians rory this is perhaps a vindication of what they've always said. absolutely this is a beautiful presence. in from cass wrapped up in a nice pretty ribbon and it comes just two months away from the presidential elections as you say it's a huge vindication it basically slots nicely into the much trumpeted message that you hear in russia that russia is essentially a kind of the sea fortress and

a righteous one holding out against a largely hostile world russia has always said that the accusations against it and all the details included in the. mclaren reports were just not backed up by evidence and now it seems that the court of arbitration for support for sports support them in napa zisha and we can gather how satisfied the author of these are in russia by the fact that we've had messages today from the kremlin messages from the sports ministry and also messages from the disc raced former sports minister saying just how pleased they are what happens next because obviously the athletes that are at the center of this particular story may want to go to the olympics if they can. absolutely well i mean there are there are huge questions lingering because of this we know who this is basically that the the the i o.

c. and wilders anti doping case against russia is now in disarray. the statement from the i.o.c. in the wake of this decision basically says that they believe this is. a blow against their campaign against doping in general there's a large scramble underway here in russia to get their athletes that have previously been banned back admitted into the winter olympics due to start in just a few days in south korea it's unclear at the moment whether they'll be able to do that because the i.o.c. says the russian olympic committee is still banned as an organization and therefore these in athletes will have to be admitted or invited on an individual basis by the i.o.c. and that's not automatic they say the i.o.c. has the possibility of appealing against cass's decision parts that has to be done

in a swiss federal tribunals and the actual circumstances in which an appeal might be successful after their lease what this does or unofficial of course as well is basically mean that the medal table for the sochi two thousand and fourteen olympics will probably have to be recalibrated and russia might well get its position back at the top of that medal table will get more the sun sure as the day progresses for the moment rory thank you. still ahead here on the al-jazeera news our. activists say freedom of the press is being targeted in lebanon after several television presenters are charged with defamation plus. i'm wayne hay reporting from southern thailand where we'll tell you about an ambitious coast to coast project that could have a major impact on shipping and security and an english premier league record is set on the final day of january transfer window.

now the f.b.i. has raised questions about the accuracy of a secret congressional member that suggests the agency and justice department abused their power the white house intends to release the classified document that contains allegations of detroit bias a white house correspondent can really help it has more. 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 before iraq and 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 in potential clues 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 moller state's new stuff thank you we're going to go 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 public kimberly how to al-jazeera washington. now the polish senate has approved a bill that would make it illegal to suggest poland was complicit in the nazi holocaust the upper house back the draft legislation despite objections from israel

and to 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 dark is 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 of the circus circus to survive and 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. poland says it's trying to restore its reputation and claim its name in history here's a reminder of what happened poland was invaded by the nazi germans in one nine

hundred thirty nine there was home to europe's largest jewish population at the time the nazi occupiers built and operated notorious concentration camps like auschwitz and treblinka 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 a polish complicity in nazi war crimes has been proven but the conservative government says the country was a victim and not a perpetrator of nazi crimes but how the force it is following the story for us from west jerusalem i mean what seems to be the reaction in israel to this second vote howry. well so far no official reaction from the foreign ministry or the prime minister's office to this particular second vote in the senate but there was already clarity on israel's position after last week's friday vote in the lower house which came just before holocaust remembrance day the prime minister saying that it that this was an attempt to deny and to deny the holocaust

and rewrite history we have had reaction on thursday from other members of his government the transport minister calling for the recall of the israeli ambassador to warsaw also saying that the poland that this would remove the blame from poland and deny its part in the holocaust the construction minister saying that and polish anti semitism as facts did help fuel the holocaust so already very strong reaction there is also supports in the knesset the israeli parliament for a bill which would penalize under denial of the holocaust legislation anyone who also denied the role of collaborators in the holocaust and would provide protection to people even overseas legal protection if by telling their stories of the holocaust they were prosecuted under any such law as far as the poles are concerned as you are saying they say this is to disassociate the polish state the polish

nation from any complicity in the holocaust and would allow historical research to go on they say that this is targeted against phrases such as polish death camps when people should be talking about nazi german death camps however that isn't really carrying much weight here in israel they have a pole it is insisting that historical research into the holocaust won't be affected but how those sort of assurances be received. well not very well there is a lot of commentary over recent days in the israeli media quotes from holocaust survivors saying that they were treated in some instances worse by their polish neighbors than by the german occupiers there is a lot of historical research which as you might imagine is being led here in israel which does suggest that aside from the many poles who did try to prevent the jewish neighbors from falling into the clutches of the nazis that there were many more i

mean six thousand seven hundred have been recognized by the holocaust memorial here in jerusalem for that for their role in doing that there were many more many many thousands of court in the simon wiesenthal center who either participated in the killings or handed in the jewish neighbors to the nazi occupiers and so as far as many here is really concerned although there is talk of this legislation being somehow circumscribed to prevent the polish state from being from from being defamed in this way for many in israel it's really a way of trying to somehow exonerate the polish people at large from a role which many historians historians say is pretty clear there in the evidence or you could have full of answer to us the day progresses the moment thank you. to asia pacific now where a court in cambodia has rejected a bail request by opposition leader came as a car and he's accused of plotting to overthrow the government

a charge he says is politically motivated secant was arrested in september during a government crackdown on the opposition is cambodian national rescue party was also shut down. the u.s. government has dismissed reports that it intends to cut off aid to puerto rico for months after it was hit by a hurricane and the federal emergency management agency says it's been evaluating whether there are enough supplies in the u.s. territory the agency is winding down the food and water distribution stores reopened but it hasn't yet decided to end aid completely there are still roughly six hundred thousand for to reconsider without power. rivera. is a professor of social science at least of university he says while puerto rican cities are recovering the role areas still need much more support. we are still in kind of thank you men are in crisis especially especially in their site so this

shouldn't be a mess should. it be neat it should reduce that distribution of food and water to metropolitan areas in there in the coastal areas but not in that once you start i haven't had my word since since here again earmarks that's one hundred forty seven days almost in three days it will be by months that is unacceptable in any part of the united states and we as citizens we demand that that the brightness of the repairs so we can we can get on with our lives well as a few members of the weather with stuff called up and still ahead here on the al-jazeera news our. calls for political change in togo grow louder as teachers and health workers call the national strike. legal fallout from activists who say they're convinced the popstar north to cancel a concert in israel. and in support the new england patriots and

philadelphia eagles have the training patter counts the countdown to super bowl continues. from the neon lights of asia. to the city that never sleeps. hello there it's certainly been hot for some of us in new zealand recently for january well it turned into the hottest month on record in christchurch than eden wellington but the end of the month well it certainly wasn't plain sailing we had a huge storm that worked its way across us in the form of an old tropical cycloid here's the circulation then gradually drifting its way southwards slamming its way into new zealand for youth a very very heavy rain some places saw around fifty millimeters per hour for ling that is a phenomenal amount of rain on the ground wouldn't have been able to absorb that

much more that's why we saw some flooding and also around the coast we saw a bit of inundation from the sea as well that caused a fair few problems this is what it looked like if you were around the coast big waves there and i wouldn't like to be driving along that road at all of it harry and a four by four looks like they're getting boy ok but coming the other way is a little sedan car making things a little bit hairy there now the wind was also a major problem for a swelling term we saw a gust of wind up to one hundred thirty five kilometers per hour that's easily enough to pull down trees and power lines as well and we did have a fair amount of power outages for the south wind and particularly that system though is pulling away and fortunately it is looking calmer but cooler over the next few days. the weather sponsored by cattle and race. it was oriol upon which modern day venezuela was established. for over

a century this lucrative resource has divided the people less than cursed with the world's largest reserves. charging the impact of industrialization and the legacies of its prominent leaders we shed light on the troubles afflicting venezuela today. the big picture the battle for venezuela coming soon on. al-jazeera where and for you. there the children of jailed chinese criminals with nowhere else to go one maging shelter is giving them a home when he meets the children growing up with their parents behind bars at this time on al-jazeera.

welcome back you're watching the officer and use our own cell robin reminder of our top stories the un special rapporteur to me a boss says violence against the ring go back as a whole months of genocide the associated press news agency says the discovery of five mass graves confirms the killing of hundreds last year to be among government has declined to comment. also hamas says it was resisting the israeli occupation despite the leader of the palestinian group being designated a global terrorist by the us government. it's frozen ismael he has financial assets and imposed a travel ban. put in a russian athletes have had their lifetime a limb pick bans overturned they've been previously banned for dating it's not clear if the athletes will be invited to the winter games in pyongyang chang next

month. the german politicians have voted to lift a suspension on family reunifications for refugees in the country the issue has been a major hurdle in the goetia between chancellor angela merkel's christian democrats and her coalition and other coalition parties in march twenty sixth in the government introduced a two year suspension on family reunifications paul brennan is following the story for us from the issue seems quite interesting of course refugees have been a major issue for a number of years but there seems to be sort of some resolution on an important day for the government in the broader stock. well time time was running out to help because they needed a deal in order to complete the coalition talks by the self-imposed deadline of next sunday and the refugee issue was a major issue a major major breaking point if you like what they've done today is vote in support of this this compromise deal if i take you back

a couple of years we're talking about people who have what's called here subsidiary protection that is those who haven't been granted full asylum status but they have been granted the right to remain because it's simply not possible for them to return to their home countries now up until a couple of years ago those people with subsidiary protection had the right to bring family members immediate family members to join them here in germany but in the wake of the two thousand and fifteen refugee crisis when more than a million refugees arrived in germany the politicians decided that was not sustainable that they withdrew that right and the ban in effect of family reunification has been in place ever since when they were doing the coalition agreement the deal basically that was a red line for the s.p.d. and so approved and so a compromise had to be reached but indeed if there is a compromise that does have to be reached as a subject really that no one can really draw a line hundred germany because it's such a fragile government coalition at the moment it's still being negotiated and there are smaller parties around the country that don't quite agree with what that much

larger political brothers are trying to negotiate in the capital and when you have that sort of discontent the public hears it and then there's even more of an issue and calls for a reelection potentially if no one can seem to agree on this particular issue because it's a hot topic. well one of the one of the advantages of the deal the as been voted on today is it appears to keep all sides relatively happy of course there will be dissidents on all sides but in the majority all sides can sell it to their constituents for the center right angle americal c.d.u. they say well look we're staying strong the band stays in place for another six months and then after that it's only one thousand a month that will come in that's a very tight control for the center left s.p.d. the junior coalition partner they can say look we've managed to negotiate the end of the ban people are going to start coming back in it's a compassionate gesture we've managed it for the hard right d.

they can say look the actual nitty gritty of the deal says there will be no right to remain if occasion it will be on an ad hoc basis and it will be done in a case by case so they can sell it to their constituents as well it's taken a while to get here but it looks like a relatively neat a neat deal that all sides depending on their perception can sell to the their relative constituents have a totally transpires in the coming days for the moment thanks very much joining us . to british lawyers are trying to get saudi arabia suspended from the un human rights council over its human rights record the kingdom is accused of arresting dozens of political activists and detaining them without charge so you has more from london. it's a case that has been given little attention given the recent state of affairs in saudi arabia thirty of its citizens detained without charge another thirty one who have apparently simply disappeared no one knows where they have gone or whether

they're being held nor have they been charged with any offenses a violation of saudi and international rules say the british lawyers who authored the report into the arrests and are now calling for the un to suspend the government of saudi arabia from the human rights council if they are committed to human rights and the instruments that they signed up to as well as international law then there's no need for the suspension if they put that into practice but those who breach provisions of international codes should not be allowed to do that and still sit on a council that reviews human rights around the world the double standard should be stopped much may have been made of the recent changes in saudi arabia since the country's exodus throwing mohammed bin salman assumed a wider role women have won the right to drive the last country in the world to have lifted that ban and a high profile corruption crackdown against members of the elite two significant

attention around the world human rights groups say while these actions are part of a determined effort to change saudi's troubled image the reality is far removed from that vision of change dissent is silenced calls for change our sense it and even messages on social media can invite imprisonment and punishment the fact that both simple activists. jean according to our accounts and maybe more now that this new report has emerged are jail soley for the human rights activism and this is absolutely not acceptable and i mean that the efforts of the crown prince to brand himself as a reformer cannot fly in the face of such blatant human rights violations as a member of the un's human rights panel. there is much pressure on saudi arabia to fulfill its duties in that capacity one way would be to get key allies such as the u.k. a major exporter of arms to the kingdom to convince them to fulfill their legal obligations

saudi's rulers are expected to visit britain soon but there are concerns as to how much of an effect prime minister theresa may would have on calls to respect the values they're meant to uphold as members of the human rights council saudi arabia may be sensitive about its image question is how much will it be prepared to prove that it's willing to accept change within the kingdom. al-jazeera london though the yemeni government turns a session of prisoners in the southern port city of aden session forces backed by the u.a.e. took control of a vote from the government on tuesday after several days of fighting dozens have been killed and injured in the unrest of a groups of suspended operations in aden the saudi backed government of president ford who had they had been based since twenty fifteen when it was pushed out of the capital sanaa by who threw the rebels. the latest crackdown on freedom of speech in lebanon is no laughing matter for a t.v. talk show host. accused of defaming the crown prince of saudi arabia by cracking

jokes about him and in another case the host of a political talk show has been questioned human rights activists accuse politicians of influencing the judiciary said holder has more from beirut. it's a comedy show but the host his sham had dad is being indicted for what he says was a joke. his show featured a fortune teller who advised the saudi crown prince behind i didn't tell men not to eat fast food for his health 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 and this is what i myself 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 its host says his case is aimed at intimidating the media and the less. i'm not a criminal or a drug dealer i'm not a terrorist belonging to weisel my identity is well know and i'm a journalist that has been struggling for more than twenty five years to defend freedom freedom of expression and human rights. interference of the court. denies that the minister of justice belongs to a political party affiliated with the president. and that's where the problem. for example can be imprisoned for criticizing. rights groups. being pressured and the space for free expression is shrinking.

the judiciary is no longer independent and it seems it is under political pressure . cases 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. if you don't look like you belong in jail civil society groups have criticised what they call the practices of the ruling class critics of people who have been investigated arrested and prosecuted rights organizations say the pattern of intimidation is threatening freedom of speech. well the cancellation of a pop concert in israel has provoked what's thought to be the first legal action of its kind to people from new zealand are being sued for urging the single law to join the artistic boycott against israel days later the musician council the television concert judge ruled in june that israeli law and an israeli law allows civil lawsuits against anyone calling for

a boycott against israel and israeli law group didn't is for emotional injury calls to three ticket holders and will drown thirteen thousand dollars compensation. we're not doing that to get any money the lawsuit is a moral i don't id a logical author. we just want to send a message that if you call a boycott against israel you're going to have to deal with the ramifications afterward and everything that kind of weapon. to spain now where police have arrested five people who were trying to steal four thousand kilos of oranges two vehicles packed with these stolen fruit for pulled over in the region of seville police say they became suspicious when the driver's but abruptly changed direction before passing a patrol car ahead. visit canal while the sewers cuts through egypt now there are plans to resurrect a four hundred year old idea in southern thailand as part of our series on global

trade routes when hey traveled to seek how where industry groups are pressuring the thai government to link the indian ocean and the andaman sea with the gulf of thailand and the south china sea. during the weird season thailand's endelman coast is often dark and moody tourists go home leaving local fishermen to ply their trade in relative peace but life could become a lot busier you proposed shipping canal cuts through here some welcome the prospect of investment while others doubt their lives would change for the better. when it comes to megaprojects it's never the people who benefit 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 strait 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 cut into 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 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 prime 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. 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. story of the series will take us to canada where we look at what the melting ice of the arctics northwest passage will be needed for shipping companies. now the world's largest

social media network facebook is reporting a five percent drop in the number of hours people are spending on science the company says changes to its news feed has reduced the time spent by uses about fifty million hours a day facebook says it's tweaked it sound with them to show few of viral videos of all meaningful posts from friends and family the dropping gauge with the cubs to sponsor a fourteen percent increase in the number of users to one point four billion. while still ahead here on al-jazeera it's almost all because of russia's new draft leaves arrive in china as dozens of the compound a live take fans professed to stay with him on just.

welcome back its time for sport has taught us thank you very much somehow i think been hearing in this news hour the court of arbitration for sport has overturned a decision to ban twenty eight russian athletes from a lympics sport for life due to accusations of doping that were pale last month against the decision of the international olympic committee prove successful the court ruled there wasn't sufficient evidence to penalize the athletes an additional eleven will be allowed to compete again after the young trying winter olympics which begin in next week this does not mean that these twenty that leads are declared innocent but in that case due to insufficient evidence the abuse held the sanctions on notes and their individual results achieved in sochi reinstated while

i was before that decision russian athletes who will compete as neutrals arrived in south korea the nation was also found from pale chandy to accusations of state sponsored doping but the international olympic committee has allowed one hundred sixty nine athletes to take part wearing white uniforms that specify a limb pick athlete from russia that national anthem and flag will also not be allowed to die they receive to fend off from russia's president vladimir putin when your soul is near sport. it is twice as difficult when sport is near to some events which are definitely unusual and strange to sport with superficial circumstances politics or anything else sorry we couldn't protect you from that but you and all sport phones should not have any doubt the russia will always stand for as it does always done the idea of clean sport well we can speak now to our sports correspondent lee wellings he is in london leigh have the international olympic committee reacted to the news of the ban being lifted. they have now reacted it's

a very very difficult position for the inside story in pit committee of course in force in p.r. china with just a week to go before the winter games begins now what can they do in these circumstances where they have lost such a big battle against russia a battle they don't want to have in the first place but very interesting line i think coming out of their statement where they said not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation to appear on china it's important to note they say that the court of arbitration for sport secretary general. insisted that the decision to have my does not mean that these twenty eight athletes are declared innocent is a coded message in there that they don't believe these athletes to be innocent they just couldn't prove them guilty enough there wasn't sufficient evidence there for a lifetime ban but it's also exciting we're not sending out an invitational to

magically so russia might challenge that and feel that those twenty i think have been hard done by as well as perhaps the other eleven volved in this situation who wouldn't of been allowed to go to china anyway so this is such good news for russia and russians for putin because they now have so much room to defend themselves beyond the winter olympics that are all sport there are accusations of football as dope and they felt that they have been a victim in this and now they have some evidence they fail to say we are clean well with everything that you've been saying the only at the same time this is a very messy situation for everyone right now isn't it. it's such a messy situation with the games just about to begin so there are one hundred sixty nine russian athletes now in korea ready to compete. neutral athletes from russia russia will still be on their uniform which isn't the case with the power lympics so many critics of the international olympic committee were saying well

actually they've been too lenient on russia it feels like a russian team is completing one hundred sixty nine or a lot of athletes to be in the games for a nation that's completely banned but now by the i.o.c. will be glad that they did go that far and allow russia because of course russia will keep pushing inside why are we not allowed to compete under the russian flag the court of arbitration for sport of really supported what we've been citing that there isn't enough evidence of individuals doping because i find all this talk about the olympics but this could also affect more than the winter olympics cannot i think it does because if you look at what's happening the other big event in sport this year in the summer it's of course the football world cup in russia and there have been accusations over the past few months about russian footballers doping they have been regular state and i know the leaders of sports in russia and the government in russia can actually say i look we were accused of doing all of these things around the winter olympics not that six now we're being accused in

football have a look at what happened in the court of arbitration for sport where being picked on i think it's a real boost for the world cup because they can say it's a clean world cup and that actually russian sport is thriving and healthy and hosting ok thank you very much leigh for your insight the north korean athletes who will compete in pyongyang have arrived ahead of those games ten thirty isn't skaters arrived on a chartered and red direct flight between north and south korea an agreement was reached last month between the two countries to allow a delegation of athletes to compete the two teams will work together under a unification flag at next week's opening ceremony. the third trial of former u.s. agent us to team doctor laurie nasr has been adjourned to friday dozens more women are expected to testify that they were sexually abused by nasir the presiding judge says the total number of victims tops two hundred sixty five as the title as the trial started the entire usa gymnastics board announced their resignation the u.s.

olympic committee had pressured them to do so nasa was last week sentenced to up to one hundred seventy five years in prison in a separate case the olympic champion simone balls was among his victims but while the twenty year old is targeting your return to competition i think it's very hard for someone to go through what i've gone through recently and it's very hard to talk about. but i think the judge is my hero just because she gave it to him and didn't let him get any power over any of the girls and letting the girls go and speak was very powerful hopefully redeem title i messed about the olympics as a little hit that but you know i still walk to the bronze so i can't really complain i mean it's another medal for team usa and for myself so just to hopefully got there and represent again the new england patriots the philadelphia eagles have

hit the training paddock ahead of sunday's super bowl in minneapolis the patriots are looking for their third title in four years while the eagles are yet to lift the vince lombardi trophy but the n.f.l. commissioner roger goodell has been still on certain questions about us president donald trump he's been critical of players who have no throughout the season to protest racial injustice. will there be any consideration to keeping the teams in the locker room while the anthem is played and also as a follow up have you spoken at all to president trump about his frequent criticism of players who do protest during the anthem the answer to your second question is no the answer to your first question is i don't know however what will consider in the offseason up still trying to get to the super bowl more than two hundred million dollars was spent on the final day of january's transfer window in the english premier league that is a new record one of the most highly anticipated deals that was completed was also

signing america bamiyan from but it's the adornment for seventy nine million the government international comes to the english premier league with an impressive scoring record he netted ninety eight times in one hundred forty four been deleted games he was also the twenty fifteen african football of the here meanwhile fans are calling for antonio conti to be replaced as chelsea boss after the three nil home defeat to bournemouth in the a.p.l. on wednesday all of bournemouth scholes came in the second half of the game despite the loss country remains confident about his performance i think that i missed voting this is a democracy movement. but if someone or. is not the greek bodies'. here you have to accept all the situation. and their bodies because all you know you know that.

i am in and doing the job to get work. ok doubtful that. thanks very much to us the other you have been watching the al-jazeera news richelle carey is here with the full half hour on the other side all right until of the twenty other me and all of the news our team thank you very much for your time and your company.

from the foreign ministry. jewett from iraq he's also a part time going to pergamon museum which includes a reconstruction of the famous. most of the people he's showing around came to germany as refugees this is just one of several berlin museums taking part in the project called meeting point and as well as bringing people together one of its aims is to emphasise the contribution of migrants right up to the present day to western culture. because i've been here for some time i can help them with lots of things that news is forward to me the great thing is it's not just about museums

about forming a new life is part of life it's culture from satellite technology to three d. printing and recycled waste to classrooms africa is transforming young innovators op propelling change building communities creating employment and solving. their challenging systems and shaping. creative thinkers shaping the continent's future innovate africa at this time. appears to confirm the massacre of hundreds and an attempt to cover up the crimes.