to see the community he cherishes it is not to me that someone can do this then. that's what. the opposition a witness documentary at this time on al-jazeera. al-jazeera . and. a sign of hope with the winter olympics as athletes from the two koreas march under a unified flag watched by top officials from both north and south. logan you're watching al-jazeera live from doha my name's peter w.

also coming up the u.s. president donald trump refuses to declassify a democratic member on the russia investigation citing national security concerns. colombia's former rebel group the fox suspends political campaigning following days of angry protests. and the e.u. whose main breaks it negotiator is use a warning to britain decision time is here. first full day of competition at the winter olympics is underway in south korea later in the day the first medals will be awarded when a set to be crowned and biathlon cross country skiing speed skating and ski jumping meanwhile away from the slopes and ice rinks diplomacy is growing almost as much attention as the games themselves live now to my colleague tasha going am who's joining us from kong norm natasha just take us through what we might see today.

well this historic visit is replete with symbolism but skeptics are doubtful that it will result in a seismic shift in relations between the two koreas but that is certainly the hope south korean president moon jay in is pushing for a reboot in the relationship between the two countries after a very tense twenty seventeen moon is the son of refugee parents from north korea so this issue is near and dear to his heart that he does have reason for optimism since the beginning of this year developments with north korea have unfolded at a breakneck pace so at this meeting and now lunch at the blue presidential house all eyes have been on kim jong un sister kim jong she's a power broker in the north korean government and a trusted adviser of her brother there was a document sitting on the desk while she met with president moon and it has only

fed speculation in the south korean media that she has a letter from her brother and that perhaps it contains an invite to president moon to visit north korea the choreography of this obviously very significant size ship but i guess that is the significant thing as well is that if you've got mr pence and the north korean leaders system even in the same city that's all deeply progress. yeah it was pretty cozy i'm sure you saw the photos as did the rest of the world it was pretty cozy inside that v.i.p. room at the opening ceremony of the young chang olympics now there has been some comment in the american media the tense snub of the north korean delegation the pence team says that is not the case but pence did greet others in that v.i.p. room but he did not greet the north korean ceremonial head of state he says it simply because he was not seated near him but it can't be denied that the united

states and north korea rebuffed president moon's attempt to facility dialogue between the two of them and says that an olympic venue is not the appropriate venue to have a serious discussion with the north koreans and that if he had spoken to the north koreans he would have conveyed a very strong message earlier this week pence did say that the toughest round of economic sanctions against north korea are coming and that the united states will continue to exert maximum pressure on north korea to denuclearize the north koreans for their part say they have zero interest in any dialogue with the united states the tension one brief final point what's your sense as to who's driving this because up until perhaps six weeks ago the feeling had been if the u.s. talks to north korea it's got to be done through the the vessel of the chinese government and then the north koreans surprised everyone and they basically signal bloke the olympics around the corner we will talk to me who's in charge of the

dynamic here. well i think you have to be a soothsayer to adequately answer that question at this point but enlists are saying they believe that the north koreans are clearly driving this effort that this is yet more propaganda on the part of the north koreans that this charm offensive is simply intended to advance the north korean's agenda which is to continue to maintain its nuclear program while easing the think sions and hopefully rebuilding its own economy but also to perhaps drive a wedge between the united states and south korea an alliance it has to be mentioned that the north koreans are keen to see a joint military exercise between the united states and south korea canceled this year they've been postponed for now until after the olympics and sasha thanks very much we're staying with that story north korea analyst keith lewis says the stakes

are high for all parties involved in this new round of diplomacy well in the spirit of the olympics it's quite exciting to see both countries represented together in the opening ceremonies i must say however that i think it's also significant that the leader of north korea sent his sister and at the present a united states sent the vice president and mrs pence this is high level attention on the part of both nations the united states and north korea and it also states as to the seriousness of the overall situation on the peninsula today well we're in new territory now aren't we given the degree to which north and south korea are interacting in the context of the olympics i would imagine that there is there are plans for the north there is probably a hope by leaders in south korea that this will turn into something more substantive as relates to future dialogue. ok turning our attention now to the

states because donald trump has blocked the release of a classified memo written by democrats on the house intelligence committee citing national security concerns the memo rebuts a document prepared by the committee's republicans which was made public last week the republican memo allege the f.b.i. was biased against trump during its investigation into his presidential campaigns links with russia that memo was released despite public opposition from the f.b.i. from claims that document totally vindicates him but democrats and some republicans dispute that as well now the white house has stated although the president is inclined to declassify the february fifth memorandum because the memorandum contains numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages he's unable to do so at this time however given the public interest in transparency in these unprecedented circumstances the president has directed that justice department personnel be available to give technical assistance to the committee should the

committee wish to revise the february the fifth memo to mitigate the risks identified by the department kristen salumi as the latest now from washington. the letter from the white house citing significant law enforcement and national security concerns was supported by another document another letter from the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein and the head of the f.b.i. christopher ray which goes on to explain that they're worried about revealing sources and ongoing investigations but it should be noted that the f.b.i. had the same objections to releasing the republican memo and president trump went ahead and released it anyway and then after it was released said that the report had quote totally vindicated him of course real democrats saw things much differently they wanted to have a chance to respond they said the republican version of events left out significant facts and they wanted a chance to put that forward even trey gowdy republican on the house intelligence

committee said that the memo had not in any way discredited the mueller investigation so democrats now are crying foul they say this is a double standard and for a president who was talking about transparency when he released the original memo this just didn't make sense the question asked by both the democratic leader of the house and the senate is what is the president hiding of course the white house says that the justice department would be happy to work with democrats to revise their memo so that it is able to be released without compromising security and democrats say they will take them up on that offer cliff incl stein is director of ethics and the rule of law at the university of pennsylvania law school she says the democrats won't go down without a fight. it's very unlikely that the democratic memo can hands intelligence that is sensitive over and above the intelligence that was in the republican memo so the

marginal amount of intelligence that's released by releasing the democratic memo if they were to do so is probably has a minimal impact on national security and therefore it's very hard to believe that the president has refused to release the memo on grounds of protecting intelligence . the democrats have a number of different options here i doubt they're going to take this lying down they know in that in all likelihood president from peers just trying to shield himself from the effects of the muller investigation to colombia where the former rebel group the fark has temporarily suspended its campaign for forthcoming elections because of demonstrations and threats to its candidates and the group became a political party last year after a made a peace deal with the colombian government ending more than fifty two years of conflict but many colombians are still angry at the far can believe its members should be in prison or in the end though we have decided to suspend campaign

activities until we have sufficient guarantee we call on all parties and political movements without exception to make a statement rejecting this type of aggression we invite all to meet us to the forum to agree of a game of clean rules george restrepo is the director of the conflict analysis research center and a professor of economics with the java yana university he says the fox concerns about the safety of their activists are justified. it's a very risky situation it's a difficult transition from conflict to political parties beijing for the now party and for america really a group because there is a strong need for vindication for revenge even in the general population of especially in urban areas then this is a wise decision by far to solve a new o.b.

in politics where different cities of the country they need to go see the situation as of their receipts and the general feeling in the population is that they have not. subject themselves to the just new system of justice. who c.c.'s this yet but a special justice for the transfusion system and that is what makes people really hundred against the fire they feel the very i would say their situation of course what they fire need to luis to recognize and address these very strong sense of sentiment in the population against political participation with junkies. he's chief president has warned that plans for a period of transition to ease the u.k.'s withdrawal could be at risk michel barnier says substantial disagreements with britain are jeopardizing london's plans

for a transit he also rejected criticism from britain's bracks it minister david davis he described proposals to sanction britain if it breaks to e.u. rules during the transition as discourteous it was issued to your bank to the position of the european union is very logical from my point of view by asking to enjoy the advantages of the single market the united kingdom has to accept all the rules and the obligations until the end of the transition that's only logical it also has to accept the consequences of its decision to leave. the cities are considering this agreement to be quite frank transition today is not a given if these these agreements persist the transition is not a given. still to come here on al jazeera breaking barriers in sri lanka is a record number of women candidates campaigning for seats in forthcoming elections plus. standing united political rivals in senegal

joining forces to them on free and fair elections. through tranquil arabian can you. deny it seems in finnish. how i think know them parts of the middle east may well see a little more clout over the next couple of days it should be largely dry the levant say in that clash just spilling in from the mediterranean times it may be thick enough for a few spots if i but nothing much to speak of the temperatures in beirut spiked added around twenty three degrees the much of iran it should be settled it should be sunny or tehran getting up to around eleven south just a little bit of wintry weather just around the the high ground there for afghanistan maybe a little bit of rain sleet and snow a couple it around four or five celsius over the next couple of days temps just

getting up into the low twenty's at this stage as we go on through our sunday not just the cloud is pushing its way further southward so it will cloud over a little across the right in peninsula over the next day or two twenty six twenty seven in riyadh react picking up to around thirty one degrees as we go on through sunday and even here in qatar we may see the temperatures getting well up into the high twenty's as we go on into the early part of next week we have temperatures into the high twenty's across a good part of southern africa at present will see thirty celsius there for dry weather coming into cape town temps is edging up here was to go on through sunday very heavy rain for zimbabwe and also mozambique. there with sponsored by i kept telling me he's. facing the realities. growing up when did you realize that you were living in a special place the so-called secret city getting to the heart of the matter why is activists in jail just because she expressed herself hear their story on talk to

al-jazeera at this time you. put. them on. the back you with al-jazeera live from doha the headline so far today the south korean president jean has been holding talks with the north korean leader kim jong il and sister in seoul kim jong il flew in to attend the opening ceremony of the winter olympics which is the first member of the ruling kim family to cross the border since the start of the korean war in one nine hundred fifty. donald trump

has blocked the release of a classified memo written by democrats on the house intelligence committee citing national security concerns the memo rebuts a document prepared by the committee's republicans that alleged f.b.i. bias against mr trump. and colombia's former rebel group the fog has temporarily suspended its political campaigning because of demonstrations and threats to its candidates who became a political party last year after a peace deal with the colombian government tentacled in fifty two years of conflict . senegal's opposition parties have been demonstrating in a call for free and fair elections ahead of the twenty one thousand presidential vote the trial of a high profile opposition figure on corruption allegations is due to end next week for sol the mayor of dhaka is expected to challenge the. the president's microcell at the polls nicholas now from dhaka. supporters of rival political parties marching together they say to defend democracy. it's

a rare moment of unity in senegal's lively and sometimes divisive political landscape here they shout the name of the former president's son karim waters a leading opposition figure who was sentenced to prison on corruption charges he now lives in exile. if opposition leaders are sent to prison then our democracy is turning into a dictatorship that's why we're on the streets to ensure our political rights the popular mayor of the car khalifa sell to was accused of embezzling millions of dollars and is facing trial from his detention cell he still runs the city if sentenced he will not be allowed to run for president in the upcoming elections. says the trial is politically motivated. the opposition accuses president barchi cell of using the courts to eliminate his political rivals ahead of the two thousand and one thousand presidential elections among the protesters is the president's former prime minister. not only

a struggle for politicians. it's a struggle for the people of senegal we want. to become a real democratic underbite he sells leadership senegal has become one of the world's fastest growing economy people here are better off today than they were before he came to power and with recent offshore oil and gas discoveries the economy is set to grow even further but these protesters feel left out saying they're not getting a fair share of this new wealth. there's protests and demonstrations like this for the past few weeks across various west african countries in chad in easier in togo even in tunisia some are protesting against the rising cost of living others are calling for political change and so this protest has to be taken in the light of what's happening throughout the region young africans tired of being ignored taking to the streets in order to get their voices heard. the demonstration ended like it

started peacefully for president mikey's all supporters this shows his ability to govern with the opposition and with thousands of people on the streets the opposition sees it as a success too and so all seem to agree that democracy isn't easy but it's always worth fighting for. the car. more women than ever hoping to get elected into government choosing representatives in more than three hundred local elections on saturday a change in the law requires women to fill a quarter of all seats smell from under us from columbus i am during her latest political race with a bang rosie sennight form of this is world diplomat and parliamentarian is aiming to become good there to colombo she's the first woman to even try i strongly believe that you cannot have democracy if you do not interest the needs of the made

the population they don't get the population. she's one of more than seventeen thousand women. with elections a record number of women are standing for positions in three hundred forty institutions a recent change in the law has made it mandatory to have twenty five percent of women in local government more than twelve times the number now some only go to the marxist people's liberation front says the changes will give more deserving women a chance in our country and some ministers daughter are siblings are those from families and politics. but we think honest women should come into politics the laws are made this election can do that. it's a view that this voter in colombo endorsed it is high time that the city london's the politicians at least there are so many women they should give a place to the me man. it's the first time in decades that elections to all local

bodies around the country are being held on a single day the stakes are high for all political parties going into this local government election money the president my policy recently and prime minister become a singer whose parties are contesting separately it's a battle to keep it and they defeated three years ago which is the reason why local issues such as roads street lights and garbage disposal are taking on the intensity of a national fight the coalition government of the president and prime minister is struggling to maintain its popularity following a series of scandals and failure to deliver on its campaign promise to root out corruption both leaders have travelled around the country to support their candidates their main threat is former president rajapaksa despite being voted out of his bid for a third presidential term rajapaksa still commands the loyalty of a large voter base a base he's trying to mobilize for

a new political front despite the fact that he's not a member of it and remains a member of his successors party the problem or the way forward for the upcoming national elections will be starting from this but the boy saw it is for the president for the prime minister was coming from the poor people and political parties and in the other hand the former president's campaign will have a place and they hope to shore up our whatever the larger political stakes local election voters will be hoping for a competent candidates both male and female to ensure the smooth running of their institutions. joins us live from columbia why is this election so very important. in the sri lankan political sphere we've seen basically changes been brought to the electoral system here at the local government level and it's fundamentally changed

the we'd be elections the campaigns are being conducted we had one water short while ago as we got here coming in telling us that this is the first time in over thirty years that he's seen such a short ballot paper purely because the system of preference watering has been removed and things are much more simplified leading to less violence less competition during the campaign so in that sense important changes to the way the election is being conducted also kind of pointing towards what's happening on a national scale the sort of competition the performance between the key political parties who are kind of starting with an eye towards the bigger national elections coming up in a few years time peter how do we think this will change things. in one sense what many analysts and observers has brought some key changes to the way

the system has been geared the wee things are being done so like for example previously we had a thing called a preferential voting system where each party had a whole slew of candidates so invariably there was lots of competition between candidates when within the same party there were huge clashes as the candidates from the same party voted for wards now it's a much more simplified system you have a mix of sort of first past the post the person pulling the top number of votes and also a proportional representation where the party also gets an allocation depending on their overall performance so in that sense the we the fundamental change is the elections are conducted the management of elections are much more sort of efficient and easy to control the number of candidates and the way this level of politics played out peter have been a factor of political books here this is now got change national politics we're

talking about local elections here but at the next national election there's got to be a shift. absolutely peter i mean one of the fundamental problems has been in sri lanka in politics the electoral system and over many many decades there's been a lot of complaints criticism of the way the system has worked and it is very much a victory to see the system being changed and very much at the grassroots so the first change to the local government election act being seen and we're seeing it today at the polling beat behind me one place it's been played out where it is at that level we've seen the changes and it's almost like one step at a time the next stage obviously would be the provincial councils much bigger bodies governing bodies at a provincial level and then obviously the main target the parliamentary pause where

they simplify things remove this kind of negative a violent competition and get on with more democracy and much more efficient and come free and fair elections thanks so much. police officers in the u.s. city of baltimore have been accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars selling drugs and guns robbing houses and arresting innocent people has been described as the most startling police corruption scandal in a generation jurors are now considering a verdict after a three week trial and she had pretense of. a baltimore police officer planting drugs to implicate an innocent man it's the sort of police corruption story we've become accustomed to along with those of racial profiling and unprovoked violence and when these stories emerge authorities are quick to blame a few bad apples and promise further training of individual officers but the testimony of four former detectives here at the baltimore district court over the last few weeks has revealed not only the depths police corruption can reach but

also the framework in which it flourishes at least one officer charged was promoted even as complaints about his conduct racked up and the city paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements for violent misconduct these men were part of baltimore's gun trace task force described as an elite crime fighting unit but in fact four of these men have testified that not only were they stealing and selling guns they don't bank on a criminal rampage against the city's african-american community and it wasn't just guns they stole but drugs cash and valuables some they sold some they kept they would rob houses sometimes they would supply their militarized police equipment to members of the public so that they could rob houses while the officers kept watch they attempted to terrorize african-american men driving their cars at high speed towards people and then chasing and arresting anyone who ran they would have toyed guns handy in order to plant them on suspects if they were quote in

a jam they shot an innocent person some three thousand of their arrests and now under review none of this has come as any surprise to those in black neighborhoods like sam town who've long complained about police corruption this was the home of freddie gray who died in police custody in twenty fifteen their answer is clear law enforcement has to be transformed and i just feel like you have to be occupying force in order to be a police officer. but this was the mayor of baltimore as a response to a question about whether she was even following the trial no i have no preference. she and the police commissioner sticking to the few bad apples argument which is we can further after an instructor at the baltimore police academy said this about almost a third of the new batch of police officers who graduated last week were giving them a badge and a gun tomorrow the right to take someone's liberty ultimately the right to take someone's life if it calls for it and they have not demonstrated they can meet

constitutional and legal standards meanwhile the baltimore officers who testified in court say there are many others throughout the criminal justice system from internal affairs to the state attorney's office who help them cover up their alleged crimes shihab rattansi al-jazeera baltimore. and you can get much more news of course via the web site al jazeera dot com is the address you need a top story talking about benghazi the headline annex. this is al jazeera these are the top stories the south korean president when jane has been holding talks with the north korean leader kim jong un sr in seoul kim jong un flew in to attend the opening ceremony of the winter games she's the first member of the ruling kim family to cross the border since the start of the korean war in one nine hundred fifty. s. from north and south korea marched on very unified korea's flag for the opening of

the winter olympics in chiang. the u.s. president donald trump has blocked the release of a classified memo written by democrats on the house intelligence committee citing national security concerns the memo rebuts a document prepared by the committee's republicans which was made public last week the republican memo allege the f.b.i. was biased against mr trump during its investigation into his presidential campaigns links with russia that memo was released despite public opposition from the f.b.i. from a claim that document totally vindicates him but democrats and some republicans dispute that colombia's former rebel group the fog has temporarily suspended its campaign for forthcoming elections because of protests and threats to its candidates the group became a political party last year made a peace deal with the government ending more than fifty two years of conflict but many colombians are still angry at the fog and believe its members should not be in prison. we have decided to suspend campaign activities until we have sufficient

guarantee we call on all parties and political movements without exception to biggest statements rejecting this type of aggression we invite all to meet us to the forum to agree of a game of clean rules more than seventeen thousand women in sri lanka are vying to be elected into government voters are choosing representatives in more than three hundred local elections on saturday a change in the law now requires women to fill a quarter of all the seats. chief breaks at negotiating has warned plans for a period of transition to ease the u.k.'s withdrawal could be at risk michel barnier says substantial disagreements with britain are jeopardizing london's plans for a transitional period of around two years after it formally leaves in twenty nineteen he also rejected condemnation from the u.k.'s bricks at minister david davis who described proposals to sanction britain if it breached e.u. rules during that transition as discourteous those are your headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after talk to al-jazeera all season by.

al jazeera. and for your. would you mentioned war will. look to see. for more than four and a half years iranian refugee peru's but chauny has been living in limbo on a remote specific island he was sent there by australia after he tried to reach its shores by boat for off. if his a prison it was a pretty slim.