some of the greatest manmade environmental problems as the first meeting since the briggs it vote is set to take place in the u.k. we examine how relevant the commonwealth is today between corporate and public interests up to the last drop unveils the long standing rule for water in europe april on al-jazeera a scandal that's rocked the nation to its core and exposed hundreds of calls official. in bribes just to show the most dangerous commodity on air sometimes take a spot a day or an edifice to blow up a personal five days judicial corruption as an account by a bag i come out of my compass in an exclusive documentary al-jazeera and examined one man's extraordinary battle for just as in donna.

when the south meets noles high level korean talks are underway. hello i'm sure with our jazeera live from doha also coming up in the program anger in venezuela prisoners families appeal for answers after a deadly riot. saudi arabia could face legal action by the families of those killed in the nine eleven attacks a u.s. judge clears the way. to find out what's behind online retailer amazon and struck in valley. high level talks between south and north korea have begun in the demilitarized zone

which divides the two countries earlier south korea's convoy went over the unification bridge which leads to the trees village of panmunjom they're working on the details of south korean president in this meeting with the north korean leader kim jong un. among those they're coming to the denuclearization of the korean peninsula has been the most important part of the agenda since the high level talks of january ninth and the exchange of visits between north and south korean envoy that's the issue we will focus on further discussion as well because ok we can speak to our correspondent kathy novak she's empowered gene and kathy you're right on the border between north and south and behind you is where all the action is taking place today. well that's right martin not far from here actually i am at the border region and this ministerial level meeting is happening inside the d.m.z. at the joint security area that is policed by both sides so just behind me over

there across the waters where you can see north korea and this actual meeting between the two men leading the delegation who are responsible on either side for into korean affairs is happening on the north korean side of that joint security area the last time these two men met were on the south korean side it's the second time this year that they're holding this high level meeting and that's very significant because when they met back in january it was the first time there was any real communication between the two koreas for about two years and of course things have changed very much in the couple of months since then the first round of talks the morning session has wrapped up there were opening remarks from either side exchanges of pleasantries talking about the atmosphere of cooperation that has prevailed here on the korean peninsula the representative from north korea the representatives from south korea to convey his country's thanks to the top

leadership and to the people of south korea for the warm welcome and hospitality that the delegation from north korea received when it was visiting south korea for the winter olympics of course that kicked off this chain of events in which we are seeing more exchanges between the two koreas in fact there is a south korean art troop that is headed to north korea today for a series of performances and of course this is all leading up to the into a korean summit which is planned for next month and we're hoping to hear about a date for that summit after these talks today martin ok kathy also further south from you in seoul we know that a chinese only voice from the chinese president is reporting on the meeting the historic meeting that took place earlier this week and also we hear the japan is getting involved as well underlying underlining again the multilateral nature of the diplomacy on this peninsula. yes

really a flurry of diplomatic activity in this region martin young the top diplomat from china is in town cheryl to meet with the head of the national security office of the president here in south korea and also we're expecting him to meet with president moon himself to brief them on that surprise meeting that kim jong un had in china with xi jinping of course the first time that kim jong un traveled outside of north korea as a leader and as you mentioned because we're now seeing the plans for monday in to meet kim jong un has the potential for the u.s. president donald trump to meet kim jong un and we saw the meeting between xi jinping and kim jong un it's sort of not surprising no that we're hearing there's talk from japan that the prime minister shinzo abe there may be looking to settle his old meeting with the leader of north korea of course just hand has always been

a big player in this region when it comes to north korea it was japan that experience missiles flying over its territory and it always pushed for a more hard line when dealing with north korea and now that the mood has a shift a bit more to dialogue and engagement japan had been a bit sidelined so now it seems that it wants to remain involved as china did with that meeting between xi jinping and kim jong un martin. thank you very much. now prisoners have been killed in a riot at a jail inside a police station in venezuela tear gas was also fired at family members who were outside demonstrating at the kind of global state facility they're demanding to know what happened to the prisoners is the no official word so far as to the number of dead or in fact what triggered the violence on the sound of m.p.'s he has moved from bogota in neighboring colombia. based on the information we received from local journalists and geo group that works inside prisons in venezuela it looks

like a number of inmates assaulted a policeman this park the rioting side a jail in the kind of almost state police headquarters in the city of violence yet somehow during the riot a fire broke out and this killed a number of people it's unclear just how many of them an official reports say that they could be up to sixty six victims in this incident which would make it the worst prison riot in the history of venezuela but there hasn't been any official confirmation yet coming from the police or the minister for a prison affairs prison services in i mean it's well a number of relatives. of this jail gathered outside of the police headquarters desperately asking for information they also clashed with the police

in riot gear the police through tear gas at them to disperse the crowd and they are very angry because there hasn't been any information there have been a number of riots in venezuela in the last couple of years due to overcrowding and just the appalling conditions in which the inmates are kept inside these prisons and jails. a u.s. charges rejected saudi arabia's bid to dismiss lawsuits which allege that it helped plan the september eleventh attacks in two thousand and one the court in manhattan found it has jurisdiction to hear the cases which have been filed by victims' families they are suing for compensation which could amount to billions of dollars the saudi government has long denied involvement in the attacks which killed almost three thousand people mike hanna has more from washington manhattan judge george

gentles says that by a very narrow margin he does have jurisdiction to hear this case it's brought by survivors and relatives of victims of the nine eleven attacks the judge the same judge heard the case back in two thousand and fifteen a similar case but threw that one out of court he made very clear in his judgment today that the difference is the act passed by congress in two thousand and sixteen the justice against sponsors of terrorism act which does allow u.s. nationals to bring action against foreign countries they believe may have assisted acts of terror within the united states but still a lengthy legal process ahead lawyers for saudi arabia likely to bring appeals against the judgment they may even consider appealing the act passed by congress back in two thousand and sixteen an act that was vehemently opposed by the obama administration at the time also what's going to happen in coming weeks and months

is a process for discovery lawyers for the plaintiffs have made clear that they need objects articles information from saudi arabia itself and of course still the judge has got to set a date for this hearing to begin a brief find is a former associate deputy attorney general he says a recently introduced law has allowed the case to go forward. i think the acted just what it was intended to accomplish it stripped saudi arabia of its immunity because it had not previously been listed as a state sponsor of terrorism which was a condition earlier for bringing a suit of this sort against a nation for being complicit in terrorism activity so the judge got it right and i think it puts saudi arabia in great peril because we not only have the new act but we also have the declassification of the so-called twenty eight pages of the joint congressional committee on post-mortem of nine eleven which suggests that saudi

arabia officials were providing material assistance to at least one or two of the known hijackers of nine eleven which would make them culpable under the statute for the deaths and the injuries perpetrated by the nine eleven hijackers i also think that if discovery seems to be politically embarrassing to saudi arabia they may seek to settle this case out of court and maybe have nondisclosure on be a heart of the plaintiffs they can't say anything about the case because if this judgment is injured against saudi arabia it will truly a strange the united states with it on a whole host of areas including the sale of arms and economic investment and if the executive branch doesn't do it you can imagine congress will be outraged if there is a finding of complicity and saying in washington president trump has replaced another senior member of his team veterans affairs secretary david shaw king is the latest

in his place will be the white house that has no experience running government departments rob reynolds reports from the u.s. capitol. in a little over fourteen months in office president donald trump has gotten rid of his secretary of state to national security advisors a chief of staff senior economic advisor and health secretary as well as numerous white house aides and advisers veterans affairs secretary david shall consider parcher is the latest in a level of turnover unprecedented in any previous administration shock and resignation has been predicted for months following revelations in the press that he and his wife took expensive official trips to europe on the taxpayers' tab and used official aides to run personal errands his replacement is trump's personal doctors navy rear admiral ronnie jackson jackson has no experience running an enormous bureaucracy and the veterans' affairs department is the second largest government department topped only by the pentagon but he did lauded trump's

physical and mental stamina in an exhaustive press briefing following the president's medical checkup in january in a statement trust said jackson who serves in iraq quote has seen firsthand the tremendous sacrifices our veterans make as a candidate to improve veteran services in office he has approved a what is a push by conservative groups to partially privatized medical care for veterans a move that would create a windfall for for profit hospitals drug companies and insurance jackson probably his appointment means that we're going to move in the direction that big republican donors have been seeking and that's why veterans groups have been expressing tremendous. they're very upset president trump has frequently followed a pattern of letting officials who he no longer has confidence in dangle slowly in the wind for weeks or months before finally letting them go he is also reported to

feel more comfortable surrounding himself with people who agree with him with whom he can personally get along and it is said with people who look good on television robert oulds al jazeera washington. we're going to hear it out there including displaced by conflict and living in fear the plight of me a mascot. and anger at the government in the democratic republic of congo after rebels launch more deadly attacks in the east of the country. welcome back as we look at weather conditions across the americas we've got a very active front across southeastern parts of the united states giving some heavy rain and along its length who got some significant thunderstorms and

certainly possible that we're getting in towards that time of year that we could see some tornadoes developing as well behind it cold air chicago there struggling seven degrees out across the west well things looking rusty quite a moment will be the snow over the rockies but otherwise fine some francisco looking at highs of twenty one degrees through into friday more snow across northern areas into western parts of canada and this is system moves further towards the sea on its northern edge again we do develop some snow some heavy rain for new york further size dry conditions pushing into atlanta later on in the day for the caribbean region weather conditions generally looking pretty good at the moment showers few and far between but of a breeze in the bahamas keeping temperatures just into the mid twenty's rather an upper twenty's but for most there aren't you looking about thirty degrees as i shower is few and far between up through the isthmus cherry bright conditions patchy cloud around but the yucatan peninsula should be fine and dry on friday and then into south america showers more or less where you'd expect some heavy downpours impartial colombia ecuador for the south brighton one is aries with highs

of twenty seven. equal. can a simple single. person forty dollars just. short documentaries from around the world about those who will give up their fight for justice. al-jazeera selects justice.

tom visit take a look at the top stories here at al-jazeera a convoy carrying a south korean delegation has crossed into the demilitarized zone to begin high level talks with north korea they are working on the details of south korean president mood in this meeting with the north korean leader kim jong coming up next month. prisoners have been killed in a riser the jail inside a police station in venezuela tear gas was also fired at family members demonstrating outside the facility incredible the state north of the capital caracas there's no official word so far on the number of dead or what triggered the . a u.s. judges rejected saudi arabia's bid to dismiss lawsuits which allege that it helped plan the nine eleven attacks the court in new york found it has jurisdiction to hear the cases which have been filed by victims' families. since late last

year the world's attention has been brought to the plight of the seven hundred thousand or so muslim ranger who fled the violence in part elsewhere in the country catchin state another one hundred thousand people have also been displaced by years of fighting between the christian catchin independence army and government troops now a civilian leader prepares for talks with other rebel groups the chaos is refusing to engage it leaves little hope for those in camps who want to return home as wayne hay now reports civil war in me and mine has pushed people as far as they can go to remote mountainous regions on the edge of the country in the northern state of kitchen it's estimated there are around one hundred thousand living in camps along the border with china that's supposed to be temporary homes but many refugees have been here for years for some this is just the latest stop in almost

a lifetime on the run so. when i lived in another camp i thought there would be no more running away from the fighting but it happened again just like before the me and my shirts inside the camp and i even fired artillery shells . the rebel kitchen independence army is at war with the army fighting for control of the state and its resources the kitchen accuse the me and my army of abuses like rape and murder which the government and its soldiers deny the government is engaged in a peace process with several rebel groups but the kitchen fighters have refused to sign a cease fire agreement saying they don't trust the process. in the meantime more civilians are being displaced by the fighting forced to leave their homes and jobs starting a small business inside the camps is the only way to make money the government won't allow aid groups in and getting supplies like medicine is difficult instead the refugees are taught how to make use of natural remedies it's

a difficult situation made worse by the constant fear of being targeted again. the meum army keeps attacking us they never have sympathy for anybody they did this to us we are afraid of them right now we have volunteers security guards in the camp day and night. even with that threat and fear hanging over them for now the camps are as safe as it gets is no sign that the violence in kitchen state will end any time soon meaning returning home isn't an option wayne hay al-jazeera. at least ten people are dead and others a missing after a rebel attack in the north east of the democratic republic of congo it happened on the outskirts of the city of beni in a region that's beset by violence involving the allied democratic forces armed group mariana holland has law. rebecca souci has had enough of broken promises promises of protection promises from the congolese president that the

killings willing. come take our houses have them since you're unable to protect us your priority is to look after the rich not us poor people you have to fill your contract killing us just do what you want now we're tired of killing us. her home is a burnt out ruin and two members of his family a deed after elijah democratic forces rebels attacked a village of cacique in the middle of the night residents put up barricades but not for protection this isn't protest i.d.f. rebels have killed more than fifteen hundred people in the region and less than four years they accuse president joseph kabila of failing to protect them and want u.n. peacekeepers and the congolese military to keep them safe but i beat up on a limited set then the army general was here last night and then the enemy came to kill us how do we explain the situation someone needs to tell us something about

the iraq president has filed in all of us by building plans he succeeded on his plans to kill civilians. the rebel group was formed in neighboring uganda back in the ninety's eventually moving to the d.l.c. after a failed bid to turn uganda into an islamic state the brain india national party the twenty years but it's in the last four that they have cemented they refute a shoe in for brutality killing hundreds of civilians as well as mess rape and recruiting child soldiers. around four and a half million people have been displaced by fighting with rebels as well as interest nick violence seeking refuge in camps like these the united nations describes the situation in the democratic republic of congo as a forgotten crisis so serious and on such a scale that the un's humanitarian chief mark lowcock visited just two weeks ago to get the world to take notice the u.n.

warns millions will starve if they don't get help but president kabila is grappling with his own crisis they've been antigovernment protests after he refused to give up power when his two terms in office came to an end two years ago the. catholic church holds a lot of sway in the d.s.e. and church leaders have called on the faithful to keep up the pressure to hold promised elections but as long as the political tumult continues there is little prospect of security and stability improving maidana home and al jazeera. the polls have closed in egypt three day election and few doubt to the president of the fattah el-sisi will have a landslide victory they just were given an extra hour to counter-balance as part of an effort to boost turnout as a whole bar and now reports yet. go and you will immediately be paid the equivalent of three dollars an ounce because

of bribes to egyptians to cast their ballots as government fears of a low turnout grow state media police and officials are pushing to try and prevent embarrassment. trucks distributed sugar and cooking oil in poor areas businessman offered people free rides to go to polling stations. the government's using the carrot as well as the stick to boost turnout it just shines choose to stay way risk being fined. for whatever abstains from casting his vote with no justifiable reason faces a fine of twenty eight dollars it's our duty to ensure the law is implemented a country that respects the law president of the fatah has sisi has bit for reelection is almost and challenge to fear a low turnout will be widely seen as

a sign of growing discontent among the people senior army officers visited polling stations across the country they insist the election went smooth and that turnout is higher than reported by the media. but even if the turnout is low sisi is expected to trounce his opponent most of the little known politician who announced his bit of a last minute sissies. for an easy win but is likely to face many challenges during his second term critics dismiss claims by c.c. supporters who say he's the right man for egypt and he's helped improve the economy some analysts say the vast majority of egyptians are worse off the biggest challenge for him right now i think is the economy if you look at some of the macro

level indicators like g.d.p. and foreign reserves things seem to have improved for for egypt over the past two years particularly since they enacted tough economic reforms encouraged by the i.m.f. but on the micro level life for the average egyptian has actually gotten a lot more difficult because inflation has increased dramatically presidencies he said repeatedly that if we elected it's going to be his final four years. but he's already pushing for constitutional changes to pave the way for the general turned politician to run full of. al-jazeera malala yousafzai has returned to pakistan for the first time since she was shot in the head in twenty twelve she's expected to meet top pakistani officials a twenty year old was attacked by taliban gunmen for her work supposing girls'

education she recovered from her injuries in the u.k. malala was awarded the nobel peace prize in twenty fourteen. shares in the online retailer amazon have slumped following reports that u.s. president donald trump is looking to change the way the company is taxed at one point stocks fell by as much as seven point four percent wiping more than fifty billion dollars off amazon's market value. reports. and closing bell the price of amazon shares had dropped by some five percent in the course of the day that's a loss of close to fifty billion dollars to shareholders. this is a consequence of a report that president trump is and i quote obsessed with amazon but i applaud the mission of innovation and angry at its owner jeff bezos here in a conversation with president from during a roundtable at the white house the last time amazon suffered this scale of loss

modeled this tweet in august of last year amazon is doing great damage to taxpayer retailers declared president trump towns cities and states throughout the u.s. are being hurt many jobs being lost perhaps not coincidentally is also the owner of the washington post that has been twins with amazon and disparaging presidential tweets the report quotes an unnamed sources saying trump has wandered aloud if there may be any way to go after amazon with antitrust or competition law despite this being the domain of the federal trade commission and the justice department. the white house denies there is any specific policy being considered against any specific organization we have no announcements and no specific policies or actions that we're currently pushing forward or considering taking the president has said many times before he's always looking to create a level playing field for all businesses in this is no different going to always

can look at different ways but there aren't any specific policies on the table at this time. and assurance that may ring hollow to shareholders who have lost billions as the possible consequence of a president once again publicly thinking aloud cause he lopez so the u.n. al jazeera the recreate of a sculpture that was destroyed by are still in iraq has been unveiled in london's trafalgar square the replica of le massoud is made out of thousands of dates sirup tens so long ago has been to have a look. through. the under a gray wet london sky in one of the capitals main tourist sites and a syrian human headed bull sculpture takes its place recast for the times. the lava soup one of our ongoing series of works by the iraqi american artist michael

rockets intitled the invisible enemy should not exist it was commissioned to occupy the fourth plane to trafalgar square it's both a portrayal of iraq's resilience of the decades of conflict and the losses suffered human and cultural. the sculpture is also a reconstruction of the ancient statues destroyed by eisel as fighters invaded the iraqi city of mosul three years ago mythological figures destroyed by war when the iraq war began when i was growing up it was terrifying to see the place that my grandparents fled to destroy the place they fled from so i think for me rebuilding will master and this impulse to reconstruct is a way of remembering you know of suturing and healing the breach or amending the bridge six thousand pounds of date so we went into making this up and it's part of an ongoing project to recreate thousands of artifacts the either lost

or destroyed in the aftermath of the two thousand and three invasion a bitter sweet reminder of iraq's cultural richness it took four months to recreate this and using those dates syrup counts a nod to what was once iraq's second biggest export off to oil since devastated by war and disease displaying the work in london also we're reminded of the part the u.k. had as a member of the coalition that invaded iraq in two thousand and three it's not an attack on london it's reminder of the culture that was destroyed as a result of actions that were frankly a gate in london's march against that war we had millions in the streets so it's not it's not a poke in the eye at the london is themselves but it's a reminder of what happens when political procedures go wrong the lama soon replica is due to be displayed in the heart of london for the next two years a far cry from its origins but a memory of an ancient civilization that continues to fascinate and survive against

the odds son of valuable al-jazeera london. time presses take a look at the top stories here it out. a convoy carrying a south korean delegation has crossed into the demilitarized zone to begin high level talks with north korea they're expected to work on the detail of south korean president ends upcoming meeting with the north korean leader kim jong. il. the denuclearization of the korean peninsula has been the most important part of the agenda since the high level talks of january ninth and the exchange of visits between north and south korean envoy that's the issue we will focus on with further discussion as well. prisoners of being killed in a riot or jail inside a police station in venezuela tear gas was also fired at family members who were demonstrating outside the facility incredible over state which is north of the

capital caracas they're demanding to know exactly what happened so far there's no official word on the number of dead or what triggered the violence. the u.s. charges cleared the way for saudi arabia to be sued by the victims of the nine eleven attacks he rejected the kingdom's bid to dismiss the lawsuits which accuse it of helping to plan the two thousand and one attacks the saudi government denies any involvement right coming up next a.j. selects. the benefit of. witness documentaries that open your eyes at this time on al-jazeera.