part of. what makes this moment this era we're living from so unique all this is really an attack on itself is a lot of misunderstanding the distortion is that of what free speech is supposed to be about the context it's hugely important level wise to publish if you have a duty to be offensive or provocateur whatever it is people do setting the stage for a serious debate. up front at this time on al-jazeera. we understand the differences and the similarities of cultures across the world. so no matter where you call home al-jazeera will bring you the news and current of friends that matter to you. al-jazeera.

when south meets north high level korean talks are underway. hello again i'm. a live from doha also coming out. anger in venezuela prisoners families demand answers after a riot has killed sixty eight. saudi arabia could face legal action by the families of those killed in the nine eleven attacks a u.s. judge clears the way. and house speculation about taxes wiped billions of dollars of allison's market value.

the first high level tolls between south and north korea have begun in the demilitarized zone which divides the two countries they're expected to set the agenda for meetings between south korean president. and the north korean leader kim jong un which is planned for next month diplomatic momentum has been building including kim's first face to face meeting with the chinese president earlier this week. 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 or we can speak to our correspondent kathy novak who is on the border between north and south korea and kathy these talks have been underway now for a little while what are we expecting from them. yes they've

been taking place inside the joint security area at the demilitarized zone not far from where i'm standing i'm as you say at the border region and just across the way across the water there you can see a bit of north korea behind me this is the second time that this ministerial level talks have been held at the d.m.z. this year and what they're trying to hammer out as you say the agenda and plans for the upcoming meeting next month between president of south korea and the leader of north korea kim jong il and it seems that the talks have been going well they had a short first session lasted less than an hour and then reconvened for a second session and we understand we should be getting a joint statement out of those talks shortly the last time these men met the talks went for hours and into the evening so the fact that they seem to be wrapping up more quickly this time around indicates that there really has been more

communication between north and south korea over the past few months of course before january there had been no communication between these two countries not even phone calls for about two years but after those talks happened the communication lines between the two koreas were reestablished which allows them to talk more in the lead up to this crucial summit between the two leaders marty and indeed what a difference three months makes kathy also for the south as there are other lines of diplomacy taking place in the mystery from beijing is briefing the south koreans as to the that historic meeting that took place earlier this week between kim jong un the chinese president. that's right china's top diplomat younger chair was actually shuttled originally to come to south korea last week that visit was postponed and we understand now it's very likely because of that secret meeting that ended up being held in china between cheech and king

and kim jong un so now he is in town to brief south korean officials we understand he'll be meeting with the head of the national security office of the president and then also perhaps tomorrow with in himself they'd be very interested to hear what was discussed in china especially in the lead up to the meeting between the leaders of the two koreas and of course with plans going forward it seems for the meeting between the u.s. president donald trump and kim jong un and amongst all this there are reports that japan also wants to have a summit between its leader and kim jong un so these are all the big players in the region china japan south korea north korea and of course the united states so a lot of diplomatic activity in the lead up to these upcoming summits martin. live on the border between north and south korea thank you so at least sixty eight people have been killed in a fire that broke out during a jail riot in venezuela it happened in the central city of violence which is

believed to be the deadliest incident of its kind in venezuelan history i listen to a grumpy as he reports from bogota in neighboring colombia. families outside this business will in jail are desperate for news he's going to get the money or when i don't know if my son is dead or alive they won't give me any time updates or information my son has been imprisoned there for one year i know he's been be in there before. a riot then a fire broke out here hours earlier in the central city of l.a. and. many of them a still alive but others who didn't hear even the ones that are life suffocating to death they have to do something to get them out because the dying inside they need oxygen someone please get them out this time pass the engines mounted the relatives clash with the police that fired tear gas on the crowd this is the fourth major prison riot in the last five years leaving more than eighty people dead before

counting this last incident at least thirty three thousand inmates are held in temporary police cells in venezuela for lack of space in prisons in appalling conditions. and. whether. or not. some. people really. like the lack of medical attention the. human rights advocates of longer announced the conditions in mates face in venezuela in prisons last year alone at least thirty seven have died in another riot always leaving families desperately demanding explanations by the government that seem never to

come i listen to them. a u.s. charges cleared the way for nine eleven victims to sue saudi arabia the kingdom had attempted to have the case is dismissed the families allege that saudi helped plan the september eleventh attacks in two thousand and one the court found that it has jurisdiction to hear the cases which have been filed by victims' families they're suing for compensation amounting to billions of dollars the saudi government has long to night 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 again 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. well bruce fein is

a former associate deputy attorney general and he has more now only at which is allow this case to go full and 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. still to come here at al-jazeera displaced by conflicts in living in fear the plight of me and chain minority and we get a glimpse of what to look out for at hong kong's prestigious south.

welcome back it's time to look at weather conditions across the levant and western parts of asia looking at more eastern areas quite here we've got little bit of snow higher elevations but for the in kazakhstan tashkent in especially stan is looking fine twenty two in touch can't now across more western areas we have got a pretty unsettled picture the east is saw the mediterranean has got a circulation of low pressure which is moving up towards turkey as well and this is going to result in some heavy rains some really strong winds and certainly the higher elevations in turkey to be some significant flooding system sort of clear service he had through into friday but i think generally the quite disturbed weather pattern is going to extend into the arabian peninsula the main problem likely to be with fairly strong winds developing dust quite a lot of dust across the arabia i think that could be some serious facility problems during the course of thursday and through into the weekend you see the cloud there's a front comes down and the indication of some strong wind arrows so i think the really good bit careful in the could be some flight issues as well possibly the late because of the high dust content here in doha will of course temperatures of

thirty four degrees into southern portions of africa it's looking rather cloudy across parts in the movie with the risk of the winter going to come further south still that line of cloud with the risk of showers expected in cape town. a scandal which looked at the nation to its core and exposed hundreds of court officials accused of accepting bribes just to show the most dangerous commodity on it sometimes take a spot at the door and i did for years to blow up a personal bond that things judicial corruption doesn't michael i hope i think i come out of my compass in an exclusive documentary al-jazeera examined one man's extraordinary battle for justice in ghana.

time for us to take a look at the top stories here at al-jazeera high level talks have begun between south and north korea in the demilitarized zone which divides the two countries they're expected to set the agenda for meetings between the south korean president move in and the north korean leader kim jong un planned for next month. at least sixty eight people have been killed in a jail rise at a police station in venezuela did gas was fired at the family members demonstrating outside the facility incredible state that's northwest of caracas there's no official word as yet as to what triggered the violence. a u.s. judge is cleared the way for saudi arabia to be sued by victims of nine eleven he

rejected the kingdom's attempt to have the laws used dismissed which accuse it of helping plan the two thousand and one attacks the saudi government has long denied involvement in the attacks. president trump has replaced another senior member of his team veterans affairs secretary david schilke and is the latest to go in his place the white house doctor who has no experience of running government departments reynolds reports. 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 children's 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 log trumps physical and mental stamina in an exhaustive press briefing following the president's medical check up 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 trying to improve veterans 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 had 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. u.s. prosecutors say there were about to show the links between the trunk campaign for the presidency and russia for people have said guilty as a result of the investigation led by rove and one of them is due to be sentenced ethical haying has the latest. in just a few days alex venders back into the federal courthouse to be sentenced his crime lying to investigators and special counsel robert miller's probe into potential

collusion between the truck campaign and russia his sentencing documents lay out for the first time the clearest connection yet between russia and the campaign it details conversation between former trump campaign aide rick gates and someone labeled a person investigators say person a has ties to a russian intelligence service and had such ties in two thousand and sixteen it goes on to say the vendors one admitted that he knew of that connection stating that gates told him person a was a former russian intelligence officer with the g.r.u. gates is also pled guilty and is cooperating with muller telling him all about the conversations that happened just months before the election a lawyer vendors want work with gates and former campaign chairman paul man of ford on a report that was meant to legitimize the prosecution of former ukrainian prime minister yulia tymoshenko concerned that they could face charges over two thousand and sixteen bender's one now admits he recorded phone calls and destroyed e-mails when

caught by miller he confessed says he shouldn't be shown leading n.c. for eventually telling the truth and urges the court to impose a large fine same vendor swann can afford it his father in law is a prominent russian oligarch with close ties to the russian president attorneys for venezuelan say he should be spared prison arguing he's been stuck in the last few months without any good friends or family they say that should be punishment enough investigators though painted a pretty harsh picture for the judge they'll find out next tuesday he could face up to five years in prison or up to. two hundred fifty thousand dollars fine particle here al-jazeera washington. the man accused of killing six muslim worshipers at a mosque in quebec canada last year has changed his playing twenty eight year old alexander bissonnette originally pleaded not guilty to six counts of first degree murder and six of attempted murder the former university student now admits his

guilt to avoid a trial is a net stormed the quebec islamic cultural center in january twenty seventh seen and shot at people gathered for prayers he faces at least twenty five years in prison. the polls have closed in egypt's three day presidential election and few doubt that abdel fattah el-sisi will be returned with the landslide voters were given an extra hour to cast their ballots as part of an effort to base turnout as a whole bar reports han leave d.c. . and you will immediately be paid the equivalent of three dollars an ounce because of crimes 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 office people free rides to go to polling stations. the government's using the carrot as well as the stick to boost turnout it just choose to stay away presque being fined. for whatever abstains from casting his vote with no justifiable reason faces a fine of twenty eight dollars it's out. u.-t. to ensure the law is implemented without a country that respects the law president of the fatah has sisi has bed for reelection is almost unchallenged fear is 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 the 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 sissy's sat for an easy win but is likely to face many challenges during his second term critics dismiss claims by sisi supporters who say his the right man for egypt and his help improve the economy some analysts say the vast majority of egyptians are worse off than 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 for a third term. gunman have attacked a hotel in central mali killing at least one person and injuring two others it happened in the town of bundy a gutter five men reportedly approached the entrance and opened far witnesses say a soldier and two hotel workers were hit by law you society has returned to pakistan for the first time since being shot in the head in twenty two hours she was accompanied by her father and is expected to meet top pakistani officials the

twenty year old was attacked by taliban gunman for her work supporting girls' education she was awarded the nobel peace prize in twenty fourteen since late last year the world's attention has been brought to the plight of seven hundred thousand muslim ranger who fled violence in me amar but elsewhere in mia ma catchin state there's 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 aung san suu kyi prepares for talks with other rebel groups k.i.a.s. refusing to engage this way in hay reports. civil war in me and ma 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 was and

living in camps along the border with china 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 man shoots inside the camp and they even fired artillery shells. the rebel kitchen independence army is at war with the me and my 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 me i'm army keeps attacking us they never have sympathy for anybody they did this to us we are afraid of them right now we have volunteer 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 kitchens state will end any time soon meaning returning home isn't an option wayne hay al-jazeera. shares in the online retailer amazon have slumped following reports that president trump is looking to change the way the company is taxed at one point stocks fell by as much as seven point four percent effectively wiping more than fifty billion dollars off amazon's market value cathy a lopez had

a young ripple. at 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 record 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 trump during a round table 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 trying with amazon and disparaging presidential tweets the report quotes an unnamed sources saying trump has wandered allowed 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 but we have no announcements and no specific policies or actions that we're currently pushing forward are considering taking the president has said many times before he's always looking to create a level playing field for all businesses and this is no different and he's 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 young al-jazeera one of the world's most prestigious art fairs is opening in hong kong this weekend and the sarah clock cripples curators are hoping to use the three day

event to tap into china's growing appetite for contemporary art. it's official in thousands of vibrant and abstract exhibits including paintings sculptures interactive installations and digital art this painting by the dutch artist windy cooney from a private collection has a pos tag of thirty five million dollars it is one of the big nights the fair in bryce's a moving artists came to share the international stage the showcase is incredible because it's really some of the best galleries and the most exciting young ones as well that that are with us so again a great snapshot of what's going on around the world and all around two hundred fifty galleries from thirty two countries felicity's conventions into almost half a from asia but this year there are twenty eight new comets with more galleries from the middle east and india in the line up it's because we're looking to explore the east i think it's also because our passing along kong is wonderful the most

exciting phase in asia coming from tehran living in europe i think this is a major step for us market wise to see how it how does this work in this emerging market this year a gallery from iran is making its di booth dealers i was a realtor be unfamiliar with art from the middle east by galleries and institutions in this region and driving market interest it felt you know the emerging order of iran that we are trying to represent as recently will of maturity to be shown a sizer venue alongside the best gathers in the world securing a spot here in iraq battle involves a tough application process more than five hundred galleries apply but only hope for except in the face like patient here in hong kong is a major troll caught on the doorstep of china it's now the second largest not market in the world behind the united states accounting for one fifth of global out of style politicians essential to global lot sells a report commissioned by at basel found that outfit is last year were responsible

for whole of the market share regarding fark international first this year the. is four years old. we need to get out as much as it was as we can. be hoping some a disused match that enthusiasm as the op will descend on hong kong. zero hong kong. time for a second look at the top stories here at al-jazeera high level talks between south and north korea have begun in the demilitarized zone which divides the two countries are expected to set the agenda for the meeting between south korean president in and the north korean leader kim jong un which is planned for next month kathy novak has more from apology on the border between the two countries it seems that the talks have been going well they had a short first session lasted less than an hour and then reconvened for

a second session and we understand we should be getting a joint statement out of those talks shortly the last time these men met the talks went for hours and into the evening so the fact that they seem to be wrapping up more quickly this time around indicates that there really has been more communication between north and south korea over the past few months at least sixty eight people have been killed in a jail riot or the police station in venezuela to gas was fired at family members demonstrating outside the facility in qatar bobo's state just northwest of caracas there is so far no official word as to what triggered the violence. the u.s. charges cleared the way for saudi arabia to be sued by the families of victims of the nine eleven attacks he rejected the kingdom's bid to dismiss the lawsuits which accuse it of helping plan the two thousand and one attacks the saudi government

denies any involvement. president trump has replace another senior member of his team veterans affairs secretary david she is the second cabinet secretary to leave over a travel expense controversy president to replace him with white house doctor randy jackson. has returned to pakistan for the first time since being shot in the head in twenty twelve she's been accompanied by her father and is expected to meet top pakistani officials she was attacked by taliban government because of her work supporting girls' education and she was awarded the nobel peace prize and twenty those are the headlines. swear every since.