examine how relevant the commonwealth is today between corporate and public interests up to the last drop unveils the longstanding rule for water in europe april on al-jazeera. this is really an attack on itself is a lot of misunderstanding of what free speech is supposed to be about the context is hugely important setting the stage for a serious debate up front at this time on al-jazeera. told. al-jazeera. and welcome to the al-jazeera news hour live from my headquarters in doha with the product coming up for the next sixty but. the other countries.

asked the prime minister to resign. and then present this evidence publicly russia's ambassador to the u.k. calls for transparency in the investigation into the poisoning of a former spy. brazil's top of the jail and a former president's ludo while he appeals has conviction for corruption and fears over the nile ministers from egypt ethiopia and saddam me to discuss control of the world's largest river. i'm joining with the day's sport the first go for major of the season is underway and all eyes are on tiger woods as he goes for a fifth the masters title after. russia's ambassador to the u.k. has slammed russian's handling of the ongoing investigation into the poisoning of a form of russian spy russian is accuse moscow of being behind the nerve agent

attack alexander says that allegation has no basis don't take something for granted. give us the evidence in my message to the to the other countries. the prime minister to present the evidence and then present this evidence publicly . why did you put in secret i'll tell you i don't understand maybe maybe the prime minister. you know so that's why you know my message is make it transparent it's a very serious issue and we have to know the truth well this of course follows that nerve agent attack on a former domination in the u.k. surrogate script and his daughter of a poisoned on the fourth of march has blamed russia for the attack which moscow fiercely denies but earlier today we saw american diplomats leaving the u.s. embassy in moscow last week wash order the diplomats to leave and retaliation for

the united states expelling the same number of russians there has been a host of tit for tat expulsions involving other western countries too on wednesday russia called a meeting of the international chemical weapons watched all to demand a demand rather a joint investigation with russian into the poisoning but the o.p.c. w. rejected that proposal so russia has instead called for an urgent meeting of the u.n. security council that's expected to take place in the coming hours but we have two correspondents following the story russia correspondent for a challenge is in moscow but first let's check in with laurence lee who is joining us from london and lawrence will be hearing from the russian ambassador to the u.k. and before that we had the foreign office deleting a tweet blaming moscow for the attack so what's going on there and has that changed its position. well a to hit here of the russian embassy in west london. legs on the echo of young co

has basically been setting out russia's stall before they go to the united nations security council later on today as you said in essence he's been making exactly the same arguments that russia's going to make at the u.n. which is to contest the contents of the letter that prime minister to resign may of the u.k. presented to the united nations after this crippled were poisons and in terms and there's nothing new in this it's really a repetition of what they've said before i must say yes of yang who has basically said that in this letter the british have set out a series of things which they've asserted as facts but in actual fact in his opinion he says that they can't prove any of it and the russia continues to contest all of it and as you heard from that short clip of him earlier on his main point is if the british actually want to say these things they've got to provide empirical evidence to support their arguments if they can't do that they should back off.

there's a curious thing about the timing of all this elizabeth is that the press conference happens only a half an hour after russian t.v. aired this alleged phone conversation between you and your script will apparently speaking from hospital and her cousin victoria in which you leah is supposed to have said both i and my dad sergei are getting better now if that's true it's a sensational piece of news in there the a master said he didn't know anything very much about it but if it's true this case cripple as well as his daughter are both getting better and that really is a major development in this because it suggests that whatever they were given isn't quite as difficult and as deadly as everyone had assumed it to be but do seem to have been a series of major developments in the story of the last few days and so how is all of this playing out for the british government you know what she insisted weeks ago that russia was behind this attack. yeah well i mean the

clearly they still continue to insist exactly the same thing despite the apparent misstep that everybody reported yesterday in which the foreign secretary said that he'd been told by the chemical weapons experts that the toaster the nerve agent had come from russia and yet then the head of the same facility said i never said it came from russia because it's not so much up to say so that obviously was seized on by the russians is in their view yet more proof of the british not actually being able to stand up their own arguments curiously one of the british newspapers today a story emerged in a government supporting newspaper the times that the security services apparently do know the russian lab where the agent came from you do think well why have you only started mentioning this now why didn't you mention this before but again seems like a very of curious piece of timing but the british position is that they still maintain that even though the concept is facts they think beyond any reasonable doubt it was the russians because who else who else actually would have the means and the motive

and all those sorts of things thank you very much for that for now that is where the latest from outside the russian embassy in london let's go now to voyage chalons who is joining us live from moscow and heard a lot from various members of the russian political the intelligence establishment over the past few days lines had been the british position is the russian position consolidating now. yeah i think it has over the last few days it's taken a while because in the early weeks of this crisis we had numerous different russian theories about what might have happened i mean essentially what it boiled down to was this. it wasn't russia absolutely categorically nothing to do with moscow whatsoever but it could have been a number of other different countries that were involved. we heard this again from

the russian ambassador to the u.k. just now when he said that twenty other countries could have access to a supply nobody talk but what we're hearing out of moscow itself of the moment is not so much it could have been anybody else but much more he was a u.k. and u.s. intelligence plots essentially rather crudely concocted to discredit the russians that seems to be the message that we're getting from them at the moment and what will they be hoping for voice from this u.n. security council meeting that's been called especially given that the investigation the joint investigation that they were asking from the chemical weapons watchdog the w well that's that proposal has been rejected. yeah well i think you know when russia takes issues like this to

multi national bodies it is basically hoping that its influence on those bodies will give it some sway so it was hoping when it went to the o.p.c. w. yesterday called a special meeting and put in front of the o.p.c. w a request to have a new investigation launched a joint investigation in which russian representatives would have to keep busy. it's hoping that it can use those representatives to sway the results of. in this case the o.p.c. w. but also when it goes to the u.n. security council is a member of the u.s. u.n. security council one of the founding members so it is trying. during bring this investigation into bodies international bodies that it has at least some influence over or it can persuade allies tends to values like china or whatever to

adopt its position so as things have gone so far it has been powerless moscow has presumably largely because the u.k. has been rallying as allies the u.s. the e.u. various other countries to back its position and moscow couldn't really do anything about that in bodies like the u.n. security council and the o.p.c. w. he has a bit more influence there interesting roy thank you very much for that from now that's where a child is joining us live from moscow thank you. let's move on to other news for now in brazil supreme court has ruled that former president lula da silva can't be sent to prison he has been trying to stay out of jail and while he appeals against a conviction for corruption the decision threatens his bid to run in a presidential election where he was the favorite to win a latin america editor lucien human reports from the capital brasilia. the die is cast demonstrators for and against brazil charismatic former president lula da

silva gathered outside. their supreme court narrowly voted against his petition to remain free while he appeals a twelve year corruption conviction this means brazil's most popular politician and the frontrunner for october's presidential election must go to jail it's a victory for brazilians except any other verdict. i represent the death of the supreme court and when. it puts little or why the pressure on the supreme court justices has been an intense and not just out here on the streets and shortly before the vote the head of the army came out publicly and said that he was repudiated impunity this is seen as an m president unveiled threat become an institution that is not supposed to weigh in on politics at least not since the end of the military in brazil back in one thousand nine hundred eighty five. for the

escalating tensions was this banner in front of the court openly calling for military intervention. the court decision was a blow not just to his political future. hundreds of other politicians under investigation or suspicion of crimes including two thirds of congress were anxious for the court to set a precedent that many argue would have been the death of a nationwide corruption probe the investigation has even implicated current president michel tamar. meanwhile supporters of lula da silva who lifted tens of millions of brazilians from poverty during his presidency insist he's a victim of political intrigue if you historically every time you have a president who cares about the working class he or she becomes a part get of this kind of. promoted by. you know was found guilty of accepting a seaside apartment in this building in exchange for helping

a construction company obtain government contracts he insists he's innocent but the seventy one year old politician who's ignited political passions like no other in brazil has lost what maybe his most important battle. brasilia. a lebanese american businessman who advises the united arab emirates may also have new information for robert muller's investigation about russian interference in the two thousand and sixteen us presidential election the new york times is reporting that george not his information related to russia may be able to link the two important strands of the inquiry together investigators are asking whether wealthy russians illegally funneled cash donations directly or indirectly to donald trump's presidential campaign mother's ties to the u.a.e. are well documented is an advance at its leader bob the extent of his links to russia have not been previously disclosed let's get more on this knowledge on bob

carr's bonded company how good she is live in washington d.c. so this investigation why doing further kimberly one of the latest revelations. right well according to the new york times reporting there is certainly some interest about george nader by robert mueller the special prosecutors you point out he is a lebanese american businessmen that you have mentioned correctly has apparently ties to russia that may date back to twenty twelve and is also a well known advisor to the united arab emirates now his links to russia had not been previously known until now and that seems to be what's causing a little bit of the attention that and the fact that he has had numerous white house meetings that have caught the attention of the special prosecutor but there are also other meetings that extended outside the white house that seem to be on the radar as well in terms of the investigator things like the fact that he may have used his ties as the manager. rather nader allegedly used his ties to the

manager of a state run russian investment fund to apparently set up a meeting in the seychelles with a russian fund manager and trump advisor and this apparently taking place just before donald trump took office another interaction that is being investigated we're told is the looking into the interactions that mr nader may have had in two thousand and seventeen with a new york fund manager and at that meeting supposedly stephen k. bannon who was the president's chief strategist has since left the white house and also chaired questioner who has been the special prosecutor's writer as well and is of course also donald trump's son in law was also apparently at that meeting so there's a lot of interest in the meetings that have been taking place and that is what the special cross prosecutor robert muller is looking into further and how is all of this playing out in the capitol committee is it putting pressure on the government . it's been under the the white house the executive branch of the government

has certainly been under some pressure for a while that separate from the u.s. congress of course. what i would say is what this indicates is that this investigation continues and it's very methodical it's going into a number of different strands and tangents and robert muller is known as being very precise so this may not be something that wraps up quickly despite the fact what we heard from the president's own lawyers the wrap up by thanksgiving that it would wrap up by the end of last year well it's still ongoing doesn't seem to be wrapping up anytime soon one thing we should point out though that was not well reported this week is that robert mueller in fact did tell the white house and did tell donald trump's legal team that in fact he remains under investigation but not as a criminal target now donald trump could have that shift at any time certainly he is looking at this as a welcome sign but it again it could change but for now he is not being looked at

as a criminal target and this is something that has sort of further led the president to think that perhaps he should give an interview something that his legal team is vising him not to do but that he may still give in the future and that the special prosecutor robert mueller is very interested in committee thank you very much for that his committee health kit joining us live from washington d.c. thank you. spoke to tom cole who's professor of history at the university of michigan and a distinguished visiting professor at the university and he explained how money may have been illegally funneled into trump's two thousand and sixteen presidential campaign. notter had been known as a fixer for the united arab emirates a close adviser of crown prince of abu dhabi mohammed bin ziad. and was looked at in that regard by the mother team but it becomes increasingly clear now in the new york times report makes this clear that he had also has a history of being a fixer for mosco so he was involved in

a twenty twelve attempted arms deal between iraq and moscow for instance a legal arms dealer well it was. so riddled with corruption that it was cancelled didn't go through and then he has been put at meetings between trump representatives and curial dmitri of who is a hedge fund manager in moscow who is family connections with the lighting near putin what is it exactly about mr navas activities that this investigation will be focusing on well the question is did he find a way to funnel money into the trump campaign it's illegal for foreign entities to and individuals to give money to u.s. campaigns but of course they could use cutouts they could use american to forward

the money and it has been alleged recently that mr nodder wired money to elliott broida an american businessman who's also close to the u.a.e. . which broidery then used to give campaign donations to congressman as part of an anti cutter campaign on behalf of the u.a.e. so if he did that more recently earlier on was he somehow funneling money from only garc to the trump campaign and mr moeller has now stopped several russian oligarchs who came to the united states and interviewed them about the possibility of their having given money. we're plenty more ahead on the news hour including sierra leone's opposition leader is sworn in as the new president by hopes of a smooth transition and now in doubt facebook reveals millions more people are

called top in its privacy scandal than first thought and. liverpool take control of their champions league quarter final boss at what cost joe but have the details and support. now ministers from egypt sudan and ethiopia are resuming talks on. a project on the nile river the grand renaissance dam wasn't rigidly slated for completion this year but disagreements between egypt and ethiopia have led to the two year suspension of talks we're joined now by correspondent mohamad vaal who is in the sudanese capital khartoum where the talks are taking place talks discussions that have been going on for years mohamad so are we any closer to this day being completed and being a reality. yes there is a saddam according to the choking of all of this is now over sixty five percent

between sixty and sixty five percent complete for ethiopia at the time of the essence because the more the more of the dam the construct the closer they get to this is the to the end of the completion of the dam for them it is a safe area because of this sort of controversy going about and the egyptians you know trying to. ask for a share in the details of what's going on to know everything that's going on to agree in advance about certain things that ethiopia would like to even complete before any agreement on them is made possible one of the sticking points being discussed today is the feeling of the damage the reservoir this is that is a flower that will retain up to seventy four billion cubic meters of water that's the equivalent of an entire hour of the flow of the blue nile politicians this is very much concerned they want to slow feeling of the lake ethiopians wanted to be

finished in three years the egyptians wanted to be done over the period of eleven yes this is what they are discussing today aside from alongside another point which is cooperation between the three countries that's an accommodation by the leaders of the three countries in january in addis ababa some progress that mohammed has a feel like they are any closer now to resolving this. it is about this is the tense meeting of these five the ministers have been meeting for years now and we know without every meeting was highlighted by controversy and by differences and everything ended in failure we have heard some words of optimism over the last couple of days from the sudanese minister saying now we are looking for an innovative solution an unconventional solution to this conflict i also talked a bit earlier to a member of the ethiopians integration and he told me that there is much more than just a good saddam being discussed today cooperation between the three countries realized

things that are of more interest if you want to send a message saying that the dam is the least of concern and nobody should be really afraid of what's going to happen if that stops what egypt has half a lot of concern for this meeting could well be just another meeting and if they just. to find the beginnings of a roadmap to a final solution it will be a success. thank you very much for that for now that's mohamed vall joining us live from card to thank you. now the ministry of health in gaza has one palestinian has been killed by soldiers near the border and another has died of the injuries suffered in friday's bloodshed and that burns from the number of palestinians killed by israeli forces on the border on the west to twenty stephanie deck of reports from western worse than the violence has put the israeli army's rules of engagement under scrutiny. these are unprecedented scenes along gaza's border with israel it's the biggest protest since

a tiny strip was sealed off after hamas took power over ten years ago israeli army has been widely criticized for using excessive force to charge it rejects their orders were strict i mean nobody should cross. the fence but i think there was restraint there high offices were on the ground all the time so it wasn't just the women of. if for private you know the u.n. and the e.u. have condemned israel's excessive use of force eighteen people were killed over eight hundred injured by life fire according to palestinian officials israel says it only targeted those trying to breach the border fence and it claims members of groups it deems terrorist organizations infiltrated the protests but cumin rights organizations say the evidence shows otherwise what we've seen is a great number of people standing at a distance from the fence inside the gaza strip and force live ammunition was used

against them in such circumstances the use of lethal force is the last course of action only in circumstances when there's a risk for a life he's really human rights group that set him says live ammunition is being used as a crowd control measure i invite everyone you know just watch the footage and that's yourself is this reasonable that the israeli army. which you know backed by the policy but of prime minister down do you. such force in such fashion and with such results the army claims it did use restraint last friday and says it will respond more forcefully to anyone trying to breach the separation fence again we're told the rules of engagement are not likely to change as you know there's a strong support for the military and also for the government of this board. outside pressure can play a role but it's not strong. enough israel is used to engaging in conflict with

armed factions in gaza and its missile defense system the iron dome intercepting rocket fire but not a single rocket has been fired out of the strip since this protest began israel is now dealing with the consequences of a decades old policy of blockading gaza where two million people are squeezed into a tiny strip of land palestinians say they're desperate for freedom military force may not be able to silence them stephanie decker al-jazeera was true slim. it is time for the weather now with everton and news of more snow coming to north america yes for us right liz yet more snow is hard to believe isn't there and it could be quite a bit of snow as well we could see record cold air coming across parts of north america as we go into the weekend take a little satellite picture you can see how we got this boys just rolling in from the pacific and that's bringing the amount it's also bringing a fair bit of moisture and therefore the potential for a fair bit of snow because it's running into some very cold air that are drawn on

here to the north of that that's where we've got the very low temperatures in place the minus six in winnipeg shippey about eight or nine degrees celsius that well below the average to chicago it was a cargo nice was pretty cold in chicago but haven here we should be getting up into the mid teens at this time of the year so if we see that rain running into the very cold air readily turning to snow we're going to snow coming all the way down across colorado pushing into where kansas may be getting down into oklahoma as well some heavy rain there to the southern flank of that just coming in across texas will continue to drive its way further east was as we go on through friday and on into saturday some big downpours look a little further north of there but the snow on that northern flank in the cold around twelve in the heat of the day for washington d.c. but much cooler when the snow say say twelve celsius to into washington state therefore seattle fair bit of rain coming in and we could see flooding rains for

northern california by the end of the weekend liz thank you very much evidence still ahead on the news hour south korea's former president going to pay is said to have failed on live television. five years in jail for a famous a poly what actor convicted of poaching we have those details coming out and in sports the caribbean athletes have had to overcome a different type of hurdle just to make it to the commonwealth games. the scene for us where on line one says american sign in yemen that peace is almost possible but it never happens not because the situation is complicated but because no one cares or if you join us on set there people the little choosing between buying medication and eating this is a dialogue i want to get in one more comment because this is someone who's an ounce of us and has posted a story join the global conversation at this time on al-jazeera.

it's good to have you with us on the al-jazeera news hour these are our top stories

sixty u.s. diplomats expelled by russia have left the u.s. embassy in moscow russia ordered the diplomats to leave last week in retaliation for the united states expelling the same number of russians that follows the nerve agent attack on a former russian double agent and his daughter in the u.k. . brazil supreme court has ruled that former president louise and asio lula da silva can be sent to prison he's been trying to stay out of jail while he appeals against a corruption conviction the decision questions his bed to one of tobin's presidential election and ministers from egypt sudan and ethiopia resuming talks on addus are of us dam project on the nile river the grand renaissance dam was slated for completion this year but disagreements between egypt and ethiopia have led to the two here suspension of talks. sierra leone's new president has been sworn in julius martyr b.-o. who was once a military hunter leader merrily want to run off with nearly fifty percent of the

vote but hopes for a smooth transition have been thrown into doubt as the ruling party candidate has vowed to legally challenge the results are reports from the capital freetown. after a difficult. electoral officer addresses the nation hoping that this time the contentious electoral process is finally over. at that supporters of the no one party to clean the streets in celebration. to be zero one time military head of state and subsequently sworn in as democratically elected leader eric he acknowledged the divisions and demanded citizens to also take responsibility he was answering.

the. question. you hear the opposition now has a week to challenge the tree court after ten years in office instead of your own spirit was mighty powerful its leaders of the people told. me watching to see how the president is in minority to. do what they do exactly as . i like history one half months as military leader this time julius b.-o. will have five long years to keep his campaign promises to a nation bruised by africa electioneering the one who's joining us live from the fray town now and you mentioned

a nation bruised by the electioneering process what's the mood now like after the new president has been sworn and. well basically elizabeth the mood here is celebratory. i do apologize we were hoping to speak to our men but we don't have a good enough connection with our correspondent in freetown so let's move on from now. the three main power brokers and the syrian war have called for a lasting cease fire and urge the international community to increase aid for syrians the leaders of turkey russia and iran held a summit an encore on wednesday to find a way out of the seven year conflict from turkey's capital asama been job vague reports. these are the three men deciding the future of syria the dervish president hosted the russian and ukrainian leaders to talk about how to end the conflict that ended its eight year what other will learn to draw as

a guarantor country it's important to attain the territorial integrity of syria these fights have to be ended in the country has to be rebuilt on this we are in agreement the syrian public the civilians of those who are losing as a result of these fights there is a difficult process ahead of us but the light at the end of this tunnel is getting brighter we will not allow the face of syria to be darkened by terrorist organizations but each one of these three leaders has a different definition of what they called terrorists dirty has influence over opposition fighters who've been fighting bashar al assad's forces iran backs the syrian president and has sent thousands of troops and militia to support him russia supports assad but is also very of growing sectarianism after ice in defeat. but in ankara the focus was on what brings together this diverging alliance. we are looking to take steps towards implementing the decisions made in sochi first of all

to form in geneva under the un auspices a constitutional committee which will work towards a framework in which syrians can determine the main parameters of the state structure of their country. was. the people of syria especially those inside opposition held areas or the tens of thousands forced to flee their homes do not trust the country to back the regime even if there is recognition of the humanitarian suffering. as. we have always emphasized from the perspective of the iran islamic republic that there is no military solution to the syrian problem we need to help stop the war in syria peacefully. the three leaders agreed to expedite a political solution but it might be easier said than done the less successful part of this initiative has been the political angle where the three countries are wanted also to push the different actors in syria towards

a political solution that effort has been hindered by the fact that even between moscow tehran and ankara there are still a number of divergence as concerning the future of syria the future constitutional syria and even the role of us up. as foreign nations declared their support for peace when you go on this day the syrian air force drops out of gas and hunchy hoon in in the province the un syria commission says it killed dozens the majority as it killed dozens the majority of whom were women and children the leaders of turkey iran by some may be defacto capital of itself declared caliphate twenty taps of the city and two thousand and fourteen. now u.s. president donald trump has ordered the national guard to be deployed along the border with mexico the announcement comes as mexico's government began handing out humanitarian basis to both of central american migrants trying to reach mexico city

john holliman reports. this is what it looks like the caravan of people from central america which prompted an enraged u.s. president to send reinforcements to the mexican border they number more than a thousand but organizers say that this the nation isn't the united states it's instead mexico city for now that hasn't stopped the political drama behind it a desperate stories like your land and his son axel fleeing the gang warfare in honduras that saw him up for a day just for having a go friend in a rival groups neighborhood markets you all does your life that way most you know if we reported it to the police the gangs would have found out because they're part of the police even at the highest levels. for others the escapees from chronic poverty you know. the salaries just aren't enough to provide the basic needs of your family and are there are more depressingly similar stories people told them as

they wait camped in a field in southwest mexico while officials process safe conduct paper has been drastically tightening its southern border for the last four years partly with funds from the united states. it's just one of the facts is led to a big drop over the years in the number of migrants detained us buddha but beyond the numbers and debate of these people even when the caravan stops a city many plants continue north in small groups to ask for asylum in the u.s. they say they are unable to see another way out john homan. the un's refugee agency is wanting access to fifty six one hundred refugees being held at a detention center in malaysia the group was intercepted by malaysian coast guards on tuesday the government's policy has been to turn away refugee spot officials say they're allowed these four hundred to come ashore on humanitarian grounds about

seven hundred thousand two hundred have fled now mustn't the military crackdown in august two thousand and seven malaysia well matthew smith is the co-founder and c.e.o. of the advocacy group forty five riots and he says one hundred refugees face many difficulties in malaysia malaysia almost as a rule. by law in fact detains. many refugees and that is the case certainly with refugees who are arriving by boat so what we commonly see are refugee communities that don't have access to education don't have access to adequate health care and other basic services so it's it is a very difficult place for refugee communities to live for some years.