toots keith what is new different is that each day some people will live until to morrow so many innocent people will die from around the world the bats and balls are several years old when really good players could end up trading cricket academy and maybe one day play for the national team. a story fourteen hundred years in the making. a story of succession and the leadership. as josie that tells the story of dispute and deficient at the heart of an empire. the caliph episode two on a just. i really felt liberated as a journalist was all about getting to the truth as if i were god's will this jobs.

last. zero. a low i maryam namazie this is the news hour live from london coming up in the next sixty minutes president is back on his threat of imminent missile strikes on syria over the alleged chemical attack but says a decision will be made soon. this forces take full control of jumah after the last rebels pullout. drums pick for secretary of state faces antiwar protest as it is confirmation hearing but vows to find a peaceful solution to north korea international chemical weapons experts say a russian former spy and his daughter boys and in the u.k. with a very type of nerve agent. i'm joining. with the

day's school season off we'll have a european semifinal in their sights as they face c.s.k. in moscow or have or europa league news coming up. a welcome to the program on top story u.s. president donald trump says he'll be meeting his top advisers on thursday and promised a decision on military action against syria fairly soon a day off the warning russia to get ready trump tweeted that he had never said when an attack on syria would take place adding it could be very soon or not soon a tall u.s. allies are also considering their positions now the british prime minister to resign may is held an emergency cabinet meeting to decide whether to join the u.s. led strikes french president said france needs more information before deciding whether to strike but he has no doubts about the syrian government's guilds experts

from the global chemical weapons watchdog the o.p.c. w are now on their way to damascus to investigate the alleged chemical attack. they are set to start on saturday so we have correspondents want to bring these events from the white house the united nations and the guy on the turkey syria border first white house correspondent kimberly hellcat so i can really only going confusion over the timing of any planned strike any further clarification from way you. well since the president tweeted that he was really essentially dialing back from the day earlier when he was threatening russia calling names of the syrian president bashar assad now saying in fact that an attack could that could be led by the united states could be sooner or not at all he was speaking here at the white house meeting with governors as well as some members of congress in the cabinet room and elaborated on that earlier tweet from thursday morning. very very.

situation. we'll see what happens folks you see what happens in. the world puts us in a position like you. said this morning. we have just absolutely decimated isis but we have to. now it appears that the president's military advisers he's been consulting with for days including the defense secretary general james mattis have had an impact on the president that's perhaps why we see this toning down of the statements coming from the president general james mattis has said and maintained that the united states is still assessing evidence and will provide options to the president and this is the key part if appropriate now general james mattis has been testifying before lawmakers earlier this morning on capitol hill and he certainly elaborated on those comments saying in fact that the strategy of the united states in syria has always been to defeat eisel not to engage in civil war having said that some things in his

view or inexcusable in directly referring to the fact that the u.s. has responded when you're go through the attack in concha koon and may respond again to this suspected chemical attack at the same time the general is now headed to the white house may already be president meeting with the national security council in his words to consider the options and present them to the president all right thanks very much kimberly how it was all the latest from the white house well president bashar assad's government has already been moving military resources assets away from possible targets sites for missile strikes saying the honda reports on that from beirut. syria's military is preparing for possible airstrikes by the united states and its allies it has been hiding aircraft moving assets and evacuating potential targets including the ministry of defense an army headquarters in damascus western nations are promising

a response following the suspected chemical weapons attack in the city of duma syrians living in rebel areas welcome any attempt to punish and weaken the syrian government but many in the opposition believe nothing will change. they already emptied all the military airports before an attack this shows that all sides are conspiring against the syrian people and here we are hearing about a possible u.s. strike we don't believe anything the last time they hit nothing happened even gave the regime advance notice to remove the planes if they hit again it will be limited . it's been several days since u.s. president donald trump promised a swift response for what he called an atrocious attack last year his administration carried out a one off strike against syria over the use of chemical weapons now the possibilities involve something more forceful but the presence of iranian and russian troops complicates the choice of targets there is

a real risk of direct confrontation with the russian military. negotiations on the issue of continuum between iraq and the russian federation i've seen all levels military political and governmental will. have a conclusion that russia and america fall in themselves in the real deadlock they're facing a dangerous period. begin we are. the so-called de confliction hotline that the u.s. and russian militaries use in syria to prevent a direct clash is being used the kremlin however is not saying what is being discussed. we understand that turkey and nato member is acting as a communication channel between the western alliance and russia there are behind the scenes efforts to try to deescalate what is being described as a dangerous crisis a crisis that can lead to

a confrontation between the united states and russia as well as a showdown between iran and israel. just days after syria russia and iran accused israel of attacking an airbase in the syrian province of homs iran's top advisor to the supreme leader ali akbar will a.f.p. travel to damascus where they are to threatened to expel what he said were occupying u.s. troops in northeast syria saying the area east of the euphrates will be liberated iran lost seven of its military personnel in monday's strike not only did it promise a response its leadership promised to stand by syria if it attacked and would be a limited strike it will be against. military installations air fields and all of those. things that can be repaired fairly quickly. will insist and the european partners or others will insist that deterrence

has to be reestablished. that means that the syrian regime has to pay a price for. that price is unlikely to lead to the collapse of the syrian government which is further consolidating its control after its victory in the damascus suburb of eastern huta france has said if a decision is taken to launch a strike the government's chemical capabilities will be targeted and not russian and iranian assets the situation is unpredictable but one thing seems clear significant u.s. led military intervention to tip the balance of the conflict in favor of the opposition is not on the table senator al jazeera beirut or russia's foreign ministry says moscow will not ask the situation in suggest the u.s. should face consequences for its behavior or a challenge has more from moscow. well the russians been saying for weeks now before the chemical incidents in ghouta in duma over the weekend that

it was expecting some sort of as they put it provocation a false flag operation launched by the united states in collaboration with rebels on the ground using chemical weapons to justify punitive strikes against the syrian government and its assets and it's no surprise that that message is being continued by the russian government now in the aftermath of what happened in duma the foreign ministry said today our position is perfectly clear and precise we are not seeking escalation and we expect our partners to be wise enough to return to the legal framework and solve the emerging problems together but russia has also been making strong statements at the u.n. security council like hanna is live in one thousand nations for us and so like we saw a very heated meeting there on she's a when the u.s. and russia failed to reach any agreement over syria and now we are hearing about

preparations for further military action in the country what's russia been sounding well in the course of the day there was a closed security council meeting which was called by bolivia and that was precisely to discuss the heightened dread trick that has been used in recent days particularly between the u.s. and russia that meeting as i said was closed but clearly aimed at attempting to defuse what has been an increasingly tense situation now after that closed meeting the russian ambassador merged to speak to the media that's really the bends here expressing deep concern about the state of affairs pointedly criticizing the united states and the depth of his its rhetoric this is what he had to say. we can look exclude any possibilities unfortunately because we saw with messages that they're coming from washington they were very big because. they know where they're

hopeful i wish there was a look at the through proper channels on these two virtually any dangerous dangerous development well there you have the type of response that we are hearing here at the united nations the bitter meetings that have taken place in recent days certainly left their mark and of course now all these concerns about heightening prices being expressed deeply by the russian ambassador in particular our thanks very much mike hanna with all the latest from the united nations well the british prime minister to resign may's held imagine see cabinet meeting to discuss action over syria the u.k. will decide whether to back the u.s. in any missile strikes as a response to the suspected chemical attack in duma barker reports on that from westminster after the government ministers assembled at downing street for

emergency talks on whether to approve taking part in an attack on syria the prime minister said she believed the syrian regime was to blame for the poisoning of its people the international community she said must respond over the u.k. that means joining a u.s. led coalition against president assad to resume a suggested she's willing to make that move without a vote in parliament the government's allowed to take military action without parliamentary backing but in the past fifteen years successive governments of rum major military plans passed the house of commons first in two thousand and thirteen to resign may's previous sesar then prime minister david cameron put his case for intervening in syria in front of parliament where it was defeated a huge blow for him and his government this time to resume a cold risk losing control of her defense of foreign policy plans. but opposition politicians say parliament must be consulted the has to be

a proper process of consultation we elect parliament we elect members of parliament they should have a voice in this the cabinet on its voice in this the cabinet on its own should not be making this decision. to resume a means to get this right tony blair's decision to invade iraq in two thousand and three cast a long shadow over british politics the invasion was later found to be based on flawed intelligence its members have to resume a zone policy a worried it might be too late to get involved moments past because five years ago assad was in a weak position and was vulnerable to worse than bombing the russians weren't there and there were moderates in the syrian opposition there aren't any more the situation has changed. the us president is waging a war on twitter threatening assad and his ally russia the british government will need to calibrate its response in more measured tones leave barkha al-jazeera

london. let's get more now on the chemical weapons inspectors who are on their way to syria now osama bin laden is life on the attack in syria border. there must be some concern about how any potential military action could impact the fact finding missions ability to operate. well we heard that from the russians about twenty four hours ago where they said that a potential strike from the united states would destroy any evidence that the that might exist of this strike this chemical attack that they hadn't accepted had actually happened and what we've heard from the syrian government today is that they've confirmed that the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons the u.n. watchdog of chemical weapons has sent a delegation there members that have arrived in the lebanese capital of beirut and they will be making their way to word syria on friday and then begin their work on saturday they have been assured of support by both the russian government as well

of the syrian government but it is going to be not an easy task for them because there are rebels on the ground which have been contradicting the government's claims it has taken all of duma under its control there is a russian military police that is present in duma there have been some unconfirmed reports of incidents of fighting on the russian military police inside do movement that is going to be a wait and see policy for how how much access they get how long they can spend in this location how many people they can speak to how much evidence in terms of the missions that were used or blood samples are or clothing samples that they can get from this area in duma where this chemical attack happened so it is going to be a not an easy target for the organization of the prohibition of chemical weapons to assess what happened there and then again there is there's not much confidence by the syrian opposition in this fact finding mission because they say this is a mission which is going to go and find out whether an attack happened without seeing who carried it out and saw we know that washington is trying to broker

a joint international response to any potential military strikes wave its european partners. where would takis position line if we were to see these strikes go ahead . well it is a very thin line for turkey to tread because it is on the one hand a nato ally with nato forces and in case there is a strike it is obligated to open its airspace to any intervention that might come in from from the turkish side but also it is an ally of the united states as well and then it's got a very close and deep relationship with russia and iran on unusual syria so it is a difficult position that turkey finds itself and if you've seen in the last forty eight hours statements from the turkish government saying that this ratcheting up of rhetoric needs to be toned down this fighting this fighting momentum that has

been built up by both sides needs to be brought to some sort of close the turkish president has spoken in the last twenty four hours to his counterparts in the united states president as well as president vladimir putin and he says the lines of communication going to remain open there's also been indications on the ground that the turks are also playing some sort of a mediation role between nato and the russians as well so it is going to be a very difficult situation that turkey has found itself and because it is kind of ally to both sides and it does not want to disrupt the balance of power and the balance the of the status quo that exists on its borders that it seems to be making headway in gaining ground so it's a policy very seen the turkish government saying that it wants the rhetoric to be toned down it wants a negotiated solution rather than a minute to strike which would escalate things further as i went out and thank you . syrian flags and al flying in duma as a government reassert its control following the departure of the last rebel

fighters but as you're hearing that russian military police have been deployed to the town rather than regime forces under a deal brokered by russia with the armed group jaish al islam catchier lopez or diane reports. a deal to surrender and leave over the last week thousands of opposition fighters and civilians have left douma to rebel held areas in northern syria about twenty thousand people have gone to the northern province of it live for many the pain of defeat is overwhelming. those on the opposite side of the war celebrated the evacuation the last rebel stronghold in eastern guta now under government control is covered and probabl and i'm up. all the entrances are closed this mind inside i can't go in i could not to go anywhere you can see the wires and other troubling things they told me to wait a couple of days until the street is cleared. for the evacuations out of duma or

a major victory for syrian president bashar al assad and his ally russia. many of the city's buildings and roads have been destroyed there have been weeks of intense bombings. the takeover may have been driven by an apparent chemical attack in duma about forty people were killed hundreds were treated in hospitals the syrian government says it had nothing to do with it while the russians deny such an attack even happened under the inoculation deal russian military police are now patrolling the streets. a city in transition as the syrian government keeps gaining ground katia lopez with a young al-jazeera with the news hour live from london much more to tell you about the u.n. defends its actions after a protest which saw folks is laid out in. protests in the central african republic we speak to me and my delegation trying to convince wrangle refugees it's safe to

return to rack and state. and just six months on from hurricane joel tell us about the athlete who's brought sporting joy to the british version i. president johnson nominee for secretary of state my own peo is facing tough questions from senators at a confirmation hearing. for. the current cia director was greeted by protest is accusing him of being a woman. if confirmed by the senate will replace rex tillerson who was fired last month after a piece of clashing with the president denied ever advocating for regime change in north korea and jordan is watching developments in capitol hill and so my point here known for his hawkish stance but claiming it doesn't take that position on the matter of north korea. that's right mari. during his opening statement on

thursday said that people had been mischaracterizing his views as being hawkish even though there is evidence suggesting the contrary when it comes to north korea he is signaling that the u.s. should proceed cautiously as the president gets ready to meet with the north korean leader kim jong il. we have a responsibility to achieve a condition where kim jong il is unable to threaten the united states of america with a nuclear weapon understand that or do you feel so are you saying now you don't favor regime change senator i have never advocated for regime change i have all along i just have a question so you're not you don't value i'm happy to answer that i'm not advocating for regime change yes and i think you have to appreciate i want to get that clear let me go on to that senator just just to be clear my role as a diplomat is to make sure that we never get to a place where we have to confront the difficult situation in korea that this country has been headed for now for

a couple of decades. and rosen on another key foreign policy issue there is an important may twelfth deadline coming up on the iran nuclear deal did we get any clue on how would advise trump on that it well as our viewers may know the president has threatened to just us not only iran nuclear deal unilaterally something which is already angered the other countries that were pivotal in the ghost eating that multinational deal under the auspices of the e.u. and the united nations but this is a situation where mike pompei o says analysis needs to be done by the state department and if state department officials conclude that the deal as it's currently written isn't preventing iran from trying to develop nuclear weapons then he would recommend to the president that he the u.s. talk with these other countries about its establishing a new iran nuclear deal but one important point mario he did indicate that so far

he has not seen any evidence that iran is not complying with the deal interesting thank you so much was in jordan on capitol hill. now the united nations has described the civilian protests using dead bodies in the central african republic as propaganda demonstrators play seventeen dead bodies outside the u.n. building in the capital on wednesday they say they were innocent civilians killed during clashes between the u.n. and on groups by the un insist the dead were criminals it opened fire on un peacekeepers. the u.n. is currently on a mission to restore state authority in the p.k. five area of. early i spoke to p.l.o. quat u.n. undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations he is on a trip right now to bungie and said that u.s. actions were justified in the its presence in the p.k. five neighborhood was invited by the people there. the population asked us to do something about this criminal groups that are oppressing the population there

may have been legal taxes there. you see black mail sometime oh there are some ready and this had been going on for months and months and months. and the un has been trying to get everyone to solve this problem in the recent me but for many months trying. to intervene and the and as we did it and we were wrong. it is arms. who are. harm and. this confrontation resolve the. on court in that we have won. your. very high number. to the best of our knowledge and of course we will investigate

for we will have but there has been no women and children there has been unfortunate the many armed civilians who were killed you know i think it's important not to be manipulated by those who really want to undermine the action of all those who want to mail the central african republic. no we are here to protect the population we did this at the request of the population an investigation into the cause of algeria as west ad disaster is underway a three day mourning period announced by the president has started being held in honor of the two hundred fifty seven people who were killed on wednesday a crash happened moments after the plane took off from a minute trap or just outside the capital the majority of the victims were soldiers and members of the families. still ahead on the program a wrap of bitchiness e were at the rough across a wide desperate palestinians are hoping for that chance to leave gaza and crossed into egypt a man once tipped as

a future chinese president becomes the latest casualty of president cheese corruption crackdown and a former heavyweight world champion is set for a return to the ring joe have those details in the sport. we're still got some rather lively right into parts of the middle east big area of cloud just around the eastern side of iraq pushing across into iran has produced some very heavy rain here flooding rains for some asti fifty four millimeters to friday just twenty four hours just into that western side of iraq you can see how the cloud and rain makes its way up into azerbaijan into georgia i mean yes they'll seeing some wet weather as we go through the next couple days this is them really is kind of stuck here a little bit of wet weather too over towards afghanistan kabul at twenty three degrees twenty three degrees celsius the beirut but the fun the fine and sunny

weather will continue here as we go on through the next couple days little change as we go through some steak or just rather eastern side of the med i'm afraid for eastern parts of iraq on the other hand the rain still in place as you can see it pushes over towards western parts of iran still a bit of wet weather there into northern areas too up towards the caspian sea had a little bit of rain recently around the gulf him cause a few spots of fright on thursday that's clearing through that a little more cloud as we go i wanted to sassed a little more cloud to just around western parts of yemen fair bit of cloud recently into were positive south africa stays a little wet into central areas for friday but dry. oversimple ministers for every gang will fight in a climate of fear rhetoric is easily abused the poor food lines investigative

new initiatives to combat gangs a simply being used to target the undocumented and found we started hearing kids report that someone saw had been picked up and this power is there even though kids were just literally being this appeared trumps war on gangs on al-jazeera. in a world where journalism as an industry is changing we fortunate to be able to continue to expand to continue to have that passenger that drive and present the stories in a way that is important to our viewers. everyone has a story worth hearing. and coverage often ignored we don't weigh our coverage towards one particular region or continent that's why i joined al-jazeera.

welcome back our top story this hour president trump says he will decide shortly on whether to launch attacks against syria after tweeting that they could take place soon or not soon atoll french president emanuel macron says france has proof that assad's forces used chemical weapons into the last week but he still needs more information before deciding whether to join any u.s. action and the syrian government has reasserted control over duma after the departure of the last rebel fighters russian military police have been deployed to the town under a deal with the armed group jaish al islam well now those rebel fighters and their families have been evacuated from duma to live province in northwestern syria that region is largely controlled by rebel groups but the syrian government is committed to retaking eventually fighters from the jaish al islam group will join people

already displace from other parts of syria including aleppo and daraa on monday a suspected russian as strike that left twenty seven people dead abdul coffey is a teacher and activist from aleppo who is now living in libby joins me via skype from there can you tell us what life is like in a few right now. ok thank you very much in fact you know it is a country by itself it's not a govern it is not a city because it has got people from all over syria from damascus from homes from hama from yours or and exactly and especially me from other. people who are living here in fact. they are trying to with life as before but of course these people are in fact are hopeless they are helpless they are future lives that is of course they are homeless for sure they cannot decide

and of course the most important that they have no right to decide because of the future they are afraid of this year in fact they will not feel secure white unity team and his military. force is there a you concerned about the deals that have been taking place agreements between the various rebel groups in east to move those fighters from just outside of damascus to adlib and what could happen next as a result of that. yes exactly if in fact there are more than three hundred million people and all those people are worried that our friend that they're tearing now is coming the next step for sure now it's live. for that people here and they don't know what to do this is the question that is repeated that the most asked people

what will happen in the future what might be done when the team and action will start attacking and storming it live these questions in fact meet people are afraid and they cannot you know leave their life as usual so far and exactly after finishing from top tell me how densely populated is you know the main part of it you are already seeing signs of families perhaps moving towards the. border in anticipation of something happening that. yes for sure of course as i told you it's a country by itself now. maybe no more than one million people in this piece of land wind all see again now is not the related more than six million so just imagine that that we are about forty per cent of the whole population of syria in this piece of land so if we strike this means

a massacre will happen in this area be able now are i had to move in fact some of them are trying to move into turkey but they have no way i mean and the borders are closed in very strict way many people sometimes die in their way so they have not wait i mean even if they want to leave i mean these people who are displaced from the now these see we don't know what the next osip we don't know what about next life will be in fact this feeling of the losing their decision losing their future it is just it's destroying them from deep and if i can just asking very quickly. you move from aleppo to adlib and i know you have a family a wife what's life like for you personally. in fact we cannot forget you know our life in a limbo though that i'm happy that i went to live with my wife and with my little

daughter but in fact till now and the book is in my dream i mean of course that the good to dream and the nightmares that i always see because of the hill that i saw in a little bit of course as well as those deep good memories my friends my students my colleagues who i lived with them there in all the books because it was the beginning of that occlusion there so i still remember it i cannot you know. a distance and accept that away of other people i'm trying me and my life and i want to try think too to live our life again as we were doing both but to know in fact we couldn't reach. that stage of a stable it's as course all the other displaced people from other villages and towns say that the seam that till now we could not reach this time up is stable

it's. thank you very much. teacher and activist joining us now from atlanta thank you. at least fourteen people have been killed in an attack carried out by the taliban in afghanistan gunmen stormed a district government compound in the southeastern province of guys any local governor seven policemen and five intelligence officers are among the victims the district is now under the control of afghan security forces another palestinian has been killed close to the israeli gaza border palestinian health officials say that the man was shot dead by israeli forces israel fired at hamas positions in gaza killing one hundred and even one other person injured israel said the strikes were in retaliation for a moment tacked on a military vehicle on wednesday which did not cause any casualties thirty one palestinians have been killed by israeli forces since protests began at the border fence two weeks ago. tensions are high in gaza as the protests against israel at

the border and to the third week now thousands are trying to get to egypt after the rough crossing was opened following talks with hamas last year it was only opened on for forty days leaving tens of thousands on a waiting list high force that has more on that. thousands of people here in iraq in the south of the gaza strip for what is a very rare opportunity you can see the desperation to get onto one of these buses they are processed here inside the hole the people who are on the list and whose documents are stamped and ready to go across and then put on these buses they're bussed to the crossing itself and taken across to egypt this is a rare thing the last such crossing took place than two weeks ago in twenty sixteen there were only forty two days of crossings in of twenty seventeen there were thirty six days so when these things happen a real desperation to it to make the most of it the last time there was a crossing again it was meant to be

a three day periods such as this one which was announced this week in the end only one day of crossings took place so when people get an opportunity to get out of gaza something so difficult to do given the israeli i said blockade and the those that have been in place here on the southern rougher crossing they tried to make the most of that opportunity. even going in that no one has applied for two years but only now i'm on the list i was supposed to go last time i hope this time i can get to jordan to share my those additional there is no future in gaza if i don't travel my future will be destroyed completely put up a man who not a koran says officials should take care of the people where are the officials to give us chances there are seven in my family are we each supposed to pay four thousand dollars bribe egypt signs the security situation on its sinai peninsula as a reason for the heavy restrictions which continue to be imposed on this border with gaza egypt is also understood to be trying to calm the situation inside gaza

and this particular opening should be seen in that context as the humanitarian situation here continues to worsen and the reconsideration that egypt is backing between the fatah led palestinian authority and hamas which continues to control gaza continues to to fall. sri lanka's leaders suspended the country's parliament until may president my trip serious cena spokesman gave no explanation for thursday's shock announcement president syria's cena backed an unsuccessful no confidence motion against his own minister last week. civil society groups in myanmar welcomed a commitment by facebook c.e.o. mark zuckerberg to tackle hate speech on the site more than seven hundred thousand range refugees have been forced to flee man off an attack following a military crackdown last august has been accused of being a source of answering the propaganda and mass social welfare minister when i was on a three day trip to bangladesh to show rank refugees that every patry ation is

a priority and a challenge he has more from cox's bazaar. myanmar minister for social welfare relief and resettlement visit the could to prolong refugee camp in funk that this is the first time ever a minister visited barren refugee camp since the influx began now he met with a lot of the representative of the rohingya refugees at some point there was heated discussion and exchange of words even there was a demonstration out outside which was quickly dispersed by the police now we caught up with him at the hotel and requested for an interview which he politely declined and refereed us to talk to one off is sending our delegate members to respond to our question i asked what was his response to the visit what he saw on the ground in the camps this is what he had to say what we have come to hear from them what are their concerns and we were able to share with what has been done because what

we want to. is more lives of trust building exercise want to make sure that the do trust. that have been done by because this is what we have to say i want to x.m. about the delay on the repatriation process i also asked him how does the government intend to resettle the refugees when most of their village homes are destroyed are now occupied by the army so what we have done is really. informed the numbers to ensure that the forms completed to our satisfaction. the dillies not on top on the dailies they would have to fill the forms and verification as soon as possible. to respond to international criticism and the fact that it's been termed as ethnic cleansing in myanmar this is how you responded to my question there's no edit clinton if there were any and clinton rule not have accepted them but the most complex and contentious issues remain the identification and the

citizenship papers just decided an example some of the representative of the refugees brought their parents citizenship papers to show to the minister he responded by saying that your parents might be a citizen but you are not this is how complex and difficult whole process is we have to see how the whole thing works out down the road amnesty international says two thousand and seventeen saw a drop in the number of people being sentenced to death around the world but its figures don't include china which is said to be the world's biggest executioner and for middle east countries regime capital punishment last year as nadine barber reports. amnesty international says the global picture is continuing to improve last year they counted at least nine hundred ninety three executions that's four percent fewer than in twenty sixteen and thirty nine percent fewer than in twenty fifteen and there's been a marked drop in death sentences passed at least two thousand five hundred ninety

one were recorded in twenty seventeen a yearly fall of seventeen percent but there's a major caveat to these figures don't include china amnesty says it's by far the world's biggest executioner carrying out thousands of death sentences last year but statistics are considered a state secret now eighty four percent of all recorded executions took place in just four countries iran saudi arabia iraq and pakistan iran executed at least five hundred seven people last year more than half the recorded global figure amnesty says courts very often rely on confessions made under torture when passing death sentences and several countries in the middle east resumed executions in twenty seventeen after years of not doing so one continuing practice that amnesty calls disturbing is executions for drug related defenses something that's against international law we have been used in the lot of countries malaysia and iran. and indonesia singapore known as other countries and this is contrary to some

of the obligations that this country of day to national human rights along standards and the fact that some of these countries are actually even now taking steps to reform their own national laws to align it with international laws and regulation is that is is a testimony to the fact that they agree with us in the usa the only country in the americas executing people the number of states carrying out executions rose from five to eight and while there was progress in sub-saharan africa nigeria sentenced six hundred twenty one people to death last year more than any other country in the region so a mixed picture and amnesty international says its public campaign to get the death penalty abolished will go on. a former senior official in china who was once considered a contender for the presidency has pleaded guilty to corruption charges soon as one of the most prominent figures to be charged in president changing things and corruption crackdown as china correspondent reporting from beijing like his

trial the political downfall of syndrome time was swift state television showed a remorseful son fessing his guild just a year ago he was talked of as a future chinese leader on thursday the former politburo member pleaded guilty to a range of bribery charges amounting to more than twenty seven million dollars he told the court he'd seriously violated the law but it received a fair trial. i deserve the punishment i am guilty i'll accept whatever sentence i receive. soon was dismissed from public office and expelled from the communist party in september that was just a month before the party congress where president xi jinping was reappointed leader for a second term without indicating a successor soon had been party chief of chongqing one of china's fastest growing

cities replacing an even more flamboyant figure bocce ly also once tipped as a future chinese leader. songz demise comes as president xi jinping intensifies his anti corruption campaign since it began more than five years ago more than a million party officials have been disciplined but son is one of the most senior figures to have so far been brought down analysts say she's campaign is really about eliminating political rivals should soon had also been accused of plotting against the leadership a conspiracy said to involve the country's former security chief joe young who was jailed for life three years ago now soon is facing a lengthy imprisonment adrian brown al jazeera beijing well in sixteen left wing politicians in brazil have remained themselves luna in support of their imprisoned leader lula da silva a politicians all members of. addressed in parliament they haven't

gone as far as legally changing their names in it was jailed earlier this month a corruption and money laundering. why cancer risks are prompting ivory coast communities to new technology to new technology to make that traditional smoked fish. and gel be telling us about the kind of strikeout you don't want baseball.

now smoked fish is a popular food enjoyed across west africa but there it the traditional smoking process produces substances known to cause cancer so in ivory coast people are being encouraged to use healthy methods of charlotte ellis reports. in a bubble to may women smoke fish for food. from afar they sound happy up close it's hard to tell for generations they have risen above the smoke glad for the work now they are learning they're surrounded by cancer causing particles and posting the environment. that she lives there it's really difficult but this is my job i live with it i can't stop i printed this job since my children to school and can help when they're sick. coastal communities in ivory coast rely on fish for food and income the un says up to thirty percent of the catch is smoked the reason

it tastes better and last longer but the consequences hang heavy in the year. the by the the fish they're smoking is not of good quality it contains aromatic hydrocarbons which is a source of disease and cancer for the consumer those who smoke the fish are subject to lung diseases and sinusitis. the president of the fish process is union says this is the answer new traditional avon's and obvious smoke rises from a fire at the base through layers of fish and out of a vent it can act as a storage unit requires lease would it can drive five times more fish than traditional makes us. therefore follow toy these evans' improve the quality and hygiene of products the health of women fish processes working on the robins and the health of consumers it also has a positive impact on the prison vaishnav the environment and the misuse of wood. widespread implementation will be difficult most communities cannot of food the new

weapons. the potential is great and these fish dry is no more than you have and so likely help them live longer and healthier minds. balance zero. time now for the sport was joe. thank you also could reach the semifinals of the europa league in the next couple of hours they take a four one first leg late to moscow to face c.s.k. with a kick up around fifteen minutes away the competition is especially important to ask though as they are outside the european qualification places in the premier league the winners of the europa league again automatic entry into next year's champions league. your boss everybody knows. the stage of course we focus on in the premier league very. slim chance. for your body of course one of the big targets of the season. two time champions

that had to go madrid are in portugal facing sporting lisbon with a two no first leg advantage diego simeone his men have won their last six outings in european competition and the other two quarter finals taking place on thursday italian side last c.e.o. in austria with a forty lead against south burke and masai must overturn a one zero deficit when they host light sake if they are to qualify for the semifinals. former heavyweight champion of the world tyson fury has announced he will return to the ring in june after an absence of more than two and a half years although he hasn't said yet who he is fighting the twenty nine year old was suspended for violating anti doping rules in two thousand and sixteen his last fight was in the van but two thousand and fifteen really took three of the recognized world title belts from flooded make klitschko anthony joshua's now the holder of those in fury said his fellow britain would be no match for him. it's

going to be an easy easy. we all saw the park. anyone who could move. a few. if he wants to love that he is the go to have the right role without me if you want to try and. that's the only way to live along that he said on my part from. the british virgin islands is celebrating a historic sporting triumph at the commonwealth games just six months after the tiny caribbean nation was devastated by hurricane caron mcallister stormed to victory in the men's four hundred metres hurdles final on thursday to win the first international model of any color and in any sport for his country twenty one year old decided to dedicate the wind to his former coach xavier samuels' who was killed in hurrican last september. there was drama in the men's two hundred meters final england's zine el hughes just edged out trinidad and tobago dream richards for the

gold or so he thought after celebrating hughes was disqualified for impeding riches you can see their arms clashing there they crossed the line the english team appealed but richards was later confirmed as the gold medalist. no such controversy in a high quality women's two hundred meters final surely miller we bow of the bahamas setting a new games record to take the title to make history jackson and england's dina completed the podium. we might not be competing anymore but you same goal to still been a star attraction at these commonwealth games is the first time the jamaican has been at a major athletics event as a spectator since retiring last year but the thirty one year old has shut down any suggestions he might be about to return to the track instead reiterating his desire to become a professional footballer. very serious about playing football put in work i'm working with dharma not disappoint him to really help me to. go in his direction i

need to go i want to improve to be better if i somebody's got to do is just working out there i know i'm not willing to just hopefully in the future now for the forces man over one hundred and two hundred metres to the fastest men in one of the toughest rices in the world moroccan brothas rashid and mohammed omar beattie dominated the muffin disciples hardest stage on wednesday and into thursday which to compress is over eighty six kilometers through the mountainous terrain with two stages left six time out and install the champion rashid lead by just over thirty three minutes from his brother who is still looking for his debut victory the minnesota timberwolves edged the longest playoff drought in the n.b.a. on the final day of the regular season it was all nothing for both the timberwolves and their opponents the denver nuggets on wednesday the winner would head to the playoffs the loser would be out but the teams still couldn't be split after four quarters meaning it went to overtime where the timberlands timberwolves finally

prevailed one hundred twelve to one hundred six they will feature in the postseason for the first time since two thousand and fourteen. the n.b.a. playoff picture has now been set with sixteen competing teams in the eastern conference topsy the toronto raptors face the washington wizards the celtics meet the milwaukee bucks philadelphia take on the miami heat bron james is cleveland cavaliers clash with the indiana pacers the eastern rockets are the top seed in the west and face the minnesota timberwolves reigning champions the golden state warriors have got the san antonio spurs the trailblazers and the pelicans appeared together along with the oklahoma city thunder and to utah jazz japanese baseball star show here a heart otani has helped the l.a. angels equal their best ever start to a major league season after thirteen games fame from being both a pitcher and the batter atari returned to the angel starting line up against the texas rangers on wednesday he struck home runs in his three previous games as

designated hitter but had to settle for an r.b.i. single as the angels won seven to two they've won ten from three thirteen. that's why it really was. like i was right. and this was the scene at fenway park as the boston red sox faced off with the new york yankees there's no only love lost between these two rivals and there was not one but two bench clearing brawls during the contest the yankees won on the score sheet at least ten to seven but that wasn't the only big hit in the end all be on wednesday. now that you do that's where stuff was simmering for good. these down and he wants to be a lot of. detroit tigers pitcher jordan zimmermann was taken to hospital for x. rays after being hit in the georgia ring that game with cleveland hospital for x.

rays after being hit in the georgia ring that game with cleveland he passed concussion tests and is expected to be pitching again in five days time. i'm out of the useful for now but tomorrow i'm in london thanks very much joe well just some lines coming into us now from history's made held held an emergency cabinet meeting to decide on any potential response on whether the u.k. should join in on an international response to the alleged chemical attack in duma and. agreeing on the need to decide to tell the use of chemical weapons she says also they've agreed that they should continue to work with that counterparts that allies the u.s. and france to coordinate any response though no specific information on what that response might be according joining with donna will be here in a couple of minutes with much more of the day's news. and.

travel often. by trying to use local forests new prague want to rule. by all accounts that the valleys and scotland's. new food scene should. discover new jobs for this faraway place you can see they're going to get these cats are always. the scene for us where on line what is a parent's time in yemen the peace is always possible but it never happens not

because the situation is complicated but because no one cares or if you join us on set there are people that there are 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 activist has posted a story join the global conversation at this time on al-jazeera. what makes this movement this era we're living in for the show unique this is really an attack on truth itself is a lot of misunderstanding but the distortion is that of what free speech is supposed to be about that context is hugely important level wise to publish if you have a duty to be offensive or provoke that there would otherwise people to setting the stage for a serious debate up front at this time on al-jazeera.