the people in those words and those policies are affecting see the emotion on their faces the situation they're living in that's when all of us can identify with the story. inmates learning from other inmates acquiring knowledge that could set them free. through legal education classes and mock tribunals their dedication has led to stagger in results you've been in prison for fifteen years. but that was. teaching empowerment. part of the rebel education series at this time on al-jazeera.

north korea says it will suspend its nuclear testing program a move welcomed by the west but some are cautious. hello i'm maryam namazie and london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up india's government approves the death penalty for child rapists after widespread anger over recent attacks. chemical weapons inspectors finally visit duma in syria two weeks after an alleged gas attack. he made a stand by taking any now american footballer calling cappa nick takes amnesties ambassador of conscience award. welcome to the program our top story north korea's announcement that it will suspend nuclear and long range missile test has been welcomed by western leaders

u.s. president donald trump described the pages very good news while european leaders say it's a good first step japan's leaders also welcome this announcement but he said that it must lead to some. concrete action kathy novak reports from seoul. north korea regularly tested increasingly threatening ballistic missiles last year including weapons that could have the range to hit the united states in september it conducted its most powerful nuclear bomb test now north korea says those tests are over so it should chip pitch we will discontinue nuclear testing an intercontinental ballistic rocket test firing from april twenty fifth. the north and you could test ground at the d.p. r. k. one also be dismantled to transparently the discontinuance of the new quick test. it's welcome news for the us president who's planning to meet north korea's leader

kim jong un within weeks donald trump tweeted north korea has agreed to suspend all nuclear tests and close up a major test site this is very good news for north korea and the world big progress look forward to our summit state media says kim jong un made the announcement as he chaired a meeting of the workers' party central committee a gathering to rubberstamp the supreme leader's decisions it was at a similar meeting five years ago that kim unveiled his signature policy to prioritize the development of nuclear weapons and the economy the message from the leader now is that weapons program development is complete and the focus will shift to the economy currently under pressure from a u.s. led sanctions campaign. would you call kim jong un clarify the now that the t.p.r. case position as a wall of level politico ideological and military power has been successfully established it is the strategic line of the workers' party to concentrate all efforts of the whole party and country on the socialist economic construction kim

is apparently seeking to cement his position on the world stage following his meeting in beijing last month with china's president xi jinping talks with cia director mike pompei o in pyongyang and ahead of a historic summit with south korea's president monday and on friday south korea welcomed the announcement calling north korea's decision meaningful progress for the denuclearization of the korean peninsula the president's office said it will contribute to creating a positive environment for the success of the upcoming intercourse rian and u.s. north korea summits. china has also welcomed the announcement while japan's prime minister was more cautious. with never thought of north korea's announcement is forward motion that i'd like to welcome but what's important is that this motion leads to complete verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of north korea's nuclear and missile programs north korea's promise to stop weapons testing didn't

go that far it pledged to never use nuclear weapons unless there are nuclear threats and you can hear provocations against it kathy novak al jazeera soul. let's speak to alan fish and alan mixture of optimism and caution from the international community alan what's the view there in washington. from washington they're pleased that the north koreans have made this move but they're not stringing out the banners just yet because there we're that in the past when the north koreans have entered into talks they've made promises that haven't been delivered on the timing of this is also interesting too it comes just twenty four forty eight hours after donald trump when he was at his florida retreat that a news conference with the japanese prime minister said look he might not go to the summit unless it was chief something and if he's in there and doesn't think there's going to be any real progress then he would in his words respectfully walk out and behold the north koreans see we're looking at the denuclearization of the korean

peninsula no when they've offered that in the past there have been kaviak that said we will do this if united states pulls all its troops out of south korea that's always been a red line for the americans this time they're not suggesting that donald trump would like to go to the summit and find if he can actually deliver something that no other american president has done and certainly over the last few hours on american t.v. and radio we're seeing some of his surrogates suggest that if he manages to pull this off then it could be a peace prize for donald trump as well interesting the tweet said that this was good news for north korea and the rest of the world the tweet that donald trump sent out normally he would claim credit for it remember he's been putting pressure on the north korean regime for a very long time calling the leader little rocket man as well this time he was much more magnanimous but he's still got the c. evening to tweet so that might change so the americans are looking forward to the

summit certainly the grow more experience might pompei with the cia director was in north korea over the christian easter break to to lay the groundwork for the summit venues are being talked about agendas are being talked about donald trump seems very keen to go if he can deliver something and the north koreans are handing out some hope that there might actually be something there. to be achieved thank you very much from washington alan fischer with the latest well north korea calls its governing ideology to cheer all self-reliance the country's nuclear program is an important part of that our diplomatic editor james bays was given rare access to the capital pyongyang and has more on this philosophy of self-reliance. are all welcome to pyongyang certainly the cleanest most orderly and probably the most controlled place i've ever visited. rush hour in the city yet the traffic is

like the roads a quiet although all of them a little comfy. no doubt this is an extremely hardworking society everyone striving for the good of the state this is how workers were sent into. revolutionary slogans flags and drums. in this city the portraits in the statues tell the story of this isolated nation run by three men all from one family. the grandfather and the country's founder kim il sung the father kim jong il. and the son the current leader kim jong un who told he's too modest to have mosaics made of him but he's everywhere on the state controlled media on television and in the newspapers. in the center of the city the tallest landmark the jew che tower

jew chair your self-reliance is the governing principle of this nation of twenty five million people our guide explained it's not about self-reliance of the individual but instead that individual koreans must do all they can to make then mation self-reliant we are holding the self-reliance upholding the fair for live there for lying in bed in the socialist power nation the death i'm employed and the nuclear weapons of course yes we made the nuclear weapons by our own effort bearing technique is the main point after taking. for years north koreans have been told the nuclear program is something that will keep their country strong and that the us is their mortal enemy both the messages that will now need modification as talks approach under some of the stiffest international

sanctions ever imposed north koreans say jew che or self-reliance is the answer. in the subway trains inherited from east germany a growing old a handful of new carriages were produced in north korea we were told this seat was designed by kim jong un himself. it seems the leader takes direct interest in many areas of national life he made a visit to the main shoe factory at the plant producing the korean national dish kimchi made of pickled vegetables we were told the air conditioning system was supervised by the supreme leader and as an old people's home we were told he was the architect of this staircase such benevolence is of course matched by total respect kim jong un has never granted an audience to the international media he's never given an interview i got about as close as an outsider can get to him i was

attending a performance of a visiting chinese ballet company in pyongyang when supreme leader kim entered the theater the crowd clapped continuously a standing ovation with cries of horror her a it only stopped when he himself signaled with his hands james phase al-jazeera pyongyang. of president tom's efforts to reach a new clear clean with kim jong un calm as he threatens to pull out of the iranian nuclear deal if he does iran's president says his country's atomic energy body is ready with expected and unexpected actions has an rouhani made the comments on state t.v. but he didn't elaborate on what that might mean in european politicians have been urging the u.s. not to abandon the two thousand and fifteen deal and which iran going to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions being lifted.

inspectors from the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons of collected samples from the syrian town of duma two weeks after an alleged chemical attack that the inspectors have been staying in a damascus hotel until now of repeatedly deal been delayed from visiting the scene where pro-government forces are accused of dropping a chlorine bomb france has accused russia of obstructing their entry more than forty people died from exposure to chemicals after the attack according to the world health organization meanwhile syrian rebels and civilians in a countryside area northeast of damascus have begun to evacuate north under a deal brokered with the government state t.v. say over three thousand rebels will leave three towns in eastern over the course of the next three days it's the latest in a string of evacuations around the syrian capital that see more than sixty thousand people displaced as the government takes control well to the south of damascus pro-government forces there are pressing an offensive against i still in the

palestinian refugee camp the u.n. agency responsible for palestinian refugees says it's deeply concerned about the safety of civilians there that's as pictures emerged showing government planes bombed body in the area meanwhile the u.n. secretary general has again said that there is no military solution to the conflict in syria. was speaking as u.n. security council ambassadors arrived for a retreat in sweden to try to heal the divisions between them. i see we. live in syria essentially to see the first one to stand up very slowly very slowly for the see the solution is political we really need to fight to get elections through the violations of international law the use of chemical weapons. if we find a way when each attempt the p six cannot go on living we think unity in relation to what it is clearly a war crime that through their people from the face of. it in his government has

approved that the death penalty for people convicted of raping children under the age of twelve after widespread outrage over a number of recent attacks the order was approved by the prime minister narendra modi requires parliamentary approval within six months to become law in the meantime suspects can be prosecuted under the order that been widespread protests following a number of high profile rape cases including the killing of an eight year old girl in kashmir a kitschy singh is a lawyer and women's rights activist in new delhi she says she doubts that this move is going to work as a terran nineteen persons in india and if you learn even in when you can people think that they can act with impunity that they will not get punished and their only did is they need the certainty of punishment oh well that other than this it be a video that in our country i think their investigation is not very don't

broccoli willy's don't collect widely pieces of evidence and he says and then the cases that go on important song so the serb forces or we judges sponsible all of. the case their conviction not coming or most still to come. at least the long dead end madagascar position supporters clash with police of a new election analyst. and a high crime patriotic action. films feel a box office boom in china. most of europe is still enjoying

a burst of good springboards and temperatures really shot up there's been a difference in portugal circulating kadam in this part of the reason the has been pumping off the wall there was also bringing some pretty poor weather to all golf windy and wet weather and there's a bit of a dip in the temperatures here this cold front does mean what it says is introducing a different wind direction behind it so there's not a media parent this hampshire forecast well to actually on saturdays in the low twenty's in june about time to get through to sunday and monday that is rather more notes for cooling effect for the eastern side of germany through poland and ukraine back down below twenty eight in moscow is that only eight at the same time still not some more further west even that were seventy losses rain coming through the atlantic so although london look london looks fine on sunday twenty to the time we get to monday karim's gone through with that to sixty and here's the rain make itself felt in germany ninety degrees so for most part it's pretty spring like you know it's happening in morocco spitting up by the time we get to sunday afternoon

it'll be fine sunny twenty degrees a monday looks pretty good as well the same time the eastern side of the med the winds died down so karros cooled down a bit but still at twenty eight. he ruled for nearly half a century. a controversial political figure in the cauldron of the middle east and one who was never far from crisis at home or abroad. in a two part series war and tells the story of convincing of joy. to no effect. at this time on.

a comeback the top stories this hour north korea's decision to halt nuclear and missile tests has been welcomed by leaders across the world including the u.s. president on a trump inhaled it is good news. international weapons inspectors have finally visited the syrian town of duma two weeks after an alleged chemical attack. and india's government has approved the death penalty for people convicted of breaking children under the age of twelve after widespread outrage over a number of recent attacks. well in all the stories we're watching at least one person has died in violence between security forces and protesters in madagascar demonstrators were rallying in the capital and town and that evil against new electoral laws which the opposition say are meant to stop that candidate from running for president the city's hospital says at least sixty more people have been

injured in the violence there i spoke to paul malley a research fellow with the chatham house africa program told me the politicians using the legal system against their opponents is nothing new in madagascar. the former president marc ravalomanana could be excluded because the law will ban people who have a conviction from running for president but the conviction that he has was really very questionable one he was out of the country having been overthrown in a coup it was a political trial many people don't think it is serious so it really depends on how that's interpreted when reveller manana was president he used the legal system to prevent a challenger running against him roger lane or another key player in potential candidate was the guy installed in the two thousand and nine coup and spent four years procrastinating over the restoration of democracy in the hope that he could create conditions that would keep him in power the current president and he has the

mere fact that this legislation is being passed the toll would suggest that he too is equivocating a bit so there are real doubts as to whether the malagasy political elite a totally committed to the top priority which is to make a success or of this next election in twenty thirty in the end of twenty thirty in democracy was restored in a meaningful process that people could expect to accept as legitimate but it really doesn't seem certain that everybody buys into the need to repeat that and loud development and recovery to go forward because it is a very poor country we've huge development problems police in armenia say they've arrested more than seventy people including two suspected of making bombs as anti-government demonstrations in the fullness of their republic enter a second week thousands of protesters are calling her the prime minister sexy and to step down their own happy at what they see is

a power grab by the from the president is change the political system to give himself more power. south african president sarah rama post says osprey's events of northwest province to stay calm as he holds more talks with communities to try to end violent protests that erupted this week the protesters are demanding the resignation of a provincial leader who is accused of corruption and delivering paulo cool services catherine sawyer reports from my king. pinky being more cause baby is feverish she inhaled gas when police and protesters clashed but health workers in public hospitals are on strike and can't get help pink you went to her mother's house in the city to give birth because life is more difficult in the rural area where she leads a can take measure to buy looters because. there comes the lies and those political things they pose as the things that they do not deliver you understand

they do get there and get their houses and give people jobs when the jobs come from the government they dig people. are frustrated and are shared by many people in this region and that's why they took to the streets in the week they want better public services from the local government houses and shops they also want the provision needed to step down he's failed to do his job now also corruption allegations presidency ramos says he needs time to hold more talks with aggrieved communities and the provision that is. life is returning to normal in my hand but many shops remain closed people say they will wait for the outcome of consultations the president asked for but they also tell us that they are impatient for answers and won't wait too long. though many of the grievances are generally in the protests turned violent rowdy morbus band lies to buildings and looted. little

just to come over traders like a clear lawn toro are devastated everything in his shop was a the stolen or band this was his home too i don't know what i can do now on that hopeless you can see what. i don't want money to remove it just this is not easy to remove to look at is you cannot replace reason not to some people say politics in targeted revenge attacks got in the way of what we're supposed to be peaceful demonstrations. and have family tallis this is the result of pent up anger catherine sorry al jazeera mike hang south africa. palestine's ambassador to the united nations is calling for an independent investigation into israel's use of force against protesters four palestinians were killed by israeli gunfire on a fourth consecutive friday of demonstrations on gaza's border they include

a fourteen year old boy who is the youngest of the victims in the protests which were calling for palestinians right to return to their ancestral lands and smith went to meet his relatives. that's right there are you had dreams for her some most mothers a good education marriage children. but a bullet to the had from an israeli sniper means this family now has to bury fourteen year old mohammad are you along with those dreams. before there are no herbalists says. i used to tell him one day are living conditions will improve political divisions will and i have been pushing him to continue his studies despite everything. but how much was protesting near the gaza israel border fence at easter or on friday if he was throwing stones they probably weren't very big. this family video from last year shows muhammad at the zoo he slight aged just

thirteen here it's hard to imagine six months later he posed a serious threat to the israeli military. death prompted an unusually strong reaction from the u.n. special coordinator for the middle east peace process nicholai martin off said it's outrageous to shoot at children how does the killing of a child in gaza today help peace it doesn't it fuels and breeds more killing a former israeli military spokesman responded please go to gaza engage hamas and get them to stop sending people to defense stop palestinian incitement and organize riots at the border and donald trump's advisor to the middle east stepped in a full investigation by israel of mohammad are you is underway as we mourn the tragic loss of a young life we must all resolve to avoid causing more suffering by responses to his death. mohammed's father says he couldn't stop his son joining the protest for palestinian rights what doesn't. know there is that he was always smiling always

teasing to me his father who was a not a kid but to brave the whole neighborhood loved him never said no to anyone he just want to see our original delusion israel behind the bench was. buried the day he died the youngest victim so far of the palestinian great march of return bernard smith al-jazeera gaza. the american football player collin kappa nick has been announced as the winner of amnesty international's annual ambassador of conscience award. two years ago captain extorted kneeling chairing the us national anthem played before all n.f.l. matches in response to the disproportionate number of black people killed by police happen next actions polarized opinions in the united states and were criticized by the president donald trump. the amnesty award recognizes in their words an inspiring contribution to helping human rights. happen it was presented with

the war by amnesty international secretary general salil shetty who told us why kappa nick and the players who supported him deserve this recognition of that immense garbage that they're showing which has been a huge inspiration to many other activists who are anti racism activists black people but not just black people but they cross the entire spectrum of the u.s. population but as you know anything which happens in the u.s. also has a huge impact across the globe so many brave human rights defenders i think seek inspiration have success gained inspiration from the from the very brave decision of god in company so that we're ready proud and to be a very happy to have given them the best of conscience award today. the funeral has taken place for former us first lady barbara bush at a private service in houston texas she was remembered as a sharp tongued but caring person who was devoted to her family first lady melania

trump bracken michelle obama bill and hillary clinton were all among those attending barbara bush was the wife of the forty first u.s. president and mother of the forty third she died on tuesday. eighth annual beijing film festival has just concluded in the chinese capital a boy in time for the domestic film industry chinese box office sales after the first time surpassed those of the united states in the first quarter of this year takings topped three point two billion dollars and is adrian brown reports ho produced movies are the big attraction. the tide line is unashamedly patriotic anyone who are fans china will be killed no matter how far the target is. the film is wolf lorie of to set in a fictitious african country it's about a chinese special forces veteran who single handedly rescues chinese and local

citizens. citizens held by western mercenaries. the film taps into a growing mood of national pride in today's china and features close replicas of many of the latest weapons used by the chinese military but the current wave of patriotic films is not the result of government pressure insists one film scholar. chinese mainstream films are not controlled by the garment it's achievement was not made through government policies such a huge growth of the box office and a huge market cannot simply be created through some policies of government documents. this week the stars of china's film industry are attending beijing's annual film festival which began in two thousand and eleven among the films nominated for an award is another with a strong patrick the blood one which depicted gay love was dropped films reflecting

government thinking are likely to become more prolific in the years ahead that's because the body that regulates china's film and t.v. industry is being scrapped that job is now going to be done by the communist party's propaganda department a further sign of how power is being centralized under president xi jinping for justice workers and students across the country were recently ordered to watch a stirring new documentary called amazing china it hails the country's technological advances and military modernization and echoes president cheese made in china initiative which aims to make china a leader in key technologies by twenty twenty five and the movie industry knows what role it has to play adrian brown al-jazeera beijing was much more in everything we're covering right here al jazeera dot com and don't

forget you can also watch us live here as well. just a quick look at the top stories now north korea's announcement that it's going to immediately stop all nuclear and missile tests has been welcomed by western leaders u.s. president donald trump described kim jong un's pledges very good news all european leaders say it's a good first step but some of being more cautious especially japan alan fischer has more from washington the north koreans have a history before big summits of offering things that we never follow through on so while there is pleasure in the united states there is no delight because we want to make sure that what the north koreans are promising they will actually follow through on inspectors from the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons of collected samples from the syrian town of duma two weeks after an alleged chemical attack that the inspectors have been repeatedly delayed from visiting the

scene where pro-government forces are accused of dropping a chlorine bomb meanwhile syrian rebels and civilians in a countryside area northeast of damascus have started to evacuate to the north of the country under a deal brokered with the government state t.v. says over three thousand rebels will leave three towns in eastern cullman over the course of the next three days it's the latest in a string of evacuations around the syrian capital to see more than sixty thousand people displaced. india's government has approved the death penalty for people convicted of raping children under the age of twelve after widespread outrage over a number of recent attacks the order was approved by prime minister narendra modi's cabinet requires parliamentary approval within six months to become law there been widespread protests after a number of high profile rape cases including the killing of an eight year old girl in kashmir. i mean least one person has died in violence

between security forces and protesters in madagascar demonstrators have been rallying in the capital against a new electoral laws which the opposition says are meant to stop their candidate from running for president the city's hospital says at least sixteen wolfie full have been injured in the violence. are going to bring you much more on the situation in madagascar and the other headlines i have another update in about twenty five minutes time so i will see you then coming up next on al-jazeera it's the listening post.