maybe on al jazeera. marking world press freedom day al-jazeera shines a light on this important issue and examines the state of freedom of the place around the world people in power the top u.s. general in afghanistan about his plans for defeating both the taliban and an isis insurgency. struggling with security issues and economic uncertainty iraq is finally set to hold elections as an unseen global battle rages for resources beneath our oceans we are the seabed is the territory still to be claimed commemorating seventy years from now al-jazeera examines what has changed in the past seven decades on both sides of this conflict made on al-jazeera.

armenian celebrates as the ruling party appears to back down after protesters blocked roads to bring the country's capital to a standstill. hello i'm maryam namazie and london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up gunmen and a suicide bomb attack in libya's electoral commission killing at least sixteen people amid divisions over when to hold polls. while the health organization warns nine out of ten people are breathing in polluted air with deadly the worst city in the world. and panning for gold in south sudan we'll tell you why the government is losing else on the rich pickings. i mean his opposition leaders suspended protests on thursday after the ruling party

appeared to back down on its refusal to pick him as prime minister. i i. demonstrators paralyzed roads and blocked buildings off the m.p.'s from the republican party refuse to elect a nickel to the top job but there are now reports that the party will support any candidate vying for the top job if they see a fat. robin farseer walk is in yerevan for us and joins us now robin is it clear that the ruling party will support passion and his bad this time around. that appears to be the case and senior republican party member who i was personally in touch with when we actually were able to break that story that time has told me that they will not be putting forward their own candidate and it seems as if they reluctant to use the name nicole passion and they like to speak in this. legally.

let's say. subtle ways to basically say that yes they will support him because they say stating the candidate with thirty five votes will have the nomination but they have confirmed that they will not be putting forward their own candidate and may call passion and therefore he's the only candidate we expect he will be. nominated and there will be a vote only for him as expected next tuesday so it appears that they have listened to the message that the armenian public in future numbers today. wanted to send to them by carrying out this nationwide general strike all the roads in the capitol were blocked so off they they blocked the road to the airports the metro wasn't running administrative buildings were surrounding government buildings and not just here in yerevan but in other major cities. i saw the crowds delights when

a minister resigned and it just seemed as if they had the momentum. and then this announcement by the republican party off to a special session this afternoon in the crowds just well you might be able to hear in the background people a singing and seeing in a very specific way that the armenians have they have their own culture they have their own music and songs and i think they're celebrating but at the same time i think they will be waiting until they actually see an appointed prime minister before they could really breathe a sigh of relief because i'm not sure there is that much trust with the republican party having done this vote fast of the yesterday not giving him the votes that he needed and then apparently seemingly changing their minds in less than twenty four hours and we have we saw pictures of jubilant crowds are on call pushing out addressing his supporters can you give us a sense of who is coming out to participate in these rallies.

everybody is coming out it seems as if the entire capital city is here the young in rio children the students they've always been here they've been the kind of driving force the energy bar in this the young people in the media who really wanted that change but everybody. you know the elderly will be also knowing republic square they were given seats to sit on but they wanted to be there they wanted to be a part of this historic change that is taking place right now this velvet revolution you know media. thanks so much from the arab and robin forestay a walker appreciate it robin. at least sixteen people have been killed in libya after i sell gunmen attacked the electoral commission had cortez commissions been registering voters ahead of

elections expected before the end of this year had a hoax to reports. attack was targeted the electoral commission headquarters on wednesday morning while suicide bomber detonated explosives before shooting began the assault comes days after the un pressured libya's leaders to hold elections by the end of the year the international quartet the e.u. arab league african union and the un met on monday to promise assistance in organizing the voting we have seen despite the quarter optimistic talk of improving security libya remains divided. the un backed an internationally recognized national crude government in tripoli is from three years ago. is the prime minister but he struggled to establish the authority of his government beyond the capital pitted against the government of national called in the west is a turk administration in the east under the control of the self declared libya's national army its commander general healthy for have to control all rich east. and

it's vital export terminals he recently shrugged off election talks and urged libyans to trust his army instead i want you to trust the army it will lead you to what you aim for i know you want a real life not a semblance of a life that results from elections have to has expressed disdain for the government of national accord in tripoli government leaders in the capital say that before elections are held libyans should agree on a new election lou and a constitution and if. they want to turn their back on past agreements and take us all the way to new elections. after his army which is supported by us in egypt is more powerful than troops based in tripoli the general who recently returned home up to medical treatment is widely seen by his supporters is the only libyan leader qualified to end years of infighting. is there. some news from iran west state media are saying at least seventy six people have been injured

after an earthquake hit the country's southwest a magnitude five point three quake struck near the remote mountainous city of cis at some seven hundred kilometers south of tehran state media says it caused extensive damage to roads and buildings all spittles and the nearby town of yes soon to have been evacuated. the basque separatist group at or is announced that it's disbanded and an open letter it declared the all of it structures have been completely dissolved when i was asian at a violent campaign for sixty years for an independent state between northern spain and southern france at a killed more than eight hundred fifty people between one thousand nine hundred sixty eight and two thousand and ten before declaring a ceasefire a year later it handed over its weapons last april bringing western europe's last major armed insurgency to a close at the baba has more from san sebastian in spain. well this statement from matter doesn't really come as a surprise to many people here in spain but the tone of the communication is

interesting it contains the following phrase the conflict did not start with and does not end with the end of bettors journey now this comes in the background of an apology in april from a return to some of the victims of its actions people that had to said did not deserve to get caught up in its actions. and said at the time that it would be announcing its dissolution sometime in may of course it's held responsible for over eight hundred deaths since nine hundred sixty eight that was the year that it claimed its first victim here in san sebastien a secret police chief but over the years it put off more and more people who were perhaps sympathetic to the independence movement for example in one thousand nine hundred seven there was a big bomb in a barcelona supermarket that killed more than twenty people including a pregnant woman actions like that really did horrified the public and since then there was

a big internal debate within as to the future direction and now after last year's. action where it actually gave up a larger arms cache in the southwest of france most people believe that. basically doesn't exist didn't exist except on paper now they say they're completely dissolving all of their structures well associations of the victims of etter want to hear about many unsolved murders which they hold responsible for. and my pump has been officially sworn in as the new u.s. secretary of state at a ceremony at the state department in washington and wants the department to get its swagger back and insisted that north korea unless commit to dismantling its weapons program on pay or says it's time to solve the problems on the korean peninsula at once and for all. right now we have an unprecedented opportunity to change the course of history on the korean peninsula they underscore the word

opportunity we're in the beginning stages of the work and the outcome is certainly yet unknown but one thing is certain this is ministration will not repeat the mistakes of the past our eyes are wide open it's time to solve this once and for all a bad deal is not an option the american people are counting on us to get this right we are committed to the permanent verifiable irreversible dismantling of north korea's weapons of mass destruction program and to do so without delay of noise i want house correspondent kimberly halkett joining us live now and might have been trying to distinguish himself from his predecessor seemed to be trying to set a different time today. there's no question about that we saw him hitting the ground running right after his senate confirmation him parked on a bit of a charm offensive to try and make it clear that there was a reset being pushed out the u.s. state department visiting the middle east as well as europe reassuring nato allies

it seems that he's very much engaged with reporter something in contrast to what we saw with the previous secretary of state rex tillerson who was very bookish and engineering background didn't like to bring the media along and many of his trips and foreign travel did so somewhat reluctantly when it did occur this is the exact opposite we've seen reporters aboard the plane holding interviews we've even seen mike pompei o. . the sunday chat shows so this is sensually this is a man who's very comfortable in front of the camera engaging with the media probably has a lot to do with his background as a u.s. congressman and very much there has been this effort to set a new tone as you point out at the u.s. state department certainly this is not only are we sure it's of the world allies but also of the diplomats that are in charge of carrying out the policy decisions around the world thousands of them that are now sort of after years or rather months of feeling a little bit of a morale. plummet if you will due to some of the policy decisions of rex tillerson

now there seems to be this effort to try and turn that page and you speaking there about resolution to tensions on the korean peninsula tell us more about the policy decisions that lie ahead for him. big ones may twelfth that's a big deadline for the president to recertify compliance under the iran nuclear deal for in terms of iran's compliance to that deal that was negotiated with world powers so there there's already been kind of an indication that in fact the u.s. president and mike pompei was very much in lockstep with the president that they're laying the groundwork to withdraw from that deal so that's a big decision good to have the top diplomat in place for that and as well north korea's see we heard there in that sound bite from certainly putting that in the forefront he was instrumental in helping to pyongyang to meet with the north korean leader in secret over the easter weekend as the top cia director there and now as

the top diplomat no doubt he will continue to try and set up those meetings that could take place at the end of may early june from the white house thank you. and watching out as aristotle had on the program. in los angeles white taps in the city of angels might soon run dry and we need the central american migrants sleeping rough on the us mexico border in the hopes that the u.s. will prompt them asylum. welcome back to take a look at weather conditions across the levant and western parts of asia you see this area of play moving across iran and iraq must go to give the threat of showers during the course of thursday also some snow for the well across some of the stands cloudy skies front for kuwait at times the release of side the mediterranean the

weather conditions cheery not looking to beirut there sunshine and twenty eight degrees and then heading through friday weather conditions remain fine and pretty warm broacha conditions and by about station the risk of showers will be decreasing here in the arabian peninsula remains. see a little bit of that cloud time so i think through thursday rather cloudy and catch up across the rest of the plant just going to be very very warm indeed highs that forty one in mecca heading into friday i think will lose a cloud temperatures still a thirty eight here in doha across into southern portions of africa weather conditions generally looking farm we have got some showers across the eastern cape at the moment i think the risk of showers will continue for durban at least during the course of thursday and we have got a few showers across northern parts of zambia into zimbabwe but otherwise weather conditions generally looking dry and find that fine weather continues course and go down through the movie and back into south africa and on friday we're expecting a high of twenty one in capetown.

rewind returns with a new series i can bring your people back to life i'm sorry and bryan you want dates on the best of al-jazeera documentaries in liberal i was the pope of the blood and no i'm like any other student rewind continues with children of conflict . we'd love some peace in this world especially. children do not have any rights here rewind on al-jazeera.

a quick look at the top stories for you now plan to add to the government protests for thursday have been canceled in all media it comes out to the country's ruling party and it still softened on its decision to block the opposition in his bid to become prime minister. claimed responsibility for an attack on the headquarters of libya's electoral commission which killed at least sixty people in tripoli. on the box separatist group has announced it has disbanded in an open letter declared all of its structures of completely dissolved. oil stories we're following french police say they've arrested one hundred nine people of the may day protests in paris on tuesday violent demonstrations against president manual labor reforms escalated with six cars burnt out and attacks on a restaurant and car dealer as we say around twelve hundred members of a libertarian group called the black bloc were responsible well here in the u.k. prime minister to resign may's facing a revolt from within her own policy over bracks it that could potentially bring

down a government a group of around sixty m.p.'s from her ruling conservative party have spoken out against her favorite plan for a customs partnership with the e.u. post writes it the government's so-called rights it was cabinet is meeting to try to find a solution. we will be leaving the customs union we want to ensure that we can have an independent trade policy we also want to ensure that we actually we deliver we are committed to delivering on our commitment of no hard border between north. and ensuring we have as frictionless trade as possible with the european union nine out of ten people worldwide are breathing and with high levels of pollutants that's the alarming assessment from new data produced by the world health organization and as natasha going to a reports is that people living in poor countries who are most at risk. pollution has become a silent killer stalking people outside and even inside their homes from

exposure to smog from industry or traffic fumes to smoke from cooking the world health organization says seven million people die from air pollution every year nine every ten persons around the wall are breathing air that these know all too respecting the recommend that the guidelines of government job for and quite the w.h.o. says pollution worldwide increased by eight percent and there's a pollution gap between rich and poor countries. data collected shows people in low and middle income countries in southeast asia and the eastern mediterranean are breathing in the most polluted air on the planet while the lowest levels of pollution were measured in cities in europe the americas and the western pacific more encouraging news is cities across the economic spectrum were able to reduce

pollution levels by more than five percent in the past five years for the time being because of the graphics and because of a speed. and because probably if the lack of political will in some countries we are not moving at the speed that we would like to see the w.h.o. says reducing industrial smokestack emissions increasing the use of renewable energy taking mass transit and walking and cycling can expedite efforts to make the air we all breathe cleaner natasha going to aim al-jazeera. india's top coaches criticize the government for failing to protect the taj mahal a model monument has been slowly yellowing because of industrial small while insects also leaving green stains on the walls supreme court justices have given prime minister modi's government a week to respond to touch ma was built in the seventeenth century and is often a stop for world leaders on state visits to india. says he's around the world is

struggling with the effects of climate change one of the biggest challenges is to ensure clean drinking water now and in the future as part of al-jazeera is first series bro bernal's reports from los angeles on the looming problems the millions of californians. an estimated eighteen million people now live in the los angeles metropolitan area on land that was once largely arid this sprawling city has thrived despite the lack of an obvious large source of water nearby los angeles is history is tied with water this place was able to grow and expand and become one of the largest metropolises in the world because we brought water here the second phase of i think los angeles is growth now is going to be with a new normal with the expectation of less water over time and more people how can we sustain economic progress and sustain life itself here in l.a. las water comes in by aqueducts from the san joaquin river delta to the north the

sierra nevada mountains to the east and hoover dam on the colorado river four hundred kilometers away but all three sources are in decline we have seen pressure on climate change which has been reduced in winter snowpack over time the snow in future not falling for it's now time to quickly and the early months and then went dry in the summer months the solutions to los angeles is water dilemma according to its mayor are conservation recycling and better use of local sources of water conservation was proven effective in the recent multi-year drought when l.a. residents reduced water use dramatically we have plenty of water in los angeles it's whether we choose to use it efficiently and effectively. recycling waste water is another challenge about sixty percent of our equivalent water usage every day we treat clean and then wash out to the ocean that means that we could have sixty

percent more water if somehow that water came back to us if we could just take that water make sure as many places do that it is sanitary to drink and then bring that to the homes that we have contrary to popular belief it does rain in southern california but currently that rainwater goes to waste it's one of the perverse things about l.a. is that we've engineered this incredible system that whenever one drop of rain drops outside of our city we know how to grab it take it use it but anything that actually drops inside our city we quickly wash it out to the ocean instead of reusing it for ourselves that's what we're changing and that will ensure a life for you know centuries to come challenges that must be met to keep the city of angels from running dry. los angeles. dozens of migrants from honduras guatemala and el salvador have spent a third now night outside the u.s. force of entry on the mexican border only a handful of people in the so-called migrant caravan which has the president on a trunk of been less across to seek asylum in the u.s.

al-jazeera has manual or apollo spoke to some of them at that makeshift camp in tijuana. over the last month this group of central american migrants has attracted international attention many of them fled their homes in honduras el salvador and guatemala to reach the u.s. southern border. but only a few steps away from where the so-called migrant caravan has camped outside the border crossing dozens of other migrants share similar hopes of reaching a safe place to live. in. this former taxi driver who fears revealing his identity is from the mexican state of the truck on now camping under a plastic tarp with his wife and children he says he was forced from his home after eighteen of his colleagues were killed by criminal groups over a span of two months when the boy with a little bit on the edge you can't work at night even more because you might get shot many people have died and their bodies cut up there have been shootings between criminals were many children lost their lives it's innocent people they get

caught in the crossfire of mexican states like detroit can where many of these people are from so for record rates of homicide and violent crime the stories they tell are no different from those fleeing violence in honduras el salvador or guatemala but have failed to capture the same attention international human rights observers like madeline penman say these families have a right to be heard but mexican asylum seekers and central american asylum seekers fleeing situations where their lives are because they think that a few dozen families is not a threat to the united states is not it is not in any way a criminal act and it is not a crime to seek asylum in the united states especially when your life is at risk due to the migrant caravan has. become the topic of fierce debate among american politicians and media pundits but residents of the one are accustomed to seeing a constant flow of individuals seeking asylum to the u.s. throughout the year to be range from a few dozen to several thousands at

a time while these asylum seekers from mexico and central america continue to wait outside the u.s. border for their names to be called record levels of violence in their home countries ensures that thousands more will take their place after the cameras have gone under it up a little. they want to. a judge dealing with the case of two reuters journalists in myanmar has refused to throw out the testimony of a police whistleblower a journalist were arrested in december while investigating abuses in rock and state their accused of violating state secrecy laws by acquiring official documents but a policeman who was apparent as a witness last month told the court that one of his seeing the offices gave the documents to the journalist to entrap them the officer will testify again next week the highest ranking chinese official to visit north korea in years has arrived in pyongyang china's foreign minister he is there for a two day visit while try to ensure beijing gets a larger role in the next round of nuclear diplomacy with north korea.

relationships have been strained over a course in chinese exports to pyongyang as part of sanctions against its nuclear program last week kim jong un and south korea's president in vowed to completely denuclearize the korean peninsula. now shares in some online dating companies have taken a tumble off the facebook announce that it's creating a new dating feature facebook c.e.o. mark zuckerberg says two hundred million people on facebook can't list themselves as single dating service which will launch soon is seen as a move to rebuild facebook's popularity among younger uses the gaining back trust may be tough for you to ongoing privacy concerns facebook has been hit hard by the kind of journalistic a tobacco which sold the private information of millions of loses shared with a political consultancy company we're noticing a new set of features coming soon around voting. this is going to be is going to be for building real long term relationships are

not just hook ups and what i've learned this year is that we need to take a broader view of our responsibility it's not enough to just build powerful tools we need to make sure that they're used for good and we will for many people in south sudan panning for gold is the only way to make a living but the country's mineral wealth isn't benefiting the government as much as it should as most of the precious metal is quickly smuggled out of the country if a morgan reports from the eastern state of. look at people and his friends come to this stream every day and spend long hours panning for gold they're hoping to find even a few tiny specks of the precious metal to support their families. they did you know no idea. i come here to make a living i sift through the sand and look for gold because it's the only way for me to feed my mother and father if i find some specks of gold i sell it and get money to feed. the twenty year old says he can make about thirty dollars

a day if he finds a gram of gold and in thousand dand where the inflation rate is more than one hundred twenty percent that's a fortune the value of the south sudanese pound has tumbled because of the economic crisis caused by the four year long civil war for many here selling gold to traders is the only way to survive but the government is losing out because of the inflated economy minus sometimes preferred to sell gold to traders themselves without going through a government body the gold is then smuggled across the border and sold for higher prices robbing south sudan of its wealth less than half a dozen companies have licenses to mine for gold in south sudan the civil war has discouraged many companies and miners working for themselves preferred to deal directly with traders who prefer gold instead of the declining currency. but only exams are here so students currency is not accepted everywhere things are becoming

expensive so if we can find any other currency like gold yes we'll take it to keep up with inflation. the size of gold reserves isn't known and fighting has caused more gold to go abroad in the middle of the job really but it does come from uganda and kenya and buy gold from the moments people find gold in abundance but the traders give them thirty dollars while we give them twenty then men as want to come to us we're supposed to get at least five kids every two weeks but we don't get even one we're trying to control the borders but you can't lack of control which makes it easy for prospects are such as look at people to get a better price from creators than they would from the government allowing them to buy more food for their families people morgan al-jazeera. or as more and everything we're covering right here al jazeera dot com is where i need to go all the latest on the top stories but also analysis that takes you behind the headlines don't forget that you can watch us live right here as well.

so just a quick look at the top stories for you now on mean his ruling party appears to have softened on its decision to block the opposition it is best to become the country's next prime minister as a result they call is now suspended thursday's planned protest having already led days of anti-government rallies across the country republican and pays had refused to back him but there are now reports they'll support any candidate vying for the top job if they're able to secure a third of. his supporters say they are determined to see him and power before the pushy and i believe that. will be chosen to become prime minister it's what the people want. this is a people's protest there's no choice we can't stand the situation we're waiting for the ruling party to hand over power just in love the way if needed we will go to

war because we are already at war there is no other way if they don't want it they should go away. at least sixteen people were killed when gunman including a suicide bomber stormed the headquarters of libya's electoral commission in tripoli the office which was set on fire had been registering voters out of elections expected before the end of the year the armed group eisel says it was behind the attack the separatist group has announced it has disbanded in an open letter it declared all of its structures have been completely dissolved the organization violently campaigned for sixty years for an independent state between northern spain and southern france at it killed more than a hundred people between one thousand nine hundred sixty eight and two thousand and ten before declaring a ceasefire a year later the u.k.'s prime minister is facing a revolt from within her own party on bret's it which could potentially bring down her government group of around sixty euro skeptic m.p.'s from two reason may's ruling conservative aussie have spoken out against her favorite plan for

a customs partnership with the e.u. postscripts it. an alarming new report says pollution is killing seven million people globally each year and is still rising the world health organization is also warning that the inequality between the world's rich and poor is widening its latest estimates reveal nine out of ten people worldwide are breathing in air with high levels of pollution it's going to bring you more on that story in the news hour in twenty five minutes time off to inside story. running out of water many parts of the world all drying up after the law.