first of all where the story come from well the details come courtesy of an investigation by the news website the intercept it published a report on how the n.s.a. works closely with one of the world's biggest telecoms companies eighty insee to tap into people's internet communications the report identifies eight heavily secured eighteen c. buildings in major u.s. cities which function as hubs for an n.s.a. surveillance operation code named fairview fairview gives the n.s.a. direct access to rule data passing through the facilities which includes e-mails browsing data and other online activity and remember it was n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden who revealed most of what we know about the agency's operations back in two thousand and thirteen snowden called the intercept report the most important surveillance story you will see for years and it's not just a t.n.t. its customers in the u.s. affected by this is it far from it according to the report eighteen c. processing centers also allow the n.s.a. access to traffic from a partner companies who use their infrastructure for efficiency reasons including

overseas partners such as deutsche telekom india's tata communications and telecom italia a spokesperson for the n.s.a. told the intercept it could neither confirm nor deny its role in an alleged classified intelligence activities moving out of pakistan now and a news outlet that suddenly developed distribution problems shortly after publishing criticism of one of the country's most powerful institutions the military what's the story there it concerns dawn newspaper which is pakistan's oldest newspaper dawn blames pakistan's military for blocking distribution confiscating copies of the paper and even threatening their vendors for the past month especially in military cantonment areas where the army has direct control over most aspects of daily life and we also know that many cable t.v. companies have dropped the door news channel from the services and what kind of explanations have been offered as to why this is happening now well dawn has.

published an editorial on its website saying it's a direct consequence of an interview it published last month for former pakistan prime minister nawaz sharif in which he criticized pakistan's military for conspiring with banned militant groups some of which have been linked with terrorist attacks both in pakistan and across the border in india the editorial is carefully worded referring to elements within all sections of the state that are contravening pakistan's constitution but anyone who follows news there will know this is a reference to the army and the role of the military and government is especially touchy given there's a general election just a month away ok thanks will. for the past year and a half the democratic republic of the congo has been in a state of political unrest the country's president joseph kabila has refused to give up power despite term limits stipulated in the constitution that meant he should have left office by the end of two thousand and sixteen protests have occurred nationwide since then journalists trying to cover the demonstrations have been arrested threatened and harassed by both the police and the intelligence

service while various media outlets have had the plug pulled on their signals their transmissions cut however journalists in the d r c face more than just threats and intimidation eighty percent of congolese media outlets are in the hands of or controlled by politicians that means all kinds of stories of corruption this management and human rights abuses go on told and the d r c is not a small country geographically it's the second biggest in africa and it has the fourth largest population on the continent the listening posts johannah who's now in the state of journalism in the d r c and the media space in which information has become a splintered us politics. depending on the channel congolese viewers tune into to watch coverage of antigovernment protests they will come away with very different versions of the story news outlets

step forward line with president joseph kabila who's a demonstration illegitimates. decision channels focus on what they call the government's use of excessive force on protesters. and that's going to use. easier time way is a journalist at tacoma wa an online outlet that cools for good bill as resignation . system commander works for state broadcaster r t n c they offer conflicting narratives in a media landscape that is heavily politicized sacked journalists every journalist took their own position on the protests the majority of coverage from markets close to the government was each one had the truth about what was really

going on there reporters groton police jeeps with armed soldiers always focusing on the protestors who do that every show the force the police units i was arrested by police it was definitely because i was covering all of this i was throwing accusations at the regime and they needed to sightsee in their face all. you know by this will not least the. no journalists have been arrested or imprisoned because of their work journalists are free to cover any demonstration however certain journalists took advantage and injected in soon jiri words some journalists even used these demonstrations to support the chaos in order to overthrow president kabila but at the state run r.t. and see we can't broadcast just anything we follow the tauriel guidelines so that we show the country at its best and protect its interests we must be portrayed arctic at the same time as being journalists to donegal and east. it's understandable that commandos work for the state run party and see is heavily

politicized what is harder to understand is how according to connally's press freedom organization journalist on down there eighty percent of the d.r.s. sees media outlets have ended up in the hands or under the control of politicians. to get the full picture you have to rewind a couple of decades to when the d r c was known as zaire a one party state ruled by mobutu cesa seiko for more than thirty years of zero zero your sean paul appeared before nine hundred ninety. there were only two or three media outlets all of which acted as the government's megaphone but since nine hundred ninety we've had a period of political openness and mixed blow genre of media hundreds of radio stations newspapers and t.v. channels were created every politician wanted their own media outlet not to disseminate information but rather for political propaganda by the congolese media

is entirely owned by politicians this is the undeniable truth they intervene and define the editorial line they force you to cover some topics and not others for example prioritizing the coverage of political meetings or the companies funding their activities rather than everyday life freedom of the press is completely restricted there is no chance to be independent and this creates big problems. by the way we don't have the financial means to be independent so every journalist is controlled by a politician they try to prefer end us often bribing us with loads of money you have to follow in order to be able to get to wire and so on and that is why journalists cannot deliver objective information of course there are exceptions but for the most part people have to pick sides. political financing and the corruption and brown envelope journalism that go hand in hand are hardly the only problems that media workers in the face journalists are casting government in

a bad light through stories of mismanagement corruption and the current political crisis face a threat of harassment arrest even murder. during these demonstrations many journalists have been arrested beaten up or have the material destroyed it leads to self-censorship because journalists are afraid it goes to show the government's desire to control the flow of information and essentially to stop journalists from doing their job of informing the people immediately if there are consequences for. are the things that you say in the things that you say as the media practitioner yourself not only are you thinking about the largest authority but you're also thinking about your safety that safety can come under threat because of government officials or because of militia militants so course there is always an issue a level of self-censorship that goes on did you see i believe it's completely false

to say that the government has tried to somewhere to muzzle journalists here in the congo journalists are free to carry out their work which is not the case in neighboring countries with least have the freedom to criticize those in power without fear. the so-called freedom to criticize fails to explain the government's habits of cutting off phone and internet services at times of heightened political tensions making it impossible for journalists to disseminate information one station that had its transmission cut moved to build times his radio copy. set up in two thousand and two body united nations and a swiss and geo okapi broadcasts in several local languages and has become a significant source of news for congolese audiences. one funded outlet is not tight to domestic political interest granting its journalists a certain level of independence and credibility. jennifer but cody

a former radio journalist remembers the early days. i arrived in the two thousand and four and what i thought were journalists who were properly salaried who were independent took the editorial line being objective fact based very seriously journalists were largely protected because they were working in the authors of the united nations they were able to get to certain places to be first hand things that other media would struggle because they are there whacking the financial resources or they're not last. in the financial with orses the money was made available because someone has an interest in those journalists covering the news in a third way. that nasty united nations mission in the operates on the invitation of the government even radio copy porters are not immune to interference we thought that they themselves too were under strain increasingly even more so now as the

country becomes more and more politicized and the stakes become higher when you talk about red line issues it is true that even radio cappie is not in the business of doing investigative reporting it is very hard to protect journalists in a situation where those in power are grossly and happy with what is being said to. be radio a copy is under pressure because it lets all sides speak we've often talked with them and they complain more and more about the increasing pressure from congress or thor to use who even threaten to close them down if they don't respect their demands in reality we think this outlet is upsetting with ortiz because of its independence and professionalism if you. were just. that independence is crucial. r d c is a blogging conglomerate founded in two thousand and sixteen mostly funded by the dutch government promising an independent alternative voice the collective provides

a platform for more than one hundred bloggers in eight cities but with just six percent internet penetration the impact of these bloggers on congolese both inside and outside the city remains low. barry's director. says that that is just one of the many challenges that remain before the media can play a central role in changing the course of the d. or c. his future. something has to change in the mainstream media because although we now have the internet and young people use it like never before radio remains the number. one medium radio stations could be big players bringing about change if they were able to choose their own stories independent of political influence i know it's very hard there is so much pressure from both sides but i think they still have a chance to make up for it. and finally a couple of weeks back we touched on the story of the iranian government's plan to ban the messaging service telegraph according to security forces the social media

platform used by more than fourteen million people there was being used to fuel social and political unrest so the authorities are encouraging iranians to switch to another messaging platform called sort of which comes with the government's official seal of approval that provoked an iranian music group band to come up with a new tune a parody whose lyrics poke fun at the government's pro offensive the band based in the islamic republic released their video on telegram and twitter but both platforms are now blocked in iran it has been picked up outside the country however we'll see you next time you're listening past. just too big.

a new series of rewind a care brainer people back to life i'm sorry and brand new updates on the best of al-jazeera documentaries historical daniels' book from bottom to a. huge distance rewind continues with alfred's free press. i'm the money

they didn't talk we know from the topic of what's happening in the adventure sites that have been some changes over the years in a rewind on al-jazeera. in a world where journalism as an industry is changing we have fortunate to be able to continue to expand to continue to have that passenger drive and present the stories in a way that is important to our viewers. everyone has a story worth hearing. and cover those that are often ignored we don't weigh our coverage towards one particular region or continent that's why i joined al-jazeera . where were you when this idea popped into it whether online it's undoubtedly chief cole. over the inequality in our society today or if you join a sunset criminal justice system is dysfunctional right now this is a dialogue what does it feel like bring you have to go back for the first time

everyone has a voice about allow refugees to flee the speakers for change join the conversation on our. political or life. russian jets are blamed for violating a temporary ceasefire in southern syria as thousands of stranded at the border. i'm sam is a this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up in. seven days and still no sign of the missing teenage footballers trapped in

a flooded cave in thailand a truce comes into effect in southern sudan in another attempt to end the five year old civil war plus. i'm andrew thomas name a little about australia's ace coast explaining how roads are transforming the way lifesavers are wish doing people at sea. now russian jets are being blamed for violating a temporary ceasefire in syria's daraa province that's left more people dead the truce came into effect friday midnight local time the syrian government led offensive has killed around one hundred civilians and displaced an estimated one hundred sixty thousand rebels and now in talks with russian officials about brokering a peace deal with bashar al assad's government meanwhile fears grow over humanitarian catastrophe on the borders of israel and jordan both countries are refusing to open

their borders as displaced people continue to amass danis on the syrian side of the border with jordan. now. we're here at the border crossing that many syrian refugees have used in the past to cross from syria into jordan today thousands of civilians mainly women and children again others along this border hoping to be able to cross into jordan. ever calls his highness the king of jordan to give them permission to cross over these families have nothing left for them to ask to cross that border to escape death they've been displaced from areas that have been hit by thousands of airstrikes in the past few days and they're now looking to cross to safety we've witnessed the tragic events the civilians have been through and their only demand now is to go in the direction of jordan the area is meant to be part of a deescalation zone negotiated by the united states and russia turkey's foreign

minister says the two countries have a responsibility to end the fighting with the united states and russia have reached an agreement regarding the area in syria they reach an agreement for deescalation zones and according to the deal opposition forces would be deployed on one side while syrian regime forces would be on the other but the syrian regime forces launched an attack on the other side so who made this agreement the united states and russia they both have responsibility and this needs to stop karl schembri is from the norwegian refugee council he says aid agencies are ready to provide services if jordan lets refugees cross its border. we know that they are lacking the most basics water food. shelter even they are stranded there and they are facing some of the most dire conditions now it's summer it's getting quite there it's already thirty five degrees that will get hotter and in

the next few days and they've been fleeing from extreme as creation or fighting in their areas they're tired they're exhausted and we still can't reach them the best that we can offer to these people is still holds them and the safety and security of a country like jordan and then we can step up our services and say this country we appeal to the international community not to abandon jordan jordan needs all the help possible right now in this moment of crisis it is also going through a very tough economic moment with a lot of unemployment and people who are on the poverty line here so of course jordan needs all the all this other directly together with the syrians who are now fleeing from this fighting that is has decimated their neighborhoods has been lost secretary general says the group will help return some of the syrian refugees in lebanon to their country. says he'll work with both the syrian and lebanese government to coordinate voluntary returns more than one million syrians have fled

to neighboring lebanon to escape the violence rights groups fear a return of refugees could be premature so. we will communicate directly with the syrian refugees in establish a mechanism to welcome their applications we will formalise and offer them to the syrian government authorities and in cooperation with the lebanese general security that is taking responsibility we will also work to return the biggest number of displaced syrians who want to go back safely. it's now been a week since twelve young footballers and their coach went missing in a cave in northern thailand heavy rain flooded the cave leaving them trapped inside more than one thousand divers soldiers and border guards have joined the search for top british cave divers along with some u.s. military personnel who are also involved a new opening to the on the ground cave complex was discovered on friday raising hopes the boys may still be found alive it's called high blood has more from chang

grind. you can hear the hum of that big diesel generator behind me that orange structure that's good news and we heard that again saturday morning as we climbed up this hill to the mouth of the cave that means that the pumps are working pumping out the water in the mouth of the cave right here we know that tide navy seal divers are standing by the sea as that water gets down to a level that safe for them to go back in they continue with their exploration going further into the cave and from this side that's one second prong today is exploring the whole vertical hole that chimney that was discovered on friday that is the other side of the search and rescue operation that they're focusing today on saturday now because there is a better visibility helicopters are going to be able to bring a quickly up to that location up in the hills we know that the chief of the national police here in thailand is already up there orchestrating that part of the search and rescue operation what they're looking to do they have drilling equipment scanning equipment they want to try to get down into the bottom of that of that

tunnel of that chimney to see if it reaches into the cave complex if it does they can drop equipment they can drop supplies and then hopefully climbers so that's the two focuses today again still no definitive proof definitive evidence any clues to where these boys in the coach might be but at least on these two fronts because the weather is holding out that they're able to push forward a ceasefire deal to end south sudan's four and a half years civil war has come into force president salva kiir and the rebel leader react machar signed the agreement in sudan's capital khartoum on wednesday it calls for the opening of corridors for humanitarian aid. release of political prisoners and the forming of a transitional government within four months at least fifty thousand people have been killed and about four million displaced since hostilities began in two thousand and thirteen al-jazeera morgan has covered the conflict in south sudan extensively she explains the fragility of the current cease fire agreement this is not the first ceasefire agreement to be signed since the conflict started in twenty states and this is. this is

a my think remain to be signed and it's not clear yet whether it is going to hold a lot of agreements have been violated nearly every single agreement have been signed between the two parties and several other factions have been violated sometimes in less than twenty four hours after they resigned so it's not clear yet whether this would. i would actually hold because what both sides said is that they do not want their forces to attack and less attacks and is their attack so basically in defense and that's what they've been saying all along you will find a cease fire that is signed and then they will come out and say we have been attacked and we fought back in self-defense and the cease fires were late and so it's not clear if this one is going to hold but people do have cautious optimism that this one will be this could be a little bit different because it has been brokered by sudan not by the regional bloc i get and that it was signed by the two leaders it was signed by the president himself and the leader of the opposition and the representative of the south sudan's opposition alliance so so just because their top figures who have signed

the cease fire they're hoping that it might be a bit stronger than the previous these fires. the united nations envoy to yemen says both warring parties in her day there agreed to allow the u.n. to have a role in managing the city's red seaport it follows more than two weeks of fighting since the saudi u.a.e. coalition launched a military operation to take the city from hooty rebels the offensive sparked fears of a humanitarian catastrophe most of the aid and food entering yemen comes through the port. in the yemeni capital thousands of people protested against the saudi m r r t led campaign the protestors are calling on the international community to do more to stop the conflict demonstrations are planned in south korea against the number of yemenis arriving there to seek asylum more than five hundred yemenis have flown to jeju island since december on friday the government held an emergency meeting to deal with the crisis

craig loosened travel to jeju to meet the refugees. a kitchen is the last place adnan imagined himself working. didn't choose this job but i'm in the immigration and they own of this place because me and it turned out that it was a restaurant so. a qualified health and safety officer he worked for a petroleum company in yemen but was forced to flee the war after he was threatened and tortured by sympathizers of the rebels. and then fled to malaysia on a tourist visa but soon ran out of money. in december it opened a new route to jeju island offering adnan and other yemenis the chance to into south korea through the island's visa free status the sudden influx of yemenis has overwhelmed the local community and the government is acting to stem the flow. in april south korea's justice ministry banned yemenis and j.g. from traveling to other parts of the country and earlier this month excluded yemen

from the island's visa waiver program the more than four hundred eighty yemenis still here and they are stuck until the government decides what to do with them the percentage of successful asylum seekers in south korea is around just four st could . take the time to board if you look at just twenty seventeen it's just one percent so the number of applicants are rising with the rate of acceptance is dropping. many refugees now live in cramped conditions up to twenty min in this under grandchild charity and aid a largely grassroots. there is a negative sentiment towards islam and public opinion so that's something that we need to consider in the long term. more than half a million people have signed a petition urging the government to revise its refugee law. the local government is hoping some including adnan to find jobs. council restaurants are asked if we could

hire some of their given our labor shortage at first they didn't even occur to me they were refugees or that there was a civil war raging in yemen it was outside my scope of interest the refugees we spoke to said that brother be at home in yemen and stuck on what they regard as an expensive holiday resort island because of we have this in yemen so we're going back to yemen because you have to live in your country will you grow up with a new music or where you have no friends where you have lived. it is expected it will take up to eight months to process the refugee applications. craig lease an al-jazeera j. jew island south korea. garza's health minister says two people including a thirteen year old boy have been killed by israeli gunfire the boy was reportedly shot in the head during friday protests on the border with israel more than three hundred palestinians were injured in weekly protests at the border since my.