the u.s. government may well end up being pointed at u.s. soldiers. but america's secret pipeline to syria. months of speculation and in the democratic republic of congo joseph kabila won't run for president in upcoming elections. live from london also coming up. the red cross says sunday's deadly earthquake in indonesia was exceptionally destructive more than one hundred fifty thousand have been left homeless. georgia marks ten years since the war with russia which left the country dismembered and two of its states occupied. and argentine women rally

for their rights to have abortions and a polarized parliament. would begin in the democratic republic of congo where the government has announced president joseph kabila will not be standing in december that action. to step down from his position in twenty sixteen but the election to replace him has been repeatedly delayed triggering violent protests in which dozens were killed there was widespread speculation that he would try to seek a third term instead he's backing his former interior minister emanuel diary who's under european union sanctions for an edge human rights abuses. it's joins us now from contrasts and this is a name come as a surprise and says more about his politics. i mean is that my first thing that we're right outside the electoral commission all

the rest of that recent meeting is kind of this he's been there for about two hours now people of course is also waiting for an event yes really this name comes as a surprise so many people several names have been located in the last twenty two hours of this name and he's name was not then feel very few moments to a press conference that was addressed by the government spokesperson but monday so a lot of people saying that if the prize but as you mentioned he is a full month interior minister thank you the secretary of the the p.r.g. ruling pocket this is the president. in the coalition is also a full month. pregnant woman a province which is the president well. in that. very loyal to president have been a lot in line with. a lot of people are talking saying that he is i think

back not just for the president but also. of the military because he comes from a hometown the home province of several feet and to get him out of a general does while people also saying that he is gone want to compromise candidate. a lot of leaders there are comfortable with him that's why they don't need that candidate and how the opposition parties and companies reacting to this news. for several positions. this is the plot for democrats in congress actually to become the new people. it is because of the pressure that the congolese people on the president that is why the president has decided to stand down to step aside and he. meant in a diary the opposition saying this is

a good thing revolting the statement wrong the catholic church saying that this is a picnic. in democracy the catholic church had been a very vocal against president. actually in the last few months when the president was not here on the intention of keeping the country. then that is a good thing and it would only add some of the shows that they have been having a lot. preference or thank you very much indeed. one hundred fifty thousand people have been left homeless by the earthquake in the indonesian island of long book the red cross has described the magnitude seven quake as exceptionally destructive at least one hundred thirty one people have been killed and that number is expected to rise as rescuers struggle to reach all those in need said reports from the remote footage of the two in the west of brown book

where many a still waiting for help to arrive. the road to the remote village. is impassable by car. has come down from the hills to look for help. he shows us destruction that government officials to see. what i see now is that all the help is focused in the north of lombok but here in this remote area away from the main road we also need help. on the third day after a powerful quake struck the island so vipers are growing increasingly impatient. they're hungry and thirsty. for us living in the mountains it's very difficult to find clean water and it's impossible for us to take the sick to a doctor food is also hard to find because we're not earning any money everyone is still in shock. how daptone and provide he had only just moved into

their new home after getting married a month ago it took more than seven years to build their house while going into the mountains to share extend of the damage of sunday's earthquake becomes clear in isolated villages like this one away from the epicenter many have been left homeless as well while aid is now entering the island of long book many here fear there be forgotten. while many people in the room areas are still waiting for help some aid is arriving had improvised shelters further down the mountain and officials say most donated goods have yet to be distributed. there's only very little aid but if we distribute it now it won't be enough for everyone so we're gathering it first and then we'll hand it out. but people can't wait much longer the little food they had this running out fast and many are in need of medical treatment they feel they're being ignored step fasten al-jazeera up with

ike but. australia's most populous state new south wales has been declared entirely in drought farm reservoirs have dried up crops are failing and farmers are facing ruin the government has released a one hundred forty million dollars aid package for farmers and it's giving them permission to shoot kangaroos that are competing for livestock with livestock for sparse pasture. pools. it's an overwhelming drought these cattle swarm around a want to truck in new south wales looking for relief from the devastating join us the ground has become too bear for grass to grow and the weather too extreme to predict farmers in eastern australia say the drought has taken over turning one's fertile lands into dust bowls chemical little going on no food like family very long. where we go from here over. to keep cattle alive some farmers

have been forced to ship in hay and grain from other parts of the country that is expensive the national government is pledging nearly one hundred fifty million additional dollars to help offset the cost this winter as they particularly cool you have to go back to knowledge in sixty five to see another winter like this one and you've got to remember that some of our farmers haven't really recovered from the last without some farms are doing better than others but stories of desperation of repeated across new south wales nearly eighty thousand people in the state depend on the agriculture industry contributing more than ten billion dollars to its annual economy but the drought is affecting more than forming the government says it's concerned about farmers mental health and the isolation of those who live in remote areas i find droughts a little bit like cancer a sort of eight so why aren't you it just gets drier and drier and more severe and more severe and impacting on your life

a lot worse. a dry spell with no signs of ending with entire farming communities welcoming support from local leaders but hoping for help from mother nature cuts a low post adriaan al-jazeera. georgia's marking ten years since a war with russia but left the country dismembered twenty percent of the country remains effectively under moscow's control a decade after the weeklong war in two thousand and eight flags are flying at half mast in the country and have been protests against russia china reports. at a military cemetery outside tbilisi. needs it has come to remember some of those who fought and died ten years ago she and her family lost their home in georgia's brief war with russia in august two thousand and eight. american now lives in a settlement built to house twenty thousand i.d.p.'s or internally displaced people

their homes and villages was swallowed by a forty five boundary separating georgia from the russian backed breakaway regions of south of setia and up cars here. some of the i.d.p.'s preferred to forget what happened children are not towards their families history of war and occupation forgetting unbelievable to me. many georgians refuse to forget outside the building that was the russian embassy until the two countries diplomatic ties after the war they demand that russia end what they call its occupation. it's our history we are eight european countries and it will be part of you i want to go all the time. but russia shows no sign of withdrawing thousands of its troops stationed in the breakaway regions despite being required to do so under the e.u. brokered deal that ended the war and there's good reason for that. war is

russia far more a loss of diplomatic ties with its former soviet republic far more. diplomatic protest is the expansion of nato taking in georgia as a member and bringing that western alliance right up the russia's doorstep. nato has promised to georgia in early two thousand and eight of a fast track to membership later fuse that made war inevitable. this week as george. and nato hold joint military exercises russia's prime minister dmitry medvedev has warned of a quote horrible new conflict. i spoke to a former georgian foreign minister if we stand where we stand today we will always be vulnerable and we will always be blackmailed by russia so the only way is to be way ahead to join europe to join nato and to be protected democracy like other

eastern europeans. there were fears that the war ten years ago would pick russia and nato against one another over georgia that remains an alarming possibility jonah how al-jazeera to policing zimbabwe's main opposition party says it will challenge the results of last week's presidential election in court in d.c. lund says they have quote mammoth evidence of electoral fraud president. is scheduled to be reno berated on sunday after emerging as the winner of last monday's vote the opposition says he can't be sworn in while facing this legal challenge. a photojournalist detained in bangladesh is back in police custody after being given the all clear in a medical examination showed two alarm alleges that he was tortured in jail where he's been held since sunday alarm was taken into police custody hours after doing an interview with al jazeera about demonstrations against the government human rights watch is calling for an investigation into allegations that he was abused

saudi arabia has stopped all medical treatment programs in canada and says it will transfer all saudi patients from hospitals there so this is move by the kingdom after a diplomatic spat broke out between the two countries on sunday it's already frozen all new trade investment and educational agreements riyadh says it could take further measures of the canada call for the release of jailed civil society activists. so some of the programs the israeli parliament debates the controversial new law which minorities say makes them second class citizens. but. the message from democrats to republicans in ohio we'll have the latest on the special election that's too close to coal.

hello there we've seen lots of thunder and lightning over parts of turkey recently the satellite picture is picking up the cloud responsible you can see it over the northern parts there and actually then it works its way eastwards towards the caspian sea so we're seeing lots of thunder and lightning also heavy downpours too and some hail as well and that system sticks around as we had three thursday and into friday so expect some more very heavy downpours hip on friday where it's also expecting some showers a bit further south so for the northern parts of iran there could be one or two downpours here as well elsewhere there it's just fine and hot couple of to around thirty six degrees and for us in baghdad we'll be getting to around forty four now here in doha we've had winds from the northwest over the past few days and so that has ensured it's not going to shoot there with the changing now though so on thursday and friday we drawn in for a more easterly direction and that will drag in more humidity so expect things to be a bit more sticky over the next few days further south you can see a good deal of cloud hair over parts of i man into yemen and the southern parts of

saudi so obviously more humidity here and it will be a bit sticky and maybe a bit of drizzle around the coast as well down towards the southern parts of africa you see some heavy rain here over parts of east and south africa and that will gradually pull away eastwards as we head into friday. with. oh firebrand loved your people and went on talking about passing women's liberation . three victories for anybody sexual assault continued an iconic feminist and seminal right away for solution yes we need to do something won't waste all media on not. maybe has sound goes head to head with me i can't do anything else on the.

top stories. on the european union sanctions for alleged human rights abuses or stand in december's a presidential election in the democratic republic of congo comes off the government announced president joseph kabila will not enter the ballot. the red cross is described sunday's earthquake on the indonesian island of lombok as exceptionally destructive one hundred fifty thousand people have been left homeless and the death toll has risen to one hundred thirty one. australia's most populous state new south wales has been declared entirely in drought problem as are reservoirs of dried crops are failing and farmers are facing ruin. such as in

argentina debating a bill that would legalize abortions during the first fourteen weeks of pregnancy if passed the d.p. catholic nation would become the third country in latin america to legalize abortion broadly in america added to this year newman joins us live from. hello laurie we're us on an avenue that is filled as you may see with people wearing green their hair is green their faces are painted green and of course they're wearing green courtships which represent the pro-abortion rights movement here in argentina about two blocks to my right there are people wearing blue they represent to those who are against it and the congress building where the senators are debating at this hour whether or not to approve this controversial bill is directly behind me joining me to talk about the importance of the debate and of the vote is my dear lebed skee she is the executive director of amnesty international here in argentina my good thank you for joining us first i'd like to ask you why is

this such a divisive and at the same time such an important issue for arjen times well first of all abortion argentina is the first course of time on mortality so can we have a high level off plan the spine of your son and thirds of course is the way to advance in the woman's right to tim i'm forever honesty is the depth of i was democracy yet from what we're hearing it looks like the senate unlike the lower house of call which is going to vote against this bill how do you explain that well this is really when you see some really. really bad situation because as you know the senate represent the provinces an east south the temper sent on of the of the population and they have dull centers that would represent the ten percent who are voting against so we snuck is this not that they have repressed and been all the people that are here that this is they put this time or acid koppen some some money

some months before so we're not going to have a law because although some mates who have also interest for example they have that they have interest to be governor see they probably sees where the church is very important and has a lot of influence. they don't have any incentive to vote in favor of the stuff well what about all these women and men there who are here supporting the pro-abortion just lation what is going to be their reaction if and when the vote goes the way that it looks like it will from what we're hearing while at the school would we really don't know what is going to happen he says and they'd make some changes to the law the law is going to that there will be some murder then we teena five days that is the best the we of we come have if they both really against a lot of people here are going to be disappointed but mexia we have a net shot here and that people are going to vote so it's not over it's no over and of course they're going to vote against gays these against the senator who did this

because they are responsible and that i know i saw the way the press did in on the fact that they could to power play this game he's going to have a sponsor sponsor really just what tell me something there are a lot of people the tens of thousands of people who barged in blue who are against this what do you say to them they believe that this is a tantamount to murder if that's who passed this bill the way it is now well first of all i found most of the national force would respect. what everyone want to think about in self bad honestly they really they really don't understand what this noise about this law is not about morality of religion are these noyce about human price of women we still use about absolutely safe abortions to still access to has for women it's also for them because they also have. an abortion in any case with their limits get thank you very much we have to leave it there well we

are going to be keep bringing you i have to a breast of all that's happening we don't believe the vote will happen until after midnight local time and the people here say they're in it for the long haul back to you laura bush in human thank you very much. israel's parliament has debated a controversial law is to close the country a jewish state of the nation state law which passed last month hebrew the so official language i mean once but protests against the legislation which critics say renders minority communities second class citizens stephanie decker has more from west jerusalem the debate happening inside the knesset inside the israeli parliament isn't going to change anything to the law today but it highlights the controversy that this law has caused debate going on inside the knesset heated debate we heard from my t.v. he's a palace soon israeli member of knesset saying that this is an apartheid law this is what m.k. said voted for he said that this is a policy that has been inherent over the years when it comes to treating the

palestinian citizens of israel and others but it is now ingrained in its lord he said only by standing together jewish people and the arabs wouldn't be able to be overturned it highlights the concern not only from within here from within the citizens of israel also jews have said that this is a is a threat to what israel says is its democratic and equal basis of the establishment of the state it is also called prompted a lot of criticism when it comes to the international community and we've also seen tens of thousands of people come to the streets last saturday tens of thousands of citizens of druze also israelis packed would be in square in tel aviv we are expecting similar size this saturday in tel aviv called for by israeli citizens palestinian citizens of israel and also many others israelis we've been speaking to say that this is a law that is discriminatory and they do not agree with it. china is slapping additional tariffs on twenty five percent are on sixteen billion dollars worth of

u.s. imports the new tariffs for impact few steel products cars and medical equipment is in response to similar measures announced by the u.s. which will come into effect later in august or china correspondent agent brown has more on the escalating trade tensions between the world's largest economies so as advertised tariffs of twenty five percent now being slapped on sixteen billion dollars worth of chinese imports two hundred and seventy nine products in all ranging from things like motorcycles and tractors to electrical parts those tariffs will take effect on august twenty third just over two weeks from now there has been reaction in state controlled media on monday the people's daily carried an editorial accusing the united states of being two faced and of lacking sincerity and then on wednesday the same newspaper carried a very long article using

a metaphor to describe the current situation which seems to prepare the chinese people for what could be difficult months and possibly years ahead the article said that you know without wind and rain there can be no rainbow it was a mild warning but a warning nevertheless turkey has pledged to continue buying natural gas from iran despite the new sanctions imposed by the united states iran's foreign minister is also warned that sanctions will not stop his country from exporting oil saying it's impossible to cut iran are on tuesday president on chant warned the world against doing business with iran after imposing what he called the most biting of sanctions ever. those sanctions are also worrying iran's regional neighbors especially india which imports a large amount of its oil from there and as andy thomas explains india's relationship with iran is far more than just economic. few of those filling up at this new delhi petrol station have

a view on iran's nuclear program nor the merits of the deal to control it but the renewal of u.s. sanctions on iran could be felt here india is the second biggest importer of iranian oil after china eighteen percent of its oil comes from iran. but when petrol prices go up it's the common people like me and others who are affected. india also exports to iran some to see more rice the reimposition of sanctions so far does not come of food nor oil the full extent of what the united states expects of other countries would be you know until november india is hoping exemptions can be made a waiver from the sanctions regime or freedom from consequences if it does continue to trade with iran. but indian exports to the us to twenty five times those to iran it can't afford to risk them the door does and will be taken by the woman it will be in the national interest it is a very very difficult choice we have to strike

a balance between two off my bike no one of my started you know one of my main business partner india has close ties to iran president has an rouhani came to new delhi in february prime minister narendra modi went to tear on two years ago their country's ties our strategic as well as economic sanctions on iran are just a matter of money for india this is about more than the price of petrol rights there is a geo political dimension to the us sanctions regime could fall in. india is the major investor in this port in iran southcoast it gives india access by sea to places which because pakistan blocks land route it can't reach otherwise you don is important from the geographical point of fuel india looking at afghanistan when we're looking at central asia so we have the hub when we talk about the connectivity projects. investment in iran is also politically strategic china's

so-called belt in a road investment initiative gives its influence across central asia if india caught rival its people here believe china's influence will grow. little is clear yet u.s. and indian officials will meet in september to discuss what the full u.s. sanctions regime will mean here it could hurt under thomas al jazeera new delhi. in the u.s. state of ohio democrats are biting at the heels of their republican rivals in a special election for the house of representatives it's usually a safe republican seat but the party's candidate only has a small lead and absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted john hendren reports. the election wasn't even supposed to be close but after a long election night it was too close to call republican troy boulders and held the narrowest of leads over democrat danny o'connor in a special election for ohio's twelfth congressional district i'm going to promise

to you that i'm going to work relentlessly really let mostly for this well congressional district that. america has on the right path and we're going to keep it going about well. in this heavily republican district o'connor and his party called it a win of sorts in way with his campaign claiming provisional in absentee ballots could still make the difference it was anything but a concession speech can you believe how close this is. in a tie ball game and you made this possible the grass roots individuals who've been knocking on doors fighting for the future of our country. in this sprawling landscape of ohio farmland in suburbs just one democrat has won here

since one thousand thirty nine. republican state legislators in ohio redrew his district to make it more republican in two thousand and eleven so democrats say even a modest loss is a harbinger of a coming democratic wave in the november midterm elections this should have been a slam dunk for the republicans the fact that it's not is already saying that again . president donald trump won here by a levon percentage points in two thousand and sixteen when polls show democrat danny o'connor in a dead heat with republican troy boulders in this year trump two and two to the road troy both are said is the guy is the guys it's going to do things so i got to work truck side groups poured millions of dollars into the race most for pro balders in ads but shows that we have a grassroots enthusiasm about our campaign we have folks across our district who are excited my opponent needs washington d.c. to come in and bail him out in a way that we don't democrats need twenty three seats to take over the house of

representatives in each side has one more chance to win this district the winner only holds office until january now the two candidates returned to the campaign trail to face each other again in the november midterm elections john hendren westerville ohio. the top stories on. the government in the democratic republic of congo has announced won't stand for reelection and the months of speculation about whether he would defy term limits and stay in power instead it will back his former interior minister in one year and a diary is under european union sanctions for alleged human rights abuses is due to step down in two hundred sixteen but the election to replace him was repeatedly delayed catherine so it has more on should appointment the former governor.

then. the president problems as well as very loyal to the president of the law agrees very much to be my thinking epeat that become president he's just going to continue in line with the policies of the president and he's also told that the bill to the military to quote this province when it comes from is also a province where we're all he and powell a general de long as well he also told compromise. the law while you stand the president met with what they find out on him. well one hundred fifty thousand people have been left homeless by sunday's earthquake in indonesia island of longbox at least one hundred thirty one people have been killed rescuers are struggling to reach all those in need and residents in remote areas of town around zero they are running out of food and medicine the red cross described the magnitude seven quake as exceptionally destructive australia's most populous state

has declared a major drought is the driest spell in new south wales in more than fifty years affecting all eight hundred thousand square kilometers of the province from reservoirs have dried up and crops are failing the government has announced a one hundred forty million dollars aid package for farmers. zimbabwe's main opposition party says it will challenge the results of last week's presidential election in court and the m.d.c. alliance says they have mammoth evidence of electoral fraud president. is due to be written don't sunday after narrative winning last sunday's vote for the opposition says he can't be sworn in facing this legal challenge as a top stories do stay with us inside stories up next the news after year after that i have no.

protests in bangladesh after more road deaths with students demanding law changes the government says political rivals are stirring up trouble ahead of an election what's driving the public anger and is it just about politics this is inside story . hello and welcome to the program i'm a homage i'm joined the deaths of two teenagers by a speeding bus in dhaka has sparked days of protests in bangladesh thousands of students have blocked roads and stopped traffic demanding tougher penalties for those who cause.