these are pro-democracy pro alexion protests that we've been seeing over the last couple weeks and that's because there have been these delays in kind of talking back and forth when it will actually happen so you know that's kind of been ramping up we went to one such protest just last saturday at university here in bangkok and there were probably maybe two hundred people there again these are small protests compared to what we saw just before the coup five years ago but there are smaller protests defying legal order for them not to gather and not to protest they still want out they still called for elections and just as of you know this morning probably they are planning another protest this saturday if these elects the election commission didn't announce the date but obviously now they're not going to go out to the streets because that election day has now been set so that indeed as the campaigning begins for the moment scott thanks very much voting has been delayed several times by the military which has come down on dissent and free speech scott mentioned the election date announcement comes to bodies anti-government activists were found in the river reports of michael.

mutilated bound and wrapped the bodies were found on the banks of the mekong river in northeastern thailand police confirmed their identities but as for the d.n.a. results we have received a formal result from the friend department the police hospital they were anti monarchy and anti-government activists known as push and cuss along after a two thousand and fourteen coup in thailand they fled to neighboring laos where they disappeared from their homes in december along with the man they worked for. dan. regularly posted online videos and comments critical of the military government and monarchy at least two other critics have gone missing from laos in recent years leading to the accusation from dissidents that this is the work of the military whose stated aim is to defend the monarchy retire fishel say they weren't involved in the disappearances the discovery of the bodies comes as thailand

prepares for the coronation of the king in may criticizing or defaming the monarchy carries a jail term of up to fifteen years for each count hundreds of people have left thailand before being arrested and are now living as fugitives. fled more than eight years ago. they're going to. go. in there and. are. going to. so. i know. many many. thai or thora he say they'll work but they allow counterparts to investigate the murders but given who they were and the nature of their disappearance and death the families may be waiting a long time for justice wayne hey al jazeera bangkok. nigeria's anti trafficking agency says that it's found thousands of missing girls and women in southern mali many had been sold as sex slaves in gold mining camps the agency says there are

between twenty to forty five thousand kidnapped women in mali it originally raised the problem ten years ago it says plans and i want a way to return the women to nigeria this girls where exploited by virtue of the new ability from the grewal communities in various parts of nigeria six different states to be precise and tricked into going into mali giving the impression that doing to be getting jobs in the hotels and the usual story some of them are actually we're actually up doctored they are robbed school uniforms on their way to school or back from school as snatched by the kidnappers or traffickers. zimbabwe's president is promising to investigate accusations of assault and torture by his security forces i'm assuming god is calling for a national inquiry after violence during protests against steep increases in fuel prices but rights groups fear nothing will change or metastasize more from harare.

ed more says he doesn't want his family to visit him in hospital he's afraid that could be victimized for associated with someone police suspect participated in anti-government protests a short trip to dallas which. is. the business. was in it in civilian clothes. we should close range from. last week suburbans demonstrated against a fuel price hike which had more than doubled overnight the government responded with force more than six hundred people were arrested in the east zimbabwe's human rights commission says more people died in last week's protest injuring orcus post-election violence the use of excessive force especially the use of life i mean it's not called for when dealing with civilians they should be other methods of

controlling crowds and we believe that we did very well trained police force in the country julius short of his son's death was senseless he was shot outside a police station calvin was twenty two years old and loved playing football in zimbabwe humanity is a lost. nor life he's being safe. is being wasted. he's listening. to the crap in the same government that it's a new dispensation dispensation we're going to do lip licking whatever people are amused was. thrown in the dustbin. are now using bush tactics president took power for robert mugabe just over a year ago he promised to promote democracy and freedom of speech some zimbabweans are disillusioned. he didn't do that.

just saying. it. you see not killed it. so we are. riveted to the president has cut short a foreign trip and promised to investigate the crackdown by security forces zimbabweans are watching him after last week's violence some say they think speaking out against a government that could come after them had. had open to more ahead here on the al-jazeera news our including we want. the u.s. senate will try once again to end the longest partial government shutdown in american history also. in sports fans pay tribute to the premier league footballer who still missing after a plane crash. and

estimated forty thousand have taken refuge in india india's nationalist hindu government says i have no right to demand refugee status since december india has deported at least one thousand three hundred back to bangladesh. coaxes bazaar in bangladesh for one hundred twelve dollars a head smuggler in india promised a way out of the fear that had begun to suffocate cham she died and her family. one of his dish to the new one for hangers i hated and abused in india they were among forty thousand rohingya refugees in india human rights groups say in recent years the government's welcoming policy has shifted to a hostile one in october india deported seven rohingya men back to me and mar a country b. un is accused of committing genocide against the persecuted muslim minority since

december the refugee relief and repatriation commission says india has deported at least thirteen hundred rohingya refugees to bangladesh. in the beginning we weren't harassed but at a later stage were constantly being monitored so we got scared that they might send us back to me and mar since we didn't want to go there we decided to cross the border from here refugees describe a campaign of fear mongering harassment and intimidation that's terrifying people enough to abandon their lives in india and sneak into bangladesh that has been a campaign against by these hidden google groups to create an impression that they are terrorists and therefore there have been attacks on. india's ruling party says the rowing does have no right to demand refugee status and india is not a signatory to the one nine hundred fifty one refugee convention there is

a security aspect old school with regard to their linkages with been used as groups that are in the middle to india unfoldment and by all based out of pakistan and the last part is that end of the day that these citizens are also leading to problems with the local community. it's been three months and b. gum and her family are adjusting to home inside this sprawling refugee camp her study argued yes we suffered over there as well as here we are facing many difficulties despite the hardships of refugee life she and other recent arrivals from india say they're experiencing something new the comfort of being surrounded by other growing does and a peace that comes with living in a muslim country natasha going to name al-jazeera cox's bazaar bangladesh let's bring in a firm in new delhi he's the chief of these the cart foundation in india which has

been working with ring of refugees and those seeking asylum good to have you with us live on al-jazeera let's just begin with what all the obligations of the indian government when anybody asks for asylum regardless of india not being a signatory apparently to the one nine hundred fifty one refugee convention. yeah but then in twenty sixteen in new york an addition we've also made in one hundred sixty three countries that by dissipated including india what the president did by as minister of state for to extend their affairs so that declared. that all the countries who are president he had in new york by the declared by thing of education there would be a specialist steps for looking after that if you would you then migrants and would all saw give them basic amenities of life including but equal in fact is an

education and headed i think it is your india is to that extent practically a part and parcel of the united nations declared on human rights which was passed in new york in twenty sixteen because. an old saw in. is also bone bridge on constitution constitution of india is also saying irrespective of the national affiliation their basic amenities of life have to be provided to what is on the indian soil. that that has should not be any effort and discrimination in dealing with different kinds of coming from different regions will diverge so therefore in these practically bound and you would also have to share that some time ago supreme court of india also appointed the national level the monitors in order monitors out of the government offices to look to ensure that the basic

amenities provided the ruling get if you are g.'s if not. i would say that the the police finish sorting. basically. you sort of set the groundwork why did you think the indian government themselves decided to deal with the ruling and now they've been in office for four years may or months away now from a general election a skeptic could make a connection by. actually your question is well founded what we have to have to share it is that the president political dispensation which is ruling the nation for the last four and our three years or so that for that there are certain basic. so you would have been seeing

a lot of different kinds of politics leading to polarized wars so this dealing with in a special manner in a different manner we're doing it if you use those laws where part and parcel of that actually like that in government also is not a new man or not and do you manage that crowd or not and doing particularly but then there is a basic. on i would say a manifesto. as but the manifesto they have to keep on making taking some action here and there so that in the media there is some coverage and dealing yeah you would have appreciated that yesterday sending back seven drilling. is neither here nor there but then a statement has been a political statement has been made shortly but of course has been served as far as it is going to but then. going on

a very valid india and different places that are still getting educated so it's not making any difference at the ground level but accept that the political statement has to be taken care of and the interesting times are certainly going to touch and relax especially with us being quite a hot topic for the moment thanks so much for joining us from new delhi so. now it's the second day of the annual meeting of the world economic forum in davos the german chancellor angela merkel and japanese prime minister shinzo abi are expected to speak they're likely to discuss concerns over a trade war and a slowing global economy but leaders including u.s. president donald trump and the u.k. prime minister treason may not attending the forum our diplomatic editor james bays joins me now from davos a great deal of political food for thought to talk about and think about for those that are attending davos chains. yes absolutely so political and business leaders here but also many other come here

some that come here a human rights groups because they want to raise the issue of human rights and raise it with the dignitaries that are here the president of zimbabwe was going to be here he's not here one of those human rights leaders this could be no idea who is the sectional that amnesty international can i ask you about the human rights situation around the world in a moment but let's focus on two of the stories we've already covered in this bulletin which are of concern first sudan how worried are you about the situation there this situation sudan has been bad for some time. people need to recognize that for those protests to have been organized the level of pain that the sudanese people have been feeling economically it's been devastating the response of the state has been disproportionate overwhelmingly so and been must remind those have the three of the basic freedoms that was always defend is the freedom of association right of people to form organizations and fight for what they want the

freedom of assembly that's the right to protest and the freedom of expression the right to be able to get your stories in the media and these three freedoms in sudan stimulus diktat and we call on the sudanese government to really pull back from the use of suppression right now to respect the human rights obligations and to ensure that the right to peaceful protest legitimate peaceful process you know is respected the other end of the continent the context and the history is different the picture is very similar in zimbabwe though the situation in zimbabwe is pretty similar in fact in some ways much worse if you look at the details of the depression because we've had situations now where young kids sixteen years old been thrown in prison we've talking about as many as four thousand. people that are in prison we're talking about some top charges people have been killed we're seeing

images of people who have been murdered. so right now i mean i think the promise of the elections and the transitional. president stepping down sadly it seems as many people suspected that prison when the money from the very same cloth that robert mugabe is cut from and that he's actually as hesitant to respect human rights as president of the us it continues to be a violent world we've seen cases a repression like this so many times in so many places but do you think that some of these leaders are somewhat in bold and by the current leadership particularly the trumpet ministration which doesn't seem to see human rights and leadership by the u.s. on human rights as a main priority absolutely absolutely absolutely if you just take one example. attack on the media the chump an agency and the use of fake news everything is fake

news that it doesn't like. i've seen several governments around the world including for example the communion government when there was video images of chemical new soldiers killing two women and the kids and dumping them into grave they just said fake yes and right now. the us has lost sadly its legitimacy to actually speak from human rights issues given the human rights violations on the border with separating families and so on so we appeal to the people of the united states is if you want to be a country that's recognized for human rights you need to actually stand up and resist the direction that trumpets define it and if the us isn't speaking out the worries that others don't speak out in the same way they used to for example i'll give you an example tell me if i'm right. and the united nations isn't saying craps as much as some would like absolutely again. amnesty international has appealed to the secretary general of the united nations a month ago to institute independent

a national international inquiry into the murder of jamal question it's important to recognize that this is more than saudi arabia or about jamal himself this is about protecting the freedom of journalists right because if a member state of the united nations can execute this in a third country and get away with it with absolute impunity that is a very dangerous message to send to any human rights activists journalists and those that speak out against the status quo so we. today call to the secular general of the u.n. to institute a been an international investigation into the atrocity of the killing of jamal khashoggi and we know i do secretary-general head of amnesty international thank you for joining us here on al-jazeera he will be making the case to the world leaders here human rights of course one of the things talked about among many at this global talking shop here. doubles thanks very much for joining us through the day as well thanks a car bomb has exploded in the northern syrian city of

a free that happened there a base for a rebel group that's backed by turkey. is allied with the free syrian army at least three of its fighters day let's get more on this from most sama binge of it who's on the turkey syria border i mean sketchy details coming in what more are you hearing. well it is early days in the initial reports suggest the this was a car bomb that exploded very close to this post after. one of the groups which is associated with the free syrian army fighters which are backed by turkey have been carrying out the operation east of euphrates river but is a spate of attacks that we've seen picking up in the last couple of days this is the latest in the series of bombings just last night we saw there was an attack in a government controlled area of the tech here a day before u.s. forces came under attack at that one was claimed by isis in

a day before that there was a bombing in damascus so there seems to be an uptick in violence across syria in various areas which are held by various actors of this conflict some are held by u.s. led kurdish forces some are held by turkish supported arab forces some in the government controlled areas backed by russia and iran this is all happening as diplomatically there is a lot of developments that are happening across the globe the turkish president is meeting is russian counterpart the u.s. president wants to pull out its forces and there's been a flurry of activity on all fronts the some of the arab states want to come back into damascus and reopen ties with the bashar al assad government so there is on the world stage there is a lot of movement that is happening in syria and syria watchers have been telling us that whenever there is some movement on people trying to find a solution for syria various actors we have sway in the power structure inside the

country these attacks happen and airstrikes also pick up pace of course so we'll come back to you through the day for getting more news on the absolutism of binge of a thing. well staying in the region the turkish president present one is due to old talks with the russian leader vladimir putin all in syria now they're trying to find common ground despite backing opposing sides in the war u.s. plans to withdraw its troops for that it's another challenge or an opportunity depending how you see it shortly we'll talk to roll the challenge live in moscow but first here's his report. turkey has been sending reinforcements to its border with northern syria recently it's got forces in the last rebel stronghold of province and in aleppo province where turkey is facing off against the u.s. backed kurdish dominated s.d.f. in the northeast and donald trump's decision to pull u.s. troops out of syria means foreign powers involved in the war a reassessing their positions last september turkey and russia struck a deal russia called off or threatens government's assault on it lip and together

they created a demilitarized zone with turkey responsible for making rebel groups pull back into it lives in tyria but as turkey's president meets vladimir putin in moscow on wednesday the sands are shifting again moscow expects that the vast territory that the controlled with the united with the help of the united states the syrian government will take over. hoping that it can have a small buffer on the border with turkey that it might control and kind of prevent the the the kurdish elements from in infiltrating that area that is of course changing the status quo for both of them but i think that's the main disagreement as well because russia does not agree with turkey with turkey is a mission to stubble survivors on the border for the thousands of refugees shivering in their lives camps it's been a grim winter of cold and floods and away from the cameras other developments could mean further trouble for civilians formally al qaida linked high up. has almost

totally taken over from other rebel groups turkey seemed too distracted by kurdish problems to do much to stop this and russia perhaps sees it as an opportunity despite it and many other countries calling h.t.s. terrorists. and rory joins me now from moscow i mean really so much to discuss these the those who want really to defend their respective positions as well as that assets and their allies in syria. yeah it is a very complicated patchwork within the syrian conflict has always been complex to say the least i mean what's beriah syria watchers are guessing at the moments including yuri barmen who you have from in my report that is whether there might be some kind of deal that russia and turkey might be in the process of striking as we heard russia does not really want. that turkish buffer

zone to be set up on the turkey syria border it would like ultimately for all of those zones particularly the kurdish ones to be handed over to the syrian government but there could be something that he could offer russia to make that more palatable for them so he could say to russia or perhaps we will turn a blind eye or look elsewhere when russia and the syrian government might decide to push in to it labe and finally take that over take that over for for the syrian government so we'll have to watch what happens for from this meeting later between putin and i i think get a sense of whether any deal like that is actually on the table or for the moment we'll leave it there rory thank you chalons in moscow. well in a moment i'll have the weather with rob but still ahead here on the al-jazeera news in sports why talent and training may not be enough for these young iraqi

footballers to achieve success. by the springtime flowers of a mountain lake. to the first snowfall on a winter's day. they remember that sandstone look crossed the arabian peninsula brought loads of snow to afghanistan and rain to pakistan it's still going but it's courses gone further east now and the cloud that showing in nepal in northern india is its license latest manifestation so it brought rain and these are the figures it it not that great forty two minutes is for example fifty one dead at dawn but compared with the average yes it should be a dry time of year so we're talking about something like two hundred percent of what you might expect for example in new delhi now of course this is an unusual feature but that's just a bit of rain hasn't really affected anybody at all up in the hills it's fallen

past snow which has been or rather nicely taken care of if you don't see snow very often then this is quite enjoyable shimmers a place in point and here's the enjoyment if i can get my graphics to show it you marner something pressing the button quite a lot but here we go this is the amount of snow that fell in shimla and you might say well that's are you should be yes even this is more than is normal for a january in shimmer by about ten sent to beaches that was much be enjoyed and we have not seen the last of this the rain in the snow is spread further east into nepal it may disappear for a day or so i think it reappears showers even in northeast india. the weather sponsored by qatar airways. sattar has never been a real easy sell for an investment approach are the reserves out rule are they understated or overstated they own no shares in your company or the people bought. of

friends can tell a story without uttering a single word. the un convention manatee of life. witnessed through the lens of the human eye. on al-jazeera right out of a hamas script examining the headline with again with the fractious issue of palestine and israel in the us news and setting the discussions what makes them different as far as you're concerned sharing personal stories with a global audience nobody feels safe explore an abundance of world class programming designed to inform motivate and inspire. the world is watching on al-jazeera.

welcome back you're watching al-jazeera news hour with me as a whole robin a reminder of our top stories sudan's president omar al bashir held a meeting with qatar's shade to mean been tiny and. the shias visit to the gulf state comes during the longest anti-government protests of his time in office. thailand's king has issued a royal decree endorsing the first general election since a twenty fourteen military coup the elections will take place on march the twenty fourth and turkish president of the one is in moscow for talks on syria with russian leader vladimir putin trying to find common ground despite backing opposing sides in the conflict. well for more on this moscow meeting seldom barakat joins me now is on set he's the director of the center of conflict and humanitarian studies at the institute for graduate studies it's good to have you with us

a great deal to discuss certain as rory our correspondent in moscow said it's a real melting pot of issues that have to be picked out individually to be discussed the big issue at the moment is that u.s. withdrawal and how it affects both moscow and ankara because they backed different sides in the syria conflict. absolutely it was all triggered on the nineteenth of january with that a proper treat by tram we're here announced that the troops will be out and of course that triggered almost like a competition between those involved to ensure that they control the land and they provide the security in accordance with their interests now the turks what they're calling for is this creation of this buffer zone but they wanted to be within the syrian land so it's going to be along the border. thirty kilometer wide zone into syria and that of course will never be accepted by the syrian government who is desperately trying to exert influence and spread its sovereignty you know protect

the sovereignty across in iran supported by by the russians at the same time you have there americans having recognize that the tweet was a little bit premature now the calling for guarantees for security of the white p.g. within syria and that of course something that turkey cannot of but only russia can provide of course so there are these this issue about sort of the kurdish issue you have the the y.p. g. and it's fairly as you might say asking fall acceptance from damascus and protection from damascus which is going to go down well with turkey and yet you also have iranian militias as well. that are supporting damascus as well in their bid this being attacked by by israel as we've seen in the last few days it is a very difficult ground diplomacy to maneuver for both. and.

what can they hope to gain what what's the what they want to achieve from this particular meeting when it comes out of them from order to go and he would like to achieve two things one is approval of this buffer zone or some kind of security zone and the second probably to reach an understanding similar to the one israel has with russia which allows israel at the moment to attack the with in syria. as long as those attacks are linked directly to something that threatens and secure its national security and so maybe the turks will try to establish that kind of understanding with the russians in return for a compromise on the web of the buffer zone and on the treatment of the white b.g. by doing so the russians and the turks were offered the united states some kind of guarantee that the y.b. you will not be directly targeted immediately as they would draw from their eyes from syria it'll be interesting to see what comes out of these talks will get more analysis from me when that happens a certain baraka thank you very much. singing china's national anthem is expected

to become compulsory no hong kong schools the proposed legislation would also make insulting the lyrics a criminal offense critics argue this is a forced patriotism and beijing is challenging the city's core values sarah clarke has more from hong kong. security was quick to move on pro-democracy activist joshua long as members of his party raise the flag of hong kong's government headquarters was the demonstration is over proposals to make insulting china's national anthem a crime we are against it it's because we believe that is not a must for people loyal to the country and loyalty to the region. seeing china's national anthem at a school is mandatory on the mainland now the central people's government is imposing the same goes in home comb the legislation has been titled in the city's legislative council under the plan all students must learn the anthem and respect

its history very important go out for an hour to hear i understand the history of china as well as at schools much of the volunteers must be played at major sporting events and swearing in ceremonies for government officials we are not compounding people to respect but rather we are trying to deter people from showing disrespect to the national anthem. it's not bringing out the patriot in everyone football fans in hong kong have booed when the anthem is played turning their backs. now those who insult the anthem by six thousand dollars fines and three is joe two to help shut down the opposition in hong kong they've decided in my opening and to turn it into a political weapon a kid a show weapon five beijing putting aside the zeros are consistent with the one country two systems deal agreed when britain handed over the final pony to china in ninety ninety seven that dealing please god degree of autonomy and freedom of

speech not enjoyed on the mind and critics say this bill undermines that in forcing china's north and an attempt to silence those we support in the past. two years ago six lawmakers were disqualified accused of insulting the oath when sworn in since then civil democracy advocates have been blocked from seeking office and pro independence parties have also been.