of us here on facebook elizabeth who asks whether the african union has a system of checks and balances you know if with president city taking over the presidency now is there a system of checks and balances to make sure that the organizations rules are respected. the president through the german. position and ultimately the african union commission is only really powerful as member states want it to be and often that's not very powerful without consensus or without the heavy weight countries on board can't act you can't do a lot i mean we saw an example of one of his weaker moments just a few weeks ago in the democratic republic of congo the elections in december results announced in january felix just a carry was announced the winner but that's widely disputed in the african union time cast doubts on those election results congo reseated any calls for a recount felix just security was here today just

a few hours ago he was addressing at the state the second vice chair of of the union so that counts as one of the week a moment of the african union a lot of people were wondering or expecting it would step in and try and intervene in this highly controversial election with a lot of questions around it in the end it back down and just to carry giving a speech today will be seen indorsement of his presidency by the african union thank you very much for that malcolm way of reporting there live from anything at malcolm web on twitter the african union fulfilling its mandate this is an interesting piece just published on our website by hans and mohamed he looks into whether african leaders have been successful at keeping their promise of african solutions to african problems one of the organizations objectives has been to promote democratic principles and institutions which has proved to be a very tall order and the african union plays an important role in monitoring

elections across the continent and this year is promising to be an especially busy one they are elections in nineteen countries across africa including nigeria. and to name a few in less than a week nigerians are going to the polls say elect a new president and national assembly. and gambon president mahmoud abbas in a crowded field of challenges and in the lead up to nigeria's election social media has been integra to candidates getting their voices across and rallying young voters especially south has been looking into that side of a minute of very active usually so things are heating up in that lead up with the hash tag nigeria decides trying to check out the fun though just in the corner there that's for the people to vote now there's a big online drive for young people to make sure their vote counts with tweets like this one this one is denouncing the vote buying this campaign is called value of a vote and that's the hashtag they've been using is the street campaign across

fifteen states are supporters of mohamed bihari are using the hashtag i speak up for why this is quite a trending and popular hashtag actually saying the hari is building the k. infrastructure this person says he's reviving agriculture bringing sanity to the country we must not allow corrupt elements to regroup and come back and that seems to be an opinion that shared with many across nigeria. i'm a christian and i'm on the same time what is it my apologies to anyone. at all. because a month. while he's in a class of his old. school where you travel to a magistrate now i meet you but he's no favorites because. he wanted to be abandoned yes bleated you want to be entirely. when he comes to realize this is going over. this christmas finished it's completed it commissioned its new ones

already. so those are all bihari swartz's but all of those is up putting out their messages to and they're there of course are nigerians as well to keep the boat as peaceful as possible at this person here and if you voices you hear. i am not going to afford who i think is most likely to mean i am going to food who i know is the best candidate that has ever run to be president of the very very public of nigeria and that person is none other than dr getting country as a question of its c p m. things is a lot of excitement there but politics in nigeria was close so younger candidates candidates right up until the not too young to run bill was passed last year in the lowering age for nigerians that could run for election a million is make up to more than sixty percent of nigeria's one hundred one

hundred ninety million people yet those who are in government are mostly much older but this year things are changing because several young candidates are running for office and posts like this one online you can see youngsters getting together and they're using that same hashtag not too young to run ready to see on run as well but i hear al-jazeera we do have a request from you want to hear from you if you are in nigeria is very simple all you have to do is record your thoughts your voice and you can send it to us you probably be featured in our podcast called the take and this is the whatsapp number that you can send it to plus one seven four five five one zero three six four seven and you'll find that also on our twitter page if you haven't got to down that number so it's up and send us your thoughts thank you very much for that syria now in kurdish lead led forces backed by the u.s. are trying to push eisel from its last pocket of territory in the east twenty thousand civilians have been evacuated from the area held by the armed group but

hundred sisto fought to be inside the offensive by the syrian democratic forces this focus on the village of near the border with iraq let's get the latest now with imran khan who's in gaza for us on the turkey syria border bring us up to speed with the situation in iran has the battle latch really begat. well according to the s.p.f. in the last ninety minutes they have confirmed that the bottle is now inside the village of but it was in eastern syria they say that they've gone inside the village they took at least forty one positions around the village itself before actually going inside where they say a face bottle is taking place against isis fighters now according to some reports or at least six hundred eisel fight is within the village itself but we've seen this type of type of tactic that i sort of used before in both iraq and in syria where on the outskirts of the village they be trapped homes with explosives to try

and slow down the offensive and that's likely will be s.d.f. were referring to when they said they took i suppose i should say also say around four am on sunday morning that there was a counterattack which they managed to repel there is still real concern about the civilian population in the early hours of sunday morning at least two hundred civilians managed to escape from but whose village into territory we don't know how many civilians are left inside it's a very great problem for the s.d.f. but it's also a very big problem for the anti eisel coalition who are helping the the s.d.f. where the ash strikes now we saw strikes saturday into sunday it's likely we'll see them sunday into monday as well as that bottle continues thank you for that imran khan with the latest from the syria border in gaza. now with this final push against eisold and syria it appears

a group has been defeated militarily having lost ninety nine percent of the territory it once controlled in this special episode of up front maybe a sign in his gas discussed the past present and future of looking at whether the group still poses a risk even after being defeated militarily watch a show on our website at al-jazeera dot com. iran's foreign minister has offered lebanon wide ranging support at the start of a two day visit to the country mohammed jobs a reef is a first foreign minister to visit since lebanese politicians ended months of deadlock to form a unity government he says his country is ready to cooperate in all sectors the iranian backed. ministers in the new government on friday urged leaders to accept an aircraft weapons from iran as well as electricity and medicine. this visit has to be the first is to express our support to our brotherly lebanese people the second is to declare that iran is ready to cooperate with the government

as we said before we're always ready to support a little more the military really iran has the will but we're waiting for it to come from the lebanese side sami and there is the director of the levant institute for strategic affairs and a columnist for al monitor is lebanon policy explains the significance of the relationship between iran and lebanon on. a very delicate political career. rests on very fragile consensus and the major building block of this consensus is what we called the principle of distance vision or neutrality of lebanon that they've been on can not be aligned to any regional power because of the political deep divide on the iranian. issue on the syrian issue on the hezbollah arms issue so the formation of the government that came after eight months of political and constitutional void read rests on this very fragile

consensus today drawing to squeeze down on in the iranian axis deal this would put in danger its domestic stability its economic stability at a very critical moment we have been on needs all the kind of support to take a distance from regional conflict because it is on the ads of an economic collapse meanwhile avon says it's going to expand its missile program despite warnings from the united states the announcement was time to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of the islamic revolution that toppled the shah and decades of hostility between the two powers then a holder has this report from iran's capital tehran. it has been forty years since the revolution that changed the face of this nation iran's pro he policy was

reversed little has changed since opposition to the us and israel are still very much part of iran's foreign policy and you about all the jewish we shouldn't have a relationship with the us and israel we have a problem with these two countries we are independent and that's why they are putting pressure on us. relations between washington and to her on are at an all time low since president donald trump took office and reimposed sanctions after were drawing from the two thousand and fifteen nuclear deal signed by world powers western sanctions have been a fact of life for decades ever since the storming of the u.s. embassy in tehran in one thousand seven hundred nine and the in suing hostage crisis but iranians are hurting. that we need relations with other countries so that people are not unemployed when rouhani came to power he visited many countries if some allow them to continue everything would be better the iranian leadership did back president hassan rouhani is engagement with the west that led to the

nuclear deal it was supposed to usher in a new era in relations until the u.s. withdrew. for years although i told our officials in closed meetings and people publicly that we shouldn't trust american officials promises smiles and signatures now about the europeans i'm not saying we should not have relations with them but we shouldn't trust them he has been open to resolving difficulties that iran has with the united states for many years and that's why you've got the nuclear agreement that's why towards the end of. the speech talking about resolving issues if this first step worked out the problem is that the first step to not work there seems to be little optimism about the future especially because of what iran's supreme leader considers a hostile us administration and its hostile policies towards this country the revolution is about ending western influence in iran its author is then wanted to

explore that ideals to the world by doing that iran earns enemies it is being accused of meddling in the internal affairs of neighboring states and the united states uses iraq i think the greatest threat in the middle east. iran is involved in wars across the region where it backs mainly proxies to her own says it is about countering u.s. and israeli dominance some arab governments see it differently iran's regional ambitions transform the middle east in fact some iranian officials don't shy away from boasting about arab capitals now being part of the islamic revolution. and on monday iran will mark the fortieth anniversary of its islamic revolution in the lead up to this anniversary we've been reporting on the changes iranians have seen in that time and you can find all of our reports on our website at al-jazeera

dot com including this one. on how iran's post revolution generation has been struggling to find its voice it's on al-jazeera dot com. you know what the news great on al-jazeera if you're with us on facebook live coming up a story from our friends at a.j. price on young activists who are taking a stand against deportation by giving out free food to migraines at the us mexico border costs israel says it will implement a controversial new law that will cost palestinians millions of dollars more on that in just a few minutes to stay with us. hello well it looks like a return to the right to middle east we got more right in our forecast over the next couple days lots of cloud that cloud sweeping across iraq into iran over

towards afghanistan we've seen some rather a lot of this i was recently underneath this massive cloud which is a spinning out of turkey and in armenia well here we've had ninety nine millimeters of light in twenty four hours that will sink this way for the south which in these was as we go through monday snow will the northern flank of that just around to run for example heavy rain there into q ites that will produce some flooding wet weather extending its way right across into that western side of iraq broad skies do come back in behind but all the chilly side for by route fifty sixty degrees over the next couple of days should be largely dry that the west the weather look at that ready gathers it makes its way across iraq pushes over towards afghanistan bright skies do come back in behind kuwait's city and back that eighteen degree celsius that killed a weather weather will make its way across northern sections of the gulf they wind down how we could see some rain over the next couple days so that's something to watch out for russians up as we go through each is day watches guys come back you know mckean shamali in system with dust and wet weather too across southern parts

of africa particular around the eastern cape. take the worst possible material eurabia ground into dust comparable to flour and make a meal out of it and put it into a place where people live it is a cause colossal event. as well and for many people a few here this is the file in cuba but doesn't make you feel nice you feel like a murderer we have created an enormous normal mental disaster. and investigation south africa toxic city on al jazeera recruited to win a war exploited to on the battlefield the call the new regime faced a different value an effort from where if needed and repairs then abandoned for a lifetime and we should be ashamed. for ministry for for all country all division

over three people in power investigates the plight of imperial britons african troops they gave me the forgotten heroes of empire his era.

bad lines on al-jazeera and the top trending stories on our website at al-jazeera dot com at. number one. our top story here on the news great today end the crisis in venezuela the political crisis in venezuela and the concerns of outside interference with the u.s. and russia presenting wible u.n. resolutions at the security council on how to end the political crisis in venezuela that's on our web site at al-jazeera dot com. and we have more now on that joining us here on the news great is isabel was a member of the united socialist party of venezuela the ruling party the party of president nicolas maduro thank you so much for coming into the news waves a lot to talk about obviously let's start with the aid situation there is currently

aid that is talk at the border with colombia that is not going into venezuela even though the people of the country are in desperate need of this aid why it's president maduro refusing to let this aid in is it is he not on the side of his people no of course but this is not the case you know the really a situation in venezuela is. totally different as. mr trump and it's years are saying about of talking about first of all oh you are speaking about germany thirteen crisis you know venezuela is not living humanitarian crisis is when children are dying in hospitals because the lack of well let me finish my. idea we are suffering a block of. economic blockade that sensor to sell in

nine and venice one of which to me that is a cause and this is the located economic so right now they are offering humanitarian aid within when waste. speak about aid and not and not a crisis or economic crisis so we are pushing internationally and the politicly. in a field different way as it is the gore mean i mean it. with twenty million dollars and the food venezuela if you see that is that is food that is aids from the from the government and that is a less sensitive for people just like let me let me see the goal of united states you we have to understand why we rejected this twenty million and this age of money thirty eight first of all the united nations the president of the united nations

this say's these must be. proceeded through the government the government that is alleged to mate and this constitution to me. exists not in venezuela so what they want to push this through two armies. two armies with the colombia and the president one and the brazilian one through someone called who despite of everybody internationally and the constitution. so called so called the president president of venezuela which is not legally established so they are trying to push a are you saying that they're politicizing. yeah ok so let me ask you this how then do we break this deadlock because at the end of the days of venezuelan people who are suffering here how did we end this political crisis not about when you speak

about publicly the people of venezuela suffering because that is a humanitarian crisis it's up to yemen this is not iraq this is not syria we have our ideas we have our mark. we have our. core in our country as. early as russia and we have we are good start there and a lot of we are here to watch right now we are physicians but when the opposition or the opposition make something they ask to intervention army intervention to put for twenty million it's not for venezuela twenty million dollar with aid is nothing that we have seventy million dollar seventy million dollars and assets that they are blocked by united states so right now this is the issue thank you so much we have to leave it there unfortunately i wish we had more time to talk

about this crisis with you because there's a lot more to talk about thank you so much isabel a member of the united socialist party of venezuela joining his see here on the news great there's not take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world this hour and israel's prime minister says he intends to introduce a controversial new law within a week it's known as pay for and this is how it will work the palestinian authority now pays compensation to the families of those arrested by israel under the proposed law israel would deduct an amount equal to that compensation from tax funds it raises on behalf of palestinian authority if the law is passed it would cut revenue to the authority by about three hundred thirty million dollars a year here's harry fossett now with more from jerusalem. benjamin netanyahu has long argued against and attacked the palestinian leadership over what it says is a system of welfare payments to palestinian prisoners and what the israeli

government characterizes as a form of incitement to carry out attacks against israelis this is the week that he says that this law will come into effect and that next sunday in the next israeli security cabinet meeting is when the first calculation will be made in terms of withholding some of the money that israel raises in taxes for the palestinian authority and pays to the palace in authority every month there has been some controversy over this even within israeli circles wide reports that israeli security establishment is worried about the withholding of further money about the effects on potential effects on security cooperation between israeli security services and the palestinian authority in the occupied west bank of course there's also been a reaction from the p.a. as well they say that this is nothing short of israeli piracy and is being done in concert with the americans to inflict further pressure on the palestinians ahead of the rollout of the trump peace plan nonetheless we are in election season at

a time when benjamin netanyahu is trying to portray himself as the man of the right with a tough line against the palestinians in opposition to the way he's trying to characterize his main rival benny gantz the former israeli army chief who means trying to say is of the weak left and as well is that there have been a series of attacks tarried out in recent weeks and even over this weekend there's been an attack in which a palestinian or other an israeli nineteen year old woman was killed by a palestinian man in a forest southwest of jerusalem the suspect who was after apprehended in ramallah in the occupied west bank on saturday according to israeli media he has reenacted the crime has admitted to a sexual assault and murder this is a crime which is really outraged a huge number of israelis the police are saying they are so. really examining a political motive no direct killing of this as a terror attack by the israeli prime minister just yet no call it either from hamas in gaza palestinian authority in the west bank either nonetheless there has been

a huge reaction to this in full vigilance you know to delay the imposition of this law at this time will be politically very difficult for the father of the three year old syrian refugee boy kodi whose body washed up on turkey's shore in twenty fifteen is in majorca a good hour cody is there to rename a refugee rescue ship operating in the mediterranean sea after his son the photograph of his dead body the toddler spawns a wage of outrage across europe and led to demands that more be done to protect those making the dangerous journey from north africa in the middle east to europe a journalist who's been a vocal critic of pakistan's government has been arrested outside his home in lahore rizwan rise the son says his father was beaten by officers as they took him away on saturday police say is being investigated for posting defamatory content on social media journalists in pakistan say they're working in an increasingly hostile

climate under prime minister iran khan the government denies it's unfairly targeting the media. in the united states the democratic party continues to be in crisis in the state of virginia where the governor is defying calls to resign over a racism scandal ralph northam initially apologized after an old photograph emerged showing a picture of two men one in black face another dress in a kooks outfit has since denied he was in the picture but admits to wearing blackface at another college party while not northam is potential successor a fellow democrat has been accused of sexual assault. has a story from richmond in virginia. the turmoil engulfing virginia's president has roots in the state's racist past a century and a half ago as virginia led fellow slave owning states into the american civil war

white actors painted their faces black to walk and humiliate enslaved blacks the war ended slavery but not blackface but john was most popular character jim crow became the symbol of racial segregation that continued into the one nine hundred fifty s. and now these photos tied to virginia's current political leaders connect that racism to the present there's always necessarily been a belief that black people were inferior to justify slavery and segregation and two and two i don't want to say excuse but explain why they are lower in society in terms of income and education and so when you put on black face you're essentially making a caricature of someone that you think is lesser than you governor ralph northam continues to resist calls to resign he's wavered on whether it's him in the photo from his college yearbook but says he did wear black face on another occasion i

look back now and regret that i did not understand the harmful legacy of an action like that virginia's attorney general admitted this week he also wore black face in the eighty's in the states senate majority leader edited a college yearbook with these photos of fellow virginia military institute students to nightmare a nightmare in virginia right now and we needed to end two of the three leaders in the black face scandal are democrats having campaigned on racial equality to win votes in a state that was recently a republican stronghold now the democrats rise in virginia is in jeopardy and the party's national efforts to draw a contrast with the race politics of donald trump is damage. that. particular party but the democrats troubles in virginia go beyond race just as lieutenant governor just seems their facts seemed poised to replace the embattled

governor two women including this college professor came forward to accuse fairfax of sexual assault there are facts denies the allegations does anybody think it's any coincidence that on the eve of potentially being elevated that's when this uncorroborated smear comes out does anybody believe that's a coincidence coincidence or not the cascading scandals have thrown virginia into political chaos it's unclear who will lead the state once this is all over or if the social troubles one thought to be confined to history will ever see a true end. castro al-jazeera richmond virginia. all the racism scandal in the democratic party in the u.s. is just the latest in a string of controversies cyrus here to tell us about another scandal this time involving the fashion brand gucci yes we go from politics to fashion and there's been particular focus on because it's high end retailers been under fire for

selling a black turtleneck sweater and that's got many people outraged striking resemblance to what's considered a black face we just saw and heidi so it's a reference to imagery that was historically used to redick your black americans now in response to all the anger again she has pulled the item from his website and then released a public apology on twitter saying that all its decisions are based on the company's value diversity but despite that she's apology we've seen several different reactions to this story on social media particularly in the u.s. where people are upset but this happened during bug history month and some people highlights it's there but some also question whether this move was even done on purpose or whether it was an error caused by the company's policies. who are you consulting before you put this stuff out or you just waiting for backlash in them playing on pulling it back how is it that you make that type of mistake if you've consulted someone but the bigger issues if you're not consulting someone

then maybe black knowledge. people are particularly outraged because this isn't the first time a fashion brand is facing this type of accusation certainly in recent months in fact prada back in december was criticized for selling accessories that many said resembled but face characters and people have been posting pictures of those making those comparisons and they were selling them in one of the new york stores with those images but another italian brand at the center of all of this as well is a brand that's been criticized for releasing this collection back in twenty sixteen as you can see there again people are posting images of those and another never brand also and one of the high street shops many of us are familiar with last year they were also accused of using a black child to model hits you were the was the coolest monkey in the jungle and of course that was pulled as well. the person came over to see it

everybody. has a little leg problem because they come out know why you're being controversial you need to tell me we age you know the letter your this your this is called is monkey evil junk no i designed it is probably being a controversy. it is a soap that many people and several hollywood figures as well have taken action against these brands one of those is oscar nominated director spike lee he's posted on instagram on his page but he is actually no longer going to be wearing prada until they hire black designers and also rafferty i went from a with posts of this image asking his followers to stop buying the next three months and if you only think it she says do not wear it and sheva with everyone else and i'm going to pick this up now with abraham kendy who is an assistant professor of history at the american university with a particular emphasis on racists and anti-racist ideas and movements his second

book is called sound from the beginning the definitive history of races ideas in america and is from washington very good to have you on the show i want to talk to you first about the role of social media in all this had the conference of recent controversies whether it's the governor of virginia scandal gucci liam neeson have a blow now open a conversation that has long been oppressed by the the american establishment and mainstream social media is cis so is a social media here playing a bigger role. i think so there's certainly a role that social media has played it certainly democratized media in which you had regular people have been able to make particular issues or vance newsworthy through the amount of conversation that's going on in social media and almost sort of foreseeing the more mainstream media organizations to cover there which then of

course leads to even more discussion on social media and so i think yes social media certainly played a part in the think that's one of the best aspects of the media because individuals every day people can make things newsworthy that we can then be talking about across the country world. the racism has always existed in america i mean it's not a new issue what is so different now that we're having this conversation today well i think as a result of the president in the white house in which more and more americans are through him and through other people who have been defending him have had to sort of come to grips with her base business. and the power of racism in this country i think so therefore more americans are becoming aware of it acknowledging it stopping to deny it and so therefore when these incidents come up you have a critical mass of people who are already looking for things to have

a problem with in other words they they see these things is a problem and of course they're their government are is to try to rid this nation of these things and you also within the democratic party is becoming more and more of a zero tolerance for racism which i think is a is a very good thing particularly when you look at the base of the republican party i mean of democratic party democratic party right when it comes to fashion i mean big brands like gucci and prada pay people to ensure that such p.r. disaster is up prevented if think spike lee is right when he says that a lack of black fashion design is is a problem is a problem just the lack of representation in major multinational corporations be the film industry or the fashion industry. i think that's certainly part of the problems so clearly it is to have a more diverse staff on of designers and and of course managers is going to allow a more diverse set of ideas but then also for people to be aware when different

types of things could be a problem with different our groups and so certainly for whatever reason. our companies do not have a diverse staff or if they do have people who are from communities of color those people may not be tapped into those communities of color to really understand what's going to make them out so clearly some serious changes have to go on how have you made at these companies very interesting about the sank you so much for joining us i mean yes great abraham candy candy sorry i'm sorry if i'm candy add from the american university in washington thank you very much for your time we appreciate it they were the news grade on al jazeera if you're watching us on facebook coming up find out how drones are helping scientists detect early health risks and still ahead on the grid in sports with job buying out in style lindsey vonn signed off skiing korea with a medal action and reaction coming up to stay with us.

a face can tell a story without uttering a single. and now england. can guide us. a simpler time. inform us. the unconventionality of life. witness through the lens of the human eye. is what inspires us. witness documentaries on al-jazeera the opinion i learned that the first amendment is really key to being a good thing and i'm. going to. men and women we've heard that are there but it is your story is that we just don't tell you what the subject of the story wants to know the government is not going to do the one thing the demonstrators want apologize for down what else is in our jobs we ask the questions

so that we can get closer to the truth. i welcome back it's the end of an era in ski is here to tell us it is folly it is we've been building up to it for a few weeks now but lindsey vonn has raced for the final time and perhaps not surprisingly she want to medal at the world championships in sweden as she was out of the gate in the women's downhill in order and despite forming in the super g. earlier this week she didn't hold back on threw everything at it as she raced down the mountain and it paid off the american superstar was in the lead when she crossed the line and the two women managed to go faster than her which meant she

finished on the podium in the bronze medal position born as the first woman to win medals at six world championships vonn had planned to retire at the end of the season but knee problems have forced her to call it a day so you know well only one skier has been more successful in the last day mark the swede won eighty six world cup titles in his career he was watching and waiting for her at the finish line in order and congratulated yvonne on an incredible career with a huge bunch of flowers. oh it's amazing it's they couldn't honestly it couldn't have been any better you know my family was here and was here and. my teammates everyone's been so supportive and to be on the podium one last time you couldn't of come up with a better scenario. it's not going to. be it's not

going to break for me i'm sure. i'm happy my body hurts me back hurt i really need to get warm and then need some alcohol beverage immediately. we spoke to former. me to race against phone. off today's race. so fitting that such an amazing record breaker for us port even breaks a record on they average height racer swan song she became that ever to win a medal in six words chapman chips she was really nervous before the race said to me at the edge that i couldn't sleep last night i couldn't eat this morning and that i think shows you how much it meant to her just to be in that star again knowing that this is the last time she was going to perform entertaining race for the whole world she's so talented and she's just got so much self belief that even when she was coming back from every one of these horrendous injuries that she had that she could be the best and yes it was tough to race against her but in

a way that inspired you to go out there and be better stronger faster because she really did enervate the sport of women skiing around the world i think skiing is happy place she's been through so much in her career but she's always fought to get back because she act loves to ski she's a born racer she switches on and that stargate and and she in that moment she knows that she's going to risk it all and that's why she seems so entertaining to watch sometimes not for the right reasons because as she does push that boundary she does push her limit and crash and that's what makes us so iconic as well do you believe because of what skiing has brought her life the opportunities our parents and they help hundreds of young girls to achieve their dreams she will stay involved she said she was there she doesn't know in what capacity right now but she's going out there she's got to have surgery again which is a shame. but after she said surgery after she's healed mentally then she'll have that freedom to choose what she wants to do because she will have that office will be thrown at her left right and center and right. one of those offers might be

coming from u.s. ski and snowboard we spoke to there. he says he'd love to run close and have others benefit from her experience. we're always open to any way in which she wants to stay involved and i think the sporting world hopes that she'll stay involved in her sport and ski racing in one way or another and we're looking forward to that just being exposed to young up and coming naturally the male skiers and you know young men and women and the more that she can stand volved in you know a huge competitions or meetings for that or potentially for commentary t.v. you know you name it so any way in which she she touches this floor i think she inspires young athletes to try to do what she has done much like those before her did the same for her and she can really make a difference in this sport more so than she already has she's been able to transcend skiing itself and become world known world renowned for all of the things

she's accomplished coming through injury and an adversity and perseverance in winning greater than eighty times well lindsay has a unique ability to focus when it counts i mean look at the number of times that she performed you know when it really really mattered and that's really the mark of a world class skier one that can turn it on for that minute or two that really counts that's when you're measured that's when you bomb down the hill and you're the fastest you win and she did that a lot. well solon won the bronze but the gold medal went to slovenia is defending champion in the heads she backed up the title when she won it in some markets back in two thousand and seventeen it was a clean run which so still has time nearly half a second quicker the von crean ceuta of switzerland finished with the silver medal just a day ago we told you about the other big ski retirement that of men's downhill race the excellence bindo not only did he wowed the crowd with the silver in his final

race on saturday he then headed to the after party where he showed off his vocal skills. the. world. over world championships on the anyplace that goes with the need for speed competitors have also been throwing themselves down an ice track at boston's fenway park especially built three hundred fifty me to track was put together for the latest stop of red bulls crushed ice series some of the best skaters raced shoulder to shoulder at speeds of eighty kilometers per hour to get over the finish line double world ice cross champion camera nash of the usa won the men's final the overall standings and closes in on the third world title amanda trims zero one the

women's place. will be back with more at eight hundred g.m.t. but for now i'll hand you back to folly. thank you very much for that john and that will do it for today's news great remember to keep in touch with us on social media at all times so aging is great and all the other ways to get in touch right here from the fully back to one hotel here in doha thank you for watching we are live next from our london news center by finance.

cancer and ways to experience the world like never before cats are always going to places together. as venezuela is on the brink. with two men facing off for power. one of them self-proclaimed interim venezuelan leader. tools to al-jazeera. africa's largest democracy goes to the polls to elect a president parliament and governors corruption insecurity and economic uncertainty that dominate nigeria politics remain widespread al-jazeera brings you coverage of the issues the candidates and voters i j f o r's. with the most

people in the world production is under increasing strain to keep pace with the growing global population. sirrahs environmental solutions program discovers new ways of feeding the world sustainably. eighty thousand murdered just on this bit of liquid that's unbelievable to see there's the vegetable of the scene right there. on al-jazeera. venezuela's opposition leader repeats his call for aid to be allowed into the country as the u.s. and russia offer a rival solutions to a mounting crisis. hello

i'm maryam namazie in london you're with al-jazeera also coming up on the program. a final push to force i still out of syria the u.s. backed forces prepare for a ground battle. african leaders begin their summit in ethiopia the ethiopia the u.n. secretary general says they are expecting and setting an example to rich countries in their treatment of refugees. and israel says it will implement a controversial new law costing palestinians millions of dollars. the united states has presented a draft united nations security council resolution on venezuela it calls for free elections and seeks the delivery of international aid president nicolas maduro has blocked u.s. aid saying it's a ploy to stage a coup no date has been set for

a vote on the u.s. draft but russia has. now offered a counterproposal it expresses concern that any attempts to use force to topple mature oh who is an important ally of president vladimir putin meanwhile venezuela's opposition leader one has been taking part in a religious ceremony in caracas why don't he played himself interim leader of venezuela last month dozens of countries have since endorsed him he says he will look at using volunteers to open new age groups into the country in defiance of the government let's go live now to to raise a bow who is in caracas for us so it seems as though it is determined to get that aid into the country but of course if he goes ahead with a plan the fear is that there could be some sort of confrontation on the border. well most definitely and that's what many people worried about about what could happen in venezuela once that happens that's one way has been trying to achieve

with this aid being a rival here on the border between colombia probably two other entering points like between brazil and venezuela also some other caribbean nation they've been talking to the military telling them that they need to allow this aid into the country that people needed that it's not only for the population but also for the members and families of the members of the military they want to get the military to a breaking point the big question is whether they will be able to achieve something like this what we know right now is that even though we have seen some small rebellions in different parts in different. departments in different areas within the military very very small ones the government has been able to control them we know that several members of the military have been detained others have left the military so it's not been easy and the leadership the leadership of the venezuelan military remains very loyal to the government. what the opposition is trying to do

is use that military aid to get to a breaking point. and we were just speaking about a united states proposal for a draft resolution at the u.n. security council we know the situation in venezuela is divided the international community and the u.s. and russia stand on opposing sides does this mean that the deadlock inside the country is likely to continue. well definitely and there is that there is a station in venezuela and also around the world because of this with. the rest of the united states wants to pass they want to get the united nations to support free and fair elections they want to. also getting aid into the country they want to get the secretary general to get involved in this project but we already know that russia plans to vet to it if it is voted so it's probably not going to change the big issue right now is that some countries around the world want some type of

negotiation they believe that their way out of the current crisis is that negotiation between the opposition and the government of. what we were just hearing what's one why you know one thing outside this church that you can see right behind me what he's saying is that no when you go see asian is possible he's saying that so far any type of negotiation between the government and the opposition has led to failure because the government is not willing to compromise anything at all and that's why he insists that the people continue to take to the streets we're expecting enormous demonstrations this week one that will begin on monday another one on tuesday and probably some type of aid starting to arrive to venezuela later this week so we will have to and continue monitoring the situation but definitely the coming days will be tense ones here in venezuela thank you very much from the venezuelan capital caracas to raise a. now

kurdish led forces backed by the united states are trying to push myself from its last pocket of territory in eastern syria the offensive is focused on the village of who's the. twenty thousand civilians have been moved to safer areas but hundreds are still thought to be at risk well imran khan joins us now from gaza on techie's border with syria and iran what do we know about fighting in the area it's focused on this one village but is the offensive continuing. the offensive is continuing going according to the. forces that are now inside the village in the last offer now we have. against as to fight to provide explosive devices were used unsure whether they right sheep all bombs or whether they were detonated remotely they're often still going on inside the territory

quoting the s.d.f. now they say they went in in the early hours of sunday morning and also in the early hours of sunday morning at least two hundred civilians managed to escape the village of barbecues and went in to see if held territory but we don't know how many civilians are still stuck inside that village now we are also hearing that there's at least six hundred fighters who are prepared to fight to the death according to isis propaganda and now this is going to be a very tough fight i solute know that area very well they've had pat and we've seen this in iraq and in syria before where i still have been defeated but they put up a very tough fight now what forces are told this is they hit one positions now those positions are likely to be things like booby trapped houses on the outskirts of the village they took voters to. put those incendiary devices out of use and then moved into the village itself but also we're hearing that the

coalition have been helping us forces with expected more strikes sunday into monday morning it's all crucial however they know any kind of level. they should be because all of the civilian population is still within the villages. thank you very much imran khan with all the latest on that from gaza and. now in other stories we're following the u.n. secretary general has told african leaders they are setting an example to rich countries in their treatment of refugees and trying to get terrorists made the comments at the start of the african union summit meet the o.p.'s refugees will be one of the main topics the leaders will also be focusing on institutional reform so that is the establishment of a free trade zone across the continent egypt has taken over from rwanda as chair of the fed to find them because all the microsoft founder bill gates his foundation is extensively involved in funding projects in africa address the summit. my focus is

on the opportunity. of the human capital here in africa that have the right things are done with the young people in terms of health and education that there's a very bright future for the continent there's a lot of great examples here. who've done an amazing job getting their primary health care system working and you know no reason why that can't be done in in all fifty four countries. where has more from out of. the opening session was addressed by president got me of rwanda the outgoing african union chair and also the incoming african union chair president el-sisi of egypt both as well interestingly the second vice chair of the african union is felix just a kitty the new president of the democratic republic of congo he spoke as well and this is of some significance he was announced over disputed election in congo he was announced the winner just a few weeks ago last month in january those results will widely disputed initially

the african union cast doubts on the credibility of that election the congo refused to budge they didn't agree to a recount so now felix just because he's here he's spoken to the opening session of african leaders that's widely going to be seen as an indorsement by many people as a failure of the african union to address the questions over congo's december election. and now the u.s. government shutdown have reportedly stilled disputes between democrats and republicans over immigrant detentions have led to an impasse could see a resumption of the government shutdown that left federal employees missing two months worth of paychecks heidi joe castro is in washington and joins us now well it looks as though. several months there was a brief response from the shutdown but we would in resolving this that's right and now there's a new deadline looming there i am which is february fifteenth for some sort of deal

to be struck or else we have a repeat again of another shutdown at the moment it appears that these high stakes negotiations over border security have stalled because of that very issue you mentioned the detention space republicans on this negotiating committee wants space to detain and deport more undocumented immigrants that's something that the democrats on the committee oppose and that is the impasse at the moment which is not as primary of a problem as the the major boulder between the two sides which is funding for trams border wall now he has demanded more than five billion dollars to build the wall that he campaigned on and people familiar with the current to go she say the best case scenario the president may receive from democrats is no more than two billion charm has largely stayed out of these negotiations in the last two weeks and he has

left it to his subordinates like acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney to weigh in on what the president's thinking. let's say for sake of this discussion that the democrats prevail and the hardcore left wing democrats prevail it was a democrat congresswoman who put out a tweet yesterday about zero dollars for d.a. jesse let's say that the hardcore left wing of the democrat party prevails in this negotiation and they put a bill on the president's desk with c.z. money for the wall or eight hundred million some absurdly low number how does he sign that he cannot in good faith sign that it takes a presidential signature i'm sure the spending bill that can you imagine senate republicans would go along with a proposal like that are you that skeptical of senate republican i don't think so but you asked me a question if the shutdown entirely off the table the answer is no. and that no answer is certainly not what americans want to hear here marian because this last government shutdown that lasted thirty five days.