to make sure that the bad guys behind us so many people are going to. rewind on al-jazeera. at least twenty seven reported dead in iran after a suicide bombing targeting a bus carrying members of the revolutionary guard this says the u.s. stages a conference these really prime minister says will focus on the common interest of war with iraq. alone barbara starr you're watching al-jazeera live from london also coming up on the program spain's government on the brink after catalan separatist parties pulled their support during a crucial budget vote plus i want to make clear. to everyone else watching

us military intervention is not an option the democrats this president from suggestions of the u.s. military involvement in venezuela and the president attacked a critic who was one of several journalists named time magazine's person of the year is of arrested in the philippines. ellen thank you for joining us twenty seven members of iran's revolutionary guards have been killed and several others injured in a suicide bombing the fars news agency says. sunni groups operating in southeast iran has claimed responsibility for the attack it happened on the road between the cities of kashmir the pakistan border an area where armed groups drug smugglers frequently operate a suicide bomber in a vehicle laden with explosives drove into a bus that was carrying members of the guard that's that's what the force said in

a statement the editor in chief of the fars news agency moustapha says the system that province is often under attack from armed groups including ones in neighboring pakistan. iran is you know has warned pakistan on various occasions that these terrorist groups are you know they are center in southwestern pakistan and they are free to do you know to reorganize them restructure themselves and operate and they staged cross border attacks in iraq and skate into pakistan iran has at least on three separate occasions a war in pakistan that if they don't deal with this problem they could you know stage an attack well the attack came as a u.s. sponsored two day conference gets underway in poland on the security situation in the middle east and the threat posed by iran representatives from more than sixty

nations are attending what has been widely labeled an anti iran conference this by the presence of the u.s. secretary of state and vice president russia isn't attending and the european union has only sent low level delegates but these really prime minister benjamin netanyahu is there and has said the meeting will focus on what he calls the common interest of war with iran the french based a group of dissidents a rainy and have been using the event as an opportunity to rally for regime change in their country but back in iran the foreign minister dismissed the meeting as dead on arrival it's another attempt by the united states to push through an obsession we did on that is not there and i think the fact that. they're not even aiming to produce any agreed text rather than just attempting to make a statement by themselves. is in war so for us i mean interesting to see who is

there and who isn't really represented at that conference at a high level remind us why it's been so controversial. well on two main fronts really barbara on the iran issue obviously it's something that's many countries particularly the european union which continues to push for the survival of that iran nuclear deal they've been angered or at least they were opposed to the initial public aims of this conference as such called by the trumpet ministration which was to confront what they described as the iran threats and therefore they decided that they weren't going to support something like that and even though the u.s. has then changed the title of this conference or summits and called it a more generic one the peace and stability in the middle east peace and security still that you decided to send a low level delegation there the second more a second controversial issue is that of the palestinian issue in the continued lugo

occupation there the palestinian authority has refused to attend and their foreign minister the other maliki has urged the arab countries to send low level delegations because they believe the trump instruction is skewed in its position towards us crisis there as they're still angered about the move of the u.s. embassy to illegally occupied jerusalem as the closer of the piano offices in the united states and other moves taken by the american administration which they say shows that says bias in favor of the israelis now obviously despite the fact that some of the change of this conference name occurred with the comments made by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu it is very clear that this is a gathering organized by a u.s. administration that is adamant to try and highlight this reunion dress as it's calls it and that is something that's obviously won't go down too well with some countries and that's why for example the russians aren't they are certain our

countries have reduced their represents representation and obviously there are those who view it as more controversial than it is unifying but somehow i mean i guess you know by seeing this there is not there a kind of highlights what we already knew about where many countries stood in relation to iran so beyond that what was the expectations at this conference what is it actually meant to achieve. well that is a very good question and that's what many people have been asking i mean the fact that the agenda of the conference isn't exactly clear in terms of maybe trying to come up with some sort of unified resolution usually what is the case when these international conferences or summits or gatherings or meetings whatever you want to call it take place there's a draft resolution which is distributed prior to the leasing and then that is hashed out amongst these represent there's a need for a final. the case of these imo isn't taking place here and that's why people have

wondered what it is about that trying to achieve the u.s. administration will kinds of the fact that for example is going to prime minister benjamin netanyahu will be meeting in public with representatives of some arab regimes but again that something may be neither here or there because all it is is making public what many people already knew took place in private there are maybe talk of trying to find some sort of a wind down for the war in yemen but then again the fusees armed presence that you have one of the stakeholders there that's missing when we talk about syria or even libya all the different conflicts that are taking place in the middle east there is at least one stakeholder in each single one of those conflicts that is absent in this summit and therefore it is very difficult to see exactly what they are trying to achieve short of maybe the trumpet ministration trying to prove once again that it is some sort of world leader in times of diplomacy but that is something that has been increasingly question and questioned by countries that u.s.

more is destabilizing than positive in terms of influence its has in the arab world . and i shall with the latest staffer morphology miles thank you. well meanwhile the international court of justice has ruled that iran can proceed with its bid to recover billions of dollars of assets frozen by the united states judges of the u.n. stop court rejected u.s. efforts to have the case thrown out there now will further hearings to determine whether iran can get back the two billion dollars frozen by the u.s. supreme court three years ago the u.s. wants the money to be given to victims of attacks blamed on iran. spain's opposition is urging prime minister petro sanchez the call an early election after his government's budget was the fitted in a key parliamentary vote the bill failed after parties from the catalonia region

refused to back it their support was conditional on having direct talks with madrid about self-determination for they've achieved have reports from the trade and. it was an emphatic defeat for the socialist prime minister but was sanchez wasted little time in leaving the parliament where one hundred ninety one to three hundred fifty mph voted against his budget an early election is now looming but his cabinet will decide when they beat on friday all of them are aware of the dangers ahead. of this we are seeing the rise of the far right parties in the rest of the european union xenophobic racist sexist homophobic which still believe in the values of freedom and we gaining ground in europe the minister was referring to one particular party in spain called fox they gained seats in the region assembly and fear for the first time helping to break a thirty six year grip on power by the socialists in the south. but it was the vote

of the catalonians separatists members of parliament who helped break the grip of petro sanchez on the parliament to be treated. it brilliantly the press were stuck in their lives in this town he refused to talk about independence just autonomy. in a bottle and in the alec displays although he spoke about dialogue a limit was put on this dialogue it's not that we have abandoned the socialists but they have decided last week to change their focus for the rest of the term the budget vote defeat came twenty four hours after the start of what's being described as the trial of the century twelve catalan separatists faced twenty five years in jail if convicted of rebellion as additions to the televised trial in the supreme court here richard is expected to last three months by that time a new right wing government could have gained power with no intention of any compromises of catalonia which would probably leave an open wound in spanish

politics for years to come david chaytor al-jazeera but brit. quinn as well as opposition run congress has appointed new board members to the state oil company pdvsa say and its u.s. of sidor for subsidiaries the move puts further pressure on president who is leadership of the oil rich nation meanwhile pope francis is told that the conditions aren't right for him to mediate venezuela's political crisis but there were revealed in an interview that he requested the pontiff's help in launching talks with the opposition and the county newspaper says the pope wrote a letter to madrid or turning down his request. the pope wants to be a mediator but that he's conditions and he sees my daughter with a very soft diplomatic jargon typical of the vatican that in the past actually maduro. didn't respect and comply with the pledges taken in.

past agreements so beyond this soft language the pope is quite tough in saying yes i can be a mediator but at my conditions for me well u.s. president donald trump says maduro is making a quote terrible mistake by blocking us aid from entering venezuela troll made the comment says he hosted his colombian counterpart of the white house colombia as one of the ten latin american countries which hasn't doorstop position leader one why below is venezuela's interim president or stockpiles of aid or colombia's border which can do it or is refusing to allow him the democratic chairman of the us house foreign affairs committee has ruled out any u.s. military intervention in venezuela he dismissed such suggestions from president trump at a hearing on venezuela i do worry about the president's saber rattling his hands that the u.s. military intervention remains an option i want to make clear to our witnesses in to

everyone else watching us military intervention is not an option congress decides when we are in how the u.s. military is used around the world and congress would not support military intervention in venezuela venezuela's neighbors feel the same way let's get more from our white house correspondent kimberly halkett on this second really does this mean that the military option is there for me off the table. well that is certainly one voice one opinion in the u.s. congress a democratic voice and a very vocal opposition of president donald trump and many of the things that he has on his agenda he's actually right in terms of the u.s. constitution but here's the thing historically what we have to remember is that u.s. presidents typically in historically in fact quite as recently as the last two presidencies when there is something that they hope to achieve militarily there are ways of circumventing congress and that's certainly what we've seen in the past and that

certainly is an option perhaps that donald trump is considering along with his administration in fact we know so because we saw two weeks ago when the national security advisor john bolton was standing in front of reporters talking about venezuela's sanctions the in fact he was holding a note pad almost telegraphing the plaids saying five thousand troops. colombia of course bordering the venezuela so this is certainly something that is on the radar if you will of the trumpet ministration the president continuing to intimate as he has for weeks now that all options are on the table and that he has many plans with respect to the possible use of troops in the region but we should also point out is something that would not necessarily be welcome in the region given historically when there has been u.s. military presence there has not always been received favorably that's certainly a factor so you mentioned that the president feels at least he has a lot of options what would the next steps be though to make any of them happen.

well right now we have as you mentioned the visit of the colombian president even duke a he was in the oval office as the president was a once again asked about the possibility of military intervention in the region he is continuing to make a tour here in the united states for the coming days he is now on capitol hill meeting with nancy pelosi the speaker of the house of representatives as well as the minority leader kevin mccarthy tomorrow he will be read meeting with the top republican mitch mcconnell in the u.s. senate he'll be meeting with members of the world bank on friday he even rings the bell of the new york stock exchange what we can read from all of this is there is this continuing effort among the partners in the region but also in the western hemisphere for the pressuring of nicolas maduro to step down as leader in venezuela in the words of iran duca he said that we will give him the support he needs to lead the transition the obstruction of aid is

a crime against humanity we also heard from the u.s. president in that meeting that the view is of the united states that madeira is making quote a terrible mistake if he does not let food in so well the united states is not telegraphing options moving forward certainly you see this effort to build a coalition of support in the effort to continue to pressure nicolas maduro to step down as leader of venezuela can really how he would lead his from the white house kimberly thank you still to come in this half hour a thai opposition party is left fighting for its survival after nominating the king sr to be its candidate for prime minister and calls for african soldiers and fourth alongside the british to be acknowledged for the role that they played in world war two.

now it's still i suppose midwinter has been a warming trend going on in europe the real cold has been tucked over the border into western russia been snowing heavily in moscow now this cloud is fading it is still cold af to see a little bit of snow on the high ground in north turkey otherwise i was talking rain here and was single figures you think well that's on the border and you'd be right to think that in the balkans for example maybe the copy that out there might be some mountain tops now and again and we're going to friday night we still got snow on the hog on the turkey most of the talking rain here and for the rest of europe which i've been covering standing over the thames has been rising and nothing else has been happening release of fifteen madrid fourteen in london they respawn rain coming into westport committedly but otherwise it's his rather more like early spring to tell anybody so that's the case then also now jerry tunisia and morocco temperatures quite heart of about twenty three whereas you still got that on shore breeze from eastern libya and then of course from all major and the levant has tensions in the middle teens and breeze brings rain in crowd with it

a disappointing picture and constructing the different from those places further west or indeed further south indeed you've got to get to the tropics in africa to pick up any significant chasse from or less get on to uganda. the two thousand mile trip across europe seems impossible. as the balkans route begins to close for refugees it has become a race against time for one syrian family. it's a perilous journey from greece to germany but there's no turning back to the ravages of war left at home. sky ground a witness documentary on al-jazeera.

welcome back here's a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera at least twenty seven revolutionary guards of them tilden several others injured in a suicide bomb attack on a bus in southeastern iraq the fars news agency reports that of sunni group. says it was behind the attack a u.s. sponsored conference has opened in poland on the security situation in the middle east and what's termed the threat posed by iran israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the meeting is about what he calls common interest in a war with iran and spain's opposition is urging prime minister pedro sanchez to call an early election after his government's budget was that featured in a parliamentary vote the bill failed after parties at the lumia refused to support

. a thai political party that's wanted the king sr to run as its candidate for prime minister is now battling for survival judges are deciding whether a case to ban the party can go ahead the king intervene to stop the princess standing in next month's election the first since the military coup five years ago when has more now from bangkok and a warning is reported contain flushing. two weeks ago the tire rocks a chart party entered the political spotlight as they launched their election campaign the leaders talked about the need for thailand to innovate. but the candidate chosen to stand as prime minister proved to be an innovation in a country where the monarchy is regarded as above politics. princess was ruled ineligible after the palace sit her nomination was in violation of royal tradition

and culture and highly inappropriate after a complaint from an independent constitution monitoring organization the election commission has recommended that the court dissolve the party if the court agrees it would be the dissolution of a political party backed by former prime minister taksin shinawatra who lives in exile after his overthrow in the two thousand and six military coup. taxon chyna what has spent his political career fighting the establishment and on friday ties thought he had staged a major coup himself by having a member of the royal family fronting the campaign for one of his parties but it appears to have been a major miscalculation dissolution would also mean the members of the party's executive committee would be banned from politics for a minimum of ten years. last week the party's advisor and a long time tax an ally told al-jazeera about his concerns that the campaign and next month's election won't be free and fair it is designed in the first layers

so that he. will be able to extend its power to thailand's military leaders who form the government since the latest coup in two thousand and fourteen removed texans main party per thai its still able to take part in next month's vote. the decision by the election commission to ban the thai rocks a chant party came the day after a t.v. station owned by the chena watts was ordered off the air for fifteen days the government's national broadcasting body said voice t.v. was showing provocative content that caused confusion and social division and the fact that the punishment is dealt out at this time you were right about when we were heading towards a potential return to democracy. is highly inappropriate. there are a few guarantees in thai politics but it's likely there will be more volatility

before the election due on march the twenty fourth wayne hay al jazeera bangkok. a journalist in the philippines who was one of several people named time magazine's person of the year has been arrested on libel charges maria ressa is the c.e.o. of the news website rappler she has repeatedly clashed with president they're publishing news reports critical of his anti drug crackdown she says the case is meant to silence her website but i know is i have not gotten an official copy of the deal and we would have the chance to file a motion for reconsideration we should the fact that an arrest warrant has been issued really interesting and i will follow i just shocked that the rule of law has been broken to the point that i can't see it the jury's election commission is promising that saturday's presidential vote will go ahead despite another fire at one of its offices the third blaze of its kind within the last two weeks the story

of thousands of voting machines in a number a stretch state president mohammed running for a second term he's facing businessman and former vice president. and the round seventy other candidates several people were killed in a stampede at one of biharis rallies on tuesday witnesses say the rush happened after the president had finished addressing the crowd in the southern city of port harcourt well before in a crowd have signed the peace accord pledging to participate in free and fair elections the leaders of nigeria's most popular political parties and worried observers with accusations of blocking access to campaign rallies and vote rigging plans. during the second world war hundreds of thousands of african men joined at the british army many during prejudice during the war and neglect after wards they were paid less than british soldiers and received the much smaller pensions and

with the number of living african veterans dwindling or calls to finally acknowledge the sacrifice that they made before it's too late that candle holder yet reports. just in khost survived the horrors of war at ninety four he is one of nearly six hundred thousand african soldiers recruited from british colonies who fought for the british army in the second world war he's been visited by prince harry who wasn't zombie as a pay his respects to the african veterans just in hopes the prince would take a message home so he can turn. to the poor to do mark two of our job. readers and oh i thought. you thought florida to give an. outdoor new comeback. for what you knew i knew never forgot me because we thought. at a war graves cemetery near mount kenya veterans like you say of you and gershon

honor their colleagues who died they survived but weren't properly compensated for their service. no where did when i got out they gave me nothing they should have known how much we'd help them they would have given something but that was not the case we were abandoned just like that. this document in britain's war archives reveals that african personnel could be paid three times less than their white counterparts and some soldiers weren't paid at all they give me an i.v. and they gave me one. i says we can go on as. the colonial regime placed a different value on african life and when your parents memories of war are at times overshadowed by the life of poverty we should be ashamed that the prince who fought for our country all living in poverty we have an opportunity in that twilight to get it right and it's not too late we could still make

a bad after being overlooked for years there are signs the u.k. government is now recognizing their service of supporting the british empire in two thousand and eighteen britain announced a package of about fifteen million dollars to help impoverished veterans and a widows from commonwealth countries senior officials stress the money is eight not compensation it's not designed to time what it is designed to do is provide some very practical support what my department does all core mission is to alleviate extreme poverty about hall of all the commonwealth veterans out there we're living in what we consider to be extreme poverty. war has taken its toll on these veterans a painful journey magnified by discrimination during the war and a sense of abandonment in the years that followed yet there is still optimism that their service will be compensated even if it's in the last years of their lives

a hope that when they die this time in history will not die with them. the young al jazeera and you consume the food report of that investigation a twenty to thirty g.m.t. in people in power the forgotten heroes of empire a nationwide strike in belgium is paralyzing air traffic sea ports and train services all flights in and out of the country have been canceled for twenty four hours tens of thousands of airline passengers are affected the strikes have been called by belgians three major trade union federations which are demanding an increase in wages benefits and pensions the european commission has proposed adding seven countries including saudi arabia to the e.u. as money laundering blacklist the list focuses on governments that the e.u. thinks do little to support to the financing of illegal armed groups and organized crime tensions between the e.u. and riyadh have increased in the wake of the murder of the saudi journalist on the

show inclusion on the list means european banks have to apply tighter controls on transactions france and britain are against adding saudi arabia while it's the end of any era in mars exploration nasa has just formally announced that the mas of its longest running rover on the red planet after a remarkable fifty years the opportunity rover landed on mars back in two thousand and four with a projected mission of just three months but nasa obviously built it well and as it's powered by its solar panels opportunity was still going strong until communication finally ceased in a massive dust storm last june. and finally back here on earth it's an animal that was for a long time regarded as missing coal and now the first the very five pictures of a black leopard for more than a century have been taken in kenya remote cameras captured these images last month

of a safari camp one hundred fifty kilometers north of the capital nairobi the black leopard also known as the black panther has an extremely rare genetic mutation that turns their coats jet black the previous confirmed picture was taken in ethiopia back in nineteen zero nine. going. now a reminder of our main stories on al-jazeera at least twenty seven members of iran's revolutionary guards have been killed and several others injured in a suicide bombing the fars news agency says a sunni group operating in southeastern iran has claimed responsibility for the attack it happened on the road between the cities of cash near the pakistan border an area where armed groups and drug smugglers frequently operate a suicide bomber in a vehicle laden with explosives drove into a bus transporting members of the guards that's what the force said in

a statement meanwhile in poland a u.s. sponsored conference is getting under way on the situation the security situation in the middle east and the threat posed by iran representatives for more than sixty nations are there including the u.s. secretary of state and the vice president but russia isn't attending and the european union is only send low level delegates israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is there and he said the meeting will focus on what he calls common interest in a war with iran. spain's opposition is urging prime minister pedro sanchez to call an early election after his government's budget was the feet in a key parliamentary vote the bill failed after parties from the catalonia region refused to support it the support had been conditional on having direct talks with madrid about self-determination sanchez is expected to make an announcement on friday after chairing a cabinet meeting. today in polish. leaders

of the future of the time political party that tried to nominate a king sr for prime minister is on the threat the election commission has recommended that the thai rak such charts party which was linked to the prime minister thaksin shinawatra be dissolved and the journalist in the philippines who was one of several people named time magazine's person of the year has been arrested for libel maria ressa a c.e.o. of the news website rappler she has repeatedly clashed with president. that left more all those stories in half an hour coming up next here on al-jazeera it's the stream thank you for watching by.

how can millions of young nigerians get their voices heard when politics is dominated by older generations i thought me ok i really could be in the first of two special extended shows on nigeria's upcoming elections we'll hear from political candidates and activists who are part of a new youth wave in your questions and comments or twitter and the live chat. there are just three days until millions of people across nigeria cause their ballots for the country's next president and members of the national assembly more than seventy.