cell as a scrap metal we were confronted by even this forces this story throwing tear gas in also by armed civilians who support the. known as the people's or collective in defense of the revolution the situation seems to be calming down again but just show how volatile the situation remains here on the border a day after the minnesota opposition failed to move the sent by b. united states inside venezuela. staying in the region polls have closed in cuba where millions of people have been voting on whether to approve a new constitution it recognizes the free market but still embraces communism as the official political ideology a final draft was adopted by parliament in december the new constitution also includes changes to the judicial system and limits the president to serving two consecutive five year terms well al jazeera is marianna sanchez is live for us and

have anna marie on and now that polls have closed what was the turnout like and what are voters saying about this referendum. well no. absolutely the polls have now closed and votes are being counted although the votes are counted by hand so we understand that the results won't be until later on tomorrow on monday however the turnout cording to officials has been really large seventy six percent two hours ago so we will know the exact number when the full votes are being count our counted and we see the results now eight million cubans have been and were eligible to go out and vote and we all however we saw very few people at polling stations earlier today there are very many polling stations in the country we went around several several polling stations and the people were very calm at ease there was not much excitement however. and many

analysts say that a majority of cubans are very happy. because of this new constitution gives many reforms that some of them which are policies that have already that are already in place like opening the. economy to international markets partially also a limited recognition of a limited private property and a novelty like limiting the presidential terms to two to five year terms other analysts however are saying that it could be that twenty percent of cubans are not happy or nearly twenty percent are not happy with these new constitution that they have the could vote no it's a historic volta because usually. the cuban government doesn't get as much dissent out in the open but many say that is that the no vote is because

many people are say that this constitution is against their principles and because others say because the party the one party system isn't trying to protected and in the end it continues to be above even the constitution mariano there was also an issue about a reference to same sex marriage being created in the draft what happened there. well it was not included in the draft because the actual constitution says that marriage is between a man and a woman they wanted to change this into marriage equals person and person this opened the door for the constitution to guarantee same sex marriage and the religious groups in the country were outraged and protested so in the end it was conflicting so they decided to take this issue out of the draft it was not in the draft at all it's not been voted on of course activists in favor of same sex

marriage are also angry about this but it doesn't mean that in the future it will not be voted on it's. the projection if you will is that in about two years from now the issue of same sex marriage could be a referendum in itself mariana sanchez live for us in havana thank you for that update marianna. and there's plenty more ahead on the news outlet including egypt's president says terrorism is spreading like the past plague as he co-hosts a summit between the arab league and e.u. leaders are. not so picture perfect the problem is now confronting some of iraq's historical landmarks. and this argentinean superstar in mind everyone that your dentist is more than just a one man show details coming out. u.s.

president donald trump says he will delay an increase in tariffs on chinese goods because of what he's calling substantial progress in trade talks with beijing let's go straight to gabriel elizondo who's in washington d.c. for us what more do we know about this. trade negotiators from china and the u.s. have been meeting throughout the weekend here in washington and just in the last few minutes or so we've gotten a first indication from the president ited states donald trump that these trade talks which we've been hearing it been going pretty well throughout the weekend have been going well enough to where trump just released this information via twitter saying that this march first deadline is now off the table there will be no deadline anymore to get these talks done he's extending that deadline he didn't say when he's extending it until but he said clearly in this tweet substantial progress is made in the trump said progress has been made on important structural issues

including intellectual property protection technology transfer agriculture services and currency so that pretty much is everything that they were discussing or pretty much everything now these talks are going on last week they were supposed to end on friday but they were extended to saturday and then sunday as well because there was so much progress that was being made everyone was trying to get a deal done before this march first deadline which is friday of this week but now trump indicating that that deadline is no longer a deadline anymore and that these talks will continue on or hearing that this won't be finalized however until trump and president xi sign something trump mentioning his tweet that they would have a summit in mar-a lago trumps resort in florida he didn't say when that would be but we're hearing that it could be as early as late march again this is significant because right now there's a ten percent tariff on tens of billions of dollars of imports of chinese goods

coming into the u.s. that would have gone up to twenty five percent on march first if this deal wasn't done or at least if trump hadn't extended this which it appears that he has done so good sign on for beijing and washington because both sides really been pushing to try to get a deal and it appears that they are very close out as there is. washington with that update thank you kate. a bombings killed at least twenty four people in syria's central hama province the blast happened as a van full of workers passed by syrian state television says the device was one of many left in the area by eisel fight is well iraq's military says u.s. backed syrian democratic forces have now handed over two hundred eighty eisel fighters and says they're part of a contingent of more than five hundred iraqis in s.t.'s custody in syria in twenty fifteen eisel controlled huge swathes of syria and iraq linking the cities of raka

and mosul kurdish forces are helping hundreds of civilians leave the armed groups last pocket of territory in the syrian village of bug whose its people are being used as human shields which has slowed the advance of years of conflict in iraq have often made it too dangerous for international teams to help the conservation of archaeological sites but that's not all that's holding back restoration efforts stratford reports from a bill. erbil citadel in the kurdish region of northern iraq towers above the old city it was built by the ultimate in the nineteenth century but archaeological remains show civilization is dating back to the same area as built fortifications here around five thousand years ago. from a distance the walls look strong and well preserved inside moisture has been seeping up into the brickwork for centuries. much of this fortress popular with locals and visitors alike has either already collapsed will could do so soon.

as our college ists we are facing many obstacles and preserving iraq's last citadels we lack funding there is government neglect there is no master plan with us and international bodies we face losing our heritage and with it part of our identity. war and political instability have often made it too dangerous for international conservation teams to come to iraq for the security situation isn't the only thing affecting the preservation and restoration of archaeological sites. throughout the long history of civilization in this region various ethnic and religious groups of often violently for the control of iraq's three citadels now experts here say that conservation efforts are often held back by what they describe as the politicize ation of iraq's heritage. this is the citadel

and kill cook also built by the also means on a site that dates to the assyrian empire three thousand years ago the intricately decorated walls on which cling the last remnants of once stunning mosaics a crumbling. suddenly and shia arabs turkmen and kurds have fought over the city the centuries c.s. that give me sadly the preservation of the country's three said styles is at risk no one can agree how to manage them people think if you claim a historical site it gives you political and economic advantage he has a like most recently killed cook was on the front line during the war against myself which is of great strategic importance because iraq's second largest oil fields are close by. and this is all that remains of the citadel in heat in western province built on alcohol chicle site also dating back five thousand years

the town on the banks of the euphrates river was occupied by iso until two thousand and fifteen but i still sleeper cells still operate in the surrounding desert the security situation has been so bad for so long that conservation efforts stopped years ago revenue from visiting tourists as is the case in kirkuk is also a thing of the past and this means thousands of years of iraq's history could soon be beyond repair charles stratford al-jazeera at a bill. thousands of palestinian protesters have rallied in gaza calling on president mahmoud abbas to resign they're angry after he suspended the salaries of more than five thousand public sector workers last month the cuts are seen as an attempt by the palestinian leader's fatah faction to put pressure on rival hamas which controls gaza account a demonstration was held in the occupied west bank in support of abbas. police in

algeria have used tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators calling on the president to abandon his plan to run for a fifth term it was the third consecutive day of protests in the capital algiers president with a flick a is seeking reelection in april the one year old has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in twenty five team security and immigration are topping the agenda at the first of a joint summit between the arab league and e.u. leaders egyptian president abdel fattah el-sisi is co-chairing the summit with european council president donald tusk sisi urged governments to unite behind the goal of defeating terrorism he does attending the two day meeting and sake also discussed ways to tackle the migration crisis impacting several european countries . should i wonder out loud in all honesty with our brothers and friends i was the target not come to reach an overall plan on fighting terrorism it should include

a strict security offensive to counter the terrorist organizations and other elements of terrorism and they should also be an ideological offensive effective against the ideological platforms and another important element is to prevent funding and other support given to them but finally. i want to acknowledge and look at all those here who have shouldered the burden of population displacement helped refugees and acted. people smartly we must work together countries of origin transit system nations in order to break the business mogul of smugglers and traffickers who lou people into dangerous journalists and to feed more than day slavery to address the root causes of migration and displacement.

to stop irregular make sure. we are at the mission. reintegration. to ensure the protection of refugees. right in line with international law. britain's prime minister was also at the summit in egypt to resume a says she won't be holding another vote on bret's that this week we're having good constructive talks with the european union we won't be bringing a meaningful vote back this week but we will make sure that that happens by the twelfth of march it is still within our grasp to have a deal with the european union that enables us to leave on the twenty ninth of march with a deal gale force winds have brought severe disruption to parts of malta strong waves have washed live fish on to roads and pavements streets have been flooded and trees have been uprooted in seaside towns popular with tourists restaurants and

other buildings on the island where author damaged. still ahead on al-jazeera senegal votes on whether to give macky sall a second time as president after his biggest rival from running. their own in a tiny city a neo soul a race and in fourth castle pushes to become the frontrunner in the course of. hello welcome saw the look of international focus some quotes with a man moving across the state south of the us i would towards the mid atlantic states clout that will continue to ease its way out into the atlantic bright skies to come back a behind the fighting rays that have affected what i went from mount mississippi up

towards tennessee anywhere around the tennessee valley they will ease out of the way it will be largely dry over the next couple of days seventy. seven for chicago that a cloud just around the for i was pushing over towards the mountain states and the pacific northwest there's a lot of snow in the forecast northern parts of california will have a couple of rather wet day san francisco in the rain on monday tuesday still writing this and snow there across the mountains up close rockies pushing a little further north as becomes a little more expansive over towards east coast so it back up to around seven there for the say but a cloud that just around the panhandle into the deep south should be largely dry there lossy dried see across the caribbean want to see still a possibility into southern mexico into nicaragua maybe pushing down towards costa rica or is well as we go on through choose day elsewhere across the race as a senselessly thought we have got some showers just coming into the windward islands but choose the afternoon.

on line. to the answer for them not only if you join us on saturday all of us have been colonized in some form or some fashion this is a diana react talking about a legal front you have seen what it can do to somebody people are using multiple drugs including the funnel and some people are seeking it out everyone has a voice and us here at bossier twitter and you could be on this story and join the conversation on mt is iraq. donald trump says he has a special bond with kim jong il and the north korean leader and the u.s. president are about to meet again in vietnam a letter they were signing is very comprehensive and i think both sides are going to be very impressed with eight months after the historic summits in singapore company strike a deal on nuclear weapons to finally and the korean war special coverage of fabric

the twenty seven. hello again i'm. a reminder of the news this hour more people may have been killed in violent border clashes between venezuela and brazil than previously thought a local man says at least twenty five people died in the town of santa ana as venezuelan forces try to stop opposition supporters from bringing foreign aid into the country. u.s. president donald trump says he will delay an increase in tariffs on chinese goods because of what he is calling substantial progress in trade talks with beijing. more than two hundred billion dollars worth of chinese products. from march the

first. polls have closed in cuba where people have been voting on a controversial political print for the country and recognizes the free market but still embraces communism as the island's official political ideology cubans are expected to vote in favor of it. pope francis is ordering an all out battle against the abuse of children by priests the call from the head of the roman catholic church follows a four day meeting of senior vatican city but abuse survivors aren't happy with what they've heard reports. a religious service in the painted splendor of the vatican marks the end of this extraordinary meeting then pope francis gave hearty ranking clergy his concluding thoughts he called paedophile priests ravenous wolves and tools of satan and insisted this is a problem everywhere not just in developed countries where most cases have been

exposed. here i would reaffirm that the church will spare no effort to do all that is necessary to bring to justice those who have committed such crimes the church will never seek to shop or not take seriously any case it is convince of the sins and crimes of consecrated people offer the tainted by. infidelity and shame they just they get the countenance of the church and undermine its credibility. words that seem to go down well with those present i have a very good feeling. and also the speech pope francis cave after mass this morning. for the strength and so very resolute so i think this meeting is not a finish up it's a start. we know there are some still active at least but survivors of abuse were angry they wanted to hear the pope say that abusive priests and those who cover up for them will be thrown out of the priesthood. at all it.

just words words words avoided seven years for change and others have been waiting thirty years for change and to get him used to do something concrete to remove bishops who have covered things up if there's a pope for the media critic about the korean war vet it wrong traditions are vital to the longevity and appeal of the catholic church such as the angelus prayer given by the pope each sunday in st peter's square but the traditional secrecy with which the church has covered up decades of sex crimes is a threat to its very future while people still flock in their thousands to hear the pope speak in person at the vatican and there are hundreds of millions more roman catholics around the world but pope francis is aware that sexual abuse is a nexus tensional problem for the catholic church it's driven away worshippers and if it's not properly handled more will leave. the vatican never said this

unprecedented meeting would solve the problem cardinals have called it a step on the road they must now produce follow up measures for clergy to take back to their countries and put into practice rory chalons how to zero the vatican. voting has ended in senegal as presidential elections president macky sall is seeking a second term and faces four main rivals since coming to office president sole has developed infrastructure projects and the economy is said to be booming but opposition candidates say ordinary people are suffering with poverty and unemployment rampant pushing many to leave the country out of there as nicholas hack reports from one of the polling stations in dhaka it's going on across fifteen thousand polling stations and we're in one of the polling rooms we've just seen earlier these officers taking each envelope. calling out the name of the candidate this in front of of observers from the political parties and from the

election commission the election commission here says it wants to make the process as transparent as possible i mean this is democracy in action in senegal and cynical is one of the most stable democracies on the continent in much of it is to do with this electoral process it's gone through eleven elections and all have been a peaceful transition in power now in this polling room specifically multi-cell came on top that doesn't mean that the rest of the country will follow but it surely is an indication of the mood because we've seen for the last two weeks solid campaigning aggressively across the country like you said. showing his accomplishment during his time in his mandate in power. the red carpet is being rolled out for the academy awards in what could be a night of history making fests for the film industry.

disney's black panther is the fastest superhero movie ever nominated for best picture while mexican film roma is also up for the top awards and if that wins it'll be the fast time the award has gone to a movie made by the streaming service netflix the freddie mercury by a factor for him in that city is up to seven awards but one of its directors has been dogged by controversy of a sex abuse allegations well let's go to los angeles where bob reynolds is on the red carpet for us rob why is the run up to this year's oscars ceremony been so unusually full of contrived the scene. will the reason basically miss us here is the money because the oscars broadcast generates a lot of money for the academy of motion picture arts and sciences those are the folks who actually choose who wins and who loses the oscars so the ratings have been dropping for

a long time and there was some urgency in the academy about spicing up the broadcast so first they said let's come up with a new category for best popular film but that was met with a real outcry people thought it was pandering to the audience and sort of condescending so they quickly backtracked on that then they said in order to shorten the broadcast at least slightly they cut out the live in ward ceremony who are who are categorized for the twenty four categories including cinematography and editing and then a lot of people in the industry pointed out that cinematography and editing are basically what makes a motion picture a motion picture so that didn't go over well and they cut that out and they will now be allured it during the trial the broadcast itself and then there's the question of the host or lack thereof kevin hart was supposed to be involved with dropped out. when a series of his plate leaves. we were uncovered and apparently the stasi nobody

else wants the job so who's going to win. here's a bullet we don't know but here's a preview. the red carpet has been rolled out on hollywood boulevard and the on globes with the names of the winners are ready to open this year's academy awards feature a diverse slate of best picture nominees including the exploits of an african superhero in black and. the life of an indigenous mexican housekeeper in the one nine hundred seventy s. in roma the scene he's working for black. south blue problems a story of overcoming bigotry and creating interracial friendships in green book and the life of a brilliant but troubled gay rock star in bohemian rhapsody. films

and performances selected you know the she is nominated this year for the ska certainly reflects that hollywood has a greater understanding and is putting forth a greater commitment towards diversity and inclusion i think that's a good thing but the four other best picture nominees are vice a bio pic of former vice president dick cheney a star is born a remake of a venerable tale of fame fortune and fate with a helping of popular songs black klansmen director spike lee's comedy drama about a black policeman infiltrating the k.k.k. and the favorite a lavish dive into the intrigues b. trails and lesbian love affairs in the eighteenth century british royal court the best female actor nominees include yes you know in roma lady gaga in a star is born and. melissa mccarthy can you ever forgive me but there's

a clear favorite i mean glenn close it's like finally i mean glen has been the bridesmaid for her. i am so i think everybody is like. the best male actor award contest looks like a dead heat between christian bale startling in person a sheen of cheney invites and romney malek's passionate portrayal of the talented orbited freddie mercury in bohemian rhapsody. in the selection of black panther is the first. superhero movie this is remarkable on a number of fronts. not least of which is that it is a netflix production. to choose me that was to give another movie my apologies the selection of roma as a one of the best picture nominees is remarkable because it is

a netflix production and many people in the cademy and in hollywood and in the film industry in general are white the fearful and distrustful of netflix because you of course live streaming is changing the whole way people watch movies and as we stand here on the carpet with those all this so many people boisterously yelling at their favorite celebrities it looks like it's really going to be kind of a wide open fields at night but definitely worth watching the stasi back to you al jazeera as rob reynolds with all the stars on the red carpet watching the oscars for us thank you rob. well mike sargent is the chief elm critic with ai radio and he joins us now from new york mike as we've heard the ratings for the oscars have been declining why people no longer watching like they stay. well i think that there are a number of reasons one is today seeing a celebrity on t.v.

doesn't have the same appeal it did ten twenty twenty five years ago we have so many other ways to see celebrities or so many other shows is t m z this social media is so it's not it doesn't have the same thrill that it once did the other thing is that now sitting in front of a television to watch sort of an antiquated style of entertainment does not appeal to the kind of people who really watch a lot of movies and who can absorb content the way we do today and mike i believe there's no host this year has that ever happened before it did happen once before it was a disaster it happened actually thirty years ago when spike lee was up again for best picture oscar ironically against driving miss daisy so he's up against this picture that's been called something similar but i don't think it's going to go the same way this year i think that actually not having

a host may be the best thing to happen to the oscars and why is that how has the oscars evolved. well here's the thing i think i don't think the oscars has evolved i think that's the problem i think that nobody wants to sit and watch an opening like you have on the tonight show with a bunch of jokes nobody wants to see a bunch of routines nobody wants to see a lot of people reading from cue cards people who aren't funny trying to be funny none of those things really really work anymore and the oscars used to be must watch t.v. that's why they always have comedians back in the day it would be a bob hope today it would be somebody like a kevin hart if he had a clean record which i don't know how many comedians do but the idea is somebody that people are willing to pay to see somebody that you only see either in the movies or in concert that's the kind of person you want to see somebody who's going to be spontaneous and make the show itself and their being on it entertaining

problem with somebody like jimmy kimmel last year is he really appeals to a small demographic clearly and he's not he's on every night so why watch him on the oscars well in terms of a variation there is all about control if they have a war devolved on the divested front. well it's not so much the awards what's happened is the membership of the academy to be a member of the academy you have to be nominated by somebody else and then supported by a couple it's a whole procedure so unfortunately for many years it was not just an all boys club it was an all white male club over sixty as statistics are showing us about five years ago they've done a lot they've brought in new members well over a thousand from about forty different countries so this is happening in this changing even the nomination of roma shows that the there is more diversity in the academy than there used to be before but there's still

a long way to go the reason why oscars are still pretty much so white is because the people who are making the decisions to make films. the academy still reflects the industry but if you look at the pictures nominated there's more films nominated by black filmmakers than there is ever been in the history of oscars mike sargent the chief film critic. from new york thank you so much for joining us on al-jazeera might know you well still ahead on al-jazeera enforce a costly mistake that turned out ok in the end for the king of ski that story coming up for you in just a few.