stability and if people continue to lose their jobs if that continues to be pessimism over the economy that will become a real problem for the communist party here in china so they're going to do whatever they can to really make sure that stability is insured but at the same time making sure that the industries that they want to publish such as tech are not negatively impact in any way so they're really walking a very fine balance is a really really interesting to see what the outcome is there continue watching chinese reaction from beijing thank you very much katrina plenty more ahead on this news hour including egypt's president says terrorism is spreading like a cursed played as he hosts a summit between the arab league and leaders. and not quite so picture perfect problems now confronting some of iraq's historical landmarks. and in sports qatar pushes to become front runner in the sport of kings.

iraq's military says u.s. backed syrian democratic forces have handed over two hundred eighty eisel fighters and says they are part of a contingent of more than five hundred iraqis in s.t.'s custody in syria in twenty fifteen i still 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 it's feared people are being used as human shields which has slowed the advance joshua landis is director of the center for middle east studies at the university of oklahoma and he joins us now via skype from norman and oklahoma always a pleasure to have you on al-jazeera joshua president keeps saying that i said is about to be defeated any moment but the battle clearly goes on. yes the

s.d.f. has been overwhelmed with the amount of civilians had been pouring out well over five thousand and so have all the other fighters because there are tunnels underneath this but who knows and it's very difficult to dislodge people without killing lots of civilians so they've been carrying on negotiations trying to get the civilians released it's taking longer than we thought because this is the end of isis these foreign fighters have been collected in this one area and many of them are willing to fight to the death so it's a delicate it's a delicate process and whether it takes another week or so really is immaterial in order to save lives how many fighters are we talking about trapped and getting a sense and what's likely to happen often they're finally defeated well we've been hearing that there are you know hundreds more but it's unclear exactly how many are

there but i think it's in the hundreds by this point many of the arab fighters have had to try to disappear there were reports that perhaps one hundred fighters had gotten mixed in with the women and children and older people who had escaped already or had been taken off as refugees into the various camps where they're being collected and interrogated so the arabs are trying to fade away many and it's the foreign fighters that can't just slip off into the night that are being collected there and many of them will fight to the end because. they're their prospects are really pretty bad and what can we read into this f.t.'s handing over of i sometimes it's more of a symbolic gesture. no i think it's important they want to get rid of them and they've been begging the europeans to take back their citizens even the americans and trump just a little while ago president trump said that it all these different countries had to take back their prisoners and should take back their prisoners and yet we see

him turn around the next day and say he will not take back the american prisoners so this is you know this is going to be a big problem for the s.d.f. they don't have the capacity they don't have the money it camps are overwhelmed so if they can get some off to the iraqis that's much better and the americans also have bases there are they working with the iraqi intelligence they can be brief a lot of these fighters and find out what's going on so it's probably best that they be split up into different areas well president trump has also backtracked on his announced withdrawal of all u.s. troops from syria now he says they'll be about four hundred to remain there what does that tell us about how the white house considers the ongoing war in syria. well you know we as we know president trump at first thought that the turks could move into northern syria and help finish off isis but he clearly didn't understand the relationship between the y.p. j that's the kurdish fighters that have been helping the united states in northern syria and turkey which sees them as terrorists and would would clearly arrest or

kill many of them so this is this immediately was reversed his is. national security people tell him you can't do this they tried to get the europeans on board the french and the british to to leave troops to stay in there because they don't want outside i'm going up because that would mean iran and russia would move into the north so the americans the europeans the americans no way if you're not if you're leaving we're leaving so. from the news stories it seems that bolton and others are pushing very hard with trying to get a residual force remaining behind that would encourage europeans to keep some of their forces there so that state would maintain leverage in the north fight isis and deny that region to syria russia and iran joshua landis from the university of chicago and that thanks very much or is a pleasure to have you on on to their. pleasure my years of conflict in iraq have

often made it too dangerous for international teams to help in the conservation of oculus across sites and that's not all that's holding back restoration efforts charles traffic reports from the bill. the bill citadel in the kurdish region of northern iraq the towers above the old city it was built by the ultimate in the nineteenth century but on theological 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 in sunlight we still 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 in kill cook also built by the ultimate is 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 turquand and kurds have fought over the city the centuries c.s. at kidney 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 and 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 for 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 trial started 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 a counter demonstration was held in the occupied west bank in support of abbas. well 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 of the us is beautifully is seeking reelection in april the eighty one

year old has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke and twenty that team. security and immigration are topping the agenda at the first ever joint summit between arab league countries and e.u. leaders egyptian president. co-chairing the summit with european council president donald tusk says he urged governments to unite behind the goal of defeating terrorism leaders attending the two day meeting and shall shake also discussed ways to tackle the migration crisis impacting several european countries. i wonder out loud in all honesty with our brothers and friends that i was the time 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 have been 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. those here who have shouldered the burden of population displacement helped refugees and active. people smuggling 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 feed more than day slavery. to address the root causes of migration place. to stop irregular make racial. reintegration. to ensure the protection of refugees.

right in line with international law. while britain's prime minister was also at the summit in egypt tourism a says she won't be holding another vote this week on bracks it 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 be on the twenty ninth of march with a deal well given half started is the brics that coordinator for the e.u. parliament and he's treated his disdain for may's decision saying kicking the can down the road only adds to the crippling uncertainty of the businesses on both sides of the channel and for millions of citizens i've seen many surprising decisions in a lifetime in politics but this is close to being one of the most reckless. 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 clergy at vatican city but abuse survivors aren't happy with what they have heard for a challenge reports. a religious service in the painted splendor of the vatican marks the end of this extraordinary meeting then pope francis gave high 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 were they. here i would reaffirm that the church will spare no effort to do war that is necessary to bring to justice those who have committed such crimes the church will never seek to hush up or not take seriously any case is convinced 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 pro francisco 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. but only. just words words words avoided seven years for change and others have been waiting thirty years for change and he needs to do something concrete to remove bishops who have covered things up if there's a pope for the media critic in part by karimov it broke my tradition. 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 handles 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. still ahead on al-jazeera senekal votes on whether to give macky sall

a second term as president after his biggest rival of the are banned from running. and an argentinean superstar reminds everyone that your dentist is more than just a one man show details coming up in the. hollow welcomes another look at the international forecast and we should see some dry weather just coming into the southeast of china over the next couple days been a little unsettled her recently disappointing so we say for hong kong where we got twenty one celsius or monday temperatures starting to edge their way up still a fair bit of cloud over towards the western side of the country could produce a few spots of rain for choose day but that is to the southeast is fire destroyed temperatures about twenty two celsius for hong kong at this stage quite keen

northeasterly wind driving through should be lossy settles across in the china settle to into the philippines we've got the usual showers there into malaysia northern parts of indonesia heat of the day showers the seasonal showers continue unabated as they should to come choose to a little chase perhaps a little more cloud just pushing up towards the gulf of thailand so you might just catch one or two showers creeping into southern thailand for tuesday afternoon meanwhile you want to two showers just creeping over towards flank swards the southern parts of india but essentially the thick of cloud is further north we have had some disturbed weather here recently we will see that making its way a little further east which as you go through monday soko kotha could see a few showers into bangladesh more of the same as we go through tuesday. weather sponsored by cats only. at night in a stocking somaly mam patrolled the streets police.

tired of gang violence they use the maternal approach to prevent crime. again a little bit in. the stories we don't often hear told by the people who live the mothers of rain could be this is europe on. this week's earth royce a new method of cremation is helping him to tradition become more environmentalists and we visit a danish community to have taken sustainability to new heights just over there on the horizon is some so i only know they are officially one hundred percent renewable and. this is. the energy right here it's a. change on al-jazeera.

hello again i'm. a reminder of the news this hour more people may have been killed in violent confrontations along venezuela's border with brazil than previously thought at least twenty five people died in the town of santa ana when venezuelan forces tried to stop opposition supporters from bringing aid into the country. u.s. president donald trump says he is extending a deadline to increase tariffs on chinese imports after what he's calling substantial progress and the latest round of trade talks with beijing high eleven. more than two hundred billion dollars of chinese products would use to be imposed from march the fest. the head of the roman catholic church has called for an all out battle against the abuse of minors pope francis made the pledge on the fourth

and final day of an unprecedented conference on sex abuse within the church. well hollywood's biggest night of the year is well underway in los angeles by stars have gathered for the annual academy awards seven of the major prizes have already been handed out at the nation from robins who's on the red carpet rug now that they've already started handing out the ones who have been some of them when if they fall. well it looks like it's going to be a big night for diversity and possibly for the film by alfonso cuarón i say diversity because. the two best supporting actor and actress academy awards have been given to black actors the best actor award just handed out a few minutes ago with two. lead it's his second academy award and he won that for his portrayal of the pianist in the film the green book

also the the best female supporting actress award went to regina king she appeared in if the street could talk that's based on an adaptation of the james baldwin work and alfonso cuarón the director of robot now has to oscar's in and won for best foreign film which was submitted. on behalf of his home country mexico and also for best cinematography because not only directed this semi-autobiographical film but he also shot it in the very sort of luminous black and white so so we're still waiting obviously now for the three big sis that is best male best female actor and the best picture so we'll have to see if this if this trend continues so rob presumably ranma is best

taking home best picture took us through some of the other front runners. well you know best picture is an interesting field this year you got your first ever. action superhero film from marvel studios black panther which was as most people know i global hit huge box office success and this is again the first time that the academy of motion picture arts and sciences which is usually seen as a very staid sort of traditionalist group of about six thousand believe professionals have actually gone ahead and included a popular favorite superhero film also roma again is not only now the best foreign language film it is also nominated for best picture so if it

wins it could be the first picture entirely in spanish and indeed in indigenous languages. too to win the best picture award the other pictures in the running our. green book which as we said martial law all these already picked up best supporting actor role for that bohemian rhapsody which will a lot of people think it's going to be a strong contender. and another a number of other films it's a very diverse and interesting field of films for the ninety first academy awards and stacia al-jazeera is robin on for us on the oscars red carpet i'm sure we'll be getting updates throughout the evening thank you rob. an influential figure in the afghan taliban will take place take part in a new round of talks with the united states in qatar co-founder. is the taliban's political chief and his presence at the talks in doha is seen as

a boost to attempts to end a seventeen year war u.s. officials say negotiations last month made significant progress a gunman who tried to hijack a plane in bangladesh was killed when security forces stormed the aircraft he tried to take over a boeing triple seven set to fly to dubai in the united arab emirates he reportedly warned he had a pistol all passengers got off safely when the plane landed in the coastal city of chittagong. an indian police officer has died as a soldier is critically injured in a gun battle in the corgan district of indian administered kashmir at least three fighters are also believed to have been killed shops and businesses in the region have shut down in a protest against a crackdown on separatist leaders police and paramilitary soldiers are patrolling the streets in the main city of srinagar in anticipation of possible street demonstrations tension is high after at least forty indian security personnel died last week in

a suicide bombing but arts and culture are helping to bring people together as osama bin jade explains from a literary festival in lahore. you. usually plays the guitar and speak. but this performance is about the stance culturally. thousands of people are here at pretty festivals to listen to and direct with people from all over the world when you have sixty eight delegates from zone and abroad. extreme views on cities and all stage it really leads to something not just for pakistan but the focus on is being strong internationally and that beyond the borders approach has sparked interest in the work of people capturing world events from syria to sudan it's about. going back to sudan which is. which is where i grew up rediscovering that city and my connections to the country.

and looking at the history of what has happened to bring us to the situation that we're in today. the festival is taking place amid heightened tensions between pakistan and india the two nuclear armed neighbors and politics also creeps up into conversations about literature and not we need to stop. supporting scripts that are very indian we need to start going back to our audience where. a better reflection of society. people who know both sides of the border say that having open conversations releases tensions leads to debate and helps bring people closer tensions are really between a few people unfortunately these people are very powerful and this is why it gets into the news but when you come to an event like this you see a lot of people enjoying themselves wanting to interacting. and as i say you don't you're going to feel under threat by other people's viewpoints you

seem to want to learn from other people's viewpoints. like a stone has come out of years of bloodshed and violence and what visitors find on their first visit is not what many expect the pakistan is just like any other country it's people are friendly. people are interested in folks which i think is very important and people are open to. reading in the setting about new things it's not a job or country that is persuading the us. activists in pakistan complain of increased surveillance and draconian laws which inhibit free expression and criticism on mainstream and social media but the government says freedom of expression also has its limits. discourse is becoming increasingly. organized. feel this is an.

environment.

anti-government protesters in sudan are defying a state of emergency declared by president i'm al the share a new vice president prime minister and more than

a dozen governors have been sworn in after he dissolved the government on friday. reports. this is what's the new government of sudan looks like and president omar al bashir wants it to work on fixing the economy and a country that will now be in a state of emergency for an entire year basheer is to two presidential decrees appointing army and security officers to govern the country's eighteen provinces after dissolving both central and state governments a move seen by many as bush's attempts to consolidate his absolute power in the country the only people who still have a job five members of the outgoing cabinet including the foreign and defense and justice ministers the newly appointed vice president who already serves as the defense minister says security needs to be established user harman housing market there is a crisis bot of it was economic and part of it was due to what the previous government

did in trying to find solutions the security aspect of the country must be consolidated and we must prepare the general atmosphere for a political process and this is all part of our duty as the. protesters meanwhile continue to take to the streets to demand that the president step down but she has called for dialogue but opposition parties say that's not reflected in his actions and activists say protests will continue. these anti-government protests started last december that ignited by neck and the crisis on saturday the ruling party postponed is april convention were a nominee for the country's twenty twenty lections was to be chosen but its members say that doesn't mean a delay in the elections. to see what extent. the state of pregnancy can be implemented on the ground so that they know what the weather is that of many seem

to be against the. government. the organization of the freedom of the people. a mile bashir has ruled saddam finale as he came to power in a bloodless military coup in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine overthrowing a democratically elected government but. the latest round of protests have become the longest wave of anti-government demonstrations since the country's independence from britain in one thousand nine hundred fifty six and the opposition wants them to continue which will test how effective these days of emergency will be. to play out his era. senegal is now waiting to see if mackey sal has been re-elected president results are not expected for day is off to millions to cost their vote nicolas hack reports from dhaka. counting the vote under the careful watch of party observers and a nation waiting for the name of its new president. will it be incumbent president

salva. or edriss sick or the outsider was months ago this was going to. say. we want to be as transparent as possible so that no one questions the results so we will announce the names publicly in front of everyone's presence. birders came early some queuing for hours patiently waiting their turn is seventy six year old assad and jai it's his eleventh presidential election and the twenty year old put it how the who is voting for the first time. i want change there is corruption and dysfunctional justice system this needs to stop. i want stability so that we can live well and peacefully avoid stability and change a promise candidate solid running for a second mandate says he can bring but rival candidate addresses sex says cells failed to deliver so.