and that's going out to our correspondent stephanie decker who is covering these talks for us and doha so as we mentioned stephanie a lot of hope around the gunny but other's presence at the talks but one of the issues that they're trying to work through this time. there's a couple of issues on the table and they will be difficult one of them is a nationwide ceasefire the other one is the withdrawal of u.s. troops the u.s. still has around fourteen thousand troops on the ground in afghanistan the other one is to get the taliban to talk to the afghan government that is something that hasn't happened as of yet they're not involved they're not in doha they haven't been involved in other talks and the last one is to ensure that afghanistan is it uses a staging ground for groups like eisel and al qaida so there are very complicated matters on the table i can tell you is very secretive trying to get confirmation whether they've started or not it's the taliban not commenting the americans not commenting the company's not commenting but we do know confirm from various sources that as you mentioned that is he had his presence i think significant it seems to

be the most senior level of talks between the taliban and the americans since the conflict and there are words coming out from several sources that they are hopeful of potentially some form of agreement but again with all of this we're going to have to wait and see what is decided here over the next couple of days if there is a statement and then of course the crucial issue whether what can be decided hearing can be implemented on the ground in afghanistan and how difficult will that you stephanie. well i think it really depends on how this is going to work if you speak to people in afghanistan i was talking to our producer there today who said that people are hopeful they are let's say you know it's been forty years of conflict that they've had it started long before the americans invaded afghanistan to push out the taliban people want peace they want security they do not want to see a return of the taliban as it was at the end of the ninety's and early two thousand

so what we're there talking about now is for them to come into the political fold there's not a lot of trust when it comes to the taliban i think these will be very difficult things to implement we know the afghan government is concerned about what will happen once u.s. troops are pulled out of the country we know donald trump is keen to have that happen so what kind of guarantees are going to be established how is this going to translate on the ground i think or as always with these kinds of talks and these kinds of complicated situations we need to be cautious when it comes to any form of optimism but the fact that we're seeing such high level talks being carried out and of course mullah baradar just released recently from prison after in pakistan to take place in these talks i think is an interesting development and something that we need to keep a close eye on stephanie thank you very much for that for now that stephanie decker with the latest live here and well let's get the view from afghanistan now shala balances and couple. people here to mystic they really want to see some type of deal come to fruition they want to see progress this week but the biggest concern

is what is on the table what is being discussed and at what cost. home. is two thousand kilometers away these talks they don't feel like they really have a voice and on the negotiating table is the taliban who many people don't feel like they can trust and the u.s. will have to deal with the repercussions if they withdraw it will be afghans living under this new world where the taliban is involved in the political level they also want reassurances that the rights will be protected they want to know that we're getting the taliban of twenty nineteen not the taliban of two thousand and one woman willing to work with girls weren't allowed to go to school where your head could be chopped off if you stole something so they want reassurances on that level from the leadership but at this point they're not going to get it because the talks are still on a higher level just between the taliban and the u.s. the afghan government isn't involved at this point the taliban refuses to negotiate with them talking to the afghan government this morning they see it they are

reassured that they feel like the u.s. and them are on the same page in the u.s. is representing the interests but they also have concern about one thing in particular and that is a cease fire a cease fire is expected to be discussed this week in doha and they say that some something that simply cannot be discussed without their involvement as it is the military that would be partaking in a cease fire and they would have to be intimately involved in these discussions among the stories still to come we'll hear from an election monitor as africa's biggest economy waits to hear this one. is waiting for election results and the two top broad ready about the outcome. and support the world's most expensive goalkeeper refuses to be substituted will be here with the details.

people living in india ministered to me say there's a shortage of fuel and gas as the military continues its crackdown on separatists shops and businesses were closed over the weekend in protest against the government police and paramilitary soldiers are patrolling the streets of the capital city in a good in anticipation of possible street demonstrations tensions between india and pakistan remain high after a suicide bomb attack killed at least forty indian soldiers earlier this month. to senegal now where the prime minister says president macky sall has won reelection a claim rejected by the opposition which says the void should go to a runoff official results from the weekend election have yet to be announced let's go to our correspondent in the fullest hard he's joining us live from the capital dickov competing claims that from the president of the opposition but when are we expecting the results. well is officially we should get the provisional results by wednesday and the official final results by friday so

it's surprising that the prime minister can go on stage on national television and now and saying this result a fifty seven percent and it's unclear whether he was talking as the head of the government or as the campaign manager for sols bid for reelection what's clear is that the opposition feels like it has enough support or one enough votes for a claim to a second round in an unprecedented move we saw to kick two candidates from the opposition. the anti establishment candidate and the long time politician who's run three campaigns already unsuccessfully come together in a press conference asking the senegalese people and some of these journalists who have been making predictions to stop making those those predictions they've also pointed the fiction the finger towards the french state media who are quoting

senegalese media that were favoring it. and so they went and asked for the election commission to really take its responsibility and make some sort of announcement so it seems yes for the moment everybody's waiting for these final results to come out anxiously but what's clearly is that people came out in numbers to vote according to a poll by an ngo here sunni vote sixty percent of the senegalese electorate came out to vote that's unprecedented to compared to the numbers of two thousand and seven in two thousand and i'll take a look at this report when we spoke to these voters to find out why they came out and vote. counting the vote under the careful watch of the party observers and the nation waiting for the name of its you president. well. incumbent president salva. or edriss sick or the outsider we spawn some go this must go.

but. we want to be as transparent as possible so that no one questions the results so we will announce the names publicly front of every once present. voters came early some queuing for hours patiently waiting their turn is seventy six year old ascended jai it's his eleventh presidential election and the twenty year old put a candidate who's 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. stability and change a promise candidate solid running for a second mandate says he can bring but rival candidate edriss sachs says cells failed to deliver so far political cover song goes further saying the political system has failed the people. setting goals population is rapidly changing most are born after two thousand these want to see

a new form of leadership that dressing issues that matter for senegal i think especially one of them might. he has been like his voice has really it could run like really young people because his young himself is saying that it's time to change the system and also like all the candidates like it is a sake in kenya have also addressed in the own way a different part of the programs but i've seen lacking in this campaign issues around when around like environment especially none of them really address it from my opinion in a serious way to opposition rivals karim wadded former mayor of the car khalifa salo were barred from running in the race after being convicted for corruption the opposition accuses saul of using the courts to crackdown on dissent. this is the polling station of medina in downtown de car it's a stronghold. and for the opposition and despite the columns for president i want to boy called this election people came out to vote because there is

a long tradition of democracy in senegal and whoever wins this election will be in charge of a country wealthier than ever and estimated fifty billion dollars of oil and gas has been discovered off the coast of senegal for the coming few years the culture of corruption and believes only the rich and the powerful will profit from this you well a sudden john believes it will improve the lives of all said they believe. two different voters two visions for senegalese future. now magistrates will be doing the counting as we speak on. under the careful watch of the opposition because here the opposition have accused the justice system of favoring my self in the past two years two opposition leaders have been arrested. convicted of corruption charges the opposition accuses mikey

cell of using the courts in its favor in order for my cue song to win this election on the first round he has more than fifty one percent of the vote the opposition believes that he doesn't have that number and that there will be a second round and if there is a second round will be a vote on the twenty fourth of march and for the moment here in senegal there has been no celebration not on the marquee solid site nor on the opposition side everybody's waiting to hear from the election commission for the final results back to you liz thank you very much for that for now and that is a correspondent with the latest live and al thank you. well counting also underway in nigeria after the presidential elections there on saturday it's expected to be a tight race between president mohammed the hardy and his main rival a cool. the election was marred by violence at least thirty five people were killed let's go now to our correspondent john holl he's joining us live from the capital

of thirty five people killed as we mentioned join a yet the african union says the election was generally peaceful when are we expecting the results. yes well that's the big question here both sides among the two leading camps anyway are already declaring victory on social media in this election the official results picture doesn't particularly help us because there really isn't one at the moment state level results haven't yet begun coming into the capitol here to the coalition center that's expected to start happening on monday but it will be a couple of days yet before we have a rounded final picture let me bring in my guest sampson who taught or has been running a vote observation monitoring operation here conducting a parallel vote count as well thanks very much for joining us sampson two days after the vote no official results in yet what's your read of the situation at the

moment i think it's the results coalition process different levels to the tally of results first we must appreciate that major a such a large country voted to six days for the f.c.t. we've got elections are conducted in over one hundred seventy thousand polling stations and so you're going to have a long period of time to wait for the results we've got of ninety seven three candidates seven three parties on the ballots for the presidential and then we've got over eight hundred eighty nine political parties forward in legislative elections so the logistics of money jean does election is quite among those and so we expect those delays that's not neglecting the fact that there are some places where they have been intentional delays and a coalition of the results or where coalition has been disrupted in in some states by towards or. upon some political parties ok so not necessarily unusual but what about the reports that i know has confirmed receiving certainly

monitor groups like yours and the media of talked about reports of violence at polling stations intimidation of election officials deaths reported by local media around election violence in the high thirty's how much is all of this and the irregularities at the polls tech. nicol malfunctions undermined this process well this this challenges could potentially undermine the integrity of these elections. and that's why we wait for the electoral commission to make pronouncements on some some of the some elections. to watch and a vote on saturday and we had about a hundred and ten critical incidents and by the end of polls we had over six hundred critical incidents really cut across different infractions on the electoral law and so they could potentially undermine the integrity of the elections but would wait for the electoral commission to communicate to one jans how these has impacted on the process but we have a coalition has been disrupted we don't expect the electoral commission to declare

any results in the space sampson your group iago is one of the leading civil society groups he has already passed comment on this election overall declaring it or describing it not the election nigerians expected nor the election nigerians this is do you feel that this is likely to have been a credible process well. the collision is ongoing and we will wait until this coalition process and because it's part of the elections what we are identifying in our statement is there are some gaps in this process that we feel shouldn't have been read respect a logistics management the the intimidation of election officials by political parties desperation on the part of the politicians as well as a conduct of security agents for our side jaeger africa watching the vote we already have our data in we already know who has won does an action but we will wait until the electoral commission declares the final results and then we can verify the accuracy of the results we are currently monitoring the coalition process but we also want to urge the electoral commission and stakeholders to be

calm if there is any fraud any aspect of this elections we will expose it ok sampson thank you so much for. one election observer here therefore the. watching very closely saying the color of truth if there's been any the african union saying it's been generally peaceful difference on the ground not entirely bearing that out but to join a thank you very much for that that is john a home with the latest live in a future thank you here with the weather in a moment and then we'll explore the political storm and of wrong donald trump said he wants to keep troops there to keep an eye on iran. and. any time you see him near she. cut her pushes to become the frontrunners in the sport of kings.

hello there we've had some pretty stormy conditions over europe over the last couple of days we have the strongest winds ever recorded in split in croatia than the winds work their way southward battering the southern parts of its any and across multiple so this is what it looked like in multi yesterday you see the very high winds that we've got there the very very damaging seas really was pretty miserable to get around a lot of flooding there thanks to the sea coming in from the shore and a lot of wind damage as well here we saw the winds gusting around ninety kilometers per hour for fifteen hours so that storm really did last for a long time now the whole storm is working its way eastwards and it's crete that's got the worst of the winds at the moment they gusting over eighty five kilometers per hour so very stormy for us and as well as that windy weather it's also a very very wet absolutely hammering down in crete at the moment but it's also affecting us in the northern parts of libya too so this is what it looks like at

the moment very heavy rain over the southern parts of greece and that's working its way into parts of southwestern turkey at the moment too and gradually that would edge its way eastwards and as we head into choose day some of the worst of the winds are likely to be in parts of syria incredibly windy here so many tend to communities are looking at a very ferocious time as that system moves on the way though behind it that's not be glorious many parts of europe are seeing very very surprisingly high temperatures at the moment. the weather sponsored by qatar and. it does look more and more like bangladesh is becoming a one party state give me one good reason why the opposition should have been ordered to depart from the problem the human rights watch describes how opposition members have been arrested children even disappeared maybe house and goes head to head with a gal who is free but going to fuck you do you want to do it develop nobody is disputing the economic record book on world record saying this is about it in development is not the same as democracy head to head on al-jazeera.

being located outside that western centric sphere of influence where i want to bring a different perspective to global that. when you peel away all of the lists of cove a minute tree in the financial dollar getting you see the people in those words and his policies are affecting see the emotion on their faces the situation they're living in that's when all the us can identify with the story. it's good to have you with us on the al-jazeera news out these are our top stories

. at least twenty five people thought to have been killed on venezuela's border when security forces tried to block us from. president mike pence will be in colombia as capitol so intimate opposition to the bill and other politicians who support the afghan taliban is co-founder and political. talks aimed at ending the country's seventeen year war. among several senior taliban members who meets the u.s. envoy. for four days of negotiations people living in india the. gas as the military continues its crackdown on separatists shops and businesses were closed over the weekend in protest against the government. forces loyal to libyan. reported to have killed nineteen people. so those forces have taken over several fields witnesses say more than thirty houses was set on fire farms were also

destroyed and one hundred cars stolen. has the latest for us from tripoli. forces loyal to libya's world are accused of committing atrocities in the southern town of medicine that includes killing civilians and burning civilian houses and that includes a house of a parliament member who spoke and he accuses have those forces of killing civilians and burning civilian houses in. the southern the town of medicine is very strategic and it's so important for have to his forces first of all because it's the hub of the to bullfighters to bullfighters they belong to the tribes and they are hefted as enemies and the cells in. the bullfighters are the stumbling block in front of have to this forces taken control of the of the whole sow's of libya it's also very strategic because of its location it's the connecting link

between libya and. on the one hand and on the other hand it's a connecting link between civil cities towns and areas in the south of libya it's also close to fields namely field or oil field geographically speaking area has a lot of oil and ground. resources now many people in. the accuse have to this forces of committing atrocities and that includes killing civilians and burning civilian houses european and arab leaders are meeting for the second day in egypt for talks focused on security and my question a summit in sharm el sheikh has been chaired by egyptian president to happen fast see a new council president tosk the first ever joint summit between e.u. and arab league countries on sunday ceasing to unite behind the goal of defeating

terrorism. the syrian democratic forces say nearly four thousand people have been moved out of isis last remaining pocket of territory over the past few days the civilians are being transferred from the eastern village of bogle's to the al hole refugee camp in northern syria thousands have already been rescued but the u.s. backed kurdish forces say the battle to regain control is being held up because of those who are still stuck in the enclave it's believed eisel fighters they using them as human shields. french president ammonia in the hall made has a rocky counterpart soon in paris the two are expected to discuss the fate of french isis fighters held in iraq in the last few years hundreds of young men and women left france to join i saw there and in syria and until recently france was opposed to bringing them back but as considering exceptions such as cantarell upon a thirty year old born in the south of france david chase to has his story it was

from this village in the south of france contact the brahma began his journey to syria with his wife and infant daughter adopting the name. he became a leading propagandist and recruiter i saw. in this video he urges others to join him and burned his french passport now he's one of the many fighters and their families who've surrendered to american backed kurdish troops attacking eisel last stronghold he still with his wife but now has four children. back in france his father jack a retired truck driver said his son had been thinking of escaping for more than a year out with only modest they were struggling to find food to starve themselves so the kids would have as much to eat as possible and then to so people fighting amongst themselves even friends it became odd and what really disgusted them is

that the means and left with their own families and abandoned them in france alone more than two hundred thirty people being killed and i saw linked attacks since two thousand and fifteen. it's feared the french fighter is now in the custody of kurdish forces in syria could escape detention so plans are now underway to bring them back to france to face justice. the horrors of black friday nov thirteenth twenty fifteen when the isolette tax claimed one hundred thirty lives in paris are still painfully fresh in france contango brown was a close associate of the men who publicly claimed eisel were responsible for the slaughter and he tweeted about the sense of power he had holding a kalashnikov assault rifle. in his village they're all opposed to the idea that men like him should be repaired treated to france always the innocent they've got nothing to do here they should stay there they made a choice they went there now they should take responsibility for their choices.

either holiday pick fair or just down the road we found more nuanced opinions this is the choice isn't to leave them there or do we take them back if we leave them there will be killing them for the children of the fighters though there is great sympathy a way should be found to bring them back continence parents long to embrace the grandchildren they thought they would never see david chaytor al-jazeera. in the south of from zz. now u.s. president trying to set off a political storm in iraq when he said that he wants some american troops to stay there to keep an eye on iran and iran is iraq's most powerful regional ally and its share led coalition wants all u.s. . but not everyone there agrees that that is a good idea as charles traffic reports from. fighters with the u.s.

backed syrian democratic forces attacked eisel targets in the syrian village of bought a goose the last remaining eisel controlled territory close to the border with iraq in two thousand and fifteen leisel controlled around that ninety thousand square kilometers of territory across syria and iraq after more than two years of fighting involving a us led a multinational coalition the territorial battle against eisel is all but one. so what happens to the approximately six thousand u.s. troops still in iraq u.s. presidents donald trump a seen here visiting american soldiers at the assad air base in december says he wants some troops to remain in iraq to as he puts it keep an eye on neighboring iran the comment has angered many of iraq's shia politicians pricilla cazaly is leader of the powerful pro iran group assad will talk and withouten with the had

any chance recent statement had nothing to do with the welfare of iraq the targeting of iran from here is totally unacceptable that iran is iraq's biggest and most powerful ally in the region pro iran armed groups have been highly effective in the fight against eisel. well. there is a clash among iraqi politicians many of whom don't want iraq to be potentially a launching pad for u.s. policies against neighboring countries primarily iran kurdish peshmerga forces have been stationed at this position since two thousand and fourteen but commanders here tell us that i still sleep purcell's a still operate in the surrounding countryside and villages close by so it's probably not surprising that those commanders along with kurdish and sunni arab politicians say they don't want american forces to leave iraq because they doubt their ability to be able to deal with the threat alone. it is important to keep the

coordination and cooperation between the kurdish forces and the u.s. led coalition in this region it is vital to keep a long political and security relationship in order to preserve the security. really in iraq say the departure of u.s. troops from the country in two thousand and eleven was one of the reasons why isis spread so fast. anger and scorn was polled on iraq's army which played mosul without a fight about the billions of dollars of american supplied weapons to eisele two thousand and fourteen. the shia led coalition in iraq's parliament has determined that u.s. troops must soon leave iraq it's renewed threats to put forward a bill that if voted into law would force all u.s. forces out this shows the president trumps iran policy has potentially huge political and security ramifications for its neighbor that has already suffered

decades of war stop it al-jazeera must war in iraq. now behinds topcoat has off held the prison terms of three relatives of an exile fumin rights activist side has been living in exile in britain since twenty twelve his brother and mother in law and cousin was sentenced to three years in jail and twenty seventeen on security challenges the un has described the case as an unlawful act of reprisal now peta found as a green book has been named best picture at this year's academy awards in los angeles the film tells the story of a friendship between an african-american concert pianist and has italian american dr and the one nine hundred sixty s. it also won oscars for best supporting actor and best original screenplay rob reynolds has more on the bed when as from the red carpet the cademy word for best picture was a green book a choice that is already generating some backlash with critics saying the film is

a superficial take on race relations in the united states the best director award went to a war room for roma and that film also picked up the best foreign language olivia colman one best actress for her role as the man queen in the favorite and rami malek to an os her for his portrayal of the tormented rock star or freddie mercury in bohemian rhapsody spike lee the veteran director took home a an oscar for best adapted screenplay that's the first time that he's managed to take it statuette back from the ceremony and lady gaga although she she was up for a best actress award didn't win that one best song for shallow from her film stars war. levy won best supporting actor again for the green book

and regina king won best supporting actress for her portrayal in beale street good song. well we're joined now by hal and he is the host of social cinema that is al-jazeera is online. on you tube very good to have you with us here on al-jazeera english education so that was about the the winners this year and the focus again has been on diversity and i know that you think that that fits in with the somewhat sort of political undertones this year absolutely that would sum it up correctly i think this year it reflected the cultural zajac geist of the time so to speak i mean it was a meditation on the current political climate in america under the trumpet ministration if you look at the the i mean we can argue that cinema has triumphed over divisiveness in this year's ceremony with the roma green book and black klansman all you know taking home the oscar gold issues about racism about identity

about diversity about immigrants they were all part of the speech is the many speeches and you know consecutive contenders many took a job at the president i think there was that political undertone and spike lee's particularly spike lee's speech koran as well and peter for really for a green book generally you would think in spite of all the you know the controversy surrounding green book that was a surprise in winning best best picture but i think many including me and i wrote that down here i saw it as testimony to america's need for reconciliation in view of what's going on you know it's like some sort of social appeasement because it is really about about. celebrating humanity and inter interracial relationships at the end of the day even though the family of dawn shirley accuse the filmmakers of embellishing reality basically of a in a way. not being true to events as they were but still i mean the film

is an inspiring and any other surprises a controversy of this and.