was kind of a gamble on behalf of what flicker and because of the blood of decor the movement and people called a bluff they said we are not going go except we want a change we want. a start or correction into the direction of the country that they feel that nobody is at the helm or and directing it so. last summer i was there i know heard a lot that nobody is home to correct the country ok and that is the union people want to change what you think. he'll step down early if he's reelected but of course that hasn't aided the demonstrators how tenuous is the president's position politically risky very much very much tenuous and i think this is a challenge that he has not expected and the fact that he wrote a letter in which he promised that if he's elected he will retire after and

organizing. a presidential election it's a position of weakness he's basically and he's he and his supporters are bargaining with the people trying to buy time because they're it feels as if they had no solution they were caught flat footed by the protest movement by its intensity by its magnitude and frequency just to just a final thought from you before you go what about the position of the army i mean at present but if appears to still have them have their loyalty but is that likely to continue as the protests grow do you think. that is a very interesting question and it's an internal interesting question because we have seen two kind of signs that tells that's what the army and the military's think in the first one wasn't published in a generation which is a magazine

a monthly magazine magazine for our june armed forces in which it says the military and supports the people supports the desire of the people then yesterday or today i'm sorry. the vice minister of defense and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff guide salah general gave saddam gave a speech in which he said and i quote the military and the people share the same vision what does he mean by direct debit is a clear sign if i want to speculate a little bit that is a clear sign that the mandates that. is not going to happen in there is an erosion of the soup or that he has had so far from the military. thank you very much for your time thank you very much. most of the come here on the news hour including the palestinian president appoints a new prime minister what does that mean for the future of the government dozens of

women were arrested as protesters call for the resignation of saddam's president we speak to one of them and with the fastest man in formula one heads to qatar to take a look at some other speech that's also to come. as well as government has suspended schools and businesses on monday as the worst blackout in decades continues electricity has been on and off in the capital but many other areas have been without power since the outage started on thursday stories about reports from caracas. for three days venezuela has been affected by power cuts. now that people have taken their frustration to the streets and started to block in the capital. the people of venezuela are only asking for alex tricity and water we don't have food the food is russian in the refrigerator there is no food over. fifty two asian has polarized the population between those who want to

protest and those who don't. but then supporters of arrived some with their face covered and armed. even tried to cut out a rolled up beer and their fans are all technically better than the government supporters mostly known as people we are basically moving forward my little came here and removed everything they were using to block the road. one of their leaders . said he won't allow anyone to generate chaos. they want to shut down the roads and we will open them without distinction those people want to destroy everything and we will be harder on them just watch. our like a paramilitary force. they have more power than the police and have become a significant force on the street defending the revolution and the tearing

protestors. there was a market nearby that merchants were forced to leave because of the tension in the area and people rushed to grab anything they could. is only eight and was one of them we asked if this was the only food she had to eat she said yes. water has also become a major issue people in the neighborhood. has been without running water for a month they have to wait for hours to feel in their containers. the government is not providing basic public services like water and electricity. the government says the latest power cut was an act of. and struggling to restore electricity. but the power continues to go down. i already struggling with an enormous economic crisis the power outage is only making the situation worse.

the. people remain in the town and are being used as human shields. on the turkish syrian border. there has been a lull in fighting over the past several days to allow the valiant and even fighters. to surrender now a spokesman for the syrian democratic forces that's the kurdish forces on the ground said the decision to we knew the offensive unbar whose was taken after new civilians came out of that area things as satcher day now is the hope that this could be the last battle after all i still is in control now of

a sliver of land compared to what it had back in two thousand and seventeen however this has been a very complicated battle as they both the kurds and the coalition were taken aback by the number of people coming out of back who's the one expected that even they didn't expect either to see these hundreds if not thousands of fighters surrendering to the kurds now there is a worry that that could happen again some of the people who came out said that there were many more civilians that were killed in back to some hinted at the network of tunnels on the ground where the civilians would be seeking shelter as the moment and some military experts will tell you that i still had been using this tactic in this says that to control the advance of the as the as forces allowed people to leave that area and in that time it gives it i still fighters have the

time to sort of regroup and reorganize and think about the next step certainly this is going to be a very fierce battle because there is a wish to really ended as sooner rather than later but you do have to remember that those fighters who chose to remain in baquba are the die hard fighters are the ones who will fight until the bitter. and certainly kurdish forces i picked a. few years back in the days ahead let's bring in glenn kali's a former deputy national intelligence officer with the trans national threats of the cia he joins us live from boston massachusetts how difficult is it going to be to drive this last pockets of i still find says from by dues i mean the u.s. backed s.t.'s s.d.f. a slowdown the offensive in a number of occasions to allow civilians to escape so what's your assessment of the operation on the ground well i'm i'm far away

and we should defer to the i think the excellent report from that we just heard on the scene however we know that these are the last of the last and they are i think committed idealists not speaking in praise of their commitment to what they believe and so i expect the fight will be terrible and very hard and i think the s.d.f. is wise to act deliberately and of course try to save the people who are caught in the middle of possible by letting them time to get out but it will i think it is the end of organized geographical coherent isis just across the way will see happening now but it's going to be a nasty last chapter but driving the last remnants of i still out of bugaboos in syria as you say is not going to be the end of islip just drives them further underground and i still remain a real and dangerous threat. well i don't know if

isis will itself it's possible that as a coherent entity isis will will break up into little pieces but the larger threat has always been and counterterrorism officials from a number of nations have cautioned for years now that the larger threat really is from what are coming to be called are and are called inspired jihad ists rather than. a terrorist who strikes from a central organization under a command and control and they planned organization in a hierarchical entity you'll have people who literally are inspired by what they see on al-jazeera and on the internet to strike out as they see it for or or whatever cause they believe and that's a much harder problem for counterterrorist officials and law enforcement officials in the military to go after because it doesn't have a center or

a geographical place but this is what is probably going to happen more now to there from the remaining survivors of what has been isis i expect less from isis and more from dispersed dispersed and inspired jihad us yeah and the worldwide threat assessment which was presented to the senate in january says that i still will continue to exploit sunni arab grievances social instability and stretch security forces across the region in order to regain territory in iraq and syria do you think that's still a huge concern. i do in a terrible way nothing has changed for for more than twenty years. these are the same assessments that my colleagues and i were making a decade and two decades ago the real problem is less the coherent terrorist

organization like isis or al-qaeda and these are they are real problems but they are really the products of in the exploiters of the social and political unrest incompetence and the suffering of societies that have collapsed largely isis came to exist because syria has imploded and exploded simultaneously and there was the problem with the insurgency in iraq because united states invaded and bad as saddam was destroyed whatever stability there was similarly afghanistan was a failed state and somalia and yemen that's where terrorists be they organized for disorganized and thrived and so the larger problem really is there then terrorist organization then a final thought from you so where does all of this that lead us policy on syria i mean at the u.s. national security adviser john bolton seems to want to slow down u.s. troop withdrawal but trump has made this campaign pledge to bring the troops back

home early so are we any clearer as to what exactly is u.s. policy on syria. well you are not the only one who would like to be clear on what's going on since u.s. policy is largely incoherent now you have someone at the head of the government who is fundamentally into here and almost everything that he says or thinks that he believes john bolton is quite coherent himself although his policies are far different than those. other counterterrorism officials and experts would recommend but at least he is coherent the problem is that you can't have go in two directions simultaneously and if you don't know what direction you're going to go and you will go around in circles and that's fundamentally u.s. policy we're staying or leaving we are supporting or deferring to russia we oppose russia we want to go after iran but everything we're doing is empowering or strengthening iran's hold in fluence in syria etc etc so i don't have the answer

because no one does american policy is president incoherent glencoe thank you very much indeed sir for your time. fighting between government forces and who the rebels has been reported in the yemeni city have had a death i wouldn't say artillery and machine gun fire could be heard throughout saturday night and sunday a saudi u.a.e. coalition the yemen is accused who these of breaching a cease fire brokered by the u.n. last december now a sudanese cool to sentence the daughter of the opposition leader of so we can present she's one of many female protester is calling for the resignation of president omar al bashir but some women who join the protests have now been released on the orders of the president even morgan went to meet with one of them. just days ago fison a good a member of an opposition party in sudan was in hunger strike in a woman's prison in the country's second largest city on demand she's been held in detention for six weeks accused of taking part in anti-government protests and.

i was driving from our party's h.q. when cars came up behind me and in front of me and told me to get out of my car and to get into there is i was taken to detention and then questioned and put in jail no charges were brought against me and the other women in jail with me. why is that and at least thirty nine other woman arrested because of the protests have now been released from prison following orders time by president obama and the sheer demonstrations in sudan began in december over the rising costs of basic goods including bread and fuel the quickly turned into demands for the president and his thirty year rule on security forces used tear gas and life bullets on the protesters the government says fifty two people have been killed rights groups say the figure is higher. last month the president declared a year long state of emergency but the protests continue this year is refusing to step down and has called for dialogue. but the dough is cool and. god willing we

will get over all the problems and overcome the obstacles because we have decided to have a technocratic government without any regard to political affiliation or tribe we picked the military men to be governors because the whole country loves them. some political analysts say security forces appear to target women protesters more than men i want to. it was surprising to see men arresting women they were touching the women inappropriately and beating them that's why there are female security agents and police the fact that they let men and not women deal with female protesters is a clear sign of a violation. of the state of emergency hasn't stopped the demonstrations and despite the threat of arrest many protesters the they'll settle for nothing less than bashir is resignation people morgan al-jazeera putting. time for a short break here and al-jazeera when we come back. protesters in moscow rally against i propose no they say will make the internet like i'm on top of. our

exit deal could impact the world a fine artist taxes go up on imports and exports and install a running drop of facing an expected obstacle general race in mexico more in that state. how the last i brake of tornadoes was nothing like as violent as that one on tuesday but you can see the disappearing tail as the cold front it's still got some spark and it's possible for the florida panhandle we'll see something out of it in the way of severe thunderstorms i think the real story is the snow we've had thirty centimeters in the upper midwest enough to run through overnight you ontario leaving this picture then from monday the temp just above freezing for the deep cold is gone even from winnipeg minus six the next minneapolis minus three with

snow on the ground of course masses of cloud in the south you'll notice given the chance tricked us down to thirteen l.a. you probably dry but the rain is not far away as you can see if anything it might return to southern california then across the higher ground give you a bit of. startup name is fun to watch as utah said that's the hinting and we've got another developing system with a flow of moisture running up the plains states as a recipe for violent weather so watch that from tuesday on boards that has dropped sas now into what's normally quiet weather and with the exception maybe of florida i think it will carry on being that way this obviously the prevailing breeze we've been piling up clad against the coast of panama and costa rica for the last few days is a carry on doing the same so this coast of costa rica is a dark one. isn't the problem for your candidate but you may not have a health question mark over him but he does have a corruption question mark or really doesn't look good for those billing i think

you are not going to do it he will probably not knowing about it what do you say that he will you get why there's a lot of disillusionment with the un across the globe his father is called for and then breaks doesn't build confidence it breaks hope to join me mad on our front and my guests from around the world take the hot seat and we debate the week's top stories and think issues here when i was a. part .

welcome back if you come out of the top stories here on al-jazeera u.s. aircraft john boeing is sending its technical experts to investigate an ethiopian airlines plane crash the boeing seven three seven max went down shortly after takeoff from addison about killing all one hundred fifty seven people on board. algerian state t.v. says president was a freak has arrived back home after receiving medical treatment in switzerland is facing mass demonstrations for seeking a fifth term in office. and u.s. but fighters in syria have launched a final offensive in the last area held by isis the kurdish led syrian democratic forces say the assault on by jews will be over in days thousands of civilians are believed to be trapped in the enclave. now the stage is set for monday's historic

visit to iraq by iran's president hassan rouhani it will be romney's first official visit to the country as president on sunday iran's foreign minister was in baghdad meeting his iraqi counterpart. the desire effects pressed relations between the two neighbors would improve the standard were the shooting i would like to offer to the iraqi government and the iraqi people of my best gratitude for their rejection of the unfair and illegal sanctions against the iranian people we're looking to develop these relations during the visit of president rouhani to iraq you know the white house is giving iraq a few more months to continue buying oil and electricity from tehran before the u.s. enforces sanctions against iran baghdad relies heavily on a rainy and goods but that's more now from baghdad. iran's influence in iraq can be found from the detergent and hair dye on store shelves to the power that keeps the lights on in iraq e homes and businesses at this market in baghdad there are fears that the united

states will eventually ban iraq from importing all iranian goods. through this that they rocky market would be hugely affected and the price of other imported products will skyrocket this is not in our favor as business owners nor good for consumers as iraq and iran are bound together by centuries of economic religious and political ties this week iranian president hassan rouhani is traveling to baghdad to meet with iraqi president barham saleh to try to expand them iraq in an iranian president's last met in november you weeks at the united states reimposed satans on iran they discussed establishing a free trade zone along its shared border and electricity and gas walk and building a railway connecting the two hundred three iraq relies on its neighbor to help me its oil and electricity. last year protestors in iraq's oil rich

southern region of basra torched the iranian consulate and the offices of iranian like militias and pull it. parties more than two dozen people were killed iraqis were bad up thirty thousand people became ill from drinking polluted water they said aleck tricity and jobs were scarce and corruption rampant and they count for the moment i stabenow you iraqi people wake up you must take a stand against corruption they're all lying to us those rotten politicians the trap administration has given iraq a waiver that allows it to continue buying electricity and gas from iran but it expires on may fifth and. it's not in the best interest of iraq to comply with the us economic sanctions on iran at the same time ican side with iran and risk losing a strong ally like the united states therefore we should see the iraqi government

holding the stick from the middle when it comes to policy with both iran and the us . the iraqi president has called the relationship between iraq and iran a quote fixed principle no matter what the trumpet ministration does in the next two months it's clear both countries are hoping the united states gets the message natasha in a zero baghdad well let's bring in trita parsi he's the founder and former president of the national american radium council and joins us via skype from washington d.c. a treaty this is the first time the iranian president is visiting iraq so how significant is the trip and why do you think it's happening now. it's the first visit by rouhani ahmadinejad did visit iraq twice during his presidency but it is tremendously significant particularly mindful of the timing this is a moment in which the iranians are under a tremendous amount of pressure from trumpet ministration to trumpet inspiration is

trying to completely isolate iran and cut off all of its trade with the outside world iran has developed extremely strong relations with the iraqi government trade there it stands right currently at twelve billion dollars a year they want to move it up to twenty billion dollars if the iranians and the iraqis retain this level of relationship it will become very difficult for their trumpet mr asian to succeed with their plans of destabilizing iran and how much is this visit about iran sending a message to washington that it has regional allies that has regional options as the u.s. tightens those screws on iran that you just mentioned it is very critical because at the end of the for any sanctions regime to be successful those who are at hearing to it need to be convinced that it will eventually work otherwise the incentives for those countries to start cheating on the sanctions is going to be quite extensive and as it is now increasingly becoming clear that yes the sanctions

are going to put a tremendous amount of pressure on the ordinary people of iran as that obama sanctions did that the sanctions are going to be particularly effective precisely because of the iranian government's own corruption that only makes the sanctions more painful for the population but it is not likely to become so painful that you will have the instability in the destabilization of the iranian economy that the trumpet mr asian is looking for as you say iran is clearly seeking to expand regional economic ties but it's also displaying its political and military influence inside iraq just briefly treat if you can talk us through how influential iran is inside iraq. iran is tremendously influential in those in washington who thought that anything else could end up being the case after he invaded iraq in two thousand and three really have not a good grasp of just basic geopolitics diddy's are two ancient neighbors they have strong political cultural historic ties and one example of the military influence

of iran of course is that when isis took mosul and was marching on. baghdad according to the iraqis themselves it was the iranians that were the first ones to send arms shipments and ammunition no questions asked in order to make sure that the central government in baghdad would not fall to isis or final thought the trump administration is giving iraq a few more months to continue by oil and electricity from iran before the u.s. and forces more sanctions so how is iraq going to plug that gap when the u.s. says ok enough is enough. i doubt that the u.s. can do so because it would really just force the rockies to move even closer to the iranians i asked the iraqi foreign minister when he was here in washington a couple of weeks ago what type of a policy would be helpful for the iraqis mindful of the many many struggles they are faced with and he made it very clear any form of instability is something that scares away investors from iraq and iraq's economy really does need a lot of foreign investment so he was in washington pleading with washington to

please do not let your tensions with iran spill over into iraq we have enough problems as there is we don't need another conflict with iraq trita parsi always good to talk to you thank you very much indeed sir for your time thank you so much now the palestinian president has chosen a longtime adviser and critic of hamas as his new prime minister mohammad to tie as a top official in mahmoud abbas's fatah movement and a former peace negotiator his appointment could be put a rift with rivals hamas in a place romney handler who had overseen a unity government but resigned in january more now from need to bring him in ramallah. how mother's day has been a long aide for president mahmoud abbas in economic issues as well as being part of their central committee for the past two terms upon his assignment president abbas has told you that his government should work on major important missions including restoring the unity between the west bank and the gaza strip as well as continue

the payment of the salaries of ex detainees and those who were killed by israel mohammed has been the first threat to health official to be appointed to lead a government in the west bank for the past ten years and it remains to be seen how his appointment is going to affect the relations between fatah and hamas around fifteen thousand people have marched through the streets of moscow protesting against a new internet bill it ends to allow the government to cut off the russian intimate while protesters see it as another step toward censorship the government says the bill is needed to protect the country. another attempt to isolate russia from the outside world this is how these protesters see the latest bill to control the internet with most of russia's media under tight government control the internet and social media are considered the last remaining sources for independent information i don't want to live like in

china in the use of fire wall i want internet to be free and. i want to think three years ago it was a joke about that day we'll law prohibiting internet and art today we. see that actually it's not a job to suffer an internet bill proposes to reroute all russian internet traffic through a central point controlled by the state internet providers will have to install specialized equipment the government says it's needed because the country has become more vulnerable to cyber attacks from other countries. u.s. media recently reported that the american cyber command apparently managed to cut off the so-called st petersburg troll factory from the internet during last year's u.s. midterm elections staff at the building in russia second largest city had allegedly tried to influence the two thousand and sixteen campaign which was run by donald

trump a charge rejected by moscow. i want to comment on that particular episode as it was a report by western mass media but you free assume that such an event took place this is in fact why we are trying to protect our internet from the possibility of switching off internet from an outside american source but internet experts say it will take years and billions of dollars to gain full control of the internet china's. something north of twenty billion dollars and. that big. people work project. yes china internet is way bigger it's ten times bigger than russia. but even today's bigger we don't have couple be singles for these or something like one of the thousand engineers the bill which is on its way through the russian parliament is the latest effort by the government to

control the internet since two thousand and twelve the government has imposed many restrictions including locking more than one hundred fifty thousand websites arresting people for political santa to online polls and officially banning the popular messaging service telegram while many agree death threats of cyber attacks are real experts say that this bill could actually in danger internet traffic in russia even more recent bills to control the internet have been called clumsy and rushed but this latest bill is seen as a series attempt to control what is considered one of the last sources for independent information in russia dozens of people were detained during sunday's protest which was officially sanctioned by the government the reasons for the arrest have yet to be given the controversial bill will most likely be approved and become law later this year step fasten al-jazeera moscow time another short break here on al-jazeera when we come back i will sport more skiing history for this

double olympic champion son i will be here with that story more than spent. over one hundred and sixty years ago and musician started a band in an arty street in cairo and their brass band was so popular it gave birth to an entire musical genre. a century and a half later the south still present mates with many egyptians today house of the people's music and al-jazeera. in a world where journalism.