that the female activists might be given long prison sentences to women's rights activists including floral as easily use of and imagine are facing the criminal court for potential charges against them they've been arrested and held in detention for more both close to a year now where they were first targeted for their women's rights activism and for their peaceful activism and since then they face torture ill treatment and sexual harassment in detention they haven't been been given access to a lawyer but today it seems as though they may be charged. and we know from previous statements from the prosecutor. they could face charges on threats to national security for engaging with foreign entities and damaging the

reputation of the kingdom and these charges carry a very hefty and long sentences prison sentences so there is a huge concern that they may be charged with these particular crimes this represents an escalation now in the kingdom where the authorities are treating women's rights activism and defending women's rights as a crime and so we call on the authorities to immediately release the peaceful activists and women's human rights defenders. the rights of the taleban say they have made progress in their latest round of talks the sixteen day meeting ended without a deal in doha on tuesday but they say a draft agreement has been reached on foreign troop withdrawal and not allowing fighters to operate inside afghanistan earlier we spoke to the former afghan president hamid karzai and he says the time is right for the government and the taliban to engage. well come the talks between the united states and the taliban

and hope. we will have lasting peace in afghanistan. and the sooner the better even right now an end to violence and the killing of the afghan people we shouldn't be far away from a cease fire in afghanistan we should have it right now when that's the demand of the afghan people peace. and sees immediately now that it's taking time is unfortunate but to be. continued to hope that a ceasefire will be there soon. in the consequence of negotiations. productive talks between the taliban of the united states also as a result very soon i hope of the intra afghan dialogue in which the first focus will be on a ceasefire and an end to violence that causes so much hurt to our people eventually

a soon as possible there has to be talks between the afghan government and the taliban so we can have a comprehensive peace agreement and lasting peace will only be there with us when there is ownership of the talks by the afghan people that means the taliban that means afghan government that means all over the afghan so in national dialogue of the afghan people is the biscuit and two for a lasting peace california's governor is to to impose a moratorium on the death penalty in the state and gavin newsom says the capital punishment is a failure which has discriminated against ethnic minorities the poor and the mentally ill the executive order will impact more than seven hundred inmates on california's death row the state has an executed anyone since two thousand and six . former vatican treasurer has been sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing two choirboys cardinal george pell is the most senior member of the

catholic church to be found guilty of child sex offenses he was convicted by an australian court on the case which dates back to the one nine hundred ninety s. and of thomas has more from melbourne for some outside court it was emotional listening as george pell sentence was broadcast from inside life and usually a single television camera was allowed in court but the judge ordered it to be focused on his comments alone not on the cardinals reaction when the sentence came it was longer than most people had expected by sentence. of sentence of six years in prison and i said i know for all period of three years and months at the back of the court room standing to hear his fate pelle did not react to that but outside court there were hugs and cheers now. a stranger in the side. of the abused by people the power like. a six year prison term is the combined sentence

for five crimes against two thirteen year old boys the just spent well over an hour giving the reasons behind the sentences he was about to impose before he actually revealed what they would be he talked about the gravity of the offenses but also about cardinal pell's age and his ill health and the unprecedented publicists but this case has had a long trial pelle have been shouted at each time he'd gone in or out of court in jail he's likely to be kept alone to protect him from other prisoners. pearl was a priest in rural australia who rose to become archbishop of first melbourne and late to sydney as australia's most senior catholic you oversaw the church's response to accusations of child abuse by others when it began choir he was held looking into that he had to defend what many saw as a cover up but it didn't slow his career pelle was made a cardinal at the vatican in charge of the church's finances and close to the pope

that career ended though when pelle was personally accused of sexual abuse i am innocent of these charges. but the jury disagreed unanimously louise milligan who's written a book about the cardinal knows one of his victims i would defy anyone to meet this person and not just the trees but a significant number of people who do think pal has been wrongly convicted made a scapegoat for the wider sins of the church the truth doesn't sell papers but lawyers sell papers and this is a lawyer powell is appealing his conviction that appeal will be held in june but until then at least he'll remain in jail under thomas al-jazeera melbourne. serious sorn in a new prime minister in a bit ten weeks of antigovernment protests former interior minister nerdy in bed do

we were places are made yeah yeah but do we is seen as loyal to president abdullah he's put a figure who announced reforms on monday but if locals are delayed a fourth election and said he would not seem like a fifth term at least three people are believed to have died from an outbreak of new morning plague on the border between uganda and the democratic republic of congo that is according to the world health organization which says it is also investigating other deaths in congo suspected of being from the plague it's added pressure on health workers and that's part of d r c already struggling to contain a major outbreak of ebola. authorities in guinea-bissau have seized a shipment of nearly eight hundred kilograms of cocaine it is the biggest drug haul in the coastal west african nation known to be staging post for illicit cargo from latin america has more details from the capital this hour. it

was a tip off from british intelligence officers that led security forces in guinea bissau to stop this refrigerated truck headed to mali the driver said he was carrying fish but hidden between the cabin in the trailer nearly a ton of cocaine with a market value of twenty five million dollars the consignment is being kept in a secret vault a u.n. peacekeeping force is tasked with keeping a close watch not just on the drugs but on the south security forces looking after the drugs and there's a good reason for that suspicion among the six men arrested is a captain from the saudis army the special advisor of new shares national assembly and nationals from other west african countries this is a regional problem it's not exclusive to guinea-bissau and we're throwing up is to appease the drug problem but it's not easy we don't have the means to deal with it it's not the first time security forces have been implicated in drug deals six years ago the country's naval chief appeared in a new york federal court room for conspiracy to import cocaine into the united

states in an f.b.i. sting operation he was lured off the coast of the so to a luxury yacht where he was hoping to seal a deal involving millions of dollars and tons of cocaine. the united states drug enforcement agency fears be sour has become a norco state for latin american drug traffickers into the visitors of getting business army close the off this road to allow colombian drug traffickers to that plane packed with cocaine and it's on sunday on the same road that law enforcement agencies intercepted the truck filled with drugs all of it was destined to europe their twenty five million dollar value of this latest haul is more than the national budget for education health care and defense combined for this small fishing nation where most live on less than two dollars a day the figures involved in the illegal drugs trade are staggering. number

imagine what we could do with all that money i would rebuild my country build schools for children hospitals and roads to help my fellow fisherman while foreign donors withhold millions of dollars in aid money to encourage the government to deal with the drug trafficking problem and engage in political dialogue drug traffickers continue to bribe politicians and caught in this multi-billion dollar scheme are the people of this hour nicholas hawk al jazeera. l.a. i want to go to syria and these are main stories britain's parliament has once again rejected prime minister terrorism aides bragg's the deal just sixteen days before the u.k. is set to leave you so the no no no no you have a. it is the second time a deal has been voted down by m.p.'s this year the next parliamentary vote is on whether the u.k. should leave the e.u.

without a deal your leaders say they have nothing more to offer and are bracing for britain crashing out of the so-called hard breck's that given your face if the united kingdom still wants to leave the european union and wants to do so in an orderly fashion if that is still the intention of the united kingdom then this treaty which we negotiated with the government of to resubmit for a year and a half this treaty is and will remain the only available treaty. the ethiopian airlines chief executive is calling on boeing to ground all of its seven three seven max eight jets until their safety is this tabulation of the list of countries and airlines suspending the use of the boeing seven three seven max aircraft is continuing to grow u.s. regulators are as well as boeing though insists that the planes are safe to fly kurdish led forces in syria say thousands of eisel fighters have surrendered in bug syria democratic forces have been bombarding the armed groups final on for several days the operation intensified after

a brief pause to allow civilians to leave and ten female x.i.v. activists appeared in court in riyadh for the first time since their detention a year ago the case against them have drawn international condemnation and outrage over the state of human rights in the kingdom. the u.s. and the taliban say they have made progress in their latest round of talks the sixteen day meeting ended without a deal in doha on tuesday they say a draft agreement has been reached on foreign troop withdrawal and not allowing fighters to operate inside afghanistan and california's governor is due to impose a moratorium on the death penalty in the state gavin newsom says capital punishment is a failure which is discriminated against ethnic minorities the poor and the mentally ill the executive order well in fact more than seven hundred inmates on california's death row well those are the headlines inside stories next.

algeria's president abdulaziz beautifully cuss says he'll soon stand down is this a crucial turning point in the country or a ploy by those who hold the real power to protect their interests this is inside story. hello again i'm james by the algerian president abdulaziz beautifully says he's abandoned his bid for a fifth term but the man who's led out syria for twenty years doesn't seem to be

leaving his post anytime soon beautifully because announcement came after three weeks of protests against his plans to run for a fifth term in office the president has also postponed next month's presidential elections indefinitely and appointed a new prime minister up he's also said a national conference will be held to reschedule the election and draft a new constitution but that's not going to happen before the end of the year leaving beautifully in power in the meantime algerians who first celebrated his decision are now back on the streets of central is demanding the whole regime goes mohammed june sets up a discussion with this report such a shock. when i hear him president to. abandon his bid for a fifth term in office there were celebrations but they were short lived the. on monday evening the demonstrators were euphoric then the reality set.

outlined a series of steps which he hopes would shape algeria's future he announced that next month's elections would be delayed but politically it would remain in power until further notice. on tuesday protesters were still out on the streets. the former prime minister ali been fully says the government needs to listen to the people well support me so addition to our way to our throttling the president's attempt to run for a fifth term is an achievement made by the algerian people not a five old grant by anybody the people lived up to the expirations lived up to their responsibility especially that the constitution was violated where a president's term runs for five years only the current term has been extended without the people's approval or endorsement and the constitution. would have leaped up postpone the elections without consulting parliament as it is mandated by the constitution this video broadcast by algerian state television appears to show

but the after his return to the country among the other announcements made by beautifully that a national conference would be held by the end of the year in order to schedule an election and draft a new constitution according to the reuters news agency algerian diplomat lukla brahimi will lead the national conference which is also expected to include representatives of demonstrators as well as war veterans beautifully to has the government appointed his interior minister noted dean by the way as prime minister and his advisor rahm tom mamma as his deputy and the army chief general ahmed gave saddam retains his post but it's unlikely with a few close decisions will contain the anger of the anti-government movement some opposition figures were either banned by the constitutional council from running against the president or pulled out describing the april election as a farce the protesters insist they will continue their rallies and till their demands are met they want a new president now along with democratic reforms. and

a government capable attack and rising unemployment poverty and corruption. and disease. well let's bring in our experts to discuss this further and in algiers we have goober care she's a research fellow at the paris based school of advanced studies in the social sciences in london olivier gaeta he is managing director of the risk consultancy global strat thank you both for joining us m l let me start with you you're on this program just a few days ago with me i know it's the third time you've been on in three weeks the first time was on march the second let me ask you to go back in your mind to then did you expect that you'd have a moment three weeks on with flicker saying he's standing down. yes yes unfortunately it was expected it was expected back yard jam people it was expected by the pot this terrace and it was expected by vietnamese to have to know about

l.g.'s history because that's not the first sad that the regime needs to using the demands for chant the people's demands for chang chant and using them in order to stay in power at the so in one thousand sixty two when they imagine the last of the what would you call commandments in favor of the military commandments. so in ninety sixty five when a president submitted to him took over bimbette and then explaining that their country needed reforms their deeds so in that eighty nine after the riots of the one nine hundred eighty eight. skink their far more freedom and there is no answer of the regime was dead they will have the milk tea party and it's the parts of the stand. still that. use data in order to staying power and to have the military command and stay on contract as attrition ok sure

that's not what you're saying is this this is a not so clever ploy that is that your view. snow is not that is not that clay very it's totally aligned with the regimes. not chics that is and actually did have the merit to have care found the situation it is now worth accepted and understood and in that it doubts the argy and he's not willing to negotiate any transition for now with the artery of people they keep on ignoring it has a political activist that's may make them act come to it will still not not not enough snow to move actually and it has also so. having clarified the not the points own the on the origins and their own chains don't want the regime to be in control of the transmission they have stayed so they have shown so out through

words of the most traditions that mean the right after katrina cause i'm not saying that's people where asking each other to join their next friday march so well we are still in the same logic that there is losing it has been used for so long and even after two thousand in two thousand and seven when we shift our rules trying to avoid south carolina and then ups rank of the discipline spank i was also offering reforms and then constant i don't insult no business as usual actually business as usual a living do you agree with that do you think this is a historic moment or norse. i think that the historical moment is that it took the saw long basically to agree on on bouteflika not being a figure because if you go back even in december there were extremely strong rumors that the election would be delayed that the difficult would not be the candidate

and also that the constitution would be change what is still amazing for me is that if we go back in history is major cardiovascular accident in two thousand and thirteen and since then it is been more or less a vegetable and the ruling the country is already in two thousand and fourteen it's interesting that the clan behind him couldn't agree on a on a common candidate now they had six years to prepare for what happened yesterday and still as of now we don't know which is going to be the man leading in success in a beautifully got from their own ranks i mean sala the head of the army seventy nine is very close to the regime but if you see is last statements in the past few weeks yeah. sure that the army was viewed as. a position of

strength of stability and providing safety and security for the jury and so the main question remains when will the elections be postponed and who will be the candidate of the all the kind if you will and as you say live in the president president had a stroke in twenty thirty we keep hearing statements issued in his name but the public haven't heard him a tour he doesn't make speeches they haven't heard his voice he's a silent president. exactly i mean he hasn't spoken in six years and that's what makes it even more ridiculous when when you think about what's happening within the political realm but in the six years if you see what happened the regime got rid of a lot of important figures especially to fit the head of the security services and also there was a purge of generals so there's been

a lot of if you will clean up within the ranks behind but a flick of very few people to him. the army will obviously take the leading role now the question is will they go. out as in egypt as you will see somebody like sylar take over and be. viewing himself as the messiah if you well and being the man of stability being just a transition there's so many questions but as your guest has mentioned it's all part of of a ploy of the all the guard if you will to to preserve power you talk about the old guard and people disappearing from the scene interesting lee in the last twenty four hours a somewhat familiar figure has reemerged to the sea we can see the pictures of him

meeting president beautifully this is lakhdar brahimi interesting the camera is on very wide shots only a couple of very short shots of president beautifully himself they don't want to focus on him mr brahimi was once the foreign minister of algeria he's since become a veteran diplomat in fact all of us are probably seen him mediating various conflicts around the world he was involved in lebanon he was also involved after the fall of the taliban in afghanistan coming up with. karzai government there enough going to start and he was involved in iraq after the fall of saddam hussein he puts the first iraqi government in many ways together again that is the u.n. representative a very well known figure on the international stage is he respected by algerians you know beyond the figure out of of latham by him yet i think that this

shows that the fear has had also meant well but now it's. not not made towards our dreams them servitor they're towards it's our journey and partly it's international partners to show that the other change regime is still in control and indeed using defeat you have left that he me may have to have the. d.n.a. more coming down there where he is of pakistan washington but beyond these figures if you ask a young algerian smell about them that i you know whoever i mean even people of the asians i would have and alan amberg as well will be members of the transitional government that are actually in the same people that have been linked to.