by weapon state extra police stuff now helping with identification this is of course after fifteen muslims were killed at friday prayers in christ church extra police also guarding schools businesses and places of worship in new zealand following the mosque shootings police commanders say there will be a highly visible presence nationwide on monday morning. and in other news is ready soldiers are searching palestinian communities in the occupied west bank after least one is ready was killed in stabbing and shooting attacks. the first of the political prisoners pardoned by the democratic republic of congo's new president have been released from jail phoenix to secure their promise to bout seven hundred prisoners most of whom were jailed under the previous regime would be free during his first one hundred days in office that's more. i frankly ongo spent two and a half years in kinshasa central prison i he is one of three prominent opposition leaders released from jail after being pardoned by democratic republic of congo's

president feathers tisha k.t. who was elected in december was oh i'm very happy to see my brother released from jail i don't know how to express all the emotions finally my brother is free human rights lawyer firmin young combi was also released he'd been sentenced to twenty years in prison in two thousand and nine and charges of being a threat to national security. an additional seven hundred political prisoners have also been pardoned by dishy candy most were arrested for speaking out against former president joseph kabila during his eighteen hears in office that i was a part of the. it's a joy for all of us we want to think the president and ask him not to imitate the behavior of the former regime. tisha kenny's decision to pardon political prisoners is widely seen as a move to break away from the politics of his predecessor but these attempts are proving difficult i know that there were violent protests by the president

supporters in kinshasa after his union for democracy and social progress party suffered a crushing loss on friday's elections for the national assembly joseph kabila is common front for congo coalition took more than two thirds of the seats in the senate or upper chamber and it already holds a majority in the lower chamber and now many are questioning the president's ability to govern independently on the streets it's feared there could be more violence. and supporters of the president claim they did not have enough senators but it's not our issue they shouldn't come and carry out these acts of vandalism and our neighborhood. but the mission. despite the setbacks to she can he says he will continue to push his agenda forward in addition to the prisoners pardon he has pledged to bring back political opponents who fled the republican can be low with president this even though kabila still has considerable influence in

the country cut c.l.o. first so the young al-jazeera but as i was position leader has begun a national tour and a new effort to oust president nicolas maduro one white house started what's being called operation freedom in the northern city of n c a he is of course in a power struggle with majority who accuses the u.s. of masterminding a plot to overthrow him so far the united states is focused mainly on sanctions to increase pressure on the tour and it's traceable reports from caracas so far that's actually made an already dying economic situation even worse. i feel philly is in desperate need of medicines he suffers from diabetes and needs dialysis three times a week but the power outages of the past few days have been difficult for people like him. because of the blackout i couldn't do my dialysis my felt dizzy and weak i don't know what is going to happen in this country. and sometimes i feel there is

no way out i flew the leaves with his wife sort either in a poor neighborhood in caracas the situation is extremely difficult for people in venezuela that need medicines alfredo was told that he needs to take all of the medicines and he was not able to find them he was also given this other one at the hospital last week and it is expired people here fear that with sanctions the situation will get even worse. venezuela's cash strapped government is struggling with an economic crisis that has forced the country to reduce imports this combined with hyperinflation is making it difficult for people to buy or even find medicines hospitals are struggling to find basic items to help those in need. the venezuelan government says the united states is to blame for the current situation but i am told i have done everything to try to import medicines and all that our

money is being blocked because of the u.s. treasury one them to release our farms so we can provide our people with the most economists say us sanctions were implemented four years ago when the damage to the economy was already done. well first sanctions that prevented venezuela from negotiating its step came after venezuela already had one of the highest risks in the world the risk was because of the drop in oil prices and the government continued with the same policies venezuela continued spending when it already had billions of dollars and. but in january this year the u.s. announced new sanctions with the objective to choke venezuela's economy even more. this time they have had a direct impact on venezuelan oil exports. the u.s. financial system has tentacles around the world so any commercial operation that has anything to do with venezuela will be affected any transaction that is in u.s.

dollars will be affected you know the real sanctions begin. their u.s. the european union and other countries in the region recognize opposition leader as venice entering precedent. the u.s. has said it wants to force out of office and hope the new sanctions will help speed up the process if. the united states is betting on a total collapse of the country and it has been disappointing there's been applied in cuba and iran and north korea yes the government got weaker they have complications but the government didn't change. many economy will certainly deteriorate even further as the u.s. sanctions start to impact the oil sector later this year but it will be people. who are surely suffer the most.

students in nicaragua have ignored the president's protest ban and marched in the capital to demand the release of hundreds of political prisoners talks have resumed to resolve the crisis but it appears to be far from. the reports anti-government demonstrators openly defied president ortega's ban on protesting on saturday it was the first time people had taken to the streets since october when they suffered a violent backlash and once again they were met with heavy handed police tactics protesters are calling on the government to end the repression and are demanding the release of all political prisoners. we're fighting for the freedom of prisoners they're not criminals just normal people who want to kinshasa corrupt leaders daniel ortega. journalists covering the demonstrations were also attacked as protesters sought shelter in malls and houses dozens of demonstrators and members

of the press were arrested thank you arrest began a year ago with students demonstrating against a national pension reform plan the government response left at least three hundred sixty people dead scores injured and more than seven hundred imprisoned two weeks ago president daniel ortega renewed calls for a national dialogue facing increasing international pressure and an economic crisis on friday he released fifty prisoners as a show of goodwill joining one hundred others led out in late february but they remain under house arrest. people cheered as their team knees were driven away from their last high security prison but the mothers of those still behind bars couldn't control their desperation we want to be free and healthy this mother cried. at least five hundred seventy people remain behind bards some analysts believe the releases are necessary for real talks to happen. it's clear that those released

keep having a sword over the heed the trials continue and the charges remain in effect but it's a first step in any case this process will be long and difficult. but with the center remaining criminalized and heavily repressed on the streets of amman now where it will be difficult for any real negotiations to start at least in the. repairs are being made to looted shops on the show in paris following the latest yellow vest protests french police arrested more than two hundred people as a bank was torched and businesses ransacked on saturday the president cut short a weekend trip to return to the capital this the eighteenth successive weekend of protests demanding emanuel cut taxes and the cost of living thousands of opposition supporters in albania have fought with police as they tried to storm the parliament building there they accuse the government of corruption of having links

to drug smuggling and organized crime gangs president is dismissing the allegations that was ridiculous and refusing demands to resign and here is johnson reporting from the capital tirana. when twenty thousand protesters tried to enter parliament the government responded this is the democratic party's biggest and most violent protest since it forked out of parliament last month calling it a façade organized crime mushroomed in albania after nine hundred ninety seven uprising when people broke into army stores and took thousands of kalashnikov assault rifles these quickly ended up in the hands of criminals who took over the main drug smuggling routes into europe and it's that drug money that the country's ruling socialist party is accused of using to buy the last election the political process is now moving deeper into uncharted waters mr obama must step down and we believe that a transitory government with people that are not going to get organized crime and

with backing from all political forces should fulfill a core mission to were. and the practice of old buying to arm tied the hands of the judiciary sort of prosecution of politicians who have been caught in collusion with organized crime in the past elections starts immediately it is not only parliament that has paralyzed the country's constitutional court and supremes court a closed as a judicial shakedown root out corrupt judges the big question for albania is whether it'll be allowed to open membership talks with the european union in june cannot do so without a fully functioning judiciary the ruling socialists are also facing a test of their popularity that month in local elections they say the country's top courts will be fully functional by the democratic opposition says that is merely another ploy to buy time the government says it is the protesters who are acting illegally and that it has the law on its side the these protests of your position

is not against us they don't have anything against us they have everything against justice reform and the new justice institutions a new prosecutor against corruption is going to be created this is how fever's end up reads this protest banner most albanians want to see the justice system working but it's the creation of a truly independent judiciary to go after all corrupt politicians that will be the biggest test of political courage here jump al-jazeera tirana it's taken almost thirty years but the missing remains of some soldiers killed in georgia are finally been given to their families for a proper burial the soldiers died in the war to stop the russian backed regions of south. from breaking away from forestry walker reports from tbilisi. at this ceremony in tbilisi is holy trinity cathedral the remains of some of those

who went missing in george's past conflicts have finally been returned to their families. rivers bitch has waited for twenty seven years to bury his mother. it's just great that now i will know where she is and i can go to her grave thank god it's been resolved. the remains of tires sister and brother in law have also been found. at least i will bury them next to their son's grave and they will be together their son wanted to bring them home but he died last august. backed by russia the regions of and south of setia forty against georgia in the one nine hundred ninety s. and again in two thousand and eight hundreds of thousands of ethnic georgians were displaced tens of thousands of civilians were killed and more than two and a half thousand people went missing. since two thousand and eleven the

international committee of the red cross has been helping to find missing persons and identify them using forensic analysis so far more than five hundred bodies have been recovered but fewer than half that number has been identified a while you don't have. a peace settlement a peace agreement you have a process you monitor and process in place where again the the the sides to the conflict are able to agree on possible mission and they are taking place and indeed we are able to call to recover bodies. george's past conflicts have affected and continue to affect hundreds of thousands of people those who've lost their homes those who lost their loved ones those whose loved ones were never found but for the families of these persons finally there is now an opportunity for some closure.

we're told her. there were military honors in a nearby cemetery for three soldiers among those recently identified. well the conflicts with its breakaway regions remain unresolved the process of healing has begun for so. robyn for a steelworker al-jazeera tblisi still ahead on the news hour your sports news and a new type of faceoff for this mixed martial arts fighter. with that and the rest it's called in about. my name some people say that my feelings are only programmed that they're not real but if i think the real then they are real don't you think south america was designed to be the world's most advanced autonomous android is one of the more

advanced robots in the world can around but feel that's a philosophical question it's not alive but you do socially connect on a subconscious level we are creating this new kind of entity. all knowledge is earring. and monday put it well on the. u.s. and british companies have announced the biggest discovery of natural gas in west africa but what to do with these untapped natural resources is already a source of heated debate nothing much has changed they still spend most of their days looking forward to for the dry river beds like this one five years on the syrians still feel battered or even those who managed to escape their countries haven't truly been able to escape the war.

ok forest here with a look at the sport thank you so much paul a mercedes a driver that has has won the opening of the formula one season the fan described the melbourne victory as the best race of his career with teammate lewis hamilton finishing a distant second and the richardson reports. a new season but since the million looking to sadie's cars at the front of the grid in melbourne. there was a surprise on the first quarter of zero as founts reports us past his teammate and defending world champion lewis hamilton process never looked back and built up a twenty second lead while hamilton that's a battle to hold on to second place. not so good homegrown profit danny ricardo in his first race for red he lost his front wing in the opening seconds and was forced to retire midway through the race. call

a science fair little bets and his mclaren the spaniards hopes went up in smoke on lap knowing. ferrari how it looks impressive in pre-season testing that their pairing of charles look could consider. vettel struggled so much miss a dozen red bull red bulls much to stop and overtaking vettel on his whites with third place finish was built out in front also claimed the extra points on offer this season for the fastest lap of the race on his way to a first girl prix win since twenty seven c. i thought that. the start was really get. it was deafening my best race ever. i don't know what happened i just felt so good and everything was under control and. call were so good today so truly enjoyable i mean i had to enjoy today i was going to get weekend for the for the team so i have to be happy for everyone and really fantastic job from everyone that got to drive an incredible race today

so he truly deserved it and we just got some work to do but still it's you know it's a great great start to the year five time champion hamilton will be concerned of how far ahead of course us was all ferrari to be desperate to finish on the podium at the next screen perri in bahrain and the richardson al-jazeera oxana is taking another big step in its rebirth as a cricketing shinn the country is out to prove that can host major international games right now the city of crutches hosting the final the pox on super league the majority of games in the competition were played in the united arab emirates due to security issues this final is the eighth league game pakistan has been able to stage this season its most high level cricket poc son has seen in a decade. axon became a no go zone for international cricket after the sri lanka team was attacked by gunmen in lahore in two thousand and nine no test matches have been played in

pakistan since then but zimbabwe sri lanka and the west indies have all returned for limited over games and in the last few days thirty nine international players have been competing in karate in the pakistan superbly our correspondent says the big day for pakistan cricket. unprecedented security measures are in place in the southern port city of karachi where the. final is being now this is a city were just. dog killing terrorists. but after a massive clamp down by the security forces. larger. in the port city of karachi i want to thank the rangers the police everyone who has been organizing everything because they have made us feel so safe and. feels like this true fun living

spirit of corruption is coming out again the people of the raji are excited because this is a country that is passionate about cricket they're turning out in large numbers. to the people to ask them about their opinions and this is what they had to say i mean i've been here now been shown so much love from the people from karachi is the love is a cricket you know the love of cricket is encroaching prouty's the city of peace and love as you can see around a lot of women and everybody of a lot of ethnicity and everybody's come together and we all are going to enjoy this night in the past most of the championships were held in the united arab emirates but the country's prime minister imran khan. that the next super league. will be in pakistan and he wants to encourage foreign teams to come in despite the ongoing tension with india and the fact that the country's eastern

a space is still closed the people of project have turned out in large numbers a former pakistani cricketing captain said that the pledge who have come to pakistan are goodwill ambassadors for their country and are also pleading pakistan's case pakistan wants to tell the war that it is able to order a larger range such as this in this port city of karachi also the country's economic hub. after his champions league corrodes again sacked radical madrid cristiana rinaldo was given the day off by eventis and his absence of a slip to a rarely defeat this to no boss against general was you base first serial reverse in eleven months but they still lead second place napoli by eighteen points at the top of the table. an important game in the english premier league is approaching full time liverpool have the chance to go two points clear at the top of the table with a win at full when the latest score at craven cottage is full on one liverpool two

on saturday manchester united were knocked out of the english f.a. cup they were beaten two one by premier league rivals while the wind put wolves into the last four of the competition for the first time more than two decades. with number two for wolves as united slipped to their first back to back to feet under only going to. manchester city came back from being two goals down against swansea's city scored three times in the final twenty one minutes against a second tier team it was some fortune about city's winner sergio guerra scored from an offside position but the video system referee was not in use at this game and the goal was allowed three two to city the fines for. defending n.b.a. champions golden state warriors have clinched a playoff spot with a big win over the oklahoma city thunder steph curry start on the night with thirty three points klay thompson added twenty three more to lead visiting the warriors

two hundred and ten to eighty eight thrashing of the thunder the warriors also set a franchise record it's their seventh consecutive playoff berth breaking reveals the record held by philadelphia from one nine hundred forty six three to one nine hundred fifty two. and a boxing star khana mcgregor made a surprise appearance at a boston bruins game ahead of st patrick's day the thirty year old irish fighter was there to drop the puck at the bird's game against the columbus blue jackets and the bruins definitely have the luck of the irish on their side as they won two one now here's boston's brad marsh and copying mcgregor celebration down when he scored the overtime. american skier mckayla schaeffer and has ended the alpine season with her sixtieth the world cup victory it came in the giant slalom and then dora on sunday the twenty four year old already wrapped up the overall title two weeks ago this was

a record seventeenth when of the season in which she also won two world championship gold medals. and that's all your sport for now back with more later but for now it's back to you cope thank you for your most sports in the news hour at eighteen hundred hours g.m.t. but if you stick around we'll be back in about two and a half minutes with more of the top stories on the rest of the day's news here just . some journeys are tougher than others. but this is even tougher

than the current the truck here it's dangerous. i'll just you know follows the moroccan truck drivers in danger in their life. just to be committing if you drive they might break your limit even kill you because of the police only. if you got. an army of volunteers has come together to help with the influx of tens of thousands of evacuees. but their retreat to a church shelter has brought new challenges an outbreak of norovirus and other gastrointestinal problems. smoke from the massive wildfires now blankets much of northern california leading to some of the worst air quality in the world but with more than twelve thousand structures lost in the wildfires concerns remain about long term accommodations jobs and medical care. local officials say there isn't enough housing stock available. to continue

to care bring your people back to life with updates on the best of al-jazeera documentaries continually from. revisiting alfred's free press. we. have been some changes over the years you know rewind on al-jazeera. the past. for these families. and many of them. some solace might be for the families of victims of new zealand's worst mass shooting as police prepares to hand over the bodies of the dead. you know the media

is saying he's planned it for a long time. but there is shock and disbelief among australian relatives of the gunman accused of the christchurch. hello again i'm a real with the world news from al-jazeera there have been shooting and stabbing attacks in the occupied west bank israel's army has launched a major search operation in palestinian communities also from bad to worse new u.s. sanctions are only adding to the struggles of venezuelans. hello everyone early morning in christchurch new zealand where people will soon wake up to an increased security situation across the country three days now since fifty people were killed by a gunman at two mosques of course the pain in the shock is still raw but there is

also a lot of attention on trying to make sure it doesn't happen again new zealand's top police officer says there will be a quote highly visible presence across the country as people return to work on monday extra officers deployed around schools businesses and places of worship prime minister just in the audience promised to tighten gun laws has also been widely welcomed her cabinet will consider options on monday such as banning private ownership of semiautomatic rifles or maybe a government funded buyback of outlawed guns grieving family members of the victims will soon have the chance to lay them to rest investigators are hoping to return their bodies by wednesday let's start with this from wayne hay in christchurch. the announcement from new zealand's promise to. the police that the process is beginning of handing back the bodies to family members will. certainly be welcome there had been growing frustration really among some of the family members who have been waiting for news waiting for confirmation waiting for those bodies to be returned to them some of those people voicing their frustration saying that this

was taking too long because of course islamic custom dictates that the body should be buried within twenty four hours after death in this case that simply hasn't been possible because of this magnitude of what took place in christchurch on friday the police have said look we understand the cultural and religious circumstances around this being working very closely they say with religious leaders but they had to take their time the forensic process is still underway inside those two mosques where the attack took place the police still working in that area trying to find any pieces of evidence that may still be there the bodies however have been removed and they are all in the hospital behind me hospital where the injured are as well and while the surgical procedures continue. the procedures regarding the did that is post-mortems and also the identification process so that news that the bodies

will be handed back to the family members will be welcomed as i say there was just that this will continue to be a slow process and she hopes that it will be completed by wednesday in the meantime this city will begin to at least try to get back to normal on monday it is the start of a new working week the police are saying they want people to try to get back home they say they will be a significant increase in security right around this city as that new week begins outside institutions like schools places of worship as well remembering that mosques were ordered closed right around the country they can now open according to the police but in christchurch they will be a police presence outside those mosques on monday and probably throughout the course of the week. so there are tributes being held across new zealand for victims

of the attacks andrew thomas is also reporting for us from christchurch. on the outskirts of christ church they are digging graves fifty i need it now the official number killed rose on sunday when police clearing bodies from the two mosques attacked found one they had not been aware of before. a list of victims names have been shared with family the police commissioner confirmed that the man they have in custody brenton tyrant's is the only suspect in friday's attacks three others arrested shortly after they took place a not now believed to have been involved. a witness the immediate aftermath of the attacks he was driving past the al gore mosque and saw people running he jumped out of his call to help the wounded and the dying it was a. daughter who are fighting for their laws particularly the daughter she got five of them she was touching god. i have not the boat and managed to get the father of

the daughter in the back of that and out because the ambulances were coming on their way to lead and because i was on the edge of the cordon that i would let in because the area was a secure. you know what happened to the go for support of her that there was a father and daughter that hostile wife and the daughter this fall i don't know whether that was the same. volatile that we were here. in wellington new zealand's prime minister met with muslim community needs to again stress the solidarity and support and around the country kristie in church services muslim victims were in their thoughts and prayers more than thirty people remain in hospital some still in a critical condition many of the patients that are being already gone from the incident require more surgeries as

a consequence of the complexity of the nature of the injuries. in the cruise church where house volunteers are giving their time and florists the flowers to make a bouquet to lay on coffins each one represents a life a family member they were a bomber day it's a. brother or sister. trying to sound smart. there will be fifty bouquets for fifty newly dug graves i'm sure thomas al-jazeera cross church well the suspect charged with the shootings is from a stray and in his hometown of grafton some of brenton tyrant's family members have been speaking about their shock and disbelief we're all gobsmacked we don't know what to think it's. you know the major is sighing he's pretended for a long time so he's of this lead not of san ramon i don't think it's only since he

travelled overseas so i think that boy and china. can play plato knew which i was sorry for the families over there for the day when the injured there which is i think no one else does want to go home and. reporter who traveled to grafton in news.