million dollars. when i hate to say it plus five states in the senate there were hoping that confetti donations from the gun lobby would help them secure the balance of power in a strenuous parliament in an upcoming federal election there we would we would be counting down. to see you know. you know what i reckon that. if you want twenty you would give us a lot of house and i would have felt that. while seeking millions from the gun lobby one nation said it was prepared to soften stricter gun control legislation in australia that the n.r.a. has frequently criticized the weather now. during their visit to the u.s. dixon and ashby attended a series of meetings in which they were often advised by gun lobby groups on how to prepare the is trillion public for an easing but strict gun laws you have somebody

who made at least a year or so i worked at a newspaper or maybe he was covering city hall or primary or print up stories about people who were robbed at the polls invasion whatever it might be that could help how they felt and that's going to be the first words and that's why it's got a right it's going to do five of those are we. pulling hanson's one nation party has developed an official gun policy. that proposes a softening of the strict gun lewis the destroy you put in place following a message from in the town of port arthur in ninety ninety six but in secretly recorded meetings steve dixon promised to work to reverse the laws if we don't understand people are going to go dark help them get him. to talk of them to get politically correct and if it is for poison or you know it will poison our whole

life we stop it before charlie al-jazeera sydney. twelve years after the civil war and a pall ended some of the victims are still waiting for justice a process put in place to deal with the crimes committed has made little progress leaving for their safety in a stretch there has more from katmandu. supporters of the maoist rebels who fought the government forces for ten years gathered in the capital on wednesday to celebrate the anniversary of what was known as the people's war the conflict began in one nine hundred ninety six when maoists launched a campaign against the country's constitutional monarchy which ruled the country more than seventeen thousand people were killed and thirteen hundred remain missing the so-called disappeared i think this is the end of an era of political revolution and the beginning of an era of development. but away from the celebrations some survivors of the conflict are worried they'd be hard i was

a maoist party member at seventeen she was arrested by the nepal police. a group of police training for guerrilla warfare reaped me it was a war cry and it may have survived as carry a roll and not only the state but even the then rebels have not acknowledged. carter says she decided to revisit her painful ordeal to make sure of victims of the conflict i heard one of our side pacey with the rebels in two thousand and six a commitment was made to address war crimes but both sides of the conflict are in power political parties and the army have tried to push for an amnesty to perpetrators supreme court struck down an amnesty cross as unconstitutional in twenty fourteen but victims as well as the international community are still concerned in january eight western embassies and gusman do the european union and the united nations released a joint statement which angered the government we support

a process that is consistent with the country's obligations under international law members of the international community are also united in the view that any solution should have the needs of the victim at its heart only then can the peace process move forward on a strong foundation. the truth and reconciliation commission set up to address walk has more than sixty three thousand complaints but it has not completed a full investigation into a single case it has only one commissioner and his mandate runs out in april the victims were concerned that the truth and reconciliation act would be pro perpetrators and this has been challenged in the supreme court the international community also has been questioning some points of the act it is true that there has not been full trust on the commission but victims are still engaging with us critically. some nepalese whose family members were disappeared by the government and the rebels one concern is there is no load to put to him say witnesses people

are scared to talk people are being told by the army the police and the poem are able not to keep printing this issue the victims to the way to just use fear powerful forces are conspiring to ensure they don't see it as others see or. a county in the u.s. state of new york has declared a state of emergency over an outbreak of measles yes eradicated the disease in two thousand but as recently experienced several outbreaks local officials are banning unvaccinated children from public spaces and pulling six thousand children out of school risks a five hundred dollar fine and up to six months in jail the outbreak has largely been concentrated in an ultra orthodox jewish community where a vaccination rates are lower. just weeks after one of its jets crashed in ethiopia aircraft manufacturer boeing is facing another headache as one of the stories trending on our web site al jazeera dot com andrew chappelle explains. america's

southwest airlines is boeing's biggest customer of the seven thirty seven max aircraft all of which are grounded in the u.s. at the moment as federal regulators continue to investigate recent fatal crashes in ethiopia and indonesia now southwest is moving all of its seven thirty seven max aircraft to a storage facility in california until the nationwide ban is lifted but one incident in florida has once again raised concerns about the new aircraft. for. the plane made a safe emergency landing in orlando and no passengers were on board the federal aviation administration says it's investigating but that it's not related to the anti stall software suspected of causing those two fatal crashes u.s. airlines are allowed to shuttle the planes but cannot carry passengers while the ban is in place southwest has thirty four of these aircraft the seven thirty seven max all of which are being sent to this storage facility north of los angeles that's to free up space at other airports so the airline is already averaging one

hundred thirty cancellations a day while the aircraft is out of service now boeing is struggling to cope with the fallout from those two crashes which have cast a spotlight on the safety certification process and also shaken confidence in a plane that's crucial to its future plans the seven thirty seven max is the fastest selling aircraft in boeing's history with roughly three hundred seventy delivered so for the nearly five thousand more on order some airlines have now said they are reconsidering those existing orders. take out the headlines now on al-jazeera hellens main opposition party has formed a coalition with six other parties after sunday's election later the put up party says the coalition will have enough seats to control the lower house but that will still not be enough for them to choose one of their members as prime minister seven people including four children have been killed in an air strike on

a hospital and yemen the military coalition led by saudi arabia and the u.a.e. is being blamed. a delegation from egypt is trying to enter gaza the gaza strip to mediate a cease fire between hamas and israel the two sides have continued to attack each other sporadically prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he'll take further action against hamas israel's military is increasing its presence along the gaza border and as prime minister narendra modi says his country is now a space superpower after it shot down a satellite as part of a test and he has now become only the fourth country to do so and now comes just two weeks before indians vote in a general election my arch. i want to assure the global community of this new ability that we have achieved is not against anyone it is a defensive initiative of a fast moving india india has always been into the space arms race and this hasn't changed our polos the british prime minister is preparing for her weekly question

time in parliament after m.p.'s voted that they would take charge of alternative bikes and options on monday it's a major defeat for theresa may who is still hoping to get her bracks it withdrawal agreement passed this week arlen has already rejected made steel twice that of the jury an army has called for president abdel aziz beautifully good to be declared unfit for office it follows weeks of mass protests opposition groups say even more change is needed and as wales opposition leader has described the country's second major blackout this month as a new tragedy addressing the national assembly and president nicolas maduro for the power outage the government declared tuesday a national holiday to try to cope with the outage so the headlines keep it here on al-jazeera visit our website al-jazeera dot com inside story is that next.

the golan heights is your territory donald trump says the u.s. recognizes israel's sovereignty over the occupied syrian land. benjamin netanyahu election campaign but condemned by world leaders is trump helping or hindering peace in the middle east this is inside story. and welcome to the program i'm nick clegg so u.s. president donald trump has done it again in his latest controversial move he has

recognized israeli sovereignty over the occupied golan heights ending decades of u.s. policy towards the region embattled israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was present when trump signed the order israel captured the territory in one thousand nine hundred sixty seven and i mixed it in one thousand nine hundred one in a move not recognised internationally syria says trump's decision is a blatant attack on its sovereignty the united nations says the status of the golan heights remains unchanged well seems unmoved by the criticism today i'm taking historic action to promote israel's ability to defend itself and really to have a very powerful very strong national security which they're entitled to have. in a moment i will sign a presidential proclamation recognizing israel's sovereign right over the golan heights the state of israel took control of the golan heights in one thousand sixty

seven to safeguard security from external threats well as you can imagine the proclamation was welcomed by b. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu who's fighting an election in less than two weeks your decision to recognize israel sovereignty on the golan heights is so historic your recognition is a two fold act of historic justice israel won the golan heights in a just war of self defense and the jewish people's roots in the golan go back thousands of years so why is the occupied golan heights of such for teaching importance to israel well the mountainous region provide to the country with an excellent vantage point for monitoring movements in syria and provides the natural buffer against any military aggression the area is also a major source of water rainwater from the goldmans catchment feeds into the jordan

river providing a third of israel's needs the land is fertile and the volcanic soil is perfect for even yards orchards and grazing for livestock. all right let's introduce panel in beirut's we have rami hoary who's a senior fellow at the is some photos institute for public policy at the american university of beirut in geneva we have a shot on geneva director and middle east analyst at independent diplomats which is a nonprofit advisory group that advises governments and democratic groups across the world and in washington d.c. i'm glad to say we're joined by eugene contador of which he is a director of international law at the car led to policy forum in jerusalem also advised both the israeli and the american governments on the occupied golan heights so welcome to you all gentlemen rami khouri i'd like to start with you donald trump said it would happen it has what's your take. it's

a dangerous move but in keeping with trump's policy of the trump question or approach actually trump cushion or shade in the approach that has been very much to do whatever the right wing in israel wants the netanyahu government with the right of the jerusalem to see move of the united states recognizing all jerusalem as the capital of israel and now the golan move cutting assistance to palestinians through a no other means this is very much part of a trompe and policy which is rejected by virtually the whole world is one or two small states here and there that go along with the danger is not only with the impact on the middle east which will be more rhetorical than actual in the short from probably but the danger is that it sets a new pattern by which the united states tells the world that whatever the united states wants will happen across the world or you will be sanctioned or you will be . you money will be withdrawn or something will happen to you and it says that whatever israel wants in the levant at least in the arab israeli arena will prevail

over any international law or the rights of other people so there's a double threat and the trump move on the golan heights and there's possibly more to come if israel tries to annex the west bank the arabs are not in a position to do anything right now militarily and then the other way against this the danger is that the foundations of international law and basic ethics globally will will crumble simply because donald trump and cushion are and their supporters on the right wing evangelical and pros imus movements in the us want this to happen or i will get into all of that in the next twenty minutes or so. shot on the thing is it does not actually change anything on the ground the status quo is completely maintained isn't it. on the surface of it i would say yes i mean to morrow and the children in the golan heights are going to wake up go to school nothing seems to have changed in fact for the israeli public as well things will probably feel even

you know more comfortable than they were before and there was there is a sort of a consensus in israel that the golan belongs to them. and so this will be business as usual but in reality this is not really business as usual. the you know the geneva conventions and the hague conventions on occupation the un charter and all of that were crafted not by radical extremist leftists or militants but by military personnel by diplomats seasoned diplomats who at the end of the first and second world war realized that it was better to actually have international law and have legal. frameworks to actually set of disputes between the countries especially in so far as occupation is concerned and by. discarding and not listening you know veiling themselves of all of this experience what has happened

is that you are effectively taking the possibility of those negotiations under these frameworks outside and so you're only left with. the violent means to resolve this feud between see syria in this case and its potential allies and israel ok let's throw it out there to washington d.c. and eugene contra which. contravenes international law sets a bad precedent and opens the door for other nations to take territory what do you say to that. israeli sovereignty over the go on heights in the u.s. recognition of it is entirely consistent with international law and indeed this long delayed recognition actually is going to contribute to security and deter aggression international law bans the use of force in aggressive wars wars where one country is attacking another on the other hand it says that self-defense is an inherent right of countries so not all uses of force are illegal international law

might say that if you conduct a war of aggression you cannot benefit from it by taking territory but when the underlying war is illegal when it's defensive when it's not condemned by the united nations then it is not and it is not impossible to take territory in such a war and that's the difference between the go on in crimea when russia took crimea it was in a coup or a war of aggression and the united nations condemned it as such in one thousand nine hundred seven the united nations which is no friend of israel did not condemn israel's use of force because it was a clear defensive war israel defended itself from an effort by the syria and egypt to destroy it in one thousand nine hundred seven and there have been fifty two years of syrian attempts to destroy israel ever since so i don't think a rule that says if you take a small amount of territory when you are defending from an attack continue to be attacked by that same enemy for fifty two years then that might be recognized as part of your territory that's not going to set any kind of destabilising precedent

indeed if you have the contrary rule that no matter how many times a country attacks you can never lose territory that is an invitation to aggression that doesn't like to rummage around me and there is a route to run so is this move is entirely consistent with international law or would you say to that. well that's what netanyahu and the extreme right wing in israel's say this is political government the gook masquerading as legal niceties the fact is you cannot acquire territory you can use force to defend yourself absolutely and people do it all the time you cannot acquire territory by force that's what the united nations resolutions and all the other international standards say so this defensive argument that the israel should keep the golan has a plane that in the defense of war is rejected by the entire world i mean if this was a rational argument it would have been accepted years and years ago it's not a rational argument it's

a political ploy which the israeli right wing is using and it has the man in the white house who will go along with this based partly on his ignorance of the facts and based partly on his reliance on very pro israeli political groups and donors and evangelical groups and people of that sort so this is not a serious argument and the world really should just ignore it and get on with the business of generating a peace agreement that brings peace to both sides really let some retained their original territory and guaranteed security for everybody in the region that's the route to peace using is certainly true isn't it to cherry very little international support for this quite to the contrary i challenge rami to far there's a difference between political support and legal precedent and i challenge rami to identify a single precedent in which it has been said that a country is not allowed to acquire territory through a defensive war as i demonstrate in my academic writing it's quite clear that even the un in one thousand nine hundred sixty seven said it was unclear whether there

was any rule against the acquisition of territory in the defensive war only after israel acquired the territory the people sought reconsidering whether that's a good rule but in one thousand seven it is quite clear there was no such there's no such rule there was no precedent and i would challenge anyone to identify a contrary precedent. international law is not a popularity contest we don't do a survey to find out what the rules are we look for precedents and we look for binding rules there are no binding contrary precedents whatsoever all right gentlemen i think this is something we just going to have to this point to agree to disagree on because it we could go on all night about this and i suspect will be the first thing that we're going to disagree on or the panel is going to disagree on and if i can come to you you did allude to this as to where this where this could all end maybe the west bank is next i mean i definitely think that they'll be repercussions i don't think we agree to disagree in and i like to point that out

israel and that conflict in general is has a great emotional charge and israel is always looking for a very strong judicial arguments to defend its position on the west bank it's used the. very minute detail of the absence of a sovereign and so that they've occupied territory but they since their words in a solvent and now this issue of defense however what makes international law international is the fact that it's not just israel it's an international consensus on both these issues whether it's all the states really all the states with the exception of israel and now just one in the u.s. which.