ties during his election campaign and he was capitalizing on the very real anger towards the policies of the democratic party elites their neoliberal economic policies brought misery to large parts of the country instead of reckoning with their own failures in two thousand and sixteen democrats turned to a scapegoat which was russia the ball of fire just glued to the product of collusion and collusion and unfortunately our media enabled them every step of the way. we're discussing other media stories that are on our radar this week with one of our producers in the uk she razzi mina julian assange the founder of wiki leaks has been in that ecuadorian embassy in london for seven years now over the past year the conditions of his asylum there have been tightened considerably and you've got the latest as you said richard we've seen a progressive squeeze on julian assange and this latest story we're hearing gives us a sense of just how tense things have become at the embassy on march twenty fifth cassandra ferre banks

a reporter with an american rightwing online outlet called the gateway pundit went to meet with the sun she says that her meeting had been pre-approved by the ecuadorian embassy but when she got there the situation became hostile fairbanks says she was locked in a room with cameras and surveillance equipment and she overheard an argument between a songe his lawyer and embassy staff including the ambassador she reports a sundress told he could not enter the room unless he submitted to a body scan now the suspicion was that he was taking in a radio device with him to interfere with any surveillance recordings the argument was loud heated and prolonged and eventually a two hour long meeting was just eight minutes we've got to consider the source here though don't we i mean gateway pundit is a hard right news outlet right alongside outfits like breitbart of course and that alone mandates some skepticism of data porting just like we're skeptical of some of the reporting by the u.k.'s guardian now of course that newspaper has a much wider and more mainstream audience. but some of the deporting on bikie leaks

in a songe has ranged from inaccurate to just outright malicious what's changed in the relationship between a sanch and the ecuadorian government that government granted him asylum back in two thousand and twelve in a sense that he's serious being extradited to the us is this just the result of the arrival of a new government in quito well that's a significant factor certainly now in two thousand and twelve the president of ecuador was there a file korea leftist deeply critical of the united states in two thousand and seven he was succeeded by lenin moreno who described himself as a centrist and has publicly called julian a songe his inherited problems now what seems to have triggered the crackdown on a songes internet connection and the frequency of his visitors are comments he made last year on social media about ecuador his allies including spain it is an explicit condition of a songes asylum that he won't make any comment on ecuador's foreign policy and in addition to all of this we also have reports that the u.s. state department is putting pressure on the aquarium government to lift the asylum

to lift its protection of julian a search ok thanks miguel. it's now been one year since east africa's most populous country ethiopia experienced a political transformation a change in leadership after years of social unrest and demonstrations prime minister haile mariam deselect unexpectedly quit leading to the appointment of a met a representative of the country's largest ethnic group the aroma the reforms came swiftly be packed his cabinet with a record number of women he promised to address the social tensions among ethiopia's multiple ethnic groups and he forged an historic agreement to end the twenty year standoff with neighboring eritrea changes came quickly to the media realm as well dozens of new news websites have appeared more than twenty new media publications are now in business and numerous journalists jailed and stifled under deselect he and his predecessor have been freed last year we spoke with four journalists of different media backgrounds about the role that social media has

played in the political transition now about nine months later we've gone back to those voices to see how the new space is developing listening post slow phillips now on the ethiopian media one year into the. april the second twenty eight. ethiopia's new prime minister ahmed rashid into power on the coattails of national front. one year on the bold agenda of africa's youngest leader has attracted praise from around the won't well if the o.p.'s prime minister has made him the job since i. think in a country where i haven't read i'm afraid i don't think i don't think i know one of them really really exciting about going to that i managed to give them something to release political journalist behind the headlines however a much more complex tense transition is taking place we are dealing with

a country. that is in its own twilight zone the transition is in many ways very fragile this is a dalai lama the editor in chief of ad a standard a prominent newspaper that led coverage of the series of protests that have taken place in the country it's a very delicate sense the. highly emotional kind of conversation awaiting this country. tamar says managing editor of the adice food chain newspaper a media mainstay that reported throughout the twenty eight thousand revolution and transition. to politics and the promise of a possible it is a complicated. and the pictures were more complete about the. journalist and blogger iskander negra after years in prison he was released on a presidential pardon he set up shop again and rekindled his career there is still doubt whether the country could make it to democracy where was

a little. fall back with the ball whether it's actually get worse i'm going to war and joe or mohammed the influential and controversial head of the iranian media now when he returned from exile to a hero's welcome. for journalists all with a part to play in this new phase of their country's history this is not the first time they're speaking with the listening post in twenty eighteen we interviewed them on their media expectations of the new prime minister we've come back to them now to get their thoughts on key media aspects of abbey ahmed ethiopia. if you are ready to be held accountable he has to start talking to the media they are not media but they have not been accessible you have not been as open as they promised to be they. promised the press office with the whole been promised i don't

hold this weekly or bi weekly press conferences they. just wanted my doing and they did not do the he has also not made the media so far to face our questions so that makes me worry of whether he is john white or not if you wanted to have a request for interview you don't get that opportunity we see more and more government officials using the social media which makes them directly accessible to people however i'm very disappointed that the distribution of this information is highly choreographed so it's very frustrating that we're limited into. the kind of information government authorities want us to hear. social media as you know that's where the game is that's where it's going to be

even in the future will be the medium through which there will be a gauge of political discourse and it will be the medium through which we mobilize . i can't imagine the world without a good look at this point it's great to live in a world in which you know millions of people are going to talk to each other. the kind of fast change that we've seen over the last three years without the social media would have been impossible. the value of social media has been realized to the extent that. you can you can find every color or shade of use in the social media but the message that is churned out substance of pipe on the resume which is part and parcel of the political process that is taking place you know there are more. every site they have demands political interest they are trying to assert that. i

think moving forward particularly media like go on i don't myself we're going to move. one ethnic line and more into inclusiveness because we have a responsibility to do that it's quite difficult to be as aggressive. as i used to be today we are not dealing with full grown authoritarian government. today we're dealing with this kind of leadership that has allowed this unfortunate protest of the hardliners suffer the population so you know of course i'm an activist others move from open aggressive criticism of the government to a more critical supporter of the government so my only as an activist but there's a lot more of what. democracy has not been realized and we're still fighting the wars and so we need actors in this transition is over there's no democracy particularly back to square one to have democracy it's our obligation to

fight and to be active in promoting democracy some would say we have to remain activist this field. marcus it dawned on us and i don't have any problem with somebody standing saying i would have to continue like that but it becomes problematic when stories are being corrupt by. activists including journalists who are doubling as activists and it's very unfortunate that we are in that in that circumstance and i do hope that we would come to our sense when you are a professional journalist there are things that you need to observe and more than anything else you have to observe your own code of conduct which requires you to be factual accurate fair balanced or objective reasonable. all this other things that you need to observe that are completely alien to the world of activism. ethiopia's political transition is balanced on the edge of hope

and fear. for political transformation and fear of slipping back into a depression. for the first time in thirteen years there are no journalists in the country's jails hundreds of websites have been um blocked and licenses have been granted to twenty three new media publications but there's still a long way to go. ethiopian media have years of control and censorship to break free from and outlets that are still working on forming professional bonds to strengthen their industry media houses need to come together discuss what should be how can we help the transition without compromise in order to go precipice if we do that we can help but expecting the media tools not take side not advice such an interest is just not realistic once you have a democratic framework if you have a democratic system if you are a democratic country but there were. no natural outcome what got up got to be

personal a good horse but a short report for him but first but but but but after the separate protected i do hope would have. the press council most importantly where we come together and and and hammer out on our own code of conduct we have to restrain ourselves into professionalism. and don't put in a talking and pitting one community with any other that's not fun for journalists the media has continued to be an instrument of power. and off the media continues a lot of so many things are in the balance what do people want from the media. i wonder media to be a force for verification a force a place a platform for rational discourse. and finally back in two thousand and sixteen when britain voted to leave the european union the question on the referendum ballot seemed simple enough do you

want out of the e.u. or not but the longer this braxton story goes on the harder it is to understand the negotiations and the issues freedom of movement customs unions the irish backstop were complex enough and that was before m.p.'s got involved with their parliamentary procedures their votes amendments britain is in a state of confusion which is where sammy j. thompson he's an astray and comedian who suggests the best way to deal with bracks that and to explain it is through something he calls bricks at yoga now that may be a bit of a stretch but this video first seen on the australian broadcasting corporation comedy channel has millions of views online we'll leave you now with an excerpt and we'll see next time here at the listening post. ok let's warm up first by uniting out. and when you're ready to face the world we're going to move up into a way of repaying union. ice and high. tariffs falling

away enjoy your freedom of movement in the south the friends. and holding this position for several decades before moving up into a. rising nationalism were also in a sense out of life but angry. and from he will head slowly down into. referendum. going to bring. some of you might want to remain in this position some of you might want to leave just listen to your body being clued. into the right. and leave it is. supposedly to strike into our way instant regret. so does feel you try to diminish as the price of kevin barry increases. i mean this is real football fans who don't think about. explaining when

it's love worth five hundred million euros expresses a position on something the world anti-doping agency has to take notice. in part two of this. continues to explore the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs sports the endless chase. the u.n. calls for restraint on all sides as palestinians gather for the first anniversary of the march of return protests. you're watching al-jazeera live from a headquarters in doha and also ahead millions of algerian stand firm in their

demand that the country's leaders must go. stop illegal immigration or the border closes next week the u.s. president issues an ultimatum to mexico. this government will continue to press the case for the exit that the result of the referendum. is a maze breakfast deal is rejected again as pressure grows ever greater on the u.k. governments. fellow palestinians have started gathering to mark the first anniversary of the great march a return protests at the fence that separates gaza from israel and this year it coincides with the annual commemoration of land day when israel shot dead six palestinians who were protesting against the confiscation of their land to build jewish communities in one. hundred seventy six so palestinians are demanding the right to return to lands from which their families were violently expelled during

the founding of israel in one nine hundred forty eight they're also calling for an end to israel's twelve year land sea and air blockade of the gaza strip well over the past year or two hundred sixty six palestinians including fifty children have been killed during the protests and more than thirty thousand have been wounded and a twenty one year old palestinian has died this just hours before the protests are set to begin mohamed sides was shot in the head by israeli forces on friday while protesting along the gaza fence the united nations is appealing for calm ahead of the demonstrations they suggest we call for restraint on all sides we call for preventative action to not get children particularly harm's way people have the right to demonstrate for any means the mass to be peaceful nonviolent demonstrations and equally people on the other side have to recognize that nonviolent each other and treat those people accordingly and so we don't forested

sand that would be violence there would be danger there for people coming to the fence and people could demonstrate peacefully against the think a legitimate claims against you know the economic conditions the blockade and if he has to demonstrate for here that harry fossett is joining us from the gaza israel fence to set the scene and tell us what's expected today kerry. we are this is the early stages of this particular site one of five up and down the border fence and we're seeing the early arrivals here maybe a couple of thousand of them the most expected to arrive after the early afternoon prayers but there is a difference that we're seeing here from previous protests we're seeing a mass military intelligence in uniform with their red caps patrolling around here trying to keep people in order we've seen our security plainclothes officers. taking tires back from the border fence one of the instructions that has been

issued to protest this here is not to make any moves that could be deemed as aggressive not to burn tires and there is a wide scale effort to try and while ensuring large numbers ensure that the intensity of these protests are somewhat scaled down given the fact that there is a reinforced presence by the israeli army on the other side of the fence who are warning against any kind of activity close to the fence itself now that said we have seen some people making a few efforts to get closer some small fires being lit but generally people seem to be observing these instructions and that is because of the news that came out last night a report that those real progress on a deal between israel and hamas and egyptian brokered deal which according to a hamas link's newspaper would insure several things for hamas including an increasing amount of qatari funding from fifteen million to forty million dollars

a month and increasing the electricity supply into gaza an increase in the fishing zone from nine nautical miles out from the coast to twelve so all of this i think is contingent on what happens today and there are efforts to make sure that this doesn't escalate into a major confrontation with the israelis and and harry the protests as we're saying have been going on for a year or. two feel like they're closer to achieving. well this is one of the questions that is that is up for a program see really will the gaza populace really see it looks like we've got hamas security trying to take people back right now in fact from the border fence so it really does seem that there are real efforts to to ensure that whatever happens here doesn't jeopardize this deal because yes that is one of the questions will people feel that after all this death after all this effort after so many people may have been injured with life altering injuries injuries amputations and

the like. will these concessions which on swat is male honey of the leader of hamas was advertising a full ends to the israeli blockade will they be enough where i think most people here feel that they probably would be some time jubal improvements to the very difficult life in gaza. and probably nothing more than they would get from a full military escalation between israel and hamas is probably worthwhile indeed the egyptians we understand are going to are on their way here with israel honey and they're going to be here to observe exactly what happens another motivation for the pretty wide scale security operation here to try and keep a lid on today's protests ok harry we'll leave it there for now thank you for that update. well millions of algerians have taken part in the largest nationwide anti-government protest so far and they're demanding an overhaul of the entire political system victoria gate and the reports the for the past six weeks they've

been demanding change it every level of the political establishment. and they're determined to keep up the pressure on president abdelaziz bouteflika and his back is was were out for actually dran because they see governors have dropped us off everything we are tired and fed up with them they have to leave. all the protests have been almost entirely peaceful in at least one location police used water cannon to break up the crowd was. early this week the army backed protests to schools will be to flicker to step down the ruling party its coalition partner and algeria its biggest union have also joined the cools the him to go the national louis union reemphasized is demand that the eighty two year old president must leave office. we reiterate our support for the

peaceful popular movement which calls for a change in the system of governance the creation of a new republic that respects the southern tier of the people and the principle of the law of the union calls for a positive response to the demands of the people within whom sovereign power resides. local media reported millions of people came out to demonstrate in towns and cities across the country this is the town of g. jail in the east it was a similar scene in his ghonim in the west. was. we want to move to a real democratic country for a transitional period and to set a new algerian government which will be elected by the people and not by this government we are against this. governments the that even if beautifully could does that will be enough for the protest as they want the resignation of the ruling elite that is that a long side beautifully cut the twenty year is there anything like that to happen

the powerful military would have to agree and it's very sensitive to signs of instability and then. everyone is waiting for the constitutional council to rule beautifully his fitness for office based on health reasons it's given no indication when it will make a decision if it rules the president unfit for office parliament must induced the decision by a two thirds majority even if that happens it will only just begin to fulfill the demands of hundreds of thousands of algerians who've spoken out in protest victoria gates and al-jazeera imran khan is monitoring developments from neighboring tunis son who's joining us from there so what happens next. well old is the now on the constitution it's cold all tickle allows the parliament . to leave office on medical grounds now this was born into

place by the army they are the ones that have bought that coal saying that this will stop the protests as it will meet one of their demands but actually what we're hearing from lawyers and activists on the ground is that even if school wanted to is enacted our president beautifully guy has to leave office it won't be enough for the protesters what they're saying is that needs to be a radical overhaul of the entire system of government governance because it was put in place by beautifully while some of the protests slogans that being chanted very interesting one of them says we don't want school one or two we want ot school two thousand and nineteen referring to the fact that needs to be a change this year so the protesters certainly have numbers on their side and it's very interesting for the first time ever national state t.v. was allowed to show the protested in large numbers though local t.v. in algeria was reporting nearly

a million people on the streets of the capital and large protests outside those were shown on television and that's been a complete change however the army reportedly has issued guidelines for those broadcasts nothing critical against the army yes you can call for the resignation of but nothing critical against the army so the army is trying to stage manage this one by one but the protesters do you know that they have a number on this side and they do have now the government and the army being backed into a position where they have to make some concessions whether those concessions are going to be enough or mayn't be seen we don't even know when the constitutional council will meet to and that will want to turn that of course has to go through politics and that's are saying so the protests numbers seem to be quite big their expectations seem to be very high but when they call for the resignation of the ruling elites as a whole are the protesters offering an alternative. well

there are a number of names being bandied around but this is it's not so much a leaderless movement it's also a very popular movement and what we're hearing is that there needs to be a radical change now that's making the army very nervous because some point the army which is in charge of the security has worried that the protest was tossed in for the resignation of a senior general so although people are talking about different names different people who can take over the governments the actual institutions themselves are worried that they may well be next so it's all about a matter of negotiation let's see what the army says say the protesters and then the army make an announcement in the process oh well that's not enough we want more so it's a very step by step process but it is one that has has been peaceful so far because and i said this before the protestors know they have the numbers on their side they know.