she in effect dawned on hearing the sentence that she was very very happy and that she believed that this was a fat sentence and the prosecutors a she rather is pleading guilty now to a lesser charge as we're reporting do we know why the prosecutors offered to. well the prosecutors told the court that they were offering her a reduced charge after receiving representation from the vietnamese government and lawyers now they it was unlikely anyway that they would have withdrawn the full charge and not profit any charges against her because they had the option of doing that two weeks ago and they had declined to do so so this is really one of the better outcomes for her and plus she's probably going to walk free from prison in less than in about over a month now and there are her argument is very similar defense argument really is very similar to coach used city who up till a month ago had been in the dock with her and who was released last month after

prosecutors withdrew murder charges against it completely now in that case prosecutors did not say why they were withdrawing charges but we knew from the indonesian side that it was because they had been lobbying the government to the malaysian authorities and then of course this brings open the question whether or not that's been interference political and foreign interference. in decision making by malaysian authorities but there's also a sense that just is being served because many people believe that city and the home were really scapegoats they have said that they had no idea they were taking part in a murder plot but they just thought they were recruited to play pranks for a reality t.v. show and while the malaysian government has not accused north get north korea of being involved in the killing of kim jong nam the indonesian government has said that it believes that city i shot was used as a tool by north korean intelligence and then forget that also for the north korean men who've also been charged with the same crime but they were never apprehended

because they left the country just hours after kim jong nam was killed all right thank you. at least twenty five people have been killed and hundreds others injured after a severe thunderstorm swept through southern nepal rescuers are struggling to reach villages and districts that were cut off by the storm strong winds caused buildings to collapse flip cars. off a highway so had. played presidents on ukrainian comedian with no political experience is one step closer to becoming president in real life. new era will explain the new name marking a turning point in history. how i would also if i were still across many parts if you see the changes to

produce some a time out towards the northwest in code or change in the weather as well so temperatures getting up to around twenty celsius in london. there are fourteen for monday so called pretty summertime temps is a full right back and we cool still because i wanted to tuesday and wednesday actually what a cloud down towards the southwest a few bits and pieces of rain still in play here that we gave the central areas is fine and it's dry fine and dry to which was the sixes and sevens there from moscow over the next couple of days dry weather i'm pleased to say to the eastern side of but it's raining now a little more sunshine coming through. sunshine back up towards the northwest eleven celsius on monday though and choose day for london seventeen their passage cools off a little but some wet weather sneaking in here basin pieces of cloud and right in the still into spain and portugal over the next couple of days most of the piles of morocco algeria late last year we got some wet weather the scraping the fog orthe

over libya pushing across northern parts of egypt say i was the next day but it's all becomes a tuesday much of north africa doesn't look lost a fine and dry but still a fair amount of plowed for much of america. up to. par.

hello again the top stories on al-jazeera protesters have been back on the streets of algeria as capital hours after the president named the caretaker government local media is reporting that eighty two year old up as he's beautifully is also preparing to quit it's turkey's opposition has caused major upsets on local elections president tried to tie bergeron's ruling party and lost control of the capital ankara for the first time while it's some bull is too close to call. a woman accused of murdering the half brother of north korea's leader will be freed from a malaysian prison next month. sentence for a lesser charge of causing birds but she'll be released soon for time sir. early results so volatile has won the first round of the presidential election the

comedian says it's a major step towards victory but his numbers are far short of an absolute majority and he'll now face the current president petro poroshenko in a runoff vote on april the twenty first as more from kiev. followed a mere zelinsky victory is not unexpected the polls have been tipping it for weeks but it is a pretty unlikely political victory this man has no political background or experience he played the part of a president in a t.v. series but that's really all anybody knows about him they don't know what he stands for they don't know who backs him importantly they don't know who may influence him in the future and in what direction but above all of that this was a protest vote by a sizeable proportion of the population angry angry and frustrated with politics mainstream politics as they have been this has been a rejection of those politics of those leaders and the old ways in ukraine. election night at the zelinsky campaign headquarters it's a has a lot of fair

a long way from the stuffy formality of the more established parties which is little surprise a lot of the near certain winner of the first round of ukraine's presidential election is a comedian turned actor whose only experience of politics is playing the part of president in a popular television series he may soon be playing the part for real that's. great . legs and always has a mind there's a. new life begins a normal life life without the option without bribes without anything like this life in a new country a country have my dreams. dillon ski will go into the second round runoff in april against incumbent president the confectionery business owner petro poroshenko who seems to have lost public trust over his brow. can promises to end the separatist war in the east and wipe away the stain of official corruption he says because you

know before you for not returning to the soviet union you know that there are far from fair fight so it was for ukraine the chocolate billionaire versus the comedy king we'll be watching the second round closely as will the european union ukraine is stuck in the middle geographically divided by conflict its economy in the doldrums and anticorruption reforms failing to take hold neither candidate has ready answers. back at h.q. and this man former finance minister alexander downer look could provide the experience the candidate lacks something like an act of blind faith though isn't it to support a man with no political background or experience culture of why should people do. well that's a good question right is it just maybe because they trust him more than the alternatives that's it. and they. all blindly want to actually

saying that we don't want. a continuation of foreign forces you know with what we don't want people don't trust running the country so this is the shiny new look of politics in ukraine and younger voters in particular will surely have many hard to like to five all of them is immense his promise to change everything even if he so far made only the vaguest suggestions about how he plans to do and that will have to change fast as voters' minds become far more focused in the second round. so this man zelinsky is a political unknown his policies are unknown but he does seem to represent for many people hope it was just five years ago that protesters were out of the square behind me in my down square the second revolution in this country in fifteen years they protested here against corruption for a different kind of ukraine a different future moving closer to european structures the e.u.

nato and so on instead what do they see they have a frozen conflict in the east corruption is still right some say goes all the way to the top so we have this rejection of mainstream politics to the extent that people are prepared to embrace a sort of blind faith in volodymyr zelinsky he's not there yet of course he's got to fight and win the second round yet and those policies of his such as they exist will come under far greater and closer and closer scrutiny in the weeks ahead israel has lifted its ban on palestinians fishing off the coast of gaza their decisions part of a cease fire deal between israel and hamas the agreement which is mediated by egypt's includes expanding the fishing zone along the mediterranean coast as well reopen two main crossings on sunday following a weekend of palestinian protests on the border mohammad jump to has more from gaza . this was supposed to be a day that would bring a renewed sense of optimism to fishermen here in gaza instead it's been

disappointing that's because of the weather it's been raining heavily it's very cloudy it's windy now this was supposed to bring a new sense of hope to gaza fishermen today because today for the first time in years gaza fishermen will be allowed to in some parts off the gaza coast go up to fifteen nautical miles off the coast to fish that's a huge boost to the fishing industry here is also the first time since last week that they've been allowed back into the water by israeli authorities now the gaza fishermen that have gathered here this morning some of them went out earlier a few boats but they came back in because of the bad weather and many of the people assembled here say they need to be able to go back into the water there's approximately four thousand fishermen here in gaza this is one of the few viable industries here this is one of the few ways in which people in gaza are able to make money so it's extremely necessary but the fishermen that are here are saying it's great that they will be able to go back into the water they are hopeful that

this means they will be able to continue to go out into the water and fish but at the same time they also say that they still need equipment they still need more equipment to be able to come into gaza for their boats so that they can fish more so they can bring in more fish make more money for their families for their children there is a cautious sense of optimism in gaza the past few days these egyptian led mediation talks between hamas other palestinian factions in israel they really seem to be on a positive track there's been no final deal that's been reached yet but the fact that gaza fishermen are now going to be able to go back into the water once the weather clears that is giving people here a renewed sense of optimism that hopefully in the days ahead things will continue to improve japan has announced the name of its next imperial era. ray translate as order or auspicious while law means peace or harmony it begins in

a month when the new emperor takes the throw. nor do i need this framework contains the meaning that culture is born and nurtured as the people who flee care about each other or knew my commitment to pioneer a new era that will be filled with hope with the selection of a new era name i sincerely hope this new era will be widely accepted by people of japan and deeply rooted in japanese people's lives so new zealand's prime minister is making her first official visit to china where she's expected to tackle some sensitive issues just as our darren's government rejected a bid by chinese company y. way to install new zealand's five g. network weiwei was turned down on national security grounds following the lead of the us and its western allies but china is new zealand's biggest trading partners so the prime minister has a fine line to tread adrian brown has more from beijing. well the fact that jews and arden is here in beijing just over two weeks since the mosque killings in

christchurch is i think a measure of the importance she places on new zealand's relations with china it will be though just the briefest of visits one day and one night on monday morning she stood in the great hall of the people to be officially welcome to china by the country's premier league she's going to be discussing trade issues essential with him she wants to upgrade new zealand's current free trade agreement that was signed back in two thousand and eight at the moment two way trade between these two countries stands at almost nineteen billion dollars but there are tricky areas for her to negotiate there are challenges for her on this trip china of course is upset that its giant telecoms company while away is being banned from participating in new zealand's five g. network china wants new zealand to reconsider that ban but of course the united states are saying that if new zealand were to do that then washington might not be

prepared to share intelligence with new zealand in the future because new zealand is part of the five eyes intelligence alliance that involves canada australia new zealand britain and the united states so in a way new zealand finds itself caught in a sense between this deepening friction between china and the united states right now and then of course there's yes you of human rights in the aftermath of the christ church killings jews and arden has made ill treatment of muslims and other ethnic minorities part of the country's foreign policy and human rights groups are hoping that she will build on that momentum and raise the issue of what's happening in shin jangle human rights groups say that essentially more than a million ethnic muslim we girls are being held in reeducation camps china calls them vocational training centers but of course raising an issue. like this with china's leaders always brings a typical response and that is we do not allow other countries to interfere in our

internal affairs in peru at least twenty people have been killed when a bus caught fire outside the capital lima emergency services say a dozen others were injured in the fire caused by an electrical fault the blaze started at a bus thought of headbands because it's next to an illegal fuel shop venezuela's president nicolas maduro has announced a month long electricity rationing plan while the nationwide power cuts continue the announcer was greeted by demonstrations against the regular power cuts and testers in the capital caracas build burning barricades in anger at the thirty day plan they set tires and trees alight and streets throughout the capital on sunday are latin america editor of the sioux newman has the latest from caracas. as you can see much of caracas is in darkness at this hour president nicolas maduro in a pre-taped address told the news whalen's that the country had again been attacked by what he called saboteurs in an electromagnetic attack he called it on friday and

on saturday making it impossible for authorities to try to normalize the supply of electricity throughout the country he again did not provide any evidence of these attacks but he did say that there will be a thirty day period at least of power rationing to try to normalize the electrical grid good throughout the country and he also said that public services would only work until two pm every day schools will also continue to be closed one of the worst things about all this of course is that people don't have water you need to have electricity to make water pumps work as well people are getting desperate and this has led to a lot of protests certainly here in the capital on sunday people came out in the afternoon they were shot at by some pro-government supporters called police these two people were injured but then later in the night all over in many parts at least of the capital people and out onto the streets again blocking roads burning tires

putting up different barricades and banging on pots and pans demanding water and electricity so there is growing concern that this is going to raise not just the level of tension but of violence here in venezuela president maduro is in fact calling on his supporters to take to every single street in the country to quote ensure the peace while the opposition is now calling for venezuelans to go out and protest all over the country starting on monday one more event as well a crisis as well as top stories on our web site al jazeera dot com. and we can be. lines on al-jazeera protesters have been back on the streets of algerian capital hours after the president named a caretaker government local media is reporting that eighty two year old vaudeville ozzy's beautifully preparing to quit but protesters want the entire political elite

to go ahead about what has more from tunis it's such a complex political landscape. but also it's a very quizzical thing because the political impasse if we continue is that good for the creates more anxiety that this is that among themselves but also the entire european union which considers to be. an important ally a bulwark against the rise of extremism and instability in the north african parts of north africa and therefore really eager to see an orderly peaceful smooth transition to democracy turkey's opposition has caused major upsets and local elections president edge of tire berto ons ruling ak party lost control of the capital ankara for the first time and the election board says the opposition has taken the lead in istanbul as well a woman accused of murdering the half brother of north korea's leader will be freed

from the malaysian prison next month. long was sentenced for a lesser charge of causing her to but she'll be released soon for time served at least twenty five people have been killed and hundreds others injured after a severe thunderstorm swept through southern nepal rescuers are struggling to reach villages and barren parsa districts that were cut off by the storms strong winds caused buildings to collapse flick cars and blew a passenger bus off a highway. early results show volunteers olinsky has won the first round of the presidential election the comedian says it's a major step towards victory but his numbers are far short of an absolute majority he'll now face current president petro poroshenko in a runoff vote on april the twenty first. japan has announced the name of its next imperial era ray translates as order or auspicious wah-wah means peace or harmony it begins in

a month that's when the new emperor takes the throne those are the headlines on al-jazeera inside story is coming up next though with us. amnesty international an organization focused on human rights around the world now amnesty itself is facing allegations of abuse and mistreatment by its own staff has honesty fall into the lowest point in its history do you think misty's secretary general. talks to al-jazeera. a president a comedian and a survivor ukraine votes for a new leader whoever wins inherits a conflict in the east and the ailing economy and a tense standoff with russia over crimea so who will ukrainians choose to lead them through the next five years this is inside story.

hello and welcome to the program i'm typical paul and now ukrainians are voting for a new president thirty nine people are running as candidates but many see a choice between three main candidates there's the president petro poroshenko who's hoping to get another five year term he's seen the conflict with the separatists in the east of the country grind on despite a cease fire agreement he's failed to reverse russia's annexation of crimea and he's also been blamed for the corruption that persists the survivor is yulia timoshenko a former prime minister who is spectacular fall from grace but her to a prison sentence there's a comedian a lot america lenski he's an actor with no political experience but he does play the president on a popular t.v. series john hall has this report. this is the unexpected from drama in the race to become ukraine's next president will hold him is the linsky is an actor

and comedian whose campaign appearances are stand up comedy act. what he lacks in actual policy or political experience he makes up for with his on screen persona in a popular television series he's a teacher who blows the whistle on corruption suddenly finding himself yes president of the ukraine that's the territory great. well he's famous for one thing young people see him as an anti establishment outsider figure which they like and. i like was a personality but it seems even he isn't sure if he can be president or not we don't know either we just want to believe that he's a better option previous presidents with businessmen politicians and lawyers maybe a comedian can make a difference for ukraine. many feel the political unknown zelinsky could hardly do

worse than the current president petro poroshenko he came to power after russia's annexation of crimea vowing to end the war in the east and sweep away corruption the billionaire confectionery king here immortalized in bullet casings and his own sweet and chocolate wrappers has bowed to pressure from the international monetary fund raising utility prices that hurt the poor and he's in a circle he's implicated in allegedly corrupt weapons purchases. if you see corruption i think we should talk about this that's why reason all of these. painting this is a conversation viz president bush first of all and if he will be elected for the second time i hope that it will make him to sink of all what kind of place in the history he wants to to get. also in the running after two

decades in politics and three years in prison is former prime minister yulia timoshenko many of her supporters at the final rally in central kiev were bussed in from the countryside drawn by a pledge to consume a gas prices the focus of this election is the economy few promises being made about the war that's the toxic question for all the candidates no one has also learned a lot has. no one wants to take responsibility for five years of war after a people's rebellion against russian influence and corruption and ukraine is a country that seems stuck unsure now which way to turn toward a hole in kiev for inside story. and we can bring in our panel joining us from kiev on skype is alexey her and he's a professor of comparative politics at kipp academy in moscow we have dmitri babich political analyst at racine to go on yet news agency and the london give oregon

russian and eastern europe analyst at market welcome you all of you welcome to the program great to have you on is going to be a very interesting and quite a dynamic discussion i hope let me start with you mr her we have quite a very defeat of candidates running in the selection them particularly our top three that we've outlined are our correspondent john howard line just now what would you say is the main issue that is driving the voters here that will influence how they choose their president. well i can definitely tell about zat but it seems to me first of all when i read talking about presidential elections in ukraine we need to understand it we are not a presidential it part it's a mixed system and out of presidential elections we will have alimentary elections so we will have to listen to government was a prime minister and president used to go exist was

a problem and insists sensed president cannot monopolized by our in ukraine as a cabins and bellows or in russia when some other cunt so presidential actions are definitely potent but san we are too big for as a result overfull element elections to see what final configuration of political will have in place second i would like to stress that in ukraine elections are always democratic so it's very difficult to predict who will win. my certain point in every seemed to burn zones of all do left or was the opinion of ukrainian people and finally i would say as it runs this campaign. orbital abrar us an agenda that has variable chances so all the main city candidates in favor or europe or moving closer to us if we analyze insists remain gendered it so for president but

assertion is the main success is that ukraine survive ukraine survive after it was ours and for beauty when their russian aggression started it started it was an obsession of grainy as it was a konami blockade ok this summer and i am going to interrupt you there i i just wanted to quit they talk about the issue that is driving the voters we will go into the nitty gritty of these elections and speak about that event are the candidates yeah i think it's even brave because i'd like to get every once in view first and then again if you go into ok ok if you're would like to generalize source the main topic. what a nice designer dog is social economic situation and says a dog is fighting excellent ok thank you we will now move on to mr babbage can you tell us how moscow views these elections and do they have any preference on which direction it would go well with more score the problem is that the whole

spectrum all political thought that political life in ukraine that used to be sympathetic towards russia you know that by joe reagents the communist by their. all of these political groups were bache basically banned after. so both revolution of my done in two thousand and fourteen so right now there is no candidate that would be absolutely acceptable that would be friendly towards russia during this election all three main candidates were just mentioned they all prickly their intention to move your brain towards nato and russia said very clearly a few years ago that this is a red line that russia will not allow your brain to join nato because that would mean ne to me silas will be three or two minute distance from moscow this is something that russia views the surete line as for the issues of this election i

think the most important issue is war and peace but i don't think it's going to be decided at this election because mr poroshenko and his friends in the ukrainian parliament basically they introduced the so-called deal q patient law which proclaim saraj and aggressive and which makes it very difficult to feel that means agreements on peace in the east of ukraine because the means can dream and sprit supposed amnesty for the rebels and the special status for their russian speaking territories in the east of ukraine none of that this possible under this new ukrainian law and of course none of that it's possible under the changes to the constitution that. make or ukraine oriented towards nato and the second issue easy point to me here i think the legacy of mr parrish anchor is just tragic because ukraine was promised prosperity and the european is

a nation in two thousand and fourteen the result is that now ukraine is officially the poorest nation in europe it went even further down you know that gave all of the poorest nations in. europe oft at mr poroshenko introduced his so-called reforms with your soul quote younger and foremost most of the who cracked up to be corrupt so i agree with alexy corruption is a very important issue but unfortunately if the situation with corruption in ukraine only worsened victoriano quo which was violently almost at from boeing by them i don't revolutionaries ok thanks for that let me and on to ms give oregon give oregon first given first can we talk about the view from europe and does see europe have any will whoever when have any influence on how europe interacts with ukraine. from the european or western perspective it is

is very important that the new ukrainian authorities both president and newly elected parliament which is anticipate its to take place by the end of this year to remain on the europe plan to integration part economically speaking this means ukraine and tearing to the i.m.f. reform road map. regardless the populist rhetorical regardless to pledges of huffing household gas price tariffs this is simply no way that ukraine could deal with its challenges economic challenges by turning its back on that reform passed it's simply not feasible at this stage so from the european perspective to ensure a political stability and economic stability it is important effectively to keep the status quo at worst but at best they're hoping for

a candidate who will also deal with the corruption issues indeed and that's certainly something i want to look into a little later in this program including the economy but let's talk about the candidates specifically mr her on we have two bedroom candidates a comedian who has no defined policies no experience and yet is very popular what kind of a message does that send and why is that. yes first of all i am now in a very difficult situation because i think i need to react to what the russian call except who is representing grassroot today which is kremlin propaganda russia is aggressed russia is waging war against ukraine russia annexed crimea russia is not electoral democracy which is too cheap to teach us in the democratic rules of the games and how to conduct elections so first of all i would like to stress that we. we have free elections and there are different candidates including brought us from

candidates but as a broader was brushing again today it is because of russian aggression because russia violated beyond block status of ukraine because the national weather waylaid of the international treaties aunt belle little bit is that's why this support towards any invasion to russia collapsed daughterly collapsed and that's why is it is a very deep jebel little move in say bring on society durance you wouldn't and if we're talking about the what is it don't bust so it's very important to understand that unfortunately russia doesn't stick to point number one. ceasefire ukrainian civilians are shelled their sell by russian by a russian soldiers by russian regular forces by russian weapons and unfortunately it's very difficult to move towards a peace in the don't bust when the russia isn't if but awful this conflict

not an intermediate but an active if we're talking about now if we're talking about city main candidates as a cassette but i sent as a main sings the main topic is to prisons and he's a leader who lends a country towards economic difficulties and suv and squeeze able to move forward. in this difficult situation for the machine zimmy recit it is a position etc so he sees criticize but a surrogate for not doing scenes and so she cannot exist years in the forms fear sometimes this is who is criticism sometimes is justified but this opposition nice is very for hill is very unnatural and actually comfortable but present as a part of a great intellect and they sees a green is moving but not as

a down position wanted to see after is an illusion of two selves and footy and that's why is it would like to find you faces an xray pointed out to mr zelinsky who to some east you face and as you rightly mentioned he's really a new face with daughter and no experience in political life so all deaths as a basic background was a city main candidates. mr bobbitt i must let you respond but before that i want to say you up by asking you is there a single candidate there that that's we that you see will be able to engage with russia effectively well i won't tell you what i think about our legacy and he's opinions because i think this is very important during the debate to presume that to presume the integrity of your opponent to argue with her arguments not with that he's place of war going i will go straight to your question i would say that

until recently it looks like the west was totally supportive of will you know been. imposed a martial law or in the hall for ukraine's to regions just you know five months before the election and that these martial law continued for several weeks the west didn't protest so. their idea that the idea that mr selenski could win this vote it surface just a few weeks ago suddenly the tone of western publications of biology lansky became very positive some business outside the us who remember all of the government in the early years of poroshenko all of these foreign specialists from the. from m i can see in company you know mr dunne you took the form of violence minister mr abramovich arose and he's doing in the form of economics

meanest that suddenly they joint mr zillions just team and the mr selenski it has a go at some chances we would have seen their united states give actually given a blessing to his candidacy a when zelinsky mad to way that u.s. negotiator or now on civil war in ukraine when he met. promised to volcker you know kotoko the u.s. . bushido on ukraine and when he mad they ukrainian ambassador sort of the american ambassador in ukraine marriage of and of egypt meant that the united states kind of indorsed he's possible victory you know mr selenski it's possible victory for russia maybe it will be easier to talk to mr zielinski because mr selenski is not a shame to speak russian in public please note that in your report that your shoulder tried before our discussion they ukrainian citizens who are on syrian your

reporter's question you know when they didn't speak english they spoke russian you know russian is very widespread in ukraine so far shingles language polish it was a disaster here and tegan iced a lot of people in ukraine and that was reflected in an article for example by political magazine an american public asian which criticized mr poroshenko for this kind of language policy so for russia he would be just a new face that we could talk to also probably yuri boyd the fourth cager date who is behind this war in their opinion polls since ukraine is not a free country i don't think we should believe all that course he suddenly may or may become. you know the possibly even the second during the first round of the race boy corps unfortunately participated he basically betrayed their former president john a college in two thousand and fourteen by

a boy core it's possible to talk to him he visited russia just recently had the negotiations with the russian prime minister dmitry medvedev form their gas issues but immediately a criminal case was opened to against the boy in ukraine when he returned from more score so for any a candidate that whoever wins this election it will be very difficult to talk to more school not because russia is not ready to talk but because in ukraine there will be tremendous pressure. sure from the nationalists and from their government agency yes they may accuse president all of our being a traitor been a stooge of more school than skokie let me keep bring in ms give or again as the how important it is is it for you cranes survive or the economy itself which has been languishing to have closer relations with russia to move in at least have workable relations with russia. if we were having this discussion by the king of two thousand and fourteen i would have said that it is really important to ensure

that the ukraine receives only go she said cheaper russian gas and maintains its access to the russian market however since the ukrainian crisis ukraine has done incredible steps actually to balance its economy and also improve the energy efficiency just to give you an example for many years it's state run energy company that's the garcia cry and it was a loss making company was actually a burden on ukraine and public finances ukraine is were paying only one fifth of gas households gas prices was heavily subsidized early unsustainable measures that no government wanted to address because of these were extremely unpopular steps equality currency was pegged unrealistically strong against the

dollar again no government revolution or not they didn't want to deal with this issues they didn't want to to let the currency float now coming back to your question directly now. by going through the painful reforms that really had an impact on ukrainian our ordinary cranes. in the long term gains are such that ukraine has managed to lessen its dependence on russian energy imports it has also managed to diversify its export market for example if in the past a few years ago russia was accounting for twenty five percent of the export destination now it's only nine percent european union is by far more important for ukraine and exporters than russia of course. having access to a large market next door is important but it's not where russia where ukraine's

economic problems can be sold to creating economic problems can be sold domestically and if the anti corruption and until it archey campaign is in earnest done and the reorientation continues i just want to highlight one aspect of this reforms or is in politics you can sometimes make quick u. turns in the economic world these adjustment can be painful and and longer lasting and sometimes a positive impact can come not in five years but perhaps in ten years and this is why we see that perhaps some politicians are being punished as ballot boxes for unpopular reforms that they have to do they have no other choice ok alexy are on so given all of that what we've heard how important is the russia factor in these elections and how important is the crimea factor in these elections or are people

just going for more issues that hit them at home the economy the price of fuel corruption. no definitely people again as i have said war. and peace and so what was rational is when i was a mean top picks in zicam pain. as i have already explained i have provided they can give you a lot of force which showed that attitudes towards rational thought that when she injured after two thousand and forty and there's no no belief is that. there is a believes that there is a grips and russia is a good us an exception creamy end up as interventions that don't us and there's no talk about civil war that's what kremlin propaganda talking about civil wars this language is not accepted not only by ukrainians but also by by international

community nobody to wells under sentients finally i would like i would like also to stress that very different it's very it's fun to hear our represented the well russia which has one man. for. twenty years and who have five more so who are the over centuries they teach in ukraine and democracy we have and this is recognised by his work and elections are you green weyrich and nice as free entry into cells and forgiven and i am pretty sure as it will bit. the same this year zero all of the vest the best and candidates as a less than ever present there was a meeting was main believe the girl. political leaders or a complete says no surprise since that it's not a blessing i would say the best is not supporting open any candidate does this

complain definitely is a mess and seen best as they would like to see predictability and some candidates a morbid victim bill and some kennedy and of the low. all right we're going to have to leave it there it's been good to speak to all the few great to get your thoughts whatever the outcome interesting times ahead for ukraine i'd like to thank all of our guests alexia dimitri bobbitt and will it give oregon thank you to you for watching you can see this program again any time by visiting our website that's on al-jazeera dot com and for any further discussion why don't you go to our facebook page you'll find that on facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story and remember you can always join the conversation on twitter handle for that is after a.j. and five stories from the typical pollen and the whole team here it's been good to have you here good bye for now.

capturing a moment in time. snapshots of other lives. other stories. provided clips into someone else's well. inspiring documentaries from impassioned filmmakers and the front lines i feel like i know if i have the data to prove. witness on al-jazeera. the latest news as it breaks as well as the police investigation the prime minister says there will also be a national inquiry with detailed coverage of the trade with saudi arabia is going to be a very important components of life in post bricks in britain. from around the world the airline is a symbol also must fight and its europeans. support behind. twenty

one the teenage years are left behind still trying to find a place trying to fit in to the whole picture and adult hood begins to take a good cook occasionally but doesn't really want me to you want me to stay off my feet in two thousand and six south africa revisits the children of apartheid for the third time and much has changed over the past fourteen years twenty one up south africa on al-jazeera. the opposition officially takes the lead in turkey's largest city after president wants party loses the capital ankara. you're watching al-jazeera live from a headquarters in doha i'm dead you know also i had still not satisfied algerians

continue their demand for real reform even after the president reveals a change of guard and a brand new cabinet. and why the woman who pleaded guilty to involvement in the murder of kim jong un's profit rather will be freed from jail next month. the colombian doctor ensuring a dignified burgle to venezuelans dying destitute away from home. hello turkeys election board says the opposition is in the lead in istanbul's mayoral race in account that's been described as too close to call losing turkey's largest city would be a significant blow to president. party which was b. and most of the ten largest cities the opposition won in ankara for the first time as well as the coastal city of mir while it wasn't on the ballot the vote was.

widely seen as a referendum on the party's dominance for nearly two decades earlier has already admitted his party's lost the hearts of some of the parts of the country but it doesn't help every victory and every loss is the will of our nation and we have to accept this fact as a necessity of democracy we will admit that we want people's hearts in cities we won but we were not successful enough in cities we lost and we will act accordingly let's bring in our correspondent joining us from istanbul how close is the race in istanbul jamal. well it's literally every vote matters right now because you're talking about almost all the votes being counted and as it stands now the difference between. the candidates of the opposition and been a little german the ak party's candidate is just under twenty eight thousand votes which is really the slimmest of margins it's not even

a full percentage point between the two so as you say it is too close to call however the act party which has been essentially conducting elections for so long going to have probably one of the slickest electoral kind of campaign machines the fact that the feeling coming out of there has been one of more of a somber tone with indicates that they are expecting most likely to concede defeat even though prematurely may be only a dream had announced his victory late on sunday evening possibly just suppose phone the inevitable that some of the. electoral monitors or analysis would describe it but what's more significant is the fact that across the country there seems to have been a shift in the power bases that the act party of traditionally held a huge wake up call maybe to presidents and that things need to change a big reminder that the laurels of the past are not enough maybe for him to

continue depending on in order to maintain that supports that he has been able to count on for almost two decades now and the very clear sign that the economic struggles of the past couple of years have really taken the toll on the electrodes that has been used to economic high as i'm currently trying to struggle with accepting these economic lows which seem to be new to this generation of voters that has been used to those successes that the party had once been able to deliver so how much of a setback is this shift that you speak off for the act party. well in the grand scheme of things it's still not that significant in the sense that we are talking about the presidential system the part you obviously has its candidates for a broader one as president you are talking about the parliaments that exists that's the party and its alliance the nationalists are the by far the largest coalition

there and despite the fact that they have lost mayorships in certain areas like ankara for example the actual council remains a party dominated so the council seats the majority party in ankara for example are the party even though the mayor himself is the opposition candidates who wanted to not also translates to similar. situations across the country so in the grand scheme of things there isn't really a major shift in terms of power bases however in terms of popular votes in the terms of them losing those significant mayoral positions is very clear a sign that maybe the tide is shifting or potentially it could be seen as a kind of flash in the pan for an opposition who have been able to capitalize on discontent as a result of those issues we've been talking about over the past couple of days the economic slowdown maybe instability maybe discontent for example let's take for

example one area in istanbul for example which has the knowledge concentration of syrian refugees there you had a very syrian candidates when that area there as there seems to be some sort of discontent among some and the populist kind of rhetoric being used so there are several issues that are being. manipulated by both sides will capitalize on that see whether that is going to shift towards a momentum in order for the opposition to use it for the next elections or whether the act party another one will use this as a wake up call to reinvent themselves all right jim thank you. protesters have returned to the streets of algeria's capital hours after the president named a caretaker government local media is also reporting that eighty two year old to flee is now preparing to quit millions have rallied for six weeks demanding those who think as resignation and the removal of the entire political elite the army chief of staff saleh wants beautifully cut to be declared unfit for office as some

had about as joining us from tunis keeping an eye out on developments in algeria so to what extent is the announcement of the new caretaker government a concession by the president will basically people were hoping to see the whole government sachs and replaced by independent people with this or that announcement surprise announcement by i was able to take a government led by a lot of the embeds away who is one of the most trusted. people of his entourage he served as a minister of interior before becoming prime minister they said this is a clear indication of the president. is determined to cling to power and this explains the backlash the the the people we saw yesterday on the streets of zeroes denouncing that announcement many opposition figures human rights activists came out today saying basically this is this is

a slap into the face of democracy to set up the government and i think this is an indication of a more of a power struggle between the army on one hand and. particularly his brother. who is widely seen as the man who who pulls the strings from behind closed doors where does this leave the country is the crisis likely to persist. the caretaker government for many people now could be could be paving the way for president. to resign in the coming hours or coming days that could be a dignified way for him to exit politics because many people have been saying the past we should give him that sort of exit because he's been our president for twenty years and he's been very well known for many many many years in syria but if that power struggle continues i think the army will push ahead for the trigger of

article one or two and we've seen some signs of that the key opposition parties that in the past were critical of the army's interfering in internal politics are now backtracking and saying the army is determined to safeguard the tenets of the republic so it could be annoyed by the opposition and the activists for the army to push ahead and trigger article one or two the only problem with that article if it is triggered it would pave the way to the who was representing to algeria yesterday here of the other big summit in tunisia but many people say this is an acolyte of president. and we will not accept him to be our president for an interim period i think if there's a consensus about a replacement on the other side the article one or two will be triggered soon and we might see a new face leading algeria for that interim period ok as some had better thank you . a woman accused of murdering the half brother of north korea's leader will be freed from malaysian prison next month after a long admitted

a lesser charge of causing hurd's she was sentenced to three years and four months but will be released soon due to time already served the vietnamese woman was accused of poisoning kim jong nam at an airport in kuala lumpur two years ago her lawyer says she should never have been charged. in mitigation earlier we told the court that. one was naive and other but. mr y. is an anomaly exploited he's become the source and many would many believe. before you even just going under the democrats dream funny videos and redirects florence away as an update from kuala lumpur. done wrong in hearing of her sentence said she was very happy and that she thought it was a very fair sentence she's always maintained her innocence and her lawyers have been saying that it would be unfair to keep her as the only person on trial for this crime especially when her kohak used to have been in the dock with her until

last month has been released now and prosecutors told the court but they were offering a lesser charge after receiving representation from the vietnamese embassy and lawyers this all sounds very similar to what happened with the indonesian woman accused of the same crime city ayesha in that case prosecutors withdrew the charges against her and she was released last month of course this brings into question whether or not that is political and foreign interference in the decisions made by malaysian authorities but there's also in the sense among many people amongst many people but justice has been done because many people believe that the right people have not been put on trial donkey form and city. essentially have the same defense that they were mere scapegoats that they did not know they were taking part in a murder plot that they just thought they were playing harmless pranks for reality t.v. show the malaysian government has not directly accused north korea of involvement

in kim jong un's killing but the indonesian government in a letter it had written to the malaysian authorities pleading for city has release had said they believe that city had been used as a tool by north korean intelligence now they're also for the north korean men who have also been charged for the same crime but they are not in police custody having fled the country just hours after kim jong un was killed and many people believe that these are the real masterminds of kim jong nam summit. severe thunderstorm in southern nepal has killed and injured hundreds of people the total number of dead is expected to rise from the twenty five confirmed fatalities so far buildings collapsed a bus was blown off a road and cars overturned rescuers are struggling to reach villages in the districts of bar and cut off by the storm helicopters are expected to join the recovery operation once the weather improves still ahead on al-jazeera japan's new air i will explain the new name.