where you have farming fat government and it's not clear yet what the difference between the match between political parties and the council on the mount mandate if they would meet that deadline. was direct policy for the u.s. special envoy to sudan president obama he says washington has an opportunity to give sudan a second chance this discussion is not new it's been part of ongoing bilateral negotiations with the now fallen regime in sudan the discussion is happening again inside the administration here in washington as to whether that does ignition could be lifted more quickly so should some of the demands of the protesters be met should a civilian led government be put in place should the terms of a transition be articulated right now policymakers in washington are are trying to find a way that they could lift that designation sooner in many ways it prevents debt relief and foreign assistance and other forms of cooperation but above all it's

a scarlet letter that really denotes sudan as a kind of pariah state the situation is fast and fluid and and folks in washington are trying to keep abreast of developments in these really critical hours and days i do think both the administration and members of congress could step forward right now and articulate that they're ready to support a transition both by lifting remaining punitive measures such as the state sponsored terrorism doesn't nation but also by putting some incentives on the table readiness to support debt relief or readiness to restore diplomatic relations in due course should the right steps be taken the secretary of state could make a visit to khartoum washington could indicate that it's ready to designate a new ambassador to sudan which it hasn't had since one thousand nine hundred seventy so what happens in sudan in the coming hours and days will be decided by the sudanese people but i do think that washington has an opportunity right now to help give them the best chance of success. egypt's parliament has rubber stamp constitutional amendments that could keep president of the fact that i.c.c.

in power for another decade the parliament voted five hundred thirty one to twenty two in favor of the amendments they'll give the military a more formal role in the country's politics a referendum will also be held to approve the changes adelia family is an associate professor of political science at long island university she explains why the constitutional amendments are a challenge to democracy in egypt but with these constitutional amendments do is put the executive branch or the president above the parliament and the judiciary with the military solidifying power around that now when we think about what constitutions are supposed to be for constitutions are essentially the contract between the state and society where essentially the constitution is it a protect the rights of civilians with this constitution is now designed to protect is the c.c. regime which is very different than essentially a constitution is all about it also removes

a lot of procedural protections and checks on contracts and bidding and and military role in the economy it actually removes all of those checks and so essentially this constitution is not just not in keeping with democracy and human rights and the root of the arab spring it actually does solidify military authoritarian rule in egypt. the first shipment of humanitarian aid from the red cross has arrived in venezuela president nicolas maduro and the opposition and been accused of politicizing a delivery during their long power struggle the red cross has vowed it will not accept interference asunder m.p.'s he has more from in colombia near the venezuela border. the first shipment to landed in caracas mean airport on tuesday after much armed wrestling between the venezuelan government and the opposition your rival the west complicated by the fact that president nicolas maduro four years the night the

existence of an economic crisis in the country let alone trying to address it and this had been further complicated by the fact that the opposition force simply tried to enter aid that they were sent here on the border between colombe or ends in this way led by the united states in which the government of venezuela thought it was a political tool to try and push nicolas maduro out of office but now this first shipment it did indeed arrive since the worsening of the situation inside the country convinced my daughter to reach a deal with the international red cross and the off position the red cross will be responsible for the distribution of this aid and to make sure to avoid any possibility that this aid to will be politicized by any of the factions in the country. what she did d.c. sits at the fork of two tidal rivers connected to the atlantic ocean that makes the

u.s. can talk vulnerable to rising sea levels and climate change but the frequent flooding within view of the white house is a topic president donald trump has not addressed how does your castro has more. thirty six million people visit washington d.c. national mall each year drawn to him. monuments spring cherry blossoms and the tidal basin one hundred year old reservoir that takes its name from the tides flowing in and out of the potomac river but lately the tides have been rising too high here we're seeing the sidewalk of a cherry blossom walkway around the title basin flooded completely impassable this happens twice a day a result of sea level rise and increased urbanization the bravest visitors may not mind the water but most people have to step around puts in danger the purpose of

this place it's a formal garden for americans and their guests to wander through and it's also the place where some of our most historic people are memorialized thomas jefferson writer of the declaration of independence is lucky to have a high perch above the waters but the sea wall beneath him is crumbling the white house where the president lives overlooks the tidal basin you can see it clearly from here across the water but despite having evidence of climate change literally outside his window president trump has decided to remove the united states from the paris climate accord and he's called climate change hoax i don't think he cares it's it's not going to make him any money to save the environment and he won't be here when it oh oh doom and gloom and so out of the cars. the united nations says the world has just twelve years to stop a climate change catastrophe in washington it's the local government that has

stepped up we're kind of on our own now and so we're putting really a lot more money of our own in d.c. into innovation research and development and we just don't have the partnership with federal government and that's sad frustrating will this delicate beauty survive and what monument will there be to those who had a chance to save it. castro al-jazeera washington. and as always there is lots more on our website al-jazeera dot com get the latest on all the stories we're following. dot com. all right let's get a round up then of the top stories president donald trump has vetoed a resolution passed by congress to end u.s. involvement in the saudi led war in yemen he called a movement attempt to weaken his constitutional power. the polls are open in

indonesia's election for the next ninety minutes or so it is a rematch between the current president djoko we don't owe and. nearly two hundred million indonesians eligible to vote in the elections. fighting in libya's capital has killed at least five people shells and rockets were fired in various parts of tripoli follows an ass strike by the un recognized government on a camp of fighters loyal towards just outside the city or the united nations says the conflict has displaced almost twenty thousand people the u.n. support mission in libya condemns the increased use of heavy weapons and indiscriminate shelling that has damaged civilian houses schools and infrastructure the secretary general's special representative on salami continues his outreach to call for a humanitarian truce to allow for emergency services to access civilians trapped in conflict impacted areas the french president has promised to rebuild the not saddam

cathedral within five years because of the fire that engulfed and destroyed part of the historic building is being investigated. the chairman of algeria's constitutional council tired belise has resigned from his post the protesters are continuing their calls to replace the rest of the country's ruling elite. egypt's parliament has rubber stamped constitutional amendments that could keep president to his sisi in power for another decade the parliament voted five hundred thirty one to twenty two in favor of the amendments they'll also give the military a more formal role in the country's politics a referendum will also be held to approve the changes egypt's president has called the head of sudan's transitional military council and offer to help sisi says he supports sudan's security and stability in a statement egypt's president says he agrees with the will and choices of the sudanese people saudi arabia and the united arab emirates have also offered support

to the transitional military council. those are the headlines the stream is next. the current president and a popular comedian a heading for the second round of the presidential election with no official plan yet promising a change the comedian won the biggest share of the points in the first round who would lead the country after this historic connection ukraine votes twenty nineteen on al-jazeera. hi i'm femi oke a and you are in the string today why do prison inmates in united states come to islam imo it could be law that we discussed the documentary film the honest struggle which tells the story of an exit then there's the mission to help muslim converts as they leave jail leave your comments and questions for us in the you tube shop or on twitter. reentry sometimes is

a misnomer because it implies a second chance and the reality for a lot of our brothers is that they don't really have a first chance i'll begin to think the best place for me to be was back and one of them say yes because as the only thing it is that you have no idea what it's like in every step for me is. that al davis was just eighteen when he was first sent to prison seven a total of twenty five years behind bars davis converted to islam while in jail taking on the name truthful as part of an attempt to leave his previous lifestyle behind bot living history if i rebuild in a life outside the prison walls presented its own difficulties in the honest

struggle david share says story of returning to the chicago streets that once led him to prison and his story one of faith and overcoming hardship is not unique hundreds of thousands of inmates in the united states have found a sense of. immunity and solace in islam was some studies estimating that muslims comprise about ten to fifteen percent of all american prisoners so what are some of the challenges that former and current inmates encounter as they navigate their faith we're pleased to welcome sidique davis to the stream to help us explore that question also with us justin misuses a los angeles based filmmaker and the director of the on a struggle and in the u.s. state of connecticut. is an islamic scholar and senior faculty member at zaytuna college in berkeley california welcome to the stream everyone good to have. city hello. there was a moment when you decided you were going to convert to islam tell us about that moment how did you get. well. really good about what did you

get out were you or is this what work or not you know will no matter how would you . go up don't move your part would have. opened. up this quarter to come up with some opens and we're going to. bring. you a good mix of the proof that i've never experienced before one like. to do something about the koran that attracts you that drew you in or was it the brothers in prison that you us. well we're. three brothers. we can direct you to blubber co we well we're so important. that is why we're three or four to look at how what is the use of the liver to recognise the fact that it was inhumane and the reason why we're going. because i did recommend this.

will be going to series because this is. what is within the haven't ridden a real mess that i don't remember things go in order to find out who about who it is about working hard i was living as a human being so we got this tweet from your o'clock here and she kind of picks up on what you're saying there about why she sees people converting to this religion in prisons mine or says islam is a religion which will forgive when perhaps the rest of the world aren't willing to offer you peace and answers for everything going on which makes it easier to be patient during hard times and have hope for the future so with that in mind just in the idea for this documentary in the first place i know it came to you in the form of an email or a letter from a chaplain way back in two thousand and eight. yeah so in two thousand and eight i

had received an e-mail from a christian chaplain who was actually in charge of the muslim inmates and he was looking for muslims on the outside be you know pen pals and it was just such a stretch that he found my e-mail on the internet and i as a documentary filmmaker said immediately you know started researching the subject i just took on so many other brothers that were locked up through his network through some of my own network and i was in touch with you know about a half dozen and then finally in two thousand and ten i discovered you mons program and i just said it was it was second to none and it was such a unique thing that i just really wanted to tell that story so just in just for the people who are tuned in today for the first time we have covered the program you're talking about with the inner city muslim action network it's called the green reentry program but in the line there can you describe what that program is. yes sure so the the green reentry program essentially identifies positive role models

it within the prison that are prisoners that are coming out to give them a safe space to live and then also in addition give them green rehabilitation skills and constructions so they are rehabilitating the locket homes on in the south side of chicago that have been for foreclosed on and they do solar panel laying they do you know recycled flooring and materials and kind of giving the ideas the good kind of cutting edge job skills so that way people can kind of get on their feet and become self-sufficient moms and i want to show our audience something that is really relevant to what you do is from the pew research center is quite an old piece of research religion in prisons a fifty state survey of prison chaplains and then here which groups and crying and shrinking top of the list muslims who roaming or staying the same in prison why do you think that is what you think it is about islam that actually

a tracks people in prison to think that there's something that might help their journey. i think there are a number of issues first of all for a lot of people this isn't universal for a lot of people it's learned as a protest religion it's a protest against oppression as a protest against conditions that are sometimes cruel and unfair giving and for many people the reigning religious reality is part of what's being protested and so it's not become sort of an alternative but everyone i think is that's where many people i think is universal that islam gives a person dignity by empowering that person empowering the person through literacy i know many muslims who are incarcerated the first book that they read cover to cover and their life was the quarter ends and so that's very empowering so there are there are a lot of. good there are many many reasons also is to learn because it demands

that you study as a it's a religion that's based on knowledge it's a knowledge base tradition and religion and that reckon set of values in many instances slows a lot of brothers down for the first time as those who seen the documentary can remember said be talking about just in the street you're going you go and you move . and right in that speed sometimes and once you are incarcerated and you have a koran that's that slows you down and once you slow down you can begin to get in touch with your true self and so there are many other reasons we commence to but i'll turn the microbe or to my colleagues well the sid the keep my follow up on that sitting there are some beautiful moments in the film with that moment when nothing within the moments of last crying with each one of my i lost a lot of us

a sense of self realisation he said it took you fourteen years to realise us dumb as a box of rocks. because it. and then you became so like you in prison as a comes that how to exactly what i was saying to get yes yes so if you think what is done with a box of rocks that he became a come back and then how did that help ease actually get through the rest of your prison sentence. well you know but this is this you know i mean i realize that i wouldn't come out of that although you know like i see it it's a border you. dumb as the bus runs when i give it everything else because on folk with me by way of being everything became be reclear who are rather. not at all because i wouldn't wouldn't who take my hand and put it behind my back you know i wouldn't relax or recognize the fact that i wasn't smart as i saw

a war but then i kept looking at the fact that a could have been to mock with a good in order to cobble in an older guy been in sales so it's done something that's not right law begins to move over with through the less it's part of my life goal and it was something much more and more.