capital kabul the attackers appear to have detonated an explosive device before storming the communications ministry has been relative calm in kabul in recent weeks coinciding with talks between the u.s. and taliban officials the taliban there denies responsibility for. this attack began around eleven thirty am local time a loud explosion was heard reverberated across central kabul then following that there was three to four minutes of heavy gunfire. that it was inside the ministry of communications building ministry of interior came out they said we understand this is a complex attack there was a suicide bomber and then gunmen into the premises it took about five hours for security forces to get in and get control of the situation and they have just they've managed to secure the scene and we've seen security forces coming in going as intelligence people come in and try to assess what happened here the home. could not come and go cordons are still in place

a lot of these people here are very frustrated that they haven't been able to get inside central kabul and. very high was very difficult to move around kabul is the heart was under lockdown during this attack intelligence. on the hotel. building still the serena hotel is right next to where this attack happened and that intelligence. some type of explosive. state they didn't at the time but they said that there were. something like this could happen now security has been very high because of the spring offensive last friday so security and we are in the ring of steel where there are a lot of checkpoints if you go into government buildings you get. searched the bag

this is the last waltz is a lot of security in place there will be questions now as to how this could happen how could most politicus get inside the string and stage an attack of this nature. at least thirty five syrian soldiers have been killed in clashes with eisel finds is in central desert areas of the country the battle between the government forces and i still took place in syria's western homs province with dozens of soldiers also injured in the news ahead after the fire that ravaged paris is not short on cathedral concerns are being raised over architectural treasures across other parts of. and deny the legacy lebanese women challenging and generations old law preventing them from passing citizenship to their own children.

and will go to big swelling massive cloud over many parts of the middle east at the moment we look at the satellite picture we can see the clouds stretches all the way up well actually towards kazakstan there but the big swelling center that's here just working its way towards the caspian sea so heavy downpours here and that system is gradually edging its way eastwards an easing as we head through the next few days but as it works its way away from us the next system is pushing its way in so plenty of showers here for many of us in syria and through turkey and it's cold as well so we'll also see a lot of that turn to snow that system will then work its way eastwards as we head through the day on monday so we'll see more of that in parts of iraq and into parts of iran as well so generally speaking still rather unsettled across this whole region a bit further towards the south and there's some cloud for the arabian peninsula including for us here in doha that's also going to be affecting us involve a little bit gray at times but still really feeling quite warm now with the top temperature of around thirty three degrees to the south of all of us there's a lot. it's humid here so it's

a temperature i know high that around thirty degrees that it was a southern parts of africa erin you can see the showers that we've had from angola and to working a little bit further towards the south we're also seeing some wet weather over the eastern parts of south africa and that's gradually edging its way eastwards as we head through sunday and monday. the right adjective house you want to use adequate who decides. the housing is not just about four walls and a roof it's about living in a place where you have peace security and most importantly dignity un special rapporteur. talks to al-jazeera.

here with al jazeera and these are our top stories this hour libya and heavy fighting in the capital as the warlord as forces continue to attack tripoli they're battling the u.n. recognize libyan government south of the city and the town of course sort of because she and the fighting is happening near the international airport which is under his control. egyptians are voting in a referendum that could keep president in office to lead a twenty thirty they're also deciding whether to allow the president to appoint top judges and to expand the role of the military and the chairman of the african union commission is meeting sudan's military leaders in khartoum fucking mohammad is also scheduled to hold consultations with opposition groups. with the e.u.

warning sudan's military rulers to hand over power to a civilian body by the end of april or risk suspension. police in paris have fired tear gas at yellow vests protesters have been demonstrating for weeks over the economy one hundred twenty six people have been arrested police say they have conducted more than eleven thousand spot checks as well early the french interior minister warned violence could flare up at this weekend's protests authorities had already banned marches around the notre dame cathedral and set fire broke out there on monday. saturday marks the twentieth anniversary of the columbine high school shooting in the united states twelve students and one teacher were killed when two teenagers carried out a planned attack in colorado there have been several mass shootings since then at schools and it's brought calls to change the gumballs and as alan fischer reports anti-gun campaigners do believe change could be on the horizon. it was until then the watch school shooting in american history a nation watched twenty years ago as terrified students run for their lives the

lucky ones could hug their parents but twelve students and one teacher never would they died when two students took their guns and their read into the corridors of their high school and columbine became new in the world over among the community it's among the american people there really was at the time a sense that ok maybe maybe this will be a change maybe change will come from this and there was quite a popular appetite to see it happen but the colorado shooting brought copycats and contagion it wasn't the first mass school shooting but somehow it became a fresh starting point and a heart breaking list that grew every year. for junior tech with thirty two people were killed. sandy hook in connecticut where twenty children were shot dead and moved the president to tears the majority of those who died today were children. beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old.

roseburg in oregon parklane florida and many places in between eleven more school shootings eleven places that said enough eleven places changed forever. but not in the we many who are in australia after a mass shooting where thirty five died they changed the laws in scotland where children were gunned down in a school in dunblane they changed the laws and the recent attack on to mosques in new zealand brought an almost immediate change in gun laws so this new generation to really are the ones that are going to be the ones to bring change because they've grown up knowing nothing but the fear of school shootings their entire life columbine was twenty years ago. people who were born after columbine are now voting and that matters because they don't want this fear for the next generation they had a memorial service for columbine this week they wanted to send a message of hope and strength to the community which has lived with the tragedy

every day for twenty years and the other places that no must also live with the same pain the same scars alan fischer. lebanese sorry no that's the next story we're going to talk about the first democrat to declare for the twenty twenty presidential election now calling on congress to impeach donald trump senator elizabeth warren says the house of representatives should begin proceedings she made the comments just after the release of the mother reports investigating the possibility of collusion between the trumpet ministration and russia. and israel an opposition leader calling for a large may day protests on the first of next month. he says his supporters need to continue showing president nicolas maduro that people will not accept water and electricity shortages anymore rejects quite those claim to be the interim president has even denied there is a humanitarian crisis this week in nicaragua it comes on the first anniversary of

mass protests in the country initially people rallied for social security reform but it turned into a movement against president daniel ortega and his government and that turned deadly now a year later the country reflects on the ultimate cost of the crisis more on that john home and. it's an especially somber easter weekend. those here are remembering not just the events of two millennia past but those more recent far more local. in this town a bastion of the opposition during the first months of naked i was crisis street barricades went up and running battles with security forces were regular site some are still struggling to come to terms with the human cost of it will. be hard to speak about this. is about what the people of nicaragua have gone through even the

love of life is leaking away because of so much pain so much barbarity. easter week this year because exactly on the first anniversary of protests against nikken i was long term president daniel ortega he labeled those against him as violent who inciting terrorists pointing to the death of a policeman and his response was brutal concepcion portal's may says her brother darwin was killed by a sniper's bullet that she says was just the start of her family's troubles. in the ten months since he's been. we've had death threats been followed harassed and i don't see any change from the government. yet. there's been an ongoing crackdown against human rights groups journalists activists and even demonstrations since the crisis began the government's effectively banned street protests in the kid i was so religious procession it's like this one one of the only ways that people can

come out and express what they feel about the situation. here that meant a coup for peace. we plead with mr than a lot of data misses reciter modi's you and her brother soldiers stop the repression stop the crucifixion and killing over people you have mothers and children too you have wives and family that you love it's never too late it's time to free ourselves from days. before looking to the future though it was time to remember the day it was not. there with us responded those gathered here john home and. now lebanese women hoping they will soon gain the right to pass on their citizenship to their children even if they're married to a foreigner but those proposed changes to the nationality law don't include women married to syrians or to palestinians now from beirut. has

a lebanese mother and was born and raised in lebanon but that is not enough to gain nationality women married to foreigners are not allowed to pass on citizenship and that means their children need a residence permit if they are to find work while denied any government support for those like las whose fathers are palestinian the situation is further complicated because they have limited rights here i am an only child to my to my mother and my my to my aunts and i and my parents. i cannot. from my mom. to my dear church children. rights campaigners want the decades old nationality law to be reformed especially since lebanese men married to foreigners can pass citizenship to their wives and children we're being told that should women have the rights. they are going to be

of course i'm saying despite tween course they're going to destroy. the delicate balance of this country hence leading to another war this is truly bizarre. politicians who oppose amendments to the law say it will have an impact on the demographic balance in the country lebanon's political system is based on a sectarian power sharing agreements they particularly fear the presence of a large syrian and palestinian refugee population because they are from one sect. she is a member of parliament's women and children rights committee he says it is the right of every woman to pass on her nationality to her children but it has consequences when you're. more. the voice in the.

ok. exceed two million two million. it's huge. there are no official statistics but non-governmental organizations say there are at least eighty thousand women married to foreigners women affected by the law are hoping things will change but acknowledge they are facing an uphill battle. beirut. corals in a remote area of australia's great barrier reef and i was showing signs of recovery after site clones and heat waves devastated their ecosystem but scientists are warning if highest sea temperatures cause any further damage many species of marine life will be destroyed it was a dead zone it was just like dead branches everywhere. it was devastating like i remember like crying in my mosque and it's something that you can hear all the researchers saying here but it's it was really devastating it was almost no fish. i

was looking for my clean efficient course and it was really hard to find and it was again like i'm studying climate change but i was now very expecting that i could see the effects in my lifetime while i'm doing my ph d. and it was really devastating to see that. only the fire at notre dame cathedral in paris has raised questions about the safety of renovation projects in istanbul for example which is home to countless architectural treasures there are fears some of those works could be put in historic buildings or risk these barca reports. turkey's cultural capital is built on lehrer pull their history. istanbul is a modern city that in some places literally weaves through the foundations of the past. the balance aqueduct was built by the romans of the fourth century to bring water to the city is one of many ages bollywood's here marks the restoration. a

large number of projects are undertaken expert levi highly trained craftsman but many people are concerned that some repairs are below standard such as the restoration of the two thousand year old object the castle is what it used to look like here which is now a complete rebuild rather than a sensitive restoration the finished projects be compared in the turkish media to the cartoon character sponge bob square pants. stumbles historic skylines in georgia for centuries preservationists a calling from proved to renovation standards so that it in jewels for centuries more. restoration works have been conducted over and over but they're often not based on any understanding of the heritage of the building or its preservation but are imitation are the. basic some attempts to restore all buildings have led to their destruction in twenty ten

a massive fire broke out of the nineteenth century height of passion railway station as it was being renovated there were quite simply so many old buildings here in istanbul that the ancient and the new jostle for space this is the main protests through an avenue that runs through the heart of istanbul where eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings are obscured by fast food restaurants and shop fronts if the world was one country is stamboul would be its capital words attributed to french emperor and poleon bonaparte today's sprawling metropolis needs room to grow but striking a delicate balance between the past and the present is clearly proving no easy task nieve back al jazeera is stumble. we're going through the headlines now on al-jazeera in libya there has been heavy fighting in the capital as the warlord. to new to attack tripoli they're battling

the un recognized libyan government south of the city and the town of. the fighting is happening near the international airport which is under control the spokesman for half his forces held a media conference on the battle a short time ago. forces providing fire support to our ground operations the economy is trying to flank our forces from the back but they have failed in the face of the strength of our fighters and the experience of our fighters it has become a war of attrition so the city is good is controlled by the. egyptians are voting in a referendum that could keep president sisi in office until the year twenty thirty they're also deciding whether to allow the president to appoint top judges and to expand the role of the military in the sudan the chairman of the african union commission is meeting with military leaders in the khartoum and the attorney

general has just ordered the formation of a higher committee to oversee the investigation of corruption public money and criminal cases. for civilians and three soldiers have been killed in a gunfight in the afghan capital kabul the attackers detonated an explosive device before storming the communications ministry. police in northern ireland have arrested two teenagers in connection with the killing of a journalist a vigil has been held for lyra mickey she was shot on thursday just days before the anniversary of the easter uprising of republicans against british rule in nine hundred sixteen there has been condemnation from all political sides in northern ireland. and police in paris of fired tear gas at the protesters have been demonstrating for weeks now over the economy one hundred twenty six people have a rest have been arrested and police say they've conducted more than eleven thousand spot checks earlier the french interior minister warned violence could

flare up this weekend in the thirty's had already banned marches around the cathedral after the fire broke out there on monday back with the news hour in about twenty five minutes time on al jazeera right now though it's inside story. he promised to stick to his term limits as president the referendum is underway that could lead to egyptian leader tell since the stay in office being extended and he could also be granted press a bit how worthless so is egypt headed towards a complete authoritarian rule and one of the consequences both at home and in the region this is inside story.

hello and welcome to the program i'm richelle carey millions of egyptians are headed to the polls to vote on a constitutional referendum that could keep president of. power until twenty thirty the move has received overwhelming backing from parliament supporters say he has stabilized egypt and needs more time to finalize economic reform if passed the president would be able to appoint top judges expand the role of the military and create a post of vice president but rights groups are concerns he's consolidation of power will lead to a crackdown on dissent there is a lot to unpack here will began with a report from al-jazeera to see just what's at stake. president i'll defer to his sisi was sworn in last year after winning his second term in office the vote was

mobbed by claims of irregularities in a crackdown on activists and potential challenges a few months earlier sisi hot said he would not seek a. but. the egyptian leader seems to have changed his mind beginning on saturday voters will take part in a referendum that could extend cc's term in office by two years and allow him to stand for another six year mandate effectively keeping him in office until twenty thirty the movie's a departure from the two thousand and eleven constitutional declaration that limits presidents to two four year terms egypt has completely eliminated opposition it's an environment of repression and fear people are terrified to to to vote to express dissent just in this in the lead up to this vote more than one hundred twenty

people have been arrested for campaigning for the for the no vote sisi rose to prominence after the two thousand and eleven off prizing in two thousand and twelve he was appointed minister of defense by egypt's first democratically elected president mohamed morsi a year later sisi deposed morsi in a military coup and eventually became president while consider dating his grip on power his government has a rusted thousands of activists and opponents many facing death penalties the trials were widely condemned by human rights groups as a travesty. over the last few years a predominantly loyal parliament has introduced a series of reforms expanding the militarist influence the referendum is also asking people to vote for a provision that declares the military the guardian and protector of the state the opposition is calling for boycott our dream and hope to have

a president elected once every two terms i've gone to and what sisi is will is not without challenges he faces armed groups in the sinai peninsula who have launched attacks against security forces and international calls for political reforms but the general turned politician seems defiant he's launching mega projects across the country and hoping to be able to fix an economy in tatters and win the trust of the people. let's bring in the panel joining us from cairo on skype this time he called us non resident fellow at the true answer to for middle east policy from one to head of the egyptian revolutionary council and again on skype from tunis the same balmy egypt researcher for amnesty international welcome to all of you thanks for joining us we appreciate it let's talk i'm going to talk start with you timothy what do you

expect voter turnout to be in this referendum. i don't think that the numbers will be very substantial there were some lines such as a polling stations before the open this morning. and there are some rumors and reports circulating now that people are being given food to go to go and cast a ballot but overall i think that most egyptians take this as a done deal and and so there isn't really much concern about participating in the outcome of some of this issue groups have been encouraging voting no. and people have been and respond to that but it's still not on the scale that would i think filter non-traumatic lee body agree with that assessment and that maybe voters do they feel like they even actually have a say. not a tour life think if experience shows. that. the vote means nothing under general sisi since twenty thirteen we had presidential elections

a so-called presidential elections in march twenty eighth he and four years prior to that and each time the voter turnout was extremely low and there is no transparency or is no way of knowing whether the votes have been rigged or people's voices have been taken into account votes are rigged for all we know last time he says he won by one so-called ninety seven percent this is the stuff of dictatorships and people know full well the sound of the rule of this general the voice and the vote means nothing so i believe the voter turnout will be extremely low and if we're told it's not it's because again the media is playing to the true of the military regime and hussein

a similar question to you before we get into the nuts and bolts of what this referendum actually would do what are the concerns of amnesty international about the vote itself in egypt. so we are concerned with the process because it is happening during these awards to crackdown on freedom of expression in egypt so in recent history we are talking about a time where people are being arrested for voicing zero opinions on extremely non political matters you are talking about time where women are being arrested just for the frustration was rampant sexual harassment in egypt we're talking about time more young people being arrested for supporting a football club we're talking about a time where there is absolutely no acceptable form of expression that is not sanctioned by its they'd also talking about time where protests are that was was extremely heavy handed we're talking about time where people know can be sentenced to a few years or in some cases twenty five fuser even to this for participating in protest

so our concern is that this is happening supports happening in a time where there is unprecedented crackdown and restrictions of kleenex prison training for simply and and we've also seen reports are saying that there are literally thousands of de mains on the enter net that have been blocked as well is there any type of outlet for dissent at all. i mean this is there isn't an easy outlet for voicing dissent the streets are closed all forms of written and t.v. and media are available to most egyptians are completely controlled by the state one way or another the state has been cracking down on online spaces step by step i mean of course the opposition have been developing different tools to communicate menzi will continue to do for the tools to circumvent censorship but the state is

also applying huge amounts of resources that could go to solving menu for egypt's economic close social problems into controlling and restricting online media what that means for online media news. timothy so along the way like the steps at this referendum had to take to get to the public there are twenty two members of parliament who voted against it that's it do you have a feel for if there are more members of parliament that really are opposed to it but don't feel that they could vote that way. i mean undoubtedly there probably are amongst the five hundred thirty one that voted for it some that personally would prefer that it not go forward but keep in mind that most of the people who are in parliament have been brought in as state loyalists have been brought in to participate in pictures networks of the regime it's not it's not a serious political institution with a lot of pull with a lot of politically aware membership or seriously politically gauge membership

there are a handful of active parliamentarian's and we saw some of that in the in the articulation of opposition to this amendment but for the most part this is not really an institution that is actually that political despite its spend its formal constitutional role so even people that support it see see a first do you think that. this is that the turn that they anticipated. i mean i think that if we're going back to people's court it's easy in trying to it seems there's been years increasing levels of disillusionment with him . there are people who believe that he would run for president of course and he said that he wouldn't but he did there are people that believe that he would amend the constitution to extend his time in office and he is about to. there's a continual kind of sense of disappointment amongst certain sections of his supporters some are still diehard of course. but also what's probably done the most

to damage his popularity is not even the political issues but actually the economic situation the purchasing power of egyptians as collapse as the pound value was has collapsed since particularly since twenty sixteen the removal of a lot of subsidies has increased the cost of living to magically as well so people are under enormous economic pressure and they're not see any sort of relief up until this point and so i think that's really actually done more than the political crackdown to damage his reputation and support ok so let's pick up on that economic point ma ha so it may be damaging his popularity to a certain extent but might that also be a recipe for a leader who wants to take more power to try to say i can fix this give me more time is that something that that would resonate with with a population that says yes we actually want our our leader to have even more power

. the story that's being sold to gyptian is the narrative that's being set out by the media propaganda machine of the regime is yes he needs more time he can provide security and stability and the story that's being sold to the west that he is the best. of egypt's security and the fight against terrorism but in reality since twenty thirteen egyptians have seen enough of the regime to realize he's been there in power for long enough for them to realize that the economic situation is deteriorating for the vast majority of egyptians the cotton subsidies this is biting very hard on employment is high and so is inflation the egyptian pound is worthless but above all i believe we have military economic empire we have deep seated corruption so whatever the

numbers may look like over the like over the next couple of years. and the the economic picture that he will try that sisi will try to project is not the reality in terms of the vast majority of egyptians they are poor they feel even poorer under his regime and they know that corruption is rife and the military runs over sixty percent of the economy and that corruption is at the heart of it they survived this regime survives through corruption as did the mubarak regime but now it is even more brutal than any military regime before it and egyptians are feeling the crunch economically but they also need know that they are living in a republic of fear so the combination is lethal and very very difficult for the

egyptian citizens timothy s. our reaction on your face did you want to say some some something to a man who was saying. it to a large extent i agree with much of what you said but just the claim that the military on sixty percent of the economy of egypt is really an untenable there's no evidence or something about scales. and just due to the expansion diversification of the egyptian economy over the last twenty thirty years it's more or less impossible for them to have that kind of control over it. that's there's just really no math to that would add up for that. and so that that's all which is who say let me let me ask you something you talked about a lot of things that have been happening and egypt for a while when it comes to rights and rights changing. when does that first start to really concern amnesty and do you think that any any world power perhaps obviously the u.s. maybe could have put some sort of pressure on egypt to to shed a light on these types of things could that or would that have made

a difference. well we're being concerned was duration of human rights in egypt sense they cade's really i mean some of the issues that we are talking about are systematic and have been inherent in for example unfair trials in egypt has been a disease for decades now torture has been via for decades but what's happening more recently is. because of international silence over much of what the it's been happening seeing the multiplication of what has been. practices for example who are talking about. one hundred thousand cases. during mubarak's times in work to come up much larger number now enforce its appearance is used to have been to but not on that scale as you were nuts and norm what we are seeing now is that six steps that is becomes a norm so unfair trials that we affect some some people or not not

a relatively large group you mubarak now we are seeing is that there are fifteen thousand tens of thousands we are seeing. under present egypt is becoming is moving towards. and institutionalizing the number of these lesions and amendments in the institutions that actually makes exceptions and norms for example resist recent them in minutes. spending semiliterate drugs for civilians to be included and not only mean clinton's constitution as we've seen earlier but actually to fix it now when you can be child in front of the military for for something as simple as having a fight in a. military or being one of our property is that this on the protection of the military soon now we're seeing the situation like the human rights violations are like multiplying and silence over sentiments of community to work to a large degree have facilities exists to continue to talk to you about that about

this blurred line between the military and civilian so part of what would become law should this referendum passes the military was supposed to oversee the civilian nature of the country what does that mean. i think we're already seeing that what we're seeing through this referendum and the constitutional amendments is a code afic a show of reality that already exists the military does have control it's going to extend that control over the judiciary over appointments and the appointments already are under some kind of influence from the military but it will be codify the military will have the right to. to decide or to veto the choice of a defense ministers who choose the prosecutor general it extends its power in every field it allows for more military trials and i think it also and i want to go back to this economic issue the military does have

a stranglehold on the economy and even part of the amendments is to ensure that deals or trade deals between got governments and institutions and outside parties come under the supervision of the military the military is an economic empire this is why they also don't want to let go power and money are combined there are very real interests at play here and the military through these constitutional amendments will have a great a hold on egypt's politics its judiciary and its economy this bodes very ill for the independence of all injection institutions that have already been undermined since twenty thirty but now there is a greater crude difficult mission and the attempt at legitimizing this process and

of course it has no legitimacy whatsoever so tempy people very rarely give up power voluntarily right and when you look at authoritarian regimes it may seem. that you can say well you know what elise this means you know some sort of stability for an extended period time but these things never in rarely in well what why is that there's always these huge collapses of these systems why is that. well fundamentally authoritarian systems particularly ones that don't develop a sort of institutions. collapse like a house of cards because they haven't built up a more effective diffusion of power that can sustain itself beyond the collapse of the key characters right so when mubarak was overthrown there was a lot of political turmoil when gadhafi was over for the throne we saw the turmoil in libya and if you look at any of these countries this formula political organization is fundamentally unstable and these regimes because because they see

themselves constantly as fragile overreact oftentimes and encourage the production of authoritarian systems not only domestically but in their region as we see with the emirates as we see with saudi arabia that has been pushing for supporting authoritarians throughout the middle east and so you have the situation in which there's there's a proclivity for using violence there is a lack of a sort of effective succession plan or any sort of mechanism that is viable incredible for the peaceful transition of power and so invariably the only way to actually get affective change for a population is to is to force it and of course that process can often be quite quite chaotic and even mine and but it's really not a product of the protesters themselves but rather the system of the violent authoritarian to have created this dynamic within their societies who say what's

concern is amnesty international have are the end package that this type of referendum these type of changes could mean for the region. so we are worried about how i mean how does a qualification of the practices. played out in the right to fair trial quantifying. influence of the executive over an addition. to the french for a very long time because the changes that are going to affect happen to the constitution are going to be easier for a long time but soon when it comes to the reason we are worried because if you look at libya for example was half the specifically he is period is been fascinated with some models that prison guard to his c.c. has been implementing in egypt and egypt has been supporting. well for a long times and there are many donald process also seems to have thrown his

support behind haftorah as well he has a good relationship with sisi so i just wanted to make sure our viewers were aware of that as you mention those names yeah so so this is very worrying because now is this model of extreme repressive force or terria newsman's or old boy. rule effectively colors of you by security agencies not just the military but also police and exist spritz to libya i mean you never know what would have. to have two hours of countries that are undergoing changes at some moment and so results are not very clear so we are very much for it like in the for intelligence or then just to clarify but we are moving much for this model of repression so it's not only policies and this nation's but been codified in the constitution to be imported into other countries in the region could likely be algeria or sweden mohai has this compare to the time of hosni mubarak. i think it's

a more extreme version of dictatorship it's a dictatorship that also feels great distress and i think post twenty eleven many of the regimes in the region realize that people could rise up and could bring down the dictator so the comebacks through a military coup in twenty seven teen was a means by which the military could hold on and the old regime once more and much of the message of sisi and his supporters is that never again we will not allow what happened in july on january twenty fifth twenty eleven to happen again we will not allow the electoral process that was underway in twenty twelve and put forward the first democratically elected president for egypt to happen again so they didn't see themselves as a bulwark against any kind of populist uprising that would bring about democracy to

the people in egypt or to the region and therefore he's holding on very tight and he's as repressive as ever more so than even under mubarak but i think he feels he needs to be like this because there has been an uprising and he wants to ensure there isn't one in the future but of course the continuing repression the continuing economic failure for the majority of egyptians will mean i think that sooner or later there will be a backlash and i believe that opposition to the military regime in egypt is stronger than it is ever has been over the last few decades ok that will be our our final word i'm sure we will revisit this topic in the coming days and weeks thank you all for joining us for the discussion very much appreciate it timothy called us and cairo and london mazar meant to say mommy and tunis thank you. and

thank you for watching you can see the program again any time visit our website al-jazeera dot com for further discussion about our facebook page it's facebook dot com ford slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is a chain side story for me the shelter hearing entire team back on. but i'm a fish every week a new cycle brings a series of breaking stories and then of course there's donald trump the town

through the eyes of the welts jan an ace that's right out of a hamas script that calls for the annihilation of israel that is not what that phrase means at all she joined the listening post as we turned the cameras on the media and focused on how they were caught on the stories that matter the most in better use a free palestine their listening post on al-jazeera. an army of volunteers has come together to help with the influx of tens of thousands of evacuees. but their retreat to a church shelter has brought new challenges an outbreak of norovirus and other gastrointestinal problems. smoke from the massive wildfires now blankets much of northern california leading to some of the worst air quality in the world but with more than twelve thousand structures lost in the wildfires concerns remain about long term accommodations jobs and medical care. local officials say there isn't

enough housing stock available. their dreams have turned out to be disappointing and. that. if anyone called me to say he'd leave each. i'd advise him not to come three young north africans tell the story of how europe is not all they hoped it would be. now does their world welcome to italy. this is al-jazeera. santamaria and this is the news hour from al-jazeera.

fighting intensifies in the battle for tripoli as the warlords khalifa haftar pushes to capture the libyan capital also in the news voters in egypt to decide whether to change the constitution and possibly allow the president to remain in office to lead a twenty third. i'm barbara starr in london with the top stories from europe including. let's just to play senseless. struggling to come to terms with the killing of journalist lira mckeen yes police in northern ireland say they have arrested two men. columbine which twenty years ago. people who were born after columbine are now voting and that matters two decades since that high school tragedy in littleton colorado and we're looking at what if anything is actually changed on polar east with the sport as the king of clay loses his crown rafael nadal slips up on his favorite surface to miss out on

a twelfth monte-carlo all time. was starting in libya where there was heavy fighting near the capital i was the warlord holly for half his forces continue to attack tripoli battling the un recognized libyan government south of the city in the town of. that fighting happening near the international airport which is under control government forces are preparing to launch an operation in the coming days to try to retake that area we've also heard the spokesman for her life after his forces which are known as the libyan national army holding a news conference on the battle a short time ago. forces providing fire support to our ground operations the economy is trying to flank our forces from the beck but they have failed in the face of the strength of our fight is and the experience of our fight

as it has become a war of attrition so the sick is as good as controlled by the. headlines in tripoli for us now to talk us through i mean just tell us about the level of escalation we're seeing mahmud and what it will all amount to. well the fiercest today today's fighting go according to the spokesman of how to us forces. he just spoken to in trying to lift his forces moraz saying that they are sending more troops from the east and the south of libya to join their forces near the capital tripoli on the other hand the government forces say they have taken strategic locations today they have they have gained more ground against have sort of forces on the southern part of the city and that's including a. location near the tripoli disused airport and they say the government forces say that they are determined to take control of their disused

international airport which was taken control of by have to its forces a week ago and it was easy areas that south of tripoli heavy fighting it went on but between have to his forces and forces loyal to the and the recognized a government of national accord warplanes targeted it simpler locations governmental planes targeted that civil locations that are positioned it would have to forces are positioned near the city over the end and all saw government warplanes targeted that and with the air bases that's around one hundred sixty kilometers to the southern west of the capital tripoli the government forces say that have that forces have been using a word to the warplanes are loyal to the lord for have to have been taken out of the woods yet. government forces locations that. tripoli we just spoke to military commanders with the government of national accord they told us that they

have taken control of where they will be area. swanny and all small areas in the venice city of the tripoli international airport the disused airport they say that it is only a small part of the international airport that is still under the control of have that its forces. remember the volcano of wrath that is that counted of fence of lunch and by the government forces as it is planned not only to push have to sit back this forces back in beyond the tripoli international airport but also to chase them towards the city of the un the main hub of have to his forces what it is a sentiment command running the operation in. southern parts of of tripoli today also heavy fighting was heard on the southern part of tripoli and eyewitnesses and government sources say that an electricity plant was hit so the tripoli and that could result in

a blackout in civil residential areas in the southern outskirts of the capital city this is the way she remains a very tense but have to his forces are also threatening to send more troops it seems that this is not going to be an easy defeat for have to dispose apparently the defeated now and the southern part of the capital tripoli but it seems that this is not going to be easy because they're threatening to send more troops from the east and from the south of the country towards the capital tripoli as the spokesman of have to his forces general stated a little while ago ok that update for mahmoud of the la hood in tripoli let's discuss that now with mira conti who is a political analyst who focuses on the and north africa joining us from london renia as mahmud explained all of that it struck me that it was sounding very. structured and organized from khalifa haftar forces now originally spoken to other

analysts who said you know they were young fighters and maybe wouldn't have the momentum. do you think that's changing now. and there is there is a very clear push towards tripoli. a strategy where all troops across the country are being a must to push towards tripoli but regardless of we have not seen any major advancements by the national army over over the last two weeks and they have they have reached tripoli in areas around by surprise and since then they have there has been a series of back and forth over the airport and. the government of national accord forces began to push back and we have seen ever more clear that. the strengths lies. out inability to to understand the area

national gini backed forces understand tripoli southern parts of tripoli the western parts of tripoli where the clashes are taking place they understand. the local the local roads will deserts the carrots off off the battlefield and as we've seen there hasn't been any any long or stable. advance on those locations since so then the idea of a quote unquote battle for tripoli is that jumping the gun a little bit do you think it just the way that the. government forces talk about you know preparing to retaliate and things that it it conjures up that idea of a real battle for the capital. right tripoli is the political economic capital off the country anyone who controls tripoli controls the

international diplomatic but also the assets the national oil corporation the headquarters of the central bank. it is a major it's the capital of the country and. any military advancement. fears to destabilize the sovereignty of the country and more so than ever when there is a clear declaration by both the g.n.a.t. who since their declaration off this operation have said they are out to fight the alanine all parts of the country and. they have named ellen a commander have taught in all the. war criminals but. have since also declared their intention to seize control of all of tripoli all its political institutions and what not this is this is a serious fracture to libya's political social fabric and what we're

seeing over the over d.s.u. days is also a potential fragmentation on the diplomatic end as well munir akari joining us from london and talking libya thank you for that or on to other news and egyptians are voting in a referendum that could open the door to president. staying in office to lead a twenty thirty eight voters are also deciding whether to allow the president to appoint top judges to expand the role of the military fifty five million egyptians are eligible to take part but rights groups are concerned the referer referendum would be free or fair while the proposed changes to the constitution a widely described as a step towards or talk recy. as more about. president i'll deliver to has c.c. was sworn in last year after winning his second term in office the vote was marred by claims of irregularities a crackdown on activists and potential challengers

a few months earlier sisi had said he would not seek a third term by the egyptian leader seems to have changed his mind beginning on saturday voters will take part in a referendum that could extend cc's term in office by two years and allow him to stand for another six year mandate effectively keeping him in office until twenty thirty the movie's a departure from the two thousand and eleven constitutional declaration that limits presidents to two four year terms egypt has completely eliminated opposition it's an environment of repression and fear people are terrified to to to vote to express dissent just in this in the lead up to this vote more than one hundred twenty people have been arrested for campaigning for the for the no vote sisi rose to prominence after the two thousand and eleven our pricing in two thousand and twelve

he was appointed minister of defense by egypt's first democratically elected president mohamed morsi a year later sisi deposed morsi in a military coup and eventually became president while consider dating his grip on power. his government has a rostered thousands of activists and opponents many facing death penalties the trials were widely condemned by human rights groups as a travesty. over the last few years a predominantly loyal parliament has introduced a series of reforms expanding the militarist influence the referendum is also asking people to vote for a provision that declares the military the guardian and protector of the state the opposition is calling for boycott our dream and hope to have a president elected once every two turns i come to an end but since his rule is not without challenges he faces armed groups in the sinai peninsula who have launched

attacks against security forces and international calls for political reforms but the general.