these pictures show just how much water that we've seen from those storms they are working their way eastwards as i say and you can see them on the satellite picture edging their way towards cattle and there's a chance we could see that cloud over the next few days so always the risk of seeing want to showers for saturday or sunday for the south it does look largely fine and dry for us now with muscat getting to around thirty degrees every further north of course we've had a huge storm kenneth that hit the northern parts of mozambique you can see that it quickly disintegrated for the rain is easing of all the winds that still some rather shop show is still expected for saturday and sunday.

welcome back a quick reminder the top stories here this hour. security forces have exchanged gunfire with suspects linked to the east bomb attacks that happened during a raid on a property in the eastern city of coleman our. sources have told al jazeera that former ruling party leaders have been freed from jail in saddam moved thousands of protesters who continue to demand a civilian transition. on the u.n. is warning of massive flooding in mozambique up to cycle and kenneth made landfall

forecasters say it's the strongest storm to ever hit the country and. killed hundreds of people in the region. for returning to our top story now following the easter sunday attacks in sri lanka some muslims say they're frightened for the future even as religious leaders and called for unity and calm flowing through reports from the gun but. they fled to persecution in pakistan and thought they had found refuge in sri lanka some of these muslims have been here for seven years or more but they're once again looking for a place to accept them they say they no longer a few faith in the gumbo after the east s i. bombings some people here blame them for the attacks my house or bank my old user to bring to my door under their windows or damaged by going to florida and there is turning on me and a priest done that by going there cannot be stationed hundreds of them

a shelter in a community center in a nearby town but they'll have to move again because the locals here don't want them either and moving back to niggle both isn't an option for now. emotions are still running high after sunday's suicide bomb attack on st sebastian church. the white flags lined the streets a symbol of mourning badness hang as a sign of remembrance for those who died. on the streets are remind us that security remains tight. worried about reprisal attacks the government has advised muslims not to gather for friday press at mosques were the heart of new town which is normally busy and bustling instead many businesses are shut people choosing to remain at home because of the fear of more attacks. is a mostly christian town in buddhist majority sri lanka for generations muslims have

lived here without incident and many here want it to remain that way. i think the government will have to ensure security and peace so that the relationship between the different communities. no one can say for sure how badly the easter sunday bombings may have damaged ties between the mix of communities here lawrence al jazeera sri lanka china's leader has defended the belgian road infrastructure scheme which critics call a death trap for receiving chinese investment president welcome heads of state to the second international conference on the projects. from beijing. one of the world's most powerful leaders making

a powerful entrance chinese president xi jinping arriving at the summit flanked by almost forty heads of state in front of government representatives from more than one hundred countries in his opening address president xi said he would work to ensure the controversial project connecting asia to europe africa and beyond. would be sustainable green and provide growth for all those taking part. in the there's a new initiative has helped people's. in the countries involved. purdy he rejected criticism that the costs involved would loose some countries into levels of debt they would find almost impossible to pay back estimates put the bill for the long list of infrastructure projects at close to one trillion dollars there are pipelines ports bridges and railways all designed to improve trading links.

courage put his painting company to follow general international rules and standards in project. among those attending a key supporters of the initiative russian president vladimir putin and pakistani prime minister imran khan but china's biggest trading partner the united states has not sent a delegation washington officials say the bolton road initiative is a vanity project which comes with too many strings attached. china has dismissed the u.s. as concerns as western resistance to china's growth but there's also been criticism of the scheme from inside the country which to distance questioning whether china a developing country itself can really afford to be spending so much money. export import bank says one hundred forty nine billion dollars has so far been burned out to support some of the developments. analysts say the scheme is a long term investment for china. we need to make money and we need new markets so

it's wrong to say we're giving aid to other countries there's not a case this money is an investment. during the first twenty seventeen government backed videos dominated social media scrutiny mounts selling the scheme is no longer that simple. a joint communique will be released with all eyes on president xi to see how he will deliver on his promise to ensure the project benefits not just china but all you know for katrina new al-jazeera beijing north korea's leader has wrapped up his trip to russia but not before accusing the u.s. of bad faith in febreze failed denuclearization talks kim jong un met with putin invited last uk the russian president says he wants to help him resolve the nuclear disarmament dispute which is causing tensions with the u.s. . i think we're doing very well with north korea lot of progress is being made i

appreciate it president bush statement yesterday you want to see it done also i think there's a lot of excitement boy getting a deal done with north korea i have a great relationship with kim jong un i appreciate that right now is helping out and john is helping us because i think they want to you know the nuclear weapon right there is their country but i also think they're helping us because of the fact that we're in a great deal which by the way is going very well a u.s. court has jailed the russian agent for eighteen months for conspiring to infiltrate the national rifle association a prominent gun lobby group prosecutors say thirty year old marina bettina attempted to influence american conservatives and sway the government's policies to favor moscow should be deported to russia after completing her sentence. the u.n. says international support is desperately needed to help nearly a million refugees from me and mob senior officials and visited camps in bangladesh

they want to raise nearly a billion dollars in humanitarian aid the rangers were forced to flee persecution in the current state back in twenty seventeen well the u.n. side commissioner for refugees spoke to al-jazeera from cox's bazaar he says his mission is to see the return of ranger to their homes in myanmar but a number of challenges a slowing the process. the u.n. my organization u.n.h.c.r. the u.n. development program have an agreement with the government of myanmar. we are accessing the villages from which these refugees are coming we are us parroting the man from project to improve the conditions but the real piece of work that needs to be done is on the fundamentals the reason why the people left. movement little access to jobs and services pathway to citizenship these are the difficult issues there are difficult issues but these are the issues that need to be tackled

and we inspired in the refugees here back confidence that we allow them to say ok i am voluntarily going back. there has been very respectful of the voluntariness every time there's been a lot more streetcar this has to continue and choice becomes possible. candidates running in spain's upcoming election are urging undecided voters to choose wisely and not give victory to the far right opinion polls suggest a right wing coalition may be when sunday's general election includes the vox party which is based much of its campaign on the growing discontent around the economy immigration and nationalism journal reports from sybil. bursting onto the political scene vox and its leader santiago of our skull are spain's answer to a surge in far right populism elsewhere in europe often seen as mainstream media

shy the party prefers to communicate with its supporters in person and online the major themes immigration and nationalism. who is santiago of us go asks this whatsapp campaign video his grandmother explains that as a child in his native bilbao the proudly spanish of a skull was bullied by basque separatists on the playground today it is separatism in catalonia that box and of a skull stand against the party's most passionate battle call is for the unity of spain vox scale using very very true spanish feeling i think you meant in a prison spent invokes years this feeling this n t independence is coursing in spain to gain votes and they do it all very successfully that one frequent vox promises to make spain great again if you think you recognize it this might be why steve bannon donald trump's former chief strategist is

a strong supporter seen here with a prominent vox official. there's also a familiar ring to the party's nostalgic appeal to the traditions of the past among its policies for instance is restoring bullfighting to what it says is its rightful place as a grand spanish institution vox bears the hallmarks of fire and populism those are labels your party rejects so how do you see vox how does vox see itself. to help out the. votes as a party of common sense many say we're a necessary party for one main reason because we're the only party that openly confronts cattle and separatism the only party that opposes the divisions created by regional autonomy and the only party that confronts the ideology of the left. it was only last december that fox emerged from political obscurity winning a surprise twelve seats in the regional parliament of understeer here in seville and becoming cream maker in

a three way coalition of the political right in regional government while many people wonder whether fox could do it again only this time i can nationalize. everything for spain comes to cry from the podium earlier. i. submit. to west africa where voters and been in will have just one choice to make in sunday's parliamentary election for the first time in thirty years the opposition won't be taking part election watchdog group only two parties are qualified to stand in the election. of the president. a more telling is in the city of the final day of campaigning. the electoral commission's decision to abort opposition policies from running has come about it says because on a technicality these parties failed to meet the requirements of a new electoral and a new charter of political parties now these two occurred in the charter were

designed to meet use the number of political parties because they were so fragmented but what has happened is that in reality left only two political parties able to run in these legislative elections and these are pro government parties and this is a situation unprecedented in vendeans history since multi-party democracy in nine hundred ninety and that's why civil society especially is quite shocked that this situation is so far being allowed to continue now the president says since those parties were barred in march parliament hasn't been able to reach a decision as to the way forward has been deadlocked and that's why as a result he's taken a decision that the elections must continue but the real concern here is that if this process does go ahead it will ultimately lead to unrest of some. the.

thirteen hundred mainly cuban migrants have staged the largest mass escape in recent memory from a mexican detention center the migrants escaped on foot from the top of the south many have complained of overcrowding conditions for the return. of a caravan of three thousand central american migrants has been broken up by immigration officials in southern mexico the action appears to see going to shift in policy away from providing humanitarian help towards a tougher approach more in line for the demands of the us president reports now from the mexican state of. these central american migrants are being chased by mexican immigration agents in coordination with federal police immigration officials now appear to be adopting a more aggressive approach toward migrants tearing through mexico's southern border . is traveling from us she and her family ramon

a group of thousands of central american migrants that was recently rounded up. they came and started rounding people up it was very violent mothers ran screaming and children were crying foul and it was. some three hundred seventy five people were captured during a raid. many who managed to escape ran off into the surrounding countryside over the next few days migrants were forced to move about in secret under the scorching mexican sun and with very little food or water. that caravan which had numbered as many as three thousand people has since split up mexico's president has maintained that the nation's immigration policy hasn't changed saying instead that mexico's national migration institute is trying to achieve a more orderly and safe movement of people but the reality on the ground here in southern mexico is very different. checkpoints like this one along the highway

leading north from the mexico guatemala border have seen an increase in federal police officers interviewing motorists and searching vehicles for undocumented migrants the growing criminalization of migrants traveling through mexico could mean the mexican government has caved to pressure from u.s. president donald trump. but mexico is now stopping people coming in very easy for them to do stopping people coming in through mexico as you know they keep it down if they keep doing that now if they don't or if we don't make. a deal with congress the border is going to be closed. although your interview about along with a crackdown on my kids mexico is also no longer issuing humanitarian visas but despite efforts to dissuade central americans from leaving their countries the flow of migration shows no signs of easing official estimates suggest three thousand

migrants have transited through mexico so far this year. for families like the nurses who are fleeing violence in their home countries and are unwilling to return to central america the only choice is to continue their journey north through mexico toward a country whose president has repeatedly said they are not welcome. at mexico. part of a quick check of the headlines here in al-jazeera sri lankan security forces have been engaged in a gun battle with the suspects believed to be linked to the easter sunday attacks the shootout happened during a raid on a property in the eastern city of. a curfew has been imposed across the area police are still searching for seventy suspects accused of involvement in the attacks which killed more than two hundred sixty people to an elephant as the latest from colombo the police and the three armed forces were conducting a cordon

a search operation obviously pointers to the fact that the net is closing in on those. basically operatives that are on the run after the easter sunday attacks and what they came across this group there was a confrontation a shootout ensued it did last for quite a while we were talking to the office of the police spokesman and at that point of time they were saying that information was that that exchange of fire that confrontation was still on we have now established that that confrontation is over . now we're getting reports that former ruling party leaders in sudan not been freed from jail they were detained shortly after the military force president omar bashir to step down the move could anger thousands of protesters who continue to demand a civilian transition. the u.n. is warning of possible massive flooding in mozambique after psycho and kenneth made

landfall forecasters say it's the strongest storm to hit the country comes a month after either killed hundreds of people across the region. north korea's leader has wrapped up his trip to russia but not before accusing the u.s. of bad faith and febreze failed denuclearization talks kim jong un met with putin but abbas stock the russian president says he wants to help him resolve the nuclear disarmament dispute with the u.s. and the u.n. says international support is desperately needed to help nearly a million refugees from me and our senior officials have visited camps in bangladesh they want to raise nearly a billion dollars in humanitarian aid. and at least thirteen hundred many cuban migrants of states the largest mass escape in recent memory from mexican detention center migrants escaped on foot from the top of the south many had complained of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions well those are the headlines that use continue on al-jazeera after inside story watching.

tax cuts and promises of reforms president emanuel macron followers to transform france is his response to months of yellow vests protests and nothing to stop the riots this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm adrian finnegan they are the results of the so-called great debate after months of hearing complaints from the length and

breadth of france emanuel mccraw has told t.v. viewers that he's listening to the cries for change he's responded to the biggest challenge to his presidency by offering some concessions to the best protesters they've brought paris and other cities to a standstill every saturday for months now demanding cuts to the cost of living across proposing lower taxes for some pensions reform stopping the closure of schools and hospitals and making it easier to hold a referendum on vital issues there are other proposals too but are they enough to stop the riots and revolt against his ideas for the future of france we'll get to that soon with our guests but first here's al-jazeera is natasha bata in paris. at his first presidential press conference on domestic affairs emanuel mark all said he'd listen to people's grievances over social inequality and the french political system in response he offered a raft of new policies including a reduction of m.p.'s and income tax cuts for work let me you're going to the best

way to address the needs of fiscal justice is not to increase the taxes of dispersal of that person no it's rather to lower taxes for the greatest number of our fellow citizens in particular for those bloat and part of the middle class is he also touched on personal matters saying he regretted that some people considered him. i've given the impression of always giving a lot of being tough and at times unfair this i regret because it's not why i am and it's not helped our cause. macro's new policies were based on the findings of the great debate an initiative he launched in january to give people a chance to discuss their concerns at a town hall meetings and online an attempt by the president to end months of yellow vestry protests if the cost of living in the state of politics emanuel mccoll hope that his speech in new policies will convince french people that he's heard their

concerns over the social inequality and he's trying to help he knows that if he fails to persuade them his credibility his popularity i does a policy to continue with his reforms will suffer. in paris yellow vests supporters gathered after the president's speech and said that not back to the sort of my reaction to he says speech is one ward resign when a government does not answer to people it is necessary to hold elections again who will continue or demonstrations to convince mr mccracken to this of these government the real test the macro will be how the wider public will regard his new policies and whether he's managed to bury his reputation as a president who favors the rich this it'll doubt that the timing is vital halfway through his presidential term and just one month until the european elections he needs to rebuild trust natasha butler al-jazeera paris.

let's bring in our guests for today joining us from paris chief foreign correspondent at le figaro from london charles let's field european affairs analyst at the eurasia group and on skype from san malo or head of european research of the global policy institute but welcome to inside story if we could begin with you has president bush said and done enough to put an end to the yellow vest protests i don't think. actually. is of course a tiny minority. but they're really a they want to remove. from power they just don't have. sent. it's more they have some kind of. hatred for him though

i don't think personally his men that should be heated you couldn't agree or disagree with him but this is the way the yellow vests think and. you will still have some kind of protest i think against him because as a matter of fact we have to consider that. he has lost a lot of the clout that he had after is the election in two thousand and seventeen if you if you like people much more desire pointed with rays in my court today that of course they were days of action is two thousand and seventeen chance which field in london twenty extent then is it not the policies but the man that is the problem here it's true that the yellow vest protesters who have been protesting until now the sort of hardcore the remaining hardcore won't be satisfied by the policies yesterday and. they obviously

dislike macro but i think anything he could have said any poland or for that reason any policy could have come up with wouldn't really have been enough but that wasn't necessarily the goal of yesterday's appearance and i think he was really unsettled by the support for the other vets movement at the very beginning in december some really rather scary polls for him showing seventy five percent eighty percent of the french agreeing that's receded quite substantially and i think the whole goal of yesterday was to start a new phase in his presidency where he can talk to those who no longer agree with you might have had some sympathy at the beginning but no longer do and as far as that's concerned the policies he announced yesterday might be somewhat successful we can discuss that ok run on the same question to you to what extent is it not the policies but but the man that is the problem here. a very large extent indeed.

yes you know of us have already announced they would keep keep but they have protested already called protest vote tomorrow in paris and you know the towns in france the they're pretty sure it is a shrinking number of demonstrators and michael was not addressing the you know best even though you mentioned them early in his intervention but to actually make a difference between do claims of the you know vest he claims which he agreed were actually funded were right and they were right to complain and the event and medium said of that yet note some of the programs that now he was ready to tackle the already announced measures in december we said this fight what they're up of first yesterday or so and on some reforms which we said these five pensioner element of do you know pressed by bridging or by a real risk devolution index seat pension so. it was said earlier

was the factory to come to have you know that what remains of the you know of as down is a was to appear to a border section or a beautician to. electorate to twenty five percent rooted for him and to some of the people on the center right who are attracted by support he seized and in that sense you could say that it's been reasonably successful to just size yesterday because you see to popular is the aberrant the according to the polls of today he's managed to convince thirty seven percent of the french which is quite an achievement because to actually charm city twenty seven doesn't run is quite a undertaking and so is the demand result when you finger these folks you're generating was just of over twenty five percent before his intervention run a year out in paris was this the speech of the leader does he have an air of presidential authority about him is that mere culpa wasn't that when he said that

he could have adopted a different tone and style of leadership in the first two years of his presidency was this speech made with an idea think on reelection in twenty twenty. i don't think sure i think it's a bit too early but we have to remember that sixty maybe thirty seven percent of the french were convenes but there's another figure which i think it's more which is the more important is that sixty three percent and of. the people who listen to the president when not convinced though even really made a lot of efforts to try to you know to get everybody with him. so. this is not a success this is not a feel or either issue that he was a compared to and man it was hard working but maybe it was more a minister's speech than

a president it was very technical he looked like it was long it was all big blog boring bland you could say and and he went into details that are actually the responsibility of the prime minister and the government and not of a president present in chaar in france is in charge of the real big decisions if you like diplomacy war or peace and the great you know constitutional constitutional changes and so of but the. president is not in charge of the deed today social policy of the government. and there is an article in the constitution's that it is the government that debtor minds and leads and conducts the policy of the nation so i think that. core looked

a little bit too much as a technocrat and not as a president in the sense of you can see that you know. the gauls last will be do of course were meteo and bloodied really the president of france johnson's fear what do you make of that it was more of a minister's speech than than than a presidential one sixty three percent of the electorate still not convinced to what extent his is all of this a little too late. too little too late for french voters i tend to disagree with the previous panelists and perhaps a great degree of it more. tell me why it's evidently the case that the president spoke about sort of more technical measures and didn't look like a de golyer a mr on but in twenty nineteen i'm not sure if that's really the expectations the french have in fact macro at the beginning of his presidency spent an awful lot of time trying to come across as a jew patisserie and president a sort of god like figure and it came across really it's rather in written rather

strange strange fashion i'd say for such a young man to behave like a greek god or a roman god. so this is been there's he's trying to open the second act of his presidency i think it is understandable that he's trying to talk a bit more concretely about what he can do for the french and i'd also say that political attacks in france has accelerated since two thousand and two in that there's been. sort of saying that the elections for presidents and for parliaments have been synchronized and therefore presidents have become more responsible for the actions of individual governments you don't have this kind of removed figure of a president the president is expected to be involved in day to day politics that may be incoherent with the original spirit of the fifth republic but that's the reality we have and so the reason i disagree i suppose is that tried a different tack which may or may not work time will tell but he came across as perhaps a bit less regal or divine his desk wasn't sort of gilded but actually white and

quite sort of minimalist and he talked about real issues so time will tell whether it works what you make of that. yeah it will be charged too because actually east to himself yesterday that some of the measures he was indicate that he was proposing such as go to some that is a show and do kind of. taxis which can be cut to the kind of public spending which can be cut will be decided by the gov and gives directions as he's wrote. to the government as the constitution stipulates to enact disparate e.c. so is rolle yesterday if it was quite right to give some direction and effort he gave a sense of direction basically that he hasn't change direction every challenge he stopped by michael cannot be defiled of the nation like doug or was all a. given she and i could be at some point because of his age anyway and because of

is approach is actually made to point that he's big on earning curve so it's a bit quieter the next iteration of a certain modest texas station in the last two years or some really he's not quite fit because actually because of his life he was removed from many people and to come on people's program is looked at in the last two years that maybe the measures he had who took his top down approach the debate don't approach charter say the idea is not suited to a french want people who understand then the debate. for that to happen he wants to show that is recent he's already made some consideration we should go towards the demands of the face of a do we do specific ever fix he wants to involve that but the government has a role to play but there are so more the citizens are still going to vote or mayors

so he wants to promote a top down governance as it was before. and let's see where that can work run a changing tack slightly here what is it that the french want the people they say they want lower taxes employment opportunities reforms better public services fewer decisions made by the elite in paris but many are unwilling it seems to accept longer working hours or higher retirement age less social security is what the french want pretty much like briggs it is in the u.k. want i suppose undeliverable ultimately whoever is in power is that thing that you know it's how do you do politics in western democracy. there were cameron in england instead of barring a leadership and saying we are going to improve our position in the

european union we are going to make this european union work cameron decided it's not up to me to decide but it's up to the people again and again to decide and i will do a referral and so mccall should really poor little ship. and he made a huge crisis which is not finished in britain you need leadership. did. show a lot of leadership yesterday i'm not so sure i'm not so sure that people listen to him to the end i don't think so the they were bored quite quickly he showed good competence you show that he was a good technocrat i don't think he showed leadership and if you

sure leadership you just say and make the people follow you in a policy and he started to. to to say that he was elected on the program that he would reform france because forms as he very costly welfare state that does not bring satisfaction satisfaction to its people is the huge well first aid no satisfaction for the people and the problem is that mccall said that it would reform it but actually it didn't take in the first hundred days all the measures that shewed as have reformed this wealth stayed and finally yesterday told us. that you know he had a promise of reducing. the size of the civil service in france which is. the biggest. the heaviest civil service in the whole europe and

apparently it was it was all a bit blurred but apparently he will give up this this reform so actually. at the same time he did not reform the system he will be still criticized by by germany for instance because of huge french dificid and at the same time he didn't bring satisfaction to the most poor people of france and the yellow vest population so i don't think that for the time being he is a really beginning act to or if you think that is beginning an act number two i don't really read the scenario ok a chance to show a white why couldn't a court of introduce the measures that he's introducing now earlier in his term. is

there any alternatives in terms of leadership in france right now to president mccraw and how will his party or marsh fare in in the forthcoming european elections. so to take those three questions one by one the reason why some of these policies wasn't well presented before is simply because we've had a great debate recently and it was important to show that this great debate served some purpose and that it inspired some kind of change of cap in macro leadership although some my fellow panelists seem to think he isn't showing much of that quality so that's why the policies came up now some of them follow through on what he announced in the summer some are a much more specific response to i think frustrations with which macro felt to be fair to him he did take part in his own debates he actually turned up as a sort of surprise guest at some of them and usually did quite well and you know yesterday's exercise of banging on for three hours about various measures is an exercise he's very good at and while it can be quite tedious to watch it on television people who attend usually get quite drawn in and so using the great

debate he did speired some policies to respond to various frustrations one very key one was sort of simplifying administrative tasks and bringing them all into one place which may be maybe sort of called service france or something ok simplifying access to public service is your second question was on a lot of political town is it a macro for the moment there isn't really one i mean he's decimated the the traditional parties of government and so the alternatives are really extremes which for the moment don't seem ready to win in a two round race and your third question how well we do in the european parliament elections in a month and his list is sort of neck and neck with the far right the far right i believe is ahead this week but it really varies from week to week and that's the big challenge for him as a pro european president i think it's very important for him to come first in the european elections occasion we haven't got to the bottom of this question of what the french want do they want macro or national they want the far right. who will do the french and this is a big question and every president was tempted to reform france and

met with a bruise or to try is be sort of to go through. on soc was it before it was ship before it's time that they want to make structural reforms a stronger position it was even the case for my quote earlier all in one it changes the change liberalized station and a reform or a work you had to face. right was used to privatizing a way to a party to competition yet to face huge demonstrations but you know given ok and that's it's always been you should undergo just to say do you want to out can you governor country with for under the sixty five different types of cheese and he'd seen in there of an education when you look at the what comes out of the debate two main things that the board of want is they less tax and more public services how do

you reconcile this two aims that is. very very difficult to square that circle and yesterday for example many many measures will displease is right wing supporters especially the fact that he decided not to implement hundred fifty five thousand job cuts into cities has yet to do it because there's a demand for public services maybe it would mean redeploying these people etc so. i don't think he has a sense of leadership it's very difficult in france to reform this time yes to change is try to evolve more of the bodies in there just in the making of a decision and some of the decisions he announced yesterday go towards death at first but he said he wanted to work more closely with the unions which early on in his mandate eeg note and yesterday it was very striking to see that the most

positive reaction to his speech yesterday was that of the reformist union. and it was. loads of good fakes and we see that do you use ana quite reassured by the fact that he won't make seventy cuts in public spending right he's are so proud he wants to defund de france or should what we're just being under attack from many quarters in europe and within france in the us for years and that is something that we. that we send him a good case and make it chances for his government for his part is just under your present action to maybe come ahead not in a pen because it's true he has no position i don't want a conflict at the cigar we could take over the presidency for a final question i'll go off on you for a voice in the middle here charles that field in london. charles i need you to be under a minute here if you can guess what time is tight if there were

a general election always and only half way through his term but if there were to be a general election in france tomorrow would he win. well there are different types of elections in france and they're all too round elections so you can't really read them through a british lens or a german one but in a presidential election i think he would win he still has the support of the twenty four percent of voted for him in the first round in twenty seventeen and then assuming he would be up against an extremely candid is of the far right or the far left mr middle of the far left is quite a. quite a strong figure in the opposition on the far left so whether he would he were to face mrs le pen or mr middleton he beat them not as convincingly as in twenty seventeen but he would so that's not saying that he'll win in twenty twenty two the next election is quite low quite a long way away if you ask me what would happen in the immediate future and he would probably went just many thanks indeed gentlemen there we must end our discussion thank you all for being with us today when i was here out in paris charles's field in london and jack role in sandalow that if you get you can see the

program again at any time just by going to our website at al-jazeera dot com for further discussion join us at our facebook page or facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story and you can join the conversation on twitter my handle is at a.j. inside story for me adrian figure the whole team here and thanks for watching i'll see you again live from. i. people have to weigh your own record on this trial in fact a few years ago there is place only for one state on the land of israel i do not believe in a two state solution the official story is that there are no i'm sure we all see

already i don't care about the official story if you were to go visit today you would say what has the media been tallied for now the world is watching why there's lots of graves in here join me mad the hot sun on up front of my guests from around the world take the hot seat and we debate the week's top stories and big issues here on al-jazeera. the shortest lived administration in spain's modern history has been forced to call a snap election on april the twenty eighth with the polls suggesting a fragmented vote and the rise of the far right populist movement fox can the socialist alliance hold on to power stay with al-jazeera for the latest on the spanish election. overthrow and the exiled they appoint and can say true or don't dismiss me she knew an intimate film about the struggle of the elected leader of madagascar to return to his country and reinstate his presidency he knows that the truest fortunes but and we call it the non-negotiable issue is

the cold war the long winter change against the return of a president on al-jazeera. this is al jazeera. hello i'm daryn jordan this is the opposite news from doha coming up in the next sixty minutes a shootout in sri lanka as the country remains on a high alert after easter sunday's attacks. members of saddam's former ruling party foreign ministers are freed from jail those protesters continue their demands for

civilian rule. china's president seeks to ease growing concerns about his belt on a road project and promises to end on reasonable subsidies. i'm maryanne demasi in london with the top stories from europe including opinion polls in spain suggest a right wing coalition may emerge the victor in sunday's general election. and i'm leah harding and a comedy of errors forces the practice session to be cancelled at the azerbaijan grand prix. welcomes the programmes for lankan security forces have been engaged in a gun battle with suspects linked to the easter sunday attacks the shootout happened during a raid on a property in the eastern city of coleman i a curfew has been imposed across the area police are still searching for seventy suspects accused of involvement in the

attacks which killed more than two hundred sixty people allowed to zero and i'm going to joins us live now from colombo so what more can you tell us about this shootout in the east of the country. what we're hearing from the office of the police spokesman daren is that the shootout occurred when a search team started getting down to following up on a tip of in the eastern town of signed a model in cullman a which is in the east of the country it's about three hundred fifty kilometers from colombo they encountered this group which. there was a confronting which ensued within which were hearing that there was some kind of explosion that gun gun battle continued for quite a while for over an hour cordin to the police and we're still awaiting the details in terms of whether there were any fatalities and casualties also

a short distance away about thirty kilometers from that location in ampyra still in the east where hearing that authorities raided a house where there was a series of things that they came up with there was a uniform very similar to that worn by the legend of bomber that carried out the attacks on sunday sort of a claim for responsibility another thing they found was a banner and i saw a banner featuring the back drop of that group that made that claim an explosives so all of these things coming together as these security forces crack down and try to bring in all of the assailants on the run now today we've been hearing for a number of voices the head of the catholic church as well as present by the policy center let's take a look at what all of them have to say. sri lanka on high alert with fears of more attacks against worshippers armed soldiers godson anthony shrine in colombo

securing one of the sites attacked on easter sunday outside most muslims undergo security checks before attending friday prayers with bomb warnings many decided to pray at home. rather thick. should reward a show of solidarity for the priest here and her catholic prefer our brothers and sisters who work here on a big massacre with concerns of retaliation religious leaders are calling for reconciliation and the moment we have said we would not and we masses right now until further notice once we assess the situation then be sure there will be not happen again if we can provide adequate security to the people who come to the church then we are starting a small army the increased security can be seen everywhere on the streets of colombo prime minister on a victim a singer told al-jazeera that he intends to find out why warnings about the attacks

weren't acted upon we have to admit the failure in intelligence the breakdown in the flow of information. and that's one of the matter that are being investigated right into the truck i mean if not for the lapse many of them would be alive today . intelligence services and the government has been criticized for not acting on warnings about possible attacks defense secretary him a city financial who was asked for his resignation by president mighty policy saying or has stood down a state of emergency has been enforced since tuesday giving security forces greater powers to detain and interrogate. further details of those emergency powers are emerging among them is censorship of the media and internet and limiting the right of assembly the tension is reminiscent of sri lanka's twenty six years of civil war which ended ten years ago more arrests have been made me and police have released

the names and photos of suspects c.c.t.v. video has been released of another suspected suicide bomber captured at the cinema and granted although police have not named the bombers they have said the key. from well off families some of them multimillionaires some lived in this suburban columbus their neighbors are in shock and that they may or may cover it saddens me that muslims who are my neighbors have done this it puts a black spot on all of us muslims because police and security services are under pressure to arrest everyone involved in the easter sunday bombings prevent further attacks and clamp down on religious extremism. for some muslims in sri lanka say that since the easter sunday attacks they're scared for the future despite calls from religious leaders for unity from history reports now from the gumbo. they fled persecution in pakistan and thought they had found refuge in sri lanka some of

these ahmadi muslims have been here for seven years or more but they're once again looking for a place to accept them they say they no longer feel safe in the gumbo after the easter sunday bombings some people here blame them for the attacks my house or bank my only jews are trying to my door and. their windows all damaged by going to florida and they're standing on me and a priest done that by going there cannot be stationed hundreds of them are sheltering in a community center in a nearby town but they'll have to move again because the locals here don't want them either and moving back to niggle boat isn't an option for now. emotions are still running high after sunday's suicide bomb attack on st sebastian church. the white flags lined the streets a symbol of mourning badness hang as

a sign of remembrance for those who died. on the streets are remind us that security remains tight. worried about reprisal attacks the government has advised muslims not to gather for friday press at mosques were the heart of negaunee town which is normally busy and bustling instead many businesses are shut people choosing to remain at home because of the fear of more attacks. mostly christian town in buddhist majority. for generations muslims have lived here without incident and many here want it to remain that way. i think the government will have to ensure security and peace so that the relationship between the different communities. no one can say for

sure how badly the easter sunday bombings may have damaged ties between the mix of communities here lawrence al jazeera sri lanka. now we're getting reports that ministers from saddam's former ruling party have been released from prison the move could protesters and continue to rally. headquarters in khartoum demanding an immediate transition to a civilian government skinny mom advice from car to monitor what more details are emerging now about these former ruling party members have been released. yes se at least five senior members of the ruling party the former ruling party have been released from jail one of them has been moved to house arrest those are the latest details we received from sources so. brahimi but her former head of parliament one of them secretary general of the islamic movement

is where ahmed has been among those five also two former ministers and one businessman a close to the was a member of the party and close to the president the understanding or according to what we have from our sources that they were rounded up during those at let's follow the arrest of omar bashir when the coup took place some investigation took place they were questioned for days and now they have been released at least four of them have been released and one is still under house arrest or one of these has moved from jail to house had arrests that as you mentioned will not be pleasing will not be good news for the protesters who have been asking for quite the opposite they have been asking for a complete. new move all and investigation and jailing and trying of all the members of the former regime accusing them of corruption accusing solve them of participating in the clock down giving orders to kill and

torture protesters and so on this happens as the discussion reaches a very critical stage between the two sides and the understanding expectation is that this new development will only complicate the dialogue between them and lama despite the resignation of three officials from the military transitional council the army says it still wants to retain control of the whole transitional process how deep are the divisions now between both sides. daryn divisions seem to be deepening even though if you listen to statements from both sides they say they have met again they said they have discussed and so on and they are about to form a joint committee to try to to try to deal with those differences today the protestant leaders talked a little bit inside the city in and talk about the consultations among themselves to. to propose members to that joint committee between them and the military council so those are signs of something going on

a dialogue going on of cooperation between the two sides but at the same time there are fiery statements at least on the part of the protestors strong language still being used and calls for more protest more people to join the guttering the sit in in front of the army headquarters and also that statement yesterday night from the army headquarters spokesman saying the military council is willing and intending to maintain the sovereignty of any council at all the country over this transition period so those are signs that you know even though there is. no diplomatic statements on both sides there are also strong statements particularly on the side of the protesters that they're not going to the liquid they'll strike them until they force the military council to handle her power completely to the civilians mohamed thank you. now where thousands of demonstrators were back on the streets for the tenth friday in a row just by the departure of president abdulaziz but a.