and contrary to the preacher our right politics gets elected when i go back and rafael nadal takes one step closer to yet another clay court title in barcelona leah will have more later in sport. so all that still to come but first the interior minister of libya's un recognized government says his forces will launch an offensive against war after hours of forces within days the tripoli has been the target of his forces for more than two weeks now on friday the u.n. said rockets and mortar shells hit residential neighborhoods in the capital the international committee of the red cross said thirty nine thousand people fled. it was up to the. now the ministry of interior had to assign a large force of coast guards to secure our coasts and shores against the invading groups who were sent by the world half dot to invade us as it was said they want to

stick to the way of refinery to destroy it and this is a terrorist act that is very similar to al qaida and eisel we will deal with strictness and force with anyone who may threaten our safety and security either in tripoli or any other city to support the government ho. a group doctors without borders has released a video of a raid on the cross it had been just been guessing detention center in libya after us forces were accused of storming the facility south of tripoli on tuesday and beating migrants and refugees who were protesting the conditions there at least two people were killed twenty injured. of thousands have taken to the streets in libyan cities of tripoli and misrata to condemn the military offensive by forces loyal to have to move up to where it is they're. here in the main square in the libyan capital libyans have come out to condemn what they call the military aggression by

have the forces on the capital tripoli also in other cities on the west of libya including the city of misrata libyans have taken to the streets to condemn the military escalation but this is the third friday in a row since their military escalation is started on april fourth the protesters here say that they are calling on the international community including the united nations and they reappear in union to put pressure on her to stop the military escalation on the southern outskirts of the libyan capital the protesters here today are also condemning targeting it is eventually. areas especially after the you enter the government accused has the forces of committing war crimes by thought of getting the residential areas and killing innocent civilians

including women and children the now denouncing what they call the military rule they say that have to want to impose the military rule and the worst of the country here there are portraits of international leaders and the protesters here today are blaming these leaders for what they call supporting the military campaign led by the world the have the protesters here today say that they will continue protesting here every friday until have those forces moved back to the east of the country. or the u.n. is warning that mozambique is in danger of widespread flooding as hurrican force winds give way to to wrench will rain cycle and kenneth packed category four wins but they are slowing now local media reporting deaths in the single figures tens of

thousands of homes were evacuated along the indian ocean coastline it is the first time in recent history that the southern african nation has seen two cyclons in one season deborah noya an is with the united nations world food program she says it will be a challenge to reach those who are most in need. this is indeed the strongest site on that the country has seen in its history and we are very concerned because we are already. very worried about the situation the human in situation following the situation i die from last month and and now this is the inside zone is. taking you know another grow on the mozambique population so we are expecting six hundred millimeters of rain falls in the ten coming days which is twice as much as the rain that we have seen in the bay. our matthew carter is

the communications coordinator for the international federation of the red cross he says there is widespread devastation but in one district for example. local mozambique red cross volunteers on the ground say something like ninety seven houses that we destroyed the same as a church but tents or through it was. nine districts in the northwest province of mozambique there without power so we're still asked saving what level of damages. but. yeah i mean that the first news that first the nation this isn't good for the area the forecast is for a long period of rain over the rains over north america. you know what we what we worry about most is landslides is flooding in the short term and also all disease which we saw. we saw cholera in bearer after the first cycle and

so those are the immediate concerns with. the united states commission on international religious freedom is calling on the state department to act against saudi arabia the kingdom executed thirty seven people on tuesday one of them was crucified after his killing the new has also raise concerns saying the executions would stoke sectarian tensions saudi state media said they were convicted of adopting extremist ideology and forming terrorist cells some were convicted of killing security forces in a bomb attack activists say it is the largest ever mass execution of she as in the kingdom amnesty international is among the human rights groups who have been speaking out more than one hundred saudis have already been executed this year last year's total was one hundred forty nine. north korea's leader has wrapped up his visit to russia and blamed the u.s.

for the failure of talks last february kim jong un said the u.s. had acted in bad faith in his words the russian president vladimir putin said the issue of north korea's nuclear capability had reached a critical point u.s. president while come the talks involve our stock. i think we're doing very well with north korea lot of progress is being made i appreciated president bush day in the day what to see it done also i think there's a lot of excitement for getting a deal done with north korea i have a great relationship with kim jong un i appreciate that right jonah is helping and john is helping us because i think they want to do you know the nuclear weapons right there is their country but i also think they're helping us because of the fact that word a great deal which by the way is going very well. who president donald trump has denied claims the u.s.

government paid north korea two million dollars for the return of american student auto won't be a trump was responding to a report in the washington post that he authorized the payment of medical bills after the student became seriously ill or toward me i fell into a coma when he was detained and tortured for removing a propaganda poster from a war on a visit to north korea he died days after north korea sent him back to the united states are back to the earlier story about the saudi executions and the call by the us a cia or a for the state department to act arsalan iftikhar is a human rights lawyer and senior fellow for the bridge initiative at georgetown university he joins us now via skype from sterling virginia thanks very much for being with us. let me ask you first of all about this. core by a by the u.s.

cia or after how significant is it and will it make any difference in that in terms of putting pressure on on saudi arabia overall. well when the short answer is no and the long answer are you know what we saw here recently inside of your if you know. thirty thousand activists thirty four of whom who are shia i'm sure that this is their target in crackdown against you know minority in saudi arabia most estimates show that only ten to fifteen percent of the tell you population is ninety two percent of the people executed. the assassination in and murder of a journalist jamal khashoggi to be increased pressure from western governments not just you know commissions on international religious freedom and really connecting economic sanctions on the only way to really aggression. so how

would you characterize overall the. u.s. foreign policy towards saudi arabia particularly in this in this area of human rights. it's having a very you know it's a lot of the petroleum though you know keeps flowing from saudi arabia where it's going to continue to keep turning a blind eye on the saudi arabia saudi arabia with actually listed. the a country of particular concern by the united states state department in two thousand and six for thirteen years they received an annual waiver which precludes them from having any sort of her meaningful economic sanctions against them even though they're considered each year one human rights violating country and so again there needs to be a political will both in the here in the united states but within other countries as well to do more economic you know pressure on this i used to start persecuting minorities in their country. in terms of political worlds and if as you say there doesn't seem to be much of that coming from that the trumpet ministration what

about from congress mean we've seen republicans in the senate for example. taking a more active role in challenging the white house on this you did you expect to see more that. you know about congressional and senate resolutions are nothing more than symbolic again. prince mohammed and so mine is essentially the same we think you might need to try to weed out the international community and we saw that he's the only one the g. twenty being announced that if you are part of their g twenty summit is going to be saudi arabia and support again you know we can let you know the murder and assassination of martin short do you not use an issue before she has thirty seven political activists you know go and. this is the time for governments to really you know stand firm and say you know business as usual saudi arabia. good to speak of you are so on after her joining us there from sterling virginia thanks very much

for being with us. the u.n. secretary general has come in for criticism after he neglected to highlight the plight of muslim we here in western china on a trip to beijing human rights watch accused antonio good ted edge of letting china off the hook diplomatic editor james bass reports the u.n. secretary general in beijing for a summit marking china's belt and road initiative an ambitious global network of infrastructure and trading projects all linked to china something that in itself is far from uncontroversial and tonio good terrorists did make a public speech in china but there was no mention of the we go community inching zhang a glaring omission according to human rights groups who claim as many as one million we get as could be being held in detention in an article for the washington post the executive director of human rights watch kenneth roth detects a pattern he writes could terrorists should show that he can fulfill the full scope

of his responsibilities as un secretary general he's excessively quiet diplomacy is selling short his position and the promise of the united nations the secretary general has only once publicly spoken about the we get issue this year and that was to decline to answer a question i know that there is a dialogue between the office of their commission human rights and the people's republic of china in that regard i am not in a position to give any details at the present moment probably fate would be talking about it i would make it more difficult for him to succeed china has considerable clout at the un as one of the five permanent members of the un security council is that why the secretary general is pulling his punches the secretary general has been anything but quiet on his defense of human rights globally i would refer you to a number of speeches he's delivered at the human rights. council in the way also that

he. really mainstream the rule of human rights in all of the un's work does he make a different calculation or speaking out on human rights issues that involve human rights abuses by permanent members no i don't think there is that calculation that his goal is to promote human rights he will do it differently at different times the u.n. says the secretary general brought up all the relevant issues when he was in beijing they say they'll give more details in the coming days i can tell you no one here is expecting that to include a fulsome denunciation of china's human rights record jamesburg out a zero at the united nations. for the united states has ramped up its pressure on venezuela by imposing sanctions on its top diplomat foreign minister jorge area was targeted as well as a venezuelan judge the u.s. treasury department says all of the as american assets will be blocked and

a venezuelan opposition politician has been arrested in caracas the opposition controlled national assembly confirmed on friday that he had better catto was detained by intelligence agents for in their words violating parliamentary immunity kara was also arrested in twenty seventeen accused of plotting an armed revolt against medusa. the british and irish governments will resume a talks of restoring northern ireland's devolved government after more than two years the move has been spurred by the death of journalist lyra mckee shot during rioting in the city of london derry last week british prime minister theresa may and leo varadkar attended her funeral on wednesday they put out a joint statement saying northern ireland needs new momentum for political progress . and police have released pictures of the suspected gunman who killed lara mckee

they say it is likely a teenager and have once appealed for help to identify him separatists armed group the new arri ira say they shot him a key by accident when opening fire on police. still ahead on al-jazeera china's president tries to ease growing concern about a project and some critics call a death trap. having their choices restricted on sunday. and a comedy of errors forces the practice session to be canceled at the azerbaijan grand prix layout will have that sport.

there's been a scattering of tornadoes from texas towards the florida panhandle and this frontal system as it went through that that's going offshore not like the last one it's a long way north for you see the back end of it is still cold enough for a bit of snow in quebec and rain out into the federal worries in that part of calendar that is all gone quiet in the next system you pick up in the midwest is this one here still called the for a little bit of snow not much mostly it's a rain story and it's warm again and does warm but with that feed of increasing the moist back towards the pacific coast all looks quiet that's quite a surprise as well as a runner from sesay to sun there is more snows pretty across from the west and kind of down towards the northern rockies in the cascades and that system that was over the midwest is drunk drove in and moved east winds towards the atlantic seaboard but the tail which might suggest a few showers song become a bit pokey from texas again towards georgia but nothing to think too dangerous to the south end first of all the back end of that cold front means

a few showers the bahamas for us in cuba and probably pass the yucatan as well if that is quite a scattering of showers now on a daily basis anywhere from jamaica east was for the smaller caribbean islands where it's also very windy. in may on al-jazeera. as the world's biggest democracy goes to the polls we focus on the economic challenges facing india and the rise of ultranationalists and a new series of the award winning environmental shows which meet some of the people striving to protect the planet twenty five years after coming to power in the a.n.c. maintain its political dominance in south africa and a massive documentary series chalk from lives of two youngsters in rural kenya and up in brazil over the past twenty years and with breaks it still looming and populism on the rinds across europe will these elections become

a referendum on the use of so many on al-jazeera. to. cut. it out again you're watching edge is there a mind of our top stories this hour security forces in sri lanka four with suspects linked to the easter sunday attacks shootout erupted after a raid on a property in cow when i police earlier found explosives at

a house they believe is connected to the attack. in sudan and thousands of protesters continue to rally outside the army's headquarters in the capital khartoum demanding civilian rule from the trios through president on one of the shia. in a coup earlier this month. the u.n. is warning mozambique is in danger of widespread flooding as it gets hammered by a second cycler in just under two months cycling kenneth category four winds but it is weakening now. china's leader has defended the massive belt and road infrastructure scheme critics are calling it a debt trap for countries receiving chinese investment beijing hosts to link asia with europe and africa using new shipping and railroads xi jinping welcomed thirty seven heads of state to the second international conference on the project katrina you has more from beijing. one of the world's most powerful leaders making

a powerful entrance chinese president xi jinping arriving at the belton road 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 this is a new initiative has helped people's lives in the countries involved and created more opportunities for prosperity he rejected criticism that the costs involved would lose 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 they were pipelines pull its bridges and railways all designed to improve trading links. we all adult widely accepted rules and standards that encourage put his painting companies 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 bottom road scheme from inside the country which to distance questioning whether china a developing country itself can really afford to be spending so much money. china's export import bank says one hundred forty nine billion dollars has so far been loaned out to support some of the developments. analysts say the scheme is a long term investment that china. we need to make money on the we need new markets

so it's wrong to say we're giving aid to other countries this is not the case this money is an investment. during the first belton road forum in twenty seventeen government backed videos dominated social media but as 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 involved katrin e.u. al-jazeera beijing. the un says more international support is desperately needed to help nearly one million refugees from myanmar they were forced to escape to bangladesh because of violence in their native refind state top u.n. officials visited rangar refugee camps in bangladesh on friday they want to raise nearly a billion dollars in humanitarian aid the u.n.

high commissioner for refugees spoke from cox's bazaar he says they want to see the return of reading this to their homes in myanmar but there are a number of challenges are slowing the process. the u.n. my organization u.n.h.c.r. the u.n. development program in agreement with the government of myanmar. we are facing the villages from which these refugees are coming we are 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 there more freedom of 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 we inspired in the refugees here back confidence that we allow them to think ok i am voluntarily going back bangladesh has been very respectful of the

voluntariness of return there's been lot more streetcar this has to continue until that choice becomes part of. a u.s. court has jailed a russian agent for eighteen months for conspiring to infiltrate the national rifle association prosecutors say the thirty year old marine attempted to influence the gun lobby group and sway the government's policies to favor moscow she'll be deported to russia after completing her sentence all spaniards will vote in their third a parliament in less than five years on sunday no single party expected to secure a majority when many are expecting gains from the far right vox party the latest opinion poll suggests the ruling socialists led by prime minister pedro sanchez or when the biggest share with around one hundred twenty nine seats but that won't be enough for a majority and second place conservative people's party which was ousted by

a corruption scandal last year they're thought to get around seventy eight seats which would be its worst result ever. than our say populous populist centrist party which has shifted to the right is projected to get forty six seats and the left wing populist party put de moss is on course for thirty five the final poll gives vox thirty seats but with many undecided voters that number could change and vox could end up as king name to make it in a potential right wing coalition with the people's party and should that loss turn a whole is in seville. bursting on to 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 is clearly using very very true spanish feeling thank you meant in presenting spent invokes years this feeling this n t independence discourse in in spain to gain votes and 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 brown and 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 far right populism those are labels your party rejects so how do you see vox how does fox see itself box to help out the other else in the obama folks 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 catalan 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 and a new fear here in seville and becoming kingmaker in a three way coalition of the political right in regional government while many people wonder whether vox can do it again only this time at

a national level. spain everything for spain comes the cry from the podium. was there were one journal al-jazeera surveyor. thousands of trade union members have rallied outside the european union headquarters in brussels demanding better working conditions demonstrators from across europe say the current e.u. rulebook gives too much power to businesses and employers and not enough to ordinary workers or that protest comes a month before european parliament elections in which they delay in the u.k. his exit from the block is being hotly debated largely has that story. european elections a close battle lines are being drawn on friday the centrist liberal democrats launched their campaign inviting voters squarely to reject bracks it's against them the new bricks at party which demands leaving the e.u.

as soon as possible whichever side gets the biggest share of the votes will claim it has a mandate to force the british government to back its position but the two million british citizens living on the continent very many like this group in portugal want to vote to stay in the e.u. but now it appears the option may not be open to them many have received identical letters from local authorities like this one advising that ballot papers won't even get sent out before may the tenth at the earliest people may not be able to return their ballots in time due to the very short notice that we've been given to arrange these elections it will not be possible with the timetable and the roll lions on our printers to provide supplies for the postal packs for them to be mailed earlier than this date. i think given the normalcy of. all this won't change. the potential of how people perceive citizens actually see

all in you change schools accents and if we are not. it's devastating assuming the majority of british ex-pats supported you membership not being able to vote in time would hurt the parties that don't practice the reason why this matters is because in the u.k. the european elections are being seen effectively as a sort of mini second referendum on whether the country should leave the european union pitting nigel farage is progress to party against a gaggle of others including the liberal democrats who want to stop bricks it's at all costs and the polling is sufficiently toit's that the inability of british citizens on the continent of votes could make a major difference yes i am very very worried about this it's very clear that u.k. citizens in the e.u. want to take part in this election many of them were not allowed to take part in the referendum three years ago this is their opportunity to have their say on whether they think that we should stop bricks something that would dems want to

achieve if they're going to miss out simply because it takes too long to issue the ballot papers or the postal system in their in their respective countries in the e.u. doesn't work very effectively or because they can't secure a proxy here in the united kingdom that could skew the results the pro remain part is already accused of being slow off the blocks in preparing their pitches for the elections are going to remain this may already have made their minds up who they want to vote for but if people living abroad cannot exercise their choice it would be hugely controversial largely of his era number. of voters in 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 the election watchdog only two parties are qualified to stand in the. election both the ally to president patrice . watching is in the city of culture new on the final day of campaigning. the electoral commission's decision to call opposition policies from running has come

about it says because on a technicality these parties failed to meet the requirements of a new electoral code and a new charter of political parties now these two the code in the charter were designed to reduce the number of political parties because there were so fragmented but what has happened is that in reality left only two political policies 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 it was the size especially it's quite shocked that this situation is so far being allowed to continue now the president says since those parties were bought 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 of this deadlock he's taken the 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 kind and that kind of instability would not be good not only

for pennine but also its neighbors nigeria such a key economic trading partner. all neighboring countries which would be directly affected as a result of instability in this country. at least thirteen hundred mainly cuban migrants have staged the biggest mask scape in recent memory from a mexican detention center they fled from the center on the border with guatemala many had complained of overcrowding and lack of food. has more from the detention center in tough. we're at a migrant detention facility in southern mexico operated by the national institute for migration this is the scene where one thousand three hundred migrants predominantly cuban migrants managed to escape from this facility an unprecedented of events even though in the past there have been moments of protest and and borderline riots where migrants have.