to the presidential elections of 2024. the quizzical look. good us politics, the bottom line. ah, al jazeera, with the pace. ah the 20 years since the us invasion, we look at the daily struggles of iraq. he's in the face of political and economic

instability. ah, you're watching l 0 life from headquarters in delphi, and daddy you navigate are also coming up. the russian president vladimir putin visits the city of maria poll, russia annex from ukraine last year. at least 15 people are killed in an earthquake . that shook southern ecuador and northern per room. growing reports of mass killings and rapes, thousands of displays. people continued to arrive in camps and the democratic republic of congo. ah, hello, sunday, march 20 years since the start of operation. iraqi freedom. the us led invasion to topple saddam hussein. the military operation was lost without un support. unlike

the 1st go for or the invasion of afghanistan or diplomatic editor james bays looks at how the invasion damage the credibility of the united nations un weapons inspectors in iraq. their job to track down the countries chemical and biological weapons. we now know there weren't any former iraqi rulers. saddam hussein had ceased his w. m. d program years earlier. but in 2003 us president george bush was backed by the british prime minister, tony blair was saying he was hiding a huge stockpile. and they claimed they have the intelligence to prove it. the us secretary of state colin powell now known to have been privately skeptical himself, tried to make the case in the security council, even wielding a vile. he said could be anthrax about this, the u. s. and u. k. bitterly opposed by much of the international community, including france and germany, failed to get a security council resolution to authorize

a war they launched one anyway. in the aftermath, one british diplomat who worked as his country's expert on iraq in the security council resigned. do you think the united nations ended up damaged or strengthened by the war 20 years ago? i think without doubt, it was damaged by the sector general at the united nations didn't assert his authority to say that the war was the legal and should not happen. which later, he admitted, and i think collectively the quote unquote un, this sense of a global community of nations, a sense of a shared set of rules took a very big hit as a result in iraq or so where does that leave things? now 20 is on once again, the security council is deeply divided and there's no doubt that the invasion of ukraine by russia, a permanent member, was a breach of international law and of the un charter. but western diplomats,

when you speak to them privately, will tell you that their efforts to put pressure on moscow or even now hindered by the memory of what happened 2 decades ago. the run up to the war in iraq in 2003 was marked by defiance and disinformation, resulting indeed damage to the un system and the rule of law around the world. so much may have changed since, but the repercussions of events that haunted the you and then a still being felt. james bays al jazeera at the united nations. we have our correspondence, osama, bon jovi, who's joining us from baghdad. so a sama, it's been 2 decades of change, an upheaval for iraqis. whether they believe that they've lost an gains. but it depends on who you speak to. here in the capital, baghdad, the many people are going about their business as they mark frenzy as there isn't anything to commemorate. may of most rocky to tell you that in the last 20 years,

yes, there have been improvements, but in comparison to what they've lost it, there is no, there is no equation there. they will tell you that they've lost social security. they've lost the sense of a cohesion in their society and they've lost an iraq which used to stand on its own feet. iraq stance divided along sectarian and ethnic lions. and iraq has not been able to find its place economically and politically, to stun amongst the nations. in these last 20 years, iraqis have faced the verse of wars which started with the invasion than they were sectarian wars and then came icy. and only now they have started to recover from what was the mess that was left behind. but we were went to the city of basra in southern iraq, where we asked people because that used to be the flash point. one of the 1st pitched battles were for there, and we asked people that, what do they think of then vision

bus was famous, italian bridge wasn't here 20 years ago. neither was the main road that leads to busters international stadium. now the streets of peaceful and there's relative political come in, the city and across iraq. how can i, le, we've achieved more than $8000000.00 of foreign investment up to february 2023. we are keen to achieve major projects, and this is all in coordination. with the federal government, lots of projects were completed in basra, related to infra sure services, commercial and tourism centers in this oil field is the image noon, which means crazy in arabic, somebody that refers to the large amount of oil. there's found here in one location and estimated 38000000000 barrels. the mission field produces 240000 barrels a day for iraq's economy. and production is planned to be expanded to 5 and a half 1000000 barrels per day. in our government says, despite obstacles like corruption,

red tape and an unstable region invested the lining up. the mainly interested in the countries abundant deposits of gas. but despite its large hydrocarbon resources, iraq imports a 3rd of the gas. it needs for its power stations. nearly $2000000000.00 worth comes from iran and on a stretch budget. that's the burden. it also spends an estimated $5000000000.00 the unimportant diesel and petrol that's left it off currency struggling against the dollar. and that's not all. and there's no molly on the obvious of other let molly behead do it as estimated by a parliamentary committee. corruption cost around $10000000000.00 a year, around $600000000000.00 have been smuggled out of iraq in the past years. we have to fight against corruption, administration, and financial. there's no real development in the rocky economy. despite that wealth, millions of iraqis struggled to get clean water every day. and every year, thousands of people fall due to waterborne diseases drank drivers and climate

change has increased risks of food shortages 2 decades ago, the 1st battles of the iraq war reported buster, a city of a 1000000 people was besieged by mindy british forces. cluster munitions were used in the international coalition to band uranium weapons says u k and us forces use depleted uranium. tracy is after the invasion, a lot has changed yet. this province continues to remain the backbone, put ross, oil based economy. but still, the complains of the people are a lack of jobs, opportunities, infrastructure, and the lack of attention from the people in power from a me, i with others era. but what 20 years later, a quarter of iraq's population remains below the poverty line. a number that has increased in the last few years. iraq's deposits is foreign reserves. have risen to a $100000000000.00. yet on the streets of back that when you go around,

people will tell you that the infrastructure is there. from the time of saddam nothing seems to have changed them. not schools, not hospitals, not basic services. and that is according to them. what is the legacy of the us led invasion, which is left iraq in tough is and not enough has been done to bring it back on its own feet. thank you so much a sama bon jovi reporting from baghdad. vladimir putin has visited russia and occupied mario pole in ukraine. the city is in the don, yes, region which was annexed by moscow. last year. the russian president drove around several districts of the city on saturday, and then was shown restoration work at a theatre. and the university hooton's trip comes after he travelled to crimea, to mark the 9 down of earth, 3 of its annexation from ukraine. and a deal allowing the export of ukrainian grain from the black sea port has now been extended. ukraine was seeking an extension of 4 months, but russia only wanted 60 days. let's bring in stephanie decker from key for more

on the grain deal. this was expected. was it not steph? who's expected in a way to be renewed and the real sticking point. and it's interesting, the united nations being very diplomatic, if you will, in its language when it announced that it was, be extended, also the turkish leadership. both you and and turkey are the interlocutors, if you will, between russia and ukraine when it comes to the steel saying that the deal had been extended. but not talking specifically about how long the deal stipulates it should be extended by a 120 days. the sticking point now from moscow is only wants to extend it for 60 days because it says that sanctions on things like its banking system and insurance are actually affecting its own exports, which isn't upholding the part of the deal that affects russia. so it's clear reading between the lines that these negotiations are continuing about quite how long it is set to be renewed. the issue is particularly for the farmers here we've

been talking to them, is that they need long term stability. when it comes to planning, the harvest here is around june, the new farmer's year, if you will start in july. so if this is going to be extended for 60 days, or even for a $120.00 days, which is 4 months we were being told that simply isn't enough. the minimum, really what is needed for stability is a year that at the moment that is certainly not on the table. and again, it's hugely significant. russia controls the black sea. this is what ukraine needs to ship. it's wheat, grain, sunflower, oil, the biggest producer in the world, which is why it has such a global impact, which is why the steel are so important. and certainly russia hose a lot of leverage when it comes to that. and tell us more about what we're putin's of visit to mario pl. well, i think you probably just showed pictures of the russian president driving himself around the city. it's the 1st time he visits the city since the war began. it's

also 3 days after the deadliest anniversary you may remember russia bombing the theatre in my apple mar. apple endured a savage assault. that theatre was sheltering. hundreds of civilians and, and that was bombed on the 16th of march in one of the deadliest incidents of this war will. now almost a year later, he is touring the city talking about reconstruction. it comes off the back of also visiting crimea on the 9th anniversary of crimea annexation and also a defiant sign, i think, showing him traveling at the fact that now the russian president is liable to be arrested in a 123 countries. when it comes to this arrest warrant issued by the international criminal court will certainly doesn't face that danger when it comes to the territories that russia has annexed. so yes, 1st time we've seen the russian president turing, these areas properly talking about reconstruction. but of course, typically when it comes to mario, paul,

that city was hugely devastated by the russians in the war last year. thank you so much. stephanie decker reporting from key south korea and japan are reporting that north korea has far to short range ballistic missile towards the sea of the east coast of the korean peninsula. the slater's incident follows friday's launch of a while song, 17 intercontinental ballistic missile tension. in the region has increased and south korea and the u. s. began an 11 day joint military exercise on monday. a strong earthquake has killed at least 15 people in ecuador, and one in peru, the magnitude 6 port a tremor was centered south of ecuador, 2nd largest city. why a kill alex baird report. the street flitted with crumbled facades. rescue teams in ecuador scrambled to save those still trips after the earthquake will be a part of the facade collapse. them fell on a vehicle that has already been removed by the police. we had one victim without

vital signs. a male person and a number of buildings have collapsed across the coastal state of laurel and us. why in the andes. like and people ran out, they yelled in despair. all the people got out of their cars. i don't know how in earthquake would feel in a car, but they were desperate and they ran, they yelled, they cried. there were reports of damage to infrastructure across the region and landslides, blocking civil roads. the trim was also felt across the border and northern peru where a young child was killed when her home collapsed. the baby was playing where the stain of blood is. she was playing with my other niece and the brick fell on her ecuador and peru, a prone to earthquakes. they struggled the so called ring of fire, and the danger isn't over yet. but after sharks still ongoing, alex bid al jazeera in malawi, flood,

and land and mud slide survivors have raise the alarm over they potential outbreak of waterborne disease. poor sanitation has been worsened by lack of running water in areas hit by cyclop freddy survivors say they have had to resort to drinking the floods. water aid has been slow to reach many areas blocked by a landslide. i mean, the miller has more from the kanga. it's far from over and the rescue services are continuing here in mccann guy. it's just off land. oh, it's quite a distance from the mainland. there's a river between my congo and the mainland, and that has been entirely flooded the water coming up into what was a village. and i'm just going to step out of shot to give you a better idea of what it looks like here. the water wasn't this close to where people were living and you see people sitting on local canoes waiting to be rescued by the police services. the canoes would normally transport people back and forth

between here and the mainland, but they're charging $4500000000.00 shillings, the equivalent of $4.00 to take people to the mainland and they simply don't have the money. so they're relying on police services. we're sending 2 boats out a day and collecting people to make about 6 trips. and so far they've reached about 1300 people. but hundreds more are waiting on an island like this other to take refuge in trees. they've lost absolutely everything. their homes have been washed away. they also don't have any food, and that's the main thing they're complained about. as soon as we reach this island, they said they're hungry and they're trying to get to the mainland to get food. because a little may, they did have, has now run out and has nothing left. they even, even if they did have maze, they don't have homes, they don't have shelter, they don't have cooking utensils or pots, there's really nothing they can do. we also understand it further on this island. they are more people waiting for rescue efforts are,

but they're simply too weak and tired to make it here. so they would have to wait for assistance to reach them a little more in land. we know about a 126000 people in this district alone have been displaced. please say they're doing as much as they can. it's taken some time to reach areas like this because have been inaccessible. the water was just too strong and too high. so these rescue efforts continue, and it certainly will be a number of a few more days before the is i suppose, a greater a bigger dent made in terms of rescuing people in places like this, which have been very difficult to reach up to now. still ahead on al jazeera, the former u. s. president donald trump calls on his supporters to rally after unfounded arrest claims. plus, we have more allegations of filipinos being targeted traffic, downforce and to a life of crime. ah

frank assessments. justice means to give them the basic human rights, not only in the camp, but also inside the map, informed opinions. 5 administration are very concerned about this development especially, or what it means for china's power on the world state critical debate. now only both illegal report what they see the progress in depth analysis of the day headlines inside story on al jazeera. from the al jazeera london broker, sent tag to people in thoughtful conversation, lard cannot be erased by the superpower with no host and no limitation. what mattered in all to was to be radical. how can the thing that's radical people say part one of the highway and anesha pool is not about wanting to sell. a lot of the message in the studio b, unscripted on outs is era. ah,

al jazeera a with samuel ah ah ah, i hello again. the top stories on al jazeera, it's been 20 years since the us led invasion of iraq, the topple saddam hussein. the military operation was launched without un support. unlike the 1st gulf war, or the invasion of afghanistan, vladimir putin has visited russian occupied maria pole in ukraine. the city is in

the dani region, which was annexed by moscow. last year. the russian president met with residence and visited areas under reconstruction. at least 15 people have died after a strong 1st hit at 4 door. the magnitude 6.8 tremor was centered south of ecuador, 2nd largest city guayaquil. rescue teams have been searching for those trapped under the rubber in the democratic republic of congo attacks by the 23 rebel group of displaced more than 800000 people over the past year. the group widely believed to be backed by rwanda. excuse me, continues to seize territory in these, despite regional efforts to end the violence, malcolm lab reports in the city of goma, josephine, one weaning and boot seed, a breeder. those told us their husbands were killed when the n 23 armed group attacked their villages. many people in this camp on the outskirts of goma tell similar stories. josephine says she went back to her village last week and found

her husband dead among about 30 men who were killed with machetes and left, barely buried in shallow graves. dick in the runs and throw em 23 killed him one as we were running away, they caught us and separated the men from the women. many men were taken by the m 23 in the bush. most of them were killed and my husband was among them. democratic republic of congo, his army says its fighting rwandan soldiers under the guise of end $23.00 wonders widely understood to back beyond group with everyone that denies it. the army has failed. and 23, the many people here question why the government hasn't done more than 445310 years ago. but at the time they had until international military. busy rwanda was sanction this time and east

african regional force is meant to help randi and soldiers of the latest to arrive . that is not clear if any of the countries contributing troops did not have the political will. all the resources you got to fight and 23 or even were wanda. here in congress, general constance fema is the 3rd commander to take over condos, military operation in less than a year, just as a regional deadline for m. 23 to withdraw is due to expire. our position in the bio was attacked earlier today. this is why we have to repeat that we still have multiple violations of police by m 23, blame congo for this, for breaking cease fires, and denies committing atrocities. in spite of mounting evidence, there are growing reports of mass killings and rates from the hundreds of thousands of new arrivals in the camp. but ca says her husband was trying to protect the herd

of capital last month. when m. 23 fighters tried to forcibly recruiting and killed him when he refused to say, did journey, which he says we need help with suffering. and we can't go back to our farm. and she recall that she lost idea malcolm web al jazeera, goma, democratic republic of congo, britain, john secretary sweller, bravo man has visited rwanda in efforts to expand the deportation agreement. with golly, so under the $146000000.00 deal agreed to last year, rwanda would accept migrants who arrive in britain without permission, no deportations have yet taken place as rights campaigners challenge the legality of that policy in courts. former us president donald trump says he expects to be arrested on tuesday. he made the remark on his truth,

social media sites. trump cited what he called illegal leaks in the manhattan district attorney's office, and he's called on his supporters to protest. my county has more from washington d. c. thank you very much. trump is referring to a case that has been ongoing in new york. there has been a grand jury hearing into hash money paid to, to women one, a former porn star. this money was allegedly paid by tram, through an intermediary to get them to keep quiet about having had sexual relations with him. in the past. now tramps then attorney michael cohen has appeared before the grand jury. and although grand jury proceedings are secret code has stated publicly that he orchestrated the payment to, to women in order to keep them quiet about having had sexual relations with trump. now the significance of this is its timing because the payments were made during the campaign period before the 2016 election. and what the grand jury has been

deciding on is whether this was in fact, a contravention of campaign funding laws, which is a criminal act. now the, the new york district attorney has given trump the opportunity to appear before the grand jury that was a week ago. and that normally does precede some form of indictment in this particular case. so this is what trump is referring to, no confirmation whatsoever from any other source. in fact, trumps own spokesperson confirms that this is from what trump calls illegal leaks. there has been no official notification whatsoever. a court and pucca than's capital have cancelled former prime minister in one cons arrest warrants. violence broke out between his supporters on police outside the court and his lombard and outside his home. and the hor, the case was adjourned, and con was ordered to appear at a hearing on march, the 30th he denies all the charges against him and says they're politically

motivated. a senator in the philippines, as she's uncovered and operation, that traffic filipinos and possibly other nationals enforce them into crime. she says the victims were lured into coal center jobs in cambodia. i me and mar, but then pressured and to take part and fraud or below reports from an a la. so nasa love us long timing young area. this clip was taken by filipinos held at a combo deon police station in january. they say it shows they were victims of human trafficking by phone number 2 of the group of says, returned home and told al jazeera, their experiences were horrific. now, with other water, bruno doesn't want to reveal his identity and says he was made to travel from one country to another illegally. and by boat, 17 guy, me, me my lit up or there was have been in the 1st in a small with in bold, including an infant and luggage. and that was the most dramatic part because the volt, with gaps, ice and a time. and no one would find out if the day this was her destination in cambodia.

a large business complex with many buildings. mile says there were given customer service jobs, but then forced to carry out online fraud. said that they'd be the 3rd day of chatting is when we offer potential victims fake crypto investments. the lowest offer is $50.00, but it can go up to as much as $50000.00 a month. but unlike bruno miles was flaunt, cambria posing as a tourist, what are the more common routes and methods? according to victims, filipino trafficking victims who come forward said they're usually question at border checks. we're leaving the philippines. but they pass through with relative ease. they say at least one immigration officers stamped their passports, let them straight through. at least 6 officers are being investigated by the bureau of immigration or b, i. following senate inquiries, the b, i should not be a scene of the crime. it should be the last line of defense for our migrant workers

. so it really has 2 cracked down on the syndicate or syndicate still operating within human trafficking. during the legislative hearings, it was also revealed that the government had rescued. 200 victims caught in a similar scheme. it's up on bo, there were not only from cambodia, but louse at me on mar. that's raced, fierce many more christ like these are going undetected. born to below al jazeera manila. that's it for me. thanks so much for watching al jazeera, we'll have more news on the top of the hour. the news does continue. after inside story, bye bye. hello

there. let's have a look at europe and the wet weather woes continue for the south east. we've got an area of low pressure lingering around turkey that supports very heavy rain as well as thunderstorms, with hail to the likes of gas, the antenna, and cause some flooding, not just here, but also in syria. we are expecting that whether to continue over the next few days, it's not the temperature down in ankara that system. now in contrast to this further west, it is a pretty mild picture. we got. temperature is above average for this time of year for places like grease and the balkans. we've got some spells rain, however, they are going to develop and pull their way from west to east, the west of those folds. to be. 1 found across the island of island and parts of britain as well. we are expecting the wind to pick up here on monday. and that will push some of those wintery waves across northern areas of scandinavia as snow from norway and for finland as well. but for the south of this, on monday, it is an improving picture across the mediterranean. some of those spotty showers are going to san to ease from sunday to monday. suddenly for france it does start

to dry up nicely. and for the iberian peninsula, spain and portugal, some rain in the north on sunday, but by monday, look at that clear skies and sunshine. ah actually 2 actors at different stages of their life. share the highs and lows following dreams of fame and fortune. good, committed, whitaker, vertical mother, endlessly seeking to filter them. missions with the awkward while struggling with family expectations. hollywood dreams on on to see them. international criminal court issues an arrest warrant for russia's president of allegations of war crimes. kremlin says it's not.