this is. honoring those working to make the world a better place three salty human rights activist a former anti-corruption crusaders in guatemala and specializing in reforestation they're all with. the alternative nobel proctors also coming up will he quit or u.s. deputy attorney general. is set to meet with president. that his job is on the loan is the president to decide the fate of the man in charge of the

russia investigation. plus new hope for people with spinal cord injuries scientists reporting a breakthrough is paralyzed patients stand and even take steps again with the help of an implanted device. it's good to have you with us so we begin tonight with good news as we shine a spotlight on those working to make the world a better place each year the right livelihood award honors those creating some smart solutions to our planet's greatest challenges the award is known as the alternative nobel prize and there are four winners this year we've been looking at them all through the day here on day one of the winners. has been

recognized for turning barren land interfertile forests in his native. when you. said he would plant a forest in the desert his neighbors thought he was mad. but the forest grew. now some would go travels around his native burkean afonso to teach his technique using a traditional method called he shows farmers how to dig small pits and fill them with compost to protect the seeds the mounds attract termites whose tunnels trap rainwater. positive problem i want the training programme to be the starting point of many fruitful exchanges in the region. so i would go has been a farmer for most of his life when a drought was forcing thousands to flee the semi area it's a hell region of central africa in the one nine hundred seventy s.

he stayed and began experimenting with traditional techniques. since then he has created some of the most diverse forests in the region and his methods have saved hundreds of square kilometers of arid land from desert if occasion the reclaimed soil allows farmers to produce crops even in times of drought so i would go has gained international recognition for his work in two thousand and ten he was a featured guest at the united nations convention to combat the certification. this day yes so why do thanks but the farmer spends most of his time back home in burkina faso. fighting deforestation during times of climate change takes constant care and vigilance. and his community depends on his knowledge to bring life back to the land. for many duggal has given them

a reason to stay. and joining us tonight from amsterdam is chris raves he is a close friend. so doug a mr raises good to have you on the show i understand that you have known. go for more than thirty five years can't can you tell us what this award means to him well this award is very important to him it is perceived as an international recognition of the book that he has done and he has managed to do any store d. great events to production by experimenting since the early one nine hundred eighty s. so what he has done is just remarkable in those days in the early one nine hundred eighty s. nobody really knew how to reach to what he could eat at lent to put it productivity . at reasonable cost so and he was the one who developed the technical breakthrough with his improved traditional plantigrade i mean we're talking about

turning bearing land in the forest and helping farmers regenerate the soil so they can use it i mean how did how did he come up with this idea well he started to experiment he had a lot of the great atlanta and and he's always see that that he was living was considered to be one of the most degraded and i guess off the whole country so he began exploring entering the mate to and deeper and ended up going to mecca and by doing so he concentrated water and soil fertility in same spots which allowed even interact yes so that makes a big difference to smallholder farmers in those area. how has his work hours have been received within his own farming community. well there have been tensions in the pasta in december steps that some people believe to death he also milk respecting certain traditions so at this sort of moment even set fire to his

forest but that doubled his d. diminish and he continued to experiment in slowly but surely he has been accepted as a leader in his own community and he is now well respected but it was a difficult difficult struggle he had to with difficulty you know that it's fascinating to them you wouldn't you know think that he would have to overcome those types of difficulties and it kind of begs the question could this award maybe give a boost to those calls in for kenya faso and the rest of west africa well interestingly there is a huge program in africa to the store one hundred million hectares of decrease by two thousand and thirty it's called a of all one hundred and i think death don't you want to go getting. such an important of war forty storing decon age into production is also a very good sign for this kind of. forest restoration program in africa where we

certainly send our congratulations to mr sowerby chris ridge joining us tonight from amsterdam mystery's thank you very much better. well here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world a spokesperson for russian opposition leader alexina of all the says he's been sentenced to another twenty days in jail he was detained on monday just moments after serving out a thirty day sentence for organizing an unauthorized protest the vocal critic of president vladimir putin has been urging russians to turn out for rallies against the kremlin's unpopular pension reforms. heavy monsoon rains in northern india have triggered landslides and flooding in the state of. emergency teams had to rescue more than a dozen people trapped by floodwaters strong currents also washed away a bus that had been parked fortunately with no one on board the u.s.

president he has dismissed the sexual assault allegations against his supreme court pick brett kavanaugh as politically motivated trump says that he is with him all the way cavanaugh and his accuser are due to testify before a senate panel will thursday another woman has also claimed sexual misconduct by kavanagh. the. old saying in the united states a president trump is expected to meet with the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein on thursday now this after rosenstein was at the white house today amid speculation over whether he would be fire rosenstein is under pressure after allegedly suggesting that aides secretly taped the president's conversations he's also reported to have raised the idea of invoking the twenty fifth amendment of the u.s. constitution to declare trump unfit for office rosenstein is the man who was overseeing

the investigation into the trump campaign's connections to russia after rosen steve's boss attorney general jeff sessions had to recuse himself from the case. let's bring in our washington correspondent miles waiter good evening to you maya so u.s. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein now he is going to meet with the president on thursday what rosenstein fate after the confusion that we had today. rosenstein still has a job for now we do know about this meeting coming up on thursday so thursday is going to be a very big day here in washington d.c. there's been a lot that sort of tumbled out in the past few days after this new york times article alleging as you said that rosenstein had suggested taping the president we also know that last week after this story broke rosenstein offered his own resignation now it does actually matter whether or not rosenstein is fired

or resigned if he resigns what that means is trump gets to nominate the next person and the thing you have to understand about rosenstein is he is the boss of robert muller the man who is overseeing the investigation into this allegedly meddling in the u.s. election by the russian government and rosenstein has really been acting as a human shield between the mole investigation and the trump administration because we know that the trouble ministration is no fan of what's going on in the justice department right now and if rosenstein resigns rather than being fired it is very possible that trump could install someone who is less sympathetic to robert mueller and could potentially dismantle this investigation is then once the drug is wanting to happen that they won't resist dean. instead of the president far in him because

if president were to fire him there would have broader implications or before the trial presidency would. it certainly paints a murky or a picture if he is fired rather than if he resigns we do know that. the dismissal of various justice department officials including rosenstein was discussed throughout the summer and even last year this is something that trump has been harping on a lot. basically because he doesn't like the fact that this russian vest against in is continuing and rosenstein is standing between him and muller he has repeatedly discussed trying to dismiss various people including both rosenstein and mohler and there is a lot of concern over whether or not he would install a simple crony to head us of be the next deputy attorney general if rosenstein were to somehow leave his job one way or another so for now the facts on the ground for

now are rosenstein so have the job the russian destination is still going forward el mot of achatz change on thursday a lot of that looks like it was coming to the foreground today yeah all these are on thursday in washington d.c. that's for sure or has been in my ears were on the story for us tonight at the u.s. capitol michael thank you well scientists in the united states are reporting success in helping patients with paralysis to stand and even to take steps again it's all things to an electrical implant that zaps the spinal cord along with months of intense rehab the research is giving new hope to people suffering from spinal cord injuries. one step at a time jared chin ok is able to walk again five years after an accident that left him paralyzed to be able to move. my legs and. to walk even a stand it means

a lot. that there is hope for not only me but other people. ok as one of three patients taking part in two separate studies in the united states has managed to walk again albeit assisted. the twenty nine year old was the first patient at the mayo clinic in minnesota to have an electrical stimulation device implanted near his damaged spinal cord. the original function of the electrical stimulator was to treat chronic pain. but it's being used experimentally to try to activate dormant circuitry in the spinal cord. and allow movement. because we were able to see the malaysia wreck plea the spinal cord itself and we believe that that was very important to be able to regain the volitional control or voluntary control and. just one month after surgery general commute his toe on his own again he underwent forty three weeks of intense physical

therapy and stimulator adjustments at one therapy session chinnock managed to walk the length of a football field but for him it's not about the distance. the hopeful side of maybe all getting that where i can leave the wheelchair behind even if it is to walk. to the refrigerator and back to you know like not very far. and hope given to those with spinal injuries who never thought standing up. or walking would ever be possible again. midfielder luke as the world's best football player at an awards ceremony in london was chosen for the prize after a stunning year which saw him help real madrid win a third consecutive a champions league title following that he kept in croatia to the country's first ever world cup final also being named the player of the road is the first croatian

to win the over. there watching. for all of us here in berlin thanks for the company will be back with more world news at the top of the hour. which a visit. and link to news from africa and the world your link to exceptional stories and discussion on the news it's easy to out with safety deputed comes to freak out join us on facebook. for.