♪ brent: live from berlin.

tonight and israeli-palestinian peace plan, the trump administration calls it the deal of the century. the palestinian state is divorced from reality. jared kushner presented his proposal today in bahrain. it calls for investments of $50 million u.s., but will it guarantee a peace dividend? also coming up, racing for the u.s. border, not all of these migrants making it across. they were caught by mexican troops. the video that is causing an outcry in mexico. and the shadow -- could the thai government we harassing and killing xl dissidents abroad? a group of chinese in laos who fear for their lives. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff.

to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all around the world, welcome. we begin tonight with the latest attempt to pave a path to peace in the middle east. today the united states launched a bid to drum up $50 billion to invest in the palestinian territory. a two day international conference was held in bahrain, led by jared, u.s. president donald trump son-in-law and senior advisor. it is billed as part of a wider white house initiative to resolve the israeli-palestinian conflict, but palestinian leaders have already rejected the plan, calling it an attempt to further exploit the plight of the palestinians. neither the israeli nor palestinian governments attended today's event. here is jared kushner explaining his vision of peace. >> the goal of the workshop is to begin thinking about these challenges in a new way. the potential of the entire

region, let's try to view it through different lands and work together to develop a crime creek plan to try and achieve it -- a concrete plan to achieve it. imagine a new reality in the middle east. imagine a bustling tourist sector in gaza and the west bank, where international businesses come together and thrive. imagine the west bank as a blossoming economy, full of entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, and business leaders. imagine people and goods flowing quickly and securely throughout the region as the economics become more integrated and people become more prosperous. brent: let's take the story to our correspondent in washington, oliver sallett. we know right from the start there is little support for the jared kushner plan. does the administration believe it can actually work? oliver: the idea behind the plan is obviously that they're trying

to silence the palestinians with lots of money here. the palestinians have been hoping for a two state solution for decades. it has always been at the foundation of any least peace plans, and the proposal put forward here today with jared kushner comes as a radical change. the two state solution, the term is not mentioned in this proposal. it focuses on economic development creating a certain level of wealth here in the occupied areas, in the palestinian areas. basically focusing on the assumption that there's a lot of poverty also, especially in areas like gaza where you have an unemployment rate higher than 50%. the idea is to invest $50 billion u.s., create a million jobs within the next 10 years, and it all sounds reasonable but it's unclear who is going to pay for it at this point. brent: our people even willing

to pay? at the moment, we don't know who is willing to put up their own money for this, do we? oliver: that's right, and especially here, to sell this to the american voter will be quite a challenge, to say the least. the u.s. president is struggling to get funding together for his own projects here. just look at the southern wall with mexico, for instance. that had been one of the core promises of his election campaign, to build the wall. he always use that claim, that he would have mexico pay for it. so neither of that has happened so far. he has called in his international partners to raise their national defense spending and budget to redistribute the funding of nato were equally among the nato members. none of this is really working out, and spending $50 billion for a middle east peace plan would be difficult to sell to

american voters ahead of the 2020 election. brent: but it's a simple idea and it fits in line with donald trump, who likes to think that you can buy almost anything. why does the white house think that an economic, rather than a political, solution is the way forward here? oliver: first of all, because it is the assumption that there is poverty in this region, and that by solving this, by creating wealth and new jobs, you would basically have the opportunity perhaps to persuade palestinians to see it as it price tag, to give up on the two state solution. but they are fighting back, and it's something that is not negotiable. that comes as very big challenge here, especially since they were not included in these talks, and this is another aspect that they call on, and that creates a lot

of frustration on the palestinian side. brent: the palestinians and the israelis there today. oliver, thank you. here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. iranian and u.s. leaders today have been trading insults. rouhani saying that donald trump is mentally challenged. trump in turn threatened obliteration if iran threatened anything american. president trump has named stephanie grisham as his new press secretary. gershon was the spokeswoman for first lady melania. she will replace sarah huckabee sanders, who has had a contentious relationship with the media and stopped the decades long tradition of daily space brief -- daily press briefings. the most complicated mission so

far, satellites include an atomic clock that could enable spacecraft to navigate autonomously, plus a solar cell which will become the first spacecraft in earth's orbit propelled solely by the sun. spanish authorities have evacuated homes and closed roads around the petrochemical plant fire. the blaze broke out near gibraltar in the southern part of the country. no injuries have been reported but officials recommend that people nearby keep windows closed and stay inside. here in germany, prosecutors have brought charges against eight members of a suspected right-wing terror group. the suspects poorly planned terror attacks but wanted to treat police by making the crimes look like the work of far left anarchists. reporter: christian k, the alleged leader of the protest movement, he and seven others stand accused of planning

violent attacks in berlin last year. they allegedly planted details through an encrypted online chat. the group is also accused of raising funds and making a list of weapons they plan to acquire. but when their homes were searched, no weapons were found. according to media reports, members admitted to interrogators that they plan to do more than fire warning shots. they were planning a murder. german authorities warned that extreme right wing groups are gaining new momentum. >> attacks are very simplistic. there is no complex planning behind what is happening. no long-term concept. they often just shoot from the hip. >> the group took its name from demonstrations after a deadly knife attack involving immigrants, right wing extremists righted in the police partially lost control of the situation. brent: tonight, beyond brexit.

believe it or not, the european union has plans to expand. two balkan states are hoping to become the newest members of the european union with talks in a session due later this year. here in berlin, the eu had been in talks earlier this year but eu leaders postpone discussions until november. no official reason was given but the french delegation had voiced opposition to accepting new members at least until brexit is completed. my colleague spoke with the president and asked him what roles he hoped his country could play in the eu. >> we would like to be in the european union. we are a small country and we

cannot be the key stakeholder there. that's why we need these so-called external evaluator from brussels in order to have better lives for our citizens. >> there has been a stumbling block, to say the least. some eu member states, have said back off a little bit, because we need more time. in october, we will let you know. do you expect them to give you the green light, or to hold off? >> we expect 100% that we will be given the green light. there is not's any single government of the eu member states -- that is 100% sure. we have clear assurances by france and holland and denmark.

last year -- it will be decided next june after negotiations are close. we are quite sure that in september, they will take that decision and vote for opening negotiations with us. >> like everything in life, timing is everything. the countries which join the block back in 2004 and 2007 are at loggerheads, some of them, with the european commission to do with not effectively fighting corruption. is that making the challenge for north macedonia so much more difficult? >> it's up to those countries. what we are asking for from our european union friends, you asked for these, we have delivered.

the few remaining preconditions come we have delivered. so please judge josh by individual achievements in the meantime. it's up to these countries. you cannot judge north macedonia together with five or 10 other countries, just judge us on her individual achievements. that is all we are asking for. next to you feel north macedonia is not getting a fair shake by the eu? >> yes. we think it should be amended somehow in the months to come. on the last eu summit, the final communique from that summit, saying that -- it has again been postponed. that is the critical

postponement. i have difficulties explaining to the common people that is clearly only a technical response. >> if you don't get the green light in october, what would that mean for your government, for northern macedonia? >> i'm not speaking about who is going to be the leader of the next parliamentary elections. i can put aside political ambitions, but it is important for the region as a whole, for finally brussels to send a positive signal to the whole nation. being for so long sidelined by europeans and getting a positive message for the region as a whole. what we are waiting for is, give us the chance to prove ourselves through this strong -- this long process.

we are not asking for full-fledged worship. we are asking for the tensor start that process. >> in conclusion, it just so happens that in october, that date coincides with the united kingdom's scheduled to leave the eu. london has been an ally when it comes to enlargement of the european union. how much has them leaving the block hurt your bid? >> we would like to see the u.k. stay in the european union. if you are asking me, we know that the u.k. has been the most dynamic power behind european integration. i think we still have enough in brussels, we still count on them. brent: that was the president of north macedonia speaking with my

colleague earlier this evening. how far should border guards go to guard the border? a video showing mexican national guard troops chasing miners on the border with the united states is causing an outcry among mexicans. mexico is under pressure from washington to stem the flow of migrants who are trying to reach the southern u.s. border. but the president said he never gave orders to detain migrants trying to cross the border illegally into the u.s. >> stopped just short of the border, these are the images fueling outrage in mexico. national guard troops detaining migrants bound for the u.s. the mexican president now says the troops did not have orders to do so. and may have abused their authority.

>> if these incidents occurred, the army did not have instructions to act in such a way. it's not their task. this is a job that belongs to migration agents, not the army. >> the controversy comes as washington piles pressure on its southern neighbor to crackdown on migrants traveling north to the u.s.. facing the threat of u.s. tariffs, mexico has been forced to deploy over 20,000 troops on its northern and southern borders to help reduce the flow of migrants. the u.s. is also planning to send more asylum-seekers back to mexico to wait while their claims are processed. >> the u.s. is returning 200 migrants a day to warez --

juarez. the plan for the future is to return 500 migrants a day. we really don't have the capacity, even with the national guard, to attend to them. >> on the other side of the break, u.s. immigration authorities are overwhelmed. at this texas facility, hundreds of migrant children remove two shelters after it emerged they liked adequate food, shelter, and sanitation. with thousands still crossing into the u.s. every, poor conditions could become even worse. brent: on new year's eve last year, please pulled out two bodies from the river on the thai-laos border. they had been stuffed with concrete. the idea was to make the bodies disappear. they were friends of a thai dissident. the military opponent has

himself been missing from laos since last december. these are a few in a series of disappearances and deaths in southeast asia. the targets, exiled opponents of the thai military monarchy. one of those on the receiving end is a protest group. they are living in laos and they are worried that they could be next on the hit list. >> it looks and sounds like a happy sing-along, but the members are far from relaxed. they fled to laos out of fear they would be arrested for publishing songs that criticized thailand's two pillars of power. the monarchy and the military. here, the singer mocks the military for arresting street vendors. the band believes videos like this one have put a target on their back.

>> we have to live from day to day. just focusing on how we will survive. on how we will live today. once the day is over, then we have to think about surviving the next day. about how to be safe and how to not get abducted. >> in the military seized power in 2014, it did so with a vow to crackdown on loyalists. they are worried it is taking a dark turn. six exiles living in laos are said to have disappeared under suspicious circumstances in the last six months. in december, the mutilated bodies of two antigovernment activists washed up on the banks of the mekong river. thai authorities have denied playing a role in the

disappearances and deaths, but she and her bandmates are convinced that someone is seeking extrajudicial retribution. >> our society shouldn't punish those who think differently by killing them. we should be able to choose what kind of society we want to live in. what kind of society we want it to be. according to each of our own ideals. >> in a statement to dw, they said they would continue to fight for freedom of expression in thailand, even if it means living in fear. brent: thai authorities have denied playing a role in the disappearances and deaths. we spoke to a thailand campaigner for amnesty international. we ask her if the military junta really could be tied to the disappearances. >> it's very hard to say who is

responsible for these disappearances and killings. that's why a proper and independent investigation has to take place. we haven't seen any news coming out of any suspected perpetrators being identified. we also have to say that these are individuals, among those who disappeared are individuals who thai authorities have been explicitly pushing for their return. the link can be no coincidence. it is necessary for all of these national authorities to do their utmost to identify what has happened to these individuals. brent: two myanmar where and internation -- a blackout is in place. it could be a cover-up for gross

human rights violations. already hundreds of thousands have fled the area amid a brutal crackdown by the army. alex forrest whiting joins me now to discuss. >> the blackout began on friday without warning when the government ordered for telecommunications companies to stop all access to the internet in nine areas, in these two states. that was because of more fighting between the military, obviously backed by the government, and insurgents, they want political autonomy for the buddhist. it's estimated that 30,000 people have been displaced in the last year. this is the same area for almost three quarters of a million rohingyas muslims were displaced by the military two years ago.

it shows this has happened before. the government is saying the internet shut down is in line with their telecommunications law. they say services could be suspended when an emergency situation arises, and that is how they are describing this violence, as an emergency. brent: what has been the reaction to the blackout? alex: across-the-board, condemnation, but in particular with the you in with the special expert to myanmar saying i fear for all civilians there, cut off with the nessus -- without the necessary means to communicate with people inside and outside the area. she is concerned that the blackout could be covered for more human rights violence. on monday, more than 20 civil and data organizations based within the country also called on the government to get rid of this blackout. they also said you've got to change her own law because it is not in line with the un security council resolution that includes

uninterrupted internet access. brent: this is the hallmark of regimes we have seen in sudan recently, trying to oppress people and keep them cut off. is there any indication what it will take to get the government to turn the internet back on? alex: the government has said they will turn it back on once peace has been restored to the region, but what does that mean? who decides when peace has been restored? it looks like it is the government saying we need to crush these insurgents, and once that happens, we will turn it back on. there will be more pressure from outside the country, but if it will make a difference, we have to wait and see. brent: internet access as a weapon, who would have thought? to singapore, and a competition that draws bird lovers from across the region. a contest like nothing you've ever seen before. >> it's just after dawn at this

sleepy park in singapore. but the competition is already taking off. and this cacophony, 150 zebra doves, buying for best birdsong. this gaggle of retirees hoist up their best chirp or. even offer some coaching. and sit on tenterhooks during the four hour contest. mr. tan has high hopes for his bird. >>'s tone is like a human, very beautiful, sweet. >> top performers are worth thousands of dollars. the judge has his the route for a winner. he sent the best songs feature a crescendo, or an ending that

soars. >> the best birds can sing longer. it sounds something like this. others sing like this. but they cannot sing as loud. their voices are thin, so that's not so good >> to the winner, a trophy. and bragging rights. that might ruffle some feathers in this neighborhood. mr. tan's bird only 1 third place, but he is convinced it singing career will lift off. >> first time, second time, you cannot be a success. rome was not built in a day. >> one day, his bird could be crowned lord of the wings. brent: after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day."

stick around for that.

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