president ghani is very concerned. sen. coons: if i understand, there are more than 2 million refugees in pakistan, many of them dating from the soviet invasion. dep. sec. sullivan: yes. a could be sent over the border. ask aoons: let me question, how does it affect our moral authority and having that conversation with the pakistanis when the administration has recently decided to begin deporting folks who have also been in the u.s. for decades under temporary protected status, fleeing conflict or natural disasters in their countries of origin? how does that impact those conversations about -- saying to the pakistanis, we would be appreciated or supported if you would continue to host millions of refugees, do they turn around and say, "why are you deporting hundreds of thousands who came to york country from civil wars -- your country from civil wars or natural disasters?" dep. sec. sullivan: that issue has not been raised to me in my discussions on this issue, but i take your point. it is rhetorically something that they c

we heard from president ghani in october of last year, we're turning a corner. we heard from nato commander general nicholson, we're turning a corner. in 2011 we heard from president barack obama we turned the corner after the surge deployment. we heard from robert gates we're having a lot of success and turning the earn corner. and we have the same set of hopes and aspirations that somehow we'll keep training and somehow now the training will actually result in a fighting force that fiercely wants to fight for the government of afghanistan. and yet we never get there. we continually believe and hope that there's going to be a marvelous development to a functional government, but we don't get there. right now we have the vice president out of the country, not being allowed to return. we have a growth in ethnic divisions within the political establishments from uzbek -- we have essentially paralysis between the national unity government in terms of the ceo, abdullah and the president. then we have other aspirations. now we're really turning the corner on corrupti

the afghan president has offered to recognize the taliban as a legitimate political party ashraf ghani made the offer during the kabul peace process peace conference where twenty five countries were meeting to initiate a meaningful process and that ending the sixty four tony berkeley reports from kabul it was a warm and far reaching speech in which the afghan president offered the taliban a peace deal without precondition he also promised official political recognition and an office in kabul if the group joins the peace process. taliban a machine. i call on the taliban and their leadership today the decision is in your hands accept peace a dignified peace will come together to safeguard this country which has been the results of our sacrifices and struggles that they were his most conciliatory words as president ghani has previously described the taliban as terrorists and rebels but now he says he'll not prejudge any group he even went as far as to say taliban fighters and officials could be removed from international blacklists delegates representing twenty five regional and internati

the afghan president has offered to recognize the taliban as a legitimate political party ashraf ghani made the offer during the kabul price at peace process peace conference where twenty five countries were meeting to initiate a meaningful dialogue aimed at ending the sixteen year long war tiny but the reports from kabul it was a warm and far reaching speech in which the afghan president offered the taliban a peace deal without precondition he also promised official political recognition and an office in kabul if the armed group joins the peace process of the taliban a mission. i call on the taliban and their leadership today the decision is in your hands accept peace a dignified peace will come together to safeguard this country which has been the result of our sacrifices and struggles of they were his most conciliatory words as president ghani has previously described the taliban as terrorists and rebels but now he says he'll not prejudge any group he even went as far as to say taliban fighters and officials could be removed from international blacklists delegates representing twent

while in kabul, i met with president ghani, chief executive abdullah and other afghan partners. every leader reiterated their support for our strategy and their commitment to creating the conditions that will bring the taliban to the negotiating table as senator cardin mentioned in his opening remarks. thereby establishing an environment for sustained peace. these leaders also reaffirmed their support for the afghanistan compact, a series of benchmarks established by the afghans to implement reforms in security, governance, rule of law, economic development and peace and reconciliation. president ghani and i co-chaired an executive committee meeting of the compact where we reviewed and highlighted progress on those benchmarks. i also discussed with the afghan leadership the critical importance of timely, credible and transparent elections. it's vital that parliamentary and presidential elections take place this year and next respectively, and that they reflect the will of the afghan people and create an inclusive government that continues to implement these fundamental reforms.

president ghani and president trump's views are very much the same. what was being direct ed at a significant elements of the taliban are not prepared to negotiate and it may take a long time before they are willing to negotiate and that is the thurst as i understand it of the president's remarks and that is the view that president ghani has. he is extremely upset about what happened, and he wants to take very hard stance against those element elements of the taliban that slaughtered innocent men, women, children on the streets of kabul. >> but you just said in a response to senator corker that you believe that there is a role for the taliban. the president didn't put condition s conditions on this, and he said that we don't want to talk with the taliban. so do we believe that they have a place in the negotiating table or do they not? >> they do. i don't think that there is a place for the taliban for those elements of the taliban that plotted those terrorist attacks last month are not showing the indication that they are willing to sit at the table,

attacks on the ground but everyone agrees that this war cannot be won militarily even as president ghani was delivering his speech news came through about how thirty people were abducted by the taliban near kandahar nineteen of them policemen their fate is uncertain and it shows that the violence in afghanistan is continuing as normal no one is suggesting that peace is about to break out in afghanistan but the encouraging signs and language which are coming from all parties are raising hopes here that may be the first tentative steps of ending this brutal war of being taken tony berkeley al jazeera kabul. now students from the florida high school where a gunman killed seventeen people have return to class as for the first time it's been two weeks sense of form a student allegedly stole marjorie steinman douglas high school with an assault rifle the principal has called it a day of hailing and gallacher reports now from parkland. that he shall i tell you she was despite the fears and despite the trauma these students have been through they came back to marjorie stillman douglass high scho

of the taliban in two thousand and one though the taliban are not taking part in today's conference ghani offer of the militant group the possibility of political recognition if it accepted his peace offer and the afghan constitution president also reached out to neighboring pakistan which has been accused of providing a safe haven for taliban militants. well this move comes amid reports that pakistani officials are preparing the forced return of millions of afghans who fought to sought refuge there some have lived in pakistan all their lives correspondent nosheen abbas sent us this exclusive report. chava pakistan more than a million of hundred few days have crowded into the city close to the of the on border many of them have fled the war plaguing the country for decades nestor love is one of them he was born in pakistan and has lived in this camp his whole life. he's university educated and used to work as a teacher nasir lost five children are all in school being forced to leave is the last thing he wants what he says i'm up to my parents and grandparents are buried here and i can vis

to afghanistan and the taliban have rejected an offer for peace talks from up and president ghani the offer came during a conference aimed at bringing stability to the region it's part of his attempts to end an insurgency the began after the u.s. led ouster of the taliban in twenty two thousand and one the taliban did not take part in the conference he offered the militant group the possibility of political recognition if it accepted his peace offer and the afghan constitution taliban said it was useless to hold peace talks until foreign forces including americans left the country. well russian president vladimir putin says russia has managed to evacuate what he called quite quite a big group of sebelius from the rebel held enclave of eastern ghouta in syria during a temporary truce now if confirmed it would be the first time civilians there have been able to leave the besieged enclave using a humanitarian corridor or set up by russian aide workers however have said most civilians are too afraid to leave. the skies over east and bhutto were supposed to fall silent but a five hour huma

they started look at some other stories making news around the wise afghan president of ghani has offered a truce to the taliban at a peace conference in kabul gunnies says a deal could include recognizing the extremist group as a political party if the taliban accepts peace and the afghan constitution more than ten thousand of gone civilians were killed or injured last year amid conflict with the taliban us president donald trump's son in law in charge couche now has reportedly been stripped of his top level security clearance had got into them permission to receive top secret information in his role as a white house senior advisor but now krishna said to be one of several aides whose clearance was downgraded christian leaders have reopened the church of the holy settler in jerusalem one of christianity's most holy sites the church leaders closed the sacred site for three days to protest against proposed israeli tax legislation this is a amounts to a land grab israeli officials suspended the planned measures on tuesday. the e.u. has unveiled a long awaited draft bragg's a treaty that thr

legitimate political group as part of negotiations to end the more than sixteen years of war ashraf ghani made the proposal at the start of an international conference aimed at creating a platform for peace talks to reuters journalists imprisoned in myanmar have called for press freedom and protested the innocence choice. to detect denied bail after appearing in court on wednesday charged with illegal possession of state secrets that journalists have been covering the violence against for him the muslims in iraq and state arrested in december of allegations they violated the country's official secrets act they faced up to fourteen years in prison and a supermarket is taking action to stop plastic polluting the world's oceans the eco process store has opened the world's first plastic free aisle more than seven hundred products including meat dairy fruit and vegetables are available in packaging made from compostable materials eco possible roll out plastic free aisles to all seventy four of its stores across and evidence by the end of the year although the headlines witness is coming up nex

legitimate political group as part of negotiations aimed at ending more than sixteen years of war ashraf ghani was speaking at a meeting of diplomats trying to build a framework for peace talks but he reiterated that the armed group needs to recognize his government to danny's also opposed to releasing prisoners and a review of the constitution. australia's government has ordered the recall of more than two million cars with airbags made by the japanese from takata is not satisfied with the results of voluntary recall is carried out last year faulty talk of the airbags have been linked to at least twenty three deaths worldwide and employees at general motors in south korea are demanding the government protect their jobs they have already voted to go on strike if the us comic it decides to pull out of the country the company suspended pay talks early this month on a deal that would shut one of its factories it's still deciding what will happen to the three remaining plants general motors employs around sixteen thousand people in south korea. well those were the headlines the news continues here

amy: afghan president ashraf ghani also proposed a ceasefire, a prisoner release, and the recogngnition of the t taliban a legitimate p political group. this comes aftfter the taliban recently published an open letter expressing their desire for peace e talks, and c callinn the american people to pressure president trump to the negotiating table. in yemen, a series of u.s.-backed, saudi-led airstrikes have killed five civilians outside the northern city of saada on tuesday. this is abed abdullah, volunteer health worker, who was one of the first responders after the strike. >> we went to see who survived from the house, and we only found one woman. she was saying there were victims under the rubble of the house, so we went to get them out. we were alarmed w when the secod strike hit. ran a away, attemptpting to escape andnd then therere was a ththird s strike that hit us whe we were removing the rubble over the dead corpses. amy: in somalia, the death toll has risen from a double suicide bombing in the capital mogadishu nearly 40 people were killlled n friday. the e explosions and subse

afghan president ashraf ghani has offered to begin peace talks with the taliban without precondition. we are making this offer without any precondition in order to lead a peace agreement. taliban and their leadership. today, the decision is in your hands. except peace, a dignified peace. come together to safeguard this country, which has been the result of our sacrifices and struggle. amy: afghan president ashraf ghani also proposed a ceasefire, a prisoner release, and the recognition of the taliban as a legitimate political group. this comes after the taliban recently published an open letter expressing their desire for peace talks, and calling on the american people to pressure president trump to the negotiating table. in yemen, a series of u.s.-backed, saudi-led airstrikes have killed five civilians outside the northern city of saada on tuesday. this is abed abdullah, volunteer health worker, who was one of the first responders after the strike. >> we went to see who survived from the house, and we only found one woman. she was saying there were victims under the rubble of the hous

legitimate political group as part of negotiations aimed at ending more than sixteen years of war ashraf ghani made the proposal at the start of an international conference aimed at creating a platform for peace talks and donald trump has invited the emir of qatar to visit the united states in april. a funny is said to have received the office cheering a phone call with the u.s. president on wednesday both nations are keen to strengthen cooperation and to have discussed regional ties as well as crucial economic issues and bring you more on that story on everything else in about twenty five minutes time more news coming up them i'll see you after the stream which starts now. hi i'm from the ok and i'm really could be latin today we are crisscrossing the globe to discuss a few stories that have a lot of people talking online so join the conversation tweet us using the hash tag a.j. stream and if you happen to be watching us live on you tube you can leave your thoughts in the comments section we have the stream team in the comments section they will talk back at you as well and that's another way

let's build afghanistan together president ashraf ghani offers amnesty to the taliban in a bid to and sixteen years of conflict. day two of the partial poles and fighting in eastern little has changed for syrians besieged in the rebel held on klav the five hour truce was expected to allow the sick and the injured to leave and aid to get day in but nothing of that sort has happened syrian government troops are reportedly planning a ground assault and sporadic bombings are continuing a summer benj of it reports from gaza on top and turkey near the border with syria digging more graves is how some spend the five hour pause in the daily bodman of eastern with many deaths every day the ranges for mass burials. on the syrian government side of the buffer been crossing buses and ambulances waited for civilians to cross but people deny a claim by the russian president that some civilians crossed over on the second day of the poison fighting. we have managed to get out quite a big group of those who wanted to leave but the second group could not leave because the militants just did not give th

in the bag and the hey hey team operate from here a collective workspace into ghani called the office. it's an innovation hubs for small startups can share space and cool resources. hey hey which means way in kenya one was founded by peace and three other students attending a summit course for mobile programming. in just four years the team has transformed big ideas into big business the company is now one of the leading software development firms in the country. this team that was formed grow to become something bigger than we had imagined and with grew from having just s.m.s. best applications you know from the time that we started with a bit of web technologies to now you know a full on smartphone applications that are running on i os devices on android devices and in the. last year we won the transform africa award we have been listed in forbes which was pretty great in twenty twelve about the inspire africa wide as well with each with each price that we got with that we got we saw a client walking. hey has quickly gained a solid reputation and they were recently contracted by the

afghanistan's president ashraf ghani has called on the taliban to join talks to bring peace and stability to the country he's also promised to recognize the terror group as a legitimate political force. to the taliban leadership and every other taliban member except peace accepted with honor and come together so we can make this country safe and secure well the taliban has yet to respond to the invitation but two weeks ago the group issued a statement calling for peace and urging u.s. congressman to pressure the trunk of ministration into negotiations it came in response to donald trump's earlier declaration that ruled out any possibility of peace talks between washington and the taliban there's no talking to the taliban we don't want to talk to the telegram we're going to finish what we have to finish what nobody else has been able to finish we're going to be able to do it. for political analysts muslim shows that thinks the afghan president lacks the will soroti to propose peace talks with the taliban. why the taliban after seventeen years should come to the table with a government wher

legitimate political group as part of talks aimed at ending the more than sixteen years of war ashraf ghani was speaking at a meeting of diplomats trying to build a framework for peace talks but he reiterated that the armed group also needs to recognize his government australia's government has all of the recall of more than two million cars with airbags made by the japanese firm takata it says it's not satisfied with the results of voluntary recalls carried out by vehicle manufacturers last year faulty takata airbags have been linked to at least twenty three deaths around the world. employees at general motors in south korea are demanding the government protect the job. to go on strike if the u.s. carmaker decided to pull out of the country the company suspended pay talks out of this month field that would shut down one of its factories. well those are the headlines the news continues. of the stream watching. the late balance in the central african republic has forced more than a million people to leave their full. i was there i saw on the grounds to bring a report on how people are strugg

ghani said there was a new security strategy you've seen on the streets greater numbers of army and police greater defenses but still with this in place islamic state were able to strike so that's causing concern and of course the taliban is beefing up their attacks as well is preemptive perhaps for their annual spring offensive which they always launch but there are so many attacks going on now that basically one offensive rolls into another the united nations has released a report showing that the majority of people killed are civilians last year ten thousand were killed and wounded and it's the weapon of choice now is more often suicide bombs and roadside explosions. the americans are here in force they've beefed up their numbers they're using more aerial power to try and defeat in particular islamic. let's take you back to the united nations where we can see representatives of the u.n. security council taking their seats inside the chamber that's less than. it is so decided. but. the security council shall now consider agenda item little to work with the. city council is seized of a dr

ambulance bombing where more than one hundred people were killed well after that the president ashraf ghani announced a new security strategy tightening up of security on the streets we've seen more people on the streets more armed force on the streets more defenses if you like but still with all that going on islamic state was still able to strike in the very heart of kabul in one of the most tightly security areas so there is a lot of concern there this is a fight that's going on that shows that the reach of these groups is never ending and it comes at a time of course when the u.s. says has ramped up its response to the taliban particularly by the air and as you say the government has undertaken to protect its people more robustly. yes it's a very difficult situation now because as you say the u.s. here has beefed up its forces here from eight thousand five hundred at the beginning of president trump. inauguration to fourteen thousand now and they're using aerial power we're hearing about more casualties more civilian casualties and of course apart from today generally the civilians make

are due to meet as part of the kabul process in the afghan capital on weapons day president ashraf ghani is expected to map out his peace plan at the conference tony berkeley has more now from kabul. well there are two ways of looking at this one that it was an open letter which was basically an accident the omitted certain things or it was deliberate now normally when the taliban issue a letter or a statement they always say that before any direct talks happen the americans have to withdraw militarily they haven't said that this time so if it was a deliberate emission it does suggest a softening of tone from the taliban and that is quite something different it may be for several reasons you mention the conference which is happening in kabul on wednesday it also could be something to do with a statement made by as a second assistant secretary of state department for south and asian affairs alice well she said the door was always open for direct talks with the taliban so maybe this is moving things along it could also have something to do with the increased american firepower now in place

president ashraf ghani when he first it political power, hughes a lot of his political capital to tryo negotiate peace by going straight to islamabad. but that did not amount to anything. but the reason why he did that head ofuse he, like the state before him, understood a peaceyou want to have settlement with the taliban, it is not just a particular insurgent group that you're dealing with, it is all of these other stakeholders of the conflict that are at play. we often talk about the war in afghanistan is a proxy war was the who are the proxies? afghanistan, pakistan. who are their backers? the arby's one for the afghan government right now is the american government. the other side for the taliban, it is the government of pakistan. president donald trump has been making a lot of statements about how he wants to cut funding to force the pakistan state to source them -- force them into submission. the american policy toward pakistan, of course, also afghanistan, has been very inconsistent. so it is no wonder the actors do not respond to these incentive structures that are presented t

ouster of the taliban in two thousand and one to the taliban are not taking part in today's conference ghani offered the militant group the possibility of political recognition if we accepted his species offer and the of gun constitution and the prison guard he also reached out to neighboring pakistan which has been accused of providing a safe haven for taliban militants. now the move amidst reports that pakistani officials are preparing the forced return of millions of guns who've sought refuge that some have lived in pakistan all their lives correspondent now she sent us this exclusive report. shavar pakistan more than a million of hundred fiji's have crowded into the city close to the afghan border many of them have fled the war leaving the country to keep it and used to work as a teacher lost five children are all in school being forced to leave is the last thing he wants from what is my parents and grandparents are buried here and i can visit their graves whenever i want. my friends from school and university are all here my life is here and i wonder how can i just leave everything in a

remember the ambulance bombing last month which killed more than one hundred people the president ashraf ghani said there was a new security initiative to be a new tightening of security but this shows even though there's so much tight security in this city groups like islamic state can strike when they want to so that is cause for concern and again not just in kabul but various attacks across the country must certainly be raising questions about the state of security and be putting more pressure on that government. well this is a weekly event here in afghanistan these kind of attacks are on the increase the united nations released a report that said there were more suicide bombings last year than ever before this is the preferred way of attack now they also released figures search showing that ten thousand civilians were killed and injured a lot of them by suicide bombings and by i.d.'s improvised explosive devices so this is escalating it's not going down this could have something to do with the increased boosting of the american forces here under president trump they've gone from eight a ha

president ashraf ghani addressed an international conference in kabul, and he called for the militant group to help "save the country." >> ( translated ): the taliban leadership and every other taliban, you havthe decision to make. accept peace, accept it with honor and come together, so we can make this country safe and secure, which is the heritage of our saes, jihad and our blood. >> woodruff: the taliban had no immediate response to the offer. back in this country, the u.s. supreme court will decide a case that focus on what to wear when voting. justices heard arguments today on a minnesota law that bars most politically-themed clothint he polls. a number of states have similar laws, but minnesota's is broadem tht. s achers in at least two west virginia counte refusing to go back to work tomorrow, after a five-day strike.he that's despiteovernor's offer to raise pay five percent. most teachers are expected back tomorrow, but some are holding out for lower health insurance premiums. the u.s. olympic committee announced a shakeup today, amid the scanl over sexual abuse of young gymn

legitimate political group as part of talks aimed at ending the more than sixteen years of war ashraf ghaniwas speaking at a meeting of nations trying to build a framework for peace talks but he reiterated that the armed group also needs to recognize his government downey's proposed releasing prisoners and a review of the constitution officials from twenty five countries the e.u. and nato a meeting as part of the kabul process in the afghan capital attorney bertie joins us live now from kabul tony so what details have come out of this meeting. well i think there are some encouraging signs according to some people about this announcement and the speech by president danny these things have been said before but he's the first time he said them in public i think as you mentioned for your intro that he's called on the taliban to come and join talks he's promised to recognize them he's actually said that they could move their office from doha to kabul and operate with immunity so that's a quite encouraging sign there are also signs going on the moment but one of them the main reasons is they must

set off in january killing more than one hundred people but after that the afghan president ashraf ghani said there was a new security strategy you've seen on the streets greater numbers of army and police greater defenses but still with this in place islamic state able to strike so that's causing concern and of course the taliban is beefing up their attacks as well is preemptive perhaps for their annual spring offensive which they always launch but there are so many attacks going on now that basically want to fence it rolls into another the united nations has released a report showing that the majority of people killed all civilians last year ten thousand were killed and wounded and it's the weapon of choice now is more often suicide bombs and roadside explosions. the americans are here in force they've beefed up their numbers they're using more aerial power to try and defeat in particular islamic state but so far it doesn't seem to be working and the security strategy certainly has holes in it. now government buildings in the state have been targeted in a series of bombings three separ

set off in january killing more than one hundred people but after that the afghan president ashraf ghani said there was a new security strategy you've seen on the streets greater numbers of army and police greater defenses but still with this in place islamic state were able to strike so that's causing concern and of course the taliban is is is beefing up their attacks as well is preemptive perhaps for their annual spring offensive which they always launch but there's so many attacks going on now that basically want to fence it rolls into another the united nations has released a report showing that the majority of people killed are civilians last year ten thousand were killed and wounded and it's the weapon of choice now is more often suicide bombs and roadside explosions. the americans are here in force they've beefed up their numbers they're using more aerial power to try and defeat in particular islamic state but so far it doesn't seem to be working and the security strategy certainly has holes in it tony barry reporting for us there in kabul and those attacks have been happening des

political group as part of negotiations aimed at ending the more than sixteen years of war ashraf ghani was speaking at a meeting of nations trying to build a framework for peace talks but he reiterated that the group also needs to recognize his government danny has proposed releasing prisoners and reviewing the constitution officials from twenty five countries the e.u. and nato are meeting as part of the kabul process in the afghan capital. these look . we are making this offer without any preconditions in order to lead to a peace agreement i call on television and their leadership today the decision is in your hands except peace a dignified peace come together to safeguard the country which has been the result of sacrifices and struggle to berkeley has more from kabul. so there are encouraging signs coming out of this process president danny said some very encouraging things which making people think that things are moving in the right direction his offer to recognize the taliban as a political party is one also his offer for the taliban to open an office in kabul moving it from doha

ellen ghani is in westminster.e negotiations. once again the uk government has been thrown into the defensive because of comments boris johnson made. he got himself into hot water because he used a potentially toxic phrase. in a lea ked potentially toxic phrase. in a leaked letter that sky news got hold of it leaked letter that sky news got hold ofiti leaked letter that sky news got hold of it i think he was trying to show there was no need for an infrastructure at the border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland, but he used in that letter the phrase "even if there is a hard border", and that allowed his critics to say that the government was considering a physical infrastructure at the border. that would be an anathema to republicans and the irish government as well because that led to the government saying they would not contemplate a hard border. one idea is to keep northern ireland in alignment with eu regulations, but the dup who support the votes that theresa may needs to get brexit through, t