look at the national assembly elections.f you look at the candidates who took part in those elections, it's a record in that country, it's unprecedented, it's because of the climate, it's because of the environment — and we created the environment. that people feel free and people feel safe. is that the case? because yourjustice minister, ba tambadou, has said "we are dealing with a very fragile political situation." yes, it's a fragile situation because of 22 years of dictatorship, the system was polluted. there were a lot of bad laws, dictators support them, and for 22 years, that makes it very, very fragile but we have a responsibility here,

so you headed into the one nine hundred ninety nine the fust elections for a welsh national assembly you're the head of your party you've got a head of steam behind you and your chief untasted result touching thirty percent of the vote there's a lot of luck in that i mean i couldn't believe that we had been just marginally ahead of the i said be at that time which i never expected to be in that position i think we were helped by the fact that labor chosen a leader in michael who although used a very competent person he didn't catch the imagination of the labor party let alone the wider electorate and because we were establishing a welsh parliament for the first time remember says oh england were in fourteen hundred we go back six hundred years that made people think our plight have something to offer here this is ply you'd see and they gave us the opportunity and we came back with seventy members labor had twenty eight members we had seventeen and we had thirty percent of the vote you talk about the labor leadership equally crucial wish you had leadership us out at that point the bes

have to pay every homage to him for the role he played what he did was to make the national assembly relevant to people in their everyday lives he was seen as the man in the street in wales and labor benefited from that we were out of focus for a while and also went to harvard and wales as a junior partner in the government never an easy position that was after two thousand and seven when we did have an opportunity then to form a coalition against labor and we were well on the road towards that was the largest party and we would then have been leading a government with support of conservatives a lib dems. the lib dems decided by a casting vote i think it was the literature lives a cast that vote in their meeting against coming into a coalition now whether it will work tonight i don't know i was out of this empty by then of course when yours is leading clyde and the question was can you sustain with just a majority of one of the new sustained with and they'll be a majority but i think we would we would have been challenged but we were up for it and the opportunity didn't come so when

these asked for a postponement of the naming of his cabinet and till the next time that the national assembly meets that's in july and there is a sense that he may name completely different people to the cabinet that are not necessarily members of the council of state as has been the case up until now and that should give him some independence but again remember that old gosh who is of the historic generation of the cuban revolution will remain very much watching what happens for at least another three years until the next cuban communist party congress he said that if all goes well then he will really hand over then that transition the end of the castro era will really take place and that's in three years time he says that his health accompanies him he will then become quote just another soldier of the cuban revolution we will continue to watch during that time as well lucien newman thank you for joining us today so with castro's legacy in the rearview mirror what she was future look like under a new leader well joining us to discuss this in texas are doing it lopez he's a cuban political an

is that were taking place at the national assembly they said well you know this is a transition everything in this country is gradual little it always is and it will continue to be that way some young people those said that they had a hoped that didn't or were hoping that the new president being from a younger generation would speed up the kind of reforms that castro had begun but which they believe are so absolutely insufficient they want more freedom of information more to catch up to have their own businesses the course want to have improvements in the economy that you just alluded to but they're not really quite sure how much this new president will be able to do at least in the short term change isn't radical and that of course castro will remain the head of the party so that said what about the rest of the government because we know that are also chose to decide on his own timetable for leaving office so what happens is there a changing of the old guard or are they staying in place. with some of them remain in place one of them. one of them. has gone but he is remains as the second s

but some are that came out is ability to recall the national assembly. so they are to a two-year term. but they can be recalled by the public. in the middle if they don't like what they're seeing. so that's one item. and the other item is according to what he said on television, he said anyone the public can be judged, the public can judge a trial. without any qualification. so you don't need judge or legal qualification in order to be a judge on a trial. what does that mean? anybody off the street can be a judge. the purpose for this constitutional reform is to limit the power of the president. but it sounds like what's being limbed is the power of the national assembly and the power of the judiciary. there's some other changes such as in korea, it's changed and the difference is in english, it just means labor ore workers. but in korean, there's a difference. it's a tuerm used in north kore and in communist societies. it means labor. again, it means labor, but it's not a communist term or a term used in north korea. it's being changed all throughout th

voting for the people who will be running that national assembly the president of the assembly they're going to elect the thirty one members of the council of state that's the way the cuban communist system works they do not elect directly the president council of state and then we'll need to lean on thursday to finally then select the next president you know this is uncharted territory governor and it's always been a member of the castro family either fidel castro or raul castro who we now believe will many elected to the council of state but what happens next is really you know i don't know when or how it is going to work the only thing that seems very clear is that for the first time in nearly sixteen years to vote will not have someone with the name chasse tro alyse as you say many cubans only know life castro ruler so how will ordinary people ordinary cubans be doing this transition of power do you think. could be. done and you made surprising probably more more for people outside of cuba than in to but they don't see this as a major change because what has been said over and over

so that is the outgoing cuban president raul castro he's addressing the national assembly right now in havana will see a new man is there that is where she is joining us from the cia and this is really a historic change in cuba as well as a generational change farai i think you're right in the certainly in generational change and although i'd least on the surface it's a major major historic change a landmark what we're seeing here which is fascinating is a new chapter with the same text what you're hearing there raul castro now he's actually giving a biography the c.v. of the second person in charge and now the new vice president taking over from again the scandal but right before that he spoke at length about the a scandal and he said that the fact that he is now the new president is not something that happened by chance he has been groomed carefully he says for the last fifteen years and that he expects this is what i will cast for speaking that the us can and will take. in nine. i wasn't twenty one as the head of the communist party over and over what they're emphasizing is clinton

being nominated by cuba's national assembly as the sole candidate for president the first from outside the castro family in the early sixty's and piece of voted but the results won't be confirmed until first day that's when the colonel is expected to be sworn in while outgoing president raul castro will stay on as head of the communist party of latin america to lucien newman. talk serious efficient and above all discreet rising of the communist party's ranks from the bottom fifty seven year old. is making history he's done it in part by never ever having tried to outshine or question fidel or raul castro as others once earmarked as their successes learned the hard way and i think he also feels it's true. that he actually genuinely believes her cuban revolution. as the communist party secretary of his home province of viet lauder the earned a reputation for being open minded. women who here is a hangout for young people including gays lesbians transsexuals and punks d. a scandal was by their side in the one nine hundred ninety s. when alternative lifestyles were severely frowned on. eve

we're very pleased that at last this legislation has passed its first hurdle of the national assemblyformer new york mayor michael bloomberg says that he will write a check covering this year's u.s. commitment to the paris climate agreement the billionaire businessman says that he will contribute four and a half million dollars last year president donald trump pulled the u.s. out of the pact making it the only country opposed to. the u.k. has thousands of kilometers inland waterways rivers and canals built to move goods in the nineteenth century as roads get busy a business is an environmental groups have been trying to revive this forgotten transport network. barker reports from london. life on britain's waterways moves at an unhurried pace. rose parness pilots pleasure boats the region's canal in london these wants to get to backwaters of attracting new life. before i worked on the waterways i was close to leaving london i think there's something about the community around the water it's something about water in it that's quite on me and i think that you can do down here this is a s

crossing to italy a controversial french immigration law has passed its first hurdle in the national assembly nearly two thirds of politicians voted for the bill which would impose tough new conditions on asylum requests they may change to has more from paris. this was a vital piece of legislation for president to man your macro but it's taken a very long time a marathon in the national assembly it's taken them all week to vote on this and some nine hundred ninety nine amendments were added to this bill but it did pass comfortably but it also created divisions within manual macro's own party there was one m.p. who defected from the party there were several abstentions now many people within the liberal party the center party that michael formed i've called it a repressive piece of legislation but michael has been very clear about why it's being pushed through because in twenty seventeen france had one hundred thousand asylum seekers and that's a record for france and also record within the european union for that year so he wanted to try and separate out the economic migrants as he's called t

it's only a formality now before cuba's national assembly announces the votes for d.s. can nail who will be the new president replacing raul castro the first person whose name is not castro who will be leaving this country after fifty nine years he was the only candidate so clearly there is no surprise but it is a historic moment these can l. is a long time communist party cato he is regarded as loyal to the party loyal to the communist party and above all loyal to the revolution and he is not seen as a reformist as a modern man may be open minded but certainly not a person who will come to cuba to change the system on the contrary he is being trumpeted by raul castro and the communist party and all of the state run media in fact as the man or the candidate rather of continuity the one who will remain firm and loyal to the communist party and to this one party system the cuba has had for nearly six decades despite so much pressure from around the world for it to change in a surprise move turkish president says of tayyip erdogan has announced that there will be early pre

bad and what will that mean for america afghan war while i ask member of pakistan's national assembly and the leader of pakistan. for justice. and american security. for help. from the war against the taliban. iran khan member of pakistan's national assembly and leader of pakistan movement for just as welcome to the show it's really great to have you with us today. mr han pakistani prime minister abbas he has just paid a visit to kabul now that of afghans like former afghan intelligence chief. are saying that pakistan views of ghana's stand as a weaker state and its relations with afghanistan are driven by shared great americans. how can you strike deals with couple if they view pakistan this way. this is very unfortunate the remarks of the of one intelligence chief to. define pakistan's relationship with an over honest on these terms is actually very unfortunate because one is the needs budgets done and pakistan needs peace stability to afghanistan otherwise biased and gets affected especially along the border the what is called the tribal areas on the border of lot of stun so if you

speculation in cuba for decades while we now know command has been elected as president by the national assembly taking over from eighty seven year old raul his nomination as the head of the thirty one member council no state was officially confirmed on thursday he will serve a five year term but raul castro is expected to continue playing a big role in policy decisions he'll remain the head of the ruling communist party and twenty twenty one so how much power will me get d.s. command actually exercise we'll get to our guests in just a moment but for asylum america editor lucien human has more on cuba's new president. toll serious efficient and above all discreet rising up the communist party's ranks from the bottom fifty seven year old be guilty of scandal is making history he's done it in part by never ever having tried to outshine or question fidel or raul castro as others once earmarked as their successes learned the hard way and i think they also feel. it's true loyal patriotic that he actually genuinely believes in the cuban revolution. as the communist party secretary of his home province

is the airto the seat in the national assembly is the air to the country's main political dynastyelcome to hardtalk with me. my guess is the world that while bhutto zardari, son of benazir bhutto, the two—time prime minister of pakistan who was assassinated in 2007. he is chairman of the pakistan people's party, founded by his grandfather 50 years ago. the ppp has seen its popularity plummet in recent yea rs. has seen its popularity plummet in recent years. ken bilal because of dowry restore its fortunes and turn around their political legacy tarnished by allegations of corruption, patronage, and incompetence? —— can bilal bird zardari. —— bhutto. bilawal bhutto—zardari, welcome to hardtalk thank you for having me. your mother was assassinated and you have received death threats. why put yourself on the frontline politics like this? thank you very much, zeinab badawi. three months after my mother's assassination, the party's central executive committee decided that i was to be the co—chairman of the couple be. along with your father. —— ppp. the couple be. along with your father.

of pakistan's national assembly and leader of pakistan movement for justice discussing tension is what i'm gonna stand and how this affects to power balance in the region stay with us. well to merge two there was a deal to be a person rather than to work to serve as an over before sea of the european soldier dog and. in these two months it appears a slow go past bad stuff hard to. feel being free as a buddhist but are both. want to stop jumping to salvation. he told me news on the slow fields of ballet she says she wants. the next measure that a modern return there is much to be. with more make this manufactured consent to still be a public world. when the ruling class isn't reject them so. the final merry go round gives me the woman. in the middle of the room sick. leave the room. now we're back with him but on conmen birth of pakistan's national assembly and leader of pakistan movement for justice discussing islam about relations with the united states and their impact on the afghan peace process mr han you said that pakistan should fight terrorism for its own sake is pakistan fighti

pakistan's national assembly and the leader of pakistan meant for justice. never ending. with. militants in american security. forces to go to china and saudi arabia for help what effect will the pakistani american quarrel have in the war against the taliban. around can remember of pakistan's national assembly and leader of pakistan movement for just as welcome to the show it's really great to have you with us today. mr han pakistani prime minister abbas he has just paid a visit to kabul now they of afghans like former afghan intelligence chief. are saying that pakistan views of ghana's stand as a weaker state and its relations with afghanistan are driven by shared great americans. how can you strike deals with couple if they view pakistan this way. this is very unfortunate the remarks of the of one intelligence chief to. define pakistan's relationship with an oval honest on these terms is actually very unfortunate because one is the needs bug is done and bug is done needs peace stability to afghanistan otherwise by this time gets affected especially along the border the what i

a controversial french immigration laws passed its first legislative hurdle in the national assembly two hundred twenty eight politicians voted for the bill which would impose tough new conditions on asylum requests he said our media have detained the opposition politician nicole and two of his colleagues have been leading antigovernment protests passion young that was arrested shortly after an unsuccessful meeting with the newly appointed prime minister sergio stargaze c.m. . you are fully up to date those are our current headlines witness reading north is coming up next thanks for your company. in the lead on the historic one theory being the real economy. al-jazeera look like the don't. join me james bury through a series of special reports from north korea. here on al-jazeera.

a warm welcome to the program it's the end of a new year out in cuba the cuban national assembly has nominated me as camel as the sole candidate to take over the presidency from raul castro fifty nine years on from when fidel castro led the successful revolution in cuba it's the first time the castro would be leaving the country nomination will be voted on later on what state in america is to lucy and human joins us now from havana solis see a significant moment in cuba us history. indeed julie you know it's taken sixty nine years but it's certainly it seems to be happening very very quickly the nomination was made or at least announced by the president of the nominee committee that was only one candidate for the top job and that is as you just mentioned miguel diaz skynet and they were also several other candidates that will be voted on for the for the second and third job but really the scandal is the most important one of all she mentioned as she announced his name that this was in keeping with the with the will of god still the current president the last of the castros who would

we're very pleased that at last this legislation has passed its first hurdle of the national assemblythe u.k. has thousands of kilometers of inland waterways rivers and canals built to move goods in the nineteenth century well as roads get busier businesses and environmental groups have been trying to revive this forgotten transport network neve block a report on the. life of britain's waterways moves at an unhurried pace. rose parness pilots pleasure boats and reaches canal in london these wants to get to backwaters of attracting new life. before i worked on the waterways i was close to leaving london i think there's something about the community that lives around the water is something about water in itself that's quite call me there's some activity that you can do down here this is a small section of a three thousand kilometer network of canals and navigable rivers and the q.k. maybe can also built in the early nineteenth century joining britain's industrial revolution to move heavy goods such as ion and coal today only five percent are used to transport goods most a simply about f

earlier today, members of cuba's national assembly chose communist party loyalist miguel diaz-canel as seoul candidate to replace -- as the sole candidate to replace outgoing president raul castro. the national assembly is now poised to officially elect the 57-year-old as the country's new president later tonight. he is castro's handpicked successor. helena is here now taking a look at that leadership change. we not going to say election change. helena: it is still a way off but despite those reforms, cuba's economy still needs a jolt when it comes to its finances. the question is, is miguel diaz-canel the person to do it? he is a longtime member of the communist party. he will take over when castro steps down in 2022. opinion is currently divided as to whether he will bring great change to the country. reporter: this modest home is where cuba's next likely president grew up. it is in the roughest neighborhood of the provincial capital santa clara. miguel diaz-canel is from a younger generation of leaders and advocates modernization. he called from work vertical national media and to f

now we're back with him but on conmen of pakistan's national assembly and leader of pakistan movement for justice discussing islam about relations with the united states and their impact on the afghan peace process mr han you said that pakistan should fight terrorism for its own sake is pakistan fighting terrorism for somebody else at the present moment. well it started off by just one started off fighting the u.s. war i mean there was as i said there were no. pakistan there were no militant taliban in pakistan we did not have the terrorism we had six dead in terrorism but that was just nothing compared to what happened once we joined the u.s. war on terror after nine eleven and then we had a spate of suicide bombing which was more than any other country i mean pakistan suffered. the sort of terrorism which nor the country suffered and that was appointed two thousand and eleven where you know the people wondered about the future of our country we were falling apart so it was thanks to our security forces that they eventually control this fanaticism and terrorism which was because we w

he has his daughter who is in a key position within the national assembly.t remains a family enterprise. brent: so you say it is not the castro's giving up or receiving power at all. john: it is not, and is not the first time. between 1959 and 1976 cuba had a president that wasn't named castro. that did not in any way limit the absolute power of the castro brothers to do what they wanted to do in cuba. brent: let me play devil's advocate. from where your sitting in miami , you were at the epicenter of the cuban diaspora, all the exiles, many of them are still there to this day. we know they are not a friend of the castro regime, but perhaps mr. diaz-canel, perhaps he is the trigger that is needed to take power away from the castro's and to bring in some type of democratic if not a revolution, and evolution. do you think that is possible that? john: sadly we have seen in the past when other outside experts have thought a new young figure in the cuban regime could be a potential change maker. we saw that with the past foreign minister and the previous vice pre

family she's a member of the national assembly you know or she's a well known advocates who are gay and lesbian rights and is also hasn't asked her brother who occupies a really important position as curnow and beyond forces and is very close of course to his father and there are other members of the family like you who is in charge of the military apparatus that controls the tourist industry but frankly i've this point right now it looks like none of them will play at least a leading role in the u.s. going to. miss fresh do you think that mr diaz canelo should fear for his own safety if he if he dares veer from the path that the castros have set out for cuba . well i don't know if fear is the right word certainly in the experience of past leaders who are not now part of the elite who have been put aside by both the delano gusto i think yes i know has learned that lesson well that he needs to follow the official line he doesn't need to make any waves and at this point that's why we know so little about him because he has been a party man through and through what about miami's cuban exil

president called castro be a condell castro or raul castro that our historic session of the national assembly is just about to get underway the vote if you like or the selection of the successor of raul castro took place yesterday but a formal announcement will be made we believe within the next hour or so but of course there it is a foregone conclusion the person who will succeed raul castro is none other than the until now first device president of the us can. talk serious fish and and above all discreet rising of the communist party's ranks from the bottom fifty seven year old. is making history he's done it in part by never ever having tried to outshine or question fidel or raul castro as others once earmarked as their successes learned the hard way and i think he also feels it's true roiled. that he actually genuinely believes for cuban revolution. as the communist party secretary of his home province of viet lauder the a scandal earned a reputation for being open minded. is a hangout for young people including gays lesbians transsexuals and punks d.s. was by their side in the one nine h

cu ba's national assembly names miguel diaz—canel as the next president, ending the castro era.ir safety officials investigate the death of a passenger who was almost sucked out of a plane window in mid—air. trouble in paradise. the philippines government shuts down an entire island because of growing environmental issues. president trump and japan's prime minister have presented a united front on north korea, both saying maximum pressure must be maintained, they hope pyongyang will agree to nuclear disarmament. at a press conference after talks at the president's florida resort, mr trump also promised to press the north korean leader to send home japanese citizens abducted in the 1960s and ‘70s. but prime minister abe, under severe political pressure at home, has not got the concessions on trade that he needed from the american president. president trump said he was hopeful his planned summit with kim jong—un would be a success but suggested he was prepared for things to go wrong. if i think that it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we're not going to go. if the mee

well the debate was called in the french national assembly following the decision by france to stand alongside the usa and the u.k. and all strikes in syria over the weekend well there were many voices heard in that debate many of them congratulating the military on their operation but they were fiercely critical that the operation had taken place at all and that much corn had approved it without any parliamentary approval here in france now there are also questions raised about the evidence that was presented by france as to the reasons that they believed that chemical weapons had been used by assad's people questioning whether it was right to use evidence based on social media there were also questions raised about the legality of the strike so many people saying that without a u.n. mandate how could they be legal others questioning why the european union community was not also involved in the decision to take part in those strikes let's take a flavor now of some of the other statements made in the national assembly. of france has acted without a little part as from the european un

economy and he also has his daughter who's in a key position by the other castro within the national assembly so it remains a family enterprise so you're saying what we saw today it is not the castro giving up or ceding power at all. it is not and it's not the first time between one thousand nine hundred fifty nine and one nine hundred seventy six cuba had a president that wasn't named castro's then was to close and that did not in any way limit the absolute power of the castro brothers to do what they wanted to do in cuba yeah i mean let me play devil's advocate here with you you know per perhaps and from where you're sitting in miami you know you were at the epicenter of the cuban diaspora where all the exiles many of them are still to this day we know that they are not a friend of the castro regime but perhaps mr diaz can now perhaps he is the trigger that is needed to take power away from the castro's and to bring in some type of democratic if not a revolution an evolution do you think that's possible well sadly we've seen in the past when other outside experts have thought that a young n

look at the national assembly elections. at the candidates who took part in those elections, it's a record in that country, it's unprecedented, it's because of the climate, it's because of the environment — and we created the environment. that people feel free and people feel safe. is that the case? because yourjustice minister, ba tambadou, has said "we are dealing with a very fragile political situation." yes, it's a fragile situation because of 22 years of dictatorship, the system was polluted. there were a lot of bad laws, dictators support them, and for 22 years, that makes it very, very fragile but we have a responsibility here, to make sure we create the environment. but as of now, i think we are progressing in those areas. there are reports that two ofjammeh‘s right—hand men slipped into the gambia from the border of senegal, and that they've been arrested and detained. what's happened to them? they came to the airport... on notice. this was a security lapse, but as i tell you, it's a learning process for us, it will

inside the national assembly our lawmakers debating a law that has brought parts of the city center of the capitol to a standstill schools are closed roads are shut down i can smell tear gas that was fired moments ago to disperse an angry crowd of protesters members of the opposition the police have also arrested some of them now what's this law being debated inside well it requires for anyone running for office to have at least sixty seven thousand signatures to be illegible to run a political campaign why is this important well there are three hundred political parties in senegal if this law passes through the national assembly and that would be the end of it for most of them and some members of the opposition accuse the president of tweaking the constitution ahead of the presidential campaign this would bring more support to his political party human rights organizations accuse the government of heavy handedness of using the security forces to clamp down on the opposition arresting some of them firing tear gas unnecessarily and making protests illegal in a democracy at stake for man