target u.s. forces that will only actually be implemented if the other items are also agree which are for the taliban much more difficult including direct negotiations with the afghan government reaching agreement with the afghan government on moving into some kind of interim or transitional ministration but after repeated and failed attempts to the seventeen year old afghan war the peace process has a long way to go afghanistan's president has voiced his skepticism a soft money warning the terms of any agreement bus include approval from the afghan government so i surely will basically be thinking ok my work starts now all this follows the appointment of one of the taliban's co-founders as leader of the group's political office based in the qatari capitol hill honey brother who was jailed for eight years in pakistan has

a history of supporting peace talks. the pakistani government which has been accused of providing a safe haven for taliban fighters also had a seat at the negotiating table in qatar the draft agreement is reportedly conditional an opportunity perhaps to test the waters and see if it eventually can and the longest running u.s. war has a lot easier well let's talk more about this with mark kimmitt who was assistant secretary for political military affairs under president george w. bush and joins us live now from washington d.c. sir welcome back and thank you for joining us here on al-jazeera obviously after seventeen years of war one wouldn't be too optimistic about these talks but let's say would you be cautiously optimistic that this might turn into a change in a real path to peace. well i certainly hope so i am a bit skeptical about this announcement that this came out i'm not surprised with

broader who has wanted peace talks for almost a decade would be out in front of this but it seems to me that while the taliban may not have gotten everything they wanted they may now try to be negotiating through the press and through the media rather than at the table i mean it's interesting what the u.s. envoy has said he said nothing is agreed until everything is agreed what do you foresee could be the main sticking points when it comes to the real details of the negotiations i really think it comes down to the presence of foreign troops are we going to just pull all the nato troops out all the u.s. troops out and leave a security vacuum that would be completely filled by the taliban at tremendous cost to both the afghan security forces and the current afghan government so that in my sense that will be the major sticking point in the near term and possibly the long term as well. how much do you think is known by the afghan government itself and

actually more to the point how crucial is it do you think for the u.s. and the taliban to come together to some agreement before other members such as nato or the afghan taliban are involved i'm sorry forgive me the afghan government are involved. you know i think that there is an issue that you have to start at least with a small group looking face to face coming to a common set of understandings but then they have to go back and sell that to their people in the case of the u.s. negotiators they will then have to sell it to the afghan government and they will have to sell it to nato in the other allies because again nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and that means the overall agreement and consensus of all parties involved i mean right now we're also seeing the syria iraq model of pulling out and leaving pretty much nothing behind what what the speech looks like at t. you in afghanistan what do you think would be the method that would actually really

end that liaison between the u.s. and afghanistan well first i'd say i think the syria withdrawal is a false comparison but going back to afghanistan i think it needs to be a piece whereby there is a combined government between the current afghan government to the taliban government an understanding that if either side tries to completely push the legitimately elected government out and the popularly supported taliban government out that there would be repercussions there needs to be some sort of monitoring there needs to be some sort of enforcement to ensure that whatever peace is achieved is not a fragile nor temporary peace. mark kimmitt a former assistant secretary for public political military affairs under president george w. bush sir thank you for sharing your views with us thank you. nineteen more still to come on the program including president trump backs down to end the shutdown but

u.s. federal employees say their trust in government has been shattered. and fear is the reason their o.b. hotel attack will ruin efforts to draw much needed forests back to kenya. hello storms once again been battering turkey we've had a report of a tornado and then tell you and this is the reason for this circulating low but not all the energy is disappearing from now the rain is easing and so is the picture for sunday will be a little bit of rain still to come for cyprus in the sun and turkey but otherwise things are much quieter all the way back to the alps where the next system is on its way in single figures you'll notice but not particularly cold really so it's raining at least at first fellow devils' for the whole lot between sunday and

monday is pushing down across central europe into austrian hungary and played a lot of wet snow that at the time she's there above freezing so it'll be heavy big white flakes it'll be easily slushy quite quickly and at the same times a coda dips into the western med another lows developing somewhere around the adriatic to bring loads of rain to this part of the mediterranean so it's one system off another coming in slightly different directions which is temporarily good news if you're in morocco algeria or to new zealand temps in the high teens on the breezes coming up from the interior at the same time what's left is you saw that front of a turkey probably give a little bit of rain to northern egypt now runs shoot to the levant unfortunately whereas the attempts to start to drop from the wind picks up again for area. in september twenty seventh the people of the kurdish region of northern iraq voted

in favor of independence from baghdad. but joy was short lived as the iraqi government reacted force me against any idea of separation. al-jazeera world travels to the kurdish regional capital of overbilling to investigate independence and the iraqi kurds on al-jazeera. welcome back here's a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera venezuela has rejected an ultimatum by spain germany france and britain the nicolas will do it on the school elections within eight days or they'll recognize opposition leader one white door as

president the country's foreign minister was speaking at a long intense emergency session of the u.n. security council rescue teams in brazil are searching for more than three hundred people missing after a dam holding waste from an iron mine burst authorities say ten bodies have been recovered so far from the mine and taliban sources say they've reached a draft agreement with the u.s. special envoys on light to end the war in afghanistan the two sides have been holding talks and how that. u.s. president donald trump is coming in for heavy criticism from his own supporters after retreating on his border wall demands to end the longest government shutdown in american history on day thirty five of the shutdown the senate and house of representatives unanimously passed a temporary deal to fund the government until february fifteenth it's already been signed into law but trump says he could still declare a national emergency to secure the five point seven billion dollars for the war if

no agreement is reached in the next three weeks while many federal workers are worried about what will happen in three weeks time. has been talking to government employees in kansas city. or are. as a federal employee who hasn't been paid for over a month to feed a hansard had a lot at stake when donald trump spoke after the president announced the government would reopen for three weeks there was no celebrating angry disappointed. three weeks is good nothing long enough to just get us a check to pacify us for a little while to get us to the next step and then once we get back in there if they shut down again we won't be able to leave so i feel like they're building a wall around us as employees marland wilson another federal employee also felt the announcement left more uncertainty. it could happen in the

government might be reopening but across america like here in kansas city where there are nine thousand federal government employees it will take time to get things back up and running again outside this federal government office here in this city there are still no cars in the parking lot and the doors remain shut and locked many people worry that after the three week deadline the government could shut down once again that's why at this office of kansas city they are still handing out food to those who need it we've got chicken rice peanut butter we have some things a tarp people who are over for a little while you know maybe two or three weeks you know so i like. with the president's words we will be right back at it as for to feed a hance in she is keeping her resume's out for other than three weeks i'm going to get laid off again then i surprisingly rethink my career for federal employees may

be sued back to work but asking for how long. kansas city. the un human rights investigator looking into the murder of saudi journalist has requested access to the saudi consulate in istanbul agnes kalmadi is due to begin a weeklong visit to turkey on monday the washington post columnist who wrote critically about the saudi crown prince was killed inside the saudi consulate in istanbul in october saudi authorities of not replying to the un's request to visit the crime scene. relatives of protesters arrested in sudan are growing increasingly concerned about what's happened to them hundreds have been detained during the six weeks of protests against rising prices and president omar al bashir is thirty year rule and the families of those arrested say their whereabouts are still not known heba morgan has more now from car too. label has and starts his day in the capital with phone calls and internet searches he's hoping to hear some news about his brother

muslim men who went missing on the twentieth of january after protests in sudan's second largest city on demand. we don't know where he is we checked hospitals but he wasn't among those injured those who were with him during the protests said that he was arrested by armed masked men and trying to pick up we haven't seen or heard from him since. thank you six weeks of anti-government protests started on the nineteenth of december over rising food costs the cries were changed to calls for president bush here to end his fifty year rule but she was refusing to hand over power and security forces have been criticized for firing bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters. the government says twenty nine have been killed since protests began rights groups say at least fifty have died widespread arrests have also been reported with activists and

opposition figures targeted sometimes in their homes. there's growing concerns for their safety the government's long been criticized for torturing dissidents and activists sometimes resulting in death the number of activists who have been arrested since anti-government protests began in december is not known many remain in detention with no access to their families or their lawyers with reports of torture from those who have been released many families say they're concerned about the safety and health of their relatives and that they want to know who is holding them and where. but little parties including members of the ruling coalition such as the popular congress party are adding to calls by rights groups for the release of protesters in prison. who'd have thought we want the government to let us know who is killing the protesters who's arresting them and where they are being held they should be released or charged if they committed a crime a peaceful protesting is in the constitution and it is their right and they shouldn't be arrested for. the ruling national congress party admits the arrests of

activists but if he says them of inciting violence and says they will be charged and tried in court. yes there are people who have been arrested they were calling for protests without getting legal permits they were trying to stabilize the situation and they will be charged but that those who are arrested are in touch with their lawyers because it's in the right we make sure they're in good health and. has and doesn't mind if his brother appears in court as long as he turns up alive and well morgan al-jazeera sort of. the european union observation mission in nigeria says it's very concerned about the suspension of the country's chief justice and the timing of the move welter on nogay has been accused of failing to the clear assets and was suspended by president mohamed hari the opposition people's the democratic party says the allegations are politically motivated and this halted election campaigning for three days in protest the chief justice would

likely rule on any disputed results in next month's general election if he is reinstated. kenya is a serene beaches and more warm climates have long been a magnet for tourists especially from europe but attacks and kidnappings in recent years by the armed group al-shabaab have scared many visitors away mohammed the reports now from lima island but the impact on people whose lives depend on holidaymakers. the war on sunday because of can. tell the stories of its troubles in good times this bitch will be full of tourists bringing much needed income for beach boys to a guides but holiday makers help results home after a spate of attacks by al shabaab fighters people who live here say visitors are still tick through town i would find it very peaceful and trying. not as it was lovely and. we sent them back and people are saying happy to.

yeah it's a lovely first impression. largely been peaceful its proximity to somalia has worked against it. has been walking he has a beach boy for thirty years. but everything now become very. hard. because people are still. about it's the kidnapping of a french tourist from this two thousand and eleven which prompted the kenyan government to send its troops to somalia and move them. into or portion protect the country still somalia. is slowly recovering from the effects of

a tux. al-shabaab says its attacks in kenya in response to the presence of kenyan troops in southern somalia. mohammad always was an official of the law to a guards association he says there's been a decline in the number of visitors every time they talk anyway and can. report by the media that the gunman who carried out the recent attack in nairobi passthrough llamas have affected us any attack anywhere in kenya some of the progress we've made. was the government's warnings to their nationals against trouble to the kenyan coast. every morning at the waterfront two young men one day in such a jobs. it's these young men but would it lead as most. they say they're now planning and mumble festivals and cultural activities to attract

more visitors to the island and hopefully help it regain its glorious past. how about the world is either. protesters are continuing to demonstrate on the streets of paris and a gathering dubbed the yellow night is a live pictures coming out coming in to us from paris you can see hundreds of protesters have aside. it's the eleventh consecutive saturday of protests against french president emanuel mccrone earlier marches in the french capital iraq that into a confrontation between demonstrators and police. they're watching out as they are here's a reminder of our top stories venezuela has rejected an ultimatum by spain germany france and britain to nicolas maduro they said he must call elections within eight days or they will recognize the opposition leader one as president the u.s.

has also been pushing for a way though to replacement a little at a long and tense emergency session of the u.n. security council which is still going on but russia china turkey and mexico are backing the besieged president either you stand with the forces of freedom or you're in league with material and his mayhem some countries are publicly taken former president to do aside china russia syria and iran are just four of them it's not a surprise that those who rule without democracy in their own countries are trying to prop up majority while he is in dire straits rescue teams are continuing to search for more than three hundred people missing in brazil after a dam holding waste from an iron mine burst ten bodies have been recovered so far from the mud violet that's the mining company responsible for the dam has been forced to suspend all operations brazil's environmental agency has also find the

company's sixty six million dollars taliban sources say they've reached a draft agreement with u.s. special envoys on my head to end the war in afghanistan the two sides have been holding talks with capital where the taliban has an office and a timeline for a cease fire is expected to be announced soon. us president donald trump is coming in for heavy criticism from his own supporters after retreating on his border wall demands to end the longest government shutdown in american history on day thirty five of the shutdown the senate and house of representatives unanimously passed a temporary deal the funding the government until february fifteenth. the un human rights investigator looking into the murder of saudi journalist jamal the shoji has requests that access to the saudi consulate in istanbul agnes begins a weeklong mission to turkey on monday was killed by a hit squad in the south of the building in october. those awarded the headlines i'm going to have more news for you here on al-jazeera in half an hour i do stay

with us coming up next it's the listening post thank you for watching. from the arab spring and it really hasn't been the throes of the so-called now as you see out of something. else. r.'s zero zero zero s. and i think that it comes out of censorship on a country which. hello i'm richard gives birth and you're at the listening post here are some of the media stories we're covering this week egypt on january twenty fifth the anniversary of the arab spring is most famous day we examine what's left

of journalism there and look at some of the talk show hosts who safeguard the cult of personality that surrounds president. nicaraguan journalist flees the country was he trying to avoid the same fate his father faced in the one nine hundred seventy s. plus the israeli military gives its neighbors a lesson in geography the twitter sphere then escalates it to an all out mean war. it's been eight years since the fall of hosni mubarak and the uprising that briefly liberated egyptians and their media from life under one man rule fast forward to the present day and president. government is doubling down tripling down on controlling the news media measures that rights groups say are unprecedented in the country's recent history hundreds of websites blocked more than thirty journalists imprisoned new laws allow for the monitoring censoring and jailing of journalists and citizens as well as targeting all online outlets where they are most vulnerable

their bottom lines the media rights group reporters without borders warns that egypt's few remaining independent media face probable extinction or exile with the margins of acceptable speech narrower than ever and journalists expected to demonstrate complete loyalty to the state discerning truth in egypt from propaganda gets more difficult by the day or a starting point this week is the heart lacked of the revolutions that came to be known as the arab spring cairo. abdel fattah el-sisi did not wait to get into the president's office before taking issue with the egyptian news media that. this video leaked to a website called rust whose logo remains front and center was recorded in two thousand and thirteen. with. c.c. was the head of the armed forces appointed by president mohamed morsi the muslim

brotherhood leader he would later deposed and imprisoned he was meeting with his officers discussing how to deal with journalists empowered by the rule the media had played in the arab spring the fall of mubarak c.c.'s off camera when he was sponsored to this officer but you get the message. i don't. have a lot of what he was talking in that video has become true that was not. fulfilling prophecy that has allowed me to actually control the media as much as possible to get. that. respect. and i'm. sure that if you're there. to take.

nice you know. for the first time ever in egypt's history those military leaders who are almost immune against any kind of accountability or media criticism found themselves being described in gyptian media and social media as lies or deceiver or oppressors and the definitely didn't like that presidency she said and that is that the revolution have begun to dismantle the sas calls on the media and we need to return to a moment where we control the media so he says this is going to take a very large statewide effort because once we control the media and returned the cycle of fear in society then we can have ultimate control. when a government wants to transform a media landscape the place to start is it the ownership lever on t.v.

is a channel that used to air lively political debates like many other outlets with the new owners it now toes the government line in two thousand and sixteen the state intelligence agency g.i.s. launched its own channel d.m.c. t.v. then last year the g.i.s. was revealed to be behind an investment group called eagle capital that has bought six newspapers and websites including the site. as well as on. t.v. it's like the cia is starting its own channel in the us walk quietly buying c.n.n. and buzz feed and hoping that no one would notice the ownership of by the intelligence. agencies changed that it's already a line in some of these private companies by actually either making it completely entertainment and just like movies and sports and such or are advocating for a very pro state nationalistic protective kind of discourse security discourse base

it will be a hell of a lot of well as you can live what the hell are they are you have a look at what you're telling what it had been say bob you watch a channel or a website and you say oh which intelligence agency is behind that almost obligate gyptian government through its numerous security agencies has established private companies buying and controlling various mass media establishment egyptians no longer trust the godless of their private. you have officers the instruction of the news or the tires on what the next day's headlines or national and private newspapers are practically an identical headline it has become a laughing stock of the not just a hopeful. that the god. the legal landscape is changing too late last year egypt's media regulator the s.m.r. c proposed a new law that would allow the state to block broadcasts and websites for breaking

rules that were so ambiguously word that hundreds of journalists politicians and public figures petitioned for the abolition of a law that had yet to pass among the laws that have a so-called cyber security law that under the pretext of stopping fake news with strix online journalism and encourages service providers to collect and share data on users and there is a new registration law requiring online news site. it's to pay thousands of dollars just to apply for a license if in forced it could put many sites out of business and discourage others from ever starting. the last remaining pays for free speech and for some professional journalism was the internet and they are trying everything they can to curb this remaining space so they started with blocking these websites we have seen today find no provisions such as lengthy prison sentences. which means.

working these websites would have to observe so many precocious and red lines if cyberspace was the last vestige of political activity then the state will regulate that as well just so that the intelligence apparatus has started to buy media outlets they have not started infiltrating things like facebook and messenger and whatsapp and if for example you forward messages on whatsapp to several individuals what you get is this dissemination of false information charged under the terrorism law and so this chilling of society and of activism has now entered this realm of cyberspace where people cannot even report on reality. it's not as though the c.c. government needs laws to jail journalists al-jazeera as mahmoud hussein is one of dozens of reporters currently behind bars accused of disseminating false news to defame the state's reputation he's been imprisoned for more than two years solitary

confinement but has never been charged that's against egyptian law and it's typical . of. these pretrial imprisonment as a means of technically not having any political prisoners the court case is set up you get sent to prison based on that court case that pretrial detention lasts four years without a trial ever taking place some gets really. some don't it's all part of for granted luzhin money fractured by the regime but there are secret political currents working on toppling the regime and providing support for terrorist. presidency c. has grown accustomed to the journalistic red lines he has laid down with the egyptian media. and foreign news organizations reporting from inside the country are also feeling

the heat as are egyptians who speak to them ten months ago this woman told the b.b.c. her daughter had been forcibly disappeared she's been jailed accused of belonging to a terrorist group a reporter for the times of london was deported last year another journalist from france was denied entry cases that have not gone unnoticed by other correspondents based in part. they are trying different approaches. with foreign journalists if you criticize the government wouldn't give you the license to work in the country or suddenly. and we've been asked to leave. all the all live in continuous state of intimidation and exile are not able to do that work the state is now creating a new strategy to deal with the correspondents in egypt where if they get something

wrong it's like ok you got that wrong time corresponding to that wrong then sometimes they push for credentials and so i think they are being more proactive in pushing for a certain narrative statist narrative about what's going on and you. remember the revolution broke the fear and access. barrier and people had no problem coming into squares and writing. i'm blogging and tweeting and saying what was happening. president stephen was very weary of the small meant of how can we consolidate power in a way where we can return the institutions controlled under the state and remove the independence that media has had for two years and that's exactly what we've seen. we'll have more on egypt in the second half of the show right now though we're

looking at other media stories that are on our radar this week with one of our producers not celebes are marcella the elections in israel are coming up in three months time and it would appear that prime minister netanyahu is liquid party wants to make media coverage an election issue what kind of signs are we seeing modest signs billboards as well as online campaigns here's the billboard that's near his party put up and tell of eve it says for leading israeli journalists and that hebrew slogan reads they will not decide the reporters from different outlets print and broadcast how does the t.v. news channel thirteen and the newspaper mary they've all been covering the corruption investigations against netanyahu including allegations of bribery fraud and breach of trust now those cases have been going on for a while now and on some of them involve other israeli media outlets yeah they do one involves a newspaper are not netanyahu is accused of offering to change some of his

government's media policies and the owner's favor in exchange for positive news coverage and the other case involves an israeli telecoms for. netanyahu is alleged to have intervened with regulators on behalf again in return for glowing coverage on one of its news sites. netanyahu denies any wrongdoing in the cases he says the attorney general indicting him is colluding with the left and of course the media we don't see much of nicaragua in international news feeds however president daniel ortega his government is facing political unrest there how was that affected journalists trying to cover this story well it's getting harder for them to reporter many of had to flee the country the latest to go into exile is one of nicaragua's best known journalists lost fernando tamora is the editor of an independent website of convenience and hosts a number of t.v. . news shows last month his news room was raided by police model said he and many other journalists have been facing extreme threats and there's

a historical irony to this story tomorrow's father was also an outspoken journalist in the one nine hundred seventy s. assassinated for his work during the summer as a dictatorship so when i was toppled in one thousand nine hundred seventy nine in a revolution led by the data and the left wing sundanese the rebels forty years later junior is holed up in costa rica on the run he says from the order they were government over thanks to some. back to egypt now and the talking heads egyptians call emperors every night millions tune in to televised talk shows that focus more on politics than entertainment the hosts of the programs lecture opine argue rant sometimes even cry their way through hours of air time talk show hosts form a key filter through which egyptians have come to view their politics and they have an outsized influence on the masses under. the sea talk show hosts are expected to

legitimize his presidency and vilify his critics when they do not they have a habit of disappearing from the airwaves just like that television may be dwindling in importance in many countries but in egypt where literacy rates are low it remains the medium of the masses and few institutions are more influential than the evening talk shows and listening posts tarik naafa now in the highly politicized world of t.v. talk shows in each. to say that talk shows are the most important phenomenon in the way that government communicates with the public will be an undersea one demo i used under my baby shower feed and water. many to mostly it's consistent it's your painting. you get the feeling as though you're sitting at a cafe with them. and don't mistake it for

a moment this is not about bringing information to the people this is about bringing the government this or us into your homes instead of the. mission. that. was master of the structure and merchants of the absurd when you get in the job i did but she had sawdust. making it high i know. that is a. bill in kenya that in a country where more than a quarter of the population is a literate the spoken word has an outsized influence by the public consciousness well known a lot of the necessary to think of course. the egyptian love affair with talk shows began in the final years of the old regime its personally mubarak loosened his grip on the media. the hosts of these shows were colorful opinionated everything that

monochrome counterparts on state t.v. when not. after the revolution a state restriction of temporarily fell away talk shows became a platform for lively popular debate everybody the talk shows were always political now they're deeply politicized with both delivering a nightly diatribe that goes on and on and on the monologue can be up to a half hour in some cases forty five minutes where you have a host not only talking but working himself or herself up emotionally. married or sometimes you would have some video theatrical props. and the other thing is the interaction not only with the in studio guests but also with viewers at home for example we've seen relatives of some of the victims of the terrorist bombings where an audience member calls begins crying on the air. and the host

begins crying as well i have got that. for you and as a result the host becomes this emotional link this connection that brings people in their homes together i can see at least eighty percent of journalists i interviewed in egypt told me. to be first citizens and on the second professional journalists. say that there is a strong cord for subjectivity. and that is take a community set for seize the issue of the idea of objective journalism as trees and the importance of the personalities at play are beyond crucial without them the shows would come from two of them happen to be the power couple of middle eastern talkers is the first and he is very likely the most handsomely paid . he has

a natural instinct of intelligence and the intelligence agencies recognise that his wife is the incident she is a study in upper middle class the core and delivers her message. not as opinion but as fact how do i find. a plot to walk. the third person that comes to mind is the most grotesque figure of explicit propaganda from others i had to show what i think why and also not to frighten it all that much. is loud fascist non-apologetic all what they are. how do i follow what he excels at hyperbolic nationalistic form of diatribe that appeals to the lowest common denominator. over the years the format to survives but the mission has changed president to for to one thing see

took power in two thousand and fourteen on a wave of nationalist fervor vowing to return stability to egypt staking his legitimacy on combating terror that's. right. talk show hosts prevented the former general of the national savior who would stand between egypt and the chaos that was confusing the rest of the middle east and much. better if you could have. that they haven't had that one item hyping a shared sense of purpose panic and victimhood one of the key aspects of the stock shows is the way they whip up a sense of national emergency. shaaban most thought about but what that that me about that ok are you not only support the government if you bend over

backwards so to speak so dissidents political prisoners are typically vilified they are portrayed as enemies of the nation as a ballad and i do wish i had would and i do when what. and if you portray anybody as an enemy of the nation in a time of emergency what you're saying it's ok to jail them it's ok to beat them up and in some cases it's ok to kill them talk shows i very prominent political tool or political platform for messaging you need to support that he she because said he she is facing unprecedented dentures coming from cell time but also and maybe from inside said it's a conspiracy coming from. oh military yeah i mean the little bit of a i'm not. despotic they are under few scratch. every critical voice can be linked to some suppressive of the bad guys

real imagined and otherwise is constantly evolving to suit the needs of the state. qatar is now public enemy number one turkey is public enemy number two in iran is public enemy number three. and. now let me. and i think. and of course the ruler is featured prominently one way or another. there has always been a consistent awareness where the red lines are precisely and right now there are more outlines than there were ever been censorship is ubiquitous in egypt and takes many forms the government dictates the narrative and increasingly the intelligence

services are getting in on the at over the past year they secretly acquired almost all of egypt's privately owned t.v. networks having dispensed with media owners whose cooperation was never in doubt it was only a matter of time before attention turned to the big personalities fronts in egypt's talk shows this summer some of the country's best known hosts who played a pivotal role reinforcing president wrote a paradoxical disappeared from t.v. screen. t.v. a loyal government surrogates who went on vacation in august and never came back the regime in egypt has emasculated all of position it has controlled the. yeah to a level of ninety eight or ninety nine percent they have muzzled civil society completely and so you wonder why does that he made a threat well i think the reason these don't show hosts do present a threat is because the government is at a stage where it does not tolerate even indirect influence it wants to have direct

and immediate control over everything and you have to keep in mind that it all comes down to information who has it doesn't how it's delivered hats off to the c.c. for understanding the link between lack of education ease of the summation obstruction of information the government has created an environment where dispersement of the nation unless it is tightly controlled by government is all but impossible. and finally a geography lesson delivered over twitter by none other than the israeli military this past week israel launched air strikes on iranian forces stationed in syria then the israeli government tweeted out a message to tehran you seem to be lost it said along with a map with one set of arrows pointing to the islamic republic where iran belongs it said and another arrow pointing to syria saying where iran is that kicked off

a mean war and like many conflicts in the middle east powers on the outside were drawn in the us russia and turkey among them check it out we'll see you next time there are listening.

as italy takes a tougher line on migrants organized crime is making fast profits from their misery . people and power investigates the state funded reception centers where the helpless are reduced to commodities ripe for exploitation. and the migrants on al-jazeera. in the next episode of science in a golden age of be exploring the contributions made by scholars join the medieval islamic period in the field of medicine. science to be

a good subject to bring different people from all over the world together. to search for like a magical the more i learn about the more i respect science in a golden age with professor jim unfairly on a. hello i'm barbara starr in london these are the top stories on al-jazeera spain germany france and britain have upped the pressure on venezuelan leader nicolas maduro demanding that he calls elections within eight days or they will recognize the opposition leader one as president but venezuela has rejected the ultimatum at a long intense emergency session of the u.n. security council where the u.s.

was accused of meddling by kana reports there from the u.n. in new york. a highly unusual weekend session and at the outset russia made very clear its opposition to the proceeding arguing that any u.n. involvement in venezuela constituted a violation of that country's sovereignty particularly when you're city who rules we don't see any external threats coming from what is taking place in venice well or venezuela does not represent a threat to peace and security if anything does represent a threat to peace it is a shameless and aggressive actions of the united states and their allies aimed at the ouster of the legitimately elected president of venezuela russia demanded a procedural vote to continue the rick was a mine members voted to do so but the four votes against a signal that yet again the security council would not be speaking with a unified voice now it's time for every other nation to pick

a side no more delays no more games if you stand with the forces of freedom or you're in league with major and his mayhem that's a sentiment echoed by u.s. allies the united kingdom making a clear ultimatum we believe that one why don't you is the right man to take venezuela forward and we will recognize him as constitutional interim president if new elections are not announced within eight days the venezuelan foreign minister was allowed to put his country's point of view and seize the opportunity for a show and tell of what he called illegitimate u.s. intervention in latin america united states is withdrawing forces from syria well they are going to try to start a new war now in latin america venezuela we're not going to give them that satisfaction peace stability and understanding will prevail in venezuela in spite of all the efforts of the countries present here who are trying to trigger a war the u.s.

secretary of state was not there to listen holding a brief news conference before walking away and leaving the council still in session behind. mike and his era united nations the death toll has risen to thirty four in brazil following friday's collapse of a dam holding waste from an iron ore mine rescue teams are continuing to search for more than three hundred people who are still missing it happened on friday in the town of brewer denio in mesquite a state the company responsible for the mine vale essay is being ordered to suspend operations one point three billion dollars of its assets have been frozen and brazil's environmental agency has fined the company sixty six million dollars the cause of the disaster is not yet no same i want to thank you. if you use dead how is he going to be ok people for god's sake they will destroy him to carry honor and now it is destroyed the medina is still there. when i

reach the window i heard a noise from the water the mud to the trees falling everything going down a huge noise i got my mother started running to get the car we had some relatives here we put the people in the car and then we left and we did leave the models all over the place. taliban sources say they've reached a draft agreement with the u.s. special envoys on my head to end the war in afghanistan the two sides have been holding talks in capital where the taliban has an office and that timeline for a cease fire is expected to be announced soon it is now heading to afghanistan for consultations with the government but he says there are a number of issues left to work out and nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. the un human rights investigators are looking into the murder of saudi journalist jamal has shoji has requested access to the saudi consulate in istanbul agnes kalimat begins a weeklong mission to turkey on monday i showed you was killed by a hit squad in the saudi building last october those are the top stories al jazeera

world the independence and the iraqi kurds is coming up next i'll have more news in half an hour join me then. illo . this is it in capital of the semi autonomy as kurdish region of northern iraq.

the kurdistan regional government the k r g held an independence referendum in twenty seventeen in the face of opposition from its allies neighbors and the iraqi government. an overwhelming majority of iraqi kurds voted for the region to separate from the rest of iraq. but their celebrations were short lived. they k.-r. ji did not declare independence but the iraqi central government penalized the kurdish region economically and banned international flights closed border crossings and punished referendum supporters in disputed areas. today the iraqi kurds are no nearer independence than they were in september twenty seventh seen. the kurdistan regional government was established in the early one nine hundred ninety s.

after years of conflict between the kurds and the iraqi government iraqi forces left the kurdish region in october one nine hundred ninety one and the semi autonomous k r g was set up a year later. in this film al-jazeera arabic correspondent time and this had to it a bit to ask what happened with the referendum in twenty seventeen why did the k r g go ahead with the votes what was the point if they weren't going to declare independence. why did the k r g s allies oppose the vote and why did the others support it. why are critics political parties so fragmented. and what now for the whole question of kurdish independence. help candidates to stay left here and let the geography a little september was about i shot a couple in the star. and now to depart to talk.

i hope for the tide in what many would be. low at least if that were thirty g.b. had it's just a publicist say it's i hadn't gotten i could i what. i want to know i did this if that. were not. fit. well i can come in by a theater. ok mr when i committed this. let me a condition equal if you hadn't was this what i came in by you you and your fiddle do. your homework. this. could be a little lame who would want it could lead you to learn your cool look then with us human genome language not all. of you to feel how they feel for the deli counter but that's of philadelphia. but these squabbles about timing are relatively minor

details in the context of the long and tempestuous history in the relationship between the baghdad government and the kurds. originally from mountain regions in the northern middle east the kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in the region today between twenty five and thirty five million kurds live in an area that spans the borders of turkey iraq syria iran and armenia. after the first world war and the defeat of the ottoman empire the kurds anticipated establishing their own permanent state but the treaty of laws than in one nine hundred twenty three gave control of asia minor to the new state of turkey . kurdish hopes of autonomy were dashed for several decades. iraqi kurdish hopes were revived when the iraqi monarchy was overthrown in the

fourteenth of july revolution in one nine hundred fifty eight. article three of the new constitution said that quotes arabs and kurds are considered partners in this country where the constitution will stay to their national rights under the arab unity. the whole loop. for. some of. the. shop was closed. well. we just said fear of the mud the third when the. surreal when i'm seeing these mother thomas are the shot i. thought they were three million the act of a thought of thirty thousand head and quickly but. want to stick around and they

didn't come on the can cause some morally collateral. solemnised or for how long what joe who visited your heart but. you have to tell me again and call to mother or you know nick who. feel me that a little i knew hundred could be over joey when they didn't than i did. stan what. mesereau designed his father most of all was a kurdish nationalist leader who led the iraqi kurds in a number of conflicts including the first iraqi kurdish war from one nine hundred sixty one to one nine hundred seventy he then agreed with prime minister of the stadium cost him the kurds should have the rights autonomy. but the negotiations broke down and in one nine hundred seventy four hostilities resumed in the second iraqi kurdish war. the relationship between the two sides remained fractious not

keast because most of the fall but also allied himself with neighboring iran. in one nine hundred seventy five the algerian president who made c.n.n. sponsored an agreement between baghdad and to her on he brought together the shah of iran with event iraqi vice president saddam hussein. the agreements put an end to iranian support for the kurds in return for iraq's relinquishing sovereignty over half of the shots a lot of waterway. in one nine hundred seventy nine they reign in revolution erupted overthrowing the shaw.