Transcripts For ALJAZ Newsgrid 20170930

Saying catalonia session vote wont happen supporters of the referendum have occupied polling stations in barcelona bad determined their voices will be heard coming up a live update from a very tense. Also on the grid hitting puerto rico while its down trumps accusing the islands mayor of bad leadership as the u. S. Territory tries to recover from the strongest hurricane to hit in almost a century and the uns announced an investigation into potential human rights abuses in yemen by all sides its what yemenis and human Rights Groups have called for for years but really what sort of success right do these sorts of groups even have. And im leon harding thousands are expected to march in washington d. C. Demanding an apology for black men and women immigrants and taking it were following that conversation online but we want to hear from you think about the hash tag it james. You know we can use good live on air in streaming online through you tube Facebook Live and aljazeera dot com and we are now less than twenty four hours from the planned secession referendum in spains catalonia region the build up it has been long it has been fraught it has been tense and even now theres not actually any confirmation it will take place yes the council on Regional Government is determined it will the spanish Central Government says its illegal and that they will. Reject it. Even willing to go as far as forcibly removing people from polling booths on sunday though thats not deterred some people these pictures from barcelona where sometimes entire families have camped out overnight inside some of the schools being used as Voting Centers almost two hundred schools are being occupied to ensure the referendum goes ahead or at least tries to but the Spanish Government says police have already sealed off more than half of the schools lets go to barcelona now here is karl penhall overlooking that beautiful city there but wow tense was the word i use and i imagine the tension all these things building now absolutely you need to know when families start to organize themselves into citizens defense committees things have sunk to a new low theyre simply occupying those schools trying to keep them open so that they can be used as voting stations the spanish Central Government has a different idea and this morning the Civil Guard Police into the Information Technology department of the capitol and government shutting down software and applications that would be used to take count the votes in the event that the referendum goes ahead this is all part of the battle between regional and Central Government over whether this vote is legal at all thats why i want to bring in not a health care out shes a constitutional lawyer at hellyeah were kind of going into unknown territory here because the constitution does say that this kind of referendum is not legal this is not constitutional but does that necessarily mean its illegal. Wall right now if we see how the constitution is written and then how theyre our Constitutional Court has interpreted the constitutional provisions we could say that its not legal but it doesnt mean that we cant change our constitution or even easier if the politicians in madrid above all they go there they were they agreed to. Me to allow such a referendum it could take place legally but is it not a question looking at people on the street theres a grassroots growth of expectation there should we not be just thinking about breaking apart the constitution putting it back together make it more responsive to peoples needs actually i mean yes of course i mean our constitution taken up by the the catalan conflict needs and. Needs to be reformed needs to be updated because it has its has already for two years it has a slide slightly has been referred to us but i mean many Many Political parties many sections of their population they say we say we need to realize that our constitution to our needs so there catalan conflict to catalan question is one of these things that that needs to be re accommodated in a new not new constitution but in a reform of difficult that constitution yes of course of course laws have an impact on peoples lives what are you seeing there in terms of the divisions and also the threat that a lot of the people taking part in the referendum now will be faced with fines or even prison how is that going to play out i mean that their situation right now is terrible i mean i think that nobody one wanted to to get to this point the cut down society is divided right now into two parts one that all three parts section. Why i want but the thing that the referendum should take should take place and it did legal and its our right to defend it done everything then a second bar coming from a part of spain or some some parts of spain that say no do dont have the right to have a referendum and then a third party in the me the lattes we should have a referendum but a legal one so its Like Fighting three parts. At least two of these two parts the the want these disproportionate answer to those who are celebrating the referendum but by the other side we have to have we have to have clear that the reform in the meets not constitutional so when you breach or when you are in breach with the legal order there are some consequences the thing is that we have done all that they cut. The last weeks in my opinion they have doing that they have following the brome way so it may have this but consequent consequences for everyone thank you very much out of here so from what we can see from what i have just been telling as it kind of reflects what a lot of people on the streets have been telling me too that they feel that Catalan Society in many ways has been broken by the issue of this referendum and that is going to take a lot of putting back together both in legal terms but also in social terms as well. Thank you cal busy day coming up here in the rest of the teams tomorrow and looking forward to that coverage of the well well see what happens theres always two sides to an ongoing of course in this case it is the spaniards and how theyre taking all of this really well people in the capital madrid have been out protesting against the catalonia referendum they say they are supporters of the united spain the Spanish Foreign minister has called the vote i quote mockery of democracy. And the dispute between catalonia the rest of spain has been bubbling away for years it has to be said an interesting way people elsewhere in the country feel they too should be able to have a say thats why some in madrid decided to hold their own mock vote and its funny but we discovered the spanish civil war is actually still very much on peoples minds. Its pains most familiar to me but these are estonia has lost some of its meaning since catalonia started its drive for cessation and its forthcoming referendum. On friday madrid held his own referendum purely symbolic but the people here equally important the question people were asked was do you want catalonia to remain part of spain because you want to remember to remind everybody that you know spanish sovereignty its you know should be decided by all spaniards not just one part of spain which is catalonia you know these this year would affect holy spain i want to make sure that Everybody Knows that you know spain has a voice here yes maybe thats you live in i came to vote because what they do in catalonia is an outrage against the constitution against spain and against history those people deserve the worst adjectives even a lot of fun oh yeah if franco was alive we would just shoot them against the wall live franco lives by we dont want your communists welcome or nice that thats an extreme view but there are still many in spain who think former military leader Francisco Franco was a hero and not a villain to the tranquil countryside north of madrid is the valley of the fall and a monument created to remember those killed in the civil war it was built by Political Prisoners and is where franco is buried if theres anything that symbolizes the divisions in Spanish Society its this place is supposed to commemorate the dead on both sides of the civil war but for many its a monument to the fascist victory and the defeat of the republicans many of whom were catalan. Many on spains left believe that francos legacy lives on in every aspect of spanish life from the judiciary to politics and they support the catalans right for selfdetermination we have a lot of alto retiring frank and so the National Question is been through. In a completely practical way we believe that catalonia referendum can be a democratic key another example for all the nations that lives in it are now on the institution of this kind of state. In madrid vote people overwhelmingly wanted catalonia to stay part of spain but on sunday the question is will it still be a case of be the last spaniard or will it be farewell catalonia tony bertie aljazeera madrid. Now lets think about borders here because its not just internal matters to worry about of got the map here with barcelona in the catalonia region but if we zoom out look how close it is to the French Border for example the city of perth being on that means there would in the event of secession be a new border to be established but it also means you have catherine living on the french side of the border they wouldnt have a vote but the change would obviously affect them as well now in fact perpignan is the second biggest catalan city after bus alone or home to nearly half a million gallons Natasha Butler went there to find out what this referendum could mean for their future. Its primetime at radio at earls frances only catalan news station for more than thirty years its been broadcasting to the southwest and peppino region where a third of people speak the language the radio is a way of keeping their culture alive. Where a region where our language is under threat three centers it was banned slowly its coming back especially in schools so our radio is helping this renewal by developing the language and maintaining our catalan identity Rolling Vineyards and sweeping mediterranean beaches define this part of france known as northern catalonia southern catalonia is a few kilometers away just across the spanish border peyronies separate the two but people are united by their catalan roots traditions and pride it certainly feels very unique carried feels very different from other parts of france there are catalan colors and reminders everywhere and people say they are looking very closely at the referendum which is taking place just over the border so whats interesting is great the people in french catalonia say that they would want independence from the state. By the Catalan Association in the center of pep in your Office Activities for all ages while many catalans in spain want to vote for a clean break from madrid those here say they wish to remain part of france but with a more regional autonomy. Underneath all of the unemployment is widespread here young people are jobless the french state does little for us we want a special status corsica which would give a small town im a great education going to me and taxation. The mesmerising side down a dance was banned in the one nine hundred forty s. By spanish dictator general franco who regarded the catalans as a threat. The people here grew up with it its intricate moves have been passed down through generations and classes like this are popular enough land of ignore them on the new south fire along with our mountains the sadhana our language its everything a sketch islands have its our inspiration. With no great momentum for independence the focus for most catalans here is on keeping in step with france but dancing to their own tune the tasha butler aljazeera. Heres liam out later going to take going after the way we communicate now is in effect i was going to say good way to fit to play a very effective yes and its been used to it is and wiki leaks cofounders been writing about on twitter too but this identity battle is definitely playing out on line between catalonia in spain both sides are talking about it now julianna songe like i said the week ulicks founder he actually called it the worlds first internet war he accuses spanish intelligence agencies of freezing communication links occupying Telecom Buildings and censoring hundreds of sites and as a result assad has called on tech savvy folks around the world to help fight that battle now more than seventy academics from north america have signed this letter also calling for the Spanish Government to stop all censorship this outcry is a reaction to several incidents that have happened so far for example google was forced to remove the catalonia referendum app from its spanish store after a high court there demanded that it do so the app gave voters information about polling stations and then the watchdog media dot cat they have built this map to monitor ways that the Spanish Government has censored media related to the referendum these dots here represent different elements that have been affected in society the brown ones i have are of newspapers that have been censored and then there are these little green dots here those represents artists or academics who have been silenced for supporting the referendum now on his twitter posting on friday a songe went on to say along with posting this picture that catalan response to Prime Minister repression is impressive and he said its also strategic catalans quote keep it light with humor and calm he says ensuring that people are not afraid to vote and directing Reactive Energy into growing their institutions and away from fear and violence but others. They say that cats line authorities are censoring just as much as the spanish authorities this article here says that the referendum is unconstitutional and being forced on the region through propaganda we heard from the author of this article heres what he had to say the situation has been quite worrying and surprising catherine authorities have been trying to influence the coverage of this campaign. For instance in june there was a notion passed in parliament proposing not to fund those media that were not support in the referendum in the last few weeks weve seen how journalists have been criticise in the in social networks and media for not siding with the government or with the spin. Weve seen how. Publicly subsidise media and continue to come quite partial view and the situation has been you know its by prisoners decisions by reporters with of by their side and many other institutions clearly we have accusations on both sides as we head into the much awaited referendum on sunday no of course be following the story very closely here at aljazeera so be sure to check back and you can also connect with us with the hash tag e. J. Newsprint thank you lia so did the sun last night still relevant though the catalonia referendum billups been going on for some time so this all you need to know feature will take you back to basics and remind you of why its all happening its in the europe news section at aljazeera the common also back in pulled us was the talk about a zero team spoke to khalis bridge them all who is the president of the catalonia region who outlined why he was calling for the referendum so that sunline into talked about as a reception bobs the team that actually interviewed him again today and here is a quick taste of that. General can you know i am no criminal im not responsible for sedition normally when there is a coup detat temped its against democracy you dont normally get a coup detat with ballot papers that are comparable yoke it is inconceivable that a peaceful people trying to express themselves peacefully could be repressed by violent means we are in a paradox for the past six years we organize demonstrations that are brought together millions of people with zero instance of violence we can organize big demonstrations we can mobilize large masses now we have ten times more police should we be scared of violence or whatnot but the Spanish State is acting like an arsonist its putting wood on the fire its acting totally irresponsibly it is a lack of spanish patriotism and its he was editing that interview literally right as we speak its going to be put online as soon as possible and then the First Television screening of it will be at twenty two thirty g. M. T. Tonight saturday get in touch with us once you twitter at a. J. English hashtag a j news grid facebook dot com slash news good for the live stream you can comment as you go there will send us a message on whats that plus nine seven four five or one triple one four nine right lots to get through were going to look at the Iraqi Government now which is coordinating with iran and turkey to take control of its International Borders in the semi autonomous kurdish region baghdad sent troops to its shared Border Crossings part of iraqs attempts to isolate the region after it of course voted for secession so here is where its happening these borders iraq shares with turkey and iran theyre critical routes for trade and supplies in and out of the country the area shares two major Border Crossing with iran at haji oman and iranian t. V. Is reporting its military will hold joint border exercises with iraqi troops and we know there are currently iraqi troops on the Turkish Border here at the border and are simmons was supporting reporting from there last night that we have to note that all these crossings are actually still open. To widen out a bit we have to see how far fade how far afield the kurds actually live this is from al jazeera dot com and the important thing to note here the brown shaded areas those are all areas inhabited by kurds lots of them as you say over here in turkey and then in syria and some in iran even quite far across in iran as well then you have this green region in the middle which is the kurdish region in iraq actually administered by the kurdistan Regional Government and where is the border. Through the middle. Which tells you why iraq is placing so much attention of it literally right in the middle of those kurdish areas well this is the city of kirkuk as well in Northern Iraq which has some of the biggest oil reserves in the country and for decades has been disagreements about who should control it they peshmerga units loyal to the semi autonomous kurdish Regional Government do patrol the city but its inclusion in mondays referendum is angered by debt as child stratford now reports the Kurdish Peshmerga to control the people cook after the iraqi army fled in islip pensive in two thousand and fourteen but theres never been agreement between the kurdish Regional Government or caleb ji in the federal government in baghdad about who should be in control here and benefit most from the areas of vast oil wealth. Kirkuk had an eighty percent turnout in the referendum on kurdish the session the day after the vote the Iraqi Parliament asked Prime Minister hydrilla party to send troops into kurdish controlled disputed areas like kirkuk and take back control of the oil fields and the kurdish governor of kirkuk hopes he doesnt heed to parliaments demand Prime Minister about he has made it clear that force is not how you will. Approach this thing. And i agree with him and we dont expect a force to be used but of course there are people may be not under his control who may try to do this Parliament Earlier this month voted to remove mr karim but he has refused to go and anything that comes against me for my patriotic position. Its its an honor for me many kurds call kirkuk their jerusalem but there are also turkomans arabs and christians here too there are also hundreds of thousands of arabs that have arrived here in recent years fleeing i saw and they feel very let down by the baghdad government theres also considerable opposition amongst the arabs and the turkmen about any idea with respect to kirkuk being part of a future independent kurdish state the vast majority of turkmen and arabs who have lived in kirkuk for generations boycotted the referendum this if you to the area and the borders of k r g is not a clear and this specially kid. Will be. Spaced off this a triangle between arab be owned by god and may be. A war about kirkuk the way to solve this a problem is not independency and then found on the way is the airlock. The two thousand and five constitution stipulates that the federal government send seventeen percent of the federal budget to the kayla g. Every year. It stops sending the money in two thousand and fifteen. And baghdad has since accused the kayleigh ji of not sharing the oil wells but any fighting here could jeopardize the battle against leisel in how we are around fifty kilometers southwest of kirkuk. Who control was killed cook was at the home the referendum on kurdish independence. The kurds say they will fight everywhere who tries to take it from them. That aljazeera it will got some live pictures coming here at the wall from barcelona and its a good reminder as well it will the cameras going for pan there but hes going to tell you about all the flags in that picture but we cant see them oh there we go weve seen all these flags on the street but no its those the spanish flags this is anti referendum or no vote i guess you would be saying people who believe in a united spain there are plenty of people out there on the street and theres another camera there right in the middle of it all is well its people who passionately speaking about a united spain just a good reminder that when you see all these people out there protesting there is a definite split between what they want or write off we go to london also to hear with more International News for as i say thank you come out the u. S. Has acknowledged for the first time that its in direct communication with pyongyang in an effort to resolve tensions on the Korean Peninsula u. S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson met his chinese counterpart in beijing on his second trip to the Chinese Capital this year the u. S. Want to china to increase the economic pressure on north korea over its Nuclear Weapons and with our program on thursday beijing ordered almost Korean Companies in china to shut down by january adrian brown reports from beijing. Well with tensions on the Korean Peninsula still at a very dangerous level rarely have relations between china and the United States mattered as much as they do now Rex Tillerson had been june to arrive in beijing on friday night but his visit was delayed because of mechanical problems with his plane on saturday he had a brief audience with president xi jinping that is significant because chinas president doesnt always grant an audience to visiting dignitaries from overseas thats a measure of the importance they place on Rex Tillerson presence in china and also of the importance they place on President Donald Trump visiting china in november that was confirmed by the white house at the weekend both china and the United States have a very different approach as to how to deal with north korea Rex Tillerson wants to make sure that china delivers on its promise to fully implement United Nations sanctions against north korea for its part china says its backing a whole slew of new sanctions against north korea for instance on sunday it will begin limiting the export of oil to north korea on friday it announced it was shutting down all north korean businesses in china in three months time the same applies to north korean chinese joint ventures so in a sense north korea in a strange way is bringing china and the United States closer together. The white house has ordered a crackdown on the u. S. Their use of private planes for government staff following the resignation of the u. S. Health secretary tom price made twenty six private flights this year which cost the taxpayer around four hundred thousand dollars and the president several other Administration Officials are facing scrutiny over their travel all private flights will now have to be approved by chance chief of staff john kelly. Hundreds of or hinder refugees who have crossed into bangladesh are lining up to receive aid they quit apollo just across the border bangladeshis have mobilized to help some of the hoffa Million People who have escaped the violence in myanmar the United Nations Refugee Agency and the government are providing food water and medical aid thats it from me now about to come all in doha thank you. Ten days now since Hurricane Maria bassett puerto rico and while aid to the u. S. Territory is trickling in the mayor of the capital san juan says its just not nearly enough in fact she has accused the trumpet ministration of killing people with an efficiency of a listen. We are dying here. And now i cannot fathom. The thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for a small island of one hundred miles my thirty five miles long i am begging begging anyone that can hear us save us from dying. If anybody out there is listening to us we are dying. And you are killing us with the inefficiencies. And of bureaucracy. And inevitably came the response from President Trump on twitter first he said the democrats a told it would be nasty dam and then he said such poor leadership ability by the mayor of san juan and others in puerto rico who are not able to get their workers to help but want everything to be done for them when it should be a Community Efforts ten thousand federal workers are now on the island doing a fantastic job also on the island to rise a boa correspondent who is seeing for himself one of the shelters that have been set up in san juan. This is a Convention Center letting turned into an Emergency Coordination Center between federal authorities and local authorities to try to get this island out of the crisis disc people that you can see behind me lining up there here to ask for help some of them are offering themselves as volunteers in order to go and help out around this island that has been devastated in many many areas and the mayor of san juan. Has been very vocal about what this island needs in order to recover she say that much more government help federal help is needed in order to come out of the Current Crisis but where answered by President Donald Trump saying that photo recants need to start working as a community theres over ten thousand federal agents on this island trying to help out so obviously those comments were not taken well among people here who are still trying to recover from the shock that the hurricane left in many areas around the country there is no water theres still no electricity all around the island it is completely relying on generators and thats why fuel is extremely needed at this point puerto rican scene general are saying that theyre being discriminated by the federal government theyre saying that theyre not receiving the same treatment that people in florida or texas that were also hit by hurricanes received and many of them here are demanding more help stick around if youre watching on so i spoke live you going to be looking at a snapshot of a big change coming to and some voters. Also here on the great sorrow he will be here with sports looking at changes in basketball the real game changer for players who covered it. However weve seen some very heavy rain recently into northeastern parts of turkey that has led to some extensive flooding still a fair amount of cloud just straddling the black sea pushing over towards the caspian sea im afraid yes there is more rain in the forecast over the next day or so i so wanted to show was there ever towards georgia just extending out to come further south this financial i just around syria lebanon jordan twenty celsius there for beirut similar value to for terror and go on into monday here comes that cloud of rain that wall away through armenia pushing across georgia over to the caspian sea northern parts of iran could see some wet weather further south still pretty hot in baghdad at thirty five celsius and hotter still in kuwait city at thirty eight thirty eight here too for not too bad though it does feel pleasantly warm that maybe touching thirty nine as we go on through monday elsewhere across the region peninsula why is the sunshine busting through were seeing some rather wet weather busting across eastern parts of south africa recently hundred thirty nine millimeters of rain and cause do not tolerate showery ray will make its way further east which as we go on through the next couple of days easing across the eastern cape by the time we come to monday it should be dry. A new here a new kind many new developments for this chinese villages fledgling democracy the Village Committee has retrieved peoples land but approval is fleeting the frustration grips the villages and as the saga began over a year before revolt is in the air full circle. Part four of a six part series is filmed over five years one kind of chinas democracy experiment at this time on aljazeera. Aljazeera. Where ever you are. The headlines on aljazeera dot com and whats happening whats trending i should say as well. Interesting stories about north korea today the u. S. Saying its in contact with pyongyang in a second i dont want production trigger war on the Korean Peninsula plenty of different interesting stories there not just the catalan referendum plenty of stuff you read about there do russians care about syria what were going to be talking about shortly is where we have a jump in two years now since russia got involved in syria. We reported on yesterdays great event the news broke during our program the United Nations has agreed to start an independent investigation into alleged human rights abuses by all sides in yemen and it is a compromise between western powers and arab countries including saudi arabia which since twenty fifteen has led the Coalition Fighting but the rebels who are supported by iran allegations have been made against well everyone in the conflict frankly now. Yes all sides what i want to talk about forgive me im having a few little tech problems here and we should be good to go here ok so were going to talk about all sides here what exactly does that mean well ive got the answer here finally on my screen there we go this in for a graphic from al jazeera dot com the coalition as you say its led by saudi arabia lots of arab states involved there is support as well as you see on the left hand side from the u. S. The u. K. France turkey belgium those opposing it and its iran china and russia so that puts you in the picture as to who is involved with us now an International Human rights lawyer at going to thirty seven and International Human rights lol so hes in washington nice to see you again toby what do you make of this investigation first of all they talk about it being independent im sure it will be but i mean the problem with these things is how both sides all of these sides involved with except what they consider as being independent or not. Well thats right and thats thats going to be a huge challenge going to depend upon who is put forward as the commission is for this investigative body and that will go some way to i would hope swaying both sides that it will be independent impartial obviously what weve seen from the discussions in the Human Rights Council this week a number of states with side arabia at the forefront trying to prevent it from Going Forward. I dont close the Saudi Coalition is going to be is going to oppose. The body Going Forward to to investigate whats happening on the ground but i think that what weve seen with previous commissions is certainly that they are independent they are impartial and of course theyve got to be given the necessary support to to do their work and the necessary access theyve got to get into yemen and i mean were looking at pictures on screen right now i mean yemen is a war zone and i wonder if theyll be able to get in and be if they get in how safe theyll be and what theyll be able to find out. Well i think its probably unlikely that they will get in when we look at previous commissions of inquiry syria and palestine for example the Syrian Commission of inquiry had done all of their investigations on the borders and it really does undermine the significance of their work and when we looked at the Commission Inquiry for for palestine the team was unable to get into gaza and had to conduct their investigations from jordan which again seriously undermines the ability to properly investigate so it is going to be a serious problem for them both in terms of access and security ok so lets say that yes there is an investigation it happens i come back with a reporter recommendations and they say yes the saudis that it will crimes and the yemenis and the who or whoever they come back with it then it becomes about accepting it doesnt it and again when the battles been going on say how many years now its hard to see any of the sides accepting that saying oh yes we are guilty of war crimes. With us right i think there are once the Commission Issues its findings there there are going to be two problems that need to be addressed one getting the sides to accept and coming together for four to get a tip a settlement but more importantly how are you actually going to establish a process of accountability for those that have committed war crimes with their all saudis whether they are yemeni hutus or whoever they may be. As weve seen russian trying or has already opposed the resolution so even even if the matter goes before the u. N. Security council its unlikely that its going to end up in the International Criminal court and then what you are forced to look at is bringing cases and potentially universal jurisdiction side of yemen. As weve seen with the cases brought in relation to syria in a number of European Countries so i think thats going to be a challenge is yes they have committed war crimes but what next yes it isnt it toby hagon always good to talk to you and get your perspective thank you very much for joining us thank you its been two years now since russia intervened in the Syrian Civil War seems like an innocuous sort of anniversary but the fact is russias involvement changed the dynamics of the whole conflict and really strengthen the syrian president Bashar Al Assad when he needed it most as our reports. In the northern countryside of homs a russian delegation attempted to negotiate a sation of hostilities at stake establishing checkpoints revealing the fates of detainees and introducing much needed humanitarian aid one more reminder of how strong a presence russia has in syria since it intervened two years ago in the very beginning of the operation the theme coming from the crown on this is was that this is going to be a shortened gauge month actually several months after the russians went then in march sixteen ounce that the object of the mission has been accomplished and russias beginning it would draw a limited military mission may have been in vision when russia launched its first air strikes in syria but that soon changed the message now that now russia has a solid base in syria its naval base and darkness is being expanded we have also an air force powerful base in command me im. Near the mediterranean coast and so russia has of course. In the mediterranean and so russia has a serious three foot hold in the middle east and thats planks nato and thats more or less what its told through the russian public that this is a great military success while iran and hezbollah have also been instrumental in backing up syrian president bashar assad since the beginning of the war it was russian air power that changed the dynamics of the conflict giving assad the upper hand the establishment of deescalation zones in syria has become a priority for moscow but even with the presence of Russian Military personnel in various parts of the country its still a question as to how they will be enforced still having solidified its influence in such a strategically important country in the middle east the cost of military involvement in syria seems to have been well worth it for russia. And look whos here in the studio with us mohammed join us to say it nice if its so can we play it all how important russias involvement was sunny two years ago but how how bad were things for Bashar Al Assad at that time before rusher intervened the short answer no we cant underscore in on how important their intervention was because before they came into this conflict the way that they did supporting with their air power the regime of bashar assad this was a seesaw war that was going on you had months where it seemed as though the regime was getting the upper hand and then you had months would it seemed as though the various rebel factions and rebel groups were getting the upper hand but it looked like something that was just going to drag on and it certainly looked as though bashar assad was going to continue to lose territory gradually now once they came in that was it that changed the game after that bashar assad seemed very confident that he was going to get the upper hand eventually he did and really ultimately what this did was to render these various talks that have been going on with a b. And a stand in the capital of kazakhstan or whether it be in geneva almost meaningless almost a few times well thats what i was actually going to ask you about because us thinking the amount of times ive seen you in front of a live camera from particular geneva but youve been to a stunner as well i mean what has rush or achieved there took me through a bit more of the so you had the geneva process that had been going on since i believe two thousand and twelve and then in two thousand and seventeen you had the announcement of this a stand up process now you talk to you and officials and they say they are glad that the estancia process is going on this is backed by russia by iran by turkey it brings together various rebel groups it brings together the Syrian Regime in a stand in the capital of kazakhstan to try to iron out the mechanism by which a ceasefire would be agreed to and adhered to inside of syria but really what russia was able to do was to take a lot of the moment. Away from the u. N. From u. N. Special envoy for syria Staffan De Mistura who have been struggling for years to try to get these groups on the same page to try to find a political path forward to talk about things like political transition in syria and also to try to solidify a ceasefire then all of a sudden you have this parallel track but behind the scenes when you speak to diplomats they would say look what russia has done is really deflated the momentum of the u. N. Process and because of that its made it much more difficult to get these groups on the same page so were going to be talking about it more than one where you might have a jump in pleasure as always thank you great to be here thanks now it has been a turbulent time for resolutions in the United States recently and thats why tens of thousands of people across the country of oncet a new cold to action this is the National March for Racial Justice and its happening right now in washington d. C. Sister rise of planned in other cities as well weve got allan she also with us in the washington d. C. Allan talk us through it. Afternoon yeah were here at lincoln park in washington d. C. Where the march for Racial Justice for this city will begin shortly. Similar marches planned for ten other cities around this country people just demanding more attention to racial equality racial inequality and justice for communities of my own minorities this of course in an environment right now thats very racially charged in this country with Football Players american Football Players taking in near linking arms during the National Anthem to raise awareness of the same thing with recent white supremacist marches invisibility and a sort of tepid response to those things from the white house in the face of many Different Police shootings of minorities as well so this happens in a very charged atmosphere and its happening in washington d. C. And nine or ten other countries other cities rather around the country i want to talk to Maurice Cooke right now maurice steppin right here hes one of the founders or organizers of this march what is the feeling among your community the black Community Just about the state of Race Relations how were all getting along in this country right now we are feeling. Then defied you know just as you know just. Theres so many people who have been saying that this is happened for many years this is just a continuation of what weve always experienced and were happy now that more people see this and this is an opportunity for so many of us to come together i think because of that the you know heightened sense of the uptick of races and since they have been happening. You know the camera shot where the whole nation the whole world can see the way weve been treated in this country it has emboldened us to come together black and brown. People of different religious backgrounds people with different sexual orientations all of us all of us marginalized communities have come together. To fight against this theres considerable theres considerable anger and especially of fear as well from the stage and in this crowd today is there hope also absolutely this is a representation of hope people came out here because they have hold people want to make sure that they are part of history we know the type of people that we are were full of love we know who we are and this is an opportunity for us to launch this movement and continue this work of coming all together and i thank you very much maurice cook one of the organizers of the march for Racial Justice here in washington d. C. Theyre planning to march past the department of justice to make their point downtown and also past the trump hotel in washington d. C. Back to you. Thank you allan now the march like he was saying is really a blend of several equality movements hash tag for r. J. Or march for Racial Justice has been building up online ahead of the march that is happening now now allen is at the march as we just saw but we weve also been following this movement on Facebook Live and on twitter along with the protesters on the ground this video was just posted a few minutes ago from washington d. C. So were continuing to follow that for you now as we were saying is that this black lives matter is also a part of this movement and this group advocating for the rights of black women is also involved and they said here in this quote that when women of color lead change everyone is elevated with us and this group here aiming to protest for rights of women in general others are also speaking out in support of. Immigrant rights now the organizers like maurice who we just heard from they say that this march is for anyone who has ever felt marginalized heres more from that group on why this march is happening now. I remember i heard that flynn a castillos mer while i was acquitted i just remember feeling really upset and outrage and hopeless because i just couldnt stop thinking about this young man who everyone seemed to love in his town and he was shot in front of his little girl and his partner. And. It just was. I just you know i had to do something i can. And cannot do something this large and this movement its for people. Especially the people who have been most impacted by Racial Injustice elysia gars of them black lives matter said that only white people can and whites from c. And i think. That racism is not a black problem or a like you know problem or an anyone problem is a white problem i march because i stand on the shoulders of those who struggle and sacrifice their lives to ensure that i had the rights to live the rights to exist help us take a stand to make sure that there is not one more centered land not one more to me arise not one more hour governor not one more time sterling not one more Trayvon Martin and not one more from linda castillo. None of us are free until august no one no longer generation. Ive seen this go on. If youre following along with this conversation online to get in touch with us the hash. Of a thank you far is going to be here with your sports news in a moment first lets check somebody with. Its gone as far as. Possible with a bit since following the example set by both athletics and football october the first marks a milestone in International Basketball as a longstanding ban on head coverings is officially lifted basketball players can now where religious headgear on the court as long as they dont protrude or cause injury to the user or other players the change was approved earlier this year after a sustained Online Campaign the new rule not only helps muslim women players but also members of the sikh an Orthodox Jewish communities they campaign to get the ban overturned was spearheaded by simran saying hes the Senior Religion fellow for the c. Coalition and he joins me now live from new york in summer and are you frustrated its taken so long to get this to get the rules changed. Well its a its a yes and no yes its frustrating that it took us more than three years to have this rule changed you know peoples lives were affected by this and we really dont believe anyone should have to choose between their love for their faith and their love for sports on the other hand were very pleased to note this progress and to see that people are open minded and willing to make change when they are brought forward you know what something that should be a very simple decision so were glad at the end of the day that this has happened we just wish you hadnt taken so long well did the old rules result in young members of your community missing out on the chance to play basketball it absolutely the old the old rules stipulated that no one could wear head coverings on a Basketball Court in International Competition and there were young men of the sixth faith who were participating in International Basketball on the National Team for india who were actually us to sit out or to remove their turbans and so this has a direct impact on those who participate in International Competition but it also has a direct impact on our children right who see these messages being sent that they dont have a right to play as much as anybody else and this discourages them from participating in sports and so this rule change we hope will actually help the next generation inspired them to actually participate as freely and to feel like they belong in this Global Society as much as anyone else i spoke to ask you about the old rules again did they reinforce prejudices against members of your community. Oh absolutely i think if you if you think about how institutionalized discrimination works these are often rules that are put into place by people who arent considering the experiences of minority communities or marginalized communities and so when you end up in a position where these communities arent represented or are treated as inferior for some reason or another that reinforces this idea that they are they they have less access to rights they are less engaged or less they have less freedoms simply because of how they look or what they believe in it in a context where religious difference is is becoming more and more a marker for discrimination its incredibly important that we eliminate these aspects that reinforce prejudice ok good luck to you some are saying thank you so much for your time now theres been a lot of reaction on social media to the uniting of one of the most prolific partnerships in n. B. A. History. Yet together again dwayne wade is joining and will be a superstar Le Bron James at the Cleveland Cavaliers to play together for four seasons of the mind heat winning back to back championships james left miami in two thousand and fourteen wade was at the Chicago Bulls last season. And Russell Westbrook having the richest contract in n. B. A. History was one of the top trends around the world the reigning m. V. P. Agreeing to a contract extension with the Oklahoma City thunder worth two hundred five Million Dollars for five years now dont forget you can always share your videos or get in touch with us the hash tag is news grad or you can tweet me directly at f. Under score if now but for now its back to leah. Thank you farai theres lots of conversation coming out of kenya unlike most news in kenya these days its related to the upcoming Election Rerun students at the university of nairobi were protesting on thursday against the arrest of an opposition figure and Police Crackdown quite hard they fired tear gas arrested several protesters and are accused of beating students at the university now the condemnation has been widespread and quite quick the independent Police Oversight authority or i. P. O. A say it launched an investigation into the case but a lot of people say police are not the only ones to blame appollo here he tweeted saying that the students should revisit the statement and that the vice chancellor does not care about for lease brutality the students and that they say that everything that was fine and that students should focus on their studies and said thats according to the chancellor and then you have this user here who said that the latest example of Police Brutality is just one in a chain that people should have spoken up when Police Crackdown on protests by people from the tribe earlier this year they mostly support the Opposition Leader right now the op the political situation in nairobi has grown increasingly unstable over the past two months president who can yeah there was declared the winner of the august eighth election but the Supreme Court canceled the results a month later Opposition Leader. A complete a new election has been set for october twenty sixth now if youre in kenya we would love to hear from you you can get in touch with us as always with the hash tag. Lovely thank you for that and have a lovely break as well as deserving these are two weeks of im totally fine with that ok. All right lets get in touch. Like that has died i dont use that on twitter at hijacking this of course as well the Facebook Live stream is it facebook dot coms i dont use that probably the best way to watch the program if youre a wife and a television because you can watch react as you go and see other peoples comments as well join the conversation that when the whats atlanta was active is well past nine seven four five or one to one four nine for your comments your questions your contributions to any of the stories we are looking at thats of the news good well see you back to studio fourteen fifteen hundred hours t. N. T. Again tomorrow something. To. Watch. On aljazeera. 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