And fighting the winter blues in australia, sidneys famous landmarks are lit up for the festival of light. But first the army general who is now in charge in thailand has summoned the former Prime Minister as well as political opponents for talk and shinawat is banned from traveling abroad and we have the story from bangkok. Reporter once the stage for the Antigovernment Movement in bangkok taken down and removed the morning after the military coup. The protesters left thursday night, most felt their effort of more than six months paid off because of the goal of removing the current government had been reached. And he goes by one name went to work as normal on friday. She is relieved the army is in control. Translator personally i support koodata and if they didnt do it the country would turn into a message there is a compromise to make the situation better. Reporter 100 people from both sides of the political divide have been summoned by rulers to discuss the situation and its a spot in bangkok where it looks like a coup has taken place and she supports the government and feels betrayed by the army and outside the compound where the talks were held and showing her support for shenlock. Translator e want we want her to be the Prime Minister again and fight for the people. Reporter the streets of bangkok appear to be normal but with detentions, travel bans, control over the media and the constitution suspended there was no question that the army was in control. Yet military leaders have given no answers as to when the country will be ruled by civilians or returned to a democracy and im scott in bangkok. Lets go live to scott and get the very latest, lets talk about the political talks as well as political opponents being summoned for this meeting, is that meeting still going on . Yes, it is and we have got a little more detail about it and sounds like there were several meetings that went on and the general Army Commander went to all of these meetings. One was with Civil Servants working with the government in different ministries and we know he shared a meeting and discussed what should be done in the coming days and in other words we need to keep this government moving and what do we need to do to keep it moving and they are working with that. And some were summoned to come to that government complex where were we at most of the day. We dont really know what the details of those meetings were and then there is going to be a third meeting that probably just started over the last couple of minutes and that is going to be a briefing if you will to foreign diplomates here in bangkok explaining the situation the general will be doing, why he called for the coup, maybe what is going to be happening moving forward because when he made the announcement of the coup on thursday, immediately after he said that he was taking control of the government he said that all relationships, International Relationships that thailand established with countries around the world remain intact and he made another point of saying that the embassys and foreign nationals living in thailand will be protected and obviously that is a very important thing to the general and there is that meeting going on probably right now that he is explaining to the diplomates here in thailand why he did this and what is going to be happening over the coming days. And scott we will be talking about that a little more later in the program because its a very, very important element to what is going on in tie thailand but can you tell us on both sides of the divide and how they are feeling about the possible sir circumstription and their camps. Reporter right, both left without too much of a fuss and the red shirts are progovernment movement and their camp was an hour outside of the central part of bangkok. They were forcibly removed by the army, there were no scuffles, there was no violence at all and the army provided transportation for those who didnt have any way to get out. Then you look at the yellow shirts, that is the Antigovernment Movement on the streets of bangkok in one way or another for six moves and they left on their free will because they see the coup as a bit of a victory for them because what they have been fighting for is the then current government to be removed and the Prime Minister to be removed. That happened through a military coup and they view it as a victory and we were thereon thursday when they were packing up and cheering and someone on the loudspeaker saying this is our victory and that stage is being dismantled this morning so you have two different sides of this, one seeing it victorious and the red shirts and Government People feel their party who is democratically elected to run the country has been unseated by the military. Scott giving us the very latest from bangkok. As scott alluded to a number of countries have already condemned the coup and the french president called for an immediate return to the Constitutional Order and for the fundamental rights and freedoms to be respected and William Hague returned the military to set out a quick, clear timetable for elections and u. S. Secretary of state john kerry said there is no justification for this military coup, urging the restoration of, civilian government immediately. Lets talk now to forsyth who is a specialist on Southeast Asia at the school of economics and joins us from london and thank you very much from talking to us and we heard from scott, our correspondent in bangkok that the general is already preparing to brief the diplomatic core in bangkok, an indication of how Foreign Relations really matter for thailand. Yes, indeed, i think the military is holding back a long time and could have acted in my month before today and they have and they are in a damage limitation exercise making sure they do not lose credibility doing this. In the absence it would appear a roadmap or a plan or a schedule for a return to democratic life in thailand. It seems as though their credibility is going to seriously be in need of an up lift because nobody is prepared to listen to them once they are in charge. Well, i think it depends on whether they can do what the Foreign Ministers have been asking them to do which is to come up with an immediate shortterm plan to hold general elections. I think there is one big justification behind this coup which is that with election of shinawat, and on the streets you have groups of the red shirts and yellow shirts growing and it could lead to violence. Excuse me. The army therefore are acting in ways sorry in ways are acting in ways to try and get rid of that potential violence but they can only really have credibility as long as they name a process of the general elections. Okay, tim, take your time and clear your throat, quite often this happens to me you get a frog in your throat. I would like to ask you particularly then about the strength of tourism and tourism has 10 of the entire economy and we had the use tral australia to travel to thailand at the moment and this conceivably be a big hit to the economy, couldnt it . Yes, it could and politicians in thailand act in ways that do not take account of tourism. But the coming months of june, july and august are the low season for tourism in thailand mainly because its rainy. I think if they can sort out the problems by the end of the month of august, then i think the main tourist season will not be affected but its a worry. One study revealed the economy has contracted by 2 during the First Quarter of 2014 and people are blaming that upon the political troubles so yes it is a concern. All right, for now time thank you very much indeed and a specialist on Southeast Asia at the London School of economics in london. Now a former malitia leader in the democratic of congo is sentenced to 12 years and he had earlier been convicted of being an accessory to war crimes including the killing of villages and after a five eyear trial in the hague he is the second person to be convicted by icc and his time in jail will be reduced because of the time he has already been detain ed. A joint sentence of 12 Years Imprisonment and orders that time spent in detention in accordance with an order of the court, that is from 18, september, 2007 to this day, 23, may 2014 shall be deducted from his sentence. And we are watching events in the hague and we have mr. Barber and you have been at the icc once the sentence has been given on mr. Katanga and it will disappoint people he got 12 years and, b, he will not serve that term in its entirety. Reporter i think you are right and lets remember that katanga was actually brought to the hague in 2007. His trial started in 2009 and lasted about 4 1 2 years. What he was convicted of were crimes which happened during an attack on a village called bogoro in the democratic republic of congo in 2003 and there were rival malitias trying to gain territory from each other and originally katanga lead one group and members of that group are proved to have carried out a raid on a village which happened while most of the people there were sleeping. It was particularly horrific because it involved not only people being shot, shot down, hunted and shot down and also being killed with machetes to save bu bullets in some instanc but he wasnt convicted of charges related to Sexual Violence. A number of woman were known to be raped and forced to be held as sex slaves but the court ruled that he was directly, not involved in that. That is following the trial in this case and very annoyed because they say there was evidence that he would have known about what kind of crimes in terms of Sexual Violence were about to take place for those under his command and about to attack civilians. Defense team are likely to appeal as well but i think there is a lot of push from people who are trying to bring katanga to justice and they will try to get an appeal going in terms of, a, the charges he was acquitted of but also a tougher sentence to send out a message in terms of deterrence. Mr. Barber is live in the hague. Thank you. Now at least 21 people have been killed in an attack on a progovernment rally in syria. This happened in the Southern City of dora and supporters of president assad were outcome painting for his reelection in the polls due on june the third and we will have the latest talking to our correspondence who is in lebanon and beirut and this happened in dara and of course that is where the revolution actually began, wasnt it . Reporter yes, this is where the protest began in march 2011. And that is why it has a lot of symbolism. Now the government in the past few days has been adamant to try to regain as much control as possible of as many areas in southern syria to try to claim that they can hold these president ial elections scheduled on june third because they want to show the world they are legitimate, they are credible and there are enough people who went to the ballots and voted for assad and its valid and legitimate. The opposition is trying to do exactly the opposite and they are trying to escalate their attack on government troops, on government and even Voting Centers on government rallies and assad rallies to say you cannot hold elections, fair elections, under such conditions. The country is in war and the opposition is not allowed to compete. The president has control all over the country in terms of banning the opposition from taking part in these elections and they are a force. So that is why we are anticipating more such attacks on centers, on Voting Centers and rallies that are for assad or other candidates for the presidency. Its a major task for the opposition. One last thing to mention we heard from islamic troubles in southern syria ands to marks a new campaign in order to support rebels in syria and southern syria to liberate more areas there and people are expecting more deadly clashes in that area. And we are up to date with the latest in syria today. Still to come on this news hour, the yearlong state of emergency has extended in northeastern nigeria to combat killings and kidnappings. And will the el nino be a major or minor help to farmers in california. Find out why the face of u. S. Football will not be heading to the world cup and we have the details in sports. Security officials in egypt say the leader of an alqaeda inspired group has been killed in the Sinai Peninsula and the head died in a driveby shooting with three associates and the group has been behind attacks on security forces. Since the army deposed Mohamed Morsi in july. Now there are an estimated 8 million Coptic Christians in egypt and subjected to several attacks of the last days of the Muslim Brotherhood but things improved since the military take over in july 2013 and still they face an uncertain future and as nico Nicole Johnston reports. Reporter the largest Christian Community in the east but in egypt they are a minority, out numbered by muslims. Christians are no more than 10 of the population. Over the years many in the community have done very well in business. Still that i suffer from discrimination and attacks and that hasnt changed a lot sense the over throw of mobarac in 2012. Many christians were uneasy when he was elected president two years ago. Christians were worried about the growing influence of the group and the protection of their rights. So when morsi was over thrown last year many christians were relieved. Their pope spoke at a News Conference supporting his down fall. All this was too much for some Muslim Brotherhood supporters. They blamed cops for conspiring to over throw president morsi and things turned ugly. In cities across the country enraged people targeted and burned churches, i think 37 churches were destroyed or badly damaged and there was a pattern where the police did very little to intervene, even though the writing was on the wall and it was clear that this thing was at risk of happening. This is what is left after the church in the city of minya was set on fire last year. Muslim brotherhood supporters accused of attacking Police Station and churches and an egypt Court Sentenced more than 600 people to death for carrying out the violence. What has happened since the ouster of morsi is supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood accused the christians of having supported the military back ouster of morsi and are continuing to support the militarybacked government of egypt and as the oppression tightens against the Muslim Brotherhood and their suspected supporters the animosity towards the christians has grown. The pope has been open about his support for the militarybacked government and it seems many christians agree. After supporting the over throw of mubarak and morsi looks like the former head of the military sisi could be their preferred candidate for the next president , Nicole Johnston with al jazeera. The trial has been adjourned until june the first. They have now been held in an egypt prison for 146 days. They are falsely accused of conspiring with the out lawed Muslim Brotherhood and their parents have frus frustration at the way the trial is going. We have made little progress so far and its almost beginning to look at if the attempts to grind us down are succeeding and thats not just ourselves as a family, but the efforts of a lot of other people. Helplessness and frustration like you wouldnt believe, you know. I guess a certain amount of anger as well. You know, you cant help but feel angry over this whole thing because its so unjust and unfair and everything else. I know there is a lot of unfairness in the world, but this is over five months or more that it goes on and we are not to the end yet. This is the hard part. Now yemen is a main target of u. S. Drone strikes since 2002 and the pentagon says they are targeting alqaeda fighters and habara reports from the capitol and there is growing anger at the hundreds of people who have been killed. He and his wife lost their son in a u. S. Drone attack last year. This is their lawyer. He was traveling with his cousin ali when it hit their car. Four other passengers were also killed. This is a funeral for salem and his cousin. Translator salem was innocent and had no links to alqaeda. The oldest child and he was the familys breadwinner, in the morning he went to university and in the afternoon he worked as a taxi driver. The u. S. Is killing our son. Reporter an investigation by the ministry of the interior vindicated salem and his cousin and when the family went to court the prosecutor refused to take on their case. Their lawyer accuses the government of failing to act. Demands for an end to aerial strikes by unmanned drones are growing across the country. He is an activist who accuses the government saying it is making them stronger. Alqaeda, they make it stronger and they kill civilians and so far they have proved themselves to be doing more harm than good in taking down akip i guess. Reporter this is in the province here and dozens of people were killed last december. Their relatives insist they were all civilians. Despite the growing anger among people, the government defends drones as a crucial tool in the fight against alqaeda. The drone attacks are taken under the guidance of the government when its proven and its an intrusion on the sovereignty of the country. These attacks are a necessity in these very remote areas and there is damage even without the drones. Reporter but he couldnt disagree more, his brother alli was killed in the same drone strike that killed salem and dismissed by the prosecutor he holds the u. S. And president responsible. Like millions of yemenizee they want the drones out of the skies. When its active there is an again sentiment here because the government is despe