Im melissa chan welcome to news asia thank you for joining us one outcome from this past weekends Munich Security Conference new optimism over a truce between the United States and the taliban and the promise to start talks in 10 days between different afghan stakeholders what they call the all afghan peace talks but whether the taliban can stick to its pledge of a reduction in violence the group doesnt have an encouraging track record and whether well see a final deal well weve been down this road before yet both the americans and afghans say they can only keep trying one we must stop this war. 2 we must find a political solution to stop the war this is a level of complexity and uncertainty i think theres general agreement its my view as well that we have that we have to give peace a chance but the the best of not only way forward in afghanistan is through a political agreement and that means taking some risks. Shammal sham spoke to afghan president spokesman said. To get a better sense of whether this time will be any different this is a big this is a b. Q. Why didnt president romney announce. Here dominik security conference he met with secretary and defense secretary. But apparently he has had negotiations with them here but he refused to announce the deal here and munich. Yeah he had lots of meetings with the u. S. Delegation here on the afghan Peace Process so its a bit premature to announce the details right now because our delegation is also here in so we have to go back. And see the grounds for the announcement will we see this development as an opportunity. In the process we hope this time that there is a real commitment by the taliban to stick to. The process and denounce violence and come into a direct negotiation with the Afghan Government but there are many factions of the taliban i mean is it a bit difficult that the violence would be completely reduced because we see that there are so many groups and theres so many criminals operating in afghanistan that would be really hard for the insurgents to to convict or what do you think it is going to be a difficult process. So we will have to also gauge that unity among the different groups of the taliban if they are denouncing violence during this period so so there are the head is not easy it will be very hard we will have to watch but for asked the Afghan Government bringing peace a sustainable peace and working with the United States as a cue objectives. For for us so we will go back to kabul and sought consultation with different groups of the im going society and talk to them about the prospects of this of this deal for a for a peace and i want to start we understand the Afghan Government and the u. S. Has had some differences about the u. S. Taliban deal and they have gone the government also felt that they should be more involved in the qatar dialogue and it was not what exactly happened here what discussions did president connie have the americans that kind of you know the 2 sides reached. An agreement of sorts what it what did happen it was a detailed discussion on the steps in the process. As you know they have been government position has been very clear on on ceasefire or on a sustainable peace and more calm condition on the skeleton. During during the process we want to make sure that whatever we do the United States and the up of government. So that it will actually bring an end to this violence of course we do have good conditions we want to see this. As a principle the way in which the negotiation will take place and the taliban are actually committed to the process in the past yes there are a lot of differences. In in the principles of negotiation but this time we want to make sure that 1st of all day the taliban are committed to nonviolence and then they enter into a dining negotiation with the Afghan Government after a peace deal is signed the taliban us deal is signed actually it will lead to an interim gone dialogue it is a very important process its a complex process it requires a lot of unity within the Afghan Government and ive gone to stakeholders as well beaut thing it will be ready for the have gone government to form a negotiating team that can decide the future political set up for afghanistan it is not going to be a difficult task because we have already worked on a. Inclusiveness on a political. Convergence with the no or different fact factions in the country so the consensus both on a National Level and within the political groups has been worked out we hope this time the taliban are ready for negotiation we have been government. Is going to lead the process we going we are going to own the process and our. Our process will be national on inclusive so we hope that this time thats all about our reading they show real commitment to the process. While we find a way for a political settlement in the which we gonna save the gains of the past so many years and of course we save our democratic system so thats the key. Thank you mr. In the western indian state of maharashtra female workers their sugarcane cutters find themselves trapped in what is defacto indentured servitude they face pressure from their bosses to get hysterectomy so they wont men straight and wont miss any time away from work every month and to pay for that operation the women borrow money from their bosses raising serious human rights questions. Is 34 cutting sugar cane is a struggle for her 8 years ago she had a hysterectomy her uterus was surgically removed to stop her from menstruating now she suffers long term effects osteoporosis and hormonal imbalance female sugar cane cutters stay home from work when they have their periods because there are no toilet facilities in the fields but their bosses want a quick harvest so they routinely pressure these employees including a few of coworkers to undergo surgery. Then. When i still had my period i couldnt work for 4 days a month and for every day i stayed home the supervisor fined me the equivalent of 10 euros but i. Know like most of the female farm laborers who has never been to school she was married off at 14 and had her 1st child at 16. Her 2nd son works 2. Lucia went deep into debt to pay for the hysterectomy but it was the doctor and his boss who profited from the procedure for years she worked as a bonded labor. With them and i think the operation cost 50000. 00 rupees about 700. 00 euros of course i didnt have that kind of money my boss gave me in advance and i had to work supports off then he wanted interest is 3 percent per month it took me 3 years to pay him back. A few kilometers away in another town we meet the boss a supervisor he uses a modest office for what he calls Financial Services he says he has 300000 cane cutters under contract and then he tries to talk the female workers out of getting hysterectomy its. A lot we were good at was that there may be one or 2 bosses who pressure the women i cant say anything about that if that is the case then its only a few of the bosses who do it i mean. The sugar industry is the primary cash crop in western maharashtra employing almost 25000000 people the state takes in 250000000 euros in taxes from Sugar Producers every year a likely reason authorities dont want to look into the issue of women under pressure to have their uteruses removed activist minissha talk says the Health Department recorded 84000 hysterectomy is in one district alone but the report was just filed away but were all nonapologetic they will simply shocked when they notice what a stir this story caused now they want to cover it up with they were talking of 13000 cases and now all of a sudden there are only 1300. Been caught and doesnt expect any compensation from the government she hopes at least her son will be able to prevent his wife from getting a hysterectomy one day her consent to undergo the procedure herself is a choice she now regrets. Vietnam has hosted its 1st ever National Catch show in the capital city annoy it was a chance for a cat lovers to show off their finest felines as to how the cats felt about their moment in the spotlight well looks like it was a case of ill scratch your back if you scratch mine. Dont fancy can feel so good. Of course one must look perfect to impress the human. 2 detail. Around 60 felines are competing for vietnams best in show. But its the judges who must keep their attention. As a country where more and more cats are being gracious as im sure this is an event for cat owners to show their love for their cats and take care of their cats but. We. Cant ownership is on the rise in vietnam the communist states more an economy has padded out a growing middle class loving owners spend big to keep their pets feeling fine. Getting my cat ready since friday i took in bathing and 1st spa and grooming. Only 7 lucky kitties earn a spot in the winter circle. For best in their class. But only one can be top cat today. This blue grey beauty got the edge but it seems just by a whisker. Thats it for now head over to our website www dot com forward slash view this show online and for other stories from the region. With alice in the stands really close dont worry theyve got more in class songs and theyre at a temple its a. Japanese ritual dating back more than 500 years a festival for good fortune thank you for watching and well see you next time. W. s crime fighters are back africas most successful radio drama series continue. This season the stories focus on hate speech cholera prevention and sustainable truckload production. All of a sows are Available Online and of course you can share and discuss on africas Facebook Page and other social media platforms. Crime fighters tune in now. In the height of climate change. For a cosmic see. Whats in store. For the future. E. W. Dot com were going to go cities to the coast to get insight could counter. The growth of viruses europes coming on alert their factory doors remain closed in china the worlds biggest sort of market and european shares hit a record high well tell you why. French trains make a. Budget talks with canadas bond as it tries to compete with bigger rivals from china and the end of the road for g. M. s iconic gold and why the u. S. Trade Prime Minister is fuming about. Lets do business the show is over for now at least china has postponed its biggest trade fair for cars in beijing the coronavirus is to blame. Was jujube restart production today but will keep its chinese facilities shut brands make over a 3rd of their global sales in china. Its not a good time to be selling cars in china in january karas sales in the country fell by 18 percent from the Previous Year as the effects of coronavirus restrictions hit showrooms analysts of swiss bank u. B. S. Expect a 50 percent plunge in february as if that werent bad enough extended factory shutdowns and supply chain disruptions are said to lead to a massive drop in production who by province the center of the outbreak is a key manufacturing hope for the car industry. German car makers are being hit especially hard china is a key market for the folks wagon group and its various brands the company sold 4200000