A diplomatic push to end the war hosting a new round of talks and so cheap the u. S. Is there but the main Syrian Opposition group says that it will boycott the negotiations for a challenge reports now from sochi. Where the news earlier on monday the another group of opposition figures was going to be staying away from sochi really exposes i think the short comings of this Congress Russia has tried to make this as inclusive as possible inviting people and groups from across the syrian cultural religious and political spectrum so the robot is here there are these there are sunnis and sheers allo whites and various different political platforms including the moscow platform the rest on a platform but there are a few notable exceptions now those are the s. N. C. The syrian that Negotiation Committee which has said that it will stay away from sochi believing that this is undermining the geneva process the kurdish groups such as the y. P. G. Then not here either they are considered persona non grata by turkey and of essential being shut out or dont think they want to come anyway because of whats going on in africa and so this all basically steers the saatchi towards the moscow and damascus perspective on the syrian conflict the upshot of this congress is likely to be the endorsement of of a new what theyre calling a Constitutional Committee made up supposedly all of the Syrian Government on one side and opposition representatives on the other but if the main groups of the opposition are not here. Then this allows damascus to essentially say that the opposition groups boycotting sochi boycotting this process are saboteur over peace the big question of course is where the un stands on the of this and whether stefan de mistura will approve of these measures and not allow this to filter into the geneva process the russians believe that he is on board rafters wait to see whether the u. S. That suggest that is confirmed or not the Deputy Director of the f. B. I. Has resigned weeks before his official retirement date the u. S. President has repeatedly criticized Andrew Mccabe for political bias donald trump is accused mccabe of favoring his rival Hillary Clinton during the twenty sixteen president ial race mccabes resignation comes a week after a u. S. Media reported that the president wanted him gone but the white house denies any involvement in a long peace talks between the government and rebels in colombia have been called off after a series of bombings over the weekend president Juan Manuel Santos has blamed marxist rebels for the attacks on police stations in three cities irelands government has agreed to hold a referendum in may on liberalizing abortion laws the majority catholic country has some of the tightest restrictions on abortion in europe its currently banned in all cases except where there is a specific threat to the life of the mother due to pregnancy volkswagen has come under fire for part funding tests in which monkeys and humans were exposed to toxic fumes a report says the german car maker ordered the studies in twenty fourteen along with diamond and b. M. W. Germanys government has called the tests unjustifiable. And more than one hundred migrants have been rescued off the coast of libya after they became stranded trying to cross the mediterranean in dangerous conditions the countrys coast guard said the group which included women and children were brought to a naval base in tripoli for medical treatment the u. S. Military is changing its guidelines for the use of wireless gadgets following revelations that fitness tracking apps can disclose sensitive military positions a global heat map of groups use routes rather used by runners and cyclists posted online by fitness tracking companies strother reveals the outlines of u. S. Bases in war zones around the world but those they had ties with more news for you here on out is here after the struggle over the nile. The novel. The worlds longest river. A seven thousand kilometers a lifeline for almost four hundred Million People. Flowing north the nile runs through ten countries from the highlands in the heart of africa to the shores of the mediterranean sea. A source of sustenance but also one of tension even the potential conflict. These tensions between countries along the river nile have their roots in the nineteenth century. Colonial decisions of the past. Are a point of bitter dispute today. And new political realities on the ground are increasing the sense of uncertainty over who owns the river nile. In september two thousand and five a team of explorers set off on a unique journey up the nile river. Like you say at the mouth of the not. The longest river journey in the world. Led by new zealand adventurer a chemical a team aimed at being the First Expedition to travel up the nile to its furthest source. The first stage of the trek through egypt and. Proved a breeze. But then the explorers encountered the sued the Worlds Largest swamp. And found into this massive swampy area at one thousand kilometers long and three hundred kilometers wide is now hell. He just did live and water its incredible. The sued means obstacles in arabic and it has proved just that a labyrinth of waterways that has hindered expeditions. Macleans team managed to navigate their way out to the swamp. Off to ninety days of travel overcoming tremendous obstacles they eventually arrived in rwanda. At a tiny spring which they determined to be the southernmost source of the nile. Today but clay is settled in uganda where he runs a Whitewater Rafting business in the city of jinja here on the nile when youve got a lot. Thank you its good advice. That im. Just a few kilometers away from the clays business stands this list a monument to a past mile adventurer john manning speak. Speak was a british explorer who arrived here almost one hundred fifty years earlier eighteen sixty two he came in search of the answer to an age old question where is the source of the nile. The Royal Geographical Society in london was established in eighteen thirty. It houses the maps navigation tools and personal belongings of famous explorers from the nineteenth century. Men who were in the grip of a romantic obsession to discover the source of the nile. For europeans the exploration of the mile is probably the biggest goal drives their enterprise in one thousand century because its seen as the largest the most important river and also because there is this long heritage or History Associated with it. Rather than trying to cross the sued area in southern sudan explorers in the mid one thousand nine hundred. Another passage via the island of zanzibar. During the nineteenth century. Zanzibar it was an arab kingdom controlling the trade route from india into africas interior. And these arab traders facilitate european exploration its the year of this the arab traders for example who began first to report that there are great lakes or a great like in the interior of east africa. Based on this information the Royal Geographical Society sponsored expeditions into the heart of africa. In eight hundred fifty seven using zanzibar as a starting point john hanning speak cross to east africa and ventured into the hinterland where he found a huge lake he believed to be the source of the nile. And three years later on a new expedition he travelled around this lake today known as Lake Victoria to discover the nile flowing out from its northern side. A roll call of famous explorers ventured into the continents interior to build on speaks discovery. Men such as samuel baker David Livingston and Henry Morton Stanley helped complete the picture about the true source of the nile. Back home they were lauded as heroes with monuments built on of them but others saw them differently it was mistakenly called to discover that you know most of the books in the plus they use it speak of discovered in the night as if you was a fussed he might have been through the night when he was a fussy european to say this is of the night well. But the discovered it because he was going so and this is also denied by the other gods in. The Royal Geographical Society helped push the boundaries of exploration and empire. But this age of exploration is seen by many as a precursor of colonize ation. Most of that is most of these people were explorers but Intelligence Services in their own countries made use of their experiences. They were not only british but also belgians and french. Theyve served the people and the situation in these areas. They then pass this information on for colonize ation and as it has. Armed with greater information the age of exploration began the scramble for africa. The continent was up for grabs. To divide the spoils european nations convened at the berlin conference in eight hundred eighty four where they sliced up the african continent into spears of influence. Britain had formally occupied egypt two years earlier in eight hundred eighty two to control the suez canal the strategic route to india the jewel in the crown of the british empire. In berlin it was decided the nile basin region would fall under british rule. When the british to control you knighted to their very soon realized that they had become rudeness of a society that a totally depend upon the nile so they understood from the very beginning that the Economic Development the political stability to depend upon my control. To assert control upstream the british established what it called the east africa protectorate in one thousand nine hundred five comprising what is today kenya and uganda. The next step was sudan a territory ruled by egypt since eight hundred twenty. With their domination in egypt the british persuaded the egyptians to sign an agreement in january eight hundred ninety nine for joining rule of a sedan. In reality joint rule was a fig leaf for british command. Here in the president ial palace in khartoum to this day a museum houses portrayed of former governors of sudan. The paintings are testament to a time of british dominion. In our world in fact the british master the art of ruling sudan they completely sidelined the egyptians. The governor general was british the commander of the army was british and so were all the high ranking officials in the administration. Controlling the Great Lakes Region source of the white nile the british mix turned their attention to ensuring hedge many over the blue nile rivers of a source originating in the ethiopian highlands. In may nineteen zero two the british signed an agreement with emperor men like the second of ethiopia in which he promised not to build any dam that might affect the flow of the blue nile to egypt. Feeling they had secured the full length of the nile britains Decision Makers in london began to put in place the next phase of their master plan economic gain. From quite early on the british also decided to transform egypt into the cotton farm where the textile industry is and like it here in the. British reliance on egyptian cotton began to increase. To boost the harvest the british set out to revolutionize egypts irrigation system a system dating back thousands of years. They gave a oddity to the vote countries denied countries their old engineer is what the plan is running down from the colonials service and to aid. Experienced guys give them a lot of fans not a Political Freedom so that they really can take the nile in hand. The british came up with the idea for a dam in southern egypt to hold back the nile flood and use its waters for irrigation. Construction on the ass when low dam began eighteen one thousand nine. It was officially opened three years later at the time it was the largest stone dam of its kind ever built. Britain wanted to ensure the full flow with the nile reached egypt to maximize cotton production. No one else upstream was allowed to siphon off any of the river. For have some strict orders were laid down regarding the use of the nile water because the british were concerned about egypt money all island for example they banned sudanese farmers to using it water pumps unless they obtained permission from the egyptian irrigation authority. In. Britain discriminated in favor of egypts claim over the nile. The british expected the egyptians to be thankful but they were to have a rude awakening. In one thousand nine hundred nineteen following the end of the First World War the egyptians revolted against British Occupation and demanded complete independence. They were led by a fiery nationalist called saad zabulon. With such sentiment on the rise. The british looked for a way to cower the egyptians into submission. The river nile egypts lifeline was an effective political weapon and the british had in mind a Perfect Place to use this weapon. The get zero region in sudan between the blue nile and the white nile was an area with the potential to become the largest cotton growing region in the world. That to france to motives or to main strategic and is that they can see it as good or wrong to increase the cup. Production in sudan for the benefit of the british taste of history secondly this hue if it is not really in control of the know is running through saddam and his who has the power and. The bit it has a power in saddam. British attempts to intimidate the egyptians only further inflamed nationalist sentiment. A crisis point was reached when in november one thousand nine hundred twenty four salinas stack commander in chief of the Egyptian Army and governor of sudan was assassinated while driving through the streets of cairo. The assassins were arrested and sentenced to death. But the murder of the british official was a turning point london now found its reason to implement the good zero scheme. What they did was that ok you killed the governor general then the will take more work from the nile as a punishment so this was the first time in practice thats jim power punished. The dolls can power needed for the vote with. Britains trump card was the center dam completed in one thousand nine hundred twenty five. Built on the blue nile in sedan it would help the irrigation of the gezi or area. But it also delivered an ominous signal to the egyptians for the first time in their history a dam built outside of egypt but affect the flow of the nile into their country. Nationalists however continued to mobilize Popular Support against the British Occupation. Cooler heads in london began to realize that relations with egypt were deteriorating fast. Something which could threaten british control over the suez canal. As before the river nile became a useful Political Tool this time for compromise rather than coercion. In maine One Hundred Twenty Nine notes were exchanged between the british high commissioner in egypt george lloyd and the egyptian Prime MinisterMohammad Mahmoud pasha. This diplomacy led to a landmark agreement in which britain awarded egypt exclusive control over the full course of the nile waters from egypts point of in the night to twenty nine agreement also calls. And victory. Because here the british said that well the nile is an egyptian. And it has a with a right to stop its upstream if they dont want it. By signing the nine hundred twenty nine agreement the british sought to coopt the egyptians. No such consideration was given to the Indigenous Peoples upstream who were not consulted. Even though the river originated in their lands. By the early one nine hundred thirty s. Britain was becoming increasingly concerned with a growing menace closer to home. At the end of World War Two one thousand nine hundred forty five britain was no longer the mighty empire that could claim control of a large parts of the world such as the nile basin. After the Second World War britain came out of the will inject brits economy came out very much a device that it and the us now that came with the world of. The United States stepped forward to assert itself moved boldly on the world stage in places formally controlled by the old then piles. In one nine hundred fifty three u. S. Secretary of state John Foster Dulles became the first time ranking american official to visit cairo. Dulles offered Financial Support for the construction of a massive new dam on the nile in southern egypt but three years later the of was withdrawn. The americans had become suspicious of egyptian president abdul nasser as nonalignment policy. At the same time the withdrawal of the office provided an opportunity to undermine british influence john thousand dollars on the American Government that understood quite clearly that one way of crushing. The influence of the british imperialists in this area was to make them powerless when it comes to the now question became clear that everybody. That duels of the americans decide it and the british had to just follow up as said prior to. Despite the withdrawal of Financial Support for the construction of the ass one high dam nasa chose to push ahead. In july one thousand nine hundred fifty six nationalize the Suez Canal Company to provide funding for the project. The takeover stun british and french shareholders in the swiss company. The british still ruling parts of east africa had a secret plan retaliation. The plan would in