Contact in years. Also u. S. President donald trump refuses to declassify a democratic member of the russia probe citing National Security concerns very. Also colombias former rival group the far suspend Political Campaigning a bid security concerns following days of angry protests. Spacex. Rockets ahead fears in russia that its legacy could be a threat. To the news the first full day of competition is underway at the Winter Olympics in south korea but its the diplomatic action on the sidelines thats getting the most attention so far now a meeting between south korean president moon j. And the north Korean Leaders younger sister kim jong is jus to be held at the president s official residence in seoul north koreas nominal head of state can and will also be at the meeting which is the highest level contact between the two sides in years that follows a year of tension between washington and pyongyang as north korea stepped up its a Ballistic Missile program. And joins me now live from kong what can we expect to happen in this meeting today. So even if another side Major Development occurs during the north korean delegations visit it has already been a historic one but very heavy on the symbolism analysts are skeptical that it will result in any substantive Seismic Shift in the relationship between the two koreas but that is certainly the hope president moon j. In is very big on engagement with north korea he is passionately seizing this moment at the olympics to pursue a closer relationship with north korea after a pretty tense twenty seventeen you have to bear in mind that he is the son of north korean refugee parents in any event he is hosting this north korean delegation at the president ial blue house that will be followed by a luncheon in attendance as you mentioned will be north Korean Leader kim jong il sister kim jong as well as the ceremonial head of state and chairman of the sports and reunification committees the hope is that kim jong un sr will come with some sort of letter from the north Korean Leader and perhaps instead and invite to president moon its unclear so if the delegation will stay for a performance tomorrow by a north korean troop the interest in korea to see these performers has been so great that more than one hundred fifty six thousand people entered a lottery for free tickets of course the other focus of attention has been the american Vice President mike pence who said pretty close to the north korean delegation during the opening ceremonies we saw all the photographs i mean the house being told that he snubbed them i mean what is penn saying. Well it was pretty cozy in that the ip room so looked like pence was literally within an arm arms length or two of kim jong un sr in the storm a ceremonial head of state pences team is saying that there was no snub although he appeared to greet everyone in that v. I. P. Room but for the ceremonial head of state he says he simply was not close enough to do so but he also says that there was no interest in interacting with the north korean delegation and if there was that he might have exchanged pleasantries but that to use that venue to discuss heavy geo political issues would have been inappropriate now he did say it i think it is safe to say that both the North Koreans in the americans have rebuffed president moves attempt to facilitate a dialogue between the two countries this week pence said that the United States will continue to exert maximum pressure on north korea and that the toughest economic sanctions have yet to come with north korea the North Koreans are saying we have zero interest in any dialogue with the United States well we will be checking in with you throughout the day natasha as we get more news out of the blue in seoul for the moment thank you well of course the attention love just on kim jong un system over the past twenty four hours is underlined how little is known about north koreas most powerful woman. Is widely thought to be her brothers closest confidant of the pairing alongside him at Public Events shes had a meteoric rise through the ranks of the ruling party and is now Deputy Director of its Propaganda Department its thought she played a central role in shaping her brothers public image despite her influence she can never become a leader herself under the patriarchal traditions that are dependent north koreas society well north korean analyst keith lu says the stakes are high for all parties involved in this new round of diplomacy. Well in the spirit of the olympics its quite exciting to see both countries represented together in the opening ceremonies i must say however that i think its also significant that the leader of north korea sent his sister and that the present United States sent the Vice President and mrs pence this is high level attention on the part of both nations the United States and north korea and it also states as to the seriousness of the overall situation on the peninsula today well were in New Territory now arent we given the degree to which north and south korea are interacting in the context of the olympics i would imagine that there is there are plans for the north there is probably a hope by leaders in south korea that this will turn into something more substantive as relates to future dialogue. To the u. S. Though where the President Donald Trump has blocked the release of a classified memo written by democrats on the House Intelligence Committee citing National Security concerns the memo rebuts a document prepared by the committees republicans which was made public last week the republican memo allege the f. B. I. Is biased against trump during its investigation into his president ial campaigns links with russia now that it was released despite public opposition from the f. B. I. Trump claimed that document totally vindicates him but democrats and some republicans dispute that the white house states that although the president is inclined to declassify the february the fifth member and because the memorandum contains numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages he is unable to do so at this time however given the Public Interest and transparency in these unprecedented circumstances the president has directed the Justice Department personnel be available to give Technical Assistance to the committee should the committee wish to revise the february the fifth member random to mitigate the risks identified by the department confused you wont be kristen salumi as our correspondent hopefully going to clarify exactly what all this means kristen why wont the president release the memo. Well thats what Many Democrats are certainly asking at this time that letter that you that quote that you just read from the white house was written by white House Counsel don began and with it with the letter that he sent is another supporting document a letter from the f. B. I. And the Deputy Attorney general of the Justice Department. Basically saying that theyre worried about revealing sources and methods in the f. B. I. And releasing information that could hurt ongoing investigations but thats exactly the same rationale that they gave for not releasing the republican memo the nunez memo f. B. I. Was against releasing that one as well and President Trump in that case went ahead and released it anyway so people are asking you know whats the difference here. After he did that he said the new as memo completely vindicated him and democrats of course saw it much differently they said that the five page memo left out key facts and Important Information on the timeline they wanted to have their chance to give their side of the story even a republican on the Intelligence Committee trey gowdy he also said that the republican memo didnt in any way discredit the Mueller Investigation so yes a lot of questions about where this goes from here at this point the but we can surely expect some sort of political fallout absolutely and were already hearing it from democrats from the Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer nancy pelosi theyre calling it a double standard let me read you what Chuck Schumer said in a straight statement the rationale for releasing the new as memo transparency than ish is when it could show information thats harmful to him President Trump millions of americans are asking one simple question what is he hiding. Well for them and well leave it there are a christian to keep an eye on things christians will be there in washington d. C. Lets bring in there Claire Finkelstein shes director of ethics and rule of law at the university of Pennsylvania Law School joins me from philadelphia good to have you with us on al jazeera live i mean to release or not to release that is the question i presume we wonder what the political backlash will be that has yet to be determined but what do you think the democrats are going to do. Well first of all lets know that its very unlikely that the democratic memo can hands intelligence that is sensitive over and above the intelligence that was in the republican memo so the marginal amount of intelligence thats released by releasing the democratic memo if they were to do so is probably has a minimal impact on National Security and therefore its very hard to believe that the president has refused to release the memo on grounds of protecting intelligence. The democrats have a number of different options here i doubt theyre going to take this lying down they know in that in all likelihood president from his just trying to shield himself from the effects of the muller investigation by setting up a a way of trying to fire run rosenstein at least it looks as though the republicans on the House Intel Committee may have cooperated with the white house to try to bring about that negative publicity rosenstein making it easier for a president to fire them unfortunately this seems to have backfired very badly on the republicans and its interesting that the republicans on the House Intel Committee seem to have recognized that by deciding to release the democratic memo unanimously so even the republicans on the committee were happy to have it relieves the president to block that is rather extraordinary misfit think of this ocean trip there but again one of the big issues for maybe for our International Viewers who are very upset aware about what this all means is it all sort of leads towards this investigation about any collusion between russia and that of the Trump Campaign during the president ial election of twenty sixteen how important is it to you might say clear the air get these issues out into the open because at the moment all were seeing is argument and counter argument between the two political sides and thats not doing anything for you but its a National Unity certainly across the u. S. Right well the transparency is really very important at this point because there is such a loss of trust between democrats and republicans and between both faith and count the white house the white house could could be taking a very different view of us they would be saying of course lets release the democratic memo along with the republican memo if classification issues were not sufficiently sensitive in the Republican Base theyre not usually sensitive in the democratic case and let the public to the side and know we are not attempting to bring down this investigation and we show you by demonstrating our transparency but they have taken just the opposite view and the big worry here that i would be losing sleep over if i were one of the president s lawyers is whether or not any cooperation between the white house and the republicans on the House Intel Committee is itself obstruction of justice and implicates the president yet further in actions that attempt to interfere with his own investigation well i think the worry about that is why the republicans on the House Intel Committee did decide to release this number one its a shame that the president has blocked or we should see what does happen certainly in the keeping a very close eye on it for the moment Claire Finkelstein there in philadelphia thanks so much for joining us on aljazeera thank you. Colombias former rebel group the fog has temporarily suspended its campaign for Upcoming Elections because of demonstrations and threats to its candidates the group became a Political Party last year after it made a peace deal with the colombian government more than fifty two years of conflict but many colombians are so angry at the farka believe its members should be in prison. George restraint is the director of the culture of research said to the professor of economics without you have any other university he says assaults concerns about the safety of the activists are justified its a very risky situation its a difficult transition from a conflict to Political Party beijing for the now party and for america really grew because there is strong need for vindication for revenge even in the general population in colombia especially in urban areas then this is why decision by far to stop can fade over because of this where the difference of the country they need to go see there not to a share of the risk to the general feeling that what relation is that they have not. Subject themselves to the new system of justice. Is yet another special justice for the transfusion system and that is what makes people really im really against the fire they feel these a very unfair situation of course what they fire need to luis to recognize and address these very strong sense of sentiment in the population against political participation with. But plenty more ahead on the aljazeera news hour including sending a united. Political rivals in selling ill join forces to demand free and Fair Elections. And as soon fame gets ready to elect a new leader here in dublin ill be looking at the political journey of gerry adams whos headed the party for decades. Also ahead in sports the climbing specialist take on center stage of day four of the divide taught by what happened with tatiana. The Egyptian Army has launched what its calling a comprehensive operation against terrorist and criminal groups in the Sinai Peninsula in a televised statement an Army Spokesman said it involves the land the sea and air forces covering central sinai and areas of the nile delta and Western Desert hospitals have been put on high alert and ordered to prepare extra beds and staff to deal with emergencies and medical evacuations now the Turkish Military is establishing a new position in syrias province as part of efforts to expand the socalled deescalation zone theyve deployed talent took care of the cold turkey state News Agency Russian forces are expected to position themselves six kilometers outside the town now the objective is to create a line dividing Syrian Government forces and opposition fighters to prevent contact itll be the scientific tests bob baffert of Ground Fighting if lisa tweaks. Meanwhile turkey is facing what could be a difficult talk old syria with the u. S. Secretary of state next week theyre likely to focus on the controversial turkish offensive of syrias a free district against what it calls terrorists Kurdish Militia washington supports of obs the fighters who backed local militias against i saw it turkey that the operation still has strong public support us to the reports from istanbul. These are whole its the shells and production there used by the turkish army in operational of wrench in northern syria. An offensive jointly conducted with the Free Syrian Army in syrias kurdish enclave afrin province employees of this arms supplier well into your to work an extra hour every day they say it is the least they can do to support the army. You are so your man a twenty one year old student is one of them that you soloed he wants to join the army as soon as possible. By submitting this application letter i wanted to show a positive and concrete support for our soldiers and set an example for others if the operation hadnt been launched and the white p. G. Would have attacked us with the weapons the us provided to them this so ill do more than solve them with turkey vs the us spec Kurdish Group in syria the i p g as a branch of the p. K. The Kurdistan Workers Party which is listed as a terrorist group by turkey and the us. The forty years between the picking and turkey has cost around thirty thousand lives from both sides as the result of this operation should have been launched much earlier a border should have been cleared up terror as the weather gets colder women launched different campaigns to support the army some are knitting scarves and socks for the soldiers. Others are sending jars of jam or will pray for the safety of the armed forces. I made a presentation protestants support to the after an operation something that is quite rare in turkey but it is Parliament Members say the military intervention in africa is actually an invasion in the african area. And there is nor ever sure tread. For the turkish borders and the turkish state some of those who oppose operation all of rens play what they call turkey is misguided policies in syria for escalating the situation others say this is a move by the government to preserve the nationalists votes in next years election none of them however it wanted to speak to us on camera saying they were scared to be framed now this is a concern considering how frayed gyal and polarized turkey is political and why mint has become so you know im going to sort of aljazeera stumble early years Refugee Agency is raising concerns about growing violence in yemen which it blames for an increase in the number of people forced from their homes since december the u. N. H. C. R. Estimates more than eighty five thousand people have been displaced across the country more than sixty thousand fled regions of the west coast in the hood data and theres governance yabut is the Worlds Largest humanitarian crisis twenty two Million People are in need of aid the civil war intensified in early twenty fifteen where a saudi Led Military Coalition intervened to support of the government which is fighting against hoofy rebels. But too is the un hit c. R. U. Of a Spokes Person she says displaced people often have no other choice than to be of a conflict so its. Well this is the big dilemma because in yemen theres ongoing conflict and every single governor at mainlander been has been affected by the well so what im saying is that from holding and or instance people being trapped with mcgovern arrest so they maybe think im district to district and most of us are trying to make the journey by the east we also see a large amount of people sneaking in and so ill be on which is not used to those governorates but its a very dire situation when you have people who are remaining with my governor and moving from next to other multiple times because. We are really puzzled as to why the situation in yemen the ins and law can see the way that is now the population of yemen is twenty nine million and yet were seeing a situation in two thousand and eighteen which twenty two Million People in the country and now i think i come next and i need charts distance and this is absolutely appalling and the situation is absolutely dire here on the ground and when i hear the response is really not supported enough i mean when suddenly you know trying to respond to the needs of people whove been displaced across the country there are two Million People displaced all across yemen and now we have eighty five thousand the biggest most in this month and yet were starting the year as is your next now the g agency with just three percent of funding search this huge mismatch between the humanitarian needs on the ground and support of the military response and the yemenis well just their records have used to call for the Immediate Release of its journalist whos being either the gyptian jail for hold of a year to say that was imprisoned almost fourteen months ago accused of broadcasting false news to spread chaos but if he had aljazeera to the allegations last week a un human rights body said his a prison but violates International Law who say those repeatedly could play the mistreatment while in jail. Controversial irish republican leader gerry adams is stepping down as head of should fade after thirty four years and he was considered a spokesman for the ira joining its three decade babied campaign aimed at ending british rule of balls and island and more recent years hes been seen as a pivotal figure in the Peace Process has been replaced by a very liberal donald who has no links to the conflict but from dublin that he barbara reports over the years gerry adams has been praised as a brave political leader and condemned as a secret terrorist commander the boy from belfast became active in Northern IrelandCivil Rights Movement in the one nine hundred sixty s. Following the arrival of british troops the province descended into decades of sectarian conflict the troubles. In the one nine hundred seventy s. As events like the bloody sunday shooting of catholic protesters by the british army hit the headlines adams was very easily interned and arrested he always denied being a member of the provisional ira the Irish Republican Army but many people on both sides of the border believe thats a nonsense in one thousand nine hundred three out of his became president of the iras political wing shin fein that same year osting stacks father a chief prison officer was shot dead by the ira he later met adams trying to find out who ordered the killing all the evidence points to the fact that he had a leadership role i mean theres a new autobiography out on him and its quite obvious from that even that the way when he was in terror that the other prisoners there had a parade past him every day and saluted him and you dont do that to someone whos just in the political arm of the organizations of this week soon though gerry adams was arguing that shin fein had more to gain by contesting elections he want to seat in the u. K. Parliament in westminster but never took it up all the while the iras Bombing Campaign continued to kill people not just in Northern Ireland but on the mainland to those whose tools are bombs and bullets. Your way is not the right way in one thousand nine hundred eight protracted talks led to whats known as the good friday agreement setting up a power sharing executive at stormont as well as the decommissioning of weapons and the Early Release of paramilitary prisoners while shin feins Martin Mcguinness went on to become deputy first minister of Northern Ireland adams took a back seat briefly in twenty eleven he contested and want to see it in the republic of ireland part of a deliberate shift in the focus for shin fein strategy as became becoming involved in Decision Making on both sides of the border in the north they quickly establish themselves as the dominant Political Party and have been the dominant nationalist party effort generation now but in the south they needed to build up from a very low base under gerry adams his leadership shin fein has become not only the Largest Nationalist Party in Northern Ireland but the Third Largest group here in the irish doyle parliament and theyre hoping to be in government here in the not so distant future when Martin Mcguinness was buried gerry adams carried his coffin so too did Mary Lou Mcdonald who officially becomes shin feigns new leader on saturday her challenge now is to broaden the partys appeal to a Younger Generation that never knew the troubles nadine barber aljazeera dublin. Well still ahead here all the aljazeera news breaking barriers in sri lanka is a Record Number of female candidates campaigning for seats in Upcoming Elections plus. Brazil but not in rio for the countrys most traditional carnival plus. Im pouring in sweden where five hundred years of history could be on the side of the swedes as they continue their battle against norway and the Winter Olympics. From dusky sunsets if its pruning savannah. To sunrise atop an asian metropolis i once again the weather looks logic watch across a good part of central and Southern China temperatures in hong kong at around twenty two degrees so while the west the weather though pushing up towards the southwest and some snow on the Northern Edge of fact that will get pushed a little further south which is we go through sunday perhaps the snow not as widespread but the cooler air does set in say hong kong getting up to around nineteen degrees celsius but at least it should be largely sunny sunny too across a good part of malaysia thailand looking set Family Financial gently settled and sunny the heaviest showers now look to be gathering just around that western side of borneo Northern Areas of indonesia seeing some rather heavy showers as we go on through the next couple of days to carter said seeing more heavy right temperatures here at around thirty degrees celsius well see temperatures around thirty celsius across a good part of india and there is looking lousy dry but a fair amount of cloud across the country not to as a northwest because see some increasing clouds some fickling cloud just bringing a little bit of rain maybe some snow into the northwest of pakistan over the next dial and we go with the increasing kind of course the eastern side of the country today but again as i said should stay lotty dry. I studied logic drive across the peninsula here in doha of twenty six degrees. The weather sponsored by qatar and race. Against good news im scared. To lose his will lose their nerve and fight for what is right on the shores of paradise progress for some can create a living hell for others challenging his government and big business one man risked his life to save the community he cherishes these not to be that someone can do stand. For and. The opposition a witness documentary at this time on al jazeera and monday pointed world on. Us in British Companies have announced the biggest discovery of natural gas in west africa but what to do with these untapped Natural Resources is already a source of heated debate nothing much has changed they still spend most of their days looking forward to for dry riverbed like this one five years on the syrians still feel battered or even those who managed to escape their country have been truly unable to escape the war. Welcome back to their elders or at news arms the whole robin hood reminder of our top stories our fleets from north and south korea have marched on day unified careers flag for the opening of the Winter Olympics in. South koreas president move jay and use the ceremony to reach out to pyongyang shaking hands with the north Korean Leaders sister. Also u. S. President donald trump has blocked the release of a classified better written by democrat. Its on the House Intelligence Committee citing National Security concerns the member rebuts a document prepared by the committees republicans which allege f. B. I. Pious a great strip. Club useful the rebel group the barkers temporarily suspended its Political Campaign because of demonstrations and threats to its candidates the group became a Political Party last year after a peace deal with the colombia tough but had to go all the fifty two years of conflict. The charity has denied allegations that tried to cover up its aid workers who paid for sex during a mission to haiti was part of a bass of its National Relief efforts in haiti after the devastating earthquake in two thousand and ten and now the times do you paint that in the u. K. Alleges that the charity was tipped off by a whistleblower and that some of it c. D. s stuff theyre using prostitutes some of whom could have been a direct each now the charity allowed three bed to resided sacked for the gross of misconduct Jonathan Katz worked as a journalist for the Associated Press in haiti after the earthquake its a question of poverty its a question of differences in power i mean basically foreigners can come into a country like haiti and do essentially whatever they want without any kind of accountability and sometimes that involves running aid projects badly and sometimes that involves actual predatory behavior i mean for you know individual haitians who are just trying to do everything they can to survive its not surprising that some people would find themselves women in some cases possibly obviously we dont know specifically in this case but in other cases underage women in a position where they have to they feel like they have to do these kinds of things to survive i mean the thing thats most important in haiti is to help people build their own lives to help people get money and build their own incomes and then help create a state thats capable of Holding People accountable when they commit crimes like this. Not to bore with or hoping to get elected to government voters are choosing representatives and more than three hundred local elections on saturday change of the law requires women to fill a quarter of all seats with all reports from club. Entering the latest political race with a bang rosie sennight form of this is world diplomat and parliamentarian is aiming to become to be out of colombo shes the first woman to even try i strongly believe that you cannot have democracy if you do not interest the needs of the made the population the majority the population. Shes one of more than seventy thousand women contesting local Government Elections a Record Number of women are standing for positions in three hundred forty institutions a recent change of the law has made it mandatory to have twenty five percent of women in local government more than twelve times the number but now some only the marxist Peoples Liberation front says the changes will give more deserving women a chance in our country and some ministers daughter are siblings and those from. Politics. But we think honest women should come into politics the laws are made this election can do that. Its a view that this voter in colombo endorsed you this hype time that the city londons the politicians at least. There should give a list of the women. Its the first time in decades that elections to all local bodies around the country are being held on a single day the stakes are high for all Political Parties going into this local Government Election with the president by palestinian and Prime Ministers from the singer whose parties are contesting separately its a battle to be the landlady of three years ago which is the reason why local issues such as roads street lights and Garbage Disposal are taking on the intensity of a national fight the Coalition Government of the president and Prime Minister is struggling to maintain its popularity following a series of scandals and failure to deliver on its Campaign Promise to root out corruption both leaders have travelled around the country to support their candidates their main threat is former president rajapaksa despite being voted out of his bid for the third president ial term rajapaksa still commands the loyalty of a large voter base a base hes trying to mobilize for a new political front despite the fact that hes not a member of it and remains a member of the successors party saw the promise or the way forward for the Upcoming National elections will be starting from this but the low point for it is for the president for the Prime Minister was coming from that would be put on Political Parties and in the other hand the former president s campaign will have a place and they hope to shore up our whatever the larger political stakes local elections voters will be hoping for a competent candidates both male and female to ensure the smooth running of their institutions. From colombo nonpopular government to middle and more women fighting for seats why is this particular election so much more important than previous ones. The local Government Election this time around is taking on literally the fervor of a national fight because its been three years since the government of president my policy seriously and it came into power the Coalition Government with the main opposition the United National body and given the fact that there are a number of promises that they have failed to keep i mean the key being on the fight against corruption to give to bring people responsible for large scale frauds to go you know a lot of these things that they had promised to do when they managed to displace the former prison mine the rajapaksa but people are beginning to lose patience with the government because on a number of sort of fronts those promises have been havent been kept so this local Government Election which generally is about sort of local Town Councils you know about choosing your own local representatives now is about each of the Political Parties muscling in to try and make a statement and muslim for future political fights. But actually want to participate in local politics. I mean that is very much the starting point. Some research is of that said that sri lanka has some of the lowest representation of women in politics i mean that local level in these local council and things like that there were less than two percent of women involved in the process and this is why when the local government laws were changed and amended that is a twenty five percent quarter brought in for women mandatory that they be involved in local politics so even the election commissioner who i spoke to recently said its not just to look into womens issues but overall in terms of looking at issues of democracy of fairness of justice that womens input the fact that even in sri lanka theres over fifty percent of the population is made up of women so its a sad sort of void to see that such a few women actually getting involved to represent women so thats why its important to have these higher representation of women in politics in this country and the best place to start is at grassroots or local government level to see what the results are of the coming days of the bible belt thank you. Now setting goals opposition parties have been demonstrating in a call for free and Fair Elections ahead of the twenty nine team vote now the trial of a high profile opposition figure on corruption allegations is jus to end this week plea for south america dhaka is expected to challenge president back you sell at the polls possible from the capital. Supporters of rival Political Parties marching together they say to defend democracy. Its a rare moment of unity in senegals lively and sometimes Divisive Political landscape here they shout the name of the former president s son karim waters a leading opposition figure who was sentenced to prison on corruption charges he now lives in exile. If opposition leaders are sent to prison then our democracy is turning into a dictatorship thats why were on the streets to ensure our Political Rights the popular mayor of Deckard Khalifa cell too was accused of embezzling millions of dollars and is facing trial from his detention cell he still runs the city if sentenced he will not be allowed to run for president in the Upcoming Elections. Sal says the trial is politically motivated. The opposition accuses president barchi cell of using the courts to eliminate his political rivals ahead of the two thousand and one thousand president ial elections among the protesters is the president s former Prime Minister. Not only. Politician. People like that is a struggle for the people of senegal we want. To become real democrats under by he sells leadership senegal has become one of the worlds Fastest Growing economy people here are better off today than they were before he came to power and with recent offshore oil and gas discoveries the economy is set to grow even further but these protesters feel left out saying they dont getting a fair share of the steel well. Theres protests and demonstrations like this for the past few weeks or cross various west african countries than chad in news here when charles go even in tunisia some are protesting against the rising cost of living others are calling for political change and so this protest has to be taken in the light of whats happening throughout the region Young Africans tired of being ignored taking to the streets in order to get their voices heard. The demonstration ended like it started peacefully for president mikeys al supporters this shows his ability to govern with the opposition and with thousands of people on the streets the opposition sees it as a success too and so all seem to agree that democracy isnt easy but its always worth fighting for because hard algis iraq the car. Mexican marines arrested a dettori as drug gang leader with a five billion dollars bounty on his head. And then here is the leader of the laws that us cartel that stink chaos across much of mexico with its Drug Trafficking operations its a big success for the government which is also deployed thousands of federal Police Officers to combat a surge of violence while the twenty five thousand people were murdered in mexico last year thats the highest number in decades now is the time of the year again carnival is getting underway in brazil but for most people that needs the sub the parades of Rio De Janeiro but the most traditional call of all of all is in the Northeastern State of part of the book or latin america and to tell you see it you bet it is there. Im in a sea for the capital of penumbra states where carnival is a multicultural multi music affair that lasts for five days behind me on the ball nickels these are the giant dolls for which this state is famous they began in the early one nine hundred step pay homage to different personalities past and as you can see present more than eighty will be parading next week and the longtime coordinator of the event was kind enough to give us a sneak preview. Here to see if it has stephen hes got under way over night. This is called monica to approve caution based music with strong african roots brought here to the seafront by slades eighteenth century. And there was also the foot able Nineteenth Century rhythm that big number is famous for its a fusion of polka martial music a kind of brazilian tango and some african rhythms. Carnival is a time for celebration but also for excesses especially of alcohol which is increasingly needing to sex abuse is out here on the streets for the second year in a row activist Edward Kennedy is taking part in a campaign for women to speak out and to monitor places where abuses are most likely to happen. During carnival theres a culture of permissiveness people think its normal to grope you to force you to kiss them to have sex with women specially. But even with that millions of brazilians and foreigners have come here to celebrate the preparations are underway for what will be the main event on saturday called the rooster of the dawn thats when this gigantic rooster will lead the Worlds Largest street parade more than a Million People taking part and it begins at the early hours of the morning when it ends you know when no. Will still have hail the aljazeera you saw. On the wellings in pyong china where the participation of some washing off plates was finally resolved and the sport is properly on the wild. Card. Al jazeera. Its. Where every. Welcome back though the soviet union put the first satellite the first batter the first woman in space the russian seven rockets that launched the first satellite are Still Service of the International Space station but with this weeks space x. Launch russia face losing its commercial edge of the ball space race road challenge reports of a ball sky want to go bust gade maybe russias loss. The pictures and the achievement amazed millions of people who are around the world but space x. Is falcon heavy rocket launch with its gracefully landing boosters didnt seem to impress russias state space agency roscoes most they dismissed it as little more than a p. R. Stunt for eat on mosques tesla electric cars if you have noticed ross cosmos said on a russian Radio Station this launch whens up not with some empty dummy or a load which he wouldnt regret losing in a failure but with one specific car. Theres some truth in what ross cosmo says ilan musk is among other things a master of promoting his various products but thrust kosmos also seems to be covering its eyes to the main point space x. Is a Space Technology game changer and its a game some russians fear theyre likely to lose because. We do feel his success is in fact that he made the process less expensive hes workers are to be used multiple times therefore he doesnt have to build a new rocket every time and the price is low he can take a satellite into orbit cheaper and well lose it in this competition because our rockets can be used only once igor corage and go is one of a number of deeply concerned Russian Defense and space analysts hes concerned for russias share of the space market and concerned space x. Will benefit the u. S. Military the workhorses of russias state Space Program like this so you see i suddenly feel like aging remnants from a different era which they are really so used first launched in one thousand nine hundred sixty six a new cosmodrome called rostock germany and russias far east has brought some modernization but millions of dollars have gone missing from the accounts because my dreams corruption scandals highlight the countrys problem with self sabotage even on projects of National Priority with russias illustrious history of Space Exploration is still a few thoughts of National Prize but as the dawn breaks on a new era one of commercial space travel russia will have to match innovative nimble relatively cheap operators like space x. If its to stay competitive thats a huge political and technological challenge and one the country is only just waking up to rory chalons aljazeera moscow. I. Dont think it is. Up well its time for sport now and all of the olympic news has touching other thank you very much as theyve seen a earlier the twenty third winter Olympic Games in pyongyang have been declared officially open the Opening Ceremony took place at young trungpa lympics stadium on friday setting the scene for the three thousand athletes to compete in fifteen sports over the next seventeen days russian athletes took part in the ceremony with out Team Uniforms all the russian flag one hundred sixty eight second painting as a specially named olympic athlete from russia team as a result of doping functions just hours before they walked into the Olympic Stadium the court of arbitration for sport dismissed the appeal of a further forty seven the wanted to compete at the games. The russian doping scandal is arguably the most murky sob story in the history of sport and yes i spent years covering the faith for scandal but this involves the public being completely cheated metals being involved a nation seems to be poisoned from the top down how did we get to this position well four years ago putins grand plan for sports or succeed in russia around the home olympics the very expensive sachi Winter Olympics im off the allegations it was shown by investigation but that being systematic dont bring in wash so the International Olympic committee banned forty three russian competitors for life. Fast forward a couple of years of politics and then we get into a situation where the ultimate coach in sport a court of arbitration for sport overturned those lifetime bans by sight but not clearing the dopers completely but theres not enough evidence for lifetime bans so the russians want to compete here twenty eight of them supposedly allowed to compete in the International OlympicCommittee Say no were still not inviting them so the russians appeal again and it goes back to the court of arbitration for sport bystander in pyongyang and it goes to the daily goings on actually begin today the division of the court of arbitration for sport dismissed the application filed by thirty two russian athletes against the International Olympic committee it does also dismissed the applications filed yesterday by fifty at least and coaches against the use so the cast decision is very good news for the International Olympic committee have been fighting the legal and political battles for months even years over the russian scandal. Afterwards he said we welcome this decision which supports the fight against doping and brings clarity for all athletes like all of us i just want to get on with the sport now. And that sport is in full flow throughout saturday with the first medals of the guns being decided in five events one of the events is plenty of korean interest in not but most interest of course in the unified womens hockey team from korea by mike has to be their first guy against switzerland another athlete who wont be taking part in the the olympic those twenty fourteen snowboard halfpipe champion ilo report logic of the russian born swiss suffered a bad fall and broke his nose while competing at the x. Games last month the twenty nine year old whose nickname is i pod to travel to pyong chan and trained on friday after announcing he wasnt fit enough to defend his title. When the first medal event start on saturday you can expect to see plenty of golds around the necks of swedens athletes the country is traditionally one of the best performers in the Winter Olympics the more than half of them medals have come in Cross Country skiing Pool Research reports on the culture behind their success. Go down to the woods today in swedens dollar not county and you may well meet a crosscountry skier. For thousands of years skis were how you traveled traded and survived in this part of the world now Cross Country is a national pursuit that is also responsible for most of sweden success at the winter games its interdiction in sweden crosscountry skiing is very good for the body itself for the. Back so like the symbol to syria that we are only into country swedens twenty nine Cross Country olympic gold medals make a second in the world only to their cousins next door now for sweden at the olympics Cross Country skiing is all about my rivalry with norway but it means much more than that back home where they have skiing possibly the funk for swedish independent. Its that revolutionary king. Probable this region on school days in the sixteenth century drumming up support for his rebellion it led to victory against the danes a hole in fallen and four hundred years later it led to. You know told begun in one thousand nine hundred twenty two vasa law puts all the vasa race is the biggest in the world ninety kilometers long and with sixteen thousand competitors the route is based on one supposedly taken by costar vasa but the race name for the king has become more a part of swedish d. N. A. Than their royal history even if norwegians sometimes when it and i did seven hours and twenty minutes and i think thats a really good time for the first first try i think credible i cant really imagine but theres ten thousand people lining up to to do this crazy thing and its just really i mean i get really psyched up and i want to do it so great and its just really amazing the pull of the race for swedes leads many to high official of ocelot but coaches be glorious for this very swedish rite of passage the olympics sort of like fifty k. The longest distance in the olympics and its i think also pretty so race by their own and its a really good engine for the crosscountry skiing in sweden or also in the world twelve years have gone by since sweden last topped the olympic crosscountry table theyll hope the time until the next coronation isnt measured in centuries poorest aljazeera followed sweden for more information on everything to do with the winter games if you go to our website you can find a dedicated section on the p. R. Lympics head to aljazeera dot com for slashed twenty eighteen. Football now and chelsea manager Antonio Conti has insisted he is committed to the club despite speculation surrounding his future its off to chelsea lost for one to watford in the English Premier League on monday theyve won just two of the last ten games in all competitions. The only place is totally for describe and we are trying to do our best but as you know very well because we are talking about football you know that. There is a lot of time i dont agree but a lot of the time. The manager the coach the best of all of the side in this case get a result and for days that result. We have to pay great attention. Contis side next play against west brom on monday but there are six games to look forwards to in the English Premier League on saturday tottenham and off will kick things off in the london darby while League LeadersManchester City are at home to last finally it is italys ele of yani will take the lead into the final day of the debiting or as fridays penultimate stage was won by another italian that was funny called but i lay off to three stages favoring sprint final it specialists it was the climbers who took center stage on day four Brandon Mcnulty made it for home with twelve of the one hundred seventy two kilometer course remaining but the american was eventually caught in sight of the line and it was called belly who got the win that he on the retains a two second lead at the top of the overall funding. For the sport for now more later. Thanks very much tatiana of course you follow all of the news stories on all website at aljazeera dot com the top story of course is that between north and south delegations at the olympics well have more on that in the news in a few minutes time here allows there to stay with us. For the nomadic jacka tries survival is about reaching their destination if we dont hurry will never be able to give the thumbs up in the storm we follow the mongolian herdsmen on a treacherous migration. Dangerous the ice is a thing as they strive to preserve their traditional way of life a little bit longer sometimes luser. There with the cold war because of the storm risking it all mongolia at this time on aljazeera the way we communicate is what defines us. We dont always has. As innovation in technology continues to shape our lives. Pioneering content creation and distribution utilizing Cloud Technology and artificial intelligence. The future thats never seemed closer than it does today. And what lies beyond the horizon. To take us to on the frontier its the future of media leaders summit. Limitless possibilities. A unique poor trait of a small gulf nation living under siege what made this different was their targets and their pain to be forced to leave would just be all and their gains by the celeb it has given us the desire to carry on with our lives and be creative maybe ill turn down as its normal its part of business. Has become more united. Beyond the blockade at this time on aljazeera. We understand the differences and the similarities of cultures across the wound. So no matter where you call home Aljazeera International bringing the news and Current Affairs that matter to you. Aljazeera. A sign of hope at the Winter Olympics as athletes from the two koreas march on the unified flag watched by top officials from both north and south