alive or dead for some months and they're just not getting. the lady i've spoken to says that if these were australian citizens rather than permanent residents then she thinks a lot more would be done she says she's spoken to people in the u.s. state department who say that if they were u.s. residents the u.s. state department would have done a lot more to find out what was going on but she doesn't think enough is being done by camera to find out what has happened to these people well the weather's next but still to come we're largely to iran where iranians are marking forty years since the islamic revolution. hello there where this quite messy across the middle east at the moment if we take a look at the satellite picture we can see the cloud working its way up from saudi arabia over parts of iran and then gradually swirling around the whole region and this is giving some of us some pockets of rain and snow at the moment and it will intensify as we head through the next few days say for monday then quite a bit of rain over the southern parts of iraqi through kuwait and into iran and pushes its way eastwards as we head into choose day giving iran some very heavy rain and some snow for afghanistan as well and actually for afghanistan over the next few days that could be around sixty centimeters more snow in places which is good news because we are in a drought here even further towards the south and here in doha there's more in the way of clouds and there's also some wet weather just to the north of us that's sweeping its way southwards across us so during monday night is where we're expecting most of the wet weather and then that clears away for tuesday so why choose day then there should be more in the way of dry weather around once more and it will also be another breezy day the winds firing down from the northwest bringing in some fresh air so twenty two degrees would just be our maximum temperature and it will feel quite cool it during the night that it was a southern parts of africa lots of showers here stretching across towards madagascar and some rather violent thunderstorms for the eastern parts of south africa to. desperate for more weird news about hilton's baby's present you want to take a week or two off you said i need to work i need the money part of it i think it's humiliating because i thought i'd be somewhere else in my life in a mad risking it all down i. gotto ma going. for a better future always saying yes to the house do you want to sleep on things hard . on al-jazeera. welcome back you're watching us there with me so romney a reminder of our top stories acting u.s. defense secretary has just arrived in afghanistan's capital for talks aimed at ending the seventeen year war patrick shanahan will meet u.s. military officials and the afghan president ashraf gani. but as well as opposition leader hung efforts to got food and medicine from entering almost genocidal the u.s. provided food and medicine pos stuck at the border and the u.s. military says it will probably start to pull troops out of syria in a few weeks but the top american commander in the middle east is cautious about the exact timing. well as we've been reporting the u.s. defense secretary has arrived in kabul hoping to give taliban peace talks another push but i still is also making inroads there and it's attracting fighters pushed out of syria and iraq tony berkeley reports from the mountainous border regions along pakistan. in the wild and rugged areas of eastern afghanistan life is difficult at the best of times now it has become the main battleground against eisel a fight that i still. is not losing these militia know the capability of the men they're fighting commander zeitoun knows better than most he was and i saw fighter this is video of him when he was with the armed group he joined for idealistic reasons he says he left when he witnessed the brutality. i saw was very cruel to everyone they killed people slaughtered them they used bombs they did whatever they could i had to leave here survive three assassination attempts the last a few days ago when a magnet bomb was attached to his car in a crowded marketplace killing one of his men and badly injuring him people here are scarred and scared by eisel the group launches regular attacks from mountain hideouts and bloodshed is a constant fear two goals nine sons were killed by eisel one was hacked to death with an axe. i don't have power to take my revenge otherwise i would have hammered him all over his body from head to toe i would keep him for a week and then let him die slowly because that is what he deserves. with the afghan army overstretched in the fight against the taliban militias are the first line of defense in one the hard province where some got theirs and i learned that they are tough and not far from here if we leave this area they will come back to destroy this place again but we will fight again until we die then they are back use these militias have only basic arms and equipment they say is insufficient to really fight i still they need more and us air power alone is not enough to destroy eisel bases or prevent their operations that needs to happen on the ground the network of tunnels and i saw hideouts in the tora bora mountains are easy to defend and almost impossible to attack from the ground commander zeitoun points out the spot where the americans dropped their biggest non-nuclear bomb containing ten thousand kilos of explosives to try and destroy eisel positions the militias say it made no difference. if the u.s. paid the amount they spent on this mother of all bombs we could have finished deisel. local commanders say that eisel here has men from chechnya turkey and pakistan in its ranks but communities fear that if i saw he's pushed out of syria it will rebase to afghanistan in the. desert and this was the foreign fighters a very cruel and don't have sympathy for anyone the local i saw have at least some feeling for afghans but foreign isolator cruel or their hearts are made of stone on the battlefield i still may be contained for now but it's taking ground in the propaganda war last week afghan security services arrested a cleric and a professor who are alleged to be eisel spies western diplomats report that afghan universities have become fertile ground for eisel recruitment now and how university in jalalabad was closed for a time last year so recruiters and sympathizers could be cleared out. of this. but there's not people who are using illicit deal for politically thought against the guard and no one can bring that ideas to work again the interest of the country in the remote militia outpost facing eisel positions the hope is they get western support and weapons before they have to encounter the battle hardened men who will lose syria but not a cause tony berkeley al-jazeera eastern afghanistan. celebrations are beginning in iran to mark forty years since the islamic revolution thousands are expected at freedom square where president hassan rouhani will speak later we'll go live in a moment but first andrew symonds reports on how iranians are remembering the events of nine hundred seventy nine and how they feel today. now a carpenter mohammed raise a tired sheikh is one of iran's many revolutionaries he reflects on life changing events forty years ago with the style during pride. well before i will hold many took power the helm of the razor defected from the shazam e joining the revolution. he went on to fight in the iran iraq war of the nineteen eighties hundreds of thousands were killed and maimed among them mohammed raises a younger brother how many that raised. our belief in personal sacrifice for their revolution is our spiritual leader says we are the victorious ones because our enemies cannot put pressure on us militarily they are doing it economically and culturally. mohammad reza says he's against moderates in government and believes foreign influence is to blame for economic problems outside inner city festooned with the cobbles of the islamic republic of iran many people now speak openly about economic hardship. but forty taxi driver a nola reza is as old as the revolution he says he can't pay his bills. no matter how much he cut back on my spending i can make both ends meet i'm distraught i've got two children aged eight and thirteen for decades since the revolution of a population of more than eighty million and there's a big gap than ever between the rich and the poor the economic situation getting worse and made much more critical by the u.s. sanctions has led to high youth unemployment and inflation increasing by the day that's leading to subdued anger in many parts of iran. it's likely to get worse for the people before it gets better reimposed u.s. sanctions are now forcing more countries to stop importing oil from iran its main driver for growth we spoke to some iranians who say people have to show resilience . that the issue has to be so we should all have the same goal we should protect our revolution from being. before he finishes speaking a bystander interrupts with her view of the revolution i believe that it has driven us to dismiss ari and poverty people are poor and they have nothing left. young people in this crowded setting talk of leaving iran once they've graduated from university this twenty year old plans to move to canada to work as a nurse i don't see my future here i don't think i can find a good job most of a rainy and one to. immigrate to. the divide between often stoic older generation and younger people has undoubtedly grown since mama razor and others brought down a monarchy but he insists nothing can break the spirit of iran's revolution. let's cross over to andrew stevens who joins us now live in tehran and really a day to reflect remember and perhaps celebrate in tehran but we sort of international tension so very high and domestic and social financial woes of use as you just discussed in your package ongoing just to talk us through today's timeline on what is a very important and sensitive day for a rainy and. it is quite a long time line in every sense you'll see right here the podium that's where eventually the house and rouhani the president will deliver a longer address it will deal with issues domestic issues the history the commemoration of loss the commemoration of gain and also a highly charged political message we're expecting a direct hit of america on assessing the nuclear deal and all of the implications of the u.s. stance on blacks for the future so it isn't just a question of looking back forty years it's a question of looking forward very much but let me give you the sense of occasion in the sense of this location because if we look right up up here you will see a tower that's the it's not it's our the iconic tower which is built in one thousand nine hundred seventy seven nine hundred seventy one it was commemorated the reason i'm featuring this is that two thousand five hundred years have been a real state rule is this this is a commemoration of that it was originally called the shi'i at this hour the shah of iran used this as his symbol of the rule of course all this day forty years ago the name was changed the name as not being freedom tower and ayatollah khomeini came here when here arrived eleven days ago back from exile in france and then move forward to the cemetery way address the people this was the day you know few hours time forty years ago a few hours the ministry announced a statement that it no longer was backing the shah at it was impossible they return to barracks this was the moment of change when the whole revolution took over. forty years of history of loss of again all attempts at making a whole new rule of all the people of iran a theocratic regime as it's described by many certainly are very different form of government with the clerics in charge of the course the president who will speak and address all the crowds later on on monday. and then electively the supremes leader ayatollah ali how monday he has already made his stance he has said quite categorically that the americans what he says death to america is not addressing the american people is to stick distinctively said that it is addressed to the president of the united states and to his leadership as u.s. secretary of state and his also his national security adviser so this is a situation i want to expect to hear very very harsh criticism about that nuclear deal about the nuclear deal two years in the making of twenty fifth thing that was wiped away by president trump in may last year and now european states are trying to keep that nuclear deal alive with a very unusual arrangement of back trade deal which is very controversial not necessarily going to work there are real tensions around and also a diplomatic focus will be on a special conference which the iranians are deploring which will happen in warsaw responsible the united states they deny point blank this is an anti iranian conference but it is very controversial that is taking place on wednesday when tensions will be even for the moment will even down. through the day with you and your teams across iran from that thank you. now talks to avert another government shutdown in the u.s. store just days before a deadline over funding is due to expire now there's a dispute between republicans and democrats over the detention of asylum seekers president donald trump agreed last month to end the thirty five day partial shutdown with a three week spending deal he wants billions of dollars for his long promised border wall but democrats are refusing to approve it and the latest democratic party contender for the twenty twenty presidential election has launched her bid declaring that we are all tired of the shutdowns a miracle blusher made the announcement in her home state a former prosecutor she was the first elected woman to the senate in two thousand and six from the state of minnesota now last year she made headlines for grilling president trump's supreme court nominee brit counselor during his confirmation hearing we are tired of the shutdowns in the showdowns of the gridlock and the grandstanding. today and this no a day on this island we say and now is the irish. our nation must be governed not from chaos but from opportunity not by wallowing over what's wrong but by marching an extra week to art what's right australian political strategist at the heart of multiple conservative election wins in the u.k. is being accused of offering to stage a campaign to cancel the twenty twenty two qatar football world cup the u.k.'s guardian newspaper says a lynton crosby firm pitched a seven million dollars permission to pressure fee for to restart the bidding process project ball it was it was propounding called focused on of its two d.d. legitimize the qatari government by spreading negative news stories was because lawyers deny any contracts are signed or finalised. watching others are with me still raman a reminder of our top stories the acting u.s. defense secretary is in afghanistan's capital for talks aimed at ending the seventeen year war patrick shanahan will meet u.s. military officials and afghan president musharraf's garny he says he wants afghanistan's government involved in peace talks with the taliban it's been sidelined because the taliban regards the government as illegitimate the u.s. is trying to get its aid into venezuela through a un security council resolution tons of food and medicine are stuck on the colombian border president maduro refuses to take it saying the aid is part of efforts to force him from power. driver one why those as efforts to keep our the aid are almost genocidal. i understand that they want to block the aid because that's what a victimizer does it makes them seem almost genocidal by their actions they're killing venezuelans killing children who are protesting killing fernando abandon opposition lawmaker i understand that they would want to deny this and not allowing the humanitarian aid the regime should know it this is a crime against humanity gentlemen of the armed forces. the u.s. military says it's likely to begin pulling troops out of syria in a few weeks but the top american commander in the middle east cautioned that the exact timing would depend on how things are going on the ground the trumpet ministration has been sending mixed messages on when the withdrawal will happen president trump surprised many of his allies in december when he announced all u.s. soldiers would come home immediately having defeated eisel seventeen australian residents are believed to have been detained in china first part of a crackdown on the muslim week of minority activists say the individuals were visiting relatives when they were arrested about a million weekers are believed to be held in camps against their will try and his government though says the comes a voluntary and designed to stamp out extremist tendencies. and thailand's election commission is expected to make a ruling on whether princess when rod can run for the prime minister's office in elections in march the thai rocks a chant party announced on friday that the king's older sister would be it's candid it the palace though described the move as unconstitutional and inappropriate thailand's royals traditionally stay out of politics you can follow all of those stories on our website at al-jazeera dot com more news in half an hour we continue on al-jazeera now with one on one east to stay with us. on counting the cost digital divisions why half the world's population risks missing out on the next evolution of the internet from russia with interest kremlin backed investments in venezuela are all about plus a report from senegal's cards who control the city counting the cost on al-jazeera . it's been branded the world's biggest heist at least four point five billion dollars stolen from malaysia's sovereign wealth fund one indeed. the former prime minister najib razak faces almost forty criminal charges. and a malaysian financier jolo is wanted by authorities in malaysia singapore and the united states. i'm steve cho on this episode a one on one east we investigate the deals and alleged criminal cover ups there rob malaysians of billions of dollars and track down the accidental hero who blew the whistle and. it's been a massive fool for malaysia's former prime minister najib resign. ousted from power in may last year he's banned from leaving the country and his family homes have been raided. police seizing two hundred and seventy million dollars worth of cash and luxury goods to be good at a lot of gifts it was a not fair you know to parade and to put a value on the steam's as far as i'm concerned i was not doing anything wrong. but is not to resign faces mounting charges a name asis from the past slip seems like a. quality lupul or. enemies just. the swiss national informant bank it turned businessman is regarded as a hero in what's being dubbed the new malaysia today xavi just is a keynote speaker at an anti corruption summit he provided the crucial evidence exposing the lead scam that saw more than four point five billion dollars siphoned out of malaysia's sovereign wealth fund one im d b. acting against criminals can be very dangerous they would do anything to keep the money they have no limits and with this they took everything from us i spent ten months in jail they made my wife suffer the loans they did they stole billions from poor people and just because. i have to forget no they have to pay. at home in switzerland the shore of lake geneva office the serenity xaverian his wife laura crying. the past three and a half years have been tumultuous as a couple found themselves in broiled in malaysia's financial scandal. their nightmare began in twenty fifteen when they were living in thailand and building a resort. laura was visiting family in switzerland with their eight month old son when the thai police arrested her husband for real doria when i went to work or. you're through matter of time. and the second i knew he was arrested i knew it was because it was already and i could feel it was going to be bigger than. than what it was. petro saudi is a company at the heart of malaysia's stolen billion in two thousand and nine it entered into a one point eight billion dollars joint venture with one aim to be. the deal was struck on a make a yacht in the mediterranean on board the now fugitive malaysian financier an alleged mastermind jolo who then prime minister najib resigned and his wife. and the hosts petro saudi cofounders prince turki a son of the late king of saudi arabia and to record by at the time to record buried was one of saving is best friends february two thousand. contacted me a couple of times. office because they signed a deal with the malaysian money and they needed me the guy that you could trust. to run to run the company. xavi went to work with a record by eight and another director patrick mahoney but seven months into the job he says things started to sour it said that if you receive a lot of money you become crazy that's a fact i sold up direct started buying a flat after you bought. renting your in the south of france it's probably are familiar euro's weak everything becomes like extravaganza so he started to treat me like a star he was treating other people very bad xavier resigned april twentieth levon he says he was all moved two point five million dollars and to ensure he paid he had more than two hundred thirty thousand confidential emails downloaded from the company server on to a hard drive. again there were a lot of money involved that. access to the financial daughters of the woman to be what would be i would work until. three years later he says he still hadn't been paid so he began looking for a potential buyer for the datta british journalist claire brown had already been investigating suspected corruption behind. what first caught my eye was the fact that the young son a step son of the prime minister of malaysia had been targeted as the producer of one of hollywood's most expensive movies the reason or is it is a step son of knowledge of resign act and one of the producers of the twenty thirteen one hundred million dollar hollywood blockbuster wolf of wall street he was claiming he put his own money in and there was really no there was no money behind trees so where was this money coming from and looking into it deeper i had very quickly ascertained that at resist side there was this young financial low who was connected to one n.d.p. as the advisor so what i was asking was a very simple question to begin with were the missing billions that no one could account for that had disappeared from one and were they in any way linked to the tens of millions that suddenly the stepson of the prime minister was able to invest in this film about theft and large acts. the search for answers led her to a meeting with xavier in twenty fourteen i went to bangkok and i met this strange man in the middle of bangkok who someone of war may be a russian mafia she was scared and i was going to be in a world that it. luckily that my hunch was correct and it was a former director of patricide none other than. he explained how he gradually had begun to realize there was something very troubling about this joint venture with one m.t.p. . he started to show me some of his emails that he had from this database. the one in v.b. petro saudi deal struck on the yorkshire required when major to initially invest one billion dollars in the joint venture and petro saudi to contribute energy concessions valued at almost three billion dollars. it's very easy and i listen. what they did the bin in the front company something that could appear very legal and they found this very beautiful name. it looks like it's the official oil company off of saudi arabia that's the only quality but. this beautiful name so the frame of the gun where the stub of. the e-mails showed those billions of dollars were the petro saudi energy concessions had been hugely and fraudulently overvalued something's a.v.o. always suspected and now believed was crucial to the alleged criminal scam in two thousand and nine. but you can hone and ask me if i knew a company or a guy that could evaluate the four to billions. they said no way i'm going to have. a company that is worth pretty much nothing for the billions but it seems mahoney in a bird age got what they wanted by restricting the work of the value asia is cause of work is to have value. a number of assets not look at the owner of the title. so you just overlooking something is nothing i can see. giving privilege or not is not belonging to. and xavier's cache of documents revealed even more fraudulent activity he was flicking through very quickly and there was there was one sort of bank transfer. i said to him can we go back and look at that because there was a seven an awful lot of zeros i'm assuming it was a seven hundred thousand dollar transfer but actually was there as an extra three cirrus on that was it a seven hundred million dollar transfer and he said yeah seven hundred million. the dart it clearly showed that only three hundred million of malaysia's one billion dollars cash investment made it into the joint venture account. seven hundred million winched to a suite spank account controlled by none other then joe. you should of all the red flags. go through and wanted to. go. according to the tens of millions then allegedly flowed from there to to record and on to prince turki and patrick mahoney. and are no into the world back then also as the us department of justice alleges into malaysia's then prime minister knowledge of reserve acts personal bank account because they were there with a well. but a symbol of the you have the money. the channels the bank accounts and that's when i saw that enormous number being transferred to a company that belonged to that it was an offshore instrument belonging to. that was when i knew i had a. shattering story. but very real wanted two point five million dollars before he'd give her the dollar i'm not sending this to your back bidder this is worth a lot of one i just want to recover my money that i knew this was a story i couldn't just turn away from just because i didn't have a few million dollars in the end one of southeast asia's biggest media financial crepes got in touch and told me that they wanted.

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