Al Jazeera World

Anwar Ibrahim got his start in politics as a student leader in Malaysia in the 1970s and stunned many when he joined the ruling party and teamed up with then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. He rose quickly through ranks to become finance minister in 1991 and deputy prime minister two years later. But Anwar and Mahathir fell out in a spectacular fashion in 1998, as the Asian financial crisis plunged Malaysia's economy into recession and exposed long-rumoured differences at the top of government. Anwar was sacked and charged with sodomy and corruption, triiggering the biggest protests Malaysia had ever seen. Found guilty following an often lurid trial - a stained mattress was dragged in and out of court at one point in the proceedings - Anwar, who said the charges were politically-motivated, was jailed. In 2004, Malaysia's High Court ruled that there had been insufficient evidence and overturned Anwar's conviction. After his release, he reentered politics and ran for a seat in parliament in 2008. But with his political star in the ascendant, and the opposition parties threatening to unseat the coalition that had governed Malaysia since independence, Anwar was once again accused of sodomy. In 2015, after his final appeal was rejected, he was jailed. Anwar maintained the charges were politically motivated and the opposition parties united behind Mahathir, who had retired in 2003 and switched sides amid a deepening scandal involving Prime Minister Najib Razak and billions of dollars of losses at state fund 1MDB. In May 2018, after a shock election victory of the Mahathir-led Pakatan Harapan coalition, Anwar was given a royal pardon. With his release, Anwar returned to political life and Keadilan Rakyat - the People's Justice Party - which had been founded by his wife to campaign for him and reform after he was sacked in 1998. He entered parliament after winning the seat of Port Dickson, a seaside resort about 90 minutes south of Kuala Lumpur, and, in a twist few would have predicted, is once again working alongside Mahathir. The elderly politician - now 93 - has promised to hand over the job of prime minister to Anwar in two years. So after such a bumpy journey, what are Anwar's ambitions for Malaysia? And with Najib's trials on multiple charges of corruption getting under way in Kuala Lumpur, how does he plan to clean up Malaysia's political system? Anwar Ibrahim talks to Al Jazeera. He tells Al Jazeera that nurturing Malaysia's democracy is his primary goal, and to get there he wants to safeguard judicial independence and media freedom. He says he is also determined to tackle corruption, and is confident that "a country can effectively rid itself of corruption." He is also hoping to reclaim the solid economic performance that characterised his time as Malaysia's finance minister by pursuing "an economic policy that propels growth, yet at the same time, will not tolerate poverty in the midst of plenty, and gross inequality". On Saudi Arabia's alleged connection to the 1MDB scandal, Anwar says transparency is key. "The Saudis ... must explain," Anwar says. "They must be held accountable, they must explain, because Najib clearly said the money [$681m discovered in his private bank accounts] comes from Saudi Arabia ... he has admitted, by the way, that the prime minister can receive 2.6 billion ringgit [$638m] into his personal account, which to me is clearly a crime, it is a corrupt practice. But because it involves some personalities or authorities in Saudi Arabia, we must hold that person or that entity into account." With regards to Abu Dhabi's alleged involvement in the fund, Anwar says the investigation is in progress. Commenting on his position in a multiethnic coalition grounded in pluralism in a world where the political mood seems to be shifting towards populism and polarisation, Anwar says justice is his priority. "I am committed to have Malaysia to be just to everyone. This is important. I am a Malay Muslim. I care for my people. I cannot condone any practice that causes injustice to any citizen in our country, irrespective of if they are Muslims or non-Muslims, Malays, Chinese, Indians or from the tribal regions of Sabah and Sarawak." - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Filmmaker: Sibel Karakurt On 11th July 2018, the Munich Regional Court found Beate Zschape of the National Socialist Underground guilty on ten counts of racially-motivated murder and sentenced her to life imprisonment. It also found four other defendants guilty of related crimes. The trial had lasted five years and had been expected finally to draw a line under the murders of eight ethnic Turks and an ethnic Greek, as well as a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007. But lenient sentences for two of the accused rankled among the victims' families. Gamze Kubasik spoke on their behalf. "Beate Zschape has been sentenced for life, I am content with that. I can live with (the verdict for) Carsten Schultze as well, also with the sentence for Holger Gerlach. But (the verdicts for) Andre Eminger and Ralf Wohlleben I found very disappointing and very sad. I first had to contain myself and needed some time to calm down. They got a very mild sentence in my opinion the court passed a very, very mild sentence for them. To me, they were just as guilty, and in one category like the two murderers who are dead now, and like Beate Zschape". There were protests at the lower sentences in a case which had been running in Germany for 18 years. The police investigation had been painfully slow and the only connection it identified was that all the victims had been shot with the same gun, a rare Czech-manufactured Ceska 83 pistol. Rather than looking more closely at a racial motive, the investigation had focused on possible mafia and drug-related connections; while the media stereotyped the serial killings as the 'Kebab' or 'Doner Murders', even though only one of the victims worked in a food outlet. Police investigated the family lives of the victims, their supposed business connections and social backgrounds but did not find anything in common among the victims other than their ethnicity and the murder weapon. The victim's families were disappointed, if not angered, particularly when it eventually emerged – almost by accident, that the far-right wing National Socialist Underground (NSU) had been responsible. The then 36-year-old Beate Zschape gave herself up, but her two alleged accomplices had already been found dead. On 8th November 2012, Beate Zschape was charged with forming a terrorist organisation, the NSU; of murdering eight ethnic Turks, one ethnic Greek and a policewoman; and with fifteen robberies, two bombings and other attacks. A 500 page indictment was prepared by the Federal Prosecution Office and presented to Munich Higher Regional Court - and the hearings began on the 6th of May 2013. It was one of Germany's highest-profile trials since World War Two – and involved five defendants, 600 witnesses, more than 50 lawyers, 488 pages of criminal charges and 280,000 pages of interrogation records. On trial with Zschape were Ralf Wohllebn (charged with helping her to find the Ceska 83 gun), Carsten Sultze, Holger Gerlach and Andrea Emminger, who were charged with providing money, guns, identity cards and cars to the NSU group. "It was particularly atrocious that these criminals were undiscovered for so long because their motives were based on anti-foreigner sentiment and neo-nazi ideology," says Karl Huber, President of the Munich Higher Regional Court. Chancellor Angela Merkel apologised to the families of the victims in 2012, saying "Hardly anyone thought the perpetrators of these murders were right-wing terrorists. Some family members were unfairly suspected. It was really heartbreaking. And for this, I am really sorry." The case raised serious questions about the social conditions in Germany that enabled the NSU to carry out the crimes. The Bundestag instigated a committee of enquiry into the neglect in the investigation of a racist motive for the murders enabling the killers to evade detection for over a decade. The trial also took place as a new right-wing Alternative For Germany (AfD) party gained 94 seats in the Bundestag in the 2017 elections, suggesting that the Ceska Murders reflect a wider shift towards anti-immigration ideologies and far-right politics across Germany as a whole. More from Al Jazeera World on: YouTube - http://aje.io/aljazeeraworldYT Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlJazeera_World Visit our website - http://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeeraworld Subscribe to AJE on YouTube - http://aje.io/YTsubscribe - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin recently announced their intention to withdraw from an arms treaty that banned the two countries from developing short- and medium-range missiles capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty was signed by the United States and the then-Soviet Union in 1987 and had helped ensure the end of the Cold War. It also helped address what was seen as a military imbalance between Europe and the Soviet Union, which had developed medium-range missiles that could reach Western European countries that did not have equivalent capabilities. The US was the first to announce its intent to withdraw early February this year. In an official statement, the US secretary of state said that Russia had developed a missile system that violated the treaty, and had failed to return to compliance. Russia announced its withdrawal the following day. Many analysts and leaders are concerned about the consequences, including the potential for a new arms race. Javier Solana, the former secretary-general of NATO, who also served as an EU foreign policy chief, presided over the first joint meeting between Russia and NATO in 1997, manifesting the end of the Cold War era. While the US's withdrawal came as part of ongoing discontent with Russia, Solana says was the move was concerning and should have only been used as a final measure. "To react with, let me say, the heaviest reaction … is playing with the last cards. I don't think we should play with the last cards on nuclear matters. We have to discuss, debate, talk, until the very, very end," he says. "This tit-for-tat is for kids to play about other things but not for really important politicians playing about serious things ... It's very risky what they do." The INF dispute comes in the middle of political tension between President Trump and some European leaders. In November 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron - followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel - said it was time for Europe to create its own army, implying American military support could no longer be taken for granted. While Solana does not think that the EU will collectively go to war, he agrees that the EU needs military capabilities to be able to defend itself. "I see very clearly that we have to be much more interoperable and much more integrated [in] our capabilities. And we have the possibility of acting in a strategic manner alone." Solana worries that the demise of the INF treaty will worsen global security as nuclear issues resurface and agreements reopen - a trend that will bring politics into unchartered territory. "I'm worried, to tell you the truth, very worried ... We have big public goods that have to be respected and provided," he says. "But … nuclear weapons, climate change, poverty, other issues ... we cannot make a mistake in the way we approach them." "There are things that we should not touch." - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

It has been 40 years since the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in a revolution that saw his rule replaced with the Islamic Republic. On Talk to Al Jazeera, we speak to Kamal Kharazi, a former foreign minister, ambassador to the United Nations and a leading voice on the principles of the Islamic Republic. He was also a military spokesman during the Iran-Iraq War, with a central role in Iranian state media. Kharazi is now chairman of Iran's Strategic Council for Foreign Relations and foreign policy adviser to the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. So, 40 years on, has the revolution achieved its goals of resisting Western interference and righting social injustices? And how is Iran overcoming the challenges of the US withdrawal from the nuclear disarmament deal, the imposition of tougher sanctions, and heightened tensions in the region? The US's withdrawal from the nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was the cause of much consternation, and a number of European signatory countries have vowed to work to keep it alive without the US. Kharazi says the success of those efforts relies ultimately on European nations and their willingness to act independently of Washington's threats of penalties and sanctions. However, even European partners who want to stay in the nuclear deal have raised concerns about Iran's ballistic missile programme - especially after a number of missile tests and the unveiling of the new Dezful ballistic missile - fears Kharazi says were unfounded. He adds that Iran has every right to enhance its defence strategy and that there was no truth in accusations that it was "destabilising the region". "There are many enemies and they have all kinds of different armaments," says Kharazi. "Those who have developed terrorist groups and have tried to topple existing governments... those are the [some] bodies who have destabilised the region." "We have tried to keep the status quo by fighting against terrorism in Iraq and Syria, which were defended by the help of Iran. Therefore, Iran has been a stabilising factor, not the destabilising factor," he continues. On the current relationship between Iran and the US and whether he sees a potential for improved dealings, Kharazi says this is in the hands of the US policymakers. "There is animosity between Iran and the United States," says Kharazi. "They're using all their instruments to put pressure on Iran." "They have to change their policies. They have to come up with a new policy. Unfortunately, the United States is trying to materialise financial imperialism. If, in the past, imperialism was dependent on arms and wars, today Americans are dependent on financial instruments," Kharazi said. Closer to home, regional tensions were discussed. On the GCC blockade and how it affects his country, Kharazi said Iran is unhappy with the way the political impasse has progressed. "We are not happy that disputes are developing in the region," he said. "That does not help the development of security and peace in the region. We are ready to talk to everyone in the region, even Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates... all other parties. And we believe, eventually, that is the final solution. Out of intervention of foreign countries. If we sit together and talk to each other for the benefit of the region, I believe something will come out of that." Asked if Iran had been able to reach the goals set forth by the Iranian Revolution 40 years ago, Kharazi says that, although not everything may have been achieved, great improvements have been made. "I don't think that all the aims of the revolution have been achieved, but there has been a great development in Iran," he said. "What is most important is that all of these [developments] have happened without the support of foreigners. It has been based on self-reliance, by the resources that we have internally. That is why Iran is inspiring."

Filmmaker: Odai Alslaiti In 1962, Algeria proclaimed independence from France following eight years of war and over a century of colonial rule. Unlike the neighbouring protectorates of Tunisia or Morocco, Algeria was considered inalienable French territory, an extension of the mainland. By the mid-20th century, over a million European settlers had the privileges of French citizenship in Algeria, while the Arab Muslim majority enjoyed few benefits from the French presence. Larbi Ben Mhidi was a prominent revolutionary leader during the War of Independence. One of the six founding members of the National Liberation Front (FLN), Ben Mhidi expressed his desire to end the occupation through his writing, a stage production and ultimately military action - and bringing it to the wider world. "Larbi said the moment of truth had arrived and that they had to take action," recalls war veteran Abdelkader Lamoudi. So at midnight on November 1, 1954, the FLN declared an all-out war against the French. Its armed wing, the Algerian National Army (ALN) had very few troops. But through underground networks and strategically targeted guerilla operations against French military installations and economic interests, Ben Mhidi helped rally support across the country, demanding a free Algeria. "Throw the revolution into the street", he famously declared, "and the people will embrace it." Throw the revolution into the street, and the people will embrace it. Larbi Ben Mhidi, Algerian revolutionary fighter By 1956, Ben Mhidi had been made revolutionary commander in the capital, Algiers. He declared: "For each FLN soldier guillotined, a hundred Frenchmen will be cut down" - and began the Battle of Algiers. Based in the old city, the Casbah, Ben Mhidi continued successfully to evade the French and oversee an urban bombing campaign - until he was tracked down to an apartment in the European quarter on February 23, 1957, by a unit led by the Commander of the Third Colonial Parachute Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Marcel Bigeard. According to journalist Montasser Oubetroune, when he was arrested, "his facial expression showed a determination that no one could destroy." He lectured his captors with "a lesson in military ethics and international laws", presenting himself as a military leader of the Algerian state. Ben Mhidi was questioned by Bigeard for two weeks - but his refusal to crack under pressure earned him the respect of his interrogators. He was then handed over to Major Paul Aussaresses who took him to an isolated location outside Algiers where he was tortured and executed on the night of March 3, 1957. At the time, the French claimed Ben Mhidi's death was suicide - but Aussaresses (by then a retired general) revealed the true story of his death several decades later. In an interview with Le Monde in December 2000, Aussaresse said he'd acted with the tacit approval of the French government. The following year he expanded on his account in his book, "Special Services: Algeria 1955-57." The book detailed his death squad's beating of prisoners, use of electric shock on the genitals and waterboarding. He said he usually executed a prisoner whether they talked or not, often doing the job himself. He recalled rounding up 1,500 unarmed prisoners, almost all of them Muslims, then selecting "the die-hards" and having them shot, covering it up as suicide. Aussaresses' lack of remorse triggered a furore in both Algeria and France. The then president, Jacques Chirac, said he was "horrified" and "the full truth must come out about these unjustifiable acts," he said. "Nothing can justify them." Aussaresses was eventually stripped of his rank. The 1954-1962 War of Independence saw a death toll of 1.5 million Algerians. In the 1950s, the French deployed over half-a-million troops to Algeria - and, with the army left more or less to its own devices, torture and other abuses were common. On September 13, 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged France's role in the systematic torture of Algerian detainees and other atrocities during the Algerian War of Independence, as reported by Al Jazeera. Larbi Ben Mhidi is still revered in Algeria today for his bravery and role in the resistance against French colonial rule, which resulted in independence five years after his murder. More from Al Jazeera World on: YouTube - http://aje.io/aljazeeraworldYT Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlJazeera_World Visit our website - http://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeeraworld Subscribe to AJE on YouTube - http://aje.io/YTsubscribe - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

More from Al Jazeera World on: YouTube - http://aje.io/aljazeeraworldYT Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlJazeera_World Visit our website - http://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeeraworld Subscribe to AJE on YouTube - http://aje.io/YTsubscribe - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Venezuela has plunged further into political crisis amid growing tension over President Nicolas Maduro's future as the country's leader. The oil-rich South American country has been in a downward spiral for years with increasing political discontent, hyperinflation, power cuts and shortages of food and medicine. More than three million Venezuelans have fled the country in recent years. On January 23, Juan Guaido, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself interim president and said he would assume the powers of the executive branch from there onwards. This was a direct attack on the presidency of Maduro, who had been sworn in to a second six-year term in office on January 10, following elections deemed fraudulent by his opponents and much of the international community. The United States, Canada, 14 Latin American countries and the European Union have recognised Guaido as president, and hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to show their support for the 35-year-old engineer. But Maduro is backed by Russia and China and maintains the loyalty of the military. He remains firm that he will not step down or hold new internationally supervised elections. Meanwhile, Washington has tightened the noose, imposing brutal economic sanctions on the impoverished nation meant to hasten the president's downfall. In an exclusive interview, Guaido told Al Jazeera that he will do everything in his power to overcome the crisis Venezuela is facing and to build a democracy. "Governability, stability, the lowest social impact possible, attend to the current humanitarian emergency, reactivate the economy to create jobs for citizens and steer Venezuela towards democracy," Guaido said. Guaido refused to rule out backing a possible US military intervention in the country. "We will do everything possible, everything there is to achieve freedom in Venezuela." Even though the US has intervened in Latin America to bring about regime change more often in the past, Guaido believes that the outcome in Venezuela will be different. "The Venezuelan process has been totally conducted by Venezuelans. The building of a majority, the building of social pressure, having won a majority in parliament, resisting the crisis. That is the work of Venezuelans," he said. He has rejected offers from Mexico, Uruguay, Russia and the EU to bring both sides to the negotiating table, arguing that the standoff was not between two equal sides. "What we have here is an entire country that wants change and a very tiny group that sustains itself with weapons, has stolen from the republic and with constant threats against the republic that sustains them and a citizenship that is massacred," Guaido said. "The opposition has been willing to negotiate. We have tried everything. We have voted, we have abstained. We have gone on hunger strikes. We have protested and they have killed us." According to Guaido a "massacre" is already happening: "There are 70 murdered minors, all under 25 years old, after peacefully protesting. Killed by a special arm of the military, or by armed paramilitary groups." He's convinced that the majority of the Venezuelan people wants change. "Nobody is going to take a risk for Maduro. At this moment in Venezuela, there is no loyalty for Maduro. No one is willing to sacrifice himself for Nicolas Maduro because he has no capacity to protect anyone, or the ability to address the crisis that they have created." "Maduro is absolutely responsible for the corruption, current crisis, the mismanagement of public funds, to have been convinced by his advisors or whoever that their 'model' was workable. He is responsible that Venezuelans today depend on food subsidies when Venezuela was once self-sufficient in food. Today, 80 percent of the food must be imported despite having 5 million hectares of productive land," Guaido said. Even if Maduro would agree to hold new elections, the self-declared interim president takes a clear position on the political future of Venezuela. "The cessation of the regime, a transition government and free elections, everything within that framework can be discussed." - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

When the US government was partially shut down, migrants and asylum seekers along the Mexican border continued trying to enter the country. Efforts by President Donald Trump to force the Democratic Party, which controls the House of Representatives, to fund a border wall had reached an impasse, meaning there was no agreement on a budget. The government shutdown impacted the normal functioning of unrelated operations of the US government. The crisis also affected people in Mexico who live along the trail the migrants take to get from Central America to the United States. And at the centre of the crisis were the migrants seeking a better future in the US. Some simply jump over the wall; others, especially men, seek the help of smugglers to cross the border. Javier has smuggled people across the border for more than 25 years, since he was 14. He says it's all "changed a lot (since he started smuggling). It first used to take us two to four hours. Then, the way became six to eight hours, and 10 years later, we needed 15 to 20 hours. Nowadays, it takes us 40 to 45 hours to cross the border." Since Trump has deployed soldiers and helicopters and installed sensors along the border "it's more complicated. We now have to go around to stay away from the border patrol and it costs more." However "there's always another way," says Javier, who believes that Trump's wall cannot stop people from crossing the border. It may be "very high. But we will overcome it." Bibian is a Guatemalan migrant who has made her way to Mexico. She and her family suffered the damage caused by tropical storm Agatha, so she wanted to seek a better life for her family. "I dreamed of going to the US because it seemed very easy," Bibian says. "That's why many people came along. I thought we could overcome the barriers and move forward without any problem. I didn't know what we would suffer." She realised that "it's not going to be easy. There are a lot of racist people who say we're bringing diseases. There are also good people ... those who crossed as migrants and eventually became US citizens. They are supporting us." "It's an adventure for me. It's not humiliating or below me. It really is an adventure." But opposition against migrants does not just come from the American side of the border. In Tijuana, Alfredo, a restaurant owner and accountant, says he feels his town has been hijacked. But he also blames the Mexican government for not handling the situation in a better way. "The very first day we had 500 people here, many of them asked me for power for their cellphones; many of them, children, they asked me for soda, for a pizza. I gladly gave them to them ... but was disappointed," he recalls. "People are afraid of Central American people because on Facebook a lot of people say that they are ... people that are coming to damage the society." "We need to get our city back, because right now it feels like it's been kidnapped." Hector from Honduras made the journey to the US as a teenager, but he "returned from America because I became an alcoholic and things didn't go well. I thought it was better to leave and return at another time ... Now that I am an adult, I want to return to the US," says Hector. "My [pregnant] wife made it to the US. She wasn't hurt or injured." Asked about anti-immigrant prejudice on the rise, Hector says: "We are migrant workers. If they could only see the place we came from they would understand." "It's easy to conclude that migrants are criminals or that we come to pollute the place ... It's very tough what we've endured to get here, but it doesn't matter, the most important thing for us is getting to the US. It hurts, but what can we do against such stereotypes? "There are some of us who may not behave well when they're in other countries. If I'm here in Mexico, I need to be good. And no matter where I go to, I will be good." Talk to Al Jazeera In the Field meets the people at the centre of the crisis along Mexico's northern border: smugglers, migrants, asylum seekers and locals. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Filmmaker: Bouchra Ijork High in the Atlas Mountains in central Morocco are remote villages almost entirely dominated by Amazigh women, a result of the geographical divide between the urban and rural poor, the volatility of Moroccan agriculture and lack of regional development. Their menfolk migrate for long periods to do agricultural or city work in other parts of the country. While the absentee men send money back home, the women are left to care for the children, tend to crops and farm animals without any outside support. "Wives can't accompany their husbands," says Fatma Kadjik, from Tiklit village, so married women have to learn to survive on their own. In 2005, Morocco began its National Human Development Initiative Support Project with a million dollar budget aimed at improving people's living conditions and reducing poverty. By 2014, the overall poverty rate had been cut by about half, but there's still a large gap between urban and rural poverty. Literacy is also low, especially among girls, who are often unable to continue their education beyond primary school. While life expectancy is not much lower than in Europe, harsh living conditions and poor access to healthcare affect longevity. It's a tough life for these resilient women, especially if as young girls they've been married off early. "Imagine a girl married at the age of 13 or 14 having three or four children. At 19, she already looks 50. She's no longer beautiful and healthy," points out Saida Oukhali, from Oum Rabia. She and her friend Aicha Jadda were both married at 16 but have since divorced, carrying a stigma in this conservative Amazigh society. "We weren't mature enough for the responsibility of marriage," says Saida. "Divorce is a big problem. You're exploited and no longer respected." Ignoring village gossip, these young women now express themselves through music and song, where separation, hardship and women's suffering are recurring themes. Village women with children have a heavier burden to bear. "We never rest. We keep running all day until night falls," says Fatima Kadjik, who lives with her sister-in-law, Hafida. She describes a typical day: "Hafida and I wake up at 6am to make bread and get the girls ready for school. After, I take the cow to the field to graze. Then we wash the wheat, lay it to dry and prepare lunch. By then the kids are back from school. I give the cow water and take it to graze." Her husband, Abdellah Hasbi, acknowledges that this is difficult existence and hopes things will change for the next generation. "I'm worried about the younger generation ... Projects should be launched in this region, to create jobs for young people." Men like Abdellah get seasonal work in farming but Moroccan agriculture is volatile and only 18 percent of the country is arable, adding to these people's vulnerability and insecurity. While NGOs have stepped in to try and up-skill young people in of these communities - and this is the key to breaking the cycle that locks these women into such an unforgiving way of life. It might ultimately affect traditional Amazigh culture but it would more of the people of the Atlas the chance of becoming more valued members of Moroccan society as a whole. More from Al Jazeera World on: YouTube - http://aje.io/aljazeeraworldYT Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlJazeera_World Visit our website - http://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeeraworld Subscribe to AJE on YouTube - http://aje.io/YTsubscribe - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

The first notable, historical mention of the Kurds is widely thought to be the Sharafnama, or The Book of Honour, by the medieval Kurdish poet Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi in 1597. Written by a Kurd about his own people, Sharafnama arguably put Kurdish culture and history on the map. A people who saw themselves on a par with Persians and Arabs had announced themselves to the world. The Kurds originate from the mountain regions of the northern Middle East and currently number between 25 million and 35 million and occupy an area spanning the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia. They are the fourth largest ethnic group in the region - outnumbered by both Arabs and North Africans - and have a difficult relationship with other ethnic groups and countries in the region. The Kurds have anticipated, negotiated, warred and waited to establish their own permanent state since the First World War and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. But they have been constantly disappointed, not least when Asia Minor was given to the new state of Turkey in 1923. In Iraq, a series of conflicts with different political regimes led to the announcement of autonomy after the First Gulf War in 1991, followed by the establishment of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in 1992. Their continued desire for independence from Baghdad led to a referendum in the Kurdish Region of Northern Iraq in September 2017. The result was overwhelmingly in favour of separation but the Iraqi government rejected the vote as unconstitutional. More recently, the Kurd-dominated state, the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, faces upheaval in the face of President Donald Trump's call for the withdrawal of American troops from their mission to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). There is a widespread concern for the tens of thousands of Kurds who have fought alongside the Americans and who would be extremely vulnerable without continued US support. As a result, Trump has threated to "devastate Turkey economically" if any harm should come to Syria's Kurds, post-withdrawal. This threat comes in the light of Turkey's aggression towards Turkish Kurds, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan branding the Kurdish militias involved in the fight against ISIL as part of so-called "terrorist" group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). But the question remains as to whether the Kurds spread across the whole of the northern Middle East, in regions where they make up the ethnic majority in Iraq, Iran and Turkey, can realistically ever attain their own permanent, independent state or states. How could Kurdish Peshmerga forces join the Iraqi army in the fight against ISIL in western and northern Iraq but have their independence referendum declared unconstitutional and the subject of an economic and social backlash from the Baghdad government? In this film, we speak to key players and witnesses in the KRG independence referendum in 2017, to find out why they disagreed about the timing and continue to be so fragmented across their semi-autonomous region. The film tracks the history of the Kurds from their disappointment at the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, to the Iraqi Kurdish revolution of 1958 and the first Iraq-Kurdish war of 1961, Iranian revolution, the Anfal Genocide against the Kurds by Saddam Hussein's regime, the rise of ISIL and the fraught KRG-Baghdad relationship of today.

Despite international diplomatic and military efforts to find solutions, the war in Syria enters its eighth year and the war in Yemen is in its fourth. At the Doha Forum held in December, many of those involved in efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflicts gathered and reflected on the lack of progress so far. One of them was Wolfgang Ischinger, a German diplomat and chairman of the annual Munich Security Conference. Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said that European powers, in particular, have failed to play an influential role. "I think our Syria policy has been a disaster," he said, arguing that Europe did not have the strategy or methods to influence decisions on the ground. "What we are now seeing is the outcome of efforts by Russia, by Turkey, I guess by Iran, and to a certain extent by the United States with Europe having been on the sidelines throughout this process. That is extremely regrettable." More than one million Syrian refugees and asylum seekers had travelled to Europe since the beginning of the conflict, with more than 500,000 applying for asylum in Germany alone between 2011 and 2017, according to a 2018 Pew Research Centre report, which sourced Eurostat and UNHCR data. "These events of the last three years have changed European and German politics in a major way, almost dramatic changes, [for example] the migration pressure, the refugee problem. So, this is our issue," Ischinger said. For him, this makes the war a distinctly European issue, saying that the EU should have called for a peace process years ago. "We should have played ... a much stronger diplomatic role." Recent diplomatic successes in Yemen, however, offer some positive signs according to Mark Lowcock, UN undersecretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. In mid-December Houthi rebels and government forces agreed to a ceasefire in the port of Hodeidah after seven days of UN-mediated peace talks in Sweden. "Parties have agreed initial steps to de-escalate the conflict or to try to move things forward but that now needs to be translated into a real change on the ground because people I've listened to - parents of starving children, people who have fled from their homes, sometimes multiple times - they're not seeing yet any tangible benefit," Lowcock said. The ceasefire still remains fragile with several violations in the weeks following the agreement. According to Lowcock, the most recent report from his organisation shows that 250,000 people in Yemen are living in "the highest level of food insecurity, the catastrophe level". "No one has won from this war in Yemen, it's absolutely clear who the losers are and they are the starving millions of children and innocent civilians whose pictures we increasingly see in our newspapers and on our TV screens." The war in Yemen has left 11.3 million children in need of humanitarian assistance, according to an October 2018 UNICEF report. The wars in Syria and Yemen have lasted so long that an entire generation of children is missing basic education and nourishment. This is a key concern for Henrietta Fore, the CEO of UNICEF. Her organisation provides education and humanitarian services in Yemen and other countries, some of which focus on mitigating the psychological trauma of war. Getting aid to people is not easy, she said, as both sides of Yemen's conflict target humanitarian workers. "Access in Yemen is always a problem," she said. "If we are not protected when we go in ... it makes it very difficult to reach ... isolated populations." According to Fore, wars are impacting children globally more now than ever before. "Conflicts ... there are more than we've ever had, they are longer lasting, and they are more severe," she said. "That takes an enormous toll on children, so none of us are protecting children well enough." - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Filmmaker: Bilal Yousef Eeking out a living as a taxi driver in the Middle East is not for the faint-hearted, especially for Palestinian cabbies in Jerusalem. "It's exhausting, kind of humiliating," says Salah Najib, a former civil engineer-turned cabbie. "You try to please your passengers as much as possible so they continue riding with you." At one point, he successfully built up a fleet of cars but his business was destroyed in 2000 due to the deteriorating security situation resulting from the Palestinian second Intifada. Like drivers everywhere, Jerusalem's Palestinian cabbies can face unruly passengers - but they face hardships simply because they're Palestinian. Jerusalem is one of the most heavily disputed places in the world, not least because it is sacred to Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Divided into occupied East and West Jerusalem since the first Arab-Israeli war and the founding of Israel in 1948, the East has been under Israeli occupation since the further conflict in the June 5, 1967 six-day war. Throughout its 70-year existence, Israel has almost always been able to rely on the support of the United States, despite UN and international condemnation of its policy of expanding illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Under President Donald Trump, the US recognised Israeli control over Jerusalem in December 2017. The city's Arab taxi drivers are used to discrimination and sometimes harassment. Innate Palestinian resilience is what motivates Bassem Idris to work as a cabbie in Jerusalem. "I feel like a stranger in my own homeland," he says. "I sometimes meet foreigners who think Arabs don't exist here. Such matters make us want to stay here even more. This is my homeland and I want to stay here." Used to wrangling with those of opposing political views, he enjoys educating tourists on the plight of Palestinians. Similarly, 61-year-old cabbie Rasheed Rishq also takes pride in his work, seeing himself as "the country's ambassador". He's been doing that for 40 years. "A taxi driver is the keeper of the town's secrets. If you want to announce any news, just pass it to a cab driver. An hour later, everyone will know the news. He knows the country's economic and social affairs. He spends all day listening to the radio." Rasheed has diabetes and cholesterol problems, partly because of work stress - but considers himself lucky to live close to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: "I personally will not leave this house till I die. My children will be responsible for it after my death." Israel's parliament, the Knesset, passed a law in March 2018 granting the interior minister full power to revoke the Jerusalem residencies of Palestinians over allegations of "breaching allegiance" or "loyalty" to the Israeli state, as reported by Al Jazeera. Human rights groups have raised serious concerns over the new law, finding the legislation a clear breach of international law and challenging the basic rights of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, since Israeli can revoke Jerusalem residency ID cards at any time. In 2017, Israel has revoked the residency of 35 Palestinians in East Jerusalem, including 17 women and four minors, according to the Israeli rights group, Hamoked. Since 1967, almost 15,000 Palestinians have had their Jerusalem IDs revoked, mostly for failing to prove to Israeli authorities that Jerusalem or Israel was the centre of their life. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Development is a challenge for many countries facing crises. More than 135 million people worldwide are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, and at least $25bn is required to meet those challenges. According to the United Nations (UN), conflict is the main driver of humanitarian needs, followed by natural disasters. Achim Steiner was appointed the head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in June 2017. The organisation was established in 1965 and works alongside UN member states to find solutions to the world's pressing problems. This includes the conflict in Yemen, which has left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid as of March 2018. "What we are witnessing there is a catastrophe, first and above all for the people of Yemen, but it is also a catastrophe in developmental terms," Steiner tells Al Jazeera. "This country is losing decades of the advancements that it had made on top of which we have the humanitarian emergencies." The UNDP warned the international community about Yemen years ago; it had shown typical predictors of crisis, including citizens' loss of confidence in the government or in the ability to trust other interest groups in the country. "And into that void ... then come geographical, geopolitical interests from outside." Asked about Libya, the oil-rich nation that's been mired in conflict since the 2011 Arab uprisings and the subsequent overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, Steiner says: "Libya post-Gaddafi was a political vacuum ... The government system of Libya has imploded. Unfortunately, some people are making a lot of money in that vacuum and therefore have little interest in allowing a national governance structure and a democratic process to be established." "We cannot force a nation or its conflicting parties at gunpoint to exercise good governance and the rule of law," Steiner says. "What we are left with is a situation that I think all of us consider fairly disastrous. And into that void, or into that chaotic situation, very often the UN is then asked to step in and perform miracles. It cannot do these miracles, it needs the international community and it needs the domestic parties to be willing to come to the table." Steiner also commented on the war in Syria, which is now entering its eighth year. While UNDP is operating out of Damascus and working with aid agencies to provide emergency programmes for current and returning residents, he says work is constrained by political tensions that make it impossible to operate throughout the country. He sees a dilemma; countries are less willing to finance reconstruction before a political solution is found, but they also recognise the need to immediately help people in rebuilding their towns and livelihoods. "We are trying to help ... but until we have a political settlement, the work that UNDP would do in Syria is essentially very constrained," Steiner says. Despite global challenges - which also include low development in Burundi, Chad, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Niger, and worsening living conditions in Gaza - Steiner looks to the future "with hope". According to him, rates of extreme poverty have dropped significantly across the globe, while factors like literacy, life expectancy, and nutrition have improved, so "the story of development over the past 100 years is a story of phenomenal progress and success". "We are today a generation that is actually in a position to eliminate extreme poverty. It's the first time we can say that in history. Now, will it happen? A lot depends on what a lot of people will do." He believes that successful development is directly linked to governments investing smartly. "It is … a matter of political priorities," he says, "and perhaps of asking ourselves how much more money are we going to invest in the illusive notion that militaries guarantee our national security when poverty and destitution and the sense of unfairness have actually been at the heart of virtually every civil strife, conflict, in the last 20 years." - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

One year ago Martin Fayulu was barely known beyond the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital Kinshasa - until the 62-year-old was nominated as the presidential candidate of a coalition called Lamuka. The opposition candidate is supported by two political heavyweights: former DRC Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, who has been barred from standing in the long-delayed election, and self-exiled ex-provincial governor Moise Katumbi, who says he was prevented from returning to Kinshasa to submit his candidacy. Fayulu's campaigns have been marred by violence with security forces using teargas and live ammunition to disrupt his political rallies and stop him from accessing some parts of the country. Some opinion polls say he is the biggest threat to President Joseph Kabila's preferred candidate, ex-Minister of the Interior Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary. But can he win the election? "People of Congo are asking for the truth and justice," Fayulu told Al Jazeera who said that the long delayed December 30 elections were "deliberately disorganised". "I cannot see how Mr Shadary can win. I doubt anyone will have the courage to proclaim Shadary as the winner. It will be a provocation ... Please no provocation ... They tried any other strategy ... The country has lost time to develop itself. And today we are ready. This is the new era. The era of dignity of Congolese and prosperity of Congolese," said Fayulu. "If I am elected there will not be revenge. But we'll sanitise the country. We'll have that rule: Zero tolerance for corruption." With election results still pending, the DRC opposition's presidential candidate Martin Fayulu spoke to Al Jazeera about the elections, DRC corruption and the future of his country post-Kabila.

Ecuador, like other Latin American countries, faces many challenges including poverty, migration and corruption. Ecuadorians trusted Lenin Moreno to be the man who would meet those challenges and make their country a better place. He became President in 2017 after Rafael Correa had governed for 10 years. Correa, along with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia, was a self-declared revolutionary; aiming to spread a populist rhetoric in the continent and beyond. But he was accused of authoritarianism, media censorship, and corruption… And eventually Ecuadorians voted for change. Lenin Moreno promised more centrist policies, “giving the right hand to all honest businessmen” willing to help boost the country’s economy and “the left hand to the people” who need better social welfare. But with almost a quarter of all Ecuadorians classified as poor, and almost one in 10 living in extreme poverty on less than 50 Dollars a month…Is Moreno managing to make a difference? We’ll find out more as President Moreno discusses his hopes for Ecuador and the region. We will also discuss the controversial case of Julian Assange - the WikiLeaks founder who has spent the past five years living at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Is he a criminal or hero? Lenin Moreno, President of Ecuador, talks to Al Jazeera.