Al Jazeera World

Pakistan's new government, headed by new Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has inherited challenging relations with two key countries, India and the United States. Observers are questioning how the country's new leadership will seek to reshape its foreign policy regionally and globally as it continues to battle the Pakistan Taliban, attempt engagement with India and address its aid and military relationship with the US. Despite Prime Minister Imran Khan's overtures to India to engage in dialogue, India cancelled the first planned talks between the two countries since 2015 that were meant to have taken place on the sidelines, this week, at the United Nations General Assembly. The cancellation of talks came hours after three policemen were killed by rebels in Kashmir. Citing the "brutal killings of our security personnel by Pakistan-based entities" Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign ministry added that the release of a series of 20 postage stamps depicting a young Kashmiri rebel commander killed by Indian troops in July 2016 was "glorifying a terrorist and terrorism." Pakistan saw its relations with the US threatened one month after Prime Minister Imran Khan's election victory, on July 26, when the US Pentagon announced that it would be cancelling $300m in military and security aid to Pakistan, part of the $1.1bn suspended in January over allegations that the country was not acting against armed groups such as the Afghan Taliban. The US has alleged that, in the years since 9/11, Pakistan has been playing a double game, harbouring Osama bin Laden and maintaining relationships with elements of the Taliban and other armed groups. "They were helping their own country," Foreign Minister Qureshi responded. "They were helping overcome a situation which was not of their own creation. Who were these people? Who supported them? Who trained them? We forget history and at times we overlook that friends change. People that you support, some of the people, were called extremists. Weren't they invited to the US? Weren't they entertained in the White House? So, friends change. Circumstances change. We were just defending and protecting ourselves." Though Foreign Minister Quereshi expressed that the US, as a global power, expects "special treatment", Pakistan does hope "to be friends" with the US, while exercising its option to cultivate relations with China and others: "We want the US to be friends with Pakistan. We recognise that the US is an important global power, and they will continue to be a military, technological and economic power in the foreseeable future. They are looking at different options, they are looking at new friends in the region. We do have friends who have been consistent and very valuable. China is one of them. The others who recognise how important, how strategically located Pakistan is and to understand Pakistan's importance. So, we are not alone and everyone has options." On Pakistan-India relations, Qureshi harkened back to Prime Minister Imran Khan's first public address, on July 26th, in which he said, "You take one step towards peace, we will take two," and pointed to Prime Minister Khan's subsequent requests for constructive, peaceful dialogue with India as part of the new government's approach. "What we did.. we thought made sense. Two neighbours with outstanding issues, atomic powers. How do you fix things? War is no option. There is no military solution. The only solution is a dialogue." Qureshi acknowledged that another priority of the new government will be to address internal corruption, foreign debt and to the use of Pakistan's resources for "human development, the most valuable asset of Pakistan, the people of the country, we haven't invested enough in education, in health." More from Talk To Al Jazeera on: YouTube - http://aje.io/ttajYT Facebook - http://facebook.com/talktoaj Twitter - http://twitter.com/talktoaljazeera Website - http://www.aljazeera.com/talktojazeera/ - 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/

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Latin America is facing the largest refugee crisis in its history as hundreds of thousands of people flee Venezuela to escape severe economic hardship. Once one of the region's wealthiest countries, Venezuela has been hit hard by a drop in oil prices from 2014 onwards, with the economic situation worsening under the fiscal mismanagement of President Nicolas Maduro. Since Maduro took power following the death of the country's long-time leader, Hugo Chavez, in 2013, the Venezuelan bolivar has lost some 99.99 percent of its value against the US dollar on the black market. Few Venezuelans have access to official exchange rates, which have been controlled since 2003. The president blames the crisis on an "economic war" against the socialist country by opponents, including the United States but for many of the country's 31.5 million people, the exact reason things went wrong is no longer important. The imploding economy has led to shortages of basic items such as food and medicine and, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), some 1.6 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2015. For those who remain, daily life is a struggle and hopes of a better life in Colombia, Brazil or elsewhere are never far from their minds. Three Venezuelans share their hopes, dreams and fears for the future with Al Jazeera: Olga Betancourt, 43, hairdresser "The situation in the country has become so difficult. No matter how hard you work, the money is never enough to buy anything, including materials and tools to work with because they are extremely expensive. "About a year and five months ago is when life began to become unbearable here ... I can't buy food, my mother needs special treatment for high blood pressure but she can't get it because it's too expensive. Her entire pension goes to pay for her medication. "I will leave in two months if I can sell what I need to sell. It's not because I want to emigrate from my country, I want to move forward with my profession and help my mother with her treatment and food. It hurts me to leave my mother here all by herself because my brother went to Peru two months ago. "I want to be able to work and have the means to survive and help my family. Some people say it's the government's fault, but we are also the ones to blame. We chose this president knowing that this could happen. "Chavez was one thing, but Nicolas Maduro is a different story. I voted for him, but I regret it now. I've never seen a government as chaotic as the one we have today. It's destroyed Venezuelans, our children, the elderly, the hospitals, everything. "Everything that is happening here is terrible. This sinks deeper and deeper every day and we're abandoned. I can't survive." Antonio Jose Primero, 29, videogamer "I feel trapped because I don't have the freedom to travel to other countries like Venezuelans used to. Also, I have an illness that is very difficult to treat. I have haemophilia but I don't have any information about if I would need medical insurance abroad - I don't know what treatment there would be for an immigrant. "There is a shortage of the medicine I need, so I'm now getting it through humanitarian aid. It's no longer produced by a factory to buy, you can only sometimes get it through humanitarian aid. The dose I'm getting now isn't enough. "I can't live a regular day-to-day life, I have to be very careful. I avoid going out because I'm scared of running out of medicine. This disease attacks your joints and produces internal bleeding. With the correct dose of medicine you can prevent the bleeding, but when we don't have it we become practically immobilised. We can spend days in pain, unable to sleep. "I am walking with crutches because I have so much pain in my legs. Had I gotten the correct dose, I'd be in perfect shape right now. With the right treatment, you're a normal person, like someone who isn't sick. It's like having a shield. When you don't have the medicine, the body deteriorates terribly. You even run the risk of bleeding to death. "I'd be happy if Venezuela went back to what it was before. I'd be happy if this crisis ends. It's impossible to live here now. You are really unhappy here. There are no opportunities, there is no future". More from Talk To Al Jazeera on: YouTube - http://aje.io/ttajYT Facebook - http://facebook.com/talktoaj Twitter - http://twitter.com/talktoaljazeera Website - http://www.aljazeera.com/talktojazeera/ - 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/

As the British mandate in Palestine drew to a close in the late 1940s, clashes intensified between Palestinian and Jewish militias. When the British left and the new state of Israel was announced in May 1948, the first Arab-Israeli War was fought. In the 1950s and 60s, tension continued and armed Palestinian ‘fedayeen’, many of them now refugees, mounted attacks into Israel which were met with equal force. Palestinian nationalists, including Yasser Arafat, formed the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) in 1959 - and the party became the dominant force in Palestinian politics – and in the PLO in particular - after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Ali Hassan Salameh rose to the top of the Fatah Party in the 1960s and 70s, to become one of Arafat’s most trusted men. He also founded the Black September armed group which killed 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. Munich Olympics 1972 "The Munich operation was meant to protest against the Palestinians’ exclusion from the Olympic Games," explains Saqr Abu Fakhr, assistant editor at the Journal for Palestine Studies. "Why should Israel alone be represented at this event? It was also aimed at drawing attention to the Palestinian cause and the issue of prisoners inside Israel. However, its operations were not intended to kill but to take hostages and exchange them." Unfortunately, the operation went badly wrong. Black September killed two Israeli athletes in the Olympic village and abducted nine others. They demanded the release if Palestinian prisoners within Israel and planned to leave Germany with the hostages whom they later intended to exchange. But Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir would not negotiate with the Palestinians and left the operations in the hands of the inexperienced Germans authorities. The Germans laid on helicopters at a military air base but secretly planned to foil Black September’s getaway. German snipers killed all but two of the Black September group – who in turn killed the nine Israeli hostages waiting in the helicopters wit grenades and machine guns. After the event, the Western media and Israel painted Ali Salameh as the mastermind of the Munich operation. As a leader of Black September he must have been involved. official Ghazi Al Husseini: "He helped in different ways, like training, but he wasn't the ringleader. He didn't plan the Munich operation." Munich put Ali Salameh at the top of intelligence agency Mossad’s hit list and they launched a series of missions to retaliate against the PLO, including an assault on its leadership in Lebanon. "Mossad was able to take out thirteen Palestinians in Europe," says Israeli journalist Ronan Bergman. "And of course at the tip of that effort was Operation Fardan, Operation Spring Of Youth to be able to come to Beirut in the middle of the night and strike three Palestinian prominent figures in their houses was no less than a stab in the heart of the PLO." But they failed to get to either Arafat or Salameh. Assassination of the Red Prince Ali Salameh was a charismatic figure who loved the good life. He married Miss Universe – but was also an astute politician and was assigned by Arafat to negotiate secretly not only with the PLOs political opponents – and enemies in the Lebanese civil war – but also to set up a secret back-channel dialogue with the Americans in Beirut. His contact was a CIA intelligence agent called Robert Ames. Ames understood the region, spoke Arabic and saw both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His dialogue with Salameh worked both ways but this was arguably the only time in recent history when the Americans showed sympathy for the Palestinian cause. The Israelis acted decisively and assassinated Salameh – the man they dubbed ‘The Red Prince’ – using a car loaded with heavy explosives, in Beirut in January 1979. Robert Ames died in the suicide bombing of the US embassy in Beirut four years later. Some believe that if Salameh were still alive at the time, he would have been able to pass intelligence to the Americans and thwart the attack. What’s more, if both Ames and Salameh had lived, the US relationship with the Middle East over the past forty years might also have followed a different course. 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/

Barely a year after his entry into politics, Robert Kyagulanyi - a pop star-turned-politician who also goes by the stage name Bobi Wine - is being hailed as the new face of Uganda’s opposition. Kyagulanyi has built a large youth following through his criticism of Uganda’s long-time leader President Yoweri Museveni - who has been in power for 32 years - both in parliament and through his music. The 36-year-old’s message of freedom and inclusivity, encourages young people to “stand up” and take over the East African country from what he calls the government’s failed leadership. But Kyagulanyi’s rise to prominence has not been without difficulties. His appeal is considered a threat to Museveni’s hold on power, which is waning because of public anger over deteriorating public services, corruption and human rights abuses. On August 14, Kyagulanyi was arrested and charged with treason for allegedly throwing stones at Museveni’s presidential motorcade during a by-election campaign in August. "In my opinion, it was more persecution than prosecution," says Kyagulanyi, who claims he was tortured by Ugandan security forces while in detention. "I feel humbled that my brutalisation attracted attention of friends across the world, but at the same time I feel indebted to the men and women who have endured similar torture over the years, in particular the people that were arrested together with me," he says. After being released on bail nearly two weeks later, Kyagulanyi was rearrested last week while trying to leave the country to seek medical treatment in the United States for his injuries. Eventually Kyagulanyi was released and allowed to travel to Washington, DC to be treated in hospital. In an exclusive interview - his first for television since leaving hospital - Kyagulanyi discusses his detention, alleged torture by Ugandan security forces and what's next for Uganda with Al Jazeera. "We've always wanted a free Uganda, but that Uganda should not come at the cost of torture, it should not come at the cost of murder or illegal executions, it should be got freely because our generation feels like the price has already been paid," he says. "I believe what can be done is not just to be done by me. What I have is the voice to raise the plight of Ugandans but I continue to call upon Ugandans, especially the young Ugandans to speak up. The more we unite, the stronger we become. "Today the regime seems to be shaking, simply because Ugandans are more united and I continue to call upon Ugandans to stand, to be resilient and to continuously demand for the dignity that they deserve". More from Talk To Al Jazeera on: YouTube - http://aje.io/ttajYT Facebook - http://facebook.com/talktoaj Twitter - http://twitter.com/talktoaljazeera Website - http://www.aljazeera.com/talktojazeera/ - 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/

In the state of Assam, a sliver of India squeezed between Bangladesh and Bhutan, four million people are at risk of becoming stateless. The local government has put together a draft list of those it considers to be "legitimate” citizens and four million of Assam's 32.9 million people didn’t make the cut. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) lists those who can prove that they or their parents were in India before March 1971, when Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands fled civil war in Pakistan, many choosing to cross the border into India's Assam to escape the violence, which led to the formation of Bangladesh. India's government says that those who came then or since should go back to Bangladesh. But Bangladesh doesn't view those missing from the NRC list as Bangladeshi and says it won't accept them. "People are scared," says Sharifa Khatun, who comes from the remote village of Langia where, she says, she is among some 500 people who did not find their names on the list. "Our names were struck off the list, our family is sad. Many can't stop their tears," she says. "Apparently if your name's not on the list then you are a foreigner. If you are tagged as a foreigner then you will become a Bangladeshi. They are scared they will be put away in jails." Authorities say those who did not make the list will not be arrested or deported immediately but will have time to file for corrections before the final list is published by the end of the year. Most of those missing from the list say their Indian roots pre-date 1971, they can appeal the decision but many fear that without the proper paperwork, they will become stateless. An hour's drive from Langia is the town of Nagoan and there, another family is worried. Despite having Indian passports, some of the family's names are not on the list. "We are from here. This is my village," says Hasiban Nesa. My father and my grandfather were born here." Hasiban says she thinks she is 103-year-old and has always lived in Assam. Although her name is not on the list, her son, Mohammed Rehman's name is and so he is considered Indian. "They cannot send me away from this country. How can they chase me away? My family lives here. My grandfather was buried in this land. No one can throw me out." More than a third of Assam's population are Muslim and many feel the list is targeting them. Without citizenship, people cannot vote, work or go into higher education. "They're going to ghettoise the people, it's simple," says Mohammed. "This is the ultimate goal [to put people in] a state of asphyxia - they will not be able to breathe economically." Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power at both the state and national levels. Modi - who has been accused of exploiting ethnic and religious divisions in India to shore up his political base - came to power on the promise of expelling so-called "illegal foreigners" and protecting the rights of indigenous groups. Critics say the Assam list is a way for Modi and the BJP - who face general elections next year - to further boost their support among India's Hindus. "All the Muslims here feel this is an extension of the prevailing situation all over India," says Mohammed. "The ultimate aim is just to reduce the Muslim population ... and that can only happen if they make some sort of scheme of this sorts where the Muslim influence or population is curtailed. This is what we believe, that's what is happening," he says. "Any self-respecting nation must identify those who are not nationals of that country," says Sudhanshu Mittal, a spokesperson for the NRC. "We've had a huge amount of infiltration from Bangladesh and it's time we identify those who are not Indian nationals," he says. "Can you allow foreign nationals to influence the polity of a state? No ... They have been there for generations but should they be altering the politics of Assam? No. These are not Indian nationals and if they're not Indian nationals they have no business to be on the voter's list." Al Jazeera travels to Assam state to meet the people now facing an uncertain future and to challenge those behind the exercise on why it is so necessary. - 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/

Located in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, Al-Mohtaseb’s ancestral home is a short distance from the site where both Muslims and Jews believe the ‘father of the faithful’, Abraham, to be buried. What Muslims call the Ibrahimi Mosque and Jews the Cave of the Patriarchs are built on a cave some fifteen metres feet below ground and are where both faiths worship, albeit on different sides of a bullet-proof wall. The Israeli army now maintains round-the-clock checkpoints and barricades that restrict Palestinian movement, separating Hebron’s 270,000 Palestinians from around 1,000 illegal Jewish settlers. This puts Hebron on the front line of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - and makes the land and property surrounding the shared holy sites highly valued assets for both sides. As with generations of his family before him, Abdulraouf Al-Mohtaseb has lived close to the Ibrahmi Mosque all his life, through the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars and subsequent Israeli occupation. But even he was surprised when potential buyers began offering him millions for his modest home and souvenir shop. He refused as a matter of principle as the bids gradually increased to a staggering 100 million US dollars. Still Al-Mohtaseb refused, earning him the nickname ‘the crazy man’ by some of the bidders. In The Hundred Million Dollar Home, filmmaker Resad Kulenovic tells the story of life in Hebron today through the eyes of Al-Mohtaseb and his son Mohammed. Both firmly abide by the principle that their home is their heritage and must never be sold: “[Hebron] is beautiful despite all the suffering,” father tells son. “If people evicted every area they {the Israelis] besieged, it would be a disaster. We're staying until God guides us to a solution. That's our fate.” The film also includes the perspective of a former Israeli soldier who now works for ‘Breaking The Silence’ which enables Israeli army personnel to recount their experiences and educate the Israeli public about conditions in the Occupied Territories; as well as a Jewish inter-faith activist who emphasises the benefits of honouring the heritage of the three monotheistic religions, both for their similarities and their differences. 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/

In 2014, Yuval Noah Harari's life changed completely. The little-known academic was thrust into the international literary spotlight when his book on the history of humans from the discovery of fire to modern robotics, Sapiens, was translated into English. Then-US President Barack Obama said the book gave him a new perspective on "the core things that have allowed us to build this extraordinary civilisation that we take for granted." It went on to sell more than eight million copies worldwide. "I still see myself as a historian," says Harari. "I don't think that historians are experts in the past, historians are specialists in change and how things change and we learn the nature of change by looking at the past." "The real question is what is happening right now? What can we learn from the past about the future changes? And what we should be doing or thinking today?" In his next book, Homo Deus, Harari delved into how the growth of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology could radically alter and divide human society, perhaps ending the species altogether. The same themes appear in his latest work, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, which collects essays, talks and responses to his readers. "What I see today in the world is that people are overwhelmed by information, misinformation, by distraction and they don't realise often what the most important challenges are. I see my job as trying to bring more clarity to the public discussion." "There are three big challenges facing human kind in the 21st century," says Harari. "They are nuclear war, climate change and technological disruption, especially the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and bioengineering. This will change the world more than anything else. "Nuclear war and climate change we can hopefully prevent, so these are changes we try to avoid. But technological disruption and especially AI and bioengineering are bound to happen. We still have some choice about what kind of impact AI and bioengineering engineering will have on the world, but they will change the world, maybe more than anything that happened previously in history. "These are the main challenges. Anything else is a distraction". In a broad-ranging interview, the Israeli historian and author talks to Al Jazeera about technology, Brexit and the biggest challenges facing humanity today. More from Talk To Al Jazeera on: YouTube - http://aje.io/ttajYT Facebook - http://facebook.com/talktoaj Twitter - http://twitter.com/talktoaljazeera Website - http://www.aljazeera.com/talktojazeera/ - 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 Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega overthrew the country's Somoza dictatorship in 1979, Sergio Ramirez was standing by his side. Now, the poet and novelist is among Ortega's most vocal critics, saying the thirst for power has changed him. "If someone says 'I'm staying no matter what' they have to crash into a wall of reality that usually gets stained with blood because that is not natural in a democratic system and that's what's happening in Nicaragua". The Central American country has been in extreme disarray since April when students took to the streets in the capital, Managua, to protest the government's failure to handle forest fires in one of the country's most protected areas. Two days later, numbers swelled as plans to cut pensions and other social security reforms were announced and protests morphed into calls for the country's ageing leader to resign. "I think that it's like the power of a dam that has been broken with the water ... people have suffered many grievances. All the fear that's been created, the social control in neighbours, much like Venezuela, much like Cuba," he says. "All these things began to create feelings of rejection and weariness ... a feeling of having had enough that was in the mouths of many people and was waiting to just explode." Ortega responded with a brutal crackdown, allegedly using paramilitary groups to put down protests. He, and his wife and vice president blame the protests on so-called "terrorists" and have refused calls for an early election to defuse the crisis. According to the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights, some 448 people have been killed since protests began, many are university students who have been a key force in the demonstrations. Ramirez is critical of Ortega's response, saying the levels of violence are worse than during the Sandinista revolution. "These are unarmed casualties, people who are being persecuted, hunted by snipers, killed by machine guns, people who are burned to death in their homes, shot in the head in the middle of the street. It's something without precedents in the history of Nicaragua," he says. Serving as vice president from 1985 to 1990, Ramirez split from Ortega to form his own party in 1995 after becoming disillusioned with the direction of Ortega's policies. "The Sandinista Front sank in 1990 because of Ortega's insistence to turn away from the democratic rules and violently confront the then-President Violeta Chamorro who had been legitimately elected with street riots, barricades, destruction of public buildings, gangs armed with sticks taking over public buildings - Everything he condemns now is what he did to obstruct Mrs Chamorro's government," he says. The country - already Central America's poorest - is suffering economic ruin from the crisis and thousands are fleeing to neighbouring Costa Rica to seek asylum. "Can things ever go back to the way they were before April 18th? Can Ortega rebuild consensus somehow? In a peaceful matter, or based on fear? ... [The] grievances against the same families who were Ortega's supporters make it impossible to rebuild the social fiber that existed before." "Maybe it's me being naive, but I think that this is the first time this country has the opportunity to resolve a dictatorial conflict through civic means. It's a historical opportunity for Nicaragua". More from Talk To Al Jazeera on: YouTube - http://aje.io/ttajYT Facebook - http://facebook.com/talktoaj Twitter - http://twitter.com/talktoaljazeera Website - http://www.aljazeera.com/talktojazeera/ - 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/

Filmmakers: Daniel Cattier, Juan Gelas and Fanny Glissant At the end of the Middle Ages, Europe opened up to the world and discovered that it was at the margins of the world's main area for wealth generation: Africa. Portuguese explorers were the first to set out to conquer Africa's gold. When explorers reached the coast of West Africa, they saw its people as a supply of labour and the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade was established. Economic ambition coupled with a religiously driven effort to expand Christendom Pope, Nicholas V morally endorsed the Portuguese enterprise and a legal framework for the enslavement of Africa. "This was an extremely violent economy of predation," explains Antonio De Almeida Mendes, University of Nantes, France. "The Portuguese would disembark and rush arms in hand to capture the inhabitants of these African coasts, starting with Mauritania and then Senegal, where poor fishermen lived. They were captured with nets." The Portuguese set up a triangular trading system off the coast of West Africa – between Elmina, Sao Tome and the Kingdom of Kongo. They traded European goods for slaves in the Kongo and slaves for gold in Elmina. São Tomé was developed into a sugar plantation. 4,000 Africans were brought to São Tomé as slaves to work the sugar plantation every year. It was the start of a system that later expanded across the Atlantic and thrived in the Americas. The Portuguese were the uncontested masters of the slave trade by 1620. European ships picked up slaves from West Africa, transported them to Brazil and the Caribbean and then returned to Europe with vessels full of produce for sale. By 1789, 7.7 million Africans were deported to the Americas. All of Europe joined Portugal to take control of African gold and slaves including Flemish, German, English, Genoese and Venetian merchants. - 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/

Filmmakers: Daniel Cattier, Juan Gelas and Fanny Glissant At the end of the Middle Ages, Europe opened up to the world and discovered that it was at the margins of the world's main area for wealth generation: Africa. Portuguese explorers were the first to set out to conquer Africa's gold. When explorers reached the coast of West Africa, they saw its people as a supply of labour and the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade was established. Economic ambition coupled with a religiously driven effort to expand Christendom Pope, Nicholas V morally endorsed the Portuguese enterprise and a legal framework for the enslavement of Africa. "This was an extremely violent economy of predation," explains Antonio De Almeida Mendes, University of Nantes, France. "The Portuguese would disembark and rush arms in hand to capture the inhabitants of these African coasts, starting with Mauritania and then Senegal, where poor fishermen lived. They were captured with nets." The Portuguese set up a triangular trading system off the coast of West Africa – between Elmina, Sao Tome and the Kingdom of Kongo. They traded European goods for slaves in the Kongo and slaves for gold in Elmina. São Tomé was developed into a sugar plantation. 4,000 Africans were brought to São Tomé as slaves to work the sugar plantation every year. It was the start of a system that later expanded across the Atlantic and thrived in the Americas. The Portuguese were the uncontested masters of the slave trade by 1620. European ships picked up slaves from West Africa, transported them to Brazil and the Caribbean and then returned to Europe with vessels full of produce for sale. By 1789, 7.7 million Africans were deported to the Americas. All of Europe joined Portugal to take control of African gold and slaves including Flemish, German, English, Genoese and Venetian merchants. - 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: Khalid Zairi Morocco's key natural resources include phosphates, zinc, manganese and iron ore. The mining industry is important to the national economy and its products highly sought abroad. Moroccan truck drivers Ibrahim Tabii and Abdelkabir Ainan risk their lives on dangerous roads and through disputed terrain to bring mineral material from Agadir to Dakar, a 3,000-kilometre journey that can take around two weeks. This is not like truck driving across the United States where long distances are common and hours are controlled by the federal law. It's not like driving in Europe with its tight regulation and vehicle monitoring systems measuring driver-time at the wheel. This is driving in Saharan Africa. There are no motorway service stations, no 24-hour SOS vehicle recovery and no spare parts at the end of a mobile phone. Driving hours are not obviously regulated and there are hardly any rest areas. The two drivers also have to pass through an area known as the Western Sahara. It has been a disputed territory between Morocco and what's called the Polisario Front since 1975. The UN has maintained a peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, a territory about the size of New Zealand, for 27 years. UN efforts have repeatedly failed to broker a settlement over the disputed territory, which the Sahrawi people, led by the PF says belongs to them. The Polisario Front, a formerly armed nationalist group signed a cease-fire with Morocco in 1991; but since the conflict has made this leg of the journey risky. When the two drivers reach the border with Mauritania, they're heavily delayed and by customs and immigration formalities and have no alternative but to wait in a makeshift bedroom until vehicle checks and done and visas issued. In the US, a driver can be at the wheel for up to 11 hours out of 14. In Europe, the rules are tighter, the daily maximum is normally nine hours but breaks have to be taken every four-and-a-half hours. Daily rest should be eleven hours. But this is the Moroccan Sahara. And laws protecting long-haul freight drivers do not seem to exist. "I'm sleepy because we haven't rested. We're always under pressure from phone calls," says Ibrahim. "Even though we're entitled to rest for an hour after a four-hour drive, the manager doesn't allow it. We're forced to drive day and night. If you get the chance to sleep, it's for a maximum of two hours." Unlike travelling in other regions of the world with better infrastructure, road conditions in Mauritania are generally poor, making travel difficult. Roadside assistance is non-existent and the country's size (larger than Texas and New Mexico combined) and harsh climate make road maintenance and repair especially problematic. Mauritania has only about 2,070 km (1,286 miles) of surfaced roads, 710 km (441 miles) of unsurfaced roads, and 5,140 km (3,194 miles) of unimproved tracks, according to countryreports.org. Drivers are advised to check the tide times, travel in convoy if possible and ensure adequate supplies of water and fuel are available. Local drivers tend to drive without regard to traffic signs or rules. "Roadway obstructions and hazards caused by drifting sand, animals, and poor roads often plague motorists", according to Nasser Weddady, a Middle East and North Africa consultant based in Boston, Massachusetts. The two drivers also get seriously delayed at the border into Senegal, waiting for papers, getting information from their shipping agent, talking to their boss back in Agadir, and waiting for their passports. All the while, they're missing their families. Finally, after 3,000 kilometers and over two weeks on the road, the men reach Dakar and unload their trucks. But the return journey with a load of fresh mangos also has its problems and Ibrahim has to travel back to Morocco empty because of the refrigeration on his vehicle isn't working. Meanwhile, Ibrahim's reconsidering his career options: "The only thing I've been thinking about is going home and returning the truck to its owner and quitting. You can't turn down a job in Africa when you're unemployed. I have to provide for my family so I try to put up with it but it's difficult. I'd rather go home, rest and find another job." As for Abdelkabir, a "steady salary is better than a big occasional one." - 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/

In the four years since Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein became the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, attacks on people's safety and dignity have been reported all over the world. From Myanmar's campaign to drive hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya from the country, to the carnage wrought by the brutal wars in Yemen and Syria, human rights are under extreme pressure. Hussein is well-known as an outspoken critic of world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. He himself has been criticised for pointing out where countries have failed to preserve human rights. Hussein is stepping down at the end of August and will be replaced by former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet. Before his departure, the outgoing human rights chief sat down with Al Jazeera to discuss areas where human rights are under extreme pressure and what should be done to protect these freedoms. On criticism by governments of the job he has done: "The job of high commissioner is to effectively be the ambassador of human rights. It means that you have human rights law and you have obligations upon states to abide by the law, and where they don't do so you then have to defend the victims who either are deprived of their rights or discriminated against when it comes to their rights or they live in fear. "My job is not to defend governments, they can do that themselves, my job was to defend the rights of everyone else, individuals. "In that sense I knew early on that I was not going to have the backing of the permanent members of the Security Council. Actually, I would be concerned if I was on the outside and I'd see the high commissioner had gotten the support of the P5 because I would suspect he or she would not have done the job properly. "I almost goes without saying that the permanent five enjoy a privileged status here in New York because of the use of the right to veto they have in the Security Council. "But in Geneva, they don't. They're just one of 47 members of the human rights council if they're serving on the human rights council, so we in the human rights community look at their records the same we look at anyone else's records, and they don't like that." On the refugee crisis "The number of people on the move globally is in the range of about 4, maybe 4.5 percent. So 95 percent and above of people on this planet are static, they stay within their countries." "All this hysteria that we see, the panic, the trending toward the more extreme demagoguery is as a result of this small percentage of people that are actually moving across the planet." "[The xenophobia] comes from recognition by politicians. Whatever the ills in society, whatever the miscues by previous governments, the inability of previous or present governments to cope with certain circumstances, then you pinpoint the problems on these communities that seem different, that seem alien, that seem to be vying for jobs, and you turn the hatred on them." "This is an old device, the sad part of it is that it works and people tend to out of fear adhere to it and politicians know it." "The cautionary tale to this is that the logical extension of it is a sour outcome. If you get chauvinistic nationalism, bigotry, some sort of racist undercurrent and it reaches a certain pitch, traditionally when we look at the historic record it's not easy to dismantle it." "What you tend to find is that conflict arises from it, because suddenly you're telling people that they're no longer special, that we're all endowed with the same rights and that we needed to be treated equally, wether on the basis of gender, ethnicity, whatever the circumstances may be." On North Korea's human rights abuses "Perhaps in the context of the immediate discussions, [the human rights record of North Korea] is not being mentioned, but I don't think it's easy for anyone to forget given severity of the human rights violations detailed in the Kirby commission's report and also by our office." "There is a fear that if the negotiations were to mature that somehow these issues would be downgraded, and that's a fear we have with regards to many conflicts that begin to wind down." "During the conflict there is a strong call for accountability thtat the perpetrators are punished but as we work through the peace agreements, people will say 'not now, not now, we'll deal with it later'. What we find though, is that later it becomes even more difficult." More from Talk To Al Jazeera on: YouTube - http://aje.io/ttajYT Facebook - http://facebook.com/talktoaj Twitter - http://twitter.com/talktoaljazeera Website - http://www.aljazeera.com/talktojazeera/ - 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/

Every civilisation stamps its own mark on history - but the Islamic period of rule over the Iberian peninsula has many features which are not often widely known or appreciated. The Algerian academic Saadane Benbabaali has now retired from teaching at Paris University III. But partly because his ancestors came from what's now the southern Spanish region of Andalusia, he became passionate about the region and for fifteen years, led groups of students on his annual trips there. He came to believe that the period of Arab, Muslim rule there in what was called Al Andalus was arguably the only time in European history when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived relatively peacefully together – and produced a common culture and harmonious society. Furthermore, he believes that the period and place have powerful lessons for what he sees as today's fractured world. "Today we need all those [Andalusian] philosophers, thinkers and Sufis, who like [the scholar] Ibn Arabi, made love the basis of human relationships," explains Benbabaali. Origins of Andalusia and Al Andalus Arabs came to Spain in CE 711 under the command of Tariq ibn Ziyad, who landed with his army at a spot he named 'Jabl al Tariq' (the Rock of Tariq). The location is now known as Gibraltar. The Muslim armies eventually occupied most of present-day Portugal, Spain and parts of Southern France until their defeat and expulsion in 1492. The region came to be ruled by the leader Abdurahman of the Umayyid dynasty whose power base was in Baghdad. The 'Golden Age' of Al Andalus In Muslim Al Andalus, Jews and Christians had to pay Jizya, a tax levied on non-Muslim citizens living in Muslim lands in exchange for protection. Muslims also paid a tax called zakaat, one of the five pillars of Islam. Non-Muslims were allowed to practise their faith freely and this sense of relative unity made Al Andalus prosperous, culturally as well as economically. At this time, the region became a hub for social and cultural exchange, while advances in the arts, science, medicine and maths flourished and spread around the known world. The era also produced some of the most significant scholars, poets, musicians, philosophers, historians and thinkers of the medieval age - such as Ibn Arabi, Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes), Al Zarqali (Arzachel in Latin), Al Zahrawi (Abulcasis in Latin) and Ibn Firnas, among others. In the Arab, Muslim consciousness, this era is often thought of and referred to as the 'Golden Age'. - 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

The landmark conviction of Jean-Pierre Bemba for war crimes and crimes against humanity was overturned by panels of judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague last month. A majority ruling saw Bemba acquitted of all charges against him. The former rebel leader and vice president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spent nearly a decade in custody in The Hague. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison after sending his militia to the Central African Republic (CAR) to help put down a coup attempt, where they conducted a reign of terror. A rampage of looting and killing of civilians followed, including the mass rape of hundreds of women. But a majority of judges ruled on his appeal that he could not be held responsible for the actions of his fighters. His lawyers argued successfully his fighters were no longer under his command after they crossed the international border - an argument Bemba has maintained throughout his trials and incarceration. "I have a lot of sympathy for all the victims ... I have a lot of sympathy for people in Central Africa ... if there are any victims, I'm very sad and I support them in their pain," Bemba tells Al Jazeera. "But I have been acquitted by a professional judge, an experienced judge, an honest judge and that is all. Justice has been served." His militia, known as the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), has now been transformed into a political party opposing the rule of President Joseph Kabila. The electoral commission (CENI) has announced that a delayed election is due to take place in December. The election was due at the end of 2016, Joseph Kabila's end of term. In spite of this, Kabila has maintained his position and refuses, to date, to announce the presidential majority candidate who would run for his party. This has stoked concern that Kabila is seeking to change the constitution in order to run again or further delay the elections. "I never heard from himself [Kabila] that he will hold elections, but I have also never heard that he will not hold elections ... I hope that he will respect the constitution," says Bemba. Further to this, the current government has attempted to delegitimise Bemba's registration as a presidential candidate. However, the former vice president seems non-plussed by the actions being taken against him back home. "You shouldn't be surprised that the government in place has said that I am not able [to register as a candidate]," responds Bemba to the claims. "Those people in the majority of the government are not the right people, [they are not] able to talk about this." Asked about his time in captivity, Bemba says, "these 10 years [in prison] helped me to think deeply about not just myself but about my country. You are not the same person after 10 years. Congo has changed, Africa has changed ... the world has changed. I wrote a vision for Congo that I will soon give to the public." Talking about Kabila and whether there should be any charges against him, Bemba says "he has immunity as the former president. He is protected by the constitution." "President Kabila is an adversary in politics. The most important to me is what the people of Congo want. If I am doing politics, it's to solve the problems for the people of Congo ... Of course, I understand that some people maybe worry about it but they should not. I am just someone trying to find solutions for his country and for the people of his country." Jean-Pierre Bemba talks to Al Jazeera in Belgium, the country which was the former colonial ruler in the DRC. Since it gained independence in 1960 there has never been a peaceful transfer of power. It's from here Bemba will leave this week to return to his homeland and register as a candidate in the presidential elections. - 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/