Al Jazeera Correspondent

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/

"Take a step and reject Serzh" was the rallying cry of hundreds of thousands of Armenians who took to the streets earlier this year, forcing the resignation of Armenia's president-turned-prime-minister, Serzh Sargsyan, and clearing the way for the leader of the opposition, Nikol Pashinyan. What was Sargsyan's second term as PM, deemed by many to be a "power grab", lasted only six days. Nicknamed the "Velvet Revolution" for its non-violent nature, the protests marking Sargsyan's departure were a remarkable turning point for Armenia, with the promise of sweeping reforms under Pashinyan's interim administration. But the role doesn't come without challenges. Alongside the need to address internal disputes, such as oligarchs monopolising Armenia's politics and economy, the country is also in a delicate geopolitical situation, balanced between Russia and the West. Moscow provides economic and military support to Armenia, which has been geographically isolated by both Turkey and Azerbaijan, most pointedly with the building and recent inauguration of the Baku-Tiblisi-Kars Railway in 2017 after the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict saw an existing railway that went to Baku via Armenia shut down. Armenia fought a war with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the 1990s. Azerbaijan wants its internationally recognised territory back, putting the real risk of conflict on the cards and now, in Nikol Pashinyan's hands. One of Pashinyan's first official moves as PM was a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh. Although he insists on a peaceful solution for the ongoing "frozen conflict" between the two countries, Pashinyan insists that Azerbaijan may have more on its plate than a decades-old debacle with Armenia. "I am sure that the Azerbaijani government is trying to distract the attention of its own people from its own domestic troubles and problems, to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. That is why I am saying that any aggressive move against Armenia is an aggressive move against democracy in our region," says Pashinyan. "We have real will and real desire to solve this conflict peacefully," he continues. "We are ready for negotiations. But I want to insist that we aren't going to make anything in the atmosphere of intimidation. It is important to create an atmosphere of peace". 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/

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/

On July 14, 2016, 31-year-old Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel ploughed a rented 19-tonne truck through crowds out celebrating France's Bastille Day in Nice. He was shot dead by police at the scene but 86 people died and 458 others from 19 different countries were wounded. There have been 12 vehicular attacks since 2006, 10 of which occurred in the two-year period following this incident. Nice has the highest death toll. One of Bouhlel's first victims was Fatima Charrihi, a Moroccan woman wearing a headscarf. In fact a third of the victims that day were Muslim men, women and children - including four year-old Kylan al-Majri who had come out to enjoy the fireworks with his family. Truck Attack in Nice looks at the event through the eyes of three Muslim families who lost two young sons and a wife and mother. They re-tell their own versions of their ordeals on an evening that started with celebration and ended in violent tragedy, as they all struggle to come to terms with a loss that they simply cannot comprehend. The relatively high numbers of Muslim victims in Nice and in the similar Barcelona attacks a year later, challenge the common perception that this type of violence is somehow an expression of Islamic teaching or values. Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been radicalised quickly through ISIL propaganda a few weeks before Bastille Day. He was known to French police for threatening behaviour, violence and petty theft but did not figure on the "Fiche S", or France's high-security watch list. He was a loner whose neighbours said smelled of alcohol and behaved strangely. The 2016 attack in Nice followed those in 2015 on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and Bataclan nightclub and neighbouring restaurants in Paris. Each incident turned up the heat in the debate about the relationship between Islam and violence in French politics and society. In the months following Nice, politicians were campaigning for the French presidency. Marine Le Pen seized the opportunity to make political capital out what she and her party call "the Islamisation of France", and former Prime Minister Francois Fillon spoke of what he called a new type of fear running through some parts of French society. "This radical Islam is plaguing some of our fellow citizens. It challenges our common values. I won't allow this. I want strict administrative control of the Muslim religion before it takes root within the Republic," he said. But the French Muslims families in this film see things quite differently. For them, it's not about Islam at all. "Don't involve Islam in this issue," said Tahar al-Majri, who lost his ex-wife and four-year-old son Kylan in the Nice attack. "He ran down people aged four to 80. You can't kill people and say, 'God is Great'. God never tells us to kill people." 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 time for change has come" - that was the message from Malaysia's new leader Mahathir Mohamad after his stunning victory over the ruling coalition in May. The 92-year-old veteran politician, who served as Malaysia's prime minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, returned to politics two years ago. He opposed the political force he was once a part of - the Barisan Nasional coalition, which had ruled Malaysia since its independence from Britain in 1957. The law must take its course and if the attorney general finds sufficient evidence of acts that are criminal then the attorney general takes the decision. One of our [election] promises was that we would honour the separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judiciary, so I cannot interfere with what the attorney general wants to do. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia PM Malaysia is a diverse nation with millions of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians living side by side. But in recent years, many Malaysians have been frustrated with high-level government corruption and a rising cost of living. Prime Minister Mahathir accused his predecessor Najib Razak of stealing millions of dollars, and this may have led to Najib's defeat at the polls. Najib has denied corruption charges over the disappearance of millions of dollars from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund, as part of a graft probe while he was in office. The new government led by Mahathir has reopened investigations that were stifled while Najib was in office, setting up a special task force to deal with the allegations. So what are the implications of the 1MDB investigation? And what's next for Malaysian politics? In an exclusive interview, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, talks to Al Jazeera about his fight against corruption and for more transparency in government. - 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 1990, Lebanon emerged from a 15-year civil war politically fractured and under the control of the Syrian army. Syrian troops eventually withdrew in 2005 but many Lebanese remained deeply wary of their neighbour to the north and east. In the two decades that followed, Lebanon continued to be dogged by regional, religious and political conflict - and Lebanon's efforts to stabilise have been frustrated by factionalism, fraught relations with Syria, Israeli interventions and internal divisions arising from Iran and Syria's backing of the Shia Muslim movement Hezbollah in south Lebanon. After the Syrian revolution and subsequent war in 2011, many wondered whether Lebanon could withstand yet another regional conflict. Today, in a country roughly the same size as the US city of Los Angeles, Lebanon still hosts some 450,000 Palestinian refugees - and since 2011 roughly 980,000 Syrian refugees have fled over the border into Lebanon. Amid the humanitarian crisis, the Lebanese themselves feel torn between their long-standing resentment of Syria's prolonged military presence in their country and a desire to help their Arab neighbours. It's a dilemma that filmmaker Raghida Skaff explores in Shahira: My Syrian Friend, in which she tells the story of her strong personal relationship with a seven-year-old Syrian girl whose family find themselves in her village of Zeghrine 30km east of Beirut. 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/

Each year, childhood ends for an estimated 15 million girls around the world who marry before the age of 18, according to the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW). South Asia has the largest concentration of child brides, but early marriage is a global phenomenon. Girls living in poverty are more susceptible, and by marrying so young, research shows, girls perpetuate the cycle of poverty. UNICEF says they typically drop out of school and as a result, face poor job prospects. "I couldn't go to school because of the war," says Ola, a Syrian refugee who was married at 14 years. "We had to stay at home, the schools closed. I studied only until 6th grade." The Syrian war has created a vortex of conditions, such as displacement and poverty as well as fears about the so-called honour and safety of girls that have prompted families to marry off their daughters. "I left Aleppo six years ago," says Fatima, a Syrian refugee living in a camp in Jordan. "We used to go to the school, then come home. I did my homework, went out with my friends ... If the problems stop, I think I will go back. Because of the the current problems, it's all terror and fear." Jordan is now home to more than 650,000 Syrian refugees. UNICEF says there is an epidemic of child marriage among them and it's on the rise. From the onset of the Syrian war in 2011 to the present, child marriage has spiked from 15 to 36 percent in the kingdom. European countries such as Sweden and Germany, that have welcomed large numbers of Syrian refugees, are also grappling with a dilemma: permit child marriage or separate families. Child brides commonly face domestic violence, restricted movement and are often not given a voice when it comes to making decisions in the family. No matter the justifications families give, the ICRW says, child marriage is "a violation of human rights and a form of violence against girls". 'I wanted to be a doctor' Fatima found out she was engaged just shy of her 15th birthday. Her parents notified her that she was to marry another Syrian refugee. "I wasn't even 15 years old, I was scared. I cried. First I told them I didn't want to [get married]. I am too young. Then they told me he was a good young man and that they knew him ... I was confused: should I agree or not? They used to say 'do as you wish. Do what you like' , but because he was from a good family, a good hard-working man, I agreed." Since fleeing their home in Aleppo six years ago, Fatima and her family have endured fear, hunger and now poverty. The war forced her to drop out of school when she was 10 years old. She says if her destiny had been different, she would have loved to have been a doctor. Instead, she is a 16-year-old wife and mother to a five-month-old daughter, with another baby on the way. "I am pleased with my life. If I am content, it's no one else's business," she says. But when asked about her daughter, Fatima says she would want her daughter to finish her education and not marry early. "She should wait until she is 20 or 25. She would carry too much responsibility while she is young. I wish I could have finished school. I wanted to be a doctor, I never thought of marriage." 'A woman's life is a lot better before marriage' Ola was 13 years old, when her parents first broached the topic of marriage with her. After a one-year engagement, she was married at 14. "You are happy because of the white wedding dress.The girl thinks the man would love her and that she would live a life better than the one she had with her family. He would take her wherever she wanted to go. I thought he would love me more than my family," Ola recalls her feelings when her parents told her about marriage. But once married, the relationship deteriorated quickly. "He didn't have a job, he relied on his family abd I didn't know that he was dependent on his family. After the marriage we used to fight because he didn't work," Ola says. "They [his family] interfered in our affairs and there were problems ... They denied me everything, but they got to go out and do what they liked. I had to do the cooking, washing and cleaning, I lived in the kitchen ... It felt like being in a prison. I couldn't go out." She considers herself lucky they couldn't have children. The 17-year old has spent the last year and a half navigating the Jordanian court system, trying to get a divorce, but her husband and his family have disappeared and her case has stalled. Ola says she regrets getting married so early, because she could have finished her education. "No one should get married that early. You'd avoid a man telling you what to do all the t - 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 early 2018, a researcher at the Palestinian Return Centre in London, Pietro Stefanini, attends a conference where he sees a video by a young Palestinian man. In it, Ahmed Shehadeh speaks passionately about the 70-year ordeal he feels his family has faced living stateless in Lebanon. "I challenge anyone to stay in a refugee camp," he says, "not for 70 years, because we were forced out of Palestine 70 years ago, but for just seven days". Inspired by Ahmed's challenge, Stefanini takes time out from his day job and travels to the Burj Al Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut – a long-established shanty-like community where around 50,000 Palestinian refugees live – but without Lebanese citizenship. This film documents Pietro's stay, from Ahmed's meeting him at the camp entrance until he departs the alleyways and the maze of overhead electrical cables, notorious for falling and electrocuting residents. Students my age have graduated from college as doctors and engineers, but they're unemployed," he says. "I studied nursing but I can't find work. That's why we need different citizenship, Lebanese or anything, even if it's Somali or Indian. Ahmed was born in the camp but his grandfather, Abdullah Shehadeh, was forced out of Palestine during the first Arab-Israeli War in 1948, following the creation of the then new state of Israel. Palestinians refer to this as Al Nakba, 'the catastrophe'. He and his father and siblings went to the border with Lebanon and eventually came to Burj al-Barajneh. The camp was set up by the Red Cross in 1948 to accommodate the influx of Palestinian refugees from what's now northern Israel. As family patriarch, Abdullah is known as 'Hajj' and assembles his sons, daughters and grandchildren to greet Stefanini. He points mournfully to the picture of his wife of 62 years and says she's being treated in hospital. "I wish she were here with us today," he says, "to tell you about Palestine, its natural wealth and heritage… She's been with me since 1956. The house is lifeless without her because she's my entire life," he later says, breaking into tears. Hajj takes Pietro to a gathering of camp elders. A TV screen mounted on the wall plays archival footage of Israeli tanks during the 1948 war. "Look at what Israel has done to us," says Hajj, "how they've displaced and forced us out of our land". Stefanini takes in as much camp life as he can in his week-long stay. At 6am, he accompanies Hajj's eight-year-old great granddaughter, Janna, to her only educational option, a school for refugees run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The Palestinian children have to cross Beirut, travelling an hour or more to get an education. Our homes were demolished," one woman explains. "Our life was destroyed. We still have our keys because we hope we'll go back one day. Palestinian elder/refugee One evening, Pietro also meets Palestinian women, many of whom have lived virtually all their lives in the camp. Like Hajj Abdullah, they all still hope they'll one day be able to return to Palestine. One even wears the key to her childhood home around her neck. "Our homes were demolished," one woman explains. "Our life was destroyed. We still have our keys because we hope we'll go back one day." "What strikes me most," Pietro says, "is that everyone I meet here is trying to find hope." Stefanini also spends a day with Ahmed whose challenge brought him to Burj al-Barajneh. Ahmed studied to be a nurse but is ineligible to work in Lebanon. Instead, he makes what money he can running a small café, singing at weddings and teaching traditional dance, Dabkeh, to Palestinian children. "Students my age have graduated from college as doctors and engineers but they're unemployed," he says. "I studied nursing but I can't find work. That's why we need different citizenship, Lebanese or anything, even if it's Somali or Indian." "Now I know to what depths of despair existence in this camp can bring a man," Stefanini says quietly to himself. Later in the week Hajj Abdullah's wife is discharged from hospital. As younger family members wheel her into the house, the scars of the years of prolonged suffering are visible when Hajj bends over and tenderly kisses his wife. "Welcome back my love. Welcome back. May God protect you." 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/