the syrian army launches a major ofe north of the strategic city of homs. ♪ ♪ hello, you are watching al jazeera live from our headquarters to doha. also on the program. israel tightened at this around occupied east jerusalem in a bid to counter up surging violence. plus, seeking piece, myanmar's government signs peace deals with arms groups but divisions remain. we meet students in the u.s. who are plant for this future

and doing it one rare orchid at a time. ♪ ♪ the syrian army has launched a long-planned offensive in northern homs province. the fighting is focused on two areas, they are both part of a rebel-held area called the plains where a major highway passes through. these pictures are said to show the latest aerial bomb bart. in the homs country side. it's been hit almost daily since russia began launching airstrikes against what it says are isil targets, activists a say center for internally displaced people has been hit killing eight people including children, let's get the latest from zeina khodr who is monitoring the situation for us from neighboring lebanon what, more do we know and how much involved is there from the russians? >> reporter: well, what we understand from syrian state

television is that this ground offensive, air and ground offensive has begun in the northern country side of homs, we also understand from okay activists on the ground that there is fierce fighting. neighborhoods are coming under fire. government shelling the area as well as suspected russian airstrikes. according to the activists the russian airstrikes have began in the early hours of the morning, approximately at 5:00 a.m. there was a sustained campaign and then the ground forces tried to advance in to the northern country side of homs, like you the mentioned, this is a very strategic area. what we understand is that the military objective of this operation is to open a main highway. the north-south high way that links the goffed-controlled city of homs to the government-controlled city. they want to try to open this highway. this whole area really has been under siege there, has been a blockade for years, the government is positioned around the whole northern countryside.

there was one route out of the area, but it leads to government-controlled territory. some civilians use the routes but those who are not wanted what we understand from activist is his that civilians are afraid. they don't know where they can go. if they could just move from one area of the country side to another. what we are understanding is that there is no way out. so civilians trapped inside like you mentioned, there are reports of civilian casualties. >> all right. so russian airstrikes continues sevezeina, and there was a repof thousands of iranian troops arriving in syria. what more have you heard about that? >> reporter: well, yes, the pro iranian media a variety of sources really were reporting that thousands of iranian troops arrived in syria to participate in these ground operations there has been no official confirmation from iran even though just the high ranking official from the council in iran is holding talks including

with the syrian president. what he said was we are providing advice to the syrian army. reiterate that go their role is limited to providing advice, not confirm that go there are ground troops on the ground. but many analysts believe that the pro iranian media released this information to send a message that iran is still a player in this conflict. just because russia militarily intervened doesn't mean iran is out of the picture. and some of the statements made by the iranian official in damascus really points to that. he is saying it's better if we are part of negotiations or, you know, efforts to find a political solution, reiterating this is the only way forward a political solution, many analysts tell you this military campaign, this stepped up military activity in syria, aims at pressuring the opposition in to agreeing and to a peace deal and verdicting. >> zeina hod never beirut thank you for bringing us the latest on syria there.

the u.s. says a final push to retake the iraqi city of ramadi is imminent. iraq forces say they have made significant advances to take back the city from isil fighte fighters. rah mad is a the capital of the largest province anbar. imtiaz tyab has more from baghdad. >> reporter: a very fast moving situation around the western iraqi city of ramadi. a city which has been in the hands of isil since may of this year. it was a stinging blow to the iraqi security forces who had to beat a hasty retreat when isil seized the city. since then the prime minister has promise today retake ramadi but there have been very significant delays to any major operation to retake that city. one of the key issue is his a bill end to get past which gives dover sunni tribal fighters in' bar to be a part of the iraqi

security forces as they retake that city. much similar to legal cover given to shia militia fighters as well. now the reason for the deadlock is of course these deep-seated sectarian divisions which we see here in iraq. that, of course, is led to the deadlock we have seen in parliament. so he is left with a decision to make, does he said with that offensive to retake ramadi without that bilk passed or does he try to unbreak that deadlock. at this stage, we don't know what he's going to do but he seems to be under a lot of fresh putter u.s. saying now is the time to retake ramadi. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is planning to visit the middle east soon to try to ease tensions between israelis and palestinians. security around jerusalem has been tightened up following an you be surge in violence, 32 palestinians and seven israeli have his been killed in the last two weeks. andrew simmons reports.

>> reporter: panic as israeli special forces police run through a mall at west jerusalem's main bus station, nobody here can work out exactly what is happening. [ gunshots ] >> reporter: later on the streets outside, two gunshots and a dark figure by the doorway, one of the special force officers has shot dead a palestinian man. police say he had stabbed a woman in the bus station. that wasn't caught on the cell phone camera. the woman, an israeli, was taken to the hospital with what police described as moderate injuries. any hope anyone might have had that the announcement of new security measures would have an immediate effect have been shattered. and once again, questions loom about how the security forces are handling the situation. hours before a young palestinian was shot dead in the old city of occupied east jerusalem.

police say i pulled a knife when he was being searched. this is the man as he's running away, struck down by gunfire. he appears to have been shot in the back. earlier the streets had been disturbingly quiet. people preferring not to venture out. the army now deployed in the cities in line with the new security measures. >> you can see it's almost empty here. so the people a little bit defiant especially the mothers or the kid going to the garden or to the school. >> reporter: in occupied east jerusalem there was a mood of pessimistic expectations. the new pressures allow the blockading of whole neighborhoods, the demolition of homes of attackers. a ban on rebuilding. and also refusal to return the bodies of people the government calls terrorists. on the west bank, more violence. this is beth los angeles ram

where demonstrators clashed with soldiers again, here the day before. a 27-year-old protesters had been shot dead. with israel waiting for the new security measures to take effect, the palestinian president we want on the verbal offensive. >> translator: we are people who are asking for rights. we are not aggressive against anyone. and we don't wants any aggressions against our people, we are asking for the world, the united nation to his intervene. wwe will not tolerate this occupation and we will not give up fighting is rally palsies against our people and our sacred sites. >> reporter: as israel once again witnesses more violence, there is political deadlock. one that has a lethal price for so many people. andrew simmons, al jazeera, in west jerusalem. the united states says it's sending 300 troops and surveillance drones to cameroon to help counter boko haram fighters. the arms group is blamed for

suicide attacks that killed nine people and wounded more on sunday. the myanmar government and eight armed groups have signed a historic peace deal it's aimed at ending more than 60 years of civil war and resolving tensions ahead of elections. the deal was far from comprehensive with many groups staying away, the ethnic diversity is at the heart of the conflict. there are more than 130 ethnic groups but eight prominent minorities against myanmar, eight have armies and dozens more armed group fighting government forces think conflict began in 1949 soon after independent when power was unexpecteddedly handed over excluding ethnic minorities. country has been in civil war ever since with 10s of thousands of people killed and injured. myanmar has went highest numbers of child soldiers in the world. earlier myanmar's president

hailed the new peace deal. >> today is a very important his tour i think day for myanmar, we have been able to lawn of a new road to a peaceful future have been armed conflict since we won independence. 10s of thousands of troops from both sides have lost their lives, hundreds of thousands think people living in a conflict area have suffered immensely from the fighting. >> and al jazeera's wayne hay has more now from bangkok in neighboring thailand. >> reporter: this nationwide ceasefire agreement has been one of the key objectives since the president took over four years ago, but what he has ended up with today will certainly not be what he was hoping for given that less than half of the rebel army's rebel organizations in the country have not agreed to sign this deal. one of the most significant groups that is not presents is the independence army which controls large parts of the north of myanmar and has been involved in some of the worst

fighting with government troops over the years. in fact, further south, there has been fresh fighting in recent days. so there is still a lot of skepticism about this deal. a lack of trust in some of those areas between the rebel armies, the rebel organizations and the government and its soldiers. so after this agreement is signed between those groups, they will immediately begin work on a framework for political dialogue. still to come on al jazeera, beijing denounces a u.s. plan to conduct a navel exercise close to disputed islands in the south china sea. and warnings of a medical emergency as some african countries come close to running out of snake bite antidote.

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♪ welcome back. i am in doha with the top stories on al jazeera. the syrian army has launched a long-planned offensive in homs. part of a rebel held area where a major highway passes through. the u.s. secretary of state john kersey trying -- is planning to john kerry is planning to visit israel. and my are the myanmar government and eight armed ethnic groups have sign signed a historic peace agreement trying to end more than 60 years of civil war but seven rebel groups

haven't signed the deal. german chancellor angela merkel as urged solidarity in taking care of the refer gee crisis. european leaders are expect today focus on stepping up support for turkey in an effort to deal with the refugees influx. many of the refugees fleeing syria's war have been fleeing the war and sweden has received the high he had number of asylum applications in hits a history. 83,000 people have registered so far this year, jonah hull revisited a family seeking refuge. >> reporter: we catch up with she and her father deep in the swedish countryside in cramped temporary accommodation as their asylum request is being processed it's a long way from where we saw them in bid pistol.

it's not the sweden they imagined. >> i am worried about the future here. i didn't think it would be like that. >> reporter: she shows me what appears to be bullying threats from an immigration official. >> what is problem to go to home? it's not prison. you not -- [ inaudible ] >> new rules, new rules. >> if i hate it go somewhere else. >> he argue with this guy from damascus, he told him give me the -- and i can do everything for -- i will throw you out of sweden. >> reporter: he said give me your identity card and i'll throw you out. >> yes. >> reporter: i put all this to the immigration minister in stockholm. >> this is really a problem because so many people are coming right now and it's really a challenge for the authorities

to be able to set up proper housing for people and have the proper control of what's happening with them. so this is -- we are not dealing with this so good as we should do right now. >> reporter: you have to travel away long way in to the middle nowhere to find these camps, for wants of a better word, people waiting months and months for their asylum applications to be processed living in conditions they didn't expect to find in sweeped. one day life for them in sweden will be much better, but even this country with its long history of welcoming refugees from hungary, the prague swing, from the wars of the former yugoslavia is finding it hard to cope. do you think that the compassion of sweden and of swedish people has limits? >> no, i think the opposite. because when i could see we

started to collecting here for clothes and shoes and so, it was streaming to us. so much. >> reporter: so people care? >> people care. they do. as we talk about the past, about syria, her father breaks down. >> he said his life inside syria, he don't want to go out. >> reporter: a reminder that this is not the life they chose. jonah hull, al jazeera, sweden. iran is facing a key deadline to submit information on its nuclear program. the parliament and council have approved an international deal limiting the country's nuclear activity for in exchange for sanctions relief. the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog must verify that iran is not developing weapons. they want teheran to provide more details by thursday for a

final assessment which will be released at the end of year. now vietnam says it's concerned with china's construction of two lighthouses on the disputed spratly islands saying they are seriously infringing on the countri' sovereignty. the comments come ahead of china hosting an envelopa informal mef defense ministers. china claims the spratly islands within its borders its claims overlap other countries. beijing has denounces a u.s. plan to conduct a so-called freedom navigations exercise program. the u.s. is beefing up its presence in the region as step vaessen reports now. >> reporter: two world powers flexing their muscles over seven small islands in the south china sea. the construction includes what the u.s. suspects will be the latest of three air fields on reefs which the u.s. says are in

international waters. u.s. plans for military exercise in the disputed area is adding to existing tension. >> of course it will add to the already existing tensions in the area. and, of course, a lot of countries are looking at these very carefully and then we hope they will not actually create a new spirit of tension. >> reporter: china denies it is militarizing the reefs which are knew disputed island also claimed by taiwan, vietnam. brunei, malaysia and the philippines. u.s. armed forces have recently increased their presence in the asia pacific region and intensified navy exercises like this one off the coast of indonesia. >> the u.s. may have is a committed to helping provide security to out east asia and the water surrounding these countries. i think it's part of america's

rebalance to the asia pacific. >> reporter: during the exercise, 600 u.s. marines and sailors took part in several large amphibious beach assaults. the united states showing their presence here in southeast asia with tension rising in the south china sea, exercises like these are shown as -- seen as a show of force in one of the world's most. [ inaudible ] waters. many around the region hope the two super powers will be able to control themselves. >> reporter: southeast asian nations hope to speed up negotiations about a so-called code of conduct. it aims to regulate freedom of navigation at sea and over flying rights to contribute to

peace in the south china sea. but it may be too late with u.s. plans to test the waters and carry out it's freedom of navigation exercise very soon. step vaessen, al jazeera, jakarta. and the ongoing war in yemen has pushed the country in to an economic crisis a blockade imposed by the saudi-led has put a stop to oil exports and cash flow, many are not able to get their salaries. >> reporter: this is aden, the port city in the south. recently recaptured by government troops. the government and the central bank have relocated here. employeeses have been waiting for months to get their salari salaries. >> i haven't received my salary for two months, bank officials say they are still running out of cash. >> a woman died while she was

queuing up to get cash. >> reporter: pro-government officials say the crisis started when houthi rebels withdrew $2 billion from the central bank to pay their fighters. now center bank officials are left grabbing with how to solve yemen's deepening financial crisis. >> we urgently need almost $100 million to pay employees in aden. >> reporter: they are areas under government control. which means that millions of yemenis in other cities will have to wait until the political crisis is over. yemen is divided the north of the capital sanaa are under houthi controls to set up the government. the south is under the control of the internationally recognized president hadi. yemen is the pourest country in the arab world. and many are worried it will go

bankruptcy. if the war drags on. fishing i can media has named the two suspected suicide bombers behind the killing of 99 people in ankara a saturday. the newspaper says one of the attackers is believed to be the brother of an isil-linked bomber who carried out a major action in southern turk any july. the dirkish government dismissed aankara's police chief and two officials following the attacks. security agencies in australia say a 12-year-old boy is being monitored in connection with the murder of a police employee in sydney they are month. police say the boy is among a number of suspects that could have been involved in the killings. >> reporter: he shot dead a police worker on the steps of a police station two week ago was just 15 years old. police have been investigating who may have helped him and they have arrested various adults. but it's now been revealed that

among jamar's wider group of friends who maven couraged or helped him in this crime as a 12-year-old boy. the police commissioner of australia has said he's shocked that someone as young as that could have been involved. and australia's prime minister has said it highlights how important it is to engage with children young before they are become radicalized. on wednesday, malcolm turnbull hosted a meeting of police chiefs and intelligence agencies to discuss ways to achieve that. >> as we deal these threats and the people that seek to turn children in to terrorist, we have to be as agile as they are. >> reporter: as well as training community leader and teach to his look for signs, the government is pursuing a parallel tough approach. it plans to lower the age at which so-called control orders can apply to children as young as 14, control orders give police the ability to mon or

people if it helps prevent a terrorist attack. they can monitor people, following them, photographing them. they can be banned from contacting particular friends or using in any i what the internet. >> we will have no come rains for extremism, extremist violence, for terrorism whenever it may occur or whoever it may seek to person trade it. >> reporter: some say targeting children is likely to make them more radical not less. australia's government says monitoring children is necessary to protect the community. now to century orchids have been among the most rare and collectible flowers but entire groups have been killed off. an ambitious group is hoping to make the flowers blossom again, andy gallagher reports from florida 67 at the school in miami they are planting for the future but this isn't your

average gardening project. >> you mesh frier where the road comes out here to where the base of the leave is coming out. >> reporter: in school and dozens a others across the city are taking part in a scheme to reintroduce native orchids that were once clock place. >> the idea is based on a similar project in singapore and the aim is to bring these blooms to miami's urban streets. >> this is the future almost the bleak reality of it. we are losing habitat at an unprecedented rate. populations are growing and we need it find wade to maintain biodiversity. >> reporter: the million orchid project which is funded by donations and grants hopes to establish a healthy population of plants within five years but the challenges are huge. a single orchid can produce a million seeds but if conditions are not perfect they die. little is known about orchids species only flower once in a few years, in many cases the

germ nation process a complete mystery. those behind the problem know it's high-risk with potentially high rewards. to up sure the project's suck success they are grown in laboratories by volunteers, each minute seed is nurse today full maturity and the manned behind the program hopes it will restore the or are orchid population to its former glore. >> i would love for people to think of miami as hono an orch city. >> reporter: they have dwindled to catastrophically low levels in part because they were ripped from trees and sold. those behind the project expects some theft, but hope that miami's next generation will be part of their rebirth. >> just be fun it see new planned i hoped grow. being in the street and knowing that you helped them. >> reporter: there are a few orchids now left in the whiled

here but if all goes well they could be home for rare and delicate blooms. and a reminders that there is plenty more news on our website al jazeera.com. lots of reports, analysis and features aljazeera.com. >> as israelis' decades old occupation of palestinian territory grinds on, commerce and economics are becoming new battle lines. an embargo is the latest weapon of resistance for gaza and the west bank, but how does an internationally supported boycott movement deal with local vested interests?