counterpart, but it was interesting with the saudi foreign minister had to say with regard to relations with iran because the swiss have offered to host saudi interests in iran and facilitate the travel of iranian pilgrims to saudi arabia for the one part and also, obviously, on the other side, they will then facilitate iranian interests in riyadh. so that's what the swiss have offered. the swiss - there was a question posed as to whether switzerland was offering its mediation services to mediate between saudi arabia and iran and the saudi foreign minister was cat gorical and say there was no need for nemediation at this stage. he said there would be a containing in iranian policy and he listed a host of accusations against iran which he said

needed to change in order for relations to improve. the other important thing that was raised was the possibility of saudi getting involved still further in the syrian conflict because, of course, saudi jets have now massed in the air base and the saudi authorities have indicated their willingness to take part in any kind of ground operation, but there the foreign minister said that when the coalition led by the united states would make a decision with regard to ground operations, then saudi arabia would be willing to take part. he said that was a decision yet to be made. that's the basic lines coming out of that news conference between the saudi foreign minister and the swiss foreign minister. minister. and turkey has been shelling syria for a second day.

these are the latest pictures we have from outside the town where kurdish fighters pushed out rebels from a former military air base, ankara wants fighters from the armed group to withdraw from areas near the border with turkey. the united states has held strikes around a kurdish town. and saudi military personnel and jets arrived at the base. they will joining the fight against i.s.i.l. >> translation: the latest deployments, helping the air campaign. saudi arabia spoke with the international coalition to fight. they are matching words with action. today we are forcing the air campaign and take details on how

to start the operation. some planes arrived. the rest within hours. >> we have been hearing from our correspondent zeina khodr. from southern turkey, on the border with syria. >> the second stage, the positions of allies in the northern countryside of aleppo. turkish authorities making it clear that they will not tolerate expansion. what has been happening in the past week or so, the russian backed offensive has been taking it back. they have pushed out the enclave. capturing the towns and opposition. the turkish authority saying it's unacceptable. this is why we want to see the allies return territory to the opposition and return to their enclave. the y g.m. is defining, saying

we will not retreat. we'll continue our advance. we want to reach territory controlled by i.s.i.l. it's a complicated situation. the u.s. is an ally with it. the u.s. called on the y.p.g. not to take more ground, but you will call on the turkish government to stop y.p.g. conditions. we know at the northern corridor. this corner of syria is strategic for all sides in the conflict. government trying to reach the boarder so they can accept the rebel supply is linked. they want to connect territories. we do know turkey wants to prevent the state along the borders. >> the foreign minister called on the syrian government to stop bombing civilians.

>> we'll see how the regime opens the way for humanitarian support immediately, and the regime has to stop the military attacks. and the civilians, including the bomb barrels. immediately. they have to be involved in the process in order to starts the transitional period in syria president vladimir putin, and president obama are talking on the phone about how to end the fighting in syria. they evaluated agreement reached on friday. which suggested a pause in hostilities on the side of each party. rory challands is on the line

from moscow. attention from the main players. >> that's right. the kremlin has this conversation. trying to base the needs, it could have been worse than it was. so they do agree on - this cessation of hostilities that worked out in munich last week. that is a good thing. that is taken out of cooperation between russia and the united states, at the military level. and it will be structured for the purpose of implementing the state of the groups in munich. where they disagree on the nuts

and bolts of what is going on in this area, and the kremlin said that vladimir putin expressed the need of double standard. the kremlin believes that the united states is hypocritical and saying that it's acting on terrorism, but supporting groups in syria. physically working against the korean states. they found it's with the agreement. a ceasefire sustained hostilities where they worked. i suppose that there's minimum cooperation. >> all right. thank you for that. rory challands then on the ongoing diplomatic debate and

effort to get a form of peace established in syria, where, of course, so much of the talk of syria was about the effort, the suspicion of hostilities, has been coming out of munich. the security conference has been taking place there. and they've been talking about ukraine. and talked about the situation in africa. kofi annan, former secretary-general addressed the conference is said they are doing better than besieged. but groups like boko haram and al-shabab, destabilized the continent. >> we can not know that mauritania in the west. somali in the east, that the spread of jihad is raised. more than a dozen countries are

concerned. tens of thousands died. boko haram killed more people last year. this is a daily or weakly occurrence. >> now to the united states. a justice has died. the justice has the potential to shift the balance of power on the court. >> the appointment of a success for sits firmly in the campaign. john hendren has more. >> the flag dropped at halve mats over the supreme court. the death of anthony scalya, could set of tension between the

houses. >> he had a brilliant legal mile, wit and colourful conservatives. >> he was part of a 9 member court. he was confirmed 98 to zero, promising not to transform the court. >> i'm not sure going to court with a list of things i want to do. my only agenda is to be a good judge. >> reporter: for 30 years he pushed the court for the death penalty and the right to bear arms. >> he'll be remembered as a writer. >> reporter: he believed in unchanging constitutions. found erts would have scoffed at gay rights and other matters. >> the supreme court will tell you what it means, you cannot do

that without causing the supreme court to become a political institution. >> his critics say what he did. his vote on key decisions striking down restrictions on donations. and held aside the 2000 election in favour of the george w. bush. in the midst of another election. it sets up a struggle if the balance from a conservative majority to a liberal one. president obama intends to name scali's successor. >> there'll be time to do that. to give the isn't out a fair hearing. >> the court faces weighty decisions on affirmative action, union dues and requiring employers to pay for contraception. the president names candidates, and the man that sets the schedule.

republican leader mitch mcconnell says that decision should be made by the next president. unless president obama comes up with a common mandate. it makes it unlikely he'll be confirmed by the presidential election. that could mean all three branches. u.s. government, presidency and the high court are all in play before the next election. now we hear from patty culhane. >>. >> the death of u.s. justice scalie will not just impact the united states, but could impact the globe. president barack obama helped to make a deal and came back to the government and talked about the new rules. the supreme court believed scali was sending messages to the president saying it could not go into effect until the case worked through the court system. now that he's passed away, it's

like like that he will not weigh in. our the lower court decides, if they decide the president has that authority, that it's likely regulations will go into effect, it's likely that the paris talks are implemented. >> justice scali's death came after debate between the republican presidential hopefuls. >> reporter: a moment's silence to mark the death of a supreme court justice announced before a republican debate. the question earlier, should president obama appoint at justice at at republican consensus. >> whether i'm okay with it or not. mitch mcconnell and everyone else is to stop. delay, delay, delay. >> we should let the next president of the united states decide who will run the supreme court. with a vote by the people in the

united states of america. >> the significance of the supreme court decides on important constitutional questions. they need to stand tall. we are not going to get the vote. the u.s. court allowed president obama to make one more liberal appointee. there was a role the republican president played. jed bush was to free his brother from an agrgressive donald trum. >> jed is so wrong >> he gets his foreign policies from shows. he's a great negotiator. this is a man who insults his way through the nominations. marco rubio had a debate in new hampshire, but was back in the debate, launching this attack on ted cruz on the subject of miing ration.

>> he lied about ben carson, he lies about marriage, lying about all sorts of things, now he makes things up. >> this is a bad nights for donald trump, he came under attack from almost everywhere. reality is that he still wins thele by more than 20 points. >> south carolina's senator noticed the death of scali, it was a huge election issue. >> if you don't win the election, you can't appoint a supreme court justice. i hope it will looked at as an opportunity. >> this was the oldest angriest debate. a sign of how important it will be and the man that wants to be president - stakes are getting higher coming up in the programme, hope for a return as voting starts in the south african republic to elect a new leader.

and... >> i'm jonah hull with soldiers of oden, patrolling the streets, protecting, they say, the citizen here from refugees. refugees.

you hello again, let's look at the top stories leer at al jazeera -- here at al jazeera. turkey reviewed its positions in northern syria. after the u.s. asked it to stop these are the latest

pictures. the death of a u.s. supreme court justice antonin scali resulted in a heated debate between republican presidential hopefuls. there's bickering between president obama and republicans or who should replace him a new u.n. report says more than 11,000 civilians have been killed or injured in afghanistan in 2015. most are calls by groups opposed to the government. the research shows a 4% increase in casualties on the figures here. there are more than 1,000 civilians. there are calls for moth deaths

and injuries, following the calls from i.e.d.s. the u.n.'s mission in afghanistan noted an increase in female casualties. we go to our correspondent, who is in the capital. >> what happens with the alarms numbers of casualties of women and children. this mission was not to analyse the cause for the matter. they looked at violence in the past cover of years, 2014. it coincides with the pull out of u.s. and international

forces. troops that moved out. and the violence in this report. it was released by the u.n. assistance mission in afghanistan. condemning the violence, to stop the violence. it's a call it's been repeated. >> question now, is there report an indication of the syria's deteriorating security situation in afghanistan. what does it mean for the peace talks. the afghan government says it's getting to stability and security. it's the peace talks. you have to add certain factions. are they willing to sit with the current government to reap

negotiations. obviously the violence indicates that certain taliban actions could have others in mind. >> thank you very much indeed now two palestinians have been killed according to the palestinian health ministry, called in jenin. both reported to be 15 years old. they opened fire. 125 palestinians and 27 israelis von killed. >> voters in the "sportsnet central" african republic are choosing between two prime ministers. the elections are held after two years of fighting. this left thousands dead, and nearly a million people displaced. more than 1,000 peacekeepings troops have been deployed to

safeguard elections. for years, ethnic violence has been climbing. >> waiting for change in the central african republic waiting for a new government to take it through. >> there was no clear winner. a parliamentary election and january was an irregularity. >> one candidate is a man who secured 24% of votes in the first round. >> translation: people think i'm kinder, that i have more experience and i'm decisive. i think that is choice. >> usurped as perform between 1999 and 2001. heap is mapped from running again. alleged human rights violations.

in a world-funded campaign. there were coups that plagued the country. it's hard to see how he'll make the break. given that he gives a seat in parliament for the party. the alternative is a candidate that received 90% of the first counselled of votes. >> when the president was ousted. i was prime minister for years. like all central africans, i want to bring a solution. >> for two years seleka pushed the lives of muslim groups. 6,000 were killed, according to the u.n. there was an county for new

elections to provide a fresh clean start. last months information was reported. there's a chance on sunday. many hope this time the vote will be about real change haiti's lawmakers chose an interim leader to replace michel martelly. the senate chief will lead a care takers' government intended to last for 120 days. he was one of the three candidates vying for the selection to lead the interim government. hate yi has been plagued by photos. several bases have been demanding elections to choose martelly's successor. >> a 7.9 magnitude quake rocked

the city. so far no calls of damage or injuries. a magnitude 6.5 quake in february 11 february 11th killed 185 people. >> a man has been killed in an asylum center. this is the second billing involving asylum seekers in a month. and the reverse policy for the asylum seekers laid after a record 163,000 people entered. >> and finland's government announced that it will depart around 20,000 refugees. an economic downturn, coupled with a small mopulation in -- population in finland did not deal with the influx.

some formed a group to protect people. jonah hull reports from northern finland. >> reporter: named after a war, soldiers take their self-appointed mission seriously, patrolling the streets of towns, keeping women and children safe from refugees. about 8% of the refugees are of fighting age. for me, it doesn't look like they need help. back in the clubhouse in the woods, they insist there are concerned citizens, it suggests. we use violence to defend ourselves. if someone attacked, of course a person has a right to defend himself. if we see a crime taking place, we intervene. >> they were in economic trouble

at the soup kitchens. it is more likely than not that asylum seekers will be turned down. >> the main thing is to make a good picture for refugees. we are helping. and we are crit cam. >> this person helped hundreds of refugees who crowded into the concert hall. he regrets the change in mood. >> i have heard hundreds of stories of why they come. some are truce, some are lies, who has the right to decide. that makes me sad. >> as the public mood is hardening here towards refugees. the minister himself has been forced into his own about-turn, having said that refugees were

welcome to come and stay in his country house in the north of the country, he said can't. offensively, for security reason. the house is said to be too public. at a refugee center, the controls sink in. >> we have some good people. there are good people. and there is other people. will you make a decision. >> they send us back. i will be sad. you know we will take death there, yes. >> reporter: you'd have to wonder why they'd want to live in the freezing cold. such is the desire for safety now, an operation is under way in the south capital to separate two conjoined syrian girls. the surgery is expected to take

12 hours. it's happening at the children's hospital. they are connected at the head, which will likely make the surgery more difficult. but through a bad experience, they have done 38 of these kinds of surgeries. [ ♪ ] i'm richard gizbert, and you're at "the listening post." >> we are breaking with our usual form at