officials from russia, the u.s. and other countries come together to discuss a possible ceasefire in syria welcome. you're watching al jazeera from our headquarters here in doha. arrests and allegations of vote rigging casts a shadow over uganda's presidential election. talks and negotiations on special terms for the u.k.

continue. a legal battle sparks a new debate about race relations in south africa. officials from russia, the u.s. and several other countries are ee meeting in geneva today to discuss how a ceasefire might be implemented in skir i can't. they/-- - syria. the turkish government wants the u.s. to clarify its stance on the syrian kurdish y.p.g. fighters. turkey is blaming the y.p.g. for the attacks in ankara on wednesday, although there has been no claim on responsibility. humanitarian aid air drops to besieged syrian city. 200,000 who have been cut off by i.s.i.l. are in need of food and

medicine. >> reporter: convoys of badly needed food and medicine began rolling into besieged towns. aid trucks were allowed into government and rebel-controlled areas. there will be deliveries by road on others soon. ground access is not possible to der azzor. the only way this is by air >> we will also hope then to have progress in reaching the poor people inside of the area besieged by islamic state, der azzor. that can only be done by air drops and the program has a concrete plan of doing so, it is a complicated operation and it

would be in many ways the first of its kind ever >> reporter: in south sudan the world food program has dropped supplies from the air which is sometimes the only way to save lives. it is not just der azzor has needs to be met from above >> many other places is where people are in need of help. >> reporter: planes will have to fly high above the fighting to avoid coming under fire. russia aircraft are often in action prompting questions at journalists in new york about using officials. >> if there were any air drop involved, in syria, the wfp

planning would be a high altitude air drop which would demand some very specific skills and experience in terms of doing these kinds of air drops. that's why they are considering using one of their contractors which has worked with them in south sudan >> reporter: u.n. officials stress that only a ceasefire and work towards a political settlement will begin to ease the huge humanitarian crisis in syria, but with peace talks in geneva making little if any progress, convoys and soon air drops may be the only way to get help to the millions of syrians in desperate need in their country turkey continues to shell kurdish positions in northern syria in response to wednesday's ankara blast. our correspondent joins us live. all this talk of a ceasefire, all the discussion about the modalities of the air drop.

that's all well and good, but what is going on inside syria continues. >> reporter: there is more than one conflict inside syria. one of the layers of that conflict is the turkish military shelling positions of the syrian armed group the y.p.g. very close to its border. it has been shelling its positions for some time now. every since the bombing in ankara on wednesday, it has intensified the bombardments. the attack has been said to be from the y.p.g. turkey continuing its bombardments on the ground as well. the syrian government and its allies pushing ahead on a number of front lines against the opposition not just in aleppo but in the province of latakia and the y.p.g. and its allies also putting pressure on the opposition taking ground from

them in the northern countryside of aleppo. so many different layers in the conflict. the war rages on and no sign that there is going to be a pause in the fighting at least in the near future what is your reading of the comments from moscow from the kremlin saying to bashar al-assad you've got to be on message with what we are saying vis-a-vis the timeline of this. >> reporter: well, the russians have been trying to push for political process, push for a ceasefire, push for the delivery of aid. then we heard the syrian president say we want to recapture the whole country. we're not going to stop the war until every citizen lace down its arms. they are trying to agree on laift of who is a terrorist and who is not. only when you have this list you will be able to implement a ceasefire on the ground. there is consensus in the

international community that i.s.i.l. are terrorists that the al-qaeda linked al-nusra front are terrorists, but sp opposition believes that some of the groups russia is targeting is a legitimate opposition. they are ready to come up with this list for the u.s. and you heard the syrian president say that everyone carrying a gun is going to be considered a terrorist organization. in the end there is a line between them but at the end of the day one of them is russia wants to preserve what is left of the army, wants to create one army but the iranian government has been pushing for the creation of militia. so there are some tactical difference there, but undoubtedly there is a strategic alliance. staffan de mistura said the idea of getting all the significantly interested parties back to the peace talks in geneva at the end of this month looking highly

unlikely. he is being realistic about that. we're being told we still have a peace process in play. >> reporter: yes. staffan de mistura had said february 25 as at the time date for the resumption of peace talks but both parties hardening their position on the ground. they think that the advances are aimed at weakening the opposition, silencing them and they will have to attend talks not from a position of strength, now the suffering of the people to be alleviated, they reached 80,000 people, but half a million people live in besieged areas. the u.n. trying to work to reach all those areas and talking about the possibility of air drops. yes there is an agreement for the government for air drops to happen, but for air drops to happen you will need approval of the syrian government.

it is a very can complicated operation, but the u.n. saying that at least they are trying to push on the humanitarian front in the absence of any political talks thank you. israeli police say a palestinian man has been shot dead in occupied east jerusalem. he is accused of stabbing two israelis. provisional results show uganda's president is ahead in the presidential elections. museveni has 62% of votes. >> reporter: all over the capital people came early to vote. across the country polling in most stations proceeded peacefully. opposition leader and his supporters took journalists to a house which they said was a vote rigging center. >> the kind of activity we've

seen around here, right now we've seen bol on the boxes being thrown over the fence. >> reporter: when they knocked on the gate some people inside jumped over the back fence. they were faug and found to be carrying arms. the officer here told us it was a private home but police later said his access was barred because it was a crime intelligence facility. he was detained and taken to his home for the third time this week. the ruling party says he was trying to prevent police and cause disruptions. meanwhile the incumbent president has been in power for 30 years and wants five more. he voted in his home area. >> there will be no violence. if anybody trials to do this, put it away.

>> reporter: back at this polling station opposition agents say they were thrown out by police for complaining about names being added to the voters register. the agents from the ruling nr m party said the police were keeping order. >> it is basically the nr m that is calling the shots. it is nr m throwing out our agen agents. >> reporter: many polling stations in and around the city, polling materials arrived six or month hours late. at at at least three locations tear gas was fired. it was fired here and the voting materials came seven hours late. nobody voted in the end.

the materials were not in order. >> reporter: in 15 stations polling will happen friday instead. as people wait for the results, many opposition supporters are sceptical about the polls india's supreme court has referred the case of the student leader kumal back to a lower court. his trial is scheduled for 2 march. he was arrested on charges of sedition. since then protesters have been out on the street accusing the government of restricting free speech. >> reporter: the supreme court refused to hear the bail plea saying it could perhaps set a bad example or send a message saying that the lower courts were incapable. they say that lawyers should have followed protocol and gone to the high courts instead. his lawyers said that they had approached the supreme court due to what they're calling

extraordinarily hostile circumstances. they're referring to events at the court premises on monday and wednesday, both times when his bail plea was to be heard. both times there was violence outside the court premises where a group of lawyers attacked journalists, even kumar's lawyers and even kumar himself was attacked from the time he stepped out the police car and walked into court. his lawyers say that they fear for his life and he should be let out on bail. thousands of people took to the streets calling for his release. they say this is a sign of growing intolerance from the government of descent and debate in the country. he was arrested last week for holding an event at his university campus in which anti indian slogans were used still to come the u.n. says violence at a camp for displaced people in south sudan is a war

crime. things get a little hairy in australia as tumble weed clogs up a town.

welcome back. top stories so far today. officials from america, russia and several other countries are in geneva to discuss a possibly ceasefire in syria as agreed in munich a week ago. u.n. plans humanitarian aid air drops to a syrian city. the polls have opened in some areas in uganda a day later than scheduled.

ballots were not delivered to this station on thursday. provisional results show uganda's president museveni is ahead. indian supreme court has referred the matter of kumar to a lower court e.u. leaders meeting in brussels for a second day of an e.u. summit today. britain is bargaining for concession of states. a deal to keep britain within the e.u. won't be easy. the u.k. prime minister david cameron has promised a referendum in the u.k. this year or early next year on whether to stay inside the e.u. >> reporter: the president of the european council said some progress had been made during theets very, very long hours of negotiations, but a lot more needs to be done. he along with the european

commission president and david cameron the british prime minister taking part in a series of bilateral meetings with the french president, the belgium prime minister and the czech prime minister. he is the leader of a group of eastern block countries which have been very resistant to some measures put forward by david cameron specifically on proposed cuts to pie grant pifts. david cameron, of course, wants to go home with a deal he feels that he can paracel to the british public. he wants to stay in europe so he wants to get the british public on side before that planned referendum. another issue was being discussed here earlier at a working dinner, that of migration. turkey, the turkish prime minister was expected to attend this summit, but was unable to do so because of what happened in ankara just a few days ago. turkey, though, will be involved in a meeting at the beginning of march crowds have protested

outside the police headquarters in cairo after an officer shot and killed a taxi driver. egypt's terror ministry says the officer fired the bullet by mistake. the u.n. says fighting in one camp for displaced people in south sudan may constitute a war crime. 18 people have been killed including two members of doctors without borders. >> reporter: this is one of eight u.n. bases in south sudan meant to provide a safe haven for displaced people since the conflict began in 2013. but an outbreak of violence between rival groups has left at least 18 people dead and more than 40 people injured, including two staff members of doctors without borders. >> it started between two groups

of youths. we had the u.n. police coming on site and disbursed the crowds with tear gas. >> reporter: the clashes continued in thursday >> it involved machetes, small arms and was very soon controlled. however, the situation remained very tense and volatile. >> reporter: over 47,000 people live inside this base with 6,000 u.n. peacekeepers deployed solely to protect the civilians. >> i have to remind all the warring parties that the u.n. installations and assets are to be respected. and committing an attack against the u.n. may constitute as a war crime >> reporter: both the government and rebel sides have been accused of carrying out ethnic massacres. more than 2.8 million people are

in need of aid in the world's newest country. in 2011 a political rift between the president and his deputy sparked violence among ethnic lines. tens of thousands of people were killed and over 2 million forced from their homes. a peace deal was reached six months ago and earlier this month hopes were raised when the vice president was reappointed. with him to return to take up the post, there is doubt whether any real efforts will be made to implement the fragile peace deal between the two sides the ruling party in south africa, the anc, is marching against racism in the capital. demonstrator s are demanding government action after several racist incidents

why is the current legislation not enough? >> reporter: so far what we've seen from the current legislation is we do have a number of - we have an accord as well as human rights commission that looks at dealing with issues of discrimination. because of these recent incidents of racism with regard to naming on social media, the ruling party says it isn't enough and it hasn't been an adequate - it isn't adequate to deal with eradicating racism in the country. they want to implement legislation that deals specifically with legislation that criminalises the act and looks at penalties around that. wefr also speaking to one of the demonstrators we have here, this march going from the center to the seat of the union builds.

we are joined by a man telling us why he is here today. you made the effort to come out. why is this march important to you? >> it is very important to me because they're sending a clear message to a few individuals who are against us democrat. >> reporter: i imagine that you think not enough has been done to unify the country >> yes. i think we are getting there. we have to remind ourselves we are one country. when we started in 1994 we wanted to be a united country. we tried but we have not. >> reporter: do you think this march will have an impact in

terms of reconciling the country? >> i think people will take note of this march because it is a clear message to them, that this country belongs to all the people here. >> reporter: do you think one of the issues is that reconciliation may have been one sided at this point? >> no. i think it is not because when discussing issues, we take everyone along. we took everyone on board. everyone is important to be taken into consideration. >> reporter: thank you very much for your time. we spoke to one of the demonstrators at this march. they say this is a national demonstration. they've called all south africans to come together to make a stands against racism.

to to to the u.s. where donald trump is changing his response to the pope's criticism of him. he suggested mr trump is not a christian because of his proposed of policy on immigration into the united states. trump first called the comments disgraceful and later said he had great respect for the pope who has probably only heard one side of the story. in recent months he has also been condemned for comments he made about muslims and foreigners. a new report found that rhetoric is fuelling a rise in extremist groups in the u.s. >> reporter: the report calls 2015 a year of enormous rage. across the u.s. protests over the confederate flag, police killings and terror attacks all fuelled what some say is the

first rise in the number of hate groups for five years. the group which monitors xhem extremist activities. tensions over immigration. and the rise of the black lives matter movement. they also single out donald trump for statements they say have enhanced the right. >> they're sending us not the right people. it's coming from all over south and latin america and it is coming probably, probably from the middle east. >> reporter: a professor who studies citizenship law and immigration says many groups have become emboldened by the current environment >> people that used to meet in a basement and on internet are taking over national wildlife

preserves, they are now shooting people in churches, they are now shamelessly entering the public space. >> reporter: krit yiks say the organization tends to paint with far too broad brush labelling some organizations as hate groups when they simply hold conservative opinions. as the election grows closer, it is clear the public is divided on which direction this country should take. nevertheless, the rise on extremism is a worrying trend. as a nation it remainder polarized but hate is a concern. whether that remains once the elections are over remains to be seen many venezuelans are doubtful their president's new economic policy will have any effects. the announcement of petrol which is going up for the first time in 20 years. >> reporter: the streets here

were unregulated fruit paracelers like these offer a reliable and cheap supplies of food. this woman fears that as petrol prices rise, so with all cost associated, like transporting these goods. >> translation: it was a fair and necessary increase, but the cost of living is going to skyrocket. we will have to work more in order to survive. >> reporter: the president did on wednesday what very few have done. faced with one of the worst performing economies in the world, he had no option but to raise the price of petrol. >> translation: we're installing a new system to charge for petrol. we will charge for it because at

the moment we are paying to pump it into cars. >> reporter: the president was referring to fuel subsidies so high they don't even cover the cost of production. for the first time in 20 years the government has decided to raise the price of petrol. it will now cost 6000% more to fill up a tank. it might seem insufficient, this the measure will have a huge impact on the life of the people here. for analysts the measures help but not tremendously. they could potentially back fire. >> translation: the losses from controlling the price of petrol are more than 10 billion dollars which make a brutal difference for venezuelan. this adjustment will increase the price of everything, but it will also ease the pressure. >> reporter: more than 25 years ago similar measures spurred a wave of protests that lasted days and reportedly left thousands dead. fear of a repeat of that

violence has weighed heavily on leaders over the years, but with the economy on the brink of collapse, it is a risk that this town the president could not avoid a town in australia has been overrun by tumble weed called hairy panic. this is third rail. i'm adam may this here is presidential politics like we have never seen before. as a rising tide of voter swamped the political elites that like to think they make the rules >> these a