>> making its first air drop in we seniored syrian towns. you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program, iran prepares to go to the polls for its first elections since agreeing a nuclear treaty. kuwait becomes the latest country to ban its citizens from traveling to lebanon. and calling ahead of the future the material which could revolutionize.

>> hello, welcome to the program. the u.n. says it's dropped its biggest air drop of aid. trucks are unable to reach the town last week because it was surrounded by isil territory. but moscow confirming it started negotiations with rebel groups in the country. meanwhile, the british government said that there is evidence that the syrian kurdish fighters, the ypg, are coordinating with the syrian government and russian air force. the group had previously been helped to push isil forces out of territory in northern syria. our diplomatic editor james bays with the latest developments. >> as a meeting of the u.n. security council to discuss the humanitarian situation in syria, there was stinging criticism of

the syrian government for delaying and blocking aid to we seened areas. from the u.n.'s humanitarian chief stephen o'brien. they said they were putting bureaucratic obstacles in the way. there was a rare bit of good news about the town in syria. >> earlier this morning a plane dropped the first cargo of 21 tons of items. we have received initial reports from the team on the ground that pallets have landed in the target area as planned. >> the main reason for these aid deliveries, of course, is to help the desperate people in those we seened areas in syria. but it is also worth noting this was part of a plan drawn up in munich earlier on this month to try and get the peace talks in geneva back on track. those peace talks collapsed earlier this month. the other part of the plan is

the asses cessation of hostilities due on saturday. in order to support that the u.n. security council, i'm told, may welcome up with a resolution, this could possibly be passed on friday just hours before that cessation is due to start. >> james bays reporting there. well, russia's cease-fire negotiations are being held with rebel groups in five syrian provinces. the russian and syrian president has spoken on the phone about the deal. the kremlin con simplied that his government is ready to assist with the planned cessation. we have the latest now from moscow. >> it has been a very busy day of telephone diplomacy for vladimir putin. first of all, he spoke with president bashar al-assad. remember a few days ago assad said that he wanted to carry on fighting in syria to retake the whole country. russia was forced to tell him to

shut up. it does seem now that bashar al-assad, at least on paper, is pledging commit to the u.s.-russian brokered cease-fire. after that they spoke with the saudi arabian king, president rouhani, this all seems to be to the united states and the middle east region that russia is a power broker and a force to be reckoned with. you get a real sense of cautious optimism coming out of the kremlin right now. i think they believe that they're on the cusp of achieving two of their main goals. the first one, of course, is to shore up president bashar al-assad and prevent him from some chaotic collapse. but the second goal was to convince the united states that russia is essentially an equal partner and needs to be treated with due respect in the middle east.

>> well, as we mentioned there have been claims that the wpg, the syrian kurdish fighters have been acting in coordination with the assad government and with russia. the group has gained ground in several areas in syria with the support of the u.s. that has put a strain on european alliances. paul brennan reports. >> reporter: syria's complex civil war has become even more complicated by the presence of isil. both in syria and iraq. leaving international backers fighting on multiple fronts. the british foreign secretary has been briefing the u.k. parliament. there was praise for the extraordinary resilience of kurdish peshmerga fight necessary iraq. syria, he said, is different. >> what we have seen over the last weeks is very disturbing evidence of coordination between syrian kurdish forces, the syrian regime and the russian

air force, which is making us distinctly unhe said about the kurds' role in all this. >> the syrian kurds, the ypg, an affiliate of the pkk which turkey and britain regard as a terrorist group. the u.s. support of the ypg is deeply problematic. but a former kurdish leader said that the syrian kurds' loyalty to the west is consistent. >> man >> onalitys said coordination between assad forces and the ypg course only when both sides are fighting their common enemy, which is isil. the relationship emphasizes the complex proxy war being fought in syria.

>> you have multiple actors and multiple external actors trying to coordinate with partners on the ground effective proxy forces. >> the cessation of hostilities expected this week could scarcely be more fragile. paul brennan, al jazeera. >> it's the final day of campaigning ahead of elections in iran. the first election since the deal over the country's nuclear program. there are two elections. one for parliament and in the parliamentary election. the remain reformest group is led by th by on the other side

a speaker whose daughter is married to one of the supreme leaders son. the assembly is seen as more important as they will choose the next leader. >> basically described as a breakthrough for iran because of the sanctions left, but we haven't seen the effects of the lifting of sanctions yet. so whether or not people would sway to the reformists or not isn't clear. but one thing is clear, all the campaigners are desperately trying to get people out to

vote. because these are the parliament try and the assembly of expert elections not the presidential elections the 72% turn out when president rouhani was elected. of course, this is a litmus test of his popularity. >> to qatar, the latest country to ban their citizens from lebanon. it's all part of an escalating row between saudi arabia and lebanon and they have urged their citizens to leave the country. last week saudi arabia decided to withdraw $4 billion worth of military aid to beirut. it accuses lebanon of of not supporting enough against the regional rival of iran. the warnings comes despite intens inintense support.

>> it really breaks down along political lines. you have saudi arabia reconsidering its decision. not just recalling citizens from lebanon, or urging them not to travel here, but also to get saudi arabia to reconsider its decision to no longer fund the lebanese arms deal. then you have politicians aligned with hezbollah who have continued to support iran and continue to support hezbollah. and have been critical of what the saudis are doing here in the last few days. when it comes to the average lebanese citizen, what you hear is a lot of frustration. this is something i've heard many times in the past covering lebanon as much as i have. a lot of citizens here feel like they're really caught. they say the government has come to a complete stand still. this country has gone without a

president, for example, for two years because of the political gridlock and a lot of that is due to the fact that the political process here is really tight on one end to iran and on another end to saudi arabia. it makes it very difficult to have governance going on here. a lot of citizens hear saying these are decisions where these countries are trying to pull these citizens from lebanon. these are decisions that will really have a bad affect economically on lebanon, which is a country whose economy is not doing well by any standards. they're concerned how the syrian civil war continues to spill over into lebanon. this will have an affect on lebanon in the months to come. they're hopin hoping that something can be resolved and they can have a more prosperous and secure country. something that they continue to call for. >> still more to come on al jazeera. including evidence that an european telecom giant sold surveillance commitment to a

secret branch of the egyptian government. and the freedom of expression is being eroded in south korea.

>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target. >> welcome back. here's a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. u.n. aid has finally been delivered to areas surrounded by isil-controlled territories. iran will vote for its next

parliamentary, who will choose the next supreme leader. south africans are braced for tax rises as the government tries to revive the economy delivering the first budget of finances minister, they also promised to caught what they call wasteful spending. we have reports now from cape town. [singing] >> reporter: demonstrators demand a cap on an additional billion dollars in the budget will say that happens. but they students say primary and high school should get the same attention. >> we're not happy. >> so some of the budgets core

numbers were sobering. politicians and the public are di jesussing the news that economic growth is expected to slow to 0.9% due to the commodity slump and investors confidence is also low. south africa is facing the possibility of a sharp down grade that will make it very difficult for the government to borrow money. to address the shortfall, the government has announced taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, capital gains, fuel, and a new sugar tax. he also had some stern words. >> secondly, what should we stop doing? corruption and waste and bailing out state endtiety--entities. but some say he didn't go far enough. >> some of those he would need to have 100% of presidential and cabinet backing. clearly he did not, means there are political since. >> the universities had become political hot beds.

>> today's budget speech--having a degree does not mean a job in a country where half of young people are unemployed. >> it comes down to lack of skills or mismatch of skills. we don't have enough engineers. we don't have enough accountants. i feel like investing in human capital is never a bad investment. >> the extra money for universities may also take the heat out of student protest. another careful move by governing parties facing municipal election this is year. al jazeera, cape town, south africa. al jazeera has seen documents showing that an arm of the german tell comes giant siemens sold equipment to egyptian government. it could be used to spy on the

public. they have called for companies to come clean in their dealings with the egyptian government. >> this casts a new light on the government that the and the extent they've gone to protect themselves. documents show that the finished german multi national inspection. >> they're always looking for the next new technology that is high tech. up-to-date technologies to conduct surveillance. so of course from the perspective of western companies that are trying to sell new

products, this is obviously customer. >> for sale the surveillance they've enabled date back to 2011 when hosni mubarak was ousted as president suggesting they weren't only facilitated to help clamp down on dissent after the arab spring. but it does appear all the technology has proved useful to the current government. this audio clip lifted from an audio phone call between mohammed morsecy and a close friend in which they discuss what to do while the hundreds of protesters were killed by egypt's security services in 2013. the clip was played on egyptian television. they were arrested and jailed. they're convinced this technology helped to portray them and thousands of others as traitors. >> they try to go into their phones and take personal information. now it becomes--like for many

activists now who are in egypt and trying to work in the field of human rights, for example, or work in the fields of trying to--any civil society actions. they have to take extreme security precautions because they know there is surveillance. >> this revelation comes after an italian surveillance company called "hacking team" was itself hacked and thousands of documents put in the public domain. hacking team had been selling the egyptian government malware to allow security teams to control people's electronic devices. no european company ask ex-support this to egypt without permission of their governments. a group of european politicians will call on germany and italy to explain why they think these sales to egypt were appropriate. >> we have responsibility for our own companies here in europe. and those companies themselves are responsible to the united

nations upper i have to say in this instance it's very clear to me that those guidelines are being breached, and these exports are wrong. >> hacking team pointed out that the sales are legal, and that western governments sell warplanes and missiles to egypt and claim that the surveillance equipment could help the west's fight against terrorism. siemen sold a subsidiary in 2014 and could not comment. al jazeera. >> authorities in fiji are struggling to reach isolated communities after the pacific island nation was hit by a record-breaking cyclone. the death toll stands at 42, but it is expected to rise. some villages have hardly any buildings left standing. al jazeera was the first tv crow to reached the area.

>> many aren't waiting for the soldiers and gun their own temporary repairs. but in a place where no one is insured there is a common plea. >> i need help from the government. so i can rebuild my house and start my life again with my family. >> this island is one of the fiji's prettiest. this gives some idea of the winds and pounding waves. it looks different now. every building has holes.

some without roofs. it's the smaller villages that look the worst. shattered after the tournament that hit ovolau. >> six solid hours. >> in the recommend man remnants 40 people were sheltering in the community, that yellow building behind me. when it's roof ripped off they ran to the only building left standing, the church. look at what happened to it. all but one ran out before it collapsed. the 72-year-old lady who couldn't was bu was buried

70 meters from where she died. many are without hopes are now sleeping in schools. schools won't be schools here for weeks or months. hundreds from evacuated out, and no one has any idea when they nor a normal life will return. >> south korea's president prepares for the third anniversary of her inauguration on thursday, crickets have held protests in downtown seoul. they're unhappy with the president and his stands on freedom of expression. >> in front of landmarks, a ghostly gathering. this hollow graphic protest, or

as it's organizers put it in commission papers, cultura cull evencultural event. >> the protests have continuously retreated in south korea. the situation is getting worse. people can't even chant a slogan on the street. so through this hologram protest we wanted to call for the guarantee of freedom of peaceful assembly and protest. >> freedom of expression has suffered in the three years since conservative president park came to office. >> the reason why they chose this location is because the location on route to the presidential house has been off limits. the bus blockades used to insure

that last november. dozens were injured. one man knocked down by a waterjet remains in a coma. but critics point to subtle measures. they were ordered by the police to remove the work critical of the president with a warning of defamation law. the police maintain they're minimizing inconvenience and safety the government says strict security laws are needed for countries technically at war with north korea. but internal division are shop on the same day of the hologram protest opposition lawmakers continue the filibuster effort to talk out the government's anti-terror bill that they say would give too much power to the intelligence service.

there are plenty more real planning to haunt the president for the next two years of her administration. harry fawcett, al jazeera, seoul. >> the look of mobile phones have changed dramatically with devices relying on the use of new materials and technologies. but one material more than any other will reshape the next generation of phones. from barcelona we have this report. >> 200 times stronger than steel but invisible to the eye. a carbon atoms that conduct electricity and it is cheap alternative to silicon and metal-based electronics. >> at the same time it is strong, flexible and a conductor. the combination of properties is difficult to find in any other

material. and the electrical conduction is often used as a building block for many of the applications. >> the european union spending $1.2 billion over ten years on research into graphine. a clear sign of its enormous potential. it was heralded as a wonder material when first discovered something that would transform electronics, the way we build cars, and even our clothes. but it's difficult to mass produce its quality. which is one reason why cell phone manufacturers have been slow to adopt this material in their devices. but that may soon change. >> whether it's used in gloves or film, experimental applications for the material is being demonstrated, and phone makers are interested. some are doing their own research. but the man who won a nobel prize for fining graphine said there are a host of other

materials that offer even grater promise. >> what we prefer to talk about is the family of graphine alone. and collectively they hold much more power than only graphine. where graphine can only do something, there are other materials that can counter that. the future really is in the collective usage of those materials in combination. >> the next generation of electronics may be the focus here. but in the years ahead, these materials could see scientists completely reengineer our material world. al jazeera, at the mobile world congress in barcelona. >> if you use facebook you might like this. the social media network has finally succumbed to public demand and introduced a variety of new buttons to help you express yourself just that little bit better.

facebook's five new buttons, and they're love and angry, sad, ah and wow are described as emotions and they've been rolled out worldwide. more on the website. >> this week on talk to al jazeera--lawyer and executive director of the equal justice initiative, bryan stevenson. >> we have to stop telling the lies that we tell about who we are. we celebrate our history of slavery. we celebrate our era of terrorism. >> stevenson has spent his career fighting racism in the criminal justice system--the legacy of slavery and times of "racial terror" continue to impact the lives of african americans today. >> what we did to african americans between the end of