i like that. keep it right here live on al jazeera. he. >> this is a moavment of truth.d of talks in geneva to try to end the conflict in syria. hello there i'm julie mcdonald, this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up. refugees stranded in greece wade a flowing river in a desperate attempt to reach macedonia. an al qaeda group says it carried out the attack on the ivory coast. we are in hong kong where conservationists are trying to

saver a special treat from extinction. hello there good to have your company. talks at in jeefn geneva, facina turning point, the only alternative, to fall back to conflict in syria. the syrian government has disagreed to attend but the post of yrches if the i syrian presip for discussion. doesn't want president bashar al-assad to be part of that, russia on the other hand wants ethnic kurds included in the talks but haven't been invited. i.s.i.l. and the armed group el news are rah front have been

secluded. staffan de mistura says there was only way forward. our diplomatic editor james bays has the story. >> back at the u.n. in geneva for the latest round of-y talks. this was the government delegation led by chief negotiator and u.n. ambassador bashar al jane arraf. jaffray. but staffan de mistura said no plan b for syria. says he plans to move quickly to issues of substance. >> the mother of all issues, political transition. >> ambassador jaafrrey says the

role of bashar al-assad is nonnegotiable. the framework is very important to achieve substantive success. >> reporter: the main opposition block will pete mr. de mistura on tuesday. a clear change meaning the removal of president assad but their spokesman admits the other side is never likely to accept that. >> we know the mentality we're dealing with because it is not only a suffer of five years, it is a suffer of 42 years in the role of assad the father and then the son. >> getting these talks restarted was hard enough. but now, they must deal with the most difficult core issues. james bays, al jazeera at the united nations in geneva. tuesday marks five years since the syrian conflict began with peaceful protests against the government.

opponents of the assad regime said they had no choice but to take up arms against fierce crack down. al jazeera's zeina khodr met one of the protesters against regime. >> reporter: this is how the war began. syrians demanded freedom. they demanded reform and they did so by holding peaceful protests. abdalla was one of the ones who took to the streets, in the hopes of a better future. five years later, he speaks to us from behind one of the many front lines that has divided his country. >> i joined the resolution because we were living under oppression for years. for example we used to see people getting arrested for no reason and never leave prison. when protests began i was university student. at the start it was peaceful, we asked for end to emergency law but they responded with violence. we started to ask for the fall

of the regime. there was no violence and we forced with no choice but to carry on. >> reporter: it didn't take long before peaceful protests disappeared, the bombardment was about silencing the voice of the opposition. abdalla like many other syrians found himself under fire and a popular uprising descending into an all out civil war. abdalla says their goal has's been to achieve freedom and democracy. a middle of a complex war that is not only sectarian but has drawn in regional and world powers. >> we didn't expect the struggle to last five years. we didn't expect all this bloodshed. we didn't expect the whole world to stand against us. we didn't think we would reach the point we are today: a

divided syria. we took to the streets for a free syria. it was a great feeling, we said what we wanted to say, and we felt free. >> reporter: a partial ceasefire that reduced the violence allowed them to return to the streets. these demonstrations in rebel-held areas were a reminder of the world of the popular uprising that began in 2011. the slogans and the chants were messages that said there is still an opposition that refuses to reconcile with the government. zeina khodr, al jazeera. >> turkey's about the has vowed to crack down on what he calls terrorism after sunday's bombing iin ankara. recep tayyip erdogan, explained, more than 100 other people were also injured. state media is reportin reporti.

mohammed jamjoom sends us this report in ankara. >> reporter: there's still a sense of shock from the residents, a palpable worry that we've been perceiving all day. people have tried to come to terms with this very frightening new reality that they have been faced with in the past six months. this isn't just the second bomb attack that has targeted ankara in less than a month. it is the third attack to target ankara in six months. in october there was an attack. in february there was an attack. last night there was an attack. and at a time when the government has repeatedly said, they are pulling out all the stops to protect the citizens of this country. heightened security measures, stepped up security checks ought across the country. the facts that these attacks

have happened in the heart of the capital at this time, really raising fears. one woman we spoke with a bit earlier she was with her family. and she said to us that this has happened so many times now that she's surprised that they weren't dead, have seen forensic teams here throughout the day and cleanup crews. we have heard from some officials today, one telling us earlier, that they were looking into the possibility that a female suicide bomber may have been involved in this attack and this suspect is linked to the pkk. we have also seen that the government has conducted raids against pkk targets inside the country but also air raids by turkish war planes targeting 18 encampments. keep conducting these raids, keep arresting suspects they say

are affiliated with the pkk and step up their security efforts and their raids throughout this country. >> ettes been an emergency cabinet and security meeting in ivory coast after sunday's armed attack on the holiday attack on grand bassam. an african affiliate known as al qaeda in the islamic maghreb is claiming be responsibility. moments later an attacker carrying a machine gun. the town is a unesco world heritage sight about 30 kilometers from the commercial center. s. nicholas haque is on the scene >> reporter: there's a flag there. security officers are trying to

protect this spot. this is where they sprayed bullets right across here. midday on sunday there were so many people sun-bathing here and they all fled inside the total. come with mhotel. come with me here. they tried ofind a safe spot. this is when the ivoryian officials tried to secure. these resorts here on the coast are very popular with french ex patriots living here on i'veary coast. >> refugees desperately to crows the border from greece into macedonia are evading authorities and wading across the border. crossed the river at the town of chamilo about 300 meters from

the macedonian border. authorities refused to stop and found a break in the border fence. macedonian police say they are taking steps to return several hundred who have achieved their territory. mohammad adow is there. hi there mohammed. >> reporter: julie, the refugees here are desperate and their desperation have been made worse by the closed border. for about six days or so, the trickle of refugees who used to be allowed to grow through the border was stopped and the border became closed virtually to everyone here. 13,000 people are stranded in this camp alone and today around midday, hundreds of them took matters into their own hands and left the camp, walking along the

felons that has kept them away from the border looking for a way in at the greek village of hamilo, they are said to have crossed the river that is there. there are dozens of young men who have formed a cane, a human chain, helping the young women with children, and the elderly across the first moving river before they made their entry into macedonia at the village of moy where they were all arrested by macedonian police and the military carried them away in trucks. macedonian military have confirmed that 400 to 500 refugees have bridged their border and they are now being

held. we don't know what they're going to do with them but macedonian authorities have been known to return to idomini, people who have crossed their borders but no, sir so many people as they have now. the activists have been there helping refugees and at some point over last night had distributed leaf lets wherlets o take an alternative route. >> mohammed are there plans to make alternative accommodation from people who are currently in idomeni? what are going to happen to the people in idomeni if that's what happens to them? >> reporter: well, it's a difficult question one the greek authorities are trying to deem with. they have trie -- to deal with.

they have tried to establish camps in the capital athens and other places across greece. they say the place is not warm enough for them, they should go to other places now that the border has been closed. so far only about 800 have heeded the authorities call. the ones staying here with the hope that the border might reopen for them. i mean, there is no other solution, other than taking the people out of here. but the greek authorities say they don't want to do that forcefully. now, the refugees themselves are saying, they have come all the way from their homes. they are headed from other places, they don't want to stay in greece and that is where the problem lies. most of them are headed to

germany. >> mohammad adow live in idomeny, mohammed, thank you. still ahead on al jazeera, as more palestinians are killed after opening fire on israelis, women and children are being drawn into the worsening violence. the joint russian and eu efforts to find life on the red planet. planet.

>> quick reminder of our top stories here on al jazeera. the u.n. special envoy for syria has described the latest rounds

of talk in geneva as a moment of truth. staffan de mistura hopes all peartle will agreparties will ap to truce. and refugees cross a river in macedonia. in west bank, three palestinians have been shot dead. the settlement near hebron. after a car was rammed into an army vehicle injuring two people inside. well the latest fatalities are part of a current wave of violence which has escalated since october last year and left 199 palestinians and 28 israelis

dead. and increasingly children are becoming involved with some even as young as 12 being accused of attack. nadim baba has the story. >> reporter: they might look carefree but these palestinian young sisters have been used to seeing voyages on a daily basis. refugee camp in bethlehem, i was just ten meters away when they shot him, says 14-year-old hasan. then the soldiers ran towards us. we ran away and they shot two other boys in the leg. of the roughly 200 palestinians killed, almost a quarter have been under 18. this shows ahmed after his arrest. he carried out a stabbing attack in east jerusalem along with his 15-year-old cousin hasan who was shot dead.

14-year-old dima was arrested for allegedly carrying a knife. she's currently serving a four and a half month sentence in an israeli adult jail. her family have no direct contact with her. >> translator: they withdrew her father's work permit and imposed a huge fine upon us. we miss her, it's very different in the house now. >> for dima's family this is clearly a difficult time. in age 12 she is the youngest palestinian in annal israeli jail. upsurge in violence began last october. for this organization for palestinian rights it's part of a disturbing cycle of events. >> israeli force he are allowed to use live ammunition during

protests which will increase the mill tried zone in which these children are growing up in. so children are forced to pass through checkpoints, forced to interact with settlers, soldiers all the time including their daily life. >> reporter: dima's brothers and sisters are looking forward to having her home again but it's hard to say what the long term effects will be on her and her family. nadim baba, al jazeera, occupied west bank. smelly garbage which accumulated across the country in h lebanon when a landfill closed in july. the government has promised to create three more landfills. imtiaz tyab haws th has the stom beirut. >> lebanon's now eight month old rubbish crisis, everywhere you look in the country it seems

like this. piles, mountains of trash literally everywhere on the sides of roads, in forested areas, near rivers, and the like. it really is something that blights not only here in the capital beirut but really many areas across the country. now this promise by the lebanese government to reopen a landfill that was closed eight months ago, which really started this crisis, really hasn't gone down with a lot of lebanese. the proposition to close the old site and open up two new ones doesn't solve the intarve subste problem. many people saying they are going to continue their protest until a permanent solution is put in place. >> translator: the government doesn't want us to protest and we don't want to have to always be on the streets demonstrating but the situation is so bad!

everyone knows lebanon as green lebanon not garbage lebanon. >> translator: the government hasn't given us a real solution. they need a modern solution to this problem. many countries benefit from the garbage, they develop it, recycle it. why not us? >> reporter: until that permanent solution by the government that so many people here want, is outlined or is made, we're still going to see this. rubbish being tossed on the sides of the street. and although those landfills have been promised to either be reopened or new ones created there are other concerns here. in fact, lebanese health officials say they have seen a sharp increase in respiratory and gas tro gastrointense tinl .

gastrointestinal problems. >> despite heavy losses in regional elections, be angela merkel promises to continue on. sunday's poll has been widely regarded as a referendum on merkel's approach to the migrant crisis. here is dominic cain. >> reporter: monday morning and people are enjoying the late winter sunshine. outwardly life is going on as normal but politically the landscape has shifted. now nearly 1 in 4 people in this state supports the right wing anti-refugee party rfd. >> translator: i have voted afd because i don't agree with the policies of the chancellor. she must learn first and foremost to think of her own

people. >> german journalists say her stance is costing her and her coalition partners votes. but she says her refugee policy will not change. >> translator: it was a hard day for us. the refugee policy was the defining theme for the local elections because people still feel there's no viable solution to it. it impacted on everything. we're working on a solution but we're thought there yet. >> reporter: no such doubts for the rfd. they see sun's results as a vindication. >> germany and greece are the only two countries in europe that have still not realized what the other 26 countries want, if necessary, national borders, again to achieve that we can help asylum seekers, real asylum seekers and refugees but keep out migrants in the first

place. to treat migration we need migration laws. we don't have migration hegemony. >> the road ahead is rocky. none of the other main parties will work with them and the majority of voters do not support them. >> translator: that the afd has performed too well i'm not happy about because they are too far to the right. >> in the last lad slide the christian democrats ruled this state in a grand coalition with the social democrats. what it means for federal coalition nationally is another question. dominic cain, al jazeera in zaxan anheld. >> on strike over unpaid wages and fears of massive layoffs. they demonstrated demanding

their employer make good on six months of outstanding wages. china is trying to do with an overcapacity in its industrial and mining sectors. there were reports of minor skirmishes with some being arrested. 150 protesters have mandatory in hanoi. they chanted down with invasive china and laid wreaths for the 168 sailors killed 28 years ago. the group was protesting against china's recent assertiveness. long standing dispute over the spratley and pair sol islands. pair asopairparasol be islands

islands. tretarek baz li baile baiz . shed light on how mars atmosphere was depleted by solar winds. the big question whether there's life on the planet remains unanswered. that's why the european and russian space agencies are sending the xo bar's to mars. >> methane is a hot topic so trying to understand the origin of the methane and where on the

surface of mars and when it's being produced and how it is destroyed is very important. >> water in a liquid form has been seen on the planet surface before but it's not known how much it exists nor whether this forms into lakes under its surface. >> we need to understand more as well what is the water issue with depth. if you want to land people on there they're going to need drinking water and you don't want to carry it with you. >> the xo mars lander will have an opportunity to test its landing technology particularity in dusty conditions before a planned rover is sent to mars in 2018. expected in the next two years the flood of new data will tell us more about the red planet and its role in the formation of our

solar system. tarek bazley, al jazeera. >> you can find out much more on our website, the address can aljazeera.com. video demand comment and analysis right there. >> candidates crisscross the country ahead of tomorrow's big winner take all contest. >> the only plan b available is return to war. >> the governmenta government an arrive for another round of talks to end syria's war. a powerful car bomb in turkey kills more than three dozen people. now the government is going after those who are responsible. and officials i