>> this is where gangs bury their members. >> they're tracking climate change. >> russia announces it's withdrawing its main force from syria as talks begin in geneva to end the five-year conflict. hello there i'm barbara serra. you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program a desperate attempt to reach macedonia. refugees and their children wade through a flowing river to leave greece. emergency cabinet meeting after 18 die in ivory coast attack as new footage shows a man with a machine gun certified the hotel.

and the joint russian and eu effort to find life on the red planet. is hello, thanhello thank you f. russian ha announcement that will withdraw its main military force from syria. u.n. envoy staffan de mistura said all parties were facing a quote moment of truth. he said he would also like to see facia national elections wi8 months. the foreign minister says the post of syrian president is not up for discussion. main representative will be there but will only accept a transitional governing body and doesn't want bashar al-assad to be part of that.

russia wants ethnic kurds to be included in the talks but not invited. i.s.i.l. and el nusra front have also been secluded. staffan de mistura said only one way forward. our deployment editor, has been following things in geneva, james bays is joining us. russia has announced they are starting to withdraw their military force from syria. do we have a clear idea exactly what they mean? >> reporter: well, i think it is this the statement. i think the question is: what it actually means in terms of their support for the assad regime. in the hotel behind me, the syrian government delegation. led by the syrian ambassador for new york.

i think this is rather uncomfortable to him potentially because not only has the russian military involvement been a game change are it also gives them diplomatic mat might aat these s and the ambassador should be pretty pleased at the announcement coming from moscow, the announcement by president putin himself. this is what he said. >> translator: i believe that the goal set out to the ministry of defense and the armed forces has overall been fulfilled and that's why i ordered the minister of defense as of tomorrow to start the pullout of the main part of our force he from the syrian republic. >> reporter: you've got to remember that the russians in many ways have been the trump card for the syrian regime throughout the conflict. which is coming up to the five year anniversary. first, they were at the security

council they had that veto backed by china and they were able to support the assad regime whenever they needed to. and then the big game changer happened in september, of last year, while world leaders were gathering in new york for the u.n. general assembly. and that's when russia announced they were sending more forces to syria. they have changed the picture on the battlefield. certainly when they first intervened, president assad was on the back foot, losing ground, now certainly he has gained territory since then. what's not clear is with whether the idea is to pull out the forces now and lock in the gains at these diplomatic talks or whether there's a bigger change, whether perhaps russia for the first time is contemplating ditching president assad. >> obviously potentially a huge development and comes as talks are underway in geneva, that's

why you're there, the other talks had clatchessed, how are these talks going and have we had any reaction from the syrian regime? >> no reaction from the syrian government delegation coming out here. the only reaction we have is from the syrian national news agencies in damascus which says, it probably would say this anyway that this was a joint decision between the syrians and the russians. we do have some reaction from the opposition delegation, an opposition spokesman speaking to my colleagues from al jazeera who were at the other hotel where the opposition are based saying it's very early days on this news. they want to study this news. they say they are very wary of anything russia announces, wary of russia's motives and they will go to the committee and discuss among themselves and have a more formal response to

this news about the russian military pullout on tuesday. as you say barbara, this comes at the first day of the restart of the talks. let me give you a summary of what's happened so far. back at the u.n. in for the latest round of syria talks. this was the government delegation led by chief u.n. negotiator and ambassador bashar al jaffray. >> this is a moment of truth. >> he told reporters there is no plan b for syria. if these talks fail, there will be only more bloodshed. >> the mother of all issues, political transition. >> reporter: in the first meeting with the government delegation there was no sign they discussed that yet. ambassador jaffray has said it's

too early to discuss transition and the role of assad is nonnegotiable. when he spoke to reporters he spoke about procedural issues. >> in diplomas it's important to achieve success. the main opposition will meet mr. de mistura on thursday. 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 are dealing with because it's not only a suffer of five years. it is a suffer of 40, 42 years, in the role of al assad the father and then the son. >> reporter: getting these talks restarted was hard enough but now they must deal with the motion difficult core issues. james bays, al jazeera at the be

united nations in geneva. >> let's talk to lawrence lee, near the turkish border with syria. a lot of this has to be clarified lawrence but what could all of this mean on the ground? >> reporter: well barbara, i think it's -- to answer your question with a question if you don't mind, i think the main issue is, what exactly the russian announcement means. and in specifics, whether it means that their air campaign in syria is going to stop. that hasn't been clarified for them. and it is absolutely crucial as to what happens on the ground. now, as you would imagine, in syria, facebook and social media has been absolutely awash with the potential implications of this because, even since the cessation of hostilities, the russian air campaign, which is led obviously, the syrian regime

campaign, primarily up the west cost through homs and aleppo has been very successful in allowing the syrian regime to push on. and even since the cessation of hostilities there have been between 30 and 50 a lot of them receivables killed every day in things like russian air strikes. what people in syria want to know primarily is does this mean the russian air campaign is going to stop? and in terms of what president putin said in his statement that isn't absolutely clear. but to extrapolate given that you have to assume that the timing of this announcement coming as it does on the date of the geneva talks starting can't be a coincidence. what is russia sayings first of all to the west, secondly to the assad regime are they actually as james bays suggesting losing faith in the syrian government? are they saying that the syrian

government needs to be more malleable in these talks? or is it really true that russia has achieved its aims on the ground in terms of degrading el nusra and i.s.i.l, they are still moving in different direction is, particularly towards aleppo. so the russians can't say that they have achieved all their aims if their aim was to get rid entirely what they would describe as terrorist threats. so in terms i think it is very difficult yet to know specifically what the russian position is. and also, bear in mind that they can't -- the russians if they're trying to use this as a piece of leverage against washington in geneva, it's not as though they can say to washington look we're stopping fighting now you must too. because since the cessation of hostilities there haven't been american or european air strikes. if you take it at its most

optimistic it looks like the russian he want the war to stop. but in the context of not being clear what the specifics are of the russian withdrawal. >> huge question marks but huge development as well, potentially, lawrence lee, thank you. the united nations has just started holding a closed consultation on syria. the u.n. special envoy staffan de mistura will be talking via video link, from geneva about let's go to daniel lak at the united nations for us. daniel a lot of developments this side of the atlantic. what are you hearing over there? >> well, the briefing is taking place right now, closed briefing by video link from geneva where mr. de mistura is speaking, to the security council. the permanent representative of russia at the u.n. spoke to

journalists a bit briefly and we already had the preefg from brim president putin about the withdrawing of forces. what about russian air strikes, does that mean they will stop? he didn't say yes or no. he says there were still drone strikes going on so you need to ask other people as well. the most interesting thing he did when he was asked why is this happening now? he said because we are in political mode, we have a cessation of hostilities and we have received our marching orders, speaking of russia wants to pick up its diplomatic role, and that the fact that russian air strikes had degraded and destroyed infrastructure of terrorists, regarding el nusra and i.s.i.l, and talks going on

now, in in geneva, it was a good time to visitor a proposal from 2014 where russ and the syrian government worked against what he called terrorism. this could raise the question of a federal syria, that has been hovering around this process for a while but again this raises far more questions than it answers. we 98 know more when diplomats come out of the security council, i wouldn't count on it, clearly, a different game might be on the ground. >> daniel lak at the u.n. thank you. of course here at al jazeera we'll be following all developments on this story. we'll bring you analysis and the latest in the coming hours. also still to come on the program, funerals take place for the victims of a car bomb in ankara. turkey's president vows to crack down on terrorism. and on fire on israelis. how children are being drawn

into the wors worsening violenc. violence.

>> the only live national news show at 11:00 eastern. >> we start with breaking news. >> let's take a closer look. >> a reminder now of the top stories here on al jazeera. the russian president vladimir putin has ordered his troops to start pulling out of syria from tuesday. >> i believe that the goal set tout to the ministry of defense and the armed forces has overall been fulfilled and that's why i ordered the minister of defense as of tomorrow to start the

pullout of our military grouping from the syrian arab republic. talks resume in geneva and the white house meanwhile has said it's too early to tell what impact russia's withdrawal will have on the syrian peace process. >> we have talked about how russia's continued military intervention to prop up the assad regime made the efforts to reach a political transition or to make a political transition even more difficult. that as long as russia was aggressively weighing in militarily they were making it -- they were removing at least part of the incentive for the regime to even engage in those kinds of conversations. so i haven't seen the reports. so it's hard for me to assess at this point what sort of impact this will have on the talks. what kind of change this will bring about to that dynamic.

so we'll have to see exactly what russia's intentions are. >> let's try ofind out a little bit more what russia's intentions are. a russian analyst in moscow joins us by skype. thank you for joining us. any insight that you can give us about what the statement means, the forces in syria just explain to us what you see that to mean. >> well, the most important part of it is, it is being announced by the kremlin that russia will retain its bases in syria including the air base near latakia. if you have an air base you can always deploy combat aircraft or withdraw them. planes can fly back to russia, right now that would make practical military sense because after the ceasefire has begun

the number of sorties, have been decreasing. they can fly back to russia or back again. >> this statement doesn't necessarily mean an end of russian air strikes in syria? >> well, they have been cut down but not -- since we are going to retain the air base, and that is absolutely sure, that's official, we retain the air base. and that means some aircraft are going to stay. but the number of aircraft will be cut down. that's obvious. maybe something else will be cut down. but the entire airborne, this is the russian air force that is really in connection. so the main force of it is the air force. the air force is very flexible, you can move it in, move it out, just takes several hours to do so.

so this does not mean that russia is withdrawing from syria or abandoning the assad regime but it also means that russia is seeking a compromise. it is clear that vladimir putin is a caution man. he ran into a lot of -- cautious man, he ran into a lot of opposition, he will maybe withdraw his compromises, this is not -- russia is absolutely not ready right now to take on the west over syria. >> you've just mentioned that you don't read this as russia abandoning president assad, the assad regime. but do you have any question the timing of all of this? there are these talks starting again in geneva and this announcement so sudden as well, made monday fight and already by tuesday the withdrawal was meant to start. people will raise questions and perhaps see this is the sign of

russia's distancing itself from assad. >> it's a bit too early to make such conclusions. like i say these are combat air contrast, they can withdraw. what takes time is to establish the base, bring all the hardware, the actual tip of the spear, the combat aircraft, they flew in from russia and went on the bombing immediately. they can now withdraw to bases in russia and they can return if need be. so no, this is not russia abandoning assad and i believe it will soon announce the -- our ally assad had prewarning about that. so this is not a major change but yes, this is a sign that russia would want to find some kind of compromise and of course, this was made very sudden because it has a very

interesting and effective pr action. >> russian defense analyst speaking to us from bucharest, thank you sir interesting to get your view. >> thank you. turkey prime minister says he is almost certain that separatists are behind sunday's bombing in ankara. bombing targets in northern iraq. funerals are being held for some of the 37 victims. a car bomb exploded at a busy transport hub on saturday night. there has been strong indications rebels are behind the attack the prime minister says. >> translator: 11 people were detained. their network has been exposed. there are interesting connections in this sense. they are very serious an almost certain findings that point to a separatist terrorist organization, this will be revealed after the investigation is complete.

>> there's been an emergency cabinet and security meeting in ivory coast after sunday's armed attack on the holiday resort town, grand bassam. an african affiliate of al qaeda known as al qaeda in the islamic maghreb is claiming bt responsibility. a surveillance camera in the hotel shows an astacker carrying a machine gun. unesco site. nicholas haque reports. >> attackers came from my right to the left, they attacked two other hotels before entering this one, 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 hotel. come with me here. they all fled inside the hotel to try ofind a spot, a save spot, this is when the ivorian forces came in. the al qaeda in the islamic maghreb claimed responsibility for the aarticulate. 500 french soldiers here and these resorts here on the coast are very popular with french ex-patriots living here in ivory coast. refugees are evading authorities and wading through a river in macedonia. around 300 refugees including dozens of children have left the idomeny border camp in greece, about 300 kilometers from the

macedonian border. found a break in the boarder fence. mohammad adow is in ido administrationeni greece sent us this update. >> they are desperate and eager to continue their journey north wards to more european countries and about midday today, about a thousand to 11500 of the refugees took matters into their own lands, marched along the fence that has been holding them back looking for a place to pass to get into macedonia. there were dramatic scenes close to the village which is not far from the macedonian greek border where young men formed ahuman ring trying to help the young as well as the elderly and women carrying children cross the

first moving river that has been set with by the torrential rainfall that has been continuing for the past few days. now the macedonian police have confirmed that they are holding 400 of the refugees who bridged their border. they are also confirming that the first group that tried to within the first group that tried ocross the river, there were about 3 afghani refugees who died, missing, say four of them are in hospital right now recovering after they were saved from drowning. now, charity workers here are saying that of immediate concern to them, about 2,000 refugees were going to spend the night in the cold. they have no tents. they have no shelter. and they are with children. and people who are sick. and they are going to be spending the night in the open.

>> in the west bank three palestinians have been shot dead in two separate incidents. the israeli army said two palestinians were killed at a bus stop after they opened fire at the jewish settlement near hebron. a third was shot dead after a car was rammed into an army vehicle injuring two people inside it. thousands of miners in china's coal rich north have gone on strike over unpaid wages and fears of mass layoffs. they took their fights to the street of the prorchts on saturday demanding their employer pay six moss' worth of out-- six months ass worth of outstanding wage. al jazeera's adrian brown has the latest from beijing.

>> this was a very big protest. we haven't been able to independently verify the pictures we've seen on social media. but certainly they show miners clark with police, miners with their families incidentally. they protested demanding to be paid, going 12 to six months without receiving benefits or pay. a sign of what may be to come in the months and years ahead as china embarks on this delicate task of trying to shut down some of these big, loss-making inefficient steel mills and mines. in the past the government has simply poured cheap money into these state owned enterprises to prop them up and keep them going but that had the effect of creating more debt. the state has said that model

can no longer continue. the question is how hard they wield their ax. it may well be that in this particular town they wielded the ax too hard. now the governor of this province had denied that the workers were owed money. he actually made that statement at the national people's congress in beijing, meeting at the moment but then he backtracked a few hours later saying what he said was in fact a mistake which caused even more anger. >> now russia and the european union have launched a influence mission to see if the presence of methane gas could mean there is life on mars. the unmanned xo mars probe will analyze methane and other gases in the martian atmosphere to determine if they are coming from geological activity or from

living mike robes. mik microbes. life on mars. you can get more on that and everything else we cover on aljazeera.com. >> i'm russell beard in northern kenya where local hero martin wheeler is taking elephant conservation to new heights. >> i'm jasmeen qureshshi in monterey bay california where researchers have discovered that sea otters may play a key role