>> reporter: where russia co carries the political process with the u.s., which is a dram theic increase in power and influence over this process. the military pull back from russia does not mean there will be real progress in talks on syria. there are many other players in the war and many of them are still on the ground willing to fight the u.s. department of defense says a senior operative in the islamic state in iraq and the levant has been killed. he died in raqqa. i.s.i.l.'s base of operations in northern syria. he was wounded in a u.s. air strike in a town in syria last

week. he was called i.s.i.l.'s minister of war. voting is underway in myanmar to pick the company's president. aung san suu kyi is barred from the role. her party won overwhelming majoritys in both houses in november's election. the pick is a long time confidente of aung san suu kyi and expected to beat the other candidate who is from the military. live to bangkok. wayne hay can tell us more. who is likely to become the president? >> reporter: all signs are that when that vote wraps up in the parliament that it will be the man you mentioned, a 69 year old member of the n.l.d. party. a man with a pretty low-profile, really. certainly internationally. he is close to the party leader and has known her since they went to school together.

he is known to be very loyal to her. that's important because while she cannot become president right now, it is believed that the n.l.d. will not give up its hope that she can become president in the future and, in fact, they may make another push to amend the constitution within the next 12 months. if they are successful, then they need someone in place now who is president who is going to be happy to step aside, who is not going to be corrupted by power, if you like, and certainly they believe that they have that man, a loyal man in the form of him if that happens, that change in the constitution, what will aung san suu kyi's role be? >> reporter: it hasn't been made clear. she certainly hasn't said exactly what her title will be, for example, other than to say that she will be above the president. since the election in november, there have been negotiations between aung san suu kyi and the military to try to suspend that article of the constitution that prevents her from becoming the

president. those negotiations clearly were not successful, so now she has to go to plan b, if you like. so she could become the prime minister. that will allow her to still enjoy travelling around the world, meeting with other heads of states while she waits for the chance to amend that constitution again. there have been signs the military boent be quietly. it is interesting to know their nominee was a man called min sway, he will become a vice president. he is a man known to have been very close, is still very close to the former military dictator. that is a sign, i guess, that the military is sending a signal to the n.l.d. that it will not have everything it's own way going forward

thank you for that. north korea's leader said pyongyang will be conducting nuclear war head tests soon. the country will also fire ballistic missiles to test their ability to carry nuclear warheads. according to north korea's main newspaper. the move has been made in a climate of heightened tension on the korean peninsula. police in turkey intervened in two protests on sunday. people chanted slogans calling for the government to resign. police used water cannon and tear gas to disburse the crowds. hundreds of refugees who weighed across the river are being held by police. most had left a camp close to the border. >> reporter: desperate to continue with their journey

northwards, hundreds of refugees make a dramatic crossing over here at the border of brees and macedonia. young men formed a human chain helping the women, children cross. hundreds were successful with many of them holding children and belongings over their head as they waded across. >> translation: we had no option but to go on. we don't have children and we don't have the basic services, toilets, nothing. >> reporter: police have confirmed they're holding about 400 refugees who breached their border with greece. earlier some 1,000 children left the camp in the greek village. they along the fence on the border that keeps them back in the hope that they will find a way into macedonia. this is what they're trying to live behind. the refugees camp is fast becoming a word for misery.

this place offers sleep for some, but many slept rough. it is a daily endurance here and rainfall adds to their misery. the flimsy tents offer them little protection from the rain and cold. >> reporter: to stay cold they burn wood donated by villages, including clothes and plastic >> translation: we have to assistance. all we want is to get to germany >> reporter: health workers say they have treated more than 100 children for different ailments in the last few days. >> translation: they have respiratory deceases. some have infections or respiratory decease. we have gastro and a few other

disease. >> reporter: one girl tested positive for hepatitis a. >> translation: what we don't know and we are worried about the vaccination status of the children because coming from a war other they're not complete. so we can have sporadic case of preventible disease. >> reporter: they say they're planning an immunisation program for the children in the camp just ahead here on al jazeera, thailand fails to fight human trafficking. court cases to begin with many powerful people implicated. ivory coast sees security

measures tightened and tourists packing up and leaving. v

the top stories here on al jazeera. russia's president vladimir putin says that he has ordered the withdrawal of the main part of his forces from syria. putin says most of the military's goals have now been achieved. after days trapped on the greek border, hundreds of refugees have waded through a river to get across the border to macedonia.

they're in police custody and the crossing has been closed. myanmar's parliament is voting to elect the next president. right now three candidates are in the running. aung san suu kyi is barred from the role. she says she will run the country regardless. there is an independent south-east asia analyst joining us. the man they reckon is going to win the presidency, what do we know of him? >> the most important thing to know is that he is extremely loyal to aung san suu kyi which is probably his key qualification. that is not to say he is not an intelligent man, but i think he was chosen because she has known and trusted him for years and is likely to represent her, ait were, in the presidency even if she is not allowed to formally hold that role how does the military feel about him becoming president?

>> the military has been digging in it's heels now for the first several weeks and months. certainly in the nomination of its own vice president, choosing a hard liner, someone who remains on u.s. sanctions list. it is sending a signal that while n.l.d. has claimed power and aung san suu kyi cannot run the country, the military has 25% of the parliament if they want to change - the constitution, they will oppose that. >> it will. i'm not convinced that the n.l.d. will continue to move down that path. aung san suu kyi threw three years trying to negotiate, also

sacrificing some of her principles, and was unsuccessful. i think she will throw her energy into trying to lead from behind, as it were, rather than trying to change the constitution so she can become president how does the outside world view this transition of power in myanmar and this odd power sharing arrangement that we're going to have with aung san suu kyi pulling the strings for the president who is basically there? >> china has been back footed for the past four or five years. the u.s. and others feel that the constitution is fatally flawed and she should have been allowed to become president and, therefore, will support most of what the n.l.d. does in its attempt to run the country essentially by whatever means it sees necessary. there is another faction internationally that does feel that she has taken a sort of if

you can't beat them join them approach, and is looking sceptically at her claim to run the country regardless of what the constitution says how will myanmar and china's relationship evolve in the future? >> china carries first and fore most about stability. if she is able to bring stability through the large majority in the parliament of the n.l.d. and the military is willing and able to work with her, that's all fine for china. it is not that china wanted a military government in place per se, but what china needs is stability on the borders and stability in terms of politics. the u.s. is trying to make inroads into a country as it has begun to lose and forfeiture influence in other parts of south-east asia in thailand, the first trial is getting underway in a special court set up to hear cases of human trafficking. thailand has vowed to fight the

crime after the grew some discovery of mass graefs and with hundreds of refugees found stranded, most are those fleeing violence in myanmar >> this is high land's largest human trafficking case. even though the trial is now underway, the families impacted by these criminal gangs are still suffering. >> reporter: just over three years ago this woman fled myanmar to join her husband in thailand. he had fled two years earlier. they're members of the hohinga community which is largely excluded from citizenship. this has led many to leave the country. instead of a better life he sought, he landed in a jungle camp along with other migrants held by human traffickers looking to extort more money. when she arrived at the camp,

she was asked for ransom money she didn't have. her husband is now one witness among hundreds of others in a trial of suspect human traffickers and some officials are accused of clab greating-- colonel aborigine rating them shall-- collaborating with them. >> translation: there are many traffickers out there. they will kill us. many are not arrested yet. >> reporter: the case is based en masse graves discovered last may, hundreds of bodies were unearthed along the border, but the trafficking had been going on for years. there r91 defendants lifted in the case. the most profile a general. back in december one of the most senior police investigators on the case fled to australia. he has sought asylum because of

threats from figures with, influential figures. the investigation for this trial stopped earlier. >> the authorities are handling this in such a way that we believe unfortunately it may amount to a show trial. there is evidence in some cases evidence we believe that's already in the courts possession that would indicate a much broader list of people who should be held accountable. >> reporter: he thinks thai officials want to show they're progressing on the human trafficking crackdown, so they needed the trial to move forward. even with the trial now underway, it is expected to take more than a year. not good news for this woman and her family, who not only are separated from the trial, but they don't know where they will go once it is over.

>> reporter: the case is going to be slow going because this is a new division in the criminal court here, so we're going into unchartered territory the israeli army says that it has killed two people after they opened fire near a bus stop at hebron. a third was killed after being rammed by a vehicle. government ministers from france are travelling to the ivory coast on tuesday. 18 people were attacked there on sunday. >> reporter: this boy was selling jewellery on a beach. 24 hours later she has come back to the tourist hotel to check up on the woman. >> translation: they were shooting at her. she was holding her baby and she

fell on the ground pretending to be dead. then they moved inside the hotel. it was so scary. >> reporter: this shows the moment people realized the hotel was being stormed. you see one attackers brandishing a machine gun. the resulted on three beach hotels lasted for hours. we walked inside one of them. the panic and carnage that followed is still visible. many believe they were local. >> translation: we are worried. they were speaking english but also in french like we do. >> reporter: the survivors of the killings, mostly french ex-patriots, have left the hotel. >> translation: i heard what was happening and we hid in the toilet. i waited there. i didn't want to leave and it seemed that next to us people

were dying. >> reporter: armed personnel continue to clear and secure the hotel. security forces have just found a suspicious device buried in the sand. they think it's an explosive device so they have asked you will of us to move away. al-qaeda have claimed responsibility for the attacks. french intelligence officers warned there could be more attacks ahead in west africa. security forces are organising a reinactment of the event. they're trying to find clues as to what the security lapss were to ensure that an attack doesn't happen like this again. this woman is still looking for the young woman she met on the beach, hoping she is safe immigration was high on the agenda as high ran's foreign minister visited canberra on tuesday. julie bishop, his australian counterpart, said they had a

positive meeting. australia is pushing for iran to take back rejected aasylum people. >> i've also discussed matters of concern to australia. iran's recent ballistic missile test, we've discussed human rights issues, we have discussed issues relating to iran's relationships with other countries in the region, particularly israel, saudi arabia and in yemen. overall, it has been a very positive discussion. we have also touched on issues of concern to australia, particularly on defeating the people smuggling trade and issues of illegal immigration into our country the president of el salvador is considering imposing a curfew over the country.

there were nearly 1400 murders in the first two months of this year in el salvador. presidential candidates in the u.s. are touring states. five states are up for grabs. under restricted laws tens of thousands of people in north corolina have lost the right to vote there. >> reporter: here there are two key voting rights issues playing out not only in the halls of power but also in voting booths as well. one is redistricting. 2011 the republican party law makers took control of the slate legislature here and they redrew the lines of the voting districts to control 10 of the 13 districts in the entire

state. critics say that was manipulation to gain and control more power. the other issue is the rules of voting. they were also changed as well and made more restrictive. everything from the type of identification that voters have to show before they cast their ballot to where and when they can register to even the amount of time they can vote have all been made more confusing and more restrictive. people are saying that endangers many people from being able to exercise their right to cast a ballot and vote. >> minorities, again low information, low income, many african american, we have emerging latino population here as well. they may be confused and intimidated with race relations not only in america but in the south. >> reporter: adding to the confusion, there are now more than 10 different lawsuits

pending challenging the different voting laws that have been put in place here in the state. why is this so important, because north carlina is one of the fastest growing states here. the voting challenges here are happening in other states around the country as well. the political parties pushed the legal boundaries to try and gain every vote they can here is an unlikely partnership for you. n.a.s.a. has teamed up with the international potato center in peru. they wanted to develop a poe day owe that could be grown on marz-- tomatos. >> reporter: this patch of the desert in south peru looks like it could be from another world. n.a.s.a. scientist said change

the sky to orange and you are on marz. >> translation: we found similarity here to that of marz. >> reporter: that's why scientists from n.a.s.a. and the international potato center believe it is a perfect soil to grow a potato. >> translation: the vegetable is an ideal candidate because it has conquered all weather conditions here. >> reporter: researchers say the atmosphere has high levels of carbon dioxide which will help potatos grow. scientists and university students are collecting data and testing samples of the soil which will be transported to lima for the experiment. at the center, researchers will

build the greenhouse simulating marz. 100 varieties have been chosen for the experiment. >> translation: they will be transformed by traditional breeding pairing male and female to provide a new variety, a new clone. we sure it will be positive because potatoes have a high ability to adapt. >> reporter: because the soil, the scenery and the an particularitiy of this desert is the earth's closest equivalent to marz, scientists believe it is important for this and other experiments. however they worry it is in fear of disappearing. they say this land must be protected because in the experiment succeeds, a variety of potatoes could grow anywhere.

-- if the sperlt succeeds for the very latest, head to our website at aljazeera.com both sides from going too far? one day before another round of presidential primaries, all eyes are focused on republican front runner donald trump. actually all eyes are focused on the rhetoric on the campaign trail. while his appearances have gone