only on al jazeera americ on al jazeera americ russia says it has begun withdrawing the main part of its military power from syria as talks in geneva head into their second day. you're watching al jazeera live. the other top stories today. at least three refugees drowned in a desperate attempt to cross over into macedonia from greece after the border crossing was closed. myanmar's parliament elects a civilian president after more than half a century of military rule. we're in the state of ohio. a must win for u.s. presidential

hopefuls on another big day in the race for the white house. the russian defense ministry says its forces have begun a partial withdrawal from syria. pictures of the military preparing to leave have been shown on russian state television. the announcement comes as u.n. brokered talks aimed and ending the five year old conflict enter a second day in geneva. >> reporter: russian air strikes in syria have allowed the syrian government to regain lost ground whilst also killing hundreds of people. now it appears they're coming to an end. vladimir putin says they achieved what they came to achieve. back in september that was helping syrian president bashar al-assad fight what he calls terrorists. >> translation: i believe that the goals set out has overall

been fulfilled. that's why i ordered the minister of defense as of tomorrow to start the pull out of the main part of our military grouping from the syrian area. >> reporter: the syrian government was told about the decision in a statement from bashar al-assad was a joint one. the syrian opposition is cautious. the timing of the announcement was significant as it was made at the same time as the geneva talks. >> our diplomacy has received the marching order to intensify our efforts to achieve a political result on syria. we believe that we've helped undercut their infrastructure and undermine their infrastructure, destroy much of their infrastructure. the fight against terrorists there is going to continue >> reporter: moscow will keep control of an air base in latakia and they still have control of a port. >> it is a good time because of the talks. the air strikes have already declined, so pulling out the air

force is not a major, it won't have much affect on the battle. plus they made clear, vladimir putin made clear that russia will keep access to its base so they can easily come back in, in the future. >> reporter: the air strikes were expensive but they might have bought them something priceless. global prevention. >> reporter: they used military force but they did the as part of creating a diplomatic political process. russia has the process with the u.s. which is a dramatic increase in russian power >> reporter: a 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 tracking this evolving story for us is our senior correspondent. if you're the hnc looking in on this, what is your thinking

today? >> we heard the opposition welcome the announcement. they said it will push pressure on the regime and also the white house say that russian's military involvement in syria emboldering the regime is actually standing in the way of bringing about a political transition. this is being seen as some sort of pressure on the syrian government. we have heard this in the past. if we remember just a few weeks ago, the syrian president says we intend to capture the whole country. the russian envoy said no this is not in line. it is to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis. it is not going to be an open ended government, they're not seeking a military solution but political solution. this is not russia ending its presence. we don't know if they're going to stop. the very fact that this base is on the ground it is the main external player in the conflict. any other party wanting to interfere will risk military confrontation with russia

the power dynamic on the group has shifted utterly now. >> no doubt. the russian military intervention has propped up the government. the government is in a stronger position. yes, it cannot control authority over the country, cannot impose settlement, it is seeing legitimate in the eyes of money, but it emboldened the government and they were hoping to use these gains for diplomatic gains. the government is in a stronger position but it's not being flexible. we've heard statements saying that no-one is going to discuss the political transition. it is a red line. clearly russian saying here that no, there has to be some sort of after a deal and compromises have to be made if you're bashar al-assad now and your best mate is walking away partially from this conflict and you haven't got that military support, if he is looking at the table top with his military commanders, where does he think his key weakness

is now? >> it is holding ground. he had man power problem. the army has lost a lot of its soldiers. that's why hezbollah stepped in. that is why the iranians stepped in. he has to hold the groundment russia intervened because the rebels were on the offensive and the regime was descending into the core territory. it has to able to hold ground. we still haven't heard from iran. their reaction to the russian announcement, but clearly what we are seeing is that russian america are now cooperating trying to find a solution in each side are trying to pressure their allies, their regional allies, as well as their allies in syria to reach a deal because for the international community their main kerp is stability, to end the migrant crisis and to defeat i.s.i.l. thank you very much. refugees have died weighing across-- wading across a river. they had abandoned a camp where

thousands were stranded after the border was closed. >> reporter: disoperate to continue with their journey onwards. hundreds of refugees make a dramatic crossing here. young men formed a human chain helping the women, children and elderly cross the fast-moving river. hundreds were successful with many of them holding children and their belongings over their head. >> translation: we have no option but to go on. we have children and we don't have the most basic of services, no toilets, nothing. >> reporter: police have confirmed they're holding about 400 refugees who breached their border with greece. earlier some thousand migrants including children left the sprawling camp. they walked along the fence on the border that keeps them back in the home they will find a way into macedonia. this is what they're trying to leave behind, the refugee camp

here that is fast becoming a word for misery. humanitarian agencies here offer a place to sleep for some, but thousands spebt the night in small tents pitched around the fields while others sleep rough. for these people life is a daily endurance. the flimsy tents they live in offer them little protection from the rain cold. >> reporter: to stay warm they burn wooded, plastic and old clothes >> translation: look at how we're living. our children are sick, we've got no tents, no assistance. all we want is to get to germany. >> reporter: health workers at the camp say they have treated more than 100 children for different ailments in the past few days >> most have respiratory diseases, so upper respiratory disease. some co-infections or lower

respiratory disease. we have some gastro and a few parisitic diseases. >> reporter: one girl had hepatitis a and that has workers worried most >> what we are most worried about, about the vaccination status of the children because coming from a war area, the vaccinations are not complete or they're undervaccinated, so we can have some sporadic case of preventible disease. >> reporter: they say they're planning a vacuums neighing campaign for all-- vaccination campaign for all children in the camp myanmar's parliament today electing a new president. he is htin kyaw, the first democratically elected leader after 50 years of military rule. he is a long confidente of aung

san suu kyi. the constitution aung san suu kyi from the role of president because her two sons have british passports. he will take office on april 1. wayne, one would assume here that aung san suu kyi would put in a system of checks and balances to having an n.l.d. person in the top top job. who is that person and how much power will they have? >> reporter: it certainly seems that is what has happened. the person who won the second highest number of votes in that parliamentary vote today was a man called myint swe, a former hard liner, a man who is known to be still very close to the former military leader who some believe is still calling many of the shots in myanmar and the fact he was put forward as the military's presidential

nomination is being interpretered by some that shhe is still powerful and calling the shots in myanmar even though we're heading towards a democracy in the country, or at least greater democrat object e-- democracy. he saw the breakdown of issue in relation to the saffrn revolution. it is a sign that the military is pushing back a bit, relations between the government and n.l.d. have soured in recent months. one senior n.l.d. leader was quoted in the myanmar media last week as saying it was like a cold war situation now between the n.l.d. and the military. not an ideal way for the n.l.d. to begin its term in government despite the fact that aung san suu kyi doesn't have the

label or the ofts or the business card-- office or the business card saying president, it doesn't really have a dimunition of the status, the profile that she has been the country. >> reporter: no. as far as she is concerned, as far as the party is concerned, and her supporters right around the country, she is the one who will be in charge and there isn't a great deal of concern, i have to say, among the people of myanmar that i've spoken to about the fact that she cannot become president. they feel that's merely a technicality and she, like i say, will stool be the one calling the shots and that's what she said as well, that she will be above the role of president. the n.l.d. has not given up hope of aung san suu kyi becoming the president and they, perhaps, want it to happen sooner rather than later and they may make another push to negotiate with the military, to have that section of the constitution set aside again so that she can

become the president, but certainly there's going to be a lot of pressure on her from many parts, domestically, now that she has got what she wanted for so long. people around the world want to see some results now thanks very much. still to come here on al jazeera, thailand vows to fight human trafficking. court hearings have begun with many powerful people being implicated. before the t-rex. a pre-rex remains has in insights to show. insights to show.

top stories from jams. russia is withdrawing the main part of its forces from syria. pictures of the military preparing these have been shown on russian state television. most of the military's fwoels have been achieved it is said. three refugees have died trying to get to macedonia. hundreds made the attempt. many are being held by the police there. the parliament in myanmar has elected a new president, htin kyaw, the first democratically elected leader after 50 years of military rule. he is a long ally of aung san suu kyi. the constitution bars her from being president because her two sons are british citizens it is not just rush involved in the conflict in syria for

years. saudi arabia and u.s. training opposition fighters. this has led to a concern that syria has become a proxy war between the major powers. >> reporter: syrian rebel shoot down military plane in the skies are. five years since the start of the uprising in syria, neither bashar al-assad nor the rebels seem to have the upper hand. what started an outcry against oppression turned into a full-blow regional conflict. these are hezbollah fighters in syria. the shia group says its fight is to prevent rebels from moving into lebanon to launch attacks there. the gulf cooperation council and the arab league have recently labelled hezbollah a terrorist organization accusing the group of killing civilians in syria. a decision hezbollah leader says won't deter his group from

sending fighters to syria. >> reporter: we are not ashamed and we do not need to justify our fight in syria. no-one gave us orders to send troops, not even iran. or the iotolah. going to ser i can't was our decision-- syria, it was our decision. >> reporter: this is one of the largest fighting opposition groups. based on the outskirts of the capital of damascus, it is backed by saudi arabia. it's one of the many rebel factions trained and financed by rich gulf countries and turkey who is studently anti bashar al-assad >> in syria we are working to bring about political change if possible to what is happening in syria in order to remove the man who is responsible for the murder of 300,000 people and the displacement of 12 million and the destruction of a nation. >> reporter: many regional

players are involved in the conflict. iran and russia are bashar al-assad's main backers. russia's growing influence in syria almost led to a major confrontation with turkey in november when the turks shot down a russian military plane. they said it had violated its airspace. the u.s. is another major player in the conflict. it has repeatedly said it wants bashar al-assad to go and now apartments to be saying that can be achieved by diplomatic means, but the bashar al-assad's fate may not be decided any time soon amid growing differences between the key actors in the conflict the military in turkey says it has killed 45 fighters linked to p.k.k. in northern iraq. meanwhile, the police broke up two separate demonstrations in istanbul on monday. people were protesting about the

car bomb in the capital that killed at least 37. to egypt now. more signs of economic and political instability. egypt's central bank has devalued its currency in an effort to ease a shortage of u.s. dollars. the chief prosecutor has arrived in cairo. the european parliament has expressed concern that egyptian security forces were involved. egypt's justice minister has lost his job after making a controversial comment about the prosecutor amphetamine-- prophet. he said he would jail him himself if he broke the law. an assistant professor of communications at the university of north alabama a, heez says egypt's economy remains one of the government's biggest problems. >> this most recent move to devalue the egyptian pound is really, i think, a desperation move by the sisi government.

this is a government that came into power and promised an economic revival and that revival simply hasn't happened. sisi's prized economic project, the suez canal expansion has been a remarkable failure to this point. not only have revenues from the canal not increased, they have xrael decreased substantially year over year. numerous acts of police brutality, mass killings in the streets, these are the kinds of things that have actually shunned tourists and we have to remember that egypt relies on tourism revenue. back in october, and this was a significant incident, a russian passenger jet was shot down by terrorists in egypt. the egypt government response, a spokesperson for the tourism

ministries was to suggest a "western conspiracy", against egypt. that didn't inspire confidence. since that time tourism revenues have decreased dramatically. they've lost hundreds of millions of dollars. so this most recent move was a desperation move in thailand the first trial is getting underway in a special court set up to hear cases of human trafficking. most of the refugees are rohinga muslims fleeing violence in myanmar. >> reporter: this is thailand's largest human trafficking indication. here at a new division created in the criminal court. even though the trial is now underway, those families impacted by these criminal gangs are still suffering. just over three years ago this woman fled myanmar to join her husband in thailand. her husband had fled two years earlier. they're members of the rohinga community which is largely excluded from citizenship.

violence in recent years against this muslim minority has prompted many to attempt to leave the country. instead of the better life he sought, her husband landed in a jungle camp along with other would-be 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 among hundreds of others in an a trial of suspected human traffickers and some thai accused of collaborating with them, but he is still not free. he is kept in a shelter away from his family. for safety she didn't want to show her face. it's not her real name. >> translation: there are many traffickers still out there. we can't be here. key can work here. if necessity find us, they will kill us. many traffickers are not arrested yet >> reporter: the case is based en masse graves. hundreds of bodies were found along the border, but the

trafficking had been going on for years. 91 are facing trial. the high profile general. another fled to australia seeking asylum fleeing for his life because of threats from influential figures. the government attention to the trial in this courthouse is unprecedented, but some feel it is not enough and the investigation for this trial stopped early. >> 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 court's possession, that would indicate a much broader list of people who should be brought held acco. >> reporter: he thinks thai officials want to show that they're cracking down on people

smuggling, so they needed it to go further. it is expected to take a year, not good for this woman and her family, as they do not know where they will go when it is over. it is going to be slow going. that is to be expected because, again, this is a new division in the criminal court here. so essentially we're going into unchartered territory turning to the u.s. presidential candidates are preparing ahead of an important round of primaries on tuesday. special attention is beg paid to ohio. the state has voted for the candidate who has become president every time since 1964. >> reporter: this man and his family have been working this 400 hectare corn and wheat farm for five generations. like their commitment to farming, their political views

have also changed little. >> it's conservative. a lot of the votes up for grab. i think that amount of votes could sway the election. >> reporter: he hasn't decided which candidate he will support. still on tuesday when the republicans and democrats hold their presidential nominating contest, he says he will vote like so many in this part of ohio, for a conservative candidate. the population here is not primarily rural. in fact, two-thirds of the state's residents are concentrated in cities and many of those on the opposite end of the political spectrum. >> reporter: this man is one of them. he grew up in a rural part of the state but moved to the city as a young man. he says the move helped shape his political views. he will vote for a democratic candidate because he believes the party's platform is more inclusive >> you have to look across the aisle and you see an entire party that is still widely

discriminatory against minorities, against women, against people with disabilities. america is a very diverse place now. it is a place that's filled with a number of different ethnic groups. >> reporter: the polarizing political interests makes owe pie owe known-- ohio known as a swing states. the battle for support of each and every voter. over the weekend a protest was occurring at the donald trump rally. it is one reason why john kasich is hoping he will be able to establish himself as the alternative candidate >> a lot of the national republicans have been asking to get out of the race and he has been saying i can't do that, i'm the only person that can win ohio. if i don't, then donald trump has got the nominee.

>> reporter: donald trump's support is one reason why republicans and also democratic candidates have spent millions reaching out to ohio voters. in a state with such divergent views, they know it will come down to turn around and which best candidates persuades voters to vote dinosaurs come in all shapes and sizes. a recent development is showing how the species evolved. >> reporter: this massive jaws, scientists believed this could eat an animal in the size of a gorilla in just one bite. he wasn't always so big. before t-rex there was pre-rex. the discovery of a tyrannosaurus

sheds now lights on the evidence lyings-- new lights on the evolution. >> with the evolution of t-rex this was a hundred million year journey >> reporter: this dinosaur lived towards the end of that 1000 million year period, suggesting it took longer for the brain to evolve than his braun. >> we realized he had all of the advanced censors, really keen hearing, keen eyesight and keen smell and so that this evolved in a much strauler kree tur that was when the opportunity became available for it to be the giant super predators that everyone knows, they basically already were prepared and the only thing to do is to bulk up and increase in size >> reporter: researchers say its

growth happened suddenly. what triggered it is still a mystery a quick reminder for you. you can keep up-to-date with all of our top stories, including russian and that syrian withdrawal. it's at aljazeera.com. >> albom's latest novel is "the magic strings of frankie presto", a tale about the greatest guitarist to ever live and the lives he changes. the writer's first dream was to be a musician. >> i didn't write anything until i was already well into my twenties, cause everything i wanted to do was based around music.