♪ there are reports serious kurds are declaring autonomy on the heart land on turkey's border. ♪ hello from doha i'm kamal and we will bring you more on the news as it happens and the rest of the world news from al jazeera, 15 people killed in pakistan as an explosion rips through a bus carrying government employees. the republican race for the white house with three contenders while democrat hillary clinton extends her lead. women keeping the peace and protecting families in south

sudan. ♪ so we're going to start with what could be quite a significant development in syria. there are reports that the syrian kurds are claiming autonomy in the northern part of country and this announcement is from the pyd the kurdish democratic union party something which could have an impact certainly on the country and the region and james base in geneva to cover the talks going on james but i wonder if i could ask you about your thoughts of what sort of impact if we are talking about an atonomous region in the north. >> just as talks are restarting and we are on the third day of these talks which were stalled when this started in geneva and i think the timing has been

chosen by the pyd to make a very clear point do not forget about us because they have been excluded from the talks process. the last time we were here end of january, beginning of february they even turned up in switzerland the pyd and the muslim who is their leader turned up here ready to take part in the process in geneva and he never got an invitation and that is because of an row with russians and strongly want the pyd to be here and of course relations with turkey and russia very very bad. turkey a very big red line for them having the pyd involved because they see links with kurds across the border in turkey and they certainly don't want the pyd at these talks. where does the u.n. stand on all this? well i pressed staffan de mistura last week when i sat down with him for an interview and he simply said he is sticking with the invitation list from some weeks ago when we

were here last time but he is not saying no necessarily to the pyd at a later stage and says it's an issue he will come to at sometime in the future. he also said he is not ruling out a more federal division of syria, it cannot be a partition of syria but perhaps more a federal way of governing syria and that depends on the people of syria and talks here for people to agree on a future patent of governance for syria. >> i leave you there because on the phone from kobani is an official in the foreign affairs directorate of kobani set up two years ago and thank you for your time, how official is this announcement? is this going to happen imminently? >> thank you for having me and

federalism in north syria going to be very soon and now the representative of the component of the north of syria they are making meetings in the situation of this federalism. >> tell me how it will play out on the ground then or how you envision it will play out on the ground. >> actually already in north syria in kobani in the umbrella of the democratic administration and under the federalism more components are going to join and there will be more atonomous regions and the regions will track the privacy as according to the diversity of this region to be -- to share with them a

making the political system for this region and for syria in general. >> so how will that bring you in the political or bring the kurds in the political equation more? our correspondent in geneva was talking about why pyg didn't get an invite to the talks in geneva, how do you think this will impact the political influence? >> i feel that the other component in this region from the beginning they believe in federalism as a solution for syria in general and for the crisis that is going on for more than five years. now in syria without the federalism there will not be an in for them. so if they attend the geneva or not, what is going on the ground is the federalism that represents the region of the component of the region for the solution in syria. >> so you keep using this word

federalism for certainly what the kurds want to do, do you think this is the beginning of the federalism in the country, do you think it could be a leading event? >> actually, the components they believe federalism is not just for north syria or the kurdish region and must be for them in general because the federalism and the diplomacy is going to be granted otherwise there must be another kind of, you know, system which will bring teourne for syria. >> you said preparations have been under for some time to move to a federal system for the syrian kurds, do you actually have a time and a place this will happen? >> actually they are preparing and they are discussing about making this federalism and it

may be today or later according to the ending of the preparation. >> okay then thank you for that. and on the line from kobani explaining what is going on there with regards to the idea of federalism from the syrian kurds in northern syria and james base our correspondent speaking to a moment ago in geneva and hope you can hear all that james and what do you make of what he was saying? >> well, i think it is significant that they are going to do this. effectively i think in their areas that they control the territory they control in northern syria, they are running their own affairs but they are making this announcement at a very important time as these talks restart and they are suggesting that they are going to keep control of these areas as part of a new federal structure for syria. that is something that no one else yet has agreed on and remember these talks are sponsored by the so called international syria support group, all the key international

and regional players and there are very, very different views on this issue from some of those key and important players. i think russia strongly supports the kurds on the ground in syria, that is their position right now. and of course the u.s. has in the past been a strong support militarily with the kurds and working with them and fighting i.s.i.l. the country of all the other countries in the issg that i think is most opposed to this idea, would hate the idea of something similar to what we have in iraq where you have a kurdish area in northern iraq if something like that happened in syria turkey would be so strongly opposed to this so these are very, very difficult issues, an issue that the u.n. mediator staffan de mistura tried to put to one side and come back to later because he is trying to deal with the core issue of political transition, in fact, right now as i speak he

is behind me in the building speaking to the chief syrian negotiator and the first meeting he had with him since the news of the start of the russian pullout but this is an important development, not clear at this stage kamal if we will hear from staffan de mistura today, whether he will brief the press or not. it's possible we may hear from bashar el the chief negotiator of the syrian government. >> you say the syrian government representatives are talking to mr. staffan de mistura and is it today and tomorrow? is there sort of a vague timeline on this? >> no, they are relatively short meetings and meet so far and we had two days of this for just about an hour and a half normally, we had the first meeting between the government side of jeffrey and mr. staffan de mistura on monday, then on tuesday we had the meeting between the hnc delegation and mr. staffan de mistura and now it's the second meeting with the

government. in many ways this is it because the first meetings were each side presenting their case. now because this is the second round of meetings started, mr. staffan de mistura i'm sure will present the opposition's plans or parts of them to the government's sides and we are starting to get an exchange of ideas. we know that both sides have presented papers to mr. staffan de mistura and he is looking through those ideas which eventually he may come up with his own u.n. paper of some of the ideas that actually both sides agree on. and i'm sure one of the subjects they will be talking about is the way syria is going to be governed, this is a country that always has been governed century from damascus and now you have this idea maybe there could be a more federal system with some sort of autonomy in parts of the country and that is what the pyd wants and we have to see what everyone else says but we know turkey is deeply opposed. >> james base diplomatic editor

in geneva talk and what we are hearing at this point it is developing news out of well the north of syria effectively where the pyd as james said the democratic kurdish democratic union party is talking about the idea of a federal system and breaking away and forming its own atonomous region and wouldn't put a timeframe on it but said pep -- preparations taking place for sometime and could be today or in the next couple of days that syrian-kurdish controlled areas in the north would declare a federal system and as james said move away from the centralist government in damascus, if it happens potentially a the development in the wider syria picture. five years since the anti-government protests began in syria and leading to the all out civil war we see right now the one that diplomates are trying to end, demonstrators returned to the streets to mark the anniversary and marches in a

number of towns and cities and many chanting for the removal of president bashar al-assad and investigating what they say are crimes by the syrian force. according to shia houthi rebels the saudi-led coalition are looking in and doctors without borders said 40 civilians were taken to hospital after the attack in the district. according to u.n. more than 6,000 people, half civilians have been killed in yemen's conflict since the audi led intervention happened in march of last year. morocco will cut staff at the sahara mission and pull out of all u.n. peace keeping missions and protests in parts of morocco after ban ki-moon said they were quote occupying the contested territories and the use of the word occupied which up set

people there and visited camps in southern algeria who say the region belongs to them. at least 14 people killed by a bomb that exploded in a bus in northern pakistan and happened in peshawar as the bus carried government employees to work, nearly 40 others injured. kamal with more details. >> reporter: a powerful explosion on a bus carrying government officials in peshawar is a timed device according to the security forces and the bomb being placed close to the tool box and reports that the bus driver was still able to drive even though he was critically wounded and a nearby police facilities so the rescue could get underway and according to local hospital sources there are dozens who are in serious condition in hospital so the likely death toll going higher cannot be ruled out. at the moment no one has taken

responsibility but this is indeed the second deadly attack against the government officials and even in 2013, such an attack took place against such officials also traveling on a bus which 17 people were killed. in the news ahead unclassified and stuck in limbo, the refugees struggling to find a path forward in greece plus china's government sets a gross target in the latest five year plan that may be too cautious. ♪ >> pushing the boundaries of science. >> we are on the tipping point. >> we can save species. >> it's the biggest question out there. >> it's a revolutionary approach. >> we are pushing the boundaries. >> techknow is going to blow your mind. >> our experts go inside the innovations, impacting you. >> this is the first time anybody's done this. >> i really feel my life changing.

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developing news on al jazeera this hour a top syrian kurdish official has told us in the last ten minutes that the kurds are preparing to declare kurdish controlled areas in the north of syria a federal state. this was saying preparations to do this have been underway for sometime. meanwhile the u.n. special envoy for syria says he received proposals from the syrian government and opposition both outlining the visions for political transition and staffan de mistura is holding talks with the syrian government. saudi-led air strikes killed 100 civilians in the northwestern providence of haji according to rebels and saudi-led coalition says it's looking into those reports. let's look at the u.s. presidential election race and five big states choosing preferred candidates for november election and the two frontrunners pulled further ahead and republican pushed a rival marco rubio out of the race and hillary clinton built on her lead as well and john

hendron reports from washington d.c. and starts with the republican candidate to pull out. >> reporter: in florida favorite sons go down fast. >> it's not god's plan i be president in 2016 or maybe ever and while today my campaign is suspended, the fact that i've even come this far is evidence of how special america truly is. >> reporter: republican donald trump delivered a crushing defeat to florida's own senator marco rubio forcing a bitter end to a campaign based on optimism. >> the fact is we have to bring our party together. we have to bring it together. >> reporter: and then there were three, narrowing the republican race to a contesz between trump, texas senator cruz and ohio governor kasich who won in his home state beating donald trump breathing life into a winless campaign and raising the chances trump will not lock up the nomination

before the republican national convention in july. >> i have to thank the people of the great state of ohio is i love you is all i can tell you. we are going to go all the way to cleveland and secure the republican nomination. >> reporter: kasich victory could lead to a messy party fight all played out in public that has not happened in decades. >> if we do have a contested convention on the republican side it would go back to the old ways that parties did things when there were no primary elections and the parties did get together and make the decision on their own as to who the nominee would be. >> reporter: in the democratic race hillary clinton swept big prizes florida, ohio, north carolina and illinois. for clinton's democratic rival bernie sanders the electoral math got harder and the latest round of primary votes makes it likely that the democratic frontrunner will receive the nomination and less likely the republican frontrunner will.

clinton pivoted to the general election and presumed rival trump. >> our commander in chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it. [cheers and applause] engage our allies, not alienate them and invite add sayrys and not enbolden them. john with al jazeera. 20 people arrested in turkey during police raids in istanbul forcing on the kurdish workers party pkk and lawyers with the pchl kk according to turkish media reports as arrests come as confrontations continue between security forces and pkk armed groups following the recent suicide bombing in ankara on sunday. four offices were shot in brussels during a raid and

investigating attacks in paris last november and one of the suspects has been killed and from brussels emma hayward has more. >> reporter: rage coordinated by the belgium and france for the attacks that killed 130 people in november and surrounded the building in the forest district of brussels gunmen held inside then opened fire. >> translator: shots were fired this afternoon and there were two people hiding in a building. a security permane perimeter wa up. >> reporter: they saw two escape over the rooftops and snipers positioned themselves above ground as the area went into lock down during another

round of gunfire was killed and found with an automatic rifle. >> translator: evaluated the bus because police were in the streets and we got off the bus and walked and heard gunshots near the church and school and got careful and walked away and stood at the bus stop. >> reporter: in this part of brussels there is deep shock of events here and children have been separated from their families in the lock down returned home but many of the area streets were deserted. part of this brusel's neighborhood are quartered off as police continue to search the streets and people have been told to remain on their guard. several of the paris attackers are known to have come from brussels including 26-year-old suspect sala islam who is still on the run but it's understood he was not the target of this raid. the resistance which the police encountered in forest seems to have taken many here by surprise. there will be questions about

why those involved in the police search weren't better prepared for what they found. emma hayward, al jazeera, brussels. a u.s. student has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in north korea for crimes against the state. and he was arrested in january for stealing a propaganda slogan poster in pyongyang and 21-year-old student confessed to his crime in february. the chinese premier league defended the government to keep the economy growing fast enough and spoke the ruling communist broad agenda for the next five years and government says the economy expanded 6.9% last year which was the slowest rate of growth in 25 years and here is our china correspondent adrian brown with more. >> reporter: the people's congress, the rubber stamp parliament approved the next five year plan and 13th since the foundation of the people's republic of china, the five year plans are very much a legacy of

the command economy. after that happened china's premier met the media and happens once a year when he takes questions from selected journalists, questions which are generally vetted in advance and today most of those concern the economy and he was convinced there would be no hard landing for china's economy and said while there will be ups and downs if things got serious china's government has the means to deal with that and throwing more money in the system and touched on the sensitive issues with workers making state owned industries like the mines and steel mills and have been protests in the northeast of the country this week involving thousands of minors who say they have not been paid for weeks and the government knows it has to deal with these bloated enterprises and absorb billions of dollars of money and are incredibly inefficient so they are beginning to wield an axe

and mines and steel mills will have to close and tens of thousands of workers will be made redundant. the government set aside a fund of some $20 billion to cover things like redundancy and retraining and says that if more money is needed it will be found. now the premier has said this is going to be a difficult year for china and that is true for minors and steel workers. in greece thousands of refugees find themselves unable to continue their journey as neighboring balkin states shut their borders and from syria and iraq are forced to live in makeshift camps and government say they are economic and not refugees and mohamed has the report now from lesbos. >> reporter: with the macedonia border closed to most all greece has been turned into a giant holding pen for refugees. most syrian and iraqi refugees on the island of lesbos live in

proper camps but those from other countries are in a tented camp set up by volunteers from across the globe and a place in the makeshift camp is the only welcome they received and the warmest they will get. >> people are facing the problem and not exactly taking a breath just like that, what is going on, i have no idea. it's a crucial time for me. i have never, ever seen this situation in my life history. >> reporter: those here are mainly from afghanistan, pakistan and morocco the eu considers them economic migrants and not qualified for refugee status and the number continues to rise everyday. it's now a place of limbo for hundreds. they lived their lives but cannot go any further and the northern border is closed to them. everyday the volunteers struggle to give the most basic of humanitarian assistance to the desperate people and she is from

denmark. >> amazed by human beings and they can still smile and amazed they still say thank you. if you were in a situation all the time the only answer you can give is there is no solution, you are not recognized, it would be hard. >> reporter: as they hope to stop the misery on recently agreed deal with turkey many here fear they will be returned but when you just left and risked everything to get here return may seem inconceivable. >> translator: we can't go back to our countries. what will we live on if we return? >> reporter: at least the refugees have safety here and the destruction of a game of cricket in a dull setting, their future in the country hosting them offers a bleak prospect. mohamed with al jazeera, lesbos, greece. now an all female peace keeping force is now on the ground in south sudan's capitol duba and patrol camps where people are sheltering keeping an

eye out for trouble and making sure everyone gets a fair share of food and water and from duba, anna has the story. meet mary she is the leader of a team of female peace keepers protecting families at the idp camp in south sudan and wants to give a message of peace to her community. >> translator: we don't want people fighting each other. >> reporter: she and her colleagues are trying to reduce the violence that happens often in these cramped conditions. people around here for safety when the war started more than two years ago and most are afraid to live and the people who live here are from the tribe which is generally associated with the opposition. because the town outside the gate is controlled by government, people here say it's not safe to venture out. the women peace keepers come from the community. it's easy for them to hear about what is going on they stop people in the street, catch up on the news and look out for any potential problems. after years of living on minimal

food and water the crowds can turn angry very quickly. in a situation like this one where food is distributed and tempers running high the peace keeping force can be a soothing presence and unarmed and contrast to the u.n. peace keepers and not threatening to the crowd. the severity of the cases they deal with varies, on this day it was a boy being bullied by his friend and i don't know if it could be domestic violence or reuniting lost children with their families. at the end of her patrol mary thinks of the benefit they brought to the camp. >> translator: my job is positive. why? because since we started no women have fought with another woman, the people wearing the pink shirts and if we find people fighting we stop them. >> reporter: they want their leaders to stop fighting so they can return to their homes. until they can do so mary is doing her part to make sure they are safe where they are.

anna, al jazeera, duba, south sudan. plenty more news on line on al jazeera.com, not just the headlines and the feature reports but down the left hand side are social media to keep up with the news from the on line team all on al jazeera.com. it's the new high you can buy at the corner store. america's heroin epidemic is not this country's only drug problem despite the impression you might get listening to presidential candidates. there is another newer drug plaguing america that goes by street names of k 2, spice, skooby snacks and green giant. they are synthetic can