>> syrias kurds say they are ready to declare a federal autonomous state of their own. but other warring sides insist it cannot happen. ♪ >> welcome. you are watching al jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha. the other main news stories. belgium police hunt for gunmen linked to the attack in paris. the republican race for the white house narrows to three candidates. a special journey for a

young football lover, the story of a palestinian child who lost his family in an attack by israeli settlers. ♪ when the syrian war began five years ago, the country's kurds saw an opportunity to fight for and establish their own autonomous region. a senior representative of the pyd says they are poised to announce just that. the group wants a federal region under kurdish control. they are said to hold three quarters of the border already. it's a about 800 kilometers long. it is a huge geographic call area. the declaration has been rejected by the syrian government and the opposition as well as turkey. ankara says it supports a united

syria, and unilateral moves simply aren't valid. this latest development comes as the syrian go and the main opposition attend talks in geneva, which the pyd is not attending. one of three autonomous areas set up by kurdish groups two years ago, a representative says the situation could work. >> the situation in north syria is going to be very soon, and now the representatives of the components of the north of syria, they are making meetings and [ inaudible ] declaration. [ inaudible ] umbrella of the

administration and under the federalism, more components are going to join, and there will be more autonomous regions, and these regions are going to [ inaudible ] according to the diversity of the region to be -- to share with the making the political system for this region and for syria in general. it will not just be for the north syria or kurdish regions, it would be for syria in general, because under the democracy and equality with the all syrian people is going to be granted. >> a kurdish representative at the talks in geneva says the declaration would hurt the kurds and the syrian people too. >> translator: the kurdish issue

is a national issue, and has to be sold within the national consensus in syria, in order to find our place in the constitution. we as kurds since the end of 2011, beginning of 2012, we have put this idea of federal country and a constitution where women and men are completely equal. these issues should be sorted out through dialogue with all components of the syrian people. federalism might be the start of the division. the syrian courts are an important component of the syrian people. we are proud of them. they are proud of us.

we have established our -- our state together for centuries. so betting on creating any kind of divisions among the syrians will end -- will be a total failure. >> well, lawrence lee is in the region, on the border in turkey with reaction from there. >> translator: well, it's a only day three of geneva and there is still no shortage of absolutely shock announcement. that's kobani over there, which the kurds managed to expel isil from, and the yellow flag of the ypg now flies over the town. the kurdish proposal, if you take it at face value would put together the autonomous regions like kobani and join them all

up, in a federal groups, which would stretch all the way to the iraqi border, and join up with the kurdish enclave in though north as well. the turks are extremely concerned. they have long accused of the ypg of acting in connection with the pkk. so apart from the turks saying that they don't like the idea of syria being divided and broken up into a federal system. this will make them extremely concerned about their own security as well. >> reporter: russia's foreign minister says turkey's shelling of syria undermines the ceasefire and the talks in geneva. >> translator: such actions perpetrated by turkey have to be

met with a harsh response. because what turkey is doing is undermining the efforts of the international community, the efforts of the security council in achieving a political process. moving on, a belgium prosecutor says there has been a raid and killed a man who was linked to the attacks in paris. they have also found two other suspects and are investigating their involvement. >> since november, 58 persons have been arrested. nix, 23 persons were arrested in linked investigations. a team of six police officers were sent to the house, composed of four belgium and two french officers. this mixed team is the result of the fact that the investigation

is carried out by joint investigation team. emma hayward reports from brussels with the very latest details. >> reporter: the public prosecutor's office is giving more details about the events which unfolded on tuesday. telling us that the man killed by police sniper fire was a man that was a 36 year old algerian national who was here in belgium illegally. he was known to police because of a theft that dated back to 20 a 15. two other men have been arrested. one after they turned up at the hospital with a broken leg. another during a search of a house. police trying to establish whether those two men are linked in any way to the events which unfolded in forest, and also whether any of these individuals are linked to the attacks that

happened in november in paris. five big states have been chuszing their preferred candidate for november's presidential and general elections in the u.s. donald trump pushed one of his rivals marco rubio out of the race. hillary clinton built on her lead as well. donald trump has secured 621 of the 1237 delegates he needs to get the republican party delegation. john kasich won in his home state of ohio. the other remaining challenger, ted cruz hasn't won anymore states although missouri has yet to declare its result. on the democratic party side. mrs. clinton has 1094 delegates. that stretched her lead over her sole rival, bernie sanders, he is on 774. we'll have live coverage now from miami in florida with our

main correspondent. so alan is mr. trump in fact the de facto nominee now? >> reporter: well, he has one hand on that nomination. john kasich stays in the race after doing, really the minimum of what is required for any presidential candidate, which is to win his home state. but he simply can't win the nomination now through delegates. there aren't enough votes left for him to get where he wants to be. he would have to win every single delegate in every single race between now and the convention and that simply isn't going to happen, so he will come under pressure to step down and let this become a race between ted cruz and donald trump. and then there is a possibility that ted cruz might be able to overhaul donald trump. but again, that would take a lot of work on his part, and a lot of people suddenly being convinced of the good intentions of ted cruz were he to reach the

white house. take all of that together, then yes, donald trump is one step closer to winning the nomination. >> but the republican party, we're told, lots of the republican supporters do not actually like his tone or his policies. they don't like what he says, and how he says it. is it your sense, perhaps that he does or does not feel the need between now and the convention to at least moderate what he says? >> reporter: well, it is interesting when he made his speech in west palm beach just a few hours ago to acknowledge his victories that he didn't mention ted cruz and earlier he has been calling him lying ted. he didn't acknowledge john kasich's win in ohio. he praised marco rubio who he has been involved in a ferocious fight with, and he said he could

unite the party, but the brother of jeb and george bush who is on the ted cruz finance committee has said quite clearly, i will not support donald trump if he is the candidate. and that is the problem that the republican party have. there are a number of senior figures who simply will not back donald trump under any circumstances. so it could lead to a split in the party. they spent a lot of time and money electing a consolidate, and if the people say we want donald trump to be our nominee, they really have to go ahead with that. because people are dissolutioned enough with politics to suddenly change the rules mid-game would lead to great deal of dissatisfaction. donald trump has said there could possibly be riots if he was denied the nomination through that process. so the republican has a very fine line to walk, and it will

be interesting to see what happens with ted cruz and donald trump, because people in washington may not like ted cruz, but they don't like donald trump more. >> and what is going on with bernie sanders? >> reporter: it was always going to be tough for him to overhaul hillary clinton a big state like florida. he hoped he would do well in ohio. that simply hasn't happened. he won't get out of the race, because from this date the calendar comes slightly better for bernie sanders, and he might pick up a number of delegates. but hillary clinton is all but guaranteed the nomination . but we make sure that his issues are discussed, that his policies become part of the party policy going into the general election, so it doesn't so much become a candidate for presidency, although he is not going to drop out, he becomes

the voice of thousands and thousands and thousands of voters who want to make sure that the issues he has raised continue to be discussed, debated and pushed by the democratic party in the presidential election in november. >> okay. allan, thanks a lot. lots more news still to come including unclassified and stuck in limbo. the refugee struggling to find a path forward in greece. also the people protecting the peace this south sudan. ♪ ((úz@úxóxkxñ($9

♪ welcome back.

headlining stories for you so far today on al jazeera, a top syrian kurdish official has announced it is declaring a federal autonomous region. the man heading the syrian opposition delegation has reacted angrily about the announcement. prosecutors in belgium say the police have killed one man who may have been linked to the paris attacks. more than 600 refugees have been brought to shore on the italian island of sicily. most of the refugees were from sub saharan africa and asia

hoping to reach europe. mien while in greece thousands of refugees are trapped as neighboring balkan states shut their borders. many european governments consider them to be economic migrants and not refugees. mohamed now from lesvos. >> reporter: with the macedonian border closed. greece has been turning into a giant holding pen for refugees. most live in camps, but those from other countries are roughing it up in a tented camp set up by volunteers from across the globe. a place in this makeshift camp is the only welcome they have received, and perhaps the warmest they will get. >> some people are facing big problems. they are not 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 european union considers them economic migrants and unqualified for refugees status. the number of refugees here continues to rise every day. it's now a place of limbo for hundreds. they cannot go any further. the northern border is closed to them. every day the volunteers struggle to give them the most basic of humanitarian assistance to the desperate people. this woman is from denmark. >> i'm amazed by these human beings. i'm amazed that they still smile and say thank you. if you were in a situation where all the time the only answer you can get is there is no solution, you are not recognized, it would be hard. >> reporter: as europeans [ inaudible ] the deal with

turkey. but when you have risked everything to get here. return might 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. their future in the country hosting them offers a bleak prospect. al jazeera,less -- lesvos, greece. a bus was attacked in afghanistan. >> reporter: a powerful explosion on a bus carrying government officials appears to be a timed device according to the security forces. the become thing placed close to the toolbox, the bus driver was still able to drive, although he

was critically wounded, the bus to a nearby police facility. according to the local hospital sources there are dozens in serious condition in hospital, so the likelihood of the death toll going higher cannot be ruled out. at the moment no one has taken responsibility, but this is a second deadly attack against the government officials and even in 2013 such an attack took place against such officials. also traveling on a bus in which 17 people were killed. the chinese premiere has defended his government's ability to keep the economy growing fast enough. he spoke after the parliament approved the brood agenda for the next five years. the government says the economy expanded by 6.9% last year, the slowest rate of growth in 25 years. the second biggest subway system in the u.s. has been closed down for 24 hours.

the system which crosses the capitol, washington, is undergoing an emergency investigati investigation for safety. morocco is angry with the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon after he said that the disputed territory of western sa sarah has been occupied by the moroccan government. here is bernard smith. >> reporter: a visit by the u.n. secretary general to a refugee camp wouldn't normally be particularly controversial, but this trip to see the ethnics from the western sahara has so enraged the government that it is threatening to pull out of peace negotiations. morocco now controls the entire territory.

it fought a local independence movement until a u.n. brokered ceasefire in 1991. as the unit saluted ban ki-moon's visit, the u.n. leader described western sahara as being under occupation. >> they have endured a great deal of suffering in harsh conditions, and i want to draw the world's attention to a population who's plight is often overlooked. >> reporter: it was enough to bring out hundreds of thousands of demonstrators on to the streets of morocco's capitol. they were angry with perceived lack of impartiality. on his return to new york he met the foreign minister. he said he wases and tone initialled by what he called the

moroccan government's overreaction. but that has further irritated morocco who says it will cut staff and pull its troops out of other peace-keeping operations. in western sahara, the 1991 ceasefire came with a prom mes of a referendum, but that has never been held. instead morocco these days says it is prepared to offer autonomy. ban's spokesman says the secretary general remains personally committed to conduct negotiations to achieve a mutually acceptable political solution to the people of western sahara. saudi-lead air strikes have killed yemens. the saudi-lead coalition says it is looking into those reports. doctors without borders says more than 40 civilians were taken to hospital after the

attack. more than 6,000 people, half of them civilians have been killed in the conflict in yemen since the saudi-lead intervention began. on all female peace keeping force is now patrolling south sudan. from juba, annika vel now reports. >> reporter: this is the leader of the team of female peace keepers perfecting families in this camp in south sudan. she says she wants to give a message of peace to her community. >> translator: we don't want women fighting each other. >> reporter: they are trying to reduce the violence that happens often in these cramped conditions. people ran here for safety when the war started more than two years ago. the people who live here are from a 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, so 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 under [ inaudible ] and existing on minimal food and water, crowds can turn angry very quickly. in a situation like this one, the women's peace keeping force can be a very soothing prosense, they come unarmed and they are 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 friends, but on others it could be domestic violence or reuniting lost children with their families. mary reflects on the ben 23i9s she and her colleagues have brought to the camp. >> translator: my job is positive. why? because since we started, no

woman has fought with another woman. the women wearing these pink shirts, if we find people fighting, we stop them. >> reporter: they say they want their leaders to stop fighting so they can return to their homes. until they can do so, marry and her team are doing their part to make sure they are safe where they are. fifa is seeking tens of millions of dollars in compensation from former executives at the heart of a corruption investigation. it wants a big share of the $190 million already forfeited. the claim centers on legal costs and brand damage as a result of though case. 41 individuals have been charged by the authorities in the united states so far to date, and for the first time, fifa has admitted bribes were paid. a five-year-old boy from the

israe israe israe israeli occupied west bank is traveling to meet his favorite football player. his family was killed in an attack. here is nadim baba. >> reporter: like many five year olds, he is just getting into football, and his favorite player is the real madrid striker christiano renaldo. in every day life the person he is closest too is his grandfather, that's because his home was fire bombed by israeli settlers last year. his brother died right away, and then his father and mother also succumbed to their injuries. >> translator: he asks me every day about his parents. he asks me every day where is heaven? how far is it from our house? i believe he will need more

psychological help. >> reporter: he suffered serious burns and has already had several surgeries. he is surrounded by staff and volunteers who make sure he feels loved. and now he is getting a special visit to spain. >> he was wearing t-shirt with renaldo. we pictured him and put it on facebook. some guys from the soccer association saw him on facebook, and they said if he loves renaldo, we can connect with the club there, and maybe he can visit him, and so they did. >> reporter: of course he faces a much longer journey, his rehabilitation, but at least here at the hospital they are trying to give him as much of a formal childhood as they can. and that means lots of love, as well as a once in a lifetime trip to the spanish capitol to meet his footballing hero.

nadim baba, al jazeera, tel-aviv. do check out the website. it is also there for you, aljazeera.com. you can get the latest on our top story, you can see it there, the syrian kurds announcing they are planning to announce the federalized autonomous region. aljazeera.com. ♪ the president makes his choice for the supreme court, but republicans are still refusing to consider anyone. >> we're going to go forward, and we're going to win, but more importantly, we're going to win for the country. we're going to win win win, and we're not stopping. >> trump widens his lead as marco rubio bows out, and john kasich clings to hope. >> you have been waiting for the right mome